Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach
Chapter Twenty Two - An Old Friend, New Allies
"ICHIGOOOOOOOO!"
Ichigo paled slightly when he heard that voice. Since he did not bother to put on his mask and hood, it became perfectly obvious who the orange haired guy with large swords was. He turned around and saw Nelliel rushing at him and immediately bear hugged him. Even at his level of power, Nel's bear hug was still squeezing the life out of him
"N... Nel... It's... good to see... you too." Ichigo managed to say. Nel finally realized what she was doing and let go of him which caused Ichigo to gasp for fair
"Sorry Ichigo. So what brings you here?" Nel asked
Ichigo was still recovering his breath as Nel asked him. "I actually came here to visit you Nel. I did tell you that after all." he managed to say after a few moments
"That's so sweet Ichigo. Still, I didn't wanna believe it. I really can't feel your spiritual pressure at all yet I know you still have your powers." Nel told him
"Yeah my spiritual pressure can't be... Wait, how did you know my spiritual pressure can't be sensed?" Ichigo asked as he realized what Nel said
"Ulquiorra was there at the soul society when you fought Aizen. He said he managed to arrive right before you used a technique which unleashed a huge amount of power. He said that after using it, your power was rising until it can no longer be sensed." Nel explained to him
"Ulquiorra was there? I didn't even notice him." Ichigo muttered
"He kept his presence hidden Ichigo. He was just there to see if he needed to interfere and try to make something happen. It turned out he didn't have to." Nel said
Their little discussion was ended when someone flashed near them. It was a dark skinned woman which Nel knew but Ichigo had no clue who it was
"I was wondering what was going on out here. A garganta was opened yet somehow I could feel no spiritual pressure coming from it. So it is you Ichigo Kurosaki." Harribel said as she walked towards them
"Yeah it's me. Uh who are you?" Ichigo asked rather frankly
"I guess we have never been properly introduced. I am espada number three, Tier Harribel. I was the one who succeeded Nel as the third espada after she was incapacitated by Nnoitra." Harribel introduced herself. "So what brings you here Ichigo Kurosaki?"
"Just call me Ichigo. I actually came here to visit Nel and how she was doing. It's been a while since I've been here." Ichigo answered her
Harribel had an amused expression at this which confused both Nel and Ichigo. "You really are strange Ichigo Kurosaki. You are a soul reaper yet you are friends with a hollow. I always thought soul reapers hated hollows." she said in slight amusement
"Not me I don't. Besides I can't hate hollows. After all I have one living inside me." Ichigo told her
This shocked both Nel and Harribel. They knew Ichigo had the powers of a hollow but they had no idea there was one inside him
"Ichigo, did you just say you have a hollow inside?" Nel asked in disbelief
Ichigo just smiled at their shocked expression before giving his answer. "Yeah you heard right. In fact, the hollow inside me isn't just an ordinary hollow, he is actually my zanpakuto." he said as he gestured to his back and right hip, which held his two swords
Nel and Harribel were even more shocked at this revelation. They have heard about a soul reaper's zanpakuto before, but a soul reaper's zapakuto was a hollow as well came at a complete shock. They didn't even think it was possible
The three were silent for a while as Nel and Harribel tried to process what they just heard. The silence was broken when the three of them heard someone heading their way and making a lot of noise. It was none other than Pesche and Dondochakka, both of which were heading straight for Ichigo. "Welcome back Ichigo!" the both of them yelled as they jumped straight at Ichigo
Ichigo on the other hand, was annoyed at the two and just sidestepped, causing both of them to crash into each other
"What are you two doing?" Harribel asked the two while Nel just giggled at her fraccion
"That was cold don't ya know? How could you just avoid your friends like that when they are trying to give a hug? Dondochakka childishly asked while crying like a baby
"Yeah what's the big idea? You're as cold as a women who has no interest in the man she left." Pesche grumbled as he and Dondochakka got up
"I see you two have changed your looks." Ichigo said as he got a look at the two of them
"Not really Ichigo. After your friend Orihime fixed Master Nel's mask she offered to do the same to us." Pesche explained
"Yeah we look awesome don't we." Dondochakka said as he and Pesche began to do stupid poses, showing Ichigo their forms before they were incapacitated
Ichigo just facepalmed at the two clowns before him. "I just realized, who was that other arrancar that was with Ulquiorra before I left for the world of the living?"
"He is the first espada, Coyote Starrk." Harribel replied simply
"So that guy's the strongest?" Ichigo curiously asked
"Yes he is the strongest. Although at this point we are not sure if he still is." Harribel answered him. This did not surprise Ichigo as it seemed that Starrk was the second one to see Ulquiorra's segunda etapa
"Oh I see." Ichigo said as he began to look at the distance
"What's wrong Ichigo?" Nel asked him as he appeared to be acting strange
Ichigo sighed before adopting a serious look. "I did come here to see you Nel. However, there is something else. I came here to warn you about something."
When Ichigo said that, everyone grew serious. Nel and Harribel shared a knowing look at each other. "Pesche, Dondochakka, please have Ulquiorra, Starrk and Lilynette go to the conference room. This appears to be really serious."
"Yes Master Nel." the duo said simultaneously before heading in different directions
"I'll go get my fraccions and meet you there." Harribel said before she too left the area
"Alright. Ichigo, follow me." Nel told him before walking towards one of the buildings with Ichigo following him
At Starrk's room
Dondochakka knocked on the door. Soon enough, Lilynette opened the door. "Hey Dondochakka. What brings you here?" Lilynette greeted
"Ichigo is here and he said it is for something serious. Master Nel and Master Harribel has requested that you and Starrk be in the conference room." Dondochakka said in a rather serious tone
Lilynette noticed the seriousness from both Dondochakka's tone and expression. "Alright. I'll wake that lazy guy up and meet you there." she said before yelling at Starrk with Dondochakka leaving
Ulquiorra was in a different part of the fortress, specifically the place where Aizen keeps his data. At the moment, the data he was looking at belonged to Uryu Ishida, the quincy that thought he stood a chance at even delaying him. He felt that Pesche was heading his way and switched data. Instead of looking at Ichigo's friends, he pretended to be reading the data of the captains who came to hueco mundo
"Master Ulquiorra." Pesche called out
"Yes what is it?" Ulquiorra asked while still reading the data
"Ichigo Kurosaki is here. He said he had something urgent to warn us about. Master Nel and Master Harribel has told me to have you meet us in the conference room." Pesche told him
"Very well then. Let's go." Ulquiorra said while shutting off the data and heading out, Peshe following suit
A few minutes later, everyone arrived at the conference room where Aizen would hold meetings with the espada and noticed that Ichigo and Nel were already there waiting for them.
"Everyone's here." Nel noted as she observed everyone coming inside. First was Harribel and her fraccion, followed by Ulquiorra and Pesche, Dondochakka and finally, Lilynette and Starrk.
Everyone took a seat with the exception of the fracciones, who just stood behind their masters
"This had better be important. Can't believe a once enemy has the nerve to call us all to a meeting." Apacci grumbled
"You idiot. He didn't call for a meeting, Lady Harribel and Lady Nelliel did." Mila Rose insulted her
"Don't call me an idiot you whackjob!" Apacci retorted and began arguing with her
"Will you both calm down? You act so immature when you fight like that." Sung Sun commented
"Shut up Sung Sun!" both Mila Rose and Apacci yelled in unison
"That's enough you three." Harribel said which made the three shut up. "I think you three should introduce yourself to our guest first."
"Franceska Mila Rose."
"Emilou Apacci."
"Cyan Sung Sun."
"Hi Ichigo. I'm Lilynette Gingerbuck." Lilynette greeted him to which Ichigo waved at her
"Keep it down will you." Starrk said uninterestedly before Lilynette suddenly kicked him. "What was that for Lilynette?"
"Can you just not sleep for once?" Lilynette yelled at him
Ichigo observed with slight amusement at the bickering
"Alright enough." Ulquiorra said which got everyone's attention. "Before anything else, there is something I want to ask you Ichigo Kurosaki."
"What is it?" Ichigo asked
"Why would you bother to come here to warn us about something? Or about anything for that matter?" Ulquiorra asked
"Why wouldn't I? We're no longer enemies after all." Ichigo retorted
Ulquiorra just stared at Ichigo for a moment before clarifying his question. "Ichigo Kurosaki, I am sure that you know that Aizen was interested in you. He has a databank that contains information about the soul society and anyone affiliated with them. When I checked the data concerning you, I found something very interesting. It seems that your mother was killed by a hollow. By Grandfisher to be exact. So I will ask you again. Why do you not hate us? Why would you go out of your way to warn us about something?"
This bit of information made everyone go on alert, even the usually uninterested Starrk. They knew that if someone took away something you care about, you would hate that person. They were all aware that at this point, none of them could stand up to Ichigo. Even Nel was now worried that Ichigo was furious with all of them
Ichigo on the other hand, remained calm despite the extreme uneasiness of everyone around him. Instead of lashing out like everyone expected him to, he instead just gave them a genuine smile before giving his answer. "I will be honest here. At one point, I did hate hollows. When I first became a soul reaper, I thought hollows wanted nothing more than to devour souls for the fun of it, especially when I learned from Grandfisher himself that he was the one that killed my mother. It also didn't help that for most of my life, I blamed myself for her death. However, about a month before you kidnapped Orihime, I was forced to learn something very important. I had to learn how to let it go and to move forward and to keep an open mind. It was around that time when I finally understood what I was told and that was to accept the reality that at the time, I knew next to nothing, about hollows, soul reapers, or myself. When I met Nel outside las noches, I learned that not all hollows were all bad. After my battle with Aizen, I was unconcious because I finally got my own power. I won't go into detail but in the time that I was unconcious, my inner hollow as well as the one who I thought to be my zanpakuto told me the truth about my mother. The real reason why she died and that is what I have come here to warn you about. Besides, I have a hollow that lives inside me and even though he annoys me, he is probably my greatest mentor."
This seemed to calmed down everyone a bit. The others were still on alert but Nel was now confident Ichigo did not come here to harm them. She never really doubted him but she understood that being around the very creatures that killed your mother would put you on edge
"You have a hollow inside you Ichigo?" Lilynette asked with uncertainty
"Yeah I do. In fact he is also my zanpakuto." Ichigo asked which further surprised everyone. Nel and Harribel already knew about it, but it still puzzled them how that was even possible
'So that was what happened. According to Aizen's data, if a soul reaper uses hollow powers, that means that the hollow has been suppressed. It makes sense now how he became a hollow. You cannot suppress something whose powers you use nearly every single day.' Ulquiorra thought to himself as he recalled what happened in their fight
"How is that even possible for a hollow to be a zanpakuto at the same time?" Apacci wondered
"Shut up Apacci, know your place here." Mila Rose berated her
"You shut up. I'm just voicing what everyone is thinking here." Apacci defended herself
"Ironically, it was because of Aizen. In fact, I don't think I would even be born if it wasn't for him. Suppose you could say I am a result from an experiment that went wrong." Ichigo told everyone
Sung Sun could not contain her curiosity any longer. She had been silent as an act of respect for her mistress but now, she herself wanted answers. "Ichigo, forgive my impudence, but how can you just say that you are an experiment gone wrong? Aren't you bothered by that?"
Nobody really reprimanded Sung Sun for voicing her thoughts as right now, everyone wanted to know the same thing
Ichigo just sighed before giving his answer. "Because I had to learn how to move forward. I will share with you all what I was forced to learn. The truth of the matter is, it is all in the past. Even if I kill every single hollow in existence, it won't bring my mother back. That also goes to the part Aizen had when I was conceived. Killing him won't change the past. Nothing can change it. The only thing you can really do is accept it and move forward. Clinging on to the past will only close your mind to the reality around you, and depending on the circumstance, push away those who could have been your allies. It is best to make peace with the past, learn from it and move forward."
His answer appeared to have an impact on the arrancars. Most of them were used to basing their opinions based on past experience. They have never even heard about the concept of moving forward. All of them just looked around at each other with every single one having an uncertain expression on their face, with the exception of the emotionless Ulquiorra
"You really are full of surprises, aren't you kid?" Starrk commented with a smile of approval
"What did you mean by the real reason your mother died?" Ulquiorra asked
"Yeah I almost forgot. The real reason my mother died is also what I came here to warn you about. My mother wasn't actually an ordinary human, she was a quincy." Ichigo said
"A quincy? You mean like that Uryu guy?" Pesche asked
"Yes. In fact, I was told that she was not supposed to die that day and that she should have been able to kill Grandfisher without batting an eyelash. However, that did not happen. The real reason she died was because of a man named Yhwach." Ichigo answered him
"Who is this Yhwach?" Harribel asked
"He is the king as well as the progenitor of the quincies. Yhwach conducted a ritual which stole the powers of every quincy he deemed unnecessary and taking those powers as his own. As I'm sure you figured out what I'm about to say, that ritual was conducted during me and my mother's encounter with Grandfisher. With her powers stolen, there was nothing she could do." Ichigo said in a rather sad tone
"I'm sorry Ichigo." Nel said as she noticed Ichigo's expression
"Ichigo, can we back up a bit? You said your mother was a quincy, does that mean you are a quincy too?" Starrk curiously asked, no longer uninterested like he usually was
"Yes. I am actually a hybrid of a human, soul reaper, hollow and a quincy." Ichigo answered him
"I guess that would explain why you have so much power." Harribel commented
"What is it about Yhwach that made you come here to warn us?" Ulquiorra asked
"I came here to warn you about the possibility that Yhwach might attack hueco mundo. I'm not sure if he will even attack hueco mundo as his quarrel is only with the soul society, but I do know that Yhwach's goal is to kill the soul king. If the soul king dies, the soul society, the world of the living as well as hueco mundo, will all be destroyed. Even if you don't want to get involved with the coming war between soul reapers and the quincies, Yhwach's coming will affect every one of us." Ichigo told them
"So you want us to prepare for something that isn't even certain? What makes you so sure that the quincies will even beat the soul society?" Apacci asked
"Because the soul society doesn't know about the wandenreich, the empire of the quincies." Ichigo said
"You haven't told them about this Ichigo?" Nel asked as she realized what Ichigo was implying
"They don't and I have no intention of telling them. In fact, they actually think I'm powerless and I am just a regular human at this point." Ichigo muttered
"Weren't you allies with the soul society?" Ulquiorra asked
"We were, or at least I thought we were. After my battle with Aizen, my inner hollow told me it would be best of I lay low for a while and I did just that. A few days ago, I went to the soul society to take care of something. Since I was there, I decided to spy on them and I was lucky as they had a captain's meeting at the time. What they were planning really pissed me off. You see, I'm not the first substitute soul reaper and there was one before me. From the very beginning, the soul society never saw me as an ally and instead were using me as a lure. During the meeting, they were planning to spy on me, use me as a lure to draw out the other substitute and eliminate us both as some sort of tying up loose ends. I wouldn't even be surprised if they are willing to kill my friends as well. I honestly wanted to destroy the soul society then and there." Ichigo explained
Everyone was surprised at this revelation. It wasn't surprising given that Ichigo was affiliated with them. No one can relate to Ichigo more than Harribel. She too trusted in someone and got betrayed. Ichigo was going through the same thing as she was only that when she was betrayed, it was done rather frankly
"So why did you not kill them Ichigo? You're not seriously planning on letting them get away with this are you?" Starrk asked
"I don't. I'll deal with the soul society when the time comes but taking down Yhwach is my top priority right now. I didn't kill them because I have to lay low." Ichigo answered
"Why is that Ichigo?" Nel asked
"Because of Yhwach's ability. It's called 'The Almighty'. This power allows Yhwach to see every single possibility in the future and it has no blindspots. This makes it next to impossible to kill Yhwach as he can always create a failsafe to ensure his survival. While the power itself has no blindspots, its owner does. So as long as Yhwach doesn't consider me a threat, he won't bother to look at the possibilites that concern me. This is why I have to lay low, until Yhwach leaves himself open and I get the chance to kill him, for good. So please, don't tell anyone that I still have my powers." Ichigo explained
"Of course Ichigo." Nel told him
"I see. Very well then Ichigo." Ulquiorra said
"There is something else. I'm still not sure about this but I might need Aizen's help against Yhwach. Because Yhwach's power allow him to see the future, Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu would help a lot in messing up his power." Ichigo said with uncertainty
"WHAT! HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AND..." Apacci yelled before Harribel raised a hand which made her shut up
"I understand the necessity Ichigo. I won't blame you for needing Aizen's help given what Yhwach's power is. There is one thing I ask of you though." Harribel said
"What is it?" Ichigo asked
"That if Aizen was to come here in hueco mundo, you be here as well. I am sure this isn't an unreasonable request as you know what he did to me." Harribel answered. Her fracciones, despite wanting to object, decided to trust their mistress' judgment
"Of course. Thank you." Ichigo told her
"Ichigo Kurosaki, don't break the trust that all of us are giving you." Ulquiorra said
"I won't." Ichigo declared. "Although, I have to ask, why would you all just trust me immediately?"
Everyone in the room looked at each other before Ulquiorra looked at Harribel
"Because of the kind of person you are Ichigo Kurosaki." Harribel spoke. "From our observations and the data Aizen had, you are the kind of person who would want to protect those you consider as friends. While it will never cease to amaze me that you would even make friends with the ones that killed your mother, the fact that you chose not to hate us gives us a good reason to trust you. That's not even factoring in that you could have simply left us in the dark about a possible invasion. Those kind of people are very difficult to find. As Ulquiorra said, do not break the trust the we are giving you." she explained with the rest of the arrancars nodding in agreement
"Thank you. Seriously." Ichigo said gratefully. "One more thing, can I use this place to train?"
"No." Ulquiorra said. "Your power is too great Ichigo. None of us would even use our sword release unless we have no choice. Do it outside the fortress. You shouldn't have to worry about collateral damage if you train there."
"Alright guys. I'll be back when I'm done training." Ichigo said as he left the room
Here is the next one. The next chapters might take longer because of this quarantine. I can't go out and get more data because the stores are closed and mine will expire this week. However, depending on how long it would take before I get more data, I might upload two or more chapters by the time I get it. Anyway I hope you enjoy this one and stay safe from the virus
