I'd say Hichi's getting a bit more territorial, no?

She found herself in the strange place again. The buildings, the sunless sky…what a strange thought that this was inside a classmate's head. Had he ever appeared so complicated to her?

"Well, well, well," spoke the warped voice she remembered all too well. "Looks like you wandered in again, didn't you, girl?"

She turned to see the strange, pure-white doppelganger. "I did wander in. Or, at least, I hoped I would," she whispered.

"You hoped you would? That's a new one I haven't heard," he smirked, not making a move to approach her. It might ruin whatever he had in mind, she figured.

"I want answers out of you," she said.

"What for?"

"For starters, I'd like to know who—or what—you are. I'm sure you don't want me to call you Kurosaki Ichigo, do you?"

She could see his jaw tighten, his eyes flashing in irritation. She never expected what would happen next.

His hand closed around her throat and her back was up against one of the buildings. She gasped, but kept still in spite of her lungs begging for air. Her vision was blurring, different images flying in her mind's eye; but, through the haze, she could see those golden colored irises fixed on her. They were narrowed in disdain. "You're so weak. I could just snap your neck and that'll be it," he hissed. She forced her eyes to stay open, the lack of oxygen forcing her lungs to try futilely to find any source of air, any at all…

"Minako," she breathed out and his grip tightened.

"What?"

"My name," she whispered, even as doing so wasted what little oxygen she had left. "It's Minako. You know you can call me by it, right?"

Silence passed between them before he released her. Minako fell to her knees, her hand reaching to rub her throat as she took in air. She looked up at him and he glared at her.

"What?" he repeated acidly.

"Your name," she said. "I know you have one. I want to know what it is."

"Why do you give a damn what my name is?" He turned, irritated by something mysterious to her than his reaction to being called "Ichigo". Actually, that wasn't such a mystery, she realized. She could see, in spite of their likeness, that this being was so undeniably, unbelievably different from the Ichigo in her school. That irritation was that he had his own identity.

"Can I call you White, then?" Minako asked and she saw him tense. She slowly rose to her feet, some sort of understanding dawning on her. "…That's your name, isn't it?"

"I don't have a name," he spat maliciously. "So call me whatever you want."

"Everyone has a name," she replied calmly, in spite of the fact that she was just at his mercy. "Even you. Letting me call you by whatever name makes sense doesn't really make it your true name."

"Do you always talk so much?"

"Does it bother you?"

"Whatever bullshit you're spitting out about names is a damn turn off. It makes me wanna kill you."

"It's as you said. I'm weaker than you and you could just snap my neck without batting an eye. Why don't you?"

"I've got my reasons."

"Right. Your reasons." Minako stepped toward him with ease. "Just what exactly are you? You look just like Ichigo, yet you're not Ichigo."

"So glad someone sees the difference." His tone dripped with sarcasm, like he didn't believe she could see the difference. He was a stubborn one. He turned around, arms crossed, still glaring at her. "I'll tell you one thing, though; I don't think there's ever been anyone with energy like yours around us before."

"Is that your way of giving me a compliment?" asked Minako, tilting her head curiously.

"Don't let it go to your head, idiot."

"You really are a right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?"

"Don't make me regret not killing you."

"Fine, fine, I'll shut up," Minako sighed, planting herself right back down, crossing her legs. The male was a stubborn as a mule; she wasn't getting anything out of him. Almost as suddenly as she thought this, his voice was suddenly by her ear.

"The King knows you're mine, Minako." The way he said her name sent a shiver of fear down her spine. "I'm not gonna kill you, but I sure as hell won't let him have fun with you."

Minako forced her eyes open, taking her away from that inner world and back into reality. With a sigh, she tossed her arm over her eyes, relaying the conversation between her and…White. His parting words to her sent a shudder down her spine, a leftover reaction.

"The King knows you're mine, Minako." What in the hell did he mean by "his" anyway? She didn't belong to anyone—and certainly not anyone who lived inside another person's soul.

Minako sat up, dropping her arm down to her side as she raised her other hand to her cheek in thought. White could have killed her last night, without a thought, and she knew that. Maybe he knew that she knew, and whatever his reasons were for not killing her, she would at least be careful not to offend him in the future. But that possessive tone he got at their parting moment was unnerving.

Dismissing it for now, she got up to get ready for school. After all, she has to deal with the "King" during the day.

"You walked home with her?!" Keigo exclaimed loudly. Ichigo shut his eyes in irritation. Why did Keigo have to sound so shocked and proclaim it to the entire school?

"What's wrong with walking a girl home?" he asked irritably, resting his chin against his palm.

"You walked Minako Kazuya home! Don't tell me she's your type!"

"It wasn't like that."

"Was Kazuya-san all right with it?" asked Orihime. She didn't want to feel jealous that Ichigo walked home with Minako—especially since there wasn't a deep feeling as motivation. "I mean, Tatsuki was saying how she prefers to be by herself…"

"She doesn't, actually," Ichigo told her. "She's always by herself because of those rumors that fly around about her."

"Then, maybe we could invite her join us for lunch again!" Orihime beamed at the thought, glad that Ichigo managed to show some form of friendship to Minako.

"Invite her?" Mizuiro asked. "She might say no."

"She also might say yes."

"You're obviously optimistic about this, Orihime."

"Because it'll be nice for her to not be by herself!"

"That's a kind thought, Inoue-san," spoke that familiar, soft voice. Ichigo turned in his chair to see Minako standing there, her eyes mysterious as always.

"Good morning, Kazuya-san!" Orihime greeted her. Minako looked to Orihime and her lips curled into a gentle smile. "Good morning, Inoue-san. I hope I wasn't being rude by overhearing your conversation," she replied.

"Not at all!" Orihime was smiling happily, being very bubbly at the fact that the quiet girl in the class is actually associating with her fellow students.

Minako smiled again before she glanced at Ichigo. "Kurosaki-san, may I have a word with you?" she asked. Ichigo stood up, giving Minako a nod. "I'll be back, guys," he told his friends as he and Minako stepped outside the classroom.

The moment they were out of earshot, she spoke. "I want to apologize for yesterday, when I…freaked out."

Ichigo blinked in confusion before he remembered that she had run inside her house after they made the barest of physical contact. "You don't have to apologize."

"I should. Especially to the other you," Minako said. Ichigo froze, shock filtering through his senses, before he replied. "What are you talking about? What other me?"

"Don't act like you have no idea what I'm talking about." Minako's voice was firm, her eyes boring into his. "I know what the inside of your soul looks like. I've seen what was inside of you."

Ichigo could barely comprehend what was going on. This girl, whatever she was, knew what his inner world looked like…?

It would explain why his Hollow was possessive yesterday, but it didn't explain how they encountered each other.

"Why do you need to apologize to it anyway?" Ichigo muttered without thinking. Minako closed her eyes briefly before opening them. "I offended him by calling him by your name."

"And it let you live?"

"Is it that surprising?"

"Actually, yeah, it is."

Minako sighed. "Anyway, I freaked because I felt his energy mixing with yours and it was shocking," she said. "I just wanted to apologize to you for that and I wanted to apologize to White for calling him by your name."

"You gave it a name?" Ichigo asked, incredulous.

"He isn't an it," answered Minako tersely. "He's himself, just like you are you. I'm sure however he usually is, he's probably more than that—if you give him a chance."

"You obviously don't know it very well."

"I know enough to realize that he isn't you and you aren't him."

Ichigo opened his mouth to respond, but froze as his Hollow gave him a reminder. "Mine."

He wanted to know why it kept saying that and was tempted to ask Minako, but he had an acute feeling that she didn't know why either. She made a move to walk back into the classroom. "I just wanted to tell you that, Kurosaki-san," she murmured. "Don't be surprised by White's behavior—I get the feeling he does whatever he wants anyway."

Ichigo watched as Minako walked back in the classroom, to her desk. He felt his Hollow stirring smugly within him, as though he won an argument. "She likes me better, King."

Ignoring the comment, he walked inside the classroom to go to his seat.

"Kazuya-san!" Orihime waved at Minako when the lunch bell rang. Minako turned in her seat, her hand resting over a black book, as she tilted her head. "Yes?" she replied.

"Are you going to have lunch with us today?"

"I suppose I can. If no one else minds."

Orihime looked so optimistically hopeful that everyone else had to agree. Minako gave a slight nod before gathering her book and a bento lunch box in her arms, following them up to the roof.

"So, Minako-san," Mizuiro ventured, "I'm surprised you decided to join us. You seem like the solitary female type."

"That's why they say you don't judge a book by its cover, wouldn't you agree?" she replied briskly, brushing strands of her hair from her face. Orihime had fallen in stride with her. "Don't mind the boys, Kazuya-san! We just haven't gotten a chance to really get to know you!" she said.

"Call me Minako, please," Minako murmured. "You don't have to be so formal. It makes me uneasy."

"Same to you." Orihime smiled.

Minako smiled back. "Fair enough."

When the group arrived on the roof, Minako sat beside Orihime, opening her bento box as everyone else took their spots. "What book do you have there?" asked Keigo curiously. Minako blinked at him owlishly before lifting her book with her right hand and held it out for Keigo to take. The title Journey of Souls was stamped across the cover.

"Is there anything you're into that doesn't involve souls?" asked Keigo, not taking the book. She set it between her and Orihime silently, her fingers treating the book as though it were fragile.

"Smooth, Keigo," Mizuiro muttered. "Way to offend her when she's finally becoming social."

"She's not offended," Ichigo told them both, his brown eyes surveying her face. "Are you, Minako?"

Minako looked at him. "Not at all. Keigo asked quite a valid questions that would be rude of me not to answer," she said. "But I feel as if I should ask you those questions. Like Sado, for example; I always see you with cute little animals." She turned her eyes to Chad, who was silent when Minako voiced her observation, but gave the barest hint of a nod to acknowledge that her statement was correct.

"I like animals too," Minako said with a smile. "My favorite is kittens. I want one, but my father is allergic to them."

"I never pegged you as a girl who likes fluffy kittens," said Mizuiro, his eyes wide.

"How exactly am I pegged?"

"Like your typical mysterious, quiet girl."

Minako rolled her eyes at that, but her smile was still in place before she winced suddenly. Orihime placed a hand on her shoulder. "Minako-chan, are you all right?"

"Fine," she whispered through clenched teeth, her hand touching her temple. Ichigo flinched also, feeling a surge of negative energy inside him. His Hollow was infuriated—no, infuriated was putting it lightly. It was raging. The energy wanted to break out. There was also something else.

There was another energy, a faint one, one that didn't belong to him, his Hollow, or his friends. It was seeping into him, linking to his Hollow's energy; both energies were coiling so tightly that he couldn't tell where one ended and where the other began.

"You're going to let them play with you so easily?"

"What in the hell is the matter with you? You're reacting a bit too violently over a conversation!" Minako rubbed her temple, feeling a powerful fury searing in her mind. In the hours of the night where her own soul entered the inner soul of Ichigo, of her limited encounters with White, she's never felt such anger from him.

"Conversation," the disgust in his voice was apparent, "you're making it too easy for them to get close. No one is allowed to get close to you. Not even the King."

"White, you're not making any sense." The possessive tone of voice he just used was unnerving. Minako grimaced, pushing his energy away, back to where it belonged.

"Minako-chan?" Orihime's voice brought her back to reality. Minako realized she was shaking and she stood up. "I should go inside," she whispered. "I'm not feeling so well."

"Need one of us to go with you?" asked Keigo. She gave a weak smile and shook her head. "No, I'll manage," she answered as she moved to the door to head inside. The minute she was inside, she tried to still her shaking hands. For the first time since the very first encounter, she was actually terrified.

When the day ended, Minako had her head resting on her arms, sitting at her desk. She had stayed like that for more than a few minutes, not even showing any form of movement before Ichigo went to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Minako?"

Minako jerked up as though she were electrocuted, her movement throwing Ichigo's hand from her shoulder. She seemed surprised by her actions. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "School's over, huh?"

"Yeah. What're you zoning out for?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking."

"Was it about earlier?"

Minako looked away, which confirmed Ichigo's suspicion. "It was, wasn't it?" he asked. "Why is it getting weird about you?"

"If you're talking about White," Minako said under her breath so no one else would hear, "why don't you ask him? I have to stay behind, Ichigo, I have a club today."

"All right, whatever you say." Ichigo muttered, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow." He turned to go, leaving Minako in the classroom. When he left, Minako let out a breath, placing her elbow on the top of the desk to rest her forehead against her palm. What in the hell did I get myself into…?

When Minako exited the school, night had already fallen. The sky was so pitch black; it was though the world had been swallowed by utter darkness. She took a moment to gaze up at the sky before beginning her trek home. She was used to walking alone, but in a way, she would've liked to walk with Ichigo again. Shaking the thought from her mind, she focused on getting home safely.

Until she heard a cry that chilled her blood and froze. She slowly raised eyes, seeing something large, yet hazy in front of her, as though the entity hadn't manifested fully. Minako tried to move her legs to run, but they were rooted into the ground.

When the entity manifested, fear clawed into her, gripping her heart and limbs. It was bearing down on her, wearing a white mask with yellow eyes intent on her. Its body was large, imposing, covered with what looked like scales. Minako's breath caught in her throat as the eyes of the monster glared at her. The eyes were so familiar, yet different. When the creature's gargantuan arm reached out to her, Minako finally stumbled with a scream of pure terror.

Ichigo had sensed the Hollow nearby, running to its location. It had been a while since a Hollow had appeared and he was surprised that one had appeared in Karakura. He was getting closer to the Hollow; he could sense it.

Then he heard it. A scream. A loud, terrified scream, and he recognized the voice in spite of never hearing it rise above a whisper.

He grabbed the hilt of Zangetsu when the Hollow appeared in view and in its large fist was an unconscious Minako. It had its mouth wide open, ready to devour her. With a growl, Ichigo drew Zangetsu from his back, bringing the blade down on the Hollow's arm. The Hollow roared in pain and its arm fell to the ground. Using his shun-po, Ichigo sped to the Hollow's open hand and hoisted Minako into his arms. She didn't stir, but he could feel that she was cold—it was from fear, he could tell. The rage that bubbled inside of him—while he was more than pissed, he could feel a more powerful anger that overcame him…

The Hollow lumbered furiously toward the two. Before it could bear down to have a second attempt to devour not only one, but two souls, Ichigo swung Zangetsu with one arm, the other still holding onto Minako, and the Hollow dissipated with that final blow. Half of the Hollow mask obscured Ichigo's face, one eye a gold color. His eyes were narrowed in disgust and anger before he lowered them to Minako's face. He sheathed Zangetsu onto his back before he tightened his hold possessively on Minako. "Weak little princess," he muttered.

Her face contorted into a slight grimace, her eyes fluttering. He moved his hand over her eyes. For some reason, he didn't want her to see half of Ichigo and half of himself. Minako raised her hand to move his from her eyes, but he pressed his hand harder against her eyes. "Don't."

Her head stopped moving, her breathing still. "…White?" she whispered. "How…?"

"Shut up."

"Let me see you."

"No."

"Why?"

He didn't answer, nor was he going to. Instead, he bowed his head close enough to hers. "Keep your eyes closed until I disappear," he ordered. Minako dropped her hand, sitting up well enough on her own so he could let her go. He removed his hand to find that hers were closed. He stood up and left her, not giving any possible chance to open her eyes to find him there.

After a few minutes of hearing nothing, Minako opened her eyes to find herself alone. She looked around wildly. The giant creature was gone. And White…she was so sure that was his voice. How was it possible that he was there?

She placed her hand against her eyes, confused at the warmth. His skin was cold before…she thought faintly before she lowered her hand and pushed herself to run home.

Doesn't he seem protective of her or is it just me? You decide!