What's this? An update?
You better believe it!
First off, some good news, some bad news. The bad news: This chapter is only about 2/3 as long as the previous one. The good news: This chapter was finished in half the time it took to do the last one. So... tradeoffs?
I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, for reasons I'll go into in the ending notes, but I am satisfied with it, and after editing it several times I don't believe there's anything more I can do.
As always, thanks to everyone who has left a review, favorited, or followed this story! Seriously, you guys rock. Almost 100 follows is nuts, I never expected any of my stories, let alone a Bleach/Nikke crossover to gain so much traction!
"That's bullshit."
"P-pardon me? If I've done something to offend you-"
"No, no, it's not you, it's just-" Rapunzel's words were absolute bullshit! They HAD TO BE! He and Nel were staring at the big blonde in wide-eyed shock- there was no way that she could be telling the truth. Because if her words were true-
Mankind was gone, or pretty damn close to it.
Hostile creatures… robot aliens, of all things, had invaded Earth! Raptures, she'd called them- had wiped out something like 99% of the world's population, laying waste to every major city on the planet.
And this wasn't something recent, according to the nun- this was practically ancient information.
It was common knowledge that everyone on Earth knew, apparently. Or at least, everyone still alive. For at least several generations, mankind had lived on as a shadow of its former self, the remaining humans clustered in a super city that contained the race's last hopes and dreams.
Either someone was playing the single worst, least funny prank on him he'd ever experienced…
Or this was actually real.
He didn't want to believe Rapunzel's words. But… the evidence was staggering. He HAD seen hundreds of human remains by now, as Rapunzel lead them through the ruined city. He HAD seen the mechanical abominations known as Raptures…
This was like getting woken from a dream by having a bucket of frigid water dumped on him. Following along behind him was Nelliel, her roiling spiritual pressure telling him without needing to see the expression on her face that she was just as distraught over the revelations Rapunzel had revealed to them.
"Look, Rapunzel, was it? I… I'm sorry if I offended you." Because generally speaking, it wasn't appropriate to curse in front of a nun. Even he knew that.
"It's just… Nel and I… we're a long way from home, and both of us are… confused by what we're seeing" Confused was putting it lightly. This was the equivalent of yanking the rug out from underneath him, wrapping him up in said rug, and then rolling it down a hill into a ditch.
"T-the world has been like this for decades, Ichigo. Pardon me for saying so, but you don't look any older than… 20 or 21? The first Rapture invasion would've happened decades before you would've been born..."
And now she was looking at him like he'd been living under a rock all his life. Great. Also, she was way off the ball with his age, though this wasn't the first time someone had thought he was older than he was.
'I… fuck, this doesn't add up. When Nel and I showed up here…' It sounded like something out of a cheesy b-list sci-fi movie, the kind that Orihime probably would've loved, but the only explanation that made even the faintest amount of sense was that wherever Nnoitra had sent him and Nel, it wasn't the human world he was familiar with.
Time travel, in other words. Or something even more ridiculous. Ichigo hadn't ever given any thought to the multiverse theory up till now, that was the kind of thing that Keigo had rambled about after some of the more bizarre sci-fi anime they'd watched together.
Right now, that was far more preferable to time travel. Ichigo didn't know the specifics behind them- Gargantas opened up portals from one dimension to the other. Soul Reapers had the senkaimon to do the same, ferrying them from the Soul Society to the human world.
Was it really that much of a stretch that Nnoitra had sent him back to an entirely different human world than the one he was from?
'Please… please let this be some kind of multiverse shit, and not time travel! Please don't let this be the future of my world!' Because if this WAS the future, then that most likely meant everyone he had ever known was dead and gone.
His sisters. His father. His friends. And that left the question of whatever the hell everyone from the Soul Society had been doing when the human world was collapsing around them- assuming they were still alive too.
That didn't sit right with Ichigo. He'd done alright as the sole soul reaper of Karakura Town for his short job as the local substitute soul reaper, but that had been under optimal, everyday conditions. Sure, people died every day, but that was part of being human.
These would've been anything but everyday conditions. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people had been dying by the day, and death in such quantities would've created a constant flood of hollows that there was no way the Soul Society would've been able to handle.
The entire balance between the world of the living, Hueco Mundo, and the Soul Society would've collapsed on itself, like floodgates breaking under the relentless assault of a tsunami.
That thought alone sent an icy chill running down his spine.
He knew he wouldn't like the answer, but he needed to know.
"J-Japan. Karakura Town. My hometown, is… is it safe?" A foolish question; his brain told him that if wanton destruction had been the goal of these Raptures, a moderately well-populated place like Karakura Town would not have been spared.
"I-I… I'm sorry, I've never heard of such a place. Do you… um, do you know where your hometown was? I mean, which region of Japan was it located in?" Rapunzel's words were soft and worried, her hands clasped as she cradled her staff in the crook of one elbow.
"It was a suburb of the Greater Tokyo Area."
Rapunzel's face fell immediately, and Ichigo's heart sank.
"I… My deepest apologies and condolences, young man. Tokyo… Tokyo was one of the most highly populated centers of mankind prior to the rapture invasion. Technology, commerce, industry… Your homeland was a true pillar of all that mankind achieved."
Why… why the hell was the nun speaking like she was giving a eulogy right now?!
"Then-"
Rapunzel did not cry- she was made of far sterner stuff than that, despite her warm heart. But her eyes did grow ever so slightly misty as she offered her condolences to the teenager who had just learned that he'd lost everything he had ever known.
"Tokyo; that entire region of Japan that is, was among the first major areas the Raptures invaded. …The entire region was decimated by their onslaught. Scarlet, one of my closest companions, was one of the few survivors of her homeland's destruction. The Raptures attacked in such force that many of Japan's citizens didn't have time to evacuate. If you had family anywhere near the Greater Tokyo Area… I'm deeply sorry."
Ichigo felt his vision blurring, the world around him swaying.
Was… was this what going insane felt like? He was pretty sure he was losing his goddamn mind right now!
This couldn't be real! Karin and Yuzu, Chad, Uryu, and Orihime. His dad. All of his friends at school… If this was the future of his own world, then…
They were all dead. His home was gone, according to Rapunzel long ago reduced to rubble and ruin. What… what had been the point, then? To any of it?
No amount of strength could bring back the dead. His very name, a gift from his father that represented everything he stood for, felt meaningless.
He'd failed to protect a single thing, in the end.
"Ichigo…" The world stabilized, a warm, heavy mass pressing against his back as a pair of slender arms circling around him from behind, pulling him into a warm embrace.
Nelliel's embrace was comforting yet at the same time conveyed no intimate undertones; her intentions nothing more than simply providing comfort for her new friend. Ichigo stiffened, before sagging back into the squishy bulk pressing against him.
"I… I'm sorry you had to see that, Nel. You've lost just as much as I have-"
Nel's arms drew tighter around him, her grip firm but not uncomfortably tight.
"Don't apologize. Not for mourning people you loved. …My words will probably do little to comfort you, but I will choose to believe that all is not lost. If a way home exists, we will find it." The green-haired woman drew in a deep breath before continuing, her soft chest expanding against his back.
"The very concept of 'home,' at least as you know it, is alien to me. All my life has been one long struggle for existence, day in and day out. Having a place of my own, a home to spend my days surrounded by loved ones… such a thing was never anything more than a wishful dream to me. Pesche and Dondochakka… to me, 'home' is wherever they are. …So long as you believe in your heart that you will be reunited with your friends, your home will not be lost to you." Ichigo said nothing for a moment, his hands interlocking with Nel's as he processed her words.
"We'll get back to them, Nel. I promise." Because really, he couldn't allow himself to wallow in grief and sorrow when he had yet to confirm that he truly WAS stuck here. If a way had existed to bring him and Nel here, then a way home also had to exist. It HAD too!
And… he was still choosing to believe that this was not the future of his own world, but rather some fucked up timeline of, well, another version of the human world. As Rapunzel had explained, the part of Japan Karakura Town had been located in had been laid waste to nearly a century ago, meaning that anyone who had lived there was almost certainly long dead.
No, he would rather soldier on in a world where Karakura Town had never even existed, than one where it had existed and been wiped off the map.
Ichigo gently shrugged off Nelliel's embrace. He knew he was putting on a brave front right now, and that the unanswered fate of his friends, family, and hometown would torment him for many nights to come, but…
One step at a time. He was here, in this strange, ruined world, but he wasn't alone.
'Home is where your friends are, huh? …Guess it's a good thing that I haven't lost all of my friends.'
"Do… do you need more time, Ichigo?" Rapunzel's voice, warm, caring, and full of concern washed over him.
"…Nah, I'm good. You said we shouldn't linger here, right? I hope you know where you're going."
"O-of course! Follow my lead, and I'll take you to my friends! From there, you should be able to reach the Ark! Follow me, please!"
When she said that she'd lead him and Nel to her friends, Ichigo hadn't realized that he'd be walking for so damn long. He'd kind of thought Rapunzel meant something along the lines of following her for maybe a few miles, and then meeting up with whoever her friends were, but he'd vastly underestimated her meaning!
The three of them had spent the better part of the previous day doing nothing but walking, and they were already well into the morning of Ichigo and Nel's second day in this post-apocalyptic future.
Before last night, the last time he'd gone to bed, it had been in his own bed, in his bedroom at his family's clinic. He'd eaten dinner with his dad and sisters. He'd seen his friends earlier in the day.
It had, in other words, been as normal of a day as it could've been.
Last night, he'd lain down on a thin blanket in the burnt-out husk of a gas station convenience store, next to two women who he'd known for barely a day and less than a day respectively. Keigo and maybe Mizuiro would've been thrilled and jealous to no end at news like that, but Ichigo hadn't found anything remotely titillating about the experience. He'd lain awake on the hard, unforgiving floor, alone with his thoughts for hours before sleep had claimed him.
It still felt so wrong; knowing that he'd been yanked from the middle of the action and dropped down into a chillingly silent and still world like this. Chad, Rukia, Renji, and Uryu… they had to have finished their fights by now. Had… had any of them…
No. He couldn't allow himself to dwell on thoughts like that. Ichigo knew he'd go insane if he couldn't let go, at least for the night, of the potential fates of his friends he'd been separated from.
He trusted them. They were strong, strong enough to stand on their own.
But what about Orihime?
She was alone in the lion's den; the last he'd seen her; she was still trapped by Nnoitra and his subordinate.
…He'd just have to hope that his friends rescued her without him. There was… there was nothing he could do for her, not like this, stuck in a strange, foreign world separated by both time and space.
Breakfast had been a simple affair; Rapunzel had scrounged some food from… somewhere- Ichigo instinctively felt that it was better not to know where she'd gotten the sparse supplies from…
It had really hammered the reality of his situation home. The last time he'd been in his spirit form for this long, it had been when he and his friends were storming the Soul Society to save Rukia. He hadn't imagined that there would ever come another time where he'd be in his spirit form for so long that he'd need to eat or drink, but this was a harsh reminder that he felt hunger and thirst in this form just as he did in his human body.
Nel, and all arrancar by extension, clearly felt hunger and thirst like a normal person, which had drawn some confused looks from Rapunzel when the green-haired woman had ravenously devoured her portion of the rations Rapunzel had found for them.
The morning passed, and their journey continued.
How many miles had they traveled? The city was now nothing more than a shadow in the distance, and currently the three of them were traipsing across the highway on foot.
"Don't worry, Ichigo! It shouldn't be more than another couple of days before we reach the meeting area!"
Another… couple… days?! Ichigo was really glad he had better self-control, otherwise instead he wouldn't have been able to prevent the string of curse words that popped into his head.
As it turned out, wandering through the ruins of humanity post-apocalypse style was a hell of a lot less exciting than it sounded. Rapunzel's pace was fairly slow, with Rapunzel insisting that the trio stick to cover whenever possible.
…After two hours, Ichigo was getting fed up with having to go at a snail's pace. He and Nel could fly, which meant that trudging along on the ground like this was just needlessly wasting time.
"I know we're going slow, but you should know I'm doing this for your sake, Ichigo! It isn't safe for the three of us to be traveling out in the open; a human like you would make a prime target for any Rapture!"
"Oh, sorry. Guess you could tell what I was thinking, huh." Well, he'd never been very good at hiding his feelings and thoughts. Still, though, he was pretty damn far from an ordinary human, and the last thing he needed was to be treated like he was made out of glass.
"…I understand that you must want to reach the Ark as soon as possible, Ichigo, but there are not shortcuts that don't involve heading straight into Rapture territory."
And that was a problem, because why exactly? Between the three of them he was pretty sure they could handle any of those robots without a problem.
That, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't itching to start hacking them apart. His thoughts flashed back to the dead family he and Nel had found the other day, and his blood boiled at the thought of anyone he knew meeting a similarly untimely end.
"It's not like I have a problem with getting into any fights. And I'm sure that Nel's fine with it, too."
Nel opened her mouth to respond, but before she could the huge nun interjected, her voice loud and clear.
"Absolutely not, Ichigo! No self-respecting Nikke would ever voluntarily endanger a human's life, and I'm certain that your protector would agree!"
…Okay, this wasn't a topic he or Nel had brought up with Rapunzel yesterday, but he was really starting to think that the nun was wildly off the ball when it came to judging their relationship.
Nel wasn't his protector or guardian or anything like that; she was just someone who'd gotten trapped in the same mess he had because he'd been too damn weak to get out of Nnoitra's trap.
Also…
What the hell was a Nikke?
He really should've asked that sooner, seeing as Rapunzel thought that Nel was one of them. Admittedly, he and Nel had both been way more focused on the more pressing issue of 'alien robots destroying the world' to focus on that lesser issue yesterday.
…Whatever. Nel hadn't bothered to correct the nun on what her race actually was, and it wasn't his place to but in anyway. Honestly, props to Rapunzel for not asking about Nel's broken mask.
'Though seeing as she's walking around wearing some bizarro fetish-nun getup, a half-naked lady with a skull-mask on her head might not seem that weird to her…'
As luck would have it, the subject of what exactly a Nikke was ended up being a question he didn't need to ask. While he was busy trying to find a way to broach the subject to Rapunzel in a manner that wouldn't make him and Nel stand out more than they already did to her, the sound and sight of dark shapes rapidly approaching from the horizon brought their trek to an impromptu standstill.
"Raptures?! Oh no… there shouldn't be any in this area! Stay back, Ichigo! Nelliel, get him to cover, quick! There isn't more than a dozen of them," Rapunzel's staff pointed towards the Raptures flying in their direction- "It doesn't look like they've noticed us yet; I should be able to deal with them swiftly…"
Before Ichigo had time to explain to Rapunzel that he was more than capable of looking after himself; especially against a bunch of machines that didn't seem to be much stronger than the average hollow, she had taken off, zipping away from them at a blindingly-fast speed.
Well, 'blindingly-fast' when compared to the running speed of a normal human, that was. Granted, Rapunzel was fast enough that she might be able to keep pace with a lieutenant-level soul reaper, which was impressive enough on its own. And all this was from someone who gave off no spiritual pressure at all! It went without saying, but between the laser-beam staff and the comparative super speed she was clearly no ordinary human.
'I guess Nikke is some kind of term for enhanced human, then. …Makes sense, I guess. From what I've heard about the Raptures, ordinary humans wouldn't stand a chance against them. But why the hell would she think that Nel's one and I'm not?' Seriously, what was he missing? Both him and Nel were strangely dressed by human standards; and the swords each of them carried had to have raised some questions in Rapunzel's mind.
"Ichigo-"
"I'm not going to sit around and do nothing while the two of you fight. Enemies like these are nothing."
"I know you're strong, Ichigo. Just be sure to stay on your guard. …Being taken unawares will bring down even the strongest of warriors." And with that, she was gone, zooming after Rapunzel, who by now had put a fair bit of distance between them.
…Damn it, he'd misjudged Rapunzel's combat prowess; the nun seemed to fight at a range primarily, which had allowed her to wipe out half the approaching Raptures before they'd even gotten close to her.
He was still a good fifty feet behind her, and Nel was already shooting in, sword drawn…
Damn.
If he'd had any doubts about metal not being able to cut metal, he'd lost them now, because Nel's sword had cut through the remaining Raptures like a knife going through butter.
Also, Nel was fast. He liked to think that he could move pretty quick when he wanted to, but Nel's speed was closer to Yoruichi's than his.
"Oh, thanks for the assistance! But you really should stay back with Ichigo, we shouldn't leave him unguarded!"
"He's safe, trust me." High-level fighters like Nnoitra and Grimmjow were one thing, Nel wouldn't hesitate to tell Ichigo to get behind her if she found herself standing between him and her nemesis once again. But against foes like this?
Nel couldn't even tell if there was a guiding mind to any of the strange metal beasts. No, these seemed almost animalistic with how simple their attack patterns were. None of them, Ichigo included, were in any danger right now. These creatures, these Raptures, amounted to little more than chaff to be cut down.
…Ordinarily, Nel wasn't one for wanton violence, and preferred giving her foes opportunity to lay down their arms and walk away, but… no, given the circumstances, there would be no mercy for these beasts.
No mercy for the merciless.
A lone, intriguing observation she made was that the mechanical abominations weren't entirely mechanical. Nel could feel her sword slicing through a strange, disconcerting mixture of mechanical parts and organic material, before the biomechanical creature detonated, the red core split in two by her blade.
"Incredible… Are… are you another survivor of the Melee Squad? I thought that Scarlet was the only one left!"
Nel landed from her soaring jump gracefully, bare feet making nary a sound on ground as she touched down next to the wide-eyed Rapunzel.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."
"Oh! My… my apologies, Nelliel. I must be mistaken. Do you fight with that sword because you lost your original weapon?"
"…I suppose you could say that." If in this case she thought of her old hollow form as her original weapon, the statement was technically true. It was a lie she'd happily keep up. Meeting someone who viewed her as an ally from the get-go was a rare novelty, not unlike how Ichigo and his friends had immediately befriended her and her fracción.
Having to reveal the truth about herself as a soul-devouring monster probably wouldn't do her any favors when it came to making friends or finding a way back to her own home.
"…Well, you wield it quite masterfully! Oh, if Scarlet was here, she'd be so eager to have a spar with you!" That sounded… nice. Well, as long as it was a spar where limits were set and stuck to and not a pointless fight to the death.
…Nel would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little bit confused as to why Rapunzel hadn't asked about the purpose of Ichigo's zanpakuto. Did… Did Rapunzel think that the orange-haired boy's sword was just for show, and nothing more? …Well, Nel had a feeling that the nun would change her opinion in a heartbeat once Ichigo got the chance to fight Raptures himself.
"You took those things out quicker than I thought you would! I'm kind of disappointed!" Speaking of her friend, there he was! He'd come running rather than flying, no doubt not bothering to fly once he'd realized that there were no enemies left to fight.
"Disappointed?" Rapunzel's face flickered into a confused frown, before she brushed it aside. "Not to worry, with the Raptures gone, we can resume making our way to the rendezvous point."
Okay, he knew that these things were homicidal, human-killing robots, but honestly by now he was willing to take just about any distraction over more endless walking. Couldn't he or Nel just carry Rapunzel with them while they flew? That would've been a hell of a lot quicker than just staying on the ground.
He'd have to remember to voice his thoughts to the other two once they ended their lunch break, which was a more normal way of calling out the fact that the three of them were currently sitting on the unforgiving pavement of an old highway in the shade of an overturned semi-truck.
"Say, Nelliel,"
"Hmm?"
"I've been wondering… how did you come to meet Ichigo? I… I have quite a lot of questions I'd like to ask both of you, but I'm not sure how appropriate they would be."
"…We met purely by chance. I was… injured, and he tended to me as best he could."
"R-really?! He… tended to your wounds?" Rapunzel's voice had dropped in volume to a low, disbelieving whisper.
"Not exactly. He… he looked after me when I was in a state where I couldn't defend myself. As soon as I was capable of fighting once more, I swore to myself that I would protect him. …The kindness he showed me was… unexpected, to say the least, and as a person, I would not be able to look at myself in the mirror if I did not try my hardest to repay him."
'She's kind of laying it on thick. I mean, I was just doing what anyone would do…'
"You… you helped her? Even though she was injured?" Rapunzel was staring at him, her blue eyes wide with surprise.
"Uh… yeah? I'm not sure why that's so surprising…" Because really, who the hell in their right mind would just leave a little kid in the middle of Hueco Mundo? Of course, said kid hadn't ended up being a kid at all, but the idea was the same. Even before he'd known her as a former Espada, she'd been nothing but a friendly presence in a place where he'd expected the very concept of friendship and camaraderie to be entirely alien to the denizens of Hueco Mundo.
His response didn't calm Rapunzel down. Seriously, her eyes had been wide open beforehand, but if her eyebrows went any higher they were going to disappear into her hairline!
"Y-you… even though you're a human, you didn't hesitate to offer her your assistance? But-"
"What's me being a human have to do with anything? Nel needed my help, so I helped her. Simple as that."
A small but warm smile slipped onto Nel's face, while Rapunzel blinked several times before forcibly schooling her wide-eyed gaze into a calmer expression.
The beaming grin she sent his way after calming herself down was unexpected.
"That's… that's wonderful, Ichigo! To think I'd meet someone like you on the surface of all places… I can't imagine what you must've been going through all this time…"
'That's something that I still don't know how I'm going to explain to her. And she's got the patience of a saint to not treat Nel and me like we're from another planet or something, with all the questions we've been asking. Fitting, I guess, with the whole nun-get up of hers.'
"Ahh…"
Was it his imagination, or were Rapunzel's cheeks turning pink?
"To think… a human and a Nikke… alone on the surface… brought together purely by chance…"
She was muttering to herself under her breath, likely not even realizing that she was voicing her thoughts aloud.
"…Rapunzel?"
"! O-oh my, my apologies! I was just… lost in thought! Nothing more!" The nun cleared her throat, doing her best to look as if she hadn't just been daydreaming about something. Nel clearly felt just as awkward sitting in silence as he did, because she broke the silence after a few moments.
"Do… do you have any hobbies, Rapunzel? I'm assuming there's more to your life than just wandering through old ruins like this."
"O-oh, of course! Yes, I… I enjoy a few pastimes. I don't get the opportunity to indulge in them very often, however. Fighting Raptures and praying for the souls of my fallen sisters doesn't leave much time for leisurely activities."
'Oh, so the nun outfit isn't just for show. …Is she from some kind of warrior nun group? That's pretty damn metal.'
"Oh, but I do, um… read a bit when I have the time to spare."
"Oh, you like to read as well? What kind of books do you read?"
Nel sounded genuinely interested now; evidently the arrancar must've been a bit of a bookworm. That was a thought; how exactly did one get books into Hueco Mundo anyway? Right now, he was trying and failing to imagine someone like Grimmjow just walking into a library and asking to check out a book.
"Um… well…" And now Rapunzel's face was turning pink again. Seriously, what was up with her?
"It's been so long since I was last able to read anything! If you have any books, I'd love to borrow one of them!"
"About that… the kind of, *ahem* literature that I enjoy might not be fit with your tastes…" Okay, Rapunzel's face was full-on red now. Not pink, but red.
There was something he was missing.
"W-well! We should keep moving, it's not good to stay in one place for too long! You never know when more Raptures might come by!"
Ichigo was 90% sure that was a bold-faced lie, and that Rapunzel just wanted to change the topic, but… oh well. He wasn't going to press the issue. Nelliel looked a bit disappointed at not getting to acquire any new reading material for herself, but likewise didn't argue.
That concluded their short break, and they set off once again. Neither Ichigo nor Nel actually knew where they were going- all they had to go off of was that Rapunzel was taking them to people who could help them, and from there… they'd work something out. But the nun had been nothing but kind and helpful to them, so Ichigo didn't see any reason not to trust her.
Now he just had to figure out a polite way to offer to carry Rapunzel so that they could stop traveling by foot…
"Truly, what a blessed day! To meet not one, but two friendly faces in such a quiet, empty world! …I must shepherd them back to safety, so that their kind spirits do not join all the others that have gone before…"
"You say something, Rapunzel?"
"Oh, you heard that? I was just giving my thanks for the blessings that have been showered upon me on this day. Meeting new faces here is… uncommon."
"…If it helps, I'm glad that you're the first person I met out here. Ask Nel and she'll say the same thing."
"Ichigo… You are truly a warm and compassionate person."
"…I'm just a guy who's a long way from home. And right now I'm just glad I ended up with people like the two of you." Because this would've been a different story if he and Nel hadn't met Rapunzel. If not for her, they'd probably be fighting an endless onslaught of Raptures, or still poking through old ruins looking for answers.
Hell, if Nel hadn't gotten dragged here with him, then it would've been him alone.
Alone, in a dead world.
…In no uncertain terms, that would've driven him insane. Not in a single day, obviously, but…
The reality of waking up this morning to an unfamiliar landscape and, other than Nel and Rapunzel, not a single living person around for hundreds, if not thousands of miles was a harsh reality to face. One that he wasn't sure he would've handled if he'd had to face that same reality alone.
"I-incredible… such a kind man…"
'Kind' made it sound like he was a hell of a lot better than he was. He was just a guy trying to make the best of a shitty situation, and alienating the only two friendly faces around was a damn stupid idea.
"A kind man… who doesn't scorn Nikke… he and a lone Nikke, surviving despite the odds against them…"
He should probably correct the once-again daydreaming nun's words; because from her tone it sounded like she thought he and Nel had been stuck here for weeks, if not months.
"No one to rely on but each other… their differences fading as they no longer see each other as a human and a Nikke, but as a man and a woman…"
Was… Was Rapunzel panting?
It sure as hell looked like it, from the way her shoulders were shaking. He was bringing up the rear of their little procession right now, leaving Nel closer to Rapunzel than he was.
The helmeted woman had likewise caught onto the blonde woman's ramblings, her stride faltering as she turned a perplexed gaze to her new companion.
"Their bond deepening as the days turn to weeks, nothing to warm each other with during the long, cold nights but their bodies…"
…Ichigo was pretty sure that his brain had stopped working.
A glance at Nel showed that the perplexed expression on her face hadn't changed, but her face had turned noticeably pink, a distinctly different hue from the line running over the bridge of her nose and across her face.
"Uh… Rapunzel?" He should interrupt her now, right? He really felt like he needed to interrupt her right now. Whatever she had in her head about him and Nel was NOT correct.
"That warmth becoming a fiery passion as they learn to… explore each other…"
"Rapunzel!"
"Eep!" Nel's shout brought Rapunzel back to reality, the nun realizing in a panic that she had not been keeping her thoughts to herself!
"I… M-my sincerest apologies! I-I didn't mean for such… salacious thoughts to slip out!"
"Rapunzel, whatever bond you think Ichigo and I share, it isn't… quite as… intimate as you're making it out to be," Nelliel finished with way more tact than Ichigo would've been able to respond with.
"What she said. …We're friends, not… not whatever it is you're thinking."
"…" If Rapunzel's face could've gone any redder, she would've resembled a blonde tomato. After a few moments of trying and failing to form words, she finally gathered enough of her wits about her to form a response
"Can… can the two of you pretend that you didn't hear anything? Please?"
"…Sure." It was probably for the best to put this out of his head. He hadn't even known that nuns were aloud to think of stuff like that. Didn't they have to take oaths against that sort of thing?
'…Keigo and Mizuiro would love this lady. Actually, scratch that. Chizuru would sell her left arm to meet this lady…'
So, what if Rapunzel had an… uh… active imagination? It wasn't like she was hurting anyone, and other than this lone bit of weirdness, she'd been nothing but a pillar of support for him and Nel.
And hey, it wasn't like he hadn't met people before who were even worse. At least Rapunzel's daydreams were just words. Yoruichi had friggin' flashed him back when he'd been training to unlock his bankai. Kon and Chizuru were both menaces to anything and everything female… The list went on.
And considering that Rapunzel was now walking in front of them very stiffly, hands clasped as she murmured what was unmistakably a prayer chant under her breath… Well, if nothing else, he could tell that her sense of shame worked normally.
…He'd just chalk this up to being one hell of a day.
What did that make Rapunzel, the first person he and Nel had met in this ruined world?
Some kind of enhanced human warrior nun combo, with a perverted streak that she was apparently trying to control…
…That was loads better than just running into the Raptures first thing. The ones he'd seen Nel and Rapunzel destroying hadn't seemed capable of speech and given that they were responsible for humanity's near extinction, he wasn't too keen on trying to make civil dialogue with them anyway.
Still, he wouldn't mind getting a closer look at them later if he could.
He was the kind of guy who liked knowing exactly what his enemies looked like, after all!
(((Hueco Mundo, AWOL Substitute)))
Orihime Inoue's world was in a downward spiral. Ichigo was gone. It still didn't feel real in her mind. Every hallway she passed through, every corner she turned, she held out hope that she'd see her savior come charging out of the darkness. The fracción marching her along was no Espada, nothing like Grimmjow or that awful Nnoitra. Ichigo could take him in a fight, she didn't doubt it!
But he never showed up.
He was just… gone.
Orihime felt her eyes watering, and was only barely able to keep stumbling along the blank white halls.
What must her friends be thinking right now? Chad, Uryu, Renji, and Rukia… all of them must've sensed the sudden, empty abyss where Ichigo's spiritual pressure had once been.
"Leave us, Tesra. Return to wherever your master has gone off to. …No doubt he's gone to find more intruders to exterminate." The blonde man's footsteps rapidly receded, Nnoitra's fracción not saying a word as he departed, leaving Orihime alone with Ulquiorra.
You should've known that any attempt to retrieve you would've ended in failure."
The pallid man's face was as blank and empty as ever.
…It almost would've made her feel better if he'd mocked her, mocked Ichigo's sacrifice. Strangely, it hurt more to think that Ichigo's disappearance- she refused to acknowledge it as his death- was nothing more than an afterthought!
"...If you're thinking I will offer words of condemnation or comfort, you are wrong. Ichigo Kurosaki came to Hueco Mundo, just as Lord Aizen predicted he would, for your sake. Ichigo Kurosaki met his end because he, a human, couldn't understand that this was a futile struggle. You will remain here for as long as Lord Aizen desires it."
"I am afraid that will not be possible, Mr. Arrancar."
Orihime's shoulder's jolted, her head whipping around to stare at the new arrival.
C-Captain Unohana?! H-how… W-Why was she here?!
Ulquiorra's eyes widened minutely, his lips quirking in an almost-frown.
"…You are Retsu Unohana, captain of the Soul Society's Fourth Division."
"Apologies, Mr. Arrancar. It seems that you know me, but I do not know your name."
"…I am Ulquiorra Cifer, one of Lord Aizen's Espada. I have been tasked with watching over the human girl."
"Thank you for sharing your name with me, Ulquiorra. You may return to your lord to tell him that your task is over."
"Lord Aizen commanded-"
Ulquiorra's rebuttal was met with a sudden blast of spiritual pressure, thick and heavy and smothering.
Orihime took a fearful step back, despite not a shred of the spiritual pressure being aimed at her. There was no shred of warmth in the kindly captain's eyes, only calm determination and absolute certainty.
"My apologies, Ulquiorra Cifer. It seems that you misheard me. Orihime Inoue will be leaving Laz Noches now. That was not a request."
Ending Notes:
This chapter is most certainly not the original planned chapter, 'Gods and Goddesses.' Long story short, I ended up splitting this chapter in half out of necessity. NEXT chapter will likely be Gods and Goddesses.
I wasn't ever 100% happy with this chapter because it's gone through the most editing and changes out of any chapter I've written for this story so far. The first chapter was straight-forward, the second chapter was fully scripted before I started writing it, but this one...
I don't know what it was, but this chapter just about fought me every step of the way. One of the reasons why it's so much shorter (on top of me trying to force a better writing schedule) is that I cut out a significant amount of stuff from the chapter. Nobody is missing any content, the stuff I did cut will likely end up in the next few chapters, just... it was annoying deliberating over that for days and finally deciding that the only solution was to just shelve the ideas I had. Originally, I had a fight scene for Ichigo (against random Raptures, but still,) a whole dialogue between him, White, and Old Man Zangetsu in his inner world, and more.
Most of the stuff I cut was because I came to the realization that it A) would needlessly extend this chapter, or B) just didn't fit with the flow of the chapter.
Moving on...
I'm aware that Ichigo is 15, if anyone was wondering that. Rapunzel just thinks that he looks older.
So far, this story reads just like Nikke does (on a technical standpoint.) In that it's random, 15-second 'battles' placed between story nodes that advance the plot. We'll get to some actually interesting fights eventually. The last I want for this story is for it to become nothing but exposition.
I can't remember if Scarlet has a known backstory (from her human time, I mean.) For the sake of this story, I think the thought pattern in my head is that she was a kendo champion as a human, or something along those lines.
Rapunzel's religion is a funny thing. It's both Christian and NOT Christian at the same time. It's definitely one of those anime religions that's clearly inspired by Catholicism (considering that she was in line to be the freakin' Pope prior to becoming a Nikke,) but there's way too much off with it for it to be a 1:1 match.
And if any of you think Rapunzel's thoughts were down bad now... she hasn't even seen Ichigo without a shirt yet.