Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Rukia had woken to a surge of unfamiliar reiatsu and an unholy racket. It's a wonder the girls haven't woken up, she thought as she leapt out of bed, swallowing the soul candy and rushing down the hall. It felt as though Ichigo were fighting a hollow - in his room? No...the bathroom. Wait? The bathroom?
She skidded to a halt outside the bathroom door, Pyon a few seconds behind her. The door was open, and the noise had stopped...as had Ichigo's wildly fluctuating reiatsu. Rukia looked in and choked back a gasp.
Ichigo lay on the tiled floor, limply curled in a fetal position, blood spatters around his head and strings of bloody saliva coming from his lips. His breathing was ragged and Rukia could tell he was unconscious. What the hell had happened? Rukia had heard - from health day in class - about such things as allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock, but Ichigo had never...could a hollow have done this; destroyed his insides without leaving an outward mark?
She knelt by his head, Pyon looking on from the doorway, and reached for his wrist, intent on checking Ichigo's pulse. The moment her fingers touched his, however, her own wrist was caught in a steely, ice-cold grasp: Ichigo's soul rose from his inert form, but it was white, dead white, with inverse eyes locked on Rukia's. It was grinning.
"Well," it said. "Look who came out to play."
Rukia stared, frozen by something colder than the hand on her wrist; Ichigo's soul form rose from his prone body, but it was all wrong, it couldn't be Ichigo! The reiatsu washing over her in waves was black and tainted; Urahara-san had told her of an inner hollow, and she had lectured Ichigo on his absolute need to control it, but Rukia realized here, now, that she'd never fully understood it. The not-Ichigo rising from his body was bone-white, parchment-white, with black and yellow eyes and a wicked grin and it was still holding her wrist.
Reason, Rukia, she told herself. Hollow or not, the thing was still a part of Ichigo, and it had to be very smart. Nonetheless, her other hand went to the handle of Sode no Shirayuki.
"You. What do you want?" She demanded imperiously, a Kuchiki down to her toes. "What have you done to Ichigo?"
The not-Ichigo was standing now, and its only answer was a widening smile. Rukia attempted to yank her hand back, but it wouldn't let go: instead, it took a step forward, holding her uncomfortably close.
"Ichigo's sleeping," it said in its distorted voice, the half-truth slithering out easily, grating on Rukia's hearing. The not-Ichigo towered over her, and her anger boiled up: usually she avoided contrasting her own diminutive stature with Ichigo's height, as she hated feeling small, but the not-Ichigo was smirking down at her, and she had to crane her neck to see the mocking light in his eyes. It was too much.
"Let me go," she hissed furiously: the not-Ichigo only shook his head, pulling her a little closer, grinning like a lunatic.
Fine, Rukia thought. If that's the way it has to be... She drew Sode no Shirayuki in one swift movement, the handle of the sword driving straight into the not-Ichigo's crotch.
It keeled over, cursing and hissing at her, and Rukia grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, Sode no Shirayuki's point on its spine.
"All right," she said, "you're coming with me."
"My pleasure," it hissed weakly, and Rukia tried to ignore it as she marched it out of the bathroom and into the hallway.
"Pyon," she said softly, "take Ichigo back to his room and put him to bed. I'll be back shortly." I hope.
"Hai, Rukia-sama!" Pyon saluted, and Rukia flash-stepped to Ichigo's bedroom window, forcing the not-Ichigo out into the night and following swiftly afterwards.
The park. She had decided to go there, as it was nearly deserted even in the daytime, and it was far enough away from those with significant spiritual pressure that the - presumed - battle would go undetected. She pushed the not-Ichigo face-first into the sandbox, and moved Shirayuki's point up to the back of its neck.
"Now, you're going to answer some questions for me," Rukia said, pricking the not-Ichigo lightly. "And you'd better be truthful."
It just cackled in reply. Rukia blew out a sigh.
"Alright. For starters, what- agh!"
It had thrown sand in her face; not well-aimed, as it mostly went up her nose, but Rukia cursed as she lost focus nonetheless. The not-Ichigo scrambled to its feet and vanished. Idiot! How could she have been distracted by the oldest trick in the book?
"Hollow, or whatever you are, get out here where I can see you!" Rukia said angrily, Sode no Shirayuki at the ready. Focussing, she attempted to locate the thing's reiatsu: she caught hints of it directly behind her and she whirled around to see empty space. A cackle sounded eerily in the air all around her; Rukia focussed harder.
"Oh, Rukia…I am disappointed in you…"
There! She struck out with her sword, behind her and slightly to the left, but it was gone: its speed was incredible. She stood in the sandbox and tried to think of a plan. Rukia was talented in kidou and very good with shunpo, yet she was having doubts about her abilities to beat the not-Ichigo. Ichigo himself was very fast, exceedingly so in bankai mode, and if this inner hollow could mimic Ichigo's fighting style, Rukia wasn't sure she would be able to keep up.
"Ruuukiaaa..." The distorted voice was a half-whispered croon, coming to her on the wind.
"How could you not know me, Rukiaaaaa?" She glanced from side to side, seeing no-one.
"You are the reason I exist, Rukia…I am the power that saved you, Rukia…I came into being to find you, to take you back from your tower…Rukia…"
It's lying, she told herself. It's insane, and it's lying. Try to focus.
"Ruuukiaaa..." The voice came again, caressingly, and Rukia shivered as she tried to focus on its location. She wished she could close her eyes: it made pinpointing reiatsu ten times easier, but she couldn't afford to visibly let her guard down.
"Bastard!" She called, sounding braver than she felt, "what have you done with Ichigo? Come out and fight me!"
"Ruuukiaaa," the voice hissed, sudden compared to its earlier calling, "don't you worry your pretty little head about Ichigo. He'll be just fine where he is for now, never mind what I've done with him."
Rukia listened intently, trying to sync sound and reiatsu together to come up with a definitive location.
"Maybe," its voice came, and Rukia tensed; she almost had it pinpointed, "maybe you should be asking yourself-"
There was a flurry of movement and a sudden tightness around her throat; Rukia felt herself being slammed up against something before she could even register that the not-Ichigo had grabbed her neck and sped her backwards to pin her against a tree.
"-what I'm going to do with you." It smirked into her face, twisting Ichigo's features into the alien expression.
Rukia's left hand flew up reflexively to try and pry the not-Ichigo's hand away; it didn't even bother looking at her, as it was busy wrenching Sode no Shirayuki out of her other hand. Rukia let out a strangled cry as the hollow in human form wrapped its hands around the blade and twisted: Shirayuki cut deep, singing against hollow blood, and Rukia's stomach turned as the not-Ichigo slid its hand up to the pommel. Her hand slipped in its blood; Sode no Shirayuki went spinning out of her grasp to land several feet away on the grass.
"You bastard..." Rukia narrowed her eyes and brought her hand up to point in the hollow's face. "Way of Destruc-mmph!"
She was cut off by a large, bloodied hand over her mouth, the fingers wrapping around the lower half of her face. Ichigo - no, not Ichigo, the thing which made a parody of Ichigo - his hands again reminded Rukia of just how small she was in comparison. She tried to tug its hand away from her throat, but to no avail.
"Sshh," the hollow was saying. "Naughty, naughty. You could've hurt me there." It took its hand away from her face, leaving bloody streaks across her lips: she spat, rejecting the bitter, metallic flavour.
"What, don't like the taste?" It leered at her, bringing its still-bleeding hand up to its own face. Rukia watched with a sick fascination as it ran its tongue slowly from palm to fingertip, licking a clean trail in a gesture that crossed the line into obscene. It swallowed and turned its attention back to Rukia with a slow, carnivorous smile. "It's not so bad," said Ichigo who was not Ichigo, and then his open mouth was on hers, hot and wet. She gasped, and the foul taste of blood entering her mouth as it thrust its tongue inside: Rukia bit down as hard as she could, then gagged as its blood filled her mouth, warm and coppery.
It pulled away from her with a cry of pain and rage; Rukia spat and coughed, trying to get rid of its taste. When she looked back up at the hollow, her heart leapt for one painful moment: its features were hard, its mouth set in the same downturned scowl that Ichigo so often wore. Blood trickled from the corner of its mouth, however, forcibly reminding her that this was not the boy she knew. It hurt.
"You bitch." It sounded more petulant than angry; its grip around her throat was still only firm enough to hold her against the tree. "Why'd you do that? I know you like him...I know you want him..." Its eyes darkened, and Rukia shuddered as Ichigo's familiar, grumpy face turned sinister without losing its basic similarity of expression. This was a side of Ichigo that Rukia had never seen, and she hoped never to see it on his face: in battle he was determined, with her he was annoyed, around his family he was angry sometimes, but this seemed to tap a deeper well of rage than she could have imagined.
"You want him." It growled again, bringing its face close to hers, "Don't try to deny it. So why don't you want me?"
"You're not him," Rukia said, her voice hard: it was an accusation.
"I came into being through his will to find you, Rukia." The hollow seethed. "I was born with one goal in mind, and it was power, power enough to find you and make you mine, because that was what he wanted most desperately."
Its eyes narrowed. "I know his thoughts before he says them; I share his feelings. He wants you, and I want you to the exact same degree."
Her eyes widened, and it broke into a smirk. "Oh yes, he wants you; he doesn't allow himself to show it, of course, the idiot. But it's there...you can just imagine how he thinks of you at night." It laughed as its lascivious tone caused Rukia to blush hotly, and continued. "He wants you, Rukia, and I was born of that desire...I literally cannot get you out of my mind." It leaned closer, scrutinizing her, its breath hot on her face. "I want power, Rukia, but all I can think of is you. You don't know how frustrating that is-" its hand began to tighten around her throat - "to hunger for power, to hunger for domination, yet to be shackled -" Rukia began to choke - "to this lust for a shinigami -"
Rukia struck out, her fist connecting solidly with its cheek, her knee coming out to smash into the place between its legs. Its face contorted in surprise and pain, but instead of letting go of her, however, the not-Ichigo yanked on her neck as it fell to the ground; in a flash, Rukia put her hands up to pry his fingers from her throat, and shunpo'd across to Sode no Shirayuki. She gasped for breath, feeling immensely relieved as her hand wrapped around the hilt of her zanpakutou.
"Monster." She rasped, as the not-Ichigo groaned on the grass. "You're not Ichigo. I will never want you, and I will never allow you to kill me."
She turned her wrist slowly. "Mai, Sode no Shirayuki," she intoned. "Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren!"
A wave of ice thundered towards the not-Ichigo; as she had expected, it realized this and attempted to jump out of the way. It was too late, however, and the ice caught everything from the elbow down, save its left arm. Rukia walked up to it, calmly.
"Perhaps we may talk now," she said, looking up at it: the wave of ice had caught it about five feet in the air. The black eyes were murderous.
"Shinigami bitch, I can't kill you!" It raged, pulling helplessly against the ice. "Don't you understand? It's because of him; he wants you so badly, that I cannot kill you even if I wanted to; it would tear away a part of what I am! I'm not trying to kill you; I'm trying to get you out of my head!"
Rukia, stunned by the amount of raw hatred in the not-Ichigo's voice, tried to reconcile its words to her worldview. She'd had no idea that Ichigo's feelings for her ran so strongly that they had become the impetus for a whole other being; she was awed and frightened, especially by the implication of its last statement. Get me out of its head? She didn't dare voice out loud what that could mean, and instead changed the subject.
"If I kill you," she said, voice still slightly raw, sickness welling up inside her at the thought of killing anything with Ichigo's face, no matter what it was, "what would happen?"
It was silent for a long while, as Rukia waited nervously. She was rewarded as the not-Ichigo began its reply, its voice laced with the dark anger she'd seen in it before.
"I would die, woman," it sneered, "and your precious Ichigo would die with me. I'm in control right now; he's just a figment of my imagination. Without me to think about him, he'd disappear!" It spat down at her, and Rukia stepped delicately out of the way.
"So then how do I get rid of you?"
It laughed, an insane shout. "You can't, idiot! And why would I tell you, if you could? I may look like Ichigo, but I'm not stupid! Only he can help himself out of this one." It grinned ferociously at her. "Until then, you have to play nice with me, instead."
Rukia considered this. Her ice was beginning to melt; she'd consciously stopped it from splintering as it usually did, not wanting to damage Ichigo's soul form, usurped or not. She couldn't afford to freeze it a second time; chances were she wouldn't be so lucky, or Ichigo's soul form would be crippled from frostbite. And now she faced a dilemma: it seemed as though she would have to wait until either Ichigo resurfaced or the hollow broke free, and she didn't know what to do in the latter situation. From above, the hollow leered at her, and Rukia began to truly feel scared. Ichigo was gone...and she could not lift one finger to bring him back.
A/N: Hopefully hollow!Ichigo's intentions became clear in this chapter. I doubt h!Ichigo would go after Rukia for any other reason, unless to torture Ichigo into submission by hurting one of his closest friends.