"Man, we got slaughtered in there." Takashi said, using a little brochure to fan himself as they walked down the street. "Those little punks were brutal."

"It was a lot of fun though." Ichigo said absently as he glanced at the buildings. This was a very commercial district and there were plenty of things to see in the windows. Takashi nodded, putting away his pamphlet.

"Yeah, it was. I would totally do that again. Does it strike you as strange, though? I mean, I sort of remember being able to throw a freakin' sword at you and almost nail you at fifty paces. A really big sword, too." Takashi gestured and Ichigo grimaced at the reminder. "But I can't hit a damn thing with an itty bitty laser gun. What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Got me there." Ichigo admitted with a small laugh. His hollow had a point. "I never used my sword that way so at least I have an excuse." After the trip to the park and the bento box lunch, they'd followed through on their plan to go on a walk through the city. Along the way they'd encountered a laser tag place and decided it looked like fun. Ichigo had put it on his credit card. He was sure his father wouldn't mind. "So you're remembering things now?" He asked and Takashi shrugged.

"I always did have flashes. I just dismissed them because I knew I was Takashi. What would playing with swords and an underwater world have to do with me?" He said with a crooked grin and Ichigo nodded. That made sense. "Now that I know they're real, it's coming back to me more. It's still pretty incomplete though." The memories were fragmentary and sometimes didn't make much sense. "Hey look, there's a gelato place. Would you like some?"

"Sure." Ichigo said with a small smile and they quickly got into line. "Just a small cup." It was just a treat. Takashi nodded. "Chocolate." He answered when the young lady manning it asked. Takashi looked over the flavors thoughtfully.

"I want to try that sour cherry stuff." He decided and Ichigo glanced at it. It had real, dried cherries on top and looked rather tempting. But he decided to stay with his chocolate. Soon they had their little cups of sweetness. "Mmm." Takashi murmured, licking a bit of cream off his lips. "I like it. Want to try a bit?"

"Sure." Ichigo dipped his spoon into the dessert, sampling it. "Tart! Want to try some chocolate?" He asked and Takashi grinned.

"Sure!" He tried it and smiled. "Smooth. Both different, but both good. Kind of like us." He said warmly before slowly licking off his spoon in a slow, sensual movement. Then he smiled as Ichigo put a hand behind his head, pulling him in for a quick kiss.

"Tease." The other teen breathed in his ear before letting go. Takashi enjoyed the feeling and didn't give a damn about some of the looks people were giving them.

They spent some more time just walking and looking. Tokyo was an amazing city, really, especially compared to sleepy little Karakura town. Takashi thought he would be glad to go home, though. The air seemed thin here (not enough reishi) and it was mildly uncomfortable. It was good for a visit but he wouldn't want to stay.

Money and time exhausted, they finally took the train home. It was packed as usual. Takashi jumped as someone squeezed his ass and glared around but finally grumbled and turned his attention back to Ichigo. He had no idea who had just groped him. The teen was giving him an odd look.

"What's wrong?" He asked and Takashi huffed a laugh.

"Someone just grabbed my ass." He said and Ichigo stiffened before looking behind him, trying to figure out who had committed the outrage. "I have no idea who it was. Don't worry about it."

"Hmph." Ichigo muttered and Takashi hoped no one grabbed his ass. He might punch them out. They finally got to their stop and managed to get out of the packed train. "Honestly, I'm going to be glad to get home. Tokyo is fun to visit but I would never want to live here."

"Me too." Takashi said fervently. "It's way too crowded." He didn't like being completely isolated but he didn't like feeling like he was being smothered by other people, either. If living in that underwater place had been on one end of the spectrum, Tokyo was on the other.

They were just passing by an alleyway when a glint of metal and a harsh voice caught Takashi's attention.

"You, whitey. Get over here." Takashi stood frozen for a moment. Ichigo took a few steps forward before realizing something was wrong and looking back. "Move you white freak." Takashi glanced at Ichigo and gestured for him to leave, but he just scowled and stepped closer to see what was happening. "Move!" The hand holding the gun was wavering and Takashi decided that anymore hesitating would get him shot. He took slow, careful steps towards the alleyway. As he did, he tried to reach out and grip the other man's soul. To his dismay, he couldn't. He could barely perceive it let alone grasp it.

"Takashi, what – oh." Ichigo stopped, utterly dismayed as he saw the gun trained on his friend. Then it moved to him and Takashi tensed even further. But he knew he couldn't kill the man before he could shoot. He was a scrawny man with black, badly matted hair. The way he trembled and his bloodshot eyes were very familiar to Takashi.

"Give me your money." He grated out and Takashi reached for his wallet. He only had twenty dollars left, it was certainly not worth his life.

"Look, just calm down." Ichigo said soothingly but it was a mistake. Takashi saw as his twitchy anxiety suddenly flashed over into rage.

"Ichigo!" He shoved his friend and lover out of the way before feeling a violent pull on his shoulder. He didn't even register the gunshot, but he did see the explosion of blood. Gasping in pain, he landed against the wall of the alleyway on his good shoulder, looking down at the mess of blood and bone. His arm had very nearly been torn off.

Takashi looked up in time to see Ichigo punch the thief. The thief had been staring, almost surprised by what he'd done and Ichigo took advantage of the moment. The teen's strike was full force and meant to be lethal. The thief dropped his gun to clutch at his crushed throat and Ichigo kicked it away. Takashi smiled approvingly as he slid down the wall, leaving a trail of gore on the rough stones.

"Takashi? …Oh shit." Ichigo was beside him, undoing his belt. That puzzled the other teen for a moment before he remembered. A tourniquet… but how would he apply it? His shoulder was shattered. Takashi was no expert on firearms, but he knew it must have been a large caliber.

(his soul) Takashi blinked as his instincts swam up out of the morass of his mind. (take it) He shook his head weakly. (just a piece) Ichigo's soul swam into his vision, so powerful it was almost dazzling. And still attached to him, but only weakly. What would happen if he devoured it all? He honestly wasn't sure. But he knew what would happen if he took just a small part.

"Ichigo." Takashi murmured as the teen tried desperately to tighten the belt around the remains of his shoulder. It wasn't working. "I can… regenerate… if you give me… something…" He coughed, knowing they needed to do this quickly. He was close to fainting and if that happened he would certainly die.

"What? What do I need to give you? Takashi!" Ichigo gripped his uninjured shoulder and shook him, trying to keep his attention. Takashi blinked woozily, forcing himself to speak.

"A piece… of your soul… high speed… regeneration…" He knew that would mean something to Ichigo. The teen hesitated, then brown eyes hardened with resolve.

"Do it." He said decisively. Takashi gripped him weakly and Ichigo obeyed the unspoken command, coming closer. Takashi took a deep breath, just looking at his soul for a moment. Then he sank his blunt teeth into the bend of the teen's neck, until he could taste blood.

The minor sound of pain was followed by a real scream as Takashi tore away a tiny piece of his essence. It felt like black fire on his tongue, achingly painful and incredibly… right. He was deeply tempted to take it all and his instincts suddenly screamed at him to do it, but Takashi fought them back. He was not going to kill Ichigo.

He abruptly jerked away, feeling white stuff explode from his ruined shoulder. There was a strange hissing as his body was abruptly glued together, then completely healed. Takashi blinked as strength suddenly returned to him. He just managed to keep Ichigo from falling onto the ground. The teen had fainted, probably from the pain of losing a piece of himself.

"Damn." Takashi quickly checked Ichigo's pulse, finding that it was quick and thready but very much there. Gently setting the teen down he looked at the thief. He'd finished expiring, his face blue and his eyes bugged out from suffocation. The ghost had either run off or found the way to the afterlife automatically. That often happened, otherwise the Living World would have been overrun with ghosts. "Hmph." Takashi took the new power he'd been given and built a small cero, using it to destroy the body. It would be better for both of them to avoid questioning by the police. Picking up the gun, he made sure the safety was on before tucking it into his shirt. Then he knelt down, gently shaking Ichigo's shoulder. "Hey Ichigo?" There was no response. "This is going to be tough if I have to carry you… Ichigo?" Wincing at the necessity, Takashi concentrated hard and gave his friend a tiny shock of hollow power. That roused him with a yelp and brown eyes blinked, dazed and confused. "C'mon Ichi, we need to get back to the condo." He coaxed the teen. Ichigo looked incredibly groggy and out of it but he finally nodded his head.

"Okay." Ignoring the blood on his own shirt, Takashi gently helped Ichigo to the condo building. Unfortunately, the concierge was on duty.

"My god! What happened to you?" He asked, horrified by the amount of blood. Takashi's mind raced as he tried to think of an excuse. Something from his days as a drug addict immediately popped to mind.

"A really bad nosebleed. My friend tried to run to me and tripped and fell. We'll both be fine though." He assured the man who nodded, quickly letting them in. "Thank you."

They were lucky and no one else was on the elevator. Soon they were safely in the condo and Takashi had to nearly carry Ichigo to the bedroom. He quickly tucked the teen in before checking his reiatsu. It was very muted, compared to what it had been before, but that was no surprise. Losing a chunk of his soul would do that. Takashi hoped he would get better soon but instincts told him it might take a while. Sighing to himself, he went to the shower to clean himself off, stripping away the bloody shirt as he went. It was completely ruined and went in the trash. He didn't regret losing it, though.

His life was far more important.

Ichigo felt like absolute crap the next day.

It vaguely reminded him of the flu, but without any sniffling or coughing. Just a general run down feeling that made him want to stay in bed and do nothing at all. But he couldn't do that, so despite feeling like a complete zombie, the orange haired teen forced himself to get up and greet the day.

A cold shower did a bit to help, but not much, and he shuffled into the main living room to find that Takashi was cooking breakfast. His stomach growled at the delicious scent of food and Ichigo rubbed his face wearily before going to see what was cooking.

"Hey Ichigo!" Takashi was so perky it was disgusting. The contrast made Ichigo feel even more out of it. "Are you okay?" He said, clearly noticing that his friend didn't look too good. Ichigo shrugged.

"I've had worse." That was certainly true. The time when he'd been recovering from his run in with Zaraki, that had been worse. Or the time right after Aizen did a number on him when he was rescuing Rukia. Or the first time he'd run into Grimmjow. Or… Ichigo decided to stop thinking about it. It was honestly rather depressing. Takashi frowned, looking down into his frying pan.

"I'm sorry. I'm feeling great, but I know it's because of what I took from you. I'm feeling like a leech or something." He said uncomfortably. Ichigo shook his head.

"You have nothing to apologize for. What are you making, pancakes?" He asked to take them away from that touchy subject. And also, the pancakes in the pan looked different somehow. Takashi shook his head.

"Not really. I read this weird recipe for healthy pancakes so I decided I would try it. They're just a single egg mixed with crushed banana, some fresh raspberries and a bit of cinnamon for flavor." Ichigo blinked, looking at the thing in the pan. He honestly wouldn't have guessed it was egg and banana. "They do look a lot like pancakes though, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do." He said, a bit bemused. Takashi flipped two pancakes out and onto a plate, offering it to him, and he accepted. Odd recipe or not they sounded interesting. "Can we put maple syrup on them?"

"Oh sure. The website actually recommended whipped cream so I made that too." Takashi gestured to the mixer and Ichigo went to peek inside. Sure enough, it was full of real whipped cream. It looked delicious but the signs of how perky his friend was made him feel even more tired.

Fishing out a spoon, Ichigo plopped some whipped cream down on his 'pancakes'. A small drizzle of maple syrup and he was ready to eat. Takashi finished his own pancakes and soon joined him in the breakfast nook, trying the new version of pancakes.

"These are really good, nice and fluffy." He said, a touch surprised and Ichigo nodded. They actually were delicious although nothing like real pancakes.

"Takashi, I was wondering." Ichigo said as his fork scraped the bottom of the plate. "Could you leave your body for a moment?" Takashi looked up sharply from his food, his expression questioning. "I know it takes a lot out of you but you seem to have energy to burn at the moment."

"I could but why? What do you want with me… that way?" He said apprehensively and Ichigo frowned a little. So it wasn't like an alternate personality for Takashi, not really. It was just clearly remembering all of his past, which he couldn't do in his body.

"I want to ask him a few things. Like how a hollow could know about giving." He said quietly and Takashi winced before setting down his fork with a sigh.

"Well, I'm done eating so if we're going to do it we might as well get it over with." His partner said with no enthusiasm. Ichigo gave him a questioning look and he grimaced. "It just feels weird, leaving my body, and what I do outside of it is a big blank space in my memory. I don't like it."

"Oh, I see." That would be pretty weird. Takashi went over to the couch and lay down on it to spare his body any discomfort before concentrating a moment. Ichigo watched as the white liquid flowed out of his mouth again. It reminded him strongly of the time he'd spent in the pit, when his chain of fate had rotted away. Then it formed into his hollow and Ichigo stared at him, surprised.

"You look more like Takashi." He said, fascinated. His hollow was nearly a white copy of Takashi now, although his hair was still much longer in the back. His clothing had changed too. Instead of a hakama and jacket he was wearing white jeans and a white tank top with "Kingslayer" written on it in big, black lettering. Ichigo gave him a scowl. "And that's just not nice." The hollow looked puzzled before glancing down at his shirt and emitting a twisted cackle.

"I didn't do it on purpose. Wonder why…?" The words changed and now there was a picture of the pyramids with the words "Slavery – gets shit done" beneath. Ichigo glared at his hollow who just smiled innocently.

"Now you're just messing with me. Can you try not to be completely disgusting?" Ichigo said severely and his hollow grinned before the t-shirt changed again. Now the words said "Sorry about what happens later". Ichigo sighed but decided not to make an issue over it. "That'll do… so can you tell me about a hollow could experience love?" He asked and his inner hollow, or whatever he was now, shrugged and leaned against a wall.

"I don't know if we do, the way a human would. But we certainly experience caring and the give and take of relationships." He said and Ichigo gave him a skeptical look. "It's all about hollow evolution, Ichigo. When we start, we're nothing but mindless instincts. Those are the kind of hollows you know the most about. But things change as we evolve." His hollow glanced at his human body before favoring him with a smirk. "And since evolving is becoming more human, my acquiring a human body makes me quite evolved. I was actually less advanced when I was inside you, in many ways."

"So how does hollow evolution go?" Ichigo asked, determined to keep this on track. "The shinigami could only tell me what powers each level has." They didn't know or care about how hollows lived and evolved. His hollow – Takashi's hollow? – scowled.

"That's shinigami for you. Alright… after the first stage, we become gillians and rudimentary social behavior begins to emerge." His hollow said and Ichigo listened, interested. "Gillian are like cattle. They travel in large herds and will protect the herd from any outsiders trying to harm them. However, when one of their own feels the need to evolve and goes cannibal they put up no resistance. They will completely ignore their cannibal cousin even as it feeds on them, until it becomes adjuchas. At that point the evolved hollow is no longer part of the herd and must leave the Gillian forest for Hueco Mundo proper."

"Adjuchas are where the real social behavior begins to emerge." His hollow said, checking over his finger nails for dirt. "Fighting for survival alone is a chancy business. To increase their chances, adjuchas band together and fraccion begin to emerge. However… these are hollows. Humans put up with ridiculous shit from each other, Ichigo. Hollows don't. If a hollow in a fraccion is unable to give anything useful to the fraccion, than sooner or later they will be eaten." The hollow said with relish. Ichigo winced a little at the thought, but it did make sense. "So those who join fraccions need to have at least some social skills, some understanding of altruism. And really, social instincts are instincts… they're just higher instincts, which is why they appear later."

"Wait, social instincts? You think that everything humans do is ruled by our instincts?" Ichigo questioned. He wasn't sure he agreed with that. The hollow shrugged, making a see-sawing gesture with one hand.

"Not exactly. Some people seem to believe humans have no instincts, but that's not true at all. You just have the ability to go against your instincts, overriding them with your intellect. But the basic urge to be social and reach out to others, yes, that's an instinct. That's why solitary confinement is a punishment." He said with a smile and Ichigo nodded. That did make sense.

"And what about vasto lorde? How do they fit into this?" He asked and his hollow grinned. Ichigo noticed again that his teeth were slightly crooked. He really was changing to match his new body, and the process seemed to be accelerating.

"Vasto lorde have the power to completely abandon fraccions, and some do. But most don't, preferring to keep other hollows around them simply for company. And at that stage, the urge to reproduce often comes to the fore." Ichigo's eyes widened at that bit of information. Reproduce? "It's much easier for a vasto lorde to have cubs than an adjuchas. After all, who would dare raid the den of a vasto lorde? So families start to emerge at that stage, although typically one parent is an adjuchas. Vasto lorde are very rare." He shrugged and Ichigo swallowed.

"I see." It made him wonder if the shinigami were aware of this. Had they just not told him, or was their information as sketchy as the pictures Rukia had given him? "One thing puzzles me... hasn't anyone noticed that you've become a completely different person?" Ichigo was sure that if his body had been taken over by his hollow, his friends and family would have noticed. But it seemed like none of Takashi's had. His hollow gave him a wicked grin.

"Oh, they've noticed! They say things like 'it's like he's a whole new person, and it's wonderful!'" His hollow said mockingly and Ichigo winced. "Don't feel bad for the old me, Ichigo. He was something you would have scraped off your shoe." Then his hollow frowned, pushing himself away from the wall. "Tch, I don't have enough power for this. I need to go back to my body, or I'll go back to being practically normal again." He said normal like it was a dirty word. Ichigo frowned at that, an unsettling thought occurring to him. When his hollow completed his transformation, would Takashi still be spiritually aware? What would he be? "Later Ichigo." He dissolved into white and slid back into his body. Takashi groaned, resting a hand on his forehead for a moment before sitting up.

"That's not fun… did you get what you needed?" He asked Ichigo who nodded. He had a lot of food for thought, but he understood now how a hollow could care for others. "I hope Yoruichi will be around tonight." Takashi said wistfully. They'd managed to get to the coffee shop yesterday but the cat hadn't been there.

"I hope so too." Ichigo was hoping she would finally have some news for them.

He desperately wanted to go home.