Hiya! This is nowhere nearly as long as the last chapter, but it is an update, at least *shrugs*
We are starting to dig into the canon plot! Yay! Most of the fights will occur as normal, with small differences perhaps. I will try and write some of the more... influenced of them. That means more chappies! Yay again!
I hope this is not disappointing to anyone. I feel lacking. *frowns* Also, sorry to those I have not replied to their reviews yet. I didn't have any time. It really is ironic, how I managed to write this chapter while being sick, lol.
Thanks to Kaldi97, MasterQwertster, Scae-chan, Phantom Claire, ultima-owner, splitheart1120, dark shadowed rose, CelestialxXxAngel, Azhaeda, Quick-n-Popular, Lightningblade49, Snowyncess(yes, I updated) and several shy Guests for reviewing!
Rate: T, because of Ichi's -and Grimm-kitty's- potty mouth and incoming violence. Hints of lemon, though I won't write such.
Pairings: IchiRuki, UraYoru, onesided RenRuki, onesided IchiHime, hints of IchiTats. Others will be revealed in time.
Disclaimer: Bleach not mine. Full-stop.
Without further ado...
"Leave dem alones! Wha' dith Nel's brudahs do to yous?!" the small kid screamed, taking her hood off.
The rescue team stared at her dumbly. Then they saw Mugetsu on the sidelines, smirking smugly. Ichigo glared at him. He knew his aniki was letting things flow as they should.
Oh yeah. I suffered through this already, it's your turn, otouto, he seemed to say.
…
Chapter Thirteen – Meet Me Halfway
"We nevah thought dat our endless tag wud create such a mizundahztanding," the Arrancar kid said meekly, bowing in apology to the rag-tag team.
Ichigo deadpanned. "You were crying."
At that, the kid grinned and scratched the back of her head. "I'm an exdreme masochisd so it's no fun if ah dun cry a liddle."
Ichigo whacked Dondochakka. "What the hell are you teaching this kid!"
"Nel, is that your name?" Ishida asked.
The kid grinned. "Yesh! I'm Nel Tu, da Arrancar."
While the younger Kurosaki furrowed his brows at her claim, the others started introducing themselves as well.
"I'm Pesche Guatische, Nel's big brother!"
"I'm Dondochakka Birstanne, Nel's big brother!"
"And this is our pet, Bawabawa."
Ichigo sweatdropped and asked how Arrancars could have pets and siblings, when he heard barely-supressed snickering. He turned and shot his older brother, who was currently having his arms half-crossed, while one of the was covering his mouth as he stared to the side, a pink tint visible on his face, a glare that would have made any weaker soul piss themselves.
Nel soon came to realize they weren't Arrancars, and she and her brothers froze in fear.
"W-wut are ya..?!"
"Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami."
"Ishida Uryuu, Quincy."
"Sado Yasutora, Human."
"Inoue Orihime, Human too!"
"Kuchiki Rukia, unseated officer of Squad 13."
"Abarai Renji, Lieutenant of Squad 6."
"Kurosaki Mugetsu."
Rukia glanced out of the corner of her eye at the dark-haired male, taking notice of him not naming his race. Unfortunately, they didn't have any time to ponder things over, as Nel 'challenged' them to a game of tag by stealing –the ever-naïve- Ichigo's Zanpakutou.
Eventually, it ended in Nel's trust of him growing, as he saved her from her own brothers, and they offered to take the team to Las Noches. As they were riding on Bawabawa, the small Arrancar had taken to sitting on Ichigo's lap, much to the younger Kurosaki's annoyance.
Rukia, who was sitting beside Renji, felt a shiver crawl down her spine and turned to see the Arrancar staring intently at her.
"Wha's yous relationship wid Itsygo?" she asked, untrusting, having seen their earlier interactions.
Rukia's cheeks tinted pink as she looked shocked. Renji cracked up. "The Ladies' Man, aren't you, Ichigo!"
Mugetsu smirked at Ichigo's embarrassed scowl, but couldn't help the throbbing feeling in his chest when he saw how Rukia reacted. He pushed it to the depths of his mind. This was how it was supposed to go. Rukia was supposed to come to love the orange-haired magnet for trouble.
Soon though, Runuganga rose from the ground and Nel screamed his weakness was water. Rukia took out her Zanpakutou and prepared to release, when the dark-haired male held up a hand. As much as he would have wanted to take Ashido out, they did not have time for this right now.
He used a modified form of Sonido to appear faster in the air, in front of the large Hollow, and charged up reiatsu in his right hand, making black flames encase it and the rest of his arm. Using the full intensity of his reiatsu, he grabbed the Hollow's mask.
Much to the onlookers' surprise, Runuganga's mask started dissipating, and soon the entire creature disappeared into thin air.
Mugetsu shunpoed, so as not to be too suspicious, back to his friends. When he landed on Bawabawa, he raised his right hand to stare at it as the flames disappeared. His eyes were remorseful.
"What… was that…?"
Renji's mumble brought him back to reality and he stared at them for a second, before looking away. "That… was a consequence of something I had to do long ago."
They all decided not to push it anymore, and resumed their ride. Mugetsu sat down next to his concerned little brother, but ignored his confused gaze.
I must never release Bankai… he resolved sorrowfully.
…
"Jan-Ken-Pon!"
"Jan-Ken-Pon!"
"Jan-Ken-Pon!"
"Do you really have nothing better to do?" one irritated Quincy asked. They were only minutes away from the palace, but apparently, some people tend to get bored quickly. Such is proved by Ichigo and Renji's heated session of Rock-paper-scissors.
Though, if asked, they would say it was a way to decided who the winner of their argument was. And so, the two turned to the pale Quincy with death glares, thunder rolling in the background. He simply rolled his eyes and decided not to pay attention to them anymore.
Suddenly, Bawabawa stopped. The riders all turned to look at the source of their stop. There, in front of them stood a dark-skinned, blonde woman clad in a white uniform.
Bawabawa shivered in fright, and the three 'brothers' froze in shock as well. The members of the 'ryoka' team were wary of the woman's heavy spiritual pressure and they suddenly realized they could not defeat an opponent so strong.
Then, Mugetsu jumped off Bawabawa, and Ichigo was tempted to yell at him, until he remembered Mugetsu knew what he was doing. The orange-head clenched his teeth and hoped for the best, but stood on guard.
The older Kurosaki stopped only ten feet away from the Arrancar. He bowed graciously. "I suppose you are Tia Harribel, Tercera Espada, are you not?"
Her electric green eyes narrowed. "And who is asking?"
"Kurosaki Mugetsu. I wished to speak to you, as I have heard you are one of the more… unbiased of the Espadas," he began calmly. Her eyes gained a curious glint, but she remained tense. "Judging by your appearance here, I'd say news of Aizen's demise has reached Las Noches."
She nodded firmly. "We have tried it to keep from reaching Espadas Septima and lower, as well as the Numeros. We were not sure, but I see you wish to confirm this."
Mugetsu nodded solemnly. Harribel studied him for a second. "I believe you met Grimmjow. What of him?" she asked shortly.
"Why don't you see for yourself?" with that, he motioned Ichigo to throw him the bag nobody had noticed up until then. Mugetsu caught it, and revealed a bound Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, glaring fervently at his captor. "Sorry, Grimmkitty," he apologized while taking of his reiatsu dampening bracelet and unbinding his hand and feet.
Grimmjow fell to his knees, gasping. He continued glaring at Mugetsu, but did not make any move to attack him.
Tia was slightly shocked to see Grimmjow so… tamed. Yet, there were no injuries on him.
"Harribel-san, I do not wish to eradicate Arrancars, nor do I wish to enslave them. Grimmjow is proof of this. I'm sorry that he had to be bound, but seeing how wild he is, I wouldn't have risked my companions' lives. Not all of them can take one of his caliber."
The Tercera stared at his in expectation. "What have you come here for?"
Mugetsu took a small breath in. Even he was slightly nervous. "I come to ask for an alliance between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society. Or at least, an agreement of peace. Your ruler is dead. There are even reishi particles left of him, so sorry if I cannot bring proof of it. But I know that many of you were under his leadership solely because you owed him. "
Tia's green eyes looked away in recall, before she stared at him again, in slight relief. At her show of relief, he continued. "I wish all shinigami would share my opinion, but I believe in time, they could grow accustomed to the fact that Arrancars are Human, too, at the core. Even more so than the average Hollow. What do you say, Harribel-san? Will you join me in my quest to create a safe haven for all beings?"
The Arrancar's arms dropped from under her bosom, her eyes contemplating. The 'rescue' team were tense as they watched the two as they discussed.
"Are you the one who killed Aizen Sousuke?" Tia asked.
This was it. Depending on his answer, the Espada could react in more ways than one. His answer could bring either an alliance, or a full-blown war.
Yet, Mugetsu stared back unflinchingly. "Yes, I am."
Grimmjow was shocked to say the least. In the end, the one he had been looking for was the one who captured him in the first place. He icily realized he had no chance of winning this fight. Still, he felt his determination building. He would train. He would grow stronger, and he would defeat this… creature.
Meanwhile, the Tercera did something that surprised many of them. She went down to her knee, her right fist buried in the sand.
"Thank you," she said, in a relieved tone. "While that Shinigami was the one who brought us together and made us strong, he was also the one to twist us, make us do things we didn't want to. We are Hollows, but some of us did never wish to fight. In the shadows, he would use weaker Hollows as test subjects. I soon realized he never cared about us. He only cared about his objectives, and how to attain them. So thank you, Kurosaki Mugetsu."
She felt something warm on her shoulder, and she raised her head to see the dark-haired male not looking her in the eye, his cheeks pink. "Don't bow… It was just something I had to do."
'Something I had to do'…? Rukia wondered absently as she watched her friend. Mugetsu, there is so much we do not know. And I fear we wouldn't want to know, either.
With that, the espada rose. "Now then, can you gather those who you believe would join us? We need to settle somewhere and prepare this. I know there are some who believed blindly in Aizen, and we must decide what to do about them. It is not only out decision whether someone lives," he ended somberly.
Tia knew as well that casualties were to be expected. Zommari, for example, would never turn against 'Lord Aizen', and he would die, either by suicide, or in combat. She nodded. "I shall inform my fellow Arrancar of this. As not all of us know of recent events, it would be better to distract the attention from our gathering."
Mugetsu nodded. "I get what you're trying to say. We'll infiltrate Las Noches and stir up some trouble. When you have gathered everyone, we will meet up in the Espada Meeting Room. Don't worry, I know where it is. When you have arrived, raise your reiatsu and we'll try to be there as well."
She briefly raised an eyebrow, before nodding again. She glanced at Grimmjow, who was now dusting his pants. He scowled and scoffed. "Fine. I'll join you too. Never cared much about that bastard. But beware, Kurosaki!" Two head turned to him. He reddened. "Both of you! I will always attack you, until you dicks go down. And I will rise as King!"
Harribel unnoticeably rolled her eyes. Mugetsu simply waved him off. "Whatever you wish, pussycat."
Grimmjow growled before following his superior.
Mugetsu turned to his companions. He raised an eyebrow at their stupefied looks. Even they couldn't believe how smoothly that had gone. "What are you waiting for? We have a palace to storm!"
Ichigo grinned. In the end, they were still kind of the same person.
…
They stared at the five hallways. Mugetsu mentally sighed. He forgot how long it'd taken him to go through the entire base. He shivered when he remembered green, slit eyes. Oh, that was one that had taken much longer than expected.
They were ten. Yes, he counted Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka too, because he knew they would come too. Ichigo would have to face Don Panini and Ulquiorra. And he expected Grimmjow to attack him for his rematch, too. From what he knew, Chad faced some afro-guy… After which he nearly died. He cringed. Ishida went against some Cirucci… after which he met up with Renji and they fought the creepy Octava. In the meanwhile, Rukia had a score to settle with the Novena Espada, even though she didn't know it yet.
"Ichigo. You, Nel and Inoue go that way," he pointed towards a corridor. Ichigo would need Orihime most, and seeing as she wasn't captured for Grimmjow to bring, she would have to go with him.
"Ishida, take Pesche and go that way. No, it is not an order. He is going to go after you anyway," he said shortly, knowing what the Quincy would say. Ishida scoffed, but nodded.
"Renji, you and Dondochakka, that way." The tattooed shinigami glanced at the weird creature, before nodding.
"Chad, you go that way," he pointed. The silent giant nodded. If Ichigo trusted Mugetsu, he would trust Mugetsu as well.
"Rukia, you're with me." The petite shinigami had no time to be surprised at his choice. She saw how much the dark-haired male had pondered over this, and she decided it was more than just something like that. She shook off her small blush.
The team all faced each other with determination. Sharing meaningful glances, they separated and ran towards their goals.
We will come out of this alive.
Mugetsu glanced at the amethyst-eyed shinigami running by his side. He knew he would have to step down and let her face her inner demons. He just couldn't bring himself to shake of the stabbing feeling in his heart at the thought of seeing her bleed. He scowled determinately. No, she would be fine. That was why he would be by her side. Because he knew he couldn't rely on the Shinigami to come to their rescue anymore. He had to manage this alone.
To be continued…
Yes, there is an explanation as to why Mugetsu knows so much, even though in canon, Ichigo didn't. And it will come later, as always.
Feel free to ask about anything you found confusing, and I will try to explain to the best of my ability, as long as it does not spoil the storyline. Oh, and the thing Getsu did with Runuganga, it will be explained in the story as well, don't bother asking. Though those that have watched/read the Deicide mini-arc intently should have guessed it by now. No, it's not a mini-Final Getsuga Tensho-Mugetsu.
Read, enjoy of course, and review! Reviews are love!
-Datenshii