Life Before Death

I wanted to have this ready to go for Hanukkah this year, but I'm afraid I only have the one chapter. This week was deadweek, and then next week I have three finals, and then surgery on the 16th. So I didn't have time to come up with eight new chapters. I'm sorry guys! Hopefully though, this'll be enough of a Hanukkah gift for you all, and I promise that, what with being bed ridden after surgery, I should have PLENTY of time to move this along, I hope.
Happy Holidays you guys!


Please review and tell me what you think. ^w^ Reviews keep me motivated.


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Chapter V

The fair amount of alcohol Ichigo had the night before, of course, went straight to his head. It took him a moment to register that Urahara was calling his name loudly; but once he awoke, he pulled the pillow over his face, trying to drown out the obnoxious man's voice.

"Come on Kurosaki-kuuuun." He felt his sheets being tugged and hugged them to his body desperately, yelping as a sound spank from the man's cane struck his rump.

"Gah! What the heck is wrong with you?!" He growled and the man only smiled at him, pulling the stunned teen up from his mat and standing him in front of the door.

"You'll be late for class now. There's a change of clothes in the bathroom."

"Damnit, old man! I'm not going!"

"Oh yes you are!" He smiled widely at Ichigo, giving him a good shove.

"Enough." They both turned to see a grumpy hollow sitting up from his mat. He grabbed his blanket and pillow and nakedly walked from the room to the grass outside the shop. Both of the men stared almost horrified after him. It was obvious that Ulquiorra was not a morning person.

"You woke him up, Kurosaki-kun." Urahara noted against Ichigo's ear.

The boy swung his arm at the shop keeper, throwing the bed sheet that was still attached to him in the man's face. "If you hadn't tried to wake me up, it wouldn't have happened at all!" He growled at the man who only returned a friendly smile.

Ichigo had completely forgotten about their little activity the night before. He removed his PJ's in the bathroom and was about to step into the shower when he remembered, blushing, and covering his face as he realized what he'd done.

Images of the Hollow enthralled in utter euphoria flooded his mind and Ichigo sank against the tile wall outside the shower, trying to force those images from his mind.

This time, he had felt everything. The boy could remember every throbbing need and build up of pleasure. "God..." he whispered to himself. He couldn't really blame Ulquiorra, but he couldn't help but feel furious at him for having done this to him.

Ichigo shook his head as he stood up. He turned the shower to cold and climbed in, gasping suddenly at the shock of ice against his skin. It was a cold morning already, and when the shopkeeper had woken him up, he held tightly to his sheets and their warmness. Now he welcomed the cold.

The teen looked down, it was morning after all; and with the memories coming back to him, he was more than half hard. However, letting the cold water cascade down from the top of his head, shivering as it slid down his neck and over his chest and stomach, the throbbing slowly stopped and his erection began to bend in the middle, drooping slowly until he had diminished completely. After about a minute Ichigo cursed loudly to himself, turning the water to a warmer setting, not too much though, he was afraid of it coming back.

The boy finished rather quickly, no one enjoys a cold shower when it's actually cold. He avoided the hollow as he dressed quickly, rushing out of the shop with his book bag that Ishida had brought over.


School seemed like a forgotten memory to him, the happy yet anxious faces rushing around, chattering. They all crowded around him when he arrived, asking him if the south was fun, and how awful it was to have a urethra dwelling fish retrieved from inside him.

Dammit Ishida. He thought, just as the Quincy walked up beside him. Ichigo had half a mind to slug the four eyed bastard, but he never got the chance when Keigo sent him into a pillar outside the main building. A rare feat.

'Sounds like you had fun without me, Ichi." Keigo pouted at him, towering over his slumped form.

Ichigo shot him a glare and he only grinned back, rushing off as the bell sounded.

This all seemed far too strange to him. Even though he'd spent fifteen years of his life in this scenario, coming back after their struggle with Hueco Mundo made the switch back into a normal lifestyle hard for him.

Ishida hung behind after the rest had gone to help Ichigo up, he gave an apologetic grin as they headed for the doors and Ichigo remembered what had happened. He remembered finding Ishida run through with his Zanpaktou.

"Is it good to be back?" he heard, turning to see the Quincy looking rather concern.

"Yeah..." he said apathetically.

"You have to get back to your normal life, Kurosaki. You're still apart of this world."

"I know," Ichigo interrupted him. The boy slowed a little, Ishida turning to look back at him, he didn't seem himself at all, and the Quincy knew why.

"I promise you're still human." He sighed, pushing his glasses up. "You're not... a normal Shinigami. It was something that was forced, right? So I can imagine that it didn't happen as naturally as it did with Renji or Rukia."

"But, is that why..." Ichigo rubbed his hand over the center of his chest, remembering the beast he'd become.

"Maybe, I think it's not something that can be overlooked." He smiled at Ichigo, backtracking a bit until he stood beside him, giving his shoulder a gentle nudge in the direction of class. "You want to be human more than anything, right? Why don't you join the rest of us in our normal--"

"I'm sorry, Ishida." Ichigo piped up, not looking at the Quincy. "For what I did."

"You didn't know." He reasoned.

"But I almost killed..."

"No, Orihime was there, I was fine."

"But if she hadn't been there."

"Kurosaki-kun." They both heard, and Ichigo turned wide eyed to face Orihime behind him. "Ishida-kun forgives you; you should be happy again." She smiled warmly at him.

Ichigo saw that smile and immediately thought of Ulquiorra's mom again, He froze for a moment before they both walked him towards the building and down the hall.

"Really now, Ichigo, I don't hold it against you at all, so stop bothering yourself with it." Ishida told the strawberry-haired boy.

He and Orihime stopped walking, letting Ichigo wander on ahead absentmindedly into a fuming Tatsuki. The girl grabbed the nape of his neck and led him quickly into a wall, then gave him a sound noogie.

"What the hell, Ichigo?! If you keep missing so much of this life you'll be lost and we won't let you come back!" She joked angrily. This rang deeper to the boy than she knew though.

The boy looked at her almost hurt and she lost her fire for a bit. It was a quick rebound, Ichigo picked up on the game instantly, like second nature, an old piece of him came back and he kicked her feet out from under her. "HA! You thought my feelings were so sensitive!" He triumphed over her. "You dropped your guard, Tatsuki!"

She growled at him and chased him into the classroom, Orihime and Ishida following behind them. Ichigo had run smack into Sado and the Mexican held him a good foot and a half off of the ground to get him to stop running and calm down. He too had realized how different the boy seemed, he was trying to see if he was ok. But Tatsuki took the moment of concern as a chance to attack the boy's kidneys a few times, aiming several short punches that brought several cries from him.

Orihime laughed at the scene, Ishida pretended not to notice, and it seemed as though life had welcomed the Strawberry back.


The class began after their commotion died down; it was the part of life Ichigo could do without, the subject was math, algebra leading into quadratic formulas. Not at all his favorite. Ichigo's notes were beginning to look more and more like an old manuscript telling of Vikings invading the land of variables and slaughtering their women and children, if they had women and children. The women would be the X's perhaps, and the Y's were the helpless men trying to fend off his stick figure Normans.

He threw a few Romans in there and then eventually, he'd thrown in a Greek or two. The stick figure Greeks seemed to stir his mind once more, thinking of Ulquiorra's past.

It took only a second for his train of thought to turn to the night before. Ichigo clapped his hand over his mouth discretely, his eyes averting to the window beside him. Shit... he thought, realizing that his friend had returned from this morning. The boy had yet to suffer the social embarrassment of a hard-on in class, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Kurosaki-kun." He heard Orihime's soft voice beside him and nearly shriveled away into his chair. She was the last person on earth he wanted to witness his teenage hormonal malfunction.

The teen leaned over to her hesitantly, feigning illness to her and excused himself, rushing out through the back of the room.

The boy made a B-line for the boy's bathroom, locking the door behind him. He was in there only a moment before he heard someone try the handle.

"Hey, come on, I gotta take a piss!" It was just some other student.

Ichigo rushed back and unlocked the door, apologizing to the boy and pushing passed him. He would take refuge on the roof, his one place of seclusion, it seemed.

The teen rushed up the flights, bursting through the door to the roof to find nobody there. No intrusions no eavesdropping bodies anywhere. He sighed, rubbing his face in the palms of his hands as he slumped to the ground.

"Damnit, bastard." He cursed to himself letting his legs open a bit to fall into a more comfortable position.

The boy shoved his hand in his crotch, at first, only to hide the burning organ in his groin. Finally, though, he simply settled with just rubbing himself gently, letting out a ragged breath as he felt his face heat up with embarrassment.

After a while, the rubbing through his slacks wasn't enough. He slouched down more so that he could undo his belt and his fly, freeing himself. The boy sighed as he took himself in hand, squeezing and then rubbing the flats of two fingers just up under his frenum. Ichigo gasped softly, biting his lip as his legs tensed, lifting up into his own touch. He couldn't help but imagine that it was Ulquiorra, although he'd probably be better at it.

Ichigo nearly screamed out when he heard a shocked laugh. The teen slipped from his awkward position and pulled his pants up over his erection, trying his best to hide the evidence.

"Ohhh Ichigo, you're fiiiine." He heard and sat up quickly to look around.

"Who the hell's there?" He growled.

Yumichika Ayasegawa landed right in front of the boy, who startled and landed back against the wall. The primpy Shinigami tossed his hair and straightened the feathers decorating his right eye before he resumed his musings. He just couldn't suppress his huge grin as he watched the flustered teen.

"Having a rough day?" He asked, smirking at the boy's angry look.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Visiting, it's boring back home, there's not much to do." He wined. Yumichika stopped Ichigo's attempts at doing up his pants. "You know you'll just hurt yourself if you do that."

"Don't tough me!" Ichigo gasped, trying to stop Yumichika but it was too late. The Madona had his hands in Ichigo's half done up pants, paying close attention to his length.

"How... can you just..." Ichigo stared dumb founded at the Shinigami, his breath hitching only a little.

"I like doing this for people." He smiled. "Actually, Renji and I were talking since he got back last night." The third seat began to say, his smile widening. "So Ulquiorra." He began. It seemed, to Ichigo, as though he were having trouble finding a place to start.

"What about him?" He asked, his raspy voice.

"I knew him briefly, that's all."

"You knew him... wait, when? As a Greek?"

Yumichika smiled, nodded slowly as he made to pull the boy's pants down more.

"Were you... like him?"

"Oh just say it, Ichigo. A prostitute." He laughed as the boy blushed. "It really isn't that big of a deal." He sat himself down further between Ichigo's legs. "Admittedly, I wasn't as successful as he was, but I also wasn't as reckless."

"Ulquiorra was reckless?" He asked curiously, but was cut short as Yumichika's hand was replaced by his mouth, such a skilled mouth too. Ichigo brought his hand up to entangle in the other man's hair but was stopped. Yumichika wouldn't let him touch his hair, of course. He moaned suddenly, trying to stifle any sounds while he felt the back of Yumichika's throat hit his head repeatedly.

Ichigo's eyes shook lightly as he felt the other's tongue swirl around his head, but he was still buried deep in his throat. It was as though the man's tongue wasn't attached to the bottom of his mouth. The boy gasped suddenly and tried to sit up more. "Hey..." he began, panting, his hands balling up on the ground for support. "Yumichika... stop.." He warned, moaning loudly as he drew closer.

The man didn't stop. Ichigo didn't know if he should just be thankful and just let him continue, or if he should be offended that this kept happening to him, as though he was weak in a sense of sexual need.

Yumichika, at that point, had created such a strong vacuum around Ichigo that the boy felt as though he would suck his orgasm out before it had even hit. Although, it hit right on target. Ichigo bit his bottom lip hard enough to make it bleed, but he couldn't seem to muffle any moans. He thrusted up at Yumichika, who didn't seem to mind that, and then his thrusts died down, his hips only rolling at this point. He slumped against the wall as his orgasm died out.

Yumichika sat up from Ichigo, wiping a little cum from his lips as he settled to sit before the boy. "That'll tie you over until you get home, right?" He joked softly. Ichigo just glared.

"Keep talking about Ulquiorra." He ordered breathlessly.

"Oh, he was just in a lot of trouble."

"But what do you mean trouble?" Ichigo interrupted.

"Oh, conspiracy."

"C-conspiracy?" That sounded like a big thing back then. Ichgio had the not-so-off-impression that people were after power back then. That rulers were offed by their heirs left and right.

"Yeah, it was a mess. I mean, the time was kind of set up for it, though."

"So, are there any other really old-" He stopped, Ichigo didn't know if really old would offend Yumichika.

"Not that I know of, we don't really talk about it in Sereitei. Just the three of us."

He nodded, taking his place beside Ichigo who was a little slow on the uptake. "Wait, three? There's you, Ulquiorra, who else?" He asked, looking excited.

"Kenpachi." Yumichika said casually, resting his hands behind his head.

"You're..... really?" Ichigo looked comically astounded. "He's.... He wasn't a prostitute, was he?"

At that remark Yumichika broke out laughing. Ichigo looked terrified.

In fact, the boy was. He'd been harassed, by two Greek Prostitutes now. If Kenpachi was anything like them, he didn't want the big guy coming after his anal cherry, and that's the role he assumed of Zaraki, since he couldn't see the brute in any other position.

Yumichika wiped a tear from his eye as he calmed down, "No, no no, no. He was a Gladiator."

"Wait... I thought Gladiators were Roman." Ichigo interrupted, confused.

"Well every culture had some form of competition to the death for their criminals and slaves and what not, Rome just made a sport of it. He is Roman though, Zaraki." Ichigo seemed to lean in closer as Yumichika went on. "And you know how they say that time calms the mind, makes it wiser, it's true. He used to be so wild."

"Used to be?" Ichigo sounded a little doubtful at that, the man seemed crazier than anyone Ichigo had even met.

"Trust me, he was an animal back then."

"Can you show me?" Ichigo asked, sounded eager.

"Show you? Uh." Yumichika seemed a little confused at the request. "How would I show you?"

Ichigo looked confused now as well. "Like, psychically." He added, feeling silly for having done so.

Yumichika only laughed. "How would I do that?" He shook his head with an amused grin on his voice.

"You... can't show me? Ulquiorra showed me some of his past."

"He did? I can't do that, I don't know of anyone who can." Yumichika addmited with a dumb look on his face.

"Do you think it's a hollow thing?" Ichigo asked, slumping back down against the wall.

"Maybe. How did he do it?" He asked curiously.

"He touched my hand with his, but then, when he's asleep, I can see into his past through his hole.

Without missing a beat, Yumichika burst out laughing. "He showed you the light, did he?" He joked.

It took Ichigo a moment to get the childish joke but he frowned immediately. "No, God, the hole in his neck, the hollows hole!" He growled.

Yumichika waved his hand apologetically, and he turned a serious look to Ichigo, which only lasted a moment. Hole had reminded Ichigo, yet again, and his one track hormonal teenage mind of the night before. "Did something happen?" Yumichika asked.

"I'm not telling you." Ichigo sounded offended and he quickly moved to button his pants again.

"Hold on." Yumichika said, fumbling with Ichigo's groin.

"Wait, not again!" Ichigop protested. He winced though, as the Shinigami helped him with something else. He wasn't going to get the boy off again it seemed, he only layed Ichigo's erection flat against his stomach, and then buttoned his fly up over it, fastening the boy's belt.

"Just make sure your shirt covers it, in case it sticks up over the hem of your pants."

"This is so uncomfortable." The boy wined, looking down at his trapped erection, staring up at him like a sad unwanted puppy, with one eye. Actually, it reminded him of Bawa-bawa, which was an unwanted image, but he was thankful for it nonetheless, as it caused his cock to deflate a little.

"I know, Ikakku does it though, it seems to work for him when we can't get away from meetings." Yumichika sighed, fixing his hair a little.

Ichigo blushed at the mention of the bald Shinigami. "So you two... are you-"

"No, we're just friends. You see, you're totally different from me. Sex didn't have to be between two lovers back then, it wasn't rare that it might be, but it also wasn't rare that it wasn't." He smiled at Ichigo. He'd heard that before, only in different words.

"I know, Ulquiorra tells me all the time, I'm too modest."

This aroused the Madona's suspicions and he leaned in closer. "So you two are getting pretty friendly, huh?"

"No" Ichigo snapped.

"What'd he do?"

"Nothing, I have to get back to class." The teenager growled, standing up quickly to avoid a fondling gesture.

"By the way, I didn't know Kenpachi back then, I'd just heard of his bloodlust. If you want, I can have him come here and tell you about his life." He smiled warmly at the boy who only blushed and rushed back to class.


The rest of the day was just as slow, if not slower, than the morning. Ichigo couldn't focus. And even though, at the times when he was hard, his erection was hidden, it didn't mean he didn't know it was there. He was lucky that Yumichika had given him head and swallowed, or he was certain that everyone would know by the smell alone.

It was bad enough that he had to be there at all, but worse that he couldn't just up and leave.

When he was free to leave after school, he did so without a word to the others, he broke into a dead sprint for the shop, rather than home, and did everything possible to avoid Rukia as she waited for them outside of school.

Ichigo wasn't terribly thrilled when he saw Orihime talking to Ulquiorra outside the shop.

She smiled at the strawberry head and only turned a curious look to Ulquiorra as Ichigo headed inside without a word to her. He dumped his bag into the room that he and Ulquiorra shared and shut himself in the bathroom.

The boy had never imagined that losing his virginity would create such a distraction in his every day life. Of course, if it had happened in any other fashion; like, perhaps with a girl, in his room, while his dad and sisters were out of town, and with everything planned out at least, it may have been less confusing to him.

"Kuro... Ichigo?" He heard Orihime from the hallway, she sounded concerned.

Ichigo cleared his throat a bit and tried to sound friendly. "Sorry, Inoue, I really had to go." He added a laugh after that.

He heard her give an embarrassed sound and then laughed herself. "Oh, I thought you were upset. Alright." She said, her footsteps starting down the hall, away from Ichigo. He heard her stop though, and then another voice.

"It's probably something I did." Ulquiorra.

Don't you dare! He thought and the door burst open.

He saw the stoic pale face just beyond Orihime and gave him a threatening look.

"Inoue, I'm sorry but could you wait out here for a bit, I need to talk to Ulquiorra." He said, a serious look on his face.

Orihime nodded to them both, she looked worried at the intense gaze Ichigo gave the hollow.

Ulquiorra let out a sigh and placed his hands on Orihime's shoulders, moving her aside gently in the narrow hallway while he left into the shared bedroom. Ichigo followed after him and tried his best to give Orihime a smile before shutting the screen.

"What did you do to me?" He rounded on the hollow, only receiving a comical look.

"I rode you last night." Ulquiorra said, with a sound emphasis on "rode."

Ichigo only blushed more furiously and shook his head. "No, I mean... why am I like this? You did something to me and it's making me fall apart!" He growled, waving his hands around in a frustrated manner.

"You weren't a virgin, so I don't know why you're acting the way you are." Ulquiorra said plainly. "You already had a shot at me when we fought."

"I know." Ichigo snapped, then he took a deep sigh, slouching down against the wall. "I just don't... well that's just it, I don't know. I don't know why I can't think of anything else, or why this is happening now and why it didn't happen earlier in Hueco Mundo." He shook his head.

"You felt it for the first time, did you not? Perhaps that's what it is." Ulquiorra offered his own reasoning for the teen.

"You had no right, by the way. My first time would've been with a girl." Ichigo fumed.

"Really?"

"What does that mean?" he snapped, that wasn't what he wanted, the damned hollow joking about his preference.

"It means you're thinking too much about it. Have you ever masturbated before?" Ulquiorra inquired, taking a seat beside Ichigo.

"... Yeah.." the boy sounded embarrassed, but he gave in, deciding to play the hollow's game.

"Then it wasn't really your first time." Ulquiorra sounded sure of that.

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh a little. "That makes no sense," He told the hollow.

"Do you love me?" Ulquiorra asked plainly.

Ichigo had never hit his head so hard before, as it jerked back against the wall out of utter shock. "N-no!" He exclaimed, averting his gaze from the amused hollow while he rubbed the back of his own head gingerly.

"Then it didn't count." He told Ichigo.

"I... didn't think that you believe in love." Ichigo admitted, as awful as that may have sounded.

"I believe that love is for some, and not others. I don't believe it's for me." He sounded quite sure of that.

"You've never... tried to fall in love?" Ichigo couldn't help but ask, although he felt the heat rise in his face, what an awkward conversation to be having with an old enemy.

"No, but I also don't feel as though I'm missing out, I find enough passion in other things. Interesting things." He began fixing the fold of the hem of his black kimono. Ulquiorra had taken a liking to the black garment; it was simple, loose, and very comfortable.
Ichigo didn't know Ulquiorra enough to know what he meant. Did that mean liked being a whore in ancient times; or liked being used, or competition?

"Say, did you know Yumichika?" Ichigo asked curiously. The hollow turned to look at him with a curious gaze.

"Um, he's a Shinigami friend. He's on Zaraki Kenpachi's squad."

"Oh, the effeminate one." Ichigo suppressed a smile at Ulquiorra's response.

"Did you know him?"

"I did, briefly, we crossed paths once or twice, but his Captain..." The hollow began but Ichigo's face lit up.

"Oh yeah! I forgot! Yumichika told me he was a Gladiator!" He looked utterly amused. "Which doesn't surprise me, it's perfect." He laughed.

"He was quite the gladiator." Ulquiorra nodded.

"So you did know him.?"

"I'd say more so than his 3rd seat."

"Can you... show me?" Ichigo asked, and sounded a little shy at his request.

He saw Ulquiorra suppress a small smile, turning slightly to face Ichigo more and taking the boy's hand. "I can."

The boy fell into an all too familiar setting again. It was that setting before technology. That time before the skies were polluted with light from towns, instead, smoke rose from the torches lining the roads, it wasn't too much though.

The narrow road between two rows of low buildings and huts curved off the right side. Ichigo seemed to follow that path on until he came to a small doorway. He turned to face it, and just inside and to the left. He found Ulquiorra, pushed up against a wall, both legs locked tightly behind a taller man's hips that was, as far as Ichigo could tell, naked from the waste down and thrusting quickly into the familiar Greek.

That's. Not. Him. Why are you showing me this? He thought loudly.

Enough, watch.. He heard Ulquiorra's voice and was forced to look forward, watching as the two bodies followed a sloppy rhythm. Ichigo heard the slight moistness between their bodies, he had to try and shut the noise out, the noise of Ulquiorra breathing harshly against the man's neck, shuddering. The man himself gripped tightly to Ulquiorra's hair, biting at the other's neck until he gave a strangled gasp, trying hard not to moan out loud. Shuddering, the man thrusted in deeply for a moment, pausing, and then held Ulquiorra's slender waste while his legs lowered down to keep the hollow standing.

The man backed away from Ulquiorra, taking a seat by a small dinner table and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Ulquiorra remained against the wall, grinning, his face flushed, his forehead dotted with sweat, but his eyes cool and calculating as the man before him caught his breath.

"So does it sound interesting to you?" The man asked, panting softly still.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, smiling. "Interesting." He nodded, bringing a hand up to tame the wavy, raven locks once more. "Yes, I like it, I don't know when I'll be able to pull this off..." Ulquiorra began, but the man held his hand up.

"As long as I know that our plan is in motion, I can rest easy. You are such an asset to me, to my kingdom. I thank you." The man said, standing and readjusting his robe.

Ulquiorra did the same, he nodded his head to the man, rewrapping his chiton, and retying all of its links over the top of his arms, and around his waist.

"Keep that in mind, I'll return when I can or send word." The man smiled, ducking out of the doorway and down the road until he was gone from sight. Ulquiorra waited a moment, he continued to adjust himself, and then stepped out into the road, heading off in the opposite direction. It didn't take long for him to run into trouble though. A pair of men approached him quickly, taking each side of Ulquiorra to stop him.

"Wow, was that *Antigonos we saw you with?" One said, dropping an overly friendly elbow over the hollow's shoulder and leaning in on it. Ulquiorra stopped and turned to him, watching him with calm eyes.

The man behind him held a cold bright blade against Ulquiorra's neck and licked the shell of his ear. They were guards, their uniform tunics short and adorned with purples and holding short swords. "What would someone like you, be doing with someone like him?" He asked.

The man pulled back from Ulquiorra quickl, and the man in front of him gasped. The second one had dropped his blade, and Ulquiorra felt the warm spray of liquid, he would have guessed urine, but the look on the first man's face told him otherwise.

Quickly, he was pulled aside and the first man puked up a good mouthful of blood as the dagger from the second man pieced his neck.

"Ya' ok?" Ulquiorra turned. Ichigo, through Ulquiorra's eyes, turned to see a towering monster. The same jagged tooth grin stared down at him, a scar through the left side of his face, which apparently he had in real life too, short curly black hair. Oh, short hair doesn't suit him. He found himself thinking.

Hush. Ulquiorra told him and, as the man turned, Ichigo saw that it was just pulled back in a tight ponytail.

The man wore a plain white tunic; around his waist was a belt that had thin strips of leather hanging from it. Zaraki had no weapons, go figure; those were things they handed out in battle he figured, since they were all criminals and slaves.

"You?" Ulquiorra said, he looked Zaraki up and down and smiled to him. "Thank you." He finished.

"You know me?" He asked.

"They call you The Titan." Ulquiorra took a step back to fix his chiton a little. "People presume that you must have committed quite the crime. You suddenly rose to victory and fame without suffering many battles, as though you were just set there as you are now."

"Eh? Crime? I'm no criminal, not that I care much."

"Oh? Were you a slave?" Ulquiorra asked curiously.

"Nah, I chose it, a life of fighting. And now they're looking to give me my life back."

"Oh, well congratulations." Ulquiorra nodded to Zaraki.

"You serious? I hate it. I don't want to go back to living out there, where I can be punished for striking another man. I'd rather stay here and be praised for slicing him into little pieces!" Zaraki laughed.

God, he is mad. Wait, they could choose to be gladiators? Ichigo asked.

They could, not all of them were criminals or slaves. Ulquiorra's voice sounded a tad irate and Ichigo decided just to continue watching.

"Well, I thank you for saving me, good luck in not being granted your freedom." He smiled to the brute and began to turn.

"Ehh? You think that was a free good deed I just did?" The man sniggered, grabbing Ulquiorra by the shoulder.

The hollow didn't seem surprised though, he only sighed and turned back, one hand untying the golden rope around his waste. "I didn't know, although, I was had by another not too long ago, you'll have to forgive me for still being-"

"Just means you're prepped and ready to go, so I don't have to waste any time being careful." Zaraki laughed. He unhooked the leather belt and tossed it near the foot of a well before pushing Ulquiorra up against a wall.

He turned the hollow around and ground into him with a sizable hard on. The slender form between him and the wall let out a satisfied moan.

Ichigo couldn't help but feel literally afraid of Zaraki. When he lifted up his tunic and the back of Ulquiorra's Chiton, he got a good look at what the hollow was up against. Regardless of how experienced Ulquiorra was, he couldn't imagine anyone being ready for what the Shinigami had.

Zaraki bit at the back of Ulquiorra's neck, far harder than Antigonos had, and took himself in hand to rub up against the hollow. The pale one gasped sharply, he arched more so that the taller one could get a better aim. The sound emitted was one Ichigo had never heard from the hollow before. It was a mix between a pained moan and a gasp, much louder than he'd heard too. Ulquiorra always seemed to show some amount of control, but the boy doubted whether he was prepared for this one or not.


Ulquiorra's head fell softly to rest against the wall and he instantly began panting. Ichigo figured out that the panting was a sort of control, but that began to fail and Ulquiorra's eye brows furrowed tightly together, he had to bite his lip just to keep quiet in the open.

Zaraki on the other hand, didn't seem to care. He gave little grunts and groans and found delectable patches of skin to bruise and bloody before moving onto more skin. Ulquiorra would need a lot of rest after this, and a good wash to clean off the blood from the guard before.

He slid his hands up and folded them over one another so his head was resting against something softer, while his feet spread out and arched up onto his tiptoes. When he did that, the stiff spongy head of Zaraki's cock rubbed against his prostate, it was far deeper than he was used to, the thrusts longer and the gladiator's girth far wider. Ulquiorra gave up and let a loud moan escape him, gasping sharply as his head jerked back in surprise of the sudden flashes behind his eyes.

His legs began to shake and Zaraki took that hint and forced Ulquiorra to kneel. He was still positioned up right for the most part, his hands resting against the wall before him while his slender spine arched sharply to meet Zaraki's thrusts.

Ulquiorra gasped sharply when he felt the other's nails digging into his hips, he looked down to see blood dripping down the tops of his thighs. Zaraki's nails were sharp unmanicured, and jagged enough to cause the hollow damage. He didn't have his precious hierro skin to protect him.

All the while Ichigo could feel his physical arm trying to resist Ulquiorra, he wanted to pull away from the vision, he didn't want to watch anymore and in fact, he wanted to ask about the scene earlier, but Ulquiorra wouldn't let him. He could tell the hollow enjoyed this.

Stop Ichigo told him, but nothing happened. Ichigo felt out the hollow in the physical world. He grabbed a hold of something and began wrestling with it. Ichigo heard the hollow laugh softly. Please. He begged, but his actions were a little more violent than his plea. Finally, as Zaraki let a loud growl out, right next to Ulquiorra's ear who let a sort of cry out just as they both came, Ichigo felt his hand released, the vision faded to black and he released how he'd gotten the Hollow to release him.

He opened his eyes to a somewhat surprised Ulquiorra, staring up at him as Ichigo found that he was straddling the hollow's lap, both of his wrists tightly gripped in each of Ichigo's.

"Stop it..." Ichigo was panting softly, he looked utterly defeated and Ulquiorra closed his eyes, relaxing his arms as the boy held onto them.

"Have I really threatened your preference this dearly?" He asked.

Ichigo couldn't say anything, he looked ashamed, possibly at feeling so vulnerable, but this, Ulquiorra found interesting. The boy sat up, sliding off of Ulquiorra's lap, he was looking at it. "Why... after reliving that memory, aren't you... you know." Ichigo asked irritably.

"I don't know. I suppose it would take more than that. I could let myself be aroused by the memory." He offered but Ichigo shook his head.

The boy sat back and pushed the thought from his mind and looked Ulquiorra in the eyes. "So who was that other guy?" He asked, was that any part of the conspiracy Yumichika had mentioned.

"That was Antigonos, one of Alexander's commanders. He later took the Eastern territories, namely Byzantium, after Alexander died, and his legacy was up for the taking." Ulquiorra sounded very matter of factly.

"Byzantium... what do you mean?" he didn't understand why Ulquiorra had emphasized that.

"That was my interest, Byzantium. It's between two large bodies of water, and so it saw a lot of foreign trade."

"And that interested you?"

"It did, very much so." He agreed and smiled to himself, almost seeming fond of the discussion.

Ichigo waited a moment, but it seemed Ulquiorra was done talking. He sighed, rubbing his face and stood up. "I need something to eat, do want anything?" The hollow shook his head, seeming a bit tired and he laid himself down on the unrolled mat next to Ichigo.

"You're going to sleep again?" He asked. The hollow nodded and rolled over.

What ever. And with that the teen left.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Author's Notes:
Antigonos was a commander of Alexander during their many campaigns. After Alexander died, he was one of the commanders who was appointed Satrap (left in charge) of the Asia Minor Territories, this included Byzantium, which then became Constantinople under Constantine, and later Turkey. He was nicknamed Monophthalmos, or "One-Eyed."

Author's comments:
I thought I'd point out, I'm Jewish by blood, but I really have no faith. XD I celebrate Christmas with my parents and Hanukkah with my Grandma and her friends. I'll have a Christmas special later on too, I promise. I guess my faith is Frisbeetarianism: the belief that after you die, your soul floats up to get stuck on the roof. I bet a lot of exciting things go on up there.