Nestle to Night
Makoto Matsubara x Tite Kubo
'Yammy – Yammy – It's nighttime in our world again...'
After Aizen's departure and the closure of all the pathways through the Garganta, Hueco Mundo regained a sense of peace. As the breeze brushed by the ruins of Las Noches, it seemed to carry with it the sounds of lamentation. Apart from the rustling of sand in the wind, silence reigned.
In this silent desert, a solitary creature lay. It had the appearance of a small dog, with the mask of a Hollow and soft, white fur. Its name was Kukkapûro.
Kukkapûro had lost almost all its memories, retaining only the knowledge that it was a Hollow and that this place was Hueco Mundo. Calling itself "Kukkapûro," rubbing its forehead with its paw, and scratching the itch behind its ear were the few significant memories etched deep into its consciousness.
In a world brimming with spiritual matter like Hueco Mundo, a small Hollow like Kukkapûro only needed to breathe to survive, becoming the eventual prey of other Hollows. Despite being at the very bottom of the food chain, Kukkapûro managed to survive because it always stayed by the side of someone very strong.
Kukkapûro would look at this person and think, "I believe this person must be very important." The person took massive steps, always far ahead, and Kukkapûro had to chase after his enormous shadow. He regarded Kukkapûro with an impatient mutter, refusing even to give it a name. He never held, petted, or shared food with it. But he never killed Kukkapûro.
And until the very end, he never abandoned Kukkapûro.
. .
"It's so quiet here..." Mila-Rose was the first to comment as she exited the Descorrer. Following her, Apacci, Sung-Sun, and finally Tier Harribel landed on the desert. Behind them, the opening to the Garganta silently closed, and the rift in space suddenly vanished.
"What a complete mess..." Apacci remarked, gazing at the destruction Las Noches had suffered in heated battles.
"It seems like everyone resorted to rather brutal methods in their battles..." Sung-Sun remarked, concealing her mouth behind her sleeve as she gazed at the sky. The ceiling had broken in multiple places, creating a mosaic of the artificial blue sky of Las Noches and the dark sky of Hueco Mundo beyond.
Harribel silently contemplated the battlefield for a moment. The other three, despite their usual squabbles, followed her lead and stood in solemn silence.
Standing to Harribel's right, Apacci peered down at her perfectly unharmed body and clenched her fist.
"…Bastard!" She muttered under her breath.
Only a few hours earlier, each of them had been on the brink of death. Aizen's zanpakutô, Kyôka Suigetsu, had inflicted two wounds on Harribel – one across her abdomen and another piercing through her back to her left chest. Apacci, Mila-Rose, and Sung-Sun had each sacrificed an arm to create Ayon and had also suffered severe burns all over their bodies from Yamamoto's flames.
Apacci touched her left arm with her right hand. It felt completely normal, just like her original arm, and there was no residual pain.
"In the end… we had to rely on the strength of humans!" She gritted her teeth.
The one who had healed them was Inoue Orihime. When Fake Karakura Town was swapped back with the real one, the unconscious arrancars were also transported to Soul Society with the fake town. Apacci had requested her presence to treat them when Orihime returned from Hueco Mundo with Rukia Kuchiki and the others to see Kurosaki Ichigo after his battle concluded.
Among the three spared by Yamamoto, they were relatively unhurt compared to Harribel, who had suffered two life-threatening injuries. Besides Orihime, there was probably no one else capable of helping her. However, entrusting their deeply respected Harribel to a human, even for a moment, was something she could never forgive.
Apacci steeled her expression and gripped her arm tightly. Her enduring feelings of gratitude toward Orihime were something she couldn't overlook.
. .
Not long after Ichigo Kurosaki reunited with everyone, he let out an anguished cry that seemed to tear through his throat, then collapsed and lost consciousness.
"KUROSAKI-kun!"
"Ichigo!"
"Kurosaki!"
Despite their elation just moments before, Orihime, Uryû, Chad, Rukia, and Renji rushed to Ichigo, calling out his name.
"Everyone, please remain calm," Urahara said, stopping Orihime, who had her hands outstretched, ready to use Sôten Kisshun. He noticed her deeply troubled expression and nodded to her before addressing the others. "Kurosaki is okay. What just happened doesn't threaten his life."
Chad breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing those words and gently positioned Ichigo so he was lying on his back. Although unconscious, Ichigo's body continued to convulse, and he groaned in pain.
"What exactly happened to Ichigo...?" Rukia asked, her concern evident as she observed Ichigo's suffering.
"To defeat Aizen Sosuke, he used his Final Getsuga Tenshô."
"...Final?" Uryû inquired, not fully comprehending the situation.
Urahara calmly closed his eyes and let out a slow sigh. "It's a technique known as 'Mugetsu,' and using it causes him to lose all his Soul Reaper powers... it's quite a technique."
At first, it seemed that nobody fully grasped the weight of his words, perhaps because they didn't want to accept it.
A few seconds later, Orihime murmured, "How could this happen...!?" and promptly dropped to her knees.
"Soul Reaper... powers..." Rukia appeared to have forgotten everything, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on Ichigo.
"Are you saying that Kurosaki can no longer be a Soul Reaper...!?" Uryû exclaimed, his frustration evident.
Urahara nodded with a sense of regret. "Yes."
"...The jerk!" Renji's emotions swirled within him, a turbulent mix of feelings: that they had no other option but to rely on Ichigo, who wasn't even from Soul Society, that he had to use such a technique, and that he himself was so weak.
"Ichigo...!" Chad also lowered his head, shaking with remorse for his own perceived weakness.
Urahara waited until everyone had regained their composure and continued, "Kurosaki's collapse marks the beginning of the process of losing all his powers. With Isshin's assistance, he trained for three months in the Dangai's time flow to master 'Mugetsu.'"
"Three months?!" Renji couldn't help but voice his surprise.
"That's why his hair is longer..." Uryû mumbled to himself.
Rukia pictured the Ichigo she had parted ways with in Hueco Mundo and the one now sleeping before her, merging the two images in her mind. His hair had grown longer, and it appeared he had grown a bit taller. Although only a few days had passed between their infiltration of Hueco Mundo to save Orihime and the conclusion of all the battles, it felt like a significantly longer journey for Ichigo.
'But for you, it must have felt like an incredibly long fight...' Rukia thought to herself, offering him a reassuring glance.
"Is there anything I can do...!?" Orihime asked, her voice filled with distress.
"Unfortunately, no," Urahara shook his head. "There's nothing we can do at the moment. Once the time-flow reversion is complete, Kurosaki's Soul Reaper powers will vanish. This is the first stage."
"And then what?" Rukia asked, her surprise evident.
Urahara nodded in response and continued, "In the second stage, when the rest of his spiritual pressure stabilizes, he will wake up... and then, his remaining spiritual energy will completely disappear."
"If that's the case, Ichigo will..." Chad's voice trailed off as he swallowed hard.
"Never mind Soul Reapers and Hollows, he won't even be able to see ordinary Pluses."
Urahara's words brought a heavy silence upon everyone. Being able to see spirits was at the core of Ichigo's existence, something every person present deeply understood.
Seeing the pained and somber expressions all around, Urahara tried to inject a bit of optimism. "Regardless, let's take him somewhere to get help first! We can't send him home until the first stage is complete. If his sisters saw him all grown up like this, they would be utterly surprised!"
"...You're right." Renji was the first to raise his head. "Sitting here and discussing won't help. Hey, bring a stretcher!" he called out to the Fourth Squad members who were in the process of dismantling the town. Two members nearby hurried over with a stretcher. "Let's take him to get help. Be careful... this is the great hero who captured AIZEN!" Renji almost emphasized, making sure the two members from the Fourth Squad handled the stretcher with utmost care.
"Of course!" The two of them replied enthusiastically and bowed deeply. Ichigo, the hero who had finally brought this battle to a conclusion, had gained instant recognition among the members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.
As they carefully transferred Ichigo's body onto the stretcher, both Urahara and Uryû simultaneously looked up.
"Something's approaching!"
"This spiritual pressure... an Arrancar!?"
The two individuals skilled at sensing spiritual pressure lifted their heads and gazed skyward.
Everyone else followed suit, their eyes fixed on the sky.
Suddenly, in the clear blue sky, a figure emerged using Sonído, a technique exclusive to Arrancar. They descended rapidly, almost falling out of the sky.
All eyes focused on the Arrancar who had landed on the ground. It was one of Tier Harribel's Fracción, Apacci. Her skin was scorched, her left arm torn off with blood still dripping from the wound, and she could barely remain upright.
"You must not value your life...!" Renji fixed a stern glare on Apacci, his hand tightly gripping his zanpakutô, Zabimaru.
However, Apacci paid no heed to Renji, directing her gaze solely at Orihime. "Hey, woman... come... with me..." Her shoulders shook violently as she struggled to breathe, her words emerging in short bursts.
Observing her approaching Orihime, Rukia quickly positioned herself between the two. But before she could take any action, Apacci took another step and lost her balance, collapsing heavily to the ground.
"You...!" Trying to lift herself, she grabbed a handful of dirt.
"Sôten Kisshun!" Orihime extended her hands, employing her Shun Shun Rikka technique. Shun'ô and Ayame rushed to Apacci, forming a radiant healing field around her.
"Wait, Inoue! She's an Arrancar! There's no reason to heal her!" Renji protested. Orihime had been kidnapped by Arrancar before, and Renji understandably wanted to avoid further interactions with them.
"But I can't just do nothing..." Orihime walked past Rukia, approaching Apacci's injured body. Despite being an Arrancar, Orihime couldn't simply leave someone who was hurt.
As Orihime began to concentrate on healing, Apacci weakly pleaded, "Don't mind me... first... save Harribel-sama...!"
"But your injuries are severe as well..."
"Please!" Apacci raised her head and grasped Orihime's hand, her own hand trembling, whether from pain or something else. "Please, hurry and save Harribel-sama...!" Her eyes held no malevolence, murderous intent, or deceit; they reflected only concern for her comrades, much like Orihime's own compassion.
"I understand! Please take me there!" Orihime deactivated her Sôten Kisshun and offered Apacci her shoulder.
"I'll go too. Hold onto me," Rukia said, positioning herself on Apacci's other side. She carefully supported her, despite her own shoulder wound, using her right arm to hold Apacci securely. Apacci, wide-eyed and surprised, didn't say a word, putting her trust in the two of them.
"Well, I guess I have no choice... come on!" Renji approached them and bent over. "You're in a hurry, right? Let me carry you. I seem to be the least wounded among all of us..."
"Thank you, Abarai-kun!" Orihime and Rukia gently placed Apacci on Renji's back. Renji stood up and began walking toward the fake Karakura Town, with Orihime and Uryû following closely.
"Urahara, Chad, I'll leave Ichigo with you," Rukia stated as she ran to join them. Urahara would explain Ichigo's injuries, and Chad would tend to his leg wound.
. .
Observing movement among the rubble, Sung-Sun inquired, "Who's there?"
"Woof!" Kukkapûro emerged from the shadows and scampered toward the four of them.
"You're Yammy's..." HARRIBEL recalled that this tiny hollow was always by Yammy's side.
"Near here... I can sense the remnants of Yammy's spiritual pressure," Mila-Rose commented. It was the lingering presence of his spiritual pressure from his intense battle.
"That fellow Yammy, always so absent-minded, and always thinking he's so great, as if!" Apacci exclaimed in her usual tone. The other two nodded in agreement.
"What's next... that jerk!" She kicked up some sand, hoping that everything would return to normal soon. She wished for humans, Soul Reapers, this battle, and connections to Soul Society to fade into obscurity.
"Che! Have they already noticed...!" murmured Mila-Rose, focusing on the spiritual pressure signatures in their vicinity.
Sung-Sun nodded, her brow furrowing. "Hn... there's a group of mid-level Hollows gathering in that direction."
The Hollows who had once feared Aizen and the Espadas' power were now beginning to encircle Las Noches.
"So, there's going to be another war..." Harribel's expression grew somber, and her heart felt heavy. She had followed Aizen, hoping that his superior strength might prevent unnecessary conflicts. She was reluctant to let such a thing occur.
"Harribel-sama."
Hearing her name, she turned and saw Sung-Sun kneeling on the ground. Sung-Sun lowered her head and continued, "Baraggan is dead. Aizen is gone. The only one suitable to become the ruler of Hueco Mundo is you, Harribel-sama."
"I agree!" Apacci also knelt, bowing her head.
"No matter what, please become the new ruler of Hueco Mundo!" Mila-Rose joined in, also kneeling.
Harribel slightly lowered her head, her gaze calm as she observed the three awaiting her response. "Hueco Mundo does not require a ruler."
"A false sun cannot dispel this darkness." The artificial blue sky created by Aizen extended overhead. "Hueco Mundo has its own darkness... and only needs a tranquil one."
Harribel blinked slowly and began walking toward the center of Las Noches. The three of them stood, exchanged glances, and silently acknowledged her decision.
"We will always serve you, Harribel-sama," Sung-Sun stated as they followed her.
After taking five or six steps, Apacci halted and looked back at Kukkapûro, which was still gazing at the four of them. "Hey, little one! You'll be in danger if you stay here!" She approached, intending to pick it up, but Kukkapûro yelped and struggled in her grasp.
Observing this, Sung-Sun advised, "Let it be. Can't you see it wants to stay here wholeheartedly?"
"You're so noisy! I don't need you to tell me. I was planning to let it go!" Apacci placed Kukkapûro on the ground, and Kukkapûro happily yelped while wagging its tail.
"You also have something you can't leave behind, huh?" Mila-Rose gently petted Kukkapûro's head before returning to Harribel's side with the other two.
As they left, their shadows gradually faded, and their footprints were erased by the wind.
Kukkapûro remained there, bearing witness to it all.
To this day, it remains there, forever missing its departed master.
END
Word count: 2564