Thank you Hollow Ichigo-Ichigo and Shirosaki 413 for reviewing! And Shirosaki 413, here is the chapter you wish so much for! Hope it is something you will enjoy! (please don't murder us!) Then we really couldn't update! Didn't think about that, did ya! Haha. Enjoy, anyone and everyone that favorite or followed us!

Vanity: Hello again, kiddies! New chapter up for grabs! Yummy! And just so you know, thing start to get violent. My favorite thing. Meow. It'll be later on in the chapter, however. (Damn) But, look forward to it! I know I am!

Greed: Shut the hell up, Vanity! You talk too much. Story time!

Vanity: As I recall, you spoke quite a bit more than me in the last chapter. In fact, you got the entire intro besides the last sentence.

Greed: *grumbles* Whatever.

Vanity: Anyway, we don't own! Obviously. Please continue on.

…

Escape… Chapter 2

It was 8 o'clock.

Urahara was waiting at the door for Ichigo to say goodbye to his father and sisters. A duffle bag was slung over his shoulder and an ever present scowl graced his face. He looked to his dad as he watched his sisters slowly ascend up the staircase. When they were out of sight he spoke. "Kon will stay in my body and visit occasionally. Karin and Yuzu might notice something, but hopefully seeing me will put them at ease a bit." He paused. "Don't let Kon do anything stupid with my body, though."

Isshin's normally goofy face was drawn in serious lines. He didn't resemble his goat faced self. "Just learn what you need to in order to be okay, my son. I don't want to see even one new scar on you." Ichigo snorted at that. Both men knew that wouldn't be possible, but Ichigo lied anyway.

"Of course I won't let those bastards even touch me."

The father of the teen clasped his son's shoulder. "I mean it, Ichigo, be careful and come back. I don't care if we have to move away in order to live with you. We'll do anything it takes to stay together. Learn quickly so that we can be a family again."

Ichigo's eyes dropped to the ground. "If I can learn bankai in three days, I think I can do this. I'll come back soon. No doubt about it," he said confidently. His eyes held a fierce light as he looked back up. His father finally pulled the teen into a hug.

"Kurosaki-kun," Kisuke interrupted. "I hate to be a bother, but we need to leave. Scouts will end up around Karakura town at any time, and it would be best to avoid them as much as possible." The Getaboshi opened his fan in front of his face. His eyes were uncharacteristically serious while his posture was relaxed. The shopkeeper watched as the father and son split apart. Ichigo walked toward him and they exited the clinic-house combo. The blonde even watched out of the corner of his eyes as the teenager looked back toward his home. Things would be hard for the teen. Well, harder than they already had been. Betrayal was not something a child should go through, Kisuke decided. It just wasn't right. This world wasn't right.

…

Day 2

It had been two days since Ichigo had come to Urahara's shop.

After the first night, Ichigo had placed Kon within his corporeal body and went down to the training ground with Urahara and Tessai. Kon stayed in the upper part of the store and helped Jinta and Ururu out. Everything was hectic during that first full day of training.

"Ichigo! You keep letting it escape. That'll end up getting you hurt!" Urahara shouted from behind his fan. "You must imagine all of it within you! Gather the reiatsu within you and hold it like you would your breath!"

"There's too damn much of it to hold on for to long! It feels like it'll rip me to shreds!" The orange haired teen complained.

"Well," Getaboshi sighed with a small laugh escaping him, "if you continue with things like this, you'll certainly succeed in tearing the training area apart. Besides, it is your spirit pressure. You were born with it, it will not kill you. Stop fearing things you do not understand." Ichigo looked around himself as Urahara spoke. Sure enough, the rocks and dirt around him were flattened into nothing. He'd been too focused on his spirit pressure to notice his surroundings.

"I've got an idea, King…"a voice echoed throughout his mind.

'I really do not have time for this, hollow,' Ichigo thought to his counterpart.

"It's a good idea, though," the creature almost whined, trying to persuade his host into listening. The teen that housed the hollow hesitated a moment.

'I'll listen… but it had better be worth the time,' the teen sighed reluctantly.

A twisted laugh reached every corner of his mind. "Oh, it will be. Why don't I try holding 'alf the power and then ye the other half. We could split the burden for now. Then I'll gradually feed it to ye until ye can hold it all with no problem. It's a simple idea, we just have to get it perfect. What do ye say?" Shiro asked. It really was a good idea. One thing that bothered the substitute shinigami, however, was the fact that his hollow was helping him. What gives? They were supposed to be fighting over control. The white skinned Ichigo picked up on his host's thoughts. "I don't want yer body to die just yet. I'll 'ave to take control while in a dangerous spot. I won't 'ave perfect control for a while, so I don't wish to die by accident," the parasite explained. "Right now, ye have the best chance of surviving with me 'elping from the sidelines."

It almost comforted Ichigo that at least this aspect of his life didn't really change. Even though it meant continued struggle for control over his body.

'Fine, I'll try it. But if it doesn't work, we'll have to try something different.' Ichigo heard a cackle as a reply. Taking it to mean that the hollow was ready, the youth started gathering his massive energy. It took half the time to store everything within himself, because he only took half while Shiro took the other. It was definitely easier to hold, but it still hurt, like he needed to breathe but couldn't. Slowly, he exhaled his breath, keeping his reiatsu within him this time. As the uncomfortable feeling left he gave the go ahead to Shiro to feed him the other half of the spirit pressure.

The white figure slowly gave the tanner version of him the other half of the energy. Though he was tempted to force the whole amount into the boy and see what would happen, he refrained. It would do him no good if Ichigo was damaged now.

Ichigo sighed as the last of his excessive reiatsu was forced into his spirit body. He opened his brown eyes that he had not realized he had closed. Urahara wasn't that far from him. Tessai was a little further away. They both looked at the boy, waiting to see if that massive pressure would surge back out of his body in a destructive wave. When it didn't, Urahara snapped his fan closed and went closer to the boy, wearing a large smile.

"Magnificent! I can't even feel a whisper of energy from you. But what exactly did you do?" His expression went from happy to curious. "I've never felt something like that before. It was as if two people had removed their reiatsu from the air simultaneously." Of course, the ex-captain had an idea of what happened, but he wanted to hear it from his student.

"My hollow helped me," Ichigo said quietly. It was as if, suddenly, the teen thought Urahara and Tessai would hate him for his hollow. He would not look up to acknowledge the praise give or speak louder than that.

"Ichigo," the biggest man in the training room boomed. "We do not judge you for how you were born. We helped the Vizards all those years ago. Do not fear that we will betray you." Tessai always seemed to know what to say. The usually silent man was very observant.

An orange colored head finally moved up to look at them. Even if they reassured him, there would always be doubt. However, for now, Ichigo would put his distrust aside. These men truly were helping him right now. Why would they help him in such a situation if they didn't care? Hell, Getaboshi even came to his house to warn him. Even if things got rough, Urahara was indeed reliable. For the most part. He could leave out information for his own purposes, but he had never steered the teen wrong before.

"Want to explain now?" Urahara asked softly.

An almost nonexistent sigh left Ichigo's lips. "Sure. My hollow suggested the idea. I was reluctant to listen, but it was a pretty good idea. I took half of my energy and he took the other. After we gathered the spirit pressure he fed me the other half of the energy. I was worried he'd try to push it all into me at once," the shinigami teen laughed nervously at that. "Thank god he didn't."

Tessai looked at the shopkeeper and could see the slight alarm he felt at that last part. He watched as Kisuke quickly rained in his small reaction and laughed like he normally would. "Well, I suppose it's good for all of us that he didn't do that." He didn't tell Ichigo what it would have done, though. He didn't want to frighten the young boy. And seventeen was such a young age compared to the hundreds Tessai and he had lived. "Anyway, why don't you relax down here and see how long you can keep your spirit pressure confined. I'll have Ururu or Tessai bring you down some food in a while." Both the merchant and the muscleman went to the ladder then ascended into the shop above.

Ichigo watched them until Tessai's last foot disappeared. Then he went to see what he could do with his reiatsu hidden.

…

Ururu lightly jumped off the last few rungs of the ladder, skillfully avoiding dropping the food for Ichigo-kun. When she looked around to find the older boy she was surprise at what she saw.

There was Ichigo, with his zanpakuto drawn. He was moving fluidly along the ground of the training room. It was strange to see him actually relaxing into the poses rather than slicing at everything that was too close. Yet, here the teen was, calm and collected. Though, his scowl was still in place.

Soon, the redhead seemed to notice eyes upon him. He stopped and turned to look who it was. Ururu stood not too far off with a tray of food in her hands. The boy stuck the tip of Zangetsu into the ground and walked to the girl. "Hey, Ururu. Thanks for bringing me some food."

The shy girl nodded and gave a small, "You're welcome," before handing him the food. She then turned tail and almost ran up the ladder to the shop.

"Hey, King! Do ye think she's scared o' ya?" Shiro asked from the depths of Ichigo's mind.

"No, Ururu has always been like that unless she's fighting. Don't try to confuse me by saying untrue things." Ichigo was speaking out loud to his hollow, but it wasn't as if he never did that. Only when people were around did he speak complete within his thoughts. The tray he held was filled with steaming rice and a meat cooked with carrots and broccoli. Ichigo's stomach growled making him realize that he hadn't really eaten much lately.

"Did you just admit yer easily confused?" Shiro questioned with a laugh. The boy snarled but didn't reply. He was far too busy devouring the food before him.

The oranget was about to finish up his food when there seemed to be a commotion coming from upstairs. The only reason he heard anything was because the door above the ladder was opened and Jinta was hurrying his way down. Halfway down, he dropped. Ichigo rushed over to see if he was alright and got a nasty surprise. There was a stain across the younger boy's shirt. Red. Blood. But there was no visible wound. Thank god. Then Jinta jumped up and grabbed Ichigo's wrist. "Strawberry-head! Shinigami are upstairs! You need to get out of here."

Ichigo put aside the insult because of the situation. Otherwise the boy before him would have had a knot on his head. He started to go toward the ladder.

"What are you doing?" Jinta practically screeched.

"Going to help. Obviously someone is hurt out there!" Ichigo tugged on his arm, forcing Jinta to be pulled along behind the teen.

"No! That's what their waiting for. Just stay here! Kisuke can take care of himself and everyone else. You need to leave!" Jinta was panicking. Everything Urahara was doing would be in vain if this idiot went up the ladder. Whenever the crazy man hadn't been helping Ichigo, he had been making a devise that put out a frequency that felt like the substitute shinigami's reiatsu. The shopkeeper had placed the devise on Kon and told him to run away then discard the thing. As long as Ichigo kept his spirit pressure concealed, everything would be fine. The smaller boy pulled at Ichigo's wrist. "There's an exit on the other side of the training grounds. It'll take us to the next block over. We have to go there."

"But-"

"No, no buts. Tessai and Kisuke are captain class ex-shinigami. They can deal with a few regular punks like the ones out there."

Ichigo let the kid take him further into the training room. Soon they reached a boulder that Jinta seemed to find interesting. He moved around the thing with an annoyed expression. "What are you doing?" Ichigo hissed.

"Shut up, baka! I kinda forgot the key code, give me a second!" the boy shouted.

"You forgot!" The teen put a hand on Jinta's head in what looked like anger. Ichigo's voice came out menacingly, "You had better remember within the next five seconds or I'm turning around and forcing my way out." This was not a threat, either. Ichigo had every intention of turning around. And he even started to before Jinta jumped up and grabbed his arm again.

"No, don't! I remember now, just give me a sec!" The crude boy went back to the boulder and searched for a panel. Soon he was punching in an absurd amount of letters. After a minute he was done and a door opened up within the oversized rock. "Alright. Let's get going!"

As they both enter the tunnel hidden by the large stone, Ichigo wondered about something. "What the hell kind of password did you have to use for that thing?"

"Stupid Urahara put the code as a short list of minerals you can only find in Soul Society. There's an emergency code, too, but Ururu and Kisuke just changed it. They were supposed to tell Tessai and me about it, but then this came up. Stupid shinigami, coming at the wrong time! I ought to go right back up there and give them a piece of my mind!" Jinta acted like he was hitting a baseball with a bat. "Can't believe they had to come at the stupidest time ever. Had to freaking remember those stupid elements I thought I forgot."

Ichigo listened to the boy mumble to himself and wanted to laugh.

After a short time, the two of them emerged from a manhole the next block over. And right into a trap.

…

Urahara was just knocking out the last intruder when a suppressive reiatsu was unleashed around Karakura town. That spirit pressure was stifling. And, judging by Tessai's and Ururu's sudden fatigue, very heavy. That powerful energy was easy to recognize. It belonged to none other than Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of Squad 11. And it was headed right toward where Ichigo and Jinta were.

The owner of the shop also caught the edge of Mayuri Kurotsuchi's energy and Soi Fon's almost hidden power. Three captain class shinigami were after the head of one teenage boy. What could possibly go wrong here?

…

Jinta dropped to his hands and knees under the oppressive weight of Kenpachi's crushing power. Ichigo was still on his feet, however. The pressure wasn't affecting him as it did the child beside him. The teen looked worriedly at the younger boy. He had to get away from here.

Kenpachi was still quite a bit away, so Ichigo grabbed Jinta and put him back into the passageway they had just exited. Then he sprinted away from the houses and streets closest to him. It would do not good to get innocent people involved in his fight.

He let some of his spirit pressure leak out so that the other two captains with the battle loving brute could follow him and not find Jinta. It proved to not be necessary, however, when a large body dropped down almost on top of him. He rolled away at the last possible second, avoiding Zaraki's rough attack.

Insane laughing, reminiscent of the hollow sharing his soul, echoed around him. It came from Zaraki's large figure. The large man was standing only a few feet away, ragged sword thrown over his shoulder. "Ichigo! What a lovely night, eh?" Kenpachi boomed. "I've been waiting for a rematch for ages!"

Two more captains showed up behind the 11th squad captain. "Captain Kenpachi, we were all asked to subdue the boy, not just fight him," Soi Fon informed the hulking man. Kurotsuchi laughed a bit at that, making the 2nd squad captain turn to him in confusion. "What is wrong with you?"

He laughed again. "The only reason this unsophisticated brute came along was to have a rematch with the boy. Sure, you of all people knew his motives. And mine. I wanted to test out a few things. Would you be a dear and try to put this on him?" the 12th captain asked. The strange man held up what looked like a set of bracelets. Black with blue edges, the devices look like any normal fashion statement. Knowing the researcher, though, they were far from normal… or pleasant.

"Tell me what they are for first," the Black Op Captain hissed. This was getting nowhere. They didn't to capture the boy or kill him now. Ridiculous business like Zaraki's was a waste of time for Soul Society. And Mayuri only thought about testing his newest equipment and experimenting on new subjects. How had she gotten stuck with these two again? Oh right. Most of the other captains didn't wish to go after the boy because he had helped them. Blast them.

"Well, the one on your left is to suppress his spirit pressure. I'm not sure how it will affect him, though. His spirit pressure is so high it may only cut it in half. And, of course, he has his hollow that can boost their power almost threefold." The scientist paused as if musing over some new thought. "Anyway, the second one is for his hollow. It emits a sound when in contact with a hollow-like reiatsu. This sound will cause pain for the hollow, and possibly even the Kurosaki boy. I'm not that sure, though. That's why I wanted to test it on a Vizard. I suggest you put the second on him first. It'll keep his hollow from sending out a sudden burst of power that may break the spirit suppresser. But it doesn't matter to me," the man said with a sickly smile. "Either one will yield results, so don't worry if you fail."

Soi Fon fumed from her colleague's biting insults. Though, he seemed to be more indifferent than offensive. It didn't matter. The woman grabbed both bracelets and headed to where Zaraki was attacking the substitute shinigami. The stealthy captain flashed behind Ichigo and was almost successful in latching the first band around the teen's wrist. However, he flashed away and Zaraki almost succeeded in taking off her arm. "Watch what you are doing, Zaraki," she shouted, obviously irritated at the fight-loving captain.

"Why don't you just stay out of my way?" Kenpachi shouted back as he set to searching for his pray once more.

Ichigo watched the small encounter from above. He was curious as to what the sneaky Soi Fon held in her hands. He put his thoughts aside when he decided whatever they were couldn't be good. The bright haired boy would just have to avoid the small captain at all costs.

"No kidding, Ich-i-go," his hollow sang. "Whatever those are I think that captain over there made them. And he is bad news all around." Ichigo looked to where his hollow indicated, catching a glimpse of Mayuri Kurotsuchi before having to defend against the two other captains. Kenpachi came from the front while Soi Fon came from the side. Unfortunately, the teen was only about to block Kenpachi's jagged sword, leaving his side open for the other attacker.

Soi Fon's hand came out and attached to the boy's arm. Her other hand latched the bracelet.

Shit! Shit! Shit! Ichigo chanted in his mind as he dropped toward the ground to avoid any other rapid attacks from the two captains above. What is this thing!

It wasn't doing anything right now. He still felt his power, he could still move, so what was it supposed to do? "I don't think I would what to find that out, king." The hollow was giving commentary for him now. Wonderful. "Why don't you let me out so I can defeat them quickly?"

Because I don't want them killed! I would just use my mask if I wanted that.

"Wimp," Shiro scoffed.

Ichigo ignored the ever-present resident within his mind. Before his attackers could get to him first he spun and launched himself at Soi Fon hoping to knock her out first, or at least heavily wound her. Kenpachi had other ideas, regrettably. The black haired male leapt in front of the short captain. He let Ichigo cut him across the chest so that he could grab the oversized cleaver in the boy's grip.

Trapped. Ichigo was trapped with his sword in Zaraki's hand. The bigger man smirked and tilted his head, causing the bells in his hair to jingle cheerfully. "Ichigo! You weren't thinking of fighting someone besides me, were you?" the man asked almost sweetly. Ichigo glared and attempted to kick at the man. When that didn't work, the boy steeled himself. Pressure built up around his spirit body.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" he yelled. From so close, Kenpachi didn't even have time to react before he was sent flying away from the scene. Ichigo's luck proved bad, however, when Soi Fon came at him and slashed across his back with her sword. He cried out as the metal stung his skin. Fighting two captains was going to be impossible once Kenpachi got back up. And if the 12th squad captain decided to join, Ichigo was sure he couldn't win. He only had one choice.

A tanned hand came over his face, forming a claw as he dragged it through seemingly empty air. The space around him got denser as his reiatsu changed, became darker, and thicker. And then a pain in his mind started. A hollow screech left his mouth in a distorted fashion.

There was a ringing in the boy's head that even went so far as to affect his usually unshakable hollow.

Shiro was the horizontal world clutching at his head while Ichigo was outside mirroring his actions. Neither of them could think, the pain was so intense. The two boys didn't even notice as Soi Fon got close enough to slip the other devise onto his opposite wrist. Suddenly they were weaker along with in pain. Shiro wouldn't have that.

The pale version of the bright boy forced himself to the forefront of the soul's mind. He couldn't push past the pain, but he could work with it. The intense agony was something that angered him, and anger would make him stronger if he used it right. A talon like hand came up and gripped the opposite wrist. The one sending out that horrid sound. He pulled and pulled. It would not budge. So he forced out spirit pressure. It caused more pain, but he didn't care right now. If it could overload the stupid thing it would be worth it. One problem was the other bracelet. It was sucking up his excess reiatsu.

…

An inhuman scream echoed throughout the night.

Kisuke and Tessai hurried to where they felt Ichigo's sudden spirit pressure. The ex-captain and ex-kido master got there in time to see a bloody and frowning Kenpachi Zaraki kick a masked Ichigo. The boy seemed as if he didn't even notice the kick that sent him flying as he was still screaming. Soi Fon was rushing to the fallen boy, but didn't reach him as a blast equal to a cero made its way toward her. The tiny captain dodged away from Urahara's attack, putting her further away from her target. Tessai had up several layers of barriers around the 11th squad captain. They wouldn't last long, but it would work for now.

The shopkeeper hurried to his charge. The screaming hand died down to agonized moans. "Ichigo?" the boy's teacher asked.

A pained chuckle was his answer. "King s'not here right now. Leave a message at the tone," came a warbled voice, panting through the pain.

Kisuke looked closely at the boy. Yes, this was definitely his hollow half. The set of the mouth, even though in pain, was still greatly amused at something. The eyes were harsher. The ex-captain looked over the rest of the boy, stopping at the bands around both wrists. Before he could say anything, Kisuke had to block Soi Fon once again. After pushing her away he spoke quickly. "Hollow! You need to get Ichigo out here again. One of those bands is causing you pain because of your reiatsu. It's affecting the part of you that is a hollow. Did it not only happen when Ichigo brought out his mask?"

The hollow huffed in annoyance and discomfort. "Guess I got no choice. But don't thing tha' I won't be back!" Shiro shouted before retreating into Ichigo's inner world. Ichigo was out and tugging at his mask in an instant.

"Hat and Clogs," the boy whispered around his hoarse throat. "Thanks for telling us that."

"Not a problem, Kurosaki-kun. But you need to leave now. Hide your energy again and then leave. You need to find the Vizards so that you can hide with them." Kisuke blocked an attack from the persistent Soi Fon with Benihime's shield. Kenpachi was about to come at the barriers Tessai had him entrapped in before the Getaboshi spoke to Ichigo. "I'll contact the Vizards so they know to look for you! Go towards Okayama and stay around that area. I'll have them look for you," Kisuke whispered urgently into the Vizard's ear. A worried looked passed through the teen's eyes. He'd listen to his teacher, and hopefully it wouldn't get him killed.

The boy speed off into the distance.

Tessai came behind Urahara. "Kisuke, you haven't had contact with them in years."

The blonde shopkeeper sighed. "I know, but I'll find a way."

…

Vanity: Another chapter down! Whoot whoot! And a bit of clarification in case you may not have noticed…. We accidently put this as a Shinji/Ichigo fic because of our blondeness. For some odd reason we figured that Shinji actually said Shiro when we knew for a fact that there was no Shiro tab listed. Brilliant on our part, I know. But there is your clarification!

Greed: It was all her fault, I swear I had nothing to do with it!

Vanity: *hits Greed* Shut up, you! Anyway, we hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also, please review=] Ideas and such are also greatly welcomed! It could help chapters come out faster.

Greed: And one more thing! We are sorry, but this will probably not develop into a full blown (haha) yaoi. There will, of course, be a few sexual things between Ichi and Shiro, but it probably won't go all the way. The reason being, is the fact that if we write sex into this, it'll be nothing but that. And we really wanted a serious foundation to our story. Sorry if this disappoints all you fans out there, but it is the way we wish to write. Besides… we'll most likely have a complete yaoi chapter out with only Shiro/Ichi. Make a suggestion about the setting and situation and we'll get right on it!