"It's over! IT'S FINALLY OVER!"
These were the echoing cries that erupted from the remaining Shinigami
Many jumped into the air with joy, some hugged, some even wrapped their lips around another
But the only thing that came from the mouth of Kugo Ginjo was a sigh
"You did it kid" Ginjo smiled as he closed his eyes
Letting out another sigh, Ginjo's knees gave in and the fullbringer fell to the ground
Destruction lay around him, the fiery remains of the Seireitei illuminated the night and smoke filled the air
His Cross of Scaffold fell with a clunk to his side, his arms outstretch as the fullbringer let out another breath
He let out a hearty chuckle as he heard the cheering of the Shinigami around him, the thousand year blood war had come to an end
Ichigo had defeated Yhwach, the Soul Society had defeated the Wandenreich.
Ginjo wiped the sweat off his brow, his jacket all but incinerated, his arm bloody
Oh yeah, he wasn't gonna sit by and let everyone else have the fun
While Ichigo had been taking care of the emperor, he was dealing with his right-hand man, Jugram Haschwalth
Granted he didn't stand against him alone, Tsukishima and several of the Shinigami lieutenants stood by his side as they confronted the Stern Ritter, most of them fell in the battle and hell, Ginjo would be the first to admit that he would've been killed too if not for a sneak attack by Tsukishima that separated the Quincy's head from his shoulders
Afterwards, he and Tsukishima sped off to run through the rest of the Quincy
He and Tsukishima had been separated as the fought through the onslaught of Soldat and the remaining Stern Ritter
But now they had all fallen, it was done
He, Tsukishima and everyone else, would live to fight another day
"Ginjo?" He could hear his voice from afar "Ginjo!"
"Relax" he groaned as he sat up "I ain't dead"
Technically, he was since he was killed by Ichigo and ended up in Soul Society, but yeah...
"Ah...I see" Tsukishima sighed as he arrived by his side "That's good..."
"Help me up, would ya?" Ginjo asked before the other man reached down and got him up to his feet
"Well...this was fun, wasn't it?" Tsukishima chuckled "If this was a novel, that ending would not of disappointed"
"You and your damn books" Ginjo groaned as he finally reverted his fullbring back into his pendant
"To be fair, I think what has happened here will be inscribed in history" The tall man sighed "A book is not out of the question"
Ginjo simply sighed as he rubbed this messy hair
"Do you think the others are waiting for us?" Tsukishima asked, the man's shirt was mostly torn off, his suspenders gone and even his trademark copy of the "The Return of Aoin" by George Kirian was charred, his body bruised and bleeding, many scars would now be alongside the one on his eyebrow
"Maybe, I dunno" Ginjo sighed "All I know is that this war is over"
"Yes...finally" Tsukishima smiled
They could see the Shinigami aside them begin to run into the centre of the Seireitei
"And this is...?" Tsukishima raised an eyebrow
"Some quickly thrown together party probably" Ginjo groaned "Maybe Kutsuzawa is there"
A nervous and shameful look then graced the face of Shukuro Tsukishima
"Shit" Ginjo sighed "He's..."
"We were fighting two Stern Ritter at once, one of them managed to shoot an arrow right though his-"
"I heard enough" Ginjo cut him off "Damn it..."
"But he did manage to take the Quincy down with him...even gvme him some gammy line about how he would take him to hell with him"
"Is that so..." Ginjo said before he let out a soft chuckle "Giriko, you old son of a bitch...I'll miss ya"
"We lost a lot today" Shukuro Tsukishima sighed "All the Lieutenants that helped up with Haschwalth, they all died"
"Yeah..." Ginjo sighed in shame "And I wouldn't be here either had you not cut that bastards head off as he charged at me"
A soft laugh was Tsukishima's only response
Ginjo soon joined him in that laugh before he slung his arm over the taller mans shoulders
"You did good kid" Kugo chuckled "Now come on, let's join this party before things get too mushy"
The two souls slowly began to make their way to the centre of the Seireitei, too exhausted to even use Bringer Light
Within five minutes, they reached a mass gathering of Shinigami in the empty crater oft the middle of the Seireitei
Many danced for joy, music was playing from god knows where and Squad 4 had set up an emergency station for the critically injured
"My, my, twenty minutes ago we were locked in the heat of battle and now-"
"Fiesta" Ginjo chuckled
"Do you see anyone? Riruka? Yukio?"
"Nope, I can't see past the wall of people in front of us" Ginjo groaned "But we should head over to the healing stations"
"Good idea" Tsukishima sighed as he and Ginjo made their way over the Squad 4 station
A long wait stood before them before they could be healed, and even then, the healing was far from instant
"This...is slow" Ginjo groaned as healing kido was applied to his bare back
"Most of the high-ranking members of Squad 4 are...no longer here" Tsukishima responded as the wounds on his back began to close "Most of whats left is amateurs...er, no offence"
"None taken" the healer replied
The pair were eventually healed and they tossed aside their ruined clothing
"I feel like a male dancer" Tsukishima grumbled as the two shirtless men walked towards the crowd
"Yeah well, deal with it" Ginjo grumbled
What followed was a night of celebration and booze
But mostly booze
The two half-naked fullbringers entered the foray, attracting the attention of several female Shinigami. Tsukishima nervously shunned them off while Ginjo seemed quite taken with a long pink haired Shinigami
Ultimately the two didn't meet up with anyone they knew. Ichigo, Ganju, Kukaku and even their fellow fullbringers were nowhere in sight
Tsukishima eventually seemed to liven up and begin chatting with a busty black haired Shinigami while Ginjo was still occupied with the pink haired girl
"What's your name?" Ginjo asked
"Oh, it's-"
The sound of her name was drowned out by the music
"Sorry, I didn't catch that"
"That's fine, everyone just calls me Li-"
Again, her name was drowned out by the music
Ginjo, not bothering to ask again, simply nodded before taking a swig of scotch
Nearing closer and closer to being blind drunk, Ginjo and his equally drunk companion began to make out against one of the remaining walls of Seireitei
"Ginjo! Ginjo, help me!" Came the panicked voice of Tsukishima as more than four women began to claw at the man and each other
Ginjo's response was a short chuckle without removing his lips from hers
But soon the night of festivities ended and the hungover morning had begun
Kugo Ginjo woke in his current residence of the Shiba clan home, his head pounding and his pants off the side of the room
"Shit" he mumbled as he could feel an arm draped over him, a quick creek of his head confirmed that it belonged to the pink haired female shinigami from last night
Li-something...
Ginjo took a quick peek under his covers to confirm his and her nakedness before he slowly clambered of bed
He quickly retrieved his pants, he looked around for his trademark sleeveless shirt and leather jacket before remembering that they were destroyed yesterday, so he simply retrieved a spare pair from his closet
What, you think he only had the one pair?
He was about to retreat from the room before remembering that sleeping girl in his futon, figuring that walking out like this would be kind of a dick move, he walked towards the girl, intending to wake her
"Kugo Ginjo"
The voice nearly caused the man to jump out of his skin
"Your presence is required at the Central 46 head quarters at once" came the voice of messenger from behind his door
"Yeah, just gimme a-"
"At once sir" Came the voice again "I am to escort you"
"Uhh..." Kugo hummed "Sure"
Mouthing a quick sorry to the sleeping girl, he stepped out and followed the man to the Central 46 headquarters
As they arrived he saw Tsuskishima, surrounded by two other messengers
"You too, huh?" Ginjo asked
"I don't like this" Tsukishima mumbled "I certainly don't have to tell you this but visits to Central 46 typically don't end well"
"Whatever it is, let's get this over with" Ginjo stated as the entrance to headquarters was opened
And before them stood Riruka, Yukio and the ex-espada Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez
"What is this?" Tsukishima asked as he and Ginjo made their way to the centre of the room
"Silence!" was the unified reply of the Central 46
"Oh shit, this can't be good" Ginjo mumbled to himself
"You five stand before us, fighters of the war against the Quincy"
"But that war is over, you stood on the side of the Soul Society but now who do you serve?"
"How do we know you can be trusted?"
"Woah, woah, woah, back up, would ya?" Ginjo cut them off
"You will speak when spoken to!"
"I will speak whenever I want!" Ginjo snapped
"You will not speak to us in that tone!"
"Shut your face" Grimmjow grunted "I've heard about you morons, jumping to conclusions, not caring who gets hurt as long as your asses are safe"
"Si-"
"You're worried that now that the war with the Wandenreich is over, you're worried that now we're your enemy" Tsukishima stated "Simply because we are not Shinigami"
"Man, you losers are messed up" Yukio groaned
"That is enough! You are here to-"
"Now, now, let's not get hasty"
Everyone's eyes turned to face the new entries in the room
Shunsui Kyoraku and Ichigo Kurosaki
"Kyoraku...Ichigo" Ginjo mumbled
"Calm down everyone" Kyoraku said with a wave of his hand "Though I will hand it to these five, they managed to figure out what this was about pretty quickly"
"That is enough!"
"Captain-Commander Kyoraku! This is none of your concern!"
"None of my concern?" Shunsui grumbled "Does being the head of the whole Gotei 13 give me no authority?"
"Central 46 exists to pass down the laws of the Soul Society!"
"Uh-huh" Kyoraku nodded "And these rules come from-?"
"The Soul-King himself!"
"The Soul-King is dead" Ichigo cut in "Apparently you missed the part where Yhwach blew his head off, it was a few hours before I did the same to him!"
"That is a moot point! The laws are there too-"
"Let's be honest here, the Soul-King was a bit of a stick in the mud" Shunsui sighed "The man was about as...passionate about the Shinigami as Yhwach was about the Quincy"
"Let's be honest here, we're probably a hell of a lot better without him" Ginjo laughed
"How dare you! We should have you sent to Muken just for that remark!"
"While I don't exactly agree with Ginjo-kun's words, he has a point" Shunsui chipped in "The Soul Society's stance of bigotry started with him, these laws are old and racially motivated...am I right in saying that it was a strong possibility that these five would not be leaving this hall free people?...or even leave at all?"
The only reply was a bunch of annoyed grunts
"I see...simply because they weren't Shinigami...these laws need to change" Kyoraku stated
"These laws are-"
"I AM IN CHARGE" Shunsui stated "As of now, I am the highest point of authority in the Soul Society, from now on, you listen to ME!"
A stunned and angered silence followed from C46
"These five are heroes of the Soul Society" Kyoraku stated "Am I correct when I say that Ginjo-kun and Shukuro-kun took out the strongest remaining Stern Ritter? Did Yukio-kun and Riruka-chan not assist in the fight? Did Grimmjow-san not take out FIVE of the Stern Ritter?"
"T-That is-"
"They're our allies and our friends" Ichigo said sternly "You aren't doing anything to them"
"You are but a mere substitute shinigami! You-"
"This man saved everyone" Kyoraku interrupted
"And I'm sure realize that sometimes, substitutes are better than the real thing" Ginjo smirked
"You are-"
"You listen to me...Ginjo-kun, Shukuro-kun, Yukio-kun, Riruka-chan and Grimmjow-san will walk out this room, free men, and you will never bother them ever again, understand?"
...
"I'll take your silence as a yes" Kyoraku said "We'll be taking our leave now"
With that, the six men and one woman took their leave
"Well, they were as lovely as ever" Kyoraku smiled as they exited the building
"Kyoraku...thanks" Ginjo sighed
"It's no problem Ginjo-kun...I only ask you one thing" Kyoraku stated "I want you to talk to Ukitake...I know you haven't completely forgiven him and I honestly can't blame you for that but..."
"I will...thanks"
"That's all I ask" Kyoraku smiled "Now then, Yukio-kun and Riruka-kun, come with me, I'll open the Senkaimon for you"
"Okay..." Yukio said before he turned to face Ginjo and Tsukishima with a sad look on his face
"I guess...this is goodbye" Yukio said sadly "Kugo...Tsukishima"
"We'll still see each other kid, you-"
Ginjo was cut off at the surprising act of Yukio wrapping his arms around him, he could feel the child's tear staining his shirt
"Oh come on kiddo" Ginjo said as he pulled the kid off him and kneeled down to his level "I'll visit, me and Tsukishima every chance we get, okay? I already died once kid, I ain't going anywhere else"
"You were always so cautious and stoic before" Tsukishima said to the crying child "Maybe you realized what I did...we're not alone..."
The crying child began to dry his tears before he gave a Tsukishima a breif hug too
"No...we were never alone in the first place" Tsukishima said as he released the child
Yukio retreated back to where he stood and then all eyes went to Riruka
"W-What?!" She snapped "I'm not gonna cry and hug you"
"Riruka..." Tsukishima said in a singsong voice
"What?! I'm not...crying...damn it!" The pink haired girl snapped "Look at what you made me do!"
Ginjo and Tsukishima merely laughed at the girl
"Stop laughing!" she snapped as she sobbed "You bastards! I'm crying because I'm happy that I'll never see you again!"
"Yeah, yeah" Ginjo laughed
"Shut up...you...you..." she sobbed "You better visit!"
"We will" Ginjo said "Say hi to Jackie for us"
"You bastards!" Riruka cried as she, Yukio and Kyoraku began to take their leave
"I'll be going" Grimmjow said quietly as he opened the Garganta "Kurosaki, I'll be back for you one day"
"Yeah, yeah" Ichigo sighed as the arrancar exited through the gateway
Now, only Ichigo, Ginjo and Tsukishima stood there
"Well..." Ichigo said with a smile on his face
"Well what?" Ginjo chuckled with a shrug
"Who'd of thought there'd been a day where we parted on friendly terms" Tsukishima stated
"I know...I was out for your heads a few months back and there I was there, saving your life"
"I think that's a little overdramatic" Ginjo laughed
"Put it however you want, I just saved your ass"
...
"Thanks...Ichigo" Ginjo said as he extended his hand "For everything"
"It's not a problem" Ichigo said as he shook Ginjo's hand "It's a new day, new Gotei 13, new world..."
"We're grateful" Tsukishima said as she too shook Ichigo's hand "What will you do now, Ichigo-kun?"
"I haven't figured out yet..." Ichigo said
"Take your time, there's no rush, not anymore anyway" Ginjo chuckled
"Yeah...I'll see you around...Ginjo, Tsukishima"
And with that, the Shinigami shunpo'ed away
"Well...now what?" Tsukishima asked
"Dunno..." Ginjo shrugged "Nothing left to do...except...live"
"Technically, we're dead"
"Yeah, yeah...but it's like Ichigo said, it's a new world..."
"Yeah..." Shukuro smiled "We've got a whole afterlife ahead of us..."
"So...let's...live"
And with that, Ginjo and Tsukishima walked off...into a new world
...
"Oh shit, I completely forgot about that girl in my bed!"
"W-What?"
#1: Wandenreich is the official spelling of Vandenreich as recently revealed by Kubo
#2: The Return of Aion by George Kirian is actually the name of the book Tsukishima reads, according to Kubo. It's not a real book though, nor is George Kirian a real person
#3: I killed off Kutsuzawa because even though he's joined the good guys now, I just don't like him
#4: I left out Jackie since her Fullbring was destroyed
#5: I realize that Yukio bursting into tears was a bit OOC but I really wanted to fit a tearful goodbye scene in here somewhere
#6: Yes, the girl Ginjo slept with was Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, I was playing it earlier and I couldn't get the idea out of my head, I have officially given birth to GinjoXLightning, bow before me
I wrote this because I wanted to do something about Ginjo and the Soul Society, admittingly it's not as serious as I intended it to be but I'm still pleased with the final result. I also wanted to write something that took place after the end of Bleach and I didn't want to write some mushy shipping fluff so once again, I wrote about Ginjo
I'm also going to get back to Nueva Espada soon, I took a short hiatus from it for the same reason Kubo is taking a hiatus right now, I'm planning the end and I've got the final battle in mind
The ACTUAL final battle I've got nailed down, it's the lead up I'm working on
Also, Stripped to the Bone is a fun little side project that I do when I'm bored and perverted ;P so don't expect a release schedule for that, naked bleach girl pervertedness will have to wait.
Until then, enjoy this