Chapter 28 – Dark side of the Moon (Horse of War)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

'Inner Quincy/Yhwach speech'

'Inner hollow/Zanpakuto speech'

xxx

Alone in his private room, Isshin stared at a picture hanging on the wall with a somber and tired expression. It had barely been an hour since he had woken up from a short and uncomfortable sleep but his mind was already in one big mess. In times like these, Isshin knew of only one way to calm himself down. It was to talk to the woman of his life.

"I really screwed this up, huh, Masaki?" He quietly spoke to a large and happy face printed in the picture, half-expecting a kind and warm response in return. But there was no answer, just silence. After a few seconds, he found himself unable to look at the bright smile and lowered his head.

In shame.

In guilt.

"I guess me and Ryūken aren't that different after all. We are both 'shitty dads'."

A deep sigh crawled from his chest.

"I just thought… he was doing so well, you know? It never crossed my mind that he would or could lose himself to this degree. That his emotions were so out of control. I thought I knew him better than that..."

He dared to look up, at the picture, again. When he did, a small sad chuckle escaped his mouth.

"Yeah, I know. It's not the end of the world. No matter what, he's still our son. I know that Kisuke has been prepared for this possibility for a long time but that's not what's bothering me." He said while shaking his head.

"He can become whatever he wants and I'll still love him. It's where he went that worries me." Feeling his throat getting dry, he reached for his half-empty glass and took a gulp of water out of it. Then he glanced at a small piece of paper innocently staring at him from his right side and sighed once more.

"I don't think I can keep this a secret for any longer. There were witnesses and even though the Sekkiseki kept Ichigo's hollow reiatsu contained within the training ground almost till the end, it still washed over half of Seireitei. They all know something odd happened." He muttered and peeked out the window, to see officers running from place to place in a hurry.

"But I guess it's going to depend on the old man."

He gulped down the rest of the glass's contents and, after grabbing the piece of paper, stood up. With a third sigh, he corrected his clothes and walked out of the room. Once out, he immediately aimed his steps towards the 1st Division. While on the way, he tried to clear his mind as much as he could. Being emotional wasn't going to help him.

A few minutes later he knocked on the doors of the Captain Commander's office and walked right in. Before the Commander could get upset at the sudden interruption, Isshin raised the hand in which he was still holding the crumpled piece of paper and waved it at him.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"What in the… yes. Sit down, Captain Shiba." From behind his desk, Yamamoto said in a tone Isshin found fairly confusing. Nevertheless, he quickly closed the doors, walked to the desk and obediently sat down. He saw Yamamoto giving him an extremely long look.

"I wanted to talk to you before we begin the Captain's meeting. I think you understand why, don't you?"

Isshin nodded.

"I do, sir."

In response to Isshin's reply, Yamamoto placed both his hands at his chin and slightly covered his mouth with them. Then he closed his eyes.

"What in the world were you thinking, you damn fool?"

Yamamoto raised neither his voice nor his reiatsu, yet Isshin still flinched. The disappointed tone of the Commander's voice felt like a punch to the guts and it caused the already beaten Isshin to feel like an old man. Old, irresponsible and foolish man.

"I… " He opened his mouth, only for Yamamoto to interrupt him with a raised hand.

"Do you recall the conversation we had after you returned to the Soul Society a month or two ago?"

Isshin dared to look him in the eye and tried to recall the day he had decided to leave the Human World and return to the place he was born in.

"Sir?"

Yamamoto's gaze seemed to pierce right through him.

"You vowed for your son saying he was an important asset for the Soul Society. You also explained the reason behind Aizen Sosuke's interest in him. Despite these you just served him your son like a fine wine on a silver plate. You let him turn into a mindless hollow and let him escape into Hueco Mundo. If I didn't know you better, Shiba, this would almost feel like a sabotage. Or maybe I am wrong and you and Urahara Kisuke have been planning this even before you returned."

The fact that Yamamoto decided to let something like that slip through his teeth hurt Isshin's fatherly pride greatly. He gathered his courage and looked at the Commander with a hard gaze.

"I would never do that to my son." He said in a deadly serious tone, causing Yamamoto to nod in satisfaction.

"Yes, you wouldn't." The Commander said in a way that suggested something Isshin didn't like to even think about.

"Still, you let it happen and I have every right to punish you for that."

Isshin blinked.

"But you won't?"

Yamamoto tapped the top of his cane.

"No, at least not at the moment. For the foreseeable future, the Gotei needs to be as strong as possible and I already have one severely restricted Captain. However, your actions are already having consequences. Seireitei is in chaos. Never before has a hollow reiatsu entered its walls and everyone is talking about it. I'm afraid we reached an unavoidable conclusion, Shiba. You must explain this to your fellow Captains. They need to know what happened so they can think of something to calm their men down." He said with a firm gaze. Before Isshin could respond, he continued.

"However, there is one thing this situation showed me."

Isshin looked at him questioningly.

"Your son truly may be an asset. Forcing one of my finer Captains to fight at almost full power means he is getting strong. There is no more doubt in my mind about it. I suppose you do have a plan on turning him back, else you wouldn't be this calm?"

Surprised at the Commander words, Isshin was briefly speechless. After a moment, he recovered.

"Yes, sir. Kisuke had it ever since Ichigo died as a human. Sir… does this mean you'll allow me to bring him back?"

Yamamoto didn't answer immediately. First, he looked towards Seireitei and, only after seemingly nodding to himself, he looked back.

"I haven't decided who will go for him yet but I already know you won't be it, Shiba."

"Sir-"

But Yamamoto shook his head.

"Your son is now, for all intents and purposes, a hollow. Seeing his father, a person who could be reflected on his mask, would only trigger an aggressive response from him. Moreover, I don't believe you could go all out on him. You will not go, Shiba. That is my final decision."

Realizing the Commander wouldn't budge, Isshin was forced to give up. He wanted to rage, to object and refuse but he knew it too well. He knew it would be pointless. Once Yamamoto decided on something, not even the entirety of Soul Society could change his mind. Furthermore, Isshin kind of expected such a reaction. Yamamoto's logic was sound and solid. Seeing Ichigo would only cause both him and his son more distress. But deep down, he had hoped for a different outcome.

"Yes, sir."

Satisfied, Yamamoto quietly called for his Vice-Captain.

"Let him in."

When he heard that, Isshin looked up, only to see the doors to the office opening. A single person walked through them. A person whose presence made Isshin's mood go awry.

"You called for me, Commander?" The newcomer asked.

"Yes, Captain Kurotsuchi."

The Captain of the 12th Division waltzed into the room with his usual smirk but when he noticed Isshin, that smirk widened. Surprisingly though, it wasn't followed by any sarcastic remark.

"Did you take a look at it?"

Isshin raised an eyebrow. It felt like he shouldn't have been in the office anymore, yet the Commander never told him to leave. He sent the man a questioning gaze and Yamamoto briefly closed his eyes.

"I told Captain Kurotsuchi the truth. That the hollow in Seireitei was your son."

"…you what?" Briefly forgetting about protocol, Isshin exclaimed in alarm. Captain of the 12th Division was the last person he wanted to know about Ichigo.

"It should have been impossible for your son to escape to Hueco Mundo from within Seireitei so I immediately contacted Captain Kurotsuchi for an answer." Yamamoto explained while Mayuri picked his node in boredom.

"So noisy. Don't worry, Shiba, I have no interest in your foolish son." The Captain of the 12th Division muttered. Then he turned to Yamamoto and his bored expression turned irritated.

"I did look into it and it made no sense. Not that long ago, I added an additional special layer to the dimensional wall that should have prevented situations like this from happening."

"Well, it seems like it's not working very well." Yamamoto grunted, making Mayuri's expression to change further. With an unpleasant grimace, Mayuri tried to calm the twitch in his left eyebrow.

"I assure you that is not the case. I designed it myself after a long and deep research of the dimensional rifts. It is working perfectly. Its inner workings are simulating the capabilities of an artificial brain that is almost on my level. However…" He trailed off and glanced at Isshin who tried to look neutral. A moment later, he rubbed his chin and let his previous expression to slowly melt.

"My security measures work with static characteristics of reiatsu signatures. By design, it is hard to compute more than just slight changes in real-time. However, when I compared the older records of the boy's reiatsu I got from the Academy, an odd fact popped up. The boy's reiryoku and the resulting reiatsu signature changed overtime so much, my system was barely able to evaluate and allocate it to one person. If he completely transformed into a hollow, it is no wonder my system was unable to recognize him. Still…" He trailed off again and started to pace around the office.

"Foreign signature triggers a different security measure but, in the boy's case, that one never activated itself. So he existed outside the protocol yet also within the system…"

All of a sudden, Mayuri froze in his tracks and almost robotically turned to Yamamoto who, in return, narrowed his eyes.

"What is it?"

"…it's as if he briefly became a fake administrator…" Mayuri muttered in disbelief. Ignoring Yamamoto's confused stare, the scientist turned to Isshin and pierced him with a sharp glare.

"What are you hiding about him, Captain Shiba? Who or what exactly is your son?!"

In the back of his head, Isshin felt an alarm instantly going off.

"What do you mean?"

Mayuri gave him a dirty look.

"Don't play dumb with me. Your son did something that cannot be done. A mere Shinigami is unable to override not just mine but also the default security measures of Soul Society with just his reiryoku alone! He did something that goes beyond simple science! It is unthinkable that such a barbarian could achieve something outside my intellectual-"

"Captain Kurotsuchi!"

A hard loud tap on the ground accompanied with a burst of warm reiatsu forced the scientist to abandon his trail of thoughts and to quiet down. The man visibly bit the inside of his jaw, hard enough for his chewing muscles to show, and looked at Yamamoto.

Lessening the grip on his cane, the Captain Commander gave him a short nod.

"I suppose I gave you too little time to analyze the situation. Maybe you simply overlooked some small detail that could easily explain all of this. I'm giving you a day to redo your report."

Mayuri narrowed his eyes. It was clear that Yamamoto was ending the conversation with that and the scientist was not one bit happy.

"I see." Was all he said.

Yamamoto kept looking at him for a while longer. Then he glanced at Isshin.

"It is time for the Captain's meeting."

With that said, the three of them left the office and walked towards the assembly hall together but in silence. Even if Isshin had some other things he wished to discuss with Yamamoto, he didn't want to do it in front of the Captain of the 12th Division.

Once they arrived to the assembly hall, they found the rest of the Gotei Captains already waiting for them. The three of them took their places and Yamamoto tapped the floor with his cane once more.

"I hereby start today's Captain's meeting."

Immediately after that, he raised his reiatsu output to silence any possible interruptions or sudden outbursts.

"The latest incident certainly left all of you with questions and so I will start by addressing them. But it is not I who will explain the situation to you. Captain Shiba, if you will."

He didn't even need to call Isshin out as everyone's eyes had been at him ever since he entered the room. Rumors in Seireitei spread fast. Taking a deep breath, Isshin steeled himself for the inevitable. In his mind, he apologized to Ichigo.

'I'm sorry son. I guess this is it. The breaking point.'

Over the next five minutes, he factually explained what happened at his spar with Ichigo as well as what happened to Ichigo himself. That his only son was not just a simple Shinigami but also a hybrid being who was in possession of a hollow entity within him. But that was also everything he decided to reveal. A short glance at Yamamoto's neutral face told him that he was right and that he didn't need to continue and for that, Isshin was very thankful.

Some things were best not told without proper reason and with what he had just revealed, he suspected opinions on Ichigo would quickly turn ugly. A few moments later that suspicion turned out to be spot on.

"What?!"

"Your son is a hollow?"

"Now, now, let's all calm dow-"

"Unacceptable!"

There were one or two voices trying to lessen the burden on the already stressed Captain of the 10th Division but the majority drowned them like a drop of water that dissipates in an ocean. Yamamoto quickly took action and tapped the ground with his cane. Hard.

"Silence!"

*THUMP*

A wave of scorching hot reiatsu washed over the room with enough intensity to prevent anyone from speaking any further. The resulting silence lasted for an uncomfortably long moment.

"…you knew, didn't you, Yama-jii?"

Only one person dared to speak in such occasions and this wasn't an exception. With his hat tipped to the side, Shunsui revealed his somber expression and a few bags under his eyes. The man looked quite drained but there was still a twinkle of sharp intellect hidden in his surprisingly dark stare.

"Yes. Captain Shiba told me the same day he returned to Seireitei."

"…and you decided it was in Ichigo-kun's best interest to keep it a secret?"

Yamamoto slightly opened one of his eyes and narrowed it at his former pupil. He was not used to Shunsui using such aggressive sarcasm.

"I made a decision based on what was at that moment best for the Soul Society, Captain Kyoraku." His stern response took some wind from Shunsui's sails and allowed for another person, the Captain of the 7th Division, Komamura Sajin, to speak up.

"Nobody is questioning you, Genryusai-dono, but this is an important piece of information. What if he used his hollow side on innocent souls? What if he used it while at the Academy? The boy is a walking abomination! By the laws of Soul Society he sh-"

"That's rich coming from a beast, eh?" Kenpachi interrupted him without an inch of shame or guilt, causing Komamura to glance in his direction with an unreadable expression. The Captain of the 7th Division slowly reached for the helmet on his head, the helmet he had been wearing ever since appearing in the Soul Society, and took it down. By doing so, he revealed his anthropomorphic self. A man with a wolf head.

"How did you know?"

"Everyone knew but nobody spoke a shit because it doesn't matter what you are. The only thing that matters is whether you can fight or not." Kenpachi retorted, stunning not just Komamura with his precise treading.

"To be fair, young Kurosaki's circumstances are a bit different to those of Captain Komamura." Unohana piped in.

"So then you agree with him? That Kurosaki-san is an abomination?" Ukitake asked with his tone rising.

"No, of course not."

"But he is still a liability that should have been kept in safe area. If what Captain Shiba said is true and Kurosaki's zanpakuto spirit itself is partly a hollow, then he shouldn't have become a Shinigami in first place." Toshiro stated and tried not to look at Isshin.

"That's a bit harsh, Captain Hitsugaya. Remember my Bakkoto? I am as much of a liability as Kurosaki is yet here I am, standing next to all of you, accepted and forgiven." Amagai butted in with a shrug.

"Disgrace." A quiet, yet firm, voice came out from near Yamamoto and forced Isshin to look at its owner.

"Captain Sui-Feng?"

Sui-Feng was looking at Isshin with a disturbed, slightly confused expression that threw the man out of the loop.

"You are a Captain of the Gotei 13. Why didn't you knock him out before he escaped?"

Somewhere at the back of his mind, Isshin knew there was something odd about Sui-Feng's words but, at that time, he was in too much stress to put the pieces together.

"I tried but he just wouldn't stay down. The only way I could have done it is by killing him. Also, the more power he uses, the stronger his hollow influence, which means high-speed regeneration and a dense Hierro. Moreover, when he completely turned, he became too unpredictable." He hurriedly explained. Sui-Feng pursed her lips and looked away from him with contempt.

As the multiple conversations continued with no end in sight, Yamamoto allowed himself a deep sigh.

At the same time, in a different room, a group of high-ranking Shinigami officers held their own, unofficial meeting. Most of them were of the second highest rank, a Vice-Captain, but there were also those, who didn't even have a numbered position. However, they all had one thing in common.

Worries.

"I can't believe it. How did a hollow get in Seireitei unnoticed?" A sharp looking man in black sunglasses shook his head in disbelief. His name was Tetsuzaemon Iba and he was a Vice-Captain of the 7th Division. When he felt several stares, the man reached for his glasses and took them down.

"What?"

Sighing from a chair in the corner of the room, Nanao Ise, the Vice-Captain of the 8th Division, gave him an exasperated look.

"So you haven't heard about it."

"Hear what?" Iba asked and looked around but it looked like nobody wanted to answer his question.

The Vice-Captain of the 2nd Division, Marechiyo Ōmaeda, just picked his nose with a bored expression. The Vice-Captain of the 3rd Division, Izuru Kira, continued to look at the ground beneath his feet with a somber expression. The Vice-Captain of the 4th Division, Isane Kotetsu, nervously glanced from one to another. The Vice-Captain of the 5th Division was not present. Renji sat in a corner with his eyes deeply closed. Hisagi's head was pressed against his hands, tightly entwined with each other, and he stared into nothingness. Rangiku continuously filled her glass with sake and then drank it. Nemu stood in another corner completely quiet while the only person representing the 13th Division, Rukia, quickly avoided his look.

Nanao was the only one who seemed to be forming any answer but then the door to the room opened and revealed three additional officers. All of them belonged to the 11th Division. The one walking in front was a little girl with pink hair and a cheerful smile; the Vice-Captain of the 11th Division, Yachiru. She was also the one who finally answered Iba's question.

"Ken-chan told me! It was Icchi!"

However, Iba blinked in confusion.

"Who?"

"Ichigo. She's talking about Ichigo." From behind Yachiru, Ikkaku said and gave Iba a long and meaningful stare until the man understood.

"The one you've told me so much about, huh? What about him?"

Ikkaku lowered his eyes and shook his head.

"That hollow in Seireitei? It was Ichigo. He turned into a hollow."

The whole room seemingly flinched and almost everyone released the collective breath they didn't know they were holding in. So far, not one of them had wanted to say it out loud but now, when the elephant was finally out of the basket, they could finally show their emotions and their opinions on the matter.

"…damn it."

Iba blinked in surprise and fell onto his chair.

"But… how is this possible?"

Ikkaku shrugged.

"I don't think I can explain it. Nobody in this room can but… maybe, just maybe, there is a person who could at least try to. Am I right, Kuchiki?"

Until now etched deep into her chair and satisfied with listening to the conversation around her, Rukia suddenly felt smaller than she really was. Intense stares came at her from every side and pushed her even deeper into the chair, until she felt like she and the chair were one.

"What's there to explain? It's no surprise that Ichigo is like that."

A lone voice came to Rukia's help and she looked at its owner in surprise. It was Renji. He was looking at a wall but the intent in his heightened reiatsu was clear; he was talking to them.

"You are probably the only one who thinks that, Vice-Captain Abarai." Nanao objected, causing Renji to frown a little. With a slight twitch of his muscles, Renji turned his head and glanced at her.

"No, I'm not, because I'm not the only one who has felt Ichigo's released reiryoku before. If you did, you would know he was never quite ordinary."

"Heh, you may be right. When I think about it, I did feel something weird within his reiryoku every-time he released his zanpakuto in our spars." Ikkaku said after a moment of silence and peeked at Yumichika, standing next to him.

"Truly."

"Be that as it may, it is still a shocking news for the rest of us and I, for the record, don't know how I feel about this. I know Captain Kyoraku likes him but…" Nanao said with narrowed eyes.

"For the record, I know. Ichigo is a good guy. That's all I need to know." Renji retorted curtly.

"Could you say the same thing if he went on a rampage and killed humans or somebody you knew? Somebody you loved?"

Renji froze. The quiet voice of the 3rd Division's Vice-Captain, a person who went to the Academy with him, sounded extremely loud and left a bitter taste in his mouth. His words reminded Renji things he didn't want to recall.

"That isn't fair, Kira-kun…" Rangiku put her glass on the table and gave Kira a sad glance.

"Ichigo didn't chose this, just so you know." Rukia suddenly said and quickly brought all attention back at herself. Watching the situation unfold, she felt a twitch of angry fire within her.

"Yes, he possesses some hollow reiryoku but he was born this way. He did not undergo hollowification." She revealed sternly, creating a long moment of silence in the room until a bittersweet chuckle startled everyone and made them look at the one who released it, the Vice-Captain of the 9th Division, Hisagi, in surprise. Shaking his head, the man briefly closed his eyes.

"Doomed forever to fight for control of his own self. No wonder Captain Commander put him in my Division. Oblivion truly suits him well."

Meanwhile, in a certain shop somewhere in Karakura Town a man wearing wooden sandals and a bucket hat patiently waited on the phone, listening to the sound of silence, until the other side finally decided to pick up his call.

"Yes?"

"It's me. I need to talk to Hirako-san."

A response came almost immediately.

"Kisuke. Right. Hold on."

While waiting for the person he wished to speak to, Urahara subconsciously tapped the table with his index finger and kept glancing at the computer screen placed right in front of him. His expression was devoid of a smile and every time he read the few lines on the screen, his brow creased in a frown.

"Yeees? What do ya want?"

Hearing the familiar voice did nothing to ease Urahara and he squeezed the phone.

"Bad news, Hirako-san."

"Tch, how many times did I ask ya to call me Shinji?"

Urahara ignored the remark.

"He turned."

For a minute, there was a silence on the other side of the line.

"…I see. So? What do you want to do? It's still within the scopes of your plans, right?"

Urahara glanced at the computer screen once more and, in quick succession, pushed several buttons. The screen changed and a large bar that was filling itself at an incredibly slow pace appeared in its center. The only information written on it was "4% and counting…".

"Yes. I have something for this occasion but It'll take at least a day before it's ready. Until it can be used to get him back, I'd like you to get ready."

Even though he couldn't see him, Urahara was sure the man on the other side of the line instantly frowned.

"For what? I told you we won't come out just because-"

"That's not what I meant." Urahara didn't give him a chance to finish and quickly interrupted him in a strong tone.

"…then what did you mean?"

Urahara shifted on his chair and rubbed the stubble on his chin.

"I'd like you to take him under your tutelage and teach him how to control that part of him."

In the phone, he heard a click of a tongue.

"Kisuke…"

"It doesn't have to be for long. Just give him some pointers, some direction in which he should go on his own so this situation won't repeat itself again."

He wasn't trying to press the other man but he certainly wasn't going to back down easily either. The expression on his face didn't change and he patiently waited until he heard the response he had wanted to hear.

"…fine. But don't expect a miracle, Kisuke. Despite everything that has happened to us, we are a long shot from being experts in this area."

Letting out a quiet snort, Urahara thanked the man and put down the phone. Shaking his head, he looked at his own feet.

"A miracle is the last thing I want to see, Hirako-san."

Hueco Mundo – several hours before.

A small hollow with a lizard-like appearance lazily crawled through the dunes of a seemingly endless white desert while being illuminated by a strange moon hovering in the sky. The hollow didn't mind that it never saw the light of the day; the never-ending night of Hueco Mundo was comforting and pleasantly cold. The air was over-saturated with reiryoku and so it never felt the need to visit the Human World. It was satisfied with the air alone. Because of that, the creature couldn't know that the moon in Hueco Mundo was always in the opposite lunar cycle compared to its counterpart in the World of the Living.

However, even if it knew, such information wouldn't have mattered to it. Its primitive logic was driven by one thing and one thing only. To satisfy its hunger. And so it crawled, dug, jumped and slithered through the sand, from time to time enjoying the small particles tickling the scaly skin of its small body.

The hollow's small body was also one of its best attributes. Because of it, it never needed too much food to lessen the urge to eat and it also served it as the best protection. As the other hollows were mostly large, to them, the lizard hollow was just a waste of time and eating it would be pointless. Thanks to that, the creature never had to feel fear and it never fell into a dangerous situation.

Unfortunately, that made it unprepared for its sudden demise when a white leg suddenly stomped on it after jumping out of a newly-formed Garganta gate. The lizard hollow only managed to hiss once before its body cracked under the pressure and turned into a sloppy, sloshy mess of spiritual particles.

"…graaaaa…"

The one who killed it was a bulky humanoid hollow with white skin, long straight orange hair, a hollow mask slowly covering its whole head and a hollow hole in the middle of its bare chest. The lower part of its body was covered in something that looked like remnants of Shinigami clothing. In its clawed hands the creature held two swords, one a lot larger than the other one. Its eyes, hidden deep within its mask, stared into the distance until it noticed the spiritual particles from the lizard hollow.

The creature looked down and raised its right leg but it was too late for the lizard hollow. With a slight turn of its head, the humanoid hollow stared at the remaining particles for a while longer, until some of the reiryoku got into its nostrils.

"…?"

The white humanoid hollow blinked as a strange emotion ran across its body, slowly burning him from within with its intensity.

Hunger.

It quickly crouched and tried to breathe in more of the spiritual particles from the small hollow but a light breeze came in and blew it away with a cynical smile on its nonexistent face. Reacting immediately, the creature arched its head back and released a thunderous roar of anger so raw, it made the resulting echoes continue for a long time.

The rage swelled in its chest like a freshly pumped balloon, ready to burst and violently explode. It made the creature hungrier and very thirsty.

Thirsty for blood.

It wanted to kill.

It needed to kill.

Kill.

KILL!

"Graaaah!" Releasing another roar, the creature raised both its swords and smashed them into the ground beneath it with so much force, it blasted some of the sand away. Not even a second later, the creature felt its feet trembling when the ground itself began to shake. Curious, it looked down, only to see cracks forming all around it. Once an ominous noise reverberated across the dunes, the ground caved in and send the creature flying down like a meteorite.

For a very brief time, the anger was replaced with a stroke of elation.

Then the creature's left side collided with a tall column and painfully ricocheted from it. The elation vanished and the anger returned in full force.

Still falling down, the creature encountered several more of such columns until it finally crash-landed on the ground. Despite its hard skin and powerful build, the impact shook the hollow's very core and so it decided not to immediately stand up and smash the columns into pieces but to rest for a while and let the high-speed regeneration do its thing. Though, with its face buried in the sand, the creature didn't see a mass of Menos Grande slowly approaching its location.

"Bhaaaaaa…" A quiet but strong hum filled the dark place as soon as Menos came close enough for the creature to feel their spiritual energy.

The state of elation returned and, with its face still in sand, the creature formed a terrifying grin. It was time to eat. With incredible speed, it pushed itself off the ground and briefly let go of its swords to deliver a series of fast-paced punches accompanied with a release of reiryoku pulses. While not as powerful as a Cero, the pulses traveled a lot faster and smashed through Menos large bodies before the monsters could react.

With such critical injuries, Menos toppled over and fell right next to the creature's feet. Before more of them could come close, the creature jumped on those on the ground and buried its face in them, tearing and ripping them into shreds with its own teeth.

The creature gulped down the matter and licked its mouth. The reiryoku from Menos wasn't exactly tasteful or rich in nutrition but it was enough to replenish at least some of the energy reserves. Still, it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy the urge.

More.

It needed more!

A familiar sound entered the creature's ears and caused it to quickly jump backwards. In that moment, a bright red beam of energy obliterated the place, as well as the unfinished meal in front of it. Anger seeped into the creature veins. Looking up, it noticed a group of another Menos slowly approaching him with their mouths hanging open and so it quickly grabbed its swords.

The sound of Cero filled the area yet again. Multiple beams shot straight at the creature but, using the swords as a shield, the creature escaped most of the danger. When the energy from the strike dissipated, the creature narrowed its eyes in a smug smirk and kicked the ground.

With the sound of a sonic boom, it leaped at the approaching Menos and began to systematically hack and slash anything and everything that stood in its way before another volley of Cero could hit it.

Bisected bodies, cleaved masks, gaping holes… the creature was no stranger to none. Every time it incapacitated an enemy, its sharp teeth bit a good chunk out of the dying body. Reiryoku filled the creature's mouth and caused it to almost gleam in satisfaction. Soon enough, even the last Menos fell on the ground, defeated and partially consumed.

With spiritual particles dripping down from its mask, the creature formed a grin. The hunger had receded a little. The excruciating pain turned into an unpleasant but manageable throbbing. Nevertheless, the thirst for battle remained the same and denied the creature a peace of mind. Its instincts were quietly whispering tempting words, seducing it towards the path of a bloodbath and mass slaughter, the path of destruction.

"Halt!"

Hearing an actual voice caused the creature to instantly twist around and point its eyes towards the source of the sound. There, in a short distance, stood an unknown hollow. It had a shell-like appendage on its back and a hollow hole located on the left side of its chest. Moreover, unlike Menos Grande, the hollow seemed a bit smaller. At the same time, the spiritual pressure radiating from it was a lot stronger than any Menos.

It caused the orange haired creature to widen its terrifying grin. The stronger the opponent, the better the battle.

However, the other hollow quickly realized its intentions.

"I am the Guardian of the Forest of Menos, the place that surrounds us. I can sense your blood-lust but I wouldn't advise you to attack me. Judging from your reiatsu and appearance you may very well be a Vasto Lorde but it would still be… unwise." The other hollow, a self-appointed Guardian, announced a moment before a group of hollows, similar in size, appeared from behind him.

"C'mon, don't joke like that. There is no way a Vasto Lorde would appear here." A different hollow with protrusions in his elbows said in exasperation. The Guardian narrowed his eyes and gave the orange haired creature a stare.

"Yes, it is very improbable… but not impossible. Tell me, what is your name."

The creature looked at the Guardian and let out a quiet growl. It didn't attack, though. So far, it just stared at the unpleasant company with its undying grin.

"He can't even speak. I agree, he can't be a Vasto Lorde." Another hollow muttered slowly, prompting the Guardian to narrow his eyes even further.

"He also appears to be wearing some clothes that reek of Shinigami."

"Interesting. Seeing as he's so pale I think we should him White."

In that moment, the orange haired creature, White, flinched and recoiled, almost as if physically hit. Something strange, an odd feeling, ran across his body and caused echoes of thoughts to swirl within his head. It made him nauseous and incredibly pissed off at the same time. Rage, hunger and thirst erupted along with an ascent in his instinct and sent a surge of reiryoku through his whole body. Within a second, his body shook and a faint aura enveloped both his swords. The mask on his face grew to the point where it encased his whole head like a helmet and, along with that, peculiar black markings burst out of his hollow hole, turning his chest into a canvas for an image of a black sun.

"…what just happened?"

The Guardian didn't react to the question and carefully eyed White with curious eyes. Doing so saved his life a fraction of a second later, when White appeared right in front of him with one of his swords falling down on him like a guillotine.

"?!"

The Guardian barely avoided the strike and allowed a large khyber sword to embed itself deep into a body of an unfortunate hollow that had been standing right behind him. In one fell swoop, the sudden attack bisected the unfortunate hollow like it was made from a jelly. White's teeth buried themselves into one of the halves before it could hit the ground.

"Damn it!"

Without a warning, a thick, bony protrusion aiming for White's head shot through the air until his clawed hand caught it mid-air and crushed it into a dust. The shy attempt was quickly followed with two bright Cero blasts but at that point, White was already on the move. Once he swallowed the small portion of the dead hollow's body, the aura surrounding his swords grew in intensity and made his appearance even more feral than before.

"Gyargh!"

The smaller of White's swords, along with his whole hand, blasted through another unfortunate hollow that tried to strike him from the back and caused the hollow to release a howl full of pain. Grinning like a maniac, White immediately retracted his hand and gave the gaping hole in the hollow's chest a satisfied glance. Then he jumped at the hollow's shoulder and bit a good portion away.

"?"

Just as he was about to gulp down the spiritual particles, White felt several long appendages wrapping around his whole body in an attempt to immobilize him. Slowly turning his head, he threw the Guardian, the one using the appendages, a dangerous glare.

"Gillians!"

Sensing an influx of reiatsu, White slightly tilted his head and looked around to see more than a dozen Menos Grande surrounding him with their mouths wide open. He also noticed a few of the smaller hollows following the fashion.

"Don't kill him, though. Giving him to Las Noches could bring us some nice benefits." The Guardian said right before a shower of bright heavy energy descended upon White like an avalanche.

The combined force of several Cero caused them to detonate in a powerful explosion that swirled the sand and crated a small dust storm all around the place. When the air cleared, it revealed White kneeling on the only leg he had left. His larger sword was lying next to him, as he did not have his right arm. From the elbow down, instead of an arm there were only remains of a bone. However, to the Guardian's ire, White's grin never faded away.

"Now!"

A few hollows decided it was the time to completely knock White down and leaped straight at him, only to get blasted away when he expelled a tremendous amount of reiryoku from his body that caused the sand around him to evaporate. At the same time, his limps began to regrow at a fast pace.

Clicking his tongue, the Guardian instantly stretched the appendages from his back only to be forced to fall back when White's smaller sword almost split his head in two. Glaring at the Guardian, White's body glimmered in a red aura and his mouth slowly opened.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

An overwhelming roar reverberated through the Forest of Menos like a siren, a premonition of death, and caused every single Menos Grande to quickly turn around and flee in terror. The other hollows briefly froze and stared at him in fear. The Guardian was the only one who stubbornly refused to back down but the drop of sweat on his forehead brought him to his senses.

"Fall back!"

White faded out of existence, only to appear above one of the hollows with his regrown hand already smashing right through the unlucky victim's skull. It took him only a second to absorb the dead's essence.

"…damn these newborn Adjuchas. So weak." The Guardian muttered and watched as White tore through yet another hollow. The poor creature tried to put up a fight, but the difference in power was clear.

"Cero for the escape. All of you." The Guardian stated and opened his mouth. Once an orb of energy formed at the tip of his tongue, he blasted it at White along with several others.

One or two blasts managed to hit White but the damage was superficial. Still, the force behind them slowed him down just enough for his enemies to scatter and flee. He still felt the traces of their spiritual energies but didn't try to follow them. Instead, he turned to the last hollow he slaughtered and bit into it with ravenous appetite. Once he was finished with his meal, he simply turned away and began walking forward.

Two days later

Wandering through the Forest of Menos had turned out to be fairly fruitful. While he hadn't encountered a single opponent that would have given him much trouble, White felt that the urge to kill was slowly decreasing with each passing hour and with every enemy he had slain. But the more he was roaming the not-so-proverbial forest, the less hollows he came across. Maybe those lucky ones that had survived encounter with him spread the word about him or maybe it was because of his spiritual pressure that had been constantly rising.

By the time he had returned to the hole in the sky through which he had come to the forest, White knew the Guardian was no longer the strongest hollow in there. The intelligent Adjuchas had tried to attack him once more but, to Guardian's surprise, Gillians had refused to aid him and fled away as soon as they had seen White glaring daggers at them. The Guardian had managed to escape again but not before receiving life-threatening injuries to his whole body. White really wanted him to try his luck one last time; the thick taste of Guardian's spiritual energy causing him to lick his teeth. It had been the best meal he had so far. Not the tastiest but definitely the most fulfilling.

Looking at the hole high above him, White glanced at the trees, the large thick constructs he had thought to be just columns, that were scattered all around the forest and growled quietly.

While fond of the never-ending supply of food, he was slowly getting sick of the forest. Lowering himself a bit, he prepared to leap in the air. He gave the forest one last glance, when he noticed a small hollow walking around him in a small distance. For just a second, he locked eyes with him.

No communication happened between them but White still turned away from the creature and focused his attention on getting the angle of his jump right. In his mind, in the animalistic vortex of chaotic instincts, he knew he would have probably enjoyed killing the hollow. However, the slightly twisted yet humane logic of his thoughts convinced him to let the creature live.

Why would he kill it now, if he could wait for it to get stronger and only then enjoy the fight that would surely turn out to be a lot better?

With that in mind, White strained his legs and finally leaped in the air. The booming sound left in his wake echoed through the forest like a loud farewell. Grabbing a tree branch with his clawed hands, he repeatedly jumped from tree to tree until, barely a minute later, he hopped through the hole's edge and landed on the bright sand that held absolutely no warmth.

For a second, he thought about how smaller the hole was compared to the moment when he had created it. Then the thought evaporated, replaced with the reflection of a moon that etched itself deeply into White's eyes. Subconsciously lowering his reiatsu output, White felt something strange entering his body. Riding on his veins, the feeling quickly spread through his whole body like a poison that didn't hurt. At first, he tried to fight it. But when that didn't work, he changed the tactics and tried to understand it.

But he was way over his head. That confusing feeling was something a creature like him could never comprehend. Not unless he acquired the one thing every hollow so desperately yearned for; the heart.

Still, not being able to comprehend did not stop White from continuing to stare at the Moon, the one thing that triggered the feeling. It was just so amazing. Monumental even. Staring at the Moon slowly infected his mind and made him feel the same ecstasy he had felt while slaughtering his enemies. Hacking, cleaving, splitting bodies and spilling blood, all of that paled in comparison with the Moon.

It was never-ending, continuously arousing.

Like warm blood dripping down from hungry mouth, the reflection of the Moon made White feel alive. Like the metallic taste of fresh blood, the image of the heavenly object fulfilled his earthly desires.

Guided by its light, White felt his legs moving. Not knowing where the journey would take him, White let go of his fighting instinct, his horse of war, and entered the void of his inner instinct. One step after another, he walked across the dunes of oblivion and ignored anything and everything around him. A Cero could blow straight through him and make a gaping hole in his stomach and he wouldn't have felt it.

By the time he came to himself and regained at least some of his consciousness, he realized his steps took him to a place that looked like ruins of something. A wall here, a stairway there, the location felt foreign and almost evil, yet a part of White's psyche screamed at him to stay. That it was a place of comfort and that he would be safe there.

Hovering his claws just above the ruins, he eventually found the highest place and sat right on it. With a peaceful mind, he leaned into a stone wall and let the Moon reflect in his eyes once more.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there but, after some time, he felt as if something stung him in his side. It didn't hurt but he still felt it. Ire entered his serene mind and quickly evolved into a rage when he realized somebody invaded his safe heaven.

He detected two reiatsu signatures. Both stank. They stank like Shinigami.

When he moved his head towards their sources, it was then when he received a devastating kick to the head.

"Sorry Ichigo. Kisuke said we don't have much time so this is going to hurt."

A terrifying grimace creeped onto White's face as his urge to kill skyrocketed.

End of chapter 28.


That's it for chapter 28. You had to wait longer for it and I'll explain in short terms the reason behind it.

1. I got sick. Stubborn as I am, I did not stop going to work. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Lesson learned. I'm fine now.

2. The information about Bleach really, truly ending in just few weeks (less than 5) hit me hard. I have to admit, I spent several days feeling very empty and lethargic.

3. The backlash from the previous chapter. No, seriously.
I said it many times and I stand by my words. I value input and criticism. It just took me by big surprise just how many of you didn't like the last chapter. There were some who liked it (and God bless their souls) but the majority did not. It took the wind out of my sails. In that moment, I thought to myself:

"Hey, I don't want that. I don't want my readers to think my story as something frustrating. I want them to read it with just as much enthusiasm as I have when I'm writing them."

Of course, I can't please everyone but it got me thinking that there must be something I am doing wrong. Because of that, I spent a lot of time (more than half of the time it took me to write this chapter) revising, rethinking, rewriting and reinventing the future of this story. I scrapped many ideas I realized sounded pretty outlandish, if not stupid. I'm still not completely satisfied but it's a start.

About this chapter: The secret about Ichigo is out and it creates little fissures, a discord, among the Gotei. I tried to portray it as plausible as I could without changing characters' personalities too much. About Isshin - he's not exactly "stupid" for going along with the spar. It was foolish thing to do and he realizes that now. However, back when he came to Soul Society, he and Ichigo had a small talk about what happened to Ichigo so far. It was then when Isshin did not completely understand just how fucked up and emotionally damaged Ichigo became. I could go on and on about this but I trust you to understand where I'm going with this.
Moving on, Ichigo's hollow adventures in Hueco Mundo. At the beginning I used the pronoun "it" when addressing hollow Ichigo. It was intentional. The change to "he" was intentional as well. I'm sure you understood. The part about the Moon was heavily symbolic and I think I got it right. I hope.

Who came to get Ichigo? Well, maybe you deduced, maybe you didn't. Either way, things are getting very heated.

This is the first time I won't be addressing reviews. There were too many of them. However, I'll say some general things.

Vizards will appear soon. I admit, making Yuno as a homage to Yuno Gasai was a mistake. She should have been a completely original character. Angst will lessen. Ichigo's new form in manga is similar to what I have in store for this story. Also, romance is not main part of this story. I do view criticism as a good thing. Yhwach and Zangetsu did not talk to Ichigo because *look as review from Dinner* yep, because he wouldn't have listened. Also, the yells Ichigo heard before he turned were actually from these two gentleman. Will Yamamoto forgive Ichigo? Heh. Ichigo will gain new abilities soon. Ichigo turned to a hollow in an area surrounded by Sekkisekki stone, which blocks most of reiatsu. Until it got destroyed, that is.

That's all. I am going to have a 2-weeks long holiday soon so I hope I can turn that free time to writing. Until next time!