Walking out of the Garganta he had created, he looked around to see he was in his living room. He was aiming for the bedroom, but trying complex abilities after fighting a Seraph was iffy. Nel, Yoruichi, and Kenpachi followed closely behind him. Kenpachi immediately went to the training chamber to have some 'fun' with the arrancar that had recovered and returned there. Ichigo began trudging up the stairs, muscles sore and body aching. Unfortunately his level of regeneration only recovered injury, and didn't automatically rejuvenate muscles.
Nel and Yoruichi followed him closely, only a few steps behind him. He walked into his room and immediately passed out on the bed, welcoming the warm darkness of sleep. Nel was about to climb into bed and cuddle up next to him, but could feel a dark sensation radiating from Yoruichi.
"What's wrong?" Nel asked. She could feel a tangible... anger? Sorrow? She couldn't tell exactly what the emotion Yoruichi was feeling was, but it was very strong.
After a moment, Yoruichi answered her. "Nothing... it's just that I'm worried. He over-uses his power far too often, and I'm afraid it might be taking it's toll." Her voice was slightly trembling, and... was that a tear in her eye?
So it wasn't anger, Nel thought. It felt kind of like sorrow, but not quite. Frustration? That was closer. Nel had gotten very good at gauging Ichigo's feelings from absorbing his Reiatsu so often and now just feeling his Spiritual Pressure gave her a strong idea of his emotions. She couldn't tell Yoruichi's feelings as well as his, but it wasn't very difficult to get a general idea.
"He'll be okay," Nel said. "I'll keep him safe." For some reason, Yoruichi's Spiritual Pressure became even more oppressive when she said that, so Nel just stopped talking. She wasn't sure what she was doing wrong, but it was obviously making Yoruichi upset. She decided to leave her be for the night, and with one last glance at Yoruichi, went to join Ichigo in his bed. As she snuggled up to his chest and let his warmth guide her to sleep, her last fleeting thought before drifting off was that Yoruichi was still right outside the bedroom door.
Ichigo's Inner world
"Why can't I just sleep without waking up here for once?" Ichigo groaned as he opened his eyes to Arakiel's far-too-serious-for-this-time-of-night face.
"Sorry Ichigo, but Hope is arriving sooner than I thought," Arakiel said. "She'll be here within a minute or two. Get ready."
Ichigo stood quickly, pulling out Zangetsu. He quickly summoned Murcielago's wings and made sure Kyoka Suigetsu was ready. Even a second-long opening could be the difference between victory and defeat, and Ichigo needed to be ready to create one.
Ichigo closed his eyes and slowly began to gather his power while he waited. After a few minutes he felt a growing power in the air. It grew for about thirty seconds before a great shockwave shook reality itself and the hollow appeared. He held a simple Zanpakuto in his right hand. Ichigo pulled on his mask.
"Hey there, Kingy! Long time no see!" The hollow said. He seemed to be wreathed in power, a bluish glow emanating from him.
"Bastard. You've become a real pain, you know. I wish you would stop messing with me," Ichigo growled. "Mul Qah Diiv!" Spectral scales formed on his body and he could once again feel the strength of a dragon flow through him. Ichigo didn't know how strong Hope's power was, so he needed every advantage he could get.
"Oh! I see you've learned some new tricks. But you know, I've learned a few of my own," the Hollow grinned devilishly. "Devour all hope 'till there is only Despair! Zangetsu!" The Hollow was engulfed in a ball of red-black energy for a moment before it dispersed in a flurry of wind to reveal him on all fours with gorgeous white wings sprouting from his shoulder blades. His face was covered with a mask almost identical to Ichigo's original mask that he had broken off when he regained his Soul Reaper powers with Kisuke. He had long white hair and a slender but obviously powerful tail. The Zanpakuto he had been holding was gone. Instead, there was a blade protruding from both forearms, and smaller ones covering his back like a porcupine.
The hollow gave Ichigo no time to prepare and dashed towards him with a speed surpassing Byakuya's. The hollow leapt and outstretched his arms, attempting to impale Ichigo with the blades from his forearms. Ichigo immediately sonido'd out of the way, and was just barely cut on the arm by the edge of one of the hollow's blades. Then the hollow froze. He didn't know how, but Ichigo could tell the hollow was grinning.
Suddenly his whole arm began to burn in excruciating pain. "What the hell?" Ichigo asked. Even his dragon armor couldn't protect him from a cut so small? "What did you do?"
"Well, kingy, I simply cut you. You see, my Zangetsu's power is far superior to your's. The smallest cut will inject a neurotoxin into your bloodstream. As it spreads, it causes excruciating pain until it reaches the brain. When that happens, it will cause complete and total paralysis, therefore eliminating all hope of survival," the hollow explained. Ichigo could tell from the tone of his voice that he had a smug look on his face. Then Ichigo did something the hollow didn't expect. He raised his sword and cut off his own arm. "What the hell? What did you do that for, asshole? What you do in here affects your body out there, and soon that body will be mine!"
"You really are ignorant, aren't you?" Ichigo asked as a new arm began to grow from his bleeding shoulder. The pain hadn't spread to the shoulder yet, so he figured he could isolate the source and save himself by cutting off the arm. "I guess you haven't figured it out yet. You see, before your return, I fought Ulquiorra again. I don't know how he survived the first time, but he didn't this time. Just before his death, Murcielago transferred over to my soul, and I obtained his high-speed regeneration in addition to your's. Now I can regenerate almost any part of my body in thirty seconds or less." By the time Ichigo finished talking, his arm had already grown back.
A single crack formed in the hollow's mask before it resealed itself. Ichigo could only assume it represented anger. Suddenly the blades on his back extended with a ripping sound that made Ichigo wince. An angry scream rang through his bones as the hollow charged. "No! I can't lose! I'm the king! Me! It's your turn to be the horse!"
"You have it all wrong, hollow," Ichigo said as he was attacked. "Getsuga Tensho!" An arc of red-black energy hit the charging hollow square in the chest, blowing him away. "Divine Destruction: Meteor Shower," Ichigo said, and lo and behold, meteors began crashing down from the heavens. Though they crumbled to dust upon hitting the blades on the hollow's back, it was clear he was affected by them as he flinched with every impact. "Divine Creation: Dragonkin." Three spectral warriors with scales identical to Ichigo's own came into existence after a slight distortion in the air where they appeared. The three warriors immediately charged the already exhausted looking hollow and went in for the kill.
"Despair Brings Death Just as Death Brings Despair," The hollow chanted and a wave of black energy pulsed from his body, obliterating everything in his immediate surroundings. The three warriors disappeared before they reached him, and the meteor shower stopped. "My Zanpakuto can devour one's hope until they lose the will to live. Then they fade from existence."
Ichigo looked upon him in astonishment for just a few seconds. "I see. Then I suppose it is time to finish this."
"I couldn't agree more," The hollow said, and then charged with a warbling scream.
"Hollow art: Kingslayer," Ichigo muttered before charging with the same vigor as the hollow.
They passed each other in a flash, and paused a few feet past each other. A second later, blood gushed from Ichigo's stomach and he collapsed.
"Ha! Finally I'm King and you're the hor—"
"Shatter: Kyoka Suigetsu," Ichigo's voice rang out from behind the hollow and the image of Ichigo's bleeding body dissolved. "Divine Creation: Hell's Chains." Chains materialized out of thin air and began wrapping around the hollow, immobilizing him. No matter how he struggled, the chains held true. Designed to hold even the most vicious demons, even the hollow's many blades could not free him. "Divine Art: Seraphslayer."
The hollow's eyes widened as Ichigo walked around him, placing spectral Zanpakuto in the ground in the shape of a pentagram. "What are you doing?" The hollow asked frantically as his mask began to crumble from his face.
Ichigo finished the pentagram of Zanpakuto and whispered the final, ancient word for death. "Dinok."
A great flash blinded Ichigo as a holy flame obliterated any trace of the seraph inside the hollow.
"Damn it. You really are the King." The hollow sighed as he felt the last of the Seraph's power leave his body. He had returned to his normal form; just a white duplicate of Ichigo.
"You have it all wrong," Ichigo said as his mask crumbled off his face. "A King only has power if he is revered as one. You may have called me a king, but neither you nor Zangetsu ever truly thought of me as one. The truth is, I've never been the king, just as you have never been the horse," Ichigo paused and knelt next to his hollow. "We've had our differences, and you've certainly given me hell, but we have never been anything other than partners."
"Damn you, Ichigo," his hollow said as the corruption around them began to fade. "I never thought that I would actually begin to like you. Why don't you hate me? All I've ever done is try to kill you and take your body for myself."
"I can't hate you, idiot," Ichigo said. "You and Zangetsu are one and the same. You may have different wills, but I know the two of you have only ever wanted to protect me. You said so yourself when I was learning Mugetsu. Even if all you wanted was my body, you never let me come to harm."
The corruption was almost totally gone now. Ichigo offered his hollow a hand and he grasped it. "I guess we need a name for you now, don't we? What do you want me to call you?" Ichigo asked.
"How about... Nashi?" The hollow suggested.
The edges of Ichigo's mouth curled up a bit. "'I have no name.' That was what you told Byakuya wasn't it? You remain nameless even now."
"Don't expect me to obey you like a dog like the others do, but I'll help you out every once in awhile."
Sensing it was about time to return to the real world, he started saying his goodbyes. "Don't worry Nashi, I don't really care if you help me or not. Let's protect each other from now on, 'kay?"
Nashi grinned. "Okay, partner." He waved goodbye as Ichigo faded back to reality.
Ichigo groaned in pain as he awoke. The blood on his sheets was the only proof of the damage he had taken while fighting Nashi. Luckily, there was no severed arm in his bed. That one would have been hard to explain. His high-speed regeneration had healed his wounds, but once again his muscles were incredibly sore. As he began to sit up he felt Nel's soft form stir beside him. She mumbled something that made Ichigo's cheeks go red as she hugged his chest before opening her eyes a moment later.
"Good morning, lo— woah!" She exclaimed and jumped back a bit.
"Nel? What's wrong?"
"L-look in the m-mirror."
Ichigo turned his gaze to the mirror on the closet door where Rukia once slept. When he saw his appearance, he too was a bit startled. His right eye had become the golden-black eye of a hollow, and his hair had white highlights in it, as well as being the length it was after his Dangai training. The most startling change, however, was the golf ball-sized hole in his chest. "Oh my... we better cover that one up." As he pulled on a T-shirt, he noticed that was not the only change. His sore muscles had gotten slightly, but noticeably bigger, and he felt as if he had twice the energy he had had last night. Turns out fighting off a hollow took more energy than he thought.
He looked back to Nel and was immediately alerted when he saw her tensed up and twitching slightly. She was gazing intently at the door to his room. A moment later, Yoruichi burst through the door and ran to him. "Are you okay? What happened? Why is your bed all bloody?" Yoruichi was so consumed in searching him for wounds that he knew she knew wouldn't be there, she didn't notice the changes in his appearance.
"Hey, back off, kitty cat," Nel growled. Ichigo didn't think she was the jealous type, but in her defense, Yoruichi was quite beautiful.
"What, I'm not allowed to be worried about him?" Yoruichi shot back.
Now Nel knew what the emotion she felt coming off Yoruichi before. She could feel it now stronger than before: Jealousy. "You can worry your pretty little head off all you want, just remember he's mine." That bitch doesn't think I know how she feels. Though, who wouldn't feel that way about Ichigo.
Yoruichi paused, a little saddened.
"What's wrong Yoruichi? You know I can heal almost any wounds easily," Ichigo said.
It's now or never, Yoruichi thought. "Ichigo, I think I love you."
Okay, before you either start yelling at me or getting all excited, I have NOT decided whether or not to let Yoruichi in on it. I ended this chapter here so I could get some more responses before making the decision. I will say that if she joins in, her and Nel will be constantly competing to be the 'better' one.
Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. If you're confused about the hollow name, Nashi means 'none.' Well, make sure to let me know what you think of Yoruichi. Until next time.