Author's Notes: Had a hard time recently so my brain's not been working, but enough of my problems and onto story info.

Although i said there'd only ever be a max of three chapters for this story i realised that i could technically do four, but the fourth is going to be a massive stretch as it hangs on only two scenes and requires quite a bit of filler, if i can think of something good to go between the two scenes then i'll write it up, if not then i'll mark this as complete but i'll edit this author's comment and tell you what the idea was going to be.

Enjoy the chapter.

A foul smell was on the wind in Hueco Mundo, the dangerous scent of an irate hunter in search of an elusive prey, and all who could feel or sense or smell that tangible expression of anger in the air ran for what little cover existed in the baron desert

A foul smell was on the wind in Hueco Mundo, the dangerous scent of an irate hunter in search of an elusive prey, and all who could feel or sense or smell that tangible expression of anger in the air ran for what little cover existed in the baron desert of the Hollow Lands.

Word had passed from Hollow Settlement to Hollow Settlement that an Arrancar was on the prowl, but they were not looking for mere amusement, they were looking for someone to turn into one of their own.

Many Hollows on many levels stepped up to the plate as the white robed figure passed into the makeshift shanty towns, some wished to prove their worth and become one of the Torn Mask Warriors, where as others bared their teeth and claws in hope of tearing one of Aizen's chosen from their throne, and proving themselves to be stronger than their 'peers'. But none could stand before the irate hunter who remained deprived of his prey.

--

"Aizen-sama is not pleased." Tousen said as he looked at the Décimo Espada with dead eyes and furrowed his brow, realising he was being ignored.

"Uh-huh…" Kurosaki Ichigo muttered as he cleaned his nails with the tip of a Zanpakuto belonging to the mutilated yet still alive Arrancar he had deposited outside of his doorway.

"Your disrespectful attitude is worse even than Nnoitra's or Grimmjow's, you need to listen!" the blind Traitor-Shinigami struggled to constrain his aggravation and placed his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto in the vain hope that the pale Arrancar would perceive it as a threat. He didn't.

"What's Aizen-tan crying over this time?" he said in a purposefully cutesy-childish voice custom made to get Tousen's hackles up.

Tousen drew his sword out an inch but checked his anger before it got the better of him and re-sheathed the blade.

"Being an Espada does not grant you special dispensation from work, if anything your duties are far more important that those of normal Arrancar, and where as even the likes of Grimmjow, and even Stark get their work done, you do nothing but sit in your room and brood, or sit in meetings and try and start fights."

"But those are the only two fun things to do in this dismal place… if I'd know that being an Arrancar would be this boring I would have stayed out in the desert…" Either growing bored of the pastime or judging his nails to finally be free of rotting flesh, Ichigo threw away the Zanpakuto with a casual flick, sending it past Tousen's ear and making it land perfectly between the eyes of the twitching weakling at the door, ending its miserable existence and staining the floor a deep red.

"Aizen-sama doesn't care if you do the work yourself, but it needs to be done," Tousen took a step forward, seemingly unphased by the close proximity of the flying blade, and seized the Espada's wrist as he reached out to ring the bell to call for another servant, no doubt so he could mangle them too. "Why do you think the other Espada have their Fraccions?"

"Ulquiorra doesn't."

"He doesn't trust anyone to do his work for him. Just go and find a Hollow, any Hollow, as long as they can do the work, and Aizen-sama will turn them into an Arrancar and they will do your work for you… allowing you to carry on with your… rich and fulfilling existence."

Ichigo couldn't help but grin at Tousen's attempt to sound mocking and venomous. They were two things the serene Shinigami could never pull off in a thousand years.

"Oh man…" Ichigo sighed as he slowly sat up on his bed, "… what a rub, having to do work so that I can get out of having to do work… Ah well, what's an Arrancar to do?" Ichigo stood and faced Tousen who despite his blindness could tell where the Arrancar was perfectly.

"Tell ya what, I'll go get myself a nice lil' servant as a personal favour to you, and in return you can stop coming in here and bitching at me whenever the Big Cheese gets a bit pissy with you and makes you sleep outside," Ichigo plucked the glasses from Tousen's face and breathed on them, then cleaned them with his bare fingers making them horribly smudged then purposefully put them back on Tousen upside down, "Ok, Daredevil?"

The tainted Kurosaki walked out of his room chuckling quietly, leaving Tousen to stand statue still in the vacant residence.

Up until that point Tousen had not moved, he had not shown any emotion, but after a moment he unclenched his fist with some effort, pulling the nails form his palm which had sunk in due to his iron grip, and as calmly as possible he rang the bell to call a servant into he room.

With meticulously practiced timing a servant appeared in the room a split second later, before the bell had even a chance to finish its first note, and a further split second later, before the servant could utter the first syllable of a word, it found itself in two pieces, bisected perfectly down the middle, and in the last few moments before its brain split in two and ceased to function it saw Tousen re-sheathing his blade, a look of barely relieved anger tight on his usually smooth face.

--

Ichigo had faced so many Adjuchas and Gillians that the number of disappointments he had encountered faded from his mind and was replaced with a smouldering anger barely kept in check by his brooding boredom.

The ex-Shinigami wasn't sure why he was being so picky, technically any of them would do, he'd found many of them would have been able to cover for him in his duties, many of them would have been content to be just a servant as long as they served under the 'Mighty Aizen-sama' and got a chance to take off their mask, but he had slaughtered them all. Something was missing and he wasn't sure what.

As he walked the desert and reluctantly retreated into thoughts of the life his Shinigami self had led, he began to think about what he had then which he didn't now. The list was long, so he decided to shorten it by discarding the things he didn't give a shit about.

The list was much shorter.

It boiled down to two things, one was not having to answer to anyone except himself, and the other was companionship.

The latter made him grimace and chide himself, he had never cared about friends or allies, a social life was something only his 'goody goody' self had been worried about, he didn't need to feel 'loved' or 'needed'… but then again he did miss talking… even if he never did talk much when he did have friends.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was a bad-ass! He was a monster! A killing machine! He didn't need to talk about his 'feelings' or discuss 'emotions'… but he did feel like a part of him was missing.

"I'm not sad, I just love to fight!" he had said to Ulquiorra one evening when Ulquiorra had offered to spar with him, even thought Ulquiorra really planned it as a way to try and teach him some humility, "I love the blood and the screams! The feeling of my wounds burning as I swap blows with an opponent!"

"That hole in your chest isn't just where your chain used to be, it's where your heart used to be. Even if some of us don't admit it all our hearts were eroded away by sadness and loss, you are no exception. Maybe you just haven't realised it because your pain is masked by your bloodlust."

Ichigo had scoffed, he had mocked Ulquiorra for being soft, but now he couldn't help but wonder if the 'Emo Clown' had a point, he did feel alone, he did feel something at the edge of perception that could possibly be the pain of loss.

He grunted and slapped himself.

"What the hell are you doing? Get a grip! That pansy ain't getting control again is he? Get sharp!" he smacked himself again but he couldn't help but wonder… what was that loss?

He thought for a long while, even as he slaughtered his way through settlements, no longer bothering to evaluate the Adjuchas and Gillians, instead he just put them to the sword in a vain attempt to fill the whole in his chest that he was becoming increasingly aware of.

"It's when he lost his mother…" he thought to himself, a flash of an image appearing in his mind, a memory not his own, but belonging to the Shinigami Ichigo, a memory of a woman being taken by a Hollow.

"Maybe her death took his heart… maybe that's when I was made…"

"Ichigo!" suddenly he stayed his blade a fraction of a millimetre away from the face of the Adjuchas in his grip and snapped out of his contemplations.

"Huh?"

"Y-you're Kurosaki Ichigo, right?" the Hollow stammered fearfully.

"Congratulations, you know my name; I hope it's of some comfort when you die again!" he pulled his arm back again ready to strike but the Hollow held up its hands… or hooves… Ichigo really wasn't sure what they were meant to be.

"There was an Adjuchas! They were looking for you! They knew you by name!"

Ichigo stopped again, this time he lowered his blade a little, but still kept it where he could easily end the pathetic excuse for a killer.

"Why were they looking for me?" he asked, his interest suddenly peaked.

"They didn't say, they just kept crying your name, they nearly tore the place apart looking for you, they were strong, luckily they didn't go berserk like I heard they did at the last settlement they visited, supposedly it destroyed the whole place."

Ichigo pondered for a moment.

An Arrancar was looking for him… they knew him by name, then again some of those who were lining up to try their luck at becoming his slave knew his name, but even then they hadn't come looking for him, they'd waited… something struck him as special about this Adjuchas, he wasn't sure what but it was enough to interest him.

"Tell me where they went." He snarled threateningly, raising his zanpakuto back to the Hollow's face.

"I-If you let me live, I'll tell you!" the Decimo Espada paused and then let go, dropping the coward to the floor in front of him.

"Fine, sounds like a fair trade." The Hollow smiled… or at least it did something which Ichigo assumed passed for smiling when it came to the distorted thing in front of him.

"It headed east, not two days past, with your speed you could easily catch up to it in a matter of hours."

"Thanks."

Ichigo promptly carved the snivelling beast in two.

--

Ichigo headed east as the odd Adjuchas had said and found several ruined settlements, not a single hollow left untouched, all had had part of them devoured, and at each settlement he passed through he saw signs of damage inflicted with increased frenzy.

He stopped for a while at the eleventh destroyed settlement, not out of fatigue but boredom, he was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to catch up to his prey, they were much faster than he had anticipated and it looked like their pace was picking up.

He stooped low and touched the patch of coagulated blood that was slowly soaking into the sand from a half eaten corpse and smiled.

"Still warm…" he muttered, at last he was getting close, he reached out with his senses and noticed that there was something on the air, a strange sound, although it was more than just a sound it was almost a distorted wave of spiritual pressure which added a truly deep and mournful feeling to the faint wail that drifted back towards him on the breeze.

He travelled for at least a day, maybe two. He had lost track of the passage of time and frankly he just didn't care, he was getting closer with every passing leap and the wailing was growing louder and louder, filling him with a feeling of elation that at last his quarry was getting closer, and so he ran on, but after what he guessed to be the fifth day it stopped. Suddenly and without warning the wailing ceased, and once more the silence of the desert pressed down upon Ichigo and suddenly he felt like a sailor who had dropped his compass into the water, or a treasure hunter who had torn his map. He was without a means to guide him, and he had felt like he was so close to his goal.

"Dammit…" he spat as he concentrated hard, but even the uneasy waves of spiritual pressure had stopped, he was left with nothing, but he wouldn't let that stop him, he moved on in the vague direction he had been heading in before and kept his eyes out for anything or anyone among the sands, but there was nothing but baron dunes and flat planes… and the ruin of another settlement.

He wasn't sure why he cared to much, this Adjuchas could be another waste of time, even if only a few people outside of Las Noches knew his name there were still a few who did, and none of the others had peaked his interest, and even seeking him out was nothing more than proof of tenacity, not ability, but still he felt compelled to seek this one out.

With a static bass thump he stopped in the middle of the settlement and looked around, the make shift buildings and mangled corpses all displayed signs of the most ferocious attack yet, and the blood was still pumping freely from one or two of the eaten, but there were no signs of life.

Had the mysterious Adjuchas finally been bested? Had it fallen in combat at the hands of its betters and did it now bleed along with its victims?

Ichigo cursed at the thought and looked around for anything, he didn't know if there was anything to find, he supposed that at this point he would be somewhat satisfied if he found even a little proof of the quality of his prey, so that he could justify the long hunt that ended without a catch, but there was nothing… just sand and blood.

"Miserable bastard couldn't even stay alive long enough to meet me…" he muttered to the still air of the perpetual night and looked off to the unchanging horizon… and saw something move.

He rubbed his eyes at first, wondering if he was fatigued and imagining things, or maybe it had been some sand in his eye, but when he looked again something definitely moved. He began to move out of the settlement and off in the general direction of the small motion in the distance, a new sense of what he supposed was 'hope' flared inside of him and hurried his steps some what, and his 'hope' that the motion had been the Adjuchas he had been looking fore began to grow as he heard soft sobbing coming from the slowly rocking ball that lay in the sand.

The Adjuchas was quite humanlike, at least compared to most others. It still had a humanoid shape and its arms and legs were thin and long, and ended with strong hands and feet, ideal for skilful attacks, possibly even something close to martial arts.

As he approached it uncurled a little and looked round at him, its mask was contorted in sadness greater than any he had ever seen on any of the Heartless Souls, and he even felt a twinge of pity, although he would never admit it to anyone.

"I hear you've been lookin' for me?" He said as he drew near and stopped just out of reach of its limbs.

Slowly it looked up at him properly, still crying tears of blood onto the sand.

"For someone who's huntin' me, you've sure done a lot of runnin' away."

Suddenly the Adjuchas' eyes opened wide as if in awe and it slowly began to reach out to him, but seeing the motion Ichigo had already leapt away from its reach.

"Ichi… go?" it whispered in a light voice, almost hopefully, "Ichigo? Is it you? Is it really you?!"

There was something about the Hollow's voice that bothered Ichigo, something that rattled around in his head and he couldn't help but think it was familiar.

"Do I know you?" he asked, staring hard at the Adjuchas' mask, as if to try and make a face from the Shinigami's past fit it, although he knew that it was impossible.

"You… don't remember?" the Hollow sounded sad again, hurt, as if his lack of remembrance had cut it deeper than any blade ever could, "They said you'd died… but I knew… I knew you were really here… I saw you leave the warehouse that night… so I killed myself… so I could follow and find you…"

He narrowed his eyes and considered the Hollow carefully… something wasn't right, what was it talking about 'been told he'd died' 'knew he was here'… just who was this Adjuchas? The question burned fiercely in his mind, and the rattling went on and his frustration grew as it failed to dislodge anything, any memory of who this could be before him, but then he saw something, a mark on the hollow's chest, a symbol that definitely did strike him as familiar, and this time it brought a memory to the surface in his mind, a memory of a necklace given as a present to a friend.

Slowly Ichigo's lips spread into a twisted upwards, forming something between a devious grin and a sympathetic smile, and instantly the Adjuchas' eyes brightened a little.

"Such devotion should be rewarded…" he cooed with barely constrained delight.

--

Aizen and Tousen walked down the plain corridors of Las Noches quietly discussing plans for the future and current trivial issues, one of which was the worryingly long absence of the Decimo Espada Kurosaki Ichigo.

"He's been gone for almost two weeks." said Tousen as they rounded the corner that headed towards Aizen's throne room.

"If I didn't know any better, my dear Tousen, I'd say that you sound almost happy at the fact." Aizen smirked as he carefully watched the face of his dark skinned subordinate, but as usual the blind man's face remained placid and emotionless.

Tousen pushed open the large door to the throne room for his master as they talked, and stepped to one side to allow Aizen to enter first.

"Not at all, Aizen-sama, quite the contrary, his absence is quite problematic due to the fact that his duties have gone unfulfilled for quite some time now."

"No need for the Ol' Gaffer to worry about that any longer." Came a voice from deep within the throne room, and as Tousen pushed the door open wider the light from the corridor revealed a rather travel worn looking Ichigo lounging sideways on Aizen's throne.

"You… how DARE YOU sit in Aizen-sama's throne and speak to him so disrespectfully!" Tousen had tried over the past two weeks to quell his aggravation at the Decimo Espada's insubordination, but now that he was faced with him again he realised all his mental preparation for his reappearance had been in vain, "I should kill y-"

"Oh shut up and go wave your white cane elsewhere, Blinky, mummy and daddy are talking here! Go house train your lil' guide dog Wonderwyce or something. Go! Shoo!"

Tousen began to say the release phrase for his zanpakuto, but Aizen held up his hand to halt him mid sentence.

"You're being very rude, Kurosaki-kun, but I'm sure you'll feel much less irritable after some rest." Cooed Aizen with an indulgent smile and Ichigo grinned back just as falsely accompanied by a bow of his head.

"Most definitely. My apologies, Aizen-sama."

"Am I to assume from your previous interjection that you have chosen a Hollow that you would like me to turn into your servant?"

Ichigo got up from the throne and gave an over elaborate bow which nearly caused his head to touch his knees.

"I would be MOST grateful if you would do this for me, my Lord." He couldn't be sure, but Ichigo thought he saw just a flicker of annoyance in the usually cool eyes of Aizen as he made his blatantly mocking gesture.

"You certainly took your time in choosing a servant; I didn't take you for the fussy type, Kurosaki-kun. Was this one special"

"Very much so, Aizen-sama, and as they say, the best things in life are worth waiting for."

--

The darker side of the ex-Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo had waited for three days for Aizen to work his magic and turn his chosen into an Arrancar, and for three days Aizen had replied to Ichigo's constant badgering with the same level answer.

"When I have some free time it shall be the first thing that I do."

Ichigo was excited and annoyed in equal measure, this Arrancar would be something special indeed, or at least he hoped so, he still wasn't sure if the connection he had made back in the desert was real. He had to be sure, but for what most would consider all the wrong reasons.

Ichigo had been so desperate to hurry the process along that he had even resorted to wading through the mountain of paperwork he had allowed to build up from his duties, and had even finished it all although it was mostly slap-dash and messy, but now he once again lacked anything to do to occupy his time and so he sat in his room, waiting while he spun his Tensa Zangetsu on its tip and watched the faint face of a tortured and defeated Shinigami Ichigo stare back out at him.

"I've got another nail planned for your coffin." He muttered to the sword and smiled slightly, "One hell of a big nail… I want to destroy everything that was yours… or claim it for my own."

"Ahem…" there came a light cough from the door and Ichigo looked up to see Aizen stood in the doorway with a light smile on his lips.

"You weren't wrong when you said this one was special." He said, giving nothing away in his expression or his eyes, "I had Ulquiorra gather information on your past incarnation and it turned up some very interesting results."

"You'll find my life was a Richful Oyster." He answered dryly while wondering just what the hell he was doing talking to him instead of making his servant.

"It looks like that Oyster dropped a pearl for you."

Ichigo grinned, it was a wide grin, a malicious grin, a sadistic grin, and it was a grin he turned on the shadow within the blade he held against the floor.

"It looks like that nail has arrived."

"I'd like you to meet your new servant," Aizen said at last and motioned for someone to enter the room, "Although no doubt you already know her…"

Ichigo's eyes were locked on the figure that entered the room, and even to his cold and unloving mind she looked like an angel, maybe not so much in beauty, although she was certainly a looker, but in what she represented.

A slender but well toned girl of medium height entered the room, clad in the typical plain white clothing of an Arrancar under Aizen's command but her outfit was tight fitting and cut for ease of movement, and her hands were covered with thick backed fingerless gloves, perfect for hand to hand. Her brown eyes shone with a fierce confidence and her short black tom-boyish hair was held back by the remnant of her mask that covered her forehead and descended down the sides of her face like part of a martial arts head guard. Her zanpakuto was strung horizontally across the base of her spine and was quite a small and straight blade, ideal for close quarters work.

"It is good to meet you again, sir, I am to be your servant from now until the day I die."

"Tell me your name…" Ichigo struggled to stop himself from breaking into giddy laughter as he spun the sword under his finger and stared at his slave.

"Arisawa Tatsuki."

A sound like all the spirits of hell shrieking their lament in unison echoed out into Hueco Mundo that night, it was the sound of a soul breaking, and another nail being hammered into a coffin lid, but the only one who to hear it was Kurosaki Ichigo, the person that breaking soul technically belonged to.