I ran, sprinting down the never ending corridor as the flames chasing me licked my heels. The whole building was burning, and I was still trying to save the stranded souls inside.

The only reason I'd even come in here in the first place was for that stupid hollow, and, while I'd disposed of that little thing easily, the pleas of multiple souls still echoed around me, filling the air with their terror. I didn't even know souls were vulnerable to fire and other 'natural' disasters, but apparently they were. I'd interrogate Rukia about that little fact later.

But for now, I still had a few souls trapped in the inferno. I rushed back in, coughing in the thick smoke. Apparently, I was just as susceptible to the smoke as they were. Great. I dove through the rubble of once used to be a wall, following my ears to the sound of coughing, heaving thick slabs of collapsed ceiling off the source. An old man lay there, his soul chain rusted and creaky, coughing and chocking. I lifted him, throwing him over my shoulders before diving back through the wall to the next source of distress.

With the old soul still slung over my back, I used one hand to pry a large beam off a middle-aged woman... with no soul chain. Crap. That meant she was still alive, and probably had no idea what was saving her... and picking her up. Despite the situation, I had to force down a weak chuckle. I'd always been able to see souls, but I'd often imagined what it would be like to interacting with something I couldn't see. Luckily, (or unluckily, depending on your view), she was unconscious, so there was no struggling or anything, which made my job that much easier.

I'd left my zanpakto outside so I could actually carry the rescuees, so when a large beam fell right in front of the entrance, it caused a rather large problem. I cursed, flinging myself out of the path of the burning wood, and searched for a way out. Nearly all of the doorways were engulfed in flame, and I took the only real option. I jumped out the window. Sure, this sounds okay, but I was on the 4th floor of the apartment building. My legs flailed a bit, not really being used to having nothing underneath them, but I concentrated, solidifying my own reiatsu beneath me, making a little invisible pathway and staircase down to the ground, by the rescue teams Rukia was with.

I made it down with little incident, and ran to Rukia.

"Okay, I think there's about two more left, and you need to find a way to get this woman to some help. She's still alive." I said, depositing the soul next to the seven others I'd already rescued. Luckily, Rukia was in her Gigai, but there was still going to be the problem of explaining how the woman had gotten there. Oh well, manipulation was something she was excellent at. She nodded.

"I think there might be some trouble coming. All these souls, all together, will kinda put out a rather tasty invitation to any hollows in the area. We have to hurry." She said, turning away from me and tending some of the more frantic souls. I looked at her for a second, then nodded.

"Right. I'll get those last two, then I'll come down here and konso these guys and we can get out of here." Rukia nodded, not looking at me, and I jumped straight up, using a little shunpo to get into the window I'd jumped out of.

I stood still for a moment, focusing and listening to the sounds of the fire, and searching for any sounds of distress that would indicate life. I stood there for nearly a full minute, but there was nothing. I sighed. That meant that they were either unconscious, or gone. I thought hard, and after deciding that there was really no other option, I closed my eyes, and contacted my inner hollow. Usually I'd ask old man Zangetsu, but he was currently with Rukia, and I didn't have time to go get him.

"Well, what have we here? You're actually asking me for help?" The bone-white mirror of myself appeared in my mind, smirking. I mentally sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. There's some souls stuck here, but I can't sense them, or find them. Is it possible for you to?" I asked, silently disgusted that I was actually asking for his assistance. I usually just used my mask and force the extra power from him, but the more delicate stuff required his willing assistance. And he knew it.

"Well, I don't really see anything in it for me... Unless you actually let me do it myself..."He said, still smirking. I snarled.

"Not happening." His grin never left his face as he began walking away.

"Well, good luck then King." I stared at him, trying to devise a way to get him to help without actually giving him what he wanted. Crap. I guess I had no choice.

"I have conditions." He stopped walking, turning back to me with a slightly incredulous look.

"And they are...?" He asked, smirking again.

"You can only do what I need you to. I need you to rescue everyone else in this building, and bring them to Rukia, who's waiting outside. You will NOT hurt them in any way, or cause any damage to the building other than what's necessary to rescue said people, and you can't do anything else after you're done. After everyone's safe, I want my body back. Also, I want to be able to observe everything you're doing. If you try to take over completely, then I'll force my way back and find another way." The hollow looked slightly incredulous, but nodded his agreement. I glared at him, sticking my hand out.

"Deal?"

"Deal... at least for this once." In my mind, my hollow cracked his fingers, rolling his shoulders and looking rather like a boxer getting ready for a fight. Then he looked back at me.

"Just a warning, I'm gonna go all the way for this. Don't fight it, or it'll hurt a lot more than necessary." I looked at him with a rather surprised look on my face.

"Wait a sec-" Then control was gone, and in its place was pain. Now, just because I'd been … educated in pain worse than the current was no excuse. While I, both mentally and physically writhed as my hollow took over, didn't really have that many coherent thoughts go through my head, I promise none of them was "Oh, I've had worse." No, mainly the only going through my head were a bunch of words even I was a little squeamish saying… thinking. After a few agonizing seconds, I actually relaxed, letting the hollow have his way. And, of course, I blacked out.

When I came to, I opened my eyes and looked around. I was still in my inner world, with its weird horizontal-ness. It was the weirdest sensation though. Usually I can still retain some awareness of my body in here, but right now, I had absolutely no sense of it… only my mental self. I stood and looked around more thoroughly.

There, in the middle of the road… which I guess counted as a wall here, was a giant window. I walked towards it, not being able to make out anything until I was right in front of it.

It was like looking through someone else's eyes, except the perception was much different. Through what I supposed were my hollow's eyes, the world was blue. The shapes looked exactly like they should've, but everything was blue! The line of sight changed as my hollow looked out the window, towards the firemen and other rescue workers. Their colors were similar to the rest, just a lot lighter blue, with hints of green and purple. The view scanned over to Rukia and the souls, and I gasped aloud. Her own figure was alight with reds and oranges, with the other spirits being a less vibrant orange, with little hints of red and blue. My hollow must've heard me in his mind… my mind.

"Well? What do you think? This is how hollows see, and is how the free ones hunt. It's kinda like you human's infrared… or something. You see heat, but we see reiatsu. The brighter, the stronger."

I looked around, trying to see the source of the voice, but he must've just been projecting his thoughts, because he didn't appear. I decided it was worth a shot to see if it was a two-way communication.

"You always see this way?" I asked aloud, wondering if he could actually hear me.

"Mostly, except when I'm looking through your eyes… then it's just boring old human sight. My way gives you a lot more information about an enemy. Their strength, mainly."

I watched as my body, which, under his control, had transformed into the full hollow that had taken over in Los Noches… I think. I'd never actually seen it, but Ishida had described it with detail. Of course, at my current view, I could really only see the feet and hands, but I guessed as much. My hollow chuckled, like he could read my thoughts.

"I must admit, I kinda like the new look. It's more… beastly than just that boring mask of yours. And the strength, well, I just really don't wanna have to give this up when I'm done."

I snarled, and I think he heard me, because he sighed. Watching his progress, I had a thought.

"Wait. You wait that this is a new look. How is that possible? You know you took over in Los Noches and turned me into this… thing." He tutted, a weird sound to echo around your own mind.

"I think you might've misunderstood something about me, Ichigo. I am an actual part of your soul. When you die, I do too. What took you over there was pure instinct. Your subconscious combined with my power to do what you needed. Why do you think I haven't tried taking over again? That strength can really only show up if you want it to, now that you know what it is. I've tried, and I just can't do something like that… this, without your say-so."

I must've stood there gaping for a while, but it was justified. Had my own hollow just said what I think he did?

"Wait, you know yourself that I'm at my strongest only by using your powers… not that I couldn't beat you to a pulp again if necessary." I warned warily. He just laughed, picking a burning beam easily off a small girl, whose pink soul chain tinkled as he lifted her gently onto his shoulders.

"Ichigo, someday your ignorance is going to get us both killed. Well, maybe. When we were separated by Tensa Zangetsu while trying to achieve that final Getsuga, I was able to look at you with my own eyes, with my hollow eyes. Your reiatsu is completely white. There's no red, no orange, no other color. Do you have any idea what that means?"

I was completely lost, so I shook my head. Then, realizing he couldn't see me, I said "Not really." He sighed, one of those sighs people give when trying to tell a child something painfully obvious.

"Ichigo, not even that old man's reiatsu had any white. That madman with the bells, his was a very bright yellow, but it was tainted with reds and oranges. The old man's was impressive, but it was still just a off-white yellow color. The only other being I've ever heard to have a white reading is the soul king. He's not even allowed in the land of the living, because he'd have so much spiritual pressure, he'd disintegrate regular humans without trying. And he only has a core of white."

I closed my eyes from the scene of my hollow rescuing another soul to contemplate this, but I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

"If my 'reading' is so strong, then why can I still be with my friends, with semi-regular people?" I asked, not trying to hide the suspicion in my voice. He laughed again.

"Do you remember when you were with Unohana on your way to fight Aizen after your little adventure? You obviously didn't notice, but while she was restoring your reiatsu, she added some kido thing, and stuck it inside you. I don't know what it was, but it let you use your full strength while keeping it strictly inside you."

I watched as my hollow swung yet another soul over his shoulders.

"What about after I killed Aizen? I couldn't get near anyone in the Final Getsuga, that's why I took the fight so far away!"

He laughed… again.

"Ichigo! Do you really think that even Unohana's kido could contain something like that? It's a miracle you didn't cause a near-nuclear explosion with all that power you were using! And you weren't even going all out! This, of course, is the only reason you kept enough reiatsu to even be able to get it all back."

"Yeah, that's what she said, even though my dad said I'd have to give it all up… but what about now? If I'm back to my full strength, why is everyone still standing?"

"Ichigo, you were unconscious for nearly a month. Do you really think Unohana wouldn't take that opportunity to suppress you again?"

I blinked as my hollow jumped through a different window, this one facing away from everyone in front. He landed easily on the balls of his feet, balancing there for a second before straightening up and carefully laying all the unconscious souls on the ground around him. In my inner world, his regular self appeared, with the full hollow mask pushed to the side of his head.

"The only reason you're still King is because I'm not suicidal. I'll take what you give me now… even if it's just for this long." And with that little parting, he faded, and I blacked out again as pain stabbed through the hole in my chest, sealing it.