89 Reprieve
After hearing Ohta's explanation, Ichigo was understandably shocked. As a matter of course, however, he felt compelled to ask, "How do you know all this...?"
"That's the difference between me and you," replied Ohta. "You focus on resolving problems, and I focus on understanding them so I don't end up being used to advance the schemes of others without benefitting in some way. As for my sources...that's my business. How do you think I ended up owning a luxury hotel while you're just learning about your heritage?"
Blinking in surprise, Ichigo asked, "You own a luxury hotel...?"
"This guy..." muttered Ohta, rubbing his forehead and combing through his hair in a self-calming gesture. Fortunately for Ichigo, now wasn't the time or place to smack some sense into him...
Shaking his head, Ohta adopted a neutral expression and said, "Anyways, we need to be ready to return once the Attack Squad arrives. Here, wear this..."
Though Barragan's Royal Mantle was incredibly useful, the experiments Ohta conducted with Rukia, Orihime, and Karin demonstrated that it was far more effective in the hands of someone with a monstrous amount of Reiryoku. Even in his weakened state, Ohta could sense that Ichigo had far more Reiryoku than him. The sooner he could recover, the more useful he would be in the coming battle.
Catching the pendant Ohta had thrown him, Ichigo asked, "Is this what gave you those weird robes? And what's with the giant ax and...is that a crown?"
"Even when you've been told things, they fly right over your head, don't they?" retorted Ohta, holding up the crown as he explained, "This is the crown of the former God-King of Hueco Mundo, Barragan Louisenbairn. The ax also belonged to him."
Furrowing his brows, Ichigo asked, "And you just took them? That's not cool, man..."
"..."
Inhaling a deep breath, Ohta resisted the urge to plant Ichigo into the nearest wall, his expression morphing into a half-lidded deadpan as he said, "Just put the damn thing on..."
Though he didn't approve of taking war trophies, Ichigo donned the ruby pendant, causing a predominately white Shihakusho to materialize around his body. It looked remarkably similar to his Bankai attire, but the colors were inverted, and the edge of his cape and hakama were incredibly worn and tattered. More notably, he gained a pure white, skull-shaped pauldron over his left shoulder, its eye sockets as black as a Hollow's hole.
As the white Shihakusho materialized around him, a bone-chilling Reiatsu surged from Ichigo's body, causing even Ohta to feel tense. However, this was fairly tame compared to the responses of Karin, Sung-Sun, Mila Rose, and Apacci. The former was able to remain standing, albeit with her body trembling violently, but Harribel's Fraccion were immediately brought to their knees, eyes wide and sweat covering their bodies as they practically prostrated themselves before Ichigo's Reiatsu.
"Huh? What's going on...?" asked Ichigo, staring at the sight in confusion instead of attempting to rein in his Reiatsu. Fortunately for everyone else, his idiocy wasn't communicable, so Ohta was able to form a barrier as he flatly replied, "Your Reiatsu is leaking. Get it under control before I smack your few functioning brain cells into oblivion..."
"Right..." replied Ichigo, closing his eyes, brows furrowed as he focused on calming his surging Reiatsu. It took nearly a minute, but he eventually got it under control, causing the bluish-white aura exuding from his body to dissipate completely.
Exhaling a sigh, Ichigo opened his eyes and asked, "How's that...?" while observing everyone's condition.
Lowering the barrier, Ohta answered, "Far from perfect, but better. Also, before you get any ideas, that pendant is mine. I'm only loaning it to you to speed up your recovery. If you run off or have it stolen from you..."
Though he was tempted to say he would make a replacement cloak from Ichigo's skin, Ohta felt like that might be crossing a line given his current company. Instead, he adopted a toothy grin and said, "Well, just keep in mind that I 'always' get what I'm owed..."
"You can cut it out with the threats," replied Ichigo, huffing, "I'm not going to 'steal' your stolen goods..."
"..."
Turning to the wryly smiling Rukia, Ohta said, "I'm going out to get some fresh air..."
"I'll accompany you," replied Rukia, taking the initiative to grab Ohta's hand and pull him out of the room. Even she was starting to feel irritated by Ichigo's behavior, so she could only imagine how annoyed Ohta was. Fortunately, while he didn't shy away from violence, he was fairly patient with those he regarded as his friends or, at the very least, didn't view as enemies...
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Nearly two hours after her departure, Harribel finally returned with a conscious, incredibly worn-out Chad, Uryu, and Renji. Ohta had been relaxing outside with Rukia and Orihime then, so he greeted the group from between the two beauties, remarking, "You guys look like you got thrown into a blender..."
Rising to a seated position, Ohta added, "Go ahead and heal them..." in response to Orihime staring at him with a silent plea in her eyes. While she did, he asked the trio what happened, prompting Uryu to explain, "It was horrible. We were making good progress in our respective searches when the floor gave out beneath us, depositing us in a strange, dimly lit location deep underground. Renji believed it was a place called the Menos Forest due to the many Gillians present, but that's when 'they' appeared..."
"The Picaros..." muttered Chad, his expression and tone the same as usual but with a distant look in his eyes. He believed he was prepared to kill any Arrancar or Hollow he encountered, but a group of children and their pets was too much...
"The Picaros..." parroted Uryu, motioning to push up his glasses, but, as they were absent, he quickly lowered his hand, adding, "I've never met such a 'menacing' group of Hollows before..."
"You're lucky they took an interest in you," remarked Harribel, standing off to the side with crossed arms. By now, her hair had nearly regained its golden luster. However, as her Zanpakuto had yet to begin rematerializing, she could only muster 10-20% of her total power.
"You call 'that' lucky!?" exclaimed Uryu. "We almost got played to death by a bunch of kids, all because-"
"Calm down, Poindexter," said Ohta. "Lashing out at chocolate tits isn't going to make you feel better. Now, tell me. Did anything else happen, or was getting bullied by brats the only thing you accomplished since our arrival...?"
Responding in Uryu's stead, Renji huffily challenged, "What have 'you' accomplished since our arrival? Other than consorting with the enemy, that is..."
Furrowing her brows, Rukia emulated Harribel's crossed-arm posture as she said, "In half a day, Ohta has succeeded in defeating no less than three Espada, one of which was the former king of Hueco Mundo turned into an Arrancar. He could have defeated many more, but he didn't want to throw the human world into disarray..."
Realizing he had stepped on a landmine, Renji raised his hands and said, "Sorry, that was my bad. I'm just a little frustrated about what happened on our end. I wasn't trying to be confrontational..."
"Yeah, whatever you say, widow's peak," quipped Ohta. "For now, just focus on recovering. Once the Attack Squad arrives and everyone is in peak condition, we'll return to the Human World."
Turning his gaze to Harribel, Ohta revealed his sharpened teeth in the form of a smile as he asked, "I trust you can help with that?"
Nodding in affirmation, Harribel answered, "It's possible, but we'd have to move outside of Las Noches to ensure nothing goes wrong. I can't explain why..."
Shrugging his shoulders, Ohta asserted, "It doesn't matter. So long as you can help us return to the Human World, I'll have sufficient ammunition to prevent the Soul Society from breathing down your necks in the future. If you could teach Strawberry and his sister how to produce one, that would be even better."
"..."
Though she was reluctant to teach an 'outsider' how to enter Las Noches at their leisure freely, Harribel knew there wasn't much to stop Ohta from visiting them if he wanted to. Rather, with most of the other Espada dead, they would need his assistance and 'backing' to avoid being overwhelmed by the Adjuchas or invaded by Soul Society...
"Very well," replied Harribel. "I will teach them how to create a Garganta, but I have a few conditions of my own..."
Shifting her gaze to Orihime, Harribel narrowed her aquamarine eyes and noted, "I've noticed that this woman's healing differs from the Kaido Arts of the Shinigami. She seems to be able to rewind injuries to a point before they were inflicted. If that's the case, there is someone I would like you to heal..."
"Is it the former Tres Espada...?" asked Ohta, having already considered using Orihime's power to that exact end.
Nodding in affirmation, Harribel replied, "Indeed. Her full name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanch. Her power cannot compare to my own, but she has a temperament that would prove useful to the governance of Las Noches in the future..."
"Then she can wait until said 'future,'" retorted Ohta, adding, "Unless, of course, you're planning to ally with us in the fight against Aizen and want her to join in. That would go a long way towards ensuring the Soul Society doesn't try to purge you in the future."
Though she was tempted to agree, Harribel quickly shook her head, firmly asserting, "That goes against our previous agreement. I am not convinced you can defeat Lord Aizen, so I will not oppose him directly..."
Shrugging his shoulders a second time, Ohta said, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. For now, just go and teach the Strawberry and his kid sister how to open the Garganta. We'll worry about future matters in the future."
Nodding her head, Harribel silently strolled past the group to check on her Fraccion and carry out Ohta's orders. She was briefly surprised to find Ichigo wearing Barragan's mantle, exuding an aura that was more Hollow than human or Shinigami, but she didn't dwell on it. However, after trying and failing to teach him how to open a Garganta, a skill Karin mastered in less than ten attempts, a small part of her wanted to crack his head open to confirm his Hollow hole wasn't located in his brain...
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*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*
Hearing his phone go off, Ohta awoke from his shallow nap and whipped it out to find he had received a text from Yoruichi, asking, 'Still alive?' with a dog emoji.
Assuming that the beeping was just Ohta's alarm, no one said anything until he rose to a seated position, stating, "It looks like the Attack Squad has arrived. Let's move." while activating the phone's tracking function. If Yoruichi could send him a text, it stood to reason they had brought some kind of transmitter to enable the phone's other functions.
Before Ohta's phone could get a signal, everyone tensed as a light hum filled their heads, accompanied by the sensation of a powerful Reiatsu permeating the entirety of Las Noches as a deep, casual-sounding voice said, "At last. All the actors are in their places."
Recognizing the voice, Harribel muttered, "Lord Aizen..." while her three Fraccion instinctually moved closer to her. At the same time, Rukia took it upon herself to explain, "This is Bakudo #77, Tenteikura. Aizen must be broadcasting to the entirety of Las Noches..."
"Then we should get a move on..." said Ohta, turning to Ichigo with his left hand extended, demanding, "Hand it over." in a firm tone. The latter was a little confused initially but eventually parted with the ruby pendant around his neck while Aizen monologued in the background.
"Even I could never have imagined that the Heads of two of the Great Noble Clans would come to Las Noches," remarked Aizen. "It's a shame I can't greet you personally. However, as I have more important matters to attend to, we'll have to delay our meeting until later. Though, before I go, there is one last thing I wish to say. Two, actually..."
Though he initially wasn't paying too much attention to what Aizen was saying, Ohta perked up when the man addressed him by name, stating, "Yamada Ohta...I have given you numerous chances to remove yourself from this matter. Now, I will provide you with one final opportunity. Stay in Las Noches, and I will allow you to rule over it once I claim the position of Soul King. Continue to intervene, and should you fail to defeat me, neither you nor the people you care about will be permitted to die. You will live on for an eternity, watching each other suffer..."
As the Tenteikura transmitted information one-way, Ohta didn't bother to respond to Aizen's threat with words. Instead, the crimson triangles in his eyes exuded an intense glare as he donned Barragan's Royal Mantle and thought, ("You are so fucking dead...")
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(A/N: Aizen knows how to get people riled up o3o...)
