Chapter 6:

The next morning, Victor took everyone out for breakfast again. Ichigo kept shooting him dirty looks the entire time, though he took no notice. It wasn't until he got up from his seat that Victor chose to take notice of him.

"Ichigo, you haven't touched your food. Something wrong?"

"I'm not hungry."

Victor excused himself from the table and followed Ichigo over to the garbage bins by the exit. "What's the problem?" He handed him his cup of water. "Here. Drink."

Ichigo knocked it out of his hand, spilling it on the floor. A mother and her children looked up, unnerved by his action so close to their table. Ichigo turned his back to them, not wanting to see the looks on their faces or for them to see his. Instead, he moved close to Victor. "I know what you've been doing and I want it to stop. Now."

"Whatever do you mean?" That same damn smile. How he hated that smile.

Grabbing Victor's tie, he pulled himself into his face, hissing words through his teeth. "I know you've been drugging me."

His smile faded.

"I know all about it. And I want it to stop. Right here. Right now. No more."

Victor sighed, looking down. "I knew it was only a matter of time. I figured you knew when you refused that glass I offered you yesterday." His smile came back. "But I was crafty enough to fill all the cups with it except for Linnette's. After all, such things have no effect on either me or Cedric. We're immune."

It made sense, seeing as how neither of them were really human or 'alive'. Why would drugs have any affect on them?

Victor pulled his tie from Ichigo's grasp and smoothed it between his fingers. He said nothing.

"Why would you do that to me? After I told you that I wanted to make sure you guys had truly changed. You said that you were a different Victor, but you're still pulling the same crap he did."

"I am different, Ichigo, don't you see? I am a new and different Victor, created for a new purpose. Though I may not be the same Victor you once knew before, I hold all of his memories. I have his mind as well as my own. We're sharing. It's like when a person decides to change themselves. They're never completely different. They're one in the same, only one side is dominate. That's how it is for me."

"But why would you-"

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

"You damn well better!"

Victor burned holes into Ichigo's forehead with his gaze. Hatred. Was it Ichigo he hated or what he was saying to him? It was unclear. Before Ichigo could figure it out, Linnette had come up to throw her arms around the tall blond man.

"Victor, I'm done eating. Let's go shopping now!"

His face softened at her presence. "Of course, darling. Go fetch Cedric and we'll leave."

Cheering, she ran back for the other man.

As Victor brushed past Ichigo, he whispered, "Feel free to leave at any time. Just don't think I'm finished yet."

"I never did," Ichigo whispered back.

They went shopping at the pedestrian mall Ichigo often went to with his sisters on the weekend or with his friends just to hang out. He was used to waiting around near the dressing rooms while his sisters tried on different outfits, but Linnette practically camped out in the booths compared to the time his sisters' took to get changed. And she tried on more outfits, too. She stepped outside to model for them, then went back in to change outfits. And the routine would continue like that.

But this gave Ichigo plenty of time to think. He thought about what Kisuke said before about the connection between Linnette and these two men she created. Linnette wished for them because she needed them. Living imaginary friends. They were whatever she wanted them to be and whatever she needed them to be. She wanted a family. So they adopted her and took care of her as their own child. She wanted to be showered with love and attention, so they did. She wanted to be able to afford anything she wanted because she was never allowed such things. So they both were created with enough money to keep her comfortable and happy.

However, she was only a child when she had first created them. She knew nothing of the world from an adult's point of view or what was need to adopt and keep a child in good health and comfort. She didn't know what it was like to be an adult, therefore, Victor and Cedric were also created to know how the world worked so that they could take care of her and make her happy.

According to Kisuke, their creation came from both Linnette's conscious and unconscious mind. Everything she wanted came from her conscious mind, her voicing her desires. And for everything she needed were taken care of by her unconscious mind, her needs and seeing that they were met. They were there to take care of her and make her happy. That was their role. They acted according to her will. Even Victor told him that she had rewritten them to be more like what Ichigo had thought a proper family should be like. Now they were programmed not to spoil her rotten and never tell her no, but to raise her right and still make her happy even by telling her 'no'. This meant that she could in fact change them. She could make them anything she wanted. Make them do whatever she wanted. She now wanted them to tell her 'no' when it was needed, even if it would upset her.

But this bothered Ichigo. Not with the contradictory aspect of it, but what Victor had done before in the past. In New York city, Victor had confided in Ichigo that he had created a serum that could turn human beings into Hollows. At first, it only worked halfway, effecting their mind, but not their bodies. Then he had successfully created it to work one hundred percent, turning them into Hollows that could be seen by the human eye, though Hollow nonetheless. He then went on to say that Linnette had no knowledge of this, that Victor was acting on his own.

This meant that Victor had a will of his own. He was acting without orders. Was Cedric the same way? He must have been.

This brought no end of questions to Ichigo's mind. Where was the fine line between what Linnette wanted them to do and what they wanted to do? Were these their own desires or Linnette's subconscious ones being acted upon by them? Just how real were these living imaginary friends? It was too much to think about and Ichigo doubted that he would ever know the true answer. It was possible that not even Linnette or her servants knew the answers to these questions themselves.

"Ichigo, what do you think?"

He looked up. Linnette was modeling a pink dress for him, covered with bows and ribbons. "It's cute." His response was halfhearted. He didn't really care.

She spun around, showing off to the two other men. "What do you guys think?"

Victor clapped his hands together. "Wonderful. You look so adorable."

Cedric took a different approach, turning Linnette around by her shoulders and looking her up and down. He looked at the price tag, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "It's expensive. This dress would have to be put away for a special occasion. It's not a casual dress, Linnette."

"But I like it."

"I know you do, but it's really…"

"We can afford it, Cedric," Victor told him confidently. After all, they were created with enough money to keep her satisfied. Naturally this dress was no big deal to someone who carried thousands around in his pocket on a daily basis.

Cedric stood up. "It's too fancy and it's dry-clean only. Not only that, but look at all the ribbons. They'll get caught on something and rip."

Linnette looked at the outfit, lifting the ribbons up with her hands to examine them. "I didn't think about that…"

"Find something else, honey."

Linnette sadly agreed and chose a different outfit to try on.

Ichigo looked at his watch. They had been doing this for the past hour. Just how many was she going to try on?

After twelve more outfits, they headed towards the checkout to purchase nearly two dozen outfits. Linnette skipped ahead with Victor's hand in hers while Ichigo and Cedric followed behind carrying all her bags. Ichigo could barely see a thing over all her purchases. Just how many outfits did one person need? He followed them back to the hotel to drop off her things. It was already 4:58. But she still had so much energy and wanted to do more. Much more.

They then went back to the park for a little play before dinner. Victor brought along a Frisbee for them to play with. They started throwing it around in the grass. Ichigo's turn to throw it back. He tossed it a little too far, the disk sailing over Linnette's head and over to a small group of young boys. The Frisbee landed by their feet and they turned, seeing the girl running up to them.

Cedric stepped forward, unsure of what would happen, but ready in case things took a violent turn.

Instead, one of the boys picked up the disk and handed it back to her, asking for her name. She answered with a smiling face and was invited to join them. Without even looking back at the others, she joined, leaving Victor and Cedric behind.

They both looked stunned. She didn't even look back. Now she was playing with total strangers, having a great time.

This was a very rare moment where Ichigo pitied them. They existed for her sake. They were created by her. She was all they had. What would happen when they were no longer needed?

As much as they knew that this was right for Linnette to play with real people, it was no less painful for them to watch.

After a while of play, Victor called for her to come. She waved good-bye to the boys and ran back to Victor. Cedric watched as the boys slowly left, giving Linnette a few last minute glances and turning to each other, no doubt talking about her. They were all smiling. As always, Linnette leapt into Victor's chest, hugging him. She hadn't outgrown any of them yet.

"Ichigo."

He turned to find Rukia standing behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been here. You weren't at home so I went looking for you. I ran into Kisuke. He told me about… them." She gestured toward the three in the grass.

"Oh. Yeah. Them."

"Everything ok?"

His response was slow in coming. "Not sure. Linnette I think is good to go, but these guys… Well, Victor's bothering me."

"Oh? How?"

Ichigo told her what happened.

She gave him a troubled look. "Keep an eye on them. I'm going to go have a word with Kisuke on this. I'll come back when I have more info."

"It's no big deal. I can handle this."

"Yeah, but if Victor admitted that he was trying to get her powers back through you, I want to know if it is actually possible. Then we might have something to worry about."

He couldn't argue with that. He gave her a nod and she flashed away just as the remainder of the group was coming back to him. "Ready to go?" Victor asked.

Ichigo silently nodded and stood up, following them.

As promised, Rukia went to have a word with Kisuke on the subject. He, too, was troubled by this. He spent a long time thinking before coming up with a theory.

"Well, it's as I told Ichigo. Her singing powers are gone. However, if they could be taken away, they could be restored. It's a question of how."

"But you're saying that it's possible?"

"Anything is possible, Rukia. Even this." He took his hat off, ruffling his uncombed hair. He was having a hard time with this. "Her powers are certainly unique. I'll say that. But to restore the lost ability…"

"When Linnette lost her power, she had kissed Ichigo in his Hollow form. Remember? You explained it to us."

"Yes, I remember." He sat back, thinking. "I had figured that it happened mostly because Linnette's powers affect Hollows. So for a Hollow to get that close to her… I'm warning you, this is not an exact science. Things can change. I can be wrong."

Rukia sighed. "All I want to know is if it is possible to restore them. You told me that is was. But how? So far, they're just trying to repeat the process and trying to get him to kiss her again. Can that really work?"

"In theory, yes. They're going by that logic. Like opening a window. If sliding it to one side opens it, then you would have to slid it again to close it. If one kiss took her powers away then another kiss should restore them. It's reasonable logic."

"But Ichigo was a Hollow when they kissed last time. Wouldn't that mean that he would have to be a Hollow again in order for it to work?"

Kisuke shrugged. "I suppose…" He suddenly sat straight up, a thought popping into his head. "A Hollow's kiss…"

"Kisuke?"

He put his hat back on and tapped his chin with the end of his fan. "If kissing a Hollow took away her powers, that doesn't mean that kissing one again would restore them. However, there is another way."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "What if she were to kiss something that's not a Hollow?"

"Like what?"

"Just thinking how to get the result, you have to work backwards. And just looking at it, Hollows and Soul Reapers are opposites. In theory, if kissing the Hollow took away her power, then kissing a Soul Reaper could restore them."

"So you think they're trying to get Ichigo to kiss Linnette in Soul Reaper form in order to restore her powers?"

"So goes the theory. I could be wrong. But then again, I could be right."

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