At the sound of knocking, I opened the front door, and a deep glare settled on my face. I cut off the well-dressed man right as he opened his mouth.
"Fuck off. If you want to actually get to know me, ditch the bribe." The couple looked appalled.
"Bribery? What do you take us for, criminals? We simply heard of the new addition to the Soul Society, and wanted to introduce ourselves." The woman lied. "We learned you were under Unohana-taicho's care, and so we thought of bringing a gift."
"Like hell, that bottle you're holding is worth more than a normal lieutenant makes in a decade. I'm in a bad mood, so make your decision before I throw you out."
"I understand your definition of a gift may be-" I slammed the door in their faces, before retreating for the kitchen to continue waiting for the pot of coffee to finish.
"I didn't realize you were so well acquainted with the wine of the Soul Society." Unohana mentioned from the kitchen table, a cup of tea in her hands.
"I'm friends with Kyoraku, and Byakuya is surprisingly just as disgusted as I am with other nobles. They taught me a lot about the worth of wine and how to decipher the actions of nobles."
"My, how kind of them."
"Yeah, if it weren't for them, I would have gotten roped into a whole load of shit." The coffee finished, so I poured a cup and joined my nurse at the table. Two plates were waiting, a full meal for her and a couple spoonfuls of rice for me.
"Wonderful. So, what is the agenda for today?" The raven haired medic asked. I sipped my drink.
"After we confirm it with Yamamoto, you and I are gonna go to Hueco Mundo and recruit-slash-eliminate the arrancar. We're gonna round up the Espada that are nice and/or willing to side with us, and take out the rest. We don't need to worry about anyone else, arrancar, like hollows, follow whoever is strongest. There will be a few that are loyal enough to Aizen to fight back, but they're not strong enough to do much."
"You understand this will make two days straight where I am unable to do paperwork. It builds to quite immense amounts if left unchecked, especially in the 4th." I waved it off.
"Its fine, when things were slow, I helped out on paperwork for the divisions I frequented. We can start when we get back, or we can bring some for after we finish."
"I will have Isane-chan prepare us some papers to take with us, then." The First Kenpachi rested her tea cup on the table before lifting her finger for a Hell Butterfly to land on. I once asked where Hell Butterflies came from, and how they were always a moment away when someone needed to send a message. I've yet to receive a straight answer. My running theory is that Kurotsuchi made them, and they were so useful that no one wanted to question how he made them. I finished my breakfast just as Unohana finished her message. The butterfly flew away, and we watched it just to preserve the comfortable silence.
"I can only assume the purpose of going to Yamamoto-soutaicho is more a warning of what we're going to do rather than an asking of permission." She accused.
"Yup." I confirmed.
"How are we going to Hueco Mundo, then? We have yet to invent a way to travel there outside of following hollows through Gargantas."
"I'm part hollow, remember? I can make my own Gargantas." My gaze was still out the window, but that doesn't mean I didn't feel hers snap to me. There was a moment of stunned silence from her.
"…why am I surprised?" She whispered.
"You aren't used to me yet. I do a lot of impossible stuff." Sure, her question was rhetorical, but that didn't mean it wasn't in need of an answer. "Ready to go?" It took a couple seconds for her to recover, but that was much faster than anyone else would be able to.
"Y-yes. I asked Isane-chan to meet us at the 1st Division, so we need not wait for her." She explained as she stood. I followed her example and we left her home promptly. The sun was still rising, so it was technically early, but in the Gotei 13, there was always someone out and about. Luckily, it offered Unohana and I a wonderful view as we walked to meet up with Yamamoto. Speaking of which.
"Hey, you don't mind waking up a little earlier than you're currently used to on a regular basis, right?" I asked.
"What for?"
"If we knew there was something big coming up, my friends and I would wake up to watch the sunrise. It's the best in all the worlds, and I was hoping to make a habit of watching it every morning."
"I wouldn't mind at all, so long as I can bring others to enjoy it with us."
"Go ahead!" I encouraged. "The more, the merrier." A familiar presence landed on my shoulders, hands rested atop my head, and my neck was flanked by soft thighs.
"That include me?" Yoruichi asked.
"Of course it does, but you aren't exactly a morning person."
"Well, I can be if I have the right incentive~." My face immediately grew warm, but I persevered.
"Sure, I can bring you some milk."
"I'll only have it if it's yours~." Goddamn it. I just can't keep up with the teasing. Yoruichi's laughter filled my ears. "Oh, you cannot believe how happy it makes me that you still become a strawberry from a little teasing!"
"Shut up…" I pouted, my arms crossed over my chest. The werecat took the opportunity to rest her feet in the bend of my elbows.
"How is it that you've apparently had one hell of a first time, but you still turn cherry when I use a little wordplay?" The goddess of flash asked, genuine curiosity dusting her tone.
"Oh?" Before I could answer, Unohana spoke up. Oh no. "Ichigo merely informed me that he is no longer a virgin. Has he told you more?" Yoruichi guffawed, and I desperately wanted to shove my head into a wall.
"No longer a virgin? Berry-kun here slipped out that his first trip to pound town was a threesome!"
"My, my, how adventurous!"
'Ya know, this is the perf'ct time to let 'em know who it was with.'
'Shut the fuck up.'
"Right? But sadly, my dearest student doesn't want to let me in on who it was with!" The purple haired beauty leaned down as close as she could to my left ear as she cradled my face. "Don't worry, though, I'm more than happy to let you in whenever you want~." I wasn't sure if it was possible for steam to rush out of my ears, but I was about to find out. Shiro was cackling somewhere in my head.
"M-m-moving on!" She was so close I felt Yoruichi's lips curl into a smirk. "Yoruichi! Since you're already with us, interested in joining Unohana and I for a raid in Hueco Mundo?"
"Sounds fun!" I inwardly sighed in relief that the mocha-skinned goddess permitted the change in topic. "What will we be doing?"
"Aizen had an army of arrancar in his base in Hueco Mundo. We're gonna recruit those we can, and take out everyone else."
"Will we be recruiting anyone I'd like?" The only two arrancars that Shiro referred to by name popped in my head.
"Absolutely."
"Oh, now I'm excited! Are we on our way now?"
"Not quite." Unohana picked up. "We're informing Yamamoto-soutaicho where we are going and what we are doing before actually traveling to Hueco Mundo."
"Gotcha. How are we getting there?"
"Ichigo/Me." Unohana and I answered in sync.
"Say what?" The werecat sat confused on my shoulders.
"I can make Gargantas." I enlightened.
"Oh, because you're part hollow, right?"
"You know, I praised Unohana in my head for coming out of her shock quickly after realizing that. You barely blinked." Yoruichi scoffed.
"Oh, please. I've seen you beat Ikkaku, Renji, Kenpachi, and Byakuya consecutively without even sparing the time to heal completely after each fight, earn Bankai two weeks after acquiring Shikai, stop the Sokyoku in Shikai with a massive portion of your power sealed, and time travel. Finding out you can open Gargantas hardly break the barrel of most impossible feats you've performed, and that's what I know." I burst out laughing, and Yoruichi easily kept her balance while on my shoulders.
"...With everything put out in front of me, you are correct that it should be expected at this point." The raven haired medic relented. "After all, he matched me in my Bankai with just his Shikai, and walked through any Kido spells I sent at him with hardly a scratch." The goddess of flash snapped her fingers.
"That's right! I heard about that from my Little Bee! She was really pissed off that apparently Kido doesn't work on him?" The First Kenpachi nodded.
"Pretty much." I confirmed. "Hado spells under 90 don't even leave a mark on my skin with my Hierro active, and Bakudo spells under 75 break on contact."
"No!" The woman on my shoulders awed. "Seriously?"
"Indeed. In our spar, neither Shakkaho nor Sokatsui could do more than shift a few of his hairs. He cut my Danku in two with a mere sword slash."
"Hold on! That brings up a question that Berry-kun hasn't answered yet: You're basically unstoppable and you've already gotten laid, and you're this affected by my teasing?" I felt the urge to look to the side at the query, but that would've led to me staring straight at Yoruichi's thigh, so I chose to look down instead.
"Yeah, but that's because teasing is different." I mumbled. "I got used to seeing naked women, but having women tease me about it is different."
"And why is that?" Unohana asked, a mischievous glint in her tone.
"Cause women are confusing." I huffed. "They can tease me and be serious about what they're teasing me about, and they can be joking about what they're teasing me about. It's confusing."
"Well, now I'm going to make sure you can't tell if I'm being serious or not." I could hear the smirk in Yoruichi's voice.
"Oh, hey, would you look at that. We're at the 1st Division." I monotoned. Both captain and ex-captain blinked. The goddess of flash spoke first.
"No we're-" I grabbed Unohana and shunpo'ed. Almost instantly, we were directly in front of Yamamoto's office. "Not...Ichi-kun!" I didn't dignify her outcry with a response, instead knocking on the double doors.
"Enter." I held the doors open for my nurse to pass before shutting them behind me. The Head Captain barely glanced up at us before returning to filling out paperwork. "State your business." I waved to Chojiro, who was standing to ancient captain's right with a pot of tea. The lieutenant bowed lightly in return.
"Hey, we came to let you know that Unohana, Yoruichi and I are going to Hueco Mundo." The fire-wielder's hand stilled, before he returned his brush to its ink jar and looked up at us, or more specifically me.
"Excuse me?" His voice rumbled.
"Remember how I mentioned that Aizen had arrancars?" The bearded man nodded. "Well, I was gonna go to Hueco Mundo to sort them out, Unohana was gonna come with me for obvious reasons, and we invited Yoruichi to join. She accepted." The mentor of Kyoraku and Ukitake sighed.
"And how do you plan to enter Hueco Mundo?"
"I can open Gargantas." There was a long moment of silence, where Yamamoto stared at me. I couldn't tell what was most dominant: incredulousness, irritation, exasperation, shock, or tired acceptance. His right eye twitched, which Chojiro took as his cue to refill the captain's cup of tea.
"…Do what you wish." It seems tired acceptance won out, as the old man grabbed the now full cup and took a drink. I smiled, and turned to leave.
'Wait, Ichigo, you have yet to convince Yamamoto to permit your allies into captains meetings.'
'Oh, I nearly forgot. Thanks, Old Man!'
'You are always welcome.' I turned back around, a soft squeak slipping out of Yoruichi.
"One last thing, Yamamoto?" The Head Captain raised his eyes, but didn't pause in his drinking of his tea. "Can my allies join captains meetings if it pertains to them from now on?"
He finished his tea, and held out his cup for Chojiro to fill again.
"Yes, if only to stave off as much in-fighting as possible." Oh, great. It seems he was already starting to understand I would've brought them whether he accepted or not.
"Thanks! We should be back by nightfall, but there's no guarantee!" He waved his free hand in the most 'whatever' way possible. I turned around again, slower for the werecat's sake, before exiting the obnoxiously large room with Unohana at my right. We were greeted by a panting Isane, holding a thick stack of papers and a couple pens. She really needed to stop being so subservient to Unohana. Sure, it was great that she was loyal to her captain, but she'd drop everything if the raven haired medic so much as pricked her finger or asked for a cup of water. The silver haired lieutenant straightened as soon as she saw her captain, before thrusting the papers and pens forward.
"Here is the paperwork you asked for, Unohana-taicho! Just in case you ran out on your trip, I brought five pens!" My nurse politely relieved Isane of the items.
"Thank you, Isane-chan. We don't know when we will return, so don't stay up late waiting for me. If you happen to have a nightmare, you have my permission to go to my room." The taller woman blushed.
"B-b-but Captain-!"
"Now, now, I don't need to repeat myself, do I?"
"N-no! N-not at all! Nope! Thank you, Unohana-taicho, have fun on your trip!" The lieutenant was off like a shot. The three of us stared at the retreating dust cloud in amusement.
"Ichigo, have you had more than two partners?" The 4th Squad captain asked.
"No."
"Would you?" Shiro's laughter returned in full force. I could feel him rolling on the ground in my Inner World, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"…Um."
"Well?" Yoruichi asked.
"…I'm not gonna answer that."
"And why not?"
"I'm not answering that."
"Aw, come on! You can tell us!"
"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm going to."
"You're no fun!"
"We're about to go into Hueco Mundo to fight and recruit captain-class arrancar, the hell do you mean 'no fun'?"
"Stop contradicting my point! I'm trying to push you into telling me who you slept with!"
"No!" She blew a raspberry at me, and I rolled my eyes. "You two ready to go?"
"Indeed."
"Yep! Let's kick some arrancar ass!" I stepped forward and thrust my hand out, my fingers disappearing as I ripped open a hole between the worlds. Pure arrancar could snap their fingers or whatever to open a Garganta, but since I wasn't, I had to do it manually. "Oh, spooky!" Yoruichi's playfulness was wonderfully refreshing. Helped drive out the memories of last night. The portal opened wide enough for us all to get through, and I went in first, a luminescent road of reiatsu forming as soon as my foot entered. It shot off into the distance instantly, another habit I had formed from the wars.
"Oh? What's this?" Unohana wondered, looking at the reiatsu we were standing on.
"The inside of a Garganta is an empty void, but that makes it easy to form a platform or road of reiatsu to walk on. As long as the road is there, you can get to your destination, but make sure to stay on it, or you'll never be seen again." I answered.
"Why does it look like a sideways skyscraper?" Yoruichi probed.
"That's a me thing. My Inner World is sideways, and full of skyscrapers, so this comes naturally to me."
"Your Inner World sounds weird."
"You're saying that like it's out of place for me."
"Fine, you're weird."
"Fair." I accepted. "So, while we're on the way, I'll give a quick rundown of what's going to happen. Be serious about this, if we don't do this right, a lot of bad things will happen." I sensed the atmosphere change as the two women listened.
"Alright. Whenever you're ready." The goddess of flash spoke out.
"When we enter Hueco Mundo, we'll be above the Menos Forest, on the sands. I trust you two know what I'm talking about?" I saw Unohana nod, and felt Yoruichi do the same. "Las Noches is a huge white domed palace, it can be seen from anywhere above ground. Unohana, once we catch sight of it, I'll pick you up since you have the slowest Flashstep out of the three of us. We need to be quick about entering, or else they'll notice us and start preparing. Before we manage to enter the building, there's a guardian. His name is Runuganga, and he's an adjuchas made purely of sand. Yoruichi, when he pops up, you need to hit him with your Shunko to crystalize him. I've seen you do it before, so it shouldn't be much trouble."
"Got it."
"Once we're in, follow me. We're gonna B-line straight for the meeting hall, that's where we'll have the potential friendlies gather. I'll pick up some nameless arrancar on the way to be our messenger, so they don't start worrying about an attack. We only really need to care about the Espada, as almost all of the other arrancar will listen to them. Those that don't will be dealt with easily. The potential allies are Espadas 1, 3, 4, and 6. The rest will be eliminated, either because they'll fight back or are just plain untrustful. I'll take on Espadas 2, 5, and 8. You two can have 7, 9, and 10. Before you start complaining, I didn't horde the powerful enemies. Espada 2 can manipulate time, he's nearly impossible to take out if you can't stop him before he can react. 5 I have a bias against, and 8 is the arrancar version of Mayuri. You give him a chance, he will find a way to render your powers null.
"For the ones you two are taking on, 7 is fast, and his power lies in his eyes. In the arrancar version of Bankai, he's got something like a hundred eyes, and if they catch you, they can steal control of your limbs. Yoruichi, I'd say you're the best to take him on, you can move faster than his eyes can track. 9 absorbs the powers of anything he eats, he's what became of the hollow that possessed Kaien Shiba, and can look like him. He will do his best to lower your guard, he's not particularly powerful so it's his best tactic against someone that can actually fight. 10 is the simplest, but not the easiest. He's a literal rage monster; the more pissed off he is, the more power he's got. He's stupid, and slow in more than one way, but he can take a hit just as well as he can dish one out. In his released state, he turns huge, like bigger than buildings huge. If he releases, he ranks up to the 0 Espada, but Aizen ranked his Espada in reiatsu level, not threat level. I don't think he knows that, he'll brag about his status, so it's a good opening. He mostly attacks using his reiatsu, but don't wait for him to exhaust himself, as his reiatsu storage grows as he gets pissed. I'd say the best tactic against him is to let loose, but be wary of his attacks. If you need my help to nuke him down, ask."
"Understood. Shihoin-san, I will take on the Ninth, and will rendezvous with you to combat the Tenth. As you have more destructive abilities than I, I will keep his attention while you focus on injuring him."
"Fine by me. Ichigo, what will you be doing after you beat your set?"
"Unless you need my help with 10, I'll be chatting with the potentially friendly Espada. If you do need me, I'll manifest Zangetsu to keep them occupied and aware we won't attack them if we don't have to."
"Good. Anything else?"
"Uh, once we're done with the Espada, I might go out into the sands to grab a trio of wandering arrancar."
"What for?" The First Kenpachi asked.
"Remember in the captains meeting after Aizen? The former 3rd, Nel?"
"She's wandering the sands?"
"It's because of the 5th. He's sexist, and was pissed off that she had a higher position than he did, so he got help from the 8th and attacked her. She survived, but only by transforming into a child form. Luckily, Nnoitora isn't low enough to kill a kid, so he threw her out into the sands. Her subordinates, called fraccion, joined her to ensure her safety. The first time I entered Hueco Mundo, I encountered and befriended them." We stopped in front of the exit, the white sands a step away. "Ready?" Unohana shifted her stance, and Yoruichi hopped off my shoulders to stand on my left.
"Quite."
"You bet." I slipped my arm across the raven haired medic's shoulders and she mirrored my action.
"Then let's go." I shot off, Yoruichi hot on my trail as we blurred across the sands towards Las Noches. My eyes caught a disturbance in the sand, and I recognized the forms of Nel and her fraccion playing Eternal Tag. I would come back for them later. Familiar reiatsu collected in the sand below us, and pooled in the direction we were going in.
"Yoruichi!" I warned.
"Shunko!" As soon as Runuganga began to form, a pillar of lightning struck him, trapping him inside a cage of almost-glass. Without even breaking our strides, we continued on. The impeccably white wall of the home of the arrancars was quickly closing in, but a low powered cero removed that obstacle. It also removed the following three walls, but that was a happy accident. It hardly quickened our journey, but every instant made a difference. The less time Szayel was given to comprehend what was going on, the less of an advantage he could give himself. Luckily, the under-equipped medical office was directly in the path we were taking towards the Espada meeting hall. Snatching some poor female arrancar in a nurse's outfit was cakewalk. We were inside the white room that was clearly designed to have Aizen above everyone else before the woman could even recognize she had been grabbed. Once we stopped, and I let go, the brown haired arrancar stumbled before falling to her knees. My nurse stepped to the side, and watched along with Yoruichi as I crouched in front of the stunned soon-to-be-messenger.
"Hello." The arrancar's eyes focused on me. "Mind sending a message for me?"
"Um-"
"Great. I need you to get Starrk, Halibel, Ulquiorra, and Grimmjow over here, along with all their fraccion. Tell them it's for a chat." The brunette blinked. "Well? What're you waiting for?" The woman stiffened, before shooting to her feet and bolting out the room. I tracked her reiatsu and was pleased to find she was heading towards Ulquiorra's palace, which was closest. I turned to my allies.
"So, where do we go?" The mocha skinned werecat asked. I spread out my reiatsu sense, and quickly found what I was looking for.
"Yoruichi, the largest reiatsu signature to your 4 o'clock is Zommari, the 7th. Unohana, the 9th, whose name I have never gotten right, is that noticeably smaller signature to Zommari's left. Yammy, the 10th, is that fluctuating signature out in the open area of Las Noches. If you need help with him, rapidly raise and lower your reiatsu twice." Both women nodded, and the three of us shot out of the room in separate directions. Barragan was my first stop, and I drew Zangetsu as I rushed him from behind. The aged Espada didn't get the change to acknowledge my presence before he disintegrated under the most powerful Getsuga I could muster in my sealed state. A couple of his fraccion got caught in the blast, I didn't focus on it. Instead, I continued on my way, Szayel in my sights. As I blitzed towards his lab, I sensed Zommari's and the Ninth's signatures disappear. I also felt Ulquiorra, Halibel, and her fraccion waiting in the meeting hall. Zangetsu manifested and split off to keep them calm, as there was no doubt in my mind that they were already suspicious of what was going on. Refocusing on my objective, I locked onto the scientist's signature and ignored everything in between me and him. Keeping my Hierro running on high, I burst through wall after shifting wall without slowing down. He knew we were here, and was trying to buy himself time to analyze and prepare. I couldn't-wouldn't- give him that. His horde of 'fraccion' (test-subjects) started appearing in the halls. I didn't give them the time of day, ignoring them all as I continued sprinting for my goal.
Some of the fraccion entered my path. I disregarded them all, literally running through them in some cases. Spikes popped out of the wall I was about to run into. They broke against my skin. The floor caved in the next room. I jumped the gap. One particularly large fraccion tried to tackle me, only for me to sock it in the face. It dropped, and I grabbed one of its arms to repurpose the test subject as my battering ram. Sadly, it only survived three walls. I broke through five more walls, and the shifting walls stopped appearing. I blinked, and realized I was in the same room as my target. My eyes narrowed, and I was in his face. He shrieked, only to be cut off by Zangetsu cutting his head horizontally. My reiatsu sense spread out, and felt Yoruichi and Unohana tag-teaming Yammy. He seemed to be in his first released state, from the feel of it.
Nnoitora was closing in on my allies, and I was out of Szayels lab at my fastest speed. My complete Shikai exploded into existence around me, and everything except the 5th Espada blurred. Shiro's blade was sheathed on my back, and my right hand snapped out to wrap around his neck as soon as I was within arm's reach. His grip on his weapon loosened as I dragged him to the side, and bounced on the sands behind us. The lanky Espada's left arm tried to pry my hand off of his neck while his right smashed against my face, but neither affected me. We went through one of the crimson pillars that dotted the main area of Las Noches, but we barely felt it. Perks of having the two strongest Hierros in all the worlds.
"Nice try!" He choked. "But my Hierro-" Ossan's blade lodged itself in between his ribs. The sexist's eye widened, before narrowing in pain as I brought the trench knife deeper. A quick check with my senses confirmed no one was in my intended path, so I flooded the Quincy blade with reiatsu.
"This is for Nel!" I growled. "Getsuga Tensho!" A wave of black erupted from the weapon, engulfing Nnoitora and everything behind him. The torrent of destruction continued until it blew apart the farthest wall of the domed country, displaying the eternal night of the outside. It was mildly satisfying to leave nothing of the disgusting Espada left. I heard a faint ringing of metal, and turned to see the lanky man's weapon flipping through the sand towards me, its momentum steadily decreasing now that I was no longer dragging its owner around. Without hesitation, I caught it, threw it to the ground, and stomped on the flat of the blade to shatter it completely. The rumbling of thunder dragged my attention to see Yammy, in his first release like I thought, get hit across the face by a beam of lightning as wide as his head. Smiling to myself, I turned in the direction of the meeting hall, sensing almost all of the good Espada inside save for Starrk and Lilynette, the latter of whom was dragging the other. I snorted and began on my way, feeling Shiro's irritation at being unable to fight Grimmjow yet. I sealed my sword at around the same time Yammy screamed in blind rage at failing to hit Yoruichi the seventh time.
In no time, I was in front of the meeting hall doors, and I could hear the screaming match between an amused Shiro and the enraged Grimmjow, Apache, and Mila Rose. I decided to enter before one of the arrancar decided to try to spill some blood, and threw the doors open. Everyone snapped to me.
"'Sup."
"You are Kurosaki Ichigo, I presume?" Halibel was the first to speak up, stoic as usual.
"Yup."
"Your spirits informed us that we were called by you to negotiate becoming allies. Yet, you have eliminated nearly every Espada save for those in this room. Your actions contradict themselves." Ulquiorra accused.
"You should know exactly why we're killing the others. Half of them just want to destroy everything, and the other half are self-righteous pricks. Neither of those exactly spell out 'peaceful'."
"Quit it with the bullshit, Shinigami." Grimmjow growled, impatient as ever. "Where's Aizen and his goons? How the fuck did you get here? How do you know about us? Start talkin before I kill ya." I was tempted to roll my eyes, but managed to hold it in.
"Aizen's dead. I took him out myself. I came here through opening a Garganta, and I know about you guys because I'm from the future." There was disbelieving silence for a long moment, and I grew increasingly worried that one of them was gonna try to stab me.
"…So you wield the strength to kill Barragan in a single strike, yet you are insane. I'd much rather deal with Yammy's idiocy than your crazed ramblings." The white skinned Espada monotoned as he moved to leave the room. I tried to hold in the eye roll. Really hard.
"Resurreccion Segunda Etapa." The bat froze. "Tiburon, Pantera, Los Lobos. Should I continue?" Finally, Stark was sitting up and actually giving a shit.
"So you're from the future. Why have you come back?" Halibel asked.
"In three years, there's gonna be a war. In the time I came from, that war destroyed everything. I wish I could say I'm here to prevent that war, but there's no way to. So, I'm here to prepare." Some of the arrancar before me shifted anxiously. "It's not just that, though. All of you became friends of mine, I was hoping to have that again." Stark tilted his head. Grimmjow scoffed.
"Friends? The fuck're you talkin about? You're a Shinigami, we're Hollows. We're supposed to kill each other, not sing cumbaya."
"I don't care about how things are supposed to be." I began. "The Gotei 13 tried to execute one of my friends. So I broke into the Seireitei, kicked a bunch of ass, saved my friend, and proceeded to become friends with half the Soul Society. They changed so much that when I lost my powers, they were ordered by the Head Captain to break one of their most sacred laws to give them back. In my time, Aizen kidnapped one of my friends for his plan. I broke into here, kicked some ass, got my ass kicked, and kicked more ass before rescuing my friend and becoming friends with you all. Also," I focused on my reiatsu, before dragging out the barest amount for them to feel. All of their eyes widened. "I ain't just a Shinigami."
"You have Hollow reiatsu. How?" The bat asked. I pointed to Shiro, who was lounging on a chair.
"He's a hollow, and part of my zanpakuto. Part of me."
"He is part of your weapon, not you."
"My weapon is formed from me. Therefore, it is me."
"…I see."
"Hold on," Mila Rose spoke up, Sun-sun and Apache gesturing for her to shut up on either side of her. "We're supposed to believe that you didn't attack us? Or that we didn't attack you? That we just, what, sat down and talked?"
"Not at all." I corrected, before jabbing my thumb at Grimmjow. "He tried to kill me three times over before he stopped fighting me as soon as he sensed my reiatsu. Ulquiorra killed me twice, and Nnoitora almost did me in as well before he was interrupted. As for you three and Halibel, you watched my third fight with Grimmjow from what you told me, and we formally met when fighting alongside each other on the battlefield. When I met Starrk, I nearly punted him because he had somehow gotten into my room and fell asleep on my bed." Oh, great. I really needed to figure a way to introduce myself that didn't leave the recipient in a state of shock.
"King, yer from the future, can walk off dyin', and befriended people who've tried ta kill ya multiple times over. It ain't possible to introduce yerself without shockin 'em." I sighed in acceptance.
"Yeah, you're right. It's not gonna be easy to get used to, though."
"Who said it would be?"
"Good point."
"Waitwaitwaitwait, you died?! Twice?!" Lilynette screamed.
"Yeah. The first time, Ulquiorra shoved his arm through my heart. The second time, he cero'ed a hole in my chest wider than my head."
"How are you standing before us, then? From the sound of it, I was thorough in making sure you remained dead."
"Like you, I have high speed regeneration. Only, mine is much stronger. Also, a few of my friends are wonderful healers." And now the pale man was stuck blinking in shock and disbelief. It was always satisfying to break his stoic exterior.
"You mentioned that both times you invaded, it was to save a friend of yours?" Halibel asked slowly.
"Yeah. There's nothing I won't do for those I care about. I've even broke into Hell when a group of sinners captured my sisters." The blonde hummed in approval.
"…we were friends?" Stark was almost inaudible. His face was a storm of emotions, whirling around so fast that I couldn't make anything out.
"We were." I affirmed.
"Did I repay my debt?" The weight behind the question caused my eyes to widen. It was so long ago to me that I forgot. Aizen had only been able to recruit the lonely arrancar by telling him that he'd be around those that could withstand his immense power, and Starrk felt he owed the maniacal bastard because of it. Another memory resurfaced. Halibel only joined Aizen's side because he promised to keep her girls safe. Rage smoldered in my body at his manipulation, but I pushed it down.
"You didn't owe him anything. He told you what you wanted to hear because he wanted pawns to fight and die for him so he wouldn't have to lift a finger. You told me what he told you once. He never said you would have company, or those that cared about you. He said people wouldn't die in your presence, but that doesn't mean they'll interact with you. Be my friend, and you won't have to suffer being alone again. You'll be around people that want to be around you, in a comfortable environment where you don't have to watch out for Lilynette, where you'll never worry about loneliness." The normally sleepy man stared at me in shock, and I could see him giving it some serious thought, so I turned to Halibel. "You told me his promise as well. He never cared about honoring it. He even cut you down himself when he believed you used up your worth. When we met, you asked me what extents I would go to for those I cared about. I'll give you the same answer that I gave then: Nothing will stop me from protecting those I care about. Not war, not fate, not even Heaven and Hell itself can stand in my way."
"You are here because something did stand in your way." She countered.
"I'm here because there's no way I'm letting it stay in my way." Her eyes gleamed in approval.
"…So if I asked you to keep my girls safe?"
"Then they would be." I spoke the sentence like it was law. Ulquiorra had been staring at us throughout the entire confrontation silently.
"I don't understand. You expect to succeed despite having failed once already?"
"It's because I failed that I'm going to succeed. I know what my enemy can do, I know what they will do. I know how to prepare, I know what tactics did and didn't work. They know none of that. All of their trump cards I already know about, and can prepare for. I know how they plan to invade, when, where. I know they're watching us in the Soul Society, and I'm figuring out how to get around that without raising their suspicions. I know what their goal is, what their method of achieving that goal is, and what parts hinged on chance. They don't know I'm from the future, they don't know that we're preparing, and they won't know we'll be waiting when they come."
"In the time you came from, you learned all of this information. You understood their strategy, their power, their goal, and their secrets. Yet you still lost. Why do you believe knowing such information earlier will result in victory?"
"Because of a few things. Faith, Determination, Desperation, Stubbornness. In short, human emotion. You don't understand the human heart, feelings or irrational thought." I stated.
"I don't." He agreed.
"Stay by me, and you eventually will. Don't forget: Hollow masks are formed from their hearts. You aren't heartless, you simply need help finding it." His eyes widened, and his hand rose to brush against his mask.
"Are you strong?" Grimmjow asked out of nowhere. Starrk was immediately pulled from his thoughts to stare at me expectantly. A memory flashed behind my eyes, of Starrk asking me that very question right before we became friends. I sensed a sharp increase from Yammy's signature, followed immediately by both Yoruichi and Unohana flaring their reiatsu rapidly. Looks like he's gone into his second release, and with perfect timing.
"Why don't I show you?" The 1st Espada was out of his seat before anyone else moved, nodding. Shiro and Ossan returned to my Inner World as I left the room, the flock of arrancar behind me. We exited the maze of halls quickly, entering the desert that essentially served as a playground. The gigantic, ogre-like form of Yammy's second release was immediately seen, with arms so massive that his knuckles touched the ground when he was standing straight. I could see lightning bolts dance along his skin occasionally, and I had no doubt that it was the distance and his immense size that made them look like sparks.
"Damn, he got big." Apache breathed behind me.
"A master of stating the obvious, as always." Sun-sun teased.
"Shut up, Sun-sun! He's almost as tall as the dome, of course I'm gonna mention how insane that is!" Zangetsu was slowly pulled from my sheath, and held in front of me. I inhaled.
"Yoruichi, Unohana! Get back!" The sparks stopped appearing, and I caught Yoruichi blitzing towards me with an arm across Unohana's shoulders. The werecat's Raijin Senkei was alive behind her back, bright and powerful. "You might wanna stand back." I warned the arrancar. Most of them did as recommended, but Grimmjow was a stubborn idiot.
"Shatter Fate and Tear the Heavens Asunder, Zangetsu." The explosion of reiatsu slammed into the blue-haired cat so violently that he was lifted off the ground and tossed back a few meters. Shiro cackled in the back of my head. I focused more on the disbelief and amazement that spawned from the arrancar at seeing my Shikai.
"You really are part Hollow…" Mila Rose mumbled. Sun-sun was probably too stunned to tease the lioness. I watched Yoruichi, and caught the relief on her face at seeing the arrancar behind me and not attacking. She slid to a halt to my right, her hand out to slap against my arm.
"Switch." That was all I needed to dart forward, Yammy barely having managed to turn around completely.
'Could we-'
'No. There is a very major difference between proving my strength and excessive overkill.'
'But it's been so long!' The hollow whined.
'I'll convince Yamamoto to spar with me in Muken when we get back. He needs to shake the rust off anyway.'
'Fine…' I came up on the giant, Shiro's blade behind me with reiatsu shrouding the weapon. Yammy immediately raised a fist, a bala as wide as a parking lot forming around his hand.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT ME, WORM?! YOU'RE TRASH, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!" Internally, I apologized to Unohana. While I was the best fight she's ever had, I couldn't share the sentiment. We could rip each other to pieces without a care in the world, but any reiatsu attacks I used had to be sparingly at best. As incredible as her healing factor was, especially in her Bankai, I knew from experience no amount of healing could keep up with the onslaught that I could dish out. The number of people what I could truly go all out on could be counted on one hand, and even then you could take off a finger or two.
"Getsuga Tensho!" I brought Shiro's blade forward in an underhand swing, engulfing all of the giant's upper torso in black reiatsu. The force was enough to get the rage monster to stumble back, and for his bala to dissipate.
"YOU READY, YOU PIECE OF SHIT?! I'VE GOT A FUCKLOAD OF STRESS TO LET LOOSE AND YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE HERE THAT CAN TAKE IT, SO GET READY TO HURT!" I screamed.
"YOU MOTHERFUCKER, I'LL KILL YOU!" He opened his mouth, and a sphere of reiatsu as massive as a single-story building formed in his maw. It was black, signifying a Cero Oscuras.
"TRY YOUR BEST, I GUARANTEE YOU WON'T SUCCEED!" I challenged as a crimson orb of destruction manifested at the tip of my horn. Both beams of destruction fired at once, and clashed for no longer than instant before mine overtook his. His face disappeared behind the torrent, which continued until it blew a hole in the ceiling miles above. Once again, the giant stumbled back, his face smoking and bleeding in a couple places. I swung Ossan's blade, firing out a swath of arrows, all of which speared straight through his body. They were tiny compared to him, though, so it didn't do much. The next swing did, however.
"Licht Regen!" A tsunami of arrows flooded out from the tip of my Quincy blade, pelting him endlessly. It was akin to death of a thousand cuts. There was an infuriated bellow, and red fired down on me. I canceled the Quincy technique and blocked the blast with Shiro's blade. Being my Hollow blade, the cero was absorbed. I howled as I swung my the white sword horizontally, a hurricane of black and red roaring out of it, before I brought Ossan's blade down, streaking with black and blue as the two strikes fused.
"Getsuga Juujisho!" The attack exploded against Yammy's body, nuking the area and widening the hole in the ceiling. The wind whipped at me, but I paid it no mind. Shiro was whooping in my head, and I could feel satisfaction coming from Old Man. My own relief at being able to just blow something apart with everything I had brought a smile to my face. I heard my punching bag scream in rage, and that smile grew. His reiatsu skyrocketed, and the wind exploded out, revealing him in a new form. He was even larger than before, tall enough to have his head rise above the Las Noches dome, even. His skin was red, with draconic purple scales covering parts of his body. Four humungous spikes branched out from his back, and a massive tail swung behind him. Crimson cracks spread throughout his body, and his head, hands, and tail were wreathed in black and red fire. A single black horn erupted from his forehead, and massive claws as wide as streets tipped his fingers.
"ICHIGO!" A nervous Yoruichi called.
"IT'S FINE!" I soothed. I quickly sheathed Ossan's blade and grasped my horn, making sure to break skin along its sharp edge. Swiping the blood off my palm as the wound healed, I drew my Quincy blade again and charged another cero, this one a swirl of black and red. I sensed Halibel and Starrk grab the werecat and the First Kenpachi as soon as they recognized my attack.
"Gran Rey Cero!" Yammy hastily fired his own cero, it barely able to extend past his face before he was swallowed by the tidal wave of reiatsu. There was a deafening boom, and I saw his talons lift off the ground as he was launched by the attack. I whooped in excitement and dashed forward with a fully charged Getsuga burning along Shiro's blade. I let it loose when I was at his left side, and he tumbled to the ground, causing an earthquake that shook the entirety of Las Noches. He swiped an arm out, only for me to shift my feet and swing Ossan's blade with all the strength I had. There was another explosion of wind as I bat his arm back in the direction it came from. Before he could recover, I brought each of my blades over my shoulders, before slashing in an X.
"Getsuga Juujisho!" He was sent tumbling again, crushing a few buildings from his weight alone. The giant roared in blind rage, and punched out a bala the size of a football stadium. Shiro's blade flicked out, my own bala flying out of it and blowing his apart. It seemed he was capable of combative thought, since the bala was just a distraction as he charged his cero, already as enormous as the released Sokyoku.
"CERO OSCURAS!" he screamed.
"Gran Rey Cero!" With him having survived everything up to this point with minimal injury, I allowed myself to stop testing the waters. The beam of black and red that erupted from my horn meant disintegration for anyone weaker than the Head Captain. There was no contest at all between my and Yammy's blasts, his being swallowed so violently that my attack actually absorbed his. Hitting the giant didn't even slow it down, annihilating at least half of Las Noches instantly. Luckily I had checked beforehand, and Nel and her fraccion were on the other side of the city of the arrancar, away from all the destruction. Though they certainly felt the earthquakes and ludicrous amounts of reiatsu thrown around. I'm sure even Ashido was freaking out somewhere in a cave. That reminds me, I need to find him at some point. He deserves a break. Something shifted amongst the smoke that spawned in the wake of my Gran Rey Cero, so I readied myself to keep the party going. To my shock, a humungous, charred corpse fell down, creating light tremors as it dropped. It took far too long for me to understand that was what was left of Yammy. Shiro immediately started cussing up a storm in my Inner World, pissed off at having our punching bag die right when we stopped pulling our punches. Ossan sent waves of soothing sympathy. I groaned.
"Goddamn it."
"Ichi-kun!" It was automatic to sheathe my weapons and open my arms, a moment before a brown, black, and purple form slammed into me. "You okay? If you need a rest, just let me know! That was a lot of reiatsu you just threw out, you know!"
"Indeed. Are you feeling any exhaustion?" Unohana asked as she came up, the Espada trailing behind her.
"No." I grumbled. "He dropped right as I stopped holding back." Everyone within hearing range froze.
"That last cero was without you restraining yourself?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Yeah."
"Bullshit." Yoruichi blinked.
"I said that Yamamoto was the only one that I would need to use Bankai against. I never said that was because I couldn't hit hard enough." The goddess of flash opened her mouth, presumably to argue against that, ended up not making a sound.
"All the threats are taken care of, correct?" The raven haried medic asked.
"Yup." She pulled out a stack of paper from her coat, and handed me half before pulling out a pen and dropping it on the stack in my hand.
"Then we can get started." I sighed, but nodded as I picked up the writing utensil and got started as we began walking to the meeting hall.