Summary- Bested by the demon within, Ichigo is trapped inside his own soul, where the only thing worse is being outside it. Who knows how much pleasure and pain, a foolish mistake will grant him? For two weeks he will be at the mercy of his hollow, and a prisoner of Las Noches. Will his strong mind and body be able to cope with the weight of Shiro's revenge, and his love? ShiroxIchigo- YAOI. LEMON. Shiro- centric
Disclaimer- I DO NOT OWN BLEACH.
Ichigo woke up slowly, His eyes blinking lazily as he attempted to stretch his muscles. Shiro watched, amused, as his partners orange brows scrunched in confusion when taut chains restrained his movement.
"Wakey wakey sleepyhead…" He chimed, his voice echoing off the thick stone walls. Ichigo looked up at the sound, his dull, doe eyes slowly filling with awareness.
"Sh-Shiro!" Ichigo exclaimed, shocked. "You're chained to a wall!"
Shiro couldn't restrain his bursting laughter. "No shit!" He grinned at the teen, "So are you, Berry."
"OI!" Ichigo scowled at the nickname, before he seemed to realize that he was, indeed, also chained to a wall. "What is this?-! What's going on!-?" He shouted in anger.
"Our deal with Aizen went to shit. The dammed shinigami betrayed us." Shiro cursed, watching Ichigo become even more angered, as he struggled in his binds.
"It was your deal, not 'ours'! I told you Aizen was bad news! I told you this was a terrible idea! But when do you ever listen to me?" The teen voiced sarcastically, pouting as he turned away. "Honestly, what did you expect when coming here? A nice warm welcome? A safe place? You would have had better luck with the shinigami…" Ichigo ground out.
"Hey, don't say that. It was still the best option no matter how you look at it." Shiro defended his decision. Ichigo's tone was beginning to anger him.
"Oh yeah, Just like sticking two monster dicks in my ass? Was that really the best option? And what about fucking me over that stone ledge? I could have been disabled for life!" Ichigo's words cut him deep, and Shiro growled in response. He wasn't about to tolerate being abused like his.
"Shut the fuck up! You liked that just as much! You begged for it like the little slut you are; you were screaming my name like I was god, so don't you dare tell me it was a bad decision." Shiro snapped.
"I'll tell you whatever the fuck I want!" Ichigo snapped. "Making that stupid deal with you was a bad decision! And you know what else was; sleeping with you! If you have a problem with that then you better come over here and shut me up!" Ichigo yelled, incensed beyond anything Shiro had seen before. "How can you just stay here? You're the king, right? So hurry up and bust us out! This whole mess is your fault; do something about it!"
Shiro snarled, his body lunging from the wall, intent on attacking the insolent teen, but the chains snapped him back harshly. "Fucking shut up! Don't you think I've already tried?-! Both our power is sealed; we don't have a drop of reitsu between us! But when I get out of these… Oh boy… You're gonna get it." He chuckled humorlessly, insanity creeping into his eyes. "I'll show you just why sleeping with me was a bad decision… I'll make you regret that deal like you regret your mothers death…. I'll fucking kill you!" he spat, straining his chains as he fought to escape them.
There was silence between them for another ten seconds, filled with angered breathing.
"Look, Shiro…. I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that. I'm just really stressed out… I don't like this: Aizen's my enemy, not yours." Ichigo muttered sadly, and Shiro glared at the teen through the darkness.
He'd never been one to hold grudges, so if Ichigo was sure he didn't mean his words then Shiro would forgive him… But the fact remained that they'd been said; they'd come from somewhere, right?
Ichigo must have thought them true at some time, and that greatly disturbed Shiro. But it seemed to him that he also owed the shinigami an apology; Ichigo was right when he said Aizen was his enemy.
He hadn't really thought about Ichigo when he'd dragged him deep into the fortress of his foe; if anyone was going to suffer for being captured like this, it was Ichigo. And the teen hadn't even had a say in the matter.
"I'm sorry too; I shouldn't have let you be caught up in this." Shiro mumbled back bitterly. This was his fault, just as Ichigo said. He'd known, even before he came here, that Aizen would try something like this, and he hadn't cared.
Back then, it was a problem to worry about in the future; a problem he'd shrugged off. He dealt with stuff as it came; in the present. But now his careless way of thinking had caught up with him, and it turned out he hadn't dealt with the problem as easily as he thought he would.
Shiro may have been pissed, but he really wasn't overly worried; if he only thought about it a bit harder, he was confident he'd find a solution. If only he could bring Ichigo back into himself again? But he couldn't feel Ichigo's existence without reitsu… It was so distant, like they were worlds apart even when he was staring straight at him.
All of a sudden another figure appeared within his line of sight. A figure that inspired rage in his soul. Aizen had just appeared from thin air, with his infuriating, condescending smirk plastered to his lips, and his silky slicked back hair falling across his face so innocently.
Shiro barely spared himself a second to ponder how the man had materialized; there were no doors he could see, no holes in the stone. He was in a simple, stone box, sealed off from the outside world.
Quickly, he hid all his emotions behind the mask that worked best for him, and before Aizen could get the first word in he sung his greeting. "Welcome home, master; it's so very nice to see you!" He smiled, grinning at the man and lathering his tone in sarcasm. "Did you have a nice day at work? Made any headway conquering the universe yet?"
It would have pleased him to see some discomfort in the brunette, but the man only smiled in return. "Indeed, having you join us is a fair booster to my plan." Aizen chuckled.
"Join you? I'm afraid that hasn't been added to my agenda… How about you return another time, and we might be able to schedule you in." Shiro's eyes sparkled with mirth as he caught Aizen's brow twitch. "Now, as you can see I'm one very busy hollow, so please do toodloo!" He utilized the limited movement his hands were allowed, to wave the man away dismissively.
"Let's get down to business, Shirosaki." Aizen stated coldly.
"Business!-? 'Business' he says!" Shiro exclaimed, laughing shortly. "What business would you be speaking of? The business with me chained and powerless, locked away in your rape dungeon? Are you going to do naughty things to me? OoOo~ I'm so scared!" Shiro laughed as a vein popped in Aizen's temple.
He felt giddy with his own small victory. To think the stony king could be so easily riled up, with just a little taunting. "Are you going to fuck me hard against this cold stone? Steal my poor little virginity like the thief you are? Is that what gets you off?" Shiro broke off into a fit of mad laughter; Aizen's strained face was just too hilarious to him. "OH master, please don't! I'm so scared! It hurts!" He began thrusting his body in the chains, straining as if he was in pain, while letting sexual noises slip from his lips. "OH Aizen-sama, Ugh! Ugh! fuck me harder—What about this? Am I turning you on?" he paused his fantasy grunts and groans to grin down at the monarch.
"Shirosaki, Please do take your situation more seriously. If you wish to be adulterated violently, that can surely be arranged; I happen to have experts at such an art on hand, here in my complex." Aizen offered patiently, and Shiro noticed the man had quickly become immune to his outrageous antics. Shiro frowned; he would have to think of something quickly that would occupy the man's attention. So long as he had Aizen's interest, the man would not turn to Ichigo.
"That's cold. You'd just hand me off for someone else to do? I thought we had a thing going, baby." Shiro tsked, "Or maybe you're a voyeur; you like to watch other people do it, right? I bet you have this place bugged out to the max." He looked around the corners suspiciously, as if searching for hidden cameras.
"Shirosaki. I'm here to present you with two options; one works out better for you and your counterpart, and one doesn't. If you don't want to listen to my offer, we can go straight ahead with the latter option. "Aizen stated calmly, and Shiro caught Ichigo's serious eyes across the room.
"Fine, Fine…" He grumbled. "What the fuck do you want from me?"
Ichigo was graced with awareness, and for the first time in a while, he wasn't looking up at a bleached white ceiling. This ceiling was wooden, with rafters, splinters and supporting planks of wood.
It occurred to him that he'd never woken up beneath a wooden ceiling before in his life. The second thing that occurred to him was a deep, soul wrenching loneliness and emptiness. Both Shiro and Zangetsu were absent from his soul; and nowhere in his range of senses could he find them. Which was impossible, because he should have been able to locate them no matter how many dimensions apart they were. He should have been able to feel his own souls existence.
Abruptly, he sat up in his bed, looking over the plainly furnished room before his eyes settled on the slumped figure in his bedside chair. A light smile flittered across his face at the disordered head of blonde hair, and chaotic growth of stubble that was visible beneath a green and white striped bucket hat.
The way Urahara slouched in his chair, bare feet sprawled across the floor and arms limp over the armrests amused Ichigo greatly. He'd never seen Urahara sleeping before; the man must have been very tired to allow himself to fall asleep in front of others.
Gently, Ichigo lowered himself to the floor, but as soon as his toes touched the wood Urahara startled awake. "Ichigo!" He greeted blearily, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. "It's good to see you awake…"
The way the shopkeeper greeted him made Ichigo think he hadn't been expected to wake at all. "Where's Shiro and Zangetsu? Where am i?" he asked urgently.
"You're in Soul Society, we were not able to retrieve your hollow and zanpakto…" Urahara muttered, as he stood from his seat and stretched. "Tea?" He asked, bringing the teen a tray of steaming tea.
Ichigo took it gratefully, pleased for anything that slightly warmed his cold and empty soul. "When are we going to retrieve them?" He asked concerned, anxious to be reunited with them.
Urahara didn't answer his question, Instead he stood and opened the door. "Come. The head captain wants to see you now that you've woken. Everything will be explained there." Ichigo tentatively stood on his feet to follow the man, pleased to find that the shinigami had the decency to clothe him. The thought inspired a painful pang in his heart.
The bustling streets felt distant to him, as he was forced to grip Urahara's coat to save from becoming lost amongst the crowd. Everything was so distracting; the smells, colors and sounds. He discovered that, a small part of him had missed Soul Society during his absence. If only Shiro was here to see it with him… Although the hollow would probably hate it.
A captains meeting had been called, and those who were invited all made their way to the first division. Renji was the first he encountered along the way. The redhead patted him harshly on the back, with a concerned greeting. "Hey Man! You have no idea how worried we were about you. How could you just disappear like that?" Renji joked, and distracted him from his pain with small talk until they reached the building.
As soon as they entered, the atmosphere weighed down on his shoulders heavily. Ichigo drowned under the dense concentration of spiritual pressure; it was only Urahara's supporting hand that kept him afloat.
"Hi…" He waved delicately, as dozens of eyes immediately bored into him. The captains all stood in their structured line, heads held high and backs straight before the great and powerful Yamamoto. But around the sides lounged the exiles; the Vizard, Yoruichi and Tessai Their casual arrangements around the tense room served to lighten the atmosphere of the Gotei's meeting.
"Welcome back, Ichi." Shinji smiled at him. "It just didn't feel right without you."
"I hear you were not being mutilated by hollows during your capture?" Yamamoto bellowed, slightly irritated at Shinji's speaking out of turn. He seemed rather disappointed with the news, although it was always hard to tell with the old man…
Ichigo almost laughed; the answer to that question really depended on what your definition of 'mutilated' was… Of course, he would never say that. "I wasn't really captured…" Ichigo admitted regretfully, deciding it was time to explain to his allies what had happened.
"I made a deal with my inner Hollow a while back… The point was that by working together we could be so much stronger, instead of having our power divided; It was Zangetsu's Idea." The gathered captains all listened intently, and Ichigo caught the disapproval in some gazes. "The deal was, that every two weeks we would fight for control over our power, and the loser would hand everything over to the winner and serve them…"
The room shifted; some clicking their tongue in displeasure, gasping, or growling in outrage. "Why would you make such a reckless deal!-? You were endangering lives by risking the release of such a monster!" Yamamoto stamped his cane on the ground to silence the crowd, as Ichigo became defensive of his decision.
"I was sure I could win; I thought it wouldn't be a problem if I just won the fight every time… And he's not a monster! Shiro hasn't hurt anyone." Ichigo grumbled.
"Naïve…" Someone muttered, and Ichigo shot a glare in that direction. He felt like pointing out that his point had already been proved; the hollow may act cold and heartless, but Ichigo knew otherwise.
"So, why were you in Hueco Mundo?" Urahara asked, hurrying the conversation along before Ichigo could become more agitated. "Is it true that your hollow is allied with Aizen?"
"No. He's not really on Aizen's side. He just went to try his luck on food and board; He thought he'd have a better chance in Hueco Mundo…" Ichigo explained grudgingly.
"That doesn't make any sense! Why would Aizen want him there if he wasn't loyal?" Shinji asked this time.
"I dunno…" Ichigo shrugged "He just talked and somehow managed to convince Aizen." Ichigo hadn't really been paying attention at the time; he couldn't remember the intricates of Shiro's deal with the mastermind.
"If you think about it, having Kurosaki and his hollow in the perimeter could be beneficial to Aizen; It granted him a chance to examine the boy, who we once dubbed our ace. We will now have to factor in Aizen possibly knowing more about Kurosaki's power than the boy himself does." It was Suì-Fēng who reluctantly pointed this out.
Ichigo palled and looked down guiltily. "I didn't see anything suspicious while I was there. I didn't encounter Aizen at all." He confessed.
"The fact that Aizen went to such efforts to conceal his plans, should tell us that he is planning something disastrous." Byakuya muttered.
"And now we have lost Kurosaki's fighting power, and possibly his immunity to Aizen's illusions…" Urahara muttered sadly.
"But our force has doubled with the addition of the Vizard! Surely Aizen cannot stand against us now?" Toshiro argued.
"Hold on a second! We are no 'addition' to your party!" Shinji exclaimed. "We were only united in saving Ichigo; nothing more. The brat's one of us, and we don't abandon our own like you Gotei bastards!"
A fight between the captains might have been about to break out, as tension seemed ready to overflow, but Urahara stilled them with a chuckle.
"Now, now… When you say our dear Ichigo is 'saved' you are dearly mistaken." Urahara interrupted, fanning the irate parties with his fan. "I took the liberty of running some tests…" the shop owner's tone quickly fell to a morbid hum.
"You ran 'tests' on me while I was sleeping!-?" Ichigo exclaimed, crossing his arms with a disapproving glare at the blonde.
"Calm down, Ichi; you weren't just 'sleeping.' Your soil was in turmoil! You were sick! I had to do something." Urahara defended himself honourably. "But what's done is done, so shouldn't you be more interested in why your body is feeling unusual? You should be feeling light headed, your chest is aching, your strength is failing you, and your stomach is churning…" The man guessed, and Ichigo was shocked by his accuracy. The teen felt all of those symptoms ten times worse than the blonde made it sound.
"How did you-" He started, but trailed off. Urahara turned to the amassed shinigami again.
"As it turns out, by pooling our efforts to save Kurosaki, we have led him to his death."
"Are you telling me that the dangerous mission I sent half of our fighting force on; risking the lives of all involved against overwhelming odds, not only gave us a powerless human boy in return, but signed said human's death warrant!-?" Yamamoto growled, his anger beginning to heat up the room.
"Precisely. You see, Kurosaki's soul structure is incomparably unique… The Versatility of his power allows different forms to be materialized at will. But if it had to take a metaphorical shape, it would be triangular; there can only be one dominant personality at the top. At the time of his retrieval, Ichigo's hollow was that dominant personality… Ordinarily, their soul should be able to merge into one again, like water; they should be magnetically drawn together. But obviously that is not happening; something is preventing it from happening. And as long as they cannot amalgamate, Ichigo will suffer the consequences like a limb that's been cut from it's body. He will begin to decay. "
Horror filled the faces of those who really cared. Ichigo was too shocked to reply for a few moments. He was only seventeen years old; death had never seriously occurred to him before, and this was completely different to dying in battle; this was like having cancer, he would die slowly and painfully.
"That's not going to happen! I have to go back and find Shiro! Shiro will know what to do… He's the one who separated us; he should know how to fix it, right?" Ichigo pleaded, but Urahara's sad gray eyes instilled fear in him.
"I'm sorry Ichigo, but it will take three days to re-open the garganta, and by then… I'm afraid it will be too late." The blonde tipped his hat sadly.
"What the fuck, hat 'n clogs!" Shinji stood up, enraged, as many others in the room who cared for Ichigo's safety displayed their unrest. Toshiro clenched his shacking fists in resentment, a chill seeping from his skin. Kenpachi's hands itched over his sword hilt, as the man gritted his teeth in rage. Even Byakuya's frown was significantly deeper than usual.
"You're supposed to be the smartest guy in the world!" Shinji shoved Urahara's chest aggressively. "You made the Hogyoku, and started this whole dammed war!" The blonde sneered in the blonde's face as he jabbed him again. "You're the guy who reversed Hollowfication in time to save us, and your trying to say that you can't save one bratty human kid?"
"It's not that simple! There is no cure for having your soul split." Urahara defended frantically. "All I can try to do, is possibly keep him in existence by developing a faux soul to feed off; like a life support. But even developing something like that would take longer than we have… I would have to virtually clone him, and his reitsu signature. Something like that would require a constant input of captain level power. I'm sorry but my hands are tied… There simply isn't enough time." The pale blonde croaked guiltily, and Shinji sneered in denial and pulled his fist back to punch the man across his sorrow filled face.
"Wait!" Ichigo yelled, as an idea popped into his brain. A blush spread unbidden across his cheeks at even mentioning it… He wasn't sure he could get the words from his mouth in front of this crowd. "There is a way…" He mumbled, and the blush took over. Sighing, he closed his eyes as all attention turned to him. "My hollow has the ability to transform other's sexual energy into his own; Its his one, unique hollow power; He's like an incubus; so he can feed from men's…" It had taken all his bravery to get that much out, but now he'd opened his eyes to see the embarrassing, surprised faces of his companions, glad to see they understood, and he didn't have to describe what he meant further.
"I think I can still use it, even from this distance apart…" Ichigo mumbled shyly, avoiding eye contact with all in the room as he tried to stifle his burning blush.
Even so, Ichigo could feel the lecherous gazes of his allies boring into him. He'd thought those primal, wolfish stares were unique to hollows. Shinigami and hollow didn't seem so different any more when they both stared at him the same way, gobbling him up with their eyes.
A/N- Sorry for the wait. I anticipate you are in for an even longer wait before i can write more... For the moment i have bitten off more than i can chew with stories, and i can barely find the time to write anything these days. :(
Did you all like what Ichigo's implying in that last bit? :P Do you want to see some of that action? And who's reitsu do you reckon should 'sustain' him?
Or do you want him to get straight back to Shiro as soon as possible so they can Kiss and Make up?
Please leave a review, and i'll write the next chapter as fast as i can! ;)