Chapter Five: Revelations
Yoshiro awoke early the next day just as the sunrise began. As he opened his eyes he looked to see Apacci still asleep. Her face in a picture-perfect look of content as she used his chest for a pillow. Yoshiro smiled at the scene as leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. A part of him had been concerned that perhaps the previous day's events had simply been a dream. He couldn't think of any other point in his life where he was so glad to be wrong. Taking a peak to the side of the tent, he saw that the sun had risen which was good. They could catch the early train to home and get properly ready for the day ahead. As much as he enjoyed the washing, fresh, and clean feeling swimming in the ocean gave him. It wasn't really a substitute for a proper shower. He began to gently nudge Apacci.
Apacci moved around a little bit before opening her eyes slowly, she gave out a yawn as she kept herself laying against Yoshiro.
"Good morning." Yoshiro chimed.
"Morning, you make a good pillow you know that?" She said a bit sleepily.
The blond gave a slight chuckle at that. "True and you make for a good snuggle buddy."
"Of course I do," Apacci replied before giving a quick kiss. "what's the plan for today?"
"Pack up, head home, freshen up, and then maybe head out and do something. You know like boyfriend and girlfriend stuff since we're now officially dating."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Apacci replied with a smirk.
They started to pack everything up and headed to the station just in time for the train back home. The two riding the train the entire time with their hands interlocked together. Both of them enjoying the comfort in the newfound relationship. After a while of riding on the train, they arrived back in Karakura. A short walk later they were back at Yoshiro's home. As they went inside and put their stuff down, Yoshiro pulled the hollow woman close to him and gave a soft kiss.
"You gonna do that all day?" Apacci asked cheekily.
"You gonna stop me?" Yoshiro retorted.
"Hell no," Apacci said as then gave a squeeze where her hand was.
Yoshiro stiffened up a little in surprise at the action. "Did you just squeeze my ass?"
"You gonna stop me?" Apacci chimed.
"Hell no."
As they stood there together, an unknown voice suddenly spoke up.
"So, this is what you've been really up to all this time eh, Apacci?" Said a feminine but rather gruff voice that held a touch of aggravation to it.
"Indeed, our mistress would very much like to know. Just why you've been lying to us all this time? You honestly should have known better Apacci." Said another female voice. This one was more polite with a type of high-class flair to it but still with a noticeable edge.
Then two different women walked out into the living room revealing themselves.
The first one Yoshiro noticed was much taller than Apacci but shorter than him. 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 the neck and stopping at the other shoulder. 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. She had a lion-like mask that connected to a kind of crown.
Then there was the other woman Yoshiro noticed. She seemed just slightly shorter than Apacci, had long green-like 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 hung around her right eye. That had what appeared to be some sort of attachment of three bells that jingled with the slightest movement. All of it was part of a snake-themed mask.
Yoshiro had no idea what to make of the two strange women in his home but noticed Apacci had a look of complete shock and horror. She kept this look and merely choked out three words.
"Oh, fuck me!"
"Friends of yours from Hueco Mundo that you mentioned before?" Yoshiro asked.
"Yeah, that's them," Apacci said as she then turned towards the lion-like woman. "So Mila, Sung-Sun" She addressed the snake-like woman next. "How did you find me?"
"Not too hard really." Spoke Sung-Sun. "When you left, we just followed a good distance behind, while keeping our energy low so you wouldn't notice. Then we just followed the energy trail of your Garganta a little while after you went through. It led us directly to this house, you were already gone, and we continued to follow your trail in secret. Which wound giving us quite the scene once we found you at that beach."
"So you all know then," Apacci muttered with some nervousness. "did you come here on your own, or did our lady order you to follow me?"
"Both in all honesty," Said the snake woman "We've been wanting to tail you for some time now, our mistress finally gave us the order to do so. She's become rather suspicious herself of your activities as of late. She decided it was time to figure just what it was you were really doing." Sung-Sun then looked at Yoshiro. "I must admit, I certainly wasn't expecting this."
Mila then spoke up with a tone of authority. "The fact of the matter is you're coming back to Hueco Mundo with us right now to explain yourself. This isn't up for discussion." She said as she stepped forward. "Oh, and your human boy toy is coming too.
Yoshiro being a little annoyed by the comment, simply put an arm in front of Apacci and stepped in front of her. Mila upon seeing this merely laughed.
"This is fucking rich; you're human also a guard dog for you Apacci? Oh man, you take him out for walks? Feed him treats. Brush his hair?" Mila stated with mockery.
Now Yoshiro was pissed and proceeded to walk right up to the woman, catching everyone in the room by surprise, and angrily said. "Let's just sort a few things here first you wonder woman reject! Firstly, I am no one's goddamn pet! Secondly, you're breaking into my home and threatening someone I care about! Thirdly, Apacci isn't going anywhere with you if she doesn't want to! Lastly, you can go off and fuck yourself like the tyrannosaurus-rex on PMS that you are!"
In hindsight not the best words of choice.
Before he knew what was happening Mila had him tightly by the throat with her hand holding him in the air. "You little shit!" She retorted angrily "You fucking think you can talk to me that way!? You have no idea who you are dealing with! I'm gonna rip you apart and use you to repaint this whole fucking room, you bastard! Just wait and-"
She never had a chance to finish her sentence for a fist suddenly collided into her face sending her falling to the floor and dropping Yoshiro in the process. Everyone looked in surprise at Apacci who stood there now in her hollow form in front of the young blond helping him up. As Mila sat there dumbfounded for a moment then angrily stood and shouted.
"Apacci you little cunt! What the fuck do you think you're doing!? That's it I'm gonna beat the shit out of you and drag you to our mistress! You've lost your fucking mind you scrawny bitch!"
"Try it, Mila! I'll rip your fucking throat out before I let you hurt him further!" Apacci threatened in return.
"ENOUGH!" Sung-Sun yelled.
Everyone grew quiet and looked at the green-haired woman as she spoke.
"That's enough of this Mila calm yourself, remember we're still in the living world we don't need to alert the soul reapers. Apacci, I'm asking you as a friend, please come with us quietly. So we can resolve this situation without us needlessly killing each other." Then she looked at Yoshiro and hardened her expression a bit. "I'm still not sure how you play into this but, whatever it is. You will need to come as well so we get the complete story of things." She said with a slight edge.
Mila huffed angrily in agreement. Yoshiro looked at Apacci for a moment and shrugged his shoulders. Then he turned his attention back to the other two hollow women in the room.
"Fine I'll go it's not like I have many choices in the matter anyway." The blond stated. "However, am I even capable of entering Hueco Mundo as I am? After all, I am still a living person and not a soul like being like all of you."
"That won't be an issue at all actually," Sung-Sun answered. "Hueco Mundo functions differently from Soul Society in that sense. One has to be a soul-like being to enter the realm of the soul reapers. Hueco Mundo doesn't differentiate between souls or the living. As long as you have a means of entering the realm of hollows, what you are, does not matter." Sung-Sun then proceeded to open a Garganta. "Let's be off then."
With nothing needing to be said everyone stepped into the portal to the hollow world.
*Hueco Mundo*
As they exited the Garganta, Yoshiro laid eyes on Hueco Mundo for the first time. He stopped dead in his tracks and surveyed the place. It was a vast desert of nothing but sand, rocks, and more sand. A moon hung in the sky giving off the only light in the realm of darkness. It had an unnatural coldness to it, that made Yoshiro a little uneasy. "This place really is as bleak as you described it." He calmly stated.
"Welcome to the world of hollows," Apacci replied as they all continued along. As they walked along, he noted the two other women would throw occasional glances at him, especially the one named Mila. He honestly found it kind of annoying.
"You don't have to keep eyeing me you know it's not like I'm going run. Even if I wanted and could get away, where the hell would I even go anyways?" He said with a little annoyance.
The lion-like Vasto Lorde growled a little and spoke. "Awful ballsy for a human aren't you. I wonder if you're just that brave or stupid?"
"A bit of both at the moment in all honesty." He said without skipping a beat. As the group continued to walk along, a new feeling began to rise in Yoshiro. His body suddenly felt tense as a sensation of energy swelled up in his body. Suddenly, the feeling seemed to burst like a balloon popping in a way. Yoshiro stumbled and caught himself as he fell to a knee, shaking his head a bit.
"Yoshiro are you alright!? Your spirit energy just suddenly spiked out of nowhere." Apacci spoke with concern as she helped him up. Mila and Sung-Sun also looked in curiosity from the unexpected display.
Yoshiro took a moment to regain his bearings as the sensation left as quickly as it came. "I'm not sure what happened in all honesty, I felt this weird swelling of energy. Then it suddenly felt like something inside suddenly burst, it was weird but I feel fine now."
"Your body is most likely simply adjusting to a place like Hueco Mundo. It's your first time to such a place after all." Explained the snake-like Vasto Lorde.
Not wanting to be held up any further the group continued on its way. Soon they reached the entrance to some cave it looked like.
"Here we are." Spoke Sung-Sun.
Mila walked in first followed by Apacci and Yoshiro, with Sung-Sun taking up the rear. As they walked in Yoshiro noted the inside of the place looked as though someone had taken the painstaking time to carve out the place to look like the inside of a home. "Impressive" He had to muse to himself. Eventually, they had were led to a room and instructed to stand in a large empty area. Mila kept guard while Sung-Sun announced she was going to grab whoever this mistress was. A few moments later Sung-Sun returned with the said person in tow. Yoshiro made sure to keep a straight face as he studied this new hollow woman as she approached.
She was just as tall as Mila, the front of her body had a blue shading the went from her neck down to just above her waist, the same blue also existed on the middle of both arms. The rest of her body was covered in white, bone-like material that had all sorts of fin-like appendages sprouting from it. One arm looked normal enough but the other at about the elbow down was a giant shark tooth-looking blade. In fact, that's what she had the visage of, some sort of bipedal shark woman.
He noticed she had a very stoic expression that betrayed no emotion. She was a woman who knew very well how to keep her thoughts and feelings in check. It would be difficult to get a read off her, he knew. Then there were her more human features that had survived her status as a hollow. They garnered Yoshiro's attention more than anything else. She had wild blond hair just like his, while not much to see due to her mask that covered the whole bottom half of her face. He could still see enough to note her human skin color was a mocha color like his. He also noted her eyes were an aqua green color. For some reason, she felt familiar, but he pushed this thought out of his head. He figured the whole situation at hand was just playing with his head a bit.
As Halibel entered the room she put her focus on the young human man that sat next to Apacci. What she saw perplexed her a bit, not that she let it show. The young man had wild blond hair like hers, he had mocha skin like hers as well. She noted his eyes were an emerald green. He was of a decent height, and she could tell he had a well-kept physique. What she couldn't understand was why the young man before her felt familiar. She knew she had never seen him before in her hollow existence. Halibel was one of the few hollows who could remember her entire human life, but she couldn't recall having met him during that time. Especially considering how young the boy was, maybe a little over sixteen at most from what she could tell. More or less the same amount of time she had been a hollow. She pushed these thoughts from her mind for the moment as she now stood before the two of them and spoke in an even yet firm tone.
"Apacci, you understand that you have a fair amount of explaining to do?" Halibel stated.
"Yes, my lady I know I do." She responded somewhat meekly and continued. "Before my boyfriend and I here explain everything, know that I wasn't doing anything to betray you or the others. I would never do anything to compromise any of your safety." Halibel merely nodded her head in understanding, Appaci and Yoshiro began to explain themselves.
They told about their initial meeting on the warehouse rooftop, how it led to them having a conversation, where both told about themselves to the other. How they spent time together following that and grew closer. The eventful day with the hollow attack to the arrival and misguiding of the soul reapers. The events at the candy shop with its' strange owner. They spoke about how their feelings grew in the time following that day until they both came to realize their true feelings for each other. How that led to them finally confessing to one another on the beach trip they had just taken before they had been brought to Hueco Mundo.
When they had finally finished speaking, Halibel took everything in and honestly wasn't quite sure how to take it all. On one hand, she was still somewhat upset that Apacci had lied to her and the others but understood her reasoning at the same time. She couldn't deny that what her subordinate and friend had with the young man was genuine. They truly were in love with each other, speaking of the young man, he was quite the enigma she had to admit. He was just a human who happened to be spiritually aware and yet he had opened himself up so readily and caringly for Apacci despite knowing what she was. Halibel found it quite admirable and heartwarming.
Not just that but the sheer lengths he had shown himself willing to go to for Apacci's sake. The most noticeable of which was when the boy without hesitation engaged and managed to fool three captain-level soul reapers at the same time. While full well knowing the sheer danger of it, just to protect Apacci. It was an act that Halibel had to respect, and she couldn't deny its' significance. She couldn't help but start to like the young man. Thinking more to herself in silence, soon Halibel had made her decision on the matter. She looked to Mila and Sung-Sun to gauge their reactions to the tale.
Both Mila and Sung-Sun's emotions from earlier had seemingly gone away after hearing the tale. They both shared a shared expression of awe and understanding from all they had heard. They seemed to have reached the same conclusion on the matter as her. She looked to the two individuals sitting in front of her and spoke in her usual stoic tone.
"After taking everything in and thinking about it I've made my decision on this matter and I believe Mila and Sung-Sun have reached the same conclusion as me?" Apacci and Yoshiro watched intently waiting for the answer.
"I have decided….." Halibel spoke "to forgive you for your deceit. Seeing as how you had no malicious intentions behind it. My only stipulation to this is that from now on you be completely honest no matter what."
"Of course, my lady, I shall. I am humbled by your forgiveness!" Apacci spoke with relief. Then the shark-like Vasto Lorde turned to the young man before her.
"What I ask of you is to keep treating and protecting her as you have been doing, is that agreeable?"
Yoshiro simply chuckled a little and responded. "As if you really had to ask. That's a forgone conclusion wouldn't you say?" He said with a bit of sarcasm. This earned him a slight smack on the back of the head from Apacci. "Be more respectable towards my lady!" He raised his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok I get it." He said sheepishly which got a slight laugh from the others.
"I do apologize for our rude behavior back at your home," Sung-Sun spoke.
"Yeah, we were just kind of on edge from everything going on. I'm also sorry for almost choking you to death too." Mila replied.
"Don't worry about it, I understand. Plus, I did kind of ask for that choking after what I said to you." He responded.
"Still there's something that still seems unusual about you to me." Halibel stated. "You seem familiar to me in some manner, and yet I cannot recall ever meeting you before."
Apacci stiffened upon hearing that, she knew there was no avoiding what was about to happen. Her sudden nervousness did not go unnoticed.
"What do you know Apacci?" Halibel questioned.
"There's no real easy way of saying this I suppose I only figured it out recently myself." Apacci began. "I had hoped to have more time to figure out a more proper way of telling this but that's no longer an option." Apacci took in a deep breath before saying the next. "Lady Halibel," Yoshiro's eyes widened recognizing the name. "I'd like you to meet your son, Yoshiro Abe." Now Halibel's eyes went wide from surprise.
Yoshiro and Halibel stared at each other, then Apacci, and then back again. This cycle repeated itself a few times as both tried to process this news. The room had gone quiet enough to hear a pin drop from the stunned silence Apacci's statement brought.
Halibel now looked at the young man before her more intently than she had previously. She had not seen her child since the day she died giving birth to him. She never went near her son or even Karakura for that matter after becoming a hollow. While she always had proper control of her hollow urges even as a basic one. She refused to risk going to Karakura and accidentally succumb to instinct. Even after becoming a Vasto Lorde and no longer requiring or having a desire to devour souls of any kind. She still refused to seek out her child out of the principal of the matter. Having long since accepted the idea of never seeing her child ever again.
Now there was this young man in front of her, Apacci claiming him to be that child. While she did note that he shared many of her own physical traits from her human life. She had assumed it to be a coincidence at best and nothing more. However then Apacci spoke his name and that was what truly drove the facts of the situation home. 'Yoshiro', the name she gave her baby with the last few breaths she possessed before death claimed her in the delivery room. 'Abe', her husband's family name, the name she carried in the last years of her human life. The name she put behind her and took up her maiden name once more upon becoming a hollow.
As improbable as it all was, she could not deny facts that laid before her. It all lined up, it all added up. After all these years as seemingly impossible as it was and miraculous as it seemed.
She had been reunited with her son.
Yoshiro was just as shocked himself as this apparent revelation. He only ever knew his mother from old photographs and word of mouth from his father. As unbelievable as what Apacci was suggesting was when he thought more deeply about it. He couldn't deny certain things added together in ways. Despite her body being covered so heavily in hollow features. What human traits that were still visible lined up exactly with what he knew his mother had. Someone being born with darker and blond hair naturally was extremely rare. In fact, such a thing only popped in tropical nations, that had a lot of western influence in their history. Even then it was an extremely rare combination of natural traits to be born with. Hell, he had gotten lucky in the genetics lottery. That he had inherited his mother blond over his father's black. Especially when one took into account that blond hair was considered genetically recessive to black.
What really brought it all together was the name 'Halibel'. His mother's maiden name and a name that was by no means common. His father had mentioned to him that his mother was the only one from her side of the family left. So the fact that this hollow woman before him had that name couldn't be a coincidence. He was very tempted to punch himself across the face to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Who could blame him?
He was meeting his mother for the first time ever.
Yoshiro took a few slow steps until he was standing right in front of the shark-like Vasto Lorde. All was silent as Halibel raised her normal hand up and gently cupped the side of Yoshiro's face. Nothing was said as she kept her hand there and never broke her gaze with him.
"My son…" Halibel spoke softly breaking the silence.
"Mom…" Yoshiro replied practically as a whisper.
Nothing more needed to be said, as Halibel slid her hand behind her son's head and pulled him into her embrace. She felt her son wrap his arms around her and hugged in return. She then felt a wetness slide down her face, it was tears she was crying. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever truly cried. She had long since steeled and gained control of her emotions. As a means to improve her means of survival in Hueco Mundo. Yet here she was crying and didn't even realize at first that she was doing it. Oddly enough she didn't find herself caring about her sudden lack of control of her emotions. The only thing she cared about at the moment was a sudden feeling filling her being. A feeling that she had not felt in over sixteen long years. A feeling of love that only a mother could have for or understand towards their child. She had always felt a sense of emptiness since the time of her death.
Now she no longer felt so empty anymore.
If someone had told him when he woke up, he would meet his mother for the first time in sixteen years today. He would have probably laughed and called them crazy. Now he wasn't entirely what to think at the moment, outside of simply taking the moment for what it was. How much time had he spent over the years wondering what his mother must've been like? How much different things would've been had she'd been around? How much different would he be by chance if she had been around? Sure she was a hollow now and a Vasto Lorde, and his girlfriend's boss/mistress apparently. But those were all things that could be gone over later. For now, he just wanted to keep enjoying the moment and the feeling of completion that it brought. Like a puzzle that had finally received the last piece to make it whole.
Finally, after they didn't for how long, they two separated and looked at one another.
"A part of me at first thought that maybe this was just some kind of dream. I'm very glad that part of me was wrong." Yoshiro spoke.
"I'm not sure what forces that govern the worlds made this happen but I suppose it doesn't matter. I'm happy to be reunited with you," Halibel replied before pausing a bit before continuing. "though I must ask, are you not perturbed in some manner by the fact I'm a hollow?"
Yoshiro raised an eyebrow in confusion at that. "Not at all, it really doesn't bother me that you're a hollow mom. I'm just happy that I finally get to meet and know after all this time. I honestly never believed such a thing would ever happen. Plus, it's important to note that Apacci is my girlfriend and she too is a hollow.
"That's right," Halibel spoke looking towards the said woman. "I had almost forgotten that." Apacci rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Regardless, I'm glad that you accept me for what I now am."
"I'm pretty accepting of people mom, I learned to be that way when I had to come to terms with my bisexuality and whatnot."
"Ah, I see you also inherited that bit from me as well."
"Yeah, I guess I did…wait, what?" Yoshiro replied caught off guard by the previous response.
"Oh nothing, come I wish to hear more about yourself. I want to get to know my son for the first time in sixteen years." Halibel retorted as she led him over to another section of the cave. This with stone's that were carved into even and smooth-shaped pieces, resembling furniture. Yoshiro took a seat in what looked to be something shaped like a couch, Apacci sat next to him. Halibel sat in what seemed to be a sort of chair across from them. While Mila and Sung-Sun sat on another couch-shaped piece of rock, across from the three of them.
"So what do you want to know mom?" Yoshiro asked.
"How's your father doing?" Halibel questioned.
Halibel knew something was wrong when she saw her son's expression morph into sadness for a moment. She knew right away whatever the news about Rockuro was, it wasn't good.
"The thing is dad has been dead for years now. He died back when I still a kid, there was an accident. There was a really bad storm when he was driving to a hotel while on a business trip. The roadway he was driving on bordered a coastline at an elevated position. Something happened and he lost control and the car crashed through the road's safety rails and into the water below. The investigators found what they could of the car along jagged rocks of the coast. His body was never found but there's little doubt that the crash killed him. I made it out to the crash area once, I never saw his spirit there." Yoshiro explained.
Halibel said nothing, she wasn't quite sure what to say. After the unexpected reunion with her son, she had hoped for some sort of reconnection with Yoshiro's father. Now she knew that was not going to happen in all likely hood. From what her son said, he had most likely either already been sent to soul society. Became a hollow and was currently traversing Hueco Mundo somewhere. Or as much as she disliked thinking about it, his spirit could have been eaten by a hollow as well. Halibel closed her eyes and dipped her, giving a silent prayer. She hoped that Rockuro was at peace, he deserved that much.
"I see," Halibel said as she raised her head and focused on her son. "tell me of the other aspects of your life if you could."
"No problem, I can do that," Yoshiro replied, from that point he explained his life to date. His childhood, the early teenage years, and so on. His meeting with the Kurosaki's, all the other friends he made, and all the other various aspects of his life. He wasn't sure for how long he talked though he knew it must have been for a while.
Halibel listened intently to everything her son had to say about his life. She had to admit, despite some of the hardships he had faced. She was glad that he had managed to do so well with his life. What especially pleased her was that he had found a second home of sorts with this 'Kurosaki' family. Halibel found his big brother dynamic with all those younger than him rather touching. Even the father and son-like dynamic he had developed, with the Kurosaki patriarch was nice to hear. When she had heard him tell how he had essentially become an orphan. A part of her feared he had grown up sad and alone. It was very much a relief to hear that the opposite had happened.
"So, what about you mom?" Yoshiro mused.
Halibel shrugged her shoulders. "Not that much to say truthfully, I died and became a spirit. Time passed and I became a hollow, upon doing so I immediately came to Hueco Mundo to hunt. Over time I grew my power and evolved until eventually, I became a Vasto Lorde. From there I wandered around until I found and gathered my followers as you see one by one during that time."
"That's fair mom, at least for it's worth you're doing pretty well for yourself all things considered," Yoshiro replied before he let out a large yawn.
Halibel let out a small chuckle at that. "You've been here for quite some time and the day's events have clearly taken their toll on you. We will have plenty of time to speak at a later date Yoshiro. For now, it would be best for you to return home and rest, you and Apacci both."
"I think you're right though now that I think about it now that everything is out in the open. Apacci can live full-time at the house now, she already has her own room practically." Yoshiro suggested.
"I don't see why not she has the means to safely live there undetected thanks to this 'Urahara' person you mentioned."
"Hell Yeah!" Apacci suddenly yelled in excitement.
"I do have one thing to ask of you Apacci," Halibel said.
"Yes, my Lady?" Apacci asked in curiosity.
"Take good care of my son is all I ask."
"Trust me my Lady I'll be sure to see to that." Apacci chimed with a smirk.
"And I ask you to take good care of Apacci," Halibel said to her son. "she has been one of dearest companions in my time here Hueco Mundo."
"Like you really have to ask, don't forget I did confront three soul reaper captains and a vice-captain for her." Yoshiro retorted. "By the way, since you mentioned Urahara I'll go talk to him when I have a chance. I might be able to convince him to hook you all up with gigai. That way you can safely enjoy the living world without fear of unwanted soul reapers. I know you can sneak in by lowering your spirit energy. Though I'd think you can only get away with that so many times before someone picks up on it. Regardless of how well you manage to hide your power. I doubt those souls reapers are that incompetent."
"If you can, that would be nice. Now stop delaying and get home, you look exhausted." The shark-like Vasto Lorde said as she then stood up and walked to her son. Yoshiro stood up and the two hugged one another, exchanging brief goodbyes. Once they separated Apacci opened up a Garganta and the two left into it hand in hand.
Halibel watched as the two left a smile playing on her face from behind her mask. The day had played out far differently than she had anticipated but it did so in a good way. Halibel proceeded to retire to her quarters for the evening feeling happier than she had felt in a very long time.
*Yoshiro's Home*
Yoshiro and Apacci stepped out of the Garganta and back into his living room. Apacci immediately put herself back into her gigai and stood up.
"One hell of a day huh?" The blond mused.
"True but everything worked out incredibly well in the end." Apacci retorted.
"I could not agree more with that statement," Yoshiro spoke as he looked at the clock. "holy shit we were gone a long time it's night already. Food, shower, and sleep sound absolutely perfect."
"No arguments from me."
After grabbing a quick bite to eat from the fridge and taking a shower both human and hollow were ready to collapse in bed. Yoshiro walked into his room having taken his shower after Apacci. He was wearing pajama pants and a plain blue shirt. Apacci was laying on top of his bed wearing yoga shorts and a plain orange shirt of his. The shirt was far too big on her but in a way, it was rather cute.
"Taking up space in my bed I see?" Yoshiro questioned playfully.
"We're dating now so it's fine not to mention you make for a very comfy pillow."
"And my shirt?"
"It's like how it feels and it has your scent."
"Fair enough"
Yoshiro turned the lights off and climbed into bed with Apacci taking her position resting against him, her head on his chest. Yoshiro wrapped an arm around her and used the other to pull the covers over them. Within minutes both were fast asleep.
Unknown to anyone though, the visit to Hueco Mundo had indeed caused something to awaken and stir within Yoshiro.
"Awakened at last, what a wonderful thing," A womanly voice spoke within Yoshiro's subconscious. "Goodness me my kit has been awfully busy. Things should be very interesting, to say the least."
A/N: Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story thus far. So this chapter was the big reunion between mother and son. I tried to make the emotional aspect of such a thing seem a lot meaningful and emotional. Something I don't think I did in the original version hopefully, this take on it was better. We also now know something within Yoshiro is stirring, only time will just what this is.
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