The Monkey and the Wolf.

five years later.

Bikou, found himself returning to his nomadic ways, as he once again, wandered the sands of Hueco Mundo. Searching for something. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. 

Fighting was something he enjoyed... No Loved. Battle gave him the purest form of happiness, of joy, and excitement, and wonder. But... It never lasted long. It didn't quite keep that feeling going for very long, like something else is missing... But what is it?

That was the answer he was searching for, and should he find it... Bikou believed he would reach a newfound level of power, unlike anything else. 

" Hm...." Bikou sighed in frustration, staring out at the cold and lonely sands of Hueco Mundo. " Why does it feel like this? I'm stronger, so I should be happy... But... I'm not. I'm not even excited anymore. Aghhhhh! This sucks." Bikou muttered. 

He kicked the ground below him, kicking up a small sandstorm in front of him. 

How long will it take?

How long will you search for it?

" Gah! This is annoying!" Bikou exclaimed. "Maybe, going on a hunt will make me feel better." He muttered. " Is there anyone of worth near?"

He closed his eyes, and activated his pesquisa, and began searching for the spiritual pressures of nearby Hollows. 

" Huh? There's a really powerful presence nearby... Hmph! I guess, I'll check it out." Bikou flashed away using Sonido. Each step he took, carried him miles. He was beginning to get better. " This technique is useful."

Sonido is rapid movement technique that Hollows use. Effectively the same as a flash step for soul reapers.

" Now then-"

Bikou followed the spiritual pressure to its source. There were two people sitting in the sand, surrounded by a pile of bodies. One of them, was a tall man with shoulder length brown hair. The other was a small female Hollow, with short light green hair. But what was more interesting, about the two of them, was how human in appearance they seemed, even more so than Bikou.

The two Hollows took notice of Bikou and looked in his direction.

" You shouldn't come closer." The man said. His voice was soft and quiet. And... Filled with sadness. " You wouldn't want to end up, like the rest of them."

Bikou was interested. He couldn't tell, by the man's tone of voice, if that was a threat or a warning. 

" Yeah? And how would you do that?" Bikou asked. He took a large step towards the two Hollows, and very quickly he found himself being crushed by a large spiritual pressure. The energy bared down on his entire body, pushing him down onto one knee.

" I warned you." The man spoke. " I'm sorry for killing you."

Bikou heard the man speak with such sadness and despair, and knew immediately that he wasn't being attacked... Or at least not intentionally. 

Raising his spiritual pressure to the max, Bikou fought back to his feet, surprising the two Hollows.

" Whew! Man, that was something!" Bikou exclaimed. " Hey, you're pretty damn powerful. How the hell did you do that?" 

" How are you alive?" The man asked.

" How? I'm pretty strong, myself, man. Really strong." Bikou stated.

" Is that right?"

" Yeah." Bikou replied. " You two are different than any Hollow, I've ever seen. You guys don't even look like Hollows. If you didn't have those Masks, I'd assume you were human or Soul Reapers. So, what's the deal? What are you guys?" 

Bikou stared at the man with intrigue written all over his face. He could tell just from standing near the man, that he was stronger than Bikou currently was. 

" We were once one. But.... We were alone, so, we split ourselves." The man explained.

" Really? That's pretty crazy man. What are your names?" 

" I'm Lilynette Gingerbuck." Said the young girl.

" And I'm... Coyote Starrk."

" Coyote Starrk, Lilynette Gingerbuck, you two can call me Bikou. I don't really have a last name, not one I can remember anyway." 

" Alright, Bikou. Now what?"

" Well, if you guys are interested, I was wondering if you'd like to have a quick fight?" Bikou asked. 

" No thanks." Starrk replied rather lazily.

" WHAAAAT?!" Bikou exclaimed. " Why not?"

" I don't really feel like fighting. Don't like it all that much either. It's boring." Starrk told the man.

Bikou was surprised. A Hollow stronger than he was, didn't want to fight? How often did that happen? " Alright, I guess...." Bikou muttered. He scratched his head, confused on what to do next. " Well then, what do you want to do?" He asked.

" I'd like to just sit here... And maybe, we could talk?" 

" Alright, I guess." Bikou waved his hand and took a seat next to Starrk and Lilynette. " So, how long you guys been around?" He asked.

" We don't know. It's been a long time, though. We know that much." Starrk replied.

" I figured as much." Bikou spoke as he observed the mountains of Hollows around him. 

Hollow bodies were piled as high as mountains, it was clear that Starrk and Lilynette had been here for quite some time. 

Which begged the question. How was it no one had heard of these guys before? Something as unnatural as this surely should have drawn someone's attention. But then again, Bikou felt as though he was almost crushed, just by stepping close to him. 

A normal Hollow, definitely would not be able to survive getting within a couple meters of Starrk.

" How did you two get so strong?" Bikou asked.

" Don't know. We kind of just always were." Starrk replied. " How did you?"

" Well, I fought and ate a lot. Mostly Hollows. But I did fight some Soul Reapers a couple years back. That's when I became a Vasto Lorde. But since then, I feel like I haven't really felt the need to fight. Just doesn't do it for me anymore." Bikou told the man. " To be fair, there just aren't many Hollows around that can fight me, at this point. Which is why, I have to admit, I'm kinda sad you don't want to fight." Bikou explained.

" Is that so?"

" Yeah." Bikou affirmed. " You're really strong, Starrk. Too strong. Even I doubt, I'll be able to stick around for too long, before your spiritual pressure becomes too much." Bikou explained.

" I see." Starrk, seemed saddened. This had been the liveliest he's been in a long time. This was the first time, someone other than himself approached him, and could withstand it. 

Bikou could see the look of Sadness growing on Starrk's face. " You're a sad guy, you know that?" Bikou smacked Starrk on his shoulder, causing the man to stumble forward a bit. " Don't be so sad, Starrk. In fact, you should be happy." Bikou told the man.

Starrk sat back and looked at Bikou, with confusion written on his face. " Huh?"

" Your new form, and this power... It only affirms to me that there is more out there, than I originally believed." Bikou stated. " That there is a next level, and maybe, even a level beyond that. That means I can get stronger." Bikou exclaimed. 

Bikou stood up and faced Starrk and Lilynette. " That means I need to get stronger, fight stronger opponents. Meet stronger foes!" Bikou smiled underneath his mask, and though you couldn't see his mouth, his eyes more than made up for the lack of. " Even standing here, now, simply trying to push back against your spiritual pressure is sharpening my own." Bikou stated. " But that's not how I want to do this." Bikou stated He brushed his legs off and stood up from where he was standing.

" Where are you going?" Starrk asked as Bikou began walking away from the two. 

" If you won't fight me, Starrk, then I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave and get stronger." Bikou stated.

" You're leaving? I see." Starrk muttered. 

Feeling him falling back into a state of depression, Bikou laughed.

" Don't worry, Starrk. We'll meet again. When I can face you as an equal. Then, you and I will fight." Bikou exclaimed. He pointed at Starrk with a crazed look in his eyes.

It was like that passion had returned. 

For five years, Bikou had felt like there was something to search for. But didn't know what it was. It was a purpose. A reason to get stronger. 

It was widely believed by almost all Hollows, that the Vasto Lorde form was the end of evolution for Hollows. Even Bikou himself believed this, and that created within him a dilemma. A feeling of uncertainty and pain. If he had already reached the perfect form for a Hollow, then that meant that, that was it. There was nothing left to learn or grow from. No room for ability, or intelligence, or growth. That filled him with despair. 

But this brief meeting with Coyote Starrk, has proven this theory wrong. It meant there was more out there. And Bikou loved it. He absolutely LOVED it.

Perhaps through evolving even further, Bikou would be able to kill Sosuke Aizen. Or perhaps that will fail as well. Regardless, Bikou wanted to see it through. No... He needed to do it. 

" Thank you Starrk."

.........................