NOTE: Even though Ryuichi had defeated his hollow spirit in Chapter 14, I think it would be a good idea to show what had happened in the outside world when the Viazards were trying to keep him at bay. With this reason in mind, I had decided to slightly overlap chapter 14 and 15.

Enjoy!

Chapter 15: Confessions

For eight minutes each, Lisa, Shinji, Hiyori, Rose, and Kensei had been keeping Ryuichi at bay while the fierce, inner battle took place within his conscious. The viazards had a really hard time against the evolving hollow, and it grew stronger and cunning every time it partially transformed.

When Kensei's turn was about to end, Ryuichi's hollow form had fully evolved. In appearance, it looked like a demon from hell with its curved horns on its head and deep red body. The mask was white with fire-like patterns along the sides; these patterns continued across its shoulders, sides, and thighs. The hollow also had similar characteristics to Ichigo's hollow form when he fought against the viazards – long orange hair and a large, powerful tail. The only difference was that the hair had black highlights.

"Time for me to go in, Kensei!" Love shouted from outside the barrier.

Kensei looked up from his fighting and nodded, using shunpo to quickly exit the barrier so that Love can step in.

Love stared at the fully transformed hollow in front of him and readied his katana for his part of the fight, pointing his zampakutou towards the hollow's grotesque appearance. "My name is Love Aikawa. I'm your next opponent."

The hollow's eyes glowed with lust before it charged towards its new opponent.

"Come and get it," Love muttered as he ran towards the hollow.

The monster slashed against Love, who blocked with his sword. Then it swung its tail around, but Love thought quickly. He spun around, dodging the attack, and countered with another slash, which struck the hollow's shoulder. A small amount of blood escape from the wound, but the gash healed quickly. The hollow slashed once and Love cart wheeled backwards.

"Man, he's tough," he breathed. His eyes widened all of a sudden when he noticed the hollow preparing a cero. "Talk about déjà vu!" He held a hand in front of his face to summon his mask.

However, before the hollow could fire its cero, its body started to crack apart.

Love lowered his hand and watched with incredulous interest as the hollow screamed in agony. The light faded from its eyes as its body started to crumble to the ground, revealing a battle-scarred Ryuichi. Only his mask was on his face.

Ryuichi stood there for a moment before he fell onto his knees and collapsed onto the ground.

Shinji entered the barrier and walked towards Ryuichi. Love nodded in greeting and then walked out of the barrier.

Shinji watched for a moment as Ryuichi wearily turned onto his back. "So how are ya feelin'?" He asked.

Ryuichi brought his hand up to his mask to remove it from his face, revealing a wide grin. "Never better!" He whispered in a tired voice.

Shinji grinned in response. "Glad to hear it."

Suddenly, the barrier shattered around them. Shinji smirked at Hachi who was standing behind them with the rest of the Viazards. "Welcome back, Hachi," he greeted, "and you too, Ichigo."

Ryuichi's eyes snapped open at the name and managed to stand despite his exhaustion. "D-Dad?" He stammered.

Ichigo smiled as he walked towards his son. "You know, that brings back memories," he reminisced. "How are you feeling, Ryuichi?"

"I'm feeling great," Ryuichi replied, "exhausted but great."

"Glad to hear it."

"What about you?"

"Your mother gave me quite the talking to," Ichigo chuckled. "She really knows how to cheer someone up. By the way, thanks for sending Hachi up to Soul Society."

Ryuichi smiled. "No problem. It was Mom's idea."

Ichigo chuckled again. "Could have figured as much." Then his smile turned sad. "I'm not going to hurt her like that again."

"It's not your fault, Dad. Aizen used you for his own purposes. Now he's out of commission, thanks to Jade."

Ichigo nodded. "Yes, I've heard everything about what happened. I'm glad that you all made it out all right. I owe Grimmjow and Neliel one." He placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "And I'm especially proud of you for your growth in your abilities."

Ryuichi smiled wider. He had been wanting to hear his father say that ever since he graduated from the Academy. "Really?"

Ichigo nodded. "I know you have been anticipating that." He took his hand off of Ryuichi's shoulder. "Well let's go home, shall we?"

Ryuichi nodded. He followed his father towards the exit that would lead back to the warehouse.

"See ya later, Ichigo," Keigo called.

"Good luck, Keigo," Ichigo said. He turned towards Shinji. "Thanks for what you did for my son."

Shinji grinned. "No problem at all. He'll be just as good as you are one day."

Ichigo smirked. "Yeah, I agree. I'll continue to train him."

"Sounds good to me," Shinji said.

Hiyori scowled and looked away. "I could care less."

"Later, guys," Ichigo said with a wave. Then he and Ryuichi disappeared upstairs.

Hinamori stood in front of the Senkaimon, waiting for Ryuichi and his father to return. She needed to confess her feelings to him and see how things go from there. Maybe she was being selfish, but something told her that the young Kurosaki had felt the same. Maybe he still feels the same.

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Ryuichi step through the doors with Ichigo. She was nervous but that was a normal thing, especially for her.

"Kurosaki-Taichou," she greeted with a bow.

"Nice to see you, Hinamori," Ichigo said with a smile.

Her angelic voice made Ryuichi's heart skip a beat. "Hey Hinamori," he greeted as a small blush tinted his cheeks.

A glow twinkled in Hinamori's eyes. "Hi Ryuichi," she said, "I...know you have just come back, but I was wondering if we could talk for a bit."

Ryuichi turned to his father. Ichigo smirked in response. "Don't need to ask me for permission, son," he said with a laugh.

Ryuichi turned back to Hinamori. "Let's go," he said with a smile.

They walked down the walkway and turned the corner, all in silence.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" Hinamori broke the silence.

Ryuichi nodded. If there was any way to confess how he felt about the woman next to him, this would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

He stopped walking and looked into Hinamori's eyes. "Before you say anything," he said, "there's something I want to tell you as well." Hinamori waited, her breath caught in her throat.

"I think you're a wonderful woman," Ryuichi trailed off. "Beautiful, an angel even." Hinamori blushed when she heard these words. "I really enjoy our friendship," he continued, "and I'll continue to enjoy it for as long as I live. But there's something on my mind that I want to bring out into the open."

He paused when he saw Ruby in the corner of his eye, but returned to his train of thought as he kept his attention onto Hinamori. "I...I love you," he finally blurted out. Hinamori gaped and blushed in surprise. "They say love is knowing what's best for the other person," Ryuichi said, "and this...is why," he hesitated, not wanting to make her cry, "we can't be together."

Hinamori was speechless. First he said that he loved her, but now he said that they cannot be together. "Wh-why..." She tried to force out in an almost inaudible voice.

Ryuichi felt guilty, but he knew that he had to explain himself. "You need someone who can take care of you," he explained. "I can't be that person. You deserve someone who will love you forever. I'm not mature enough for you, in age and in strength. Plus, you're my father's subordinate. I am as well but it just doesn't seem right. There's someone for me out there just like I know there's someone for you. I hope you understand that I'm not trying to hurt you anything. If you're hurt –"

Hinamori cut him off, finally finding her voice. "No. You mean well, and you're right. How selfish could I be? I love as you as well, Ryuichi, but maybe it's the selfish kind of love."

Ryuichi smiled reassuringly. "I don't think you're selfish. I think you're a great person, and I hope that someone will appreciate you as well as I do."

Hinamori wiped some tears that started to spill from her eyes. "You're right. I hope that person appreciates you as well."

Ryuichi pulled her into an embrace. "Please be all right, Hinamori-san. I want you to be happy."

Hinamori returned the hug and smiled. "I will. Thank you, Ryuichi-kun."

Ryuichi separated himself from her. "Take care of yourself." Hinamori nodded. "See you around, Hinamori-san," Ryuichi said with a wave. Hinamori nodded again and walked away, not letting Ryuichi see the tears that continued to spill from her eyes.

Ryuichi felt guilty for what he had said, but he knew that he could not be the one for Hinamori. She was too special and deserved someone better than him.

He turned towards Ruby and walked towards her. Ruby smiled as she waited for Ryuichi to join her. She had a feeling what about happened with him and Hinamori, and she hoped that Ryuichi would feel all right again soon.

Ryuichi stopped in front of her and looked deep in her eyes. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," Ruby replied. "How are you?"

"Good," Ryuichi answered. "How are things with you?"

"They're well. Jade and I have settled our situations, you could say."

"Good."

They stared at each other in silence for a moment until Ruby broke it. "Did you take care of your inner hollow?"

Ryuichi nodded. "Yeah."

"That's good," she said with a smile.

"So, um...I thought about what you had said," Ryuichi said. Ruby cocked her head to the side. "About solving stuff together," Ryuichi continued. "I thought of you while I defeated my hollow, and that brought me more strength than I ever had. So, I just like to say thank you."

Ruby chuckled. "Anytime. I'm glad you won."

"And also," Ryuichi froze for a moment and brought his face closer to Ruby's face, causing her to blush deeply. "I never thought I would say this, but I think...I'm starting to fall in love with you."

The words were just what Ruby had wanted to hear. She wrapped her arms around Ryuichi's neck and pressed her lips against his. Ryuichi wrapped his arms around Ruby's waist and deepened the kiss. The girl who was once his rival pressed her body against his.

As they shared this magical and romantic embrace, their past together seemed to have disappeared. There was no such thing as rivalry to them. They were equal, man and woman, lovers.

Not too far away, Rukia and Ichigo watched their son in his first kiss and smiled proudly. Their son had finally grown up into the man he was striving to be, and this was just the beginning.

Things were finally peaceful in Seireitei, but how long will it be before chaos reigns once again? Only time will tell.

And that's the end of chapter 15! I know it's short, but it was the best that I could do and also the major stuff – Aizen and Ryuichi's hollow – were already taken care of. Coming up next is the epilogue where you will learn about the fate of Aizen and his remaining followers as well as get introduced to a new group of villains who will appear in the sequel. That will be kind of short too, but it will have quite a bunch of action to it and you will catch a glimpse of what these new villains are capable of.

For those of you who had wanted to see Hinamori and Ryuichi get together, you will still have your chance when I write the alternate ending! This was my initial idea in the first place before my friend begged me to include his characters in my story. It won't be a part of the series, however. It will just be an extra thing, a "what would happen" thing, if you know what I mean.

Also, for those of you who had been following Torn in the Darkness, a story that was put on major hiatus so that I could finish this story and get inspiration, I'm going to finally be able to finish it off. I had been collecting Naruto manga and I've finally reached the volume where Sasuke killed Orochimaru (sorry for the spoiler hehe). So that gives me ideas to finish off Torn in the Darkness, which will be taken care of after the epilogue of this story is done.

With all that said, thank you everyone for enjoying this story! Sorry it may not have been as action-packed as Incomplete Sorrows was, but Condemned Time with definitely have a bit more action to it even though it won't be as long as these stories.

Let me know what you think of this chapter!

Take care!