Chapter 8: Tear them apart

A flash of fearful blue eyes, pupils dilated in shock. Uryu?

Uryu was screaming! Screams that tore through his skull and gave him a headache. That stupid Quincy. Just shut up!

Szayelaporro was laughing, purring words at him, while he was inflicting pain and reveling in it.

Blood! Blood everywhere. Warm blood coated his hands and the smell of it invigorated him. He wanted to hurt that stupid Quincy. Wanted to feel him tremble in fear and pain.

The laughter echoed through his skull while Uryu's screams were getting more and more desperate. The sounds mixed up and made him feel dizzy.

Falling. He was falling down a dark, bottomless pit. He was not going to survive the impact, he was going to-

"Ah!" Ichigo abruptly sat up, panting heavily. Letting his heartbeat calm down while thinking over what had just happened. He lay in a corner of his cell, facing the wall. The dim lights were on. "Thank god, it was just a nightmare!" He said, relieved and tried to regulate his breathing. Sweat had formed on his brow and he wiped it away with one of his sleeves. When his panting slowed to breathing again, and his heartbeat had slowed down, he wondered: "How long have I been asleep?"

He heard the door open and the sound of a tray being put down. Before he had the chance to turn around, the door had already closed again.

That's when he heard muffled sounds coming from that direction.

Quickly he turned around and let out a sharp gasp. Uryu lay down in the opposite section of the room, close to the door. His body was in an awkward position, laying half on his belly, half on his side. One of his legs was underneath him, the other one stretched out. And he was trembling all over. His glasses had slipped of his nose and lay beside him.

"Shit!" Ichigo shouted and willed his body to move, covering the distance in a heartbeat. Grabbing the teen's shoulders to turn him over. "Ishida? Ishida? Are you alright?" He cursed under his breath. Feeling guilty, for not waking up while the guards had brought the Quincy back in here. "Ishida, talk to me! What have they done to you?"

Uryu just looked at him, while making short gasping and throaty sounds, eyes fluttering open and close. He was fumbling with his tunic and Ichigo realized he tried to retrieve something out of an inner pocket. Ichigo assisted him and pulled out a small syringe.

"This what you want?" He asked, but the Quincy didn't answer. Instead, he just took the thing out of Ichigo's hand. "Is that the antidote? Did that douche give it to you?"

Uryu started fumbling with the waistband of his pants and tried to get it over his hip. Ichigo didn't get what he was doing, but tried to assist him anyway.

"Ishida, talk to me? What are you doing? I can help you." The other boy opened his mouth and tried to say something, but produced only throaty sounds. His head lolled back and he made a gurgling sound. "What the hell have they done to you?" Ichigo was losing his calm, as something was terribly wrong here. He gently lifted Uryu's head back towards him.

The archer had managed to get his pants over his left hip and with trembling hands he tried to insert the syringe intermuscular into the soft flesh of his rear. He failed. When his sapphire eyes looked pleadingly into Ichigo's rich brown ones, obviously asking for help, it startled him. Uryu's eyes were red rimmed. Had he been crying? He'd never seen the proud Quincy cry, nor had he thought he'd ever witness such a thing.

"You want me to inject this?" Uryu managed to give a small nod. "Dammit, Ishida, I'm not touching your ass!" Ichigo knew this was not the time to joke around, but he'd blurted that one out before he'd even thought about it.

The archer just looked at him, his eyes full of misery, and tried to insert the syringe a second time. It was no use. He was trembling far too much and couldn't manage to steady his hand. Ichigo wanted to turn him a little towards him, as to get a better view of his hip, and by doing so, he placed the hand that wasn't supporting Uryu's head onto his lower abdomen and shifted his weight. The Quincy arched up violently and made a distressed gurgle. He was obviously in a lot of pain. As if scorched, Ichigo immediately retrieved his hand.

"I'm sorry!" Ichigo exclaimed. "I didn't know I'd hurt you with that!"

Uryu started panting. His eyes searched for Ichigo, wordlessly asking for his help again. The Substitute could feel his body go completely limp. Uryu's eyes fluttered and he lost conscience.

"Fuck!" Ichigo shouted. He pried the syringe from the other's fingers and decided he was going to touch his ass after all. He lay Uryu down on the floor, and crawled over to his unclothed, left hip. Gently, he turned him a bit sideways, so he could easily access the designated cheek, before removing the tiny cap from the needle and insert the syringe. After pulling it back out, empty, he carefully laid the unconscious teen back on the floor and readjusted his clothes.

Curious, he lifted Uryu's tunic a bit and saw a few large patches covered in surgical gauze on his lower abdomen. A little blood was seeping through them.

"Goddamit!" Ichigo cursed loudly. "What has that bastard done to you?"

He wanted to move the Quincy to one of the corners. It was stupid to think of him, but in the corner farthest from the door, he felt the safest. He didn't dare to drag the boy over the floor like he'd done the last time, so the easiest way to go about this, was to pick him up. He knew Uryu would murder him if he found out about this, but having him unconscious proved a plus this time. Without further hesitation, Ichigo lifted him up in his arms, one arm supporting his neck and one under his knees, and laid him down in his preferred corner.

Upon repositioning the archer's legs, he saw a flash of red. He turned him over a little to confirm it and gasped. A little blood was pooling underneath his legs, making heavy stains on his pristine Quincy attire.

"Holy fuck! I need to stop this bleeding!" Ichigo looked around, panic rising in his chest. There was absolutely nothing usable in their cell. He rushed to the semi-high wall covering the toilet and decided he could use a bit of toilet paper. At least, that would be cleaner than using part of his robes. He pulled of a few sheets and folded them neatly, before turning Uryu onto his side. He carefully tugged his pants a little down, to determine the origin of the blood, but there were no visible injuries. Ichigo gasped when he realized the blood was coming from inside his rectum.

"Oh my god… What have they done…"

He felt sorry for the boy. He had put him up to that hand job, while Uryu had specified the freaking Espada wanted them to have sex for him on display. Szayelaporro had told them the consequences would be severe, and Uryu had paid the price. Hissing, the Substitute placed his self-made compress against the back of the Quincy's rear and put his clothes back on top. He moved him a little, as to not lay down in the bloody stain on the floor. It was futile to put pressure on it, he couldn't stop the bleeding if it was internal…

He sighed and let his face rest in his hands. How many days have they been here already? Things were really getting out of hand now. He'd been counting on his friends to find them all this time, but… his faith in a rescue started to waver.


Uryu slept for hours straight after that. Curled into a ball in the corner where Ichigo had left him. Prior to finding the Quincy, one of the guards had brought a tray with fresh water and a little food. At least, the Espada had kept his word about that part. Ichigo had decided to only take the bare minimum of water, as he only needed sustenance to replenish his spiritual pressure. He wouldn't touch any of the food.

The Substitute Shinigami roused Uryu from time to time to give him some water, as his lips were dry and chafed from dehydration. Uryu would wake up long enough to take a sip, before darkness claimed him again. He hadn't eaten anything for days, which wasn't helping. Ichigo was starting to fear for his friend's life…

Ichigo had checked on the teen's wounds a few times, but there was nothing he could do. He left the gauzes on his abdominal region alone, as not to get them infected. He'd checked his backside for any improvement, but for the moment, the archer kept bleeding there. It wasn't that much, but it couldn't do him any good.

Ever since the guards took the Quincy with them, he hadn't spoken a single word. Ichigo had tried, every time he awoke him to drink, to get him to say something, but to no avail.

A few hours after the Substitue had found him, Uryu started shivering.

"Dammit!" Ichigo cursed.

He needed to keep him warm! Ichigo feared his low blood pressure, lack of food and injuries would get the Quincy to go into shock. But again there was absolutely nothing usable in their cell. Ichigo went to sit next to him and tried talking to him, but Uryu didn't give any kind of response. Running a hand through his short hair, he realized there was only one solution.

He had to keep the other teen warm.

Although Ichigo was a bit reluctant to do so, he'd just have to bear with it. His friend's life was worth a little embarrassment. Uryu would understand. Besides, after what Szayelaporro had ordered him to do before, this ought to be a piece of cake for a hero like him.

Ichigo went to lay on his side next to the Quincy and gently wrapped his arms around the trembling boy. As the other failed to respond, he slowly inched closer until he had pulled their bodies flush together, enveloping him in his body warmth. Uryu opened his eyes at that and the Substitute just gazed at his pain stricken face for a moment before whispering:

"It's alright, Ishida. I'll keep you warm."

The raven-haired teen opened his mouth to say something, but produced no sound. His eyes fluttered closed and he passed out again. Ichigo sighed. He was really worried about the Quincy, but there was nothing he could do.

After Ichigo had held him like this for a while, Uryu stopped trembling and the Substitute let out a sigh of relief.

He felt a soft blush rise to his cheeks. Being so close to somebody was something he'd never experienced before. Sure, he'd given enough hugs to his friends and family, being the cheerful person he was. But really holding someone, enveloped in his arms like this, this was new. It felt warm and serene and it made his stomach do weird flips from time to time. He knew it shouldn't be like that. He should be on edge because of the situation they were in. He was worried sick about his friend, and he had not yet given up hope to get out of here, but… He couldn't help it if holding another person, sharing his warmth and listening to the sound of his heartbeat made him relax. Even if he knew Uryu would get angry at him if he was awake. Even if it was another boy. At the moment, he didn't care and just took what little happiness he could get.

Ichigo'd peered at the Quincy's sleeping face for the longest time. He had never seen him off guard like this before. Nor without his glasses, which Ichigo had safely laid aside for safekeeping. He just watched the slight parting of his lips when he breathed in and out, the soft trembling of his eyelids. And when he placed his hand just right on his back, he could feel the rhythmic pulse of his heartbeat.

Uryu was just a little smaller than himself, so he tucked his head under his chin by sliding a bit up, and decided to take some rest, too.


Hours later, the Substitute awoke with a long yawn. The comfortable warmth his body was enveloped in, told him he was still holding the Quincy. And that the other boy's body temperature was alright again. Upon looking down, he found himself staring into 2 weary, sapphire eyes.

"Ishida! Thank god, you're awake!" Ichigo smiled. He'd really feared for the other boy's life. However, the look on the Quincy's face quickly made the scales tip into worry again.

Uryu was watching him intently, but… something was wrong. His pupils were dilated and drops of sweat were forming on his brow. A little color lit up his face, and that would have been a good thing, if the Quincy wasn't taking shallow breaths. He looked completely freaked out and his usual guards were back in place.

"What's wrong? Am I hurting you?" Ichigo asked worriedly and changed his hug from intense to loose, as maybe he was causing him pain, unknowingly. Uryu just kept staring up at him, frozen and confused. As if he didn't dare to move. When Ichigo tried to do so, his hand came to rest over the other boy's heart for a moment and he could feel it racing under his touch. Ichigo gasped when he realized.

"Are… are you scared?" The Substitute asked. Uryu remained silent but nervously licked his lips. Damn. He should've known this, after the state they'd thrown the Quincy back into their cell…

"Hey, it's me, Ichigo. It's okay." Ichigo tried. Then he realized the other teen couldn't see clearly without his glasses. He reached with his hand to where he'd left the specs and handed them over. The Quincy promptly slid them over his nose and pushed them up in his usual manner, his hands trembling a little.

"See?" Ichigo smiled a little at the other teen to emphasize his point. Thankful, he saw Uryu's features relax somewhat as recognition lit up in his eyes, but the Quincy was still eying him suspiciously and didn't say a word. Ichigo allowed him a moment of reprieve, to get his thoughts in order and realize he was back in their cell with him. After all, it was because his manipulations that Uryu had been submitted to the punishment of that freak Espada. Uryu probably was confused, besides the obvious pain he was in.

After a while, the archer let out a sigh, but remained completely silent.

"Talk to me, Ishida. What happened? What did they do?" Ichigo tried again, but there was no answer. Uryu opened his mouth, but only produced a soft gurgling sound. "Dammit! Just say something!" He gave the Quincy an annoyed glare. The latter had a sad look on his face and simply turned away.

Ichigo felt his annoyance rise. Even though he knew the other boy was gravely injured, he could at least tell him what had happened.

"Don't be like this!" Ichigo said agitatedly and broke the hug completely. Then, he pushed himself into a sitting position, losing his temper. "I've tried to help you. I've kept you warm for hours. Why won't you talk to me?" He huffed and glared down at Uryu.

Silence. Uryu was making gestures with his arms and hands, but Ichigo didn't care.

"Goddamit, Ishida! I'm not asking a lot here! I just wanna know how you're feeling! I want to help you!"

The Quincy tried pushing himself into a sitting position as well, but gasped from the moment his hands pushed down on the floor. One hand stayed there for support, while the other clutched his lower abdomen fiercely. His face contorting in pain, he just looked at Ichigo. His eyes full of sorrow. The little color he'd had on his cheeks mere moments ago drained away again.

"Shit." Ichigo already regretted what he said. "I didn't mean to…" He tried to help him sit upright, but Uryu pushed his hand away while making a strange sound again. "Hey! I'm only trying to help you."

Uryu wrapped his arms around his chest and looked at the Substitute, panting. He tried making gestures with his hands again. The Substitute didn't understand why he was behaving like this. What was up with him?

"Just say something, dammit!" Ichigo scoffed while giving him a questioning look. Uryu shot him an angry glare, before letting out a weary sigh. Why was he so jittery? What kind of torture methods had they used on him to get him in this state, Ichigo wondered.

The archer tried to get his legs under him to stand up, but failed. As he swayed sideways, Ichigo caught him before he hit the floor.

"Take it easy, Ishida. Why do you wanna stand up?" Uryu looked over to the toilet and Ichigo understood. He'd been unconscious for a long time, and before that, who knows how many hours he had been tortured, so it was normal nature called after all this time.

Ichigo knew carrying him, had he been in better shape, would spike the Quincy's killing drive. So he carefully helped him to stand up by placing one arm under his shoulder, while the other went around his waist for support. Uryu groaned and sank through his legs, but Ichigo kept him upright. He saw the archer bite his lip, not used to accepting help like this, but they both knew there was no other way.

"Okay, we'll walk over there slowly." Uryu gave a slow nod, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks.

So far so good. When they'd covered the short distance together, Ichigo asked him:

"Can you do this by yourself?" The Quincy sniped him down. "Okay, okay, just wanted to… sheesh…" Ichigo moved his hands to the teen's waist to help him stand on his own. Uryu wobbled on his legs, as was expected after being unconscious for so long, and injured to boot. The Substitute sighed, before offering: "What if I just hold onto you like this while you-" Bang! The other teen had just killed him with his eyes again. Ichigo sighed again, and released his hold over the other boy.

Uryu swayed again, making a weird groan, but managed to keep upright by holding on to the semi-high wall. Panting, the Quincy willed his shaky legs into action. Not knowing what to do, the Substitute Shinigami stayed behind him, just in case he should fall over. He mindfully averted his gaze, as not to upset the other even more.

Uryu managed to do what nature demanded him to, but after only a few seconds, he started making surprised and agitated sounds. He was clearly in pain. When the sounds mixed with a whimper, Ichigo couldn't hold back anymore. There had to be something wrong! He needed to help him somehow, but he knew Uryu's pride would never allow him to ask.

"Ishida, you-" He trailed off on a sharp gasp while taking a step forward. Uryu quickly readjusted his clothes and zipped up his slacks, before looking over his shoulder at Ichigo, wobbling dangerously. There were droplets of blood mixed in with his urine! The Substitute could see it clearly. His brown eyes searched for the Quincy's, and the look on his face made Ichigo instantly shut up. Uryu looked so confused and hurt it tugged at Ichigo's heart.

The archer's legs gave way, but Ichigo reacted on reflex and caught him. They sank down to the floor on their knees. He let Uryu sit there for a moment while he stepped up to flush the toilet for him. Wincing when he got an even better view of the blood Uryu had just peed. What the hell? As he turned around, his heart skipped a beat again.

Uryu had hidden his face in one hand. The other one was planted on the floor for stability. He was shivering again, but Ichigo honestly couldn't tell if it was from pain, anger or despair. When he made a wavering sob, he guessed it was the latter option.

"Ishida, " he tried softly, "please tell me what's wrong. Is there nothing I can do to help? I know that asshole has hurt you a lot, but you're safe now. It's just us in here. Don't be afraid to talk to me."

Uryu slowly lifted his face from his hand and Ichigo peered into his glossy eyes. He was doing his utmost to fight back the tears that welled up in his eyes, and succeeding at that. But Ichigo took it like a blow to the gut and made fists. What on earth had that freak done to reduce the Quincy to this? His frustration wasn't going to help Uryu right now, so he did his best to will his anger into a corner of his mind and try to comfort the other boy.

"Talk to me… You trust me, right?"

Sighing, and trembling, Uryu shifted his weight so he could use both his arms. He made a painful grimace, but proceeded, while Ichigo watched in wonder where this was going to. The Quincy then lifted both his hands and placed them around his throat as if he was choking himself. Next, he formed a cross with his hands and held that over his throat. Then he looked at Ichigo and waited for him to understand. It took him a few moments before he got it.

"Is… Is something wrong with your voice? Is that why you haven't said…" He trailed off, as the gravity of Uryu's infliction sunk in. "Y-you can't talk?" He said, shocked. He didn't even need an answer. That look Uryu gave him just then told it all, but the raven-haired teen managed to nod anyway. Ichigo sucked in a sharp breath. "That fucking bastard…" He muttered.

The Substitute wanted to tell him something encouraging, that it'll be all right, that Orihime would heal him. But Uryu was too smart for that. And he knew he couldn't get him to buy things he didn't believe himself. The only comfort he could give the other boy, was a soft hug. Ichigo went about it very carefully, as not to hurt him, eliciting a startled sound from the Quincy. Determinedly, the Substitute kept hugging him until his body stopped trembling and whispered:

"Sorry, for shouting at you earlier, but… I didn't know…"

The other boy made a soft gurgling sound again, while rubbing his eyes for a second. His eyes weren't glossy anymore, but he looked exhausted. A soft pink blush had spread over his cheeks. Having spent what little energy he had, he clearly needed to rest some more. Ichigo didn't ask for his approval but grabbed him back under his shoulder and around his waist, carefully crossing over to their safe corner. The archer sank through his legs every few steps, but the Substitute took care of that.

Uryu's eyes were half closed and he was panting when they arrived. Ichigo carefully lowered him onto the floor, while the Quincy watched his every move. Confusion contorted his features.

"Do you want something to eat?" Ichigo tried with a soft smile. Not waiting for the answer, he went to fetch their tray. It held a bowl of water and some bread. "I don't need food right now, so all of this is for you." He smiled again. "Here." He gave Uryu a slice of bread. "Try to eat something. You must be starving."

Uryu licked his dry lips and gave a small nod, but kept eying the water.

"Right." The Substitute put a hand under his head to lift it, while carefully bringing the bowl to his mouth. Uryu coughed again after his first sip, but Ichigo had anticipated this and held the bowl at a distance until his coughing fit was over. After the archer had drunk enough, he gave a small smile in gratitude. Ichigo blushed a little. He'd witnessed a lot of emotions on the Quincy that he'd never thought he would, and gratitude was the newest addition to that collection.

"Is-is it okay if I take a look at your wounds?" Ichigo asked a little hesitantly. Uryu, who was trying to take small bites of his bread, gave a soft nod again. The Substitute carefully lifted his tunic so he could inspect his abdomen. The gauzes on his belly looked okay for now. A little blood was still seeping through, but the wounds were closing up. His only fear was they'd get infected. They'd have to keep these injuries clean, but he had nothing to rechange these dressings. Ichigo sighed.

While he readjusted the boy's tunic, he saw no fresh blood stains on the back of his pants, but he wanted to check it out nonetheless. As Uryu would not allow him, he'd have to wait until the archer was asleep, which didn't take all that long, as the injured teen didn't even make it through half of his bread before nodding off.

Ichigo carefully moved him sideways, so he could take a peek. The sheets of toilet paper had dried blood on them, so he quickly removed those, dipped the corner a few fresh sheets into their water bowl and tried to clean some of the dried blood. He only did that once, as he wanted Uryu to be able to drink all of their water. At the moment, it seemed the Quincy wasn't bleeding from his rectum anymore, but he gave him a new compress of toilet paper sheets just to be sure.

Sighing, Ichigo went to sit next to his friend, monitoring him. How much longer would they be able to take that stupid Espada's torture?


After Ichigo had watched the Quincy for a while, with nothing else to do, he'd started dozing off again.

Suddenly, the light went on completely and Ichigo instantly woke up, narrowing his eyes to the brightness. When he heard a haughty laugh behind him, he turned to the screen.

"Hello there, Kurosaki Ichigo." The voice of Szayelaporro was like liquid venom to him. "How nice of you to show your caring nature for once. What would your girlfriend have done without you? Who knew you'd be the perfect househusband." The Espada mocked him.

"What do you want, you bastard?" Ichigo snarled.

"Oh, well, I just wanted to grace you with my presence today, as I'm rather occupied at the moment."

"Good! Go away and leave us alone."

"Sure, but I thought you'd be interested in what I did to your friend over there." The pink-haired man had used the right bait to get his attention.

"Spill it!" Ichigo glared at him.

"Oh my, aren't you eager today." The Espada crooned and wrapped a strand of hair around his finger. "Unfortunately, you've already figured out his little… speech problem. He's completely ruined my surprise and will have to be dealt with later."

Ichigo made fists and showed his teeth. "Cut the crap!" He yelled. "What have you done to him?"

"Well, since you two didn't do what you were told, we performed a little surgery on him. To make him understand his errors of course." Szayelaporro showed him a toothy smile.

"What kind of surgery?" Ichigo wanted to know. He didn't like where this was going.

"All will be revealed in time, Shinigami Substitute. Have a little patience. It will be a nice surprise, I guarantee it." The Espada laughed. "But something I can tell you right now is that he acted like a real coward. Screaming and begging." Ichigo growled at the pink-haired man. "Of course, while we were… cutting him open, unsedated, every time he fainted, I had to bring him back again before we could proceed. Lest the new pain wouldn't dull the old. He wasn't allowed to miss a single second of it." Szayelaporro laughed hysterically and Ichigo felt his blood boil, pushing his nails into his palms.

"You… You insane freak! Anyone would scream in a situation like that!"

He heard a whimper behind him. Uryu was awake and had probably heard most of their conversation. The Espada hadn't missed that either.

"Darling Quincy! How are you feeling today?" He crooned. "You've probably already guessed some details of your next… assignment, but the Shinigami Substitute doesn't-"

"What have you done to his voice?" Ichigo intervened.

The 8th Espada shifted his attention back to Ichigo and gave him a toothy grin. "I already told you he was acting like a coward, didn't I? He screamed so much he strained his vocal chords by himself. Making me crazy with his pitiful wailing. I only had to… inject a little extra treat to make him shut up completely. Completely paralyzing his vocal chords." Szayelaporro smiled darkly. "Who knows, if he's lucky enough, he might just regain a little of his ability in due time. That is, if he survives that long." With that, the pink-haired man threw his head back and laughed again, making his pink hair dance.

Ichigo felt his heart drop. He didn't know all the details of what this monster had done to Uryu, but to be cut open unsedated sounded like a horrible nightmare. Looking over at the Quincy, he saw he'd managed to sit up as well as he could, but he'd averted his gaze. This whole conversation had to be very confronting for him…

"You fucking creep!" Ichigo yelled. If the Espada'd been in front of him, he'd unleashed his Hollow power. Right now.

"Now, the reason why I'm here today." Szayaporro continued cheerfully. "It's not time for your next experiment… yet. Buuuuut, I'll give you a hint. Remember that time when you were interrogated? Your girlfriend was asked questions about you, and he gave us some extraordinary information. One thing in particular of that conversation stood out, and I want to share that with you today." He smiled wickedly again. "Well, here's what the Quincy had to say." He pushed a button and Uryu's voice echoed in their cell.

"I-I want Ichigo to fuck me."

Ichigo felt his jaw hit the floor. "What the…." Suddenly he felt a sharp sting in his neck and winced, grasping the painful place that was covered by the collar with his hand. Shit! He knew what that meant…

"I-I want Ichigo to fuck me. I-I want Ichigo to fuck me." The 8th Espada kept pushing the button, and looked at his prisoners with a toothy grin and an evil gleam in his eyes.

"I-I want Ichigo to fuck me. I-I want Ichigo to fuck me."

Ichigo who'd been stunned by what he heard, heard a sharp gasp that snapped him out of it and turned around to face Uryu, wide-eyed.

Uryu had thrown his hands in front of his face and looked equally shocked and completely horrified. As their eyes locked, he tried to make gestures with his trembling hands, but Ichigo didn't care. A dark blush of shame was spreading on his white features. He grabbed his throat with one hand and tried to force words out of his mouth, but to no avail. All the while the Substitute's anger was augmenting.

"I-I want Ichigo to fuck me. I-I want Ichigo to fuck me. I-I want Ichigo to fuck me. I-I want Ichigo to fuck me."

"Shut up!" Ichigo screamed. Szayelaporro started laughing again.

"I-I want Ichigo to fuck me. I-I want Ichigo to fuck me."

"Shut up, you asshole!" Ichigo didn't know if he meant the Espada to stop the audio file, or the Quincy who'd said these words, but he needed silence. Now.

"My, my, Substitute Shinigami, don't be like that. I'll stop playing the Quincy's message for you." He pushed a button and the relenting sound echoing through their cell stopped. Ichigo had jumped up and was standing right in front of the screen with his teeth showing and his fists ready.

"Well, now that I've warmed you both up a little, it's time for me to go." Szayelaporro said, tauntingly. "I'll see you soon, little lovebirds. I'm sure you have lots to talk about. Oh yes, Kurosaki Ichigo, I've only given you a small dose just now, as I still need your girlfriend alive. For now… It'll make your next conversation a lot more…. entertaining." He laughed again, and buzzed out.

Ichigo slowly turned around and stared the Quincy down with an ice cold glare.

Uryu just watched him with a trembling lower lip and horrified eyes. He tried making gestures with his hands again and shook his head to tell the Substitute something, but it was no use. There was nothing the Quincy could do or say to explain this and Ichigo didn't even want to know his reasons.

"What the hell, Ishida?" He shouted furiously. "Why would you say such a thing? Was that for real?" He felt the heat spread through his body and stomped over to the archer, looking ready to kill. Uryu just looked at him with wide eyes.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Ichigo grabbed his collar and lifted him off the floor so he could shout directly into his face. It was more satisfying that way. Uryu made a soundless cry, as his legs refused to hold his weight and he sank partly down, unable to stand. But Ichigo's strong grasp didn't let him and he was stuck there, held into the air.

"I didn't even know you were gay! You fucking douchebag!" Uryu tried to pry his collar from Ichigo's fingers, but to no avail. He tried talking again, but could only make feral sounds.

"I can already guess what that fucking Espada wants me to do next. You idiot! Have you thought about how I'd feel doing things like that?" He continued, shouting in the Quincy's face. He felt so hot and furious, and started shaking the other boy.

"How dare you give that freak insane idea's! You must be the last person on earth I'd want to fuck!" For just a few seconds, the look Uryu gave him was one of deep shame and hurt. Like he'd just taken a Zanpakuto through his gut again. The Quincy sucked in a wavering breath, before going limp and averting his gaze.

"You coward!" Ichigo screamed. "You're shitting your pants right now. Well you should, you gay asshole!" He brought his fist up and saw Uryu wince in anticipation of what would follow. Bringing his arms up to shield his face. Ichigo scoffed. As if that stupid Quincy'd stand a chance against him.

"You're not even worth it." He said in pure disdain and dropped the archer hard onto the floor. Uryu arched up and made a gurgling sound, before he started panting from both pain and stress. He stared up at Ichigo, with more emotion on his face that the latter had ever seen, before turning away with sad eyes.

"Coward." The Substitute said again before angrily marching towards another corner of their cell. He saw Uryu suck in another wavering breath while burying his face into his hands. "Yeah, you think about what you've done, you idiot!"

Both the Shinigami Substitute and the Quincy spent the next hours in absolute silence. Ichigo shot Uryu an angry look from time to time, but it wasn't like Uryu could try to explain himself anyway. He just sat where Ichigo'd left him, huddled in the corner, avoiding eye contact for the time being.

Due to the low dose of the aggression enhancer medication, the effects of the drug wore off rather fast, but… Ichigo's anger didn't fade completely. Even if he didn't feel the need anymore to beat up a severely injured Quincy, Uryu's words kept echoing in his mind… What had possessed him to say something like that? Had their previous experiment been his fault because he said that? Had Uryu already anticipated that was going to happen or had Szayelaporro just played them because of what the Quincy had spilled during his interrogation?

Brooding it over, he glanced at the archer, whom sat slouched against the opposite wall. Ichigo didn't know what to believe at this point. Had Uryu really said he'd wanted to sleep with him or was it a set-up from Szayelaporro? That freak had made a clone out of himself, so it couldn't be that difficult to create a fake message like that. Or could it?

Sighing, he tried remembering his own interrogation, but he remembered nothing after a certain point. After they'd brought Uryu back that day, he had clearly been tortured. His stomach clenched when he remembered Uryu's abused fingers from that time. Had the Espada just make him say those words just to seam war between them now? Ichigo ran his fingers through his hair, remembering Uryu had also apologized for something he'd said while drugged. Dammit. He couldn't be certain.

That look on Uryu's face couldn't lie, could it? When the sentence wallowed through their cell in Uryu's voice, he'd looked utterly shocked and horrified. Injured as he was, would he be able to fake such a thing? He was smart enough for it, but… The Quincy had always helped him out, there was no way he'd do Szayelaporro's bidding now. Either way, the Espada treated the other boy much more cruelly as him, so he could write that thought off.

Ichigo sighed. The emotions in his mind were battling for the upper hand, especially anger and doubt, but a little guilt on how he'd just treated the other boy mixed into the lot and made him feel bad. Even if the anger and doubt were reinforcing each other. He didn't understand and with confusion clouding his mind, he decided not to talk to the Quincy until he'd calmed down. Watching him, he saw the other teen was having a rough time too, but he'd managed to eat a piece of bread at least. Ichigo sighed again when he realized Uryu had left him a piece, even though he had told him he could eat up everything before his outburst.

Both boys just sat there, in silence. After a while, Uryu curled into a ball onto the floor again and swiftly fell asleep. Leaving Ichigo alone with a swirl of emotions.