Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, its characters, or its plot. I do, however, own my OC and her story. So no touchy :)

Chapter 2: The Breaking Point

Ichigo is very preoccupied today. He just sits there staring off into space. It's got me worried. I bite my lip as I wonder what he could be thinking about. I suppose the most obvious answer would be what happened last night. His fight with Shinji never came to anything more than a few blows, but who knows what Shinji said to him. And then there was that other spiritual pressure that appeared and defeated one of those massive Hollows. It was a definitely a Soul Reaper, but I have no idea who.

Or could it be…Ichigo isn't still mad at me about yesterday is he? That would be stupid. I mean, yea, we snapped at each other, but it's not like it was a real fight or anything. And everything was fine this morning…no. I'm lying. It wasn't it. Ichigo still came to walk to me to school and he smiled and everything when he saw me, but something was definitely off. I'm not sure what, but…

My heart twists painfully at the thought that Ichigo could still be mad at me. I sneak another glance at him out of the corner of my eye. He doesn't notice. Please tell me he isn't still mad at me.

The door to the classroom slides open followed by Orihime's cheery greeting. "Hello everyone! Good morning Ichigo!"

I turn around just in time to see Shinji appear beside her. "Hello Ichigo!" he shouts, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

"Oh! Shinji! Good morning," Orihime says, turning to him and looking startled.

"Orihime!" Shinji crows. "You remembered my name!" He then throws his arms around her in a hug that's probably too intimate to be appropriate. I have to resist the urge to slam my palm against my face. Surely he wasn't always this big of an idiot.

Shinji's hug does not go down well. Keigo immediately starts throwing a fit and Chizuru…let's just say she'd probably be a match for Tatsuki right now.

Things carry on like this for several minutes before Ichigo suddenly stands. I can't see his eyes, but I can tell how angry he is by the set of his mouth. And the spiritual pressure rolling off him…it nearly suffocates me. "W-wait, Ichigo," I say, making a grab for his hand.

Whether I miss or he avoids it I'll never know, but he stalks towards the back of the classroom nonetheless. "Come out here for a second Hirako,"* Ichigo growls, grabbing Shinji's shirt and dragging him from the classroom.

This is not good. I stand too. "Are you ok?" I ask Orihime as I pause beside her.

"Yea I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be ok?" she questions, puzzled.

I give her my best reassuring smile. It only seems to confuse her more. "Don't worry about it."

Orihime exchanges glances with Chad and even Uryuu, who seems quite preoccupied today as well. Also not good. They've noticed too. Things are about to get a lot more complicated. Suddenly extremely anxious about what Ichigo and Shinji are doing I head out into the hallway to find them.

When I do Ichigo has Shinji slammed up against one of the railways outside on one of the raised walkways that connect the school buildings. I pause around the corner. I can hear what they're saying, but just barely. I lean around the corner a tiny bit and sneak a quick peak. Shinji's got that damn Cheshire grin on again, but it's much more sinister. And Ichigo…I don't think I've ever seen him look so afraid before. Anxiety makes my stomach twist uncomfortably.

**"Oh come now, Ichigo, don't tell me you haven't already noticed. Your inner Hollow is slowly starting to take over. It's already so powerful you can barely control it."

I have to slap my hand over my mouth to keep from gasping out loud. Shinji…he's just full of shit, right? Right? But with the way Ichigo's eyes open at Shinji's words, the dread that crosses his face…no, please tell me this isn't true!

"You should come with me, Ichigo. I'll show you how to save your sanity."**

As I lean back against the wall I keep my hand over my mouth. My stomach…I feel like I'm going to be sick. That's how angry and afraid I feel. This can't be true…I don't want it to be true! Not Ichigo…please not Ichigo. But it would certainly explain why Ichigo's been so preoccupied. A few of Wakana's memories flash through my mind and I start shivering. It's so awful…There has to be something I can do to help him!

"Stay away from me!" Ichigo's snarled response has me peeking back around the corner again. He shoves Shinji roughly up against the barrier again and walks away, heading in the opposite direction from me. He's so tense his shoulders have started to tremble. Ichigo…

Shinji stands, fussing with his tie and shirt. "Jerk," he mutters, glancing at Ichigo's retreating back. His eyes turn to me as I stop a few feet away from him. He throws the stupidly cheerful smile he had when he came into the classroom this morning back on. "Taylor! You came to check on me, how sweet!"

"Leave Ichigo alone."

"I'm sorry? I didn't quite catch that."

"I said, leave Ichigo alone!" What I intended to be a quiet command turns into a shout as I lose my hold on my temper. Ichigo doesn't need this shit from Shinji. He doesn't need to be hounded about joining the Vizards, about how he's going to lose control to his Hollow. Especially if that's what's really happening. I hate seeing that expression of terror on Ichigo's face. He shouldn't ever look like that.

Shinji's expression falls again, his eyes suddenly hard and his mouth a thin, grim line. "Didn't I say something about this yesterday? About staying out of business that isn't yours?" I can't stop myself from flinching at the dangerous tone in Shinji's voice.

The corners of Shinji's mouth turn upwards in a cruel smile. "You're concern for Ichigo is certainly endearing, but this doesn't have anything to do with you. And if you keep trying to get in my way—"

"Wakana Tsukino."

Genuine surprise flashes across Shinji's face. "What?"

"Wakana Tsukino. That name means something to you doesn't it?"

"Yes, but—"

"I'm the human that she gave her powers to."

Shinji's face is blank of everything except for shock for a moment. Then his eyes narrow. "You don't say. Interesting. That would certainly explain a few things. But that doesn't tell me how you knew who I was yesterday." He watches me expectantly.

I take a deep breath before I tell him. Who knows how he's going to take it? "She gave me her memories by accident too."

Shinji doesn't look surprised this time. Just intrigued. "I see. Well that is definitely interesting. I take it she's dead then?" I nod in response. Shnji's expression turns faintly sad. "That's too bad. I hope you don't have any intentions of taking her place though. We didn't want her back."

I snort. "Trust me I don't want to join you guys," I snap irritably. "I don't have her powers anymore anyways."

Shinji looks surprised again. "You don't? How come?"

I intend to just say it. But I don't think I can just say. It comes out as hiss, the rage and hate dripping from my lips and making them burn. "Aizen."

A dark shadow of anger crosses Shinji's face before it suddenly changes to carefully controlled blankness. He's not fooling anyone though. Every single muscle in his body is pulled so tight they seem like they're about to snap. Suddenly he exhales and let's everything go, the motion seeming to drain his energy. "You don't say…"

"Yea…"

Shinji mentally shakes himself. "Well, if you have Wakana's memories then I'm sure you know how it is to go through the Hollowfication process and—"

"That's exactly why I want you to leave Ichigo alone." Shinji blinks uncomprehendingly at me. "He's got enough shit to deal with without you bothering him about this all the time. He doesn't want to join the Vizards, so just leave him alone. He's way too stubborn and he's never going to do it just because you tell him he should. And besides that he's strong. He can handle his Hollow just fine without your help. He'll be fine!"

This last bit was meant to convince Shinji but, as a small corner of my mind whispers, it was really me trying to convince myself. Ichigo is strong, I know that without a doubt. But can he really handle his Hollow on his own? Can he fight the madness and win without the Vizard's help? Idiot! Of course he can, what are you thinking? This is Ichigo we're talking about!

My clenched and shaking fists betray my doubt.

Shinji cocks his head to the side for a moment before suddenly turning around. I jump slightly, taken a back. "Ok, fine, you win. I'll leave him alone," Shinji says airily, waving a hand carelessly as he walks away. "If he's as tough as you say he is I'm sure he'll be fine."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Thank goodness he finally listened.

"But!" When I look back up Shinji is throwing me another Cheshire grin over his shoulder. "I wonder…what're you going to do that will help him?"

Too confused to come up with an answer to that, I stay silent as Shinji disappears around a corner and out of sight.

…

The rest of the day is quiet. Ichigo returns halfway through fist period looking strangely emotionless and true to his word Shinji leaves him alone. But unfortunately for me his words won't leave me alone.

"I wonder…what're you going to do that will help him?"

The problem is I have no idea. My mind has run in circles all day trying to figure it out. At first I tried to convince myself that Ichigo will be fine, that he's strong enough to handle this on his own. But every time I'd see his face as Shinji told him that he knew he could barely control his Hollow. He was so frightened… There's no way that I can doubt that Shinji was right.

So then I tried to figure out what I could do. I don't think talking would do much good. It might help him keep his sanity for a little while longer, but in the end the result would still be the same. I could try to help him control it, but, honestly, how the hell am I going to do that? I don't even have my powers anymore.

So, finally, I've come to the one and only logical conclusion. Somehow I've got to convince Ichigo to go the Vizards. It freaking pisses me off, but I don't know what else to do. I know they can help because all of them can control their Hollows now. Ichigo won't like it and I wish he didn't need their help, but I also know what will happen to Ichigo if he doesn't do something. And I don't ever want to see him go through that.

So I begin our walk home extremely nervous as I try to figure out a way to broach the subject. Ichigo hasn't said more than a few words to anyone since he came back to class and he seems completely lost in thought. It makes me shiver to know that he's not alone in his head.

I suppose that's what really motivates me to speak.

"Ichigo."

Ichigo stops and glances around like he hadn't even noticed where he was. Finally he turns and looks at me. That expression on his face, that emptiness in his eyes makes my chest hurt. "What is it Taylor?"

I find I'm unable to make eye contact with him as I continue. "Ichigo…I saw you talking to Shinji today." Awareness suddenly flickers into life in his gaze and he gives me a wary look. I take a deep breath. "And…I know what you two were discussing."

Ichigo's eyes harden. "I don't know what you're talking about," he says quickly, turning away from me. Every line in his body suggests his intention to keep walking.

"Wait Ichigo! Please!" I exclaim, reaching out and grabbing his hand. "Please Ichigo, just listen to me," I beg. He stops moving, but the tension in his body doesn't relax in the slightest.

"Ichigo…" I look down again. I can't believe I'm about to say this. I seriously can't believe it. But it's for him. I'm only doing it because I care about him. Because I…I love him. And I'm terrified of losing someone else I love. "Ichigo…I think you should join the Vizards."

"What?" Ichigo's voice is incredibly harsh, snapping through my consciousness like a gunshot. I glance up to see him glaring at me over his shoulder, his gaze filled with so much fury that I take a step back and drop his hand, suddenly feeling as though I've been burned.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Ichigo all but snarls as he starts to walk away again.

Panic wells up in my chest and threatens to drown me. "Ichigo don't leave! Just here me out, please!" I'm pleading now, desperately begging him to stay. And not just to listen to me…damn it I'm still such a coward. I don't think I could handle it if he just walked away from me like this.

Ichigo stops again, thankfully, but I can tell how angry he still is. "Listen to me Ichigo." I begin to speak as fast as I can, the words pouring out of my mouth without my control as I try to say everything before he starts moving again. "I know about your Hollow. I felt it when we were in the Soul Society when you were fighting Byakuya Kuchiki. And there's Wakana memories. She had a Hollow too, she was a Vizard. And Ichigo…Ichigo…her memories are horrible. At the end when she was losing control and the Hollow was taking over…it was…it…" I can't even finish my sentence as a cold chill runs through my body, Wakana's memories flashing unbidden through my mind once again.

I do my best to shake it off. "Please Ichigo, that's why I want you to go to them. They can help, really. They all have Hollows too, but they learned to control them. I'm sure Shinji can…"

My voice trails off as Ichigo suddenly stiffens, his entire body going rigid. Apparently mentioning Shinji was the wrong thing to do. Dread grows heavy in the pit of my stomach as Ichigo slowly turns to face me.

"I don't what you're talking about."

A shock like a bolt of lightening runs through me. Ichigo's voice, Ichigo's eyes, Ichigo's face. They're all completely and utterly blank. Dead. Hollow. He has completely rejected everything I just said. And it feels like he just completely rejected me. Pain pierces my chest as cold and as hard as a steel blade- and I know that feeling well.

I try to choke down the hot tears that threaten to spill as Ichigo turns away from me. "I don't talk to me about this again," Ichigo commands, his voice just as calm and emotionless as before.

And then he walks to away from me. I watch him go in a daze as something inside me shatters.

…

I've been meaning to come here for a while now. No, really I have. I just haven't been able to work up the courage. I just couldn't face her. But now…I don't know where else I should go.

Gravel crunches beneath my feet as I walk past row after row of gravestones. They've all got flowers at their feet, incense sticks with burnt ends sticking up into the air. All except for one. A small headstone at the end of one the long rows. It is bare except for my mother's name carved into the granite. I didn't even think about it…I should have brought some flowers too.

"Hi mom," I whisper, reaching out and tracing my mother's name with steady fingers.

Urahara really has been kind to me during this whole thing. When my mother died he paid to have her cremated and to settle her in this plot. He even bought this head stone. He's expects me to pay him back, of course, but he's made it clear that there's no time limit on this particular loan. And he's letting me stay with him for free. He keeps saying it's just until I get back on my feet, but I know he isn't going to kick me out. Urahara…really, thank you.

I was hoping that coming to my mother's grave would give me some sense of peace. I've been too afraid to come until now, but with what just happened with Ichigo…my desperation overrode my fear. It's not working though. If anything I feel even worse than I did before.

My fingers that still rest on the headstone begin to tremble. I lost my mother because I wasn't here, because I couldn't stop her or help her. And now it's happening again. Ichigo is being taken over by his Hollow and I can't do anything. He won't listen to me and I'm pretty sure he doesn't even want me around now. I've never felt so powerless, so helpless, in my life. I don't know what to do anymore.

"I-I'm sorry mom…" I begin to cry, tears streaming down my face. It's been at least a week since I've cried. I've been trying so hard to not to, trying so hard to be strong. But I'm not strong. I'm weak. I'm a coward. I failed to save my mother and now I'm failing to save Ichigo. And so I cry. I cry for her, I cry for him, and I cry for myself. For my own weaknesses.

I don't know how long I stand there crying. It feels like days, but it's probably not more than a half hour or so. Only a sudden explosion and the descent of a massive spiritual pressure break my spell of self-hatred and sadness. Shock races through me. I've never felt anything like this before. The spiritual pressure is so dense and heavy that I'm frozen in place, my lungs struggling to breathe. The ground beneath my feet shakes. As quickly as it appears the pressure is gone and I collapse to my knees gasping for breath.

What the…what the hell was that just now? It feels kind of like a Hollow, but way too strong. Instinctive terror drips coldly down my spine as I stretch my senses out. The source of the spiritual pressure is still there. And there are two of them. Before I know it I'm on my feet, racing out of the graveyard. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I mean it's not like I can do anything! But I'm running towards them anyways because I know all of my friends will be. And I just can't do nothing while they fight those monsters.

I reach the main road and begin running towards the source of the spiritual pressure and the explosion- the top of a hill in a nearby park. Lots of people are beginning to gather in the street, wondering loudly what just happened. They shoot me strange looks as I run by, but I ignore them. Suddenly another spiritual pressure descends around me. But this one is different. Instead of pressing down it's…pulling?

I slow to a stop as the people around me begin to scream, writhing and clawing at their chests. What the hell? But then I feel it too. Something deep inside my chest is being tugged on, trying to pull away from my body. It's kind of like the sensation of leaving my human body as a Soul Reaper, but it's incredibly painful. I begin to cough, wrapping both arms around my chest as I fight the mysterious force.

Suddenly the soul of the man next to me is ripped from his body. It flies up into the sky and disappears into the tree line at the top of the hill. He drops like a stone and I don't need to look closely to know that he's dead. Horrified, I watch as the souls of the other people around me are sucked away, unable to do anything to stop it as I fight to keep my own soul. If I wasn't sure that the new arrivals were monsters before there's no doubt in my mind now.

Finally it stops and I collapse to my knees struggling to breathe again. I feel completely exhausted and all my limbs are trembling. But I can't stop here. I have to keep going. If they do whatever that was again more people are going to die, and I have to do whatever I can- even if there isn't much I can do- to stop it.

I manage to pull myself to my feet. After stumbling a couple steps I find my balance again and begin to run, my limbs feeling like jelly. My breathing is ragged as I reach the end of the road, the trees spreading out before me. There is a sudden flash of white light and another explosion, the shockwave nearly knocking me down. That spiritual pressure, that attack, I recognize them. It's Chad! And he's fighting those monsters! I can feel Orihime's spiritual pressure too…

Damn it! Without my powers its like I'm freaking blind to spiritual pressure. My senses were so overwhelmed by the other two that I didn't even notice that Chad and Orihime are here. I push myself to run faster as I enter the trees. There's no way that they can take those Hollows. I'm not sure I could have taken them even when I had my powers and was at my peak.

There is a spike in one of the Hollow's spiritual pressures in front of me and I feel panic shoot through me, adrenaline making my legs pump even faster. Orihime's spiritual pressure rises now. She can't seriously be thinking of fighting them!

I finally break through the tree line and into the clearing at the top of the hill. Chad lays sprawled out on the ground underneath Orihime's healing shield. His arm has been torn to shreds. Orihime stands before him, determination in every line of her body, as she fires her own attack at the giant of a man in front of her.

Or at least that's what I would call him if he were a man. He is enormous but the hole through the center of his chest and the white, bony growth on his face reveal his true identity. A Hollow of some kind for sure. He is ugly as all hell too, with thick black side burns and a bald head, four strange, ridge-like projections crowning his skull. The mask on his face covers his lower jaw and there are red markings on his cheeks. Behind the first man is a second, much smaller one. He is deathly pale with dark hair and piercing green eyes. He's a Hollow too, as evidenced by the hole just below his throat and the white, mask-like helmet covering the left side of his head. The markings on his face are like green tear tracks, extending from eye to chin on each side of his face. Both of them are dressed in white and carry swords that look suspiciously like zanpakutos.

Orihime's attack speeds towards the massive Hollow, but all he does is raise his hand and it shatters. ***"What was that thing?" he sneers. "A fly?" He suddenly steps forward and Orihime backs up with a gasp. "What do you wanna do with her, Ulquiorra?" he asks, directing his question to the smaller Hollow behind him. The grin he's wearing now threatens to make me sick. "Maybe we should take her back to Aizen to show him this weird healing power she possesses."

My blood runs cold as Orihime echoes both the Hollows words and my thoughts. Aizen? He's the bastard behind this? Rage begins to burn in my gut.

"No, that won't be necessary," the smaller Hollow- Ulquiorra, I guess- answers. His voice is completely and totally devoid of emotion. If anything he sounds bored. "Just kill her, Yammy."

"Gotcha."***

Shit! Shit, shit, shit! The bigger Hollow- Yammy- steps forward and reaches out to grab Orihime, his grin widening. I don't stop to think this time. I just rush forward. "Orihime!" How I make it in time I don't know, but I do, managing to push her out of the way before Yammy can grab her. Unfortunately, however, this means that he grabs me instead.

"Taylor, no!" Orihime cries as Yammy lifts me up to get a better look at me.

"What the hell? Another one? …Hey, Ulquiorra!"

"Put me down you bastard!" I shout, writhing in Yammy's grip as best as I can while he turns to show me to his companion.

"Is this the one we're looking for?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Ulquiorra replies. "Just another piece of human trash. Now get rid of them, Yammy."

Yammy grins. As he turns his gaze back to me I screw up my courage and spit in his eye. If I'm going to die, I might as well go out kicking and screaming, right? Anger flashes across Yammy's face before being replaced by a sadistic smile as he wipes his eye. "With pleasure."

And then he begins to squeeze. At first it isn't so bad, but then his grip gets tighter making it difficult to breathe. And then things start…cracking. I can't stop myself from screaming as Yammy's hand tightens around me, my body losing the battle to keep everything in its proper place. I can here Orihime yelling, see out of the corner of my eye that she's close to tears. And then my ribs start cracking. I taste blood in the back of my throat. My vision goes dark.

Tch. You're so weak. I suppose I should thank you though. No, actually it's the other way around.

High, cold laughter tinged with insanity echoes through my mind and then…nothing.

…

Compared to the vast majority of intelligent beings in all three planes of existence Yammy Llargo truly was an idiot. Of course when you have massive strength like him intelligence doesn't tend to be particularly necessary. In any case Yammy was stupid, so his first assumption when the human in his grip stopped screaming and went limp was that she was dead.

"Huh," Yammy commented, disappointed that his fun had ended so quickly. "Killed her already. What a waste of my time."

"Taylor!" Orihime cried, horrified, as Yammy tossed Taylor off to the side. She landed in a crumpled heap and didn't move. Orihime couldn't believe her eyes. Taylor couldn't be dead, she just couldn't be!

"Now it's your turn," Yammy said with an enormous grin, looming above Orihime. Orihime was frozen in place as she turned her frightened gaze to him.

Ulquiorra Cifer let out an almost inaudible sigh. He was perfectly aware that he was the brains on their current mission and while he had no desire to complain about it, it did not change the fact that dealing with Yammy was tiring. Ulquiorra would admit that he was surprised. Or at least as close to being surprised as he could be. This mission was not turning out the way he had intended…and Yammy was not helping matters.

"Yammy," Ulquiorra said, lacing his tone with as much irritation as he was capable of mustering.

"Huh?" Yammy grunted, glancing back over his shoulder at Ulquiorra. "What?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in annoyance at the interruption of his fun.

"Wow, you really are as stupid as you look, aren't you?"

Yammy glanced around, confused, as he searched for the source of the strange voice. "What the hell?" he muttered as he finally turned to where he had thrown the dead human girl. The problem was that she wasn't dead. In fact she was rising to her feet.

Relief surged through Orihime as she watched Taylor stand. But it was tinged with alarm. Something was wrong with Taylor's voice. It sounded different- there was a warble to it, a strange vibration that distorted the sound. And then there was the spiritual pressure leaking from her. It was dark and dense and heavy. Orihime recognized it. She had felt from Taylor before, in the Soul Society, as well as from Ichigo. But she didn't know what it meant. Taylor still had some powers, clearly, but what kind?

Taylor straightened fully and Orihime gasped in horror as she got a look at the other girl's face. A thick, white substance was oozing from the corners of her left eye, slowly hardening across her cheek and forehead. Her mouth was stretched wide in an unnatural smile. And her eyes…the whites of her eyes had gone black and the irises were now golden. Taylor's grin widened and then she threw back her head and laughed, the perverted sound sending chills down Orihime's spine.

"What the hell, Ulquiorra?" Yammy shouted, rounding on the other Arrancar. "I thought you said she was just another piece of human trash!"

"It appears I was wrong."

"You've got that right," Taylor said, her grin turning cheeky. "While this body is certainly human, I am not. And I am much more durable." She laughed again.

"Whatever," Yammy scoffed, striding towards Taylor. "I guess I just get to kill you again is all."

"Is that what you think?" Taylor asked, cocking her head to the said as Yammy closed in on her.

"Shut up!" Yammy roared, raising a fist to strike.

Taylor's grin stretched far beyond the point where it was proportional to the rest of her face as Yammy lashed out at her. She raised one hand and as Yammy's fist collided with it, it stopped.

"What the…?" Yammy asked, confusion filling his tone.

"What was that human saying? 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall?'" Taylor said, cocking her head to the other side. "Yes, that was it. Let's test that shall we?" With her other hand Taylor seized Yammy's wrist and then she threw him, twisting her body around and sending him sailing a good ten feet in the air before he crashed back to earth. Taylor laughed.

"What the freaking hell?" Yammy growled as he pulled himself to his feet again. The human girl was really starting to piss him off. "That's enough!" he shouted, striding forward again. "You're dead girl!"

Yammy pounced again, throwing a barrage of punches. But Taylor dodged every one, laughing the entire time. Yammy's anger was starting to make him see red. "Damn it! Stand still!" he roared.

"Ok." Yammy paused, shocked, as Taylor suddenly appeared on his shoulder. "Bye bye," she whispered in his ear, waggling her fingers in his face before raising her leg and delivering a powerful kick to his face. Yammy went flying again and Taylor dropped back to the ground, landing lightly.

"This really is too easy," Taylor commented as she strolled back into the middle of the clearing. "Would you like a go too?" she asked, turning a curious look on Ulquiorra.

"I doubt that will be necessary," Ulquiorra replied. This was interesting development. A Hollow inside a human soul. And a strong one at that. But at the heart of the matter the girl was still nothing more than human trash. Ulquiorra highly doubted that Yammy was so incompetent that he would need to step in to deal with this.

"Suit yourself," Taylor shrugged.

"T-Taylor?"

Taylor turned at the sound of the trembling voice from behind her. "Oh, I know you. You're one of her friends right?"

Orihime found she couldn't respond as Taylor leaned towards her, the white substance on her face now dripping towards her chin. Whoever this was it wasn't Taylor, that Orihime was sure of. But she had no idea who had taken over Taylor's body either. It terrified her on such a primal level that Orihime could barely breathe as Taylor's now golden gaze locked with hers.

"You are the one who got us into this, however," Taylor commented musingly, reaching out a finger. Orihime flinched and began to shake as Taylor lazily dragged it over her cheek. "She was so desperate to save you that she through herself in front of you without a second thought. Such a stupid thing to do. And I wasn't about to die because of it. So, I think I'll just go ahead and kill you myself. It won't be a problem again then."

Orihime let out a terrified squeak as Taylor's face contorted into a twisted mockery of a smile and her hand flashed towards Orihime's throat. Suddenly Taylor froze, her expression faltering and then disappearing all together as her eyes turned blank. Orihime dared to breathe for a second, as Taylor stood frozen before her. And then, abruptly, Taylor stumbled away anger and hate filling her expression.

"No! What the hell are you doing!" she screeched, hands grabbing at her head. "Stop you idiot! You ungrateful, selfish bitch! I just saved both our lives!" Orihime watched in horror and shock as her friend who wasn't her friend writhed and flailed before her.

As Yammy sat up, blood pouring from his nose, he saw his chance. The girl was completely distracted by something now, stumbling around and screaming like a banshee. Yammy rose to his feet and started forward for the final time, clenching his hands into fists and grinning with deranged eagerness.

"No, damn it! Stop, stop!" Taylor screamed. She seemed to lose control of one of her hands as it reached forward towards the still hardening mask on her face.

"No!" Taylor's shout became a scream of rage as her fingers tightened around the edge of the mask. And then she pulled. The mask popped off her face and began to crumble between her fingers.

Taylor collapsed forward, resting her hands on her knees as she panted. Orihime was at a complete loss. Taylor had now returned to normal- the strange spiritual disappearing and her eyes turning their normal blue- as quickly as she had changed in the first place.

Taylor, looking exhausted, had just turned her eyes up to Orihime and opened her mouth to say something when Yammy was upon her. "Now die!" he shouted gleefully as he slammed his fist into Taylor.

Orihime would have sworn she heard a crunch as the giant Hollow's fist connected with Taylor's body. "Taylor!"

She landed in a crumpled heap again some distance away. But this time she didn't get up again.

Author's Note

Second chapter yay! And it was suitably angsty yes? I think I did a pretty good job actually. And I bet you weren't expecting things to start happening so quickly. Well I did say that this was going to be shorter. It was fun to write Shinji and so much fun to write Taylor's Hollow. I've never really done any acting, but I've always thought it'd be way more fun to play the bad guy than the good guy. Seems like this carries over into writing as well.

And before anyone jumps on me about Ichigo being a total jerk in this chapter I want to say a couple things. In my head Ichigo losing control to his Hollow is the absolute worst thing that could happen to him. The threat that he could lose control and destroy everything that he loves is his worst nightmare and he's absolutely terrified by it. And at this point Ichigo is unwilling to admit even to himself that he has a problem and therefore spends a massive amount of energy denying it. So when Taylor's brings it up it's natural that he freaks out. I will get into Ichigo's POV about this in the next couple of chapters so if you thought it was OOC just hold your horses for a bit.

Citations:

*English language version, Episode 112, by Viz.

Between the **English language version, Episode 112, by Viz.

Between the ***English language version, Episode 113, by VIz

So I got thirteen reviews for the first chapter. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the response, especially considering how many people it seems were completely new and had gone and read the Natural Blonde just to get to it. I feel so loved. THANK YOU EVERYONE. And especially THANK YOU TO MY REVIEWERS: Evalyd Yamazaki, Buhund, ScaredOfDaDarkInLuvWithDaMOON, Polar8Bear, Shannyrox101, Akari-Chan'96, bored411, Shaybo27, Babbit2, Shadow knight112, LadyAmazon, Sora'struelover, violentyetawesome. And to Shaybo27, you've got freakishly accurate guessing skills once again! *laughs nervously* Anyways please REVIEW!

I started Japanese classes this week so my update speed will probably slow down a bit. But fear not, dear readers, the next chapter will come soon!

Thanks for reading!

imagination junkie