Vietvn: HAAA!! You thought I was dead didn't you?! XD Well...I nearly went insane...since before the holidays I was bombarded with essays and projects and tests! D: Crazy teachers DX So I absolutely had NO chance whatsoever to write. Plus, to be honest, I didn't intend of to have this story go on for this long...I honestly don't know how to end this after Reimei beats her hollow and becomes a vizard...Soooo I gotta give that some thought....

But anyways!! I LOVE YOU ALL MY BELOVED READERS WHO REVIEWED!! T^T I don't deserve it T.T So to recap the last chapter since I'm sure most of you must've forgotten... XD

Reimei and Ichigo just exited the cafe where they were having brunch, talking about whether Reimei should go through with the hollowfication process despite the risks. Ichigo encourages her to do so and with renewed confidence, Reimei stalks back to the warehouse where the vizards are to do it. Unfortunately however, she encounters someone who she didn't expect would be there...Toushiro.

Chapter Eleven: Instincts

Still Reimei's POV

Oh no no no no no........This can't be happening. What are the chances of me meeting Toushiro at a time like this? Just when things started to look up too, this just has to happen. Ichigo and I stood frozen to our spots, not daring to make a move as Toushiro continued to stare us down with his piercing eyes. I swear they narrowed almost into a glare. The crowd of people walking along the streets just kept on moving around us, not bothering that a bunch of teens had just stopped in the middle of the streets for a stare-down. I don't know how long we've been staring at each other for but the awkward silence of this disturbed me. Why isn't Ichigo saying anything? I let my eyes travel to the side where Ichigo was standing and peered at his expression briefly. He was glancing from Toushiro to me than back to Toushiro as if signifying to me that he wasn't sure what to say.

Great...Leave everything to me. What am I supposed to say?! I saw Toushiro made a move to speak first; he did not look too happy so in the mist of my growing panic, I said the first thing that anyone would say in a situation like this and yet always make it sound the wrong way.

"This isn't what it looks like I swear...."

Toushiro briefly closed his mouth to frown; his brows furrowed with an unpleasant look on his face before speaking. "Then I believe you can explain to me why you just walked out of the cafe with Kurosaki Ichigo by your side.....?"

I nearly flinched as he almost spat out the words but after my panic attack resided, I had to stare at him a bit incredulous; is he accusing me of cheating on him for Ichigo?! I nearly puffed out a breath in amusement at the thought or the nerve of him to immediately think that first. Is it wrong to eat brunch with a friend who happens to be a guy?! I straightened myself up to answer Toushiro back confidently.

"We were just having brunch since this morning I skipped out on the breakfast Orihime and Matsumoto made....which you were clearly there to witness...." I said.

"So then I can safely assume that those plans you needed to do today was in fact a meet up with Ichigo all along....?" he replied once again almost spitefully.

"Look Toushiro-..."

"No I got this." I cut off Ichigo in a mutter. I kept my gaze steady on Toushiro who returned it with a suspicious glare. "Look Toushiro, I swear on my life that I'm not cheating on you or going behind your back with Ichigo....." I said slowly.

"Then mind explaining to me what business you have with him?"

I hesitated; that was a question that I wasn't prepared for. I couldn't technically tell him about my inner hollow....I feel uncertain of myself. There wasn't exactly any proof either; he could take it the wrong way or assume it was a lie to cover things up. Plus, I was on my way to fix this problem and once I get it fixed, I'll admit it to him. I heaved a sigh, letting it out slowly and slightly let my shoulders slump. Forgive me Toushiro...but please just wait a little longer....

"I....I can't tell you right now..."

I heard him scoff. "I wonder why..."

"It's not what you're thinking; I'll explain everything soon. Just wait a little longer....."

"I don't think you have anything more to say then and neither do I...."

The way he spoke those words were harsh but in an almost calm way. It stung for a bit and left me dazed. I saw him approach us but I made no action to move. As he came to just brushing my shoulder, I asked him one last question.

"....Do you trust me?"

He stopped in his tracks; we were side by side but both facing opposite directions, neither of us made eye contact. A long pause broke between us as I waited for his response. It felt like an eternity before I heard him heave a small sigh and then proceeded to walk onwards without saying a single word. I had to admit; that kind of hurt and caused an aching in my chest to stir but my mind wasn't compromising what my heart felt. I knew deep down he wanted to trust me but couldn't decide between trusting his heart or his logics....I hope.

"Reimei...You sure it's alright not to tell him now?" Ichigo asked after staying relatively quiet through the encounter. I closed my eyes, collecting my thoughts before proceeding to slowly walk in the direction of the warehouse.

"Don't worry about it....Toushiro's probably being a bit childish right now and will probably ignore me for a bit. Since he didn't respond to my question, I'm guessing he's just having trouble deciding on whether to trust his heart or his logics."

Ichigo took in my words before responding once again. "You still don't have to fight this battle alone...."

"Even if I did tell him now, he wouldn't be able to do anything. It's all up to me. Besides, when I get this done and over with, I'll tell him for sure. Not like I'll keep it from him forever."

We eventually made it back to the abandoned warehouse and proceeded to enter it without so much as to announce our presence. As we came through the two wooden doors, we found that all of the vizards had settled down for lunch. Shinji was the one who noticed us first.

"Ohh..back so soon?" He asked in between mouthfuls of rice.

I nodded. "I've decided to go through with the process."

Hiyori frowned a bit in disbelief. "Hahh...And for a moment I thought Shinji's threats would scare you...Tch."

"We'll start as soon as we finish lunch." Shinji said, waving us off with his pair of chopsticks. I sighed; they really did know how to drain out the confidence in me....

After a while of waiting, they were finally finished. I got up from my spot against the wall and headed towards them.

"So...are we gonna start?" I asked.

"Yup...but first-"

"No way is she doing what you guys did to me the first time I started this...!" Ichigo interrupted suddenly. Of course, I didn't know what he was talking about so I let the conversation between Shinji and Ichigo continue.

"Hahh? What?"

"That stupid step pedal, exercising machine thing! It would waste more time!"

"It's not a stupid pedal exercising machine! It's the Super Hiyori Walker!!" exclaimed Hiyori, jumping into the conversation.

"Ohhh...that...Well how else are we gonna measure her reiatsu....?"

"She's a captain level, I'm pretty sure it'll take months for you to actually drain her of all her reiatsu just by making her run on a half-assed NordicTrack."

"It's the Super Hiyori Walker!!!"

I stood off to the side, watching the three argue about the topic; I still had no idea what the hell the 'Super Hiyori Walker' is but according to Ichigo's description, it was a 'half-assed exercising machine' that was supposedly meant to drain someone's reiatsu in order for it to be measured.

"Fine!! We'll do it your way then Kurosaki..Sheesh..." Shinji finally agreed. He turned towards me. "Oi, Tanaka."

I perked up at my name. "Hai?"

"Have you had any problems with your hollow? Ya know, attacks from it trying to take over?"

I thought about it. "Hm...Not frequently...Just random spurts, but I haven't completely lost control to it yet..."

Shinji nodded his head. "Okay...you're not as bad as Ichigo who's constantly leaking reiatsu...."

"Can we start now?" I asked rather impatiently. They were stalling for quite some time now.

"Sure, if ya say so." Shinji said as a Cheshire cat smirk lit up his face. I didn't like the looks of it and before I could react, he had swiftly moved in front of me and struck his palm against my forehead. A sensation that felt like I was peeling away from something rushed through my body and it was then that I noticed Shinji had slipped on one of those specialized gloves. Before I could snap at him for not warning me of doing such a sudden action, his hands had started to illuminate a light blue hue to which at this point, I felt my conscious slip away.

Normal POV

Ichigo watched as the young raven-violet haired captain, now dressed in her uniform, fell limp by being knocked out by Shinji. Kensei had stepped up and proceeded to carry Reimei under one arm by the waist, holding her as if she was a doll. Ichigo wasn't sure if that was necessary but didn't exactly question it as he too was knocked out right before being taken to their underground training area. He figured that it must be so that she could get in touch with her inner hollow in order to face against it.

"Hacchi, a double layered barrier if you please..." Shinji requested to which the large man complied.

The group of vizards along with Ichigo had then started to make their way down the shaft that lead to their training grounds; a clear, barren land with nothing but rocks jutting out randomly under a clear blue sky. Nothing has changed since the last time he trained here. Kensei laid the limp body of Reimei down in the middle of the terrain -stomach first- before walking off to stand next to Hacchin. Ichigo stayed close to the other vizards too and watched in awe at the procedure they went through to prepare for Reimei's hollowfication. Having not seen this before, this would be Ichigo's first time in seeing what they had also done to him for his process.

From beside Ichigo, Kensei pulled out a wrist watched and after pushing a few buttons, nodded to Hacchin who started to cast kidou spells.

"Wall of iron sand, tower formed from hate, forge molten iron and neatly finish in silence. Way of Binding Number 75: Quintet of Iron Pillars!"

Ichigo was shocked when five rather large, iron rods came dropping down from the sky and landed effectively on Reimei's limbs; pinning them down. The iron rods towered over all of them and Ichigo could only imagine the weight of each one. As Hacchi proceeded to then set up a barrier similar to Orihime's, Ichigo turned to Shinji who watched beyond in a passive manner.

"Were the five iron rods necessary?"

"We're just taking precautions...Never know what kind of power one can exhibit when they're transforming into a hollow."

The substitute shinigami blinked and nodded his head slowly to show he understood; if Reimei was of captain level then it's for certain that she's bound to cause some damage with her level of reiatsu whether she intended to or not.

A sudden shockwave erupted from within the orange barrier, swirling large gusts of wind throughout the area. The large iron pillars rattled loudly against each other by the force and Ichigo had to brace himself from being blown back. Everyone stood their grounds and only continued to watch the chaos that would soon commence.

"...Here she comes."

Ichigo thought twice about shooting Shinji a questioning look as he got his answer soon after the blonde had said it. From under the iron pillars, Reimei's head suddenly shot up from its limp form. Following her sudden awake was that of an animalistic snarl emitting from the young captain and through the barrier, Ichigo could faintly make out the white hollow mask that covered half of her face. The mask reminded Ichigo of something like a cross between a skull mask but with reptile like features. It had somewhat of a snout forming where the nose was, baring rows of jagged teeth that would have been way too sharp on a lizard unless it was a dinosaur. The eye slits were narrowed like his own mask with red markings around the eyes and jaw but what made it really unique was the slight frill that started at the back ends of the mask. Streaked with jagged red lines, the frill mimicked the loose skin that fanned out on a frilled neck lizard. The extra feature stretched just pass covering her head, leaving her long hair to flow out under it.

Her eyes were alert and crazed; the sclera in her eyes were blackened by the possession of the hollow inside her, leaving her usually bright amethyst eyes looking more like a maroon purple colour filled with nothing but bloodlust.

The iron pillars that pinned her down collapsed under the spirit pressure Reimei was emitting and as they crumbled, the 5th division captain slowly rose to her feet and grabbed a hold of her blue handled zanpakuto.

Ichigo watched nervously as Lisa voluntarily stood from her spot, one hand clutching her katana as she eyed Reimei with a serious expression.

"Hacchi, open the barrier here. I guess I'll take guard duty like last time..." she muttered.

"Hai." Hacchi replied, allowing the barrier to make a rectangular entrance for Lisa to step through. Reimei in turn snarled and hissed out, intently eyeing her pray as she held her own zanpakuto already unsheathed from its case.

Lisa in turn unsheathed hers calmly once she stood about a good distance in front of the half-hollowed raven-violet haired girl. Raising her katana towards Reimei, Lisa took up a stance while still holding onto her serious expression.

"Yadomaru Lisa....Nice to meet you."

Reimei's POV a little before fighting

Where am I.....?

"Heh, good to see you've come out of your dazed senses."

I snapped my eyes to look ahead and found none other than my hollow self standing in front of me, staring with a smirk imprinted onto her lips. Her darkened eyes glittered with amusement and I could only narrow my own into a glare. We were once again standing in the barren, snow covered land that once was supposed to be my subconscious when visiting Tsumetai Kaze.

"So...are you ready to get your butt handed to ya?" she continued to taunt. It was then that I noticed she was holding a blade in her hand. The handle was a mirror image of Tsumetai Kaze's but the colour of it was a dark navy blue instead of the pastel, sky blue. What I also came to notice was that she was dressed in a shinigami uniform only it was white instead of the traditional black. A captain's haori also adorned her in the opposing colours of its original.

I looked down at myself and was relieved that I was also in my shinigami uniform with Tsumetai Kaze's blade strapped to the left side of my hip. I guess this is it...

I slowly drew out my blade and poised it towards her. "I'm not about to let someone with the likes of you to trample over me." I retorted, also taking into a stance. The hollow me just snickered, her smirk widened into a grin as she placed her free hand on her hip, leaning her weight on one leg and slinging the still sheathed blade to rest on her shoulder.

"Now is that any way to talk to your future queen?"

"Quit the talking and face me." I snapped, losing my patience with her as she continued to taunt. She scoffed in response and in the blink of an eye, she shunpo'ed in front of me swiftly. I had barely enough time to react to block her katana as it came down on me. When she had unsheathed it was a question that nearly frightened me.

"Heh, if you're asking to be killed faster than I would not hesitate to comply with your wishes." She mocked as she continued to hammer me with powerful strikes. I still kept up my defense, blocking all of her strikes though each of them made my hands tremble more. She suddenly jumped away and disappeared. I moved out of my defensive stance and quickly blocked the attack that came from behind me. I swung at her fast pushing her blade away from mine. She jumped back once again and brought back her sword to strike.

"Kamaitachi!" My eyes went wide as she swung her sword in mid-air and a sudden gust of whirlwind shot towards me. I growled lowly and brought my sword up as well.

"Blow them away: Tsumetai Kaze! Kamaitachi!" I sent back my own whirlwind and they clashed together, causing one huge vortex of cutting wind to erupt in between us and disperse everywhere. I held up my arm to block the stray wind currents, earning a few thin cuts on my forearm. As the winds died down I suddenly felt her presence coming from behind me at such speed that I had no time to react. I whipped my sword around in attempt to block but was harshly blown back by the sheer force. I slid against the cold, snowy grounds, kicking up the snow before I flipped myself right up again. The blow had left me breathless and my breathing came in short pants. I glared dangerously ahead as my hollow self just stood sneering at my battered form while she hardly had a scratch on her.

"You might as well give up." She continued to snicker. "Maybe then you'll have a higher chance at coming out of this in one piece."

I said nothing in reply and just raised my sword. "Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki!" With a quick swing of my zanpakuto, ice spilled out from the tip and whipped towards my hollow self. As it charged towards her, the ice slowly took on the shape of swallows, rushing at her in a large horde. Just when they were mere inches away from hitting her, she calmly raised her sword with an amusing glint in her eyes.

"Fūton: Kazekiri (Wind Release: Wind Cutter; do not own LOL)." A large gust of wind sliced the ice swallows cleanly in half, immediately nullifying the attack and continued to plow right towards me at high speed. I shunpo'ed out of the way on time but suddenly a searing pain erupted from across my back. I whipped my sword around to ward her off and she did by flipping back, all in the while laughing. I hunched over slightly, feeling the warmth of my blood seep through my clothes from my back.

"Face it Rei-chan, you're not gonna win this battle no matter how stubborn you are."

There she goes ranting again; can she fight without saying a single sentence for once?! I only glowered at her as I straightened myself a bit and gripped the handle of my zanpakuto, poising it so that the sharp end was directed towards her; where her face would soon be saying hello to.

"Wanna know why you struggle so hard while I hardly break a sweat?"

I made no attempt to respond to her rhetorical question and just shunpo'ed to her with the fastest speed I could muster at the moment. This battle was dragging out longer than I had thought it would take and it was slowly taking a toll on my stamina. She raised her blade and mine connected with her in a blade lock. Her way of fighting me made it look like I was just some new shinigami; fresh out of the academy and was currently fighting a division captain. She only had one grip on her zanpakuto to hold up against me. Her dark obsidian eyes sparkled in amusement as she peered down at me, grinning widely as I gritted my teeth, struggling to break through her defense.

"You're weak and you have no instinct. You have no idea what the nature of your zanpakuto is."

We pushed back and slashed at each other again; sparks flying from the harsh contact of metal against metal.

"Wind and ice; a perfect combination for a winter storm wouldn't you say?"

"I prefer a hailstorm." I spat back.

"Right no matter. But beside the point; it's futile for you to have remotely any control over such elements. You're only limiting its abilities."

She suddenly pushed back and I was flung back. I skidded to a stop and glared at her as she held up her zanpakuto, holding her free hand, palm faced down over the metal blade.

"Wind and ice; elements such as these are meant to flow freely! Bankai!"

I stared in shock as the blade changed to that of my bankai except the blade had changed to the pastel, pale blue as opposed to the original dark, navy blue. The fan had also switched its colouring to that of pure black with white feathers and dark blue framing. I held up my own zanpakuto, calling out bankai as well. We now stood face to face; the bankai outfit of hers was the total opposite colour of mine. I glared as she grinned and raising the fan in her hand, she held it in front of her, showing the black feather designs on the material to me.

"It's time I show you how to truly harness the power of your zanpakuto."

Suddenly ice shards around the size of small daggers erupted on the edge of the fan; spreading across the span of it. Tossing it into the air, my hollow self caught it by the navy blue ribbon that trailed at the end of the fan and began to spin it leisurely. I eyed the fan warily; why hadn't I thought of that before? More so, I didn't even know I could do that. My thoughts were cut short when she suddenly disappeared in front of me, only to reappear mere inches in front of me with her zanpakuto ready to strike down.

I held mine up in defense, pushed away but then nearly had the ends of the daggered ice fan meeting my face. I barrel rolled to the side, gritting my teeth as I felt the same stinging pain erupt from my shoulders now and the warmth of the blood seeping through. I couldn't catch a break as the fan came at me again. I swiped it away with my zanpakuto and quickly took the time to form ice daggers at the ends of my own fan to deflect the incoming blade of my hollow's zanpakuto. Her strikes became faster and I was straining to keep up. Needless to say, she was better at wielding the fan than me; using the long ribbon effectively to swing the ice bladed fan at me. We came to another blade lock and as we met face to face, she let out a laugh. I couldn't land a single hit on her the entire time; not only is it frustrating but it's slowly pissing me off. Not to mention that her laugh is equally annoying.

"You look so pathetic! I'll do you a favor and put you out of your misery and you don't have to worry about your little boyfriend either; I promise I'll take good care of him."

That's it; oh she's getting it now! The anger from within me shot up so quickly I could barely comprehend my next action. I shoved her off with such force that she skidded a good few metres from me, a surprised look painted across her face but she immediately covered it up with a smirk.

"Well, looks like that hit a nerve. Hmph, then maybe I should-.."

"Shut up." I snapped at her.

"Hey kid, about time I could reach you."

At first I froze, not sure whether I had heard correctly or if I was simply going insane from this battle.

"Oi, what the hell are you doing?! Watch what she's doing!!"

Ha, so I'm not going insane. I felt a familiar sensation tingle in the hand that gripped the handle of the katana and only briefly glanced up to see a black and white blur dash towards me. Surprisingly, I managed to raise my zanpakuto in time to block her oncoming blade. Then it hit me...

"Instincts..." I mused to myself. The thought nearly made me chuckle but I couldn't suppress the grin that slowly formed on my lips.

"What's so funny?" snarled my hollow as she pushed against my blade. I looked her straight on, the grin still plastered on my face but my eyes slowly drifted to the hilt of my zanpakuto. It was no longer the blue hue of Tsumetai Kaze's.

It was that of Tsukuyomi's.

"Instincts...Heh...I'll give you instincts..."

Omgg..Chapter 11....=.= Probably sucked cuz yeah... but now Reimei gets to kick butt after getting Tsukuyomi!! XD Next chapter update; just so you guys would know, will most likely not be in a while. Exams are coming up and I got three more projects to do before that while studying for exams too =.= Plus! I gotta work out the ending to this story!! DX So so guys...if you want, you can make some idea suggestions; hopefully those would help me jog my imagination a little... XD R&R if you will too!

Thank you guys so much!! 3