I warned you not to die before I came back if you ever wanted to control my power… King.

This takes place directly after Ulquiorra's last attack on Ichigo and is something of a 'What if' scenario.
Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Bleach.

Edited: 8/25/13

Spoken:

Zangetsu

Hollow

Thought:

Zangetsu

Hollow

Aibou = partner
Baka = idiot/fool/stupid

The screech of bone being cut sliced through the air and time seemed to slow as the three's thoughts sped along. Ulquiorra had done it. The question was would it be enough?

The horn began to fall and for a long moment it seemed the effort put forth was in vain as the shining sphere continued to spin, then the moment was over. Time seemed to kick back in and the sphere quickly became irregular. The one horn wasn't enough to support the vast compressed power. Ulquiorra allowed himself to feel a sense of victory as the unstable sphere rapidly expanded into an explosion which shook the air, knocking himself and the other two backwards with nothing but the shockwave.

When the dust settled down it revealed the still standing figure with long bright orange and a hole gaping in its chest. The only difference he could see from before was that the figure now only had a partial mask with a broken horn.

\NMN/

Ichigo hit the ground with a thud mask shattering before his hair, alterations to his hands and feet, as well as the pieces of his mask turned into white goo before coalescing to the hole in his chest to seal it. His eyes suddenly snapped open and he heaved in a huge gasp of air before scrambling to his feet. His hand immediately moved to his chest and he instantly became paler. Something was wrong because where the hole had been his skin gave easily under his touch almost as if his sternum wasn't there anymore.

"You're back," Uryuu choked out and Ichigo whipped around before blanching even further at the sight of a sword – his sword – protruding from the boy's chest.

"Did I do that?" He suddenly demanded in little more than a whisper. A familiar but chilling cackle echoed at the edge of his consciousness and Ichigo barely managed to keep himself from reacting noticeably, though he missed the answer given to him entirely. Even without hearing, he was pretty sure he knew the answer as the resounding laugh retreated further into his mind. He turned to Ulquiorra and cringed at the damage he saw before babbling something about wanting to fight fairly even though he could tell the Espada had little time left. When he began to fade away Ichigo managed to silence himself as the shock of what had happened slowly began to set in. Trying to shake himself out of it and act calm he turned to Inoue tentatively, "Can you work on healing Ishida? I… I need to talk to Zangestsu."

She looked at him in worry and even a bit of fear and nodded slowly before turning to the Quincy to kneel by him. Ichigo turned away as she began to pry HIS sword from their friend's chest and his forced calm expression finally began to crumble. He walked quickly away from the two then dropped into a meditation pose and began focusing his mind inward until he felt the familiar tug followed by blackness.

When his vision cleared he found himself in his inner world and he stood up quickly terror entirely evident on his face as he looked around for the two beings that shared his mindscape. He noticed Zangestsu standing nearby looking into the distance with a brooding expression, "Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked in a small voice and the older spirit turned to him in what Ichigo thought was the most surprise he had seen on the man.

"Ichigo, I didn't see you there," the old spirit said almost tiredly. That in itself worried Ichigo even more, the spirit was never surprised by Ichigo's appearance.

"Old man... What just happened? I… I thought I died?"

"That Ichigo, is something you'll have to ask him," Zangetsu gestured behind Ichigo and he turned quickly to see his inner hollow in the strangest state he had ever seen him: hysterics.

"Um…" Ichigo paused, "What just…"

"I told ya not ta die King. I did, but man if yeh can't listen," the hollow interrupted him his distorted voice sending shivers down Ichigo's spine. The hollow began laughing uncontrollably causing Ichigo to flinch back. Something wasn't right here, and he didn't know what to do about it. The hollow finally managed to regain some control and he pointed accusingly at Ichigo, "I fucking TOLD YA not to die King, and look at us now!" He leapt forward faster than Ichigo could react and pulled Ichigo's uniform apart at the top,"YOU!" He pointed at something Ichigo didn't have time to look at before pulling his own uniform open as well and finishing quietly, "and me." Ichigo stared at a gaping hole in his hollow's chest and then comprehension began to dawn on him and he fumbled for his chest and felt something he hadn't even noticed until it was pointed out. A hole. A hollow hole was in his chest. Ichigo wasn't even able to scream he was so overwhelmed by the inescapable fact, but his distress was easily noticed as entire buildings in his world imploded and the weather suddenly grew frightening.

Suddenly his hollow smacked him hard snapping him back into some semblance of sanity. "Don't ya go freaking outAibou," he snapped sarcastically as he stood again. "I didn't have one either before, but ya don't see me trying to kill our mind."

"It was a near thing though," Zangestsu commented flatly.

The hollow ignored him and continued, "I DID tell ya not to die if ya ever wanted to fully control my power! Now… evenIdon't know what's gonna to happen now!" His sentenced ended in a shriek and Ichigo realized that somehow even his hollow was scared.

"I… what…I…I'm sorry," said finally his expression forlorn and he reached out to touch his hollow on the shoulder causing him to twitch but nothing more. Clearly they were in a lot more trouble than Ichigo had originally imagined. After a long pause he finally asked, "Could you tell me what happened after… after I… died?" He stumbled over the last word in little more than a whisper.

His hollow turned to him with the most serious expression Ichigo had ever seen on the normally smiling being, "Your spirit was dying King." His watery voice echoed through the silence of Ichigo's mindscape, "I couldn't… I couldn't let that happen ya know? You die, I die, simple as that."

Ichigo nodded slowly, "So what exactly did you do?"

The hollow turned away from him, his eyes distant, "This wasn't like the last time ya know? Last time it was just your throat so all I had to do was give ya more access to my power and yer spirit survived long enough for someone to heal ya." He turned to Ichigo, "Ya may be shit at sensing energy, but I'm not. I could feel thatgirl," he grimaced at the thought of Inoue,"coming and knew we'd be okay. Not this time though." He turned away again, "This time it was yer lungs, yer liver, part of yer heart, I couldn't even tell what all was damaged, and thatEspada," he spat, "would never have let her help ya."

Ichigo spoke quietly as the hollow gathered his thoughts, "Was that why I was able to keep my mask on longer against Grimjow?"

The hollow smirked slightly, "Yeah. Betcha thought it was something you did didn'tcha."

"Honestly I wasn't sure why it happened," Ichigo said in a subdued voice. At some point he had gotten used to the hollow's voice and it barely affected him anymore. "So this time was different," Ichigo prodded.

His hollow let out a slight cackle and nodded, "Ya could definitely say that. This time," he turned to Ichigo, "I slipped into yer spirit body so ye could fully access ALL of my power."

Ichigo tensed and a slight gasp escaped his lips, but his hollow continued as if nothing had happened, "Problem was yeh were unconscious, or nearly anyway, so instead of yeh being in control, neither of us were. What ya did… was ALL instinct and zero control. I think ya knew you were helping someone, but ya didn't even know who anymore. Nearly killed 'em too."

Ichigo cringed back, the facts his hollow relayed hitting him harder than any attack.

"Here's where the problem starts though," his hollow commented tiredly,"It shouldn' have done that. It shoulda just healed ya like the time before. The problem was yer mind-set I'm guessin', which kept ya fighting. The first time ye just didn't wanna die. This time… this time ye accepted its help ta fight, so instead of just healing ya… it transformed ye all the way into a hollow." He paused, "I know ya probably felt it in your outside body, and I did my best to cover it up so they wouldn't notice, but that hole's permanent Aibou. There's only a thin layer of skin an' muscle over it."

Ichigo shuddered at the news, "So there's no way to… wait, Aibou?"

The hollow nodded with a sneer, "Yep. All this shit's made us equal, or haven't ya noticed?"

Ichigo tried to remain calm enough to sense his own spirit energy and flinched when he did, "It feels almost like an…" He stumbled unable to speak the word.

"Arrancar, Aibou. Yer trying ta say Arrancar."

"But how…" Ichigo floundered and this time Zangestsu spoke up.

"When the Espada broke your horn you shattered your mask with your own Cero."

"I did what?"

"Yeh heard him Aibou, ya broke yer own hollow mask. Even if it was on accident it still comes ta the same thing."

"Wait, but I don't have a mask!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"It shattered when you hit the ground," Zangestsu commented,"But I wouldn't be so ready to say you don't have one." He pointed at Ichigo's forehead tiredly, "It's already coming back."

"What?! How?"

Zangestsu produced a small mirror and handed it to the frantic boy who grabbed it and stared at his reflection his mouth hanging open, and his eyes filled with panic.

"I… I've got to go," he stuttered out before vanishing leaving his zanpakuto and hollow to look at each other with their own version of concern.

"I don't think anyone is taking this well," Zangetsu finally commented.

"Who the hell would?" the hollow said and began pacing in agitation. He began to head towards hysterics again as he felt the hollow mask continue forming on his own face under his hand.

\NMN/

Ichigo opened his eyes into the real world and desperately began clawing at the place where he knew the white bone mask was beginning to form until he was certain it was gone. The image in the mirror was terrifying. His right iris had been gold, and already black was creeping into his sclera, but that wasn't the worst of it. Not noticing the feeling, the mask had already spread across the right side of his forehead and over part of his hair.

'Ya know that's not going to work for long Aibou,' he heard a voice echoing through his head more clearly than it had ever been before this as if their means of communication had gone from the quality of a two-way radio sounding as if his hollow was standing right next to him.

"Well I'll just have to keep doing it then," Ichigo muttered trying to sound stubborn instead of desperate.

"Keep doing what Ichigo?" the nervous voice of Inoue asked causing him to freeze.

"How long were you there?" he asked trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

"Oh I just got here," she said, "I wanted to let you know I finished healing Ishida and wanted to make sure you weren't hurt too."

"Oh uh, I'm fine." Ichigo said in a rush. There was no way the healer would miss the hole in his chest if she tried to heal him. Inoue looked at him in some sort of worry and fear, but didn't question him. He stood in a single fluid motion not noticing Orihime flinching back at his un-natural movement and he walked over to Ishida in such a smooth way he seemed to glide without noticing before coming to a stop to pick up his sword.

"Um… Ishida…I'm sorry you got hurt."
"Oh shut up Ichigo, I know that wasn't you," the Quincy said stiffly looking at the orange-head with a calculating look. "Are you really okay though?"

"I uh… I think so," Ichigo said nervously and the Quincy nodded. In his eyes the nervousness was a normal reaction to nearly becoming a hollow.

"We should go back to Karakura after getting the others," Uryuu commented and Ichigo agreed.

"I'll go get Renji, Chad, and Rukia and send them your way," Ichigo said tightening his grip on his zanpakuto before continuing, "You should probably meet up with the others that have come here after that."

"Right." The Quincy nodded unsurprised that the boy thought he could take Yammy on his own, then frowned, "Can you find them?"

"Yeah they're over there a little over a mile away," Ichigo pointed in the exact direction of the others causing the Quincy's face to twitch in surprise.

"Since when can you sense reiatsu so well?"

"I uh… huh. Just now I guess?" He said curiously.

'That might be because of me,' the watery voice commented in his head.

Ichigo tensed with his head tilted then nodded,'Explain later I guess,' before noticing Ishida staring at him.

"What was that Ichigo?"

"Oh, uh. I was talking to … Zangetsu," he quickly replied. "He doesn't know why I can either," he finished more smoothly.

'Nice save Aibou. Better practice that lying though. I think you'll need it a lot more now,' his hollow laughed and Ichigo noticed his lips twitching up into a smile involuntarily. He quickly forced his mouth back into its usual scowl in worry then turned to Inoue, "Take care of them if they're hurt please."

She nodded and the group separated leaving Inoue with one thought, 'Was that really Kurosaki?'

\NMN/

When the others were out of sight Ichigo prepared himself to use shunpo but staggered after one step. 'What the?' He thought to himself. 'That was FAST.'

Ichigo closed his eyes and saw the reflection of himself snickering.

"What?"

'Yer so ridiculous Aibou. That wasn't just Shunpo, didn'tcha hear that static sound? That was shunpo AND sonido.'

Ichigo looked at the mirror image in surprise, "I can do both?"

'Looks like it baka-Aibou.'

"Hey I'm not stupid!" Ichigo said finding himself wanting to growl in annoyance.

'Riiiiight. Better calm down baka-Aibou, yer making our mask come back faster,' he commented and pointed at Ichigo.

Ichigo cursed, "How can I not FEEL that?"

The hollow shrugged, 'Because it's supposed to be there now baka-Aibou, that's my guess.'

Ichigo opened his eyes and clawed the mask off of his face again panting harshly as the bone dissolved into the air. "What are we going to do?" he whimpered. "They'll kill me if they find out I'm a hollow!"

'Arrancar.'

"That's even worse!" his scream came out in a vague double tone and he clamped his mouth shut eyes wide.

'CALM DOWN ICHIGO,' Zangetsu's voice boomed through his psyche and Ichigo collapsed to a sitting position. 'One step at a time. First we save your friends, THEN we worry about our fate. You don't know Soul Society will try to kill you yet, and assuming so will only make you lose your focus.'

Ichigo nodded slowly, "Right…" He stood up with the same flowing motion from earlier and clawed bits of the already forming mask off of his face. With a deep breath he started forward again, this time staying mostly calm when he moved faster than he had ever gone before. When he arrived he saw Chad and Renji fighting a far stronger released form of Yammy. He took in the 0 on the Espada's shoulder and quickly understood why he had felt such a massive change in the man's strength.

"Hey Yammy," He said trying to stay calm as he scratched a fragment of his mask off of his face that had started to form again.

Yammy and the others turned in surprise having not even noticed the boy arrive.

Yammy was the first to speak with a laugh, "You dare come here when you've lost your reiatsu like that?"

Ichigo paused and received an answer before he could ask, 'I'm holding in yer reiatsu Aibou. If they felt it now they'd know instantly. Go have some fun, lord knows we need to let some stress off.'

A feral smile inched across his face and he was entirely unable to tell if it was his own, his hollow's, or both. "Oh I think I'll be fine Yammy," he commented barely containing a bubbling laugh that he could identify as his hollow's. "It's you who should be worried," he stated like it was the most basic fact in the world. Yammy felt adrenaline rush through his veins at Ichigo's statement, but ignored it opening his mouth to say something which ended up being a pained roar. Before he had even managed to speak Ichigo had cut off one of his legs. Within the blink of an eye it happened again and Yammy stumbled in surprise. Ichigo was glad for his speed when he realized that none of the people there could see him moving and thus couldn't see him scraping off his mask each time he attacked. Apparently using his powers to fight brought the mask out significantly faster. He turned to the others who seemed shocked by his speed, "I'll explain later." His hollow cackled,'Liar,' as Ichigo continued, "You guys go ahead and meet up with the others and take Rukia to get healed. I'll be there when I finish up here." Renji seemed about to protest, but Ichigo's mention of Rukia's state changed his mind. He walked over to Rukia and picked her up, "Be careful Kurosaki," he said roughly and started to shunpo in the direction of Ishida and Orihime.

Chad turned and began to follow with one last statement, "I trust you Ichigo."

After they left Ichigo turned to Yammy with a harsh sigh. He hated the idea of taking advantage of his trusting friend, but there was no way he could continue to fight Yammy while hiding the fact that he was clawing the mask off. He also was somewhat curious if Yammy would listen to him long enough to talk.

'After cutting off his legs I doubt he will be very accommodating Ichigo,' Zangetsu replied humorously.

'Yeah probably… trying won't hurt though.'

'Suit yerself Aibou, just dun get us all killed,' Ichigo's hollow snarked.

"So… Yammy, I was wondering if you would be willing to talk," Ichigo said in what he hoped was a placating tone.

"You cut off my fucking legs brat! You're dead!" Yammy managed to pull himself to his remaining feet and began charging up a cero unable to reason through his anger.

Ichigo grit his teeth in annoyance and muttered, "Well there went my chance at asking for information." Yammy released the cero and Ichigo simply moved away from it before leaping forward to attack. This time when the burbling laughter tugged at his lips he let it loose without noticing, and the sound was enough to make Yammy pause for a moment. Ichigo cut off one of Yammy's arms, and then suddenly what was happening caught up with him as he realized he was laughing uncontrollably. The sound chilled him to the bone, but he couldn't stop.

"What the hell is wrong with you brat?" Yammy asked reproachfully as he held his arm in pain.

The fact that even Yammy was disturbed was enough to cut the stream of laughter off leaving only the short echo from it. Ichigo stood trying to recover himself then answered slowly, "I – We," he corrected himself referring to himself, Zangetsu and his hollow without thinking about how it would sound, "We don't really know what's going on with me or any of us actually. There's a theory of course." He paused and turned towards Yammy gesturing towards his mask helplessly which had continued to form from fighting, "It's why I wanted to try talking to you."

Yammy raised an eyebrow, "What's your point brat? Don't you usually fight with one of those?" Ichigo sighed and rain his hand through his sweaty hair wondering why Yammy wasn't trying to kill him, but deciding not to like this 'gift horse' in the mouth. "One second Yammy, I think I can show you what I'm trying to explain."

'Hey Hollow could you-'

'Yeah, yeah on it. Keep yer pants on.'

A moment later the skin began drawing back from the centre of Ichigo's chest revealing the fist-sized gaping hole that passed through it.

Yammy blinked in surprise as the skin pulled back over the hole as if it was never there and then burst out laughing, "Oh man this is rich. The shinigami boy became what he was fighting! Aizen would love to hear that. Guess I'll have to settle for knocking you out for now so he can take a look at you."

Ichigo found himself literally growling before forcing out the words, "NOT the right answer fat-ass." He suddenly leapt forward and he realized he wasn't the one controlling his body right now even if he could still see.

'Hollow?' He asked suddenly scared.

"Busy Aibou," the words snapped out from his own lips with an obvious double voice, "We can't have Aizen knowing this right now and ya know that."

'But-'

"Ya don't have it in ye ta kill right now 'n you know it, so I'm doin' it for ya."

Ichigo fell silent for a moment, 'Surely there's another way.'

Without warning Ichigo felt himself rocket forward and then stop with his sword impaled through Yammy's skull like a hot knife through butter. His arm then wrenched it free and jumping back to land.

"Look Aibou, that naïve thought process is gonna get us all killed real fast." Ichigo felt control slide subtly back to him, 'So you better wise up quick before we get stabbed in the back.'

Ichigo looked back at Yammy and nodded his head slowly with regret. As much as he understood his hollow's reasoning, he just hoped that the day it became necessary to follow through with such a thing never came.

A/N: Hey everybody, hope you all enjoyed it so far. I did my best to edit it, but I don't have anyone to beta so hopefully I didn't miss too much. If you notice any mistakes let me know and I'll do my best to fix them. This includes spelling, grammar, obvious repetition of the same word, etc.

Aside from that, I'm having a surprising amount of fun writing this, and I hope you all enjoy it. Reviews would be lovely so I can see what you all think! ^_^

-Laz

Edited: 8/25/13