Falling From Grace

Chapter One:
Proposition

Through parted fingertips and blurred vision, Ichigo could barely make out the image of Yammy holding his shoulder where his right arm used to be. The feeling of a mask developing over his face made it hard to concentrate and his fingers dug further into his scalp. The laughter rang in his ears, the cold and sadistic laughter that begged to be set free. As the mask grew over his face and his eyes darkened to black, that same laughter bubbled at his lips. Ichigo was nothing more than a thought at this point. He had succumbed to the power of his hollow counterpart. He could feel himself removing his hand from his head and gripping his sword again with both hands one finger at a time. He could feel himself ready to pounce on his target again. He could feel his face changing into a victorious smirk. He could feel his feet lightly touching the ground, running. And then he felt nothing.

With a high pitched laugh, the now Hollow Ichigo leapt to his target, Yammy. His black and golden eyes glittered with the excitement of battle. Yammy's eyes were wide in shock as he felt the blade of his enemy pierce his abdomen. With a swift movement, Ichigo jumped to Yammy's chest and pushed him to the ground with his feet in an effort to remove his blade. Yammy was frozen in fear, trapped on the ground with blood beginning to fill his mouth.

"Too easy," Ichigo's hollow form said. With his blade at Yammy's throat, he began to make a small incision under Yammy's jaw. A hand grasped his arm and he was forced to swing his sword at the small man that stopped him from killing his original target.

The man dodged easily enough and stopped a few feet away from Ichigo, who appeared ready to kill both of the Arrancar at any moment.

"I'm going to need to stop this battle, Kurosaki Ichigo," the man said.

"And who might you be?" Ichigo asked with a growl, upset about having the fighting stopped. His body burned with the desire to feel the pressure of flesh pressing against his blade. He wanted the air to be filled with the scent of blood and battle.

"My name is Ulquiorra, and what you have done to Yammy is quite impressive," he said with an air of arrogance.

"Are you next then?" he asked playfully.

The other man shook his head. "No. Rather, I have a proposition for you." His face never changed expression and he spoke with a certain arrogance as if he were better than everyone else within a ten mile radius. "I am part of Aizen-sama's army. I was sent here with Yammy to gather information on you, or rather, your fully human counterpart.

"I think you should join us. You seem to be very reckless in battle, but also very powerful and your power would be very useful to us in Hueco Mundo in the coming months."

"And what would I get out of this?" Hollow Ichigo asked with a smirk.

"Ultimate domination over the entirety of the spirit realm with Aizen-sama," Ulquiorra said with a small grin. His expression was almost a mirror image of Ichigo's at that point.

"Then in that case, I have no other choice than to agree."

Ulquiorra nodded. With a swift movement he lifted the now-unconscious Yammy onto one shoulder. He then began opening a portal back to Hueco Mundo, but before being able to leave, he was interrupted by the man he was taking back with him.

"What should be done about these survivors?" Ichigo asked before stepping into the portal.

Orihime stared at her classmate in fear. The battle had only lasted seconds, and the power she felt was seemingly unfriendly. "Kurosaki-kun," she whispered. Her heart sank as she saw those black and golden eyes behind the hollow mask. Ichigo was no longer Ichigo. He was something different. Something evil. Fear bubbled inside her for a brief second as I'll be next entered her thoughts.

"They are of no use dead or alive. If they live, they will be no threat to us and good riddance if they die. I'd rather not waste the time to kill them now," Ulquiorra responded, turning his back and making his way back to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo followed just after sending a smirk to Chad and Orihime. As soon as the two of them were fully in the portal, it closed and there was no evidence, minus the large crater in the ground, that anything had ever happened in that small area.

The image of Hollow Ichigo's eyes burned in Orihime's mind. They were cold and black with golden centered that pierced her soul. She stood and continued healing Chad, who had not yet regained consciousness. The sight of Ichigo leaving with that strange small man troubled her. She almost started to cry as she thought Kurosaki-kun is now our enemy just like Aizen. Tears welled up in her eyes, but before they spilled over, a hand touched her shoulder.

"It's going to be fine," Urahara said. He smiled when Orihime looked up at the man standing over her. Just a few steps behind him was Yuroichi, who frowned at the sight of Ichigo missing.

"We were too late Kisuke," Yuroichi said discontentedly. She walked in a small circle, scouting the area. "Those Arrancar must have already left." She turned to face Orihime. "Where is Ichigo's body? I don't feel his riatsu anymore…" she trailed off as Orihime's eyes began to water again.

"Kurosaki-kun is not dead," she said quietly. Her eyes darted to the ground and she stared intently at the grass beneath her feet as she spoke. "During the battle, Kurosaki-kun changed. His eyes changed color and this mask grew over his face. He killed the larger man that was here. And then the smaller one, Ulquiorra, asked him to come with him to Hueco Mundo. Kurosaki-kun… agreed… fight… their… side…." Orihime could hardly speak anymore as sobs shook her entire body.

As Orihime fell to her knees crying, Yoruichi and Urahara shared a look of uneasiness. The two of them knew what they both had to do, and they knew what was about to unfold.

Elsewhere…

Rukia stared up at the sky as she sat on the stairs leading to a building with the number 13 on the door. She sighed heavily with the news Renji had just given her. The red haired man put a comforting hand on her shoulder before turning to get back to his own squad. With the news that Kurosaki Ichigo had just changed sides, everyone was preparing for the war against Aizen.

At first, she couldn't believe the news. It wasn't possible that Ichigo would agree to change sides. It was plausible that such a kind-hearted boy would simply change his mind about what was and was not good and right. And then she didn't want to believe it.

She didn't want to fight. She knew it was not going to be easy. If Ichigo truly had changed sides, then Soul Society had just lost one of their greatest allies. It all felt like a dream to her. It was surreal to think that the same boy she had given her own Shinigami powers to had now just began to use his own power for something worse than anyone could imagine. It all felt wrong. It was like a nightmare which she couldn't force herself to wake up from.