Back again! Sigh, as much as I hated that it happened, RIP, Byakuya...

Anyway, the conclusion of the fight ends in this chapter, and explanations will be given at the bottom. Some of you wanted Kaien to live, some wanted him dead. I can't please all of you so I hope those who wanted the outcome I didn't choose will be fine with it.

Also, a new attack of Ichigo's! It may not be all that great, so if you guys have any possible tweaks or name suggestions, feel free to tell me.

If not, on with the next chapter. Thank you for all the favs/alerts and reviews. Means a lot to me! Oh, before I forget, I actually passed 100k views two chapters back, but I forgot to mention it. Thank you all for reading this story and liking it so much!

Disclaimer: Oh I'm sorry, Bleach isn't mine. I thought you knew that already.

Edit: Due to opinions from some reviews, removing one section of this chapter. It shall appear again, probably in the next chapter:)


Chapter 28: Where Your Heart Is

All three of them looked on in trepidation as Kaien waged on against Metastacia despite the absence of his Zanpakuto. Ichigo and Rukia both looked on in particular awe, witnessing the ferocity of a lieutenant at battle. Even though they'd both trained in Hakuda, they'd never found a need to use it; it was usually used alongside their Zanpakutos and never by itself, so this was the first time they could see how it was used in an actual battle.

Kaien seemed to be holding his own. After the early scare, he seemed to be gaining the upper hand after getting hit in exchange for ripping out one of Metastacia's tentacles. He ducked and weaved, trying to land another proper hit, and after a few tense seconds, got past Metastacia's defenses and managed to rip out another tentacle.

Metastacia looked agitated as its tentacles suddenly broke apart into numerous thread-like objects. Words were exchanged, and before anyone could react, Metastacia suddenly appeared to implode – all the threads surged forward, heading straight to Kaien.

Rukia stared, too stunned to even react, as the threads reached Kaien and seemed to disappear into him. A few meters away, Metastacia's body crumpled onto the ground, seemingly lifeless. Kaien just stood there, unmoving. "K-Kaien-dono?" Rukia said uncertainly. Kaien didn't reply. "Kaien-dono?" she repeated again, feeling even more anxious now.

"You called? Ojou-san?" Kaien said, and immediately, Rukia's eyes widened. His voice was completely warped, with two different pitches – one his normal voice, and the other a higher pitched one. "What's the matter? Are you looking for me?" Kaien said again as he turned back. Rukia involuntarily took a step back the moment she saw his face, or the bottom half of it. His skin had turned a sickly olive green, and his tongue was sticking out. He was looking down, so she couldn't see his eyes.

"I smell the fear in you, ojou-san. Are you that worried about me? Am I that special to you?" Kaien repeated again as he looked straight at her, and Rukia gasped in shock. There were pale red flame marks around his eyes… no wait, those weren't his eyes. Kaien's eyes were completely gone, leaving behind two blank voids.

"What the hell?" Rukia breathed. "Kaien-dono, what happened-" before she could finish her sentence, a surge of reiatsu burst from Kaien, and he leapt up and straight at her.

"Since you like me so much, then you can be a part of me!" Kaien yelled. Opening his jaw wide, wider than any normal shinigami could, he dove straight at Rukia, ready to tear into her.

The burst of reiatsu, although strong, was not capable of paralyzing Rukia, yet she stood there, completely rooted and frozen, unable to move out of shock, stunned at the unrealism. Why was Kaien-dono attacking her? What happened to him? Completely blank at the sudden attack, all she did was take a step back.

She heard two voices yelling her name, which snapped her back to attention, refocusing on the figure speeding towards her. But he was way too close; she had no time to draw her Zanpakuto. Still, her shinigami training kicked in, and she bent her knees, ready to spring away, when two things happened in quick succession.

It was nighttime, and the sky was completely clear with the moon behind them, casting their shadows forward. With Kaien mere feet from her, a large, grayish blade, much longer than a normal Zanpakuto burst from her shadow and shot upwards in an intersecting course with Kaien, just as someone appeared in front of her, Zanpakuto drawn and held out in a defensive stance. The swish of the white haori identified the person as Ukitake.

There was a hiss as Kaien leapt backwards to avoid the blade, leaving behind a streak of blood to show that the blade, wherever it'd come from, had found its target. As the blade seemed to melt back into the shadows, Rukia glanced at Ichigo, who was standing some distance away, pulling Zangetsu out from the ground. He wasn't looking at her; rather, he was watching Kaien as the latter sailed backwards to land some distance away.

As her mind vaguely registered that Ichigo was responsible for the shadowy blade, Ukitake's voice diverted her attention. "Kuchiki, are you ok?" he asked, never tearing his eyes from Kaien as well.

"Ah…" Rukia mouthed, still in a bit of a shock. "Kaien-dono…"

"That's not Kaien, Kuchiki," Ukitake said warily. "Somehow… I think the Hollow has taken over Kaien's body- Kurosaki!" Ukitake suddenly yelled. Out of nowhere, Ichigo suddenly charged at Kaien. Cursing under his breath, Ukitake turned to Rukia even as he leapt forward. "Kuchiki, fall back!" he yelled out before he turned his attention forward, promptly forgetting about Rukia. "Kurosaki! Do not engage!" he yelled at Ichigo, even as Ichigo clashed with Kaien.

Forgotten by her Captain, Rukia just stood there, her mind going blank. Half of her wanted to do as her Captain suggested, but the other half refused to abandon her best friend and Captain. She was still reeling in shock over how quickly the situation had descended into chaos. Kaien-dono had been fighting the hollow that had killed his wife. Granted, it was another one of those strange hollows, capable of somehow rendering a shinigami's Zanpakuto useless, but that was less than a few minutes ago. Why were they being forced to fight Kaien-dono now?

Still, Rukia had little time to think. It wasn't long before she was forced to make a choice.


Earlier on, after getting halted by Ukitake, Ichigo strayed slightly from the other two to watch the fight more closely. From his vantage point, Ichigo could see that something was wrong with Kaien as the latter bent forward slightly, twitching a little occasionally. His skin turned a sickly olive green, and was that a tentacle concealed in the sleeves of his shihakusho? However, when Ichigo took a closer look, it seemed to disappear.

He could hear Rukia faintly calling Kaien's name, but when the lieutenant looked up, Ichigo gasped, and could immediately tell that things had taken a turn for the worst. His eyes were hollow, black voids and there were flame marks around his eyes, similar to the Hollow Kaien had been fighting. Immediately, his mind played back the scene of the Hollow's body collapsing, and he put two and two together – the Hollow had taken over Kaien's body.

However, as that thought ran through his mind, it was immediately shattered the moment he heard Rukia's cry of surprise. Turning to look at her, he was shocked to see Kaien speeding straight towards her, his jaws wide open and his arms outstretched, aiming for her neck.

Mentally kicking himself for moving away from her, Ichigo immediately raised his sword up and facing the ground, making sure it was directly over his shadow. "Getsuga-" he rammed his sword into the ground, fixing his eyes to somewhere in front of Rukia and praying that the moon was casting her shadow in front of her. "Kageyari!"

Instead of meeting with the ground, the tip of Zangetsu met with no resistance as it seemed to touch the darkened ground and coalesce with it. As Ichigo plunged Zangetsu into the ground, he felt his Zanpakuto's reiatsu materialize somewhere in front of Rukia, right where he estimated her shadow to fall on. As if the shadows were connected, Zangetsu's reiatsu seemed to split, yet remain whole at the same time.

Immediately, Ichigo projected his reiatsu into Zangetsu as he drove his blade deeper into the shadows, and a larger, shadowy version of Zangetsu burst from the shadows, slicing through the air as Kaien hurtled straight at it. At the same time, he saw Ukitake shunpo in front of Rukia, and Ichigo was slightly thankful that he hadn't struck Ukitake instead.

It was a direct hit, or it should've been, as the possessed Kaien managed to change his course in mid-air, leaping backwards instead, although he left behind a streak of blood to show that Ichigo did score a hit.

Cursing, Ichigo pulled Zangetsu up, and the shadowy blade in front of Rukia retracted back through the shadows. Casting a worried glance at Rukia to see if she was ok, Ichigo refocused his attention to the possessed Kaien as the latter sailed through the air before landing some distance away.

From that distance, Ichigo could see Kaien's body spasm as he got back to his feet. It was almost as if Kaien was trying to regain control from the hollow, causing rage and guilt to build inside Ichigo, guilt that he hadn't gone to Kaien's aid earlier. Damn that lousy hollow for trying to possess Kaien. There was no time to waste; he wasn't going to sit back any longer. He had to find a way to separate the Hollow from Kaien.

His decision set, Ichigo leapt forward and sped towards Kaien. Above, the sky darkened briefly before brightening again as the moon shone through a gap in the thick clouds. He heard Ukitake yelling at him, but he didn't care. He charged forward as Kaien looked straight at him, a huge gloating grin on his face. "Ooh, you must be my next meal. Come, come! You smell delicious!" Kaien said, and Ichigo heard the dual voice for the first time. Slightly surprised, that still didn't stop Ichigo. If anything, it only incensed him further.

"Get the hell out of Kaien-dono, you bastard!" Ichigo growled as he cocked his sword back. In front, Kaien raised his arm, ready to strike back. Ichigo swung, but before he made contact, he twisted Zangetsu ninety degrees, aiming for Kaien with the broad side.

Kaien's grin got even wider as he blocked the blow with his arm. "You're welcomed to try!" he cackled, and with a surprising surge of reiatsu, he pushed back against Ichigo. Not expecting that much strength in the retaliation, Ichigo stumbled back, and Kaien took the chance to leap forward and swipe at him with fingers that had taken on a sharp, pointed edge. Recovering in time, Ichigo hopped back again, but Kaien raised his arm and three tentacles shot from within his shihakusho and straight at Ichigo.

Horrified, Ichigo reacted quickly, swinging at the tentacles, successfully parrying them away. He didn't know what would happen if the tentacles touched him and he didn't want to know. Gritting his teeth, he skidded to a halt before leaping forward again, but Kaien jumped away as a white-cloaked figure suddenly hurtled at him.

"Ukitake-taichou!" Ichigo said in surprise. However, he stopped short the moment Ukitake turned and leveled a glare at him.

"Kurosaki, get back! What the hell were you thinking, rushing in like that?" Ukitake yelled at him.

He'd never seen Ukitake-taichou that angry before, but Ichigo stood his ground. "Kaien-dono needs our help! We can't afford to wait any longer!" he yelled back.

Before Ukitake could reply, a snarl distracted both of them. It was Kaien, and he was headed straight for them!

Ukitake leapt to the right to avoid the attack. Ichigo was directly behind Ukitake, so Kaien immediately switched targets. Seeing the possessed lieutenant speeding towards him, Ichigo seized his chance. He plunged his sword into his shadow – and met with solid ground instead.

"Shit!" Ichigo turned round to see that the sky was now overcast; the clouds had chosen that moment to completely block off the moon, removing his shadow. As soon as he did, he realized he'd made a fatal mistake.

Ichigo quickly turned round again, only to find Kaien right in front of him! He attempted to raise his sword, but it was too late. His head flared in pain as Kaien's clawed hands raked the side of his head, sending him flying. He flew some distance before landing and skidding a little on the ground. Looking up, in an attempt to regain his bearings, he saw an unrelenting Kaien bearing down on him.

"You're not going to get me that easily," Ichigo growled, scrambling to his feet. However, before he could retaliate against a rapidly moving Kaien, a wall of ice suddenly burst out from somewhere to his left and separated the two. Moving way too fast to slow down, Kaien collided with the ice, shattering the ice around him before dropping to the ground, dazed.

"Wha-" Ichigo turned towards the origin of the ice. "Rukia!" Said petite shinigami stood a few meters away, her sword out in the familiar stance of her second dance.

"I can't believe you need me to save your ass," Rukia joked, although her tone was anything but.

"Well, the weather chose the right time not to agree with me," Ichigo said warily as he didn't tear his eyes away from Kaien's stirring body. Sure enough, less than a second later, Kaien snarled and looked straight at them, his tongue hanging from his mouth.

"Kuchiki!" Before Kaien could attack again, Ukitake's voice suddenly rang out. They all turned to look at Ukitake, who was up in the air and charging straight at Kaien. The latter jumped away as Ukitake landed. "Kuchiki! I told you to get out of here! It's too dangerous!" he said as he faced Kaien.

"Forgive me, taichou, but I can't run away! Not with you and Ichigo fighting Kaien-dono! He needs us!"

At the same time, Ichigo said, "We can't let you fight Kaien-dono alone, taichou! He's our responsibility as well! You may need all three of us to remove the hollow from Kaien-dono as well!"

"Are you talking about me?" Kaien mocked from a distance. "So that's why you three weren't attacking. And here I was assuming you three were soft. You're trying to figure out a way to remove me from this guy's body, eh? Well, since I'm such a nice hollow, let me save you the trouble and tell you that it's completely useless!"

Dead silence fell on all three shinigami as the possessed Kaien continued talking. "This is different from possessing a living human's body! This guy's a spirit and so am I! This is not possession; this is union of two spiritual forms! Try as you might, we can never be separated again! All that's left to do is eat this body from the inside!" the possessed Kaien said before ending off with a gleeful cackle.

The three of them were stunned. "No… That's not possible…" Rukia breathed.

"There must be some way," Ichigo agreed. "Couldn't we send him to Kurotsuchi-taichou or… something?"

Ukitake didn't reply, his mouth set in a grim line. "I guess there's no choice then," Ukitake muttered grimly under his breath as he walked forward and raised his sword. Ichigo and Rukia looked at him for a split second before they realized what he was going to do.

"Taichou! You can't!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Taichou, we can still save him!" Ichigo argued at the same time.

"I'm sorry, you two, but what the hollow says is true. We cannot separate two souls if they fuse together. The only way now is to spare Kaien the ignominy of getting devoured by a hollow is to kill him."

"It could be lying!" Ichigo yelled, losing his cool. "So you're just going to give up of Kaien-dono just like that-"

"Kurosaki! Stand down! That's enough from you!" Ukitake suddenly turned back and yelled, and Ichigo realized he'd gone too far. "I'm about to lose a shinigami whom I regard as my best lieutenant and close friend! This doesn't make it any easier for me, but I'm not going to allow him to die such a dishonorable death and become hollow food! I won't let- cough cough!" Out of the blue, Ukitake bent over and began a huge coughing fit.

"Taichou!" The two young shinigami immediately rushed to his side. Ukitake looked up, and they saw a trickle of blood flowing from his mouth.

"Damn… Not… again…" he rasped. Beads of sweat were forming all over his face and he was breathing heavily, his illness obviously getting the better of him.

"Shit, we need to get him out of here," Rukia said anxiously. Before Ichigo could agree, they heard a loud snarl. They turned, only to see Kaien charging straight at them.

"Crap! Rukia, get Ukitake-taichou out of here!" Ichigo yelled as he charged forward without a moment's hesitation.

"But-"

"No buts!" Ichigo snapped as he swung at Kaien using the back of his blade. "Getting Ukitake-taichou out of here is our top priority! He'll be in danger in the state he's in if he stays here!" He blocked Kaien's strike and pushed back before turning to Rukia again. "Hurry!" The lapse in attention nearly cost him though. The moment Ichigo turned to Rukia, Kaien struck again, charging at Ichigo.

Thankfully, Ichigo turned back in time. Spotting the danger, he ducked as Kaien clawed at his head. As the latter sailed past him, reiatsu began engulfing Zangetsu. Ichigo turned as he yelled, "Getsuga-" He swung his blade across his body, "Tenshou!" and a sideways crescent arc of energy erupted from his blade and shot straight at Kaien.

The attack was dead on – if Kaien hadn't ducked. As Kaien twisted round to face Ichigo again, the attack sailed millimeters wide. "That was weak!" Kaien mocked. "Are you still trying to find a way to separate the two of us? I told you, it's useless!" He cackled again, but it was cut short when Ichigo seized his chance and shot past him, scoring a deep cut on his neck in the process.

"Wha- what are you doing?" Kaien asked in shock as he tried to stem the blood spewing from his neck. "You're just going to kill your comrade like that?"

"Of course not!" Ichigo growled. "I don't believe a single word you said. Oh, you'll die, don't worry about that. I'm just going to make sure you're out of Kaien's body before I tear you apart!" Despite his fears that what the hollow said was true, he had to hope…

Possessed Kaien's shocked look turned into a smirk. Without replying, he charged at Ichigo again.

"Oh no you don't," Ichigo said under his breath, and he responded in kind. This time, he decided to use his Zanpakuto properly; In order to remove the hollow, he had to incapacitate Kaien in order to get him back to Seireitei.

As the distance between them rapidly shrunk, Kaien suddenly landed in front of Ichigo before pushing himself forward with a new burst of speed, but not at Ichigo; instead, he launched himself over and past Ichigo.

"What the-" Ichigo screeched to a halt and turned around, only for his blood to turn cold. Standing some distance behind him was Rukia, who had obviously only just arrived after getting Ukitake-taichou to safety. However, she had clearly not expected Kaien to attack her, and thus stood there in surprise.

"Rukia! Move!" Ichigo yelled out loud, but Rukia merely brought her white Zanpakuto up, a conflicted look on her face. "Shit…" He brought his hand up and, with no time for incantation, said the first Bakudo spell that came to his mind. "Bakudo #4, Hainawa!" A crackling rope of yellow energy burst forth and shot straight at Kaien. However, in his haste, Ichigo didn't aim properly and missed – just as Kaien collided into Rukia and a white blade, drenched in red, burst from his back.

It was then that the first raindrop crashed onto his face.


Moments earlier

"Cough… Rukia… cough…" Ukitake said between coughs as Rukia set him down against a tree.

"Taichou, don't speak. Just rest for now," Rukia said anxiously.

"Cough… no time…" Ukitake carried on relentlessly. "Rukia, I need you to… cough… I need you to do something…"

"What is it, taichou?" Rukia asked without hesitation.

"I… cough… I need you to… kill… cough… Kaien…" he coughed out.

Rukia was understandably shocked at the request. "But taichou, surely there has to be another way…"

"I'm sorry, Rukia, I really am. I wish I didn't have to lose my two highest seats on the same day, but there is no other way. As much as I wished there was, even Kurotsuchi-taichou said he's still working on a way to do so. Right now, that is no longer Kaien. You have to kill him, Rukia, it's the only way to save him from getting devoured by the hollow." The undisguised anguish in Ukitake's voice was enough to bring tears to Rukia's eyes.

"No… it can't be…" she said in denial. She couldn't believe she had to lose the brother she never had.

Just then, in the distance, she heard a familiar voice shouting, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

Ukitake worked up another coughing fit. "Go! Cough… you have to do it, Rukia… cough… I don't think Ichigo will… cough."

"Yes, taichou," Rukia said as she left to join the fray, all the while thinking of ways to separate the hollow from Kaien.

It was in this state of mind that she entered the fight. Distracted, her mind went completely blank when she saw Kaien speeding straight at her. Now, tentacles were emerging from his mouth and the voids that were his eyes, such that she almost couldn't recognize her lieutenant.

"Rukia! Move!" she heard Ichigo yell, but she merely raised her sword, completely uncertain of what to do. Should she kill someone she saw as her brother, or try to help him live?

Before she had time to come to a decision, she found Kaien directly in front of her and reaching for her neck, having misjudged the speed he was moving. She heard Ichigo yell something, but in her shock, she raised her sword up to defend herself – and felt the familiar sensation of her sword piercing through skin, flesh, and bone.

Her eyes widened in shock; her heart felt like it'd stopped. A figure leaned into her, resting his head on her shoulder. A raindrop splashed onto her forehead, but she didn't seem to notice. Less than a second later, it began to pour.

"Kaien-dono…" she breathed. "No… Kaien-dono… I didn't want… I didn't mean to…"

"Shh… it's ok," she heard Kaien say, his voice solely his again. A hand patted her back, and she could see the exposed skin on his neck fading from green back to its original color. "I'm sorry that you had to do this…" he said, his voice weak and faded. "I'm sorry that my stubbornness dragged you into this. I'm sorry that I've caused you so much pain."

"Kaien-dono, save your energy, it'll be ok!" Rukia choked, tears welling in her eyes, although it could've been the rain. It was all happening too fast!

"Don't worry… I'll… be fine…" Kaien said, his voice getting weaker. He hugged her tightly just as a soft thud sound approached from behind Rukia.

"Kaien-dono…" Ichigo whispered in shock.

His head lifted from Rukia's shoulder. "Thank you, Kurosaki… I'm sorry to have dragged you into this as well." The heavy rain had by now plastered his hair to his face, covering part of his vision.

"No," Ichigo said, shaking his head. "No, don't say that, Kaien-dono!" his voice quavered slightly. He ignored the rain even as it obscured his vision.

"Thank you, taichou," Kaien then said, as Ukitake appeared next to Ichigo. "Thank you for letting me fight… until the end… even though I shouldn't have…" Ukitake merely stayed silent.

"No… please… Kaien-dono… you'll be fine… please!" Rukia cried, no longer able to hold back her tears. Kaien's voice was becoming softer… weaker…

"Don't worry, Rukia… just remember… follow your heart… Thanks to you, I can keep mine here… Ichigo… don't be content with what you have now… Keep trying, even if Byakuya tries to stop you… Thank you, you guys. Thank you." Already weakened from the hollow, this was just too much for Kaien to bear. A weak intake of breath, and his body sagged against Rukia, even as the rain pelted down upon them.


Well, there you have it. With Ichigo around, I couldn't really blend him with the canon fight so I had to revamp it. I hope you guys like it. I'm sorry to those who wanted Kaien to survive, but I personally don't see how Kaien can be useful if he survived. Sure, he might help in the Winter War, but I don't really see how.

Plus, my main reason was, as stated, to give the two stubborn shinigami a push in the right direction, and with Rukia probably in an emotional wreck... Well, you can see where I'm coming from, can you? I originally wanted to have Rukia sever Kaien's powers, but such a compromise didnn't really make a difference to me. I hope you guys are fine with that.

To be honest, I completely forgot about Kyoraku's shadow based attack when I thought of this new one, so I hope Ichigo's attack isn't too similar:(. I kept 'getsuga' there, and 'kage' and 'yari' literally translates to shadow spear. If you guys can think of a better name, by all means suggest it! Similarly, if you think I can improve on this new attack, tell me as well, so don't hate the attack:( Oh, and if you want me to explain it fully, wait for the next chapter:)

Despite the two controversial decisions, I hope you guys still enjoyed this chapter. Please continue showing your support with an alert/fav or leave a review with any suggestions and/or opinions. Next chapter will be next Tuesday, so look out for it!