CHAPTER 6

ICHIGO

It had been three weeks since Ichigo had made arrangements with Renji to follow Rukia on her clandestine evening outings. Ichigo stole a glance in his direction from his vantage point in the sky. Not only was Renji following Rukia around at night but he would be there whenever they were alerted to Hollow. Of course it was completely normal for Renji to be around, for all anybody knew he was on orders from Byakuya, and Rukia wouldn't question the orders of her brother.

'But why does it bother me so much?' He thought to himself as he watched Rukia and Renji chatting happily with one another. Envy followed by jealousy and then guilt twisted at his insides. He tried to ignore them. He had no right to feel jealous he wanted to tear the feelings out of himself and fling them as far from him as possible.

Tearing his gaze from them he moved further away hoping to sense a Hollow, something to focus he mind on.

Something other than Rukia and Renji.

'She's better off without you, murderer,' mocked the Hollow part of his soul as it slithered through his mind.

Either it was getting stronger, or he was getting weaker as it hammered against his defences, it wanted him to kill Renji, and he could feel its need to feel his sword pierce his flesh. It fed off his feelings of envy and jealousy, augmenting them, twisting them into something all together sinister and dangerous. He could feel his own heart racing at the prospect of hunting and killing the other man, making him suffer as he ripped him apart piece by bloody piece.

His fingers wrapped slowly around his sword, he could feel the wrappings falling away as he eyed his prey. He could feel his own anticipation rising threatening to consume him if he did not act. Blood pounded in his ears, as his vision was shrouded in a blood red haze. Desire flooded through him in great waves, crashing against his carefully built walls. It was strong, too strong; he felt the tight grip he kept on his control slipping.

'Yesss! Yesss! Do it! Kill him, he is weak.' The voice taunted him, eased away some of his inner defences.

The changes started slowly, he could feel his body fill with power, first the mask then other parts of his body; he was slowly turning into a Hollow. He felt his sword, the weight of it felt perfect in his hand it always had. But it felt different now, not wrong but somehow not right. He looked down and watched as his hands finished changing. Unfamiliar claws now held the hilt of his sword.

He felt the brick wall of reality slam into him. Suppressing the urge to be sick he leapt away from Rukia and Renji tearing off his mask and feeling the rest of his transformation fall away.

'I will fight you,' he shouted when he was out of earshot. 'You cannot beat me I won't lose control.' He waited for a response but all he heard was the sound of his own panicked breaths. He looked to the direction he had come from to make sure no one was following him. He had been lucky no one had been paying attention to him.

'Too close,' he thought as exhaustion over took him. He needed to be alone. Never before had the hollow part of him reacted like that. He needed to be far away from Rukia and Renji.

'I have to continue with my original plan. Renji is obviously the best choice for this job. I can't be around her anymore if I'm going to lose control like this. So I hope Renji is as really up to the task as he says he is,' thought Ichigo as he headed towards his house.

He would send a text to explain he had other obligations so no one wondered where he had gone and then he would spend the rest of the night relaxing. He needed to make sure he wasn't going to have another outburst, at least not with Renji's visit later that evening. He could feel the familiar twang of jealousy as he thought of Renji getting to spend time more with Rukia. Pushing the thought away, Ichigo ran a hand through his hair.

'Oh man, it's going to be a long night.'

RUKIA

Rukia scanned the area around her as she walked companionably beside Renji. She was enjoying herself, it felt like it had been forever since she last relaxed and had a good laugh. Renji had always had that effect on her and she was glad he was around. The last three weeks had been a godsend, Ichigo had all but disappeared from her life and she was finding herself spending less time thinking about him at least when Renji was around. Rukia watched Renji out of the corner of her eye quietly searching the area for any hollows that they may have missed.

"This is how shinigami are supposed to act," thought Rukia as she observed her friend. Now that her friend was around she had begun to notice her own non shinigami habits more and more and it had unsettled her. Shinigami were supposed to be strong, fearless, and above all else, unencumbered by human emotion. She very much doubted that Renji or any other shinigami ever let themselves become..

"RUKIA! RUKIA! Hey can you hear me? RUKIA!"

The sound of Renji's voice jolted her back to reality and the realization that she had once again let her mind wander in a very human way.

"Rukia what's going on with you? Did you sense something?" Asked Renji peering at his friend, worry written all over his features.

Rukia turned her head away from her friend, embarrassed by her lack of decorum,

"No I didn't sense anything."

"Well then I think we should call it a night then. I mean Ichigo and the rest have already left and if you..."

Rukia's head whipped around so that she was once again facing Renji.

"What do you mean he—they left? Rukia inquired struggling to keep the anger from her voice. She let herself reach out for his reitsu now noticing Ichigo's spiritual energy missing. A curious feeling washed over Rukia. She had been expecting anger, maybe even indifference but not loss. He stomach churned as she was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that his quiet departure had hurt her.

"He's probably slacking off again," muttered Rukia under her breath.

"What was that?" Renji asked as he looked around a corner.

"Nothing- hey Renji how much longer do you think you will be staying for?"

ICHIGO

It was late and Ichigo was leaning back in his desk chair as he listened to the account of the red haired man who was presently leaning through Ichigo's bedroom window sharing details of Rukia's latest activity. This had become a common occurrence, hollow patrol followed by late night briefings on Rukia's late late previous night lone patrolling.

At first Ichigo had been sure Renji would begin to get suspicious about Ichigo's reasons for wanting Rukia followed but as time passed and Renji continued with his 'mission' Ichigo began to relax. Renji didn't seem to question Ichigo's sudden interest in Rukia's supposedly 'dangerous' mission. Everything had been going well, better then could be expected. Renji's presence had even allowed for Ichigo to further separate himself from Rukia's life.

At the thought of Rukia, a sudden flash of Rukia standing in front of him half dressed invaded Ichigo's mind awaking his body with painful alacrity.

"Three weeks since I saw Rukia's," Ichigo's mind grasped for the appropriate descriptive word "figure," his mind settled briefly on the appealing memory of Rukia three weeks earlier in a state of undress.

Catching himself before he could continue his train of thought into dangerous territory he refocused his attention on Renji.

'Those four hollows last night didn't know what hit them. Rukia didn't even give 'em time to think let alone act,' stated Renji, pride evident on his face. As much as Ichigo had confidence in Renji's judgement in a battle situation he was less inclined to trust his analysis of anything having to do with Rukia.

Something in that realization bothered him. Pushing the troubling thoughts aside for the time being, Ichigo stood up and started to pace the room.

'And your sure she didn't see you or sense you?' questioned Ichigo placing emphasis on the latter part of his statement.

'Yah I'm sure trust me. I mean if she had seen me she probably would have beaten the crap out of me, and believe me the way she's been fighting lately I can believe she could do it to,' responded Renji with his trademark smirk.

Ichigo suppressed a grin at the pleasing news, and the image of Rukia beating up Renji, focusing instead on the problem Renji had raised earlier in the evening.

'Four hollows, she's getting more reckless,' thought Ichigo as Renji waited patiently at the window.

"Do you think she will go out again tonight even after the successful hunt we all had today?" Asked Ichigo.

"It's hard to say, really. Lately it seems like her captain has her going out every night," replied Renji as he counted off dates in his head.

Ichigo inadvertently winced at the mention of Rukia's captain. He didn't like lying to Renji but in his mind it was the only way he could think of to protect Rukia. Ichigo shuttered at the thought about what would happen, to him if her captain found out about his lie, or worse, Rukia.

'Renji I think the system works. I trust you to use your judgement,' stated Ichigo trying to compose himself again. He would have to file away the information on the increased number of hollow attacks for another time and maybe a chat with Uruhara or Yorichi.

Grinning Renji leapt from the window and disappeared into the night.

Ichigo continued to pace the room deep in thought; he wasn't used to this kind of thing. Protecting someone without protecting them. It confused even him and he was the one who came up with the idea. A small part of him continued to despise Renji. Even though it had been his idea to have Renji follow Rukia, and logically Renji was the best choice out of all his friends. But that small part of him burned every time he thought of Renji watching her. He shook his head irritably, trying to clear the absurd thought from his mind.

Glancing across the room at his clock he noted the time,

'She'll be home in about an hour,' he thought,

'Good luck Renji.'