I do not own Bleach

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Chapter 34 Inner Beings

Ichigo was confused. Why had Hinata followed him? And why was she friendly with Shinji? He stared at her, wondering how to ask, but she just smiled at him with her hands tucked behind her back as if this were all an exciting game to her. He turned again to face Shinji.

"Let her out."

"Sorry, can't," Shinji said with a shrug. "She came here of her own free will. In fact, we didn't even ask her to come." He sent a smile and a wave towards Hinata who waved back.

Ichigo gave a growl and moved so that he was blocking Hinata from Shinji's line of sight.

Shinji rolled his eyes before continuing, "You, on the other hand, suck at spirit energy manipulation. I'm impressed you even found us. So, Ichigo, now that you've finally made it here, are you ready to join our crew?"

Ichigo glanced at Hinata again. "Hell no!" Ichigo gave a yelp as something hit the back of his head. He turned to see Hinata shaking her head at him. "Sorry Hinata." Rubbing his head he turned back to Shinji, "Don't you even think of dragging her into this!"

Shinji was surprised at first, then chuckled. "It's not your choice to make. She's already here. Hinata?"

Hinata skipped past Ichigo with a smile. "I want to train too! Besides, Daffodil's funny."

"That's not . . . hold on a minute!" Ichigo growled.

Hinata turned and grabbed Ichigo's hands. "It's okay, Ichigo. They can't hurt me. I'll be fine!"

Ichigo frowned and then looked back up at Shinji and the others surprised to note that Shinji was holding a small girl with pigtails back who was yelling at him to let her go! "I won't join up with you . . . but I'm sure you guys can teach me how to quiet down the hollow inside me."

"It doesn't work like that, Ichigo," Hinata whispered.

"Well listen to you talking all big. And who do you think is going to teach you?" Shinji laughed.

"I'll just rip it out of you," Ichigo said with a smile, "by force!"

"No!" Hinata cried as Ichigo pulled his hands free and reached for his soul reaper badge. Hinata stumbled backwards as his body dropped to the ground and he drew his Zanpakuto. "Ichigo, stop! Why don't you listen to Daffodil?!"

Ichigo wasn't listening. He was already attacking Shinji, who had drawn his blade as well.

. . .

Hinata slumped against the wall, bored. After Ichigo had attacked Daffodil, Jumpsuit had jumped in and pulled on a mask, forcing Ichigo's hollow to come out. Hinata had been upset by this; Ichigo had come to them because he was scared! Daffodil had told her it was for Ichigo's own good, but she still hadn't liked it.

"If you had just let me talk to him –" she had begun to argue, but Daffodil had just shaken his head.

"He wasn't listening to any of us, Hinata. That was the only way we could get him to understand."

Now she watched Ichigo exercise in the corner. She had also asked why they weren't making her do the same thing, but they had all just laughed at her. "Urahara told us that if we tried to make you use that we'd be waiting for weeks!" Daffodil had told her. Ichigo was taking his training seriously, but it was boring to watch.

Even so, Ichigo was getting frustrated.

Hinata sighed and hopped up from her spot on the ground. She walked over to the opposite corner from Ichigo and began gathering rocks. She found that with just a tiny bit of spiritual pressure she could get them to glue to each other. With a smile she set to work on building a replica of her sand castle in Hueco Mundo. She ignored the crashing of Ichigo throwing the "Super Hiyori Walker" towards Jumpsuit. With all the yelling she chose to ignore them until Daffodil swore. Hinata flicked one of her rocks towards him. Daffodil gave a yelp of surprise as the rock knocked him over. He looked over at Hinata shocked; the rest were also looking at her. "Don't swear Daffodil!"

Daffodil stared at her while Ichigo snickered. "What?"

"Don't swear. It's not nice." Hinata continued to build her castle while Daffodil shook his head and turned his attention back to Ichigo. She was going to ignore their conversation completely, but an unfamiliar word caught her attention.

"What's a hougyoku?" she asked, looking up once more.

"It's what Aizen took from Rukia," Ichigo said at the same time Daffodil said, "Your Uncle Kisuke would rather we not tell you."

Hinata frowned and looked to Ichigo.

"I don't know what it does exactly," Ichigo told her with a shrug. "I just know that Aizen wanted it and now that he has it, I need to get rid of it."

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "We need to take it away from the scary man?"

"That's right," Shinji said, but again Ichigo talked over him.

"You're not going to get it," Ichigo said sternly. "I don't want you anywhere near Aizen."

That sounded familiar. Ulquiorra's words echoed in her head. "You can't come home . . . it's not safe here . . ." Hinata shook her head angrily, orange hair fanning around her face. "No! I want to help!"

"We're wasting time," Daffodil said, jumping down to face Ichigo. "Besides, the details can wait for 'later.'"

Hinata abandoned her rock pile and rushed to Ichigo just as Daffodil was explaining how quickly Ichigo trained. "Time to go," Daffodil said, knocking Ichigo out with just a touch to the forehead. Love caught Ichigo as he slumped over unconscious while Daffodil turned to Hinata and said, "Same for you, sweetheart. It's finally your turn."

"Wait!" Hinata cried, but it was too late. She felt a burst of spirit energy explode from Daffodil's finger and the world went black.

. . .

Hinata woke up rubbing her head and found herself seated next to Hacchi. There was a weird feeling about the underground training area (much like under Uncle Kisuke's shop), and she realized that barriers had been put up around the warehouse. They were much stronger than Uncle Tessai's barriers. She rubbed her eyes as she looked around at the others and found Ichigo encased in a special barrier. He had begun to hollowfy, and Hinata could sense an enormous amount of spirit pressure leaking from Ichigo. The one with glasses, Lisa, was inside the barrier with Ichigo fending him off.

Hacchi looked over at her he seemed to be surprised to see her awake. "You're up early. Ichigo is taking longer than we thought, sorry we had to knock you out."

Hinata have a tired nod as she continues to rub her eyes. With that Hacchi went back to focusing on the fight that was going on in the barrier.

Hinata stood up and stretched, bored once again. Ichigo would be in there for a while before she had her turn too. She crouched to begin another sand castle because she hadn't been able to finish her other one when she noticed Jumpsuit sitting a short distance away also looking bored. With a smile, Hinata walked over and sat next to her.

"What do you want?" Jumpsuit asked, grumpy.

"I want to be friends," Hinata said with a smile. She tilted her head to the side, studying Jumpsuit. "You're really old, aren't you?"

Jumpsuit turned to her in surprise while Daffodil laughed. "Don't start on her, kid. The shrimp is as much a kid as you are!"

"What did you say, baldy?" Jumpsuit screeched, jumping to her feet as if ready to fight Daffodil.

Hinata shook her head. "No, she's as old as you are, Daffodil. Well . . . almost as old as you are." She frowned, thinking. "Uncle Kisuke too. You're all old."

Jumpsuit stared down at Hinata as she began a new sandcastle. "You might be alright, kid. You're the first person to recognize that I'm not a kid."

Daffodil rolled his eyes when Hinata smiled up at Jumpsuit.

"Switch!" Hacchi called, drawing everyone's attention back to Ichigo. The one called Kensei went to switch places with Lisa.

Lisa turned back to watch Ichigo once she joined the rest of them. "Son of a . . . he's strong!" she gasped.

Hinata smiled. "Of course my brother is strong."

They continued to switch out every ten minutes while Hinata focused on building a miniature version of her sandcastle in Hueco Mundo. Just as she was forming the fourth wall, Hinata paused and sighed. She wanted to go home and see Ulqui. She missed playing chase with him and talking to him about the things she learned. She took a break from her sandcastle and tugged gently on the link connecting her to Ulquiorra. He was safe, but the connection was weak. It made her sad.

"What the . . ." someone gasped as Ichigo's barrier began to fill with light. Hinata smiled. Ichigo was done, and he had won.

. . .

Hacchi tended to the wounds of his companions while Hinata finished her sandcastle. She was just smoothing the sides when Shinji came and kicked the side of her project. Hinata looked up in surprise when Shinji yelled out in pain, hopping on one foot. Hinata laughed as he cursed and kicked again at Hinata's castle.

"You can't break it, silly," Hinata giggled.

"Who cares," Shinji said, scowling at the castle. "I came to tell you that it's your turn."

Hinata jumped up to her feet excitedly. Shinji spun his Zanpakuto in order to tap the hilt against her forehead. Hinata ducked and threw herself from her body before Shinji could connect, appearing before him in Shinigami robes. Ichigo turned to watch them curiously and then cried out in surprise.

"What are you doing?!" Ichigo hollered, attempting to run over to Hinata but the others held him back.

"She needs to be trained too," Shinji called, not taking his eyes off of Hinata. Hinata spun in circles, not really paying attention to what was going on.

"Why?" Ichigo demanded, straining against the others, but it was no use. "Hinata is . . ." He trailed off, his face turning red.

"Kisuke told us that she was like you," Shinji said, finally glancing back at Ichigo. "Therefore, she is to be treated the same way."

"Yeah, Strawberry," Hiyori said, rolling her eyes. "She'll be fine if she's anything like you."

"That's just it," Ichigo argued. "She's not like me. I'm not sure what she is, but . . . she's different."

"Not according to Kisuke," Shinji said, approaching Hinata. "Hey kid! Stand still for a moment!"

Hinata stopped her spinning just as Shinji once more knocked her unconscious. He caught her as she slumped to the ground. The others gathered around as Shinji took her to the barrier they had abandoned when Ichigo had finished his hollowfication. He ignored Ichigo's nervous mumbles as he braced himself for another round.

. . .

Hinata blinked and found herself lying in the grass outside the cottage. Nikko came running out of the cottage, red dress swirling around her bare feet, to greet her. Hinata rose to her feet in time for Nikko to crash into her giving her tight hug. Hinata's eyes were drawn to the cottage by Masaki's laugh. She was leaning against the doorway with a towel draped over her arm.

"What are you doing here?" Nikko asked with a bright smile.

Hinata looked around with a frown, trying to remember why she had come to her inner world.

"I'm supposed to fight my inner hollow like Ichigo did, but . . ." Hinata frowned. "I am a hollow though, right? I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Masaki and Nikko exchanged worried looks. "Hinata . . ." Masaki said slowly, but was interrupted as an orange blur rushed past her and wrapped around Hinata's knees almost knocking her over.

Hinata looked down in surprise to find a smaller version of herself hugging her knees and looking up at her with a bright smile. "Big sister!" the little orange haired girl crowed.

"Hinata!" Masaki cried while rushing forward with arms out stretched.

Both girls looked to the older woman while Nikko giggled. "Yes, mama?" they said in unison.

Masaki froze in surprise and Hinata looked down at the little girl once again. She didn't look to be more than six years old.

"You're pretty," the little girl said, reaching up as if she wanted Hinata to pick her up.

Hinata bent to do so, but Masaki rushed forward once more and pulled the girl into her arms instead. Hinata stared at her mother, and then looked to Nikko in confusion. The little girl was struggling in Masaki's arms as she reached out towards Hinata. "Who?"

"Um . . ." Masaki said, trying to keep the girl in her arms, she gave a sigh. "You're right about not meeting an inner hollow here."

"Mama," the little girl said, squirming. "Let me go!"

Nikko giggled again. "Hinata, meet Hinata. She's you're inner human."

Hinata stared at the little girl. "Inner human?"

Masaki sighed as the little girl finally managed to get out of her arms and fell to the ground. She ran over to Hinata and grabbed her hand. "You met her last time you came here, but you were only here for a little bit. It wasn't time for you to meet her. The other times you've come to visit, she stayed in the cottage."

"How?" Hinata whispered looking down at the girl.

"How long? She was born the same time as you were." Masaki said.

"Why did you keep her a secret from me?" Hinata asked.

"I didn't want to," Nikko said stubbornly, crossing her arms across her chest. "Masaki said you weren't ready to know about her yet."

Hinata looked to her mother again.

Masaki sighed. "She is the way you would have been if I hadn't died that night. When I died, you were taken to Hueco Mundo as a hollow. Nikko has trained you as a Shinigami, and after you met Uryu I helped train you as a Quincy. The only thing missing was your human side." She made a gesture towards the little girl again.

Hinata looked down at the girl and then squatted to look her in the eye. "How old are you?" she asked softly.

"Six!" the little girl said proudly. "I can read, and I know my numbers, and mama is teaching me about lots of other things too!"

Hinata smiled at her. "What's your name?"

"Hinata Kurosaki!"

Hinata smiled up at her mom. "So . . . if I didn't have this," she said, tapping the little bones holding her bangs back, "this is what I would be like?"

"Yes."

"I think you're adorable," Nikko said, crouching beside the little Hinata as well.

"This is why you don't act like a normal hollow," Masaki said. "You're just like your brother, equally balanced between Shinigami, Quincy, hollow, and human. Well . . . almost equally balanced."

"What do you mean?" Hinata stood up holding the little Hinata in her arms.

Masaki looked sad now. "You're not exactly stable. We've been helping you control your spirit pressure, and balance it but because of the way you were born, your body has become unstable."

Hinata frowned. "I feel fine though." The little Hinata had started to play with her hair.

"You do now, but in a year or so you'll start having trouble staying balanced."

"Oh," Hinata said, frowning. Little Hinata grabbed Hinata's hair and was brushing it across her face. Hinata blew the hair back and the girl giggled. "What will happen?"

Masaki was about to say something when Nikko spoke up, tilting her head to the side. "You should go back, Hinata. They're really confused right now."

"No, don't go!" Little Hinata cried throwing her arms around Hinata's neck and burying her face in Hinata's hair.

Hinata smiled at the smaller version of herself. "I'll come back, Hinata, don't worry. I should go now though."

Masaki stepped forward to grab the little girl and untangle her from Hinata's hair. She seemed nervous as she looked up at the sky, almost like she was looking into the real world. "Hinata, it would be best if you didn't tell anyone what happened here. I fear that if they know that you are an arrancar that they would kill you, and with you we would all die."

Hinata gave a sad nod before vanishing.

. . .

"What is going on?" Hiyori demanded.

Shinji hadn't moved since they'd entered the barrier. They all stood outside the barrier staring down at Hinata. When Shinji had knocked her out her hollow should have tried to come forward and take over, but nothing had happened!

"I told you she wasn't like me," Ichigo said, irritated. "I've never really known what Hinata was, but she's not human. That's a gigai Kisuke gave her!"

Hiyori spun around and yelped, "What?! Why didn't you tell us that before?"

"You didn't let me!"

"Hush!" Lisa chided them. "Something's happening."

Hinata had been standing in the middle of the barrier facing Shinji. Up until now she hadn't moved, but suddenly she raised a hand to her face and a mask formed. There was a flash of light, and, when it cleared, her face was covered by an almost completely white mask. There was a slit across where her eyes should be and little yellow sunbursts sprang from the far sides of the eye slit. This was the only color around the edges of her eye slit. It was secured to her head by a cross of bones that wrapped behind her head.

"That's . . . unusual," Love said, pulling his sunglasses off momentarily to get a better look at Hinata.

Shinji moved as if to attack, but was thrown back with another bright flash of light as Hinata swung her sword. The barrier cracked, and Shinji tumbled a few feet across the sand. The sudden burst of light faded to reveal that Hinata's mask had vanished. She smiled and waved at Ichigo who waved back at her.

Hacchi walked up to Ichigo's side, rubbing his chin while he contemplated the scene before them. "I have some questions. Do you think Hinata will answer?"

Ichigo looked up at the man and said, "Hinata will tell you whatever you want to know if she knows the answer."

"Good," Hacchi said with a bright smile as they watch Hinata help Shinji back to his feet.

. . .

"Hinata what are you?"

Hinata opened her eyes to see all the Vizard's standing in a group behind her. After she had broken the barrier she had sat back down and had tried to figure out how not to tell them what she was. "I'm Hinata!"

"Not who you are but what you are?" Jumpsuit snapped at her.

Hinata tilted her head. She was confused with what they were asking her.

Daffodil spoke next: "Ichigo told us that your body is a gigai and that you're not human."

Hinata's eyes went wide, "Oh!"

"So what are you!?" Jumpsuit said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"I'm a spirit."

They all looked her up and down. "Why are you still here?" Rojuro asked.

Hinata's eyes began to water. "My mommy died with me when I was really young and I never got to have a family. I just want a family." With that she pulled her knees up to her face and began to cry. She wasn't lying; she had died or been born the day her mother had died and now that she thought about it, what she truly wanted was a family that she could call her own.

The Vizards had formed a circle as they talked about what they had found out. "Stupid Kisuke! He should never have given her a gigai!" Hiyori yelled.

Kensei sent a look over his shoulder towards the crying spirit. "Something's different about her."

Love and Rose both nodded their heads in agreement. "I can see why Kisuke did it." Rose said.

There was some more idle mumbling as they tried to decide what to do with her. By the end, they decided to keep a close eye on her. Somehow this normal spirit had become a Shinigami and a vizard. There was only one name for someone who would do such a thing: Aizen. She was a vizard, and as such they would take care of her just the same as they took care of each other.

Ichigo had barely listened to their conversation. Instead he crouched down next to Hinata and rubbed her back comfortingly. Hinata twisted and clung to her brother, grateful for his strong arms wrapped around her.