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Whoever she was, she was beautiful. Ichigo had a vague recollection of seeing such eyes before, staring him down as batons of pink reishi clanged with his Zanpakuto. He hadn't necessarily felt real bloodlust from her like he had when he fought that electric woman who had been the source of such commotion at the banquet. Candice was out for blood, and Ichigo felt it even before the clash. This pink-haired woman held contempt for him, but only in the sense that he should drop dead for her sole benefit.

But without the warfare… she still had a flighty look on her face regarding him. But now, it was like she wasn't registering him. He was an interloper, a distraction from her regal relaxation with her acquired, adorable attendee…

"Onii-chan!" Yuzu burst out of a mountain of pink bubbles, her arms outreaching and a look of joy and fear on her face; she didn't seem able to decided between laughing and crying. "You're back~"

"Y-Yuzu?!" It wasn't lost on him that it had been a good while before he had set up the rule that they were too old to be seeing each other in the bath. Before the bubbles could dissipate from her rushing form, he commanded that she cover up, looking left and right for a towel to throw at her. "You can't be running around like that in mixed company! Jeez!"

His outburst halted Yuzu's oncoming frolic at once, and she sunk where she stood up to her neck. Immediately, she pouted and was leaning more to tears than joy now. "You're barely back, and you're already acting like a jerk," she mumbled.

Ugh!All these years, and she was still an emotional kid. "I'm not," he argued, wishing thatthiswasn't part of his homecoming. "I just didn't…" He blinked at his own ignorance, and then changed the subject, flinging a finger over at Meninas. "I mean, what are you doing here?! Withher?!"

"Hm?Meni-chan?"

Ichigo's tense posture faltered a bit, seeming a bit put off by the name. "Meni-chan?" It felt too sweet on his tongue, like a name darlings gave to one another, and he just could not imagine himself using it.

Yuzu, on the other hand, nodded very enthusiastically, the pout gone and replaced by a great big smile and twinkling eyes. "She said she wanted me to come take a bath with her."

"Huh?" Ichigo couldn't make sense of this prospect. That intuition of his that he'd yet to master wasn't giving him any kind of vibes to let him peer into the intricacies of this situation. But last he recalled, this pink-haired woman was one of the three with Bambietta and the blonde who had caused this day's troubles.

"She looks cute," Meninas suddenly stated, her eyes turning briefly to Yuzu who blushed at the compliment. "It was like watching a bath toy."

"She's not entertainment for you," barked Ichigo a second before Nel intervened, saying, "And this is the bath I had prepared for me and Ichigo!"

Now it was Meni's turn to seem confused, though there wasn't much difference between her face at rest and her face when confused. She observed Ichigo, which in turn made him observe her and catch up to the realization that she was not only very pretty, but also very naked. He had started to build a tolerance to the scandalous women who had closed him in their circle, but still… Two large and luscious breasts floating casually on the pink water's surface did make the Soul King stumble when his knees went weak for a moment. Luckily, Nel was there to brace him, acting on instinct to grab and support him, all while glaring daggers at the Quincy.

Darn it, she wanted some alone, quality time with her Ichigo! She understood that she had plenty of wives to contend with for his attention, but she'd been there from the start! And though she'd quickly taken his first kiss, she dreaded that she had spent the least amount of time with him! A bath would have resolved it swiftly and set her and him at ease.

Her eyes roamed him expectantly, hungrily. She made a soft sound like a whine or a whimper and snuck a hand to skim her fingers against his bare chest. His heat and beating heart put a shiver of delight in her belly that he just could not miss. Blinking, he looked to his Arrancar wife and asked if she was okay. She seemed strangely… warm.

"I'm fine," she wheezed with a widening smile. Impulsively, she shoved up against him like an affectionate cat, rubbing her scent upon him while inhaling his.

That shiver that thrilled her had given him a thrill as well, though he was more wary of it, feeling it make a hardly spike up his spine to alarm his sense of self. But at the same time, her intense emotion seemed to bleed into him, and as potently as he felt Bambietta's bloodlust when he held her, he felt Nel's spectrum of emotions. None of the anxiety and impatience within her blared quite so loud as the need. The desire. He relived the feeling of a racing heart when she had first swept her lips over his.

As she measured him up, there was a brightness of recognition and empathy that made Nel excited. Boldly, she planted her other hand on him, shifting aside his robes to splay her fingers out across his flesh as his own hand moved of its own volition to hitch on her waist. The first contact he'd made for her! He was normally so cutely shy! "Ichigo," she whispered desperately, overjoyed that he finally seemed to have come to his senses to feel for her the same she had felt for him.

Ichigo's pulse quickened as her body flattened up against his, her breasts molding up against his chest, both an obstacle and a privilege between their joining bodies. Some sense in him wanted to avoid jamming his crotch up against her apex, respecting her with his formidable restraint, but Nel did not need nor want that respect. She thrust her crotch against his, and through robes, through her skimpy leotard's crotch, he felt the heat of her arousal just as surely as she felt the hardness of his.

"We…" He forgot what he wanted to say and pressed towards Nel's impatiently-waiting lips.

"Onii-chan?" quavered Yuzu's voice was he was a centimeter away from devouring his turquoise-haired wife's mouth.

Nothing would have stopped Nel's momentum, but Ichigo realized he should behave likethatin front of his sister! Particularly the one who was so impressionable!

As much as he wanted to clutch Nel to him and let her enfold her arms and legs around him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and thrust her out at arms' length, hopping back in equal measure. He turned to the little girl floating amongst the bubbles, his face steaming red and his smile goofier than ever before. To Yuzu, he seemed… giddy. To Meninas, he looked a fool. To Nel, he remained desirable… but frustratingly stubborn.

"It's," he stammered, trying to pick his words carefully, his eyes darting to Nel, who had lost all expression of passion to resort to confusion with a mix of disappointment. He thought of the heat… Heat… Hot, hot heat… He swallowed and focused on Yuzu, lest he be gulped into depravity by ogling the floating orbs in front of the bathing Quincy. "I didn't mean…! Look! Yuzu…!" He suddenly doubled over like he had cramped, but instead of retching, he was fighting a fit of hysterical giggles.

Not one of the three women could explain his behavior, so the fourth's airy voice cut in. "What a shame that being displaced from your Palace has not made you any bolder, Ichigo."

Her voice was like an icy finger running up his spine, and he'd learn to be wary of her undetectable approach. He jumped, spinning in midair, and put some healthy distance between him and the Great Weaver. She smiled at him, ignoring the comment of the pink-haired bather complaining about her bathtime not being respected.

"I was hoping that you'd have found use of your stones by now. Or are you unable to perform in front of an audience?" Her cold gaze surveyed the three others, lingering defiantly on Meninas.

Ichigo recoiled, lifting his hands like he was meaning to fight her off. "Dammit, Senjumaru-san, it's not like that!"

"Oh?" Senjumaru's head tilted, her eyes running down her nose and taking notice of his garb and how poorly it kept his secret. He realized too late; both hands covering it couldn't erase the proof she had just visually confirmed. "Then it is because of your sister. Well then…" Her arms rushed together in a blur, and though Ichigo could see the thread and glinting needles – just barely – she was done with a towel suitable for Yuzu's cute tastes before any of them knew it, and it was extended in offering to the younger sister. "Be on your way, little Yuzu. Your father and sister are waiting."

Yuzu could normally contend that she wanted to be with her brother, especially having seen a glimpse of the side of him that Karin-chan had teased her about before, but there was something about this scary woman – whom Riruka-chan labeled 'spider hag' – that she just could not protest to. It seemed dangerous to do so, and she was not as bold or outspoken as Riruka-chan.

"I didn't say she could go."

Eyes turned to the source of the observation, and Meninas had risen to her feet; Ichigo seemed like he'd taken a blow to the ribs from his bowling over with a sharp grunt of anguish. Meninas didn't mind the mixed company, far more concerned that her wishes were being undermined by some intruder. "That cute girl is supposed to stay here with me until I'm done with my bath."

"Don't speak so superiorly to me, Quincy," said Senjumaru with a bit of humor in her voice. "And haven't you stayed in a bath long enough at the Kirinden?"

Meninas's expression didn't change when she lunged across the bath, her right fist cocked back and ready to put Senjumaru through the wall and the one behind that and out into the night sky before plunging.

Of course, The Power had not reckoned with the royal seamstress and wasn't aware she was out of her depth. Senjumaru could stitch her to the floor without skipping a beat, and that would be…

Ichigo intercepted, knocking the offending fist with the heel of his palm in a deflection move he'd learned from Tatsuki – though he'd be hard-pressed to admit it – and stayed her left hand from committing to a follow-up, though just his appearance had veered Meninas off the warpath. "Huh?" she chirped a second before that intense look of his was washed over and submerged her in undulating breasts.

All that focus and poise was thrown out the window, Ichigo retreating and throwing himself back against the wall, apologizing profusely, catching himself ogling and looking elsewhere.

His reaction was unexpected. It took her a moment to catch on, but Meninas did come to the realization that this was Kurosaki Ichigo, Soul King and her accepted betrothed. She put her finger lightly on her chin and cocked her head to one side. The manipulation of her wet breasts moving in the patterns of her arms kept Ichigo docile; Nel, on the other hand, was glowering at her, her cheeks puffing out in a childish pout. "So I should bring you in the bath with me instead," she concluded wistfully

Senjumaru didn't leave a break to let Ichigo go through the usual motions she'd come to expect and scorn. Instead, she fashioned another towel, this time one that was heavy and droopy even for Meninas's tall frame. It was made over the Quincy's head and fell on her with deliberate weight. "Bathing is over," Senjumaru said when one big curious eye peeked out from the folds of the towel.

"That's right!"Clap-Clap!"You're in such a hurry, Ichigo-san! We can barely keep track of you!" The doorway filled with Osho's large frame, his bald head poking in so that he could peer at Ichigo pressed against the wall. "You've come back home, but did you think we wouldn't have a surprise waiting for you?"

Senjumaru's eyes glinted at the Monk. Ichigo, though confused, detected some annoyance from her; secondhand, like the scorn was saved for Osho. But… why? In all the time he'd known Senjumaru-san – which wasn't very long – she'd seemed to show nothing but contemptuous ridicule for her Soul King husband, delighting mostly when he was in unease. But those were outward guesses. What he felt was much more intimate, internal. The flashes of feelings he got from Bambietta…

"I…chigo…" A tired voice hardly made it around Osho's frame.

A trembling, weak voice, but Ichigo recognized it. "Don't tell me…"

"It was something Senjumaru has been working on for some time," said Osho boisterously, pulling at his beard and muttering as an aside, "along with some other projects." His volume returned. "Of course, Kirio had a good hand in it as well! Making something is one thing, and putting life into it is another!"

"Must you all barge in here?" Meninas didn't sound or even look annoyed, but she certainly was, taking her time tucking her nude body in her unflattering towel. It wasn't even tight enough to pronounce her cute breasts or hug her shapely hips. Looking down at the towel, she mentioned that she simply must have a talk with the royal seamstress, as if she was not standing right next to her.

Ichigo's eyes flicked to the black-haired woman for a moment, the feeling back in his mind.

But Osho was single-minded, ignoring the quibble of the royal wives and acting like Nel wasn't even there; Yuzu stood further beneath his notice. He insisted on the Soul King's solitary attention, beckoning him to follow him into the bedroom.

Nel sulked and looked stingily at Ichigo; a look he had not seen her make at him before. It troubled him, but he had to address Osho or else the Monk would not soon leave them to their devices.

"Ichigo," slurred the speaker again, and Ichigo's guess was right. At the same time, he was wrong. The person was laid out on the bed, looking exhausted, tongue hanging out. The hand reached out when he saw Ichigo. "Ichigo, it's so heavy."

"K-Kon?!" blurted Ichigo, though he was looking at a replica of himself, only wearing a very Kon expression. He pointed and looked to Osho. "What's he doing here?! And-And is that my…?"

"Yep! It's your human body!" Kirio was standing aside the bed, looking quite pleased after heaving the body on the bed. "It was modified! Your Shinigami form can merge seamlessly with the standard human body, but a Soul King needs much moreoomph!" She gestured with the word, tightening her arms at her sides in a motion that made her large breasts look like they'd spill out from her now-loose robes. "So Senjumaru-san fused reishi from the Royal Palace into your material form, and I ensured that it could hold a soul in stability!" She leaned sideways, patting Kon on the head hard enough that Ichigo would probably receive a headache. "For a normal soul, it burns up an extreme amount of energy. But for you, it'll let you spend a good amount of time in the Living World! I'd say"—She looked up thoughtfully—"about a full day!"

"You mean," Ichigo started excitedly, "I can still go home?!"

"Well,thisis your home now," corrected Osho, "but you can return to the place you were born from time-to-time. Kisuke was the one who had the idea, after all."

"Urahara-san?" Ichigo had just now realized he hadn't seen the sneaky shopkeeper since waking up form the crystal that infused him to the role of Soul King. He now thought it weird that he was having everything explained to him by someone other than Urahara.

"That's right. No doubt you felt it after you fell from the Royal Palace. You've been sensing feelings now, haven't you? And recorded histories of someone's past?"

Ichigo blinked, realizing that Osho was addressing the very thing that had begun to unsettle him.

"Your Zanpakuto is more than a tool of brute force. I'm sure you've figured that out already," Osho continued, and received a nod in answer. "Yes, you can sense a person's emotions when you clash blades. But as you've come to accept, the bladeisyou! And you areeverythingnow, Kurosaki Ichigo.Hmm.Perhaps that's too generalized, but I guess an easier way to say it is… you are a part of everything."

Ichigo looked displeased.

"Well, anyway," Osho carelessly went on as though there was no need for explanation. "The point is this power intensifies outside of the Royal Palace, and it has certainly kicked in by now. Donning your material body will settle these powers for a limited time, or else you will become overwhelmed by them! A mind born human was never meant to obtain such omnipotent powers!Haha!It's a good thing you are more than human, Ichigo-san!" He clapped Ichigo's shoulder with enough force to buckle him. "So now that you will be free to journey from the Royal Palace at certain times, you will not be so bored here! Now come!" The giant walked by, his sandals loudly clacking the floor. "We can speak at the dining area!"

"There's still much for you to eat, Ichigo-chan," beamed Kirio, smiling at him and then following Osho, all but forgetting the mod soul panting on the freshly-drawn bed.

Ichigo, however, hadn't forgotten Kon, but was more concerned for his body than the hyperactive mod soul. He looked 'himself' over. Standard clothes of his usual wardrobe, but his body looked in no way different.

"My work is seamless."

He turned abruptly and looked at Senjumaru.

"Despite what some uncouth philistines would say." Senjumaru was standing (or floating) outside the bathroom; Nel walked out with some sort of disdain and a look to her husband that wasn't entirely pleasant. Again, he felt a pang in his chest from the unfamiliar look. He'd perhaps only seen that kind of face on Riruka.

However, Senjumaru commenced in spite of Ichigo's eyes following the turned-back of Nel… and the shifting cheeks at the bottom of her leotard. "When you return to that body, you will not notice a change at all. Only the unfortunate soul that does not possess the powers of the Soul King will be weighed down by its own significance."

"Wh-What?!" With obvious great effort, Kon surged up on his arms, but was dead from the waist down. "You-You mean I'll be like this…even at home?!How am I supposed to keep my schedules! Don't you know you need to be quick and light on your feet when you visit the bathhouse! Ichigo, you bastard! How could you do this to me?!"

"Shut up! I didn't do anything to you! That'smybody!" Ichigo snatched up Kon's shirt front and jostled him angrily. "And stop making that face!Argh!" He pressed down on Kon's (or his) crinkled brow, trying to level his eyebrows. But Kon's whining and complaints persisted. "Dammit! And you'd better be joking about sneaking into the bathhouse!"

"Yourbody?" Kon contended, mustering the strength to fight back against Ichigo. "I'm the one who's always taking charge of it! You think I like being in this smelly body when I got a body that all the ladies love! No woman can resist giving somepuff~puffto a cute plushie! That's why I need to stay here, you hear me?!"

"No, you're not!"

"You don't have a say-!Pn!" Kon made a noise like he'd banged his head, yet he had been pricked in the stomach – impaled, more like – by a needle that made Ichigo cry out in horror. His Shinigami form could take bloody abuse, but it was a whole other thing to see the body he was born with stuck through.

"Senjumaru-san!"

"Enough," she answered with a small hint of exasperation. She pushed her needle in deeper, and Ichigo made a sound like he was the one being stabbed. Yet, for the penetrating thrust, there was no blood or even a wound; just a carefully-balanced pill on the very tip. "It's too much excitement for you both at the moment, and I'd prefer a bit more peace and quiet."

"It's true~" Meninas appeared, sauntering out of the bathroom next, her buxom frame wrapped more refined in the oversized towel. She had modified it, twisted the fabric so that it fit her more snugly, looking more like a Roman's gown than a towel now, accentuating her curves above and below.

Ichigo could have sworn he heard the pill give a hoot of approval.

"You're not acting like a King at all," Meninas said to Ichigo. "Maybe you shouldn't be one in the first place.Hmm…" She cocked her head to one side. "Or maybe you should just put your queen in charge."

"Huh?"

Senjumaru just gave an idle look of annoyance to the Quincy.

Meninas lightly tapped her fist into her palm like a solution just came to her. "I could do it better than you. You don't look that smart, anyway."

Ichigo bristled. "Hey, what are you talking about?"

But the one to settle a looming argument was Yuzu, next and last to reappear from the restroom, already dried and dressed in attire that certainly hadn't been brought with her: a new school uniform.

Ichigo looked from her to Senjumaru. Senjumaru gave a grin.

"Meni-chan," whined the younger sister, pulling at Meninas's cover, "you shouldn't talk that way about Onii-chan." She pointed to him while giving her defense. "He actually got really good grades in high school! But they have been slipping because…"

"Yuzu!" Ichigo admonished her.

Meninas seemed unconvinced, but let the matter slide anyway. "Is that so? Well, it doesn't matter." She strode across the room, moving briskly past Ichigo so that his nose caught a whiff of the perfumed bathwater she had been luxuriating in. She made it to one of the wardrobes she had brought in and threw open the shutters.

Though she had been very protective of her things, Ichigo could recognize certain outfits he had gleamed in Riruka's collection, casting doubt on whether all these dresses actually belonged to Meninas.

Meninas picked out a casual number, holding it to her front before turning to Ichigo. "You can leave now," she told him. "I'll call you back when I'm ready."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched. Just who the hell was she to tell him where to go?

"Better to leave the Quincy on her own," Senjumaru advised, collecting Ichigo's human body in her arms and looking at it with a sneer. "She's caused enough problems while you were away. And as Kirio has said, food is waiting."

"Don't eat to much~!" advised Meninas. "There are a lot of calories in those dishes~! I don't want a flabby King~!" She was one to talk, having eaten a mountain herself.

Yuzu paraded Ichigo out by the hand, wanting to make sure he did eat his fill, but he resisted in the hopes of discussing a bit more with Senjumaru-san. He could not get it out of his head, those looks she'd given to Osho and the others, the obvious scorn she had for his material body. "Is something wrong?" he asked her quietly when leaving the room.

"Hmph." Senjumaru turned her head just slightly. "Sometimes, Osho moves too quickly. I believe it's much too soon to let you be free to return to the Living World."

"Why?" he asked, genuinely curious.

And this made her smirk directly at him, her eyes boring into his with all intent. "Can't you tell?"

Her focused feelings, what Osho had just explained, flared as drastically as an aggressive reiatsu. Ichigo took it all in at once. Was she actively projecting?! It was a clearer visual than the blips he'd gotten from the zombies and Hollow, from Bambietta and Tsukishima and Nel. It was like a film was playing in his head, a very active image of him, his face tucked between… legs? Thighs… His heart started to hammer as he kissed along the pale flesh and moved toward their apex.

Ichigo jolted, strength leaving him, his breath heavy and his face flushed. He fell out of Yuzu's hand to prostrate on the floor as he came to terms with Senjumaru's message:I want sex.

"Onii-chan?!" exclaimed Yuzu, rushing to kneel next to him, desperate to know what was wrong.

Yet Senjumaru's skeletal hand reached out and took her own, urging her back up to her feet to follow her down the corridor. "Come, little one," Senjumaru said, grinning to herself for making a King bow to her whim. "Even a royal sister should not witness her King kneeling."

Yes… Best to be alone right now. Ichigo had taken what seemed like a blast of adrenaline and endorphins, and he did not like what that woke in him. Rather, he did not trust it. He put a hand over his chest and felt his heart racing. Just the merest touch even to himself created static. If—He gulped—If he had been this receptive,beforehe had gone down with Bambietta, he might not have…

"Ichigo?"

Almost desperately, he looked up. He should have known… He fell right outside her room.

Nel stood looking down at him in concern.

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