Chapter 364

"I-if you need anything else, please call for me."

What was her name, Nanao? Shunsui's lieutenant.

"Thank you, Child." Izzy calmly and politely thanked the Shinigami for the tea.

The Shinigami seemed to stiffen and sort of sputter out a response before quickly disappearing from the room.

After the whole….incident they had very polite, giving us a room to wait in. It was funny to see the Shinigami utterly speechless and trying to comprehend what exactly it meant for Izzy to be here.

"Well, this is nice." I hummed, taking a sip.

"Hmm, odd."

"What?"

"That girl was a believer in Shintoism. Perhaps even a Miko in her own right, she gave off a bright feeling in her faith." Izzy replied.

"How do you –" I paused, making her raise an eyebrow. "Right, Shinto Goddess. How does that work, isn't she technically a Kami under the broad definitions of Shintoism? Shinigami are just Spirits of the deceased at their most basic…now that I think about it, are there Shinigami back home? I've never actually heard anything about them but the idea exists in myths and legends."

"You can blame Hades for that. His Reapers have been mistakenly identified over the centuries and humans develop their own beliefs. Technically his reapers are the Shinigami there, but the difference is obvious, as you know. As for worship….do you think that the lesser Gods don't pay homage and worship to those higher ups? My Daughter and Son are revered not just by mortals but by the thousands of Kami that populate Japan."

"I guess it isn't that odd, other Cosmologies have similar things now that I think about it."

[Hey, I don't wanna alarm you, but your….baby spirit's been growing pretty fast.]

"Dammit Ddraig." I sighed, putting my cup down.

"What did that Dragon do this time?" Izzy asked.

[Hey, that's uncalled for.]

"He fed my Sword Spirit that Marble that the Shinigami tried to steal or whatever. Well, less feeding it and more like….it's sort of latched onto it and been growing extremely fast ever since and he's been updating me periodically."

I didn't think there was anything majorly wrong, but I wasn't quite sure what exactly was going on so it left me sort of wary.

"Would you like me to take a look?" Izzy offered.

"Sure." I didn't even take time to think about it.

She let out a sigh. "You really should be hesitant about people like me looking into your Soul."

"You're making it sound like I let any random person look at my soul." I rolled my eyes, scooting closer to her. "I trust you and I don't have any secrets from you."

"….why do you have to say things like that." She grumbled, putting her hand on my chest. She took a breath and her eyes glowed slightly, I imagine she had to put some effort to push through my Campione resistance. "I don't know what that Marble is, but it doesn't seem harmful. It appears to be made up of a conglomeration of souls, but I did not poke it to see the intricacies."

"Weird. But, well, that's a relief then. I guess I can let it take a back seat for now and check it out again later." I relaxed, looking down at Izzy and she tilted her head up, looking me in the eyes. "Is something wrong?"

She slowly and hesitantly pulled her hand away, looking a little apprehensive about something. "We've spent quite a long time together this time. Longer than we've spent together until this point."

"We did." I nodded. "You sick of me already?" I asked jokingly.

"Don't say that." She huffed. "This has been one of my happiest memories."

"Going wrathful Goddess on a bunch of 'mortals'?" I grinned.

Not just those Quincy and Hollows, but basically telling the Shinigami to get their shit together or else.

"You know what I'm talking about." She puffed up with a hint of embarrassment. "…..you weren't….scared or intimidated…were you?" She quietly asked. "I know that I can be –"

"Izzy, you're not going to scare me away." Honestly, I thought we were past this.

"Really?" She leaned in, her face was only a few inches away from mine.

"Really."

"Good." She breathed out. "Because after spending this time with you, I realized something."

"What?" I blinked.

"I'm tired of holding myself back." Before I could process what she said, she pushed her lips against mine. It wasn't a particularly long kiss, but I was taken by surprise and didn't quite…. reciprocate. She pulled away quickly, looking embarrassed.

"….Oh." The word kinda tumbled out from me.

"Perhaps I've been overthinking things. Just….ignore what happened." She sighed, pushing herself up, but I quickly grabbed hold of her sleeve.

"Izzy, wait."

"Please, just give me a moment alone, I – "

"Izanami." I called out her full name, something I don't think I've ever done, making her stop trying to wiggle out of my grasp. "Izzy." I repeated again. "Let's talk."

"I'm not a child. You're clearly not interested, and I misread any intentions. You don't need to – "

"Izzy." I said again, interrupting her. "Stop." I grabbed her hand so she couldn't run away. "Please?" She hesitantly sat back down, but looked rather uncomfortable. "You didn't...misread anything. I was just…. surprised."

She shifted a little bit in her spot but didn't respond.

"I'm not blind, you know. To all the little things that've happened between us." I muttered. "You're one of my closest friends, and I haven't had many of those before. I didn't wanna mess that up so I just forced myself to ignore any…flags."

"…..you're an idiot." She finally said, awkwardly looking at the ground.

"I know."

"Hmph." She let out a cute little huff. "I'm not a good person, Wilhelm. I've done many horrible things in my life. Some that I can never take back and things that you would be ashamed of me if you saw. Even my own children want nothing to do with me, I'm a vile and despicable woman, hated by the very country I created."

"Idiot." I shot right back at her. "Don't confess to me then try to convince me otherwise."

"It was a momentary selfish desire of mine. You deserve to know how terrible I really am." She crossed her arms.

"I've killed a lot of people." I crossed my arms as well, staring at her. "I'm usually apathetic to suffering if it's not in front of my eyes. I'm extremely lustful and greedy. I prioritize my own happiness and of those I care about over anyone else. I'm not a good person."

"Don't try to compete with me." She pursed her lips. "You will lose because you're not a bad person. You're a wonderful and caring man who's willing to make a monster like me feel loved."

"And Izzy is one of the most amazing women I've ever met. She's kind and compassionate and tries to hide it under a veil of apathy and self-loathing. And anyone would be lucky to have any kind of affection from her."

"You're impossible." She threw her hands up with a frown. "…..where do we go from here?"

I reached out, grabbing her hand again. "I said I'm a greedy person, Izzy. I won't ever want to let you go."

She trembled slightly, a faint pink brushing her cheeks. "Idiot, don't make that sound like it's a detriment."

"Would….you like to try again?" I offered. "Or if you want to go slower we can – "

"Wilhelm." She cut me off. "Shut up and kiss me."

Well, I didn't need to be told twice. Nor did she wait for me to actually make a move, she leaned in, and I quickly captured this Goddess's lips properly this time. It was unfortunate that the passionate kiss only lasted a few moments as a knock on the door interrupted our little moment. And it was quickly followed by Shunsui walking in to see Izzy and I in a bit of an awkward position where it was very obvious what we had just been doing.

"You didn't see anything." Izzy told him.

"I didn't see anything." He immediately agreed.

Izzy, with a cute blush, scooted herself over to properly sit next to me on my side of the table as I followed suit.

Shunsui awkwardly moved himself opposite of us and sat down.

He was bandaged up noticeably and looked utterly exhausted.

I sneakily moved my hand under the table, taking hers once more, our fingers interlocking. A tiny smile made its way to her face despite the situation.

"Speak, what do you want?" Izzy cut right to the chase, possibly a little annoyed by the interruption.

"I...On behalf of the Gotei 13, I would like to ask for clarification on some…..matters that were discussed earlier." He cleared his throat.

And by that, he wanted to know probably what she meant by 'get your shit together or I'm taking back the land you're on'.

"Very well." Izzy grumbled. "You have been a proper host, so I will show you some courtesy. Ask your questions."

[***]

Yoruichi POV

"Been awhile since I've been to one of these Captain meetings." I looked around the room to see all the old faces. "So, what's on the agenda for today? Is it about the Aizen thing? The one we warned you about, the reason we were all kicked out originally?"

Watching all the Captains collectively frown made me all giddy.

"Little Byakuya, you alright over there?" I smiled happily, looking at his arm in a cast and his face kind of pale.

Actually, most of them were pretty beat up or wounded. I think the healing division was preoccupied with the more severely hurt, so they only got some bandages and told to tough it out.

"I am fine." He practically hissed.

"It's a shame, I wanted the brat to kick your ass, but it was some Quincy, huh?"

"A mere Ryoka is not worth any consideration."

"Even if he already learned Bankai?" I hummed, making his eyes widen. "But who would have guessed the Quincy. And the betrayal by Aizen. Right, who could have foreseen or warned everyone about that!"

"We get it, Yoruichi." Shunsui sighed.

"Do you, do you really?" I looked at him.

"Shihōin Yoruichi." The Old Man opened his mouth. "This is not a place – "

"No." I raised my voice. He was surprised by my tone, opening his eyes slightly. "I did my job, I did my duty. I served in my position for years and never did anything to warrant so much as a talking to. Yet, when suddenly something happens, we're all thrown under the bus so quickly without even a chance to defend ourselves. And look, proof that we were right all along. That maybe there was a conspiracy when suddenly nearly half the standing Captains were cast out. Not just Tessai, Kisuke and myself, you know who I'm talking about. You don't get to just sweep it under the rug like it didn't happen when we had to run away from our home."

"Are you done?" The Old Man grumbled.

"Yes." I breathed out. I guess I'd been holding that in for a while.

"You were wronged." He acknowledged, closing his eyes.

"All of us were, Old Man." I made sure to specify. "And They probably aren't going to be as forgiving as Kisuke or I am. Tessai probably won't ever take back up his spot as Kidō Captain even if you pardon and give him an apology. And frankly, I don't know if I want to come back. But we're more than willing to help with dealing with Aizen."

The Old Man looked at me for a moment and nodded. "Aizen escaped along with Ichimaru Gin during the conflict. It's clear he was associating with Hollows and an execution order has been summarily signed. As Kaname Tōsen disappeared as well, we are assuming he is colluding with the traitors and will be treated similarly.

"Yeah, he was one of the ones working with Aizen." I grunted.

"We would like all the information you have on Aizen and any associates of his. And the object that he was trying to retrieve from Kuchiki Rukia."

"I would like an answer as to why something was hidden inside of my sister." Little Byakuya also spoke up.

Ugh, I wish Kisuke was here for this. "It's called the Hogyoku. I don't really know much about it, but according to Kisuke, it can remove the barriers between Shinigami and Hollows. He….thinks that Aizen also had one, which considering the fact that there were a significant amount of Arrancar, well…."

"Arrancar have appeared in the past, but never more than one or two over the past thousand years." Shunsui rubbed his chin. "That would explain some things. They weren't pushovers, if things went on longer…."

"They had impressive Reiatsu, but were they that strong?" Little Sui-Feng asked. "I was busy fighting the apparent Quincy invasion, so I didn't get a chance to see them up close. Except for that one that got in front of the Captain Commander, and that one didn't last long."

"No less than any of us, I'm afraid." Ukitake sighed. "They're strong, skilled and ruthless."

"Great, so we have two groups wanting us dead and they all have combatants equal to us in strength, if not more numerous than our standing Captains." Captain Hitsugaya scowled. "And the traitors that ran away with a fourth of our combat potential. Not to mention that Aizen was hiding his strength."

"Hard to miss that." Shunsui agreed. "His Reiatsu was much more impressive than what he let on. And he wasn't entirely truthful about his Zanpakutō's ability."

"It's absolute Hypnosis." I chimed in. "It's one of the reasons we've been having difficulty dealing with him. He can completely control anyone's senses that has seen him release his sword."

"Ara, that's….."

"And we've all seen it." Captain Komamura's voice rumbled from beneath his helmet.

"So Aizen has the ability to completely control what we can see, feel, sense, etc. He also has an army of Hollows at his beck and call, as shown by the numerous Menos Grande and Adjucha classes that invaded. And to top it off, he has a group of Arrancar that are at the very least, on par with us in strength." Shunsui rambled. "Did I miss anything?"

"The Quincy." Kenpachi hummed, seemingly the only person in a good mood. "They were pretty good, can't wait to fight them again. And the Hollows sound interesting too, I almost can't decide who I want to fight."

"….thank you, Kenpachi."

"I'm currently working on a way to trace the Quincy's point of origin. I believe I shall have a means within the week if things progress at the same rate they were before the second invasion." Mayuri spoke up. "However, I would like to request samples from the – "

"No."

"Denied."

"Absolutely not."

"Please don't."

"Fuck off, Mayuri." I also added in my own thoughts.

"Your request is denied, Captain Kurotsuchi. And I would like to be very clear that your only priority right now is to focus on finding the whereabouts of the Quincy stronghold." The Old Man glared at Mayuri.

Mayuri scoffed but didn't argue. "And this Hogyoku, are we going to retrieve it from this supposed Devil?"

There was a beat of silence as everyone glanced around the room before they all looked at me. "Hey, I'm not holding your hands here. I'm technically still a fugitive."

"As it is clear that the Central 46 were killed by Aizen in his rebellion, my authority is the highest until we can reestablish the governing body. As such, I am officially pardoning everyone involved in the events that occurred a hundred years ago." The Old Man spoke up.

"Awesome, still not gonna help there."

"Come on, Yoruichi, can you give us something?" Ukitake asked.

"Seriously, don't look at me, this is new to me too. He only said that his Mom was human before, I didn't know he was a…..Devil. I didn't even know they were real or what that even means. It's not like I'm going to Sunday school with humans or something." I held my hands up. "So if you wanna go poke the race of beings that we had no idea existed until now, go be my guest. And you can also upset his friend."

Fuck, I guess it mase sense why his Reiatsu felt so damn weird and almost Hollow like. But seriously, a Devil!? What the hell, I didn't even know they existed and by everyone else's expressions at the revelation, neither did they.

"Captain Kyōraku." The Captain Commander grunted. "You spoke with him and the…. Woman." He almost sounded…respectful there.

Shunsui tilted his hat down. "You mean if I asked the Goddess about how she ordered us to, and I quote 'Clean up our mess otherwise she's going to do it for us', then yes, yes I did."

"Report, Captain Kyōraku."

Shunsui sighed, and the Old Man didn't even chide him for his lackadaisical demeanor. "Right, her orders were that the kids will be going home. That Kuchiki Rukia is innocent of any supposed crime and that we….clean up Soul Society otherwise she's going to take back the land we're standing on."

"Are we really going to believe that she's a…." Captain Hitsugaya didn't need to finish his sentence, but everyone could guess what he was asking.

"Capital 'G', Goddess?" I finished for him. "Go ahead and call her out, it's not like she showed why she can back up that claim. Or is your Japanese Mythology a bit rusty there?"

"I don't pay attention to Human Myths." The Younger captain scowled.

"Izanami-no-Mikoto, one of two creator Gods of Japan. In the myths she and her Husband, Izanagi, raised Japan out of the sea with a spear by the name of Amenonuhoko. Which…..I'm pretty sure we just saw." Shunsui replied, blinking as everyone stared at him. "What? Nanao's an Ise, they're a long line of Shinto Priestesses. I had her give me a rundown, and some of the stories do not paint a good picture."

I wouldn't call myself knowledgeable about human myths and crap, but even I knew about Izanami. I knew the big names of Shintoism, and yeah…..the fact that it's probably not made up right now is giving me anxiety.

…..she was right when we asked about her name.

"I looked through my family records, and the only God we acknowledge is the Soul King." Byakuya spoke up. "There is no mention of any other Deities in existence. By what right does she claim ownership over Soul Society?"

"Right…." Shunsui scratched his cheek. "She mentioned this when I asked. And she was not happy mind you. But….you know when Soul Society was created….where do you think the land it's made of came from?"

Everyone took a moment to process that and we all came to the same realization. "Oh." Was the collective response.

"But…..Soul Society, the three realms were created by the Soul King before recorded history!" Captain Hitsugaya countered.

….or we we're told? We don't have much to go on but the legends and stories.

"I'm pretty sure she's older than Humanity….." Shunsui said dryly. "I would also like to point out, does everyone remember the thing that happened a little over a week ago with the realm shaking and the sky turning dark? ….that was her being upset."

…..well then.

This just opens up so many questions that I don't think I want to know the answer to.

Fucking Wilhelm.

Mr. 'Oh, I have a friend and she's a pretty good stick to wave around'!

I'm gonna kick his ass the next time I see him because he somehow brought a damn Goddess with him! I'll probably kiss him right after because of what happened to Aizen, but still.

A week ago, I thought I knew the ins and outs of the world. Besides some tightly held secrets, there wasn't much I didn't know. And then comes the Devil and the Goddess that came and smacked my understanding of the world right off a cliff.

I wanted to call bullshit, I think everyone wanted to call bullshit on someone revealing themselves as a Goddess, but frankly, it's pretty damn hard to argue with what happened.

"I will send a message to the Zero Division." The Captain Commander tapped his cane on the ground. "Until we receive a response, everyone –" He glared at Mayuri. "Is ordered to treat our guests with the utmost respect."

"….and her orders?" Ukitake asked.

"Will be followed." The Old Man uncharacteristically sighed. "However, our priority right now are the enemies that are at our doorstep. We have been wounded, our pride has been stepped on. We will show them why we have stood unwavering for thousands of years." He let out a grunt, and a wave of Reiatsu flowed over us. "Shihōin Yoruichi."

"I know what you're gonna ask. I'll go talk to the others and see where they stand after I bring the kids back." I waved him off.

He nodded in thanks.

"Now, Captain Unohana, begin your report on our casualties and wounded."

I droned out what came next.

Honestly, the only consolation in all of this is that I can just imagine how utterly furious and confused Aizen must be right now. That, and I get to see the look on Kisuke's face when I tell him everything that happened.

I think that's the only thing keeping me sane at the moment.

[***]

A/N

Well, that's been a long time coming. One awkward confession later and Izzy's finally a part of the Harem.