HALCYON DAYS
Volume Six: The Prodigal Patriarch
Chapter One

Karin plunked herself down in front of the television and adjusted the channel until she came up "Cazh Soul," Don Kanonji's program. It was her favorite show. She never missed an episode. Especially of late.

Don Kanonji stared back at her through the television screen, twirling his hands like he was casting a spell.

"Phenomena we cannot explain, the chill that runs up our spines: these are not fanciful delusions, faithful viewers," the medium said in a spooky tremble, as if he were addressing Karin directly. "There are spirits among us. Do not distrust your own eyes... "

"Karin, stop watching TV!" Yuzu called from across the room. "You're being misanthropic!" She was sitting in a circle with their classmates Midoriko Tōno, Kiori, and Chihiro.

"What's mis-an-thropic mean?" Kiori asked.

"Oh, it means she's being a total butt," Yuzu replied with a tee-hee.

They all laughed together at Karin's expense while she remained stubbornly planted in front of the tube.

"I never skip Cazh Soul," she grumbled. "This is important. Tea time can wait."

"Psst," Chihiro whispered to Midiriko. "Yuzu's sister is kinda weird, huh?"

"Don't say that," Midiriko shushed her, afraid the others would overhear. "Don't let Karin catch you badmouthing her. She's scary when she's angry."

The group carried on performing the ritual of "tea time," playacting a dainty lunch with their assortment of dolls. Yuzu mimed bringing a cup up to Bostov's mouth so he may sip some nonexistent tea.

This is my nightmare, Kon thought, remaining completely motionless while Yuzu doted on him like a baby. She had even fitted him with a bib. The disrespect was almost too much to take.

Chappy, however, didn't mind the arrangement one bit. She was more than happy pretending to be an inanimate object while the girls passed her back and forth, bringing invisible tea cakes to her squirrel vessel. As far as the Gikon was concerned, it was all part of the mission. Lady Rukia entrusted her to these girls to help assuage suspicion. She would play her part to her upmost.

Karin frowned when everyone's laughter threatened to drown out Don Kanonji's monologue. She scrunched up closer to the television, enough that her nose could feel the screen's static field.

"Spirits are real, faithful viewers," Don Kanonji concluded with an ominous drawl. "If you are among the lucky few who can see them, do not be afraid. Be prepared. Now, we'll be right back after these quick advertisements."

The program cut to commercial, prompting Karin to scoot back and spare her eyes more strain. She sat dutifully and waited for the show to resume.

A gust of wet wind began blowing into the living room. A storm had arrived.

"Oh no, it's raining," Midoriko said fretfully, looking over at her open windowsill.

"Karin, can you please get the window?" Yuzu asked from over her shoulder. "It's the least we can do for our host."

Karin shot her sister an annoyed glance. Yuzu was the one who had accepted Midoriko's invitation to the slumber party. Yuzu was the one who insisted that she come along, even though she found Midoriko trifling. And now Yuzu was ordering her around like a Queen Bee.

"Sure," Karin said curtly, hoisting herself up and trudging over to the billowing curtains. She shut the window closed, only to freeze in fear when she saw an eye staring at her from the other side of the pane.

There was a streak of lightning, briefly illuminating Aisslinger Wernarr and his partially shattered mask. Then came a thunderclap that sounded like a horn.

Aisslinger's massive claw burst through window, shattering the entire wall with the ease of tearing apart tissue paper. Karin let out a shriek as glass and plaster showered around her. The Arrancar's talons clasped around her waist and snatched her up.

The rest of the party shrieked as well, witnessing the unexplainable phenomena of some invisible force bursting through the wall and lifting Karin up towards the ceiling, as if by levitation.

"Karin!" Yuzu cried, jumping up and running to her sister's aid.

Chappy instantly sprung to life and squeezed out from between Midoriko's hands to give chase.

"Kon, come!" the squirrel plushie yelled back at her lion counterpart. "We have to protect the girls! Hop!"

"What?!" Kon reanimated with an exasperated double take. What the hell can WE possibly do?!

Aisslinger stuck his head through the wide gouge he had punched through the wall and spotted Yuzu charging towards him. Another of his twisted arms burst through the drywall and scooped her up. Yuzu, unable to see the hand wrapped around her, kicked and squealed with fright when she was lifted up towards the ceiling.

Kon saw Karin and Yuzu wail. He felt something well up within him. A protective instinct. He picked himself up off the floor and scurried after Chappy.

The remaining girls all shrieked when they saw the dolls they were just playing with run and talk. What sorcery was this?

The two Gikons jumped up after Yuzu and latched onto her sneaker before it was lifted out of reach.

Aisslinger withdrew from the apartment, carrying Karin and Yuzu with him as he leapt onto an adjacent building and climbed up its surface like a spider.

I've done my part. Now have your fun, Grand Fisher.


Grand Fisher had wanted to exact his vengeance against Ichigo Kurosaki immediately after dispatching Eikichirō Saidō. It took Aisslinger's best efforts to dissuade him from attacking the Shinigami Deputy too hastily.

When they retreated to the dense forests that bordered Kagamino City after Saidō's murder, they had another spirited debate about the subject.

"I've observed this boy, he has grown far stronger since you last fought," Aisslinger warned. "Immeasurably stronger. If you engage him directly in battle, you will perish and all of our work will be for naught."

Grand Fisher frustratedly swung a tentacle and smashed a tree trunk into smithereens.

"Is that why you keep insisting I feed in Kagamino City instead of Karakura Town?" he seethed. "Is that why we gotta hide like bottom feeders?!"

"If you'd begun working your way towards becoming a Menos when I first suggested, you'd already have a much better shot at killing the boy," Aisslinger reminded him.

Grand Fisher reared upon his handler and let out a screech, his red eyes flaring like hot coals.

"I don't take orders from you! I ain't eating a single fuckin' Hollow before I've had my fill of Kurosaki and his kin."

Aisslinger stood his ground, trying his best not to look intimidated.

"We're running out of time," he noted. "If you must kill the boy before you become a Menos, then you'll have to do it my way. The prudent way."

Grand Fisher's burly torso sprouted another fleshy, hideous tentacle. The appendage swirled up serpentinely around Aisslinger and rested around his neck like a noose. It began to slowly constrict.

"What do you suggest?" Fisher chuckled.

Knowing his answer would decide his life, Aisslinger thought hard before replying.

"We continue observing him from afar, wait for the prime opportunity to strike, and then we leverage those he loves against him."

Grand Fisher liked the sound of that. He withdrew his tentacle from around his handler's throat and gave a big gleaming grin.

"Good. Heh, heh, heh. Good!


Ichigo felt an icy twinge, sensing his sisters' abduction. His face went pale. Rukia could feel it, too.

"That's right," Saidō grinned, outstretching his hand expectantly. "My friend is babysitting them for now. You could say we have a deep connection: with just a thought I can order him to wring their little necks. Heh, heh, heh. Now, give me your badge, Kurosaki. It's the only way you can leave your human body, right?"

Ichigo gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with equal parts fear and hatred. He reached into his back pocket and withdrew his Shinigami Deputy badge by its chain. He held it aloft, the placard swaying in the rain.

"Toss it over, sonny," Saidō ordered. "Now."

"Ichigo, don't!" Rukia begged, her eyes wide with apprehension.

Ichigo gave her a look that made it clear his compliance wasn't up for debate. He threw his badge to Saidō, who caught it and let out a triumphant laugh.

"Good! Heh, heh, heh. Now you, woman. You've got one of those Shinigami gloves, right? Hand it over."

Rukia bristled. If I surrender my Reioshi Glove, we're all as good as dead...

"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted. "Do as he says."

She gave him a pleading look but could only see resignation in his eyes. Everything she had ever learned in her training told her to disregard his wishes and slip on her Reioshi Glove. Karin and Yuzu were expandable hostages; her duty was to defeat the Hollow at whatever cost.

She produced the glove from her pocket and dangled it hesitantly, unsure of what to do. Ichigo would never forgive her if she sacrificed his sisters. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself. But she already knew what it was like to live with that kind of burden. Kaien's face swam up to her, smiling wistfully.

Saidō watched while she negotiated with herself. He narrowed his eyes, his patience run thin.

"Time's up."

A fleshy root shot up from the ground, spearing into Rukia's armpit and out through her shoulder. The tentacle curved back down to coil tightly around her wrist and, with a fierce twist, ripped her arm clean off, taking the Reioshi Glove along with it. Her eyes turned faint and she toppled over, completely in shock.

"Rukia!" Ichigo cried, racing over to her.

Another slimy tendril shot up from the ground, this one spearing through the back of his right leg. He let out a cry of pain and fell flat on his face. The tendril yanked back, dragging him towards Saidō.

"Gigai... flesh and bone... they're all so fragile, heh, heh, heh," Saidō clucked.

Ichigo felt himself dragged back until he lay at Saidō feet. With a searing pain shooting up his leg, he glared up at the imposter.

"Coward!" he spat, his teeth bared and eyes wide with rage.

"Y'think I care?" Saidō replied mockingly, looking down at the Strawberry with smug satisfaction. "Bravely, cowardly. Don't make a difference how I do it, I'm still gonna savor every cry of pain. Just like I savored mommy. Ain't that right, sonny?"

Ichigo lunged up at Saidō and grabbed him by the face. Ignoring the agonizing pain in his leg, he reached as high as he could until his fingers were digging into the bastard's eyes, bursting them like pustules.

"You think that hurts, sonny?" Saidō cackled, blood spilling down his chin. "That's just a paper cut."

The Shinigami contorted and shifted before Ichigo's eyes, reforming into the Lure. It was long and slimy, like a wriggling worm sprouting up from the dirt. It retracted back, cutting like a shark's fin through the moist soil until it reached its progenitor underground.

Ichigo let out a cry of hatred when his true attacker rose up from the earth. It was Grand Fisher alright, but he looked radically different compared to their last encounter.

Gone was that bloated hamster body and smiling mask. In its place stood a hulking behemoth of a humanoid, black stripes running down his broad chest and reaching the fringe of fur around his waist, a yawning hole punched between his pectorals. Thick locks of black hair sprouted from the back of his bony head, their tips hooked through tiny talismans. He was frocked in a white cloak that slung around his shoulders, its ends looped through the silver bracelets adorning his wrists, his fingernails rectangular juts of faded silver.

The Arrancar's eyes were scarlet and eyelids pitch black. His gnarled nose reached down and kissed the underbite of the gleaming jawbone wrapped beneath his lower lip, a partial remnant of his discarded mask.

The two mortal enemies stared at each other with murderous intent, rain streaking down their faces.

"You wanna fight me, right?" Ichigo snarled. "Then let's fight. Just you and me. Give me back my badge and – "

"Nuh-uh-ah, sonny," Grand Fisher chuckled, wagging one of his swollen fingers. "No fighting tonight, heh, heh, heh. Just you begging for mercy until your dyin' breath. But first I'm gonna make you watch me rip apart your little girlfriend… "

He trailed off, looking over Ichigo's shoulder and discovering that Rukia had vanished.

"Where'd the bitch go?"

Getting his answer, he spotted a wisp from the corner of his eye. Rukia had flanked him, her remaining arm outstretched. She was muttering something under her breath, her voice a barely audible whisper. When they locked eyes, her chant rose to a defiant roar.

"... The sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Shakkahō!"

赤火砲 Shakkahō (Hadō #31, Red Flame Cannon)

An orb of ruby-colored energy formed around her palm and fired straight at Grand Fisher's face. The Arrancar sprouted a tendril to shield himself, his fleshy whip surging up and colliding with the fireball. The head of the tentacle splattered upon impact, blown the smithereens but keeping its progenitor unfazed.

It was a feeble Hadō attack, but it would've been damaging enough if it had reached its intended target. Fisher, glowering with displeasure, sprouted another tendril for a killing strike.

Rukia narrowly dodged the sharpened appendage, her hair follicles nicked by the tentacle when it surged passed. She fell into a barrel roll and ended up in a crouch, glowering up at him.

"What's with the Kidō?" Grand Fisher grumbled. "You oughta still be trapped in that useless body."

"You misunderstand our technology, monster," Rukia panted while clutching at her bleeding shoulder. "We might not be able to eject ourselves from our Gigai without a Gikonkan or Reioshi glove, but we aren't forever helpless in them. They're designed to unseal our Reiatsu in increments the more we're damaged. By maiming this Gigai, you've given me access to Hohō and Kidō."

Grand Fisher's eyes bulged with annoyance.

"You ain't doing nothing to me with that puny amount of power. Try something clever again and I'll command my friend to gobble Kurosaki's sisters up."

"No you won't," Rukia chuckled. "They're your only leverage. When the tide turns against you tonight, they'll be the only bargaining chip for you to make your escape."

When the tide turns against me, eh? Grand Fisher's swollen lips curled into a bemused smile that peeked up over his jawbone mask.

He swerved his tentacle that was hooked into Ichigo's leg farther away, pinning the Strawberry haplessly out of reach. Ichigo writhed furiously on the ground while the Arrancar began a slow approach towards Rukia.

"You've got a big mouth, Shinigami. Let's see if you talk tough after I pry it off. Heh, heh, heh."

His eyes gleamed red as rubies.

He knows I'm bluffing, Rukia gauged grimly. She knew full well that Grand Fisher would order Karin and Yuzu's execution on a whim, stratagem be damned. Provoking him only exacerbated that possibility. But their deaths were already a foregone conclusion if she allowed Fisher to have his way with her and Ichigo.

Moreover, they had allies in Karakura Town: formidable allies like Kisuke Urahara, Uryū Ishida, and Yasutora Sado. If she could stall the monster long enough, maybe one of them would come and save the day.

It was their only hope.


On the other side of town, at the Murakami corner store, Chad was slumped over the Invaders Must Die arcade tower, sound asleep and drooling on the console. He had spent all day slotting yen into the machine and practicing with torturous dedication, trying again and again to better his score. He only took breaks to buy more rice cakes and get Miss Harumi off his back.

The hours and hours of rigorous repetition, single-minded focus and tedium had finally caught up with him. He snored away, lost in a deep and bottomless sleep whilst hunched over the game tower, his dreams filled with alien invasions and sweet peppers.

Harumi stood behind the register with her arms crossed, her right temple pulsating while she eyed the sleeping giant.

"Y'see what letting that delinquent into our shop has gotten us?" she harrumphed to her husband. "The squatter is making himself at home!"

"His purchases made up 80 percent of our business today," Takashi sighed while sweeping the floors. "Leave the boy be."

Dozens of blocks over, Uryū was looking out from the balcony of his father's penthouse. His hands gripped the rail nervously while he surveyed the Karakura skyline, sensing Ichigo's plight from afar.

What are you doing, Kurosaki? he cursed. How did you get outsmarted by a Hollow this badly?

He hung his head in shame, wishing he could banish his spiritual awareness altogether and spend his night blissfully ignorant of all the mayhem happening only a few short kilometers away. He was an unremarkable human now; there was nothing he could do. Reduced to a mere spectator. Rain fell upon him in buckets, soaking through his crisp white clothes.

Meanwhile, Orihime Inoue was snoring away in her bed, dreaming of pickle cakes and Ichigo wearing a unicorn onesie. She had retired at 8:30pm sharp, her usual bedtime.

Nine blocks over from her apartment, Shinji Hirako was strolling through Karakura's Night Market alongside a compatriot named Love Aikawa. They were both shielding themselves from the downpour with umbrellas while strolling down the busy market.

"That kid's gonna get himself killed," Love remarked, sensing Ichigo's predicament.

"Yup," Shinji sighed.

"You're seriously not gonna get involved?"

"He ain't our responsibility." Shinji rolled his eyes. "Humans get killed by Hollows every day. Wanna get some udon?"

Back at the Kurosaki Clinic, Isshin opened a window and listened to the slosh of rain. He was horribly anxious, but the sounds of nature calmed him. He sighed and let the drizzling plops calm his unease.

He wasn't sure why, but something felt horribly wrong.