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Chapter 404: Chapter 366

"I just got back after the Old Man gave Captain Kenpachi an ear full. Something about his Haori being pink? You wouldn\'t know anything about that, would you?" Shunsui looked at me.

"I admit to nothing." I kept a straight face to the best of my ability. Though even Izzy was barely holding back a giggle at my side. "We were about to get going, everything good on your end?"

"Haaah." He let out a long breath. "About as good as we can expect. I don\'t suppose you\'d want to hand over that Hogyoku thing?"

"....I don\'t think I can anymore." I really needed to investigate it once we left and I had a few minutes and a place to experiment in peace.

He shrugged, not bothering to question it. "We\'re preparing for war, so some things have been....slow going." He glanced at Izzy and I think we both caught his insinuation. It\'s fair to say they had more important matters to deal with than Izzy\'s demand, which didn\'t really have a time limit. "Although, we have started making inroads on.....cleaning up the Rukongai." He smiled, but it was strained.

Izzy just hummed without answering him, making Shunsui look rather awkward.

He coughed into his fist and carried on. "The job was entrusted to my Division, and Nanao here is gathering everything needed and building a proper plan."

His lieutenant peeked over his shoulder looking a bit shy. "Y-yes, I\'m writing up a proper plan L-lady Izanami." She squeaked as Izzy met her eyes.

"Child, come here." Izzy held her hand out, addressing the embarrassed woman.

"I – "

"Come." Izzy beckoned again, a gentle smile on her face. The Shinigami shuffled closer not knowing how to react. "Let me remove that curse on you."

"Curse?" I repeated.

Shunsui\'s eyes widened. "You can tell?"

"Do you forget who I am?" Izzy turned to face him, a single eyebrow raising. Shunsui shrunk back slightly at her gaze. "There are very few in existence that can claim to know curses more than I."

"For those of us that have no idea what\'s going on." I raised my hand.

"Erm..." Shunsui scratched his cheek. "Nanao\'s family...any man who marries into it dies after their child is born and the child is always a woman...."

"That\'s weird." I blinked.

"....you can fix that?" Nanao whispered, looking at Izzy in awe.

"Hmm, it shouldn\'t be too difficult." Izzy nodded, holding the woman\'s hand, but after a moment her brow furrowed in annoyance. "Not just your soul, it\'s woven into your bloodline." She clicked her tongue. "This will take a moment to unravel without causing any negative side effects."

"Need me to help?" I offered.

"The offer is appreciated, but unneeded. It isn\'t anything strenuous or difficult, just merely meticulous in approach. I could easily rip it from her, but the damage would be severe. I would rather not leave any lingering remnants and do a thorough job from the start."

"Alright, I\'m gonna go check on the kids to see if they\'re ready to go. Give me a holler if you need me." I raised a hand to wave goodbye as they seemed much more focused on the woman\'s issue.

I wasn\'t really needed there and that seemed more like a personal matter between them that I didn\'t want to interrupt.

I walked through the little building we were at, moving through a couple rooms and opened the door to the courtyard on the opposite end.

The kids were standing around, eyes immediately turning to me once I walked through.

"Hmm, where\'s the shorty?" I looked around.

"Rukia\'s back with her division." Ichigo crossed his arms. "Why, something wrong?" He asked with a frown.

"Nah, was just curious. She okay?"

His frown disappeared into something resembling a smile. "Yeah, she\'s good now." He nodded happily. "Thanks.....by the way. Despite....everything, you came through in the end."

"You\'re a good kid." I ruffled his hair, much to his chagrin. He huffed and swatted my hand away. "It\'s too bad I couldn\'t see your Bankai in action, was looking forward to it."

"Hmph, you can fight me if you want." He grinned a little cockily.

"Are you \'going to easy on me\'?" I asked humorously, mocking the words he originally said to Izzy. "And I forgot to mention before, but I met your little Hollow too. That was interesting."

He paled a little. ".....she\'s not mad, right?" He asked, focusing on that specific part of what I said.

"Mad? Hmm, who knows." I hummed.

"Is she holding a grudge?" His face dropped.

"Don\'t worry about it." I chuckled. "Izzy thought it was funny, she isn\'t going to curse you or anything."

"She...really is...y\'know?" He whispered.

"Yes, she is Izanami and everything that entails." I nodded.

"And you...?"

"A bastard of a Devil. My mom was human." I didn\'t really feel the need to hide it.

He opened his mouth and closed it again. ".....alright."

Well, he took it better than most had.

"Wait, what did you mean by meeting my Hollow?"

"When you were training, he came over to say hi."

Ichigo scowled for some reason. "You know how to get rid of it?"

".....get rid of your Hollow?" I asked, wanting some clarification.

"Yeah, just...get it out of me."

"....why?"

"Why? Because it\'s a hollow." He scoffed.

"....so?"

"It—" He stopped. "I shouldn\'t have it, right? Hollows are bad, they\'re.."

"Evil?" I raised an eyebrow. "Literal Devil over here."

He blinked and frowned deeper. "He\'s always talking about taking control."

"Has he?"

"Taken over me? Nah I beat him back every time he gets annoying. We\'ve fought tons of times in my inner world."

"Has he tried when you\'re weak? When you\'re vulnerable. Or maybe when you\'re sleeping and you don\'t expect it?"

"Well....no."

"Then stop being an idiot." I flicked his forehead. "If this Hollow of yours was trying to cause you problems, then you would be having problems. It sounds more like he\'s just being a pain in the ass in a productive way. Maybe....try to understand and talk to him instead of opting for annihilation? That might make it more receptive if you aren\'t trying to ignore it and kill it at the earliest opportunity."

I can\'t say I\'m an expert in that whole mess, but if he\'s part Hollow or some other edgy nonsense, then it\'s a literal aspect of himself, and him being dismissive about that part of himself can\'t be healthy.

He fell silent with that same scowl I\'ve come to associate with him, looking rather deep in thought so I decided to leave him to it.

"Chad, you doing good?" I lightly punched his shoulder.

He grunted with a nod. "Think my power can get stronger, found something in my other arm."

"Neat."

He smiled gently.

"Orihime? Everyone treating you well?" I asked the adorable girl.

"Uh huh." She smiled happily.

"Good, good." I walked towards the skulking Quincy standing a few feet away. "And you, Mr.Last of the Quincy? How are you doing?"

"My entire world has been turned upside down in a single day." He said dryly.

"And which specific part was that?"

"The fact that I am not the last of the Quincy as I had thought." He deadpanned. "And finding out that literal Gods exist, and apparently Devils too. I was an Atheist before coming here."

"That sounds rough."

He let out a tired sigh. "I\'m going to have a very long talk with my father when I get home." He rubbed his temple. "And maybe a priest too...." He added on quietly.

"You should do that too, Strawberry." I raised my voice so he could hear me even though he probably could before.

"Why the hell would I see a priest?" Ichigo scoffed. "And don\'t call me that you bastard."

"I meant talk to your dad, you dumbass. Shinigami powers don\'t just spring out of nothing!"

He flipped me off.

"Are we making fun of Strawberry? I\'m always down for that." Yoruichi appeared in the courtyard in her cat form.

"Screw you all." Ichigo huffed.

"Oh, stop being a baby." The woman chuckled, hopping onto my shoulder. "By the way, why was Shunsui\'s lieutenant crying and hugging your friend?"

"Something about a curse that she was undoing?" I offered in return.

"Curse....oh shit, you mean her clan thing?" Yoruichi\'s eyes widened.

"I don\'t know, I didn\'t really ask for details beyond the surface stuff. Seemed kind of personal."

"Yeah...wow. Some people are going to kick up a fuss about that." She said quietly. "Anyways, we heading back home? I\'m looking forward to telling Kisuke everything that happened. And that you have his Marble. You plan on giving it up?"

"As I told Shunsui, pretty sure I can\'t at this point."

"Hah, he\'s going to have a panic attack." She snickered. "Probably safer with you than whatever other plan he had."

"Yoruichi, why did Hat-n-clogs put something in Rukia?" Ichigo asked. "She told me that some traitor took something out of her and that he put it there in the first place."

plicated. Honestly, I don\'t know all his plans in detail, but from what I could guess....he probably knew that she was going to be executed and hoped that the Sōkyoku would destroy the Hogyoku as well."

"Sounds sketchy."

"Fucking hell he does." Strawberry agreed with me.

"I\'ll tell you what, you can kick his ass when we get home and demand answers yourself."

"Sounds good." Ichigo nodded.

Wow, she threw Kisuke under the bus quickly.

"Ara, is everyone ready to leave?" Shunsui walked into the courtyard followed by Izzy and his Lieutenant. The latter of whom was basically worshiping the ground that Izzy stepped on....even more than before.

"Looks like it." Yoruichi chirped. "I wanna get out of here quickly before little Bee comes and tries to hand over her Haori again."

"Ah...Sui-Feng trying to convince you to come back, huh?"

"Yup." Yoruichi nodded. "Not happening."

Shunsui sighed but didn\'t press. "Before I forget." He reached into his Kimono and took out a handful of paper slips, spreading them out for everyone to see. "Got one for all of you, they\'re passes into Soul Society." He smiled happily, nearly forcing them into the kid\'s hands and only politely handed one to Izzy who took it with a little amused smile. "....please don\'t invade again."

"....no promises."

His shoulders slumped. "At least bring more alcohol next time."

"That, I can promise." I patted his shoulder and he perked up. "It\'s been an interesting trip. I\'ll keep in touch."

"In that case, I really hope you\'re serious about the Alcohol."

"Alright, alright, I\'ll bring the good stuff next time." I clapped my hands turning to everyone else. "Everyone ready, nothing else they need to do? No other people they need to rescue?"

"Just get on with it, asshole." Ichigo scoffed.

I rolled my eyes, flicking my hand to create a Portal back to Urahara\'s underground sex dungeon.

Despite the comment Ichigo gave me another thankful nod as he went through without a second thought.

Hard to dislike that kid honestly. Fun to take the piss out of him, but Igenuinely didn\'t dislike him.

The others followed behind him wordlessly giving a slight nod or a quick word of goodbye.

Yoruichi hopped off my shoulder. "You coming with?"

"We\'re heading somewhere else."

"That\'s not cryptic at all." She snorted.

I chuckled, weighing some options in my head. After giving it a moment of thought, I took out a Kaleidophone and tossed it to her. She caught it with her mouth before setting it on the ground. "The hell?" She asked.

"If you need to contact me. Should be able to get a signal regardless of where either of us are."

She perked up with a grin. "Thanks, I\'ll play with this later."

Well, I considered us friends at this point, so I didn\'t mind her having it. She would probably keep it away from her friend too, so I wasn\'t too worried.

"Don\'t be a stranger." She waved her little paw and jumped right on through and I closed it behind her.

"Shunsui, thanks for everything." I held my hand out as he shook it.

"It\'s been.....not the worst experience of my life. I still remember the Old Man training me and Ukitake. But it\'s a close second."

"Seems like I need to try harder next time."

"Please don\'t." he said with a mix of genuinely pleading and a joking tone.

I patted his shoulder again, giving him a smile goodbye before. Izzy took the initiative and grabbed my hand with her own, looking very content with herself. I suppose she didn\'t really care to hide anything in front of those two and I surely didn\'t mind.

The iridescent portal opened up and we stepped through without a second thought, the linked space closing immediately as we stepped into her house in Yomi.

"Mother!?" A voice called out making both of us nearly jump in surprise.

"Susanoo?" Izzy\'s eyes widened.

Her son was sitting right in the middle of the room, his eyes locked onto both of us and trailed down to where our hands were together.

And he quickly put two and two together because sparks began flickering off his body.

[***]

Aizen POV

"Gin." I turned around to see my co-conspirator enter the room.

"Hey there, boss man." He waved casually. "Just wanted to come and make sure you didn\'t need a hand –" He paused, looking at my still missing hand.

"I have no pressing matters." I felt a violent twitch above my eye. "However, I would like to hear your thoughts."

"Whatcha need?"

"The state of the Espada. Are there any concerns?"

"You mean are they thinkin of rebelling cause they saw you get your hand cut off and then run away?" He asked.

"Yes." I grit my teeth.

"Eh, I\'d call it 50/50." He shrugged as if it wasn\'t important. "I mean, I think they understand. It\'s not like they didn\'t also run away from the self-proclaimed Goddess, yeah?" He walked forward, looking at the Hogyoku within its sealed container that I left it in while we were in Soul Society. "They probably not kicking too much a fuss cause Nnoitra died. Old Man Yamamoto did a number on him and that calmed them down."

Self Proclaimed Goddess.

Utterly Ridiculous.

There was only one God in the world and that was the Soul King. The entire point, all of my plans were to fix the mistakes of that entity.

It was foolish, nonsense! How could there be other Gods in this world!?

Did that mean that everything was pointless? If there are more deities, then what\'s the point in trying to fix the mistakes of a singular God!?

Yet.....yet, I can\'t find it to disbelieve the claim.

I felt it, in the deepest parts of my Soul. I acknowledged her declaration without any true doubt.

Everything went wrong.

All of my carefully laid plans were entirely pointless. The mere existence of that thing destroyed all of my plans the moment she came in contact with them. And the other person..

The phantom pain in my missing hand still appeared every now and then.

And he stole my Hogyoku!

I finally had victory literally in my grasp and he stole it!

"Why\'d you need that second one anyways? Isn\'t one enough?"

"It is incomplete." I seethed. "I needed to feed it Kisuke Urahara\'s own creation to fully bring out its potential. As it stands....It won\'t achieve the same power required." But even so....I may have no choice. They both had the same ability to break down boundaries, but when completed, it would become so much more. To grant desires at its core.

I placed my hand atop the container, bringing the Hogyoku out. Grabbing it with my hand, I looked at it for a moment before pushing it into my chest, beginning the process of merging with it.

I felt my hand squirm, my skin distorted and burst outwards, my flesh knitting and forming together to regenerate my lost limb. I clenched my new hand a few times to make sure it was working correctly. "It seems we must improvise."

The incomplete Hogyoku was insufficient to truly ascend to the stage I desired, but that didn\'t mean it couldn\'t allow me to take a step or two forward and maybe sideways. I would carry on my plans – admittedly reworked but the destination was the same. I merely needed to reacquire my stolen prize and fuse it after the fact.

Those other failed experiments, they could call upon the powers of a Hollow to overlay with their Shinigami powers, so why couldn\'t I do the same?

It didn\'t matter which path I took, in the end, I would sit above all of them anyways.

I felt the Hogyoku respond to my will, my essence began to shift.

I gathered my Reiatsu into my palm and swiped it downward over my face, the Hogyoku thrummed, answering my call.

A bone-white mask covered me as I looked into my reflection on a nearby mirror. I wasn\'t like those misbegotten fools that had to fight tooth and nail to subdue their \'inner hollow\' to acquire this power. With the Hogyoku, even incomplete, the power was entirely my own.

I could feel the surge of strength, the new realm I reached and the power I now held at my fingertips.

Content with it for now, I dismissed my Hollow Mask and turned towards Gin with a smile. "Nnoitra is dead, we should fill in the Espada slot. Go find Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck; she should still be alive after what happened to her. Have Granz heal her and have her assume Nnoitra\'s position."

My Confidence was back. I felt strong enough to take on even the Captain Commander in my newfound state. Given some more time, I believe I would emerge the victor.

"Right-o, Boss man." Gin mock saluted. "And what do you plan on doin about the Goddess?"

And I felt it all drain away once more.

".....I\'m still working on that."

[***]

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