Chapter 10: Final preparations

"What do you think of Jaegerjaquez-san, Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked up from his schoolwork, startled by the sudden question. "Well... to be honest, I'm not sure what to think." Deciding he had done enough studying for today, Ichigo flipped the textbook shut. It wasn't like he was able to concentrate under these circumstances anyway. In fact, these last few days in which one disaster had quickly followed after another had done little good for his state of mind. Ichigo was under so much stress he'd forgotten to turn in over half of his homework assignments.

Miss Ochi was not pleased.

"I mean, he has a really short fuse and he's incredibly rude to boot, but it's a big step up from what he was like during the war." He abandoned the table he'd been working at in favor of joining Urahara at his monitors. That way he would at least have a general idea of what was going on on Yoruichi's side.

One of the monitors displayed a map of Hueco Mundo that was centered around three differently colored dots. From what he could see, Yoruichi's group was getting pretty close to their target, meaning that Grimmjow, Yoruichi and Nel were most likely working their way through Takahashi's defenses at the moment.

Almost lazily, Urahara tapped some keys, activating more scanners over in Hueco Mundo. "Really?" Urahara shot Ichigo a disbelieving look. "You're saying this is an improvement? But what I meant to ask is whether or not you believe he's dangerous. For instance: if he had the opportunity, do you think he would try to harm you?"

Ichigo considered it. He was somewhat surprised to realize that, aside from making some threats, Grimmjow hadn't so much as lifted a finger at him ever since his arrival in the World of the Living. Of course, Ichigo knew perfectly well that not having access to any of his abilities while being closely watched by Urahara undoubtedly played an important role in keeping him docile.

Even so, Ichigo didn't believe that Grimmjow would try to attack, even if he believed he could get away with it.

For one: Grimmjow wouldn't get any enjoyment out of finishing him off while he was defenseless. If he knew the Arrancar at all, then Grimmjow would want to beat him in a fair fight, with both of them going all-out.

Then there was Grimmjow's accidental outburst back when he had visited Ichigo at home: he'd said that he hadn't been able to forget about the time Ichigo had saved his life. The memory of that event had also been the deciding factor in making Grimmjow come to Ichigo of all people when he was mortally wounded. Did that mean Grimmjow no longer saw him as an enemy? Did Grimmjow, dare he even think it, consider Ichigo to be his friend?

Ichigo barely managed to hold back laughter. The very notion of Grimmjow feeling even the slightest hint of affection for another human being (living or dead) was completely absurd; it was like trying to imagine Ishida without a stick up his ass.

And even if by some strange twist of fate Grimmjow did decide that he wanted a friend, Ichigo suspected he probably wouldn't be Grimmjow's first choice. He was sure that the man resented him, no matter how well Grimmjow was currently behaving. Ichigo had saved his life; not just once, but twice now, and that was something Grimmjow would never forgive him for.

Not only had Ichigo soundly defeated him back during the war, he had also shown him mercy. As if that by itself wasn't bad enough, Ichigo had then proceeded to put his own life on the line to protect him, from his own supposed ally no less. Ichigo couldn't have done a more shameful thing (from Grimmjow's perspective) if he'd tried. Even worse, it meant that Grimmjow owed him.

He certainly wasn't about to thank Ichigo for what he'd done back then, but his sense of honor probably wouldn't let him harm Ichigo either. At least, not until he considered the debt to be paid.

"Kurosaki-san?" Urahara hesitantly spoke up, reminding Ichigo that he was still waiting for an answer.

"No," Ichigo finally said. "He wouldn't try to hurt me, I think. Not unless I provoked him somehow."

Urahara was quiet for a little while. "Do you think of him as a friend?" he asked softly.

"I really don't know what he is to me right now. I'm pretty sure he doesn't think of me as one, at least."

"I see." Urahara didn't say any more, and focused his attention on the screen in front of him again.

Ichigo felt somewhat awkward just sitting there in silence though. He let his eyes wander, taking in all of the strange machinery that the lab contained. Urahara had some basic laboratory equipment down here; stuff like microscopes and Erlenmeyer flasks that any scientist worth his salt should have. On the other hand, Ichigo spotted a jar of clear yellow liquid with eyeballs floating around in it tucked away in between bottles of formaldehyde, and a machine that looked like it came right out of an eighties horror movie not too far from where he was sitting. He didn't even want to begin to imagine what all those drills and needles could possibly be used for.

Impressive and disturbing as all that was though, the thing that spoke to Ichigo's imagination the most had to be the giant, Garganta-creating apparatus that took up an entire length of wall. Ichigo suspected it did far more than just open Gargantas though; after all, Urahara was perfectly capable of opening one without the need for any machinery. Now was as good a time as any to ask for more details, Ichigo figured.

"I've been wondering for a while now, but what does that thing do exactly, aside from the obvious?"

"Ah, so you were curious!" Urahara grinned. By the time Ichigo realized what he was in for, Urahara had already settled back into his crazy shopkeeper routine. "I was starting to fear that my inventions were beginning to lose their allure to you kids." Like a child who had just been given a chance to show off his favorite new toy, Urahara wasted no time in chatting Ichigo up: "Its main function at the most basic level is to open a portal to other dimensions. So far I've only used it to open Garganta to Hueco Mundo, but it can do far more than that. In fact, calling these portals 'Garganta' isn't entirely correct; they're something far more basic than that. If I were to run some more tests, this baby would be able to open gateways into Hell itself!"

Seeing the expression Ichigo made after hearing that latest bit of info quickly had Urahara backpedaling. "I won't, of course," he hastily assured Ichigo. "As a scientist, I'd like nothing more than to experiment to my heart's content, but I won't take major risks like that when the situation doesn't warrant it. The last time I got carried away led to the creation of the Hogyoku and we all know how that ended up..." he shook his head sadly. "No, I know where to draw the line now."

"Anyway," he continued, "There's quite a few advantages to using this machine instead of opening a portal manually. You probably remember how you and the captains were trapped in Hueco Mundo when Aizen forcefully closed all the Garganta, right?" Ichigo nodded. "That won't happen again, not when we're using this baby!" he bragged happily. He sounded like a car dealer trying to make a sale. "Plus, you can be so much more precise location-wise; the maximum deviation is only two and a half centimeters, give or take a few micrometers-"

The computer interrupted Urahara's rant with a harsh beeping sound. "Oh dear," Urahara said, all traces of amusement abruptly gone.

"I take it that's not a good beeping sound?" Ichigo added, already getting a hollow feeling in his stomach.

The monitor now displayed no less than five markers where there should have been only three, along with an error message stating that the signal from the party's communication equipment had been lost.

Takahashi showing up was unfortunate, though not entirely unexpected. Question was, who did the fifth marker belong to? "Did he bring reinforcements?" Ichigo asked Urahara. "Maybe it's his accomplice, the one who busted him out?"

Urahara looked closely at the map. "I don't think so, Kurosaki-san. It's hard to tell from just this image, but I believe miss Nelliel is talking to to our mystery guest, judging by how close they are to each other. Yoruichi and Grimmjow aren't attacking them either, so I don't believe him or her to be hostile."

"What do we do? Will you go after them?" Urahara already had his trusty cane at the ready, but made no move to leave his post. "Not just yet. I want to see where this goes first. If they decide to make a run for it then my being there would only complicate their escape." He clenched his cane tightly when Yoruichi's marker suddenly shot forward and slammed right into Takahashi's, sending him barreling backwards several meters by the look of it. "Considering how this is unfolding though... you still remember how to operate the equipment, right?" he asked Ichigo rather sheepishly.

"I do, but... wait a second, something's happening." Ichigo pointed at the marker indicating Grimmjow's position, which had begun to blink. The area directly around it changed color, so that a roughly circular zone was now colored electric blue.

"Jaegerjaquez-san is releasing a great amount of energy. He must be preparing to- ah yes. There we go." A cone-shaped area originating from Grimmjow's position and aimed in Takahashi's direction shifted to the same bright blue color on the map. At the same time, Takahashi's marker abruptly began moving away from Grimmjow's at high speed.

Ichigo's jaw dropped. Then, he let out some very nervous-sounding laughter. "Did- did he just hit Takahashi with a Gran Rey Cero?" he asked disbelievingly. More parts of the map turned blue as the cone representing Grimmjow's Cero became wider. "Wow. He's really not holding back, is he?" Urahara calmly remarked, in a tone one would normally use when discussing the weather.

Apparently Grimmjow had finally run of juice, seeing how the high-energy readings on the map disappeared. The computer needed a little time afterward to literally redraw parts of the map after the Gran Rey Cero had decimated the area, leaving a good part of Hueco Mundo permanently scarred. Somewhere around the center of the devastation, Takahashi's marker was still visible though.

Ichigo needed a minute to find his voice. "He, uh, he's actually pretty durable, isn't he?" He managed to get out. Takahashi had tanked a Gran Rey Cero from Grimmjow at full power? Ichigo wondered how the bastard had pulled that off. "Hey, where did everyone go?" The other four markers had promptly disappeared from the map while Ichigo was still processing.

Urahara was about to say something, but stopped in favor of looking up at the ceiling. There was a pensive expression on his face. "Aha!" he said a few seconds later, as if having a Eureka-moment. "A Garganta just opened on ground level, just outside the barrier protecting the shop. I assume Yoruichi's group will be coming through it momentarily. Let's go check on them, shall we?"

Ichigo let out a relieved sigh. At least this mission hadn't ended in disaster, like the last one. Now he just hoped none of them had gotten injured too badly in that scuffle. Who knew, maybe they had even managed to obtain some information? Ichigo followed Urahara outside, eager to see everyone again. Even Grimmjow, he absently noted. Maybe he was starting to grow on him?

He had underestimated that blue-haired Arrancar. Even worse, this was already the second time in a row that he'd made that mistake. Granted, the first time couldn't really be helped, considering neither he or Hyperion had been in control at the time. That disastrous first attempt at using Resurrección had thrown all of his plans into complete disarray. It was a small miracle he was still breathing after barging into Soul Society so utterly unprepared.

Still, the power that Arrancar- Grimmjow, he remembered Yoruichi calling him- had displayed was very impressive to say the least. "That technique," Katsumi started, seemingly talking to himself, "do you know what it was?" Technically, he was talking to himself, he supposed. Even so, it didn't take long before he got an answer.

"I've never seen a Cero like that before," a voice replied. "I didn't think it was possible to concentrate that much energy into a relatively small beam. Still, it was pretty obvious he was overexerting himself. I could tell he was barely managing to control it near the end."

Katsumi let out a derisive snort. "He'd better have been overexerting himself. He sent me barreling across half the damn desert." The trench that he'd dug in the sand while trying to shield himself from the attack bore testament to that.

"I told you to use Resurrección," Hyperion nagged at him for what was probably the hundredth time in the last five minutes.

"You know, you're really starting to sound like a broken record," Katsumi berated him. "I wasn't going to use that much power just to fight off three morons who had simply gotten too curious for their own good."

He still felt a pang of hurt when he recalled the icy look Yoruichi had given him. Any affection she might have once had for him was long gone now. To think she used to be one of the very few true friends he'd had among the members of the Gotei. Ukitake and Kyoraku were easy to get along with, but they had been more like father figures, or even like a pair of fun uncles to him. Yoruichi had been the only captain in his age group (mentally, at least) that he had been close to. It might have become something more than friendship in time, but his death sentence and the subsequent slew of events had quickly put a stop to that.

"So, should we try replicating that Cero?" Hyperion's voice quickly snapped Katsumi out of his reveries. "No," he decided firmly. "We're not even sure if that attack can be replicated in the first place. Besides, we don't have any time to waste."

He'd finally made it all the way back to Las Noches' outer wall. It had been one interruption after the other today. First there had been that Arrancar scout who had gotten closer to Katsumi's little 'project' than he felt comfortable with. His original plan had been to simply dispose of the intruder, a decision Hyperion had heartily supported, but he had eventually decided that getting information out of the unfortunate soul would be more beneficial in the long run.

As it turned out, sparing his life had indeed been a wise choice: at least now he knew why there was a castle the size of a small country in the middle of Hueco Mundo's desert. That bastard Aizen had screwed over pretty much everyone in order to satisfy his God-complex. Aizen's betrayal was also the root cause of the emergence of so many Arrancar. Those had long fled the fortress by now though, after his little 'episode' a few days back.

"If we're not going to try copying that technique, what do you suggest we do instead?" his inner Hollow cut in once again. "I could always teach you some more of my tricks..." Hyperion whispered innocently. Katsumi laughed out loud; the bastard wasn't even trying to be subtle anymore.

"Right. You give me some more of your power, and I give you a little more of my sanity, is that it?"

The sound of Hyperion's eerie, twisted laugh reverberated inside his skull. "Don't you think it's a fair exchange? You get what you want in cash, but I'm just buying stock. You're still the majority shareholder."

"Yes, but for how long, I wonder? Having access to your abilities won't do me much good if I have to hand over the keys to my mind and body."

"Aw, don't you trust me, King?" Katsumi knew he was being mocked now. The Hollow had already won, and they both knew it. All Hyperion had to do was to be patient for just a little while longer before he could claim his prize. It would be ripe for the picking soon enough. "I'd never stand in the way of your goal, King. In fact, if it does come to that, I'd be more than willing to finish the job myself," his other self teased.

Katsumi halted at a seemingly random location. It looked as dull and featureless here as it did at any other stretch of desert, but to him, this was the most important location in the world right now. "You won't have to," Katsumi replied to the demon inside of him as he lifted his hand and made a vague gesture, as if drawing a symbol in the air. Right in front of him space began to warp. "I'm doing it tomorrow."

The cloaking field melted away before his eyes. This was the second one of its kind he'd created in this desert, and this one had been a rush job. Compared to the original, it was vastly inferior: someone familiar with illusions would no doubt be able to spot it, and the spell was already starting to degrade after less than a full day of being active.

It didn't matter though. After tomorrow, he wouldn't be needing it anymore.

Katsumi walked inside of the now-visible bubble, and reactivated the cloaking field once he was inside. He was standing in the center of a massive, circular slab of smooth stone. An incredibly complicated diagram was etched into its surface, and five tablets made from the same material as the slab loomed over him. The tablets stood at the very edge of the stone circle, each of them separated from its two neighbors by the exact same distance, marking the five points of a pentagram.

"So it's finished, then?"

"Having to relocate it so quickly made things a lot more difficult, but yes, it's finished." He started walking, tracing the outer edge of the circle and closely inspecting every tablet as he passed it. They were all the exact same shape and material, but each carried different engravings, and different spells. It had to be absolutely perfect. "Yama-ji's not gonna know what hit him."

In the back of his mind, Hyperion was cackling madly, but for once Katsumi wasn't annoyed with it. Tomorrow, he'd be able to sleep peacefully. That prospect alone was enough to help him tune out his other self.

He gathered up the mattress and blanket he'd found within the abandoned fortress and quickly made an improvised bed on top of the smooth stone. After stripping down to his underwear and folding up what was left of his Soul Reaper uniform, he slipped under the covers.

Lying in the center of an exact replica of his former prison, Katsumi closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep, smiling to himself contentedly.

"You guys really like to cut it close, don't you?" Ichigo received a chorus of groans and unintelligible replies from the Hueco Mundo expedition team. Yoruichi's group had re-entered the world of the living a short distance away from the shop. In the heat of the moment, Nel had opened a Garganta for them all to escape through, but couldn't link it directly to the shop due to the protective barriers around it. They'd been forced to walk the rest of the way back, and had all gone straight to Grimmjow's room to rest and recuperate.

"Can't talk. Tired," was the only part of Yoruichi's reply Ichigo could understand. She'd flopped down on a small mountain of pillows and wasn't showing any signs of moving anytime soon. Grimmjow clearly wasn't too happy about her taking up temporary residence in his room, going by the death glares he was periodically sending her way. Luckily for them, his earlier usage of the Gran Rey Cero had left him unable to do so much as lift a finger, so glaring was all he was going to be doing.

Nelliel was the only one out of the Hueco Mundo party to remain somewhat dignified. She had taken a seat at the table, received a cold drink from Tessai, and was calmly filling him and Urahara in about what had happened. The Arrancar they had brought with them had been bandaged up and was now resting on one of the spare futons.

Ichigo crouched down next to Grimmjow's futon. "You're bleeding," he pointed out. The Espada's sheets already had a big red spot on them, and more blood was steadily trickling from the cut in his hand.

Grimmjow lazily opened a single eye, gave Ichigo a look that couldn't have held less interest, and closed it again. "Just a scratch. It'll heal."

Considering a Hollow's natural healing ability, Ichigo figured he was probably right about that. That was no excuse to continue losing blood until it did however. Deciding to disregard Grimmjow's opinion, Ichigo went to claim the first-aid kit from the unfamiliar Arrancar's bedside and got to work on Grimmjow's injury.

"Kurosaki. What are you doing?" At least he was paying attention now, Ichigo figured, as he pulled at Grimmjow's wrist and inspected the wound more closely. "Treating your hand, obviously. You might want to get your eyesight checked out too."

"What are you, my mother? Piss off," the big blue lug weakly tried to protest. He was too tired to put any real effort into it. Ichigo was proud of himself for not taking the bait and getting into another bitch-off with Grimmjow. He tightened his hold when Grimmjow attempted to withdraw his hand and firmly placed it palm-side up on his own thighs. "Quit being a baby and let me concentrate," he admonished Grimmjow while pouring a bit of diluted hydrogen peroxide in the open wound.

It wasn't the best antiseptic out there, but it was great at getting small foreign objects- in this case, grains of sand- out of wounds quickly since it started forming bubbles once it came in contact with blood.

Ichigo wiped away the bloody foam that had formed with a clean piece of cloth and inspected the cut itself. "If you were a human, you'd need stitches. You cut yourself pretty deep." He took out some bandages from the medical kit. "I'll just bandage it up as is." He didn't even need to really think about what he was doing as he wrapped up the wound; he'd had plenty of practice at his father's clinic. Like with riding a bike, you eventually just switched on the autopilot for tasks like that.

"Done," Ichigo announced shortly after. "Can you use your hand easily like that? It's not too tight?"

Deciding to be cooperative for once, Grimmjow clenched his fingers a couple of times to test. "Works fine." Now that he was finally allowed to do so, Grimmjow drew his arm back and rolled over so he wasn't facing Ichigo anymore. "Now do me a favor and leave me the hell alone. I'm gonna sleep for a week. If the shopkeeper needs me, tell him to piss off." True to his word, he was out like a light in mere moments.

It wasn't like Ichigo had been expecting a 'thank you' or anything of the sort, yet Grimmjow's attitude still kind of pissed him off. "You're welcome, asshole." The other man wasn't responding anymore, sleep having already claimed him. Ichigo sighed, and started gathering up the equipment he'd used.

"Another failed reconnaissance mission," Ichigo mused to himself. At least this one hadn't turned out to be an utter catastrophe like the last one. No one has gotten seriously injured or captured. In fact, when the expedition team had returned there had even been a surplus of members.

The injured Arrancar they'd brought with them was one of the 'citizens' of Haven, the encampment under Tia Hallibel's control where most of the former Las Noches residents had currently settled. He had admitted to telling Takahashi the location of Haven, but Nelliel didn't seem too worried about the issue.

She had consulted Urahara and Yoruichi for advice on the matter, and all of them had agreed that Haven had very little chance of coming under attack. Takahashi had made it abundantly clear that Soul Society, more specifically Yamamoto, was his target. He'd be a fool to try and take on the Arrancar at the same time, especially when doing so didn't offer him any sort of benefit.

Ichigo had to admit he was rather curious about this Haven of theirs. Once he got his powers back, he could ask Nel if she would let him see it for himself. For now though, there were plenty of other things he needed to worry about.

"You did it. Well done."

A weak croaking sound clawed its way out of Katsumi's parched throat. He opened his eyes to the most glorious night sky he had ever seen. Silent tears slid down his cheeks as he made the realization that he was still here, was still himself.

On his left side lay the shattered remnants of a Hollow Mask. It had been large and heavy, with five spikes rearing backward like a clawed hand grasping the wearer's head.

On his right sat a young woman dressed in all black. Her long auburn hair was in disarray, and matted with blood. There was a gash on her temple from which blood still trickled, and one of her sleeves was almost entirely torn off, hanging on to the rest of her uniform by a narrow strip of cloth. The arm underneath it was missing what looked to be at least half a pound of flesh, with torn muscle fibers and pale bone exposed to the night air.

The girl's warm, brown eyes shone with emotion as she smiled down at him. The night's events had been rough on them both, to say the least, yet he was the only one crying. She never cried, as he would come to learn in time.

"I'm... alive?"

She chuckled weakly, finding the question oddly humorous, after everything that happened. She shifted her gaze from the Soul on the ground - who was now wearing Shinigami robes - to the empty, soulless husks surrounding them on all sides, staring up at the starry skies with unseeing eyes.

Katsumi's body was among them. With a bit of luck, it would still prove serviceable.

"Something like that, yes."

She had failed here, tonight. Too many people, both living and dead, had been consumed. But she had saved one. Had prevented him from becoming... something, far worse than the Hollow that had terrorized these streets.

The girl stuck out her hand - the one she could still move - and slowly, Katsumi reached out to take it.

"My name is Aoi," she introduced herself. "Aoi Watanabe. I'm a Soul Reaper." When she smiled, she smiled, with the corners of her eyes crinkling, and showing off every single one of her teeth. Katsumi thought she was beautiful. Somehow, the blood and grime only served to emphasize that.

"And now, so are you."

He opened his eyes to be greeted with Hueco Mundo's moon, hanging overhead.

It had been a long time since he'd thought about that night. His first meeting with Hyperion. More importantly, his first meeting with Aoi.

"Did ya have a nice dream, King?" Hyperion asked mockingly. It was hard to be sure if he was really mocking him, or just making conversation. It was just how he always talked.

With how much control he'd handed over to the demon, Katsumi wouldn't be surprised if the bastard had seen the dream too. Hell, maybe he was the one who induced it in the first place, as some sort of sick joke. It wouldn't surprise him in the least. The surprising part was how little he found himself caring.

"It was alright," he replied noncommittally. "Very nostalgic." He got up, stretched, and began his habitual morning inspection of the Seal and the cloaking field that kept it hidden.

The Seal, as expected, was in perfect condition. It was his masterpiece. He'd started working on it almost immediately after he broke out of the original version, and spent several days meticulously applying every layer of enchantments. The cloaking field however, had only about twenty hours left before it would break down according to his estimations. That didn't really matter though. It had just about served its purpose.

"You all done with the preparations?" Hyperion chimed in again.

"Yes. I have everything I need. All that's left is to put out some bait to keep those guys in Karakura busy." He removed his undergarments and put on some of the clean ones he'd found in one of the fortress' laundry rooms earlier. Clean underwear became quite the luxury item when you were an escaped convict. "They could become a major pain in our ass if they decide to stick their nose in my affairs again."

"No need to worry, King. I thought you some neat tricks, didn't I? You can take them, easy."

Already being talked to like a pet, was he? Well, he should probably be getting used to it. He could just try to off himself after dealing with Yamamoto in order to spare himself the embarrassment, but he doubted Hyperion would let him succeed. No, this was just something he was going to have to live with.

Quickly throwing on the rags and tatters that used to be his uniform, along with a cloak he'd found lying around, he stepped outside the barrier and sealed it again behind him.

His mind was made up. He'd been hurt many times over the course of his life. Aoi's death was something he would never be able to put behind him completely. As for Yamamoto's betrayal, that was a fresh wound. From his perspective, anyway. Time inside Izanagi's Seal passed slowly relative to the outside world, and he'd been unconscious for the majority of it.

Once he took his revenge on Yamamoto, he'd have some form of closure. Sure, there were many other loose ends he'd be leaving behind, but that was only natural. There weren't many people who were lucky enough to die with all their affairs in order. Katsumi wasn't planning on dying, but becoming a prisoner of his own mind was close enough, in his opinion.

He had passed the point of caring. He was tired. So very, very tired. And tonight, he'd finally be able to rest.

He made sure his Zanpakuto, his most trusted friend and partner, was properly attached to its sash. He was ready. "Alright, you two," he spoke to the other parts of his soul: his inner strength, and his inner demon. "Let's put an end to this."