Bleach (c) Tite Kubo
Once More To See You Again
Aftermath
Once the sword was claimed and the pact between shinigami and zanpakutou was forged, the destruction of the world abruply halts. Everything from the great maelstrom in the depths to the sky islands shattering in the doom grey clouds above, as though someone had pressed paused on a video, suspended in time.
Then, as if that same hand pressed rewind, everything is thrown into reverse.
The churning waters flow backwards then flattening out into a perfectly calm silvery grey ocean, glittering in the sunlight. Chunks of white sandstone rocks hoist themselves out of the waters or zooming out of the cyclonic winds, welding themselves back into their former shapes in their original perches. Finally the pitch-black storm clouds vanish without a trace, to punctuate that all was right in this soul scape.
The voids remained.
It will take much more than a simple awakening of power to heal those rifts. They marked of a far deeper injury that neither time nor the acquisition of power could heal. They are weeping wounds etched upon the canvas of the soul itself.
Undoubtedly the Zanpakutou is preening to be recognized by its reborn master but another visage inhabits this soulscape. A man robed in black, seemingly made out of black. He stands at one of the many reformed sky islands, his cloak and wild hair billowing in an unheard wind. Deep lines mark his face in a slight frown, but otherwise he shows no other indication of frustration or irritation.
What he was intended to do, the very reason for his existence, was act as a means for another to siphon off this soul's power when the appointed hour arrived. Such was the way with all who carried the blood. To that end, his objective would've been to suppress the nascent shinigami powers within this vessel. Or, if not outright suppress them, keep them diminished beyond any possible utility. Such a task should've been relatively straight forward.
Unfortunately, what he had contended with was neither nascent nor dormant. Broken and fractured, yes, but by no means an underdeveloped will. Near or very close to the birth of their host, it seems another spirit had a similar idea. A creature that was close to a Hollow than zanpakutou. Like an invasive species, the foreign spirit took root, absorbing the nascent zanpakutou spirit to anchor itself and expanded its influence to encompass the inner world, in turn influencing the outer world as well.
Instead of becoming the jailor of a shinigami's powers, the visage swiftly found himself hunted across the soul scape by the ferocious Hollow wyvern.
That irony is astounding.
Regrettably, his last gambit - the final opportunity to act before things reached a point of no return - had failed.
The Asauchi had paved the way, tunneling directly to the core of this soul's Shinigami powers. Powers that were eager to reciprocate. It took a great deal of effort to pierce through that wall and make his presence known. The destabilized world worked to his advantage. From there, the visage attempted to capitalize on the chaos, to use the child's natural curiosity and sway him from the path before that final hurdle. He would become a Shinigami, that much was inevitable, but had the visage succeeded, he would become the locus on the boy's power, not the Hollow.
To his shame, the Hollow discovered his attempted deceit and made its outrage known. Violently.
Exposing himself as he did meant the last refuges have been unveiled. He had no where left to hide where the Hollow could not reach.
It - she was in the ascendancy now. And there was precious little the visage could do to stand in her way.
As if mere thought was enough to summon her, a glossy black talon spears through the visage's chest from behind. It bursts like a water skin. The reiatsu particles that compose his bodily makeup splatter the ground in a mimicry of blood, adding another brief shade of blue to the world before vanishing. The visage is hoisted aloft like that, hanging painfully as a pinned specimen raised for inspection. His predator tilts her bestial head to one side, deliberating whether to devour him or destroy him outright in disgust.
She is a wretched creature. A twisted caricature of what she once was. Closer to a Hollow than a Zanpakutou. As before, she wears that bone white Hollow mask and bares a Hollow hole in her chest. But its filled by something else now. A bizarre crystalline formation of refracting pale blues had grown over the hole like a scab, nestled inside was an object shaped like a figurehead on the bow of an ancient seafaring vessel.
"Parasite." The hateful word is low and booming, pushed through bared teeth.
"Boldly stated." The visage replies coldly, as though the nail through his chest is a mild irritation more than anything else. And even in those two words, the unspoken accusation of hypocrisy rings louder than any thunderclap. "Do not grow angry with me when I attempt to claim what is rightfully min-"
Gnashing teeth chomp down on the visage's upper torso, grinding it to mush between jagged teeth. The rest of the body flops to the ground, shattering into a million glittering shades that fade into nothingness.
The last words rumble like distant thunder, the wit to utter them drawn together from the corners of the world.
"Mine... alone."
"His powers are gone."
"They are." Kisuke agrees.
"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"
"I did."
"And you didn't do a damn thing to stop it."
Kisuke's gaze lands on Kaien glaring daggers at him. The front of his drenched shihakushou is stained by his brother's blood and his dark hair is plastered to his face and neck, beaded by rain droplets. His hands, equally bloodstained, are curled into tight trembling fists. They stood in the hallway of Kisuke Urahara's home outside a spare room behind the shopfront. The very same room Kaien had awoken in a few days ago after being attacked by that parasitic Hollow and his addled classmate.
A futon has been hastily set up in the center, and Ichigo, pale as he's ever been, lies on it. Unconscious. Barely breathing. He's under the careful ministrations of Tessai who worked diligently to treat and bind his wounds, alternating between kaido, sutures and bandaging. Kisuke had retrieved his physical body from the Kurosaki clinic and helped house the spirit back inside.
Regrettably, whatever spiritual energies Ichigo possessed were gone. Stolen away when Byakuya Kuchiki obliterated his Saketsu and Hakusui. Theoretically those wounds would cost Ichigo his power forever, but Kisuke knows for a fact there's more to Ichigo Kurosaki than met the eye, or Kaien for that matter. He was confident he could resolve that problem with relative ease.
Kisuke speaks calmly, "It was a lesson. For both of you."
"What?" Kaien spits venom.
"I thought a demonstration would be easier for your understanding than simply telling you. With your current skill levels, neither of you would stand a chance the forces Soul Society could muster. nor saving Rukia." Kisuke gestures demonstratively towards the wounded Ichigo.
However, that state of affairs would rapidly change in the coming days. Once he'd trained the teenagers up a bit. The potential was there, he just had to coax it out. A fact demonstrated as recently as half an hour ago.
Not too long after Kaien had emerged from the pit, five minutes at most, he'd sensed his brother falling. His perceptive skills were already incredibly advanced without any training, but somehow, through the layers of concealing barriers and other reiatsu blocking materials used to construct the underground training room, Kaien managed to sense the moment Ichigo lost. A second after, the younger sped out of Kisuke's training room, utterly ignoring everything else.
Kisuke only made a token effort to stop him. The danger had passed with the two assigned to retrieve Rukia Kuchiki, Captain Byakuya Kuchiki and Lieutenant Renji Abarai, having already retreated through a Senkaimon with their captive.
"I should've been there..." Kaien growls under his breath, "I could've stopped them. I could've helped-"
"Helped in what way? By adding a fresh corpse to the funeral pyre?" Kisuke's words are cutting, but he needs to put Kaien in check before that infamously reckless Shiba temper gets the better of him.
Kaien scowls bitterly at him.
"Even if you had managed to arrive at the scene, what could you have done? Flail that dull sword like a cudgel? You're barely an hour into your powers. You've no concept of control over them, let alone mastery. Best case scenario you'd be laying in a pool of your own blood right beside Ichigo. Worst case you would be dead before you even hit the ground." Kisuke tells him bluntly. "If I'd known you'd so eagerly toss away the powers you'd only just obtained, I would never have wasted my time assisting you in awakening them in the first place."
It is a hard rebuke, but a fair one. "And here I was under the impression you were the sensible twin."
A fragment of reason breaks through the rage. He can see it in the way those furious blue eyes narrow then glance away. His lips curl into a snarl but it takes only a handful more seconds before it ebbs completely. Underneath, he can see the sadness and fatigue taking hold. Suffering encroachment then emerging victorious, only to have that sense of victory shattered by his brother's crushing bloody defeat would've been physically and emotionally taxing in equal magnitudes.
Kisuke tips the rim of his hat down. He can see the young man's jaw clench. His tone is lower, calmer now but the underlying dismay at the indignity and unfairness of the situation hasn't evaporated. Not entirely. "You didn't need to butcher my brother to make your point."
Kisuke lets out an imperceptible sigh, "Rest assured that Ichigo is in good hands. Come. I'll make some tea to calm your nerves."
It's not a suggestion, and the strong hand he places on Kaien's shoulder makes that abundantly clear. With the greatest reluctance, as though fearing taking his eyes off his brother for a second would mean the difference between life and death, Kaien acquiesces and allows himself to be guided away. They halted for a moment by the restroom where Kisuke directs the youth to wash the blood off his hands and arms, and towel himself dry. The rest of his shihakushou will have to wait.
"Can I give him portion of my powers the same way Rukia did?" Kaien suggests when Kisuke settled them both in his living room, sitting on square cushions around the chabudai, pouring a bitter herbal tea into a mug each.
He's distantly amused to see Kaien's eyes flickering between Kisuke and his own empty body, laying in the far corner appearing for all the world like it was asleep. It's undoubtedly a surreal experience to be staring at one's own lifeless cadaver.
"I admire your selflessness but I'm afraid that won't be possible," Kisuke shakes his head. "That action was a risky gambit on Ms Kuchiki's part and has a slim-to-negligible chance of success even in the best of cases. Your brother was lucky it succeeded at all. Never mind the fact you lack the control to perform such a feat yourself, there's another important factor to consider."
"Which is?"
"Listen carefully. The source of a shinigami's power is two fold. While they don't possess a physical chain of fate, they have two pressure points in that region of their body; the Saketsu and Hakusui." Kisuke points out two locations on his own chest demonstratively, "Think of them as an engine. In your case, you have the engine and you have the fuel line leading into it. All we required was to find a key for the ignition. As of an hour ago, Ichigo's engine has been thoroughly destroyed and fuel line cut. For him to have a chance at obtaining any form of power again, we'll have to rebuilt his power base from scratch."
Kaien grunts and mutters under his breath before leaning forward, "Is that possible?"
"There is a method that I've devised that will allow him to try. I have no doubts Ichigo will be willing to try." Kisuke replies smoothly. "His sense of honour wouldn't allow him to do any less. And I do believe he'll want to save Ms Kuchiki from her fate."
"Wow... Way to sound manipulative as hell." Kaien grumbles then his eyes narrow skeptically, "You're not going to throw him into the same pit you threw me into, are you?"
"Of course not!" Kisuke reassures falsely, unfurling his fan to air himself. "... not initially." He tacks on as an afterthought.
The expression on the teenager's face is priceless, Kisuke almost wishes he had a camera.
"Initially?" Kaien balks.
"But as I recall, I didn't throw you into that pit. You jumped."
"That is... so not the point!"
"Regardless, what I've learned from your experience have been invaluable. You've proven yourself quite the test case. And we at Urahara shop thank you for participating in the trial run of our Shattered Shaft training exercise."
"Trail run - was I your guinea pig?" Kaien demands incredulously.
Kisuke does his very best to not to laugh at the horror dancing across Kaien's face. Now he dearly wishes he had a camera.
"We'll be sure send along a survey to rate your experience shortly." Kisuke chirps.
There was moment of silence.
"Oh come now, don't look to terrified. Its not as though I would've allowed you to undertake such a harrow task without thoroughly testing it beforehand. But simulations will only take a person so far. We wouldn't know how well it worked until someone actually made the attempt." Kisuke dismisses breezily, "I admit there's some kinks to work out in the process but you have to remember that everything had to be new at some point. Besides, you managed to survive, didn't you? With over two days to spare, I might add. Quite the achievement."
"I was your guinea pig!" Kaien's voice breaks indignantly.
"The results speak for themselves, wouldn't you say?" Kisuke deflects, having his fun with teenager.
"That doesn't make it okay!"
"I made sure to inform you of all the risks involved. Its not my fault you didn't listen long enough to sign a liability wavier." Kisuke continues, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Kaien throws his hands up and climbs to his feet. "Oh my god. That's it. I'm taking my new sword and going home."
Kisuke chuckles meanly to himself. At the very least, he's managed to cool the boy's temper somewhat. Shibas were always hot under the collar, but as the teenager circles the chabudai, Kisuke raises his cane to bar Kaien's passage while wearing a calculating expression.
"However, I am curious to know one peculiar thing if you'd be so kind to indulge me," Kisuke raises his grey eyes to the youth to meets his gaze with a barely disguised wariness. "One must wonder what prompted your question when you emerged from the Shattered Shaft? The idea that a Zanpakutou is a tamed Hollow."
The shopkeeper can read Kaien like an open book, despite the youth's best attempts to the contrary. He is nothing if not an honest soul, and that makes it easy to pin when he is being furtive.
"I spoke out of turn." Kaien admits after a minute to collect himself, wrapping a protective hand the hilt of his sword, "I thought I saw a Hollow, but it wasn't. Neibana has a white crest and I mistook it for a mask. That's all."
Kisuke's eyebrows disappear into his headline. "Nejibana?"
"Yeah. It's her name. Apparently sapient swords have their own names. Spares me the trouble of having to think of one." Kaien confirms, glancing down at the sword.
Recovering, Kisuke files that bit of trivia away for later consideration. However it is gratifying to have his theory confirmed.
"It does make things convenient, doesn't it? It would be so very bothersome if we had to come up with those names individually. How could a Shinigami possibly encapsulate everything a Zanpakutou is and inscribe a name with appropriate meaning. Sounds like a daunting task unto itself." Kisuke jokes but then more seriously, "However, I must ask; are you absolutely certain?"
Kaien looks him in the eye. "Yes, I'm sure." His focus shifts back to his sword, "When I was in my soul or my mind, whichever you'd like to call it, the situation was utter chaos. Everything was disintegrating around me. I was panicking, disorientated and beaten to hell and back. I was imagining things that weren't there. That's all there was to it."
Kisuke studies him for a moment longer, completely aware that the teenager is lying to him. "Very well. I'll take your word for it. However if you happen to notice anything that doesn't seem quite right, do let me know. Depending what may come of it, I'm certain I'll be able to do something to help you."
Kaien hesitates for a moment then gives a single nod before Kisuke allows him to reclaim his human body. After collecting his things, Kaien checked in on his elder brother, relieved when Tessai had promised a speedy recovery, lingered for a few minutes longer then left for home.
Kisuke's eyes narrow, turning his attention back to that revelation. His suspicions had been confirmed but Kaien Kurosaki was proving to be quite the layered mystery. That hasty attempt to cover up his own blunder was pathetic but Kisuke wouldn't press the boy for details. Not yet.
It's enough to know at least some of Kisuke's suspicions were correct; that Nejibana has chosen to serve as Kaien's zanpakutou once again, but clearly something is off. Kaien is forthright and wouldn't have said anything he didn't mean. If he asked about a Hollow becoming his zanpakutou, it is because he saw a Hollow become his zanpakutou.
That unprecedented state of affairs brought to mind two hypotheses.
The first hypothesis, related to his death in a prior life, is a remnant of the Hollow that murdered him chased him through lifetimes and it had a detrimental affect on his zanpakutou as well. Kisuke had details of that grisly night filtered down to him through Kukaku and Yoruichi. That a Hollow had destroyed his sword then possessed his body, using him to attack his captain and comrades before he threw himself on one of their blades. It'd been difficult to break that news to his former friends among the Visoreds. Lisa Yadomaru, the stoic and reserved former Lieutenant of the Eight, had been Kaien and his wife Miyako's best friend. She cried openly at the loss. Shinji Hirako, his first and former Captain of the Firth, showed no trace of his usual humour and took the news grimly. The rest had similarly bereft reactions, or so Kisuke was told.
The second hypothesis, and far more likely possibility, is this was Masaki's influence. The parasitic Hollow bonded to her affected all her children to varying degrees, just as Kisuke predicted it would, but would it affect a fully developed spirit such as Nejibana? Kisuke frowned, pondering that thought. Its not entirely outside the realm of possibility. His study with the Visoreds were proof of that. Unfortunately, without further testing he couldn't draw a conclusion either way.
However for the theories he'd confirmed this evening, one theory that hadn't quite panned out. Kisuke had anticipated that the memories of Lieutenant Shiba would reawaken once his Zanpakutou had, but it seems things aren't going to be that simple. Perhaps the Hollowfication interfered with that process? Or something more is going on?
There's always the possibility Kisuke is completely wrong. That the memories wouldn't emerge at all, and that the seemingly manufactured resemblance in mind and body was purely coincidence brought about by a shared common ancestor. But Kisuke has lived too long and knows that there's on such thing as coincidence. Only possibility and probability.
Kisuke sips the cold tea set before him, suppressing the urge to wince at the foul taste.
Either way, he would need more than a brief conversation to be sure. There were so many variables, known or otherwise. And Kisuke would have to investigate them all carefully.
For now, he must turn his attention to his other house guest.
Yuzu is over the moon that Kaien's back early. So is Karin, but she's never been as openly enthusiastic as her twin sister (Kaien likes to tease she's the 'Ichigo' of the younger duo). Their father is still in the main clinic tending to a patient, otherwise Kaien would've received a flying tackle hello. He got home just in time for lunch too.
Yuzu always makes extra when its her turn to cook so Kaien doesn't have to worry about taking away from someone else's plate, so while Yuzu's finishing the final touches of her curry, Kaien sets a place for himself. He hadn't eaten in the last twenty four hours (or slept now that he thought about it) and hadn't realised how hungry he was until after he started eating. When his sisters ask him why he's back so soon when he told them he'd be gone a week, he weaves a story about how someone was injured and the teacher concluded the best option was to send the other students home.
It wasn't even a lie either, technically speaking. Just a minor exaggeration of the truth.
Either way, Yuzu beamed to have one of her elder brothers back then went onto complain how Ichigo abruptly decided to sleep over at a friend's house last night. That twisted like a knife through Kaien's guts. He covered it with one of his goof smiles and a stock line about hoping Ichigo would have fun.
Kaien deflects any attempts to pry further into his time away and after two more helpings of curry he excuses himself.
Kaien closes his bedroom door, dumping his backpack on his bed then makes his way over to Ichigo's desk and slumps down in his chair with a bone-deep sigh then slumps forward, arms folded as an impromptu pillow.
It's strange to see how normal everything is. Like he hadn't spent the last twenty-four hours risking his soul and personhood to awaken an eldritch power, then hadn't seen Ichigo's mangled body laying in the street.
And was that ever an experience and a half.
In the maelstrom in the depth of his soul, Kaien wholeheartedly believed the Hollow - Nejibana would devour him. He remembers the instant her teeth sunk into his shoulder and chest.
Kaien expected it to would hurt. And it did hurt. But not a physical pain. An emotional pain. A soul-deep agony that brought him to his knees. Even on the outside world, it took him a while to reign himself in. Emotions that were yet were not his own tore through him, burrowing into every fiber of his being and overwhelming him entirely for a minute there. It felt like he would drown in it.
There was unremitting rage, barely restrained aggression, inconsolable grief, unfathomable heartbreak. And most especially the anguish of helplessness. The helplessness of being unable to save the one thing that mattered most in the world.
A helplessness Kaien emphasizes with twice over right now.
But underneath that flood of emotions where other things. Chief among them was a bizarre sense of feral satisfaction mingled with heartfelt relief. And a desire to seek atonement.
Before he'd awakened his powers, Kaien had a vague sense of Nejibana, as though he was staring at a blurry image through layers of static. He felt her presence as an alarming dark otherness, but now he feels Nejibana's emotions as keenly as his own. From that, he understands rather blatantly that he is not the first master she elected to serve. He wonders if that had something to do with why Nejibana fell into such pain and despair she became a Hollow... (at least, that's how Kaien presumed it worked)? Was it that she failed her former master in some way and hopes to redeem herself? Or was she abandoned in the midst of a great evil and felt responsible for not preventing it from happening?
Whatever the reason, Kaien knows they were bound together now. And there was a strangely profound sense of rightness attached to that fact. With that fact came a duty: whatever corrupted Nejibana into her current form, Kaien will do everything in his power to fix.
A knock at his bedroom door snaps him out of his stupor and Kaien turns, greeted by the idiot grin of his father. "My boy! Why didn't you tell me you were home early, son! Oh? Why are you hiding over there? Do you miss your big brother, is that it? Just like when you were children, that's so touching I could cry."
Isshin whips away a mock tear and Kaien rolls his eyes. He doesn't abstain from his father's particular brand of humour as much as Ichigo does, but he has his limits. And frankly, today he doesn't want to be tested.
However Isshin has a particular knack for his children's moods (even if he doesn't show it very often) and decides not to push his luck. Instead he takes Kaien's desk chair and sits down, facing his second son.
"We hadn't really spoken since that incident with your friend and your teacher a couple days ago. You've been a bit..." Isshin rolls his wrist, trying to think of the appropriate description, "... less chipper than usual."
Kaien releases a short bark of laughter, "Brilliant observation, Doctor. If that's your diagnosis, what's your prescription?"
"And there he is." Isshin snaps a finger at him triumphantly and Kaien shakes his head.
"Don't you have patients to look after? Why are you up here tormenting your son?" Kaien prompts a bit playfully, but there's an underlying hint in his tone that he really doesn't want to have this conversation.
"Tormenting? Tormenting, he says! How cruel. Mother, our son doesn't want to spend time with his father, I-!" Isshin's entreaties to his wife's ghost grind to a halt when Kaien reaches behind him and chucks an eraser at his head.
"C'mon Dad. You're a doctor. There's others who need your attention more than I do." Kaien tells him flatly,
Unfortunately for Kaien, Isshin "Subtly is a myth" Kurosaki doesn't pick up on it. Or he does and summarily ignores it, "I'm also a father of two sons. And its not every day a friend tries to drown one of them."
And just like that, the mood sinks like a stone. Kaien exhales a long breath, slouching in Ichigo's chair.
"I wouldn't exactly have called him a friend." He says at length.
"What would you call him then?"
"Tolerable inconvenience?" Kaien shrugs.
His father chuckles once, but his expression softens into something more serious and understanding. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay...?" Kaien sighs out, leaning forward elbows on his knees and hands folded together loosely.
Kaien doesn't know what spawned it, but there's an odd feeling at the back of his mind - a completely baseless certainty that Isshin Kurosaki knows exactly what's going on. Not just at school, with Saito trying to kill him and Coach Shirogane being in hospital with a concussion, but on the supernatural front. That same subconscious part of him is also wondering why his father isn't in a pressed black uniform, and why his white doctor's coat is the wrong shape and cut. Kaien frowns and shakes his head lightly to clear away the thoughts.
No. He's imagining it.
"I guess..." Kaien's words trail off. His father waits patiently for him to collect himself.
"I suppose I just don't understand how people can do that. How they can be compelled to act with such unprovoked unnecessary cruelty." Kaien mumbles at last, and he's not talking about Saito, "Maybe that's a good thing, because I don't think I want to understand it either."
"Some people..." Isshin begins, wearing a rare seriousness and sincerity, "...some people are born broken. They lash out because the only way they know how to express themselves is to hurt others, bring them down to their level. They don't know or no one's ever shown them there's another way. Others have... others have lost their way and given up. Had the fight beaten out of them. They stopped trying to believe the world can be any other way. So they take kindness and generosity, the good will of good people, chew it up and spit it back out in spite. Or anger. Or a misguided attempt to follow whatever laws govern their world. Unfortunately, more often than not, we don't discover if someone's falling down that spiral until its far too late."
Kaien's gaze lowers. After a long moment he quietly nods his head to show his understanding.
"There's not much we can do to fix it I'm afraid. We can't save people who don't want to be saved, kiddo."
"But we can give 'em a right royal boot up the ass and knock their heads in."
Isshin places a solemn hand over his heart, "As a Doctor, I would never advocate harming others with malicious intent. Though it would be fun to watch."
Kaien gives an honest laugh this time, "Aren't doctors supposed to take an oath or something before they practice medicine? I will minister with compassion or first do no harm - some such like that?"
His father holds up a sage finger, "Every rule has its exceptions. Especially when they're hilarious."
"You're the worst." Kaien chortles.
Isshin then offers him a puzzling smile that Kaien can't quiet get a read on, "But listen. I don't want you fretting over things too much. Especially when you know you can't change them. You don't want to turn into your brother."
Kaien gives an exaggerated eyeroll, "C'mon Dad. I don't think I have enough bones in my body to be that sour."
"True enough. But if you ever feel like you need to talk about it, you know you can speak to me, don't you?"
"Yeah. I know." Kaien says.
Isshin reaches over and ruffles Kaien's hair, "Get some rest, kiddo. You look exhausted."
"Thanks Dad."
Author's note:
I'm going to be completely honest. The reason I've been focusing on updating Once More To See You Again and haven't updated BB is a mix of writing myself into a corner and Tears of the Kingdom. I've been a sucker for Zelda for... nearly 25 years now (Quarter of a century! Time flies) and I love me a good Aztec aesthetic. I won't lie, I may have poked a friend once or a dozen times about the idea of Ichigo and Kaien wearing those Zonai armour sets because that's peak aesthetic right there. As for the former, I've been wringing my fingers over the best way to resolve that situation and for Ichigo to gain the powerset he'll be working with for the rest of the story. I'm taking my time to ensure the resolution will be satisfying.
In the mean time, please enjoy my other offerings. :)
Regards,
Aurora313
