"No! What have you done?!"

Kaito cursed and twisted away from Tousen's strike. Lashed out. Felt flesh give beneath his blade and—

Tousen stumbled back with a harsh gasp and fell to his knees, free hand pressed to his chest, blood sliding through his fingers and staining his uniform crimson. "Y-you—" Tousen hissed, hunching over as his hand clenched in his uniform. "H-how dare you kill Aizen-sama!"

"It was him or everything I care about," Kaito snapped, hand tightening around the hilt of his blade. "I have no idea why you decided his way was the answer, but—"

"I won't let you get away with this!" Tousen roared as he shoved himself back to his feet, skin pale and body swaying. Brought his blade up. Lunged—

Kaito snarled. Slid around Tousen's lunge. Slashed—

Tousen's headless body crumpled to the ground.

Silence descended upon the room, sharp-brittle-stunned, and Kaito stepped back. Stepped away from the second body. Angled his body so he could keep an eye on the others in the room. Flicked the blood from his blade and glared at everyone in the room.

(Who else would attack him?)

(Who else would force him to kill?)

Zangetsu pressed close, his steady calm sinking deep-deep-deep until Kaito finally felt like he could breathe again, until he wasn't seconds from falling apart—

(*Just a little longer,*) Zangetsu murmured as he steadied their hands. (*Then we can return home.*)

(*Right. Right,*) Kaito murmured as he shoved his tangled emotions aside and took a moment to actually register the room around him, instead of just potential threats.

Gin was still standing to the right of Aizen's throne, his gaze considering even as he slowly, deliberately, sheathed his blade. The Espada around the table were, for the most part, on their feet with their blades drawn and reiatsu poised for combat, but not a single one seemed about to strike.

And at the very end of the table were four slowly dissolving bodies, their forms fading away into particles of light just like any other Hollow he'd ever killed. He recognized Yammy's bulky shape and Szayelporro's brilliant pink hair, but the other two were unknowns.

He felt no regret for killing Yammy or Szayelporro, only sharp relief, but the other two…

(No, it didn't matter.)

(They were just Hollows.)

(He didn't care.)

(He didn't.)

"So, what's yer plan now?" Gin asked, breaking the strained silence. "Going ta kill the rest of us?"

Kaito grimaced and shot an annoyed look at Gin. "Going to force me to kill you?" he spat. "I don't care about the rest of you," he continued before Gin could throw more fuel on the fire, then turned to scowl at the remaining Espada. "Just stay out of the Living World, or I'll start caring."

The stocky old man — one of the few Espada still seated — leaned back in his chair and crossed his rams over his chest. "Is that your only demand, then?"

"Do whatever you want here in Hueco Mundo. Make trouble for the Shinigami if you really want. Throw Aizen's head at the Shinigami and tell them to deal with their own traitors next time if you really want. Just stay out of the Living World because it's mine," Kaito replied sharply, meeting the old Espada's gaze and refusing to look away.

The Espada snorted but still gave a tiny, acknowledging nod. "Very well, I accept your condition."

Grimmjow snarled and rocked forward on his feet as if he wanted to launch himself headfirst at Kaito. "Are we really gunna just let him—"

"Silence," the old Espada snapped. "He defeated the boss. We will therefore accept his very simple demand and continue on with our lives."

Grimmjow gave a deep, rumbling growl as he turned away and angrily sheathed his blade. "Fine. I'm outta here, then," he hissed over his shoulder, then stalked from the room.

His departure seemed to trigger something in the others, because one by one the lower Espada drifted out of the room, their solidarity seemingly lost with Aizen's death. In the end, only the old man Espada and another Espada — this one with brown hair and his mask fragment around the base of his neck — remained.

Though the brown-haired Espada was… he was…

"Is he asleep?" Kaito blurted out as he stared at the man, then darted a confused look at Gin in hopes of an answer.

"Eh, Starrk's just like that, ya get used to it," Gin said with a shrug. "More importantly though, are ya really not planning to tell anyone that you took care of things, Kaito-kun?"

"No," Kaito said with a scowl and a small shake of his head. "I have no interest in advertising what I've done here," he clarified, setting his confusion at Starrk sleeping through Aizen's death aside; neither Gin nor the old Espada were reacting to Starrk being asleep, it was probably fine to just ignore the man and leave him to his rest.

Gin's eyebrows rose in surprise and the man hummed softly as he tapped a finger against his chin in thought. "Maa… you realize that people will suspect you anyway, right? After that battle on Sokyoku Hill, Aizen never again showing his face will be, ah… suspicious."

"Then claim you killed him," Kaito said as he tugged Zangetsu a bit closer, hating the current line of conversation almost more than the deed itself. "Wasn't that why you were here?"

Gin froze briefly, reiatsu signature going flat, before he settled into a deceptively lax pose and asked softly, dangerously, "Why ever would you think that, Kaito-kun?"

"You're surprisingly okay with this conversation, given that I just killed your boss. If you were a devoted follower, wouldn't you have reacted like him?" Kaito asked as he waved his free hand in the direction of Tousen's crumpled body, scrambling for an answer that both made sense and didn't implicate him in time travel.

"Maybe I'm thinkin' bout switching sides, now that you've proven yourself stronger," Gin replied immediately. "Did you consider that?"

Kaito shook his head, hardly believing the words coming out of Gin's mouth. "Me? Really? I won because I surprised you all," he said, then flicked some blood from Ichigo's blade and settled it across his back, doubting that the remaining three people would attack him at this point. "Enough. I'm done. I'm not — and never will be — looking for minions. And certainly never someone like you."

"Aww, you wound me, Kaito-kun! How cruel, discarding your newly inherited minions so easily!" Gin exclaimed as he rocked back on his heels and pressed a hand to his chest as if Kaito had stabbed him.

"You'll live," Kaito shot back dryly, then swept his gaze over the room again, this time searching for the missing Hougyoku. "Though if you want to be of any use, you can tell me where the damn Hougyoku is." With his luck, it would be hidden somewhere else, where no one but Aizen knew its location, but he had to ask.

(It had already caused too much chaos.)

(He couldn't allow it to remain unaccounted for.)

"Oooh? Planning on taking Aizen's position after all?" Gin needled with a sharp grin.

Kaito clenched his jaw and gave Gin a dark look, patience beginning to run out. "I'm planning to return it to my father, actually. Anything to keep it out of the hands of assholes like you and Aizen."

Gin chuckled at the accusation but didn't bother denying it, just gestured towards a spot on the floor not far from Aizen's severed head. "Well, if ya really think that's possible, it's under there," he said with a sly smile.

The taunt in Gin's voice made Kaito furious, but he shoved his reaction aside in order to better focus on getting the Hougyoku out of its hiding spot. He stepped carefully around Aizen's body and the blood spilled across the floor, then knelt at the spot that Gin had indicated and began his search.

(Hopefully he wasn't being made fun of.)

(But what else was he supposed to do?)

(It wasn't like he had any better idea of where to search.)

Nothing about the patch of floor seemed different than the rest, and he couldn't pick up any traces of power leaking from below, but maybe Aizen had put actual effort into hiding it?

(Given Aizen's intelligence and skill, he wouldn't put it past the man.)

(Hubris aside, the man had succeeded at hiding his true opinions for a century or more.)

If the Hougyoku really was hidden where Gin had indicated, there had to be a way to open it.

He just had to find the trigger or latch or whatever it was that would give him access.

"A foot to your left," an unfamiliar voice spoke up, startling Kaito from his focus.

Kaito tensed as he met Starrk's piercing, grey-blue gaze, the weight of it almost uncomfortable.

(When had Starrk woken up?)

(Why hadn't he noticed the man waking up?)

(Or had Starrk never been asleep at all?)

Still, he couldn't discount the information, so he nodded at Starrk and moved a bit to the side to restart his search. This patch of floor seemed much the same as the other, but there was something about it that seemed… different. Off.

With a hum, Kaito tugged Ichigo closer. (*Here, reach out and try to push your reiatsu into this spot,*) Kaito told his friend.

(*Huh? Why me?*) Ichigo asked even as he did as requested, his reiatsu sliding through their fingers and into the tile in a steady rush—

Something clicked, the tile shifting under their hand, and a small display stand slowly rose from the floor near where Gin had indicated.

(*Because you have the most Shinigami-ish reiatsu of all of us,*) Kaito responded as he rose to his feet and turned towards the display stand, only to freeze at the sight of two orbs slowly orbiting each other like binary stars.

If he didn't know better, he'd label them simply powerful jewels: despite shimmering with power — blue-violet for one and violet-blue for the other — neither had the presence that he'd expected them to have. They looked more like trinkets, like decorations, than the incredibly powerful horror that he'd faced in the future when there'd only been one.

And they were warm, Kaito realized absently as his hand closed over the two orbs and pulled them from the stand. He'd expected them to be cold to the touch like the jewels they so resembled, but they… they almost seemed to be alive.

Two presences, one warm-curious-sleepy and the other bored-tired-apathetic, brushed against his mind, against his very soul, before the first lit up with bright, cheerful intent and the second seemed to sigh as it trailed after the first, and—

With a pop like a dislocated shoulder slotting back into place, the world shifted, settled, and suddenly it was like Kaito could finally take a full breath, could finally fill his lungs, could stand without some invisible weight pressing down upon him at last—

Shiro yelped and scrambled closer, dragging Ichigo and Zangetsu flush against Kaito's awareness as he did. (*Th' fuck just happened?!*) he shrieked as he practically forced all four of them into front together. (*Those fuckin' things just— yer inner world is— what th' fuck?!*)

Startled, Kaito tightened his grip on the Hougyoku orbs and started to turn his attention inward, only to freeze at the sensation of mist slipping through his fingers and warmth-trust-care and uncertainty-hesitance-hope brushing against his mind. He opened his hand immediately and watched in astonishment as the last traces of blue-violet and violet-blue power faded away like mist along with the mental touch.

(Had the orbs truly been sentient?)

(Why had his father never said?)

(Or… had the man never known?)

(But no, no that should have been impossible, surely someone as intelligent as Urahara would have noticed that the thing he'd created had feelings!)

"Huh… that was unexpected," Gin said as he eyed Kaito's hand, clearly as dumbfounded as Kaito was. "Did you just absorb them?"

"I don't think so?" Kaito replied as he flexed his fingers and stared at his empty palm. "I… no? At least, I didn't intend to, if that's what actually happened?"

Gin gave him a flat look, then snorted and shook his head. "Eh, whatever, I don't give a shit," he declared despite the curiosity rippling through his signature. At Kaito's exasperated stare, Gin just grinned and shrugged, then bent over to snatch Aizen's severed head by the hair and lift it up. His nose wrinkled as blood stained his hand and dripped to the floor, but he didn't let go. "Hey, don't gimme that look," Gin protested when he caught sight of Kaito's growing scowl. "You said we could do whatever we wanted with it, so I'm gunna take this and do exactly what ya suggested."

"You're… going to throw it at them?" Kaito asked in disbelief.

"Damn right I am," Gin said with a vicious grin, shaking the severed head slightly in emphasis. "This bastard fucked Rangiku-chan up, an' those bastards in control never even fuckin' noticed. Or cared. Assholes." He lifted Aizen's head a bit higher, his expression morphing into something darker, sharper, than before, as he growled, "It'll serve them all right, thinkin' a traitor bastard like me did what they couldn't."

"Right…" Kaito hesitated, wondering if he should do something to sway Gin away from his plan, then shrugged and let it go; Gin could do whatever the hell he wanted with his life. He was an adult, after all. "Have fun."

Gin laughed, the sound sharp-bitter-furious, and said, "I intend to."

And with that, the man strode out of the room, using a door behind Aizen's throne that Kaito hadn't even noticed. His departure left Kaito alone with the two remaining Espada and two dead — and distinctly not disintegrating — Shinigami.

Starrk clearly noticed the look Kaito was giving the dead bodies, given the way he huffed a sigh and sat up, scrubbing idly at one eye. "First time killing someone, kid?" he asked, sounding more bored than anything.

Kaito scowled at Starrk and bit out, "Of course it isn't."

The old Espada barked a laugh and finally stood up, almost seeming to tower over them despite being shorter than Kaito. "All things end in time," he declared with a self-satisfied smirk. "Even the lives of those with ambitions of godhood." He cast a glance at the two dead Shinigami, then shook his head and turned away, striding towards the door that Kaito had broken. "Since my entertainment is over, it's time to put my kingdom back in order," he declared, then paused at the doorway and cast a dangerous look at Kaito, adding, "Conquerer or not, if you make any more mess around here, I will kill you."

Kaito stared after the old Espada as he left with a flourish, then gave Starrk a confused look and asked, "His kingdom?"

"He was God-King of Las Noches before Aizen took over," Starrk answered as he slumped forward, propping his chin on his hand as he stared at Kaito. "Guess we're all going our separate ways again…"

Kaito clenched his jaw at the surge of understanding that tried to rise in him.

(It didn't matter how familiar the sentiment was.)

(It didn't matter.)

(Hollows were the enemy.)

(It didn't matter how lonely Starrk sounded!)

"Why did you all join him, anyway?" Kaito blurted out before he could think better of it.

Starrk blinked at him, shock-surprise-curiosity flickering in his blue-grey eyes before fading. "Everyone had their reasons," he answered without answering.

Kaito scowled at the obstinate Espada. "I know that, but he was a Shinigami, your enemy. What could he possibly offer any of you?"

"Fights, entertainment, power, purpose… take your pick," Starrk said as he slowly stood up and stretched, then ran a hand through his messy hair. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to grab Lilynette and get out of here before Baraggan becomes more obnoxious than usual."

(*We should make sure to visit him sometimes,*) Ichigo said thoughtfully as they watched Starrk walk away. (*Guy seems like he needs a friendly face around.*)

(*I don't know if it's escaped your notice or not, but I'm not exactly the friend-making type,*) Kaito replied dryly, giving Ichigo a mental poke as he did. (*Besides, why would he want to be friends with me?*)

(*Why not? Won't know until you try,*) Ichigo answered with a shrug and a mental poke in return.

(*You're ridiculous,*) Kaito grumbled as he tugged at Shiro's awareness, pulling the spirit's attention away from whatever it was that the Hougyoku orbs had done to their inner world. (*Garganta, please? I want to go home.*)

(*Right, yeah, on it,*) Shiro said as he shook his distraction away and turned his focus outward. He raised their right hand, red reiatsu gathering over their fingertips, and slashed at the air in front of them, tearing a gaping hole in reality. (*There ya go! One path ta th' Living World as requested!*)

(*Thanks, Shiro,*) Kaito said as he leapt through the hole and into the space between worlds, familiar emerald platform immediately forming beneath his feet as he did. He took a second to orient himself towards the sense of home-safety-family and took off into the void.

This time, he barely bothered with more than a token effort at keeping the platform a reasonable size, more interested in getting home than anything else.

(Practice could come later.)

(Everything could come later.)

(He… he just wanted his father!)

(*Sword,*) Ichigo murmured as they closed in on the point that felt right to their senses.

Kaito blinked. Realized that Ichigo meant their second sword. Promptly materialized Shiro's blade across Ichigo's. Sent an absent, (*Thanks,*) to Ichigo even as Shiro raised their right hand, red-limned fingers slashing a second hole in reality—

He could see Hanataro, could see his father, both of them clearly waiting right where he'd left them. His father was even pacing, fidgeting restlessly with his fan as he did.

(They… they were waiting for him.)

(For him!)

Kaito darted through the exit. Had half a second to see his father's eyes widen and Hanataro rise before—

His father swept him up in a hug, arms tight and reiatsu blazing with relief-happiness-exhaustion as he pulled Kaito against his chest and buried his face in Kaito's hair. "You're back," the man murmured. "You're back…"

"Father! I'm fine!" Kaito protested, words muffled by his father's jinbei.

"Are you truly okay? What happened? Did everything go well?" his father asked, words rapid-fire and hug not abating in the slightest.

"Everything went fine. I'm okay, and Aizen's dead, and… and it's all fine," Kaito tried to reassure, not that his words seemed to help anything.

(Not that he was all that interested in getting free.)

(Not when his father's hug was warm-comforting-safe.)

A small hand pressed against his back and familiar reiatsu slipped into his system as Hanataro ran the promised scan. "H-he's uninjured," Hanataro announced after a moment.

Urahara breathed a sigh of relief, though he only slightly loosened his hug. "Good. That's… that's good," he said, then hesitantly asked, "Aizen…?"

"Dead," Kaito said firmly, pressing his face into his father's shoulder. "Very, very dead. Tousen is too. Gin, uh… I think he took Aizen's head with intent to throw it at the Captains? That's what he said, at least."

Urahara stilled one hand coming up to cup the back of Kaito's head as he asked, "And is Gin intending on informing the Captains that it was you who killed Aizen?"

Kaito gave an awkward shrug and muttered, "No idea. Don't really care right now."

"Right, sorry." Urahara slid his fingers through Kaito's hair, the touch soft-comforting-reassuring, and then tentatively asked, "Did you find the Hougyoku?"

"That's, uh… so that's a funny story," Kaito said with a wince, then forged on before his father could do more than tense, saying, "I found them — both of them — and I picked them up to bring them back, and then, uh… well they just. They kinda… evaporated?"

"Evaporated," his father repeated in disbelief. "Kaito-kun—"

"They did!" Kaito protested. "I felt them poke at me, and then something happened to my inner world — I have to check that later, there wasn't a good time before — and then they just kinda evaporated into mist!"

Hanataro made a thoughtful noise as he directed his reiatsu to probe deeper, then slowly said, "K-Kaito-san d-does s-seem… healthier?" He paused, reiatsu swirling with confusion-uncertainty-discomfort, and then reluctantly explained, "I-it… it almost f-feels like K-Kaito-san h-had some s-sort of… of l-long-term illness th-that's now gone." Hanataro's breath hitched as he leaned in a bit more, voice thin-soft-regretful as he whispered, "I-I'm s-sorry I n-never n-noticed be-before…"

"It's fine, it's fine," Kaito tried to reassure his friend. He squirmed in his father's hold enough to free an arm, then reached out to tug Hanataro into a hug. "You never needed to look before. It's fine. I don't mind."

"A long-term illness, hmm?" his father repeated thoughtfully, clearly putting some pieces together already. "I suspect I know what happened, if that's the case. We'll need to investigate this later, but if I'm right, I might just owe those damn orbs a debt." He took a deep breath and then blew it out, pulling Kaito — and thus Hanataro — into a tighter hug for a long moment. "But we can do that later," he said as he reluctantly let them go and took a small step back. "For now, how about we move this upstairs and just relax for a while in comfort."

"That sounds perfect," Kaito agreed as he tugged the blades from his back and then pulled the reiatsu-concealing cloak off and held it out to his father. "Thank you for lending me this. It helped me get the drop on Aizen."

"I'm glad," his father said as he accepted it and started folding it up. "I had hoped it would."

Kaito smiled at his father, then tipped his head back to stare up at the fake sky above him and breathed a sigh of relief.

(It was over.)

(It was finally, truly over.)

(Now… now he had to figure out what that actually meant.)

(But he — they — would do it, he knew they would.)

(They had time, after all.)

(All the time in the world.)

(At last.)

Aaaaaand that's a wrap! I'm officially considering DE done as of this chapter. Thank you all for sticking with me through almost six years of writing this monster of a story- I never expected to write something so massive, much less actually complete it! I've been through a lot these past years and this story - and the comments you all left - have helped me through some of the worst bits of it and made the better bits even more fun, so thank you!

I would like to remind you here that, while Gather Them Up and Tiger Cubs will be completed here on FFNet, I am officially leaving this platform, so no new stories will be posted to this account. I'm planning to add more side stories and POVs to the DE cycle over on AO3 however, so if that is of interest to you, come find me there under the same pen name!