Chapter Text
'Dammit, Getsu! I was still talking to them!' Ichigo shouted, frustrated by the protective behaviour of his Hollowfied Zanpakutō. 'And I don't need you to carry me, either! Put me down!' The teen added, starting to struggle against his spirit’s hold, much to the Hollow’s annoyance.
Before Getsu could do something about it, Ichigo managed to free himself from the spirit’s arms. When the teen felt his body being taken away by gravity, pulling him towards the streets fifty feet below, he mentally cheered. Finally!
Unfortunately for Ichigo, Getsu's reflexes were faster than those of a cat. The teen had barely fallen four feet when the Hollow caught him by the collar of his uniform with his talon.
'What the--' The sudden stop surprised Ichigo so much it broke his concentration, the Spirit Particles he had gathered under his feet dissipating back to their natural state.
Getsu used his wielder’s shock and surprise to his advantage and pulled him up, wrapping his right arm around his King’s waist -- trapping both of his arms -- and holding him close to his side. By the time Ichigo had recovered and realised what had happened, the teen could only flail his legs up and down in protest at being caught.
'Dammit, Getsu! Let me walk on my own you--'
The Hollow paid no mind to the colourful vocabulary his King spewed at him in his displeasure at being carried. Instead, he continued his way to his destination with Sonído, making it blatantly obvious to his King he wasn’t listening.
What the hell has gotten into him?! Ichigo questions mentally. When he got no answer he sighed. Right, Quincys don’t have spirits. A little dejected at the realisation he couldn’t even ask Zan for advice, the teen stopped his struggling and looked down at the town flashing by below. Wait a sec.
'Where are we going?' Ichigo asked, noticing they weren’t heading towards his home.
Getsu made a sound that Ichigo interpreted as a scoff before the Hollow answered, or at least, tried to answer with his Hollowfied vocal cords. Most words couldn’t even be classified as words with how Getsu growled them out. Nevertheless, Ichigo only had little difficulty understanding his spirit and the answer didn’t please him.
'Hueco Mundo?! Why the Hell do you want to go to Hueco Mundo?'
This time, Getsu didn’t answer and that ticked Ichigo off. He had enough of being ignored, he wants straight answers and he wants that his spirit listens to him.
'Zangetsu, I demand of you to put me down now!' Ichigo bellows with all the charisma of a military sergeant.
The Hollow immediately halts in his Sonído and looks at his King in surprise, Ichigo stares back at him, daring his spirit to disobey and find out what the consequences would be. Getsu hesitated, he just wanted to get them somewhere desolated so they could recuperate safely but King had given him an actual order and when King starts acting like his title it usually meant his patience had grown into the negative.
An angry King acting like a King was not something Getsu dared to go against, his self-preservation wouldn’t allow him to.
With a soft growl, the Hollowfied Zanpakutō landed on the street before letting go of his King. Ichigo eagerly put his feet on the ground, taking a few steps away from his spirit in case the Hollow changed his mind. His right hand went up to his now aching chest, his broken soul objecting to the loss of touch with its other half. The teen caught himself doing this and tried to hide the act by straightening out his clothing.
'Now, tell me why you want to go to Hueco Mundo'.
With reluctance, Getsu tried to explain his actions but found he had difficulty putting his reasoning in words, or rather, the growls, roars and purrs he had at his disposal. He didn’t really have a good reason for why he wanted to take King to Hueco Mundo besides that his gut told him that it was the best place to recover.
As Ichigo listened to his Hollow explanation, he berated himself for forcing the other to speak so much. He knew Getsu couldn’t talk while Hollowfied and that it hurt his throat whenever he tried to; a fact he was guild-trippingly reminded of when his spirit whined after forcing a particularly difficult word out of his mouth.
'Look', Ichigo began when his spirit finished explaining. 'I agree that we would recover faster in Hueco Mundo, the reishi there is like what, trice the amount of the World of the Living? But we are not that injured. Hime healed me up, remember? The only thing left to do is to wait till your body cleans out all the foreign reiatsu so you can go back to my Mindscape. Which is already going in the right direction, by the way', Ichigo gestures vaguely to Getsu's mask, which had a small piece missing from the upper left side.
'And since I have school tomorrow and promised my sisters I would be back before they wake up, we go back home and sleep there'.
Hearing the sudden conclusion Getsu tried to object but Ichigo cut him off with a flick of his wrist, knowing exactly what his spirit wanted to say.
'We will be safe there. The only threat to me is my father and he is only a threat to my sanity'.
Getsu growled lowly, not appreciating the way he was cut off but giving a curt nod in understanding anyway, albeit reluctantly so.
'Good, let's go then', Ichigo started walking in the direction he knew his home was located, passing his spirit who immediately followed him on all fours. The Hollowfied Zanpakutō managed to match his King’s pace easily, staying close enough to feel the teen’s hand brush against his arm.
Ichigo notices the second they made contact, feeling the pain and emptiness in his chest lessen considerably. His left hand found its way up to Getsu's shoulder while his right hand went up to his chest again, his fingertips meeting solid skin instead of the hole he keeps expecting to find. Why does this make me feel more hollow inside than being actually Hollowfied? Ichigo wondered with a scowl, almost wishing he could switch with his spirit.
On the other hand, Getsu is used to having no heart. I mean, his doesn't beat anyway. I probably would have a much harder time in his shoes than he would have in mine. Ichigo realised, his respect for his Hollow Zanpakutō increasing at this revelation.
A determined scowl crossed his face as he made a mental note to focus more on his Hollow training, as well as putting more time into his Quincy training. He might have failed today as King but he shall make sure it would never happen again.