So very sorry for the updates being so far and in between lately.  I won't go bellowing excuses, because I'm sure I had some spare time during winter break that could have been used to update. I hope I've not lost all of those who have been so good as to read or write a review. Anywhoo… ENJOY!

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 4: Voices.

Only one thought was running incoherently through Ichigo's head as his body was struggling to remain upright. 'OH MY GOD!' A hollow larger than anything Ichigo had imagined was steadily moving toward the mass of people at the festival, all of whom were oblivious to the impending massacre that was about to befall. Ichigo was cursing his present form which was helpless to stop the advance of the enormous concentration of hate and hunger. He had now managed to get to the other side of the festival placing himself in the hollow's path, when he finally realized why the feeling of this hollow was so familiar.

'It's him! He really must have been serious about that revenge of his. This is impossible! He's nearly twice as big as before!' The monstrous form of the hollow suddenly waned, and the terrible force pressing against him seemed to wane with it. His attention flew upwards where a few wisps of clouds stood in front of the ominous full moon. 'Of course! How could I forget? That 'brother' of his uses the shadow of the moon to make him larger and more powerful! Godamnit! I hate feeling this helpless. Where the hell is Rukia? Ichigo was immediately scanning the crowd for a sign of her. He became more frantic as the clouds passed and the hollow resumed its path toward him. His thoughts were so concentrated on finding Rukia that he began to feel a… pull towards the trees to his left. Without questioning the feeling he rushed toward them. He wasn't more than a few feet into them when he spotted her. For some reason he wasn't surprised.

"Ichi… go," She stuttered. She was sitting with her back against the tree and breathing hard. It was obvious she was feeling the force of the hollow greater than him.

"Rukia! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Ichigo asked as he put an arm behind her back and helped her to stand. His concern only tugged more at her heart. She had fled the festival giving a fleeting apology to Keigo as she ran when she had seen Ichigo with… her. When the hollow appeared she was hardly able to travel a few feet before stumbling under the pressure. Regardless of what she had just gone through she immediately recomposed herself, removed herself from Ichigo's arms and braced herself against a tree.

Removing the glove she never let leave her sight she adopted a very businesslike voice. "I'm fine. Are you ready? You have to help those people." She refused to meet his eyes and it infuriated him. He wasn't angry at her but at himself for ruining the bond they had painstakingly created. Instead he just resolved himself as Rukia had done.

"Yes." With that he was pushed backwards while watching his body fall in front of him. His eyes however, never left Rukia's as he stood desperate for something from the young woman in front of him. Rukia felt his gaze and met it angrily.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" Ichigo cringed inwardly at her coldness, but only nodded and leapt high into the trees where he continued on his way to face the hollow. As he got closer he noticed a figure atop the area's only skyscraper. 'There! If I can only get to him I can take them both out.' He was beginning to feel that this would be far easier than he had feared when a terrible noise came from behind him. Waves of broken and uprooted trees were cascading toward him.

"Oh Shit!" he muttered before launching as high above the trees as possible. He saw the enormous gorilla-like arms swiping under him and devastating the forest. The hollow now stood between him and his brother behind him. He was eye level with his brother atop the skyscraper. Even from the distance he was from them he could hear the cackling of the diminutive hollow. A rush of anger swept through him as he realized the beast had narrowly missed Rukia's spot among the trees and he rushed them. Ignoring Rukia's cries of protest at his stupid tactics from the edge of the new clearing, he let his adrenaline take over. The smaller hollow's cackling stopped as an aura of blue riatsu surrounded Ichigo. Leaping as high as he was able he forced his large sword upon the hollows middle. Forcing his blade all the way down along one leg the hollow stumbled nearly falling before the deep wound Ichigo had inflicted waned in the moonlight before quickly becoming whole once more.

"You really must be an idiot!" the now hated little hollow cackled. "You cannot defeat the power of me and my brother! Now let him soften you up so I can eat you." The large hollow immediately swept his arm with speed his size shouldn't have allowed. Ichigo felt as if he had just been hit by a truck. His body finally came to a rest and Rukia made her way toward him shouting something. He couldn't make it out though what with that damn ringing in his ears. His vision came into focus before his hearing as he saw Rukia stumbling toward him. The hollow was in view behind her and in a panic he realized it had already wound back for another deadly strike aimed at Rukia.

"No!" He yelled. The swing from the hollow seemed to slow down to impossibly slow speeds, allowing him to take in every detail of Rukia's worried face. He was stricken with horror that he would not be able to reach Rukia in time when a deep voice began chuckling. 'What the hell was that?' The voice seemed to come from all around him.

"Are you afraid?" the deep voice that seemed to come from the ground itself rumbled. "Why do you sit cowering in fear when one you love is about to die?" 'SHE WON'T DIE!' Ichigo bellowed within himself. "Then stand, and prove that you are worthy of my power!"

Ichigo didn't really understand what was going on. Why time had seemed to nearly stop, the deep and mysterious voice, or how he could possibly save Rukia. He pushed all his thoughts to the side ass he surged his emotions forward. His desire to save Rukia, his hatred of the cackling beast in front of him, and urge to TEAR THAT THING TO PIECES exploded forth in a torrent of riatsu he had come to revel in. All at once the time seemed to resume around him. Rukia was floored from his explosion of power, and the hollow resumed his swipe toward them. This was much different. The hollow seemed to be moving at only a fraction of his former speed. When the swipe was close enough he severed the arm with a furious stroke. Rukia looked up at him in awe as he stood above her. He looked at her for a long moment as the hollow writhed in agony before disappearing. Suddenly the battle was on full force. Ichigo kept darting and slashing searching for any means to reach that little bastard as the gorilla like hollow constantly moved and swiped to divert him. The little hollow in the back seemed to be getting nervous.

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!" it screeched in a sadistic chant, and Ichigo had had enough. He leapt at the screeching hollow straight into the path of the large one. With a tremendous swing he cleaved straight through the middle of the first and hurtled straight for the second. The beast hollered in fear before a quick horizontal slash sent him into thousands of different pieces. He stood atop the skyscraper watching the beastly hollow wane away leaving his own enormous shadow in its wake against the moonlight. 'Damn' he thought ' that was close.'

When he returned to his body Rukia was nowhere to be seen, so he made his slow trek back home thoughts of Rukia weighing on his tired body. When he returned to his room the closet door was already shut so he resigned to just collapse on his bed and fall into an uneasy sleep.

The next few days went by in an agonizingly slow manor. Rukia refused to spend more time than was necessary with him. On his first pathetic attempt at an apology he was met with a carefree face of Rukia.

"Why apologize for that? There's nothing to be sorry for. Why would I be angry because you were fooling around with Inoue? It's not like there is anything between us." Her face was indifferent, (practice from every day at school with Ichigo) but she couldn't hide the coldness of her voice or the sadness that flickered momentarily through her eyes.

Her answer gave him a stabbing feeling within his chest so strong he nearly checked himself for an open wound. He felt so strongly for her it confused him, and he was sure she had felt the same. The doubts that had been plaguing his mind that she may not feel for him anymore, or she would refuse him because he was just some stupid teenager to her kept him from doing anything but look at her unable to hide the hurt she had caused.

Rukia was taken aback by his quiet response. Inwardly she was screaming for Ichigo to just hold her and tell her he loved her and make everything okay. But that couldn't happen. He would never do those things with her when he had Inoue, and it couldn't be allowed anyway. They would be forced apart eventually and nothing could stop that. Steeling what was left of her resolve she continued walking in front of Ichigo talking over her shoulder.

"Come on there's someone you have to meet. He's got something I ordered a while ago." Ichigo just followed glad to have something else to focus on. They arrived at a very inconspicuous little store. Ichigo had a brief conversation with a strange man in a straw hat. He had gained from Rukia that this man had moved from soul society, and he was who she had acquired her gigai from. Before he knew it they were on their way back with Rukia explaining the small pill she had received. She claimed that if he swallowed it he would be forced into his spirit form, and a 'trustworthy' entity would take over his own body.

"No way." Ichigo said simply.

Rukia's face held a bit of incredibility with its scowl. "What do you mean no way?"

"I mean there's no way I'm swallowing that thing and letting some jackass have my body! How do we even know this stupid thing would work?"

"When that hollow attacked the festival and I wasn't around to release your spirit form I knew we needed something for those times! Plus you're too heavy! Whenever you turn there is no way I can deal with lugging your ass around unconscious!"

Ichigo merely sulked in response. He HATED how she always seemed to win in every argument they had. "Fine. But I wanna test it out first."

"Test it out? Are you just going to try to get someone to swallow some mystery pill?" she asked him mockingly. Ichigo gave her a glare that said 'Isn't that what you just asked me to do?' They were interrupted by the all too common beeping of her insufferable hollow detector.

"It's six blocks that way" Rukia said pointing down an alley.

Ichigo groaned. "It's already getting late." He sighed. "Okay. Change away."

Rukia only looked at him with a smug smile.

"No. Just use your glove thingy. I aint swallowing that thing."

"You don't have a choice." She said simply. "I don't have the soul separator." (A/N what the hell is that thing called?)

Ichigo growled once more in frustration before quickly popping the pill and swallowing quickly. He immediately felt the familiar change as he slipped into his spirit form, but instead of his body falling limply next to him it stood with a curious expression on his face. After taking a moment to examine his surroundings a large and very sinister looking smile crept across his face which made Ichigo look very strange. He suddenly stood straight and saluted.

"Support unit 00272 at your service!"

Rukia looked quite smug as she spoke. "Your mission is to hold your vessel until Ichigo has finished exterminating the hollow.

"Yes sir!" His body said while a faint smirk crossed his lips. Ichigo however didn't trust him.

"And don't do anything funny with my body while I'm gone." Ichigo threatened as he took off in the direction of the hollow. As soon as Ichigo was out of sight the host started breaking out in manic laughter.

"Yes! After all these years I finally have my own body." He began to do various stretches to test out his new luck. Rukia watched the scene with uncertainty before she spoke.

"It's not your body it's Ichigo's. You only have to keep it safe while he's gone."

He laughed manically once more before turning to her and saying, "I don't think so. As long as I have such splendid legs I think I'll… KEEP IT!" with that said he shot off like a bullet leaping walls as if they were nothing.

Rukia just stood there blinking. "Oh crap. Ichigo's gunna be mad…" and she took off into the direction of Ichigo's house.

Ichigo had finished off the hollow easily enough, and returned to the place he expected Rukia and his body to be waiting for him. Needless to say they weren't there. Had the people passing by been able to see him they would have been scared by the tall menacing figure who stared at an empty space. He decided he would check his house… maybe they just went to wait for him there. He met with a jumpy looking Rukia on the way back.

"Oi. Rukia. Where is my body?" he asked attempting and failing to remain cool.

"Umm… you see.."

"YOU LOST MY BODY?" Exploded Ichigo.

"It wasn't my fault! He just took off! He was super fast, and he…" Ichigo had halted her with his hand and took a VERY deep breath.

"Which way did he go?" Rukia pointed and their search began.

The Other Side of Town

Ichigo's host was having the time of his life. Finally he could run and be free. All these fine women were one helluva bonus. He bounced from group to group attempting to seduce one of the women he met. Most looked at him with wonder and had little to do with him. 'I wonder if their not used to people jumping from buildings.' Suddenly a timid female voice came behind him.

"I – Ichigo?" It said. He whipped around and nearly squealed in excitement. There was a group of four girls who seemed to know this Ichigo fellow whose body he stole. They all looked at him with wide eyes save the strange girl with short hair who seemed dangerous. His attention was squarely on the one who had called his name. She was… gorgeous. Long shiny red hair, a cute very innocent looking face, and the LARGEST bust he had seen all night! 'This day just keeps getting better!' He quickly scooted up close to the confused girl and spoke in what he thought was a seductive tone.

"Hello beautiful. How would you like to come with me and get to know each other better." He cooed in her ear.

The unfortunate girl we know as Inoue could only blush and stutter a response that wasn't very understandable. The three other girls there however were furious. Inoue and Ichigo had acted as if nothing had happened despite the pestering of Ichigo's friends, and the girls who had all thought of Ichigo as somewhat of a mystery. Inoue's closest friends had finally had enough and decided to take the girl out to get all the details. From what they could understand Ichigo had blown her off during their date. Now here he was openly hitting on her after showing little to no romantic interest in her before. Lucky for Ichigo his new host had excellent reflexes or his body would have a large bruise across his face. He had narrowly avoided the foot of the more dangerous looking one. That was okay though he liked strong women too. He couldn't limit himself to just one beauty could he?

"Ichigo! How dare you play with Inoue's feelings like that?" Yelled Tatsuki as she let several more punches and kicks fly. Ichigo's host was enjoying the exercise provided by this very feisty one, but he enjoyed other things much more. He swiftly grasped her wrists and pushed them behind her back with each arm while he pressed his chest against hers.

"You know your pretty cute too up close." He chirped. Tatsuki was so shocked she ceased struggling for a moment. That moment was more than enough for him to move in and steal Tatsuki's first kiss. Luckily or unluckily depending on how you look at it Ichigo took that moment to pop in with Rukia in tow.

"Mother of god…" Ichigo whispered. "I'm a dead man." Rukia felt a wave of sympathy toward Ichigo as well as jealousy that everyone now seemed to have kissed Ichigo but her. Before she could berate herself on her thoughts a mountain erupted that was Tatsuki.

"I'LL KILL HIM!" she shouted fighting against the shocked girls holding her back. Ichigo was furious as well and knocked himself into the ground. (A/N wow I hope this isn't as confusing for you guys as it is for me :P) The girls were shocked to see Ichigo fly backwards and crash into the ground where he seemed to be struggling against an invisible enemy.

"Give me back my damn body!"

"Never! I'll never go back!" This was strange to say the least. Having to fight against yourself wasn't something Ichigo had imagined doing in his lifetime. His body managed to pry himself from under Ichigo and quickly sent a flurry of kicks and punches in a style very unlike his own. It was when this happened that Tatsuki realized there was something very wrong with this Ichigo. They had learned the same fighting style as children, and before Rukia came around she would have claimed to be closer than any of his other friends. The desperate host-Ichigo gained the upper hand and kicked Ichigo into a set of trashcans knocking them in each direction. The girls all gasped as a set of trashcans erupted everywhere in the direction Ichigo had kicked. He took one more look at Inoue with longing before racing away at incredible speeds.

"That bastard! I don't care if he is in my body ill still kick his ass!" Roared Ichigo as he took off in the same direction. The lingering girls all turned to Rukia with an expectant look. Rukia stood there laughing nervously and muttered something about it getting late, and better be getting home, before tearing in that direction once again.

The moon was high, and it was quite late before they managed to corner the outlaw on a particularly tall building. He immediately launched into childish tears and sobbed about not being allowed to live. Ichigo had heatedly told Rukia to remove him from his body, but Rukia chose to listen to the somewhat pathetic sight in Ichigo's opinion.

Suddenly Rukia said something that made Ichigo blink in disbelief. "Don't worry we wont send you away."

"WHAT? That sonofabitch caused me enough grief to last the rest of my life, and he DESTROYED the image I've worked for years to create!" Rukia turned to him and he founding himself getting a tongue stuck out at him from… himself! He would have flung himself at him if not for Rukia's sudden speech.

"We won't be sending him away again. He has as much a right to live as anyone else. Besides, we still need him for when I'm not around." Ichigo would have argued more, but he was just too exhausted.

"Whatever. Just get him out and let's go home." The host Ichigo suddenly leapt up and grabbed Rukia in an overly expressive hug.

"Thank you Ne-san! I promise to be loyal and help you guys defeat those nasty hollows." The speech wasn't what what infuriated Ichigo. It was the fact that he was crouched low in the hug to place his head within Rukia's breasts. Before he could act the body went limp and Rukia now held a pill in her gloved hand. Ichigo wasted no time in re-entering his body at last.

"Let's go home." Stated Ichigo, and Rukia wasn't going to argue. She was exhausted. Chasing a super energized refugee and enraged Shinigami would definitely do that to someone.

"So you were serious about keeping him huh?" asked Ichigo as he examined the small pill which held some ones soul. Despite all the bastard had put him through he couldn't bring himself to just toss him into the river. He wanted revenge, but he wasn't THAT cruel.

"Yea. But I don't know if we'll use him a whole lot, so I still feel kinda sorry for him."

"Could we put him in something else?" Asked Ichigo as he eyed an abandoned stuffed animal next to the road. Rukia followed his gaze and laughed.

"He can't possess a non-living body." She suddenly became thoughtful. 'Then again the pill is said to work on a human corpse…'

"Well it's worth a shot aint it?" he said as he stuffed the pill into the toy. They both stared at the strange stuffed animal with anticipation. Ichigo let out a sigh and was about to remove the pill when suddenly a loud yell was emitted from the thing.

"IIIII'M FREEEEEEEEEEEE!" It yelled as he ran around in short circles. "Girls lookout! King is back in town!" Ichigo began laughing full force as he said that, and Rukia was really trying to stifle laughter as the furry little thing posed in different masculine forms… if he weren't currently just over a foot tall.

"Hey! How did you two get so tall?" he suddenly began to frantically look around himself. "Wait-a-minute… I – I'm small! AAAAAHHH MY ARMS ARE ALL SHORT AND FUZZY! Whaaaaa why did you do this to me Ne-san? Why can't I use Ichigo's body?" The annoying stuffed animal continued to cry, but Ichigo's amusement was cut short as the said toy leapt into Rukia's chest.

"You can use that form while we're not using you for Ichigo." Reasoned Rukia. The little guy looked up at Rukia with wide teary eyes that she couldn't help but find cute.

"Thank you Ne-san."

"Let's get going." Ichigo said irritated. "I need some sleep."

"Why so grumpy Ichigo-saaan?" Asked the fluffy toy who shot Ichigo a glare and nuzzled closer to Rukia's chest for effect.

"Quit groping her you little letch!" Exclaimed Ichigo as he made a lunge at the little beast. The object of his annoyance continued to aggravate him while scrambling about Rukia. That was however the problem as Ichigo finally wrapped his arms around the toy to choke the life out of him he found his face inches away from her own. Seizing his moment when Ichigo let down his guard he summoned all the strength in his little furry frame and pushed his legs into Rukia's back forcing her face into Ichigo's. They stood there for a moment wide-eyed before Ichigo dropped toy and backed off. The stuffed devil found his safety among Rukia once more and noticed both of their flushed faces as well as their reluctance to look at each other. 'Jeez. It was just a little kiss… wait a minute!' A surprisingly evil smile crept across the cute little toy's face.

"Did Ichigo-san like his kiss with Ne-san?" The devious little toy asked slyly.

"Shut up before I turn you into a doormat." Growled Ichigo. The blush that spread even further across his face made the little fluff ball smile, if possible, even more evilly.

He shifted into the most defensive position he could manage before bellowing, "Ichigo loves NNEEE-SAAAN!"

Woohoo finished!

This is my longest chap yet, and I think they may continue that way. I didn't get to Kon's name yet. I feel as if this chapter probably also contains the most errors. I also rewrote a lot of ch. 4 cuz I thought I rushed it. I've finally gotten over the hump I had to pass in order to get back into this story, so updates should come MUCH quicker depending on how many people ask me to. If there are characters you think I'm leaving out you'd like to see just leme know. More Ichi/Ruki goodness promised in the next chap!

See you all next Time!