Takashi was minding his own business, quietly reading a book, when it happened.

'It' was the sudden heat on the top of his head and a loud giggle behind him. Takashi froze before looking up and yelping loudly.

"HEY! Why're you putting your boobs on my head?!" He complained, dropping his book and eeling away. Fortunately, Yoruichi was fully clothed so it wasn't too bad. If she'd been naked he'd have had more to say and it wouldn't have been nice.

"For god's sake, Yoruichi, don't you have any decency?" Ichigo complained before joining them in the den. He was holding a piece of chocolate torte with crushed pecan crust. Since they were both recovering, Takashi had decided to practice the recipes Tanis had taught him. Most of her desserts were made on site, unlike many other restaurants. "Want some chocolate pie?"

"Do I!" She practically snatched the plate out of his hand, making the teen laugh. He'd added whipped cream and raspberries so it did look delicious. Ichigo went back to the kitchen to get himself another piece and Yoruichi just munched until he came back. "I've found out who wants to kill you, and why." She said seriously as Ichigo took a seat. That caught the full attention of the two teenagers.

"Well? Don't keep us hangin' here." Takashi said and Yoruichi flashed him a quick grin before looking at Ichigo. He was frowning and watching her with intent brown eyes.

"To start with, I need to give you some backstory. Ichigo, you know your father was a shinigami and a taichou." She stated and Ichigo nodded. "What you haven't known is that he was also a noble. In fact, before his disgrace he was head of the Shiba clan." That made the teen stare and Takashi frowned. Shiba… that seemed vaguely familiar, but he just couldn't place it.

"Wait… you mean like Kukaku and Ganju? That Shiba clan?" Ichigo questioned and Takashi vaguely remembered being chased around by a woman trying to punch him… no, punch Ichigo. That was odd but it must have happened after Ichigo's chain of fate had been broken. "I'm related to them?"

"Yes, they're cousins I think." Yoruichi said and Ichigo just stared at her, completely stunned. Takashi snickered as he thought about what little he could remember of the Shiba clan.

"This explains a lot about your dad." He said and Ichigo shot him an irritated look. "Seriously, they are very physical people!"

"Oi. You might have a point though." He admitted and Takashi grinned. "But how does this involve someone wanting to kill me?" He asked and Yoruichi smiled.

"I was just getting to that. The Yakuza boss is actually Shiba Kunaku. He's your uncle." She said and Ichigo stared as Takashi frowned. His uncle? "He's definitely the one who's trying to arrange your death in the living realm. It's all quite clear to me now… he wants you to come to Soul Society permanently to take up the leadership of the Shiba clan." Takashi blinked at that. It was definitely an interesting concept.

"But Kukaku is the leader of the Shiba clan!" Ichigo protested. "Why does he need me? Why doesn't he just do it himself?" He sounded very angry and Takashi could imagine why. He liked Kukaku and the thought of stealing her position wouldn't sit well with him. Also, the thought of being yanked into Soul Society, away from his family, all for something like this wouldn't thrill him either. Yoruichi shrugged then grimaced.

"Kukaku is a very nice person and a good friend of mine. But… she hasn't been good for the Shiba clan. They used to be very nearly as prominent as the Kuchiki clan, you know." She said and Ichigo frowned. Takashi remembered the rag-tag 'nobles' he'd met in the Rukongai. It was hard to picture Byakuya in similar circumstances. "After Kaien died there were several years of infighting before she managed to take control. Kunaku tried very hard to unseat her, but he doesn't have a shikai. Personal power is very important for a clan leader, particularly when the line of descent is unclear. Kaien died without an heir, and no one knew about you and your sisters, so there was no clear heir to the Shiba clan."

"So basically this guy wants to kill Ichigo's human body so he'll go to Soul Society and take over running the Shiba clan." Takashi summarized. "Why would he think Ichigo would unseat Kukaku? And how would this get the Shiba clan back to being real nobles?" He asked and Yoruichi smiled, a bit sadly.

"If Ichigo came to Soul Society and Kunaku made a public announcement at a noble gathering that he was actually the son of one of their clansmen, Kukaku would probably yield her position to him." She said and they both traded a glance. "She respects him and he's the hero of Soul Society. And there's no guarantee that Ichigo could turn the clan around, but his reputation would be a good start to regaining the respect of the other clans."

"Well, fine, I see how that could work. But I am not letting anyone drag me out of my human life like that." Ichigo said, determination flashing in his eyes and Takashi nodded. "They can wait until I have a heart attack or step in front of a bus or something."

"Or a tragic zamboni accident." Takashi added and winced as Ichigo punched him in the shoulder. The teen rubbed his shoulder in a small apology before speaking again.

"So what are we going to do?" He asked and Yoruichi grinned wickedly.

"We wait!" She said cheerfully and the two boys blinked at her. "You need to recover a bit, Ichigo. What happened, by the way? You feel very weakened." She sounded concerned and Ichigo quickly went through what had happened to Takashi. "Ah, that explains why he feels more powerful. Well, that's not why we're waiting though. I called your father and Isshin is taking the first train he can to Tokyo. He has many things to say to his brother and none of them are polite." Yoruichi said cheerfully and Takashi snickered. He could imagine how that was going to go.

"Oh." Ichigo thought about it a moment then nodded before rubbing his forehead. "That's good. I really don't feel too well right now." Takashi bit his lip, hoping Ichigo would recover soon. For Ichigo's sake, of course, but a weak part of him also missed their romps. Lately all they had been doing was cuddling. "When will he arrive?"

"Tomorrow morning. So what's for supper?" She asked as if she hadn't scarfed down a large piece of chocolate torte. Takashi laughed, amused.

"Chocolate chili baby back ribs." He said and grinned as Yoruichi practically drooled. "With white asparagus, carrots and fresh cornbread." He loved fresh cornbread, especially the way Tanis had taught him to make it. "I'll get started on the veggies." The cornbread was already done and the ribs were in the oven, slow cooking away.

"I can't wait! Ichigo, your boyfriend is a wonderful catch." She said and Ichigo turned a little pink as Takashi went to work on the asparagus, breaking off the inedible parts of the stalks. "He must have taken all your cooking talent with him."

"Ouch!" Takashi laughed as Ichigo gave her an annoyed look. "Nah, just training and a lot of practice." He didn't always use recipes, but he'd learned what went well together and stuck with that. Going outside his comfort zone often didn't end well. When the asparagus were in the oven he went to the carrots, peeling and chopping them before throwing them in a saucepan with butter. He was going to cook them with cinnamon and honey, glazing them as they cooked.

The meal came out perfectly, as expected. The ribs were pull apart tender and Takashi smiled as Yoruchi and Ichigo both enjoyed the meal. It was always flattering, seeing people enjoying his cooking.

Maybe he would become a chef after all.

"So you are the handsome boy my son has met~!" Takashi had been expecting something odd from Isshin. So he was ready for it. Following old instincts he lifted a leg and planted a foot in Isshin's face, fending off an unwanted hug.

"Back off old man!" He barked, before remembering that Isshin wasn't his father. But Ichigo didn't seem to be taking offense. In fact, he was trying not to laugh.

"Ow!" Isshin complained and looked ready to get even sillier, but then Yoruichi hit him with a shoe. "Ow!" He said again, looking quite hurt.

"Pull it together. We have to take care of your brother, remember?" She reminded him and Isshin suddenly donned a serious look. "Ichigo's reiatsu seems to have recovered. Are we ready to go?" She asked and Ichigo nodded before pulling out a pill. Yoruichi and Isshin got out gikons of their own and Takashi suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Hey! What about me?" He asked as the three of them left their bodies. "I don't have one of those." He'd never gotten a gikon. Isshin and Yoruichi exchanged a glance as Ichigo frowned.

"Takashi, a gikon wouldn't work on you… or rather, it would likely force you out of your body in pill form. You ARE a gikon." Yoruichi pointed out and Takashi was very surprised. Was that true, or had the 'pill' he'd been imprisoned in completely dissipated? He had a feeling it was the latter but he couldn't prove it. "And while you can leave your body, it seems to have a draining effect on you. You should stay behind."

"Also, it would be better if Soul Society doesn't know about you." Ichigo added as Takashi scowled. He did not like this at all but everything they were saying was logical.

"…Alright." He gave in with ill grace. "Good luck." Takashi shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling completely useless. It got worse when he realized he'd been left alone with Kon, Chappy and… he had no idea what pill Isshin had used but it was annoying. "This is bullshit." He muttered, considering his options and chewing his lip. He didn't want to be left behind. What if something went wrong? If Ichigo was killed and he wasn't even there he would never forgive himself, supposing he survived at all. "Hey Kon!" He said as he abruptly came to a decision. The mod soul looked up, surprised. "I'm going out. Keep an eye on things here, will you?"

"Hey, wait – " Kon started but Takashi didn't listen, leaving the suite without a backward glance. As he did he tried to home in on his connection to Ichigo.

He was not going to let anything happen to Ichigo.

"Okay." Takashi breathed as he found a convenient hiding place. It was down the basement stairs of a closed restaurant. If he stashed his body down here no one should find it until morning and if he wasn't back by then, he wouldn't be back at all. "Here goes nothing." Closing his eyes he concentrated on removing himself from his body. White flowed out of his mouth and for the existence that thought of itself as Takashi, everything went out.

"Hm?" The hollow glanced around, frowning as he reviewed the plans he'd made as Takashi. "I seem to be a bit of an idiot." He muttered to himself. This hardly qualified as a plan at all. "It must be something hormonal. Human bodies cause irrational thinking." Or perhaps… "It might be because my mate is threatened. Hmph." That would rouse most hollows to an irrational rage, and given that they'd had sex more than once, Ichigo qualified. The hollow sighed and ran a hand over his face before concentrating. He needed to make the most of the time he had. "Ah."

Lack of plans notwithstanding, Takashi had done the best with what he had. He'd managed to use his fading connection to Ichigo to get relatively close to the teenager. The hollow sprinted through the streets, wondering what would happen if he ran out of power while he was far from his body. His best guess was that he would get pulled back to it. It seemed to be truly his, now. The connection to Ichigo was a threadbare strand.

He didn't simply storm into the meeting. Instead he snuck in, and most of the people he went past simply couldn't see him. One could and he dragged her into a broom closet, strangling her into submission before going on. The hollow didn't know if she was still alive and frankly didn't care. She was lucky he hadn't eaten her soul and removed all doubt.

Just before he could enter the room where he sensed Ichigo, he felt the fight starting. It would have been very hard to miss as Ichigo let loose with a Getsuga Tenshou that threatened to collapse the building. The hollow sighed in disgust as the normal humans started running.

"And he calls me reckless?" He said aloud before shrugging. "Oh well." It looked like 'Takashi' had been right to worry about his idiotic mate. Gathering his power he went into the room and saw that things were going bad in a hurry.

Of course, that was expected. What wasn't expected was the strange sword the man was using. It was magnifying his power while also burning him out and the hollow grimaced as he saw several other shinigami with similar weapons.

While it was tempting to just rush in and add to the devastation, the hollow thought a more intelligent contribution might be in order. So he knocked some flying debris out of the way then caught Yoruichi by the arm and yanked her out of the way of a falling girder. Her opponent just barely avoided it.

"You! What are you doing here?" She said to him as he let go of her. The hollow shrugged.

"Did you really think I wouldn't come?" He asked before charging a cero and slamming it into the back of a man's head. The fool really should have been paying attention to his surroundings, but that wouldn't be a problem in the future. The hollow grinned at the thought. So hard to pay attention when you didn't have a head.

He had no weapon – as his connection to Ichigo faded, his connection to Zangetsu decayed as well – but he made the most of his abilities. The battle was finally over and really, Ichigo's uncle and his friends hadn't stood a chance. The hollow glanced up at the roof with a frown before wincing. He was almost out of power.

"Can we get out of this death trap before I – ow." He muttered as things began to become hazy. It felt like he was being drawn away. "Shit! Meet you at the condo –" Was all he got out before he was forcibly returned to his body.

"Uck." Takashi woke with a start, feeling absolutely awful. But he'd prepared for it this time and pulled out a Soylent Green energy bar, swallowing it quickly. Food helped although he still felt awful and shaky. "Okay." He breathed in and out, slowly and evenly. When he felt his energy start to return he pulled himself to his feet.

He encountered nothing on his way home, which was good because he couldn't have handled a little kitten at the moment. People avoided him, probably thinking he was drunk or in withdrawal. He was trembling and unsteady on his feet, despite eating a second energy bar. Getting into the condo was a relief. Seeing everyone staring at him accusingly wasn't.

"Sorry." He said before almost collapsing. Ichigo caught him before he could faceplant. "Ow."

"I'll get him to the bedroom. Yoruichi, could you – " That was all Takashi heard before his exertions caught up with him. He was safe now and he could finally relax.

Safe.

A week later.

"I'm getting a bit tired of being a lab rat." Takashi muttered as he sat on an examination table. Fortunately he was fully clothed this time so maybe the tests wouldn't be too irritating.

After they took care of things in Tokyo, everything had gradually gone back to normal. Ichigo had to be cautious for a while until the message reached the lower echelons that the hit was no longer on. Also, he had to go to Soul Society and apologize to Kukaku and Ganju for offing their relative. That had gone pretty well, apparently they hadn't liked him anyway. Takashi wasn't too surprised.

The thing that was getting the most attention, though, was himself. Urahara was absolutely fascinated by him. Apparently, the real Takashi was long gone and what was left was definitely Ichigo's hollow. Or at least, it had been. At this point the connection was almost entirely severed. Soon he would be fully his own person and Urahara was trying to determine how that was even possible. It really shouldn't have been. Yes, Ichigo was very powerful, but did his soul really have the substance to split in two?

"Takashi!" He looked up with a smile as Ichigo entered the room. The teen smiled back at him. "It's good to see you again. I'm sorry I've been so busy lately." He apologized but Takashi waved it off.

"It's nothin'. All that to do in Soul Society must have been a pain." He said and Ichigo grimaced. Unfortunately, his uncle had left instructions that in the event of his death, the information about Ichigo's family should be spread all over Soul Society. His remaining minions had done that and the Shiba clan was already regaining a bit of standing just on the strength of it. But it had caused a lot of problems for Ichigo and Isshin. "They're not talking about executing your dad anymore, right?"

"Right. Although that wasn't serious anyway. Everyone remembered how he fought against Aizen. Although it's kind of funny how Yamamoto and the Gotei 13 never mentioned him at all in the after battle reports." He said wryly and Takashi laughed. That sounded like them. "They had everything that Urahara and Yoruichi did, but they left him out completely."

"Trying to protect him from the noble houses." They were the ones kicking up a fuss over it, not the Gotei 13. "Well, as long as it's all good." Then Urahara came in and they both gave him their attention as he gave them a sunny smile.

"Ichigo, Takashi! I called you here because Mayuri and I have found something remarkable." Ichigo and Takashi exchanged a glance, a bit unsettled by the enthusiasm. Urahara was way too happy. "Did your father ever tell you how he met your mother?"

"Huh? No, not really." Ichigo said, taken off guard. Takashi wondered how this could have anything to do with him. Urahara gave them both a quick rundown of events but the interesting part was the hollow that had attacked Masaki. "It was pure chance, but Kurotsuchi mentioned to me finding Aizen's records about a unique hollow. It was actually created from the souls of shinigami." Takashi blinked as Ichigo frowned. "He named it White, for the whiteness of its soul. That was the hollow that attacked your mother and when she absorbed it, it nearly caused Soul Suicide." Urahara said solemnly and Takashi wondered what that was. It sounded extremely bad. "Your father managed to stabilize her. Ichigo, I believe all of White's power went to you in the womb. That power is the reason why part of your power could separate and become an entire person."

"So you're saying Ichigo had the spiritual essence of a dozen shinigami?" Takashi asked and Urahara nodded. "Hah! No wonder he's always been so powerful."

"I don't really feel that much weaker now, though. I can't use my mask but I still have bankai and my spiritual pressure doesn't seem much lower." Ichigo said and Urahara nodded.

"I believe you retained most of the shinigami souls White was composed of. What left was only a small portion, which is why Takashi needs to feed on hollows to retain his full powers. However! That isn't necessary, now that he has a human body." Urahara said and Takashi nodded. He hadn't eaten any hollows since he'd come back and he didn't even really want them anymore. "His transformation into a human soul is almost complete."

"That means I'm losing almost all of my powers, doesn't it?" Takashi asked glumly and sighed as Urahara nodded. "Will I at least be spiritually aware?" If he couldn't see ghosts, well, that would be annoying. Although he would at least know they existed so Ichigo wouldn't have to keep him in the dark.

"I'm certain you'll be spiritually aware." Kisuke assured him, which was a relief. "You'll likely develop some form of hollow like power, similar to a fullbring. But we'll have to see what it is." Takashi nodded and wondered if it would be something simple, like the ability to occasionally fire off a cero. He knew that very well. Then he blinked as arms went around him and looked up into Ichigo's face. The teen looked very happy, smiling at him warmly.

"So you were someone else. I always wondered how part of me could be so different." He said and Takashi grinned at the thought.

"Didn't like thinking you could be as bloodthirsty as Kenpachi? Heh! Oh, speaking of bloodshed, or rather avoiding it. How's the other project coming?" He asked Urahara. That was something that was near and dear to his heart. Ichigo had asked the shopkeeper and his soul reaper friends if they could do some creative memory rearrangement for him. They were taking care of Takashi's old dealers, eliminating memories and records of his existence with them. If it worked the way they hoped his debts would simply vanish.

"Very well. Another week and Yoruichi is convinced no one will remember your name." Urahara promised and Takashi felt immensely relieved. Getting out from under the debts would be a weight off his shoulders. He could do whatever he wanted, go back to school or make a career of his work at the restaurant. He was leaning towards the latter. It would be a terrible schedule, true, but Ichigo was going to be going to medical school. He would need to be studying a lot, usually when Takashi would be working. The former hollow shrugged to himself. They would work it out.

Everything would be fine now.