Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and all other manga/anime series & games mentioned and/or related merchandise and/or characters.
Warning: this chapter contains spoilers for the manga/anime Elfen Lied; yes, you read correctly, I'm using another franchise in this chapter, but it's only in order to emphasize my point, so don't hate.
Things were looking good for the new couple: having validated their bond as mates, Ichigo and the Queen both began acting in a far more free-minded fashion, they smiled considerably more often and Ichigo would actually listen to Keigo's rants rather than wave him off or knock him out! As for the Queen, she was busy running around in Rukia's inner world, playing with the snow and laughing in happiness - it wasn't everyday that you found a purpose and a lover combined. She even went as far as touch herself while closing her eyes, imagining Ichigo doing all of that to her; needless to say, she was in total bliss.
Taking control one night, the Queen - who had already played with Ichigo's sleeping body - went through Rukia's anime DVD collection, seeing as she had nothing better to do at the time; one franchise caught her attention: it was rated M and contained gore, nudity and profanity - it was called Elfen Lied.
Having seen the first episode, the Queen became intrigued and went through the entire series in that same night; what she saw shocked her: it was hard to believe that humans were capable of such cruel behaviour towards someone who was different than them (even if it was just manga) and she realized that she and the main character of the series, the Diclonius queen Lucy, were a lot alike - instinctual, aggressive, often cold and they both saw only the evil side of humanity, resulting in them only trusting one human, who turned out to be their love interests.
The Queen was heavily concerned, seeing as how Lucy had ended most likely ended up dead, not to mention that she dismembered a fellow Diclonius and slaughtered countless humans, amongst them were her love interest's father and sister, both murdered in front of him. The Queen knew that the odds of something of this caliber happening to her were low, seeing as how this was simply anime and not reality (oh, the irony :P), but she realized that she would have to keep a low profile at all times, meaning that even if for a moment her instincts would get the best of her, she would have to 'hide her footprints' in the uttermost efficient way possible.
In spite of her realizations, the Queen was bothered the following day: looking at all the people from Rukia's mind (she preffered not to take control for the time being) reminded her of the gruesome sights she saw and the emotionless behaviour that the people had shown; sure, humans were nothing compared to her in terms of power, but if it were shinigami to come after her, she would most likely lose at one point or another, seeing as how her powers weren't as strong as the strongest captains of the Seireitei, especially the head-captain. She laughed bitterly as she thought of how the shinigami would constantly call hollows 'monsters', while they would be the ones to commit cruel experiments and make heartless decisions such as Rukia's execution; hollows consumed souls, yes, but they rarely did so while toying with their food, they did it so that they would survive - in that case, who the real monsters would be was too easy of a question to answer, although she knew Ichigo would never do something like that to her: he was understanding and open-minded, unlike the archaic system of judgement that the Soul Society was based on.
Would I end up like her? Am I fated to be alone, hated by everyone else? And what will Ichigo do? All these questions... what a pain.
Ichigo had noticed the changes in the Queen's behaviour: she was far less playful than usual, she would rarely talk and she barely even took over Rukia's body anymore. It had hurt him, seeing her like this; they were together, for better and for worse, so there was no way he'd let his Queen carry whatever burden she was carrying, by herself. In his room, Ichigo eventually inquired the Queen about her recent behaviour; she only said "Elfen Lied", but Ichigo - being familiar with the franchise - was able to connect the pieces and understand her issues.
Her face showed sadness as she asked: "What do you think of me? Taking over Rukia's body like this and taking advantage of you... I never lost that desire to kill or feast, either; am I really just another hollow? A monster?"; Ichigo narrowed his eyes, but his voice wasn't hostile, but determined: "Don't say things like that about yourself. As much as I hate myself for not letting Rukia know about this, I don't regret the time we'd spent together; you think you've been taking advantage of me, but I want to be with you - it's a choice I made of my own volition. You've been open with me and comforted me when I needed someone to confide in; no one would listen, because no one would understand. But you do. I could never call someone like that a monster; you got that?"; the Queen smiled a little: "Che. I forgot that I was talking to the soft-hearted strawberry. Besides, who cares what I saw? It was fiction, unreal; this, us, right here and now is what's real and I'll be damned if I let go of that. So thank you for reminding me that, Ichigo."; Ichigo chuckled and kissed the Queen on the forehead, saying: "Just remember: no matter where you are, there's always one person who would accept you unconditionally and he would do anything for you... because he loves you."
Later that day, Ichigo walked about in Karakura park, thinking of his talk with the Queen; he happened to meet Inoue along the way, and she immediately figured that he was troubled by something, so she stood near him and tried comforting him. Ichigo told her not to worry and that everything was fine - she knew it was a lie, but she simply told him to take care of himself and hugged him in a friendly manner... that is, in the eyes of anyone else watching the scene.
Arriving at her home, Inoue - who had just finished dinner and prepared to hit the bed - was surprised to see Rukia, out of everyone she could think of and at that time of day; she was about to greet her, but something about her eyes bothered her: she was glaring daggers at her, with her... black & gold eyes ?
The Queen has come to deal her punishment - run, Inoue... !!