Chapter Forty Three:

Aaroniero released an cold-blooded shriek, flinging his body away from Shiro as his back was blasted with sunlight. Ichigo watched the Espada flee into the shadows and stalked towards his Hollow, the albino had an ugly looking bite mark on his shoulder but otherwise seemed unharmed.

"Pull yourself together. We're fighting an Espada now." The strawberry held his hand out.

"For a minute there... I thought ya were gonna let him eat me." Shiro grabbed his hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, "Does this mean-"

"It means nothing." Ichigo silenced him with a sharp glare, "But I'm not stupid enough to think I can kill him without help."

The albino Hollow showed an uncharacteristic scowl and folded his arms as he glared towards the shadows where Aaroniero was currently hiding, "I know ya hate me right now, Aibou, but I can honestly say I reckon we both hate him more."

"Oh, and how did you work that one out?" He muttered, but followed his line of sight.

"Because..." The monochromatic side of his soul reached out and touched the hilt of Zangetsu, "... I killed ya family, but he stopped 'em restin' in peace."

He was reluctant to agree, but in his heart he knew he was right. Together, they'd butchered the rest of the Kurosaki family – his body, Shiro's mind. But Aaroniero... Aaroniero was responsible for them never reaching Soul Society. He couldn't help but wonder if Aizen had known about the Hollow lingering nearby that night. Aizen had vehemently argued that he hadn't killed the Kurosaki family, and technically that was true. But he certainly hadn't tried to prevent it either.

"I despise you almost as much as I despise myself right now," he growled, sucking in a breath, "I don't want to admit it but you're right. He needs to die. It's gonna take all of us though."

"All of us?" Shiro repeated.

"You... Me... And Zangetsu." He reached out as he spoke and snagged his fingers in Shiro's white hair, yanking the Hollow closer until their foreheads were pressed together, "Don't think I'll forget what I've learned here today. When this is over, when Byakuya's safe... We're gonna have a long chat."

There was something in those golden eyes, something Ichigo couldn't place. He decided it didn't matter, at least not at the moment, and pulled Shiro closer, they merged without issue and almost immediately Ichigo watched as his vision became tinted by gold. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination but... Shiro felt stronger.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo barked, arching his blade towards the ceiling, he watched as the swirl of energy made contact, cracking the stone and blasting through in an instant, dousing them in brilliantly warm sunlight that left him blind for a split second.

He added multiple cuts and slices to the building, bringing the ceiling down around them until almost every inch of the palace was quenched with light. He saw Aaroniero Sonido from sunspot to sunspot, trying to find a shaded area. Trying to stay out of the light.

"Imagine building a fake ceiling with a fake sun and a fake daylight... When one of your Espada needs darkness to use their powers." He smirked, "Aizen didn't think that one through did he?"

The real Espada had no Human head to speak of, but instead bore a large, cylindrical glass capsule filled with red wine-like liquid, two small Hollow skulls suspended within its confined. The Gothic tattoo of the number nine was visible on both faces.

"Nice to meet you, face to face, so to speak." He couldn't resist mocking the Espada as he finally stopped moving, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to kill you."

"Arrogant Shinigami." The deep voice came from the top head and sounded almost scathing.

"Stupid child." The high pitched one came from the lower head, sounding exasperated.

"Let's put that to the test and see how you feel when you're eating sand along side your friend, Yammy." He grinned in an almost feral way, a glimmering reflection of Shiro's soul realigning with his own.

Ichigo danced across the room, his every movement so fluid and precise that it became all the more evident who had trained him, each blow used the exact amount of strength required to make it damning, each sweep, each slash, each swing was like a practised movement of a complex waltz. His face was clear of all emotion barring one. Determination. That grin never faded, even when he received cuts and gashes to his own body.

Blood splashed the floors and walls, a mingled presence of both beings as they hot footed it across the devastated arena. Speed increasing, the pair found themselves parrying blows in a swift formula of Sonido and Shunpo, clashing in violent arrays of sparks and ringing steel.

They seemed relatively well matched, exchanging blows at an alarming rate and healing them due to their Hollow high speed regeneration. Deep gouges became shallow cuts, stemming the tide of blood to a minimum and allowing them to trade more blows, more injuries. It was messy. It was cold. It was survival.

Ichigo could feel Shiro's ice cold grasp tingling along his spine, allowing him to use more reiatsu and greater speed. It was little more than a tickle, enough to give him what he needed to fight on par with the Noveno without triggering his normal transformation.

The Espada was using a replica of Isshin's unreleased Zanpakutō, but slowly it was cracking. Creaking. Bending. Breaking. When it snapped under the weight of one of Ichigo's lashes, the pair stared at each other, breath taken away with the surprise of the passing moment. Seeing it as a chance to finish things, Ichigo drew his blade back, thrusting it towards the greed infested creature with a stubborn accuracy.

"Devour Glotonería!" Both voices screeched in tandem, white glove being yanked free from the left hand, revealing an ugly mass of deformed brown tentacles with a gaping maw at the centre.

The explosion of cerise reiatsu was thick and heavy, throwing Ichigo backwards into the wall as he watched the horrific birth of a thousand stubby purple tentacles, large red eyes and disgustingly wet mouths complete with grinding teeth.

He thought he'd be sick at the sight of the bubbling, writhing mass, being reminded fleetingly of an octopus or some other invertebrate. Ichigo's gaze rose to the sight of Aaroniero seated in the midst of purple ocean, manic laughter rippling from inside the tank that functioned as his head.

"So... This is an Espada's release form..." Ichigo tilted his head to one side, straightening himself out and shaking off the ache in his spine, "You're... Really fucking ugly."

"I have gained the powers of over thirty three thousand Hollows, I am the only Gillian-class Espada because I possess the ability to evolve everlasting. Within my belly I have the reiatsu of your mother, your father, your sisters and all of them were so deliciously powerful in their own right," the baritone voice was smug, followed by the soprano, "What can you do against the combined power of that many beings?"

Rocking on his heels as he considered it, Ichigo found himself mildly impressed, "Good question." He sighed, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Then you will be crushed!"

The gigantic purple mass began moving forwards at an alarming rate, washing over the debris like it was nothing. Ichigo wasn't sure he could beat the Noveno without giving Shiro control, but that was the last thing he wanted to do in the middle of Las Noches. It wasn't an option. But dying wasn't an option either.

"Ichigo."

Body stiffening at the familiar gruff voice that was neither his own nor Shiro's, he felt a smile touch his lips, "Old man! It's been a while."

"I thought for a while you could no longer hear me, amidst the chaos of this world." Zangetsu's voice had a grounding effect, washing away his anxiety.

"Chaos? You mean the voices?" Ichigo watched as Aaroniero seemed to freeze as the world ground to a halt around him, he looked around, feeling Zangetsu's hand on his shoulder despite not being able to see him.

"The voices, and the terrible rain. This Inner World began to flood when you realised the truth of your past. I tried to reach you, but could not. I feared I was too late. I am glad that was not the case. You are not alone, Ichigo. You are facing a powerful enemy, but they only get stronger after him. It is time."

The strawberry frowned faintly, "Time?"

"The enemy is one, and you are one. Cast off your fear. Look forward! Go forward! Never stand still. Retreat and you will age. Hesitate and you will die. Now go!"

Sucking in a deep breath as the world seemed to speed back up, a swamp of blue energy engulfed his body, eyes widening as the gold receded and gave way to warm chestnut brown. This was him. All him. His soul. His being. His Zanpakutō.

He lifted Zangetsu, pointing the large blade towards the approaching Espada, left hand coming to rest on his right forearm as his reiatsu rocketed skywards, power vibrating through his very core to every corner of his body. His heart soared, pain and anger and grief fading in the wake of something far more.

"BAN-" He heard the sound of horror escaping unified voices, "-KAI!"

Swirling power enveloped him whole, tearing at his body and restructuring as it saw fit, shihakusho changing to form a billowing black coat that fluttering around his ankles and grew tight around his arms, only to flare again the wrist, he noted the crimson lining. The giant, body sized blade of Zangetsu compressed rapidly, tightening and drawing inwards, pressing every ounce of his power until his eyes fell upon the elegant black katana clasped between his fingers. The soft chinking sound of a short length chain was harsh upon his ears, but felt oddly fitting.

Slashing forwards, Ichigo cut through the uproar of dust created by his transformation and shot forwards, Shunpo lending itself to him far easier and far faster than in the past, the world was a mere blur around him as he dove towards Aaroniero's prone form. Recoiling, the blob-like creature sank backwards, half crawling up the wall to try and escape the oncoming attack, finding a few inches of shadow to burrow into, molten flesh began oozing from the cylindrical tank.

Ichigo released a guttural roar as he watched the Noveno Espada take on Masaki's face in a last ditch attempt to halt the movement of his blade. He felt his enemy's sword slash across his ribs as he drew close, but he didn't falter. Ebony blade plunging through Masaki's skull with a sickening crunch. Flesh and hair bubbled and peeled away, showing the glass containing Aaroniero's skulls. Zangetsu was buried in the glass between them.

"Your fate was sealed the moment you told me what you'd done to my family's Souls." He breathed, pulling his sword free, the tank shattered in an instant, splashing the wall and floor as Glotonería bubbled over into a wave of sickly green liquid that sloshed through the ruined Espada's private palace, the crumpled body of Aaroniero hitting the floor as the two Hollow heads rolled towards Ichigo's feet.

He stared down at the skulls for a long moment, letting out a long breath as he suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired. He sat down against the wall, on a small pile of rubble near the Espada's corpse and ran a hand down his face.

"Bankai, huh?" Ichigo examined the sleek black blade affectionately, "Thanks Old Man."

"He always said ya were an impatient bastard." Shiro was sat beside him suddenly, mimicking his posture.

"Well he's not wrong. But when I was training to get Bankai before, I was doing it for the wrong reasons. I was doing it because Aizen wanted me to be strong, and then I was doing it because Soul Society wanted me to be strong. I never did it because I wanted it. I misused Zangetsu a lot, I guess this means he forgives me." He sighed.

"Mm. Maybe." The albino picked at his shihakusho restlessly, "What about me? Where... Where do we go from here?"

Ichigo sighed deeply again, looking at his Hollow, "I can't just forget everything that's been said and done... But... I think in my heart I knew. I always knew. I always knew something drastic must have happened in my past to strip me of my memories, and when my memories started coming back I think... I realised the truth, I just hid from it. I didn't want to face up to it."

Shiro looked at his feet restlessly, "I wanted to tell ya, so many times... But I didn't wanna... I didn't wanna cause ya more pain. Ya lost so much that night... I thought I was doin' the right thing... I thought I was keepin' ya safe... Once I'd taken yer memories, and realised I'd taken yer feelin's too I knew I couldn't give 'em back without... Hurtin' ya even more..."

"I know." The strawberry whispered, closing his eyes as he sucked in a shaky breath, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have threatened to let him eat you."

"I get it, it's fine." Shiro chuckled weakly, "I'd probably wanna kill me too if I was where ya are right now."

"I-I don't want to kill you." Chestnut eyes met gold ones, "We're in this together now. What happened that night was your power and my body. It was both of us, together. Just like every moment since that night. If we fall apart we don't stand a chance."

The Hollow looked startled, "Ya... What... Forgive me?"

Eyebrows raising as he snorted humourlessly, Ichigo nodded, "I guess I do. It's not like I can hate you for following the orders Aizen gave you... Did that for long enough myself after all."

"Thanks... I think."

Ichigo stood up and grabbed one of the whining skulls from the floor, watching as it twitched in his grasp, "This bastard though... Can't forgive him. Like you said, he stole their chance of going to Soul Society."

"I ain't a stranger to greed but he's somethin' else. Lowlife." Shiro picked the other skull up and peered at it curiously.

Looking at his Hollow with very mild amusement, he bit his lip and made a decision, "Let's finish him off together."

The mania began to return to Shiro's expression, his grin widened to show pearly teeth as he clenched the skull tightly in his fist, crushing it slowly. Ichigo mimicked his action, wincing as his skull began releasing an inhuman screech of pain. With dual cracks and crunches, silence fell around them, the skulls turning to dust.

"Let's go save yer future husband, eh?" Shiro grinned, holding out his hand to his orange haired counterpart, "Can't stand ya bein' all mopey for a second longer."

"Go fuck yourself," Ichigo smiled, accepting the offered hand in his own, "We both know you love him just as much as I do."

"Mm..." He pulled a face but then laughed, "He's alright."

Ichigo watched as Shiro disappeared from sight. He let out a small breath before he doubled over as an inanely loud, unhinged cackle escaped his lips. He covered his mouth with his hand and glared at nothing in particular.

"Sorry, sorry, Hueco Mundo fucks with me a bit."

"I know, I know." He smiled faintly as he shoved the great doors of the palace open and stepped back out onto the bridge, "So, we've killed two Espada now. I guess that's gonna put a bit of a target on our back. Maybe we should try and find some of the others before heading deeper into Las Noches, last time I felt anything the Espada were on the move."

"Sounds like a good plan, hang on... Lemme just... God yer senses are shit, lemme..."

A small shudder ran through him as he felt the Pesquisa activate again, he closed his eyes and let Shiro's senses guide him. His fists clenched tightly at his sides as he detected the glowing flames of his friends all in close proximity of each other, three burning fires belonging to the Espada were with them. Renji seemed weak, injured. Chad also seemed slightly battered.

"Fuck... FUCK!" He snapped, opening his eyes, "We're on our own."

Without giving it a second thought, Ichigo vaulted over the bridge and fell towards the sands below, his landing was solid and made his teeth chatter but he immediately stood and began walking. If the Espada were on the move, he had to keep mobile, had to keep going.