Patching Up (2)

10 advanced chapters on my Patreon: Fiction Haven

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Yamamoto stared at the curious being in front of him with narrowed steely eyes. A marked demonic skull with curled horns and rows of sharp teeth stared back at him. The Reiatsu emitted by the being was enough to press his shoulders. It had been a millennium since he felt it. His mind wistfully recalled the Quincy King, the madman he killed.

The old Shinigami grunted and erased his wistful thought. Kurosaki Ichigo was a Visored. Yamamoto didn't know how it happened but was wise enough not to prod the young man for details. With that amount of power, Ichigo could make Soul Society bleed. Although Ichigo wouldn't go so low as to join hands with Aizen, Yamamoto wouldn't be surprised if Ichigo cooperated with Aizen to take Soul Society down out of spite.

"I have now understood what Captain Ichimaru meant when he said you might be gathering army in Hueco Mundo. Though I didn't expect you to be a Hollow yourself…at least, partly."

"I did a little liberation in Hueco Mundo, but that is all. You just gave me an idea, though."

Ichigo's nonchalant answer would have sounded amusing without his distorted voice. The captains were on edge and Yamamoto couldn't even read him to decipher his words. Yamamoto thought carefully. They were treading on thin ice. Ichigo was already prejudiced thanks to what happened to Rukia. If he approached the matter wrongly, Soul Society would find itself at the end of Ichigo's Zanpakutō.

"What you did in Hueco Mundo, I assume it won't bring harm to Soul Society," Yamamoto drawled.

Ichigo shook his head. "As much as I loath this place, it is still the home of the dead souls. Many changes need to be made, but destroying it has never been in my mind. Even if I do gather an army of Arrancars, I won't use it against Soul Society. That is as much as I am willing to tell you."

"Very well…" Yamamoto acquiesced, earning wide-eyed looks from the surrounding captains. "Moving on to the next topic; I want you to share the information you extracted from the hostage. Captain Ichimaru has given us a rough image, but I want to make sure he didn't deceive us."

Ichigo's mask dematerialized and his Reiatsu calmed down. The domineering pressure vanished, replaced by the calm and immeasurable Reiryoku that washed over them.

"I can't help but notice you have been referring to Gin as Captain. Are you planning to pardon him of all his sins and reinstate him to his old post?" Ichigo asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"If the situation forces us, that may be a possibility," Yamamoto said sternly. "Nevertheless, his sins will not go unpunished, regardless of his true intention."

"I hate your idealistic view, but I agree with it this time," Ichigo nodded approvingly. "Now, why don't we share what we know?"

Surrounded by the silence of the captains, the two Shinigami traded information. Separated by age, equally powerful. The captains respected them enough not to interrupt their conversation, at least, most of them. Kurotsuchi leered at Ichigo as if looking at a fine specimen sometimes but didn't make any noise.

At the end of the conversation, they found out their information matched. Aizen was going to perfect Hōgyoku with the artifact he made. The artifact collected the soul's essence. It was strong enough to suck off the soul's essence belonging to the weaker spiritually aware people. However, it could extract the soul's essence of Captain-level Shinigami as long as they were injured enough.

Gin didn't share the details of how Aizen would perfect Hōgyoku using the artifact—he didn't know—but told them what Ichigo didn't get from Tier. Aizen would spend his time perfecting Hōgyoku in the Dangai. The R&D was tracking Aizen in the Dangai but hadn't borne any results yet. Dangai was a tunnel unbound by the law of space and time, so looking for Aizen without knowing the exact coordinates of his entrance was hard.

"Conquering Las Noches before Aizen's return will be our priority. Time flows 2,000 times faster in Dangai. Although Aizen might not necessarily come out at the corresponding time point, he would still get his needed time. In the worst-case scenario, he would come out tomorrow with a fully evolved Hōgyoku," Ichigo smiled wryly. "The point is, we need to hurry."

"Our R&D is doing their best. Regardless of how capable Aizen is, he has to worry about—"

Mayuri's speech was interrupted by his beeping communication device. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and answered the call. He listened to the call and various expressions flashed across his face. His face settled into a scowl as he ended the call.

"Kototsu has been destroyed…for a long time. Its destruction altered the time further, so tracking Aizen has become close to impossible. We can't even measure the time dilation in Dangai anymore. I suggest we don't use Dangai for the time being until Kototsu is fixed. We might not get out at the same time point we enter it."

"Las Noches Conquest it is," Ichigo concluded before waving his hand. "Well, then. It has been a pleasure, Gramps. I will be going home. My sisters must have missed me."

"And how are you going back, you simpleton?" Mayuri scoffed.

Ichigo glanced at Mayuri disinterestedly before opening a Garganta with Descorrer. "I have my way, of course." Mayuri's eyes widened in shock and many of the captains were alarmed. They didn't know Ichigo could ignore their Barrier. Ignoring the looks, Ichigo closed the Garganta and turned around. "Well, see ya, old peeps."

Thud!

As the door closed, the meeting room was filled with murmurs. Mayuri was screaming bloody murder, requesting for Yamamoto to allow experimentation on Ichigo. What they had witnessed was an indirect threat. Ichigo could come and go as he pleased. Either they had to fix the gap in their security or eliminate the threat.

Yamamoto harrumphed before knocking on the floor with his cane. The room quietened as his Reiatsu pushed the captains down.

"Calm down, all of you," he exclaimed sternly. "There will be no experimentation or hostile treatments on young Ichigo. He is on our side—don't push him to the other side. Do your due diligence and forget about mundane things. Dismiss!"

Yamamoto's principles were screaming at him to make his move. Better nip it in the bud before it grows. However, he couldn't afford it, not after the Quincy War debacle that pushed the community to extinction. He would leave Kurosaki Ichigo alone…for the time being.

…

Upon returning to the Human World via Garganta with Yoruichi, Ichigo discovered a bitter truth: he couldn't enter his body because of his tremendous Reiryoku. Kisuke noted in amazement how much control Ichigo had over his Reiryoku. Still, high control over his Reiryoku didn't allow him to inhabit his physical body. Kisuke estimated his body needed roughly a month to acclimate to his Reiryoku.

"Do you have a Gigai I can use?" Ichigo asked hopefully.

"Well, if you want to traumatize your sisters with your splitting body, sure," was Kisuke's nonchalant response.

Ichigo harrumphed but said nothing. Kisuke had made his point across. Yoruichi put a comforting hand on his shoulder when Ichigo sighed. In the end, he decided to go home in his Spiritual Body. Ichigo was greeted by Isshin as soon as he arrived at his house. The man looked at him sternly, acting like a father for once.

"You have been home for three days, yet you—"

Ichigo cut Isshin off by walking past him. The ex-captain was annoyed, but his kick was caught by Ichigo, causing him to fall on his face.

"Karin, Yuzu," Ichigo called as soon as he entered the house.

Thumping sounds came from upstairs, rapidly approaching. Ichigo was understandably quite surprised. He knew Yuzu would be spiritually aware at one point but didn't expect it to be this soon. The twins came into view not long after. Karin shot at him like a bullet whereas Yuzu slowed down before him.

"Ichi-nii! You're back."

"O- Onii-chan."

Yuzu saw Ichigo as a blur, so she was quite reluctant to make physical contact. Ichigo smiled and picked up the light-blonde-haired girl. His sister squealed before hugging him. Their muffled sniffs rang out not long after. Ichigo sensed a movement outside. He was expecting Isshin's entrance at any moment but was glad that Isshin didn't ruin the moment.

When his sisters got down from him, they bombarded him with questions. Ichigo only told them he was busy with work. He didn't want to tell his sisters he had been hunting monsters in preparation for killing a psychopath who wanted to take everyone's soul. He didn't want them to worry about the matter or him.

Ichigo didn't forget to explain that he couldn't get into his physical for the time being. Karin didn't see that as a problem, but Yuzu admitted she preferred him in his physical body. Ichigo assured her he would be back in his physical body in a month. Now that his identity was in the open, he had to explain his work to Yuzu. Of course, he omitted stuff that would make Yuzu worry.

"So, Ichi-nii, what will you be doing during the next month?" Karin asked at the end of their conversation.

"I won't attend school, obviously," Ichigo hummed.

Aizen's whereabouts were unknown. Given their situation, helping Retsu patch the victims up was the top of his head. He would do it. He hoped he could learn Kaidō from her.