Just A Soul Chapter 48: Pas de Deux, a bleach fanfic

Katsuko was just a soul.

Nothing special.

She was born to normal parents in a normal home.

A normal girl enjoying her normal life.

Until she came into contact with Naogoma Chisaki.

Back then, a few months ago, Katsuko curiously wondered why she was chosen as Chisaki's vessel.

It was the one question she couldn't have an answer to.

Until now.

…

"Saikaza… but that's–"

"Did you know? A Zanpakuto reflects the Soul Reaper. But a child, a human child is hardly an ideal self to reflect. There is still… much growing to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Six years ago, Naogoma Chisaki chose you as her vessel. No, she didn't choose. The Hollow chose you."

Katsuko stilled. The Hollow? The thing that dug its way into Chisaki's chest?

"As Aizen said, the Hollow was first created by using a specific soul, a fragment of it to be exact. Somehow, this fragment was seeking out the rest of it… and it did. It was you. It was so determined to find you. The fragment that found you was part of a greater whole that used to be a Soul Reaper. "

Aizen's words were echoing in her head. The Hollow was only special because of her.

"The Hollow that was connected to Naogoma Chisaki's soul was now connected to yours. And what remained of the previous you not only returned to you but it also began leeching off the connection between you and Naogoma Chisaki."

The words were not quite making sense at first. Katsuko was just staring at the spirit talk with a blank mind that was just waiting to be filled with sense. She was still stuck on the part that made sense to her: the reason why the Hollow chose her.

"With the Hollow seeping into your soul and with Naogoma Chisaki's soul coexisting with yours, your soul took from Chisaki and then expelled until your powers started to build ever so slowly with the help of that fragment as if it was using the connection to reawaken its previous self. It became a repeated cycle for years. Because you were dominant, it caused your unique powers to exist by the time you entered high school."

She died missing a piece of herself. That piece stayed with the Hollow. The whole of it sought the rest of her soul. Her soul took advantage of the connections she had to awaken Soul Reaper powers and make it her own, It replicated and modified.

"But why did you say Saikaza…?" She was starting to get confused. Was this really her Zanpakuto or was it hers because of the fragment?

"As I've said before, I am a Zanpakuto for Hiragi Katsuko. The name was never set in stone just immediately. You were still growing… not quite ready just like your powers." Arashihoro smiled at her again. This was her way to prove that she was hers and not some ghost.

"But…" Katsuko held her arms tightly as she grew tense. "If I had this fragment for so long… why is it only happening now?! Why are you telling me all this when I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

"Whine, whine, whine."

Startled, Katsuko rapidly turned around and saw her Inner Hollow standing far away from her. The second her eyes spotted him, the skies became darker and whips of lightning started striking the ground, making her flinch and fall backwards. She realized that Arashihoro was longer positioned behind her when she fell where she was supposed to be. She was gone.

"Why are you sitting on the floor like a lost child? And why the hell are you still there without a weapon?"

Katsuko averted her eyes away from the Hollow. She didn't have anything to say to him. She didn't want to say anything to him.

He noticed her reluctance to acknowledge him and he grew slightly irritated.

"Answer me."

With a click of her tongue, she narrowed her eyes back at the Hollow. She didn't want to entertain him at all. Maybe if she answered back just once he would shut up.

"I don't know! I can't use my Zanpakuto at all and I only have Kido…"

As if dissatisfied with her answer, the lightning struck the floor next to her, making her flinch again and scramble away by crawling. Irritated, she looked at the Hollow as he flipped around his sword like a police baton.

"You can't or is it that you won't? How long are you going to let yourself be swept away by the fragment?"

Okay. Now that just pissed her off.

"You're the fucking fragment! You're the reason this is happening to me!" She shouted at him, the clear source of everything going wrong in her life right now. Was he trying to make fun of her?! What the hell was his end goal?!

In the face of her accusations, the Hollow laughed mockingly and stopped flipping his sword. He covered his face with a hand to hide his grin. Oh, this was gold.

"In layman's words, you're both right and wrong. You say you have a good memory?" He took off his hand to look at her with his grin still apparent. "Did you forget what we told you? I'm in control of the lightning, the other source of power for you. But did you know that I was always there? I used to be part of Arashihoro until we split from the influence of the Hollow and the fragment that was given to you by that woman. I became the fragment's Hollow side of you."

Huh?

"You're not making sense…" What did he mean by that? Wasn't it the Hollow carrying the fragment? What did he mean by 'become' the Hollow?

"For you? I realized. Anything I say to you just goes one ear and out the other." The Hollow rolled his eyes. The tip of his sword pointed at her. "The piece of the other you that was returned. The piece that belonged to the Hollow that would have undoubtedly swallowed you if not for that woman acting as its chains. As a final line of defense, we split apart and I became what you see now."

Katsuko paused. A part of Arashihoro until the split?

The Hollow smirked.

"Think carefully now, Katsuko."

…

Hisagi went rigid and his eyes grew wide.

"Wait, no… you're… Who are you really?!" he shouted.

Katsuko narrowed her eyes. "Huh?"

"Alright, that's enough."

Her eyes widened, the masculine voice whispering in her ear made her stiffen. There was no one behind her, and even if there was then the Lieutenant should have noticed it. She felt a cold hand hold her right hand, it gripped hers tightly but not enough to cause her pain. It almost felt... reassuring. Then, the presence faded and she felt a spark run throughout her arm. In a beat, chaotic lightning shot out from her right Zanpakuto, lighting up the area in flashes of light.

"What the—?!" Hisagi held up his Zanpakuto to protect himself, but he found himself getting blown away by the intensity of the spiritual pressure that was released.

Katsuko's eyes widened at that and they looked at her sword. The wild lightning was whipping around, but it never once dared to scratch her, not even a tickle.

…

"I didn't know you could change your voice."

"My voice?"

"Yeah, you sounded like a dude before."

The Zanpakuto huffed at the word. "I suppose I did."

All of a sudden, the floor began rippling in disharmony followed by a loud sound that echoed throughout the Inner World, causing Katsuko to flinch and hunch a little when she made a move to cover her head on instinct. The wind began to pick up a little around them, causing their hair to fly around. Curiously, she lifted her head and peered up at the large pillars. She couldn't see the top for they were way high up and hidden above the clouds. However, she could see a darker spot amid the white clouds that were flickering with lightning.

"What is that?"

Arashihoro narrowed her eyes at the sight.

It took a moment for her to answer.

"The source of lightning." She answered. "But it wouldn't be wise to go near it just yet. It's a little hard to keep it under control. In due time, it will settle down."

Katsuko tipped her head. "The lightning?"

Arashihoro turned around and faced her, smiling at her a little. "You could say that." She walked past her and started going back the way they came.

…

The first time she heard his voice was quick. It barely registered since she was determined to survive against Hisagi. It only hit her now that the voice she heard back then was his.

And Arashihoro didn't deny that she sounded like a man. Because Katsuko was referring to 'Arashihoro'.

The Hollow and Arashihoro were originally one being.

Katsuko paused. So… wouldn't that mean that…?

The Hollow tipped his head with his smirk when realization flashed across her face. She slowly started getting back up with her hands holding onto her elbows.

"... You're also Arashihoro?"

"You're finally getting the picture. As two beings originating from the same body, as your spiritual power, we cooperate despite our different natures. However, the more I watched you fight the more pissed off I felt when you nearly got us killed more than once. You could say we've been having a falling out ever since." He shrugged lazily as he informed her. Then he gave her a serious look. Katsuko warily watched him nonchalantly stride towards her.

"I tried to beat some sense into you yet you refuse to listen. You were stubborn. And then, you started to forcefully use my powers to fight. I gave you what you wanted because you wanted the power to fight and do your part. But the more you relied on my side, the rest of your power, the more the balance started to blur. You were basically inviting the fragment to bleed into you through me, the undeniable connection between the past and present. You gained power without understanding where it all came from." His hand came on his chest as he smirked at her. "Play stupid games and earn dumb prizes, I say."

Finally, an emotion that was not connected to despair started painting her features. Releasing her elbows, her hands shook as she slowly but firmly clenched them. Her eyes widened and her teeth bared angrily. She stomped her foot when she moved forward and disappeared. The Hollow scoffed and flipped backwards to see her trying to use Kido on his head. She nimbly took a step back and tried swinging some type of Kido at him from below which he easily countered by swinging his sword and knocking her down with a stroke of lightning. She let out a cry and fell against the floor with little whips of lightning flashing around her body. There was a stinging sensation on her body.

The Hollow landed on the floor and smirked at the way she forced herself to get back up. "That's more like it."

"Why…?!" Katsuko screamed at him. She was livid now. Her arms were trembling when she pushed herself on her knees. "Why didn't you say anything?! Why did you keep quiet about something so important?!" She lifted her hand and generated the same kind of energy for those repulsing attacks. She extended her index and middle finger into a lance and sliced the air to send an arc of energy at him. It was fast. But he was faster. She saw him tilt backwards as if to dodge it when he took a step back before flash stepping to her side.

"Kido against a Zanpakuto. Come now, don't be ridiculous. I find that insulting!" Katsuko gasped when he slammed his leg into her side and sent her flying.

He rapidly became a dot in the distance and then she crashed into one of the pillars that towered around them.

He didn't hold back at all!

Coughing, she climbed out of the rubble and fanned smoke that was created from the crash. But he didn't wait for her to show herself. With a single swing of his sword, he launched a ray of lightning and it was just in time to greet her when she came out of the smoke cloud. Like a ragdoll, she fell back into the smoke into the rubble with a cry. The hard and uneven landing had her groaning in pain. How ruthless. With a weak shove, she managed to roll herself off the rubble and onto the floor.

Now, the smoke was starting to clear. The resounding sound of his footsteps approaching made her look up as she got back on her feet. He was coming for her. Her arm felt numb from that lightning attack. She roughly shook it to try and regain feeling in it to be ready for whatever he was going to throw at her next.

With her dominant hand, she created a white blade and gripped it tightly just before lunging at him.

"You just don't get it."

He instantly met her halfway, making her eyes widen. There wasn't any time to block or counter an attack. His image just exploded into lightning, ripping a pained cry out of her throat. Her body was thrown harshly onto the floor and she slid harshly against it, coughing. The stinging sensations amplified. It was the pain coming from the burns.

With a groan, her body positioned itself on trembling all fours and she could see her face in the dark reflection. Her eyes weren't used to seeing such anger on her face. When was the last time she got this angry?

From that attack alone that whiplashed her, she was already bleeding. Her eyes witnessed the red splatter on her wrist when it fell and touched the floor. Her fingers clenched on the surface and she closed her eyes to breathe out a shaky breath. There was no point in going mad. She needed to cool her head. Being too worked up to focus was just recklessness incarnate.

"Why didn't you tell me…?!" She lifted her head and saw him standing a few feet away. Why couldn't he mention something crucial was at risk?

He was staring her down like a parent disapproving of a child's actions. Except there was a hint of disdain in those eyes.

"Like I said, you refused to listen. You shut me out. Just like how you're refusing to properly acknowledge who I am."

What?

Katsuko opened her mouth to say something for her rebuttal. But nothing came out. Her body grew rigid. She had nothing to say. Realizing this, her body slowly sat on the back of her legs as she stared at him with her knuckles touching the cold floor.

He was right.

She didn't want to deal with him because he was a Hollow.

She wanted nothing but silence from him.

He was an entity that was taught to be looked at as an enemy.

The Hollow even looked at her with raised brows that said 'Remember now?'

When they first fought, he called her fear and her desire to survive utter nonsense. He also said that winning and surviving are two different things that went hand in hand. But… she chose to keep moving forward the way she wanted. She didn't want to listen to him. She just wanted to make him submit to drown him out.

She just wanted to make things easier for her.

When all he was doing was trying to teach her.

She was just too blind and biased to notice it.

Too scared of him.

"But I defeated you… and you said you would watch and see how far my victory got me."

"Who said I accepted your victory? Who said you truly defeated me? I didn't. I refused. I let you do as you please and watched you. I gave you help because you wanted power to fight. Of course, I'll give you the power to fight otherwise you'd be too weak and I'd die. But you used my power without understanding anything."

"..."

The Hollow smirked when she fell silent. Now, he was certain that he got her attention.

Katsuko's hands fell on her lap and then started wringing her sleeves. "Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me you were also Arashihoro?"

"Again. You shut me out. Do you think we'd get along just because I told you my name? You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

Ashamed, Katsuko looked at the floor. Anger no longer clouded her face. She made a mistake. Arashihoro once told her that communication between Zanpakuto and Soul Reaper was important. Was this her punishment? Was it too late to salvage anything?

"Just like when a child puts their hand on a blade and cries because they cut themselves, they'll learn not to do it again and be wiser."

He snorted.

What was it that he wanted her to learn now?

What was it that she failed to understand before?

What was it that she should be doing now?

He chuckled and pierced the sword into the floor and stared at his reflection. "You chose the path of a Soul Reaper to protect what is yours, didn't you? The desperate selfish desire." He lifted his head and looked at her with half-lidded golden eyes. "But the way you are now isn't going to cut it. I didn't trust you at all to keep us alive in the long run. How can you fight the battles by only wanting to survive? You don't go into battle to survive. You're doing the bare minimum, Katsuko."

Her body went rigid and her eyes widened slightly.

"The concern with your own needs over anyone else's!" He gripped his sword and lifted it before piercing the floor again. He repeated this several times. "To secure what you want, to destroy anyone that would stand in your way, to rend anyone that thinks they could try and take from you, to manipulate for your own benefit!" He ripped the sword out of the floor and raised it above his head. His golden eyes were reflected on the steel. "The selfish desire to come out on top with no regard whatsoever about anything around you!"

Lightning struck everywhere around him to emphasize his point. He stood in the center of the chaos, the only safe spot that was away from the danger. Anything further away from where he stood would be met with harsh unforgiving lightning that would strike either friend or foe. But he didn't care because he was at the center of it all, safe.

He lolled his head to look at her. "If you win to survive then you are only surviving! You need to survive to win. Your selfishness shouldn't weaken you but push you forward as your most powerful drive. If you placed more value in your own victory then you'd draw out more potential when the time called for it! But instead, you resign yourself to the lowest victory with little benefit!"

Katsuko averted her eyes away when she let his words sink into her core.

"Be hungry, take, and win before anyone else does!"

Just then, Katsuko was able to recall something similar that Arashihoro told her. It was the last words she left her with after paying a visit to her Inner World for the first time. They were both telling her the same thing. In their way, they were both telling her the same thing.

Think only about winning.

Strangely enough, Katsuko felt like she could comprehend the meaning behind their words and what she should be doing now. It was all falling in place.

He suddenly appeared and struck the floor next to her, narrowly grazing her when she barely dodged his attack. Her eyes witnessed a lightning strike the spot where she was previously.

She met his gaze when he lifted his left blade loosely and lightly wagged it at her threateningly. The black of his eyes grew wider with how seriously he looked at her. There was no room for compromise anymore. No room for any more errors.

The last chance.

"If you continue like this then it will come back to bite you. And if you're too stubborn to realize that then forget about wielding Arashihoro because you can't make the most of us! You're not good enough! You might as well take a seat back and let me do all the work from now on!"

With enlightened eyes, Katsuko quickly set her eyes on the spot that had lightning slowly flickering away.

Strike hard and fast before anything else.

Harsh and powerful when needed.

The absolute certainty to have destroyed any threat that dared to present itself.

If she was going to only survive then she should be satisfied with whatever outcome comes from it. However, survival wasn't going to guarantee a way out of the dark. It was only a temporary reprieve.

He started swinging his sword at her relentlessly and she moved and dodged as best as she could.

I see.

I was being stupid when I told him that.

Surviving was easy.

Winning was hard.

The former was essentially the easiest path littered with uncertainties while the latter was doing everything and pulling out all the stops one didn't know they had to not only win what they want but to make absolutely sure they got out alive.

Selfishness without a doubt.

The victory to ultimately obtain a certainty.

Only then would she find the peace she's looking for.

The skies rumbled loudly. It was a sign of another wave that was about to come down. This time, the wind around them was picking up and making their hair and clothes flap. Her eyes no longer looked clouded with despair, anger, or confusion. They were unusually bright under the dark skies, flashing her new desperate resolve to the skies just before the lightning came down mercilessly.

I won't make the same mistake again. I promise I won't.

I'll do my best to understand you… Both of you.

Give me another chance, please.

The one ray that was coming down on her had her arm rapidly flying up, fingers spread out as she stretched her hand out to it. She looked like she wanted to grab that stroke of lightning that would undoubtedly destroy anything it touched, a power she wanted to fully take for herself. The Hollow's eyes widened when she eagerly reached for the element.

Once it struck her, all the other rays of lightning came crashing down at the same place as if they were being called upon. Magnetic. He took a step back when he saw her become enveloped in a sparkling bright light. A brief fading image of light swinging appeared when he extended his arms and made a second blade appear in his hand other hand.

Then, she came leaping out fast with two blades in her hands. Her arms had her swords in mid-swing when she came at him. And the way her black bangs flew away from her eyes from the speed revealed a flash of orange when she looked at him. They were looking at him with new intent to win, a different intent to win. An intent to recover everything she was in the midst of losing.

He met her blades with his own and lightning flashed between them.

He narrowed his eyes and knocked her back with a harsh stroke. Katsuko skidded to a stop and swiveled around to stop while barely avoiding the arc of lightning that nearly gashed her shoulder. When she stopped, she gripped her swords and scrunched her own eyes. She flash stepped behind him and aimed her right blade at his side. Sensing his own aiming for her side, she retreated and shifted around to slam her left blade into his steel. Wind exploded from her blade and it made his arm recoil backwards, unsteadying him.

Ruthlessly, she rammed her foot into his abdomen to force him to fall back.

She raised her other sword high up in the air as she stared down at him.

His eyes widened at the creeping frenzied grin coming on her face.

With flash step, he moved away from the blade and readied himself to attack. She didn't wait for him to move. After recovering her stance, her blade flicked towards him, blowing a huge wind current in his direction after gathering and swirling wind around her blade. He staggered when the wind slashed different parts of his body. His knees lowered and he bent down unsteadily in response to the cuts. It almost felt like needles attacking the open wounds.

Her right leg pushed off the floor and she closed in on him after seeing his moment of unbalance.

At the same time, her blades glided across his skin, forming a red X which had splashes of red falling on the floor and sinking into the water of it. Katsuko observed the way he tilted to the side and then clamped his hand on her shoulder to stop himself. But she didn't fight him off. She allowed him to hold on.

Startled, Katsuko jumped when she felt another hand clamp on her other shoulder from behind. When she took a glance back, she saw the other half of Arashihoro smiling with her eyes closed, relieved.

"Finally."

They both spoke.

She could finally hear them equally.

She could better understand them a little more.

Just as the skies became a bit lighter, Katsuko was engulfed by a bright light that was quick to isolate her.

She was alone.

Confused, she straightened up and slid her eyes around to try and find any other different contrast. But there was nothing. Did she have to wait for the light around her to fade? For how long was it going to last?

The answer came fast.

The first thing she came to see and understand was a polearm-like weapon in her hands. It was pointed towards a person whose face she didn't care about. It looked like a falx except with a longer reach with how long the pole was. It pointed straight at the other one and—

No. Get me the hell out of here.

She turned away from the memory and closed her eyes. Enough was enough. No more getting involved with the past that had nothing to do with her. This was her soul and her body and she wasn't going to let some fucking ghost change her anymore. She wouldn't allow it to progress any further than this.

When her eyes snapped open when she sensed something.

Her mouth ripped open when she let out a shout and slashed at the memory. Her hands were holding her two swords, no longer was she holding some random weapon of the past. Everything froze followed by a crack. Everything around her cracked like glass.

One more hit.

Katsuko straightened up and then reeled back her weapons.

The fractured glass was now reflecting herself… or her past self. After seeing so much of this exasperating show of yore, she didn't even act surprised before slamming her swords into the glass, utterly shattering the world around her.

The last thing she recalled from that moment was the pause and surprise that did not reflect her at all.

As the glass shards around her fell and disappeared like crystals fading away, she found herself in endless darkness again. Dark brown eyes looked around calmly. Unlike the first chamber where she fought the faceless being, the 'walls' went from gray to black like a gradient. The gray came from the floor that she noticed was more like water compared to her Inner World's floor. As if a light was shining on the 'water' it had some slight rays of light flickering around.

Light sloshing of water caught her attention. It was coming from behind her.

She tried stealing a glance behind her until she was kind of shoved forward. It was caused by someone. The first thing she saw was a tuff of white hair before a white sleeve brushed her cheek and nearly covered her eyes. Her body was also hunched when weight was added on top of her head. There was an arm resting on her head.

Then she felt a hand pat her shoulder, causing her to properly look back this time.

To her surprise, all of Arashihoro was standing behind her.

"Right now, you're something in between Naogoma Shisugu and Hiragi Katsuko." Katsuko blinked at the Hollow's information before his hand grabbed her entire head and urged her to look in front of her. And then her body followed along to look when she felt the woman maneuver her around. Several feet away stood a man with a Zanpakuto. He had black hair and was the same height as the Hollow version of her Zanpakuto. Seeing him made Katsuko quirk a brow. Shisugu had ash blond hair, did he not? So, was his hair black because of hers? With a light nudge, she managed to escape the arm on her head.

"So, this is what you let me become because I was deaf to you? Were you trying to erase me?"

On her right, the Hollow snorted and flipped around his sword. "As if I'd let you perish. I can't let you die."

On her left, The gray haired woman gave him a side eye before scoffing. "But you have such an extreme way of showing it." She gestured towards the man who refused to look at Katsuko as if he was ignoring her existence.

Katsuko and the female Arashihoro gave the Hollow an apathetic stare when he huffed in annoyance.

"The point is," He pointed his blade at the man. "He can't keep you trapped away in her forever." He shook his head. "It's impossible because you are the dominant soul by nature as long as you keep fighting. This fake could never hope to occupy the space. I certainly would never allow such nonsense. I mean, you can get swallowed by it if you want-"

"Fuck no."

"Good answer."

"By relying on him but never opening your heart to him," Katsuko looked at the woman. "He was allowed to keep the fragment at bay. But there's only so much he can do. This struggle was bound to happen because you have Soul Reaper powers."

By accepting the Hollow, her Zanpakuto, she accepted the abnormality in her soul, Now, she was forced to face it. Katsuko turned back to the Hollow Arashihoro who was smirking at the figure in the distance. The eagerness to finally deal with the annoyance was radiating off him. Her dark brown eyes widened when she came to realize just how much he was doing to protect her. He was always doing something to protect her, wasn't he? And she didn't even understand it.

Sensing the way she was looking at him, he turned to look at her and saw her quickly avert her eyes away and face the enemy in front of them. He scoffed in slight amusement.

"Anyway, it's going to take some effort to throw him off his high horse. You just need to keep fighting to assert your rightful dominance. The fragment was only allowed to come out as a result of you not understanding and imposing your rightful dominance over it. You basically allowed it to exist since you were ignorant. But look on the bright side, you're now able to reject the memories so keep it up and we'll finally have some peace and quiet."

Ah. I see.

To reject something meant to dismiss something. But how could she properly reject something without understanding it?

And with acceptance came renewed hope.

Katsuko started walking forward without them. Her eyes sharpened determinedly. "I'll do it." Her Zanpakutos were left to watch her smaller back advance to the identity currently occupying her body. They could sense the resolve seeping out of her. The resolve to take back what was hers. It made the two spirits glance at each other for a moment, sharing a knowing look. "This was going to be inevitable because of my Zanpakuto and because of who I am, right? Then I'm not going to back down now." She looked over her shoulder with a peeved expression. "I have to go home after this and eat a nice hot bowl of noodles and maybe sleep for two freaking days because I've been through enough shit."

Without another word, she turned and hurled her right sword at him.

It successfully pierced his back, forcing him to stagger with the sound of sloshing water.

The attack forced the man to turn around and finally look at her. He was the spitting image of the Hollow and Naogoma Shisugu except that he had Katsuko's dark hair. He was looking at her with those shining green eyes.

"Look at me, jerk."

As soon as the presence of spiritual pressure penetrated through Las Noches, Noctter erupted in mysterious laughter, confusing Grimmjow awake. He wondered why Noctter, who was previously so quiet, decided to leave the room to apparently 'visit' Katsuko.

Why?

Why did he believe that Katsuko was in a dark room all alone?

It was puzzling. However, Grimmjow had an inkling that it had to be because Katsuko reared her head again after going silent. She disappeared completely for hours and he figured she finally lost the fight against her soul. That is until he felt her presence dominate Noctter's several minutes after he left the room.

Grimmjow's icy blue eyes opened and looked at the wall in front of him. He was lying on his side with his arm acting as a cushion for his head.

He could almost imagine Katsuko aggressively pulling Noctter and throwing him behind her. That's what the surge of her spiritual pressure felt like.

"How stubborn."

...

…

In the empty corridor, Noctter leaned back against the wall. His expression was nothing short of annoyance as he looked at his attire. He was wearing similar clothing to the traitor trio.

"God… did he dress me up like a doll? Ridiculous."

So was the name given to him.

He closed his eyes as he reached for his free hand and started removing the ring situated on his right ring finger. Due to possessing bigger hands, the ring was beginning to hurt because of the blood circulation being cut. He actually missed his smaller hands for this reason. However, keeping the ring on him would be too risky if Noctter decided to throw it away out of annoyance.

With a little smile, he closed his eyes.

Katsuko smiled a little as Noctter was forced onto his knees from the pressure of enforcing her dominance.

"You'll learn that I'm going to be relentless. Any sign of weakness and I'll take my chance to put you down until you ultimately fade away. It might not be now… but I'll get there."

Noctter groaned and started pushing himself up. Both of Arashihoro were quick to come down and pierce his back mercilessly. The Hollow had a sinister grin while the woman glared sharply. The second Noctter lifted his head, they each took a handful of his hair and slammed his head into the floor, causing water to surge high up in the air.

Katsuko clenched her hands and took a deep breath.

Earlier, she felt Ichigo, Chad, Ishida, Inoue, Renji, and Rukia appear in Hueco Mundo.

When she realized what was happening, she felt confused. How could they have entered Hueco Mundo just like that? How could the court members stationed in Karakura Town possibly allow Ichigo to storm into enemy territory?

But when she thought of Ichigo, she remembered seeing how determined he was to save Rukia. Still, he did that because he owed Rukia for saving him. That thought was about to shatter whatever delusion she had about him coming to Hueco Mundo to save her. She forgot, just for a second, just what kind of person Ichigo was.

He wanted to save Rukia just because he owed her? What?

It made her laugh pitifully at her pessimism and thought to herself, 'Right… How could I forget?'

She wanted to go to the Soul Society because she cared about Ichigo's well-being.

Wasn't it the same for him?

Her soundless prayer felt answered. There was hope.

But if she wanted to attain that hope, then she had to do everything she could to connect with it. Even if her actions were going to be limited, she wouldn't let her friends' efforts be in vain.

She was going to fight too.

"You'll be attacked from both sides," Katsuko informed him. "You attack my friends… and I'll attack you from the inside as well."

For some reason, Noctter couldn't exactly reply directly to her words. Instead, they just seem to flow in her mind.

With her hands cupped behind her ears, she raised her head and closed her eyes.

'I'll tell you all the juicy details about their deaths.'

Katsuko clicked her tongue and glared at him, "You–"

Her eyes widened when she slipped and stumbled on the watery floor while Noctter started getting back up. With a scoff, she silently stared daggers at the man who began turning away from her again.

How irritating.

"Sado-kun!"

"Chad!"

Everyone armed themselves immediately while the sword was violently pulled out of him, coating the floor in his blood. Chad stumbled while Inoue quickly put her healing abilities to use.

Katsuko's eyes flared angrily and she pressured Noctter's side to have him back down. However, she was beginning to realize how hard it was when he wouldn't budge. This is what her Hollow side was talking about when he said 'effort'.

It looked like the more Noctter was worked up or invested in something, the harder it was to shatter his concentration.

Both of Arashihoro were pushed off him and were trying to pin him down again. But it was hard.

Earlier, Aizen gave them the task of pushing Ichigo and giving him the incentive to rescue Katsuko. The girl in question could not fathom why he wanted to Noctter to do that. It just didn't make sense. After that, Katsuko was on alert for anything dangerous Noctter would do to her allies.

Seeing herself ruthlessly stab Chad in the back made her feel terrible. The image and sounds were already engraved into her mind. It made her nauseous. She didn't want him to die because of her.

She was ever so grateful to Inoue for moving fast to heal her friend.

Chisaki's Zanpakuto shook with how tightly she gripped her Zanpakuto. "My eyes tell me… you are Naogoma Shisugu, but my heart and soul knows that you're a fake! Has Aizen somehow been desecrating the dead as well?!"

Katsuko scowled. "At least you somewhat figured it out."

Right, it almost slipped her mind that 'Naogoma' was Chisaki's name as well. It made sense for her to recognize the face she was wearing right now.

"I want you all," Noctter spread his arms to gesture to all the paths. "To take different paths that might lead to Hiragi Katsuko!" He cheerfully swayed again.

"Why are you insistent on this?" Ishida asked warily. Inoue was almost done healing Chad's wounds.

"And what if we don't?" Ichigo glared at Noctter. As if he'd let the enemy play them like this. Ichigo didn't have time to play games or solve riddles. He just wanted to find Katsuko and get her out of here. "We're in a hurry, and we don't have time to play by your rules."

Katsuko thought of the ring in her pocket. It was still there. But it wasn't safe with her. It needed to be in good hands for the time being. She couldn't allow herself to carry it until she resolved her predicament.

Also, if she couldn't break Noctter from the inside yet then maybe he needed to break from the outside? Yeah. Maybe that would work. It might just help her.

So, for now, she concentrated all her power into incenting Noctter to give away the ring to Ichigo.

At least, with him, it would be safe and it would give Ichigo and the others more reason to defeat Noctter.

Good excuse.

Noctter's crystal green eyes narrowed in displeasure. Noctter could appreciate his 'no bullshit' attitude to saving his friend.

Noctter casually dug into his pocket to take something out. Ishida, Renji, and Rukia got ready to attack in case he tried something. To their surprise, he pulled out his closed fist and held it up, watching Ichigo's reaction. "You want to find out?" He threw something at Ichigo. It was small. The orange haired teen easily caught it in his hand before it made contact with his face.

Renji and Ichigo looked together when he opened his hand.

Ichigo stiffened in shock.

A ring.

"Sorry, Ichigo. Help me take me down."

Katsuko and Arashihoro refused to let the imposter use their abilities for his benefit. Several times, Noctter unconsciously tried to use her Shikai, but her Arashihoro refused, immediately sticking their middle fingers in the air, refusing to aid this man who wasn't their Master.

Instead of using her Zanpakuto's abilities, he instead relied on her proficiency in Kido to use fire.

When Ichigo stopped and prepared himself for Noctter's next attack, he spotted him somewhat at the far end of the room, dragging the tip of his Zanpakuto against the floor, leaving a trail of fire behind Nel who screamed in fright.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

She had moved instinctively when she felt him about to light the little kid on fire. God, she didn't want this poor kid to get incinerated by Kido. She swung her blade at him from behind but he ducked and maneuvered around to slam his leg into her side and proceeded to blast her away with some type of energy.

The Hollow, who was running towards her, grabbed the back of her Shihakusho and threw her back towards Noctter, scaring her. But she managed to move around in the air with her blades pointed downwards while the gentle version of Arashihoro darted with a burst of wind from another direction. Unfortunately, Noctter flash stepped away just before their blades could hit him and an explosion of water rose in the air from Katsuko's landing and Arashihoro's wind.

What a rat.

With similar irritated expressions, Katsuko and Arashihoro looked to where Noctter was situated.

It was already frustrating her that she couldn't do anything for Chad whose spiritual pressure dropped earlier. As much as it pained her, she had to do what she could now before anything else.

If she couldn't stop him from lighting a kid on fire, then how could she possibly hope of stopping him from killing a friend? She needed to figure something out fast!

"Nel!"

Nel ran away from the fire to hide near a safer pillar that Ichigo pointed her to. It didn't look like anywhere was safe though.

Arashihoro attacked Noctter with wind and lightning only to get blown away by the same energy.

"Tch, fucking annoying." The Hollow spat as he slid to a stop in the water. He took a step back and swiveled around to slash at the water. A ray of lightning flashed and boomed before darting towards Noctter. The woman sent a giant arc of wind flowing after the lightning. The two elements swirled around each other and homed on Noctter's body. Meanwhile, Katsuko flash stepped after the elements with her blades ready.

Noctter wasn't ready for the sync attacks crashing into him. He gasped and fell forward.

Ichigo got him when he pushed him further back against the walls of flames, hoping to make his attack his undoing.

Katsuko let out a cry and slashed his back with her blades, forcing him down to his knees.

A strike right across the chest. Noctter's crystal-green eyes locked with Ichigo's Hollowfied ones.

Noctter looked back and saw Katsuko raising her left blade for another strike. The Zanpakuto spirits were charging their attacks, waiting for the next move. She wore a smirk on her face since she was very pleased to know that the effects from within were staggering him on the outside.

When her blade came down, Noctter finally used his blade to block her attack.

"Oh? Are you feeling pressured now?" Katsuko slurred, raising her other blade to slam it down on him. She brought her face close to his and looked him dead in the eye. "Good."

Without relenting, she slammed her blades above him in turn while he struggled to fend her off. Her sword spirits were zooming at him from both sides.

The strange thing about Noctter was that he couldn't understand that Katsuko was him. He created his own narrative when it came to the kidnapped Katsuko. After getting his attention the first time, he finally saw her and believed she was sitting in her dark room in Hueco Mundo. It's what he chose to believe. He ignored the noise from within

But now, he was reacting to her consciousness and was clashing against her and Arashihoro.

Katsuko's eyes widened when Ichigo's mask broke. That's not good.

Noctter ducked and knocked her off her feet with a swoop of his leg. Ruthlessly, he pierced into her shoulder to pin her down, evoking a cry from her lungs. He used Kido to knock back Arashihoro.

"See? Excess baggage wasted your time."

Noctter pierced Ichigo's abdomen with a boring look. He stepped closer and leaned in Ichigo's face after suddenly grabbing his wrist to stop him from swinging his sword. Ichigo's brown eyes glared at him while Noctter's crystal green eyes peered into his as if searching for the strength of his resolve after stabbing him.

"I don't get you." Noctter drove the blade further inside his body, making Ichigo wince with gasps and then groan when Noctter twisted it inside of him.

"Stop it! Stop hurting Itsygo!"

Katsuko desperately enforced pressure on Noctter when she felt herself shove the blade deeper into her friend's body. She couldn't get up because the sword locked her in place. She couldn't remove it. The Hollow took over for her to clash against him while the woman went over to her to help her remove the sword from her shoulder.

Lightning and Kido flashed everywhere. The woman finally took out the sword and threw it away. But as if he owned it, the blade stopped spinning away and then darted back to Noctter. Katsuko groaned and rolled onto her stomach before focusing on stopping Noctter.

"You come charging in guns blazing without even considering how you affect your allies who want to help you. A true friend would at least tell his friend to back down if they were too weak. Like that loser I stabbed." Noctter dug his nails into Ichigo's wrist.

"What the hell…?!" Katsuko growled, pressuring Noctter even more. Damn him and his concentration! He was on his knees and struggling against her but he still wasn't relenting.

…

For the first time, Katsuko wondered if it would have been better if Ichigo never came for her.

She stopped fighting back against Noctter when she took a good look at her friend. He was on one knee, bleeding out. His entire right sleeve of his Shikuasho was gone and his exposed arm was covered in red. She stiffened when she saw the burned and torn flesh of it.

Her grip on her swords shook.

"Clever of you. You used Getsuga Tenshou to reduce the damage from the fire blast." Noctter crouched in front of Ichigo to be at eye level. "I'm impressed, you know?"

Maybe learning all this Kido was a mistake.

"You're crazy if you think that'll be enough to kill me." Ichigo spat, pushing himself up on his feet, ready to fight. Nel clung to his hakama worriedly, begging him to be careful. "I told you, I'm here to rescue Katsuko. I'm not going to die here."

"You don't want to give up?"

"No way." Ichigo gripped his Zanpakuto tighter. "I'll defeat you here and be on my way."

"Ooh, I like that answer. Yes, if you died, Hiragi Katsuko would most certainly cry. It would be her fault that the Hero tried to save her."

The Hollow of Arashihoro set his blade on his shoulder when he saw how crestfallen his wielder looked over the sight of the orange haired boy.

Noctter Grandett was the persona representing the chaos within Katsuko connected by the Hollow. Anything he saw, she saw. Anything he did and felt, she was the same. In addition, the noise from within ended up being a different echo on the outside. Katsuko's loyalty to her friends was being transformed into Noctter's sudden loyalty to Grimmjow. Katsuko's knowledge was used as taunts against her allies.

The gentler version of Arashihoro placed her hands on Katsuko's shoulders to snap her out of it. "Focus now."

"You care about the boy that much?" The Hollow sighed.

Katsuko didn't entertain him with a response. Instead, she shut her eyes and shook her head to heed her sword spirit before turning to fix her attention on the inner Noctter Grandett. The sudden fear of losing friends, robbing them of their life, needed to be pushed down. She needed to focus. There wasn't a moment where she was allowed to falter or be consoled. She needed to toughen up and keep looking forward to a better ending.

The Hollow scoffed and flipped his sword to hold it backwards.

Like all Zanpakuto spirits, he originated from Katsuko's soul, a reflecting piece of her. Arashihoro was a soul with a unique self with a personality influenced by their master. However, their thoughts and feelings differed from their master.

Half of Arashihoro just couldn't help but dislike Kurosaki Ichigo.

All of a sudden, they both felt two spiritual pressures become incredibly feeble.

Gin lifted his head with a curious expression. "Oh? This spiritual pressure feels like… Kuchiki Rukia and… Aaroniero Arruruerie."

Katsuko paused when dread filled her entire being. Just now, she felt Rukia's presence rapidly drop, becoming nothing but a feeble sensation. Her mind rapidly shelved out the memories she had of Rukia, the ones where she looked alive and well before suddenly conjuring up an image of her looking lifeless.

It scared her.

Especially when she slowly started raising her arm towards her to do something. However, as if to accompany that feeling of Rukia fading away, the image of her looking dead was beginning to scatter like pieces of light or snow blowing in the wind, leaving nothing concrete for her to hold on to.

Rukia was dying.

For once, Noctter's usual moods were nowhere to be found.

He was incredibly shocked by the news and what he felt.

"No way. They were defeated…?!"

Katsuko didn't wait for another second. She grabbed the back of Noctter's Shihakusho when he was struck with the same disbelief and violently threw him down on his side. She grabbed his hair and shoved his face into the water, smashing it against the floor and pinning him down angrily.

When he tried moving, she simply stabbed him into the floor through his lower back.

Gin moved his attention back to Noctter, curiously watching the new expression on his face. His eyebrows rose in surprise when he saw the way her face reverted to the feminine face she once had.

"Uwa… how creepy."

From her spot on the floor and head looking up at the ceiling, her eyes then darted to the side to look at Ichimaru Gin who was sitting in his chair. As usual, he smiled at her and then leaned back in his seat and placed his elbow on the armrest to lean his cheek on his knuckles.

Katsuko stiffened when Gin's smile grew wider. For some reason, she could almost feel a snake slowly slithering up her body and going around her. The snake came dangerously close to her throat. Its little tongue flickered in and out, tickling the skin of her neck.

Gin focused his attention back on the map of the corridors on the table. He was back to messing with the paths.

"Kuchiki Rukia just might die soon."

Hesitantly, Katsuko shuffled away from Gin. She needed to move. But what did he mean by that? Wasn't she already dying? Why did he insinuate a probability?

"... What do you mean?" She was weirded out by the lower octave of her voice.

Gin lightly tapped the table which changed some colours on the table.

"Just that there's no one here that would want to get in your way."

Oh.

The snake lost interest and slithered away.

Without any more delay, Katsuko was running.

In a cold room with a floor covered in ice, Rukia was lying face down on the floor and her body was stuck against the hard floor. The human Soul Reaper raced over to the girl when she felt the weak spiritual pressure radiating off her more clearly. Her body flew to her side and her hands hovered in the air unsure what to do with them.

"Rukia…!" Katsuko's eyes scanned her body desperately to find the source of the injury. But because the Shikakusho was black it was hard to see the colour red. She could only see it on the ice. So, she just set her right hand on her back and felt around for something wet and warm. She felt more than just blood. There was a weird feeling under her fingertips that told her it wasn't just fabric she was touching, causing her to recoil her hand away in fright.

She bit her lip when processed in the sight and the feeling of torn flesh.

God. She hated the horror of seeing a friend like this. It was so much worse than feeling it. The sights kept her heart in a vice grip.

She was the reason why this was happening.

And she was only capable of trying to stop it.

It's hard to mentally take this...

Katsuko squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed her hair tightly and hoped that the pain would steel her.

"Don't let it be in vain." She repeated to herself as a way to comfort herself.

Don't give up.

But most importantly, don't let it break you.

Stay strong.

You have no choice but to be.

One of the great things about being able to sense spiritual pressure is that she didn't have to waste time verifying someone's current status. Lowering her hands came before opening her eyes again. She was able to calm down a little.

Katsuko saw Rukia's eyes close slowly. It was almost like watching the curtain draw, signaling the end. It made her heart rate spike and she tried to shake the petite reaper awake. But wouldn't that cause more harm if she tore the first layer of her skin because of the ice? Realizing this potential, Katsuko's hands flew off her body to prevent it from happening.

"Rukia! Don't die, okay? I… I'll help you!" Katsuko pleaded.

How bad was this injury?

Damn it, she couldn't see it with Rukia being stuck to the ice like this!

Katsuko made a move to grab her Zanpakuto to break her out of it. However, she paused when she realized it might be too risky.

Noctter Grandett might regain control with a Zanpakuto in hand.

Bad idea.

God, why were there so many things to freaking consider?! I don't have time for that!

Her choice was made. Overthinking was the wrong choice. Swiftly, she took out her Zanpakuto and released her Shikai to shatter the ice away with the wind. She shuffled closer to Rukia so that she could rest her hands on her back, sheathing her sword away in case of a sudden switch. She shifted her body enough to take a look at the injury hidden away.

Rukia had been pierced through.

Katsuko cringed.

She needed to heal Rukia's body.

She chose to set her body back the way she found it.

The black haired girl closed her eyes to concentrate. She dug through the archives of her memory as she thought of Grimmjow. When she thought of healing, she could only think of him. He was the clue. She needed to remember how she was able to repair Grimmjow's arm. Visualization was the key. It always was. It shouldn't be too hard. Back with him, she learned to casually activate it a few times.

Just remember and visualize.

She pictured Rukia in perfect health with those eyes of hers filled with life. A body capable of moving around without any trouble. No blood. No death.

She was concentrating hard as if she was putting a piece of thread through a needle.

When she reopened her eyes, she saw her hands producing a light. Her eyes widened a little when she noticed that her hands looked smaller. Her sleeves were black and her long hair was forming a curtain around her face with how she had her face tilted downward. After pausing due to being unable to have a proper response, she placed one of her hands on her face and smoothed her hair back to touch the back of her hair that was longer.

She was able to regain her form.

That meant that the change wasn't definite. It was just as Arashihoro told her. Noctter could never definitely replace her. But what was the trigger for this to happen? How could she take advantage of it to permanently throw Noctter away? She needed to think. As all the possibilities started racing through her mind, she started feeling Rukia's spiritual pressure slowly stabilize, forcing her to bring her attention back to Rukia.

She saw her eyes slowly open again.

But she still looked incredibly weak.

Katsuko focused on Rukia's injury with one hand and moved around to get closer to her face. She put a hand on her cheek to mostly brush away the hair hiding her eyes. She needed to see her eyes to make sure she was still trying to open them. With how hard she concentrated on such a difficult task, she saw droplets of sweat landing on her cheek. It was the exertion of Kido getting to her again. That was weird. It seemed like she was getting tired too early.

Oh.

Damn it.

She was on a time limit.

"Just hang in there, Rukia…" Katsuko breathed. "I'll find a way to come back for sure."

Now, she owed it to them to come out victorious.

For both girls, it looked like a struggle to stay awake. Fortunately, Katsuko pushed through enough to stabilize her condition as best as she could. When she saw the damage finally reversed, she stopped her Kido and her body tilted to the side. She felt like passing out. But her hand stopped her from falling. She needed to get away from Rukia right away.

I can already feel the bastard waking back up.

With tired breaths, she hastily pushed herself up and began making her way out, leaving the way she came. The sensation was odd. It felt like she was slipping out of her body, losing the feeling of her sleeves rustling against her skin. She thought she was losing her arms so she took a look at them. Her eyes first noticed the change in her hands. They were becoming bigger again. Then, her sleeves started becoming white.

"Fuck… I wanted to help Chad too…" Several apologies went unsaid to him as she mumbled, enduring the changes her body was forced to undergo. The painful cracks and jerks in her body were a pain she never felt before. And god, did it suck.

She was able to make it out of the cold room and into the light of the outside world. That was good. She was getting farther away from Rukia. But her body could only handle so much before her knees started failing her. Clumsily, she held onto the side of the bridge and was forced to peer down. Nothing but sand. Great.

Katsuko gave Rukia one last worried glance.

"Just stay safe until you wake up…"

Noctter was coming back now.

With a groan, she pushed herself up on her feet and leaned over the edge to let herself fall over.

An act of defiance to Noctter and her way of protecting Rukia from him.

I hope you fall face first and eat sand.

Noctter was pissed.

"How did you heal Kuchiki Rukia?!"

It was almost embarrassing to watch.

The second he recovered from the fall and gathered his bearings, the first thing he did was march over to the room she was supposedly trapped in. He was banging on the door, demanding to know how she could have possibly healed Rukia.

"Answer me!"

Katsuko rolled her eyes and flexed her wrist that was holding her sword that was back in its sealed state while her other hand held her arm. Both her Zanpakuto spirits were also annoyed.

Noctter had erected a wall that successfully blocked them out. It was probably his anger. It caused several of Katsuko's attacks to fail and she got blasted away a few times.

"I won't let her die. I won't let her die on a suicide mission." Katsuko spat.

"So you help her…? Don't be so naive! You don't get to do anything unless Aizen tells you to, do you hear me?! Those people are not your allies! You fight under Aizen's banner! You don't do anything else but do things that do not go against Aizen! You hear me?!"

"He's talking to himself out there." The lightning scoffed.

"This is ridiculous." The wind spoke, entirely fed up with this never-ending tug-of-war. "How much longer is this going to take? The progress is so slow."

Noctter slammed his fist on the door again.

"HIRAGI KATSUKO!"

Right when he said her name, Katusko stiffened when she felt another friend fall. Her body became cold and she dropped her sword. The overwhelming anxiety and despair were flooding her veins.

Ichigo was dying.

This time wasn't like Rukia.

This one felt like his life was barely flickering. The wisps of his life just barely hanging on against the cold blizzard. As if it would vanish at any second.

Her hands came together and they anxiously clasped as she looked around. No. no. no. He couldn't die. He couldn't die like that. Not good!

The sword was snatched off the floor quickly. Urgently, she released her Shikai and clashed against the invisible wall that was protecting Noctter's back.

"MOVE!" Katsuko yelled. In reply, the wall blasted her left hand and sent her sword flying out of her hands. Instead of running back to fetch it, she used Kido to make a blade of light as its replacement. Time was precious. She slammed both her weapons into the wall, causing a loud echo and a ripple. The Hollow flash stepped in the air and appeared in mid-swing with lightning flickering on his blade. He simply knocked back the sword when it came close to him, infusing it with lightning, and had it dart back to the wall.

It pierced through, causing a large crack that started stretching everywhere.

Grimmjow stopped Noctter from continuing his pointless anger towards Katsuko.

Noctter blinked after Grimmjow shoved him away from his damn face.

"Ahahaha~ The sixth Espada asking me to heal his prey?" He shook with delight as he laughed, appearing almost innocent and childlike. "And you could not ask anyone but me? Why, I feel loved! But what if I say no? " He said playfully, ignoring the way Grimmjow glowered. Noctter easily freed himself from Grimmjow's grasp so he could lean back against the wall with his arms folded on his chest. "So, what's the plan?"

"What do you think? I'm gonna kill him."

"Then go ahead."

"I'm not gonna kill a pitiful prey on death's door. What I need is for you to bring him back in top shape so that I can kill him. Now, come on."

Noctter paused. "Ah!" he had a look of realization. His fist dropped in his palm. "You want absolute undisputable victory! Oh wow, that's quite the goal! And after the trouble that Ulquiorra did to render him immobile!" Noctter chuckled in front of him, appearing so very pleased by Grimmjow's plan. "I daresay, that's noble of you."

Noctter yelped when Grimmjow suddenly yanked his coat to the side to bring his face close to his ear.

"Maaan," Noctter whined childishly. "What's the big idea, blue?"

"Are you really going to let him die for nothing?" Grimmjow's eyes looked at Noctter from the side. "You're going to let him die?"

"NO!"

Katsuko and the other half of Arashihoro slammed their attacks into the wall and easily shattered it. Noctter swiveled around and used his sword to guard Katsuko and Arashihoro's blades. His face almost mirrored Katsuko's expression: utter desperation. Seeing his face hardened her features, making her look more angry than desperate. He didn't get to look like that when he had nothing at stake. It was almost like he was mocking her!

Grimmjow sensed Noctter's spiritual pressure flicker abnormally, causing him to pull away and look at him.

His left eye became dark brown.

Katsuko released the light blade in favour of using the repulsing force. With the wind at her side keeping him focused on guarding, it was so easy to knock back his face when her palm smacked his cheek with Kido. The female Arashihoro grabbed his sword arm before he completely fell back from the repulsion. The same hand that hit him in the face hit him in the center of his being before suddenly pulling away, the powerful strike to his lower abdomen caused him to reel back with a gasp.

As the wind released him, he unsteadily wobbled backwards. Katsuko lifted her open palm and left sword, each embedded with Kido and wind, before mercilessly striking him just as the Hollow savagely came down on him from above with raging lightning. The sound of impact and the force at which his body was forced down made the water explode in the air.

Katsuko and Arashihoro pinned him down by piercing his body into the ground.

"I can't let him die…" Noctter breathed. "I don't want him to die…"

Grimmjow scoffed at the complete mess standing in front of him. "Then stop wasting my time and go heal him."

The brown eye started fading away again as the green returned. But Noctter looked ready to assist Grimmjow now compared to before.

"… W-Will you really save Itsygo…?! Please heal him again!" Nel begged the enemy. She couldn't do anything but cry and beg to save him. "You did it before… you can heal him! Please…! Itsygo doesn't deserve to be like this... it should have been Nel! It's all Nel's fault!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Noctter waved his hand dismissively without turning away from Ichigo. "Be quiet already. Your voice echoes in the room." Nel stopped her little crawl next to Noctter to stare at Ichigo. "I'll make sure he's back on his feet again."

"Will you really save Itsygo…?!"

"Stop asking already." Noctter turned to the tiny Arrancar and poked her nose, pushing her head away.

Nel paused when she saw the look on his face.

Noctter looked ready to cry.

It was hard.

My heart wasn't supposed to endure stuff like this.

It wasn't meant to feel such despair.

I don't want any of you to die.

Seeing Ichigo's lifeless eyes up close brought a different sense of dread into her stomach. And it was like she could almost see his finger pointing towards her, blaming her for his current state.

The first sign of Katsuko overcoming her chaos was when Rukia was dying. She was able to come out and maintain herself until she finished her task. The second sign was with Grimmjow when he enticed her to heal Ichigo. She wasn't able to come out but she was able to maintain her desire to heal Ichigo. Physical and mental presence.

The third sign was the vacant room. Subconsciously, Noctter was beginning to realize that Katsuko couldn't be kept under control. It completely threw him off and frazzled his mind to the point where he was beginning to call Aizen by the name she used to call him in her previous life.

It all tipped the balance in Katsuko's favor thanks to her relentless fighting.

In addition, Aizen's words to Noctter about following his heart made things a little more complicated.

Noctter was Katsuko, and Katsuko was Noctter.

Their intentions differed which resulted in their scales being constantly unbalanced. But Aizen's words gave both of them the freedom to act if they could achieve control. And with Katsuko being the dominant soul by nature and proving it with her resistance, it was giving her easier access to her body and the strength needed to pin down Noctter.

…

"I'm warning you. Leave that guy alone. He's mine." Grimmjow grabbed the front of his coat. "You hear me?!"

There was no playful retort to that. There wasn't a laugh.

No, just an action.

Noctter smiled and fell forward on his knees between Grimmjow's legs. To the Arrancar's shock, Noctter gingerly wrapped his arms around his neck and placed a hand gently atop his blue hair. What was with this embrace? Grimmjow's eyes widened when felt Noctter's black hair touch the side of his face. If he wanted to, he could easily kill Grimmjow.

It would be little challenge.

But he would never do that.

Why would he?

"It's alright. I want to fight and protect you in my own way. If I see my friends hurt and could use some help, I'll obviously go and protect them. I don't want to just sit and watch. Get hurt? Then I'll support you. Can't move? Well damn, I guess I'll have to fight in your place."

Noctter was loyal to his friends.

"I'm just following my heart."

Noctter's body shifted against the Arrancar's. Grimmjow groaned and lifted a hand to push off Noctter from him, slightly repulsed by his touch, leaving the Soul Reaper's hands on his shoulders.

He stilled when he saw Noctter's appearance.

His face changed into Katsuko's face. If he was seeing someone else's face, a girl's face, then that meant she was regaining control.

With Noctter's unstable feelings, Katsuko was able to drag him down and resurface.

Realizing what she was doing, she scowled and ripped her hands off Grimmjow. "Weird."

"No shit." He was looking at something weird alright. "Touch me like that again and your arms are finished."

"I wasn't even the one who touched you!"

"Just shut up."

Green eyes examined Grimmjow's arms and then his entire body. The injuries he suffered were hard to miss. And Ichigo was the one that did it to him. As for Grimmjow, he was observing the way her form was going back to its previous state. It was creepy.

Grimmjow was an enemy. Even if he was civil with her because she chose to be civil with him, he was still an enemy. Normally, she wouldn't dare heal an enemy that her ally defeated. But she also didn't like the idea of possibly leaving him to die. It wouldn't be her fault if he did. And there were already a few people she knew who went through near-death stages. Maybe she was trying to make herself feel better? She wasn't quite sure. But she just knew that she didn't want him dead.

Just like with Hisagi, she thought it must have been stupid… but her heart wouldn't let her get up and walk away.

So she placed a hand on his chest and patted twice as she looked down. She was almost disappointed with her compassionate heart. "Just this once."

As Grimmjow recognized the Kido touching his body, he clicked his tongue and looked away from her. He was immensely annoyed. What was she thinking, healing an enemy like this?

He detested the idea of owing favors.

"You're stupid."

"I feel like it, yeah."

It was only after she healed him did she come up with the excuse that she did it for Noctter so that he could calm down a little.

After giving minimum healing for Grimmjow, she took her leave and climbed up the tower she found herself in.

On the way up, she had to pass through floors that had Arrancars hiding in the shadows. Some of them were easy to deal with while others proved better challenges. Their power didn't resemble Grimmjow's. It leaned more towards Cloverras.

Katsuko blankly stared at the Privaron Espadas that were aiming their blades at her.

How strange.

Those feelings she usually carried about being cautious to come out alive were absent. No, the feeling of needing to be very cautious to survive the fights was replaced by average cautiousness. Now there was the simple thought of 'how can I take them down without too much fuss?'

If she had to take a guess it had to be because she needed to assume she had a limited time and her change of perception of things.

One of the Privaron had auburn hair and a long pale face. With how quickly and smoothly he drew his sword and swung at her after using Sonido, she pictured a snake slithering. Her leg drew back and she bent backwards to avoid a stroke. The faint sound of the blade slicing the air echoed in her ears. She met his black eyes and then leaned her head back to look upside down to see another Privaron trying to slice her head off.

Katsuko just grabbed the Privaron in front of her to pull herself up and yank him towards her at the same time. He let out a yelp when she swiveled around him and landed her foot square in his back. The one that was trying to come at her from behind skidded to a stop and unintentionally caught his ally. She didn't hesitate to pull out her steel and slash him across his back. The sight of his blood spilling did not deter her eyes from maintaining a cold disposition.

There were a few clashes with steel until she drew them all together and reappeared behind them.

"Rend, Arashihoro."

With a burst of spiritual pressure, her swords split into two and she lifted her left blade high in the air as it gathered wind. With her green eyes, she looked at the four enemies in the room. The annoying house flies. She wasn't even going to wait for them to use their release. Mercilessly, she swung her sword down and caused a current of wind to fly their way and cut their bodies.

Her right blade flashed and exploded with lightning. Like the first time it manifested, the lightning whipped around wildly, ready to be launched. It caused scratches on the floor when it stretched far enough but it never once scratch her.

She didn't wait for them to regain their footing and simply turned and slashed at the floor.

A beat.

The ground exploded when a ray of lightning traveled and darted towards them all where they gathered. Collective shouts of pain were ripped from them when they were slammed into a wall. They broke through it and fell into the corridor behind it. She could see sparks of lightning dancing across their body while they remained still and unable to move. They were all obviously injured.

"Haah..." Katsuko let out a short sigh and started walking over to them with her Shikai still active. They remained ready at her side with wind and lightning swirling around the respective blades.

The second she saw one of them move with hostility, she swung her blades upwards, forming an X as the elements crashed into them, and just watched a cloud of smoke smokescreen the group.

And one more for good measure because you can't be too sure.

She pointed her blades at the smoke and increased the output of spiritual power, launching a powerful attack of wind and lightning.

This time, they were down for sure.

Still alive but down.

Katsuko flexed her wrists before swinging down her swords, stopping her attacks. She jutted out her bottom lip and blew her hair out of her eyes as she turned around and kept moving. She coldly stared ahead and flicked her blades when she flexed her wrists again. She was starting to get the hang of this.

Arashihoro was barely keeping Noctter at bay because it was easier to subdue that identity now that the scales were in her favor. She was already up to speed with the current situation. But she had to wonder why the captains of the Soul Society, a few of them, decided to show up as well. She was able to identify the presence of Captain Unohana, the woman who she saw in her cell, and Kuchiki Byakuya, Rukia's brother, but the other two weren't quite familiar to her since she didn't personally encounter them in the Soul Society.

I wonder why they showed up.

"To save you, perhaps?" The wind spoke.

"I doubt it." Katsuko scoffed. "I'm not important to them."

"It's more realistic to think they're here for the enemy." The lightning spoke.

"That's a more plausible answer."

She wouldn't have to worry too much about the Captains seeing her as an enemy now that she felt out of Noctter's reach. She could feel him trying to swim back to the surface. But as if he was caught underneath the floor of her Inner World, he couldn't break through. Since the scales were in her favour and because she had imposed her rightful dominance over him, he couldn't climb back out. She just needed to keep him away until he either faded away or until she lost dominance and needed to regain control. She hoped it wouldn't have to be the latter since it was the most annoying process. It felt like she was going to be just fine. All she needed to do now was try and regroup with the others and explain this annoying predicament she was in.

When she used flash step to cover the rest of the way up and get into the next room, the last thing she expected was to see Aizen at the top. She deadpanned at his presence as he stood in the center of the room.

"Check it, it's your ex-best friend." The Hollow sneered. Katsuko could almost picture the other half of Arashihoro shaking her head with a roll of her eyes.

"Interesting. It seems that certain variables can cause empowerment for an identity."

"Still talking about me like I'm an experiment…" Katsuko muttered to herself. She sighed with her shoulders, shaking her head. Then she looked at Aizen and gave him a lazy shrug. "Who are you talking to? Me? Or Shisugu?"

The man calmly smiled. "Who else is in front of me?"

Again, Katsuko shook her head. That's an ambiguous answer. Is he even looking at me? "Your old friend doesn't exist." She gesticulated her hand. "Your obsession with seeing the deceased makes me think you have attachment issues."

Amusing.

Aizen closed his eyes and shook his head. "I prefer to look at it as observing the results of one of my first major experiments. I will admit that things turned out quite differently than what I predicted." He opened his eyes again. "But even if the results ended up being different, one can always recycle old pieces to achieve another goal. There are always some kind of fruits to one's labor."

"I'm not Naogoma Shisugu." She decided to get straight to the point by repeating herself.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something, Hiragi Katsuko." Aizen raised his hand to point at her. "Whether or not you choose to accept this fact, the reality is that he is you the same way you are him. The use of his usual abilities, the way you fight, the way you speak, is undeniable proof that he does exist even if it's just a fragment. Has it never crossed your mind that you were already becoming someone else but you just failed to realize it?"

Katsuko held her stare against Aizen with a frown. As much as his words were starting to shake her, she didn't want to think about it.

And yet, she couldn't help but remember the manner of speech she had when she fought with Haru and Jun.

God... if you want to think about it then think about it later!

Katsuko remained nonchalant to appear unfazed by his words. "But he's not here. He's not standing in front of you. I am. Shisugu died. I'm the one who's alive. My name isn't Naogoma Shisugu. It never was because I'm Hiragi Katsuko."

Ah, stubbornness.

"Well, everyone is free to believe in the truth they are most comfortable believing in. But in the end, perhaps," He gave her a knowing look. "different name, same fate."

Oh. She didn't like that.

Katsuko's eyes darted to the side when she saw Ulquiorra entering the room from another entrance she wasn't aware of. The hold on her sword tightened when she began to feel threatened.

Katsuko dragged one foot back to prepare herself to dodge or attack. Her expression became one of surprise when she noticed Ichigo's spiritual pressure coming her way. Was this it? Could she finally connect with the thread of hope?

I won't leave it to chance.

Katsuko spun around her heel and made a move to run out of the room. But Ulquiorra was faster. He blocked her exit with his body.

Why is this pale dog—?!

"Aizen-sama has not," Katsuko took her right blade and thrust it into his shoulder but his wrist came up to hold it back. "given you permission to leave. You are to remain by his side."

"Why should I?" Katsuko pulled back her sword and generated a repulsing force at the tip of her sword. "I'm not a dog like you." He knocked her blade away with spiritual power before she could try her attack on him.

Just as Ulquiorra was about to counter her next attack, she flash stepped behind him and aimed at his neck. Maybe, if she was lucky, she'd knock his head right off… and he'd still be talking apathetically.

Knowing he'd still try and counter it, she used her other blade to slice at his abdomen with wind. This time, he just took out his sword halfway and blocked her steel. With a growl and a glare, she lifted her other sword and aimed it at him with lightning sparking around her blade.

"So, now you can use the lightning without your mask." This time, he took out his blade completely and countered hers.

The few exchanges of blade clashing ended up with her getting pushed away from the main exit. She was ticked. What was also irritating her was the fact that Aizen was still over there observing her. What was she, some damn lab rat or a circus show?

Katsuko exhaled audibly.

What was the point of fighting him over a damn path? Weren't there plenty of other paths to take?

But wouldn't he just chase after her if she broke a hole through the wall?

So... what was her next move?

At that moment, Katsuko wondered just how far her limit could be pushed. How much would she be willing to do to break free from this prison?

It was just a guess.

But she conjectured that the possibility of trying to become more powerful would be impossible.

Because she had an unmastered Bankai.

But the idea of combining what she learned and remembered so far to escape wouldn't be an impossible scenario.

Katsuko's eyes were shadowed by her bangs as she heaved out a sigh with her shoulders. Her hands were lifted in a way that almost looked like she was shrugging with defeat. She gave Ulquiorra an odd wide eyed look with a grin that slowly crept on her face.

"Screw it then."

Swiftly, she brought her blades together and called for her Bankai's release. For a while, she was enveloped in a curtain of smoke and wind before leaping out with her Hollow mask and scythe. She went back to clashing with Ulquiorra who remained unfazed as he blocked her hits with his sword.

"Have you learned nothing from last time? You may have grown stronger somehow during your time here but it doesn't change the fact that you cannot defeat me."

Her time spent until now ever since Aizen forced her to fall was spent training. Against the faceless being, she repeatedly fought an enemy that would get stronger with each defeat, forcing her to push her limits while also strengthening her Kido. By accepting and learning from Arashihoro, she also grew stronger. And by fighting against Noctter, she was putting all her skills to use, pulling out all the stops to get to this point.

All the time spent in her Inner World was a never ending training session.

Katsuko repositioned her scythe to knock his sword upwards. Ulquiorra just moved enough to dodge the back end of her pole that was aimed at his head. He was observing the way she fighting against him. Unlike before, there wasn't any rush to have him move. She calmed down.

Nimble, she back stepped from Ulquiorra's slashes while adjusting the position of her weapon until she extended her right arm to hold her weapon horizontally. It then exploded in lightning. She dragged her foot back to turn around and slash at the floor. Instead of destroying the flooring, the attack's destructive power was focused on speed as it darted after Ulquiorra with sharp wind following suit.

This wasn't like a Getsuga Tenshou. It wasn't an attack he could simply block with his sword. He had to use Sonido to avoid the attack's area of effect. He reappeared behind Katsuko which had her focus the attack to turn around and follow him.

Katsuko's golden eyes met his dark green eyes.

The goal was to bring out Noctter and push back Katsuko within the depths of her soul. A weakened state would allow Noctter to resurface such was the cause of the first switch.

Ulquiorra's sword stopped just before he could pierce her side. His eyes widened by a fraction. Why didn't it hit? The lightning and wind bypassed her and zoomed towards him like a magnet, forcing him to back away. A weak Cero was used to make them disappear. In the midst of their attacks, an unmasked Katsuko moved in between the collision towards him, unharmed as if neither of their attacks could touch her. There were a few scratches on her body from Ulquiorra's Cero but nothing too major.

Her expression had a frenzied grin as she pointed her open glowing hand towards Ulquiorra's body. She didn't even need to touch him before he was sent colliding back into a pillar harshly. The power of impact wasn't able to destroy the pillar but concave it. The attack's origins were the same as that repulsing force she used. However, with some recently acquired knowledge, she got the basis of being able to push things away from her. To push the space away.

It wasn't as good as Shisugu's though. She couldn't do the real stuff yet.

She only tried to modify what she learned so far by adding his knowledge to it. At their core, both abilities were similar anyway.

Ulquiorra straightened up after moving away from the pillar. Katsuko did the same when she flicked her hand, shooing away the rest of the blue light around it. Her crystal green eyes looked at him with a small smile. The weird tingly feeling in her stomach felt good. She wasn't stupid. There was a little thrill after letting the grip on her reins loosen a little. It was the result of allowing herself to push her limits with no care whatsoever. It was quite frightening to be aware of.

What if I increase the output even more?

With a shrug, her hand swiped over her face fast and she disappeared just as quickly to appear near Ulquiorra. Her weapon started swinging around again. She would attack him with lightning and wind with her mask on or sometimes just switch to using powerful wind without the mask. She would adjust this based on how Ulquiorra was fighting back against her. And whenever she found an opening she would try and use that repulsion attack on Ulquiorra to slam him into something before trying to slice him when she thought she could. Aizen was watching Katsuko closely. She was making use of the abilities she gained while also keeping in mind the flaws they had by changing her methods. Feints, Kido, Zanjutsu, mask, anything at all at her disposal.

Her attempts at being versatile reminded him well of Shisugu even if she was just an imperfect imitation.

When Ulquiorra's sword came dangerously close to her chest, she looked up at him with that same crazed grin.

All or nothing!

Katsuko stomped on the floor and focused on forcing Ulquiorra backwards without warning. Her hand glowed blue as she rapidly exerted power to expand the power from her hand to the outward of her entire body. He was rapidly pushed towards a wall and with how she kept expanding the pushing force, she might as well have been aiming to crush him against it.

That's exactly what she was trying to do.

That was another thing that Aizen noted. It was the freedom and willingness to put everything she had into doing something. The basic concept of Kido and the core of using illegal ones.

A quick learner, he mused.

When she caught his hand moving, she just used her scythe and stabbed it into his palm with the star-pointed tip of her handle. He was being pinned back with Kido and her blade.

She lifted her glowing hand and aimed for his face. But he disappeared which made her hand slam into the wall and greatly dent it with the repulsion. A second impact hit the wall when she abruptly stopped the force of pushing outward with a slight increase in power since her control was unsteady. She created a marking in the wall, a jagged line when she dragged her hand away from it and pointed it directly behind her, amplifying the output even more because she could sense him behind her. This time, because of how freely she was outputting her power, she launched Ulquiorra across the room with a powerful blow and slammed him into the wall.

Central 46 labeling certain Kido practices as illegal was a reasonable decision.

Because Ulquiorra could see the potential in utilizing such dangerous power.

He didn't pay attention to his bleeding hand when he came out of the smoke.

But even though it was working in her favour to keep him away, she couldn't keep using her energy like this so recklessly. It was exerting a lot of power. She couldn't end up on her knees because of overexertion from Kido again. Currently, she was trying to hide any signs of exhaustion from Aizen just in case he tried to catch her off guard. But didn't her spiritual pressure already give him an idea of how she was holding up? Damn.

At least it wasn't going to give Noctter a chance to resurface. He couldn't come out any time soon.

Well, Ichigo's nearby. I can meet him halfway and get this over with.

Ichigo was most likely at the base of the tower.

Her real goal was to stall for time and then escape. She needed some support right now.

When Katsuko aimed her scythe at the wall next to her, her body started emitting strong spiritual pressure. It was easy for Ulquiorra to figure out that she was trying to destroy her way out, the easiest way. She had no intention of defeating him because she had more important things to worry about.

But something was off.

She blinked a few times. It felt like she was feeling lightheaded. No, she was getting lightheaded. What the hell was going on? Why was she…?

She continued backing away by a few steps when she felt wide open to be attacked.

Why was this happening? Everything was fine, wasn't it?

With a hand to her head, she narrowed her eyes when she realized that she was easily losing control… How was Noctter able to claw his way out again? And so suddenly too?

Her spiritual pressure was fluctuating again. Aizen narrowed his eyes curiously when he felt the two overlapping presences try and assert dominance. It wasn't just Noctter this time either. When Ulquiorra made a move to land a blow he saw Aizen lift a hand to stop him. No further interference needed to be done because it looked like something else was at play.

"You don't need to do anything. Let her be."

"What the fuck…" Katsuko cursed.

She could almost feel Noctter towering over her body from behind with giant hands at her sides. Those hands were ready to clamp around her and suffocate her within the chaos that she already dominated.

Why was he suddenly overpowering her like this?

"Something is not right!"

"It's something else… Damn it!"

The wind and lightning were just as confused as her. Why? She was dominant and took back her seat. So, why?!

It felt like her arms suddenly became restricted behind her back and she was forced on her knees. She looked up and saw Noctter stepping forward while tendrils of darkness started embracing her, pulling her away from the light. And no matter how much she tried fighting her way out, it couldn't stop Noctter's advancement. Her vision soon saw nothing but darkness. She couldn't see anything.

However, due to the connection between her and Noctter, she could vaguely make out the scenes of what was happening on the outside.

It was unbearable.

The desperate desire to stop someone from killing someone close to her ended with her feelings resonating with Noctter and indirectly killing an Espada. He twisted the space at the base of his neck and snapped it off.

Sick.

Her loyalty to her friends pushed forward Noctter's desire to kill Ichigo. He created a hole in his body and removed his arm before thrusting his blade into his throat in front of her other allies, mocking them as he pushed them back when they made their attempts to save him.

Evil.

A memory of him smiling came first. It reminded her of how he was someone who'd use his sole back to shield someone, how he'd try and soothe her mind whenever she stressed or panicked, how he was a nice guy that she couldn't replace with another... And she returned his kindness with betrayal. His smile and kind eyes shifted like static until he looked lifeless with blood leaking out of his mouth and eyes before shattering into a million pieces, revealing a rotting Ichigo pointing his finger at her.

Terror.

Katsuko grabbed her head and screamed in the void.

This wasn't supposed to happen!

She was drowning in the unstoppable chaos.

Her echo and his were creating a distorted sound. She was causing irreversible damage. It was killing her. The horrified sadness she felt when Ichigo's spiritual pressure disappeared into the void... It felt so heavy. The air in her lungs was being sucked away. She couldn't mentally take this. Her heart was twisting so painfully.

Why?!

Despairing, her hands clawed blindly in the darkness.

...

Hollow Ichigo got up and knocked his fist into his face, sending him flying and rolling away. This caused Noctter to feel alarmed when he sensed danger coming his way. In turn, the darkness around Katsuko disappeared as if to represent Noctter's uneasiness, his vulnerability.

She fell harshly against the floor of her Inner World. Noctter had been unconsciously locking her away. But after Ichigo was proving to be a threat, he released her and let her drop. With a groan, she pushed herself up while her Zanpakuto spirits ran to her. Their hasty footsteps reverbed into the quiet world.

"Katsuko!" The wind shouted as she flew to her side and supported her. They had lost her to the darkness caused by the identity and couldn't reach her just like the first time. But this time, the darkness locking her away was an orb in the sky that would try and fend them off with shadows. But Noctter's shock dispelled the orb and freed Katsuko from its confines.

"I need to stop him…" Katsuko breathed, her voice shaking with panic. Ichigo was somewhat alive. Right? He had to be if his Hollow took over... If he was dead, the host, then the Hollow would also be dead. But, he couldn't stay like that either. "I can't let him stay like that! He's going to become a Hollow! I just need...! Maybe he can be okay...?!"

Where the hell was Noctter in her Inner World this time?!

"Don't be stupid. How the hell can you stop him?" The lightning helped her up when she looked around, trying to find Noctter as she clumsily tried getting back up. "You'll only get yourself killed."

"It's my fault he ended up like that!" Frantic, Katsuko screamed at him while trying to find better air to breathe with. No matter how much air she inhaled there was nothing capable of lowering her heart rate. It probably looked like she was about to cry. But it was fear outweighing any sadness. "I'm the one who killed him!" she clutched the front of her Shihakusho, so tightly that her knuckles became white. It was the Kido she decided to fuck around with that caused this. All the fingers pointed to her, did they not? "I don't want to be responsible for that! I hate living with the guilt of killing someone I care about! I have to do something...!"

It felt like she couldn't breathe as the overwhelming weight of his life fell on her shoulders. Her heart was still suffocating with no clear way to mend it.

She even told Karin she wouldn't have to worry so much!

This was the complete opposite!

Noctter dodged the swing of his blade and used his free hand to conjure up a blue light. It knocked away his black sword. His blade whirled away. But it didn't get far once Ichigo spun around his heel to snatch it with his other arm. Noctter instantly saw the tip of the blade aimed at his throat. It ran through until he reached the center of the blade. His wide crystal green eyes met the dark holes of Ichigo's Hollow mask, rasping little breaths to try and breathe through his surprise.

The monster then lifted his leg and tore out the blade downward when he kicked away Noctter with immense force, sending him flying at least a block and a half away.

Katsuko suddenly screamed. With a choked gasp, she fell to her knees.

"Katsuko!" The wind cried out worriedly. There was a burning sensation coming from her throat and torso after Noctter was slashed open. It had her clutching her throat with what could have been bloody hands. Her legs kicked about when she tried to take a breath only to fail and cause her body to heave out coughs. Wounds sustained in the Inner World were reflected in the real world. Normally, A Soul Reaper wouldn't have their real world's wounds reflected on the inside since they weren't concentrating on being in two places at once. But it was now different for Katsuko since she was technically in two places at once. Even though she wasn't suffering from the wounds directly, she could still feel the pain.

Arashihoro looked away from Katsuko when she noticed something in her peripheral. "Stop it!" Her voice almost came out as a snarl.

The lightning flashed around the Hollow as he glared darkly up at the ceiling. "He's killing her… he's killing us!"

Katsuko breathed audibly once Noctter started fixing himself. The pain was starting to subside. She coughed and gasped when she put herself on all fours, trying to calm herself down after what felt like a near-death experience.

Then they could feel his current adrenaline. It was almost infectious.

He was high on power.

Katsuko knew this feeling.

It was the same type of high she felt when she used Kido against Hollow Ichigo during her time with the Vizards.

Katsuko's eyes widened when she realized just what kind of power he was thinking of. The flashes of Loly's upper body disappearing and becoming a bloodstain on the wall came flooding into her mind. It was like a flashing red warning… a foreshadowing for events to come.

"Katsuko," The wind spoke, trying to get her wielder's attention. She placed her cool hands on her cheeks to have her look at her. "We have to do this carefully or else you're going to die. You can't do this recklessly! Ichigo is dangerous right now!"

"I let Noctter take control again." Katsuko shook her head. "It's my fault that this happened. I was too weak to push him back. I let my guard down and because of that...! I have to push him back down or else he'll do worse..."

"No, that wasn't your fault. You bested him." The Hollow reassured her. His eyes narrowed when he looked at the floor reflecting his image. "We all felt it. But for some reason..."

"It doesn't matter... this has to stop now. I need to stop it." Katsuko got up as the fight between Noctter and Ichigo resumed. She didn't know who was going to destroy who at this point. She just wanted it all to stop. Please. No more. "Enough..."

Enough.

"Stop it." She could see Inoue trying to shield Ishida and Chad from the stray attacks. She was doing her best to protect everyone. But her shield was still suffering damage. Please. Before there was any more irreversible damage. Begging. Please.

Stop it.

Katsuko's eyes flashed green when she gritted her teeth. She couldn't hear what Arashihoro was saying anymore.

She just wanted everything to stop.

"I SAID STOP IT!"

As her scream reverberated throughout her Inner World, the watery floor cracked beneath her feet.

She was in control again.

Katsuko paused when she realized what she was in the middle of. She was standing in front of Ichigo's Hollow form. It was scary. He looked menacing. He looked like he could kill her instantly. She couldn't see his face at all with that mask on. That Hollow wasn't him right now because he was doing things he'd normally never do.

He wasn't someone who'd tear a person's throat open.

Someone else's face was the one in control.

And if he was watching from the inside just like her, then she knew it was nothing but torture.

That's why, in a reckless and desperate attempt to free himself of his Hollow and to stop everything from becoming worse than it already was, she lunged forward and grabbed a horn to break off his mask.

"StOP iT! IcHiGo! CoME BaCK!"

There is no greater pain than hurting the people you hold dear.

I don't want that for you or me.

Please, if you're still in there... come back and let me say how sorry I am!

"Katsuko!"

Huh? Was that Rukia?

She's okay…?

Katsuko moved to try and look at where her voice came from.

... Huh?

There was pain. Burning. Her face was essentially torn up from his attack. It was a miracle her eyes survived. And with how fast that attack came and ended, she was barely able to comprehend what happened before he used his sword to slash her across the body, a fatal blow. It all happened so fast. Her world then tilted and her body harshly landed on the ground. She just lied there in sheer shock and disbelief while staring at the only thing in her line of sight. She could see Renji, Rukia, and Chisaki looking shocked at what they just saw.

What did they see?

Did they see an enemy or an ally get cut down? Did they know it was her? Is that why Rukia called her name?

Her fingers weakly dug into the floor.

... This sucks.

"WHITE!"

The Hollow growled with a dangerous maniacal look in his wide eyes.

"Wait a minute—!"

She quickly tried to grab his arm to stop him from doing the worst. He was going to protect her. She knew that for sure but his way of protecting was too much right now. Her attempt to grab him failed when he just grabbed her wrist before he could get caught and then he looked at her. "She's dying! I won't sit here twiddling my thumbs and let it happen!"

Her other hand grabbed the front of his top to pull him closer. Her mint green eyes glared at him but he could see worry for their wielder. "She won't be able to mentally take this when you're finished!"

His golden eyes narrowed. "She'll have to." He pulled himself away from her and turned away. His first step on the broken floor created the booming sound of lightning. "That boy's been pissing me off for far too long!"

Katsuko had coughed out white substance and became just as monstrous as Ichigo. The Inner Hollow released her Shikai and began attacking Ichigo as if to straight up murder him for some retribution. The others watching the two Hollow-possessed Soul Reapers fight were trying to figure out how to solve the current problems without dying themselves in the process.

Aside from them, there were two other hidden spectators.

One was watching them from a monitoring room. He wanted to see the fruits of his labor. The Prototype White versus White. Which one would prevail? Would this battle help more of their growth? And what kind of plan did Urahara come up with?

The other one was beneath a watery floor that was cracked. It was on the verge of shattering. As an outsider, all he could do for now was watch with his crystal green eyes hiding behind his ash blond hair. Would her world crash into the abyss with him?

*DEEP BREATH* OKAY! THAT WAS A HARD LONG CHAPTER WITH SO MANY WRITER'S BLOCK ISSUES I WAS GETTING UPSET AND THINKING "IS THIS GOING TO GO UP WHEN THE SECOND COUR STARTS OR WHAT?!" ._. ... nah just until the second cour trailer *sigh* Also, for some reason, listening to Puzzle from Girugamesh and Reviver from My First Story helped me write.

But I did it :) Originally had this at 15k words but then added more stuff.

In this chapter, Hollow-Arashihoro was sort of like 'stop being nice. go stupid'. And I realize that, Arashihoro, kind of have that good-cop bad-cop type of vibe.

So, where does Noctter's hatred come from? Because the Hollow is the link between Shisugu and Katsuko, Noctter also has some traits from the Hollow. A nice concoction of Katsuko-Hollow-Shisugu.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you have a nice day/night.