This is... probably the most exhausting chapter of all. I'm warning you all right now. It's not even about the length, though it is quite long, but a hell of a lot happens here. Like... several chapters worth of the manga, really. But I just didn't think you'd like me very much if I split things up. Even then, there's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. Which means I'll have to go back to hiding in a bunker or something once this is posted...
On other stuff. The song "Jenny of Oldstones" that Aileen sang a couple of chapters ago... when I first included it, it was supposed to reflect Orihime, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, with her as Jenny. It was why she and Grimmjow reacted so strongly when she played the melody in the flute. And then as I was writing last week's chapter I couldn't help but notice that Aileen, Coyote and Lilynette fit too, and thus came that line.
A mistake was recently pointed out to me in how one's supposed to say 'little sister' in Japanese... I've fixed it where it was pointed out, and if any of you know of anything else let me know please! I'm very open to constructive criticism.
Like I mentioned before, a hell of a lot happens in this chapter. So many fights happening, if not at the same time, then very closely together. I'm warning you right now, there will be death. Mostly minor characters, but at least one Major One. Regardless, I promise you right now that, no matter how hard things might get, There Will Be a Happy Ending.
P.S. also remember that if you kill me I won't be around to post the ending.
See ya next week! (Now I've gotta run and go hide...)
Chapter 42. The End of the Beginning
In Karakura the Nakama noticed immediately when Ichigo and Rukia arrived to the high-school without the twins. Homura and Shizuku had already been dropped at the middle-school where for the time being they were mostly just sitting in the classes and listening; since their fast aging had stopped they'd ended looking about twelve, so the plan was to have them formally begin junior-high in April. Kisuke had done something with their gigai so if any tests were conducted they would be recognized biologically as half-siblings, not that anyone was expecting any trouble. They'd both finally grown used to the human world and their new family (even the different ways in which they could address their parents, according to the company).
"Is everything alright Ichigo?" Uryuu asked, even as he extended his spiritual senses, trying to find out if something had happened.
"Isane-san called earlier to request Yuzu's assistance." Rukia was the one to explain. "Apparently Skye-sanseki found Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou badly injured in their office earlier, and since the 4th has been so busy healing all the shinigami hurt during the zanpakutou rebellion, they need fresh healers to help with Amagai and Hinamori. Hence Yuzu being called."
"And Karin wouldn't let her go alone." Tatsuki finished for her. "Any clue as to who hurt them?"
"None whatsoever." Rukia shook her head.
"Something's coming…" Ichigo spoke for the first time, in a very low tone.
"What makes you say that?" Uryuu asked, curious.
"Instinct." Ichigo replied simply.
Rukia started, she knew that was code-speak for 'Shiro', the hollows were all about instinct after all. Kaijin confirmed she was feeling the same, which made Rukia tense, something that didn't go unnoticed with the rest of the Nakama, or even their teacher, who entered the room right then.
"Kurosaki-san…" She began.
Whatever it was she might have wanted to say to him, he didn't know, as right then Ichigo's whole attention was caught by what his senses were picking up, Shiro's hollering in the back of his head explaining what he was feeling.
"A garganta…?!" He gasped.
Behind him the Nakama inhaled sharply.
"Kurosaki, I'm talking to you!" Sakurada-sensei demanded his attention.
Ichigo wasn't listening to her, at all, and before she had a chance to insist there was an explosion not too far away, which was followed by the school's alarms. They were being evacuated. The Nakama were on the run before the teacher even began giving orders.
"We have to hurry!" Ichigo stated as he ran down the hall.
"If there are hollows out there, once the students begin walking out…" Uryuu began.
"The school will become an all-you-can-eat buffet for them." Tatsuki finished grimly.
"Tou-san! Kaa-chan!"
Ichigo and Rukia spun around sharply to see Homura and Shizuku running towards them.
"What are you doing here?!" Rukia practically shrieked. "It's dangerous!"
"I… we were evacuated, we didn't know what to do…" Shizuku's lip trembled as he said that.
"I know, I…" Rukia regretted her sharp tone immediately.
"Your kaa-chan and I worry about you." Ichigo did his best to diffuse the situation. "But now that you're here…" He used his badge to get out of his body. "Can you teleport home from here?"
Shizuku nodded, eager to do anything to help.
"Take our bodies and go home." Rukia ordered as she got out of her own gigai and helped Tatsuki do the same. "Tell Isshin-tou-san what's going on. He'll make sure you're safe."
"Kaa-chan…" Homura hesitated.
"I need you to this Homura-chan." Rukia murmured, embracing her daughter briefly. "I need to know you're safe, so I can focus completely on the fight."
"Remember what I promised you before?" Ichigo asked her, kind but serious.
"You will keep kaa-chan safe." Homura remembered.
"Exactly." Ichigo agreed.
"Keep yourself safe too." The blonde girl blurted out, blushing afterwards.
Ichigo smiled warmly at her, it was the first sign the girl gave that she might truly be accepting him as her father.
"I will." He agreed. "Now go. Stay safe."
Homura nodded and joined Shizuku. Then once they made sure to be touching all three bodies, they teleported away.
Rukia stood before where they'd disappeared for a moment, just watching the empty space.
"They'll be okay." Ichigo reassured Rukia. "Oyaji'll make sure of that."
It might have taken some time, and it certainly hadn't been easy, but trust had been rebuilt between them. They were a family, perhaps not as good as they'd been when Masaki was alive, but still a family, and that was good.
"I know." Rukia agreed. "Now lets go, we have a battle to fight."
"We have a battle to win." Ichigo corrected just slightly.
They both stared at each other, just for a moment, then nodded once, and off they went. In the distance, a huge garganta was opening, The battle was about to begin.
xXx
In Soul Society things were beyond intense. Three Espada and their Fraccion were doing more damage than all the previous invasions to Soul Society put together. It was made clear early on that only the highest ranking shinigami would be able to go against the arrancars and have any hope of surviving, so it was decided. Captains and Lieutenants formed several teams; while the highest seats were left to keep things in order in Seireitei; the lower seats were ordered to lead squads of unseated shinigami into Rukongai to keep the order, and where possible to evacuate the areas near to where the fights were taking place.
There were so many fights taking place, bankais being unleashed. Even Ikkaku, who'd worked so hard to hide his own bankai, when his partner and lover, Yumichika, was almost cut down by one of the Arrancar as he was distracted with his shikai (his true one, which he'd just revealed for the very first time); when Ikkaku saw Yumichika about to be killed, he reacted instinctively:
"Ban-Kai!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
Not far from them Kenpachi laughed loudly. He knew Ikkaku was powerful. He might not have known about the bankai, but then again, he wasn't one for subtleties. Such things didn't matter to him. What mattered was power. And Ikkaku and Yumichika weren't the only ones:
"You planning on joining the fun, or staying there for the whole fight?"
Yachiru was beyond shocked when Kenpachi asked that question, not just for the question itself, but for how serious he was as he asked it:
"Ken-chan…" She tried her best to keep to her usual childish tone, but the shock was so great she failed by a mile.
"I know Yachiru, I've known for a while." He answered the unasked question.
"But… but…" She couldn't believe it.
Yachiru was beyond shocked. Ken-chan knew… Kenpachi knew! The man who was, for all intents and purposes her father, knew that she was hiding the truth about herself… how much did he know? About her shikai? About her real image? How much?!
"I'm not gonna ask why, I don't really care, it's your choice." Kenpachi shrugged. "But this looks like it'll be one hell of a fight, and I've been told it's good for families to do things together so… will you just watch, or will you fight with me, musume (daughter)?"
He didn't care? He was actually calling them a family? He called her daughter?! It was that last part which brought her up short, it also served to set her to rights. As all her past hesitation, her fears, her nervousness vanished like smoke. Yachiru jumped off Kenpachi's back, transforming mid-leap, to land beside him in her true form.
"Heh!" Kenpachi smirked when looking at her. "You're quite pretty Yachiru… I might have to begin kicking some people if they look at you wrong!"
"Ken-chan!" Yachiru shrieked, which sounded even funnier than usual with her grown up voice. "I don't have a boyfriend!"
"Who said anything about boys?" Kenpachi replied with an even bigger smirk. "Boys, girls, I don't care, they look at you wrong and I'll beat them up."
"Hey! Mind leaving the chit-chat for later?" Ikkaku hollered. "There's a battle to be fought!"
"It'll be our pleasure…" Yachiru's smirk turned wild (it was clear who she'd learned it from).
"After you…" Kenpachi really wanted to see it, to see his daughter and all she was capable of when she wasn't pretending to be a little girl anymore…
"Paint yourself with the blood of our enemies." Yachiru called with a huge predatory smile as she ran her hand down the length of her zanpakutou. "Shinkuhana!"
Kenpachi just laughed maniacally, how much fun they were going to have!
Byakuya and Komamura were working together against a blonde female Arrancar who'd proven to be quite powerful. She'd ordered three others, her Fraccion, to join other arrancars and begin their attack. Though they would be Toushirou and the lieutenants' problem; and Kenpachi and his people, wherever they might be). It was how they'd decided to divide their forces. There was still a chance that one or more of the Fraccion would prove to be too much for the lieutenants, but they'd be working together, and Toushirou would back them up. Also, everyone had felt the moment Ikkaku summoned his bankai (the two captains wondered if the third seat had really thought anyone with high enough rank, other than maybe Kenpachi, hadn't known about his bankai; that kind of thing was obvious in a shinigami's reiatsu). The two captains just looked at each other briefly, nodded, and unleashed their bankai. While they might not make the best team, they had no problem working together; Komamura preferred to get closer to his opponent with the aid of his bankai, while Byakuya would use his own to attack any and all enemies from a distance. Harribel couldn't defeat them because whenever she began focusing on one, the other attacked; all the same, she was so powerful that she wouldn't be defeated easily either.
Sui-Feng shunpoed across the rooftops, the Onmitsukidou fanning around her. Each with their blades in hand as they dispatched hollows quickly and effectively. While most high-ranking shinigami were focused on the arrancar; they weren't the only ones to come out from the three big gargantas, dozens of common hollows had taken the chance to get into the Soul Society, looking for souls to consume, and it was the task of Squad 2 to ensure that wouldn't happen. So they were fast, moving in for the kill before the monsters even saw them coming.
Kurotsuchi was the first to fall. The rest of the captains and lieutenants had been so completely focused on the first two Espada and all the other Arrancars to attack, that they all managed to miss the last Espada. With the looks of an old man, he had purposefully kept out of sight. But the 12th Division wasn't known as the Science Division for just anything. Kurotsuchi had known there were three points of origin, so he kept looking until he found the third of the Espada to make it into Soul Society. He saw it as his opportunity, believing he would be able to take down the Arrancar all on his own and then take lots of samples for his experiments, with the rest of the Gotei being none-the-wiser. He had had no idea who he was going against, the kind of power Barragan Louisenbairn was capable of.
Nemu witnessed the demise of the man who'd been both her captain and her pseudo-father with an odd detachment. She knew she should feel something and yet… there was nothing. She remembered that day in Soukyoku Hill, the day she'd died… and she had died, she remembered that much. Her captain, the man who created her, who was supposed to be her father, decided she was of more use to him dead than alive… and even after that she just couldn't imagine him dying. It was why she asked the Quincy to let him live. It wasn't that she loved him, not really, she… she knew she was supposed to, and she wanted to, and that desire for something, for a real connection, moved her.
It had been all for naught. More than half a year later, and as Kurotsuchi Mayuri died, for real, Nemu realized that she wouldn't grieve for him, because no matter how hard she might try, she'd never loved him, just like he never loved her. He might have been her creator, but he'd never been her father, and that was alright with her. She was her own person, and with Mayuri gone she was finally free.
From the corner of her eyes she noticed the Espada her captain had been fighting. He didn't seem to be affected at all by Konjiki Ashisogi Jizou's poison. Nemu for her part, she didn't have a shikai, didn't have a zanpakutou at all. Which was to be expected, as she wasn't a real shinigami, or real at all! Just one of Mayuri's experiments, artificial body and artificial soul enhanced as much as was possible. She could do kidou though, and was decent at it. So that's what she did. The moment the Espada was distracted she used the highest bakudo she was capable of to seal him, it was only a temporary solution at best, but she could only hope that someone else would arrive soon, someone who actually had the power necessary to defeat that hollow, until then she'd do her best to keep him contained…
"This is Kurotsuchi Nemu, fukutaichou of Division 12, reporting the death of Kurotsuchi-taichou, I repeat…"
Thanks to tenteikura the message reached all captains and lieutenants and while none could say they'd honestly miss the crazy scientist, the fact that the Espada were capable of killing taichou-level shinigami sobered them all quite a bit.
With Toushirou and the lieutenants, the message caused a distraction that while it didn't last too long, it did give three of the arrancars the opportunity to use a special technique of theirs and call on their 'pet', a big, strong creature that seemed to have no will or rationale of its own, all it did was destroy. All shinigami were immediately on their guard, but with all the arrancars, and the few lesser hollows the Onmitsukidou hadn't gotten to yet, it wasn't easy.
Rangiku was the first to be seriously injured, a deep cut on her dominant arm, deep enough to cause her to yell out and drop her zanpakutou. It wasn't a life-threatening injury, though it was painful. Even then, after everything that had happened already, with Amagai and Hinamori being injured by an unknown, the sudden attack, the hollows that kept coming, one of their own already dead… when Rangiku's cry was heard Toushirou just snapped:
"Kaa-san!"
Wide eyes turned to Toushirou instantly. No one had ever expected to hear that from him, and when they saw him rushing towards Matsumoto Rangiku of all people… Toushirou didn't pay attention to any of that, he only had eyes for the monster that had attacked his mother, that had hurt her, that could have… he wasn't going to allow it, or anyone else to take her away from him. It didn't matter how long it might have taken him to embrace their family connection, or how he still hadn't quite wrapped his head around who his father was (then again, he wasn't around all the time, unlike his mom); all that was irrelevant in the end. He would protect his family…
"Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru…"
Yamamoto didn't get involved in any of the fights, instead he just stood on the balcony of the 1st Division, his fukutaichou at his side, controlling a kidou that allowed them to watch the fights taking place. They were no cowards, but Yamamoto was quite aware if his own power. He knew that while his shikai would not be enough against a Vasto-Lorde-level arrancar (and it was quite clear to him that at least one of the Espada had been a Vasto Lorde before breaking his mask), releasing his bankai was a last resource, the kind of thing that he'd only do if the complete destruction of Seireitei were imminent… they weren't at that point yet. And he believed in his subordinates, they'd ensure that moment didn't come any time soon…
Shunsui, Juushirou and Kotori arrived to Soukyoku Hill, choosing to engage the group of Arrancar that had made their appearance there. There were three of them, though it soon became obvious that the red-haired girl with the butterfly mask had no intention of fighting, so Kotori pulled back as well, choosing instead to create a kekkai around the fighters, to ensure their reiatsu wouldn't affect the others.
Yamamoto for his part was left watching all from his balcony, cursing the suddenness of the attack, their own lack of preparation, of a strategy. He hated to admit it, but the truth was he'd grown complacent. In the nearly seven months since the traitors' defection they had made plans, all kind of plans and contingencies to deal with them, especially Aizen. Mostly because he knew Ryuujin Jakka's bankai wasn't one he wanted to release, unless he were ready for a good deal of Seireitei to be destroyed entirely; and the situation wasn't that dire just yet. He'd even had a plan in case his zanpakutou failed him entirely… but all those plans were dependent on certain preparations being made, none of which were ready. He'd believed that they'd know when the attack was coming, with enough time to be prepared. He was wrong; he'd grown complacent and they hadn't been ready, not at all.
"Don't worry!" Kotori said to Juushirou and Shunsui right then as they had some trouble with their opponents. "I've called in some help!"
Yamamoto never had the chance to wonder what kind of help exactly, as the Senkaimon opened wide and eight figures stepped out and into Soul Society. They were all wearing clothing that would seem odd to most shinigami, completely human apparel.
"Well, seems the party's already started!" The leader of the group called. "What say we have some fun people?!"
The rest of the Visored shouted their agreement as they each reached, one hand towards their zanpakutou, the other high in the air, dark reiatsu gathering as they prepared to call on their masks. They were ready. After more than a hundred years the Visored were back in Soul Society, and everyone was about to learn what they were truly capable of!
As the Visored split up to help with the different fights taking place across Soul Society Kotori couldn't help the huge smile adorning her face.
"Reflect the lies and blur the truths, Itsuwarino Mira!" The redhead called loudly.
Most who were to look at her would not understand what purpose it served, for her zanpakutou to become a hand mirror of all things; beautiful as it was, completely silver, with a long handle, a handful of stars adorning the back of it, it was still just a mirror in the end. But the thing was, that it wasn't a normal mirror, just like she wasn't a normal shinigami, had never been; and in that moment, as she stood above Soukyoku Hill, facing the arrancar seeking to cause chaos and destruction to Soul Society, to what had been her home for almost two hundred years, Skye Kotori, once known as Gwen Aderyn Morgan, unleashed her power, fully, for the first time since she'd first chosen to fade into obscurity, following the loss of so many of her dearest friends to hollowification and the rejection of those in power.
Somewhere around Shinji couldn't help but laugh like a maniac, he could feel Ave Blanca's power washing over him and he took great delight in it. So much he didn't even stop to think about it as he grabbed Hiyori, who was standing right beside him, and planted a kiss on her cheek before letting go and throwing himself into the fight against the hollows.
"Shinji-no-baka!" Hiyori screeched, her red face only visible for a fraction of a second before she covered it with her mask, and then she was off killing hollows as well.
The rest of the Visored just looked at each other for a moment, wondering what the hell Shinji was thinking, Hiyori was liable to kill him after that move… maybe if she killed enough hollows that might help pacify her? Unlikely, but they could hope…
"Seems the time for games is over…" Coyote murmured softly, almost regretfully as he placed a hand over Lilynette. "Kick back, Los Lobos!"
Aileen seemed to hardly even notice as Coyote's reiatsu shot up drastically, her eyes focused completely on the red-haired shinigami holding the silver mirror, and more specifically, the white ribbon that adorned her hair, kept in place with a clip, of a silver Celtic star… Unthinkingly Aileen's own hand strayed to the buckle of her belt, a silver Celtic star…
"She's a Réalta…" She breathed out.
Such a simple sentence, yet it held so much meaning to her. It destroyed once and for all so many long-held beliefs, and most important of all… it gave her hope…
xXx
The Nakama had just crossed the street, right outside the Urahara Shoten, when they felt a kekkai go up behind them.
"What the hell was that?" Ichigo and Uryuu demanded almost in unison as they turned around.
There was nothing visible, at least not to the naked eye, but to those two, whose spiritual senses had been very carefully attuned to anything out of the ordinary, it was almost like seeing things through some kind of transparent film, Something that was there, yet wasn't, at the same time.
"As Ichigo-san and Uryuu-san have probably surmised by now, it's a kekkai." Kisuke announced as he stepped out of the Shoten. "It's the best protection we can give Karakura at the time."
"What kind of protection?" Ichigo needed to know more.
"Months ago, the Soutaichou tasked me and Kurotsuchi with finding a way of protecting the Juureichi while at the same time allowing the taichou and fukutaichou to go full out in the upcoming fights." Kisuke explained. "We began the construction of a replica of Karakura Town, good enough to fool even Aizen at first sight. The plan was to switch the two when the time came. By the time Aizen realized that he'd walked into an empty city it'd be too late and the highest ranking shinigami of the Gotei 13 would be able to fight him directly, without fearing damaging the land or unduly influence the Human World."
"But you haven't switched them." It wasn't a question. "I can still sense my kids, as well as Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru."
"No, we didn't switch them." Kisuke nodded. "While the replica is finished we weren't ready for the switch, I've tried calling Mayuri but he's not responding…"
"What are the chances that they're under attack as well?" Uryuu questioned.
That actually made Kisuke stop and consider it. Ichigo for his part just stared at the Quincy, eyes wide, his sisters were in Seiretei! Why did no one tell him something like this could happen?! Then again, it's not like they didn't all know that Aizen would attack sooner or later…
"That's… not impossible." Kisuke exhaled. "In any case, when he refused to answer Tessai and I decided to do what we could in order to protect the humans. We may not be able to send the town elsewhere, but that kekkai should be able to withstand next to anything. It feeds from the energy of the Juureichi itself, so there's no risk of it failing if something happens to one of us."
"Can it stand indefinitely?" Rukia wanted to know.
"Not really, no more than twelve hours at most, though I hope we won't need to keep it going for that long." Kisuke shrugged.
Truth was that he, and the Nakama all knew that if the battle went on for that long, it was unlikely that most of them would be alive by the end of it.
"Eyes sharp kids!" Isshin called as he landed beside Kisuke, it's starting.
"Oyaji!" Ichigo cried out sharply, turning to his father. "The kids…"
"In the hospital, with Ryuuken." Isshin answered, raising his hands defensively before either Ichigo or Rukia could explode. "They're as stubborn as you, they wanted to do their part to help, and Ryuuken agreed to give them some minor tasks to do. The kekkai protecting Karakura, as a side effect, will put everyone without reiryoku to sleep. Ryuuken is staying in the hospital, behind some additional shielding, your kids will be helping him keep an eye on things, make sure no patients are in danger while most of the staff takes an unwilling nap."
Ichigo and Rukia closed their mouths. While they'd have preferred for their kids to be safe at home; they knew Isshin was right that they weren't the kind to stay put when their families were fighting. At least at the hospital Ryuuken would keep an eye on them, while keeping their minds busy. It was really the best plan.
As if on cue, the holes in the sky finished opening right then, and the first thing they noticed was that it wasn't one garganta, but three: the two lower ones held arrancars, all wearing the white outfits the Nakama had seen during their incursion into Hueco Mundo, the month before. They even recognized several of those there: Espadas Seventh, Eighth and Tenth, the Cazadores, and a bunch of others. But it was the contents of the garganta higher in the sky that froze everyone in place: for the ones standing just inside that hole in the sky were none other than Aizen Sousuke, Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname. All three shinigami traitors were there… which meant that it was going to be one hell of a fight.
The hollows began coming out almost the moment the gargantas finished opening. The Nakama began calling out the things they knew about certain Espada, and the Cazadores, those they'd fought before; particularly for the benefit of the older shinigami present.
"The Cazadores are a lot…" Uryuu muttered even as he shot a volley of arrows killing several.
They all knew what he wasn't saying, that much hollow reiatsu in the air might end up calling the attention of other hollows, which would complicate the matter.
"Leave them to us!" A voice called unexpectedly.
All eyes turned to the bunch of newcomers. There were seven, one adult and six teenagers, all dressed in human clothes except for the adult, in a modified shinigami shihakushou.
"Who are you?" Isshin asked, suspiciously.
"Kuugo!" Ichigo and Rukia cried out in unison. "You decided to come."
Isshin, Kisuke, Yoruichi and Tessai turned to them instantly. Clearly not having expecting there to be a connection.
"This is what you needed our help with, isn't it?" Kuugo didn't wait for an answer, it was meant to be a rhetorical question anyway. "We'll handle the ones who look all the same. Yukio!"
Yukio activated his power, and in seconds he and the fullbringers had vanished into Yukio's dimension, along with the Cazadores.
"Who were those?" Yoruichi was the one to ask eventually.
"Kuugo is a former shinigami, had some troubles with the Gotei in the past." Ichigo shrugged. "The others are humans with powers, they call themselves Fullbringers."
"To no one's surprise, it can be traced back to Aizen." Rukia added for good measure. "We met Ginjo-san last week, agreed on bringing his case up with the Soutaichou, and we did just after we were done handling things with the zanpakutou rebellion. Yamamoto-soutaichou still wants to talk with Ginjo-san directly, but he's no longer considered a criminal."
Isshin closed his eyes briefly, he wasn't even surprised that the Nakama would somehow find a way to get involved with yet another rebel group, and not only manage to ally with them, but also put in a good word regarding them with Soul Society…
With the Cazadores off the battlefield the remaining fighters split up to handle their own battles. The Arrancars were numerous, but most of them weren't too powerful, and Isshin, Yoruichi and Kisuke weren't former captains for nothing. The first real problem came when the Espada went into Resurreccion. Most of the other Arrancar had been killed already, and while that should have meant that the Nakama and their allies had the advantage, Ichigo had a very bad feeling, which was proven true the moment the Espada went into Resurreccion. Nothing, not even their foray into Hueco Mundo could have prepared them for what came next.
xXx
In Las Noches, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow and Orihime were moving as fast as possible towards where they could all sense the gargantas into the Human World had been opened. Orihime in Ulquiorra's arms to allow the two Espada to go at their top speed without Orihime expending too much reiatsu trying to match them. She was still exhausted after erasing the Hougyoku and wasn't sure how useful she'd be in a fight, if she were to be honest, but she'd insisted, and the other two eventually agreed, that she was safer with them than on her own in a place like Hueco Mundo (even with Las Noches having been effectively emptied). Had they been able to do things their way, the trio would have slipped to the Human World, warned the Nakama and then gotten ready to fight Aizen when he finally arrived. But Aizen had made it so he controlled all portals into and out of Hueco Mundo (it had been after Grimmjow's unauthorized attack on Karakura, apparently Aizen hadn't wanted a repeat of that particular mess).
The only trouble they found on the way was Nnoitra, apparently the Quinta Espada was running late for whatever the reason. He noticed them, but more than that, he noticed the way Ulquiorra was holding Orihime.
"Kuso!" Grimmjow cursed as he leapt at the Quinta. "Run ahead Emospada, I've got this!"
Ulquiorra didn't even slow down, he went right past the two and kept running. Orihime turned to look over Ulquiorra's shoulder, unable to help her worry.
"He'll be alright." Ulquiorra stated in a clipped tone.
For just a moment Orihime was thrown back to her past life, to a time when Giichi had been sent on a special mission. He'd been several days late getting back, and she'd been so worried about him, that something might have happened to him.
"He'll be alright." Utokui stated in his usual, no-nonsense tone.
"Do you really think so?" Amekimi inquired, voice trembling just a bit.
"What makes you so sure?" Shaolin's own tone made it obvious that she wasn't questioning the truthfulness of the statement, rather what gave Ulquiorra's the confidence on it.
"Because if he's not then he doesn't deserve to be your guard, Hidenka-sama." Utokui stated, his tone never changing at all.
It hadn't been until much later that Amekimi realized the implications of those words. Utokui hadn't said that Giichi needed to be alright to deserve being her guard, but rather that he had to be alright because he was deserving of being thus… probably the most backhanded compliment Orihime had heard in any of her lives. But it was just how those two were. It was something that had given Orihime hope, long before either of them 'woke', the way the two treated each other, especially after Grimmjow's dismissal as one of the Espada, it was something that no one in Las Noches ever understood, except for her…
They reached the main courtyard of Las Noches soon enough, and once there Ulquiorra had no trouble detecting which garganta Aizen was using and jumped straight into it.
"Hime-sama…" He began.
"I'm ready." Orihime stated with all the confidence she could muster, Tsubaki already gathering power beside her.
Much as he may want to protect her, Ulquiorra knew better than to ignore her efforts, so he just nodded, maneuvering her body so she could hold her with one arm while in his other hand he began powering up a cero.
"Tsubaki, Koten Zanshun, I reject!"
"Cero!"
xXx
It was Shunsui who ended the battle in Soul Society, as he dealt the final blow to the Espada he, Juushirou and two of the Visored had been fighting together. There was no doubt that he was the strongest hollow any of them had ever fought, but in the end the shinigami had prevailed…
It took them completely by surprise when a figure in white shot right past them, dark red hair trailing behind her form like a pennant.
"What the…?!"
All the fighters were on guard in an instant, though they soon realized it was all for naught, the figure wasn't rushing for them, instead it went after the falling Espada.
"Bo...nita…" Coyote murmured in a broken voice, he'd lost one eye and the other was growing dark, it wasn't long and he knew it.
"I'm here Cadhóit…" Aileen tore the mask off her face before taking his hands in hers. "I'll always be here… forever."
"Prom…" He couldn't even finish.
"I promise…" Aileen murmured, voice damp with her tears. "Mo Anam Chara…"
Shunsui and Juushirou turned away from the scene, they couldn't help but feel that they were witnessing something that should have been incredibly private. And then it was all over, Espada and woman became pure reishi and then they were gone…
Elsewhere in Soul Society, Ryuujin Jakka's flames were sealed once again after Yamamoto was satisfied with his victory. He chose to intervene after hearing of Kurotsuchi's demise. Barragan might have believed himself to be invincible, his special ability to essentially age all things seemingly unbeatable, but fire didn't age, and as long as there was fuel, it didn't die, and when the fuel was reiatsu… Yamamoto only needed to seal himself behind enough layers of the most powerful kekkai, and his zanpakutou did the rest. There could be no doubt in anyone who bore witness, or heard accounts of the fight that he was the most powerful shinigami in the Gotei 13.
"Aizen is in Karakura!" Karin's scream tore through the sky.
"Karin…" Toushirou rushed to her, not knowing what to do, how to help.
"I'm heading home right now." Karin stated, it wasn't a question. "Yuzu's with me. Are you?"
"Yamamoto-soutaichou has sealed all Senkaimon out of Soul Society." Byakuya, who'd followed Karin's yell, informed them as he landed by them. "It was meant as a security measure, to ensure the fight wouldn't spill over into the Human World."
"Yeah well, Aizen is already there." Karin retorted. "And Yamamoto cannot stop me."
"I'm with you." Toushirou stated with no hesitation.
Rangiku said nothing, just took a step closer to her son. Then, when they all turned their eyes to Byakuya he just stared right back. His sister was in the Human World, of course he was going. There was also no doubt that Renji would be following, in between Byakuya and Tatsuki, there was nowhere else he'd rather be.
"Wait for me! Please! Take me with you!" A voice called unexpectedly.
It was Hinamori Momo, looking not quite as put together as usual, her hair down instead of in her usual bun, but still there.
"Hinamori!" Toushirou shunpoed to her instantly, looking her up and down in concern. "You were badly hurt!"
"I'm fine now." Hinamori dismissed his concerns. "I… take me with you please. I want to go… I have to go."
Karin blinked, there was something in those words that didn't sound right, but she dismissed it a moment later as Toushirou said something in concern and Hinamori retorted with something she didn't pay attention to but made Toushirou snappish.
"Don't fight." It was Yuzu who broke the fight, she never so much as raised her voice but she didn't need to. "We don't have time. We need to go now."
With a nod, Karin spun around, thrusting her zanpakutou into the air, a Senkaimon opening right then and there. She'd been right when she said Yamamoto couldn't stop her, she was a Celestial after all. And so Karin sheathed her zanpakutou again, before jumping straight through the gate, Yuzu on her left, Toushirou on her right, Rangiku, Byakuya, Renji and Hinamori on their heels. Aizen might have thought he could divide and conquer… he'd no idea.
xXx
The shinigami stepped out of the Senkaimon and into the air, right on the outskirts of Karakura.
"There's a kekkai around the town…" Yuzu murmured, being the first to sense it.
And then they looked down, and needed a moment to take in the sheer insanity taking place underneath them. There were three Espada, one of them a huge behemoth that was giving quite the trouble to the Nakama and everyone else by its size alone, another that looked like something out of a Jules Verne novel, and the third while perhaps being the most unassuming, it was clear by the way the Nakama kept dashing this way and that, that he was no pushover.
"Ah… the Celestials seem to have decided to join in the fun… and they've brought some friends." Aizen commented with fake cheer from where he was standing, still inside a garganta, about as high up as Karin and the others. "I think it's time to rid myself of at least one pest."
Karin's instincts screamed at her and it was only those same instincts that saved her in the end as she spun around, zanpakutou in her hand almost without her conscious thought, right in time for her to block the blade that had been aimed straight at her back…
"Hinamori!" It was Toushirou who cried out. "What are you doing!"
"What I have to!" Hinamori retorted as she pulled back, zanpakutou held tightly with both hands. "Snap, Tobiume!"
There was that word again 'have', and as she heard it for the second time Karin finally knew why it had seemed so wrong. 'Want' and 'Need' spoke of personal choices, but 'have to'… that could have very different implications…
"Sempai…" Karin gasped in disbelief. "You're a traitor…"
"I'm loyal, to Aizen-taichou!" Hinamori screamed as she shot her attack at Karin.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Aizen asked in a satisfied tone. "Hinamori-kun has always been the perfect subordinate. Always obedient, never asking too many question, her loyalty absolutely unshakable… She's all mine, aren't you Momo-chan?"
"Hai, Aizen-taichou!" She answered dutifully.
There was so much feeling in the girl's eyes, in her voice, a devotion that bordered on obsession. And it was then that Karin and Toushirou both saw what they'd been refusing to see all along: Hinamori Momo, the girl they'd known, who'd been their dear friend, she was gone, they'd lost her, probably long ago.
"Go help the others!" Karin snapped at Byakuya, Renji and Rangiku. "We'll handle this." She turned over her shoulder. "Yuzu…"
"I'll go see if I can reinforce the kekkai, make sure Karakura will be safe." Yuzu said with a smile, knowing her twin wouldn't want her anywhere near the coming fight.
Karin nodded, immediately turning her whole attention back to the crazed shinigami.
Deciding that Yammy was probably the biggest trouble, Byakuya, Renji and Rangiku headed in that direction, helping Isshin, Ururu and Jinta deal with the monstrous Espada. That, in turn, allowed Kisuke and Yoruichi to turn their whole attention to Szayelaporro, leaving the Nakama with Zommari; while Tessai, like Yuzu, worked on reinforcing the kekkai around Karakura to compensate for the greater powers being thrown about nearby.
Even then it wasn't easy, and it was only complicated further when Tousen and Gin stepped out of the garganta.
"Shit!" Ichigo cursed as he noticed the traitors.
"You and Rukia take care of that Ichigo." Uryuu ordered. "We've got this!"
Ichigo stared at him for a moment before nodding and taken off towards were Tousen had just tried to attack Yuzu from behind. It was probably a good thing that Muramasa was so used to wielding himself, and that he was so overprotective of his new young wielder, as the zanpakutou materialized just in time to block Tousen's attack, giving Ichigo enough time to arrive and push Tousen away from his little sister.
"Thank you Muramasa-kun…" Yuzu whispered softly.
"I've got your back Yuzu-san." Muramasa promised his young shinigami, taking a guarding position behind her, as the blonde focused on reinforcing the kekkai.
"So… we've got this, huh?" Keeva said in a drawl, even as she placed an injured Tatsuki on the ground. "Chad is out for the count and Tatsuki hurt her own leg to keep Zommari from using her against us, and you…"
"I'm useless, I know." Ishida muttered with a sigh.
He couldn't move at all, couldn't even stand from where he was laying against a tree-trunk, after being forced to injure himself, much like Tatsuki had, to keep Zommari from using him against his nakama.
"But you're immune to him." Ishida continued.
"I am a Iarann." Keeva shrugged.
Apparently the fact that her reiatsu was always in her body made it so Zommari couldn't take her over, which meant that she could still fight.
"We need to do something now." Keeva hissed.
She was worried for more than one reason. While her sister had agreed to stand guard over their unconscious nakama for the time being, she was already trying to free them from the Espada, and if they didn't find a solution soon Keeva feared she might get it into her head to fight herself. That would mean her death for sure and Keeva just wasn't ready to lose her yet…
"How good a shot are you?" Uryuu asked unexpectedly.
"Ah… good… maybe?" Keeva was taken so much by surprise by his question that she had no idea how to answer it.
"I guess that'll have to do." Uryuu shrugged as he focused his reiatsu.
"Do for what?" She could sense his reiatsu spiking. "What are you doing?!"
"This is ransoutengai." Uryuu explained as thin threads made entirely of reishi appeared in the air, each connecting with a part of him. "It's meant to allow a quincy to control their own body like they would a marionette. Traditionally it was used by the Elders who may have had trouble fighting otherwise."
"But your whole body is out of commission." Keeva retorted. "You don't even have use of one hand to control the rest of you."
"No, I don't, but I'm not going to use it, you are." Uryuu stated simply.
"I… are you nuts?!" Keeva practically shrieked. "You expect me to manipulate your body like some kind of puppet?!"
"I expect you to do what must be done in order to win this fight!" Uryuu snapped. "Do you wish for your sister you take him on instead?"
Keeva snapped her mouth closed, teeth clashing together painfully, so he knew what she was thinking then… what she feared…
"Lets do this then." Keeva snarled, though even with that tone she was still extremely gentle as she took the ends of the reishi strings in her hands and slowly began pulling on them.
"Hey… it's okay." Uryuu did his best to comfort her even as he had to fight the feeling it gave him to have his body moving without his say-so. "I trust you."
He did, and while he might never know it, that made a lot of difference in the end. As his trust, his willingness to put himself under her control allowed her to do so much more than either of them could have expected otherwise. In the end, their enemy never saw them coming, as a Quincy and a Réalta fought together for the first time in centuries, it would soon become obvious why their races had once been so tightly bound together…
It still took a while, but eventually all the arrancars were defeated. Leaving just Ichigo and Rukia fighting Tousen, Karin dueling Hinamori while Toushirou watched, and Aizen observing all while still inside the garganta. At least until a green and an orange flash of light hit Aizen from behind, throwing him out of the garganta violently.
"Is that… Tsubaki/Orihime?" Several of the Nakama asked at the same time.
In confirmation of that, and to shock everyone further they watched the two figures dressed in white shoot out of the garganta behind Aizen. It would be impossible to tell which of the new arrivals shocked them all the most: the arrival of the Cuarta, after quite clearly having shot that Cero at his supposed leader; or Orihime, still in his arms, who'd obviously shot the other attack.
"Hime-sama?" Ulquiorra called, shocking everyone ever further.
"Hai!" Orihime didn't need any explanations. "Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily! Santen Kesshun, Nibankyuu! I reject!"
An orange column-like shield formed around Aizen and Ulquiorra instantly. While Orihime would have liked to stay inside, she knew that would have given her old guard an aneurysm or something, so she decided to be cooperative and stayed out of it for the time being.
"What are you doing Ulquiorra?" Aizen asked, seemingly baffled by one of his best Espada switching sides.
"Protecting Hime-sama." Ulquiorra answered stoically.
"She's not your princess," Aizen replied, in a tone as if he were talking to a child. "She's just a bothersome human girl, an insect, nothing more."
"She's my princess." In anyone else that would have sounded like a too-cheesy love declaration, with Ulquiorra it was just a matter of fact. "She's my princess and has been such for longer than you could possibly comprehend, trash. You might have used me against her before, but no more. I'm in my right mind now. I remember… I know who I truly owe my loyalty to now, and that's Amekimi-hidenka-sama…"
The shift in name told Aizen all he needed to know. In all the years he'd been working with hollows, something like that had never happened to him. The closest was Starrk's relationship with Cré… but the human spirit had simply followed his Primera to Las Noches without a complaint. He'd been alert in case she ever got any ideas of rebelling, but she never did, she was happy enough keeping to herself and the Primera, so Aizen allowed it. He never expected something like Ulquiorra's human life to come back and ruin things, ruin him…
High on the sky, Toushirou and Karin had been taken completely by surprise when discovering Hinamori had attained bankai. In that state what looked like a metallic tree appeared floating behind her, each of its branches looked like Tobiume's shikai… and each could shoot fireballs, she could even shoot several at the same time! Even with the both of them in bankai, it wasn't easy to keep up, especially since neither of them really wanted to hurt Momo seriously, they still saw her as a friend. To Toushirou… she was the closest thing he had to a sister, the one who'd been there before he knew Rangiku was family or even met his mom; to Karin… Momo was her sempai, was one of those who'd served as a role model to a young Nagaken Karin, the very reason she was so interested in kidou…
At some point Karin was forced to back away, her right arm hanging useless, with blood running down it from where one of the blade-branches had pierced straight through her shoulder. They hadn't known that the tree's branches could move and Karin had been trying to reach Momo from behind, intent on knocking her out; only to discover the hard way that Tobiume had at least some degree of independent sentience in that form as it protected its wielder's back.
"Why are you doing this Momo?!" Toushirou demanded loudly as he flew around to evade several big fireballs (it was probably a good thing that with most of the others done with their own fights someone would be able to shield from those).
"You know why!" Momo snapped.
"No, I don't, so explain it to me!" Toushirou retorted.
"You know what I remember most from when we were young?" Momo asked, seemingly apropos of nothing. "I remember being so eager to grow up. I couldn't wait to be older. I always thought there was nothing great about being young. Being young meant that you were still naive. Some might call it being innocent, but it just meant being emotional and foolish. Those emotions could control your entire life and can make you lose sight of who you are. I believed that by growing older, your heart grew more experienced. You grew one step further away from being controlled by feelings and were able to keep from soaring through the sky or sinking to the depths of the ocean. That's what it meant to me to grow older. You know what I've discovered since then?" She didn't actually wait for an answer. "Growing older also means learning to be alone. Everyone leaves you sooner or later. Friends, family, all those who might have once promised to always be there for you. They always end up abandoning you."
"I didn't…" Toushirou began, with an emphatic shake to the head.
"You did!" Momo snarled. "From the moment you entered the Academy… no, from the moment you met her!" She pointed a finger straight as Karin. "She was suddenly there and you didn't need me anymore!" She shot over a dozen fireballs in quick succession, forcing the other two to dodge as best they could. "When you finally decided to become a shinigami, I thought it'd be our chance. We could be together in Seireitei, like we'd been at Granny's. But you just… weren't interested I suppose."
"That's not true Momo!" Toushirou denied. "I tried connecting with you once again, but whenever I'd visit you were always busy…"
"Liar!" Momo snarled, turning towards Karin. "You! You took him from me!"
"Don't you see Hinamori-sempai, this is all Aizen's doing." Karin tried to reason with her. "He's put all these ideas into your head.
"Aizen-taichou's a good man!" Momo wailed.
"He's a monster!" Karin screamed. "Who wants a throne that's not meant for him. And now he's ordering you to turn your blade on your friends, and you're doing it!"
"Please Momo, stop this madness." Toushirou pleaded with him. "You're like my sister! I don't wanna hurt you."
"I'm gonna kill you!" Momo hissed.
She shot at Toushirou, Tobiume flying with her, and Toushirou was so weighed down by his love for her, that he just didn't react. Karin did…
Toushirou felt like being sick, so much he couldn't even cry out Karin's name, though inside his chest his heart seemed to have stopped, and Hyourinmaru was roaring his fury inside his Inner World. And it was that through a very complex, extremely dangerous kidou Karin had effectively switched places with Toushirou's; making it so she was the one surrounded by a cage formed by Tobiume's branches, several parts of her body actually pierced by those same branches/blades; enough for blood to begin dripping from those wounds, and even the edge of her mouth. There were also flames licking at her modified shihakushou. Momo was laughing, almost maniacally at it all, while Karin ignored her, and the fire entirely to turn her attention to Toshirou. A whole conversation took place with just a single look. In the end Toushirou nodded, just once, before closing his eyes in pained resignation.
"I'm sorry…" Karin whispered quietly.
"I don't forgive you!" Momo snapped at her. "I'll never forgive you!"
"I wasn't saying it to you." Karin said simply, only then turning her whole attention to the insane shinigami in front of her. "But I'll say it now. I'm sorry sempai. Sorry that I didn't realize what was going on, what Aizen was doing to you, I was always so busy with clan matters, and you were always so strong in my eyes… I never expected you to need me, need us, to protect you. I was blind to your own suffering, we both were and I'm sorry for that."
"Yeah well, your apologies mean nothing to me!" Momo retorted. "You can die now!"
"That, I'm afraid I cannot do." Karin exhaled, so much sadness in that slight gesture. "See, you forgot something Hinamori. Tobiume may be a fire-type zanpakutou, but so is Tenreikou, and no fire will ever be stronger than that of a phoenix." She closed her eyes, just for a moment, letting Tenreikou's voice in the back of her mind sooth her, give her the strength for what she was about to do, as she called her final attack: "Sougi no Maki!"
It was almost like an explosion, except at the same time not. Karin was enveloped in fire, a fire that soon enough enveloped both Tobiume and her wielder. Most of the Nakama called the raven-haired girl's name in consternation, at least until they saw Toushirou, who was just floating there, his bankai's wings still holding him up, while he waited.
It took almost a full minute, but eventually the fire disappeared, and then Toushirou moved. Just in time to catch a semi-unconscious Karin in his arms. She was so weak she could barely stay awake, looked a bit bruised still, and there were traces of blood on her lips and several parts of her body, but her injuries had disappeared entirely. Also, nothing remained of Hinamori herself or her zanpakutou. It was Tenreikou's most powerful attack, the funeral pyre… like a phoenix dying, flames had consumed them, before letting them emerge unscathed their enemies gone for good. It was a very powerful attack, and very dangerous, because while it could destroy almost any enemy, while at the same time healing Karin, it required so much reiatsu that she became incapable of anything afterwards.
"I'm… sorry…" She whispered, very quietly.
"I know, it's not your fault." Toushirou assured her. "You did all you could. I only regret you had to be the one to do so."
"I don't." Karin murmured.
It was true, she'd known killing Momo would destroy Toushirou. Even if she was no longer the girl he grew up with, he still saw her as a sister, that would never change. From the start, switching places with him hadn't been about protecting him from Tobiume's attack, he could have managed just fine, no fire could have ever compared to a dragon's ice, Toushirou was a Celestial, after all… but he couldn't have done what needed to be done, and they both knew it.
Toushirou landed on the ground, beside Rangiku and Yuzu, dismissing his bankai almost as an after-thought as he laid the finally unconscious raven-haired girl on the floor so her sister could check her over.
"Who all is left?" He asked his lieutenant.
"Aizen is still fighting that Espada, the one's who's apparently switched sides and has claimed Orihime-san as his princess." Rangiku explained as she pointed in the direction of each battle in turn. "And Rukia-san and Ichigo-san are fighting Tousen."
"Wait a second, where's Ichimaru?"
Rangiku hesitated just for a fraction of a second, before pointing in the right direction. To where Ichimaru Gin was standing in the shadows of an abandoned building, watching the ongoing fights with obvious interest.
"Has he done anything since arriving?" Toushirou inquired, curious.
"Nothing at all." Rangiku shook her head. "It's almost as if…"
"He's waiting for something." Her son finished for her.
Rangiku just nodded her agreement. Yeah, they both knew that Gin was waiting for something, the question was what.
Ichigo had gone into bankai almost from the moment the arrancars began coming out of the holes in the sky. Even if it might technically have been overkill, he hadn't wanted to risk one of his enemies getting in a lucky shot or something, and the extra speed helped him fight and keep an eye on Rukia at the same time. Rukia knew he was doing it of course, but she just rolled her eyes and kept fighting. It wasn't like she was any different in the end, and her kidou had saved him a few times, so it was all good in the end.
Yet it had soon become obvious that even with the same rank, there could be a wide difference in power between shinigami. Just like Ichigo had discovered Byakuya to be considerably more powerful than Kenpachi… Tousen was clearly very powerful as well. The mask surprised them, though in retrospect Ichigo knew it shouldn't have. Aizen had experimented with hollowification a century prior, which had resulted in the Visored; and he'd had more than enough time to perfect things. As was made clear by the huge power Tousen possessed. The real problem though, was when Tousen went into Resurreccion.
"What the…?!" Ichigo had no words (he wasn't sure if the resurreccion itself was what shocked him most or…)
*He's so freaking ugly!* Shiro yelled inside his Inner world. *Fugly!*
That made Ichigo almost burst into laughter, which would have been entirely inappropriate and he knew most of his nakama would wonder if he'd cracked or something.
And it wasn't even just the Resurreccion, as was proven the moment Ichigo managed to be fast enough to use a black-red Getsuga Tensho on the hollowified shinigami at almost point blank, causing a big tear on his flank… only for his body to reform in seconds.
"Shit! He has high-speed regeneration." Ichigo muttered, mostly to himself. "This is gonna be a pain in the ass!" Knowing there was only one way he'd be able to handle a fight like that, he began pulling on both Zangetsu's and Shiro's power consistently; then, almost as an afterthought he turned to look at his wife briefly: "Rukia… stay back."
"Damn it!" Rukia cursed as she did pull back. "Why? Why can't I be strong enough?!"
She hated that, hated feeling like she was weak. She knew she wasn't, she was actually very strong, so much that she knew that if she weren't part of the Nakama she probably would have been promoted to lieutenant already. She preferred being where she was, though. And yet… by not having bankai, she knew she didn't stand a chance against an enemy like Tousen. Even syncing with Shirayuki wouldn't cut it.
*Rukia-san…* Shirayuki whispered in the back of her mind.
*Shirayuki-san…* Rukia responded with a mental bow of the head.
*You're strong Rukia-san…* Shirayuki reassured her in her usual quiet but powerful voice.
*Not enough for this.* Rukia admitted. *Even with Kaijin's aid…*
*You haven't been practicing long, you just need time.* Shirayuki promised her.
*That won't help me now. I want to help Ichigo, but if I were to try and fight beside him as I am now, I'd be a liability… might even get him killed. I cannot have that Shirayuki-san.*
*Ask me Rukia-san, what you want from me…*
*Would you grant me it? The power I need? Bankai? I know you probably think I'm not ready*
*And are you? Ready?*
Rukia hesitated just for a fraction of a second, before remembering the words Ichigo told her Zangetsu tended to use when he needed to be reminded of his own power and motivations…
"Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate."
"I'm ready." Rukia stated out loud, with all the confidence she could muster.
*Then call on me, call my real name, Rukia-sama…* Shirayuki told her, a small smile in her usually impassive face.
"Ban-kai!" Rukia cried out as her reiatsu spiked. "Hakka no Togame!"
Ichigo felt the cold like an expansive wave. He also noticed the moment when small icicles appeared on the freaky insect-like wings of Tousen's hollowified form. Ichigo himself remained completely unaffected. He could sense Rukia's reiatsu spiking and reacted automatically, flipping high into the air to land behind Rukia right as she released her bankai version of Hakuren.
"Well that's a new trick." Ichigo quipped as he approached her.
Rukia just grinned wildly at him, high on the power her new bankai gave her.
"Feels good doesn't it?" Ichigo asked with a smirk, though he didn't actually wait for an answer, he didn't need to. "Together?"
"Always." Rukia answered with a beatific smile.
Ichigo and Rukia were the perfect partners, they always had been, from the very first battle they fought together. Weaving in and out of each other's way, at times coming but a hairsbreadth away from the other's blade or blow, or attack… yet never hurting each other in the slightest. They were so perfectly attuned to each other they moved on instinct, never getting in the other's way, always guarding each other's back, like one single soul in two bodies, one heart connecting two minds… they were, simply put, the truest of soulmates…
"Shirafune!"
"Getsuga Tensho!"
The third dance allowed Rukia to freeze two of Tousen's clawed appendages completely, and followed by Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho they eliminated the limbs entirely… the joy of their victory didn't last long, as he soon regenerated.
"How the hell is he doing this?!" Rukia demanded.
"High-speed regeneration." Ichigo informed her. "You need to destroy enough major organs, fast enough that he doesn't get the chance to regenerate them before becoming critical…" at Shiro's 'helpful' commentary he added. "Or you just blow him up entirely."
Rukia scoffed, then froze as she mentally revised her own opinion on that.
"Rukia…?" Ichigo questioned as he blocked Tousen's next attack.
"That might not be as impossible as it might seem." She explained. "If I manage to freeze enough of his body, can you and Shiro cook up something?"
"Me and…?" Ichigo trailed off.
It was true, while he'd been using Shiro's less noticeable abilities freely since Tousen had gone into Resurreccion, he'd been careful not to do anything too obvious. No Cero, and only enough hierro and regeneration to be able to keep up. But he'd promised hadn't he? That he'd never allow fear, or anything else to stop him from protecting his own… Choice made (or perhaps all he did was realize that it had been made a long time ago, maybe even from the start), Ichigo shot towards Tousen yet again, fighting at close quarters for several seconds, while his beloved got ready to do her part. He felt the exact moment her reiatsu spiked and, mixing shunpo and sonido, managed to get out of the way in the nick of time.
Rukia for her part had decided on using Juhaku. It wasn't quiet as flashy as her dances, but at the same time her power was more concentrated, as it froze the target thoroughly, rather than just the air around them. The moment she was sure her technique had taken she turned over her shoulder to see Ichigo bracing himself as power began gathering between her hands… the petite shinigami blinked as she realized what Ichigo was about to do. She didn't even stop to see Tousen fully freeze, just began shunpoing as fast as she could out of the way.
"Cero/Getsuga Tensho!"
Spoken using the double tones of himself and Shiro at the same time it would be hard for anyone to tell what he'd just done exactly, though they could all see the effects, as a black-red sphere of light shot out of his blade and straight at the frozen shinigami traitor.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia called in the last possible second, her zanpakutou appearing in her extended hand.
Rukia dropped down to the still frost-covered grass, first on her feet, but a moment later on her knees, taking deep breaths and forcing her reiatsu down slowly. While a part of her would have probably liked to rest, Shirayuki was warning her about the negative effects too rapid changes of temperature might have in her body, so she had to do it slowly. It was okay though, she'd done it, she'd attained bankai, and fought side by side with her soulmate to defeat one of their worst enemies to date.
"I'm proud of you Rukia-imouto-san…"
Rukia hadn't even realized when Byakuya approached her, but seeing him right there, standing guard beside her to make sure no one would take advantage of her vulnerability… she had never been happier to have him as a brother.
Orihime's wail changed everything in an instant.
Aizen still didn't understand what had happened exactly. How had the human brat managed to turn his most loyal soldier against him? It just wasn't logical… Aizen, he was a genius, he should have seen it coming, should have been able to prevent such a thing from happening! And not just that, but the power that Ulquiorra was exuding… he might even be able to surpass his old Primera! Aizen was no fool, he knew that for the shinigami to have made it to the Human World the force he sent there must have lost; which, together with what was happening around him meant that he'd lost most of his Espada and at least half his Arrancar army, and he still didn't understand how! It made no sense at all!
The Gotei was useless, Soul Society had been stagnant for so long they didn't even realize how weak they'd become, how much more powerful than all of them he was. And Aizen… he was strong, had always been, so much stronger than anyone else around him. He hadn't really understood it at first, why couldn't everyone be stronger? It was what brought about his first experiments, as he sought to make others as strong as he was… but it never worked out. Instead the dead just kept piling up. What made him angriest was that the people didn't seem to even try, didn't seem to be interested in being strong at all. Happy being mediocre at best… it drove him crazy. So he decided that the system was the problem.
It was then that he began cultivating the image of the kind, affable man, willing to help everyone. It took him as far as being lieutenant relatively soon, but then no further. And he knew why, all taichou and fukutaichou were strong, and revealing his own strength would have destroyed the persona he'd built so carefully until then. Taking the experiments up a notch had always been in his plans, using it on captains and lieutenants served a double purpose, as he got the chance to try his experiments on more powerful souls and it also opened up positions to allow him to progress in his main plan. Of course, it was at that point, as he got the chance to better know Yamamoto, that he realized the fault in his plan: Yamamoto might be old, but he was no weakling, and he wasn't likely to retire any time soon. So Aizen's plan to become Soutaichou and change the system from there was impossible. He doubted that the old man would fall for the same tricks Hirako and the others had; and anything more direct would have given him away. He still thought his plan had merit, so he decided what was needed, was to kick it up a notch.
It had taken years of research into the Spirit King, the Royal Dimension and Zero Unit (more formally known as the Konoe Shidan). Most in Aizen's position would have thought the best plan was to become good enough to be invited into Zero Unit and from there influence things… but by then Aizen had become more than just disillusioned with the system, he'd begun believing that the mediocrity prevalent throughout the ranks could only be torn out by force. Something that would require more than just moving influences over the years, perhaps decades, if not centuries. Something more forceful… that was when Aizen decided there was only one path left for him: to become Spirit King himself.
It was a plan he'd been working towards for almost a century. Whenever someone got too close, saw too much, he'd get rid of them: Isshin, Miyako, Kaien, Karin… He never expected for Nagaken Karin to return, and for her to confirm so many things, both good and bad. Learning the Spirit Throne was as good as empty had been good; yet her being there… he knew what it meant, that an Heir was on the way. Her future son perhaps? He couldn't be sure, even having read everything in the archives about the Royal Dimension, Celestials were still cloaked in obscurity. It was never cleared if they were an extension of the Konoe Shidan, or completely separate, if they were chosen or born into the duty, and what role they were meant for exactly, aside from being guardians of the heir to the Spirit Throne. So the return of Nagaken Karin, and her own declarations that day on Soukyoku Hill:
"You have fallen farther than I had thought, if you honestly believe such things are up to you, Aizen." She'd sighed then, tired. "But you will see in due time. An empty throne doesn't necessarily mean the absence of an heir…"
The question was, was that Heir around already, or yet to be born? Did it matter in the end? No.
"The Throne of Heaven will be mine, and no one will stop me." Aizen stated, to no one in particular, as he shot a kidou chain, ending with his most powerful, one of his own creation, more destructive than anything most kidou masters would be able to fathom…
It happened so fast… The first two kidou made Orihime wince slightly, the third made her visibly flinch; the next three made her skin bruise and she knew she'd be very sore in the coming days. It was the seventh that gave her trouble, making her feel as if someone had just punched her low in her chest, robbing her of her breath entirely. Even then Orihime tried very hard (so hard) to hold on, to keep the shield up. She lasted three more kidous, before the eleventh made Santen Keshun shatter, even her Rikka crying out in pain. The reincarnated princess dropped to her knees in exhaustion, waiting for the attack that would end it all… except it never came.
"Hime…"
Orihime raised her head abruptly, and when her mind realized what it was her eyes were seeing… she let out a soul-tearing wail.
"Hime!" Grimmjow yelled as he shot out of still open garganta in the sky.
The moment he caught sight of Orihime, on her knees beside a dying Ulquiorra he let out a string of curses no one had heard before, not even with how much he cursed on a normal basis.
"Grimm...jow…" The Cuarta called him authoritative.
"I'm here emospada." The Sexta felt obligated to throw the epithet out there just because.
"Protect her." Ulquiorra ordered.
"Always." Grimmjow answered simply.
"Hime…" Ulquiorra murmured.
It was the first time he called her anything without a suffix, in either life, Orihime couldn't stop the sob that left her, even as she moved just a little bit closer to him, grasping his hands in hers. She could feel his body already beginning to break apart, and much as she might want to keep it from happening, she couldn't, she hadn't a drop of reiatsu left in her in that moment, nothing left in her, and the hopelessness threatened to swallow her whole…
"I found it…" He said, his eyes not quite on her anymore, though he still held on with what little strength he'd left. "… my… heart…"
It was the last thing he said, and then he was gone, leaving Orihime to cry her despair to the heavens. Ulquiorra… Utokui… he'd found his heart, had found it in her. As for she? She'd lost hers entirely.
"How… interesting…" Aizen muttered coldly.
Grimmjow spun around. One hand protectively on Orihime, the other holding his zanpakutou before his body, defensively. He had no idea how he was supposed to be able to fight Aizen and at the same time protect the princess; especially when Ulquiorra, who had been more powerful than him (usually Grimmjow would refuse to admit that fact, but the situation made him swallow his pride, at least in his own mind) had lost his life to the insane former shinigami.
"You stay away from her!" Ichigo yelled at him. "Getsuga Tensho!"
Aizen looked at the attack with an almost bored expression, knocking it aside with his bare hand.
"You bore me Kurosaki…" Aizen drawled. "I had expected you to be much more… interesting."
Ichigo seethed. He wished more than anything to be able to pummel Aizen to the ground, to destroy him… but he was exhausted. The fight with Tousen had taken everything he had. Even Shiro had nothing left to give. There was no way he'd be able to face Aizen as he was in that moment. And he knew the rest of his nakama had to be in a similar situation…
"However, there are others I'm much more interested in getting out of the way." Aizen went on.
"Karin!" Ichigo yelled, panicked.
He knew Aizen wanted to kill his sister, had wanted to do it since learning whose reincarnation she was. Only too late did they realize she wasn't his objective, not this time. Because Aizen was a genius. And while he might have missed some things, he was paying more attention now. It was suddenly entirely too obvious who Nagaken Karin's partner as a Celestial was…
Toushirou saw the attack coming, much too late to do anything at all. He knew it, even as fast as his mind might be, there was no way his body would be able to react fast enough. And then it happened: a blade pierced flesh, blood was spilled and a body arched in pain at the wound inflicted… except it wasn't Toushirou's body.
"You… will not… lay a hand… on… my… son!"
