Chapter 10

Karakura Town

Ichigo sat on a bench outside of the apartment building not sure how to proceed. This was the last thing he told himself he needed to do before he could leave Karakura town for the day. After collecting some things for Chad from his friends apartment Ichigo spent hours just waiting for the morning sun to come up while he thought on everything Urahara had told him.

Movement from the second floor caught his eye as his target opened the door and stepped outside in exercise clothes for a morning jog.

He didn't know how he was supposed to tell Tatsuki everything she needed to know. There was just so much. He was perpetually stuck in soul form and unable to speak with normal humans. A letter could work but it just seemed so cold. Especially when delivering news of tragedy. Watching her descend the stairs he was just about to swallow his pride and go awkwardly ask Urahara for a gigai despite how they had parted ways a few hours ago.

"Ichigo?"

The young man broke out of his thoughts and was startled to see her staring right at him clear as day.

He almost wished she couldn't...

It was half an hour later that Ichigo pulled a distraught Tatsuki closer to him as she wailed into his shoulder. Her tears of anguish staining the young mans clothes. Ichigo tried to explain it slowly. Piece by piece and event by event so that she could understand it all. Unfortunately it had the unintended side effect of making her guess why he was here.

Ichigo was here to explain why Orihime had been missing the past couple of weeks.

Her best friend was dead.

"D-did...did she suffer?" Tatsuki asked between sobs in Ichigo's shoulder.

"No. It was quicker than falling asleep." Ichigo lied. The truth being he didn't actually know any of the details on how she died. Only that she did.

"His name. I want his name! I want the name of the bastard who killed her!" Tatsuki screamed through the tears.

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi."

Tatsuki raised her head and looked at Ichigo with a face covered in angry tears. "Are you going to kill him?"

"Even If I have to use my bare hands." he promised darkly.

"Good." she replied with a sadistic look on her face that seemed out of character for her. "...she loved you you know." she added in a whisper as her face turned softer for a moment before devolving into a crying mess again.

Ichigo said nothing as he held her through it all.

Hueco Mundo, Las Noches

Dordoni barely raised his leg in time to block the punch and slid back a few feet from the impact.

'He's gotten faster! Stronger too...no choice then.' Dordoni thought as he finally abandoned the idea that he could win without his release and drew his zanpakutō. "Whirl, Giralda!"

Chad paused his assault as his training partner entered his Resurrección to really get a look at his new shield-like arm. It certainly finished it's evolution at a much quicker rate than he was expecting. It was something about this place. In Hueco Mundo his power sang to him in a way that was unlike how it did in the human world or Soul Society. A thought had crossed his mind that perhaps his power was somehow hollow in origin but he dismissed it as crazy. Now looking at the new teeth design emblazoned on his shield though he was beginning to rethink that position.

The smoke cleared to reveal his opponent. Among other small changes Dordoni's headplate had expanded into a helm and two spires were now sticking out of his shoulders. The big difference though now was the two blue cyclones of wind erupting from vents on his legs.

"Didn't you say something about me needing years before I was ready for your Resurreción?" Chad asked with a confident smirk.

"Don't get cocky on me now niño. I was one of the Espada once you know." Dordoni retorted as the two living whirlwinds came alive and developed bird-like hollow masks on their ends. Dordoni kicked his leg out and a masked column of wind shot forward as if to impale Chad on its beak.

"El Directo." Chad intoned calmly as he slammed his reiatsu covered fist into the beak of the wind creature. The living wind was shredded as Chad's attack tore it apart one chunk at a time and honed in on Dordoni's main body.

"Oh? Not bad niño. But you won't beat me like that." Dordoni said smugly as he dodged the blast and then had two more wind creatures come alive from the vent on his leg like a hydra sprouting more heads.

Rather then verbally counter Chad took a defensive stance and gestured a 'bring it on' motion with his hand.

Dordoni frowned slightly and then performed a series of kicks into the open air. His elemental serpents mirrored his movements and rushed down to Chad in acceptance of the challenge. He dodged the first one and let its beak smash into the ground. Chad broke into a sprint towards Dordoni and slid under the second wind snake as it tried to intercept him. To clear the final obstacle he fired off an energy wave from his arm at the third one obliterating it's head in mid-air.

Chad leaped up to where Dordoni was hovering to smack him back down to earth but realized too late that the Arrancar was smiling. "Ave Mellizos."

In an instant the amount of living extensions multiplied all the way to a full dozen and each of the nine new heads moved independently to either protect Dordoni's openings or attack the enemy.

Chad found that the opposite of his plan had happened when he was the one who was knocked from the air and crushed flat against the ground. Pushing the pain aside he gripped onto the mask portion of the head holding him down and threw the whole beast aside with his strength.

'More. Just a little bit more.' he thought conspiratorially as he felt a tingling sensation in his left arm. A new power just itching to be freed and join its brother right arm.

Before the next move could be made a tear in space opened up in the air above where the two were fighting. Ichigo hopped out of the garganta with a pair of large bags swung over his shoulder. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was interrupting something if the new arm and Dordoni's Resurrección were anything to go by.

'Maybe taking the portal straight to Chad's reiatsu wasn't the best idea.'

Chad opened his mouth to speak but Ichigo beat him too it. "Hey Chad. Picked up some stuff for ya." he said while indicating one of the bags. "Don't mind me. I'll just drop it off at your room. We'll talk when your done yeah?"

Chad nodded in agreement.

"Alright see you in a few. Nice arm by the way." he then turned to his best friends training partner. "Are those wind powers Dordoni? Man that is so cool. I'm a bit jealous actually." he commented honestly. "Well I'll leave you two to it." he said before vanishing in something that wasn't quite shunpo or sonido.

Arrancar Creation Chamber

Aizen's eyes flickered to the door briefly as he felt Ichigo's reiatsu reenter Las Noches. 'Well...I'll deal with that in a moment.' he thought before returning his gaze to the being kneeling in front of him. A humanoid figure wrapped entirely in bandages and housed in a glass box.

"Watch closely my friends." Aizen spoke to those gathered in the room, his fellow ex-captains and a smattering of Arrancar. "This is the culmination of all my research. The birth of the first highly specialized Arrancar. Created to serve but a single purpose."

The Hōgyoku shone brilliantly as it activated and nearly blinded the onlookers as it's light extinguished every shadow in the room. Aizen didn't even wince in the face of the dazzling display.

The glass box shattered and the bandages disintegrated. A small shockwave kicked a little dust into the air and when the light of the Hōgyoku finally died away it revealed a petite blond man with purple eyes kneeling on the floor.

"What is your name young one?" Aizen asked with a smile.

The adolescent-like Arrancar looked up dumbly with a face suggesting he wasn't quite 'all there' mentally. "Wonderweiss...Wonderweiss Margela." he answered anyway.

Aizen nodded. "Kaname. Could you please escort our newest comrade down to Szayel's lab for me? Please tell him to run the usual tests for new additions to our forces."

"Of course Lord Aizen." Tōsen replied as he approached the boy. "Come child." he said with an outreached hand. Wonderweiss grabbed it the way a little boy would his parents.

Aizen waited until the two had left the chamber before turning to give his next order. "Stark. It appears our mutual friend has returned. Please escort him to the throne room for me. I will be waiting." he all but demanded as he headed to the door himself.

Stark scratched the back of his head in annoyance as his commander left. "Man...why do I have to do it? Ulquiorra why don't you go?"

"Those were not Lord Aizen's orders." The other Espada responded lifelessly.

"Yeah but you wouldn't mind doing it and I'd rather go back to laying down."

"Irrelevant. Orders must be followed."

Stark sighed. "Fine...I'll go do it...stupid emotionless pale faced..." he grumbled as he stalked off slowly.

Ichigo's Living Quarters

Ichigo slid open the door to his room with the plan to quickly toss his bag on the bed and then go find Aizen for what was sure to be a…fun…talk. However he had to halt his arm mid swing when he saw Neliel waiting patiently for him.

Neliel stood up silently from where she was sitting and walked towards Ichigo briskly. The young man wasn't sure what exactly was about to happen. Was she going to slap him over the kiss? Poke him hard in the chest and demand to know where he'd been the past half-day?

What he wasn't expecting was for her to grab him by the collar and forcibly pull him down into a make out session.

Ichigo dropped his bag on the ground with a *thump* so he could free both his hands. One slid around her waist and the second intertwined itself in her hair. Her lips briefly opened and Ichigo made full use of the opportunity to snake his tongue into her mouth so the two could start dueling.

A small moan escaped Neliel's throat before she pulled back with a little tint coloring her cheeks.

"What was that for?" Ichigo asked with a broad smile.

"Just checking on something." she replied as she slipped out of his grip and sauntered back over to sit on the bed. "I'm rather new to this. I wanted to see if it felt as good the second time." she said with a smile on her face and laughter in her voice. "So...tell me where you've been." she then demanded in a much more serious tone.

Ichigo grinned at how she was able to switch from playful to serious in no time flat. "I could do that. But first you have to tell me what happened to me on the outside when the Hōgyoku was being used. I left before I got to hear the story."

"I could just force the information out of you." she threatened with a little gleam in her eye.

"I'd honestly like to see you try." Ichigo taunted good naturedly. "I'm not quite the pushover I used to be."

"Oh I don't know about that. Besides I can always try...other methods." She said as she pushed her chest out a little and ran her tongue over her bottom lip. "You're not the only one with instincts you know."

It took a great deal of effort for Ichigo to keep the straight look on his face and not reveal just how much he'd like for her to elaborate.

Neliel watched him carefully but eventually conceded to herself that this tactic had failed...for now. "Alright. I'll go first then. Initially the only thing that happened to you -after you stopped screaming that is- is that your body took on the form of an Adjuchas."

"Really?" Ichigo asked suddenly fascinated as he pulled out a chair from a nearby desk.

"Mmhmm. Your physique bulked out, you had claws, a tail, a few spikes here and there. It was definitely an Adjuchas. The most powerful I'd ever seen as well. Quite the achievement considering I was the one who held that honor before you came along."

"You were?"

"Yes. I am the 5th Espada Ichigo and I'm damn proud of that even if I was once higher. But the ones above me were all Vasto Lorde before they made the change. Those four are in a league all their own." Neliel then looked at Ichigo as if mentally considering something. "Well...maybe not anymore."

"What did I act like? The Adjuchas me."

"Berserk. Like a crazed animal lashing out at anything that got near it. You nearly killed Sado with a cero when he approached you."

Ichigo paled significantly. "...I did?" he asked with a shaking voice.

"Maybe he would have lived. Okay he probably would have lived. But it wouldn't have been pretty that's for sure. I pulled him out of the way regardless."

"Thank you Nel. I really owe you one for that. I didn't hurt anyone else did I?"

"Just one. The 7th Espada Zommari Leroux. He's still in the medical bay last I heard. In exchange for having the greatest sonido among us his regenerative abilities are rather sub-par. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You were already a Vasto Lorde by that point."

"...I think I better just listen to the rest of the story."

Ichigo sat patiently as Neliel took him through the rest of the tale, only interrupting her every now and again when he wanted to add context of what was happening in his inner world that coincided with events on the outside.

He grimaced when she hit the part where he just about cut Zommari in half across the chest and then nearly had a panic attack when he heard Aizen was testing the abilities of his berserk self with Kyōka Suigetsu.

'Calm down Ichigo. It's okay. Calm down. You were in the inner world. You didn't see it. If anyone saw it then it was part of the hollow...the hollow I assimilated...would that count?...no…no it's fine. I'm still fine. Still safe.'

"...higo...ar...ou...kay?"

"Huh? What?" He said snapping out of his daze.

"I asked if you were okay? You seemed out of it for a moment there." She said with concern.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm good." Ichigo said as he recomposed himself.

Neliel looked like she wanted to press further but eventually dismissed it. "Anyways. That's around the time when you regained control. You know the rest. Your turn now. What was so important that you had to leave and ignore Lord Aizen's questions?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by a loud knock on his door.

"Oy. Ichigo. Aizen wants to talk to you in the throne room. Lets go." the lazy and mildly annoyed voice of Stark came through.

Ichigo chuckled at Neliel's frustrated look at being interrupted just when it was her turn to get answers. He squatted down in front of her. "Answers later. I promise." he said before planting an affectionate peck on her forehead just below the edge of her mask.

As she watched him leave Neliel touched the spot where his lips just were in confusion. This was new. That little kiss didn't cause feelings of arousal or make her shiver slightly like the other two had. This one just put butterflies in her stomach and inadvertently forced a little smile on her face. She'll have to figure it out later.

With Stark and Ichigo

"Any particular reason I need an escort? Seems like a duty below the great Primera Espada." Ichigo commented with humor. It was painfully obvious Stark would prefer to be elsewhere.

The man just shrugged his shoulders as he continued to walk with both hands in his pockets and slouching terribly. "I don't know. Not like I could do anything if you didn't want to come."

"You don't think so?"

"If your reiatsu output against Aizen was anything to go by I wouldn't have a chance of stopping you without my Resurrecciōn and the top four Espada are strictly forbidden from releasing their swords while within the walls of Las Noches. Even if I was allowed to I don't have Lilynette with me so I can't actually use it. Not to mention the fact that even if Lilynette was here it'd be too much effort to bother."

"Why can't you release without Lilynette? Your sword is right there." Ichigo asked while pointing to the yellow hilt and sheath attached to his waist.

"This thing? It's only half. I can't do it without both parts." Stark replied now with one hand resting on the hilt.

"What does that mean?" Ichigo asked confused.

Stark groaned under his breath. "Telling the whole story is too much trouble. Ask Lilynette to explain it to you. She understands it better anyway."

The two walked in near silence for the next few minutes. The only sound being Ichigo once asking why they weren't using Sonido and Stark replying with 'he didn't feel like it'.

Eventually Ichigo forced himself to break the quiet again. "Hey Stark. What do you think about Aizen's plans?"

"I don't care."

"Do you mean you don't care about the war with Soul Society or do you not care what he does afterwards?"

"I mean I don't care. Aizen saved me from decades of isolation. Everyone around would die because I had no control over my own power. Not even splitting myself into two people was enough to stop them from dying. I don't care that he showed me control for selfish reasons on his part. I don't care if he wants me to help fight a war for him. I will never be able to repay the debt I owe to him so whatever he is planning I don't care. I'm his man until his dying day."

Ichigo filed away the 'split in two' information for later and cautiously asked his next question. "Even if it was possible his plan might destroy the entire world?"

Stark looked back at Ichigo curiously and almost asked why he thought such a thing. Then again..."I don't care." Stark responded.

'Well that was a bust. So much for possibly getting him on my side.'

The two reached the entrance to the throne room and Stark opened one of the colossal double doors to usher Ichigo inside. Once the young man had entered Stark turned around to go take a nap in his room.

Ichigo walked with purpose to the center of the room as Aizen stared down at him from his stone chair up on high.

"Ichigo. I am overjoyed that you have elected to rejoin us here in Las Noches. I trust that you finished everything you needed doing?"

"It was...an eventful trip."

"Yes I imagine so. Confronting your mothers killer outside your own home nearly a decade after the deed. Quite the novel experience it must have been."

Ichigo wasn't surprised he had this information. 'He claimed to have monitoring devices in Karakura that picked up my father being taken to Soul Society. It only makes sense he'd know about Grand Fisher. Which means he knows Urahara approached me...but not what we talked about. It's probably safe to assume the inside of Urahara's store is shielded.'

"It was. Although I would like to know how he became an Arrancar."

"He wasn't a member of my organization I assure you." Aizen responded to the unasked question. "He removed his mask the old fashioned way with the assistance of a Número in my army. When that Número then offered to bring Grand Fisher here to await my return from Soul Society so he could complete the change from an imperfect Arrancar to a complete one Grand Fisher refused."

"Would you have let him join?"

"No. I'm no saint but employing a killer who almost exclusively targeted young woman is just distasteful." Aizen said not sure if it was a lie. It would honestly depend on his mood on that day if such a thing had come to pass.

"I spoke to Urahara." Ichigo admitted, shifting the gears of the conversation.

'Oh? Are we abandoning the game of cordiality so soon?' "I am aware. Would you care to share what you discussed?"

"He made quite some hefty claims about you."

"Did he now? Such as?"

"That you're planning to craft an Ōken by sacrificing all of Karakura town so you can assassinate The Soul King." Ichigo accused figuring he should just go straight to the heart of the matter.

Aizen raised an eyebrow. "I see. That is indeed quite the claim. Do you believe him?"

"I...I'm not sure. You are both so much better at lying and manipulating then I could ever be. I can't keep track of what's true, whats half-true, and what's a straight up falsehood anymore. Still, I wanted to hear what you had to say though. I can't decide anything until I hear both halves of the story."

Aizen drummed his right-hand fingers on his chair as he composed his response. "Very well Ichigo. The truth. I do plan on obtaining the Ōken by any means necessary. I would very much rather obtain the one Yamamoto has hidden away than craft my own. I will only do so if Yamamoto destroys his before I can find it. If I am forced to use Karakura town to create the Ōken I am perfectly willing to allow you to evacuate whoever you wish. Your friends, your neighbors, even the entire town. I'll simply replace the necessary souls with rapists, murderers, and other types of scum from the rest of the country. It's the land itself that is non-negotiable. Once I have access to the Kings Realm I will seek out The Soul King."

"So you admit-"

Aizen ignored the interruption. "However, it is not to kill him but rather have an audience with him. To force him to see truths that his guards will not tell him. I'm not stupid Ichigo. Assassinating him could destroy life as we know it. I will show him the flaws in the system that he's created and demand he correct them. Over two-thirds of Soul Society forced to live in the squalor of Rukongai. The four noble houses running roughshod over the lower classes without relent preventing people like Kaname from getting justice for his fallen friend. The plight of the Adjuchas I've already told you about. Only the Soul King can overhaul the system and change these things. Any evils I commit along the way are justified if I can right the great wrongs of the world. I'll even duel you honorably in combat for what I did to Rukia once it's all over."

Ichigo clenched one fist as he carefully reviewed everything he was hearing. It sounded good. It sounded real good. It was a plan he could agree with. But…after everything he had heard from Urahara he just couldn't trust it. He wanted to trust it. He understood that you couldn't change the world without getting your hands dirty. But he just couldn't trust it!

"Does that satisfy you Ichigo?" Aizen questioned.

"Yeah...I believe you." Ichigo said as convincingly as he could.

Aizen looked at him with a critical eye as he saw through the lie."You've been awake for an awfully long time Ichigo. Why don't you go get some rest? You can tell me the details of what happened to you with the Hōgyoku later. I've pieced most of it together myself anyway."

Ichigo nodded politely before spinning on his heel and walking back towards the door. As he approached the exit Ichimaru entered through it and walked past him.

"Well well well if it isn't my favorite little Ryoka boy. Not quite a Ryoka anymore though are ya? How are you feeling after your big day?" he asked with a big smile.

"I'm fine." Ichigo responded without stopping and reopened the door for himself.

Aizen and Ichimaru watched as the massive door closed with a loud *thunk* and then the illusionary Ichimaru vanished into nothingness.

'So. Kyōka Suigetsu still affects him. Good. Then there's really nothing to worry about is there?'

A/N: Do you think Aizen is lying or telling the truth? As always reviews are welcome.