Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with it. All rights belong to the creator Tite Kubo.

This is an AU story with some OOC.

And with nothing else please read, enjoy and review.

Chapter 17: Bonds and Hollows

-X-

"Damn it, Urahara! Put me down! I told you already that I'm feeling better now!" Ichigo yelled for the 10th time already, feeling stupid the way Urahara have carried him around like a bag of potatoes. There was no reason for that anymore since his senses started working again.

"It doesn't matter, Ichigo-kun!" Urahara happily yelled as he dropped the boy. "We're already here!"

With a grunt and a small promise to get the blonde back, Ichigo looks up to see an ordinary warehouse. There was nothing special about it besides the giant words painted on the sides that read 'URAHARA'S WAREHOUSE'. Feeling a twitching on his right brow and a bit of temper rising, he pinches the bridge of his nose. "For Kami's sake. Urahara-san, you're supposed to stay hidden. How can you hide if you're inviting Shinigami here by naming the warehouse with your name?"

"Huh," the shaggy blonde scratched his head and said, "Didn't think about that, I named my old little shop after me and I didn't get any sorts of problems." He turns to the boy and continues. "Then you bunch came and look at what happened."

"This isn't the URAHARA'S WAREHOUSE! It's the Visored's hideout!" Shinji yelled by the sidelines before pointing a finger at the building's entrance. "Now get inside before someone sees us!"

Urahara shook his head as he followed behind the blonde Visored. "For an employee to yell at his own boss. Looks like someone won't be getting a raise."

Ichigo sighs as he follows behind the arguing blondes, though something tells him that Urahara causes these kinds of useless arguments on purpose. Passing through the door, Ichigo was able to sense everyone's Reiatsu, even Ulquiorra's and his uncle's. He made a hasty rush towards them, ignoring all the computers, cameras, printers and papers. Before seeing Ulquiorra, he was already hearing Mashiro's voice. Turning around a corner by a set of staircases, Ichigo saw the airhead Visored showing Ulquiorra all the equipment that he seemed to have ignored. One thing he wonders is why Ulquiorra was shirtless, he could see bandages—which took him a while to notice since they blend with his skin—wrap around his chest.

"And whenever we're done printing the newspaper, Hiyori and I will deliver it around town!"

Ulquiorra nodded before his eyes caught Ichigo's orange hair. He turns to see a fairly well Ichigo, but the redhead's shirt was shred across his chest and he could see a freshly healed scar. "Ichigo."

"Berry-tan!"

Before Ichigo could say anything, a single sandal smacks him on his face. He grabs his nose and glares at the only person who welcomes him this way. "Damn it, Snaggletooth! Can't you welcome someone with no violence!?" They answered his response with another sandal to his face.

"Not until you stop being an idiot, shit-faced!" Hiyori said, a very short, brown-eyed, blonde-haired girl who wears her short hair in spiky pigtails. "What the hell caused you to transform again!" Her words drown the warehouse into silence.

Lisa, a woman wearing a sailor fuku outfit, peeked from her erotic novel to look at Ichigo. "Might as well answer her, she won't leave you alone otherwise." She moves her eyes back down to the book. "Your powers got passed Hacchi's barrier." Hearing Ichigo's lips snap close, she licks her left index finger and flips a page. "And the only reason we're asking you is 'cause things felt different. There was more power, more anger behind your Reiatsu."

"Yeah! Exactly that! What the fuck happen!" Hiyori growled as Ichigo avoided eye contact. She looks down to the ground and searches for one of her sandals to smack the boy again. "Trying to ignore me are you now!"

"Leave the boy alone, Hiyori," Shinji spoke as he walked past her. "He had a tough day today, they all did, so let's give 'em some time to rest before hearing 'em out, 'kay?"

Crossing her arms, the girl says, "Fine, I'm only gonna let this pass since you look like shit, just like the Quincy." Before Ichigo could ask where the man was, she was already pointing towards Ryūken's direction. "Just go up the stairs you pass, he should be in a guest room... even though we don't get any fucking guest." Thanked by Ichigo, Hiyori glares at the boy's back before turning her menacing stare towards Shinji. "Why didn't you guys show up at the park on time? Mashiro's group got there faster, and they took a longer route!" Instead of Shinji answering, Urahara was the one who spoke.

"We got stalled by one of Aizen's goons."

Sighing, Shinji added, "And we also got to see the King of Hueco Mundo." Sitting down on a couch, he puts his hands behind the couch's back cover. "Lucky for us, a fight didn't break out."

"Well, the fight would have been a 2-on-3, but with Hacchi being a support-type, it'll be a 2-on-2," Kensei said. "So it would have been a hard fight, but you guys could have handled it." He looked towards Shinji, expecting to see a cocky smirk on his face, but there was an empty look and he was looking towards Ulquiorra.

With their eyes locked, Shinji spoke to Ulquiorra. "A hard fight that we could have won, does that sound right to you, Ulquiorra?"

"No." The green-eyed Arrancar will be honest with him. "Baraggan is much more powerful than he seems to be, I may not know what your Bankai may do but it would be useless because all Baraggan has to do is touch you."

Releasing a breath, Shinji looks over towards Urahara. "Looks like we miss a bullet then, huh?"

"Wait, you're just going to believe him like that?" Love asks, not in any form been rude towards Ulquiorra. "If Ulquiorra is comparing himself with Baraggan then yeah, it may seem pointless in the dude's eyes but you two are easily stronger than Ulquiorra if you release your Bankai."

Speaking for his fellow blonde, Urahara says, "Well, in all honesty, we were planning on taking out Baraggan but that's when Aizen appeared," He saw all the Visoreds tense up. "It seems he's working together with Baraggan. No, Baraggan is not working under Aizen as a subordinate but as an equal."

Lisa frowns behind her book. "If Aizen is working with this Hollow King, then Aizen knows of this Hollow's strength to see him as a threat. He rather worked together with him than ending as enemies." Looking over her book, she looks at Ulquiorra. "You must have had some close-up encounters with this Hollow King, mind telling us what he can do?"

Ichigo groans as he knocks on the 3rd door. He wasn't expecting the Visoreds to have this MANY guest's rooms! 'But these idiots don't even get guests!' With no response coming from this door, he turns his sight on the next one and goes in for a knock before it opens. He froze at the front of the entrance the moment he saw the man's glare, however, it wasn't the harsh look in his eyes that left him both speechless and motionless. It had to do with the dry trails of tears going down his cheeks and his red puffy eyes. "Are you okay?"

Ryūken cleans his face with the sleeves of his torn-up shirt first before answering back. "I'm fine. It's good to see you're all right."

Looking at Ryūken more closely now. The first thing Ichigo spotted from the man was his facial looks but now that he got over that, he noticed how terribly ripped his clothes were, he could see burn marks on his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

Laughing bitterly, Ryūken waves the boy in. "Odd that a Hollow would ask me such a strange question."

"Y'know, I'm not just some Hollow. I'm—"

"Yes, yes, yes, you're some kind of super-hybrid." Ryūken rudely interrupted the boy. Closing the door after Ichigo walked in, he turned around to see the redhead staring at him with a scowl that's hard to spot because of his mask fragments. "What? Don't like the term?"

"I don't like the fact that you're writing me off as a Hollow." He kept scowling as the man walked past him to sit on a chair. "I'm not some Hollow, Shinigami or Quincy. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo." Peeking over the man's shoulder, Ichigo found Ryūken trying to clean a pair of broken bloody glasses. "Did I do that? I'm sorry about that." He was already apologizing before Ryūken could open his mouth. "I don't know what happened to me, I... lost my mind."

"There's no reason for you to apologize, Ichigo." He cleans off the last bit of dirt on them, but his son's dry blood still taints the edges of the glass. "These aren't even mine, they're my son's, your cousin."

Ichigo felt his stomach tied itself into a knot. "My cousin?... He was there..." His eyes widened. "Where is he!? Is he okay?" His worries drop a bit as he remembers not seeing him or even sensing him. If his uncle was spiritually aware, then there's some chance his cousin was, too. Even if he was slightly spiritually aware, then he should have been able to sense his Reiatsu. Could it be that he hurt him after his transformation? "Did I do something to him?"

"No," Ryūken instantly answers back. "You had nothing to do with my son's fate."

He could feel the knots tighten as he asked, "Is he dead?" Ichigo could see how his question had drained life from Ryūken's eyes. His blue-eyes lost their shine and an empty, dull look filled them. He couldn't say anything, didn't know what to say. What can he possibly say? The man has already shed tears, and he doesn't want to open those gates by talking about it. "I'm sorry. I'll just leave you alone."

"Ichigo." Ryūken turns around to see the boy barely reaching for the door. "It's fine. I'm the only one to blame for Uryū's death."

The redhead lets go of the door handle. "Can you tell me about him?" He wants to feel sympathy with his uncle, and the only way to do so is by at least understanding who his cousin was. He turned around and sat down on the spare chair next to him. He was about to open his mouth again and repeat his question when he remembered something silly. "I, um, didn't catch your name."

"Ishida, Ishida Ryūken."

Only out of manners, Ichigo would introduce himself before stopping, the man already knew his name. "Guess there are no introductions on my behalf since you already know my name." The room went into a simple quietness, the only sound he could hear was the way Ryūken was still trying to clean off the blood from the broken pair of glasses.

"He was a smart, motivated, and prideful boy." Nothing more, that was all he could say. He didn't spend any time with Uryū after Katagiri's death. He wasn't even there when helping Uryū with his Quincy training; his father took that task. It's not like he didn't want to train his son. He had decided a long time ago to drop his Quincy's duties since he had a focus on saving the lives that matter—those of the living. Guess that was one factor that tore him and his son apart.

Uryū believed there was a strong duty by being a Quincy, thinking there was something honorable about it but, was there really? He guesses he should blame his father for making Uryū believe in such a naïve idea since he was the one that planted such innocent dreams into his son's head. Maybe if he was the one to train him, his mindset could have been different. But would he really have picked up his bow again to train him?

No, it honestly wouldn't have. After his father's death, Uryū had come to him and asked him to train him but instead of doing a father's and Quincy's duty, he stated how the duty of a Quincy's doesn't put money on the table.

Let the dead deal with the dead.

Those words were his motto.

He stops cleaning his son's glasses and lets his mind drift towards his wife, Katagiri.

So while neglecting his son's training was one reason, the other one, and most likely the strongest case had to do with the day Uryū walked in on him operating autopsies on his dead mother's body. His son had pleaded with him to stop, but he never did. In all honesty, his son probably saw him as some sort of monster after that day, but if he had just stopped for a minute and explained to him about what he was searching for, would he have understood?

For how long did he disrespect his wife's body by mutilating it? A week?... Weeks? Perhaps a little over a couple of months? Guess he can finally understand why Uryū would hate him, he hated himself after he found what he was looking for and realized just... how sick he must have looked searching through his wife's corpse.

He went back to scrubbing, this time cleaning every tear that gently landed on the glass's surface. "I'm the worst." He spoke softly. "I should have been there helping him train. If I was there, then I could have prevented the Shinigami from taking him from me. If only I had done my duties as a father."

"You're not the worst father out there." Ichigo can't believe he will call out his own dad right now. "I'm sure you're better than mine."

Ryūken laughs bitterly. "There's no other better example of the 'better father' than Isshin." He turns around to look at the boy, he lifts one of his eyebrows upon spotting the harsh glare on the boy's face. A look he's quite familiar with—Uryū had directed the same look towards him; filled with the same hate that he could see in Ichigo's expression. "Something you want to say about your father."

Ichigo snorted first before opening his mouth. "There's nothing for me to say about him since it seems like I never knew who he truly was, the most I can say about him is how much of a liar he is."

The white-haired Quincy frown. "I don't understand. Last time I checked, your father was speaking highly of you."

"He was?" Ichigo asks back. What could his father brag about? 'Why would he talk about me like that?'

"That's right, he burst into my office about a week ago and started talking about you. How you two were training together, how happy he was to see you were actually alive," That was a horrible moment for Isshin to burst into his office to brag about his and Ichigo's relationship. Talking about the training they had been doing, which he had hoped it could have been his and Uryū's experience, too. With a deadpan, he says, "But most of the time he kept talking about the wonderful girlfriend you seemed to have found."

"DAMN IT! Lily is not my girlfriend!"

"Oh, first-name basis already?"

With an irritated expression on his face, Ichigo crosses his arms over his chest. "The old man has no business telling anyone about Lily." With a more somber tone, he says, "He has no business knowing anything about me when I don't even know anything about him..."

"I thought your father had explained everything to you?" Ryūken once again frowned. 'Well, not everything. He never told you about Masaki's actual fate.'

"Everything but how my mother died." He spits the words out with a bitter taste. "He lied to me and I bet there's more he hasn't told me about."

Ryūken was more than surprised to hear that Ichigo knew about what happened to his mother. "How did you find out?"

"Not from my dad but by some Shinigami Captain."

Questions were popping up into his head now. "How did this Shinigami know about your mother's death?"

Looking at the ground, Ichigo says, "He said something about how he was watching over me throughout the years. He said he even knew about Mom's death."

"Has he always been there?" As the boy looked at him with a puzzled look, Ryūken continued. "Ichigo, if this Shinigami knew about Masaki's death then he should have known about the Hollow who killed her. Actually, he could've killed the Hollow and none of this would have happened but he let it play out." But there's more. If this Shinigami saw the events that occurred on that day, then maybe he saw how Masaki lost her powers. "Ichigo, I advise you to go talk to your father."

"Why?"

"Because you're having doubts about your father and I know Isshin. He would never lie to you without a reason."

"You're making it sound like he doesn't have a reason to lie to me if I ask him about it."

"He does, two of them actually."

Ichigo scowls but says nothing. He only stood up and walked out. He was heading towards the stairs when Ryūken called out to him.

"Ichigo, Masaki's death wasn't your father's or the Shinigami's fault, or your fault. There's another person behind all of this."

"What?" He turns around in a rush, his eyes wide with shock. "Are you saying someone planned my mother's death?"

The Quincy shook his head. "They didn't plan for Masaki to die from a Hollow. Even though she didn't have any strong Reiatsu, she was still strong enough to kill a lesser Hollow. However, something happened. Someone took her powers away and without her powers, the only way to protect you was by shielding you."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I know you're looking for a reason to blame someone, but you will only blame the wrong person."

There was something his uncle wasn't telling him. With narrow eyes, he says, "Sounds to me like you know who to blame."

"That's because I do, his name is Yhwach."

Ichigo was almost half-way down the stairs when he saw the Visoreds and Urahara spread all over the room. He stayed quiet and listened to their conversation.

Shinji was having a meeting with all but one member of Urahara's warehouse residence, every one of them sitting either on chairs, the couch or on the ground. Mashiro had decided that training with Ulquiorra's 'superhero transformation' was more important than whatever the meeting would be about. 'Doesn't matter. I can always tell Kensei to tell her about it later.' He looks at everyone around the room and says. "All right, so anyone had an idea on how we could have dealt with someone like Baraggan?"

Speaking up first from his chair, Kensei says, "Without things escalating towards a full-scale battle?" He releases a sigh and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "I got nothing. From what Ulquiorra told us about Baraggan, this Hollow King has some very dangerous abilities. Then there's the fact that he can Resurrect, too. Making his already dangerous abilities lethal."

"And you're saying that Hollow is working with Aizen?" Lisa asks, still reading her book on the couch while also paying attention. She sends a frown towards Urahara. "What could this Hollow possibly gain by working with Aizen?"

Sitting on the ground between Yoruichi and Tessai, Urahara shifts his bucket hat to hide his face. "I was able to hear Aizen promising him power... more power by using the Hōgyoku on him."

Hiyori, the only person in the room standing, cursed. "Does this mean Aizen has a Hōgyoku of his own or is he planning on taking yours away?"

"If Aizen had a Hōgyoku, then he would have used it on Baraggan already." Urahara lifts his head to look at Hiyori. "Or, it could be possible that he has one already but wants to get his hand on mine."

"What would the purpose of that be?" Shinji asks. "What's the point of having a 2nd Hōgyoku when he can just use one to power-up Baraggan. You use yours with Starrk and that did wonders for him since he was able to beat Baraggan." He ruffles his hair in irritation. "He's been too cautious. Without a doubt, he knows you have another Hōgyoku but what would he need both of them for? To put us at a disadvantage?"

"Why doesn't he make another one?"

All eyes turn to Mashiro and Ulquiorra, the pair returning sooner than expected.

"Ya two done already?" Shinji asks the polar duos.

Pouting, Mashiro points a finger at Ulquiorra. "He said this meeting was more important than trying to work with his superhero transformation. Ulqui-baka." Forgetting about him, she repeats her question again. "How come Aizen doesn't just make another Hōgyoku if he knows you won't hand yours over to him."

The question was easy, simple, and yet, was important. Shinji scowls from not thinking about it first. He turns towards Urahara. "She has a strong point. Why doesn't Aizen make another one?" He narrows down his eyes as he thinks of something. "How do you make a Hōgyoku, Urahara?"

"Well, it's not an easy process. I'll tell you that much."

His words, or better yet, lack of answers cause Shinji to frown. "Don't tell me ya been doin' some shady work behind the Gotei 13, Urahara." As the shaggy blonde went quiet and aborted eye contact, Shinji groaned before returning to the matter of hand. "All right, so Aizen is most likely targetin' your Hōgyoku and since I'm guessin' you had a feelin' he was searchin' for it too, you locked it away, I hope?"

"Safe and sound," Urahara answered back before pointing out another problem. "However, Aizen knows where we are now. So I advise that we move."

"And that's where Starrk's offer comes in," Shinji said, looking towards Ulquiorra now. "Aizen will send Hollows here to lure us out. So takin' Starrk's offer to train some Hollows in Hueco Mundo will hide us at the least expected place Aizen would ever think of lookin'."

"But what if Aizen visits Hueco Mundo one day and picks up our Reiatsu," Hiyori said. "How the hell can we keep a low profile while also training a bunch of Hollows?"

Ichigo was still hiding, and as no one had called him out of his hiding spot, he kept listening and he knew now that something was going on. They all appeared to be concerned over a man named Aizen. 'Why did they tense-up the moment the name was dropped?' Should he worry about Aizen, too? He has to be since he heard Urahara mention how Aizen was working with Baraggan. 'And anyone working with Baraggan is bad news for us.'

"Then maybe going to Hueco Mundo is a bad idea."

Ichigo heard Rose speak up after a moment of silence and curse as he could hear the rest of the Visoreds agreeing with him. 'What!? No, no, no!' He searches for Ulquiorra, hoping the green-eyed Arrancar would speak up, but he was quietly listening from the sides, not trying to persuade any of the Visoreds. 'Do something, Ulquiorra!' Nothing coming up from his brethren, Ichigo burst out from his hiding spot and blurted.

"Starrk can keep all of you safe!"

His random burst gained everyone's attention. Feeling embarrassed, Ichigo looks towards Ulquiorra, hoping to see him come over to help him but his outburst caught him by surprise too, he groans and clears out his throat. "E-eh, I know Hueco Mundo may not seem like the best place to stay at but you guys have a nice perk by being there."

"And that's Starrk?" Yoruichi asks, which then gets Ichigo to answer immediately.

"Yeah! I mean, think about it. You're all worried that this Aizen might send Hollows after you guys but right now in Hueco Mundo all the Hollows have already by this point learn about Starrk's and Baraggan's battle and how Starrk took away the crown from Baraggan." The redhead could see how a couple of Visoreds were ready to speak but interrupted them. "What I'm trying to say is that if you guys come to Hueco Mundo with us, all of you will be under protection by Starrk's name. If every Hollow knows you're working under Starrk, then they will leave you alone. Not even Baraggan would try sending any of his goons."

Losing up a bit once Ichigo cleared out his outburst, Shinji leaned closer to the edge of the chair. "What's stoppin' Baraggan from comin' over and knockin' at the front of the door?"

"Starrk," Ichigo answered. "Baraggan can't win against Starrk and he knows it."

"And Aizen?" The blonde Visored asks back.

"Tell Starrk that he's trouble and he'll deal with him if he shows himself, too."

Shinji laughed as he shook his head. "You sound so convinced that Starrk would bother himself with our problem, Ichigo." Straightening up and with a serious expression on his face, he says, "I'm sure Starrk would rather not deal with it, he already has Baraggan to worry about, mixin' Aizen into his troubles wouldn't do any good. Besides, why would he care about us, the deal was to help him train. So it's only fair that he won't bother with our problems since he doesn't care about us."

"That's where you're wrong. Starrk cares about you guys, yes even you Hiyori." With a smirk directed towards her direction, Ichigo shut Hiyori's mouth. "I know he has never shown it, but he sees every single one of you as friends and if his friends are in trouble, he will help them out." Ichigo was trying to see what Shinji was thinking. He's the one who will decide if they go to Hueco Mundo or not but it was too hard to figure him out with his laid-back expression. He was ready to open his mouth again, hopefully, to persuade them, when both Shinji and Urahara stood up.

"Well, guess we're going to Hueco Mundo," Urahara said.

They left Ichigo baffled as everyone moved all over the warehouse. "Is this for real? You guys will come?"

"Why not?" Yoruichi said from the comfort of the couch.

Ichigo watched as Mashiro dragged Ulquiorra to her room, trying to get an opinion from the man to see what she had to bring with her. "Are you guys really that convinced?" His answer appeared as the form of Yoruichi's smirk.

"You're all leaving now, I'm guessing?" Asked Ryūken, finally coming down. He disposed of his old clothes, and he was now wearing attire close to what Shinji wears.

"Yep." Looking at the Quincy, Yoruichi says, "And you're leaving, too, I'm guessing?"

"I have overstayed my welcome," Ryūken replied as he walked towards the door, before leaving, he reminded Ichigo. "Remember what I told you, Ichigo, go talk to your father."

Yoruichi raised one of her eyebrows. "What's that about?" She didn't even get a response from the redhead, shrugging it off they both quietly waited for everyone.

After a while and everyone gathered back in the same room, Ichigo looked to his left and then his right. None of the Visoreds seemed to bring any sort of values with them besides the clothes on them. "You guys wasted 10 minutes doing nothing?" He let loose a breath. "Doesn't matter, at least I got the chance to call Szayel."

Lily has already made 5 full laps around Starrk and Szayel, she was there with Szayel when Ichigo finally called them and after being confirmed that the Visoreds were coming; she went to fetch Starrk from a room that he had been using to sleep. Now she has been waiting with them on the 2nd floor outside Szayel's almost-finish-lab. "What's taking them so long." She made another lap around them. "He said they're coming over already, what's taking him so long."

Following Lily's figure, as she yet again made another lap, Starrk says. "I feel as if you're talking about Ichigo only, even though Ulquiorra's with him."

"Ugh! They, he, them! You know what I meant, Starrk!" Lily yelled, all while flailing her arms over her head. Before she could even do her 10th lap around them, a Garganta open. She stops right in front of the two men. She beamed as she noticed Ichigo's figure at the front of the group. As he walked closer towards them, she already spotted his orange hair and his golden eyes that seemed to shine inside the Garganta's eternal darkness. As he finally walked outside the Garganta, Ichigo returned her beaming smile with one of his own behind his mask. As he replaces his smile with a smirk, Ichigo mockingly salutes Starrk.

"Mission accomplished, your Majesty."

With the Visoreds left stunned to the place Ichigo brought them to, Lily had tried to talk to the redhead before he left saying nothing. Though it wasn't hard to follow him, Ichigo came back to their room, she didn't even knock as she entered. While she didn't knock, she didn't rudely slam the door open either. She peeks her head inside to see Ichigo lying on the bed. His back turned towards her. Silently and quietly, she closed the door and walked inside. "Rough day?" He turned around to reply with a smudged look.

"Not even, it was the easiest thing I ever have done."

He wasn't telling her something; his smugness didn't reach his voice. "What happened?" Her question causes his attitude to turn somber and instead of replying, he turns his back towards her.

"Nothing happened."

There was something that he wasn't telling her. "You're a horrible liar, Ichigo." As he didn't respond, she walked towards the bed before sitting at the edge. "I'm not leaving until you say something." She heard nothing from him besides his calmed breathing. "... Are you really not going to tell me?" She whispered before lying next to him. "Ichigo, I know you're hiding something from me. Something happened and I don't know why you don't want to talk about it." Trying to wrap her arms around him, she drew them back when he turned around hastily. He scowls at her and says.

"Nothing happened! We got to Karakura Town, we found Urahara, and we got the Visoreds to come! That's it! Nothing more, nothing less."

Lily said nothing at first and stared at the back of his head before she wrapped her arms around him. "Liar. I notice the bandages around Ulquiorra." She felt his body jerk a bit the moment her hand landed on the scar on his chest. "You also didn't have this when you left."

"Starrk gave me this during one of our spars."

She snorted at the weak excuse. "Starrk? Ichigo, I have always, always been there when you spar with Starrk. He has never, and I mean never, done this to you." She started tracing his scar. "You also appeared with a ripped shirt." Hearing him curse, she stopped to wrap her arms around him. "Talk to me, please. Tell me what happened."

Both teens stayed playing the quiet game for a couple of minutes before Ichigo finally gave in. "You were right."

"About?" Lily asked back, she could feel how his body tensed up, preparing himself for something.

"We're not ready to fight the Shinigami Captains."

Lily shuts her eye and slams her forehead onto Ichigo's back. "Please don't tell me you picked a fight with them?" His silence wasn't helping his case. "You promise you wouldn't do anything stupid." Again more silence from him. "Ichigo, being quiet won't help your case. If you're thinking that saying nothing will make me leave you alone, then you're wrong. If you want me to leave you, then talk."

"... The mission didn't go as planned. We had to fight off the Shinigami."

She was sure she was hurting Ichigo by how tight she had her arms warped around his chest but she couldn't help it! She became a nervous wreck the moment Ichigo started talking about Captain Hitsugaya—Ichigo dropped that Captain's name since they introduced themselves to each other, stupid to do and she made sure he knew it by calling him an idiot. However, her worries vanish the moment he told her how he left the Captains to Ulquiorra and his uncle—another big surprise. But then when he started talking about his encounters with the lieutenants, she knew something happened—besides the fight being rather easy—because his story took a break, a 10 minutes long break.

"And then?" She asked after finally feeling she gave Ichigo a long enough break.

"Then he appeared, a Shinigami Captain." Ichigo clenched his fists. "I couldn't even lay a finger on him. He trapped me with some weird Kidō Spell."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No."

"No?" Lily asked back, lifting her head to see his face as he turned around to do the same. "He did nothing to you? Then who gave you this scar then?"

Ichigo covers his face with his hands and groans into them. "I mean, he did something but didn't hurt me... physically." Moving his hands from his face and looking at the ceiling with an emotionless stare, he says. "He... didn't hurt me in the way I was expecting him to do so, instead he showed me things I didn't even know about and it caused me to... lose it."

"Lose it?" She frowns. "Like the incident at the park?"

It wasn't a secret to her or Ichigo about what he transformed into on that fateful day. Ichigo asked Szayel about it one day, she was there with him when he asked, she wasn't trying to be nosy all over Ichigo's business. She, just like him, has been curious about how Zangetsu saved them. While Szayel had stayed quiet for most of the day and pretended to be clueless about it, it didn't take long before they annoyed him by touching all his inventions. "Maybe you Resurrected instead?" She wanted to say it as an answer, but her words came out as a question instead.

The redhead shook his head. "No, what I did was different, far different."

"How do you know that?"

He turns his head to look at her. "Remember how Starrk told us that he spoke a phrase? He said the moment he learned his Resurrección a phrase came to his head, like some sort of command. I said nothing… I… just transformed."

So it wasn't his Resurrección, but still. "What caused you to transform, Ichigo. What did he show you?"

"... The truth."

"About?"

A dead, empty laugh escaped his lips. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I have no purpose in life. I thought I knew who I was because I had two of the most important people in my life guiding me there, helping me, but they were only using me. Can you even believe how one little accident made me? If White had never attacked the Human World, I wouldn't have been born. Or if my dad, for whatever reason, never went to the Human World and stopped White I still wouldn't be born. Or if my mom never interfered in my dad's fight, I wouldn't be born either. There's also the fact that to both my parents, I was a fail-safe. 'To protect one thing' is nothing but a bullshit excuse to guide me towards a 'purpose'. I'm nothing, I'm not a guardian... I'm just a happy accident." He first felt the tears run down his face before his ears picked up his quiet sobs. "Kami, I'm a joke. How can I help Ulquiorra in understanding his 'heart' when I can't even understand mine?"

Ichigo turns to look at Lily when he notices the lack of emotions in her. "I'm sorry I'm troubling you with this stupid dilemma of mine. I'm sure you have never felt this way before." He went back to looking at the ceiling. Hoping that an awkward silence could wash the moment away.

But it didn't because she knew what he was going through. The thought that she's nothing had always been creeping at the back of her mind for a while now. The question had first surfaced a few years before Ichigo came around. She felt stupid to believe she was going through an existential crisis back then, but living with solitude for over 100 years can start causing you to talk to yourself, and that's when she found out that she didn't know how to speak to herself; she didn't know who 'she' was.

"I know what you mean, Ichigo."

Hearing his name, Ichigo turns back to look at her when he notices the empty look in her rose-shaded eye.

Lily continued in a monotone. "Sometimes I feel like my only reason for being alive was to give Starrk company in his lonely life. I don't even know what I am. Don't know who I am. Sometimes I wonder if 'Lilynette' was ever real, like, was she a normal human girl before she died and got devoured by a Hollow, or was I created for Starrk's purposes."

Ichigo wished he could take it back, everything he said, he didn't mean to put Lily through this. "Lily—"

"How many times have you seen me sleep, Ichigo?"

The question got him a bit off-guard. "What? What are you talking about? You slept every night in the Human World."

"But what about when we were in Hueco Mundo?" Lily started raising her voice. "Before going to the Human World, when had you seen me go to sleep before?" She could see Ichigo trying hard to think about it. "I'll tell you how many times; none."

"But that's because we're Hollows and sleep isn't something that we need." Ichigo argued back. "What's the whole point of us sleeping when our bodies don't even need it."

"BECAUSE I WANT TO DREAM!" Lily outburst silent him. "I... just want to dream. Dreams are a bunch of memories playing inside your head, like a movie. And those memories are from the moments that you live through." She turns to look at the ceiling. "Before you show up, I used to sleep before I stopped because there was just nothing for me there. I thought that maybe sleeping would let me dream about my previous life's memories but no... that's not what happened. But then, you came. But I didn't sleep until much later, after the incident in the Human World, my body started feeling tired... it was asking me to sleep and when I did, I started dreaming." Life finally brought back to her eye, Lily looks at Ichigo with a fond smile. "About you. About us, about everyone. I was finally dreaming about the best times of my life and it was all because of you. You made me feel like my existence matters to someone."

"Really? I did that?" Ichigo asked, returning a fond smile, too.

She leans forward. "You did. Now's my time to return the favor."

Ichigo couldn't help but lean his head closer to Lily's. "You're going to help me?" He chuckles. "And how are you going to do that?"

"By making sure you understand how much you matter to someone." She leans closer, her eye slowly closing as her lips close the gap between them.

"And that someone is you?" He said, mirroring Lily's actions.

"That's right. No one else. Not Starrk, Ulquiorra, Szayel, Yoruichi, Urahara, the Visoreds, or... your family." She could feel his mask brushing her lips but they still haven't clashed. "Only me." So she took it upon herself to start the first kiss but before she could kiss him, Ichigo backed away.

"Dad."

Lily opens her eye to see Ichigo's head backing away from her. "What?"

"Ryūken, my uncle, he told me to go talk to my father. To ask him about the truth."

With the spell cast on their moment broken, Lily sends him an angry frown. "Wait, so you just wrote off your father as a liar without talking to him first? When he might help you clear your mind right now?"

"Well... umm..."

Hearing him sputtered and his face painted red, Lily groans into her hands. "Idiot, you didn't even bother, did you?" As she looks back at him, rubbing his neck sheepishly, she releases a breath and gets off the bed. "All right, let's go." She started walking towards the door before stopping, one hand on the doorknob, she turned around as the lack of extra footstep didn't reach her ears. Ichigo was still glued on the bed, looking at her with a baffled look. "What are you doing, menso? Get up."

Ichigo stared as Lily left the room before peeking her head back inside. "Change your shirt, you don't want to worry your sisters if they see the scar."

Just as she walks out of their apartment, Lily finds Menoly and Loly kneeling.

"Did something happen inside?" The centipede Adjuchas raises her head. "We heard you yell."

Menoly continues. "But then things quiet down."

Lily waves both Adjuchas' concerns away. "Everything is fine, don't worry about it." Finally realizing that these two were back at the 3rd floor again, she groans before crossing her arms. "What are you two doing here?"

"Starrk-sama asked us to show the Shinigami to their quarters." They both answered back.

Were her senses failing? How didn't she sense any of the Visoreds? 'Maybe I got too distracted with Ichigo for me to notice?' After thinking back about the 'distraction', a blush started spreading across Lily's cheek. 'Did I almost kiss him!?'

"Oi, Lily, where the hell are we going?"

She spun around to see Ichigo walk out of the room, his clothes replaced with some fresh new ones. Controlling her blush, she says. "We're going to Szayel."

Ichigo only sighed before following behind his friend but stopped once he spotted the sisters. "Wait, what are you two doing here?"

Both didn't answer as Lily started yelling for Ichigo. Watching as the redhead follows behind the princess, Menoly says. "Are those two living in the same room?" She looks across the entire hall filled with empty rooms. "When there's plenty of other rooms for them to sleep separately?"

"..."

"..."

"Maybe," Loly turns to look at her sister. "They're sleeping together?"

"Now, I don't remember the exact pieces of equipment we used to create the AP (Arrancar's Pills), but I believe I got most of them right." Szayel turns around to see Urahara off somewhere other than checking if he got everything right. "Urahara-san. Can you please come here?"

"Oh, my little apprentice still needs me to check his science projects?" Urahara playfully replies before turning to Szayel with a more serious look. "You got most of the pieces here right. The only thing you're missing is my personal invention that converts Reiatsu into Reishi. Besides that, nothing more."

Feeling the praise, Szayel pushes his glasses back up. "Well, I am quite a fast learner." With a smirk, he says, "Maybe one day I'll surpass you."

"Now wouldn't that be something." The ex-Captain looks around the room. "So you only made this room because you can't work outside a comfortable zone? Dear, did I rub a little on you?"

Szayel rolls his eyes. "Oh please, like I would have picked up any sorts of habits from you."

Before Urahara could reply, Lily burst into the lab with Ichigo in tow. "Hey, I need two of those Reiatsu-hiding cloaks."

"Good to see you, too, Lily-chan." Urahara deadpanned. Seeing as the girl has her hand out, he raises a brow. "Are you expecting me to hang over a couple of cloaks?"

"Yes." she answers back.

"... Okay then!" Urahara joyfully answers back before turning towards Szayel. "I believe you already made some of your proto-types?"

"I did." Szayel walks towards one of the many cabinets he has and takes out two cloaks. "Now, Lily-chan, Ichigo-kun, these cloaks don't work the same as Urahara's. You won't be able to sense any Reiatsu around you, but it will hide your own." Before handing them over, he glances between both teens. "Mind telling me where you're going?"

"Ichigo's gonna go talk to his dad."

He gazes towards Ichigo before going back to Lily. "And you have to go because?"

"Don't want the idiot to do anything stupid."

"Well, if that's the case." He hands over both cloaks with a shrug. He looks towards Ichigo to see the teen gaping.

The boy couldn't say anything before Lily started calling him.

"Let's go, Ichigo." Lily taps the air and a Garganta opens. "Huh, I expected it to be harder." She put on her cloak before throwing the other one to Ichigo.

"Wait, Lily, maybe this is the wrong time for me to go ask him." He protests, but still puts on the cloak. "Maybe he's busy or something." He didn't even put his hand through the other sleeve before Lily started dragging him.

"Nope. We're going right now. No excuses."

Both scientists cover their amusing smiles as both teens depart while still arguing with one another.

"Such unique chemistry those two have." Szayel got a nod from Urahara.

"I wonder when those two will finally become a thing." The blonde laughs. "Well, I'm sure Ichigo will be the one to make the first move."

"Ichigo? I don't know about that," Szayel contended. "I'm sure Lily will be the one to make the first move." Szayel enjoyed the quiet setting the lab almost took before Urahara opened his mouth again.

"¥10,000 that Ichigo makes the first move."

He couldn't help himself but turn to the other scientist with a smirk. "You're on."

They filled the walk inside the Garganta with their argument. Ichigo took a break from their pointless quarrel to look around to see that Lily had brought them to the shopping district, though night had set, Ichigo knew it wasn't late enough for the streets to be empty. He could see all the stores close. 'What's going on, it's not even that late.' He turns back around to see Lily waiting for him. "What?"

"I don't know where your house's at, idiot."

"We don't have to do this," he started. "Maybe after everything settled down with the Visoreds, we can come back here."

"No, you need to get this out of your chest and that doubt outside of your head. Your dad is the only one that has your answers so we're going to him right now before you kill yourself over this problem."

"This is going to be pointless." He whispers before putting a hand on her shoulder and heads towards the 'Kurosaki Clinic'. Ichigo could have gotten there faster but took his time to think about what he needed to say but as he stared at the front of his home, he found his mind feeling conflicted right now. "Lily, I—" He stops to see that Lily has left his side to see her at the front of the door, knocking already.

*Knock-knock*

"Lily! They could be asleep—"

Again, his words stop to see the door open up to reveal Isshin. His dad took only a moment to glance from Lily to Ichigo before rushing towards him.

"Ichigo!" He hugs his son before holding him from afar by his shoulders, checking him from head to toe in a hurry, worry manner. "Are you okay?! You're not hurt?!" Seeing no signs of injuries on his son, he hugs him back to his chest. "You're okay, you're okay. I'd been worried about you."

Left speechless, Ichigo notices the narrow, angry look that Lily was sending him. It basically read, 'See, I told you so!'

He shot the same look back. 'This proves nothing!' Pushing Isshin away, Ichigo started with a sudden note. "Why did you lie about what really happened to mom?" His words have left the empty streets dead silent. He could hear his sisters' footsteps as they rushed downstairs.

"Let's go inside." Isshin turns around to see the twins standing by the doorway.

As Isshin led them inside the house, Ichigo took note that little had changed about his old home. Or so he thought. As he walked into the kitchen, he found a giant poster of his mother holding an infant Ichigo.

"How long have you had that for?" He asks while rolling his eyes.

"I put it up right after the Funeral Service," Isshin answers back, he turns towards Lily and gestures towards the girls. "Lily-chan. Can you take them up to their room?"

"Yeah, sure." She grabbed both girls' hands. "All right, let's go upstairs and have a little girl-talk."

Once his daughters left, Isshin took a seat. "How?" He asks in a tired and ripe tone that only his true age could muster.

"A Shinigami showed me what happened." Ichigo wishes he could raise his voice without his sisters hearing him. "Funny how a complete stranger showed me the truth compared to my father." If his words hurt him, Isshin was doing a great job at hiding it. "So when were you planning on telling me that I devoured my mother's soul?" A harsh glare replaced his scowl, hoping it would intimidate his father but his father responded with stony eyes.

"When I knew it was safe."

"What?" He follows his dad as he heads towards the living room. "Safe? What do you mean by safe!" He finally raised his voice.

Isshin didn't answer, instead, he turned on and unmuted the television.

Ichigo wanted to scream, pull his hair, and sucker punch his father but then something on the TV caught his attention. It was a News Station and down at the bottom of the screen was a banner that read, 'Bodies Count Up To 1,000.' If that didn't shock him then the fact that all the bodies seemed to surround the park where he fought the Shinigami did. "What..."

"I didn't believe it either at first, but as I went to check the site for myself, I found, not just the bodies, but their spirits, too." Isshin sighs before heading back to the kitchen, Ichigo following right behind him. "The Gotei 13 has covered up the mess by leaking out information as an anonymous group. From what the news has said, the City allowed a group of workers to build an underground gas-pipe that connects to an abandoned warehouse where a freshly starting businessmen bought it when things went wrong and the gas-pipe exploded." He turns to look at Ichigo, who was still shocked. "So that's the excuse they used to cover-up how the park got destroyed."

"And the bodies?"

"They cover it up by stating that the gas was dangerous to anyone that inhales it, killing all instantly. In the eyes of a Shinigami, things were different. A powerful Reiatsu crushed their bodies," Isshin could see that Ichigo had already figured it out. "Your Reiatsu killed them."

"I, but, they…" Ichigo held his head. "He forced me, he's the reason why I transformed. I didn't mean to." He looked at the ground, horrified. Now he understood why the streets were empty; people were at home mourning.

"I know you didn't mean to." He embraces his son. "It happened right after you learned about Masaki, right?" Feeling his son's head nod, he sighs. "That's the reason I didn't tell you back then. I didn't know how you could have possibly reacted and I didn't want to find out because the girls could have been in danger." Letting him go, Ichigo looks towards him. "Ichigo, the only reason I lied to you about your mother's fate was because I wanted to tell you when you were finally ready to hear it. I wanted to be sure you could control yourself when you found out."

Ichigo apologizes quietly, before finally asking about the poster. "Why did you print that thing?"

Isshin turns to look at the poster, too. "A hole appeared in my heart the night I lost both you and Masaki. I tried to fill that hole, but it was hard for me as a father to mourn your deaths that didn't involve smoking or drinking. After realizing that I still had Yuzu and Karin, I made sure that I would never leave their sight, because if I did, Masaki would kill me in the afterlife."

"Do you love us?"

The question was odd, but Isshin didn't see why he shouldn't answer it. "I'm still here with Yuzu and Karin, loving and caring for them. I love you even after what you have become and done. I still love Masaki to the point where I will wait for my natural life to end so I can meet her again, even if I have to wait for the next afterlife, I will see her again." Isshin huffed as Ichigo threw himself at him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, Ichigo. It's okay."

He shook his head. "It's not fine. I can't believe I trusted a complete stranger over my dad. Kami, Lily's right, I'm an idiot."

That was something else Isshin needed to know. "Ichigo, you said a Shinigami told you, who was he?"

"I don't know. He didn't drop a name. All he did was show me what happened." Ichigo frowns as he remembers something. "Actually, he said how you force him to step in to protect his creation, some Hollow named White. He cut you from behind."

"Aizen."

Ichigo's eyes slowly widened. He already figured out that Aizen was someone he needed to label as a threat because everyone else seems worried about him, however, he couldn't fathom the thought that he already met the man. "You know about Aizen, too?" His father nodded.

"I do, he's a dangerous man." Isshin frowns and says. "But I don't understand how he was able to show you images of what happened on that day. I don't know what kind of Kidō Spell could do that."

"I remembered hearing him saying something odd... Shatter, Kyu-umm something."

"His Shikai's command." Isshin thought back about what he knew about the man's Zanpakutō. "Aizen's Zanpakutō is some sort of water-type sword." He curses about the fact that Aizen has been lying about his abilities and seems based on visual effects instead. "Ichigo, Aizen is a very dangerous man, no matter what, stay away from him."

No point for the warning, Ichigo already knew the man was bad news. "Don't worry, Dad. I'll be sure I won't."

"You know, it's late, maybe you and Lily could crash here for the night?" Isshin suggested but Ichigo shook his head.

"No, Lily and I should leave before anyone can find us. I'm sure the Garganta we opened caught the Shinigami's attention." Ichigo headed towards the stairs to call Lily down when he saw her walking down already.

"Everything is clear out now?"

Ichigo nodded with a smile. "Yeah. Come on, it's time for us to go."

Lily was already walking outside when she heard Ichigo ask his father something, she didn't feel like it was her business so she waited outside. She only waited for a couple of minutes before father and son walked out. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah, but I want to go visit someone real quick." Ichigo turns around and hugs his father again. "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

"It's all right, Ichigo." Letting go of his son, he looks at Lily and says, "Please take care of my son."

Feeling as though she should get a kick by embarrassing Ichigo in front of his dad, Lily says. "Don't worry, I will. Besides, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't?" She laughs as Ichigo's face shares the same color as his name. His father looked like he was ready to break down crying. Trying to save himself from any more embarrassment, Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder and left. Her ears could catch one last comment from Isshin.

"MASAKI! DID YOU HEAR THAT!? WE FINALLY HAVE A 3RD DAUGHTER!"

Coming out from the Sonido, Lily noticed that they were standing at a cemetery. "Ichigo, what are we doing here?"

"I came to visit someone." He replied, already moving towards the spot his father told him where he would find it. Lily said nothing but followed behind him. He only had to search for a few minutes before finally finding it; his mother's grave.

Lily peek over his shoulders to see who he wanted to see. She quietly backs away and lets Ichigo have his moment.

"Hey, Mom," Ichigo started. "I know this makes little sense, for me to talk to you when I know you're not here... or Soul Society. But I feel like this is the only way I can find closure with your death. I'm sorry. I know Ryūken told me I shouldn't blame myself for what happened to you, but I feel as though it was my fault that we died." He releases a long tired breath. "I'm sorry that I doubted Dad and you. Should have known he only lied to me for a good reason, but don't worry now, I finally understood why." What else should he say? He looks back towards Lily and thinks about something, he waves her over to come closer. "This right here is Lily, she's a good friend. I'm sure you would have loved to meet her and everyone else that I made friends with. They're all great people even though we're all different."

Lily smiled and waved at the grave before stepping back and letting Ichigo talk to his mother while listening to him too.

10 minutes later, Ichigo was finally ready to go. "All right, I'll be leaving now." He turns to see Lily patiently waiting for him.

"All done?" She asked.

"Yeah," Before Lily could tap the air, he grabbed a hold of her hand. "Hey, umm, back then, in our room." A blush started spreading. "Did we almost just—"

"Kiss?" Lily jumped in, her blush was healthier than the one Ichigo was sporting. "We got caught up at the moment. That's why we almost—"

"Kiss." Now it was Ichigo's turn to butt in, though he only did it to taste the word.

"Yeah, kiss."

Both teens look away from one another.

"So, do we forget about it?" Ichigo asks, still looking away.

Lily nodded. "Yeah." She taps the air in front of her and opens a Garganta. "All right, let's go home." Before she could walk into the portal, Ichigo grabs her by the hand and spins her around to plant a quick peck with his mask's fragments on her cheeks. It was short, quick, and it sent her body into an ecstasy trip.

"Thank you, for everything."

She returned the kiss, but unlike him, her lips pressed into the flesh of his cheeks. "You're welcome."

Ichigo couldn't help but smile before looking at the Garganta. "So, home?" He felt Lily gently grip his hand.

"Yeah."

Both teens left.

Their bond, like a Hollow, had finally evolved.

-X-

And we're done! Wooo! That took some time, eh? Sorry about that since I waited for my fingers to heal and I also went back to the previous chapters to polish some of my grammar to hopefully made things smoother. Okay, since that's out of the way let's talk a bit about this chapter. Actually, there's not much to talk about.

I drop a hit about what Lily's Aspect of Death will be. No, it doesn't mean I'm going to take someone's else Aspect and give it to her. Before anyone says how there can't be any more Aspects, just remember, Baraggan only talk about the ones the Espadas had. It could possibly be that there're more but only decided to talk about each Espadas's.

Also, did I really needed to make Ichigo a bit edgy with the whole 'no purpose in life' set? Yes. Two reasons why.

-1. Having Ichigo going through it made it easier for him to hear his Ressurection by accepting and understanding himself better.

-2. It was also a nice way to start off this story's pairing by having Ichigo at least understand Lily at a more personal level. That way when this story finally pairs them up, it won't feel so forced.

By the way, In Chapter 13, I added a scene that I was sure was already added there but for whatever reason, maybe I forgot to save it, never appeared. It's not much that I added besides the fact that Ichigo can't don his mask anymore. That's really it...

What else... ah, that's right. This chapter was the last one before going to the canon timeline. So a 2-year time skip will happen between this chapter and the next one.

Now, don't expect things to go the same. Also, don't worry about Chad and Orihime... they will soon be mention.

That's it... Okay! Welp, Cya next time!

-Ten Out.