A Black Heart

And the feedback keeps getting better and better. Thanks to everyone that's read the story and a special thank you to my reviewers too. Anyway I won't distract you from the story any longer, read on and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

"Kido/Zanpakuto Attacks/Quincy Techniques"

"Zanpakuto speech"

"Hollow speech"

XXX

Chapter 3:

As the bell rang to signal the start of another day of school, Rukia, along with dozens of other students, trooped down the hallway to her classroom, her mind still stuck on Ichigo and their agreement. It was in hindsight a disadvantage to both her and the souls at large, since she needed the reward from the bounties to fund her recovery and the souls needed a protector that was more receptive to their plight. 'Tch, so much for his name meaning protector,' she thought with a scoff. 'He'd probably sell the pluses to the hollows if they were to offer him a reward.'

Sighing at her less than complimentary thoughts, she walked into her classroom to find Ichigo surrounded by several girls, each of them blushing and becoming tongue-tied as they spoke to him. 'It seems to be the norm with most girls, except for those two,' she thought, looking over at Tatsuki and Ryo, the former watching Ichigo with a grimace, while the latter had her face buried in a book.

'I wonder if they'd still blindly worship him if they saw him yesterday, if they heard him speak so casually about killing someone,' she mused. Swallowing the lump of bitterness in her throat, she settled into her seat next to him, ignoring the smirk he gave her.

XXX

The day passed in much the same way it did yesterday for Rukia, except this time she didn't have to watch Ichigo practice from afar as the boy had left after school along with the majority of the other students. What surprised her though was that he wasn't heading in the direction of his home, but in the completely opposite direction.

Following him as best she could, she watched as the well-kept streets deteriorated slowly, until finally they were walking along what she could only assume was the border of the slums and the town proper. Even after walking so far though, Ichigo didn't show any hint of slowing down any time soon, his eyes darting about from side to side every now and then.

"GAH!" a shrill young voice yelled out, distracting her from her target and causing her to look around to find the source. As luck would have it though, Ichigo seemed to hear it too and walked off in the direction it came from. When they finally came across the scene of the disturbance though, Rukia felt her blood boil in rage as a group of five men were clustered around a young girl, taunting and shoving her as she sobbed. Watching Ichigo to see what he would do, she was puzzled when he pulled a pair of black gloves out of his bag and slipped them on. Stooping over, he grabbed a medium sized brick and hurled it with all his strength at the thugs, hitting one square in the skull.

"Kazuya-san!" one of the thugs called out in horror as their comrade fell over to lie face down in the dirt, completely still, before turning as one to stare back at his attacker.

"You should get out of here little girl, your parents are probably worried sick about you," Ichigo said in a dead tone, breaking the girl out of her stunned state. Tears flowing down her face, she abruptly nodded and bolted to her feet, running out of the alley and barely giving Ichigo or Rukia a second glance.

"You! What the hell's your problem punk?!" one of the men screamed, stomping over to Ichigo and cracking his knuckles threateningly. As the thug threw a punch at him though, Ichigo nimbly sidestepped the blow and faster than their eyes could follow, drew a slim black blade from behind him and stabbed his attacker in his throat.

As Rukia and the remaining thugs watched in horror as the man let out a few gurgled murmurs, Ichigo smirked and twisted his blade, before ripping it out and allowing the crimson liquid to spray out and paint the alley they were in.

With a raw throated yell the surviving three men charged at him, grabbing blindly for anything they could use as a weapon against him. Chuckling as they drew closer to him, Ichigo quickly dodged to his side and slammed his heel into his attacker's temple, disorientating him long enough for him to duck in and thrust his blade up into the man's heart. Pushing the dying man back into his comrades, he watched as one of the remaining two stumbled over it, while the other leapt over it and tried to bring a steel pole down on him.

Dropping his blade to the ground with a soft clutter, Ichigo slid his body out of the way of his opponent's lunge and grabbed the pole with both hands. As they struggled over it, the man's last remaining comrade finally pushed his dead colleague off of him and charged at Ichigo's unprotected back. Catching the movement out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo lashed out with his foot, connecting with the man's groin and causing him to utter a high pitched shriek and let go of the pole.

Grinning at the man's pain, Ichigo quickly turned on his heel and swung at his last attacker, a dull ring echoing through the alley as blood, spittle and a few lone teeth went flying from the man's mouth. Walking over to his downed opponent as he spat up copious amounts of blood, Ichigo brought the pole down on his exposed neck, a sickening crack reverberating off the walls as the man dropped to the ground, his body unmoving.

Dropping the pole, he walked over to his black-bladed knife and picked it up, walking over to where the sole survivor twitched on the floor in pain. Kicking the man in his ribs, Ichigo rolled him over so that he was face up and bent down on one knee to grab the man by his hair.

"Hurts doesn't it?" Ichigo whispered in his ear, staring into the man's fear filled eyes with a demented grin. "How does it feel to be alone, to know that help isn't coming? Must be pretty similar to what that little girl felt right? You enjoyed it too right? The feeling of dominance over her, the feeling that no matter how much she begged and pleaded it did nothing more than encourage you right? That's all I'm feeling right now too, each of your cries, or the gurgle of blood as you drown in it is simply exquisite to my ears." Hearing the man whimper softly, Ichigo's grin grew even wider. "Yes…just like that. Sadly I think our time is at an end though, a pity really," he said with a sigh, before with one final flick, he slit the man's throat, watching as his lifeblood poured out of him.

Back in the alley's entrance, Rukia still couldn't believe what she had just watched. While she had heard the conviction in his words, believed the determination she had seen in his eyes, to actually see him kill and torture so easily sickened her to her stomach. Choking down the bile in her throat, she was horrified when he stooped down and started to rummage in each of his victims pockets, creating two small piles near him.

"What…what do you think you're doing?!" she shouted at him as she charged into the alley. Before she knew what was happening though, she was forced to duck as a stone was thrown in her direction, soon after followed by a hand grabbing her around her throat and slamming her into the wall. Feeling a cold object pressed against her neck, she winced as it cut slightly into her flesh.

"Rukia?" Ichigo said in shock, his expression morphing from blank, to concerned, to furious in the blink of an eye. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What the hell are you doing Ichigo? I can understand helping the girl get away, but to do this…to take the lives of these men was wrong Ichigo! And now you pick their corpses clean, for what? Money? Trinkets?" she yelled, pointing at his pile of trophies.

"Oh save your breath Rukia, nothing you say will make me feel any different about what I did and as for that, all it is, is my reward for helping that little girl out."

Staring at him in shock, she felt herself drop to the ground as he released her and went back to looting their corpses. "Is that really all that motivates you, your greed? How many lives have you ended simply to satisfy your love for money!" she shouted at him, while he paused with his hands in one of the men's pockets.

"I'd tell you…but I've never kept track of how many people I've killed," he said in a dead tone, chilling her to the bone. "You say that I should care for the lives of these men Rukia, but remember I care for only the lives of a few people in this world. It was in my desperate attempt to protect one of those lives that I discovered the thrill and horror that was taking someone's life."

XXX

I was thirteen when it happened and as surprising as it may sound, I was utterly pathetic in my own eyes. I lived with Tatsuki and her parents, but it wouldn't be too far off to say that I was simply a shell of a human being. I reacted only when needed and cared little for the world we live in, I still don't care for it. You don't get to hear my life story, but trust me when I say that I had a reason for being this weak. As for the catalyst, well let's just say that Tatsuki played a part in me needing to grow a spine.

We were walking home after school, same old boring lessons, same old bullies and the same old, damned rainy weather. We walked home in silence most of the time, so Tatsuki didn't try to ask me how my day was and I didn't ask how hers was. As the rain got heavier though, we were forced to seek shelter at an old abandoned building, marked for demolition to pave way for a newer, brighter Karakura Town. Soon after we stopped though, we wrinkled our noses at the strong odour of alcohol near us, followed soon after by Tatsuki's muffled scream as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and mouth and dragged her back. Looking at the guy, I felt a shiver of fear run down my spine at his size. He was easily twice my size with a bald head and scars all over his arms and chest, clothed in a muscle shirt and a pair of jeans.

He cackled at how feisty Tatsuki was and how beautiful she was for one so young. You didn't need to be a genius to see where his thoughts were going, especially with how his hands were pawing her body. Despite every fibre of my being telling me to run away, to find help, I rushed at him like an idiot and felt like I slammed into a brick wall as I frantically pummelled him.

He simply kicked me away, sending me crashing into the side of the building. Dazed and confused, I could do nothing more than cry out as he lashed out repeatedly at me with his feet, keeping his grip on Tatsuki as she cried out for him to stop. I must've been on the verge of unconsciousness when he finally stopped and I whimpered in pain as he tossed Tatsuki to the ground.

My memories of it are fuzzy at this point, but I remember him drawing a knife out of his pocket and starting to cut away her clothes, all the while she struggled against him for all she was worth. It was just by sheer luck that she managed to kick his wrist, sending the knife flying over to where I lay sprawled out on the ground. He didn't like that and slapped her once, twice, three times before she whimpered and remained still.

It was when he started fumbling for his belt buckle that something finally snapped inside me and by some miracle I managed to haul myself up on my arms and knees and crawled over to the knife. Just as he managed to pull his pants down, I leapt at him, blindly stabbing his knife into his neck. He screamed, loud and raw, trying to grab me and throw me off, but he tripped over his pants and fell to the ground, struggling for all he was worth. I lost count of how many times I stabbed him, but by the time I was done both of us were nothing more than pure crimson figures.

I still don't know where Tatsuki found the strength, but she dragged me away from him and half-dragged me home in the pouring rain, the low visibility actually helping us hide and washing away some of the evidence. When we finally made it home, I was torn between relief and anger that the house was empty, but I couldn't blame Tatsuki's parents for both working to support us.

Dragging me into the bathroom, she stripped both of us down and pulled me into the shower. When the hot water hit my skin, I hissed as my cuts and bruises flared in pain, the only thing keeping me from collapsing being her arms. Despite the obvious trauma she was in, she was still coherent enough to wash away any traces of blood and dirt on the both of us. When the water was finally turned off, she led me back to my room, leaving me only for a moment to grab a change of clothes from her own and a roll of bandages and some disinfectant for when we scratched ourselves.

She tended to each of the tears in my skin, cleaning and bandaging them with shaky hands and tear-filled eyes. Once she was done, she laid down on my bed, exhaustion starting to claim her. Too tired to protest or move somewhere else, I joined her, staring at my hands with a dazed expression.

"Tatsuki…" I whispered softly, causing her to turn and stare at me. "…I killed a man."

"He wasn't a man," she whispered back, even softer, hugging herself tightly as her own nightmare must've replayed in her own head. "He wasn't a man."

"Tatsuki…I…I enjoyed it," I said, watching as she looked at me in shock, her eyes pleading with me to explain. "I...enjoyed hearing him scream Tatsuki. I enjoyed causing him as much pain as he caused us. I…I want to bring him back just so that I can do it all again Tatsuki."

I don't know who started first, but all I know is that both of us were crying. Her for the horror and sadness that we just had to experience and me…I cried because for the first time in four years I felt alive again.

XXX

"For days, weeks after that I lived in perpetual fear that the police would come knocking on our door, that they would know what I did and send me away somewhere to get help, or even more irrationally, to lock me away. After a while though, my worry was replaced with curiosity and after that came ecstasy. Was that man's life so unimportant to them that they wrote him off as a victim of his own evil ways? If so could I do it again and possibly get away with it? These were the thoughts that consumed me Rukia," Ichigo explained, turning around to face the soul reaper for the first time since he started the story.

"I'm no idiot Rukia, but it took time and copious amounts of research to plan out what I would do. Gloves to prevent the transfer of fingerprints, common clothing so that they couldn't identify me as easily and a mask so that I remained unrecognisable." Reaching into his bag once again, he pulled out a plain black ski mask. "As you can see though, I did away with it because I found that I relished the look of despair in their faces as they stared into their killer's face, that they had an image to haunt their dreams even in the afterlife!"

Picking up a wad of cash, he casually tossed it up into the air over and over again. "I found that they even paid for the very tools I needed to use and after a while, my addiction became a steady source of income, giving me the chance to give gifts to those that meant something to me."

"It did raise a question though," he said as he finally finished his looting of their corpses and started to walk away. "I needed to be stronger, faster, smarter than them, so how did I do that? The same way that anyone else learns a profession really, you learn from someone who is stronger, faster and smarter than you are. I became enamoured with famous serial killers and murderers. I studied their habits, their mannerisms, and their methodology to learn what mistakes not to make."

"One thing the smart ones had in common was that they hid who they really were from the majority of people and so I followed in their footsteps. I joined the school track team to improve my speed and in doing so, became their hero at school competitions. They became my friends, convenient alibis when I needed one and tools for me to use. The guys want to be me and the girls want to be with me. To most it looked like I had simply moved on and made amends with my past. No one would even think that I could be capable of such a thing after my recovery."

Seeing her frozen from the glimpse into his life, he chuckled and raised a hand to wave goodbye to her. "You may want to leave now Rukia, the cops are slow, but they'll be here eventually."

Leaving her alone in the alley with the lifeless bodies of the men he had killed, Rukia clenched her fists tightly as her shoulders shook, before she tore out of the alley at a breakneck sprint. 'Dear Kami…I've given my powers to a monster.'

XXX

Walking home from his dealings with a shady fence he had discovered early in his career, Ichigo couldn't help but whistle a tune as almost ¥52000(1) rested comfortably in the bottom of his bag. All things considered, it was one of his better hauls for a pair of low level thugs. Rukia's expression made the entire affair even more worth it, since it was rare that he got a chance to let his mask drop and showing people the real Ichigo Kurosaki told him a lot about them.

While she was appalled with what he had done, he could see a hint of her that had done the same thing in the past. And while he revelled in the feeling of ending someone's life, she seemed to shy away from it, finding it more disgusting than probably anything else in the world. Reaching his shared apartment with Tatsuki, he kicked off his shoes at the door, dumped his bag on the dinner table and walked into the kitchen, spying a note on the fridge.

Ichigo,

Gone to Orihime's for dinner, don't worry yours is in the microwave.

Back later,

Tatsuki

Crumbling up the note and tossing it into the trash, he grinned as he opened the microwave and caught a whiff of the beef stew that was sitting there. If there was one dish he was glad that Tatsuki's mother had passed on to her, it was her beef stew, simply nothing in this world could compare to it after all.

Setting the stew and a bowl of rice on a tray, he carried it towards his room, struggling not to drool at the sight. As he passed the cupboard in the hallway though, he paused at the faint beeping coming from it. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he began to slowly reach for the door, before it was abruptly slammed open and Rukia leapt out of it, dressed in one of Tatsuki's oversized shirts and shorts.

"What the hell?" he shouted at her, his dinner being knocked to the floor as she charged at him with the same glove from yesterday on her hand.

"No time to explain!" she yelled back at him, slamming her palm into his chest and ejecting his soul, just as a blood-red hand appeared from the wall and made a wild grab for him.

Watching as the rest of the beast emerged, Ichigo glared at the hollow that dared defile his home. It was huge, barely fitting into the hallway, its upper half a muscled blood-red, while its lower half was brown and snake-like. Its shoulder length black hair framed its white mask as it howled an eerie roar that sent shivers down his spine.

Reaching for his sword, Ichigo froze and cursed, realising that the narrow hallway restricted both him and the hollow. 'Just need to make a slight adjustment then,' he thought as his mind flashed back to a duel between two jousters that he had watched a few years ago. Drawing his blade, he held it ready in front of him.

Howling at his display of defiance, the hollow lunged at him, maw open wide and revealing two sets of teeth, intent on tearing into Ichigo's flesh. Waiting for just a moment, Ichigo rushed forward to meet him, aiming his blade for the hollow's eyes. As they neared one another though, the hollow surprised him with its speed and his blow skated across its eye, lodging itself just to the left of its forehead.

Roaring in pain and rage, the hollow grabbed his blade with both hands, its palms bleeding slightly as it was cut from grabbing the edge and struggled to pull it out. Manoeuvring its body a bit, it managed to free its tail, lashing out at Ichigo with it and sending both the soul reaper and his blade flying backwards.

Grunting as his back struck the wall, Ichigo glared up at the hollow, watching impassively as a crack split across its mask, before breaking away and turning to dust. As a ghastly human scream echoed in his ears, Ichigo's eyes widened in shock at the partial face that was revealed beneath it.

"Come on we need to chase it now!" Rukia shouted at him, breaking him out of his reverie.

"No…before we go anywhere, you're going to tell me a little bit more about these monsters you've had me killing," he said, his body quivering slightly as he stared at her with rage filled eyes.

XXX

I wonder how he plans to deal with this development. Here's to hoping that I at least make it entertaining enough for you. Now as for the question I posed last time, you guys were close in some aspects and way off on others, but I hope this was an interesting chapter for you to read. Till next time, bye-bye!

1 – About $560 at the time of writing.