Previously in New Yells from Hell: Orihime tries to reassure Kazui about his odds of going to Hell. Rukia and Orihime compare notes on what they know of Kazui's lessons. Yachiru and her pals torment Yammy.

New Yells from Hell
A Bleach Fanfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

Chapter 4: Looking for Lily-chan

Ichika was careful not to brag about it, as it wasn't something her parents would encourage outside of missions, but she was pretty good at stalking. She started practicing by constantly following random shinigami, and once she was more confident, only seated officers. At first, she was sure they purposely ignored her as a way of humoring her, but over time, she was absolutely certain that some failed to detect her (or they got better about pretending, always a possibility, but she didn't like to think so).

So when she began to stalk Captain Zaraki's mysterious female companion, Ichika was fairly confident in her ability to avoid detection.

Captain Zaraki spotted Ichika immediately, and continued to ignore her, unless she was bothering him directly.

Ikkaku only said that her stalking had better never make her late for his lessons, and left it at that.

Yumichika was the worst, in that every time he caught her at it, he would loudly tell random people about his plans to purchase absolutely darling dresses for her. Despite such a truly diabolical threat, Ichika did not give up. Some things were worth risking total humiliation.

If Zaraki's companion noticed, she never gave any clear sign. She moved about the Seireitei as it pleased her, but there were also days when she preferred to laze about inside. More than once, Ichika had found her sprawled across Zaraki's own bed, snoring and scratching herself. For his part, Zaraki also ignored her, at least when Ichika was watching. And as no one was allowed in Zaraki's quarters, it was hard to say if anyone actually saw the woman there. Even if they did, they would not be fool enough to mention it aloud. Any woman that could catch Zaraki's eye, might very well be able to direct his sword, and gossip was not worth an abruptly ended life.

But Ichika became more and more convinced that this woman was not Zaraki's lover. They rarely ever touched, and the contact was always one-sided: she always touched him. Leaning against his broad back, tracing the scars on his chest whenever he was shirtless, slowly threading her fingers through his hair when he was freshly bathed. None of this seemed romantic in nature to Ichika, at least, not with these two.

And the way she called him "Ken-kun" always seemed rather like an older sister, speaking wearily to her naughty little brother that she was secretly proud of.

But he never called her anything. And if he spoke to her at all, he only did so when Ichika wasn't around to hear or see it. But then, that wouldn't have shocked Ichika. They were private conversations, and both adults likely knew when she was nearby.

Kazui did not mind the doctor's office. Largely because he had been allowed to meet the doctor outside of the office, in more informal settings, where the doctor looked very uncomfortable. So Kazui felt that sitting in the doctor's waiting room occasionally, made them even.

Oddly, the waiting room was nearly empty today. It was only Kazui, his mother on his left side, Aunt Rukia on his right side, and an older schoolgirl seated across from them, her tongue poking out of her mouth as she poured a ridiculous amount of effort into solving a crossword puzzle. She was even sweating a little.

The previous patient soon emerged: an old man with a cast on his arm, moving easily under his own power. He stopped to wish everyone a good morning before leaving with a spring in his step. This, Kazui felt, was a good sign.

Soon, Kazui was called. He gave his mother and aunt stern looks, and they gave him resigned ones and didn't argue. He was not sick, this was merely a check up, and he was not a baby that needed them holding his hands.

Kazui went in alone. Or thought he did, but soon realized that the schoolgirl had followed him.

Her name was not his. She had not been called.

Not entirely on either count, anyway.

The doctor joined them soon enough. He ignored the schoolgirl and directed all his questions to Kazui.

Kazui answered as best he could, but never managed to shake the impression that he consistently failed this doctor's ongoing test, whatever it was.

Finally, the doctor said, "You're not sick. You rarely are. Why are you really here?"

Kazui hesitated, glanced at the schoolgirl, and said, "Um."

The doctor sighed. "Is she here again?"

"Yes."

"Is she bothering you?"

Kazui looked shocked. "Never!" As if the very idea offended him. Or her. Or both of them.

"What exactly do you expect me to do about her? We've been over this before."

"Should I tell my family, now?"

"Why did you not in the first place?"

"She asked me not to. Said it wouldn't go over well. Or might hurt us all."

"Can you give her a message from me?"

"Tell her yourself. She can hear you."

The doctor took off his glasses. "You're making a mistake here. However upset they will be, they would want to know. I would, if it was me instead of them."

Kazui waited, then said, "She says not being able to prove she's here would only make it worse for me. She doesn't want that. And the one way she is sure would work, neither of us wants to pay that cost."

"Right. Getting too strong, ending up in Hell. You've told me. So again: what do you expect me to do, if you won't take my advice?"

Kazui shrugged. "I guess I needed to talk to someone who believes me. Someone who knows I'm not lying or crazy."

"Technically, you didn't prove either. But you having knowledge of Quincy techniques that I know your father can't spell or pronounce was enough, and you certainly didn't learn that from anyone but her. I suppose I should be satisfied that you are healthy. So at least my reputation isn't damaged, despite me not actually treating you. But you can't expect this to stay hidden. One day, they will learn your zanpakuto's name. And in case you haven't gotten this far in school? You don't usually get to name them. So they will know it wasn't a choice."

"I know. But at least then, they'll know why I had to lie."

"I'm not sure they will, Kazui."

"I'll take that risk. We will. We decided together."

"Then I guess we're done here. But I'm not writing you a prescription for ice cream this time."

Kazui smiled. "She says you're not a very good doctor if you can't make it convincing every time."

"You'll forgive me if I'm not overly concerned with what your invisible friend think-" The doctor stopped, noticing the expression on Kazui's face. "What's that look? What is she doing?"

Kazui bit his lip to keep from laughing. "I'm not sure I should say, but you should be glad that you can't see it."

As they were leaving, Kazui noticed that the doctor briefly pulled Rukia to the side, whispered something into her ear, and then moved on to the next patient. Rukia stared after the doctor for a moment, then joined Kazui and his mother at the door.

"Kazui, when was the last time you saw your grandfather?" Rukia asked.

"A few months, I guess," Kazui murmured.

"On your last birthday," his mother confirmed.

"Oh yeah. He did that wicked handstand and nearly fell into the cake."

Rukia blinked. "Okay. Do you see him much?"

"Less than I used to," Kazui admitted hesitantly.

"Because of me," the schoolgirl offered, with a bit of sadness.

Kazui looked at her, wanting to protest, but not daring to in present company.

"Do you need to talk to Isshin, Rukia?" his mother asked.

"I'm not sure it's me that needs to." She was looking at Kazui, of course. Or more precisely, the air around him. But it was clear from the aimless way she did so that she was looking for something, but not actually seeing it.

Some people were not so lucky.

Kazui didn't quite understand it himself. But he had seen the light leave his grandfather's eyes, and watched his laughing face lose all humor. Whatever the man saw, it pained him greatly. And while he would endure it to see Kazui, neither had any interest in prolonging such visits. So when Isshin suddenly started traveling frequently with no warning, Kazui was relieved. The many postcards and odd gifts sent via Uncle Urahara had to be enough. There was no fixing this, not for Isshin.

The twins were spending more and more time with Yachiru, which was no great surprise.

The changes in them, however, were either so gradual that he did not notice, or so sudden that his mind simply took a while to process what he was seeing.

Yachiru had renamed them without his knowledge, and now they would only answer to "Mimi-chan" and "Hagi-kun". Also, strangely, he could not see any distinction between them anymore, and he was almost certain that had not been the case before. And more than once, he caught them trading clothing, as if to further confuse him, in case he was using that to tell them apart.

By the time the changes became more distinctive, it was far too late to stop them.

Mimi was now the thinner one, though they both lost weight rapidly. But when shirtless, Mimi's ribs were easily visible. No amount of feeding prevented this, and Yachiru was definitely not responsible, as her appetite had in no way decreased, and she was big on sharing treats, at least with the twins.

Which meant Hagi was the one who only occasionally coughed up black blood. Unohana had taken a look upon request, but simply said what he already knew: the changes in the twins were reflections of his own condition. It had never happened this way before, but... he had never been in Hell before. And, despite all appearances to the contrary, the twins weren't ill. Or at least, they were in no danger from anything that wasn't already endangering him. And he was unlikely to die, even without Unohana's help. She only controlled how comfortable he would be.

The bleeding was not constant, but the coppery taste of blood in his throat nearly was. Instead of annoying or disturbing him, it served as a regular reminder of his environment and his physical state, which he felt was a good thing. It wouldn't do, to forget. That was dangerous in the extreme.

It was hard to say exactly when the ranks lost all meaning. Maybe they never had any meaning to begin with.

Staark only knew he made no real attempts to get stronger. Which didn't stop his unnaturally powerful body from increasing its power without his consent, especially now. It was... a problem. But one he could exist with. One he had to exist with, more accurately.

Ulquiorra trained constantly. For what purpose, no one knew. But there was something beautiful and inspiring in his dedication, and Staark didn't like to see it interrupted. And so, without prompting, he began to guard Ulquiorra, and prevented anyone from interfering. With one notable exception.

Ulquiorra never asked for this. But he also never attempted to stop Staark. And Staark's very presence only made Ulquiorra stronger, which was the goal, anyway.

This was their group (including Lilinette, of course).

Barragan had his kingdom once more, and there was no interaction between the two groups. The rest of the Espada were scattered, too busy trying to kill each other, or someone else, to establish a united front. Staark couldn't bring himself to try uniting them. If they came on their own, that was fine. But he wasn't going to go out, knock their heads together, and drag them back. It had to be their choice.

Ukitake had never been to this area before, and while he was reluctant to trust Yachiru's sense of direction, Unohana was keeping pace and not contradicting chosen route at all.

The Hollows began attacking almost out of principle: they saw shinigami, and did what was expected. They were cut down easily enough, or at least the first wave was.

But there was no second wave, because that was when he finally noticed the pistol an inch from his face.

"You look different," Staark said slowly. And then, to Ukitake's total shock, Staark tucked his pistol back into his holster. And left it there.

He wasn't going to fight them. This made no sense.

Until Yachiru raised a hand in greeting and shouted, "Yo, Ichi nii-san!" She even ran forward to fist bump him, which Staark returned without hesitation, though with a great deal of intent, as if it were some sort of holy ritual that he didn't dare get wrong. With that done, Yachiru looked around eagerly. "Where's Lily-chan? I want to invite her to my sleepover!"

Staark gave her a blank stare. "I have no idea what that is. Or where she is. You're out of luck." Even as he said that, however, he was very carelessly brushing aside the dirt at his feet. Dirt that had definitely been disturbed extremely recently.

Yachiru made a wild dive into the dirt, and came up tugging a yelling, horned head. "Lily-chan, here you are! If you wanted to play Hide and Seek, you should have said so!"

"I wasn't playing, let go of me!" Lilinette screamed.

Yachiru didn't listen. "Come on, let's go! You don't want to be late for the sleepover!"

"Shoot her, Staark!" Lilinette ordered.

Staark blinked. "Why? Can't you gore her?"

Lilinette winced as Yachiru gave a particularly sharp tug. "She's really strong! It wouldn't work!"

"Then me shooting her likely won't do much, either," Staark reasoned airily.

"What?! That's not true! Shoot her, damn you!"

Staark made a feeble attempt to draw his pistol... which was missing from its holster. "Huh. Guess I can't shoot her, then. Sorry."

"STAARK!" Lilinette wailed in horror at his betrayal, as Yachiru dragged her away.

"That seemed excessively cruel," Ukitake commented.

Staark shrugged. "You're the one that implied she should be treated as a kid. So I'm doing that now. Kids should hang out with other kids. And monsters should be among monsters." His eyes shifted to Unohana and stayed there. "He won't mind the interruption, since it's you."

Unohana nodded and moved past him. But when Ukitake started to do the same, Staark stepped in his path, blocking him.

"Whoa. Only her."

Ukitake thought about arguing, then decided against it. "Do you really not know what a sleepover is?"

Staark shrugged. "I assume it has something to do with sleeping, and that kids like it. Seems safe enough."

"Are they... friends?"

Staark shrugged again. "Yachiru says they are, and she keeps coming back."

"And you allow her to?"

"Being around us hasn't destroyed her yet. If she's strong enough to be a friend, I got no complaints." Staark peered closer at him, then added, "Hey, have you lost weight?"

"Ulquiorra."

He glanced over his shoulder at Unohana, and was greeted by a purely sadistic smile as she drew her zanpakuto.

"Will you be so kind as to entertain me again?"

"You may have a problem with addiction." He gave her his full attention, though.

"I have an addiction," she admitted, "but it's not a problem. Not since I found you."

He saw the familiar gleam in her eyes, and knew further words would be pointless. So he fired a Cero at her head.

It was difficult to say if he missed or not. Her charge at him in no way slowed, the smile never left her lips, and there was no reaction from her that implied she was in pain. Nor was her head vaporized, but he definitely saw the glow that he associated with her healing as she came at him, nearly slicing into his face. She was frenzied yet perfectly controlled, at least in the sense that she was difficult to hit, but not so much a berserker where she was taking any excess hits that could have been avoided with some effort.

The ecstasy on her face always puzzled him. But it didn't bother him. She was strong, and whether he won or lost, he would be stronger for the experience.

Ichika had meant to spend the night in the Kuchiki mansion. True, there were servants there that often got in her way (she liked things done fast, and doing them herself was fastest), but the food was excellent, and there was nowhere else she could play her favorite game of "Make Uncle Blush".

The problem was that she clearly had never made it back to the mansion, because Ichika woke up in a place she instantly recognized, partially by the lingering odor of sweat, as being the Squad 11 barracks. Someone had covered her with a blanket and slipped a pillow under her head. The blanket could have been anyone, but she reasoned only another woman would have both bothered with the pillow and managed it so neatly where the movement hadn't woken her.

"You know, if you're going to spy, you probably shouldn't fall asleep and get caught."

"Maybe you're too boring to watch for long," Ichika countered.

"If that were true, you wouldn't be watching me," the woman responded. "Is your neck okay? Our pillows aren't great here."

"My neck is fine," Ichika snapped, slightly annoyed that her mission hadn't gone the way she'd hoped. She decided to try a different tactic. "Tell me your name."

The woman blinked. "No."

"I figured you'd say that."

"Then why did you ask?"

"Had to check. Wasted effort, huh?"

The woman shook her head. "Caring enough to ask, could never be a waste. Thank you."

"Uh, sure." Ichika hesitated. "Hey, you know Kazui, right?"

The woman said nothing.

"Well?" Ichika demanded.

"If you're about to ask what I think you're going to-"

"He already told me her name."

The woman relaxed slightly. "Go on, then."

"Then she is like you?"

"Not even remotely," the woman responded at once.

"Why not?"

"She would be the best one for you to ask. And if she refuses to tell you, it's likely not your business."

Ichika pouted. "Are we friends?"

The woman smiled. "If we weren't, you'd know."

Ichika's eyes gleamed in triumph. "A friend would tell me her name."

"You're not wrong." The woman thought for a moment. "Tell you what. If you can bring me one other person that can see me, I'll tell you my name."

Ichika scowled. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"By looking, I would guess. No more hints. If you want this, show me you can work for it. More precisely, show me that you care enough. That knowing my name truly matters to you."

Before Ichika could respond, a large foot came down an inch from her head, barely missing it.

"You here again, kid?"

She stared at up Captain Zaraki in a mix of horror and awe. "Yes?"

"Abarai's kid, right?"

Ichika started to answer, frowned, and then added, very offended, "And Captain Kuchiki's."

Zaraki blinked, and it was clear what his next question was about to be, much to her disbelief.

"The female one! The male one doesn't even have kids!"

"That makes more sense," he agreed. "So help me out, kid. You know who your parents are. Why are you always here, where neither of them is?"

Ichika did not have an answer prepared for that, though she should have. "I, um... like it here. Heard it was a good place to learn. And it was good enough for my dad, so... yeah."

"Only thing you're going to learn sleeping on the floor, is how to get stepped on."

Before Ichika could fully process that, his large hand seized her by her HEAD and tossed her into the air, where she hung for an endless moment before landing directly on her side, on top of his massive shoulder. All the wind was driven out of her, and she started to fall, but barely managed to cling to him as he started walking.

She noticed quickly that something was very wrong, aside from the obvious. The pain in her side lingered far longer than she thought was normal, and her breathing never returned to normal, either. In fact, it was getting far more difficult by the second. And the only real explanation for it, was that being so close to Zaraki was unhealthy. Which was, again, obvious, but she had never understood that it was also true in this way.

That was when the realization hit her. Or at least, she was getting closer to the truth. Ikkaku and Yumichika spent more time around Zaraki than anyone else. Meaning they were exposed to his overpowering aura all the time, and managed not to be crushed by it. But only one of them was the type of person she was looking for, somehow. The problem was, there was nobody else as close to Zaraki in his own squad, and certainly not in any other. So the odds of such a person being easily found by her in the Seireitei seemed slim.

She had no idea what made her ask it, but she did ask it. "Who is your best friend?"

Zaraki actually stopped walking. "What?"

"Who is your best friend?" she repeated.

"Not you," he replied.

"Wow! Rude!" Ichika stuck her tongue out at him. "I wouldn't have asked if I thought it was me!"

"You don't know her," Zaraki said after a long pause.

Ichika's eyes lit up. "So it is a her?"

"You don't hear so good, apparently."

"No, I heard. I'm focusing on the female part."

"Why?"

"Because it's important."

"Why?"

Ichika scowled. "Trust me, it is. And no, I can't explain it. Hey, where are you taking me, anyway?"

"To a place where you actually belong: your house."

Ichika almost asked which one he meant, then decided aloud, "Better make it mom's place, then. She isn't there now, but no one there will assume you've kidnapped me."

Zaraki stared at her. "And they would at the other house? A kidnapper that brings you back?"

"Sure, after I bugged them enough. I have an abrasive personality." She was quite proud of this.

"I'm not sure that means what you think it does, kid."

"Yeah, it does. Means I won't stay kidnapped."

"So if you're being a brat, and this kidnapper snaps and strangles you before he can return you, you'd call that win?"

Ichika stared at him in mild horror. "I... don't think I'd be able to call that anything."

Zaraki seemed not to notice her discomfort. "No worries. I'd kill him."

Ichika was smart enough to realize this had nothing to do with seeking vengeance on her behalf. "Slowly?" she asked hopefully.

"No reason not to, since you're asking."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't. Your mom's... talkative when she's mad."

Ichika laughed. "You don't have to tell me that."

What she did need someone to tell her, or more accurately to point out, was that she actually spent close to half an hour in close proximity to Zaraki that night. And at some point, either it got easier to breathe around him, or she'd forgotten that she was ever having trouble with it at all.

Continued in Chapter 5: Partying with OEN-oji

Kazui deals with a family crisis. Ichika gets a clue.

Theory 4: The Ichigo Effect

It's not exclusive to him, but I first became aware of it in relation to him: the phenomenon where someone strong makes others strong simply by their being around him constantly. You can blame it on him being unique, or others being closet Fullbringers (though I wish you wouldn't), but I feel they at least awakened powers when they did due to exposure to him (but I'm sure being Karakura residents helped). So by the time Zaraki and Staark were written with reality-altering influence, to me it felt proven already. Maybe I prefer the idea that Ichigo felt responsible for protecting his friends because he's partially at fault for them gaining spiritual awareness. I prefer that to all their parents being attacked by Hollows, anyway. Or to the Soul King falling to pieces on them. I'd even buy Karakura being practically toxic with spare Hollow particles. Because while Soul King parts attracting Hollows makes sense, what does NOT is no one who let those parts fall ever collecting them, or at least finding out what happened to them. Which is either sheer irresponsibility or bad writing.

I went through the trouble of coming up with nicknames that Yachiru would use for every Espada in Hell, because I felt that she wouldn't call any of them by their actual names. They aren't special. If it wasn't clear, Staark is "Ichi nii-san" because of his tattoo (and being Lilinette's "big brother").