So basically below is a result of listening to eight of hours of Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence and Skillet. xD (Y'know the good ones like I Will Not Bow, Going Under, Monster... etc.)

Warning: This is where the character deaths really start to pick up. I don't want to spoil anything, but at this point really anyone (except Ichigo, Shiro and Zangetsu) can die.

Also, by the time most of you read this it'll be while I'm in the middle of my grade nine exams. I don't wanna feel like I'm begging, but it'd be really nice of you to all leave a review wishing me luck. I've got French, then Geography and finally Math. Ugh…

Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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At first I thought I was hallucinating again, but even then it would have meant this had happened already. I carefully observed the light brown hair on the women making her way towards me. Her eyes sparkled happily in the moonlight, her nose was small, her face slightly round and her smile was missing, but she was still all there.

It was Masaki, my mother, who was walking towards me. There was no doubt about that. But something didn't set right in my stomach. Normally I would've been thrilled to see here… all I felt was hatred.

"Hello Ichigo," mom smiled her flawless white smile. Her soft hand gently reached out to touch my cheek.

I avoided eye contact. I couldn't bring myself to look at her. It was as though I was trying to avoid looking at garbage. "Hi," was all I could muster for a reply.

"It's been a long time, sweet heart," Mom's voice was starting to crack, as though a damn had been built and was now slowly leaking joy. She started crying.

"Mom," I said to keep her attention. I scanned my mind, but the best thing I could say was, "I've missed you."

She embraced me in a soft hug – apparently believing my lie - her arms gently rubbing lines up and down my back. "I know, I know… Oh my son, I've missed you too."

"I've never seen you cry before," I mumbled blankly. My voice had lowered to a whisper now. I couldn't bring myself to make it any higher.

Mom's hands left my back in order to wipe the tears from her own eyes. Her sobs had begun to spread through the room, but she just shook them off with a small laugh. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "I couldn't help myself. Y'know, Karin, Yuzu, me your dad have been waiting to see you for-"

"Karin and Yuzu, they're here?"

Mom's eyes widened before she slowly nodded. "We've got a small house here in the Seireitei."

"Does that mean..? Did Karin and Yuzu..? Dad..? They're all dead!?"

Mom's arms tightened around me again. Her breath was warm in my hair. "Yuzu, Karin and your father were all brought here when the agreement was made in Karakura town."

"Agreement? What agreement," I questioned.

"The destruction of Karakura town."

My tongue was stuck, I was speechless, I couldn't even make a sound, my heart beat three times as fast, my head spun, my ears rung, I felt like I was on fire… I angrily shoved mom away, forcing her arms to fall dramatically to her sides.

"Ichigo, please-"

"Please," I laughed, finding my voice just in time, "Please what? Please don't get mad? Please come with me? Please forget about Karakura? Mom… I- I-! Y- You, of all people, just sat by and watched as Karakura town was destroyed? Why?"

"Well… I- Because-"

"No," I interrupted. I decided I didn't need to hear this. "I don't care what you have to say. For all I know it could be just a lie. You are not my mother, not the one that died all those years ago and most certainly not the one I used to look up to."

That struck sadness into my mother's heart, I could tell by the way her eyes lost their enthusiasm. It was so unlike me, but that look of horror on my mom's face gave me joy. And it wasn't fake like laughing at your friends whenever they goofed up, no, this feeling was even better than that of a child's first Christmas, like when you open up a present you've been waiting five years for. This was the feeling of true happiness.

"Ichigo," Tatsuki quietly called. What? Was there a see-how-many-times-you-can-say-Ichigo competition going on?

"What do you want Tatsuki?"

She looked like she was ready to yell, but an emptiness filled her eyes and she choked on her words. I could tell she was broken, maybe she had been tortured, but nothing inside of me cared. I felt no sting of pain in my heart, no bonded sorrow, no weight on my shoulders. I felt great.

'Well aren'cha just a little Mr. Sunshine all of a sudden?'

I sensed Shiro materialize behind me long before his arms wrapped around my stomach. His hands were just at the edge of my robes, I could feel the warmth they held. It was hard to resist the temptation of his lips… the ones that were so close to my ear.

"What is that?" Tatsuki squeaked.

I blinked, could she see Shiro?

He chuckled, his hollow watery voice sending obvious chills down Mom and Tatsuki's backs. I observed their faces and smirked.

"Why are you smiling," My mother questioned. Was I supposed to look scared? I honestly didn't think so anymore. "What is that thing there with you? Why is it here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shiro returned while tilting his head playfully to the side. His voice echoed into silence, the room remaining quiet for the next few minutes. I could see Tatsuki about to speak, having finally brought up the nerve to do so, when the stillness was broken by an ear-splitting giggle.

All eyes, including mine, turned to face the little girl they all called head captain. Her childish features now replaced with a semi-demonic smirk.

"So, this is the secret behind the famous Ichigo Kurosaki's powers; an inner hollow?"

"A what-?" Mom questioned.

Shiro's eyes narrowed, but I was the one who spoke. "How did you-" My voice was cut off by a scream. I blinked; the head captain was gone. Damn, she's fast! I looked to my left; the bodies of both Mom and Tatsuki lay on the floor in a pool of their own blood.

"You're no longer useful," she stated to the girls, looking at them as if they were garbage! "I now have what I want."

"You bitch!" I screamed and my voice crackled from pure unfiltered anger. I could feel my own reiatsu beginning to flare as well as Shiro's grip around my waist tighten. I felt like a dog on a leash with steak dangling just out of reach, but I got the impression Shiro's intentions were to eventually let me go.

She laughed, a giggle, a twitter, a noise far more annoying than a mosquito buzzing in your ears. "Has anyone ever told you that you're cute whenever you're made? Ha!"

"Shut up!"

The girl smirked. "Tell me, Ichigo, do you know why I locked you up?"

For a moment, the world stood still. My anger temporarily paused by curiosity, Shiro's arms still firmly wrapped around me, my intentions still frozen on murder.

"It was because I was afraid of you. You were the only one who could possibly have enough power to defeat me; after all you were stronger than any captain in existence. So in order for my plans to come into play I was forced to wait until you were out of the way." She giggled, covering her mouth with a hand. "That rhymed!"

My hands shook with rage, Zangetsu slowly being raised into the air.

"That's when I killed Yamamoto," she continued after clearing her throat. We made eye contact and I could tell she was happy, just as she could tell I was furious. "I made up a false story about how your powers were dangerous and sat back as the Seireitei went into a panic in order to lock you up. Of course when some people refused to believe, all I had to do was break them and they'd follow me every order, no questions asked, like little ants to the queen of the hill."

"So then you purposely drugged me to make me hallucinate."

"Wow," she gasped over dramatically, "I'm impressed! You're catching on! Looks like that head out yours isn't empty after all!"

I growled. "Then it'd stop around every twenty years, that way when I'd escape it would constantly remind the other Shinigami that I was 'insane.'"

"You got it-"

"But it caught you off guard when it suddenly shortened to eight years, right? You knew I was strong, but you had no idea that deep within me, at the darkest part of my soul lay a cruel instinct, one that'd drive any sane person unto dark depths of insanity."

I had to grind my teeth together for a brief moment. Shiro had started massaging my stomach with his thumbs. I gave out a low hiss before continuing.

"You had no idea how far across the border between Shinigami and Hollow I went! I'm sick of being everyone's hero, I'm tired of sticking my neck out the furthest with no one but myself to pull me back in, I'm done being treated like dirt!" I paused for only two reasons. One, because my own grin had stopped words from escaping me. And two, because I wanted to enjoy the look of total shock on that little girls face before I smashed her into the ground. I laughed, "You wanted me to be a monster, Head Captain. Well, here I am!"

I didn't even have to say the word; my Bankai was released, my thick silver blade turning thin and black. Shiro's gorgeous laughter filled the air, his arms snaking up my chest. A wet like water, but sticky like goo, white substance crawled up my neck, down my legs and arms, finding any place it could and sticking to the skin like glue. My fingers coiled inward as black claws emerged from my nails, shoes and socks turned to bare skin as the same claws appeared on my feet too. My shirt dissolved revealing a hole just above thick muscles. I felt something tug against my hair, shortly afterwards realizing that it had grown about twenty five inches. Then finally I watched shards of a white mask reverse shatter onto my face, covering it completely and even adding slightly bent horns.

Momentarily I had expected the world to turn dark and hazy, but if anything it had all become clearer. In my ears I could hear my enemies heartbeat, with my nose I could smell the moisture on her skin, I could taste her fear, feel the warm flesh I was about to rip open, see her terror filled eyes as I began my assault.