He didn't fully trust Kuchiki Rukia. He didn't trust anyone. Merely moving some pieces on the board would move things in his favor. Wherever they believed him, or got killed in the Soul Society, didn't matter. Peons needed to play their role as for the King to lead them all to salvation... or damnation.
It will be awhile before Hogyoku awakens. And there is still the other one to steal and merge with his own Hogyoku. Normally it would take time for it to awaken and remove from the seal created by Urahara Kisuke. But there was another, faster way. One that would keep Hogyoku safe for as long as it took to find the other one created by his other self. Between the palm of his hand, held in his white claws of the Fullbring armor, was the dormant sphere inside a crystal. The object in his hands soon transformed into green light. The sphere disappeared, and he absorbed it into his inner being. For now, there was nowhere safer than his own soul to keep it safe.
One sphere held the power to help Kurosaki Ichigo's friends unlock their Fullbring abilities in the past timeline through the power to make manifest desires into reality when it was inside of Kuchiki Rukia, while the other half held power of the Nail of the Soul King remove from Matsumoto Rangiku. Merging both will grant the soul of its new master the transcendent power of a God. Both powers needed to be one once more under its only and true master.
Chapter Six
Project Beyond R;Start!
Seven days later,
Aizen was in a park, sitting alone, meditating in broad daylight. He has been trying to communicate with Ichigo's zanpakuto spirit for some time but nothing was working. It was as if Zangetsu was refusing to be contacted. It didn't want to talk to him. Maybe it knew he wasn't really Kurosaki Ichigo, but that didn't matter. He could always subdue the spirit with his own power alone.
"Ichigo-!" yelled a woman in the distance, interrupting his thoughts.
"Inoue, what are you doing here?"
"I was shopping for dinner. I bought leeks-"
"Let me help you with that. Is the least I can do. I'm sorry about last week. I really didn't see you there. It was an impulsive reaction."
"Oh, don't worry. It was just an accident. Hey, what are you doing here alone in the park?"
"I was waiting for you. Tatsuki will join us at your place. I promised to cook something for you guys as an apology."
Orihime's cheeks flushed red, and her eyes became enormously frozen in time. Her mouth was open, but words didn't come out. She seemed to not know what to say. They walked back to Orihime's place in silence.
By the time they had arrived, Tatsuki was waiting for them at the entrance with a shopping bag; she had chosen the ingredients for dinner.
"Orihime! Ichigo! You're early."
"Yeah, I didn't mean to kick the bush. Can we go inside?"
"Sure!" said Orihime.
She walked past them from the street side, up the stairs to her apartment at 202. The place was small, but comfortable. Tatsuki and Orihime were in the waiting room watching a TV program while they entrusted all the work to Ichigo, without knowing he was their damnation. Tatsuki had forced him to wear a pink tablecloth, which he obviously refused, but they persuaded him to wear it. After all, it was his plan to get Orihime's interest in him. This was the day her brother would come for her as a Hollow and the more time Orihime spent near the Hogyoku the more it would influence her abilities, but her friend was a strange one. He remembered how Tatsuki survived Yammy's Gonzui (Soul Suck) and how she stood in front of him without dying. Even if he had lowered his spiritual energy, credit goes where it is due. Orihime's friend was a Fullbringer or a Watcher.
As he cut carrots into minor quantities for the rice, soon memories came back to him. Memories of the past in the Soul Society and how he did different tasks under a mask. Tasks that were difficult to forget.
"THROW HIM TO THE GROUND!" yelled Tatsuki in the living room, as they appeared to be having fun.
He looked straight ahead at the wall above the sink in utter solemnity, his eyes half closed. It took him back to those moments when he served her tea, or ate with Momo at the Soul Society.
"Hinamori," he said as he saw his sword piercing her chest and his hands in her blood with the composite horror in her eyes looking back at him.
He placed the dish he had washed on the counter and let a smile adorn his lips as he returned to the living room.
She was on her knees in the room, and she held a bear that was torn on the head.
"Oh, no! How'd you get torn?" Orihime said.
"Whoa. Maybe the fabric is rotting?" said Tatsuki beside her.
"That can't be... what's this...?" said Orihime, checking her hand.
Blood. It was blood. The Hollow had already cut Orihime's friend on the shoulder, and before the white Hollow attacked Orihime, Aizen stepped in the middle of the two with his white shining armor.
"You! How dare you stop me from talking to Orihime!" shouted the Hollow, with the voice of the man behind the mask.
"Tatsuki's hurt. Take her and go to the other room!" said Ichigo calmly.
"I-Ichigo?"
"Orihime!" He never thought he would have to raise his voice to wake the human from the silly expression on her face, which humans would call shock or trauma. Once Orihime was out of the room, Aizen turned to the Hollow.
"She can't see you. And she can't hear you."
"How dare you tell me she can't hear my voice!" The Hollow shouted, followed by an attack towards Aizen which he blocked with the palm of his hand.
Aizen thought about using his spiritual pressure to kill the Hollow, but he did not dare risk killing Orihime, let alone before he could activate her powers to take them for himself. Since the girls were not in the room, he came up with an idea. He deactivated his Fullbring and became completely helpless as a human.
"If that's all you've got you're a disappointment," he told the Hollow.
"Argg!" The Hollow's launched forward, claws pierced his being, and he fell to the ground.
Did the Hollow try to remove his soul? And that was the case. It had failed completely. His soul was too powerful for a simple Hollow like him to expel it from Ichigo's body unless he allowed it voluntarily, as he had done before with Rukia's powers, to test his hypothesis.
His torso was unharmed by any kind of injury. Not what he expected. He had to provoke the Hollow again; he needed him to wound him so he would achieve two goals in a single night. It would increase his spiritual energy when he recovered. Meaning, he wouldn't have wasted his time with the human girls instead of training his new body, and help himself get the girl to awaken her Fullbring sooner so he could steal it. Everything was In the Hollow's hand now. Everything he had fought for since the beginning, the Hollow had the sphere. He had removed the Hogyoku from his being. That was what he had taken. He was aiming for that all along, but how?. How was he supposed to know that would be possible?
"You think you can stop me? Your power has weakened."
The hollow turned and attacked him. The blow he received was a strong collision from its tail that sent him flying out of the apartment through the wall and into the street outside.
There was something strange in the area. The Hollow had more strength than usual. He looked around and there was the robotic fly in the corner fence, watching his every move. He was being watched, no doubt by himself, from this timeline. This was a test.
"Kurosaki-Kun!" came Orihime screaming out into the street as it pierced her being from the back. Her soul flew out to the front, spinning on the ground. When she got up, she saw her body on the floor with a huge chain attached to her chest.
"What am I doing there?"
"The demon that attacked Tatsuki removed your soul from your body. You will be able to see him now." Aizen said.
Even for Orihime's current state, the Hollow was faster and got grabbed by who was once her brother.
"Let me go!"
"Orihime!"
"How do you know my name?"
"Have you forgotten my voice? Have you forgotten me?"
"Huh?"
"It's me! Orihime!"
"S- Sora?"
"That's a demon! It's using the voice and likeness of your brother! Your brother would never hurt you like that! That's not him, Orihime! You were your brothers' pride, and he passed on that pride when he gave you those earrings. Don't let this demon fool you! Don't let this thing dishonor his memory!" Aizen shouted through Ichigo's voice as he lay on the floor with a smirk on his face.
Orihime awoke from her trance. Her face had a seriousness of hatred and sadness. An explosion occurred and when everything calmed down, the Hollow had lost an extensive amount of blood from a scar on its torso. Orihime was standing in the road with her power flying close to like a protective barrier.
"This isn't over. I'll come back for you, Orihime."
A roar filled the heavens, and the Hollow tightened its grip on the sphere, and created a portal, withdrawing and taking the Hogyoku with it to Hueco Mundo. Aizen was behind it and now had his hands on both Hogyoku. Somehow it had to have been him. He might have intercepted his creation with Grand Fisher and proposed a deal for the Hogyoku.
"Kurosaki-kun! Are you hurt?" Orihime came shouting to his side.
"I could ask the same about you. You're outside of your body."
"Aren't you? Wait. I know, Ichigo! This is all part of ...yes! You're a Kamen Raidā Shirīzu, ha!"