Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I do however own all of the OC's in the story, unless stated otherwise.

AN: Hey sorry about the late upload... again. I'm posting three chapters simultaneously to make up for it. I was busy with the last week of school and I just graduated on the 22nd. I've been working like a demon trying to finish these chapters so I could get them out to you guys. Hope you enjoy. R&R!

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Chapter 6: Hollow Feelings

You have no idea what the hell you are supposed to do. Should you go tell Unohana that you are alive? Should you go to the world of the living and find Shinji first? What about Soi Fon... oh crap , she's going to kill you! Nanao would as well! Bo matter what you do, it seems you are screwed. Whatever, you will just go to the world of the living, obtain and tame these new "powers" that you somehow received from getting a hollow, and explain everything when you get back. Yeah, that sounds likes a good idea.

You pull yourself out of bed, pull on you clothes, which are strangely enough clean and folded waiting for you, and make for the door as quietly as you can.

"Going somewhere this late Hiroto? You would not by chance be going to the world of the living, now would you?"

You jump at the voice coming from the corner of the room.

"Yoruichi?"

"In the flesh... well actually fur." She walks into sight, in her cat form, and then sits staring at you.

"Yes I am, but how did you know?"

"Because you we bitten by a vasto lorde." You freeze at those words. Is that why you have a hollow?

"Please don't te-"

"Well hurry up if you want to get out of here unnoticed. I'll accompany you to my manor. We can finish talking there." She scampers out of the partially opened door and runs down the hall. You have no choice but to follow her.

Making your way through the 4th division without any hindrances proved easier than what you first thought. Once you left, you head on the direction of Yoruichi's manor as fast as possible without flash stepping. That would only serve to create more noise than was necessary for a predicament such as this.

You arrive shortly, finding Yoruichi already at the gate and in her human form.

"Hurry inside, before someone senses you." You heed her words and head to the front door. She follows you up to the door and walks inside ahead of you. Following closely, you silently close the door behind you and proceed up the stairs to the top where she is waiting.

She leads you down a few corridors and up one last flight of steps before stopping at another door.

"In here we should be safe for the the time being." She pushes her way inside and lets you in. You can immediately tell it his her room... there were cats everywhere. Cat pictures, cat drawings, cat wallpaper, even a cat pillow to match her cat comforter!

You give a slight groan as to show your dislike for her poor choice in decorations.

"You don't like it?"

"Too many cats." She smiles at you with that smile... like she just got a bowl full of catnip.

"Then you going to love this!" She runs to her dresser and begins taking off her clothes.

You look away, yelping in surprise and embarrassment. "Put some damn clothes on you pervert! I'm not into older ladies!"

"For your information, I do have absolutely no such interest in men other than my boyfriend. And I am not old. You can turn around now, I promise I'm wearing clothes." You turn around to see Yoruichi standing in shorts and an oversized T-shirt, both of which had cat faces printed all over them.

You sigh. Really? Why the need for so many cat! You understand that she has the ability to transform into a but, but still, does she not think of anything else?... Wait. Boyfriend?

Now you could have ask politely. You could have been quiet about the whole matter. So of course you decide the best thing to do would be to blurt out the most inappropriate comment you could think of at the time. "Who the hell would want to go out with you?"

She punches you in the face. Right in the nose. You fly backward onto her bed. "A lot of people would! Just because you can't get a girlfriend does not mean that other people can't have healthy relationships!" You look up at her stunned and lost for words.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be that insensitive. So who is this boyfriend of yours?"

She sits down on her bed ans looks at you. "You will meet him, Ichigo, and Shinji when you pass through the Senkaimon to go to the world of the living. I expect that they are already waiting for you."

Ok now you are completely baffled. She contacted Ichigo and Shinji? How could she know that you were going to see them? You didn't say anything prematurely, did you?

"How? How do you know-"

"That you have an inner hollow?" You stare at her wide-eyed, mouth hanging open. "Its something that not many people know. In fact the only ones who are aware of this condition, as far as I know, are myself, Kisuke, the Head Captain, and Captain Unohana. Almost all Vasto Lorde level hollows have some sort of weapon to use against an enemy. Claws, ceros, the works. Rarely does a vasto lorde ever resort to biting an opponent, but for some reason it has to ability to project its powers into another being through its bite. Most of the time the victim is just sick for several days. However in extremely rare cases, it is possible to produce a hollow being inside of said person. That being the case here, you don't have to undergo the extremely painful and possibly long torment of hollowfication. At the present time the only thing for you to do is to train. Master the hollow inside of you. It could kill you in an instant. The only reason it doesn't is fear of losing its own being at your death. However, it can, and will, take over your body if it seems necessary to its survival. That van have a hugely negative impact on yourself and those around you. Just price to it that you are better in every way. Make it submit. If you can do that, then I will feel a lot better about the situation as a whole."

This revelation just causes more questions to arise from you, but you are unable to voice them because Yoruichi stands up and pulls you off the bed.

"Come on. Lets get you through that Senkaimon." You nod in agreement. She opens the door to her room, peering down the hall in both directions to make sure that no one is watching as you try to leave.

She gives you a thumbs up, signaling that the coast is clear. You follow her out of her room and down the hall, checking periodically for the unwanted presence of another being. Down the same staircases, you make your way to, what you presume to be, the courtyard. Once you both are there, Yoruichi leads you up to the Senkaimon.

"It will open shortly. I had the kido corps plan for it to open the Senkaimon ten minutes from now. All we have to do is wait."

You stand in silence for a minute before speaking to her. "How did you know about the vasto lorde's bite triggering hollowfication?"

She looks at you. "It doesn't trigger hollowfication. The bite completely skips that step of acquiring an inner hollow. It instead forces part of itself inside of its victim, thus creating the hollow."

"That still doesn't answer my question. How is it that you knew about this?"

"Urahara. He tells me everything. Not only that, but you know that he used to be the Captain of the 12th division. He is also the founder of the Department of Research and Development. It is only natural that he knew about the bites effect, especially after the incident with a few of the captains 100 years ago."

You are downtrodden at her mentioning the other captains."So what does this mean for me then?"

"I don't follow."

"The captains were all persecuted and blamed for their hollowfication, even though it wasn't their fault. I know that they have been reinstated to their old positions for the most part, but that took 100 years, and Aizen's death before they were allowed back in the soul society. Even Ichigo wasn't accepted until he killed Aizen, and even then he wasn't fully made a part of us. Some still think he should not be allowed into the soul society due to his hollow status... So what will happen to me if anyone finds out?"

She looks away from you. Knowing her answer won't be a pleasant one, you brace yourself mentally for what she has to say. But it never comes. You look back at her questioningly.

"Let's hope it never comes to that." The Senkaimon opens as she finishes her statement. "Now get going before I take you shopping with me for more cat pajamas."

With no more incentive needed, you walk towards the opening, pausing only to turn back and give Yoruichi a smile and a wave, which she returns. You face the opening once again and walk through, ready to show Kanashimi who the true master is.

...

-Soi Fon POV-

"Does anyone else have a matter which needs to be brought before us?" The head captain speaks across the room to the other captains gathered for their monthly meeting. "No? Then you are all dismissed. Captain Kyoraku, may I see you for a moment?" The others captains all exit through the doors, leaving Kyoraku standing nervously in front of Yamamoto.

You leave in haste, making your way to your divisions barracks to finish up the rest of your paperwork. It was way too early in the morning for a meeting, but you don't complain seeing as how this gives you more time to complete said paperwork. Then you need to speak with Lady Yoruichi about funeral arrangements for... you can't even bring yourself to think about him. After two years, you finally drum up the courage, with Lady Yoruichi's help of course, to tell... him... how you feel. After one day, he is bitten by a hollow, taken to the 4th division, and them dies. It's just not fair. Why did he die? Why did he leave you? Why couldn't he have lived? There are too many questions rushing through your head at the moment to even think properly. Once you are done with the damn paperwork you can go find Lady Yoruichi and try and pit this whole experience behind you.

Arriving at your division, you are surprised to see her standing in front of it, waiting for someone. What comes as an even greater surprise is that Nanao is with her looking even worse than yesterday, when she got the news of his death.

"There you are Soi! Come on, we need to go somewhere where no one can hear us. This conversation is not for the public to know."

You give her a questioning look, but pass it off as Lady Yoruichi being... well, herself. "Ok."

"Follow us then." With that her and Nanao flash step away, leaving you to ponder and follow.

Deducing that you are going to Lady Yoruichi's manor based of the direction of travel, you catch up to the pair in front of you.

"Why must we speak about this matter in private? Is something happening in the world if the living that must be kept a secret?"

Yoruichi's solemn look never leaves her face. "Something like that." You finish the journey in silence after she denounced that fact.

Arriving at the manor proved to be more difficult than necessary, seeing as how Lady Yoruichi and Nanao insisted on taking detours to avoid anyone who came across their path, which was a surprising amount for this time of day. Once you did arrive, you began asking the multitude of questions that had built up inside of you during the trip.

"Lady Yoruichi?" You ask her as you sit down on her bed along with Nanao, who is looking very nervous, and also giving a questioningly look to Lady Yoruichi. "What is this about?"

She gives a big sigh sinking into a couch on the far side of her bedroom. "Hiroto."

Both you and Nanao freeze. "You both had the strongest and closest bond with Hiroto, and you two are the only ones that I trust with such fragile information."

Nanao speaks up. "What about Hiroto?"

Yoruichi gives another sigh of exasperation. "Hiroto is not dead."

Silence. All that followed that revelation was silence. No one dared to even breathe for fear of shattering the perpetual heartache that encompassed both you and Nanao during the hours in which it was believed Hiroto was dead.

You were the first to speak after the silence had grown to the point of being uncomfortable. "He... is what?!"

"He isn't dead."

"How... how can that be?! Captain Unohana said-"

"That he died. Yes she did, and technically speaking he did. However, he did not stay dead. It was more like a state of hibernation. His body completely shut down until he was ready to wake."

Nanao cried out in defiance. "But that's not possible! He could not have done back to life! Captain Unohana said he died! She couldn't be wrong on something like that!"

"You are correct."

"What?" Nanao asks Lady Yoruichi, disbelieving in hearing that she was correct in her statement, when Lady Yoruichi seemed bent on proving her wrong.

"However, Unohana didn't believe he was dead. In fact I guarantee that she knew he was still alive."

"But how can that be! She-"

"She lied to you."

Again, the silence overtakes the room, stifling all conversation. After a few minutes, and a few awkward coughs, Nanao asks Yoruichi again about just what the hell is going on.

"Captain Unohana... she would not lie to us, would she?"

"If it was deemed necessary, I'm sure that even the Head Captain himself would lie to you. That being said, we need to talk about what will happen to Hiroto."

Now you feel the need to speak up. "What do mean? What is going to happen to Hiroto?"

"Less than six hours ago, Hiroto left the 4th division. I accompanied him here, where he used the Senkaimon to go to the world of the living. He is currently training."

"Training? Why couldn't he have trained here? On that note, why did he gave to leave at all! If he is healthy, then he could have stayed here with us!" You sputter out incredulously at the thought of Hiroto leaving, because he wanted to do more training in the world of the living, without telling anyone but Lady Yoruichi.

"I said he was alive. I did not say he was healthy."

You look at Lady Yoruichi with wide eyes. "What happened to him?"

"He has an inner hollow."

Holy crap so much silence. You can't even think properly to form coherent words to respond to what was just said. Inner... hollow? He has an... inner hollow? Hollow!? After finding your voice, you ask again the multitude of questions that have been building up.

"When did he get an inner hollow? Why didn't he tell us? Why did he only tell you? Will he be okay?" You figure overloading Lady Yoruichi with questions right away, so you select, and ask, the ones that stick out the most.

Lady Yoruichi leans back into the couch, stretching as she does so, creating audible popping sounds coming from her back. Sighing, she leans forward, ready to tell you what is going on.

"He received his hollow from the vasto lorde that he fought. When it bit Hiroto, it projected part of its being into Hiroto. He wasn't able to tell you because he was more concerned with the well being if everyone else. Having an uncontrolled hollow, not that any of them are really controllable, rampaging around the soul society in his body could cause quite a number if fatalities. I knew ever since you recounted your story with Unohana giving you the bad news. I didn't deem it fit to tell you, because you were already suffering enough. As for the matter of him being okay... just look at central 46's track record. If he comes back, and word gets out that he has a hollow, he will be pit yo death. However, there is always the possibility that he could be another Ichigo. He might be allowed to live, as long as he never steps foot into the soul society again."

After processing this information, you come to the only possible solution for this matter. "I'm going to see him."

"You can't just interrupt a vizards training like that Soi. Any outside interference could literally kill him. I'm not saying don't see him, but at least wait a few days so that the critical parts of the training are over."

"I... fine then. I'll wait for 3 days. After that, critical training or not, I will see him."

Nanao looks between you both, seemingly unsure or what to do. "It seems that my time here is done. I understand that Hiroto only has an interest in Captain Soi Fon. I do still have some paperwork to complete, so I must now take my leave." With that, Nanao stands up and walks toward the bedroom door.

"Oh, and Captain Soi Fon?" She turns and looks over her shoulder at you.

"Yes."

"Kick his ass for me for not telling us where he went."

You just smile at what she said. That's one thing you already planned on doing. "Don't worry, I'll kick it twice as hard for both of us."

Nanao just smiles back and then exits the room.

...

-Hiroto POV-

The run through the Dongai Precipice World, after stepping through the Senkaimon, was a very peaceful one. No one to badger you about paperwork. No one to make fun of you for using kido, yet belonging to the 11th division. Not even someone to talk to. It was a calm that was sorely welcomed after the events of the last few days. It gave you time to think, something you desperately needed to do. After leaving Yoruichi, your mind began to wander.

Kanashimi. What will it take to get her to submit? When, and if, she does, what will you do then? You could probably go back to the soul society as long as no one found out about the whole hollow thing, but how long would that last? There was always the option of stating in the world of the living, but what would then do about Soi Fon? Surely she would not be okay with you leaving.

Wait... what if she finds out about your hollow? What if she is completely disgusted and repulsed by it? Would she leave you because of that? You would like to think that she wouldn't, but she is the captain of the 2nd division and the commander of the Stealth Force. She has an image and reputation to uphold. She couldn't let something like a half hollow boyfriend tarnish that.

Approaching the end to the precipice world, you stop running. You could just turn back. You don't have to do this. Running away from this wouldn't be cowardly, it would be noble. Go ask for your imprisonment, and live the rest of your days inside of a cell. It would be easier if no one else had to deal with your inner hollow... but Soi Fon. She would miss you. She would genuinely care that you were gone. She might even cry.

You can't let that happen. You can't let Soi Fon cry again. With a new determination in your heart, you finish the rest of your short run and break through the light to the world of the living.

...

"What the hell is taking him so long?" Ichigo voices his annoyance by the late arrival of their guest.

"Calm down Ichigo. He will be her soon enough. I can wait a dew more minutes before departing back to the soul society with your evaluation. Is that why you are mad?" Captain Shinji Hirako asks Ichigo with a coy smile on his face.

"Now Ichigo, don't be rude to our guest. He was only doing what was right. I'm not sure that you need to check the temperature of a young man that way, but who am I to question his methods!" Kisuke Urahara walks into the room, waving his fan in front of himself, wooden sandals snapping against the ground.

"Damn right its not the right way! I should charge him with rape!"

"Aww, you don't really mean that, do you Ichigo?"

Before he gets a chance to respond, you pop right out if the Senkaimon into the group of three men.

"Ah Hiroto, you have arrived. Now before we get started, Yoruichi asked me to introduce myself." He gives a light cough, and flared out his fan. "I am Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi's boyfriend." He stood in a dramatic pose at the end to try and add some humor to what he was trying to accomplish.

Your eye twitches. You try and hold it in, but you just can't. The feeling, and need to, comes bursting forth like water from a broken dam. "WHAT THE HELL!"