This chapter has been revised as of 7/14/18 for quality-of-reading improvements as well as to fix several continuity errors. This is what I get for writing two time travel stories with different backstories simultaneously, I guess.
Original note:
It's been a while since I've had to say this, but some of you have very, very interesting names.
Man, I'm tired. Hopefully I caught all the spelling/grammar errors, but it's late so I can't be sure.
Chapter 7
I walked through the doors as though I belonged in the darkness that lingered in the massive room beyond. The building contained no windows, allowing none of the light from the synthesized atmosphere of Las Noches to filter through. Even so, my eyes adapted to the low lighting quickly and I could sense my target well enough.
"You know," I drawled, my casual tone barely hiding the disgust and anger I felt, "I know a few people that would be irritated that you're wearing my relative's face."
A figure glanced down at me from the platform high above, its face hidden in shadow. "Who are you?"
"Jump down here and I'll tell you."
"I'm not sure I want to."
"It makes no difference. You'll die either way. Which floor you bleed out on doesn't really concern me."
The figure laughed, clearly male. "Bleed out on, huh? Bold words." He jumped down, landing in front of me with impressive ease. I barely even reacted to the image of a face eerily similar to mine that stared back at me. Change the hair and eye color, restructure the face just a tiny bit, and I was looking at a reflection of myself.
I kept my reiatsu at the levels of a typical Gotei Thirteen lieutenant to give the Espada in front of me a false sense of security. I could see the hunger buried beneath his borderline jovial expression and it sickened me. I'd only seen Kaien in the pictures that decorated the Shiba compound, but Rukia's and Kūkaku's stories had given me a sense of his life. And this hollow wearing his face was nothing short of desecration.
"You could say I'm a bold person," I said. "Kaien Shiba, right?" My eyes narrowed, a dangerous tone sliding into my voice. "Or should I say Aaroniero Arruruerie, the ninth Espada?"
The hollow wearing Kaien Shiba's face tensed, but before it could move I had already placed a strong Bakudō barrier around the building, sealing off all the exits. The walls shimmered for the briefest of moments, alerting the Espada to what I had done.
"My name's Ichigo Kurosaki," I continued blandly, drawing my zanpakutō and watching as the Espada did the same. "And I'm going to kill you for dishonoring the memory of Lieutenant Kaien Shiba, and for being a waste of space in general. You don't have a choice in this."
Aaroniero didn't even have time to open his mouth before I leaped forward and separated his head from his body. Instantly, the transformation into Kaien wore off and revealed the hollow's true form, the odd container breaking open and spilling onto the floor.
"Know that it was a descendent of the Shiba family that destroyed you," I growled. The heads screamed. I ground them into dust under my heel without a second thought and then vaporized the rest of Aaroniero's body with a neat Getsuga Tenshō. No blood, but, then again, I didn't like to be predictable.
It felt good, knowing that Rukia wouldn't have to go through that trauma again—though she would have to talk to Kūkaku again or something of the sort to work out the extra guilt she still carried around with her. That wasn't my area, though, so there wasn't much I could really do with it. I gave the remnants of the arrancar one last disgusted look.
The Espada's ashes still drifted around the room when I opened the door and left.
My eyes narrowed as I took in the lab door standing before me. It was made of an odd material, one that disturbed my senses and prevented me from detecting who or what was beyond it. The entire place made me sick and I was torn between turning the whole thing to dust in an instant or giving the Espada inside his due punishment. A quick death was too merciful for any of these hollows, but I was on a tight schedule. After all, Starrk, Lilynette, Tier Harribel, Ulquiorra, and Grimmjow were all waiting for me in Aizen's meeting hall or throne room.
I should probably remember which one I sent them to.
"Meeting room," Zangetsu muttered, eyeing me and probably guessing where my thoughts were. "Ya sent 'em ta the meeting room." He tilted his head to one side, genuine concern flickering across his features. He'd materialized to catch me when I'd nearly collapsed from a flashback—an unexpected, unwanted, and disturbing flashback. One that I was still trying to shake off. The adrenaline it had shot through my system was still making my hands shake. "Ya okay? You've been spacin' out more than usual."
"I'm fine," I said quietly. "I just know I won't like what's on the other side of that door."
Zangetsu scowled, glancing at said door and looking like he wanted to destroy it even more than I did. "You'll be fine. Keep calm; it ain't like he was the one torturin' ya."
"He had a hand in it the first time around."
"Before Kisuke and Mayuri sent 'I'm ta hell."
"He was purified and sent to Soul Society."
"I'm tryin' ta make ya feel better, dammit!" Zangetsu snapped. "Accept it!"
I shook my head. My hands had stopped shaking, finally. "I'll accept that you were trying. I'd hate to get too optimistic."
Zangetsu rolled his eyes. "Tch. You're lucky I'm in a good mood."
A smile tugged at my lips. "You're lucky I'm distracted."
Zangetsu flipped me off and then returned to my inner world.
Alone, I took a deep breath. I focused on my body and reigned in my attention to enter a state of mind I usually reserved to battle, in which I focused on my target and nothing else. This was not a situation in which I could afford distraction. The panic, the fear, the helplessness—that would come after. It would come after. I could do this.
I can do this. I will do this.
One more breath. Then I slammed open the door and strode inside, my expression completely, ominously blank while my reiatsu spread out from me like a wave.
"Szayelaporro Granz," I announced, my voice carrying easily in the lab around me, full of contents I refused to focus on and experiments I would not look at. "Let's talk."
"And who would you be?"
The owner of the smooth, irritatingly cultured voice quickly revealed himself as he stepped out of the shadows of the lab, screens flickering behind him.
"Perhaps," the Espada continued, "you would be the intruder that was sneaking around the castle earlier in hopes of avoiding my sensors?"
"I knew your sensors picked me up when I first entered and when I was letting them," I said dismissively. "That's not what's important."
"When you let them?" Szayelaporro raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to one side, amusement coloring his tone. "Are you seriously implying that you are fast enough to avoid my sensors? Please, don't jest. It's unbecoming."
"So is ruthless experimentation," I drawled, "but that doesn't seem to be stopping you."
"Sarcasm? Such a barbaric form of speaking. It pains me simply to hear your voice."
"Is that so?" I drew Zangetsu, leveling the blade at Szayelaporro. "Well then, allow me to fix that problem."
A moment later, I landed behind Szayelaporro, completing the shunpo technique. As I straightened and turned, I heard Szayelaporro gasp in pain. His ears fell to the ground, separated from his head by my blade with precision and in less time than it took the arrancar to blink.
"Better?" I asked, flicking the blood off my zanpakutō. "Or would you like me to stop you from even seeing my lips move as well?"
"Bastard," Szayelaporro gasped, drawing his sword. His reiatsu began to build.
"No," I said, using shunpo once more and severing Szayelaporro's hands from his body. "And no Resurrección." His hands—and his sword—fell and clattered against the tile floor.
Szayelaporro let out a strangled cry of pain and staggered away from me, holding the stumps of his arms under his armpits to try to slow the bleeding. It was pathetic to look at. I walked towards him, kicking his sword away when I reached it. The blade skidded across the ground, eventually coming to a stop when it hit a bank of monitors.
"D-d-don't get so cocky, Shinigami!"
Without even turning, I flicked my wrist and destroyed the hollows that had come bursting through the ground behind me. In less than three seconds they had disappeared entirely, leaving nothing but the destruction of their entry in their wake.
Szayelaporro was shaking, his eyes darting from me, to my sword, to the remains of his subordinates, and then back to me again.
"I know what you're trying to do," I said, pinning Szayelaporro in place with a glare. He froze, twitching spasmodically. "You're trying to signal the other Espada with your reiatsu by triggering an alarm you rigged in your lab."
After a brief moment of concentration, I pointed my finger towards the alarm I had noticed on my way in. "Hadō number four: Byakurai."
The lightning bolt pierced the alarm and rendered it useless in an instant.
"That won't work," I finished belatedly, lowering my hand. "I have a barrier around this room; even if you raised your reiatsu as high as it can go, it wouldn't be detectable to someone standing on the other side of that wall. There is no rescue coming for you." I allowed my lips to stretch into a parody of a smile. "Think of this as karma for your hand in injuring Nel."
"Get away from me!" Szayelaporro cried, turning to run only to find me standing in front of him once more, the shunpo so fast he hadn't even registered it.
"No," I said, my expression and voice deceptively calm. Szayelaporro looked down to see my cleaver blade buried in his chest, right through his heart. The hollow choked but kept moving, the sick experiments he had no doubt done on his own body keeping him alive—right up until my trench blade severed his head from his body. Both parts fell to the floor with dull thumps, blood rapidly pooling around them. I took a few steps to avoid the crimson puddles and then turned around entirely.
I didn't even turn when a rushing wind filled the lab or when a dark presence prickled at my senses. The Gates of Hell no longer held the same fear for me as they once did; I had bigger things to worry about. Even so, the sound of Szayelaporro's remnants being dragged into the void filled me with satisfaction, almost as much as the reverberating sound of the Gates of Hell slamming shut.
On my way out, I couldn't help noticing the various tubes and other devices that dotted the walls. My eyes narrowed.
A minute later, Szayelaporro's lab was nothing but a smoking wreck.
"Hadō number four," I whispered, pointing my index finger at the Espada meditating below me, "Byakurai."
The quick bolt of lightning shot out of my hands, but even with its speed the Espada managed to dodge it with a skillful use of sonido.
"Good attempt, Shinigami," Zommari Rureaux scoffed, regarding me as I dropped to the floor of his large quarters, "but I have the fastest Sonido of all the Espada. You cannot hope to defeat me with such cheap tricks."
He vanished with the peculiar buzzing sound that indicated sonido, but I merely stepped to one side to avoid his strike. He'd dodged my Byakurai through sheer luck; if I was as good at the spell as Byakuya, I probably could have killed him in one shot. Byakuy's lightning, while not faster than mine, didn't require the same buildup of reiatsu to launch. He could gather and use his energy almost instantly. Even now, I needed a second.
"Cheap tricks?" I repeated, drawing my cleaver and turning to face Zommari. "No. A cheap trick was letting you think you were faster than me."
The Espada didn't even have time to blink before his severed head fell to the floor. At the same moment it hit the ground, I flicked the blood off my blade and sheathed it in one smooth motion.
Only a few more to go.
"Don't let your guard down."
"Just hurry it up. This is boring."
My last set of targets had taken up residence in their own wing of Las Noches. Really, it was laughably easy to seal off that area and destroy any chance of escape. It suited their arrogance, though, and considering that I needed to kill them quickly, it was actually quite convenient.
My steps were swift and silent as I stalked the halls, stretching out my senses to find the reiatsu of the arrancar I was searching for. I would have to be careful with this target; one wrong move could land me in a very difficult position. His power was not one that could be taken lightly or simply overcome; time was, after all, an unavoidable part of life and death.
Baraggan Louisenbairn. His arrogance put Aizen's to shame and may have even rivaled Byakuya's back when he didn't distinguish between right and wrong when it came to orders. His Resurrección, while not based on sheer power, was devastating in its possibilities. Even his Fracciónes were incredibly loyal and possessed enough power to rival lieutenants of the Gotei Thirteen. Their power and their arrogance were why they all needed to die. I couldn't risk anyone becoming a threat to the Gotei Thirteen that I didn't absolutely know about. I could deal with hollows, I could deal with rebelling zanpakutō, but I was not dealing with overzealous arrancar.
Casting out my senses, I pinpointed the locations of Baraggan's five Fracciónes. Two of them were with Baraggan himself and the other three were in separate rooms.
A minute later, I was standing over the room that Baraggan was seated in, making sure to keep my reiatsu muffled. Behind me, the bodies of the three Fracciónes were already beginning to dissipate into reishi.
The only thing I can think of is a sudden, high-intensity Getsuga Tenshō. If I focus, I can make it dense and powerful enough to disintegrate him.
"Sounds good. Do it."
"But be prepared for the chance that he survives the attack."
With the mental equivalent of a wave of acknowledgement, I began channeling my reiryoku into my cleaver. Then, realizing that it would be best to go with overkill, I unsheathed my oversized trench knife as well. I raised them above my head, still keeping a tight reign on my reiatsu to give Baraggan no warning of his impending demise.
"Getsuga Jūjishō," I whispered, bringing the blades down and releasing the pent-up power they contained.
The attack crashed into the surprised Espada before he could even realize what was happening, and though he struggled in vain for a minute against the roaring wave of destructive power, his defenses were rapidly overwhelmed. I allowed a grim smile to cover my face when I sensed his reiatsu vanish alongside his body. Even his Fracciónes were gone, vaporized in the blast that only Baraggan had even had a chance of surviving.
The shockwave the attack created upon hitting the floor caused debris borne aloft on sudden winds to hurtle in my direction, but my Hierro did more than enough to protect me as I turned and started walking away, back through the hole I had carved in wall. The invisibility Kidō (though it was more designed to help users blend into dark spaces rather than completely obscure them) had worn off the moment I had released my attack, but that was really all it was designed for; Suì-Fēng had taught it to me so that I could wait and ambush targets.
My mix of sonido and shunpo carried me over the sands of Hueco Mundo at speeds that would leave other Shinigami spinning in the dust. For the sake of increasing my speed I had released my seal, and though my reiatsu was still impossible to detect for other people I took great joy in the feeling of the power coursing through me.
The last Espada I was searching for was not in Las Noches. Apparently, he had gone in search of strong Adjuchas in order to gain strength. It didn't really matter to me; he wasn't going to have the chance to release his Zanpakutō and he would be dead before he realized he'd been attacked.
Yammy Llargo. The tenth—and zero—Espada. Incredibly weak and incredibly strong at the same time. Outside of what had happened in the original timeline, I had never interacted with him. He'd struck me as an arrogant, stupid hollow, and one that didn't recognize the strength of others. It was almost disappointing, really, after I had experienced Ulquiorra's strength.
A spike in reiatsu nearby caught my attention and I let a small grin settle on my face. Almost done. I had to immediately drop out of shunido or risk flying way past my target, but shunpo alone, even in shikai, was more than enough to get me the rest of the way. Unless...
"You gotta! When else are you gonna do it?"
I mulled over Zangetsu's idea while I approached the battle raging below.
Yammy was in the middle of fighting a group of four Adjuchas. The less powerful hollows had the advantage of speed and intelligence if the way they coordinated attacks was anything to go by, but Yammy had them beat in sheer power. Unfortunately for the Adjuchas, power was the deciding factor in their battle. Yammy blew away two with a Cero and then punched another one so hard its flower-like mask completely shattered. The last one turned to flee, only for a Bala to catch it in the back. Yammy then moved to eat them, only for me to drop in front of him.
Because I was bored, and because Zangetsu had been begging me to do it because we hadn't done it for over a year, I had entered Resurrección. For the sake of keeping my power in check, I let my zanpakutō disappear with the change and kept my power under a seal. I could almost imagine the Captain Commander lecturing me for such casual use of power, but when else was I going to use it? And the longer I went without using my hollow powers, the more they affected me in real life. I had noticed that I was getting twitchy lately, a fact that Zangetsu was quick to point out.
I said nothing after my abrupt entrance—made possible with sonido—and gave Yammy a few seconds to draw his own conclusions.
"Who the hell're you?" he asked, his voice booming over the sands. "Hey, talk, you little bug! Were you with these weaklings? Do I need to kill you too?"
I tilted my head and brought up one clawed hand. Yammy growled.
"Well, I'll just kill you too!"
In an instant, I had buried my hand in Yammy's chest. Blood erupted from his back as I drew out the limb, flowing down his front as Yammy staggered.
"Wh—what the?"
With my other hand, I reached up, grabbed him by the face, and threw him to the sand and then held him there with my foot. After flicking the blood from my hand, I began charging a cero between my horns. Yammy was too slow to react and seconds later he was nothing but dust in the wind.
Stepping out of the newly formed crater, I let my Resurrección drop and sheathed my shikai blades on my back and waist as usual. I did a quick check of my body, ensuring that all signs of the shift were gone. During the war, I had used it so much that it had begun to upset the balance in my soul, making the transformation cling to me. Fortunately, the time off seemed to have done me good. I turned my attention inward.
Happy?
"For now."
Good enough. Old Man, how long until I need to be at the meeting?
"Twenty-three minutes."
I groaned at the prospect of leading that meeting. "I'm not cut out for dealing with hollows. That was Kisuke's job."
"And the Visoreds'."
Scoffing, I ran a hand through my hair and then began going back to Las Noches at a slow shunpo. "True, but only 'cause Hiyori and Mashiro were forces of nature."
I could practically sense both of my zanpakutō spirits shuddering.
Really?
"They were far worse than simple 'forces of nature'."
"They were fuckin' insane. Even when I beat Hiyori inta the dirt she would keep gettin' up!"
"Her sandals hurt," I mused, remembering the number of times I had emerged from a tent only to find footwear flying toward my face.
All too soon, I made it to Las Noches. It took me another few minutes to locate the meeting room. I found it at least a little ironic that I was going to be holding a meeting about what to do about Aizen's death in a room he'd probably used to muse about his plans for immortality.
There were going to be a lot of vacant seats.
The Espada seated at the table turned to look at me as I walked through the door. I lifted a hand, keeping a casual posture. "Yo."
"I trust that you have an explanation for the lack of other Espada," Tier said, crossing her arms under her chest and leveling me with a cool stare. Judging from the distinct lack of Nel in the room, I guessed that her Fracciónes had returned.
"You killed them, didn't you?" guessed Starrk, a brief frown crossing his features upon saying the words.
"I won't deny that," I said, dropping my hand back to my side. "Look, to put it simply, you guys are the strongest remaining hollows in Hueco Mundo that I know of. Hueco Mundo needs rulers; it was Baraggan before this, and Aizen after that. Now that he's dead, a new ruler needs to step in."
"If you are the one who slew Aizen and the other Espada," Ulquiorra said tonelessly, "then you inherit the throne of Hueco Mundo."
"That's a seat and responsibility that I don't want. I have my own set of things to do and ruling Hueco Mundo won't fit on that list. That's why I need you guys to figure something out."
"I've got no interest in leading anything or anyone," Starrk put in, giving me a slightly wary look, almost as though he expected me to try to force him into a position of responsibility.
"I figured as much," I said. My gaze drifted over to Tier, and she stiffened almost imperceptibly. "I was thinking that you would fit the role, Tier. You're strong both physically and mentally and you care for those ranked below you. From what I can tell, you don't take anything lightly and are good at analysis. Those traits would help you as a leader, not to mention the fact that your three Fracciónes could help you."
Tier was silent for a few tense seconds, which I spent holding a mental debate with my zanpakutō on whether she would accept or not. Eventually, she nodded. "I will accept that position as long as Soul Society agrees not to launch any unprovoked attacks on Las Noches and its residents."
"Sure," I said, confident that I would be able to stop anything like that should it come up.
"You're pretty confident about all this," Starrk noted, his eyes narrowing. "For a Shinigami that seemingly came here without a plan, you've been handling everything here like you know what happens next and what we're going to do before we do it. It's more than a little strange, to say the least."
"You're more perceptive than you look," I responded, no real bite to my tone. "I was planning on admitting this anyway, so it's not that big a deal." I paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm from the future."
I spent the next ten minutes explaining what had happened—not in incredible detail, admittedly—and fielding questions from Starrk and Tier. Ulquiorra posed and occasional question or comment, but it was mostly for clarification or details that I unintentionally skipped. When it was all over, I was almost wishing for a glass of water. My throat felt sore from all the talking, the old scars flaring with phantom pain, and I was beginning to feel slightly weary from the strain of interacting with people my brain kept telling me were supposed to be dead and not really there.
Half the time I was still trying to convince myself that this wasn't some kind of elaborate illusion of Aizen's designed to break me utterly.
"You came back to change the course of events," Tier said, her expression unreadable. "For what purpose, exactly? You have said that you wanted to prevent war, but the more power someone has, the more they desire battle. You cannot expect us to believe that you have entirely peaceful intentions; the fact that you have already killed many of the Espada is a strong indication of that."
I scowled. "I don't want to cause any unnecessary violence. There are some things that I can't avoid so I'll deal with them as they come. The other Espada were part of that; but with Aizen and Baraggan gone one of you needs to step up and take charge of Hueco Mundo. Hollows need to know who's the strongest. Tier, as I said and as you admitted, you can handle that."
Grimmjow grumbled under his breath and looked away. I looked past him.
"Starrk, you're the strongest. Honestly, I don't care what you do. Same with you, Grimmjow, and you, Ulquiorra." My reiatsu gradually settled around the room, the threat clear. "However, if you come to the world of the living with the intent to do harm, I will kill you." My voice dropped to a low growl. "And I will make it as slow as possible."
"Tch." Grimmjow stood, his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face that rivaled my own. "If that's all you wanted to say, I'm leaving. I've got better things to do than sit around and talk."
Ulquiorra opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "Do what you want, Grimmjow."
The Espada was gone a moment later, and I glanced at the remaining arrancar. "Listen, I'll stop by Hueco Mundo every now and then to check up on how everything's going. If something happens that you guys don't anticipate and you want my assistance, let me know."
"Where are you headed?" Tier asked, getting to her feet.
"Back to the World of the Living. I owe Nel a favor that a friend of mine can help with."
With that, the meeting ended. I used shunpo to get back to where I sensed Nel, and almost groaned when I saw her being chased by a very irritated looking group of Fracciónes.
"C'mere, ya little brat!"
"Bwahahaha! Nel wants to pway more eternal tag!"
"Maybe some other time," I said, catching Nel by surprise and swinging her up and off the ground. She yelped, twisting and crawling over me until she was hooked firmly on my back.
"They're bein mean ta me, Itsygo!" Nel declared, pointing an accusing finger at Tier's Fracciónes.
"I'm sure they are. Where are Pesche and Dondochakka?"
"Those two idiots?" asked Apacci, the annoyance on her face fading to be replaced by slight amusement. "We threw them out the window. Thought they'd be back by now, but I guess not."
I sighed, rubbing my forehead. I wasn't waiting for those two. "Okay, whatever. Did Tier tell you guys what's going on?"
"Yeah."
"Great. I'm leaving now and taking Nel with me; she'll be back in a few hours. Try not to destroy Las Noches while I'm gone."
"Yeah, Mila Rose," Sung-Sun said smugly.
"Oh, shut up!" Mila Rose snapped.
I left them to their arguing and opened a Garganta after glancing at Nel. "You'll be fine without Pesche and Dondochakka for an hour, right?"
"Nel can take care of herself!" Nel declared. Then, more quietly, she said, "but not all the time."
I smiled slightly as I stepped into the void between worlds, a steady path forming under my feet instantly. "Right. I'll get you back here soon, Nel, I promise."
Twenty minutes later, I stood outside Orihime's apartment back in the World of the Living. I wasn't in a gigai, so I didn't worry about anyone wondering why I had a toddler on my back. Nel was calm, looking around her with undisguised wonder, all the awe a child could feel reflected in her wide eyes. After glancing around, I raised a hand and knocked solidly on Orihime's door. The sounds of fumbling, followed closely by something heavy falling to the ground reached my ears and I raised an eyebrow. As the door opened, however, I quickly schooled my expression back to its normal scowl, though it was without its usual hostility.
Orihime stared at me, her eyes widening in surprise. "I—Ichigo! What are you doing here? Why weren't you at school today? Where have you been? And where's your body?"
"I had some things I needed to take care of," I replied vaguely. "Listen, I came across this hollow, and I think she needs help."
"She?" Orihime repeated, peering around me and trying to get a look at Nel. I tried to ignore how disturbing it was that Orihime naturally trusted me so much that even me saying that I had a hollow with me didn't faze her. Either that, or she had skipped over the hollow part entirely, which wouldn't surprise me.
"Yeah. May I come in? People might think you're a bit crazy for talking to thin air."
"Haha, that wouldn't be the first time!" Despite her words, Orihime gestured for me to come inside. As I took a proffered seat and sat Nel down on the ground in front of me, I saw Orihime's face slowly becoming more and more red. "Um, do you want tea? I have some ready—it's got some Tabasco sauce mixed in and—"
"I'll pass, thank you," I said, my stomach twisting at the thought of the other ingredients Orihime had no doubt mixed into her drink. "I hate to ask something like this out of the blue, but can you heal Nel?"
"Her name is Nel?" Orihime asked, kneeling in front of Nel.
"Gah!" Nel squeaked, trying to scoot away from Orihime. My hand on her shoulder stopped her, and she turned to face me.
"It's fine, Nel," I said softly. "She's a friend of mine. You can trust her, okay?"
Nel swallowed, and then nodded.
"You're so cute," Orihime commented, smiling brightly. She held out a hand. "My name's Orihime. What's yours?"
Nel looked at the hand for a few seconds before hesitantly shaking it. "Nel," she said.
"Let's be friends, Nel!" Orihime glanced at me. "Ichigo, what's the problem? And are you sure Nel's a hollow? She's way too nice."
"She's a hollow," I confirmed, gently tapping the cracked mask that rested on her head. "See this crack in her mask? I think it's an injury. It doesn't look right."
Orihime made a concerned noise upon noticing the crack. "Okay, I'll help. Nel, could you please stay still?"
After checking with me that everything was going to be fine, Nel nodded. Orihime gave her an encouraging smile before putting her hands to the blue hairpins that rested in her hair. "Sōten Kisshun, I reject!"
Two fairies shot out of her hairpins and rested on either side of Nel, an orange, translucent shield popping up between them. Nel stared at it, her eyes going wider and wider as her mouth opened in surprise. Orihime's eyes narrowed and she bit her lip while she concentrated on rejecting the damage to Nel's mask.
Slowly, the crack began to knit itself back together. It was incredible to watch; no matter how many times I saw it, Orihime's powers still surprised me. Coming to her had been a gamble, but it appeared to be working out.
Nel was frozen, a shocked look on her childish features.
"You should put up a barrier to prevent Uryū or Zennosuke from sensing Nelliel's reiatsu."
Heeding my Zanpakutō's advice, I quickly shaped some of my reiryoku into a barrier and placed it around Orihime's apartment. I was none too soon, for as soon as I did that, an explosion of pink completely blinded me. Orihime yelped and I quickly caught her before she awkwardly fell backwards. She was blushing madly but muttered her thanks and recovered her balance. After checking to make sure Orihime wasn't going to fall again, I stood and looked to where I could see Nel's outline through the rapidly dissipating pink smoke.
The grown-up Nelliel looked as calm as I remembered her being the first time I had seen her. The clothing she wore barely covered her, but for some reason she seemed averse to wearing anything else no matter how much Orihime had pushed for other outfits during the war.
Nelliel blinked and looked around the room for a moment before her eyes rested on me. Instantly, her confidant visage melted into one of pure joy and excitement. "Ichigo!"
In an instant, I had been pulled into a rather tight hug. Choking, I glanced at Orihime with a "help me" expression.
"Ah, Nel? You're choking him!" Orihime looked slightly panicked yet impressed at the same time. "Nel! Please, you're going to choke him to death!"
Nelliel paused. "Oh." She stepped back, letting me go. I coughed a few times, trying to get air back into my lungs. "I'm sorry, Ichigo! I'm just really happy that you helped me so much!"
"Ichigo," Orihime said hesitantly, "what just happened?"
Nelliel looked at Orihime, then to me, and then back to Orihime. "I'm sorry. My name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, former Es—"
"She's a new friend of mine," I cut in, making the executive decision that Orihime did not need to know that there were extraordinarily powerful hollows lurking in Hueco Mundo. She probably wanted to sleep that night, after all. "I met her while checking out an area where I felt a surge of weird...what's the word?"
"Reiatsu?" Orihime supplied, seeming to relax as I demonstrated normal behavior.
"Yeah, that. Anyway, she was alone, and injured, so I brought her here. I honestly don't know why she suddenly transformed."
"I can explain that," Nelliel said, giving me an inquisitive look. I nodded almost imperceptibly as silent confirmation that Nelliel could speak about that. "You see, when I was in Hueco Mundo, one of my allies betrayed me and caught me with a surprise attack, severely damaging my mask. The sudden release of my reiatsu through my mask fragment forced my body to suddenly adapt and assume the form of a child, which you saw." Nelliel paused, gaining a thoughtful look. "I suppose...if I try, I could probably—"
There was a pop, and suddenly Nelliel was no longer an adult. The pint-sized arrancar sat on the ground, blinking in surprise for a few seconds before she grinned. "Cool! Nel can tranthform!"
"Right," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck and releasing a slight sigh. "Orihime, I figure that Nel and I should head out. Nel, were you with anyone?"
Nel assumed an exaggerated, thoughtful pose, tapping her finger on her chin. "Um, Nel wath with Pethe and Dondochakka."
"Should you go back and meet with them?"
"Yup!" Nel jumped up, latching onto my back. "Leth go! Gogogogogo!"
"Ah, one second Nel," I grunted, adjusting the toddler on my back so that her weight wouldn't cause my sheathed sword to dig into my spine. "Thanks again, Orihime. I can't tell you how much I really appreciate this. See you tomorrow?"
"M-hm, you're welcome. Bye, Ichigo!"
I saw her waving as I left, making sure to go through a window instead of opening and closing the door. No reason to make Orihime's apartment look haunted to regular people. When I was far enough away—and confident that Uryū wouldn't be able to sense me opening the Garganta—I opened the rip between worlds.
"Ready, Nel?"
"Yeth!"
I smiled slightly and jumped in, making the trip in record time. The exit dumped me above the sands surrounding Las Noches. After a second of freefall that I spent searching for Pesche and Dondochakka, I disappeared with the buzz of sonido, only to reappear where I had sensed the dysfunctional duo down below.
"Catch!" I called, suddenly grabbing Nel and throwing her much like a football.
'Whoa whoa hold on a se—oomph!" Pesche fell back with Nel attached to his face, disappearing in a small puff of dust.
"That was mean, don'tcha know!" said Dondochakka. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well, if you want to get me back for it, you're going to have to catch me."
"Yeth!" Nel yelled while jumping to her feet and standing squarely on Pesche's chest. "Leths play eternal tag!"
One puff of pink smoke later and a fully-grown Nelliel stood over Pesche. Her eyes glinted with mischief.
"That's not fair," I said, taking a few steps back. My instincts saved me a second later when Nelliel vanished with snide and reappeared behind me, her hand connecting with air where my back had been an instant prior.
Pesche and Dondochakka, I noticed, were freaking out in the background and looking utterly relieved—if their body posture was anything to go by—with the sudden reappearance of Nelliel's true form.
Speaking of that true form, she was attempting to tag me again. I darted away, keeping my speed low so that I could truly enjoy the game.
Legs aching from a rather intense game of eternal tag (in which Nelliel had definitely cheated by going into Resurrección), I opened a Garganta and, after a wave good-bye to Nelliel, stepped through and made my way back to the World of the Living.
My feet hit brick the moment I exited the Garganta, and as the rip between the worlds closed I turned my face up to the sky, enjoying the feeling of the cold night air brushing against my skin. The moon's light stood in stark contrast to the inky blackness that surrounded it. I stared at it for a minute, noting that it looked just as desolate as the sky in Hueco Mundo.
The stars looked oddly bight. I tried to focus on one and found that defining its edges was difficult, almost as though the night was trying to swallow it and the star's light was struggling to remain visible.
"Morbid, Ichigo. Very Morbid. Maybe ya shouldn't play so much eternal tag or whatever it's called."
I snorted under my breath. "Yeah, sure. You try telling Nel 'no'."
Zangetsu said something indistinguishable and I knew asking him to repeat his words would be a mistake. After taking a deep breath, I reached out my senses, searching for Yoruichi's reiatsu signature. It took me a second—it seemed as though she automatically kept it suppressed, but she suddenly flared it—yet soon I sensed her approaching me at high speed.
The Flash Goddess appeared before me a moment later, a body slung over her shoulder.
"I sensed the Garganta," she said by way of explanation. "You're lucky I convinced Kisuke to take a break from his instruments for the first time in a week. He still sensed it, though, and sent me to investigate."
"Let me guess," I drawled, crossing my arms. "He knows it was me."
"Yes," Yoruichi replied. "Now get in your body; he wants to talk. Next time, don't be so haphazard with your Garganta."
"I didn't have any other way of getting here from Hueco Mundo," I muttered. Yoruichi rolled her eyes and set down the body she had been carrying so that I could enter it.
"Whatever you say, Ichigo."
I stood up, stretching and feeling several of my joints pop. Wincing, I glanced at Yoruichi. "How were you storing my body? It feels like I was stuffed in a box or something."
Yoruichi gave me a smile that could mean anything and began walking away. "Let's get going, Ichigo. Or do you want to get home late and have your father discover an empty bed in the morning?"
I winced at the thought of what he would think of that and hustled after Yoruichi, using a slower form of shunpo that my human body could handle.
It took me five minutes to get to Kisuke's shop and the entire time I had to listen to Yoruichi telling me different ways I could have opened a Garganta that would not have tripped Kisuke's alarms. She told me that I could've played it off like a normal hollow entering Karakura and released some of my hollow reiatsu—at a nigh-undetectable level, of course—and then "slain" that hollow by surging my non-hollow reiatsu.
I tuned most of her words out; it wasn't as though I had expected to be able to fool Kisuke for that long anyway. The guy was a genius; I was just a soldier. Admittedly, I had been labeled a "battle genius" during the war, but that was only relevant in very particular situations.
"Ah, Ichigo! How was Hueco Mundo?"
I looked up and saw Kisuke standing in the open doorway of his shop, a jovial smile on his face that didn't match the calculating gleam in his eyes in the slightest. Playing ignorant, I scowled at him.
"What do you want, Hat-n-Clogs? I've gotta get back home before my dad realizes that I'm still gone."
Kisuke made a noise of acknowledgement and took a few steps forward, silently closing the shop door behind him. Yoruichi moved to stand beside him and I had to stop myself from raising an eyebrow at the strange picture they painted.
"Relax, Ichigo," Kisuke said, his demeanor abruptly becoming more serious. I watched him with mild curiosity; how was I supposed to say this? Still, there was no putting it off anymore. I straightened, crossed my arms, and let impatience bleed into my tone.
"I'm not going to relax. Say what you want to say."
Kisuke sighed, drawing his hat low over his eyes and making it impossible to make eye contact. "Well, if you're in a hurry, I'll make this quick."
He looked up, his grey eyes flashing in the moonlight as his fan snapped into place over his face. "Ever since you've come back from Soul Society, Ichigo, I've noticed several inconsistencies that just aren't adding up no matter how much time I spend thinking about them. For example," he held up a finger, "I am reasonably certain that you did not achieve bankai while training with Yoruichi, despite the fact that all of my observations led me to believe that you would be perfectly capable of the feat. Furthermore, you displayed a level of power and speed that even Yoruichi had not expected." Here Kisuke paused and gave me a considering look. "You managed to stop Aizen, even though he was making use of Negación, and from what I gathered you managed to kill him, fight Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru at the same time and come out mostly unscathed.
"Most importantly, when you killed Aizen, the attack you used—Getsuga Tenshō—had enough power and potency to not only completely vaporize Aizen's body but also disintegrate the Hōgyoku."
I didn't react.
"I tried to accomplish that same feat for nearly a century," Kisuke continued, "to no avail. You're powerful, Ichigo, and your potential for growth is admittedly quite frightening. But in all of my possible outcomes for the Soul Society invasion, defeating Aizen—" he started anew with putting up fingers, one for each item, "defeating Tōsen, convincing Gin to side with the Gotei Thirteen once more, destroying the Hōgyoku, and doing so without any lasting harm to your person or even a bankai release were...unexpected, to say the least.
"Now, those achievements are incredible—and suspicious—all on their own, but there's more that I've noticed, things that Yoruichi decided weren't important enough to say herself."
The Goddess of Flash rolled her eyes, looking as though she was tempted to smack Kisuke upside the head.
"Your appearance—and the appearance of your zanpakutō—have changed dramatically since I last saw you, and the time that you spent in Soul Society does not explain the sudden growth. You claimed to achieve bankai with Yoruichi and used that as an explanation for the abrupt changes but it's a flimsy reason, one that does not hold up under examination. Achieving the bankai release typically does not impact a Shinigami's appearance or the appearance of his or her zanpakutō. Perhaps in slight ways, but nothing on the scale of turning a single-blade shikai release into a daishō pair and completely altering the appearance of that shikai. Not to mention your apparent increase in age and physical growth. Phenomena like that cannot be explained by bankai."
Kisuke took a deep breath, snapping his fan shut. "And then there are the most recent events: soon after returning from Soul Society, you disappear for several hours, skipping school in the process. While delinquent behavior is not uncommon for you, something strange happened. Your reiatsu completely disappeared at the same time that a Garganta opened in the location you had occupied. You were gone for several hours, and when you returned, you had a hollow with you. Miss Inoue's apartment was subject to another surge of hollow Reiatsu just a few minutes later."
"How do you know that?" I interjected, frowning. I had put up barriers; Kisuke shouldn't have been able to tell what was going on in Orihime's apartment.
"I have sensors installed in your friends' rooms to prevent sudden hollow attacks without ample warning," Kisuke explained, not seeming to care about the obvious invasion of privacy. At least it was just reiatsu sensors and not cameras.
"In any case, you then disappeared again, presumably through another Garganta. Some time later, you emerged once more in the location you had originally left from this morning. I had Yoruichi move to intercept you. The question is, what could a substitute Shinigami like you possibly need in Hueco Mundo, and what would you be doing with a hollow? And how would you be capable of opening and closing Garganta with such frequency?"
Kisuke tipped his hat back up and stared me straight in the eyes with surprising intensity to his gaze. "I have spent a long time attempting to come up with theories that would satisfy the sudden changes in your personality, behavior, appearance, and abilities. With your actions today, however, I am only left with two options."
He held up one finger. "One: I'm going insane."
He held up another finger. "Two: You're from an alternate or future timeline."
He closed his eyes, lowering his hand back to his side as he let the the pressure to speak slide onto my shoulders. I was content to let it stay quiet for a few seconds, and when Kisuke realized this, he added a little more.
"The first option would not surprise me," Kisuke said quietly, his voice full of self-deprecating mirth that seemed almost forced, "but I trust that Yoruichi would let me know if it were true."
"It might be," Yoruichi commented dryly. "After all, you spend so much time with your machines and plans and machinations that I'm surprised you can think straight at all."
Kisuke continued as though Yoruichi had never spoken. "The second possibility possesses so many variables and simple conjecture that it is more of a guess than a theory.
"However, I'm convinced that those two are my only options. So, Ichigo." He opened his eyes again and stared at me with a desire for knowledge that I could never hope to match. "Am I losing my mind, or are you from the future?"
The words hung in the air, challenging, waiting for my response. I let them hang for a moment, mulling my words over in my head before I even thought about opening my mouth. Finally, I sighed and uncrossed my arms. Kisuke really was a genius, past timeline or not.
"Yeah," I said, my words quiet yet easily audible. "Yeah, I'm from the future." I blew out a breath, straightening and banishing the heaviness that had overcome me for a moment. "That's all I'm willing to say for tonight; I'm not kidding about my dad finding my empty bed. But, Kisuke-you cannot tell anyone. I don't know what the Soul Society of this timeline would do if they discovered how powerful I truly am. I don't particularly want to think about it."
Kisuke nodded. "I understand."
I turned away, letting out a yawn as I did so. My mind was not tired, but my human body clearly was. It was a long walk back to my house.
"Ichigo!" I hardly paused when Kisuke's voice reached my ears. "If you ever need anything—"
"I'll let you know. Good night, Hat-n-Clogs."
Yoruichi strolled up beside me as I made my way back to my house. "You do realize that he won't give up on learning more, right?" she asked, her gaze fixed firmly on the moon shining overhead. I spared her a glance before following her line of sight.
"I know, Yoruichi." The weariness was back in my tone. "I know."
Original A/N Some of you were probably expecting more from the now-deceased Espada. Sorry, but Ichigo is extraordinarily strong and he can't risk any of them surviving for long enough to cause trouble and/or raise an alarm (save the mad scientist; Ichigo drew that one out intentionally).
Review Responses:
jcampbellohten: I really don't like Nnoitra. Killing him like that was somewhat satisfying.
clw123cat: *sighs*
sagar hussain: The Quincy arc won't come in for a while, if ever. I'm lazy and that arc is a can of worms best left untouched until it's finished.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed; reading your feedback is always entertaining and some of you even remind me about things that I tend to forget while writing!
As always, just check my profile for updates/news about my stories. The next chapter should be out in a little over a month.
Until next time,
-RoR
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