Letting go of Kenpachi's arms, as the fireball evaporated into the air above them, Ichigo, who's mask and armour had protected him to the extreme heat, stared as his prey as the man in question stumbled unsteadily backwards. His head still snapped back and facing the sky. The area of contact smoking, and bleeding heavily onto the ground beneath him.

Ichigo watched as Kenpachi stopped walking back, arms limp at his side, but his Katana still firmly in his grip. Since the man was still up he was obviously very much alive. The only thought Dead Eye had was to what degree was the injury that Zaraki had sustained going to be?

"Uhhnnnnn.." The man groaned heavily, the ache obvious in his voice as he had began to shakily raise his head up. "Now that fucking hurt..!" His low, raspy mumblings fell out of his mouth, barely audible to anyone present.

In an attempt to stabilize his shell-shocked mind, and head, from swaying from side to side Kenpachi brought his free hand up to lessen the strain put on the muscles in his neck, and righted himself as his legs wanted to give out from underneath him once more. But his will to keep fighting won and he remained standing.

Finally, he got his throbbing skull back to where it was supposed to be, letting Ichigo observe and take stock of the damage that had been done by the shot from his Plasma-Caster.

Consuming the upper right portion of Zaraki's head was the grotesquely burnt, and mangled flesh and skin that wrapped the cranium of one of the Seireitei's strongest fighter. The gruesome, blackened skin leaked crimson profusely as it ran down onto the bare shoulder under it. The charred flesh spread from the corner of his eye and around, stopping just before the back of his head. The wound spread from his high cheek bones and up, covering the majority of the right side of his forehead.

Underneath all of the muscle and tendons, which had been singed to the point of uselessness, keeping the upper-right half of his face affixed in a permanent state of anguish, was the exposed surface of bone that was the man's skull. The only damage that it had sustained, remarkably, was a light scorching, darkening the bleached white bone.

The hair covering the disfigured flesh had been completely vaporised, along with the bells becoming nothing more that tiny bullets of molten slag to be eaten by the brilliant ball of liquidised atoms.

Zaraki looked up to stare at the man across from him with his one good eye, to see him doing the same thing right back at him. The only difference being that Ichigo was behind a mask. Giving off a half grin he intoned his thoughts.

"That was a cheap shot, Ichigo.." Given only a split second of reaction time, Ichigo could only watch as the Taichō disappeared and then reappeared before him, his Zanpakutō carving its way diagonally through his chest; slicing muscle, carving bone and only narrowly missing the slashing open of several internal organs. "Consider that payback..."

Recoiling back from the sudden injury, Ichigo put a short amount of distance between the two of them by stepping backwards, away from the other combatant. Raising a hand to his chest, Ichigo traced the leaking gash with his finger tips, feeling the severed muscles that he could feel contracting and retracting with every breath he took. His bloody digits traced the top of slightly exposed ribcage, feeling every bump and jagged edge caused by the foreign object cleaving its way through his chest.

"Fulfil his request, Ichigo! You are just wasting time now! Your prey is only getting stronger, and so must you!" The voice inside Ichigo's head demanded the young-adult. "Do what he asked you to do, Ichigo! Compress your power! Get stronger! And claim his skull as your trophy!" The young man complied straight away.

Opening his Wrist-Computer, Ichigo gazed at the display. Pressing down several of the metallic buttons caused quiet beeps echoed through the ruined landscape. Once he had pressed the right combination of buttons he quickly went about increasing the level of 'Reiatsu' that was to be forced into his body. Like a vessel holds fluid, his body did as such, but with energy instead.

Moving the small glowing bar on his gauntlet moved it almost completely to the end, just short of complete compression. He would have to end this soon, else he risk the chance of losing becoming greater as the minutes moved by, adding increased strain on his body, which in turn would cripple his fighting ability, eventually leading to his capture or death, due to the inability to move under the pressure that his form is being put under.

The moment his finger left the gear on his wrist, Zaraki could only stare as Ichigo's body convulsed, attempting to cave in on itself. He heard the minute sounds of bone snapping and creaking, like a piece of wood about to break from having to support more weight than it should normally be capable of. This was accompanied by all the wounds (That weren't completely sealed) he had harvested during their bouts spontaneously bursting open, spraying that fluorescent red liquid on the ground around him.

A thoughtful scowl fitted itself onto Zaraki's face as he watched Ichigo recover from the fit of movement caused by the suppression of his power. The tang of killer intent that had lingered in the air had seemed to be all but gone. There was no doubt that there was still something there. But Zaraki and his "shitty ability to sense Reiatsu" were now moot, as his own Spiritual Pressure was now overwhelming the air around them.

Kenpachi eyed the slowly percolating gashes littering his opponents skin, as well as how Ichigo's was straining to keep his body from collapsing in upon itself. If he had to guess, that colossal amount of Reiatsu Ichigo had, which was now being rammed into his being, was killing him.

Why was that happening? A soul should be capable of containing any power it exuded, since it was that power. Or at least that's what Zaraki understood. So why did it appear to be tearing the kid apart?

Kenpachi waved away the thoughts from his mind. He really didn't care about such details usually, but this man was just so very interesting to him that he couldn't help think about such things. Maybe he won't kill him, so that he may be able to fight again sometime, and also get some answers on the side. But the question that was at the forefront of his mind, the thing he really wanted to know was: How much stronger was Dead Eye going to get from doing this?

The answer came barrelling straight at him.

Blue eyes stared out over the wasteland of demolished building, ruined structures, and shattered foundations. That power that had caused such destruction had long since moved in their battle of superiority. The woman that those eyes belonged to, Retsu Unohana, currently stood on the edge of an wide crater as she stared down at it. She elected to ignore the distant sound of violence for the time being, instead choosing to inspect the copious amount of collateral damage that Zaraki-Taichō and the man he was fight had created.

It was just incredible to her. The combined Reiatsu alone had decimated the surrounding area to such a degree. Retsu could still feel the taint of the violent Reiatsu enveloping her as she paced her way further from the crater that she had stood at. She could taste killing intent, and the need for savagery on her tongue as she took breath. And the smell of iron invaded her nostrils as she moved past rubble that had been bespattered with thin coatings of blood.

That alone was starting to goad her into submission, bending her will and making her want to rush to the fight and kill the man that Zaraki was fighting herself. But she could not. Would not. For to do so would put be to spit on all that the psychotic Captain lives for, and in turn, what she used to live for. So she restrained herself and her need to quench her gluttonous lust for bloodshed.

Taking steady strides she passed through the small valley made of crushed buildings, her feet following the cracked and rubble-covered path beneath her. Catching a waft of the scent of death, Unohana's nose crinkled as she tried to discern as to where it had come from.

Gazing over a small mound of brick and mortar she found the evidence that lead her to the cause of the vile stench. An immense pool a gore seeping out from underneath, what looked to be, the caved in roof of one of their many storage warehouses.

The man, judging by the broadness of his shoulders, seemed to have tried to take shelter in the building in attempt to try and evade getting caught in the crossfire of the two titanic power at war, only to find out that was one of the worst idea he could've done, as the roof had collapsed in on him. The result of the cave in being a obliterated skull smearing chunks of bone and grey matter all over the ground around him, as well as being impaled by several of the roofs metal support struts.

Upon further inspection the Fourth Taichō found her lips turning upwards again into a small, cruel smile. Looking more closely at some of the gashes on the body she saw that it was not that building's doing. The skin had split due to a pressure build up. The Reiatsu the two of fighters had exerted was heavy enough that it had catheterized the body of the greater extent of its blood, and simultaneously turning the muscle containing the crimson liquid into nothing but fibrous mulch.

Such was the power of two beings with levels of Reiryoku far above that of a Taichō class Shinigami..

Averting her gaze away from the dead soul's corpse, she began walking away from the scene, this time heading towards the fight.

Unohana paused briefly as she felt that amazing power take a sharp drop, almost completely disappearing altogether. Had she not already become accustom to the rabid, violent feel of it, she would've missed the small portion of it that remained underneath the waves of Reiatsu that the current Kenpachi of the Eleventh was releasing.

She creased her brow in thought. Was he losing?

No.. That wouldn't be right, the Reiatsu she could feel was not dying out, or whittling away. But rather, it was being hidden, or being smothered and contained by something. But why though? What use was it to hide one's Reiatsu output if you were already engaged in combat?

Casting her eyes off into the distance, where the two men were brawling it out past her line of sight, Unohana could very clearly feel the effects of their fighting. Even from this distance.

A small smile worked its way onto her lips as she began her short journey to the clash of the two savage power houses.

'It will not be long now before I can finally let blade bite flesh.. Too much time has passed since I have done so..' She spoke internally, receiving a hum of agreement from her Zanpakutō Minazuki. 'I just hope that Zaraki does not kill you.. Whoever you are..'

Dropping out of Shunpo, Yoruichi landed silently upon one of the many piles of rubble that littered this once populated area of the Seireitei. She cringed as her keen eyes caught sight of many more corpses of dead Shinigami who had been unlucky enough to get caught under the full brunt of Ichigo and Zaraki's Reiatsu.

In the back of her mind, the body count ticked over into the thirties, however she knew that there were more that had been hidden from sight underneath the crumbling buildings and that the total would more than likely be double that. If not more.

'How did it turn out like this, Ichigo..' Her mind racing as fast as Yoruichi herself was moving. She didn't know why she couldn't bring herself to just stop the fight between to the two men. Perhaps it was fear, fear for her own life, should she interrupt Zaraki and Ichigo, putting her on the receiving end of whatever consequences that might bring about.

Seeing something moving out of the corner of her eye drew Yoruichi's attention. At this distance, even with her keen eyes and enhanced senses she could not make out who it was. Plus, the ambient Reiatsu lingering in the air from Ichigo and Zaraki's release made it difficult to try and sense out who the person might be.

Closing the distance between them, Yoruichi's status as the "Goddess of Flash" clearly highlighted as it only took her a mere few seconds to arrive at her destination.

What she found stunned her completely as a wave of emotion came barrelling through her.

There, stumbling over ruined piles of debris and rubble, was none other than Ichigo's sister herself. Though, that was not what really hit her hard. It was the fact that, hanging over her shoulder was the limp form of the young girl's friend, Arisawa Tatsuki. And being dragged along the ground, with Karin's hands around his wrists, was the Shiba male, Ganju.

As this went on for a few short moments, Yoruichi noticed the teenaged Shinigami openly cried. Her cheeks streaming with tears, and smeared with blood. That sight immediately startled the Shihōin princess out of her frozen state. Out of the two Kurosaki girls, Karin was never the one to cry. And if she remembered right, the last time that such a thing occurred would have been after the passing of Masaki and the disappearance of their older brother.

Seeing the Kurosaki child trip on her own haggard and ripped Shihakushō, Yoruichi immediately jumped into action and went to help the distressed girl, catching her as she began to fall, eliciting a small yelp of fright from the girl.

"Ahh! G-Get off of me! L-Leave me alone!" Karin shouted, startled by the pair of darkly-tanned arms wrapping around her shoulders, keeping her upright. She tried to reach for the Zanpakutō at her hip but a hand stopped her before she could.

"It's okay, Karin! It's me, Yoruichi!" She called out in a calm, but stern manner. However that did not manage to ease Karin's worries at all.

"You're lying!" She yelled in a panic, frantically trying to free herself from Yoruichi's grip. "Yoruichi-san is a cat, not a wo.. man..!?" Her voice gained a large hint confusion as she spotted the tanned woman's golden eyes as she thrashed around trying to escape, a feeling of familiarity washing over her, making her pause in her attempts to gain freedom.

Turning her upper-half so that she could see the woman currently holding onto her easier, Karin gazed into the eyes of Yoruichi, trying to piece together what her mind was telling her. Then it clicked.

Karin immediately let go of the grip she still had on one of Ganju's arms and spun to embrace the tanned female, calling her name in panic.

"Y-Yoruichi-san!" Karin bawled, her voice choking up as she struggled to keep the tears from bursting forth from her eyes.

A little surprised by the sudden embrace, the Shihōin woman awkwardly returned it, since Tatsuki was still slung over the girl's shoulder. Making the gesture rather difficult to fully execute.

"Hey.. Uhh.. It's alright, Karin-chan." Yoruichi tried to calm the distraught girl, not really sure on how to placate a crying teenager. Gently she lifted the unconscious black-haired girl off of Karin, then dropped her limp form on the ground, taking care not to further damage the girl. After all Yoruichi didn't know the extent, or reason that both Tatsuki and Ganju. However, she could quite easily take a guess.

"No! It's.. It's not a-alright, Yoruichi-san!" Karin croaked out. "He's here, Yoruichi-san! Ichi-nii is here! How did he get here? He should be at home with Yuzu and Goat-chin!" The girl's grip on the dark-skinned beauty tightened as she looked up to said woman's face, her own tearful and terrified expression obvious as their eyes met.

Yoruichi could now get a clear look at the young Shinigami's face. Her cheeks her stained with not just tears, sweat, and dirt, but also blood, which seemed to have a smudged trail leading from her eyes, nose, and mouth. Taking a quickly glance down to the other two, the were-cat saw instantly that they were also in a very similar state. But judging from the small puddle of blood forming around Ganju's mouth, and the small trails running out of Tatsuki's tear ducts and nostrils, they had taken a much larger amount of damage and were in much worse condition.

"I know you're in a bad state right now Karin-chan, but our companions are in a potentially life-threatening situation." Seeing the teen open her mouth to ask something, Yoruichi quickly silenced her. "I know that Ichigo is here, Karin-chan, I've known since the start of this mission." Seeing the steely-grey eyes widen in shock, Yoruichi knew what was about to come, but they did not have time to be talking about this. "No questions. Right now we have to get these two to a safe place where we can at least try to heal them to a point where they at least aren't in any danger of dying."

The purple-haired woman could see the turmoil raging in Karin's eyes, as if she wanted to protest her reasoning for not telling her how she knew about her brother, however, Karin knew Yoruichi was right. So she simply responded with a quick nod of the head, as well as an "Okay," showing that she understood the situation.

With hurried movements, the Kurosaki girl had quickly heaved her older friend back up, onto her shoulder, and was about to start pulling Ganju like she had been not a few minutes before. But when Yoruichi stopped her she remembered that there was, in fact, another person here. Whispering a near silent "Thank you," Karin saw the gentle smile slip onto Yoruichi's lips as she picked the Shiba up.

The vicious tearing sound of flesh being slashed apart brought about a temporary silence in the ruined arena, that two of the most savage fighters ever to walk within the confines of the Seireitei, had chosen as their battlegrounds.

As almost neon red blood sprayed upon the ground by the feet of its creator, the quiet sounds of liquid splashing reached the ears of the only two nearby, followed by the harsh crunching sound of concrete being crushed as the knees of the blood's owner was forced to the ground his severly mangled body, clearly displaying all his recently earned wounds.

The tall, orange-haired man, Kurosaki Ichigo, breathed heavily, his wounds finally beginning to take a toll on him. His chest, at first glance, appeared to be nothing but ribboned flesh and muscle, smeared with a thick coating of crimson. His arms in almost the exact same state. Most of the injuries, however, were rather superficially, and were not life-threating. At least, not individually.

Rather, the sheer volume of cuts and gashes was what would eventually kill him. It was, in fact, extremely surprising he had not already keeled over mid-fight from the substantial amount of blood loss his body had suffered from. Ichigo, though, was no normal being by any means, if what he had been through was not enough of an indication of that in the first place. His combatant, Zaraki Kenpachi, had noticed this.

The Taichō of the Eleventh Division had lost track of the amount of times that he and the man before him had clash, and sequentially inflicted a wound upon the other. He only knew that this was beyond what any normal Shinigami could take, even those holding the rank of Lieutenant, and even Captain. The copious amounts of blood that had been shed from Dead Eye's form was now well past what the natural human body contained. Zaraki himself doubted that he could've lost that much blood and still be capable of moving. But it seemed that that last strike had pushed Ichigo over his limit.

"I think that's it.. Ichigo.." Zaraki spoke lowly, attempting to breath in what little oxygen he could, with only one functioning lung.

It had happened about halfway into their brawl. Ichigo had done something that had confused and surprised Zaraki, followed immediately by something that would utterly cripple him in the fight thereafter.

The one remained Wrist-Blade on Ichigo right had been rendered completely useless after that block, what felt like so long ago, and had been almost completely snapped in half, much like the other one that had been attached to his right gauntlet. The action that had befuddled the current Kenpachi was when Ichigo somehow fired the razor-sharp blade straight out of his Gauntlet.

Since Zaraki had known that nearly all of Ichigo's weapons had been rendered useless against him, only being capable of piercing an inch or two, he didn't bother to get out of the way as the speeding segment of steel as it impacted on the left side of his torso, right where Ichigo had gouged out a line at the start of the fight, which, to Zaraki, seemed to very long ago now.

As the dark blade hit him, Zaraki barely even flinched as only the very tip penetrated his pectoral muscle. For only a moment he looked down to stare at the chunk of metal hanging out of his chest, which had ended up being his mistake.

Looking back up, the Eleventh Taichō's undamaged eye widened significantly when he saw the bottom of Ichigo's foot flying straight towards the blade that he had shot into Zaraki. The attack caught Zaraki off guard, having not expected to see that sort of tactic in the middle of a head to head brawl, and since he could not shake off the surprise fast enough, he had found himself being unable to completely dodge the incoming kick.

As the sole of Ichigo's metallic boot connected with the end of the protruding blade, Zaraki tried to twist his body away from the incredibly powerful blow. He succeeded.. Partially.

Kenpachi let out a gurgled retching noise as his left lung expelled any air it contained, then began to fill up with blood, as the detached Gauntlet-Knife slashed through the gap between his ribs, then continuing on out though his back at an incredible speed. The kick had enough power behind it to give the razor-edged piece of steel enough force to completely shoot through the savage Captains torso. A loud thunk sounds was made behind Kenpachi as the blade imbedded itself into a piece of broken wall.

The brutally wounded Taichō stood for a second, before agony shot through his body and, in a violent fit, heaved and vomited out the red liquid that had gathered on the inside of his lung. All while Ichigo looked on, waiting for his moment to strike again.

So, it was now that, despite grievous bodily harm, the tides had turned in Kenpachi's favour. Ichigo was the one suffering the most, his chest and arms looking like it had become a canvas for Zaraki's unnamed Zanpakutō to paint on. In some more harshly assaulted spots were exposed pieces of bone, much like the right side of Zaraki's forehead and hairless brow.

"I think that this may be the end.." Zaraki spoke, his voice hoarse and breathing laboured, as he stared down at his kneeling opponent. ".. Of our little battle.." The Taichō lifted his head up to take a look around with his still good eye.

Where there were once multiple levels of different sized buildings and barracks, there was now only a desolate wasteland of smoking piles of crumbled structures, a scant few patches of crimson that glowed in the dark of the night, and a figure or two slowly moving about in the distance. While he was not completely sure, Zaraki could only guess that they had managed flatten an area at least a couple of miles across, judging by how far the closest, still upright, building was.

"I have to say.." Kenpachi struggled to get out between wheezing gulps of air. ".. I don't think I have never had to fight so hard.. gasp.. In the many centuries that I had lived.." Looking down at himself, he brought a hand up to the fairly large slit in his chest that went all the way through, creating an equally large exit wound on his back. "You sure did a number on me, you know that..?" He half-heartedly joked.

His flesh and organs were not the only thing that had taken a beating.

His clothes and uniform were completely ripped to shreds, or just outright burnt away by the weapon that mounts itself onto Ichigo's shoulder. All of it was gone, save for a few scraps of fabric hanging around his waist, just barely covering his gender.

He really had to give props to Ichigo for his minimalistic style of battle-ware. Not only had it actually provided an astonishing amount of protection for the guy, despite that so little was actually worn, it had actually managed to keep together through the majority of their conflict, the only pieces missing were the pair of shoulder guards and the netting that clung to his upper body, as well as some sizeable chunks from his Wrist-Gauntlets.

Turning back to stare at the still kneeling Ichigo, Kenpachi spoke up again..

"Heheh, this fight was probably more fun than when I first met Yach-" CRACK! ..But was silenced when the sharp sound of something breaking harshly rang through the nights atmosphere.

The two of them look down at Ichigo's right arm which was now bent inwards, at an unnatural angle, around the halfway point of his forearm.

"Looks like your body's giving out, huh, Ichigo?" Kenpachi just watched on as the slightly shorter, strawberry-blonde haired man convulsed, an awful belching sound coming from his throat, followed right after by a splattering noise and then the leaking of the deep-red glowing vital fluid from behind his mask. Zaraki remained still.

Lifting his still good arm up to the side of his head Dead Eye grabbed the set of tubes that were attached to the side of his Bio-Mask. Roughly yanking them, he forcefully disconnected the tubes, eliciting a small hiss of vapour from them.

Wrapping his fingers around the edge of his Bio-Mask, Ichigo gave a quick tug, pulling the face of steel straight of.

Keeping his head down, Ichigo brought the removed piece of armour into view. It had been a while since he had last looked at it like this. A mottled splatter of blood staining its surface, and numerous amounts of new gashes carved into it, though none of them were deep enough to damage any of the sensitive circuitry inside.

Putting his Bio-Mask away, the eldest Kurosaki child attached it to the back of belt, securing it tightly. He then looked up at the man that he had been trying to kill for the last two hours, by Ichigo's guess.

Kenpachi was astonished, and somewhat off put as he stared back, deeply, into the eyes of Ichigo, and was also partially bewildered by the kid's incredibly youthful face. He physically looked no older than twenty. Though that was passed off easily by the fact that many souls or beings, aside from Shinigami, were more than capable of living in an extended existence. More often than not, their real age being several times that of physical one.

It was not that that had made him so unsettled. No. It was the smeared lines of blood running out of his eyes' sockets that unnerved him. And the eyes themselves, dear Kami, it looked as though ever vessel within them had exploded and ruptured, painting the sclera a gory crimson.

A slight chill ran up Zaraki's spine as he made direct visual contact with Ichigo's left eye. It was so lifeless, so empty, there was no spark and no want to kill behind it.. It was just dea- Oh..

'So that's how he got the name..' The ferocious Taichō spoke to himself, getting another minor chill as it shifted to glance at every single twitch and movement he made. 'I kinda prefer him with his mask on..' Zaraki mused, but remember their current situation straight after.

"I guess it is time to end this.." He sighed.

He really didn't want to kill this man before him. He wanted to walk away and let Ichigo escape so that the both of them might meet again and finally be able to finish what they had started. But to do such a thing would be to spit on everything that the two had just accomplished. To get as involved in a fight as the two of them had, then when it finally reaches its conclusion, to tell your opposition that they were not worthy to be killed by their blade.. It was.. inconceivable, unimaginable how dishonourable such an act would be.

To leave Ichigo to be killed by somebody such as the arrogant noble, Kuchiki Byakuya, or even just some nameless, unranked Shinigami, was something that Kenpachi found himself incapable of doing after such a relentless bout.

But, it had been so long since Zaraki was this content, this.. satiated.. in regards to his borderline obsessive hunger for violence. He knew that he would've willing accepted his death at the hands of Dead Eye, should the fight have turned out that way, but it did not..

Killing him was the right thing to do.

"I'm sorry that this.. Wheeze.. Had to end so soon.." The Captain of the Eleventh could feel his body starting to give out on him. "But the old man would probably kill us both if I left you alive.." He started to close the gap between them, his strides short and shaky. Ichigo remained silent, staring straight into the eyes of his soon to be executioner.

'This.. is where my hunt ends..?' He watched as his prey moved so painfully slowly towards him. 'So be it then..' He spoke inwardly, his tone carrying the weight of finality. He now stared down at his Wrist-Computer, but could clearly see the blade being shakily risen and prepped to impale him for one last time.

His fingers were only mere inches away from ending his own life and the life of anyone unlucky enough to get caught in the blast radius, when he heard it..

'It is time, Ichigo.'

Then everything went black..

There was no pain.. No soreness.. No sharp ache where their once was, but the darkness remained. The sensation of falling was present, however. But, why?

A quick jolt, a sudden shock of the feeling of his body impacting against something hard cast the black aside. Ichigo found himself staring into the bright evening sky through a small, human-sized hole. Surrounding it appeared to be shadows that moved in the ever so light breeze that licked at his exposed skin.

Clenching his fist, he could feel lots of small, soft strands of something being crushed within the grips of his fingers. Lifting his still closed fist to inspect it, he felt whatever he was still grabbing onto give out, and break, creating soft ripping sounds. When he brought his gauntlet-free arm above his face, he looked at what his hand contained.

'Grass..?'

Releasing his hold on the small pluck of grass that he had pulled out, he let the tiny, green blades gently float down onto his face.. 'Why is there grass here?' Ichigo questioned, his mind trying to makes sense of the situation. 'Was I not about to die in my own blood.. only a few moments ago?' There was no sound around him. No distant screaming of pain, no walls or buildings crumbling to the ground, just.. Silence.. the only noise being the beating of his own heart, and the calming rustle of leaves in the wind. '.. Where am I..?'

".. Hehehe..!"

Sitting upright, Ichigo rose a brow at the sound of someone giggling in the distance, but from his position he could see no one as he scanned the area surrounding him trying to locate the general direction in which the sound came from.

On either of his sides, Ichigo could make out the forms of immense, twisted and contorted tree trunks, far bigger than any he had come across. He followed their large wooden forms upwards with his eyes, eventually returning his stare back to the moving shadows above him, where he realised that what he had been looking at was the underside of the tree's canopy. Ichigo also noticed that the hole that had been there before was now gone.

Getting to his feet, Ichigo took one more glance around him. As far as the eye could see were trees, incredibly-long hanging vines, as well as the grass that carpeted the floor beneath him. It was like someone had made an endless corridor out of just the forest that currently had him enclosed.

Deciding not to just sit around, Dead Eye took off in the direction that he guess that voice had come from, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he was, as it turns out, completely naked.

Walking down the vast hallway of wood and plants, he would occasionally catch of glint of light gleaming off of something with a reflective surface, but made no effort to investigate it, all he did was walk.. He didn't know why though. This whole place seemed so familiar to him, he did not know why though. He had never been here with his family, nor was this somewhere he had walked through during his time in the 'Soul Society'. So why did he feel as if he had been here his entire life?

".. Hehehee..!" The high pitched giggle broke the silence once more, causing Ichigo to stop in place as something caught his eye.

Off to his side he could see the yellow flickering of flames lighting up a small pathway in between two grand and strangely square-looking trees. It wasn't that the shape of the trees were square, but rather, they had grown around something of a cubic nature. Perhaps a building? It would explain the light reflecting off of the trees if they housed fragments of glass from windows or something of similar nature.

Following the trail of small fires that sat burning on the ground, Ichigo eventually came to a small, open space tucked away from the main path that he had been following when he first woke up here. In this clearing was a great number of the miniature fires, all surrounding a gaping hole in the side of the tree's trunk, like a doorway of sorts. The orange-haired teen could see that, further inside the opening, there were many more of these little campfires lit and burning away indoors

"Come on, Ichigo!" This time the man being spoken to recognised the voice calling to him. It was him. He who had been talked to Ichigo for many years, but yet never knew or found out the name of. Yet, right now, he could almost speak it aloud, like he had known it all along, but just wasn't able to say it. "It's time we meet, Ichigo!" Its.. Young? voice echoed through the extensive hallway before him.

His legs had already, unconsciously, started moving towards the voice, as if they were automated.

As he travelled further inwards, he felt his bare feet make contact with something cold and hard, and his eyes spotted the smooth surface of raw concrete behind the thinning layers of vines that crept in along the walls of the path that the Hunter himself was following. So he had guess right, the trees had grown around a building after all.

Ichigo abruptly slowed his progression through the building upon seeing a small figure sitting in the centre of the expansive room that the light was coming from. He could not see the small person's face, neither could he see any discernable features that would indicate the gender from this distance, the only obvious thing was that he or she was definitely young, so he continued inwards into the cavernous hall.

The strawberry-blonde came to a stop a few feet behind the tiny child and as he stared at the back of the person's hair a flash of recognition passed through his eyes as he spotted the child's short, unruly, orange-coloured hair, its colour so similar to that of his own. He could hear the sniffing and quiet sobs coming from the child sitting on the ground, as well as the occasional mumbling of the words "Kaa-chan"

Reaching out to place his hand on the child's head, Ichigo's eyes widened when his hand just scraped through the head of the child, like fingers through ash and sand. This caused the tiny body to collapse in on itself, piling up into a little heap of ashen dust, before blowing away in the non-existent wind and he remained silent as the handful of the dust he was still holding did the exact same.

"Do you know who that was, Ichigo?" A voice from behind broke the quiet hush that had befallen that him. "It was you, if you hadn't already guessed."

Turning, the hunter shifted so that he could see the person talking to him. He showed no outward reaction as the person came into his sights, but as their eyes meet for the first time a slight glint of surprise could be seen behind Ichigo's unwavering brown orbs.

A boy looking no older than the age of eight or nine was staring right back at him. His wavy, dark brown, almost black hair flowed down his head, stopping a few inches above of his shoulders. His childish frame covered by a large black coat that was many sizes too big for him to wear, but still clung to his frame as if it was meant to be that way. As their stares remained stagnant and unflinching, Ichigo noticed that the crystal blue iris's held much more age and experience than that of a child his age.

The towering form of the bare-skinned hunter remained still as they continued to wait for the other to talk. But it was the child that broke the silence once more.

"Do I know why I showed you that image of yourself, Ichigo?" The boy did not wait for any form of response. "I showed you that because that was the first time I ever saw you. Crying and sobbing like a big baby!" The dark-haired child suddenly proclaimed, causing Ichigo to raise a brow at the rapid change in demeanour. One moment the kid is serious and mature, the next, he's shouting like an youngling.

"I thought you were gonna be killed by the hollow that killed your mom! But, I was proven wrong." Yet again the boy's attitude shifts. "It was at that moment when Dark Knife saved you.. He prevented, what would have been, your demise. And I was so happy!" He cheered, his expression thankful and joyous as he recalled the events that had changed Ichigo's life forever. "It was thanks to Dark knife that I wouldn't have to see my wielder being killed the moment I woke up! He had done what I would have been unable to do." A light smile graced the boy's lips as he let a breath to calm himself. "For that, as well as for training you, and getting you through your well justified depression, I will always be thankful to him."

"When your father had arrived, along with that man, Kisuke.. And the kitty-lady, Yoruichi! I thought they would've saved you! And then you would've grown up all normal! But, yet again, I was proven wrong." He announced as he started walking towards the large wall that the image of Ichigo's younger self had been facing.

"Did you know that there was once two of us residing amongst your soul, Ichigo?" Being told that caused a visible reaction from Ichigo as he tilted his head in question, curiosity visible on his face. "Indeed. In this place," He gestured around him. "another being had awoken alongside myself." He paused as he looked up at the large, bland wall in front of him. "When, for only a brief few minutes, we thought you would remain with your real family, and were certain you would grow up being taught about the spiritual realm, which, in turn, would eventually lead to you getting involved in it." The being within Ichigo's soul told him, then turned his head to look over his shoulder at the orange-haired teen. "The other being that had woken up was your Quincy half, Ichigo.."

Seeing Ichigo incline his head in understanding, the child began again.

"The Quincy representation of your soul had been so intent on trying to keep you away from the spiritual world in that miniscule space of time.. He had thought that if you got too involved that he would have to kill you! And he was even about to try seal me away so that he could pretend to be your true power!" Throwing a small fit of frustration at the memory from ten years ago the childish side of the boy showed itself again, which Ichigo found rather amusing. "But you didn't! Instead you get taken away by an alien and get put through some of the most brutal training imaginable, as a kid no less!" The look of relief and happiness evident by the expression he had.

"It was when you met Mother Masa, and completed your Rite of Passage, that it happened." His voice switching back to calm. "Your Quincy half finally gave in and left. He had wanted you to live your life out normally, to not put your life on the line for anything involving spirits. However, with the drastic turn of events he had been mildly surprised, and satisfied, that you would be literally as far away from the spiritual realm as possible." He stopped to run a small hand through his wavy hair. "So, when you had completed your Rite of Passage, and met Mother Masa, you had proven to him that you would be sufficiently strong enough that, should you one day encounter a Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy, or anything being related to the world you had left, you would not be in need of our help."

"While you were healing in that glass tank, the Quincy had come to me after watching you for so many years!" The boy's young face took on a reminiscent look as he put his hand up against the wall he had been facing. "He told me that you wouldn't need him around and that you had proved yourself to him!" The boy cheered. "And so, the man left. Giving up on the idea of keeping you away from the world of spirits, knowing you would be strong enough to survive anything that was thrown at you, Ichigo. Though he did not leave us completely.." His serious side returning.

"As a gift to us, so that we may remember part of your lineage and the half of you that was once here, he bestowed the entirety of his Quincy power upon you, and had left some, more or less, physical reminders with me, so that I would also not forget.." He finished, mumbling something about the Quincy part of Ichigo's soul being an 'asshole' and something to do with his hair and clothes. "But don't think that you're just gonna be able to use all those powers straight away! You can already use one of them without have to think about it, since your body seems to react all on its own to harm! Probably something he did.." Crossing his arms over his chest in a pout the remaining spirit stood there in a huff for a few moments, before letting out a small sigh.

"Nevertheless, I will aid you in discovering the powers he has given you in any way I can." Ichigo watched silently as the boy took a step to close the distance between him and the wall, before raising a hand to it. "There is, however, one other thing he left in his wake."

Seeing dark streaks of red burst forth from the wall, Ichigo turned to face it fully. As the explosion of Reishi quickly subsided, Ichigo was astonished at what he saw.

Each spot along that the streams of power had come out of the wall was now replaced. Thousands of evenly spaced, bone-white skulls now lined the gargantuan wall, their empty sockets staring down at him as he looked over each and every one.

"The Quincy within your soul had found great interest in the hunts you would partake in, and even greater interest in the trophy system that the Yautja followed. It.. Intrigued him, as well as myself." The coat-wearing child spoke up again. "But he found it so interesting, that he decided to make a hobby out of it!" He told Ichigo enthusiastically. "Every time you would kill something, he would make the creature within your inner world, then hunt it! But he never used his abilities or anything like that. He would try and hunt them like you!" He chuckled at remembering some of the frustration and difficulty that the Quincy half had shown whilst trying to replicate Ichigo's methods of killing.

"It was not long after he had almost failed to complete the Rite of Passage himself that he had chosen to leave. Asking me to carry on for him..."

They remained quiet for a short few moments, letting themselves gaze at each trophy, until the only being left in Ichigo's soul started to talk.

"Ichigo. The reason I brought you into your inner world was not to talk about that though.." Ichigo nodded slightly. He knew that, outside of this world, he was about to die, and he didn't believe that he was brought in here to just reminisce. "In the current state that you are in I will be unable to provide you any real help.." Glancing at Ichigo out of the corner of his eye, he watched Ichigo reaction, or rather, lack thereof.

"Do you know who I am, Ichigo?" He waited this time.

"You are.. my Shinigami half.. my Zanpakutō as they call it.. You are.. Zangetsu.." Ichigo's deep voice rolled with a cavernous echo from the expansive room.

The now named Zangetsu let a pleased smile grace his lips. 'Your instincts are as strong as I thought, Ichigo.. I am truly blessed to be your partner..'

"Yes, that is indeed who I am, Ichigo" Zangetsu answered. "I am the part of your soul whom represents that of which you inherited from your father. And, as such, it is my purpose to make sure you live and grow strong." His voice radiated with pride and conviction, then a frown found its way onto his face. "But the problem is.. I can only help you if you're in soul form!" The childish Zangetsu shouted, clearly irritated. After a few seconds though, he managed to calm himself down enough to return to his sensible self.

"There is something that I am going to need you to do, so that you will be able to call me out. As it is going to be the only feasible way of doing so, that I can think of." Zangetsu proclaimed, gaining Ichigo's full attention "Ichigo, I am going to need you to compress every single bit of your power, so that I can forcefully separate, and then fuse your human body and soul form together.." The Zanpakutō spirit told him stoically. Seeing Ichigo's gaze harden, Zangetsu decided to answer the unasked questions.

"Do not take this lightly in any way, Ichigo." Zangetsu uttered. "Doing this will not heal any of your wounds, it will not grant you an immediate increase in strength and vitality, and it will definitely not prevent you from dying. If anything, it may do the exact opposite." He declared, warning Ichigo of the possible consequences of over-confidence. "What it will do is allow me to finally help you in a way other than stopping any profuse bleeding" He watched as his wielder ran a barrage of thoughts through his mind before finally nodding in acceptance.

Before he knew it, Ichigo's vision started to blur, slowly fading to black as his body started to leave his soulscape. Taking one last look at Zangetsu, Ichigo heard him call out one final time.

"Stay strong, Ichigo! This is going to be the single most painful experience you will ever go through, and I can't have you dying on me halfway through!"

Then, for a second time, everything went black.

Jolting wide awake, Ichigo was given only a second to react as Zaraki's blade came thrusting towards the centre of his chest. He barely managed to duck by dropping his body backwards so the Zanpakutō came hurtling over his chest.

With a quick movement, that was unseen to Kenpachi, Ichigo sent his foot speeding into the sword-wielding arm's elbow. Though this did not cause the large man's arm to be forcefully bent the wrong way, it did take him by surprise enough for his weakened grip to become even weaker, making the Taichō unwillingly drop his weapon right into Ichigo's grasp.

Following through with the momentum of the kick, Ichigo rolled himself backwards and away from the heavily burnt and scarred man.

Setting himself back into a shaky standing position, Ichigo had somewhat of a questioning look on his face as he realised that he was holding his opponents blade. He had only intended to kick the arm away from him so that Zaraki couldn't follow through with it.

He dismissed the confusion quickly, and threw the Zanpakutō into a nearby heap of building, causing a loud clanging noise as the metal bounced against the hard ground.

Deciding not to delay it anymore, the oldest child of the Kurosaki family flipped open the device on his broken arm for what would be the last time of this fight. It was a miracle that he could still stand, let alone execute that small roll he had just performed.

Pressing a finger against the metallic panel on his wrist, Ichigo let out a quick, raspy breath, the damage his body had sustained become more evident, and with a short motion made his Wrist-Computer compress the final portion of his Reiatsu.

That's when the pain came.

Ichigo's body locked up, stiffening like a board but also trying to crumple in on itself at the same time. He could feel his bones beginning to break as the power felt like it was crushing him from the inside. His blood felt like molten lead, as it flowed through his veins and muscles on its way to the surface of the re-opening wounds.

As the pain wracking his body gradually intensified, he found himself arching himself backwards, his head facing the sky as his mouth was wide open and agape in a silent, agonising scream, the only thing coming out being a pained croak. He could feel his eyes almost bulging out of his head, and the blood throbbing in his ears as his whole world went silent, only able to listen to the beat of his racing heart and the sound of something within himself being moved.

After several excruciating moments he managed to find what was left of his voice, and began to let out a terrifyingly strident roar, as it felt like every fibre and cell in his person was being stretched and pulled to the point of breaking. Until red consumed his visions.

The disarmed Zaraki reeled back in shock as Ichigo's body abruptly exploded in a shower of gore and Reishi, causing him to lose sight for a brief few moments.

"What the fuck just hap-" Zaraki could not finish his sentence as the words got caught in his throat we he got vision of the man he had been fighting all night again.

Standing in the exact same spot was Ichigo. But hanging limp, still connected to Ichigo's waist, was.. himself!? A second torso that replicated Dead Eye's own exactly, protruded out of his lower back. Every action the upright one made was simultaneously mimicked by the second torso, right down to the blood-filled tears seeping out of his eyes.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Zaraki muttered loudly to himself, trying to ignore the shooting pain in his left lung. "Ichigo! What are you.. Gasp.. doing to yourself!?" He called out, trying to get the man's attention. But it was to no avail. Ichigo looked to be in too much pain to even consider answering. So Kenpachi decided to just watch and wait, he really didn't know what else to do.

Looking the two upper halves over, he managed to see past all of the blood and shredded flesh to actually see the difference between the two of them.

On the one hanging backwards at the hip the pieces of armour that Ichigo had been wearing still remained there, or what was left of them at least. But on the upright on, the only clothing that appeared were some fluttering scraps of black cloth, not all that much different looking than the Shihakushōs that Shinigami wore.

Strands of Reishi sprouted out of Ichigo's back without any kind of warning and started wrapping themselves around the arms of the bent half of him. Followed by a pair of scrawny arms reaching out of the back where the strands of deep-sanguine Reishi was coming from. As Kenpachi watched, almost entranced by the incredibly unusual display in front of him, he could've sworn he heard the sound of a child laughing in his head.

With a quick, fluid movement the hands pulled the half of Ichigo that it had grabbed onto and slammed it into the still pain-stricken upright one. The strands that had connected to two of them shattered and sprayed out into the air surrounding Ichigo, where they seem to start to swirl and linger around the now crouching hunter, slowly coalescing into Ichigo's right hand.

The Taichō of the Eleventh Division, while not as bad shape as Ichigo, was feeling like he was about to give out at any moment. The rapid reaction that Ichigo had done thoroughly startled him, with how he was now he was unsure as to whether he would've been able to complete block what Ichigo might have thrown at him, but he had not needed to display such worry.. At least not then.

When Kenpachi saw the pure, unbridled torment and agony that he had seen covering Ichigo's face, he had found himself grimacing. They had been fighting for an amazing few hours inflicting serious injuries upon each other's forms, and the kid hadn't displayed any reaction apart from a slight grunt every so often. So for him to have been screaming at such a level of intensity, Zaraki could not have imagined how truly painful the action Ichigo had done had been.

And that is what worried him. What benefit was there to torturing yourself like so? What would be the outcome?

He just continued to watch as a long shape started to materialise as fruition from all the boy's suffering.

'It is done, Ichigo! Now! Call me out and strike down your prey so that you may take his skull for your own!' The child-like side of Zangetsu screamed in his head, urging him to go forth. 'I can only help you for a few more moments! Do not let out efforts go to waste! Call me out! CALL ME, ICHIGO!'

"Kv'var.. Zan.. getsu.." A wall of Reishi exploded out of Ichigo body, surging forward like a tidal wave, blocking Ichigo from view temporarily.

Lifting his arms up to cover his face, Zaraki felt the enormous wave of power crashing into him, the force causing him to slide back a few feet. There was something familiar about the feel of the Reiatsu as it passed through him the Taichō noted as he brought his arms down to see what had happened to cause the wave to appear.

As his vision on the battlefield was returned to him, he could only freeze in shock as he came face to face with the edge of a serrated blade. Zaraki could do nothing but lean back to lessen the slash slightly, as it started slicing, vertically downwards, through the middle of his face. Painfully slowly he watched and felt as the very tip of it sliced through the skin and muscle on his partially deformed forehead, etching a line into his skull at the same time.

But it did not stop cutting, and Zaraki could not stop watching as it continued on, splitting the cartilage in his nose, then slitting through his upper lip and, due to the angle at which he was leaning, cleaved right through Zaraki's bottom jaw. Luckily for him, the swing had not been deep enough to reach his throat, but as it met and ran through his chest, exiting out just below his navel, he caught the gaze of Ichigo who was intently staring at him, simply ignore the shattered tiles pelting his wounds and face from his weapon colliding with the ground.

Nothing happened for a few seconds after that as time seemed to stop for the current Kenpachi. He could only move his one good eye to look at the man standing weakly before him.

When Zaraki saw what Ichigo was wielding, an remembered the phrase that he had spoken, it finally clicked within his mind as to where Zaraki recognised that Reiatsu feeling..

"You're a.." He uttered with a great amount of pain, as the skin around the brand new wound spontaneously burst off, sending flecks of flesh flying in Ichigo's direction. ".. Shini.. gami.. " He finished as his legs gave out from underneath him, causing the massive man to fall onto his back.

The downed man gazed up at the other, who was only visible, through his blurring vision, due to the glow produced by Ichigo's blood. Kenpachi could make out the shape immense form of Ichigo's Zanpakutō as he came to stand above the lying Captain.

'So this is where it ends, huh?' Zaraki internalised tiredly, fatigue finally getting the best of him. 'Heh, can't say that I knew this would happen.. But..' He looked into Ichigo's impassive expression as that man went onto his knees and positioned himself beside Zaraki's mutilated head. '.. I can say that I couldn't be happier with the way I'm going out.. You truly are monstrous, Ichigo.. I just hope that I can meet you again during my next life.. So that we may do this once more.'

As Ichigo looked down at Zaraki's face, he let a small, sincere smile grow on his lips. He would honour this man's death, he would remember every scar and ever blow that was delivered upon him. He would tell his clan about this Death God, Zaraki Kenpachi, the most challenging prey he had ever hunted. He would let his mother stare and inspect each and every trophy that his body had accumulated during this fight.

Ichigo would honour this man with the title of the most worthy prey that he had every hunted and possibly ever will hunt.

Reaching into his shin-guard Ichigo pulled out a knife that he kept for more valuable trophies, like every Yautja that goes out to hunt. Dead Eye's knife was difference however. The knife he sported was the one that he received on the day after his abduction, and the one he had used on his first trophy.

"You will be honoured, Zaraki Kenpachi.. Your memory will be passed down.. through my family, my clan.. and through my flesh.. You will not be forgotten.." The response he got was a brief nod and a grin that was almost literally face-splitting thanks to his bifurcated mandible.

Lifting up Zaraki's chin with his still broken arm, Ichigo exposed the Taichō's neck. Lifting the Ceremonial dagger above his head, he pointed the tip up to the darkened sky before quickly inverting his grip on the handle so that it was pointing down, straight at Zaraki's trachea.

The next sound heard was a rapid swish of wind and the wet sound of flesh and bone being cut into, followed by a heavy thump and the sound of metal hitting stone..

"I'm sorry that I had to do that.."

Ichigo's eyes widened significantly, and so did Kenpachi's.. That was neither of their voice's..

Bringing his arm, which suddenly felt a great majority lighter, down so that he could look at it, his usually focused glare had disappeared as shock took over his system and flooded through his mind.. His whole forearm had been severed from his body!

Looking down next to him, he could see his twitching limb firmly grasp his knife still, as it lay all alone on the blood smattered ground. Why was his arm no longer attached to his body!? Who had-?

"But I could not have you killing one of my fellow Taichō's.."

Turning his body slowly, he finally felt himself succumbing to the mass amounts of blood loss, the severance of his arm being the final tipping point, and he crumpled onto the ground, landing on his back. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of someone with a much smaller figure than himself moving to stand above him.

His fading senses barely registered the weight that was put on his waist, or the feeling of this new person suddenly straddling him. What he did notice was when a feminine hand began caressing his cheek, and the elegant face that entered his vision. As hazy red and amber eyes met with a dark blue, the woman who was currently on top of Ichigo spoke to him again.

"However, I cannot let you die.." Her hot breath stirring something within Ichigo. ".. Not while there is still so much fun to be had.. " Looking at the lidded expression of the woman with her legs over his hips, he noticed the look of pure ecstasy on her face as she ran her hand along the gaping wounds on his chest, then bringing the blood covered appendage up to her face, where, much to Ichigo's surprise, she pressed the red-soaked hand over her mouth and smeared it down her neck, letting small trails run from the tips of her fingers to drip and run tiny streams over a darkened spot of flesh in the centre of her chest, then down further under her clothes.

Ichigo was already knocked clean out, and was not given time to even respond when the handle of the woman's Zanpakutō smashed into his temple.

"Ohhhhh.." The woman moaned heatedly ".. Simply.. Amazing.." She breathed out.

"Is that you, Yachiru?" The deep voice of Zaraki groaned, hearing a voice that sounded all too familiar to him.

"Yes.. It is me, Zaraki." Unohana confirmed, not taking her eyes off of the man she was still sitting on.

"Why? Why did you.. Cough!.. stop him?" The large man rasped out, unable to turn to the woman he had met so many years ago.

"Do not get me wrong, Zaraki-Taichō, I did not want him killing you.. Not because we might've have lost an irreplaceable part of our ranks however." She started, her tone becoming significantly more mischievous. "It was because: If he had have killed you, Yamamoto would've personally seen to the killing of this man, and I simple could not stand for that.." She reached out and ran a finger along Ichigo's jaw line, smiling as she stared at his unconscious form. ".. Not while I have yet to have my turn with him.. "

As Unohana spoke she shifted her gaze to the massive Zanpakutō impaled in the ground next to Ichigo's head. A giant, pitch-black Glaive. The ebony-coloured, pole-like handle easily stood a solid foot over her own height, and the blade, shaped like a wide-bladed khyber knife, its edge bright sliver and serrated so finely, at first glance it would look as if it were a straight razor, came up to her hip in height.

It was a truly savage weapon, only made more so by the bleached white skulls tied to the joint between the pole and the blade..

Yachiru Unohana could truly not be more excited.

EDIT: forgot to mention that Kv'var means "Hunt" according to the AVP wiki

Sorry about this taking so long, but as I mentioned, I was unable to do anything for a good two weeks before I could even start writing properly. Plus many events going down to further slow the progress: Getting a new computer, playing shows/games, work, almost losing all my progress, stuff just got hectic

I hope the 10.7k chapter made it worth the wait.

I didn't have enough time to completely proof-read it/edit it, so if there are any super bad mistakes PLEASE POINT THEM OUT so that I can fix them.

I'm not all that sure on how this chapter turned out or all the ideas behind it. I just put everything, that I promised to write, into one massive chapter.

Also the next two or three chapters are going to be a lot shorter than usual, because I want to bring this part of the story to an end so I can start on some other ideas that have been floating around my mind.

I want to thank everyone for you support, it has been an great experience!