A/N: Late Merry Christmas to everyone out there~! I hope all of your times were grand and that you got lots of presents to swim in! (I got a TON of bleach stuff! *happy dance* . . . I'm such a nerd) Sorry that this chapter was a little later than normal, but in my defense, I had to take finals (four of them AP classes DX) and also had to deal with Christmas and all that junk (not to say that it isn't good junk! Hehe….) But enough of my excuses. On with the show!
hcaelB nwo t'nod I :remialcsiD
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"Call an emergency meeting for all Taichou's at once." Yamamoto ordered to his Fukutaichou who saluted and gave him a "Yes sir" before leaving the room.
"Now, you're sure that this information is credible and that no mistakes have been made, Kurotsuchi-Taichou?" the Soutaichou said as he turned back towards the clowned faced man in front of his desk.
"Yes. Our monitors only tell what is true and give the most accurate details so no mistakes are possible in this case." Mayuri explained with odd hand gestures as he spoke.
"Very well. You will report this information at the meeting when there." He said and stood up from his chair to make his way out of the room.
"Come, Nemu." Kurotsuchi said as he also headed out of the large room with Nemu following close behind. They both made their way to the area where the meeting was to be held, but Nemu had to stay outside considering how she was only a Fukutaichou and not a Taichou. In the large hall-like room, Mayuri waited with a huge smile on his face for the others to come.
Eventually, after five minutes or so, all the Taichous arrived, some looking slightly frazzled from getting there so quickly and more than a couple with concern and confusion etched on their faces at the sudden call to come. All lined up in the familiar two lines facing each other and were silenced at the sound of the Soutaichou pounding his staff on the floor. He peered though his slitted eyes, which he opened ever so slightly, and let his gaze traveled across everyone in the room, resting longer on some more than others. Finally going over every occupant he stated why they were al assembled there on such short notice.
"The reason that I have assembled you all here is to discuss a matter that has just recently occurred in Karakura Town. The Research and Development bureau has gathered information on recent hollow activity that is of grave importance." The Soutaichou said and motioned towards Mayuri to continue with the information he received with a small nod of his head.
"Recently, and also around three weeks ago," Kurotsuchi continued, "Our monitors have picked up data on high level hollow reiatsu that is the level of a Vasto Lorde in Karakura Town." He paused for a bit at the small murmurs traveling around the room, "Running some tests on the signature it gave off, we found that it was similar to the signature of the Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo, in more ways than one." some, or many, sharp gasps were heard when Mayuri stated this and the occupants of the room started asking him questions.
"You're saying that Kurosaki is the hollow? That just sounds ridiculous." Hitsugaya Toushiro said in disbelief, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yes. Do not doubt the accuracy of our systems for they barely ever make mistakes. This special case has been double checked multiple times so there are no possibilities for slip-ups or mistakes in this case." Kurotsuchi said with a stern glare in Hitsugaya's direction.
"Why would Ichigo be giving off a hollow's reiatsu?" Jushiro Ukitake questioned, not exactly directing it towards Mayuri but everyone in the room.
"There could and are many reasons for this occurrence but I'm not going to get into those for unscientific minds wouldn't be able to comprehend the details or appreciate the true genius behind the way that they happen."
"What are the other details you received?" Komamura Sajin asked.
"Well, my squad wasn't able to gather too much on the matter because the reiatsu only appeared on our scanners for a short while, about a minute and a half, and then abruptly disappeared, or more like it changed back to normal."
"Back to normal?" Kyouraku Shunsui reiterated.
"I mean that before it was his normal reiatsu that he gave off, and then it changed into that of a hollow before it changed back to normal again."
"Wait, so it's back to normal now?" Hitsugaya said.
"Yes, although, I have seen the current readings on his reiatsu and it had an unusual tinge to it of some of the hollow still left in it that seemed off in a way. The hollow's reiatsu in general was different compared to others and was like it was in a different class that I haven't seem before. It would be superb if I were to be able to get my hands on the specimen and run some tests. Who knows what I could discover from the experiments!"
"If he's the class of a Vasto Lorde, then you're saying he's even more powerful. I wanna fight him if that's the case." Kenpachi said with a maniacal smile at the thought of fighting an extra powerful opponent that could lead to be a very promising fight.
"There will be none of that!" Yamamoto stated as he pounded his staff. Everyone, reluctantly, quieted down and turned their attention towards the Soutaichou. After he waited for them to stop talking, he continued, "We must now discuss what we are going to do about with matter at hand."
"What are you planning on doing, Sir?" Unohana Retsu piped in, asking the question on everyone's mind.
"We are going to investigate this mater more thoroughly before we take action. I am going to send Hitsugaya-Taichou and those who accompanied him when of the patrol for Karakura Town. The Fukutaichou of Squad 6, Abarai Renji, is already stationed there so your team is to meet up with him when you arrive. Gather your team up and depart for the World of the Living effective immediate. I am aware that you and the others have been preparing your squads for the upcoming battle with Aizen, but that will have to be put on hold for now, for this is a more pressing matter that needs to be dealt with before. You will report back if anything of interest comes up."
"Yes Sir!" all Taichous sounded at once.
"Dismissed!" Yamamoto sounded with one final pound of his staff. All the Taichous slowly started filing out pf the meeting room and headed off towards their respective divisions. Toshiro himself was walking, rather quickly, towards his own office and was hurriedly going there to gather his supplies for his recently assigned mission.
"Matsumoto?" he called as he walked. Said Fukutaichou appeared via Shunpo next to her small Taichou and walked beside him.
"Yes, Taichou?" she asked in a playful tone.
"I need you to go to the 11th division and gather up 3rd seat Ikkaku Madarame and 5th seat Ayasegawa Yumichika." He listed off.
"Okay, but why"
"We have been assigned the mission of investigating a highly important matter in Karakura Town. It seems that Kurosaki Ichigo has been emitting a very powerful and high amount of hollow reiatsu lately that is of concern to the Soutaichou. We and our little renegade group that was on patrol there are to investigate and keep an eye on Kurosaki to see if what the monitors are saying is true or not and report on our findings."
"Oh! That sounds like a lot of fun! But what about our preparations for the war?" Matsumoto questioned as they navigated the corridors.
"This takes a higher priority than that so we are to get straight to work. We will leave once all the preparations have been made so please hurry."
"Yes Sir!" Rangiku said with playfulness and excitement lading her tones.
"Urg…this is going to be a long mission." Toshiro mummbled out loud as he watched his Fukutaichou skip always towards the 11th division to fulfill her orders.
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Walking in the door and quietly closing it behind them, the two girls entered the house, relieved to be back home and done with school for the day. Something that struck them as odd when they did so was how their brother's shoes were already there before they were even home. He usually didn't arrive back until later, after themselves.
"Huh? Is Ichi-nii home?" Yuzu wondered out loud as she observed the, apparently, very interesting shoes before her.
"I guess." Karin replied with a very bored attitude.
"I'll go check on him to see if he's okay."
"Whatever."
Yuzu made her way up the stairs and dropped her bag off in her and Karin's room before heading towards Ichigo's. Knocking lightly on his wood door, she waited for a reply to tell her to enter. When she got none, she spoke up.
"Ichi-nii? Can I come in?" Yuzu asked. Still, she got no reply from within the room. 'He must be asleep.' Deciding on that thought, Yuzu slowly opened the door and peaked her head inside.
She was right in thinking that Ichigo was asleep because he was out cold in his bed with his head buried underneath his pillow. Something didn't seem right though because the parts she could see like his arms and legs looked paler than usual. 'Is he not feeling well?' she thought, 'Maybe it's just the lighting in here…Oh! I know! I'll go make him something to eat for when he wakes up. I know he'll enjoy that!' she rambled as she walked back downstairs to prepare the food. When she left, Ichigo moaned and rolled over onto his back, showing his shoulder length hair and whiter skin much more clearly.
Soon, after a couple more minutes of tossing in a fit of restless sleep, Ichigo awoke and rose out of his bed. He headed towards his bathroom and, when he looked into the mirror, saw his not-so-normal reflection starring back. It almost made him squeal like a little school girl when he saw it.
Bringing a hand up, he gently touched his face to see if what he was seeing was really true. Sure enough, the reflection did the same, copying every move he made perfectly.
"What the hell..." he whispered to himself and tugged lightly on his long hair. "Where did this come from?"
'Ya like my little parting gift from earlier?'
"What? You did this to me?" Ichigo screamed back at him.
'Who else?' the hollow said back and laughed afterwards like the maniac he was.
"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu called up from downstairs, snapping Ichigo away from his 'conversation', "Is that you? Are you awake?"
"Y-yeah!"
"Okay, I'm making some curry for you that'll be ready in a couple minutes so come down when you're ready!"
"Okay!" he said as he started scrambling around his bathroom. He needed to look at least a little more normal than he was now. Scrimmaging up a pair of scissors, he began chopping away parts of his overgrown hair, letting it fall to the floor in large clumps. Luckily for him, his hair was already unruly and always messy before, so when he was done cutting, it didn't look much different than it normally would have. Only if someone who had known him very well and actually looked, really close, would be able to see some difference in how it looked.
With his hair back to looking normal, he took a look at his paler skin. There was nothing he could really do about that, but if his sisters saw him they would probably get really worried. He decided on putting on a long sleeved shirt that went past his wrists and covered up most of his neck along with long pants that covered all of his legs. That would have to do, even though it was bloody hot out today.
He nervously exited his room and headed downstairs towards his awaiting sisters. He made as little noise as possible so as to not attract attention and choose to sit on the couch where the TV was already on. Karin, reading something at the table that looked like a newspaper, just gave his a small glace to indicate that she realized he was there. No one outside of the family would have been able to tell, but when she looked at him, there was a tinge of concern in her eyes for her brother. Yuzu, however, was not so subtle in showing her concern.
"Ichi-nii, are you feeling okay?" she said when she saw him. She didn't like how he looked; pale, scrunched up on the couch, being even quieter than normal, as if he was trying not to attract any attention (duh). "You don't look too good."
"I'm fine, Yuzu, really. I'm just not feeling a hundred percent yet is all." He reassured her and gave a small smile. That seemed to calm her down a bit before she asked her next question.
"So," she said while going back to cooking, "Why were you home early?"
"I had a headache. It's nothing to worry about though." He shrugged.
"And why are you dressed like that?" Karin piped up, motioning towards his clothes.
"Uhh…I was a little cold so I threw this on." Ichigo forced out the quick excuse.
"In this weather?"
"Yeah."
"Man, you're weird."
"Yeah, so are you."
"It's ready!" Yuzu called and brought the two steaming plates over to them. The curry was very good, just right, like always. Yuzu always was a great cook. A comfortable atmosphere settled over the three as they ate the food/snack. Yuzu talked mostly about their day while Karin added in details in when her sister missed them. Ichigo just listened, commenting occasionally, but overall just content with enjoying his food and his sisters' conversation.
'Mmmmmmm… Don't they look tasty.' His hollow said, making Ichigo choke on his bite of food, 'I bet they would be delicious.'
"Are you okay, Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked from across the table at her coughing brother.
"Y-yeah… I just swallowed wrong." He said as his coughs calmed down enough for him to talk. He was about to say something else, until he looked back up at his sisters and laid eyes upon them. The second he saw them, he froze. He could feel a deep, growing hunger rising up inside him. It wasn't the kind that a person normally felt, but instead it was deep, piercing his core, and consuming him whole. The longer he looked at the girls, the more the hunger grew. He needed to get rid of it. Now.
"What's wrong, Ichigo?" a strong voice said, snapping him out of it for the moment. Isshin walked into the room, just coming back from wherever it was he was at previously. "You okay? You look kind of dazed."
"Uhhh…I-I'll be right back!" Ichigo stammered and jumped out of his seat and ran up the stairs. Slamming the door behind him, he huddled in his bathroom with his eyes clamped shut. Being away from everyone downstairs was helping him a bit with the horrible hunger he was feeling. It didn't go away completely though as he sat there in a corner. The hunger gnawed at him, urging him to eat something that had to do with his family. What, he wasn't sure. But, he could tell that the hunger would subside if he were to just fill it with that something.
'Come on. Let me out an' it'll go away.' The hollows voice said, tempting him so much, 'I'll only take a nibble of them.'
"What? No!" Ichigo screamed out. He finally knew what the hunger he was feeling was; the hunger for souls. But, he wouldn't give in, not matter how bad it got or how hard his hollow pushed. He wouldn't let that monster get his way. If he did, then he would devour his family!
'You'll give in eventually, King. Ya can't resist it, or me, forever.'
Ichigo whimpered as the hunger grew, intensifying the more his hollow talked, overpowering his will like covering it with a heavy blanket. He buried his head in his knees, doing his best to ignore it and not succeeding in that attempt very much.
"Ichigo?" sounded from the other side of the door. It was Rukia, back from school.
"Just leave me alone…" Ichigo said softly to both Rukia and his hollow, although it was too soft for Rukia to actually hear.
"What? I can't hear you."
'Haha! Yer gonna hafta speak up~!'
"Just shut up!" Ichigo yelled at him, causing Rukia to flinch on the other side of the door at this unexpected response.
Building up her courage, Rukia retorted back, "I'm coming in, whether you want me to or not!" she opened the door and stormed inside. She stopped, mid step, when she laid eyes upon the curled up figure huddled in the corner. She contemplated going over to his side, but wasn't sure if that was the best course of action at the moment.
Ichigo's breath hitched when she entered for his hunger spiked again. He couldn't stay in the same room as her or he might try to attack her, so he did the only thing he could think of at the moment; he ran.
Springing up form his position on the floor, Ichigo bolted for the door. He passed a confused Rukia on his way towards it and barely stopped in front of his night stand, grabbing his badge and hastily separating into his Shinigami form. Stumbling away from his body and out of his window, he ran from his room to get away from those inside. He could hear Rukia's cries behind him, yelling his name and for him to come back, but he didn't stop, he just kept going at a faster pace.
He tripped a couple time over his feet and ended up falling over on the rooftops he was jumping on. Scrambling up after each time, he continued towards his unknown destination. By now, he could sense Rukia far behind him, attempting to catch up to him. Trying to loose her, Ichigo took many abrupt turns throughout the small town. That seemed to work and he soon found himself alone again. Well, not all alone.
Once he slowed down, when he was sure that he had enough distance between them, he noticed where he was; a shopping district, full of people bustling around with their own individually busy schedules. This was even worse than at home.
Thankfully, his will was stronger and he rushed out of that area in frazzled haste and towards the outskirts of town where no one was, just the trees of the forest. Upon finally reaching the area, Ichigo dove into the canopy of trees to escape all those outside. He traveled deep into the wooden forest until he was sure that he was far away from any others.
Finding a small area that looked comfortable, Ichigo settled down there for a wile, trying to calm himself down. All his senses seemed like they were on overdrive while his heart beat sporadically. He wasn't able to hold still at all either so he took to pacing around in a small line as he tried to distract himself from the ever persistent hunger that wouldn't leave him, just like his hollow.
Said hollow also kept jibbing into his thoughts every minute to taunt Ichigo and tell his that it was all pointless. Still, whenever the hollow talked, it made whatever progress Ichigo did make vanish and force him to start all over again. Each time, it was getting harder to resist the urge of both the ever present hunger and hollow.
Grabbing his head with one hand and his stomach with the other, Ichigo leaned against a nearby tree. "Please…please…please, stop this." He muttered.
'What? Yer not enjoyin' this?'
"How could anyone enjoy this?" he snapped back.
'Well I am! An' remember how I promised ya that I would make ya suffer?' he asked and Ichigo could feel his smirk growing, 'I think it's time to get started on tha' for real!'
"What?" Ichigo said in a state of panic. Wasn't that what the hollow was doing when he broke free? If that wasn't his definition of torture, than what he was planning was sure to be far worse than before.
"Ichigo!" a voice far away shouted.
"Oh no…Rukia." Ichigo said as he slide down the side of the tree and felt himself being pulled inside for the third time that day.
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A/N: Oh~! What's gonna happen to Ichigo? And for that matter, Rukia? . . . I'm so bad! *Evil smile* Please review and tell me what ya think! Again, if you have any suggestions that you think would be perfect for this story, I'll be happy to take them and see what I can do with them! *thumbs up* A Merry Christmas to all of you and enjoy all of the things you got! Thanks for reading~! ^w^