Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with it. All rights belong to the creator Tite Kubo.
This is an AU story with some OOC.
And with nothing else please read, enjoy and review.
Chapter 8: Steps
-X-
Empty.
That was about the right word for how she felt right about now. Is this the hunger all Hollows have to face? Is it this kind of starvation that leads them into eating others of their kind? Has she been taking it for granted about being a special soul that doesn't require eating?
Then came the solitary feeling. Being a single soul connected with Starrk has given them a special connection no one could understand... but now it felt different for her. She couldn't sense him no matter how hard she tried to reach the brunette, and every time she tried reaching for Starrk all she got instead was an empty sensation. Almost as if she was feeling herself instead, and she didn't like what she was getting back.
She couldn't sense anything in her.
She felt hollow.
Looking towards Starrk with panic, Lily said. "S-Starrk I feel empty, I can't sense you and I'm hungry." She looked around and noticed the new strange setting. "Where are we?"
"Calm down a little and tell me what you remember." He said while putting his hands on her shoulders. He wasn't expecting something like this. Hungry, empty, and she can't sense him? Was he right about their soul being severed?
"We came to Ichigo's hometown, got clothes, looked around, and we saved the Guardian?" Lily was focusing hard now. This part of her memory started becoming blurry. "Shinigami were there too and then I—!" Looking down to her stomach in a rush, she was expecting to see a wound, but all she found was a small scar instead. No hole or even blood. Looking right up to the brunette did she notice the two extra people she has never seen before.
"Who the hell are you guys?" She said while pointing between Urahara and Tessai.
Speaking up first, Tessai says. "You're hungry, yes? Don't worry child, I'll go make something for you real quick now."
Watching his friend leave, Urahara answered the girl's question. "My name is Kisuke Urahara, and the man who left is my friend Tessai Tsukabishi."
Letting go of her shoulders, Starrk answers her about their current location. "We're under a shop owned by this man." He pointed towards the waving blonde. "We have been here for 5 days now, waiting for you to wake up."
Before she could ask any more questions, a raven-haired boy tackled her to the ground. Ready to push the kid off of her, she stopped upon hearing him talk.
"You'realrightyou'realrightyou'realright! He really helped! He wasn't lying!"
Listening closely did she notice how the boy sounded like Ichigo, and by the tone of his voice he sounded both relieved and happy.
Feeling the way he was pressing hard on her body, she tried pushing him off, but the boy wasn't letting go. "Damn it Ichigo! Let go, I can't breathe!"
Seeing the purple color shade she was now sporting, Ichigo let go of her. He smiles sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, I was really worried about you."
Lily was looking over at 'Ichigo'. This 'Ichigo' didn't have any of his special traits. He didn't have his white skin, his unique orange hair, or his beautiful black and yellow eyes.
Helping the limenette up to her feet did Ichigo notice an interesting additional detail. "Hey, I think we're the same height now!"
Seeing how they were both at eye level now, Lily turns to Starrk and says. "Are you sure it has been 5 days?"
Starrk was looking between both kids. How has he never noticed this before? Walking around them and asking them to turn back to back did he actually notice how they were both the same height. 'What the hell?' He was positive that Ichigo was, without doubt, a few inches smaller than Lily when they came here. Looking more closely at the boy's clothes did he notice how they appear smaller. 'Did Ichigo just grow during the 5 days?' Before he could think more about it he saw Lily hold her stomach.
"Uggghhhh! Can we like, you know, go back to the matter of fact that I'm hungry as hell here!"
"Don't worry, child. I have prepared food for you." Tessai reappeared with two plates full of Takoyaki and Onigiri.
Forgetting about telling Tessai a little detail, the black mask Hollow says. "Ah, sorry to tell you this Tessai-san but us Hollows don't eat regular food."
Understanding what Szayel was talking about, the ex-Kidō Chief says, "Don't worry Szayel-san, the food we eat is mixed with Reishi. Even us Shinigami must eat too."
Hearing the way Tessai described himself as a Shinigami got the limenette's attention. "Wait, what?! You guys are Shinigami?!" She turned towards Starrk to see him still looking over at Ichigo—even Szayel was all over the boy. It was almost as if they didn't care about what they just heard right about now. "What the hell are you guys doing! Did none of you not hear how these people just call themselves Shinigami!?" She screamed at them.
Just shrugging off the weird growth rate of Ichigo, Starrk turns to Lily. "Yeah, don't worry about them. They're not with the Shinigami from the park." He replies, not even fazed by the limenette's yell.
Urahara started walking away, going back to his lab, but then the ex-Captain stopped when he remembered something important. "Ah, that's right!" Urahara exclaims while he starts searching around himself comically before pulling out an empty glass flask. "If it's not much trouble for you, Lily-chan, can you please put a bit of your Reiatsu in here?"
Looking between the flask and Urahara, she gives him a suspicious glare. "Why would I do that?"
"So he can create a Gigai for you." Ichigo said, who finally pulled himself away from Szayel's branch-like appendages.
Lifting her right eyebrow and ready to ask about what a Gigai was, she stops when her stomach starts growling again. "Ughh, you know what. Just tell me while we're eating." She grabbed the flask from the blonde man and listened to the simple steps. All it took was a couple of minutes before she could put a bit of her Reiatsu in the flask. Handling the flask back to the ex-Captain in a hurry, she completely misses the surprised look in his eyes.
Urahara was staring at the back of Lily. 'So Tessai wasn't mistaken.' During the 2 minutes that the pink-eyed girl was trying to put a bit of her Reiatsu in the flask, he was also sensing her Reiryoku.
While he trusted Tessai's analysis over the girl five days ago and from each day going on from then, he just wanted to be sure the man didn't make a simple mistake. However, when he senses how 'empty' her Reiryoku felt, it was a little shocking to say the least. He thought the girl's injuries were causing her Reiryoku to feel weak, but seeing how she's fine and hungry, he was expecting for those symptoms to disappear but they were still there.
'What a strange group of Hollows.' Before he could go to his lab, the shaggy blonde made eye contact with Starrk and by the look in his blue-gray eyes, the man had some questions for him. Most likely the brunette saw the surprise look on him. 'Too observant Starrk-san.' He sent the Hollow a nod and left.
While the shocked look in Urahara's eyes went unnoticed by the kids and Szayel, Starrk didn't miss it. He was planning to talk with Urahara when he got back from the 'KURASAKI CLINIC' and didn't mean to catch the surprised look on him, but now that he saw it, he needed to ask if Lily was okay—Urahara only looked shocked when Lily was trying to put her Reiatsu in the flask. Seeing the nod he sends him, he excuses himself from the group and follows the blonde.
Following the shopkeeper with his hands inside the pockets of his black pants, Starrk took one last peek over at the kids before looking back to Urahara, who was waiting for him to get closer. Before he could ask anything, the blonde asked first, "Did you get your answers, Starrk-san?"
"Yeah. Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy?" Starrk shook his head. "I didn't even know about the last one existing. I thought there were only Hollows, Humans and Shinigami."
"Well, it is no surprise that you have never heard of them." Urahara said as he led him towards his lab.
"Why do you say that?"
"Let's say... that most of them died out."
Starrk raises one of his eyebrows; there was a pause in Urahara's words. He could question the shaggy blonde more, but decided that asking about Lily first was more important. "Is something wrong with her?"
Urahara started tapping the fan on his chin. "It's strange. Her Reiryoku feels the same way Tessai describes it as. Empty and weak. Usually, every soul has a sense of strength in them but in Lily's case is something too new to me. Almost as if she just became a soul of her own."
'A soul of her own?' Starrk repeated those last words from the blonde. "But how does something like that happen when we're ONE soul?" He asks Urahara as they walk inside his lab.
The ex-captain turned towards Starrk. That was by far the most interesting thing he has ever heard when Starrk told him about his and Lily's special soul link. A Hollow who split its own soul? That's unheard of and when he asked the man about it before he replied with, "It was a way to escape my loneliness." That wasn't something he was expecting at all either, and Starrk did it because he was too powerful?
A shiver went down the blonde's spine thinking about how powerful Starrk had to be if he was 'whole'. Shaking his head, he says, "I don't have enough information to tell you that right now Starrk-san."
"She will be okay though, right?"
Hearing the worried tone in Starrk's voice, the shaggy blonde reassured him. "Don't worry about it Starrk-san, you saw it yourself. She's just hungry right now."
"And how does eating Reishi help with that? As a Hollow shouldn't we be eating other Hollows?" Starrk said as he was looking over at a cloak.
"Ah yes, that kind of reminds me of a couple of things I wanted to ask you about." Urahara said.
Looking back at the blonde, Starrk lifted an eyebrow when he saw how Urahara put the glass flask inside a strange device with cables coming from the back of it and connecting with a Gigai. "Ask me about what?"
Just looking over his shoulders, the shopkeeper asked, "By any chance when you became an Arrancar did you obtain a strange object?"
"Arrancar?" Starrk repeated the word back to the blonde. "What the hell is an Arrancar?"
Facing the brunette, Urahara gave him a goofy smile. "Why is the stage of evolution you, Ichigo and Lily are at!" The ex-captain opened up his fan and brought it to the front of his mouth. "You're a Hollow that has removed its mask and got Shinigami-like powers."
That was one hell of a revelation to the Arrancar. "Did you just say Shinigami powers?" While he looks human, the hole in his chest with his mask's remains was always a reminder that he was a Hollow. However, now the shaggy blonde said he has Shinigami powers. Does that make him half Shinigami and Hollow now?
The shopkeeper nodded. "While working with the Reiatsu samples for your Gigai did I discover how there was a mix of both Hollow and Shinigami powers. Of course, your Hollow powers are the most dominating ones. That's why you still have your hole and some fragments of your mask."
While it was hard to comprehend the part about being half Shinigami, something that Urahara said had him puzzled. "What do you mean about getting an object?"
Urahara shrugged. "Well, it's more of a hypothesis right now. But let's say that when you became an Arrancar, it could have been possible for you to have sealed your powers away into something." He stopped when another possibility came to his mind. "Or someone." He didn't wait long enough before Starrk understood what he meant.
"You're talking about Lily. Aren't you?"
"It makes sense, Starrk-san. YOU were such a powerful Hollow that you had to split your soul to reduce your strength, but you were still too powerful however and any other Hollow that came near you died. Two things happen when you split your soul, the first being the stage of evolution you reach and the 2nd was that some amount of your power had to be sealed inside something or in this case into someone." Urahara said as he moved towards a computer.
The revelation schock Starrk. Lily's holding on to some part of his full power? 'Wait. Lily just said she can't sense me. I thought our connection may have been blocked or something. I didn't think our soul really got cut.' Looking at the ex-captain, he says. "Lily just now said she couldn't sense me. What does that mean?"
"That could either mean two things, Starrk-san. Having your soul severed may mean that she kept your powers and is the reason she's even existing right now. She became a soul of her own with no longer having a connection with you. Lily could grow strong with the powers she has kept, but that would mean you could have lost all your full strength." Urahara started typing on the computer's keyboards.
Starrk didn't know how he felt about that. Lily just became a separate soul; they no longer have any kind of connection. For the first time in 2 years, he felt alone again. 'I need to calm down. It's not like she'll leave me, it's not like any of them will leave me.' Taking deep breaths and calming down, he asks the blonde what the other option is.
The shopkeeper kept staring at the screen in front of him, waiting for the results on Lily's Reiatsu to come in. "The second one is most likely impossible for it to happen but... let us say that your connection wasn't severed, someone came and connected their power to her's."
Turning around and seeing the confused look on Starrk's face, the blonde elaborated more. "Think about it like this, let us say Lily is an outlet for your powers and the soul link you have with her is a cable. Now the only reason your soul split was so you could weaken your powers by having them stored somewhere else. Well, let's say someone else came and unplugged your cable and they plugged their cable to her instead." Hearing the machine finishing gathering the data, the ex-captain looked back to the screen before finishing with his explanation. "Because someone removed your plug with her, you could recover ALL your powers since you're no longer putting it somewhere." Urahara made sure to not call Lily as some form of an object to keep the brunette's powers sealed in. Who knows how badly he could trigger Starrk by calling Lily a 'Thing' instead of a 'Someone'.
Starrk looks at Urahara with a surprised look on his face. "Are you saying that my full power would come back to me because Lily is no longer the one holding it because she's holding someone else's powers?"
The blonde looked over his shoulders and made eye contact with the Arrancar. "Now Starrk-san, we both know whose powers she's most likely connected with."
Starrk knew who he was talking about. Was this what the Hollowfied-Ichigo meant by doing a bit of extra to her? Is he using her to store his powers? But how would that even help her? Shaking his head, he says, "So Ichigo is now the one connected with her, but then why would she feel 'empty and weak' then?"
Looking back towards the screen the blonde said, "Well here's another 2 possibilities. He either only just connected their souls but didn't lead her power, but that would mean she could get strong on her own. Or he connected their souls but because Ichigo himself doesn't have enough power, he couldn't lead her much but once he slowly gained strength, he could start sharing it with her."
"Is that even possible? Can Ichigo get powerful enough to cause an effect on her?" Starrk asks.
"Do I really need to answer something you already know, Starrk-san?"
He shook his head before asking the next thing in his mind, "So eating Reishi base food because we're half Shinigami, what would that do?"
"Well, for starters, both Ichigo and Lily could gain more strength in them and they could even age now. Souls can age too, although it's different for everyone. A Shinigami's soul could age during any random period in their lives, one could go from looking like 10 to 18 in just one or 2 years because of our powerful Reiryoku and from there aging slows down for us. There are even regular souls in Soul Society, but since they don't eat, they don't age." As the process finished, Urahara went over towards the Gigai and started unplugging it before he went back to answering the brunette. "As for Arrancar, it could probably be something similar since you have both Shinigami and Hollows powers. But I'm sure this thing will only happen to both Ichigo and Lily since they're the ones who will get stronger throughout time." Giving the Gigai a last check, he asks for Starrk to carry it back to the group.
"How come you finish this one faster than both Ichigo's and mine Gigai?" Starrk asks as he picks up the Gigai.
"That's because I already have some data to work with. Besides, Ichigo's Gigai took longer with all the things he's mixed with." The blonde replies while picking up his cane and a pair of cloaks.
Before leaving the lab, Starrk asks the shopkeeper one last thing. "I want you to teach me how to fight."
Urahara almost tripped when he heard the odd request from the Arrancar. "I'm sorry. Care to repeat that?" He started cleaning his right ear with his finger. "I thought I heard you say you want me to teach you how to fight?" He said while turning around to Starrk.
Just giving the blonde a nod, Starrk says, "While I'm grateful that you gave all of us both a place and a way to hide, we won't be here forever. Eventually, the Shinigami will find us, and when that happens we will head back to Hueco Mundo. Which for the reminder we have both Baraggan and even perhaps Aizen waiting for us." He gave the shopkeeper a hard look, "I promise Isshin to protect his son. But I can't protect him if the only thing I can do is just shoot Ceros at my enemies. You were once a Captain before. So that means you're strong and you probably know how to fight too."
Looking back at the Arrancar, Urahara covered the front of his mouth with his fan before saying, "Why should I train you Starrk-san?"
"I was under the impression that you would do anything to keep us away from Aizen. I mean, why else would you tell us so much and even go as far as leading me to meet Ichigo's father for my answers when you could have told me the same thing as him?" Starrk said as he lifted a lazy eyebrow.
Lowering his fan and giving Starrk a cheerful smile, the blonde says, "Well then. When you put things that way, I could train you." Urahara stopped when an idea came to his mind. "Or better yet." Not even saying anything, the blonde turned around towards a sleeping black cat. "Oh Yoruichi-san, can you be a dear and send a message to Shinji-san for me?"
Stretching itself, the black cat named Yoruichi turned to Urahara. "And the message?"
"Tell Shinji that I got a way for him to pay me back the debt." The blonde replied while hiding a smile behind his fan.
Understanding what the shopkeeper meant, Yoruichi started heading out.
Looking between the blonde and cat, Starrk releases a sigh before following behind Urahara.
Back with the group, Lily was devouring everything in both plates. She stops eating now and then when she asks the group about their current problems.
Swallowing some food, Lily cleared her throat before pointing at Ichigo. "Okay, so let me get this straight." She took a quick bite of her Onigiri. "You let someone, name Zangetsu, take over your body so he could deal with the Shinigami?" Seeing the boy nod, she continued, "Then you were out cold for a while before waking up down here and have been watching over me like some kind of stalker."
Flushing with embarrassment, Ichigo yelled at Lily, "I'm not a stalker! I was just worried about you and didn't want to leave your side!" The boy sends her a mock glare that only seems to get a fit of giggles out from the limenette. Calming down by the sweet sound she was making, Ichigo gave the girl a kind look. "I was really worried about you, Lily."
Done laughing at Ichigo, the limenette looked back at him and a blush reached her cheeks when she saw the way he was looking at her. Averting her eye from him, she replies with a stutter, "W-well you don't have to worry about it anymore." Looking back at him with her hands on her hips and a smirk, she says, "It's gonna take more than that to put me down." Not even saying anything, Ichigo moved towards her and gave her a gentle hug. While blushing more by Ichigo's action, Lily returns the hug back. "It won't happen again, so don't worry about it. Okay?"
Ichigo nodded. "I know it won't because I'll make sure nothing ever happens to you again." With a blush reaching his cheeks, the boy says, "Because to me, you are someone I wish to protect."
Lily's face reddened upon hearing his words; it felt like some declaration. Not trusting to reply a full sentence without stuttering, the limenette tightened the hug and whispers. "Thank you."
Hearing sobbing they both turn to look at Tessai crying while wiping his eyes with his apron, "That was such a lovely scene. Who could guess that Hollows can be so emotional?"
Putting on a mocking hurt expression, Szayel put one of his appendages to where his heart should be before saying, "Why, I'm wounded Berry-tan, am I not important to you the same way Lily-chan is that you would be her special guardian?" Seeing the way both children turn crimson red, the black mask Hollow releases a good-natured laugh, even Tessai joins in.
Getting laughed at. Both kids let go, looking at anything but at each other since they both carry a heavy blush on their faces.
Clearing her throat, Lily questioned Szayel from his point of view from the events that happened during the 5 days she was out. "So from what you told me. This shopkeeper gave us a place and a 'Gigai' to hide from the Shinigami, and we can't go back to Hueco Mundo because of Baraggan?"
Calming down a bit, Szayel nodded. "That's about right, Lily-chan. Nothing much has been happening." He won't tell them how they were also staying away from Hueco Mundo to make sure Aizen wouldn't try looking for them.
Seeing how both Urahara and Starrk were back now with a weird muscle doll with them, she pointed a finger at it. "What the hell is that?"
"This right here is your Gigai." The blonde replied to her.
Looking over at the doll that was lying by her feet, she gave Urahara a blank look and pointed at it. "Isn't this thing supposed to look like me?"
"To finish the process Lily-chan you need to spread your Reiatsu over the doll and let it drag you inside it, after that the Gigai will take your appearance." Seeing the skeptical look she was giving at the doll, Szayel says, "Don't worry about it Lily-chan. It isn't some trick."
Giving the Hollow a nod, she did as she was told. Spreading her Reiatsu at the doll, she waited for the pull that would drag her. When she actually felt the drag from the Gigai, she stopped when she felt frightened by it. Feeling a hand on her shoulder and looking back at Ichigo, who was giving her an encouraging nod, she took in a couple of breaths before trying again. 'C'mon don't be afraid of it, damn it!' Feeling the drag again, she let herself go inside the doll.
When Ichigo saw the way she got afraid for a moment, he could feel her mood. It was a strange feeling, but he shrugged it off. He was looking forward to how the whole final Gigai process looked like when there was something about it he should have remembered about. When a few seconds pass by and he sees a naked Lily lying on the floor, his face turns a bright pink when he remembers what it was.
He completely forgot how the clothes they wear do not move to the Gigai.
Opening both her eyes, Lily looked down at herself when she actually felt cold. Seeing that she was wearing her birthday suit, her face turned red and kept turning redder when she saw how Ichigo was staring at her. "What the hell are you doing perv!" She screams at him while reaching for her white vest to cover herself.
"W-what?! No! I'm not a perv, I just forgot about it! I swear!"
"Uhuh, that sounds like something a perv would say!"
"Not a perv, damn it!"
"You keep saying that but you're still looking at me! Everyone else has their backs turn around!" She said while pointing at everyone.
"I'm sorry!" Ichigo said.
"Just turn around already!"
Giving Lily her privacy, the boy turned around and waited for her to finish dressing up. When he heard a "Done.", he turns around and saw the amusement looks on Urahara's, Szayel's and Tessai's face. Turning towards Starrk, he saw the empty look the brunette was sending him. 'Kami, I basically just saw his sister naked!' Turning to Lily, he saw the plain look on her face. "Something wrong, Lily?"
Not even looking at him but at her stomach, she said to the group. "I think I'm still hungry. I don't know, but it feels like I have some strange carving right now."
"That's because Reishi based food isn't enough for you. You still need to eat Hollows because of their exorbitant amount of souls they have." Urahara said.
"Wait. Did you just say, souls? Hollows have souls in them and I've been eating them?"
Hearing the frightened tone of Ichigo's voice, the shopkeeper tries to calm him a bit. "Everything has souls, Ichigo-kun. I'm sure when you were alive you ate all kinds of meat and that meat came from animals which had a soul in them. What Hollows do when eating other Hollows is the same as when you eat meat." Urahara was glad he could think of a bullshit explanation like that right away. Who could tell what would happen if the boy knew what he was eating? Seeing the way the boy relaxes more, the shopkeeper turns to Starrk. "Well, looks like we must go to Hueco Mundo now and get Lily-chan some food."
Hearing the blonde mentioning the home of the Hollows, Starrk says. "What do you mean by 'we'?"
Giving Starrk a cheerful smile, the shopkeeper said. "Why, yes 'we' as in you and I, this would be the first time I ever went into Hueco Mundo!" Looking over at the brunette, he hides a serious look from the rest of the group, "There could be so much to learn, Starrk-san."
Understanding what the blonde meant, he gave him a nod before turning to Lily, "Well. Looks like I'm going to Hueco Mundo."
"Wait, why are you taking someone like geta-bōshi here with you!" Lily asked as she pointed a finger at Urahara.
Sweatdropping from the nickname Lily just called him, Urahara pointing a finger at himself. "Geta-bōshi...?"
Ignoring that brief comment, Starrk said, "It's not like I have a lot of choices, Lily. You, Szayel and Ichigo aren't strong enough to deal with any Hollows that Baraggan could send us."
"But you can just kill them with your presence alone! So we don't have to worry about it." Lily counters the brunette's statement.
Shaking his head, Starrk replies. "But if I do that, then Baraggan could just sense us."
"Why would that be a problem? As long as we have Ichigo no one can find us."
Looking at Ichigo with a raised eyebrow, the brunette said, "Did you not tell her about that little detail?"
Giving Starrk a nervous chuckle, Ichigo says, "Heh, I didn't get to tell her that part."
"That's because you were flirting with Lily-chan." Szayel teases.
"Wait, Ichigo lost his cloaking ability?" Lily asks.
"Pretty much."
"What about the Gigai then? Aren't they supposed to hide our presence?" The limenette said while turning towards Urahara.
Coming up with a lie on the spot for the second time that day, the shopkeeper responds, "Actually, we will leave behind our Gigai. I meant them to hide our Reiatsu and with the way Starrk's 'hunts' we need to leave them behind if we want Hollows to come to us."
Showing her displeasure, Lily tries something else. "But why are YOU the one going with him?"
"With us two going into Hueco Mundo then Hollows would come from all over the place when they sense our Reiatsu and if Baraggan comes for us, we can defend ourselves without worrying about any... extra packages." Urahara replies to the now frowning limenette.
Looking at the brunette, Lily said, "Can you really trust him, Starrk?"
"Don't worry about it, okay? Nothing will happen." Starrk understood her worries and tried to calm her down a bit before he turned around and concentrated about opening a Garganta. As his first time, it was tricky to open one up. 'What did Szayel say... to think about the place I want to go, right?' Thinking about the white deserts of Hueco Mundo, he taps the air in front of him and watches as a Garganta opens up. 'Huh, I was expecting it to be harder.' Turning around and looking at the excited Urahara, Starrk pointed over at the Garganta with his left thumb. "Well, there it is now."
"With that part done, here are some actual Reishi-clothes for you Starrk-san." The blonde said as he magically pulled some clothes from inside his coat.
Finding it odd about the blonde having clothes on him, Starrk shrugged it off before he took them.
"Get out your Gigai first, Starrk-san. Since I made the clothes from Reishi, you don't have to do all that weird process at all." Urahara said as he pushed himself out from his Gigai. Even the clothes he's wearing outside the Gigai are the same, too.
Watching the brunette going behind a boulder and feeling Starrk's Reiatsu, the ex-Captain turned around and saw the look Lily was giving him. About ready to give the girl his words that he won't do anything. Lily brought her hand up to stop him before he could say anything.
"I don't trust you. Going to make that clear, okay? But if Starrk trusts you, then I'll put a bit of trust on you, geta-bōshi. But that doesn't mean we're friends or anything." Lily sent him a serious glare.
All the blonde did was give her a nod. Urahara watches as Ichigo steps in front of him now. "I don't know if you guys are planning on going to Menos Park, but the Guardian wanted me to find him there. I don't know why, but can you guys see what he wanted?"
Giving the boy a gentle smile and nod, Urahara says, "We'll go to Menos Park." Then he turned around when he felt the older Arrancar behind him.
Starrk was looking down at his new attire. He was wearing a white jacket outlined in black, though altered with the collar upturned. He still had a black sash around his waist like a matador, white gloves, white hakama, black tabi, and white zōri. Just looking over at his new clothes brought him memories about the Shinigami Captains. 'Is like I'm wearing their clothes.'
"You have a weird sense of humor, Urahara." Starrk told the shopkeeper who was hiding a smile behind his fan.
"How about we leave now, Starrk-san?" The blonde replied as he started moving towards the Garganta. Seeing Starrk coming behind him, Urahara turned to Szayel and said, "Well, my young apprentice, you can use my lab now. Just be sure to put everything back to their place!" With that last comment, both of them left.
Straightening his apron, Tessai looks to the group of Hollows. "If any of you need me for anything, I will be watching over the store now."
Watching the man leave, Szayel turns to both kids before excusing himself and heading over towards Urahara's lab.
With everyone else gone, Ichigo was ready to excuse himself as well from Lily and try to see if he could talk to Zangetsu again when he stopped upon seeing the look on her face. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Looking at the boy with a worried expression on her face, Lily says, "Sorry is just that… this is the first time Starrk and I have ever been away from each other."
"But what about the times he goes hunting, and he leaves us alone?" Ichigo asks with a raised eyebrow.
Lily shook her head. "That's different, Ichigo. At least then I knew where he was and knew that he was doing okay, but now... He's in Hueco Mundo and I'm here at some shop. Is it just that, I feel alone, okay?" Seeing the confused look on redhead's face, she looked down at the ground before saying. "You don't know this Ichigo because we never told you about it, but both Starrk and I are one soul. We have such a connection no one could understand, okay? But now I can't sense that connection."
Just watching her brooding about it made him feel sad. Maybe it was the fact of how she still felt alone with him being there for her. Putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze, he says, "Hey, you're never alone, you know. I will always be here for you, Lily."
"Thank you, Ichigo." Lily said as she gave him a small smile before turning into a smirk, "Hey, I just remember that I can use Sonido now! I bet I'm faster than you!"
"You're on." Ichigo replies with a smirk of his own.
- Hueco Mundo-
Coming out from the Garganta, Urahara looks around the world of Hollows. It was, well, to be honest, he wasn't expecting much. Only seeing white sand, a few rocks and trees was just so downright disappointing. Looking up at the dark sky, all he saw was the moon. 'Huh, maybe I was excited about nothing.' With all the Hollows running around here and possibly Aizen too, he didn't want to get found so soon and put on the cloak. He looks at Starrk before asking about meeting the Guardian first before doing the 'hunting' part of their visit.
Looking at the blonde and sensing that his Reiatsu vanished. Starrk cock an eyebrow before saying, "Is that cloak hiding your Reiatsu?" He watches as Urahara throws him a cloak.
"It would be bad if someone was to sense a Shinigami and a powerful Hollow, Starrk-san."
"And by someone, you mean Aizen and Baraggan?"
Giving the brunette a nod and watching him put the cloak on, Urahara started looking around before going back to Starrk. "Well, then let us get started now."
"Right." Remembering how to get there faster, Starrk raises one of his arms and aims it at the white sand before he fires a blue Cero and makes a hole for the world down under. He gave a lazy wave over to Urahara. "All we need to do now is head down, and we'll be at Menos Park. After that, I can search for the Guardian easily, seeing how he's the only Hollow's Reiatsu I remember from here."
Seeing how Starrk moves closer and lays a hand on him, the blonde asks, "Umm, what are you doing Starrk-san?"
"Trust me, we'll get there faster."
Urahara wasn't fast enough to tell the Arrancar that he can just Shunpo down when Starrk uses a quick Sonido.
Unknown to both of them, however, two different Hollows pick up Starrk's Reiatsu before vanishing.
One of them appeared to be a Smilodon. Its forelimbs have a gold color that started from his paws all up to his elbows, which have an unusual double-edged straight blade that was coming out from them. The rest of his body was black fur with gold stripes running down his back. It has a long, black and gold striped tail that also ends up with a double-edged blade. Turning around to where he senses Starrk, the Smilodon-Hollow squinted his golden eyes, "So you have returned, Fantasma. Baraggan-sama will be pleased." The Hollow turned towards the direction of his majesty, a blissful look coming to his face upon giving his king the good news.
In the complete opposite direction of the Smilodon-Hollow. Was a small humanoid size Hollow that has a full white mask and body, large black wings mounted on his lower back. His mask covered his entire face, with a line running up the middle, diverging into three near the top of his head. The most interesting detail about Hollow's mask was the lack of both a mouth and a nose. From his ear level, two horns sprouted out. The bat-like Hollow looks towards the direction from where he senses Starrk. 'They're back.'
Just like the last time Starrk had come to the world under the white desert, a group of Hollows was at the end of his blue Cero. Once touching the ground, Starrk let go of the blonde. Looking around, the brunette notices the way there seems to be a lack of Hollows. Last time he was down here in Menos Park, the place was crawling with Hollows. Sure, Ichigo was with him and Hollows didn't sense him, but he could still see them around and such. However, right now he couldn't even see any of them. 'Am I imagining things? What the hell is going on down here.'
Urahara was looking at Starrk with a baffled look. The man was fast. He won't disregard it. It was fast how little time he took coming down here. Only one other person came to his mind about being faster than the brunette. 'Until we find out if his full powers would come back to him and if it does, he could be faster than you Yoruichi-san.'
Back in the Human World, one black feline releases a sneeze.
"Hey. I found him. I think." Starrk said as he kept looking over towards the west.
"You know Starrk-san." Begin the blonde while looking around the 'Park', "I was expecting Hueco Mundo to be more active with all the Hollows, but I'm not sensing many of them near us."
'So I wasn't wrong.' Looking at the ex-captain, Starrk says, "I don't know, but something's not right here. We need to go find the Guardian now." Moving over to lay a hand on the blonde so they can move faster with a Sonido, he stops when Urahara raises his hand.
"I can use Shunpo to follow you. So just lead the way, Starrk-san." The shopkeeper said. With a nod, the brunette disappears with a Sonido and with his sharp eyes he follows behind him.
After some time and stopping on a branch, Starrk looked around him when he sensed how the Guardian was close by. He kept his distance away—he could kill him by getting too close. The Arrancar also took notice of the lack of Hollows he was sensing, almost like they stayed away from this specific area. Looking at his surroundings and realizing where he ended up arriving surprised him. This was actually where he saved the Guardian from the Shinigami all those months ago. Starrk could see the empty field that his Cero caused when he got rid of the Shinigami. Honestly, he wasn't expecting to come back here of all places.
Looking at Urahara, the brunette pointed over at some roots with his head before saying, "He's over there. So how do we go with this? If I get too close around him, there's a chance he'll die and he won't trust someone random like you."
"You don't need to be so far away from him, Starrk-san, just close enough for him to hear and see you."
With nothing more been said, both men disappear with their respective ability and reappear in the middle of the field.
"Oi! Guardian, is me, Starrk." He said while looking towards where he could sense the Hollow hiding at.
Hearing the voice of the man who saved him back in the Human World was a total relief for the Guardian, with the whole mess that happened back at the park and then when he came back to Hueco Mundo of all places to end up in an even bigger mess. Releasing a quiet sigh and coming out from his hiding spot, while keeping his distance, the Hollow came into view.
Both Hollows took notice of extra details from the last time they saw each other.
The Guardian noticed how it was only just Starrk and some blonde. Why isn't Ichigo with him? Did something happen back in the human world? "Starrk-san, where's Ichigo-sama?"
Both men have one of their eyebrows lifted, but for two different reasons. Urahara's reason was with how the Hollow has addressed Ichigo. While Starrk's reason was the new detail on the Guardian and that was the addition of a bit of plum color hair coming out from the right side of his mask, which has a crack on it. "What the hell happened to you?" Starrk recalled his memories of the Guardian. He was sure the Hollow had no strand of hair or a crack on him.
Knowing what the brunette was talking about, he frowned, "It's complicated to explain Starrk-san." However, being worried about why only Starrk was here, the Guardian lost his frown and a more panicked expression came to his face, "Never mind about the mask where's Ichigo-sama? Everyone made it out alive, right?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it, we all made it out okay." Starrk pointed over to Urahara, "This man over here gave us a place to hide while a couple of us recover." Seeing the Hollow calm down a little more around Urahara; still dubious though since he couldn't sense him, the brunette asks him a few things he needed to know. "Why was it you were in the Human World?"
"I'm sorry about that Starrk-san, that wasn't a situation I wish to have been in." The Guardian answered back with a frown on his face. "I follow behind a group of Hollows that show up here. They were recruiting Hollows about going into the Human World. I heard them talk among themselves about how their 'boss' wanted them to take down some Shinigami. I didn't catch a name or anything, and when we ended up in the Human World, I tried to convince them to come back, but they didn't listen. They just kept telling me that the boss was promising power." The Hollow shook his head when he remembered what happened after that. "First came a single Shinigami, a petite woman if I remember right. Some of them started getting impatient and then came the Shinigami Squad. They just started going wild with them, but when only a few of them remained, the captains showed up and things went straight to Hell after that."
"Do you think their boss was Baraggan?" Starrk asks.
Hearing that name coming out from Starrk got his skin to pale. "How do you know that name, Starrk-san?"
"How do you know that name?" Starrk raised one of his eyebrows when he noticed the way the Hollow was unconsciously reaching over to the side of his broken mask.
"Everyone knows that name down here. There are many Hollows who decide never to go up to the white deserts of Hueco Mundo because they fear him. I'm one of them." Lowering down his hand, the Guardian finished with a whisper. "But I guess even down here we can't escape his rule."
Being quiet for most of the time, Urahara asks, "Excuse me Guardian-san, but Ichigo asks us to come here because you asked him to come find you. So if you don't mind, we can relay the message to him." Urahara said nothing as he heard a hollow laugh from the Guardian.
Spreading his arms, the Hollow yelled out, "This is what I wanted to show him!" Both men started looking around, trying to find out what it was before they looked back at the still laughing Hollow. "This… This place was full of Hollows that wish to live a quiet life. Just eat when we need to, try to help anyone from the Shinigami or any other dangerous Hollows, and to become a Guardian..."
Urahara's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Were Hollows such social creatures? Sure they saw and recorded Hollows in packs before, most of them were the hunting-group type, but that was all anyone had about them. Now here he was hearing about how a Hollow was making a haven for his kind. All because a boy asked him to, but looking around he didn't find any Hollows. "What happened?" The shopkeeper asked.
Lowering his arms and looking at both men, the Guardian said, "Two days after I returned from the Human World there was a rumor going around. Apparently, some powerful Hollow had appeared and had been killing off Hollows left and right. Most of them were Baraggan's followers. No one knows who the Hollow is, not only because no one has returned when they try to reach him, but it disappears just as fast as it appears. Because of that, Baraggan named the Hollow; El Fantasma, The Phantom. Baraggan apparently had enough of this Hollow and ordered his men to hunt it down. I don't know how this part of the rumor came to be, but someone said they felt El Fantasma down here." A frown decorated his face again. "On the 3rd day, the entirety of Menos Park was in chaos when Baraggan and his army were down here searching for the Hollow. He then stumbled upon us and asked why so many Hollows were here."
Releasing a quiet sigh, the Guardian shook his head, "I don't know why I said it, but I told him how this was a home for those who wish to protect and try living a simple life. Baraggan laughs and asks me who would do such foolishness when I told him that is what a Guardian should do. Getting nothing but more laughs from Baraggan, he asked me who would live for the weak, when I said how it was what my master wanted." A grimace look came to his face, "Apparently those weren't the right words to have said because he asked me who my master was, I spoke none of your names, and when I said nothing he slaughtered everyone. He said how grateful he was about losing some stress from not being able to find El Fantasma. Before he left, one of his men gave me a reminder about who my only master should be."
The Guardian's story shocked Starrk. The rumor is talking about him. How no Hollow returns because he kills them with his Reiatsu to feed Ichigo, the way its presence disappears because he used Ichigo's ability to hide from everyone and the only reason Baraggan's mad was because he refused his invitation. Did his actions by using Ichigo's ability backfire this much? Did he just get a bunch of Hollow slaughter because he hid from Baraggan? What should he say to the Guardian? He feels like an apology wouldn't do any justice. Before Starrk could say anything he heard the Hollow speak up first.
"I guess this is what I deserve."
"What?! You don't deserve any of this because of me!"
Both men look at the Guardian, shocked at his unpredictable words. It was Starrk who looked at the Hollow with a bigger shock and was the one who replied while Urahara stayed quiet.
"It was all because of me that this happened to you. If I didn't hide from Baraggan all this time and maybe confronted him or something none of this would have happened." Starrk didn't know why he was apologizing now. 2 years ago he wouldn't have cared about it and he would have just shrugged it off. He would have told himself that this is just a way of life here, but with Ichigo coming into his life, the boy has opened up a lot of emotions through their travels.
He never cared when first hearing the name Baraggan coming out from a dying Hollow and after some time and going back to hunting, the name kept popping up and that got him to worry. He had never told Ichigo or Lily about it, not wanting them to feel concerned, but after that, he started hiding them away from sight to protect them. He traveled more, not just to get more food but to stay away from Baraggan's henchman too. Then after Szayel joined them, he was watchful over the Hollow but after a while, his worries washed away. But then came the day when he asked Szayel about Baraggan. While he had a careless look on the outside, he was going through different emotions on the inside.
Then came the day when they visited Ichigo's hometown and things went to hell. With the redhead losing his ability, he had no choice but to receive the aid of a total stranger. It was a stupid decision, and he knew it. Everyone's life could have been in danger. Then came the day when he met Ichigo's father and made a promise to the man about keeping Ichigo safe. He went from being careless to overprotective.
And it was all because of Ichigo.
Does he regret it? No, he doesn't. Ichigo saved him in a way no one could have done, so protecting the boy now is the least he could do.
Not hearing the Hollow talk back, Starrk was ready to repeat himself when the Guardian shook his head.
"Been your fault or not, it doesn't matter Starrk-san because I had this coming to me."
"What do you mean?" said Urahara.
"I remember everything when I was alive. I remember what I did to get me here. I was a coward then and I'm a coward now." Releasing an empty laugh, the Hollow continued. "When I was alive, I did nothing to help my wife when she got assaulted. I froze in fear and watched as the mugger killed her; just as I watched the Hollows die instead of fighting back when I saw the power that Baraggan had shown. It scared me."
"That doesn't mean you have to pay for what I have done." Starrk replied.
"What happened was nothing but a reminder of why I became…. this." the Guardian said as he pointed at himself before he went back to explain. "After some time of drowning in my sorrow and misery did I have enough and decided to end it. Then I learned from some Shinigami how I couldn't move to the afterlife. The Shinigami could do nothing to help me, and then I became a Hollow." Looking at Starrk, the Hollow said, "So yes, it's not your fault when I'm the one who did nothing."
"Doesn't mean I won't do anything about it, Guardian." Starrk said with a voice full of conviction.
"Gerald."
"What?"
"My name is Gerald Castillos."
Starrk nods, he knew from Szayel how some Hollows could remember their past life if the mask received some damage. "Just keep living your promise to Ichigo, Gerald. I'll deal with Baraggan in the upcoming future."
"You're going to face Baraggan?" Gerald didn't know how he felt about that. If he remembers right, the brunette was powerful when he first sensed him all those months back. It was only a quick peek. So he doesn't know how powerful he's compared to Baraggan, who had front row seats to see the power the King of Hueco Mundo has.
"Yeah, I will, so don't worry about it." Trying to wrap everything up, Starrk asks Gerald one last thing. "Ichigo told me you sense Shinigami here before. But we want to make something clear. Is it only just one Shinigami or a squad of them?"
While it was an odd question, Gerald looked back to his memories before answering back. "Well. They felt powerful, quiet, powerful, but I could sense at least 3 at most."
Finishing up with questioning Gerald, both men left back to the top of Hueco Mundo.
"Well. At least you got some answers," Starrk told the silent shopkeeper.
Being quiet for most of the time, Urahara has been trying to understand what Aizen, of all people, is trying to do here. "Guess you can say that Starrk-san. So Gerald seemed to sense three Shinigami; one of them is definitely Aizen."
"Why believe Aizen's involved in this as well? It could be some other Shinigami." Starrk questioned the blonde. Not everything could involve Aizen in it.
"Aizen was working with Hollowfication and he infected 8 victims. Then Aizen created the Hollow that Isshin fought against, and now we have Shinigami here in Hueco Mundo." A grimace expression came to Urahara's face. "Aizen is working around one subject, and that's Hollows."
"Maybe we just need to wait and see?"
"I don't think we have time to wait."
Taking a slow glance at the blonde, Starrk said, "Why not? If he had something up his sleeves, he would have done something already instead of waiting over 100 years. Kind of strange, you know."
"Yes. Strange." Urahara said as he brought up his fan. "Well, we should 'hunt' now. Right?"
"Yep."
- Urahara's Basement-
"Ughh. Ichigo you're an idiot." Lily groaned as she was lying on the floor.
"Sorry, I forgot." Ichigo groans back.
Turning her head towards the boy, Lily sent him a mock glare. "How can you forget the fact that using Sonido a lot will bring back our hunger? Idiot."
Ichigo didn't even say anything back and just let his stomach speak for him; all it did was make growling noises. It's been 20 minutes since Starrk left and all they have been doing is using Sonido non-stop. It was fun at first, but then came the hunger. 'How can I forget something like this?'
'Cause you're an idiot? Sheesh, I thought your girlfriend already made that clear kid.'
Hearing a familiar voice, Ichigo did the first thing that came to his mind, which was screaming the man's name, "ZANGETSU!"
'Sup kid. Been a while, eh?'
"Yeah!"
"Umm Ichigo, who are you talking to?" Lily asks while looking at Ichigo with a raised eyebrow.
Blushing from embarrassment because of the random outburst, Ichigo scratched his cheek before answering back. "Remember how I let someone take over my body?"
"Yeeaah~?"
"Well, I'm talking to him right now." Now that he thought about it, "Hey how come you're finally talking to me now?" While he couldn't see it, Ichigo was confident that he could 'see' the shrug Zangetsu did.
Releasing a sigh, Lily started rubbing her temples. "Let's just go ask Szayel if he has something to eat. I don't want to ask the Shinigami." She said while heading towards where she saw the black mask Hollow go.
Just sending her a nod, Ichigo follows behind the limenette while talking to Zangetsu in a low voice. "Hey um Zangetsu, can we talk about something?"
'Does this involve me training you?'
"Eh! How did you know that?" Ichigo said with a surprised look on his face.
'Heard you said it, kid.' Before Ichigo could ask him to train him, Zangetsu stops him. 'And no, I can't help you. Not now, at least.'
"What!? Why not?!"
Sending Ichigo a deadpan look, not as he could see it, Zangetsu said, 'How am I exactly going to help you?'
While still following the girl, Ichigo thought about how right Zangetsu was. How can he actually train with him? The man was. 'Wait where is he, anyway?'
'In your mindscape, where else?'
'Mindscape?' After a few seconds of silence, Ichigo realizes that Zangetsu had replied to him. 'Wait, what!? We can just talk like this too?'
'Cool, huh?'
Ichigo could just sense the smirk Zangetsu was sending him. 'Did you know we can do this? Lily has been looking back at me while I kept talking to myself!' With a fluster coming to his face, he kept talking or thinking. 'Ugh, I bet she thinks I'm some kind weirdo now.'
'Don't worry about it, strawberry. I'm sure your girlfriend doesn't think of you as some weirdo.'
'NOT MY GIRLFRIEND DAMN IT!'
'Sheesh, kid, how long are you gonna deny that? I got 5 days worth of memory from you watching her while she recovered.'Thinking about poking the kid more, Zangetsu sent him a playful grin, not like Ichigo could see it. 'She was right about how you sounded like a stalker.'
'Ugh! Is there a mute option or something like that inside my mindscape?'
'Let me try to find it. I'm sure I saw it here somewhere.'
'Smartass.'
Getting back to business, Zangetsu answered the boy's question. 'To be fair, Ichigo, right now there's not much I can help you with. I can teach you Cero or even the Cero Capa but that's about it.' That was a lie. He could teach the boy how to use Getsuga Tenshō, but for that, he needed a sword. Now that he thought about it. 'Ichigo by any chance, did you have a sword when you woke up in Hueco Mundo?'
'Sword?' Thinking back on the 2 years ago, Ichigo was sure there was no sword with him. He was sure Starrk would have said something IF a sword was around him. 'No sword if I remember right.'
Thinking about it now, Ichigo didn't even have a mask either. That's not right at all. 'Ichigo, you don't have a mask, but you still have your hole, right?'
Ichigo could pick up a bit of concern in Zangetsu's voice. 'Yeah, that's right. Should that be a problem?'
'I don't know.' What does this even mean? There's no way Ichigo is even there yet. Is it because of what the kid is? Hell, he was sure a hybrid like Ichigo had never been born before. Maybe he could test something out first. 'Hey Ichigo, I need you to do something right now.'
Finally reaching the lab, Ichigo watched as Lily went over to Szayel—who seems to work on something—before replying to Zangetsu. 'Sure what is it?'
'Remember how you got to fix Szayel's mask?'
'Yeah?' Ichigo didn't understand why that should matter right now. Wasn't he asking about a sword?
'I want you to do that again. Gather Reishi in your hand but then I want you to swipe it across your face.'
Ichigo sent Zangetsu a stupefied look.'What? What could that do?'
'Damn it strawberry just do it!'
'I don't know if I can even do that! I'm inside a Gigai, you know.'
'Yeah, I know. A 'Gigai' made by some bastard of a Shinigami, but he said how it will only HIDE your Reiatsu. Nothing about how you can't use it.'
Ichigo has to give Zangetsu a point there. 'All right then.' Remembering how to do it, he gathers Reishi in his hand before wiping it across his face. While he couldn't see it, Ichigo was now wearing a mask across his face. His mask has two thick vertical blue stripes, each on one half of the mask; interrupted by the widened eye-holes and the jaw. The other special feature of the mask was black coloration.
"Ichigo?/Ichigo?"
Looking over at Szayel and Lily, the boy notices the astonished look they were giving him. "What? Is there something on my face?"
- Hueco Mundo-
Done with the 'hunting', Starrk looks over at the 4 only bodies they seem to collect. "Looks like most Hollows don't care about my Reiatsu now." This has never happened before. Usually, his Reiatsu would bring hordes of Hollows. Did the rumors about him spread across Hueco Mundo this fast?
"Well, it's better off this way." Turning towards the Arrancar, Urahara sends the man a deadpan look. "It's not like we're gonna bring back a mountain of them back with us."
Starrk only just shook his head. "Oh, if only you knew how much Ichigo could eat."
Looking over at the 4 Hollows' body, Kisuke started tapping his fan on his chin. "Well. Maybe I can work with something here."
"Like what?" Starrk raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know. Maybe make some food pills?" The blonde replied while scratching his head. "Well, guess we should go now, huh?" Only getting a nod back, Urahara watches curiously as Starrk removes his cloak instead of opening up a Garganta. "Umm, Starrk-san, what are you doing?"
Flaring his Reiatsu, Starrk raises his arm up before focusing on the biggest Cero he could make. Looking over at the curious blonde, Starrk releases his blue Cero before replying to him. "Just doing a little declaration."
Urahara said nothing as he senses a powerful Hollow's Reiatsu. 'There's no way something that strong could be here!' Looking over at where he could sense the Reiatsu, the ex-captain noticed the way someone else responded to Starrk's Cero with their own Cero. A Purple Cero to be exact.
Starrk nor Urahara had to guess from who the Cero came from.
'There's no way Starrk can go against something like that right now. If Lily kept his powers, he would not stand a chance against Baraggan.' Looking over as Starrk opens up a Garganta and picks up 2 Hollows, Urahara picks up the last remaining 2 before following the brunette. 'Are you really going to face something like that Starrk-san? For Ichigo no less.'
Coming out from the Garganta, both men look around them when they notice the lack of people. No Szayel, Tessai, and the kids. Well, not true. Urahara could sense the Hollow at his lab and since he couldn't sense Tessai he could guess the man was watching over the shop. Just asking Starrk to follow him to his lab, they were both shocked to see Ichigo with a black mask on, they drop the bodies.
Hearing something hitting the ground, the masked boy turns around to see the shocked looks of Starrk and Urahara. Before he could ask them anything he looks at the dead Hollows before releasing a long groan. "Ughhh! You have no clue how hungry I am."
Starrk runs a hand down his face before looking at Ichigo. "So discover something new I see."
-X-
White sand.
Dark sky.
White moon.
Rocks.
Trees.
How many times has he seen this before? How long has he been seeing the same thing?
Looking around, he notices the same thing as always.
He's alone.
Was there something wrong with his appearance? He doesn't look strange. Sure he has hock legs like some dog and his waist, legs and forearms covered in thick, gray fur. Then there was the blue-gray skin that started from his upper waist before ending along his neck and then there were the sharp claws his hands ended up with and a puff gray tail.
Moving his hand to his face, the Hollow reached over to his mask. So many times he has been touching it and he finally guesses what he's wearing. It's a wolf skull. A wolf skull surrounded by blue Reiatsu that took the form of a lion's mane.
Walking over in a random direction the Lycan-Hollow spotted a group of five Hollows eating.
This is his chance. Maybe he can get close enough to them. Drifting, the Lycan-Hollow was only ten yards away when he noticed how all the Hollows started staring at him. Taking one step more, he notices how one Hollow seems to fall over while the other four Hollows seem rooted to their spot. Taking his chance and taking another step, he watches as another Hollow falls over. That's okay though, there's still three more left. Another step and another one fell. Two Left and he was still not even close to them. Another step and the last two fell over dead.
Just like the others.
Guess he'll just need to look somewhere else right now. To look for some form of company. He doesn't want to be—
"Alone."
Waking up with a cold sweat and breathing heavily, Starrk looks around him, expecting to be in the white sands of Hueco Mundo. Seeing how he was still down in Urahara's basement, he lay back and covered his eyes with his arm. 'What the hell was that. Was that a dream?' Could he even have dreams? Being alive for so long and sleeping so much, Starrk has never had a dream before. Never. 'Maybe it was a nightmare?' He just shook his head.
Dream or nightmare this never happened before.
Still breathing heavily, Starrk notices how there seems to be some weight press on his chest. Feeling the weight starting to suffocate him, Starrk stood up only to still feel a weight on his chest. Not even thinking about it, he pushes himself out from his Gigai and starts filling his lungs with air. 'What. The. Hell. Was. THAT.' Feeling his breathing going back to normal, the Arrancar walked over to his Gigai only to see the face starting to get cracks all over it.
He kept staring at his Gigai. 'Something tells me this shouldn't be happening.' Starting to feel a bit worried, he grabbed the Gigai before using a Sonido and going to Urahara's lab. Getting there, Starrk notices how both Szayel and Urahara were working with the only remaining Hollow they brought back. It's been about four hours since they returned and asked Ichigo how he got a mask. After an explanation and eating, both Hollow and Reishi food, both kids left the basement and went up to the store. This left Szayel, Urahara and himself down here. Tessai was still looking over at the store and the kids if he had to take a guess.
"Is everything okay, Starrk-san?" Szayel asks. The black mask Hollow, just like Urahara, could sense the man when he left his Gigai. Is he going back to Hueco Mundo again so soon? They brought him up to the events that occurred in Hueco Mundo. While he didn't like what's waiting for them back home, he doesn't have much of a choice now. He has to wait for Starrk's training to start now so they have at least the chance to survive back in Hueco Mundo.
Looking over at the shaggy blonde, Starrk answered Szayel's question. "The Gigai just broke."
Blinking a few times, the ex-Captain repeated the words back. "The Gigai broke?" Watching Starrk lift the Gigai and pointing at the cracks that seem to decorate its face now. Urahara repeated the words again, this time with a bit of a shock in his tone. "The Gigai broke." That's not something his Gigais should do. He made them strong, especially Starrk's Gigai, so that something like this wouldn't happen. While they hide Reiatsu, it's also meant to cram the Reiatsu together so that not too much was all over the place. 'The only way Starrk's Gigai would have broken down is if he just had... too... much... Reiatsu.'
"Well. Guess this answers our question Starrk-san." Urahara brought up his fan to his face.
While not getting it right away, Starrk knew what the blonde meant. "You don't mean..."
"That's right. Seems like you're going back to being 'whole' again."
-X-
And here's chapter 8.
Sooo what to say about this chapter...hmmm. Well, this chapter WAS suppose to have a scene in Soul Society but I decided to push it for the next chapter. I feel like maybe people would think I bullshit the whole Hollows eating reishi part but is not really much BS. Shinigami eat also and from what we know they have to eat at least some form of Reishi base food to have energy and such. I did how bullshit the whole soul aging thing. I trying looking up how Shinigami age but I never found anything.
So now we have a bit more on the insight of what Zangetsu did with Lily. Starrk will go back to be 'Full' again. And Ichigo is now feeling Lily? Hmm lol. On another note I gave the Guardian a name :D Don't wanna just keep calling him that. Lol
I think someone would mention this but I'm gonna save Y'all some time. Am I making Baraggan strong enough to compete against Starrk? Yes. Yes, I am. To be fair Baraggan is like really F'ing OP. Like seriously. I don't know why such BS happen in both the anime and manga to make him look pathetic with the way he lost. BUT I'm gonna change that in this story. He's actually going to be one of the main antagonists in this story.
Hmmm, still no Beta so sorry if I made some mistake!