Chapter 6 I will get back Orihime's heart! I will save Kyrie!

Ichigo Kurosaki felt the texture of the hollow mask in between his fingers whilst the reborn Orihime Inoue, gazed down upon him with the coldest heart-numb stare.

"You want to know if I'll hollowfy or not? Is that what you are really asking me to do Orihime?" Ichigo questioned the snow haired espada who wore the same facial features as the cheery teenage girl.

"That's right Ichigo. Please won't you put that mask on and join my new family?" Orihime kindly requested as the substitute soul reapers hands began to shake.

"You really won't be frightened of me once I put on the mask? I know how much this power scares you Orihime." Ichigo said as he stared directly at the girl he loves.

"Of course I won't be scared Ichigo. It took me a while to realise, but you look much cooler with the mask on. It makes my heart skip a beat when you have those golden eyes looking directly at me." Orihime said as Ichigo lifted the mask closer to his face.

"It's just as I thought then…." Ichigo said as he suddenly increased the strength of his grip against the frightening accessory.

Pieces of Ichigo's newly formed mask scattered onto the floor like rain drops.

"What you just said confirms my suspicions. You're not Orihime!" Ichigo said as he wielded Zangetsu tightly within his grip.

"I'm hurt Ichigo. Of course it's me." The pale looking Orihime stated showing no signs of believing Ichigo's outrages claims.

"No way! Orihime would never happily stand there and let me turn into a monster! I swore to her the day I got my powers back from the captains and my friends. I gave her my word…. I promised her I would never wear this mask ever again!" Ichigo said now causing Ulquiorra to prepare for Ichigo's attack.

"Such a typical human, always listening to that useless organ you call a heart. And yet, you fail to use the eyes embedded in your skull that show you the truth before you. She's one of us now." Ulquiorra said as he created yet another emerald spear aiming it at Ichigo.

"That's bullshit! There is no way in hell that you monsters would be able to change Orihime!" Ichigo yelled as he dashed towards Ulquiorra with his maximum speed.

All of a sudden, Ichigo's expression took a drastic turn as his face transformed from one of fury to one of despair.

Ichigo tried his best to comprehend what was happening at this very moment as his blade's path was being blocked by a heinous amethyst shield.

"Orihime…" Ichigo said as he stared into her golden eyes.

"Now, now Ichigo, I can't have you hurting one of my children now can I? Ulquiorra leave Ichigo to me. Go back to the lab and prepare for stage two of the plan. " The pale Orihime said making Ichigo sweat nervously.

"Of course." Ulquiorra said. Vanishing into the darkness of the corridor leaving the pale Orihime and Ichigo in the room alone.

"Orihime why are you protecting that Arranchar?! I know that you sympathise with the enemy, but this is taking things to a whole new level?!" Ichigo almost yelled as his confusion continued to trap him.

"Because I am the mother of the new espada which will soon be born into this world. Didn't I already say that to you? That's why I want you to be one of us again. Ichigo join our family." Orihime said making Ichigo's eyes revert to blood thirsty stare.

"There is no way in hell that you are Orihime! Stop imitating her you monster!" Ichigo said as his anger began to make his decision before him and smash through her shield.

"Ichigo! What's happening right now? Help me!" The pale Arranchar said as her eyes suddenly changed from golden to their original silver shade.

Ichigo suddenly froze as soon as this change occurred and vastly dropped his guard.

All of a sudden, an evil grin became visible on the just recent damsel in distress as a green energy orb appeared in her hand.

"Cero!"

Ichigo with his guard dropped, suffered a direct hit from the evil Orihime's cero as the attack pierced through his shoulder.

After a momentary flight, Ichigo landed onto the ground in a crouching position, with one hand pressed against the wound on his shoulder.

"What the hell just happened?! Ichigo said as he failed to understand why Orihime's innocent face suddenly appeared on that beast's face.

"It's just like I told you before Ichigo. I am Orihime. Well you could say the new Orihime." The mysterious Arranchar said as she rubbed her finger tips against the jewellery wrapped around her neck.

Ichigo analysed the necklace carefully it was a hexagon shape and coming through the core of its amethyst coloured centre, Ichigo picked up on a powerful malice.

"You see, that feeble human used to be the owner of this body until this necklace was placed on her after she voluntarily gave herself up to protect that other weak girl." The espada said making Ichigo shake in anger.

"What the hell is that necklace for?! What did you do to Orihime?!" Ichigo questioned making the espada grin.

"You're so eager aren't you? Questions after questions. It's quite simple when you think about it. This is a prototype as a new method to forcibly hollowfy humans." She said making Ichigo hate himself for letting Orihime go through all of this.

"What did you just say?!" Ichigo replied angrily knowing all too well the suffering his beloved was going through this very minute.

"She's still putting up a little resistance. But it's not a problem. Orihime. The Orihime you knew is dead. But don't worry Ichigo, you can still be with your precious Orihime. After all, I am Orihime. I retain all of our memories together and of course I still love you. But if you don't hollowfy and become part of my new family, I will have no choice but to kill you as the soul reaper you are." She coldly said making Ichigo pissed off.

"How the hell can you say such evil words and still claim to be Orihime?! I know she's still in there and I'm going to bring her back just like I promised her! And anyway you look at it, how to save her is clear to me. I just have to cut that damn necklace." Ichigo said now suddenly willing to fight who he believed before was in fact Orihime.

"Oh? Are you so confident with your sword, that you won't accidentally slit her throat in the process?"

"Shut the hell up!" Ichigo yelled as he began to charge towards her.

"Santen Kesshun I reject!" The white Orihime said but to no avail.

"You insects! Do you seriously plan on disobeying your master?!" She bellowed making the spirits Orihime befriended hesitate but then create a purple triangle shield as Ichigo came rushing towards them.

"Your feelings are nowhere near as powerful as hers! I can break through this shield with just my shikai!" Ichigo said as he acted on his words and effortlessly broke his enemies' defences.

"Prepare yourself espada!" Ichigo yelled as he was about to unleash his signature move on the body snatcher.

"Ichigo! Please stop me! I don't want to hurt you anymore!" The espada said as her face suddenly changed again.

Once again, Ichigo stopped in his tracks and suffered another critical hit as the hollow Orihime used Koten Zasshun to attack Ichigo with the hesitating spirit Tsubaki.

Ichigo recovered from the assault and charged again.

"Getsuga…" Ichigo began to say but once again, the hollow played games with his head and released her control.

"Stop me Ichigo!" Orihime cried out as the soul reaper tried to go through with it.

With his weakness on display again, the hollow took advantage of the situation and punched Ichigo straight in the gut.

However, the hollows dastardly deeds did not stop there. After Ichigo took the first attack, the espada unleashed a deadly blast to the substitute soul reapers abdomen.

"Gran ray cero!"

Ichigo fell backwards his body colliding with the floor and staining it with his blood. As it rushed out of the gaping hole in his stomach.

"Foolish human. You backed down at the final moment. All because your so called heart couldn't resist holding back against me the moment I let the human speak out." The espada said as she suddenly picked up Ichigo's discarded Tensa Zangetsu.

"Now here is where you die. Bye Ichigo I love you." The espada said as she began to raise Ichigo's black katana above her head.

Meanwhile deep in the mind of the body snatcher, a frightened and powerless girl, was being forced to face her worst nightmare through the eyes of her own body.

"No don't do it! Please not Ichigo!" Orihime screamed as she remained trapped inside a cage of bones.

"Now here is where you die." Orihime heard her possessor say as she now stared at Ichigo's bleeding body.

"Somebody! Anybody! Please help Ichigo!" Orihime said as her eyes flooded with tears.

Suddenly, Orihime stopped crying and clenched her fist near her heart.

"No! I'm always being captured and being saved by Ichigo! I trained so I could protect him! So he wouldn't get hurt anymore! I promised to always be there by his side to heal his wounds! And I got stronger so I could fight alongside him!" Orihime said as she began to find her spirit.

"I won't let you kill Ichigo you hear me! Ayame, Baigon, Lily, Shuno, Hinagiku and Tsubaki! Please listen to my voice and return to my side!" Orihime said making her hair pins vanish from the espada's hair and return to her own.

All of a sudden, a burst of amber light began to surround the espada.

"What the hell! What's happening to me?!" The espada said as one of her eyes began to turn silver.

"I'm taking back my body! I won't let you hurt Ichigo anymore!" Orihime stated as the Espada began to be infused in the bright light.

"You idiot! Don't you see, this man is your greatest weakness! If you didn't have him in your life, just think about strong you could become in his place?! His swordsmanship is clumsy and we could harness his power much more than he ever could!" The espada explained seeming to outsiders as if she were arguing with herself.

"You're wrong! Ichigo is everything to me! He's come to save me so many times, that there are no words strong enough to explain how grateful I am to have him by my side! Ichigo isn't weak at all! He's the strongest man I know and he would never do anything to hurt those who he loves! And there is no way I am going to let you kill him!" Orihime yelled now regaining control of half of her body.

"Don't get overconfident you worthless human! I am in control of your body now! Now watch as I kill the man who is as you say everything to you!" The espada said as she tried to lower her sword.

However, her descent was once again delayed when a strong force was holding her back.

As the espada looked over her shoulder, she saw a strong amber light surrounding her hand and the pain of having her control torn away from her, was unbearable for the believed to be dominant espada.

As the espada cried out in pain, Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu flew into the air landing perfectly into Orihime's regained hand.

"What are you doing?! Stop!" The espada yelled as Orihime began to tug at the skin attaching necklace.

"This time… I will save Ichigo!" Orihime said as she ripped the necklace clean from her chest and threw it down to the floor.

Orihime began to scream from the pain of ripping the necklace off her chest. But this pain was not going to prevent her from completing her mission.

The hollow cried out in anger as Orihime began to stab into the amethyst necklaces core and exorcise the spirit which tried to possess her.

"Impossible!" The espada cried out as her existence in that moment, came to an end.

Orihime collapsed to her knees in exhaustion. However, she did not stay on her knees any longer as she rushed towards the unconscious substitute soul reaper who was able to stay conscious long enough to see Orihime begin to fight back.

"Sotten Kisshun!" Orihime yelled bringing her healing powers back to maximum as a giant dome began to tower over the dying man.

"I don't understand, why isn't he getting better?!" Orihime said as tears escaped her tear ducts.

"Most likely, that necklace has been draining his spiritual pressure and his life force. It seems that your healing powers alone won't be enough to save him." Ayame said as she and her allies tried to heal the soul reaper at their full size again.

"No that can't be true! Don't die Ichigo! I need you!" Orihime said as she collapsed onto his chest in tears.

"Don't panic brat! Ayame wasn't done!" Tsubaki said in an irritated tone as he tried to stop his ears ringing.

"Really? Then what do I have to do Ayame?" Orihime pleaded to her spirit friend.

"You have to focus your healing power deeper inside him instead of around him. Focus deep inside the wound and focus your feelings in the centre of it. And whilst you are doing that, you need to lend him some of your spiritual pressure to start him up again." Ayame said calming Orihime down.

"But how do I do that?" Orihime said clearly confused as to how she would be able to give Ichigo some of her spiritual pressure.

"It needs to be given to him orally." Ayame said making Orihime blush.

"You mean a kiss?" Orihime said the very thought making her embarrassed to kiss Ichigo without his consent.

"Orihime, if you don't give Ichigo any spiritual pressure to help his own recover, he will die!" Lily said making Orihime put on a new expression.

"I understand. I'll do whatever I can to save Ichigo." Orihime said as she closed her eyes and placed her lips upon his.

Suddenly, the giant healing in which Orihime had created, began to shrink down and approach the wound Ichigo had obtained in a smaller dome around it.

As the healer kissed Ichigo with all of her feelings expressed, a portion of Orihime's spiritual pressure began to enter Ichigo's body and his body began to raise in temperature.

A bright light blinded all of the spectators and Ichigo's heart beat began to beat once more.

The hole that was painfully drilled into Ichigo was now gone.

Orihime smiled when she placed her head against his chest and heard his rhythmic heartbeat thumping against her ear.

"Thank goodness. Ichigo is alive." Orihime said as she once again cried into his toned chest.

Really sorry for the long wait! But that is chapter 6 done! After I finished my latest project, I really wanted to take a break and have some me time so I could come back and continue this story with a clear head. And I thought after I uploaded another story to my page, it was time to resume project Piercer of heaven. So what did you guys think of this chapter? Please let me know .