Greetings Everybody! Here's Chapter Four for your viewing pleasure. This chapter will be noticeably different than the last three, but I hope it still appeals to y'all.
As usual, here's my responses to your reviews:
Everyone that caught my mistake at referring to Harribel as the Segunda:Thanks for pointing it out! I changed it upon reading your reviews. I don't know why I typed that wrong. If you asked me to give out a list of the Espada, they'd be perfect. But whenever I just refer to Harribel by herself, I just want to say she's the Segunda. Weird.
Grinja:I appreciate your comments and you always having a well thought out review. Glad you like what I'm doing.
Kasier969:I knew you'd love the stare down, haha, glad you liked it.
Nightkill:Thanks very much!
VampireNecromancer:Thanks for the comment.
darknessbounty:I am contemplating on what to do with them. Originally I was going to have them be separate OneShots but, now, I'm thinkin bout puttin them in the story. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.
darkmachines:I know right? Aizen's a stalker! And just wait and see what I have planned for a few select Arrancar *Slow grin*
desuse:I am, aren't I? Hehe. And my take on Keigo is from page 174 of Volume 1.
Lazruth:Thanks for pointing that out. I will have to work on that.
god:If you're asking how many pairings I am a fan of, then that would be IchigoxLoly and IchigoxMenoly, as well as IchigoxHarribel's Fraccion, specifically IchigoxApacci. I can't answer the next question, but yes, Harribel will be in the story.
The Demon Rabbit:*Wearing shades* Indeed Bl
Sentiment Remains:Yes, writing Ichigo is tough. Thanks for your comments!
icewolves:You didn't have to wait very long, did ya? Hehe.
To all my fans: I am so impressed with all the reviews people are leaving. Please, keep it up! Reviews are my Fuel, my Fire, and dat which I desire!
But, on that same note, I must say I'm a little nervous about publishing this chapter. Those who only want to read this story for the fluff might not like it very much, and I wrote out my first fight scene. So, I guess we'll just see what happens.
(Edited: 8/1/2013)
(Las Noches)
Loly and Menoly were scared. Scratch that. They were both terrified. When the Cuarta Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer, showed up in their room, it made them jump to attention. When he told them Aizen wanted to see them in his Throne Room right away, they broke out into a cold sweat. Apacci had frowned at the two and left quickly, hoping not to get involved with them right now. Loly and Menoly didn't blame her.
The two arrancar walked through the dimly lit hallways slowly, trying to take as much time as possible before they reached the Throne Room. The same thought ran through both their heads. 'Aizen-sama knows.' Menoly followed behind Loly as they made their way. A few beads of sweat fell from her brow, showing her fear at the moment. Her fingers were interlocked with each other at her waist, her thumbs twiddling together at a fast pace. She was sure Aizen was going to kill them. He didn't tolerate insubordination. At all. Sneaking out of Las Noches against his orders probably fell under that. The first thing that came to her mind after she concluded that Aizen would kill them, was that she'd never get to see Ichigo again. It almost made her want to cry. It would've, if she wasn't about to be standing in Aizen's presence. Showing such weakness probably wouldn't help their situation.
Loly was just as scared as her sister was. The only difference was her posture. She walked with her head held high, trying to exert an aura of confidence. Though it was easy to see her whole body was trembling, her pigtails swaying side to sides slightly as her head shook with fear. Aizen was going to kill them both, probably in front of other arrancar, to make an example. The same thought of never seeing Ichigo again came to her mind as they approached the massive door to the Throne Room.
They both stopped in front of the door and looked at each other. They regained slight composure upon receiving reassurance from one another. Loly walked forward and pushed open the doors, entering the room first. Menoly followed behind her, almost trying to hide behind her sister. They both managed to look up at Aizen, who looked down at the two of them with that same superior smirk on his face. He was the one who spoke first. "Aah. Loly-san, Menoly-san. So good to see you two. You both seem to be doing well." He said in a voice that clearly said he had more to say to the two. Loly and Menoly both bowed before him. Loly spoke for the two of them.
"You summoned us, Aizen-sama?" Her voice was monotone, her posture very tense. Menoly was the same, who seemed to be trying to avoid looking directly up at him. Aizen saw this and commented on it.
"Why so tense, you two? I wasn't aware my presence frightened the two of you so." He said, obviously lying to the two. Aizen knew how scared they were at the moment, something that he could use against them. He continued. "I have something of great importance to tell you both." Loly and Menoly both looked up expectantly at him, fearing what they thought was going to be said. Their fears almost faded completely when Aizen said, "I believe the time is right to start making a move against the Shinigami. I have an assignment for you two in the World of the Living." Loly and Menoly nearly let out a sigh in relief. He didn't know. Loly spoke up right away, eager to receive the assignment.
"What is it you wish us to do, Aizen-sama?"
"I need you the two of you to eliminate a specific Shinigami stationed at Karakura Town. At the moment, he is the only one who poses any sort of threat to us." Loly and Menoly brightened at receiving the assignment. It was about time they got to do some fighting. Loly was the more excited of the two for this reason. Fighting and killing a Shinigami would be fun depending on who it was and how strong they were. Though, the only thing that surprised them was the fact that the two of them received this assignment, considering Aizen had said that the Shinigami could be a threat to their plans. At their confused expression, Aizen said, "Originally, I had planned to send Espada's Ulquiorra and Yammy, the Cuarta and the Decima. But, I think two Numeros should be more than enough. Specifically, you two." Loly and Menoly, both, slightly grinned at the compliment. Aizen acknowledged their skill and that made them feel rather good about themselves. Aizen continued once again. "There are several individuals in Karakura Town that have reasonable amounts of reaitsu, but you're to eliminate a specific one. If others get involved, you're free to kill them."
The two female arrancar nodded at this, their once scared expressions gone, both excited and itching for action. Loly spoke up and asked, "How will we know who our target is?"
"He is a Shinigami with a Zanpakuto as long as he is tall. One of his more noticeable features is his orange hair." Loly and Menoly both nodded at this information. A Shinigami with a Zanpakuto like that would have a good amount of reaitsu, which means they would probably be easy to sense. But then, they stopped as the second part of Aizen's description clicked into their minds. Menoly voiced her thoughts, warily.
"O-Orange hair?" Aizen nodded, the same smile on his face.
"Yes. I happen to have an image of him from when I encountered him in the Seireitei. It should help you two identify him more easily. Tousen, if you please." Ex-Shinigami Captain Kaname Tousen nodded at this and flipped a switch at his side. An image appeared in the middle of the room at Aizen's eye level. Loly and Menoly both had to look up to see the image. When they saw it, the both froze up, their eyes widening. That couldn't be... could it? "His name is Ichigo Kurosaki."
When Aizen told them this, they both had mixed reactions. Menoly swayed in place slightly but quickly regained composure. Shock and heartbreak were two of the main emotions being shown on her face. Loly only stared at the image. After a few seconds she clenched her fists. The feeling of betrayal could be soon on her face, as well as anger that seemed to be steadily growing. Aizen, however, acted oblivious of this and said,
"Ichigo Kurosaki is a human who has obtained the powers of a Shinigami. When he broke into the Seireitei, with a few other humans like him, he fought against the Gotei 13. He also single-handedly defeated Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki, taichos of Sixth and Eleventh Companies. Though, I don't believe he is experienced enough to fight two coordinated fighters such as yourselves." Loly and Menoly barely paid attention to him though, still wrapped up in their thoughts. The object of their affection was a Shinigami. The enemy. It felt like their hearts were being run though by a cold blade, then having it be slowly pulled out. "This won't be a problem, will it?" Aizen asked the two girls, his eyes narrowing slightly, the same smile still on his face. Menoly managed to break out of her stupor and speak up for her and Loly, who was still silently seething.
"No, Aizen-sama. We will leave as soon as possible." Aizen nodded, apparently satisfied.
"Good. You are dismissed." Menoly bowed, Loly doing the same when saw her sister doing so. They both turned and left the throne room, their legs slightly shaking as they walked out. When the massive door closed behind them, Gin Ichimaru, Ex-Taicho of Third Company, turned to Aizen with a foxy grin on his face.
"You're a cruel man, Aizen-sama." He said in a joking manner. When Aizen dismissed the statement, Gin asked, "How long have you known they've been leaving Las Noches?"
Aizen stood up and turned. He began making for the exit behind the Throne, Gin and Tousen following him. "From the beginning. Ever since they first left. I had planned to kill them for going against my orders, but when they met Kurosaki I decided to let things play out between the three. In the end, I found a way to make it work our for us."
"Which was?" Gin asked him, though, he already knew the answer.
"There are three ways this will end. One, Loly and Menoly kill Kurosaki and deal with our number one problem. Two, Loly and Menoly are killed, which will be their punishment. And three, Ichigo severely injures Loly and Menoly, breaking his will and theirs. Ichigo will lose the will to fight and Loly and Menoly will, once again, be loyal to me and me alone. The third option is the most likely result."
"You are a cruel man, Aizen-sama." Though, this time, there wasn't a joking tone in his voice. Aizen seemed to be unaware.
(Loly and Menoly's Room)
"It's not fair." Menoly said in a dejected tone. She was looking down at the ground, her eyes wet with tears that were threatening to spill out. Loly looked at and scoffed angrily at Menoly.
"What isn't? The fact that he didn't tell us he was a Shinigami? The fact that he used us? Yeah, it is! That bastard!" Menoly looked up, surprised at Loly's reply. She didn't really believe that, did she?
"Listen to yourself! He didn't use us, Loly. We did the same thing by not telling him we were arrancar, but why would we? Why would he tell us what he was? He thought we were humans. Your not thinking!" Loly calmed down at this. Menoly was right. Loly turned to face Menoly, who was surprised to see tears running down her cheeks. Loly sat down on one of the beds and buried her face in both her hands. Her body was trembling, and Menoly could hear sharp inhales and exhales. Loly was crying, something Menoly had almost never seen before. Apparently, she was taking this the hardest of the two of them. Menoly tried to comfort her sister, but when she reached her hand out Loly turned her whole body away.
Menoly was the more logical of the two. While she was very sad and confused at the situation, she tried to think of what to do. The thing that made her the most upset, was the fact that she couldn't think of anything to do. What hurt the most, was that she knew they would have to carry out Aizen's orders. Menoly sat down on the same bed as Loly and held her head in one of her hands. She desperately tried to think of a way out of this. The only thing she could think of was going against Aizen's orders and hoping for the best. That thought was dismissed immediately.
Her train of thought was interrupted when the door to their room was opened cautiously. It was Apacci again, who opened the door all the way and had a grin on her face at seeing the two.
"Wow, you're both alive! I thought you two were dead for sure. Lucky for... Hey, what's wrong?" Apacci asked them both, furrowing her brow. Loly was hiding her face in her arms and Menoly seemed to be just staring off into space with a depressed look on her. Menoly was the one to answer.
"We got an assignment from Aizen-sama. We're going into the World of the Living to kill a Shinigami." Apacci only became confused at this. If she had received the assignment, she would be ecstatic at the chance of some action. With that thought, she asked,
"Then what's wrong? That's awesome, right? Aizen-sama has trusted you with eliminating our enemy." Menoly finished at that.
"The name of our target is Ichigo Kurosaki." Apacci blinked in surprise. She opened her mouth to try and say something but only an, "oh", came out. She didn't even bother trying to ask if it was the same Ichigo Kurosaki. The way Loly and Menoly were acting was enough of an answer. Apacci looked at them both sympathetically . She asked,
"What are you going to do?" Menoly sighed and shook her head.
"I... We don't know." As she finished, Loly looked up at the two of them. Apacci was shocked to see that her entire face was red, her eyes stained with dried tears. Before she could ask her anything, Loly stood up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"We're going to do what Aizen says." Menoly looked at her sister with a horrified look. Apacci only tilted her head slightly at Loly's lack of 'sama' when she addressed Aizen. Menoly opened her mouth to protest but Loly cut her off. "No. We don't have a choice. Let's just... get it over with."
Menoly could only stay silent and nod. She, too, stood up and prepared to leave. They weren't going in their gigais this time, there wasn't any need to. The only reason that they would have would've been to talk to Ichigo, and the thought of talking to him right before they killed him almost made them both sick. Loly tapped her finger on the air in front of her and a garganta was opened. Before they left, Apacci spoke up. "Guys, if... if you need someone to talk to, come find me. I'll listen." Loly and Menoly could only nod at the offer. They went inside the garganta and it closed behind them, leaving Apacci alone with her thoughts. "This sucks."
She said it, referring to Loly and Menoly, but also for herself as well. The two arrancars explanations of every date in such good detail left her very curious of Ichigo. Apacci had even been considering asking Loly and Menoly if she could accompany them into the World of the Living to meet him. She could only imagine what her two friends were going through right now. She turned with one thought in mind. 'I need to tell Harribel-sama about this.'
(Karakura Town)
It was early evening currently. Ichigo was still walking home from his most recent date with Loly and Menoly, which had ended only an hour ago.
Ichigo was still in a good mood. He remembered Loly and Menoly's parting gift with enthusiasm. Though, he couldn't help but feel confused. They were both showing affection to him, even right in front of each other. It was his understanding that when two girls wanted the same guy, hell broke loose when the two were near him at the same time. If it had been only one of them, he would've showed his affection back with a small kiss or something like a hug but he didn't want to do that with them both acting the way they did towards him. Ichigo didn't want to do that and risk hurting his friendship with the other. He was hoping that one of the two would come out and say something about what they were doing. Ichigo had even considered asking one of them, but he couldn't really figure out how to get a question like that across.
Ichigo walked home, his hands shoved in his pockets as usual. There was some homework that he had to worry about, but nothing major. He planned to get home, finish his homework, and then try and go to bed. 'Actually...' A new thought came to his mind. 'Maybe I'll ask dad if there's anything I can do around the clinic for some extra money. Maybe I should get something for Loly and Menoly.'
With that last thought, Ichigo planned to do just that. His musings were cut short when he heard, "Kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo turned around and was surprised to see Orihime a few meters behind him. Had she been following him? If so, for how long? Hopefully only recently. He turned and greeted her.
"Oh, hey Orihime. What's up?" Orihime spoke her next words with a serious tone and expression.
"Ichigo... I think you should stop hanging out with Loly and Menoly." She almost grimaced when she saw Ichigo frown. Ichigo wanted to cut her off right there, but decided to hear her out. "I've got a bad feeling about them! I know it sounds weird, but I don't think they're who they say they are. Every time they get near me, my Shun-Shun Rikka starts acting up." While Ichigo was a little surprised at that last part, he still said what he had intended to.
"Orihime, I appreciate your concern, but I can't I do that." When Orihime opened her mouth to protest, he held his hand up to stop her. "There's nothing wrong with them. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean I shouldn't either."
"But Ichigo-!"
"I'm sorry Orihime, but Loly and Menoly are good friends. They make me happy." Orihime looked at Ichigo intently as he said that. She asked her next question.
"Do you... Do you like them?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow at that, but answered honestly.
"They're both good friends. Yes, I like them. I can't really say anything else beyond that." Orihime seemed disappointed at the end of the conversation, but Ichigo turned around and continued on his path back home. "I'll see you tomorrow Orihime." He said with a slight wave of his hand. Orihime raised her hand slightly to wave as well, but she knew she couldn't see it. Neither were aware of the two pair of eyes watching the exchange.
(Loly and Menoly)
The two arrancar had watched both Ichigo and Orihime as they conversed. While they both couldn't hear what was being said, they seethed at the sight of the two together. They didn't stop and think why they were getting so angry worked up. When they had tracked him down by sensing the strongest source of Reaitsu, something they both found easy and almost annoyed them considering if they had encountered Ichigo once without being in their gigais they would've known he was a Shinigami, the first thing they saw when they showed up several dozen meters from him was Ichigo with Orihime. Even Menoly's blood boiled at the sight, that being said, she could only imagine how angry Loly was. Menoly turned to look at Loly, who turned to look back at her. The same thought came through their mind and Loly asked the question first.
"Wanna get her?"
"Yeah." Menoly said right away with a sneer. They both sonidoed from their spots.
(Orihime)
Orihime headed back home with a downcast expression on her face. She looked at the ground as she clasped her hands together. She couldn't convince Ichigo to stop hanging out with the two girls. Now what was she going to do? She didn't know. Maybe she should follow Tatsuki's advice and-
"Or-i-hi-me."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sickening sing-song voice that spoke her name. Orihime turned and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Loly and Menoly standing there behind her. Though, their was some changes with their appearance. They both seemed to be wearing some sort of white robe, though Loly's was more customized and revealing, her entire stomach showing and small pieces of her top barely covering her breasts. Though, the most noticeable feature were the white mask fragments on one of their eyes. Menoly's right eye was covered by what looked to be a remnant of a mask, Loly's was the same, though on her left eye. They seemed to look like fragments of Hollow masks.
"Loly? Menoly? What're you two-?"
WHAM!
Orihime was cut off when Loly gave her a fierce right hook to her head. She stumbled to the side and fell, barely managing to use her hands to cushion the fall. She coughed slightly, a large bump starting to show on her right cheek. She looked back at them as Loly started walking towards her, Menoly following her, though, she stayed back a couple feet. She seemed to be content at letting Loly have all the fun. Orihime opened her mouth to ask Loly and Menoly what they were doing, but then Loly brought her leg back and kicked Orihime in the stomach. Orihime gasped for air and tried to breath.
"What do you think, Menoly? Should we kill her?" Loly spoke up, her voice laced with murderous intent. Menoly only sneered and said,
"Aizen did say we could kill anyone who got in our way."
'Aizen? These two are working for Aizen?' Orihime knew what this meant. They were here to most likely kill Ichigo. At the thought, her reiatsu flared. Loly and Menoly both jumped back when Orihime's Santen Kesshun appeared in between them. Orihime managed to stand up. It had worked, now there was some distance in between them. When she dismissed her shield, Orihime spoke up confidently and accusingly. "You're both working for Aizen? You two are enemies! You two have just been using Kurosaki-kun! So you can catch him off guard and kill him."
Something inside Menoly snapped when Orihime said that. The sound of static indicated her using a sonido. Menoly appeared in front of Orihime suddenly and brought her hand back and backhanded her. Hard. Orihime seemingly 'flew' to the side and crashed into the wall of the alley. "Shut up! You bitch!" Even Loly was surprised at Menoly's personality change, even more so when a red orb appeared in Menoly's right hand. She was charging up her cero, and it was bigger than usual, barely fitting in her hand. Static built up around it, indicating how unstable it was. "You don't know anything. I'll kill you!"
Menoly charged forward, bringing her hand back, getting ready to thrust her cero forward into Orihime.[1] When Menoly stood directly above Orihime, she brought her cero down and an explosion shook the ground around them both, kicking up dirt and bricks. Loly thought that Menoly had killed Orihime and was about to speak up to try and address her but, when the dust cleared, the sight before her shocked her and only made her angrier. There stood Ichigo in his Shinigami form. He was holding Menoly's arm with his right hand, which had apparently misguided her cero and had made it impact the wall to the side at the last second. Menoly only stared up fearfully, shaking, at Ichigo who was staring down at her with a neutral expression. The sleeves and leggings of his robe were battered slightly, but he was unharmed. Ichigo turned to look back at Orihime, who had managed to get a Santen Kesshun up to shield herself from the blast.
"I'm sorry Orihime. I came as soon as I could when I felt you use your Shun-Shun Rikka." Orihime nodded but said nothing. She could see the sadness in his eyes. She only imagined what was going through Ichigo's head right now. "You were right, Orihime. I'm sorry for not heeding your warning." Loly and Menoly both knew what this meant. That was what Ichigo and Orihime were talking about before. Orihime must've been telling Ichigo something about them, and Ichigo seemed to be agreeing with her. Something that made their blood boil in anger. Menoly started to struggle against his grip.
"Let go!" Ichigo held his grip firmly, but when Menoly unsheathed her zanpakuto to try and cut his arm off he let go of her. She sonidoed away from him and appeared next to Loly, who had drawn her out dagger-like zanpakuto. Ichigo turned to face them both, his hand clasping the hilt of his own cleaver-sized zanpakuto.
"Loly, Menoly. What're you two doing?" Loly spoke up angrily.
"We were going to kill Orihime, and then you!"
"Why?" Ichigo asked. He was trying to keep his cool and a level-head, but he was finding it hard to.
"Cause Aizen-sama ordered us too!" Loly answered him in the same tone as before. Ichigo's eyes widened.
"You two... work for Aizen?"
"Of course we do."
"Then.. this whole time-?" He was cut off by Menoly this time.
"Shut up!" Being accused of using Ichigo by Orihime was bad enough, but when Ichigo himself even hinted at it, Menoly saw red. She said, in a low tone, "Don't you dare complete that sentence."
"Aizen-sama has ordered us to kill you. So that's what we're gonna do." Loly told him, gripping the handle of her dagger tightly.
Ichigo looked at Menoly and Loly's expression when that was said. He could tell right away how they truly felt about this. They were hurting just as much as he was. They were confused and the answer to their confusion was anger at the situation, directed at him. As much as he felt he should have, Ichigo couldn't blame them for their actions. He ended his train of thought and unsheathed Zangetsu from his back, quickly blocking an attempted death-blow from Loly. The two blades met with a loud 'klang'.
Up close, he could see Loly's face in greater detail. Her eye's were bloodshot as she looked at him with narrowed eyes and clenched teeth. Ichigo could see her trying to hold back tears. Before he could try and talk to her, Menoly appeared above him, bringing her zanpakuto down on him. He angled his tall blade and blocked the strike from her as well. He held back the two of them as they tried to overpower him. They failed to do so, though.
Loly maneuvered her smaller body under his blade and planted her foot down to use as momentum to thrust her dagger forward to stab him in the stomach. Ichigo saw this, but instead of trying to counter or defend himself, he pulled back and shunpo'd a decent distance away from them. He held a defensive stance and looked at the two girls.
'What was that? I could've hit her... but I didn't. No... I couldn't.'
The moment Loly had made her move, she was open to attack. Had it been anyone else Ichigo would have acted on the opportunity but he knew, against them, he couldn't bring himself to hurt them. When it had been to protect Orihime he had grabbed Menoly's arm tightly but, defending himself, he couldn't bring himself to hurt them to prevent harm to himself. This explained when Menoly had suddenly charged him again, in a flurry of well-aimed strikes and thrusts, he received a nasty cut on his arm as he only tried to maintain his distance. It was the same case when Loly had followed up Menoly's attack by coming in on his unguarded side, behind him. He only tried to dodge again but was cut again across the back.
'Come on! Their reiatsu isn't that strong! I can defeat them easily!'
This made no difference to Ichigo. He knew he could defeat them, but doing so would mean hurting them. Something that he discovered he couldn't bring himself to do. The only thing he could do was try and defend against them.
(Las Noches/Tercera Espada's Palace)
"Well, that certainly explains the way they've been acting these past couple weeks." Apacci looked to her right, away from Harribel, at Sun-Sun, one of her fellow fraccion and a close friend of hers. Sun-Sun was a slender arrancar, a little taller than Apacci. She had olive green hair that reached down to her lower back. The uniform she wore fit her body well, accentuating her curves. Her sleeves, however, reached past her hands, hiding them from view. The same thing could be said for the bottom half as it reached past her feet, resting on the ground. The remnants of her hollow mask took the form of what could be resembled as hair clips that rested above her right eye. Under the same eye, three pink dots were imprinted into her skin vertically.
"Ha! Sneaking out of Las Noches to see a human? That's almost sad." Mila-Rose, the dark-skinned, fellow fraccion and friend of Apacci's, scoffed. Mila-Rose was, by far, the tallest of the three. Her, ragged, brown hair reached down to her lower back. Her mask fragment rested on the top of her head, resembling a tiara. Her attire was rather revealing, the only parts of her body that were covered being the underside of her breasts, her waist, and her forearms. Everything else was shown proudly, her hollow hole visible just under her breasts. Apacci smirked, seizing the opportunity to make a comment.
"No. What's sad is you're just jealous that those two managed to get a guy. Something you could never do." Mila-Rose growled at Apacci, a tick mark appearing on her forehead. She took a step forward in a challenging way.
"What was that, Apacci? You flat-chested, eye-sore!" This time, Apacci ground her teeth in anger at the comment to her, rather small, assets. She, too, took a step forward.
"You trying to start something?"[2] Sun-Sun, on the side, rolled her eyes and brought a hand up to her mouth. She mumbled out, with a sigh,
"So unseemly."
"Ladies." Harribel spoke up in a tone that commanded authority, effectively silencing and gaining the attention of the three fraccion. She shifted her arms slightly to rest her crossed arms more comfortably under her breasts. She looked at Apacci intently and asked, "What is your reason for telling me this, Apacci?" Apacci fidgeted under the Espada's gaze but mustered up her courage and spoke, confidently,
"Because I don't approve!" The declaration surprised both Sun-Sun and Mila-Rose, who both voiced their thoughts.
"Are you crazy? You're saying you don't approve of Aizen-sama's plans?"
"That's a rather... unwise thing to say, Apacci. What do you think, Harribel-sama?" Sun-Sun asked the tercera, turning to look over at her, her sleeve still up covering her mouth.
"That is a very dangerous thing to say, Apacci." Apacci looked down at the ground nervously when she heard Harribel's reply. She tried to defend herself.
"F-forgive me, Harribel-sama. I just-."
"But, I agree with you." Apacci looked up at Harribel, surprised and confused. Sun-Sun and Mila-Rose looked at her in the same way, Sun-Sun's sleeve lowering down, showing her face completely again. Harribel spoke rather monotone at their expressions. "For a while now, I have sat by and watched as Aizen-sama has used those who follow him in very cold and calculating ways. I feared for a while that those two's infatuation with Aizen would lead them to much suffering and misery. It's good they managed to find someone else, but Aizen using their new love against them to guarantee their loyalty once more is something I can't approve of. Whether the man they were after is a Shinigami or not is irrelevant to me. You remember how those two used to act, correct? Anyone who could change that can't be evil."
Apacci, Sun-Sun, and Mila-Rose paid close attention to Harribel. All of them wondered where Harribel was going with this, considering they had never heard Harribel speak this much of one subject before. Apacci decided to speak up and voice the three's thoughts. "What are you going to do, Harribel-sama?"
Harribel turned away from them and stared out at the bright desert of Las Noches. She made no other movements as she stood still, deep in thought, for close to a minute. None of the three fraccion made any movements or sounds as they waited for their master to answer. Suddenly, Harribel turned and walked by them casually. "Come, Ladies. Let's pay a visit to Starrk-san."
The three girls blinked in surprise. The Primera? What for? It wasn't unheard of, he being one of the only Espada who Harribel was on good terms with, but it was still strange. They made no objections, however, and simultaneously said, "Yes Ma'am.", and followed her out of their palace to the Primera's.
(Karakura Town)
For the last fifteen minutes, Ichigo had stayed on the defensive, only trying to block their strikes and stay out of their reach. It proved mostly ineffective, though, as the two girls were very coordinated. It was obvious they had fought together many times before. Each attack one of them made he would manage to just avoid or block, but only ended up in striking range or wide open to the other. He was cut up badly, bleeding from the numerous cuts on his body. If he had fought back from the beginning he would have defeated the two by now. He knew that.
Loly attacked him again, coming from above. She swung her dagger down at him. It was an amateur move, even if the attack were to land it would do close to nothing to him, as she was trying to attack his right shoulder. Ichigo blocked the strike quickly, his arms protesting slightly at the awkward position to defend. Before he could wonder what she could gain from this kind of attack he saw what she was doing, or rather what Menoly was doing. From underneath Loly, Menoly moved in on him. She had one of her ceros charged up in her right hand, and she was attacking his unprotected left side.
'Oh crap.'
They got him. Ichigo knew. But, before Menoly could complete her attack, something stirred inside him. His left hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Menoly's hand and squeezed it painfully. She cried out in pain as she felt a couple of fingers break and lost control of her cero. It exploded there, badly burning her hand and arm, if not for her hierro, her arm would have been torn apart. When she looked back at Ichigo to try and plan what to do next, she froze. A mask seemed to be forming on Ichigo's face, the whites of his eyes turning black, the irises turning yellow in color.
"Tsk, Tsk, Ichigo. Getting so beaten up by these two wenches? Pathetic." Loly and Menoly both shivered at the demonic voice. When Menoly started to struggle against his grip, Loly spoke up.
"Who are you?" A sinister grin appeared on 'Ichigo's' face.
"Who am I? That doesn't really matter does it? You're both about to die!" With that, he suddenly brought his right leg back and planted it in Loly's stomach. When she gasped out, 'Ichigo' used the same leg to give her a roundhouse kick, sending her tumbling down out of the air. She crashed down into the concrete below, kicking up dust and dirt.
"Loly!" Menoly cried out at seeing her sister impact the ground but, when she had turned her body to look at her sister, 'Ichigo' had let go of her and brought Zangetsu forward, in an arc, and cut her diagonally from the shoulder down to her waist. Menoly's eyes widened. The last thing she saw was before she, too, fell out of the air was Ichigo standing there with the same sinister smirk on his face, though half of it was covered by the mask that continued to form. Thanks to her hierro the cut wasn't deep enough to cut all the way through her, but it was still a nasty slice and bleeding badly.
Menoly landed on the concrete with a 'thump'. Loly barely managed to pull herself out of the small crater to see her sister land next to her, the same shocked expression on her face. "M-Menoly!" Menoly coughed and began to position herself to sit up and try and defend herself. She only just managed to sit up when 'Ichigo' landed softly on the ground, Zangetsu held out to the side, blood dripping off of the blade. Loly and Menoly both cowered in fear as he walked toward them.
"Well, that was easy. Time to finish-."
'Stop! You're hurting them!" 'Ichigo' suddenly brought his hand up and gripped the mask on his face, cracking it where his fingers grasped.
"That's the point, you fool! They were going to kill you!" 'Ichigo' said to himself, grinding his teeth.
'I don't care! DISAPPEAR!" With that, Ichigo pulled the mask off his face with a deafening roar. The first thing he saw though, almost made him freeze in fear and sadness. Loly and Menoly were there in front of him, staring at him fearfully.
Loly's hair was ragged, no longer was it two neat pigtails. She was halfway out of a small crater and seemed to be struggling to keep her arms out to support herself. She was also bleeding from the top of her head, the blood dripping down her clear eye. Menoly seemed to have the worst of it. She had a giant cut that stretched all the way from her shoulder to her waist and it was still bleeding, drenching her once completely white robe. She had one hand on her stomach where the cut was and the other hand supporting herself up.
Ichigo didn't know what to say. He held his hand out, shaking at the sight, and took a step forward. Though, it hurt him to see Loly crawl, or rather try to crawl, away from him frantically. She yelled at him, fearfully. "G-Get away from us! You monster!" Menoly only sat there, her eye's widened fearfully. She was almost hyperventilating. Ichigo tried to get something out, but found he couldn't form any words. What was he to say? HE had done this to them.
Loly stumbled to her feet quickly and tapped the air in front of her. A garganta opened a couple seconds later. She grabbed Menoly by the hand and helped her up quickly. Loly brought Menoly's arm around her neck, helping her stand and walk. Ichigo did nothing to stop them as the two disappeared into the garganta.
The tip of Zangetsu hit the ground on front of him as Ichigo's grip had slightly slipped from the hilt. He was looking at the ground. Several emotions flashed on his face. He didn't even notice Orihime had approached him warily and had begun to heal his wounds. Only when he felt the pain lift, did he finally look up ahead of him at where Loly and Menoly were just a minute ago.
When he rested his eyes on the crater and the small puddle of blood next to it, he clenched his fists in anger and grit his teeth.
Neither Ichigo or Orihime noticed a separate garganta being opened and closed up above them.
(Las Noches)
"So, Kurosaki is still alive then?" Loly struggled to stay on her feet, supporting both herself and Menoly. She had just given Aizen a full report on what had just occurred in the World of the Living. She started with how they beat Orihime, though she said it was to lure Ichigo out, which was a lie, and then she said how she and Menoly had seemed to be close to killing him, but was caught off guard when the mask appeared and the voice spoke. Loly managed to look up at Aizen and say,
"Yes, Aizen-sama. Forgive us, we didn't-."
"It's quite alright. I can't blame you for how things turned out. I didn't expect Kurosaki to hollowfy." This was a lie. Aizen knew all about Ichigo and his hollow side. He knew that if Ichigo was pushed to the point of almost dieing, his hollow would manage to take over and defend himself. Though, he chose to keep this out of the assignment description when he had first called Loly and Menoly. "Get yourselves to the infirmary. Looks like you two took quite the beating." Loly gave Aizen a small bow. Menoly barely managed to nod her head and look up at him, her hair coming forward and covering her eyes. Loly turned and began to lead herself and Menoly out of the room, limping, but stopped when Aizen said, 'off-handedly', "Though, I must say, I am a bit surprised at Kurosaki's actions. I predicted he wouldn't have done this to you two." Loly's lower lip began to tremble when he said that, but she kept her back to Aizen and continued out of the room. A minute after the door had closed, Ulquiorra entered the Throne Room, the same neutral expression on his face, his hands in his pockets. He bowed to Aizen.
"Ah, Ulquiorra. Did you see what happened in the World of the Living?"
"Yes, Aizen-sama. Please-." Ulquiorra brought one of his hands up to his eye and pulled it out with a slight 'squelch'. He held it out and crushed it. "-see for yourself."
Aizen saw nothing new with the confrontation between Loly, Menoly, and Ichigo. Things happened just as was reported to him. The only difference was he saw what happened after Loly and Menoly left. Ichigo had been badly cut up, wounds all over his bare torso and arms, but when the human girl had walked up next to him, an orange dome encased itself around Ichigo. Aizen sat up in his chair and brought a hand up to his face, resting the fingers on the side of his face, when he saw Ichigo's wounds begin to heal at an alarming rate. The cuts, scratches, even the scuff marks disappeared from his body. When it ended, Ichigo was standing there, looking as if he had just been released from Fourth Company barracks. Aizen smirked. "That's an interesting ability you have there, girl. What do you make of this, Ulquiorra?"
Ulquiorra looked up at Aizen, the eye he had crushed had already begun to reform in it's socket. "I believe it to be a form of Time-Space Regression, Aizen-sama."
"Interesting. Please, go rest Ulquiorra, I will be calling you shortly to relay new orders." Ulquiorra bowed and left the room, leaving Aizen to plot alone. Things had occurred just as he had predicted. Ichigo's will should be broken, making him an easy target, and Loly and Menoly should, once again, be loyal to him following the recent events. Now, that human girl caught his interest. Aizen didn't know for sure, but felt he could use that power of hers. He would have to begin planning to come up with a way to capture, something that should be simple. In the meantime, things in Las Noches would return to their usual routine.
(Chapter End/Author's Note)
Chapta Furr, right there for your viewing pleasure. This chapter will be the beginning of the Official Plot I have planned, starting it out with some Angst. Don't 'cha love it? I apologize to those who were hoping the story would be a collection of Fluff moments and romantic scenes, I wanted the story to go this way however.
Here's what to expect from the story now. Ichigo's character will be upgraded. He will be more logical. He will also be stronger. How this will happen, it will be explained in chapter five. So, just wait till then or Private Message me. If you send a message expressing genuine curiosity and/or concern for the story I will answer your question. Or leave it in a review and it will be addressed in the beginning of the next chapter.
TEASER:Just so you can try and predict what may happen in the future, Harribel and her Fraccion, as well as Starrk and Lilynette will play major roles in this story, Grimmjow too.
[1] I don't know bout you guys, but when I saw the anime and read the manga, it looked like Menoly would try to use her Cero in a Rasengan-type way. For those who don't know, a Rasengan is an attack from another anime, Naruto, that compresses great energy and power into a small sphere that can fit into the palm of your hands. You thrust it into your opponents, tearing them up internally.
[2] This is just something to tell all of you all for future reference. Almost every story I've read that has these three in it, their bickering and arguements are exaggerated and dragged out. I plan to avoid doing that.
Here's something new I will do at the end of each chapter. When I type, I listen to music. Depending on how the chapter is going to be, is what music I'll listen to.
Musical Inspiration for this Chapter:
Band:Three Days Grace
Song:World So Cold
I feel numb, I can't come to life, I feel like I'm frozen in time... Livin in a World So Cold
That will wrap it up for today. Please read and review. Constructive Criticism is welcome, but flamers will be hunt down and beaten up by me personally, I assure you.