Chapter 9: The Horrifying Reunion

He sat in the fetal position in the corner of cell, wrapping his arms around his legs protectively. Ichigo could not remember the last time he felt so helpless. He had lost all hope – when they had partially changed him.

It was only two moments of experimental torture, but they had done enough to rob the captain of his confidence and hope. The drugs they had injected into him, the malicious glow from the Hougyouku that he was exposed to, the seemingly painful incision they had made into his chest – which he never felt since he was under a potent anesthetic.

And now, with all these memories in his head and with his changed appearance, he hoped that no one from his family could see him like this. He had a feeling that his allies will be coming shortly to rescue him, but he wanted them to turn back and leave him behind – especially Ryuichi.

Another memory entered his mind – a memory of when Ryuichi was only a baby, a memory that Ichigo had always dreaded.

Ichigo stood over his son's crib as he watched him sleep. Ever since he had heard from Urahara that his son may have hollow powers of his own, he was not sure of what to do. Rukia had yet to hear about this, and he knew that it would be hard on her.

"How's our son doing, Ichigo?" Rukia asked from behind.

Ichigo turned around sharply to face his fiancée. Then he turned back to his son. "He's asleep."

Rukia frowned as she walked towards the love of her life. "You look like something is on your mind."

Ichigo sighed. This would be the perfect time to tell Rukia of what he had just learnt. "I spoke to Urahara-san today," he trailed off.

Rukia looked at him puzzled. "And?"

Ichigo turned to face Rukia and then, with a quick glance at his son, he led her out of his room so that they could let him sleep.

As soon as they sat down at the kitchen table, Ichigo started his explanation. "You know that I'm a viazard, right?" Rukia nodded. Ichigo continued, "Well, Urahara-san told me that my hollow powers can be genetic."

Rukia gasped in shock. "You-you mean?"

Ichigo nodded. "A bit of my hollow powers may have been transferred to Ryuichi when he was born. It's a strong possibility because he is our first-born child."

Rukia was still confused. "You said that they may have been passed on to him, but how does he know that for sure? It does not make much sense."

"The chances of our son having hollow powers are still at about 50%. I really hope that it would not be the case."

"I hope not either," Rukia whispered, trying not to scream at her fiancée. "What will we do if he does have hollow powers?"

Ichigo was thoughtful for a moment. "Urahara-san said that his powers will awaken at some point in his life, if he does have them, that is. We must hope for the best. In fact, the viazards that I had trained with know a great deal on how to control one's hollow powers. So should Ryuichi's hollow powers awaken, I will refer him to them."

Rukia nodded in understanding, but she was still very worried for her son. "Will he be all right, Ichigo?"

Ichigo smiled reassuringly. "Yea, all we have to do now is hope for the best and not tell him until it's the right time."

Ichigo tightened his arms around his legs even further. Of all times he had to tell his son the truth about himself, it had to be now. He did not want to do it, but with all these circumstances, he felt that he did not have much choice.

The sound of the door opening alerted him, and his eyes widened when his son was pushed through. Szayel was standing in the doorway, and Ichigo hid his face partially but he remained in earshot with what the espada had to say. "I'll give you 20 minutes at most," the scientist said, "I must prepare for experimenting on you, but this should be plenty of time for you to be reunited with your father." He motioned towards Ichigo huddled in the corner of the cell.

Ryuichi turned around sharply. "D-Dad!"

"Like I mentioned," Szayel continued, "he was quite cooperative so this is what he will get. I will come back in 20 minutes to fetch you. Talk to him as much as you like. See you soon!" Szayel slammed the door shut, then he locked it and walked away.

An awkward silence fell between the two as Ryuichi continued to stare his father. Before he could speak, Ichigo asked, "Why have you come?"

Ryuichi was taken aback by the question. "Isn't it obvious? You have any idea of how the news of your capture hit everyone?"

"Ryuichi..."

"Especially Mom? Hell! She and I had to fucking lie to Aiko about you! You know how hard it was? She was crying every night, Dad! Crying...because she thought it was her fault! She and I lost an absolute amount of sleep over this."

Ichigo did not say anything. He continued to stay in his usual spot, not even looking at his son. He understood what his wife would be going through, and he did not want her to think it was her fault.

"Dad?" Ryuichi repeated as he moved closer to his father slightly.

"It's not her fault," Ichigo trailed off. "I'm sorry she had to go through all of that, and I wish that I could see her again. However, I don't think that anyone wants to see me like this."

Ryuichi raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?" Ichigo said nothing. "Dad? Show me what they did to you," Ryuichi pleaded, eyes full of concern.

"You don't want to see me like this either," Ichigo whispered – a whisper full of defeat and depression.

Ryuichi knelt to his knees in front of his father. "Please, Dad."

Ichigo sighed as he swallowed his pride. He knew he had to show his son the horrors that were partially forced out during his experimental tortures. Slowly, he stood up. Ryuichi noticed that his father's robes were torn from the abuse that was inflicted on him. When he stood fully upright, Ichigo opened his eyes, revealing yellow on black.

Ryuichi stood up as well so that he could see his father clearly in the moonlight and gasped in horror at what he saw. "Dad...what...did they do to you?"

Ichigo sharply turned away from his son. "They turned me into a monster!" His voice sounded hoarse, as though it were laced with fear. "A monster. They are going to do the same thing to you. They are going to turn you into a weapon against your will...like what they are doing to me."

Ryuichi did not know what to say. He was not sure if he had any hollow powers or not, so how it could be possible if he was turned into one of the enemy?

Ichigo slowly turned to face his son once again. There were no words to describe how Ryuichi felt when he saw the partially-altered appearance that beheld his father at that moment. A very deep scar marked his bare chest, formed in the shape of the trademark hole that was on a hollow's chest. Dark markings showed on the right side of Ichigo's face, forming a pattern that was reminiscent of that on his hollow mask. And his eyes – his eyes were most frightening of them all. The pupils were yellow and the scleras surrounding them were black.

"Dad..." Ryuichi trailed off in shock.

Ichigo averted his eyes to the floor, as though he were ashamed of doing something wrong. "I told you, you didn't want to see me like this," he said, tightening his hands into fists for a moment. Then he took off his haori to stare at the large kanji character for 5, which took up the upper half of the white garment. "What captain would have hollow powers? What captain would look like...like this?" Ichigo threw the haori aside in frustration. "It makes me sick!"

Ryuichi was still at a loss for words. He was still not sure of what was going on as Ichigo had always left out the fact that he was part hollow as well. "Dad, tell me something. Why you...and me? Why is Aizen doing this to us? We can't possibly..."

Ichigo interrupted his son. "We do...both of us."

Ryuichi was more confused than he ever was. "What?"

Ichigo sighed and looked his son in the eyes. "When I was trying to get my shinigami powers back, I had to go through this exercise in which I was thrown in a pit and had to depend on my reiatsu only in order to get out. My soul chain was severed and I was kept in that pit for 3 days. I was losing all hope and then the chain corroded all the way through. I tried to resist and because of my resistance, my mask was born first. My shinigami powers came back to me after that, but after my hollow powers got awakened, I had this fear that one day my hollow spirit would take over and it will be game over for everyone that I love."

"And those powers were passed on to me when I was born?" Ryuichi clarified in a low voice. Ichigo nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?" Ryuichi hissed.

Ichigo sighed. He knew that his son would be mad at him like this. "I wanted to protect you. I was hoping that this day wouldn't come."

Ryuichi furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm tired of being protected," he growled. "I have a hollow spirit inside me... I can't believe you didn't tell me that!"

"You can hate me all you want, Ryuichi," Ichigo calmly whispered. "I know I'm as bad as your grandfather, and I'm guilty that I didn't tell you."

Ryuichi did not say anything. He did not know what to think anymore. However, the horrible nightmare that he had before coming here started to make a lot of sense. So it was a foreshadowing of what was to come. He shuddered at the thought, but he was still puzzled by this truth. "Why haven't I been able to encounter this spirit?"

"It's not awakened yet," Ichigo replied. "I was also hoping that it would not be awakened by any means, but I did not think that Aizen would capture us both."

"So the experiments that espada is about to put on me are going to awaken them?" Ryuichi inquired. Ichigo nodded.

At that moment, they heard the lock click and the door opened, revealing Szayel with a couple of his fraccion. "It's time, Ryuichi-kun."

Ichigo widened his eyes as he jumped in front of his son. Ryuichi stared at his father in alarm.

Szayel chuckled. "Well, well, well. What have we here? You're still trying to protect people even while in bondage, huh, Kurosaki?" Ichigo growled as he tried to stand his ground. Szayel frowned. "Know your place. You can't do a thing to protect your son in these conditions. Either we do this the hard way or the easy way. Hand over your son before my fraccion beats you to bloody pulp."

"Dad?" Ryuichi whispered, but his father hushed him without taking his eyes off of Szayel.

"Well, Kurosaki?" Szayel said impatiently. "We don't have all day."

"Don't lay a finger on my son," Ichigo growled.

Szayel sighed. "You leave me no choice. Fraccion, give me the boy."

The fraccion leapt towards Ichigo, who stood at a fighting stance. As soon as they landed in front of him, Ichigo punched one in the face and kicked another in the gut. He blocked any attacks that were given to him and dodged others. However, he did not stand his ground much longer, as the largest fraccion punched him in the face with full strength, causing him to collapse onto the ground. Another fraccion grabbed his arms before he could get up and fight them off anymore, while the larger fraccion grabbed Ryuichi's arm and carried him towards Szayel.

"RYUICHI!" Ichigo screamed as he struggled in the fraccion's grip. "LET ME GO, YOU STUPID BASTARD!"

The fraccion twisted Ichigo's arms abruptly, causing him to shriek in pain.

"Dad!" Ryuichi shouted in Szayel's grip, but using the other hand, the mad scientist covered the boy's mouth before he could shout anymore.

"Quiet boy!" Szayel hissed. Then he turned to Ichigo, who was panting in the fraccion's grip. "I thought that you could co-operate, but I guess not. After all, Aizen-sama is not finished with your family just yet." He chuckled. "He has sent a couple of arrancar after your precious little daughter." Ichigo and Ryuichi gaped in horror. Szayel laughed at their faces. "Aizen-sama assumes that the girl has hollow powers as well. So once her capture is complete, I will do some experiments on her."

Ichigo growled. "You bastard! What if she doesn't have hollow powers?"

"Then she'll die," Szayel replied with an evil smirk. "There's nothing you can do about it. After all, your transition is nearly complete. Good day, Kurosaki-san!"

The fraccion that was holding Ichigo in place threw him to the ground and kicked him away. Then he followed his master out the door before it was slammed and locked within a matter of seconds.

Ichigo ran towards the door and pounded on its surface. "YOU BASTARD! YOU WILL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS! YOU WILL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

After a few minutes of pounding on the door, Ichigo sank to his knees, his arm still resting on the door. He was shaking from the fears and horrible feelings that gripped him. There was nothing he could do. They will find out that his daughter has no hollow powers at all and kill her, and they will transform Ryuichi the same way they transformed him. Ichigo gritted his teeth to keep anymore emotions from escaping. "Aiko...Ryuichi..."

Ruby, Rukia, Renji, Hinamori, Tatsuki, and Jade hurried along the desert terrain of Hueco Mundo, hoping that they would make it to the towering fortress of Las Noches in time.

Jade had no idea how tiresome it would be just to run for what seemed like miles across the desert. The palace was right there in front of them and seemed to be so close, so why was the distance still the same no matter how far they ran?

Ruby, Hinamori, and Tatsuki did not care about the distance problem for they continued to run with the mission in their minds, also praying that nothing bad had happened to Ryuichi.

Having run through this desert before, Rukia and Renji never cared about the run. They knew that they would run into Neliel and her allies very shortly and get help from them in one way or another.

They noticed Bawabawa, Pesche and Dondochakka a fair distance away. While Renji rolled his eyes in annoyance, Rukia beamed for a ray of hope had broken through her despair. "Dondochakka! Pesche!" She shouted.

Said hollows turned around to see Rukia and her group approaching. "Hey, Dondochakka, look! It's the shinigami! Thank goodness!"

"Are they still are our side, dont'cha know?" Dondochakka asked.

"Silly lug!" Pesche replied. "Of course they are! Ya need glasses or somethin'!"

"ReeeenjiiiiiI!" Dondochakka ran with tears streaming from his eyes.

Renji dodged an incoming tackle and punched the large hollow in the head, knocking him to the ground with a groan. "You are just as annoying as ever!" He growled.

"Renji's still a bully, don'tcha know!" Dondochakka complained as he held his head.

Pesche ignored his friend's state and turned to Rukia. "We had received word of yer arrival, Rukia-san. In fact, yer son had been sent ahead into the castle as we speak."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows as she shifted back to her cold demeanour. "Did anything happen to him?"

"Since Neliel-sama and Grimmjow-sama were protectin' him upon entry, none yet," Pesche replied.

Rukia froze slightly at the name but then remembered that he had switched sides in the previous war. "Then we must hurry. You will take us there right?"

Pesche gave an honourable salute. "Yes, ma'am! We were told to wait for ya so it works out!"

Jade raised an eyebrow at the large worm behind them. "Don't tell me we're taking that thing."

Pesche turned to Bawabawa with pride. "He's the best transportation we've got here in Hueco Mundo. At least, it's better than running for miles and not getting anywhere."

Ruby glared at her brother. "Lighten up, Jade. You want to keep running to the castle or do you want to get there faster?"

Jade sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let's go."

They climbed onto Bawabawa's back and were transported immediately to Las Noches.

Ryuichi lay strapped to a table in Szayel's lab, dreading about what was to come. He also could not understand why his father had lied to him about his inner hollow. Sure, he could understand his father's intentions, but was it really that necessary? He thought of how it could have been different; if his father had told him prior to this. Then he really understood why his father did not tell him until now. Ichigo was afraid of how it would affect him emotionally. However, it did not matter now for what was to come.

Szayel stepped over to the table to check on his test subject. "I have had so much fun torturing your father that I am looking forward to torturing you just as much."

Ryuichi growled in disapproval. "Fuck you, you bastard. You will pay for messing with me and my dad."

Szayel laughed as he prepared a syringe. "Funny that your father had said something similar to that. You can shout curses at me and my fraccion all you want, but the outcome is still going to be the same. So just relax," He stuck the needle into Ryuichi's arm, "and enjoy the show!" He injected the drug inside Ryuichi's bloodstream and he relaxed immediately.

Through his blurred vision, he could see the eerie, violet glow of the Hougyouku and shivered at the events to come. He could barely make out Szayel's voice as he called out orders to his fraccion. He could barely feel more needles being pierced through his skin, but deep, dark, fearsome, feeling rose within him. Could that be his hollow spirit waking up within him? He feared that that could be the answer. Was it the Hougyouku or the liquid being injected into him? He could not tell, but the more the process carried out, the more he wished to cry out or wake up from this nightmare. It was too much for him. Death would be so much easier than this. If the drug that was initially administered into him hadn't affected him, then he would scream at the top of his lungs. The only thing he had to do was ride out this horrible experimental session and hope it would end soon so that he would be back in the cell that he and his father shared.

The trip to Las Noches was quiet and did not take long. As soon as they arrived, Rukia, Renji, Tatsuki, Hinamori, Ruby, and Jade jumped off Bawabawa. Pesche and Dondochakka remained on the worm's back.

"Neliel-sama and Grimmjow-sama are inside Las Noches," Pesche advised. "When you see them, they will do what they can to help you find the orange-head and his son. Good luck!" Then he, Dondochakka, and Bawabawa left the group to continue their mission.

Jade and Ruby looked around their surroundings, trying to find some kind of clue to get into the palace, when they found that the door had been opened a crack. They turned back to the others, who nod back in approval. Then they proceeded to enter the door.

Ruby sneered in disgust at the bloody mess that greeted them. She could believe that Ryuichi and the other two that went with him were here since there was a slaughter in this area.

Ruby wrinkled his nose from the stench of the murder scene. "Wow, Grimmjow and Neliel really cleaned this place up. They were so adamant to allow Ryuichi to enter this place easily. You should thank them, Rukia."

Rukia sneered at the comment. "Whatever, Renji. Focus on the mission and not some trivial details."

They continued down the hallway in silence until they saw a figure standing in the dark in front of them. There were several torches burning on either side of him, but he was still nothing more than a shadow.

"I wonder who could that be," Tatsuki wondered aloud as they cautiously walk closer to the figure.

The shadow turned around and they could easily make out his smiling, sadistic face.

"Ichimaru!" Renji, Rukia, and Hinamori exclaimed in shocked unison. Tatsuki gasped while Jade and Ruby held their hands on their zampakutou.

Gin chuckled as he walked towards them. "Welcome to Las Noches."

Next time on Inherited Nightmares...

Renji smirked as he reached for his zampakutou. He was looking forward to encounter Gin again and finish his revenge. "You're mine, Ichimaru!" He ran towards Gin with his zampakutou drawn.

Gin frowned as he blocked Renji's strike. "I'm not interested in fighting you, Abarai."

"Too damn bad!" Renji shouted as he tried to slash through Gin's defences. "I've been wanting pay back ever since you killed Kira!"

Happy new year, everyone! :D I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas break and are looking forward to the positive things 2011 will bring. I sure am, hehe. ^_^

This chapter doesn't have a lot of action in it, but is a very important one nonetheless. Next chapter will have more action in it and you will find out something a bit more about Ruby and Jade. To top that all off, you will also see Ryuichi's hollow powers awaken. Sounds like exciting stuff!

Until then, please review and let me know what you guys think!