Title: Forsaken

Author: Tara Kitaide

genre: romance/angst/tragedy

Pairing: Ichigo/Renji

Disclaimer: Wouldn't it be so cool to own bleach? Unfortunately, I don't. If I did, there'd be hot yaoi smut every chapter.

Warning: Yaoi, language, fantasy violence

Rating: M for possible yaoi scenes

Dedication: To my fans! I love you all!

-/-/-/-

"Re... Ren... ji...?"

Aizen's grin grew at the utter shock and disbelief on the boy's face. His eyes shifted to look at the man standing next to him. The person known as "Mitsuji" had his hands buried deeply in his pockets while his face and posture shone of bordem.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, meet Mitsuteru Mitsuji. He's new to our family so if he acts unruly please forgive him, he doesn't know better."

Ichigo's eyes didn't drift over to Aizen's or anywhere else in the room. Instead, his gaze was fixed solely on the new person in the room, this "Mitsuji" who looked so much like...

"Renji...?" Ichigo called again, this time his voice a bit sturdier.

There was no change on the man's face as he continued to look down at Ichigo, but he did grumble in annoyance a bit. Ichigo couldn't see every detail on the man's face but the long bright red hair that spilled over the man's shoulders and back were apparent as well as the bold tattoos on his face. It was only then that Ichigo noticed the bone mask covering half of the man's face and the back markings that snaked across it. It covered the corner of his mask and his forehead, following his hair line and didn't cover his right eye.

A... mask? Ichigo thought, his head beginning to pound. A mask... just like... just like mine! But then that means...

"Mitsuji-san, this is the ryoka boy that young girl was talking about, 'Kurosaki Ichigo' is his name." Aizen's eyes went back to Ichigo and for the first time sense Mitsuji entered the room, Ichigo's eyes met Aizen's.

"Is that so?" Mitsuji said, his voice heavy and unamused. "Well, I guess you want me to take over now, right?"

Aizen nodded. "Yes, if you could it would be of much help."

Mitsuji scoffed and growled a "whatever" before jumping from the raised platform and advancing towards Ichigo. "Listen, you shinigami brat." He said as he snatched Ichigo by the front his shihakushō. Ichigo gave a small gasp and his eyes instantly focused on the man's face as he was hoisted up. "Don't make this too hard for me. I don't wanna have to hurt ya so just shut up and come along quietly, got it?"

Ichigo's mouth hung open as his eyes locked with Mitsuji's. They were red. Mitsuji's eyes were red, just as Renji's had been. Not only that, but the tattoos on the side of Mitsuji's uncovered face were the same as well. Ichigo worked past the lump in his throat and felt his lips quiver. "Renji?" He said again, this time a whisper.

Mitsuji scoffed again and began to drag Ichigo out with him. "Why the hell do I get stuck with fuckin' shit like you? First that girl and now this. It's so damn annoying..." He grumbled.

Ichigo kept his eyes on Mitsuji who was now in front of him as he dragged him out of the room. He could hear the snickers and insults of the arrancar behind him but they started to fade as they left the room and went out of earshot.

"R-Renji!" Ichigo said again, this time his voice stronger. "What's going on, why are you on his side?! And why do you have that mask! Renji, what's going on? Don't you recognize me!"

Mitsuji growled and tugged at Ichigo's color tighter, nearly chocking him. "Shut up! God, your just like that fuckin' girl! 'Renji! What's going on Renji! Why don't you recognize me Renji?'" Mitsuji mocked in a high voice. "Whoever the hell this 'Renji' guy is, he ain't me! My name is 'Mitsuji'! So shut up and stop calling me that!"

Ichigo gaped for a moment, staring into Mitsuji's glaring eyes. Ichigo felt his heart sink and his head pound. He felt like someone had just ripped his chest to shreds, the same feeling he had when Renji died and the same one he had been feeling for the past two weeks. Ichigo nodded slowly, very slowly and lowered his head so he wouldn't have to look at the Renji look-alike anymore. "I'm sorry." He muttered.

Mitsuji scoffed and muttered a "whatever" before dragging Ichigo back along the white stone halls.

They walked for awhile but eventually they came upon a room which Ichigo noticed looked vaguely familiar. Mitsuji kicked the door open with a loud bang that made Ichigo jump. They were just in the door way when Ichigo was tossed in the room and the door was slammed behind them.

"Hey, girlie! Got one of your little friends here for ya!" Mitsuji barked, the annoyance in his voice never leaving.

Ichigo looked around the room, his eyes searching frantically when he heard his name being called.

"Kurosaki-kun...?"

Ichigo's eyes fixed on the bed against the left side of the wall and instantly widened. "Orihime?"

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime's eyes widened as she leaped off the bed and knelled beside the boy, helping him stand up. "Kurosaki-kun, are you alright? Those binds look painful."

Ichigo nodded but winced when the binds on his hands tugged uncomfortably on his wrists and made it almost somewhat painful. "I'm okay." He lied anyway. "The didn't hurt me. Are you alright?"

Orihime nodded. "After Aizen took me back away, he locked me up in here for a few days but then..."

Orihime looked up at Mitsuji who stood leaning against the wall this whole time, his hands buried deep in his pockets. Ichigo looked up too but was only greeted with an aggravated stare and a grumble.

"Kurosaki-kun, who is that?" Orihime asked, her voice now low.

Ichigo turned to look at her, his eyes slightly widened. "You mean you don't know?"

Once again, Orihime shook her head sadly. "No. I mean, he looks like Renji-kun but When ever I called him that, he insists that he isn't. And that mask... Kurosaki-kun, it looks like a hollow's mask."

"That's 'cause I'm an Arrancar."

Ichigo and Orihime looked back over to Mitsuji, a bit surprised by the look-alike's sudden remark.

"I have this mask, 'cause I'm an Arrancar. Plain and simple." Mitsuji grumbled. "I ain't a shinigami like your little friend was. I'm an Arrancar which means I'm a hollow. Geez, don't you guys know anything?"

Ichigo felt, for the first time sense he'd met himself, anger rise within' him. He growled and walked over to Mitsuji, pinning the man against the wall with his body sense his hands were bound tightly and of no use.

"Now you listen here!" Ichigo growled, the other man's eyes widening slightly. "I don't care what you think you are! Your a shinigami just like me! Your name is 'Abarai Renji'! Not this, 'Mitsuji' crap! Your Abarai Renji, Vice Capitan of the sixth squad and a member of the Thirteen Court guard Squads! Your another puppet under Aizen's control! Your not--"

"NOW YOU SHUT UP!"

Ichigo stopped when he was immediately cut off but didn't back away. He looked up into Mitsuji's now angered eyes, his own narrowed in a glare.

"Don't think I'm just like the rest of those mother fuckin' suck ups!" Mitsuji growled, pushing Ichigo back with equal or even greater force. "I don't bow down to that fuckin' psycho path! He ain't the boss of me, got it?!" Mitsuji spat, pushing Ichigo back farther and farther until they backed into the opposite wall.

"And as for this whole 'Renji' thing," Mitsuji hissed, pressing his body firmly against Ichigo's. "How many times do I gotta say it before it sinks into that thick head of yours? I don't need you telling me this shit! I'M. NOT. HIM! I know who I am!"

Ichigo snorted and turned his head away in defiance. "Obviously not."

The next thing Ichigo knew, he was one the floor, a loud pop still ringing in his ears as well as a terrified scream from Orihime. He rubbed his cheek against his shoulder where it now stung and spat out the blood that began to pool in his mouth.

"Know your place, Shinigami brat!"

Ichigo looked up at Mitsuji and for a moment, saw pain and regret in the man's eyes. He knew it was Renji. The real part of Renji that was in there and desperately trying to escape. So he looked on with equally saddened eyes and tried hard to stand. When he couldn't he settled for kneeling.

"Renji." He called softly, sadly.

Mitsuji's eyes began to shimmer until he quickly shook his head and scrunched his face in aggravation to shoo the emotion away. "I'll be back, you shinigami brat."

Mitsuji walked out of the room, his hands buried deep in his pockets and his normal slouched posture returned. Ichigo and Orihime's eyes followed him until he kicked the door close behind him and with a click, locked it.

"Damn it." Mitsuji grumbled, taking a hand out of his pocket to cover his eyes. "That shinigami brat..."

Mitsuji's eyes began to swell with tears and let one fall down the unmasked side of his face before swiping at it and cursing under his breath. His head started to pound and something tugged painfully at his heart but what? He had no idea why the tears had come or what triggered the sinking feeling in his chest but he did know that it had something to do with the boy and when ever he imagined his hurt face, it seemed to get worse.

"Fuckin' shinigami..." He mutered. "What the hell did he do to me?"

-/-/-/-

A/N: GAH! I'm totally unsatisfied with this chapter! Then again, I read it over the phone to my friend and she seemed to like it. :3 I hope this isn't a total let down for you people! I'm tryin' my best with school and everything!

Well... Please review! Can't wait for your feed back!