Chapter 35:

Things in the 12th Division soon returned to normal. As far as normal goes. Experiments continued as usual. Each group was working on something different. For most of the morning, there was very little conversation. Then yelling in the next room caught a bit of attention from the neighboring rooms.

"That's not right. It can't be."

"It is, Hiyosu. See for yourself. There are six here."

"That's impossible. Something's wrong."

A female Squad member poked her head inside. "What's going on in here?"

Hiyosu pointed at his clipboard and then at a cluster of barrels against the back wall. "Count them. There are six barrels there."

"Yeah. So?"

"So we're supposed to have five." He flipped through the papers on his clipboard. "It doesn't add up. We used one the other day, so there should be five. You have six then take away one, you have five, right? Simple math. You don't take one away from six and still have six. This is impossible!"

"Then obviously someone mislabeled one of the barrels."

"No. All of these are the same. The mixture inside is the same as well. How the hell do we still have six?!"

The woman took the clipboard away and read through it.

"You see?" Hiyosu tapped the paper with his finger. "It doesn't add up. Have six, take away one and there's six! You can't-"

"I heard you the first time."

"I want to know what happened to it."

"Isn't it obvious? You had a new shipment come in and the number went up. See? Problem solved." She threw the clipboard into his chest and started to walk away.

"Impossible!" Hiyosu called after her. "The shipment we had was destroyed by that giant Hollow, remember? We don't get another shipment til next week!"

"Then somebody goofed."

"Yeah, and I want to know who!"

"What does it matter?" asked another Squad member from the doorway.

"Because if the numbers don't add up, then it can only mean that the barrel we used wasn't the right one. Someone placed a different one here in this bunch and someone used it without reading the label."

"We always read the label. What do you take us for?"

Hiyosu rubbed his temples in aggravation.

"Alright, alright, calm down." Another Squad member came over. "What about the possibility that someone used an empty barrel by mistake? A lot of times, we just use the empty ones for trash anyway. What if that happened?"

"Doubtful. It was full when it was used."

"What did you use it for?"

Hiyosu threw up his hands. "A number of things. It's properties are versatile. A lot of the time, we add it to different chemicals, we use it as a stabilizer..."

"Recently."

"It could have been anything! We've added a portion to different projects. We used a whole barrel on those Hollow tanks downstairs a couple weeks ago."

"You mean the ones that got loose and attacked when they reached enormous size?"

"Yeah, those."

The Soul Reapers looked at each other.

"If that's the case, then we must have used the mislabeled one on the tanks. But... none of those barrels were mislabeled. They all read the same thing. Those were the right barrels."

"The mixture must have been different. Maybe someone put in a different mixture into one of the barrels and placed it there."

"Then what did we use on those Hollow tanks?"

No one could come up with an answer. Not one person was completely at fault. With so many different projects going on at once, Soul Reapers were scurrying around like crazy, rushing to get things done and get to other projects before the deadline. Everyone was everywhere. The same way everything was everywhere.

It was true. Sometimes, they did use the empty barrel for trash. Sometimes for storage. In their haste, sometimes things were not properly labeled in this case. If it was trash, then the lid was never secured to the top, so everyone could see the contents. If it was used for storage, then it was labeled. Otherwise, the empty barrels were left laying around to be taken care of.

So it was no surprise that Nemu and Akon grabbed one and filled it with the green slime from Veneno's incubation tank and set aside to be taken care of later. Due to the fowl smell, a lid was secured to the top and sealed shut. That barrel was forgotten about and left just outside the lab to be disposed of later. When the barrel wasn't there anymore, it was assumed that someone had taken care of it. Unbeknownst to Mayuri, that barrel was mistaken for the very barrel mixture it was labeled as and brought upstairs to one of the other labs. The Soul Reaper responsible merely assumed that the barrel was delivered to the wrong place and took it back to where it belonged with the others. And there it sat, until Hiyosu and a few other Soul Reapers happened to grab that very barrel and dump it into the Hollow tanks as Mayuri ordered them to do.

Purely a coincidence.

"Congratulations, King. Maybe he wasn't hopeless after all. Just don't forget about me. A king can't get anywhere without his horse. How will you charge into battle? Heh heh heh..! Keep in mind, I don't care who he is to you. If he gets in my way in the future, I will kill him. Friend, Soul Reaper, Arrancar. I don't care. Remember, I just want to kill as much as possible. And no one is getting in the way of that. My desires are far stronger than yours. Who's to say? Maybe I let it happen the way it did. Maybe I could have taken over and killed him only I didn't choose to. Hahaha! I'll leave that pleasant thought for you. Aren't I nice? God, I love to mess with you, King. I love ya that much. Ha! Next time, King... Next time, it will be my time to shine and you cannot stop me. I let you off easy this time, but I won't be so nice in the future. You hear me? And just remember... the more you care, the more it will hurt."

It was time for school. This morning it was his sister, Yuzu, who got him up for breakfast. He was glad it was her and not his father. One less thing to deal with. He didn't mean to oversleep but he did. Now Ichigo was rushing around his room, getting dressed and making sure all his school supplies were in his bag. Everything was set.

"Ichigo, are you going to eat breakfast or not?"

"Coming, Karin!" He hurried downstairs and into the kitchen. Yuzu was filling a bowl of miso soup for him as he arrived. Karin was shaking her head as she finished her meal. "Sorry. I overslept."

"Where were you this past week?"

"Not important." Ichigo drank his soup quickly, not bothering to sit down.

"Ichigo, sit down and eat. No need to rush."

He put his empty bowl on the table. "I have to run or I'll be late."

"You've got some time."

"Not as much as you think." He grabbed a slice of bread from the table and held it in his teeth. There was no time to toast it. "I'll see you guys later."

"Wait!" Yuzu called after him. "Your lunch! Don't forget it."

Ichigo ran back and snatched the brown paper bag Yuzu held out for him. "Thanks." He ran to the front door and hurriedly laced up his shoes. "See you later!"

"Have a nice day!" the twins called from the kitchen as he closed the front door.

He ate on the way, jogging down the street to make it to class on time. He never thought sleeping an extra ten minutes would set him back so much. He had a feeling he would make it to school with time to spare but he didn't want to risk it. Any number of things could happen on the way. For all he knew, he would have to chase down a pickpocket to get someone's wallet back.

On his way, he passed by several stores. One shop caught his eye and he slowed for just a second. It was a bookstore with a poster of a desert mounted in the display window. Almost immediately, Ichigo felt a twinge of sadness in his heart.

He started to wonder how Veneno was doing alone in Hueco Mundo. Was he lonely? Was he sad? He had images of Veneno sitting alone on a sand dune staring at the vast land before him, like a lost dog longing for a home.

Ichigo turned away from the store and forced himself to hurry.

He still questioned their decision to let Veneno wander alone in Hueco Mundo. Wouldn't it have been better for everyone to just let him continue living with everyone in the Seireitei? It would have been a lot less painful for Veneno. To be ripped away from everyone he had grown close to was cruel as far as Ichigo was concerned.

Then again, Veneno made his choice to leave them and live on his own. It's what he opted to do. Still, he wasn't given much of a choice in the first place. Be an experiment or be on your own. He chose the lesser of two evils. That was how Ichigo saw it.

"I hope he's ok wherever he is."

He stopped in front of the main gate to catch his breath and look at his watch. He made it with time to spare.

Entering the grounds at that moment was Uryu. He frowned when he saw Ichigo. "It was so peaceful when you weren't around. You know that?"

"Sure, blame me."

"Well, weird things do happen when you're around. Can't deny that." Uryu started to pass the gates when he stopped and asked, "Where have you been this past week, anyway?"

"None of your business."

Uryu frowned again and walked away.

Ichigo followed after a few seconds. He knew Uryu didn't want to be seen with him. Ichigo thought Uryu's reasons were stupid but he respected them anyway. When he felt like it.

"Ichigo!"

Barreling towards him were Orihime and Chad. He hadn't seen them in ages. "What's up?"

"Where have you been?" Orihime asked breathlessly. "You've been gone a long time and didn't say anything. Is everything alright?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. I took care of it."

Orihime smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good. I was worried. No one knew where you had gone."

"I told you Ichigo would be back," said Chad. "He always comes back."

Friends always had a way of coming back.

Ichigo started to smile. He would see Veneno again. Someday.

Orihime leaned in his face. When Ichigo looked up and caught her eye, she jumped back, her cheeks turning pink. "Sorry!" she squealed. "It's just you had a funny look on your face and I wanted to see if you were ok."

"What kind of funny look?"

"Nothing! It's ok! Never mind!"

Chad let Orhime hide herself behind him until her blush went away. Then he looked at his watch. We should get going. Class will start soon."

"Right."

Ichigo had nothing to worry about. Veneno was going to be fine. No relapse, no losing his sanity. He was finally allowed to live. He made friends and they were still in his heart.

"And friends always have a way of coming back to you."

Chad turned around. "Did you say something, Ichigo?"

"Not really." It was nothing he didn't already know.

The end!

I am planning on doing another one which takes place after the time skip. That way Shinji and the rest of the Vizards can have their time to shine... and what have you. ;) So keep an eye out. It will take some time. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. Now that this Malum is done, I can get started. Actually, I already started! :D

Thanks so much for reading. I hope you liked it.

Thank you all. And please review! ^-^