Ha ha ha, I am so stupid. I should seriously be working on other stories. (I am, expect an update for Guardian soon.) If you followed this account for my friend's writings, this story might not be for you.

This fanficition idea has been haunting me for months. High school entrance exam preparation has been stopping me from being able to write creative writing though. Now that it is finally almost over, I can really work on these now!

The plot of Bleach is slightly different here from the actual series, so it is slightly AU. Some characters are also probably really OOC.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and its characters. Nor do I own Rise Against's song, "But Tonight We Dance". I also do not own the lyrics. This story is for entertainment only is not for profit.

But Tonight We Dance

Rise Against

Breath deep and easy, swallow this pride.

Stare at my shaking hands through bone-dry, blood shot eyes.

Clocks drip the hours, I count the miles.

Will you be there waiting, awake until sunrise?

It should have been simple. Get in, bust some heads, grab my hostage friend, and get out. Sure the bubbly girl is safe, back where ever we came from. So is everyone else on that deadly, suicidal rescue mission into the heart of enemy grounds. Everyone else but me.

Who were they? I used to remember their names. Those names are gone now, replaced by the a blank whiteness, white like the confining walls. At night as I sleep, sometimes, I remember a man with spiky, tied back, red hair. By his side, a much shorter girl with deep raven black hair and suffocating purple eyes marches on the sifting bone-white sand. A silent giant stands in the back, following a black haired boy in white and blue clothing.

What are their names?

It has been so long now, months according to Zangetsu when he is able to slip past the barrier created by the reiatsu suppressing collar. We are not certain. Even the hollow is at a loss. I just counted the number of times I fall asleep. Keep losing track. Eventually I just gave up.

Escape is also futile. Zangetsu's zanpakuto form is far away, locked somewhere undetectable. The door is locked, melting into the thick walls. There are no windows; the only light in the room is from lamps in the ceiling. Screwed into the floor and walls, the desk is useless as an escape tool. By some strange mechanism, the chair always stays on the floor, constantly avoiding the walls. Cannot use the chair as a battering ram, pity. The couch is too heavy to lift, and the bed is immovable.

I've tried screaming at the walls hollering to be let out. No one hears me outside. I stopped after what felt like several months.

During my waking hours, there is nothing to do. I pace, certain the white floor is wearing under my restless feet. Sometimes I just lie on the soft, white bed, conversing with the hollow. Even when he does not want to talk, I force him to. It is too quiet, too white, otherwise.

I have traveled in darkness, for what seems like days,

I come from the sinkholes, collapsed under this weight.

I know not your sorrow, but I know mine,

So say you'll stay and dance with me tonight.

My inner hollow used to try to kill me every time I bothered him. Not anymore. Both Zangetsu and the hollow talk with me. There was nothing better to do in the dull blue, sideways city of skyscrapers.

It is useless for him to try to take over. Once long ago, he did seize control. His efforts were rewarded by quick and blinding pain. Electricity and reiatsu shot out from the infernal collar. Everyone was knocked out; for how long, there was no way to tell.

Now he grudgingly sits and is moderately civil; far different from when I first met him. Only when we spar does his original self come out again with its crackling grins and mocking, golden eyes.

In the glow of twilight, our world is finally calm.

I felt it complete me, when the stars give way to dawn.

A language universal, but I speak not its tongue.

Is this a night that spans forever, or a dawn that never comes.

A strange pink-haired man with bone like glasses stopped by my cell. He led me away, through cold halls and up and down long flights of stairs. Sometimes through a window, I catch a glimpse of sunlight illuminating pale dunes. Otherwise, back in the dreary hallways again.

My hollow is wary of the man, suspicious of his actions. I am not as worried, but then again, I have never met him before how should I know what he is like.

Finally, we reach our destination, a clean, neat room with tools and screens everywhere. His smile has a hungry sadistic hint as I am forced into a chair. I cannot fight back as he drags me by the thin, white collar around my neck.

Connected to strange equipment, I am at the mercy of a madman. The world dissolves into static filled darkness.

I have traveled in darkness, for what seems like days,

I come from the sinkholes, collapsed under this weight.

I know not your sorrow, but I know mine.

So say you'll stay and dance with me tonight.

I wake up again in my room. A new surprise awaits me; sitting and fuming on the couch is my hollow. His pale body clad in the form fitting white clothing easily blends into the bleached surroundings. Empty golden eyes swimming in black follows my moves and a hand fidgets with a collar identical to mine. We are prisoners, chained to the stifling walls around us.

Eating our meals together, it feels odd that he now has his own body. I do not know why he should not though. Instantly horror struck, I do not remember anything from my past: not my friends, my enemies, how long I have been here, why I am here, where we are. All that remains is our names, the fact that Zangetsu is a zanpakuto, this is my room, the hollow used to live in my soul, and I should not try any funny business like leaving the room. He does remember our past life though; but he is not sharing. I wish he does, for no matter how hard I think, everything is a blank slate, waiting to be rewritten.

After reassuring me that things are not too bad, he sits on the floor and stretches. I do not join and just lay on the bed, thinking about nothing. Finally we both tire of these activities and we fall asleep: me on the bed and him on the couch.

Tomorrow we might wake in servitude and silence

I will give you everything if only you would have me

Tomorrow we will sweat and toil,

Our hands will quiver caked with soil,

Tomorrow we'll give it one last chance,

But tonight we dance,

But tonight we dance!

Time passes painfully slow. Finally, long after first losing my memories, a brown haired man with imposing eyes stepped through the door. Something deep inside my mind says that I know him, but I do not remember. He tells me that I have been in the room for over a year. Over a year. Wow. Then he asked if we would like to be finally free of the room and join him - fight in his army. Leaving the room sounds great to me; fighting sounds great to the pale hollow. Over a year without both is much to long. We exchange a quick glance before nodding to the man. He smiled and called himself Aizen Sousuke. Aizen leaves the room, and we gladly follow. At least I do. The hollow still regards him with an air of suspicion.

And for this, I travel in darkness, for what seems like days,

I come from the sinkholes, collapsed under this weight.

I know not your sorrow, but I know mine.

Just say you'll stay and dance with me tonight.

BTW, one extremely important thing, Ichigo's gender is debatable right now. When I first came up with the story Ichigo was a girl. Right now I am not so certain. That is why Ichigo's gender is never mentioned. (The advantages of using first person XD)

I also want to give Ichigo's hollow a name. Not just any of the really common names people use for him, I want a really interesting name. (Right now I am thinking Rokushi but I am open to suggestions. The word black in Japanese is Kuro and white is Shiro or something like that. I'm not Japanese, I do not know. I just but the "ro" part in the front and got Rokushi. XD)

Since this story is going to be written in a series of songfics, song suggestions will be great.

So leave you thoughts in a review or message, it will be greatly appreciated. (If I do not get much input on the matter, Ichigo is going to be a girl and the hollow's name is going to be Rokushi and expect lots of less well known songs XD)

See you with the next chapter,

~dorandsugar