Please forgive all spelling mistakes! I tried to the best of my abilities. Please tell me correct spellings so that I can either correct it and put it in my next story so that it's right.

*Ichigo's hollow talking* "Ichigo talking in mind"

-Zangetsu talking-

What would you do if I cut out my tongue? Would you sew it back on? Would throw it away? Knowing you, you'd throw it away so that you couldn't hear me anymore. But what if I told you I'm the only reason you live today? What if I told you I was more than just your hollow?

Ichigo woke up with a start, sweat poured down his neck. "Good morning Kurakura! It's going to be a beautiful day today. The sun's seems-" Ichigo clicked off the radio that sat on the desk near his bed. He rubbed away at the sleep from his eyes and walked out into the hallway. Karin buzzed passed him, wearing her soccer uniform.

"Have a game today?" He asked her watching as she turned around. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a soccer ball sat in a pouch that hung down by her feet.

Her dark eyes met his, which was quite a neck hurter. "Yeah, we're facing the shockers, at ten. Are you coming?" Ichigo smiled, and shook his head.

"Nah, I'm meeting Inoue." She frowned a little but smiled all the same.

"Okay." then she was out the door. Ichigo soon after Karin also left the clinic. The sun was bright, and the birds were... silent. That was strange to Ichigo, he glanced up as if expecting to see birds flying over him. There weren't any.

Continuing to walk down the street Ichigo made it to his meeting point with Inoue. Uryu and Chad were also there, but what made him smile bigger was the sight of Rukia with them. *Why don't you just suck it up and tell her dolt!* Ichigo's hollow yelled from within his inner world. "Shut up!" After that he heard no more from his hollow. Walking up to the group Ichigo noticed a strange aura around them. "So what's the plan for today?"

Inoue perked up and smiled before replying, "We were invited by Rukia-chan, here to go hang around soul society with her and Renji." Ichigo glanced over at Rukia who nodded along.

"Renji, was bored and so was I so we asked my Nii-sama if we all could hang around the Kuchiki manor." Ichigo had a look of utter amazement on his face.

"How did you get him to agree to that?" Rukia smiled and shrugged her shoulders. He didn't miss though the evil look in her eye. "Okay, then let's get going." Going over to Urahara's to place his body in a safe place, as well as be able to get Inoue, Chad, and Uryu through they set off for soul society.

Standing outside the manor Ichigo glanced down at Rukia. "Are you sure leaving the other three back was okay?" Rukia nodded and walked towards the manor. When they had first arrived Chad and the gang had run into the little boy that Chad had saved when he was trapped inside a bird. They had decided that Chad could catch up with them later so that e could be with his friend.

Later on Inoue had run into Masumoto, who had been recently running away from her Taicho. Grabbing Inoue quickly they had both disappeared both the others could say anything. Lastly Uryu and Toshiro had gone off after the girls so that Inoue wouldn't go back home drunk. Now all that was left was Rukia, and Ichigo who was having troubles breathing at the moment. *You know you could just admit it.* His hollow chimed in again. Ichigo felt as if a bomb we about to go off in his head. "Would you just leave me alone?" He screamed in his head, this time trying to shove the annoying hollow into the back of his mind, which seemed to be holding a resistance more than usual. *I can't, not when such a special day.* This made Ichigo stop. "What's today?" The hollow laughed back at him, *Haha! Are you really so dense to forget that today was your own birthday?* Suddenly it all made sense. Rukia's sudden appearance, why Byakuya had allowed him and his friends over. This was all for him wasn't it... Ichigo soon realized he had missed something that Renji had said.

While he had been bickering inside his head, Ichigo and Rukia had go into the manor found Renji and were now talking with tea in each of their hands. "Ichigo, are you okay?" Rukia asked, slight concern in her eyes.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine." Ichigo took another sip from his tea. *Smooth there hoss, for second there I thought were actually paying attention.* Ichigo again tried to shove the hollow back but with no prevail. Seeing the concerned looks on Rukia and Renji's faces again Ichigo tried to just zone out on the hollow. "I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"

They seemed to relax a bit after he had spoke, obviously relieved about something. "Well we were talking about going out to eat. That way we can catch up on a few things, considering that we haven't seen you in about three months." Renji stated, before taking a sip of tea.

"Yeah I would love to. Once we get the others back then we can definitely go out." All smiles they all went out to find the other three. It was easy actually, they had found them all together outside of a small restaurant. "Hey guys, wow it was easy to find you." They all nodded and smiled wider.

Deciding it was good to enter than to be standing out in the cold, they all sat in a booth that was near the back. "So Ichigo," Rukia began folding her arms in front of her, "Do you remember what today is?" The question didn't surprise him, not at all. Thanks to the hollow, it was no surprise. What would do if I cut out my tongue? Suddenly a voice filled Ichigo's head.

"Is that you hollow?" But there was no reply, in fact Ichigo couldn't sense anything from his hollow. Ichigo's sudden surprised expression seemed to make everyone smile, making them think that he had forgotten his own birthday. "Hollow?"

Their smiles were fading a bit so Ichigo forgot the hollow for second so that he could reply, "Oh dang! I completely forgot it was my birthday!" Suddenly the room was filled with streamers, and noise.

A banner fell from the ceiling, and nearly all of the taichos and other subordinates were there yelling, "Happy birthday!" Ichigo smiled, then laughed that he hadn't noticed their retesiu. "Thanks guys, this is great." Soon enough they all were celebrating by either drinking sake, or speaking with other friends.

(Inside Ichigo's inner world)

-It sounds like he's having a good time.- Zangetsu stated while silently listening to the party that was going on. The hollow however was sitting on the edge of one of the sideways skyscraper a frown on his normally happy face.

*Yeah, sounds like fun.* The hollows eyes were distant, and Zangetsu glanced at the sad hollow. Scowling the zampakto turned to him.

-What's wrong with you? Normally you'd jump at a chance to annoy Ichigo.- The swords eyes narrowed. -What are you planning?- Instead of an answer the hollow jumped up and turned right to the zampakto.

*Why do you care?* The hollow screamed then flash stepped away. Zangetsu blinked twice and stared after the hollow.

(Back at the party)

Ichigo had been speaking to Renji for the past hour before the redhead had been dragged off to join a sake drinking contest. Now the substitute shinigami was alone and he didn't mind it. He'd been hoping for a good moment when he could be alone so that he could speak with his hollow.

"Hollow?" Ichigo called out, hoping that the pale thing would reply.

*What do ya want king?* It sounded crueler than usual, his voice almost spitting out ice. Ichigo glanced around seeing if anyone was going to approach him. Seeing that no one would he asked.

"You alright? You didn't answer me last time." A wave of anger came in a rush, though it simmered when Ichigo had thrown it to the side.

*Why do you care? I'm just your annoying hollow who's always up to no good.* The hollow sounded hurt in a way that only Ichigo could have noticed, cause it was how he sometimes reacted with a hard blow metally.

"Do you need to talk about it?" There was a pause before the hollow replied.

*Yes, yes I really need to... But I want you here when I tell you.*

Ichigo had snuck off to a spare room that had a pretty comfortable floor that he could lay on. Closing his eyes he drifted off to his inner world. Opening his eyes he saw Zangetsu standing over him, along with a relieved hollow. *Ready?* Nodding Ichigo stood up.

"Zangetsu, don't follow us, and don't listen. This is between me and him." The sword nodded and walked away, disappearing into black specks as he did. "So tell me what's wrong." Ichigo knew that he had been mean to his hollow earlier today, but that didn't change the fact that the hollow inside him didn't have feelings.

The hollow seemed to toe the ground nervously, this was the first time that Ichigo had decided to care for the hollow. Taking a deep breath the hollow asked, *What would you do if I cut out my tongue?* The question was random, but the surprise on Ichigo's face though made it obvious that he hadn't expected it to come from the hollows mouth. Going on into his conversation, *Would you sew it back on? Or would you throw it away?* The hollow glanced at Ichigo from the side, *Knowing you, you'd throw it away so that I'd stop bothering you.* The hollow smiled when Ichigo's amazing got even bigger, *But what if I told you I'm the only reason you're alive today? What if I told you I was more than just your hollow?*

Ichigo walked forward, an almost hostile look on his face. This made the hollow frown, but instead of the shinigami attacking him he hugged him. The hollow's eyes widened, but he didn't push him away. "What do you mean hollow? How can you be more to me than a hollow?" The question wasn't a shock to the hollow, in fact he was hoping that Ichigo would ask.

The hollow put his hand on Ichigo's back before saying, *I'm your twin brother.*