Hallow And Hollow

Fear Not Little Guardian

"Who are you?" The silence of the riverbank and muted gurgle of water was broken by a young voice.

An eyebrow lifted as emeralds clashed with hardened amber that flashed in the fading sunlight as he squatted down to be eye level with the bright haired boy. "Mm... someone important I suppose."

The kid frowned, jaw working before he took a step aggressively towards him. "Are you the Reaper? That's who comes when someone died, right?"

He sighed tiredly, running a hand absently through his hair. "Ah.. Well. In a way. But I'm not here for you. Or her."

He smiled fondly at the kid, chuckling softly as his ears went red before he spat out, "I'm not afraid! ...Why not?"

He snorted and looked up at the sky. "Well because you're one of mine, for starters. And because everyone comes to me eventually. But she's.. out of my reach."

The kid pursed his lips in thought, mulling it over with scrunched eyebrows before blinking and refocusing on him. "Have you seen my mother? Is that the woman you're talking about?"

He hummed, frowning slightly and biting his lip, tilting his head to the side as he stared at the kid. Finally, he stick his hand out. "You can call me Kage."

The kid scowled deeper, before huffing softly and taking the hand, keeping his eyes on the his. "Ichigo Kurosaki. And you didn't answer me you know. And I bet that's not really your name."

Kage chuckled, lips quirking into a grin as he stood and stretched. "It's definitely not my real name. But it's easier to fit in here with it, and it's what's on my passport. My name is Harry Potter. As for your mum.. I know where she is. But I can't get to her. I felt her though, when she passed away a week ago."

Ichigo stared hard at Kage before looking at the river as well, shoulders slumping slightly while he laced his hands behind his head. "That's all useless information...." he whispered.

Kage turned and chuckled, lightly ruffling Ichigo's bright hair. "No. It means you don't have to look anymore. You won't find her.. I'm sorry. Its late however, and we need to get you home, brat."

Ichigo glanced up at him before nodding, shifting his backpack onto his shoulders and walking back in a comfortable silence. He occasionally glanced at him as the walked, scowling lightly. "...You're weird."

Kage snorted and stopped, waiting in the street by Ichigo's house, raising an eyebrow as the kid looked back him, making Ichigo scowl and flush before slamming the door shut.

Kage watched the house demurely through his eyelashes, a small frown playing on his lips as the father greeted Ichigo loudly. Perhaps it would be best for the bright haired boy to walk the shadows of the world with the Master of Death at his side, instead of alone.

Karakura is a nice place to set down his roots for a while. It wouldn't hurt to help the boy as he undoubtedly gets into trouble. The father however... felt different. Not human. He will keep his distance when helping.

(AN: Harry is going to go mostly by Kage from here on out, because it makes it easier to respond to his fake name undercover, and also if he wants to lay low why the hell would he go by Harry Potter?? So uh, yeah.)