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ch 9
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The place on Ichigo's map turned out to be a lot of empty warehouses in the human realm. Stark recognized the taste of the air as belonging to Karakura, the very same town Ichigo had haunted several years before.
Lilinette wanted to go to their old empty field of flowers at the edge of town, once their mission was complete, to see how the place had changed. The fluid nature of the landscape and flora still fascinated the small hollow girl.
Stark had agreed, admitting to his own desire nap under the sun.
However, the duo had yet to discover the recipients of the letter they held. The concrete lots seemed empty, with not even a hint of spiritual presences.
"Maybe the map's wrong?" Lilinette grumbled, as she slumped against the wall of another empty building. "Maybe the Visored guys moved?"
The older hollow ran a hand across the nearest building. His fingers tingled. Curiously he pressed his palm against the concrete blocks. A zing of power pushed back against him.
Lilinette, sensing his curiosity, approached the wall as well, her nose crinkled as she sniffed.
"I don't smell anything."
Stark hummed, still tracing his hand across the wall, testing.
"The other buildings smell like dust and humans," the child continued frustrated. "I should be able to smell something from this one."
The older arrancar's hand caught on seemingly nothing. He wiggled his fingers, and the tips of his claws vanished, but would go no further.
Suddenly the invisible barrier pulsed, throwing Stark's hand back with a sharp zap of kido powered electricity.
"Ouch!" Lilinette squeaked, rubbing her hand sympathetically. Stark felt a moment of guilt for not shielding his partner from his pain, but the shock had been unexpected.
The barrier pulsed again, shimmering faintly visible, like a heat haze in the air.
Taking a step back, the hollows watched warily as a door opened from what moments before had been blank brick wall.
A lanky man with shoulder length blonde hair stalked out. Though not in traditional shinigami garb, the stranger held a zanpakuto ready in his hand.
Lilinette sniffed at him and sneezed. Stark sent her a questioning emotion, but she just rubbed her nose, mumbling about 'false-hollows.'
"Yo," the stranger drawled. "How can I help the two arrancar on my doorstep?"
"I'm here to deliver a message," Stark said, reaching into an inner pocket.
Atop the surrounding buildings seven dark shadows loomed, the metal of their swords gleaming. The arrancar froze. The shadows were strong, of that there was no doubt, but Stark felt assured he could over power them. However, Ichigo seemed to know them, or at least of them, and it would be rude to accidentally kill one of his friend's friends.
The blonde waggled a finger. "Now now, Aizen can't expect us to fall for a trap like that. Though I'm surprised he only sent you. Tell me, how did you discover our base?"
The duo simultaneously frowned in confusion.
"We don't work for Aizen," Lilinette squawked, affronted.
A blonde eyebrow raised. "Really? Then who do you work for?"
"No on-!" the little girl half yelled, before Stark covered her mouth.
"The message is from the one who killed Aizen."
A stunned silence filled the road. From above, the seven dark shadows hissed and squabbled with each other, before a haughty girlish voice shouted down to them.
"What are you talking about? The bastard's dead?"
"Hiyori," the blonde said sharply, silencing the shadows. Calculating eyes fixed on the taller figure. "So this guy kills our enemy, then sends a letter to our secret base on a whim, is that it?"
Stark tilted his head in annoyance. He just wanted to go take a nap. "He said he knew you had been injured by Aizen before, and he felt that you had the right to know of his death first."
The blonde hummed, then lowered his sword. "All right, give it to me."
The dark haired arrancar reached back into his pocket for the sealed envelope. He considered simply walking forward to hand it over, but felt that the seven watching shadows (who still had their swords drawn) would jump the gun and attack. Instead he tossed it lightly so it landed at the false hollow's feet.
Casually the blonde used the tip of his sword to flip the letter into his hand, deliberately letting his eye move from the arrancar to the unfamiliar seal on the envelope. Sheathing the blade, he cracked the letter open. His eyes flicked quickly through the words, stopped, then returned to the top to restart more slowly.
His hands shook, white fingers clutching the letter so tightly the paper warped. "It seems we owe this Mugetsu a great debt." He ran a hand through his hair. "I guess you better come in side."
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The inside of the Visored's base was not what Stark expected, from what little he knew about human architecture...and human physics. Granted, he didn't know much about the former, other than Ichigo's commentary about structural integrity in open spaces while touring Las Noches. However, Stark was sure such a large underground space could not survive without some kind of structural support. Perhaps the false hollows used kido. Could kido even be used that way?
"So, you're from Hueco Mundo." Stark was broken from his contemplation by the false hollow with puffy black hair shaped like a star. He held out a hand. "I'm Love."
Stark stared blankly at the appendage.
Love laughed nervously and pulled his hand back. "So, ah, I hear there's a lot of... sand there?"
The arrancar nodded seriously. "Yes."
"Right," Love cast about. "So, the kid and Hiyori seem to get along well..."
Stark hummed.
When Lilinette encountered the small blonde female, Hiyori, everyone could hear the shouting. The false hollow snapped and growled at the two new arrivals in her territory. Lilinette, not to be intimidated, immediately barked back a challenge, ending with the two scuffling on the floor.
The small green haired girl was pinned to the floor almost immediately. Hiyori had scoffed about the child not being worth her time, before stalking off.
Since then, Lilinette had taken to following after the other girl and leaping at her back at random intervals. Initially the Visoreds were alarmed at the girl's behavior, but Stark didn't seen anything wrong with puppy fighting. Lilinette certainly was enjoying herself.
Love scratched he back of his head. "Right, so Shinji asked me to tell you that a few of our friends are stopping by, and they want to talk with you. So, you can chill here for a few days. Unless you have somewhere else to go, that is."
The arrancar thought longingly of his sunny glade full of flowers, but shook his head. He must finish his task first. "No, we'll stay and talk."
The man nodded quickly, and pointedly did not flee from the lounging hollow.
Stark closed his eyes and leaned further into the boulder at his back. This 'underground training facility' didn't have the same scent of fresh air as above ground, but the area was still warm and comfortable.
"Pst! Hey Stark!"
Stark internalized a groan. Maybe if he laid very still and fuzzed his consciousness from Lilinette's senses he could be left undisturbed to rest.
"Hey!" came the insistent hiss, accompanied this time by a sharp kick to the ribs, which caused the dark haired man to topple over.
The older arrancar grumbled. "What do you want?"
"I found a thing," she said, crouching down beside his splayed form. "You need to look at it."
He sighed. "Where?"
Instead of answering the little hollow scampered to he edge of the cluster of boulders Stark had been napping in. Half crouched behind a rock, she pointed to the far wall of the training ground near the ladder which vanished into the ceiling.
Stark crept closer and followed her gesture with his eyes. He blinked. A shinigami stood by the ladder's base, a massive blade wrapped in white bandages slung over his back. His hair was a striking orange.
The arrancar could understand why his youthful half insisted that he see the 'thing she found.' The boy looked startlingly similar to his Ichigo, but his reitsu was smaller that Stark's own. A relative perhaps? Ichigo did say it would be bad for others if he was recognized.
Lilinette sensed his curiosity mirror her own.
"I'll go check it out," she whispered.
He shot a sideways gaze at her, before rolling to slump against the boulder. "I'll take a nap."
Lilinette growled in annoyance, but scurried out from behind the boulder to pursue her new prey.
The boy grumbled distractedly, occasionally squinting up to the distant ceiling space where the ladder connected with the warehouse. "Stupid Shinji putting my training on hold," he huffed.
"Who are you?" piped a high voice from behind his back.
The teen flinched and flailed, partially reaching for the massive sword on his back before spinning around.
Lilinette crossed her arms, an unimpressed frown pasted on her face.
"Who are you you little twerp? Why are you sneaking up on people? I could have hurt you!"
"You couldn't hurt me!" The girl scoffed and leaned in close to him, her nose wrinkling as she sniffed him. "I'm Lilinette Gingerbuck. Who're you?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, seemingly disconcerted by her close proximity. He scuttled backwards in a hesitant walk. The girl followed, keeping stride with his long legs.
Her eyes narrowed. "Ichigo? Is that a family name? What're you?"
The boy scowled. "I'm human. My name means 'one protector'. My mom named me, but I don't think it was after anyone on her side of the family."
"Human?" her nose twitched. "You sure? Never smelled one like you...almost like..."
At this point the two crossed behind the boulder where Stark had been napping. The boy looked more relieved than his initial stoic demeanor would suggest.
"Stark-san! Could you tell the shorty to leave me alone?"
"Don't call me that! I'm not small!"
The boy ground a fist into her helmet. "Care to repeat that short stuff?"
She flailed ineffectively in his grip. "You're gonna pay for that, you copy-cat!"
"Copy-cat? I'll have you know that I am one of a kind, though I admit from your vantage point, everyone's knees probably look the same."
"Nuh uh! You're copying-"
Stark got up and tugged her away from the boy, silencing her tirade before she would give away something important.
"What she means," he said to calm the self professed human's confusion, "Is that you share an uncanny number of traits with an acquaintance of ours."
"Oh? Like what?"
"Hm," the arrancar cast about for something unspecific yet eye catching. "Your hair is the same color."
"Really?" Kurosaki sounded genuinely interested.
Stark hummed. "Did you get your hair from your mother as well?"
The boy nodded. "Yeah, how did you guess?"
"She must be an interesting lady, despite taking care of a meanie like you," Lilinette cut in, perfectly timed to divert the teen's question from her partner. Stark took the opportunity to recline back, though he kept his eyes half open to watch this new interesting person.
Kurosaki scowled at her and punched a fist down on her skull. "Can it shorty."
The green haired girl rubbed her head, though her helmet like mask provided enough protection that she was not hurt. She stuck her tongue at him and pulled down an eyelid. "What's so special about a mother anyway? Is she like the pack leader?"
"Er," Kurosaki looked confused for a moment, before his eye found Lilinette's hole. "Oh right, you're a hollow. So, I guess you don't understand families..."
The little girl kicked him hard in the shins. "Of course I understand families, dummy! I have a Stark, and an Ich- a Mugetsu, and I even have a Nel to take care of, so there!"
The teen looked slightly abashed. "I didn't mean it like that... uh, well I guess sometimes a mother is in charge, though usually that's the father's job. Parents, that is fathers and mothers, take care of their children. Older siblings can take care of littler siblings too."
Lilinette pondered this strange human concept. "So, I guess Mugetsu's my mother, since he's in charge and takes care of me and Stark."
Kurosaki choked back a laugh. "Usually mothers are female."
The girl nodded seriously. "Then I guess Kaien's the mother...and Nel would be our little sister!"
The teen choked. Lilinette scowled thunderously at him. "Well, then what's your mother?"
"My mother is the kindest woman in the world," he said affectionately.
The childish hollow wrinkled her nose, stewing over whether 'kindness' was a desirable trait in someone you wanted to defend you from enemies. "Where is she? Is she a shinigami too?"
"No, mom's human. Everyone in my family is." Kurosaki shifted his shoulders. "My mom's been in a coma since I was a kid. We used to think it was and aneurism," he snuck a sideways glance at the arrancar. "That means something wrong with her brain. But, I talked to some of the guys in the Fourth Division, and they said it looked like something had disrupted her soul chain. The backlash is what sent her into the coma, apparently."
Lilinette looked ready to bombard the poor boy with more probing questions, but Stark could sense the teenager shutting down. The elder hollow casually shifted his leg, so that it knocked into the girl's ankles, causing her to unbalance and topple to the floor.
Immediately she rounded on him, rolling from her splayed position to a crouch, her teeth gnashing. "What was that for!"
Stark bore her ire blandly.
Kurosaki gruffly shuffled away once Lilinette's screeching reached uncomfortably high frequencies, but not before sending Stark a curious, almost great full look. The arrancar once again wondered how the human was related to Mugetsu. The boy looked jarringly similar to his friend. Were it not for the way the boy set his jaw (fearful desperate stubbornness, instead of his friend's effortless confidence) and the darker chocolate tint of his eyes, they could pass for mirror images.
Much later, after Lilinette's ire had calmed, the arrancar were summoned to a meeting out of the training room with the Visords. Also with them was a grinning blonde man wearing green, wearing a large striped hat. He grinned disarmingly at the duo, causing Lilinette to hunch her shoulders and hide behind Stark.
The dark haired hollow sat at the end of the low table, nudging his other half to give himself room to move. She remained stubbornly at his side like a limpet, her emotions a turmoil of unease at being the weakest being in the room of predators. Stark sent her a wave of assurance that, as the strongest there, he would not let her get harmed. He kept his own discomfort at being outnumbered to himself. Ichigo trusted these false hollows, and they had not turned hostile yet.
The assembly spoke quietly amongst themselves, the Visords having grown used to the arrancar's presence over the course of their stay. The eight who were present at Stark's first arrival lounged around the kitchen. Only Shinji, Ichigo, and the other blonde sat at the table with Stark. The blonde, Urahara, eyed the hollows speculatively over his fan, only occasionally looking away to speak with one of the Visords.
"So," Shinji drawled from the head of the table, now that the pleasantries were over. "Now that Urahara's been filled in on the situation, I guess there's only one thing left to ask you." He fixed Stark with a penetrating stare.
"What does your master want?"
Stark rolled from his slouch, frowning slightly at the Visord's address for his friend.
"Mugetsu doesn't want war," he said slowly. "But he won't let anyone get away with hurting us."
The green garbed man's eyes narrowed. "And what does he plan to do next?"
Stark shrugged, but before he could reply, Lilinette peered from around his back to speak. "He said he wanted to plant trees in Las Noches."
Everyone looked at her askant, including Stark.
Lilinette barreled on. "I heard him talking while I was playing with Nel, and he even said he would plant some flowers for me, when I asked."
"Why?" spluttered the orange haired teen.
The girl shrugged. "He said it was for a friend who always complained about the lack of trees in his life."
The room rumbled with barely suppressed laughter, though Kurosaki still seemed off kilter.
"Well, if that's all," Urahara said from behind his fan. "I suppose we could consider his invitation for an alliance."
Stark's brow furrowed, but he didn't let his confusion show. Ichigo didn't mention any sort of invitation being in the letter, but perhaps Gin had pressed him into writing some formal around the information that Aizen was dead.
From his green striped sleeve, the blonde pulled out a folded white rectangle of paper, stamped with a cracked mask in red wax. "We look forward to becoming pen pals."
Stark took the letter and tucked it carefully into an inner pocket of his clothing. He pondered whether he should attempt some human niceties he had seen shinigami and other humanoids express, but decided that bowing to anyone who was not his pack leader would be completely meaningless. Humans were so odd for pretending deference to weaker beings.
After a few, not uncomfortable, but definitely more antagonistic on the parts of Lilinette and Hiyori, farewells, the duo opened a Garganta and returned to Las Noches.
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A/N: Am I hinting at the new Quincy arc information being responsible for Ichigo's mom's coma? Maybe... Will this reconnect into the plot later...no, not at all. And that's not me being mysterious or sarcastic, I really have no intention of adding the Quincy arc in this story.
Also, is anyone familiar with the scene where Zangetsu complains about how Ichigo has no trees in his inner world? I'm referencing that. Lilinette actually overheard Ichigo complaining to Kaien about paperwork, which led to a tangent on trees in the spiritual world, then on to how Ichigo might consider planting some in that enormously useless empty lot of dirt Aizen set up in the middle of Las Noches. Only when Lilinette expressed delight at the prospect of flora did Ichigo seriously consider the idea.
There should be only one or two more chapters of this...but school is a thing which takes up time. Oh, fun news! I got accepted into the first tier of applications for Johns Hopkins! Which means I will have even less time for non-school things, so that might not be good news for you all. Really, I have this chapter done because a snowstorm's shut down my school all week.
I have plans for one more chapter...but Gin's getting all 'character motive explain-y' so it might be broken up into two.
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