I'm late again. I swear I won't make this a habit. My only excuse is that I was in a different city last weekend and my laptop doesn't currently have any writing programs installed. Btw, I received some comments and PM's asking about my mobile gaming habits, I play both Bleach: Brave Souls and Fate/Grand Order. If any of you are interested in joining either friends list, leave a comment and I'll put out my friend codes in the beginning of the next chapter. Onto the show!
Filling out paperwork, as always, was tedious. Mostly because all official documents had to be copied three times over, there were no copy machines, and all of the papers were official documents. Unohana and I were currently sitting across from each other at the table in the meeting hall, diligently completing work while ignoring the smoking mess I had turned Aizen's throne into. Old Man was sitting at the far end of the table, cradling his head as he worked on The Plan. Dozens of papers were spread out in front of him, along with a few pens, slips of paper that represented allies and enemies, an official map of the Soul Society, and a hand-drawn map of the Schatten Bereich. Shiro was behind my chair, sitting cross-legged with his back to my seat and playing card games with Yoruichi, Lilynette, and Halibel's fraccion. Initially, it was pretty shocking how great the hollow was with kids, but then I had understood that since he was me, he had inherited my skill in caring for Karin and Yuzu. Starrk was knocked out a couple seats to my right, having been completely uninterested in doing paperwork with my nurse and I. Halibel was, though. She was sitting to Unohana's left, nodding along as the medic informed her the purpose of each paper and the best method to filling them out. Grimmjow was gone, probably off to punch something, and Ulquiorra was reading in the library.
"Yer close Kid, but that's a 9, not a 6. See that line on the bottom, there? That means it's a 9. If it were on the top, that would be a 6." Shiro corrected something the green haired arrancar did.
"Huh? Wait, has that always been there?" she asked.
"Of cou-"
"Shut it, Snake. No teasin'. We're 'ere ta play, not piss pe'ple off. That starts fights. As fer yer questi'n, Kid, yeah, it's always been there, it's just easy ta miss."
"Dammit. Wait, what about this?"
"Yea, that works."
"Hah!"
"I can do this, right?" Mila Rose asked.
"Yeah."
"I think I'm getting the hang of this. It's pretty easy."
"Yeah, I picked out a simple one fer ya. Games 're fer having fun, and makin' people happy. One of our friends, Pineapple, taught me that. I like simple ones like these, cause ya don't have to take it seriously. Easy to relax." I slid my paper to the growing pile of finished work before grabbing from the steadily shrinking pile of empty documents.
"You know somebody named 'Pineapple'?" Apache asked, incredulous.
"Nah, I just call him that. His hair's done up like a pineapple." The deer-like fraccion and her lioness companion snorted.
"Are you talking about Renji?" Yoruichi asked.
"Yep." The werecat laughed.
"Oh! What's Byakuya's nickname?"
"Prick." Everyone participating in the game began laughing.
"What about Starrk?" Lilynette asked.
"Narco."
"I don't get it."
"'Narco' is short for narcolepsy." I answered. "It's the medical term for someone who sleeps a lot." The lime haired arrancar burst out laughing.
"Holy shit! That's fucking great!"
"What about Mistress Halibel? What is your nickname for her?" Sun-sun asked, sounding like she was ready to attack if he gave the wrong answer.
"Halibel."
"Wait, I thought you had a nickname for everyone?" Mila Rose asked, confused.
"I use the real names of people that deserve it. Halibel is a badass that doesn't deal with bullshit. She's like King, but if he didn't love fighting."
"I assure you, Kurosaki-san is nowhere near as generous as Mistress Halibel." The snake-like arrancar spoke.
"He will let damn near anyone take his bed if they ask for or look like they need it, and almost all of the money he gets is spent on others."
"Really?" Yoruichi asked.
"Yeah, the only crap he buys solely for himself are clothes. Everything else is either shared or for someone else."
"…Hey, Ichi-kun-"
"I'm not being paid by the Gotei 13 yet, I have no money."
"That can be fixed." Unohana spoke up.
"Alright, what were you about to ask, Yoruichi?"
"Clothes shopping?"
"As long as it's just for you, Unohana, or I, go ahead."
"Why so limited?" The werecat whined.
"Because you'd drag along Rangiku, and I'd be broke within an hour at the latest."
"We'd be more responsible than that!"
"You would, for all 'o five minutes, and then she'd grab somethin' sexy and you two would start buyin' everythin'."
"Not true!"
"It's happened four times." I drawled. "And you managed to con Byakuya, Ukitake, Omaeda, and me before people stopped letting you two shop alone."
"I forget, who ended up being their permanent babysitter?"
"Nel."
"Oh, yeah, I remember now. Speaking o' which, when are we grabbin' her?"
"I've got a few more sheets left. I'll let you know when I'm done, you can keep playing until then."
"Great. Antlers, it's yer turn!"
"Hey, Unohana, how are things going on your end?" I asked.
"Quite well, I'm nearly done, just as you. I'm overseeing Halibel-san as she fills out a document, she's doing well."
"Only through your advice, Unohana-san. I thank you for informing me of how to do this."
"The thanks is all mine, Halibel-san! Though, I am curious as to why you are interested in learning how to complete paperwork."
"If shinigami and arrancar are to fight alongside each other, they must be comfortable with each other, and that can only be achieved by spending time with one another. I plan to travel to the Soul Society often, and it would be unbecoming of me to not be able to assist my allies."
"My, haven't you slipped into the role of leader easily." The medic praised.
"It's nothing I am not already accustomed to. It is akin to taking care of my girls, only in greater numbers." I smirked, remembering her model rule as Queen of Hueco Mundo. I was done with my papers within minutes, and had a little difficulty getting out of my seat without disturbing Shiro, but managed. As my zanpakuto cleaned up their respective messes, I stretched, hearing and feeling satisfying pops from my back from having been hunched over.
"So, you're gonna go kidnap an arrancar?" Yoruichi asked.
"Kinda. I'm gonna play some tag, have a chat, and fix her mask."
"Fix her mask?"
"She reverted to a child form because Nnoitora cut her mask, which caused her reiatsu to leak out like crazy. Kaido didn't work last time, but Orihime theorized that was because no one who tried could overpower the rate at which her reiatsu left her body. Unlike last time, I know how to use Kaido, so that should no longer be a problem."
"Oh, I get it."
"I'm also gonna find a Shinigami that's been in the Menos Forest for a while."
"Excuse me?" My nurse tilted her head.
"His name is Ashido, he and a group of Shinigami stumbled their way into Hueco Mundo he doesn't remember how long ago and made it their personal mission to kill as many hollows as possible to keep them from entering the World of the Living. He's the only one left, and I'm gonna relieve him of his self-imposed duty."
"I…see."
"Um, as far as I can remember, that's it. Anyone interested in joining?"
"Nah, I think I'll stick with the girls, they seem fun." The goddess of flash waved off.
"As will I, I'm sure you would like some solitude." The First Kenpachi explained. I nodded and turned to leave, Zangetsu returning to my Inner World as I exited the hall. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, I started on my way towards where I sensed Nel's reiatsu signature in a lazy Shunpo. I could feel her running around in a game of Eternal Tag, and I smiled softly as I idly attempted to figure out who was currently 'it'. All four of them were going in circles, so there was a little bit of challenge. The former third seemed to be at the head of the pack, with Bawabawa behind her. 'It' was definitely either Dondochakka or Peshe, as the two seemed to be slapping each other from how their signatures interacted. It was usually those two, and the reason why simultaneously pissed me off royally and cheered me up. They did it because Nel was a masochist, which pissed me off because she shouldn't know that term as a memory-wiped child, but cheered me up since they knew it made her happy. It was difficult picking one emotion, so I just didn't bother.
'Hey, they freaked out last time when they realized I was a Shinigami. Should I go into Shikai to stave that off?'
'Nah, it would be easier while sealed. They would think you're a hostile if you appeared with reiatsu ripplin' off of ya, and they'd get confused seein' ya in yer transformed state.'
'Indeed.'
'Alright. Thanks for the input.' I slipped out of Flash-step as I got closer, switching to a content sprint. 'Let's do this.'
"OI!" I screamed. "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!" The three arrancar and single Hollow stopped in their tracks, Nel's face dripping with tears and snot. She quickly wiped herself clean with her sleeve before bounding over to me.
"Oh, we'th juth' playin' Etehnal Tag! It'th Tag, but it'th Etehnal!" Holy shit, I forgot how bad her lisp was. "Wanna join uth, Mithta?"
"Eh, I guess I can for a bit. Who's It?" The child waved for me to lean in, like she was telling a secret. I chuckled, but kneeled down on my left knee to get close. She shuffled closer and cupped her hands over my ear before speaking.
"It'th…" She blurred away, as fast as she could in her child form as she screamed at the top of her lungs. "YOU!" I blinked.
"Eh?"
'KING, YOU DIPSHIT! SHE DID IT AGAIN!' I blinked again, and my gaze shot down to my hip, seeing an empty black sheath. I growled, before shooting to my feet and chasing after the giggling and screaming girl that was holding my sealed zanpakuto. The black hilt was too long and wide for her hands to wrap around, so her fingers were grabbing onto the guard, shaped and colored exactly as the guard on my false Bankai blade. She was holding it over her head, and I was pissed off both because she regularly conned me into Tag by stealing Zangetsu, and because she ran a heavy risk of hurting herself the way she carried it.
"GIMME BACK MY SWORD, GODDAMMIT!" The shock that Peshe and Dondochakka had been in since seeing a Shinigami appear in front of them was gone, and they laughed as they joined in the game.
'HOW DO YOU ALWAYS LET THIS HAPPEN?!'
'DON'T BLAME ME FOR THIS! SHE KEEPS ON FIGURING OUT NEW WAYS TO CON ME, HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW SHE WAS GONNA DO SOMETHING BASIC LIKE THAT?!'
'SHE'S A FUCKING KID! THEY ONLY KNOW BASIC SHIT!'
'WHAT, AND I WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW SHE WAS BALLSY ENOUGH AS A KID TO JUST REACH IN AND GRAB A FUCKING SWORD?!' I lunged for the girl, only to eat sand as she side stepped.
'SHE DID IT WITH OUR FAKE SHIKAI, YOU DUMBASS, OR DID YOU FUCKING FORGET?!'
'THAT WAS HANGING OFF OUR BACK BY A SASH, THAT'S EASY TO SNATCH! OUR SEALED SWORD WAS IN A CUSTOM-MADE SHEATH STRAPPED TO MY FUCKING HIP! YOU'VE EITHER GOTTA BE STUPID OR BALLSY TO JACK A SWORD LIKE THAT!'
'SHE'S BOTH AS A KID, AND YOU KNOW IT!' My fingers passed over the back of her shirt as she darted to the right, only for Dondochakka to body-slam me because he couldn't slow down.
'I FORGOT, OKAY?! I KNOW HER BETTER AS AN ADULT!'
'YOU THINK SHE'D BE ANY DIFFERENT AS A KID?!'
'AM I SUPPOSED TO THINK OTHERWISE?!'
'KIDS ARE ADULTS THAT ARE IGNORANT TO CONSEQUENCES, YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN WATCHING FOR HER TO GRAB YOUR SWORD!' I silently promised to kill Peshe as I slipped on his goo, missing Nel by a few hairs. They were trying to prolong the game as much as possible, and it was pissing me off because I had already told them I was gonna play. 'Jus' grab our blade.' My hollow grumbled.
'Not gonna be easy.' I responded. 'She's a fucking weasel, and these two aren't helping.'
'So Shunpo, or Sonido, or Hirenkyaku. Ya've been runnin' this whole time.'
'Yeah, because we made a rule to not use speed techniques during Eternal Tag.'
'You haven't made such a rule with this Nel.' Old Man reminded.
'…oh, yeah.' I heard Shiro facepalm. I would've rolled my eyes, but he was in the right, so I settled for disappearing in Sonido. I reappeared with my sealed blade back in my sheath and Nel held aloft in my left hand by the back of her rags. I poked her in the nose with my right pointer finger.
"Tag." I droned. Her face melted into a pout as she crossed her arms.
"No fair, you'th uthed the Thonido thing the big arrancahth uthe."
"I did, and I know a way to help you use it, too." And she was happy again, her eyes shining in excitement.
"Really! Mithta, you'th the gweatetht!"
"Yeah, yeah, before that, introductions. My name is Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Nel'th Nel Tu! That'th Pethe, an' that'th Dondothakka, an' that'th Bawabawa!"
"Nice ta meetcha, Mister!"
"My name's Dondochakka, don'cha know!" The worm-like hollow just roared in joy. I nodded.
"Yeah, I know. I'll explain in a sec, let me just fix something really quick." Was my response before I placed a palm on Nel's mask. "It I remember correctly, this is gonna tickle." Was the only warning any of them got before my hand glowed emerald. The child in my grasp blinked in awe and confusion, as her fraccion stared in an uncomfortable combination of excitement and suspicion.
"Ith thith how the big arrancah leawn how ta Thonido?" she squeaked.
"…Yes." She smiled in acceptance before closing her eyes.
"Yer righth, it thickles." Good, that meant Orihime's theory was correct. She could feel the reiatsu filling her body, but it was trickling out before it could do anything. So, time to do it the Ichigo way: excessive amounts of reiatsu. Within moments, her entire body was glowing green with the healing spell. Normally, only the area being healed glowed, so either I was 'healing' her entire body, or this is what happens when you basically shove a firehose into a bucket with a hole in it and crank it up to full blast. I closed my eyes to concentrate on her reiatsu, feeling it rapidly increase as the patented Ichigo method of overkill worked its magic. It worked under the theory that there would be so much reiatsu filling the body of the patient, there would be nothing for the energy to do except heal. Didn't always work, I admit. Weaker bodies or those with smaller reiatsu storages couldn't take it, so I reserved it for those lieutenant-class and above.
When Orihime healed Nel, it took about an hour. After no more than two minutes, the green haired child in my hands exploded. I was not prepared. I was hacking violently as I vigorously waved the pink smoke away with my right hand, feeling the significantly larger weight of an adult Nel in my left. Promptly, I jogged out of the cloud over to her fraccion, coughing the whole trip. Once I saw the white sands and black sky, I let go of the woman in my grip and dropped to my knees.
"What the *cough cough* fuck, Nel?" I wheezed. "Why is it *cough* pink smoke?"
"How should I know?" I could hear the pout in her voice. "I grew really, really fast, so maybe things explode when they transform?" I hardly blinked when I returned my gaze to her much more womanly form. On my hands and knees, I had a view up what was left of her rags, so I pushed myself to my feet quickly.
"It's a good theory, I'd guess. Every transformation I can immediately think of explodes into existence, so it's got some good backing." She narrowed her eyes at my nonchalance.
"You know, most people would be shocked when something like this happens. It's almost like you were expecting it."
"Yeah, I was about to get to that. See-"
"MISTRESS NELLIEL!" Her fraccion screamed as they threw themselves at her. She quickly dodged out of the way, her face tinted red.
"Don't jump at me when I'm dressed like this! My clothes are barely staying on as is, I don't want to accidentally flash anyone! I'll hug you when I've got some proper clothes on, but not when these are ripping at the seams!" She shouted. I laughed and pulled off my shihakusho.
"You don't need to wait long, then. I'm only wearing this until my actual clothes finish getting cleaned, so I don't mind giving this to you."
"No, no, you keep it. It can get really cold here in Hueco Mundo, you'll need it if you're not accustomed to it like us hollows are."
"Trust me, the cold isn't an issue for me. I'm part hollow." Her eyebrows furrowed, but she tentatively took the offered top and slipped it on. She tied it shut with an extra sash I had on hand. It was tight around her chest, and the sleeves slipped past her hands, but the bottom came up to her mid-thigh, keeping her mostly modest.
"You are explaining that, right?" She asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, I'll talk as we go over to Las Noches."
"We can go inside?"
"Yeah, I kinda took it over. You felt all those tremors earlier, right?"
"No way was that you. Sure, Espadas can obliterate Las Noches, but that's if they actively try, and it would leave most of them pretty tired." She accused. I rolled my eyes.
"I'll explain on the way. Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover and I still have more stuff to do."
"So let me get this straight," Peshe began as we neared the outer wall of the domed country. "You, Ichigo Kurosaki, are from about 10 years in the future." I nodded. "Where you came from, there were two horrific wars that pretty much occurred consecutively." I nodded again. "Everything went to shit, so you traveled back in time to make sure none of that happens."
"Yep."
"And we became allies during the first war, so you're trying to get that to happen again."
"Well, I just did that, but yeah."
"Am I missing anything?"
"You left out the part where he can probably take on all of the Espada at once and come out unscathed." Nel brought up.
"That was on purpose. Everything else is difficult, but believable. Him being that monstrously powerful just cannot be true." I shrugged at his doubt.
"Anything I can do to prove it to you?"
"…Destroy the moon."
"Pick something else." Nel and I shot down in sync.
"…What about the mountains? Those are really huge, don'cha know!"
"…Um, them all or a few?" I asked.
"Can you destroy them all?" Nel asked.
"If I went Bankai, in one hit. In Shikai, though, it would take some time."
"As doubtful as I am that you're that powerful, I would rather you not destroy a significant portion of Hueco Mundo where many hollows reside."
"Fine by me, some people that can back up my claim are on their way here." The verdette raised an eyebrow.
"And who would those be?"
"The remaining Espada, my nurse, and a werecat."
"You have odd friends. No offense, it's just surprising to see."
"None taken; I get that a lot."
"Oi, Shinigami!" Grimmjow bellowed as he came within hearing range. "The fuck was that reiatsu surge for?"
"You know my name, at least call me 'Kurosaki'!"
"That doesn't answer my question, Shinigami!"
'Can I plea-'
'After we get Ashido. We've probably already spooked him enough.'
"I was fixing Nel!"
"That makes it sound like something was wrong with me." The arrancar in question pouted.
"Your mask was broken in half, and your reiatsu was pouring out of you like mine was before someone drilled it into me how to control my output. And that was so bad that I gave two different people powers and made half my school spiritually aware."
"It wasn't that bad!"
"You turned into a kid." Red blossomed onto her face as she grumbled to herself with her arms crossed under her bust. I couldn't make out the words. My quickly growing horde of friends and acquaintances stopped in front of me. Yoruichi looked appreciatively at Nel, whistling lowly.
"Boy, Ichi-kun, aren't you fast. Been gone an hour and a half and she's already wearing your clothes!" Nel's blush deepened.
"I didn't have anything else to wear, my previous clothes were ripped to shreds!" She didn't yet realize it, but Nel just made a terrible mistake. I could already tell by the mischievous grin growing across the werecat's face.
"I can only assume Ichi-kun here did that, right~?"
"He did!" It was fascinating watching someone dig their own grave.
"And what did he do, if you don't mind me asking~?"
"He shoved his reiatsu into me, and I exploded!" The goddess of flash's grin was on par with Shinji's.
"And how did that happen~?"
"He grabbed me by the back of my shirt, held me up, and grabbed me!" My eyes widened in horror. Yoruichi would need to stop soon, because Halibel was glaring at me with the intent to kill. At least Unohana seemed to understand what actually happened, because she was smiling behind her hand like the traitor she was.
"What happened before he grabbed you~?" Nel blinked, and bashfully looked away.
"…I grabbed his zanpakuto…" Now Halibel was staring in shock at the former 3rd, while Yoruichi was having the time of her life.
"Was it big~?"
"Yeah, actually. I couldn't wrap my fingers around it."
"So, you're telling me you grabbed his big sword, he grabbed you, ripped your clothes, shoved his reiatsu into you, and you exploded~." Confusion crossed the verdette's face.
"No, my clothes ripped when I-" Her face suddenly turned a whole new shade of red. "H-h-hold on! I-it's not what it sounds like! I stole his blade so I could play a game of Tag with him, and he Sonido'ed to take it back! He held me up in the air so I wouldn't run away again, and then healed me by flooding my body with his reiatsu! I exploded when my body finished healing, and the clothes I was wearing up until that point didn't fit any more!"
"Oh, I knew the whole time, it's just that you were making it so easy." The former 3rd's face was red, now for an entirely different reason.
"You knew?! How?!"
"Ichigo informed us that you had been attacked by Nnoitora and reduced to a child due to your leaking reiatsu." Unohana supplied. "He also informed us that he was going to return you to your adult state by outpacing the rate at which your reiatsu escaped you." Nel seemed to be at a loss for words.
"You'll get used to her. Eventually." I pacified. She slowly turned to me.
"Which one?"
"Both. Mostly Yoruichi."
"Hey!" The mocha skinned goddess cried.
"That wasn't an insult, and you know it."
"I know, but I couldn't just say nothing!"
"Yes you could've."
"But that'd be boring!"
"Cut it with the 'boring' crap, this is the most fun you've had in over a hundred years!" My eye twitched.
"Which is exactly why I don't want it to end!"
"When I'm around, things don't get boring, you should already know that!"
"Even exciting things get boring if they stay that way!" She tried.
"Only if the level of excitement stays the same!" I countered.
"Does that mean things only get better from here?"
"Probably!" The ex-captain cheered in joy.
"Is this how you are with everybody?" Starrk asked, his exasperation failing to hide his joy from me.
"Only with her. I'm loud with a couple other friends of mine, but that's more like play-fighting. For most everyone else, I'm pretty quiet."
"Oh, so I'm special~?" The werecat teased.
"Yes." She froze, a stunned smirk stuck on her face. As I had learned over the course of the wars, being blunt and honest stopped her teasing in its tracks. Sadly, that method was situational at best.
"Being friends with you is going to be exhausting, isn't it?" The only natural arrancar I've ever met asked.
"Depends on whether you're gonna stick next to me the whole time or not. I know some guys you'll love to spend all day with, they like relaxing and taking in the moment."
"When can I meet them?"
"I've gotta go grab a Shinigami over in Menos Forest, and then we're going back to the Soul Society. You can join us if you want, but it's like the middle of the night there, so you'll have to wait until morning for introductions."
"Fine by me." The 1st yawned.
"I'd like to journey with you as well." Halibel spoke up.
"Great." I accepted.
"Girls, do you wish to go as well?" The trio took a moment to exchange glances.
"Not yet, Mistress Halibel. This is all a bit sudden for us." Sun-sun spoke for the three of them. I kept my gratitude in my head, as I wasn't sure Unohana's place would've had the room for all the extra guests.
"I shall remain in Hueco Mundo. Someone needs to keep the trash in check until a leader returns." Ulquiorra announced, speaking for the first time throughout the entire conversation. Grimmjow grunted before leaving, obviously disinterested. Shiro cussed in disappointment in my Inner World.
'It's fine, you'll get your chance.'
'We are fightin' Gramps, right?'
'Whether he wants to initially or not.' I soothed. The hollow huffed in acceptance. I brought my attention back to the arrancar and Shinigami around me.
"Okay, then! Unohana, you're coming with me to talk to Ashido."
"Oh?"
"If a single Shinigami came to tell him he can finally leave, he'd either think he's hallucinating or being tricked by a Hollow. If there's a pair of Shinigami and he can only recognize one, that removes the possibility of a trap and a hallucination from his head."
"How do you figure that?" Peshe asked.
"If Ashido were hallucinating, he'd either see someone he didn't recognize because his mind would think of a random Shinigami that just stumbled upon him, or someone familiar because he'd think they came to save him. If he hallucinated two people, either they'd both be familiar, or both be random. Furthermore, if one were a captain, he'd make the connection that the Gotei 13 found a way to travel to Hueco Mundo and stationed a squad there to keep hollow numbers low. Not that that's what happened, or that I would even allow that to happen, but it's what he would think."
"Why don't you just tell him that you're from the future, and that you came to get him out?" The loincloth-wearing arrancar asked.
"Because he's already mentally unstable and he would definitely think he's lost his mind if we come in saying that."
"That's smart, don'cha know!" I cuffed the polka-dotted arrancar across the back of his head.
"The fuck you mean by that, you tiki-mask dumbass?!"
"I'm just complimenting you, don'cha know! Mistress Nelliel, make him stop!"
"You dug your own hole, you can dig yourself out of it." Shiro cackled inside my head at that.
"Ah! Peshe, give me a hand, will ya?!"
"Wha?! But I'm so thin, and fragile! He'll snap me like a twig! Don't worry, I'll provide moral support!" Shiro's cackling erupted into laughter at the blatant abandonment of Dondochakka. The arrancar in question screamed in fear as he tried to protect himself.
"I didn't mean anything by it, I swear!"
"Watch your words next time, and you won't have to convince me of that!"
Unohana and I stood at the base of the pillar housing Ashido's cave.
"You're sure this will work?" She asked.
"Of course, Ossan came up with it." I assured.
"You have an enviable amount of faith in your zanpakuto."
"They've saved my ass on dozens of occasions, and they only want to protect me. Why wouldn't I have faith in them?" My companion was silent for a moment.
"I wish to have such faith in Minazuki one day. Sadly, I do not share the same relationship with my zanpakuto as you do yours." I snorted.
"I haven't met anyone who does. Even back in my time, no one ever got as comfortable with their zanpakuto as I am except Zaraki, but that's a different situation. Sure, some Shinigami allowed their zanpakuto to manifest, but never as often as I do mine."
"You have the energy to keep your spirits manifested for far longer than the average Shinigami." She tried to play devil's advocate.
"There's a difference between taking your zanpakuto out for a walk and actually hanging out with them like I do. It became as common to see Shiro or Ossan running around the Seireitei as it was to see me, to the point that they actually have their own relationships with Shinigami. Ossan and Chojiro have conversations over tea, and Shiro somehow is best friends with Momo." The raven haired medic's eyebrows furrowed.
"That is…difficult to picture, taking into account you having slain the man she worshiped."
"Yeah, but it's a thing. Hell, he helped her out of her depression."
"Impressive!" My nurse gaped.
"Right?" I sensed Ashido's signature fluctuate as he woke. "Ah, sorry to cut the conversation short, but Ashido just got up."
"I see. Lead the way, then." I quickly hopped up to the cave opening, putting on a curious face as I lifted the tarp hiding the abode from prying eyes.
"Hello?" I called, faking searching for someone. The hollow hunter appeared before me with his sword drawn, his body covered in hollow masks.
"Who are you? How did you find me?" He demanded. I prayed my shocked look was believable. "Where is your shirt?"
"Um, I sensed Shinigami reiatsu a little bit ago. I told the Head Captain and he sent a captain to investigate. I was just showing her the way here."
"You didn't answer my other questions." He growled.
"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, from the 4th division. And I gave it to somebody that looked cold."
"…Bring the captain up." I turned my head towards the entrance.
"Unohana-taicho! The Shinigami I sensed is here!"
"Unohana-taicho? She's here?" The brunet asked, his blade lowering slightly.
"Indeed I am." The woman answered as she joined us. Shock and disbelief filled Ashido's face as his sword arm fell.
"Wha-how-"
"I believe Ichigo has already explained, has he not?"
"Of course I did, but I think he's been here a while, since I don't recognize him and this place looks pretty set up. From the look of it, he's alone too. Hey, how long have you been here?"
"I-I don't…know. I stopped keeping track what's felt like centuries ago."
"How long have you been alone?"
"Almost the whole time." Unohana hummed mournfully.
"You are not sure if this is real, aren't you?" I hoped the fake surprise on my face was believable, and turned to see the legitimately stunned brunet.
"You are correct." The man breathed softly.
"Is there any way for us to prove this is real?" He shook his head sadly.
"Some of my hallucinations have been frighteningly intricate and realistic. I usually can only tell it's fake when I wake up." The medic frowned.
"Then I am sad to say the only method we can take is to return you to Soul Society and pray you may eventually accept it as reality." Ashido frowned.
"Even if this is real, my role here is important. I can cull the number of hollows escaping Hueco Mundo." I perked up at that.
"Actually, we're in the process of doing just that." Unohana glanced at me in a silent question of 'what are you talking about', so I kept going. "We're working on making a pact with a group of powerful arrancar. It'll be a peace treaty, where we promise to not kill them so long as they reign in the hollows as best they can." I could sense her confusion, having not heard of that until just now.
"That sounds risky." The brunet before us reasoned.
"Did you miss the part where I mentioned we would kill them if they didn't abide by the treaty? You of all people should understand how important survival is to hollows." The man looked uncomfortable, but nodded in acceptance. I smiled widely and waved for him to follow as I turned towards the exit.
"Great! Come on, we're about to leave." Unohana almost immediately was at my side as I jumped down to ground level.
"Are we really going to form such a pact with the Espada?" My nurse frowned.
"Officially." A look of realization quickly formed over her face.
"Was this part of Ossan's plan as well?"
"Yup. We should really warn them of what we're going to do, by the way."
"That would be for the best, yes." With Ashido in tow, it barely took any time at all to return to Las Noches, and I weakly apologized to the disgruntled arrancar that were speeding up the rebuilding process as we passed them. I still didn't know what it was, or how Aizen got a hold of it, but the entirety of Las Noches was made up of a material that rebuilt itself as long as it had reiatsu to feed on. It was perfect in Hueco Mundo, since the air was so thick with spiritual energy that small hollows didn't even need to eat, but sometimes the damage was so great that it needed help to fix itself within a reasonable amount of time. I was the walking definition of that level of damage.
I sensed some fluctuations of reiatsu, and zero'ed in on it to find something entertaining. Nel had somehow convinced Yoruichi, Grimmjow, and Halibel's fraccion to join her in Eternal Tag. Taking a guess, Yoruichi was interested the moment the term 'tag' was mentioned, Grimmjow heard 'game' and became hyper-focused on winning, and Halibel forced her fraccion to join as a form of training. Grimmjow was probably It, considering I could hear his infuriated screams from here as he failed at catching the Goddess of Flash. Luckily, he had a pseudo code of honor, that being 'you're a coward if you abuse the fact that you're more powerful than someone else', so he was ignoring Halibel's fraccion completely. In his mind, it wasn't a victory unless he proved himself faster than the fastest person. Sadly for him, the fastest person was Yoruichi, who absolutely loved to fuck with people.
"GET THE FUCK OVER HERE, YOU FUCKING BITCH!" As we came closer, I began to make out the blue haired man's pulsing veins.
"Why don't you get over here, slowpoke?!" The mocha-skinned woman teased. An incoherent scream of rage erupted from his throat as he lunged forward in Sonido, the ex-captain easily side stepping. Without Shunpo. Nel was on her knees laughing, and Yoruichi's grin grew with every howl of rage from the Espada. The temptation to join them was great, but we sadly had more pressing matters. Like convincing all of the Gotei 13 to not murder arrancars on sight. I cupped my hands over my mouth.
"Yo, we're back!" As expected, Yoruichi was the first to appear before me.
"Thank Kami you're back, it's been so boring without you!" I smirked.
"Don't try that with me. You've been getting off on seeing how angry you can make Grimmjow."
"Getting off? I'm not so sure about that, but I wouldn't mind if you checked~." My face grew hot, but brutal honesty wasn't the only way I had learned to get past her teasing.
"So you haven't been having fun making Grimmjow lose his shit?"
"I never said that." The Espada in question shot at us, and Yoruichi used me as a meat-shield. Not that I really minded. My arm snapped out and caught the panther arrancar around his abdomen.
"Down, boy." I ordered, and I saw a vein on his forehead twitch as he turned to me, snarling.
"I'M NOT A FUCKING DOG, SHINIGAMI!"
"True. To quote my hollow, you're a Pussy." The goddess of flash's breathless laughter was immediate, as was Grimmjow's blood pressure rising through the roof.
"THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"
"You're a panther hollow, aren't you?"
"THE FUCK DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!"
"Well, panthers are cats, and cats are sometimes called pussies. So you're a Pussy." As Grimmjow steadily became angry enough to actually explode, the ex-captain laughing behind me managed to speak.
"I, ha ha, am so stealing tha-ha-hat!" Just like in my time, Shiro's nickname for Grimmjow was so hilarious to her, the thought of teasing me about the reasoning completely passed her by. She collected herself just in time for Grimmjow to stop stewing in his rage and try his best to claw me. At the sight of this, her peals of laughter resumed with double the intensity. It was at this moment, with Grimmjow failing at reaching my face due to my longer arm and Yoruichi on her knees laughing, that Nel and Halibel's fraccion came to see what was going on.
"I really want to know what's got her laughing so hard." The former 3rd eagerly announced.
"You know how my hollow has a nickname for almost everyone?" the women nodded. "He calls Grimmjow 'Pussy' because he's a panther hollow." The reaction was instantaneous. Sun-sun giggled behind her sleeve, Apache and Mila Rose openly roared with laughter, and Nel was held her stomach as tears formed at the corners of her eyes. Best of all, Grimmjow was seething.
"I SWEAR TO THE FUCKING SOUL KING, SHINIGAMI, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! AND ALL OF YOU BITCHES TOO IF YOU EVER FUCKING CALL ME THAT!"
"What, 'Pussy'?" Sun-sun, the master of sarcastic teasing, asked. As Grimmjow desperately tried and failed to pry my fingers off of him, the girls laughed even harder. Of course, all of them were aware that Grimmjow wouldn't follow through with his threats, but that was part of the reason why they were laughing so hard. Although he had the power to kill Halibel's fraccion, neither Nel nor Halibel would allow him, and he would rather not acknowledge that people were more powerful than he was whenever possible. As I grinned happily at the sight of the girls laughing, I caught a snippet of conversation between Unohana and Ashido.
"Those arrancar seem quite friendly with Kurosaki-san." The confused hollow-slayer brought up.
"Ichigo is a surprisingly charismatic person." My nurse explained.
"I see. What are we waiting for, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Some of the arrancar are to accompany us in returning to the Seireitei, to discuss the treaty."
"Ah, understood. Thank you for answering my question, Unohana-taicho."
"You are very welcome, Ashido-san." We didn't have to wait long, as Halibel, Starrk, and Lilynette joined us after a few minutes.
"Hey, could you come over here for a second before we get going?" I asked the present arrancar. Without complaint, luckily, they joined me in a small huddle a small distance away from Ashido and Unohana. My nurse was performing the duty of ensuring Ashido didn't catch on to the fact that the 'treaty' was bullshit.
"What is it?" Halibel asked.
"So, a little bit to convince Ashido, and a little bit to keep the Shinigami calm until they get used to you, I am gonna tell the Gotei 13 that we struck a deal with you."
"…Understandable, go on."
"I'm gonna tell them that we are gonna make a treaty where the Shinigami promise to leave you alone so long as you bottleneck the hollows escaping Hueco Mundo."
"And how long will this ruse continue?"
"Until the Gotei 13 isn't looking for an excuse to murder you all." The blonde arrancar sighed, and rested her forehead in her right hand.
"This is going to be annoying, and troublesome, but I will bear with it so long as you promise that they will abide by the 'treaty'."
"If any Shinigami don't, come to me and I'll personally make sure they regret it. Although I have no doubts you could handle it yourself, it would give the more unsavory Shinigami an excuse to doubt you." Another sigh escaped the tanned beauty.
"Seeing as this is the best we can get for now, I will accept it. But know that I will not tolerate disrespect."
"Didn't expect you to. That's all for now, I'm gonna go open a Garganta while you say your goodbyes." I stepped away as Halibel turned to her fraccion. I waved for Unohana and Ashido to come closer as I shoved my hand into the air, ripping open a void between worlds with the brunet watching. The hollow-slayer blinked in shock and disbelief.
"Ichigo's zanpakuto grants him the ability to mimic the powers of hollows and quincies. It's difficult to get accustomed to, but possible." The raven haired medic soothed. "It is how we have managed to form a treaty at all with the arrancar." The stunned Shinigami nodded dazedly. I sensed Halibel, Starrk, Lilynette, and Nel come up behind me as Yoruichi hopped back up onto my shoulders. Years ago, when I had asked her why she loved sitting on my shoulders so much, she had explained quite enthusiastically the many reasons why. Apparently: my shoulders were comfy, my hair was soft, I extruded an aura of safety, she knew I wouldn't allow her to fall, it granted her a great view(I had looked at her suspiciously at that), my body was warm, and it was common knowledge that I never minded my friends being in my personal space. I had begrudgingly accepted all of that, while choosing to not inform her about how my closeness with my friends was more of a coping mechanism than a preference (the closer they were, the more sure I was that I could keep them safe).
"Alright, everybody ready?" I asked, a chorus of confirmations sounding around me. "Then come on, Soul Society's waiting!" Was my answer as we entered the Garganta, the familiar road of a sideways skyscraper stretching out into the abyss.
A/N: Again, sorry for being late. Again. Most of my writing occurs during the weekends, and I normally use the rest of the week to clean up whatever I wrote and figure out my plan for the next couple chaps. I hope it wasn't too obvious, but some parts of this chap I wasn't as interested in writing as others, so it was harder and took longer to jot down. See ya'll in the next chap!