A/N Here is Chapter 36, that's just about all I have to say until the ending A/N's, so enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, or any of its characters, and I make no money off of this.
Chapter 36
Las Noches: Ichigo's Room (The Next Morning)
Ichigo's eyes fluttered open, after which he was greeted with the sight of light amounts of purple hair tickling his cheek. He couldn't help but smile upon realizing whose hair this was, and the peaceful look he saw on her face only helped in increasing its size.
Slowly, he saw Yoruichi's eyes open, her looks giving off the impression that she was content and rested, a welcome sight from the mood she was in last night.
"Morning." Yoruichi greeted while giving Ichigo a smile, though the reason for this was unknown to him.
"Good morning, you sleep well?" Ichigo questioned, getting a firm nod from Yoruichi in confirmation.
"Best nights sleeps I've since… well, you could probably guess." Yoruichi stated, though her words had the effect of making Ichigo feel rather guilty.
"Sorry about that." Ichigo apologized, knowing what Yoruichi was referring to.
"I know you are, and I forgave you already. It's not like you wanted to lose your memory." Yoruichi lightly chided, though she would be lying if she said her intent wasn't to make him feel just a little bit guilty. After all, she didn't want to directly say that she would forgive him whenever he did something stupid.
"If anything, I blame Aizen, and when I see that arrogant son of a…" Yoruichi said before being cut off.
"Again, I can't let you go after Aizen just because of what happened to me. You do remember I had more than one motivation for bringing you here." Ichigo reminded, causing Yoruichi to frown slightly.
'Well I guess I should remind him how pleasant it can be to be around me.' Yoruichi thought mischievously, her signature smirk beginning to form.
"Oh Ichigo, are you telling me that you only brought me here to help with your little rebellion?" Yoruichi pouted as she rolled on top of Ichigo, an action that caused him to blush.
"Then I guess I should remind you just how…" Yoruichi began, pushing her breasts up against Ichigo's chest and subsequently causing the Primera to blush even more so.
"…invigorating… my company can be." Yoruichi finished.
"I-I ummm… you…" Ichigo rambled.
'I should cut him some slack, but I still need to get back at him, plus, I've missed this way too much.' Yoruichi thought upon seeing Ichigo become more flustered by the minute.
"Come on Ichigo, show me just how much you missed me." Yoruichi purred, bringing her lips closer and closer to Ichigo's.
The abrupt sound of the door opening caught both Ichigo and Yoruichi off guard, and, as a result, both froze, their lips mere inches apart.
"I am sorry to interrupt, but Lord Ai…" Ulquiorra began before stopping as his eyes came to rest on both Ichigo and the purple-haired woman.
For a minute of time, no one said a word. Yoruichi and Ichigo turned their sights to Ulquiorra, and Ulquiorra just stared at the two with a look of mild surprise, which was more along the lines of immense surprise given his personality.
"Hello Ulquiorra." Ichigo finally greeted, though neither his nor Yoruichi's position shifted.
"As I was saying…" Ulquiorra began, clearing his throat before he continued.
"Lord Aizen has called for a meeting in the chambers of the Espada and has sent me to retrieve everyone. He would also like for Yoruichi Shihoin to accompany you to this meeting." Ulquiorra stated, having the instant effect of making Yoruichi scowl.
"Is that all?" Yoruichi questioned dangerously, something that Ulquiorra picked up on.
"Yes… once again, I apologize for interrupting your… reunion." Ulquiorra said respectfully before walking out of the room and closing the door.
"He just had to ruin the moment." Yoruichi thought aloud, shifting her head to look back down at Ichigo once more.
"Well, then I guess you should get off me so that we can change and get going." Ichigo mused, though Yoruichi's characteristic smirk returned due to his words.
"Now you think I'm letting you off that easily?" Yoruichi asked rhetorically.
Before Ichigo could even respond, Yoruichi closed the distance between their respective lips and started off a passionate kiss. After a few moments, the goddess pulled back and released a slight chuckle upon seeing Ichigo's surprised expression.
"Now I can get off you." Yoruichi said jokingly before getting out of the bed, leaving Ichigo in his temporary state of shock.
"Hey Ichigo, where can I get some clothes to wear?" Yoruichi questioned, having the immediate effect of breaking Ichigo out of his trance.
"Huh? They would be in the dresser. Just pick something out to wear." Ichigo replied.
Yoruichi nodded before walking over to the pure white dresser. She opened the bottom drawer, the contents of which were all women's clothing, and picked out something that was to her liking, but as she picked it up, she realized something.
'Why would Ichigo need to have woman's clothing in his dresser?' Yoruichi wondered before turning around and glaring daggers at Ichigo, something that had the immediate effect of startling said Espada.
"What?" Ichigo asked confusedly, knowing full well the look of an angry woman. He had absolutely no idea what he could have done wrong given the fact that they had just woken up.
"Why do you have women's clothing in your room? Could it be that you have some little arrancar girlfriend I should know about that needs to change her clothes after spending the night with you?" Yoruichi questioned dangerously, her tone scaring Ichigo slightly.
"Of course not!" Ichigo exclaimed, immediately denying what Yoruichi had implied.
"Then I'd love to know the real reason." Yoruichi said sarcastically, obviously not believing Ichigo's denial of the fact.
"I was given the room and I just happened to have both male and female clothing in my dresser. Plus, if you bothered to look, the drawer with woman's clothing is full and all the clothes in there have been untouched." Ichigo defended.
Yoruichi looked back at the drawer and noticed that the only article of clothing that appeared to have ever been removed was the very garment she took out.
"Sorry for jumping to conclusions." Yoruichi replied in a slightly apologetic tone, though she didn't regret lashing out on the off chance that such a thing were true.
'Just once I'd like to go a day without pissing off some woman in my life.' Ichigo thought, though this thought was accompanied by a more severe worry that had recently dawned on him.
At this point, he had kissed Halibel, Nel, Risha, and now Yoruichi, all of whom were likely, at least he hoped, unaware of one another being kissed by him. This in mind, he also knew that he was attracted to each of them, that each of them were attracted to him, and that each of them are currently living in the confines of Las Noches.
'Crap…' Ichigo thought, knowing full well that eventually he would have to explain a great number of things to each of them. He would have to choose one, and that wouldn't be easy, most likely because of the fact that this was definitely going to blow up in his face, preferably not in the near future, but most likely in the near future.
"Ichigo?" Yoruichi called out, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Huh?" Ichigo muttered as if he had just been spacing out.
"Mind getting changed and leaving so I can do the same?" Yoruichi questioned, though Ichigo's response appeared to be delayed, as if he were still thinking about something of importance.
"Or you could stay… but I warn you, if you see me naked we might be a little late for that meeting." Yoruichi purred, giving Ichigo a seductive smirk.
"I'm good." Ichigo replied, a blush very much so present on his face.
He took his uniform and quickly put it one before vanishing via sonido, leaving a very content Yoruichi alone in his room.
'I missed his innocence so much…' Yoruichi thought before she began to change.
Las Noches: Outside the Espada's Meeting Chamber
'Hopefully I'm not late.' Ichigo thought as he appeared outside the meeting room.
"Hey Ichigo." Starrk greeted, prompting Ichigo to turn his sights to the former Primera.
"Morning Starrk." Ichigo replied, giving a small smile to his new friend.
"What, no hello for me?" Lilynette asked, feigning offense.
"Sorry Lilynette, how are you?" Ichigo questioned, prompting Lilynette to smile before she replied.
"I'm good. Better now that we're not in the Soul Society anymore." Lilynette replied.
"You and me both, that place was a dump." Grimmjow complained.
"Fights weren't too bad, but the no killing was a pain in the ass." Nnoitora added.
"Only trash such as yourself would continuously complain about such a nonsensical thing." Ulquiorra chided.
"Tch." Nnotiora scoffed.
"Where is everybody else?" Ichigo questioned, noticing that several people were missing.
"Halibel, her fraccion, Nelliel and her fraccion, as well as Risha, have simply yet to arrive. Aizen has not invited Barragan as well as Yammy, Szayel, and Aaroniero due to the fact that they were not present during the battles that took place within the Soul Society." Ulquiorra replied.
"If that's the case, then why was Risha asked to be here?" Ichigo asked confusedly. He assumed that Nelliel was allowed to bring her fraccion given how close they were, so that didn't really strike him as odd.
"I believe that Gin asked for her presence. Why that is, I do not know, but perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she was the first to greet Yoruichi Shihoin upon her entry into Las Noches." Ulquiorra mused.
"Makes sense…" Ichigo trailed off uneasily, seeing one flaw in that way of thinking.
'If Aizen asked for Risha to be here, that would make sense. But Gin asked… so why would he?' Ichigo wondered, though his mind came to a very unwanted confusion.
'Does he know? If he does and if he tells them before I get the chance to… they might just kill me… and Yoruichi WOULD kill me if this morning was anything to go on.' Ichigo thought.
However, he knew Gin likely couldn't know he had kissed all four of them, and despite any assumption on his own part, Gin couldn't know, and that gave him a bit of comfort. Perhaps Gin was just messing with Ichigo's head again, much the same way he had by picking out the outfits that the arrancar wore on the beach.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Nel questioned after she walked up to the group of arrancar waiting outside of the meeting room.
'She could offer the whole world and I still wouldn't recommend telling her what you're thinking. After all, what's the world gonna do for ya if your put in an early grave.' A voice called out from the back of Ichigo's mind. This time, it seemed familiar, but he had still been caught by surprise.
'Who the hell are you?' Ichigo questioned, though he was met with dead silence, both outwardly and inwardly.
"Ichigo?" Nel called out, sounding slightly agitated. Ichigo just assumed this was because he hadn't greeted her yet.
"Oh, sorry Nel, I had something on my mind." Ichigo apologized.
"Come on Ichigo, how hard is it to pay attention to something that is right in front of your eyes?" Pesche questioned accusingly, the intended meaning lost to Ichigo and everyone else, but clear to both Nelliel and Dondochakka.
"Yeah, what's the big idea?" Dondochakka piped in.
"Enough you two, I'm sure Ichigo is sorry." Nel said in a tone of mild contempt.
"Yeah… anyway, good morning." Ichigo finally greeted, prompting Nel to give Ichigo a small smile.
"Same to you. I trust you slept well?" Nel inquired.
"Yes, very well in fact." Ichigo replied contentedly, however he would in no way clarify why that was in his current company.
'I wonder if Yoruichi Shihoin had anything to do with that.' Ulquiorra thought before releasing a stifled chuckle, the sound of which made each and every Espada look around confusedly to find its source.
When their eyes landed on Ulquiorra, everyone save for Ichigo and Nel looked at him with widened eyes and flabbergasted expressions.
"Did you just laugh?" Grimmjow exclaimed, sounding as if he didn't believe he was actually asking that question to the stoic green-eyed Espada.
"Of course not, I was merely clearing my throat." Ulquiorra lied, instantly dismissing the notion. Everyone took his word considering the fact that both laughing and then lying were two things that no one would have ever expected the Cuarto to do.
Though this was uncharacteristic, Ulquiorra had a very good reason for not mentioning why he was laughing, and two of the remaining three of those reasons were walking down the hallway towards him.
"Good morning master." Risha greeted after she and Halibel had come up to the group, giving Ichigo a slight bow and having the immediate effect of making Ichigo sigh.
"Good morning Risha, Halibel." Ichigo greeted with a light smile, though Halibel seemed to not have heard him.
"Good morning." Halibel replied, deciding that acting coldly towards Ichigo would be rather pointless in the long run.
"So where are you fraccio…" Ichigo said before a rather loud noise cut him off.
"What'd you just say to me?!" A female's voice came from down the hall.
"Apacci." Ichigo said, prompting Lilynette to giggle since she knew very well that he was right.
"You heard me!" Another female exclaimed rather loudly.
"Mila Rose." Ichigo said, now holding up two fingers and making Lilynette giggle more so.
"Won't you two stop being so immature, we are almost at the meeting room." Another female chided.
"And there's Sung-Sun." Ichigo finished, holding up a third finger.
"SHUT UP!" Two females seemed to exclaim.
"You'd think they'd come up with better comebacks given how often she insults them being immature." Ichigo thought aloud before the three female fraccion came into view and approached the group.
"Looks like everyone's here, so why are we still waiting?" Ichigo questioned.
Las Noches: Hallways Leading to the Meeting Room of the Espada
"So are either of you two curious as to why Ichigo really brought Yoruichi Shihoin here to Las Noches?" Gin questioned as he walked towards the meeting chamber of the Espada alongside Aizen and Tosen.
"I know exactly why he has brought her here, and it only services to my advantage." Aizen replied. His words made Gin raise an eyebrow, thinking something entirely different than Aizen currently was, but he couldn't know that.
"You intend to use her to control him?" Gin inquired, though Aizen only chuckled at his words.
"I wouldn't think of it Gin. With the information that is currently in my possession as of yesterday, I will not need to control Ichigo by any means." Aizen replied.
"What do you mean by that, Lord Aizen?" Tosen questioned, deciding to voice his confusion.
"All will be revealed in due time." Aizen replied cryptically.
"On a different topic, when do you think Halibel and Nelliel will hash it out over Ichigo?" Gin questioned.
"Pardon?" Aizen exclaimed, not understanding quite what Gin had meant. At the moment, he thought Ichigo to be romantically attached to Yoruichi Shihoin. He knew of the fact that the other three had been 'attracted to him' but such a thing wouldn't matter if he had already chosen Yoruichi.
"Something the great Lord Sosuke Aizen doesn't know? This is a rare day indeed." Gin chirped, causing Aizen to sigh. He knew exactly why the two arrancar would want to "hash it out" but he simply wanted clarification.
"Anyway… it is my belief that Halibel and Nelliel are both at odds over Ichigo. I saw how they interacted before and can safely assume this is the case. I also think that Risha has a bit of a crush on our resident Primera. Ulquiorra even mentioned to me at one point that they slept together, as in literally." Gin explained.
"Ichigo informed me of a potential relationship that could have sprouted between himself and Yoruichi Shihoin before he was summoned here to Las Noches. I believe he has chosen her as his… partner." Aizen stated as eloquently as possible.
"Perhaps it is less complicated than you make it out to be. It is entirely possible that each of them has had a romantic interaction with Ichigo Kursoaki previously and they are all now becoming aware of this, with the exception of Yoruichi Shihoin, who isn't likely to know at the moment." Tosen commented, ironically enough finding this topic of conversation interesting.
"If that were the case, then wouldn't they be upset with Ichigo?" Gin asked amusedly.
"Extremely… either that or they would extremely upset with one another. In any case, it doesn't bode well for the peace here in Las Noches." Tosen replied.
"True… but think of the entertainment value." Gin said, grinning madly at the prospect of messing extensively with Ichigo.
"I would ask that you tread carefully Gin. Emotions such as passion or desires in a romantic sense were not things I had anticipated the female arrancar to even possess. I merely worry that they will react quite negatively to your interference in the matter." Aizen stated, prompting Gin to chuckle slightly.
"I just want to give them a push in the right direction." Gin replied innocently, however Aizen knew that he would likely have to replace Gin if he went too overboard.
"I won't explicitly forbid this, but I would ask you, Kaname, to make sure that Gin doesn't do anything I would personally protest." Aizen ordered, prompting the blind man to nod in understanding.
"Looks like we're here." Gin mused as the three came into eyeshot of the group of arrancar.
"Lord Aizen." Ulquiorra greeted with a slight bow, a gesture mimicked by several others.
"Good morning all of you, I trust that everyone is well rested?" Aizen questioned, receiving nods of confirmation from most present.
"Good… then if everyone is here, I would ask that we begin the meeting." Aizen stated before opening the doors and walking into the meeting chambers.
One by one, each of the arrancar entered the room, though Gin and Tosen opted to stay behind for some reason, which was currently unknown to most.
"After you, Nel." Ichigo offered, prompting Nel to nod her head and walk through the door.
"Thanks Ichigooooooo." Nel said, her sentence being extended as she tripped, successfully throwing herself at Ichigo and pinning him to a wall.
Her chest was quite literally pressed up against his and that close contact made him blush, and the 'innocent' look that Nel was giving him did little to alleviate this.
"Sorry about that." Nel said innocently before she began to pull away at a deliberately slow pace.
This action caused Risha and Halibel to glare at Nel, and neither of these independent actions was missed by Gin.
'Oh now this is interesting.' Gin thought, his grin becoming wider as a result.
"Don't worry Nelliel. Ichigo seems to have extensively enjoyed your little 'accident'." Gin stated, prompting Nel to giggle lightly and Ichigo's blush to deepen.
Nel then walked through the doors, followed closely by Ichigo, who was subsequently followed by Pesche, Dondochakka, Halibel, her fraccion, and Risha.
"What are you thinking Gin?" Tosen questioned, sensing the mischievous aura that emanated from Gin at the moment.
"Simply thinking of ways to entertain myself." Gin replied cryptically before walking into the meeting room.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Tosen thought aloud before following Gin into the chambers.
Las Noches: Espada's Meeting Chamber
"Ichigo." Starrk called out from next to Aizen, motioning to the seat directly to his right. Behind him was Lilynette, who was nodding eagerly as a signal for Ichigo to sit.
"Thanks Starrk." Ichigo said as he walked up to the chair and took the seat.
Across from him sat Ulquiorra, who was simply looking emotionless and respectable as always. To Ulquiorra's left, sat Nel, and behind her was her fraccion. Risha came up behind Ichigo and stood in place due to her role as Ichigo's fraccion, and the rest of the Espada filled in the other chairs.
However, Halibel had decided to get even with Nelliel for her "accidental" trip that lead to intimate contact with Ichigo. As soon as she saw Ichigo raise his hand from its position of resting on the table, she turned her breasts and angled them so that they would brush against his hand as she descended into her chair.
Upon this happening, Ichigo's eyes immediately shot open and he turned to face Halibel.
"Sorry." Halibel purred, giving Ichigo a seductive look with her eyes, something that caused Ichigo's face to become a light shade of crimson.
Gin took notice of this and turned to see Risha and Nel's respective reactions. Both glared, and Risha noticeable cringed, which was likely due to her proximity to the event.
'Oh yes, this will definitely be fun.' Gin thought. If this were a race and Ichigo blush was a unit of measurement, then Halibel seemed to have a slight lead.
Ulquiorra, on the other hand, had noticed this as well, though he had additional information that Gin simply didn't have.
'Something isn't right… if they were unaware of the other's attraction and were each of the impression that Ichigo was solely their own, this would likely have led to armed combat by now.' Ulquiorra thought suspiciously.
'But if they are aware of each other's attraction and are continuously allowing such things to occur, perhaps they have agreed to stay out of each other's way.' Ulquiorra continued in his train of thought.
If this were the case, perhaps Ichigo knew that he had a choice to make. But that couldn't be the case because otherwise he would have spurned Yoruichi's advances, which he obviously did not if the position he found them in was any indication. Needless to say, this wasn't going to end well, and he knew it at this point.
"Greetings my arrancar and congratulations on your successful venture into the Soul Society." Aizen stated, bringing the meeting to order.
"I would like to specifically thank our Primera Espada for successfully retrieving the items I had requested from the vault. The information was most… enlightening." Aizen added in a cryptic manner.
"What'd you even get from that thing anyway?" Starrk questioned, looking at Ichigo across the table.
"Some box and an old book." Ichigo replied nonchalantly, prompting Aizen to chuckle.
"I assure you what I had you retrieve holds far more value than an 'old book' or some random box." Aizen said, though Ichigo just lightly shrugged his shoulder.
"Speaking of things you brought back, where is that Yoruichi person?" Grimmjow inquired, noticing that they were short a member of the group that was requested.
'Crap! I forgot to wait for her to finish changing!' Ichigo realized.
"I'll go get her." Ichigo volunteered before it no longer became necessary to do so.
On the back of his head, Ichigo felt two soft, rather large, objects press against his hair and neck.
"No need to do that Ichigo." Yoruichi said, her breasts still pressed to the back of Ichigo's neck. The position that the two were currently in drew many surprised stares from those present and a collective glare from three certain female arrancar.
'This had better not be what I think it is.' Halibel thought agitatedly, though she chose not to voice it.
'Another one? You've got to be KIDDING ME!' Nel thought, keeping an outwardly emotionless demeanor. She wasn't so quick to jump to conclusions, and therefore she would file this away for later.
"H-hey there Yoruichi, how'd you find your way here?" Ichigo questioned shakily, his face becoming redder the longer Yoruichi chose to stay in her current position.
"Well after we woke up and you left… I just tracked your spiritual pressure from your room. It was pretty easy considering that your spiritual pressure fluctuated a few times." Yoruichi explained, though she wasn't aware of what had caused the spike of Ichigo's spiritual energy.
Her explanation didn't go unnoticed by either Halibel, Nel, or Risha, each of whom picked up on the beginning of her sentence.
'When 'we' woke up… this is either a misunderstanding, or Ichigo spent the night with her…' Halibel, Nel, and Risha thought similarly.
'If she simply took him for her own…' Halibel thought, though she would wait on her anger until she knew what was true of the situation.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" Grimmjow began to cackle, practically rolling out of his chair. He knew perfectly well what the reason was, and it was excruciatingly funny to him.
"What's so funny?" Yoruichi asked confusedly.
"So when you arrived just now, did his spiritual energy spike at all?" Grimmjow questioned, causing Ichigo to widen his eyes slightly since he knew very well what the source of the energy spikes were.
"Yes… what exactly are you trying to say?" Yoruichi questioned dangerously, her eyes becoming narrower by the second after she had shifted her eyes towards several of the females in the room.
"Well…" Grimmjow said before being cut off.
"HEY GRIMMJOW!" Lilynette shouted as she popped up from behind the Octava's chair.
"GAH!" Grimmjow yelped, having not expected the child-like arrancar to simply pop up from behind him.
"What, brat?" Grimmjow grumbled.
"Nothing." Lilynette simply replied, causing Grimmjow's eyebrow to twitch.
"Hahahaha." Nnoitora laughed out from next to Grimmjow, finding the instance quite hilarious all things considered.
"Shut it Nnoitora… damn kid…" Grimmjow muttered.
'As interesting as it would be…' Aizen thought, deciding to speak and call the meeting to a start instead of watching Ichigo struggle.
"I would ask that this meeting come to order now that everyone has arrived." Aizen stated, deciding that he would delay Ichigo's necessary explanations until the meeting was adjourned and important matters were dealt with.
"Miss Shihoin, I believe you should take seat, otherwise our Primera may lose consciousness." Aizen stated in a voice of slight amusement.
"I'll stand." Yoruichi replied in a tone backed by a slight amount of venom, simply pulling her chest back from Ichigo's neck.
"I wish to compliment you on your entrance, even I had difficulties sensing your arrival." Aizen said, prompting Yoruichi to scowl.
"Just remember how hard it is to sense me when you sleep at night." Yoruichi replied, prompting Aizen to raise a brow and many others in the room to grow uneasy, though they chose to say nothing.
'She has a lot of guts… if she truly isn't attempting a relations ship with Ichigo, then I should admire her bravery.' Halibel thought out of slight admiration.
"Oh? If that is how you truly feel, then tell me this. Why is it that you despise me? Is it because of my part in the exile of Kisuke Urahara and the creation of the vizards, or because of my role in Ichigo Kurosaki becoming what he is now?" Aizen questioned, smirking cockily upon seeing Yoruichi ball her fists and slightly grit her teeth.
Ichigo frowned at this, knowing full well that Aizen had just touched one two very sore subjects with the purple-haired goddess of the flash.
'Not good.' Ichigo thought, unable to describe the situation in any further detail.
"Is there a point in asking her that?" Starrk questioned, sensing that Ichigo likely was at a loss for words at the moment.
"Yes… yes there is. If she is to stay here in Las Noches, I need to be sure she will not cause any… disturbances." Aizen explained, his point being very clear and rational.
"If you're asking me not to kill you, then you have nothing to worry about. I agreed to stay here and I promised Ichigo I wouldn't do anything like that… piss me off though, and all bets are off." Yoruichi replied, prompting Aizen to chuckle at the expected warning.
"I wouldn't think of it." Aizen replied, having no feelings of hostility towards the goddess of the flash. If anything, her being present in Las Noches gave him an opening to speed up his plan and potentially add yet another asset to his current arsenal.
"You may leave now Miss Shihoin. That is all I wished to know." Aizen stated.
Yoruichi glanced down at Ichigo before vanishing via flash step a moment later, heading back to Ichigo's room in order to wait for him.
"Now onto actual business… tell me of your battles." Aizen said, glancing at the end of the table towards Grimmjow and Nnoitora as a sign that he wished for the two to begin the report.
"I along with my fellow fraccion fought two Soul Reaper lieutenants. One appeared to be from the tenth, and the other from the fifth. The third fighter that joined after the lieutenant of the fifth appeared to be a member of squad thirteen, and her fighting ability was easily that of a lieutenant." Sung-Sun said, beginning the retelling of recent events.
"Oh? Ichigo, do you know the names of these three Soul Reapers?" Gin inquired, seeing a good opportunity to see if Ichigo had, in fact, regained the rest of his memory.
"I guess so…" Ichigo trailed off, scratching his head as he tried to recall the squads of the three fighters that faced Halibel's fraccion.
"The lieutenant of squad ten is Rangiku Matsumoto, and I know for a fact that the one from the thirteenth is Rukia Kuchiki…. but I never met the lieutenant of squad five. All I know is that she is a friend of Toshiro's and her name is Momo." Ichigo replied, satisfying Gin, and inadvertently Aizen, with his answer.
Aizen then glanced at Grimmjow, a sign that he wished for the Octava to sound off his opponent.
"I fought some captain named Byakuya Kuchiki. His Bankai was annoying, but the fight was good and he was pretty even with me, even if I'm not happy to admit that last part." Grimmjow sneered, his pride getting the better of him at the moment.
"At first, I fought three nobody's, but then something weird happened. Two warriors that seemed like they were Soul Reapers dressed as humans showed up. They had these weird looking hollow masks and called themselves vizards." Nnoitora stated.
"Halibel and I encountered two of these vizards as well." Nel added.
"One of them appeared in my fight too." Starrk said.
"The vizards are former Soul Reapers that were exiled but have now allied with the Soul Society in the aftermath of Ichigo Kurosaki's disappearance. They are simply failed experiments, the predecessors of the arrancar." Aizen explained.
"The Soul Reapers obtain the ability to access hollow powers in the form of a mask through what is called an inner hollow. They can only use these powers for a limited amount of time, but the power itself is quite impressive compared to that of a normal Soul Reaper." Aizen continued.
"What level of power were the vizards when they were normal Soul Reapers?" Starrk questioned, wanting simple clarification.
"Four of the vizards are former captains. Those among them are Kensei Muguruma, Love Aikawa, Rojuro Otoribashi, and Shinji Hirako. The vizards who are now former lieutenants are Lisa Yadomaru, Hachigen Ushoda, Hiyori Sarugaki, and Mashiro Kuna." Aizen answered, listing off the names and giving the Espada a general sense of who they were up against.
'And you betrayed them all… even your own captain.' Ichigo thought, keeping such things to himself.
"Who was it that you faced, Ulquiorra?" Aizen questioned, getting things back on track.
"My first opponent was the captain of the thirteenth division, Ukitake, I believe his name was. His fighting abilities were quite impressive and surpassed my own when he was using the full spectrum of his abilities. However, I believe he possesses some form of illness that prevented him from continuing our battle." Ulquiorra began.
"That is indeed true. Captain Ukitake has an illness that often inhibits his readiness to fight or run his division. All the same, he is a more than capable fighter and possesses one of the three most powerful Bankai known to Soul Reapers. I, however, have never seen it, nor do I know what it is called." Aizen stated.
"After he was incapacitated, Kisuke Urahara came to face me. He was an incredibly deadly opponent and possesses far more intelligence that he lets on. His fighting style relies on these masks that distract the opponent from the fierce warrior that lies beneath the surface." Ulquiorra continued, sensing that Aizen was done his elaboration on Ukitake.
"An apt description if ever there was one." Aizen mused, knowing full well that Urahara was the only man in the entirety of existence whose intelligence exceeded that of his own.
"Nelliel, who did you and Halibel end up facing?" Gin asked, wanting to know the final specifics before they got to Ichigo.
"Halibel first engaged a captain by the name of Hitsugaya. His abilities were fascinating and deadly if one was not prepared, but he was defeated all the same." Nel began.
"Before we could ensure he would no longer fight, two of the so called vizards appeared and fought with us. They simply stalled for the captain while he prepared an attempt to trap us in a prison of ice. Wonderweiss freed us, and then we were asked to depart." Halibel continued.
"Where is Wonderweiss anyway?" Ichigo questioned, looking around the meeting room to see if the child-like arancar were simply playing around.
"Wonderweiss requested that he be allowed to skip the meeting. For obvious reasons, this request was granted." Tosen explained.
"I fought some guy named Kyoraku. Neither of us really gave it their all, so there's not much to say." Starrk said lazily, causing Lilynette so sigh.
"And now we fall onto our dear Primera." Gin chirped in a dramatic fashion, bringing all eyes to Ichigo.
"Tell us Ichigo, who were your opponents?" Aizen asked, being somewhat eager to know.
"I fought Kenpachi Zaraki first. That fight ended the second Wonderweiss said he found Yoruichi, but then two of the vizards showed up and delayed me. Hiyori and Shinji fought pretty hard, but Hiyoiri's temper gave me an opening to take out Shinji pretty quickly. After that, Captain Sofion showed up with Yoruichi, and I had to take her out before I could talk to Yoruichi, and that was that." Ichigo replied, causing Aizen to smirk contentedly.
'It would appear that the Soul Society is at a disadvantage. They will likely attempt to increase their strength through training… excellent.' Aizen thought, the pieces of his plan now coming together.
"I believe Wonderwiess would like to thank you for defeating Captain Soifon. From his attitude, he truly disliked fighting her." Tosen stated, prompting Ichigo to chuckle slightly.
"It would appear that our current strength is sufficient to defeat the Soul Society in the future. This bodes well for us, and I would like to thank all of the Espada and those that accompanied them on this venture." Aizen began, giving a sense of pride to many of those present.
"However, none deserve more credit than you, Ichigo. I once again would like to thank you for retrieving those two objects." Aizen stated, eliciting a nod from Ichigo as a sign that he acknowledged Aizen's thanks.
"You may all leave now, enjoy your day." Aizen stated before getting out of his chair and walking towards the door.
'Bout time, I need to make sure that Yoruichi understand she can't do anything that rash again… doing things without thinking is usually my department.' Ichigo thought, being unable to take his mind off of what Yoruichi had said to Aizen.
He, along with the others, began to walk towards the door, though Ichigo, having been deep in thought, missed the cold aura the emanated from Risha.
'Oh now this just won't do…' Gin thought upon seeing that Risha appeared to be upset. He had figured it was because both Halibel and Nel, along with Yoruichi, had teased Ichigo to an extent, and Gin kne for a fact that Risha's personality wasn't going to let her stoop to that level… on her own.
Deciding to intervene, Gin opted to "accidently" trip Risha, thereby causing her to fly forwards towards Ichigo.
"Wo-woah." Risha exclaimed after losing her balance. Ichigo turned to catch her, but this only caused both Risha and Ichigo to fall to the ground.
Their faces were now inches away from each other, and Risha's ample chest was now crushed against Ichigo's body, the sudden combination of the two making Ichigo and Risha blush quite noticeably.
"S-sorry Ichigo." Risha apologized, though Ichigo immediately caught onto her use of his actual name as opposed to 'lord' or 'master'.
"Don't mention it… now can you get off me, please?" Ichigo requested sheepishly, prompting Risha's blush to deepen before she complied.
'That had best be an accident for your sake.' Halibel and Nel thought similarly, each giving Gin a glare as he casually walked out of the meeting room, whistling in an innocent manner as he went on.
"So where are you off to Ichigo?" Starrk questioned after the group made its way out of the meeting room.
"I've got to make sure Yoruichi isn't plotting to kill Aizen." Ichigo replied before vanishing via sonido.
After he had left, Halibel turned to face Ulquiorra, though the green-eyed Espada was nowhere to be seen.
'Perhaps he does know something…' Halibel thought, her suspicion only growing at the moment.
"Risha, Nelliel, may I speak to you two in my room for a moment?" Halibel questioned, sounding as if this was related to their agreement.
"Of course, lead the way." Nel replied.
Halibel gave a quick glance to her fraccion before disappearing in the static buzz of sonido, Nel and Risha following suit a moment later.
"So… what are we supposed to do?" Apacci wondered aloud.
"We should try to fix how awful of a fighter you are." Sung-Sun joked, giggling slightly after seeing Apacci's eyebrow twitch.
"Why you…" Apacci growled out before turning to face the olive-haired fraccion. Sung-Sun, however, had opted to leave before Apacci could rebut.
"Can you believe her?" Apacci asked rhetorically, turning to Mila Rose. However, she, like Sung-Sun, had vanished.
"Whatever." Apacci mumbled before vanishing a moment later through the use of sonido.
Soul Society: 4th Division's Barracks, Patient's Ward
"Your condition is now stable and your wounds will heal within the next week. You are quite lucky Lieutenant Abarai, if those scythes had pierced just a few inches further, you would likely be out of commission for several months." Unohana said, addressing the red-headed lieutenant that lay on a bed in front of her.
"Lucky me." Renji commented dryly, not having taken this as a mood elevator.
"Renji, be grateful for Captain Unohana's healing. Without her help, you would likely be prohibited from continuing your duties as a lieutenant." Byakuya stated as he walked into the room, something that made Renji instantly sweat drop.
"Of course captain. I apologize, Captain Unohana, and I thank you for healing my wounds." Renji said in a panic, prompting Unohana to giggle slightly at his reaction to Byakuya's reprimand.
"Think nothing of it lieutenant. As a healer, it is my pleasure to be of service." Unohana replied in a sweet tone before walking out of the room.
Once Unohana had left the room to continue checking on those injured during the Espada's attack, a dead silence crept into the atmosphere of the room, with neither Byakuya nor Renji speaking a word to one another for several moments.
"I… I'm sorry, captain… I failed." Renji finally said, feeling rather guilty that he had allowed an opponent to get the better of him so easily.
Renji half expected Byakuya to agree with him. In general, his captain hadn't even looked like he was injured during his fight, and Byakuya had likely faced an Espada that was either of a slightly higher or slightly lower rank than the one he faced. If that was any indication of Renji's strength as it stands, he had a long way to go before he even had the ability to land a hit on his captain.
"I would not agree with that assessment. You faced one of the Espada and lived. Though you lost your battle, use the life you kept to your advantage." Byakuya replied, causing Renji to raise a curious brow.
"What do you mean by that, captain?" Renji questioned with curiosity evident in his tone.
"Your opponent allowed you to live. Use that to your advantage and become stronger, use this defeat as a lesson to always be humble and to always learn from your defeats. But most importantly, use this as motivation to grow stronger." Byakuya explained.
'If he is telling me this… then that means he believes I can grow stronger as well.' Renji thought upon hearing Byakuya's words.
His captain wouldn't have told him such things if he truly believed that Renji had achieved his maximum potential. If that were the case, then Byakuya would have told Renji very bluntly to accept his inferior fighting abilities and move on with his life. But he had chosen to tell him that he could grow stronger, that he should try to grow stronger, and that was more than Renji could have ever hoped for.
"Thank you… captain." Renji said before shutting his eyes and beginning to rest.
'Best I leave him to his recovery.' Byakuya thought before getting up and walking out of the door.
Soul Society: 4th Division's Barracks, Patient's Ward (Room of Captain Ukitake)
"His condition seems to have normalized and he should be perfectly fine." Unohana stated upon examining the now conscious captain of the thirteenth.
"That is good news." Ukitake stated in an upbeat tone, quite content in hearing that he would be able to continue his duties as a captain as soon as possible.
"Good to see you're still in good spirits, Jushiro." Kyoraku commented, smiling down at his longtime friend.
"I would prefer to be in good spirits before asking this. What happened after I was brought to the fourth?" Ukitake asked in a serious voice.
"Long and short of it is that all the arrancar got away, but they didn't go away empty handed." Kyoraku replied in a serious voice, causing Ukitake's eyes to wide.
"Who did they take Shunsui?" Ukitake exclaimed, dreading that this was the case.
"As far as I know, they didn't take anyone, but they did get away with items that were taken from the vault." Kyoraku replied, though his words did very little to ease Ukitake's worries.
"How is the head captain taking it?" Ukitake asked in a voice just above a whisper, immediately after which both he, Unohana, and Kyoraku, frowned.
"Head Captain Yamamoto is currently making an attempt to find what the Espada left with." Unohana replied.
"You don't think they took the Oken, do you?" Ukitake asked, his tone illustrating the fact that he was unsure of weather this was even a remote possibility.
"Sadly, neither of us have a way of knowing. The location of the Oken was never told to us, and we can't assume that it was placed within the vault, despite the fact that the vault contains items of extreme importance to the Soul Society." Kyoraku answered, himself believing that Yamamoto wouldn't even consider placing the Oken in a location that was so obvious if someone knew of the vaults existence.
"One thing still bothers me, how would Sosuke Aizen know about the vault in the first place? The head captain has told only us of its existence and no text exists of the area to my knowledge." Unohana thought aloud, her words causing curiosity to plague both Kyoraku and Ukitake.
"Perhaps he discovered it after his alleged death?" Ukitake mused, recalling that Aizen has been able to spend a substantial amount of time within the chambers.
"All that would allow him is the ability to find the vault, not know of its contents. The arrancar clearly had the goal of taking something from the vault, and I can only assume that this was Aizen's goal in sending the Espada here." Unohana stated.
"Then that would mean that he likely knew what the contents of the vault were. Otherwise, he would have no reason for risking so much." Kyoraku thought aloud.
"But that still doesn't answer the question of how he came to know about it in the first place." Ukitake commented.
The group stayed silent for a moment, each giving some serious thought to how this could be the case. None of them could come up with anything, but then again, in the numerous things Aizen had been behind, none of them had been able to see anything coming until it was too late. Therefore, they believed Aizen knew exactly what he was going to do, and if the risks of getting the items from the vault were any indication of the benefit it would bring to Aizen, then they were in for one hell of a surprise, and that worried them.
"Perhaps the head captain would know." Unohana mused, prompting both Ukitake and Kyoraku to nod in agreement.
Suffice to say, they would bring this up to Yamamoto when next they saw him. But for now, they had other things that needed to be attended to.
Soul Society: 4th Division's Barracks, Private Room (Captain Soifon)
"Are you feeling alright, Soifon?" Urahara questioned, only getting a huff in response from the raven-haired captain.
"Is that a yes?" Urahara questioned, though his inquiry earned him a sharp slap to the back of his head from Soifon.
"Yup, you're fine." Urahara grumbled, rubbing the back of his head slightly.
"Of course I am, now where is Lady Yoruichi?" Soifon asked dangerously, as if illustrating that if she didn't receive and answer within a minute, there would be violent consequences.
"Actually, I was going to ask you that question." Urahara stated, sounding genuinely lost.
'What?' Soifon thought out of confusion. Her memory was cloudy for a brief instance, but then she recalled what had happened, and then her eyes widened in shock.
"Tell me what happened." Urahara said in a soft voice, gathering that whatever occurred had rattled Soifon slightly.
"I… I remember seeing a powerful cero fire into the skies of the Soul Society from the eleventh division's barracks. Lady Yoruichi had desired that we examine the source of the attack, and when we arrived, we saw a hooded arrancar that claimed to be an Espada." Soifon began, prompting Urahara to nod considering he thought this much to be true already.
"He was standing around a destroyed area of the barracks and I could see two of the vizards along with Captain Zaraki tossed to the side. Each appeared wounded, but not to a high degree. When we confronted him, he knew both of us by name and knew that each of us were Hakuda experts. He opted to defeat us in the method we were most accustomed to, and before I knew it, he had knocked me out." Soifon continued, ending on a bitter note before pausing momentarily.
"He… he was too fast… the only person I have ever seen with that kind of speed was Lady Yoruichi herself. I had the sinking feeling that he was holding back as well, and I tried to stay awake, but I was unable… is Lady Yoruichi injured? Has she been found?" Soifon asked in a quiet voice.
"She hasn't been seen or heard from since the meeting this morning." Urahara began, practically causing Sofion to have a heart attack.
"But I don't think she has been injured. No blood was seen and all the rubble was cleared within the past twenty four hours… but that's what worries me, that she hasn't been found yet." Urahara continued, though Sofion's worry was replaced with slight curiosity at what could possibly make the nonchalant shopkeeper feel worried about something.
"What do you mean by that, Kisuke Urahara?" Soifon inquired, wanting more elaboration on the former captain's thought process.
"Now I know Yoruichi had feelings for Ichigo… you likely already know this. And we both know that Ichigo left for Las Noches some time ago, but he hasn't returned and Orihime insists that he is dead. We also know that the connection that Ichigo has with his body has been severed, which backs up Orihime's theory." Urahara began, though Sofion grew impatient with his words.
"May you please say something I don't already know?" Soifon asked impatiently, glaring slightly at the shopkeeper.
"I'm getting there… now, two things are likely to have happened to Ichigo. Either he really is dead, or he is alive and is being held prisoner in Las Noches, which would make sense if Aizen's goal was to disorganize us. On top of that, I also believe that Ichigo may have had romantic feelings towards Yoruichi… did she tell you what happened before he disappeared?" Urahara questioned.
Soifon looked at Urahara in an odd fashion before her eyes nearly budged out of her head. She recalled hearing the story and thought that Ichigo would have had to been a fool to have resisted Yoruichi's advances. This in mind, she also knew that Ichigo Kurosaki was quite a skilled warrior, even if she'd never admit that to his face. If Aizen had gone to such trouble, perhaps his plan was to get Ichigo to fight for him instead of for the Soul Society.
However, Ichigo was likely far too noble to go along and join Aizen, and she knew this to be true. So, if Aizen wanted to accomplish this, he would have to manipulate Ichigo in some way, likely through threatening someone he held dear.
"You don't mean…" Soifon trailed off in a surprised voice, prompting Urahara to nod.
"It is possible that Yoruichi was kidnapped." Urahara confirmed.
"I… I believe it may have been a mutual understanding…" Soifon said in a disappointed voice, hanging her head slightly the more she thought about that possibility.
'What is she talking about?' Urahara wondered, knowing full well that Yoruichi would sooner die that allow herself to be used as Aizen's pawn.
Soifon was aware of the feelings, and the level of which, Yoruichi possessed for Ichigo. That, coupled with the fact that she wanted to know what happened to Ichigo, would likely mean that if the Espada told Yoruichi that Ichigo was alive and in Las Noches, and if she believed such a thing, then it was entirely possible that she went along with it on her own.
"Her feelings for Ichigo… they may have caused her to make a poor decision." Soifon explained without saying anything that she believed would betray Yoruichi's trust.
Urahara's eyes widened at this, knowing full well that only one emotion would cause Yoruichi to make a bad decision. It had been the only one she wasn't experienced in, and that worried him.
"This information stays between us until we know exactly what happened, alright?" Urahara asked, eliciting a nod of confirmation from Soifon as a sign that she wholeheartedly agreed.
Soul Society: 11th Division's Barracks, Destroyed Portion
'I can't believe I let him catch me off guard like that…' Kenpachi thought as he sat and stared at the ground of the destroyed section of his barracks.
He hadn't even bothered to stay in the fourth division after his wounds were tended. In fact, he didn't even think he needed to get his wounds healed in the first place. But the second he was released, he came back to the cite of the battle he had with the hooded Espada.
The captain couldn't help but think back to what had transpires during the fight. He was too caught up in the battle to think on what was happening. He had released his full power and still not managed to easily defeat his opponent, who had yet to release the full extent of his own power.
'Even at full strength… I wasn't even able to get him to release his sword.' Kenpachi thought in a rare instance of mild dissatisfaction with his current level of strength.
The only source of comfort that he may have received would have been knowing that the Espada he faced was the strongest of them, but he didn't know that considering that his opponent hadn't even given his name, let alone his rank.
He hadn't even bothered to ask how everything turned out. He expected that the arrancar had somehow escaped given the fact that the captains were either in the medical division visiting the wounded or rebuilding the destroyed barracks', which they wouldn't be doing if they had managed to capture any of the Espada.
"Hi Kenny!" Yachiru chirped, though Kenpachi didn't appear to respond to this.
"Hey…" Kenpachi replied in a quiet voice, something that caused Yachiru to look at him with a confused expression on her face.
"Why so glum Kenny?" Yachiru questioned innocently. Kenpachi chuckled at this, knowing full well that Yachiru was just curious about why he appeared deep in thought and less boisterous than normal.
"Nothing Yachiru… nothing at all." Kenpachi replied. However, the pink-haired lieutenant frowned at her captain and furrowed her brows, knowing full well he was lying.
"Is this because you think you lost to that Espada? Kenny, he didn't kill you and then he ran away, so it's a tie." Yachiru stated, causing Kenpachi's eyes to widen before he jerked his head in order to look at Yachiru.
"What'd you just say?" Kenpachi questioned surprised.
"I said it was a tie." Yachiru repeated, sounding slightly confused.
Hearing Yachiru's reaction reminded Kenpachi of how his first fight with Ichigo had ended. Even back then, Yachiru had said something similar jus to convince him that he didn't really lose. His mind then traveled to a very specific phrase his opponent had used during the fight.
'Sorry'… the word repeated in his head multiple times as he dwelled on what happened next. His opponent had apologized before ending the fight, and that didn't even make any sense at all given that they were enemies. On top of that, his opponent had known who Yachiru was, who he was, and knew exactly how he liked to fight, as if he knew firsthand.
'It's probably just a coincidence…' Kenpachi thought.
"What're you thinking now Kenny?" Yachiru inquired, noticing that her captain appeared to be deep in thought.
"Just that I think I need to get stronger… tell me, who do you think I should fight first?" Kenpachi asked with his grin forming on his lips, the very sight of which caused Yachiru to jump for joy.
Soul Society: Unknown Location
Within a cave somewhere off in the forests of the Soul Society, the captain of the tenth sat, meditating in some fashion, appearing as if he were within his inner world.
Hitsugaya's Inner World
'I'm here now.' Hitsugaya thought upon opening his eyes. He was greeted with the sight of a vast area of land made of ice, complete with pillars, cliffs, and a rough landscape.
Snow did not fall at the moment, but the air felt cold enough to chill any living soul to the bone, as was characteristic of his powers source.
"Welcome to your inner world, Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya." A colossal dragon of ice greeted as he curled around a nearby pillar of ice.
"You don't have to be so formal, we are part of the same soul, you know." Hitsugaya replied, scowling slightly at the large ice dragon.
"Given that you always prefer to be addressed as captain, I would ask that you pick a preference and stick with it, otherwise I may as well call you that kid I give my power to." The dragon replied.
"Fair enough… I trust you know why I am here, Hyorinmaru?" Hitsugaya inquired, causing the dragon to smirk.
"Indeed I am… you wish to explore the secrets of your Bankai, do you not?" Hyorinmaru asked knowingly, his smirk only increasing in size as his partner nodded in response.
'Then it is time… his desire to grow more powerful has never been greater, and his determination is evident.' Hyorinmaru thought.
That in mind, there was the fact of the matter that the dragon could not simply give the captain all of his power and abilities, they needed to be earned, as was the case with all forms of power.
"And why do you wish to ask me of its secrets. Would training by yourself not be a better alternative?" Hyorinmaru questioned, shifting his position on the spire slightly.
"You are my zanpakuto, therefore none know the depths of my Bankai's powers more so than you." Hitsugaya replied, his words making Hyorinmaru inwardly chuckle.
"So you truly believe I possess the knowledge that will allow you to become more adept with your Bankai?" Hyorinmaru inquired, eliciting a nod in the affirmative from the white-haired captain.
'Good to see his intelligence hasn't deteriorated with his pride since yesterday.' Hyorinmaru thought, knowing full well that the reason his master wanted to become stronger was because of his defeat.
"Now for the most important question… why do you deserve this knowledge?" Hyorinmaru asked, rather looking forward to how his leader would answer.
"Weather I deserve your power at this moment in time is irrelevant. I need to become more adept with my Bankai, and therefore I will earn the power through whatever means you deem necessary." Hitsugaya answered, casing the dragon to smirk.
"It is good to hear that you do not expect me to simply give you the knowledge you seek… but the trial you must face will be of my design and you will complete it at a later date." Hyorinmaru stated, prompting Hitsugaya to frown at his response.
"Very well… I will leave you to your thoughts." Hitsugaya stated before vanishing in one brief flash of light.
'He will grow stronger… but how strong he becomes, is not up to me.' Hyorinmaru thought before shutting his eyes and continuing his rest.
Soul Society: 4th Division's Barracks
"How's she holdin up, Shinji?" Love questioned as he along with the other vizards, save for their leader and Hiyori, walked into the room.
"She's fine… pissed off as usual, but fine." Shinji replied.
"And yourself?' Lisa inquired.
Shinji currently had a large series of bandages wrapped around his torso, acting as a shield for the burns he received from the cero if his opponent.
"I'll manage." Shinji said, though he sounded as if his mind was elsewhere. This didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room, each knowing very well when Shinji had something important on his mind.
"What's up?" Love asked with a raised brow, deciding to be the one to speak on their collective curiosity.
"I was just thinkin about the battle we had with that hooded Espada… he was an odd arrancar." Shinji though aloud.
"He threatened to kill all of us if we didn't let them leave, what about that is weird for someone who fights for Aizen?" Lisa inquired.
"Two things… one, the way he fought us. He apologized before he tried to take out Hiyori, and then even after each of us was beaten, he didn't finish us off." Shinji began, though he paused for a moment.
"And…" Rose trailed off, noticing that Shinji had left out the other difference.
"The second thing was the one that bothered me the most. When he threatened to kill us all of if we didn't let them escape, he seemed like he was serious. Not about firing it off, but about the fact that it could have done what he said." Shinji replied, getting the instant effect of alerting Lisa to his train of thought.
"So you're wondering why he wouldn't just end it right there." Lisa realized.
"Exactly. Maybe that attack doesn't kill all of us, but anyone who wouldn't be able to escape prolly couldn't have lived if what he said was true. So why just let us live? It doesn't make sense." Shinji thought aloud.
"Maybe that cero of his could have backfired and taken out some of his comrades." Rose mused.
"I don't think so… he seemed to be the leader of the Espada that came here. If that was the case, he'd probably be the closest to Aizen out of all the Espada since he would be his top soldier, and I don't think Aizen would have ordered him to spare the lives of his comrades if he had a shot at taking out most of the Soul Society's fighters." Shinji replied.
"Maybe Aizen didn't order the attack." Lisa thought aloud, causing several to look at her in an odd fashion.
"Think about it. Why risk sending so many of your top warriors here to the heart of the Soul Society when he could simply wait until the Hogyoku has awakened so that he could invade Karakura Town? Sure they took something from the vault, but I don't really think anything short of taking the Oken itself would justify such a risky invasion." Lisa added.
That much was true, Aizen likely didn't have all that much to gain from sending the arrancar to invade the Soul Society, especially since the risk of losing his top soldiers was quite real.
"It's not risky if they won, Lisa." Shinji stated in an annoyed tone, obviously bitter about freshly proclaimed defeat they had suffered the previous day.
"Still, he would have no way of knowing how strong the Espada were in comparison to the captains or us for that matter." Lisa countered, raising a good point.
"All things taken into consideration, this entire situation makes me worried." Shinji stated.
"Why might that be?" Rose inquired, sensing that Shinji wished to elaborate.
"Back when Aizen was my lieutenant, I always knew that he was dangerous, that he was always up to something. I knew one day he would try to take me down, betray me in some way. I didn't know how, but I knew what he intended to do. Now I have absolutely no idea what he intends to do, and because I don't know that, I can only imagine the horrible result." Shinji explained.
Las Noches: Ichigo's Room
'How long is that damn meeting supposed to last?' Yoruichi wondered, tapping her fingers on the bedspread to illustrate her boredom.
She currently sat on the foot of Ichigo's bed, waiting for him to return from the meeting Aizen had called. She half expected Ichigo was doing this on purpose because she "technically" implied that she was capable of killing Aizen in his sleep.
A second later, the abrupt buzz of sonido could be heard, immediately after which Yoruichi widened her eyes and brought her fist back, making to punch whoever, or whatever had just entered her room.
"Hello Yorui…" Ichigo greeted, though he stopped upon seeing Yoruichi's fist not even an inch from his stomach.
"Don't startle me like that, Ichigo. You know I'm not used to hearing sonido come from someone I don't consider an enemy." Yoruichi stated before crossing her arms and sitting back down on the bed.
"Sorry… be forewarned though, Risha has a habit of sneaking up on people." Ichigo said.
"I already have experience in that regard. The second I got here, I nearly knocked her teeth out." Yoruichi replied nonchalantly.
"Okay…" Ichigo trailed off before getting to a relevant topic.
"Aside from that… what the HELL were you doing back there?!" Ichigo shouted, something Yoruichi had expected.
'Here we go…' Yoruichi thought dryly.
"Explain to me why you thought threatening Aizen was a good idea." Ichigo requested.
"Do you really need me to explain why I did that?" Yoruichi snapped.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you do. I could understand being angry with him after everything you told me, but you have to realize that on a whim he would have someone, if not everyone, in that room "deal" with you." Ichigo replied, not about to let up in an argument he knew he had the opportunity to win.
Ichigo's words were met with silence on the part of Yoruichi, who appeared to be avoiding a response given that she couldn't really justify her attitude without telling Ichigo exactly how she felt, and that wasn't something she wanted to say given that it was neither the right time, nor the right place.
"Yoruichi… I know it's going to be difficult, but please try not to confront Aizen, if only for my sake. I… I can't even begin to think of what I'd do if he sent you back to the world of the living, or worse." Ichigo stated, his words causing Yoruichi to smile. He cared about her, and that was a good start.
"Alright… I won't threaten Aizen anymore, but don't expect me to be nice to him." Yoruichi replied, causing Ichigo to chuckle.
"You being nice to Aizen? At that point, I think he'd get suspicious." Ichigo joked, causing Yoruichi to laugh slightly.
"Now that that's over with, I need to tell Kisuke where I am and what exactly it is that I am doing here." Yoruichi said, though Ichigo gave her an odd look.
"Isn't Hat N' Clogs still in the Soul Society?" Ichigo asked, not entirely sure if this was the case.
"I think so… why, is that a problem?" Yoruichi questioned, believing that Ichigo could merely open up a garganta and take her to see the humble shopkeeper.
"Yes, it is. They figured out a way to shut off a garganta from within the Soul Society, exactly the same as Aizen is able to do from our end in Hueco Mundo, apparently." Ichigo replied.
"Hmmmmm… there is one person I think we can trust, but it involves a trip to the world of the living, if you're up for it?" Yoruichi challenged.
"When have I never been up for something that you've offered?" Ichigo retorted.
"Oh let me think, any of the times I've teased you." Yoruichi pointed out, prompting Ichigo to blush slightly since this was incredibly true.
"Wow Ichigo, good to see you haven't changed." Yoruichi joked, prompting Ichigo to sigh.
"Oh shut up." Ichigo said, though his blush made him seem harmless.
"So Ichigo, are you willing to have some fun or are you going to be a spoil sport and say it would make Aizen all pissed off at you?" Yoruichi prodded.
"I'm up for it, but you have to guarantee that we don't get seen by any Soul Reapers, and that both of us come back in one piece." Ichigo conditioned.
"Done." Yoruichi quickly replied.
Ichigo immediately flicked his wrist so as to summon the dark portal behind him, an action that caused Yoruichi's eyes to widen since she wasn't quite used to that.
"Ready?" Ichigo asked, prompting Yoruichi to smirk.
"That's my line." Yoruichi said before walking through the garganta.
Las Noches: Ulquiorra's Room
Ulquiorra had been simply relaxing in his quarters, inwardly debating a few things, sorting out some opinions, but mostly just enjoying the peace and quiet after recent events as such occasions became rarer by the day.
His quiet time, however, was abruptly cut off by a, somewhat, forceful knock on his door, the performer of which remained a mystery until he heard a voice.
"Ulquiorra, we wish to ask you a question." A female's voice called out from behind the door. He immediately knew that the owner of said voice was Halibel and that the 'we' consisted of her, Nelliel, and Risha.
'What could they want?' Ulquiorra wondered, knowing full well that there were exactly three women outside his door.
The topic of discussion was likely going to be Ichigo considering who was at his door, but that confused him greatly since he hadn't the slightest clue of how he could be related to such things.
"The door is open, you may enter." Ulquiorra finally replied, immediately after which the door opened, revealing precisely the three women he had predicted to be entering the room.
"And to what do I owe this pleasure?" Ulquiorra politely questioned.
"You were assigned by Lord Aizen to wake up each of those who attended the meeting this morning, correct?" Halibel questioned, immediately alerting Ulquiorra to what she was likely to ask in a moment.
"Yes, indeed I was. Why would this be of any importance?" Ulquiorra asked impassively, giving off the impression that he was slightly confused as to why the women were there.
"That woman, Yoruichi Shihoin, said that she and Ichigo had woken up this morning." Nel began.
"We would like to know if you found them in the same room, if it isn't too much of a bother." Risha continued, causing Ulquiorra to raise a brow.
"Not that it is any of my business, but why do you wish to know?" Ulquiorra questioned, though he was met with silence.
"If you desire me to tell you that I saw them sleeping in the same bed upon entering his room, I will do nothing of the sort." Ulquiorra stated, though he inadvertently made all three of the women narrow their eyes at his choice of words.
"So she was with him this morning." Halibel stated before turning around and making to leave.
"Thank you Ulquiorra, you have been most helpful." Nel said before the three vanished via sonido.
The green-eyed Cuarto stood in place for a moment, reflecting on what he had just done. Two possibilities now existed. Either he had signed Yoruichi's death warrant, or Ichigo's, neither of which he had intended to do.
"Perhaps it would have been better if I had simply declined to answer." Ulquiorra mused.
A/N Well, here you are and unfortunately there will not be a chapter posted next week due to the fact that I have three exams coming up. The next Chapter will be posted, not next Tuesday, but the Tuesday after that, so yeah…
Explanations:
Yoruichi Threatening Aizen: Can't picture her not doing that at this point…
Yoruichi and Ichigo going to the world of the living: They will be going to Karakura to visit Tessai since he will relay the information to Urahara and also not rat them out. That's not all they will be doing, but that's the gist of it.
Gin: He will completely be messing with Ichigo in instances like this, simply for his own amusement.
Aizen: I won't tell you if he knows/doesn't know what Ichigo is doing or whether or not it is part of his plan.
Hitsugaya and Kenpachi: Simply wants to get stronger and I figured this would be a cool way to prelude that, same as with Kenpachi (can you say Unohana?).
Reviews: Had an Exam today, therefore I had no time yesterday/today since I was studying during my free time instead of writing and opted to make the chapter a little longer instead, so I'm just going to reply to all the reviews from the past three chapters next chapter, and that's a promise given that I will have time after Wednesday of next week.