Nighma: Four years after the war against Aizen in an AU in which Ichigo didn't lose his powers, life has seemingly gone back to as normal as possible for the 20-year-old. He is an A-grade student and seems to have everything in his life going well, even with the occasional Hollow showing up in Karakura Town. Nothing seems to be wrong...except one thing. His Hollow is as silent as the grave. He plans to change all of that and begins by doing something simple: calling out to it. But his Hollow doesn't seem to hear him as it doesn't respond. Until finally, his shouts reach his Hollow in the form of an echo.

I call Ichigo's Hollow "It". It'll be explained later...The titles of the chapters are inspired by song names and the overall theme of the story is an album of events called "Echo". I know my way of writing is a bit weird and unorthodox...

Rating: T for moderate themes; no pairings, but angst from Shiro. Maybe a bit OOC, but consider the situation, eh?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach. If I did, it would be HELLA better than it is. I only own the plot to this fic. I will only say this disclaimer once.

Chapter I: Matter

There was that sound again. That sound always came around at least once a day. Or was it...only once...? Was it even a day? Twice a week? Hour? Once a month? Year? The Hollow didn't know anymore. It scarcely even cared. It simply existed within this world, this hellish and insipid world within a world within the mind of a boy. Or what once was a boy...Was he a man, now?

...

It didn't matter.

Was this what it was like for Zangetsu before their King heard him? Last time it checked, their King still spoke to the old man. Perhaps it was because he was considered closer than it was to their King in every literal meaning. It didn't matter that it was also a part of their King's soul...

Shinigami and their Zanpakutō needed to have a strong bond. It was something as natural as bread and water. The only exception it knew of was that…beast…of a man…what was his name…? He had uncannily pointed black hair…a true lust for fighting…

Ah…it didn't matter…

It began to wonder now if anything mattered now. Huh…what were things that mattered, anyway? Fighting? Bloodshed? Fear? That was all it knew…but…that wasn't all it had ever seen…

…

Oh, well. It…really didn't matter anymore…

Ichigo sighed, banging his head on his desk. It really was no use. As much as he had studied, he wasn't ready for his finals. He lifted his head and closed his books, pushing them aside to the end of the table. He didn't even feel like studying anymore. The past week, his thoughts had been elsewhere, lingering on one matter and one matter only, amiss his situation.

Where was his Hollow? Or maybe the proper question was what had happened to his Hollow, because the last time he checked there was almost always a voice bouncing off the walls in his head…and it didn't belong to Zangetsu. It warbled and annoying…but it was another voice. Another voice. It was supposed to be his Hollow…but…why wasn't it speaking anymore?

Not even Zangetsu could reach his Hollow, and that was what actually concerned him. As much as he remembered not thinking very highly of his Hollow as far as another part of him went, it was still a part of him. He had accepted the fact that he couldn't get rid of it, but he managed to conquer it.

…Now that he thought about it, that was the last time it spoke…After that, it just made scoffs and laughs here and there…but didn't speak. And then the interjections became shorter and lesser before just disappearing altogether. If it wasn't for the fact that he could still summon his mask, he probably would have forgotten he was a Vizard altogether…

…That is…when he could summon his mask.

And that was the biggest concern of all, leading back to the beginning. Ichigo now discovered he could no longer summon his mask. He honestly didn't know when he started being unable to, be it using "rare" to explain how much he actually did wasn't an exaggeration. He had berated himself profusely when he realized that. But the more he thought about it, it wasn't that his Hollow was simply not talking to him anymore…it didn't even seem to EXIST anymore.

A sudden chill ran down Ichigo's spine when that thought hit him. But why…? Shaking his head before he wasted time answering that question, a sigh escaped him. No, he didn't need Zangetsu to remind him the many reasons why that could possibly be. A part of him was missing. And that was the problem.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he stood up from his chair and stretched before looking at the clock on the wall of his dormitory. It was an early Friday evening. Technically, he had all weekend to find some solution before heading back to his studies. That was perfect. Now all he had to do was get to Karakura Town and see if some special assistance was available.

He had moved from Karakura Town when he became eighteen. That was some while ago. He was twenty, now, and in his last year of collage. He kept his grades straight and most of the things he passed in were uninteresting to him. He simply attended the classes because he had to. Other classes he skipped…Pray tell, he was no real bookworm and was everything short of a genius. He was simply an above-average collage student with very good grades. No genius, whatsoever.

It had been agreed that he would move to Soul Society after he graduated. His father, who he discovered during the war was a Shinigami, had given him the okay when he was still in high school, senior year. And, yeah. Afterward, when everything was happy and gay, he actually became fairly and rightfully annoyed with his father upon discovering he was a Shinigami and the cause of all of his once-thought "abnormal" power and for never telling him so.

Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a Gikongan dispenser. Popping one of the round, green pills into his mouth, he swallowed, immediately pushing his Shinigami spirit out of his body. "Take care, Gringo!" he shouted at the Gikongan inhibiting his body as he flew out the open window.

By the powers that be, he disliked using the names of those Gikongan models.

It was a rather short but enjoyable trip to Karakura Town, just a few towns over. Without delaying any time, he could easily flash-step to the location of a Hollow when they appeared. But since there was no rush, he took his time, jumping though the air on reishi particles to an old shop in Karakura Town by the name of Urahara Shōten.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the shop's front. After two years, it didn't look different at all. Why was he not surprised? Approaching the front door, he made a small smile upon hearing familiar voices from within. He was just about to open the door when it opened for him.

He stared into the familiar face of a tall, very sturdy man with cornrows and wearing a blue apron…and sporting a strange mustache…"Kurosaki-san," he said sagely, deeply, giving the younger man a bow of the head. "It is good to see you again."

"You, too, Tessai-san," Ichigo replied, giving the bespectacled man a grin. "Is Urahara-san available?"

Humming deeply in affirmative, Tessai moved aside to allow him to enter and closed the door behind him.

The front of the store was surprisingly neat. Ichigo only took a few glimpses around before opening the back door. He was greeted by the familiar faces of Ururu, Jinta, Urahara, and even the modsoul Kon, still in his lion push body and seemingly asleep...Upon opening the door, he was immediately greeted by Urahara.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun!" the man greeted in his usual cheerful way. A sly look then appeared in his eyes. "What brings you here? You never come to visit anymore…" he added, flipping his fan over his mouth and most of his face.

Ichigo scoffed, sitting down at the table and placing his hands over his knees. "That's a poor attempt at lying, Urahara-san." Everyone knew he visited Karakura Town often, and not just because his father and sisters still lived there. Karakura Town was his home, after all.

The older man laughed in his way, removing his fan and his happy-go-lucky attitude returning. "Of course, of course." He waved his fan again. "Whatever is the matter?"

"I'm here specifically because…I have…a problem of some sort," Ichigo sighed, lowering his head and furrowing his brows. "I'm not even sure if you can help me. It's my Hollow." He then proceeded to explain the matter at hand. He didn't bother to add that he had just started noticing most of these things himself.

After he explained, Urahara sat there in contemplation, his fan lowered and his eyes shadowed by his hat. He stayed like that for some time, actually, causing Ichigo to become slightly agitated. Finally, he lifted his head. "To be honest, Kurosaki-san, I agree with you. This seems more like a matter you might have to carry out on your own," he said.

"…I thought you'd say that…" Ichigo muttered, sighing heavily.

This was one of the reasons why, during the time his Hollow was bothering him the first time, he didn't bother to go to Urahara. If he could have helped someway, he would have, as he always seemed to know when Ichigo was in need of something. It would have helped if he knew where the Vizards were. They had disappeared almost immediately after the war ended…

A little voice named his conscious nagged him a few times why he didn't join them when he had the chance. That little voice annoyed him, as he thought that it was absurd…but his conscious was obviously there for a reason, nagging him for some reason…

He tried not to think of a reason for it seeming so right.

He arrived at the city park a few minutes later. Too restless to return to his dorm, he jumped into a tree and situated himself on a thick branch before closing his eyes to ruminate. For starters, he really had no idea where to begin working on this matter. it seemed like a bit too sure, and his conscious kept on pining accusations against him, chiding him and reminding him that he wouldn't have been in this situation if only he wasn't so…oblivious. Careless.

…Foolish…

Bright light cascading across his closed eyelids awoke him from an abrupt slumber. Blinking his eyes open, he squinted into the light glaring at him from the rising sun. Tilting his head to the side, he yawned and stretched, wondering to himself how he didn't notice falling asleep…

…Then again, he had been cramming profusely for a day and a half, to no avail, of course. There was just too much on his mind…

Sitting upright, he closed his eyes briefly as he remembered the dream he had…it was, even while he dreamt, obscured and mysterious. It even had an ethereal feeling to it…and he saw his Hollow. It was outlined in red, its face blurred…but its smile was clearly visible. Though instead of its usual grin, or even a smirk, a nearly unfamiliar sort of sad glower was on its face. It then turned away, looking all the more morose, before disappearing into white matter.

Nighma: Breaks, breaks and more breaks...means time skip. I know this chapter is a bit weird...and that the word "matter" coming up multiple times is tedious...but it's important like that. I was going to give Urahara a larger role, and even give Kon some lines, but I was trying to make it short and to the point. I think the next chapter might be longer...

Please read and review!