Sorry this chapter took me so long to release. I had a few problems (school work for my conference at CHS and my English project; not to mention the low amount of inspiration to write this chapter for some weird reason).

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Chapter 14

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Ichigo ran from the shinigami, too injured to fight them, too rushed to think of going into Hueco Mundo to save his hide. He was just about to leave the village when he felt two reiatsu make their way toward him, at a very rapid rate. Dragging his claws into the ground to stop himself, he ended up about a foot away from Kurotsuchi.

"Tch, you're really annoying vaizard."

"Like you're any better, fucking bastard."

The hollow started to back up, and he realized that Nemu was behind him, standing there. He remembered how she never really acted on her own, so he jumped at her instead. Of course, he had forgotten that Nemu was nothing more that a konpaku soul pill in a gigai, so, she took the attack head-on, unmoving.

"So predictable..."

Ichigo's eye's widened at Kurotsuchi's words, and jumped away from both of them. He landed on the roof of a building that hadn't been destroyed yet, watching the two shinigami very closely.

"Damned shinigami." the hollow spat at the 12th division captain and vice-captain.

"You really should damn yourself, vaizard."

"Tch."

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A white arm lashed out at the shinigami lying in a large pool of his own blood, and lifted him up by the throat.

"You fucking bitch!"

Ichigo hung there, in the hollow's grip, making rapid and raspy noises in a seemingly futile attempt to breath. Blood ran onto Kuroji's white arm, as well as down the shinigami's body, flowing as if one poured water out of a bottle, thin and unending. The orange-haired boy's eyes were glazed over, dark brown overtaking the usual lighter brown. No attempt was made to free himself from his captor.

"You're the damned reason we're so weak!" Kuroji yelled as he slammed his shinigami counter-part into the concrete and glass.

Kuroji stood over Ichigo, who suddenly started to take a try at getting up, and away from his current threat. However, a sandaled foot was crushed into his back, forcing a scream out of the boy's dying body, and a smirk from his assailant.

"Dammit..." Ichigo managed to choke out before the same foot came soaring back into his back.

"You're nothing more than a burden. Not even worth existing, let alone living!"

Kuroji ripped Zangetsu out of the building, and shoved it about 2 millimeters from the orange-haired shinigami's vertebrae in the back of his neck.

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Rukia started to stir from her place where she had lost conscience soon after the hollow's attack had landed. She poured most of her reiatsu into healing the large hole in her the base of her neck, saving the rest for her final attack.

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Kurotsuchi and Ichigo stood where they were, staring down at eachother; each waiting for the other to make a move.

"Heheh..."

"Wha's so funny, shinigami bastard?"

"You, and how naive you're being."

"Wha' the hell ya talkin' 'bout shinigami?"

Soon after the hollow's statement, Nemu appeared behind him, holding him so that he couldn't get away without a struggle. Struggle he did, thrashing around; destroying homes by dragging Nemu across them as one would gum on their shoe; using his feet to shove her off; anything that came to mind.

After about thirty minutes of turning half the village into a fine dust, the hollow collapsed, exhausted. The female shinigami still clung with her left arm, seeing as how her right one was dislocated and practically ripped off. Actually, most of her body was badly thrashed, torn up, and bruised.

"Heheh, you actually did something descent for once, Nemu. Let's test this stroke of luck!"

Kurotsuchi raised his zanpakuto, and lowered it into his daughter's body, and only her. The hollow was able to squeeze out of the female's grip in time to not get hit. Ichigo was barely standing though, which set the perfect opportunity Rukia was looking for. She jumped behind him using shunpo, and swung her zanpakuto into his head, cutting the mask off the young vaizard's head/face.

A loud, eerie, high-pitched scream was released from the hollow as he covered his face with his hands. The entire body started to shake, and gradually became more violent. About 5 minutes after Rukia's strike to Ichigo's head, did his body begin to glow slightly, and gently explode (A/N: not sure how something gently explodes... but whatever).

The hollow's skin fell to the ground, slowly disintegrating; while Ichigo stood there, barely conscience. He was covered in blood, but fully intact. His wounds received in his head were no longer present, but the hollow's wounds (the one vanishing on the ground) were deeply etched into his body. All of the strikes each shinigami landed on his hollow form were there, some bleeding more profoundly than others.

"Ichigo...?" Rukia questioned, being cautious of the being before her.

His response to her was silence, as he collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Soon after Ichigo passed out, the reenforcement team arrived.

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About 3 days later...

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Brown eyes slowly opened to a white ceiling, walls, and a light brown floor. He was in a bed of white sheets, pillow cases, furniture, curtains, etc. Looking near the small night stand by his head, he noticed a stool, which many visitors had sat in to see how he was coming along. Finally realizing he was in the Soul Society, and not his inner-world did he sit up, looking shocked.

He winced as pain surged through his body. A small, quiet moan escaped him, as he lied back into the soft mattress. However, forcing himself to lie down in the bed didn't shake something else that was bothering him. His stomach felt really awkward, like he hadn't eaten in days, or weeks. Ichigo slowly pried apart his shirt, to find that there was a hole in his lower stomach. The young shinigami's eyes widen in shock and fear, the hollow hole was still present, even though he was in complete control of his body.

"Oh, fuck." Ichigo whispered to himself, quickly re-fixing his top, so the hole was no longer visible.

After another five minutes of deep thinking of how the others would take this, Unohana walked into the room, with her usual unreadable expression present. Ichigo seemed to shrink into the bed, somewhat afraid of what she was going to do.

"No need to be afraid, Kurosaki-san." she said quietly and reassuringly.

The orange-haired boy looked at her with skepticism in his eyes. She only smiled at his uneasiness. Her cool hand lifted up, and touched his forehead.

"Good to see you're fever has left."

"What happened to me? How'd I get here?"

"Well, what happened to you isn't something you need to know right now; and as to how you got here, some of my fourth division members brought you here. They were all commenting on how light you weighed, especially compared to your zanpakuto. Most of them were wondering how you go around with it on your back." Unohana answered, indicating Zangetsu, who was leaning on the wall near his bed.

"How was I injured?"

"Well... I'm not sure you'd want to know, but I'll tell you regardless. Rukia-chan, Hitsugaya taicho, Hisagi fukutaicho, Kurotsuchi taicho, Nemu fukutaicho, and Renji fukutaicho had attacked you."

This response had him bolt up from his position on the bed, looking at her with complete bewilderment.

"Why-?"

Before his sentence hit the half-way point, the door was slammed open. Rukia, Hitsugaya, Kurotsuchi, Kenpachi, Yachirou, and a few others came storming into the small medical room. Their expressions held a combination of sadness, pity, and relief. Ichigo stared at them, wondering what they're doing here.

Yachirou jumped onto his shoulder, and sat on it, while hugging his orange head of hair.

"Ichi's awake, Ken-chan!"

"Aa."

"What are all of you doing here!" asked Ichigo in a loud tone.

"We, are here to see how you're doing. Everyone you attacked is done healing, most of them going about their daily routine. You on the other hand, have been asleep for over 2 days." replied Hitsugaya.

"I've been out that long?"

"Yes, you have. Now, on to more important matters. Do you remember what you did when you were a hollow?"

"What?"

"During my second experiment on you, you freed yourself and gradually took the form of a hollow. It was quite an interesting site. I can see why Aizen had his eyes on you during the war." interjected Kurotsuchi.

"I did? Dammit. What happened?"

"You consumed over 40 villages of konpaku, attacked over 5 shinigami, and destroyed most of the villages you attacked. And then you proceeded to eat Abarai!" Hitsugaya practically screamed. The lose of one of the more powerful vice-captains took a hard tole on most of the shinigami.

Ichigo's eyes seemed to double in size. That last sentence shook the orange-haired boy to the core. His face held doubt, but looking over everyone else, he noted it was probably true.

"Did... I really... do that?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Half the shinigami present nodded, and he felt he could no longer look at them. He had eaten one of his closer friends, and he knew he probably did it with absolutely no remorse.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "Could you guys, leave for a while? I don't want to be near others right now."

Unohana finally moved after the rapid, and brief explanation of how Ichigo had gotten into the 4th division's medical room. She stood up and faced the visitors, looking somewhat concerned.

"I believe that Kurosaki-san should get more rest. All those attacks landing on him at once has made his body weak; and the hollow transformation and this information is not good for his mental health or stability."

Hitsugaya nodded in agreement, and helped get the others out of the room. Over half of those who came didn't say anything, including Rukia, who looked a bit heart-broken. Her closest friend was killed, eaten by another close friend; she felt like she still had to sort things out before she could talk to Ichigo again.

Once the visiting group left earshot, and the building in general, did Unohana sit down and look at her patient seriously.

"Kurosaki-san, there are some things that I'd like to talk to you about."

"What?" he responded weakly.

"Do you know that you have the hole in you torso, one that can only belong to a hollow?"

"Yeah. I found that out soon after I woke up."

"Well, that hole started growing as soon as your mask was cut off by Rukia-chan."

"Really?"

"Yes, or at least that is what I assumed when I saw it. It was growing complete in a gradual pace, so I made sure I was the only one in the room whenever you were in your healing sessions. Now, I'm not entirely sure what that means, since this is the first time I've ever heard of anything like this. I have even looked in Kurotsuchi taicho's files to see if there's anything to reverse it..."

When Kurotsuchi's name was mentioned, Ichigo's fear became apparent on his face again.

"Please, don't fret Kurosaki-san, I have not told anyone about your situation. And unless you want me to, I won't."

"Don't tell them. Anyone!" he said, in a rushed voice.

"Alright then, Kurosaki-san. With that settled, I'll release you from my care in one or two days."

"Right."

The 4th division captain stood up, and walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. Ichigo remained sitting up, contemplating his next step.

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Hey, once again, I'm sorry this took so long to release. Most of my incentive moments took place when there wasn't an accessible computer near me. So, review please.