Sup everyone, Inhuman here! This message is at the top because it is important. For those who have read it, you should have caught on by now that I'm going to do Can't Fear Your Own World. For those who haven't, I'm going to do Can't Fear Your Own World. What I'm getting at by mentioning this, is explaining that Memories of Nobody is going to occur off-screen. Those who have read CFYOW should understand why I'm having it happen at all, but the reason that I'm having it occur off-screen is because there's no real point in this story. Ichigo is OP enough that he could thwack any of the Dark Ones in the head and kill them, he would understand far quicker what's going on just through his increased awareness of the spiritual world and sharper mind, and no one would remember any of it anyway, so the only purpose of Memories of Nobody is to set up the Valley of Screams for CFYOW. Therefore, I'm going to stave off frustration on everyone's parts and just not dedicate a chapter to it like I am for all the other movies. With that over and done with, enjoy the show!
Kenpachi's zanpakuto sparked against Shiro's blade as Ossan's deflected Unohana's. The three of us were in a circle, constantly switching positions as we ducked, dodged, and leaned. Unohana was the most mobile of us, just like always, rolling behind us to aim at our backs or jumping up onto one of us to use them as a meat shield. My Hierro was up as incentive for Zaraki to strike harder, to try harder, to dive deeper into his well of power and unlock his Shikai, and he was well on his way. He had regained some of his speed, about as fast as he was in the second year of the Winter War. Unohana was having to rely on her Kaido to heal herself, not capable of slipping past his blade as easily anymore. She had flung her shihakusho off as soon as he managed to land the first strike, centuries of battle allowing her to understand that it was no fluke and that he would hit her again. She was now equally as dressed as Zaraki, only clad in hakama. Luckily for us, Unohana was not fighting as dirty as she could be, only going for our upper bodies. She was in particular having fun aiming at me. Because of my armor, her strikes kept getting caught, leading her to try to figure out ways to get around the harness I wore.
Zaraki was having the time of his life. Since he was no longer arbitrarily restraining himself out of fear of no longer having worthy opponents, he was thoroughly enjoying the fact that I couldn't be cut and Unohana almost instantly healed anytime he hit her. Unohana would also heal him anytime she hopped onto his back to fling him at me, so he wasn't too banged up either. With nothing clouding his mind, he was cackling joyously as he attacked the both of us with his infamous reckless abandon. And since Unohana had introduced punching to him, he was now actively using his free hand to swing violently at whoever he damn well pleased.
I personally was attempting to relieve my ever building stress by aiming at Unohana. She was weaseling around and using Kenpachi to keep from getting hit, snapping out at my torso with Minazuki to try to find a good place to slash at me. Of course, I was also trading shots with Zaraki while doing this, but it was more an automatic response than anything I was paying attention to.
"OH MY GOD!" A horrified scream dragged my attention away, the swords of both Kenpachi's flinging themselves at my neck, presumably in irritation that I was getting distracted. I looked and saw Renji, who had Shuhei, Izuru, and Iba with him. All were covering their eyes and looked visibly embarrassed. I blinked and stood still for a moment with Zaraki trying to force his blade into the skin of my neck as I tried to figure out why they were embarrassed. I turned my head inward in introspection and spotted a disappointed looking Unohana. Who had her free hand on her hip with her boobs out for anyone to see. Oh yeah. I forgot that most people weren't battle hungry psychopaths like the Kenpachi's and I and actually gave a shit about decency. I sighed and pushed Zaraki's zanpakuto away from me.
"I guess that means it's time to cut this short. We made good progress today, though! Kenpachi, I'd say you're about your level of strength from the midway point of the Winter War. If we keep progressing like this, it's not even going to take four more sessions like this before you're as strong as I've ever seen you."
"And how long until I can cut through that bullshit you've got going on with yer skin?" He panted, a wide grin on his face as he lifted his sword to rest on his right shoulder, Yachiru popping up to sit on his left.
"Going by that same logic, two more sessions." A savage smile ripped across his visage.
"Great. Then two more fights until I can carve you up as much as I want." I matched his grin.
"Can't wait. Unohana, you wanna get dressed so those pansies can stop pretending they're not staring at your chest?"
"HEY!" Renji shouted indignantly, his hand over his eyes but his fingers spread so he could still peek.
"We're gentlemen who are allowing a woman her decency! You're the one who should be called a pansy, you're not even offering her your shirt!" Iba tried. His sunglasses were also peeking through his fingers. Izuru seemed broken with steam rising out from his ears and Shuhei seemed unwilling to say anything against me. I gave them a deadpan stare.
"I'm surprised you're so comfortable with them gazing upon me like that." The First Kenpachi teased as she daintily lifted her top from the ground. I snorted.
"If they don't even have the balls to be open about it, they aren't even deserving of me beating the shit out of them." She giggled at my words.
"In that we're in agreement." As per usual with Zaraki, he didn't give a flying fuck as he just grabbed his clothes and walked out of the cavern without bothering to put them on.
"Let me know the next time we're doing this, alright? I can't wait to be able to rip yer arms off like Unohana was!" Was all the ragged man hollered as he left.
"Don't worry, as soon as we get the chance, we will!" I answered. "By the way, Unohana's dressed, you wimps." Renji immediately flung his hand off his face.
"HEY! I'M NOT A WIMP! I'M JUST BEING RESPECTFUL!"
"Please." I snorted in amusement. "If she didn't give a damn about being topless, then it's more respectful to just look."
"U-uhm, didn't you just say you'd kick our asses if we stared at her?" Izuru managed to get out.
"Well, of course." Renji readied himself for more screaming before I continued. "But did you see me or Zaraki give a shit about the fact that her boobs were out?"
"U-uh…" Shuhei stuttered. "N-no…You, actually seemed like you weren't even really aware she wasn't completely decent."
"More like none of us gave a damn. We were having a great time fighting, and we took off our clothes so that they wouldn't get bloody and force us to wash them again. It wouldn't have made a difference to us if we were all nude, a good fight's a good fight." I explained, Unohana nodding sagely to my right.
"God, I hope the future didn't make us all go crazy…" Izuru mumbled, clearly unaware of my hollow hearing.
"You got nothing to worry about, I've always been like this." I soothed. As Izuru panicked and covered his mouth, Renji's eyebrow twitched.
"Bullshit!" He roared. "A few hours after I joined you in training for Bankai, Shihoin-san popped up naked behind you and you screamed like a girl!"
"Back then I was still suppressing my desires, and naively thought that doing anything sexual would turn me into a pervert. I wouldn't even look at Rangiku's cleavage!" Shuhei's face immediately lit up, probably mostly embarrassment at the thought of her rack, but definitely a little bit of rage at someone else taking a look. His crush on her was so obvious it was painful, and not even because she was stuck on Gin. Renji's face turned as red as his hair and he coughed into his hand as he stumbled for a suitable response.
"How dare-" I cut Iba off with a finger pointing at him and a scowl on my face. His entire body shrunk in on itself and I remembered that most of the Soul Society wasn't accustomed to my perma-scowl because I no longer had one.
"Don't fukken say shit. You've done more pervy crap than anyone else here."
"N-n-n-no…" I scowled harder, and he fell on his ass.
"Do I need to bring up the floorboard?" I swear I saw his eyes widen through his sunglasses.
"NO!"
"Then that settles that." I grinned as I dropped my hand. I turned to Unohana. "So, these guys are clearly about to train on their own. Wanna go back home?"
"Since the fun is over, we might as well. We have our own discussion to get to, after all." She reminded. I stopped for a moment to recall what she was referring to before I remembered this morning. I turned a bit crestfallen, not quite ready for that talk, but sucked in a breath to put up a front.
"Yeah. Good job you guys on getting your training started before we get to you." I looked over my shoulder at them as we walked up to the entrance of the cavern. "A little advice, however hard you guys were about to go at it, go harder."
"…Floorboard?" I heard Izuru ask in genuine confusion right as we were about to leave the cave.
"NOTHING!" Iba screamed defensively. I snorted at the interaction, but as we left towards Unohana's home, with the sunset darkening the sky and the inevitability of the coming conversation becoming increasingly clear, my cheer bled away. Unohana seemed to recognize that, shuffling closer and slipping her hand into mine. A smile flickered onto my face at her action, but my mind was clouded by what I was going to have to say.
The thought of what was wrong was making me sick. The realization I couldn't do anything about it caused my throat to grow tight. The cause of it all made me want to break something. Everything. And remembering how I had been before just made me hate myself.
Zangetsu sent warmth through my body, but the waves crashed uselessly against the chill in my bones.
"If you're not up for this, it's alright. It's more harmful to force it out before you're ready." Unohana softly nudged.
"I can't." I shook my head, speaking just as quietly. "I made a promise. I have to fulfill it. If I don't…" My lips flapped as my voice failed to push past my throat for a moment. I had to look away. "If I don't, I don't deserve to promise anyone anything ever again." There was a long, tense moment as we walked. The patrols were switching right about now, so there was just about no one except for us walking through the Seireitei. Unohana shuffled closer to me, pressing herself against her side as she brought my arm around her shoulders. I squeezed her hand in response to the gesture. It didn't take long after that to reach her home.
Yoruichi immediately perked up as we walked through the door, still undressed and currently sitting in the dining room with a cup of tea held in one hand. She had a grin on her face for all of a moment before she really took in how we looked.
"What happened?" She asked without hesitation, concern filling her tone.
"Ichigo mentioned to me this morning that he had something he needed to tell us. From what I have gathered, it's in regards to his trauma." I nodded in confirmation of the healing captain's words. The werecat looked me over closely for a moment, eyes reflecting worry, before she gently set her cup down on the table as she stood.
"…Alright. I've got some dinner staying warm on the stove, I'll go grab it." I nodded in gratefulness and shuffled over to the table as Unohana slipped towards her room. Wordlessly, I sealed Zangetsu and rested the sheathed blade against the wall before sitting down. I tried again to force down the tightness in my throat as I slipped off the armor from Senshumaru. The harness was tossed onto the couch, while the coat was folded and placed next to my zanpakuto. As I waited for Yoruichi and Unohana to return, I stared down at my hands in my lap, resting my gaze onto a cut at the end of one of my sleeves. Whatever Senshumaru made the material out of, probably something that ate reishi like the walls of Las Noches, was tugging the split ends together. The reconnection was seamless, the black fabric simply coming together and the separation disappearing like it had never been split in the first place. A limp flap dragged itself along my skin before flopping into place to be fixed. A plate being slid in front of me broke me from my thoughts. A couple spoonful's of rice and half a seasoned chicken breast made up the meal. Yoruichi took up my left side, as close as possible, clearly trying to comfort me with affection. A ghost of a smile graced my features for only a moment, not quite able to keep it up. It didn't take long for Unohana to come up and lean into my right side, dressed in a night kimono.
We ate in silence. It was only through their looks of worry that allowed me to pick up the chicken breast with my chopsticks and take a bite. By the time I had managed to get myself to finish that bite, both of their plates were empty. Yoruichi's gaze was almost physically painful, a slightly horrified, slightly dazed look painted over her face as she stared at the practically untouched meal. I could barely stop myself from flinching as I knew what had to be going through her mind. Kukaku's place. The night we came and asked for help to get into the Seireitei. The dinner spread the Shiba Clan servants and Ganju made. Me, inhaling plate after plate, hardly even pausing to breathe in between. Challenging Ganju to an eating contest, even. Then, this. A single bite, clearly forced, myself barely capable of swallowing it. Unable to even look at the rest. Unohana was the one to take it and remove it from my sight.
"Do you believe you are ready?" The medic whispered, gentle, soft, and so full of care I could feel the embrace. I nodded. I wasn't ready. But I had to say it. I promised. A memory flashed behind my eyes and I felt the chopsticks still in my hand snap. I promised, dammit. I never went back on a promise. Another flash. I didn't. A pair of arms wrapping around me dragged me away. Yoruichi was the one to fling herself at me.
"It's all Yhwach's fault." I croaked. The full attention of both of my companions were on me. "That goddamn bastard." I spat, every bit of seething hatred I had burning my words. "He did this to me. Not like Aizen. With Aizen, it was just a shit load of happy little accidents for him. When it came to me, shit just went into his favor and he drank in it. But Yhwach," The growl came out fiercer than intended, "He knew. All of his 'rescuing the world from fear' crap was bullshit. He was a spiteful, vindictive bastard. He wanted to break us. He was pissed that we didn't let him and the Quincies fuck up the balance and he wanted us to hurt. He knew where to get us. What to do. How to make us want to give up." A whimper slipped out from my throat. "Some did." My eyes stung just the smallest amount. I dragged a hand over them and blinked to try to stop the tears. Unohana's hand came up to rub my back soothingly.
"He destroyed the house of Toshiro's grandmother. He killed Nemu. And Nanao. He desecrated the graves of Rukia's and Renji's friends. He spat on Gin's memory, ripped apart Tousen's. He maimed Yumichika's body. Murdered Chojiro in front of Yamamoto. Tortured Rukia. He found the soul of Chad's uncle and ripped him in half in front of his eyes. Same with Uryu's grandfather. And Sora. He obliterated the Urahara Shoten, with Tessai and the kids inside. And he made sure to save the worst for me." I could feel that they wanted to ask. And that they were afraid to. Just like I was afraid.
"He," That one word was spoken with enough loathing to make my entire body clench, but I couldn't keep my rage up past that. As it drained out of me, I was left biting my lip painfully and squeezing my eyes as tightly as I could. The tears still slipped through. I shook for a long moment before I was able to draw in a shuddering breath. "He made me break all of my promises." I was just barely above sobbing as I forced onward. "To Chad that I would always have his back. To Rukia that I would always be there to rescue her. To thousands of Shinigami that I would make sure they saw tomorrow. To Byakuya that I would keep Rukia safe. To Toshiro that I would save Momo. To Kukaku that Ganju would always return to her. To my sisters that they wouldn't be dragged into this, to Tatsuki that I wouldn't let anyone hurt Orihime, to Ukitake that I would protect Kyoraku, to Peshe and Dondochakka that they would never have to worry about Nel, to you that Soifon would always be safe, to you that Kiyone and Isane would never have to fear losing a sister, to everyone I ever swore to protect!" Yoruichi's arms wrapped around me tighter, and her head pressed against my chest. Unohana was on my other side, wrapping us both in her embrace. I was heaving, my vision blurry from tears and my fists so tight that my arms shook. I couldn't get my breathing under control, and my mouth was filled with a salty taste as my sobs flowed down by face. I leaned back to look straight up, unable to have them in my vision anymore.
"But," I had to lick away the tears from my lips. "That's not the worst of it." I croaked out. I felt their heads tilt back to glance at me. I opened my mouth. But my jaw wavered. My throat closed up. It was taking everything I had to just hold back the cries. I couldn't stop shaking at this point. A squeak slipped out of my mouth, and I sniffed and grit my teeth to force the words out. A headache was pounding in my skull, my neck was bulging from the strain. "A-" I had to stop and focus on my breathing to stop myself from throwing up. It burned and fought and scratched up my throat. A little escaped into my mouth, and I forced it back down. "Abandon your fe-ars." The last word was breathed more than spoken, I was panting from the effort of speaking just that first line, but the next was slightly easier. "Mo-" I had to stop and squeeze my eyes once more. "Move forward and never stop." My sweat was soaking my skin, and I was hiccupping as I tried to get my breathing under enough control to continue. "You'll age if you pull back." The last line required only a few pants. "You'll die if you hesitate." A gulp dragged the bile down my throat enough for me to speak a little more. "The first piece of advice Old Man Zangetsu gave me." I was barely able to keep my voice loud enough to hear. "The only one he's ever needed to. It got me through so much. Helped me do so much. Because of that, I've always been able to push past my fear, and my despair." I dragged my head down to look them in the eyes, so they could see mine. So they could grasp the full weight of what Yhwach had done to me. How badly I've broken. "But I can't anymore." Both of their eyes widened, but Yoruichi's were far more disturbed than Unohana's, understandably. Unlike Unohana, Yoruichi had watched me fearlessly storm through the Seireitei like a man possessed to rescue Rukia. She had seen the unstoppable force I turned into even without my immense power thanks to my confident determination and unwavering assurance that Rukia was going to be saved, Period. She had witnessed firsthand as I took down every obstacle in my path, even when the facts said I shouldn't have been able to, because I said I wasn't going to let them stop me.
"I'm terrified." I sobbed. "Of failing, of losing everyone, of seeing you all hurt again. I'm scared of making anymore promises, of not being able to keep them. I'm afraid of someone putting their faith in me only to fail them. I don't-I won't be able to handle seeing the body of someone who trusted me with their back another time." Unohana cradled my face.
"How did you come this far?" She questioned, barely a whisper in my ear.
"All I could think about during the war was stopping Yhwach. At first, it was to stop him from hurting anyone." I couldn't keep my voice from cracking as I continued. "Then, it was to keep him from hurting any more. Sometimes, it was because I just wanted him dead. Others, I wanted him to feel the pain I felt. During the last couple of years, I was just trying to keep as many people as I could alive. By the end, I didn't have a reason anymore. Stopping him was all I had left. All I could do."
"What about after? Time travel, even for you, isn't something that just happens." Yoruichi half-joked. I wanted to laugh, or chuckle, or smile, or even smirk at the joke. But I couldn't even get my mouth to twitch.
"I…don't know how long it took for Kisuke to come up with the idea. Or how he came to going down that path, or anything. After Yhwach was killed, and nothing magically went back to how they were, I…snapped. I went back to Karakura, and just, pretended. I slept in the crater of my house, walked to the ruins of school and just sat, went around the wreck of the mall laughing to myself. At some point, I took to trying to rebuild in my 'spare time'." My jaw flapped soundlessly for a bit, and I did everything I could to ignore the pain that had fallen upon the faces of the women at my sides. "Kisuke tried, for a little bit, to break me out of it, but I…I couldn't. The only thing that got me out of it was Kisuke one day telling me that he was gonna try to build a time machine. For a long time after that, the only thing that could go through my head was, 'everything is gonna go back to normal.' 'Kisuke is on it, he'll fix everything.' 'It's all gonna be fine again.'" Arms clutched at me tightly and I stopped for a moment to stare down at Yoruichi. She was hiding her face against my chest, but I could feel her tears wet my shihakusho. I brought an arm around her and gripped tightly.
"Zangetsu managed to help me get on track, albeit barely. They reminded me that time travelling meant Yhwach would be alive again. And for the first time since killing him, I had a goal once more: let none of that happen ever again." A fresh wave of tears streamed down my face. "But not because I wanted to protect anyone. Because I wouldn't be able to take it if it did." Unohana's embrace was like a blanket shielding from a storm.
"And that's alright." She breathed. I shook my head violently.
"No. No, it's not alright. I'm a protector. I'm supposed to protect!"
"Which you are. Yourself." Her hand came up to gently turn my face towards her, my eyes automatically locking onto hers. "You cannot keep others from harm if you yourself are wounded. Heal, put yourself back together, and fill the cracks within you. You said it yourself, you are already powerful enough to defeat the greatest threat to our safety. You need not worry about any more dangerous threats. You can make yourself whole once more, and if you need it, you have our help to do so."
"But that strength already failed you, all of you." I sobbed.
"No." She spoke firmly this time, and I wanted to believe her. But I couldn't. I had failed already, what's to stop me from failing again? "Your strength did not fail you. You just explained to us that Yhwach had to create a weakness within you. How did he go about breaking your promises?"
"He kept me distracted, unable to act. Overwhelmed me with numbers so that his elite could take everyone else out." I whispered.
"So you're telling me that he had to dedicate entire portions of his army simply to slow you down? That, based on my understanding, he would enact full assaults for the sole purpose of breaking down your faith?"
"Yeah." Her other hand came up to my face, and the complete sureness in her eyes made my heart beat again.
"You made someone as powerful as Yhwach dedicate his army to stopping-no, to simply stalling a single man. You made someone as intelligent as him focus his entire strategy around making you lose faith in your own abilities. Do you know what that tells me?"
"That he just wanted to break me?" I managed to whisper.
"No. That he needed to break you." I froze, which prompted her to continue. "That your ability as a protector is so great that he had to make you lose faith in yourself to get to the rest of us. That he believed that he could not achieve victory otherwise. A tactician such as him, who has been studying us, watching us, and planning to defeat us for a millennia, would not do something like that unless it was absolutely needed. The morale of a single enemy, even a powerful one, is generally unimportant in a war. But an exception is made if that enemy's morale determines victory or defeat." My eyes widened.
"And now," My head snapped to Yoruichi, her face stained with dried tears. "We aren't playing by Yhwach's book. We aren't helplessly scrambling as he enacts his plan to win. We have all the cards." She shuffled into my lap, her face brightening in confidence as she did. "Which means that he can't break you down. Which means, nothing is going to happen to us, because nothing is going to stop you, right?" Unohana's hand fell upon my shoulder once more.
"Once you are better, that is." For the first time in what had to have been years, air seemed to really fill my lungs as I drew in a stunned breath.
"I…" Words stopped coming to me. They didn't get caught in my throat. They weren't blocked by emotion, or bile, or the fear that had become so disgustingly familiar to me. Nothing would come to my mind. Unohana analyzed me for a moment, a soft smile manifesting. Barely an upturn of the lips, but something that made me feel just a hint of what I had been before.
"Let us go to bed. I'm sure we are all exhausted after that." The only thing I could to was nod, before following along as they grabbed my hands and pulled me to Unohana's bedroom. My shihakusho was slipped off of me and they gently pushed me down onto the bed, coming up on either side of me and snuggling close.
Sleep came as soon as my heavy eyes closed.
"Man," I sighed as I flicked the blood off my blades, "They were really aggressive this week." A smirk came to my lips as I sheathed my swords. "Maybe they're finally getting desperate, eh Unohana?" I chuckled as I looked back in the direction I knew she was in. She wasn't there. I blinked and looked around, searching for her. Maybe there were still more Soldats? I brought my hearing up to hollow levels, and waited. I didn't hear any sounds of combat, and it's not like they would be able to sneak around considering how many were dead and unmoving. I started walking while continuing my search.
"Unohana?" I called out. She's a bit playful, sure, but she wasn't the type to play hide-and-seek in a battlefield. And she definitely knew better than to try to sneak up on someone that just finished a battle. She generally reserved popping up behind me for when we were somewhere private, and she would usually do so naked. In any case, there was an unspoken rule after keeping a wave of Soldats at bay to use any and all free time relieving stress or recharging, and this was using up some of that valuable time.
"Unohana?" I shouted again, slightly concerned now. Since Yoruichi's death, Unohana and I had clung closer to each other, and easily agreed to not let the other be alone for long. It was a promise that had become increasingly easy to fulfil as more Front Liners died. With less people to split the load, and the greatening worry of those left dying, we naturally began fighting closer to each other. For a while when Kenpachi was alive, the three of us would frequently end up fighting back to back, only separating so I could unleash my reiatsu attacks.
"Unohana?!" I began yelling, worry overtaking my concern with fear creeping in. I began jogging, skipping over bodies as my eyes searched more desperately across the battlefield. My thoughts began to race as panic set in. Unohana and I had been the only Front Liners for the past four months, it made no sense for them to randomly become more aggressive this week. Nothing was ever a coincidence with Yhwach, even the slightest change in behavior amongst the soldiers was purposeful. What Sternritters had appeared the past few days? Heat, Balance, Overkill, X-Axis, who else? The girls!
"Unohana!" I screamed as I started running, stomping over corpses instead of taking the time to step around them. We've always had to watch out for Thunder, she couldn't kill either of us but she could damn well make our bodies seize up so we couldn't dodge the attacks from the others! I heard crunches begin to sound from under my feet as I ran harder, but I ignored them. Think, think, think, what happened to the girls?!
"Unohana!" I shouted. I killed Thunder again! I remembered, she had been high in the sky as usual, and I had taken her out with a Gran Rey Cero. But she hadn't been attacking me! She had been going for Unohana! The First Kenpachi didn't have the immense reiatsu I did, she couldn't keep her regeneration up nearly as long! How long ago did I take out Thunder?! How long had she been attacking Unohana?! I caught bright blue light in the corner of my vision, and locked onto it. My eyes widened in horror.
"UNOHANA!" I desperately cried, rushing over to her slumped body. Her blood-soaked form, ran through with an oversized Quincy arrow the size of a lance that could only have come from one Sternritter. My gaze snapped out for just a moment, finding the Overkill pinned to a wall a few feet in the air by Minazuki before returning to the only love I had left. I slid to a stop, literally, ripping my hakama open and scratching up my knees as my hierro wasn't up, next to her. I desperately bashed my fist against the half of the arrow that was protruding out her back, breaking it, before I flipped her limp body onto her back. Her eyes were blank, but that could mean she was just unconscious! (A part of me screamed that she wasn't, that part was neither me nor Zangetsu) I grabbed her wrist and ignored my own rising panic as I searched for a heartbeat. None, but that didn't mean she was dead! She was a soul after all! (Shinigami don't work that way, the part screamed, you know that) My right hand, shaking slightly, grabbed onto the shaft of the arrow. My arm steadied instantly and I carefully but quickly ripped it out of her chest, my left hand immediately snapping to the wound with Kaido flowing. (You know it's useless) The arrow was thrown off to the side and forgotten.
"UNOHANA!" I begged. "NO!" She couldn't leave me! I was fine with being the only Front Liner, I was fine with the whole war being hung on my shoulders, I was fine with being all that keeps the Wandenreich from winning! PLEASE, just let her live! But just like the voice was telling me, the Kaido didn't warm her body. It didn't give her a pulse. It didn't close the wound.
"UNOHANA, PLEASE!"
I woke up screaming, tears in my eyes and body flailing. My foot slid against the floor in my scrambled, before I felt my Acero blacken my hands and feet. Talons formed from the Hierro variant, which stabbed into the ground and allowed me to fling myself into a feral crouch with one hand down to balance myself and the other ready to claw whatever was in front of me. My gaze darted around the room until I locked onto the stunned Yoruichi. It was only after that that I recognized we were in Unohana's bedroom. A moment later the black faded from my extremities as I released the technique. I was on the verge of crying again as I dropped to my knees, panting as I collapsed, my head dropping to the floor with my arms hiding my face.
"I'm sorry." I breathed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, if I hurt you, I'm so-" I was cut off from my thoughtless begging by the goddess pulling my head up to her chest and cradling me.
"You didn't hurt me." She soothed. "It's alright. I'm fine." She wove her fingers through my hair as I clutched onto her. "You don't have to worry, I'm never going to be hurt again." My head lifted to look into her eyes, happy and without any worries.
"How do you know?"
"Because you're going to keep me safe. I already know it." I couldn't help but release a shuddering breath, a small bit of relief buried deep within.
"You know it's gonna be a while before I believe that, right?" Her eyes simply shined brighter.
"Last night you didn't believe it at all, so I count that as a win." What escaped me was half amused breath, half snort.
"Fair." I let go of the chocolate skinned beauty and stood. "I guess you're getting fried fish for breakfast twice in a row." Her smile was all joy and fangs. The sight made my lips turn up just a bit as I went to open the door. I heard Yoruichi gasp as I pulled the door open.
"Wait!" Her warning came too late, and I was left standing in the doorway, the focus of eight captains on me. Kurotsuchi seemed distinctly annoyed, like his time was being wasted, and Zaraki was bored, chin in hand as he stared blankly at nothing. Everyone else, however, was in varying levels of shock and worry. Out of reflex, I focused on the most shocked gaze, scowling at Soifon.
"What?" Her mouth dropped open, the assassin flinching back for a moment before words found her.
"…You…your nightmare seemed…truly terrible." She almost mumbled. The combination of horror and worry in her voice was mirrored on the faces of all the other captains. I was taken aback in return, my jaw tensing for a second.
"Yeah." I whispered. A deep breath filled me with momentary strength. "So what the fuck is going on? Why are you all here?"
"As I'm sure you've noticed," Ukitake took the reins. "Captains Kyoraku and Hitsugaya are not among those before you." I bit the inside of my cheek, not having noticed their absence. "This is because of the events of yesterday." My head tilted in confusion.
"What happened?" Kurotsuchi rolled his eyes in pure irritation.
"Are you telling us you that you didn't sense the confrontation between that child and the lazy buffoon? Or that you, who have the entire events of your wars in the forefront of your mind, have no idea what's occurring at this point in time?" My right eye twitched at his condescension, and I flung a hand up to keep a just-manifested Shiro from kicking the scientist in the face.
"Well, one, Unohana and Yoruichi can confirm we were busy last night, and Kenpachi can confirm that Unohana and I were sparring with him all day yesterday. Two, I've got nearly ten years' worth of memories that I'm pulling from, so excuse me if I don't know what random bullshit is happening on each individual date. So, for the third time, what. The fuck. Is going on." Ukitake cleared his throat.
"Yesterday, Captain Hitsugaya and the rest of Squad 10 was sent out to guard one of Soul Society's most powerful artifacts as it was escorted to a different location. According to the reports, the escort was attacked by something, and Hitsugaya made off with the artifact at some point during the chaos. Later last night, Captain Kyoraku was found having been attacked in an alley, and all evidence suggests that Hyorinmaru was the weapon used in the attack. Head-Captain Yamamoto wants to brand Hitsugaya a traitor, but has agreed for us to consult you with your knowledge of the future first in case it turns out to be a misconception or something else excusable."
"Ok, but why are you all here?"
"We summoned you via Hell Butterfly." Yamamoto grunted, irritation clear in his voice. "But Captain Unohana responded with her own message, stating that she was not going to wake you. To compromise, I made the decision that we were going to hold the meeting here, and wait for you to awaken. Now, is Captain Hitsugaya guilty of treason or is your information from the future going to explain all of this?"
"No idea." There was a beat of silence.
"…What?" Came the incredulous growl from the bearded captain.
"The first war, we were against Aizen, who could create illusions. In the second, there were two different enemies who could look like anyone, and there was a whole load of bullshit spread throughout. Even only going by all the memories I have of a Toshiro attacking a Kyoraku, that's still over a dozen different events." All the captains, except for Zaraki, looked horrified.
"Kurosaki-san, are you saying that, in your time, it was relatively common for captains to attack each other?"
"No. I'm saying that, in my time, it was pretty common for Shinigami to attack each other period." Another moment of silence, this one filled with horror and trepidation. It was quickly broken by Yamamoto rubbing his forehead with a frustrated sigh.
"So you cannot offer any assistance in this situation?"
"Ok, to be fair, I'm usually in the middle of whatever the bullshit of the day is, so being an outsider is messing with me a little." Ukitake, at least, nodded in acceptance of my answer.
"That doesn't help us at all." Soifon groused.
"How about this: if I can't really remember what the hell is going on, it can't be all that big, yeah?"
"That's unreliable at best." The assassin deadpanned.
"No, Ichigo has a point there. He's already demonstrated to have crystal clear recollection of major events, so for him to have difficulty with this proves it cannot be that major of an event." Unohana explained.
"I would argue that captains attacking each other would be rather major events." Byakuya spoke up.
"If those events are resolved efficiently enough, they wouldn't be all that major. And while it is a bit saddening to say, the high frequency can only mean that each individual event is resolved rather quickly. At least for the second war, Kurosaki-san explained that the shapeshifters can only replicate memories or powers. I'd imagine that it would become rather simple to solve who is the impostor. Whoever wasn't using their powers would clearly have been the impostor, and if both were using their powers, one mustn't have been capable of describing memories." Ukitake broke down.
"Actually they got around that, but that's a story for another time." I interrupted. "While I get ready, can someone please give a more in-depth explanation for what happened yesterday? I don't even know what artifact was stolen."
"…Please say that artifacts of the Soul Society being stolen are not also frequent events." Komamura spoke for the first time in this meeting.
"You don't want me to answer that." I sung lightly. There was a series of groans as I picked up my harness and coat.
"Alright, thanks for the input. Once we figure out what's going on, we'll let you guys know." I gestured for the nameless squad member to return to his squad, and he nodded before walking off.
"So, anything jog your memory?" Yoruichi asked as she sauntered up, Unohana beside her.
"The balls of fire and lightning sound familiar, but nothing too concrete. Zangetsu is hunting through my memories right now."
"You can't just, you know, pull up all your memories around balls of fire and lightning?"
"I know you're used to having internet, you damn werecat, but my brain ain't a search engine. Shiro and Ossan have to look over my memories, they just know what they're looking for now. It helps that we know it's tied to a Toshiro fighting a Kyoraku, but that just means we're searching the memories surrounding each confrontation. It aint gonna be easy, remember that there are both a Sternritter who wields fire and a Sternritter who wields lightning. And then there's the little shit that can just make his imagination real."
"You're looking for a memory of Hitsugaya attacking Kyoraku, that involves balls of fire and lightning, Hitsugaya being accused of treason, and a stolen artifact. How more specific do you need it to get?"
'Shiro?'
'I've got seven memories to sort through after the one I'm on right now, and Ossan's got himself 11 in total. If we've got 'em all.'
"Shiro says there's just shy of 20 memories that fit that description." The Goddess of Flash paled.
"…oh." A golden light spontaneously gleamed from atop Sokyoku Hill that lit the cloudy sky. "Oh. Well, hopefully, that means we found 'the bullshit of the day.'" The ex-captain drawled.
"Hopefully. Come on, I can already sense everyone going over there." I sighed as I grabbed onto Unohana. Yoruichi and I shunpo'ed in unison, making it a couple seconds before everyone else despite our late start. As the Captains and their seated officers lined up, I focused on Toshiro, who was for some reason wearing a coat with the sash that held his zanpakuto wrapped around his hand, talking heatedly to some dark blue haired guy with a scar on his face and a psychopathic grin. Of course he had a psycho grin. I would remember him if he didn't have a psycho grin. The guy was also wearing a coat, and a pair of girls who looked distinctly like arrancar were behind him. But what I was focusing on was the sword in the guy's hand. Yoruichi nudged my side, face full of questioning, but I waved for her to stop as I craned my ears. Yamamoto stepped up to me, and I held up a hand for him to shut up before he opened his mouth. I could feel his eye twitch at my action.
"Do you know how long I've been waiting for this? To get revenge?!" The guy said, his voice almost generically crazy-bad-guy.
"You don't have to do this. You don't have to get revenge! Kurosaki-san is changing the Soul Society for the better! You-We don't have to fear the Central 46's corruption anymore!" Toshiro tried to defend.
"You think a single man can fix that damned government?! You think they'd listen to anyone that isn't themselves?! You think they would act for any reason other than their own selfishness?! The only way to stop the Central 46 is to tear it down altogether! And that's what I'm going to do!"
"Kusaka!" Finally, a name.
'I have a memory regarding a Kusaka. Allow me.' I almost flinched as I saw the events that originally occurred flash behind my eyes. When it was over, I couldn't keep myself from releasing a loud groan.
"Ooooh, it's this shiiiiiiiiit."
"I take it you have finally remembered what is going on?" Yamamoto rumbled.
"Yeah, we should stop him before he-" The golden box in Kusaka's hand was flung into the air and cut in two by his Hyorinmaru. "…Does…that…" Before our eyes, Kusaka's body transformed into the ice dragon of his 'bankai'. Luckily, the high that he felt from achieving that level of power allowed me to clear my throat and begin speaking.
"Ok, so to summarize this best I can, Kusaka was Toshiro's school buddy, they somehow both manifested Hyorinmaru, Central 46 didn't want to even try to deal with that, and so they killed Kusaka. Fucker's back, wants everything to burn, and just absorbed enough power to do it."
"So…kill it?" Zaraki asked. I nodded.
"Kill it." Since he had permission, nothing was left to stop the 11th Kenpachi as he charged the screaming dragon, Toshiro just barely managing to get out of his path. The empowered psychopath was cleaved in two with a single strike from Zaraki's blade. The ice began to crumble for a moment, before golden light shined from the cracks and he reformed completely. Enraged, the dragon grabbed Kenpachi and jumped off the cliff. The two arrancar and Toshiro immediately ran to the cliff edge, the lightning arrancar girl having to dodge to the right as soon as she reached the face to not be hit by Kenpachi's strike carving a gouge into the Hill.
"Do you have no concern over Captain Kenpachi?" Ukitake asked. I snorted.
"No." Yamamoto and Unohana both shook their heads, faces passive. There was the distinct sound of a street being split in two from a sword strike. And another. Then a faint crunch before something blue shot into the sky and into a watchtower. Focusing my eyes, I saw it was Kusaka, missing his left arm and wing, though they quickly shot into view and reformed back onto him. Toshiro promptly lunged off the cliff towards his childhood friend.
"Kurosaki, I would rather the Seireitei not be destroyed by Captain Kenpachi." I glanced over at Head Captain.
"What do you want me to do?" He glanced back at me.
"As you said to him, 'Kill it'." I sighed. It would help distract me anyway. Hopefully.
"Sure." I accepted before shunpo'ing towards the battle. I sensed Unohana and Yoruichi follow, Soifon right behind the Goddess of Flash. Because of course. My attention was grabbed by Kusaka screaming and the watchtower he was on freezing over. I didn't think much of it, Toshiro could do the same thing, until the frozen pillar exploded into a full on ice tree that covered multiple streets below in several feet of ice. I grunted in acknowledgement of the slightly superior strength to Toshiro's incomplete Bankai, right before both Kusaka and the tree shone a gold bright enough to make me cover my eyes. I felt something pass over me and I immediately stopped mid-air. I opened my eyes, grateful that the light was gone, and blinked. We were now within a dome that was covering quite a large portion of the Seireitei and growing slowly. But my attention was on the floating castle Kusaka was upon that definitely didn't exist a moment ago. And the giant floating stone creatures that belched out fire and lightning, that also weren't there a moment ago. And the horde of hollows coming out of the giant asshole in the bottom of the castle. I shook myself out of my shock and spotted a group forming on the ground consisting of Unohana, Yoruichi, Byakuya, Toshiro, Soifon, Rukia, Renji, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika. I dropped immediately, halting my fall a moment before hitting the ground so as not to crash into it. Byakuya, Soifon, Yoruichi, and Unohana were all watching Kusaka and all the bullshit sprouting from him. Rukia, Renji, and Rangiku were all fiddling with their Soul Pagers.
"Alright," I started, startling everyone. "Status Update?"
"The Bankai Kusaka achieved through taking in the power of the Ouin is unstable." Unohana explained. "It's created a zone of influence for it to reside in to help stabilize it."
"Which we're all in, I take it?" Byakuya nodded silently.
"This zone is preventing our Soul Pagers from contacting the rest of the Seireitei." Rangiku continued, all business, like she usually was during a fight. "We're neither receiving nor sending out any signals. We're separated."
"Alright, Unohana, try pulling up a Tenteikura. Byakuya, drop your bankai and help me guard everyone else until we find out if Kido works." His gaze snapped to me with obvious contempt as I pulled out Zangetsu. "Don't give me that. We don't know the rules of this place, and finding out if we can communicate with the outside, particularly Kurotsuchi, is most important."
"What? Why?" Renji asked.
"Kurotsuchi can figure out what's going on inside here, and what we can or can't do. This is Kusaka's world. We don't know how those hollows are forming or what those stone creatures are, what if this realm punishes us for attacking or destroying its inhabitants? What if the only reason we're all not breathing in poison is because we haven't been deemed a threat? This is shit we need to figure out as safely as we can, and Kurotsuchi's scientific skills are how we do that. Unohana?"
"I can sense that I can connect with those outside the dome, I'm activating the spell now." I felt the mental tug as soon as she finished speaking.
"Kurotsuchi, I know you've already started studying this thing. Give me the details."
"Don't make demands of me, you orange haired buffoon!"
"This 'orange haired buffon' is liable to go Bankai and nuke this fucking dimension if you don't follow my orders." There was a snarl from the mad scientist and I knew Yamamoto was glaring the fuck out of the clown, fully aware that I could follow through on my word.
"Hmf. The sharp intake of the massive amount of power from the Ouin has granted Kusaka a Bankai, but it is unstable and has formed a safe space for itself to stabilize. As it stabilizes and Kusaka is safely able to use more power, the safe space will grow until Kusaka has completely melded with the Ouin. At which point, the territory will go away, and he will have all the power of the Ouin under his control."
"Can he act while this process is going on?"
"It seems you do have a brain between your ears, to ask such a question. From what I can put together, he can use any of the power that his body has already adjusted to, and attempting to pull for more before he is ready will injure himself."
"So he can fight. What can you give me on the hollows or the stone creatures?"
"The what?" I saw the confusion of the others in the group as my eyebrows furrowed.
"The hollows and the stone creatures. Do you not see them?"
"I cannot see anything within that dome." While I saw everyone else grow stiff with shock, I turned contemplative, excitement simmering hopefully.
"You can't see anything?"
"Must I repeat myself, too?! No, I can't see anything within that dome!"
"Wait," I felt everyone turn to me in confusion at the contemplation and soft excitement within my voice. "You're telling me, that the surveillance equipment you have spread throughout the Seireitei isn't working." I could feel him roll his eyes.
"Yes!"
"The equipment that is buried within the reishi of the Seireitei itself, isn't working." There was a moment of silence from Kurotsuchi, wherein the group with me stared at me in suspicion.
"I'd like to know how you came to know that information, but yes." I could tell that the clown was also suspicious of what I was getting at.
"Meaning that the Quincy who do the same thing would also be unable to tell what's going on in here?" As soon as I finished speaking, Yoruichi and Unohana's eyes widened in understanding, the two immediately beginning to slowly retreat.
"Indeed, what are you getting at?" A savage smile ripped across my face as I silently released my complete shikai.
"Kurotsuchi, there's a giant floating castle that Kusaka is sitting on, and there's hollows coming out from a hole in the bottom. There are two stone creatures floating about, one's firing lightning, the other fire. What can you get from that?"
"The stone creatures are simple. Kusaka obviously transmuted the arrancars with him into those creatures. The hollows, if they are not attacking Kusaka himself or the stone creatures, are likely a defense system to ward off potential threats. Think of them as anti-bodies."
"So we can destroy them."
"Yes, you can destroy them, but so long as Kusaka and the Ouin still have reiatsu, they will just reform. If you wish to-"
"Nah, I've got all I need."
"I didn't even tell you how to stop this!"
"I already know how I'm gonna stop it. I'm gonna use this fucker as a stress ball."
"Kurosaki, I specifically tasked you to stop Kusaka to stave off destruction." Yamamoto rumbled dangerously.
"Technically," I knew Yamamoto froze as soon as Unohana's mischievously clever tone was heard. "Without any form of surveillance, there is no way to prove Kusaka isn't going to be the cause for any destruction." Yet another beat of silence. Then a long suffering resigned sigh. Yoruichi immediately inhaled loudly, clearly taking that as confirmation.
"So," I turned to face Kusaka and the hordes of hollows floating in the air as everyone else focused on the ex-captain. "We should get as far away from where Ichi-kun is going as possible." Letting Unohana and Yoruichi take over damage control, I began running, my excitement flowing through my body and my grin bloodthirsty.
"Run? Why would I run?" Ikkaku seemed completely dumbfounded. "I'm gonna join that bastard."
"Not if you wish to remain alive, you wont." Unohana warned.
"You're talking like he's gonna kill me. That ain't Kurosaki."
"Oh, he won't purposefully kill you, but you'll most definitely get caught in the crossfire."
"He's a good fighter, he'll make sure to not hit me."
"If he were fighting, you would be correct. But he is not fighting. He is venting."
"What's the difference?" Rangiku jumped in.
"If he were fighting, he would be intending to win, and defeat the enemy. He would, as Madarame-san stated, be aware of his allies and fight around them. But, since he is venting, he is simply seeking to satiate his desire to destroy something, and unload all of his pent up stress into whatever poor soul happens to be in his path."
"Please," Ikkaku snorted. "I've fought him before. Even being from the future, I know he's not powerful enough that I'd have to worry about him venting." A little bit because I wanted to prove him wrong, a little because it would be better if he didn't have that mindset, and a little bit because the timing lined up perfectly made me unleash a wordless Getsuga at one of the coming hordes of hollows. One that was not restrained in any way. It was a wave of vicious black, as wide as three of the Seireitei's streets and devouring everything in its path until it crashed against the dome wall all the way across the territory. "Fucking-" I practically heard the bald man stiffen. "Oh shit." I turned off my brain as I tore into a frenzy, faintly recognizing my cackle as I spotted more hollows spawn from the hole to replace what I had annihilated.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. You three aren't lieutenants, so you weren't at the meeting where Ichigo demonstrated how powerful he was." Renji realized.
"How powerful is he?" Rukia cautiously asked.
"If he wished, he could defeat any Captain save for the Head Captain in their Bankai's without using his." Unohana explained.
"I've-I've seen his Bankai! He fought Nii-sama with it!"
"You've seen what he calls his 'False Bankai'. He used that to convince Aizen that he had exhausted himself against Bya-boo, because Aizen wouldn't have revealed himself otherwise." Yoruichi clarified. "Head Captain Yamamoto, Unohana-chan and I have seen his true Bankai, and lemme tell ya, it's a real force to be reckoned with."
"Indeed. In our spar, despite Kurosaki holding himself back as much as he could, he nearly killed me."
"Really? When you two came out, you were barely scratched up though."
"I am quite the durable Shinigami. He broke several of my ribs with a kick of his, created hairline fractures in my arms every time our blades clashed, and though you could not tell from the soot covering our skin, I was covered in burns and bruises from his reiatsu attacks. He had explained to me that he was fighting me in Bankai only to counter the scorching heat of my own. After our match, I fully believe that were it not for his regeneration in Shikai lacking, he could absolutely best me in simply that."
"…And to think Shunsui, Retsu and I agreed I would have the greatest chance of beating you…" Ukitake sweat dropped.
"The enemy has created duplicates of himself to attack Kurosaki." Byakuya stated.
"I'm sure he's aware." Yoruichi drawled. "And even if he isn't, they're hardly going to last longer than anything else. See? All it took was a Cero and everything went poof."
"That blast also obliterated two of the three towers supporting the castle."
"Eh, it's going down anyway."
"Hmm."
"Something wrong, Unohana-chan?"
"I don't believe Ichigo is truly releasing any stress from this."
"What do you mean? You've gotta be hearing him as clearly as I am, he sounds like he's having the time of his life!"
"He's certainly destroying with reckless abandon, and unleashing reiatsu attacks as he pleases, but to him, it's hardly more than, say, eradicating low level hollows en masse by firing Byakurai endlessly. It's not tiring, satisfying, or enjoyable. If anything, it's annoying. Rather than truly enjoying himself with a truly challenging battle that draws out everything he has in his arsenal, what he's experiencing right now is more akin to not having to reign in your strength against a training dummy. He's happy he doesn't worry about anything dying, but that's all."
"…I see. Kurotsuchi-san, can you tell how much reiatsu Kusaka has left?"
"If Kurosaki keeps at this pace, Kusaka won't last 5 more minutes."
"Is there any way to get Yoruichi and the others out of this dome before then?" I asked.
"You have access to Garganta's, those can easily slip someone outside. Why do you ask?" Shiro immediately manifested next to the group, opening a Garganta that lead to outside the dome.
"I need to scream. Unohana was right."
"What will screaming do? Why would they need to leave the dome for you to do that?"
"I think I know why." Yoruichi somberly announced. "Go ahead, we're all out." With all of my worries gone, I allowed my frustration to build within me. I felt the hollows scratch uselessly at my Hierro, the blasts from the mutated arrancar sisters doing nothing but leave scorch marks around me. I grabbed hold of my reiatsu, and with a throaty, wrathful scream, let it loose. Within a moment, the entire dome was filled with nothing but my raging spiritual energy, howling as it swirled like a storming sea. Everything was eradicated, from the empty streets to the castle in the sky to the transmuted arrancar to Kusaka himself. The energy tore out from me, causing my clothes to whip around from the gusts of wind. I kept on screaming, furious and frustrated all the more. Not just from my inability to find a real fight, but also from my stressing over getting the plan right, from keeping my being from the future a secret from the Quincies, from allowing my fear to control me, from not being able to stop it. But, most importantly, from my newfound knowledge of why Yhwach did what he did. I sensed my reiatsu seep through forming cracks in the dome, and for a moment, my rage at Yhwach overshadowed my fear of him hurting the people I loved again. For that one moment, I felt like I had ten years ago. I felt unstoppable, able to overcome anything, not held back by anything. My reiatsu retreated back inside me as the dome broke apart, and I held onto the fading feeling of being me as long as I could. I let out a breath as my blades reformed back into one, and I stared up at the cloudy sky.
If I focused my eyes enough, I could see the sun's light peering through the greyness