Truths Beyond My Mask
Chapter Three
I awoke the next morning to the sliding doors of my room opening and then an arrancar kneels down but the curtain of my bed. The arrancar bows lightly and I realize it's a girl as her long hair sweeps down over her shoulders hiding her cleavage from view. I sit up and stretch watching as the curtains rise revealing the woman to me. The room is relatively dark still and with a wave of my hand sunlight floods the room bathing everything in its light. A movement beside me brings my attention back to the woman who is now kneeling on the floor by my bedside with a tray of food. Her hair is dark brown and falls in straight layers to the floor behind her and long bangs frame her icy eyes. Her skin is very tan seemingly darker with how well in contrasts against her white kimono dress. Her mask is along both ears giving them point which resemble elf ears. She is obviously one of the more powerful arrancar.
"Good morning milord…I hope you slept well. I have brought you breakfast as Ulquiorra-sama requested and am told to give you this letter from Nelliel-sama." Her voice is like a haunting melody and she offers a small smile before handing me a piece of folded paper.
"What's your name?" I stand from my bed and walk along the floors toward the onsen and she looks over her shoulder watching as I disappear. "Go ahead I can still hear you!" I call out to her while changing into a set of clothing identical to the one I wore yesterday aside from the fact that they were silk and had white circular designs fluttering across the black. I run my hands through my hair detangling it and place my head piece on with ease. I dress in my boots and belts synching my haori together and forgo my gloves and shoulder plating.
"My name is Morimato Yukihana milord…I am your person servant of sorts." Her voice carries easily and I'm surprised she isn't more afraid of me. With a chuckle I walk back through the sliding doors closing them as I go.
"Snow flower…I like it but do you mind if I call you Hana for short…and place call me Ichigo." She nods and moves to lift the tray as I walk toward the tea area. I wave her off and pick it up before walking toward the sitting area where I notice tea is already set up. "Hana please sit and have a cup of tea with me I'd like to get to know you seeing as Ulquiorra has taken it upon himself to assign you to be the person I will see most days." She does as I asked and pours each of us a steaming glass of tea before settling in seiza. I open the letter slowly and read the note from Nel as she thanks me from coming back and also tells me how important my accepting Grimmjow was to her. I feel a smile crawl onto my lips and fold the paper again sitting it down on the side of the table before eating slowly.
"Ichigo-sama how old are you?" Hana's voice is soft almost fearful and I look up from my own tea to stare at her for a moment. "I apologize that was out of line…"
"I am twenty one in human years Hana and do not hesitate to ask me anything although I cannot say I will always answer you but if I am able to I will most certainly try to do so." She nods and stands as I finish before bowing and leaving quickly. A blush adorned her high cheekbones and with a small chuckle I walk from the room sealing my doors with my own reiatsu.
I find Ulquiorra lounging in a large library with a book in his palm reading silently about who knows what. Nel is talking with a young woman who has fiery red hair and icy blue eyes that where almost white. Grimmjow is reading a book about, you guessed it, war. His eyes dart up from the page to meet mine and then return to the page he was reading.
Ulquiorra shuts his book tightly and sits up before standing and gliding toward me. "Milord…we must speak of our tactics for going to the soul society. Would you like to take a seat?" I nod offering a chuckle before sitting down around a circular fire obviously styled after the one in my personal library. Ulquiorra sits down at my side and Grimmjow sits on the edge of the wood floor his feet planted on the cushions and Nel situated between his legs. The fiery redhead scurries out shutting the door behind her.
"Alright so I was thinking that either way we'd have to go through the Seireitei and obviously right off the bat three taicho aren't going to attack or send their men to attack because they are vaizado and allied with me and only me. However, I'm not sure they will along me to get far enough into the Seireitei to speak with Yamamoto-sotaicho due to my hollow nature unless I walk in at full power with my head held high adorned in the full outfit of the king…that will be so hot because it's always cold here. By the way can we talk to some in the research development and try and get them to have night and day in Las Noches I hate that its always day…damn you Aizen!" I glare at nothing and cross my arms over my chest shock the two males at my side with my childishness. Starrk walks in and sits down with Lilynette at his side. His eyes are weary and Lilynette rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.
"That will be taken care of promptly after this meeting Milord…I must agree however that you are correct in your assumption." Ulquiorra looks down at a map that he had somehow obtained of the Seireitei and looks over it. I swear the man is crazy intelligent.
King, he and I used to battle side by side in hollow form when ya were real small in the gense. He's very smart.
"I say we take three Espada with us just for protection as well as two arrancar. We should leave the highest ranking of the former Espada here so that the others don't get the wrong ideas and cause trouble. Zommari should also remain as well…he's too calm and honestly I don't trust him…" Grimmjow narrows his eyes fiercely at the end of his input and I stare at him for a moment shocked at his level headed survey of the situation.
"I also agree he is a threat to you Ichigo due to his undying love for Aizen…he once said he'd be uke for Aizen anytime…" We all shiver and shake our heads in mild disgust. I see Ulquiorra's lips curl in disgust and chuckle softly think that he would be a definite uke and Grimmjow would be a seme…Nel isn't submissive but she seems to be for Grimmjow. Starrk is defiantly top and Lilynette is bottom despite her dominance any other time.
"Do not even vocalize your thought Kurosaki…I can see it on your face quite literally and no I am not uke…" Ulquiorra growls real anger seeping into his emerald gaze but embarrassment also tinges his cheeks. I choke back laughter before waving my hand and nodding brushing off his statement as easily as it came.
"Anyway…I say Ulquiorra, Nel, and I should escort King to the Seireitei with Ichiraion and Yukihana accompanying us and Starrk and Lilynette should stay behind and take care of Las Noches!" Grimmjow finishes with a wide grin and turn as I tap my chin thinking on the plan. All eyes land on me except for Starrk who is once again asleep. Standing I walk around the circle to stand behind Starrk. Lilynette shrinks away as I bring my foot down on his head effectively waking the lazy ass up.
"The only way for that to happen is if Starrk actually pays attention and doesn't fucking sleep!" I growl leaning toward him with a fire in my eyes. He stares at me for a moment his eyes wide at the crazed look that seeps into my eyes. Shiro seeps through my voice on my own command to issue the warning in that watery and yet taunting voice that I had once been so fearful of. "If I come back ta see that ya messed up and Las Noches is in chaos Starrk I will not be happy and neither will the King."
I watch as he visibly gulps and nods after I stand straight moving my foot from his head where it was firmly planted. Everyone stares at me for a minute and Nel raises an eyebrow at me. "Why bother…" Ulqui mumbles under his breath before looking away from all of us.
"Oh don't worry my little uke-san I won't let Shiro out to hurt anyone!" A dark angry blush adorns his cheeks and he stand his hand fisting at his side his mouth opening as if to yell at me before snapping shut before he turns and stalks out of the room. Once the doors close I burst out laughing loud falling to the ground and rolling around on the floor.
Told ya King…that never gets old!
"I don't even want to know." Grimmjow states before getting up and walking toward the door with Nel by his side.
I look at the pair and begin to speak all playfulness gone from my voice. "Grimm, Nel we leave in one weeks time…be prepared to depart and Nel would you please stay behind I wish to speak with you. Starrk go sleep while you can and Lilynette will you please find Pesche and Dondochakka for me and bring them here?" She nods brightly and hurries out as Starrk walks out slowly with his hands in his pockets. Grimmjow had disappeared probably to try and provoke some arrancar.
"Ichigo did I do something wrong?" Nel twists her hands together and I turn around fully and take her hands in my own leading her back to the cushions. We sit down and I lean back looking to the ceiling.
"I wish to borrow your brothers and entrust them with a new job. I want them to be the personal guards for my younger sisters and keep a close eye on their progress. Both have abnormally high levels of reiatsu and could develop a hollow at any point in time. Is that alright with you?" Her eyes widen and she grins brightly nodding ever so slightly. Pesche and Dondochakka walk in their heads bowed and looking exactly the same as they had when I first met them. I wave them over and stand.
"Pesche and Dondochakka you are both being assigned to the gense to protect the princesses from danger…good luck!" Nel then proceeds to skip away leaving the two males alone with me. They flinch when the door slams shut. I chuckle and shake my head at Nel's antics.
"I won't hurt you but I do need to return your true forms to you even if you prefer this form. By doing so you will strengthen greatly." I smile and form a ball of white in both of my hands. Both close their eyes tightly while shaking and I hit Pesche but miss Dondochakka who darts from the room. Pesche's blonde hair falls into his pale yellow brown eyes. The top part of his mask cut off at where the eyeholes had been was attached to his forehead and the purple flap of fabric covered his right eye entirely. A long purple triangle was below his left eyes with the point face down. Three piercings of bone lines his left ear and his lips lifted in a calming smile. He wore a sleeveless hooded sweatshirt with grey outlining that was cut to just below the start of his abs. He wore white pants with a purple tie much like the one his wore in his hollowfied form. A white piece of armor was on his right forearm and his purple and white zanpakuto was attached to his right him. He wore the same sandals as the rest of the Espada.
"I'm hot…" Pesche mumbles to himself while looking in a mirror that appeared out of nowhere…what the hell?
Without a word I turn and dart after Dondochakka who is currently running through all of my buildings. As I run through the palace everyone turns to watch with wide eyes and some even follow. I catch up to him in the desert sands where Zaraki battled Nnoitra. I jump at him as everyone arrives and we wrestle around for a bit before I pin him and slam my palm into his forehead. I stand and dust myself off before walking back toward the library.
"You are to be back at the library before I get there Dondochakka I'm quite annoyed that I had to chase you like that and you are to be informed that if you ever run from protecting my sisters I will hurt you…actually no I'm assigning you to Karin who will hurt you!" He runs past me quickly and I laugh loudly placing my hands behind my head. Everyone lets out a sigh of relief.
"I thought he was going to hurt him…" Grimmjow says softly and I turn and shoot him a grin. He raises an eyebrow upon seeing my gaze and walks toward me setting pace with me as I walk back toward the library which is near Nel's room.
"Now Grimm you know that if I were to hurt Pesche of Dondochakka Nel would be very upset…which is why I'm assigning Dondochakka to my crazed sister to beat him around!" He chuckles and veers away from me with a small incline of his head. I enter the library and actually look at Dondochakka for once. Well for wearing such large clothing he was actually pretty small but he had muscle mass that Pesche didn't. Both appeared to be teens which was good.
Dondochakka stands a good head taller than Pesche, I know shocker, and the only parts of his mask remaining are the two wide yellow eyes holes that are now perched atop his head like glasses. Ebony hair stuck up in short spike across his head and into his tanned face. Two wide green and brown eyes offset his touch and rugged appearance. He wore a sleeveless white jacket that hugged his body and cut off at his pants that hung precariously from his hips. He wore the same shoes as the Espada as well as a small bone belt that looked like wrapping and held his pants up. His zanpakuto was hung on his left hip with ease. I was beginning to get worried about leaving either of them near my teenage sisters now.
"Both of you will return to the world of the living with me but first allow me to show you how to transfer your hollow form into a human form so you may join school to watch the princesses." They nod and I reach forward and grip the belt around Dondochakka's waist and the armor plate around Pesche's right arm. Both crumble under my touch and turn to small cubes of hollow bone revealing a blonde haired human with brown eyes and a black haired human with green and brown eyes. With a grin I hand them the cubes and they stare at them.
"What do we do?" Pesche asks staring at the object quizzically.
"Just crush the cube to become your hollow self. When you are finished break when I broke, which is marked with set of small red horns, and you will be human again." They nod and crush the cubes in their hands before hurrying off. I turn and walk toward where I feel Ulqui is so that I can apologize for how I treated him.
I find the black haired Espada sitting on the top of the dome staring out at the wide expanses of desert. He doesn't turn to look at me or even acknowledge me when I stand directly behind him. Then he speaks and it's so unemotional and hard that I nearly take a step back. "Go away."
I sigh and move to sit beside him joining his viewing of the perpetual night. "Ulquiorra I apologize for my behavior earlier my actions and words were uncalled for and in all honesty your sexual preferences are none of my concern…I apologize." He turns his emerald eyes to me and sighs softly. His eyelids fall closed and he nods as a weight is seemingly lifted from his shoulders.
"I forgive you Ichigo…but please at least save the comments for when it is just the two of us and not that many people." I nod and pat his shoulder standing up. He stays sitting and staring at the sky.
"Ulquiorra I'm going to the gense to visit my sisters and allow them to meet their new body guards I will return…keep a somewhat peace until I come back. I trust you'll do that for me. I'll be back…" With that said I turn and walk back the way I came with my hand tucked behind my head. I hear a short and soft 'Hai' from behind me and feel a smile twitch to my features.
-CB-
World Of The Living
"Ichi-nii…" My name is shouted while two forms latch themselves onto my hips. I hug my sisters back just as tightly before letting go and ushering them toward the living room allowing Pesche and Dondochakka to follow me in. One of the two shuts the door. My dad smiles upon seeing the two hollows following silently behind me. Yuzu looks at them with wide eyed while Karin just looks at them without emotion. I smile at my sisters and wave the two over.
"Karin and Yuzu, these two are two of my most trusted followers and I've known them for a long time. This is Pesche and this is Dondochakka. They will be staying with the two of you and acting as body guards in case any shinigami attack or even a rogue hollow. They will also be attending school with you." Reach over I crush the spot with my emblem on both of their bone armor and they morph until the look human like I do.
"What the hell Ichigo? What do you think I can't handle myself?" Karin shouts losing her temper. Dondochakka looks at her for a moment and sighs softly.
"Princess please do not be angered by your brother he is just trying to assure your safety. Plus you're stuck with Dondochakka he's not much help anyway!" Pesche is suddenly knocked to the floor by his brother's fists and then glares up at the bigger man with anger.
"Okay how about Karin set's up Ichi-nii's old room for the two of you and I'll start dinner…are you staying Ichi-nii?" I nod and she grins even wider, if that was even possible before hurrying toward the kitchen and grabbing her apron on the way.
"Son you are leaving for the Seireitei soon…thus is why you've personally brought the guards." I nod once and sit back against an arm chair running a hand through my hair. "So this Pesche and Dondochakka…"
"I met them when I went to save Orihime and they were protecting their Espada, Nel, who had been turned into a little girl. When we were battling another Espada Nel regained her older form. She followed me around most of the time. Dondochakka followed Renji and Pesche followed Ishida. They grew on me." He nods and we chare a small laugh together.
The night passed without many flaws and I got to witness Dondochakka get beat up by Karin for the first time. He cried like a pansy and Pesche just snicker while I chuckled at him. Oh I can't wait to hear of his torture with Karin. Oh this will be enjoyable.