Ichigo hadn't been there when Toushiro had taken Kisuke's pill in order to steal Hyourinmaru back from the Quincy. He learnt about the hollowfication later. He was watching Toushiro meditate with Hyourinmaru, sitting straight-backed and cross-legged with Hyourinmaru stuck into the ground in front of him. Toushiro would sometimes meditate for hours at a time, especially while he was still recovering. Ichigo would happily watch him for a few minutes; the way his expression slackened into something peaceful was calming. But this time after sitting down for only ten minutes or so he began to frown and fidget, then he stood up, ripping Hyourinmaru from the ground and sheathing him on his back.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as he watched Toushiro pace in a tight circle, wearing down a small path in the courtyard outside his sleeping quarters. He was lightly chewing the inside of his cheek, and rhythmically clenching and unclenching his palms. Ichigo knew that look. He stood up and stepped into Toushiro's path.

"What's wrong?" he asked when Toushiro nearly bumped into his chest.

Toushiro looked up at him and schooled his expression back to his default blank. "I'm just thinking through something."

"I know, but what's wrong?"

Toushiro huffed. "I... I think I might be a visored now."

"Um... what?" Ichigo tilted his head sideways, his mouth hung open.

Toushiro sighed heavily and grabbed Ichigo's hand, leading him to his room. Once the door was slid shut and Ichigo was seated on the futon he turned to him and repeated:

"I might be a visored now."

Ichigo blinked a couple of times, hearing the words but not understanding them.

Toushiro, very familiar with Ichigo's blank look, sighed and took a step backwards. He covered his face with his palm. When he looked up the area around his left eye and cheekbone was covered by a bone white mask that extended into dragon like ears. Ichigo shot up from the futon, ready to draw Zangetsu, when the mask disappeared in a puff of black smoke. He stared at Toushiro, his hand on the hilt of Zangetsu. Neither of them moved.

Ichigo understood now. "What the fuck!"

Toushiro held up his hands. "Calm down, Ichigo, it's not dangerous."

"The hell it's not! What's going on?"

Toushiro slowly shook his head as he unhooked Hyourinmaru from his back and set him on his stand in the corner of the room. "Urahara came up with a way for us to get back out zanpakuto spirits from the Quincy. It involved having them hollowfy for a few seconds so the Quincy's would reject them." He paused, turning to face Ichigo and folding his arms across his chest. "However, Hyourinmaru is still a hollow."

Ichigo's eyes bulged the same time he felt his stomach sinking. He lowered his arm and ran it along the back of his neck. If Toushiro was a visored now, then that meant he and Hyurinmaru were... he swore again. That was the last thing he wanted. The war was over they were supposed to be at peace. Toushiro was supposed to be taking it easy. He shouldn't have to fight for his life yet again and with his zanpakuto spirit nevertheless. He looked to him. Toushiro hard turned away, gazing at Hyourinmaru and running his fingertips across the sheath. "Shiro," he sighed, already feeling overwhelmed for him. "Have you talked to Urahara about it?"

Toushiro turned to him again. "I have. He's looking into it."

Ichigo took a deep breath, feeling his stomach knot itself. "Well... shit." He crossed the room and pulled Toushiro to his chest, hugging him tightly. "It'll be alright, babe. We'll work through this."

"I know."

"We can get Shinji and the others to train you. You don't have to worry at all."

Toushiro pulled away from the hug. "Ichigo, I'm not worried."

He smiled and stooped down to kiss his forehead. "Of course you aren't." He cupped his chin with both palms and placed a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose. Always so brave; he must have been scared shitless, but as usual was trying his best to hide it. "It's scary, I know, to have a monster inside of you, but I promise..." he trailed off as Toushiro raised an eyebrow. Ichigo studied his face for a few seconds. He really wasn't worried. His brow held no tension, his jaw was relaxed, and there was just a tiny spark of amusement in his eyes. "Okay, I'm confused."

Toushiro snorted softly and shook his head. He raised a hand and ran it through Ichigo's hair then draped his arms around his neck. "It was my choice. I don't regret it and neither does Hyourinmaru."

Ichigo wordlessly set Zangetsu next to Hyourinmaru's stand, leaning him against the wall, then took Toushiro's hand and guided him to the futon. There was a lot they needed to talk about apparently.

He pulled Toushiro onto his lap. "So, I'm going to assume that he's not trying to take over your body."

Toushiro nodded. "This wasn't at all like your situation. There was no power struggle between us; Hyourinmaru was just as glad to be back as I was to have him back. It was worth the ramifications."

"But it wasn't supposed to be permanent."

"No... But I don't mind it."

Ichigo clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. "You're way too calm about this. You freaked out when I started buying a different brand of coffee creamer; you can't expect me to believe that you're 100 percent okay with this."

"Hyourinmaru and I have been thinking a lot. I thought I'd be more upset about it too, but I'm not. It doesn't put me or anyone else in any danger and if anything it has strengthened our bond."

"So you were upset about it."

"At the beginning, yes. But I've had time to think and I stand by my decision that it was the best thing I could have done given the situation."

Ichigo let out a deep breath. He set his hands on Toushiro's waist and rested his forehead to his shoulder. "I still want to talk to Shinji about it."

"That's understandable, but I assure you I'm fine."

"So what was that pacing about earlier?"

Toushiro stiffened slightly. "I was trying to figure out how to tell you. I didn't want to keep it a secret, but I know what you went through with your hollow and I didn't want to cause you to panic." He ran his fingers through Ichigo's hair again then rested his cheek to the top of his head.

"You really need to stop thinking about me when you should be concerned with yourself."

"I was in no danger. You on the other hand would overreact. You did overreact."

Ichigo pulled back, straightening and rolling his eyes. "I reacted the perfect amount. We're not with Shinji right now, are we?"

Thanks to Crosianna for this (very detailed) prompt. Hope I did it justice :)

Drop your prompts off in a review if you have any

-Mymomomo