Response to reviews~!

As I type this, I am listening to 'They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard' on my youtube account! (HollowIchigoify, for those that didn't know. XD) It brings a smile to my face, and there is actually a 10 hour version! (No...I haven't heard it...) Anyways, I now realize that I honestly can't do this fic without spoilers, so you may wanna see the movie if you have yet ta do so. Ok? Alright...now where was I? Oh yeah! And another thing...

"Blah blah blah"- normal chitchat

'Blah blah blah'- mind chitchat between Shiro and Ichigo

Blah blah blah- thinking chitchat

"Blah blah blah"- well...wait and see! XP

Chapter 4: Voice of Hell

By the time Ichigo made it to Orihime's, Shiro has passed out. Damn, whatever happened to his instant regeneration? He wondered. He noticed it wasn't bleeding anymore, but the wound had yet to close. Maybe it's because he exhausted? Also, after Shiro showed himself at school, Ichigo knew he'd have to explain who, and what Shiro was. Man, I am not looking forward to this... He felt Shiro shift and groan and look up at him.

"Damnit, I wasn't out long enough, huh?" Shiro grunted.

"You mean you faked that?" Shiro snorted and stared at the ground.

"Ya think I wanna watch you get beat verbally and also receive similar treatment?" He said.

"Whatever. So how come your not healing up?" Ichigo asked. Shiro shrugged and Ichigo couldn't help the sigh that passed his lips. "Geeze, Shiro. Thought you'd know that much."

"Fuck off, Ichigo. Like I know what the fuck's going on here too. I'm about as lost as ya are." He snapped. "So don't fucking assume I know everything here!"

"Sorry, ok? Let's just...get the critisism over with, ok?" Ichigo asked. He felt Shiro tense a bit before nodding and he knocked on Orihime's door. Almost instantly, Orihime opened the door and gasped.

"Ichigo! What is going-"

"Can you look at him before he actually passes out, or do I have to explain while he's glaring at me?" He asked, already a bit annoyed. Orihime nodded and as Ichigo walked in, he sighed as both Chad and Uryu were sitting in her living room. Aww shit...this is not going to end well...

After Ichigo finished explaining what he could, Uryu was the first to speak. "So, you have no idea how he was seperated from you?"

"None at all." Ichigo agreed. Uryu pushed his glasses up and sighed.

"So like you Ichigo. You never think, always shove through everything." Ichigo bristled a bit at the comment, but brushed it off as 'typical Uryu'. "You've been to Kisuke?"

"He talked with Shiro-"

"Wait, you named it?" Uryu asked.

"Well yeah. He isn't exactly an 'it', Uryu. He walks, talks, bitches, argues and, needless to say, fights. So I don't think he's an 'it', at all." Ichigo grumbled. "Besides...he didn't have a name, and he can't just go around as 'Hollow' 24/7." Uryu seemed to understand and nodded. "But until we can figure out what really happened to him while I was in Hell, he's stuck out here and we all need to keep an eye on him."

"Wait, so you don't trust him?" Chad asked quietly.

"Would you if he tried to kill you? No, I don't trust him." He said. Just as he did though, he couldn't help but feel a bit of regret saying it when he felt a wave of sadness come from nowhere. Huh? What was that?

Orihime leaned over Shiro as he talked, basically saying the exact things that Ichigo did, albeit with a bit more language. "So somehow, he fucked up."

"Do you even know what happened?" Orihime asked as her sheild remained over the Hollow, although it only seemed to heal his fatigue, not his injury. This is odd...

"Not entirely." Shiro said, turning onto his unhurt side. "I just know it was a shitty mess that got me kicked out." Orihime decided to tell him,a dn as she spoke, Shiro felt something squirm inside him. Damnit, what's with these emotions anyways? ! "So that's what happened?"

"Yes, from what Rukia said before she was forced to leave, along with Renji. They wanted to stay, but the Soul Society needed to question them, so they had to leave."

"Question them about what exactly? Ya know?" Shiro asked, glancing over at the human girl. She thought for a moment.

"Well, for you, I think, or the 'demon' as Head Captain Yamamoto called you." Shiro snorted at that. "And Ichigo's odd change in his spiritual pressure. It was brief, but even I felt something was...off." Shiro raised a pale eyebrow at this.

"Off how?"

"Well, Rukia said that Ichigo absorbed one of the monsters of Hell*, or at least it looked like that. He then gained...well she said it was kinda like armor made from skulls*, covering half of his body." She explained. Shiro nodded and closed his eyes to think.

So I missed out on a lot huh? He thought. Figures King'd skip out on me... "Guess I'll need ta ask him about it." Shiro murmured. Orihime dropped the shield and he sat up, wincing as his wound stung. "So it didn't work?"

"No...maybe it doesn't work on Hollows..."

"Ya healed that Grimmjow, didn't ya?" Shiro asked.

"Well...yes. But you're different right?" Shiro nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "Ichigo does that too."

"Huh?"

"Runs a hand through his hair when he's thinking or worried. Are you worried?" Shiro tsked and she giggled a bit. "You're not as scary as Ichigo made you out to be."

"Shut it, Orihime Inoue. I could easily kill you." He growled. She stared at him, completly unafraid, and quite frankly, it annoyed him.

"Yes, but you won't." She said. Shiro sighed and stood up, holding his side. "Is it because you want Ichigo to trust you?" Shiro froze and stared at Orihime like she'd grown a second head.

"Trust me? Pft, he'll never trust me. I'm a Hollow." He said. As he walked into the next room, he caught the tailend of Ichigo's conversation.

"Would you if he tried to kill you? No, I don't trust him." Again, Shiro felt his gut clench painfully and he glared at Ichigo.

I don't want him to, because then what am I supposed to do? He wondered. He watched as Ichigo turned to face him and he shook his head. I'm going to end up killing him...or getting him killed. Either way, trust is the last thing I want from him...

"Alright, something's bugging you." Ichigo said as they walked back home, now it was completly dark outside. Shiro glanced at him and he shook his head. "Look, I don't care if you don't wanna say what it is, but you can't ignore what you're feeling, if that's what's going on to begin with."

"It's none of your damned buisness..." Shiro huffed. He was back in his 'body', and although his wound no longer bled or hurt, he was still being careful with it, a very un-Shiro like thing, Ichigo noted.

He's always rushing in, regardless of my, or I guess our, injuries... he thought. "Does it still hurt?"

"What the fuck do ya think huh?" Shiro hissed. "She couldn't heal it at all." Ichigo glared at him, but said nothing. As they walked in silence, Shiro kept constantly humming to himself, and the noise began to irritate Ichigo. Normally, he'd just put it off as some tactic from his Hollow just to annoy him, or maybe he was doing it to calm himself, but either way, it began to piss him off.

"Will you stop that?" Ichigo ground out. Shiro stopped and looked at Ichigo, a bit confused.

"Stop what?"

"That annoying humming!" Ichigo snapped. Shiro backed up a bit. This wasn't normal. Sure, Ichigo would be annoyed by the noise, but not so pissed to suddenly yell. "It's driving me up the fucking wall!"

"Uh, King? Relax will y-" Shiro was surprised by the hand that came towards him that he almost couldn't dodge it. He ducked and grabbed Ichigo's wrist and stared at Ichigo. "Ichigo, relax!" Ichigo froze and looked at Shiro before he pulled back and groaned as his head began to hurt.

"Damnit...sorry about that." He said, rubbing his forehead. Shiro rolled his eyes and walked up to him.

"Ya want me ta check it out?" Shiro asked. He wasn't too sure why he wanted to, but he knew Ichigo almost inside out, and the sudden angry outburst wasn't like him, even if it was his Inner Hollow annoying him. When Ichigo gave him a look that was a cross between puzzlement and pain, Shiro sighed. "Go inside your mind, ya idiot."

"What good would that do? It's a headache; it doesn't mean that something's wrong." Ichigo grumbled, getting annoyed again. Shiro rolled his eyes and walked closer, staring Ichigo in the eyes. Ichigo looked back and couldn't help but stare himself. For a brief moment, he felt pinned by those eyes that he hated so much. It was like they dared him to keep looking, keep falling in them.

"Catch me." Shiro said. Before Ichigo could say anything, Shiro's eyes went empty and his body slumped against his.

Damn idiot! I told him not too... he thought and sighed. Whatever... he's persistent, I'll give him that much.

The moment Shiro landed in Ichigo's mind, he knew something was off. Although nothing looked different, the annoying sideways buildings and slanted sky, something felt different. It's like...the air has an odd charge ta it... he thought. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Hey! Where the fuck are ya? !" He shouted. "I know ya don't want me in here, so why not try ta force me out? !" He took Zangetsu off his back and began waving it around by the cloth on its hilt. "Well? !"

"...Return..." Shiro stopped and looked around.

What the hell? "Who said that? !" He shouted, turning around quickly. The air felt thick, and he could feel pressure on his head. Shit...no you're not!

"...I...Ich..." He turned again as the voice grew louder, almost angrier, if Shiro placed an emotion in it.

"Where the fuck are you? !" He shouted again, aiming at the sky. "Getsuga Tensho!" He swung his Zangetsu and aimed at the empty air. The pressure grew and what felt like a hot wind blew past him. He stuck Zangetsu in the skyscraper he was on. "No! I'm not leaving here until you tell me what ya want with Ichigo!"

"...Ichigo..." Shiro flinched as he gripped almost painfully on his version of Ichigo's zanpakuto. "Return...Ichigo..."

What? This time when he spoke, it sounded different, but he didn't notice. "What is it that you want?"

"...Return, Ichigo..." Shiro's eyes widened as his grip slipped on his zanpakuto and he was thrusted into darkness.

Shiro's eyes snapped open and he gasped. His chest held a painful thudding and he gripped his shirt right above the area. What...what the fuck? ! He thought, breathing heavily. He winced as his chest felt tight, and he gasped out again. He heard someone run over to him.

"Shiro, you ok?" He recognized Ichigo's voice and nodded, coughing and covering his mouth. Ichigo rubbed his back soothingly and he found himself relaxing against the touch. Ichigo could tell something happened to his Hollow, since he was acting way to compliant. "What happened?" Shiro remained quiet for a moment before sighing.

"I...I'm not too sure." He admitted. "There was...this voice in there. It sounded like the voices from before...when you were in Hell." Shiro said, and then scratched his head. "At least, I think it did..." He closed his eyes and could've sworn that, for a second, he heard it again. "Return, Ichigo..."

"What?" Ichigo looked at Shiro. "What in the world did you just say?" Shiro opened his eyes and looked a bit puzzled.

"Whattya mean?"

"Just now...you said something I couldn't understand..." Ichigo said. Shiro folded his arms and sighed.

Maybe that's what it was... "The voice...all it said was 'Return' and 'Ichigo'..." He said. "I have no idea who, or what it is, but I don't like it King. It shoved me out rather brutally. Whatever it is, it doesn't want me in there." Shiro shrugged and shifted nervously where he sat, which he now recognized as Ichigo's bed and that it was dark outside. "How long was I out King?" Ichigo ignored the fact he said 'King' and noted that Shiro sounded a bit nervous.

"About an hour or two. I've noticed that time spent in my mind is different from being out here...I think it changes too." He said with a shrug. He stood up and walked towards the door. "You hungry?"

"I told you, I'm a Hollow, I don't eat your food." Shiro replied grumpily. Ichigo rolled his eyes and left him alone. Shiro looked down at his hands and tightened them into fists. What's going on? That pain... He placed a hand on his chest and he could feel a soft thud there. Is this...a heart? He wondered. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Whatever. It's just an organ for this body. It has nothing to do with me...

Chapter 4 end

Whew! Long one here, neh? Well...longer.

Absorbing the monsters- Well, that's what it looked like Ichigo did. Not quite sure what happened, but that is what it appeared!

Armor made fro skulls- As you know, fans call it Skullclad Ichigo. He's in the Bleach Soul Ressurection (Soul Ignition in Japan) game for the Playstation 3, along with Kokuto. If you have yet ta see him like that, look it up! there are a few previews that have him like that. It's really neat, although sad that it's there for a grand total of maybe seven minutes. T-T

Well, reviews are awesome and help my chappies get longer~! XD Threats work too, but not as well, since I'm invincible~!