Vietvn: Alright! Chapter Seven at last, so pathetic of me to take this long LOL Umm...Yeah...Nothing really much to say....LOL

Chapter Seven: Hollow Within

Where am I....?

I couldn't see anything; the place was pitch black as I looked around me. There was absolutely nothing alive as far as I could see. I glanced down to my feet, wondering what it was that supported me. The ground around me was covered in a thin layer of snow that had a dull grey hue to it and that was just about everything in this empty void.

I was completely and utterly confused. I still had Tsumetai Kaze and Tsukuyomi in my hands but other than that, I had no idea where I was.

"Where am I?" I finally voiced my thoughts.

"Yo...." A voice echoed back in reply. I turned my head to the side; there was no one. Am I hearing things now?

"Over here..." It said again and I turned once again, finally catching a glimpse of a dark shadow not too far away from where I was standing. Whatever that thing was, it was crouching low to the ground about the size of a lion. I narrowed my eyes and saw claws that looked lizard-like. It was then that I remembered my fight with the lizard hollow. I gripped my sword, gritting my teeth and glaring at the shadow in front of me.

"You took another cheap shot didn't you, you bastard." I seethed out. It chuckled lowly to itself but gradually it grew into an all out laugh. I was really getting angry with this thing. In all my effort to defeat it, it was still alive and stuck with me. I took a stance and prepared to charge for it, having a resolve in my mind that I will get rid of this thing once and for all.

"Go to hell!" I shouted and ran towards it, both my swords raised. All it did was continue laughing to itself which fueled my anger more. It won't be laughing for long as soon as I get my sword through its head. As I neared the black mass, something started to happen. I momentarily stopped my charge and watched the black mass swirl out of its lizard like form and began to take on a different shape. It grew in height and slowly materializes as a silhouette of a person. Soon, the black mass grew features. Once it was finished, I found myself stepping back out of fear and shock. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"What....are you...?!" I choked out. Staring back at me was....me. The black mass had materialized itself into a mirror image of myself except this 'me' had snow white hair, chalk coloured skin and wore my bankai outfit all white, blending in with its skin tone. Another major difference was its eyes; the white scleras of the eyes were pitch black with the iris being a vibrant shade of violet.

"I am you...." It smirked.

I shook my head, taking another step back. "No..It's some sick illusion that you're doing, hollow!"

The smirk on her face grew, agitating me more. "I am another part of your existence per say...And I can tell you now that we're in the realm of your zanpakuto, Tsumetai Kaze."

I looked around once more; this was nothing like Tsumetai Kaze's realm. There was no lone mountain and snow was no longer falling. The skies were vacant of clouds; it was just black. This can't be the same place I was in a few moments ago.

"It's because I'm here....I am you which means I am Tsumetai Kaze now." I whipped my gaze back to the hollow, my eyes narrowing dangerously at it. All she did was continue to smirk maliciously, enjoying every minute of watching me act like a lost puppy.

"Lies..." I said.

She chuckled to herself. "Now why would I be lying when I have this as proof?" With the flick of her wrist, a sword materialized into her hand. My eyes further widened in shock; it was exactly the same as Tsumetai Kaze but the only difference was that it was almost completely white. The only part that wasn't was the handle of the katana. What was supposed to be a pastel blue was now pastel lavender.

I furrowed my gaze. What was going on here?

"Think what you will my dear, but we will save our encounter for another day."

I blinked, her statement catching me off guard. "What?"

"I'm saying I'm letting you off the hook for now because you're too injured to fight me. You'll put too much strain on your body on the outside world. Until then, you're no longer in definite control of your mind..."

My eyes widened considerably at these words; no longer in definite control of my mind?! What the hell was that supposed to mean?! Before I had time to retort, the ground beneath suddenly vanished and I found myself being sucked into the black, empty void beneath me. I glanced back up one last time in hopes of finding something to grab onto but there was nothing. I only met the gaze of my hollow self who stood in the air above me, grinning at me and was unaffected by the pulling force that was dragging me down. Once again, I was soon swallowed in darkness.

Shooting my eyes open, the first thing I saw was white. Great, was I in another realm except this time it's entirely white? I turned my head to the side and noticed a night stand beside me and not too far was a door. I was in a room. A white room; which means I must be in the fourth division. So was it all a dream? No, it felt too real to be a dream. I slowly tried to sit up, noticing the stiffness on my abdomen. I looked through the thin kimono robe; white bandages were tightly wrapped around my mid section. Slowly and steadily, I managed to prop myself up and rested my back against the headboard.

I sighed; I must've passed out after facing that hollow and someone must've found me. The door creaked open and in stepped Unohana-taichou herself. She smiled warmly when I turned my head towards her.

"I see you're awake, Tanaka-taichou."

I nodded. "How long have I been out for?"

"Not long, just a day."

I sighed, relieved.

"After a thorough check-up, you are allowed to leave but I advise you to take it easy for the next couple days." The soft-spoken captain glanced down at a clipboard at the end of my bed, scanning through the sheets of papers that were on it before placing it back. She glanced at me one more time, giving me a soft smile.

"He's been worried about ever since you were admitted to division four."

It took me a while to figure out who she meant. At that, I let my mouth drop a bit in realization. My cheeks slightly heated for a moment in embarassment. "Oh...Well, I hope he's not stressing about it too much then... I'm not in serious danger am I?"

Unohana chuckled to herself and shook her head. "It's very sweet of him to care so much for someone. It's a rare sight also. I'm glad you're someone special in his heart."

I let a smile creep onto my lips. Yeah, I'll never admit it out loud but I was pretty lucky to have someone like him to lean on. Which reminds me; I wonder how everything was resolved between him and Kusaka. Unohana excused herself afterwards as a nurse from the division came in to do my check up. It didn't take long for me to be approved and I was out of the division before I could ask where my clothes are. Walking out of the division, I stood for a moment to ponder where I was going to go. Nearly everywhere there was some kind of construction work going on due to Kusaka's attack on Seireitei. I didn't want to head back to the tenth division yet. I needed some thinking to do, especially after what happened.

As I began to walk, I decided to try something. "Tsumetai Kaze....Are you there..?"

There was no melodic voice to answer my question. Furthermore, my head felt strangely empty. Even though I have Tsumetai Kaze's katana, she wasn't present.

"She's not here kid."

I nearly did a double take. How was it that I was able to hear the dragon and not the phoenix? "Tsukuyomi? Why can you hear me and I can still here you?"

"It's complicated."

"In what sense?"

"In a way, I didn't gain an existence from your being. How else would you wind up with TWO zanpakutos? Birdie who's gone missing is like any normal zanpakutos, thus making her your main zanpakuto."

"Really....?Wow, so it really was my bad luck that I came across you?" I joked.

"Hey! You're lucky I'm actually here."

"I was just joking."

It was true, in a way, though I never really thought about it; Tsukuyomi was a zanpakuto I just so happened to come across one day. What looked like a normal, black katana at first glance turned out to be something much more than I expected. Another voice started echoing in the depths of my head that day and eventually, I had learned the name of the blade and that was how Tsukuyomi came to be. He was really mysterious and there's a lot I've yet to learn. Snapping from my reverie, I found that my feet had led me to an opening; a training ground. It was completely deserted which gave the surrounding area peace. It surprised me that it seemed untouched from the incident. A perfect place to ponder I guess.

I moved towards one of the large oak trees and sat at the base. The branches concealed me from the sun that was still high in the sky. Leaning back, I rested my back on the trunk and started to let my mind wander. How am I going to deal with this...hollow inside me now? Embarassing as it was, she might be a problem.

What did she mean by I'm not in definite control of my mind anymore? Can she take over my body at any given moment? If so, then I need to get her out before she could try. Now the only thing was who in their right mind would know how to do that. A rustle of grass crunching under footsteps alerted me and I glanced up. A small smile crept its way up to my lips as I saw who was approaching.

"Konbanwa, Shiro-kun...." I greeted. He merely closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, smiling a bit at the nickname. The tenth captain made his way over to my side and took a seat next to me. We sat in silence for a while; I waited patiently for him to say something while he must've been in deep thoughts. Just when I couldn't take the silence anymore, he spoke.

"Are you...feeling well?" Toushiro asked gently, glancing at me from the corner of his eyes. I could really tell he was worried about me as it was visible through his eyes. I smiled, assuring him and nodded.

"Of course I am, I wouldn't be out here if I wasn't."

He scoffed. "Knowing you, you would've snuck out of division four as soon as you woke up despite how serious your injuries are."

I smiled smugly this time, "Guess you know me too well then..."

He chuckled softly before his smile slowly slipped off his face, replacing it with a slight frown and a serious look to go with it. I observed him, puzzled at how quick of a mood change that was.

"You're not...mad at me are you?" His voice was soft, almost to the point I had to strain my hearing. I blinked skeptically at him, wondering if I heard right.

"Mad? At you?" I repeated to make sure. Toushiro nodded slightly and eyed me carefully with his shocking aqua green eyes. I glanced away from his gaze, pondering to myself. He must be referring to how he left Soul Society and the Gotei 13 without telling a word as to what he was intending to do. Also, that could tie into our encounter during that time in Karakura Town.

"I...was mad at you...but not anymore." I said carefully. I turned my gaze to him; he was beginning to look guilty. "I mean..! Yes, I was upset that you left me...without telling me a word...and that you tried to take matters in your own hand....and you were nearly ordered to be executed...."

I paused, sighing a bit. There were a lot of things Toushiro made me feel upset about during that period of time now that I listed them. What mattered most though was that he was here and I've already forgiven him. Now I just needed to tell him verbally.

"Reimei, I'm so sorry....For leaving you so suddenly like that. I didn't want you to get hurt and this was something from my past and had nothing to do with you. In the end of it all, I was actually hurting you and many of my friends either way. I'm sorry..." He lowered his head slightly, keeping his gaze away from mine. My eyes softened slightly at his antic; there he goes again, taking all the blame for himself. If anything I needed to apologize to him for nearly hurting him during our little fight. I shouldn't even have any thoughts of doubting him when all of it started. I shifted over to him closer; if I can't express my feelings in words than I'll just have to show it. Stretching my arms out, I wrapped them around his shoulders and pulled him into an embrace.

That clearly caught him off guard as I heard a slight gasp escape from him. I rested my head on his shoulders, closing my eyes and taking in his scent.

"Baka....You don't have to apologize. You just thought it was for the best. I should be apologizing; I got mad at you and doubted you when I shouldn't have....I'm just glad you worked out everything and you're alright."

Toushiro shifted his position and soon I was the one being hugged. It took me a moment to realize that I now had my head resting against his chest with his arms tightly wrapped around my waist. I smiled and moved to wrap my arms around his neck, drawing him closer.

"Thank you...For being there till the end." I heard him say softly as he buried his face at the side of my neck. I closed my eyes contently as we stayed in each other's arms.

"Don't worry; I'll always stay with you...."

I didn't know how long we stayed like that but I decided to break the hug, even though I didn't really want to. I wanted to go somewhere and lounge around a bit or maybe just talk with Toushiro here for a while; just relax. I opened my eyes once again but soon regretted.

'What...?'

From the corner of my right eye, a black, mist-like cloud started to creep into my line of vision. I nearly gasped out loud; I didn't want to alert Toushiro. What was happening? It's as if I'm slowly going blind. I closed my eyes once again, hoping it would disappear. When I opened them again, there was no black mist anywhere. I narrowed my eyes, having an immediate suspicion as to what might have caused this abnormal thing to happen.

The hollow inside me.

Wahhh! So she has her own inner hollow now. Joy! But of course, she's not just gonna get rid of it THAT easily with a few...obstacles and misfortunate events on the way....wahahahaha! R&R please! Thank you my readers! ^^