Ever since she had discovered her ability to open portals to another world full of hollows, she had never returned to earth. It was too dangerous, every time a Menos appeared, shinigami flocked in large numbers to stop them. They rarely survived. Hueco Mundo, as the hollows called it, was like a buffet. After she had devoured enough lower hollows to get an edge on the others, she began to eat her fellow Gillian level hollows, most of which looked exactly alike, however, she had a distinct face.
Within a month, she had mutated again. This time, she shrunk and took the form of a chimera, reaching the level of adjucha. She continued to devour Gillians until she was powerful enough to overpower other adjuchas and devour them. Three years later, she mutated again. All the other hollows looked to her with fear and wonder. She took a human-like form. Her head kept some aspects of the chimera form, with the long horns and pointed ears along with a mane. She had reached the highest form. She had become a Vasto Lorde. On the rare occasion that she met another Vasto Lorde, they would glare at one another, unsure of the other's power and the result of any fight that would occur. That is, until the arrancar appeared.
A hollow claiming to be a god had begun to rally the hollows together to prepare them for war with the shinigami, plotting an invasion of Soul Society. He claimed to have the ability to grant hollows shinigami powers. The stories that spread claimed that those who became arrancar doubled in strength, yet none were yet strong enough to overpower the one who made them that way, Kurokami, god of darkness. Kurokami was said to have been searching for Vasto Lordes to lead his army. Even the lowest of arrancar made brave stands against the Vasto Lordes who refused to follow Kurokami. Yukima easily crushed all those who arrived to threaten her, but they were getting annoying. She was tired of eating the trash of Hueco Mundo, she wanted something stronger, former Gillians perhaps…
Finally, she got what she wanted. Kurokami sent a team of adjuchas level arrancar, known as Jikurai, to persuade her. The leader was fully armored aside from his exposed stomach on which was his hollow hole. His mask fragment covered his mouth. His hair was tied in a frayed ponytail and his zanpacto was strapped across his back, it was in the form of a nodachi.
"Lord Kurokami demands your involvement in the arrancar army," the man growled, stepping in front of Yukima. He stood a foot taller than her and glared down with fiery eyes.
"No," Yukima sighed, turning away. As she walked away, the group surrounded her using their sonido ability, "My answer is no, and if you don't leave now, you'll only add to my power," Yukima warned, now becoming frustrated.
"We are ordering you to come with us, if you don't go willingly, we'll drag you there."
"Arrogant fools," Yukima growled as she fired a cero blast at the leader. He caught it in his hand.
"It's worthless to struggle," he muttered, two of the others caught her by the arms. Yukima charged up a cero blast from her mouth and prepared to fire it. One of the others covered her mouth with a thick cloth-like material. As she fired the blast, it was restrained behind the cloth and some of the energy reflected back to her. She screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, holding her face. The arrancar quickly restrained her as she became distracted by the horrible pain.
The group carried her to Kurokami's palace, Las Noches. They arrived at the palace where Kurokami wait in the throne room with several Vasto Lorde arrancar, known as Ichikurai. Yukima was dropped on her knees and forced to bow.
"Welcome to Las Noches, from what I hear, you've been resisting, I assure you, this is all for your own good," Kurokami stated as he sat in his throne. He had pushed his mask above his face, which was pitch black. His eyes glowed red and his ghostly white hair flowed in wavy strands. He wore a dark red overcoat and black pants. His left hand was elongated, with sharp tips. He carried a zanpacto at his waist. He was tall and lanky, but she could feel his intense power.
"I won't follow you," Yukima growled, looking up at him.
"You have no choice. Either you join us, or you're forever destroyed," Kurokami assured, rising from his throne. As he grew closer, the crushing power of his riatsu grew stronger, focusing more on her than the others.
"I will not attack Soul Society, too many innocent souls reside there," Yukima continued to refuse, though barely able to speak.
"If your own life isn't enough to convince you, perhaps the life of your daughter will…" Kurokami smiled as one of the Vasto Lordes dragged Yoshiko from another room.
"Impossible, she was sent to Soul Society by Kuchiki Sabunori," Yukima muttered.
"And you ate him, didn't you? He was one of your first meals as a hollow, right?" Kurokami began as Sabunori stepped from behind a pillar. He was dressed in a red shinigami uniform with a hollow mask on his forehead.
"But I…" Yukima muttered.
"You devoured a friend of mine, a hollow named Rasetsumaru. He took my form to capture souls for Kurokami's experiments. In truth, I've been here since I was sent to earth by captain Yoruichi. Don't worry, your daughter hasn't had any experiments performed on her," Sabunori explained.
"As you can see, you have two choices, join us and lead our army, or die along with your daughter, who you left disappointed," Kurokami threatened.
"Mom…" Yoshiko muttered.
"You bastard…you're so desperate…I'll kill you for this…but…until that time, I'll join your army," Yukima stammered.
"Excellent," he laughed as he walked to her, lifting her by the head, "Look into my eyes," he ordered, her eyes gradually made their way up. As they connected with his glare, his eyes lit and she felt as though her whole body was on fire. Her mask crumbled as did her shell-like skin. All that was left of her former skin was the ear of the mask and the hole in her heart. She looked down at her arms, they were her old arms, from her time as a human. She looked at the polished floor. Her face was exactly the same, aside from two red markings beneath her eyes that extended down to her chin like tears. She came out of her hollow form in the weathered form of the clothes she had died in, a black kimono and red hakama. Her zanpacto was strapped to her waist
"So, it's you," the leader of her captors growled. He stared down at her with furrowed brows.
"Ah yes, you have a score to settle, don't you, Hidegama, just don't kill her, I need her to lead the attack on Soul Society," Kurokami sighed as he walked back to his throne. Hidegama grabbed Yukima by the neck and threw her out into the hallway. Before she landed, he appeared beside her and punched her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. She stood and got into a defensive position, taking in what had happened.
In their earthly lives, Hidegama and Yukima had been married. This marriage was arranged by her brother and Hidegama, and she had no choice but to go with it. He was a cruel husband, he often abused her, and killed their child, Akoku for his admiration of Yoshitada. In the end, Yoshitada killed him. How: Hidegama was a moron, a strong and fierce moron, but a moron none the less. Why: Yukima had sent a double to spy on him, the double made a stand against Hidegama, who killed her, Yoshitada saw this and killed him. If he could be killed before, he could be killed now, especially considering her extra power.
She vanished from his field of vision. Hidegama looked around for her and caught sight of her as she came down, preparing to strike. Before she landed the blow, he vanished and reappeared above her, catching the back of her neck and slamming her to the ground. Before she could recover, he began to stomp down on her. He finally stopped and lifted her by the neck. He began to strangle her.
"I haven't spent these years doing nothing. You think I just reached adjuchas? Fool, I am an Ichikurai, I defeated and devoured other Vasto Lordes, I am Kurokami's top officer, You don't stand a chance against me!" Hidegama laughed. He squeezed tighter, to the point where the neck bones felt as though they were about to break. She kicked at him, but she could feel herself lose consciousness, the kicking was more of flailing her legs, then she went limp.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was three months after Yoshitada began training for bankai that he defeated Benikuro. Urahara had put him in a large, space defying arena where Benikuro was forced to materialize. The two fought to a near-death state, ending with Benikuro collapsed in submission.
Three months later, Yoshitada applied to take the place of the fallen captain of the seventh squad. After a brief examination, he was accepted as captain. As he began serving as captain, Sorako applied to squad 7. Yoshitada accepted and put her at third chair, just beneath his vice-captain, a powerful shinigami named Yamashi Mitsukore who had loyally served his previous captain, swearing to continue his loyalty. Over the next two years very little happened in Soul Society.
Yoshitada had been running patrols of the Seretei when Urahara called him to his mansion. He sat in the meeting room, waiting for him to come in.
"Good morning, Captain Kagenishi," Urahara greeted, plopping to the floor across the small room.
"To you too, Captain Urahara," Yoshitada bowed.
"Anything interesting happen today?" Urahara asked with a wide smile.
"Same as usual, did you call me here to see one of your new experiments again?
"No, though I have a few I'm excited about, I really called you here to tell you of something interesting I saw when I was visiting the shinigami academy," Urahara began, his smile grew wider as his third seat brought their lunch in, a bowl of rice and teriyaki chicken for Yoshitada, a meal he often shared with Yukima on earth to commemorate their first, simple meal together..
"Well, tell me," Yoshitada requested as he leaned forward, Urahara never saw anything he found interesting at the shinigami academy.
"I was watching a group of students practice kido when I spotted one that caught my eye. She had dark, short hair, and the face looked somewhat familiar," Urahara stated, taking his time to build excitement.
"You can't let yourself fall for students, it won't look right," Yoshitada joked.
"You should be excited, this was someone close to you," Urahara hinted as a female shinigami stepped in.
"Tada!" Yoshitada gasped.
"Hello, captain," Tada bowed hesitantly.
"Captain?" Yoshitada muttered, eyebrows raised.
"You're a captain, captain Kagenishi, are you not?" Tada replied.
"Yes, I am, but don't you remember me, Tada?" Yoshitada stammered.
"My name is Shirakai, and all I remember is my time here," Tada stated. Yoshitada lowered his head, "But I heard everything from Captain Urahara, how you were my father on earth, and we died due to a surprise attack. I heard how it pained you to see me…dead. I mean a lot to you don't I?"
"Yeah," Yoshitada slipped the word past the army of sobs besieging his tongue. Tada walked to his side and hugged him.
"To know that I mean so much to someone…I never knew it was possible," Tada stammered, holding back tears of her own.
"Not possible…I can't believe you'd think that…From now on, I'll prove to you how wrong you are," Yoshitada vowed, hugging her as well.
"My real name is Tada…" she trailed off, looking at the floor then smiled, "If that's what you want my name to be, that's what it will be."
One month later, Tada completed the shinigami academy and enlisted in the seventh squad, working her way to fourth chair.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yukima stood at the middle of the vast army of arrancar, a legion of regular hollow arrancar, Shikurai, at the front to absorb the initial blow and Gillian level arrancar, Sabukurai, surrounding the jikurai and herself. She was dressed in a white shinigami outfit, with the sleeves cut off and the bottom of the hakama tied at the top of the calf.
Kurokami had set up a special gateway meant to bridge the gap between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society. As the army stood in waiting, the gateway began to open. Between the two worlds was a wide gap, in which nothing existed. The first of the arrancar made their way across, creating bridges from spirit particles. The bridges merged and the rest of the army charged across to the vast deserts outside soul society.
As Yukima entered Soul Society, she saw another incoming army attacking hers from the east, "To the east! Fire cero!" As she gave the order, those to the east side aimed at the enemy army and let loose cero blasts. Yukima squinted to see past the smoke, looking for any movement. As the smoke cleared, she saw that the army was completely gone. A split second later, it was meshed with hers. The army of shinigami began to slice through hers, using the surprise to their advantage. However, theirs was a much smaller force, they were quickly surrounded.
"Now, put on the masks!" their leader ordered. The army put on hollow masks and began to push through, their strength equal to the jikurai arrancar, however, they were still far lower in strength than her.
Yukima flashed between the enemy soldiers, cutting into whatever she could reach. She was a blur to them. She and her jikurai subordinates had made one pass through the enemy, taking over thirty lives and wounding one hundred more. This rallied her troops as they pushed to the enemy, several letting out their released forms. They began to subdue the mysterious shinigami with hollow masks, sending several running.
As their army regrouped, they took note of their numbers. One third had been lost in the attack. However, as long as they didn't come across any of that level, Soul Society would be theirs.
The squads of the Gotei thirteen scrambled to prepare for battle as did the Kido corps and the Elite forces led by Yoruichi. A legion of what appeared to be shinigami with partial hollow masks had invaded soul society.
"Sir, allow me to take the front lines," Yoshitada requested, approaching the head captain, Yamamoto. The old man looked to the floor.
"Captain, these attackers are far more powerful than any individual member of your squad, from Urahara's reports, they're hollows who have obtained shinigami powers, some are at adjucha level, with captain level strength," Yamamoto noted, "Their leader appears to even be far more powerful than you. The report reads that she is a Vasto Lorde level who also attained shinigami powers. They call themselves arrancar."
"I have trained my squad to be skillful, not powerful, they are able to use what power they have to their full potential. I have looked to the frontlines, these arrancar have tremendous power, but they lack the control and skill to use it. Their leader appears to have both the skill and power to be a formidable opponent, but lacks the will to control her forces," Yoshitada explained.
"I see, if you believe your squad can repel them, go to the frontlines, and prove to them what the Gotei thirteen can do," Yamamoto ordered.
"Thank you, Captain-General," Yoshitada bowed then quickly left the room, leading his squad to battle, hoping to be the first to reach the enemy commander, his beloved wife, Yukima.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The attacking shinigami had destroyed most of the shikurai and finally reached the sabukurai. They were held off at first, but then the captains arrived and began to clear the area, fighting off several in shikai, then moving to bankai and decimating several more, however, they were quickly surrounded and forced to retreat.
Those not on the frontlines fired cero into the shinigami forces. The shinigami of the Kido corps fired bolts of fire, lightning and ice toward those firing cero. As they battled, another squad of the Gotei thirteen arrived from the west. They were able to dodge each blast with their shunpo. The sabukurai couldn't keep sight of them long enough to fire. Yukima looked to this force, spotting the captain, Yoshitada.