Chapter Three: Soul Reapers
It had been a few weeks since Ichigo's birthday and the summer break was in full swing. Isshin was sitting in his kitchen early in the morning, drinking his coffee. The kids were still asleep and would be for a while longer still. Which was fine by the Kurosaki patriarch. It gave him the time and quiet to think about things. Specifically, some rather surprising and unsettling news. He had received, from his friend Yoruichi a couple days after Ichigo's birthday. News that revolved around a certain blond teen.
Isshin sat at the desk in his office, it was two days after his son's birthday. Ichigo was out with his friend Chad. The girls were over with a friend of their own. So he had the house all to himself and decided to get some office work done. He heard the door to his office open up. He looked to see who it was and needless to say, he was a little surprised by who he saw.
It was a slender and well-endowed woman of average height. She has dark skin, golden irises, and purple hair. Her hair is waist-length and kept in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face. Her attire consists of a black, backless, sleeveless undershirt, an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, a large beige sash around her waist, and black stretch pants with a pair of lightweight brown shoes.
"Yoruichi Shihōin!" Isshin exclaimed in surprise. "This is an unexpected but welcome visit. It's been a while since I've seen you, how have you been?"
Yoruichi gave a small smile and sat in one of the chairs across from the desk. "It's good to see you again to Isshin. I supposed I should have taken some time to see you sooner. Though I imagine you're generally quite busy with work and raising a family. How are the kids anyway?"
"Ichigo just turned thirteen the other day and the girls are doing fine. Though Ichigo's spirit energy still bleeds out everywhere like a broken faucet. The girls are only just starting to show spiritual sensitivity. Mostly just Karin at the moment though Yuzu has a fair bit as well. All things considered, it's to be expected of my kids." Replied the Kurosaki patriarch.
"Ichigo isn't the only one in town who pours spirit energy out everywhere without control. That other boy who you've all but adopted does as well. His energy is just as unnaturally high as Ichigo's it seems." Yoruichi chimed.
"You must be referring to Yoshiro Abe." Isshin mused. "True I noticed from the first time I met him. That the boy had high spirit energy like Ichigo. Though we know why that is with my son. Yoshiro is still a mystery, in all honesty, makes me wonder just where he gets it from?"
"Is that why you keep the boy so close. To keep an eye on him for his own safety perhaps?"
"Partially," Isshin admitted. "You and I both know that someone walking around with such high energy could easily draw a hollow's attention. That's why I had Kisuke in secret put wards around Yoshiro's home, to help cover his presence. Still, the reason that boy keeps so close to me and my family is for much deeper reasoning. Ichigo and Yoshiro met each other a few years back. Yoshiro had just lost his father, his only remaining relative, and was left orphaned. Masaki had also just recently died and the family was still reeling from it. Long story short, we all helped each other heal from our mutual pain. After that Yoshiro just wound up becoming a part of the family over time. The girls see him like a second older brother. While Ichigo sees him as the older sibling he never had to. That boy cares a lot for them all and his and Ichigo's other friends for that matter as well. Everyone cares for him in return. He's a good kid, a bit on the wild side one could say. But he has a good heart and a good mind. I'm proud to call him my second son."
Yoruichi couldn't help but smile as she heard Isshin talk about the blond. "Well, that makes the main reason for my visit all the more important then. Since it involves directly around Yoshiro." Yoruichi said as she became more serious.
Isshin tensed a little at that. He hadn't heard from Yoshiro since he left the party. Though he hadn't thought much about it. After all, Yoshiro was a sixteen-year-old in the midst of the summer break. "Did something bad happen to him?" Isshin asked.
"I suppose that's a matter of perspective, he did run into a hollow."
"HE WHAT!?" Isshin yelled in shock and mild horror, standing from his chair. "What happened to him!? Is he okay!?"
"Isshin, relax a little, He's perfectly fine." Yoruichi retorted. "The hollow didn't even attack him or anything. They just seemed to interact with one another for a while is all."
"How in the world did he interact with a hollow, that didn't involve it trying to eat him?" Isshin questioned.
"Well for starters I suppose is that the hollow in question is a Vasto Lorde." The purple-haired woman said.
Isshin's eyes practically bulged out of his head at that info. "What the hell is a hollow of that kind of power!? Doing in a place like Karakura!?"
"That's what I was wondering that night," Yoruichi spoke. "I felt the faintest presence of a strong hollow, near the boy. So I went to investigate in case I needed to take care of it. I was surprised myself when I saw a Vasto Lorde of all things. Following Yoshiro as he headed home late at night. I thought perhaps it was waiting for him to get home to make its move. However, I was surprised that once they both arrived at the boy's place. He seemingly invited the hollow inside. I kept watch of things in my cat form and saw that they were seemingly just hanging out like a pair of new friends would."
Isshin just simply stared in surprise as he sat back and ran a hand through his hair. "So let me see if I'm understanding this right?" Isshin began. "A Vasto Lorde shows up in town. It runs into Yoshiro and he somehow, someway, manages to make friends with it. Brings it back home and they just hung out for a while. Am I getting that right?"
"From what we know, yeah pretty much."
"You know, normally I'd call such a story bullshit. But I know you wouldn't joke over something like a Vasto Lorde. I still wonder why such a powerful hollow is doing out of Hueco Mundo?"
"Well, I caught their conversation outside his home as she prepared to go back to Hueco Mundo." Yoruichi chimed.
"The Vasto Lorde is a girl?" Isshin cut in.
"She sure is," Yoruichi replied. "A deer hollow of sorts by the looks of her. Antlers, fur from the waist down, stopping at her ankles. Has a deer tail and two different colored eyes. Her name is 'Apacci' from what I overheard."
"I see, do you know why she was in Karakura and with Yoshiro?" Isshin questioned.
"From what I could gather, she seemed to come here simply because she was bored of Hueco Mundo. Yoshiro and her ran into each other and just seemed to hit it off. It sounds nuts I know but I feel it's the honest truth of things. Kisuke agreed after I told him all this. I think this Apacci girl is being genuine, despite being a hollow. If she really wanted to cause any harm she could easily have done so. They already plan on meeting up again, you should know."
Isshin let out a sigh. "I imagine you and Kisuke are going to be monitoring all this?"
"Whenever we can, yes."
"Understood." Isshin mused. "I'm just worried what will happen if Seireitei, catches wind of this. They'll send captains after her and Yoshiro both. Next thing you know we'll have a full-blown brawl in the middle of Karakura."
"True enough, we can only hope that it won't get to that point. The girl seems smart enough to not do anything that could draw unwanted attention." Yoruichi said as she stood and made for the door. "I'll see you around Isshin."
Isshin mulled over the memory once more as he continued to drink his coffee. Yoshiro had come over a few more times since then. The hollow wasn't around for his visits, though he did notice a change in Yoshiro. The blond seemed happier than before. Something about being friends with the Vasto Lorde had made him happier. The whole idea went against so many things he had been taught as a soul reaper. Granted, his relationship with Masaki technically did too. So, he really couldn't judge too much. He could only hope that things didn't get out of hand.
*Hueco Mundo*
It had been a few weeks since Apacci and Yoshiro had begun their friendship. Their first couple of meetups had been simply hanging out at his house. There weren't many places in Karakura they could go to. While she was invisible to seemingly every other human in the town. Even with keeping her spiritual energy low enough to avoid detection. Traveling openly around all of Karakura was too risky for possible unwanted sighting by soul reapers. Not to mention bringing Yoshiro to Hueco Mundo was certainly out of the question.
While Apacci was certain her friends and mistress wouldn't hurt the boy if she explained things to them. The rest of the hollow world was still far too dangerous for a human to be hanging out in. Not to mention she still wasn't sure how to go about explaining her newfound friendship with the human to the others.
So, spending time at his house was the only real option at the moment. In all honesty, Apacci came to enjoy the time there more than she had expected. She had come to learn some new facts about Yoshiro in the time spent at his home. Namely outside of his other passions of music, martial arts, and kendo, he was a skilled self-taught cook and baker. Yoshiro explained he took up the trades when he was ten seeing them as another hobby.
Yoshiro's had turned her onto a few other aspects of the human world, namely this odd yet interesting cartoon-like shows called 'Anime' and worded picture books called 'Manga'. She found herself very engrossed in reading a series called 'Hellsing', she enjoyed the overtop, gory violence of it. Yoshiro had also introduced her to an anime called 'Outlaw Star'. She found the whole space-themed show very imaginative and thrilling. She also couldn't help but find that a certain cat-like warrior woman in the show called 'Aisha Clan-Clan', somehow reminded her a bit of Mila-Rose.
So that was how they were spending time together and Apacci was having the most fun she's had in her whole existence as a hollow. Not that she didn't hate her time with her friends and mistress, but everything always seemed to be on the same constant loop. She and Mila would bicker, argue, and swear a bit at each other. Sung-Sun would interject some backhanded comments with her high-class attitude. Apacci and Mila both would yell at her. Then their mistress would have to tell them to calm down with her polite yet stern and caring tone. It all felt like a broken record at times.
Apacci realized just how much her time in the human world was such a needed injection of life and enjoyment in her existence.
It was an early morning on a Saturday, Apacci was getting ready to head to the human world. Yoshiro had wanted to meet up earlier than usual today, though he wouldn't say why. She didn't bother to push the issue that much. Apacci had come to trust the young man a good amount over their time together.
She made her way out of her room and off towards the door when Mila called out to her.
"Where you off to Apacci?" Mila mused. Mila was much taller than Apacci. She had dark skin long brown hair and green eyes. She had what appeared to be some kind of lion's mane. That started on one shoulder and ran across the back of her neck, and stopping at the other shoulder. She was also fairly muscular, especially for a woman. She wore some sort of chest plate that ran from just above her breast down to her waist. Gauntlets on her arms, a type of battle skirt, and boots that went up to her knees. Plus, on top of her head was some sort of spiked three-pieced crown that connected her mask that covered her face. That held the vague resemblance to a lion's face. She looked like some kind of lion-like amazon warrior.
"Just headed out to do someone personal training for the day is all." She said as smoothly as she could.
"Seems like been doing that a lot more lately?" Mila responded with a raised eyebrow.
"Perhaps I just want to be more proactive in bettering myself. Unlike a certain fat assed lion?" Apacci snapped back.
"What did you say? You, skinny bitch!" The lion-like Vasto Lorde retorted angrily.
"I am just saying if you worked a little more you wouldn't have to worry about hitting things with that ass of yours, as you walk around," Apacci said jokingly.
Mila merely gritted her teeth and growled in frustration at her comments. Then suddenly Sung-Sun chimed in.
"Will you two ever stop arguing like some set of barbaric, uncouth, gorillas? Sometimes it makes me wonder if you two are even actually women, to begin with?" Sung-Sun was just slightly shorter than Apacci. She had long greenish hair and lavender eyes. She wore a Chinese style dress of sorts that had very long sleeves, that completely hid her hands and almost reached the floor. The weird thing was the dress resembled something akin to snakeskin. She also had some pink-like dots under her eyes and what appeared to be some kind of jewelry piece that covered her eyes. That had what appeared to be an attachment of three bells that jingled with the slightest movement. All this was attached to her own mask that held a resemblance to a snake's face. She seemed like some sort of snake-themed Asian princess.
Mila growled even louder and more threateningly, while Apacci yelled.
"I WILL SHOVE AN ANTLER UP YOUR SCALEY ASS!"
She then proceeded to turn on her heel and went out the door.
"See you all later." That was all she called back before disappearing into the deserts of Hueco Mundo.
Halibel, who had watched the whole exchange, simply turned her head to the remaining two women in the room. She simply looked at them and shook her head like a mother disappointed in her children. Mila and Sung-Sun simply looked away sheepishly, trying to look as innocent as possible.
*Karakura Town, Yoshiro's Home*
It was about ten in the morning and Yoshiro was sitting in his living room already ready for the day. He had on his usual gloves, jeans, a band t-shirt, and some black Chuck Taylor high-tops. Garganta opened up in his living room and the deer-like Vasto Lorde stepped out and let it close behind her.
"You know I'm not sure if I'll ever get quite used to that?" He said somewhat jokingly.
Apacci just huffed a bit. He raised an eyebrow and responded.
"You ok? You seem a little upset?"
"It's nothing really, just my friends annoying me is all. It's not that big of a deal." She said honestly.
Yoshiro stood up, walked over, and placed a comforting hand on Apacci's shoulder. "Don't let it bother you, besides what would friends be if they didn't annoy each other every now and again? Just comes with the territory."
Apacci simply let out a sigh and knew he was right. As much as they could annoy each other at times. She knew deep down they all cared a lot for one another. They had been through a lot traveling together in Hueco Mundo along with their Mistress. Back when they were all still just low-level Adjuchas hollows. They would all go to great lengths to protect each other if push came to shove.
She decided to push these thoughts aside and focused on what was in front of her.
"So, what did you want to do today? You asked me to come over earlier than usual for some reason I assume? Apacci questioned.
He smirked a bit before giving his reply. "But of course, I figured we could travel the town a bit and I could show some of my favorite spots around Karakura before spending the evening here. Until you have to go home.
Apacci perked up at this suggestion but couldn't have some slight worry and said with slight concern. "I thought we agreed that was too risky because of possibly being seen by a soul reaper?"
"Don't worry." He replied. "I've spent the last few weeks when you're not here scouting out the town for any sign of them. I haven't caught a trace of them. It doesn't seem like they patrol around here, very often."
She thought to herself about this, while she still had some concerns. Ultimately her curiosity to see what the rest of Karakura had to offer won out. "Ok." She replied with excitement. "I'm in."
"Excellent," Yoshiro spoke with his own excitement. "Let me just grab my gear and we can head out." He quickly went and grabbed his guitar, slung it over his back, and a small portable amp with a cord that he could strap to his belt. "Let's head out." With that, they strode outside to begin their journey into town. He decided to forgo his Harley. He wanted to take things at a much more casual and leisurely pace.
The very first place they went to was the local arcade. Apacci was floored by what she saw there. So many different machines with all sorts of lights, sounds, and eye-catching animation flying about everywhere. Never had she seen anything so lively and colorful. Such things simply didn't exist in Hueco Mundo. She loved every second of it. She only wished she could actually play some of the machines.
After the arcade and grabbing something to eat. The blond announced his next idea. "Let's head out to the local graveyard and I'll introduce you to some of my other spirit friends and play a few tunes." He spoke with enthusiasm.
Apacci flinched a little at this. After all, she was still a hollow and the normal souls could freak out when they saw her. Ultimately, she decided to trust his judgment. "Lead the way." She said.
They headed off to a graveyard that was located towards the forest-like hillsides of town. Yoshiro decided to take a trail that led up to the graveyard that was practically never used by anyone other than him.
As they traveled up, Apacci stopped to admire some local birds she noticed in the trees fluttering about and singing to one another. She watched them with a smile on her face. Enjoying the various creatures the forest had to offer.
Yoshiro looked behind him to see what Apacci was doing. He couldn't but muse to himself. "You know, she fits in really well here amongst the forest environment." He smiled and continued to walk ahead figuring she would catch up once she was done bird watching. He got about thirty yards ahead of Apacci when suddenly he could feel an odd presence.
He looked to his right where he saw some black mass lunging at him. Reflexes kicked in and he managed to dodge just in time. He looked at what had attacked him. It looked like some kind of mutant spider with eight pairs of legs covered in spikes, the body had had a weird hourglass-like shape to it. The head was white with four eye holes and two sets of pincer-like mandibles. It was freaky that's for sure. Then he saw a hole that went clean through the body and realized. "Oh shit, it's one of those low-level hollows Emilou told me about." He thought.
Then it spoke to him in a sickly, low, and hissing like voice. "Well, well, aren't you the quick one and here I was hoping to get you with one strike. Oh well, you can't escape me after all. Just let me eat you like the tasty little snack you are boy. I promise to kill you with the first bite. So you won't have to feel anything. That's rather generous of me don't you think?"
"Yeah you see, I am gonna have to ask you politely to go and fuck yourself. Plus, my friend is probably about to beat the hell out of you."
"Why you-"The hollow began to speak but then suddenly was cut off.
"You aren't going to fucking touch him!"
Yoshiro looked past the hollow to see Apacci walking up behind it. What he saw honestly surprised him. Luckily, he was good at keeping a straight face.
The Vasto Lorde was radiating pure murderous rage for all to feel. Her eyes were narrowed in an angry predatory like manor. Her teeth bared out in a vicious snarl, with an unearthly growl escaping from her throat. He could swear he was also seeing a red-like aura swirling around her. He found the sight both intimidating and exciting all at once for some odd reason. "Hmmm…I think I have some weird fetishes I'm not aware of yet." Yoshiro mused mentally.
The spider hollow having felt Apacci's presence turned around and was terrified beyond belief. Looking at another hollow of far greater superiority and clearly all sorts of pissed at it.
"Wha…wha…what is someone of your caliber doing here?" It spoke clearly terrified for its existence.
"What I am doing here is not the concern of a whelp like you." She said never dropping her fierce glare and murderous tone of voice. "You attacked the human there when you shouldn't have, I already have a claim on him you ignorant little shit!"
"P-p-p-p-please forgive me, I did not mean to cause offense. H-h-h-had I have known of your claim I would have left the human be." The hollow spoke out in a rather sad and pathetic manner.
"A little late for apologies asshole." She spoke with venom in her voice.
To say Apacci was pissed would be an understatement, she was angrier than hell itself. When she sensed the pathetic excuse of a hollow and saw it had attacked and tried to kill Yoshiro. She immediately flew into predatory kill mode. How dare this little bastard attack him. Human or not, Yoshiro had quickly become one of the few people in her existence she considered a true friend. Apacci wasn't going to hesitate to destroy anyone or anything that threatened her friends.
Apacci used Sonido to get up into the hollow's face in an instant and kicked with enough force to send it flying out of control. While it screamed in terror flying through the air, she gathered her power around her horn. As it built up and focused into a red sphere of energy, she simply shouted "CERO!" It shot out in a beam of red light and engulfed the screaming hollow, vaporizing it instantly. Apacci looked at her work with a smiling, somewhat malicious smirk.
"Well….shit." Was all Yoshiro could bring himself to mutter at the moment.
The Vasto Lorde quickly looked over to Yoshiro, calming down and making her way to him. "Did that bastard hurt you at all?" She asked with a worried and concerning tone.
"Nah, I'm good, I managed to dodge the initial strike without any damage. Then you showed up and took care of things. Thanks a lot for that, it would have killed me for sure otherwise." He said in an assuring manner.
She left out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. So, what now?"
Yoshiro thought about it for a moment. While events of what just happened were certainly at the front of his mind. He decided not to bring it up unless Apacci did first. He didn't want to risk doing anything that could potentially kill the mood of things any further. "Let's head back to town, there's this candy shop I frequent. Has the best selection in town. I think you'll like it." He said with confidence.
Apacci was taken by surprise by his suggestion. She thought for sure he would want to address nearly being killed by a hollow, but she decided not to press the issue. Figuring that talking about it, if they did. Would be better done later in the privacy of his home. For now, she was happy to go along with his candy shop idea.
"Sounds great, let's go." She chirped.
As they made their way down the trail back towards town the young blond had a single thought. "Sure, hope that's the last of any wildness along those lines today."
He should've knocked on wood.
*Soul Society*
All the captains of the Gotei 13 had been called for an emergency meeting. They were all standing in place in the meeting hall, waiting to be addressed of the situation that had just come to light. At the very end by himself was the head captain Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Old he may be, but he practically glowed with an aura of power, respect, and someone not to be messed with. He wore the traditional Shinigami uniform. With a white haori that all captains wore with his having the symbol of his division on it. He also had a bald head, with scars, and a very long grey beard. Holding onto his cane/zanpakutō. Seeing all the captains present he banged his cane on the ground, to call attention.
"Thank you all for making it her in such a timely manner, on such short notice." He spoke. "Our sensors in the living world some time ago picked up the presence of a hollow that from the readings can only be determined to be a Vasto Lorde. This sent a jolt of surprise through all present. The head captain continued to speak. "Our sensors indicate it is located currently in a place called Karakura, Japan. For what reasons it has to be in such a place is unknown but nor does it matter." He spoke with authority.
"A beast of such power cannot be allowed to roam freely in the living world. It could cause unfathomable amounts of damage. The creature must be hunted down and dealt with immediately before it can escape. Thus, I am assigning three captains to this task. Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Sui-Feng, and Captain Kyōraku. I assign you to this mission and permit you to bring your lieutenants if you choose to." He spoke with a tone that left no room for questioning. "Head out immediately, dismissed!"
*Karakura*
Yoshiro and Apacci were walking towards the candy shop, it was about a quarter-mile away and in their line of sight. As they casually strode down the road. Yoshiro looked at the woman beside him and noticed there was a slight glow of red surrounding her.
"Hey Apacci, I think your energy is still flared up a little from earlier?" He piped up.
The Vasto Lorde mentally cursed at herself. She dropped her energy down to non-detectable levels. "I was so caught up in the moment of everything I forgot to drop my energy back down to non-existent levels after killing that bastard. Hopefully, it went unnoticed." She thought to herself.
As if the universe wanting to spite her at that very moment. Apacci suddenly felt the incoming presence of the one thing she didn't want to see more than anything. Yoshiro noticed her suddenly locking up and then felt the mysterious presence as well and asked.
"Apacci, what is that?"
She looked at him with concerned eyes and with a worrisome tone and speaking only two words almost hoarsely.
"Soul Reapers."
The blond's eyes suddenly shot wide, he grabbed her by one of her hands and exclaimed.
"Run!"
He took off running with Apacci in tow, heading for the only place he could think of at the moment. The candy shop, not the best hiding spot but it was the best they had at that point. Quickly they made their way inside and had Apacci hide on the floor up against the wall of one of the corners of the room. Which acted as the entrance of the shop before the actual salesroom. Completely out of view of anyone unless they were to walk inside.
Yoshiro positioned himself just inside the doorway to the outside, as to see everything that was just outside the shop. As well as giving him a clear view of both ends of the street the shop sat on. He eyed back and forth intently trying to see anything out of place.
Apacci sat in the corner watching him as he kept a close lookout for any soul reaper activity. She mentally cursed herself again, she could have killed the bastard from earlier. Without going so overboard but she was so caught up in her anger she didn't think about it. Now, this was happening, she could only hope now they could get out of this ok.
Both were so focused on the current situation. They failed to notice the same black cat that Yoshiro saw a few weeks ago. As well as a man in green and white holding a cane.
Yoshiro kept watching hoping that maybe it was a false alarm, then his fears were realized. He saw four figures appear at one end of the street all varying sizes, two looked like women, one with a build seemingly like Apacci's, another taller and with breast the size of large watermelons. The other looked like two guys one older and wearing a pink-colored kimono and the other looked to be some middle schooler with snow-colored hair. He also noticed both guys and the smaller woman had a white coat of sorts. He quickly and quietly whispered this to Apacci. Her eyes went wide, and she simply whispered back.
"Captains."
Yoshiro's own eyes went wide from this. Apacci had once told him during one of her earlier visits about captains. Now there were at least three of them here to hunt and kill her. Like hell, he was gonna let that happen. He had an idea, not a very good one in all honesty but he had no time for anything else. Especially when he noticed the soul reapers had started to make their way down to the shop, slowly but surely. He decided to tell her about his plan. He looked at her and whispered.
"I'm going to go out there and misdirect them away from here."
Suddenly Emilou looked at him with a look in her eyes. As if he had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. She wasn't exactly wrong either. Apacci quickly whispered back.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?!"
"Most likely in all honesty." He quietly spoke back and before the Vasto Lorde could say or do anything else. He casually strode out the door pulling his guitar from his back.
As he stepped out with his guitar in hand he mused quietly to himself. "Whatever higher powers exist, please let this work." His plan was simple really, he was going to act as if he was too engrossed with messing with his guitar to pay attention to where he was walking. Not a hard thing to pull off for him. Then 'accidentally' bump into one of them and catch them off-guard with him being a spiritually aware human and to get their attention focused on him. To then try to direct them away.
He began making his way down looking solely at his guitar fiddling with the frets and strings. While Yoshiro never cared for lying, he was certainly glad in this situation that he had a knack for keeping a straight face and smooth-talking when he needed to. He focused on the sound of the footsteps of the soul reapers as he made his way closer preparing to make his move as smoothly as he could.
Toshiro and his fellow captains along with his lieutenant Rangiku made their way down the street and stopped when the trail of the hollow energy suddenly cut out. "Hmmm, this isn't good." He muttered.
"Did it somehow sense us and already make an escape?" Sui-Feng questioned somewhat angrily.
"Maa, maa don't get so discouraged so quickly Sui-Feng," Kyōraku said in his usual manner. "I don't see how it could have made an escape with Garganta or other means without us sensing it. It may have sensed our approach, so it's most likely dropped its pressure and is hiding out nearby. Waiting for us to pass or to attack."
"I agree with Kyōraku," Toshiro spoke up. "It would be best to at least search the immediate area first and proceed to fan out if we don't find anything."
Sui-Feng gave a nod of agreement.
Rangiku who was just listening to the captains when she suddenly heard some footsteps coming from one end of the street, turning her head to see what it was. The captains apparently heard too as they all paused to turn their heads and looked as well.
Rangiku saw what may have been the most exotic-looking young man she had ever laid her eyes on. He had mocha skin, wild blond hair. He was a bit tall with a lean but muscular build, wearing a shirt that was just tight enough to somewhat display his sculpted abs. Then there were his eyes, his eyes were an emerald green.
Despite what some might say, Rangiku wasn't the type to drag a handsome person back to her place for fun on a whim, just because she found them cute and nothing more. However, she had to admit she was awfully tempted to do so at the current moment.
Focusing her attention back on the boy, she noted his attire and figured he must be some sort of musician. His look just screamed, 'rock n' roll bad boy'. She, also noticed he was walking down the street directly towards them fully engrossed adjusting his guitar as he walked, paying no attention to anything around him.
Her captain broke the moment "Don't worry about him, he is just human. He can't see, hear, or feel us. Let's keep focused on the task at hand." Said the child-sized captain.
"Agreed," Sui-Feng said in a firm tone.
Kyōraku merely nodded his head in agreement and they began making their way down the street in the blond boy's direction. As they got close to the boy, he was still fully focused on his guitar to notice anything around him. He began slightly swerving in Rangiku's direction as he walked. Rangiku believing he'd just pass through her as non-spiritually aware humans do, so she didn't bother to move. Then something happened no one expected to happen. When he reached her instead of phasing through as expected, he collided full-on into her. Catching everyone by surprise the boy included. The boy lost his footing and fell forward. Face first right into Rangiku's chest. Rangiku on reflex, threw her arms ups around the boy to stop his fall and inadvertently pushing him deeper into her chest.
Yoshiro had expected when he made his move for the collision whoever he was aiming for would try to move out of the way. Thus, leading to a slight bumping to initiate everything. He wasn't expecting full frontal contact, which caused him to lose his footing and fall forward. Next thing he knew he was submerged in darkness by two gigantic mounds of blissfully squishy flesh. He swore he saw the complete knowledge of the universe flash before him for a brief second. Then he noted his lack of oxygen, thankfully it didn't last long.
Suddenly he was pulled out of the darkness into the light of the world. Gasped for breath and noted the people around him. The snow-haired middle schooler was giving him a questioning look. The guy with the pink kimono looked to be resisting the urge to laugh. The smaller women had a look of not knowing what to make of him, and the woman whose chest he had just un-intentionally dived into. Was giving him a playful, and coy look. Thrown off his game for a moment, he said the one thing that came to mind at the moment.
"Uhhhh….how's it going?" Once more he was putting his mastery of language on full display.
Then the snowy-haired kid spoke up. "You're a spiritually aware human?"
Uhhh…yes, I suppose whatever you mean by that? Wait a minute are you saying your ghost or something?" Yoshiro lied as smoothly as he could with his surprised/dumb act. It seemed to be working. The small woman spoke up.
"Quite odd to find a spiritually aware human, I wonder if that's what you really are?" She spoke somewhat threateningly with a look that yelled 'I will do awful things to you for answers.' Thankfully pink kimono man spoke up.
"Maa, maa don't give the boy such a hard time he's clearly very weirded out by all of this. Forgive my colleague's rudeness, young man, we're here on an important mission perhaps you could help us out?"
"Ok, shoot." Yoshiro giving his best 'I'll do what I can expression.'
"Well, you see." Said, pink kimono man. "We're looking for a creature of sorts. It will have some semblance to a person but still, have plenty of non-person-like semblances. It's quite dangerous and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. We followed its trail around this area before it went cold. Did you see anything by chance?"
Yoshiro had to resist reflexing in anger over his 'needs to be dealt with' comment. Thankfully he managed without tipping them off. He politely spoke in a 'think I remember this kind of tone.'
"About 10 minutes before you arrived here, I did notice some weird thing in the air." That grabbed their attention. "It looked to be female roughly in shape, had antlers and a horn from what I could tell. Fur from the waist down to its ankles. It turned towards the industrial district of town, northeast of here. Then it just suddenly disappeared in some blur. Sound like what you're looking for by chance?"
"More or less," Said the snowy-haired kid. "We have a lead, we had better head off that way before it makes a total escape."
"Agreed, thank you for help young man." Said, pink kimono man.
"Anytime." that was a lie. Yashiro turned to the blond with the massive chest. "By the way, I didn't mean for the whole falling down into your chest thing." That however was the truth.
She merely winked and said, "For you, not a problem cutie." This got an honest eyebrow raise out of Yoshiro. He could practically hear the kid shake his head in annoyance from behind him. Meanwhile, the small woman just continued to glare at him in some sort of annoyance.
And then they all disappeared in an instant. Yoshiro hung around a bit acting like he was still trying to accept everything that had just happened. In case they were secretly watching him. After a few minutes and affirming they had truly left. He casually turned on his heel and went back to the candy shop to check on Apacci.
As the soul reapers traveled, Sui-Feng spoke up. "Was it wise not to do anything with that boy? Running into a spiritually aware human isn't a common thing."
Shunsui spoke up. "Normally, I would agree but we have a Vasto Lorde to hunt down and deal with. That takes precedence over everything else while we're here."
The others nodded silently in agreement and continued on the false trail Yoshiro managed to put them on. They would end up going home empty-handed.
Yoshiro strode back into the candy shop quite pleased with his work. "Well despite all the odds I managed to fool them with my act." He then noticed Apacci was still on the floor. A black cat was sitting in front of her and a guy he noticed as the shop owner standing next to her.
"Son of a bitch." Yoshiro said out loud.
Yoshiro approached the man he knew as the shop owner named Kisuke Urahara and spoke calmly. "Judging by this scene I assume you can see her?"
Urahara merely smiled from behind his fan and chirped. "Why yes, indeed my young friend! Before you ask, I'll also just confirm I know just what she is and what those individuals, you just managed to fool are as well."
Then his expression turned serious and calmly spoke "I would very much like to hear about the story between you two." Kisuke only really knew of things from Yoruichi's observations. Now that he could get all the little details, he wanted from them.
Yoshiro and Apacci looked at one another, then turned to Urahara and nodded their heads in agreement. Seeing as how they didn't seem to have any choice in the matter. They were led to a backroom in the shop. The hollow and human told him everything. Once they were finished, Urahara looked at them with a deep in thought expression from behind his fan and calmly spoke.
"Well, that certainly is quite a story. I have to admit I've never heard of, let alone seen someone befriend a hollow before." He spoke inquisitively. Yoshiro then spoke up with a question of his own.
"How is it that you know so much about all this stuff?"
Urahara looked at the young blond with a curious expression and spoke. "You see, I was once closely associated with the people you fooled earlier as well and the organization they work for." Apacci and Yoshiro flinched at this but then Urahara continued. "But we had a falling out a long time ago and I've been hiding out from them ever since." They both relaxed a bit upon hearing that.
"So, what happens now?" Yoshiro piped up.
"Simple," Urahara spoke with a smile and a happy tone. "I'm going to help you two out."
"Why?" The young man and hollow woman said together.
"In all honesty, a whim. Also, I can sympathize with being hunted and hated by soul society." The shopkeeper said somewhat somberly.
"What do you think about this?" The blond asked his friend.
Apacci sat there for a moment in deep thought before speaking. "While I have reservations about this. Ultimately, I can tell you're being honest with us. Plus, with what happened earlier. We need whatever help we can get to avoid any further detection from the soul reapers." She said with a serious tone.
Urahara perked up a little behind his fan. "Very well then, I'm going to get you fitted with a gigai then."
"The fuck is that?" Both boy and girl said in unison. Making the shopkeeper chuckle a bit before explaining. "You see a gigai is essentially a fake body crafted to look just like you would if you were a human. It will completely suppress your spiritual energy, though you will still have access to your raw strength and speed that doesn't require the use of your spiritual energy. It also functions like a real human body in every way. To better help keep you hidden from unwanted eyes.
"Damn that's impressive," Apacci spoke.
Urahara merely smiled more at the statement before speaking. "Well miss Apacci, I'll just need some slight assistance on your part." He pulled out a fist-sized orb and held it out. "Just focus some of your energy into the orb and it will do the rest."
Apacci did so and the orb began to glow.
"Very good." Spoke Urahara as he stood up and headed towards another door to the shop. "The process will take roughly an hour I'll call you back when everything is ready." They nodded their heads in response.
They sat around in relative silence for an hour, thinking about the day's events. Although the black cat strode over to Yoshiro and proceeded to lay in front of him. Being somewhat of an animal person he passed the time petting, scratching, and belly rubbing the feline. It resisted a bit at first before it relaxed and purred intensely. Something the boy found a little odd but ultimately just rolled with. Eventually, Urahara called them back. Yoshiro strode in the back carrying the cat while still scratching it, with Apacci just behind him.
Urahara raised an inquisitive eyebrow at this but said nothing. What they saw before them, left Apacci and Yoshiro's jaws hanging. The gigai looked just like Apacci just minus her hollow features. It was dressed in form-fitting jeans, a slim fit black, and a red striped shirt. A pair of terry cloth wristbands on her wrists and shoes like Yoshiro's. Only the ones on the gigai were blue with white. Of course, the biggest thing was that her face was now completely visible. Yoshiro couldn't help but quickly think how cute she looked.
Neither the boy nor girl could come up with any words to say. The shopkeeper chuckled and spoke up. "Miss Apacci, you'll just need to come over and focus your energy on the gigai, it will do the rest. Just a fair warning, when you first enter it. You won't be able to move at all for a bit. The gigai needs time to adjust to your energy, this only lasts a few minutes and is a one-time thing." He then held out a little green pill and explained. "Whenever you need to leave your gigai just put this pill in your mouth and it will do the rest."
Apacci nodded in understanding then walked over to the gigai and began to focus her energy. She felt a sudden tug-like sensation and then before she knew it. She was on her back, she was in the gigai. It felt so alien at first but after a few minutes of waiting. She steadily regained all her functions and felt more comfortable. She stood and began stretching a bit to better loosen the gigai up a bit. Yoshiro averted his eyes to avoid staring at the display too much.
"How does it feel miss Apacci?" Urahara spoke.
"Feels perfectly fine surprisingly enough." She replied.
The shopkeeper smiled in response to this and said a little joyfully. "Well then, that's good to hear. You two are welcome to leave when ready."
With that Yoshiro put the cat down, he and Emilou spared a few words of gratitude to the shopkeeper and strode to the front of the shop and out the door. Deciding to head back to his house for the rest of day with all that had happened.
As Kisuke watched the two individuals walk down the street to their next destination. The cat disappeared behind a wall, a brief glow appeared and a few moments later Yoruichi stepped out. She walked up beside the shopkeeper and spoke in a concerning tone.
"Are you sure this was a good idea Kisuke?"
Urahara gave a glance to his friend and calmly said. "This was for the best Yoruichi. It's obvious they have no intention of stopping their visits to each other. Giving her a gigai as I did, will help drastically reduce any future problems with soul society. The boy and the girl got extremely lucky today, as did we all things considered. Doing what I did will benefit us all for the current moment of things. The last thing we need is a fight between captains and a Vasto Lorde in the middle of Karakura." He finished.
Yoruichi merely sighed in agreement knowing he was right.
Yoshiro and Apacci arrived back at his home. They went up to his room and sat next to each other on the edge of his bed. Both were feeling rather tired after the events of the day.
"Well, today turned out a lot more exciting than either of us expected?" Yoshiro chimed.
"Ya think?" Apacci mused. "You were attacked by a hollow. We had to evade soul reaper captains. Everything that happened at the shop as well. Yeah, today was one for the books I'd say."
"What do you feel like doing now?" The blond asked.
"Would you care if we just, relax? That feels like a really nice thing right now." She suggested.
"That sounds like a great idea," Yoshiro replied.
Yoshiro and Apacci laid out on either side of his bed and both soon enough. Drifted off to sleep.
*Soul Society*
Sitting within his quarters in the fifth division, was Sōsuke Aizen. He had brown scholarly hair enhanced by square glasses, along with soft brown eyes. He wore the standard Shinigami uniform with a captain's haori. He looked over the report of the failed Vasto Lorde hunt in Karakura.
What surprised him wasn't necessarily the appearance of the hollow. Rather the human that the team had run into. Aizen already knew precisely who he was. The boy was one of his more long-term experiments. Alongside Ichigo Kurosaki who was his main focus in Karakura. It would be a few more years before he would start. Making the moves needed for his plans that revolved around Ichigo. The other boy, Yoshiro Abe was another story.
He was certain that he and the Vasto Lorde were connected. He had initially planned to make his moves on him around the same time as Ichigo. Now that the boy had direct contact with such a powerful hollow. Not to mention being on Seireitei's radar now. He felt it wouldn't hurt his overall efforts to push up, his plans for the blond teen.
"It would seem I'll have another task for Grand Fisher. Once the time is right." Aizen said to himself, as a cold smile made its way onto his face.
A/N: Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story thus far! Chapter three is in the books for this rewrite. I added some stuff and cleaned things up a bit. I still kept a good portion of the original chapter, since those parts. I really liked them.
Not sure when the next chapter will be but starting with the fourth chapter. Will start to see far more diversions from the original. Though some chapters will draw at least some inspiration. From the original ones still. Not much else to say, so stay tuned for more. In the meantime, please leave a review as they do help keep me motivated to write. Please like and fav if you have not already and stay safe, stay healthy. I'll see you next time. I'm out!
Edit 10/10/21