Chapter 396: Chapter 358
Ichimaru Gin POV
"Report!" Old Man Yamamoto slammed his cane on the ground, calling everyone to attention. "How did a group of Quincy appear within these walls without us knowing!?"
Oh, he was furious.
Felt like I was gonna start sweating, and not because of the pressure.
Quincy, huh?
Aizen told me about the couple holding up in that human town we were watchin, but I heard nothin about a whole group of them like this.
I'd have thought he was keepin stuff from me again, but then I saw how beat up he looked when he finally reappeared.
That was not the look of man who had planned this.
"Captain Kurotsuchi!" He roared.
I had to hold a hand up to my eyes to cover myself from the glow he was giving off. His entire body was lighting up the room, almost made it seem like day time in here. He always did dress weirdly, but this is a little much even fer him.
"Due to the reports I received I haven't been able to look into it just yet. I have just recently gotten my hands on the specimen but I had other concerns prior to this." He replied, making the Captain Commander's temper start to flare even higher. "I have been prioritizing securing my lab for proper testing if the report from Captain Sui-Feng and Captain Kyōraku is to be believed. And I did not wish to take any undue risks of the specimen escaping or being taken."
The Old Man gritted his teeth and the temperature lowered. "Acceptable." He got out with a grunt. "Three times. Three Times!" He slammed his cane down. "In just this month, we have been invaded three times. I demand an explanation, or I will find new Captains!" His heat radiated outwards again. "Never have we suffered such disgrace in the entire existence of the Gotei 13! Who will give me an explanation!?"
"For the Quincy or the....others?" Captain Kyōraku raised his hand.
Old Man Yamamoto practically shot fire out of his eyes as he glared at the captain. "Since you have volunteered, Captain Kyōraku, and that title very well may be changed by tomorrow. I will hear your report."
If I wasn't worried the Old Man would burn off my eyebrows, I'd be laughing at him.
Captain Kyōraku cleared his throat. "I don't really know much myself. I saw the buildings start appearing and the people...." He paused for a moment. "I had Nanao make her report after hearing what happened from Aizen's Lieutenant, and I went to engage the powerful Reiatsu signatures that popped up."
The Captain Commander nodded, happy apparently, that Captain Kyōraku was actually doing his duty and not being lazy, if I had to guess. "Continue."
"I ran into several Quincy along the way. They weren't particularly powerful and they seemed just as confused as our own people were about everything. But as I headed towards the more powerful sources, that's when I came upon Aizen's body." Shunsui tilted his hat. "I paid my initial respects as I could but I was surrounded nearly immediately by stronger Quincy. Each of them were around our levels of strength."
"Well done." The Captain Commander, despite looking furious, gave a small bit of praise. "Continue."
"Well..." He scratched his cheek. "Things weren't looking really good, considered using my Bankai until I noticed Sui-Feng came to back me up."
"Reporting." She then spoke up, stepping forward. "I noticed Captain Kyōraku about to engage four enemies of significant Reiatsu, so I waited stealthily at the side for an opportunity. The first one to attack him, I engaged and threw him off balance as my presence was not noticed until that point. However, we were unfortunately unable to deal a decisive blow. Now that I have had time to reconsider the order of events, I believe that these Quincy have some way to reduce damage they take."
"Blut." The Old Man almost growled. "They can harden the blood vessels in their veins with Reishi, strengthening parts of their body."
Huh, that's an interestin technique. Wondered if it could be copied.
Prolly not, since Quincy can do that whole thing with stealing Reishi from the surroundings.
"Well, they introduced themselves in a strange way. They all had a 'letter' for some reason that corresponded to their power." Shunsui continued on. "One of them could do some nasty things with lightning. A second could make fires that reminded me...of well..." He paused, looking at the Captain Commander who gave him a gruff nod. "The third, .....he introduced himself with 'F' for Fear, if that makes sense. And I admit that it made me feel uneasy just being near him."
"You were scared, eh?" Kenpachi chuckled.
Didn't even expect him to be here, but every Captain was in attendance, minus Aizen, for obvious reasons.
"I can corroborate Captain Kyōraku's report." Sui-Feng spoke in his defense with an annoyed glare shot his way. "There seemed to be a primal feeling of fear associated with the man. Out of everyone there, that one was the one I wanted to fight the least."
"Now I am getting excited" Mayuri tapped his fingers with a wide grin.
"The last one was the opponent I fought. He introduced himself with 'I' and he could make himself as hard as Iron. I couldn't pierce him with my Zanpakutō in its sealed state, and my hits were ineffective. However, it appeared as though my Release was able to overcome the disadvantage."
"It was gonna be a tough fight, don't know if we would have made it before reinforcements came to be honest." Shunsui stated.
"Were they really that powerful?" Captain Hitsugaya asked. "Surely you could have handled one or two with your Bankai?"
"Maybe." Was all he said. "I didn't like my chances though."
"Do not underestimate the Quincy." Old Man Yamamoto said kind of darkly. "A thousand years ago, we fought a bloody war. Not many of you were around, but those who were should remember how many bodies were piled up even when we had our Bankai. The most difficult fight of my life was against their King."
"Sounds like a strong bastard. Is he still around? Can I have a go at him?" Kenpachi asked excitedly.
"Captain Kenpachi." Old Man Yamamoto growled, making the idiot slightly cower. "I will be unsealing the reports and information regarding the Quincy after this meeting. I expect every single Captain and Lieutenant to memorize their strategies and powers."
Everyone nodded in unison.
When the old man said something so serious, everyone damn well listened.
"How were you able to defeat these Quincy, Captain Kyōraku? You described them as powerful enemies, but you do not appear to have suffered any grievous wounds. Both you and Captain Sui-Feng." Captain Byakuya asked.
"Ara, didn't you read my report, Kuchiki-kun?" Shunsui asked with a little chuckle.
"I apologize." He said with a little twitch of his eye at his nickname. "I immediately came to this meeting without having time to read the required reports. I was guarding the Prisoner and then arrived back to my Division to find it defaced."
"Defaced?" He blinked.
"Someone had painted nonsensical images all throughout my Division Barracks." He seethed. "And considering that I repelled Ryoka matching the descriptions provided previously from rescuing the Prisoner, I believe I am able to guess the culprit."
"Oi, was that Kurosaki Ichigo with them? He owes me a fight." Kenpachi asked.
"The Ryoka with orange hair and owner of that name made an attempt to free Rukia Kuchiki from her cell and was defeated by me." Captain Kuchiki stated. "I was unfortunately unable to apprehend them per orders."
"Oh? Doesn't sound like you, Kuchiki-kun." Captain Shunsui chuckled.
"I did not foresee the Traitor Shihōin Yoruichi interfering and bringing them to safety." He responded.
"What?" Captain Sui-Feng raised her voice. "She's here!?"
"And why were you guarding my Division member, Captain Kuchiki?" Captain Ukitake asked, a little bit of bite to him. "That isn't your duty."
"My Lieutenant was defeated by the Ryoka. I had every right to seek them out." He replied evenly.
"Ara, Lieutenant Abarai? He's pretty strong, almost at Captain level if you gave him a few more years. You're saying that he was beaten by these Ryoka?" Shunsui hummed.
"That is correct." He closed his eyes. "And I request higher authority to deal with these Ryoka – "
"Denied." The Captain Commander cut him off. "The Orders regarding these other Ryoka will proceed. Capture only for the human children." He grunted.
"....Does this order include the Traitor and the other Ryoka that were not present." Captain Kuchiki asked.
"You may deal with those ones at your discretion." The Old Man closed his eyes.
Something told me he took a little pleasure in giving that bit of information out. I think there's something goin on with how the Old Man is intentionally treating them with the kiddy gloves after the whole Quincy attack.
"I have my men searching for the Ryoka, but they don't seem to be a priority at the moment. I'm more concerned with the Quincy who killed their way through a portion of the Seireitei." Captain Hitsugaya spoke up. "What happened with the Quincy, Captain Kyōraku?"
"It was the Ryoka." Captain Kyōraku admitted. "His true name being Wilhelm as you should know by now."
Haha, he went around calling himself Kurosaki Ichigo, making Aizen confused as hell.
"And the woman that was with him." Captain Sui-Feng added.
"Right, her...." Captain Kyōraku winced a little. "So, he came in, took one of the Quincy. I saw a little of their fight, he apparently uses Lightning too, easily dealing with the Quincy that used lighting."
"Did he by chance use that spear of his?" I asked.
"I didn't see any spear, sorry." He shrugged.
Huh.
Still wondered what the hell that thing wass.
"What about the Dragon I heard about?" Captain Kenpachi asked. "The one that kicked Mayuri's ass."
Times like this are why I love Kenpachi.
"I thought that was a brick?" I asked 'innocently'.
The look on Mayuri's face is just priceless.
"No dragon." Shunsui shook his head. "Just fought with lightning and a sword."
"What about this woman?" Captain Mayuri asked, eyes moving weirdly. "Was she human? If not, did you get a sample for me?"
"Not a human." Captain Sui-Feng responded. "She was the one who captured the Quincy and handed him over."
Was it the same woman who beat up Aizen?
I asked him about that and he was kinda pissy about the whole thing, wouldn't answer me.
"She....was also the one who told us that the body of Aizen wasn't actually Aizen." Shunsui also said.
That's gonna piss Aizen off even more.
"Captain Unohana, your thoughts?" The Captain Commander asked.
"I inspected the body, and I'm of a similar notion. I do not believe that it is Captain Aizen." She said plainly.
The Old Man Grunted. "Captain Aizen is missing." He tapped his cane on the ground. "The circumstances are questionable. I am ordering his arrest on sight for derelict of duty. We will find out if this is a plot against or by him."
"Shouldn't we be askin the Central 46?" I raised my hand.
The Old Man grunted again. "Under War Time Protocols, I have authority in these matters. My Orders will stand. Arrest Aizen and bring him in, to clear his name or for further punishment."
Well, I tried.
Man, he's gonna be even more pissed.
First that woman beats him up, sending him to the Quincy place, or whatever. Then he tired to do his whole faking his death thing. Somethin he was planning for awhile now cause he needed to do some work behind the scenes without causing a commotion. And now that was tossed out the window by the same person.
"I'm confused. I remember it said in your report that the Quincy and everything regarding them was....taken by the shadows. How did this 'woman' manage to capture one of the Quincy then?" Captain Hitsugaya asked.
"She...reached into the shadow and pulled him out, as weird as it sounds." Captain Kyōraku replied. "Whatever I tried, I couldn't interact with them."
"That doesn't seem convenient?" Hitsugaya said dryly.
"She's the one who told us about the shadows in the first place and that the Quincy were hiding down there."
"Are we sure she isn't a Quincy or related to them?" Hitsugaya asked skeptically.
"Considering I couldn't sense any Reiatsu from her, I'm pretty sure she isn't. And she was helping us along with the Ryoka with her." Shunsui responded.
"Shouldn't we at least be concerned about two individuals of unknown origins that are apparently on the level of Captains just running around causing trouble?"
"At this point, they've done more to help than harm." Shunsui countered.
"Perhaps Captain Kyōraku should be reprimanded for not apprehending these Ryoka when he had the chance." Captain Mayuri spoke up.
"You're welcome to go after them yourself." Shunsui shot back. "Maybe it'll go better for you this time."
"You –"
"Enough." The Captain Commander slammed his cane on the ground. "Bickering amongst ourselves will solve nothing. We will acknowledge the contributions of these Ryoka. However, their invasion cannot be without recourse. My orders will stand as they are, capture them and bring them in for interrogation."
"And regarding the Quincy?" Captain Kyōraku asked.
"I am authorizing any means necessary to eliminate them. Every Captain is authorized to release their Bankai regardless of location against these enemies of Soul Society. At this moment, with the reemergence of our ancient enemy, we are at war."
Huh, wondered how much this was gonna ruin Aizen's plans. Cause even he was kinda frantic about escaping from the Quincy cause he didn't even know they existed until now.
"Captain Kurotsuchi, I expect a means to track down these invaders at the earliest opportunity. If they truly dared to hide so close to us, we will show them the error of their ways."
"I will begin my examinations on this Quincy and figure out their means of traveling and hiding."
"See it done." He grunted. "There is one month until the newest batch of graduates from the Academy. I expect a rotation of Captains every three days to teach and prepare them for the upcoming war. Captain Sui-Feng, your Onmitsukidō will be deployed to create a coordinated relay point to every corner of the Seireitei. I expect no invaders to escape our net if they invade through similar means! We will not be taken by surprise again!"
"Yes, sir." Captain Sui-Feng nodded.
"Captain Unohana, you will receive any resources required to get the wounded back up to fighting strength as quickly as possible."
"I'll send a report immediately."
"The information regarding the Quincy will be sent to every division." He declared. "We will not suffer another disgrace. You are dismissed!" He slammed his cane down with a flare of his Reiatsu, lighting a fire under everyone's butts, almost literally.
Well, I'm glad I won't be around to see the look on his face when Aizen finally made his move.
[***]
Wilhelm POV
"What are you thinking about for today?" Izzy asked.
"Can't you guess?" I pinched my current shirt, or rather the robes I was wearing. "We're going to be doing laundry!"
"Oh, joy." She said dryly.
"With a little bit of this." I held out a vial. " We will turn the whites, pink."
"Amusing." She smiled lightly. "And how are you going to rationalize this?"
"Nobody is batting an eye at us when we're wearing the stuff that the laundry people wear. Honestly, it's probably the same as the whole 'walk into a building with a clipboard and pretend like you belong' type deal."
"That is true, I suppose. If anything, the Shinigami we passed almost went out of their way to not look at us, like we were beneath them." She hummed, taking clothing off a nearby line and putting them in a pile.
"Are you really surprised?" I tossed a handful of clothing into a bucket of water, pouring a drop or two of my vial into it.
"I would be surprised if anything other than that happened. These Shinigami remind me too much of those pompous deities in Takamagahara. The ones who are barely even known outside a handful of human scholars, but still walk around like they're oh so important."
"They dare to look down on you?"
"Don't underestimate the stupidity of some Deities. For some reason, there are plenty that think me powerless because I am not present in Takamagahara and I isolate myself in Yomi."
"Why don't I go pay a visit up there?"
"Are you really suggesting to invade another heaven?" She deadpanned.
"Well, I don't like it when people make you upset."
"....I appreciate the sentiment." She said quietly. "But I can't bring myself to care about them. Other than my children, Takamagahara could burn for all I could be bothered with."
"Speaking of, how's that going?"
"Other than Susanoo, about the same." She sighed. "But I'm thankful he is keeping in touch at least."
"So I don't need to go have more words with them?"
"Oh no, I think you should go fight my son again." She said dryly. "That turned out well the first time, let's just have a repeat."
I splashed her with some water.
She puffed up and took a bucket next to her and dumped it on my head, completely soaking me.
"Well now you have to give me a hug." I held my hands open.
"You stay away from me."
"Hug~" I wrapped her up, with only minimal protests on her part. I looked up to see more of those weird ninja running across rooftops, disappearing into random places.
"Ninja again?" Izzy turned her head.
"Yup, been seeing them a lot the past couple days."
"You can't blame them, they're probably spooked from the earlier invasion."
"The one that was your fault?"
"I admit no fault. They were ignorant of something so obvious, the blame lay solely at their feets." She huffed. "And when are you going to let me go?"
"Hmm, never."
She grumbled.
Yeah, those weird Ninja people popped up the other day, running everywhere and doing random things. Izzy and I have been just keeping our heads down as we went about causing some mischief and exploiting some holes in the security here and there.
"Well, it has nothing to do with us." I shrugged, finally releasing her.
"Look at this, my clothes are soaked now."
I did look.
I looked at something poking out on her chest.
And I think she noticed too because she looked away, blushing a little bit before drying herself off through her super Goddess Powers.
"After we finish ruining their clothes, what else have you planned?" She seemingly wanted to divert the subject.
"I figured we could go check in on the kids after this. Haven't noticed anything too bad on their end, but with the 'execution' was coming up soon, wanted to see where we were with that." I replied.
"Have you caused enough problems, is that it?" She snorted.
"Hmm let's see." I held up a finger. "Painted several divisions at this point." I held up a second. "Snuck into their pantries and food storages, left them notes and such there."
"Yes, leaving a note with 'A Ryoka was just here, you're lucky I didn't poison anything' is going to fill them with ease once we're done."
I did say I would help in case of a 'real' invasion. Practice as it were. I think poisoning a good portion of Shinigami through an unsecure food source would be a good thing to point out.
"And three, was this Laundry stuff. Really, just making their whites turn pink is for fun. Honestly, they have a lot of security flaws that are easily manageable."
"You actually noted everything down too. I don't know if I should be impressed or not at the lengths, you're going to justify messing with them to such an extent."
I shrugged. "Soul Society is pretty shitty."
"I don't disagree."
"We could do more..." I rubbed my chin. "But my thoughts have been drifting to the kids all day today."
"Whatever you choose, I don't mind. This is the most fun I've had since our trip to America." She smiled.
"Godzilla, good times." I smiled similarly. "Just need to find the kids, I think they're..." I turned around, kind of eyeballing the general location.
"They're underground, it seems like." She tilted her head. "I can sense my blessing from this distance."
"Underground? That's weird, but whatever. Not the shadow place, right? You didn't send anyone else there?"
"One time" She huffed.
"Right, you only accidentally started a war one time."
"You're never going to let this go, are you?" She crossed her arms. "Besides, you did this twice."
"Yes, and I'm a bad role model." I freely admitted.
"There is no winning with you." She threw her arms up. "Fine, let's go see the children. I'm a little curious to know how they're side has been doing."
Regardless of anything else, just the time I've been spending with Izzy made this whole thing worth it. Things were a little chaotic for awhile, but they've calmed down now. I doubted anything else like that Quincy thing will happen again.
"Alrighty. Let's just wrap up with these clothes and head over there!" I'm sure the Eleventh Division won't mind if their white under robes turned up pink in the morning.
Oh hey, it's a Captain Haori!
That's definitely getting turned pink.
[***]
Canon Omake – Date with Artoria and Mordred.
"You look beautiful."
"You say that regardless of what I am wearing." Artoria smiled bashfully.
Well, it's not every day I get to see her wearing just jeans and a T-Shirt. She usually opts for more feminine clothing. I asked her about it before, and she mentioned that she was used to wearing 'trousers' and such during her life that she wanted to be wearing the opposite now that she embraced being a woman more openly.
But still, absolutely beautiful regardless.
Personally, I think she's scared that she'll come off as 'masculine'. So I make sure to remind her at every opportunity of how truly stunning she is.
I was about to sneak in a kiss, but a scoff behind us kind of ruined the moment.
"Please tell me you aren't going to be doing this the entire time." Mordred grumbled. "Still fucking weird seeing father being so lovey dovey with someone."
"Mordred." Artoria greeted, the tiniest hint of pink on her cheeks.
It continues to give me the warm fuzzies in my stomach to know that she's still so adorable about things like this.
"Alright, I'm here. What'd you want?" Mordred asked.
"I thought it'd be nice to spend time together. Artoria and I have been dating for awhile now, and besides the joking about the whole 'mother' thing aside, I'd like for us to get along. So, I planned a little outing for us all that I think you would both enjoy." I briefly explained.
It was at the point where I could easily see myself asking Artoria a very important question in the future. One that involves a Ring and everything that comes with that. Making sure Mordred is comfortable with us 'together' and doing things as a group was important to myself and I would assume Artoria if our relationship continues to the next level.
I mean, we already do things. We've gone out and fought, sparred, beat up people together and generally did things with one another. But I guess what I want was us to all spend time together as a family.
"It's not like I hate you or anything, you didn't have to do crap like this." Mordred grumbled, sorta in a cute way like she didn't know how to actually respond to my earnest desire.
"I think it's a wonderful Idea." Artoria smiled beautifully, grabbing my hand. "We should do more activities that don't involve..."
"Fighting?"
"Generally, yes." She admitted. "Admittedly, it is a very definitive aspect of our lives."
"Aint never given up my sword." Mordred grunted.
"None of us would ever ask you to, Mordred." Artoria soothed her 'son'. "And what activity did you plan, Wilhelm?"
"Hmm, before I say, let me ask you something. What do you know about Alchemy?"
"Barely anything. Know it's to make stuff. Potions, and crap. Homunculi." Mordred shrugged.
"As Mordred says. I know more specifics due to my time with Rin, but I am not a Magus by any stretch of the imagination." Artoria also added.
"Right, well, it's pretty common knowledge that Alchemy and other aspects of magic to a lesser extent, make use of parts of magical and mundane creatures. I'm sure you can imagine things like Dragons being treasure troves in that aspect."
"Yeah, that's pretty damn obvious, what're you getting at?" Mordred sounded a little impatient. She never cared about magic stuff, so it was expected.
"As I said, mundane creatures too. Certain animals also have properties that make them valuable, enough that they get hunted by the magical side of the world. Combined with how the mundane side of the world is going, their habitats are also getting destroyed." I waved my hand, producing a portal. "Our destination." I welcomed them forward as we all stepped through. "Welcome to Africa."
"Huh, didn't expect that." Mordred looked around. "Never been here before."
"Neither have I." Artoria mirrored.
"Specifically, welcome to the world's largest reserve and sanctuary for what are essentially Big Cats." I gave a better introduction.
"Big Cats? You mean like Tigers and Lions and shit?" Mordred's eyes started lighting up as she stared at me.
"Precisely. And it's owned and operated by someone who is a Magician themselves. They go around rescuing mistreated and dwindling species and protecting them here."
"An honorable profession." Artoria nodded, looking just and interested as Mordred.
Artoria liked cats. She had a pet Lion when she was king.
Mordred shared very similar thoughts on the feline species.
"I made a donation and talked to the owner." I stated, spinning a key ring around my finger. "We have the place to ourselves, relatively speaking, for the day. Since the owner is a Magician, and I made assurances we weren't here to harm the animals or 'steal' them, well, he doesn't mind if we go in and play."
The Owner was around, but I made a very significant donation to let me essentially rent the place out for the day. Which, was rather unorthodox for a place like this....but he didn't really question it with the amount of zeros I showed him.
Not to mention they can't exactly harm any of us so.....not any different than normal house cats.
"Really?" Mordred's eyes widened. "I can just...?" She walked up to the fence of one enclosure which was probably pretty damn big.
I tossed her the keys. "Have fun."
Mordred didn't need to be told twice. She immediately made way for the gate, unlocking it and hurrying inside. There were a group of Lions in the distance, and she practically ran up to them and gave the first one a gigantic hug.
I think it tried to fight her, but I'm pretty sure Mordred took that as indication that it wanted to be pet.
And after a moment or two, the Lion seemed to accept its new life and settled down.
I'm fairly sure there were magics in place that soothed the lions and kind of let them know that the 'people' around here weren't going to hurt them.
"This was a very kind and thoughtful trip, Wilhelm. I'm sure Mordred will remember today for a very long time." Artoria squeezed my hand.
"It wasn't just for her, y'know." I looked down at Artoria who, very clearly looked like she wanted to join her child. "Go play with Mordred, I'll be right behind you."
She bit her lip, mentally fighting with herself for half a second before standing on her toes to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. And with grace, quickly made her own way towards where Mordred was.
God I love that woman.
[***]
It was amusing, watching Artoria and Mordred sort of ignore the usual stiffness or any concept of decorum and just have fun.
Artoria found herself on the back of the biggest male, as it slowly trot around and she had a big smile about her as she rode it haphazardly.
Mordred, was the opposite.
She had a very confused Lioness above her head as she ran around with it.
AS for me, well.... I was giving ear scratches to a lioness who decided that my hair was her new plaything while I laid down in the middle of their little pride. There was another Lioness who was licking my cheek.....with her barbed tongue.
Fun fact, big cat licks are not pleasant. If I was a normal human, her licking would have torn the skin on my face.
"Should I be concerned that you once more find yourself surrounded by women?" Artoria came riding over. Her apparent mount looked like it was done and just fell down and rolled over, ignoring that Artoria was on its back.
She let out an adorable 'eeep'.
"I could make a joke right now." I pointed out.
She puffed up cutely before hopping over several lion bodies and laying down next to me, snuggling up as much as she could.
"Thank you, Wilhelm." She whispered, giving me another kiss on the cheek. "This has been a most wonderful evening. I have not seen Mordred have such whimsical fun in my life. This means more than you can imagine."
"As long as you and Mordred had fun, then it's a success."
She leaned over, kissing my cheek again. "I love you, Wilhelm."
"I love you too, Artoria." She rested her head on my shoulder as we watched Mordred run around with a few of the Lionesses.
[***]
A/N
Yeah, that is a canon omake. The time table doesn't really matter, but just wanted to throw in some random things here or there while other stuff is going on.
We're reaching the end of the Bleach Arc soon with the climax coming up.
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