Here I am with chapter 4! As always, huge thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited, or left a review. The reception to this story continues to blow me away!

I just wish I could get these out sooner. More on that below.

Ichigo opened his eyes to the sight of a sideways world.

And if that wasn't enough, it looked like an earthquake had hit his inner world. While in incomparably better state than the crumbling, overgrown ruins of the world, his inner world had taken a hell of a beating since the last time he'd been here.

"Ichigo. Get up."

"…I was wondering when I'd see you again, old man."

His zanpakuto spirit was as unreadable as ever. The old guy's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at Ichigo, walking along the cracked surface of the sideways building below them.

"What, nothing for me, King? You forget about me?"

…And he was here too. Great.

"Aw, what's the matter, King? I thought you'd be happier to see more familiar faces! S' not like you have many of us left!"

"Enough." The old man's voice halted Ichigo in his tracks before he could rise to his hollow's taunting.

"Ichigo. Do you remember what I told you when you first learned my name?"

'Look forward! Go forward! Never stand still. Retreat and you will age. Hesitate and you will die.'

The words resonated in his mind. Ichigo's grip on Zangetsu's hilt tightened, the teenager realizing for the first time that he'd already had his sword drawn.

"…Yeah, I do."

"…Then there's nothing more that needs to be said. Every word I spoke was true- now, more than ever."

"…You don't need to tell me that. My friends aren't here. My family isn't here. There are no enemies to be overcome… but that doesn't mean I'm just going to roll over and accept that I'm stuck here! I'll keep moving forward, and I will find a way back home! No matter what it takes!"

"Heh, now you're talkin' like a true king! Just don't forget… you ever let this," his hollow waved his arms around, gesturing to the cracked buildings, "Get to you, and I'll be taking your place in a heartbeat! I wouldn't mind becomin' the king… especially if I've got company like those two ladies! Don't tell me you haven't been staring every now and then! Don't try to deny it; you've been enjoying the view!" Even without seeing the crude gestures made by his hollow- his hands making a mock hourglass shape in the air- he knew what the smug jackass was referring to.

"I have eyes, bastard. Eyes that I know not to let wander. Rapunzel's doing me a hell of a favor, and Nel's stuck in the same boat I am." He was a healthy teenage boy, and he'd be lying if he said he'd felt nothing during Rapunzel's slip-up earlier, but as Ichigo was finding out, nothing killed his libido faster than recovering from huge, world-altering revelations.

"Don't tell me you didn't at least give some thought to the naughty nun's ramblings earlier!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes and looked over at Zangetsu, who made no indications that he'd shut his negative twin up.

"Regardless of who your companions may be, Ichigo, never falter. Your companions, your comrades, they are your strength."

"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack," Ichigo recited a line from a book he'd read years earlier. It had always stuck with him. He knew he was strong on his own, but everywhere he went, every fight he got in just taught him that he was never the pinnacle of strength. Being strong was one thing, but there were always struggles he faced that he'd never overcome on his own.

Yeah, he would've gone to the Soul Society alone if he'd needed to, even knowing that it likely would've been a suicide mission. For Rukia's sake, he would've at least tried.

Same with Orihime this time. Even if he'd had to invade Hueco Mundo alone, he would've done so if there'd been no one to turn to for help.

Except, both times, he hadn't been alone. He'd had trusted friends he could count on to watch his back while he watched theirs.

…Now they were gone, and…

He wasn't on his own. He refused to allow that to even become a possibility.

"It's good to see that you've taken my words to heart. Never lose that determination. That vow, that loyalty, that is what gives you strength. Even if you're in a new land…"

"Then I'll just protect the comrades I still have." Nel, for one. She'd gotten dragged here with him because she'd tried to save him in the first place. She'd jumped into that void after him not knowing if it would be her end, but more importantly, not caring if it would be her end.

She hadn't even known him for a full day, but she had been willing to risk her life for his.

If he wasn't willing to at least do the same for her, then he didn't deserve to have her kindness.

And now this new woman, Rapunzel.

Sure, the statuesque blonde had… a few screws loose, but she'd nevertheless been a steady source of support for both him and Nel. …He just needed her to stop treating him like he was helpless.

"..Pfeh. Don't know why we even had this talk. Seems like King's already bounced back." His hollow snorted, spitting to the side of the building.

He definitely hadn't 'bounced back,' but…

He had comrades at his side, a goal to accomplish, and an enemy to fight.

That was all he needed.

Ichigo opened his eyes once more, this time seeing the ruins of the highway rather than his damaged inner world. He, Nel, and Rapunzel were miles and miles away from the ruined city, the name of which he'd never bothered to ask. It was a moot point now anyway.

Staring at the world around him, he still had trouble believing all this was real.

Nothing but cracked asphalt extending for countless miles ahead of him. There were still some cars here and there, but the vehicle husks had grown fewer in number the further he and his new companions had traveled on the road.

And he still had no idea of where the hell he and Nel were, other than the general knowledge that they were somewhere in North America. He hadn't asked for more details than that after coming to the realization that things like countries, provinces, and states no longer mattered, seeing as the governments behind them had long gone extinct.

The scenery wasn't distinct enough to tell where they were geographically either. The highway Rapunzel had been leading them down must've been surrounded by what had once been farmlands or something, considering that all he could see for around them- and all he had seen for miles and miles was nothing but rolling fields of grass.

An empty road surrounded by empty plains. The silence would've been soothing if it hadn't been so unnerving. For someone who had grown up in a decent-sized down like Karakura, running for hours on end without hearing a single man-made noise just felt wrong. Not a single plane passing overhead in the sky, no sounds of travelers driving down the highway, nothing.

Just silence and stillness.

Ichigo was willing to bet that the rest stop he, Nel, and Rapunzel had stopped at must've been the only manmade structure they'd passed in six hours.

Rapunzel was away at present, having slipped away to forage for more supplies, though Ichigo wasn't holding out hope that she'd find much of anything beyond the grounds of the rest station.

He hadn't had much of an appetite the last couple of days, and he'd given most of his last meal to Nel, who had eagerly accepted the offered food. Not that he'd been all that eager to eat the preserved food that Rapunzel and Nel had scrounged from the rest stop. No way he was going to trust anything that looked that perfectly preserved after at least a hundred years.

That hadn't stopped Nel, though considering her past she'd probably eaten things far more unpleasant than some age old granola bars. …Yeah, it was probably better not to think too much on that.

Rapunzel had once again seemed to be… well, alarmed wasn't the right word, but she'd certainly been paying attention to Nel's appetite. Were all arrancar like that, having once been bestial hollows struggling to fill the void in them? Or was it simply that Nel just had a big appetite? Questions for later.

The woman in question was currently napping, the green-haired woman slumped forwards on a picnic table snoring softly, head resting on her arms. It was honestly impressive at how easily she was able to just zone out like that.

'Rapunzel isn't back yet… I have no idea where she's gone, but she assured us that she wouldn't be gone longer than an hour. …Argh, I just can't get over being stuck here doing nothing! I feel so useless!' Ichigo grumbled, looking around. He knew that Rapunzel had insisted that he stick close to Nel, but really, Nel was going to be fine on her own even if she was asleep. She'd said so herself; she wouldn't risk turning back into her little kid form unless she was really pressed into burning through her spiritual energy, and there weren't even any Raptures around to threaten them. Nel would be fine if he went off on his own for a bit.

'Not like I'm at risk of getting lost anyways. This place sticks out like a sore thumb. Hell, it's the only landmark around for at least a couple of miles,' Ichigo estimated, shooting up into the air. Even if he flew far enough away that the rest stop became a distant speck on the horizon, that didn't change the fact that in an unremarkable grassland like this it was just about the only landmark of note.

The air whipped past Ichigo as he shot through the air- holy hell, he really needed to just stop beating around the bush and offer to carry Rapunzel. The amount of ground they'd cover by flying compared to running was incomparable!

Unbound by earthly constraints, it didn't take long for the rest stop to become a dark blip on the horizon. With nothing but endless plains of green grass below him and blue sky above him, Ichigo felt a strange sense of calm.

But 'calm' wasn't what he was looking for right now; wasn't what he wanted to be feeling.

He was angry with himself for failing so catastrophically back in Hueco Mundo, but that anger wasn't nearly burning hot enough to make him take leave of his senses.

What he wanted, most of all, was to get some measure of control, of responsibility back. His friends had been counting on him, and he'd let every single one of them down, especially Orihime.

A black blob on the ground drew his attention, and he slowed, beginning to descend to the field below.

Raptures.

The metal-and-blood creatures seemed to be dormant, or at least they had been until he drew too close to them. Once he was only fifty feet from the ground, a metallic screech rang out from them, and as one the small… platoon? Brigade? Swarm? Meh, he'd think of that later.

The small swarm of Raptures turned their attention on him, red cores shining brightly.

Had he been a normal human, he might've been terrified at the sight. But he was as far from a normal human as one could get.

Zangetsu in his hand, Ichigo descended to meet his foes.

"Come on, you metal punks! I'm right here!"

Ichigo zoomed closer, already swinger Zangetsu as one of the Raptures leapt up to meet him.

Its metal carapace parted surprisingly easily, offering little resistance to Ichigo's slash. The crab-shaped Rapture barely had time for a single electronic screech before his sword swept upwards, catching it straight through the core.

Ichigo wasted no time in shoving the bisected halves of the rapture away, landing down on the ground where the rest of the mecha-creature's pack was.

Fighting enemies who shot at you with actual bullets instead of concentrates blasts of spiritual energy was new to Ichigo, but not something he felt any concern about. Ducking under another Rapture, Ichigo thrust Zangetsu upwards, the long, heavy blade bursting out the creatures back before he pulled back, leaving the creature to collapse behind him.

Bullets zipped past him, the small swarm shooting back at him, but for all their efforts they might as well have been firing blindly into the sky. Foes like this were barely stronger than the average hollow, and when you could move faster than your enemy could aim there was no chance of them actually hitting you.

A red beam of superheated energy shot through the air, Ichigo darting out of the way before it could get close enough to do any damage.

"So, Rapunzel isn't the only one who can shoot laser beams… I'd call laser-shooting mecha aliens cool if I wasn't so pissed off by their existence!" Ichigo growled, deciding to reply with an energy blast of his own.

Lashing out with a horizontal swing from Zangetsu, the blade shining as he gathered his spiritual energy…

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

The Raptures didn't know what hit them. No fewer than half a dozen of them were caught in the crescent moon-shaped wave of energy, their cores rupturing and shattering under the assault of concentrated spiritual energy!

"Who's next?" Rather predictably, the only response he got was more easily dodged gunfire.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" Ichigo lit the air up with another blast of sharpened spiritual energy, the crescent scything through the air to hack through another several Raptures at once!

At the rate he was carving through these things, the fight would be over before he ever broke a sweat. These Raptures were absolute chumps. Hell, even those kids who worked at Urahara's store; Jinta and Ururu, could probably have taken down a couple of them. …Not that he liked the idea of kids like them fighting against foes that shot at you with real bullets, but still, that was beside the point. The point was that these Raptures were weak enough that even a couple of kids with only amateur-level spiritual skills probably could've taken a few of them on. If the weakest Raptures could only amount to this much… well, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the Raptures must've prioritized quantity over quality.

As he cleaved through one last rapture with a massive overhead swing of Zangetsu, something told him that Raptures like these must've been the lowest of the low. According to Rapunzel and backed up by the state of the world around them, the Raptures had practically wiped mankind off the face of the Earth, driving them back into one giant underground supercity.

In other words, the Raptures had been able to take on every military force on the planet combined and win so completely that any future retaliations had been impossible.

Raptures like these could not have been responsible for the fall of mankind. That was something he could ask Rapunzel about later. The nun sounded like she was a veteran out here; and had likely seen Raptures in all manner of shapes and sizes. He had no reason to assume that they functioned like hollows, but it made him wonder if there was a hierarchy to their order as well, sort of like how hollows that grew in power enough became Gillians, then Adjuchas, and finally Vasto Lordes.

Scrubs like these had to be the equivalent of the regular hollows, the ones that had failed to become Menos and start the process towards evolving into a Vasto Lorde.

…And was it selfish to say that he actually kind of missed fighting hollows compared to Raptures? At least most of them responded when he taunted them. These things were more like… well, like the machines they seemed to be made out of. Even when it had become immediately clear that none of them stood a chance against Ichigo, not one of them had made any effort to retreat, instead continuing to mindlessly attack.

Oh well. This had been… fun wasn't the right word to use here, but it had been satisfying blowing some steam off. Though… something was bugging him.

He was still in his spirit form, and Nelliel, as an arrancar only had a spirit form. Yet both the Raptures and Rapunzel had zero issues seeing and interacting with them. What that meant exactly, Ichigo didn't know, but it probably didn't spell anything good for the spiritual state of the world. If anything, it gave credit to the theory he was hoping was not true; that the humans had died in such numbers when the Raptures first invaded that the boundaries between the worlds had simply come crashing down.

'…Enough. There's no point in lingering on questions that I can't answer. All I can do is keep moving forward. Even if they aren't the enemy that I'm used to fighting, they're an enemy, and I'll be damned if I let them get away with destroying the world!' And in the end, that was all he needed. With friends at his back and an enemy in front of him, he could take on the world, no matter what world that happened to be!

And hey, considering how much of an uphill battle his last two fights had been before getting booted to this strange, twisted world, getting to kick some unfiltered ass had been a good change of pace for once. He'd gone and created a new landmark too, the first new addition to the landscape these grasslands had seen in decades. The grassy field was now scorched and burnt, bare dirt showing through the now patch ground while bits and pieces of the Raptures littered the battlefield.

"Ichigo!"

Just as he turned his head, Nel landed next to him, Rapunzel held in her arms.

"You didn't need to come all the way over here to find me, Nel. I was just finishing up here anyway."

Nelliel set Rapunzel down, the nun falling to her knees with a surprisingly loud, ground-shaking thump as she rubbed her arms, a pensive frown on her face.

"Oh, I believe you. But Rapunzel was quite insistent that we find you right away. …She was in quite the panic when she returned to find you missing. Isn't that right, Rapunzel? …Rapunzel?" Nel and Ichigo looked down at the blonde woman, still in her kneeling position as she stared at Ichigo.

Rapunzel's mouth was hanging open, her jaw opening and closing as the nun tried and failed repeatedly to form words. Her eyes were comically wide, and if Ichigo didn't know better, he'd say that Rapunzel looked like she'd seen a ghost!

…Okay, maybe that was a little too on-the-nose, but seriously, Rapunzel had that sort of disbelieving, wide-eyed, slack-jawed look that people only got when they were seeing something so unbelievable before their eyes that it was turning their entire world upside down!

"I-Ichigo! You- What- I don't understand! W-what was that?!" Oh hey, she'd found her words again. Though given how fast-paced the words waterfalling out of Rapunzel's mouth were, it was kind of hard to separate them from gibberish.

At some point in her flight over here, Rapunzel's headdress- Ichigo couldn't remember what the garment was called- had nearly been knocked off. The garment now slid off her head, plopping on the ground and revealing the full mass of her massive braid of spun-gold hair.

He still didn't know what kind of parents named their kid Rapunzel, but she was definitely living up to the name.

"Uh… surprise? I'm a Nikke too."

"No, you aren't!"

"I am. You saw me fighting those raptures, didn't you?"

"I-I… that's… that's impossible…" Rapunzel was nearly hyperventilating as she clambered to her feet, and Ichigo almost flinched and stepped back out of instinct as the tall woman approached him, gripping both of his shoulders as she huffed and puffed, staring down into his eyes with an almost wild look in her eyes.

"You aren't a Nikke! You can't be a Nikke!"

"Do you need more proof that I'm not a regular human?" Seriously, why was Rapunzel having such a hard time believing him? She'd accepted that Nel was a Nikke without questioning it. What was he missing-

"You can't be a Nikke! Nikke are women! ONLY WOMEN!"

Oh.

Wait. What? WHAT?!

"Wait- what do you mean, Nikke are 'only women?!'

"I mean exactly that! There are NO male Nikke! There has NEVER been a male Nikke! From the very first generation of Nikke, only women have been able to undergo the process of becoming a Nikke!" Rapunzel was breathing hard now, almost shouting her words, and Ichigo could feel his own pulse racing.

Okay, the cat was out of the bag and judging by the look of wide-eyed shock on Nel's face that was no doubt mirrored by his own expression, it was high time the two of them shrugged off the shackles of ignorance.

"Okay, okay… Let's just… take a few steps back, alright? Rapunzel, treat me as if I've never been to the Ark or had any interactions with anyone from it. No, you know what? Treat me like I've been living under a rock for my entire life. I only know the surface world," He had to stop himself from saying 'human world, "And tell me- what is a Nikke?"

Rapunzel stared at him with those wide, azure eyes of hers for a moment longer, before nodding, letting go of him, and stepping back.

…Goddamn, the nun had a hell of a grip on her. He was pretty sure he was going to have bruises on his shoulders later.

"When the Raptures first invaded, mankind tried to fight back through conventional means. That is to say, through united army, naval, and air force combat. …In no uncertain terms, the Raptures attacked with such numbers that the armies of the time- who were comprised almost entirely of men- were decimated. I was never a part of the military prior to becoming a Nikke, so I can only give my observation as an observer, but to put it simply… So many men died in the early years of the Rapture invasion that humanity was at risk of going extinct. If the armies continued suffering losses on such a horrifying scale, there wouldn't be enough men left to maintain a stable population."

That was… 'absurd' didn't feel like an appropriate word to use. Tragic? That was closer, but still didn't feel quite right. Some mix of the two, then.

And it wasn't like this had been a war that mankind could just surrender and hope for some concessions from. Everything he'd seen so far had shown him that humanity of the past had been fighting under terrifyingly simple conditions.

'Win, or die.' The words hung heavily in Ichigo's mind, like the blade of an axe poised to fall on his neck.

Surrendering hadn't ever been an option, and so mankind had simply been forced to keep throwing bodies into the fray… until one day they reached the horrible conclusion that there were simply no more men left to send into combat.

If such a thing had happened on a global scale…

Rapunzel knew what he was thinking even without him needing to say it. There was a pained grimace on her face as she spoke.

"By the time the Ark finished construction and what was left of mankind was able to move in, finally finding safety from the Raptures… the population had been skewed by such an amount that there almost weren't enough men to ensure that the survivors would be able to repopulate. Granted, the Ark was sealed almost a hundred years ago, so I would assume that the ratio has at least somewhat stabilized, but… well, it's likely that there's still a higher ratio of women to men, but not by such an extreme amount."

"…Okay, that explains why only women were Nikke initially. All the guys died fighting, so humanity needed a new way of fighting back, hence the creation of Nikke program. Am I getting that much right?"

Rapunzel nodded, and Ichigo continued.

"Okay, but what I don't get is this; if it's been nearly a hundred years since then, how come there haven't been any male Nikke made yet?"

"…I can't give you a fully accurate answer because I don't know what advancements the Ark has made since then, but in the early days when the programs was first starting, men's brains couldn't handle the process of becoming Nikke. All volunteer patients died or experienced complete mental breakdowns during the process of becoming a Nikke. The first few generations of Nikke were only women for these reasons, and given that in all the years that have passed since the Ark was sealed off my comrades and I haven't encountered male Nikke, it's safe to say that all attempts to create male Nikke ended in failure and were shut down."

Okay, so there WAS an actual reason for why there weren't male Nikke. Which meant that he'd fucked up. He might as well have gone into a baseball stadium trying to claim that a tennis racket was a baseball bat. No wonder Rapunzel had been so quick to dismiss him.

'Guess I'd better stop beating around the bush. Time to bite the bullet.'

"So, what is a Nikke?"

"A human woman's brain in a robotic body. There's… much more to it than that, but that's the simplest definition I can give you."

That was… not what Ichigo had been expecting. Nor Nel too, by the uncomprehending look. Though in her case, Ichigo wasn't 100% sure if Nel even knew the basics of what a robot was, given how long it had been since she'd last spent any significant time in the human world.

As for him…

Well, it was just further proof that this world was at least a century ahead of his own in terms of technological advancements. Robots existed in his own world, but in a vastly limited and inferior state. The very concept of robots that were so lifelike he couldn't even tell the difference between them and an ordinary human didn't exist outside of science fiction.

And that wasn't even getting into the fact that Nikke weren't even fully robotic. As long as her brain remained, that meant that Nikke were closer to cyborgs rather than being fully robotic. …He was pretty certain that somebody like Hat-n-Clogs or Captain Kurotsuchi would've been fascinated to hear what process a woman had to go through to become a Nikke, but as for him he'd rather not hear about the specifics of how someone had their brain forcibly removed from their body. He could do without details like that.

"…You really have been on the surface your whole life, haven't you?" Of all things, he hadn't been expecting that Rapunzel's reaction to his absolute disbelief would be sad smile and a warm hug. Ichigo stiffened as the blonde woman's arms wrapped around his shoulders, drawing him in so close he could feel the warmth radiating from her clothed skin.

Rapunzel was, proportionately, only marginally less endowed than Nel was, something Ichigo was acutely aware of as the tall woman engulfed him in her embrace, pressing his head against her shoulder. Ichigo could feel his face heating up at the sensation of the soft, warm masses pressing against him, and forced his mind to pay attention to anything other than the immense breasts squashed against his chest. The pure white fabric of Rapunzel's cowl, the blonde locks brushing against his cheek, the massive golden gossamer braid so long it nearly touched the ground… The hug had been so unexpected that it had caught him completely off guard, leaving him momentarily pinned in place.

"If I may ask… what manner of powers allow you to fight Raptures so easily?" Rapunzel asked, releasing Ichigo from her pillowy hold.

"Er…" What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Just flat out admit that he was a soul reaper? Did soul reapers even still exist here? …He probably wasn't going to be able to just brush this off by just claiming he 'had superpowers' or something simple like that…

"And Nelliel as well… I thought that Ana- that Cinderella was the only Nikke capable of flight…"

Nel winced at the words, and Ichigo found himself floundering for an answer. Talking about his own powers was one thing; he'd already made it clear to Rapunzel that he was not a Nikke, but how did he go about convincing Rapunzel that Nel was a Nikke when an ability that the two of them took for granted was borderline unheard of amongst Rapunzel's kind?

"Oh, please don't worry! I didn't mean to come across as suspicious!" Rapunzel exclaimed, raising her hands to placate them. "…I have my doubts as to whether you are a Nikke as you claim to be, Nelliel, but… it is not my place to question who or what you are. Both of you are good people, regardless of whether you're human, Nikke, or something else, and I will not go back on my words. Both of you are in need of assistance, and I will not turn either of you away."

If Ichigo had needed any further proof that Rapunzel was a devout woman of the cloth who genuinely stood for everything she preached, he'd found it. Despite all the, uh, *illicit* behaviors she'd displayed, and her bizarrely form-fitting, borderline obscene outfit, it didn't change the fact that what remained underneath it all was someone lived by the motto of doing good for the sake of doing good.

"I… I cannot deny that the events of the day- these revelations, have come as a shock to me, Ichigo. But I will help you and Nelliel reach the Ark, just as I promised."

"…Thanks, Rapunzel. I don't know what we would've done if we hadn't met you."

His response was a positively radiant smile.

"And about what you asked earlier. My powers-"

"It's okay, Ichigo. You don't have to tell me anything. The same goes for you, Nelliel. I'll admit I'm very curious about how it is a man like you can fight on par- no, beyond the limits of the average Nikke, but I will not press the matter. Not if it would force one or both of you into revealing secrets that you'd not be comfortable sharing."

"…Thanks, Rapunzel."

"It's quite alright, Follower!"

"…Follower?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry! That just slipped right out. I suppose I was thinking of how you've been following along, letting me guide you these past few days… The name 'follower' sounds fitting, doesn't it?"

"I mean, if you want to give me a nickname, that's fine with me," And remembering the names that Yachiru tended to come up with, 'follower' was a lot better than he probably could've hoped for.

"Though I'd prefer it if you just called me by name; you're free to call me whatever you want. …Anyway, now that you've seen a bit of what I can do, are you ready to pick up the pace? You don't have to treat me like an ordinary, weak human anymore."

"Oh, that's a good point! My, we'll be able to cover quite a lot of ground if your speed earlier was any indication… The way you darted between those Raptures… that mighty sword of yours ablaze with radiant light… your sturdy muscles rippling with effort… Hah… hah…"

…And now Rapunzel was panting, her cheeks flushing.

"Rapunzel, focus!"

"Eek! I'm sorry!"

'This is going to be a thing, isn't it?'

He'd be lying if he said he was completely against the attention, though. Who could blame him for having thoughts like that? Rapunzel was an insanely attractive woman, and frankly he found her brand of perversion to be way more tolerable than Kon's or Chizuru's. And unlike Yoruichi, the towering nun actually had a sense of shame!

"I-I'm sorry! I just… oh my goodness, I'm so embarrassed! I just got so excited at watching a man fighting Raptures!"

"Yeah, about that… You said that only women became Nikke, so I'm guessing seeing a guy fight them is a pretty rare sight?"

Rapunzel's cheeks returned to their normal healthy pale, the excitement leaving her face almost as quickly as it had appeared, being replaced by a much more dispirited look.

"Ichigo, the very thought of a man fighting alongside Nikke is absolutely unheard of. Even amongst the Ark's active military, men occupy noncombat roles only. I-it has been a very long time since I last fought alongside a man, and as brave as he was, we all knew that his role was one of support and strategy," Rapunzel replied, a far-off look in her eyes.

The way modern humanity survived and fought, to put it bluntly, sounded pretty fucked up. The picture Rapunzel was painting made it sound like the women did all the fighting while the men just sat around being protected. Did that mean that the Ark was some kind of… matriarchal society dominated by women?

…That sounded like something out of a cheesy anime plot, the kind Keigo or Chizuru would love. A stereotypically unrealistic, over-the-top plotline in fiction, but uncomfortably unsettling for its double standards in real life.

'Guess I'll have to wait till Nel and I get to the Ark to see how bad things there are. All I know is that regardless of what I find, I'll never stop fighting… even if I do end up being the only guy willing to lift a finger to do anything. God, that's a weird mental image.'

The Soul Society had its share of skeletons in the closet, but if nothing else they were pretty inclusive with the roles that soul reapers took on. Multiple captains and vice captains were women, Komamura was a… wolfman? Werewolf? He still wasn't sure what Komamura's deal was, but the Soul Society clearly didn't care so long as the big fuzzy guy did his duties- and from what Ichigo had seen, Komamura had never not been a resolute force for justice.

…Whatever. He was probably overthinking it. A society like the Ark would have to be, collectively, the biggest morons in the world to even think of mistreating the women who were wholeheartedly responsible for keeping the Raptures from slaughtering them.

"So… you do realize this means that we can pick up the pace, right?"

"Oh, that's right!" Rapunzel's eyes lit up at the realization that she didn't have to limit herself to keeping pace with an ordinary human. "My, if the speed I saw you fighting those Raptures with was any indication… we might be able to reach the rendezvous point by nightfall! With any luck, my squadmates could be there waiting for us!"

It didn't take long for the trio to reach the rest stop and get back on track, even by traveling on foot. Ichigo mentally revised his notes on Rapunzel's physique now that he got a good look at the not-insubstantial divot she'd left in the ground when Nel had initially set her down. The nun was a big woman, but from the imprint in the ground the weight of her robotic body was incomparably heavier than what he'd originally estimated.

Nel was the fastest of them, but even as a substitute soul reaper, Ichigo didn't have any issues keeping up with her, though he was pretty sure she was deliberately holding back from zipping off into the distance using sonído. Rapunzel couldn't use a movement technique like shunpo or sonído, but by virtue of being a Nikke with physical parameters far beyond a normal human, she was able to keep pace with them just as easily. It didn't take long before the rest stop they'd gathered their bearings at was a speck fading into the distance!

The trio had left the worn-down highway, their pace slowing as the road narrowed. The grasslands continued to extend around them, but this part of the plains seemed more industrialized. Rusted tractors, crumbling barns, ruined farmhouses littered the plains around them in increasing number as they advanced through the new territory.

They stopped for a moment's rest in the shade of a half-collapsed barn; the remaining wood brown and dull, the once red-painted walls now faded and tarnished. Rapunzel vanished around the other side of the barn, leaving Ichigo and Nel on their own, at least for a couple of minutes.

It felt like a breath of fresh air, being able to have that talk with Rapunzel. Rapunzel was a kind woman, and having the grace to not demand answers from Ichigo and Nel was a show of support Ichigo hadn't realized he'd needed.

"Cyborg super soldiers, killer robots, and a post-apocalyptic world… sounds like something out of science fiction, doesn't it, Nel?"

Nel huffed, leaning against the side of the old barn.

"I'd have to take your word for it, I can't say that I'm all that familiar with the genre. When I was actively, *ahem* borrowing books from libraries, what qualified as science-fiction at the time amounted to little more than stylized, pulp nonsense. I always preferred to read more serious literature." Nelliel snorted, rolling her eyes.

"I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around it all… I mean, I wouldn't have known she was a robot- er, a cyborg, if she hadn't told me herself." Ichigo made sure to correct himself even though Rapunzel wasn't in earshot. It didn't take much to know that she probably wouldn't have appreciated being called a robot. The term would've been flat-out inaccurate as well, seeing as Nikke weren't entirely robotic beings. There were still a lot of questions he had regarding what Nikke were beyond 'cyborg warrior lady,' but those could wait until later. Ichigo reviewed his mental checklist.

Get to the Ark, where shelter was promised. Repay Rapunzel for going out of her way to help him and Nel. Get back home.

Three simple tasks, but in his current position, two of them were currently impossible to complete. At least once he made it to the Ark he'd be able to focus on things beyond day-to-day survival.

It didn't take long for Rapunzel to finish… whatever she was doing around the barn. Ichigo and Nel were on their own for little more than another minute before Rapunzel strolled back around the corner of the barn, smiling brightly.

"I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me! Snow White left a sign for us to follow! If we continue in the same direction, we'll reach the rendezvous point without issue!"

"A sign? Like… a code or something? Is that how you communicate with your teammates?"

"Oh, something like that. Conventional communications are difficult to maintain, so when we're separated, we usually use signs or markings left on landmarks or buildings to convey messages to one another. Snow White left one such message for me here. I'm just glad I ran into the two of you so close to meeting with friends. It's usually a month or two at least before we meet up."

"I'm guessing she said something like 'I'm nearby, see you soon?" It took Ichigo a few moments to process what Rapunzel had said at the end. He couldn't imagine being separated- in this case, deliberately separating himself from his friends for so long, least of all in such a hostile environment!

"More or less. Are you both ready to go? I'm looking forward to introducing you to companions. You especially, Ichigo! Oh, I'm picturing the looks on their faces now!"

Why was that funny- Oh, right. The whole 'guys don't fight,' thing. That was going to take some getting used to. Not like he was going to stop fighting just because in this screwed up world guys sat back while the women did the fighting. Hell, he had a suspicion that if there was a way home, it would somehow involve him fighting against the Raptures. If he had to be the only man on the planet capable of- and willing to do so, then he'd just have to be the one guy willing to take a stand.

"You as well, Nelliel! I imagine Scarlet will be quite excited to meet you!"

"Because I… wield a sword?" Nel spoke, remembering what Rapunzel had said to her earlier.

"Yes! It's quite unusual for most Nikke to use anything other than guns. I myself am one of the exceptions. And… we'll talk about your circumstances, Nelliel. My friends and I can see to it that you're rescued by forces from the Ark, but after that we'll have to go our separate ways. A lone Nikke and a human being rescued from the surface will undoubtedly draw some attention upon you both, so we'll have to prepare beforehand so that the two of you don't… face any unpleasant circumstances. Now, if both of you are ready, let's resume moving. We're making wonderful time, and like I said earlier, if we can stay at this pace we should reach the rendezvous point within a few hours!"

Onward once more then. The trio resumed their journey, the countryside blurring around them as they picked up the pace.

With the metaphorical finish line finally in sight, the remaining hours of the day shot by. The farm country grew steadily more urban, though not nearly to the degree of the ruined city he and Nel had met Rapunzel in, as they came upon another small town. Short, squat buildings, vines, bushes, and weeds growing everywhere and over everything, rusted cars littering the streets… It would've been just like the town Ichigo and Nel had emerged in the other day, except this town wasn't uninhabited.

The booming staccato crack of heavy-caliber gunfire followed a series of explosions filled the warm evening air! As one, the trio dashed forwards. Ichigo could see at least one figure, a white-clad woman holding a massive rifle leaping about nimbly on the one to two story rooftops ahead of them, firing at the Raptures in the distance.

Looked like he was going to be dropping in mid-fight on Rapunzel's friends. Time to make a first impression on the other two Nikke of the Pioneer Squad!

(((Hueco Mundo, AWOL Substitute)))

He was lost. Lost and bored.

Kenpachi Zaraki grumbled, plowing through another blank, white wall. He'd finally made it to Laz Noches, but the damn place felt like a maze. Who the hell designed buildings like this? Feh, not like it was much of a problem. He'd just keep smashing through walls till he found someone to fight.

At least he seemed to be on the right track; there was a pretty strong spiritual pressure dead ahead of him. Problem was, they weren't alone. Punching through the offending wall, he found-

"Captain Zaraki?"

"You… you're the captain of the Soul Society's Eleventh Division." Huh. The espada didn't look like much. Short, pale, and quiet… but the spiritual pressure he gave off was undeniable!

"Oh." Kenpachi's grin vanished at the sight of Yachiru Unohana, sword drawn and ready to do battle- with someone who wasn't him. And next to her was…

"You're Kurosaki's friend, ain't ya?" The girl flinched like she'd been struck at the mere mention of the redhead's name.

"Relax, girl. Kurosaki ain't dead. Just gotta find someone named Nnoitra and beat some answers outta him!"

"Nnoitra? What has that fool done now?" The pale man seemed to be voicing his thoughts aloud, not directing his words at any of the other three.

For a moment, there was only silence, Captain Unohana and Captain Zaraki's gaze not leaving the espada.

Finally, as the tension mounted to its breaking point…

"Enough. I will retreat."

"What?! You can't just chicken out from a fight like that!" Kenpachi growled as the espada vanished in a hum of static, appearing on the far side of the room.

"My duties are to keep Orihime Inoue in Laz Noches. However, Lord Aizen made it clear to me that if that duty was impossible to fulfill, I was to prioritize my own life and continue serving him. As powerful as I am, against two of the Soul Society's most powerful captains I do not believe my odds of victory are favorable. Doubly so when you are receiving aid from that girl's powers."

"So, you're just going to run?!"

"If that's what you call making a tactical retreat, then yes. Lord Aizen was clear-"

"…And what makes you think I won't just come after you once you start running?"

"I believe that you would prioritize an opponent who is willing to fight to his fullest than one who is not. If you are looking for Nnoitra…" Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed. "He'll give you the fight you seek."

And with that, the pale man was gone, another burst of static taking him out of the room, his spiritual presence rapidly fading into the distance.

"You weren't going to go after him, Unohana?"

If Captain Unohana was irritated over his lack of usage of her title, she didn't show it.

"No. I came here to ensure Orihime Inoue's safe return, and that Espada's retreat only makes ensuring her rescue is easier. Ichigo Kurosaki's friends are all engaged in battles of their own, and I would prefer to heal those in need rather than be caught up in fights that I could avoid. And more importantly, Ichigo Kurosaki must be found. If this man, Nnoitra, is responsible, then it would seem for the time being that our goals coincide, Captain Zaraki," Unohana sighed, sheathing her sword.

"Come along, Orihime. We should find the rest of your friends. I can only imagine the distress they're in, feeling your friend's spiritual pressure vanish completely without warning."

Orihime gave a shaky nod, following along behind the two captains.

'Ichigo… wherever you are… please be safe! Please don't get hurt- don't die because of me! I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to you!'

Ending notes... let's see:

Yeah, I technically put one of the other Goddesses in this chapter. Oh well. By the time I got around to the start of the scene that would introduce Snow White and Scarlet, I was already about 7000 words in AND past the 2 week window I was trying to hit.

Honestly, I had a great time writing the first... 3/4 of this chapter, but the last stretch was like pulling teeth. I rewrote and revised the ending scenes (including the Bleach snippet) multiple times over, and this... well, I'm not really happy with it, but I'm a lot happier with the ending than what I had before now.

Something that's been bugging me... is the plural of Nikke literally just 'Nikke?' Or is it 'Nikkes?

How much do Nikke way? I'm not sure, and there's never been one clear answer. General consensus is that they're upwards of 350lbs. Rapunzel's a big lady, she's quite a bit heavier than that.