Chapter 43:

Hitsugaya moved closer to Byakuya's body, investigating. The Captain of Squad 12 clicked his tongue, still on the roof of the other building.

"All your eggs in one basket, my ass. Please." Mayuri pulled out a second syringe and looked at Hitsugaya. "Now, I believe there's still one vampire left."

They looked around. Ichigo was gone.

"Captain Hitsugaya, if you'd be so kind as to round him up for me," said Mayuri. "This is my last chance to witness a werewolf pack in action, after all."

Hitsugaya stared at Mayuri, making sense of what he was told. He understood and knew what to do. He didn't mind. It was his last chance to have some fun as well. Ichigo may have been a vampire but he wasn't nearly as dangerous as Byakuya.

Rounding him up alongside the other werewolves was sure to be a blast.

"Leave it to us," Hitsugaya said before transforming. He turned his head and howled.

Shinji helped Kensei into a sitting position as he started to come around.

"What the hell happened?" Kensei asked, holding his head.

"It's sort of a long story," said Shinji.

Kensei looked around the courtyard where Ikkaku and Renji were still laying on the ground. "Were we fighting each other just now? What the hell got into me? What is going on?"

"Well, about that," said Shinji. "You see…"

Shinji's eyes began to glow, hearing the howl.

"You ok, Shinji? What's happening?" Kensei asked, seeing his eyes.

Shinji looked the other way. "Just stay here, Kensei. There's something I have to do."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Tell you later," Shinji said as he got down on all fours.

Kensei's eyes widened as he watched Shinji transform into a wolf and run off down the street.

Kensei rubbed his head again. "I'm not dreaming, right? Anyone else just see that?"

Hisagi limped over to Hitsugaya and sat own next to him. He was injured and in a lot of pain but still wanted to help the pack.

Shinji arrived alongside Momo and stood in front of Hitsugaya, awaiting orders.

"We have to round up Ichigo. He's the only vampire left. He's hurt but Nanao just gave him some blood, so he's able to move again. We have to get to him before he can bite anyone else or hide somewhere."

"Gotcha," said Shinji. "This should be fun."

Momo looked nervous and excited at the same time. "I've never rounded up anything before as a wolf. It's the same as cornering a Hollow, right?"

"Don't worry about it," said Shinji. "You're one of the pack. You'll get it."

Hitsugaya and the other werewolves put all their skills into this last mission. They caught Ichigo's scent after wandering the yard for a few moments. There was a trail leading out of the yard and down the street. Ichigo was traveling on foot.

Hitsugaya took the lead and followed the scent, the pack at his back. At the fork in the road, the wolves separated, traveling down different streets. The injured Hisagi was moving slower than the others but managed to do his job.

Shinji howled, spotting Ichigo. Pinpointing his location, the wolves ran to his position.

Ichigo stopped, hearing the howl and looked around. It was close.

A growl caught his attention and he turned, seeing a wolf standing at the end of a street that connected to this one. He couldn't go that way. He looked behind and saw another wolf standing there, showing its teeth. Another wolf stood in the street, having caught up to him.

There was only one way to go where the wolves couldn't follow him. Ichigo bent his knees and flew into the air. Before he could clear the dividing walls, a white wolf tackled him out of the air from a roof. Grabbing Ichigo's ankle in his teeth, Hitsugaya dragged him out of the air without puncturing the skin. Hitsugaya had finally mastered a controlled bite.

Grunting as he hit the ground, Ichigo got to his feet again and tried to run. The werewolves easily outran him, cutting him off before he could get more than a few steps away.

Targeting the weakest wolf, Ichigo went for Hisagi first, thinking he would be too injured to put up a fight. Hisagi barked and snapped at him and Ichigo backed off in alarm. It was a reflex reaction which he quickly recovered from and resumed his attack. By this time, Momo had come to defend him, barking and snapping at Ichigo while standing near Hisagi.

While he turned his attention to her, Shinji grabbed the back of Ichigo's shirt in his teeth and pulled him backwards. Ichigo swung at Shinji's face with his arm and Hitsugaya rammed his head into the small of Ichigo's back, knocking him off balance.

Ichigo pulled himself free and stood in the middle of the wolf pack. They kept circling him, moving constantly. The only way to go was up. When he tried, they dragged him back down. Ichigo saw an opening and ran that way. Hisagi didn't try to stop him, which Ichigo thought was on account of his injuries. Turns out it was part of the plan.

Ichigo was allowed to flee down a dead-end street where he stopped and spun around. Three wolves were approaching fast. A fourth appeared on the roof above him, cutting off his only other escape route.

It was a narrow street which led to a dead-end which he was currently standing in and with a wolf on the roof, he could not fly out of here without getting ripped out of the sky again. He was stuck, just as they planned it.

With his back against the wall, Ichigo hissed sharply at them and told them to back off.

Shinji shifted back into Soul Reaper form to speak with him. "I helped you through your Vizard training, I can help you through this."

"Then let me go!" Ichigo snapped. "Help by leaving me alone."

"You know I can't do that Ichigo. You're the only vampire left."

Ichigo again looked around to map out an escape route but there was no way out of here. The werewolves led him here deliberately for that reason.

"Ichigo," said Shinji, staying where he was so Ichigo wouldn't feel more threatened than he already was. "Do you really want to be like this? You're the last vampire. Are you really ok with that?"

Panting, Ichigo continued to look around. He looked as cornered as he was, physically and mentally.

"Ichigo."

He looked at Shinji. "Of course," he told him. "I'm fine with this. I like how I am. I like being a vampire. There's nothing wrong with it."

"You saw how Byakuya became. He was willing to attack Rukia and give up what remained of his humanity."

Still panting, Ichigo gave Shinji a pained look.

"Are you prepared for that? Knowing what you might do. No. What you will do. To your friends and family. Are you really ok with people like Orihime and Chad becoming food to you? Your sisters? Your sisters will be food to you. Are you ok with that?"

Grabbing his shoulders tightly, Ichigo hunched over with a groan. "No," he confessed. "But I can't help it."

He was at war with himself. It went beyond cravings. He was fighting his own nature. Which nature would win out? Which should he heed? They both felt natural to him.

"I know I shouldn't think like that, but I can't help it," he told Shinji, physically restringing himself. "I don't want to hurt them. And I won't. It'll be ok. It's like getting a boaster shot at the doctor. It'll only hurt for a second then they'll feel better. They'll be happy. I know they will. I won't command them to do anything they'd hate. They won't hate it anyway. After I bite them, they won't feel…"

"Ichigo, listen to yourself," Shinji told him. "You're trying to rationalize and I can see you slipping into your vampiric nature. Fight it."

"I don't even know what I'm fighting anymore," he told Shinji with a mixture of anger and sorrow. "I feel like if I don't, I'll regret it. This is what I'm supposed to do and it feels good to do it. Like it would be unnatural to stop. If I don't, it won't be right. You may as well be telling me to stop breathing."

"You're not as far gone as Byakuya. You can fight this. I know you can."

"I can control it. I know I can. I won't end up like Byakuya." Ichigo started panting again. "What I do won't be… I know I… He didn't know what he was doing and I do. I can be better. I am better."

"Ichigo…" Shinji took a step closer. He could see Ichigo losing himself again.

"I'm not forcing it," Ichigo defended. "I know they'll like it. Those who serve a vampire are happy, right? They won't hate it. Chad, Uryu, Orihime, Karin, Yuzu… They'll all be happy. They'll be happy. Their lives will have meaning and purpose and I can give it to them."

"What is the difference between a drug and what you intend to do?" asked Shinji. "It'll be artificial."

"How do you know? Drugs are addictive and my bite…"

"Is addictive. The minions always end up craving more from you. They want to be bitten. They'll hurt each other just to end up on top, thinking you'll reward them."

"I'll order them not to," reasoned Ichigo. "I'll learn how to do that eye thing and…"

"Ichigo," said Shinji firmly. "You'd be controlling them. You want to brainwash your sisters? Turn them into mindless slaves who live only to serve you?"

"Then I'll bite them instead."

"And what will that do to your relationship? You want your sisters fawning over you? Or Chad or Uryu? Put that image in your head for a moment."

Ichigo gave a whimpering noise as the picture was painted quite clearly in his mind of Uryu and Chad giving him loving gazes while blushing and pulling off their shirts for Ichigo to bite them. Ichigo shut his eyes when he imagined Uryu and Chad moaning in ecstasy, tracing circles in the drool Ichigo left behind.

"No, no!" Ichigo shouted and tried to beat the image out of his brain with his fists.

Making Ichigo uncomfortable seemed to help bring him back to his human senses for a bit. Shinji tried to take advantage of it.

"Then let us help you. Unless you want that imagine to become reality, you'll let us help you."

Ichigo tried to catch his breath, pressing his hands against either side of his skull.

He simulations heard 'let us help you' and 'give up what makes you happy' from Shinji's mouth and the human and vampire sides were clashing again. He didn't want to give up what made him special but he knew being a vampire wasn't what made him unique. The vampire side agreed while stating that it made him better. The human side didn't want to think of itself as better than everyone else but the vampire insisted it was best.

As a vampire, he was better than everyone.

As a vampire, he would put everyone he cared about in danger.

As a vampire, they would love him more.

As a vampire, it wouldn't be real love but a passion brought on by his powers. It wasn't natural.

As a vampire, he could command anyone he wanted. They would do his bidding. He would never have to face bullies again and be able to protect his sisters because no one would mess with him. If he so ordered it, they would leave them alone without need of a brawl.

As a vampire, he would no longer be human.

As a vampire, he wouldn't want to be.

This human side was clouding his judgement. Why wouldn't he want to be better than everyone else? To be superior?

He was a human. This vampire side was clouding his judgement. He needed to be rid of it before he was completely corrupted.

And give up all these cool new powers? Why would he ever?

He had Soul Reaper powers. He didn't need to be a vampire.

But blood tasted so good.

Blood wasn't supposed to taste good. He would be hurting people.

People who would then become enamored of him.

He didn't want it from certain people.

He could just order them away.

Ichigo shook himself, groaning in pain and indecision. What was he supposed to do? What was the answer?

"Ichigo."

They turned and saw Rukia walking towards them. She walked past the werewolves and over to Ichigo. In response, he lowered his arms but did not move away from her.

"You shouldn't come near me," he told her. "With these impulses and both natures feeling right to me, I can't say what I'll do next."

"I know you're Ichigo," she told him. "Gaining Soul Reaper powers didn't change you, so why would this?"

Shinji scratched the side of his head with a pout. "Soul Reaper powers don't typically make people want to drink blood. Hollow powers would be a better comparison."

"And you've seen me with those when they're out of control."

Rukia did not shy away from him. "And you learned to control them. You can with this, too."

Shinji gave her a look. "We're trying to convince him to give them up, not control them."

Ichigo grimaced again and held his sides. "I can feel both sides taking over. I know I shouldn't want this but I do at the same time. What do I listen to when I know biting people is wrong but another part of me can justify it? I'm both but I can't be. Something has to win. Only one can…"

Rukia stood in front of him. "You're still Ichigo."

Ichigo's lip was trembling.

Shinji and the other werewolves sensed that it wasn't from emotion.

"Ichigo," she said again. "You're not going to lose yourself to this like my brother."

Standing toe-to-toe, Ichigo drew a couple of raspy breaths before opening his mouth and biting her shoulder at the same time she drew her arms around him.

"Mostly because you won't be a vampire for as long as he was."

Ichigo felt a sharp pain in his back and knew it was a needle.

He took his mouth off Rukia and saw the blood he had drawn from her shoulder. His eyes kept dimming from a brilliant red to a duller shade. He gave her a hazy look.

"You tricked me?" Ichigo grabbed his torso and dropped to his knees as pain began to surge through him.

Rukia looked at the empty syringe in her hand. "It was the only way I could think of to get this into you. Otherwise, you would have dodged."

Hitsugaya changed back into a Soul Reaper and examined Rukia's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"He didn't get very deep, so I think I'm ok. Not that it matters." She looked at Ichigo collapsed on the ground with his eyes shut. "If he's not a vampire anymore, there's no point in there being a servant, right?"