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The terrible menacing eyes stared hard at Ichigo, a look of violent instinct crossing the face that Ichigo had come to hate. Why were they to fight? This was Ichigo's body, he should be the rightful owner, not some....some monster. He should just push the essence off the control platform and take his rightful spot. But he couldn't. Not with that thing staring at him, a long, lethal weapon in its tight grasp. It would attack as soon as Ichigo moved. He could tell that much.

Trying to think of some kind of plan would be the sensible thing to do, but once in the position, it was impossible. Not while Ichigo could hear Shinji and the others fighting the creature on the outside. Plus, the Hollow wasn't going to give any time to think of one. The first ghost of plan entered Ichigo's head, and the Hollow struck at that moment.

With lightning speed, it lunged at Ichigo, sword first, and a fight-hungry yell screamed from its throat with such pleasure, it was sickening, even maddening. The loud sound of blade against blade echoed throughout the hall, the ringing lingering in Ichigo's ears. The Hollow kept pushing Ichigo, back, back, and the candles soon began to disappear. Soon, it was completely dark, and Ichigo finally felt the force against Zangetsu lift. This was good, but bad at the same time. Now Ichigo had no idea where that thing could be. Logic came to his mind as Ichigo began to walk back the way he had been pushed, back to where he could still hear the yells of the others. But the Hollow must have anticipated that.

No sound was made, but a deep slash cut Ichigo's back as he fell to the ground. It hurt. It hurt, but Ichigo was still able to get up, this time he ran, despite the pain that pulsed through his body. He could hear his own blood splattering against the floor. What would that maniac do next? Ichigo didn't wait around to find out.

His already-rapid pace quickened. The blood soon began to rush faster, the splattering becoming more and more frequent. At this rate, he would bleed to death. What would happen to his body if he died? Would it keep going under control of the Hollow, or would it die along with him? Wait, why were these thoughts coming to Ichigo in the first place? He wasn't intending on dying now. Not here, not when his family was waiting for him to come back. They already had been in so much strife, they did not need anymore. If anymore were added now, what would happen to them? Ichigo stopped thinking about that.

It won't happen...Not to them...

He didn't realize that he had stopped running until he noticed that the rhythmic beat of his blood had ceased. Taking a deep breath, Ichigo turned away from the yells of Shinji, Risa, Mashiro, Rose, all of them. He turned to face the darkness and the creature lurking within. He turned to face a power-hungry, blood-thirsty monster that planned on taking his body no matter what. Who knows? He may have even turned to face death itself. But whatever thought crossed Ichigo's mind, not one of those deterred him from turning and facing the enemy. He had to much at stake to just run away and wait for it to find him, bringing his end. No, he would fight down to the last minute.

Taking a stance, Ichigo closed his eyes, not that it made much difference in the lighting, and listened. He could hear his own pulse after a while, beating hard from he adrenaline that surged through his body, but even that seemed to fade after a few minutes. Nothing made a sound, but Ichigo still held his stance, ready to attack and/or defend against anything that posed a threat.

Who knows how long he really stood there, listening, waiting...Not even Ichigo could say, but finally, a small shuffle, no matter how slight, sounded a few yards in front of Ichigo and to the left. Without hesitation, Ichigo slashed Zangetsu through the air horizontally, releasing a Getsuga Tenshou toward the shuffle, then the sound of something hitting a wall sounded, but it wasn't just Ichigo's attack. A demented chuckle rang throughout the air, sounding louder than it really was compared to the complete silence that had come before. Soft footsteps, ever so soft, but rapid, came towards Ichigo, but still his eyes remained closed. He instead chose to listen, trying to follow any pattern that could be heard. He already realized that it was virtually impossible to predict its moves on sight alone. Since this was pretty much true, he decided to strengthen his other senses, mainly hearing.

The footsteps were close now, not but a few feet away, and the distance between them was decreasing quickly. Tensing, Ichigo carefully timed his swing, hoping he would hit something. Relief came over him when he felt something come into contact with Zangetsu, and he could hear a slice at his left, and this time, it wasn't on him.

Ichigo jumped back, putting distance between himself and the enemy, still keeping his eyes closed. The only thing that could be heard was the faint splatter of blood, some from Ichigo, some from the thing. He waited, waited, for the pattern of falling blood to quicken or get heavier, but it did not. Instead, it got fainter, farther away, like the Hollow was falling back. Although any smart person would be wary, Ichigo rushed toward the brighter area, being guided by his hearing. Through his eyelids, he could see light come through, and now he opened his eyes. He could see the screens showing the Hollows vision just ahead, the essence still standing. Running faster, Ichigo was in the light, the Hollow now posing less of a threat by just that much.

But there was something there that Ichigo had not expected. The very thing he was running from, the Hollow stood there in the light as well. So this was where it went when the spatter faded. Its expression was excited, ready to start a huge battle, wanting to cause damage.

It wanted to kill.

Damn it, Ichigo thought. Is there no running from it? Figuring this was true, Ichigo faced it, and prepared to fight, and this time, he wouldn't run the second he had the chance. The Hollow smirked in pleasure at this, happy to see that Ichigo was willing to fight back, and the real fight began.

With amazing agility, the two lunged at the other, throwing their entire bodies into their blows, always coming out in a tie. They tried the same things at the same time. They aimed for the same blows. They blocked in the same way. It was though they were copying each other. Their power levels were the same, although the Hollow always showed greater intensity and ferocity behind each attack.

How much longer can this go on?

Getting frustrated, Ichigo jumped back and, throwing as much as he could, released the greatest Getsuga Tenshou he ever had done before in shikai. The Hollow looked surprised, as though he had not anticipated this, but that lasted for only a second as his expression changed to excitement. However, Ichigo couldn't see its expression any longer. Getsuga Tenshou had landed, causing a large cloud of dust to appear. Tense, Ichigo anticipated another attack. Sure enough, it came. From the dust cloud came the monster, which released a blood-curdling scream, sword swinging wildly in front of it. Without thinking, Ichigo readjusted his stance, and yelled.

"Bankai!"

Tensa Zangetsu appeared in Ichigo's grasp as he swung towards his opponent, which allowed another bit of surprise to surface on its face. Wild swings from both sides came as the two of them fought ultimately for survival. Ichigo knew that if he didn't win, he'd die. If he did win, he would destroy the Hollow, once and for all. Both of them swung, blocked, dodged, and much more. They moved so fast that soon enough, they became a blur, then nothing could be seen aside from the occasional sparks of blade against blade. Ichigo was ready to go on, but froze when he noticed that Hollow had stopped. Confused, Ichigo observed it, looking for some kind of hint, or a sign. Then he saw it, something that gave him faith that he could win this. Proudly, Ichigo saw that he had cut off the Hollow's left foot.

Finally, it had let it's guard down, and Ichigo was lucky enough that he had found the unguarded spot at the perfect time. With that kind of injury, it's fighting abilities would decrease significantly. Hopefully, it would be enough.

A fresh wave of strength came as Ichigo came at the Hollow once more. As Ichigo's blade hit the Hollow's, he could feel that it wasn't putting up as much of a fight as it was before. Now, it was struggling, struggling just to keep Ichigo at bay. This was a good sign, at least for Ichigo. He couldn't help but smirk as he felt victory come his way.

With incredible speed, Ichigo disappeared from before his opponent, and used the small time frame to come up from behind. In less than a second, Ichigo appeared behind the Hollow, which had yet to notice Ichigo's disappearance. Only until it was too late did it sense his presence behind him. With one mighty victorious slash, Ichigo cut across the Hollow's back, leaving a dark, deep gash, which was bleeding heavily. A smirk crossed Ichigo's face as he watched his opponent fell to the ground. Ecstatic with triumph, Ichigo went quickly to regain control of his body, but stopped.

A sharp pain came across Ichigo's back, causing him to fall to the floor. He looked back, accusatory, thinking that the Hollow had struck him down, but was disappointed to find that it was still in its bleeding state on the ground.

Where did that come from? Ichigo thought.

He was about to use Zangetsu to lift himself up when Ichigo noticed that it had left his hand. Looking around, he found Zangetsu, but in spirit form, not zanpakuto. His eyes were full of pity, as though he was looking down on something that couldn't see, couldn't understand something so perfectly obvious, something that was blind to the only truth.

"What's going on?" Ichigo demanded to know. He tried to push himself, to be able to look Zangetsu straight in the eyes, but realized it wasn't worth it. He looked back up, waiting for an answer.

"Ichigo, can you not see?" Zangetsu's voice sounded slightly pained. "Can you not see it?"

"See what?"

"The bond."

It took a while for Ichigo to comprehend what he was talking about, but soon he saw it. Zangetsu continued.

"There is a bond between you and that Hollow, almost the same kind of bond you have with me. It is something that can never be broken. The Hollow has been with you for so long, you are both a part of each other. If one dies, so will the other. This is the sad fate that you share, to be bonded to a blood enemy. If one is injured enough, the other shall feel it. There is no breaking this kind of hold."

Ichigo was silent for a while, allowing this new knowledge to sink into his mind. He looked back to the Hollow, which had now been able to look their direction, but only barely. It seemed that it had heard this as well.

A bond.

To think that such a thing would come between them, a Shinigami and a Hollow. Two beings that were to fight the other for the whole of eternity. If anyone else knew of this, if any of Ichigo's former squad knew, surely they would shun him. He would be cast away, or even sent for execution. The Central 46 might even have excused the thirty-five day wait, and kill him on the spot. The gravity of the issue at hand sank deep within Ichigo's core, the center of his being. He was to live forever with that thing, forever to be cursed, forever to be haunted, hunted, hated. Such a situation had never occurred before...had it? Ichigo wondered if the same thing was true with the Vizards. He never had the chance to ask them of how their Hollow powers came to be. But that took little priority for the moment. Ichigo was cursed, and it would be a terrible curse to live with. At any moment that thing could attack him, taking over his body. But when? He would be most vulnerable while sleeping. The thought had him shiver. If it took over while Ichigo was sleeping...Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin would all be sleeping as well. What would happen to them if that thing received control? Another shiver came.

"Do not worry," Zangetsu assured. Ichigo looked at him with puzzled eyes. "It will not bother you. At least for now. It will recognize you as the leader, so do not worry about it. No trouble will come your way for a long time." Zangetsu turned, then began to walk toward the control platform. With a gentle hand, he pressed it to the essence's chest, closed his eyes, and from the head down, it began to dissolve. Once it had gone, Zangetsu looked back to Ichigo.

"Come, before your friends get too worried on your part."

Ichigo prepared to use all his strength to get to his feet, but realized that it was not needed. The pain had subsided, and the wounds had gone. Looking back once more, the Hollow had, too, vanished. Confused, Ichigo decided to let it go. Hardly anything made sense anymore, especially in here.

Standing, Ichigo took his place on the platform. The feeling of being in control once more happily surged through his veins, allowing all control to him, where it rightfully belonged. Satisfaction and relief also came as the inner world began to fade, knowing that the Hollow wouldn't bother him again for a long time. Then, in one quick flash, the inner world had gone, and the Vizards stood before him.

A/N: Okay, so that was the thirteenth chapter. Sorry it took so long to post, or at least it felt to me like it was so long. My school work has just now decided to catch up to me, so I'm sorry if the chapters become less and less frequent, but I promise to you that they will not stop. So yeah, once again, here's a reminder to go to my profile and take part in that poll. I really want to know your opinion so that I can make your reading experience more to your liking. Thank you! Oh, and I'm going to, from now on, end every chapter with some kind of quote or saying, most of them I will have come up with myself. Thank you for reading!

"Love your family, love your friends, love life itself." --PixieTitan-Uchiha (I made this one myself!!;D)