Crossed Over

Chapter 4

"Well, well. Wouldn't have thought ya to do that ta me." The man said, bringing a hand up to his bruised cheek. If he hadn't put up a spiritual barrier shield just in time, she would've knocked him into the sand dunes a few miles away.

"Don't touch me so casually." Tenshi said, walking over to her friends and telling them to stand up, meanwhile asking them why they bowed in the first place. Shinobu spoke up.

"He-he's… from Hueco Mundo. He's one of the three captains. G-gi-…"

"Gin Ichimaru." Akihiko interrupted, stepping towards the man. "May I ask why you are here?"

If it were possible, his grin grew wider. He walked until he was standing in front of Tenshi once more.

"Why? I came here ta offer you a place at Hueco Mundo."

All the Aduchas looked at Gin in astonishment.

Tenshi scowled. "I'm not going anywhere without my friends."

"Of course they are offered this as well. Lord Aizen wouldn't dream of not having them ta accompany you."

"Aizen? Who's that?"

Tenshi couldn't believe her eyes. All she had ever seen in this world was white sand. But right in front of her there was a large, dome-shaped, white building. She couldn't even see where it ended on either side of her from where she was standing in front of the large doors to the fort. Gin snapped his fingers then put his hand back down, his grin still in place as the doors opened, revealing long, dimly lit, white hallways.

Gin entered the building, turning somewhat to motion for the group to follow. A few turns in the long hallways and Tenshi swore that she would loose herself very easily if she stayed here. Suddenly a strong spiritual pressure filled the vacant hallways, knocking the breath out of Shinobu and Misaki. Their counterparts had to hold them up as they continued walking.

Tenshi looked every which way she could, trying to figure out where the pressure was coming from. Sure enough, there was a window to the outside, or at least that was what it seemed. But in Hueco Mundo, there was no sun. Through this window, it was as bright as the day, still all sand, but bright.

She noticed, off in what looked like a training grounds, two men in white uniforms fighting each other. Each had a sword and the clanking of metal could be heard even from the distance she was at. She stopped then, observing the battle. The hostility between them reminded her of her days in the Mist. So much fighting for no cause.

"Tenshi?"

Her attention was brought back to the group as she heard Nowaki call her name. She moved ahead until she was even with Gin once more.

They stopped in front of a door and Gin asked for all the Aduchas to enter through, leaving him with Tenshi.

"Wait, I'm not going further in this foreign place without my friends." Tenshi argued, her green eye glinting with fury and the excitement to possibly kill this man if they were about to walk into a trap.

"Sorry, but they need to go through a slightly different process to be accepted in Hueco Mundo."

Tenshi stiffened. "Process? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Gin held up both his hands in front of him, a defensive action, and his eyes went from fox to mock-hurt, still closed.

"Please, don't be angry with me. It's Lord Aizen's rule that separate classes of Menos be taken through separate ways of change. In order ta fit-in in Hueco Mundo, ya must be an arrancar. These boys here wouldn't fit in at all, and neither would you, Tenshi-sama. Sorry to separate ya from yer friends. But you'll see them soon. I promise."

Tenshi settled once she saw Gin's genuine smile of assurance and walked over to the boys, giving each of them a smile, even though it wasn't seen under her mask, and hugging all except for Hiroki. With him, she shook his hand. Long-story-short, he didn't like physical contact much. So she respected that.

She walked back over to Gin and gave him a lazy glare.

"If we are not reunited, I won't hesitate to kill you." Her eye immediately changed from hostile to mournful as she thought over that statement. She looked away from him and started walking again.

"Although, I hope I won't have to…"

--

They entered through a pair of large doors into a large room. There was a large amount of spiritual pressure coming from a man sitting on a large throne. For some odd reason, Tenshi felt this man had a very large ego.

"Ah, welcome." The man said. He stood from the throne and Tenshi saw Gin drop to one knee beside her.

"Aizen-sama, I've brought Tenshi just as you asked. Her future fracción are in the chamber for Aduchas transformation." He rose once the man was in front of him. Tenshi scowled. Transformation?

"Very good, Gin." Aizen said as he threaded his hand through his hair. A lock of his brown, wavy hair stayed in front of his face, the rest looked as if it was gelled back to his head. His dark brown eyes landed on Tenshi and he smiled wickedly.

Before he greeted her she wanted to ask a few questions.

"What is this transformation going to do to me?"

Aizen smiled, "All in good time, my dear. Let's have a seat."

He waved his hand in the direction of a long, white table on the far left of the room. He sat at the very end, inviting Tenshi to sit next to him. She took one look at the chair and sighed. The chair had no room for her wings.

Within a second the back of the chair was lopped off, flying into the wall and smashing into a million shards. Aizen raised an eyebrow, giving Tenshi a look of was-that-really-necessary. She stuck her nose in the air before retracting her one claw and sitting in the, now, stool.

"When you transform you will become an Arrancar. A creature of immense power that has gained shinigami powers and a human body." Aizen explained.

"Shinigami? Death gods?" Tenshi scoffed. "Am I really to believe that they exist?"

Aizen exchanged a look with Gin then turned a massively evil grin towards the girl.

"We both are shinigami, my dear girl."

"I thought everyone here was an Arrancar."

"Everyone except for Gin, Tousen, and I are. But we three are Shinigami."

"Who's Tousen?"

"Sorry, but he couldn't join us today. You will meet him soon enough. For now, are there anymore questions?"

"Are you the king here? Or just a noble that rules a portion of the land?"

He smiled. "I suppose you could say that I am the king here." The laugh was clearly in Aizen's eyes as he said that.

"So this really is the land of the dead…" Tenshi muttered the statement to herself. Letting it soak in. She looked back up at Aizen. "Why do my friends and I have to 'transform' at different times?"

"It takes a great deal more energy to transform a large group of Aduchas and one Vasto Lordes at the same time. If I transform you and your friends separately, then all of you will be able to transform completely and without harm. Don't worry though, I wouldn't allow any of you to be in harm's way."

"Then transform me first. I don't like to be kept away from my friends."

"Sorry, but yer friends are already in the process of transformation as we speak." Gin said, keeping his fox-like grin. Tenshi raised her eyebrow, looking from Gin to Aizen.

"How are they when you are here?" She asked, pointedly in Aizen's direction.

"Lord Aizen can do many things at once, Tenshi-sama. Don't underestimate."

Tenshi glared at the lavender-haired man. "He can speak for himself, I'm sure. It's irritating for someone to answer whilst the one I'm asking is sitting right here." She hissed.

"Calm down, my dear. Gin was just answering your question because I had focused on your friends for a moment. It's hard to transform six Aduchas at the same time. But I'm doing so because you want to be with them as soon as possible. Once they are finished, they will go to Tousen for fittings, then they may go to their new living quarters. I will work on you after that." Aizen looked at Tenshi with a seemingly good-natured smile, a bead of sweat dripped off the side of his face.

Tenshi nodded, realizing that he might've had a bit of trouble doing this, and crossed her arms over her stomach lethargically. "Sorry…"

"That's a good girl." Aizen turned to the other male. "Gin, show Miss Sohma to the Vasto Lordes conversion chamber. And tell Juugo I'd like some tea."

Gin got up from his seat and bowed. "Yes, my lord." He walked around the table and offered Tenshi a hand. She didn't even regard him and stood up, walking towards the door. Gin looked back at Aizen for a second.

"I think she'll be a great addition to Hueco Mundo."

"Yes. I think so too." Gin agreed as he followed her out.

Aizen crossed his fingers in front of his face, resting his elbows on the table as he watched the two leave.

"A great addition indeed…"

"Just lie down here and relax. When you come-to you'll be an Arrancar." Gin stood at the other side of the room watching as a man with spiked, dark brown hair and two lower jaw pieces on his ears told her the procedure. His light brown eyes could barely be seen for his large, bushy eyebrows overshadowed them.

She did as told. "Does it matter what position I'm in?" She asked.

The man seemed to think about that. "I don't believe so. At some point your body will just move into a more comfortable pose while you sleep anyway."

She sighed contently as she lay on her side, her arms wrapped around her waist and her legs crooked up to her stomach. Her wings folded over her like a blanket. Gin snickered after the other man left and Tenshi lifted her wing, just enough to glare at him, then lowered it again.

"Sweet dreams, princess." He said as she began to doze off. Aizen came into the room then, a small, clear box in his hand. Inside that little box was a black sphere.

A column rose from the floor in front of Tenshi's body. He placed the box on top of it.

"Gin, please leave. You know I can't handle other people in the room when I work on Vasto Lordes." He didn't take his eyes off the girl. Gin bowed then left, closing the doors behind him.

Aizen closed his eyes as he took a slow breath. "Soul Encapturement."

A globe encircled them both, then another surrounded Tenshi alone. He brought his hand up and touched a finger to the small box. As he released some of his spiritual pressure the box shattered. The small sphere began to wrap itself around his finger.

A burst of yellow light shown through the cracks of the door into the hallway as Tenshi's transformation began. Gin's fox-like grin looked even creepier from the contrasting shadows the light caused on his face. He turned and his grin faded.

"Why Kaname, what brings ya ta watch our new Arrancar transform?"

The man he greeted had brown skin and long, individually braided black hair. His uniform had no sleeves and an orange rope wrapped loosely around his neck. Over his eyes was a translucent visor. His eyes were closed, even as he approached Gin and stood beside him.

"My duties were finished. I came here to take her to the fitting area once Lord Aizen was finished with her."

"My, my. That's unlike you. Normally you'd just wait for either Juugo or Tierra to bring them to you."

"As I said, my duties were finished."

"What about Wonderweise?"

"He's with the Gillian."

"Ah."

"Is she about ready?"

"He's only just begun a few minutes ago. We've got a few hours until it's done."

"…"

Gin looked over at the dark man and fox-grinned. "Got any cards?"

Aizen smiled as Tenshi woke up. She looked up at him and her eyes widened, a rather large, raspy gasp emitted from her as she closed them tightly and held her head in both hands.

"No…" She whispered to herself.

Aizen walked up to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong, Miss Sohma?"

She leaned away from his hand and shook her head. "I'm fine." She stood and flipped her waist-length hair so that it landed over her right eye before looking at Aizen again.

"Most Arrancars have a reaction, but normally it's after they see their new bodies." He said, picking up a plain, white kimono. "Would you like to cover up while I have Tierra take you to Tousen?"

Tenshi didn't even flinch from being naked in front of the man. She could care less. She stretched out her hand to take the robe and noticed something white on her elbow. Her arm pulled back. There were three white dragon plates that overlapped each other. Through the middle one was a hole that went all the way through her forearm.

Aizen noticed her studying her arms and smirked. "Interesting, isn't it? Arrancar masks and holes aren't normally positioned on their arms. Most of the time, the mask is somewhere close to or on their head and their hole is somewhere on their torso. You're special, my dear."

Tenshi looked up at him and glowered, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Please don't call me that." She said as she reached for the robe once more. She tied the wrap around her waist as she headed towards the door.

"Then what shall I call you?"

She turned slightly as the door opened next to her.

"Tenshi is perfectly fine."

"All right then, Tenshi, I shall see you for your introductory ceremony."

"Introductory ceremony?"

"Tousen will explain."

Tenshi entered a room and blinked at the man she saw sitting behind a desk. She'd never seen a man with dark skin before. She closed the door and he got up from his seat, coming around the desk.

"Umm…are you Tousen?"

"Yes." He reached her and she noticed that his eyes were closed under his visor. "Strip yourself of your robe, I need to measure you." He motioned for her to follow him.

She did as told, leaving the cloth on the ground, and went to the middle of the room, standing on an oval step. He grabbed up a measuring tape from the desk and returned to her, wrapping it around her upper arm before sliding it down her arm to her forearm. She shivered.

"You have a very interesting bone piece." He commented, moving in front of her.

"Aizen told me the same thing."

He wrapped the tape around her neck and she flinched, blushing as his fingers kept brushing her skin.

"Do not refer to Lord Aizen that way. As you should be aware, you are now a resident of Hueco Mundo. He is your Lord now. Call him as such." He measured around her shoulders.

"Sorry…"

"Lift your arms." She did and he measured her bust. Another shiver went down her spine.

"How are you able to measure with your eyes closed?"

He didn't look up. "This is a brailed measure tape."

She gasped, her eye widening somewhat. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that you were…"

He raised his head, as if to look up at her, no emotion on his face.

"That I was blind?" She gulped. "Don't be sorry for me. My other senses were greatly enhanced thanks to it." He lowered his face again as he knelt onto one knee in front of her and wrapped it around her waist.

"How did it happen?"

"There was a battle long ago where I had my optical nerves ripped out. My eyes themselves are still in, but I don't have the nerves anymore." He wrapped the measuring tape around her thigh and heard her suck in a sharp breath. "I am sorry if the tape is cold."

Tenshi took a deep breath. It wasn't that the tape was cold; his hand just brushed the inside of her thigh. She inwardly cursed her overly sensitive skin. Just the same as when she was alive.

"Tousen, hold still." She placed her fingers on either side of his head and suddenly her wrists were in his hands. His face had tilted up towards hers.

"What are you trying to do?" He asked sharply.

"I wanted to see if I still had a certain power that I had when I was alive. Trust me. I won't hurt you."

His grip loosened slightly, but he didn't let go of her hands.

"Please?" She asked.

"Alright." He let go of her hands and let her take off his visor, sticking it in her hair on her head. It was the only option of where to put them since there wasn't a table near her. She rested her fingers delicately on his temples. After a moment she smiled.

"Open your eyes please."

He did and gasped as he looked up at her. Her blue and red hair falling over her right eye and framing her face perfectly as she gazed down at him with the sweetest smile he'd ever seen.

"I…can see?" He questioned. His brown eyes stared up at her in disbelief.

Her emerald eye suddenly turned solemn and her smile disappeared. She removed her hands and reached for the 'glasses' in her hair. His eyes turned glossy and he gasped again. Tenshi put the visor back over his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I thought that I would be able to heal them with just my hands. I couldn't. The optical nerves are there but you won't be able to see without me touching you."

Tousen nodded, closing his eyes once more as he finished copying down her measurements onto a piece of paper and standing one more.

"I understand." He said as he walked over to the rather large machine in the far corner behind his desk. He stuck the paper into it and pressed a button. She listened as the machine whirred.

"That is quite the talent you have, Miss Sohma." He commented as the machine did its process. He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You can call me Tenshi. I don't really like formalities. And could you keep this a little secret between you and I? I'd rather no one know about it for a while. I made the mistake of telling someone in the Sand once and suddenly I was asked to be the head of the hospital. Please don't make me go through that again." She pleaded.

Tousen ignored the machine as it opened, revealing the white hakama and white coat for Tenshi. He continued to face her.

"Are you telling me that you are able to remember your days of living?" He asked. Tenshi crooked her head to the side in a questioning manner.

"Can't you?"

"No one can. It's unheard of." She walked over to where he was as he got out the outfit for her.

"I see… I guess I really am special."

Tenshi took the clothing from him and put them on, being careful not to slice the sleeves with her bone pieces.

"Hey, Tousen. What's an introductory ceremony? Obviously, I'm being introduced to someone, but…"

"The ceremony is held to introduce you to the Espada, the ten top men of Hueco Mundo. Now, it is only eight, but the concept still applies. That, and to rank your status here."

"Rank my status? Is this some sort of military?"

"Not quite."

"When does it start?"

"As soon as I have you dressed."

"Umm…" Tenshi looked down at her robed body and opened the top around her neck. It was too constricting. She finished tying the wrap around her waist then brought it out for her breasts to have room. Once her collarbones were showing, she looked back up at Tousen. "I suppose it's time for it to start then?"

He nodded, heading for the door with Tenshi following him.

They turned down a few hallways and entered a very large room with the highest ceiling Tenshi had ever seen. Tousen led her to the middle of the room before heading over to where Gin was, near Aizen. The brunette was, once again, seated on a throne. He smiled down at Tenshi as she met his gaze.

She looked around the room, noticing that there were eight other people all staring at her down at her from where they sat up high. She looked back at Aizen.

"Welcome to Hueco Mundo, Tenshi Sohma."

She nodded up at him. "Thanks for having me." She blinked, remembering what Tousen had said. "…Lord Aizen."

He looked around the room at each of the other men.

"What rank do you think she should hold? Feel free to give your opinion." He asked. His voice reverberating off the walls, a slight echo following each word. There were a few murmurs before a man at the far right of Tenshi let out a bark of laughter.

"Seems like she's trying for your rank, Grimmjow! Just look at the number on her chest!" He laughed again as a man hopped down from the other side of the room.

Tenshi barely noticed him jump down as she looked at the enormous man that had spoken. No hair, in fact there were ridges on his head, and a bone jaw that covered his own. He had light brown skin. She turned her attention to the man that had started to approach her and her eyebrow rose.

The man had an open jacket on; a scar ran from his right hip up to his left shoulder, where it disappeared under his jacket. But it was his hair that caught her attention. It was a sky blue, almost teal. She'd never seen odd colored hair other than her own.

He loomed over her, a bit over six feet, and stared at her with cerulean eyes. His bone piece was the right half of a complete jaw. Both upper and lower parts of the jaw covered his cheek. The teeth on it were sharp looking, like a predator's.

He brushed her hair behind her shoulder and pulled back her robe somewhat to see what the huge man had been talking about. Sure enough, there was a black, gothica six tattoo right under her right collarbone. She slapped his hand away, fixing her top, and glared at him.

"Don't just move people's clothing from their body." She grumbled, making sure not to snarl at him. No matter how much she wanted to.

He seemed not to hear her comment. "Why do you have that?" He asked, looking back into her eye.

She blinked, confused as to why he would care. "I got it two years before I died."

"You can remember back then?" She nodded. "Huh…"

He turned his head, looking around the room for a moment. His eyes stopped.

"Hey, Ulquiorra!" He yelled. "Come here!"

Suddenly a man with pitch-black hair and big, green eyes was next to the man. His outfit was almost all skin-tight, except for his hakama. He had a helmet looking thing on the side of his head. It was more of just half a helmet. If it were on the other side, it'd be a full helmet. Under his eyes were green, tear-like marks that trailed off his jaw. His upper lip was painted black.

"What is it, Grimmjow?" He questioned. His eyes glanced at Tenshi for a moment.

Suddenly Tenshi's hand was being held close to Ulquiorra's face. Grimmjow laughed.

"Ha! She's almost as pale as you!"

Tenshi pulls her wrist from Grimmjow's grasp and held it to her chest, trying to suppress her shudder. She looked at Ulquiorra for a second before glaring at the blue-haired man.

"So what if I'm pale! What does that have to do with anything?" This time she did snarl. Grimmjow turned his attention back to her, giving her a lazy glare of his own.

"I was just pointing it out. A kid like you should really know her place."

"Shut up, you stupid oaf! You don't look all that much older than me. We might be the same age!"

"I already know that I'm older, you were just 'born' a few hours ago."

"That doesn't count!"

"That's what we measure by here!"

"That's dumb!"

While they were arguing, Ulquiorra stepped away. He glanced back at Tenshi before appearing back at his seat on the tall pillar. Aizen cleared his throat and they both stopped yelling. Everyone looked his way.

"I believe that she should be our new third. Any objections?" He glanced around.

"Why does a woman always get to be third?!" Tenshi looked over at the one that had yelled. Wait…was that a talking spoon?

"Silence." Her gaze went back to Aizen. She stepped to the side of Grimmjow to see the lord better. "She can remember her past and she came here as an Aduchas. That's proof enough of her power. It's the highest positioning that is open, currently."

He turned his eyes back to Grimmjow and Tenshi, a sly smile sneaking onto his face.

"Oh, hell…" Tenshi glanced at Grimmjow as he muttered that then turned back to Aizen.

"Grimmjow."

"Yeah?"

"Take Tenshi to the third quarters. And no more arguing with each other. I would like for her to get along well with everyone."

"Yes, Milord…" Grimmjow grumbled. He turned on his heel and grabbed Tenshi's wrist yet again, dragging her out of the room, his other hand in his pocket.

"Huh? W-wait..!" She stumbled slightly as the large man pulled her out into the hallway. After a sharp turn down another hall, she pulled her hand free. "Gawd, would you slow down?!"

She held her wrist to her chest, rubbing the spot where his hand was and willing her shudder away. Inwardly, she cursed her overly sensitive skin once again.

Grimmjow turned around to her, his height making her look up at him. His expression changed from furious to questionable as he recognized the red tint to her nose and exposed cheek.

"Why are you blushing?" He stuffed his hands into his pockets. Tenshi let go of her wrist and walked ahead of him, her arms crossed around her waist, under her breasts.

"Just show me to my room like you were ordered to." She enjoined him, malice on her tongue. She cleared her throat, recognizing the sensation of holding another mind within hers yet again.

Grimmjow followed behind her, telling her accordingly when to turn, until they stepped out of the main building and into the sunlight. Tenshi lowered her head somewhat so that her hair blocked the sun from her exposed eye. She slowed down to walk evenly with Grimmjow.

"Why is it so sunny? It'd been so dark the entire time I've been here."

Grimmjow looked down at her, not turning his head to answer. "You saw the dome from the outside, right?"

"Yes."

"Outside the dome is Las Noches. Inside the dome is Hueco Mundo. Aizen made Hueco Mundo to his own whim, with the sun and the clouds. Even though a lot of the arrancars here can only be fully functional with darkness."

They entered another building and Tenshi was vaguely aware of Grimmjow telling her that this building was the third's quarters. Her eyes had fixated on Grimmjow's back. Right under his jacket, on the right side, was the same exact tattoo as what she had under her right collarbone. The gothica six.

"Heh heh… perhaps Kiko had something going on with her fortune telling after all…"

Tenshi's eye widened, her hand quickly covering her right eye. Yokomakaku was back…