Author's Note: CH25 edited for typos and prose.

Keigo crouched by his own Human body, pressed an index finger against its neck. A steady slow pulse thrummed. Alive. But lacking a soul.

Oddly enough, his Shinigami body wore a copy of his Human body's clothing. Black track pants, gray T-shirt, and white sneakers. However, his flip phone was missing—not copied. Same was true for his four buddies; he guessed the same for their phones. They were still inside their inner worlds.

Glancing left and right, Keigo didn't spot Kisuke or Tessai around. And on a rock, Yoruichi was curled into a furry black ball, sleeping.

Something black moved in the corner of his eye.

A Hell Butterfly.

One for Tatsuki. And one for Orihime. They were becoming succubus-like beings, as Yoruichi had explained that night. A lewd power granted by Hell itself. What an honor. What an exciting time this was. Keigo couldn't wait, his legs skipping over to the girls while hot desire was boiling inside him. He needed them.

Orihime. If she had been one of the more attractive girls at school, she was now unrealistically pretty. Icepick acne scars on her cheeks were gone. Her skin and hair were flawless, like that seen in movies or digitally edited cosmetic product ads. Her facial bone structure was more defined, more symmetrical, with proportions more pleasing to the eye, but she was still recognizably Orihime. A gorgeous princess. Keigo didn't know who was more beautiful out of Orihime and his new Zanpakuto spirit. Tough call.

Then there was Tatsuki, the kinky short-haired tomboy who secretly loved to show off her slim body and let horny boys ogle her. Hardly a secret now. She had also gone through a beautifying transformation. Her cheekbones were more prominent. Her jaw was sharper. Her new face was fiercer while simultaneously softer. Her bare legs were more shapely, free of old childhood scars. Was her pleated denim miniskirt shorter than before? Keigo had to be seeing things. He was salivating at the mere thought of what he was planning with her.

He couldn't restrain himself.

Sitting down, he started with Tatsuki's fingers. No calluses. He had always wanted to hold her hand. Now he could. Now it was her duty to hold his hand. He could hold her hand all day, all night. He could die holding hands, and he would pass on as a happy boy. This was the life. The great Shinigami afterlife.

He inhaled her fragrance. Flowery sweet.

A big drop of his saliva landed on her cheek.

As his hand move to wipe it off, her face grimaced. Her eyes cracked open. "Keigo?" She groaned in discomfort. She touched wetness on her cheek. "You disgusting perv."

Some things weren't going to change.

"Accident, sorry."

She was massaging her brow and jaw. "Why does my body hurt? What did you do?"

"Nothing. Apart from the drool."

"Just say it. How many times did you fuck me?"

He blinked in question. He was still a virgin.

Yoruichi's voice droned: "He didn't do anything to you, Tatsuki. The transformation can be painful for most girls. Your physical beauty was enhanced. You had a number of scars and bone fractures that didn't heal properly. Your nose was fixed. The crack was quite startling."

Tatsuki pinched and wriggled her nose. She smiled. Her smile was now angelic. Her teeth were pearly white, straighter. "Great. How hot do I look?"

"You could be a movie star," Keigo said, recalling that she did aspire to be one. He rubbed her inner thigh, and she didn't react, letting him.

"That's so ironic." She huffed a long breath. "Yoruichi, does Soul Society produce movies?"

"There is theater in the Seireitei and innermost Rukon districts."

Shoes crunched on sandy dirt. Chad was up. He looked at his own Human body before picking up his Zanpakuto. His attention then moved to Tatsuki. His expression gave nothing away. "How are you feeling, Tatsuki? Did Keigo do something creepy while you were out?"

"Nah, he didn't have the guts." Tatsuki chuckled. "I'm a little sore. I feel like I've been tossed around a bunch."

A retort was ready on Keigo's tongue.

But Orihime was suddenly sitting. She winced. "Owie. My face."

"Breathe through it," Yoruichi said, leaping to Orihime's side. "Most of your major imperfections were fixed. There's a couple spots on your neck. They'll be gone within a week or two."

Orihime picked up her Zanpakuto. The handle was wrapped in topaz silk. The guard was plain oval. She unsheathed it, checked her reflection in the polished steel. She was speechless for a dozen seconds. Her eyes then flicked to her own Human body behind her. "Oh, my old body's also beautified. And I'm wearing the same clothes?" She patted her jeans. "Hey, where's my phone?"

Yoruichi explained, "Most clothing is imprinted onto your soul while they are worn. Jewelry and other accessories are not."

"How does that work?" Mizuiro asked, standing up.

"I don't know," Yoruichi said, "and your phones are upstairs. Kisuke texted your families. You lot decided to go camping for the night."

Orihime's head tilted. "Huh, why?"

"You've been out for over twelve hours. It's dawn soon."

"That long?" Keigo blurted. "I was only in my inner world for five minutes."

"Twenty minutes for me," Chad said. "I couldn't find my Zanpakuto spirit."

"Same," Orihime said.

"Couldn't find mine either," Tatsuki said, glowering.

Mizuiro's head shook. "I got lost in an enormous library. It might be infinitely large."

Vain arrogance blossomed in Keigo. "Well, well, well. Guess what, I happened to have met my spirit. Only for ten seconds, but she was very—"

"She?" Tatsuki gawked. "Really? You have a female spirit?"

"Is something wrong with that?"

"Are you going to have sex with her?"

"Maybe."

Tatsuki scoffed. "Wow. This is a new low, even for you."

He pouted.

Yoruichi said, "It's highly uncommon, but I'm not surprised, given your flamboyant personality. You almost remind me of someone."

"Flamboyant?" Keigo mumbled. "What are you saying? I'm not flamboyant. I'm manly!" He flexed his bicep. His barely-there bicep. "People call me Keigo the Mountain."

Orihime giggled. "You're the most flamboyant guy I know. Keigo the Flamingo."

"Sounds about right," Tatsuki muttered.

Chad grunted. "I agree."

"They've got you," Mizuiro said, smirking.

Keigo cried fake tears. "My reputation is ruined. Don't tell anyone about my female spirit, guys."

"Generally," Yoruichi said, "you should keep it to yourself. Your Zanpakuto spirit and inner world are a reflection of who you are and your abilities. It is a very private matter." Yoruichi's yawn was a low-pitched meow. "You can talk about it later. Right now you need to get back into your Human bodies. Without your soul's spirit energy, they will start to wither and die. Place a hand on the chest. You will feel yourself pulled in."

A spike of worry shot up Keigo's throat. He ran back to his body. A sweaty palm on the chest, above the beating heart, he didn't feel anything… until he was shoved into a narrow tube. And then he was on his back, looking up at the fake blue sky. His Human body felt different, heavier, sluggish, like wet clay. His joints creaked as he stood. His muscles were stiff. He picked up his gold and ivory Zanpakuto.

Yoruichi was alarmed: "Whatever you do, do not try to release your Zanpakuto's Shikai—otherwise the outpour of spirit energy could annihilate your Human body."

"Yoruichi," Orihime said, "didn't you mention something called a Gikon that can—"

"Kisuke is making custom Gikon for you. They will have personalities similar to yours. Memories, though, likely not. You'll have to speak with them. They'll be ready in a few days."

Gikon. Substitute souls for their Human bodies. Keigo had forgotten. Good thing he had kept journals and photo albums.

"Three days," Chad said. "That's when our real training begins."

"Yes," Yoruichi said. "Take this time to settle your affairs. Leave behind no regrets. The day we depart for Soul Society may be your last in the living world."

Nods all around.

Tatsuki asked, "How do we hide our Zanpakutos if we're supposed to carry them all the time?"

"Kisuke can disguise them for you." Yoruichi's ear twitched. "How about five umbrellas?"

"That's a really smart idea," Mizuiro said.

Yoruichi was a smug cat.

Hot coffee sloshed in Keigo's stomach as he gazed into the sunrise. Birds were chirping. A small fish swam down the river. An unbelievably hot girl had her arm looped around his.

"What's wrong?" Tatsuki asked in a gentle tone.

"Hmm?"

"I thought you would want to have sex by now. Is my spirit energy not affecting you?"

The reason was rather shameful. He sipped coffee. "It is, but I jerked off like a dozen times Saturday and Friday night. My dick's a bit sore. I put some moisturizer cream on it."

After a bird soared past, she laughed. "Stop doing that from now on." Her umbrella smacked his leg. "You were thinking about me and Orihime."

And Hiyori. "Yep."

"Who do you want to fuck more?" Her tone was sultry. This was a different Tatsuki Arisawa.

"You." He licked her cheek.

"Lick me again and I'll throw you into the river." Not too different. Grumpy old Tatsuki was in there. A deep breath lifted her shoulders. "I called my mom just then."

Keigo's eyes hopped to her. "Yeah?"

"She was worried that you guys were going to take advantage of me while we were apparently camping. Especially you." Tatsuki's head shook sadly. "What have I done? And what about your family? Have you called them? Your sister?"

"Not yet," Keigo said in the voice of a misbehaving boy.

"What are you going to tell them?"

"Well… I'm hoping my Gikon can just take my place."

Her laughter at that was demented. "You can't be serious. It won't have any of your experiences. They'll sooner or later notice something is up."

"What else then? Should we fake our deaths? A disappearance?"

"Obviously."

He poured warm coffee down his throat, emptied the cup. He chucked it into a bin ten strides away. Perfect aim. He smiled. "I'm not as pessimistic as Kisuke and Yoruichi. I think we'll be able to return."

"Why?"

"I don't know, just a feeling I have."

"A feeling." Her fingers interlaced with his. She squeezed his hand. "Want to know what I'm feeling?"

He joked: "Horny?"

Her umbrella stabbed his shoe. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid that we're being sent to our deaths. It's the way Kisuke and Tessai looked at us—as if we were already dead to them. That we're sacrificial pieces on a grand chess board."

Now that Keigo thought about it, the looks Kisuke had given them were a little off. But Keigo didn't want to believe the worst. "You're just worrying. Why will they train us if that's the case?"

"I don't know."

His thumb stroked the back of her hand. "Then don't worry."

"How can you not worry? They've told us nothing about what's waiting for us on the other side. They haven't even told us exactly why Ichigo's family was taken."

"I'm sure they'll explain everything. Yoruichi has explained a lot already."

Tatsuki's head shook. "You always have been the go-with-the-flow kind of guy."

Keigo couldn't disagree. "My inner world is an ocean. I'm pretty sure I was on an island. I have a nice house. Maybe a mansion. My room has a piano and fish tank."

She bit her lip. "Your Zanpakuto spirit. Is it really a girl? You weren't bullshitting?"

"Yeah, she's gorgeous. Long ruby-red hair. Teal-green eyes. She has bit of an accent, Italian. She was in a bikini." His dick woke up as he pictured her strappy bikini. "She's the perfect girl."

"Great." Her tone said otherwise. "I think mine might be an animal."

Surprise straightened his back. "Real?"

"I was in a dense forest. A lot of the trees were massive. Like those with huge thick trunks that rise high up in the sky, except they were even bigger. It was night time. I heard owls and wolves."

"Huh."

Her nails dug into his hand. "That's all you can say? Huh? While you're in your luxury mansion with your bikini slut, I'm in a cold muddy forest."

"Hey, it's your soul." His shrug was small. "Try to be less cold and stuck in the mud all the time. Maybe it'll change."

"Why do you think I'm hanging with you? Mister Flamboyant. Keigo the Flamingo."

Oh no. That name was going to stick with him for a long time. He sniffed dramatically. "Damn you, Orihime," he cried. Then looked around. "Where'd they head off to?"

"To school. It's Monday morning."

"Oh."

He wasn't in uniform.

But he was more or less sure he had a spare in his locker. No need to return to Asano house yet. He started walking, whistling cheerfully, his Zanpakuto umbrella swinging.

She didn't let go of his hand, saying, "I might fuck some of the other guys at school. You won't go berserk in a jealous rage, will you?"

What a kick in the balls!

"Did you have to tell me that?" he whined, frowning. "Have sex with whoever you want, I don't care, you're not even a virgin like Orihime. Is she still virgin?"

Tatsuki's smile was devilish. "No, Mizuiro took her Saturday night. You should've seen him go at it."

Keigo's posture slumped. His whimpers were that of a wounded dog. He sniffed. At least his Zanpakuto spirit was a virgin.

Tatsuki elbowed him, hard. "I'm kidding. She is."

He perked straight. He still had a chance! "That's great!"

"Are you going to fight Mizuiro and Chad over her?"

"I thought we were playing Monopoly. The game's not over."

"And if you lose?"

Keigo's shoulders squared. "Then it's fair. But Keigo the Game Master won't lose. Her virgin cherry juice will be all mine!"

Tatsuki was hugging his arm again. She whispered, "If cherry juice is all you want, then…." She took something out of a pocket in her jumper. A glossy pink ball. It was the size of a pinky finger's nuckle. A candy? "Kisuke said they call these Pink Pills, or fake virginity pills. You can guess what it does. They're made for pervs like you."

He had to be dreaming.

No, he was very much awake.

Author's Note: So apparently Kubo has drawn Tatsuki in Shinigami form. Her Zanpakuto was some kind of (dead?) wolf with a blade attached. For this story, her Zanpakuto won't be that, but I have taken inspiration from the artwork.

Review Responses:

- Masaki's description is a little more detailed. She does have a Hollow hole, and she's supposed to look vaguely similar to how Tier Harribel did in the anime filler.

- How Masaki's plotline will unfold will be revealed; however, I will say now that we might not see her for a while...