A/N: Wow, only up for one day, and already so much response! Thank you for my reviewers thus far: Blitch, DancerGirl16, princesss-my, Enelya87, and Justine (*poke*). And to my subscribers: DancerGirl16, OrionArion, Enelya87, Detritus Doll, and Iwonn. And one more very big thank you to DancerGirl16 who is the first of (hopefully!) several to fav this fic. YOU GUYS ROCK; I LOVE YA!!!

Okay. So. Lots of you were very confused…hopefully this will make things make some more sense.

Here goes!

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Chapter Two: Sands of the Hourglass

"As Hollows are the corrupted souls of deceased humans," said Byakuya, "it is impossible for any variation of a human-hollow hybrid to exist, even if, in your case, that hybrid is part shinigami. The 'human' part of you – the only part that was ever truly alive – disappeared the moment you succumbed to Hollowfication. You are, very nearly, a Vaizaard. The only remaining aspect of your having ever been human is that even those with no spiritual energy can see you."

Ichigo nodded slowly, letting this all sink in. "Okay – so I'm dead, in the same way that you and Rukia are technically dead. That is really, really weird for me to accept…but it makes sense; I get it. Why do I need to leave? Oh, right – I guess you need me now in the 'realm of the dead' and all. If that's the case, then you can forget it."

Byakuya sighed. "That's not the only thing. You need to be contained in the Soul Society, because the longer you stay in the human world, the more the Hollow part of you will manifest itself. You will eventually become a danger to humans and need to be –" Byakuya set his features into the closest expression he would allow himself to a cringe "--exterminated."

Ichigo's fists were clenched, and Orihime was pretty sure she was the only one who could see that they were trembling ever so slightly with barely suppressed rage. "But I'm just a Vaizaard, then; you said it yourself. I've been working to control my Hollow half; I'm not going to do anything –"

Regretfully, Byakuya shook his head. "No. Because you were a shinigami-human hybrid when the Hollowfication took place, you can never be a true Vaizaard. They were all shinigami when they underwent the process, and you would have been too, if it had not been for your father. As he is a shinigami, that blood flows in your veins, and it is the only reason that you were able to stay part human when you accepted Rukia's powers. Otherwise, your soul would likely have been extinguished when she donated her reiatsu, or there is the slight possibility that you would have died then, and come to 'live' as a complete shinigami. As that was not the case, though, instead of combining directly with your shinigami half, your Hollow half simply demolished what was left of you as a human being, leaving you as two entities in one body. If you stay here, your Hollow half will continue to get stronger and will eventually overpower you."

"What – what about a gigai, then?" demanded Ichigo. "It works for Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san –"

"I'm afraid Hollows and gigai are not compatible," said Byakuya quietly. "Urahara-san did some experiments on the Vaizaards…they were all failures."

Orihime, like everyone else in the room, was in shock.

No wonder Rukia was acting so strangely, she thought. That's not something I would want to have to tell one of my nakama.

In her mind, she grasped firmly to that thought and held it close to her consciousness, to shield her from all other thoughts; thoughts that involved Ichigo leaving and never coming back…

Ichigo, however, flew off the handle.

"That's fucking retarded!" he hollered. "What the fuck gives you the right to fucking come here and fucking drop something like that on me?! Huh?!"

Somehow, Orihime sensed that, if Ichigo weren't yelling, he'd be crying. This thought summoned tears to well up in her eyes, and she ferociously blinked them back. I can't cry; I can't because that would mean accepting that this is real…

Rukia said quietly, "We're so sorry, Ichigo." Byakuya bowed his head slightly.

For a moment, there was no sound, save for Yuzu sobbing into Isshin's shoulder.

When Ichigo spoke again, his voice was surprisingly level. "So – what happens if I don't go with you?"

"We're here under Yamamoto-soutaichou's orders," said Rukia. "If we're not back with you by sundown today – he's going to send two hundred ranking shinigami to bring you in by force." She paused. "Or, if you resist…kill you."

Orihime's hand flew up to her mouth to stifle a shriek; Ichigo's jaw hardened with fury – the one who he had fought beside and defeated Aizen would see him dead just like that? -- but he knew he was beaten. He couldn't defeat two hundred shinigami at once.

"Why that soon?" he asked, remarkable casual.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou believes that you may have already stayed too long, and wants you to come as soon as possible," said Byakuya.

"Well, why doesn't he just send the two hundred shinigami right now, and spare the long and time-wasting explanations?" Ichigo snarled sarcastically.

"He thought he would 'grant you time to set any affairs in order and bid your farewells'," replied Rukia. "His words, not ours."

"How fucking generous," said Ichigo caustically.

"Ichigo—" Rukia started. "We're sorry. Really. We tried to talk him out of it; everyone did. But there was nothing we could do to make him change his mind…and, protecting against Hollows is our job, Ichigo. What would you do?"

Ichigo calmed a bit. "I don't blame you."

A huge part of Orihime still didn't want to believe this was happening. It was like a scene from a bad movie unfolding before her eyes, and the limited time was rushing by, leaving her as nothing but a mute, helpless witness. To escape the crushing sense of helplessness, she tried to make herself heard.

"But – we can still come and visit him, right?" she said. "Some of us, at least – Sado-kun and Ishida-kun and…me?"

Rukia cringed. "No."

"What?!" cried Ichigo and Orihime in unison.

"'It will not do to have illicit souls portalling in and out of the Seireitei at their leisure'," said Byakuya. "Those were Yamamoto-soutaichou's words. Really, though, it is not that unreasonable to expect. Now that we are in a time of peace, it will not be necessary and therefore not permitted."

"Besides," said Rukia, "it will only make things more difficult, don't you think? A reminder of the distance between you…" Byakuya gave a single nod in agreement.

"But I can at least tell them what's going on, right?" said Ichigo.

"Yes," said Rukia.

"But – but what about everyone else?" Orihime broke in. "Tatsuki-chan and Kojima-kun and Asano-kun and Chizuru-chan? They don't know about shinigami or Hollows or the Soul Society…"

"They will have to be told the truth," said Byakuya, "in that, you, Kurosaki-kun, are dead. As far as they are concerned – you will be."

"So – I can't even tell them good-bye, because that would seem too weird," said Ichigo.

"Why do you keep trying to make us say it?" said Rukia. "You already know the answer."

"Yeah, yeah," conceded Ichigo. "Sorry…ha, that's almost funny. Me apologizing to you…" The flatness was back in his voice, drowning Orihime again in a sense of helpless numbness. If he can't do anything…what can I do? There's nothing…

"So, what," Ichigo continued, "are you gonna stick around and tail me to make sure I don't run off to Hueco-fucking-Mundo or something, or am I allowed to say good-bye to my dad and my sisters and my friends – oh, sorry, half my friends – in peace?" There was a tremor in his words now, the only indication that his emotions were now surprisingly similar to those of Orihime – who was the only one who could sense this.

"Of course," said Rukia. "We'll go – and we'll be back at sunset. So –"

She was suddenly at a loss for words. She'd realized that "good-bye" was hardly relevant, but "see you later" seemed cruelly ironic.

"—Yeah," said Ichigo. He'd noticed, too.

The two shinigami left, leaving Ichigo alone with the four others and his last few hours of human life.

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A/N: There, how was that? Mystery solved? Let me know! Review, review, review, REVIEW! Please!!!

See you next chapter…don't know when that will be, maybe Monday? Or Tuesday…we'll see!

TTFN (a la Tigger^^)

~Raye Lynne!