The days went by at an agonizingly slow pace; Kuro had yet to wake up after the demon power had burned through his strength. They laid him down on a soft padded floor of a soft padded room, the white color reflecting light to make everything seem brighter. Kuro rested in a straight jacket spun with the indestructible thread of a spider type hollow. Finally, just for added protection for all those who resided in the apartment, chains adorned his frame in various places. The red chains of Hell attached to his wrists, upper arms, ankles, and neck all attached to the wall to keep him from getting very far. They kept his collar on only to keep him from firing a Cero at anyone.
Everyone had agreed that it would be best to watch him at all times, taking shifts to try and talk some sense into him. In any of the times he became coherent, he refused to eat anything they gave him only to find that he wasn't hungry for human food. A new born hollow had wandered in looking for a source of Spiritual Pressure to siphon off of, Neliel had seen it. Kuro attacked the hollow as soon as it was too far into his reach; he tore it apart with nothing but his teeth available. On the fourth day, Grimmjow was watching him as he began to stir.
A soft moan alerted Grimmjow's ears, his head flying to gaze at the orange head so fast you would swear he got whiplash. Since the got him back and chained up, he had been mentally preparing himself for what he would say or how he would act. Even with all that time he still drew in a sharp breath when he was pinned with that icy black stare.
"Kuro?" I asked gently and his gaze drifted to the chains.
"Kuro should have known… Kuro is a bad slave… Needs to be taught his place…" His voice echoed in a hiss.
"No, that's not true!" I jumped up to sit on the floor near him.
"That's true! True! True! True!" He howled in laughter.
"We love ya Kuro, we just wanted to protect you." I felt a burning in my eyes and a trail of wetness sliding down my cheeks. Kuro raced to sit in front of me, his face just inches from mine.
"Are those tears Sexta? Why do you cry Sexta?" I couldn't answer him.
"Let Kuro go… Let Kuro soothe your tears…" I leaned into his ghostly touch, catching myself before I lost my jugular.
"You…. Kuro you're not well…" I breathed. He laughed and it sent shivers down my spine.
"Can you blame him? Do you know what he suffered?" I jumped at the rage filled, icy voice.
"I can show you…. Would you like that? I can give you whatever you desire…" This new voice whispered in my ears.
Grimm-sama… Kuro's voice echoed beside me.
I turned my head to gaze at the orangette I had come to love and adore. His smile was warm and his eyes held a glow to them that was unhindered by the pain of his life. All he had on was a pair of loosed white slacks, Arabian styled. Gold bands clung to his neck, upper arms, and his ankles. I wanted to touch him, so desperately did I want to touch him. This is what Kuro should look like, not scarred by the agony his life heaped upon him. He touched my cheeks; his touch was warm and gentle.
Grimm… Why? I nearly screamed in rage as an invisible knife placed cuts across that toned and perfect torso.
"I…. I know your tricks, demon." I said as I closed my eyes to the cries the ghostly illusion gave.
"But I am giving you what you want… You wanted to know what happened…." The demon Kuro lilted before the power became too much and he fell unconscious.
Another two days went by before Kuro woke up again. This time the demon had changed tactics while under Ulquiora's supervision. Ulquiora sat in the chair that Grimmjow had sat in the other day with a book in his hands and a stack of them beside him on the floor. At the sound of the chains moving, he glanced that way but found Kuro in the same position with his back to him. If it weren't for the crying he wouldn't have known Kuro was awake and aware.
"M-Master… I'll be good… I promise…" Kuro sobbed.
"Kuro…" I said softly.
"Please let me out… I'm sorry… Please!" I got up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"No Kuro. You are not here because we want you to be." Kuro didn't attack, he just kept crying and each sob made pain stab at my heart. I stroked his hair and he leaned into the touch like he would have before all this.
"Th-then why… Why are you punishing Kuro?" The orangette sounded so broken.
"You are not well Kuro. That demon inside you is warping your ideas." I tried to reason with him.
"S-Seiza… wants me to be strong… says Kuro is weak…" Another broken sob flew from those delicate, chapped lips.
"Don't listen. You have seen more pain than anyone. You are strong."
"Strong… weak… same here… same there…"
"Kuro?" I began to get worried. When a demon possesses someone they gain enormous strength, but that power burns their body quickly until the demon fully takes over. A sign that the demon in their precious Kuro was close to the surface was broken speech.
"Voices…. Hungry… always screaming… Ding! Ding! Ding!" Each ding was slow and forced, a resounding crack as he picked his head up and slammed it down on the padded floor for each ding. Even with all the padding, Kuro still managed to cut his forehead.
"Shh… Kuro… I'm here…" I started to cry as the demon power burnt through him again and he slipped into a fitful sleep.
I shifted him so that he sat in front of me with his back to my chest and his head on my shoulder, wrapping my arms around him in hopes of offering some comfort. I let my Spiritual Pressure flow freely so that the demon could feed off of it to keep Kuro's strength up. Finally, after so many years under Aizen's rule and locking away the emotions he so despised, I dropped my guard and cried enough pain for both me and the broken kid I had come to love. Nel had come in some time later to check on us with little Aries in her arms.
"Ulqui? Is it safe to be so close?" She asked.
"The demon power burnt him out again." I sniffed and brushed away my tears.
"Any progress?"
"He woke up and started crying. He thought he was being punished." The last word came out as a broken sob.
"Oh Ulqui… Ryoya thinks her Zanpakuto might be able to help."
"I felt Shiro here earlier." I observed.
"He got into the hallway before he collapsed. Szayel is running tests now."
"He should be finding a way to help Kuro!" I hissed and lashed out with my Spiritual Pressure, breaking the window behind her.
"He thinks that what happened to Shiro might help Kuro."
"Kuro… Shiro… don't know… you don't know…" Kuro laughed.
"Kuro?" I moved to sit in front of him but he used his body to pin me to the wall I rested against.
"Don't… voice... quiet now…."
"What don't we know Kuro?" Nel asked him.
"Black and White, two halves in spite. Time you listened instead of hear, if you want to save what you hold dear." As he spoke the words, the space around us began to distort. Color faded and muted, walls twisting and bending.
"What do you mean?" I asked, laying my chin on his shoulder and he nuzzled his head into my touch.
"Means to an end but only if you have something to spend. A new way was made once the price was paid."
"A new way?" Nel asked.
"Pain was there, amid the blood stained air. One knew Pain's true face, the other knew love's place."
"What?" I asked because even I could not begin to fathom what the delusional kid was trying to say.
He turned his head to look at me and I drew in a ragged breath. One eye was still an endless pool of blackened pain and rage; the other had an iris of the soft honey brown that was undoubtedly Kuro. But the darkness was pushing to infect that other eye, Kuro trembled with the shear will power it took to keep it at bay. Slowly it took over that soft brown and when it reached the iris, the gentle brown changed to molten gold.
"But even if you know…. You won't get anywhere… I'll still be here to feed on his pain…" The demons voice echoed.
"Seiza why are you here?" I growled. If I could get my claws on this demon without hurting Kuro, I would rip him to shreds.
"But I am not here. Nor am I there. Just a figment of his broken mind." Seiza's dark voice echoed.
"Give him back!" Nel growled, Seiza just laughed in such a sick manner that your own sanity started to slip away.
"Wanna know something interesting?"
The world shifted some more to show Kuro around the age of sixteen or so being led into a large white building by two police officers. He was bound with a straight jacket and a muzzle to keep him from biting at anyone but it did nothing to hinder his laughter. It was insane, enough to match the maniac grin that tore his face in half as he howled it into the sky. They sedated him and chained him up in a large padded room, much how they had him now. Kuro sat, banging his head against the wall in that solitarily sterile room.
"They weren't supposed to be there…" Kuro droned.
"It wasn't my fault…"
"Stop looking at me…"
"I'm not a monster… I'm not!"
He kept droning out those sentences over and over again like a record that had a horrible skip to it. Always repeating. Never changing. Days seemed to pass in an instant and Kuro looked wary and worn down. Two faceless men came in and sedated him once more so that he sluggishly moved down the halls of the insane asylum. In another sterile room they sat him down in a chair and removed his straight jacket. A man in a long lab coat came in, set up a camera to record them and sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Now then Ichigo. Can you tell me about that incident?" The faceless doctor asked.
"All Slave was supposed to do was to kill every one inside the mansion, so I did." Kuro said emotionlessly.
"And? Did you complete your assignment?"
"Yes. Slave is a good slave. Number Fifteen is a good slave."
"Then why are you here?"
"Number Fifteen never had to kill a child… Older ones yes. But they were tainted. Evil."
"You killed a child? How old was this child?"
"He was six. He was not supposed to be there…"
"What happened Number Fifteen?"
"I had killed the main target in the foyer; I heard a small sound and looked to see his son standing in a pool of blood. He was staring at me. Then a scream came from behind me and there was his pregnant wife, staring at me." Kuro got up and faced the wall, his eyes wide and far off as his mind played through whatever horrid event he lived.
"What did they do slave?"
"Staring… Always staring… their eyes… Eyes! Eyes! Eyes!" And Kuro began to smack his head against the concrete wall until his blood began to paint the oppressing white.
The doctors rushed around to sedate him again and once they did, they through him back into his padded room and straight jacket. Days passed and the cut on his forehead healed into a jagged scar, one that was now hidden beneath the long bangs that hid his eyes.
"Shall we try again slave?" The doctor asked as they sedated him and removed the straight jacket again.
"Their eyes… I saw myself in their eyes…"
"What about their eyes?"
"I had always believed that they were evil… but in their eyes I saw myself for what I really was… a monster…"
"A slave has no need for these thoughts."
"I hated those eyes… I wanted them gone so I shot her… Then that boy screamed for his mother and I shot him… Because I couldn't stand to hear the pain in his voice… I was still shaking… they bled out on the floor… I couldn't hold the gun steady…"
"You did good slave."
"I can still see those eyes… I hate them… I don't want to see them… I don't want to see them!" Kuro clawed at his eyes until bloody trail left them. He literally clawed one of them out in a fit of sick laughter.
"Stop looking at me… I hate it… HATE IT! HATE IT! HATE IT!"
Kuro lunged at the faceless doctor and clawed his face off and didn't stop, even when the man stopped moving. Then he walked out of the room and went down the hallways, picking up a stray scalpel left unattended. He kept scratching at his missing left eye all the while maiming every single person he came in contact with. Until the whole inside of the asylum was similar to that of the underground office they had freed him in.
At the entrance stood a man in a pristine black Armani suit, an air of arrogance exuding off him in waves. The man merely just looked at Kuro in disgust and drew his gun. Kuro swayed on his feet, the amount of sedatives in him at random points in his body finally slowing him down. Or his balance was as off as his sanity was.
"What are you doing slave?" the man asked.
"Your eyes… they say I am a monster…"
"You're just a slave and nothing more."
"I don't care…I know… I know I am a demon! I am a monster! But your eyes… I hate your eyes!" And Kuro tore into the man with a wide smile and a psychotic gleam in his eyes that shone brighter the more the man struggled and screamed. And the world returned to normal as the demons power burnt Kuro's body out again.
Ulquiora cursed at himself. He should have fed more of his Spiritual pressure to Kuro because there was something important that happened after the illusion ended. But who could really trust the words of a demon, even if that demon was only a shadow made out of desperation. Nel had run back to tell Szayel of what just transpired or to see if Shiro was alright.
After that day, Kuro didn't attack anyone who came close enough for his fangs to reach. He was docile for the most part; but every now and then Seiza would appear. Then it became unsafe for anyone who was in reach of his voice or his power. But for all the good parts there were bad parts. The days started the same. Kuro would wake up crying and beg his masters for forgiveness for what ever he had done to warrant the punishment. And for a few hours Kuro would fight to keep the demon at bay until Seiza eventually took over. Every day the time when Kuro could keep his made up demon at bay grew shorter and shorter.
Shiro could only get as far as the hallway entrance before he would collapse again. At first Szayel had assumed it was stress but after some testing he came across something very interesting. He was on watch duty today, on the twelfth day. He had a small laptop on his lap as he talked with the slightly more coherent Kuro, inputting data to come up with a conclusion to the anomaly.
"Master Szayel… Wh-what are you d-doing?" Kuro asked.
"Shiro hasn't been able to visit. Do you know why?" I ask him back and at his shake of the head I continued.
"See for some reason Shiro can only get as far as the door to this hallway before he collapses."
"Is M-Mas… ter Shiro alright?" After only six hours of being awake Seiza was already trying to push through.
"I did some testing and found that his Spiritual Pressure is identical to yours."
Kuro went wide eyed before going silent; I had hoped that he was only gathering his will to push his demon back. But then that would be illogical, and I don't do illogical. I studied him as I put more data in to the whirring machine. If my hypothesis was right then I had found a way to save Kuro at least that was the theory. Since Kuro was more in control I might have a better chance at seeing if I am right.
"Kuro… You know why that is don't you?" I ask as gently as I can but he says nothing and trembles.
"I am not going to hurt you Kuro." I prod.
"K-Kuro wanted to be free… Seiza had given me a way… b-b-but I had t-to pay him first for my wish…"
"What wish?"
"I wanted to be free… for the pain to stop… S-Seiza had split…" and he went silent as the demon pulled him into his inner world.
I sighed and called up Stark, asking him to take my place while I informed the others of my findings. As soon as Stark showed up I bolted from the hall with an apology, never stopping until I found all the Espada in the dining hall. I quickly barked for all the low ranks to vacate before catching my breath as I braced my arm on the table. They looked at me quizzically but waited for me to be ready.
"I… I think I can save Kuro!" I gasped for air, and like the stressed dam, they flooded me with questions.
"How?" Shiro remained calm even for punishing himself for not being there for his most precious one.
"I was thinking about what Ulqui had said… and the strange readings I got from you every time you collapsed."
"So? How does riddles and stress help Kuro?" Grimmjow snarled.
"Kuro and Shiro have identical, not similar but identical, Spiritual pressure." I pushed my glasses up my nose.
"So do Stark and Lilynette." Hallibel stated with a frown.
"Yes but remember what Kuro said? Black and White, two halves in spite. A new way was made once the price was paid. One knew Pain's face, the other knew love's place. He was trying to tell us that you two are the same person." I pointed at Shiro.
"I'm lost." Nel sighed.
"Kuro's wish for Seiza was for the pain to end. I learned that after Kuro struck that deal he didn't feel pain as bad. Seiza took half of Kuro's soul and made you, Shiro. The one who could know love and never know of the pain he faced." That seemed to set off a chain reaction of light bulbs.
"But if we were separated… Then the demon power could take 'im over once 'is will was worn 'nough!" Shiro's eyes grew wide.
"Yes, and if we can combine you two again like Stark and Lily…" I urged.
"Then the demon power would be split equally and Kuro would go back to normal!" Grimm cheered.
"But how? Shiro can't even get close to Kuro." Ulqui stated.
"I think that you are not able to get close because your other half is so far into insanity that it throws off your mental balance. So it stands to reason that we could do it during Kuro's lucid moments." I state with a smug grin.
"Good work Granz!" They cheered and woke the sleeping Aries, who screamed with them.
Stark and Lily were in charge of Kuro's care until they were ready to rejoin his soul with Shiro. For the most part it was easy. Since Stark's Spiritual Pressure flowed freely at all times, Kuro was able to get his fill and keep his sanity. Sometimes Seiza would rear his ugly head and force Kuro into the hell of his inner world. Stark slept most of the time so Lily was the one to talk to him, even now as she sat cross legged in front of the shaking orangette.
"Are you okay Kuro?" She asked.
"F-Fine Master."
"Then why are you shivering?"
"C-Cold."
"You know, I can tell when people lie to me."
"Seiza…. H-He wants… o-o-out…" He rasped.
"You need your strength; you can let him out for a while."
No sooner did the words leave her lips did Kuro lifted his head to gaze at her with that icy blackness that froze her blood. There was a quizzical aspect to his eyes, as if he were a babe seeing the world for the first time. His lips were curled back into a vicious snarl that made her gasp and jump back. At this the snarl morphed into a sick grin that he had made the little girl jump by just looking at her.
"Hello little girl, would you like to play with me?" Seiza smiled happily.
"No." She hissed back.
"Aw, but why not?" Kuro's face twisted into fake hurt.
"Because you're mean to Kuro!"
"No, not mean. I just know that I am the only one who actually cares."
"No your not!"
"Lily… calm down…" Stark said with a yawn.
"Come on little girl. Everything I have done is to keep Ichigo safe, much more than I can say for you."
"Shut up demon, you can at least be silent!"
"Do you truly think you can rejoin them? Do you think that will erase the pain? Don't be a fool." Oh it was going to be a long time before that demon said good bye for good.
