Kudos, this was really nice, I enjoyed it very much.

very good and bittersweet.

why must all the brilliant fanfics be so short

Anyway, this is brilliant. I can't say that I truly love it because it makes me feel a little sad inside - but I love it in the way that people like things that make them sad - if that makes sense.

(can't you add in two AU endings - one where she finds him and one where he doesn't die as a hollow)

This story was beautiful. I like the open ending and believe in my heart that they saw each other again.

This is legitimately beautiful: The first time in 3 years that I've actually cried due to reading a story, officially published or not.
I've stayed up way too late tonight in order to finish this story in one sitting. I'm going to fail my Calculus Test tomorrow because of this. I regret nothing.
This is likely the best Bleach fanfiction I've read, and definitely the most original.
You are amazing.

Awesome story

A beautiful ending to a fantastic story. Thank you for writing this. Akihiko's journey was a wonderful read.

Akihiko's interactions with Ivan are fascinating. It would seem Aki's love did rub off on Ivan though. How fun.

A trip to the Soul Society to see his girl. How romantic. I hope Aki manages to evolve again. I'd love to see what his sword can do.

Love vs hate... interesting. I like your view on how the hollows fight for dominance in the Menos.

Akihiko's power is very interesting, and I look forward to seeing it evolve with him, but I have to ask: Why did he immediately become a hallow? Was it becase of his desperation?

Cool start. Sadly, I forsee nothing good in Akihiko's near future.

Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the tragic ending. Hollows are tragedy walking around on varying numbers of feet. The fact that everything about the story was set up to follow that tragic format just made it even more inevitable (which, in a really weird way, added to the tragedy. We knew he couldn't win).

I don't think your ending was a cop-out. If anything, it gives Ayane some well-deserved character development. In fact, all of your characters are brilliantly tragic, even Faust in a way (mostly in how he truly lived up to his name - making a deal to gain more power with something that would inevitably turn on him).

It was a shortie, but a goodie, and an excellent exploration of the life of a Hollow (even more than what the anime gave us).

One thing though: if you're going to leave an author's note, please separate it from your story text. It's kind of jarring to be reading a story one moment, and a short memoir on your writing process the next. I'm not saying get rid of the note (if anything, I think it's an excellent note to end on - heheh, puns), just add a few more line breaks or some hyphens

Anyway, thanks for the story. I'll definitely check out any other work you've put out there.

I can't believe I'm glad to see Ivan here, but I was grinning like a lunatic at the end of this chapter. Can't wait to see Faust get his ass handed to him

Very satisfying "Oh Crap" moment from Ivan there.

The descriptions are getting more and more vague, here. I can understand that it might be tedious to describe what the same guy looks like over and over again as he changes, but I personally prefer just a little more detail.