Chapter 19: I Am Zangetsu

Final stretch for the past. Here it is. Remember that next week, we have an interlude so the following chapter after that will be what you all have been waiting for. Enjoy this one for now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did.

Protector Of The Fairies

I Am Zangetsu

"I'll kill everyone?"

Shinji nodded. "If there is anyone you care about in this world, they will be the first on your list. If you ever met anyone strong, you would hunt them down and devour them. You will never stop till you are killed."

Ichigo gripped his fist before slamming it against the desk. This wasn't what he wanted. Why had he become strong over all these years? It wasn't so he could kill everyone. He wanted to protect them. Fairy Tail, Levy, Laxus, Jura, Juushirou, Kisuke, his family. He could feel himself already adding Shinji and Toushirou to that list. Was all that power going to end up being used to destroy everything he cared about?

No. He refused to accept that. He stared straight towards Shinji. "You summoned a Hollow Mask during that fight against Mayuri. You know all about how Hollowfication works."

"Correct. And I already know what you want to ask me. Of course I'll help my younger brother. Besides, you would be a pain to kill if you went out of control."

"So what do I need to do?"

"Isn't it simple? You need to make sure the Hollow knows who is in charge. You need to beat it to the ground and make it accept you as the victor."

"The King," muttered Ichigo.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Just something I remembered the Hollow saying."

Ichigo looked around the area. "I'm guessing this isn't best time to fight the Hollow."

Shinji shook his head. "We'll sort it out when we get out of here. Better to sort it out sooner rather than later. Believe it or not, the process is actually quite short. It took Hiyori sixty nine minutes and two seconds to manage to beat her Hollow and she took the longest out of any of us."

"Hiyori."

Shinji seemed to realise the name he said and looked away for a moment. "My point is that it shouldn't take you much longer than that max. Beware though, because this isn't a fight you can lose. You get one chance. You lose, you die, and the Hollow takes control. That's the deal that's in place."

Ichigo nodded. "We'd better get out of this place then."

Shinji hesitated for a moment before leaning down to the screen and accessing a file. "Before we do though, we have to make sure this doesn't happen again. From what I remember, there were over a hundred of us originally, so what does that tell you when only eight became Visored. And that's not even taking into account how many survived the Shattered Shaft. We barely had anyone left before the Hollowfication even started. We only made it because we were kept till last. Mayuri didn't want to Hollowfy us until he knew he could do it right."

Shinji tapped a few keys before everything on the screen started disappearing. "There. I've purged everything. The entire memory on this thing is emptying and it's sending signals throughout the facility for the other monitors to do the same."

"What if the signals can't get to the others because of the damage?"

"They don't have anything important on about the process. They just have recordings of how long we can survive things and other small tests. Mayuri kept the important stuff on this one."

"So is that all?"

"No. The other part is in this room somewhere. Can't you sense it?"

Ichigo tilted his head before he realised what was up with the room. There was another Magic signature in the room, but it wasn't natural. It wasn't like it was massive or anything, but it seemed strange. It was hard to even describe yet it seemed to almost divine.

"That's meant to be the tool Mayuri used to Hollowfy us. I only saw once by accident, yet I would recognise that feeling anywhere. The Hougyoku."

Shinji reached towards the draw where the feeling was coming from and opened it, revealing a small orb in a sphere with energy flowing around it. It was obvious the sphere contained it but the orb was strange to look at. And seeing it up close was even stranger than just sensing it. Was this even normal Magic? It was something he couldn't seem to explain. One thing was clear though.

"We need to destroy it."

Shinji nodded. "I'll leave that to you. I can trust you won't let it continue existing. I'm going to say goodbye to the rest of my family. They deserved better than death."

Shinji left quickly and Ichigo knew he would be back soon enough. He still had Zangetsu out in its Shikai state so there was no need to release it. He slowly removed the orb from the sphere it was contained it and place it on the table. Then, he raised his sword and aimed the point at the orb.

Then he stabbed the blade into the orb, splitting it in half. The orb flashed brightly for a moment before the energy inside it flashed and faded, the rest of the orb crumbling into dust as the energy vanished. The dust scattered across the room and soon after, not even a scrap of the orb's power remaining around him.

Some part of him told him that Mayuri couldn't have made something like this. It just wasn't possible. Mayuri was meant to be smart, but he wasn't capable of this.

Kisuke had known about this lab. He had known what was happening. He must have. So did that mean that he created the Hougyoku?

It was certainly possible. Kisuke would be smart enough. He didn't want to know how it had been created though. Something like this just wasn't meant to exist. It was better that it was gone, out of everyone's hands.

With that thought in mind, he turned away, heading back to Toushirou. Once Shinji rejoined them, they would leave this place, once and for all. He had been here far too long already, and Shinji had to have been here for years. It was time to leave.

Protector Of The Fairies

"So where are we heading now?"

Shinji ignored the white haired boy, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

Toushirou scowled as the man in front of him still didn't acknowledge him.

"Will you say something already?"

"Ignore him Toushirou. Shinji, stop acting like a child."

Shinji smirked childishly at Ichigo. "Why you got to ruin my fun. Annoying this pipsqueak is perfect entertainment for me."

Ichigo smacked him on the head. "You're the adult here. Act like it."

Shinji kept smirking. "Cheeky brat. If I'm the adult then why am I the one getting bossed around?"

"You're free to leave at any point you know."

"I know," responded Shinji seriously. "I just want to see interesting things, and if I stick with you I'm sure I'll get the chance to see them."

Ichigo nodded at the man before the attention he had been given disappeared to annoy Toushirou again. He found it strange how Shinji was so determined to stick with him but he supposed it was because of what the man said before. Shinji considered the two of them to be family, and he could understand wanting to stay with someone who seemed familiar. It was probably why Toushirou had stuck with him still without him having to say anything. The boy just wanted to stay with people who could relate to him.

He wondered what Mayuri had done to Toushirou. They hadn't found out anything and he was pretty sure it wasn't Hollowfication. Shinji would know if it had been.

For now, they were heading somewhere that Shinji knew of. None of them had ever been there but Shinji knew its location roughly. This had led to them following a map intensely for a few weeks through some terrifying terrain. He was still trying to work out how they ended up going around in circles for days when they only ever went in a strange line. There really were some strange Magical locations in Fiore.

It had been unfortunate that he had to pull out of that S Class Quest but the man who he had contacted had been very understanding, even after hearing his vague excuse. It was almost like they had expected people to drop out so they must have assumed that he had gotten cold feet.

He would have explained it all to the man if it wasn't for the real reason. He wasn't afraid of the mission, but of Shinji's words. He didn't show it but he was terrified about losing control to the Hollow inside him.

He couldn't believe he had let it take control during his fight with Gildarts. Why hadn't he been suspicious of the voice? Why had he listened to it?

Maybe because it was familiar. He remembered it from all those years ago, even if he hadn't understood that the voice had been real at the time. Because of that, he had allowed it the ability to do as it pleased.

This wasn't something he had admitted to Shinji however. He was still trying to understand it all himself first. After all, he had met Kisuke after he heard the voice. So how had Kisuke created the Inner Hollow inside of him? How far did it go back without him noticing? Was this why Kisuke had been trying to ask for his forgiveness?

One traitorous thought kept emerging, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it. If Kisuke had somehow known about him before he had met the man, and he was sure Kisuke had known of him, then was his mother's death random? Or planned?

He had to stop thinking about that. He trusted Kisuke, and he wouldn't have thoughts like these ruin that trust. There was no evidence to support them in the first place so he should stop dwelling on them.

For now, he just had to deal with the Hollow. And that was the reason for their new destination. They needed to go somewhere more isolated, preferably away from any form of civilization of any kind. They didn't want to drag innocents in by accident and they also didn't want to lure anything dangerous towards them either.

Shinji said there was the perfect place for this. It was where Shinigami would normally train from what he had heard. He had heard Mayuri occasionally talk about it to himself in annoyance. It must have been hard for the scientist to get to and even harder if he wanted to subdue any Shinigami for his tests.

Ichigo wondered if this was where he might have trained at if he hadn't gone to Fairy Tail. What would life have been like?

It would probably have been boring. He wouldn't have met Laxus and Levy and everyone if he had stayed isolated from the world.

He had asked how Shinji had beaten his Hollow if they needed to go to somewhere isolated. It wouldn't have been best to do it in a lab full of scientists if what Shinji had told him about the process had been correct.

The answer was Kidou. Well Kidou and six other Shinigami taking turns to beat up the one trying to win against their Inner Hollow. The process could get a bit messy.

They didn't have that luxury. They had one Hollowfied Shinigami and one Shinigami without Shikai. And he doubted either could cast a Kidou Barrier of the description he was being given while they were fighting at the same time. The barrier was meant to require a steady focus to keep it steady.

They had travelled far to get to where they were. But finally they were there. And it was nowhere near as glorious as Shinji had told them. This is what they got for listening to the rumours the Visored had heard.

"I thought it would be prettier."

Ichigo shook his head at Shinji's attempt of breaking the tension. They hadn't expected much at least. This place was meant to be a training ground. Being pretty meant that the ones who had trained here had been almost powerless. All the craters and cracks in the ground showed that some extremely strong people had trained there in the past. Even the area around the scarred landscape looked like it was trying to retreat away from it, hoping to not get caught up in the dangers within the area.

"This'll be perfect." Shinji glanced towards a few areas in the training field. "I'd say we need a nice flat area of land. Don't want too many height advantages in places."

"How about that one?" asked Toushirou, his finger pointing towards a nearby lake.

Shinji gruffly accepted. "It'll do."

Ichigo looked over towards Shinji. "So how do we begin?"

Shinji chuckled lightly. "Oh this is the fun part."

Before Ichigo could react, Shinji stretched out his hand towards Ichigo face and held it in front of him. A sudden burst of white light shown out of his hand, disorientating Ichigo and causing him to fall to the ground unconscious.

"What was that?"

"Tanma Otoshi," muttered Shinji as he lifted Ichigo up and put him over his shoulder. "Nifty little Spell isn't it. It puts the victim to sleep by disorientating their sensing and shutting them down."

"And a Spell like that took down Ichigo in one shot?"

Shinji smirked. "Have I destroyed the image of your hero?"

Toushirou blushed from embarrassment. "Hey, I just respect his power."

"Oh really? I swear I saw you trying to copy him a few days ago. How is your scowl coming along?"

Toushirou scowled, turning away.

"Brilliant. Your practice actually paid off. It's perfect." Shinji looked back at Ichigo. "That Spell isn't actually that powerful though. It worked because I told Ichigo about his Inner Hollow. Because of that, he's been subconsciously forcing Magic inside him to suppress the Hollow even though he didn't need to. That drop of Magic available caused an imbalance in his system which left it susceptible to Tanma Otoshi."

Toushirou glanced back at Shinji. "So even a pebble can cause a giant to fall?"

"Exactly. Now we better hurry up and get set up. I don't fancy getting caught off guard."

"Hey!" shouted Toushirou as he struggled to catch up to Shinji when the blonde haired man had suddenly broken into a run. "What's so dangerous? I still don't get it."

Shinji didn't even bother turning to answer. "I told you already. Ichigo is fighting his Inner Hollow. The two beings that can control his body have their minds focused on their battle. So what happens when a body is left with no one controlling it but has the base instincts of a Hollow buried within? It tends to act on them."

"This why I said that if you lose, you die and become a Hollow. Because while the two of them fight, the Hollow body is going to end up getting built as we defend ourselves from Ichigo's attacks. And these fights can be tricky."

Shinji gave a quick smirk towards Toushirou. "We better hope Ichigo wins quickly. I don't know about you but I don't fancy fighting for my life. Better hurry up midget, or he might wake up and devour you first."

Protector Of The Fairies

Ichigo found himself appearing in the place that had become very familiar to him. His inverted world didn't bother him for a second as he stood on one of the tilted buildings, staring out around him.

What did Shinji just do to him? How did he just get forced into his inner world?

His body tensed, as if something was watching him. Slowly, he turned round towards the feeling, spotting an almost exact replica of himself sitting on the ground of one of the towers.

There were some differences. The eyes for one with those black pupils and sclera instead of their usual colour. The irises were different too, now a strange yellow colour that looked at him in amusement.

Then there was the copycat's skin. It was pure white. The hair was the same as the skin, and the figure was dressed in a pure white Shihakushou. It was almost like his old Shihakushou had been taken and had the colours inverted.

The big difference between the two was the massive cleaver on the copycat's back, black bandages wrapped around the blade, and it was held to the back with a chain similar to the one he wore normally.

"Yo. So we finally meet for the first time King."

Was this his Inner Hollow? Then that posed another question.

"Where's Zangetsu?"

His Inner Hollow tilted his head at his question. "Zangetsu? Who do you mean? Are you talking about that blade on your back? Or maybe you're talking about what I'm holding."

The Inner Hollow grabbed the hilt of its cleaver and pulled it off its back, the bandages unwrapped to reveal the blade. Like the Shihakushou, the colours were inverted with the half near edge being black while the rest was coloured white.

Ichigo froze, taking in the sight of the blade. It was as long as his Zangetsu, if not a bit longer. But how could there be two different Zangetsu? Was the Inner Hollow lying?

"You asked where Zangetsu is right? I'll tell you."

The Inner Hollow vanished, using the alternate version of Shunpo to appear almost right on top of him.

"I AM ZANGETSU!"

Ichigo grabbed his sword from his back and drew it as fast as he could, the blade already changing to Shikai without him even needing to say a word. The two blades clashed and the Inner Hollow grinned wildly.

The two instantly broke aware before charging back in for a second attack, the swords clashing against each other.

"Damn it," said Ichigo as he tried to force his blade past the Inner Hollow's. "What did you do with Zangetsu?"

The Inner Hollow frowned. "I told you already, and I don't like repeating myself. I am Zangetsu."

The Inner Hollow suddenly pressed forward and forced his blade past, the swing sending Ichigo flying against one of the skyscrapers. As Ichigo pushed himself up, he noticed the Inner Hollow was already on the building, waiting for him.

"Maybe you don't understand it properly but that Old Man and I have always been the source of your Magical Power. I don't know what forced him to recede for the moment but he left the gap nice and wide for me to take over."

The Inner Hollow glanced down at him. "When you live, flesh covers the bones. When you die, the bones become exposed. The same principle applies here. The Old Man got weaker, so I became the stronger one and now he has to listen to me."

Ichigo forced himself to his feet, new determination filling him. "I see. Then if I beat you, Zangetsu will regain control."

The Inner Hollow scowled. "I told you already. I'm Zangetsu. I'm already in control."

"Maybe you believe the two of you are the same, but you aren't. And I'm not letting you run rampant in my mind."

The grip the Inner Hollow had on his blade's hilt increased. "If you think I'll allow him dominance again, you are surely mistaken."

Ichigo raised his sword as energy gathered around it. The Inner Hollow did the same. They both swung at once, each shouted out the same attack. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

The two attacks crashed straight into each other before both fighters flew into the fray, swords clashing against one another. Ichigo spun round, a small Getsuga wrapped round the blade before releasing it straight at his Inner Hollow.

The Inner Hollow just swiped a hand to the side in response, breaking the attack in two before releasing his counter attack, his sword swinging down at Ichigo.

Before the sword connected, Ichigo vanished with Shunpo, reappearing behind his attacker and retaliated himself. His opponent had the same idea, using the alternate version of Shunpo again to get bypass him and score a free hit. It was shallow but the fact that the Inner Hollow had drawn first blood wasn't a good one. It was worrying.

His sword swung round to try and counter attack but the Inner Hollow had already escaped, retreating back a bit.

The Inner Hollow smirked towards him. "You don't even understand what you've been using do you? After three years and you still think it's just something ordinary don't you."

"What are you tal-"

Ichigo was cut off as he dodged a strike aimed at his head. That had been fast. He had barely detected it. He could have missed it if it wasn't for the slight booming noise he had heard.

"I can use more than just your Shinigami powers. I can use your Hollow ones as well. You've had Sonido all this time and you didn't even know it."

Ichigo gripped his sword tightly. Part of him already knew what his Inner Hollow was talking about. He still had to ask though. "What are you talking about?"

His Inner Hollow sneered. "You're stupider than I thought. Did you really think it was so simple to use Shunpo on your first time? It isn't instinctual like Sonido is. But you really did just play it off and blamed it on luck. What you used against that Demon for the first time was Sonido."

That was strange. Despite sneering, he could swear he had heard a flicker of happiness in the Hollow's voice for a moment. Why was he happy? Because he used a Hollow technique before the Shinigami variant?

The Hollow suddenly appeared in front of him again. He was prepared this time, blocking just as the booming noise appeared.

The Hollow vanished almost as quickly as he appeared, reappearing behind him and aiming for his exposed back. Before it could connect, Ichigo vanished himself, unintentionally using Sonido in his escape instead of Shunpo.

The Hollow's grin widened. "Do you see now? Sonido isn't the same as Shunpo. It can't travel nearly as far as Shunpo but you can't follow someone by their Magic when they use it. It's the ultimate infiltration technique, allowing you to bypass all sensors to reach your target."

The Hollow charged in again, leaving Ichigo even more confused than before. Why did he explain the technique to him? He could understand wanting to brag about it, but why take away one of the advantages the Hollow had in place? Surely it would have been smarter to keep it a secret instead of tell him the technique's secrets and ways to use it.

"Hadou Number 32: Oukasen."

The bright yellow light shot straight out of his palm, catching the Hollow off guard before he could react. It smashed into the Hollow and sent him backwards.

Before he could escape however, Ichigo was already using the light from the attack to fuel his next one.

"Bakudou Number 61: Rikujoukourou."

The light shifted before slamming into the target's midsection as six beams of light, holding the Hollow in place.

Ichigo caught his breath for a moment while his Inner Hollow was restrained. He needed a plan. He needed to defeat this guy but he knew he had to come up with something.

Normally, he would have attacked a target while they were restrained like this. Unfortunately, he already knew the attack would only buy him a moment to rest without getting attacked and that he wouldn't have been able to close the gap before the Hollow broke free.

Which was what the Hollow had already done, looking annoyed that Ichigo hadn't charged in at him. The Hollow scowled before shouted over at him.

"Stop thinking of a way to beat me. If you keep this up, I'll take your place as King and force you to be the Horse."

Ichigo gripped his sword and blocked the sudden strike that appeared towards him, hitting out with his fist on instinct. The Hollow grabbed it and threw him over his shoulder before bring the sword back round to chop off his arm.

Ichigo rolled just as the sword came down, kicking the Hollow as he flipped himself up to his feet and managing to get a cut across the Hollow's arm as it pulled backwards.

The Hollow's grin widened before it flung himself back at him, the two exchanging blows one after the other. Ichigo barely even noticed the slight healing that he experienced as the wounds vanished, just as he barely noticed the wounds healing on the Hollow as well. This was a fight to the death, and yet he could found himself getting distracted by small things around him that he couldn't understand. Why were there so many unanswered questions he had?

As he swung round for his latest attack, the Hollow suddenly shot out one of his arms and grabbed the blade, a small bit of blood falling to the ground from where the blade had cut into the Hollow's skin.

How? To barely even break the skin from an attack like that? How was it possible? How had the Hollow done it?

The Hollow looked down at the blade in Ichigo's hand in disgust. "Give up fighting me with this toy. You can't win if you keep thinking like you are."

The blade in Ichigo's hand suddenly changed colour as white spread out of the Hollow's hand and onto the blade. Then the blade broke apart, disappearing till nothing remained.

Ichigo looked at where the blade had been in shock.

"Z-Zangetsu…"

"That isn't Zangetsu," said the Hollow, his teeth clenched in anger. "I already told you. I AM ZANGETSU!"

The Hollow was suddenly charging at him, grabbing him before throwing him against one of the buildings. Ichigo struggled out of the debris before having to duck under the Hollow's slash.

"At least you can still move, despite losing your weapon. Don't think that you can beat me though."

The Hollow grabbed Ichigo before throwing him against another building again.

"Tell me Ichigo. If two beings have the exact same form, ability and power, how does one decide who is the King to lead the men to battle and who the Horse is that carries the King there?"

The Hollow smiled viciously. "The answer is simple. It's instinct. The desire to seek strong opponents and battle to grow stronger and the will to crush your enemies and show them no mercy. You need to want to fight. You need to love every second of it."

The Hollow's smile them vanished. "But where is that in you? You try and think your way to strength. You train and believe you can master powers with time and practice. When you fight, you show mercy. The only time I have ever seen you show that instinct was against Gildarts, and I had to interfere to save your sorry ass, just like all those years ago when you froze up."

Ichigo's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"Huh? Didn't I already say it? The one who murdered that guild wasn't you. You froze up. You showed weakness. So I took control and finished what you started."

"Do you understand now?" The Hollow shouted at Ichigo. "That's why you're weaker than me. Because you can't find that instinct inside of you. And trust me when I say that I won't accept a King that's weaker than myself."

The Hollow shot forward, intending to finish the fight there and there. Ichigo was left in an endless game of tag, desperately trying to avoid the strikes yet not having enough time to think up a plan to prepare a Kidou Spell.

As he dodged the last strike, the Hollow suddenly shot out his hand and grabbed him, holding him in place.

"GOT YOU!"

The sword came slashing down ripping across his chest like there wasn't anything there before it came to a stop. The Hollow didn't even bother trying to withdraw it from his body yet.

"Look at you. So weak. If I'd been first, you would have been much stronger by now."

What was the Hollow talking about? If he had been first? And why was he looking at him like that? Despite what the Hollow had said, why were the eyes looking everywhere but his own, as if the Hollow couldn't bear to look at him directly after that attack.

Something stirred within him. He blocked out the pain and grabbed the hilt of the sword, black energy spreading from his hand to cover the blade.

The Hollow released his grip on the blade instantly and had leaped as far away as possible, clutching his hand painfully. Ichigo could see that it had more colour to it than before, and part of the white material had turned black.

He didn't understand what was happening or where the black energy was coming from but he wasn't focused on that for the moment. He ripped the blade out of his body the way it had sliced in before flinging himself straight at the Hollow.

He didn't understand why the Hollow hadn't tried to move as the sword plunged into his chest. From the blade, the black energy spilled forth and started completely covering his Inner Hollow.

"Damn," the Hollow muttered as he started faded away. "The Old Man's back already."

Ichigo glanced over his shoulder to see Zangetsu standing on a nearby flagpole, nodding in approval. "You won Ichigo. Well done."

Before Ichigo could respond, the Hollow grabbed hold of his wrist, pulling Ichigo's attention back to the Hollow. When he spoke, it was quiet, as if he didn't want Zangetsu to hear him.

"You won so I'll accept it for now. But remember my words. Remember all of them. I'll be back so you better be ready for when I return. Use my power and get stronger, because that Old Man will never be enough. Because I am-"

The last word the Hollow had to say was cut off but Ichigo knew what it was meant to be. The Hollow had been trying to say that he was Zangetsu like before.

He looked back towards Zangetsu who simply nodded at him again before disappearing. That black energy must have come from Zangetsu. It was the same colour what Zangetsu wore and it looked like it matched the whole flesh and bones thing the Hollow had said.

Zangetsu and the Hollow. They were both his power. One part Shinigami, the other Hollow.

He wouldn't let that Hollow have free reign however. It could believe it was Zangetsu all it wanted but the real Zangetsu was back in control. He doubted there would be a problem like this again.

Protector Of The Fairies

Ichigo found himself waking up in darkness. Almost instantly, he started panicking before a light flickered on near him.

"Calm down."

Shinji walked through the darkness before holding his hand up a bit, forcing the orb of light that had appeared to rise towards the cave's ceiling. It looked a lot like a modified version of Shakkahou.

"How are you feeling?"

Ichigo shrugged slightly, his muscles ached from the process. "Sore. What happened?"

"That Hollow of yours was a pain in the ass, that's what. It's not fun fighting something like that with only two people. My Zanpaktou came in real handy there."

"Your Zanpaktou? What can it do?"

Shinji chuckled. "You'll find out soon enough. It's not like I'll go easy on you in training."

Ichigo looked at Shinji puzzled. "What do you mean by training?"

Shinji sighed. "Are you really planning to go back to Fairy Tail yet?"

Ichigo tried to say yes but he couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth.

"You see. You don't know what you want. And I think you're still a bit scared of that Hollow of yours."

"So what do you suggest?"

Shinji's grin reappeared. "I'll put you through the training we did. You can learn other skills from practice but mastering the Hollow ones is harder."

"A desire to seek battle."

Shinji looked at Ichigo funnily. "Yes. How did you know that?"

"Just something my Inner Hollow said to me."

Shinji was glad that the cave was still fairly dark as it helped hide his surprise well. "You talked to it?"

Ichigo nodded. "It was strange. The way he acted too, it wasn't what I expected. At some parts, it was almost like he was trying to teach me. And in the end, I thought I won too easily."

"I doubt it was teaching you anything. Mocking you is more likely. And don't be upset with an easy win. A win is a win, no matter how easy it is."

Ichigo accepted his answer, his hand rising to his face slightly. "So after this training, I'll be able to use his power?"

"If all goes well. You need to be able to summon the mask the Hollow has at will and maintain it for a decent period of time. It's hard in the start but the jump in power is worth it when you use the mask. And after you've mastered the mask, we'll see if you have any other abilities of your Hollow's."

"Are there many?"

"A fair few. Maybe we can master them all and just haven't yet, but right now all I can use apart from my mask is a Cero."

"So what others are there?" Ichigo asked curiously

Shinji's eyes glowed brightly as he started speaking, his eyes filled with joy from memories. "Well to answer that, let me tell you about the others. First we have Hiyori. She could be a real brat sometimes and we constantly fought but she was good at Hollowfication. She learned Cero way before I did, even though she took longer to beat her Inner Hollow than me. She actually took the longest as I said, thought you broke that record by a few seconds."

Shinji sighed. "Then we had Love, the story lover of our little family. He especially liked comedies. All of us had a dramatic increase in physical strength and speed but he took the strength to another level. He could rip open some of the toughest metals and armours with his bare hands. And Mashiro was a close second but she made up for it with the increased speeds. She always made up these stupid attacks like the Mashiro Kick. I kind of miss that about her."

"What about the others?"

"Well Kensei was a pretty tough one. I think he may have had access to a Hollow's Hierro of something. He was Mashiro's caretaker of sorts, thought it was mostly unwillingly from what I saw. Still, he looked after her despite her annoyance. And then we have Roujuurou. He loved music. He was good at playing too. I think he had a form of Pesquisa, a detection technique similar to how we can sense Magic if we focus enough. The difference is the speed it works at and the range it can cover."

"There was a pervert in our group too. Lisa. She could be strict when she wanted to but she spent half her time looking through magazines. She always denied she was a pervert though, instead saying she was just curious."

"Isn't that the definition of a pervert?"

Shinji laughed. "Funny. That's what Kensei said when she said that. She was a fast one in training though. She could use Sonido."

"Like me?"

"You can use it?" Shinji shrugged. "Why am I not surprised? It's one of the most instinctual which makes sense going by what level of resonance you should have."

Shinji looked up at the Kidou Spell above them. "Finally, there was Hacchi. That man… well if he had been anywhere else then everyone would know his name. He never had any fancy techniques because of that Hollow but it did amply his Magic more than any other of us. And he was truly a Master of Kidou. Bakudou, Hadou, it didn't matter. He could learn any Spell they gave him and even created his own. He taught me how to modify this Kidou Spell and created a Barrier Spell unlike any I have ever seen."

Shinji tapped his pocket. "I still have the notes. One day, I'll make sure everyone knows of the Spell's power and who created it. Kidou Masters are rare, and ones like Hacchi appear only once in a lifetime."

Ichigo bowed his head slightly. "Thank you for telling me all of this."

Shinji simply waved him off. "It's no big deal. We're family now. You at least deserved to know about the others. They would have liked you I think. Hiyori the most. You're similar to her in a way. Both got that stubborn attitude in you, and you would probably be at each other's throats half the time you were together, but she'd understand you."

"You miss them."

"God, every day. We were together for years, each other being the only constant in those labs. And now look at me. I'm free but I'm alone."

Ichigo smacked him on the head.

"Hey," said Shinji, glaring at him. "What was that for?"

"Didn't you already say it? We're family. That means you aren't alone."

"Ah." Shinji couldn't believe he was actually feeling shocked. "I forgot. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Still, we may be here a bit longer than just Hollow training."

"You got other plans?"

"Toushirou needs to learn Shikai or at least get some kind of grasp on that out of control Magical Power of his. I'll probably teach him some Kidou too and Shunpo when he's got his Shikai."

"And yourself?"

Ichigo smirked. "I'm going to learn Bankai. Until I've mastered it, I won't return to Fairy Tail. I'm making that pledge to myself right now. I won't leave here till I'm stronger than before."

"Bankai huh? Maybe I should give it a try. At the very least, I can get started on it. I could probably polish up my skills with my Shikai as well, thought I try not to use it too much. It's my ace in the hole so I prefer to fight without it if I can do."

Ichigo got to his feet. "I'm going to stretch my legs for a bit. Are you staying here?"

Shinji nodded. "I'll keep an eye on the pipsqueak. See you later."

Ichigo gave a wave as he left, leaving Shinji sitting along. A moment later, a white haired boy walked out of the darkness.

"You didn't tell him."

Shinji ignored the accusation in the boy's tone. "It was better than he didn't know."

"You said yourself it wasn't natural. So why-"

"That's the entire reason why. I don't want to trouble Ichigo with questions that we can't answer. Just let him believe that he is a normal Visored. Don't make him question himself anymore than he already does."

"He'll find out eventually."

"So let it go for now. I'll tell him, but not now. Later, when we have the rest of the puzzle pieces."

Toushirou looked at him in confusion. "You think there's more he doesn't even know?"

"He said he was taught by Kisuke Urahara. I'm sure there's a lot he doesn't know. Our job will be to find out what he wasn't told, and make sure he's ready to learn it when the time comes."

The two looked out towards the cave entrance, just being able to stop Ichigo in the distance. The two were in agreement, even if they weren't comfortable with one another yet. They had a common ally. And they would stick by him and make sure he would know the truth one day.

Protector Of The Fairies

A scream of pain filled the air, only one person there to hear it. Zangetsu glared down at the Hollow in front of him as he generated another sword out of thin air and stabbed it into another of the Hollow's limbs.

"I'm surprised how easy you can hurt me when I look like this."

Zangetsu ignored the words from the Hollow's mouth. This was not Ichigo, so he felt nothing doing this to the lookalike.

Another sword generated and he grabbed it, plunging it into the Hollow's chest. The creature screamed as the sword stabbed through where its heart would have been.

"That can't have hurt you much," said Zangetsu coldly. "Hollows do not have hearts. That was the first thing you all devoured."

"Well we both know I don't fit the norm," the Hollow muttered, trying to break free of the bonds that held it in place.

Zangetsu glared down at the Hollow as he generated another sword. "Tell me what you said to him."

That brought a smile to the Hollow's face. "What's wrong? I just spoke to him."

The sword stabbed into the Hollow's leg, causing another burst of pain to emerge. "I said tell me what you told him."

"It's too late. You can't take away the words he heard."

"WHAT DID YOU TELL HIM?"

The Hollow sneered. "I just sowed the seeds for your dethronement."

Zangetsu couldn't restrain his anger, summoning more swords to stab into the Hollow's body.

"I will not let you have him."

The Hollow didn't lose his sneer, despite the pain. "You think he's yours? He won't be forever. Maybe not now, maybe not in a year, but he will eventually come to question you. He will ask you questions we both know you won't answer."

The Hollow's sheer morphed into a triumphant smile. "And then when that day comes, he'll be all mine. Only mine."

Zangetsu turned away, leaving the Hollow alone, the swords holding the Hollow in place. "I can stop you. I can cut off your connection."

The Hollow laughed as he watched the retreating figure of Zangetsu. "If you could, you would have already done so. I've gotten a stronger grip on him, and I refuse to let go. I'll enjoy watching you fall one day."

Zangetsu left the Hollow to its laughter in the darkness, retreating back up to the higher levels of Ichigo's inner world. It was true, he could not remove the Hollow's influence now. And if he could, Ichigo would come to wonder where that power went. Ichigo would come to him, and he would not be able to answer him. He could not lose that trust. It was all he had.

He would keep Ichigo safe from the Hollow, and prevent even further influence from it. If Ichigo wanted to train for Bankai, he would let him, allowing Ichigo to focus more on relying on him than the Hollow. Ichigo only needed one of them, and he refused to let that be the Hollow. It would be him. Always.

Protector Of The Fairies

And we did it. We're at the last chapter of the past arc. Even the next interlude chapter isn't in the past anymore. We finally reached it. I'm glad you all stuck round to get here. Very soon, things are going to start kicking off much more than before. After the interlude, which has about three main events in it, from canon events, we start again from Fighting Festival Arc at the point where Ichigo arrives. Finally chapter 1 will have the following chapter to join it.

After that, we have Oracion Seis, Edolas, Tenrou, the Grand Magic Games, and then the true Tartarus arc. Because I've seen the chapters recently and, while I like some of them, I disagree with some of the events happening. Demons like to make a show of how evil they but I don't see it from them just yet. Where is the destruction they should be causing? Did we not see how powerful Deliora was meant to be after all? Am I the only one wanting to see the destruction and evil the Demons can bring forth? Am I the only one willing to see deaths of characters, despite how sad it would be? Not everything ends happily after all.

Still, that's a bit off still. I'm on chapter 26 currently which is still in the Fighting Festival Arc and need to try and finish it up when I get the chance. Never been so happy to have these extra chapters because I have had a packed week including a load of coursework needed to be done. At least most of it is done now and I can get back to writing again in a few days.

So how did people like the chapter? Did people like Ichigo's Inner Hollow? I tried to make his personality interesting but also unique. I hope people are all liking Shinji and Toushirou's inclusion, though it seems most of you are happy. And have people seen Bleach recently? Seems Renji and Rukia have turned up but I really want to see Ichigo appear already. And more Bankai being used. I mean I have Kisuke and Juushirou for instance and I have no idea what their Bankai can actually do. And I really want to see Shinji's.

Anyway, till the next time. I've been Takei. Thanks for reading.