...


"On this road, we won't stop moving forward. Even if we are separated from one another."


"So, then, I'm off."

The now familiar voice of Abarai Renji cut through Hiori's distracted thoughts. She peered up at him, regarding him icily from where she sat, cross legged, in the dirt. Perhaps it was because he had not made a very good first impression, what with him and Byakuya nearly killing Ichigo and all when she had first met him. Despite her immense dislike of the man, Hiori couldn't avoid the numerous, not to mention uncanny, likenesses between them.

Tattooed skin, short tempers coupled with an equally lazy attitude, not to mention a goading personality to boot. He was practically a male version of herself. However, after spending only one day with the crass redhead (another physical characteristic that Hiori was loathe to share with him), Hiori found that she really couldn't stand him; A fact which was not helped by the comment that escaped his mouth next.

"The hell are you doing, Hitsugaya, all you've done is stare off into space since I got here."

"None of your goddamn business." she replied curtly, now carefully keeping her eyes locked on Ichigo's back. "Piss off."

Yesterday, Renji had exercised some seriously piss poor timing by crashing into their hideout, then informing them that Rukia's execution date had been moved up to noon the very next day. Not only was this information possibly the worst that the Ryoka group could have heard at that time, Hiori had been in the middle of deep and completely stressful conversation with her Zanpakuto Spirit; Such things seemed to go entirely unnoticed by the boisterous redhead, who had proceeded to nonchalantly ask if she was 'finished cuddling' and, if she was, to get her ass over there ASAP so he could finish explaining. Apparently, now that he was on their side, he had chosen to forget the rude way he had treated her back in the World of the Living.

"Do you think he'll make it?" Renji asked slowly, his eyes following Hiori's. The girl pursed her lips in reply while she continued to watch Ichigo from behind. Hiori didn't want to doubt Ichigo- He was strong, and she knew it.

She could still remember the first time he had released Zangetsu; She had only been grazed by its power, but she still had the scar to remind her of the damage Ichigo's power could inflict. Slowly, she cast her eyes downward, running her fingertips over the crooked scar that stretched over her knuckles. The skin that had been damaged was now several shade darker than the rest, and was no longer smooth and level as most skin was.

"He has to… Or Rukia will die." she replied finally, meeting Renji's gaze momentarily. "Now stop talking to me." Renji made a small 'tch' noise in the back of his throat, glowering down at the other tattooed redhead.

"Couldn't you do something?"

Hiori made no reply. They had a few hours, at best, before Rukia would die; Hiori was, by now, quite positive that Yoruichi was sharing her same doubts about just how quickly Ichigo would be able to resolve this fight with Zangetsu and master Bankai. He was rapidly running out of time- And if this didn't work, not even Yoruichi would be able to save Rukia. Hiori had hoped that she could, at least, master Bankai to back Ichigo up; Or if worst had come to worst, take his place as Official Rescuer. That notion had all together left her mind ever since her conversation with Amaterasu only hours previously…


"Amaterasu… That Bankai… It's not mine… Is it?"

This sudden revelation was coupled with a heavy feeling of despair, weighing down her chest like an anchor and threatening to make her fall to pieces right then and there. Touketsu Hanone was not Hiori's Bankai to fight with, just as Amaterasu was not her Zanpakuto wield. The agonizing distance between them was now explained. The difficulty with which she wielded her precious Zanpakuto was now apparent, and painfully obvious; She mentally cursed herself for not having realized it sooner. Amaterasu was as much her Zanpakuto as Zangetsu was.

"It isn't." Amaterasu answered curtly, still refusing to look directly into her eyes. Hiori pursed her lips, biting back what felt like tears before they could spill over the edge of her eyes. So it was true… Of course it was true. The mind numbing pain that Hiori felt inside everyday now made sense entirely- After all, how could one feel comfortable housing a Soul that was not her own? "It's Hiori's Bankai." The redhead nodded. She had figured as much.

"There's no way for me to ever truly master it, is there?" Amaterasu shook his head solemnly, lifting his head up a little more. Hiori could now clearly see the blatant fear and anger that clouded his features, and even though she was devastated, it made her feel better to know that Amaterasu felt the same. At least in this, they were the same. "What's going to happen now?" Her voice cracked, but Amaterasu ignored it, preserving Hiori's pride, for which she was thankful. If she started crying, she didn't know when she would stop. Not to mention that Ichigo was within earshot… She couldn't have him seeing her like that.

"Now, one of us changes."

This answer took Hiori by surprise. Why would she be changing? Was it even possible for Amaterasu to change? She figured if it was, he would have done it already, though maybe the process couldn't take place until the vessel, meaning her, realized that there was a problem.

"One of us…?"

"Both me and the Bankai belong to Hollow. Since you're no longer 'Hiori', you can't really use us to the full extent of our powers… Or control us fully by yourself, for that matter."

"I've done it before-"

"No." Amaterasu cut her off swiftly, his tone cold and biting, laced with aggression to mask the pain he was feeling. "No, you haven't. Each time you use me, you draw even more on Hollow's power. That's why she keeps getting stronger and stronger." Hiori's breath caught in her throat. No wonder she felt her hold on her grow every day. Each time she spoke the words 'Thaw, Amaterasu', she might as well have been saying 'Have my body, Hollow'. No wonder her personality seemed to change so much while fighting; Because, in those moments when her Shikai shield was protecting her, or her icy Bankai was covering her arms, she was allowing the Hollow that her body housed to taint her soul more and more.

She became less and less herself with each fight that she fought with Amaterasu by her side. The fact that the person… The Spirit closest to her was the one causing all of her pain made her feel cold, like her best friend had just betrayed her. She knew that it wasn't his fault. He hadn't asked for this. But all the same, he was not hers… She was not his. Strictly speaking, he was another person's Soul living in another person's body.

"… What do I have to do?"

"You have to stop using me." he replied swiftly, meeting her eyes. Hiori's breath caught in her throat, and she felt her heart begin to flutter and panic. "If you stop using me altogether, your new power will start to take me over." Before Hiori knew what she was doing, she had leaned her forehead against Amaterasu's, averting her eyes but wanting to be as close as possible.

"What… What does that mean… For you?" She could hear Amaterasu's heavy breathing, his cold breath washing over her like winter wind. Suddenly, she felt him begin to shift positions; His sudden movement startled her, but she made no move to pull away. Instead, she let his hands grasp the back of her neck lightly, pulling her even closer, their noses now touching.

"Either you let Hollow in, and I remain the same…" he began, and Hiori's eyes hardened. How could he even suggest that? Give up all that she was? Who she was? Give herself over to the rotten, corrupt pieces of her old soul that resided within her body? She could never do that, and Amaterasu knew better than to even suggest such things. She made to pull away, but Amaterasu's hands held her in place. "You didn't let me finish."

"What more is there to say?" she spat, allowing a few angry tears to spill over in her outrage. Oddly enough, she was glad Amaterasu was holding her so close; This way, Ichigo couldn't see her tears. "You want me to let Hollow in just so you can stay the same! Why would you-"

"Or let me go."

"What?"

"It's a choice." he replied, keeping his voice as level as possible. "And an easy one. If you can't let me go, Hollow will just force her way in again. Of you can let me go, I'll keep changing until I'm something different." Hiori peered up, making to say something comforting to him, but he stopped her with a finger to her lips. "Look closely. I've already started changing." Hiori did as she was told, gazing at his face carefully, looking for any signs of change.

She was about to give up, but something caught her attention last minute; His eyes. The solid blue that they had always been was now impure. His right eye, only his right eye, was now spotted with various shades of golds and reds. If she hadn't been looking so closely, she never would have even noticed. It was the tiniest change, the most insignificant feature. But it was there.

"If you start honing your own powers, instead of relying on Hollows, this change will progress." he explained, tapping his eye with his free hand. "But Hollow knows that, too. She'll try as hard as she can to force this change out of me- Out of you. You can't let that happen."

"But you'll disappear!" Hiori hissed, grabbing his face in her hands. "You won't even be Amaterasu anymore- You'll die!"

"No. Just transform…" he murmured, meeting her helpless gray eyes. "Or something intense like that, right?" Hiori, however, didn't laugh. She remained passive, her eyes searching Amaterasu's for any more answers. None came. Instead, the moment was interrupt by an enormous crash from above them, and Hiori whipped her head around. The dust cleared, and her eyes narrowed. She knew this person; Tattoos and red hair, drawn up into a spiky ponytail. Most of his chest was exposed, heaving from the effort it must have taken to bring down the outer walls of their hide out.

"Hey. Count me in."


"Wait a minute," Hiori murmured, catching Renji off guard in the middle of an argument with Yoruichi. "I'll leave with you."

"What?" Yoruichi snapped, turning her attention away from Ichigo. "I haven't seen you master Bankai, you can't just-"

"I can't." the redhead whispered, cutting Yoruichi off despite her quiet tone. "There's no way for me to. Not like this, anyways. I won't be able to master it in three days like Ichigo. He's a already got a Zanpakuto."

"And so do you, Amaterasu," Yoruichi said, though the way she was speaking made it sound more like a question than a simple statement of fact. Hiori lowered her eyes, just for a second, fixating her gaze on a single pebble on the ground. She knew that this was best. She had been watching Ichigo for a solid day- Maybe more. She had lost track of the numerous hours she had spent watching him. But she could already tell; Hiori could already clearly see how fast Ichigo was growing, changing, evolving. Not just in the way that he fought, but in the way that his mind and body worked together.

Their last hope of being able to save Rukia was Ichigo mastering Bankai- It was impossible for her to be the backup plan. She had no sword, she had no Bankai, and what was worse, she had a crippling Hollow that would do anything in its power to make sure that she drew on its power. There was no way for her to fight without calling on her Hollow, because essentially, her Hollow was her Zanpakuto.

"Yeah, what's the matter Hitsugaya, can't keep up with Kurosa-" A look of pure fury crossed the girl's face, silencing her red haired male counterpart in a heartbeat. The words were left unspoken, but both Renji and Yoruichi seemed to be able to hear them all the same: Do not speak of things that you don't understand.

So with one last, tense look at Yoruichi, Hiori sheathed her sword. The soft, melodic hum ceased as soon as her skin stopped touching it, which made the area seem oddly silent, despite the sounds from Ichigo's fight. She wanted to say 'I'll explain later', or 'We'll talk'. But speaking to Yoruichi, or anyone else, would mean that she would be forced to admit the truth; Her soul was corrupt, split, undecided and deadly. Deadly to her, and to those around her. The many pieces that her soul had been split into were varied, and wouldn't fit together no matter how hard she tried. There was no compromise, but there wasn't a right or wrong choice, either.

One choice would lead her back to the person that most remembered her as- A ruthless but powerful killing machine with constantly parted legs and a state of apathy that could rival even Byakuya. Yet another choice was going with Other Hiori, a girl who she didn't know much about, but seemed level headed, down to earth and strong. One would think that Other Hiori would be the clear winner here, but Hiori just couldn't wrap her head around choosing. Would she forget who she had been for these past two years? Or would that Hiori vanish altogether? Perhaps what Other Hiori had said was the truth: She was just an empty vessel.

"Hurry up!" Renji barked, bringing Hiori out of her inner turmoil. She hadn't even realized that they had begun to walk- They were already out of Yoruichi's underground hideout. The area around them was barren and dirt covered, for the most part, but up ahead she could see the standard buildings of Soul Society. All around her she could feel various Reiatsus flaring up, and she could already tell that fights had already begun to ensue. People were now choosing sides; Their friends... Or their country, so to speak.

"You're going to fight Byakuya, aren't you?" Hiori said, finally breaking the awkward silence between them. Her dislike of Renji had been made painfully obvious during his stay with them, not that she had even bothered to try and hide it in the first place. She hadn't liked him when she met him in the human world, and that wasn't about to change now just because they were on the same side.

"If Captain Kuchiki gets in my way, I will fight him." he replied curtly, not really looking at her as he spoke. "... He doesn't really hate you, you know." This bit of information caught Hiori off guard, and she nearly tripped in the middle of her next Shunpo. After doing an extreme double take, Renji seemed ready to explain. "Excluding the fact that you are a criminal in the eyes of Soul Society, mainly he's just disappointed." He spoke about it casually, as if Hiori and Byakuya were two best friends who had just gotten into an argument and were now giving each other the silent treatment. Hiori arched an eyebrow carefully.

"He wants to kill me because he's disappointed?" she scoffed, following Renji's lead and utilizing Shunpo once more to skip over several buildings. "Is he a closet drama queen?" A small smile tugged at the edge of Renji's lips, but he didn't indulge her, instead answering as professionally as possible.

"You've seen how he is with Rukia- His own sister, and he won't even try to stop this."

"What's he so disappointed about?"

"For one thing, you need to stop reminding him that you don't remember." Renji said thoughtfully, though Hiori was sure she could hear him suppress quiet laughter. "He won't talk about it, but I'm pretty sure you forgetting really pisses him off."

"I'd apologize, but it's not really my fault. Believe me, it pisses me off, too."

"Captain Kuchiki is... Moody."

"What is he, a girl?" Renji seemed to ignore this, not really wanting to engage in active Kuchiki Byakuya bashing at the moment. However, he did seem eager to explain to her just what it was that was going through the dreary noble's mind.

"He... Well, when you got the Lieutenant position in his own father's division, he let it go. He thought you deserved it." he began, and they finally stopped moving, pausing to catch their breath on the top of a building. In the distance, Hiori's eyes came to rest on Senzaikyu, and she wondered what Rukia must be feeling. She knew they were here... Was she waiting for them? Or had she given up hope? For Rukia's sake, all Hiori could do was believe in Ichigo, and hope that he could master Bankai in time. "But then you started changing. You got... Lazy, bitchy and slutty, and you didn't seem to care. You changed. You threw away his dream, his life. And you just acted like that was no big deal." Despite the many revelations this sentence could have provided for Hiori, she only latched on to a single phrase: You changed.

"What do I mean, I changed?"

"Uh, I mean you... You know, started acting different, or whatever." Hiori rolled her eyes, but barreled on anyways.

"I know what change means, doofus, I mean to say-" Was I different before? But her words and her curiosity were lost in a sudden burst of energy, which had escaped a fight several buildings away. Their gazes both snapped in the direction that the energy was coming from, distracting Hiori from this new piece of information just long enough for Renji to change the subject.

"Well, unless you want to fight Captain Kuchiki with me, I guess..."

"Yeah... I mean, no." she said, stumbling over her words. "There's um... There's someone that I need to find." Renji nodded slowly, patting her on the shoulder in a gesture that suggested closeness. Hiori made a face, eyeing his hand momentarily before he withdrew it.

"You're not so bad, Hitsugaya." Hiori chuckled darkly, meeting his eyes clearly.

"Wish I could say the same, you copycat." Renji opened his mouth, preparing for an argument, but Hiori merely smirked as she disappeared in a flash of Shunpo. Maybe the guy would come to grow on her... But she doubted it.


Strangely enough, it wasn't difficult at all for Hiori to find who she was looking for. It was as if her body was already used to looking for him; It seemed to seek him out almost automatically. Perhaps she really had been like a daughter to him. She guessed that she'd never really know for sure. She knew that it had taken longer... Much longer. But it seemed that, sooner than she could blink, she suddenly found herself in front of the quarters of the man called Ukitake.

"Captain!" A loud yell from within jolted Hiori's senses, and she cracked the door open just enough to see inside. Two young Shinigami were bustling around the main part of the room, arguing between one another a little too loudly for her liking. "Captain, are you ready? Kuchiki's execution has already started-" Hiori's heart seemed to freeze right then and there.

Where was Ichigo? Was he ready? Did Yoruichi even know that, at this very second, Rukia was about to be mercilessly killed by the people she had once called her family and friends?

"Sorry to make you two wait so long," replied a familiar voice, and she watched as the doors that one of the Shinigami had been banging on slid open. "The seal took longer than expected. But... Since appealing to the Central Government didn't work, this is... The only way." At this moment, Hiori chose to burst her way into the room; She no longer cared if the two unfamiliar Shinigami attacked her. They weren't moving fast enough- Rukia was going to die, and if there was something that any of them could do about it, she was going to make sure that they did.

"Ukitake!" Hiori called, but not before dodging a well placed kick to the face from one of the Shinigami. She frowned, glowering at the much shorter girl, whose light brown hair hung around her face and gave her a rather childish look. The white haired man's attention was now entirely focussed on her, and green met gray as their eyes locked. "Rukia... How long do we have to save Rukia?"

"Not long. These-" he said, gesturing towards the enormous shield and staff he was holding.

"Those... What do they...?" Hiori trailed off, once again meeting the serious gaze of Ukitake.

"We're going to save Rukia... By destroying the Soukyoku."


I am so sorry it took me so long to update! I had originally intended to update yesterday, but our internet got cut off... And I ended up feeling really bad about that cliff hanger I left you all with!

BlueFox of the Moon: Actually, I would love love love to hear about your OC. As of now, I have the purpose of said OC all figured out, but I have no name, no appearance, and no character traits whatsoever. I'm hoping that she is a human OC? Because that's really what I need. But so long as you don't mind me using her, I'd love to hear about them!

animelover/Raven: Actually, I'm a girl, not a sir! ;) Gender confusion aside, though, your comment made me laugh a lotttt. Haha, sorry about the cliff hanger, but I just couldn't resist! And trust me, I've got pretty much this whole plot worked out from here onwards, and Hiori's gonna go through hell before it's all over. Thanks for the review!

Anyways, in this chapter, Hiori learns the truth about Amaterasu: He doesn't belong to her! He is what is left over of Hollow Hiori's powers and, therefor, still belongs to Hollow so long as his powers remain the same. Hiori can already see changes taking place in him, but those changes all depend on whether or not she keeps using his ice powers and his name, Amaterasu, or creates an entirely different Zanpakuto all of her own.

Also, she is beginning to grow suspicious of her past self. As Renji hinted, she wasn't always the cold, loose woman that people in Soul Society remember her as. Byakuya seems to know the truth (or at least some of it), and Hiori is beginning to realize that perhaps there is something more to her old personality besides her just being a total heartless bitch.

Thanks so much for the reads/favorites/alerts/ and ESPECIALLY the reviews!

Click the review button... You know you really want to.