ccc Royal Palace ccc

Who knew that the whiny little brat of so many years could become flocked by women of such extreme diversities… becoming what she had once dreamed for herself without having seen him be vulnerable, strong, in victory and defeat.

Tatsuki chewed on her thumb's nail as she observed the Soul King's brides, knotting together after the feast to really mingle and get to know one another. The large woman who Tatsuki had thought an outlier had suddenly become trim and perhaps the most curvaceous of all the women gathered, which included the boisterous blond who troubled Ichigo's dad. It was a reoccurring feature that these woman were all well-endowed. Well, she amended when she spotted the twin-tailed brat who hovered closest to Orihime out of all, most of them were. The tall silver-haired woman certainly seemed conservative if not entirely self-conscious of her figure, but Tatsuki was familiar enough on how to suppress the size of one's chest in certain robes. Considering her own proud C-cups, Tatsuki could probably estimate Isane's were even larger than hers!

And now the Quincy bride… whatever a Quincy was. Ishida proclaimed to be one himself, and Tatsuki just figured that meant he was someone who was stuffy and stuck-up. Respectful to her, he had that sort of haughty air about him. But the bride was very Orihime-esque: in mind and body. Much taller though, her hips and chest stood out in her uniform. Another buxom bride for Ichigo to fondle, enjoy, and have his way with…

And Tatsuki didn't feel comfortable in her own skin at the thought. Honestly, Ichigo never seemed the type to plot a harem, unlike that obnoxious teddy who had pecked her cheek – when foggy and fake memories were lifted by her growing spiritual powers. At the time, she had gotten so flustered by the idea of her childhood friend showing such affections towards her. Perhaps the feeling worse than her initial outrage was the feeling when she found out it was fake.

Her bottom lip pulled up, her face screwing into a stern stare, and she slumped into her lonely chair as the brides congregated. "When's that idiot getting back?" she grumbled to no one.

ccc Shiba Estate ccc

The front stairs were dry. It took some time since Halibel's Ressureccíon flooded and already-flooded field. And the help of either woman was like no help at all! Aside from Kukaku just standing there and enjoying a smoke while the two mopped up, it didn't help Ichigo's focus that Halibel-san's bony skirt was just a step above him, her bending over the mess and incidentally pushing her backside toward his face, which he did his best not to notice.

"You should thank me for the view, Ichigo," jibed Kukaku flatly, noticing her cousin's discomfort.

"Sh-Shut up," he unwisely said with a humiliated blush and a ridge in his pants. Lucky for him that this embarrassment had put Kukaku in a tolerable humor.

However, when the last puddles were left lingering at the base of the steps, before Ichigo could wring out his rags and get back on his hands and knees, Halibel stopped him. "I'll handle the rest of it." And with a sweep of her hand and a command of will, the puddle surged from the floor and fled outside as swiftly as a gust of wind. And all was neat and tidy.

Ichigo stood dumbly with his drippy rag. "… You could have done that this whole time?" he asked.

Halibel nodded. "Tiburón gives me control over the moisture around me. Such small puddles are no problem."

"Then why didn't you do it earlier?!" exclaimed a despondent Ichigo, bringing his hands up at his sides.

"You didn't ask."

About faced, Ichigo's face sunk in gloom as he punched the wall, cursing how the people around him delighted in his frustrations. Nonchalantly, Kukaku warned him that destroying her walls would make her mad.

"You seem frustrated," Halibel acknowledged his posture. "Forgive me. I had thought you wanted to share the hardship with me."

Well, it was rare for him to get that follow-up and even more unusual for someone to take his feelings into account. Halibel couldn't be entirely blamed – even if he wished she gave him the option of a quick-clean. He decided to drop it, bend backward to loosen his aching back, and told her to never mind, his smile quick and honest. However, Halibel was adamant about making amends. Kings should not bow as much as he had done to sponge up her mess. "If it pleases you," she suggested when they were heading back to the mess hall, "I could give you a massage later."

Ichigo tensed up, flushed at the idea of lying down at the mercy of a woman as buxom and as beautiful as her. "N-No," he refused, obvious in his shyness. "You don't have to trouble…"

"It is no trouble at all for a Queen to pamper her King," Halibel cut him off matter-of-factly. Many have been the times when her three fraccíon insisted on setting up massages, baths, banquets, and all sorts of luxuries for her when she did not ask; it was a nice change to finally be the one to give offering.

"Me too!" was Nelliel's exuberant response when Ichigo and Halibel had returned, Halibel announcing that she had scheduled a massage for Ichigo. Glomping tight onto him, not giving him a second to consider the meal that had all but turned cold – but was staunchly defended against Mera's hungry eye – Nel hugged his face into her chest, suffocating him with those big pillows of supple flesh. "I would love to make Ichigo feel good all over!" Jubilantly, she swung left and right in frolic, her jugs jumbling around the head clutched to them.

"Mm, it's not bad," mused Halibel, taking a bit of her portion of food despite its temperature.

After Nel dropped him – on Halibel's suggestion that he was struggling to breathe – Ichigo was dizzy and hadn't much of an appetite. No offense to Kukaku – so he certainly wouldn't say it out loud – he was missing the abundance of Kirio-san's cooking. Fewer morsels filled him up in the Royal Palace; eating Kukaku's bland… ahem… perfectly-acceptable and greatly-appreciated! dinner was more of a pain than a satisfaction. Every swallow made him pine for more, yet was faced with far less than he knew he needed.

Mera, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy herself, grabbing the bowl that Bambietta had not touched – despite demanding it of Ichigo – and drank the broth deep and loud, finishing it with vigor he had only seen in Orihime, but with far less grace when she exhaled, held the emptied bowl up in a hale to the chef, and slammed it down, her tray of stacked, empty plates and bowls rattling. She then sat silently for a moment, as if in reflection, hunching with her thin legs unceremoniously folded inward instead of inward.

Then she turned sharply on Ichigo, who was not quite watching her, but was certainly noticing her amongst his two other, buxom, Arrancar wives. That look made him stop halfway to his mouth with the final grains of rice clutched in his chopsticks. He straightened. "What is it?" he had to ask of her stare.

She crouched more, hardening her stare with a stiff, bottom lip. And then she said, "I'm full. So let's get going."

"So you come to eat me out of house and home just to leave?" quipped Kukaku from the entryway, still idling with her pipe. Her crystal eyes went to Ichigo next. "You are still such a hassle. But it can't be helped," she said before Ichigo could insist on an apology. She sucked on the pipe softly, and exhaled. "The Shiba clan has always been dutiful to the Soul King, even before our fall."

Ichigo wished to still extend his gratitude for her finding him and Bambietta, but was interrupted by a crass groan and a clatter down the stairs. "Nee-chan! We couldn't find him!"

"Ugh, like anyone's gonna find him in that forest." Heavy wet footsteps down the stairs, tracking mud; an older voice observed that he'd clean this offense to the household. "Huh? Is it food?!"

Kukaku turned, looking exasperated. "Looks like you guys showed up in time to say goodbye. I already found him. You four are useless."

"What?! He's here?!" Louder, heavier footsteps! Ganju appeared skidding in the doorway catching the frame and looking in with an excited smile. "It's true! Ichigo, you're here!"

"I just said he was," Kukaku drawled.

Ichigo was actually happy to see the oaf! He got up halfway to greet him. "Ganju! I haven't seen you since…!" Since stone golems impeded his path to Yhwach, long before Ichigo was married eight times over – by his count, thus far. He guessed he should break the news soon, but…

Ganju's smile had turned to blind rage as he lunged and tackled the Soul King, wrestling him and causing an uproar; thank goodness for Halibel's reaction time, clutching the nearby trays and lifting them out of the way as the two men tussled.

"Dammit, Ginjo! What the hell?!"

"You bastard, Ichigo! You go off, leave me behind, to get married to Orihime-chan and a bunch of other beauties!"

"Idiot! You told us to leave you behind! Let go!"

"Ow-Ow-Ow! Let go! You'll break it! When did you get so strong?!" Ganju pounded the floor with his hand, the other being twisted behind his back by an irate Ichigo.

Ginjo appeared next, walking in with his Cross of Scaffold carefully and expertly leaning to his shoulder. The antics of Ichigo and the oaf bored him; he reported briefly to Kukaku that there were zombies or something out in those woods. "Hope you saved some food for us," he said, though knew what the response would be.

"So we arrived in time to see him off?" Giriko came in, looking at his watch. No expression on his solemn face, yet he somehow seemed pleased. "Punctual as always. I've nothing to say to Ichigo-san."

"Really, Kutsuzawa…" The last of the quartet meandered in with a quaint smile and pompous stature. Tsukishima pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. "When you talk like that…"

Ichigo perked up, feeling something well up in him.

"… it sounds like your bitter towards Kurosaki Ichi—"

Ichigo's speed couldn't be perceived by the naked or un-naked eye, the wind pressure smashing Ganju into the ground, extinguishing Kukaku's smoldering tobacco, toppling Giriko over, and almost liquifying Tsukishima had Ichigo not reigned in his power at the last second to make it a comprehensible punch. He intentionally slid off his cheek, but the resonating power threw the gaunt, tall bookworm spiraling into the wall behind him.

Kukaku, losing her composure, shouted out to him, for if a Soul King suddenly went mad, there was little to nothing anyone could do to stop him. But that Tsukishima was not only conscious but alive, moaning as he sat up and held his bruised jaw meant that there was still sense in Ichigo's head, even if his eyes were wide and expression blank.

"What the hell was that, Kurosaki?!" roared Ginjo, pivoting on the Soul King with his sword ready. With no answer, he lunged only to be intercepted by the even-more massive Tiburón. Despite his raw strength, Ginjo's attack was halted and fended off. He jumped back and held against the Espada. He scowled ferociously. "Get outta my way or I'll go through you!"

Halibel was undaunted, tightening her stance and managing her weapon effortlessly. "None will point a blade at Kurosaki Ichigo in my presence," she warned dangerously, backed by Nel, poised with her hand on the pommel of her retrieved blade. Whatever reason Ichigo had to attack the unassuming target, they would not let others attack back.

And Ginjo was smart enough to know, even against one of them, he was outmatched. Still, he watched worriedly as Ichigo prowled over Tsukishima. "Dammit!"

Ichigo's mind was reeling as it had in the forest, picking of fragments of the past and scattered memories. And they were tied to… love, affection, an affair, rejection, tears, bitterness, lingering, pain.

He saw her in a fit of pleasure, but not with him. He saw her laughing, smiling, hugging, kissing… Tsukishima. And he could also feel this disconnect from Tsukishima, the way those smiles, hugs, and kisses did not bring him any sense of joy after a while. Maybe he tried to feel for her, but could not. He dismissed her, and though, in that haughty way, she guarded herself with a sneering laugh and a forced smile, Ichigo experienced the pain of her heartache, and when she was alone, walking away from Tsukishima, she plummeted in her despair, bracing against the wall, her face scrunching up in a way that hurt as she began to sob.

It was not Tsukishima's intention, but he had hurt her…

Ichigo raised his fist again, a pulse of his energy radiating from him threateningly.

Tsukishima wasn't a man to cower from his own demise, and gave a bloody grin behind his hand. "I had thought I had made us even, Kurosaki Ichigo," he weakly jested.

There was a flicker of humanity in Ichigo's wild eyes before his scowling mouth snarled savagely. Whatever impulse was in him, there wasn't anything that humanity could do to stop it. Another pulse of his power made the entirety of the establishment shake, putting even Halibel and Ginjo off-balance. Down the hall, Bambi staggered out of the room she had locked herself in, grasping the walls for support, swearing up a storm as she tried to figure this phenomenon out. Even Kukaku felt safer on her knees than standing, groaning as the reiatsu's density increased.

A spoken whisper in the chaos. "Idiot…"

Unable to hold himself back anymore, Ichigo roared and threw his fist. And only a mouth against his brought everything to a halt. A kiss, and spindly arms wrapping around his head, fingers slipping into his hair. Not even a half of a second spared Tsukishima's life; the fist hovered at the tip of his nose. He'd have to give thanks to Mera for her quick, unorthodox thinking.

She kissed Ichigo, held him to her lips. Closed mouth, but her lips were full and soft, despite her calloused demeanor. A soft moan hitched against him, and she drifted back, not yet hooking her hands from around his scalp.

He was staring blankly at her, but the humanity was back. Stunned silence instead of seething rage.

Finally, his eyes blinked and he staggered back; two steps before Nel rushed to catch him. "Ichigo," she whined, putting his arm over her shoulder, holding him at front and back. "Are you okay?"

"You should be asking that of everyone else," complained Kukaku indignantly, coming up to her own feet. She looked over to her brother; dazed from receiving the tailwind of Ichigo's assault, but he'd recover soon enough to repair the damage his body did to the floorboards. She then looked behind her into the hallway. It seemed Tsukishima could experience fear; that cool aura of his had finally deflated, and he took heavy gulps of air as he reflected on how closely he had come to further death. And lastly, she observed her pipe; cracked down the middle from the earlier display of pressure. "Dammit…"

Ichigo looked around at everyone, seeing eyes cast at him with fear. "What happened?" was all he could ask.

"That's what I want to know!" raged Ginjo, now that Halibel's great sword dropped. "You're as reckless as ever, Kurosaki! What are you doing attacking like that?!"

"I-I don't know!" Ichigo responded in a panic, holding up his hands disarmingly. "I just-I just…!" He didn't have words to explain the feeling.

"It's the Soul King's will," explained Mera. She poked at Ichigo's chest when he turned to her. "You've been Soul King for a short amount of time, and you've only been coddled since waking up. But you have a new intuition that makes you hyper intuitive to a person's history, but your human brain is trained to react towards hostility or negativity." She pivoted, putting a hand on her waist, looking down at Tsukishima. "You probably felt something instinctively with this guy's past that resonated with you, and you responded without being able to help it."

Again, Ginjo shouted out at Ichigo, reminding him that Tsukishima had already been killed and fixed Tensa Zangetsu. "The score's even, so get over it!"

However, Ichigo felt that that assessment was wrong. He had gotten over Tsukishima's attack on his friends; hadn't forgiven him, but he wasn't out for revenge. The glimpses were fragmented, like watching a movie through frequent fits of static. But the name that came to mind as he recalled it: Riruka. It clicked in his brain, and suddenly he was overcome with guilt. It was reckless jealousy that he'd responded to! And he'd always thought that he wasn't a jealous sort of guy!

And while that explained his rampage, it did not explain its halt. His face heated. "Then what was the reason you… Gulp!... ki-kissed…?!"

"Kissed you?" Mera finished for him. "Obviously, love and affection are what keep a person's heart and temperament calm. Did you think Osho-san just agreed to all these wives for you because you deserve a harem? That's just a typical male fantasy. If it was anything like that, you could just visit the Nimaiya's Pheonix Palace, you pervert."

"What?" Ichigo blabbed dumbly.

But it was exasperating for Mera to explain. Ichibe could do it better, and she was already feeling taxed. Her full belly wasn't going to last forever. "If you have any questions, just ask the Monk when we get back." She stepped forward and grabbed Ichigo's gi. "So let's go back now." She glanced back at Kukaku and gave a grateful bow. "Thank you, Kukaku-san, for providing for us during our stay. The Royal Palace will send compensation on my next trip." Giriko next; she procured a paper from within her robes, which flustered Ichigo that she kept it within her cleavage. "A new order from the princess Queen."

Giriko accepted it while Ichigo tried to figure out what was going on. Who was the princess Queen?

"Ah," sighed Giriko. "She certainly has gotten a taste for strawberries as of late." His eye went to Ichigo. "I'll pick a tea of my own discretion for her."

Ignoring the flummoxed Ichigo, Mera dismissed Giriko's statement with a "Whatever. As long as she doesn't bother me about it." Now Halibel, as Nel was still under Ichigo's arm even after he had regained senses. "Just hold on to Ichigo, and we can go back up to the Palace." And then… the Quincy. Mera scowled at her, and Bambi scowled right back, but the Zanpakuto extended the offer, "It's time to go. Just try not to blow anything up to put us in this position again."

"What's that?! Whoever said I was going with you?" fumed The Explode. She pointed at Ichigo. "He's the one who jumped after me! And he just happened to be going to same direction as me when we wound up here!" She crossed her arms and turned her back to them. She gave a poignant pause, and then said, "Why should I go with you now?"

Mera groaned. So transparent, just like that entitled princess waiting at the Palace. Ichigo just needed to ask her to come, and she'd change her tune while acting like a simple request was him begging.

"You should stay here, Bambietta-san."

"… Huh?" Bambi turned to him at her waist, a look of shock on her face.

"That is"—Ichigo looked to Kukaku—"if that's alright with you, Kukaku-san."

"Do I actually have a choice?" replied the buxom Shiba, now tossing her useless pipe aside. "Just remember that you owe me for breaking that."

Ichigo smiled warmly and gave a nod. "Right." Back to Bambi, he said, "You should stay here for a while. There's no one to fight up there, and there's no one to fight down here either. But you'd be able to do what you want and go where you want. I don't want that choice taken from you."

Bambi tensed up, her mouth spreading slowly as her cheeks started to turn pink. She blurted, "W-Well, yeah! But…"

"Don't worry. I'll tell Osho-san and the others not to come looking for you. Kukaku-san will look after you."

"I don't need looking after!"

But it was too late. A puff of smoke, and the Soul King, his Zanpakuto wife, and his two Arrancar wives were gone; up to the Royal Palace, beyond her reach… She was stupefied by her lost chance.

"What a hassle," groaned Kukaku, and then snapped her fingers. "Alright! It's cleanup time! Get to work, Ganju! And the rest of you! I want this place spotless by morning!"

"Tch! Typical slave driver," Ginjo murmured while Giriko muttered plans to get in touch with his contacts in the Living World. The Cross of Scaffold returned to its shape as a pendant on his necklace, and Ginjo looked to Tsukishima with a wry grin. His friend was hurt, but would be fine. He could handle some mockery. "Heh! I noticed Kurosaki left without even an apology. Guess he meant it, Tsukishima."

Tsukishima laughed softly himself and wiped the blood from his lip. "Certainly a complex antagonist." He blinked when two legs appeared before him. He stared up, and Bambi stared down at him, assessing his face.

"You," she said definitively, pointing at him. "Get cleaned up, and meet me in my room."

ccc

This is actually Ch. 11, though there're only 10 chapters. I don't know how readers would feel if I included the omitted Ichigo/Riruka chapter. Anyway, two more chapters (hopefully) and the failed FFnet experiment is over!