"You're a piece of shit, Kurosaki!" The tall man spat into Ichigo's face. Gajine, that was his name, and he was quickly climbing Ichigo's list of most annoying people. Gajine was a tall, chubby man with a thin beard and small eyes. He and Ichigo had first met about a month ago, when Ichigo had caught the man trying to steal from Yuzu at the mall. Ichigo, of course, handed the man his ass on a silver platter, but it seemed that humiliation hadn't taught Gajine his lesson.

Now Gajine was trying to get his revenge on the bright haired Kurosaki-boy. Gajine had gathered two other crooks to help corner Ichigo in the alleyway. One was a skinny man named Kaito, who had purple and green hair. The other was a man named Ushiro, who looked similar to Gajine but lacked any facial hair. The three of them had snuck up on Ichigo, which mind you was not easy to do. It mainly consisted of Gajine causing a distraction while Ushiro and Kaito grabbed Ichigo from behind. It would have been easy for the 21 year old, Substitute Shinigami to break free, if it hadn't been for the knife one of the jocks had pressed to the back of his neck.

Ichigo settled to smirking. "Why don't you just let me go, Gajine? We both know how this ends, with you running home to your mommy!" Why couldn't Ichigo just learn to not be so cocky when in situations like this?

It was too late to take back his words. They had done their work; Ichigo could see anger spiking in Gajine's eyes. Saliva spilled past Ichigo's lips as he was punched in the stomach. Gajine wasn't satisfied until he saw ruby droplets dripping from Ichigo's chin.

"Fuck you!" Gajine suddenly spat.

Ichigo flinched, and gave Gajine his best glare. He could feel the red liquid rolling over his skin, but it was something he'd become accustomed to. It hardly fazed him.

"What is with you?" Gajine seemed to be reaching into his back pocket for something, but he'd stopped as he locked eyes with Ichigo. "Your eyes don't even seem scared…" Why did Ichigo always get into trouble because of his eyes? "What does it take, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo blinked. "What does it take to do what?"

Gajine sneered, something akin to a growl leaving his throat. He grabbed Ichigo harshly by his chin. "What does it take to break you?"

Ichigo shook out of the hold and spat in Gajine's face. He felt the knife on the back of his throat bite at his skin. Ichigo's teeth clenched down on his tongue, suffocating his hiss of pain. He refused to show even a glimpse of despair to these men. Gajine looked to the men behind Ichigo, and pointed to the ground. He was shoved to his knees and no sooner than a second later a foot collided with his side. Ichigo grinned, silencing his pain by gritting his teeth, as each kick dug deeper and deeper into his flesh. Ichigo kept smiling, even when he was positive something had broken in two.

Gajine finally stopped after Ichigo's blood began to pool on the ground.

"We should go…" Ushiro spoke, "He's lucky to live after losing all that blood."

Gajine still had a crazed look to his eyes. "No." Was his simple response. After a moment of silence, he added, "It's time for people like Ichigo to learn their place. There are no heroes in this world…" Gajine's hand returned to his pocket, where he drew a long pocket knife. "Let's play a game… it's called, 'Does the carpet match the drapes?'"

Gone was the worrisome, anger-driven Gajine. In his eyes all Ichigo could see was blood-lust. The rest was an empty shell. Ichigo's grin faltered as the knife came dangerously close to his eyes. He'd felt that pain before, and he didn't want to again. He sighed quietly in relief as the point of the knife instead touched his cheek, dragging down the side of his face until it stopped at his throat.

"Hold him down."

The other two had gone silent. Ichigo could feel them shaking in fear as his arms were twisted in a near-impossible position. He tried to struggle, to break free, but two knives now threatened his life. His face crashed against the gravel on the ground. He could smell faint smoke from the cigarette butts that had been tossed to the ground and forgotten.

There was nothing else other than shock that could describe how Ichigo felt next.

Ichigo's shirt was ripped off and used to bind his arms to a ladder, in the same painful position as earlier. Hands appeared on his hips and he immediately kicked out in protest. A blade to his back stopped him. Ichigo's teeth dug into his lip, forcing blood. Gajine cut off Ichigo's pants, leaving him in only his boxers. Ichigo didn't cry, but he did curse, "Don't you even think about it! Bastard!"

Gajine didn't hesitate - even after Ichigo's threatening words - to pull Ichigo's underwear down to his ankles. Gajine's tongue clicked in approval, "Well, Kurosaki. It seems I was wrong. Your hair is natural… you're orange all around." Ichigo tensed, and then released a soft growl as his legs were pulled apart by Ushiro and Kaito. He squeezed his eyes shut, white hot rage blinding his vision.

Ichigo suddenly felt sick, like the world was moving too fast for him to follow. His heart thudded rapidly in his chest, pumping something twisted through his veins. All he could feel was rage and anger and hatred. He let out a laughter that wasn't his, thick with venom and laced with the promise of death. The air became heavy with it's presence, Ichigo's monster. It acted like a poison that infected the young Kurosaki with a bold animosity. "You're gonna die." He promised, before the feeling escaped him.

Ichigo sensed his presence before he heard him.

"I'm not very patient, so I'll only give you three seconds to run before I slaughter you." That wasn't just a threat, it was promise, but it carried a weight that only Ichigo truly understood.

"Run!" Ichigo shouted, "Get out of here, now!"

"Ha! Nice try Kurosaki… your friend doesn't scare us." Ichigo heard Gajine's voice. It was slowly drowned by a gargle of what sounded like someone trying to breathe under water. Ichigo felt the grip on his legs vanish, and he immediately brought them close to his chest. Safe.

He turned to look, and found Gajine choking on his own blood. His throat had been ripped out. A small grin tugged at Ichigo's lips, but it quickly vanished when he realized his Inner Hollow was staring right at him. That was the first time Ichigo had truly noticed the extent of the insanity in those glowing yellow orbs. Zangetsu's eyes pulsed with cruelty, making Gajine's eyes earlier seem almost innocent in comparison.

Ichigo heard the grunts and screams of the other two men, and his head immediately snapped in their direction. Zangetsu was already there, sword in hand. Blood dripped from the end as Ushiro's head dropped to the ground. Zangetsu pinned Kaito to the building by his neck. The Hollow – that Ichigo was pretty sure now qualified as a demon – leaned in to Kaito's neck. One word left his colourless lips, "Beg."

The man screamed and tears poured down his cheeks. "Oh god! Please! Have mercy! Don't hurt me! Don't kill me! Please!"

Zangetsu squeezed his hand hard enough that the man's collar bone cracked. The man screamed and sobbed, begging for his life. With nothing more than a tsk, Zangetsu carved out his heart.

Yellow eyes turned to Ichigo, and the Shinigami flinched. "Boy, ya must've been desperate t'summon me out 'ere. Then again, I think it's reasonable after seeing the state you're in."

Ichigo's fear immediately returned to rage. "You killed them!"

"I let them off easy, is what I did." Ichigo shivered as Zangetsu walked towards him, dragging his stained Tensa Zangetsu along the ground. Ichigo hadn't even realised that his Hollow was in his Bankai until this very moment, and then Zangetsu let it fade back to his Shikai. "They did an awful number on ya, King, but don't worry… I'm gonna take care of ya now."

"Like hell you are! Don't touch me!" Ichigo squirmed, but ultimately stopped protesting when cool hands appeared on his shoulders. The touch was so gentle, so different, that it made Ichigo realize just how sore his limbs had become. He'd felt so powerless before, but with Zangetsu close he didn't feel as… scared.