"Move over" Ichigo muttered an hour later. He was sick of pacing, and Shiro was taking up the whole bed. Not that it was very big to begin with. His hollow looked up at him before scooting over so Ichigo could sit. Ichigo sat down and stared at Shiro blankly, until he finally sighed "What do you want, king?" Ichigo saw Rukia looking at them out of the corner of his eye. "Talk to me" Ichigo ordered, tapping his head.

Shiro frowned 'You know you can do this too, right?' 'No, I didn't know. How?' Ichigo asked curiously. 'Just….imagine you're pushing your spiritual pressure into mine, like you're trying to almost melt them together' Shiro instructed before withdrawing from Ichigo's mind. Frowning, he closed his eyes and felt the spiritual pressures around him. Feeling Shiro's increase a little, he opened his eyes. "Makes it easier for you" Shiro muttered, and Ichigo nodded. Focusing again, he gently pushed his spiritual pressure into Shiro's, but nothing happened. Furrowing his brow, he pushed harder and Shiro suddenly gasped.

Opening his eyes, Ichigo looked down at pure white hands. He was somehow in Shiro's mind. He quickly looked towards himself, only to see his body lying back on the bed. "What did you do to him?" Rukia demanded, shaking the bars of the cell door to get his attention. "I-I…Nothing! He's fine." Ichigo assured her, hoping he was telling the truth. 'How do I get back in my body, damn it' he wondered

'King please get the fuck out of my head' Shiro snarled, and Ichigo frowned. 'How?!' 'I guess the easiest way is if I push you' Shiro sighed. 'This is going to feel weird' Ichigo jumped as he felt Shiro's dark presence surround him 'Relax king or this could end badly' Shiro warned, and Ichigo obediently relaxed into the sensation, closing his eyes. He suddenly felt as though he was being pushed, and then nothing.

He opened his eyes to see Rukia hovering over him. "I'm fine." He assured her "That was my fault…I…" he frowned, unsure how to explain. "Ichigo. What did he do to you?" she hissed. The albino shuddered "Invaded my fucking personal space is what he did." "Sorry" Ichigo said sheepishly "I don't know what I did…" Rukia shook her head. "What is going on?!" she cried.

Ichigo bit his lip "Shiro was trying to teach me a technique but I screwed it up." He explained, hoping she'd drop it. She didn't "What technique? How to pass out?" she snorted. "I was teaching him how to talk to me telepathically." Shiro said suddenly "But he screwed it up." He repeated Ichigo's words, shuddering again. Rukia stared at him, and Ichigo nodded, making her groan. "This could not get weirder."

"Our minds are linked, like a zanpakuto and a soul reaper are" Shiro explained "You can communicate with your zanpakuto telepathically too, right?" Rukia nodded, frowning "I suppose…that makes sense…." She stepped outside the cell again, shutting the door behind her. "Just behave so we can get this night over with." She sat down at her post again.

'Maybe I'll do the talking for now' Shiro said, somewhat annoyed, and Ichigo blushed 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…' 'What did you want?' Shiro interrupted, and Ichigo remembered 'You wouldn't answer me earlier. When I asked how it felt, absorbing a getsuga from me.' Shiro was quiet for a minute, and then admitted 'It feels like…a wave of warmth washes over me. I feel all protective and shit. It's weird.' He sighed 'we're feeling each other's souls.'

Ichigo's eyes widened 'That is weird…' Ichigo thought for a minute 'Do you know what I did wrong, earlier?' Shiro frowned 'You pushed too hard. You were supposed to melt them together, not shove yourself inside me.' Ichigo blushed 'I'm sorry, really. I didn't mean to invade your space.'

'It's fine, not like I haven't done it to you.' He conceded with a shrug, and Ichigo frowned, lying down as Shiro stopped the connection. Trying not to think about their fates hanging in the balance, Ichigo drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Ichigo woke to Shiro's voice "Come on man, I'm not gonna hurt you just bring in breakfast already! I'm starved!" "I'm under strict orders to only deliver to Kurosaki" another voice replied. "He's right there!" Shiro huffed, and the voice said "He's unconscious" sternly, as though blaming Shiro for this turn of events.

"Actually, I was just asleep" Ichigo interrupted, sitting up. "You can come in." "Yes sir" the man unlocked the cell, and as he laid the tray on their small table Ichigo said "Shiro. Get. Back. Here. Now." The older soul reaper whipped around and unsheathed his sword, slowly approaching Shiro, who was frozen just outside the cell. He pouted, shuffling back in "I hate it in here" he muttered, and Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Yeah because I just love it. Can you behave for five minutes?" "No" Shiro grinned as the cell door slammed.

"Thank you, Kurosaki. I'd appreciate it if.." "No worries, I won't be mentioning this to anyone." Ichigo smiled, the soul reaper visibly relieved. Once they were alone, Ichigo hit Shiro on the back of the head "You idiot, you're going to get him fired." Shiro shrugged "Not my problem" He shoved a piece of egg in his mouth happily. "He's the one who turned his back on a prisoner." Unable to argue with that, Ichigo reluctantly sat next to his albino counterpart, eating his share of their breakfast.

"What if they sentence us to death?" Shiro asked nonchalantly. "Then we run" Ichigo replied easily. "But where?" Shiro pressed. Ichigo frowned "I don't know. There is that hideout that Urahara had…." "We can't live there forever" Shiro said practically, eating some rice.

Ichigo was silent for a minute "Can you open a garganta?" he asked curiously, and Shiro froze, another bite of rice halfway to his mouth. "I…..I can…" he admitted cautiously "But you don't want to live in Hueco Mundo, king."

"We may not have a choice" Ichigo countered, "But I meant as a halfway point to get to the real world." "That could work" Shiro conceded, shoving the rice in his mouth. "What if they only sentence me to death?" Shiro asked quietly, suddenly losing his appetite and playing with his chopsticks.

"Then we run" Ichigo repeated softly, and Shiro's non-existent heart skipped a beat.