Lunch was almost over and Kai was nowhere to be found. Ichigo was only slightly worried, since Kai was probably at the house. Maybe he wanted to be left alone. "I guess I'll just ask him about it, later." He mumbled to himself. He was on his way to class when he felt eyes on him. He paused and turned to his left. Across the courtyard, blue eyes locked with brown eyes. As they stared at each other, Ichigo heard a strange ringing. He winced while covering half his face. 'Dammit! Not again. Just hold on a little longer.'

He moved quickly out of the courtyard and headed for the bathroom. He pulled out his phone, frantically dialing the Kai's number. It rang several times. "Come on. Come on. Pick up."

He still had about ten minutes for class, but he couldn't go in his current predicament. He tugged at his pants while leaning against the wall. He snatched the pendant he wore under his shirt, off. It was a medallion with gold jewels in the border. There was a sword charm in the middle of it. It was c racked right down the middle. When Kai didn't pick up, his thoughts spiraled. 'Why isn't he picking up? He doesn't want to help anymore? I can't do this alone.'

'Scared?' A shrill watery voice teased. He dropped his phone and clutched his head as his head began to throb. 'Can't do anything without Kai? Why not give Blueberry a chance. It ain't like he doesn't want to.' Soon, his nails darkened and the tips of his hair turned white.

"Stay out of my head." He mumbled to himself. 'Why should I? It's fun to see you squirm. Soon, you're going to lose control and push everyone away, including Kai. Then, I'm going to take over. I'm going to make watch your life spiral out of control. Everyone will blame you. No one can help you.'

"Shut up!" He yelled and lowered his head into his lap. "Berry?"

He froze when he heard the gruff familiar voice and footsteps moved closer. He held his breath, hoping he'd go away. 'Go away. Go away. Go away.'

'I'm gonna make you suffer.' The voice sang before going away. "Open the door, Berry. I know you're in there. Come out willingly, before I drag ya ass out."

Ichigo hid in the corner of the stall and then his phone vibrated. Ichigo reached over and snatched it up. It was a text from Kai.

Kai: I'm sorry, Ichi. I didn't mean to ignore you. Can you hold off til the end of the day? I'll come see you.

Ichigo bit his lip. Could he really make it through two classes? HE hoped so. "Berry." HE jumped out of his thoughts when the banging started. He quickly texted out his messaged.

Ichigo: I'll try. I need your help.

Kai: I know. We need to talk, too.

Ichigo's heart skipped a beat. What was there to talk about Did he find out? Is he upset with him? Will he stop talking to him? HE was so lost in thought that he didn't notice someone hop over the stall and land in front of him. He gripped his phone tightly and lowered his head.

There had been so much going on since he was thirteen. He had been trying to fight him off since then, but it barely worked. Now that his family was gone, his stress heightened to new levels and he was getting less and less sleep. Kai lost family as well, but why wasn't he having the same issues? Why couldn't he be like Kai? It wasn't fair.

"Ichigo!" Large hand grip his upper arms, shaking him violenty. "Snap out of it!"

He finally looked up and into worried blue eyes. "Grim?"

"What's wrong? Who were you talking to? Why are you crying?"

It took a minute to process the question, especially the last one. He reached up and touched his face and it was wet. "Did you paint your nails?" Ichigo forced a smile on his face. "I'm fine." His voice cracked, betraying his forced smile. "No, you're not. Let's get you to the nurse's office." He started pulling Ichigo off the floor. "No!" Ichigo yelled and Grimmjow stopped, noticing the fear in the younger boy's eyes. "I'll be okay."

"You need to be checked out." Grimmjow insisted, but Ichigo refused. "I'll be fine once I get home. I-"

"Bullshit!" Grimmjow objected. "Your nails are painted black. You're talking to yourself. You have white streaks in your hair. The hell's going on with you?!"

"Nothing." Ichigo stated, but it only pissed Grimmjow off more. He plucked Ichigo's forehead, leaving a red mark. "You dumbass. If I noticed the changes, so will everyone else. You can't hide this forever."

Ichigo gripped his friend's forearms tightly. "I can try."

He squeezed Ichigo's arms, but loosened up and finally let go. "Fine. Don't expect me to catch you when you fall, kid." He helped Ichigo to his feet and he left Ichigo to his own thoughts.

xXx

Their next class was with Ms. Siren again. Everyone was there, but Ichigo. He was ten minutes late, and class wouldn't start without him. No one really seemed bothered by it, but they would like to get the lesson over with. Kai was worried, he might've had his problems, but Ichigo was never late. He looked down at his open notebook, tapping the desk. Maybe he should've helped him, instead of leaving him hanging. "Hey, Kai." He looked to his left, to see Grimmjow sitting next to him, with his arms folded. He didn't notice the blue haired demon was right there. When did he move over here?

"What's up with, Berry?" He spoke low enough for only Kai to hear. Kai just shrugged, not really wanting to admit anything. "I know there's something wrong. His nails were black and his hair turned white." Kai's eyes widened. Grimmjow knew there was something wrong, no doubt about it. He saw the signs.

"Was…he talking to himself?" Kai asked. "Yeah. He was crying, too." Grimmjow answered. That's not good at all. He'll have to tell Grimmjow at this rate. Kai opened his mouth to speak when the door opened. All eyes turned to the door and shock was an understatement. There was Ichigo, but not the one they're used to seeing. Ms. Siren nearly fell out of her seat. He was almost as pale as a ghost with now pale orange hair, that now stopped at his waist. His bangs were longer as well. His eyes were a shimmering gold, but somehow, they seemed to be dulled down. "Sorry I'm late." His voice was hoarse and quiet. "The fuck, Berry!"

Ignoring the sudden outburst, he trudged over to an empty seat, which was by the window, next to Ulquiorra. His head hit the desk, like it was deadweight, creating a loud thud. Ulquiorra finally looked from his book, wondering who disturbed his peace. When his eyes rested on Ichigo, that stoic mask broke and his eyes widened. Ichigo looked at Ulquiorra and smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, Ulquiorra. Didn't mean to disturb you." Ichigo apologized with a weak and tired voice. "Kurosaki, you are not well. You need to go to the infirmary." Ulquiorra informed. "No. I need to be here. If I'm not here, you're not. You need this." Ichigo countered. "Your health is more important." Ulquiorra argued. "He's right. You're sick and you need to be checked out." Murci agreed with Ulquiorra.

"No. No doctors. I hate hospitals." Ichigo choked out. It almost sounded like he was ready to cry. His arm hung off the edge as he turned his head away from Ulquiorra. "Dammit, Ichigo!" Grimmjow slammed his fist down and stood up from his seat. "Wait! Don't!" Kai warned the irritated young man, but he was already heading over to Ichigo. "I let you get away with this before, but you're sick as a dog. You're going." He grabbed Ichigo by the arm and started pulling him away from the table.

"No!" His right hand glowed black before pulling back and punching Grimmjow in the stomach. IT was enough force to throw Grimmjow into the desk, breaking it in half. All eyes were on Ichigo, who was barely able to stand. He was using the window seal to keep himself up. Grimmjow pushed himself with angry and shocked eyes never leaving Ichigo. Ichigo let go of the window seal, dropping to his knees and holding his head. "I'm sorry." He apologized.

"Ichigo." Kai began to approach his sick friend with his hand stretched out to him. "Go away!" He yelled. No one but Kai dared go near him since, he didn't know he was capable of. "No. It's me. It's Kai." He spoke softly. "Kai, what the hell are you doing?!" He grabbed Kai's elbow. HE stopped, but didn't look at him. Ichigo tugged at his hair, lowering his head on the tile floor. "Yelling and ignoring him will only make it worse. Right now, he needs to revert back to his old self. He can't do that when you feed him negative energy. He's not exactly the best to be around in this state." Kai explained and then moved closer to Grimmjow, to whisper something in his ear. Grimmjow nods and reluctantly let go.

"Kai?" His voice switched from hoarse to watery and shrill, but back to hoarse. "Can….we go home? Where's dad?" Kai paused, at the question. "Ichigo, he's-" Kai looked at Nel and shook his head no. Nel clamped her mouth shut and looked at Ichigo with worry. "He's what?" Ichigo asked. "He's fine, Ichigo. He's probably home by now." Ichigo smiled at Kai, with tear filled eyes. "When can I see him?"

"I'm not sure, Ichigo. Maybe by next vacation, we can go see him. Karen and Yuzu, too."

Ichigo beamed at the thought. No one but Kai had actually seen the young man smile. Although under bad circumstances, it was nice to see such a positive reaction from Ichigo, even if the source was an illusion. Ichigo climbed to his feet and took a step toward Kai. Kai as his arms stretched out and Ichigo fell forward. Kai caught him and he sat on the floor, holding Ichigo's unconscious body close to him. Blood trickled down his fore head. "Perhaps, I hit him a little too hard." Ulquiorra admitted, noticed a small gash on the back of Ichigo's head.

"It's fine. He'll heal." Kai informed while looking at his sick friend in sadness. "This wasn't supposed to happen again." Kia mumbled to himself. "What wasn't supposed to happen again?" Kai looked up at the sound of Stark's voice. He was completely surrounded by his classmates. He knew what they wanted and now that they've witnessed it, he'd have to tell them. There was no lying to these people. Kai sighed. "Okay, but not here."

"If you don't mind. I'd like to know, as a precaution." Ms. Siren chimed in. Kai nods. "Of course."