Chapter 21

Ichigo blinked open lazy eyes and watched the clouds chase each other across the blue sky. It took him a few seconds for him mind to catch up with him and to realize that he was back in his inner world. He sat up and looked around, not surprised to see both his hollow and Zangetsu only little ways off. He pulled his legs into a cross legged position and tilted his head to the side.

"Ya, know. I'm getting sick of asking this but…What the hell is going on?"

Zangetsu surveyed him calmly while his hollow smirked. "Your body is healing."

Ichigo blinked. "Okay…and that means?"

His hollow answered this time, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "You're in a coma idiot, and your body is trying to heal enough for you to wake up. You're stuck here till then."

Ichigo let that sink in as he looked around his inner world. It was different, but not by much. The colors seemed sharper, the buildings a bit more ragged and not nicely aligned like before.

He sunk back to a reclining position and decided cloud watching sounded good right about now.

But that only lasted a few hours.

And so he decided to bug his hollow. After thinking about it, he decided on what he was going to call his albino half. "Shiro. I'm bored."

The hollow in question rolled his eyes. "Well, King. Figure out something to do." He didn't complain about the name so Ichigo figured that was his approval.

"There isn't anything to do."

Zangetsu sighed from his perch. "This is your world Ichigo, just create something."

Ichigo stared in shock for about a minute until he snapped his mouth shut and grinned. He concentrated for another second before a large squishy couch appeared. He his grin grew as he launched himself at the couch and sank into it. He thought for a second and a TV appeared in front of him. He clicked the remote that appeared in his hand. His grin faded when the screen remained blank.

"Guess my mind doesn't have cable." He said sarcastically. He sat in thought for a few minutes before concentrating on the space in front of him again. The TV disappeared and in its place was a bookshelf. He stood and found a well-worn copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet before crashing back on the couch.

After an hour of reading he felt himself drifting off to sleep. He placed the book on the ground beside him and slouched down into the comfy couch. He was just about to drift off when he felt a hand be placed on his chest.

He opened one eye sleepily to see Shiro standing there with a thoughtful look on his face, his hand over his heart. "Whatcha doing?" he yawned.

Shiro looked up and shrugged. "Your hearts beatin'."

Ichigo blinked and decided he didn't even want to know. "Thanks for telling me." His eyes drifted back closed. He was in a deep sleep when a loud voice called out.

"King!"

Ichigo's eyes snapped open and he sat up slightly before he realized Shiro's head was on his chest, his ear over his heart. The hollow was kneeling beside him. Ichigo took a deep breath before asking, "What?"

"Your heart slowed down…but now it's going really fast."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I was asleep. It slows down while I sleep. Then speeds up when someone scares the shit outta me." He fell back against the couch cushions. He was pretty sure his hollow hadn't heard a word he said.

"Dun…dun…dun…dun…dun…dun…" Shiro 'dun'ed in sync with Ichigo's heartbeat.

Ichigo covered the hollow's mouth with his hand. "Shadup would ya? I'm trying to sleep."

Shiro merely removed Ichigo's hand and placed it on his own chest. "I don't have a heartbeat."

"That's because you don't have a heart." Ichigo craned his neck back to see Zangetsu standing next to the couch. He wondered just how long the zanpakuto had been standing there.

He returned his gaze to Shiro, whose hand had tightened over the Ichigo's. Even as cliché as it sounded, Shiro's eyes looked…hollow; and a bit lost. Something twisted inside Ichigo's chest and he gave him a lopsided grin. "You can share mine."

Shiro blinked gold and black eyes. "Really, king?"

Ichigo nodded before his eyes closed once more. "Yeah, your half of my soul, you should have half of my heart." He fell into an easy sleep while Shiro continued to listen to his heartbeat.

Ten days passed and Ichigo was ready to tear his hair out. He had spent a lot of time reading and even played Tic-Tac-Toe and Rock-Paper-Scissors with both Shiro and Zangetsu. Their scores were etched into one of the walls that rose slightly higher; Zangetsu was clearly in the lead. Every night, and he was shocked the first time the sky darkened and the moon rose, he slept on the expanded couch with Shiro listening to his heartbeat.

It was a strange connection they had, but Ichigo preferred it to the torture it was when it all started. He reminded him a bit of kid that nobody took care of when he was little and was just now figuring out about emotions and such.

He scrubbed his eyes and stared at the board in front of him, his eyebrow raised as he took in which tiles Shiro just laid down. "Are all the words you know swear words?"

Shiro shrugged, a smirk firmly in place. "I just play the tiles I drew. Not my fault."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and looked at his own tiles. He picked up a tile and laid it on the last word laid down. "H E L L and O."

Zangetsu's voice broke through their concentration. "It's time."

Ichigo blinked. "Time?"

Zengetsu sighed. "Your body is healed enough."

Shiro grinned. "Guess I win."

Ichigo glared at him. "You didn't win…it's a tie, we weren't finished."

Now Shiro glared. "You leave, you forfeit."

Zangetsu placed a hand on each of their shoulders and pushed them back away from the table and game board. He shook his head thinking that sometimes he felt like he was dealing with two five year olds; to very violent five year olds. "Just put the game on hold."

Both glares turned to smirks.

"I'll be back." Ichigo vowed.

Shiro crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll be waiting." He challenged as Ichigo faded from view.

AN: so this kept running around inside of my head and I just had to get it down before I went to sleep…interesting, no? anyways cya later crazies…