Bitter Respite

What a feeble feeling…

"I will take over your body, Ichigo!"

Hollow Ichigo dashed forth and his white blade collided against Ichigo's sword.

"Sorry, I won't let you." With a swing, Ichigo knocked back his opponent and followed up with a flurry of swings and jabs.

"What makes you…" Hollow Ichigo dodged the attacks and guarded himself from an overhead swing. "You can stop me?"

Pushing back, Ichigo flipped over before regaining his posture.

"What makes you think, you can take over my body!" Ichigo retorted before firing a quick Getsuga.

Slicing through the lunar fang, Hollow Ichigo charged straight at Ichigo. Seeing this movement, Ichigo jumped and dodged the attack before blocking a strike to his torso.

"I defeated you once, so I can defeat you…" Ichigo gritted through his teeth as his opponent put more force in the attacks. "Again!" Ichigo fired off a quick Getsuga before reappearing away from his opponent.

Stopping the Getsuga with his left hand, Hollow Ichigo flung it above him, allowing it to break through the surface of the water. "Do you know why I reappeared Ichigo?"

Ichigo didn't respond as he charged in and forced himself into a blade lock.

"Sokatsui." Byakuya said as he fired off a blue wave at his opponent. The Hollow blitzed to the side, completely avoiding the attack and shoulder tackled Byakuya. Wincing, Byakuya slid across the harsh pavement before stopping himself.

"El Directo!" Chad fired off a massive ball of reiatsu that slammed against Ichigo's side and sent him skidding on his face.

"Howl, Zabimaru!" from above Renji's shikai crashed against Ichigo's back, forcing it deeper into the ground.

"Bakudo 30, Sanren Shitotsu!" Rukia cried out as she sent three rods of energy to trap Ichigo.

"Did we get him?" Renji asked as he landed behind Chad.

"I do-" A hollow's shriek interrupted Chad, and a huge wave of reiatsu washed over them.

"What did I tell you before?" Pressing himself against his blade he pushed Ichigo's blade back to the point where the blunt side touched Ichigo's shoulder.

"Enough talk!" Ichigo forced Hollow Ichigo back. "Getsuga Tensho!" Unleashing the Getsuga, Ichigo dashed away from the attack.

"I told you Getsuga is my move!" Hollow Ichigo swung out a white Getsuga out at Ichigo. Moving to the right, Ichigo avoided the attack and charged in. Hollow Ichigo slashed at Ichigo above his eye and leaned back to avoid the point of Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu from hitting his chin.

The attack managed to knick Ichigo above the left eyebrow and sent blood streaming over his eye. Ichigo winced when blood came in contact with his eye. Taking this chance, Hollow Ichigo grabbed Ichigo's sword by the hilt and yanked it out of his grasp. Bringing down his own blade, he slashed at Ichigo. Moving to the right, Ichigo cursed as he fell onto a roof. While he managed to avoid getting struck in the head, his left arm was cut across the biceps.

Jumping down, Hollow Ichigo stomped on Ichigo's chest, causing Ichigo to cry out in pain. Then he raised his blade and ran Ichigo through the shoulder and embedded it into the pavement.

"Damn…!" Ichigo rasped out in pain. The Hollow smirked as he pressed more weight on Ichigo's abdomen.

"I told you…" Hollow Ichigo said out slowly as he listened to Ichigo's heavy breathing. "That if you gave me a chance, I'll buck you over and crush your head beneath my feet!"

"I'd never give you a chance…!" Ichigo gritted through his clenched jaws.

"Oh? No chance?" Hollow Ichigo questioned as he bent down and yanked out Tensa Zangetsu. "Really now? Are you saying that I had absolutely no chance to take over your soul when I just did it a few moments ago? How naïve of you!"

The orange haired man said nothing as he briefly struggled to dislodge himself.

"I took over your soul in a matter of seconds when you held that little bitch in your arms!" shouted the pale doppelganger. "I crushed that maniacal jackass and stomped on your friends! I held sway over your actions! Not you, not Zangetsu, not ANYONE but ME!"

"I will devour you, and by devouring you I will retain complete control over you!" Taking his foot off of Ichigo's chest, Hollow Ichigo dug his hand into Ichigo's wounded shoulder.

"I will make you grovel! I will make you beg! I will make you want to be devoured! I will make you LIKE IT!" Hollow Ichigo quickly slashed at Ichigo's right thigh down to the bone. "Have fun!"

Tossing Ichigo into the air, Hollow Ichigo pursued and pierced through Ichigo's back and the tip of the blade went through Ichigo's stomach.

"Out of the way!" Isshin quickly rammed against Ishida, throwing him aside. "Getsuga Tensho!" yelled Isshin as he fired a massive blue Getsuga. The Getsuga slammed against Ichigo as gale winds blew in opposite directions.

Black reiatsu fed itself into Ichigo's arm. "Ge…Getsu…Getsuga Sh…Shuge…Shugeki." The Hollow rasped out as a piercing dark beam broke through Isshin's Getsuga and exploded against the ground near Isshin.

"Hollow…" Ichigo rasped out as he gripped the blood covered tip. "I will never beg to you!" He painfully said as the white Tensa Zangetsu slowly turned black.

Seeing this, Hollow Ichigo quickly let go of the hilt and flashed away in caution. With a spurt of blood, Ichigo pulled Tensa Zangetsu out of his body. Panting heavily as blood dribbled down his chin and under his collar.

"It's over… Hollow!" Ichigo charged at Hollow Ichigo and moved to impale him. Unlike before where Hollow Ichigo was run through the abdomen, he side stepped the around, Ichigo swiped at Hollow Ichigo's waist, only to be jumped over. Quickly raising the blade, Ichigo fired a wordless Getsuga at Hollow Ichigo. The attack dissipated and left Hollow Ichigo snarling as he felt the large gash across his chest.

"You bastard!" Hollow Ichigo roared as he charged in with his fists. Avoiding a punch to his cheek by stepping over to the right, Ichigo raised Tensa Zangetsu above him with both arms outstretched.

"This is the end!" Ichigo swung down. Hollow Ichigo's eyes widened as he was about to feel the cold blade lacerate through his flesh. Quickly pointing his left hand at Ichigo, a ring of red static energy appeared and blew Ichigo backwards. The ring of energy spiked outwards and pressed against Ichigo's chest, blowing him aside. Ichigo coughed out blood as he felt warm blood trail down his chest. "W-what the hell was that?"

The Hollow fell onto the ground on its feet, crouching over. Leaping to the side, he avoided a wave of ice followed by several arrows. In retaliation, he fired a pitch black Getsuga, covering the entire landscape; leveling any buildings left unhindered.

"What power!" Ishida shouted as he watched the replica city getting sliced cleanly by the unadulterated power.

Byakuya said nothing as he swarmed his cherry blossoms and covered Ichigo.

"Sokatsui." Byakuya said he forced out a blue wave. Then in a second, a light red ball broke through the petals. "Wha-" The ball sped out at a rapid pace and crashed against Byakuya's side.

"That was a bala." Hollow Ichigo muttered out.

"Bala?" Ichigo whispered out slowly as he raised Tensa Zangetsu again; but the sword was blown out of his hand quickly. "Shit!" Ichigo cried out as he retracted his hand.

Off in the distance, Hollow Ichigo was pointing his hand at Ichigo. "Cero." The cero that was fired was white with a red outline, and almost instantaneously smashed against Ichigo. Falling to the ground, Ichigo spat out blood, he had barely managed to survive the attack. His entire right side had been burnt considerably, especially his right forearm. While his left side avoided most the damage, his shihakusho was essentially reduced to ribbons.

With his clothing torn apart, the full extent of Ichigo's wounds were revealed; at his chest, a huge indention with blood flowing freely out of the wound. His stomach was caked by blood that had been dried by Hollow Ichigo's cero. At his stomach, a puncture wound that pierced through Ichigo completely occasionally spurted a glob of blood outwards. His left arm hand limply as crimson blood seeped through the torn biceps. The hole in Ichigo's shoulder had already stopped bleeding but the area behind him could be visible due to the width of the wound. Ichigo swore as he tried to get on his feet, but immediately fell over and grabbed his right leg. A long cut was horizontally planted across the thigh, deep down to the bone.

"You are pathetic Ichigo. You can't even move!" Hollow Ichigo said as he picked up Ichigo by the neck. Ichigo's right hand reached up to his wrist and tried to weakly pry the arm off. "Don't touch me." Growled out Hollow Ichigo, as he tightened his grip on Ichigo's neck, in response Ichigo tugged at him with a little more force. "I said don't touch me!" Hollow Ichigo raised his left hand and dug itself in Ichigo's chest. Ichigo's amber eyes widened as he watched his lifeblood pump out of his chest and onto Hollow Ichigo's pale sleeve. Hollow Ichigo could feel the pumping of Ichigo's heart grow more feeble at every second.

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted out as she fired off kido in quick succession. Ducking downwards, she avoided a black blade from slicing her neck.

"Ichigo!"

He heard a voice as his feet began to dissolve.

"Ichigo you fool!"

The voice came again; Ichigo slowly raised his head as his shins begin to dissolve.

"How dare you let yourself lose control to your hollow?"

Ichigo raised his dull amber eyes to the sky above, where the voice was coming from.

"You are not the man in my heart, Ichigo! Bring yourself back out of that pit!"

He raised his hand reaching upwards as his knees disappeared.

Crashing against a mound of destroyed material, Rukia raised herself onto her elbow. Using the remains of her sleeve, Rukia wiped the blood off her head. "Don't give into despair! You are stronger then that; conquer the despair and come back, Ichigo!

"Don't give into despair! You are stronger then that; conquer the despair and come back, Ichigo!"

He lifted his left arm and stretched out both arms out towards the sky.

"Oi, oi. What are you doing?" Hollow Ichigo watched as Ichigo reached out into sky and his waist began dissolving.

"…Rukia…" Then Ichigo's eyes widened and a blue gleam shined through his eyes again. The process of dissolving stopped as he set his arms back down and looked at his hollow in the eye.

He could hear his name being called out by everyone; his name rang across his head as he stared at his hollow. He pointed his hand at his Hollow and flexed it. In an instant, Hollow Ichigo felt a black blade pierce through his chest and looked down. Tensa Zangetsu had been impaled through his heart, and following the length of the blade, his dark eyes widened in shock. The tip of the sword had lodged itself within Ichigo's own heart.

"Hollow… I won't let you take over my body… If you do, I'll kill the two of us, myself!" Ichigo shouted as the water around him flushed away.

"Im… Impossible! You shouldn't even be able to move!" Hollow Ichigo roared out as he, vainly, tried to dislodge the blade.

"It is time you return to me." Tensa Zangetsu said as he walked down to the pair. Ichigo said nothing as a droplet of blood fell from his chin.

"Bastard… Just you wait, when you give me another chance, I will for sure this time kill you and that bitch!" Hollow Ichigo spat out the last word vehemently. Soon he completely faded out and was absorbed by Tensa Zangetsu.

"Ichigo, it is not time for you to die. Wake up." Tensa Zangetsu said as he pulled himself out of Ichigo.

Isshin grunted as he bounced across a street and into a broken sign. Ishida fired a round of arrows on Ichigo before he, too, was knocked into a charred piece of land.

"S-shit!" Renji swore out as he tried to raise himself with Zabimaru's support. Near him, Rukia was trying to raise herself on shaking and trembling arms; exhausted from overuse.

Red reiryoku began spiraling around Ichigo's body, gathering at the tip of his horns. Renji shut his eyes as he forced himself to look down; despair and hopelessness etched across his face.

It's all over for us! Thought Renji.

Then as the Cero was beginning to reach its apex, it shrank down and evaporated. Isshin's orbs widened at the sight and he soon realized what was happening. "Get down now!" Isshin shouted out to everyone just as a sound of bone cracking rippled through the sky.

A crack opened up on Ichigo's forehead, and the crack extended down to his torso, creating sounds of cracking bone constantly. Pale skin began peeling itself, pieces of bone splintered off and fragmented into tiny pieces, and tufts of hair vanished from sight. Soon Tensa Zangetsu reverted from the slim daito back to the massive cleaver, Zangetsu. Amber began replacing golden iris, and the darkness receded. As that finished, Ichigo fell downwards, losing his grip on Zangetsu in the progress.

Kurosaki Ichigo's name was called out by everyone, minus Byakuya, as they slid under where Ichigo was falling; to cushion his fall. Amber eyes slowly opened and gazed into his friend's relieved eyes. They were relieved until they saw the full extent of his wounds.

"Inoue! Heal Ichigo!" Rukia shouted immediately.

"Soten Kisshun! I reject!" A golden oval began healing everyone within the vicinity. Resting Ichigo's head on her lap, Rukia watched his wounds heal over slowly.

"O-oyaji…" Ichigo muttered out as he looked over at Isshin.

"I know, I know. I guess I'll tell –" Isshin said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't." He said, widening Isshin's eyes in surprise. "If you haven't told me, that's your problem. You must have had a reason to not tell me about you. I don't know how to ask, I don't know how to ask without trampling on your feelings. So I'll wait until you come to me and tell me. Until then, I'll wait, and you don't have to tell me anything."

Isshin looked at him with wide eyes before smiling, "You really have learned to talk like a man."

"I'm just repeating what someone said to me once; it really put me at ease."

Isshin smiled at Rukia, who was smiling lightly to herself, knowing full well on who told Ichigo that.

"Rukia… Renji… Ishida… Chad… Inoue…" Ichigo softly muttered out their names, before realizing he forgot a few people. "Kenpachi? Byakuya? Where are they?"

"Nii-sama is over here." Rukia pointed over to her right where Byakuya was standing rigidly straight. "Zaraki-taicho is nowhere to be seen though… Along with Kusajishi-fukutaicho."

Ichigo took a close look at his friends and when his eyes reached Rukia, he blushed. "Ru-rukia..."

"What is it?"

"Yo-your cloths..."

Looking down, Rukia looked down and she realized her tattered shihakusho was on the verge of revealing her chest to Ichigo. With a shriek, she immediately covered herself with a stripe of her shihakusho. "D-did you see anything..." Rukia asked after she had fumbled enough with her clothing.

"If I told you would you hit me?"

Their light moment was interrupted when Kenpachi landed right next to them sliding on his back, his torso stained in blood.

"What the –"

"I thank you for allowing me to see the perfect Hollowfication, Kurosaki Ichigo." A distorted deep voice rang into their ears.

Despair is…

I am really surprised that this story took 6 chapters before it could overtop one of my one shots in the amount of hits. But I'm more surprised that my story that I started with a prologue has more favorites and alerts than this one. So all in all, this story MIGHT get put on hiatus and may be touched on to improve later.