Me: Next chapter! I own nothing, but my characters, and my imagination.

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Chapter 9: Stopping the Rain

Dominique's POV

I was following Yoruichi on top of the walls. I made sure to keep tabs on everyone's reiatsu as we ran on. Emma and Shuan were fighting several low level soul reapers, and the others were in their own battles as they came across the enemy. Yoruichi and I had to fight our own way through several units of soul reapers.

That's when I felt Ichigo's reiatsu rise. He was being attacked by a strong opponent already. I wanted to go to him, but I continued to follow Yoruichi. He could fight on his own a while. I had my own problems to deal with anyway.

Yoruichi spoke up once, when we were hiding behind a wall from another group of soul reapers.

"Since you are better at controlling your reiatsu, are you able to seal your zanpakuto into a smaller size? That large blade of yours is attracting a lot of unneeded attention". She said seriously. I nodded.

"Yeah, I could, but I normally just choose to leave my Zangetsu unsealed. But I've had to seal it before during training. I was learning how to be stealthy and all that ya know. Do you want me to seal my Zangetsu"? I asked as I looked down at her. I really didn't want to seal up my blade. It made me feel exposed.

"Yes". She said and I pulled my zanpakuto from my back. The cloth fell away from the blade and I put my hand on it and lightly touched my fingertips to the cool metal. I closed my eyes in concentration and murmured.

"Seal shut the night sky, Zangetsu". My huge blade glowed as it turned into a normal katana. The cloth turned into a black sheath, with a white hilt, and the hilt guard looked like four crescent moons pushed back to back in a way that made it look like a four pointed star.

I put the sheath in my obi sash and sheathed my blade within it. Now I looked like an ordinary soul reaper. When the soul reapers passed we continued our way to the center of the Seireitei. Even though I was being stealthy I was seen a few times. Apparently word had gotten out about me.

Of course Yoruichi wasn't seen so I had to deal with the packs of annoying soul reapers by myself. As I nimbly dodged their attacks, I landed a few good kicks and punches.

I didn't even have to wield my blade; they were weak, that and I didn't want to have any unnecessary bloodshed. I would ask anybody who didn't get knocked out by the first hit (Which was very few) where Rukia Kuchiki was being held.

Some would say "I don't know", but one said in the Repentance Cell. He blacked out before he could tell me where it was though. I dropped the low life in disgust, his unconscious body hitting the stone ground limply. They were weak and that was why shadow shinigami were so much better. Most of these soul reapers had no right to call themselves warriors.

I caught up to Yoruichi and said that Rukia was being held in the Repentance Cell. She stopped dead in her tracks and I had to bound back to get to where she had stopped.

"The Repentance Cell? That's by Sokyoku Hill. See that large white tower up on the plateau? That's where she is". I nodded and we began to make our way to Sokyoku Hill. I sensed a reiatsu signature close by, but I really didn't take notice of it until I felt that it was following us. The fact that someone had the nerve to try and track me like that was insulting.

"Yoruichi, go on ahead without me. We got someone following us with a pretty decent reiatsu level. I'll catch up later". I said with a smirk on my face. She looked at me disapprovingly, but she went on ahead of me.

'Good, now for the real fun to begin'. Shirozangetsu mentally smirked. I stopped and looked to where the reiatsu was coming from.

"Hey, you might as well come out. I know you're there. You've been following me for a while now, so don't you think I would have noticed you? I'm not some rookie after all". A tall man jumped onto the roof a short distance away from me. He had spiky black hair, scars, and the number 69 on his face. He looked like he wouldn't hesitate to take you out if you got in his way. I said innocently, "So, what do ya want"? He blanked out for a minute at my question.

"My name's Shuhie Hisagi, lieutenant of squad 9. Who are you, ryoka"? He was definitely the serious type.

"The names Dominique Kudo. Nice to meet you. Now if you don't mind, I have to get going. Bye"! I said with a childish wave and a happy-go-lucky smile. I went to shunpo off, but he appeared in front of me and he went to attack me with a kick. I instantly went into observation mode.

'Hakuda. He's no rookie from the looks of it too'. I thought to myself as I grinned, and back flipped out of the way. I landed about five meters away from him. I smirked.

"So even though you have a zanpakuto you must prefer to fight with hakuda, am I right"? I said with a smirk on my face; trying to get a reaction out of him.

"Yah. So"? He sounded hesitant. Bingo.

"That's cool, but I still have to get going. I'm not here to fight you, but I will fight if I have to". I said as my smirk left my face and a serious expression took its place.

"Then why do you fight at all then". He asked me in the same serious tone. I sighed.

"I have to, because I'm here along with my friends to save Rukia Kuchiki. She's being put to death for something that doesn't deserve the death penalty. So we're here to save her". He blanched at my honesty.

"I am sorry, but I still can't let you pass though". I rubbed the back of my head with my hand and sighed at his stubbornness.

"Then I'm sorry Shuhei. You're forcing my hand". I then used shunpo to come up behind him and knocked him on the back of the head with a swift palm strike. He fell like a ton of bricks to the roof, he was out cold and would be for a while. I sighed again and started running towards Yoruichi. I normally would not have done that. I didn't like fighting dirty.

I felt Ichigo's reiatsu rise again, it had been down for a while, so he must have won that last fight, and Ganju's reiatsu had joined his again so they were together at least and could watch each other's backs.

But now there was a weak third one with them, and a seemingly familiar reiatsu was close to them as well. I closed my eyes to concentrate on the energy source and then I realized who it was. It was one of the two reiatsu that I had felt that night when Rukia was taken. Ichigo was gonna act stupid and try to get revenge on Renji Abarai!

I landed from a jump, twisted my body, and pivoted due North. I bolted towards Ichigo's reiatsu, passing by several sets of patrolling soul reapers. They were unable to see me, if they were, all they would have seen was a short black blur shooting across the rooftops. I seldom ran like this, but when I did, well, even Shuan had trouble keeping up with me.

To make my speed increase even more, I used both sonido and shunpo in a combination. I drew my sword and grabbed the sheath in my left hand. I monitored the fight that Ichigo was in, it was pretty intense, with both his reiatsu and the enemy's reiatsu skyrocketing.

"Scratch the sky, Zangetsu"! My zanpakuto changed back to normal and I kept up my pace towards Ichigo. Yoruichi would have to make due without me for now.

When I got there, I saw him being dragged away by Ganju who was being followed by some scared looking soul reaper who had barely any reiatsu at all. I saw some dude with long red hair on the ground and bleeding, it was Renji. I felt a short burst of pride in Ichigo's victory. I also felt four or five other soul reapers heading this way. I ran up to them and the wimpy soul reaper started freaking out.

"Don't worry kid. I'm Ichigo's friend". He calmed after a few minutes and he led us to a loose tile in the ground and we went underground. I helped Ganju carry Ichigo, who was injured pretty badly. The soul reaper told me his name was Hanataro Yamada of Squad 4. I went through my memories and remembered that Squad 4 was basically the medics and attendants of the Soul Society, so I knew that this dude was okay and not a threat.

I sat down by Ichigo and I poured my energy into my palms to start healing him inconspicuously. Hanataro came up beside me and he assisted me.

"W-w-what's your name"? I smiled at him. He was the cute, little brotherly type. He was extremely timid, but a good guy if he was willing to help out a couple of ryoka like us.

"I'm Dominique Kudo, Ichigo's girlfriend". He nodded and smiled at me.

"Are you good at healing"? He asked me. I answered, a bit untruthfully. Even though I had been careful not to show that I was using a healing shadow on the worse wound, he could see that I was healing Ichigo faster than the run of the mill kido.

"Somewhat, but my friend is ten time's better at kido than I am. She's good at all sorts of kidos. I can only do little stuff, but it will at least help you by making your job easier. You must be pretty good at healing to be in Squad 4". I said.

"Well it's pretty much the only thing I can do". He answered quietly. I had to admit it, he was pretty good at it, for a normal soul reaper that is. I was careful to heal the worst of the damage with my healing shadow. I made sure not to let anyone see the dark tendrils that were regrowing the flesh inside of Ichigo's chest wounds. That would cause me trouble, and that would cause questions to be asked.

I ended up using quite a bit of reiatsu. I hoped that I wouldn't have to release my gentei reiin. Then again, it has been a while since I've eaten, and my strength wasn't at a hundred percent,...but back to the subject at hand. We had Ichigo patched up nicely before long. The wounds that had looked fatal on him were now mostly scars.

Hanataro found something is Ichigo's shihakusho that scared him. It was a hollows mask. It was still the same as mine. Ichigo's hollow powers were awakening and protecting him. I didn't say this out loud, but I left it on the ground beside him. Hanataro kept giving it scared looks though.

Ichigo woke up as Hanataro and I were applying the last of the bandages. He looked at me and smiled.

"Dominique. You're alright". Ichigo said as he looked up at me in surprise. I snickered.

"Yah and you're not. You were a bloody mess when I found you being dragged away by Ganju and Hanataro. I'm glad you didn't die, otherwise I'd have to go and avenge you. Don't do that shit to me again or I'll kick your ass myself". My eyes softened and I gave him a small smile. He blanked for a second, blinking twice.

"Oh yah, I fought Renji". I was guessing that was the red headed dude. Then Ichigo jumped up and said, "Thanks Dominique, Hanataro. I'm alright now". Hanataro was trying to make him sit back down and rest as he got up and grabbed his Zangetsu before heading for the tunnel entrance. I shunpoed to him and grabbed his wrist. I hit him on the back of the head and knocked him out. I caught him and carried him back to the makeshift bed.

'Damn. That's twice today. What's with these people and making me have to result to fighting dirty'? I thought to myself glumly as I sat back down beside Ichigo's sleeping form.

I looked in on Ganju, who was sitting by the entrance, and saw that he'd fallen asleep as well. Hanataro went to him and started healing him too. I decided to stay by Ichigo and fell asleep a short while later.

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When I woke up, Ichigo was awake too, and staring at me. I mumbled sleepily.

"What? Do I got something on my face"? He huffed out a sigh, rubbed the back of his head, and looking away from me sheepishly yet still managing to scowl.

"My head hurts". He muttered. I giggled sleepily. It always took forever to get fully awake in the morning. I'd never been a morning person.

"Sorry, but you wouldn't have listened to me anyway, so I had to knock you out. Sorry". I gave him an apologetic smile and he smirked back at me. I showed Ichigo his hollow mask and he thought he would keep it for good luck since it saved his life. Hanataro started saying things like he should get rid of it because it was scary.

I kept my face passive though, it would show up again, even if he did throw it away, his hollow was awakening and soon he would have to face it. I felt Shirozangetsu's energy ripple through me slightly. As if his hollow's awakening was affecting him. I kept my expression the same, making sure to not let anyone know of my unease.

Ichigo dropped the mask into the water of the underground passage. I stood there for a moment and watched as the mask sunk a ways before shattering and disappearing into the water. No one noticed as the mask vanished, they probably thought that it merely sunk to the bottom. It didn't really disappear though, it merely dematerialized.

I ignored my better instincts to say something about what was happening as we all made our way back to the outside world. Hanataro made sure to put the tile where it had been. We saw that the way was guard free and clear, so we started running up the steps. We ran for what seemed like hours. Man these steps seemed to last forever.

When we finally got to the top we stopped for a minute to catch our breaths, while I decided right then and there, that I hated stairs. Then we started running towards the huge buildings that seemed to block out any light that might have intruded into this place. I had an ominous feeling, but I ignored it.

That's when a huge reiatsu filled the air. It was so heavy that the very space seemed to distort. I kept my reiatsu low as to not attract any attention to myself. I looked back to Ganju and Hanataro and I saw that they were being crushed under the power of the dark reiatsu. I called out to them.

"Keep running! Don't stop"! We all started to run down the long corridor that was made up of the huge buildings.

I looked at Ichigo and saw that he had broken out into a cold sweat. I could feel the menace in the air, it was a captain's reiatsu, but it was the darkest I'd felt yet. It felt like the very bloodlust in the reiatsu that surrounded us would be enough to kill us all. I heard a heavy thump and I turned to see Hanataro on the ground. The reiatsu had caused him to pass out. Ganju picked him up and we continued to run from the menacing power.

The air was so heavy though that it seemed to me that no matter how much we ran we were going to have to fight the owner of this dark energy. I then felt something that reminded me of having someone whisper a secret in my ear.

"Is it you"? The voice said. The feeling was like that person doing the whispering had a sword to my throat. My instincts were screaming at me to look back, hollify, and attack. I looked up the same time Ichigo did and we saw the owner of the reiatsu. There was a man in a torn white haori, up on one of the buildings; a captain. He had a malevolent grin on his face. I felt my hollows shudder at the sight of him, it was of excitement though.

'Powerful opponent'. Shiva said excitedly.

'Fun'. Shirozangetsu laughed. Both their excitement filled my own mind and I felt a smirk begin to grow on my lips.

I looked into the man's eyes and felt as if I would suffocate just by looking into them. This was the highest of thrills for a shadow shinigami, to feel the power of an enemy that would give you a challenge. I saw Ichigo out of the corner of my eye; he was gripping his chest as if he was making sure that it was still there. Seeing Ichigo like that brought me out of my daze and got me focused back to the situation at hand. This was bad.

The man disappeared from my sight and then I felt his deathly presence right behind Ichigo and myself.

'Shunpo'. I thought. It was a sloppy one, but fast none the less.

"You're Ichigo Kurosaki, right"? The captain asked. Ichigo stuttered.

"H-how do you know my name and who are you"? Ichigo asked.

"Oh, didn't Ikkaku tell you? I'm Kenpachi Zaraki, captain of Squad 11, and I'm here to kill you". I grabbed Ichigo by the back of his shihakusho and shunpoed back to where Ganju and Hanataro were. He was stiff as a board.

I looked back, saw Hanataro on the ground, eyes wide, and he was frothing at the mouth. I knew if he didn't get out of here in a minute his soul would be completely crushed.

'Damn. It's harder to fight when I have so many people to protect. I'm so not used to this'. I thought, aggravated. Ichigo looked back and Ganju yelled at us not to let our guard down. I then heard a loud, but cute voice.

"HEY! He's drooling"! The next thing I saw was a little girl with pink hair standing on Ichigo's shoulder, as if to get a better look at Hanataro. Ichigo looked freaked and the girl shot back over in front of the man. Ichigo called to Hanataro and Ganju.

"You all get out of here. I'll win this one, somehow". Ganju looked at him for a minute, then he grabbed Hanataro, and ran. I stood beside Ichigo, ready to fight. Ichigo looked at me.

"You get out of here too Dominique. Go save Rukia". I opened my mouth to say something, but I shut it, gritten my teeth, and then whispered under my breath.

"Baka". And I raced off down the alley. When I was out of sight range I jumped up onto one of the huge buildings that filled this place. I then jumped over towards the soon to be battleground. When I got to a suitable ledge I took of my shihakusho top to expose the shozoku top. I wrapped it around my waist with the sleeves like I would with a hoodie. I would change into my half hollow form, and snatch him out of there in a heartbeat.

When I sat down at the edge of the roof my vision suddenly became blurry. My thoughts became slurred, and I felt something pulling on my consciousness. I lifted my right hand up to my forehead and tried to keep myself steady, but to no avail. Black filled my sight and I passed out.

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I felt something cold touch my face; wind. My eyes shot open and I stood up in a wildflower covered clearing. I saw the trees and cloudy sky that made up my inner world. My eyes automatically scanned the area.

I saw Shirozangetsu and Shiva to my side, but I also saw a man who was wearing all black that reminded me immediately of my bankai; Zangetsu. Ichigo's and my own shared zanpakuto stood in the field looking calmly at me, but he wasn't alone. Another Shirozangetsu stood beside him? But how?

"Okay, what's going on here? Why are there two Shirozangetsus"? I then looked to the dark haired man dressed in all black.

"I am Zangetsu. It's nice to finally meet my other wielder face to face". He smiled at me. Zangetsu stood there next to the other Shirozangetsu, who was smiling; oh did I mention one difference between the two of them? No? Well the one standing beside Zangetsu had black teeth. Kind of freaky if you ask me.

"Zangetsu". I remembered him from Ichigo's training, but I was acting surprised anyway. After all, what reason did he for not contacting me all these years.

"I haven't been able to contact you before, but then again, that's why you have Shirozangetsu there as you call him". I looked at him questioningly.

"It's nice to finally meet you as well Zangetsu. But, why have you not shown yourself until now"? I said politely.

"I sent you Shirozangetsu so you would become stronger. Ichigo had power since he was young. So did you as a matter of fact. When his mother died, his strong emotions caused his inner hollow begin to awaken. He wasn't ready for this kind of life, and quite frankly you weren't either. I split his hollow in half, creating two separate beings. This one here and Shirozangetsu who stands beside you". I looked at the three of them and sighed.

"Well instead of calling him just 'Hollow' why don't we call you, Hichigo"? I said as I looked at him with a smirk on my face. No one deserves to go without a name. Hichigo looked at me in surprise.

"Heh, you're definitely what Old Man Zangetsu described. You're definitely nicer than King would be". I smiled at him, nodded, and then put a serious look on my face.

"Why are you here"? I asked, all forms of politeness put away, and going into my serious mode.

"The reason you are here is because I need to remerge Shirozangetsu and Hichigo here". I froze in place and everything seemed to spin as what he said connected. He continued on with the explanation, "They have been separated for a long time and they have even gained separate personalities. Ichigo is fighting his battle with captain of squad eleven; Kenpachi Zaraki. He is not strong enough yet to beat him. He has forgotten to rely on me as well in battle. He needs to learn to rely on us. To become, not a soul reaper, but a shadow shinigami. The only way though that he can though, is if his hollow is in one piece. I sent Shirozangetsu to you five years ago because you and Ichigo share a connection. That connection is me. Hence you having my sword form in your possession". He explained seriously.

"So you sent the hollow mask to me that night so I would get stronger, and to protect me"? I crossed my arms over my chest and gripped my forearms. I could feel the tears begin to build up in my eyes at the thought of losing Shirozangetsu. The clouds in the sky darkened in color, giving away just how upset I was. Zangetsu nodded and Shirozangetsu walked up to me.

"I know you're sad. There's no reason to be though. I mean I'll still be here in a way, I'll just be hanging out with Ichigo. I've done my best to keep the rain from this place so far. Don't make the rain start just because I leave. None of us like the rain". He put his hand on my head, ruffling my hair gently. I gave him a small smile and gave a quick nod. Zangetsu then stepped forward.

"It's time. Ichigo has been wounded severely in his fight with Kenpachi Zaraki. Now, Shirozangetsu, Hichigo, Dominique, Shiva, follow me to Ichigo's inner world". The two hollows walked up to Zangetsu and Shiva walked up to me. She put her hand on my shoulder and I could see her face was indifferent, but her black and gold eyes betrayed deep sadness.

The three boys faced us and then Zangetsu's outfit began to billow and move on its own like shadows. It grew and enveloped us all. Everything went dark, then when the black receded, I saw Zangetsu standing with Shirozangetsu and Hichigo on a sideways building. In fact there were sideways buildings and clouds everywhere that went in the wrong direction.

"What a weird place...I like it". I said to distract myself. Then Shirozangetsu and Hichigo walked up to Zangetsu. Zangetsu's cloak billowed out again and engulfed the two of them. When the darkness scattered what was left standing there was the fully completed hollow. Zangetsu then disappeared and left us standing alone with the newly combined hollow.

"You two might want to go hide behind that building over there. And as to not get my name confused, just call me Hichigo Shirosaki". He said while looking at us seriously, a smile on his face, he had the looks of Shirozangetsu since he didn't have the black teeth anymore. Both of us nodded. I tugged on Shiva's shihakusho to get her to follow me.

Shiva didn't move at first. I saw that she was staring at Hichigo, longing filled her eyes. I fake coughed and pulled on her shihakusho again. This time she followed me to the edge of the sideways building, with a blush coloring her face.

I wanted to know what she was thinking about, but she blocked me completely from her thoughts. We moved ourselves to stand on the edge of the building before dropping down onto a ledge.

Ichigo's POV

I was lieing on the ground, a deep wound in my chest that was pouring blood, and my opponent was walking away from me. I tried to get up. More blood poured from the sword wound in my chest as blood also dribbled from my mouth. The coppery taste of it stuck to my tongue sickeningly.

That was when everything seemed to freeze. Kenpachi, who'd been in the middle of walking away was standing still, his blade hung in midair with pieces of the stone he'd been dragging it through making a trail behind him.

Then suddenly, Zangetsu appeared behind him. He began walking forward until he was standing above me. He looked down at me through his sunglasses.

"Do you want to fight"? He asked. His voice reverberated through my head. "Do you want to win? Or do you just want to live"? He asked. I looked at him in confusion for only a minute before answering.

"I want to win". I managed to say around the blood in my mouth.

"I can't hear you". Zangetsu said more seriously. I squared my shoulders as I kept trying to move up.

"Surviving in itself is pointless. Fighting for the sake of fighting is meaningless. The only thing that matters is winning. I want to win. I want to win"! I yelled up at Zangetsu.

He looked at me with an expression I couldn't read before stepping forward.

"Very well. I will take you there". He said as he leaned down to put a hand on my left shoulder. Then the cloak he was wearing began to billow out and spread like a pair of wings before swallowing me whole. That was when I felt as if I was falling.

I was surrounded in darkness as I fell. Then I saw a pinpoint of light and zoomed towards it. To where ever Zangetsu was taking me.

Dominique's POV

We stood on one of the windows and peeked over the edge as if we were spying. Ichigo then appeared where we'd been standing a few moments before. He opened his eyes and he, for some odd reason, fell backwards on the window he was standing on. He was looking down as if he was about to fall.

"Stand up Ichigo". Zangetsu ordered Ichigo after he appeared out of nowhere. I looked around and couldn't find Hichigo anywhere. I looked to Shiva and she had the same confused look on her face as I did, her eyes darting around. I saw Zangetsu throw something at Ichigo, it was a bare sword. Ichigo nearly dropped it and I couldn't help but laugh under my breath. He yelled at Zangetsu.

"Hey that's dangerous! What kind of messed up person throws an unsheathed sword"!? Ichigo yelled.

"Hold on to it. It's yours". Zangetsu said as he began to walk away from Ichigo.

"Huh? But this isn't you". He looked at Zangetsu in disbelief.

"This is an asauchi…a nameless zanpakuto for soul reapers who aren't worthy of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads". Zangetsu said as a matter of factly.

"But my zanpakuto's name is Zangetsu"! That's when Zangetsu turned to Ichigo, holding his sword self.

"The Zangetsu you speak of,,,the one your enemy broke earlier? I can't give it to you". He threw it towards where we were hiding, point aiming right at us. Both me and Shiva nearly screamed in surprise, but heard a loud command.

"MOVE"! We saw a white blur streak across the building and catch the zanpakuto; we slapped our hands over each other's mouths. Hichigo did a midair flip when he caught the zanpakuto and landed on the building with an audible crack. When Shiva took her hand off my mouth I muttered.

"Showoff". Ichigo looked at him in shock.

"Wha-what the heck are you"? Hichigo turned to face him and stood there for a short minute.

"Whaddya mean, partner"? He stood before Ichigo like how he stood before me all those years ago. Proud, menacing, and he had a dark smirk on his face that I knew all too well. Zangetsu went to stand beside Hichigo.

"I want to see if you're worthy of possessing me. If you want me back then you'll have to take me from yourself. This time the enemy is you! If you're worthy of possessing me, prove it. Take me with your own hands from your own hands".

"Ha! Take it. Come on partner, just try to take it from me"! Hichigo didn't give him time to say anything when he bolted right at him. Ichigo was just able to block it with the asauchi, but he was sent flying back. He at least landed on his feet. Hichigo stood there with Zangetsu in hand as the air began to burn up from the heavy reiatsu that came from him.

"What's wrong partner? You'd better watch out or I'm gonna kill ya". Ichigo looked at him in fear as Hichigo grabbed Zangetsu's hilt wrap and began to spin it around at a hypersonic pace. I muttered again.

"Showoff". Shiva was giggling at my side.

"HERE"! Hichigo threw Zangetsu at Ichigo while keeping the hilt wrap in his left hand. Ichigo just barely dodged the blade as it drove itself into the building behind him, causing it to break apart. Then he yanked the hilt wrap, the sword flew back at him, and he started swinging it around again. "Humph, I missed". Ichigo looked at him in disbelief. He must not have ever thought of that sort of move. Shiva and I pulled ourselves up some more to see better.

"Ha, You pathetic Ichigo! How the hell did you get your ass handed to you while using Zangetsu!? I don't get it. You don't know anything about Zangetsu! Heck, Dominique knows more about him and he can't even talk to her like he can with you! She spent five years learning about her powers and growing stronger by trusting in her zanpakuto. She relied on Zangetsu even though he wasn't able to talk to her. Zangetsu could be stronger if you opened your heart up to him a little! But you can't, all you think about is yourself! You don't care about you're zanpakuto at all! He threw Zangetsu again at Ichigo. Ichigo dodged once more and then he straightened up. He stood there with his eyes closed, I looked over to Zangetsu, and saw that his eyes were closed too.

'Give him another chance'. I thought in Zangetsu's direction.

"I'm gonna wrap this up now. You'll never wield Zangetsu again"! Hichigo grabbed the sword and charged at Ichigo. Ichigo's eyes opened and then in a flash of light, Ichigo was holding Zangetsu, while Hichigo was holding the asauchi. Ichigo looked at Zangetsu questioningly, then he showed a serious look on his face as if in thanks. He then faded from his inner world, leaving Hichigo to stand there alone, showing a small smile.

"Phew! Well that was fun. Hey, you two you can come out now". We jumped up and walked up towards Hichigo and Zangetsu. Zangetsu looked to us while Hichigo was standing there with the broken asauchi in his hand, then he threw it in a random direction as he walked up to us.

"I'm grateful for your help. Hichigo…". Zangetsu said.

"Yah. I guess I'll go back home now. See ya, Dominique, Shiva". He smiled when he said Shiva's name. He began to disintegrate into the shadows until he completely vanished, and then merged with Zangetsu, who turned to look at us.

"Close your eyes and look through Ichigo's. I've stopped the bleeding from his wounds for the moment, but it won't last, we need to finish this quickly. I will give him my strength to finish the battle". We both nodded at him.

"I will help him too. I will give him some of my strength. Shiva"? I said as I turned to my hollow.

"Got no choice do I? Heh, I'm in". She said with a smirk on her face. I closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew was that I was looking at a bloodied Kenpachi and felt several points of pain coming from my body, except that it wasn't my body, it was Ichigo's.

I stood there holding Zangetsu with Ichigo's hands. I/Ichigo was staring at Kenpachi as he was talking about being happy that he was battling someone stronger than he was. He reached his hand up and pulled off his eye patch.

Then a huge mass of reiatsu surged out from him. Like with Hichigo, his reiatsu became visible by the sheer power of it. I raised my blade close to my face to block out some of the rebuff of the power. My mouth began to move without my telling it to.

"Hey, no fair. You can't bring out something new like this so late in the fight. What have you got hidden in that eye of yours"? Kenpachi laughed and said that this wasn't some hidden trick. That his eye patch was specially made for him to eat reiatsu to give his opponents a handicap in battle.

That it made the battle more enjoyable. He then moved his hand and slashed his sword across a building, successfully cutting the whole building in two. Ichigo closed his eyes and Zangetsu spoke up and materialized outside of his mind, but still invisible to the rest of the world. He stood behind him and placed his hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Can you hear it Ichigo? His sword is screaming". I could hear it and I knew Ichigo could too. The connection with Zangetsu allowed us to hear what he heard. The sword's spirit was screaming in pain. It's wielder unable to hear it.

"Yah. I hear it". Ichigo answered.

"He can't. When those who don't trust each other fight together, the strength in each is diminished. Those who trust only in their own strength will never understand that for they only rely on thier own power. Ichigo… can you trust me"?

"Of course. All of my strength is yours. Use it however you wish". I then materialized outside of Ichigo's body to stand beside him. I took a quick glance at myself and saw that my body was moving in a similar fashion to Zangetsu's. It was as if I was made of the very shadows, which was very cool. He looked at me in shock.

"Ichigo, don't say anything. I'm here to help, he can't see me just like he can't see Zangetsu. I'm going to give you my strength to use as you please. Just trust me and I will give you my power". I looked at him with determination in my eyes. Zangetsu put his hand on the hilt of the sword and I put my own hand on Ichigo's hand. His reiatsu sky rocketed. I re-entered his body to give him as much power as I could. I would feel drained for this, because I hadn't released my gentei reiin, but it was to protect Ichigo, for him I'd give my life.

"Here he comes. I can't stop the bleeding for much longer. We only have one shot at this". Zangetsu warned us.

"LET'S GO"! Both Ichigo and I roared out as he raced forward towards Kenpachi. They collided and the shock waves sent out a huge explosion around us. I felt myself being shoved back into my body as my connection with Ichigo was suddenly broken.

I opened my eyes and saw that the building I was on was collapsing from underneath me. I jumped up, summoned my wings, flapped, and landed on one of the few remaining undamaged buildings. Ichigo had been stabbed badly, I could feel it just before I was forced back into my own body. My hand went to my stomach instinctively, feeling for the wound that wasn't there.

I raised my wings and shot up into the sky. I soared above where he was and dived down towards him. When I landed, I saw that he was alone. But there were two large spots of blood; his and Kenpachi's. I saw Kenpachi's broken sword on the ground beside Ichigo. Ichigo had won.

I rushed over to Ichigo, not even bothering to change back to normal. In fact, I pushed the arm weights up so I could change completely into my half hollow form. The blade-like horns grew from my arms where the weights had been, and my tail lashed from side to side as it reacted to my emotions.

I felt Yoruichi's reiatsu coming towards me. She walked up to where I was kneeling over Ichigo as I began to heft him up on my back. His weight pushing against my wing joints.

"He did surprisingly well against him. I felt your energy mixed with his though. You helped him"? She asked.

"Yah. Zangetsu and I gave him our strength. I actually feel tired, but I can still carry him. Do you know a safe place to take him so I can start to heal him"? I asked, hoping that she knew somewhere where we could rest for a short bit.

"Yes. I'll change so we can get there faster". She arched her back and then energy pulsated from her body. When the smoke cleared a tall, purple haired, dark skinned woman was standing there. I couldn't help it, but I laughed at the sight.

"Put this on please". I undid the shihakusho top, and threw it to her. She was completely naked and she didn't even bother to cover up. It was a good thing that Ichigo was unconscious cause this would seriously make him freak.

"You get him. I'll carry your two zanpakutos. Now follow me". She raced off, faster than I'd expected. I got a running start and flew after her. The added weight of Ichigo on me slowed me down, but I continued to flap. My body was beginning to tire, but I refused to stop.

I followed Yoruichi to a cliff face with a small hole in the side containing a small door. She opened the door and I flew into the open door to a dark room. I landed with a thud on all fours and put him on the mat that was on the floor. Yoruichi disappeared for a minute and she reappeared with some strange devices that she set on the ground around Ichigo. My hollow form disintegrated from my exhaustion.

"Don't worry about trying to heal him. You seem too exhausted and the barrier that I put up around him will begin to heal him for us". I nodded, laid down beside him and knocked out. When I opened my eyes again, Yoruichi was back in her cat form and resting on my stomach. I couldn't help it, but I moved my hand up to scratch behind her ears.

"I put bandages on him and his wounds are healing nicely. I did find something that disturbed me though". She said as her gold eyes looked away to the other side of the room.

"What was it Yoruichi"? I sat up and she got off of me to show me a broken hollow's mask beside Ichigo. I picked it up and told her what happened when I saw Zangetsu in my inner world. She was shocked at first and I told her I would handle any future problems with Hichigo. It was apparent that he was still part of the Shirozangetsu that I knew, but he no longer had the physical experience to back up his strength.

He didn't know bankai or anything else anymore. Sure he knew about it, but he wouldn't be able to do it now. Heck, Shirozangets nor Shiva had been able to use bankai until I first used it. They had to grow with me. We grew from each other and we grew strong together. Now it was Ichigo's turn to learn. Shiva then said something that shook me.

'What are we gonna tell the others? We've forgotten about our duties in Squad 0. What are we gonna tell Captain Rose and Captain Sero'?

'...Awe crap'.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Me: O-o-o-o XD Cliffy! BE PAITIENT! Thank you Rose for letting me join squad 0, thank you luna for encuraging me to go and join and for making me a cofounder of Bleach-OC-Insanity, SeasprayLuv for being my friend in school and for making my B-days and lunches berable, and drmona for being one heck of a wild freind, and Terra; drmona's sister for giving her insperation on her truth or dare story and for helping us torture the crap out of Aizen. Now as Luna says: THIS-IS-SPARTA! Oh, and school sucks as usuall but as teens and kids we must endure, kick ass, fight for our rights and all that jazz! Oh well my ranting fit is done, I'm currently running on a sugar high from a bunch of chocolate cookies that I baked this morning, so without further adieue my usuall but at the same time new farewell sendoff!

Awaken by Pillar

I GIVE A BIG THANK YOU , AND A BAG OF CHOCOLATE TO ALL MY REGULAR REVIEWERS!

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I SEND HICHIGO, SHIVA OH AND SERO AND METASTALKIA TOO, TO ATTACK ALL THOSE WHO DON'T REVIEW!

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