Hi everyone, I'm so sorry for taking so long to post this. Christmas time was hectic and so was most of January. But I'm now settled in at college, so from now on updates will most likely be very sparse. I'll try my best... maybe a chapter a month but it all depends on my work load.

Anyway, to compensate for the long wait, I made this one a little action-y. Hope you guys enjoy!


"Shut up! Shut up and get out of my head!" I shouted covering my ears and squeezing my eyes shut.

The hollow laughed, "You'll have to make me."

I cracked open an eye and there he was standing over me, one foot on my chest, wearing that overly-confident, sick grin. I swallowed and tried to scoot away from him but he pushed me further into the snow.

"Leave me alone," I repeated, but with much less gusto than before.

His grin widened and he bent over to fist the front of my shirt, "No, I don't think I want to. Each day that passes I get closer to having your body."

"That's never going to happen," I snarled and he put more pressure on my chest causing me to choke.

"Oh, really? You're weak, Koko-chan."

"Shut up."

"You can't even take care of yourself. Your sister and brother had to give up their lives to take care of you. Do you think they like it? You're a burden. Imagine what happy, carefree lives they could be living if you hadn't been born."

"Shut up!"

"You couldn't even stop your mother from dying."

I clenched my teeth and felt tears prick my eyes.

"Your father was the smart one; he offed himself before you came around."

"... He was murdered-"

"Is that what they told you?"

I blinked, what did he mean by that? The hollow laughed at my expression.

"I think you'd be better off dead."

"Shut up!" I yelled and tried to push him away.

He just pressed back harder. "Everyone'll thank me for getting rid of you."

"So, if I'm so weak, then why haven't you gotten rid of me already? Huh, what are you waiting for?" It probably wasn't a smart idea to provoke him, but I generally didn't do smart things when I was angry.

The hollow pulled back his lips into a snarl and stooped down over me; his face was an inch from my ear, "Because I want to make you suffer."

My breath caught in my throat and dread seeped down my spine. Terrified, I looked up into his manic, golden eyes and his snarl turned into a demented smile.

"Hyōka-kun, it's time to wake up!"

I awoke with a start; my heart was beating frantically and cold sweat dripped down my face.

"Hyōka, is everything alright?" Kisuke poked his head from behind the open door.

I took a few deep breaths and then covered my face with my palms as I tried to erase the lingering terror. "Yeah, I'm fine; it was just a dream."

He hummed in acknowledgement. "Okay then. Your lessons start in ten minutes."

I hunched over on the futon when he left. My heart was still pounding.

I think you should tell someone now, Toushiro offered, his voice shaky, this is getting out of hand.

Hyourinmaru rumbled in agreement. The two were sitting motionlessly in the snow. Hyourinmaru was curled around Toushiro, who was slightly paler than normal.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stand. I can handle it.

No you can't-

Shut up! I'm not weak! I yelled; the volume of my voice surprised me.

His eyes widened a fraction but other than that he had no reaction to my outburst. Hyourinmaru, on the other hand, eyed me solemnly with one ruby-coloured eye.

I never said you were, he muttered. Fine, do as you please.

With that he practically kicked me out of my inner world and refused to speak to me. I sighed; Toushiro did not like being shouted at or to have his input completely disregarded. But I could not go blabbing about this hollow problem; I had no idea how everyone else would react. This was for his safety; if he wanted to act like a spoilt brat about it then I would let him.

...

"We're going to try jinzen today," Kisuke told me as we sat down facing each other.

I blinked, "but I've already-"

"You're not on the level I want you to be. Yes, you know he's there but you two haven't really 'talked', now have you?"

"Well-"

"That's precisely my point. Now concentrate; I want you to tell me everything Hyourinmaru said when you're done."

I sighed and turned my consciousness to the plain of ice. Hyourinmaru was lying in a snow bank, stretched out as if he was sun bathing. I still couldn't get over how large he was. Toushiro was a short way off idly staring at the sky. He didn't even acknowledge my presence so I knew he was still ticked off at me.

I grit my teeth and walked up to him anyway, What do I have to do to get Hyourinmaru to talk to me?

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, I can't tell you. It would be meaningless if you didn't figure it out on your own.

I frowned, I don't understand.

I'm not going to spell everything out for you, he huffed, Figure it out on your own; you have a brain, don't you?

I glared, I-

I offered my advice and you didn't want it, so tough luck.

I folded my arms across my chest, And you call me childish; I wonder who's being stupid now.

He just rolled his eyes and turned them back to the sky, still you.

I was about to retort but an icy tail was wrapped around my legs. I yelped softly as Hyourinmaru knocked me off my feet. I turned angrily to the dragon. He was obviously peeved at being made to get up; a low growl echoed softly throughout the plane. I stared into his eyes and swallowed, angering Hyourinmaru wasn't at the very top of my to-do list. However, seconds later he blew a puff of frosty air into my face and plopped back down into the snow. Even when resting on the ground his gargantuan snout was level with my face and he gazed expectantly at me I frowned; I had no idea what he wanted

I heard Toushiro let out a forceful breath of air. Concentrate. Hyourinmaru is willing to communicate with you, but you have to let him.

Let him... I chewed my bottom lip. How the hell was I supposed to do that? Hyourinmaru nudged me. I guess he intended it to be a gentle push but I almost toppled backwards. I had to place my hands on his snout to keep my balance.

As soon as my fingers touched his scales the wind suddenly picked up, snow was thrown into the air, and grey clouds formed in the sky. My gaze, however, was locked with Hyourinmaur's I couldn't turn away from the vivid, red eyes. Everything around me disappeared; it was just me and the dragon.

I had no idea how much time had passed, but it seemed like ages before Hyourinmaru emitted a low rumble. I frowned; I still couldn't understand him.

I can't-

He cut me off with a soft snarl and his rumbling began to get louder causing me to flinch in shock.

Hyourinmaru, I can't understand! I exclaimed in frustration after a couple minutes.

He blinked and some foreign emotion crossed his eyes. I could have sworn he looked hurt.

I rubbed my hand up and down his snout, I'm sorry, but I don't even know where to begin to get this right.

He huffed, streams of icy air billowing from his nostrils and enveloping me for a short minute. As the air cleared I felt a hand on my shoulder.

You need to clear you mind, Hyōka, Toushiro said with a sigh.

I raised an eyebrow, I thought-

He tilted his head sideways, Don't think. All you have to do is keep your mind clear and open. Until then you won't be able to understand Hyourinmaru.

I don't-

We'll try again tomorrow; you're a bit too worked up right now.

I sighed and the plain of snow faded back into Kisuke's training room. Toushiro was right though, my thoughts kept on flashing back to my encounter with the hollow this morning.

Kisuke was looking at me expectantly when I opened my eyes, "So, how'd it go?"

I got up and stretched, "I still can't understand him."

Kisuke scratched his chin but then stood up and threw a bokken, which he had somehow manifested from under his coat, at me.

I sighed again and moved to block what would have been a vicious blow to my head.

...

"What's wrong, Hyōka?" Yoruichi asked as I fell on my butt for the ninth time that day, "You seem distracted," she relaxed her fists and knelt down beside me.

"I want to go home..." I muttered looking at the ground.

"Where's this coming from? It's only been two weeks; I didn't take you as the type to quit so easily."

I hung my head and looked at her out of the corner of my eyes. Words refused to form at my lips, though. So, I just picked at a small stone embedded in the dirt at my feet.

"What's the matter? You've been out of it lately."

I eyed her wearily. There was a reason for that. I discovered that all this training made me exhausted beyond belief, which in turn made me lose control of my reiatsu more easily, which in turn made it easier for the hollow to come out, which in turn made me even more tired. It was a vicious cycle, where every time I tried to rest I was fighting for my sanity and –as weird as is sounded – my body.

"I'm just tired," I mumbled at length.

"You haven't been sleeping well, am I correct?"

I slowly nodded.

"So basically when we come to train the next day you're pretty much running on an empty tank. If you need a break, I'll gladly give one to you since you've made a lot of progress. But being tired is no reason to quit."

"I'm not quitting, I'm just..."

"Feeling homesick? I'm guessing when you can't sleep you either end up with Teito or Mikami or they come to you."

I looked away; she made it sound so infantile, but yes, that was what usually happened. These past few weeks the hollow had been terrorising me in my dreams. Hyourinmaru and Toushiro could offer me comfort – mentally, but when I woke up trembling in cold sweat I couldn't exactly go running to cuddle up with Kisuke.

Yoruichi grinned and ruffled my hair, "I keep on forgetting how young you really are."

I raised an eyebrow; usually it was the opposite.

"We're keeping you here because it's easier for your training; it is a twenty minute walk to your apartment. But hey, let's say we call it quits for today and go for a walk? You haven't been out of this house in ages, right?"

I looked up at her, "I thought we were pressed for time?"

"I just beat you five times in the last three minutes; I don't think we'll get anywhere if you continue in this state."

After a quick shower and a small snack, Yoruichi and I were slowly strolling around Karakura Community Park. I hadn't wanted to go there because it was so close to Mashiba middle school and even though I had not gone there I knew that word got around; rumors spread like butter on a hot pan in this town. I didn't want to hear what anyone was saying about me this time. As chance would have it around five minutes after we reached the park school let out and what should have been a quiet, relaxing afternoon turned out to be quite the opposite.

I spied some kid staring at me with something akin to disbelief and fear on his face. I sighed and turned away. Then another kid pointed me out to his group of friends; the whispers started up after that. I caught snippets of conversations and tried my best to ignore them.

"What's he doing back here?"

"Wasn't he sent to juvie or something?"

"I guess even military school couldn't handle him."

I sent a nasty glare at a passerby, slightly pleased that they sped up as soon as they saw me.

"You really made a name for yourself, huh kid?" Yoruichi asked with a small smile.

I scowled, "I... no... well, yeah. I didn't do it on purpose, though."

She chuckled softly, "Come to think of it, Ichigo was something of a rebel in his middle school days as well."

"I'm not a rebel," I scowled, "I've just done a few things that had awful repercussions, that's all. And Ichigo, a rebel? As in Kurosaki goody-two-shoes-doctor Ichigo?"

She laughed, "Yeah, he was somewhat of a punk back in the day."

"I don't believe it."

"Well you better, he and his friend Chad had a bit of a reputation for getting into fights and beating people up."

I raised an eyebrow, "The hypocrite; he got mad at me when Adachi and I got into fights," I paused, "So, how did Ichigo get involved with the shinigami?"

She shook her head, "That's a very long story, I'll tell you sometime later – hey do you want ice-cream? There's a shop down the street."

"No thanks; I don't really like sweet-"

"I'll buy you one. Let's go," with that she yanked me to my feet and took off in the direction of the ice cream shop.

A bell above the door jingled as I pushed it open. School had only been out for twenty minutes or so but the shop was already crammed full of kids. I tried to make myself invisible and pushed my back firmly against the wall. I pulled my beanie further down my head and lowered my gaze to the ground. The less people the noticed me the better.

"What flavour do you want?" Yoruichi asked brightly.

"I don't' really want-"

"Vanilla? Great,"

I sighed and watched her flounce over to the counter. Where did Kisuke find these people, honestly? I pushed myself further into the wall keeping an eye on the dark-skinned woman and at the same time trying not to make eye contact with anyone. That was easier said than done because somehow Yoruichi disappeared into the crowd and I, for the life of me, could not spy her from my position. I huffed and focused all my attention on my shoes. Even though it was February things were starting to warm up a bit. There hadn't been much snow this winter, but muddy slush had soaked through my sneakers from the walk. Mikami would kill me if she saw them and start yelling and asking why I didn't wear snow boots or something like that. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

"Hyōka!" I raised my head my eyes going wide. That woman, what was she doing shouting my name across the – oh. Chou was shoving her way through the crowd with Kazu in tow.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded as she gave me a quick hug.

"Yoruichi decided that I needed to get out of the house."

Kazu chuckled, "I'll say, we haven't seen you in almost a week. You're probably vitamin D deficient by now."

I rolled my eyes, "Shut up."

"Seriously though, what's up with you becoming a recluse?"

I shrugged, "I've been... busy,"

Chou snorted, "With what?"

"... Stuff. Kisuke has me doing chores and school work; things like that."

"That sucks," she muttered, "You're coming with us, though. We were going to head over to Kazu's house after this."

"I don't know if I can," I sighed looking over to the cash register; Yoruichi had disappeared again, however. Chou and Kazu exchanged a scoff; I had never really cared if I was allowed to do something or not before. Yes, I admit, it was a lame excuse.

"If you can do what?" I jumped a mile as Yoruichi materialised behind me.

"Can he come over to Kazu's house with us?" Chou asked.

"I don't see why not," she grinned at me and shoved an ice-cream cone into my hands, "just be back before nightfall.

I promptly handed the ice-cream to Chou and nodded to Yoruichi. She ruffled my hair and sashayed towards the exit, "I'll see you later, Hyōka."

I sighed and turned to the other two, "Shall we go?"

...

"I don't understand it," Kazu groaned, running a hand through his hair, "how the hell can you understand this if you haven't even been to school in three months!"

I shrugged and sat back on the bed with a smirk, "I'm just that good at maths."

He rolled his eyes, "self-absorbed prick."

"Do you want my help or not?"

He grumbled and shoved his notebook towards me.

I tried to hide a chuckle and examined the numbers on the page. It took Kazu exactly seven minutes before he gave up and started to play video games. And, since it didn't make sense for me to sit around doing his homework, I joined in while Chou was lounging on the bed with her laptop.

We had completely lost track of time until Kazu's door swung open with a loud bang, "Kazu, mom says it's time for dinner."

I closed my eyes briefly and hoped to dear god that Rei had got over her crush on me or at least didn't see me.

"Hyōka, you came back!"

I winced; it was too much to ask for, I guess. I glanced to the door and our eyes met for a split second before I looked away.

"Yeah... I'm back,"

She squealed and ran from the doorway, "I'm going to tell mom!"

I sighed and punched Kazu in the arm for laughing, "Shut up, it's not funny."

"Ow," he exclaimed pulling away from me, "Geez have you been working out or something?"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't change the subject. Make her stop, it's annoying."

"I think it's knida cute, actually," Chou grinned hopping off the bed.

"Oh, don't you start-"

"She's waited all this time for you; you should be nice at least."

"I'm leaving."

"You suck."

"If it's dinner time I've passed my curfew,"

She sighed, "Fine, but we need to make plans again, maybe we should go to a movie or something."

"Yeah that sounds cool."

...

Twenty-five minutes later I tried to sneak back into Kisuke's shop. I thought I was doing a pretty good job until I spied Yoruichi standing behind the door with her arms folded across her chest.

"I thought I told you before nightfall."

I averted my eyes from her gaze, "sorry, I lost track of time."

"So, how was your afternoon? Tessai left some dinner out for you if you're hungry."

"Actually, I think I'll just go straight to bed. I have a feeling training is going to be doubly hard tomorrow."

She raised an eyebrow, "You guessed correctly. Try to get a good night's sleep."

...

Hyourinmaru bared his back to me as an indication for me to get on. I blinked at the dragon in front of me.

Are you serious?

He grunted.

No way, you know I can't stand heights.

You need to get over this, Toushiro sighed.

I'm not going flying with you two, I stated folding my arms across my chest. Already I could feel my heart beat begin to pick up pace.

Do you trust us?

Yes,

Enough to be sure we won't let you fall?

I...

He rolled his eyes, Get up here.

I swallowed and allowed Toushiro to pull me up to sit on the joint between Hyourinmaru's neck and shoulders. The vertigo hit then and I had to close my eyes.

Hyōka calm down,

What if I slip?

Just hold on tightly. It's just like riding a horse.

Hyourinmaru snorted in annoyance.

Grab onto the spike in front of you,he continued ignoring the dragon and planted himself firmly behind me while looping an arm around my waist.

I did as I was told but my hands were trembling so badly I could barely get a grip.

We're ready back here, Hyourinmaru.

He let out a soft rumble and extended his wings. He did a few experimental flaps, which caused my stomach to churn uncomfortably, before leaping into the air. I clutched the spike in front of me to my chest and squeezed my eyes shut. I felt Toushiro's hold tighten around my waist.

The take off is always the worst part.

We were moving in jerks, up and down, as Hyourinmaru tried to gain enough height to be able to catch a few updrafts. The wind was almost razor sharp against my face and I would dare not open my eyes. I did not like this one bit. Something was going to go wrong; if human beings were meant to fly I think we would have evolved with wings. The dizzy feeling increased and even though my eyes were closed I began to feel sick. In the back of my mind I was fighting off a panic attack and I'm sure Toushiro could feel my heart pounding from his place behind me. I was surprised that I wasn't yelling my head off, actually, but my chest felt tight, constricted, so I don't think I could have even spoken much less screamed.

Hold on, we're almost high enough for Hyourinmaru to soar.

I convulsed a little; we had to go higher? I tightened my hold on the spike; I could feel my shoulders screaming in agony. Also, every so often, I felt Hyourinmaru tilt dangerously to the side and for split seconds I couldn't feel anything at all. I could practically see myself plummeting to the ground below.

I knew Hyourinmaru was a dragon and dragons were meant to fly; so I had to get over my fear of heights sooner or later. That was easier said than done, right? Suddenly the jerking stopped and Hyourinmaru's flight pattern became much smoother, he wasn't beating his wings nearly as much and I could feel him slowly weaving through air currents. Actually, a small part of me found this to feel very soothing. I still wouldn't dare to open my eyes, though, and my heart was still beating a mile per second. I would not be able to stay up here for much longer. Each passing second made it hard to fight back the oncoming panic attack. I took a few deep breaths and almost threw up during one of them. I don't think I could feel any worse.

I heard Toushiro snort, Are you still scared? I froze, dread creeping into my spine. That wasn't Toushiro anymore; it was the hollow who was laughing at me now. I could practically feel the cold killing intent roll off of him in waves.

Then the world basically came crashing down around me. If I had been terrified before then right now I was close to being petrified. I swallowed, feeling my heart slow to a stop and tears began to form in my eyes. Hyourinmaru had started to growl threateningly, but there wasn't much he could do to help at the moment.

The hollow began to laugh, How the hell is it that you, a pathetic little child who's scared of his own shadow, gets to have such power?

I whimpered as I felt him trace my spine with one of his claws then painfully burry his hand in my hair.

I told you that I was going to kill you.

Tears slowly dripped down my cheeks. I couldn't even move because of how scared I was. I really was pathetic, wasn't I?

The hollow gripped a fist full of my hair then suddenly I was tumbling off Hyourinmaru's side. My eyes flew open and my voice was finally able to break through the barrier in my throat. Right now, falling to my death, I was literally too scared to think and I lost all control over my body. My heart was having palpitations, my stomach was twisting itself into knots, and my head was spinning. Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard Hyourinmaru let out a pained roar, and in a deep, rumbling voice that sounded like it belonged to a god my name echoed throughout the plain of ice.

...

I landed on my bed, my eyes flew open to see the darkened ceiling – blurred from tears, my body was covered in sweat and I felt like I was on a boat. I sat up and swallowed against the nausea. Never had my heart beat so fast before this. I slowly took in my surroundings; it was still dark, probably just after midnight, and I realised with dread and embarrassment that my pants were wet. I rubbed a knuckle between my eyebrows. This could not have happened; I could not have peed myself. I clenched my jaw and slowly rolled off the futon. I quickly stripped the bed and threw the sheets into a corner where all my dirty training clothes were then ripped off my sopping boxer shorts and t-shirt.

I stood stock still for a moment; all the moving around had made me feel dizzy and the ground was tilting ever so slightly. I took a deep breath; maybe a shower would help. I glanced down the hallway, hoping that no one was awake – I really didn't want anyone to see me streaking down the hallway – and sprinted to the bathroom. It would have gone much smoother if I hadn't stumbled over every step. As soon as I reached the bathroom, however, my stomach revolted and I had just enough time to throw myself at the toilet before I was vomiting my guts out. And with the vomit came the memories of my most recent encounter with the hollow. Seconds later I was gasping for air between coughing up mouthfuls of bile and bawling my eyes out. A new batch of cold sweat had formed on my body and I was trembling hard enough to induce a seizure. The waves of panic blocked everything else from my senses and I was literally throwing up in a black box of fear.

...

I woke up in somebody's arms. Everything was blurry and my mind felt groggy but I could tell that I was still in the bathroom. I was shifted into a sitting position and a glass of water was pressed to my lips. I drank; the cool water alerted me to my dry, burning throat. Soon enough my vision cleared and though I still felt rather weak, and slightly queasy, I forced myself from the pair of arms and sat back on my heels. I wasn't even surprised that it was Ichigo sitting in front of me. We stared at each other for a long minute.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

Ichigo snorted, "You're welcome."

"It's not even sunrise yet, Kurosaki. How the hell did you know I was having a panic attack?"

"I was on patrol and Kisuke called, said you needed my help," he said with a shrug. "Now what's all this about, bad dream?"

I sighed, "Yeah, I'm sorry-"

He held up a hand, "Don't apologise; it's not your fault. Was it about Aizen again?"

I paused I could tell him about the hollow and it could be all over... "Yeah, I... he... it was when he captured me."

I felt bad for lying, especially when his eyes softened guiltily. "We should get you cleaned up and then you should try to get back to sleep. I'll talk to Kisuke about cancelling your training today."

I nodded but froze and my eyes widened when I realised that I was still naked. My hands flew to cover myself and I felt all the blood in my body rush to my face.

Ichigo chuckled softly and stood up, "Why cover up now? I've already seen everything."

I glared at him.

"What, Mikami didn't tell you that we had to strip you for Tessai to perform the healing kido?"

I could have fried an egg on my face right then.

"It's okay, kid, that's gonna happen a lot."

"What?!"

He laughed harder and extended his arm to help me up. "Can you stand?"

I got to my knees before nausea exploded like a bomb. I shook my head and sat back down trying to keep my stomach and its contents in place. I heard him sigh and he picked me up by the armpits and held me against his chest.

"I'm guessing a sponge bath is in order," he snickered.

"Kurosaki, don't you dare."

...

Hyōka, you have to tell someone, Toushiro said softly.

After last night's episode I agreed with him but, I don't know how they'll react. What if they try to kill you?

They won't.

How do you know? Are there Visored in the Soul Society?

...No, actually shinigami don't take too kindly to Visored...

And you expect me to tell-

Ichigo and Kisuke aren't normal shinigami they won't do anything to harm you,

It's not me that I'm worried about...

Hyōka, Toushiro sighed and sent me an exasperated look but his eyes held genuine worry and care, If I turn into a hollow one more time I could kill you, and I can't stress enough how much I'd like to prevent that.

I sighed, Fine I'll talk to them tonight.

Good,

Ichigo's going to kill me, though...

Toushiro smirked; the bastard.


So... the hollow actually creeps me out :/ Hmm who would have thought that it would take almost dying to get Hyoka to admit that he needs help; he's such a stubborn little boy.

But now He can partially understand Hyourinmaru and he's close to harnessing his shinigami powers... The next chapter is sure to be interesting, heh, I just have to sit down and write it.

Leave a review, now that there's going to be a huge plot development I'd like to hear what everyone has to say :)

-Mymomomo