Chapter 35 – Myintrotoletuknow
"Idiot! What were you thinking coming to Hueco Mundo without us!?" Rukia screamed into Ichigo's expressionless face.
"I was going to go alone, but those plans have been bunked..." he said. Renji shook his head. Rukia's mouth opened, but said nothing, as if she was having trouble finding what she was going to say next.
"Are-Are-ARE YOU LITERALLY THIS STUPID!?"
"Apparently so. Can you stop complaining? This topic has grown bothersome."
"So, do you not care at all, or something?" Renji asked. Ichigo responded with a nod.
"If Inoue-san wasn't here, I wouldn't have even bothered..." Rukia said, crossing her arms.
"Ahhh, you're just so angry. It's adorable."
"The hatred that burns for you is intense, Kurosaki."
"You must be extremely brave to want to storm into Los Noches. It's a very valuable trait to have..." Nelliel said. Ichigo shrugged.
"We weren't going to allow Aizen to take Inoue-san without any facing any punishment," Uryū said, passionately. Ichigo cupped his fingers.
"Such a noble cause," the female Arrancar said. Ichigo's silence was unnerving.
Even when she thought that she was doing the right thing, she still couldn't get the result she wanted.
All Orihime wanted to do was keep her friends safe. If she wasn't going to be useful in the war, she could at least buy them time...
"Here we are, the walls of Los Noches..." Nelliel said, motioning to the massive walls, "This is your destination, right?" Ichigo nodded, jumping off of the worm.
"Thanks...We'll take it from here," he said, sternly, "Take care, Nelliel, Nel."
"Itsygo's leaving!? Why!?" Nel cried.
"He has some important work to do," Nelliel explained, "I don't think he wants us getting in the way."
"Thank you for your assistance," Rukia said, with a bow. Nelliel smiled and motioned back to the massive worm. Nel whimpered.
"But-But Itsygo can't leave! We need to play some more!"
"Sorry, Nel. He has to go."
"No!"
"Nel, please," Ichigo said, "Stay with Nelliel..." Nel's eyes started to water.
"Now, how are we going to get in?" Uryu asked. Ichigo looked up and frowned.
"Through. We're going through the wall." The former substitute's right hand started to glow a bright red energy.
"And how are-" Renji started, before the wall exploded, revealing a deep hole. Ichigo turned to him, wearing an impassive expression on his face.
"Like that."
"It's pretty dark in here..." Sado said.
"And this hole goes on forever..." Uryū said. Renji grinned.
"Then leave it to me!" he exclaimed, "I give us a light!" Ichigo narrowed his eyes.
"With what?" Renji's grin grew.
"Let me show ya! Hadō 31! Shakkahō!" A red orb exploded in his hand, before shrinking violently. Rukia giggled.
"I can't say that I saw you as the conservative type..." Uryū said.
"Look at you, trying to be a cool guy," Rukia said, mockingly, "Trying to skip the chant, even though you know you're bad at Kidō." Renji looked down, in mortification.
"I guess I should-" Rukia started.
"And God said, 'Let there belight,',, " Ichigo said, as his own Shakkahō formed, in his hand, "And there was light."
"W-When did you become so good at Kidō?" Renji whined.
"Don't worry about it."
"Impressive. It's much larger than Renji's, with half of the effort. Very impressive," Rukia complimented, earning Ichigo a glare from the redheaded Shinigami. Ichigo smirked in response.
Five hallways.
From the hole that the group had invaded from, led to five hallways.
"I refuse to believe that this was a coincidence," Ichigo said, crossing his arms, "Well, I believe this is where we split up." He walked toward the hallway in the middle.
"Wait a minute!" Uryu shouted, "Just like that?" Ichigo paus and turned toward the rest.
"We're due to find her if we take all five routes. So that's exactly what we are going to do."
"No speech. No good lucks. Nothing," Rukia said, with a smirk. Ichigo smiled back.
"You got me. I'm dry."
"Well, I have something," Renji said.
"What, another dumb Kido failure for us to mock," Ichigo said. The Vice Captain narrowed his eyes.
"Not this time. Actually, I have a chant!"
"Really, Renji?" Rukia said.
"Hey, it's motivational! When I was in the Eleventh Division, we did them before every mission."
"Yeah, but they're kinda lame," Rukia said.
"Hey, I think it's lame too, but-"
"Then why are we doing it?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms, "Jeez, this is just a waste of time."
"If you shut the hell up, it'll be over quicker..." Ichigo conceded the point.
"All right, lend me your hands..." Renji said, and the other four, begrudgingly, huddled together, "We at this moment head into a decisive battle. Have faith that our blades will not shatter. Have faith that our hearts will not waiver. And even if our paths diverge, we all share a heart of iron. Swear that even if the ground beneath us should be rent asunder, we will live and return to this place alive!" The group split up after that, each member, disregarding Ichigo, of the party entered their own hallway.
Ichigo merely shook his head slowly, saying, "That was really lame, Renji." He walked into the middle lane, completely stoic.
"I miss Itsygo..." Nel said, "We could be playin' endless tag or somethin'...You're so boring, Nelliel..." The elder Arrancar shook her head.
"I'm sure Ichigo will be back to share his regards," she said, "But he needed to do something. Don't worry, Nel." Nel sighed, before jumping off the worm, and running off. Nelliel snapped toward the fleeing Arrancar.
"Hey, where are you going!?" she shouted, using a Sonido to intercept her path, to see that she was no longer there.
"Where...Where did she go?" she asked herself. Then a better question came to mind.
"How does she keep getting away from me?"
"What the fu-" Ichigo said, as Nel flew out of a Garganta, and into his face.
"Itsygo! I missed you so much!" she said.
"It's been ten minutes. Get off me." Nel hugged his face tighter.
"I missed you so much!" Ichigo ripped Nel from his face and placed her gently on the ground.
"Christ, child. You're really becoming a bother."
"I missed you-"
"Silence, Nel. Silence." Ichigo turned around, and looked up, into the ceiling.
"You can come out now," he said. The sounds of footsteps sounded, before a being fell from the rafters, and in front of the duo.
"Lame..." Ichigo said as the dust cloud billowed. A figure rose from the cloud, and the dust dissipated around him.
"Hey! What's with that non-reaction!" the Arrancar asked, "Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio just gave you a magnificent entrance, is this is all that I get!" Ichigo refused to change his expression.
"I'll show you!" The former substitute twisted his neck.
"Wow, this guy is lame!" Nel shouted, cheerfully.
"Be quiet, Nel."
"Now, introduce yourself, so we can begin our fight."
"I'm not fighting you," Ichigo said, crossing his arms.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to waste any time on you. Begone."
"Fine then. I'll just get this started myself!" Dordoni slashed his Zanpakuto at Ichigo, who refused to raise a guard.
The blade stopped, hovering about an inch away from Ichigo's neck. Dordoni eyes widened, in horror.
"I said that I refused to fight you because I didn't want to waste any time on you. Not that fighting you would take any of my time..."
Zommari Rureaux was biding his time, waiting to see which invader was going to be his first opponent.
By the sudden appearance of a Dordoni's obliterated corpse in his room, he had his answer. Ichigo stood in the hole, stoic.
"Hello buddy," Ichigo said, "Sorry bout that." Zommari stood up.
"You must be Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, "I see-"
"You must be dead," Ichigo said, with a sadistic smirk, as he blasted a Cero through the chest of the Arrancar.
"That is not desirable," Ulquiorra said, walking through the halls of Hueco Mundo, "That child seems to be growing stronger the longer he lives."
"Maybe you should have killed him before," a lanky, extremely tall Arrancar said, "Don't be too concerned with the brat. Zommari was a weakling anyway. To be taken by surprise by trash like that. Pitiful."
"He's much more powerful than you think. He killed Yammy rather effortlessly, and nearly defeated me..."
"Nearly. Ha. You came back looking like you just went through a garbage compactor. Besides, even with the limiter, you and Yammy should have handled that garbage easily." Ulquiorra ignored the comment and tried to walk past him.
"So, what about Aizen-sama's favorite pet? How's the doll doing?"
"Why are you asking this, Nnoitra?" Ulquiorra asked. Nnoitra shrugged.
"I dunno. Maybe I could help tame her. How are you doing in that regard?" The green eyed Arrancar ignored the question and walked past him.
"What's gotten into him?" Nnoitra said, before laughing.
"Nel, we are continuing on," Ichigo said, sternly. Nel looked on at the two dead Arrancars, and back at Ichigo, who had already left.
"Itsygo..." she said before she followed suit.
A coffin sat still. Cold. Lifeless.
Like the remains that rested inside.
Haschwalth stared down at it, not fully knowing their next move. Hayato had moved quicker than they could have ever expected, and now that Ichigo was dying, there was no real reason to go through him. Besides, he was likely to never realize his Quincy powers.
"Such a waste..." he said. His attendant walked into the room and bowed.
"Haschwalth-sama, what shall we do about this?" she asked, "The rest of the Sternritter grow restless, especially with the Abyss spreading into the castle." The blonde Quincy closed his eyes.
"The Throne of Desire is still empty. Neither Abaddon nor Gehinnam has come to claim it. They world borders on imbalance."
"When shall his majesty awaken again? The Age of Darkness is waiting its ruler."
"This is the problem. Even when he does awaken, how will we further his goal? Abaddon has surrounded the Throne. We need to activate it, through the Primordial Light." Haschwalth opened his eyes and walked toward the exit of the tomb.
Ichigo didn't know much. But he knew that all routes led to the end...
The Abyss. The status quo...
Darkness. Led by Yhwach...
Nothingness. Led by Hayato...
Ichigo knew nothing. He wasn't aware of what he had to do. He wasn't aware of what was the right thing to do. He also knew that he was going to die soon, and thus, he knew that he didn't have much time.
Darkness...Despite on all that he knew, the darkness was controllable. Yhwach controlled it well...What if Ichigo could force the world into a permanent imbalance, controlled by him...
In fact, he knew he could. He didn't have much life to live, so what if he...
"No Ichigo..." he said, irritated. He had no time and not the slightest clue on where he should start.
But maybe if he had more time.
Maybe...
"Myintrotoletuknow" by OutKast