Hello. It's been a while. This may be a bit choppy because I just finished writing it. Blehhhhhhh.

Anyway, I just wanted to inform you all on somethin. You may (or may not) have noticed, but Ichigo's not quite in character. This is on purpose since he can't really remember who he is. But he's still Ichigo, so he still thinks like Ichigo and acts like him too, but probably more out of instinct than anything.

ALSO. I wanted to put that this isn't really much a a paring fic. My reason is because I SUCK at writing romance. I may sneak pieces or hints, but nothing more than that.

True story. The most romantic line I've ever written was in quote "They kissed."

Pretty sorry, huh? Ah well, there's plenty of paring fics out there, so go help yourselves.

If you were to ask who I would pair up in this, my answer would probably be ichixruki or ichixnel. But NEVER ichixhime. Everything about THAT pairing seems...wrong. ha ha. Gonna get some hate for that.

Keep on reviewing if ya want more.


Lost Heart


I am alive. I am dead.

This heart of mine beats for no one.


The Soul Reapers stared at Ichigo with mixed looks of surprise, confusion, and wariness on their battle worn faces. It must have been unexpected for a Hollow to show signs of actually caring about what happens to his comrade.

Ichigo himself was unimpressed with their reactions. Did they really know nothing about Hollows? How weak, making assumptions like that! It didn't make much sense seeing as Soul Reapers controlled "life and death". Hollows were once human too, or did the Soul Reaper forget this small important fact? When hollows evolved, they gained or remembered some previous human traits, losing some of the monster within. It should be expected that those who have evolved far enough retain some human characteristics.

Careful not to betray any of these thoughts he was thinking, he yawned pointedly and motioned Nel to be off.

"Go have fun, I don't care how. Then we'll go to the river."

He expected Nel to rush off into battle, but she had turned back to him, face beaming and—to his annoyance—hugged him as tightly as possible while everyone looked on, their brains unable to comprehend this odd display of affection.

"THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH! YOU'RE SO NICE!" She squealed with pleasure at her sudden good fortune. Ichigo pushed her off, jerking his skinny body out of her grip.

"Yeah yeah, don't rub it in. Now leave me alone, I didn't sleep well and you're giving me a headache." It was true, partly; the headache was the result of his returning memories, not from Nel's jubilee. But he would never openly admit weakness in the face of enemies.

"Hey, I'm trying to break the tension and that's all you say to me?" Nel feigned sadness and turned away dramatically, pretending to be hurt by the rejection.

"Just make it fast and don't kill them, we did after all come here peacefully…"

"Oh, yes, a nice peaceful act of beating bad guys up,"

"Now you get it." He leaned back. There were two interesting twigs on the ground and he poked one with his finger. They were strange, so unlike the barren trees that were scattered around Hueco Mundo. Perhaps it was the thin air here in the World of the Living that lacked a comfortable supply of reishi was the reason for this odd mutation.


While Ichigo was absentmindedly contemplating twigs, Nel had dropped her child humor as she moved slowly towards the Soul Reapers, the sword at her side flashing in the sunlight.

"Who wishes to fight me first? I do not mind if all of you attack at once," Her confident challenge was answered by the short Soul Reaper Captain.

"I've got this."

No one seemed to disagree with her decision, causing the bold Soul Reaper to grin.

"Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi!"

The short Soul Reaper captain had unsheathed her sword and called it out so fast, not so much as a second had gone by. Her weapon was a short, golden claw positioned on her right hand's middle finger and looked quite capable of disembowelment. The captain wasted no time in charging Nel who had in turn raised her own sword. Holding her ground, Nel planted her feet in a defensive position, easily embracing the impact the two swords made when the collided.

"I'm Captain of Squad 2 and Head of the Stealth Force, Soi-Fon. Pleasure to kill you, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck."

Nel narrowed her eyes, dislike etched all over her face.

"Stealth Force huh? I've seen what they do, you murderers. How sad… picking off those who are wounded or can't fight back. The manner in which you carry out your duties suggests you only live to kill. Those who only live the kill are not worthy of the privilege of fighting in battle."

"I assuming you're referring to the incident three years ago?" asked Soi-Fon, not bothering to deny the accusation Nel had tossed at her. She pressed harder into her small pointed blade, forcing the Vasto Lord to give ground. Nel mustered more strength into her sword and pushed back harder, tightening her grip on her sword. While their swords were locked, the Primeria aimed a kick at her opponent's gut, but the Soul Reaper quickly vanished and reappeared behind Nel. As the stinger claw aimed for the Espada's back, Soi-Fon failed to notice how quickly Nel redirected her kick resulting in a sickening crunch located somewhere around the lower ribcage. Knocked backwards, the Captain quickly recovered a few feet away, showing little signs of pain, if any. Nel was almost impressed.

"I heard Baraggan was defeated by you and a Vizard. I am far more powerful then he was, if you don't fight me at full strength, you will die easily and quickly," the Primeria's voice was strangely ominous and distant; the sword was lax in her hand. Soi-Fon scoffed.

"No use to go all out if your opponent doesn't even TRY!"

The stinger was poised and dived hungrily towards its prey.

It happened so fast. The deadly hand had only moved no more than an inch. The next moment, shards of metal were falling with a clatter on the ground. Using Sonido faster than anyone had ever seen, Nel had stepped up to Soi-Fon and crushed the claw with her bare hand.

A moment of shock, then the small Captain was hurtled back to the Soul Reapers like some unwanted rag doll. She landed hard in the dirt, leaving a rather large imprint for such a short person.

"Please," said Nel darkly, "if you don't take me seriously, you will lose your life. The power you fought with now couldn't even be considered a threat. Underestimation; I seem to recall you all made that same mistake with my predecessors."

Her words hung in the air for what seemed like years, mercilessly calling up unwanted memories of Aizen and his Arrancar followers and where that had lead to.

There was a blur of movement and Nel suddenly found herself face to face with a monster, raising her sword only just in time to block a heavy swing of a large blade. Her attacker was the largest Soul Reaper there; his animalistic snarling face was filled with determination.

"Captain of the Seventh Division, Sajin Komamura,"

The sword pressed harder into the Espada's blade, causing the ground crack. Despite being overpowered with brute strength, Nel found herself smiling.

"I like your style, Captain Komamura,"


Ichigo sat silently observing the battle from a few yards off. He had tried to amuse himself by counting how many times he could have finished off Nel's opponent, but lost interest when the number reached 57.

It was strange, he had never really fought a battle before this, yet he was so sure of his skill. No one had taught him how to fight as far as he could remember. But the instinct was there, and the knowledge and strategies were there too. It was as if someone had already shown him how, he just couldn't remember learning.

Remember… perhaps that was the reason. The memories…

Ugh. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt. It doesn't make much sense anyway.

A movement out of the corner of his eye (or as far as he could see with his cloak on) startled him out of his thoughts.

"Mind if I join you?" The Soul Reaper Captain motioned to the ground and Ichigo shrugged. He couldn't care less.

The Captain wore a bright pink overcoat with a flashy design, a low hat to cast his eyes in shadow, and two hilts of swords that were pinned sloppily to his side. He smelled heavily of drink and his overall style was carefree. But what was most curious was his manner of speaking to Ichigo was more to an old friend rather than to an enemy.

"You're a very strange Soul Reaper," said the Cero Espada, unaware of how insensitive he sounded. Yet the odd Captain did not seem to mind.

"And you are a very strange Hollow," he responded, now looking Ichigo up and down with lazy eyes. Probably he was calculating his strength. But there wasn't much to see since Ichigo was entirely covered with his cloak. The only interesting think to look at was the long horn poking out from the hood and the lower half of his face.

"Your spiritual pressure is quite unstable. It must be enormous considering how much oozes out even when you're concealing it. Why bother wearing it?" The Soul Reaper gestured to the cloak, "It doesn't conceal you, so it's worthless in line for stealth. Or perhaps you prefer to keep the exact size of your spiritual pressure a secret?"

A flicker of annoyance passed through Ichigo's mind. He didn't like the word 'ooze'.

"I wear this all the time, even in Hueco Mundo." The Espada replied, fingering the rough fabric. "I was told that my normal spirit force killed everything within three miles."

"I see…" the Captain chuckled a bit, "So that's why you brought us out here three miles from any civilization. I wondered…so, why not take it off now?"

"No reason to,"

"Can I give you a reason?"

"If your blade can cut me, I'll consider it."

"I like a good challenge, so let's not try to be too laidback with the sparring, shall we?"

They both stood up simultaneously, only a yard apart. But neither moved an inch towards each other.

The air started crackling.

Nel must have sensed Ichigo's rising spirit force because she backed down from her current fight, only just avoiding being decapitated. She quickly used sonido to get behind the Cero Espada, sheathing her sword submissively.

The front of Ichigo's cloak parted enough so his hands were free to move, the white Espada uniform and long sword hilt were now visible for all to see. His massive spirit force started gushing through the small opening he had made in his cloak, drawing everyone's attention. It gave the aura of a hungry, murderous beast, so vicious and wild that if given the chance, would rip apart anyone who had the misfortune of getting in its way.

"Well?" Ichigo asked the Captain who had challenged him, "if you can cut me, I will fight you seriously and won't hold back."

"Hey hey, all I want is for you to take off your cloak. I'm interested to see how much power you've got."

"Then make me."

"I intend to."

The Captain disappeared in a swift movement of flashstep, drawing one sword as he did so. The Espada vanished in a loud crack of sonido, not bothering to draw his weapon. They both met in mid step, the Soul Reaper swinging his blade and the Vasto Lord swinging his arm in a rather (what appeared to those who could actually see them) as a lazy block. They both drew back instantly; landing a few yards away from each other, analyzing the latter's abilities.

"My my, that's quite impressive," the Soul Reaper complimented, grinning. "I must admit, that's the first time I've seen that technique—"

Ichigo said nothing but simply adjusted his battle stance and leapt forwards, this time on the offensive. He vanished for a heartbeat and reappeared directly above his opponent slashing his arm in a downwards motion, as if he were about to slice the Soul Reaper in half with his mere limb. The Captain's sword was in the right hand down at his side, there was no time for him to block. But Ichigo was not fooled by this 'chance', and was not surprised when the left arm (holding the second sword) rose swiftly to the defense.

"As I was saying," said the Captain, as if Ichigo wasn't currently trying to snap his sword in two, "the way you protect your body with a thick layer of spiritual pressure even surprises me. My zanpakuto can't even reach your skin."

His comment caused a few murmurs from the Captain, all but the Head Captain and Nel were somewhat taken aback. Even Uryu, the Quincy, looked somewhat stupefied. The two Soul Reapers beside him, a short dark haired woman and a tall red headed man were trying to usher him farther away from the stifling amount of spirit force that was starting to rise even higher.

"To some extent, yes," the Cero Espada replied, his tone was careless as he added in the same voice, "you're impatient."

Ichigo was referring to the fact that his opponent's right handed sword had started to sneak up to the clasp of his cloak.

"I know when a fight is going to last a long time," the Captain with a bad sense of style chuckled, "Although I should of told you this before we started this little duel, I don't fight serious until the challenger does the same."

Ah, a kindred spirit.

The blade was in such a position that if Ichigo drew back, he would rip the clasp. So he remained, stuck, with his right arm pressing hard against the left sword and his left arm clutching the right sword.

He joined in with his enemy and started to laugh. Loudly. Insanely. Then he stopped. Everyone was holding their breath. Waiting for the storm to break.

"Well, judging by the fact that you caught me and also taking into the account that I'm impatient too..."

It was no more than a whisper, yet everyone could hear him.

"You win."

The loud snapping noise of metal breaking could be heard, so could the tearing of cloth. At once, everyone was blasted backwards (or at least a few steps) with the sudden outburst of monster, roaring around the Vasto Lord, shielding him from view behind a dark red veil. But as soon as it had been released, it was contained yet again, melting back into the body a demon. For it was either monster or ghost that stood before them all now. Fate had a wicked sense of humor, their past deeds always coming back to haunt them.

The orange spiky hair flashed mockingly in the sunlight, a horn crafted into the side of a mask jetted out threateningly, his white hakama stood out like a beacon, the long, thin sword at his side no more than a place for resting one's hand. His smile scorning those who stared, the yellow and black eyes flashed from face to face as if looking for something.

Ichigo Kurosaki stood before his murderers, although he himself did not remember being murdered.

There was one who seemed to be able to tolerate his spirit force more than the others, and it was she who spoke first, who screamed. Her gray, purple eyes were hurt, confused, and overjoyed. She managed to stumble forwards a few steps towards the one whom she never thought she'd see again.

"I—Ichigo…you're…YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

The ghost, the demon, the one who had been murdered raised his eyebrows and scratched the back of his head, looking slight amused.

"Aren't we all?"