Lower on the back of Bala Bala, there was a very awkward silence.
“Sooo… Ichigo...” Renji started. “Care to explain?”
“E-explain what, exactly?” Ichigo stalled, with a nervous laugh.
“We know what we saw, Ichigo,” Rukia stated. “It doesn’t take much to be able to recognize a hollow mask when we see one. How did you get it, and why? And don’t bother saying it was an illusion, or a figment of our imagination. It was very much real.”
“... Fine.” He avoided eye contact as much as possible as he explained. “I guess it’s…” He played with different phrases in his mind, trying to put together something that would make them look at him in a less accusing way.
“You could call it… a side effect, I think.” He mused.
“Side effect?”
Ichigo nodded. “Yeah, so when Rukia was taken to be executed, and Byakuya almost killed me, Urahara patched me up, and trained me to get my Shinigami powers back. And, well, you know Kisuke, practically everything he does is dangerous, illegal, or both. So, in order to regain my abilities as a Soul Reaper, he sliced up my soul chain, and chucked me into a pit.
"Supposedly, if I could access my powers in under 72 hours, I would become a Soul Reaper again. If not, my soul chain would eat itself and turn me into a hollow.
“Being as thick as I was, I was almost dead by the time I got a hold of Zangetsu. Kisuke said it’s a side effect from being almost transformed into a hollow.”
The silence was unbearable. Ichigo became rather fascinated with the bindings of Zangetsu.
Uryu broke the silence. “Well, what are the side effects, exactly?”
Ichigo winced at the tone of his voice, trying to hunch up to make himself as small as possible.
“Mostly... just mask...and… power boost...” He muttered to himself, barely audible to the others.
Renji raised an eyebrow. “You know, we can’t hear you when you mumble.”
“...kinda the point...”
The red pineapple glared at the sassy orange head.
“Well? Speak up, Ichigo.” Uryu said.
“I’d rather not...”
“Well, when traveling with an unknown variable, it’s hard to predict- I can’t calculate- gah, I’m sure we’d all want to know what we’re getting into-”
A flash of rage passed Ichigo’s features. “Great,” he drawled, “Now I’m just a variable? You know? Screw this, speculate all you want, I’m not talking.” With that, he got up- a very dangerous thing to do on a moving vehicle with nothing to steady him- don’t try this at home, kids- and used flash step to get to the head, where Nel and the others were.
Rukia punched Uryu in the arm.
“Ow! What was that for?!” the Quincy demanded.
“He was obviously uncomfortable, why’d you press the issue?”
“Well I’d like to know what he’s capable of, we don’t know what side effects this could include! He could turn into a hollow in the middle of the night and eat us in our sleep!”
“As much as I hate to admit it, Four Eyes has a point,” Renji pointed out- resulting in a fist to the face from Rukia.
“You idiots!” She grumbled.
Ichigo flinched at each comment. Even though he was as far as he could get from them, his so called ‘comrades’ comments hit him hard. Even Rukia couldn’t convince them that he wouldn’t rip their throats when they slept.
Of course, Uryu wouldn’t change his mind. His stubborn Quincy personality would make him constantly fight against Ichigo. Chad was his best friend, but even he could have his limits to how far he would stretch his hand of friendship. He and Renji butted heads a lot, but he would do anything to keep Rukia out of harm, even if it meant to isolate her from the harshness of the world. And Rukia… would she ever stoop so low as to accept the very thing she killed on a day to day basis?
Ichigo snorted to himself. No, he thought, depressed. I was a fool when I thought I could sneak this past them. They won’t accept a disgraceful creature like me. I should just leave...
Shiro Ichigo whispered into his ear.
Soul Reapers don’t change. They never will. They will fight alongside you while you are useful, then cast you aside when they deem you an enemy. They don't understand you. And they never will…
Ichigo shook his head, trying to clear his mind. No, he thought firmly, I’m sure they’ll accept me. Maybe…
Not too long later, Bala Bala ran into the Sand Guardian. Even with Rukia’s icey zanpakuto, they were sucked down into the Menos Forest.
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Insanity of Betrayal
Fanfiction"You think five years isn't enough time to change your personality? Well think again. It just takes something small, and then the very people you helped climb the ladder will step on your fingers, letting you fall down. And the higher you climbed...
