They knew it was coming, and they weren't happy about it. It was bad enough they were cleaning up Urahara's screw-up. Ichigo was busy fighting Tensa, trying to find the right sword to prove she could handle the power boost.

The problem is that just because she had the ability to awaken her Bankai state, her soul wasn't ready for so much power. It was unlikely that her soul would be able to handle that much power for very long, as her control was still abysmal at best.

Then again, what could one expect by tossing someone with next to no training into the higher tier of ability in the span of only a few months? She was going to have to work backwards to have even a fraction of control compared to the others who had centuries to learn how to harness their full potential.

It was a good thing they had someplace to offload all the excess, because there was a good chance her body would have been unable to handle it.

The egg that contained Ichigo's future dragon form was almost ready to hatch. They had been feeding it with every new increase of power, and it wouldn't take much for it to start showing cracks.

She was still young, and had no name yet, but she would wake soon.

And they couldn't wait for to hatch so they could see what it looked like.

Nyx leaned against Shiro, exhausted.

"I don't know whether to be relieved or unhappy that she's almost managed to unlock Bankai."

"The sooner Queen is reunited with King, the happier I'll be," said Shiro flatly.

Nyx paused, before she looked at Shiro.

"Think we could motivate Queen into getting through this faster by pointing out the sooner we rescue the midget, the sooner she can do the King again?"

Shiro paused, before she started cackling.

Ichigo had become increasingly frustrated now that she had a boyfriend to sleep with. Sure, Malleus had trouble controlling his strength in the middle of things, but it was still better than when he got a little too excited and set the bedspread on fire.

The two sometimes rewatched that moment whenever they needed a good laugh.

Seeing Tensa return, they went over to her.

"Well?"

"Queen is almost ready...but it'll be close," said Tensa.

"Wonder how the King will react when he sees her dragon form," leered Shiro. Nyx gave an equally wide grin.

"If Queen is able to leave bed once King finds out about her new form, then I'll be very surprised."

The two cackled at the thought of how Malleus would react to her new form.

In the world of the Living...

Malleus sneezed three times. He accidentally let a bit of fire slip out.

"You okay, King?" asked Kon. His voice sounded weird in Ichigo's body.

"I am fine. Why do you call me that?" he asked, curious.

"Shirosaki and Zangetsu call Ichigo 'Queen' from what I understand, so that makes you King," said Kon.

"Who?" said Malleus, thoroughly confused.

Kon had a look of slight discomfort on his face.

"Don't say this to Ichigo just yet, but for some reason I've been able to visit her inner world. Shirosaki is the embodiment of her shinigami powers, and I'm not quite sure what Zangetsu is yet. However once they realized who I was they stopped being angry I was there and were just as confused as I was," said Kon.

Malleus mulled over this piece of information.

"What is her...inner world...like?"

"Eh...for the most part it's like a sideways city, but recently it looks like an old growth forest has started to take root. It's full of weird thorns," said Kon honestly. Seeing Malleus' full interest, he continued. "From what I can tell the 'buildings' contain rooms with memories, knowledge and all sorts of weird things. I remember Shiro warning me not to go into one because they found out by accident that it contains Ichigo's kinks and I really didn't need to hear any more than that."

"Oh?" said Malleus with a smirk.

Kon made an "X" with his arms.

"Nope, nope, nope. I am NOT going to investigate that for you. I'll dump you in there to meet them yourself!" said Kon quickly.

Malleus' smirk did not bode well for Kon's mellow. Meh, wasn't his problem...Ichigo was the one who thought it was a brilliant idea to shack up with a literal dragon.

~*~*~*~*~*

Ichigo was racing against time. She had barely managed to complete her bankai training, and now had to reach Rukia before her execution.

Yoruichi had donated some sort of cloak to make it easier for her to run in the air.

Rukia had an indescribable expression when she saw Ichigo.

Feeling the heat on her back, Ichigo couldn't help but snicker.

"Oi, country fried chicken? Is that the best you can do? My boyfriend's dick is hotter than that!" she snarked.

Her comment really seemed to piss off the giant zanpakuto, and Rukia had a massive blush.

"Really, Ichigo, must you be so crude?" she complained.

"I'm dead serious," said Ichigo. "Hell, I had to get new bedspreads because he set them on fire while we were having sex!"

Sensing the oversized chicken about to attack, Ichigo turned to face it.

Malleus' dragon form was much more impressive.

With a dark grin, she destroyed the oversized weapon. It felt incredibly satisfying in a way she couldn't describe. That being said, she didn't bother to hide her evil grin when she tossed Rukia to Renji like a human football. If she didn't know any better she'd swear she heard her inner spirits commentating like it was an actual sport.

Actually, if she survived this and Rukia tried to mooch off them again, she wouldn't mind introducing the brat to the "Isshin Special" of being defenestrated.

With that out of the way, she turned her attention to the only real major threat there...Rukia's brother Byakuya, who was doing a shit job of protecting his sister. The fact he hadn't even tried to save her pissed her off immensely, as it went against everything she stood for.

She was going to enjoy punching the bastard in the face.

Inside Ichigo's inner world...

"Shit, shit, shit... the Queen is really pulling out all the stops on this ass!" said Shiro.

"Less bitching, more diverting! Her body is barely keeping up with the output as it is!" shouted Nyx.

Tensa was too busy acting as her sword to help out, which left them to insure the Queen didn't kill herself from the overabundance of spiritual energy she was instinctively taking in. Her Quincy heritage was as much of a curse as it was a blessing... if her power was insufficient in a fight, she instinctively took in more from her surroundings...and since they were in the Seireitei which was made of the stuff, she had no lack of a supply.

It was a good thing they already had a place to dump the worst of the excess, because there was a chance Ichigo's heart would have given out otherwise.

Sensing things wrapping up, Nyx paused to look at the egg. It was enormous, almost reaching the same "height" as the middle sized buildings. It was clear that whatever hatched from that thing would be no infant, but a fully grown dragon. One with the worst control of their power in history, but still a dragon.

Malleus would have his hands full keeping that thing happy come mating season. It was going to be a bitch and a half to learn how to reign in the spiritual pressure and magical power it was radiating already.

The two almost collapsed against each other.

"That...was a nightmare. Queen was really pushing it," said Shiro.

"To be fair, we still haven't figured out where the source of that damn black hole she calls an ability is," grumbled Nyx.

"Did you get bigger?" said Shiro.

Nyx looked at herself. Before she was a tiny fairy, now she looked closer to a five year old.

"I must have absorbed some of the excess. It'll take a bit to convert to magical energy though, and our control is still atrocious," said Nyx.

The two relaxed a bit, since it seemed Byakuya was too tired to continue. Nyx did her best to absorb as much of the power as possible, but it would be at least a week before Ichigo could use magic properly again.

At least the egg had stopped growing...it was only a matter of time before that thing hatched.

So you could imagine their dismay when Rukia showed up with Renji, having been teleported using some unknown method.

"Oh what fresh hell is this..." complained Nyx.

"Seven-dammit, we did not need this bullshit right now! She hasn't even begun to properly absorb all the power she took in, much less recover!" bitched Shiro.

There was no way Ichigo was in any shape to move, much less protect the mooch. And seeing that smug grin just made the two eager to punch his face in.

Ichigo was one of the most stubborn people on the planet, so of course she would attempt to save the girl's life. However it seemed she had knocked some sense into the captain's head, because he took the hit for her.

This was going to be a pain in the ass later, they just knew it.

~*~*~*~*

Ichigo felt like utter shit, and nothing Orihime or the Soul Reapers could do to fix it. It was her own damn fault, for taking in so much energy without giving her body a chance to buffer it properly.

As a result her power was completely out of whack and needed time to settle before she could do anything. Forget Bankai, she'd be lucky to even move for the next few days.

At least they didn't have to worry about the soul reapers killing them...they now had bigger things to worry about, namely Aizen and whatever he had been planning this whole time.

Ichigo was just relieved she missed the worst of a very awkward meeting between Rukia and her cousins.

"Wait...So your uncle was a former soul reaper and Rukia's superior, and she was there when he died?" said Orihime fascinated.

The unexpected family drama was fueling her addiction to soap operas big time. There was a reason Ichigo and Orihime practically became sisters, and it had everything to do with the fact that they were both heavily invested in drama. The two had binged watched entire seasons of Once Upon a Time the second it hit Japan and would pour over the intricate backstories for days.

Ichigo nodded enthusiastically.

"Apparently Kaein is my dad's older brother, and a former lieutenant in Squad thirteen. Hell, dad was the previous captain of Squad ten from what I was told. Should have seen the dragon's face when he found out who I was," said Ichigo.

Being bed ridden sucked, but this was prime entertainment and the Shinigami Women's society had welcomed her with open arms the second they found out what her lineage was.

Ichigo and Orihime were now considered "auxiliary" members of the group, much to the confusion of Rukia and others.

Unsurprisingly they were eating up this little family drama with great glee and unholy amounts of popcorn involved. Everyone was eagerly waiting for the next big reveal to drop.

Ichigo would soon find herself with a very lucrative business in selling entire seasons of Japanese, Korean and Chinese dramas for the SWA to eat up. And that was before she got her hands on the American soap operas, which were a bit more expensive since they were imported.

The two chatted for hours, since Ichigo was still bedridden for the next three days. It was about the only thing to distract her from the boredom that was being stuck in a hospital unable to properly leave.

Oddly enough, she became Unohana and the rest of the fourth divisions favorite patient, if only because she actually obeyed their treatment plan and asked intelligent questions about their work.

Ichigo honestly couldn't wait to get home. She missed her family. She missed her friends. More importantly she missed sharing a bed with Malleus and just sharing their day.