I thought it would be interesting to try and write in a different tense; so, I tried it. I'll try and update my other stuff before I leave (Saturday or Sunday), but I can't really promise anything. I used a little bit of Skillet's "Falling Inside The Black", in case anyone finds any interest in the lyrics. Happy Reading!

You are my source of strength,
I've traded everything
That I love for this one thing
Stranded in the offering.
Don't leave me here like this
Can't hear me scream from the abyss.
And now I wish for you my desire,

He knows he looks sick, and she probably knows it, too. He tries to hide it, to suppress the bloodlust his inner demon is educing. It bubbles up inside of him from deepest and darkest pit of his heart and fills him with so much sickness and rage that he threatens to burst. He even feels sick, like he is about to vomit when there is not an ounce of food within his stomach. His eyes have watered, blurring his already questionable vision which has been obscured by the blackness of his room. He runs his sweaty hand over his damp forehead and silently prays that the moonlight is not making the perspiration visible enough for her to see it.

"Ichigo?" She asks quietly, her voice showing the concern she possesses for the man. Her violet eyes study his outstretched body, watching as he swallows the thick saliva that has built up within his sore throat. She watches his body shift on the mattress, the metal springs creaking under his weight.

He ignores her, fearing that his voice would tip the girl off as to what is going on within his mind. He fights hard and furiously to keep his demon away from taking control of his body, and rolls over on the bed, turning away from her and kicking the sheets off of his body. More sweat has formed on his brow, the small droplets running across his face and onto his bare neck and chest. He moistens his parched lips and gives a shaky sigh, the hand resting under his head clutching his skull firmly.

She sees the movement and recognizes that he doesn't want her to see the pained expression and sweat on his face. She watches as the veins and tendons in his hand becomes more prominent as he grips his head, his other hand clawing into the mattress. She reaches out and touches the back of his shoulder, pulling away when his body twitches from the contact. She quickly becomes frightened that he is in intense pain, and maybe even dying. "Ichigo." It comes out as more of a firm statement than an inquiry of his health. She lightly grips his shoulder, not letting go when he moves.

He wants to speak out, to yell at her to run as far from him as she can, but his mouth remains shut. He groans quietly, his body curling up as waves of pain course through his weakening form. He's not quite sure how much longer he can hold out against the need to kill that is welling up from within him. He manages to open his mouth, a raspy and enraged growl floating from his parted lips. He can tell that he just frightened her; it was a sound he had never made before, and was certain up until that moment that no human could make that noise.

He feels her run a hand through his hair, which gives him some sense of comfort, but does little to suppress the darkness that is threatening to overtake him. He can feel the mattress shift as she sits down beside him, smoothing his hair back from his face, watching as his expression changes from agony to misery and back to agony. He's not sure whether her touch is helping him or driving him all the more closer to insanity. He turns when she pulls his shoulder back towards her, and looks up at her with helpless amber eyes.

She looks at him with slight shock and obvious concern, caressing his face with the back of her hand while asking, "What's wrong, Ichigo?" Her question receives no reply other than a violent shudder and a sigh. She orders quietly, but firmly, "Ichigo, tell me what's wrong."

He wants to answer her, and manages to open his mouth and choke out, "G-Get…away."

She looks at him, fear only showing for the briefest of nanoseconds before pulling his head and upper torso into her lap, trying to calm him as his body becomes restless. He looks up at her, as if he is pleading for help, and shakes his head weakly. He knows that she is in danger by being this close to him, and rasps, "It…it's coming." The last word comes out strained, as if he is fighting to speak it.

"Your hollow?" She asks, knowing that it's probably what he is speaking of, but hoping that he is meaning something less dangerous. She shushes him as he nods and moans painfully, writhing around on the bed, and begins to whisper calming and soft words into his ear. His convulsions begin to settle, but only slightly and momentarily, as a new surge of murderous intent from his hollow begins to cloud his senses, smothering his sanity into dust. She knows as well as he does that by staying by him, she is endangering her own well being, but if no one is there to restrain him if his hollow breaks free, he would harm many other people.

He feels conflicting emotions as the battle within his mind rages on; he feels comforted and safe with Rukia next to him, calming his restless body. But he also feels the constant and forceful harassment of his antagonist, which is beginning to get the better of him. He can tell that he is beyond any help that she can offer him, and manages to gasp out through agonizing spasms of pain, "Get…out…now." He doesn't mean for it to be as harsh and threatening as it ends up sounding, but hopes that it will be enough to push her away.

"Ichigo, calm down," She orders, running her fingers though his damp hair soothingly, "This is all in your head; just calm down and think, and you'll win." He tries his best to calm himself, to restrain his limbs and rapid breathing, but his self control is proving to be inadequate in winning the loosing battle. He tries to sit up, and manages to do so, despite her attempt to hold him down. He clutches his head with both of his hands, stumbling across the room and leaning up against the wall. For the first time in what seems like forever, he wishes that his father were there. He might know some way to help him, but since he and his two twin sisters are gone, he is not expecting anything.

Ichigo finds that it has become very difficult to breathe, and fears that he might suffocate if he is not able to control himself soon. He coughs violently, one of his hands gripping his chest as saliva drips from his mouth and his eyes become watered. His other hand steadies himself as it presses against the wall, and he slowly leans his body against it. He wants desperately to scream, to cry out in pain and anguish and then maybe, just maybe, it would go away. But he knows that by screaming, he would be giving his hollow the satisfaction it is searching for, and he would be dammed if he even gives him the slightest of yelps.

Rukia watches his movements carefully, moving cautiously towards him as he shakes and shudders and gives out small gasps in between the waves of shocking pain. She moves around and approaches him from the front, making sure he can see her, and stops where she is just out of his reach. She speaks his name in a questioning manner, as if she is asking what is happening within his mind. She becomes apprehensive when he does not even groan in pain, but inches closer to his body nonetheless. She reaches out, moving to see if he is even still conscious, but quickly pulls back when she feels a repulsive aura surrounding his body.

He can feel his resolve, or what is left of it, crumbling as his hollow smirks and pushes through almost effortlessly. He can feel himself loosing control of the tips of his fingers, then his hands, then his arms. He wants to yell out at her to run away, but he, as he had before, finds himself unable to speak. His mouth opens, but all that leaves are his pained gasps. He can hear his mind chanting, Get her out, get her out, get her out. Now he realizes that it is him snapping at himself, and his inner voice begins screaming, yelling in a deafening tone, Get her the hell out! Get her out NOW!

She watches as his breathing patterns change, from slow and calmed back to rapid and uneven. Her eyes watch the chords of muscle along his bare chest and arms begin twitch under the stress of some unseen weight. She realizes that if she simply stands and does nothing, than his hollow will surely break free. She can see that they are both on the surface, fighting for the control of his body. She watches as he slowly raises his head and is shocked by the look in his eyes. The color of his eyes changes sporadically from bright yellow and back to amber, his teeth clenched together in strain. As she moves towards him, he yells out in a voice that holds pain and rage, "Get out! Run, now!"

She seriously considers leaving, but stands defiantly and shakes her head. She watches his mouth curl back into a snarl that terrifies her to the core, but does not move her. He rasps, his voice changing from his hollow's and back to his own. "You…you don't understand." He clenches his eyes shut, his hands gripping his skull tightly enough that he fears it will be crushed; but it doesn't matter to him, and he coughs out, "He's trying to kill you."

He can hear a sickening voice whisper in his ear, the hot breath of his hollow making his skin crawl. "Go on, King." The hollow directs, his voice having a rather mocking edge to it. "Kill her. Rip her apart." Ichigo can see what his hollow is thinking, and shudders as visions of him stabbing and disemboweling the girl standing in front of him flash across his mind. "You know you want to; you're a killer at heart. Why, you even killed your own mother."

"No." Ichigo gasps out, his breath catching in his throat as it feels like he is being continuously kicked in the head. "I-I didn't-"

"Yes." His hollow seems to almost hiss as he finds his psychological mind games beginning to weaken his king's defenses. "You killed her. You had her blood all over your body, and you loved it. It felt so good, didn't it? It was slick and red, and it tasted wonderful."

He remembers how her blood had gotten all over his body when she had protected him, even on his face and lips, and remembers how bad it had tasted. He had spit it out, retching, vomiting on the blood-soaked ground. "It…no." He feels like he may actually vomit all over his feet, and uses one of his arms to wrap around his abdomen.

"And just imagine," The hollow pauses, grinning madly as he watches what he has turned his king in to, and continues, "Just imagine how good Rukia's blood will taste, how good it will feel. You know you want to kill her." His hollow accuses, dealing the final blows that he knows will leave his king emotionally and physically incapable. "You want to rip her throat out with your bare hands."

"No, no, no," He whispers angrily, pressing his full weight against the wall as his sanity slowly slips away. He can feel that he's loosing control, that whatever his hollow wants to do, he can.

"Kill her." The hollow orders boldly.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" Ichigo roars, tilting his head towards the ceiling as he feels all control of his body become lost. He looks at Rukia, who is startled by the enraged and mentally twisted look in his now glowing yellow eyes. He yells wildly before his hollow forces his body to lunge towards hers, "Leave her alone, you son of a bitch!" His body shoves her against the wall and his hand closes around her throat. He can feel her fingers grab onto his hand, and can see her frightened eyes boring into his. "I won't do it! Dammit, no! Don't you touch her!"

Then everything stops; he blinks, his eyes back to normal, and looks at her frightened body as she stares helplessly up at him. "Oh…oh god." He gasps, quickly pulling his hand off of her neck and looking at her with wide eyes. She looks back at him, still frightened that he- no, his hollow- might attack her. "Oh…oh, oh Christ. I…I…" He can't believe that he just allowed his hollow to take control of his body and try and harm Rukia. He doesn't want her to see him, and he doesn't want to see the terrified look in her violet eyes that he knows he caused. "I…god, I'm so sorry."

She soon realizes that the threat has passed, and slowly approaches the quivering man. She is taken by surprise when he wraps his arms around her body, his form shaking in a frightened manner. He feels scared and helpless, fearing that his hollow could now come up and control him whenever it pleased him. Rukia can feel his heart crashing against his ribcage, making a very audible beating noise. She realizes that he is probably extremely unstable, both physically and mentally, and pulls them both down so that they're sitting on the floor. She runs a hand through his hair, watching as his eyes feverishly dart around the room. "Ichigo, you're alright. You're fine; he's gone."

He looks at her, and guilt seems to consume him as thoughts about what he had just done whirls around inside of his head. He had been so close to killing her, to possibly choke her or snap her neck. He pulls away, fearing that the threat is not yet gone, that his hollow may burst out and kill her for real. He looks down at his hands with wide eyes, as if he has murdered someone and their blood was dripping from his fingers, and speaks in a tone as frightened and shocked as his expression, "I…I…Christ, I'm so sorry."

She watches sympathetically as he draws his knees up to his chest and rests his elbows on them, his hands gripping his head. She gently puts her hand on his arm in an affectionate manner before sliding around to his other shoulder, pulling his body against hers. "I'm sorry. God, I'm sorry." He murmurs over and over again, staring at the wooden floorboards. He runs a hand through his hair and leans back against the wall. "I…I just tried to kill you." It is as if the words make him undergo some sort of an epiphany, and he backs into the dark corner between his desk and the wall, his breathing heavy and ragged.

She sighs quietly and scoots next to him, holding him in place when one of her arms wraps around his bare torso. He tries to move, and for a moment resembles a frightened dog being trapped in a corner. It's tight, but comfortable when they adjust and Rukia manages to get Ichigo to sit still and look at her. His eyes are no longer as wide as they had been, but he still has the same expression that speaks volumes about what he is feeling. He swallows, words forming in his head but not managing to leave him mouth. "I…I'm sorry." He says for probably the tenth time in the past minute.

Her gaze meets his, and she can tell how sorry he truly is. She reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, the motion seeming to calm him down to some extent. He folds his arms over his chest and tucks his hands beneath his underarms, his head rolling back and hitting the wall. "It wasn't you," she tells him, her fingers still rubbing the back of his neck, "It was your hollow." He tries his best to change his expression, but she can tell that her statement did not console him.

"It was my body." He offers as an excuse from the truth. He still believes that it was just as much him as it was his hollow. "I couldn't stop him. What-" he coughs lightly, his lungs finally settling down and allowing him to breathe normally, "What good am I if I can't even keep him under control? I…he almost killed you."

She is thankful that he realizes that his hollow had all of the blame before replying softly, "Everything's fine, Ichigo. He didn't hurt me; he only scared me." She watches his eyes dart around, his head sinking forward and drooping miserably. He looks like he's arguing with himself on what to say, and he only sighs deeply, his composure almost completely restored. His arm reaches over and wraps around her waist, his head resting on top of hers He sighs deeply, his breath tickling her ear and neck.

"I'm sorry. I really, really am." He whispers, his voice signaling how exhausted he is, and how much he just wants to go to sleep and forget about what has just happened. He holds her close, keeping her in a gentle embrace, afraid that he might unintentionally hurt her if he squeezes her too tight. He watches as she drifts off, finding consolation in the fact that he has regained his composure, and signals that she is asleep with her even breathing and motionless body. Trying his best not to wake her, he picks her up and lays her down on his bed, sitting down next to her.

Another sigh escapes his lips as he begins to feel drowsy, and he lays down next to her, pulling the sheets he had kicked off over her small body. He feels content just watching her sleep, but checks himself to make sure that his hollow is perfectly under control. Finding that his demon poses no current threat, he uses the back of his hand to gently caress her face. He gives a small smile when her hand closes around his, her body shifting closer to his lean frame. He is still apprehensive about falling asleep, but decides that he would be doing his stamina more harm than good by not getting any rest. And just as he doses off, he can faintly hear his hollow snickering at him, and decides that the risk would be greater if he lets his guard down by going to sleep.

Falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?
Dreaming of the way it used to be,
Can you hear me?
Falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?
Falling inside the black,
Falling inside falling inside the black.