To make up for the time lost, and for last one being filler, here's a new chapter.
Note to certain readers: If you want me to update more regularly, be careful on how you say it. I'm not paid to do this, what I do to get paid is part of the reason I don't have time to write. I promised to finish the story, as long as I'm having fun doing it. Each time you complain about the time I take to update, you take one more step in taking my fun away. Remember, this is not my job, this is something I do because I want to, not because I have to.
On with the chapter...
Chapter 052 – Kon's Frustration! Say Goodbye, Ichigo
Morning of September 10th, in Hueco Mundo...
"What happened out there yesterday, Tōsen?! I felt a huge reiatsu when Matsuri walked out of this room and I couldn't help her because of this damn barrier you guys placed!" Seigen furiously spoke to his visitor, his former subordinate, Kaname Tōsen. "What's the point of telling me I'm a guest if you're going to keep me locked in?!"
"You're misunderstanding Aizen-sama's actions, Seigen Suzunami." Kaname calmly spoke. "What happened yesterday was a misbehaviour on the part of some of our henchmen, but we had someone take care of it. Those who acted wrongly will be punished by Aizen-sama himself."
"Misbehaviour? I felt Matsuri losing consciousness! What did they do to her? Why did they do it?" Seigen demanded an answer from the Shinigami traitor.
"Let's say that Arrancars don't really like the presence of Shinigami." Tōsen answered, causing Seigen's eyes to widen. It seemed that Aizen had some Arrancars under his control and those same Arrancars attacked Matsuri. "That is also the reason why we raised this barrier around your room."
"What do you mean by that? What has that to do with you people preventing me from saving my daughter?!" The redhead Shinigami's anger only seemed to increase with each word Tōsen said.
"What would your presence accomplish? Would you stop the Arrancars who were acting wrongly or would you end up attacking them, or even killing them? You know the answer as well as I do... You think only about yourself, Seigen Suzunami. There's no justice in your actions." Tōsen reprimended his former Captain, causing the latter's eyes to widen. "Aizen-sama, the Arrancars under his control, you... all have the same enemy: Soul Society. There's no point in fighting amongst ourselves, when we should all be allies to defeat our common enemy. We should put our personal skirmishes aside and do what is right, what is justice. Until you learn that, you'll be kept inside this barrier."
"I haven't made my decision yet, Tōsen! Remember that!" Seigen reminded the man who was about to leave the room, causing him to stop. "What you people are telling me, for all that I know, can just be a huge pile of bullshit to make me join you! I will only make my decision when I go to Soul Society and see what really happened with my own two eyes!"
"Only when you see, is it?" Tōsen slightly turned his head back, over his left shoulder. Seigen immediately understood Tōsen's movement, as he now could see the blind man's left eye, behind his band-like visor. "What is right is not always what can be seen in front of you with your own two eyes. I learned that the hard way, you should at least try to remember that."
At the same time...
"Starrk! I think she's waking up!" Lilynette, the small, female Arrancar, called for her partner. As she looked in his direction, she noticed he was sleeping as well. A vein quickly popped in her forehead, before she launched herself towards Starrk, her weight crashing down on the male Arrancar. "Wake the hell up, Starrk!"
"Wh-What the hell, Lilynette?!" The startled Arrancar got up from the floor, where he spent the night, waiting for the Shinigami girl he saved to wake up. "Didn't you see I was sleeping?"
"Shut it! Next time I'll shove my fist down your throat!" Lilynette warned him, with an angry look still on her face.
"What... what is going on?" Matsuri lazily rubbed her eyes, while she sat up. As she finally opened them, she squeaked and jump back on her bed, putting her sheets in front of her body as a shield. "A-Arrancars?! What are you doing here?!"
"I hope you understand we are not the ones who were attacking you last night. We actually saved you and brought you back to your room." The male Arrancar dully explained to her. He had blue-gray eyes and wavy, dark brown hair, which ended at the base of his neck, unkempt and parted down the middle. He also had a faded goatee and his clothing was typical of an Arrancar, as far as she knew from past encounters with other Arrancars. He wore a white jacket outlined in black, though altered with the collar upturned. A black sash was worn in a manner similar to a matador around his waist and he wore white gloves. The remains of his Hollow mask consisted of a fanged bottom jaw which was positioned along his neck. His Hollow hole was visible on his sternum, right below the tip of his mask. "My name is Coyote Starrk."
"He's being modest! He was actually the one who did all the work." Matsuri's eyes focused on the smaller Arrancar, the one who just spoke. She was a young-looking female Arrancar. Her outfit consisted of white-colored briefs with a black line positioned in the middle, arm-warmers, a revealing vest with a high collar and thigh-high, fur-lined boots. Her Hollow hole was positioned in the center of her stomach. The remainder of her Hollow mask was in the form of a helmet, with two horns on the top of her head. The left horn looked as if it had been cut off and the left half of the mask covered her left eye. Her right eye was light pink, with the left eye covered by her hollow mask and a flame design over the eyehole, and she also had light green hair arranged in a very basic manner. "Hi, I'm Lilynette Gingerbuck!"
"Let me get this straight... you guys are Arrancars, right?" Matsuri questioned them, with both nodding slowly to answer. "And the others yesterday were..."
"Arrancars as well." Starrk shortly answered.
"I see..." Matsuri took a few moments to analyze her saviors. They didn't seem hostile like the ones before and they seemed to not have a problem in answering her questions, so she tried to get something more out of them. "The other two said they were Aizen-fuku... Aizen's personal servants. Does that make you...?"
"His servants? Indeed." Starrk rubbed the back of his head and looked away from her for a moment, before fixing his eyes back on her face. "All the Arrancars who reside here in Las Noches are a part of Aizen-sama's personal army."
"A-Army? Right... One of them introduced herself as #34, but since you said there's an army of you... I take it there are more than 34 Arrancars, then?" The young Shinigami girl deduced, causing Starrk to rub his chin this time.
"I guess that should be correct." He vaguely answered, before releasing a long yawn. "We're quite new around these parts ourselves, so we don't know that much."
"You liar!" Lilynette shouted to him, causing him to sigh. "We haven't been told how many we are in total, but you're better than I am at sensing reiatsu, and even I could sense we're around 60 or so."
"S-Sixty?!" Matsuri shook in fear, causing Lilynette to apologetically look at Starrk, as only now did she realize why he didn't want to reveal that. "Aizen wants to destroy Soul Society using you, isn't it?"
"I guess..." Starrk yawned once again and rubbed his eyes. He felt more like going back to sleep instead of going through such a long conversation. "It doesn't matter what his wishes are. We owe Aizen-sama the power he gave us Arrancar, so we'll follow him no matter what."
"Just because of that? Even if what you're doing is wrong?" Matsuri asked without thinking.
"Wrong? Is it really that wrong for Hollows to have Shinigami as their target?" Starrk pointed out the obvious. "Shinigami fight Hollows, Hollows fight Shinigami... that's just the way it is."
"But Aizen is a Shinigami, isn't he?" Matsuri asked after a while. There was something wrong with what Starrk was saying. "What you say is true. Indeed Shinigami and Hollows fighting each other is just the way it is, but then... that means Hollows following a Shinigami's orders is unnatural, don't you think?"
"The girl is smart..." Starrk thought to himself.
"I... I'm sorry, I may be exceeding myself. It's just that... I can't put it in my mind that you Arrancars follow Aizen just because of a debt of gratitude." Matsuri carefully continued, as she saw that Starrk wasn't answering her previous question.
"Arrancars are something more than Hollows, Shinigami girl." Starrk sat back on the floor, as he knew the conversation wasn't about to end anytime soon. "Can you tell me what drives a Hollow's actions?"
"What drives a Hollow's actions?" Matsuri repeated the question, before she remembered her days at the Academy, where she and her brother were taught all of that kind of stuff. "Hollows are driven by an eternal and insatiable hunger to devour other souls to fill the void caused by its descent. Their former obsession as a Plus becomes their first target and after they devour it, they eventually become mindless creatures concerned only with finding the most potent souls to devour."
"That seems quite accurate, but tell me something Shinigami... haven't you found intelligent Hollows before?" Starrk's question immediately made Matsuri remember Mad Eater. "Those mostly retain that intelligence because they were already evil in their lives to start with and also because they had a very strong mind as living beings, so they adapt easier to the life of a Hollow. Those Hollows become much more dangerous and much more powerful than the average Hollows."
"I never knew that." Matsuri stated. "Now that I think of it, that explains why Mad Eater had such a control over the weaker Hollows."
"However, the stronger the Hollow becomes, the more substantial the void in his heart becomes and since the Hollow isn't able to sustain it... it loses his mind and starts eating other Hollows." Starrk's revelation made Matsuri's eyes widen and Lilynette to stare away for a while. "These Hollows are attracted to one another and a mass inter-devouring follows, resulting in a Gillian."
"The Menos Grande?" Matsuri asked, causing Starrk to nod.
"Gillians have beast-like intellect as well, but they can evolve twice more. First into Adjuchas, then into Vasto Lorde." Lilynette was the one to speak this time. "Gillians have no personality at all, but sometimes, one of the Hollows that composes it gains control and once again starts eating other Hollows, even other Gillians."
"That way they become Adjuchas and they regain their intelligence. An Adjuchas is basically the Hollow that gained control when it was a Gillian with the power it gained from eating its fellow Hollows. They are usually strong enough to challenge a Shinigami Captain." Starrk resumed the explanation. "However, Adjuchas have to keep on eating other Hollows so that the mind of the controlling Hollow isn't absorbed by the others that compose the Adjuchas's body. If that mind is absorbed, the Adjuchas becomes a Gillian once again."
"And if the Adjuchas devours enough other Adjuchas, it eventually reaches the pinacle of Hollow evolution: the Vasto Lorde." Lilynette added, before smiling to Matsuri. "You must be wondering why this is important to answer your question, right?"
"Well, in fact... I kinda am." Matsuri nervously answered.
"Once a Hollow reaches the Adjuchas class, it becomes influenced by the Aspects of Death." Starrk revealed, causing an even more confused look to appear in Matsuri's face. "The Aspects of Death are factors that influenced the Hollow's life, death and life after death. When a Hollow becomes an Adjuchas, the Aspects of Death cause his powers to change."
"When a Hollow is formed, the heart of the soul becomes its mask and its powers are based on its nature." Matsuri repeated a quote she once listened from one of her Academy teachers, causing both Arrancars to nod.
"The Aspects of Death cause those powers to change according to the Adjuchas' Aspect of Death, while still retaining their individuality. They can also change the place of the Hollow hole from the chest, the place from where the heart was carved out, to a place that's more related to the influence of the Aspect of Death on the Adjuchas." Starrk continued to speak, while Lilynette passed her hand near her Hollow hole. "And when you become a Vasto Lorde like us, those powers become even greater because, not only do we gain other Adjuchas' spiritual power when we eat them, we may also gain their new powers."
"This is the influence of the Aspects of Death in a Menos Grande's body, but there are also changes in the mind." Lilynette added, while she pointed to her head. "When we regain individuality by becoming Adjuchas, our intelligence is much greater than it ever was. And by then, we notice the influence of the Aspects of Death and reflect on them. When that happens... we regain our feelings and emotions, based on the influence of the Aspects."
"You're saying that... the more powerful the Hollow gets, the closer he gets to regain his feelings?" Matsuri asked in disbelief.
"That's it. Now, what do you think it happens when Adjuchas or Vasto Lorde gain Shinigami powers?" Starrk questioned as he raised his sword. "We gain even more of a conscience, since we're becoming closer to you Shinigami. It also makes us stable, as we don't have to fear returning to our previous forms any longer. And... we become more susceptible to our feelings and emotions."
"So that means... each Arrancar has their own motive to follow Aizen, based on their feelings?" Matsuri concluded, causing a big grin to appear in Lilynette's face.
"You were right when you said she was smart!" Lilynette pointed out to Starrk, who groaned.
"I never said it, you just went and read my mind..." Starrk snickered, causing Lilynette to giggle.
"So...what are your motives?" Matsuri questioned them, causing both Arrancars to become a whole lot more serious.
"Even though there was an improvement, an Arrancar's feelings and emotions are not as complex as a human's or a Shinigami's. It all comes down to the influence of the Aspects of Death." Lilynette then turned both palms towards Matsuri and spread her fingers wide. "There are ten Aspects of Death: rage, greed, madness, intoxication, destruction, despair, emptiness, sacrifice, time and solitude."
"From weaker to stronger, even though rage is the most unstable of the Aspects of Death." Starrk added, before he stood back up. "There are ten Espada, the stronger of Aizen-sama's Arrancar army. They are the stronger manifestations of each of the Aspects of Death. The remaining Arrancars, the Números, are influenced by the Aspects of Death as well though. If a Número becomes the strongest representation of his Aspect of Death, he'll assume the place of the Espada who represented that Aspect of Death until then, with the Espada being kicked out of the group."
"He heard that happened the other day. The Sexta Espada, the Espada that represents destruction, lost part of his power and was replaced by the stronger destruction-representing Arrancar around. I think the new one's name is...Luppi...or something..." Lilynette then smiled and pointed towards her partner. "Starrk over here is the new Primera Espada! He's really strong!"
"Shut it, Lilynette. You're speaking too much again..." Starrk scolded the girl once again, this time even smacking her in the back of her head.
"So from all you have told me, I take it you represent..." Matsuri bit her lower lip before finishing the sentence, as she saw the expressions of the Arrancars darkening considerably. "...solitude."
"That's right." Starrk nodded with a sigh.
"What does that have to do with you joining Aizen?" She asked, wondering if she wasn't abusing the luck she had until then.
"We were alone, we had no one. Aizen-sama gave us comrades and took us out of our solitude. We owe him." Starrk explained while he ruffled Lilynette's hair. "And I guess that's also why I saved you last night. If Aizen-sama has plans for you, I should see you as a comrade, not as an enemy."
"A comrade..." Matsuri repeated, while she stared down. In the end, she felt a lot like Starrk as she felt solitude as well, since her everyday partner wasn't around. "Fujimaru..."
"And I guess it's also why I've been so talkative today." Starrk said, before opening the room's door, startling Matsuri. "I'll keep an eye on you, but I advise you to not leave this room. As you saw last night, others won't be as friendly as the two of us if they come across you."
"S-Sure!" Matsuri suddenly felt an urge to bow to both of them, even though they were Arrancar. "Thank you very much for all you have done!"
"Hmph... Let's go, Lilynette!" Starrk walked out of the room with a smile on his face, closely followed by his companion.
In the Living World...
"Are we going to start or not?!" Ichigo shouted loudly, as he awaited for his training supervisors, in the underground training area. Pretty much every Visored was there, except for Hiyori and Shinji.
"Shut up, retard!" Hiyori suddenly appeared in the middle of the staircase that connected the training ground to the warehouse. "We won't be training you today!"
"You won't?! Why is that?" Ichigo demanded to know. At that time, Shinji joined Hiyori in the middle of the staircase, wearing his Karakura High School outfit. "Hirako! What the hell are you doing dressed like that?!"
"Good morning, Ichigo!" Shinji waved to the Substitute Shinigami, with a silly grin on his face. "I'm going to class today!"
"You're going... why the hell are you going there?! You only attended class to try to convince me joining you guys!" Ichigo reminded Shinji, causing him to scratch his cheek in thought a couple of times.
"I know, I know... but apparently if you miss a certain number of classes without proper justification, you fail the year!" Shinji explained his motive, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen greatly. "And I mean, since I attended the first ones already, it would be a shame to..."
"I FORGOT ABOUT SCHOOL!" Ichigo shouted, before he ran towards his flesh and bone body that laid unconscious near Hachigen. "Damn it! Dad will kill me if I fail the year!"
"Relax, idiot! You won't fail the year and you won't go anywhere." Shinji stopped Ichigo and let out his cocky grin. "You'll stay here and train. We learned you used an alternative when you had to leave your body during class time. Remember what that is?"
"When I had to... Oh, right! There's Kon!" Ichigo finally remembered, but then frowned as he wondered how Shinji even knew about the Mod Soul. "I guess I should go pick him first then."
"No need. Hiyori will go pick the little fella." Shinji told him, while he pointed his thumb towards the blond girl. "And while that happens... I'm going to school to say 'Hi!' to Orihime-chan!"
"You're telling me to go pick stuff for you, while you go see that big-boobed bimbo?! The hell you are! You're coming with me to pick up that Mod Soul!" Hiyori shouted in Shinji's face, causing him to roll his eyes in annoyance.
"Please understand, Hiyori-san, that Orihime-chan is the love of my life." Shinji actually seemed sincere, but Hiyori knew better and hit him in the face with a jumping kick.
"The hell she is! And calling me 'Hiyori-san' for the first time in decades won't help you get your ass out of this!" Hiyori continued to complain, while she dragged Shinji by his ankle. "With that smooth hair and killer rack, she pisses me off that girl! If I could get my hands..."
"That's some inferiority complex..." Love mumbled, as he saw the duo disappearing through the hole in the sky. Every other Visored sighed at the same time.
"So who's going to train me today?" Ichigo questioned, just before Lisa stood. "You're the one, perverted girl?"
"Nope. This outfit ain't just for looks, I also have school to attend to." Lisa told him, while she walked towards the staircase. "And it's not perverted, it's extremely interested."
"Why does she go to school?! It's not like she needs to go, right?" Ichigo asked to the others who stayed. Love quickly approached Ichigo, his glasses glowing and a strange grin on his face.
"She joined an all-girl private school a couple of years back." Love revealed, while he chuckled in a deep, strange voice. "I'm sure that by the manga magazines she lents you, you know what happens in those schools when they have some free time..."
"SHE DIDN'T LEND ME MANGA!" Ichigo furiously denied and pointed a finger in Love's direction. "And for someone who claims to be a hero, that's some pretty shady behaviour on your part!"
"Be quiet, you guys! Let's just start today's training." Kensei angrily demanded, before he cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to be your instructor today, kid!"
"You, huh? This should be good." Ichigo grinned, expecting a good fight out of Kensei.
"You're wrong if you think you'll be fighting me." Kensei warned Ichigo, causing some confusion to appear on his face. "Mashiro!"
"Here!" Mashiro appeared out of nowhere, saluting her former Captain, before turning towards Ichigo. "I'll be your opponent! Mashiro Kuna!"
"Mashiro here can stay in her Hollow form for 15 hours. She should be the perfect opponent to push you into increasing the time you can stay at your own Hollow form." Kensei informed Ichigo, who nodded slowly, before putting his hand in front of his face, ready to summon his Hollow mask. "Begin!"
About an hour later...
"Finally we found it!" Shinji sighed in relief, as both him and Hiyori finally stood in front of the Kurosaki Clinic. "I haven't been here in so long, I actually forgot the way!"
"So this is where Ichigo lives, huh?" Hiyori sniffed the air for awhile, until she nodded. "It smells like his reiatsu for sure."
"Freak..." As soon as Shinji let out the word, he had a fist hitting his nose.
"How do we get in?" She questioned, while Shinji held his injured nose with his hand. "I think we can easily break through one of the windows."
"Ichigo's sisters should be in school and his father should be working at the clinic. The house itself should be empty." Shinji spoke, his bloody nose still covered with his hand. "We could walk in by the front door."
"And how do you plan on opening the door, dipshit?" Hiyori questioned her partner in crime, who took his hand from his nose and used it to raise his pointing finger to the sky.
"Hiyori-san, could you lend me one of your toothpicks so I can take care of the lock?" As soon as Shinji finished the question, he had a foot hitting his nose.
"Here, dipshit! I took the keys out of one of Ichigo's pockets before we left..." Hiyori showed Shinji the keys, while he continued to hop around in pain.
"Damn it, Hiyori! If you had the keys already, why did you ask how to get in?!" Shinji complained.
"I was hoping you would say something stupid to give me a motive to hit you, moron!" The blond girl revealed and started to laugh, before she saw Shinji raising his finger once again. "What now?"
"You searched the pockets of the clothes of a lifeless body. I don't know what worries me more... the fact that you're a burglar or that you're into necro..." Before Shinji could finish the sentence, he had a slipper hitting his nose.
"Let's just get in, baldy Shinji!" Hiyori tried the keys one by one until she found the right one to open the front door of Ichigo's house. Carefully, both waited to hear the 'click' and Hiyori pushed the door slowly so that no one could hear them, just in case there was still someone inside. As soon as they both entered, they saw a small lion plushie walking through a corridor, towards the kitchen. "Is that him?"
"Get him." Shinji answered, before Hiyori disappeared in a Shunpo.
"WHAT THE FU-?!" Kon's words were cut short as he started to scream in fear. Then, Shinji could hear many objects falling down to the ground, just before Kon returned to the entrance hall, running for his life. "WHAT?! ANOTHER ONE?!"
"Boo!"
"HIYAAAAA!" Kon's eyes turned blank, before he turned around to run away from Shinji, but was caught with one of Hiyori's kicks, right in the gut. The plushie was sent flying, landing near Shinji's feet.
"Hey, Hiyori! We need him alive! Don't just go and beat him to a pulp!" Shinji warned Hiyori, before he bent down to pick up Kon. As he was about to get him, Kon revealed he was playing possum and got up, passing through Shinji's legs and passing through the door. Shinji, in his attempt to grab him between his own legs, lost his balance and fell forward, in a perfect somersault. Seeing that, Hiyori literally delivered a headbutt to the closest wall, nearly opening a hole on it. "G-Go after him!"
"I'm on it!" Hiyori performed a Shunpo and intercepted Kon, before pointing two fingers in his direction. "Stop or I'll shoot you!"
"LIKE HELL! LIONS NEVER SURREN..." As Kon turned around to run in the direction opposite to Hiyori, she fired a Byakurai with the bolt of lightning passing over Kon's head and opening a small hole on the ground. Kon froze and slowly turned his head towards her, revealing his crying blank eyes. "...der?"
"Now, remind me... What the hell did you say to me back in the kitchen?" Hiyori demanded from Kon, as she stomped him to the ground.
"Let me guess... he said 'Who the hell is this bitch?' or something like that." As soon as Shinji finished his guess, he had Kon, who Hiyori had just kicked, hitting his nose. "Well, at least this time it didn't hurt..." And then, he had a flying slipper hitting his nose.
"Damn it... Why is always the same person that has to go through crazy shit like this?" Kon pondered aloud, while he got back up.
"I know, right? You don't know how much I understand you!" Shinji found himself agreeing with the one he was trying to capture moments earlier. "But anyway, what did you say to her?"
"Her?! I thought she was a 'he' and asked her "What the hell is a little boy like you doing in Ichigo's house?!', no wonder she tried to kill me!" Kon revealed, causing Shinji's eyes to go blank. Mistaking Hiyori for a boy was the worst possible thing someone could do to her, and Kon was repeating the words that caused such turmoil again. "But hell, who can blame me?! She's got no chest, no butt... she's as flat as that door back there! No girly parts whatsoever! And..."
"K-Kon! Please... shut the hell up... and run... NOW!" Shinji warned the Mod Soul, as he saw Hiyori summoning her Hollow mask.
After another hour passed...
"S-Shit... She's strong." Ichigo panted, as he got back up. Mashiro spun around and celebrated with a victory pose, her Hollow mask still on her face, where it had been ever since she put it on to start the training session. Ichigo put his mask back on and charged towards Mashiro, slashing downwards. Mashiro took a step back to dodge, with Ichigo's Zanpakutō hitting the ground, cracking it open.
"One..."
Ichigo swung his sword once again, this time diagonally, rising it from the ground and attempting to slash Mashiro in a rising motion. The Visored girl passed under the sword and prepared to counter the next attack, a horizontal slash, by stepping back once more.
"Two..."
"Mashiro Kick!" Mashiro announced her attack, before performing a roundhouse kick, aiming to the left side of Ichigo's face. The Substitute Shinigami blocked the kick with the flat part of his Zanpakutō, before rotating the sword by its handle. Zangetsu acted like a vertical buzzsaw, aiming to cut Mashiro in two from below, but she spun around and was able to hit Ichigo in the back of the head with a jumping roundhouse kick.
"Three..."
"Damn it!" Ichigo landed on the ground with his right hand and immediately pushed himself back up. He prepared a new sword slash, but Mashiro was faster to act, performing a circular leg sweep that Ichigo had to dodge by jumping.
"Four..."
Instead of swinging his sword horizontally like he first intended, Ichigo swung it downwards, as he was now in midair. Before the sword could cut Mashiro, she was already back up and performing a spinning wheel kick that hit Ichigo square in the face, knocking him a few steps backwards.
"Five..."
"GETSUGA..." Ichigo started to charge his final attack, gathering and compressing his spiritual energy around his Zanpakutō. He raised it above his head, black energy with a red outline surrounding it.
"Oh! That could be dangerous!" Mashiro noticed the attack, but her words didn't match the sound they were making. She didn't seem preoccupied at all and her voice still had that playful tone to it. She pulled her right foot back and prepared to swing it. "Mashiro Super..."
"Six..."
"TENSH...Huh?!" As Ichigo was about to fire Getsuga Tenshō, his mask broke apart into countless pieces. The outline of the black energy surrounding Zangetsu changed from red to blue, before Ichigo lost control of that energy and all dispersed, leaving him defenseless to Mashiro's attack.
"CERO!" Not expecting Ichigo to lose control of his attack, Mashiro kicked away with her right leg, firing her lime green Cero. The wide blast was very fast and reached Ichigo before he could even react. Suddenly, Kensei appeared by Ichigo's side and punched him away into a safe distance, before driving a glowing orb of light blue spiritual energy into Mashiro's Cero blast.
"Bakudantsuki!" Kensei shouted, as he fired the glowing orb as an energy blast with extreme force. The attack of the former Captain was able to nullify Mashiro's Cero, causing a considerable explosion that both Mashiro and Kensei were still able to dodge by running into a safe enough distance. Having carried Ichigo away from the explosion, Kensei dropped him to the ground and stared into his watch. "6.2 seconds... It's better, but still not good enough."
"Sorry, Berry-tan! I wasn't able to pull back in time!" Mashiro took off her mask and worriedly checked on her sparring partner.
"Don't worry, it was my fault." Ichigo smiled to her, before he stared to both his hands. "Not enough yet. I have to get much stronger."
"I see you've been working hard, Ichigo." Shinji appeared out of nowhere and complimented Ichigo's efforts, as he arrived in time to watch the last sparring match. "Kensei really puts you to work, right?"
"Yeah, he's rough... They both are." Ichigo admitted, causing Hiyori to pop up out of nowhere and get in his face. "Hi-Hiyori?!"
"What the hell did you just say?! You never complimented me when I trained you, but you compliment them on their first session?!" Hiyori demanded an answer from Ichigo but, before he could say anything, Kensei started to laugh.
"Ahahah! That's because your training methods suck, Hiyori!" Kensei continued to laugh, until Hiyori got on his face. "What?"
"I challenge you to a fight, right now!" Hiyori shouted in his face, before she used Shunpo to move towards the place where Mashiro and Ichigo had been clashing until then. A vein popped in Kensei's forehead and a dangerous smile appeared on his face.
"Is that so? I haven't clashed with you since we were both in the 11th Division... Challenge accepted!" Kensei roared, before he went to join Hiyori on the battleground.
"Great... someday we won't have a training ground at all!" Shinji complained a bit loud in hopes Hiyori and Kensei would listen to him, but they were already going at it, so they likely didn't listen at all.
"Did you find him, Hirako?" Ichigo questioned the blond Visored, whose eyes turned blank.
"HEY, HIYORI! GIVE ME KON BEFORE KENSEI CUTS HIM TO SHREDS!" Shinji darted towards the battlefield to rescue Kon. Moments later, after many painful cries, both Shinji and Kon returned to Ichigo's side, battered and bruised. "I swear, someday, I'll..."
"I'll find happiness one day! Lions... never... surrender..." Kon mumbled, before he fell forward, nearly unconscious.
"You done, Kon?" Ichigo asked, causing the plushies eyes to pop back open.
"Ichigo!" Kon quickly got back up and pointed one of his paws towards his owner. "Good that I see you! I really need to talk you!"
"You guys take all the time you want to, but first..." Shinji cleared his throat and stared to Ichigo with a dead serious look on his face. "Ichigo, a common friend of both you and me called me some minutes ago to give you a message."
"Who do I have as a common friend with you?" The surprised Ichigo asked.
"Kisuke Urahara." Shinji's revelation made Ichigo's eyes widen as much as they could. Even so, Ichigo didn't find that to be all that surprising, considering how shady Urahara was. "He has arranged for you to go to Soul Society, a week from now, so you can hone your skills as a Shinigami there in preparation for the upcoming battle against Aizen's Arrancars."
"To Soul Society?! But... what about our training?" Ichigo asked, as he stared to all other remaining Visored. "Kensei said it earlier, I'm still not good enough."
"I know, but we'll have to do it like this for now. The Arrancars have been targeting you specifically, so we have to protect you. The best place for that is definitely Soul Society." Shinji explained the situation. "Besides, you really need to hone your overall skills. By that I mean proper Hakuda and Zanjutsu... And you can train the use of your Hollow mask on your own, as long as you find some good training partners that can push your limits. This is only temporary, until the Arrancar attacks stop. When things get easier down here, we'll call you back to resume our training."
"But what about Karakura Town?! I have to be here to protect it!" Ichigo tried to remind Shinji, who deeply sighed.
"You know, you really should try to trust other people and stop doing everything yourself." Shinji reprimended Ichigo, causing the latter's eyes to widen in surprise. "There's a team of Shinigami here in Karakura Town to deal with those attacks, as you know. There's also Urahara and his people to help and, in last case... there's us. We'll keep things together here, while you stay in Soul Society, Ichigo."
"The Soul Society, huh?" Ichigo stopped to ponder about it and, in the end, it sounded like a good idea, even if he didn't want Karakura Town's defense to anyone else.
"So what? You gonna be gone a long time again?" Kon asked.
"I don't know... They brought you here so I could ask you to make sure you go to school for me for awhile, but I guess it will be a longer time than I expected." Ichigo groaned as he thought on all the things Kon would do while he stayed on his body. The thought of that happening for a long time didn't set well at all with Ichigo, but deep down he knew Kon would also do his best to watch over Karakura Town and the Kurosaki family. "Can you do that for me, Kon?"
"Don't worry about that! The beautiful ladies in your class will make it worth it." Kon indirectly confirmed Ichigo's suspicions.
"Damn, I knew it! Don't do anything weird!" He warned the Mod Soul.
"I guess I'd better apologize in advance, then. I can't guarantee anything, I'm afraid..." Kon twirled around, already fantasizing about him in the arms of the girls of Ichigo's class.
"You'd BETTER guarantee it!" Ichigo roared, a vein popping out of his forehead.
"Ichigo... What about your family?" Kon asked in a very serious tone, something that surprised Ichigo at first.
"There's nothing I can do. I can't tell them that I'm going to Soul Society." Ichigo reminded his substitute, before forcing out a smile. "Just take my place and act like..."
"You coward!" Kon shouted, before he jumped and kicked Ichigo in the face. Due to still being inside a plushie, the blow didn't do anything to Ichigo but startle him. "What's wrong with you?! Why are you so afraid of talking to them?! You think it's fair that you're going away without saying anything to them? You think it's fair that you came here and that you've stayed here for this long without saying anything to them? You're nothing but a coward!"
"Hey! Watch your mouth, Ko..."
"Watch yours first, you dirty rat!" Kon immediately cut him off, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen. "You're not the one who has been watching your little sisters crying every night because you're not there! It's like when your mother died and you kept faking that everything was alright so you wouldn't worry them, but in the end you only made them cry even more! And it's the same now! Why can't you be sincere with them for once, Ichigo? BE A DAMN MAN AND AT LEAST SAY GOODBYE TO THEM!"
"Kon..." Ichigo mumbled, as he could swear he was seeing tears forming in the stuffed animal's eyes. What's more, he knew that Kon's words were true. Isshin had spoken with him about it before but, while he got better at speaking sincerely to his family, he was still a long way from stopping doing the mistakes Kon mentioned over and over again.
"I'll give you the rest of the day off if you want to go, Ichigo." Shinji told him, with a smile much softer than usual.
"Thanks, Hirako... I guess I'll take it." Ichigo gratefully nodded to the Visored, his words making Kon's head jerk up. "Thank you, Kon. Will you come with me?"
"Hell yeah, I'm coming!" The delighted Kon roared, as he saw Ichigo entering his flesh and bone body. The Mod Soul ran towards him and hopped into his shoulder. "You know, since you're so thankful... you could let me make some good use of your body in the next couple of..."
"HELL NO!"
Arrancar Encyclopedia
"Today we're going to talk about the Aspects of Death. There are ten Aspects of Death: rage, greed, madness, intoxication, destruction, despair, emptiness, sacrifice, time and solitude." Gin informed the spectators, while the kanji for each Aspect appeared on the screen to his right. "Some of the guys we know already represent some of these Aspects. Yammy represents rage, Ulquiorra represents emptiness, Szayelaporro represents madness..."
"You're talking about me again on this show of yours, Gin Ichimaru?" Szayelaporro appeared out of nowhere to question Gin.
"Oh! Good of you to appear Szayelaporro!" Gin greeted the Octava Espada, before he turned back to the camera that was filming the show. "Thankfully, due to Szayelaporro Granz's presence here today, we'll be able to test out his Aspect of Death."
"And how do you intend to do that?" The pink-haired Arrancar asked, before Gin started to poke his abdomen multiple times with his pointing finger.
"Are you mad?" Gin asked innocently.
"No..." Szayelaporro answered with a frown, before Gin started to tickle the Arrancar's nose with a feather. "What the-?!"
"Are you mad?" Gin asked, in the same innocent tone as before.
"I'm not..." As soon as Szayelaporro said those words, Gin pulled out a marker and started to draw a mustache on his face.
"You mad?" Gin asked once more, before Szayelaporro finally exploded.
"I'M NOT MAAAAAD!" The scientist roared, before he blew a wall with a Cero and walked out of the room. Gin silently turned to the camera and pointed a thumb towards the hole in the wall.
"He's mad."
