Ichigo's Bad Day

(People wanted it, and so the story goes on!)

Somebody once said that time healed all wounds; that person was an idiot, Ichigo mused bitterly. After his violation, the weeks passed by slowly for the young man; his normal scowl had deepened, his eyes took on a darker tone. Those who knew him came to realize that something profoundly distressing had occurred.

Not that he would have told anybody; his shame was too powerful a thing to overcome. Yet, in the time that followed his rape a dark, deprived desire filled him. A desire for revenge against those whom had wronged him. Orihime, she would be easy to extract retribution from; Rukia was the real problem. That little bitch, she had fled once the binding Kido wore off, vanished back to the land of wind and ghosts from whence she came.

Urahara wouldn’t help him; on the contrary, he thought it was just HILARIOUS how Ichigo had been violated in his shop. Said that it was something he needed to “mellow” him out. Ichigo showed him just had mellow he could be with a swift kick to the balls. It felt oddly empty, however; any joy he could have gotten from such a wanton act of violence against the man with wooden clogs was for naught after the violation of his body and trust.

In the darkness of the many nights that followed, Ichigo could do nothing but brood on how he couldn’t get back at Rukia. She wouldn’t dare show herself for a good, long while to come; hoping he would calm down, most likely. Nothing short of a full blown Hollow invasion of his own could get her to come back, and even then there was no real guarantee that she would be the one to appear. If it were that easy, he’d of gotten Uryu to use some Hollow bait to lure her out from hiding.

In his dreams, he could see the sweet revenge being extracted from Rukia’s tiny frame; the agony on her face. It was so strange and odd; he’d never dreamt of anything so vivid and horrifying. Was this, perhaps, the way most people felt after such a profound betrayal? Or maybe…

“You should let me take over. I could make her suffer.”

Ichigo’s eyes shot open as he bolted up in his bed; a voice had just spoken to him. His eyes, they darted from side to side, scanning his room for somebody; anybody.

“Have you forgotten all about me already? Surely you know who I am… your majesty.”

Ichigo’s stomach twisted as he realized exactly what it was that spoke to him; he didn’t want this to happen again. He thought he had some manner of control over it…

“Come on, Ichigo; why don’t you let me have my fun? I’m sure I could find a way to get her back to this side. Then we could make her suffer together! Surely you’d like that… come on. I could see it in your dreams. “

“… Shut up…”

Ichigo spat out to himself as he lay back down, pulling a pillow over his head; such a thing would not drown out the voice, no matter how he hoped it would.

“Oh come on! We would both get something we want; for you revenge, while for me it’s freedom for a short while. It’s win-win!”

The voice tried so hard to convince the young man; it only caused him to scowl under the pillow.

“And once I do that, you’ll never want to let go. Then we’ll have a power struggle for my body; we’ve been through this before.”

“You wound me! Here I am, trying to offer you some help and you suspect me of trying to take over your body! I already recognized you as the king, you won… I am but a lowly servant trying to help you. And besides, if you’re really the king, you would be able to put me in my place again if I DID try to do something.”

The Hollow, it was making a good point. But Ichigo, he didn’t want to admit it; no matter how badly he wanted Rukia to suffer, could he really trust his Hollow? He had beaten the beast once before for control of his body… he could likely do it again. But the question begged to be asked; while the battle raged for control once more, just how much damage could the Hollow do?

But more importantly; would it be right to release such a dangerous creature upon the world, with access to such a large amount of power and a dark, vile desire to rampage? Did he truly desire revenge so much that he would make a deal, however metaphorical it might be, with a creature that one could only describe as of the Devil himself?

“Come on, Ichigo; let me have my fun. It’s the only way you can get to Rukia; the only way you can get back at her. You’ve never watched her in the ways I have; you don’t know how she moves when threatened, you can’t even begin to guess what she does when cornered. I’ve seen it, thought about it… whenever you talk to her, whenever you get into fights and she’s around; I watch, I listen. I study.

I know her more than you do. I’m the perfect hunter when it comes to that wily little Soul Reaper. So come on… let me go and hunt her. Let me make her suffer, let me torture her while you watch.”

Ichigo, he laid there silently, pillow clutched to his head. His fingers gripped the cover tightly, his mind swam. The darkness of his soul, it was given form and voice; the Hollow within was taking hold of his heart. With a deep breath, Ichigo cast the pillow to the floor before bolting upright in bed.

“Fine… you can have your fun.”

Ichigo said as he closed his eyes tightly; the Hollow, he could feel it smirk from the back of his brain, he could see the image of the mask forming. It was an unpleasant thing, feeling himself being pushed to the background within his own body, the feeling of something else taking over.

“But remember… I’ll be watching you, just as you watched me. If I don’t like it, I’ll stop you.”

The Hollow, it only chuckled in response.