Ichigo awoke with a start to find himself in Mina's arms. For some reason, she was curled around the upper half of his body with his face pressed against her bare belly. She was naked as she was most of the time when he woke up with her. Her arms trailed down his back in an awkward embrace and her legs were pulled up between them with her shins resting against his abdomen. Judging from her position of virtually encompassing his upper half, it was if she had been protecting him from something. Had she once again acted as a buffer between him and Hichigo? She had developed yet another irritating habit: attempting to protect him from himself. He cautiously peeled her from his body so he could look at her. Lifting his hand to move her hair, he paused upon seeing the dark red lines that circled his wrists. Rope burns? How the hell did that happen? Had things gotten so out of hand with his alter ego that she had been forced to tie him up? That would be no surprise to him. A sigh of exasperation escaped him while he briefly inspected the red welts that still stung a bit before setting his attention back on Mina. Pushing the hair back from her face, he was relieved to see that there were not any bruises or cuts. Hichigo seemed to make it a point to stay away from her face. Perhaps even he could see that she had endured enough damage there and did not need any further scarring to her face. If only he felt the same way about the rest of her, particularly her emotions. Ichigo's sad brown eyes followed the path of his fingers that glided over her neck discovering the brownish green remnants of old bruises but no new ones. Searching lower, he found the most recent damage on her side. Following the shallow and narrow yet furiously red cut that lay diagonally across her ribcage, he rolled her over onto her belly to find more, many more, of the same cuts criss crossing all over her back. It appeared as if she had been whipped, and not with just any whip but a cat o' nine tails whip equipped with miniscule pieces of glass or metal attached to the ends. That bastard. He wrapped the sheet around her body to cover her wounds so he could hold her without causing her any undue discomfort.

"Oh, Mina," he whispered, pressing his lips against her forehead.

"Ichigo? What's wrong? Are you all right?" she mumbled, clutching the lapels of the robe he was wearing.

Ichigo nuzzled against her neck, kissing her skin just above her collarbone. He tightened his embrace as if he never wanted to let her go. He could not protect her, and he hated it. The only thing he hated more was that the person he could not protect her from was part of him. She had received a cruel beating and still had to be in pain yet she was more concerned for his well-being.

"Mina," he murmured, looking into her lovely golden eye that gazed at him steadily from between the strands of her snowy hair. It was heart breaking to see the concern for him in her eyes, filling him with so much sadness and remorse that made his chest ache. He had hurt her, but she had stayed. Why? Pressing his forehead to hers, he closed his eyes because he feared he would not be able to hold back the tears welling in them. "Why do you stay? Why do you allow him to do this to you? You know I can't stop him."

"And that's why I stay. For you," she replied, nudging his nose with hers. "I can't leave you alone...not with him. He would eat you alive, take over to become the dominant personality. I can't let that happen."

"Mina, why - " His words were cut off when she tenderly pressed her lips to his.

"I care about you both. I want to help you both become one again, melding your personalities into the one perfect human I know you can be."

"Perfect," he snorted derisively. "Not hardly."

"For lack of a better analogy, I see you as being like a coin. There are two very different sides to you, but there's still just one coin...and that's you, Ichigo. I know that there's you and there's Hichigo separately...yet, in the end, you're both part of the same person. Basically," she sighed noisily, head butting him gently with a smile on her face. "You two need to get your shit together and integrate into one seamless personality."

"Where did you come from?" he asked, smoothing her sleep mussed hair back from her face. He smiled when her expression twisted into one of complete bewilderment. "Only fate could have brought you to me. I needed someone like you. You're beautiful. Did you know that?"

Mina lowered her eyes from his. She could feel the heat of embarrassment rising to her cheeks. She wasn't stupid. She knew she wasn't beautiful. He was just an incredibly kind man. Her appearance was ghastly and shocking, having even startled and disgusted him the first time he saw her.

"You're heart makes you beautiful," he said, kissing her cheek. He could see the disbelief all over her face. The expression she wore called him a liar as clearly as if she had spoken the word. It stung his heart that she did not believe him because despite her scars, or maybe because of them, he thought she was so pretty. Her scars displayed her courage, her tenacity, her untamed spirit - that made her positively gorgeous.

Mina smiled. This poor, naive man had no idea what really lay within her heart. He was unaware that she could be just as cunning and barbaric as his other personality. She would not tell Ichigo what she had done to receive that terrible lashing as retribution. Her only hope was that he did not demand she explain the rope burns around his wrists because then she would have to confess both her and Hichigo's parts in the matter. The most simple explanation would begin by informing him that she and Hichigo had been playing a sex game. That fact would not be startling but the details to follow beginning with the act of her tying up Hichigo. It had taken quite some conniving to convince the man to allow her to tie him up, but she had a plan that she was determined to see through to the end. She had teased him mercilessly, bringing him to the brink of orgasm again and again but denying him that final release each time. Finally, she walked away leaving him tied to the bed and suffering from a horrendous case of blue balls. For hours, he howled like a pitiful wounded animal, being left to marinate in physical torment. During his torture, he had fought to break free from his restraints. The searing pain in his wrists as the rope cut into them was imperceptible due to the excruciating aching below his waist. Once enough blood had soaked into the rope enabling him to stretch it, he was able to easily slip his hands that were also coated with the crimson fluid free from the restraints. Then he had gone after her, searching each room and screaming her name at the top of his lungs in a blind rage. Hichigo had found her in her usual spot in the study, peacefully reading a book as if there was nothing unusual happening in the house. He had grabbed her by her hair which had grown out so that he was able to get quite a secure grasp on it. Dragging her to the hidden torture chamber he had created long ago in the basement of the house, he had chained her, lying on her abdomen, to a sturdy wooden table to exact his revenge with the intention of beating an apology out of her. She had screamed in her suffering until her throat was raw, cried gallons of tears until she begged for water, and bled until she had become faint but she refused to offer any kind of apology to him. Weak and on the verge of losing consciousness while her blood flowed so copiously it had begun to ooze off of flat surface she was lying on, she still obstinately rejected his demand for her to admit her wrongdoing and seek his forgiveness.

"Why, Mina? Why?" Hichigo had asked her, showing signs of weariness. Sweat ran down his naked body mixing with the splatters of her blood. He struggled for air, completely winded due to beating her so aggressively. The whip hung limply from his hand while her blood that covered the tiny metal blades imbedded in the leather tips pooled on the uneven stones of the floor. "Why won't you just say you're sorry?"

Without lifting her head to look at him, her voice fragile and breathy, she answered,"Because I am not sorry for what I did to you. You're so quick to inflict pain on others without knowing how it feels yourself. You should learn the meaning of suffering so you will not be so hasty to impose it upon others."

Hichigo had roared loud and long to release his fury. Once again, she had caused strong, unfamiliar emotions to rise within him. He hated her for making him feel such things as sadness and remorse. So many times she had infuriated him to the point where he wanted to surrender to his anger and kill her. He wondered if she knew just how close to death she came on many occasions, especially this one. She had trifled with his body and his head in ways that he had never thought possible.

Mina shivered from the memory of hearing his despondent screams which had served to unleash his despair as much as his anger. She was determined to break Hichigo, to make him see that he needed the other half of his personality. Ichigo, the master and dominant personality, was not there to tame him or destroy him but to keep the cruelty and murderous rage under control. His excessive tendencies were due to the nature of his birth, why he was created within Ichigo to begin with. As an extreme defense mechanism, he needed Ichigo's kindness and patience to temper his sadism and heartlessness. There were also lessons that Ichigo needed to learn having made that side of him to cope. He would have to acknowledge and earnestly embrace his dark side. He would have to admit the sometimes depraved desires and shocking brutality that lay within him. Her fingers glided through Ichigo's silky soft hair as she coaxed his lips closer to hers. The shy man had not touched her in a sexual manner, not even a kiss, since she had awakened him by taking advantage of his morning erection. Although she admired his sense of morality and his high standards of personal conduct, she could occasionally see the longing for her in his mahogany eyes when he would relax and lower his emotional walls. He wanted her, but he would not allow himself to act upon those desires.

"Mina," he whispered, his lips nearing hers. "I can't. Please...please don't tempt me."

"Ichigo, stop it," she snapped, grasping his face between her hands. "I'm not a child or some virginal maiden. You're not exactly innocent either so please don't pretend to be." She paused a moment in her scolding as his cheeks began to burn with a deep shade of red that was spreading across his entire face. She raked her fingers through his hair, pulling slightly until he grunted with discomfort. "Besides, you've had me dozens of times already."

"But it wasn't me. It wasn't me," he argued, putting up a somewhat impassive resistance to her lips that tried to harness his. He slowly moved his head from side to side in a lackluster attempt to avoid her kiss.

"Stop lying to yourself. Take me," she said, pressing her lips to his briefly. Excitement surged through her body from the limited but ardent contact of their mouths. Her stomach tumbled in limitless somersaults of arousal when his hand pressed against her abdomen and inched upward.

"I shouldn't. I won't," he mumbled as if arguing with himself. He groaned mournfully when her lips glided over his. It sounded as if he were losing ground in his pathetic determination to stay on the high moral road.

"Forget about all of that. You're a grown man with needs. Take what you need," she urged him, her hand moving down his chest as his hand continued sliding upward to her breasts. "What do you want?" Her fingers pressed against the lowest part of his hard abdomen to push under the elastic of his underwear. Her fingertips grazed his rigid member causing him to gasp from being startled. The groan he released in her ear told her that he was pleased with her touch. She kissed him tenderly, teasingly. A moan rose from her throat when his fingers curled to cup her firm breast. "What do you need?"

"Please...Mina, please," he begged, sounding helpless and somewhat fearful. His hips pushing upward toward her hand signaled that he wanted more, but she withdrew her hand slightly to avoid touching him again.

"Please, what? Tell me. Tell me what you want." Mina grasped his member, running her hand the full length of it. His manhood was warm and stiff in her palm. Her thumb moved over the smooth head wiping away the drop of fluid that had formed on the tip. Ceasing any movement of her hand, she felt him pulse and jerk in her palm.

"I-I w-want..." he stuttered, before allowing his words to trail off into a moan as she stroked him from base to tip.

"Say it," she ordered, yanking his manhood fiercely. Her body responded with a gush of moisture from arousal when he cried out with pleasure.

"I want to fuck you so hard that I make you cry," he growled through his teeth, ripping the sheet from her body.

At first Mina was so flabbergasted by his blunt statement that she could only stare at him with a round gaping mouth that matched her round blinking eyes. Once she recovered from being stupefied by his use of the f-word, she enclosed his neck with her arms to bring his face close to hers. "Then fuck me," she commanded him, smashing her lips to his. She enthusiastically mounted him when he rolled onto his back. He had taken her wounds into consideration when determining their position for sex. Always incredibly thoughtful, it did not surprise her that despite being overcome with lust, Ichigo had not forgotten about her injured back. His sweet, considerate nature was one of the things that made it difficult for her to not want to fall in love with him. She battled her feeble female heart everyday that she spent with him because it wanted to invite him in with no hesitation. She cried out his name in pleasure when he thrust his hips upward to skewer her body upon him. Her arms encircled his neck, cradling his head against her breast that he greedily suckled as she gyrated her body on top of his.

"Mina, you feel so good," Ichigo murmured, clamping one of his arms tightly around her waist. He held her down on him until she had no choice but to grind her way to an orgasm. His breathing increased to panting as her body contracted around him in a steady pulse of muscle contractions from climaxing. Fighting for control, he held her down on top of him until the urge to come subsided.

"Ichigo, for once in your life, please just lose control," she implored him, kissing him in a beseeching manner. "You must take me as you want me. You have to do what you said."

"What's that?" he asked, carefully pushing her over onto her side. He held one of her legs against his chest as he straddled her other leg in her sideways position.

"Fuck me until I cry," she reminded him, her body trembling with readiness as he pressed the head of his manhood to her opening. Her legs were spread open like a pair of scissors that were positioned vertically across his body. She looked up at the man who was hugging her thigh as he hesitated briefly to take her. 'Please, please, do not have second thoughts about this now,' she pleaded in her mind.

"All right." With one forceful forward shove of his hips, he sank himself into her body until he was again buried to the hilt.

Mina cried out when he made contact with her cervix because he was so deeply imbedded inside of her. She had asked for it, and she was about to get it rough and rapid. Her fingers clenched and unclenched in the pillow she held to her body as he banged into her cervix again and again. A smirk of self-satisfied delight curled her lips as he gave in to his sexual desire and thrust into her so ferociously it brought tears to her eyes. She bit her lower lip to keep from crying out in pain because she did not want him to stop. The tears continue to build until they escaped her tightly closed eyes and ran down her cheeks. Well, well, mission accomplished.

"Mina, Mina," he chanted as his pleasure rose higher and higher, bringing him closer to the peak where a devastating orgasm awaited.

"Ichigo, please, please, come...NOW!" she screamed when she became afraid her body could not take much more. Her body unexpectedly climaxed in a sudden surge of ecstasy that left her breathless and bawling as she pointlessly attempted to regain control of her senses.

With a short yell, Ichigo let go as she had commanded, surrendering himself to the ultimate bliss. He thrust into her with each successive spurt that accompanied another wave of pleasure which surged through his body. Once he was finally able to stop moving from the ongoing throes of the orgasm, he lay down beside her to take her into his arms. He was careful not to hurt her back as he held her. Turning her face up to him with a forefinger under her chin, he kissed away what remained of the tears she had shed.

"Did I hurt you? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he apologized profusely without waiting for her to answer. It was so infuriatingly like him to assume he had injured her and want to make amends. Any further apologies were cut off by her lips covering his. His body relaxed as she kissed him at great length, allowing the leisurely, comforting kiss to continue until he was assured that he had nothing to be sorry for.

"You were amazing," she whispered, giving him another peck on the lips. "I lo-" She clamped her lips shut so she would not say another word. Oh, god! What had she been about to say? She almost made a life changing admission that she would not have been able to take back. She gulped audibly, choking back the rest of the words before they came flying out of her mouth. "I look forward to doing that again soon."

"Me too," he told her, settling his head between her breasts. Before long, the hypnotic cadence of her heartbeat put him to sleep.

Mina ran her fingers through his hair, kissing the top of his head. The fuzzy flyaway hairs tickled her nose, and she giggled lightly to herself. Pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, she closed her stinging eyes to think about what she had almost done. What if she had said those three little words to Ichigo? That could have very well destroyed her desire to bring peace and unity to the man with the dual personality. She had constantly stayed on her guard trying not separate them or view them as two different men. Although they might as well be two completely separate individuals, they weren't. She vowed to herself that she would be more vigilant in the future to keep a tighter rein on her emotions.

~\'/~

Winter had succumbed to the Spring. The snow had melted to reveal the tender green shoots of grass that had been waiting to burst forth from the ground. Everything green had begun to grown. There was no rhyme or reason to the gardens of the manor, as if the gardener had just thrown out seeds to grow where they may. The flowers sent up tiny buds to open and dot the landscape with beautiful color. Ducks had flown in to claim a home near the small pond that sat in the middle of the back of the manor grounds.

Mina's new favorite place was the gazebo that sat in the middle of the pond. She would walk across the small wooden pier painted white that led to the round structure where she would sit and watch the ducks glide across the water or watch the sun set in the evenings. On a few sleepless nights, she would come to watch the sun rise. She would sit in the swing hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the gazebo, wearing the gray wool kimono to ward off the chill. The kimono that Hichigo had wrapped her in the first night she had appeared at the mansion had become hers. It had been a source of warmth all winter when she would read her books in the study or whenever she did not feel like getting dressed and it was too cold to roam through the big house naked. In the early morning, she would bundle up in the thick garment, sometimes over her night gown, sometimes not, before tiptoeing to her special place. This morning she had chosen to curl up on the cushioned bench in the gazebo rather than swaying gently in the swing. She had left Hichigo sleeping in the bed. Sometimes the duality of his personality could be frustrating and downright creepy. She never knew who she would wake up with and, depending on his emotional state, he could change in a moments notice. Thankfully, he had never done anything as weird as shifting forms in the middle of sex. That would be just far too strange even for her - and strange had been a part of her life for quite a while now. She held the garment together from the inside beneath her chin as she shivered in the cool morning air. Mist rose from the surface of the pond that was still devoid of its feathered inhabitants so early in the day.

Things around the manor had been tranquil as of late. It was almost frightening. Hichigo had not gone on any violent rampages or thrown any fiery tantrums for whatever reason. Ichigo had become even more quiet and introspective which had bothered her. He seemed to be avoiding her, but when he was with her he acted differently toward her than he had before. Rather than tolerating her presence with a stony silence, he had become affectionate, speaking to her in volumes without using words. For no reason he would reach to take her hand in his and just hold it until one of them had to move. He would offer her kisses on her forehead or cheek when he walked past in her random places in the house. It seemed to please him to go with her for afternoon walks around the garden before she would retreat to the gazebo to watch the sunset. Even Hichigo had grown more devoted and caring which could sometimes be so out of character for him it terrified her instead of having the effect he had intended. She would immediately feel regretful for reacting in such a negative way to a gesture he had meant to be loving. For instance, if he raised his hand suddenly to pat her head or caress her cheek, she would flinch and raise her arm defensively to protect herself. Usually he would give her an apologetic, sad smile before he would turn to walk away to leave her stewing in her shame. He would sometimes join her on the afternoon strolls before leaving her to her daily routine of enjoying the end of the day from the gazebo. It seemed to be an unspoken rule between all of them that the gazebo was her place, her retreat and sanctuary where neither one of them were allowed to trespass.

Mina opened her eyes, startled that she had almost dozed off. A tremor ran through her body and she found herself wishing she had stayed in the warm bed tucked cozily in Hichigo's embrace. But so many thoughts had been running through her head. For hours she had laid awake staring into the darkness. Musings of what her life had become had bombarded her brain, and she tried to make sense of it all. Finally she had come to the conclusion that she could not make sense of a nonsensical situation so she gave up trying to do so. She had gotten out of the bed in annoyance, letting go of the hope that she would get any sleep at all. It would be better to greet the day than to lay in bed feeling baffled and disgruntled. So here she sat, cold and fretful, but at least the brilliant pinks and golds that were coloring the anemic blue sky of early morning were pretty and almost inspiring to see.

"Mina," that bizarre watery voice she had come to cherish called to her.

Mina nearly jumped out of her skin from the sudden and unexpected intrusion into her quiet world. She turned her head to see Hichigo standing at the edge of the pond near the end of the bridge to the gazebo. A smile lifted the corners of her mouth to see him standing there like a shy little boy with his hands behind his back while he stared at his feet. "Well, what is it?" she asked when he did not say anything.

"I need to talk to you," he said without moving or looking up at her.

"Oh, for god's sake, then come out here," she ordered grumpily. Although she enjoyed her time alone in the gazebo, it wasn't sacred ground and they could come out to it if the liked. When he came near her, she grabbed his hand and pulled him down onto the cushion beside her. He was being unusually and stunningly submissive. It was scaring the hell out of her. She waited for him to speak or to look at her. When he did neither, she put her finger under his chin to lift it so she could see his golden eyes. Looking into them, they were shockingly devoid of emotion but not in the scary, mindless way as if he were about to commit a horrendous act. The expression held there exhibited a calm sense of nothingness, a plain lack of emotion whether they be good or bad. "Hichigo, you're really beginning to frighten me. What's wrong?"

"Ichigo and I have been talking," he said quite seriously, pulling her hand away to hold it in his.

"What is that like?" she inquired, her curiosity getting the better of her. She often pondered what it was like to be him, to have two complete and separate personalities. Obviously they were aware of each other so how did they handle occupying the same mind?

"Well..." He released her hand, sinking into the thick, pillowy back of the bench that was like an outdoor couch. He stretched his arms out to lay them over the top of the couch, resting his hand on her shoulder that was pressed against the back. "It's kind of like talking to yourself in your mind. You know how sometimes you'll think about things and kind of debate with yourself, as if there's two separate voices in your head?"

Mina nodded enthusiastically. She knew exactly what that was like. As a matter of fact, she had recently done that for many sleepless hours while trying to sort out her present circumstances. Since she had distracted him from what he had come to talk to her about, she brought him back around to his point with a question. "So what had you two been discussing?"

"You," he answered pointedly. He gave her a flirtatious smile, tickling her under the chin with his forefinger as if she were a cute child not a grown woman.

Mina pushed his hand away, frowning deeply because she felt insulted by his demeaning behavior. "What about me?"

"We were debating on if we should keep you or send you away," he replied curtly without looking at her.

"So I'm a pet now?" she growled, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away from him.

"Would you just shut up and listen?" he snapped, resisting the urge to throttle her. By withholding sexual favors from him, she had taught him a difficult but necessary lesson in restraint.

Mina bit her lower lip to physically repress any further outbursts. Presently, she seemed to be the only one having issues with controlling herself, particularly her mouth and emotions. She scooted closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. Looking out over the pond, she watched as the brown mother duck dropped into the water from the grassy edge with her four fluffy yellow ducklings following behind her. A smile once again found a place on her face.

"I could have phrased that statement a little better I suppose," Hichigo admitted, laying his hand on her knees that were pulled up onto the seat beside him. "We want you to stay with us."

"Forever?" She edged closer to tuck her head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder.

"If that's how long you want to stay," he rejoined, patting her knee.

"You're not forcing me to stay? No tying me to a wall? No physical intimidation?" She stood up, walking to the side of the gazebo opposite from him to keep her back to him. "Ichigo won't try to carry me away again will he? I won't be forced to leave at some time in the future will I?"

"You're free to make your own choice." He stared at her back while patiently awaiting a response. He had not noticed until this moment that her hair had grown long enough to form numerous curls at the nape of her neck. Occasionally she would pin back the front of her hair allowing an unobstructed view of her face. He and Ichigo both were greatly pleased that she trusted them enough to allow such vulnerability to emerge.

This decision should be an easy one, but she found herself facing another dilemma. Should she leave to seek a normal life? What constituted normal? Reaching upwards to touch her face, she traced the deep scars with her fingers. Perhaps there was no hope of ever finding normal again. Sighing noisily, she tried to bring some kind of order to her thoughts. Not too long ago, she had reached a shocking an irreversible decision. She loved them. She loved them both deeply and wholly but for completely different reasons. The only factor that made her complicated ordeal of loving two men easier is that they were actually the same man. He had just chosen to bisect his opposing personalities, allowing them to manifest as individual men. Recently, she had lost her desire to mold them into one human being. They seemed to operate just fine in their separate capacities anyway. Who did she think she was to think she could 'fix' them or that it was her job to do so?

"Mina?" This time the voice that called out to her was Ichigo's.

Mina slowly turned to see the orange haired man with the gorgeously tanned skin sitting there in place of his pale double. A strong tremor shook her to her core physically and emotionally. She was quite sure she would never grow accustomed to those swift and unpredictable transformations. Boredom would not be a problem in this relationship.

"Did he ask you?" Ichigo inquired when her eyes met his.

"Yes." She did not offer any further information mostly because her emotions were in such turmoil it was becoming challenging to think either rationally or irrationally.

"What is your decision?" Ichigo anxiously chewed his lower lip. He would admit he had been a wimp and left the task of asking the crucial question to the bolder and more candid half of his personality.

Mina blinked back the tears that stung the back of her eyeballs and filled her tear ducts. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she prepared to give him her answer. She held her breath when he stood to walk toward her. This decision would alter the course of the rest of her life, and the life of the man standing before her. Gazing into his dark cocoa colored eyes, she opened her mouth to speak. "I want to stay. I want to be with you...both of you."

Ichigo graced her with a rare gift: he smiled. The corners of his delectable pink lips turned upward while genuine happiness flooded his eyes until they shone. In another unique display that showcased his new found aggressiveness, he clasped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her forward to kiss her lips. The kiss was not meek or bashful. He kissed her with an ardent fervor that conveyed his current passionate emotions to leave her weak and breathless in his arms. He held her body tightly in his arms as she yielded herself to him.

"I'll take care of you," he promised her, kissing her cheek lightly before embracing her. "I'll make you happy."

"You already do make me happy."

"There's one more thing you need to know." His eyes gazed into hers ardently before he spoke. "I love you."

Mina dropped her eyes, unable to hold his gaze. She clutched the lapels of his yukata that was the same light blue color of the sky just after dawn. "I love you too. Both of you."

~The End~