Ichigo didn't know any of the shinigami that were standing in a rank formation waiting for Yumichika. Honestly, he didn't know many of the lower shinigami, of course, after sleeping for more than a year, those he did know had moved on in the lines. As he got closer, he heard a few murmurs and realized that Yumichika was still dragging him along by the hand in a rather intimate fashion. Oh well, he didn't really mind. Yumichika was a lot stronger than he was currently in his weakened state anyway. It was annoying; he wasn't even as strong as an average human. He felt odd, though, like he was coming out of his skin.

"Recruits, attention, please!" he said, and everyone quieted, staring at the eccentric fifth seat. Ichigo glanced down where Yumichika was still holding his hand and he felt a blush rise to his cheeks. This was quite awkward. Then, his hand was lifted upward sharply.

"This is your training partner for today, and perhaps this week, Ichigo Kurosaki. He'll be sparring with you today. He was just released from fourth yesterday, so do go a bit easy on him. He's still in recovery!" he called.

"Is he a member of the eleventh?" asked someone.

Yumichika dropped his hand finally and shook his head. "Ichigo is not a member of the Gotei 13 currently. He is a special case here by…"

"Ahh!" Ichigo yelped as a pink haired lieutenant leaped onto his shoulders and wrapped her arms around his forehead. "Yachiru!" he yelped, reaching up to feel the small body on his shoulders.

"Ichi, Ichi, Ichi!" she said, smiling and patting him on the head as though he were a drum.

"Yachiru, please get off my head," he said, stumbling under the small shinigami's weight. "Yachiru! Please!"

There were murmured words among the recruits, mostly related to the fact their lieutenant was hugging this person that wasn't a member of their squad or even the Gotei 13, and he was referring to her in a very informal manner. She finally dropped down off him and looked up as he wobbled a bit, pushing his longer hair behind his ears.

"Yachiru, are you trying to kill me after I just got out of the fourth?" he said with a sigh.

"Ichi-chan, can you fight Keni-chan today?" she said, hopping on the balls of her feet.

Yumichika sighed and shook his head. "Fuku-taichou, he hasn't even gotten on the practice field yet, he can't fight with taichou yet."

Yachiru frowned. "Well, why not? Aren't you healed? They let you out, right?"

"I'm healed, Yachiru, but…I'm not back up to fighting Kenpachi right now. Tell him that I'll fight him as soon as I can, okay? But please tell him not to chase me all over the place looking for a fight!" he said, rolling his eyes. "I don't feel like running all day."

"Okay, Ichi-chan, I'll tell Keni-chan. Bye!" she called and skipped away.

Ichigo shook his head. "Yumichika, doesn't she understand no?"

Yumichika smiled. "I don't think so, Ichigo. Now, everyone pair up. Ichigo, I want you to pair with…Rin."

Ichigo nodded and met Rin, a short Shinigami with blond hair and bright silvery eyes. He frowned at Ichigo as he pulled Zangetsu off his back.

"Why's it in shikai?" he said.

Ichigo frowned and looked at his sword. "I dunno. It's always like this."

Rin's eyes widened. "That's a huge sword. You'll break this one!" he said, holding his unnamed Zanpakutō.

Yumichika came over. "Problem?" he said, looking at them.

"He's afraid of Zangetsu being too big," he said, holding his sword up.

More than one thought passed through Yumichika's mind and he sighed, mostly to hide fact he wanted to giggle. He went over to a weapons rack and picked up one of the other swords and brought it back to Ichigo.

"Well, here," Yumichika handed him a plain Zanpakutō like the others had. "I'll put Zangetsu over under the tree," he said and traded swords with Ichigo.

"That better?" he asked Rin and swished the unfamiliar sword in front of him.

"Okay, spar until you start feeling the least bit exhausted, and then break." Yumichika walked away to watch.

Ichigo was slower than he liked, but he was keeping up with the new recruits, so it was something. After an hour, Yumichika could tell he was desperately holding onto the sword and dropping movements here and there. Then, in one move, he tripped going over, and Rin's sword cut into his stomach deeply, spraying blood everywhere. The collective gasp alerted Yumichika to the occurrence and he raced over to see Ichigo holding a hand to his side where blood was gushing over his hand.

"Oh, dear," he said, blinking. "I think…this might be bad. I'm really wishing now I had hierro instead of whatever the bastard gave me…"

Yumichika looked around. "Clear back, and go get the taichou, someone!"

"Shouldn't we get someone from the fourth?" someone yelled.

"Fourth can't help us now, too late for that," Yumichika said, shaking his head. He could already feel the rising reiatsu he was emanating. It felt hollow, and he had heard about how he transformed before. "Ichigo, I told you to stop before you got too tired to keep up. And you didn't listen."

A minute later, Kenpachi and Yachiru appeared.

"Yo, what happened, Ichigo?" he asked.

"Oh, shoulda listened to Yumi…chika…and stopped…when I was tired…keep him…in check, Kenpachi, don't let… him hurt anyone…okay?" he said, gasping as he leaned forward and the white began to froth out of his mouth and nose, white foam bubbled out of the wound in his side.

Kenpachi reached up and ripped off the eye patch as the reiatsu sent all the new recruits to the ground. "Kenpachi!" the hollow Ichigo giggled, and looked on the cowering shinigami that were staring at them. "Good to see ya again, bastard."

Ichigo glared at the plain sword. "Now that's a shitty sword," he muttered, tossing it aside. He flashed over and grabbed Zangetsu and pointed it at Kenpachi. "Now, gonna give me a fight while I got control? Don't think I'll let King have control back before I have my fun."

Kenpachi grinned. "What do you think?"

The hollow Ichigo giggled madly and summoned Tensa Zangetsu before he lit into Kenpachi. With the instant regeneration of the hollow in effect, every hit was meaningless. The new recruits watched in amazement as he fought. Yumichika watched with his arms folded over his chest as Ikkaku appeared beside him, followed shortly by Rukia and Renji.

"What's happening? I felt his reiatsu spike," Rukia said. She didn't mention the fact that that reiatsu was almost entirely hollow feeling.

"Oh, he was being stupid, and got hurt enough that he needed instant regeneration, so the hollow took over. Kenpachi's having a good time, though, but I'm going to have a talk with Ichigo when he's back to normal." Yumichika was going to have more than a talk with him to be honest. No time like the present to find out his predilections when it came to relationships and if he wanted help. The barely manageable hollow was more of a problem than Ichigo was letting on.

Finally, Ichigo went rolling past the recruits and stood up, white foam regenerating his wounds as he stood there laughing, holding up a hand as Kenpachi came running toward him.

"Okay, enough, Ichigo's bein' a bitch and gettin' all pissy on me in here. Maybe next time he'll think before he lets his dumb ass get hurt, eh, Yumi-sama?" he said, and turned his eyes on Yumichika who's violet eyes widened as he winked one black and gold eye at him.

Ichigo closed his eyes and fell to his knees, using Zangetsu to support himself as the bankai faded. He shook his head and groaned. "Hollow bastard," he muttered before he fell face first into the dirt.

Kenpachi reached down and picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder and dropped him at the edge of the field before he took off again with Yachiru yelling to the new recruits to do their best.

Yumichika stood beside him and clapped. "Back to sparring!"

Ikkaku looked down and back up. "He called you Yumi-sama," Ikkaku said quietly.

"I know, no one does that except you," he returned. "Obviously the hollow knows something more than he's telling us."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo woke in his inner world with a groan and found himself looking at his white faced twin and Zangetsu standing on his pole staring at them.

"Yo, Ichigo, that was fun, get sliced open again so I can come back out soon," the hollow said with a grin.

Ichigo groaned and fell back against the building and stared at the cloudy skies. Zangetsu was standing by his head a second later. "You are afraid."

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah."

"You can't control me, can you king? You can't control yourself right now, can you?" the hollow said, sitting beside him slowly for a change. There was no mocking in his tone.

"I don't know anymore. I can't…what if I lose control again when it matters?" he said. "I feel like everything is spiraling out of control and I need something and I don't know what it is and I don't understand it."

"Sex," the hollow said. "You need sex."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I do not need sex. I need…I need to…I don't know what I need. I'm holding on tightly to this, to you, to the powers that are surging in here, and it…"

Zangetsu nodded. "To be in total control, it puts a strain on you. Find a way to give some away, and you will be better able to balance yourself until you become accustomed to the things you must learn."

"How do you give away control?" he asked with snort. "I've got to keep this hollow bastard in check, or he'll take over," he said.

"In a heartbeat, king," the hollow said with a giggle.

"After he took in those souls, those powers, I…I feel like I've lost a part of my soul," Ichigo said with a serious look suddenly. "It's like a piece of my humanity is just gone, because I want him to take over, and I want him to do that all over again in some corner of my being. I want to feel that way again, that amazing rush of power and it feels like I can do anything…" Ichigo said, wincing.

"King, if you want to get it back, get it back. But to get, you gotta give," the hollow said and took off into the distance.

Ichigo lay there for a long moment with Zangetsu standing there. "I don't know what to do, old man," he said finally.

"Ichigo, you must give in order to get," he echoed the hollow's words, and the inner world faded away into a hectic dream of blood and bone again. This time there was fire and it threatened to consume him if he didn't find a way to put out the flames.

He awoke, once more with a scream, panting and tears streaming down his face, with Yumichika sitting beside him on the practice field.

Yumichika looked up. "Back to work!" he called, and the sound of clashing swords resumed. "Ichigo?" he said, reaching out and touching his shoulder.

Ichigo wiped away the wetness from his face frantically. Crying, really? "I don't know what to do," he said quietly. "I can't…I just don't know. This power is going to consume me before I figure out how to handle it, Yumichika. I don't know…I'm spinning and I don't know how to stop…"

"Hush, then, we're almost done, then we'll go back and we'll see if we can't come up with a solution, Ichi, okay?" Yumichika said quietly, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. "Rest here."

Yumichika stood up and headed off to talk to the recruits. Ichigo stared up into the limbs of the tree they were under. His body ached, and he could tell he'd been asleep a while. He still felt so very tired, though, and before Yumichika had come back, he'd faded off into a dreamless sleep for a change. Yumichika came back and smiled down at him. A moment later, Ikkaku appeared.

"Take him back. I'm going to talk to someone before he wakes up," Yumichika said with a nod and flashed away.

Yumichika found himself at the fourth, hoping that Urahara was still there. He went in and found the hat wearing former taichou looking over some papers in a spare office. Yumichika knocked on the wall and he looked up with his gray eyes and smiled.

"Sit, please, is there something you need, Yumichika?" he asked, putting down his files.

Yumichika sat down across from him. "Yes, it is about Ichigo. He seems to be having frequent nightmares when he falls asleep. And then the incident today."

Urahara nodded. "Yes, Kenpachi relayed the information. It may happen again. The hollow did unknown amounts of changes to him, and if Ichigo doesn't exert full control over him, he's going to assume control of their shared body. From what Ichigo said, they have an agreement, and he's told him in no uncertain terms, if Ichigo weakens, he will take their body for his own. After consuming who knows how many arrancar of espada level, and then Aizen and possibly Tōsen from what we understand…I don't know if he can handle it. He's too inexperienced at his power as it is, and now it has…multiplied by many times. We aren't even sure how powerful he's gotten."

Yumichika nodded. "What is going to happen to him?"

"I'm afraid I don't know," Urahara said, taking off his hat and scratching his blond hair thoughtfully. "I'm just fear that he's going to break from it. The sheer responsibility of controlling that creature inside him, especially after it consumed as many souls as it did in Hueco Mundo…"

"You believe he's going to give up and we'll end up having to destroy him," Yumichika said.

Urahara nodded. "I've talked about it with Mayuri, Unohana, and Ichigo's father, and we can't see any other course. He's going to lose it eventually. All the captains have been alerted to the fact that it may only be a matter of time. I wish…I wish there was any other way."

Yumichika's heart clenched tightly in his chest. "But what if we could help him instead of just letting him self destruct?"

"What do you mean? We can't find any way to help him," Urahara said with a deep sigh, leaning back in his seat. "We've tried. Ichigo has There's no kido that can bind the power until he's ready, there's no way to channel it…we've looked from all the angles we can think of…"

Yumichika wasn't sure but it was his only thought. "What if he gave up control in some other part of his life? Take stress off him in one part so he can focus on learning to control the hollow and the new powers."

Urahara started to say something then stopped and thought. "I mean, it might work. It does for some others in similar situations, sometimes being powerful can be so…oh…oh…" Urahara stared at Yumichika for a long moment and nodded, eyes narrowing a bit as he thought. He'd been away from Soul Society for so long he'd forgotten about Yumichika's…leisure activities. "I think I see what you mean."

"And?" he asked. "I don't know if I should even ask, because have no idea what he likes as far as that is concerned…"

Urahara shook his head. "I'm afraid no one really knows that information, Yumichika. Not even his friends and family have that answer."

"You've asked?" Yumichika said, blinking.

Urahara smiled, "Not directly. But I've been privy to discussions in my shoten about Ichigo while he was asleep. Orihime and Tatsuki would discuss the fact that no matter what Orihime did, and no matter how large her crush on him was, Ichigo never responded to her. I know that he had relationships with many, but never connected more than on a friendship level with anyone. And now he has hollow instincts as well as human ones. One level of frustration may come from the animalistic nature of the hollow driving him, along with his sudden maturity. He's not had time to come to terms with himself, let alone actually experience much of life as a young person."

Yumichika nodded. "I see. Thank you, perhaps I will update you soon about our…experiment."

Urahara nodded and watched as Yumichika left. He looked up a few moments later to see Isshin standing in the doorway.

"What was that about?"

"Yumichika asking about Ichigo. I told him what we'd discovered. He had an…unorthodox…idea," Urahara said with a sigh. "I suppose it won't hurt to try, at this point he's already lost control once after less than a month…"

"Unorthodox?" Isshin said, quirking a brow.

"You know about Ikkaku and Yumichika, yes?" he said, looking over with a smirk.

Isshin nodded. "They room together, and before that even they were a couple. I think they've been partners longer than any of the others in the seated offices."

"But do you know about their…interests?" he said, his smirk widening to a grin.

Isshin's brows knitted. "I don't follow."

Urahara smiled. "Ah, yes, let's say Ikkaku has been here in the fourth more than once due to Yumichika's tendency to sometimes get a little…overzealous…when Ikkaku is being particularly pushy with him. He of course does it on purpose to elicit such things from Yumichika."

"Overzealous?" Isshin asked, the pieces not seeming to fit together.

"Yes, with a flog of some sort, I believe," Urahara supplied for the other man.

Isshin blinked. "Oh…oh. Oh!" he said, turning to look at him wide eyed. "You mean…they like that sort of thing? Like they do it because they both want to?"

Urahara nodded. "I guess Ikkaku was particularly proud of his pain tolerance when he came in to have it treated the next day. They've been that way ever since they've been together, I guess. Ikkaku adores Yumichika and Yumichika adores him, but behind the closed doors, Yumichika is the one who runs the show, if you get my meaning."

"I don't understand what this has to do with Ichigo, though," Isshin said, coming and sitting down.

Urahara sighed and sort of didn't want to tell Isshin this part. "He thinks that if Ichigo is interested, taking some of the responsibility off him might help."

"Oh…" Isshin said. His immediate reaction was to say that he didn't want his son doing those sorts of things. Then he thought about the fact that his son was going to die if something wasn't done. "Will it?"

Urahara shook his head. "Worth a try, isn't it? Or you're going to end up pitting Engetsu against Zangetsu and taking your own son's life before this whole thing is over."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo woke slowly and he was surprised. Since he woke in the fourth, he'd woken with screaming nightmares of blood and bone and worse. He was comfortable, warm, and relaxed for the first time in a long time. It was a strange sensation, though. He wasn't sure why he felt this way, but he wasn't going to complain. He went to yawn and realized he couldn't open his mouth. This surprised him a bit, and then he realized his mouth was open, and he couldn't close it because something was in it. His eyes opened and he moved to reach for his mouth and found he couldn't move his arms either. A slight panic began to set in because it was quite possible his body was rebelling again and not moving when he told it to do so. No, he thought. He could feel his muscles contracting and something soft around his wrists above his head. The room was dark, though, and he couldn't see a thing to tell what was going on.

Then, the world exploded in white light and he grimaced he tried to turn his face away and squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered at the pain flaring behind his eyelids. He felt someone near him, and his hands came free and whatever was in his mouth was removed. There was another set of clicks and whatever had held his ankles let go as well. When his vision cleared he found himself staring up into Yumichika's expressionless face.

"Yumichika?" Ichigo asked.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked.

Ichigo swallowed and rubbed the corners of his mouth which were a little sore. "Um," he started then realized that he'd slept incredibly well. Better than since he'd woken up in the fourth. "Better than I have in a long time, what's going on?" he said, looking around and realizing he was in his room.

Yumichika smiled and glanced behind him. "Seems we were right, Ikkaku."

Ichigo spotted Ikkaku as he came into the room and stoodd at the foot of the bed. "I don't understand," Ichigo said, shaking his head.

"I had Ikkaku bring you back here after you fell asleep at the field yesterday evening. I wanted to try something, so I bound your hands and feet. Nothing your hollow, or even you if you tried hard enough, couldn't get out of, but enough to be felt. I gagged you as well, so if you woke in the night, you wouldn't scream out. I had a bell tied to the foot, though, so if you moved, it would ring in our room so I'd know you'd woken up," Yumichika said with a nod. "It seems that you slept peacefully for a change."

Ichigo frowned and pushed himself to a sitting position. "I don't understand why."

Yumichika smiled softly. "I have a theory. And I talked to Urahara. It seems that they fear the same thing you fear, and are waiting for you simply to give up control to your hollow. I don't want to see that happen."

"I don't understand," Ichigo said.

"You need to feel safe, but more than that, you need to feel like others are safe from you. And I'm offering something that may work, if you wish. I'm offering to take control of parts of your world, and let you focus on what you must learn to handle that power within you," Yumichika said with a nod.

Ichigo wasn't sure he understood. But there was a driving force inside him that wanted him to do exactly what Yumichika said, no matter what he said. He was tired of feeling like he was coming apart just trying to handle everything going on inside and outside of his head. In his head, there was a mad giggle, and Ichigo frowned.

"The hollow knows, doesn't he?" he asked.

Yumichika nodded. "He does. Somehow, he does."

Ichigo nodded. "I've…I don't know. What does it…how do I…I don't understand."

Yumichika sighed. "May I hug you, Ichigo?" he asked softly.

The orange haired shinigami's eyes widened. He started to say something but nodded instead. Yumichika moved forward and tugged his body toward him, holding him tightly against his chest. He tucked Ichigo's head into the hollow of his neck and felt as Ichigo's body began to relax under the touch. He began to rub his back in the embrace, and heard the younger shinigami sigh. Yumichika smiled, feeling no resistance, no stiffness or awkwardness at the embrace. He then took it a step further and gently placed a chaste kiss against his neck. Ichigo's flesh goose bumped immediately and he shivered, but didn't pull away.

"Is that something you like?" Yumichika asked softly. Ichigo's only response was to grip Yumichika's body tighter. "You need this, contact between you and another person, Ichigo. Contact that you don't have to fear. I know this is hard to admit, but you're lost, I can see it in your eyes, and I want to help, if I can…do you want to try?"

Ichigo swallowed hard and nodded, not trusting his voice. He was floating and quite sure he'd end up drowning if he didn't do something soon. He knew it was starting to rain in his inner world, and if he didn't do something, it would fill with water again. He needed clarity, and he needed to give something to someone else because he knew deep down that he simply couldn't handle everything that was on his shoulders at the moment. He didn't notice when the bed dipped behind him, and another pair of hands were moving over his back as he relaxed into the sensations of just being. Was there a way he could let go? He wasn't sure he was ever in control to start with. His whole life, he'd been tugged here or there by events and circumstance, and he was tired of it. He was tired of trying to control the uncontrollable. Maybe someone else could help him with it. Maybe.