A Black Heart

Welcome back one and all. Been a bit busy with work (Think I might pass out from exhaustion one of these days), but I finally managed to get a chapter out. I hope you enjoy it since it caused me quite the headache in trying to re-create.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

"Kido/Zanpakuto Attacks/Quincy Techniques"

"Zanpakuto speech"

"Hollow speech"

XXX

Chapter 4:

Glaring back at him, Rukia huffed and crossed her arms. "We don't have time for this Ichigo. Now hurry up, we can't afford to lose him." As she started to move towards the door though, she was halted by his hand slamming into the wall in front of her.

"Not until you tell me more about these hollows I've been killing," he hissed in a low tone, his eyes boring into her own as he towered over her.

"Does it really matter? You haven't exactly seemed bothered about taking a human life before, so why does the life of a hollow matter so much to you?" she shouted back at him, causing his brow to darken.

"Do you really think that I'm some mindless killer Rukia? Believe me…there are far worse monsters in this world. But I am not without my own rules. That hollow…his face…it was Orihime's brother. If I kill him, I'm hurting Orihime, which will end up hurting Tatsuki, a rule I swore I would never break. Now, what exactly have I been killing?!" he shouted at her, his voice echoing through the corridor.

Flinching at the volume of his voice, Rukia scowled and looked up at him. While she expected to see anger in his eyes, she was surprised to see a hint of pain, of sorrow, glinting from within them. Sighing, she ran a hand over her tired face, thinking of where to start.

"I've told you before that one of a soul reaper's duties is to assist plus souls in passing on to Soul Society. Unfortunately some souls resist the process, due to either some deep sorrow, or their anger at their violent death." Seeing his ears prick up at that comment, she filed it away for later. "Given enough time, that chain you see attached to their chests, otherwise known as their Chain of Fate, erodes away and they lose their heart. This loss is what turns them into a hollow. The far quicker and messier way though would be if they were consumed by another hollow as they would be reborn as a hollow themselves, under the control of the hollow that attacked them."

"And the souls, why do they feel the need to devour other souls?" he asked, his mind vaguely registering that he might've created several hollows himself.

"The loss of their heart essentially turns them into mindless beasts, beasts that are wracked by an insatiable hunger and deep rooted pain. Their instincts lead them to devour other souls to get some sort of relief from this pain, but it is an endless hunger, with them to the time they are either purified by a soul reaper, or eaten by another hollow."

"What do you mean by purify them? As far as you've told me, I've been killing them, simple as that."

"You haven't been killing them Ichigo…more granting them peace by sending them to Soul Society. It is why our zanpakutos are so important, with them we cleanse them of their sins committed as a hollow, allowing them to pass on."

"So what you're saying is that I really have no reason to feel guilty about killing them. Heh, that's a load of my mind," he said with a smirk, sheathing his blade on his back. "Now then…we have a hollow to hunt. I don't suppose that piece of junk you call a phone can find him?"

"It's not a piece of junk!" she shot back, clutching her phone defensively to her chest. "It doesn't help that he's hiding in Hueco Mundo at the moment. If I had to guess though, I'd say that he was only turned fairly recently if his mask was able to break that easily. Generally when souls become hollows, they are drawn to consume their immediate family members first since their memories haven't completely left them just yet." Looking up at Ichigo again, she raised an eyebrow at how pale he was. "Is something…HEY!" she shouted after him, dodging out the way as he tore out of the apartment and leapt into the cool night air.

XXX

"Ah Tatsuki-chan's cooking is sooo good!" Orihime squealed, drooling at the steaming bowl of stew in front of her.

"Yeah well, I'm nothing special," Tatsuki replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Besides I can only make four or five dishes anyway."

"That's not true!" Orihime mumbled through a mouthful of stew and rice, pointing at Tatsuki with her chopsticks. "You really don't give yourself enough credit!"

"Hush Orihime, no talking with your mouth full!" Tatsuki shot back, chuckling as Orihime vigorously nodded her head, before returning to her bowl. Resting her chin on her palm, her elbow securely on the table, she acquired a wistful look in her eyes as she stared at nothing in particular. As her mind drifted back to when she caught a glimpse of Ryo and Ichigo earlier that day, she couldn't help but imagine herself in Ryo's position, her body being ravaged by his lips as he left a trail of kisses down her neck, while his slim fingers worked at the buttons on her shirt.

"Tatsuki-chan…" Orihime whispered, breaking her out of her daydream and making her aware of how heated her cheeks were. "You were thinking about Kurosaki-kun again weren't you?"

"N-n-no I wasn't!" she stuttered, vehemently protesting against the very idea that she had a thing for her adoptive brother.

"You don't have to lie to me Tatsuki-chan…after all, you're not the only girl that probably has those dreams," she said with a giggle. "You're lucky though, you get to see Kurosaki-kun every day and get to put an actual image to whatever he's hiding under all those clothes," she said with a sigh.

'If only you knew what was really beneath the surface Orihime,' she thought with a grimace, wondering where Ichigo was tonight. Knowing him he had already landed himself in some trouble. Hearing an eerie howl in the distance, her spine stiffened and she looked around in slight fear, wondering what had caused that sound.

"Is something wrong?" Orihime asked puzzled, mimicking her friend as she looked around curiously. Hearing a soft thump, the two of them looked around to see Orihime's pink stuffed teddy bear lying face down on the ground. "Eh! How'd you get all torn up?" she asked in dismay, staring forlornly at the ragged tear that ran across the bear's face.

As another howl echoed through the night, Tatsuki flinched and made her way over to Orihime, her eyes darting to the windows frantically. Hearing her gasp, she spun on her heel, staring wide-eyed at her friend's lifeless body. Before she could look around and find the source though, she cried out in pain as she was sent barrelling backwards into the wall, crying out even louder as she hit it. Dazed and confused, she barely registered the blood pouring from her shoulder.

Her focus was instead on the same, half-man, half-snake-like hollow that had attacked Ichigo earlier that evening, its gaping maw revealing a double row of teeth that longed to sink into her flesh. 'The mask…it's just like that monster we saw the other day.' Her revelation was cut short though as the monster no longer seemed content with glaring at her and instead batted her away with a backhand, before slamming its hand down hard on her chest.

Coughing as the life was literally being crushed out of her, Tatsuki heaved as the weight from her chest vanished and she rolled onto her side, struggling for breath. Peering through half-lidded eyes, she could just make out Orihime's figure next to her, a chain attached to her chest. "Ori…hime…" she muttered, before passing out from the pain.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime screamed in horror, shaking her friend's shoulder in an attempt to wake her. When she had seen the monster crushing her friend, she had reacted on instinct and leapt at its arm, knocking it away from her friend.

"Orihime…" the monster called out in a screechy tone, drawing her attention to it.

"H-How do y-you know my name?" she stuttered out in a whisper, staring up fearfully at it.

"Don't you recognise me Orihime…after everything I gave to raise you…YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER ME!" it screamed at her, making her cower before it.

Peering at him closely, she couldn't quite make out who he was, until finally she glanced at his hair, remembering the one person she knew that had a similar style. "Onii-chan?" she asked uncertainly, shrinking back as it slammed its hand into the wall next to her. As her brother opened his mouth to say more though, she heard an eerie howl, followed by a second monster appearing through the walls of her home.

Like her brother, the monster was a humanoid animal, in this case a bipedal pig with dark brown skin, large muscled arms and legs, a rotund belly and a perfectly piggish face. "What are you doing here Acidwire *snort*? Fisher sent you to attack the soul reaper boy *snort*, not some snivelling little girls." It even snorted like a pig, Orihime thought, but the gravity of the situation silenced any chuckle that she might have had.

"It's none of your business Porsin, now leave!" her brother howled, coiling his tail around Orihime slightly.

"Oh? *snort* But you seem to have found some particularly delicious morsels here. It would be awfully rude of you not to share. *snort*" As it reached for Tatsuki's limp body, Orihime felt a sudden surge of energy and ducked out from her brother's tail and rushed at the pig-like hollow.

"Leave Tatsuki-chan alone!" she shouted, flying through the air to tackle its arm away like she had before. Only this time she yelped as she was caught with ease in the monster's free hand.

"Such eager prey tonight, you'll go down quite nicely," it chuckled, opening its mouth and lifting her up to it.

"No…let me go, let me go!" she screamed, punching and kicking the arm holding her as she fought to escape.

"NOOO!" Sora Inoue screamed, leaping at his fellow hollow and tackling him, causing him to drop both girls to the ground.

"What are you doing Acidwire?!" Porsin squealed, grunting as he was thrown through the wall onto the street below. Slithering after him, Sora sent a jab straight at his face, howling in rage as his opponent dodged and backed away slightly. "So…you've decided to be selfish then…guess I get to eat you too then!" Snorting, Porsin charged at Sora, ducking under another fist and head-butting him, winding him.

Back in Orihime's apartment, Tatsuki was just beginning to regain consciousness just as the fight outside began. Seeing Orihime near the hole in the wall, she slowly crawled over to her friend, wincing as her injuries flared in pain. "Orihime…" she coughed out when she finally made it over, resting her uninjured shoulder against the wall as she struggled to stay awake.

"Tatsuki-chan! Here let me help," Orihime mumbled, supporting Tatsuki's slight weight. Hearing a howl of pain, both girls turned back to the fight outside, Tatsuki's eyes shooting open as she watched both white-masked monsters fighting against one another.

Sora howled again as his punch was easily redirected and his opponent spun him around. Feeling his tail being grabbed, he was powerless to stop it as he was pulled back and thrown through the air, slamming into a wall and breaking straight through it. Shifting the rubble off his body, he howled in pain once again as a hoofed foot slammed into his chest, breaking several bones.

"Pathetic…*snort*," Porsin grunted, grabbing Sora by his neck and lifting him up. "Is that it? Is that all the fight you have?"

As if in answer to his question, Sora opened his mouth as wide as possible and vomited a yellowish acid all over his opponent's face, neck and torso, causing him to howl in agony as his flesh was burned away. Taking advantage of the opening, he delivered a gut-wrenching fist into his gut, followed by a bone-breaking uppercut that sent him flying backwards.

Rolling off his back, Porsin coughed and tried to catch his breath, snorting in surprise as left leg was grabbed, before he was sent flying away again, straight into a jagged metal fence that tore into the soft flesh of his back. As Sora closed in to deliver the finishing blow though, the pig-like hollow disappeared into a black portal, leaving him there to howl in outrage.

"What the hell is going on here Orihime?" Tatsuki asked, retreating back into the apartment so she could escape the unearthly howls she was hearing.

"I…I don't know Tatsuki-chan, but I think…I think that's my brother down there," she murmured softly, turning back to watch her brother. Unknown to the three of them though, a small black portal had appeared behind Sora, hidden from Orihime's view by his large girth.

Before any of them could react, the pig had leapt out of it, maw open wide, drool trailing along behind him and clamped down on Sora's shoulder, tearing out a chunk of flesh with ease.

Howling in pain, Sora tried to reach back and grab him, but was unable to as the pig bit down on him again and grabbed his one functioning arm. Feeling the familiar tearing of flesh, all Sora could do was collapse in pain, his arms hanging limp and useless at his sides.

"You were a fool to challenge me Acidwire," the pig spat at him. "Now instead of sharing a meal…you are the meal. Don't worry though, I'll let you watch as I devour those two pretty little ladies behind me," he finished with a dark chuckle, turning away from his downed opponent and walking back to the hole in the apartment.

Seeing him approach, Orihime paled and started to pull frantically on Tatsuki's shirt, trying to urge the injured martial artist to move. "He's coming, please Tatsuki-chan we need to move faster!" she pleaded, dragging her friend's sluggish body along with her away from the wall.

"You need to run Orihime, I'm doing nothing but slowing you down," Tatsuki wheezed, clutching her side as breathing became even more difficult.

"Don't say that! Now come on," Orihime said frantically, only to scream as she and Tatsuki were yanked back, the chain on her chest hurting her painfully as it was used to reel them in.

"Now, now girly, I've had quite enough exercise for one evening. I don't want to have to catch my food too. Ooh your friend smells so…tasty. I must have her!" it squealed, lifting Tatsuki up by her legs and dangling her upside down, as if to swallow her whole.

"Tatsuki-chan….TATSUKI-CHAN!" she screamed, just as the hollow started to lower her into its mouth. As if summoned by her scream though, a black, orange and silver blur darted past the monster, slicing clean through its shoulder and grabbing Tatsuki before she could fall.

Looking up at her saviour and his distinctly orange hair, Tatsuki grinned and murmured, "You're late Ichigo," before promptly passing out again.

Glaring up at the hollow as it howled and clutched its missing arm, Ichigo leapt up to the window and carefully set her down near Orihime.

"Kurosaki-kun…" she whispered in disbelief, flinching as he turned his furious gaze on her. Tearing his gaze away from her, he leapt back out the hole in the wall, landing with a dull thud outside. Biting her lip, Orihime slowly crawled after him, watching as he and the hollow stared each other down.

"You dare injure me you worm!" Porsin howled at Ichigo in outrage, clutching his stump of an arm with the other. "I don't care what Fisher says, you're mine to consume!" To his amazement though, Ichigo drew his zanpakuto, but with the blade still covered in its sheath. "What's the matter boy, forgot how a sword works? You can't cut me up like that!" he chuckled.

Ignoring his taunt, Ichigo wordlessly charged at his opponent, dodging the fist sent at his face and slamming his blade, sheath and all into his knee, shattering the bone with a deafening crack.

Squealing in agony, Porsin dropped to his one good knee, trying to support himself with his one remaining arm. Feeling Ichigo run up his spine, he surged to his feet, trying to shake him off. Unheeding of his efforts though, Ichigo merely grabbed onto the thick hair that poked out of the base of his mask, yanking back as hard as he could and driving his blade straight into the hollows exposed side and causing him to squeal out loud again.

"What's the matter pig?! With all that talk, I would have thought that you would put up more of a fight than this!" he whispered, a cold glare on his face. "But you're not screaming loud enough yet…" Twisting his blade, he leapt from the hollows back, dragging his blade down and cutting a massive gash in the hollows side and drenching the ground in its blood.

Tearing himself off the blade, Porsin staggered back, clutching his wounded side. Whimpering as the pain in his side flared, he felt a shiver of fear run down his spine as Ichigo took slow, purposeful steps towards him, each step bringing him closer and closer to his execution.

"Bastard!" he howled now in fear, aiming to crush Ichigo with the flat of his palm. His efforts ultimately proved in vain though as Ichigo ducked underneath him, his greater speed allowing him to rush in and drive the point of his zanpakuto clean through his chin and out of his skull.

Watching impassively as the hollow disappeared after he purified it, Ichigo turned his glare on Sora, the first hollow to ruin his evening, stomping over to him and raising his blade to end it once and for all.

Watching from the side-lines though, Orihime paled as he held his blade at the ready, mere moments away from finishing off the being she believed to be her brother. "NO! Please don't do it Kurosaki-kun!" she shouted, running between them and holding her arms out to her sides, shielding Sora from Ichigo.

"Out of the way Inoue! He dies now for everything he's done!" Ichigo growled back at her, noticing Rukia appear at the end of the street, panting and covered in sweat.

"But…but he's…he's…" she whispered, looking into her brother's pained eyes as he watched the exchange between the two of them.

"He's not your brother anymore Orihime!" he screamed at her, causing her to wince at his venomous tone of voice. "Would the brother you remember have done any of this? Hurt you like this?"

"But he protected us…protected me…" she mumbled, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "He wasn't in the right state of mind when he did that, but he's back now!"

"He's a monster now Inoue and given the chance he will be back to kill you, willingly or not! Now out of my way!" he spat at her, shoving her out of the way roughly.

"No stop Kurosaki-kun! He doesn't deserve this!" Orihime screamed as he raised his blade again, his expression pained as he was torn between anger and sadness. Glancing between Orihime's tearful eyes, Rukia's judgemental ones and Sora's resigned expression, he faltered for a moment, only to roar and bring his blade down with thunderous force, causing Orihime to scream out loud once more and shy away from the scene.

Hearing what sounded like a crack instead of a scream of agony though, she peered through her fingers to see Ichigo with the hilt of his sword against Sora's mask, the mask cracking under the strain of the blow, until finally it seemed to shatter completely, leaving his human face left behind.

Heaving a deep breath, Ichigo stood up and sheathed his blade on his back, looking down on both Orihime and her brother with a hint of distaste in his blank mask. "I don't know how long it will last, so say your goodbyes before you I need to send you on," he muttered in a low growl, stalking off back towards Orihime's home.

"Thank you Kurosaki-kun, thank you!" Orihime mumbled through more tears, wrapping her arms around her brother's head and resting his head in her lap.

Kneeling next to Tatsuki, he became aware of Rukia kneeling down on her other side, staring at him rather curiously. "What?!" he growled at her, a hint of exasperation in his tone.

"You didn't kill him…why?" she asked in a dead tone, making his brows furrow as he tried to think of an explanation.

"I told you, I have rules," he muttered, turning his concentration back to Tatsuki and her injuries. Not hearing another question from her, he was surprised when she held a glowing green palm over Tatsuki's injuries and in mere seconds, caused the wounds from the evening to disappear. Looking up at her curiously, he could see her pointedly ignoring him, concentrating on each wound as she treated them. "Thank you Rukia," he mumbled, seeing her nod ever so slightly in acknowledgement.

XXX

So…significantly different from canon, but I hope it was enjoyable nevertheless. Right, time for some responses.

Insight Corner:

Targets – I'll reveal more about this as we go. For now this was just one of his rules. Women are still valid targets; he did threaten Rukia after all.

Dexter – If he seems like Dexter, that is purely coincidental since I have no plans of him following the same route. Remember, Dexter only killed people after assuring himself of their guilt and for serious crimes. My Ichigo so far seems motivated by greed and selfishness.

That's all for now guys and girls. Please let me know what you liked about the chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to update sooner this time.