An Ulterior Motive

"That's enough sparring for today, I think…" Kisuke said, his spiritual pressure creeping from below his umbrella.

Stood behind him was Grimmjow, his hands morphed into claws as he held Nelliel's lance steady, "tsk…"

Her resurrección soon vanished, reverting back to her human form, spiritual pressure slowly lowering as the dust settled. The fur-like outfit she'd been wearing previously was mostly destroyed, the upper chest area revealing her under boob.

"I'm sorry... We both got a little carried away." Nelliel said, bowing her head to Kisuke.

Grimmjow stood with his hands in his pockets behind her, seemingly disinterested by the entire situation.

'Not unlike him…'

"That cloud… Quite the spectacle, I must say."

Kisuke had already lowered his umbrella, now making his way towards me with a curious smile plastered across his face. It was the sort of smile that belonged to a man who asked questions despite already knowing the answer to them.

"I was against using my release… Only seemed fair, though. It would've been rude had I not after Nelliel used her own." I replied, catching my sword as it dropped from the sky.

Grimmjow suddenly appeared to my side, clicking his tongue in anger. "Tch… What sorta resurrección even was that, anyway?"

"I'd like to know that myself," Nelliel added. "I was quite shocked when you released your Zanpakutō. My expectations were shattered when I saw that cloud… I'd expected something more....hollow-like, I suppose?"

She did have a point. It was one of the reasons I myself was surprised when I saw it play out in my head. Why didn't my body change as much as the other Arrancar resurrección? While it wasn't explicitly stated that an Arrancar's released state had to alter their appearance, it was still quite rare for such to be the case. My resurrección only altered my appearance slightly, and further so if I chose to absorb reishi from the surrounding area, my veins turning a shining-blue.

"Arrancar are certainly interesting," Kisuke noted. "When you entered your resurrección state, Nelliel, your spiritual pressure did increase and change, but hadn't become unrecognizable."

He continued, still sporting a cheerful smile beneath his hat. "Lance, on the other hand. Your spiritual pressure was already enormous before, likely only surpassed by Sōsuke Aizen, but it had become much different when you released your Zanpakutō, as if someone else entirely had taken your place"

"How's that?" Grimmjow sneered, his hand wrapped around the hilt of his Zanpakutō. The idea that my spiritual pressure was even slightly similar to that man likely had Grimmjow pissed off. While I was excited to hear my own be compared to him, there was likely an enormous margin between the two of us that wouldn't ever be crossed. Sōsuke Aizen was in a realm of his own.

Kisuke chuckled, "I suspect it has something to do with his past… If I had to guess, he's likely a natural born Hollow."

"What?!" Grimmjow and Nelliel said in unison.

"Yes, yes… Not all Hollows are grieving, lost souls. Some occur naturally, albeit few."

"How is something like that possible?" Nelliel asked, her curiosity shining in her hazel eyes.

"I'm afraid that is beyond even me," Kisuke chuckled, now gazing at me with one of his eyes shut. "That said, I'm open to learning!"

With that, Kisuke whisked the three of us away back to the camp.

As we ventured back, I began pondering my existence in this world. The essence of my being in this place itself was wrong, incorrect. There was no reason for me to have been taken to this place, and yet I had. How? Why? These questions were beyond me, but there was definitely an answer somewhere.

Having been born a Vasto Lorde here, my body must've been something or another beforehand. I didn't just appear as one, there must've been a hollow beforehand that'd progressed into a Vasto Lorde, naturally occurring or not.

Why had I been reborn into a hollow, though? Whatever—or whoever, had forced me into this universe had clearly done so for a reason. If they had the power to forcefully pull me into a fictional world, they most definitely had the choice as to which race I was born into. What benefit was there to making me a hollow? Had they done so on a whim, or was there a good reason for doing so?

'Just what are they planning….'

I'd already come to the conclusion that there was a force working behind the scenes of this universe, one with power likely surpassing the Soul-King, but just who or what were they? The amount of power and energy you'd need to pull someone else into a different universe was incomprehensible to me, so why would someone go through all the effort to do it? There had to be a reason. And, most importantly, why me?

Either way, I planned on making use of everything I knew about this universe to find out why, whether or not the decisions I made along the line were good and bad weren't important anymore. I couldn't live with myself thinking someone had forced me into this place for their own benefit, I needed to know why and how.

We finally arrived back at the camp, which had been restored to its former glory after Sado had blown half of it away.

"Alright, you three go wait in that space over there. I have an experiment I need your help with." Kisuke said as he dove into an enormous bag of machinery and other random items, scavenging around in search of something.

I sat myself down on one of the couches in the room. Nelliel came shortly after, sitting herself to my side gracefully, while Grimmjow barged through the curtain-door, now sulking in the corner.

"What's with that sullen face, Grimmjow?" Nelliel asked, her tone slightly sarcastic.

"Shut your mouth, or do you want me to come over there and shut it for you?!"

Nelliel let out a whimsical, yet somehow sadistic laugh. "What delusions could you possibly be having that lead you to believe you could force me to shut up?"

"...Huh? Delusions...? You pickin' a fight, Nelliel?!" Grimmjow sneered, slamming his hand through one of the tables as he stood.

"Stand back, Lance. Tres needs to show Sexta who's in charge…" Nelliel said, whipping her sword out.

"Ah, uh… Maybe don't fight here?" I said hesitantly, now standing between the two. Their spiritual pressure was leaking out, anger mixed in as the two behemoths collided.

"Nuh-uh, I ain't havin' it. Move outta the way. She needs a beatin'!"

Before the two could charge in, the makeshift-door Kisuke had crafted with tarp and curtains swung open, revealing the casually-dressed man. His toothy-smile betraying his deceptive, scheming eyes.

"Alright~ Who's ready for some tests?" He chuckled as he hoisted an enormous needle-like contraption over him, each end strapped to his shoulders like a guitar.