"Welcome to Hell, kids. If your own abilities and expectations don't break you, I certainly will."

As I look at each of them, one by one, I'm pleased by the amount of determination and downright arrogance that stares back at me. Even Todoroki Shouto's eyes glint with a small amount of cockiness, a dare to challenge him in the first place. "Line up," I order softly, and the children waste no time in settling themselves in order, opting to go by alphabetical order right to left. "Remember this order. I expect you to maintain this order in every public and private appearance. If one of you is out of line, I'll know. I'll know, and you'll pay the price for it."

I set my Zanpakutou on the ground and pace in front of them. "In this dojo, you will refer to me as 'Olaug' or 'teacher' and no other names will be acceptable. I'm looking at you, Bakugou. Curse in my dojo, and see exactly how long I'm willing to make you run. I will not tolerate self-deprecation, and I will test your limits. I will knock you down harder than you've been knocked down before, and I will expect you to get back up. Some days, you'll leave crying of defeat... others of victory. This next year will make or break your career, do you understand me?"

"Yes, teacher." Synchronized, as if it were practiced, and not a single one of them letting their surprise be too obvious. Almost as if they may have just damn well been made for this.

"Perfect. You're learning already," I state and head to the rack of sparring weapons. Blunted tips make them less dangerous while still maintaining the weight they can expect to hold in an actual battle.

Yaoyorozu asks in a small voice, "What are we going to be learning? You haven't told us."

The four are all interested in the question, and I lean on one leg. "Let's see you make it through your first week of training, and then I'll tell you," I decide easily, tossing her a sparring weapon. The weight of it is much lighter than my own Zanpakutou, but her arms sag with the effort to hold it. "If you're going to be here, you'll find yourself learning an awful lot about your limits, starting with these. I want you to have to make an effort to hold these, so you can become stronger. So you can get used to being exhausted and continuing the fight."

I lift up another and size the boys up. I toss it to Bakugou, who sneers at me until he tries to hold it up. "Hand it to Midoriya," I tell him before turning back to the wall. I find one for the next two and stand before them once more. "Every day, these are the ones you'll use until I deem you ready to move on. This week especially."

Taking my Zanpakutou in my hands, I unsheathe it, and a low growl curls around my head. "I'm going to show you your warmup, then your first three exercises for every day, and then we'll start working on your actual training. Get ready."

Karin pushes her body up as she stares at the file in front of her, eyes narrowed at it. In an effort to get away from his Division, Toshiro has appeared in her apartment with the same file beneath piles of paperwork, each stack easily higher than his head. She bends her arms again and pushes up once more, the mental count long gone as her body shouts in protest at the exercise. The woman is by no means familiar to her, but she knows how irritable Toshiro has been lately, how it may have even upset him to a certain degree to be put on this particular case. He cared about her. Might even still care.

She rests on the floor and reads the paragraph again. It contains mostly background information about her grades and where she grew up, as well as a few comments from her instructors that all amount to the same thing: her instincts are spot on, her technique is perfect, but she'll only ever be average. And don't forget she's the fastest Shinigami Shino has seen since Shihoin Yoruichi. But to figure out where she went would require asking someone who knew her, and, well...

You care too much, idiot. Just ask him. If he gets upset, it's his own fault.

If he gets upset, then it's my fault, and where will he go to get away from his Division? Karin shoots back at her Zanpakutou.

We are solving a cold case. He can help despite his feelings. Don't forget he is still a captain, even if you're able to get him to act like he isn't on some basic level, she replies, and Karin's gaze travels to the captain in question. She doesn't think his paperwork stack has gotten any shorter as he stares blankly at the paper in front of him. It's unlike him to stay on one stack for so long, nonetheless on one sheet. Oh, wow... he looks really upset, doesn't he?

Now do you see why I won't ask?

Because it isn't just the mere fact that he's spent so much time on just the one thing, but it has so much more to do with the little things she has picked up over the years of knowing him. The struggle to keep his scowl at its normal level, not too deep but still certainly a frown, is obvious in the tiniest wobble of his facial muscle to keep it up. Or the distraction in his turquoise eyes that can only be known to a few, the storminess and cloudiness compare to their usual sharp and clear state. It's the tension lining his shoulders that continues into his arms.

"What is it?" Toshiro asks, sighing as he sets his pen to the side and rubs his face. He looks vaguely like a high schooler failing to understand a math equation for a moment or two. "It's about the case, isn't it?"

Karin stands up and grabs a towel to wipe the sweat from her neck, shoulders, and face. "Yeah, it is. I just don't want you to get mad and storm out," she responds honestly, knowing how much he values such a trait. "I figure that's why you're leaving your Division so often. Rangiku wants to know what you know, and you... care about this case, are personally connected to it. Who was she to you?"

He leans back and his arms curl around the back of the couch as he spreads out, exhaustion pouring from every pore. A long silence settles between the two before he says, "I graduated from Shino in a year. At that time, she was in her final year of education, so I am technically part of her graduation class. I was young, but I knew I was different from the others, that they hated me for what I could do. All of them did, except for Olaug. She didn't approach me on purpose. She didn't approach anyone on purpose, since she was far too nervous. They called her a 'mouse' long before she was in the Third."

"So how did you meet?" Karin asks, perching herself on a chair. Getting him to talk about their history can get her closer to learning about Olaug herself.

"Seven of our classmates intended to bully me, finding their odds were better the more there were. I still know their names and their faces. Four have died. The other three have remained lower ranked Shinigami since graduation." Jealousy, then, that Olaug might not have felt. Or a great amount of self interest in her own future with such a promising young boy by her side. "They landed one good hit before she grabbed me and pulled me out of the way, far faster than our classmates. Tears were in her eyes, and her body shook with fear, but... she smiled at me, said I would be fine, and we ran."

"So she prefers running over fighting?"

"She did," Toshiro says, "until a year into being an official Shinigami. Then she was fine with fighting."

Karin stands up and sighs. So shame likely isn't the culprit of this disappearance. She can't be too much of a coward. "What about places where she was more comfortable? Crowds or alone?"

"Ichimaru's side," he growls in reply, clearly upset by the idea, or the memory of just how at peace she was next to him.

The female throws him a dark look. "I meant in general."

He remains silent for an odd amount of time, mulling the question over. "She was fine either way. She had no preference. But Olaug always watched the night sky alone. She would find the tallest building and perch there, by herself, until dawn if you let her." Better than nothing, which is what she had before. "Olaug's intuition was always right. Which is why I never understood how she was so comfortable around that snake. She followed any and all leads she could find on anything remotely fishy. The cases we could have solved thanks to her..."

"Wait," Karin says, her mind taking in what he said. Olaug was Ichimaru's... pet, for lack of a better term, and she would have wanted him protected at any and all times. If she saw Aizen as a threat to that, perhaps she would have tried to do something. Olaug wouldn't have stood a chance, but if there is a chance that she ended up one of his experiments, then perhaps she could be found that way. "How did she feel about Aizen?"

Toshiro's eyes widen, and he stands up quickly, grasping his Zanpakutou. "She was uncomfortable around him. Those were the times she would take any excuse to leave the Division barracks, to leave Ichimaru's side. I even heard she got into a fight with him once over the ridiculous amount of time they spent together." Soon the haori is over his shoulders, and he appears the captain he is once more, all trace of familiarity and vulnerability gone. "I'll kill him if it means I get the answers I need."

"Wait, Toshiro-"

He's gone. Karin sighs and grumbles beneath her breath about over zealous captains before picking up the file again. She makes notes in her notebook about what she learned before resting on her couch. "Night sky, huh?" Karin mutters to herself as she looks out her own window. She looks back to the file, onyx eyes narrowing. She takes the file into hand and flips to the back where her records of going into the World of the Living are recorded. Only six trips, and all of them were strictly business. But this one...

Hollow Eradication Mission 1213

Her phone rings with a reminder about a group meeting, and Karin sets it to the side for now.

She rolls her shoulders up, a yawn escaping her. Her home is quaint, quiet, and perfectly suited to her needs. Ichimaru Gin rests against a tree across the street from her home, silver hair hidden beneath a cap and shades covering his eyes. The only way to possibly recognize him is by the smile on his lips, stretching them out no matter what he truly feels. Like now, watching her in her home, having made something of herself, and all without him there to see it happen, pushing a selfishly heavy weight he doesn't want onto his chest.

Olaug was his favorite, and there never has been a need to deny it. It was cute to him how Kira tried to not have a crush on her despite the long hours she spent in his office when Ichimaru needed to be alone or was expecting Aizen. Immediately upon exiting the academy, she could have easily gone into the Onmitsukido and made something of herself, find a seat within a handful of years, and lived comfortably. Asking for her had merely been a whim, but then she accepted his bid. She came to the Snake of the Seireitei, to the Division with no real significance except to keep up the spirits of the Gotei with tricks and the like. Taking her had been a whim, but keeping her close was a fully conscious decision.

Devoted. The first word he uses to describe Olaug. Almost all of his recruits looked to work hard and play hard, and devoted is a word used to describe many of them. But not like Olaug, not the one who it can be a goddamn staple of her personality. The Mouse of the Third Division shied away from fights, silently made her mark, and wormed her way into the hearts of so many. And though all of her teachers claimed she'd never be more than average, he saw she wasn't average, not in the slightest. Sure, she would never be captain material, even if she managed to attain Bankai, but she would be a higher seated individual, maybe third or fourth underneath him.

"Of course your fate would lie outside the Gotei," he murmurs to himself, watching her as she curls up on her couch with a movie on, Zanpakutou within reaching distance. The reishi around him is so much he can feel how awkwardly he hides himself in it, using too much. Like a curtain straightened where it isn't meant to be. It bothers her sometimes, rubs against her the wrong way, but she doesn't do anything as a way of waiting. No foe would possibly be such a terrible spy.

Waking up had been quite the surprise. Waking up in a small town in Russia had definitely placed it among his least favorite surprises. But to see her beloved by all, looked up to, and doing her absolute damnedest for the public that looked up to her so... It feels right, even now. And to think he truly believed she was dead after that mission in the World of the Living, the one he specifically sent her on, to investigate that little warehouse on Korea's shores... How he mourned her presence, her personality, her in general. Now to find her here.

A pair walk to the door, a pair he has seen before. They're close to Olaug, here so constantly and always at her beck and call. Eraserhead and Present Mic are their hero names, even if he hasn't found the time to discover their true names. They act more like her sons than anything else, even as Olaug actively keeps secrets from them both for her own protection or for herself.

"Watching her again?"

Kurogiri. Perhaps not his brightest idea to join up with a group so nefarious- well, more like a particular two individuals- but old habits never truly die. If it means he might be able to keep her safe, even for just the smallest of seconds, he's willing to do this. He did it for Ran before. He can do it now. "Am I really so predictable?" Gin asks, turning towards him.

"Only to someone who pays attention." Kurogiri watches the three Heroes in the home, laughing together as they set up a different movie and pop bags of popcorn. Present Mic is happy and makes a loud joke that results in Olaug putting him in a headlock and Eraserhead eating popcorn as he watches with amusement. A celebration of something. "She eradicated three Hollows today that appeared in Canada. They're celebrating."

Three Hollows. All together, working as a unit, and working hard enough to injure her. He spotted the claw marks as soon as she came home, enough to make her favor her left side ever the slightest. How strong has she truly become? She is still the Mouse of the Third Division... isn't she?

I take up the tests from my students and go to the front. A few look vaguely panicked about their newest scores while the others are relaxed, at ease, acting as if it's a promised decent or better grade. "Alright, so now that that's over. Let's get on with our lesson for today. What makes a Hollow a 'non-human entity' legally or otherwise is our lesson topic for today. I hope you're ready to take notes today," I announce to the group and turn on the projector.

"Awh, there's gotta be somethin' better to talk about!" Kaminari complains, pouting at me.

Chuckling, I lean against the desk and ask, "Oh? Like what?"

"Something," Sero groans, hand in his palms. "After all that mumbo jumbo Cementoss was tossing at us earlier, I don't know if I can handle another lecture with so many notes like that..."

A look at the clock and the date informs me of enough. I haven't had to miss many days so far, for this class at least, and it puts them ahead of the other classes by days. I can cut them some slack today. "Alright, then we'll discuss something else. What would you like to talk about?" I ask and sit on the desk with a quick gesture to turn the projector off. My students' eyes light up in excitement and relief. "Let's see... What are we gonna do today?"

"We could ask you questions about your experiences?" Uraraka suggests, her eyes glazing over in an expression I've come to recognize as one she takes every time she sees me. "Everyone can write one down and give it to you!"

"Fair enough," I muse as the students begin tearing pages out of their notebooks and further tearing them down. My heart flutters and then sinks as I stare out at the group of students. They find this so exciting because they know almost nothing about me. But how many times have I allowed students this privilege? I used to make a point to have a day dedicated to such a thing, but then my heart started sinking lower and lower, loneliness settled further and further into my bones, and it stopped being worth it. So I stopped doing it.

One by one, the students stick them on a pile in a way that I can't read the questions. I'll be able to tell from their handwriting, but I give them the air of anonymity anyway, deciding the students can have it for such a frivolous situation. Ashido is the last to turn in her question, though I get the feeling it's because it's multiple questions instead of just one. "Ready?" I ask rhetorically, picking a slip up and opening it. "'What is your favorite color?' Well, my favorite color usually varies decade to decade, but I always have a special place in my heart for forest green."

"I told ya! You owe me ten, Mina!" Sero calls out. The pink girl in question grumbles.

I giggle and move on. The questions remain fairly innocent, asking my favorite food, my preference, a few outrageous would you rathers I wasn't sure were school appropriate. The handwriting is immediately recognizable, though I see some changes like he tried to hide who he is. "'How often do you get lonely?'" The class goes quiet, and I try not to let me gaze go to the boy in question, even as his bicolored eyes stay directly on me. "I... get lonely quite often. At least three or four times a day. I'm two hundred years old, surrounded by people, but they keep changing. They keep growing older and older while I stay the same... just me. Even worse are the ones who don't grow old. Being lonely is routine for me by this point."

Trying to move on, my hand floats to the pile again. Todoroki speaks up. "If you're so lonely, then why don't you take a husband? Or a wife?"

"And do what? Wait for them to die too?" He probably would have been less surprised if I slapped him. "It doesn't matter what someone is to me. They're going to die. That's why I can't- or won't- love anyone. I won't take a husband or a wife. I won't have children. I won't formally adopt. It's just another title to tack onto our relationship when letting go is hard enough."

Yaoyorozu speaks this time, her entire body shaking. A lot of the kids appear close to crying out of sorrow or pity for me. "How do you live like that? How do you live knowing you're going to outlive everyone else? I can't imagine..."

My voice is rough even to me, with the tears that have to remain unshed. "If I don't live like this, how many people do you think Hollows will eat?"

"That can't be the only reason you have for living," Iida mutters, mouth agape. "There has to be something more. Isn't there?"

Of course there is. I don't want to die, but it's not like I can go home. I can't do anything more than exist here and live like this. The hope has long since faded from my heart that the Gotei will find me, will take me home, but it still exists, tiny embers of what it had once been. I want to see a day where I see everyone I care about again. A day where I sit in the Third Division barracks and do paperwork, or run errands for the captains, or even just see my friends again. My captain, Yukino, Madarame, Rangiku, and, to a particular extent, Hitsugaya Toshiro. I want to see them again, even if it means they don't see me.

But I can't tell them that. I can't tell them I want to see my friends again because I know there's a chance they won't die within my lifetime.

"I don't really want to die. But I have no one. The ones I do have are so temporary, gone so soon for me. At first it was fine, but then I started seeing their grandchildren die. Then it became more complicated. I hardly ever feel Human anymore." The smile on my face feels like brittle plastic. "I'm immortal after all."

Karin stares at the building in front of her with narrowed eyes. The Gotei has never been shy with mortal money, considering they somehow manage to never run out of it, so this warehouse playing as the HQ and the sleeping arrangements for Hollow Eradication Mission 1213 doesn't fly with her. Nonetheless the fact she doesn't recognize any of these names, not even the commanding seated officer... and the fact he was on another mission on another continent. None of it adds up.

But this warehouse... it's been rundown for years according to the people around here, and there isn't a barrier over it to suggest maybe the Gotei had it renovated. It's just here, falling apart, out of place. But if Olaug's mission was here and nothing else lines up then how come this building even actually does exist in the first place? Does Aizen have something to do with it? If he does, then could it be this is where Olaug has been for nearly two centuries? But who actually sent her here, and who trusted her enough to send her here without a commanding officer or a squadron? Could it be this truly even was a Hollow Eradication Mission?

Unlikely. Highly unlikely. And stupid of her to believe for even a second that there was any other option than for Olaug to be dead. Gone. Never to return. "And now I gotta go take a look," she murmurs to herself, blissfully invisible to the rest of the world. Being in another country would be problematic if she weren't, and it was only thanks to that old bastard's new portable gigais she was able to gather any local intel at all.

And that was hard enough. This place gives even the most reckless and least likely to survive to adulthood a feeling so bad they refuse to approach. Even Karin has to ignore her gut telling her to run back and never return, to just go. Nothing here can possibly be worth whatever she's looking for. But the anger she saw on his face, how quickly he shut down to become the captain he always is otherwise, reminds her of exactly who is relying on her to find these answers. Even Ikkaku's voice flits through her mind, echoing. She could have been done by now if the pit in her stomach would just fucking disappear.

Her phone rings, and her heart jumps in reply as she fumbles to get it out of her pocket. Her brother's face flashes across the screen, and she holds it to her ear. "What's up?" she greets easily, pretending her heart didn't nearly burst from her chest.

Ichigo's voice drips with ire, and she can hear Rukia fussing in the background. "Where the hell are you? It's Renji's birthday, remember?"

Shit. She had forgotten. Karin sighs. "Yeah, yeah, I got caught up in the investigation. I'll be there soon. Don't wait for me," Karin commands before hanging up without a goodbye. Goodbyes aren't her thing. She takes a step towards the abandoned warehouse before a Shunpo lands her directly in the center.

It's definitely falling apart, Ortus comments in the back of her mind, wrapping her in comforting warmth. Perhaps the Gotei should buy this place up.

I doubt anyone would use it. Karin's reiatsu reaches out and flits over everything, coating it in something distinctly her. It feels strange though, unlike the rest of the World of the Living and very much unlike the Seireitei. Do you feel it?

Yes. There's a huge concentration of reishi right here, and it fades out roughly two miles in each direction. But this amount is so much for any abandoned warehouse in the World of the Living, and maybe even for most areas of the Seireitei. And it almost feels like a disturbance in the gravity fields of this area. Just what the hell-

"BEGONE SHINIGAMI!"

Karin falls to the ground as the Hollow catches her off guard, hiding among the shocking amount of reishi, and she cries out in pain as a stinger rips through her shoulder. "What the fu-"

The world goes white.

By the end of day six of training, I am sufficiently satisfied and surprised at the sheer effort the students are putting into pleasing me, pushing their boundaries and then some. Even Enji has texted me to mention just how exhausted and sore his son has been these last few days, something close to a compliment from the fiery male. I sit on the mat and tilt my head as the four line up in front of me, in order as I've taught them to always be in my presence.

The students have it in them to be more than the average Shinigami. It's all I've ever been, just so much faster. That is what has saved my ass more than anything, especially in this world where I have no other form of Shinigami backup. Sometimes I think that's where I first met the idea of loneliness, even if I failed to acknowledge it until I came to be here, surrounded by mortals with lifespans so much shorter than my own.

Loneliness... Even now it manages to creep in as I consider what to tell them today. I know one day I'll have to tell them about the Seireitei and the Gotei and the threat they're under for merely existing, nonetheless for learning to use this power. Just as they did to him, I have no doubt they'll try to turn these kids into their perfect soldiers. But I can't just tell them "Hey, what's up, I'm dead, and my previous employers are going to either kill you or kidnap you and make you their soldiers if they ever find us, but it's fine, XOXO" like it's no big deal. Because it is a big deal.

But I tell them little by little every day. The first day, it was merely that I was trained to take down Hollows. The second day, that I grew up on the streets. The third day, that I'm actually only average where I come from. The fourth, about Menos Grande. The fifth, about what Hollows really do and the true threat they pose to society. Today I have to tell them something new, seeing as tomorrow will be their day off. Then I owe them answers.

"Now for your mini-lecture of the day," I say and lift my Zanpakutou into the air. "What is this?"

Midoriya, a Hero analysis expert and keenly observant, pipes up immediately. "Well, it's the sword you've had since you became a Pro Hero. Some say it's a relic in your family, and others have more... theatrical theories about its importance in your life and to your Quirk," he says before bashfully looking to the side. "I think it has to do with your Quirk too. or at least with how you're so fast..."

"Close," I tell him and look to the others.

"Is it..." Yaoyorozu bites her lip to fully concentrate, a thousand phrases running through her head. It has to be more than "close" or I won't give her the congratulations she yearns for. "It's something you use to take care of Hollows, but it does something more than just kill them, doesn't it? I've seen Heroes who weren't approved take out Hollows, and the way they disappear is different from those you've approved and when you yourself do it."

I nod. "It is very different, Yaoyorozu."

Now, mistress?

Go for it.

The shadows of the room all converge to one point, and he slowly rises from the floor, wolf form as imposing out of battle as it is in battle. Midoriya's eyes widen as he sees the creature again after that brief glimpse the other day, and the other three stare at it with intrigued eyes, fear flickering for a moment. He huffs a laugh before curling up behind me, providing a backrest. I lean into him, and he settles fully. "It's called a Zanpakutou," I tell them.

"'Soul Slayer'?" Bakugou mutters with narrowed eyes, crimson staring at the largest threat in the room. He can feel it in his bones just how dangerous this form is. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Hollows aren't classified as Humans. Specifically as 'Non-Human Entities' in legal standings and in textbooks. This guy right here isn't a Human either, and he never was," I tell them, reaching out to rub between his ears. I lift my sword. "He's connected to my soul and to this. My Zanpakutou is an extension of my inner power- the one all of you are learning to wield here. One day, I will learn his name, and then I'll be even stronger than I am now."

Todoroki rolls his eyes. "You're plenty strong enough, don't you think?"

My eyes drop to the floor, and the wolf behind me growls in reply. Todoroki doesn't even blink as he meets the eyes of my companion, who wishes he could will him into submission. The other three watch with worry and interest, to see who breaks first. Despite myself, I rest a hand on my companion, and his growling stops immediately. Instead, he says, "Mistress isn't strong at all, not when she can be compared to the four of you."

I turn a sharp eye to him. "Enough." But the damage is done. My students stare with surprise and apprehension. "I'll answer your questions the next time we meet. Tomorrow is your break, remember tha-"

Yaoyorozu turns in the direction of the Hollow appearance, and I stand as my companion gets to his feet with his haunches raised and body lowered to the floor. I glance at my students and ask, "Would you like to see Hollow killing in the public eye?"

Even though two try not to show it, all four of them trip over themselves to hang onto me or to my companion.

Tch. How useless.

His blue eyes stare out at the vast desert in front of him, a brief wind ruffling his blue locks and tickling the bit of bone still stuck on his face. The Hollows are getting restless, becoming more self involved again, and rivalries are starting up again. Harribel can do what she wants to keep the peace, but a Hollow's basic instinct will always win out when it comes to eating. Those shitty Shinigami are just going to have to learn to deal with that.

And yet there is something electrifying in the air. Something is off about the area, like it's a trap waiting to spring closed. It makes him uneasy, makes his sense prickle so he can't fucking sleep. That's the worst part of it, that he can't fucking sleep. "Where the fuck is that stupid Rosa anyway?" he mutters aloud, feeling across the desert for any trace of her. She's been missing for weeks now. It's unlike her to keep from crawling into his bed and pissing him off at every chance she can possibly find. Damned bitch.

His senses are late to pick it up. A bright light flashes before him, a tugging on his very existence prompting an immediate revulsion in his stomach. As the light fades away, it's no longer a desert surrounding him but a forest. Sunlight streams through the leaves, and clouds pleasantly float by in the sky above him. His head turns, and it weighs nothing, and his body falls to the ground.

"Grimmjow. I think you'll make an excellent addition to my plan."