" … You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking.", Valentina asked as she stared wide-eyed at Yasutora's group of friends, none of which looked like they were joking.
It was the morning after Valentina had fought Yylfordt. After shoving all of her 'reiatsu' as La Muerte had called it back into her new magic sword like the aforementioned spirit-person-thing had told her to (an act which turned it back into the rapier it used to be before Valentina manifested super powers), Valentina all but forced her cousin as well as Urahara into the foyer of the latter's shop so that they could explain to her what the fuck had just happened. Soon after that, the rest of Yasutora's friends (sans Orihime, Ichigo and Rukia, who were away having their battle wounds healed) had shown up from fuck-knows-where, most of them looking beat up and shaken. Clearly Valentina hadn't been the only one who had been in a fight. And after that, the explanations started.
Valentina was left gaping in shock as her cousin recounted (with the occasional help of his various friends) what had happened to him over the last few months, and all the things in the world she had been blissfully unaware of until now. Yasutora told her about how he and his friends had gained powers, how they had stormed a paramilitary organization based out of the afterlife to save Rukia, and how he, his friends and all of the afterlife were apparently now at war with this Sousuke Aizen guy, who was basically Satan fused with Hitler and Jeffery Epstein to them.
That stuff was shocking enough, but then came the explanation about how the afterlife worked, which completely shattered the Catholic beliefs Valentina's family had held for generations… Not that it mattered much to Valentina. She had given up on Catholicism at age thirteen when she went to mass with Yasutora and Abuelo for the first (and only) time, and ended up getting into a fist fight with the priest because he said the suit she had worn was 'not appropriate for a young Catholic girl'. Needless to say, Valentina won the fight, got labeled the antichrist by the priest, and got banned from the church for life along with the rest of her family. Yasutora had been indifferent towards the whole thing and Abuelo had been mildly disappointed but not surprised. Valentina snorted at the memory of the incident, before remembering she was in the middle of something. What was she thinking about before she got distracted again? Oh yeah, the thing these wacko's (yes her cousin was included in that statement) claimed was the afterlife.
After explaining the events that had led to her fighting Yylfordt (a battle which was apparently part of a larger invasion led by some guy named Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez), the white haired kid named Toshiro (who was apparently well over a century old and a big shot in the paramilitary afterlife organization, which… no? Regardless of how old he was chronologically, the kid literally looked and acted twelve. Valentina didn't care how powerful or mature he was, he was a child and children should not lead military organizations. It was immoral and bad for business), had gone on to explain what he and his companions were, and what Yylfordt was.
Apparently (God Valentina needed to stop using that word, but not using it meant suspending her disbelief for five fucking seconds, something she was incapable of doing at the moment), there were several kinds of magical spirit-beings that Valentina couldn't see before now because of some vaguely explained reason. Those beings were regular ghosts (called Pluses by Yasutora's friends), Shinigami (which were essentially the Japanese version of Charon from ancient Greek mythology, only with black robes and cool swords), and Hollows (a category which had been intensely glossed over. The explanation about what they were had boiled down to the different types of Hollows from the most basic to the Vasto Lordes, and a single sentence that translated to 'they're dangerous and the bad guys' from Urahara, with no further elaboration about where they came from or why they were dangerous). Toshiro, Rangiku, Urahara, Renji, Yumichika, Ikkaku and Ichigo for some reason? Fell into the category of Shinigami, which was why when they showed up at Urahara's, they were all dressed like Yumichika was when Valentina first met him.
Humans with superpowers were also somewhere on that spirit being spectrum, but no one seemed sure exactly where they fell. That was where Valentina had initially assumed she existed on the spectrum, but nope! Turns out, voices in her head plus a magic sword equaled being a Shinigami, which should have been impossible because she was still alive, but apparently she and Ichigo were the crowning exceptions to this rule for reasons that were also not explained to her. And that was when Valentina started getting the feeling that Yasutora's friends were keeping things from her on purpose about the stuff they were involved in, but she didn't have time to dwell on that feeling when the conversation continued on and the topic changed.
And now, here Valentina sat, amber eyes wide open as she stared at the gathering of Shinigami and whatever-the-fuck Uryu was (yet another thing that was not explained to her), still in disbelief about what she had just been told. Urahara looked at her over his fan with serious eyes.
"We are most certainly not joking, Valentina. It's like Captain Hitsugaya here said. We are Shinigami, and you, miraculously, have become one of us completely unassisted. It truly is an astounding occurrence. Even Ichigo needed to absorb most of the reiatsu of another Shinigami to gain his powers, so for you to unlock your powers while still a human, as well as achieve Shikai and intermediate mastery of Shunpo in a matter of minutes after doing so is nothing short of amazing.", Urahara praised, with a conniving glint in his eyes that Valentina did not like. Valentina glared at him when he referred to her as 'one of us'.
"Now hang on just a minute, what's with this 'one of us' crap? I never agreed to join your weird military organization, nor fight in your war. You haven't even told me what this war is about in the first place. I get that you don't like this Aizen guy, but what did he do to make you not like him in the first place?", Valentina asked, still trying to understand the situation she had been thrust into. Toshiro glared at her.
"He's extremely powerful and traitor of the highest degree, that's all you need to know.", the boy responded coldly. Valentina glared fiercely at the little shit. Looks like someone needed an asswhooping.
"Okay listen here you little chico (boy), I don't know what shit they let fly in that weird-ass Soul Society place of yours, but on earth if kids talk to adults that way they get a chancla (flip-flop) to the face. So why don't you take your little ass on outta here and- ", Valentina started to say angrily, which made Toshiro stare at her with shock and indignation. He had never expected a human (except for maybe Ichigo) to talk to him like that.
"What did you just say to me?!", he asked, his teal eyes flaring. Valentina gave him a challenging look.
"You heard me.", she said in response, her voice flat but very much not calm.
Normally, Valentina would have kept her composure easie, especially in regards to arguing with a child, but she was tired. And not the 'I need a nap' kind of tired. No, she was 'I need to smack someone and THEN take a nap' kind of tired. Not only had she gotten off a fifteen hour flight that afternoon, but she was also dealing with jetlag and had just manifested weird magical powers and fought someone with said powers, all while slightly drunk. So she was not in the mood to deal with asshole kids. Thankfully, Rangiku decided to intervene before things could escalate any further.
"Captain, calm down. She's just trying to understand what's going on.", Rangiku said placatingly, and Valentina silently thanked her for preventing her from throwing hands with a preteen. Toshiro took her advice, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
"Very well. If you want to know so bad, I'll tell you. The former Captain Aizen has committed several crimes, including but not limited to the massacre of our entire judicial body, known as Central 46, the attempted murder of Lieutenant Momo Hinamori of his own division, the attempted murder of Rukia Kuchiki, conspiracy, the theft of a very powerful artifact, and several others I'm sure I'm forgetting. In short, he is a very evil man.", Toshiro explained. Valentina nodded along with his words, before raising an eyebrow.
"Do you have proof that he committed these crimes?", Valentina asked. She knew it probably sounded redundant to them, but she wanted to make sure she had all the information before deciding what role she wanted to play in this war. If these people were fighting against an innocent man, then she wanted no part in it. Toshiro nodded.
"Yes, and there are several witnesses to them, one of which is your cousin.", Toshiro answered. Valentina looked to Yasutora for confirmation.
"Yasutora? Is this true?", she asked. Yasutora nodded, and that was all the confirmation she needed. Yasutora would never lie to her… except about the whole 'having superpowers' thing, but she would chew him out for that later. Valentina looked at Toshiro again.
"Okay, I believe you. Aizen is the big bad, got it. Is there anything else I need to know about him? Does he have any minions or soldiers or whatever that I need to watch out for?", Valentina asked. Urahara nodded.
"Yes. He has two Captain-level Shinigami that defected from Soul Society with him, and you're already aware of the Arrancar, having fought one of them last night. Something I tried to warn you about, but since you didn't listen… ", Urahara explained somewhat bitterly. Valentina resisted the urge to flip him off for his comment and her eyes widened in realization.
"So that's what Yylfordt meant when he called himself an 'Arrancar'. You mean to tell me that the guy he was working under, that Grimmjow guy, is working under Aizen?", Valentina asked. Toshiro nodded again.
"Yes. In fact, we have reason to believe he's one of his top ten soldiers, a member of the group known as the 'Espada'.", Toshiro continued. Valentina tilted her head in curiosity.
'They call themselves the 'swords'? I mean I guess that's fitting, if they all fight with swords Yylfordt did before he turned into a giant bull.', Valentina observed mentally.
The brown skinned woman then wondered what the Espada were like. Were they anything like Yylfordt, who was a nice person and a decent but not overly skilled fighter? If so, she didn't think they were very threatening. But Yylfordt was likely just a foot soldier from what Toshrio had told her, so that meant there was probably a sizable gap in power between Yylfordt and the Espada. So that meant they were strong. And what about that Grimmjow person? What was he like? Valentina had heard he had been the one to injure Ichigo and Rukia, and he was an Espada. Did that mean he was strong? Maybe if he ever came back to Karakura, she could fight him for fun. Yeah, that would be cool. Smiling to herself at the thought of a good fight, Valentina looked at Toshiro and the other Shinigami curiously.
"Tell me more about the Arrancar. You've told me about the normal Hollow power ranking, but you haven't told me where the Arrancar fall in that power ranking.", Valentina requested.
'You haven't talked about them much at all, actually. Other than when you tell me they're evil.', Valentina thought with no small amount of annoyance. That was where Urahara took over again.
"That varies depending on the strength the Arrancar had before becoming Arrancar. Arrancar are essentially Hollows who have removed their masks and taken on a human shape, hence the meaning of their name in Spanish; 'to tear'. Arrancars have Shinigami-like powers, which come in the form of the blades they carry, which seal away their Resurrección, a release which allows them to access their true powers as a Hollow, similar to a Shinigami's Shikai. They have several other powers as well, though we've yet to figure out just how many or what they are. Arrancar can occur naturally, but they're typically much weaker than the Arrancar you fought. The reason that one was so strong was because it wasn't made naturally. It was made using the artifact Aizen stole called the Hogyoku, which allows someone to break down the barrier between Shinigami and Hollow, creating creatures with powers that can mimic both beings.", Urahara explained. Valentina tilted her head, intrigued.
"And how does Aizen select the Hollows he deems fit for this process? Do they volunteer, or there some kind of selection system?", Valentina asked. The Shinigami in the room all looked at her oddly for asking such questions. Why did she care so much about the social workings of Hollows? Urahara shook his head at Valentina's questions.
"I'm afraid neither of those options are the case. Going off of what I know about Aizen and his methods, his process is likely as follows; he finds some normal Hollows he thinks would be interesting or powerful as Arrancar, uses the Hogyoku's power on them, and turns them into Arrancar that can serve under him as soldiers. And if they refuse, I think it's safe to say he either coerces them into joining him or kills them. Aizen hasn't really ever taken 'no' as an answer before.", Urahara explained, and Valentina's eyes became sad.
'Those poor souls. Changed into another being against their will and forced to serve in an evil man's army. And poor Yylfordt. He must be treated terribly.', Valentina thought sympathetically. No one as nice as Yylfordt deserved the fate Aizen was forcing upon his soldiers. In fact, she was sure none of the Arrancar did. They were people too, after all, regardless of how much the Shinigami kept insisting they were the bad guys. Valentina turned to Toshiro and raised an eyebrow.
"So what's your plan for dealing with them, then? Going off of what I've been told, Aizen is the main bad guy and most of his followers don't have a choice in their situation. Is your plan to defeat them with minimal damage if you absolutely have to fight them and kill Aizen to liberate them? Or maybe find a way to work with them to stage a coup and take him down non-militarily?", Valentina asked, naively hoping that surely, since the Arrancars were unwilling participants in this war, they would be treated like the victims they were and not enemies. Much to her horror, but not her shock (what should she have expected from a group of people who seemed to detest Hollows so much?). she was sorely mistaken.
"Liberate them? Work with them? What the hell are you talking about? They're Hollows. Even if Aizen did force them to fight for him, they are and always will be Hollows. We're Shinigami. It's our job to kill them to maintain the balance.", Toshiro rebutted, looking extremely confused by Valentina's questions. Why was she so curious about Hollows? Ichigo didn't ask him or the others nearly this many questions. They ate people and tried to hurt his friends. That was all the information the boy had needed before agreeing to hunt them, but Valentina was quickly proving much harder to convince. The woman stared at the young captain in horror.
"You can't be serious! You're going to kill an entire race of beings just for existing?! That's genocide!", Valentina yelled back. She may love fighting more than the average person, but that was just fighting. Killing was a completely separate wheelhouse, one that Valentina never wanted to venture into. Especially when the victims were, in her eyes, people whose only crime was being forced to serve an evil man and having a hole in them. Chad, seeing his cousin's distress, got up from where he was sitting, walked over to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"I know it seems wrong Valentina, but it's necessary. Hollows are malevolent spirits that seek to harm and kill the living. I know it's an unpleasant truth, but it's us or them.", Chad said reassuringly, but Valentina looked up at him with enough shock in her eyes to make him feel like he had been punched in the gut.
"You're okay with this? You, of all people, Yasutora?", Valentina said in a breathy voice. Her cousin, her sweet, gentle cousin, agreed with these people that wanted to wipe out an entire race of beings? Chad, not wanting to upset his cousin, frantically tried to correct the situation.
"Valentina, you don't understand. Hollows are dangerous. They hurt people. In fact, not long before you came here, a pair of Arrancar invaded and they- ", Chad tried to explain, but the glare Valentina shot him shut him up.
"If your reasoning for what you and your friends believe is so hard to grasp, then do what I've already asked you to do and help me understand! Help me understand why you want to destroy all Hollows, regardless of their character! Because all you and Mr. Bucket Hat over there have told me about them is that they're the bad guys and they hurt people! But why? Why do they hurt people, and why does that make them the bad guys? I need actual answers, Yasutora! Not this glossed-over bullcrap you people have been feeding me since we started this conversation!", Valentina demanded to know, taking the Shinigami aback. Chad shook his head furiously
"There's more to it than what you think. The Arrancars that invaded before you got here were bad. One of them badly hurt me, Orihime and Ichigo, and he even used some technique of his to consume the souls of every normal human in the park he and his partner arrived in and killed them! They aren't good people, Valentina! They aren't even people in the first place!", Chad refuted. Valentina's glare intensified.
"How can you stand there and say that?! The actions of one or two individuals don't define the character of an entire species or condemn them to extermination! If that weren't true, the human race would have been wiped out years ago!", Valentina yelled, enraged by her cousin's brazen dehumanization of the Arrancar.
Valentina couldn't say she didn't understand where he was coming from, though. So far, her cousin and his friend's experiences with Arrancar and other Hollows had been nothing but bad. Valentina knew she would feel similar to the way they all did if her experience with Yylfordt had been like that, but that didn't mean the entire race of Arrancar deserved their ire. Toshiro then decided it was time to speak up and intervene in the steadily progressing argument between the two cousins.
"It's not just the actions of one or two Arrancar, Miss Valentina. It's the actions of the entire race. We didn't tell you this earlier so we wouldn't scare you, but since you insist on knowing I'll tell you; all Hollows, regardless of class, eat souls to fill the empty void within them that the hole on their bodies left. They will do anything to fill that void, and I'm sure that while the Arrancar are more articulate, they are no different.", Toshiro revealed seriously. He hoped that by doing this, he would squash any growing sympathies Valentina had for the Arrancar and help her understand what the Shinigami fought to protect, but like most things involving Valentina, it didn't go according to plan. Valentina narrowed her eyes dangerously at the white haired captain.
"And how do Hollows get that hole in the first place? I don't recall ever having that process explained to me.", Valentina asked carefully. Rangiku was the one to answer her.
"When a person dies, the tether binding their spirit to their body, known as a Chain of Fate, snaps. Over the course of anywhere from several days to several months, the chain steadily erodes. Once it is fully eroded, it leaves a hole in the chest of a soul and they morph into a Hollow.", Rangiku explained casually, not seeing the harm in answering the woman's question. She didn't notice how intensely Valentina was focusing on her.
"And is there any way to prevent this?", Valentina asked, continuing with her line of questioning. Rangiku nodded.
"Yes. A Konso ritual has to be performed on the soul to send them to Soul Society, where their Chain of Fate will vanish entirely and there will no longer be any risk of them becoming a Hollow.", Rangiku continued, and Valentina surprised her by snorting sharply.
"I see. So what you're saying is, Hollows are the products of the Shinigami's failure to do their jobs properly, and are wiped out so the Shinigami won't have to deal with the consequences of their actions, am I right?", Valentina asked mockingly, and everyone in the room stared at her in shock. How had she come to that conclusion?
"No! That's not true at all! Shinigami haven't failed to do their jobs, they just can't be everywhere at once! Hollows are going to come into being, no matter how hard we try, and by killing them we're protecting the innocent!", Renji protested passionately, but Valentina shot him with a scathing glare that made him freeze.
"Well then, if Hollows will exist regardless of how many souls you send to the afterlife, then why don't you take preventative measures to keep Hollows from harming humans? Like creating some kind of food that can sustain them and prevent them from consuming souls, as well as curb their more violent urges?", Valentina suggested. Privately, Urahara thought that was a good idea and wondered why he hadn't thought of it before, but Ikkaku laughed mockingly at Valentina's proposal.
"Yeah, and I guess we'll start keeping them in Seireitei as pets! Look lady, it's half of a Shinigami's job to kill Hollows. And it's not like death is so bad for them in the first place. When a Hollow is killed by a Shinigami's blade, the spiritual energy they were made of dissipates into the atmosphere and they re-enter the cycle of reincarnation. It's what maintains the balance between the worlds.", Ikkaku explained patronizingly, and Valentina laughed bitterly.
"Which is the nice way of saying they cease to exist. I understand killing Hollows that try to eat and attack people, that's self defense, but what about the ones that don't mindlessly crave violence anymore, like the Arrancars? They're basically human, just with holes and mask fragments on their bodies. Doesn't that mean they, like humans, have the right to live?", Valentina challenged, which caused Ikkaku to glare at her. Toshiro gave her a cold look.
"Powerful Hollows need to be eliminated so they won't attack Soul Society, and the Arrancars are as powerful as they come. They are also Aizen's soldiers, which means to defeat him they need to die. Even if they did have the right to live, that right was nullified the second they became a threat to Soul Society.", Toshiro said, and Valentina openly glared at him, her teeth bared in anger.
"That's not how rights work. They don't go away when someone does something you don't like. And if Urahara's speculations are true, then the Arrancars don't have any choice in serving Aizen. The Arrancars are the victims here! They need help, not persecution!", Valentina declared passionately, much to the shock of everyone in the room. It was at that moment that Toshiro lost his composure and scowled at the woman.
"No, they need to be put down! How can you say these things about beings that have eaten your fellow humans?! Things that have killed innocent people!?", Toshiro asked. Valentina didn't falter in the face of his questions.
"You said it yourself, they had no control over themselves when they were normal Hollows! What they did then holds no weight over who they are now! They may have been beasts once, but now they're people, and they deserve to be treated as such!", Valentina said, pounding her fist on the table to accentuate her point, and Toshiro scowled at her.
"Soul Society's laws state that all Hollows are to be eliminated, regardless of circumstance!", the white haired boy said, unable to come up with a better argument at the moment. Valentina scoffed.
"Well then Soul Society's laws are bullshit! What you're planning to do to the Arrancars is genocide!", Valentina yelled. Ikkaku chuckled darkly.
"We can't still be in the planning stage if we've already started doing it.", the bald man said, speaking for the first time since the meeting had started. Yumichika, who was sitting beside him, gave him a look of warning. He knew the look on his friend's face; he was bored, and he was about to say something to stir the pot so he wouldn't be bored anymore.
"Ikkaku, don't… ", he said lowly, but it was too late. Valentina had already heard what had been said.
"What do you mean by that?", Valentina asked as dread filled her heart. Ikkaku shrugged, before smirking tauntingly at Valentina.
"I don't see what the fuss is, Yumichika. There's no use lying to the girl. You want to know the truth, girlie? Fine, I'll tell you. Last night, we killed every Arrancar that attacked Karakura, with the only exceptions being the one you let get away and the Espada. I killed the one called Edrad Leones, Captain Hitsugaya killed an earwig Arrancar named Shawlong, Rangiku killed some fat one who's name I can't remember, and Rukia killed the weakest of the bunch, some rat named Di-Roy. We killed them because if we didn't, they would have killed us like the Espada ordered them to. Still think the Arrancar deserve mercy, huh? Still think we should let them live?", Ikkaku asked tauntingly, a wide grin appearing on his face as Valentina lowered her head, hiding her face with her hair. He expected Valentina's resolve to crumble, but the look she gave him when she looked up again seconds later told him he had only strengthened it.
"What you did to the invading Arrancar is perfectly understandable. You were only defending yourselves, and while I don't agree with you killing them, you did what you thought you had to do with the invading Arrancar. But you're wrong if you think Arrancar are just mindless beasts given human form, and that all of them deserve to be wiped out just for existing. The Arrancar I fought, Yylfordt, was no beast. Despite being my enemy, he was kind to me. He had multiple chances to kill me, but he didn't. When he saw that hearing my Zanpakuto spirit's voice for the first time was distressing me, he offered to leave so I could get myself together. Less than halfway through, that fight went from a deathmatch to a friendly spar, and when I beat him and let him leave, Yylfordt thanked me and said he would repay me someday. None of those acts could be carried out by a mindless beast.", Valentina revealed, shocking everyone in the room. An Arrancar had been kind to her? But before anyone had the chance to dwell on that fact, Valentina stood up.
"I've heard enough about this so-called 'noble cause' of yours to know that I won't be joining it. I refuse to help people who are planning to slaughter an entire race of oppressed people for no reason other than the fact that they're in the way.", Valentina said resolutely as she started gathering her things. Chad got up to stop her.
"Valentina, wait. Please don't be mad. I know I was wrong for keeping all this from you, but that's no need for you to leave. Stay here. We can explain things to you more and Urahara-san may even be willing to start training your Shinigami powers.", Chad said, completely ignoring everything Valentina had just said seconds earlier and irrationally blaming himself for everything that was happening. Valentina shook her head and brushed off Chad's hand.
"It's not that, Yasutora. It's what you and your friends believe. I know you've been hurt by Arrancar, but they're still people, just like you and me. And if you can't see that… Well, I think it's best we spend some time apart for a while.", Valentina told him solemnly. Chad gaped at her.
"Valentina… ", he trailed off. What was his cousin saying? That she needed a break from him? Valentina gave the young man a reassuring look, but it didn't make him feel at all reassured.
"Not forever, just for a few days. I'll get my stuff from your place and get a hotel. I need some distance from all of this so I can sort out my beliefs and get my head on straight.", Valentina elaborated, gesturing to the Chad and the Shinigami with her hands when she said 'all of this', mildly offending the Shinigami. Urahara looked at her with a sly look in his eyes.
"But Valentina, if you don't agree to work with the Shinigami, then who will help you learn how to use your new abilities?", Urahara asked in a thinly veiled attempt to get Valentina to change her mind and join them. He had put so much effort into creating the right conditions for her to awaken her powers, after all. It would be a shame if she didn't use them for the purpose he had intended. Valentina glared down at him.
"I can learn by myself. My Zanpakuto spirit taught me how to wield its blade and how to use Sonido. If it can teach me that, I'm sure it can teach me anything else important.", Valentina responded, intriguing Urahara further, before turning on her heels and making her way towards the door. She was done here. Urahara raised an eyebrow at her use of the word 'Sonido' in the place of 'Shunpo'.
"Don't you mean 'Shunpo'? Sonido is the Arrancar version of the technique. Shunpo is the Shinigami version.", Urahara corrected. Valentina gave him one last scathing look over her shoulder.
"Then it's a good thing I'm not a Shinigami. Or at least, I'm not the kind of Shinigami I'm starting to think you all are. The kind that would slaughter an entire people indiscriminately in the name of some outdated doctrine.", Valentina said sharply, before opening the door.
"Have a nice day.", she hissed, before leaving and slamming the door behind her. When she left, Chad groaned, buried his face in hands, and sank to the ground.
"What have I done?", he asked himself. How had he managed to widen the gap between him and his cousin, all while dragging her into the world he had tried so desperately to keep her out of? How had everything gone so wrong? Uryu looked at his friend with sympathy, and Yumichika, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, quickly moved to comfort the young human by placing a hand on his back.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Chad. If anything, this whole mess is my fault. If I had just stayed with Valentina instead of going off with Ikkaku, she wouldn't have fought that Arrancar and none of this would have happened.", Yumichika said, and Chad looked up at him in confusion.
"But Ikkaku's fight wasn't that far from the shop. If you were with him, how could you have not gotten to her in time?", Chad asked, and Yumichika gave Urahara a pointed glare.
"You're right. I should have gotten to her in time, but a certain someone had another certain someone put up a reiatsu and location concealing Kido so I wouldn't find her. I wonder who could have done that and why?", Yumichika asked with barely restrained anger. He may have only met Valentina yesterday, and she may be developing some rather odd notions about Hollows, but she was still a beautiful person both inside and out, and beautiful people didn't deserve to be manipulated by the likes of Kisuke Urahara. Just like that, everyone's eyes were suddenly on Urahara as they put the pieces together. Urahara was whistling and fanning himself idly, trying to pretend like nothing was wrong, but he quickly stopped doing that when he saw all the eyes on him. Renji was the first person to break the tense silence.
"That's low, Kisuke.", the redhead said with a deep frown on his face. Rangiku nodded in agreement.
"Yeah! You could have gotten the poor girl killed!", Rangiku exclaimed. Urahara frowned at them both.
"I did what had to be done. Because of her contact with your intense spiritual pressures, Valentina gained spiritual awareness and was on the verge of awakening powers. I just nudged her along by giving her the chance to fully manifest those powers in a controlled environment where I could have intervened if necessary. She was never in any real danger, I assure you.", Urahara said in defense of himself. Uryu scoffed at him.
"Right. Like how Ichigo was in 'no real danger' when you shoved him down that hole in your basement, severed his chain of fate, and almost turned him into a Hollow when he was training to save Rukia. Face it Urahara, you recklessly endangered a powerless human to satisfy your own sick curiosity and she nearly died as a result of that.", Uryu said sarcastically. Urahara had the gaul to smirk at him.
"Yeah, nearly.", Urahara pointed out. Uryu glared at him, wanting to wipe that smirk off his face. His wish came true when Toshiro spoke.
"This is why you got exiled.", the white haired captain ruthlessly pointed out with an annoyed look on his face, and Uryu was unable to stifle his snort when Urahara immediately started scowling.
—-
Meanwhile, in the shifting sands of Hueco Mundo, a certain battered blue haired Espada stood at the base of the extremely tall seki seki throne of one Sousuke Aizen, the biggest traitor Soul Society had ever known and current de facto ruler of Hueco Mundo. Grimmjow kept his face strategically blank as he stared up at the smirking Shinigami, never forgetting that one of Aizen's commanders and fellow Shinigami, Kaname Tousen, was standing right beside him and seemed very eager to dish out some punishment.
Internally, Grimmjow was a mess. All of his Fraccion were dead because of his reckless decision to try and find a good fight by invading the human world and his desire to spite Ulquiorra. Even Yylfordt, who he had hoped would survive his fight, had had his spiritual pressure swiftly snuffed out by his opponent just before Tousen had shown up to drag Grimmjow away from taking his grief out on Kurosaki. Grimmjow clenched his teeth and fists as he recalled the events, all while giving Tousen the side-eye.
'Fucking bastard. Didn't even let me go back and get the bodies.', Grimmjow thought angrily. He had originally wanted to retrieve the bodies of his Fraccion to give them a proper funeral, but Tousen hadn't wanted to remain there long, because 'Lord Aizen didn't want to be kept waiting' in his own words. Like Grimmjow's Fraccion being dead was less important than his precious 'Lord Aizen's' wishes. And to him, they were less important. Aizen's desires took precedence over all among the ranks of Las Noches, whether they wanted them to or not.
But Grimmjow supposed that having the bodies didn't change the fact that his Fraccion were dead. They were gone and were never coming back, and he and everyone else that had known them were going to have to come to terms with that. Grimmjow resisted the urge to lose his composure at the thought.
'God, what am I supposed to tell Szayel?', Grimmjow thought. As much as he feared becoming one of the eighth Espada's experiments, he dreaded the look on the scientist's face when he told him that his older brother was dead even more. Szayel and Yylfordt had their differences, but anyone who knew them could see that they cared for each other. So for Szayel to lose Yylfordt, his only family… Grimmjow knew it would destroy him, even if he wouldn't let it show outwardly. While the Sexta was contemplating that dreaded inevitability, someone finally decided to break the silence in the throne room.
"Welcome back, Grimmjow.", Aizen greeted. A serene smile sat on his face, mocking the Espada that stood before him. Grimmjow had to use all of his self control so he wouldn't openly snarl at the man. Oh how he hated the Shinigami. Grimmjow just stared blankly up at Aizen, knowing that if he spoke he would end up lashing out and get a punishment worse than the one he was already going to get.
"Why so quiet? Don't you have something to say to Lord Aizen, Grimmjow?", Tousen asked in that annoying mumbly voice of his, and Grimmjow clenched his fists so he wouldn't give in to the urge to tear the man's throat out.
'Yeah, that I fucking hate him and that I wish he would stop mocking me with his stupid fucking eyes. And that I wish you would vanish into thin air, you blind bitch.'
"Not really.", Grimmjow lied with false casualness. Tousen turned his head in the direction of his voice.
"What insolence.", the former captain remarked disapprovingly. Grimmjow counted backwards from ten in his head so he wouldn't do something he would regret.
"It's alright, Kaname. The truth of the matter is I'm not really that upset.", Aizen said in what appeared to be an attempt to placate his subordinate. Tousen snapped his head towards Aizen.
"But Lord Aizen, he- !", Tousen started to protest, but Aizen interrupted him.
"I believe Grimmjow's actions were an attempt to please me, but then got carried away. That's how I view this incident. Am I right… Grimmjow?", Aizen asked ominously, his brown eyes staring down the Espada. Grimmjow met his gaze without hesitation.
'No, you're not. I did what I did because I was cocky, eager for a fight and wanted to get one over on Ulquiorra. I didn't do it for you. I don't do anything for you if I can help it. And 'carried away'? Is that what you call the deaths of my Fraccion?! You just lost five good soldiers who served you loyally, at least show them the respect the dead deserve!', Grimmjow disagreed mentally, but he knew he couldn't say that outloud, so he did what he had gotten good at since coming to Las Noches; he lied.
"Yes, my lord.", Grimmjow agreed with enough lack of emotion in his voice that someone might mistake him for Ulquiorra, practically having to choke out the title of 'lord'. Aizen was no lord of his, not truly. Hearing that was what set Tousen off. He turned his head to where Grimmjow was standing and glared at him with sightless eyes, before unceremoniously grabbing his shoulder. Grimmjow lost his composure at that and gnashed his teeth at the blind Shinigami.
"What the hell's your problem, Tousen?!", Grimmjow asked. What the hell could he have possibly done to piss this guy off now? Tousen ignored him and turned to look at Aizen again.
"Lord Aizen, please! Give me permission to execute this traitor!", Tousen begged, and Grimmjow tensed. He knew that punishment was a very real possibility when he invaded the human world, but execution? That hadn't been one he'd expected to receive. Arrancar had definitely been killed for lesser slights, but they weren't Espada. And as much as Aizen hated to admit it, he needed the Espada too much for his plans to kill them. Grimmjow relaxed slightly when he realized this. He wouldn't be executed, but that didn't mean he would walk away from this unscathed.
"Kaname… ", Aizen said in warning. Grimmjow ripped his shoulder out of Tousen's hold and gave him a defiant grin.
"Nice try, Tousen. You've always hated me. That's what this fuss is about, isn't it? Isn't it?!", Grimmjow accused, and he knew it was true. Tousen had always hated him because of his lust for battle and his perceived 'constant disrespect' towards Aizen, and Grimmjow had always hated him for his open contempt towards him and being such a kiss-ass towards Aizen. It was a mutual hatred. Grimmjow, wanting to hit a nerve with the Shinigami and get him back for all the jabs towards him, continued his line of questioning.
"Is this any way for a Director General to act, Tousen?!", Grimmjow asked, and he knew he was making a valid point about the man's treatment of not just him, but the rest of Aizen's forces as well. Tousen hated the Arrancar on the principle that they were Hollows and therefore 'beneath him', and those beliefs showed in his treatment of the Arrancar of Las Noches. Tousen didn't even bother turning towards him when he responded.
"I simply believe that anyone who disrupts the peace should have to pay for it. It's not personal.", Tousen answered dispassionately. Grimmjow kissed his teeth.
'Bull fucking shit.'
"You would kill me for insubordination? You would punish me for that, and not for the deaths of my Fraccion? I got five able-bodied soldiers killed on a whim, don't you think I deserve to pay for that more than a little disrespect?", the Arrancar asked seriously, showing his true feelings for the first time since the audience had started. During time they had been talking, the deaths of his Fraccion hadn't been brought up even once, and that enraged Grimmjow. Were his mean not deemed important enough to speak of? Had they been deemed 'incosequencial' like Aizen seemed to find so many things? Was the crime of talking back to Aizen really of greater importance to Tousen than getting five Arrancar killed? Grimmjow got the answers to all of these questions quicker than he would have liked.
"Those Arrancar can be replaced. Lord Aizen's honor, however, cannot. Not showing him proper respect is the most grievous crime you've commited so far, Grimmjow. Especially since he's been so gracious in the face of your other crimes.", Tousen answered. Grimmjow laughed bitterly.
"Ha! Why am I not surprised?! All you ever think about is the cause! You never think about the people who fight for it, the people who give their lives so that that cause can be realized! I bet you don't even know the names of my Fraccion, do you?! Or that one of them was Szayel's brother?! A brother, who I can't bring back to his only family, because you didn't give me the chance to retrieve my men's bodies!", Grimmjow said, finally blowing up at Tousen about all the things that had been plaguing him. Aizen's eyes were suddenly locked on Grimmjow and filled with intrigue.
"I'm surprised, Grimmjow. Of all the Espada I expected to grow to care for their Fraccion, you were not one of them.", Aizen said. Grimmjow ignored him and kept his attention on Tousen.
"None of that matters, Grimmjow. And I'd hardly call your unauthorized invasion 'dying for the cause'. Those Arrancar went to the human world on your orders, not Lord Aizen's. They died because they were foolish enough to obey you over their true lord and master. For their mistake, they do not deserve the respect of falled soldiers.", Tousen disregarded uncaringly. That was what caused Grimmjow to snap. The Espada snarled at the Shinigami and got ready to reach for his sword.
"You bastard, that's it! I've had it with you! Grind, Pan- !", Grimmjow started to shout, only to be interrupted by the sudden opening of a Garganta behind him. Grimmjow and Tousen's eyes widened in surprise, and they both turned their heads towards the tear in dimensions, faces showing their surprise. Aizen's face was starkly neutral, but his eyes glimmered with interest and remained locked on the portal.
"What the hell… ?", Grimmjow trailed off. Who the hell would open a Garganta to the throne room of Las Noches? Aizen had forbade his subordinantes from coming directly into his throne room via Gargantas. Did this guy have a death wish? Grimmjow almost wanted to ask those questions outloud, but they died on his tongue the second he saw who was coming through the portal.
"Yylfordt?!", Grimmjow exclaimed in shock as his thought-to-be-dead Fraccion slowly limped his way out of the Garganta, his hand clutching a still bleeding wound on his arm. He was battered and bruised, but he was alive. Grimmjow rushed over to him without a second thought.
"Yylfordt! Are you okay?! How are you alive?! I felt your reiatsu disappear!", Grimmjow asked frantically as he checked his only remaining Fraccion over for grievous injuries, and he was glad when he found none. Yyfordt, who was struggling to stay on his feet, gave Grimmjow a remorseful look.
"I hid it when I lost my fight and ran away so I could open a Garganta back here. Grimmjow, I'm sorry… I failed… ", Yylfordt said tiredly. Grimmjow shook his head.
"Don't worry about that. I'm just glad you came back alive. How did you escape? Those Shinigami didn't give any of the others the luxury of a retreat.", Grimmjow said bitterly. To his surprise, Yylfordt smiled softly.
"I didn't have to escape. She let me go. She let me go, Grimmjow. I wish you had met her. She was… so nice.", Yylfordt said wistfully, causing Grimmjow to blink in confusion.
"'She'? Who's 'she', Yylfordt? Your opponent? Why did she let you leave?", Grimmjow asked, trying to figure out what the hell had happened to his Fraccion. But Yylfordt never got the chance to answer, because Aizen decided it was the perfect time for him to interject.
"Welcome home, Yylfordt. I'm surprised, though not unhappy, to see you have returned. Did you enjoy your little excursion to the human world?", Aizen asked casually. Yylfordt, suddenly remembering he was in the presence of the Lord of Las Noches, immediately got on his knees and started bowing.
"Lord Aizen. Forgive me for not greeting you sooner. I apologize for going to the human world without your- ", Yylfordt started to say fearfully. He, like Grimmjow, didn't really respect Aizen. He only did what he said because he didn't have any other choice. Aizen raised his hand to interrupt him.
"It's alright, Yylfordt. I'm not upset with you.", Aizen said. Yylfordt looked up at him hopefully.
"Really, my lord?", he asked in surprise, having expected to be punished for disobeying orders. Aizen nodded, his smile never leaving his face.
"Of course. This situation is no fault of your own. You were just following orders.", Aizen assured him, and Yylfordt breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe from punishment.
"Thank you, my lord- ", Yylfordt said, but he was interrupted yet again when Aizen pretended to remember something.
"And those orders were… Grimmjow's orders, correct?", Aizen asked. Grimmjow stiffened and Yylfordt gulped. They knew he was going somewhere with this.
" …Yes, my lord.", Yylfordt answered after a pause. Aizen's smile widened slightly.
"Then, if you and your fellow Fraccion were following Grimmjow's orders, then that means Grimmjow is at fault for your injuries and their deaths. And if he's at fault, and since he clearly feels so remorseful about it, then doesn't he deserve to be punished?", Aizen asked.
Just like that, the atmosphere got heavier. The kind, casual tone of voice the Shinigami had used had long vanished, and was replaced with something darker. His face was still smiling, but his eyes belonged to the cat who had caught the cannary and was about to brutally disembowel it. Aizen had been waiting for Grimmjow to get caught in a web of words that weren't his own so he could punish him while still seeming like the benevolent leader everyone knew he wasn't, and now he had his chance to do just that. Yylfordt's words were stuck in his throat. He knew how he should answer for his own safety, but he couldn't bring himself to condem Grimmjow like that. Tousen, who had been very quiet since Yylfordt had returned, broke his silence.
"Well, Yylfordt? Lord Aizen asked you a question.", Tousen asked threateningly. Yylfordt still couldn't bring himself to respond, but Grimmjow made it so he didn't have to when he spoke up.
"I do.", Grimmjow said, his face stern and not revealing any emotion. Yylfordt whipped his head around to stare at his king.
"Grimmjow… ", he muttered in shock. Grimmjow gave him a glance before returning his attention to Aizen.
"I do deserve to be punished. My almost all of my Fraccion are dead, and that's on me. And I know you're mad about my invasion of the human world, even though you say you aren't. So just… do whatever you want to me, so long as you leave Yylfordt out of it.", Grimmjow relented, knowing that if he didn't, both he and Yylfordt might end up getting punished. Aizen resisted the urge to frown. He had been expecting the two Arrancar to turn on each other, not show care for one another, but he supposed this situation was entertaining enough.
"Very well. I believe that since you seem so distraught by the deaths of your Fraccion, you deserve a punishment that reflects that distraghtness. And since they say losing one's loved ones is like losing a limb… I think it's only fitting you look as distressed as you feel. Kaname, remove his arm.", Aizen ordered, and Grimmjow and Yylfordt watched in horror as Tousen raised his sword and severed Grimmjow's left arm from his body. Grimmjow screamed out in agony as blood spurted from his shoulder. Tousen didn't even react to this. He just cast an incerating Kido on the fallen arm to destroy it, so Grimmjow wouldn't be able to have it reattached by a healer later. Grimmjow continued to scream and clutched the place where his arm used to be attached to his shoulder tightly.
"AHHHHH! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN IT!", Grimmjow yelled. He couldn't recall a time where he had been in this much pain. Yylfordt immediately stood up and ran to his side.
"Grimmjow!", Yylfordt exclaimed. He stared at the Espada's bleeding wound in shock, before getting his bearings again and ripping a long strip of fabric off of his jacket to tie around the wound and stop the bleeding. As he did this, Grimmjow continued to make loud, pained noise, and Aizen watched him suffer serenly from his throne, looking every bit the unbothered god he wished he was.
"Let that wound be a permanent reminder to you, Grimmjow. Disobeying me never ends well, not for you, or the people you drag into your messes. Yylfordt, take him to your brother for treatment. I'm sure Szayel will be glad to heal him after seeing that your alive and well.", Aizen warned, before turning his attention to Yylfordt. Yylfordt stared at him in horror for a moment, before nodding and looping an arm around Grimmjow's shoulders so they could help each other walk.
"Y-yes, my lord. Come on, Grimmjow.", Yylfordt stammered, before limping out of the throne room with Grimmjow in tow. With every step, Grimmjow grunted in pain and anger. When he caught sight of the shell-shocked look on Yylfordt's face, the Espada saw red.
'Aizen, you bastard. I don't know when or how or even if, but if a day ever comes that you encounter someone stronger than you, I hope they kill you slowly and painfully. Just like you deserve.', Grimmjow thought wrathfully as he and Yylfordt dragged their damaged bodies away.
All the while, the Lord of Las Noches sat perched on his throne, his lips tilted upwards in an amused smirk. His untouchable appearance never wavering.
I know this is a very, very long chapter. Possibly the longest chapter I've ever written for anything. I was thinking of dividing it into two, but the way I wanted to do it would make the second chapter too short for my liking, so I decided against it. I hope Valentina's long-ass verbal sparring match with the Shinigami gave the vibes I wanted it to give. It was supposed to be a 'these guys are wrong for believing this' type deal. It took me a long time to get that part of the chapter the way I liked it, and I actually went back and rewrote that entire part twice. Sorry if I portrayed some of your Shinigami favs in a negative light. They're not the bad guys, I assure you. That title goes to Soul Society as a system of government, Yamamoto, Mayuri and a small handful of others. Toshiro and the others are just spewing the bullshit they've been told for literal centuries. Once they realize Valentina is right later in the fic, they'll be a lot more understanding. For now though, I can sense a rift forming in Ichigo's group.
I know that when Hollows are killed in Bleach cannon, their souls are purified and they go to Soul Society. But here I made it so they dissipate into reishi to make Soul Society look worse to make Valentina's points more valid. There'll probably be more changes like this, so if some things about Hollows or Quincy's or whatever don't entirely match up to cannon, that's on purpose. Also, I hope Grimmjow's scene made sense too. Next time, more Valentina and maybe some more Grimmjow and Yylfordt!
So long and Goodnight, Thackery Binx.