So... Happy New Year?
*quickly posts story from inside steel bunker fifty feet underground and shuts off computer*
IMPORTANT: I am changing the name of this story to "Iridescent" as of the next chapter. The entire story is going to be in three parts as well, so it won't be so much of a monster. This one's going to end in a few chapters, so I'll let you know when the next part's gonna be up. I'm also going to revise all of the previous chapters of this one once I finish it, with the help of my wonderful beta, Cased In Darkness. Love ya, girl! Thank you!
Now, onto the story. Got a nice long one for ya now. And appearances from a couple of requested characters.
[I have two places with extra notes at the bottom, marked * and **. Just FYI.]
As always, explanatory AN at the bottom. Enjoy!
Oh and - apologies for a certain kitty-cat's language (^^;).
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warmthwarmthwarmth
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She loved speed. It was a personal little pleasure of hers, one that happened to transfer onto a battlefield. It wasn't uncommon for her to spend an afternoon flying around the Seireitei or the Rukongai, just a blur leaping from rooftop to treetop. It could be disorienting, but she loved how the rest of the world seemed frozen in time. Her eyes were fast too, fast enough to see every detail of her surroundings for the instant that she was stopped between shunpo.
She saw a lot of interesting things that way. Kisuke accused her of being a voyeur. That hypocrite.
So when she stopped on a sturdy roof top looking down on a one-armed woman shoving a thickset man's face in the dirt, she immediately recognized her old childhood friend.
The flash goddess stopped her forward momentum just in time and pivoted to look down on the scene, crossing her arms. "I see not everything has changed," she drawled, her mischievous grin exposing her unusually long canines.
It was amusing to see Kukaku jump about a meter in the air. Her friend was rarely flustered, and Yoruichi loved making her be so. There had been several times when she'd gotten so fed up with Kukaku's unflappability that she ended up attacking her just to get a reaction other than a smirk. Of course, that had been when she was younger, less mature... well, mostly...
"Y-y-Yoruichi!"
Without giving Kukaku a chance to continue, Yoruichi flashed down to her, "accidentally" landing on top of Ganju. She let the one-armed woman splutter for a second or two (or maybe just a teensy bit more than that) before saying anything.
"What, no 'hello' for your best friend?"
Kukaku scowled. "Has anyone ever told you how irritating you are?" she grumbled. "Get off my little brother before he passes out."
In mock surprise, Yoruichi glanced down. "Oh, my apologies, Ganju-san, I didn't realize you were there!"
"Yeah, whatever, just get offa me!" Grinning, she finally acquiesced.
Kukaku was rubbing her temples by now. "Come on, we've got a lot to catch up on," Yoruichi said, gleefully slinging an arm over her shoulder. "Show me around your new, in-con-spicuous home, for one thing."
Kukaku wasn't given the chance to refuse. Her dark-skinned friend yanked her off-balance, forcibly dragging her through the doors of her own house.
"Yoruichi, get your hands offa me!" she yelled, struggling to wrestle herself away with one arm. Her temper being what it was, it wasn't long before the familiar glow lit up her hand, a sign of the ferocious kidou she was building.
"Woah, hooold on there, Kaku-chan," Yoruichi said, letting go and backing up a step. She wanted no part of the massive destruction her friend could cause. "Let's slow down and think about this, okie-dokie?"
"Coming from you, it isn't that convincing," Kukaku growled. "Still, I'd rather not destroy my house." The glow died away. "Still, woman, keep your hands off me and I'll keep mine off you. Am I understood?"
Any other person would have sighed in relief and cowered under the woman's glare. Yoruichi just grinned.
"Perfectly, Kaku-chan."
"And don't call me that."
"No chance, Kaku-chan."
"Grr."
Kukaku stomped her way into the sitting room, plopping down on the far side of the zataku. Yoruichi looked around, impressed.
"Your taste has improved, Kaku-chan. It's almost normal in here. It's above ground, for one thing."
"Shut it, Yoru. Like you've got room to talk."
Completely ignoring her, Yoruichi barreled on. "And what's with you calming down so easily? You never cared about your house before. I seem to recall you referring to several of them as 'god-forsaken rat-holes'."
"Well, there are some people who need somewhere to come home to," the Shiba woman muttered, propping her arm on the table and resting her chin on her fist. "I'd rather not destroy it."
"Oh?" The noble woman raised an eyebrow, dropping down across from her friend with her arms crossed. "Taking in strays, now?" She didn't even flinch at the glare leveled at her.
"Distant cousin of mine and his two companions. His parents kicked him out when he said he wanted to be a shinigami. You know how we are about that sort of thing. I took him in. Spitting image of Kaien."
"How sweet of you, Kaku-chan!" Yoruichi cooed, channeling Kisuke for a moment. "When can I meet him?"
"Never, if I have anything to say about it," Kukaku growled. "The last thing he needs is some noblewoman messing around in his business. I'm just glad he's already gone."
"Is that why you made such a drastic change in your living arrangements? So none of your shinigami friends could find you?"
"Tch." Kukaku didn't answer, turning her head away, and Yoruichi knew she had it right.
"You know, we do care about you, and not just as a shinigami cares about potential allies or enemies. Just because we happen to be shinigami doesn't mean we aren't your friends. We grew up together, remember? I think that counts more than an honorary reinstatement." Her tone was soft now, none of the mocking playfulness that it normally held.
Kukaku glanced over at her. One corner of her mouth hooked up in a rare genuine smile. "Yeah, I know, Yoru-chan."
The Shihoin head of house grinned back at her. "Good. I'm glad. Now, let's forget about all of that dreary stuff" she flapped her hand dismissively "and get to celebrating! Ganju, you little eavesdropper, get some sake!"
A yelp and bump from behind her greeted her words, quickly followed by the distinct padding sound of slippered feet running on tatami flooring. Across from her, Kukaku dropped her head in her hands and let out a groan.
Yoruichi just grinned madly, inordinately pleased with herself.
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The shlick! of a sharp blade slicing through bone mask as if it were paper sent a slight wave of satisfaction through Karin. She spared a moment to watch it dissolve before spinning to impale another hollow, blue trails of light marking Gintora's path.
Hollow attacks were changing. The single, low-level attacks that required single shinigami in semi-permanent stations all over the globe were lessening. Now, hollows attacked in groups, hoards that required an attack force to be ready to respond. Usually a ten-person squad led by a seated officer was enough. But sometimes the hollows were too numerous or too powerful, and smaller, higher-ranking teams were dispatched.
Like hers.
With a roar, she launched herself at a new hollow, this one bigger than the rest. One advantage of having Ichimaru: the Gotei 13 knew a hell of a lot more about hollows now. He delighted in lecturing about his favorite playthings. Unfortunately, he used a lot of graphs and complicated theories that mostly went straight over her head (something she suspected he also delighted in). She'd rather just be out killing the monsters. But she did pick up a few useful general concepts.
For example, the weakest hollows were small, colorful, and inhumanoid. This one was large, mostly dull brown and green, and it had two arms and two legs. Worked for her. Straight mass slaughter got old surprisingly quickly.
She brought Gintora around in a long sweeping motion, the momentum causing it to slice right through the armored plates on the hollow's arm, which was up to block her swing. It howled in pain and shook her off, drenching her in crimson blood.
She danced around it, intending to cleave open its head from behind. Clearly it had encountered shinigami before, because it ducked away from her sword and spun, using its momentum to backhand her away from it.
The blow didn't faze her. It would take something more powerful to do that. She wasn't anywhere near Ichi-nii in power, of course, but she was certainly strong enough to annihilate this one a hundred times over. She was proud of the fact that she was Muguruma-taichou's third seat.
The hollow gawped at her, probably stunned its weak-ass blow hadn't tossed her sideways. Obviously it had never encountered anything but the weaker, unseated shinigami.
"What, that all you got? Sorry." She drove the tip of her Chinese sword into its middle, the blue light lancing along its blade. It howled as it disintegrated, until she kicked it in the face to shut it up.
"Damn things always making so much noise," she muttered.
Karin turned back to the main fight, intending to rejoin it, and blinked. Not a single monster remained. A tall man stepped up beside her, and she punched him lightly in the side. "You didn't leave any for me, Chado," she told him, looking accusingly up at him.
A small smile played around his lips. "My apologies, Karin-san," he said sincerely.
Chado was pretty much a permanent fixture at her side. It had been sort of a natural thing - one day, he just stationed himself at her side and no one had ever questioned it. She was like Ichigo v2.0, so why wouldn't Chado be her constant shadow?
It came out of nowhere. A shadow dropped over them, and the whine of building energy was her only warning before a red tsunami enveloped them. Intense heat and pressure like nothing she had ever felt before tore at her. It was over in moments, but it had felt like an eternity. She was left scorched and bleeding from places where skin had been shredded.
Still, it wasn't as terrible as she had expected a Menos' cero to be. When the pressure-spots in her vision faded away and she regained herself enough to spin around, she saw Chado standing over her, his arms out to block as much of the blast as he could. Smoke curled up behind him.
A red haze of fury seemed to lower itself over her vision. She couldn't hear anything - it was like the world was muffled. A black-cloaked giant towered above her, several more behind it. She could just make out a robed figure standing on one of the massive shoulders.
It was like her head grew heavier. Pressure squeezed her skull tight, making it impossible to concentrate. She'd had this feeling before, but it had been ages - over a decade. Her body moved on its own, almost, as if she were detached from it. Tunnel vision focused her sight on her enemies.
Gintora rent the air in front of her, its blue trails lingering. She roared like the tiger her sword was named after. Before she knew it, she had sliced through the first white-bone mask, the pretty blue streaks turning into a pulse of energy that propelled the cut down through the entirety of the mask. With an ear-splitting shriek, the Menos dissolved into unbound reishi, the hundreds of souls that it contained finally released.
A much more solid - and bearable - force slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her. One of the Menos had raised a hand. However slow they appeared to be from a distance, their size meant that they had to move fast.
She skidded back on the air, catching herself and flipping back onto her feet. Acting on instinct, she let out a howl that rivaled those of the Menos. She was the King, not them. They were worthless, mindless foot-soldiers whose blood would feed her blade.
When the second cero hit her, she was ready for it. She threw up her blade in front of her and roared out. Her wonderful sword caught the sound and pulsed, throwing the sound out in a wave of pressure. It drove back the cero, dissipating it and the second one that was forming in front of another into formless reishi.
She carved open the mask of the one nearest her in a long, curving line, reaching from the middle of its forehead to the bottom of its cheek. It wailed and threw a hand up to cover the cut. It was dissolving slowly, a gradual march of destruction from one side of its body to the other.
A tsunami of energy boiled the air around her. There was no protection this time, no solid shield covering her or overpowering wave of energy. Her shihaku-shou burned up in moments, leaving just the short white robe smoldering underneath. As the cero ended, the mask that she hadn't even realized she'd had on until this moment shattered like glass and disintegrated into the air. Boneless, she plummeted toward the ground, no reiatsu left to keep her up.
A thick arm hooked around her middle, jerking her to a stop. Muguruma-taicho growled in her ear. "Don't you ever do somethin' as fucking dumbass bird-brain stupid as that again, ya hear me?"
He was angry. Very angry. His voice, normally on the same level as some death-metal shit blasting out of a rich-boy's car, was carefully controlled and so quiet she had to strain to hear it. It was like the calm before the storm, the cease-fire before the nuke. And he was scared, too.
She coughed, a deep, whole-body thing that set her throat on fire. "Cha- do," she rasped out. She spit, trying to get rid of the stuff in her mouth, and she saw red drops fall earthward. "Where-"
"Shut up. We've got'im."
He shun-po'ed to a rooftop below them. The sudden, jarring movement made her grit her teeth to stop from screaming. Her body felt like a sack of meat, and her skin scraped against the concrete surface of the roof.
Muguruma-taicho gave her a once-over. "You're lucky to be alive, though maybe you won't feel that way when we get back home. You and I are going to have a little talk about control." Karin would have shuddered, if it didn't hurt so much to move. She had no doubt that whatever her captain could dish out was far worse than anything some paltry Gillian could do.
He nodded to her side. "Your shadow's safe. A bit better'n you, actually. Now don't move and inch. If you do..."
Karin smiled grimly. "Ya kill me," she managed through gritted teeth.
His grin was terrifying. "Oh no. I believe Unohana-taichou has much worse things in mind for anyone who makes her job harder."
He shun-po'ed away then, leaving her to mull over that bone-chilling thought.
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It was almost - almost - like seeing Ichigo again. His sister was a bit more... refined. Reserved, perhaps. Not by much though, certainly.
And of course there was the matter of the obvious difference in power. But Karin would catch up to her big brother. There was no doubt about that.
Shinji propped his chin on his fist. In the back of his mind, his hollow was egging him to join in, but he had become quite adept at ignoring the pestering asshole. His haori was carefully arranged around him. His feet hung over the side of the cliff.
Karin was in the unique position of never really having been out of control before. Her hollow (Yoshi [early death], he thought she called it, so much more creative than his own term - Seiyou [pest]) had been carefully and methodically brought out. She never really felt the fear of losing herself, of becoming a true, mindless monster, of hurting, even killing, her loved ones. He envied her of that, but it also meant that she had less of a bone-deep need to control her hollow with a steel fist. Through no fault of her own, she simply didn't have the motivation.
And therein lay their problem. Because they weren't going to let her rampage out of control. He wasn't even sure she could - even during that incident in the World of the Living, Karin was aware of herself. She had enough of a hold on her hollow that it couldn't rebel. Instead, it seemed to be seeping through the cracks in her soul, gradually influencing her more and more. She seemed to be on a fast track to becoming something truly half-hollow.
Shinji was sure Ichigo would murder him if he came back to find his little sister had developed a taste for souls.
They had to get her to put up a barrier in her soul. At the moment, he and Kisuke were puzzling this out. Which was why he was here, watching his two dourui* [partner, accomplice, of the same kind] fight. Though there wasn't much of a contest.
Next to him, Kisuke winced as one of Kensei's great big fireballs tossed Karin backwards like a ragdoll. "I understand Ken-san is frustrated by this whole thing," he mused, "but does he really have to take it out on Kurosaki-chan like this?"
Shinji sighed. "He's always had trouble expressing himself. Just look at how he is with Mashiro. Or Shuu-chan."
Kisuke glanced at him sidelong. "And you are so much better, of course."
Shinji decided not to dignify that with an answer. Instead he kicked his feet out like a child, watching the fight below intently. Near the entrance to the training ground, the towering figure of Chado leaned against the cliff wall, ready to jump in if he thought the fight was going too far.
In all of his hundreds of years, Shinji had rarely seen that type of devotion. Even Yoruichi's former tagalong, Soi Fon, had displayed a different type of devotion, something more like worship. Chado wasn't oblivious to Karin's - or Ichigo's - faults, but he followed them unquestioningly anyway.
Both shinigami flinched at the enraged roar that Karin let out. Shinji leaned forward, watching her closely. He could see wisps of blackish-orange reiatsu curling off her body and sword.
"She's still in control," Kisuke mused. His fan tapped against his lips. "The hollowfication isn't spreading. Still..."
"She's not entirely herself, either."
"Yes, but there's no measurable way to determine that!" Kisuke told him. For the first time Shinji had seen, he sounded frustrated. Even when he'd told them he couldn't take their hollows out of them, he had sounded more sad and stumped. Now it was like there was a frosted glass wall in front of him, through which he could see indistinct shapes of ideas but couldn't see them or reach them. It was almost... amusing. "If only I could do some tests... have her in the lab for a while..."
"You better pray Kensei doesn't overhear those thoughts of yours," Shinji informed him, grinning at the bloody image that formed in his head. "Or Shuu-chan, or Chado, or Yuzu-chan or Isshin-san for that matter."
His friend shuddered. "I think I'm most scared of Kurosaki-chibi, to be frank," he muttered, hiding behind his fan and slouching forward like a sulking child. The notion of a three-hundred-plus-year-old former shinigami captain being afraid of the diminutive twenty-something-year-old sixth seat of Fourth Company was both hilarious and completely sensible. There seemed to be something of a feud between the two of them. Yuzu-chan didn't trust Kisuke around her family - completely understandable. They seemed to have an unspoken agreement - as long as Kisuke kept his scientist's mitts off her family, she wouldn't castrate him.
Unfortunately, in this instance it didn't seem like that would be possible. The dourui were wrestling now, swords tossed aside. Very colorful language drifted up to them, but it was only in Kensei's gruff tone. Karin would normally be giving as good as she got in a verbal war (something else that Yuzu-chan disapproved of). Instead they could only hear grunts and growls coming from her. She still seemed to be mostly in control - she wasn't really fighting back the way a hollow would - but it was clear she was kind of lost in the mindset of the fight instead of balancing on the edge, like any of them were when they put on their masks.
It was clear Kensei realized this too, because when he found an opening, instead of attacking her he grabbed the edge of her tiger-mask and tried to break it off. A large chunk of it crumbled in his hand, and Karin blinked rapidly. The rest of it dissolved after a moment, obeying her unspoken command. So she still had control over it - there was no struggle to get rid of it.
Chado was at her side in a moment, a comforting hand on her shoulder. Shinji followed Kisuke down, landing behind Kensei.
"I did it again, didn't I," Karin stated matter-of-factly. If he hadn't known her for ten years, led her through the process of learning to control her hollow, he wouldn't have been able to see the tiny trace of fear in her eyes.
Kensei's fists were clenching and unclenching. Letting out a huff of breath, he dropped to the ground next to his subordinate. "Yeah," he growled after a moment. He met Shinji's eyes, then Kisuke's. "Exactly like before," he said, anger clear in his voice. "Except I'm not watching her burn because she couldn't see a cero this time. Can you two hurry up and do whatever sciency shit you gotta do so I can get my fourth seat back to normal?"
Kisuke snorted. "Ken-san, however much of an ignoramus you pretend to be, even you know that this 'sciency... stuff' takes time," he lectured, waving his fan happily. "I am going to require Kurosaki-chan's presence in my lab, you do realize." However frustrated he was about the whole thing, he was clearly eager to start working on it.
Karin and her captain exchanged unreadable glances. "Alright, fine," Karin said finally, staring Kisuke in the eye. "One one condition."
Shinji could swear he saw a drop of sweat form on Kisuke's brow. "Yes, Kurosaki-chan?" he asked nervously.
The grin on her face was priceless. "You get to tell Yuzu why I'm not going to be able to stay with her and Goat-face this weekend," she said.
Kisuke gulped, and the rest of them grinned.
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"Osu, chibi." [osu - slang "acknowledgement" hello/yes/got it; chibi - little, cute]
The snowy-head kid-captain jumped at the bang of the sliding door that always accompanied her entrance. She stalked over to the couch in the middle of the room and plopped down, banging her heels down on the table in front of it.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
Hyori's response was the smirk she knew drove him crazy. "Ne, what's up, chibi-taichou?"
"I SAID DON'T - aaagh, whatever. Just... shut up and stay over there, you pain in my ass." Chibi-taichou waved a hand exasperatedly at her, scribbling something down with the other.
Big-boobs in the corner gasped dramatically. "Taichou, your language! I'm going to have to wash your mouth out with soap if you keep talking like that!"
The look Chibi-taichou shot her could have frozen hell over. It had absolutely zero effect on Big-boobs, though. As usual.
Chibi-taichou went back to his beloved paperwork. At some point he had realized it was easier to let it go and ignore both women. It was both a relief that he just let her stay in here and a bit of a disappointment - it was so fun to watch him blow up over the simplest things.
Hyori tipped her head back to rest it on the back of the couch and closed her eyes, zoning out to the muffled sounds of squad activity outside of the office and the soft sounds of the two officers working diligently - well, one of them working diligently, the other one occasionally going into bouts of productiveness but mostly slacking off.
Even after ten years, she still wasn't used to being back in Soul Society. She was only even here because her dourui were. Gotei 13 was untrustworthy. And she didn't really fit in anymore. She was something more than shinigami now, and they had no idea what to do with her or any of the others. The "honorary captains" title was an awkward, temporary fix. And sure, Shinji and Kensei had control of their squads again, but no one had any illusions that they would be there if there had been any other qualified (and willing) options.
Tenth Squad was her sanctuary now. She could never stand Kurostuchi for very long. Ukitake, the closest, was insufferably nice, like his whole squad, and everyone in Eleventh always wanted to brawl. Chibi left her alone, and she could zone out to the sounds of shinigami life.
She was pulled into awareness by the sound of pounding feet. That was a familiar sound, too. The door was flung open for the second time that day and made another loud bang, grabbing everyone's attention. A man she vaguely recognized as a fifth or sixth seat kneeled in the doorway, breathing heavily.
"Forgive me for interrupting, Taichou, Fukutaichou!"
"Forget it, just report," Chibi ordered, standing. "What happened." His voice was calm, not like the guy in the doorway.
"A Menos-level hollow is attacking in the West Rukongai, District 47," the officer got out, speaking rapidly. "An adjuchas, we think."
Chibi nodded. "Understood. Matsumoto, come with me." He grabbed his zanpaku-tou from the stand next to his desk and slung it over his shoulder, tightening the strap.
"Don't bother." Hyori stood up, cracking her back. "I got this."
The officer looked up from the found, startled out of his respectful position. "Meiyotaichou [honorary captain]! Forgive me, I didn't see you."
"Whatever," she responded. She looked over to Chibi, who grimaced and nodded.
"Go ahead," he said. "You're certainly capable enough for something like this." He unfastened his sash again, pulling the sword off.
Hyori snorted. "Damn right. Later, Chibi."
She was gone in an instant, missing the ice-glare Chibi threw at her and the officer's sputtering. The air in front of her put up no resistance - shun-po was almost as easy as breathing. Even a journey that long took only a few minutes - though that was plenty of time for an adjuchas to do a lot of damage. They had the West Gate open for her already, so she didn't have to stop at all.
It was easy to find the adjuchas. It was the only strong spiritual presence for miles. Plus the wreckage it left in its wake was kind of a dead giveaway. Most hollows had no sense of subtlety. Then again, neither did she. As demonstrated by her first attack.
"Hado 31, Shakkahou!"
One of her favorite hado (and one of the only ones she knew). Her captain-class reiatsu expanded it to a fireball the size of your average house - about as big as the adjuchas itself.
It leapt out of the smoke toward her, one claw coming down on her from above. She met it with her zanpaku-tou easily, the blade biting into the bone-claw. Grunting with effort, she used that leverage to flip the giant creature, smacking him against the ground.
It screeched at her. "Shinigami! I will rip you open!"
"Not very creative, baldy!" She shun-po'ed behind it in an instant, smirking at its clumsy whirl to face her. "And fer your information - I'm not a stinkin' shinigami." She brought her blade down on its head, satisfied when it was able to dodge. It would suck if she came all the way out here for some weakling.
It wasn't evolved very much, obviously, cause it didn't speak any more, just howled at her while it met her continuous rain of attacks. She drove it back, away from the souls, who had stopped running around shrieking their heads off and started idiotically standing around watching with their mouths open like fish.
"Get back, you damn idiots, 'less you wanna feel a world 'a pain!" She was enjoying this a lot more than she should've been. Contrary to popular belief, she did care about lives; or at least, she would feel bad if people died while she was having fun. And her dourui would get on her case. So she forced the adjuchas back away from them, putting in unnecessary effort to keep idiot civilians safe from their own damn stupidity.
She almost didn't see the tail coming. The creature itself seemed to be monkey-like (though grotesquely enormous), and its tail seemed to echo that. It tried to grab her from behind, the end snaking around her. Deftly, she used the momentum of her next attack and the hollow's block to twist in midair, bringing her sword up over her head in a long arc and slicing right through the tail.
It was pretty messy. Deep red - almost black - blood sprayed everywhere, showering the civilians (who, infuriatingly, still hadn't moved), the village, and her while the hollow screamed and flailed around. Drama queen. In revenge for the disgusting experience, she landed on its face and stuck it in the eye.
She hadn't even needed her mask. It was pretty disappointing.
It dissolved, but the sticky blood stayed behind. Only higher-level hollows seemed to have that particular inconvenient trait. She surveyed the villagers, and noticed that not all of it was of the hollow variety - several of them sported mildly serious wounds, and nearly all of them had some sort of superficial cuts and scrapes.
She sighed. Fighting the things was all well and good, but being stuck with cleanup duty sucked big-time.
Nearby, she felt shinigami reiatsu approach. Most of them were weak, not even seats. The one in front, though, she recognized. Tiger-chan and puma-chan's friend**.
They showed up soon enough - four total. "Ah! Sarugaki-meiyotaichou-sama!" the familiar one called.
"Osu, Wimpy-chan**."
The shinigami blushed wildly. "Meiyotaichou, onegai!" he complained, waving his hands. It made a cool blur effect to look through.
One of his subordinates cleared his throat. "Uh, Yamada-san, your orders?" he asked hesitantly, obviously weirded out by the strange display.
That snapped Wimpy back into action-mode. He lifted his pack over his head and dictated orders rapidly. "Egami, gather anyone who's wounded in one place. Make sure you separate out minor wounds from major ones. Calm everybody down. Takenga, start basic physical healing on the major wounds. Jiyo, heal minor wounds and get people who are finished out of the way. I'll start healing major wounds." He glanced up at her. "Meiyotaichou, do you think you could get rid of the majority of this hollow blood? We don't want another one showing up."
The military precision they moved with was impressive, for a group of people she was used to tripping over their own feet. She watched them dart off after agreeing. Then she shook herself and went to clean up her mess.
Again, it was one of the few kidou spells she knew. Grunts used this; captains usually had other people to clean up after them after a big battle. She put the edges of her hands together, palms facing out, and drew them apart. "Bakudo 3; Bakufu [cascade]."
A torrent of water rushed from her palms and crashed against the trees. It evaporated when it touched a surface, taking anything hollow-like with it. She repeated it several times, until there was no trace of hollow blood on the trees and bushes.
It wasn't hard; just boring. She sighed when Wimpy-chan caught her eye and waved her over.
"Gomenasai [formal thank you], Sarugaki-sama, you can go back to Seireitei now if you like. We can handle the rest."
Wimpy-chan looked harassed. The woman in front of him looked mulish, holding her toddler tightly. "Yes, taichou-san, run back to your shining palace and leave us normal folk alone." She glared at Hyori fiercely, cradling the boy's head. Hyori could see a slash across the top of it that had bled badly. The woman's yukata fell forward over her shoulder, as if there wasn't enough to hold it up. She walked around behind the soul and saw a long slash that ran down one side of her back, starting at the shoulder. She probably tried to protect her son, but not have been able to shield the top of his head from the strike that ripped open her back.
The woman tried to turn to follow her, and bit her lip until it bled to stop from crying out at the pain of moving her back. Hyori snorted. "Idiot. You're being healed for free. Take it. I doubt this baka-chan would even think of debt. He healed damn ryoka back from near death. His bleeding heart actually likes helping people." She snorted again. "God knows why when they treat 'im like this."
The woman glared at her. To her surprise, she felt a surge of reiatsu from the woman, nothing powerful, but probably enough to get her into the Shinigami Academy. Wimpy-chan obviously felt it too, because he looked at her pleadingly. "I can't heal her," he complained. "Her reiatsu is fighting me."
Hyori finished her circuit and crouched down in front of the two souls. Without warning, she grabbed the sick-looking boy from his mom's arms and handed him to Wimpy. "Heal him," she ordered. She held the woman back and scanned the group of souls, ignoring her flailing and insults (though a few of them were pretty impressive).
"Egg-somethin'! Get over here!" The shinigami turned at her voice and ran over.
"My name is Egami, meiyotaichou-sama -"
"Yeah, whatever. You got any antiseptic in that bag?"
He blinked. "Hai, meiyotai-"
"Quit the stupid titles and just gimmie the thing!"
He handed it over hastily.
"Thank you. And you -" she addressed the still-struggling woman "- we can do this the easy way, er the hard way."
When the woman just glared defiantly at her, she sighed. Easily, she shoved the woman onto her stomach and put a foot firmly on the unwounded part of her back. Roughly, she yanked the tattered yukata out of the way and opened the jar of antiseptic cream.
She almost didn't bother being gentle. Things that annoyed her usually got pulverized. But habit kicked in, and she smoothed the cream on, working it into the cut. Under her hands and foot, the woman hissed and squirmed.
"Stay still, or this is gonna hurt a lot more!" After a moment, the soul calmed down. She put her chin on her hands and watched Wimpy-chan heal her child with narrowed eyes.
The shinigami handed her a square of damp cloth when she set the cream down. Carefully, she wiped down the sides of the cut, cleaning away the blood.
Hyori stuck her hand out when she was done. "Gimmie that stuff that stops the bleeding," she demanded without looking. After a second, she felt the jar placed in her hand.
"Please be sparing, Sarugaki-sama," Egg-whatsit pleaded. "That is hard to make, and there isn't a lot left..."
She dipped two fingers in the stuff, spreading a thin layer over the slash. The motions were all too familiar to her; even Hachi wasn't really a healer, so they had to rely on physical methods. She handed back the jar when no more blood seeped out of the cut. Egg-whatsit took it gingerly, tucking it in his bag, and handed her a roll of new bandages.
"All done!" Wimpy-chan set the little boy down cheerfully by his mom's head. "There, all better. I have to go help other people now, okay? So behave for your momma." He patted the boy gently on the head and smiled before trotting over the the next person.
The woman sat up when Hyori lifted her. She smiled at her son and squeaked when Hyori reached under her yukata to wrap the bandages around her torso.
The visored rolled her eyes. "For shuck's sake, woman," she drawled, continuing without caring. Egg-whatsit blushed and looked away.
When the roll ran out, she yanked it tight and tucked it securely under the layers of cloth. "There," she said. "And you woulda not had all that embarrassment and discomfort if you woulda just let Wimpy-chan heal you."
She spun around, ready to shunpo away. She had already done way more than she wanted to.
A hand on her shihakushou stopped her. She turned and put her hands on her hips, meeting the woman's glare with a stare of her own.
The woman worked her jaw for a moment, like she was trying to get words out. "Gomenasai," she managed, bowing stiffly.
Hyori just looked at her for a moment. "Yeah, yeah, don't thank me, thank the stupidly nice people. And don't fight next time." She turned away. "You should get trained," she threw over her shoulder. "Say Sarugaki-meiyotaichou sent you, they'll let you bring your kid in." She didn't wait for a response. Sappy thank-yous weren't her thing. Instead, she leapt away, vanishing in a blur.
Maybe today was actually worth something.
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Las Noches was dead.
She didn't know why she kept coming back here. Maybe it was because she still somehow believed that her lord and master would be here, waiting for his soldiers. Maybe it was because she couldn't escape the memories of being part of a world of more rational creatures, part of something that had meaning. Maybe it was because no hollows approached the ruins, and so, away from them, she could escape her own primal monster.
The palace's great ceiling had crumbled, breaking the illusion of a bright blue sky. Things wasted away quickly in Hueco Mundo, even, it seemed, monuments like this. Half of the dome remained, shielding the smaller palaces underneath, but the rest littered the sands below in pieces.
The little - if they could be called that; they were monstrosities in their own rights - palaces had crumbled, too. Everywhere she looked, from her position on the still-standing rim of the monument's walls, she could see empty shells of buildings.
Nothing moved. There was no wind in Hueco Mundo. The little creatures that scurried around under the sand stayed away from here. She missed the days when Las Noches was busy with soldiers.
A slight wind pushed her hair forward for a moment before it settled back. On either side of her, her companions appeared. They were the only ones left after Aizen-sama's fall. Of the few who had kept their minds without Aizen-sama's firm hand to guide them, they were the only survivors.
"Why keep coming here?" Grimmjow growled. "There's nothing but fucking rocks." He glared spitefully at the ruins of his old home. "And skeletons."
Halibel's deep voice soothed him. "Memories, Grimmjow. This place is what made us, and it is the only thing that keeps us different from the mindless beasts we hunt."
He bared his teeth. "Aizen-sama made us what we are. And he's fucking gone now, isn't he?" Still, he didn't move, watching the ruins with his comrades.
They stood in silence for a while. She sensed Halibel's trio of followers waiting patiently below them, and felt a pang of sadness for her own devotees. Dondochakka and Pesche were too ill-equipped for the savagery of the old Hueco Mundo, and she had been too weak. Orihime had healed her physically, but her reiatsu hadn't gone up to its former overwhelming state until her two "big brothers" had given themselves to her.
She almost missed the figure standing on one of the few remaining towers in front of them. It stood perfectly still, and the indigo robes blended into the black sky. She felt no reiatsu from it, but her skin tingled.
Without a word, she took off toward it, vanishing from her spot in an instant. She heard Grimmjow's startled shout in the distance behind her, but didn't slow.
In a few fractions of a second, she got close enough to see the smile on the figure's face. It was a woman, her hair pulled up into a high bun, dressed in an indigo shihaku-shou. She held a katana in one hand and its sheath in the other. A long dagger sat at her hip.
Even this close, Nelliel sensed no reiatsu, but when she drew her blade up to attack, it was met with unforgiving steel. She hadn't even seen the woman move. Her arm felt numb - it was as if she had attacked a wall of seki-seki.
The woman grinned. "Hello, arrancar-san. I see Hueco Mundo is an unwelcoming land."
Nelliel jumped back, standing on the air several meters up and out from the edge of the pillar. "Who are you?" she demanded, looking down on the stranger.
"Something you have never encountered before, arrancar-san. Something that should make you shake with fear."
"Bullshit." Grimmjow signaled his arrival with his usual tact. "No pansy shinigami will ever make an arrancar tremble."
"Oh?" The woman raised an eyebrow. "Not even your precious Aizen?"
"Aizen-sama was our Creator," Nel interrupted. "He is not just a shinigami."
"I suppose the same goes for Kurosaki Ichigo?"
Inwardly, Nelliel grit her teeth. Ichigo was still a sore subject - for herself as well as Grimmjow. She missed her friend, and Grimmjow missed his rival, however much he hated to admit it.
"Fuck yeah," the panther growled. "Kurosaki's no stuck-up old geezer."
The stranger giggled, obviously amused by them. "Aizen's pets are very entertaining. No wonder he kept you around for so long."
Their backs straightened almost automatically. "We're no stinkin' pets," Grimmjow informed her.
"We are his loyal Swords, his most capable soldiers."
She outright laughed at them this time. "Capable? Perhaps against the Gotei 13, although that is also questionable. But after they were gone? You would have been of no use to him in the King's Realm. Only one of you would have stood a chance, and he was ripped to pieces by your precious Kurosaki. Or rather, his monster."
That was important. The woman meant Ulquiorra, undoubtedly, and the "Segunda Etapa" Orihime had mentioned to her briefly before she and the rest of Ichigo's friends went after him. Nelliel didn't have much time to dwell on that, however, because she could practically see steam coming out of Grimmjow's ears.
He had always been the most excitable of the arrancars who had once been Vasto Lordes. Even Nnoitora hadn't been temperamental, just spiteful. She put it down to the fact that he'd been a Lorde for a very short time before Aizen had got to him, and so he hadn't had the centuries to mellow out that the rest of them had. He was the baby of the group - unused to the security and requirements of that kind of power. It was probably the only reason Barragan had tolerated him.
She gripped his forearm tightly, warning him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him glance at her, though she kept her gaze on the stranger. She didn't trust her not to attack them, and she was finding it hard to grip her sword after that one clash.
A flicker in the air was all the warning any of them got before Halibel was there. She settled into view behind the woman, and she yanked her odd sword towards her. It should have passed right through the woman's throat.
Instead, it stopped, centimeters away. All of them looked down at the blade, surprised. Two slim fingers held it back. After a moment, Halibel lowered her sword and sonido'ed around to her two comrades.
"You're strong, despite your lack of reiatsu. I suppose the most accurate question would be what are you." Halibel's voice revealed no uncertainty over her ability to defend against the woman, should she need to, even after that impressive display.
The woman rubbed her fingers together thoughtfully, ignoring Halibel. "Perhaps you have some potential after all. You almost broke my skin." She looked up and locked eyes with each of them. Something in her gaze had changed, a new shrewdness in there. She looked like a cat, trying to decide if a mouse was worth catching.
"You haven't answered our question, stranger. How are you so strong? And what do you want with Las Noches?"
"You would defend a fallen fortress?"
"Stop with the fucking evasion bullshit!" Nelliel felt Grimmjow's muscles tense, and she dug in her nails, keeping him from leaping forward.
The woman blinked at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I frustrating the kitty-cat? I wonder if you would chase a laser dot like the cats in the world of the living. Perhaps I'll try that sometime." She put a finger on her lips, as if pondering the thought. "I always wanted a kitty."
Halibel had to grab the panther's other arm after that comment. He seemed as if he was going to start foaming at the mouth, soon. The stranger laughed at the spectacle he was making.
"Fine, fine, I'll stop playing for now, kitty-chan. I'll see you again - maybe we can have some more fun, huh? You seem like you would be great fun to keep, though you might have to be declawed. I have important things to do, though, so I don't have time right now. Bye, kitty-chan! See you soon!" She winked and blew a kiss, and before the resulting explosion, she was gone, impossible to track because of her lack of reiatsu. Grimmjow had to satisfy himself with destroying the pillar and everything else within a mile radius before he ran off to cool down.
Halibel shook her head. "That temper of his will kill him," she stated, and Nel nodded in agreement. They waited together in silence for Grimmjow to return, the Tres Bestias bickering below.
"Feel better?" she asked when Grimmjow reappeared. He threw her a look, breathing heavily, and flopped down on his back, linking his hands behind his head.
Nelliel glanced over at her successor. "Do you have any idea who that was?" she asked. Of the three of them, Halibel had been the only one to fight in the battle at Karakura Town. She knew the shinigami best, then.
The shark shook her head. "No shinigami wears colored robes. Not even Yamamoto's squad. As for her inexplicable absence of reiatsu... if it means what I think it does, then we are all but sitting ducks for her." She frowned. "Although I doubt it is exactly what I am thinking."
When Nelliel just looked blankly at her, she sighed and sat down, cross-legged, on the air, motioning for Nelliel to do the same. "You know there are different levels of existence, correct? Humans-" she lifted one long finger "-are on the lowest level, aware only of their own world, though they may guess about the existence of higher beings." Her voice wasn't condescending, but it held a similar sort of loftiness that the shinigami felt entitled to. There was no love for humans there.
She lifted a second finger. "Then there are spiritual beings - hollows, and shinigami." She motioned down her body. "And combinations thereof. Humans cannot sense our existence at all, but we, as higher beings, have full awareness of them. There are a few anomalies in this system, of course. The Quincy are a prime example. They can interact fully with our realm, but they are not a part of it. They are humans, and exist in the same world as humans, and die in the same way. Humans cannot sense their spiritual presence, however, any more than they can sense us."
Her fingers curled into a tight fist when she paused. Even Grimmjow was listening intently now. The Tres Bestias had joined them, sitting a respectful distance away.
"And there is a level of being even above us. This is the level which Aizen-sama ascended to. While I lay on the ground in the false Karakura Town, I could feel the reiatsu from the battles above me. He did to me the same thing that he did to the shinigami captains and the Visoreds - he rendered me unable to fight or even move, but ensured that I would stay conscious. He wanted an audience." She shivered. "I am thankful for that, despite how much pain I endured. Without my conscious will, I doubt I would have survived Yamamoto's flames."
Halibel closed her eyes. "I felt him strike down every enemy effortlessly. I think the only shinigami he had any trouble with was the Captain-Commander. Everything else was acting. And I felt Aizen-sama's transformation. After that... nothing." She drummed her fingers on her knee. "I was able to feel the last three shinigami to arrive - Kurosaki Isshin, Shihoin Yoruichi, and Urahara Kisuke - and the fluctuations in their reiatsu as they fought. But it was like they were attacking a cloud in the sky. Aizen-sama was, according to my spiritual senses, nonexistent - exactly like the woman in the indigo shihaku-shou."
Grimmjow frowned. "Could you still see him?"
She nodded. "According to my physical senses, he was still there. I suppose for the first time I realized what it is to be a powerless human. None of the shinigami could sense him, either. As far as I am aware, the only being whom could feel his reiatsu without him deliberately lowering it was Kurosaki Ichigo. I assume that Kurosaki also somehow ascended to that state, as he was the catalyst for Aizen-sama's defeat. I did not witness this myself, however."
Nelliel tilted her head back. "Clearly they are not the first to assume this state, then. The Soul King most likely exists in this level of being."
"With a difference, however. Aizen-sama and Kurosaki were born in our state of being - or lower, in Kurosaki's case. As far as I can tell, this is why I could see and hear Aizen, even after his reiatsu disappeared. The Quincy are again a good example of this phenomenon. The Soul King will never have been on our level, and so will be nonexistent to all of our senses, not only our spiritual ones."
Grimmjow growled suddenly. "This is why I hate theory. I'm getting a headache." He rubbed his knuckles against his forehead and jumped to his feet. "You girls can keep up with this speculation shit about the 'nature of existence' or whatever. I'm gonna go kill something."
He lifted a hand in farewell and vanished, the air curling up where he had been for a moment afterward.
"Men," Mila Rose snorted. "can't do anything but chase tail and sleep."
Nelliel grinned. "Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be in Grimm's position?" she asked. "What if you were stuck in a group of five men without any other women?"
She could see the idea sink into their minds, and the resulting expressions of disgust and horror had her rolling around in a fit of giggles.
Halibel joined in. Nel had a hunch, from the tone of her voice, that behind her shark's face mask, the corners of her mouth were curved up. "It doesn't help that a single one of us would be far too much woman for him to handle. Nel and I are far more powerful, and the three of you gang up on anyone who figures himself man enough to take you on."
In less than a minute, only she and Sun-Sun were left with any composure at all.
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warmthwarmthwarmth
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*dourui - I needed a name for the Visoreds to call themselves. I chose a Japanese word because the Japanese culture is intrinsically community-centered and exclusive. I wanted the Visoreds to see themselves as a clan, like a pack of wolves, so I tried to find a word that would have the same feeling of togetherness and isolation from others as "packmate" without being wolf-centered. I think I succeeded; I am not fluent in the intricacies of the Japanese language and the connotations of different words, but I did my best. Just know that they think of themselves as a close-knit group.
**Hyori's nicknames (incase of confusion): Chibi = Hitsugaya, Big-boobs = Rangiku, Tiger-chan = Karin, puma-chan = Yuzu, Wimpy = Hanatarou
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So, you'll notice that I put the translations of Japanese words in the story, instead of in a glossary afterwards. That was because of a suggestion by a reader that the constant scrolling up and down and the unfamiliar words were taking away from the story, rather than adding to it. We'll see what you think of this method, yeah? (^.^)
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My New Year's Resolution: Upload one chapter every two weeks. We'll see how that goes, yeah?
The plot thickens! Dunh-dunh-dunh. Now we're getting to the part where I can't answer a lot of questions... *rubs hands together*
And before you kill me for not giving you any updates on our favorite trio, just remember!:
I haz da powar. (｡･｀ω´･｡) *sticks out tongue*
Sopleasedon'tmurdermeinmysleeeep!
As per usual, any questions, just review. However, I can no longer promise that I can answer all of them. Any misunderstandings, though, I will be happy to clear up（＾_＾）!
Also, often my previous responses have the answers to questions in them, so check them out if you've uber-confused.
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Review Responses:
Maverick14th - Yo! I updated again... eheh. Yeah, I decided to do last chapter all in the characters' inner worlds. Introspection time, yay. I agree with you about Aizen. He's not really a go-adventuring-with-the-younglings type. Karin has a hollow because she's like Ichigo; her power is a lot like his, and she's half-human like him, and humans can become either hollows or shinigami. When Aizen killed her, her hollow side surfaced, but instead of going out-of-control and hollowfying immediately like Ichigo, the Visoreds sent her into her inner world to do battle before the hollow started getting out of control. Karin is the "dark cub" and her hollow, Youshi, is the "light cub" - remember, the hollows are bone-white.
Gemini24 - Yes, it seems we do think alike ^-^. Don't worry, Hakuma will come around. He's a part of Ichigo's soul after all, so he shares some of Ichigo's feelings. Also, no HichiIchi. I like exploring strong relationships, and romantic relationships are only one of many. So Hakuma isn't in love with Ichigo, he's just very possessive and attached. Yeah, you're gonna have to wait for any IchiIshi. It's not just Ichigo's denseness, it's just that the situation of the next several chapters doesn't really lend itself to romance. I think Kyoka Suigetsu is going to be one of my favorite OCs to write ^_^. Everything about the Reiou will be revealed... much later. When Kira first sees Hyorinmaru, when Hitsugaya and Ichimaru fight, he says that it only shows up once every few generations. Different wielders of the same zanpaku-tou can be reincarnations of each other, but which zanpaku-tou is called forth by a shinigami depends mostly on their personality and their reason for fighting. I dunno anything about Ichigo and Ishida being reincarnations of the same person... that likely won't be a part of this story. With Karin, it wasn't me referring to Karin and Youshi as cubs - it was in her sword, Gintora's, POV, and Gintora's form is a tiger, so she refers to the other two as "cubs" because they are so much younger than her. Starkk etc. might show up later on, but they'll be much different in terms of power and probably personality. Yeah, for Hanatarou and Unohana's zanpaku-tou, they don't count. The zanpaku-tou has to have been released in Hueco Mundo. Thanks for your awesome reviews and PMs!
La terrible La - Yeah, I considered Orihime as Kyoka Suigetsu's hiding place, because she and Aizen have a connection which will be revealed later on, but I decided Ishida was better for exactly the reasons you said. The dynamic between Engel Lanze and Kyoka Suigetsu is awesome, too ^-^. I think Shiro/Hichigo/Ogichi/Hakuma is possibly one of the most interesting characters in Bleach, next to Aizen and Gin. I wanted to do the character justice - I want to do all of the characters justice, but especially those three. Oh yeah, Orihime is wonderful, too. Most people write her off as a lovesick ditz, but there's a lot more there.
Cased In Darkness - I know I've said it a million times, but thanks! Super-hugz!
ReinaDeLaNoche - What happened to the spaces in your name? ^-^ *CYBER BEAR HUGZ BACK* For ze one-shots... still planning those, so anything's possible, I guess XD! EEP! *runs away behind a mountain* Me sorry, me sorry! But Hakuma is so possessive of Ichigo at the moment, and, and... he'll come around, so please don't kill me! Ah, yes. Grimmjow + Karin = ...TROUBLE. Ichigo will be going insane. I don't know whether I'm going to have Rukia paired with Renji or Ashido, but there's a fourth variable there on Ashido's side, so who knows. Definitely AshiRuki hints. The stormy sky in Ishida's inner world represents the chaos in the zanpaku-tou world and Engel Lanze's emotions, as well as Ishida's feelings about being a shinigami. OMAKES! I'm definitely gonna have to some of those with Bya-chan and the Female Soul Reapers Association or whatever it's called. Meeheehee... *rubs hands together wickedly*. Renji will always stay as Byakuya's lieutenant, like Ikkaku will always serve under Kenpachi. Do not worry, my friend! Yama-ji will not be bad - actually, it's because he's alowing the Vizoreds and humans to be in the Soul Society that... well... you'll see *evil grin*. Aizen will be... um... sorta a good guy, though. As for what happens when the Reiou is dethroned, that, my dear, is the crux of the story. Sorry there's no Ichigo or Ishida in this chapter; there won't be any in the next chapter, too, because of how the outline works out, but after that, it's all the main characters again. Right now, it's kinda boring around them, too. Nothin' much is really happening in the Shinigami Academy. Once Kyoka Suigetsu is gone from Ishida's soul, he won't be able to use Kanzen Saimen anymore, but Kyoka will probably have taught him some new tricks ^.-! I STRIVE TO BE BEST! I SHALL SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! YAY! XD
Serisa Black - Yay, thank you for reviewing! And the glowing praise is always good for my ego ^-^. Hope you like this, sorry there's no Ichigo or Ishida, but be patient (er... please?) and I will deliver :).
Miss Ann - I've started using less Japanese terms as the chapters go on, but I use more in this chapter. I use them because it's very hard to express some ideas in English without being very wordy. But I think you're right; too many words is too confusing. I'll try to cut down. I'm going to revise all the previous chapters, so I'll try doing that when I do. Thanks for your input :)!