A.n I own Nothing.

This is an idea iv'e had in my head for a while now, Also check out my other story Straw Hats Creed and it's sequel Straw Hats Creed - Grand Line

Speaking Regularly

Speaking Telepathically

It was finally over, Ichigo had defeated Muramasa and all of the Captains Zanpakutō had returned to normal. Zangetsu felt bad for trying to kill Ichigo and he knew that his master would forgive him but he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

The spirit of Ichigo's Zanpakutō was a tall lean-built, and stoic middle-aged man. He has pale skin, high cheekbones, stubble, and long ragged black hair. He wore a tattered white dress shirt with an upturned collar and cuffs, black pants, low-heeled boots, and a long, amorphous black overcoat that flares out into ragged ends. He had brown-tinted, semi-transparent wraparound sunglasses.

Ichigo saw it as a chance to prove himself and become stronger, but Zangetsu saw it as the ultimate betrayal he was supposed to guide and protect Ichigo, they were partners; sure Ichigo never visited him in his inner world except for when he'd need a power boost or learn a new technique.

Ichigo was just not that good at communicating, even among his human friends he had a tendency to hide his feelings; but every teen goes through that stage at some point. Despite what some of the other Shinigami said about Ichigo's concentration and basic knowledge on how to maintain his spiritual pressure. Ichigo and Zangetsu were quite close; after all he could not have mastered Banki if they weren't.

Zangetsu understood that Ichigo was independent and the fact that there was always the risk of his hollow taking over every time he came into his inner world, was reason enough for him to stay away; they could always communicate telepathically but Zangetsu never needed to before, he always knew what his Shinigami was thinking and feeling and Ichigo knew it.

Speaking of hollows, Ichigo's hollow hadn't been suppressed yet, in fact ever since their fight it had been watching the sword sprit very closely. The hollow was identical to Ichigo, he was fairly tall and lean with white skin and hair. His eyes were bright yellow; he wore a white Shinigami uniform with a black cloth belt.

At first Zangetsu thought it was because Muramasa was still around and if he could manipulate Zangetsu once then it might be possible to do again; thankfully that hadn't been the case. But Muramasa had been defeated three days ago, Ichigo had fully recovered from the incident and was going to go home tomorrow, so why was the Hollow still here?

"Aren't you supposed to be in the lowest levels of the soul?" Zangetsu asked.

"And take my eyes of you? No way," the hollow answered.

"Are you planning on trying anything?"

"I could ask you the same, who do you, think the king is going to trust more now? I'll give you a hint: it's the spirt that's not you," HIchigo smirked.

Zangetsu turned and faced the Hollow, he glared at him.

"You think I would harm Ichigo,"

"I think you already have, we both know he doesn't like traitors. You know the only difference between you and Azien? He can't kill you,"

That was a low blow and the hollow new it. Zangetsu turned away from the Hollow spirt, he really hated him, Zangetsu tried to connect to Ichigo through their bond to inform him that his Hollow still needed to be suppressed. He was greatly surprised to find that he could not get through.

"What's the matter old man, is the king ignoring you?" Hichigo goaded.

Zangetsu ignored the other spirt and pushed harder on the bond but he was still blocked off. Had Ichigo really cut him off? Did this mean that they were no longer partners? If Zangetsu couldn't reach Ichigo then how would his master access his powers in battle? Without the connection Ichigo could not use the Getsua Tensho or Banki. He gave a wary glace at the hollow spirt behind him.

Without the connection the Hollow could easily take over.

Ichigo was sitting on his bed in the fourth squad barracks, after the fight with Muramasa he'd been treated by Captain Unohana. He is a fairly tall, lean-built young man with peach skin and brown eyes. He wore the standard Shinigami uniform, with the addition of a red rosary-like strap across his chest Ichigo's most distinguishing feature is his spiky orange hair.

Despite the fact that he felt fine he really didn't want to tempt his fate and had willingly stayed in bed until he'd been cleared to leave. Captain Unohana was just finishing her latest check-up.

Unohana was a slender and very youthful woman with blue eyes and black hair. She wears the standard Shinigami captain uniform. Her hair is long and was worn as a large braid down the front of her body

"Well Kurosaki, your fully healed," The forth Captain announced.

"Really, thanks Unohana. I can't wait to get home," Ichigo said happily.

"Your sprit pressure is still not back up to what it should be but you have so much of it I'm not that worried. Just don't go Banki for a day or two,"

"That's no problem; most of the Hollows around Kakara town are pretty weak. So unless an Arancer shows up, I won't need it,"

"Well that's good to hear; now I'll leave you to rest. Good night Kurosaki,"

Unohana turned to leave.

"Hey hold on don't you mean good-bye? I'm going home remember,"

"Not until tomorrow you're not. You still could benefit from one more night's sleep,"

"But…"

"You still could benefit from one more night's sleep," the Captain repeated, Ichigo could swear he saw a murderess aura around her. It sent chills up his spine, no one agued with Unohana when she got like this not even the head Captain.

"Right…Goodnight Unohana," Ichigo replied.

The scary captain left to check on her other patients. Ichigo lay on the bed and glanced over at his Zanpakutō, the knife shaped sword was next to the end of his bed. He wounded how Zangetsu was holding up, he really hoped his inner hollow wasn't giving the old man a hard time; his hollow could be a massive prick sometimes.. Most of the time... Okay all of the time.

'Maybe I should see if he's alright' Ichigo thought but then he remembered Unohana's glare 'Umm I think I'll wait till tomorrow. Yeah that's a good idea,'

Ichigo went straight to sleep.

The next morning Ichigo headed back to the world of the living. He was seen of by his friends Rukia and Renji, the captains of squad 13, 6 and 10 were also there to wish him well. Ruika and Renji were among the few Shinigami that helped him in the human world but they weren't going back with him, they were going to help rebuild the sentrii before they would re-join him in the Human world.

They told him that they would keep him informed if there were any unusual side effects from Muramasa's power. Ichigo left rather quickly all of a sudden and just as the gate closed the eleventh squad captain walked over.

"Oi has anyone seen Ichigo? He still owes me a rematch," Zaraki asked.

Ichigo emerged in the human world a few minutes later, he flew straight home looking forward to his younger sisters cooking. When he made it back the house was empty, he climbed in through his bed room window and looked for any sign of his family. Ichigo hoped that they hadn't gone on some family holiday; he shuddered at the thought of Kon at the beach.

Ichigo noticed the clock on the kitchen wall; it read 8:45 am. Ichigo suddenly dashed out of the house and using his flash step he raced in the direction of his school, of all the days he had to come back why did it have to be a Monday. Along the way he was desperately searching for Kon.

Kon was the perverted Mod Soul that inhabited his body while he was off doing soul reaper business, he always attended school for Ichigo because of all the young high school girls, Ichigo had gotten a bad reputation among the students thanks to Kon. Though his grades had improved because Isida had told him that women found smart men attractive.

Ichigo spied Kon walking up to the school gates; he was approaching a group of older girls with a leachy look on his face. Ichigo scowled and picked up speed, he grabbed his body and dashed behind the side of the school leaving a gust of wind in his wake and some very confused students.

"Oi you basterd, what do you think your…" Kon started but stopped when he realised who he was taking to.

"Kon what did you think you were doing?" Ichigo threatened.

"I…I…Ichigo your back, is Ruika with you?"

"No she stayed behind to help clean up, now you're going to give me my body back,"

"Nooooooooooooo…" Kon screamed dramatically, as Ichigo tapped him with his soul reaper badge. His body went limp and a small green pill came out of his mouth, it rolled on the ground. Ichigo went back inside his body and tested it.

"Good no damage this time," he noted.

Ichigo picked up the small green pill and pocketed it; he then made his way to his first class. Along the way he bumped into his human friends Chad, Ohrime and Ishida.

Chad was a tall teenage boy of Mexican and Japanese descent. He had dark-skinn, wavy brown hair with bangs that generally hangs over his brown eyes. He is a muscular and appeared to be much older than he actually is

Orihime was a teenage girl of average height. She has brown eyes and long, waist-length, burnt orange hair.

Ishida was a teenage boy of average height and slender build. He has straight, chin-length black hair framing both sides of his face, fair-skinned with blue eyes and wore glasses.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?" Ichigo asked.

His friends turned to greet him and welcome him back, after the first time Ichigo had left Kon to handle things at school his friends had instantly known that it was not Ichigo and when he came back they didn't know it was him ether.

So Ichigo had come up with a phrase he'd say every time he swapped out with Kon, the phrase was "What did I miss?" it could be taken as a general greeting and unless a person knew the true meaning behind it anyone over hearing would not think it anything else then a greeting between friends.

"Oh your back," Ishida said dryly.

"Kurosaki is Ruikla okay?" Orihime asked concerned.

"Yeah she's fine now, some major shit went down,"

"Was it Azien?" Chad asked.

"Nope, I'll tell you about it at lunch," Ichigo said and sat down as his teacher came in and began the lesson.

As the teacher droned on and on about a subject previously covered Ichigo could not help but let his mind wander, it had happened before and on most occasions he started a telepathic conversation with Zangetsu and this time was no different.

"Man didn't we cover this last month?" Ichigo said through his bound.

He didn't get a response.

"Hello old man? I'm not paying attention…"

Again no response, that in itself was worrying. Zangetsu always answered back and he'd often tell Ichigo to pay closer attention in class. Even at home if he was board or stuck on his homework Zangetsu always answered his call.

In Ichigo inner world Zangetsu and Hichigo had been in intense staring contest for the last twelve hours and neither sprit was willing to back down. Suddenly the hollow broke eye contact and looked towards the sky.

"Idiot, no wonder his grades are slipping," Hichigo stated.

"What do you mean?" Zangetsu asked suspiciously.

The hollow stared back at him blankly, slowly a sly grin appeared on his face.

"You can't hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"The Kings voice, he's trying to start a conversation with you. In Class,"

Zangetsu froze, he knew they were back in the Human world but he had no idea that Ichigo had gone to school.

"You're lying; if he was talking through our bond I would hear him,"

"Yeah well you can't and I can. So does this mean that I get to be his favrioute?"

"What does he want?"

"Oh that annoying teacher is going over something already covered. I think he's just trying to pass the time,"

"Tell him to pay attention, it could be important and there could be a test coming up,"

"I would but I can't talk back to him. A horse dose not question where he's led after all,"

Zangetsu looked up at the sky, this was not good, if he could no longer hear Ichigo's voice then maybe the bound was starting to shift towards the Hollow, if that was the case the Hollow would become Ichigo's primary source of power. It would explain why he still hadn't been suppressed and if that were the case then it would only be a matter of time before he took over for good.

At Lunch Ichigo told his friends about the Zanpakutō rebellion and how Zangetsu had also rebelled against him. They were understandably shocked but Ichigo also told them that it had been Muramasa brainwashing that had caused the problem and not the Zanpakutō themselves.

"So is Zangetsu still under this Muramasa's control?" Chad asked.

"Nope, I fixed that. He even told me that I saved him," Ichigo responded.

"How did this Muramasa take over your swords mind anyway? Aren't they supposed to be a manifestation of a soul reapers power?" Ishida asked seriously.

"Well Muramasa was a Zanpakutō to begin with. His ability was to awaken a Zanpakutō instinct and turns it against the wielder,"

"So how did you save Zangetsu?" Orihime asked.

"I fought him and beat him in a fight; he was fine after that,"

His friends stared at him, they had never actually met Zangetsu but it sounded like Ichigo was acting like a bully.

"Umm isn't that a bit harsh and unfair," Orihime pointed out.

"Nah Renji did the same to his sword. In fact it was because of that the others realised that the only way to save our Zanpakutō was to beat them into submission," Ichigo explained.

Though it hadn't explained why Zangetsu wasn't answering him.

"I'm sensing a "but" here," Chad said.

"Yeah I was just thinking I almost pity the Arrancer. Now that I've been on the receiving end of Zangetsu attacks, it almost makes me feel sorry for them," Ichigo joked.

The rest of the day passed without incident and thankfully no Hollows showed up either, Ichigo tried several times to get Zangetsu attention but each time was he was met with silence, in the end he gave up. Maybe he was suffering from a side effect of Muramasa's control, if that was the case he'd have to go back to the Soul Society and see if they could help, even if it meant a trip to squad 12. As Ichigo walked home from school he decided if Zangetsu was still ignoring him by tomorrow after school he'd go and see Urahara for advice and if he could not help he'd pay a visit to Captain Kurotsuchi.

In the inner world the Hollow was laughing his ass off, he'd been at it for a while now and it was getting on Zangetsus nerves.

"Will you please stop that and tell me what's so funny," Zangetsu pleaded irritably.

"Sorry old man but it looks like you might getting an upgrade," Hichigo said between laughs.

"Meaning,"

"Meaning King thinks there's something wrong with you. If you don't respond by tomorrow afternoon he's going to hand you over to squad 13,"

"What? Ichigo would never…"

"That's what the king is thinking right now…wait you can't even tell what he's thinking anymore? I hope you're not getting senile old man," Hihigo finished and laughed even harder.

Zangetsu had had enough; he left the other sprit alone and waked off in frustration. Ichigo was going to hand him over to that crazy scientist that was obviously a lie. But on the off chance that he would then… no that was not going to happen, he still had time he just needed to re-establish the bound with his reaper.

Zangetsu stopped walking when he was sure he was far enough away from the hollow and sat down he took a deep breath and searched for the link between himself and Ichigo, it was still there.

"Good, as long as I can sense the link there is still hope," Zangetsu told himself.

Focusing on the link he tried to get Ichigo's attention, it failed. He tried again but with a little more power, again nothing on the third try Zangetsu raised his spiritual presser to just under what was needed for a Banki release, he was glowing a bright blue as the power travelled up through the bond.

"What the F*** do you think you're doing?" Hichigo yelled at him he was running towards him at incredible speed; probably to see why the old man was giving off so much power.

Zangetsu ignored him and continued to push through the bond, he would get Ichigo's attention if it was the last thing he did. The hollow raced towards the sword sprit.

"I knew it your still possessed. You still want to kill the King," Hicigo yelled, he drew his sword and was about to slice Zangetsu in two when a bright light engulfed the sword sprit.

The light was so bright that even the hollow was blinded for a few seconds. When the Light faded Zangetsu was gone.

"What the F***?" Hichigo asked.