More Ichigo… " I got a rough idea for the storyline already, but writer's block is gonna be the death of me…

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He had stopped coming to school. And although he still lived in that dingy apartment near the school, he never seemed to be home anymore. Guess he really was serious about the training thing. But, he never expected Ishida to completely cut himself off from them like this…

The sudden disappearance of the class's top student had caused a lot of commotion among the students, which in turn gave rise to tons of gossip and rumors. Although some of them were so far-fetched that Ichigo had to suppress an angry outburst, he still kept an ear out for them. As maybe, just, maybe, it could lead him to where Ishida was. But after so many false leads, he was getting increasingly frustrated as time dragged on. All this pent up frustration was also affecting his newly restarted Vaizard training, as he was getting increasingly unfocused. He thought back to the previous night where that lack of focus almost made him hollow bait.

They had been training outside of the abandoned warehouse for the first time. Although Aizen had stopped sending Arrancars to the material world in light of the coming war, more pseudo Arrancars had begun to appear. As a Shinigami representative, it was also his duty to dispatch them accordingly.

That night, he was struggling with a particularly slippery pseudo Arrancar. Shinji and Hiyori's snide comment on his abilities was not doing him any good, and his frustration was peaking. "Bastards! Why the hell don't you come over to help?!" he had shouted at both of them.

"If we did that, ya wouldn't improve, dumbass." Shinji had said.

It made sense, but that didn't stop him from being angry. "What did you sa-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. The hollow's huge hand bore down on him. His eyes widened as he just brought up his sword, barely catching it in time. Straining against the hollow, he tried to push forwards, but at the same time the floor gave way under his feet, and he lost his balance. As Zangetsu was flung to the side, he saw the hollow hand swing downwards again to re-attack. He brought his arms up in front of him and prepared for the impact; but I didn't come. A streak of blue cut between him and the hollow, and the next moment, the hollow let out a bone-chilling cry as it's arm hit the ground in a shower of blood.

"What the hell are you spacing out like an idiot for?! Finish it off!!"

Hiyori broke Ichigo out of his trace. Picking up Zangetsu, he brought it down on the hollow's head, cutting it clean in half. Without stopping to think, he ran wildly around, looking for the archer, swinging his head violently in every direction possible.

When a hand landed on his shoulder, he felt his spirits being lifted. "Ishida!" he shouted and turned around, only to see Shinji there.

"Dumbass, whoever you're looking for, he's already gone,"

Shinji was right; he could not sense Ishida spirit pressure anywhere near them.

"If you keep losing focus like that ya'll just get yerself killed sooner or later. Either that or you'll just give your hollow a chance to take control again."

Ichigo's head jerked as the image of his inner hollow flashed in his mind. The hollow's voice, which was like his own but slightly more high-pitched, rang in his ears.

"… but don't forget that either of us can become the kind or the horse… if you leave even the slightest opening, I'll get rid of you and crush you until there's nothing left..."

He lowered his head, hiding his eyes from view. In his mind, he was contemplating his options. Abandon Ishida and get stronger? Or should he forgo his training in favor of his friend?

"Oi."

He looked up.

"Let's go back." Shinji said before walking away towards Hiyori.

"Yeah…"

XXX

Ishida distracts Ichigo " that's it. I now have to post after I finish each chapter cause I caught up to myself xDD Ishida makes me happy so the next chapter will be him again.. "