Greetings, and to those who might still be interested after all these years, many happy returns! It's been a hot minute, hasn't it? ^^"

Without delving into too much personal chatter, some notes on the story and its future (and past):

I've always loved this story and the feelings it stirred in me and though I've even discontinued it for a time, I always felt drawn back to it time and time again. Though I haven't updated, I've been writing off-and-on on it. I will be upfront and admit that this story is not finished even now, but I have a clear view of where it's going now. (It's only the fleshing out part that's hard, heh)

You might see a difference in the writing voice between this chapter and the last one, as well as future ones, but that's to be expected considering how many years it's been. This chapter itself was written sometime in 2021, if not earlier. I will be revisiting the first fifteen chapters to retouch them without changing anything relevant to the plot of the story (because some of them are so old and it really shows) but when I do, I will replace all of them at once while adding a new chapter and inform you of this.

There are bigger changes that could've been made to this story with a complete revamp, but I feel like even though it would be much improved, it would turn into a completely different story and I think that would be a loss for me, so I am keeping the elements that now I feel were kind of childish while adapting them to my current style of writing. Hopefully this story can be taken seriously (or as serious as one would take fanfiction, haha).

For now, please try to bear with me and my baby as is :'D

TL;DR: I'm back for the foreseeable future, and glad to be here! Please enjoy :)

Chapter Sixteen - Void

I died, both heart and soul.

Chocolate brown eyes crinkled in slight concern as Ichigo gazed at the path ahead of him. Inoue and Nel squabbled behind him, all three of them running through Las Noches' maze-like corridors.

He'd be lying if he claimed he wasn't a little worried. What Mugetsu had said stayed with the young Substitute Shinigami ever since they entered open conflict with some of the palace's residents. After all, who could predict events better than your own future self, even if their future had already diverged from Getsu's?

Still, Ichigo supposed that whatever came, he'd come out of it victorious, no matter the circumstances. There was no alternative, as long as it wasn't only his safety at play. Ichigo couldn't allow it to be otherwise. He glanced at the two females behind him at this thought.

Inoue kept surprising him more and more. From the shy, odd girl he'd thought of as just an acquaintance, they'd grown to be solid teammates and even tighter friends. This applied to not just her, but Ishida and other Shinigami as well. They weren't close in the way most people defined relationships, but their bonds were unbreakable. However, in Inoue's case, appearances were steadily proving to be deceiving.

He'd never considered her weak, certainly not. But to actually overcome her reasonable trauma associated with hollows for his sake, as well as cheer him on and be everyone's general pillar of support time and again?

Then, said girl's eyes happened to fall on him as she argued with their companion, and they widened as she noticed he had been staring. Ichigo's cheeks warmed at being caught during the inappropriate activity as he quickly turned his head back to stare ahead, scowling.

Idly, he wondered what was taking that blonde Espada so long to set up a damned meeting.

His train of thought was interrupted at Inoue's sudden gasp. Ichigo frowned and slowed down, finally noticing his teammate's object of attention.

The male standing at the end of the corridor had ivory skin, inky black hair and the most unsettling green eyes he'd ever seen. Those eyes seemed to pierce your very soul with their empty, inhuman stare. He was also dressed in a familiar white outfit, while his head was adorned with half a strange bone helmet.

However, his obvious heavy reiatsu was what made Ichigo tense and get into a defensive battle stance.

"We're not here to fight," Ichigo offered cautiously, but firmly. He reined in the urge to raise his Zanpakutou aggressively.

The stranger gazed at them silently for a few nerve-wracking moments. Then, "You are intruders. Aizen-sama's orders are to protect the Palace while he is away."

"Aizen's dead."

If Ichigo had blinked, he would've missed the Arrancar's split-second pause, but otherwise he seemed completely unmoved by this fact. "It makes no difference. I have a duty to protect the Palace. And I have no time to waste on trash."

Ichigo gritted his teeth. If he wants a fight, he's got one. "You're gonna regret saying that."

And he launched himself at the emotionless Arrancar, his trusty Tensa Zangetsu coated in his special ability… Only to freeze in shock as the man simply held up a hand to block the attack with seemingly no effort wasted. His skin wasn't even scratched. What the…

Before Ichigo could retreat, however, the man held up a finger from his other hand, and a familiar ball of energy began forming at the tip. He swore and made to move.

The Cero blasted into him full-front.

Orihime gasped at the sight. "Kurosaki-kun!" she cried out. She would've run to him, but she knew better by now than to interfere. Her best option was to stay out of the way of his fights, hold up a shield to protect Nel-chan and herself, and hope that Kurosaki-kun made it through relatively unscathed.

True to her instincts, the smoke soon cleared to reveal Ichigo alive and whole, with only his left sleeve destroyed and his arm a little burnt. He was panting slightly, and his face was covered by his Hollow mask.

The stranger's eyes showed expression for the first time during their encounter as they widened at the sight. "A Shinigami… with Hollow powers?"

"You Arrancars are not the only special snowflakes," Ichigo shot, smirking underneath his mask. With no more warning, he charged at the man once again.

This time, however, the stranger's knees buckled as he tried to hold off the Hollow energy-filled Getsuga Tenshou. Ichigo gave a long yell of effort as he overpowered his opponent, throwing him into a snow-white wall.

Before he could take a breath, Ichigo scowled in frustration as the man's figure stepped out of the dust cloud nearly unharmed. His clothes had definitely seen better days, though, as the front of his jacket fell apart to reveal an inky, Gothic four on his chest.

Number four…? Ichigo wondered. Harribel was three…

"I would have thought you'd place a little higher. Guess I overestimated you," he snarled.

The stranger gave no reaction. "Perhaps you should be thinking about the fact that I'm only number four, and yet you stand no chance against me."

Ichigo frowned. Indeed, his enemy seemed no less worn than he had at the beginning of the fight, and Ichigo had already gone Hollow. Thanks to his brother's training, he could hold his mask for much longer than when he first got control of it, as well as having a few other tricks up his sleeve, but still.

"What is your name, intruder?" was what brought him out of his contemplation.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami."

"I am Ulquiorra Schiffer, Cuatro Espada. And I shall no longer underestimate you." With that, he vanished, only to reappear right in front of Ichigo.

╭─━━━━━─╯ 無月の空の接触 ╰─━━━━━─╮

Rukia suddenly stumbled as a suffocating pressure pushed her to her knees. Her amethyst eyes widened, whose reiatsu is this…?

Unnerved, she struggled to a standing position and turned to her companion. However, as she made to say something, she was stopped by what lay before her.

The dark-haired male was staring fixedly ahead, but his haunted look betrayed his racing thoughts. "No…" he seemed to whisper. It could have been the wind or Rukia's imagination.

"Mugetsu-"

"Head towards Renji and the others," Mugetsu cut her off with. He still wasn't looking at her, instead raising his gaze towards the fake blue sky. There, a huge crack revealed the true, eternally dark sky.

"But-"

And he was gone. Rukia frowned worriedly. Usually, Mugetsu held his calm despite the events happening all around them. This… Hueco Mundo seemed to influence him greatly, stirring many different reactions from him.

The other instance he was as vulnerable as he just seemed was a short while ago, when she nearly died. What could possibly unsettle him this time, then…?

╭─━━━━━─╯ 無月の空の接触 ╰─━━━━━─╮

Protect…

…

Will… protect…

...

No…

It wasn't… This wasn't happening…

Orihime could only stare in horror at the scene that unfolded in front of her. She had only just arrived on the dome as Ulquiorra had finished throwing Ichigo around, and was holding him by the neck.

And then Ichigo had been… had been… killed.

She had watched the light fade out of those eyes she loved so much, those warm, caring eyes…

They had thought everything would be alright. They had not come for war.

But war had come to them.

Her mind had been unable to process his death. She had screamed and cried for him to come back and protect, as he always did. Protect her and Ishida-san.

So he did.

She wished he hadn't.

The roar that sounded out chilled her very bones. It was not human, not animal… but something else entirely… Something unholy.

The… beast was mercilessly slaughtering its opponent. The previously unbeatable Ulquiorra now seemed barely able to keep up.

Ishida-san tried to intervene. He reasoned calmly, then firmly, then yelled…

It growled. Its weapon glinted dangerously.

And then it was blasted back.

Both Ishida-san and Orihime stared in shock at the empty spot where the beast used to stand. Gazing out the corner of his eyes, Ishida-san noticed a dark-haired figure standing a while away.

Mugetsu stood there, eyes hard as he scanned the dust cloud for incoming threats. Ulquiorra was rising from the rubble just behind him, obviously just as shocked as them, his deep injuries already bubbling and healing.

Then the cloud suddenly split to reveal a rapidly approaching figure. Mugetsu braced himself instantly and met the beast's attack with a startlingly familiar inky black blade.

"Ichigo," Mugetsu uttered through gritted teeth. The two humans were even more shocked to realise he was being pushed back by the relentless force of the mindless creature.

The beast gave no reply, instead only pushing forward harder.

With a growl, the darker-haired man held out his left hand: "Hadō No. 63: Raikōhō!"

Instantly, lightning-like energy shot out of his palm, violently throwing the rampaging Hollow back.

Mugetsu knew that having skipped the incantation, the Hadō wouldn't have such a destructive effect, and that the beast would recover much quickly. So he flash-stepped to its location as it was digging itself out of the rubble and started chanting: "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudō no. 61: Rikujōkōrō!"

The six reishi rods pinned the beast in place as it struggled and growled, giving Mugetsu enough time to form a strategy.

He flash-stepped away, putting some distance between him and his opponent for the time being. Mugetsu scowled deeply as he desperately tried to find a solution. In my present form I won't be able to hold him back for long before he shreds me too. Bankai is out of the question. Kidō will only work as long as I have the time to cast it and often that's too dangerous.

Perhaps you should consider fighting fire with fire for once,came Tensa Zangetsu's welcome input.

Huh? He replied intelligently.

If your lil' bro can do it, why wouldn'tcha?

╭─━━━━━─╯ 無月の空の接触 ╰─━━━━━─╮

Uryuu was deeply rattled. First, the Arrancar he and Kurosaki were fighting revealed a Second Resurrection, then Kurosaki was killed, from which he recovered by turning into an unstoppable, mindless Hollow, and then the other Kurosaki suddenly showed up and was nearly overpowered by said Hollow.

To begin with, Kurosaki Mugetsu had always seemed something of a suspicious character, at least to the Quincy. The fact that he possessed insider information about everything and everyone - the fact that he could predict some events - couldn't mean anything good. Uryuu had been keeping an eye on the mysterious Mugetsu ever since entering the Senkaimon leading to Soul Society.

Not to mention his power levels and skills. Each enemy Ichigo encountered, Mugetsu proceeded to make look like a child playing at being a warrior.

What Kurosaki hadn't realised when he invited the older teen to stay with his family was that Mugetsu was extremely dangerous. There were just too many things they didn't know about him that made him a wild factor and thus unpredictable. Kurosaki had too big of a heart, so Uryuu took it upon himself to be prepared in the event that the older teen broke that heart.

To summarise, Uryuu had been studying the enigma that was Mugetsu very carefully, and so far the only thing about him that remained constant was the fact that the man could crush any opponent he faced. He simply chose not to.

Until now.

Although in normal circumstances he'd be less than eager to put all of his trust in the older teen, these were not normal circumstances and Uryuu would resort to anything to restore Kurosaki's sanity. Or, at least, help him rest in peace, if nothing else could be done.

If Mugetsu, the superman of Afterlife, could not defeat the rampaging undead Ichigo, they were all doomed, Arrancar or otherwise.

Uryuu's sharp sapphire eyes narrowed as he spotted Mugetsu's dark figure return to their range of sight. The man seemed to be deeply in thought.

Good luck planning anything with how unpredictable Kurosakis can get, the Quincy snarked.

An enraged howl pierced the expectant tension as the Hollow stepped out of the rubble, slowly breaking the seal placed upon him. Finally free, he Sonidoed behind the dark-haired teen and brought his weapon down on him.

Blood sprayed through the air as Mugetsu was thrown back, though he managed to dig his heels in and stop a mere few feet away.

The man clenched his jaw from the pain but braced himself as the Hollow advanced once again. This time though, Mugetsu's brown eyes shined with determination. Knuckles whitening over the handle of his sword, he brought the dark blade to rest diagonally in front of himself and placed his left palm just below the tip.

"Sunder the Heavens, Demonio del Infierno!" he cried out.

Suddenly, thick reiatsu filled the eternal night sky of Hueco Mundo, temporarily blinding all nearby. Uryuu shielded his face with his arm from the intense light as well as the dust carried by the violent bursts of wind blowing away from the source of the reiatsu. What perplexed Uryuu without cease was the fact that, even when changing power levels, even with the dramatic light shows, Mugetsu's reiatsu still couldn't be felt.

When the dust cleared, Uryuu slowly lowered his arm. His sharp eyes thoroughly analysed the transformed figure standing opposite Kurosaki, feeling a chill travel down his spine at the sight.

Where used to be a tall young adult standing was now an intimidating beast. Though human-sized, the Vasto Lordes proved the inverted theory that the smaller the Hollow, the more fearsome and deadly it could be. Mugetsu's ordinary human clothing was gone, replaced by pitch black bone-like armour that covered his shoulders, arms and legs. His legs were limber, vaguely resembling the hind legs of a mammal, while the ends of his hands and feet were clawed. Over the right side of his face and head was a remnant of what likely used to be a mask, protruding into a broken horn. Dark lines travelled over his torso and both eyes - which were similar to many Arrancar and Visored's, with black sclera and golden irises.

In his right hand was that same alarmingly-familiar sword, black with a four-pronged tsuba.

Before the Quincy could expand on that thought any further, the mindless beast that used to be Kurosaki resumed his attempts at obliterating them, launching himself at Mugetsu, either uncaring of or oblivious to the potential threat he might now pose.

Blade met blade in a piercing clang as the transformed Mugetsu met him halfway. The struggle lasted only a second, however, as the older teen's brows furrowed and he overpowered the beast, throwing him back with a gust of wind.

Kurosaki flipped in mid-air, forcing against momentum and towards his opponent, howling.

The two clashed swords again and again in a struggle for dominance, until Mugetsu grabbed directly onto the other's blade, drawing the fight to a stall. Kurosaki grunted and pulled, but the clawed hand was unmoving on the blade, despite the blood running in rivulets down it and towards the tsuba.

Within a blink, Mugetsu raised his other hand and with a quick movement he slashed the beast's hand clean off at its wrist.

The Hollow let out a deafening howl before it retreated a few yards from his enemy. His weapon was left abandoned in Mugetsu's hand, severed limb still attached to the handle. Said older teen grimaced and pried the twitching hand off with the tip of his own blade, then flipped the 'borrowed' blade so that the handle landed in his rapidly healing left hand.

"Sorry, Tensa," he grunted out quietly, sparing Kurosaki's Zanpakutou a long look before he shoved it into the ground tip-first to stand vertically.

When he turned his attention back to his opponent, the beast's hand was nearly completely regrown, white substance bubbling and disappearing, leaving behind unscathed white skin.

Then it vanished.

Uryuu's eyes widened when it reappeared behind Mugetsu and he made to cry out but by then it was too late.

Mugetsu turned and nearly managed to block the attack, but the beast was already grabbing him by the neck and they flew forward, crashing into a pillar with the force of his ambush. Blades were forgotten in the scrap that followed, as Kurosaki made to claw the other's face out with his free hand and he was blocked by Mugetsu's arm.

Grabbing onto the arm holding him by the neck, Mugetsu raised his powerful legs and kicked Kurosaki away, ripping free from his hold. His freed neck was covered in slices from the departing claws. Not wasting any time, Mugetsu crouched onto the ruined wall and launched himself towards this opponent.

They fought to grab hold of the each other, clawing, shredding, punching, kicking, all while debris was flying all around them. At one point, the beast growled and blocked Mugetsu's punch, grabbing onto both of his fists and staring right at him in the lull of the fight.

Between his horns, a ball of crackling red energy was beginning to form.

A Cero… Uryuu thought with rapidly growing dread. Shit!

Then Mugetsu let out a battle cry, freeing his right hand with a bloody, forceful pull and pointing.

And preparing a Cero as well.

With horrified realisation, Uryuu had only just enough time to grab on to Inoue-san and leap for cover before the two Ceros met in a blinding light.

Once the debris settled, the Quincy dared to peek from behind their cover. Both combatants had been blasted apart and were beginning to rise from where they had been thrown, covered in rapidly healing small burns and cuts.

However, it appeared that Mugetsu had grown tired of their struggle, as he did not wait for all his wounds to scab over before he appeared in front of the beast. He landed two punches, dodged one from his opponent, then landed a third that successfully threw Kurosaki into the ground beneath them. Before his enemy could act, he mounted the other, pinning his arms with his knees and his neck with the razor sharp claws of his left hand.

He threw out his right, calling his Zanpakutou into it. Mugetsu positioned the tip of his sword above his enemy's head, then raised his arm.

"Kurosaki!" Uryuu yelled as he deduced what was happening. "Stop!"

Inoue-san's hand covered her mouth in an attempt to cover the sob that threatened to escape it and failed.

The blade drew down and pierced the mask.

By the time the Quincy realised that Mugetsu wasn't, in fact, intending to 'permanently neutralise' his opponent, said older teen had already withdrawn his blade, allowing his arm to drop at his side. The mask continued to crumble, until it shattered, the pieces falling to the ground and disappearing to reveal Kurosaki's dead brown eyes and corpse-pale skin.

Nobody seemed to be breathing for what had to be the longest seconds in Uryuu's life, as they remained frozen, waiting. Mugetsu's eyes flickered restlessly over the form beneath him.

Then, Kurosaki reverted to his human form, his Hollow transformation disintegrating into a burst of reiatsu, which then flew into the hole in his chest, filling it up. One heartbeat, two…

Kurosaki's eyes flew open with a loud gasp.

To be continued…

And that's all she said for now, folks. See you sometime soon!

(And with a surprise too ^^)

- Love, Noxi