Hello, all! I apologize for it taking so long. I meant to update sooner, but I had a serious case of writer's block and a lot of things happened in my life. I even started college again after a year's hiatus. I am extremely proud of myself for taking that step and that takes up a rather large chunk of my time. I will try to update sooner, I promise. Anyway, you have deserved the chapter after the long wait so I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 12

It was the first time in forever that I had managed to sleep during the night without having a nightmare of the torture I endured in Hueco Mundo. I couldn't tell whether or not it was because I had grown out of it or because I had finally faced the monster behind it all, but either way I didn't question it much. I soon realized that the reason I was awake at all at the hour just before dawn was because I was being shaken awake by my husband.

"Imayru, wake up," he whispered, a big dopey grin on his face that I hadn't seen in a long time. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Can't it wait until I wake up more?" I grumbled, covering my eyes with my arm and rolling away from him. I heard him laugh and he crawled over me to put his face a few inches away from mine. He kissed my face repeatedly until I finally uncovered my eyes for him.

"Come on, please?" he asked, his smile infecting me with his excitement and I sighed.

"Oh, alright," I said, allowing him to pull me out of the blanket cave and to my feet.

He handed me my captain's haori and dragged me out of the office. He flash stepped and tugged me along until I did the same, letting him lead me to the hill that looked over the 1st District of Rukon. The sun was just coming up, shining light on everything and making the shadows stretch out. There was a basket with a watermelon inside it and I smiled as we sat down on the hill, watching as he cut a slice for himself and me and we relaxed into the rising sun. He took a big bite from his slice, spitting the seeds at me and laughing at my yelps of surprise.

"We used to do this twice a day back before we came to the academy," Toshiro said, taking another bite and looking down at the 1st District. "I remember once when we got in a bad argument and we met up here after to apologize. Do you remember that?"

My mind drifted back to the day in question, the feelings rising up before I could stop it. It was after Rangiku had appeared to tell Toshiro that he needed to leave the 1st District to become a Soul Reaper. He had told me the next morning when we were walking up to the hill with the watermelon slices in our basket that he was going to be leaving soon to train at the academy in the Seireitei. He told me that he wanted me to come along, but I said I wasn't so sure I wanted to. I may not have been the Lost Girl anymore, but still large crowds and noises bothered me and that's exactly what the Seireitei was full of. He said something about how I needed to get over that sooner or later and I should still go, but I still said no. We stood there on the path to the hill and yelled at each other before I did something I had never done previously. I turned around and went the other way, ignoring his cries to come back and hid within the forest. I found my old hiding spot, the little cave that was a secret to everyone except for Momo and Toshiro before thinking about that he was right. I knew that I couldn't hide forever and that I would definitely be going with him to the Seireitei. I ran back around sunset to find him running up the path as well. We apologized to the other profusely until we went back to the hill to eat watermelon one last time before going to the Seireitei for training the next morning.

I shook my head and smiled a bit, saying, "Yeah, I remember that day. It wasn't the greatest moment we've ever had."

"No, it wasn't. I just didn't want to leave you and I really wanted to become a Soul Reaper at the same time," he said, spitting more seeds out at me and I swatted at him. He laughed a little and watched me. "I felt bad for pushing you into it, but I was ecstatic when you agreed to come. You know, until you got really angry at me for telling people that you were my wife."

"And now you can get away with it whenever you want," I sighed, giving him a smile when he laughed. "Imagine that, you got your wish."

He grinned and we finished up our watermelon slices, eating only a few compared to his majority. After that, we lazed about on the hill, just watching the people down there beginning to move and go about their day. I moved closer to Toshiro and he threw his arm around me as I laid my head on his shoulder. As I was relaxing against him, a thought popped up into my head and I turned to look at him.

"Do you think our lives would have been easier if we'd stayed in the 1st District instead of becoming Soul Reapers?" I asked him, watching as he gazed down at me.

"No, I think it would have been worse," he said earnestly. "I didn't tell you this, but I had to leave. My powers kept seeping out during the night and it was killing Granny. Had we stayed, she would have been dead and we'd be street rats. We'd probably end up having to steal everything just to survive."

"So the opposite of what we are now," I said, looking back down to the 1st District.

"Pretty much. So, what do you want to do with our day off?"

"I thought you were going to be in charge of that since you dragged me up here so early," I grumbled, giving him a small smile.

He looked sheepish as he said, "Nope, this was all I had planned. Sorry about that, Imayru."

I laughed a little and then instantly remembered a flyer somewhere within the Human World about some kind of festival or carnival there. "Let's go to Karakura Town for some fun!" I suggested, watching as his expression turned serious.

"I don't know if that's a good idea right now," he said. "You might try to run off and stay there again."

"No, I won't," I said, rolling my eyes. "We'll get our Gigai and go to a carnival with Ichigo, Rukia, and their friends."

"So long as you promise not to run away," he sighed, getting up and pulling me to my feet.

With a happy laugh, I stood up on my toes and kissed his cheek. "I promise, now let's go!"

I created a gateway for us to the Human World and dragged him through it with me. Once in there, we flash stepped along until we reached Kisuke's shop, where he seemed to be waiting for us. I didn't know it until then, but he had already made a Gigai for me years ago, one I refused to enter this entire time until now. I hopped into mine and ran over to a mirror to see it. The first thing I noticed was that my hair was half up, the top part in a ponytail while the rest fell in loose waves down my back and stopped just above my shoulder blades. I looked down at my clothes to see a turquoise dress that had a ribbon that wrapped around my waist to extend down to flap in the breeze and it also had a frilly skirt that stopped just above my knees, a white cover-up that was similar to a haori that the turquoise ribbon fluttered below. Then the shoes I had were fun, writing covering them in different colors with sparkly blue shoelaces.

I turned back to them both to see that Toshiro was already in his Gigai. He was wearing a long sleeved black shirt that had two chains across his chest that met at one point to the right. He also had on jeans that had holes in the knees as he slid his hands into his pockets. His shoes were similar to mine, but all black with a white toe and white shoelaces. He looked amused as I ran at him and threw my arms around him in excitement. He kissed my forehead quickly before I pulled away, looping my arm through his as we thanked Kisuke before walking out of the shop entirely. Since he'd been to Ichigo's house enough times to know his way around, he led me along and began to explain things about Gigai.

"It will be a little strange at first, since everything feels… different while in your Gigai," Toshiro said. "Your body will feel heavier and you might get a bit tired out for a while. If you're too tired, I can carry you for a while. Also, your Gigai will need sustenance more often in the beginning, so we'll have to keep that in mind as well. We'll steal some food from Ichigo's house for you."

I kept close to Toshiro's side the entire time, walking along the sidewalks next to the busy streets and having to remind myself constantly that people could see me now. It was weird to have to do this since I had been in the Human World for a long time prior to this. Toshiro could see my struggle and was trying to hide his smile from me as we turned into the quaint neighborhood that Ichigo lived in. We saw the Kurosaki doctor's office a few minutes after turning onto their street and walked up to the front door. I rang the bell once, then twice when I was so amused by the noise and was about to ring it a third time when I heard stomping feet approach before the door was flung open by an irritated Ichigo.

"What do you want?" he asked us, looking rather annoyed when I moved my finger to hit the doorbell again. "Will you stop that?"

"It's our day off and we heard there was a carnival here, so we wondered if you'd go along and grab Rukia and your friends," I explained. "And as for the last question, the answer is no." I hit the doorbell again with an evil grin and Toshiro sighed, pulling his hands from his pockets to pull me away from the button as a livid Ichigo glared at me.

"If you don't want to go, you could just tell us how to get there," Toshiro said.

"It's more like a fair," Ichigo said on a sigh. "There's a bunch of rides they bring in, even a roller coaster. Head back to the road in front of the house and turn right towards the outskirts of the city and make sure to just stay on this road until you find the fairgrounds. I'll gather Rukia and the others and we'll meet you there."

"He just wants us to leave him alone for now so we don't bug him," I grumbled as we walked back down to the sidewalk and turned right. I heard an irritated huff from Ichigo before he slammed the door shut.

"Well, can you blame him?" Toshiro said to me with a mischievous grin. "You were being awfully annoying with the doorbell."

"Oh, shut up," I said, smacking his shoulder with a stern look as he laughed. "I don't find you very amusing."

"That's a lie and you know it," he told me as he threw his arm around my shoulders. "Oh, and sorry I didn't ask for food for you. I didn't think he'd let us inside after what you did."

"It's alright," I said. "We can get something at this 'fair.'"

We just chatted amiably the rest of the way there, Toshiro occasionally brushing my bangs out of my face as we walked and I smiled each time. After a while, I began to feel my limbs getting heavier and I knew it was as we had discussed earlier in the day. My Gigai was experiencing fatigue and I shook my head. This thing was useless compared to my normal body. The only downfall of it is that here in the Human World, my Soul Reaper powers are lowered to twenty percent due to the fact that I'm a Captain.

"Are you alright?" Toshiro asked me, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. "You're starting to look a bit tired."

"I'm fine, Shiro," I said, my frustration skyrocketing as I slowly got more and more tired.

"Oh, really?" he said and I could sense sarcasm there. "You know that I can still sense your emotions through the bond we have, right? That means I can tell that you are in fact quite exhausted. Or at least, your Gigai is exhausted. You look almost dead on your feet."

"I'm still fine," I insisted, right up until my feet gave way and Toshiro was forced to catch me before I hit the ground.

"Nice try, Imayru," he said with a laugh. He then crouched down in front of me and offered me a piggyback ride until I was rested. "Come on, you used to do this with me after I got into a fight with the other kids my age. I think it will be ok if I do the same for you."

I knew he wasn't going to just let his opportunity sneak by him and I sighed as I climbed onto his back, wrapping my arms and legs around him as he stood up. I kept my arms loose around his neck so I wouldn't choke him on accident as he held my legs to keep me from sliding down. From his back, I watched the people around us go about their business, giving us both funny looks as we passed. I knew most of it was because of his hair, but I never did understand what people had against someone being different.

"I'd almost forgotten that the world can be so cruel," I said to myself.

"I'm sure you have a point behind this thought," he said, startling me since I didn't fully realize that he had been paying attention. "However, you're going to have to give me just a bit more information so that I can understand."

"People stare at others just because of the fact that they are different," I said. "They bully them for that exact reason as well. Look at what happened with you. I had to clean you up after all the fights you had with the other kids because they bullied you to no end."

"It shaped me to be the person I am today, Imayru," he told me. "Even though it was a harsh part of my life, I don't regret a thing. Besides, it could have been a lot worse had you not been there. Those kids were terrified of you."

"They were?" I laughed.

"Of course. You were the Lost Girl. They thought you would sneak into their bedroom windows and rip them limb from limb if they hurt me too bad."

"Maybe I should have," I said under my breath as he chuckled.

After a while, I finally felt rested and squirmed enough so that he let me down with a huff. As compromise, I took his hand and slid my fingers between his with a smile. We kept walking down the sidewalk and finally a huge structure came into sight. I looked on in awe at the huge building called a "grandstand" and started getting excited as I saw all the shiny, flashy rides surrounding it. I practically pulled Toshiro along with me as we approached the fence with a huge gate, following the people who were swarming in to pay admission. I was about to pull out the human money I had in my pocket when Toshiro paid for mine instead.

"Don't give me that look," he told me. "We're married and I can pay things for you."

"I don't have to like it," I said as he pulled me along.

We walked around the fairgrounds and bought these bands to put around our wrists so that we could go on the rides. I was about to drag Toshiro on one of the many that surrounded us when I heard someone calling our names. What surprised me most was the fact that some of the people approaching us I wasn't expecting to even be in this world. I could see Ichigo and Rukia leading their friends over to us and behind them were Renji, Momo, and Rangiku. Orihime ran over to me and gave me a tight hug, nearly choking the breath from me if Toshiro hadn't saved me by pulling me away. The three Lieutenants, who were now in their Gigai as well, came over to us with stern expressions.

"I can't believe you just left us back in the Soul Society, Captain!" Rangiku said to Toshiro, pouting sulkily. "We would have wanted to have some fun and you know it!"

"I'm sure you have some paperwork left to do," he said flatly. "I have no control over Renji and Momo but I'm sure they keep up on the responsibilities they have to do."

"Momo does more than her share, even though I tell her to ease up," I laughed, making Momo blush.

"My offer to trade Lieutenants still stands," Toshiro said with a small smile.

"Toshiro, that's not fair!" Rangiku yelled while everyone turned to look at her.

"Quit making a scene, will you? And it's Captain Hitsugaya."

"Ease up, Shiro," I told him as I reached up to ruffle his hair with a grin. "There's no need to be so formal right now when it's a fun day for us all."

"This is why I'm never going to get married," Renji said softly to Ichigo, who was standing next to him with Rukia at his side. "Women just have this way of changing you into something like… this."

"I heard that, Lieutenant Abarai," Toshiro said, glaring over at the red haired Lieutenant then grinned at him evilly, which made everyone take a step back in surprise. "Just you wait until you find the one you are meant to be with. I bet you won't mind it then."

"Be nice to them," I said as I threw my arms around his neck as he turned his head to look at me. "You mustn't frighten them away with that thought. It won't be as fun to watch them go through the same thing we did if they won't even try."

Our day was spent going on as many rides as possible, mostly the roller coaster. I decided to leave that one for last since it looked like the most fun. Toshiro looked a bit nervous and was trying his very best not to let the others see, so I held his hand and moved closer to him. He looked a little better but I knew he was still hesitant to go on the roller coaster.

"It's just like flying only you go really fast, go up and down hills, and then don't forget the twists and turns," I told him quietly.

"You're really not helping the situation," he said flatly.

As soon as it was our turn after waiting in line, I dragged him into our car and strapped ourselves in. He took my hand again and squeezed it for comfort, his turquoise eyes looking in every direction anxiously as he fidgeted. I rested my head on his shoulder until the ride began to move forward and I sat up as excitement coursed through me. I hadn't been on a roller coaster in a very long time, not since I once snuck on while in my Soul Reaper form. The hill was rather tall and I knew that this wasn't why he was nervous, but rather how rickety it must have looked. After we made it to the top, I whooped happily as we dived downwards, laughing hysterically as we made it to the bottom of the hill and were whipped along the next turn. After a few twists, I heard Toshiro laugh and finally enjoy the ride as well. When it was finally over and we all left the ride together, he demanded that we ride it again.

It was after five more rides that my stomach growled loudly and, after everyone laughing at me, we decided that since it was night that we would get food to eat. We bought a whole table full of food and sat down at a picnic table, Toshiro and I near one end while Ichigo was glaring at me from the other. I made faces at him when Toshiro wasn't looking and he seemed beyond livid after a while, a vein popping out angrily on his forehead. When Toshiro turned back to me, I pretended to be innocent while grabbing some fries and after a while he just sighed.

"Stop antagonizing Ichigo," he said to me softly.

"No way, I'm having too much fun," I told him before making another funny face at the orange haired man in question.

He stood up quickly, nearly knocking Rukia off the bench next to him, before yelling, "That's it! You and I are going to fight right here and now!"

Rukia and Renji got up just as fast to grab him by the arms as I laughed hysterically, grabbing more food to eat as I watched the scene before me. Other people who were walking past only shook their heads as they passed by and I saw Toshiro just shake his head in disbelief. It was then that I felt the presence of something foreign, something that made a cold jolt pass down my spine and I sat up straight. I slid my gaze through the crowd to find the source of the feeling as Tatsuya stirred within my mind.

There, Tatsuya said as he directed my attention to the right. There is a man that is stalking us. He gives off a strong magical presence that is completely focused on us.

I see him now, I replied in my mind so I wouldn't alert Toshiro. It was a man who was just a few inches taller than me, a man that had black hair and just as black eyes that burned with a fiery intensity. I felt a burning in my reiatsu just as his eyes turned a bright violet color while a smirk spread across his face. He doesn't look as if he will leave unless we have a confrontation.

I think it's ill advised. He is definitely not human and unfortunately his powers would match yours if you didn't have a cap on your reiatsu due to the fact that you are a Captain.

We don't have much of a choice, Tatsuya. He is dangerous.

"Imayru, what's wrong?" Toshiro said, pulling me back to the situation at hand. I looked up to see that everyone was staring at me. "Your eyes just turned red. Is something going on?"

"I think you all need to leave," I said softly as I stood up, turning to face the man that was watching us still. "Go now before something happens."

I walked in his direction as Toshiro called out to me, but I was too focused on the man ahead of me, who seemed pleased with the whole thing. He motioned for me to follow him as he moved through the crowd and I did as I was told as Tatsuya growled in my mind. When we reached a space that was a little less crowded, the man turned around to look at me, his eyes sliding from my feet and slowly up to my eyes. His smile got wider as if he liked what he saw and it only served to disgust me.

"I was told about you, Imayru," he said in a sickly sweet voice that irked me for a reason I didn't recognize. "All I wanted was to finally see you in person. You bet that I am glad to have waited all this time. It was well worth all of the nights of torture."

"I'm sorry, you seem to have me at a disadvantage," I said listlessly. "You seem to know my name but I don't know yours."

"Yes, I apologize," he told me before taking my hands in his own. "My name is Zayn Drabek. You are Captain Imayru Hitsugaya of Squad 5, formerly Imayru Hinamori. Both last names are ones that were given to you since you didn't have a last name in the first place, just like me. You and I are very much alike."

"I don't know if that is true," I said as I felt my anger try to flare up.

"Oh, but it is. You and I were both alone ever since we could first remember existing. The only thing we could remember was our first name and after that we both held a hatred for others, one that led to a self-loathing that could tear lesser people to pieces. We adopted last names of our choosing and tried to exist for the better. I would say that that was the last of our similarities since your life took a turn for the positive while mine went down the path of darkness. That is until we both had the same run in with Aizen."

I felt my heart stop in shock at his words. I knew I didn't want to hear anything more, but the time for running away from this was long gone. "What did that evil man do to you? What did he force upon you?" I asked.

"Evil man?" Zayn said with an incredulous laugh. "He was brilliant in a scary, clinical kind of way. As for your last question, he didn't force me to do anything. In fact, I was thrilled to be a part of his experiment. You see, we are both alike in the way that we are two sides of the same coin. You are light while I am dark. He wanted to make both a powerful Soul Reaper and Arrancar with his serum and we were his test subjects. What helped him the most was the fact that we are both what you souls refer to as 'Captain Level.'"

I had heard a little about a race of humanoid creatures called Arrancar from other Soul Reapers. They were supposed to be the dark version of us, only they were mostly Hollows. They were the product of when an extremely strong Hollow rips its own mask off and gained our powers. I hadn't expected to hear that Aizen had selected the both of us for his sick experiment and I was the one who didn't want any part of it. This man before me looked nothing like the monsters I had been fighting for so long but I had a feeling deep down that I needed to keep my guard up. He didn't seem to notice my silence and continued on with his speech.

"Just like you, I am the Quinto Espada," Zayn said with a twisted smile. "Another similarity between us is the form our Zanpakutos take. I have a dragon that is bathed in darkness as well."

"My dragon used to be completely made of light and you and I have nothing in common," I told him as I felt my rage become out of control. "Just tell me why you are here and I might let you live."

I watched as his violet eyes narrowed angrily. "I think you should watch your tone. Just because I look human now does not mean that I won't shift into my Arrancar form and destroy everything in this general vicinity, including that mate of yours."

"I would kill you before you could," I growled at him.

Zayn glared at me, moving closer until our faces were only a few inches away to show me how serious he was. "You seem to forget something rather important. I know that Captains and Lieutenants from the Seireitei have a spiritual cap on their reiatsu so that it isn't dangerous to the Human World. We Espada have no such inhibitions and can destroy anything we please. So I suggest you treat me with a shred of respect now." We both just glared at each other for the longest time until he gazed at me with evil looking eyes and finally said, "If you really have to be impatient and want to know now, then I will tell you of my motives. I came here for you. Aizen told me that as soon as you were given the final dose of the serum and were a slave to it, you would belong to me. We would be mates and create the strongest being between both of our worlds. I want to take you back to Hueco Mundo with me."

I pushed the wave of fear down with my rage before saying, "I would rather die than go back to that place again. I don't care what Aizen promised you, but you can't have me. I belong to one person and that is my husband, so go back to whatever rock you crawled out from and stay there."

My reiatsu spiraled out of control and tiny tongues of flame appeared around my wrists to intimidate him, but it only sparked his interest as the fire somehow burned hotter. It leapt to the space before us and, with a psychotic laugh, Zayn slowly raised his arm up while the shadowy flames seemed to obey him. I gasped and forced them back down, a battle of wills going on between us as he tried to make the flames burn everything around us to the ground. I could feel sweat beading on my skin and looked up to see that he was in the same condition as we fought for control. I almost let go when I was startled by the sound of familiar voices behind me, but I strengthened my resolve at the last second.

"Imayru, what's going on?" Toshiro's voice said, carrying over to me even though the sound of the flames almost drowned it out entirely.

"I thought I told you all to leave," I said emotionlessly, my crimson eyes meeting Zayn's violet ones as the fire between us became wild.

"Ah, so this man with the white hair is your mate," Zayn said with a feral grin, his eyes blazing angrily. "I'm glad he's here. This means that I can kill him myself. I'll get so much enjoyment out of this."

"If you dare to lay so much as a finger on him, I'll—"

"Rip my spine out while tearing my throat open with your teeth," Zayn said disinterestedly. "Yes, I already know. Aizen told me about how you killed his double that way and it seems to be your favorite. The irony is that it is also my favorite method of death as well. You and I—"

"Are so alike. I've figured that out as well, idiot. You're like a broken record."

"If this wasn't so serious, I think I'd be laughing right now," I heard Ichigo whisper to Rukia. "They are almost the same."

"Shut up, Kurosaki," Toshiro said to him before his voice softened for me. "Imayru, I need you to back away from him. This is no place for a fight to break out. Innocent people can get hurt."

"The white haired one is right," Zayn said with a nasty smile. "I don't wish to fight you while you hold back. I want you to give me everything you've got!"

With that, he dropped his human guise as the shadowy flames we fought over surrounded him as I took control. It shrouded him entirely for a few seconds before vanishing to reveal his true form. He was wearing all white, a long coat that was left open to reveal his muscular chest and abdomen, along with a hole on his sternum like that belonging to a Hollow. Just above his right hipbone was the number five tattooed into his skin and he was wearing white pants that were loose on him to show off that tattoo. The hilt of his Zanpakuto was peeking out from under his coat where it was strapped around his waist. The most noticeable aspect was what remained of his Hollow mask. A jagged piece went over his right eye and a part of his cheekbone then extended back a few inches in spikes, almost like those belonging to a dragon. There was a violet eye on the mask directly over his own that was edged in black, a slit for a pupil that made the entire thing look harsh.

"You and I are going to find somewhere secluded so that you can fight me with all you've got," Zayn told me. "So get out of your Gigai and let's go alone. I don't want anyone to interfere."

I sighed and turned my head in the direction of Toshiro and my friends. "Shiro, I need you to watch out for my Gigai."

"If you think I'm just going to sit on the sidelines while you fight this man, then you are out of your mind," Toshiro said to me and I could see his fury was thinly veiled in his eyes.

"You are a Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads," I told him as I turned my attention back to Zayn so I wouldn't have to bear seeing the hurt in Toshiro's eyes after what I was about to say. "It's about time you start acting like one and lead the others away to safety. Stop worrying about me and fulfill your responsibilities. I am also a Captain, which means I am fully capable of handling myself in a fight against the enemy. Now do as you have been commanded, Captain Hitsugaya of the 10th Squad." As soon as I finished speaking, I leapt from my Gigai as it crumpled to the ground, glaring over at the Espada before me as he gave me a victorious grin.

"As you wish," I heard Toshiro say stiffly before picking up my Gigai and running from the scene.

I flash stepped away and headed in the direction of the park that Ichigo and I had fought a large amount of Hollows. I knew that no one would be there at this hour and that was what I counted on as I heard Zayn fighting to catch up. I internally preened myself for that fact as I landed gracefully in the grass of the park, turning around to see Zayn hit the ground before me. He was breathing heavily for a few seconds before straightening up to gaze at me.

"You and I have a lot to discuss, like why you killed Aizen," Zayn said with his violet eyes blazing. "Aizen was the one person that I considered to be family. I'm going to make you pay for that."

"I killed him because he tried to kill my family and he also tortured me by putting me through this stupid experiment of his," I told him with a snarl. "I wanted nothing to do with it and yet I was forced to be put through it. He deserved to die and I would kill him all over again if I had the chance."

I pulled my Zanpakuto free just as he did the same, glaring at each other for a few seconds before we ran at each other faster than the human eye could see. Sparks flew as our blades connected, both of us baring our fangs at each other before we separated once more to clash again with more flying sparks. I flash stepped behind him and was about to cut him down when he whipped around at the last second to block my attack. He seemed a little shaken as I used some of my lesser known sword skills to throw him off combined with my speed. I could see the edge of fear in his eyes before he became fed up with our fight and backed away a few feet from me.

"This is ridiculous," he growled. "I am the best swordsman of the Espada. No one can beat me except for Ulquiorra because of his speed. This is shouldn't be possible and I'm honestly not above cheating to punish you!"

With another growl, he snapped his fingers and I felt my entire body tense up before everything from the neck down froze. "What did you just do?" I asked furiously as Tatsuya roared in my mind.

"There is yet another difference between us," he said dangerously as he stalked closer to me, making me try to fight whatever hold he had over me. "As you said before, Aizen forced you to become what you are now. You haven't embraced the gift he has given you, the darkness that runs through your veins. I, however, have embraced it and become one with the darkness. It is mine to control and I know how to use it. I can control the darkness within you that you reject and do whatever I want with you."

He was now close enough that I could feel his breath fanning out over my skin, making me feel sick to my stomach as I slowly forced my body to try to move. My fingers twitched lightly as his face came closer to my own, turning my face to the side at the last minute when he tried to kiss me. I growled in rage as his pressed his lips to the skin on my neck, kissing me lightly every so often as I fought even harder to gain control over my body.

"I'm going to kill you for this," I spat out just as he froze the rest of me, forcing me to stop talking.

"This is just the first step in punishing you for killing the only father I have ever known," Zayn said to me with a sinister laugh. "I have a lot in store for you. I plan to kill that husband of yours or worse. I haven't fully decided on that yet, but whatever will cause you the most pain. And don't think you can just hide from me in the Soul Society either. Aizen showed me a secret way to get there that no one but he knew. I can find you no matter where you hide and that is a promise."

With his last words, he growled and sank his fangs into my neck. As he took a gulp of my blood, I screamed internally as I fought to move my arm, feeling my spiritual pressure flare outwards and it would have dropped anyone else to the ground in a split second but he somehow resisted it by flaring his own. Another few gulps and I was getting dizzy, my vision blurring as I fought even harder, my fingers forming talons just as I took control. I jumped back just as I slashed out at him, slicing his left cheek open and blood pouring free. He laughed a little before I sank to the ground from the blood loss. As he healed up within seconds, he disappeared in a flash and left me alone to slip into unconsciousness.