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.
Chapter 20: Let's talk Politics
-X-
"Will you tour around Karakura Town?"
Renji looked up from the paperwork to look at his Captain; Byakuya staring at his own set of work. He rubbed a hand across his chest, tracing the scar Zangetsu left him. "Does that mean it's our turn?"
The noble shook his head. "It's not our turn. Captain Ukitake doesn't have someone to take with him."
'What about Rukia.' Renji didn't voice his thought directly. "I was sure he already had someone in mind to take to the Human World."
"Rukia won't go anywhere near the Human World."
"Is that her decision, sir?" Renji flinched as his Captain glared at him.
"It was mine."
The redhead said nothing as he put down his work. "Is Captain Ukitake leaving right now?" He saw his Captain nod, not even looking at him. He stood up and headed to the door before stopping and asking about who else would tour Karakura Town. His Captain didn't look at him as he answered.
"Captain Komamura and Suì-Fēng, with their respected Lieutenants."
His eyes widened as he heard of the petite captain. "Captain Suì-Fēng's coming? With Lieutenant—"
"Yes." Byakuya interrupted. "Head to the Senkaimon before they leave you behind."
He sprinted out from the room, heading straight to the Senkaimon in a hurry but soon as he walked out from his Division, Renji slowed down and walked. He was having a hard time believing that Suì-Fēng would return to the Human World to hunt the infamous Hollow after her two years of hiatus, and with her Lieutenant of all people too. 'Two years.' It shouldn't mean anything to him. Years was just a word that meant time had passed by. So for a Shinigami, two years meant nothing if you could live for centuries. But, in those two years, things really changed. More than what he ever expected.
-Flashback, 4 months after the 2nd park incident-
Renji followed Lieutenant Kotetsu as she led him across the 4th Division to see Rukia, his friend finally ready to leave. He stops as the tall, silver-haired woman knocks on a door.
"You have a visitor, Rukia." Isane peek inside the room first before moving from the door and allowing him to walk in. "Lieutenant Abarai came to escort you out."
"Yo." He said to Rukia, his friend was already back to wearing her Shinigami uniform. "Finally ready to leave this place?" He walks her out the Division and keeps guiding her towards the local bar that off-duty Shinigami like to hang around at, she notices right away since he wasn't taking her to her home or Division.
"Renji, where are we going?"
"The bar." He said, and from the corner of his eyes he saw Rukia frown.
"You know I don't drink."
"I know but," He stops to think before shrugging off his shoulders. "Well, supposed to be a surprise for when you got there, but a lot of people have been asking for you. Rangiku, Kira, Momo, and some other Lieutenants."
"Why didn't they come and visit me then?" Her frown deepened.
"Your brother shooed them away, saying that you needed to rest and recover."
"Ah."
They walked in silence until they reached the local bar, Rangiku's drunken voice reaching his ears. "Oh great, she already started drinking." He slides the door open to see the commotion the woman may have already started, but to his great disbelief, the rest of the customers didn't seem to bother with her random outbursts. Usually a few Shinigami would laugh with her or be looking at her, but most of them were looking down at their drinks while taking quick glances at them and whispering among each other. "What the hell."
He looked over to where he saw Rangiku and walked towards her, Rukia right behind him. "Sheesh, you couldn't have waited for Rukia to get here." He scowled as he took a seat next to Shūhei, Rukia taking a seat between him and Iba. He saw Rangiku's face planted on the table, and Momo was rubbing the woman's back. "Don't worry about her Momo," he said as he filled himself a glass. "She's just drunk right now."
"Momo, are you okay?" Rukia asked.
As he heard her, he looked at the 5th Division Lieutenant and noticed that she was crying. How didn't he notice that?
"Rukia?" Rangiku looked up and just like Momo, the woman was crying. "RUKIA!" One last sniffed and wiping the tears with her hand, the strawberry blonde filled a glass for Rukia. "I haven't seen you in forever! I'd been trying to sneak into your room to see you, but your brother left a few guards outside the door to keep everyone but nurses outside." She shoves the drink into Rukia's hands.
"Well, you know how Nii-sama can get." The petite woman replied.
"See, I told you they were already here!" Ikkaku said.
Yumichika flicked his hair as he took a seat next to Rangiku. "Sorry, but you know how long it takes for my hair to finish."
"Aren't I glad I don't have any." The bald man mutters before looking at the gathering. "Now that everyone is here, let's drink."
Half an hour passed by before he finally realized how the bar had still stayed quiet. "Sheesh, what's wrong with everyone today?" He whispers to Rukia, who took a sip of her cup, still not even done with her first drink.
"I don't know."
"Okay, you know what, I'm dying to hear it." Ikkaku leaned forward towards him and grinned. "You have been keeping your lips tight and sealed about what happened in the Human World. So spill all the details, tell me about your encounter with Zangetsu." His words cause the surrounding mood to drop.
Yumichika twirled his drink before taking a sip. "It was that bad, huh?"
"You have no idea." Rangiku said.
"C'mon then!" The bald man slammed his hands on the table. "You guys battle and survive the infamous Zangetsu so I wanna hear all the nice detail in how you guys fought him off."
"Fought him off?" He glared at his drink. "We…" he trembles with rage as he remembers how weak Zangetsu made him feel. "We got our asses handed to us, that's what happened." He directed his glare towards Ikkaku, the bald man didn't flinch but he could see his eagerness disappearing. "We didn't stand a fucking chance. Right from the start, Zangetsu took out both Rukia and Ōmaeda in seconds. We couldn't even react because he froze us with his Reiatsu. We probably only lasted a minute against him."
"Is that true?"
He turned to a Shinigami who asked the question. The bar was silent and listening to him now, but he could hear a few of them whispering. "Yeah, it's true. We didn't stand a chance."
"Why are we still looking for this Hollow?"
"Of course they lasted a minute, they're only Lieutenants."
"But even the captains couldn't kill Zangetsu!"
"Isn't this the third time Zangetsu has gotten away?"
The bar erupted into questions, and he had the half-consciousness to agree with most of them. He understood how they couldn't leave Zangetsu to roam around freely with just how dangerous the Hollow had become, but why waste so much time and men to take him down? Why couldn't Central 46 order all the Captains to go after the Hollow? Why must only three of them head towards the Human World while the rest stay behind? He was sure that not even Zangetsu could survive a battle against all the captains of the Gotei 13. Or why can't the Captain-commander go after the Hollow?
"You know it's not an easy job to find Zangetsu." Kira said, gaining the party and the bar's attention. "Captain Ichimaru told me about an odd ability Zangetsu possesses. Apparently the Hollow can hide his presence; Reiatsu and everything."
"So the Hollow knows how to hide." Shūhei took a sip of his drip. "That would explain how even Captain Suì-Fēng can't find the Hollow."
"But how is he still too hard to find? All we have to do is increase our numbers." Iba said.
"You know this Hollow could hide anywhere, right?" Kira told Iba. "The Human World is a big place and either way, we don't even know if the Hollow returned to Hueco Mundo. So what can we do?"
"Send some of our Captains into Hueco Mundo?" A random Shinigami question, causing the blonde to shake his head.
"That would be an ugly idea." Yumichika said. "If we send some of our troops into the Human World and Hueco Mundo, then that would leave Soul Society mostly defenseless. Making it easier for Zangetsu to attack us. Zangetsu could be here and we may not know it because of his ability."
"That's not even the worst part." Momo said, causing everyone to look at her. "Captain Aizen told me about the Captain meeting they had after what happened and the dreadful news about Captain Ukitake's report." She shivers at what her captain told her. "Zangetsu is some soldier who's a follower of the King of Hueco Mundo that leads an army full of monsters like Zangetsu..."
"No way that's real." Iba asked in disbelief.
"It's real," He said. "Captain Kuchiki told me about the other Hollow that Zangetsu came with. He and Captain Suì-Fēng fought him and they couldn't even beat it."
"So there's not only a bigger monster out there that's stronger than Zangetsu, but there's more like him, too?" Rukia spoke, feeling her stomach twist itself into a knot. "Are they building an army to fight us?"
He looked around the bar as everyone broke out into whispers. He could understand their reasons for sounding scared and worried. When his captain told him about it, the scar on his chest started burning. Was he ready to fight in a war against powerful opponents like Zangetsu? 'Only if I want to end up like Marechiyo.' Thinking about the late 2nd Division Lieutenant, he raises his cup and silently makes a toast. He may not know what happened, but from what he understood and got told, Ōmaeda had to sacrifice his life to save theirs. 'I'm sorry that I only talked to you because you were rich.'
"Renji?"
Hearing his name, he turns to look at Rukia and realizes that everyone else was staring at him. He looks at his raised cup. "To Ōmaeda, his death won't be in vain. We'll find Zangetsu and bring him down." He drank to his fellow late lieutenant.
"Where is he…"
He turned to look at the speaker and was more than blown away to see a young girl with long, light-brown hair and green eyes wearing a pink kimono with white flowers patterns inside a bar. "What are you doing here, kid?" Instead of answering his question, the kid asked the same thing again, making him scowl. "Go home kid, you shouldn't be here." He saw the girl ignore him and started looking around the group when her eyes landed on Rukia.
"You! You're from the Kuchiki Clan, right?" The girl asked.
"I... well... I am..." Rukia sputtered as she looked around the bar to find the girl's parents. "You should go home, your parents might be worried about you."
"M-mayero."
An out of breath voice spoke and he turned to the bar's entrance to see a rather large man with curly hair, a necklace made of gold wearing a pair of sunglasses, all while wearing a pair of some very expensive looking clothes. As the girl turned around to look at the man, he figured this was the girl's father. "Monitor your kid better so she won't—!" He stopped as the man straightened himself out and a quick memory flash before him. He has seen this man before. "You're Ōmaeda Marenoshin." This was Marechiyo's father. 'So that means the girl is his sister.' He turns to look at the girl who was staring back at Rukia, the child's stare making his friend shift nervously on her seat.
"Where is he." Mayero asked again, though this time her request sounded like a demand.
Marenoshin sighed as he put a hand on his daughter's shoulders. "Mayero. You already know." As a response, Mayero turned around and hit her father on the shin, making the man wince. As he let go of her, the girl ran out of the bar while crying out: "He's not dead!"
Shaking his head, Marenoshin looked back to the ragged-group of Shinigami. "I'm sorry about that," he sounded so worn out. "It has been hard for her to accept that Marechiyo isn't with us anymore." He looked at Rukia. "She recently just learned about how you were there in Marechiyo's last moments and thought she could get a different answer from you since you're from the Kuchiki clan; she thought you would have told her the truth by promising it on your clan's name.'' He sighed as he turned around and crossed his arms. "I'm not like Mayero. No need to lie about Marechiyo's death to me so tell me how he died."
Though the question wasn't directed towards her specifically, he knew that Marenoshin expected for Rukia to answer him. He turns to look at Rukia, her eyes staring deeply into her drink.
"He died protecting us."
He turned back to see the back of Marenoshin nodding and left soon after that.
"There goes the mood." Ikkaku said, receiving glares from the surrounding Lieutenants. "What? I mean, honestly, what a way to ruin the mood."
"Not like there was a lively mood from the start." Shūhei may feel a bit buzzed, but he was nowhere near drunk. "Before Renji got here, Rangiku was already drowning herself with alcohol after what happened today at the Captains' meeting."
He cock an tattooed eyebrow up. He wonders if it had to do with the sudden Captains' meeting his Captain got called for. "Captain Kuchiki left for the meeting with a rush. What was it about?" Quiet sobbing reached his ears and he turned to look at Momo.
"Tōshirō..." She couldn't continue after Captain Hitsugaya's name left her mouth when she started to silently choke on her sobs.
"They stripped captain Hitsugaya of his rank."
He rushed to meet Rangiku's face. "What?" That was a joke, right?
"It was a decision made by most of the Captains, Central 46 and the Captain-commander." The strawberry blonde turned to him. "Just recently many of the Captains had frowned down upon the way Captain Hitsugaya seemed to abandon his duties as a Captain since he has been focusing himself in finding Zangetsu; they finally seemed to realize that he had become incredibly obsessed with the Hollow." She took a quick swing of her drink. "Central 46 got involved when the Ōmaeda Clan asked about specific details in the death of their son; While his death wasn't kept away from them, the way he died did since there was still not enough information about what happened. The Ōmaeda Clan and Central 46 didn't have a full painted picture until the Captain-commander spoke up about how their son had probably saved us by distracting Zangetsu. The Ōmaeda Clan blamed Captain Hitsugaya for his multiple failures to kill Zangetsu. So after that, the Ōmaeda Clan demanded to set Captain Hitsugaya on trial for the possible direct death of their son."
"THAT'S FUCKING STUPID!" He slammed the table. "Why would Central 46 listen to them! They're not even one of the four Great Noble Houses! They have no power over Central 46!"
Rangiku glared at him. "Your right, they shouldn't, unless ONE of the Nobles Clans sees it fit that Captain Hitsugaya get set on trial."
"Wait... you're not telling us that my Nii-sama asked for it?" Rukia said, causing him to get taken aback.
"I... want to be angry at your brother but can't." Rangiku looked down at her drink. "Central 46 interviewed all the captains except for Tōshirō; So that's how they learned of him ignoring his captain's duty. After the trial finished, and they found Tōshirō guilty, Central 46 finally decided on a punishment that wouldn't keep him away from the possible war that's building up slowly. A few of the Captains didn't care about Tōshirō's punishment, but others did and those who cared made their thoughts very obvious."
Now drunk, as he has been drinking throughout the blonde's explanation, Ikkaku raises his hand. "Oh, um, yeah~, Captain Zaraki told us that he didn't really care about what may happen to Captain Hitsugaya because it pissed him off when Hitsugaya interrupted his fight with Zangetsu."
"So you can guess that he was in favor of the punishment." Yumichika added.
"My Captain didn't care for Hitsugaya's punishment either." Kira continued after taking a quick drink. "And neither did Kurotsuchi. So you can guess if he was against it or with it."
Shūhei, with his head on the table and with rosy cheeks said, "Captain Kaname thought the punishment was fair enough."
"Same with my Captain." Iba commented. "Just to make the list shorter, only four captains went against Hitsugaya's punishment and they were Aizen, Unohana, Ukitake, and Shunsui. Everyone, including the Captain-commander, thought it was fair."
"But we just lost one of our captains!" Again, he screamed in outrage. "A war might break out soon and they ruin an entire functional division!"
"Central 46 had tasked someone from the 2nd Division to fill up the Captain-role in the 10th Division." Rangiku sighed. "I don't know who it is but I hope he's not too strict."
"Can Captain Hitsugaya get his position back?" No matter what, he will still see and call the young-prodigy a Captain.
Rangiku looks at him and says, "He does. The Captain-commander gave him three years to kill Zangetsu, but if he can't do it, then he won't become a captain until the next 200 hundred years."
He leans back on the chair and looks up to the ceiling. "Three years? All right, then I guess I have plenty of time to help Captain Hitsugaya get his place back." He looks back to the group to see everyone staring at him with shock. "What?"
"You'll help Tōshirō get his position back?" Momo said, having a hard time believing his words. It's nowhere near being a problem for him, he won't get any sort of reward whatsoever, "Why?"
"If only I was a bit stronger than Marechiyo wouldn't have died. His death's a bigger problem for me than his." Momo quietly thanked him and he smirked at the strawberry blonde. "You'll get your Captain back soon enough. Besides, he only got demoted, that's not much of a punishment since all he has to do is kill one lousy Hollow."
"Actually," Rangiku sounds like she's hating herself for sounding like a broken record. "getting demoted from a Captain wasn't his punishment. He got demoted to a Lieutenant."
Rukia frowns upon hearing the very odd punishment. "Lieutenant? Who needs a lieu—!" she stops and her eyes slowly widen. "Are... are you saying he has become her lieutenant?"
As Rangiku slowly nods, He curses. "Ah fuck."
- End of Flashback -
The worst part of Captain Hitsugaya's ordeal was spending and wasting 2 years of his hunt by training with his temporary Captain, but now after so long, the boy's back. 'I made a promise to help him.' Renji tightened his fist and rushed towards the Senkaimon, not trying to waste any more of Hitsugaya's time. After a few more minutes he reached his destination and found Captain Ukitake, Suì-Fēng, and Komamura waiting; though Suì-Fēng looked a little impatient right now. The woman was tapping her right feet while looking left and right with a glare.
"He's late." She spat her words and as her eyes landed on Kuchiki's Lieutenant, she started badmouthing Tōshirō. "I gave him a time and place but that worthless brat is far worse than Marechiyo ever was!"
"Come on now, Captain Suì-Fēng, don't be so rude towards your Lieutenant," Ukitake started looking around for the woman's 2nd seat. "I'm sure Tōshirō-kun overslept."
"That's the reason I sent him to bed earlier than usual, so that he wouldn't wake up too late!"
Captain Komamura frowned behind his mask. "You're not the boy's mother either."
Renji watched the petite captain argue with her colleagues before noticing Iba walking up to him. "How long have you guys been waiting for?"
"About 10 minutes."
Iba's response made the redhead scowl. "Why is she tripping so hard? Also, if she thought this would be a problem then why didn't she fetch him before coming here?"
"Yeah, why didn't you wake me up, Captain Suì-Fēng?"
Hearing Tōshirō's voice behind them, both 2nd seats move out of the way to reveal a very much relaxed Lieutenant Hitsugaya with a cup of tea in his hand.
With the appearance of her cause of anger, Suì-Fēng marched to the boy and poke his chest with every word. "You're late, Lieutenant!"
His body flinched from the hard poking but his expression didn't. Tōshirō sips some of his tea before replying. "My alarm didn't go off." His words only caused the woman to look at him with a stare that Death would try to avoid. In the two years of becoming Suì-Fēng's Lieutenant, he learned that the woman wouldn't make his life any easier. She was really going after him, either because the death of her Lieutenant was on his hand or because... no wait, there's no 'or', the 2nd Division Captain just wanted him dead. 'I guess she cared for her late Lieutenant.'
She trained him in ways that would break a normal Shinigami's but not him. Suì-Fēng must have forgotten that he's a Captain.
...
Tōshirō looked away from his Captain, which only caused the woman to go on another rant that he didn't much care about. He used to be a captain, and it hurts to think about it. It hurts even more knowing that he only has about a year left to kill Zangetsu. Suì-Fēng put him in some very intense training that was better described as torture and because of that 'training' he just lost two or his three years. His time was running out, and he has become more desperate in returning to Karakura Town.
He looked back at her with an icy-look. "We need to get going, Captain Suì-Fēng, we're wasting our time." He spoke to her coolly and calmly as he walked past her, which only made Suì-Fēng reply to him with a fiery attitude.
"Don't think you can order me around, Lieutenant Hitsugaya." As the boy kept walking away, she narrowed her eyes into a glare and smirked. "I can tell the Captain-commander that we'll skip our turn and let another Captain go." Watching as the boy stops and clutch his right hand into a fist that shakes with anger, she turns around. "I train you to be patient, but seeing how impatient you are, I guess we need to go for another two years of training." She never got to take the first step before Tōshirō opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry, Captain Suì-Fēng."
He didn't even turn around to apologize to her and it's not like he needed to, she could practically see him say those words through gritted teeth and feel the rage it drives him through. "Good.'' She walked past him and saw the silver-haired boy glaring at the ground. "Now that you remember your place, let's head to Karakura Town."
Captain Ukitake softly shook his head. "Well, this is going to be a very interesting week."
- Hueco Mundo -
"Fucking finally!" Ichigo threw his hands over his head and looked at Lily, who finally listened to his request by wrapping black bandages around her chest. "Three days later and we're finally done running through all these damn sheets!"
Lily rolled her eye before turning to both Menoly and Loly; who got invited into their apartment. "Thanks for the help you two. I'll owe you one." She watched as both Adjuchas stood up and left before turning her sights on Ichigo. "You know, this could have gotten done faster if we had paid attention." She looks down to the two piles on the table, one larger than the other one. "I'm going to kill Shinji."
"Go for it," The redhead grumbled before picking up the smaller pile of papers. "That jackass re-printed everyone's paper at least five times. I knew I wasn't imagining things when I saw Rudbornn's name twice in a role." He turns his sights on the crumble-up paper on the floor. Apparently Shinji decided to prank him by making his first captain's duty a pain in the ass. Luckily for him, he gave half the sheets to Lily, and they soon found out about Shinji's little prank when Lily stumbled upon the blondes' transfer sheet that only said his name and his hobby to annoy people when he's bored.
Lily took the papers from his hand and ran a quick scan through all of them. "Well, at least he made us waste our time. Our Division isn't ready until tomorrow. But that doesn't mean we can't start on our duties.'' She looks up to him and says, "You know what our Division is all about, right?"
"Search for Hollows across Hueco Mundo or the Human World and bring them back here for protection." He crosses his arms behind his head. "Not much of a job. I rather be out there on the battlefield than be cramp-up in an office."
"How much do you know about the recent changes?"
That caught Ichigo's attention. "Recent changes? About what?"
"Hueco Mundo, what else?" She stops to see Menoly's name again and removes the extra paper before answering Ichigo. "Baraggan seems to call back most of his army in Menos Park to search for Harribel's whereabouts."
"Harribel?" Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. "Why would Baraggan be searching for her?"
"You don't know?" She asked him with a curious tone, still looking through the papers. "Haven't you heard the rumors that are going around right now?"
Scowling, the redhead says, "Have little time to stop and listen when we're in the middle of a war."
"So you really don't know." She looks at him and says, "About a few months ago a ton of Hollows from both sides and Hueco Mundo started joining forces with Tia Harribel and made her into a 3rd party representative. So now she has enough followers for her to join this war."
"But she wouldn't do anything like that."
"Ofcourse she wouldn't." She mirrors the same look on Ichigo's eyes; his signature scowl. "But if Baraggan gets to find and kill her, then he'll force her entire followers into soldiers and possibly attack us with heavier forces."
"I don't get it. Why would they leave La Estrella if we're protecting them?" Ichigo spoke his troubled thoughts and Lily answered him right away.
"Because they're afraid, even Baraggan's Hollows are afraid. When our conflict started we were on the losing end of this war, we couldn't train new Hollows to replace the ones we lost until we stepped into the battlefield, but things were already too late. Many Hollows thought we were a lost cause so they jumped ship, but they couldn't turn to Baraggan because then they would get killed so they marched aimlessly until they found Tia. As for Baraggan's army, once we started kicking their asses many of them left when they thought Baraggan was the one losing the war and just like our Hollows, they found refuge with Tia."
"Why didn't they come here?"
"Because of the Visoreds."
Ichigo tsk'd at the stupid reason. "What is it about the Visoreds that they don't like? Arrancar and Visoreds are basically the same thing!" His friend sighed and shook her head.
"Acceptance wasn't going to happen right away."
"But they don't bother giving them a chance!" Ichigo argued. "They're great people! Possibly the only people in this entire world that sees them as individuals!"
"Ichigo, you don't understand." Lily looked at him with a glum look in her eye. "Us, the Hollows, we spent our entire life living like animals, Hell, some of us possibly live longer as a Hollow than we did being human and, because of that, by some point in our lives we stop looking at ourselves like regular human beings and more like monsters."
"But aren't you trying to change that?" Ichigo may not know of everything that Lily does around La Estrella and as Starrk's Lieutenant since lately he's involved in the war more directly, but from what he understands, Lily was trying to change the Hollows' point-of-view. She was trying to show them that their lives didn't end by becoming Hollows.
The lime-haired girl sighed and leaned her head on her hand. "I am, but things are harder than what I ever expected. I finally got most of them to respect their lives and others so that we wouldn't be getting so many cases of feeding frenzies. The most 'humane' Hollows that Menoly and Loly got to find got sent to me before I got them a job around the Divisions and a few stores in the Plaza for them to sell Szayel's Arrancar Pills."
"Jobs and... sell food?"
Hearing her friend's confused voice, Lily pulls out a silver coin with a star on one side and flips it to reveal a moon on the other side. "Yoruichi gave me a very, very long speech about politics and governments a year ago. She once said that I was trying to establish a, somewhat, government because of how I felt towards the Hollows—"
"A government? You?" Ichigo interrupted, feeling more confused than ever. He never imagined that Lily would turn out like this, or sound so interested in such things like politics.
"Who do you think helped establish all the Divisions' jobs?"
"You?" Ichigo's mind was now feeling muddled.
Lily nodded as she tossed the coin to Ichigo. "Escudo isn't just our military force; it's also our form of government. All the Divisions that we have, made Starrk's and my job easier to handle. While Szayel and Urahara run our science department, they also help us run the entire city's power, and they also put cameras across Menos Park to keep a watch on our food supply. Also, with the help of Tessai and Hacchi, they created the Kidō barrier that signals us when Hollows try to sneak in here.
"So when that happens, Ulquiorra's Division, the Communication Division, passes the message to any of the members of Kensei's Division where they handle the Hollow themselves, of course if the Hollow come here in good nature then we have them go through a test first to see if they're worthy of becoming register citizens into our city. As for the test, well, they have an entire year with Rose and Love in protecting Menos Park from Baraggan's army."
"Who the hell do Love and Rose work for?" Ichigo asked, still surprised with how each division seems connected with one another. "And what about Yoruichi? How is it that she gets to be in the Human World only?"
"Love and Rose work for Starrk under his Division which only focuses on protecting Menos Park; which is where we farm our food." Lily answered, which caused Ichigo to frown softly.
"They get to protect Menos Park daily? I mean, I remember getting sent there a few times when things got too hard for them to handle but, if they were always under pressure, how come Ulquiorra or Starrk never send me there more often? Actually, since you were Starrk's Lieutenant, how come you never fought?"
"Because I was more focused on helping the Hollows inside La Estrella, besides, we have over a thousand Hollows in Menos Park, 2 Captain-class Shinigami and 1 powerful Vasto Lorde." Lily shrugged her shoulders before standing up as she heard a knock on the door. "Probably the reason you didn't get sent there so often. Also, as for Yoruichi, she actually works for the Communication Division, in fact, she's supposed to be the Captain with Ulquiorra as her Lieutenant but she didn't want the job and instead works in keeping us informed about what the Shinigami have been doing."
"What does Shinji do?" Ichigo's eyes follow Lily.
"Collects information."
"About?"
"Just about everything. When was the last case of a Feeding Frenzy, numbers of attacks on Menos Park, how many Gillians we have consumed an entire month, sales, etc."
"That... sounds like a lot of work." Ichigo guesses that's the reason Shinji came to the Plaza for his promotion. 'To get away from all the paperwork.'
She snorted before opening the door to Zommari. "His job is easy thanks to me. How can I help you?"
"Lilynette-sama or umm, Lieutenant Gingerbuck, I have a very important message from Rose to Captain Kurosaki."
Before the Hollow could repeat the message from Rose, one of Rudbornn's drones, which looks like a far smaller miniature version of the Tree-like Adjuchas, shoved himself forward and now stood in front of an agitated Zommari and a curious Lily. "Captain Kurosaki. Hollow in the Human World. Hunted by Shinigami. Report to the Science Division." After the last message, the drone slowly dried out before ending up looking like a dead tree.
"That was interesting." Ichigo commented from behind Lily before asking about what Rose wanted.
"He said how that Hollow got spotted again."
That's how the message ended, and it caused Lily to scowl. That sounded a lot like a personal message between the both of them. "Hey, what Hollow is Rose talking about?" She turned to Ichigo and noticed the way his eyebrows deepen; a typical sign that told her that he was scowling under his mask. "Something that I should know, Captain?"
"Yeah... but first, we need to head towards Szayel." Ichigo walked out, Zommari already long gone.
Before following, Lily taps her right hip to feel her sword. 'Okay good.' She looked over her Captain and saw both his duo-color hilts inside their sheaths. She started jogging after him before they both jumped in a Sonido.
A few minutes later, both of them reached the doors to the entrance of the North façade; the Science Divisions. Everything about the North façade was different compared to the rest, since everything about the entire Division was more "modern-up". Computers with equally confusing electronics got placed in almost any corner with a group of the most Humane-Hollows keeping a watch if any changes had happened.
Ichigo, finally curious enough about the Hollows, asked Lily about it.
"When you found Mosqueda and Dordoni with the strange colony of Hollows, many of them had stayed looking closely human because they had tried to remove their mask at the early stage of their evolution but most of them didn't end so well. Many of them died during it but those who didn't reverted themselves back into a human-like body but still kept their mask, hole and they gained some form of deformity." Lily answered and then said, "Szayel has even classified them as a different class of Menos; Menos Pequeño."
The redhead was about to ask about the deformity part when he noticed a Hollow with wide shoulder blades that seemed to come out from the Hollow's back. 'Ah, I see.'
"Yeah, I put many of them into Shinji's and Szayel's Division because they help them out where they need the extra hands at." Lily added.
Ichigo hummed before pushing a french door to reveal the main room of the Science Division, the room buzzing with life. Hollows sat in front of monitors that were set around La Estrella, Menos Park and the Human World. In front of the room was a giant screen that seemed a bit off focus.
"CAN'T YOU IDIOT SET OUR CONNECTION RIGHT!"
Hearing Hiyori's voice, both teens looked at the girl that was barking at a Hollow; the Shinigami wearing a headset.
"You're supposed to be in charge of this thing, Paramia!"
Roka Paramia was a humane-Hollow with four large spider legs coming from her back wrapped in tattered clothes with a normal human skull mask and because of her human-body, Ichigo could see the way Roka was a woman with her obvious chest size and curves. Perhaps feeling a bit bad for the girl, he spoke up to gain Hiyori's attention and her wrath. "Hey, Snaggletooth, what the hell do you need? And can you stop ordering people around, you're not this place's Lieutenant."
"Put a sock in it, Captain Shit-face!" The aggressive Shinigami pointed a finger at Ichigo and made a point. "Also, I may not be this Division Lieutenant but since those two idiots ditched their job on me because of their stupid project I had to be the one running this place!"
"Mam, we finally have an image of the Human World!" Roka said, bringing everyone's attention to the giant screen.
Ichigo could see three Lieutenants after a large nāga-like Hollow with shoulder-length black hair and a skull-like mask. Most of its muscular body was dark brown, but its arms were a deep red, and a black pattern resembling saw blades on a thick strip starts on his back and runs down the length of his tail, the tip of which is black and a Hollow hole at the center of his chest, near his collarbones.
As he looks more closely at the video, Ichigo notices Captain Hitsugaya. 'But he's wearing a Lieutenant badge. What happened to him?'
"Find Yoruichi!" Hiyori barked at the woman, and she started typing down some coordinates.
"Give me a few minutes!" She said, which caused the Shinigami to groan.
"We don't have a minute!" She turned to Ichigo and yelled at the redhead. "What are you doing! Get your ass to the Human World! Paramia, earpieces!" As Roka gives her two earpieces, she tosses them to both teens before she starts experimenting with the headset's controls. "All right, both the headset and earpieces linked up. Now get your asses to the Human World!"
Ichigo passes the other device to Lily and looks back to the giant screen to see Shinigami Captains chasing a black cat. 'Crap! Yoruichi needs help!'
"She will be okay." Lily said as she fixed her earpiece. "Don't forget who she is. Right now she's baiting the Captains away from the Hollow so we can rescue it easier." She glanced at her friend to see him nod and looked back to Roka. "Go back to the Hollow." The Hollow did as she was told, Lily said. "Does that place look familiar to you, Ichigo?"
"I think... it does." Ichigo looked to his side and tapped the air, opening a Garganta.
"Hey, Captain dumbass. I shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but you can't afford to waste your time fighting the Shinigami. Szayel and Urahara made sure Hueco Mundo was impossible for the Shinigami to find exact coordinates to enter, but when a Garganta opens up between worlds, there are small traces for them to use before we can jam them. Save the Hollow, got it? No fighting the Shinigami." Hiyori glanced towards Ichigo to once again see the redhead nod. "Good, you got 10 minutes. Don't waste them." Watching them leave, Hiyori went back to barking orders. "I WANT YOU IDIOTS READY FOR WHEN THEY CLOSE THE GARGANTA! BECAUSE IF THERE'S ONE PERSON WHO CAN FIND US, IT'S CAPTAIN KUROTSUCHI!"
Lily looked at Ichigo, who was quietly walking towards the other end of the inter dimensional tunnel. Just a few minutes ago he looked like he was ready to rush into the Human World, but now it looks like his rush has run out. She really needs to start a conversation to get rid of the silences before old memories come creeping out again. "So, about the Hollow that you said you would tell me?"
Ichigo didn't look back to her as he answered in a monotone. "About a year ago when the war was right at the peak and I was doing daily tours in Menos Park, a stranger double headed Gillian was getting spotted across the battlefield. At first we ignored it but then later on we started seeing it eating Hollows from both sides and before we knew it, the Gillian was hunting full parties of Hollows—full Adjuchas parties." Finally, a scowl reached his eyes and a troubled tone creeped into his voice. "We tried talking to it but it disappeared all the time without a trace. I talked to Szayel about it and he thinks that the Gillian is just feeding on our troops and Baraggan's men to only evolve but I doubt it. Lately it became a problem because it started targeting our farms too."
The redhead was about to step through the Garganta before Lily pulled him back. He looked towards her to see a troubled look on her face.
"What's wrong?" She questions him first, she knew there was something else troubling him and if she has to guess, it's by seeing Captain Hitsugaya again. "You're acting really... off. Does it have to do with seeing the Shinigami again?"
Obviously she was right, but it wasn't the entire truth. "I'm nervous right now. This is going to be my first official mission as a Captain, I can't screw things up and the fact that I have to see Captain Hitsugaya out of all the Shinigami there, I just feel so edgy." He started walking in circles, arms flying over his head in melodramatic fashion. "Last time I was so unprepared for him! I know that I had 2 years to train myself, but he could have done the same thing too! I need to make sure I have a plan ready for any possible scenario!" 'And the worst part of it all.' "I also can't fight through all of them, on the contrary, now that you're here with me I have to make sure he doesn't hurt you!"
It's sweet that Ichigo's worried about her, but he needs to understand that he has nothing to worry about. "Ichigo, I had two years to train myself too, y'know?" She shifted her weight to her left side and poke him in the chest. "I won't ever be a damsel in distress that's waiting for her white knight to come rescue her. So I'm going to tell you this only once; Never worry about me. I know how to take care of myself."
Trying to lighten up the mood around them now, she wraps her left pinkie with Ichigo's. "Remember our promise?"
Ichigo smiles as he tightens his finger. "Do nothing stupid," he leads down his forehead to press it against her forehead. "If I am, then don't do it alone."
Lily smiled, happy that he hasn't forgotten his promises. As they stood there, she finally realized how close he was to her. He left only a few inches of space between them.
Seeing Lily's cheeks go crimson, Ichigo finally realizes that his actions have caused her to blush. Two years ago he would have done the same, but things were different now. Feeling bold, he teased her. "What's wrong?" He brings her closer to feel and see her warm reddened cheeks more closely. "You're heating-up, Lieutenant Gingerbuck. Are you getting nervous?"
Getting teased by Ichigo wasn't something that she ever thought could be possible, but here she was. Blushing like a schoolgirl just because her crush was teasing her. 'Crush… great… I have a crush on my best friend.' Seeing the smug look on his face made her realize that Ichigo was getting off some kicks by just doing this. 'Two can play this game.' Deciding to close the distance between them, Lily presses her body on his. "I think I am. I mean, there'll be a lot of Shinigami waiting for us. So here I am thinking if the mighty and powerful Zangetsu could protect his princess.'' She could feel his body stiffen a bit. So he could tease and be bold to her but once she returns the effects, Ichigo gets uncomfortable. 'Note to self: Asked Yoruichi for advice on how to tease men.'
'And now she's teasing me back.' He needs to remember to keep his cool and just go with it. He means it's not like this is anything serious, they're just teasing each other in a harmless manner. Besides, just moments ago she said how she would never end up being a damsel in distress. "Don't worry about that your highness, I'm always ready to protect my princess."
Not knowing how to keep the teasing going, Lily gently pushed herself from Ichigo and held back a playful giggle. "Your princess? That's a bold statement Captain."
They both started walking towards the end of the Garganta side to side while playfully arguing.
They had been stalking the Hollow that appeared in Karakura Town as a group before Yoruichi appeared and grabbed the Captains' attention before leading them towards somewhere else. So now it was just the Lieutenants that were trailing the Hollow.
"This is bad." Iba said, "We can't just leave this Hollow alone like this, he seems to target the girl with the orange hair!" He tried to purify the Hollow before Renji put a hand on his shoulders.
"Just wait a little longer. We need to see if the reports are true."
"But the girl!" Iba yelled back.
Tōshirō glared at the Hollow who finally started becoming aggressive, flipping a car as he now chases after the girl. "The Arrancar had seemed to save all Hollow that appears in the Human World. This could be all the evidence that we need to prove the existence of the possible army that they had being building for the last 2 years. That's all we need to focus on searching a way to enter Hueco Mundo." They leap towards the top of another building. "The losing of one soul won't compare to the millions that we might lose."
Iba grinding his teeth as he spoke through them. "But our duty is to save people from the Hollows!"
The back of Tōshirō's hair stood up as he felt a Garganta open above them. "And if we're lucky, we'll do both our jobs right now."
The Lieutenants looked up to hear two distinguished voices coming from within the black void.
"Oh, come on! You gotta be feeling a little excited right now! You're going to be fighting alongside the royal princess of Hueco Mundo!"
"More likely going to end up being a royal pain on my ass! And I'm not fighting alongside you! You're fighting alongside me!"
As the Arrancar finally stepped outside the Garganta, Tōshirō's eyes went straight to Ichigo who was ignoring their presence and was arguing with a lime-haired girl he had never seen before. 'Is she the girl that Captain Kuchiki almost killed 3 years ago? Why do both of them look grown-up?' He watched as the girl rolled her eye at the redhead.
"Whatever you say, Captain Kurosaki."
That made his blood boil. 'Captain Kurosaki!?'
"Just remember our plan Lieutenant Gingerbuck." Ichigo grumbles and turns his sights down on Captain Hitsugaya and the other Lieutenants. 'Or should I say Lieutenant Hitsugaya now?' He looked towards the cold glare the boy was sending him with one of his own. "So we meet again, Captain... oh wait, that's not your rank anymore, right, Lieutenant Hitsugaya?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo, or do you prefer that I call you Captain Kurosaki now?" Tōshirō asked back with a bitter tone which only caused Ichigo to look at him with a smug look.
"Just called me with whatever pisses you off, brat."
And we're done. So turns out it was after Christmas. Oh well. Well, I have nothing really to say about this chapter besides me not liking the way I started it off. Meh, I just felt like I could have done better. So not much to say about this chapter besides the fact that poor Tōshirō got demoted and made into a Lieutenant. Again don't worry about why I'm going this to him. I have a nice plan that involves him.
Gamma-X: Gonna answered some of your questions. Starrk and Ulquiorra aren't really scared of Ichigo for getting stronger, they're just worry since he seems to evolve too fast without reason. Also, I will planned for Ichigo to be at a Transcendent-level being towards the end of the story.
Okay, I need to tell ya'll my plans for these upcoming 3 months. This story probably won't get updated again until late February, since recently I started having ideas for my other story and decided that I should probably update it too. I also had two more great ideas for a Bleach story and I'm also gonna go back to previous chapters on this story to clean awkward wording that I have miss out on.
BUT that doesn't mean I won't be working on this story. We're close to starting this story's version of the SS Invasion Arc in possibly 5 Chapters from now and 4 chapters away from finally putting Ichigo and Lily together! :D
Welp, that's all.
Cya!
Oh, btw Roka isn't an OC, she's mention in the Light Novel as the Hollow who Yammy smashed after she stitched his arm back.
-Ten Out.