OH MY GOODNESS!!

I am SOO Sorry that this story hasn't been updated in a few months!

GRAH! *strangles computer*

Not only did I have writer's block, but I also had more ideas for my other stories rather than working on this one!

I should've updated on Christmas Break!

But NO!

My brain went dead on me with this and I tried to start it, but blah. My brain froze XD

I guess you can say that my brain acts just like a computer *sticks out tongue*

*sigh* Without further delay, here it is!

Oh yes and Ichigo's Hollow will be in this chapter.

So his voice will be in bold italics.

Just so none of you are not confused between him and Demi.

Orihime stood in front of Tia. Her zanpakutou matched with Demi's. Each clash held the same ferocious blow as the other. They were evenly matched. No matter how you looked at it, it was like watching Orihime fight herself. It was a fight that no one could take their eyes off of. They were on par with one another. Something that Tia nor Ichigo could have done. Not that Tia was fighting her seriously anyways. It was only a mere distraction. To keep Demi from attacking her sister before she had enough strength to fight.

Orihime shunpo'd and caught Demi off guard, sending her sliding backwards on the polished floor. She took the opportunity given and slashed at her just scratching her shihakusho. She shunpo'd back in front of Tia and the others, counterattacking Demi's cero. The cero got diverted and clashed with the wall, smoke appearing between the two.

"What's this? I didn't know you were so aggressive Orihime-sama." Demi spat.

Orihime straightened her position into a comfortable fighting stance. Her zanpakutou held in front of her body, almost challenging Demi to attack once more. As she tilted it, the moon's light made the blade more elegant. They were able to see the gold and blue markings, resembling a dragon engraved on her blade.

"Who said I was being aggressive? I'm merely doing what I should have done years ago."

"Oh?" Demi raised an eyebrow "Just what does that mean? Are you implying that you're gonna fight me seriously?"

Orihime lowered her head as she whispered. "No. It means I'm gonna kill you."

Although it was a mere whisper, it echoed through the halls of Las Noches. Everyone heard what she said and they were all in shock. Well except for Tia of course. Demi was speechless before bursting into laughter. Her zanpakutou shaking in her hands as her laughter filled the silent void.

"Don't think too highly of yourself Orihime-sama. What makes you think that you can beat me when not even your sister Tia could?"

Orihime turned to look at all her comrades. Her gaze held Rukia's with a silent plead. Rukia's eyes softened when she saw the look in her eyes. They whispered 'I'm sorry. For everything.' Then her gaze shifted to Ichigo's. She wanted all of them to understand. Or at least try to understand that this was her fight. And it was her duty to finish it off.

She started to talk. Although her gaze was to everyone else, her words were aimed at Demi.

"I can tell that you're weaker than before. In the beginning you were using my energy and feelings to get the better of everyone here. Including me. But also, it's the fact that we're the same person. Although you're a hollow and I'm a shinigami, we share the same body. Which also includes our powers. Besides, I'm the only one who knows you the best. That's why I know I'm the only one who can take you down."

She turned to look at Demi who had a smirk on her face.

"Well then," Demi moved into an attack position. "When you put it that way..." Her eyes glared at her master. "Bring. It. On... Orihime-sama."

And with a flash, two swords clashed once more.

~Demi's POV~

Those eyes. I hate them. Their the kind that seem to spread light over the thick, black darkness. It's suffocating. I feel like I'm dying when exposed to that kind of warmth. No matter what, I try to steep myself in darkness. It saves me and protects me from things like hopes and wishes. But when I saw my master look towards her fellow comrades, I felt that burning impulse. The one that could bring me to my knees...

All I want is freedom. It's something worth fighting for. You see it everyday. Whether it's humans or animals. Even shinigami. I bet they wish for a different lifestyle. I'd do anything just to obtain that kind of freedom. Where I can have my own body and not share my powers with my master.

It's not that I hate her. Oh god no! I don't hate her. It's just that I've always wanted to experience something new. Where you can actually just be yourself and be accepted for it. Not get used by anybody. It's a good way for me to sink into the darkness without ruining other people's lives. I could live in a world that's mine and mine alone.

I feel deprived of that right. Why do hollows have to suffer through all this pain and torture? Do shinigami or humans have to suffer as much as we do? Huh. That's a question that can't really be answered. Just hypothetical I guess. But still, it's such a nasty feeling. Not knowing where you came from. Not knowing who you were before you turned this way. You lose all memories of your past life and just know that pain and suffering exists. It's such a lonely and frightening feeling. I wish it would just disappear...

~Ichigo's POV~

I swallowed thickly. Trying to regain my composure. The fear and nervousness I felt when watching her fight, it just hurts. So much. The sweat rolling down my cheeks doesn't really help much in this case. But, I should be trying to do something. Anything! But there's something keeping me from protecting Orihime. No, it wasn't fear. It was pride. Of course, of all times, pride has to come in the way of keeping her safe. Away from harm. Instead all I could do was watch.

When I think of it that way, perhaps it was better this way. I remember feeling the same way as Orihime. I had doubts and insecurities when I first became a shinigami. I would always think about whether I was strong enough to protect every soul. Or if I had enough courage to actually slay someone. When Rukia told me that hollows were fallen souls, I was really shocked. I was having second thoughts about doing the duties of a shinigami. But when I saw Orihime's brother as a hollow, I had to protect her. Even if it was just because she was one of my friends back then, it doesn't change the way I feel about her now.

Even though I was trying so hard to keep still, I felt like darting off past Tia-san and running in the middle of their fight. When I saw Orihime taking punches and kicks as if she couldn't feel a thing, I wanted to kill Demi myself. Hatred for her hollow seeped through my veins. Making my blood boil with only one motive. Seek and destroy.

My hand clutched around Zangetsu with so much force, I ended up getting Rukia, Renji, Uryu and Yoruichi-san's attention. Luckily for me, Tia-san still had her back turned to us. She seemed fine now that she was standing without the help of her zanpakutou, Rain.

One of the oddest things I have ever seen was that Rain was still out. She just sat quietly and patiently. Her ears were perked up, like she was listening to the fight rather than watching with her eyes. Her form changed so she was now an ice wolf. I found that pretty weird at first. How Rain could switch from water form to ice form. But it actually made sense after. After all, ice is just frozen water.

Another thing I noticed about her was the way she sat beside Tia-san. Tia-san's zanpakutou was in the ground on her left side. Yet Rain was sitting as if she was an obedient dog. They must have a really good bond with each other if Tia-san doesn't have to wield her blade for Rain to appear.

I walked closer to the battle. It was weird because everyone was so tuned in with the battle they never noticed that I was in front of Tia-san. Or so I thought.

"King, I wouldn't go any further."

My feet stopped and I turned to look at where the voice came from. Sure enough, there he was. Standing beside Tia-san with a serious look on his face.

"Shiro..." I growled.

~Tia's POV~

I watched in amusement as Ichigo and Shiro locked gazes. Since I helped Ichigo with his hollow training, he had agreed to letting his hollow help with some of them. It was more of a mutual agreement I guess. Shiro agreed to not fight for control if he got out once in a while. I know that seemed out of character, but of course, it was a rather difficult situation.

~Flashback~

When I had gotten back from Orihime's house and yelling at everyone, Ichigo came up to me.

"Tia-san, could you help me control my hollow? I know that Inoue went missing and everyone is worried about her... But I feel that I have to do this if I can be any help with this situation."

His eyes showed determination and stubbornness. Meaning he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. I sighed.

"Might as well. Since Kisuke is getting the garganta ready for us to head to Hueco Mundo, I suppose we have time to train. But I'll only help you if you stop complaining about your hollow interfering with your fights. Cause that's what makes the training worse."

He retorted. "I don't complain! And I'm not a whiner!"

"Did you forget that I could read minds?" I chuckled as he turned away, a small bush stained his cheeks.

I started to walk towards Kisuke's basement, Ichigo following not too far behind me. I jumped down rather than taking the ladder cause they're so useless if you can jump to high places. Ichigo did the same thing I did, I'm assuming he didn't want to waste time either. I figured that the sooner this is dealt with, the less problems we have later on.

"Sit in the center of this circle." I pointed towards the circle of rocks. He shrugged and sat down.

"Now what I'm gonna do is force your hollow out. It might a bit but it's the only way I can think of that won't waste a lot of time. So brace yourself."

I took the hilt of Zangetsu and stabbed it through his chest. I could tell it hurt him because he screamed at the top of his lungs. Ughh. I was so gonna have a headache after this. I waited a few seconds before yanking it out of him which resulted in his hollow appearing before me.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK?! Do you know how much that hurts? You don't go and ram someone's zanpakutou-" I cut him off as I kicked him in the gut and pressed my foot down on his chest. Pinning him beneath me so he couldn't escape.

"So you're Ichigo's hollow eh? Wow you two look exactly alike! Seriously if I didn't know any better I'd say you guys are twins. But I can tell you're the one with a huge attitude problem. I'd get that checked if I were you." I smirked at him.

His eyes went wide as sweat fell down his face. He knew i was serious even though I was using my sweet voice. Wow maybe I hung out with Rukia a little too much when I was younger. I switched my gaze towards Ichigo. The process made him switch to his shinigami form. He was staring at me with some random look I couldn't really understand.

"Alright, now we're gonna start." I took my foot off his hollow and yanked him off the ground. He growled at me as I walked towards the center of the two.

"Now, here are the rules. You have to attack each other with everything you have. No holding back. Because you can't determine whose stronger if one holds back. Use everything you know to your advantage. Don't hesitate either. That will leave you vulnerable to your opponent. If you don't take this training seriously... I'll destroy both of you. This is no time for fun and games." I looked at his hollow with a glare. He just sneered and turned to look around the basement as if he was bored.

"Also," his hollow looked back at me curiously. "This fight isn't merely about control. It's about teamwork. Without the cooperation of one, the other cannot reach their full potential. This fight is also about courage and pride. So," I walked towards the mountain. I stood at the top and looked down at the two who looked back up at me.

"Let's see what you've got."

~End Flashback~

I snapped out of my thoughts to hearing Shiro and Ichigo going at it. Over what? Well... Obviously the fight my sister's in right now.

"You want me to just leave her to fight on her own? She NEEDS us! Why aren't you letting me go help her?"

"It's better that you don't! She needs to deal with this herself! It was the same way with you! Did anyone help you when we were going at it?" Shiro snapped.

Ichigo froze as his eyes widened in realization. When he remained quiet, Shiro continued.

"Do you honestly think that for one second I don't want to help her? IF you seriously thought that, then your really stupid King. I would love to go and help her win this fight! I would love to go and keep her safe and make sure she never has to fight again! But I won't! Why? Because this is something she needs to do on her own! We can't always be there to help her King! Even you should know that!"

"That's BULLSHIT! I PROMISED her that I would protect her! Even if I die in the process! I NEVER GO BACK ON MY WORD! I'm not just gonna sit around watching helplessly as she gets her ass kicked by a fucking bitch who used her for her own selfish needs!" Ichigo yelled back.

"Take a look around you King! Do you see anyone of them going to help her? Do you see TIA going in to help her only sister? NO! WHY? Because of the fact that Tia knows that Orihime can do this on her own! Tia knows that her sister is strong to fight and WIN! And she also knows that when it comes to hollow training, no one can interfere. Remember our fight? Tia sat on the cliff and watched us MURDER each other! Did she interfere? NO! WHY? Because she believed that we can work this out on our own! I bet Tia would love to go in and fight along her sister! But she's holding back because she doesn't want to harm Orihime! Have you ever thought that maybe if any of us had went in to help her, Orihime could truly die? Not just DEMI, BUT ORIHIME AS WELL!"

Just then all went silent. The only thing you could hear was Orihime and Demi fighting. Shiro and Ichigo were glaring at each other now. You could see the intensity of their wills. Man was it ever intense over here. Probably more than on the battlefield right now. I decided that if I was ever gonna have a say in this, it should be now.

"Shiro is right."

Everyone turned to look at me. Shock and surprise filled their faces.

"I think it's about time I decided to tell you guys what I know. And what my feelings are for my sister."

A/N: That's where I'll end it. Jeez another cliffie. Who knew? LOL oh right. ME! Well actually I was intending on making it longer but I decided to stop since there's so much intensity.

I'm pretty sure I got Shiro (Ichigo's hollow) in character. Just so you know, he materialized into Las Noches. (Tia taught him how to. And that will be explained in the next chapter as well as the rest of Ichigo's hollow training)

There might be two or three more chapters after this one. I honestly haven't figured it out yet.

I decided to tell you about Demi a bit more. Her true reasoning for taking over Orihime's body. (Might be a bit more next chapter. Haven't decided just yet *scratches head*)

I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Looking at it, I think the intensity and raw emotions in the characters' dialogue says more than what I do as the author.

Perhaps after this story there will be a sequel. I was actually thinking about it.

Tia's lieutenant comes in the next chapter! So you finally get to see not only her lieutenant, but her best friend XD (Aside from Rukia and Renji of course)

I think I may change some of the chapters (If you haven't noticed, I did change some of them already. Spelling mistakes and such)

I had major writing block but the next chapters are plotted in my head and they won't go away XD

So til next time! *waves*

~Tia-Chan~