blööh1 Chapter 16: vk b, a 9 to 5 fanfic

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

By: Vagabond

[NSFW] - An Arcanist in Karakura Town by Vagabond

Status: ongoing

Published: 2020-06-18

Updated: 2023-12-26

Words: 64225

Chapters: 48

Original source: https/forum./threads/12320

Exported with the assistance of

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Introduction

1 - Introduction Orihime 1

3 - Innovative...

15.5

30.1

47 (NSFW)

1 - Introduction Orihime 1

Commissioned by Kejmur

-VB-

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

-VB-

"There are many jobs one can get in a city like this place," my self-appointed guardian lectured again. "And for someone as especially as talented as you, you should be striving for the best that you can be, not what is the easiest or the most convenient!"

I picked my ear while leveling an indifferent and annoyed stare at the long black haired and tall man. "And I'm telling you, I don't care about stuff like that," I groused unhappily. "Life isn't about just becoming the best that you can be. That kind of satisfaction only really satisfies certain people like you, Mr. I-United-A-Continent."

The man flipped out a fan and scoffed. "As great as you will be under my guidance, I have my doubts about your future once I leave you."

"Is that your way of politely telling me that I'm a fucking idiot?"

"Rude language is the first thing we shall work on."

Tap!

"Ow-! Hey!"

"There is no place for crass language on the lips and in the mind of my disciple."

"I never gave me a choice in the matte-"

Tap!

"OW! Will you stop that?!"

"Not until you behave."

It must have made a funny scene for onlookers. A Yankee like myself was getting scolded by a more traditional Asian man, especially since we were in the middle of Akihabara.

But then again, this was Akihabara, one of the most foreign tourist attracting sites. Perhaps it wasn't as weird or funny as it would have been had we been elsewhere in Japan.

Japan.

I hadn't wanted to come here. Oh no no. Japan was a xenophobic nation with a history of xenophobia and isolationism. Its politicians laughed at the idea of taking in foreign workers even as their working population grew progressively older. It was a backward nation whose people were just begging for a change (a change they could never adapt to if the statistics on how many Japanese return to Japan after attempting immigrantion).

There was a reason why the manga industry pushed ever greater heights of anything fantastical, debaucherous, lewd, and extreme; these people wanted an out but found none except those in their minds.

There were worse places for an American teenager to be (Afghanistan comes to mind), but it wasn't an easy place either, especially when I was a blonde haired and blue eyed "exemplar" of what a foreigner was to the Japanese.

… I supposed that I've done enough slandering of the very nation I was to now live in.

Now some good things: low crime rate, shit ton of entertainment, lots of mountain getaway spots, good fish and fishing, and general non-violence of its adult population.

Whatever.

"-irection are we supposed to go towards to take this train to your new hometown?"

Grumbling, I pulled up my phone. Few thumb swipes later, I had the information. "We have to take the Chuo line," I replied with a drawl. "Hopefully, we can get ourselves a warehouse."

"A warehouse is no proper location for a young man to live in," my guardian "Hide" tutted. "You may buy one for your workshop, but I will not allow you to live in it."

I glared at him. "So you want me to spend more money - money that we are tight on - to get us two different places? Cuz there is no way that I am going to do that."

Hide, which was the short version of his alias Hidemasa, pushed me along towards the train station. "It is not about what is easy but what is proper, Alan," he countered. "You can always use your other jobs to keep yourself up."

I grumbled. "I don't want to spend time using that to make money. I'm here for a goddamn adventure, Hide."

"And adventure you will get just as my generals did upon the battlefields," he parried. "But all things require preparation, and you are nowhere near ready for an adventure."

Grumbling, I conceded to his point silently.

First off, this wasn't my Earth. I wasn't born anywhere on this Earth, but rather dropped here by a… Random Omnipotent Being.

The assface didn't even converse with me. Just looked at me, told me that I was a charity case for his tax evasion scheme (since when did gods pay taxes?), and told me to shoo, giving me exactly one minute to make my choices for a Worm CYOA.

The bastard didn't even drop me off on the proper planet. Hell, I don't even know what planet I was on because there was no outward difference between this Earth and my Earth, having been dropped in Hokkaido of all places. If it wasn't for Mr. and Mrs. Otoyashi, I might have been exiled once found by the police.

Anyways, I ended up doing a bit of research, cross-referencing all sorts of information I had with this Earth's internet until I found the name of the city that I was now going to live in.

Karakura Town.

The city of the fictional series Bleach.

I reiterate: the tax-evading ROB couldn't even drop me off on the proper planet. I came prepared for Worm but got dropped into a world with a much higher average power level.

God, my life sucked.

Or did it?

In a way, I've won the lottery of lotteries and have become the wet dream of all daydreamers: a superhuman. On top of being a magic-wielding arcanist, I also possessed the ability to make fantastical tools and weapons beyond the current limits of human civilization!

Oh and two other random powers.

That said, I was essentially homeless with my identity as an emancipated foreign teenager being fresher than most babies. It was rather lucky of us to run into a family well-versed in the affairs of fake identification (a service they provided me in exchange for me and Hide's help in one of their problems).

So there, I had some disadvantages, some advantages, and some irrelevant things going on in my life.

None of that mattered to me.

I was going to enjoy this life in ways I couldn't have before.

But to do that, I needed a warehouse. I can't go practicing magic in a house surrounded by other houses with normal Japanese neighbors. No, that would make any kind of magical experimentation hard to perform. A warehouse provided everything I needed.

And my stubborn guardian refused to let me just live in it.

We argued like that constantly as we found the train station, got on the train, and left the train.

"Fine," Hide gave up with a throw of his arms into the air. "But in exchange, I will have you promise me that you will not dilly dally in your magecraft studies."

"Arcane magic, Hide," I countered. "I don't use the magecraft system that you're familiar with."

"Does it matter what it is? You know what I ask of you."

"… Yeah. You don't want me to waste my life being a middling or average person."

"Because you are -"

"-more than that."

"Yes."

"… Alright. I promise to devote myself to the studies of the Arcane," I said once we were far away from most people. "I will not let the carnal desires of the world lure me away from the advancement of my mind and body."

Hide raised an eyebrow. "Already thinking about carnal wants, Alan? This does not make me happy."

I scoffed. "Deal with it."

"… Any girl you bring will be checked by me."

"What?! No!"

"I will not have you hitch yourself with some street tramp or a dumb blonde."

"Oi, I'm a blonde."

"Exactly."

-VB-

Karakura Town. The hometown of the Bleach fictional story. It was a normal looking place.

But I was here to tangle with Bleach's main plot and what better way to do that other than tangling myself up with its protagonists?

For the next few weeks, Hide and I set ourselves up in the city. While Hide didn't do much except advise on what I should do, the fact that I had someone like him at my back made me feel better.

I, on the other hand, set up a small business called "Mending Marris," a repair shop for many things small and moderate in size. It was for this business that I ended up getting the warehouse I wanted. To get business, I posted advertisements, calling myself a cheap and reliable fix for anything from clothes and toys to watches and

How did I achieve this?

Well, as an Arcanist - someone who uses Arcane Magic, or basically a wizard - I was capable of using cantrips, spells that I could use endlessly as long as I had the necessary ingredients to fire those spells. One such cantrip was "Mending," a spell that required only two lodestones, which were cheap as fuck.

I also advertised myself as a cleaner, and the cantrip I used for that purpose was "Prestidigitation."

Of course, I kept the fact that I was a Wizard a secret.

It took four weeks before I got a steady stream of clients wishing for my service. In fact, I got so many clients at one point that I had to start setting up appointments and everything.

I groaned as I walked down the streets of Karakura Town as the sun began to set, done with my work for the day. I had it easy like that compared to regular Japanese office workers. Did it make my own exhaustion any less, though? No. Because unlike office workers, I had to travel to random ass locations on bike and foot.

I still had a lot of time to practice all sorts of my powers before I went to sleep, though. I've been waiting to make a bomb, actually. I wanted to make a bomb that affects spirits by combining one of my random powers, Spiritual Force Manipulation, with one of the three Worm Twins powers, Bakuda. I wasn't sure if I could get it to work, actually, but hey, I was willing to try.

Humming happily at the thought of tinkering the night away, I walked down the street towards the warehouse district.

… Only to run into a high schooler my age. Still in the residential district, this was expected. What wasn't expected was who it was. Long orange haired, bubbly personality, and brown eyed, it was Orihime Inoue.

I blinked at the sight of the girl.

And I couldn't help but grin.

I've had weeks to practice all aspects of my powers, though I definitely practiced the Arcane more than anything else. In this situation, my second random power, Pheromone Manipulation, was the key to my enjoyment.

It took only a small whiff, but that was all I needed to do to ensnare her. Orihime looked at me as I got into her view, and her face flushed.

"Hey," I greeted her with a smile. "What's a beautiful girl like you doing out here?" I asked her.

"Uh umm…" she stuttered before she began to twiddle with her fingers. "I-I was just heading back home after school and…"

I gently took her hand, and she didn't run off at the skin contact. "My name's Marris Alan, what's your name?"

"Umm… I-I'm O-Orihime I-Inoue. Y-You're not Japanese."

I chuckled. "No, I'm not," I hummed. "Say, I'd like to treat you to dinner. How does that sound?"

Her face was even redder than before. "Y-You mean l-like a date?"

"Yes," I replied with a smile to emphasize the point. "Let's make it a date."

Her mouth opened and closed before she nodded.

I led her away from there.

-VB-

Hours later, I led her to my home under the guise that I didn't want her to be out at night by herself. She reluctantly agreed and entered my home.

I pushed her hormones higher and higher with my pheromone control. I made her hornier and hornier until she couldn't help herself. She came to me begging for help, unsure as to why she was feeling so hot and bothered.

I led her to my bed…

Leaning down, I kissed her gently, and she kissed me back, squeezing her eyes closed and letting me take lead. She squeaked and moaned as my hands slowly undid her uniform, unclipped her bra, and stripped myself all the while we kissed, took a breath, and went back to kissing.

When we were finally stripped and laid bare, I stopped kissing her and pulled back.

Orihime - or Inoue as I was now calling her - was… a big girl. Despite being only fifteen (a year younger from my current age), she possessed quite the figure. I stopped roaming my eyes all around her and looked back up to meet her eyes. Her frightened, desperate, and naive eyes.

She looked down and saw my dick, hanging outside of my pants. Her arms were covering her chest.

"U-Umm… D-D-D-"

"Sshh…" I cooed her. "Is this your first time?"

She nodded shakily and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Then let me make this a special experience for you," I said as I pulled both of our clothes off, gently and slowly.

She began to hyperventilate as we became fully nude and I lined myself up to her pussy.

I pushed her hormones further with a bit more pheromone control, and she whimpered, reaching out with her hands to grasp my forearm, releasing her D-cups with the act. They bounced deliciously.

"I'm going in," I whispered to her and did exactly so. Slowly, I pushed my dick into her, and she whimpered. That whimper became a brief gasp of pain as I broke through her hymen. Then I pushed all the way through.

I waited for her as she adjusted to me.

"Are you ready?" I asked her when she opened her eyes and met mine.

She took shaky breathes. "Y-yes," she muttered.

I pulled out and pushed back in, and she whimpered.

I slid my left arm under her, forcing her arms to go around my neck and shoulders, and leaned into her breast. I held her left boob and licked. Her breath hitched and she mewled as I picked up pace in pumping her pussy and licking her nipple.

I pushed deeper into her -.

Her vagina clenched down on my dick like an iron grip and she screamed. She climaxed, coating my dick in more lubricant than she's made so far.

Seeing as she had fully adjusted to my size, I let her lay back down on the bed and straightened my back. My hands gripped her waist and I began to fuck her properly. She squealed and mewled, and I enjoyed making her mine thoroughly.

Finally, I thrust deep into her and cummed, and Orihime moaned out in pleasure. My dick twitched as my semen shot into her pussy once… twice… thrice…

I luxuriated in her vagina's grip on my dick, and as I came down from my carnal high, I leaned down and kissed her again. She reciprocated my kiss, wrapping her arms around my neck and back tightly.

It was good to be alive~.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 2

-VB-

Next morning, Inoue and I sat across from each other in my living room, which was an enclosed part of the warehouse that used to be the office that I turned into my living space. The four rooms attached to this living room used to be storage spaces, but now they were three bedrooms and a bathroom. It was in one of these rooms that I'd taken Inoue's virginity and ravished her after twisting her mind and trust.

"So you don't have any family…" I said after she finished her little story. Of course, I knew that she didn't have any family. Her brother supposedly died when she was twelve and she was being financially helped by an aunt living elsewhere.

She nodded sullenly.

I smiled and stood up. She looked up at me as I walked around the living room table and sat next to her. She flinched a little when I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

"Then you can live here with me," I said. "It won't be as lonely as your house then, right?"

She looked up at me with those wide vulnerable eyes, and nodded.

Of course, this gave me more access to her and that's what I really wanted.

Ding!

Both of us jerked when the door to my home within the warehouse opened to reveal Hide. He was in the process of undoing his necktie when he saw me and Inoue.

"Oh? You finally got yourself a girlfriend I see," he said as he walked away from the door towards his bedroom. "Please take care of Alan for me," he nodded to Inoue and then entered his room, not giving her a chance to respond.

Inoue, whose mouth was opened for a moment, closed her mouth and turned to me. "W-Who is that?" she asked.

"Call him my guardian of sorts," I replied with a drawl. "His name is Hidemasa. I just call him Hide for short." I glanced at the clock before my eyes widened. "Hey, isn't it time for you to go to school?"

She blinked and looked up at the clock before her face paled. "I-I have to go!" she stuttered as she got up.

I pulled her back down and gave her a deep kiss. She struggled for a moment, her body twitching before she grabbed my arms and let me kiss her.

When we broke apart, I grinned at her. "See you later," I said.

Her blushing face and wide eyes looked at me before she nodded and hurried out of her new home.

When she was gone, Hide came out of his room dressed semi-formally with a collared light cyan shirt and a pair of khaki pants. His bare feet barely made any noise as he walked and he came down to sit on the couch where I had been sitting before sitting next to Inoue.

"So," he said. "Is that the tramp you want in your life?"

I glared at him. "Do not call her or anything of mine a tramp, empire-less-emperor," I shot back.

He took the insult coolly. I knew that it wasn't something that bothered him anyways, but the point still stood; his empire existed no more and rather un-glorious compared to how he envisioned its future self to be.

"Orihime Inoue," he said, speaking the name of my girl without having met her before. "A student of the local Karakura High. Born to a prostitute and a destitute. Former guardian died in an accident two years ago, leaving her aunt as the only suitable and able guardian, which she did take up the legal position. Unfortunately, she is a busy woman, managing a rather significantly sized business deeper in Tokyo, and her lifestyle isn't suited for a young woman's growth. It's actually a good decision on her part to stay out of Orihime Inoue's life."

I stared at Hide incredulously. "What the fuck. How did you…?" I asked, unable to voice my shock anymore than that.

He smirked at me. "Did you actually think that I've been lazing around? I didn't conquer all of China in four years by being a lazy man," he replied with a scoff. "I am, if anything, someone capable of spotting talent and strategizing on a grand scale that you will probably never experience."

I grumbled. He was right about that. After all, Hidemasa, a loose translation to Japanese of his given personal name, was none other than Qin Shi Huang of the Qin State, the First Emperor of China. There was a reason why China was called "Chin"a, and not Han or Ming or Qing.

He was my Ruler Servant.

Considering how I've been sent here, I have been wanting to get a Servant suited for frontline combat but…

Well, the ROB didn't give a shit and tossed me a random Servant, who had been Hidemasa. What do one even do with two mages in a party?

"But that girl… Why does she have so much ood?"

Those words brought me out of my chain of thoughts. "You can sense it?"

"All Servants can do a degree," he replied with a wave of his hand. "For someone like me, a Ruler, such a skill is not only integral but too useful to not have. It is only ambition and ideals that separate Casters and Rulers."

"I see."

"Do you, truly?"

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know what it means to be bereft of ambition or ideal? To look upon the world and know that your achievements matter very little or to see everything you've achieved lie in ruins?"

"… No."

"Then do not speak of things as you know of it. It will only serve to alienate those incapable of controlling their own emotions."

I smirked. "Still trying to teach me?"

"Always. I've said it before haven't I? You possess conditions necessary to make a great man. I care not if you are good, honorable, terrible, or repugnant; I care only that you become great."

"The story of your life, huh."

"The story of my life," he concurred. "Speaking of which, I still do not see what is great about that… girl. She possesses no training to make your position as an 'arcanist' better. She possesses no knowledge to further your own magic. What is it about her that draws you in?"

I grinned. "I supposed that chance had a lot to do with it."

"But I sense there is more."

"She's currently holding a seed of a power capable of turning back the flow of time."

His eyes widened, and then he grinned.

"I take back what I said. You are thinking better now."

"You mean manipulating people?"

"What is the difference between law, manipulation, or love? All of them modify how you behave around others, just with different intent. I sense, however, that you have no ill will towards her."

"Of course not. She's a rough gem."

"And you intend to…?"

"I'll push her towards refining her ability when it emerges. Of that, you can be sure."

"And the others around the town?"

"… I only have my eyes on one other but for a different reason."

"Ho?"

"As nice as Inoue is right now, she's also emotionally… unstable. Her only friend, Arisawa Tatsuki, is a great pillar in Inoue's life. I intend to make her mine as well. It helps that she's a spunky and athletic girl who's easy on the eyes."

"And is she any special?"

"No. It's more for Inoue's sake."

"And the others?

"One of them is being watched by a candy shop owner, so I have no intention of touching him if I can help it. You might be able to fight the candy peddler, but I'll get zilched before I could even utter a word."

"That strong?"

"I am also pinning for few others, but it's a long way off."

Hide stared at me before nodding. "How is the business?"

"Getting better," I replied with a grin. "People are starting to see that this yankee provides a good service for the price this yankee offers."

"I still do not see why you seek to lower yourself."

"I like laying low as long as I can. What's the point in dick measuring contest that all of you strong types are into? Nothing, that's what."

And our months-long argument continued.

-VB-

To my surprise, Inoue didn't bring Tatsuki home like she normally did in the canon.

I was further surprised when Inoue settled right into my home by taking up the position as the cook.

I made the stupid decision to let her.

Who adds red bean paste to rice?

3 - Innovative...

Commissioned by Kejmur. Enjoy!

-VB-

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 3:… Doesn't necessary mean Smart

-VB-

I did not possess the explosive growth of Kurosaki Ichigo or any of his future companions, including my Inoue. This wasn't to say that I was a slowpoke either. In the few months I have been around in this version of Japan and Earth, I reached what I could consider the third or fourth levels. Unfortunately, this brought with it its own problems.

As an arcanist, I was a type of spellcaster who directly accessed the Weave, or magic in nature depending on where I was, to use my spells. I, however, needed some kind of catalyst, component, or focus - like staves and wands - to use spells. Now, I have been so far getting away from doing all of that by applying my unique Spiritual Force Manipulation as kind of a crutch, but I've reached a level of study in the arcane where a crutch couldn't help me anymore.

I needed a dedicated focus like Quincies had with their tools.

Therein lay my new problem: I was not a crafter nor had help in crafting through others. When I got my Arcanist Discipline, it came with an archive to help me get started. This archive, unfortunately, didn't have any crafting recipes for focuses, only vague mentions of "needing a focus with magical components for higher level arcane spells."

Hide wasn't any help either because he was a Ruler - not a Caster - whose power came from his legend as a ruler, not a crafter. He knew a thing or two about what kind of ingredients I might need to make a focus but not how to make them.

"And that's another failure," I grumbled while waving a stick with quartz tied to the end of it in a vain attempt to cast a higher arcane spell I'd written up.

I had titled the spell in question "Purifier" for its engineered ability to make all spiritual or magical particles in a single volume around me into a single element or aspect. I would have named it "Naturalizer" if not for the fact that the arcane spell didn't put things "back" so much as it transmuted them into a different type of magical particle.

But for the seventh time, I haven't had a chance to even test this arcane spell I wrote up because I didn't have any proper focus to use it!

That wasn't to say that there hadn't been any effect. Oh no, the quartz crystal I'd tied to the end of the stick had burned black.

Grumbling, I tossed the stick and the burnt quartz to the trash can at the corner of my workshop, where it landed with glass shattering clatter.

That was the seventh prototype for that particular focus shape and crystal. It just wasn't working and I didn't know why.

I could get help but they would have different consequences.

I could go to Urahara, the literal mad scientist. Even if I was using a different system of power, I was sure that he could devise something to help me. On the other hand, I would be exposing myself further to his scheming mind, and would inevitably be sucked up into the canon plot.

I did not like that idea at all.

On the other hand was Quincy Ishida Ryuken. While he was a doctor of medicine, he was also a powerful quincy in his own right. I doubted that he would help me without compensation, he wouldn't drag me into a years-long campaign against Aizen.

In canon, he autopsied his wife who died on the same day as Ichigo's mom and found a clot of silver in her heart that killed her. He fashioned that silver into a weapon for his son to use against Yhwach. Since he didn't just using that silver as a physical weapon but a spiritual one against the likes of Yhwach in that timeline (and the extraction of said silver had already happened at this point of the timeline), Ryuken definitely had skill in making focuses.

Unfortunately, he was the kind of man who was exhausted of all of the conflict and didn't want to involve himself, which was why I had to approach him looking for a business partner.

Which… would be hard.

"I'm home!" Inoue called out from the front door.

Smiling, I stood up, all too happy to leave this problem to greet her.

I came out just in time to see her drop her bag off in her room and come back out with her uniform loosened up. She saw me and smiled.

Ugh. She was a beautiful angel… and she was mine to soil as I pleased.

Actually, Hide wasn't home and wouldn't be back for several more hours…

"Inoue," I smiled as I took her into an embrace and kissed her. She squeaked at my sudden embrace and kiss, but eased into it pretty quickly. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders and neck, and she pulled herself up a little.

Her bountiful bosom pressed tightly against my chest, and I pulled her in closer. The kiss that started as something of an affectionate greeting became more heated and passionate. Soon, I was eating her out, and she whimpered as my assault continued.

I began to grope her, leaving her uniform on her, while pulling one of her legs up.

I pushed her against the wall right next to her room, and I kept kissing, and she kissed back.

When we broke the kiss to breath, she looked at me with wide, vulnerable, and wet eyes. She wasn't "innocent" anymore, but it didn't make her any less pure in my eyes. Pushing her up higher on the wall, I quickly pushed her panties aside under her skirt and penetrated her in one stroke.

Inoue squealed as she bit her lower lips as I pistoned her. Her nervous and unsure moans echoed in the halls. I leaned down and kissed her neck, earning more moans and whimpers from her. She held onto me tightly even as she was telling me to stop.

"Y-You're going to get m-my uniform d-dirty-!" she mewled as her eyes teared up. "E-EEEK-!"

My thrust came to an abrupt stop as I pushed deeply into her, and both of us climaxed at the same time.

Her pussy tightened like an iron grip around my dick, and I luxuriated in the feeling. She whimpered when I kissed her again, briefly this time, and then pulled out of her. Not even bothering to clean up the spot, I scooped her up into a bridal carry, walked into her room, and tossed her onto the bed.

She squeaked in surprise as she bounced on the bed. It wasn't long before I had her flipped on her face with her bottom up before I penetrated her again.

Inoue screamed in ecstasy as I ravaged her pussy roughly with my thrusts. My dick scrapped against the walls of her pussy in all directions, and I played with her clit with my hand even as I kept her waist fixed to its current position with my other hand.

We climaxed again. The feeling of shooting ropes of my semen into her vagina just never grew old or any less powerful. Inoue, on the other hand, whimpered underneath me with her now sweat-soaked uniform.

"Are you ready to be a mommy, Inoue?" I asked into her ear as I leaned down. I began to pump her again, and her responses were incoherent moans and mewls. "I'm ready to be a daddy for our kids," I huskily added.

My words sent her over the edge, and she climaxed for the third time that day, leaving her a shivering, trembling, and happy wreck.

I pulled out of her again, and watched in satisfaction as my semen dribbled out of her still tight pussy.

I turned her back around, laying her on her back. I unbuttoned her sweat-soaked uniform. Her outer jacket came off first. Then it was her now see-through white button-up shirt showing me her bra. Finally, I unclipped her bra off. Her bosom nearly bounced out of its confines before resting firmly on top and a little sideways of Inoue's chest instead of flattening and spilling to the side like water balloons.

Inoue watched me do it with the sexual high she was coming down from, and despite the fact that she was complaining only half an hour ago about her uniform's state, she willingly spread her legs, waiting for me in anticipation.

"Good girl," I encouraged her as I caressed her cheek. She leaned into my hand even as she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

I pushed my dick back into her wet folds, and she whimpered. Her whimpers became moans as I groped and massaged her bosom with my other hand. With the hand still caressing her face, I cupped the back of her neck and pulled her up gently, leaving her straddling on my lap.

I bounced her up and down, and soon, she was moving with the rhythm that I set, pulling her hips up and down to my thrusts.

"A-Ah, ah-! AH AH -!" she moaned as tears spilled down her blushing face. Her hands latched onto my shoulders, and her tits bounced within the cage formed by our chests and arms. Her nipples brushed against my own sweaty chest in the middle of each bounce, and Inoue's face twitched with every brush.

My groping hand pinched her nipple, and she gasped in ecstasy.

It wasn't long before we came again.

She sat down, leaning against me, while my dick remained inside of her, still hard and raring to go.

Now, had I done this normally, I would have tapped out after our first climax, but being an arcanist, I had a spell or two that kept my dick hard.

It wasn't even a particularly hard spell. It was easy enough even without my Spiritual Force Manipulation.

And so, I was happy. She was happy.

And then she pulled back and pouted.

"My only uniform's dirty now," she whined.

I snorted. I gestured towards her uniform, now crumpled on the floor next to her bed. "Prestidigitation."

And then, instantaneously, they were clean.

Inoue saw, blinked, and gawked.

"You're a wizard?!"

"Sure, let's go with that," I said before I thrusted again, forcing a mewl out of her.

She wasn't happy with me when we stopped just an hour before dinner. She had homework and studying to do.

-VB-

That night when Inoue slept in my room fully dressed in her pajamas after I tucked her in, I went out on my own into the night.

While Inoue and I were preparing dinner together, I came up with an idea. It was a crazy idea. It might be a stupid idea. But it was an idea that I knew would work (or if it failed, then it wouldn't affect me at all).

I needed a focus, but all of my attempts at making focuses were failures and I had no instructions at all.

So why not steal some instructions?

By no means was I going to break into Ishida household or Urahara's candy shop; there were better ways to suicide like jumping onto train tracks, slitting my own throat, and shooting my brains out.

No, no, no. I intended to do something far more innovative with myself for less work.

It took me hours to find the perfect target, but find my prey, I did.

It was a weak hollow. It was small and even then it needed to ambush Pluses (the Bleach term for wandering ghosts) because it was too slow to catch them properly. It was, in one word, pathetic. There were other Hollows I'd spotted today, but most of them looked like they could put up a fight, and I wasn't interested in that.

But just because its body made its life hard (so fucking fat that it rolls), it didn't mean that it was horrible at what it did.

It was still a Hollow, a being made out of spiritual particles that used spiritual particles instinctively.

And I had two spells for this occasion.

I grinned malevolently from above the Hollow, who was hiding in an alley, waiting to catch and devour whatever poor soul or human was passing by.

"Firebolt."

A lance of fire as long as my forearm shot out of my outstretched hand and slammed into the fat Hollow. It shrieked and tried to look for me, but I wasn't going to do the anime-sin of monolouging or letting my opponent see me.

"Firebolt." Boom! "Firebolt." Boom. "Firebolt." Boom.

Its shrieks were, fortunately, not heard by anyone living in the area.

My booms were.

As the Hollow began to dissipate into ash, I jumped down, using a pipe as guide to lower myself down quickly but not fast enough to hurt myself. I ran over to the dying Hollow and molded its spiritual particles. I focused on its mask and injected my own spiritual essence into it, and then used the Spiritual Force Manipulation to condense the slowly dissolving object. At this point, the rest of the Hollow had already dissipated.

As I sat down crouching with that Hollow mask in hand and trying very hard to keep it intact, I heard the footsteps of people coming towards me.

I didn't care.

Because just as they appeared at the mouth of the alley, I succeeded in making my first focus.

A Hollow Mask. It was now a solid thing.

In my glee, I put it on my face and looked up.

People saw me and screamed.

(I hadn't known at the time but something I'd done to mask morphed the air around me when I wore it. It made me look like some kind of demented serial killer even when they couldn't see the Hollow mask because it was a spirit).

I screamed in surprise, and they screamed louder and ran away, leaving me confused and upset.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 4

-VB-

I stared at the Hollow mask in my hand, elated and disappointed at the same time.

My disappointment was a petty one: the mask looked like an ugly fat bastard. Considering what kind of Hollow I had made it from, this wasn't unexpected. Appearance also didn't matter when it came to ability.

And my, what an ability this Hollow mask gave me.

While it did serve the primary purpose for which I got this mask, it had a side function that I hadn't expected. The more spiritual power I reinforced the mask with, the tougher my skin got when I wore the mask. Yup, I got a Hollow mask that gave me a discount Hierro.

Fueled by this discovery and desire for more power, I went out hunting.

This was where I fucked up.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK-!" I shouted out loud in the middle of the night as I ran from what I thought was a prey.

"Get back here!" the bear-like Hollow roared as it chased after me, running deceptively lightly on the rooftops of the houses while I sounded like firecrackers going off.

"Fire bolt!" I shouted and waved as I spun around. The spell coalesced and fired off, only for the bear-like Hollow to dodge like a deer, jumping around like a maniac.

"I'm going to eat you slowly for that!" it shouted.

"Fuck off!" I shouted back at it angrily. I growled in frustration as it slowly caught up to me, but I wasn't out of tricks just yet. I whirled around and extended my hands forward. "Entangle!"

From places where they should not be or even exist due to a lack of space, vines rose up on the expected landing spot of the bear Hollow, and when it landed, the vines latched onto its limbs and dragged it down, despite its attempts to jump away.

"Magic missile!"

This should not have been possible. Entangle was a spell that needed concentration to upkeep, and even then, lasted only a minute. This was where the Hollow mask came into play; it allowed me to do things that should normally not work, like continuously concentrating on one spell while concurrently casting a new one.

Three whitish blue magic missiles formed around me and launched themselves at the Hollow. Unlike the fire bolt spell, magic missiles came in a bundle of three. While each of the missiles caused less damage, together, they created a greater quantity of damage.

All three missiles struck the bear Hollow's mask, and pierced through the mask. A great crack formed at the center and then the Hollow collapsed, dying.

For a second, I let out a sigh of relief before hurriedly rushing over to the dying Hollow. I stopped two meters from it and quickly took a hold of the dissipating spiritual particles. Taking the mask off, I drew the power into the mask, letting it grow stronger. The sensation that I got from the mask when I did this was like a great vortex that grew with each successful hunt and drew in more and more of the spiritual essence before I shut it off.

Sometimes I wondered what would happen if I began to feed the mask my own essence.

I stood up and looked around. It was still midnight, and most of the denizens of Karakura Town continued to sleep without being aware of what had just happened.

"Time to head home."

If I was lucky, then I could sleep six hours tonight.

Woo hoo!

-VB-

Morning came, I cooked breakfast for myself and Inoue, and then watched her go to school. While she was out, I practiced and studied the arcane, furthering very little despite having studied six hours and more.

As such, it was to my surprise that when Inoue came home, she brought a certain martial artist friend with her.

"A-And this is my friend, Tatsuki."

Inoue's black-haired friend glared at me rather impressively. Inoue looked extremely troubled and tried to say something new to distract both of us, but neither of us were interested in her distractions.

The three of us sat in the living room on a Persian rugs I'd refurbished through liberal use of my spells. It was something that people recognized as related to affluence and connections; normal Japanese families do not possess Persian rugs or live in a warehouse.

I supposed that the latter was closer to Ms. Arisawa's issue with me. She was probably worried about Inoue.

"Why is she living here with you?" she demanded firmly.

"Because she's my girlfriend." I had no intention of hiding it.

Inoue blushed and Tatsuki's head snapped towards her friend with a shocked gawk.

… But it looked like Inoue was still shy or uncertain about us. Sad, but not unexpected.

Teenagers and all that.

Tatsuki snapped back to me. "What makes you think that you're worthy of her, yankee?!" she snapped at me.

Ah, there it was, the name-calling. She was way over her head in this situation, so she was resorting to anger. I wondered if she recognized it herself and allowed it to happen or didn't and thus allowed it to happen regardless.

My first response would have been to defend myself; I quashed that reflex.

My second response would have been to deflect the question towards Inoue, stating that it was more of her decision; this too was quashed because it would cause Inoue to feel stressed having to face her friend's upset demands.

I settled on the third.

"Though she is very different compared to me, I appreciate her and want to give back to her as much as and more than what she does for me."

The not-completely-false romantic response.

Inoue blushed, and Tatsuki reared back in surprise, caught off guard by my answer.

And then I added why I wasn't taking advantage of Inoue. "I am rich and a teenager. If I was truly after Inoue for nefarious purposes, then there are other easier options to go after than a girl who has a loyal friend in a suburban prefecture of Tokyo. There are many orphanages spread through the city with girls just like Inoue without a lot of friends. Girls who can disappear and no one will care about."

Both of the girls looked sick at the thought.

I smiled. "It's a good thing that I am not such a person, yes?"

Inoue was not happy that I scared Tatsuki. For the first time since I got her, she used a card I hadn't expected from her: no sex tonight.

Ugh.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 5

-VB-

If what Inoue did to me for my punishment was bad, then what she did to Tatsuki was worse.

"W-What?" the raven haired girl sputtered. "B-But Inoue-!"

"No," the orange haired girl turned her head away. "No buts. I know that you care, but you also said things that weren't acceptable."

I didn't know Inoue had a backbone like this.

"But he's taking advantage of you!" Tatsuki tried. It wasn't a good way to go about it but did so anyway.

Now, Inoue was glaring at her.

"No."

"But-"

"Until you are ready to apologize to my boyfriend-" she stressed that word. "Don't come back." And then she shut the door on her friend.

Then she turned to me, teary eyed and upset, but she refused to be weak.

I hugged her and rested my head on top of hers as she curled into me. "Thank you." Simple was best, no need to make it longer than necessary. Her head nodded on my chest.

We stood there by the foyer of our home.

Inoue had, basically, stood up to Tatsuki regarding the words she's said the last time she visited. While the word "yankee" was not exactly a racial slur when spoken by a native white speaker, when a Japanese did it, it was meant as a racial slur.

Inoue took that hard. For her best friend to insult me was… it made her nervous, anxious, and upset. I ended up having to talk to her to help her out, and I told her that if she wanted to take the long path for us to earn Tatsuki's approval, I was fine with it.

Rome wasn't built in a day, after all.

But Inoue must have had a different train of thought, because when Tatsuki tried to come in our home, she refused her friend and told her to apologize to me if she wanted to talk to her again.

"Alan."

"Hmm?"

"Make me forget this for a moment, please?"

"Of course."

-VB-

She laid naked underneath the thin sheets, breathing steadily and deeply in her dreamland. Inoue was supposedly the naive, weak, and fragile of the Bleach human trio, and yet, here she was, taking step after step in a relationship and standing up to her friend for what she believed was right.

Inoue was just that underappreciated, me thinks.

I slipped out of the bed, ready to go on another night of hunting.

I took a quick shower to wipe our bodily fluids off of myself and then wore a boxer, a pair of jeans, a red t-shirt, a thin hoodie, and my Hollow mask. I used prestidigitation to dye my hair black. Then I was out of the home, the warehouse, and finally on the streets.

Quickly, I looked around to see if anyone was watching me, and seeing that no one else was around, I jumped away into the night.

…

She appeared when I dispatched my fifth Hollow, "eating" it not unlike how a Hollow would eat Pluses, humans, and other Hollows.

It was, as such, understandable that she thought I was some kind of advanced Hollow.

And thus struck first.

I almost didn't see her before her first strike, but I did see it by chance and I dodged preemptively.

Just as well, because Kuchiki Rukia was faster than I was.

Her sword slashed down from above, but I had already rolled to the side. I jumped to my feet and drew both of my elbows back and hands curled into claws with spiritual force compressed and ready to be unleashed.

Oh so elegantly, she drew her sword back up and took the middle level posture, the one that most people would be familiar with if they ever saw Kendo.

"So. Why is a shinigami attacking a human?"

"You call yourself a human?" she asked me with furrowed eyebrows. "Perhaps you are a new Hollow, still unaware of yourself."

I wondered if I could gamble here. If I showed her that the Hollow mask was just that - a mask - then I might be able to get her to back off.

… Why not? It wasn't like I was going to show her my face. I canceled the whirling pool of mana(?) in my left hand and reached up to my face, loosening my own animalistic hunched form. I grabbed the chin of the mask and pulled it up and over, but only a third of the way.

"See?" I said. "Just a mask."

When I put it back down, I saw Kuchiki lower her sword in surprise before huffing and sheathing her sword.

"You are a human," she noted. "Why do you wear a Hollow mask?"

"Ain't a good sorcerer, you see," I misdirected my own title. "I can do some low level stuff just fine with me hands-" and butchering my own words. "- but some higher level stuff, I just couldn't do. So I hadda get something useful. Hollows, evil as they are-" I didn't think that they were all evil, just most. "- even the lowest of them can do some cool shit, ya know?"

She frowned before nodding. "Very well. I can see that you are not destroying the souls, so I will let you be. But be warned, if you step out of line by destroying spirits, then Soul Society will come after you and put a stop to it. Do you understand?"

"Crystal clear, ma'am!" I even gave her a double thumbs up to add to this character.

She shunpo'ed away, leaving me by myself. I didn't feel her spiritual residue linger in the area, which told me that she truly did leave.

… Well, I thought that commanding voice of hers was hot.

Anyways, I think I did a good job. Having a mask, unknown face, black hair, and weird talking style would ensure that she wouldn't associate this "me" with the regular me, who had blonde hair, had a staff that didn't work, and American.

Yeah, misdirection success (I hope)!

…

But Kuchiki Rukia was in town. That meant that canon was very close to starting, if it doesn't start tonight.

Gotta keep rolling my own progress if I don't want to be left behind~.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 6

-VB-

I knew that in this world, the rules of "No Pain, No Gain" applied very strictly.

It kind of made sense, once you applied that rule to the shinigami, why they took so long to achieve Bankai. Whereas Ichigo took maybe a month to get his Bankai, the captains gained theirs over the course of many dozens if not hundreds of years.

While one could argue that Ichigo was an abnormality and thus his Bankai achievement shouldn't be part of the average, he also went through hellish training that no other shinigami went through besides Renji and maybe Urahara and Yoruichi.

Through said painful training, Renji too gained Bankai.

Since I lived in this world, the rule also applied to me. My constant preying of weaker Hollows didn't do me any good in the long term.

So I steeled myself and went out hunting the night after I met Rukia to find the biggest Hollow I could find in these parts: Grand Fisher.

And I found him.

Or rather, he's already been looking for me.

See, Karakura Town was "his" hunting ground and I have been repeatedly taking his prey.

"So that's why you have been trying to kill me, huh?!" I shouted through the Hollow mask, which made me like a Hollow.

In this forest right next to the cemetery where Ichigo was supposed to fight Grand Fisher, I stood here fighting it.

I mean, yes, it sucked that Ichigo was not going to be solving his past issue so easily but my life was on the line here!

"Fire bolt, fire bolt, fire bolt!" I launched three spells in quick succession even as I prepared for my fourth spell by pulling Grand Fisher towards an area where it won't be able to dodge. "Frost ray!"

Its eyes widened as a ray of freezing beam struck it, and it roared angrily as a thin sheet of ice appeared where my attack struck. Its fur became heavy with ice and it slowed down considerably.

"You brat!"

"Frost ray, frost ray, frost ray!"

The thing about being struck by a movement debuff in an area where it couldn't dodge was that it couldn't further dodge more of the debuffing attacks.

Soon, Grand Fisher was shivering wreck unable to move.

"Thanks for coming after me like this," I grinned beneath my mask as I used a new spell. In essence, it was a light spell that burned but kept its shape in the form of a javelin in my hands until I threw it. "Solar Spear," I said.

And I can't make it without my Hollow mask.

In my free right hand, a spear made out of light zapped into appearance, sizzling the air but not me. It was made out of my own mana, after all. Though once I threw it and I somehow got teleported to its destination…

I might not survive this as I was.

Grand Fisher tried to flee, but it was too slowed down; it had underestimated me. Played with me. And now it was paying for its mistakes.

With a roar, I drove the spear through Grand Fisher's mask.

It screeched as it died, and I drew in all of its essence.

Did I mention that Grand Fisher could have killed me easily?

Maybe.

Yes, he could have killed me easily if he went all out, but he was so fucking used to ambush and psychological warfare that he didn't.

And now he's dead.

And part of me.

I grinned as I felt my meager reservers of mana and spiritual energy climb, doubling itself in an instant.

"Ooh… that feels good," I cackled quietly to myself.

I went home after that. No point sticking around, after all.

-VB-

When I came home, I was surprised to see Tatsuki and Inoue there.

Inoue looked up when she heard the door open and smiled at me. "Welcome home, Alan," she greeted me.

"I'm home," I replied back with an easy smile of my own. "So your friend is here."

A very red faced Tatsuki sat on the couch right next to Inoue. I began to grow suspicious.

"Yup!" she cheered. "And she's here to apologize."

"Oh?" I turned to Tatsuki.

"I-" she began and then gulped. "I'm s-sorry for calling you by a racial s-slur."

… Good enough.

"And I thank you for doing something that is hard for many people to do," I replied.

This was a Japanese girl I was talking to after all. An apology was to take responsibility for whatever slight or misdeed someone may have done, and the Japanese were loathed to truly apologize.

Correction: an apology from a Japanese was culturally avoided due to the implications that goes with it. It wasn't uncommon for Japanese during the 20th century to apologize for something that might not have been their fault - like a company going bankrupt due to bad economy or losing to a competitor, or a school principal apologizing after some idiot high school freshman from the boonies went off to Tokyo and got themselves killed, drugged, or kidnapped - and then kill themselves due to "crushing responsibilities."

A "tradition" that was passed down by the samurais, the very leaders of Japan who led its people in World War II, that got off scot free from trial due to overarching concerns of the USSR and its communism.

Tld;dr - Apologies in Japan killed people.

Tatsuki relaxed upon hearing my answer.

"To show her sincerity, she'll give you her virginity," the ginger haired girl chirped, causing her friend to jolt in surprise.

I looked at Inoue in surprise.

Inoue, I didn't know you had such a side to you.

And then I looked at Tatsuki.

"I'll accept the apology even if you don't do it," I told her.

Inoue pouted but didn't reply. This was about our interaction, after all.

Tatsuki stood up and looked at me straight in the eyes with a flushed face.

"I-I'll do it."

Was this a hentai world? It felt like one right now.

"Privately?" I asked.

She nodded fiercely.

I gestured for her to follow me with an open arm gesture towards the bedroom, and she did.

Inoue sighed in disappointment.

'Had my pheromone control messed up parts of her inhibition?' I wondered even as I opened the bedroom. I stood beside it, and Tatsuki hesitated. There were tears in her eyes and she walked in.

I walked in after her and closed the door.

Before she opened her mouth, I closed the distance in a single moment and wrapped one hand around her back and clasped my other hand on her mirrored forearm.

She jerked on the spot, and struggled to free herself for a moment before she visibly stopped herself. She trembled and couldn't meet my eyes.

So I released her arm and gently pushed her chin up with my index and thumb.

"We can stop now," I replied giving her an illusion of a chance as I began to control the pheromones around her. I wasn't going to let a beauty go so easily, especially if I could keep her around like Inoue.

She hesitated before closing her eyes. "I-I'm ready."

I wanted to snark at her that she wasn't, but I wasn't an asshole incapable of reading the mood; I was just an asshole that would take advantage of a girl's sense of self-inflicted responsibility.

With a single sweep, I carried her in my arms. Tatsuki shrieked in surprise and then held onto me tightly, clutching the front of my shirt while I carried her to my bed.

Setting her down gently, I sat down right by her ass, forcing her legs over my legs.

Her spread out arms clutched the sheets as my hands slowly made their way to her legs.

They were long and smooth.

My hands touched the middle of her legs and slid under. They moved up slowly, and Tatsuki shivered under my touch. She looked away from me, unable to meet my eyes while biting down on her finger.

My fingers ran over her knees and then up her thigh underneath her skirt.

She whimpered as my hands reached her inner thigh, slid around, and groped her ass.

"You have a very firm ass, Tatsuki," I cooed. Then I pulled her ass up and pulled her closer. Her ass was now firmly in my lap, and she shivered nervously. I pulled the hands from underneath her skirt and went to her belly.

I undid the lowest button.

I unbuttoned the next and the one after.

Now her toned stomach was exposed for me to touch, and I did. My hands ran along the sides and over.

"You are sexier and sexier as I reveal more of you."

Then with a flourish, I unbuttoned the rest and tossed her shirt open. She finally looked at me, and it was with a pair of eyes too fearful to move.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle," I said as I snaked my arms around and unclipped her plain white bras. With a flick, I tossed them aside.

Her skirt went the same route. Her panties were pulled off slowly as were her shirt.

I pulled my own clothes off in seconds, leaving both of her naked on the bed.

She was already wet, but I didn't want penetrate her right off the bat. No, I wanted to savor this.

So my left hand fingered her, pushing in slowly, while my right hand groped her left boob and pinched her nipple.

Tatsuki yipped, which seemed to surprise herself, and I leaned down. I caught her lips in a kiss, and she closed her eyes as my tongue snaked into her mouth.

My fingers began to scrape and piston inside of her and my tongue caught hers in a battle of dominance.

Her eyes shot open as she spasmed for a moment, gripping onto me tightly by my shoulders, and I felt her climax.

'Definitely a virgin,' I thought delightedly.

I pulled back and whipped my dick against her vagina.

"I'm going in," I whispered and pushed in.

She shrieked as I tore past her hymen, and then hiccuped with just a bit of sob coming out of her.

"Sshh, it's okay," I cooed her. Her vagina tightened and loosened around my dick, and then she finally relaxed. "Alright, I'm going to start moving." With my hands clasped on her waist, I slowly pulled out and pushed back into her.

Honestly, I just wanted to pound her and make her scream. Inoue wouldn't like that, though.

I grunted as Tatsuki whimpered and her vagina wrapped around my dick like an iron velvet. I almost climaxed right then and there but I held off while her vagina quivered in her second orgasm.

Once I was sure that she was done, I moved again, making her whimper and mewl finally and then pulled out just as I cummed. Ropes of my cum splattered on her stomach, and she looked at me in full.

"Congratulations on becoming a woman, Tatsuki."

She huffed and looked away with few tears in her eyes.

New chapters commissioned by Kejmur

-VB-

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 7

-VB-

Another night patrol netted me something unexpected.

An encounter with a shinigami captain.

Or, should I say, ex-captain?

-VB-

"So you're the new guy in town," the wide-mouthed, upper teeth exposed, and blonde ex-captain drawled from above me.

I froze and slowly looked up.

"When the candy shop owner told me that someone like us was in town, I wanted to see what you were like," Hirako Shinji grinned before he allowed himself to drop down to the ground into the embrace of gravity. He flipped mid air and landed on the wall separating the street from the houses. "But you're not like us at all, are you?"

I… didn't know what to do. I had no intention of running into the Visored this quickly. I wasn't even stronger than a Gillian, so there was no way I was strong enough to even run away from him.

So I needed to be polite.

I straightened myself, pulling my catalyst staff behind me, and bowed.

"Greetings, Captain Hirako. I hadn't expected to run into you today."

"Oh~?" the man gasped. "You know about me? No one's supposed to know about us being here, you know? How do you know about me?"

Crap. I made another mistake.

Let's not mention Aizen, because the man might think I work for him.

"I try to keep tabs on all players in the area, if not to ensure that I do not cause unnecessary conflict, then to ensure that I know who I am talking to." It was a lie, of course, but it also wasn't too far from the truth that I knew everyone in the area. "But I wasn't aware that Captain Urahara was interested in me."

Shinji scoffed before looking away for a second.

When he looked back to me, his easy smile had dropped. "That guy, as you do, keeps tabs on everyone in the area. So tell me, how do you, a living man, possess a hollow mask?"

I flinched when he released his reiatsu just a bit. The pressure came down upon me like a sack of bricks, but it was a level of pressure I could take. No, the point the captain was trying to make was that he was stronger than me and he wasn't in a mood for bullshit.

"I could show you?" I tried.

He looked surprised by my offer before nodding and reigning in his reiatsu.

"Okay," I muttered. "Umm," I spoke up louder after that. "We'll have to find a Hollow to do this."

-VB-

Hirako found me a Hollow, and led the way. During our short trip, I watched out for anyone else that might be observing me and found none… for now.

"There," he said as he landed on top of the… wasn't this Orihime's high school? He pointed to the Hollow roaming the dirt track and field in front of the school.

I looked down and immediately noted that this Hollow was one I was vaguely familiar with. Its pink and tentacular form was… eerily similar, but for some reason, I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

"Do your thing," Hirako ordered.

Grunting, I brought up my staff and began to cast.

Exactly one minute and thirty seconds later, I was on top of the dying Hollow, "draining" its own mask from its face. It let out an inhumane shriek as I tore it off while its body disintegrated.

Huffing with minor exertion, I looked up to Hirako, who was still on the school rooftop, and showed him the new mask.

He looked intrigued. He jumped down and landed in front of me. He kept on staring at the mask for a minute before he turned to me.

"And where did you learn how to do that?"

"Figured it out myself," I replied proudly. "I mean, shinigamis and Hollows are, at the end of the day, both beings of complete spiritual substance, right? In my case, that's mana, so I pushed my mana into the structure that already existed, replaced the owner's spiritual particles, and made myself the mask."

Hirako didn't look satisfied by my words, but he also didn't draw his blade and call me Aizen's lackey. "Alright. Just don't go out and cause too much havoc, ya hear?"

I snorted. "It would be stupid of me to do so in a town that has, what, almost nine ex-captains? I'd get beaten left and right to kingdom come."

I didn't want to involve myself in the future conflicts to come, even if I might not have a choice. It was why I was trying to grow stronger rather than enjoying my beautiful and curvaceous girlfriend; yes, even her dishes were enjoyable once you got used to them. If I wanted some spice to my life, then I might have hooked Tatsuki along for a two-women harem, which I think Orihime might actually enjoy.

But no, I was out here almost every night, trying to absorb more Hollows, and when I wasn't with Orihime during the day, then I studied to advance my magic.

Because if I was right, then I wouldn't be strong enough even with my advancements for the "plot."

Hirako nodded and then shunshined away, leaving me with another mask.

I looked towards where Hirako's brief afterimage sped towards before I lost sight of him, which was more or less a single second. Then I turned my focus back to my new mask.

I hadn't wanted to make a new mask, but I had it now (and hopefully, no ire directed at me by the Visoreds).

Curious as to how this mask was different from my Fat Mask, I pulled off the Fat Mask from my face and put on the Tentacle Mask.

Immediately, I felt access to a new presence of… my own limbs? No, they were less limbs and more spiritual particles vaguely forming limbs stemming from the back of my head. I tried to move on, and it moved with the same feeling as moving my arm would.

If, you know, my arm had no joint and was a tentacle.

I moved the rest of the tentacles around, and saw eight such tentacles.

Was this mask an octopus?

Hmm.

Actually, could I use this for sex?

Probably.

Maybe.

Hmm, Orihime might not like masked sex, though. Let's ask her.

-VB-

My girl's sweat glistening body swayed back and forth on her back between the tentacle in her mouth and my dick.

"Uk uk uk-!"

With her head over the edge of the bed and the tentacle pistoning in and out of her mouth, all I saw of her was her jiggling breasts, but they were being groped and squeezed by my second and third tentacles. Her legs were pulled apart by the fourth and fifth.

The sixth tentacle rubbed at her clit, the seventh wrapped her wrists together, and the last and eighth lubed tentacle pumped her asshole.

My own hands held a tight grip over her waist as I thrusted in with abandon.

I orgasmed and jizzed inside of her, and also felt her climax as her vagina tightened around my dick. Orihime lost all strength in her body and hung limply.

Satisfied with another good night, I pulled off the mask, causing all of the tentacles to disappear, and brought up Orihime to sit on my laps. With my dick still inside of her, this only made her moan out in pleasure, and I kissed her before starting the last round of the night.

A gentle round of slow pleasures and our hands exploring each other.

It was a good night that both of us enjoyed immensely.

Too bad it would be the last night we'd enjoyed for weeks to come.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 8

-VB-

Well, canon happened.

Specifically speaking, Ishida Uryu decided to be the immature and impulsive teenager that he was and used the Hollow bait. How did I know this? Aside from a dozen Hollows I already had to kill, there was the looming specter of a Menos Grande stepping out of a Garganta, the dark portals that Hollows use to traverse long distances or between the physical and spiritual realms.

I just couldn't help it. I grimaced and sighed at the same time. 'I'm running out of time,' I thought to myself.

"Hide, I think you should start setting up your wall around the town once this incident is done with," I advised.

My Servant hummed. "As great as a protection my walls may provide," Hidemasa, aka Jin Shihuang aka the First Emperor of China, spoke up. "I doubt that it will stop the future that you've told me about. Or rather, I am unsure whether or not I could provide enough protection with only the small amount of mana you can provide."

My grimace grew deeper.

"What would you need?"

"Nothing you can help with right now, unless you want to sacrifice a school full of children," Hide laughed but then stopped laughing after a moment or two. "Or, if you truly seek to protect, that might exactly be what you do."

I glared at him from the corner of my eyes.

Hidemasa, an incorrect and indirect translation of my Servant's given name, was like that; he grew up in an era of constant wars and established an empire that, while it wouldn't last long, would forever alter the course of Chinese history. A man who established such an empire were - while I wouldn't say prone to do so - more used to making sacrifices for the greater achievements, goals, and ideals.

It was in how he just talked about sacrificing a school full of children. After all, what was a school full of children worth in comparison to a city?

Unfortunately for him, I knew that he was testing me. While I could do such a heinous thing, I was not the ruler of this city nor was I willing to give more than I had to.

My morale was too big of a sacrifice for a city that I didn't really care about.

"Just set it up around our home."

"As you wish." A pause. "And how goes your studies?"

"Too late," I grumbled in frustration. "I've only reached, maybe, sixth tier so far."

"Hmm. Is that what your string of glass beads are for?"

I looked down at the object he was referring to, and nodded when I saw that he was talking about the four new glass bead bracelets hanging from my right wrist.

"It happened yesterday, so I invested in a spell for defense."

"Would it work against these shinigamis and Hollows?"

I paused. "Most of the low to middle tier ones, yes."

"That is good to hear. I was wondering when you would finally gain an upper tier spellwork."

"I wouldn't exactly call it -"

A Hollow screeched as it came down upon us from the sky with talons and claws readied. I looked up and casted my strongest defensive spell.

"Globe of Invulnerability!"

One of the many beads on my wrist lit up and a ten foot radius nearly transparent globe covered Hide and me. The bat smashed into it, and the bat Hollow did a window splat, crashing against a spell that could hold against other spells and attacks like Wall of Fire or Lightning Bolt for a set duration.

"Shall I?" Hide asked.

"Please," I grunted while holding my concentration in place.

Hide produced a simple dagger before I dropped the shield - with the glowing glass bead shattering with the dispelling of the spell - and sliced.

The Hollow gagged before it fell away, turning to dust before my eyes.

I didn't waste any time pointing my staff at it, and drained the remnant spiritual particles. I grinned in satisfaction as I grew just a smidgen more powerful. It was nothing like the power boost I got from killing and absorbing Grand Fisher, but I wasn't going to complain.

More Hollows were coming our way again… and I would have been stuck fighting these pests had it not been for a HUGE blast of an aggressive spiritual attack that cut the Menos.

The monstrous shade screeched in pain before it stepped back sluggishly into the Garganta and closed the gap in reality.

That made the rest of the Hollows in the city panic and disperse.

"And there goes the protagonist being the protagonist," I huffed. "Someone must be happy they don't have to suffer through the slow and steady route."

"Careful, Alan," Hide laughed. "Your envy is showing."

I gagged. "Me? Envy?" I sneered. "No, that's just fucking fate deciding that he is the center of this world. I'm just going to do my own thing off to the side."

"But you've told me that your woman was vital to several events in this world's future. Would you not be changing that?"

I paused for a moment, even though I have already thought about this. "Even without her, it'll work out for the boy," I scoffed. "He has multiple guardian angels looking out for him, after all."

Hide merely hummed before he turned himself incorporeal - even to the spirits - and went back home.

I stayed for a bit longer, watching the interactions of the "heroes" from a safe distance and out of their line of sight before I too began my walk back home.

-VB-

The next morning, I got a morning visit from Hirako Shinji.

The grinning Visored invited himself into the house when I opened the door.

"I was surprised you helped out with the Hollow situation yesterday~!" he cackled a little before he sat down on my couch. I kept myself cool and calm outwardly while remaining frustrated by the man's forced entrance into my home.

"What are you doing here?" I asked a little tersely as I sat down across from him on the second couch.

"Well, I wanted to know why! You didn't seem like the kind of fellow who would, you know, help out!" He leaned in. "Does the fact that you've stuck around the high school have something to do with it~?"

"My girl goes there."

"Really? I didn't know you were the type to go for Japanese girls~."

My cheeks twitched. "I'm sorry, a blonde Japanese soul saying what?"

He cackled.

And then he stopped laughing to observe me seriously. "Seriously?"

"Yes."

He stared at me a bit longer before shrugging. "Alright," he said as he stood up. "Nice talking with you."

I looked at him incredulously. "Wait, that's it? You came to check why I was helping?"

"No, I thought you were using the whole shenanigan to kill some humans."

I blinked in surprise at his honest reply. "Seriously? That's what you thought I was doing?"

He shrugged. "No one really knows what you're doing. All we know is that this warehouse is impenetrable and that you, along with that other human, are growing at a ridiculous pace… whatever your Hollow eating thing is." And then he was gone out the door and then shunshined out of existence.

Grumbling, I leaned back into my couch.

Orihime came back only an hour afterwards, panickingly asking me what I was doing on the rooftop of her school and why there were so many monsters flying around. I answered all of her questions before I cooked ourselves some late lunch.

The next day, I got another visit. This time, it was from Urahara. IT was obvious who he was from the hat, clogs, and the tacky green and white color scheme. And the mischievous grin.

"Can you-"

"No."

And I slammed the door on his face.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 9

-VB-

Orihime did something naughty.

She got Tatsuki to come back.

And…

Well…

"ERRRNNN!!!" Tatsuki screamed into the pillow as I fingered her mercilessly. Her back arched and her naked body glistened with a barely imperceptible layer of sweat.

Underneath the black haired girl was my girl, Orihime, and she was sucking on Tatsuki's tits.

Tatsuki shuddered as she climaxed and almost collapsed on top of Orihime. The girl tried to stop that, but her arms weren't exactly angled right, so I stopped her by grabbing her by her waist and lifting her ass up into the air.

"I'm going in, Tats," I warned her before I pushed myself into her.

She whimpered as my thick dick pushed her folds apart, and choked when Orihime decided to use that moment to kiss her friend.

While the two girls kissed, I slowly pumped myself in and out of the athletic girl.

Honestly, Tatsuki was a treat. Like last time, her vagina was tight and slick at the same time. I slid in and out of her, parting her flesh each time. From the sound of her whimpers and mewls, she loved it too.

Orihime went back suckling on her friend's much perkier tit, and I… climaxed inside of Tatsuki.

The girl gasped and shuddered between us before collapsing on top of Orihime.

My dick continued to twitch with need, so I did the next logical thing: I pulled out Tatsuki's quivering vagina and pushed myself into Orihime's fold. My woman moaned as I took her, and I spared no time getting to the rough and fast action.

It wasn't long before I was cumming into Orihime, filling her up with my seed again.

From there, I took turns with the girls.

Tatsuki got another dose while I took her in a missionary position. Orihime got her second doggy style. Tatsuki's third came full nelson. I delivered Orihime's third sideways with her leg drawn over my shoulder.

It was a… debaucherous night, and all three of us loved it.

-VB-

It was unfortunate, then, that when I woke up to see who was knocking on the door the next day, which forced me to leave the bed where there were two girls perfectly willing to take it from me, I was greeted by a face that made me annoyed.

It was Sunday early morning. Sue me for being annoyed.

"Good morning, Marris-kun!"

"Good morning, Urahara," I groused.

It's been a week since he began to visit me each morning, and I was starting to plan for very nefarious traps.

"Before you close the door on me-!" he spoke up quickly as I was just about to do that. "-can you just hear me out once? If you hear me out and consider what I say seriously, then I'll stop bothering you!"

"… How do I know you'll keep to that promise?"

"It is a bother to get up every morning to talk with you, you know~!" the man laughed as he unfolded his paper fan and hid his grin.

I glared at him for a moment before weighing whether listening to him once was worth not having him come back to bother me. "Fine," I replied after a moment. "Let's hear it."

Urahara smiled triumphantly before he closed his paper fan. "Let's start with how I can help you!"

Oh God, it already sounded like a sales pitch.

"You haven't exactly been keeping yourself hidden or your activities subtle, have you realized that?"

"Yes," I replied. "But it's not like it matters, right? I'm not disturbing the flow of souls between the physical and spiritual realms."

Urahara nodded slowly but there was a hint of "No, not quite" in that slow nod. "That is very true, but unfortunately, even souls play politics."

Please don't tell me Soul Society-

"And the very thought that there exists individuals at the current nexus and bridge between Soul Society and the Physical Realm that do not abide by Gotein 13's rules… has upset some individuals."

Motherfucker- Wait.

"How do I know what you are saying is true?" I asked pointedly with narrowed eyes. "I may not know much about you, Mr. Urahara Kisuke, but I know that you've been exiled, and not on friendly terms with many people either."

"This comes from the mouth of the first Shinigami representative."

He meant Rukia, and I supposed that Rukia was close enough to the political fields due to her status that if she said something, then it would make sense.

"… I want to confirm this for myself later today."

"That's perfectly fine! As to what I was getting to, while there is a bit of a pressure upon the Gotei 13 to keep you in check, it hasn't gotten anywhere yet. The Gotei 13 is too similar to the shogunates of the old, if you need an example, for mere politicians to dictate its actions. What it did get Gotei 13 to do, however, was keep a closer eye on Karakura Town."

"And what does that have to do with me in the short term and long term?"

"Well, if you grow strong enough to match even a lieutenant, Gotei 13 might not be so happy with just watching!"

I grumbled. I supposed that if Gotei 13 did follow the old traditional Japanese model of governance, it would certainly make sense for them to strike me while I was still weaker than any of their captains.

"So, if you are willing to help me, I can help you by gifting you - for you to own - a device that would fool the shinigami's sensors of your growth!"

Okay, he got me. Once I confirmed it with Rukia, I might go for this… if the next part isn't too much.

"And what would you have me help you with?"

Uraharas's eyes glinted with mischief.

"If it isn't too much of a trouble-" You're already trouble enough, hat-and-clogs. "- I would have you ally with me."

I stared at him in surprise before my mind's gears began to clink and clank away as thoughts and connections were made.

"I'll tell you my answer tomorrow," I stressed the last word.

The ex-captain grinned. "Great! I'll see you later then!"

And he just shunpo'ed away, leaving me with my thoughts, a house, and two lovely ladies in bed.

My mind grumbled at me that it was too fucking early for this shit.

I conceded.

I went back in, closed the door, activated all of the locks (mundane and magical), and then walked back into the bedroom to sleep with my girls.

-VB-

When I got up in the late morning, I fucked Tatsuki and Orihime once each and then made them breakfast while the girls recovered from the morning session.

(Well, actually, I spent more time sucking and fondling various locations of their bodies than I did fucking. Orihime liked it when I kissed her neck and fondled her tits. Tatsuki liked hugging and kissing me.)

It was only later that day that I got to seriously thinking about Urahara's offer.

And I quickly rejected it.

First off, I had a spell called "Obscure Object," which could be used against any kind of scrying. While it was a short duration spell of only 8 hours, and while it was a spell that didn't help me with radar-like detection system used by Gotei 13 (and specifically Division 12), I knew for a fact that - if I wanted to - I could make myself an enchanted device to prevent detection.

Second, Urahara was asking me to be an ally. He didn't ask me to work for him or work for a job. He asked me to be an ally. While I knew that the man was crafty with his words, there were some things that one had to observe when speaking. By stating that he wanted me as an ally, he was acknowledging me as someone dangerous. I might not be his equal, but I was dangerous enough that he would rather have me as an ally - and not piss me off on the off chance that I was a proud bastard - instead of having me as his employee.

If I had to guess, then I think that Urahara spent more time learning about me than Soul Society ever did, and he was twisting his words' connotations to make it seem like I was a greatly debated topic in Gotei 13.

Now that I had time to think, I was starting to see how the ex-captain nearly had me fooled.

Yeah, I could stand by myself. With Hide - the Jin Shi Huang - at my side and Orihime's future ability, I could take on what Gotei 13 and others had to throw at me.

"You won't suck me into your conflict that easily, Urahara," I chuckled lowly.

"Alan, get back to studying whatever your magic is instead of laughing like a villain," Hide chided from the other side of the warehouse.

"Dude, I was in a mood!"

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 10

-VB-

Ting Tong!

… Since when did our warehouse-house have a doorbell?

(Hidemasa probably installed it just because he can, greedy greedy ex-emperor.)

I got up from the bed without making any noise, pulling myself off of Orihime. It was a quick walk from the bedroom to the front door, and I opened the door.

Just like yesterday, Urahara stood in front of my door at an ungodly hour with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Good morning, Marris-san!" he said cheerfully, even though I knew that he wasn't cheerful at all, not when he was here to recruit me into his club.

"Morning."

"So, have you thought about my offer?" he asked me.

"I did."

"And?"

"No."

He blinked. Then his head tilted just a bit back and he lost his smile. "No…? But I thought we had reached an understanding yesterday."

"You told me the situation as you saw it from your end, but I have a few more things up my sleeve that made your proposal unnecessary."

He blinked again. "I… did not expect you to turn down my offer."

"What made you think that I would accept your offer?"

"Well, you obviously know about me and the other ex-captains who reside in this city-."

How did I give that away?

"-with how you interacted with us. When you encountered Shinji, you weren't like the rest of the human mortals who saw competition; while acting cautiously, Shinji saw that you were trying to be respectful to a degree."

Damn souls with their long life and mountains of experience. Was it that easy to derive that much information from two meetings?

"The only reason why I made that offer to you was because you seemed like a good man-"

I couldn't help it; I laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"I am not a good man."

My bluntly honest statement made Urahara pause. He looked at me, truly looked at me, before nodding slowly. "If that is what you see yourself as, then I cannot dispute you. My opinion, however, remains unchanged. Your action earlier this week is evidence that even if you do not consider yourself good, you are good - to a degree."

"My action earlier this week? I was just standing on top of the most hotspot for Hollow attacks and just killed Hollows that got close."

"Certainly, you were doing it for your own benefit, but you see, there were better spots within the immediate area, but you chose to defend a high school filled with teenagers unable to defend themselves."

"My woman was there."

"You could have taken her away."

I did think about just carrying Orihime away but knew that she would be upset if her school was damaged or her classmates - seniors, peers, or juniors - killed by my negligence and uncaring behavior.

"No, not really."

"If you truly were 'not good,' then you wouldn't have done half of what you did."

I supposed that his words were true even when viewed without the full context that I had.

"Bad men don't cater to their women's desires."

Okay, so he did have most of the context.

"Still, the answer is no. I don't want to fight in your war."

"Ah, giving yourself away again, Marris-san."

I grunted irritably. "So is your business done? I'm not joining."

"Very well. I suppose I won't interfere in what's to come. But if you are willing to get paid for some services…" he said as he pulled out a business card from within his left sleeve.

"Wait, you were about to get me to join you without paying me?"

"You hadn't asked," the cheeky fucker grinned.

I glared at him.

-VB-

After Urahara left, I found myself cooking breakfast. As much as Orihime's dishes were edible and tasty, I wasn't in the mood for experimentation when I needed to think.

Because despite my refusal of Urahara's offer of alliance and employ, I really did lack a lot of options when it came to dealing with spiritual creatures.

First off, due to the mechanics of how I was dropped into this universe, my magic worked on spiritual beings without much problem. The real problem was the scale of power. I had just begun using 6th Tier spells, but arcane spells weren't for power; they were for utility.

Or, as a regular DnD player calls them, hax.

To be an arcanist, wizard, or sorcerer was to bypass the regularity by literally twisting reality to my whims to solve my problems.

I, unfortunately, still thought like a brute using magic as a big stick, which was not a good thing. I needed to start thinking about properly utilizing the myriad of spells I had at my disposal.

I had to remember that I wasn't a shounen protagonist like Kurosaki Ichigo. He and his fellow trope protagonists would simply gain more and more power with very little flexibility to go with it, powering through obstacles with just a bit of training. I knew that I couldn't achieve anything like that. I was barely achieving a steady barely noticeable growth of my internal magical/spiritual reserve by cannibalizing Hollows.

I had to go for dirty tricks.

When Orihime walked out of the bed, I put on a smile for her not just because I didn't want to ruin her morning mood but also because she was half naked. Seeing her firm and large boobs jiggle with each step taken and wearing my shirt?

Just…

Perfect.

What?

I'm a pervert.

-VB-

As soon as Orihime went to school, I hit the spellbook.

I spent hours formulating spell combinations, material costs, and even changing some of the spell's verbal components so that I wouldn't give myself away to whichever opponent I might come across.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up and saw Hidemasa.

"Planning for battle."

He grinned. "Oh, good. I was wondering when you were going to start properly planning for combat."

My cheeks twitched. "I keep you around as a shield and advisor, Hide. Couldn't you have, you know, told me instead of waiting for a self-enlightenment?"

"No, I quite couldn't."

"Why not?"

"You were too busy fooling around with girls."

I threw my hands up in frustration and defeat and went back to planning out spell combinations.

"So what spell combinations have you thought of so far?"

I paused before I decided to speak to Hide. "The first combination that I wrote down is 'Hold Person' and 'Toll the Dead.'"

"What do they do?"

"'Hold Person' is a spell that holds a person in my line of sight, and 'Toll the Dead' is a cantrip spell that…"

I think I spent the rest of the morning just discussing each spell combinations I thought of while considering new ones Hide suggested.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 11

-VB-

'I think… I need to tell Orihime about the world she didn't know about.'

She did know tidbits about it from the few facts I slipped occasionally. While she had seemed curious, it wasn't until the Hollow Bait incident that she became worried enough - not just curious but concerned about the future - to ask me for answers.

It was Saturday noon, which meant that Orihime's high school would soon let her and the rest of the student body out.

Ring ring.

"Hmm?" I uttered from the back of my throat as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a flip phone.

Because of the time that I was in, smartphones weren't quite a thing yet, even if prototypes and earlier versions of it did exist. Also, having a flip phone let me actually focus on the productive aspects of my life instead of spending hours doing useless things.

I closed my spellbook, done with today's brainstorming on spell combinations and new spells. So far, I have done some good work with them, and actually managed to test out a few combos against weaker Hollows.

First off, the spell combination that I will use a lot seemed to be the "Hold Person" and "Shatter" combo. The former would keep my enemies in place for me to be in range to use "Shatter," a spell that caused area of effect damage at a point within the spell's range. The downside of this combo was my inability to attack multiple targets.

I could use other debilitating spells in conjunction with Hold Person and Shatter such as Frostbite and Thunderclap. Thunderclap would need to be used very seldomly as to prevent my future enemies from learning about it too quickly while Frostbite could be used a lot.

My main problems were the Shinigamis' binding and destructive arts. With over two hundred "spells" available, it was a counter to my otherwise weaker if more varied spells.

What I did know was thus: shinigamis can only use one spells at a time while I could - with enough time and resources sunk into the venture - theoretically use a numberless amount of spells at once.

One such tool was already in my possession.

The Tentacle Mask.

I could apply Shocking Grasp to all of its tentacles at once.

It was also experimentation with the mask that got me to think about exactly how I could go about reaching as high as I could of my limit in multi-casting. The most common - and sometimes only - component of spell casting for a sorcerer or wizard like myself was the verbal component but I only had one mouth to speak.

Initially, I thought about speeding myself up, and Haste and Time Stop were great spells to do just that. Unfortunately, it took me no more than half an hour of thinking to realize that while I could use those two spells to speed myself up in chanting, I would still be exposed to the faster fighters in this hellscape. Kurosaki Ichigo, for instance, could end me even before I could finish speaking Haste because he was just that fast.

It was a problem I was still stuck on so-

"I'm home!"

Oh, my mind must have wandered off.

I pushed the chair back and left my workspace, and entered the living room. There, I saw Orihime taking her shoes off and resting her suitcase-like school bag on the couch.

"Welcome home," I greeted her with a smile. "Had lunch yet?"

"Nuh uh! Are you going to cook for me?" she asked with a wide smile.

"If that's what you want. How does fillet over the cast iron sound?"

"Oh oh oh! Add some red bean paste on top!"

I chuckled. "Perhaps once the fish is done and in light doses only."

"Aww…"

-VB-

Our lunch was a heavy affair, but the talk needed to happen, so I asked Orihime to wait at the table while I cleaned the dishes.

"What is it?" she asked me.

"I wanted to talk about magic and the things you might see. The thing you asked me about."

"The monsters? You were like a hero, even if most of my classmates couldn't exactly see the monsters or you. Oh! But Chado saw you!"

That would be the half-Mexican Sado, the guy who would use the Giant's Arm…

Wait, could he use it already? From what I remember, his own arc was disconnected from Orihime so there was a high chance that he could. I might check up on him later.

"Yup. I think I should answer any question you might have, hime."

She blinked and looked at me with wide eyes. "Really?"

"I also do want to help you get strong on your own, too, so that you can defend yourself until I or Hide comes."

"Hide-chan knows about that side of the world, too?!"

I chuckled. Hidemasa really didn't like being called "Hide-chan" by Orihime. "Yes, he knows about it, too."

"Then then… are there like superheroes?!"

I blanked out for a second before I burst out laughing.

"W-what?! It's a serious question!"

I just kept on laughing.

It took the whole day for me to lay down all of the facts for Orihime to understand, and there were some concepts I had to crush from her mind like the idea of a redeemable Hollow (at least until they were strong enough and had partially removed the mask to no longer feel the hunger for souls) or the idea that the shinigamis were heroes (they were like anyone else and had more in common with feudal Japan than superheroes of DC or Marvel comics).

"What about Kurosaki-kun? Wasn't he also out there and helping people…?" she asked, a little downtrodden from her disillusionment of reality. The fact that there were monsters eating souls of people she might have met didn't sit with her well.

As much as I did not like talking about the guy she had - in past tense, I hoped - a crush on, I did want to give her some good news. "He's a good guy."

"Ishida-kun?!"

"He's the one who started the mess."

She gasped. "Ishida-kun is a villain?!"

I laughed.

I wanted to see his face when she asked if he was a villain. Oh god, I needed to get a camera!

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 12

-VB-

Our bed creaked as it bounced up and down.

My hips pulled out before thrusting forward, sliding the full length of my dick into Orihime's pussy from behind while I kept her head pinned to the pillow.

Already sweaty, my thrusts only made wet claps against her ass. Even though I was pounding into her with abandon at this stage, I found myself still mesmerized by her ass's jiggling motion and waves forming in tandem with my pounding.

"MORE MORE-!" Orihime screamed out ecstatically, drooling and gasping. She bit her lips as I grabbed her hair and pulled her up. Her quivering arms tried to help her push up, but too infirmed by pleasure, all they managed to do was hold up the illusion that she was supporting herself.

With her head in the air, her boobs were free to jiggle with her ass. They didn't move up and down together but separately. As I pulled out, her left tit might be pulled back while her right tit would jiggle forward, and when I slid all the way in and pounded her ass, it might be vice versa.

She whimpered as I painted her insides with my cum. Her body quivered before her arms lost strength. I let go of her hair, and she fell back on the bed, shallowly gasping for air even as her vagina squeezed me for all I was worth.

I pulled out of her, and watched in lustful satisfaction as my cum oozed out of her vagina.

But my dick was still hard and unsatisfied.

Turning to my second partner, I saw her flinch a little.

Arisawa Tatsuki sat with her legs sprayed out but her knees brought together, and she was trying her hardest to not touch herself to Orihime and my display.

I shifted over so that I was in front of her now, and pushed her shoulder. She let herself fall down, and I took this chance to gently pry her legs apart, revealing her wet pussy.

I wasted no time burying myself in her warmth, and she squeaked as my dick pushed against her cervix in one-go.

"D-Damn it, you brute… !" she whispered before she gasped as I pulled back and slid right back in, pushing even further at her core.

"This brute is going to impregnate you, Tats," I grinned before picking up a slow rhythm. "Doesn't that make you hot? Getting fucked and impregnated by your best friend's boyfriend?"

"N-No!"

"But you're here and getting fucked!"

"Ugh!" she grunted and then moaned as I picked up pace.

Her more moderate tits jiggled up and down together while her firm ass took my pounding like a… well, a firm ass. She looked away from me as I roamed my eyes over her. Unlike Orihime's voluptuous, curved, sexy, and soft body, Tatsuki was the definition of an athletic sexy. Toned abdomen, muscles, and thighs made for a whole different feeling!

I reached out and grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away from the bedsheet she was gripping hard, and pulled them to me.

Her back arched as my thrusts deeper.

"Oh fuck-!" she yelled.

"Yes fuck!" I laughed as I thoroughly enjoyed making my second woman drown in pleasure.

Her own hips began to grind against me with each thrust, and I knew that I was going to be releasing soon.

"Let's put a baby in you, Tatsuki," I cooed. "I want to see you carrying my baby!"

She hissed and whimpered as her vagina clenched around me in a silent climax while I moaned loudly as I scraped the entirety of my length in my last thrust before shooting my jizz right against her cervix.

Weakly, she pulled her arms back and covered her face with her forearms. "Fuck… !" she muttered.

I chuckled as I wiggled my hips a little, earning me a whimper from Tatsuki. Pulling out of her, I laid down between my two girls and then slid my arms under and over them.

Then I groped their tits and played with them.

Orihime giggled before she put her hand to my wet dick and stroked my still hard dick. Tatsuki just huffed and snuggled closer to me.

"When you two become 18, I am definitely marrying you both," I muttered.

Orihime giggled happily while pulling herself closer to me, resulting in her tits pushing against my arms and a little of my chest.

Tatsuki just rolled over and planted a kiss on my cheek before snuggling her face on my shoulder.

As we all fell asleep like this, I wondered how exactly I was going to establish that; it wasn't like Japan allowed polygamy.

… Well, I supposed that I could book a vacation to Utah and get ourselves married there.

-VB-

The next morning…

"Again?" I spat out while glaring at the man causing so much annoyance in my life. Was it me, or did this guy keep visiting me every time I had a good time with my girls?

Urahara Kisuke laughed from behind his fan, keeping a good distance between me and himself. Undoubtedly, the man had reports of my activities and spells and was unwilling to chance his safety on my annoyance turning to belligerence.

"Why can't I just visit my neighbor?" he asked politely.

"Because you're a manipulator on par with spymasters around the world, that's why," I grunted out. "Now, spit out what you want before I decide to close the door."

"Well, I was hoping if you would be up for a training session with Kurosaki-kun!"

I deadpanned at him.

"Like I asked last time, what do I get out of this?"

"Experience fighting against a more brute-oriented shinigami!"

"… You're more blunt today."

"Well, roundabout manipulation didn't get me anything last time, so I was like 'why not?'!"

I sighed. "You're seriously not going to stop until I do something for you, aren't you?"

"Nope!"

"Fucking fine!" I spat faux-angrily, but I really wasn't. Being able to compare myself to a shinigami of Ichigo's level right now would help me quantify the power levels better. I mean, I could theorize all I want about shinigami's shunpo, but I'm not going to be getting any data staying put!

Even if I have already upgraded my warehouse's static defense to the best I could think of at the moment.

No, I was not giving in to your "requests," Urahara. Stop smiling.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 13

-VB-

This would be just as much in favor as it was in the favor of Urahara's camp. Just as I would compare myself to what would be considered top one percentile of shinigami prowess, Urahara would be measuring me.

While I didn't want to needlessly antagonize him and his crew, I did want to keep as much of my secrets as secrets. To that end, I decided to pull my punches when fighting Ichigo.

After all, even if I lost, I would know more than enough to start a baseline tactical foundation when it came to countering the shinigami.

Was it scummy? Yeah. I mean, the point of "training" with Ichigo would be to make sure that he could improve and win against the shinigami once the time came for him to invade Soul Society.

On the other hand, I didn't care about Ichigo. I really didn't. Orihime had a crush on him before. So what? Was I really going to get jealous over a crush like some insecure fucker? No! It's a waste of time and energy.

No, I wouldn't do that.

No…

Nope.

Nuh uh.

"… I might give him a black eye. Just a black eye."

No, I was not jealous.

-VB-

"You mean you want me to just approach him and… what, fight?"

"Yes~!"

"Fuck off. I'm going back."

"Wait, wait, wait-!" Urahara jumped at me and grabbed the edges of my lesser wizard robe.

What? I had to play it up. I was a wizard.

"Kurosaki-san isn't exactly the kind of person who would show up for a spar!"

"Why the fuck not? Did you even ask?"

Silence.

"So you wasted my time. Again."

"Look, I don't want to waste your time! I just got you to come here!" he quickly replied. "How about you try yourself against someone else?"

I frowned.

"Who?"

"Why, my honey, of course!"

"Who-?" I asked confusedly before one of the side paper slide doors slammed open, and a black blur came speeding in. There was a crack, and Urahra flew away from me, tumbling on the ground before coming to a stop at the front of his own shop. What replaced him was a dark skinned beauty who I was only passingly familiar with.

Shihoin Yoruichi.

"Who the hell are you calling your honey in public?!" she shouted angrily.

"Only you~!"

Yoruichi stalked up to the genius and stomped on his chest, making Urahara grunt in pain. She grinded her heel on his sternum while veins popped up angrily on her temple.

"Oh, literally the day after -!" she spat out before she reigned her next words in. "You're in trouble, mister. You don't toss me around like a model for sale… !"

I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. From what I knew, Kisuke and Yoruichi were childhood friends, and there wasn't anything in the manga that hinted to any romantic relationship between the two.

But here were the two of them now, exchanging words clearly meant for endearment and the other letting it happen.

Yes, she said he was in trouble, but she wasn't stopping him either.

I was, however, keenly aware of the fact that this could all be a play to drag me into their spat with Aizen. I could see it like this: play up the couple thing between them to make a connection between myself and them, kind of like how couples tend to hang out with other couples, and that Kisuke was using this as a method of "connecting" with me, or at the very least, trying to make me feel less hostile towards him than I currently was.

Was I being paranoid? With Kisuke, you could never be sure.

"Who do you want me to fight anyways if you didn't bring me here to spar with the prickly strawberry?"

Yoruichi choked out a laugh at the nickname. She turned to me, and looked up and down my figure. "You look like one of those crazy cultists."

I scowled. "Well, I'm sorry I don't act like a spineless Japanese."

She raised an eyebrow. "Whatever floats your boat, yankee," she scoffed.

My cheeks twitched at the slur. Two can play that game… but I wasn't too fond of irritating someone who I knew was beyond my level.

"What do you do anyways?" she asked me, but it was Kisuke who answered.

"He's a mortal kido specialist!"

"Ho?"

And she had that cat-got-the-canary look to her. I got her interest.

Why the fuck would be interested in me?

And it was strictly a "predator to prey" kind of interest.

"Yo, Kisuke. I wanna have a go at him."

"Huh?" the shopkeeper looked dumbfounded for once. Something not going to your plan, hat-and-clogs? Well, I don't like the way this is going, either. Get me out! "Wait, wait, Yorui-"

"Come on," the dark skinned amazonian flashstepped to my back, grabbed a handful of my robe by the neck, and then flashstepped away.

"OH FUCK!" I shouted as I tumbled down the air. Instantly, my enchanted belt underneath the robe lit up as soon as it detected my panic and sudden increase in velocity. Without my verbal command, the spell, "Feather Fall" enchanted to the belt lit up, burning away one of the many feathers and downs in its pouches, and slowed me down.

Yoruichi, who was already on the ground, looked up at me with curiosity written all over her eyes. Then she smirked.

I did not like that smirk. I do not consent to the incoming assbeating!

Just as I landed, I heard a creak of a hinge in need of oiling in the sky above. And instead of the sky, I saw a literal square hole in the "skybox."

I realized two things.

One, Urahara did not mean for me to be taken hostage by Yoruichi.

Two, this was the training ground Urahara uses for a variety of purposes, one of which included Ichigo's Hollowfication.

Conclusion: Yoruichi wanted to see what I was made of.

I saw Urahara's head peek into the underground training room. "Marris-san, watch out!"

I turned around towards Yoruichi, only to see a clenched fist coming dangerously close and fast for my face.

As I took the punch to my eye, I realized that even though I came here expecting to give Ichigo a black eye, I forgot to think about whether or not I would leave with one.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 14

-VB-

"Globe of Invulnerability!"

Funny thing about the Globe of Invulnerability came from its ability to block anything below its spell level. Those who didn't know of it might throw a spell thinking they got the caster but nope! He's perfectly fine, and just threw back a cantrip to trip you up.

It was a good spell for me because it worked against spiritual beings too for some reason. Perhaps the nature of spirits, good or evil, counted as a spell in this world. I don't know. I haven't researched into it too much. Perhaps it was the Mask that made Hollows kind of like enchantments, which were just another form of magic like spells.

I digressed.

Because I just learned that it wouldn't do anything about a really fast fist.

"KUCK!" I gagged as Yoruichi's fist slammed into my stomach and sent me flying.

I tumbled through the air for the seventh time today, and then found myself landing ass first onto the ground. I didn't waste time groaning and grumbling. I scrambled up and held up my staff again. My hand reached into my belt pockets, and grabbed three nut shells. "Confusion!" I chanted.

The nut shells disappeared into motes of light and Yoruichi lit up with a dim and brief silhouette of purple.

She raised an eyebrow before she "hunkered" down on herself and exerted her spiritual pressure.

And just like that, my spell's hold on her broke.

"Fucking hell!" I hissed.

It was how I learned that spells below a certain spell level did not work on captain-class shinigami or Hollows (I assumed).

"That's all?" she asked me with a disappointed frown. "I expected more from someone who thinks he's on the same level as Kisuke."

I gritted my teeth not out of a misplaced pride but physical pain that still wrecked my body. Despite her words, I found myself grinning in response. "It'll be a long time before I can honorably fight a captain-class shinigami on my own," I said. "But I don't fight fair!" I raised my staff above me, but my index finger was pointing right at her. "SUNBURST!"

Yoruichi flexed and then I lost sight of her as she and the area around her was consumed by the sudan right flash of light. I Blinked away, transitioning into the Ethereal Plane to avoid being damaged by my own attack, and then re-entered the physical world further away from Yoruichi and the Sunburst site.

"Ow!" As the light dimmed and disappeared, I saw Yoruichi stumbling forward a little, but I wasn't sure if that was a trick or legitimate. "That actually hurt!" she replied with a grin but her eyes remained squinted and unopened. "And also blinded me!"

I grinned. Maybe I did have a-

And then she disappeared.

There was a smack, and I was eating dirt.

"But I can fight without opening my eyes," she laughed from behind me.

I just groaned on the ground.

"You're not bad. Not bad at all. Certainly better than the strawberry and the stuck-up," she hummed as she picked me up by the back collar of my wizard robe. "And you certainly take less damage than them. I just decked you with enough power to put out a lieutenant and here you are still groaning."

"Head hurts…"

"That's the point. Deal with it."

There was a shuffle above us. "Are you two done flirting yet?" Urahara asked from the rooftop entrance of the training ground.

Yoruichi just gave him the finger before jumping up and then jumping midair towards the entrance. I got dragged along for the ride.

Yes, I was weaker, but two points stuck out to me. First, I lost to the Flash Goddess. Everyone under a certain power level loses to the Flash Goddess. It wasn't a big deal.

Second, I realized that my defense - which I relied heavily on static defenses provided by Hidemasa (Qin Shi Huang) - was nowhere near me when I decided to move (fancy that, eh?). As such, I needed to go back home ASAP and research proper defenses or at least make new spells and enchantments that would do it for me.

I also suspected that I might have been legitimately knocked out by Yoruichi's last strike if it wasn't for my wizard robe, which had an enchantment for granting its wearer passive defense boost kind of like an aura that suffused the entire body.

I grunted when Yoruichi dropped me on the raised lounge mat and sat down next to me. I slowly curled up and then sat up, glaring between the two of them.

And then decided to do away with the pretenses that Urahara and I have been playing with.

"Are you done testing me?" I asked with a growl.

Urahara snapped out a fan and fanned a little. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"I know who you are, Urahara Kisuke. I've made that fact pretty clear," I grumbled. "So the fact that you 'conveniently' forgot to tell Kurosaki Ichigo, your little pet, that you set me up to fight him was very much you being your famous manipulative self. That and how you riled up your missus here-" I said as I jerked a thumb at Yoruichi, who gagged at my perspective of their relationship. "-pretty much made things clear that you got me here to test me outside of my comfort zone and fort."

"… Spot on," he said as he pulled his fan away, revealing not the jovial yet fake smile he usually walked around with but a serious blank face. "You still played with it, though."

"You would've gotten it one way or another."

"… How exactly do you know about me? While I do not hide myself, I also don't advertise who or what I am."

This was true. Just like feudal Japan, Soul Society was not the type to interfere or oversee anyone else but themselves. Urahara might be a genius but he was still a soul born, raised, and rose to the top of Soul Society. While I did not personally know the fine details, I was sure that Urahara did still behave like most Soul Society's elites would.

Besides, the man was fighting an underground war with Aizen. Advertising himself was not something he did.

… Whatever. Fuck it.

"I learned about you and your fight with Aizen from another dimension where this entire world, while similar to mine, is fictional."

Yoruichi and Kisuke just stared at me with wide eyes.

I pulled out a camera and took a picture.

Gobsmacked Hat and Cat Pic get!

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 15: A… Save?

-VB-

Silence descended upon the room after I put my camera - not a smartphone, but a proper cheap camera - away.

Urahara and Shihoin stared at me in disbelief… before suddenly, Shihoin was by my side and holding my eyes open.

"W-What-?!" I slurred out. Huh?

Urahara was soon next to her with a… flashlight? ARGH! The bastard's shining it in my eyes!

Shihoin sighed in concern. It was figuratively written all over her face.

"Concussion. You did pound his head to the ground," Urahara giggled.

Disgusting.

Also.

Concussion?

… Might explain why I am swaying from side to side very slightly and why I blurted out shit that I normally wouldn't have.

"I forgot that he's just a regular mortal-" she groaned out.

"Yoruichi-chan, you have to be gentler with Alan-san here~!"

Stop giggling, you disgustingly creepy shopkeeper. I want to throw up when I hear you of all people giggling like a little girl.

Disgusting!

Urahara was giving me odd looks.

…

I said nothing out loud.

"No, but you are very clear with how much you don't like me."

"Maybe if you don't keep waking me up in the morning for your goddamn testing I might like you a little better," I grouched and slurred at the same time.

"Fair enough. Well, let's put you to sleep."

… Wait, what?

"N-Now, letz not be too hasty," I tried.

"Now now, a patient shouldn't be picky about the treatment. Since we caused it, it'll be one hundred percent free, including but not limited to rectal cleansing!"

"N-No, stop-!"

"Yoruichi-chan?"

"Kisuke, you disgust me," the mocha skinned woman grunted before I felt something hit me in the back of the neck.

I keeled over and saw the shop's ceiling before darkness came and covered my eyes.

-VB-

Yoruichi glared at her cousin/lover.

"Want to tell me who this guy is?" she asked. "Because his barriers and attacks weren't weak at all like most living mortals."

Urahara merely hummed instead of answering her on the spot.

She grunted in exasperation as she pulled her hand away from the neck strike that left their new house guest unconscious.

"You know how spiritual particles are how we and most native born living people use their power?" he asked her.

She raised an eyebrow at the obvious question. It was so obvious that most didn't even mention it.

"Yeah?"

"Well, our friend here has another source of power. It is awfully similar to those used by our western counterparts."

"… Magic? Seriously? This guy?" she asked incredulously while glancing down at the boy.

He nodded.

Unlike spiritual particles that dominated the far east, magic was the predominant force for the rest of the world. While these two forces didn't intermingle with one another, it didn't mean that the denizens of both worlds abstained from contact.

Funny thing about both magic and spirits was that they interacted primarily through people. Neither could exist where people didn't live permanently, making Japan part of the figurative edge of the world for the Old World.

Magic, as such, appeared rarely in Japan, and most of those came from foreigners or enchanted items.

"Well, he does have that weird western name. Marris Alan," Yoruichi waved it off. "So what if he's a magician?"

"… Just curious, that's all."

"So you brought him over because you were curious… and then riled me up so that I'd beat the shit out of him?"

"Well, no, but you certainly helped exactly how I thought you might!"

"Ugh. You're really a manipulator, aren't you?"

"I try my best!" Then he grew serious. "I also have to check if Aizen haven't recruited him already, and you know that he has a particular way of marking those who work for him, one way or another."

"Didn't you already get Shinji to check up on him?"

"Yup! But a few conversations aren't exactly how you determine if someone is a sleeper agent. He did show up awfully at the right time just as Ichigo was starting to grow."

"Ch. Look for it already, then."

"Hai, hai. No need to rush me."

-VB-

I woke up slowly, but it wasn't to the same sensation I was now familiar with in the morning.

When I woke up at home, Orihime was always by myself more often naked than dressed. She would wake up sometimes when I stirred and we would just cuddle if we had the time before she had to leave for school.

Very rarely did I wake up alone.

Almost never did I wake up at a place that was not my home.

I pushed myself up as silently as possible, I noticed the futon and the comforter that I had been laying on and covered with respectively. The room itself was more traditional Japanese than modern.

I frowned as I tried to remember what happened before I fell asleep, because it was obvious that I wasn't exactly kidnapped.

Then I remembered.

Urahara invited me over on the pretext of setting up a spar between Kurosaki and I, but never got to "alert" the man in question. I knew that he just wanted me to come over because he was curious about me and wanted to test me, but then Yoruichi kind of stumbled into the scene and… did things to me.

Painful things.

Like ass kicking and concussion.

Before I could get up from the bed in this barren guestroom(?), the rice paper door slid open, and Kisuke was on the other side of it.

Smiling.

Goddamn it.

I hate this bastard.

15.5

Merry Christmas, y'all!

-VB-

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Interlude: Kurosaki Ichigo 1

-VB-

"WILL YOU STOP IT?!"

"NEVER!"

It was another normal day for him despite having dealt with the crisis that had threatened to swallow his town some time ago.

Nothing seemed to change inside his house, and while there were days that he wished his dad would stop it with the insane antics, Ichigo was also glad to have this "normalcy."

If only dad just would stop waking him up with drop kicks.

Ichigo scoffed at the idea while leaving his dear old dad smoldering on the living room floor from his counter attack. He walked over to the kitchen where Yuzu was preparing breakfast.

"Ichi-nii, can you get me the wide plates?" she asked politely while peeking just a bit out of the kitchen.

He stopped his descent into his chair and rose back up. "Sure," he replied and got to helping his little sister. "Curry rice today?"

"Yup. We had some leftover pork and vegetables, so this is what I chose to make."

Rukia ran down the stairs at this point, greeting Karin who was on the couch and "cutesying" around his dad. The ignorant man quickly got off the floor and began to wax poetics about how "Rukia-chan was the best~!" Ichigo ignored him.

Ichigo hummed as he helped Yuzu portion out the curry rice. He liked Yuzu's curry rice so this was a win for him.

Everyone came around and sat. Breakfast came and went quickly, and he was off to school while leaving his dad to walk on their mother's wall-wide portrait about ungrateful children who ignored him.

He found the walk to school to be… abnormally peaceful. Even with Rukia beside him, comfortable silence reigned over their walk.

That in and of itself was alarming.

There should have been a lot of Hollows in the area. Why were there none?

"You noticed it," Rukia spoke up.

"Yeah. There is not a single Hollow where there should be at least two."

"Can you check if there is anyone around us?"

He huffed and stopped walking. Closing his eyes, he reached out for the spirit ribbons… And found an abnormality. He opened his eyes and saw it.

A grey ribbon.

Frowning, he snapped his hand out and caught it. "Grey?" he mumbled, and Rukia looked intrigued by it as well. "Know anything about this color?"

"No… I have never heard of a grey spirit ribbon."

"Should we check it out?"

"… Yes. You have Kon?"

Grumbling, he pulled out Kon from his backpack and popped the artificial soul out even before he could gush about Rukia.

He neatly slid out if his body and Kon took over. Looking at the two artificial souls, he ordered, "Go to school and don't be a pervert."

"You're no fun!" Kon whined.

"Not my problem, idiot," he scoffed before he nodded to Rukia, who quickly climbed onto his back, and then he jumped away.

He sped along the rooftops, silently jumping off from one place to abother before he arrived near the source of the grey ribbon.

"Where is it..?" he mumbled as he let Rukia down onto fhe flat rooftop he was on and looked around.

He saw it before Rukia's phone went off.

"Hollow to ournorth," he quickly said before jumping towards it. It was only after three street jumps that he noticed the Hollow being chased by someone.

It was a man dressed with a robe, armed with two staves, and… a Hollow mask.

"Fireball!"

A bright ball of fire fired off from an extended staff and crashed into the Hollow. It erupted into a small explosion of fire before disappearing without much smoke.

The Hollow that had been struck, an ape-like thing, was on the ground, already losing bits of itself which signified its death. The mystery man jumped onto it and quickly ripped its mask off. He did something that tungled against Ichigo's sense before hooking the mask that wasn't disappearing onto his waist… where there were four more such masks.

Then he looked up at Ichigo, and he looked pissed. It was just in the way he moved and posed. He was angry, and while he tried to hide it when he turned to look at him, Ichigo already saw the tattletale signs.

It was kind of a developed skill from having to deal with thugs and bullies who made exaggerated movements.

"Oh, if it isn't the troublemaker."

That irked Ichigo a bit. "Who are you calling a troublemaker?" he growled. "You're the one throwing explosive fireballs in the streets!"

"Combat by their very nature is destructive. No, I mean you and your Quicy friend's little challenge that endangered my women and her friends, you dipshit," the man snarled right back.

Ichigo twitched at the mention of the Holloe bait fiasco. "I didn't see you at all."

"Because I was busy protecting the school you and all other spirituals neglected."

Ichigo had no response to that.

"If the bait wasn't strong enough to keep most of the Hollows focused on, then the city would have had at least a thousand dead people-"

"And we got rid of it, didn't we?" Ichigo replied snappishly. "We cleaned up the mess we made."

"No. You did not. Nine people nearly died because of you two's antics."

This new information drained blood from Ichigo's face. He hadn't known that people nearly died!

"I have half a mind to beat the shit out of you and your accomplice… but the candy shopkeeper dissuaded me. I will not holld back next time. Why, I might have to hurt your family to make sure you understand what's at stake here."

That drew him up into a rage. "You leave my family out of this!"

"Did you leave my women out of your spat?"

Ichigo tsked. "I wasn't the one who started it."

"… I suppose that is right. Your Quincy friend on the other hand…" the man turned his head and Ichigo followed his gaze. To his surprise, he saw Ishida standing on another roof. "You, I will beat the shit out of right now."

Then before he could even react to those words, the man extended his hands abruptly-

" Hold Person."

- and Ishida froze, halfway into his bow drawing motion.

" Shatter!"

Ichigo felt it more than he saw it. There was a ripple before Ishida was screaming in pain. He snapped towards the stranger. "Stop it!"

The man turned to him, a baleful Holloe mask glaring up at him from below. "Or what?"

Ichigo drew his sword. Rukia hesitated beside him.

"I didn't even use a kill spell on him. Fuck off before Ibdecide that you'll feel the burn too." He turned his head back to Ishida. " Shatter!"

Ishida bled from his ears and nose. Ichigo was about to jump in, but the man dropped his arms and Ishida fell on the ground. "Get your friend out of here. Next time he pulls shit like that, then I am going to pull his arms apart."

And then he just walked away. Torn between stopping an obviously dangerous person and getting Ishida to the hospital… he jumped over to Ishida, who was actually conscious.

"Let's get you to a hospital," Ichigo grunted as he slung the Quincy's arm over his shoulder.

-VB-

Or in which Alan took out his anger on convenient targets with a convenient reason because he was still upset about losing.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 16

-VB-

Everything was a mistake.

My "spar" with Yoruichi told me enough about my capabilities as a wizard. Yes, wizards could do all sorts of stuff that can break reality, but what use were my spells if I can't take the fight to

I had to cheat.

"What happened?"

I stopped and looked at Orihime, who had been in the doorway. I almost ran into her.

"Ah. I… got reminded of something unpleasant," I replied earnestly with a half-hearted grin. "I'm just thinking about how I should go about fixing that."

"Huh," she muttered. "Can I help?"

I paused while looking at her. Despite the fact that I have treated her more or less as a personal cum dump, she's constantly been nice, attentive, and tried to be helpful.

Honestly, I was feeling a little bit guilty at the moment.

"… Sure," I said with a smile. "I think I should actually help you get prepared."

She blinked rapidly. "Me?"

"Yeah," I answered. "I've been so focused on getting only myself prepared that I left you more or less defenseless."

The small quirk of her lips at the corners told me that she's thought of that too.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"I'm happy you're coming around," she replied with a huff. "I think it's great that you are telling me more about this hidden world, but you have to continue. I don't know when a giant alien space hawk will come and snatch me away without me knowing the signs to their ambushes!"

I stared at her blankly as her last statement registered in my mind. I scoffed. "Sure. Let's do just that."

Because honestly, in this world of demons, gods, and spirits, she wasn't wrong.

Mayuri and Aizen might just make such a creature if it suited whatever purpose they had.

Which just meant that I had to try just as hard to… counter them.

Surprise them with a boom.

I smirked.

"Hey, Hime," I asked her as I took off my shoes and got into the living room. "How do you feel about bombs?"

-VB-

While magic would always have a place in my heart, I had no doubt that the strongest power at my disposal was not it. Coupled with Spiritual Manipulation, it allowed me to do some overpowered shit like harvesting Hollow masks and powers, combining said masks, and even withstand one of Yoruichi's punches.

Alas, there was a hard limit to what I could do with it, and if I can't catch my enemies to put my spells on them, then what use were they?

No doubt, my strongest defense was -.

"So you gave up."

I glared at Hidemasa, looking up from my second workbench that was not littered with magic stuff. This one had a lot of gears, wires, and illegally acquired explosives. "No, I'm not giving up," I replied to the strongest defense I had up my sleeve. Hidemasa's "Great Wall" was technically deployed already around this warehouse, and nothing short of an invasion that can destroy all of China could penetrate it.

There were, however, limitations in this as well. Supposed that Hime or someone else like myself got caught and got brainwashed into giving anyone an "open arm" welcome through its defenses. In such a case, I couldn't do much. I, however, had no intention of brainwashed nor was I going to leave Orihime vulnerable like I have so far.

"But you gave up on your magic."

"I hit a limit, and shit is going to come to this town fast. I don't have time like most magicians, magi, wizards, and sorcerers do; I need to be ready within at least three months' time."

"And magic can't help you?"

"No, I'm just going to apply it in ways that I haven't because I was stupid and relied on only one aspect of my powers," I grumbled. "Just like you told me not to."

He smirked. "I never said you were stupid to rely on only one power. I believe my words were that magic was great… once you became a master."

And I was certainly no master of any specific magic. I haven't even 10th tier spells.

"So then, what exactly are you planning?" he asked as he walked around the workbench.

Orihime was on the other side of the workbench, handing me tools and materials as I requested.

"I'm not going to fight the grand masters of the spiritual realm with hundreds if not a thousand years of experience in their own field. I'm going to tell them to -!" I hissed towards the end as I tightened the last screw to the rudimentary device. "- to use everything I have."

"And that device is?"

"Well," I mumbled before holding it up. It was a visor. "Technically speaking, it'll be the central command device from which all of my devices will receive orders and report to."

"Technically speaking, you said. Plainly speaking?"

"I'm going to build bombs with esoteric effects. This thing will let me detonate them without letting anyone else know what the hell is going on. I really wonder how well Hollows, Quincies, and Shinigamis will take to subdimensional phased singularity bombs detonating in their faces."

"Hmm. Whatever happened over at the shop really made you upset, didn't it?"

I bit the insides of my mouth in frustration. "Am I that easy to read?"

"No, you leave a lot of traces and talk too much. Also, the sudden change of direction in what you are doing was a big clue."

"Hmm."

"That and the fact that you want to use black hole bombs on people."

"You understood my pseudo-technobabble?"

"I'm old, not dumb. What I don't get is how it works. This device clearly lacks a source of power, and yet, it turned on the moment you touched it."

I looked at the Command Visor, and what do you know? It actually was on.

I turned back and grinned.

"Because it runs on my mana."

He looked surprised. "You got an electronic to work on magic?"

"Hey, everyone does it in this world. I just… put the logic of this world into my devices."

"… But how does that work? You are spouting nonsense."

I grinned maniacally, and Orihime sighed from across the table.

"It's Tinker bullshit. Live with it."

His deadpan glare was delicious.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 17

-VB-

I spent a lot of time Tinkering with Orihime's help, and talked with each other a lot.

"So you want to have a big family?" I asked her during our break. We sat side by side on the dinner table, eating a few dishes Orihime thought of. Of the five, one tasted… horrible, and the other four were good. Great, even. They just didn't look great.

"Yup! I lived with my big brother only, and when he died, I felt really lonely. I don't want that for my family," she replied gutsily with a hint of sadness. "Mom and dad weren't great either, but you are, Alan. Well, aside from your need to do that a lot," she trailed off.

I smirked. "Oh, you don't like our bed?"

"No, no, it's grea-!" she froze.

I laughed and gave her a sideways hug. "Love you, too. Now, let's get back to work. Those wannabe kings won't stop just because we have."

I stood up, though I thought I felt something pull at my shirt briefly, and Orihime stood up next to me as well.

"So what will we be working on, then? We've already finished the bombs you've told us about…" she said while eyeing the devices we worked on just before.

I supposed that anyone would be wary about being next to a black hole bomb, however limited in scope.

"We'll be working on a power armor!"

A pause fell on the workshop before her eyes lightened up. "Armor…?!" she asked excitedly. "Like- like the Power Rangers?"

"Well, it will be much bulkier, but yeah!"

She giggled with a faraway look. "Soon, we'll take the fight to the aliens!" she muttered to herself.

I chuckled nervously at her enthusiasm and the latest of her nonsensical remarks. Maybe it was a mistake telling her about the spirits, because my words more or less validated all other parts of her… imaginations.

Yes, imaginations. Let's leave it at that.

"Wait, won't the armor make you slow? Haven't you been complaining about the super super fast ghosts?"

"Yes, but the point of the armor isn't about protection."

"… Why else do you then use armor?" she asked me slowly, and her confusion made sense. Armor was for protection. Maybe fashion if I were into that, but I'm not. I understood the value of making sure that my first impression was suitable for whatever I wanted, but that was the talk of those who had it. Those who had power. Those who saw others as their equal.

To be specific and repetitively with something I have been stating and thinking constantly since I dropped into this world, I stood out as a weakling among the powerhouses of Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, and the Wandenreich. I could fight all of their foot soldiers with little issue; the fact that I guarded a location from a horde of Hollows stood testament to that.

Whatever armor I built would not withstand any of the higher tier fighters and their bullshit abilities. Maybe if I had taken Chevalier instead of Tecton I might go for that defensive strategy, but I took Tecton. I had to work with what I had, and by God, I was going to stitch my powers together to the best - and beyond - my ability so that no fucking soul would look at me like Kisuke and Yoruichi did and pity me for becoming dragged into a conflict I was sure to die in!

"Alan-kun, you look scary."

I stopped my train of thought and let my face relax.

"Hm."

"So what is the armor for?"

"It's going to be more along the lines of amplifying my powers," I replied. "So what I want to do with this armor…"

Though I intended to tell her a lot, I would keep even more closer to my chest.

Just in case, you know? There were powers here in this universe that would make information sharing… involuntary.

-VB-

I got to test out the very first gear set I made only a week after I got beat up by the candy shop duo and I in turn beat the crap out of Uryu.

Kurosaki Ichigo stood in front of me in full shinigami regalia, completely intent on taking the fight to me.

I stood in front of him as I was about to go out to farm some Hollows. It had become something of a regular exercise I did to ensure that I got a steady increase in my base power, even if it would be negligible for the likes of the shounen protagonist.

I stopped in the middle of the street, staring at him as he stared at me.

"Yes?" I asked curtly.

"Apologize."

Now, that got my blood boiling. I wasn't the nicest guy in the hood. In fact, I was a shitty guy, taking girls my age with supernatural powers and keeping them for myself, even if I was only so far successful with Orihime. Tatsuki had bailed out, even if she did regularly visit her friend and glared at me with threats of consequences if Orihime wasn't treated right.

"You have shit for brains, strawberry?" I drawled lazily, keeping my disgust barely hidden. "Because I clearly remember saying why I beat the shit out of him. I didn't even kill him, too."

Because for shit like that? Japanese government, if they were aware of the situation, would have jailed the boy in an instant.

He raised his zanpakuto at me.

"That's not the point. The shitty hat and clogs told me all about how you got beaten up by his crew, and the very next day, you beat up Ishida. That wasn't

I tilted my head to the side until my neck bones popped. I felt a throbbing vein pulsate on my temple as anger rose up. So Kisuke was still trying to use me, huh?

Would killing Ichigo here be good enough to ruin your plans?

Hell, should I go after Rukia and destroy Hogyoku? Because unlike the shinigamis, I was a wizard; destroying magical and spiritual objects wasn't that hard for a wizard that can play with reality.

… No, I shouldn't strike out at the shounen protagonist here for his manipulator's problems, but it didn't mean that I should leave his challenge unanswered.

"I think…" I began as I pulled my sleeves up to reveal the two gauntlets I put on in place of my staff. "I'm going to enjoy beating the shit out of you."

Ichigo jumped at me, and I fired off a lightning bolt.

It was on!

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 18

-VB-

Ichigo came at me with a vertical downward strike. I tilted left as if to dodge leftward before pushing off rightward. He did try to correct his attack in my first tilt but outright missed me as I dodged the other way. His sword dug into the asphalt road and stuck for a moment.

I used no spells.

With my armored gauntlet, I lashed out with a punch to his upper left back and lashed out again, striking his lower left back right where his kidney was.

Ichigo hissed as my hits staggered him. Only a moment later, he succeeded in pulling out his sword and slashed at me horizontally with enough force to make the air ripple and explode outward like a bomb.

He's getting stronger, I thought to myself as I slid backward and then penetrated into his defense.

His eyes widened before I delivered a double strike against his sternum, making his eyes widened further from pain and loss of air as his lips burst open and violently exhaled air. His eyes scrunched up as he tried to suck in air, but I didn't let him.

The thing about Tecton's power was not only power armor manufacture; it could also generate localized earthquakes.

Now, how it could do this was up to the actual parahuman, or Tecton in Worm canon and me in this universe. Tecton did it by creating "Piledriver Gauntlets" that could make earthquakes.

I chose to do something more subtle than just "one punch, one result."

As Ichigo brought his hands to his sword for a horizontal slash again, I punched him and activated the earthquake power.

"Did you know?" I asked as his body froze from something happening from within. "I can make earthquakes? And what are earthquakes but mere rippling effects from tensions broken underground?"

"What… Are… you…?!" he hissed as his body began to tremble on its own.

"I'm being petty. I could have done what I did to your friend right now, but I wanted to do something more. I wanted to test these out."

His skin tore open, his eyes bled, and finally, when it looked like he would shatter, the trembling stopped. Ichigo dropped his zanpakuto and fell to his knees, vomiting up blood.

"I call that Timed Detonation. Each strike against you was not meant to hurt you seriously but set off an 'earthquake' with the final hit."

He stopped coughing and looked up with a glare.

And suddenly, I felt an overwhelming spiritual pressure come down on my body.

'Yeah, I expected this…' I growled mentally as I jumped away from Ichigo.

Ichigo pushed himself up, surely but slowly.

'Bullshit shonen protagonists…'

He gripped his zanpakuto and pulled it up. "… Zangetsu, huh?"

… ah hell no. He shouldn't even have access to his zanpakuto yet! What the fuck?!

Still moving under the immense spiritual pressure, I quickly held up my gauntlets and focused on my own spiritual flow. I pushed my spiritual energy into the quartz crystals embedded on each of the knuckles of the gauntlets, catalysts for my magic spells.

" Shatter!"

Ichigo blurred as he dodged the attack, standing to my left with his blade drawn.

I whirled around, not dodging but moving to strike the large flat of his blade.

He brought his sword down and I struck.

His eyes widened as his zanpakuto's form wobbled physically before he gritted his teeth and exerted his presence.

His blade, which should have shattered from a lethal level of vibration assault, stiffened back into shape, though not without damage. There were cracks and it no longer looked like a large butcher knife but a jagged and serrated mimicry of the former form.

"Bullshit!" I roared out in defiance at the level of reality-bending favor the universe showed for its protagonist.

"I don't know what's happening… but I am going to knock you down!" he roared right back at my face as he pulled his blade away and swung again.

This time, it struck me head-on… only to tear the personal barrier and the talisman powering it.

It was my only non-physical defense. The time for equipment testing was over.

"Hold Person!"

And just like that, Ichigo froze mid-attack.

I glared at him with an ugly snarl on my face. "I'm being fucking used. I'm letting him fucking use me… !" I hissed in wrath. "I should just fucking… !"

I stopped. No. As much as Urahara and Ichigo were pissing me off, We couldn't hope to survive this universe's apocalypse without them. Because I wasn't ready. I will be. I goddamn will be but I wasn't fucking ready yet.

Also, Ichigo here was a teenager. I might not have been reckless or bullheaded as him, but it gave him a leeway… of a sort.

Instead of killing the guy who came at me with a sword drawn, I chose to do something… childish.

I held up both of my gauntlets. Target: right next to his left ear.

"You're going to survive this, no doubt. Go fucking suffer, you irresponsible and irrational bastard. Shatter!"

The very air around him tore and rippled. His eardrum burst and then when I let him go, he dropped to the floor, gasping in pain.

"Fuck off, you self-righteous prick!" I shouted before kicking him in the ribs with my steel-toed boots. He fell and didn't get up. Then I turned to the neighborhood. "Come get your fucking pet project!"

And then I left in a series of teleports.

-VB-

When he opened his eyes, Ichigo found himself staring up at the wooden ceiling of hat-and-clog's candy shop.

"… I lost."

"Ichigo!"

He turned his head a little and looked to the left. He saw Rukia and Ishida there.

"Hey, guys."

"Don't you get me, idiot!" Rukia shouted before bonking him on the head.

"Ow!"

"You deserved that," bandage wrapped Quincy chided. "You knew that he would win against you, so why did you chase after him."

"… Because I had to. I couldn't just let someone like that run around without making him know that he will not get away with it. What he did was-"

"Completely justified."

Ichigo looked surprised at how Rukia and Ishida spoke in unison.

The two glanced at each other before Rukia spoke up. "As great as defending your friend is, stupid strawberry, if this happened in Soul Society, Ishida here would have been executed without question. It is a serious crime."

"It is. I should be - and I am - happy that he only roughened me up."

Ichigo looked at them uncomprehendingly. "But it isn't right-"

"It wasn't, but it doesn't change the fact that it happened, and what also happened was your complete stupidity in charging in against someone who could kill you!"

"But he didn't."

Rukia stared at him in a deadpan. "Are you serious, Kurosaki?"

"He wouldn't have defended the school if he was that ruthless."

That brought the two up short.

And then the rice doors slid open and hat-and-clogs was there.

"Kurosaki-san, I didn't think you would wake up so soon!"

Ugh.

"….. You also seemed to have grown in strength."

Ichigo blinked as he heard Ishida and Rukia agree with the man, but he could only think of one thing.

That man. He called him a 'pet project.'

Whose pet project?

… someone like Urahara who always showed up mysteriously? Who Told him the details behind Ishida's beat down?

… fuck. Ichigo wasn't sure if he could trust this guy right now.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 19

-VB-

It felt great to be the person doing the punishing rather than being the victim. I even had a victory sex marathon with Orihime, though I didn't quite tell her what the occasion was about; I just told her that I was in a good mood, and I wanted to feel better.

She really liked being serviced for the first quarter of the run.

However, defeating Ichigo so handily did not come without its consequences. Namely, I made myself an enemy of the shounen protagonist, his friends, his allies, his family, and so on.

"I would like to point out that Urahara and his ilk are not the living reaper's allies."

I turned to the Servant and raised an eyebrow. "Why would they not be?"

"You misunderstand how relationships can develop. There are relationships that exist to bolster your finances, others that bolster your safety, and others that exist to make you feel better."

"And what does that have to do with Kurosaki and Urahara?"

"It is not an alliance. If your precognition of this world -"

"It was literally something I read. I already said that."

He ignored me and continued. "- is right, then Urahara is using Kurosaki for what he believes is good. Not just, merely good. The living reaper is his proxy, because if he makes a move personally, then it becomes a no holds bar defense in which he is attacked by his former allies in Soul Society."

"I knew that much."

"And Kurosaki sees no need to help Urahara if the man does not help his friends."

"But he is."

"Then preempt the man and be the one to help Kurosaki's friends first. From what you have told me, there is only one worth considering due to his lack of connections, yet you haven't sought to hook him to your mercy to prevent Kurosaki and his friends from moving against you."

I paused.

I knew who he was speaking of.

Chad. Or Sado, however you wanted to say it.

"Should I bring him in now…?"

"I believe it is prudent to gather as many allies as you can. And if you cannot gain allies from the cast of heroes and villains you know now, then I suggest making your own. You have the means."

I frowned. I did have plenty of time, and it wasn't like I was going to participate in the Ryoka Invasion with Ichigo. In canon, that campaign took well over a month to resolve and more time afterwards for the participants to heal.

It hadn't started yet, which meant that I had that much time to recruit others to make myself stronger.

"… No, I can become strong on my own."

He sighed at my reply. "So be it. Since you are no longer focusing on magic, I can't exactly help you, but I can maybe help what direction you want to branch into."

"You think?"

"I am a 'made-emperor.' You don't get there without proper education, high analytical skills, deep critical thinking, and superb politicking," he smirked.

I snorted. "And you died to mercury poison."

"Okay, for the record, it was thought to be a good thing back then, alright? I didn't know mercury literally poisoned you and made you… insane."

"And you completely neglected your children."

"I certainly did no such thing. One was too lazy and the other was too blinded by his greed."

"Right, right. And you couldn't have helped them help each other before you keked it?"

"Insolent… !"

"Try me~!"

Bonk.

"Ow! You actually hit me!"

-VB-

After my conversation with my Servant, I went back to tinkering. While Tecton's tinkertech proved to be useful against Ichigo, he was currently near my level. Unless I could use it to somehow cause earthquake level vibrations in the air, which wasn't likely due to Tecton's specialty, then it would be useless except as a large area of effect opening move.

This meant that I had to focus on Bakuda's specialty to carry me through fights.

I went through the list of Bakuda bombs from Worm canon that I still remembered.

The problem with Bakuda's bombs that I saw now was that they weren't directed.

They were bombs.

They were, at best, ranged attacks.

Tecton's armor would certainly provide me with all of the defenses I needed to win against high-mid tier or low-high tier fighters like Abarai, but it wouldn't possess any melee capabilities.

…

I had to turn to magic to make up for that, huh?

Ugh, what spells were there? Actually, could I make my own spells?

Something like Emiya's time dilation? Haste?

Hmm, that was something to think about.

For now though, what bomb could I build that would make me an untouchable target…?

… Well, I had an idea. What about something that destabilized the very foundation of spiritual beings, but didn't affect anyone who was in a physical body?

It would certainly land me Mayuri's attention, but was it worth it?

I hummed as I imagined Aizen Sosuke simply disappearing after being hit by my bomb.

… Unlikely. Aizen wasn't a novice combatant. He would definitely take precautions against a weird device. Like dodging. This was doubly so if I ever showed off any of Bakuda's tech. So far, I showed off using magic, which I now recognized as being different from spiritual stuff.

I jolted.

"Ah, goddamnit!" I hissed in anger.

To truly take advantage of Bakuda's tech, I needed to do something Bakuda did not: hold it in reserve until the last possible moment. Bakuda's bombs were not hard to see coming. In canon, the only reason why she was such a big boss was because she hid her bombs within people. Esoteric effects didn't really make her worse; a death was a death, no matter how gruesome.

It was fear of how horrible one can die that made her bigger than she ought to be.

Well, her EMP bomb was certainly powerful, but I believed that it took Bakuda a lot of time and material to build that. Unfortunately, while I might have the time and material, EMP was useless against spiritual beings.

I needed something… something that I could use widely without affecting myself.

Hmm…

How about a cluster bomb? A cluster spiritual bomb that detonates above me and shoots out omnidirectionally except towards me and then detonates?

It… had merit.

My eyes widened and my lips split into a grin.

It definitely had merit.

-VB-

In the middle of the night, I stopped working as I felt two foreign spiritual pressures enter the city.

"Ah, so they're here," I muttered to myself.

They were here to take Rukia away.

The Ryoka Arc was starting.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 20

-VB-

I noted that Soul Society had sent Captain Kuchiki and his lieutenant, and promptly ignored it.

It wasn't like they were coming after me, knew about me, and had business with me in general. Until the Fake Karakura Town Arc, Soul Society had nothing to do with me until they forced themselves in my business.

It was unlikely that they would, however. Ryoka business, Aizen's betrayal, execution, and, before all of that, catching Kuchiki Rukia, came before investigating some foreigner using non-standard methods.

That said, I was also aware of the fact that I couldn't be too far outside of Aizen's radar due to my interactions with Ichigo, Kisuke, and their crew.

To that end, I now taught Orihime how to use magic!

A bit of a jump in logic, I knew, but it was what I decided was worthy of my time now that my first "set" of tinkertech armor and weapon. I could certainly improve upon them right now and there was no such thing as overkill, I didn't exactly want to leave Orihime completely helpless.

It wasn't like she could stay indefinitely within my base. No one could stay indefinitely indoors.

"You want to go for the western system?" I asked her as I used raw spiritual manipulation to form a simple fireball via intense spiriton vibration of the air. I didn't know much about western system itself, but apparently, it was a thing.

Hide told me so, and I didn't exactly have a reason to dispute nor not believe him as he had been out… ultra-socializing.

In the span of time I was Tinkering, Hollow-hunting, Uryu-zapping, Ichigo-stomping, and Urahara-duped, he was out making money.

Money!

Well, money and influence.

Japan might be insular, but its people absolutely loved different ethnicities, especially whites, coming into their country and becoming one of them. While Hide was definitely an Asian, he was just exotic and pale enough that no one gave two shits about that little tidbit.

Nope. He made connections in bars, moved up to casinos, set up businesses, and when he came to see me again just earlier today, he was a millionaire.

Like…

What?

How?

Ugh.

I slid the book Hidemasa got me to Orihime, and the girl nearly snatched it out of my hands.

I understood why she was so shiny-eyed at the prospect of learning magic, and she was still a teenager, however sexually she might be active. What normal teenager would say no to magic?

There was another reason why I was learning magic; I needed to diversify my options to prevent my enemies from taking out my foundation and thus remove my capabilities. With DnD arcane magic, I needed reagents for higher tiers and was ultimately limited in how much damage I could directly apply. With my spiritual manipulation, there were others who were simply better than I was. My harvested Hollow masks could bolster my spiritual abilities only so much. My Tinkertech was esoteric technology that needed long prep time, and one that I was still working on; I hadn't put it completely away, just out of my narrow field of focus.

I opened my copy of the tome and began to read.

This new magic, I hoped, would cover some of the -.

I frowned.

And then let my head drop.

"'A chanting system with power directly associated with the length and content of the chant in an ancient language most meaningful to the beholder.'" It was, in essence, a ritual-based non-combative type.

Yeah, this would be a net negative for me to learn. For Orihime, it might not be.

I sighed as I closed the book and went back to the arcane worktable at the corner of the warehouse.

Researching new spells and effects would have to do.

-VB-

"So how does this work?"

I looked up in surprise. Apparently, Orihime had become bored with her magic tome and came looking at my work over my shoulder.

"My spells?"

"Yes! It's very different from what I am reading."

"It's a different system of supernatural, just like the Hollows and Shinigamis are different from my western magic and my arcane."

"And?"

"Western magic would be like telling the world to do very specific things and providing the energy for it while my arcane would be… forcing my will upon reality."

She hummed. "So if I wanted to make a rainbow unicorn…"

I snorted. "The western system will be easier. The spell that I am working on right now is a spacetime-singularity bomb, though it's not exactly working out well."

"What is spacetime-singularity?"

"It's when gravity gets too strong at a point and everything gets sucked in. Like a black hole, because a black hole is also a singularity."

"Oh, so you're making a black hole spell!" she said excitedly. "Is it going to be all big and black and explosive?!"

"… Probably?"

Spiritual particles and spiritual beings still followed the laws of gravity, so it should work against them, especially inside them, right?

I held my hand up and carefully began to cast, but there was another component to this spell.

To make this spell work, I had to speak two different spells and weave them into one, but I only had one mouth.

So I made a spell that temporarily made a mouth on the palm of my hand.

I grimaced as a line formed on my left palm before splitting painfully with full grown adult teeth and a tongue inside a space that couldn't exist within the volume of my hand.

"And yes, I do need this," I spoke through my left hand mouth.

Orihime looked intrigued as hell and just as disgusted.

I took a deep breath in.

Wizards died not because they fought an enemy too strong for them but because they took their research too far. They delved too deep without asking themselves if they were asking the wrong question.

Why did they not ask if they should do this rather than can they do this?

It was madness to create a black hole in front of your face!

I let both of my mouths grin even as a third mouth formed on my right palm.

"But madness is merely another side of genius."

I spoke the words.

Blended together, they sounded merely like noise. High, medium, and low pitched. Three different languages.

Reality warped at the same time as I felt something drain from within me.

And then there it was.

A black hole, hovering only a meter from my face. It was no wider than pinprick, but it fucked up reality and distorted space.

And yet, thanks to the constant chanting of my right palm mouth, it's gravitational pull was held at bay… for now.

I reached for the black tourmaline I had prepared just for this occasion and held it underneath the singularity.

My facial mouth and my left palm mouth spoke again, hurting my own ears with the noises I was making.

I grinned as the black hole entered the gem, distorting nothing as it sealed itself inside the enchanted black gem.

And then I dropped it.

The gem tumbled on the worktable and… nothing happened.

And nothing would happen until I broke it.

"Spell success," I said proudly, exhausted and delirious. "The very stars will be my power."

And then I fainted.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 21

-VB-

"Aw, hell no," I snarled when I saw Urahara at my front door again.

I knew what he was for, and I was not going into that death trap. Hell, I wasn't even going to respond to him. If I talked to him, then he would persuade me somehow to go and get involved in the rescue plan.

Because that's somehow I got involved in kicking Ichigo's ass.

So no!

Hell no!

I was not going to talk to hi-!

"Oh, hello, Urahara-san!"

I facepalmed as Orihime greeted him as he walked out.

"Hello, Inoue-hime! How have you been?"

I watched as the two shared a brief but inconsequential conversation about their days and what they were doing before Orihime closed the door and left for school.

Hat-and-clogs, on the other hand, slowly looked up towards where I was looking down at him and smirked at me.

I narrowed my eyes and left the second story window of the warehouse.

I was not going to talk with him.

Nope. Na da. Nein.

I walked down from the catwalk to the first floor and walked straight into the office/home, closed the door there, and went straight into the library where I explored the intricacies of the Weave.

With Qin Shi Huang's Great Wall Noble Phantasm active, there was no way Urahara was going to get in, not without an invitation from me.

And for the next day, I sat meticulously perusing the discoveries and data I have collected for my arcane arts…

When Orihime returned, we had a very long and distracting sex.

That got me in a very happy mood.

Eventually, Urahara left. Hopefully, he got the message that I wasn't interested.

-VB-

I sucked in a deep breath as the last of the Hollows I killed tonight siphoned into my mask that I had named the Mask of Avarice.

Shuddering as I felt whatever it was inside me delight in this offering of fresh meal, I sat down to take stock.

This particular mask was a combination of three new masks that I made in my hunt before tonight. Ichigo and his friends were off training.

Actually, I wasn't far from where they were.

I jumped to the highest building in my immediate vicinity, and began rummaging through the trinkets and items I've made or enchanted. There were too many of these at this point, I just called them by what they did than the original names I'd given them in my whimsy.

So Farsight was just a pair of binoculars that let me also see into the building, kind of like an X-ray.

I looked into the building that exuded the spiritual residues of abilities being used with practice or lessons, and found Sado, Yoruichi-cat… and Tatsuki?

Huh.

I honestly did not expect her there. She shouldn't be up for any kind of spiritual fighting, nevermind a major incursion like invading Soul Society.

…

I switched out the Farsight for Spiritual Radar.

I looked down at it, and narrowed my eyes.

Tatsuki had more power than she did when I last slept with her.

How?

I was now curious.

Humming in thought as I tried to figure out how she could have gotten that power boost (outside of the Shounen Protagonist Plot Hole), I sat down to watch their little training session.

Yoruichi-cat was doing her best to push the two. It was clear that both of them were close quarter combatants. Sado was a slow but heavy hitter. Tatsuki, on the other hand, was a fast-hitting and skillful fighter.

I knew that even without looking at Yoruichi's directives that Tatsuki was a skillful fighter; one does not enter the national karate championship without being skillful.

Unfortunately, that was in no way enough for her for Soul Society. She may be faster than Sado, but she was way slower than the likes of Byakuya, nevermind Soi Fon.

"So why?" I asked myself quietly as I continued to watch.

"Interested?"

I gritted my teeth and sighed. I turned to glance over my shoulder and found the mastermind standing there on the same rooftop as me.

"You scared me."

Urahara stood there with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"But I am only a candy shop owner! Who could be scared of me?"

"… Well? What do you want now that you got your chance to talk with me?"

He reached into his coat and pulled out his fan. With but a snap, he covered his face.

"I think you know what I want. You don't seem to be at all surprised by what's happening over there."

I glanced again at the building where Sado and Tatsuki were training under Yoruichi-cat's guidance.

"No. I'm not. It's something Ichigo would have done, because Rukia got taken, right?" I asked, making myself sound only slightly unsure.

"Yes. Won't you help Ichigo?"

"Hell no," I rejected firmly. "Even if it turns out well, I am not the kind of person who injects himself into other people's business until they make it my business."

"Ho? Then you would fight for material possessions?"

"I have enough that you won't be able to convince me to go."

"What about all of the materials offered to shinigami-in-training at Soul Society's academy?"

"Not enough." But tempting.

"What about my personal library?"

"Not enough." Very tempting, but I could seriously die fighting in Soul Society. Protagonist bullshit may cover Ichigo, but I was not the protagonist of this universe.

"Hmm. You make this very hard."

"How about you simply understand that I am not interested?"

He snapped his fan close. "If that is truly what you want, then so be it. But would you offer your friend some help?"

Always out to get the littlest bit of advantage he could.

I reached into my pack and pulled out an amethyst pendant. I inspected the eight pointed star. This was supposed to be a very powerful artifact of my creation that would turn the table on one of my future enemies, those who would burn Karakura Town.

But I also couldn't let my bleeding heart let Tatsuki leave without some help from me.

"Tell her that she's always welcome in my home," I grumbled as I tossed the pendent.

Urahara caught, inspected it quickly so that it wasn't rude, and then pocketed it. "It's powerful."

"So it is," I mumbled before teleported away to get away from the man as quickly as possible.

I knew that I'd given into Urahara's trickery when the man didn't return the next morning. After all, he did get my help.

I told Orihime what happened, and saw her get genuinely cold for the first time in our entire time together.

"If he hurts Tatsuki-chan, then will you help me get revenge?"

Urahara, you dun fked up.

I grinned savagely. "It's only right that I help my wife."

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 22

-VB-

I got an achievement, sort of.

I discovered that "Hollow Siphoning" had a soft ceiling that I could not easily penetrate; each mask that I made from the Hollows had a conceptual limit of a "hundred" before it formed and became something like a cocoon.

It was very odd, or it was initially, until I remembered that Menos were a thing.

Menos, or Menos Grande, was a subcategory of Hollows. They existed when Hollows gained too much power from combining or eating other souls including other Hollows and became more or less "unstable" as different personalities that they had absorbed were never "processed" and remained.

My masks, despite being made with my spiritual manipulation that was slowly becoming better with each subsequent use, were still made from Hollows, but lacked the sapience inherent to Hollows because the consciousness in charge had already been dispersed when I killed the Hollows and used their literal spiritual "ash" to make these masks.

I made a Menos!

… Soul Society was sure to fuck me over if they learned about this.

Unfortunately, my curiosity was getting the better of me so far because I hadn't destroyed or tossed it away.

I held the cocoon-like mask and flipped it around.

Why did the mask go for a cocoon motif? It wasn't as if it could think… could it?

I set the mask down onto my arcane analyzer, a basic ritual circle to determine the components of spiritual and magical objects, and pushed mana into the ritual circle.

The circle lit up blue as my mana saturated it, and then dimmed away to red and black motes of light. This was something I knew already; black motes of magic denoted death and red motes of light were innate magics. I waited for the circle to spit out more details as I tapped my fingers away at the edge of the table.

And then the outermost circle of the ritual circle lit up while all else stayed dim.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Dormant?"

So what would happen if I awakened it?

No, before that, I needed to rip out all of its innate abilities so that should the "awakened" mask somehow show sapience and hostility, I could end it quickly without having a mess on my hands.

I moved the mask over to another ritual circle I've prepared beforehand. This one was less of a circle and more of a hexagon with "spikes" leading into the center from each of the edges of the hexagon. Pushing mana into it, I stopped when only four of the six edges were lit up.

The ritual circle dimmed before brightening in blue and gripped at the mask. With a pull, red motes of essence tore away from the mask, and I quickly grabbed it with my spiritual manipulation before it could dissipate into nothing. Then I ate it.

I winced as I felt raw rage that began rumbling inside me for a moment before it subsided, and I absorbed the bare intellect but not the emotions attached to the memories associated with these innate essences… and learned how to fire a Cero.

Nice.

… Actually, it wasn't. Regular cero's in general were not efficient use of spiritual power. Perhaps I would make a technique to enhance its destructive potential while lowering the cost, but now was not the time.

The ritual circle dimmed.

The mask, no longer bogged by whatever "innate-ness" that came with spiritual essences that tainted it morphed under my watch into a blank mask.

I picked it up.

…

Safe.

I grinned.

'Alright, what do you do now?' I thought to myself and moved the mask back to the original analyzer ritual.

Another round of analysis… and nothing. Just black motes of light with sprinkles of blue.

"You're no longer the primary of anything, are you?" I muttered as I picked it up.

Blue motes of light wasn't my mana, per say, but rather the analyzer ritual's method of denoting the "rank" of this mask. As I had mumbled to it, this mask was no longer capable of acting as a "primary" source of power.

I pondered on this turn of events before making a theory.

My basic theory was thus.

Hollow masks I made with my spiritual manipulation were not as empty as I had assumed them to be; how else could they retain the abilities of their former selves? While much of the consciousness associated with the mask truly did disappear, some of the baser instincts had remained. The mask was still a Hollow, so when I absorbed enough Hollows into it, the mask went and evolved into a Menos Grande.

It would have had its own little thing, as cocoons were creatures metaphorically representing a phase in time where change was occurring. However, I had gone and ripped out whatever was changing within.

What I now held in my hand was just power distilled from Hollows into a pure form, and because it was so pure, it would become very easily "tainted" by other things, which was why it couldn't be the "primary" source of power but rather a reservoir of power for another "primary" source of power to draw from.

…

The whole thing was a convoluted speculation, but I personally liked how it wrote itself out.

Now, what was I going to do with this?

…

Well, Orihime certainly could use a power boost.

Hell, was there a tantric ritual I could use this for? Actually, I was an arcanist; could I even perform tantric rituals? Perhaps not as the primary ritualist but a supporter?

Oh, so much discoveries to be made… Why didn't I focus more on research again?

… Right, assholes outside my home threatening to burn the world down around them.

Ugh.

-VB-

Orihime blushed as Alan told her what they were going to do.

"S-So we're going to do sexy stuff with magic?"

He looked surprised by her summary of what he wanted, and laughed heartily.

"Yes," he said as he dispelled the illusion over her stomach. She blushed even as she leaned into his chest while he caressed her visibly pregnant stomach. It was just a bump right now, but it had already been showing. She was so happy that Alan managed to make permanent illusions for her. Otherwise, she didn't think she would be able to take people's stares…

His nimble fingers unbuttoned her shirt quickly, sparing her no more than five seconds before he pulled her shirt off of her and pulled her skirt off.

She wiggled her butt a little when she felt his stiff and throbbing cock snuggle between her ass cheeks. She giggled when he cupped her breasts and kissed her neck.

Then he lifted her in a bridal carry and walked to his ritual room.

She spent the rest of the night being on top of him with a mask on her face, riding him til she collapsed from exhaustion.

She loved her husband. He made the best magicks.

Her opinion turned out to be almost a fact when she woke up the day after, wished she was not sore, and her soreness magically disappeared.

She rode him again for the entire day as thanks for such an amazing superpower!

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 23

-VB-

The infusion of Menos Mask into Orihime made for a rather interesting display.

She stood before me, flexing her spiritual essence. Being no weakling myself, I ignored the pressure bearing down on my body and examined her make-up of her spiritual essence.

Before our tantric ritual yesterday, she barely had enough spiritual essence to even materialize a spiritual pressure. Now, she could pin down lesser Hollows with ease much like how a Menos could. At the same time, her "aura" was now tinted with a Hollow's more hungering essence. Orihime was fundamentally a cheerful girl, only acting bubbly because it would ease the tension around her. She was still cheerful, and it wasn't that she was less cheerful.

It was just that there were other parts of her that, as a result of the ritual, became more outwardly expressive. The way she talked about our next

Well, I supposed that I wouldn't say no to more sex later.

What also surprised me was that…

"You are so cute!" she squealed as she hugged what I assumed was her power.

I expected to see the Shun Shun Rikka. Those tiny five fairies that let her do a lot of different stuff. Instead of Shun Shun Rikka, Orihime got a bipedal fluffy bear-dog, if there was a bear version of a Tibetian Mastiff. It was also not a tiny fairy but as big as Orihime while standing.

"Huh, I did not expect that," I uttered out loud, more for her than me. I knew what I was surprised by; I didn't need to tell myself redundantly that I was surprised while being surprised.

Half buried in its brown and white fur, Orihime turned to me with wide jubilant eyes. "Hey, hey, Alan! Let's go see Mr. Megazord defeat the evil hollows!"

Mr. Megazord?

I looked up to the furry face of the bear-dog. It looked like it just got constipation hearing that name.

I snorted in amusement. "Sure. I am sure that Mr. Megazord -" the spirit glared at me. "- is very strong! After all, I got you a hundred Hollow's worth of power!"

"You did?!"

"Yup. You do feel strong, right?"

She nodded rapidly.

"Alright, let's go see him -"

-VB-

"- punt Hollows to death. Wow. Are you really letting him do that?"

Admittedly, a lot of the Hollows I devoured for the Menos Mask were physical fighters rather than the trickier technique users simply because they were the most abundant bunch to be found.

At the same time, calling what was happening before us a "punting" fight was incorrect.

"Mr. Megazord" was powerful. He didn't use his power like Hollows, who defused their power over their entire body, which was why they had techniques like Hierro that just became normal among the higher tiers of Hollows. Mr. Megazord (God, I had to convince her to change that name) focused all of the powers of a Menos into his claws, making them glow gold and rip right through the weaker defenses of Hollows.

Oh, and teeth. He also infused his teeth with power, and boy oh boy, he made tearing souls apart with teeth look easy and good.

"I think I made your power more aggressive than what it was before."

I remembered that Shun Shun Rikka used to be 2:2:1 when it came to defense, healing, and offense, respectively. I think by infusing Hollow into her, the balance of power shifted heavily towards offense as Hollows were naturally more aggressive than Pluses and living humans.

"What do you think?" I asked and looked at my lover.

She looked contemplative.

What was also true was that ever since we finished the tantric ritual, she had become more aggressive as well.

She never pushed me down right after a meal for a full sex marathon before, but she did yesterday.

"Mr. Megazord!" she suddenly shouted.

The bear-dog turned around and woofed.

"Let's transform!"

Wait, what?

Almost naturally, Mr. Megazord jumped towards Orihime, but halfway to his destination, he came apart into the spiritual essence that enveloped Orihime.

There was a burst of light…

'I see.'

I now saw what happened.

Magic was a fickle thing. It interacted differently than what I desired when I used the Menos Mask, a spiritual object, with magic, a non-spiritual force, to incorporate the former into a human, a living being. The tantric ritual should have provided instruction on how the mask should have diffused into Orihime, but that was a mistake on my part.

An apt comparison of what happened would be similar to dropping off a Midwestern American, who has little to no contact with Hispanic cultures, in rural Mexico.

It doesn't work.

But it worked, and I think it had more to do with Orihime than a random chance that allowed it to work. As a living being, she grew and adapted. When her power and body encountered the ritual and the mask, it adapted… but it adapted according to how she saw the world, and how she saw the world was how her innate spiritual power interpreted reality.

Staring at Orihime with furry and clawed gauntlets, bear ears, and something akin to a furry bikini armor for her bras, I think I liked how this ended up.

Perhaps a rendition of animalistic mating session was in order.

We could discover more of her power later.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 24

-VB-

Work work work.

What was work? Work was how things got done. It didn't have to be anything big, arduous, grand, or even boring. The simplest of things, when distilled down to their components, was composed of tasks and work. Work made tasks possible, and in turn, tasks made work valuable.

This was something that most people instinctively understood.

I can't eat if my arm doesn't work to bring that food to my mouth.

I can't get good grades if I don't put work into the task, however small or large.

I can't just research without collecting reagents and whatnot.

In my case, work could be many things. Sometimes, it was searching through the depths of the internet for herbs, animal parts, and human parts. Sometimes, it was going out to collect more Hollows so that I could, instead of making a mask, crush up their essence. Sometimes, it was just sitting inside of a circle to recharge a particular array that has been powering many of the apparatus required for arcane research.

Sitting there in the middle of a passive exotic energy absorption circle, I watched boredly as the circle fed the energy it absorbed, both reiatsu and mana, down another path of the carved magic conduit towards what I called the Grinder.

It too was another magic circle, but that one disassembled all non-physical things into a consistent "primordial essence."

I watched as that circle sent the essence down another magic conduit to the next destination: Converter. This too was a magic circle, but one made to convert the resulting primordial essence into mana, and then

This was all a set-up I thought of and made after realizing that I would be constantly spending mana to do research when my mana pool was limited, which meant that my time spent in research was also limited. By having a battery-charged system to use, I essentially had more time to research, but also because I set it up in such a way that it broke down spiritual essence and converted it to mana, I had even more time!

Orihime was off doing her homework, and Hidemasa… Where was he?

… Oh right. Something about contacting the Portugese magicians. Yes. Yes.

Hmm.

Very odd. I mean, Portugal was a superpower for a short period of time, but they didn't exactly possess the largest population or the most connected population centers. Why would magicians even be interested in staying in Portugal? Why not Spain?

Hmm. Something to learn about some other time because I was stuck powering this system.

… Ugh. This was boring.

-VB-

"So that's the kind of enemy that we will be facing soon," I finished what would soon happen.

Orihime cradled her taut belly and frowned. "So we have a bad man coming to kill a lot of people, and I'll be pregnant through it."

"Yes."

"Then I can't help at all, can I?"

"Staying inside Hidemasa's barrier will prevent anyone from getting their hands on you, so I'll be able to plan and fight better."

"So I should just… not do anything?"

It was an old conversation. I had to remind her that there were really big enemies out there, and I wasn't comfortable letting her fight them, especially not while two to three months pregnant.

"You can't right now."

"… Then what can I do?"

"I'm not sure. We haven't explored your power in full yet."

"Well, Mr. Megazord can help you, right?"

I looked at the crooning bear-dog sitting on the ground next to Orihime. We were right now sitting at the dining table, and he still matched her height when she sat in a chair.

"I don't know how strong he is, so I can't tell. I also don't know how far he can travel or how much damage he can take."

"Then let's test it out!"

"Then what about backlashes?"

"Backlashes…?"

"Sometimes, pushing our powers to the limit can have physical consequences. Incapacitation, miscarriage, coma, and even insanities are not off the menu, Orihime," I told her gently. "And I don't think you want that, too."

She frowned and had tears in her eyes. "… I hate being weak."

"You won't be weak for long. Once we get through this disaster, I promise you I'll be there to help you get stronger."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

She nodded firmly. "Fine, but I want you to get help. You said this isn't just about us, right?"

"It's about the whole town, Soul Society, and more, yes."

"Then get people involved. You said that there are magicians around the world, right? They really won't like what happens if anything here goes to the bad end."

I blinked.

That… was sensible of her. Huh, why didn't I think of that?

Wait, was that why Hidemasa was out and contacting people all of the time? Was that what his wealth was for?

I quickly pulled up a phone and called.

Five tries later, Hidemasa picked up the phone. "Hello, this is -"

"Qin, you've been gathering an army, haven't you?"

A pause.

"Well, it's about time you picked up on it."

I sighed in self-pity. "Well, now I feel like an idiot. I couldn't even see through something so simple!" I grumbled. "What does the Portugese have do with your army?"

"It's quite simple, actually. Apparently, World War II kind of got magicians involved as well, so a lot of neutral clans, houses, tribes, and individuals had to flee as magical means of detection is far ahead of mundane means then and now. Coming to Portugal was to get in contact with them. You told me about how the world was going to end if things didn't go as predicted, right?"

"Yes…?"

"You've been too focused on yourself only, or rather couldn't do much more than that," Hide explained. "You're only one person, after all. But I am an emperor. It was my job to delegate jobs to run an empire. No man rules alone, after all. So when you try to survive the end of the world, Alan, you don't try it by yourself. You get people involved, because this is not a matter of one person or one society."

I held back a retort about how he's been keeping secrets, but I really haven't been paying attention to him and his things, so I couldn't complain.

I mean, I was high on sex and magic to care about him or his company.

"Sorry for not asking for your help earlier."

"Stupid Master."

"But Portugal?"

"It's where they have the magical version of the UN."

"Huh. Why?"

"Most convenient location available after World War II."

"Really? Convenience?"

"I think it says a lot of humanity."

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 25: Fishing

-VB-

Hide left. Again. This time, he told me what he was doing.

That was, he was contacting different institutions that had ties to other non-mundane aspects of the world in an effort to create an even bigger coalition, now that he had some members of the Western European magicals involved in the shenanigans of the Japanese afterlife.

No one would have gotten involved if the Japanese weren't so obstinate about solving their problems by themselves. Maybe it had something to do with the "honor" thing that demands one on one fights, but I wasn't into that bullshit.

Hide was doing a wonderful job.

As for myself, I think I needed to think beyond just me and mine.

That was, I think I needed to think beyond just protection for my home and my woman.

I needed to plan and act on the city itself. It was rude to do it but I don't think that seeding spiritual landmines around the city for the coming fights would be adverse to people's health.

Keeping people in my warehouse and experimenting on them was not going to work out for me. Orihime wouldn't accept it, no matter what or how I worded it. She was a normal girl like that. Horrible things were horrible and thus should not happen.

So what can I do?

… Well, I supposed that I could make a bloody contract that results in any volunteers getting magical artifacts or powers.

Could I get away with that, though?

Probably not.

So what could I do?

…

Right.

Hollows.

-VB-

I hummed as I waited outside my warehouse, pinging my own spiritual pressure at a lower frequency and quality. This would act like a Hollow bait, though limited in range. Waiting quietly with barely any of my topnotch gears, I wondered what kind of Hollows would come and find me.

Hollows all varied in their characteristics. Some were stronger, some had better abilities, and some possessed tougher bodies. Of course, hierro, one of the advanced Hollow techniques, was one such ability I was looking for as well as innately tougher Hollows.

After all, I wanted to test how best to kill them and other spiritual beings without bodies, and as much as Hollows and Shinigamis existed on different "spectrum" of spirituality and spiritual make-up, they were still spiritual beings.

There was a ping.

There was one coming.

I opened my eyes and smiled as I casually began making invisible mana chains.

In the moon-lit night, a white Hollow was easy to spot. It came for me, bounding across rooftops that belied its size. Bigger than four bulls put together, it was easily one of the larger Hollows I've seen.

But merely feeling its spiritual pressure and essence was enough for me to quickly analyze why it was: it was bluffing.

It was weaker than the average Hollow, so to make up for the difference in strength, it puffed itself up like a pufferfish would except it used its size as intimidation against its target. Maybe to get them to run away from whatever kills they had made so it could consume it?

Or so I thought about it as it jumped me.

Even as it grew ever so closer, I felt nothing significant from it.

Sighing at the bad catch, I cracked the invisible mana chain like a whip, and the bullish Hollow squealed like a pig as the chains wrapped all around it, binding its limbs to its body. With mana-boosted strength provided by the strength-boosting golden wristlets, I snapped the chain down, and the Hollow plummeted with the chain. It slammed into the roof of the warehouse…

And died?

"Huh?!" I uttered out of complete shock as the Hollow squealed one more time before passing out in death. I hurriedly gathered its essence.

And then I had an idea.

Instead of forming the essence into another mask, why not make it into a bait?

I grinned as slowly but surely let the essence drift not unlike a wounded Hollow often did. With a small push of my mana and spiritual pressure, the essence in the aether blew away.

And I waited again.

… Hey, was this Hollow-fishing? I mean, I did have a line and a bait… It was Hollow-fishing!

Humming at the discovery of a new hobby and sport, I waited like how I used to wait fishes back before this life.

Patiently.

-VB-

Guerantil sniffed the air.

They were close.

Whoever got into a fight, they came out of it for the worse, and leaking so much essence into the air that it was a wonder to Guerantil that they haven't died yet.

He skittered low to the ground, using his many insectoid legs to scour the place of anything else he might pick up on his way to devour the wounded Hollow.

When he first became a Hollow, he thought the idea of eating another Hollow to be monstrous, but after seeing it happen time and time again, and more than once forced to do so when an area ran out of Pluses and spiritually strong humans, he grew used to it.

This too was one of those times. This area was just devoid of other Hollows and Pluses. Other areas outside of this city were even scarcer.

This was a meal he could not give up on, not without risking his own survival.

At the very least, Guerantil observed his gentleman past and made sure to thank the Hollow.

He found them. They were just around the corn-.

He stared at the dimly-lit floating ball.

The hell? This was a Hollow?

He looked around. He didn't see anyone else, and it was quivering.

Shrugging, he turned to it.

"Sorry," he spoke up. "I really do need to eat, so thank you for being my food. No hard feelings, eh?"

He opened his four sets of mandibles-.

And choked.

He gagged as something tightened around his neck, and tightened even further when he struggled. He was a Hollow; he didn't need air.

So why did it burn?!

His neck carapace cracked under the tension of whatever was gripping him. Was this a trap?!

And then he saw him.

His eyes widened in fear.

Holding a shimmering fishing rod, the human looked at him like he just caught the biggest fish of the pond.

Guerantil crackled in fear.

-VB-

A/N: 1 more chapter available on

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 26: Research is Great!

-VB-

"Hey, let us go!"

I ignored the demands of the Hollows I've caught. Instead, I focused on the table in front of me and the devices on top of them. There were a total of four of them, one for each Hollow of similarly stronger than average durability.

Device #1 "Boom" was a bomb. It produced an explosion of spiritual particle to particle "bond." It, unfortunately, did not limit its explosive power to only spirits but also regular matter, which was why I had a watermelon right next to the cage of one of the Hollows to simulate a human-ish body. Oh, it also had a rat I caught inside of it, happily chewing away at its cage's delicious content.

I grabbed it, pulled the pin, turned to the first Hollow subject, and smiled.

The serpentine Hollow screamed in horror as I under-tossed the cylindrical bomb.

The bomb landed just outside its cage, and shattered.

Visually, there was nothing but the bomb just shattering on the ground like glass.

Spiritually, everyone in the room felt a sudden expansion of pressure. Limited in size, though this only increased the lethality as this act compressed the energy into only that sphere, the "spiritual" explosion chunked the front half of the serpentine Hollow. The watermelon exploded with both rat's gore and the watermelon bits splattering everywhere.

Both events led to a sudden burst of wind overtaking the warded and quarantine corner of the warehouse, which was a containment Bounded Field within a "lab" Bounded Field within Hide's Great Wall noble phantasm which was in turn within a larger "stealth" Bounded Field. On top of this, the cage that held the poor subject and the concrete that had once been under the watermelon also disappeared in a perfect sphere centering on the bomb and the watermelon, respectively with larger and smaller radii.

I hummed as I noted the details of the detonation effect. The way that the Hollow died told me that only a certain amount of penetration was there, even with the limited and focused power of the Boom. The rat, on the other hand, had exploded and did so with such a force that also caused the watermelon to explode.

Interesting, very interesting. Was it because just like with chemical reactions, the shattering of bonds between spiritual particles led to an outburst of energy, maybe in the form of reiatsu, but built up within a mortal body like a physical force? Reiatsu did kill people and chunk environments if the pressure was high enough. Was I mimicking that by literally converting all reiatsu in -?

"Holy shit, he killed Kenny!"

"You bastard!"

I glared at the other Hollows. "Shut up before I make you die a slow death."

"You can't make me, bitch!" the abnormally obese Hollow with five lips on one head taunted effectively.

I felt my cheeks twitch a little.

"Alright," I said as I turned back to the table, and instead of Device #2, I picked up Device #3, "Gluttony."

It was a rubber ball with a lot of runes in place written using my blood. Turning back to the obese Hollow, I tossed it like a baseball.

The Hollow laughed when the fist-sized ball landed harmlessly on his stomach.

And then began screaming when the ball morphed into a centipede-like parasite.

Everyone alive in the room watched as the centipede tore into the stomach, digging into the Hollow. It screamed bloody murder, weeping and begging, as the Curse of Gluttony devoured it from the inside out.

Finally, nine centipedes, each as long as my forearm and as thick as three fingers put together, burst out of the Hollow's untouched backside. The Hollow keeled forward and died, not even ashes left behind. The carnivorous Curse didn't even look at the Hollow in the cage next over, which had been intentionally put close together for exactly this experiment. The multiplied curse just wasn't interested.

As I expected, this "bomb" was not going to work well against anything more than one target.

"I took an inspiration from nature," I spoke casually as the avatars of the curse slithered towards me. I knelt down and put my hand to the floor, bottom up. The centipedes climbed up and coiled themselves around my forearms, four on the left and five on the right. And then they flashed a dim black light. When the light went away, it showed coiling yet simplistic tattoos of centipedes criss-crossing each other. "If life can be parasitic and carnivorous, then could magic and spirits imitate that?"

"Y-You're a monster… !" a short squat and many horned and clawed mole-like Hollow stuttered. "You're a monster!"

"I am a researcher, thank you very much," I snapped back at him testily with narrowed eyes. "With all of the mess the world intends to keep dunking me into, I can't focus on what I really want to do. Just be grateful that your existence will further both magical and spiritual arts… in warfare."

"I don't want to die…" the last Hollow, one that had fashioned itself into a monkey's appearance with a lot of fur and a cow's head, whimpered from its cage.

"Too bad," I shrugged as I grabbed… Device #2, "Basilisk." I tossed it lightly at the whimpering cow-monkey Hollow, and watched in glee when the glass-bomb shattered on the sanskrit-reinforced bars of the cage.

The Hollow screamed as its hands, closest to the side of the cage where the glass-bomb exploded, began to turn to stone.

This bomb's effect was simple: it fused spiritual particles together when exposed to its area of effect and then the effect would climb up and over whichever spiritual essence was connected to the petrified part beyond the range of the bomb itself.

The Hollow wept as its arms began to petrify. "Nononononono-!"

The petrification climbed up its shoulders and spread across its chest.

"Hel….p m….!"

Ah, though they do not breathe, constriction of the chest via petrification made talking harder, huh?

"H-… !"

The effect quickly ascended its throat and then… it was over.

The last evidence of life of the Hollow was the twitching of its toes before it too became stone.

I turned to look at another rat I've caught.

Healthy, alive, and unaffected.

This was a good candidate for landmines.

The last Hollow banged on its cage. "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

I stared at it blankly before grasping the last bomb from the table, Device #4, "Pariah."

It froze upon seeing me.

"W-Wait, we can work something out! You don't have to kill me like you did Kenny, Eric, and Stan! I'm super smart!"

"So are a lot of people," I shrugged. "Intelligence isn't exactly a commodity on short supply in this day and age."

"Oh, fuck you-!"

I tossed the bomb, which got the Hollow to scream in fear mid-outburst.

The bomb hit the iron bar and then bounced off, doing nothing.

"… Huh?"

"Huh."

The rat next to this cage squeaked.

"Ha, it did nothing!"

I squinted at the Hollow before grinning. "No, it's working."

"… No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is," I said as I gestured to the Hollow's hands. "Look."

It looked.

And screamed as it began to lose cohesion.

"W-What's happening to me?!"

"Nothing seriously. All souls are, at the end of the day, spiritual particles that form an ego. What I did was remove your ego. Think of it as a disease. It latches onto you… and slowly starts converting you to itself."

It stared horrified at its hands before looking up. "… You're a fucked up monster. Killing us in horrible ways wasn't enough. You decided to erase us?"

"I see it as nothing different from death. All things must end. Why not even the memories and identities? Imagine, granting death to identities." I shivered in delight. "It's wonderful!"

It glared at me as its body began to turn into that of a Blank, an ego-less soul. "You're a monster. I hope you burn in Hell."

I snorted. "I'll erase Hell if it ever comes after me and mine."

It blinked. "… Why did I have to get caught by a sociopath? I couldn't be eaten like all other Hollows or purified? Purification sounds nice now," it muttered resignedly as the conversion reached its neck. "Good bye, cruel world."

And then it was a Blank.

I looked at the rat.

Blank eyed, still, and laying down on the ground. It was breathing but when I nudged its cage, it didn't respond.

Dead.

I hummed. "I suppose the question of which bomb I can design will be used has been answered."

Basilisk was a good name for a landmine.

Just like how mythological basilisks will turn an unsuspecting victim into stone, all unsuspecting enemies of mine will die without causing harm to anyone else.

Wonderful.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 27:

-VB-

Time flowed.

Summer days grew longer.

Nights grew shorter.

Perfect temperatures at nights meant they were nights perfect for some serious love making. As pregnant as she was, she forbade vaginal sex but completely fine with anal!

Unfortunately, I had obligations that came before pleasure.

As the Arrancar Invasion approached, I needed to finish my experiments within the week and start producing tangible results so that by the time the Arrancars got here, I would at the very least be able to wipe out half of them should they decide to attack me.

What I was really preparing for would be the full scale invasion, and because I have already established through research that there was a direct connection between how fast someone became petrified and the maximum intensity of their spiritual pressure, I needed either a lot of mines or several big ones.

I would have discussed this Orihime as I usually do with most optics, but I knew by now that she wasn't into deciding the fate of others.

There was a reason why she wasn't involved in the fishing, caging, and experimentation.

As she currently was, her pregnancy had progressed to the point where her taut belly was starting to really expand. It wasn't anywhere like one month or one week before birth, but it was getting there with her three months now.

Oh, it also wasn't that I thought "women need to just stay in the bedroom," but rather because Orihime was just not the kind of person who would engage in cruelty like I often do.

Petrifying a Hollow, one at a time, and letting its peers see it die was in no way merciful and humane. That was about sadism, building up tension, intensifying horror, and forcing them to live what they saw happen to others.

I was a sadist.

It was… an odd thought.

I wasn't a sadist before I came to this place. I was a normal guy doing normal things living a normal life.

Was this my true self? Given power over others, I used it to seduce and fuck women, and tortured, mutilated, and experimented on those who had no value to me.

It was a morbid thought.

I always thought I was a decent guy.

I now knew that I wasn't.

…

I stared at the cages in the far corner of the warehouse, a corner which was warded off even from Orihime. The cages sat empty, but there were lingering spiritual presence that remained from those that became stone.

I smiled instead.

"I guess I am a monster in human skin," I said to myself before checking the clock. It was time for Orihime to come back home. Today was her last day in school before summer vacation started. She was going to be eating and then going out to play with her friends, so I would have to help her with some weight dispelling spells.

The door opened.

"I'm home~!"

"Welcome home!" I greeted with a broad smile as my other half closed the door behind her.

-VB-

While Orihime went out to socialize, I stayed indoors to start production on Petrification Mines.

I quickly ran into a problem.

For each landmine, I needed reagents in quantities I did not possess.

This meant that I either had to hunt excessively and risk being found out or ask someone else for resources.

"Hidemasa~!"

"Hello, master," he responded drily from the other side of the phone call. "What is it that you need?"

Geez, he did not sound happy.

"We'll talk about that later. You don't sound like you're having fun."

He sighed deeply. "I am dealing with people. I am dealing with people who have centuries to their name. I am dealing with people whose ego is as big as the planet. I am dealing with egotistical and uncultured swine who have rivalries with each other."

Yeah, he was not having fun.

"Well, I kind of need some reagents if you can buy it on my behalf and send them over."

He didn't respond for a moment.

"What is it for, master?"

"Well, I made this cool neat trick I call 'petrification landmines-'"

"Master," he cut me off. "While I am not someone who can go out of his way and tell others what war crimes to not commit, I highly urge you to not commit war crimes." A pause. "What war crimes have you already committed?"

I laughed nervously. "Is it really a war crime if I am doing them in evil spirits…?"

"According to the Reverse Side Compact of 1877 that most of the European magicians seem to follow, war crime done on spirits, regardless of their status, is classified as war crime."

"… Well, drats."

"I heavily urge you to not make petrification landmines, master. They do not sound like something you want around your house."

"I tested them out! It doesn't work on anyone that has a flesh and blood body!"

"And pray tell, master, how did you test this?"

I clamped up and changed topic.

"So can you buy them for me or not?"

"Master, I am trying to get the help of entire magical-nations, and having you commit war crimes behind my back does not make this easier. Please think of my own efforts."

"But I don't have anything else to fall back on then! It's the only thing I have been doing for the last two months!"

" Landmines, master? Of all of the things you could research, hone, and perfect, you chose landmines?" he growled. Oh wow, he must be really mad. He never growled at me before.

"… You know what? I think I'll risk detection and gather them myself. Can you at least send some pregnancy and baby care packages from Europe? I hear their stuff is higher quality, even if more expensive."

I only heard a sigh from him. "I will, master. I hope your landmines don't blow up on any allies. Good night."

"Good night!"

The call ended.

I thought about the last thing he said.

Did I even have allies?

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 28

-VB-

I caught an intruder.

It wasn't any of the Visored or Urahara's crew or Ichigo's friends. No, this was a completely different person and his intention had been very clear.

If the nondescript throw away knives weren't any indication, then it was the fact that he carried poison with him.

A hostile.

What really made this situation complicated was the fact that this man had a zanpakuto on him.

He might have gotten away with sneaking around my place if he went around sneaking around properly. But he didn't. He probably thought that my warehouse was no different from regular material world buildings and expected to phase right through.

He didn't know about the bounded field and promptly got himself concussed and knocked out.

Grumbling, I grabbed him by him by the back of his ninja-suit (whatever passed for it in the Soul Society) and dragged him into the warehouse.

-VB-

2nd Division 7th Seat Sugo Yuma blearily woke up.

Then his eyes shot open when he couldn't move.

He found himself struggling mid-air. He looked down and found some kind of rope made out of light holding him in place within a barred cage. He pulled his head up and looked around.

He wished he hadn't.

Surrounding him were Hollows in similar cages.

"Hey."

He looked at the Hollow who'd just greeted him as if he was an old friend.

"I don't know what you did, but man, you fucked up," the Hollow cackled.

That sounded more like a Hollow, sneering and deriding the shinigamis everywhere.

"Well, you better enjoy what little time you have left, because I heard the mad scientist over there that you were going to enjoy his tender mercies first for whatever reason. Thank you for that, by the way. I don't like being ground to dust."

Chatty.

Wait, what was that about being ground to dust?

Mad scientist?

He looked around frantically and found the only human in this… warehouse.

It was the same warehouse he had been tasked to infiltrate to learn of its inhabitants.

Standing in front of some kind of dimly lit altar, the man had blonde hair like Matsumoto-fukutaicho but thin like Ukitake-taicho.

The similarities to the two widely-known "good" shinigamis ended there, because Yuma saw a glimpse of this man's eyes and knew he was before another Kurotsuchi-taicho.

"W-What are you doing experimenting on shinigamis and hollows?!" he demanded boldly to offset his own nervousness.

The man paused for a second and turned to look.

And when the man's reiatsu came, it wasn't the normally crushing power he expected from taichos or other powerful shinigamis and hollows. What he felt was a sickening scent of murderers and evil-doers. It wrapped around him, analyzing him like a butcher poked at a slab of meat.

Yuma intensified his struggle. He wasn't going to die here! Not to a mad scientist like this beast!

"Struggling won't save you," the man replied without even blinking before he touched the altar, causing it to dim out and deactivate. "The rope siphons your own power to reinforce its toughness and strength. The more you, a purely spiritual being, struggle, the more that rope gets stronger at your expense."

Then he pulled out a needle.

"By the way, thank you for volunteering to be my subject," he said nonchalantly as he approached Yuma.

"I didn't volunteer for anything!" he shouted frantically as the man grew closer.

"An attempt at home invasion is the same thing. Now, try to relax and not let the tip get broken inside of you. I hear that it can be rather painful to get it back out."

Then the needle was sinking into Yuma's neck, and he screamed as everything began to burn.

"Souls obviously have poisons that work on them," the man said, though it was muffled by whatever poison he'd injected Yuma with. Yuma hung there, gasping and gagging as his veins bulged and heart drummed inside his head and chest. "But what exactly is poison to your kin? I've tested this thoroughly with the Hollows. Say hi to Jamie over there. His regeneration was a great contribution to my researches."

Yuma sobbed as the pain got too much. He wanted to pass out but he couldn't.

"What I've injected you with was merely something like a spiritual surfactant, if you will. It also works on Hollows, did you know?"

As the pain regressed, Yuma gasped again for air… only, his breath caught as he saw what the man was holding.

It was his Amaya, his zanpakuto.

"What are you…?"

"What happens when a shinigami whose soul is very close to being dissolved has their zanpakuto… let's say petrified?"

Directly underneath where the mad scientist, this criminal, was holding out his zanpakuto was a circle with some kind of scripts carved into the very concrete of this warehouse's foundation.

As the man placed the zanpakuto at the center of the circle, it lit up in an ominous red.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

"Test subjects don't get choices, shinigami."

And then-.

Yuma felt his very soul start to burn. He couldn't even breath as he watched his zanpakuto turn a brittle grey and cracks began to form all along its length.

When it snapped in half…

Yuma's eyes rolled over in his head and he fainted.

The last thing he heard before he fainted were cold and contemplative words.

"Making note to self, spiritual particles in PQ-33 formation works fantastically to cause spiritual bond disruption. Now, how to spray my enemies with this… At least this makes the process somewhat discriminatory."

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 29

-VB-

The Four Musketeers - I know, it's supposed to be three but there were four of them - returned from Soul Society, and they brought back with them some unwelcome guests.

I, however, did not mind them too much because, well, my bounded fields kept them out and most of the "cast" at this point in Karakura Town weren't bad or ambitious people.

Okay, one of them was a fight-loving brute, but that's one in… five?

Whatever.

To my surprise, Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro was the first person to confront me. I actually didn't even know he came to visit and talk, but he did, and got into the warehouse because Ichigo told Orihime that, and I quote, "He's not a bad," about Hitsugaya, so she invited him for a tea when she saw him outside the warehouse trying to find a way in - or talk to its inhabitants.

This placed in me a deep sense of deja vu. Hasn't something like this happened before?

Regardless, a guest was a guest, and Hitsugaya was not a smug or manipulative bastard like Urahara, so I had no reason to be rude to him right off the bat.

Unless he decided to start demanding something unreasonable, that was, because - as part of a military organization - his duty was to further the goals of his military, and if the military demanded it, then he had to act on it. I wasn't like Ichigo, who'd gone into Soul Society and helped them. I was an outsider even among the "mortals" and, on top of that, a known unfriendly neighbor. Soul Society would lose nothing to drive me out if it came down to it, and especially considering that I had to kill one of the Second Division's assassins, I had a feeling that they were aware that I was aware of their intent towards me.

"I didn't think that a captain would come and visit me," I hummed as I served all four of us tea. Orihime was just happy to talk with Matsumoto, Hitsugaya's more mature-looking (note how I didn't call her mature but merely mature-looking) lieutenant.

Also, she was hot as ugh, I wanna tap that.

The tenth division captain, a very young man by the standards of Soul Society, grunted. "I have been tasked with surveying the town of all those who are capable of spiritual contributions. You're the third I have visited."

I assumed that Urahara was the first, if only because of gigais the shinigamis needed, but who was the second? It was unlikely to be the Visored, because they were still on the run (formerly slated for execution) and Urahara wouldn't direct Hitsugaya to them under most circumstances.

Something to think about later.

Also, seeing as Hitsugaya clearly did not want to beat around the bush, I didn't either.

"For what reason?" I asked.

"For recruitment."

I snorted. "Soul Society can go die in a ditch," I laughed.

My words caused the other three to tense up.

I had my reasons, of course, namely that the Second Division had tried to kill me and Orihime, but I couldn't just outright say that. What the Second Division did might not even be known to Hitsugaya and the greater Gotei 13.

Second Division was, after all, an intelligence and assassination division.

They're not going to just tell everyone they were going to kill someone.

So I also didn't, because aside from the fact that Orihime might be upset over my homicide, I didn't know how these two would react. Oh, they would certainly be hostile, but would they act upon it?

Seeing as I didn't know the exact strength I would have to fight against the combined might of the Tenth Division's captain and lieutenant, I didn't.

I also would make Soul Society an open enemy of mine, which would be reciprocated in turn. I couldn't possibly handle that without more preparation. It also would attract Aizen to seek me out, and I was not going to let that damn manipulator and illusionist anywhere close to me if I could help it.

So no, I couldn't just blurt out the fact that the Second Division tried to kill me and that it made us enemies (even if Hitsugaya and Matsumoto might not know about the fact). There was, however, another angle I could play.

"Soul Society is so corrupt that calling it corrupt would make the other corrupt assholes feel slighted," I said pleasantly, even if what I'd just spoken was anything but. "Hell, even if you told me that I would get paid to work for you, I don't think I can believe that."

Hitsugaya didn't say anything. Considering that everyone out of the centermost region of Soul Society saw exactly how crude, violent, and short life for the immortal souls were, they couldn't.

And so he and Matsumoto didn't.

"And? It is how it is."

Okay, maybe not.

"Well, go fuck off if you really think that," I replied coldly. "That's the old way of thought, and the rest of humanity doesn't follow through with it."

"We have our orders."

I leaned forward.

"And I just told you no. So you can leave."

To my surprise, they left. Actually in hindsight, it wasn't surprising because they were good people, and good people don't try to fuck over other people.

"Did you have to be mean to them?"

I turned to look at Orihime, and shrugged casually.

"As long as they're in Gotei 13, I might have to," I replied. "They might not be corrupt, but the nobles in charge of them are corrupt as hell. They're the kind of people who force shinigamis with the same zanpakuto spirit to have a duel to the death."

She looked horrified by it.

"The people in charge of them are nobles worse than the ones that used to dominate this island nation in its medieval era. It's best if we don't associate with them."

"T-Then what about Tatsuki-chan and Ichigo-san?"

"They aren't members of Gotei 13, right?"

"Probably not… I mean, they aren't dead."

"Then I don't care. I don't like Ichigo because the bastard and his friends make too much collateral damage and have no remorse for it, but if you want to be friends with them, I don't mind. Just don't let our kid be like them."

She chuckled nervously as she caressed her taut belly. "Yeah, that would be…"

"Out of control?"

"Yes."

It took some time but I managed to get her around to my way of thinking by using the ingrained culture inside of her: Japanese conformity. While we could be as weird and odd as we want inside of our homes, we had to keep up at least the semblance of appearances outside of it, and should our child become too much like her mom's friends, who are very prone to collateral damage, then there was a problem on our hands.

But that was still a question and possible problem we would have to discuss and solve some half decade down the line.

I leaned over and wrapped my arms around Orihime, who hummed appreciatively.

"… If we really want, then we can just move away from it all." It was a nice delusion. Aizen wasn't likely to let anything escape his grasp. He was just that kind of megalomaniac, the ones with messiah complexes.

"I… heard what happened in Soul Society."

I felt her hands clench.

"I don't want to run away from it."

I sighed. I supposed that I should have expected this.

"Okay," I said. "But you know that you can't leave our home when it starts to get serious, right?"

She nodded.

"Good."

It was a compromise. We wouldn't run away to leave her hometown to burn, but she also wouldn't be in the way of harm.

I felt that I was coming back to this point constantly because… I honestly cared for her. If I saw her get hurt by either the shinigami or the arrancar, then I might really do something I might regret later.

After all, Soul Society won't be Soul Society if I reduce the planet to a nuclear wasteland - and I could, considering that I had a copy of the Worm parahuman Bakuda under my list of abilities. Try being spiritual with the material world there to supply you with the souls.

You can't.

… Wait, was that seriously the solution?

Could I make a bomb that prevented the transfer of souls?

… I might just have one last experiment to do before the shit hit the fan, and arrancars… they made for a very good test subject with all of those souls they devoured.

30.1

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Interlude

-VB-

"Eh?!"

Tatsuki stared at Ichigo, whose annoyed half-sneer hid his self-doubt.

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying that the blonde gaijin is stronger than all of us?"

"I think he's always been strong," Ichigo replied to her. "Before we went to Soul Society, he actually took on both me and Ishida, but took us down without even getting hurt."

Chad looked stoic next to Ichigo, but he hummed thoughtfully. "So someone like that was in the town all along. But why didn't Urahara ask for his help?"

Tatsuki grimaced. "I might know a few things about that."

Her two friends looked at her, prompting her to follow up.

"Alan… he's not a good person."

"Okay…?"

"He's more than a little selfish, he's arrogant, he's a seducer-" she bit her lips at that slip of the tongue before quickly continuing to cover it up. "Look, he's just not the kind of guy you go to ask for help unless you have no options, and his help isn't even guaranteed. If the circus hat couldn't get Alan's help, none of us can."

Tatsuki wisely kept to herself the idea that she actually might be able to get that help… if only she exchanged his help for her body. She had a feeling that if that happened, she wouldn't be leaving that warehouse he called his home.

"Besides, how do you know that it was Alan who did that?" she asked.

Ichigo scoffed. "Who else uses weird objects as weapons with effects no one else has ever seen? Rukia was baffled when she saw it."

"I was."

The three of them turned to Rukia, who had been sitting next to them the entire time. "When that Hollow, Grimmjow got hit by those bombs, it left him very weak. Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho in his shikai form didn't pierce him but each of those bombs did, which puts them on par if not greater in firepower than Ichigo's bankai Getsuga Tensho."

Tatsuki grimaced. Her best attack was on par with Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho, and she didn't have any other abilities to make up for it. She wasn't as "tanky" as Chad, fast as Ichigo, experienced as Rukia, or whatever it was that the circus hat and his people were.

She was the weak link for her group, and hated every second of it.

What was worse was that if it hadn't been for Alan's pendent that Urahara got for her, she would be even weaker.

Yeah, so what if she was as strong as a Gotei 13 lieutenant? The moment that pendent ran out of power or she lost it, she would drop below and become nothing more than cannon fodder, and she knew it all too well.

She hated being helpless and reliant like this.

"Ohayo~!"

EVeryone turned towards the classroom entrance and saw Orihime.

"Orihim-!" And Chizuru got smacked mid-tackle-flight. Her head smoked from where she'd been struck by Orihime, who hadn't even looked at her, and she twitched on the ground. "A-Ahn~! I l-love this new violent side of you… !"

Tatsuki shivered.

God, how did Orihime deal with that pervert everyday at school?

"Yay, all of us are here today!" Orihime cheered as she brought herself right next to the group of four.

For a moment, there was a bit of unease before Ichigo and Rukia smiled.

Tatsuki let herself smile… or would have done so if she didn't see Orihime's knowing look.

'What the hell are you planning this time, hime?!' Tatsuki ranted internally.

Ever since Alan corrupted Orihime, the innocent and naive, if occasionally wise, girl was no longer there. In her place was a strong-willed, experienced, still-optimistic, and outgoing woman. Of course, the rest of the school noticed this too. It didn't help that she got prettier everyday. She wasn't a supernatural beauty, yet.

All of the girls wanted to be like her.

All of the boys wanted to be her boyfriend (if they only knew…).

"So what are you all talking about?" said girl asked.

Her group glanced at each other before Rukia spoke up. "We were talking about your boyfri-"

"Husband."

"… Excuse me?"

"Husband," she smiled slyly as she presented her -.

"That's a gold ring. Lots of small diamonds. And a big diamond," Ichigo muttered.

There was a pause before the rest of the classroom erupted into a disbelieving yell before crowding the girl.

Girls cooed and boys wailed.

Tatsuki just sighed. "Did you finally badger him down to make it official?"

"Yup!"

Alan, for being a selfish, greedy, nearly sadistic, and often wanton character, possessed an oddly stiff side. Official marriage had been his thing, apparently. According to Orihime, he wanted to wait until she graduated so that her reputation wouldn't get tarnished for it, but Orihime objected to that.

"So you got one over the pervert, huh?" she asked with a grin.

Orihime smiled coyly, which only made the wails and coos louder. "Well, I do know what to do to get my husband to act."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "… Well, we need to talk to you in private soon," she added, gesturing to her group.

"Oh oh oh! Then let's have a manga rooftop meeting!"

Snort.

Even if she had changed a lot, Orihime was still Orihime.

"We can talk about Alan's black hole bombs!"

Rukia was clueless but the other three, including her, paled dramatically.

"Wait, what?"

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 31

-VB-

Why did this happen so often?

Sitting in my living room, I sat across from Urahara Kisuke, who didn't take a no this time. He was really rude this time, considering that I went out of my way to help Ichigo.

The boy was going to survive that fight, but I made it known to Urahara indirectly that I was on his side!

For spending my resources in that fight, I got a rude house call from Urahara.

"What do you want?"

I blinked. "Aren't I supposed to be asking you that?" I asked him in honest surprise. "Considering you have been the one who's been constantly bugging me?"

He rubbed his chin. "Since I have already been asking you, you already know what I want, don't you?"

"… I guess I do," I mumbled and then raised my voice back to normal level. "Does it matter what I want?"

He met my gaze equally.

"Marris-san, you have dealt a blow to an individual that has shown himself to be a captain-rank Hollow. Your ability to deal that damage without giving yourself away like all other combatants must make you a powerful player. You, however, have accepted neither our hands nor theirs. In fact, you have thrashed both sides at least once."

I raised an eyebrow. "I remember only fighting Ichigo and his friend. You consider that 'thrashing your side'? Especially when those boys -"

"They are the same age as you or nearly."

"- are still incapable of fighting without causing collateral damage," I continued, ignoring his tidbit. "My attacks on the humanoid Hollow caused very little damage to the infrastructure while Kurosaki-kun once again put holes and damaged houses that people live in."

I knew that my complaint would amount to nothing.

Why?

Because Soul Society and its inhabitants - because of their naturally long age and spiritual importance - saw such troubles I was pointing out as trivial problems. As long as the afterlife remained disconnected from the material world, they didn't care.

In that regard, they were no different from Ichigo.

And now that I was showing actual power, they considered me a threat worthy of their attention. Urahara was here, yes, and not Soi Fon or Byakuya, but at the end of the day, Urahara was still loyal to the idea of Soul Society.

Or at least, that was my belief. I could be wrong!

But it didn't change the fact that Soul Society, despite having surely received the report that an unknown party nearly off'ed one of the strongest arrancars, didn't send one of their own-.

Zap.

…

Never mind.

I sighed as I stood up. Urahara looked confused for a moment as he followed me deeper into the warehouse, which now had some of its space twisted so that it was bigger on the inside than the outside (but not by much).

A body fell from the ceiling and landed in front of us.

Urahara looked, and then his eyes widened.

"Marris-"

"I know. This is not the first time either," I muttered as I kicked the dead shinigami over, showing me the work uniform of the Second Division, aka the assassins. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Can you leave?"

"I don't think that that would be a good idea."

"Because it would make you my enemy?" I asked casually with a sigh. "Need I remind you that we are currently inside my workshop?"

He paused.

"No, that wasn't what I was about to say."

"Is it about how many powerful players are involved? Then I think you can appreciate what kind of defenses I have," I grunted as I walked over to a glass cabinet, opened the doors, and then pulled out a ball. "This is a black hole bomb, Urahara."

He froze and then paled. "That is -!"

"Not safe? Totally. It's basically my 'fuck you' card. Something I set up specifically for mutually assured destruction. Ever heard of that? Wait, why am I asking. Of course, you have. You live in Japan, which got bombed twice by atomic bombs. It would be ignomous for you to not have heard of it, considering that you are a scientist and all."

"… You are starting to act a little rude, Marris-kun."

"I think I have a bloody right to be. Your cousin's ex-coworkers send an assassin after me once a week almost. Do you know how frustrating and paranoid they make me? It wasn't even that I did what Ichigo did and invade their goddamn country. No, I stuck to my little bubble but your people still attacked me."

"I'm sure that there is a reason for it. However, you have already made an enemy out of Aizen."

"And I'm sure the manipulative bastard knows what happens if he decides to go crazy on me. A black hole goes off, and he can forget whatever he planned because all of Japan would be gone."

"You seriously intend to set it off?"

"Not if there is no reason to. Your friends' assassins constantly make me doubt that, though."

Urahara took a deep breath in. "I'll do what I can, but in exchange, I want you to hand me that."

I laughed at that. "Give you my final deterrent? Please, you can go get high elsewhere," I snapped as I stashed it away. I sighed. I was getting too worked up about this. Why was I-?

My eyes widened and quickly used multiple dispels on myself.

I felt my mind restore itself to equilibrium.

My eyes snapped up and Urahara realized that something was wrong.

The bastard came here for information!

"You fucking-!" I snarled with wrath.

A dark form jumped out of his shadows and my own defenses reacted.

Space between us exploded, and I skidded away from the explosion.

When the dust and smoke settled, Urahara and whoever that had been were gone.

My cheeks twitched irritably.

"Okay. Alright. You want a goddamn war? You'll get one, you sons of bitches." And then my eyes widened. Orihime wasn't home yet, even though she was supposed to be.

Where was she?

I quickly pulled out my phone and called. My feet tapped irritably as -.

"[Alan?]"

"Orihime, use the teleport tag now."

There was a moment of pause before she hummed in acknowledgement.

And then, no more than three seconds later, she was in front of me. She was frowning. "What's wrong-?" she started to ask but then saw the state of the immediate area of the warehouse around us. "An attack?!"

"Urahara tried to mentally manipulate me… !" I hissed.

She frowned. "I… didn't think he would go so far. I mean, I knew that he was working with Kurosaki-kun and they were fighting the evil guys, but you're not evil!"

Debatable but her confidence in me helped me settle down.

I let my shoulders sag.

"Urgh, what am I going to do?" I muttered as I facepalmed and dragged it down the length of my face.

Orihime gave me a hug, and we stood there on top of the blackened spot on the warehouse's concrete floor.

I needed options.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 32

-VB-

After months of hearing about my supposed allies, I finally heard something from them through my trusted Servant.

I unfolded the letter and read the first words on top.

"A cease and desist order." I let my arms drop in frustration and disappointment. "Really?" After taking a deep breath, I pulled the letter back up and read it out loud to myself. "'To the master of Hidemasa. We, the Confederation of European Magic, greet you. Though we knew not of our kin in the far east, we are glad to know you have settled there despite the dangers present. Words from your servant have, however, caused some distrust. While we at the confederation cannot fathom why you consider weapons development as a means of protecting yourself, especially weapons that have already been long considered to be unethical.'"

I paused and narrowed my eyes.

"'For that reason, we shall be sending you a team of investigators to determine the state of the lands you live in, and whether or not you have been exaggerating to your servant. Should the team find your claims to be false, especially in regards to the spiritual nature of the Japanese isles, then there exists a possibility that you will be arrested on charges of unethical weapons development, distribution, possession, and usage on top of whatever harm and grievances the locals may have agains-'"

I threw the letter at this point.

"What the fuck, Hide?!" I roared.

-VB-

I got into a call with him later that day.

"So let me get this straight," I let out an explosive sigh. "All of that happened on your end because of merely two inquiries directed at the black markets?"

"{More or less}," he replied tiredly.

According to Hidemasa, simply being rejected was not the end of his ordeal after he explained that I might need materials for explosives. No, he'd even done well to ask the black market, but the situation over in magical Europe was not what I thought it was.

For example, black market wasn't too illegal?

Yes, sure, there were illegal substances that went through the black market regularly, just like any other normal black markets. What was different was who was in charge of those markets.

Apparently, magical Europe's black markets had an association.

… Yeah.

I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't a blood association. No, it wasn't a cartel. No, it wasn't a gang. No, it wasn't some death cult.

It was an association no different from a homeowner association.

They had rules and etiquette that all of the members were expected to follow.

And one of those happened to be "don't let a crazy foreigner buy stupid things."

Hidemasa, a foreigner, tried to buy materials for magical/spiritual explosives, stupid things.

So the association of black market owners reported

It's ridiculous! It's unheard of!

"I thought the confederation of magical Europe was composed of old-timers who liked their fucking traditions!" Old-timers who would still be stuck in the mindset that violence and war were a part of human life, not something to be avoided.

"{That is the case, Alan}," Hide answered me. "{But it seems that the rulers of united magical Europe aren't as conservative or reactive as we both thought they were. They are, in fact, very progressive and also very keen on keeping everything under at least a semblance of control.}"

"Including the black market," I sighed. "Which you went to."

"{Yes}."

It wasn't Hide's fault. It was our fault for engaging Europe without learning more about it.

Still, they said they were sending investigators, right?

"What can you tell me about the investigators?" I asked. I didn't know when Aizen would make his final move, but if the investigators arrived before then…

… There was no way it was going to work. I had wanted the magicians here as help before it got this serious. Hell, the goddamn war might break out tomorrow.

"{I don't know anything about them beyond that they are known for being impartial.}"

"Hide, when are they arriving?"

"{About that… }"

"Hide…?"

"{There is a high chance that they might be arriving tomorrow}."

… Okay.

Okay.

Whatever.

Just…

I sighed. "Okay, I'll deal with it on my end, but I need you back now. The Winter War is about to break out, and I am not sure of my own capability in keeping the barrier you erected over the warehouse if someone decides to pull dimensional shenanigans.

"{I'll be there by tomorrow then, master. Be careful}."

"Safe travels."

And then I hung up.

I let out a deep sigh.

"How did it go?" Orihime asked from behind.

"No help is coming from Europe," I replied honestly. "I'll just have to hole up in the warehouse with you."

"C-Can I bring my friends?"

I turned to her. She seemed really worried about her friends.

"Only three, and none of them from Kurosaki's crew of misfits," I acceded as I walked towards my workstations.

Just as I told my Servant, Winter War was coming.

I had work to do.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 33

-VB-

I worked overnight to fortify my base to the utmost. Of course, no one could tell what was happening because the combination of my Bounded Fields and Hide's Great Wall prevented anyone from spying.

It wasn't for a lack of trying as well.

All of the big names - the arrancars and Aizen, Gotei 13 and its Second Division, Urahara, the Visoreds - tried passive scans, then active scans, and finally breaking and entering (though only the Second Division tried the last), but this time, I had clamped down hard on all intrusions, even more than before. Whatever holes they found in my defenses before no longer existed, and just as they could not see into my base, I could not see out of it.

At least until Hide came in with the European inspectors and unlocked his Great Wall.

When I felt him knock on the metaphorical gates, which was his way of telling me that he was here with guests and not just by himself, I opened a small way for them to enter.

Enter, they did.

Hide walked in the front with two individuals behind him. Neither dressed in the traps of modernity but wrapped themselves in the dresses of the past.

Considering that the elderly woman of the two who wore a Roman toga of all things, both of them had to have come from societies or cultures with some long histories.

"Welcome to my abode, representatives of the…?"

The toga-wearing lady curtsied. "I am Sophia Euphorbenos of the Hidden East Roman Empire. Thank you for allowing us passage into your private sanctum."

The other representative bowed lightly. "I am Hans von Ludowinger, representative of the Society of Thuringian Alchemists. Both of us are inspectors from the Reverse side Compact." Wasn't that the name of the treaty the magicals signed? I guessed that they took the treaty and used it as a name. It wasn't a bad name, though a little on the nose.

"Through your Representative Qin, we learned that you were facing some sort of threat native to this region, am I correct?" Sophia asked me.

"I am."

"And who might these threats be?" Hans asked.

"Well, let's start with the more obvious threats," I said as I gestured for them to follow me.

Instead of the open warehouse that my home was before, I sectioned off the warehouse into five areas and walled them off. These five areas were connected by a central hallway. The first was, of course, my home where the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms were. The second and third rooms were labs. The fourth was the storage area.

And the fifth area, now a room I supposed, was where I held my captives.

"Please, this way," I said as I unlocked all of my magical security measures - ranging from counter-espionage shock attack, simple locks, complicated locks, and then some - and then the normal locks before opening the door.

When I opened the simple light wood door and the bright lights of the room inside showed who I kept in the cages, the two representatives recoiled but only for a brief moment. Sophia, after getting my permission, quickly stepped in and looked over the more bizarre of my two captives.

"You have a Hollow infestation?" she asked me incredulously.

"You are familiar with them?" I asked her as I stepped in, followed by Hans and Hide.

"I am, but they are so rare in the Mediterranean that meeting one is thought to be a sign of extreme back luck."

Ouch. I guessed that Japan was indeed unlucky. After all, Japan was still suffering from its economic downturn (for the last decade), its population was shrinking, young people find work, the old conservatives and their xenophobic policies didn't allow Japan to recover…

Shit, yeah, extremely bad luck sounded perfectly in line with what was happening with this country.

"There's about a dozen roaming this town every night."

Hans did a spit-take.

"And the average strength of the Hollows?" Sophia asked. She sounded and looked far more professional than Hans did.

Hide spoke up at this point. "By the standards of the Reverse Side Compact, I have determined that the average strength of the Hollow would be classified as Beta plus."

Hans groaned while Sophia nodded. "It indeed is a significant infestation. However, how does that -."

"Because those are the low ranking scum-eating low lives of the Hollow hierarchy."

Sophia stilled and tilted her head forward towards me. "Tell me more."

"Hollows are separated into two categories: regulars and Menos Grande. It is said that a single low-class Menos Grande is supposed to be a thousand times as strong as a regular Hollow. This town, however, is under assault from not low-class Menos Grande but mid and high-tier humanified versions of Menos Grande."

"How is the town still standing?" Hans asked, horrified.

"Because there is the other party involved in this. The local afterlife."

From the way Hans dropped his face into his awaiting hands and Sophia quirked an eyebrow at the dramatic man's reactions, it was clear that there was a disconnect between the two.

"Well, it is the afterlife for the unaffiliated souls," I added. "And it seems to follow a medieval caste system comparable to feudal Japan. Their foremost military organization, Gotei 13, is equally strong, if not stronger, than the belligerent Hollows. The problem, however, is that this town is becoming the center of their cold war that's about to break out into conflict. This is why I had my Servant looking for materials to defend myself. Because at the rate that shit's happening, there will be a war. Whatever agreements of secrecy you have, the Hollows certainly don't care. If you doubt my words, then look around. You will find more than a few evidence of recent combat. Some are better covered up than others. I presume that the two representatives of the compact have at least some experience in determining this and have no issue doing some investigative work?"

"No, we will not," Hans said with a sigh. "God, this is a clusterfuck. I told the compact they should be more alert of the orient!"

Sophia shushed him up. "We shall get right to it, Lord Marris," she curtsied again, and led Hans away.

What they didn't know was that I had bugged my own base, including the bedroom.

You know, for… research purposes.

"It is obvious that he is a powerful magician. Keeping a Hollow chained in and of itself would have earned him the title of a warlock back with the Compact."

"I know," Hans grouched. "Why the hell is he here, anyways? He doesn't look Japanese."

"American, I assume."

"Ugh, Americans. They think they're all above the Compact."

"We charge them through the nose to clean up their own mess, so I am happy to leave them be."

"But Japan is not part of our compact. It never has been because there never have been enough magicals."

"If you consider this new information, then I think we now know the reason why. Our records of Hollows tell us that Hollows go after magicals."

"Indeed. Although, I do find what Mr. Marris tells us about this city to be a little bit… over the top…"

"Better safe than sorry."

"Yes. If there truly is a cadre of highly evolved Hollows and spiritual fighters, then the Compact must be ready. Well, shall we go have a look then, Grand Warlock Euphorbenos?"

"Hide, how high is a grand warlock?" I asked him as I walked him out of the room after the two representatives left on their own.

"I believe that there are only a five dozen Grand Warlocks within the Compact. They are something of an elite magician."

Oh, they didn't send some floozy. Interesting…

"Make sure they don't die ugly deaths, will you? Hollows will try their best to eat them if spotted."

"Of course, Master."

Hide disappeared, leaving me in the hallway.

I made my way to the quarters and walked in.

Sitting in the living room and laughing at something, Orihime paused and looked up at me.

"Ah, my man's here!" she giggled as she stood up and led me deeper into our home.

I felt a little guilty, actually, because I have been extremely busy making upgrades to the warehouse and our home that I only met her at night to sleep in the same bed and eat breakfast together.

The three people she brought for their safety had surprised me a few days ago.

Because I did not expect her to bring back Tatsuki nor bring in Karin and Yuzu.

"Hello, girls," I grinned, tired. "How's your day?"

At the very least, Ichigo's sisters aren't really part of his "gang" but Tatsuki…

I accepted her because, well, we did fuck. It wasn't like she was of any use out there anyways. She just wasn't strong enough and knew when to protect herself, which in turn allowed others to fight to their fullest without having to watch out for their weak link.

And so, it was a waiting game now.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 34

-VB-

When the European magicians came out of their "private" meeting, I was ready to meet them again.

The two inspectors of the Compact stepped out of the room. The toga-wearing elderly woman, Grand Warlock Euphorbenos, spoke first.

"It seems that we have been underestimating the threat you have been facing, Magician Marris," she spoke with crinkled eye smiles. "With what we know now, what you have been trying to do, as extreme as they seemed to us back in the confederation, makes sense."

"Does that mean you'll let me do them?"

Not that it mattered. Without the resources, I was limited to what I had already created with my innate abilities and easily purchased mundane materials. I made a lot, and have done a lot, but I could have done more with more.

If those materials were in Japan, then I would have bought them already and made better bombs, spiritual, magical, and mundane.

It irked me a little that these people, who didn't deign to know the situation, dedicated to Hidemasa what he could and couldn't do. Why? I was fighting for my survival here, and they didn't know. It absolved them of their problems, right?

"… The confederation will not be able to promise anything," she replied evenly.

What?

"It made sense, you said," I narrowed my eyes. "But you can't promise anything? The words do not match in direction and causality, Grand Warlock. I have a Hollow infestation unlike anything before, as you yourself have said."

She blinked. "So you did know about me."

"A little," I lied. I only learned about her when she and the other man were talking to each other in "private," so stating that I knew about her would be a lie.

-VB-

Euphorbenos.

It was a name that, in the magical side of Greece, Anatolia, Greater Armenia, and Italy, made people shake.

Why would it not? It was the name of emperors, tyrants, sages, and more. Once a loyal noble family to Constantine, Sophia's family took over much of the magical political sphere after his line stopped being the emperor, and became independent one hundred years before the fall of mundane Constantinople to the Turks.

It was impossible for a student of magic, at least in Europe, to not know about her family.

And to state that he knew "a little" about her family when she could obviously tell that it was a lie? And before that lie, he even questioned her decision.

She also knew that he was not some lackey or petty nobility she could bully around. Handling a Hollow on his own would have him labeled a Warlock. Able to contain one by himself with no help from anyone else put him at her level of power, if not more.

He was, after all, waging a minor war over here in the Far East. He must have no tricks up his sleeves than regular spells.

"… and what if I cannot promise anything?" she asked coolly.

He rolled his eyes. "Then the issue you have not seen yet will come to your doorstep," he replied as he turned around.

He stepped forward to a basin. She followed and saw some of the symbols carved into it, and some of them had to do with detection.

He cut his thumb and dropped a few drops of blood. Immediately, the room lit up as the basin - a blood-powered artifact - produced a three-dimensional map. It showed… them. The people within Marris's workshop. She could spot five significant blue spheres; she assumed that it was the three of them and two more he must have somewhere in the workshop. She also noted the red sphere right next to them, which had to be the Hollow. She also noted how the spheres showed the magical strength of the individual. She frowned at how small she was in comparison to Warlock Marris, but the comparison between herself and Hans - a four-to-one ratio in her favor - concerned her. If her strength was far less than that of Marris, then why was he panicking over a few Hollows?

She also felt something. Many kinds of presence were far away from here. Why hadn't she feel them before? As a well-practiced sensor of all things magical, she should have felt them even before they got within a hundred leagues of her location.

And then the map expanded.

Her face drained when she saw the huge red orbs and yellow orbs. They were… many times greater than Warlock Marris. It was also from the direction she felt those presences from. This artifact was a very detailed and powerful sensor.

"Because there is a war between the Shinigamis, the farriers of the dead, and the Hollows. I don't know anything about your compact or confederation's classification," Warlock Marris grunted. "I'm a newcomer, and most of what I do, I've learned by myself through mythological references or mimicking modern technology and natural laws. But I think a visual representation like this works just as well in showing you that I'm not -"

CRACK

The entire warehouse shook.

Sophia looked back to the map and saw one of the red orbs had teleported and struck the warlock's workshop.

The said magician merely looked irritated.

"Oh, I give you a small opening and you think you can go and do that, punk?" he grumbled under his breath. "And they started their fight way earlier than I expected. Holy shit."

"What is happening, Marris?" she demanded.

"One of the Shinigamis betrayed his coworkers, and used his magical, spiritual, and technical know-how to forced evolutions for select Hollows working for him."

O-Oh, dear.

"And one of them just tried to use the small gap in the defense I made to look out of the window, so to speak, to try and get inside. The dumb fucker didn't think that I would have traps!"

He slammed his bleeding thumb down onto the basin, and she saw the map as something -.

She felt it.

She nearly cried out in horror when she felt magic disintegrate above the workshop, and someone - a powerful someone - get caught up in it. She heard their soul shriek as it broke apart violently.

Sophia Euphorbenos trembled as she stared at the man.

"Y-You just destroyed a soul." A taboo.

"Only way to stop these motherfuckers," he crassly responded. "Hide, cover the hole again, please! There's nothing else to see outside."

Sophia realized that representative - or was it just servant? - Hidemasa, the man who'd come to Europe at this man's order - was not present. Where was he? At the same time, she realized that the moment he asked to have the hole in the defense covered, the multiple presences she felt and saw through his map disappear. The map also shut down at the same time.

And yet -.

She flinched when the workshop shook again.

"Don't worry," he yawned as he faced her again. "The defense will hold even against a nuke." He then muttered something about a grim jaw. "Shall we get back to discussing why I should hold back on my extreme actions?"

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 35

-VB-

Approximately an hour ago, Hollows of immense powers invaded Karakura Town in the middle of the night. He and the others who had been sent there as a pre-emptive defensive measure rose up to fight, despite the shackles of restraint they had to wear to not cause undue distress to the still living mortals.

And learned that the Hollows they faced were not the monsters in grotesque bodies but humanoid beings on par with shinigamis.

They had been the arrancars, the humanoid forms of Hollows that had been mere legends.

Legends, they no longer were.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to fight his own opponent properly with the restrictions on him, and the request to release those restrictions came almost too late, but the permission did come before it became too late and they released their true powers against the monsters!

The tables turned, and the shinigamis under his command found themselves overpowering the Hollows, who had been gloating mere moments before how their mission here had been to test out themselves against the shinigamis.

One of the Hollows, realizing that there was a good chance of death, decided to fulfill an unspoken mission and attacked the only other mortal in all of Karakura Town who was not part of the Ryoka.

Well…

The crab shell-like masked arrancar died in the mortal's retaliation.

Hitsugaya Toshiro stared at the dissolving ashes of one of the arrancars that had attacked the base of the reported anomalous mortal magician who operated in the town.

What happened afterward was…

It sent chills down his spine.

It wasn't like watching one of Ichigo's friends, the Quincy, fight. When a Quincy arrow or attack landed on any spiritual being, then the damage was clear and distinct. It wasn't poisonous or insidious; a Quincy attack didn't differ from a shinigami's attack unless it led to a kill. A fatal attack caused by a zanpakuto will always lead to a purification of the Hollow or Pluses. A fatal Quincy attack destroyed the bonds that kept a soul together, effectively dissolving them down to basic spiritual particles.

What happened to the arrancar that attacked the magician's base was nothing like either of those scenarios.

Toshiro had felt that arrancar exist. Just like he had felt his own opponent, Shawlong, exist by feeling the arrancar's spiritual presence, he had felt that specific arrancar's presence, because that arrancar had been the one to announce their arrival.

And now… there was nothing.

Not even a shard of a spiritual particle was left.

"Ichigo wasn't kidding when he said the magician was stronger than him," Matsumoto hummed thoughtfully but without her usual playfulness as she appeared with a high-speed shunpo.

"I think he's a little more than just a little bit stronger than Kurosaki-san," Toshiro deadpanned at the absurdity of the statement as others started to converge on him.

"Why not go and talk with him, taicho?" Matsumoto asked.

It was around this time that Liejtenant Kuchiki Rukia shunpo'ed onto the scene in time to hear the other lieutenant's question.

"It would not be a good idea," she replied as she too stared down at the lifeless ashes of once living spirit. "Urahara… severely angered the magician. On top of that, he accuses Gltei 13 of sending assassins after him. It is very possible that if he spots us getting close, we just might get the same treatment."

Some of his subordinates for this mission looked unnerved by what they felt and saw, and Toshiro himself intended to not send anyone over.

"… How about Ichigo?" Rukia suggested. "He is at least on speaking terms with the magician."

"You think the ryoka won't be blasted?"

"The magician enjoys bullying Ichigo too much to consider killing him."

Toshiro snorted. "Very well. Get Kurosaki-san over here so we can discuss how we are going to approach the magician."

- VB-

I frowned when a very familiar spiritual signature started slowly approaching my warehouse from the mass of other signature.

Instead of activating the defensive measures, I turned to the side, activated the wireless comm, and spoke in Japanese.

"Kurosaki, what do you want?" I demanded.

The representatives, who were still with me and would remain until the shinigamis left the immediate area, looked anxious by my usage of Japanese. For all they knew, I might be negotiating for a ceasefire with the shinigamis.

Unfortunately for the shinigamis, I wasn't in the mood for a "ceasefire" after Urahara tried… whatever it was that he did when we talked. Maybe he just wanted me to be more pliable or neutral to him and the shinigamis, but mind controlling instead of persuasion was really not the way he should have gone about doing it.

Was I that big a threat to him and his friends even though I was only sticking to my corner of the city?

On the 3D holographic map centering on my warehouse base, I saw Kurosaki pause in his approach.

"Can you here me, you asshole magician?!"

Yup, that was Kurosaki alright.

"It is the magician who regularly beats the shit out of the asshole teenagers who leave collateral damage everywhere. Oh, you better tell your shinigamis friends that they better fix the damages they caused to the city. Do you know how much time and money it takes to fix potholes, but they go and destory entire sections of walls and people's houses?"

"That's… that's not what I'm here for. What the fuck did you do to that Hollow?"

"The Hollow? I gave him the gift of peace," I chuckled ominously. "Eternal peace."

"Yeah, no, that's fucked up."

"Hollows are fucked up. They start their life by eating their own families. Get to the point."

"Can you not use it again?"

"Hell no! It is the perfect weapon to use against meddling shinigamis, Hollows, and supernaturals. Why the fuck would I not use it?" I asked incredulously. "You know, instead of asking me to not use it, maybe they shouldn't fight in my backyard and then try to breach my defenses? Have you thought about that?"

From how his spiritual presence flared and waned, I knew that my words were pissing him off.

"Look, what you did is not like what Quincies or Shinigamis do. According to the nerds up there, you're destroying souls!"

"Yeah? And? What's the difference between that and the murder-in-self-defense all of you engage in?" I asked casually. "If you spout some bullshit about the balance of the spiritual world, then let me remind you that I can and will use that bomb on a large scale to even the odds on all things; a total annihilation is the ultimate equalizer."

"You're insane!"

"And your friends in Gotei 13 have sent assassins after assassins after me! Intrude upon my base! Threaten to kill Orihime and myself! For what?! For existing?! And then Urahara comes and tries to mind control me! So fuck off, Kurosaki!" I spat back angrily. "You can remain in your human body and survive the fucking bomb when Gotei 13 and Aizen eventually forces me to use it or you can die with them!" I paused before grinning malevolently. "You know what? Maybe you need some evidence for what I said. So here. Take the frozen heads of the assassins they sent after my ass."

And opened a portal using an incomplete Professor Haywire tech (I always had small workable tinkertech that I never really focused on) under the bodies of the calcified remnants of the dead shinigamis that I kept in the corner (you never know when bodies can be used, so I kept them around). It opened up a hole in my defenses for just a moment, but I closed the portal, which also closed the hole in my defense, before anyone could think to take advantage of it.

I heard horrified squeals, though it wasn't Ichigo's.

"Urahara already declared war on me, Ichigo. If he so much as step around my warehouse, then he and his cousin will die! Don't make the same mistake, Kurosaki! I only beat you up because you're a punk, not a monster!"

And then I cut off the comm.

Turning back to the Grand Warlock and her current assistant, I smiled. "Now, where were we?"

The representatives of the European magicians, totally unaware of the fact that I just threatened(bluffed) annihilation of entire worlds, smiled back. "We were discussing how we can help you contain these… beasts and rogue spirits."

"We were, weren't we?" I hummed as I led them away from the main room.

- VB-

Eventually, the shinigamis left as did the magicians when our discussion ended, though regrettably without any solid promises of help or alliance.

Left to my own devices, I was left with Kurosaki twins, Tatsuki, and Orihime.

"Do you want to go back home?" I asked the former trio. "I can't guarantee your safety."

"I do," Karin replied. "Ichigo-nii will keep us safe."

I snorted. "I beat the shit out of your brother regularly, kiddo. He is nowhere near the strongest right now." 'But he might be sooner or later, even if I took away one cause for his evolution.'

Karin glared at me for that. "He doesn't stay down and will get stronger."

I chuckled at her belief, because she wasn't wrong. Canon Kurosaki Ichigo doesn't stay down. "Sure, sure," I replied. "Alright, just stand over there and I'll open up a portal for all three of you to go."

"I'll… stay."

I turned to Tatsuki in surprise, and saw how close she was to Orihime.

Damn girl, did you convince her to stay knowing what I would do?

Shrugging, I turned back around and saw Yuzu nod and hold close to Karin.

I gave both of the cute kids a ruffle of their hair, which they both disliked because I was a stranger, and then gave them both cute… let's call them talisman. I wasn't monstrous enough to leave kids to die if I could do something about it. With Orihime gone, there was a good chance that Aizen might just kidnap these two to use as hostage in Orihime's stead.

The talisman, disguised to look like phone accessories, looked liek jewels, and as far as physical world was concerned, they were middling grade 1 carat emerald and ruby respectively for Yuzu and Karin. Should a hostile Hollow's spiritual presence appear near them, those talisman would activate and teleport them back into my base.

"Go," I said as I opened a portal to the front of their house.

They stepped through, thanking me for the accessories and admiring the gems. I closed the portal behind them and turned back to Tatsuki.

"So-"

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out, and Orihime wrapped her arms around her friends now noticeably wider abdomen.

I did not expect that.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 36

-VB-

Orihime had been pregnant for some time.

I also had been fucking her for far longer and much more frequently than I slept with Tatsuki.

But I did sleep with her. Well, there wasn't a lot of sleeping involved. There was a lot of fucking.

'And it's been… roughly the right amount of time since our last coupling.'

"When…?" I asked, trailing off as I waited for her to respond.

Tatsuki blushed as she pulled her shirt up and showed me her baby bump which was half as big as Orihime's. "I-I think around… the end of the first week."

'Or she could have been a little foolish and hiding the fact that she got pregnant in the first month of our rabid fucking,' I thought to myself.

"… How do you want to go about this?" I asked Tatsuki, and she looked unsure, nervous, and vulnerable. "You can stay with us. Be my second wife, if you want."

Of course, the idea of becoming a "second wife" was tantamount to an insult to the average modern schoolgirl from Japan and Western countries. That said, she did take shelter under my protection, probably felt what just happened out there, and knew that she herself could not possibly work this out by herself.

She could flee the city; Karakura Town wasn't a particularly large city nor at the center of Tokyo Metropolitan. She was, unfortunately, not a working woman but a teenager like me and Orihime.

Damn, she didn't have a lot of options, didn't she?

"I want you to stay," Orihime quickly spoke up as she held Tatsuki's shoulders from behind and held her close.

Tatsuki hesitated before she nodded. "Just long enough that I won't get involved with the Hollows and Shinigamis," she sighed and then glared at me. "And don't even think about luring me into your bed."

"I won't make you if don't want to," I replied and raised my hands up in surrender. And then I turned to Orihime. "How are the girls?"

"A little scared but they are safe. They are back home, so I suspect they will be happy about, too," she replied with a smile. "It was nice of you to send them back like that. They probably liked the portal."

I snorted. "My fortress is the safest place on this goddamn planet, and I am the damn best magician in all of Japan," I barked out a laugh. "Of course, I'm keeping them where it's safe. Wouldn't feel right otherwise." Then I sighed. "But with the immediate danger passed, I had little reason to keep them under lock and cover."

Orihime nodded.

"Just… if you do see them later, which I suspect you will, then remind them that my fortress will welcome them if they need the shelter."

"I will."

Orihime led Tatuski away.

And then the two of them left, leaving me giddy and concerned. Tatsuki didn't look like she was going to have an abortion if revealing her pregnancy was an indication. This meant that I had another baby coming.

I… liked the idea.

What I did not like was whether or not Tatsuki will remain with me and Orihime. A teenage mom was not exactly a smiled-upon status in the world. In places like the USA, the reception changed where you went. In Japan? A teen mom was not a criminal, but she was also a dumb slut who got taken advantage of. Tatsuki would not be able to get normal work due to how labor laws in Japan worked.

In the case of Orihime, this was planned (by me, and eventually, she came around to accepting it). For Tatsuki, her pregnancy was not.

There was also the fact that, unlike Orihime, Tatsuki had other friends and family. Orihime… only had Tatsuki once her brother died some time ago.

This was something I would have to think about deeply later. For now, I needed to get back to researching. I got a lot of data from this neighborhood fight, and I intended to use it to the fullest. Everything from the spiritual particle and presence identification to minute differentiation of power usage and their mechanics, if I could discover them.

… I certainly hoped that none of the shinigamis or the hollows would be brazen enough to, I don't know, kidnap Orihime to lure me out. For one, I had teleport spells and tags on her. If I so much found a kido spell going off near her, then I would forcibly bring her back and thoroughly check her. Even if that failed due to some bullshit barrier, Orihime could fight; I made sure of that. She could hold out long enough for me to brute force a barrier with my bombs, and then I could teleport her out.

If all of that failed and she did get taken…

I wasn't selfless enough to launch a rescue mission.

I would rather burn Soul Society and Hueco Mundo to the ground.

Speaking of which, I needed to adjust the power output of the soul dispersion bomb. It used up way too much power compared to how much soul stuff it actually affected…

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 37

-VB-

Aizen Sosuke tapped his fingers on the arm of his bone white throne within the "throne room" of Las Noches.

It wasn't often that he encountered stumbling blocks.

Urahara Kisuke was perhaps his greatest rival in that regard as the scapegoated former captain played the game just as well as he did. Actually, Aizen considered Urahara to be much more ruthless than he was. At the very least, Aizen did not intentionally go out of his way to encourage children to involve themselves in the wars of their parents.

… Except one of those children rebelled so thoroughly that it backfired on the shopkeeper.

Even Aizen himself found the young magician to be a fascinating boy. Sure, his perversion and lecherous behavior was to be disdained, but the boy kept it private. No, what Aizen found himself fascinated with were the boy's inventions.

In particular, the bomb.

Initially, he thought that the bomb acted much like how quincies worked; quincy attacks disturbed the bonds between the spiritual particles, which eroded the soul and prevented it from moving to the next part of the spiritual cycle.

The bomb did not do that.

The bomb deleted the spiritual particle.

The souls that were once part of Di Roy Rinker will never exist. They no longer existed as far as the cycles of reincarnation was concerned.

The bomb was an aberration.

And Aizen could not help but think about how he could obtain it for himself and use it against his former comrades. Or more specifically, he thought about how he could use it against the Soul King.

The possibilities such a combination could cause, the usurption of the corrupted order that this entire world was founded upon… !

It tickled him.

The problem then was how to obtain the bomb… or rather the bomb maker.

The young magician had grown in bounds and leaps. He might not have been a "genius" like Aizen and Urahara were, but he was still a dangerous boy. If given one more decade to grow and refine himself, then Aizen had no doubt that the young boy, Marris Alan, would be someone he would have to look in the eyes as an equal.

But that decade was not here yet.

So how could he lure the boy to his side? He couldn't offer safety. Whatever defenses the boy deployed after the latest assassination attempt, it was near absolute. Aizen could order all of the Espadas to fire their Gran Ray Cero upon it, and the defense would hold.

More than that, the boy was smart. He knew about Aizen, somehow, despite Aizen knowing that he did not get that information from Urahara. He implied a few things about the workings of Soul Society that also pointed to understanding the fundamental wrongness that Soul Society was founded upon.

The boy would know that he would be the subject of recruitment.

Well, the boy did have one glaring weakness.

He was, like many boys his age, a lustful teenager. Oh, he had some "trigger discipline," but once he had a girl in his grasp, then he would not hold back.

Aizen pondered if he could take advantage of that.

Could one of his arrancars, or even a vaguely human shaped Vasto Lorde, seduce him? It was possible… but the boy's belligerence and paranoia would not help any of Aizen's minions in their mission. In fact, he would most likely bomb them first, talk only if they managed to survive but just barely.

It wasn't what Aizen would do, but then again, he wasn't a cynical, sarcastic, overdramatic, and hypocritical teenager.

He wondered if honesty would work.

… Probably not. What Aizen wanted was sure to hurt a few of the people he had soft spots for - the Kurosaki twins, the S-curve girl with odd powers, and the irrelevant athletic girl.

"Ulquiorra."

The silent arrancar walked up to his side and waited for his order.

"See if you can't convince the magician in Karakura Town to talk with me. Just words, mind you. We don't need to make more enemies than we strictly need lest we get blindsided unexpectedly."

Ulquiorra bowed and then left through a maw-ish garganta.

- VB-

Kensei hung around with the rest of the Visored as Urahara explained the situation.

Shinji was quick to point out how Urahara fucked up.

"You didn't pay attention, did you?" the normally grinning ex-captain accused the other blonde.

Urahara pulled out his fan. "… No. I didn't expect the 2nd Division to send assassins after him or for him to have such an adverse reaction to Yoruichi, which brings me to my next point," he said and then snapped his fan shut. "How did he know?"

"Finally, someone asks the right fucking questions," Kensei grunted out as everyone turned to him. "Isn't it fucking obvious that there's something wrong? The guy who we barely knew about just shows up one day and proceeds to grow like shit-fertilized grass. Now, he's at a point where we can't achieve victory against him, but he kept himself low and didn't tell shit about his abilities until he was at a point where he could upend the goddamn world."

"… A little exaggerated but certainly on point," Urahara conceded. "But I am of the opinion that he is not as strong as you believe."

"Ha? Did you not feel that fucking bomb like the rest of us?" Shinji asked with a frown.

"That's exactly my point," Urahara countered. "He has two things going for him: his impenetrable defense and the spirit-deletion bomb. If he steps out of his bunker, then he can't win. That's why he hasn't left his warehouse in weeks."

Kensei tsked. Another lab rat like Aizen and Urahra, huh?

"But try not to fight his servant. That one… he can crush you all."

He paused and grinned. "How?"

"He is someone quite like us, actually, though he may be older than us all. Actually, he may be as old as Yamamoto. It wasn't hard to deduce who Marris's servant, Hidemasa, was."

"Who is he?" Rose asked as he leaned forward.

Urahara smirked. "The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang."

"… Is that important?" Kensei interrupted. "That doesn't explain how the magician knows about Soul Society aside from what little tidbits you and the Kurosaki boya drops."

Urahara lost his smirk and hummed. "It is also something I am looking into, especially since he looked like he was aware of our conflict's eventual outbreak of violence even before we did. It's also why I brought up his servant. Qin Shi Huang was known for burning books, you know?"

"Yeah, so?" Shinji asked.

"But what if the magician servant can do something? Books are methods of information exchange, but what if he has an ability to burn away how that information was exchanged and thus prevent anyone from discovering how he learned about something?"

"That's ridi-"

"Aizen's shikai only needs a look for us all to fall under its illusion," Hiyori grumbled from the side.

It was a somber realization that, perhaps, they knew less about a soul's capability than they thought.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 38

- VB-

Soul Society and Gotei 13 were in shambles.

Toshirou knew that the latest disaster to strike the Gotei 13 would surely ruin their war effort against Aizen and the "Arrancars" under his command.

This event was significant because the man in charge of Gotei 13 for the past two thousand years, Yamamoto Genryusai, passed away.

It was…

Personally, Toshirou thought that the old man died with the worst timing possible, but it wasn't outside of natural causes. Shinigamis have known to die from old age, though this varied depending on the strength of the soul of each individual shinigami. He'd read how some died at a few hundred years old while the last shinigami to die from "old age" did so at a "ripe, old" age of one thousand and five hundred.

Two thousand years?

That sounded like "overripe."

Of course, there were some who weren't as calm nor accepting of the situation.

"I refuse to believe that he died of old age," Komamura Sajin, the Captain of the 7th Division, snarled without showing his fangs. He wasn't hostile towards them. No, he saw the captains in this meeting as his only allies aside from a few shinigamis he also trusted outside of this hall. "Aizen is a cunning man. It wouldn't be outside of his plans to poison the captain-commander!"

"Calm yourself, Komamura-dono," Sui-Feng, the Captain of the 2nd Division and the woman most scorned by the existence of an uncontrollable wizard (for some reason), spoke quietly from his side. "We are all in mourning."

Komamura looked like he was about to say something but he visibly got himself under control.

"My apologies," he spoke to them all.

"Mah, mah. We're all sad," the scruffy bearded Kyoraku Shunsui smiled while wearing the robe of the captain-commander over his shoulders, but Toshirou could clearly see the dark bags underneath his eyes and those same bags were under Ukitake-taicho's eyes. "But I do agree with you, Komamura. Something's fishy. We'll all look into it, yes?"

All of the loyal captains were here, including ones that had been previously exiled under crimes that they had been scapegoated for.

Toshirou peered to the side and saw his own captain, the one who'd left twenty years ago: Shiba Isshin.

Threats to his family had been strong enough - and the needs of the Gotei 13 big enough - that the provisional government had undone all of the sentencing of the "Visored" and the other exiles like Yoruichi, Tessai, and Urahara, the first and third of whom were also in this hall but not all of the Visored; only Hirako Shinji was here.

Sui-Fang had, to everyone's surprise, stepped down as captain, to give the position back to Shihoin Yoruichi, and the fact that she - and others - had been exonerated had seen a resurgence of the Noble Shihoin and Shiba Clans.

But those were political details Toshirou cared very little for. All he cared about was that the Gotei 13, despite the political turmoil that's gripped them for the past month, was back in full power.

But a thought lingered.

If Aizen had been responsible for the late captain-commander's poisoning or other method of underhanded murder, then why hadn't he struck then?

He glanced to Urahara.

"It's not Aizen… or the magician," Urahara hummed, and Toshirou saw how the mention of the magician was enough to make Sui-Feng twitch. "And Mayuri and I both made sure that it wasn't any kind of poisoning. Are you all doubting our abilities?"

It was said so casually and lightheartedly, but there was disapproval behind that tone.

"Of course not, Ki-chan!" the new captain-commander laughed underneath his straw hat. "But suspicious is suspicious, you know?"

Urahara shrugged. "It is," he replied. "S-"

"So we're supposed to just wait for them to strike when we are weak?!" Komamura exploded, and the tension in the room ratcheted up.

"Komamura-taicho," Ukitake Jushirou frowned. "I am upset as well, but do you see me shouting?"

It was a rare thing to see Ukitake-taicho speak up here.

Komamura, once again, had to visibly control himself.

"I think that we're at a stalemate," Urahara spoke up.

Everyone turned to him.

"How so?" Kyoraku-sotaicho asked.

"It's the wizard."

"Of course, it's the bloody wizard," Sui-Feng growled quietly.

"His defense is impenetrable," the scientist-captain sighed. "It's really remarkable, you know? Pulling in the power of legendary and historical figures to draw in the collective belief of living mortals and fuel a defensive measure that way."

"We can work around a defense. He's not even our target," Shinji said with a drawl.

"No, not if that defense erases any and all spiritual beings into oblivion," Urahara replied. "You felt it, didn't you, Hitsugaya-taicho?"

"Hai," Toshirou replied. "It… was pretty bad, feeling something just disappear like that."

Kyoraku-sotaicho frowned. "Why would this wizard and his passive and active defenses be a problem, Urahara-san?"

"Because he's like me but far more vindictive," the man replied and then covered his face with a fan. "He'll be doing what I do: improving his gadgets and gears. The month we spent between the fight at Karakura Town and now, he would have developed many more ways to fight back. From a mind that thought to erase reality, who knows what else we'll encounter."

"Then isn't giving him more time a bad thing?" Kuchiki Byakuya, captain of the 6th division, asked.

"Yes," Urahara replied. "We can't do anything about an impenetrable defense, but neither can Aizen, which is why we're at a stalemate. The moment a war breaks out over the Karakura Town, the wizard will retaliate."

"So Aizen will just have to find other ways to fight us then."

Urahara hummed, and Toshirou knew that look. He's seen it before. The man was hiding something, but what could he be hiding?

"Perhaps."

Yeah, he was hiding something.

-VB-

"What are you hiding?"

Urahara paused and turned around. There, standing in this isolated hallway with him, was Hitsugaya Toshirou.

"Heyo, Toshirou-chan~!" he greeted the boy-captain with a smile.

The white-haired captain glared at him.

"What are you hiding?" he insisted.

"What~? What could I be hiding?" he asked in turn, because both of them knew that he was hiding something and he was unlikely to distract or misdirect the captain.

"Is it serious?"

"… Quite, actually," he replied. "And let me just say that it is actually a good thing that the wizard remains where he is."

Toshirou frowned. "I need something more than that."

Urahara nodded. "Understandable. Then let me put it this way. Karakua Town remains the only place where spiritual particles are dense in the mortal world, suffusing through the atmosphere, objects, and people alike and in sufficient quantity to serve as fuel for a massive project. Aizen wants to use that dense spiritual particle in a ritual to create something. Now, I can't tell you what that something is, but I did tell the sotaicho about it."

Toshirou tapped his foot.

"And why is the wizard a good thing then?"

"The more he uses his spirit erasing bomb, the less of the stuff there will be."

"And there is nowhere else in the mortal realm for Aizen to start that 'ritual'?"

"No, and I made sure to check."

Toshirou sighed. "Alright. I'll go talk to the sotaicho about it, but I don't see how we can't invade Hueco Mundo."

"And walk into enemy territory that we don't know anything about? Come on, Toshirou-kun! You're a taicho!"

Toshirou grunted and walked away.

A stalemate, huh?

He wondered if this waiting will eat at his lieutenant.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 39

-VB-

Yoruichi sat as serenly as she could while sipping her tea while her former protege sat across from her.

"I really like what you've done with the place," she spoke up. "It's more you than tradition."

"Thank you, Yoruichi-sama."

"So I have a few questions."

"Please, ask."

"Why did you send assassins after the human magician?"

Yoruichi saw her freeze.

Soi-Fon didn't say anything for a long time.

"It was at the request of Kurotsuchi Mayuri," she finally replied.

Another captain requested it?

"Why did he?"

"His division collected evidence that the human magician was experimenting with spiritual particles. I have the request and the report in the records, if you wish to peruse them," she replied.

Yoruichi sighed. "So there was actually a reason for it. How many people did we lose to him?"

"… thirteen."

"That many?"

"Yes, Yoruichi-sama."

She sighed. "And is the order still active?"

"Yamamoto-sotaicho ordered that a magician capable of erasing spiritual particle must be eliminated before he spreads the knowledge among the human magicians."

Yoruichi agreed with the late captain-commander, but the problem was that assassination won't work against a target that was out of reach. At the same time, the magician wasn't hostile towards Gotei 13 - definitely wary and paranoid but not hostile - until Soi-Fon sent those assassins.

Soi-Fon irreparably ruined any ties Gotei 13 might have formed with Marris, but she was also under orders so the fault laid with the late captain-commander. Explaining the situation would do nothing.

The order would have to be rescinded, however. There was no reason to make someone with those bombs constantly pissed off at them, now would it?

"Recall all assassination operation involving Marris Alan," she ordered, and Soi-Fon snapped her head up and looked at her with wide eyes.

"But-!"

"Kisuke still hasn't figured out how Marris made those bombs," she replied easily. "Has no clue whatsoever, actually. Until such a time that we can make a counter to it, any and all operations in Karakura Town and against Marris in general are to cease."

There was a shuffle of clothes as one of the assassin-messengers of the 2nd Division landed outside the room where the two were in. "Taicho! Report from the 12th Division. Karakura Town's spiritual presence has dropped near completely!"

- VB-

"What?"

"The European magicians don't want to get involved, but they declared that they will not bar us from purchasing war materials."

I leaned back in my chair and tried not to moan in despair while Hidemasa tried not to show his discomfort.

This essentially meant that he and I were alone in this. Well, Tatsuki and Orihime, too, but they weren't the main defender/attacker/inventor/manufacturer/etc in our group.

The Winter War would soon break out…

Actually, I wanted to know what the mood was like on both sides. Were they prepared? Did they want me dead?

If this was a game like Europa Universalis IV, then it would have been easy as clicking on whatever icon or flag Gotei 13 and Aizen's Espada used and looking at the numbers.

Alas, the world was not a game and could never be so; there were simply too many variables for anyone or program to keep track of.

I also did not want to use Orihime or Tatsuki to probe Kurosaki. He might get the wrong idea and try to spirit them away to Soul Society, not knowing that they would sooner kill them for their association to me.

After all, Soul Society and Gotei 13 were the same creatures that genocided the Quincies; they couldn't do it completely like any governments that took part in genocides (just as Turkey, India, China, Japan, USA, Germany, etc), but the point was that genocide was not only part of their agenda but a recent history.

I was very much not interested in getting caught up with them.

So contacting Gotei 13, even through Kurosaki as an intermediary, was out of the option.

Contacting Aizen was worthless. The man wanted to use the whole of Karakura Town as a sacrifice to make his Key. I was in his way.

Ergo I was his enemy.

"What do you think we should do?" I asked Orihime, who had been caught up on what I was trying to do by contacting the European magicians, whose innate isolationist tendency had left me hanging without an ally.

"We can't stay inside?" she asked me while slowly caressing her baby bump.

She was in her late second trimester now.

"Honestly, we can," I replied. "And we will certainly survive any war that breaks out over Karakura Town."

"Then why not just stay inside?"

"Because Aizen, Urahara, and Mayuri - the scientists and leaders of the two sides we're stuck between - will eventually find a way to penetrate our defenses. Unlike us, they have dozens if not hundreds of people while only I can make things that they consider dangerous."

Hidemasa spoke up here. "On top of that, I doubt you want to stay inside a single building for the rest of your life, even if it is for your own safety," he replied. "God knows I tried that with my children but it never worked."

She nodded hesitantly. "So… what are you going to do?"

"… I have another power I have access to but have neglected so far. It's called 'Haywire,' and with it, I might be able to access Hueco Mundo and Soul Society."

"What would be the purpose of that?" Hide asked with a raised eyebrow.

I grinned. "You know how I said that it would be M.A.D. for them to try to fight us in Karakura Town?"

"Yes."

"I want to take them a step ahead. I want them to realize that attacking this very city, threatening to pull me into their conflict, will result in me not only annihilating them here in the city but their homes."

Sure, it would work better for Soul Society than Hueco Mundo, because the arrancars weren't too interested nor did they have a lot of people they were duty bound to. But it was also Urahara and Mayuri that I was concerned about more than Aizen when it came to penetrating my defenses.

For Aizen, I had a different approach.

"Hide, have you loaded up all of the dispersion bombs?"

"I have," he asked. "Though I don't know why you had me do it."

"Well, the reason," I said as I fished out a wire connected lever from the drawer of my desk. "Is simple. Aizen wants Karakura because it is rich in spiritual particle-enriched souls."

"He does?" Tatsuki asked.

"Uh huh," I replied with a hum. "He wants to sacrifice them all to make some kind of a key."

Both of my girls looked sick at that revelation.

"So why don't I make that impossible?"

Orihime and Tatsuki stared at me for a second before…

Why did they look horrified?

"A-Alan, you're not thinking about bombing the city, are you…?" Orihime asked with a titter in her voice.

"I mean," I frowned. "How else am I supposed to get Aizen's attention off of us? We come before anyone else. You know that."

"But you want to bomb a city!" Tatsuki hissed.

Hidemasa also looked upset but resigned. "I have ordered far worse. At the very least, your bombs will make it quick."

I nodded. Hidemasa understood me. When life got tough, we also had to be tough with our decisions.

I pulled up spiritual radar and grabbed the lever.

Orihime and Tatsuki looked like I was about to commit a warcrime.

Then I pulled the lever.

-VB-

Ichigo heard it before he saw it.

It was a pfoomph of something being launched.

He looked up and saw… balls.

His eyes widened.

"MARRIS!" he roared in anger.

There were hundreds of those balls - bombs! - and they were being hurled all around the city.

There was no way for him to stop it all.

And then, as one, they detonated.

He closed his eyes as light washed over the entire city… and then nothing?

He opened his eyes along with the rest of the students who were at school. They all looked around in confusion while a few like Rukia, who was in gigai, looked around in confused horror.

What just happened?

She quickly hurried over to him. "Ichigo, what was that?"

"I don't know," he said to her. "But it has to be Marris."

"The magician?"

He nodded. "I'm going to go and talk to him."

The man was a hypocrite. He beat the shit out of him for being careless and then goes and detonates a hundred plus bombs all over the city.

"Wait, don't-!"

But he was already gone, running out of the classroom. Soon, Rukia and Sado were hot on his heels, chasing after him.

And once he found an out of sight staircase, he pulled out and popped Kon into his mouth.

With a poof, he was out of his body and Kon was stumbling down the stairs.

He sped out of the school, invisible to all but those spiritual aware, and sped towards the warehouse district.

Rukia was quick to follow him but Sado stayed behind with Kon and Pyon.

It took him a minute to get there, and when he did, he banged his hands against the doors of the warehouse Marris owned.

"What the fuck, you bastard?!"

A speaker crackled to life. "What do you want, Kurosaki?"

"You threw bombs all over the place!"

"Yeah? Harmless bombs to anyone who's human."

Ichigo blinked. "What?"

"Harmless to humans, you thick-headed, collateral damage ghost. Those were my spiriton dispersion bombs. They don't do anything to souls and humans. What they do, however, is push away environmental spiritons away from a location. Right now, Karakura is a desert when it comes to spiriton density."

Ichigo wasn't sure what he meant… but then he heard Rukia gasping.

He whirled around and saw her gasping for breath and hands on her knees.

"What…?" she hissed.

"Ah, sorry about that," he said. "A new defense I developed. Activated it just now in case Gotei 13's 2nd Division wants to send more assassins my way. See, I learned that what keeps a soul from just breaking apart is the consciousness-."

"Get to the point!" Ichigo snarled as he scooped up Rukia.

"Fine. In a small radius around my warehouse, I am generating what I call Consciousness Interference Radio. It breaks down an exposed soul's ability to maintain their sense of self, and thus their form and life. You might want to get that shinigami out of here, because in about five minutes, she's going to dissolve on you like a goo."

Ichigo didn't waste any time. He hauled his ass out of there with Rukia in his arms.

A/N: Yay, chapter 40.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 40

-VB-

Aizen had not felt a rage of this level in a very long time.

He couldn't remember the last time he felt like this, actually.

'Here I am, building my tiddy little sand castle,' he thought broodingly. 'And the new boy in the sandbox came and kicked it down effortlessly.'

His plan to create the King's Key and gain access to the Soul King's Palace was thwarted in the most asinine and flamboyant fashion possible. How was it even possible to disperse concentrated spiritual particles in a location? That went against the very nature of spiritual essence. Spiritual essence always sought to coalesce into denser concentrations. It was the antithesis to material laws of physics, which spoke of the heat death of the universe. Where the material world saw movement of particles from high to low concentration as right and normal, in the spiritual world, movement of particles from low to high concentration, especially for spiritual essence, as normal.

Yet, Magician Marris did the unlikely and dispersed a condensed spiritual essence in an area by detonating a spiritual bomb over it.

In Sosuke's eyes, Marris rose up from being "irritant and annoyance" to "highly dangerous with unknown means."

This, of course, necessitated removal, but the magician was known for his impenetrable fortress and even more infamous "anti-spirit" measures. From what his spies have told him, Kuchiki Rukia nearly suffered Final End at the hands of the magician.

Aizen thought about that. Could he possibly use that incident as an excuse to turn Soul Society fully against the magician? Aizen would just stay quiet for the duration of their spat, and when they least expected him, he would strike and fell them both.

The plan needed some more finer detailing, consideration, and on-spot adjustments, but it could work.

In the mean time, he would have to contact his human contacts.

They would appreciate learning about an illegal western magician setting up a fortress in their backyard.

- VB-

Japan.

It was an island nation with a long history that would find most western nations coming up short. With an unbroken lineage of rulers and the longest, continuous independence, there was no other nation and people who could challenge Japan for the title of the Oldest Nation.

Any Chinese proclaiming that China was the oldest nation was not only stupid but factually wrong; China not only got conquered by the Mongols and became part of the Yuan Dynasty, who weren't Chinese, but they suffered continuous political changes, never mind the dynastic changes.

"Grandpa, you're complaining about the Chinese again."

He immediately smiled and patted his granddaughter on the head.

"I'm sorry, Hina. You know how we old people get," he chortled. She didn't know that he was there to fight the Qing (another non-Chinese people who came down and conquered the whole of China) as a stupid, young lad who believed the "superiority of Yamato."

What bollocks. What a young man he had been, passionate about the propaganda and lies politicians and then then old timers spread to boost their own ego.

… What was he thinking about?

There was a shuffle, and then the door to his living room opened. Kneeling on the floor with his head bowed down was a messenger from the Association. He could tell that it was an Association messenger from the traditional, white cotton gi he wore and the messenger box painted in persimmon ink the man carried on his back.

"Geika."

His granddaughter sighed. "I'll be in my room, grandpa."

"You can also start on your homework, sweetie."

"Argh."

He chuckled as Hina left the room and walked upstairs before turning to the messenger. "What is it, messenger?"

The said man quickly pulled out a letter.

He took it and briefly glanced at the sender.

Not a lot of people wrote "dear old friend" in old kanji these days. He could tell that this was the old Modern Japanese kanji from the inflections and the usage of kyujitai and classical era kana-zukai.

He broke the simple red seal and pulled out the letter within.

He read through it and frowned.

"I see. An old acquaintance of main has come through once again in providing us with valuable information."

"Hai."

A pesky western mage settling in Japan, within Tokyo, without permission from the Association?

This was a breach of rules as agreed upon between the western Confederation and Japan's Imperial Spirit Association.

"Assemble the 4th District Onmyouji. I will personally go to expel this gaijin from our lands," he growled.

"Hai!" the messenger bowed before quickly leaving his manor.

It was only a single magician, hardly worth the attention of the 4th District's entire onmyouji retainers. Perhaps just a handful would do? Regardless, he would do his job as the Imperial Executioner, because if there was one thing he learned in his long life, it was that gaijins were troublesome bastards that caused no end to troubles for Japan.

-VB-

A/N: so we now have a semi-racist who's been part of world wars and is the local magician in charge of Japanese magical-military affairs… and he is gunning for Alan. Who are you going to bet on?

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 41

-VB-

Today was a great day.

And it wasn't just because I woke up cuddling to both Tatsuki and Orihime and then spent the morning after breakfast in utterly debaucherous threesome with my two women.

No, no, no.

That would have today a "good" day but not a great one.

Today was great because I completed one of my research projects.

"Hello there, little buddy," I smiled as I looked down at the little thing I had created using a combination of magic, soul stuff, and science.

The murky black and oily substance on top of the experiment circle wiggled in response to my words.

Tatsuki, on the other hand, did not like it as much.

"… Ew."

I gasped dramatically. "What do you mean 'ew'?! This is my magnus opum! My masterpiece!"

Wiggly, because it wiggled, wiggled and jiggled to my praise.

"What… is it?" Orihime did her best to not show her initial distaste but it took her a while to get a modern comparison. "Oh oh oh! It's like that Terminator! The one that's made out of nanomachines and changes shape however it wants! Is it like that!" Her normal self would be jumping up and down in excitement, literally, but her early late stage pregnancy baby bump kept her from physically showing her excitement.

"It is kind of, yeah," I grinned before turning back to Wiggly. I reached to the side and grabbed a petrified essence of Hollows and gingerly dropped it in front of Wiggly.

Wiggly hesitated. This was its first time coming across Hollow essence, so it was cautious. My little Wiggly was not a dumb AI, VI, or anything crude like that. No, Wiggly was a more refined living being that existed across three different realms: physical, spiritual, and magical. Just as mana was not something that could not be detected by physical means, it too had its own separate "realm" to speak of.

Wiggly existed there, here, and in the spiritual dimension. Nothing could escape Wiggly if it didn't want its target to escape.

Once I trained it, Wiggly would be a wonderful guardian.

"Come on. It's food."

Wiggly hesitated still before reaching out with its near featureless, gelatinous body. It took a "bite" out of the petrified essence. It paused and then almost jumped the little morsel.

Within seconds, the Hollow essence was gone, and Wiggly was just a bit bigger. It was no longer the size of my fingernail but the size of my thumb.

Progress!

"Eat as much as you want, Wiggly," I said while mentally checking up on the familiar bond I had installed in it and myself. It was happy and wanted more food.

And I had plenty of it.

-VB-

Wiggly jiggled.

It wiggled.

It waggled.

It bounced.

"*ig g, ar*t y*u?"

It wiggled to creator's words.

Creator big!

Creator gave Wiggly more white food, and Wiggly ate it all!

Creator patted Wiggly for being good.

Eating was good, so Wiggly ate more.

Then someone said something, and it wasn't the two humans with creator. Creator stood up and walked away, listening to something in front of a dome-like device.

Then creator got angry.

This was Wiggly's first time feeling anger.

It… It was big. It hurt.

Wiggly jiggled weakly, and creator was quick to be by its side.

"*ka, i*s o*y," creator whispered as his hand caressed Wiggly's body.

Wiggly jiggled.

"S, b* the* *r* pe*le *ut*id*."

He stood back up and talked to the other two humans.

Then Wiggly got its first order!

[Protect two humans].

The orange was "Orihime" and the black was "Tatsuki."

Wiggly will do what creator ordered!

… Creator looked a little scary. He was hissing something at the dome device thing. Voices from the dome shouted back at him.

Creator got angry again.

And then creator did something that Wiggly felt on the edge of himself. Wiggly condensed itself in defense when it felt something raw and angry like creator screech outside home.

Wiggly… Wiggly did not like the raw and angry screech, but the voices that made creator angry stopped.

"Orihime" and "Tatsuki" looked upset? Why were they upset?

Creator made shoulder movement when the two talked to him and he said something in reply. Said a lot of things.

Wiggly didn't understand most of it.

Creator was back to being in front of Wiggly, and he had more food!

What was black food?

It tasted kind of like white food.

… Tasty.

-VB-

"Why did you kill them so readily?" Tatsuki demanded angrily.

Orihime had gone off to make lunch and I found myself confronted by my angry second wife.

"Because they were here to impose their rules on us," I replied, exasperatedly. "What do you not understand about that?"

"You didn't have to kill them!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Tatsuki, I faced Hollows that want to eat me and Shinigamis that want to kill me. Did you know that I had to thwart seventeen different assassinations from the shinigamis alone?"

"Ichigo wouldn't-"

"The idiot definitely wouldn't do something like assassination," I snorted. "He punches first, remember? He might try to headbutt me for doing something he thinks is stupid or immoral in his opinion, but he would never involve himself in the standard cloak and dagger business."

She looked irritated at how easily I insulted Kurosaki, but didn't dispute what I said.

Well, except one.

"You realize that I'm your pregnant wife, and this wife also likes punching things when her husband keeps insulting her friend, yes?"

I blinked. "I mean, yes, but Collateral Damage Kurosaki is still Collateral Damage."

She punched me.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 42

-VB-

The situation I found myself in was now stupidly stupid.

One, I have pissed off Shinigamis.

Two, I have pissed off Arrancars and Hollows.

Three, I have no allies in Europe unlike what I had hoped.

Four, the local magicians decided they wanted me dead for some reason, and promptly got killed by my cute Wiggle.

In my opinion, their deaths were justified because they outright claimed that they would kill me if they found even one thing they didn't like.

Let me emphasize that.

Not "breaking the law" or "inhumane research or conduct" but "what they don't like."

At this point, I was being surrounded by enemies on all sides.

What to do, what to do, what to do…

I… could be a bitch and run away. It would take a bit of time to get the infrastructure set-up, but we could do it by utilizing our [Professor Haywire] tinker specialty to make a device to take us away from this universe to another.

That would, however, leave us exposed and without home in whichever world we arrived at. There was also no guarantee that we would be left peacefully or that some aggressive (didn't have to be insidious or benevolent) person or organization would detect and investigate the energy output that would inevitably get detected on both ends of the dimensional hole.

No, no, no. Leaving sounded like a good idea on the surface, but it was a trap.

At the same time, doing nothing inside our warehouse-fortress was also a no-go, because even I was getting cabin fever at this point.

But to just leave it?

To foolishly venture out when nearly everyone with power wanted me dead? Yeah, no.

There was a reason why I built those bombs.

They were my M.A.D. devices, and Wiggle my penultimate fuck-you should I get killed. The former would devastate all realms, and the latter had no weakness because reality itself was food for it. My baby slime ball would step in to wipe away any remnant remaining after the bombs were dropped.

And I told everyone that.

A single letter was sent to each of the factions wanting my head, and I demanded an answer within the week.

Of course, I didn't just make a demand. I gave both the Espada and the Gotei 13 a treat.

A fourth party for them to focus on in the coming future.

- VB-

Kyoraku Shunsui hummed as he passed the letter along.

He understood why the mortal magician felt the need to go so far. After all, the 2nd Division had created mistrust between their two organizations, and the latest conflict initiated upon them by the other mortals in Japan was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Magician Marris had enough of the world and was ready to kill the world if it didn't leave him alone anymore.

Of course, Shunsui couldn't let that happen. He might have advocated for the boy being left alone when he was a mere captain, but now as the captain-general of the Gotei 13, he now had responsibilities and duties to see to, including that over Soul Society's nominal authority over the mortal world.

"This is absurd," normally stoic Byakuya frowned while staring disdainfully at the letter. "A mortal has no right to make demands out of Soul Society, never mind Gotei 13. Our immortal laws reign supreme over material Japan."

Shunsui objected to that statement because the law itself stated that the afterlife does not interfere with the affairs of the mortal and material world, but for the sake of smoothening ou-.

"Don't be stupid, Bya-kun," Yoruichi tutted at the younger captain. "When a man has a sword capable of killing you, you need to take him seriously, and that boy has so many bombs capable of killing everyone in this room."

Everyone briefly glanced at her wilting lieutenant.

Ex-captain and now lieutenant once more Soi Fon had made a bad mistake based on incorrect conclusions. Sending assassins after the mortal magician had…

Let's just say that he was very upset with them still but not wrathful enough to send a letter of demand for a begrudging ceasefire.

"I'm willing to accept it," Shunsui spoke up to the chagrin of a few angry stares. "We have no way to prevent him from dropping those bombs on us, you understand? He has the advantage over us, so we won't make him use it. This means keeping our hands off where he is concerned. On top of that, the dissipation of the reiatsu-rich atmosphere around Karakura Town makes keeping our attention on Marris-mado is unnecessary. We should focus on finding the next location where Soul Society connects to the Material World naturally."

He paused before speaking again.

"Of course, we should focus on the tidbit of information he gave us. Send a letter back to him, agreeing to the ceasefire on the condition that he keeps his bombs locked away."

- VB-

Aizen stared at the letter before tossing it aside.

He was… not happy with the situation. Not only did the magician decimate his puppets and his plan but he went and made a threat?

If the letter had very little difference in its content, then Gotei 13 was now aware of their second enemy as well.

This… wasn't exactly a bad news for him.

The fact of the matter was that part of the reason why he had wanted to take over Soul Society in the first place was to change how souls worked. It was clear to him that the current system had too many issues and allowed the existence of too many enemies.

The Quincies were just another one of those.

Unfortunately, without the spiritual particle dense location and the numerous souls required to make the Key, he was in position to change the world.

This meant that the Quincies, should they rise up within the next two years as the letter suggested, would need to be eradicated as soon as they appeared.

"Ulquiorra."

The stoic and silent arrancar stepped up.

"How did you come by this letter?"

"I found it in the halls, Aizen-sama," he replied while bowing.

"I see. So our dear magician somehow infiltrated Las Noches, dropped a letter, and left. It seems that our security needs to be worked upon."

"… Si."

"I will have a letter for you to deliver to the mortal magician. If the mortal magician wants to delay his comeuppance for a few years, then that's fine. I will be agreeing to the ceasefire."

-VB-

I stared at the two letters on my desk and marveled at how effective M.A.D. was.

"… I need to make more bombs."

Because I too needed to prepare for the Quincies.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 43

-VB-

I got my responses.

Aizen agreed to the ceasefire. Shinigamis agreed to the ceasefire.

The local magician-onmyouji… did not accept.

They ignored my warnings about a potential war that loomed over not just the material realm but the spiritual realms. In their reply, they called me a mad, violent lunatic who needed to be put down for the dishonor that I supposedly heaped upon them.

Now, as much as I was hesitant to leave the safety of my protected warehouse, I saw the ceasefire as good of an excuse as any.

I had hoped to use the short amount of time I had outdoors to prepare Karakura Town for the eventual showdown between myself and the onmyouji (whatever they were). However, Tatsuki and Orihime saw this as a chance to entertain themselves. As such, I was left to allow Hide to make the preparations that he could while I… spent time with my women.

Well, spend time with both of them after I actually talked with Tatsuki.

"You know no one truly important would care if you were to just move away," I told her.

Tatsuki still nominally lived with her parents. Part of the reason why she was here with me and instead of with them was because she got pregnant.

Yes, Japan was still a society where girls would get disowned for getting pregnant out of wedlock. Not all of the time and there were certainly many families who wouldn't give a shit about norms and customs but the majority of people were still like that.

Tatsuki wasn't disowned, however, which said more good things about her parents than bad.

She glared at me. "Trying to kick me out already?" she asked half-heartedly.

She didn't mean it, but our relationship wasn't the lovey-dovey thing everyone imagined their first time would be. She had been "seduced" to join in on a threesome, and I think she hated how easily she'd gotten involved on some level. She was a proud girl. She's had her own accomplishments… and then a few debaucherous nights left her pregnant.

Oh, once she let herself go, she enjoyed the literal dicking and threesomes Orihime got us to indulge in. Afterward though, she would be moody.

Like now.

"No, no, no," I replied. "I would rather have my girl next to me then far away. That's how you get the stupid parody of heroic son coming to beat up his villainous father or something."

She snorted, and I could tell she was a little amused.

"Then what is this about?"

"… I don't want you to be here against your own will," I told her firmly. "Orihime wants to be with me on almost all levels. She still wants to see her friends like Collateral Damage Kurosaki-"

She snorted again.

"-you and even that molestor. But she loves me more," I grinned at her before letting the grin die down. "But you're not like that, are you? This is more about Orihime than me."

She hesitated before nodding.

"… Are you lesbian? I'm not judging."

She raised an eyebrow. "No." And that was that. "If I leave," she began on the original topic and question. "Then it would be like running away and I hate running away from my problem." I didn't interrupt her with a sassy remark, even though an immature part of me wanted to. "I chose to let you fuck me and then I fucked you in turn. We had sex and now I'm pregnant. I'm big enough to know that I… will be a mother soon. I need to take care of my child, and you had responsibility to us."

I nodded.

"So I came to you because as much as I knew that you were a blunt asshole who treated people's lives callously. A bit of a hypocrite, too. Those bombs of yours aren't exactly collateral damage-friendly."

"I am. I don't lie about it."

"Yeah, well, if you are now responsible, then I am also responsible. Orihime can't keep you in line but I can at least try," she narrowed her eyes. "And that means no killing people out of hand for their words."

I raised my eyebrow in return. "Then how do you expect me to keep you, Orihime, and our growing children safe when the monsters and self-proclaimed guardians will act first?"

"You have your fortress, don't you? Can't you do something like that?"

"I can," I nodded. "But I don't have the resources. Part of the reason why I'm stuck inside is because I failed to get the resources that would let me roam freely. That's why Hide was over in Europe."

She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "And that's what you were trying to do before Orihime got you to come with us."

"Yes."

She looked frustrated. "… Just a few hours with us should be enough."

"Of course. I can't be skipping out on my responsibilities now, can I?" I chuckled dryly.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 44

-VB-

It took a while for me to find out information on and understand the group that was the local onmyouji.

The Ten-Nihon-Onmyouji (Imperial Japan Onmyouji) was a long-standing organization whose roots were, expectedly from a nation that's been around for a long time, from a long fucking time ago. To be very specific, the TNO existed since the 200 AD's in one form or another.

To prevent their members from being slaughtered like that again, the TNO had decided to operate in cells. Still connected to each other, yes, but working in only their jurisdiction with none holding power over another except through a council of six elders they called the Rokurei.

And, well, the onmyouji guy who tried to fuck me over was one of those six elders, who was in charge of the 4th District (a large area that stretched from the western half of Tokyo to Kyoto).

By killing him, I had more or less declared war on the entirety of the Ten-Nihon-Onmyouji.

What I had not expected was for one of those elders to personally come out with a white flag asking to negotiate with me.

So, a month after I managed to get an uneasy truce among the shinigamis, Aizen-aligned hollows, and myself, I found myself standing across the bridge from one such elder of the TNO. The bridge was the one that separated Karakura Town from one of its neighboring cities, and the elder asked to meet here.

Had this been a mere week ago, I wouldn't have.

However, I didn't have enough bombs to recreate MAD a week ago. I did now.

So me strutting out around Karakura Town was perfectly within my limits of safety, because everyone who knew anyone in this area (except for the TNO apparently) knew that attacking me was suicide. Worse, the spiritual beings among them knew that I had weapons that could erase them from existence.

I could have refused this meeting.

But I didn't.

The reason for accepting the invitation was simple: I wanted more buffer between me and the future shenanigans that were to occur. Aizen and the shinigamis were sure to come to blows once the Quincies, whose existence I revealed, and their fiasco came to an end. Shunsui may be a chill guy, but he was a shinigami at the end of the day. Allowing a traitor and Hollow-sympathizer to exist was simply not in the cards.

It was also not his decision to make, so there's that; Gotei 13 was subordinate to the Soul Society's version of parliament (forgot their name and I never bothered to remember the names of people making trouble and dying often).

Which also meant that whatever truce I might have being in the middle of the two would also become null and void. Sure, my weapons would keep them back but eventually, they'll find a way to hurt me.

So why not get myself an ally?

I mean I already killed one of their elders, but what's that gotta do with a future profitable alliance? Hmm? Or sales of MAD bombs?

And so I stood here with another elder of the TNO, who came with two bodyguards.

This man looked different. While the previous elder was all war-like samurai, this one was more reserved and statesman-like. Crisply dressed in a modern business suit (stripped dark blue and grey) and with his hair slicked back (with perfectly single black highlight on the side of his head among his white hair), he looked more like the prime minister or a very big name CEO of a keiretsu.

Actually, for all I know, he was a CEO.

"Good morning, Marris-san," the elder began with a grandfatherly smile.

I felt more nervous than I should have, and decided to fuck it and went with the Japanese greeting style. I gave him a bow.

"Good morning, elder," I greeted in turn.

He hummed. "You are different than what I was led to believe. I am glad."

Curiosity got the better of me. "And what do they say about me?"

"Brash." Fair. "Brutish." Also fair. "Crude." On point, really. "And violent."

"… None of them are wrong," I said, which made me raise his eyebrows.

"Oh?"

"But that is mostly because people come to my home, threaten me, threaten my family, and say they will burn down everything I own."

He gave me an 'ah' before nodding.

"I can understand such a response, then. Was that what Sendo did?"

"Was that the old man who led his minions and try to kill me?"

"Yes."

"I see. Then it is clear that you are in the wrong yet you have committed murder in turn instead of subduing them."

I frowned. "Of course, I'm not going to let people who threaten me live. They will keep trying to kill me."

"It is nonetheless the law of the land, even if the normals are largely unaware of our business," he shook his head.

"Even the business of the shinigamis and Hollows?"

He stiffened. "So you know about them, too." He waved his hand, and his bodyguards backed off quite a bit. "Their existence is not something lightly discussed even among our circles."

I scoffed. "You give them too much credit then."

"You are in contact with them?" he asked incredulously.

Oh, this was perfect.

"Let me tell you a little story, and how their current conflict jeopardizes everything you have right now…"

-VB-

When he returned to his home after establishing communication and a ceasefire with the magician, Masuda Yoroi returned home and pulled his tie off of his neck. Sitting down behind his desk, he contemplated the story - a fantastical story - and the evidence he had been given.

He stared down at the orb currently sitting on top of his desk and the utter evil it irradiated.

The Essence of a Hollow.

The mad magician had captured and boiled down a Hollow to its spiritual essence before encasing it in an enchanted plastic shell to prevent its evaporation via the natural diffusion of spiritual energies.

Yoroi was not an expert in spiritual sciences. That was more of his nephew's and grandnieces' specialties.

Even so, he could not deny what sat in front of him and the utter horrors that played out, blind to the public and the wider magical community at large.

"Fucking Europeans," he growled. The Magic Association in European knew about this fiasco bubbling right underneath his feet but they neglected to inform him about it post-haste.

'Oh, the world is ending, and it is starting right where you sleep. Good luck.' Couldn't even tell him that little bit.

If his father was still alive, then he would have done some subtle revenges against the Europeans. Crashing a few of their stock markets once or twice just for the hell of it before going after and creating "accidents."

Unfortunately, he was not his father.

"Masuda-sama."

He looked up.

It was his secretary. Not the one assigned for his group but the one in charge of his magical and onmyouji work.

"What is it, Rina-chan?" he asked tiredly as he ran his fingers along his clean-shaven jaw. He needed to deal with this soon.

"Hina-sama is here."

He groaned.

Hina, the Sixth's granddaughter and his grandniece, had been apopletic after the Sixth got killed. Despite her age, she had been part of the driving force to attack the mage and put him down for good. It was a good thing it didn't happen because Yoroi did not want to know what kind of monster was able to keep Hollows and shinigamis at bay.

"Let her in."

"Hai."

Within the next ten seconds, his office doors - expensive mahogany - flung open, crashed onto the side, and Hina stomped her way in.

"Ooji! What is this about -?!"

He grabbed the ball and tossed it to her. She caught in, only half paying attention. It was until she held it for a moment that she froze like a deer in headlights and slowly looked down at it.

"W-What is this vile thing?"

"That, dear grandniece, is part of the story, and what a story it is. Your grandfather and my friend may have been a pawn in someone else's dirty work."

And Masuda Yoroi, the head of the Mitsui Group, was not going to let that go.

No, he was going to get to the bottom of it and take a pound of flesh from the perpetrators that dared to send his friend to die against a monster. He did not blame the monster for being a monster. In fact, the monster generously offered to share some of his arcanotechnologies - a field of magical science Yoroi was not even aware of - to soothe things over.

No, he blamed this person.

This Aizen.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 45

-VB-

Now that I had the onmyouji off my back, I didn't have to worry about anyone else… for now.

In this small window of time that I had, I focused on Orihime and Tatsuki, because I didn't know when I might be able to give them more of my time so readily. I didn't do research or experimenting. I just… spent time with them.

Sure, some of the time was spent having sex, but sex became secondary.

Tatsuki was still a little bit cautious around me. There was a bit of a lack of trust, because her trust in me was fiat-backed by Orihime's trust in me. She also didn't approve or understand half of what I did.

Orihime was the one who understood and approved… about half of what I did. Even she didn't accept the shit I did with the Hollows. She did, however, completely understand why I made the bombs and the traps that I did.

Because she understood that I was not like Ichigo. I wasn't a super-spirit. I was the tricky, cunning, yet blunt man. I used tools to improve, not plot-holes and bloodlines.

Speaking of which, what exactly was the ryouga doing?

- VB-

One question led to one thing and that led to another.

At the end of it all, I found myself in a meeting with Urahara Kisuke, Kurosaki Isshin, and Yoruichi.

They were the old guard and wanted a measure of me.

The only reason - the only fucking reason - that I was doing this was because Orihime asked me, if only to get me to be more comfortable around the neighbors. Otherwise, I would have blasted them in the face the moment they showed their face.

Except Isshin. The man hadn't done anything to me. Yet.

"So," Urahara smiled before pulling out his fan and covering his lower face. "We meet again."

"We do," I glared. "If you try something like last time, I'll drop a bomb, aight?"

"Of course! We're doing this under a truce! I wouldn't want to break the trust of our only line of communication."

He was talking about Orihime, and he really didn't, because if he did, then I was going to fuck him over hard.

… I was in meetings with potentially hostile or hostile forces way too often.

Where were the days when I can punch punks without consequences?

Oh, right. I became a local power. I can't go around punching punks without the rest of the local powers eyeing me in suspicion.

Ah, the bitter shackles of power.

All the more reason to have more bombs, because once I had enough bombs, then I would be free of those self-applied shackles, right?

Right.

"What did you want to meet me for?" I asked pointedly.

"Why, no hellos and how are you's-?"

I glared at him.

"Can we get on with it?"

He huffed. "Fine. Essentially, Gotei 13 wants me to get a handle on you more than they think they do."

"And what do they think they know about me?"

"A mad scientist on par with Mayuri."

My lips twitched, and I noticed his eyes glint. Urahara probably thought that I had some informant or spy network in place within Soul Society. I wasn't going to correct him, but I needed to keep them - especially Urahara - on their toes. If they start to think they could get comfortable with me, then they'll start pulling shit again.

"The man you pulled out of prison and left in charge of your division due to reasons," I hummed. "And the man most likely to antagonize me to try and get a sample to study."

Urahara stared at me blankly.

"Damn, you do know stuff you shouldn't," Isshin whistled.

I looked at him for a moment before giving him a seated bow. "Good morning, Kursosaki-san."

He looked surprised by my show of respect. "Oh, you know who I am? And you still bow to me but not them?" he asked while jerking a finger at Yoruichi and Urahara.

"Of course," I replied blandly after pulling back up. "It's not hard to bow to someone who hasn't tried to kill or ambush me and it's doubly not hard to respect someone who gave so much for love."

Nothing I said was wrong and I did feel respect for him, but the fact that he seemed to like me more after that was also a good bonus.

Isshin turned around and gave Urahara a smirk. "I like this guy."

Urahara almost glared at him.

Yoruichi scoffed.

"Look, kid," the Shihoin princess spoke up. "I get it. I scared you last time and came in without permission. I wasn't trying to do. Much."

"And the first time we met?" I asked with a glare.

She shrugged it off. "You were skulking around and killing Hollows. I was just… scouting things out."

"Usually, engaging someone in unwanted combat means you want to kill them. I wonder how you would react if I were to, I don't know, engage you in unwanted violence right now with a few of my bombs. Or should I try to take your stuff like you two tried with mine?"

Isshin looked at the two with a raised eyebrow. "You really did this guy dirty, huh?"

"It felt justified at the time," Yoruichi shrugged. "But then again, you proved that we were right to have at least tried. You got dangerous."

An admission of guilt but not one of shame.

I let out a deep breath.

Really, Urahara and Shihoin were no different from the bastards in Gotei 13. Immortal (long-lived), rightfully arrogant, and uncaring of the mortals.

Not incorrectly, because from their perspective, all mortals became souls, which mattered more, but it didn't change the fact that it grated against my mind. Every time we met, it ended in a clusterfuck for me.

Why did I agree to this meeting?

Oh, right. Orihime asked for one more chance. Well, I certainly wasn't going to give these two any more chances after this.

"I'm going to ask again. What do you want? Gotei 13's self-prophecized paranoia can't be the only reason you asked to meet me."

Urahara met my eyes for a moment before nodding. "You are sharp."

I didn't reply.

He cleared his throat after a while. "Honestly, there are no ulterior motives. Gotei 13 really does want that assessment, and we aren't keen on… making you resort to your bombs or any other unscrupulous weapons."

I sighed. "Alright. Well, here I am. How do you intend to do your 'assessment'?"

"Ask you questions and hope you answer honestly!" Urahara grinned as he pulled out a clipboard and a pen.

The rest of us looked at him incredulously.

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 46

-VB-

Urahara's Shop

"I'm going to ask again. What do you want? Gotei 13's self-prophecized paranoia can't be the only reason you asked to meet me."

Urahara met my eyes for a moment before nodding. "You are sharp."

I didn't reply.

I sighed. "Alright. Well, here I am. How do you intend to do your 'assessment'?"

"Ask you questions and hope you answer honestly!" Urahara grinned as he pulled out a clipboard and a pen.

The rest of us looked at him incredulously.

"So let's begin with a simple question! Are you hostile to Gotei 13?"

"Wow, going really strong right there, aren't you?" I huffed.

Yoruichi gave her cousin a deadpan stare. "You couldn't start off with an easy one?"

"But why would I do that?" Urahara asked faux-cheerfulness. "That's no fun!"

"No, I am not hostile at the moment because I don't want to do anything like unnecessary fighting, which Gotei 13 seems very willing to carry out when they get the orders," I grouched. "It's like Gotei 13 is… brainless~!"

None of the former Gotei 13 captains and vice-captain present said anything about that. Instead, Urahara just plowed on with the question.

"What is your intent with Soul Society?"

"Stay the fuck off my lawn. The dead should stay in the realm of the dead."

"Do you consider Karakura Town to be yours?"

"I don't have ownership of property… and I'd like for Gotei 13 to remember that they don't have it as well."

"Why did you come down to Karakura Town? As far as our intelligence was able to confirm, you started living in Japan starting in Hokkaido."

I leaned back. They learned about my past as far back as that. Concerning. It also showed that they felt the need to gather every piece of information they could to find any advantage over me. Or, perhaps, they wanted access to their own bombs and were looking either for inspiration or a source for it.

Either way, that little tidbit Urahara threw at me, probably intentionally, told me that Gotei 13 was highly wary of me.

Or was Urahara lying and just telling me what he found?

"Whose intelligence?" I asked him. If he answered, then I would know, assuming he wasn't lying.

"Gotei 13."

"… Alright. What's the next question?"

"Who is your servant? The one that is responsible for the defense-"

I glared at him. "Next."

He grinned, and I just glared harder.

"A-O-kay! Gotei 13 wants to know if you intend to continue to stay in Karakura Town."

"Yes. My stuff is here. I settled down here, found my girlfriend here, and finished setting up my base of operation to near completion. I don't see a reason to move."

"You seem to like long answers," Urahara hummed. I wasn't sure if I was getting to him or not.

"I don't like to fight-"

"The bloodthirsty grin on your face as you beat Ichigo to a pulp, which we recorded-"

"You mean you recorded," Yoruichi added.

"-says otherwise."

I shrugged. "I may let my bloodlust get to me once in a while."

"And then there are your experiments which violate all manner of laws, spiritual and mortal, legal and ethical."

"No more unethical than lab animal experimentation. Your point?"

"… There is none."

"Next question, please."

"Why are you hostile toward Gotei 13 beyond reasonable causes?"

… Did they really ask me that? Seriously?

"Obvious question gets an obvious answer. You suck. Next."

Urahara pointed at himself in question.

"No, Gotei."

He grinned.

I didn't understand what he was doing at this point.

"Okay, next question!" he tittered. Ugh. "Why did you contact the European magicians?"

"Skip. I'm not giving you answers to similar questions, either."

The "assessment" continued in that manner, but ultimately, they gained nothing useful from it. If they didn't know it beforehand, then they knew tidbits about myself I didn't care about.

Why even ask what my favorite color was?

-VB-

Tokyo

Masuda Yoroi stared across the table at the other key members of the Imperial Japanese Onmyouji in an elaborate and tastefully decorated room designed specifically for such meetings. The muted gold and jade-themed room, with milky white walls, ceiling, and floor, provided a certain calm feel to the meeting room that sat in contrast with the actual mood of the people.

Because sitting in the center of the table between seven members of the Imperial Japanese Onmyouji was a small glass sample bottle.

Within this glass bottle, no wider than a man's finger and as tall as one, was a writhing and hissing essence of a Hollow.

"Where did you get this?" Masuda Yoroi asked.

"An independent mage gave it to me."

"Mage. That's not a word we use to describe ourselves… Was it a gaijin?"

"It was," Yoroi replied with a grunt while fixing his business suit. "A young man named Marris Alan. And he was a very curious man. Who else would call someone like Marris-san when he is in contact with Soul Society?"

That caused a stir among the other leaders.

"Truly?"

"Yes. And it seems that he did something interesting: defy the shinigamis."

And so the interest of the mortals turned upon Karakura Town.

47 (NSFW)

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 47 (NSFW)

-VB-

The somewhat honest Q with Urahara came to an end right about as schools were letting the students out, so when I got home, I got there just in time to see both Orihime and Tatsuki coming home.

"How was school today?" I asked them while physically opening the warehouse's front door with a key but using a number of spiritual and magical manipulation to open puzzles and locks that were in place. Only after they were done and Hidemasa's Great Wall recognized me did I fully open the door and allowed everyone and myself in.

"Tiring!" Orihime said with a smile as she dropped her illusion. As the illusion fell away, her student uniform changed into a blue one-piece showing off her pregnancy. She placed her hands underneath her growing belly and cupped it. "It's really starting to get in the way, you know? I have to physically distance myself away from my desk at school!" she pouted. "Actually, can you make me some kind of… oh, I don't know, something like a space squeezer?"

"Not without knowing if our baby might have magic or spiritual power of his own, no," I replied with a shake of my head after closing and locking the door.

Locking the door was very important for the Great Wall's function. See, it had exactly one weakness; its defenses meant nothing if someone left the door open. Yup. The historical facts of the Great Wall imparted a weakness on the Great Wall protecting my

That's just how things rolled with a Heroic Spirit.

As for how I rolled…

I looked down at Orihime's pregnant belly.

I took a deep breath in, walked over to her, and hugged her from behind.

"Alan?"

She didn't say anything when I put my hands on her stomach and gave her a caress.

She giggled.

"I need recharging," I grumbled. "So let me hug you."

"Sure, sure," she giggled before burying her head between his shoulder and neck.

"… Go to the room already," Tatsuki grumbled from behind us, and I chuckled.

"Wanna join?"

"… Yeah."

-VB-

There was no sex today. It was just a lot of cuddling and hugging while the three of us just lay around lazily on our bed before falling asleep for a few hours.

Some of it had to do with Orihime's fatigue. A normal woman would be exhausted with a full day of school in the late stages of her pregnancy. While Orihime had her own spiritual powers that boosted her strength and stamina and additional magical and tinkertech devices I gave her for her convenience, it still wasn't easy.

I blinked awake when I felt a bit of wetness on my face.

Looking down, I saw the front of Orihime's evening gown wet with milk.

Yes, breast milk.

She's been lactating lately… and well…

I pushed her away from me and then fully unto her back. I glanced at Tatsuki, who was sleeping in her school uniform. If she was sleeping, then she wasn't going to be getting up unless one of us woke her up.

My hands reached up to Orihime's chest and slid the front of her gown down and under her tits. Then I gave both of her tits a good squeeze. Milk squirted out from her nipples, and slid down her glistening skin. Ducking down, I lapped up all of the milk coming out of her.

Orihime slowly blinked as she woke up, and then looked down at me.

She giggled before moaning when I gave her left nipple a nibble.

"H-Hey, Tatsuki is right there…" she whined even as her hands came up and grabbed a bunch of my hair. "A-Ahn!"

I didn't say anything and just kept nibbling, licking, and lapping at her tits, taking turns to and fro.

After what felt like an hour, I finally stopped.

"There. Is it better?"

She let out a sigh of relief. "It is. They were getting heavy and pressured," she sighed. Then she gave me a glare. "Do you know how embarrassing it is to have your breasts keep leaking milk during school? If it wasn't for the illusion, I would be the center of all school gossip!"

I just grinned. "Oh, you mean your pregnancy glow might seduce some virgin boys at school?" I asked her. "Well, we can't have that, can we? I'm not into cheating or sharing."

She pouted before giggling because her stomach rumbled.

"Is it time for dinner?"

I rolled my eyes at the simplicity that Orihime liked to live by. I wished that my mind was like hers, sometimes. It certainly would make life easier.

"I'll go make it," I said as I got up. "Western or eastern style?"

"Eastern! We had pasta for the past three days!"

"Did we?" I frowned as I got off the bed. "Huh, I guess we did."

As I walked into the kitchen and began to pull out ingredients, I had a few other thoughts running in my head.

The first of which was my family. Without a doubt, my family was with Orihime and Tatsuki. Hidemasa was kind of like a handsome cousin, but I guessed that he would fit into the family, too, since he would be alive as long as I was there to provide him with mana or whatever else that he got from me.

The second thought was the future of that family. It was in danger as long as I continued to live here. Sure, my fortress would keep my family safe as long as they stayed inside of it, but that was impossible; people couldn't stay cooped up forever.

The third thought was how I would solve that. I had already temporarily solved it by establishing an uneasy truce by removing Aizen's casus belli and getting the shinigamis and Hollows to focus on the upcoming Quincies as a threat they should focus on.

The fourth and last thought was how I might get out of this situation. The constant warring and having to watch out for not only the Hollows and shinigamis but also now the European magicians and Japanese onmyouji. The trend that I was seeing was that this world was not fit for a normal person. I'm surprised that humans as a species were able to grow as populous and technologically advanced when there were forces that acted counter to human advancement.

All of this was something I was already thinking about before I met Urahara today, but now that I had some more time to think about it…

…

I think…

I think I might have to leave, if only for the sake of my family.

Sure, Orihime and Tatsuki would be sad about leaving their friends behind, but I valued their lives more than I valued their friends.

Yes, I became a local power. I was powerful here.

But what worth was that power if I would be essentially under house arrest for my and my family's safety?

No. There had to be a way out. I will find it and use it to bring my family out of this mess.