Notes:
Thanks to my beta reader Ink and Blade!
Mirrored on Archive of our Own
I'm glad you guys were cool with Yamamoto's death, I suppose I should tag it, but idk if he's a character most would be annoyed to discover ended up dead, and idk if I want to scare people into thinking I'm going to kill my husbando Grimmjow. I dunno, we'll see.
Cheat Sheet:
Reiryoku → reiatsu → reishi
die Königin (The Queen)
Aspect: Vengeance, Life
Location: Living World - Geisterwelt (Spirit World)
Physical medium: Die Augen der Königin (The eyes of the Queen)
Ability: Das licht (the light)
Kinder: Quincy (Manipulate reishi)
Quincy host: das Herz der Königin (The heart of the Queen)
Current Host: Kurosaki Ichigo
Previous Host: Adaliz
- xxx -
Reiō (Soul King) -Destroyed-
Aspect: Disruption
Location: Souru Sosaeti (Soul Society)
Physical Medium: Crystal
Ability: Kekkai
?
Kuriētā: Shinigami
Aspect: Balance
Location: Souru Sosaeti (Soul Society)
Physical medium: ?
Shinigami Host: ?
Current Host: None
Previous Host: ?
Shinigami
Aspect: Neutrality
Physical Medium: sekkiseki
Ability: Soul Filtration
Location: Souru Sosaeti (Soul Society)
- xxx -
Alteza (High King)
Aspect: Regret, death
Location: Hueco Mundo (Hollow world)
Physical medium: Las manos de Alteza (the hands of the High King)
Ability: La sangre (the blood)
Niños: Hollows (feed off of reishi)
Hollow host: El corazón de Alteza (The heart of Alteza)
Current Host: Kurosaki Ichigo
Previous Hosts: Aizen Sousuke - Mictlāntēcutli
Ganbari masu!
Secuelas
- xxx -
Kurosaki Ichigo
"I did this, King. Don't you dare take it from me."
Even before he saw what Zangetsu had done, he knew. He caught his balance, staggering at the sudden shift in perspective, and stared down at Yamamoto's body. He squeezed the hilt of his sword so tightly he shook, trying and failing to dissect his feelings over it.
Zangetsu's memories started to bleed into his own, he could still feel the resistance in his sword as his hollow killed him. His hollow had savored that moment, it was so acute in his memory.
It was barely a fight at all, but it wasn't an execution either. Zangetsu didn't possess that kind of mercy, not for those he loathed.
He was startled from his thoughts by Kyoraku's voice. "Kurosaki-san...What are you going to do?"
Ichigo blinked, then tore his eyes from Yamamoto's corpse. Why ask at all? Then some of the surreal nature of the situation began to filter away into reality. He'd killed the soutaicho with ease, with only half of his power, and there wasn't a mark on him. What could they do to stop him? Nothing. Kyoraku was asking because there was simply nothing the shinigami could do but react.
Ichigo realized he'd fostered a false sense of hope. He held back, too much, it was just a part of living. Why had he done that? For his own sake, or theirs? Fuck if he didn't know anymore.
He looked down at his sword, the edge clean, Yamamoto's blood destroyed by the sheer density of his reiatsu. It was like he hadn't just killed him, like he wasn't lying dead at his feet. The edge caught the light, Zangetsu's bloodlust far from sated. Zangetsu was right; this wasn't his own doing, but he was no less responsible for what came next.
Ichigo sheathed Zangetsu, feeling a deepening chasm of sadness. He hadn't liked Yamamoto, not in the slightest, but he hadn't realized just how much he might mourn for him. Of any shinigami left alive, he was the only one close to him in power. Others had potential, but that man had always been a symbol of something greater, as much as he disagreed with him. Now he was gone, just like that, and if not by his will, then his own hand.
Ichigo let out a slow breath, trying to ignore the pain of something lost, and looked back to Kyoraku. He looked deeply mournful, but composed, patiently awaiting an answer from the monster that killed his commander and a man that was something of a father.
Ichigo didn't know how the shinigami managed to so calmly and quickly box up all his pain and carry on. It was more than admirable, it was humbling, and he didn't understand how Kyoraku did it. Ichigo said, "I'm still thinking."
Ukitake was watching him in a combination of upset, pity, and shock, and some distance behind him was Grimmjow. His fraccion stared at him in wide eyed concern, and once Ichigo met his eyes, the arrancar stepped into sonido to stand by his side. Grimmjow looked like he was struggling to decide if he'd made a mistake, if he should take responsibility for this.
It seemed like the rest of Soul Society had recovered enough from the shock to act. He could sense most of the captains shift their attention onto him, swiftly converging on his location. He was the threat; even if they couldn't do anything when they got there, by sense of duty or otherwise, they had to go.
Looking back to Kyoraku, Ichigo admitted, "It's strange...I've been in this moment before, but from the outside."
To Ichigo's surprise, Kyoraku humored his train of thought, questioning, "What did Yama-jii do to earn so much ire?"
For an instant, Ichigo was insulted, but he reminded himself his past hadn't happened, not here. Kyoraku hadn't even asked it like he'd invented his hatred, he sounded genuinely confused. Ichigo shook his head. "I went out of my way to protect Soul Society when it needed it, and that dedication was never returned. I didn't expect much, but…" to be abandoned, monitored like a rabid dog...that still hurt.
Kyoraku sighed, then dropped out of shikai and slowly sheathed his weapons, his eyes lingering on Yamamoto. "If you have the ability to freely shift, why remain a hollow?"
No one had asked before, not a shinigami, and never with the intentions he saw in Kyoraku's eyes. Ichigo swallowed his surprise and said, "There's more than one reason."
Grimmjow hissed, "It's none of your fucking business."
Ichigo looked at Grimmjow, he could see how uncomfortable that line of inquiry made the Espada. Grimmjow could feel what he did in the broadest sense, he knew better than anyone, and it was nice that he would try to protect him, but not necessary. "It's fine," Ichigo reassured him.
They were still only four, no one was close enough yet, and maybe Kyoraku deserved some kind of answer. Ichigo said, "The pain, the anger and the frustration is hard to ignore, especially now with die Konigin howling. If I have the option to carve out my heart, why wouldn't I take it?" He felt he had to justify himself to Kyoraku, the man was watching him intently enough to be unnerving.
Kyoraku made a thoughtful sound. He crossed over to Ichigo without an ounce of fear, crouching down before Yamamoto. "I'm trying to understand you, Ichigo. I'm missing about a decade of context, but I think I'm starting to. Don't take this as an insult," Kyoraku looked up, "but you might be the loneliest person I've ever met."
Ichigo took a step back in surprise, nearly backing into Grimmjow. His fraccion stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, but his hand lingered, grip tight. He knew Grimmjow felt that knife in his heart twist, he wasn't used to being called out.
Ichigo asked, "What makes you say that?"
"You isolate yourself from your family, your friends, and it isn't because of us. You...hated Yamamoto." He struggled over the past tense. "Your hollow wouldn't be so angry if that wasn't how you felt. Why mourn him if you hated him?" Kyoraku's question was genuine, and that he had been paying close enough attention at all wasn't what Ichigo expected.
"You think I'm mourning him?" asked Ichigo.
"Am I wrong?"
He wasn't. Ichigo took a step forward, away from Grimmjow's hand, and crouched to be at Kyoraku's level. "I did hate him. It never felt justified, but it felt good, so I did. I hated him." Ichigo looked over towards Yamamoto's shattered bankai. "But...you know the feeling of drawing steel against an equal, against someone who could kill you. You know that feeling?"
Kyoraku said, "I do."
Ichigo felt his composure crack. "He was one of the only people left that was strong enough to understand." He let out a bitter bark of laughter. "It's selfish, I'm not mourning for him, but for something I lost. It's gone...the challenge is gone and now...no one can stop me." That earned him a look from everyone, rightfully so. He hadn't meant to be so ominous, but now it finally felt real, there was no one left outside of his own inner spirits.
Ichigo swiped a hand over his face. "It might have been Zangetsu that did it in the end, but I can't lie to you and say that I regret it."
Kyoraku said, "You're very honest."
"I haven't lied to any of you," Ichigo said. "Not intentionally."
The rest of the captains and a smattering of lieutenants were getting close, too close to comfortably relax. The only ones noticeably absent were Soifon and Mayuri.
Lifting his hand, Ichigo clenched it into a fist as he straightened. La sangre swirled around his feet, including Grimmjow in his circle of defense. He had a feeling Soul Society had already hit him with everything they had, but he'd let his guard slip once already, it would be asinine to carelessly do so again.
Ichigo noticed Ukitake retrieve the white dagger that had both freed him and trapped him in a different kind of prison. He watched cautiously, not wanting to go through with that again. His soul was still uncomfortably canted towards die Konigin, and it took more than absorbing la sangre to fix it.
Ichigo didn't need to look to sense Byakuya behind him. The captain demanded, "Yamamoto's killer stands before you and you sheath your sword. Have you forgotten your vows so easily?"
Kyoraku stood, watching Byakuya impassively. "It's because of them that I sheath my sword, to turn it on Kurosaki now would only result in more unnecessary bloodshed. I played my part in freeing Kurosaki. I take responsibility for this."
Ichigo's eyes widened, not expecting Kyoraku would be the one to draw the line in the sand. He could feel Zangetsu's annoyance over Kyoraku's insistence this was all his responsibility, but he wasn't about to argue semantics. He reassured them all. "I don't want to fight. I might not regret Yamamoto's death, but I regret the rest. I didn't mean to kill anyone."
"Ah," said Kyoraku, "You've shown more patience than one might expect."
"Patience?" Toshiro spat the word incredulously. "You call this patience?"
Grimmjow finally cut in, shouting back at the taicho. "As if he hasn't made every effort to work with you. Unbelievable."
Ichigo ordered, "Drop it." He meant it when he said he didn't want to fight. He was exhausted, and he'd just swept the rug out from under Soul Society, they needed time too. He looked up, the last afternoon sun darkening the sky. The whispers and howls of the Gods were as omnipresent now as before, but the power creep was noticeable, at least to Ichigo it was. "I'll give you a day, that's the best I can do."
"Or what?" asked Toshiro.
Ichigo finally turned to face him, teeth bared in a snarl. "Do you want an ultimatum?" He desperately didn't want to give one. If he could go the rest of his afterlife without ever having to deal with Soul Society again he would be thrilled.
Most of the rest of the captains had made it there by then, and even without context he was the biggest threat; all swords were drawn but Kyoraku's and Ukitake's. Ichigo growled, "Take care of your dead, sort out your command, I'm going home."
Toshiro said, "You kill the soutaichou and you expect us to fall in line?"
"You can work with me, or against me, those are your only options, and I don't suggest the latter." Ichigo didn't care to wait for a response, he would deal with Zangetsu, but not with an audience.
Ichigo growled, "You have 24 hours." La sangre swallowed both him and Grimmjow, and he didn't care to take them to las Noches, he dropped them in the middle of nowhere.
Grimmjow muttered, "Y'know I don't miss the nausea."
A tired chuckle escaped Ichigo as he sat back heavily on the dunes. "What is it they say about silver linings?" He heard Grimmjow flip open a phone and tap away at the buttons, texting a message. He was glad that someone had thought ahead, because the only thing he was interested in was doing right then was nothing. If he did nothing, no one died, governments stayed intact, and Gods stayed asleep.
Ichigo could feel the question in the air before Grimmjow spoke it. The Espada fidgeted, then crouched beside him, asking, "What the fuck happened?"
He didn't want to linger on it, but Grimmjow risked his life over it, he deserved the truth. He deserved it just for putting up with him. Getting a blurry read off of his pain and emotions didn't really tell a story. Ichigo let out a mocking huff of laughter. "It's Aizen, it's always Aizen. He's dead and he still has his teeth in me." He could feel Grimmjow's confusion just in the way he stared at him. "I don't want to be like him, but I am. What the fuck am I supposed to do about that?"
"Why does it matter?" Grimmjow asked the question carefully, fearfully.
It pissed Ichigo off to know Grimmjow was justified in his fear. Maybe he wasn't a clone of Aizen, but he was only a stone's throw away. He was well on his way to being just as fucking insane as Aizen was, and the reason he wasn't was sitting two feet away from him, afraid a question would tempt violence. Ichigo knew he was fucked in an abstract way, but sometimes he was struck by a moment of clarity.
Tightening his hand into a fist, Ichigo repeated the question under his breath. "Why does it matter?" It shouldn't, it really shouldn't. Aizen was just a ghost in his head, a memory, but fuck if that memory didn't feel real. He could still hear his voice, feel the dull throb of failure. "Because I hated him." That word alone tightened his throat and made his blood boil.
Ichigo soothed that rage with the memory of Aizen's blood and the sound of his bones splintering under his hands. Pretending to be who he used to be was nothing but a lie. He loved to fight, he never stopped to wonder why. Aizen took that love and twisted it. Even silently acknowledging he could be just as sadistic as Aizen ached.
Ichigo laughed, his voice seeped in derision. "Fuck if it doesn't make me angry that Aizen won. Anger is easy." As if Grimmjow didn't know that. He lifted his shoulder in a sheepish shrug. "I got caught because I'm stupid."
Some or all of what he said annoyed Grimmjow, he didn't need to look to sense the tension in the Espada. Grimmjow finally sat back on the sand and growled, "Is it true you sat there and let your reiatsu eat you alive so you wouldn't kill anyone else?" Ichigo just looked at him, wondering who'd come to that conclusion. He wasn't wrong, but he had to wonder how he knew.
Grimmjow carried on when he didn't refute it. "I didn't know the guy, but from the way you talk about the prick, he wouldn't have given a shit about killing some or even all of the shinigami...or anyone really."
Grimmjow paused, trying to reorganize his thoughts. He swiped a hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable being privy to any of Ichigo's emotions at all. "You've got a hell of a lot of self loathing for a guy who's got more in common with me than Aizen, and ya don't hate me, so..." The Espada shrugged, changing the subject before he could be questioned. "Which of us fucked you up to make you panic like that?"
Ichigo winced and skirted the question. "Does it matter?" It was bad enough to panic, but another entirely to know someone else had felt it, even if it was an abstracted by distance .
"Was it me?" Grimmjow asked.
Ichigo looked at Grimmjow in surprise. Did it really bother him that much? From the restless way the Espada shifted, it did.
Ichigo shook his head and said, "No…" He thought it went without saying that he didn't like being restrained. Coupled with pain and darkness, it dredged up plenty of memories he would much rather forget. "No, that was all Szayel."
That seemed to ease Grimmjow's mind, and it prompted Ichigo to ask. "What if it was you?"
Grimmjow shrugged and muttered, "I don't know. Was just wondering if I was more of a dick than I thought I was."
"You were never a sadist, Grimmjow. Maybe over enthusiastic." Grimmjow was a hunter and a fighter, through and through. He might enjoy himself, but he wouldn't say he ever had a penchant for playing with his food. Ichigo was different, he couldn't in good faith say he didn't enjoy every second of Szayel's pain.
Rather than wallow in the helplessness Zangetsu had forced onto him, he held those memories close, enough to seize him with the desire to kill.
"Fucking hell, Kurosaki," Grimmjow muttered, "When I feel like shit I don't make myself feel better with murder."
Of course Grimmjow would notice, it was an all consuming feeling, which was why Ichigo turned to it so frequently. He chuckled under his breath, noting Grimmjow's fear, but like usual, he hadn't run, and Ichigo didn't think he would. Ichigo said dryly, "I could actually go kill something, but I'm exhausted and my soul hurts, leave me to my fantasies."
"Oh, believe me, I would if I could," growled Grimmjow. It was unfortunate that he had to feel that, but he was taking it better than Ichigo thought he would.
The silence stretched, not uncomfortably so, but Grimmjow was the one to break it. "That dagger pulled Alteza out of you, right? Isn't that a good thing?"
His question only served to remind Ichigo of the futility of their joint situation. Alteza was pestilence, and die Konigin was wrath, and both of them were never meant to be contained by a soul, but it didn't stop them from utterly owning him. Ichigo scoffed, "No more than losing all your blood is a good thing. Hurt like hell...it still hurts."
Grimmjow snuck a glance at him, but Ichigo thought he caught the guilt in his eyes anyway. "I didn't know."
"It's fine. Nothing's free." It wasn't Grimmjow's choice that cost him, but his own.
A good deal of pain still lingered in his soul, but that was less of a concern to him than Zangetsu. Now that he could call himself calm without feeling like a liar, he could deal with him. His trust in his hollow was still absolute, he knew everything Zangetsu did was for him, but that didn't mean he couldn't be angry.
He pulled on Zangetsu's power, forcing his hollow to manifest. After being trapped in his inner world for hours, Ichigo wasn't keen to go back so soon.
His hollow materialized before him, eyes narrowed in challenge. "I ain't sorry."
Grimmjow's discomfort was palpable, he didn't want to be caught in the middle, and Ichigo pitied him, but not enough to spare him it.
Ichigo glared back up at his hollow. "I know you're not." Don't do it again. He didn't need to say it out loud, it reverberated through his entire being.
Zangetsu moved, his inner spirit in far better shape than Ichigo was at the moment. He flattened Ichigo to his back on the sand, his hand fisted in the front of his kosode. Zangetsu shouted, "Don't look at me like that! I did what I had to!"
Ichigo narrowed his eyes, but did nothing to defend himself. "It's been a long time since I've heard those words."
"Shut up!" Zangetsu's grip tightened, his other hand twitching towards the sword on his back, but he left it where it was.
Ichigo grabbed his hollow's forearm tightly enough that he couldn't escape. "I don't think so. You did this, you don't get to ignore me." If Zangetsu wanted to go there, so help him, he would suffer the consequences.
Grimmjow wisely backed up, giving them both space.
Zangetsu pulled on his arm, trying to free himself, but Ichigo's grip only tightened. Zangetsu reached for his sword, and Ichigo didn't hesitate to let him go to draw the trench knife. Ichigo blocked his strike, sending it over his head, and rolled to the side, on his feet in a heartbeat.
Zangetsu attacked, throwing his anger into an offensive onslaught Ichigo was still too weak to oppose. Ichigo clenched his teeth through each angry strike, backing the blade with his other hand, but he was still forced back. He knew it pissed Zangetsu off even more that he chose to use his Quincy sword. Ichigo saw the rage on his face, but he felt the betrayal in his soul.
Zangetsu thrust the sword forward and Ichigo didn't even try to block. He dropped his arms and the sword sank through his guts, his ribs, but there was no pain. Zangetsu looked as surprised as Grimmjow sounded. Ichigo took a step forward onto the sword, the resistance there, but he was unharmed. Ichigo flashed him both an understanding and bitter smile. "Did you really think I'd reject you?"
His hollow's hand trembled, he could feel it through the sword. From the look on Zangetsu's face, he had. Ichigo said, "You took away my choice, of course I'm angry."
He took another step, impaling himself further onto that sword, fisting his hand in fabric to jerk his hollow closer. His voice was quiet, breaking. "Don't take that from me." He was one push away from snapping, denial was the glue holding him together. He didn't want to beg, but he couldn't handle any more of this, not from Zangetsu.
Zangetsu gave in, breaking eye contact. "Doesn't feel like anger, King."
That moniker was back again, and whatever rage Zangetsu had was crumbling under Ichigo's distress. His hollow was right, it wasn't really anger.
Zangetsu disappeared, leaving nothing but a strange fuzzy sensation where he'd been stabbed. His hollow stubbornly growled, "I still ain't sorry."
Ichigo let out a heavy breath. "Ah...I know." He sheathed his sword and sat again, which Grimmjow took to mean it was safe to wander back over.
The Espada was staring at him with such confusion, it took Ichigo a moment to realize why. He explained, "He's my inner spirit, Grimmjow, he can't hurt me if I don't let him."
Grimmjow spoke slowly. "I guess that makes sense."
Ichigo leaned forward on his knees, hoping Grimmjow would relax if he did, and bit by bit he saw the tension drain out of the Espada. Ichigo said, "There's a reason I use Zangetsu as a shield; we can't hurt each other, it solves a lot of problems."
"Sure waited a long time to tell me," Grimmjow griped. He sat down again on his left, avoiding eye contact in away that wasn't so deliberate.
Ichigo shrugged. "It just didn't occur to me that you wouldn't know."
"Of course I didn't, do I look like a shinigami, dipshit?" Ichigo flopped to his back with an over exaggerated sigh in response and Grimmjow was sidetracked. "Hey, you're going to sleep?"
"Try. That was the plan," said Ichigo. "I wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in hell if I hadn't dealt with my little domestic dispute." And it was dealt with; he wasn't happy about it, but he could live with it, he had to.
"Those two shinigami went out of their way to help you."
"Kyoraku and Ukitake were always rather moderate, I'm not that surprised." Ichigo looked over at Grimmjow. "That bothers you?"
"Why the fuck would they do that? You're part hollow, they're shinigami." Grimmjow said it as if that explained everything.
Ichigo said, "For the same reason I helped Ishida."
Grimmjow growled under his breath. "Prick doesn't deserve half of the help you gave him."
Ichigo let out a huff of disagreement. "I'm not saying he shouldn't take responsibility, but he's just a high schooler, and the Quincy used him like a two dollar whore, letting him die for it doesn't solve anything." That was neither here nor there, it was already dealt with, and the crux of this wasn't Ishida, but the shinigami. "If they lock me up, they'll still have problems, and the next guy might not be so nice." He looked over at Grimmjow, well aware of his unease. "You don't trust them, that's fine. Neither do I."
Grimmjow scoffed, like the idea of Ichigo trusting anyone was laughable. "So now what happens next?"
"The shinigami will have chosen a new soutaichou by the time I-" from the frown on Grimmjow's face, he felt the need to remedy that statement. "-we return. But Yamamoto's death might mean more problems. The only other shinigami old enough to know what the fuck I want to know, are clearly ignorant of the situation."
"What situation," Grimmjow asked. "The God situation?"
"Obviously," said Ichigo.
"What makes you say that?"
"You saw the looks on their faces when I brought up the Gods," Ichigo said, "they thought I was insane."
"Ya kinda were, Kurosaki," deadpanned Grimmjow. From the scowl Ichigo shot him, he didn't linger on the subject. "Maybe they just have really good poker faces."
"Please, I've played cards with all of them, they're almost as bad at lying as I am." Ichigo frowned at the sky, recalling Gin's confusing apology. "Except for Gin, I never could figure him out, but Aizen killed him before I could really bother."
Grimmjow stared at him, he could feel his eyes burning into the side of his head. Ichigo finally snapped, "What?"
The Espada asked, "How well did you know these shinigami?"
Ichigo thought about that, staring back up at the roiling sky. "I dunno...I always got the impression they weren't being entirely forthcoming. Most shinigami kept their distance, but I never really knew if it was orders or personal preference. It was pretty rare to see or talk to anyone outside of a fight."
"This was while you were fighting for their sorry asses?!"
Ichigo wasn't expecting Grimmjow to get so angry about it, but then, he was still dealing with the anger from more than one person, and the Espada got heated about almost everything. "Yes," he said.
"You know I can feel that," said Grimmjow.
Acknowledging that fact made them both uncomfortable, but Grimmjow drew his attention to that sharp sting in his heart, no matter how far removed he was from it. Ichigo made a disgusted sound, turning his eyes back to the sky. "It doesn't matter if they used me or not. Didn't happen, remember?"
Rather than linger in the past, Ichigo ordered, "Go, fill in Harribel." Grimmjow inhaled to argue and Ichigo steamrolled whatever argument he was about to make. "You're coming with me, but watching me sleep is a waste of time." Grimmjow shut his mouth, glowering at him. "And leave the phone."
Grimmjow swore, getting to his feet and throwing the cell at him almost as hard as he could. Ichigo caught it without looking. Any harder and it would be in pieces in his hand. Ichigo looked over at him and said, "Thanks." That was an overarching statement, he meant that in more ways than one.
Before Grimmjow could say anything else, he sent him through la sangre to Harribel, his sudden solitude both necessary and unwanted.
He might trust Grimmjow, but he still had his pride to consider.
Curling up on his side, Ichigo screamed, his claws digging into his sides. That pain was transient, his healing too fast for it to sink more than skin deep. Frustration didn't even begin to describe it, he didn't have the luxury of melting down, and going out of his way to kill anything he could get his claws in wouldn't fix it.
His sword dug into his hip, his armor biting into his shoulder, and he preferred it that way. Pain was a distraction he could live with.
"King…"
"I don't wanna hear it," growled Ichigo. He had a handful of hours to get his shit together, and keep it that way, and he would do it his own way, even if that way was terrible.
- xxx -
Grimmjow
Feet striking solid ground, Grimmjow staggered, his equilibrium settling as he took note that he was no longer in the desert, but Las Noches. "Fucker." He didn't feel like his existence was being rejected anymore, but the downside was that Kurosaki could send him wherever the fuck he wanted with no repercussions.
Kurosaki was a chaotic mix of emotions, and none of them were positive. It wasn't that he thought the visored would do something stupid, but it was worrying when he knew how unpredictable it could make him.
"Grimmjow?"
Pulled from his thoughts by Harribel's question, Grimmjow turned to look at her, noting that not only was Starrk present, but Neliel. Grimmjow answered her unasked questions as tersely as possible. "Yes, Yamamoto is dead. Yes, Kurosaki is fine."
"Then where is he?" asked Nel.
Grimmjow shoved his hands in his pockets, doing everything in his power to ignore Kurosaki. He drawled, "Don't get yer panties in a bunch, princess, he'll live. You know what he's like."
She crossed her arms, her lips pulled into a tight frown, and resigned herself to frustrated silence. Harribel chided, "I need context, Grimmjow."
"That dagger the shinigami gave us was made by the Quincy, it had das licht in it, so it fucked up Kurosaki's soul and Zangetsu took control. Zangetsu was the one that killed Yamamoto."
Grimmjow saw the surprise in Harribel's eyes, and her question took him completely by surprise. "Was it intentional?" He stared at her and Harribel clarified, "Were the shinigami aware of the effect this dagger would have on Kurosaki?"
Grimmjow hadn't thought of that, he hadn't considered that that could have been their intention from the start. Starrk spoke up. "For what purpose? Surely they didn't intend for Kurosaki to kill the soutaichou? Why shoot themselves in the foot?"
Harribel said, "That was merely a consequence of what the dagger actually did." Her eyes flicked towards Grimmjow. "Explain to me in detail what happened."
So he did. He tried his best not to leave out any details, but he wasn't a fucking storyteller. Harribel asked a few probing questions, the look on her face unreadable. She said, "If the other shinigami, Kyoraku, was non-confrontational, we can't rule out that this might have been intentional. I can't say I can guess to what end they would do so. We should be cautious."
Nel shifted, her arms crossed, and asked, "He's going back in 24 hours, well, a bit less than that now, right? He isn't going alone, is he?"
Before Grimmjow could answer, Harribel said definitively. "He isn't." That answered that, and Grimmjow knew Kurosaki would heed her wishes. Whatever arrangement they had, she was one of the few people he actually listened to.
Grimmjow turned on his heel and Nel called after him. "Where are you going?"
"I'm not gonna stand around waiting with you, but I'm going," said Grimmjow.
No one stopped him, he was grateful for that. He could still feel the dredges of unpleasant feelings from Kurosaki, and he had his own bullshit to try to work out, so despite his initial reluctance, this was still in his favor. 21 hours, give or take. Should be plenty of time.
- xxx -
Urahara Kisuke
"Zangetsu killed him?" questioned Urahara.
"Ah," said Yoruichi. "He didn't have control for long, Kurosaki pushed him out." She cocked her head at him. "You expected that?"
Kisuke dipped his head. "It was a possibility. He remained in hollow form?"
"He did," she answered. She took a seat on the table he sat at so she could face him. "Is that relevant?"
"It is. Kurosaki's soul is a smaller scale of what's happening in the realms. That dagger was an artifact of a time when shinigami and Quincy still worked together, whatever made it, no longer exists. If it was purely das licht, he would have been forced out of his hollow state."
Yoruichi frowned at him. "That's important?"
"It is," said Kisuke. "Who has the dagger now?"
"The shinigami."
Kisuke nodded, already distracted. In the past, he wouldn't have known what to look for, who knew what other artifacts from before Seireitei were made from actual source. If he couldn't get his hands on any of them, they might as well not exist. "You say 24 hours until Kurosaki returns?"
"Ah."
That left twenty three hours and about twenty minutes from when he'd brought Yoruichi back. He said, "Be there, observe, Kurosaki most likely won't tell us everything."
She leaned on her arm and reached for him, fingers ghosting across the stubble along his jaw. She guided his attention to rest on her, and not his thoughts. She asked, "Is there any reason we're keeping this to ourselves?"
"Kurosaki-san is unpredictable. Until I can be certain how he'll react, it stays between us," Kisuke said. Kurosaki was an emotional person, even if he tended to lean towards rage. The wrong sort of push, and he really would become a monster. That dark sand only raised more questions than answers, and he wouldn't have Kurosaki doing something rash without thinking it through.
She made a slightly annoyed sound and flicked his forehead before he had any hope to dodge. He winced and she said, "You reek. For God's sake, shower and eat something. We have time." She made to get up and she leaned back in again, remembering something. "And don't you dare just jump into a gigai."
Kisuke gave her a sheepish smile. "Yes, oku-sama."
She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up. "I haven't seen you this worked up about anything since the visored."
It was a sore subject, but she was perhaps the only one who could speak to him about it casually, and he could appreciate that. He shrugged helplessly and said, "I'm not interested in watching the realms collapse on themselves."
She gave him a knowing look, silently replacing 'the realms' with 'Kurosaki'. She knew he took some level of personal responsibility for what Kurosaki was going through. He'd helped the boy for awhile, thinking that was only right when he might just go and get himself killed, especially with Rukia's crash training. Somewhere along the line, he'd stepped over it. He'd effectively killed Isshin's son. Killed him and let the world rip him apart.
Yoruichi walked past him, her hand sliding over his chest to the side of his neck before that lingering touch was gone. "Shower. Eat. Your impersonation of a homeless man is going a bit too far."
He chuckled and pushed himself to his feet, his hand tight around Benihime. His desire to fix things was a problem, but one he wasn't too interested in changing. "I know it isn't in your nature to be early, but, be early."
She brushed him off. "Yeah, yeah. You got me closer last time; District 60."
He reiterated. "Early, Yoruichi-san."
She made a disgusted noise, like he was underestimating her speed, and left the room. Well, he wouldn't have it be said he didn't try. He was still new to opening portals, especially in an area he'd never visited before. The root of the problem was that it wasn't an exact science, which annoyed him beyond belief.
He found his thoughts drifting back to the shinigami and he latched onto Yoruichi's order before it slipped his mind. "Shower…" He could do that.
- xxx -
Bit of a transition bit, but the next chapter will be involved so I didn't want to cram them both together.
Thanks for reading!
Current Espada Ranking
King Strawberry
Fraccion: Grimmjow, Nelliel
0 - Harribel
1 - Ulquiorra
2 - Starrk & Lilynette
3 - Grimmjow
4 - Zommari
5 - Szayelaporro Granz
6 - Shawlong
7 - Cyan, Mila Rose, Apacci (Quimera Parca: Ayon)
8 - Yylfordt Granz
9 - Edrad Liones
10 - Pesche
