We both discovered, Shiro and me, that we weren't really tired when we went to bed. So, much to my lovesick begging, we decided to sit on our bed and stare out the window. The moon had been revealed through the clouds and now lit up the trees and earth below.

I sighed, but did so happily.

Shiro's arm was around my back, he held me firmly. I rested my head on his shoulder.

See? Totally lovesick...

I eventually found that my eyes no longer wanted to remain open. I looked up at Shiro, laughing slightly as his eyes appeared to already be closed. I gave him a gentle nudge and they opened revealing his beautiful midnight surrounding yellow eyes.

Without much sound, he and I worked to position ourselves underneath the black bed sheets, the red ones being washed because of our... ahem, us doing stuff...

After actually settling down, Shiro's arm returned to my waist, his body pressed gently against mine. I smiled and probably fell asleep smiling, though I couldn't remember... I'd fallen asleep.

"Ichigo!"

My eyes opened, and I rolled out of bed.

"Ichigo!" The girl continued to call.

I wobbled over to the window and looked outside. To my dismay, the sun hadn't even looked over the horizon yet. I looked down and beside the house stood Orihime. "What is Inoue? It's a little early for a visit, don't you think?"

"There's something I have to show you Kurosaki-kun! Please, come quickly!"

The panic in her voice had me alarmed. Thinking quickly, I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen then wrote quickly a note. Then I put on and straightened my Shihakusho, threw the Head Captain's robes overtop and ran down the stairs.

"Thank you," Inoue practically cried.

Without much direction or hesitation, I followed her. She led me down a long cement pathway that headed towards, from what I could see, and old housing district. We arrived at a small gate that looked like one you'd see on in a horror film... all old and grey.

I wasn't too surprised when it opened the moment I came close to it. I was finally getting used to the authority I held.

Inoue led me towards a house, one that stood tall and proud compared to others. She pushed open the door and we entered.

My mouth dropped at the horror which revealed itself. Four women, whom I've never seen before, lay about across chairs and couches. Caught in the middle with swords to their throats, were my sisters.

Inoue gave me shove and I barely stumbled in. When I spun to face her, she had a sad look on her face but locked the door regardless. I turned back to the others who all held sneers and brought their swords closer to Yuzu and Karin's terrified faces.

"Let them go!" I screamed, my hand already reaching for Zangetsu's hilt.

"Or you'll do what?" A fifth asked. I looked to my right where another girl came walking down the stairs. "Tell ya what, you put your hands where we can see them and the girls won't have to suffer."

"Ichigo don't!" Karin screamed.

My lip quivered, anger and fear making a deadly contrast within my mind.

Finally I decided.

Lifting my hands in front of me, I surrendered.

Shiro's POV

It felt... strange when I woke up without Ichigo here. I could still sense his Spiritual Pressure and that meant he should be fine, but something still worried me. I told my mind not to worry and that Ichigo would be fine, but my heart (yeah, I have one of those) still ached.

I got out of bed and looked for things that were out of place. Knowing Ichigo he probably would've left a note... Yup, there it was, right on the table.

I picked it up and noticed three things instantly. One; Ichigo was in a rush when he wrote this, the words were written quickly and in a mess. Two; this had been written less than an hour ago, his Reiatsu was still on the page. And three; the page undoubtedly said Orihime.

"Good morning Shiro. Sorry for dropping a note and leaving, but Orihime came by and she looked really worried. If you need to find me you can follow the trail of Spiritual Pressure or something like that. Ichigo."

I chuckled slightly. The straightforwardness was actually kinda funny. And I found amusement in the fact that Ichigo knew precisely what I was gonna do.

Let's be honest. Ichigo and I most definitely can't be separated for more than an hour without feeling completely out of place. That was what I discovered last night... At first I felt fine while Ichigo slept, but not long after that I discovered a sense of unease. I came back here immediately and, well, that led to what you already know...

I left the letter on the desk in case anyone came snooping. They'd see the letter and know where to go. And I took off following Ichigo's trail of Reiatsu. I followed the trail carefully, and made sure that I myself wasn't followed. My Spiritual Pressure was on halt all the way so that no one could sense me coming, just in case Ichigo really was in trouble.

I already hated the fact that Orihime's Reiatsu appeared to be smothering Ichigo's, but I grinned at the annoyance I felt in his. Oh no, there's no way Ichigo would leave me, no freakin' way.

He's a loyal and tough son of a bitch, but he was my bitch, no one else's.

Back on track... I stopped when I felt an unfamiliar sensation of fear and shortly after came worry. Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure just caught fire, anger and real annoyance blazing wildly. Something was wrong.

And I mentally swore that if Orihime had anything to do with this, I'd kill that whore myself.

Ichigo's POV

"You won't get away with this," I swore, looking at each girl in the eye. They had all turned their attention on me, making sure to knock out Karin and Yuzu before doing so.

"Oh but I think we will," Their leader, which I had learnt was named Iana, said. Her hand was behind her back, she was holding something, but I was powerless to ask what. They took Zangetsu and stripped me to just my hakama. Then they tied me to a post with a belt around my waist and my hands tied behind my back.

"Besides," one of the others girls snickered, "it's not like you're gonna care."

Those words scared me. Of course I was going to care, why wouldn't I...?

I was starting to panic; I might've even felt scared. I had one last option. Even though it didn't work before, I thought I'd give it one more try. 'Shiro! Please help me!'

...No answer.

Something pierced my skin, it burned and I cringed, though I refused to make a sound. I looked at my chest. Iana held a needle firmly to my skin. The vile was filled with a pure black substance that now slowly emptied into my body.

I wanted to cry, for a while I thought I might have. My eyes were dry and burning, but I felt no tears running down my cheeks. The belt around my waist had been undone, my hands freed too, and I fell forward. My knees hit the ground first, and then my hands. I tried my best to stay still but even then my head spun.

"Do you wanna know what this is?" Iana asked, waving the empty needle in front of my face.

I couldn't reply. I might've fallen over.

"It's made up of two things... First; blood from a thousand different Hollows, each at the level of an Adjuchas. Second; an elixir that makes even the strongest of Shinigami turn against their allies."

"You... bitch..." I muttered. The dizziness in my head had been replaced with pain. I coughed rather roughly and what felt like blood came out of my lips. My hand shook when I brought it to my mouth, but I didn't care. I touched the wet spot and held my hand in front of my face to see if I really was bleeding, but to my great disappointment there was no blood... only a white fluid.

"Ladies, allow me to introduce the new Ichigo Kurosaki!"

I looked back at each of them, making sure to get a good glare at whoever came into my vision. The very last thing I saw was Inoue's terrified expression.