Simmering Fury

"That's one big bastard..." remarked Ohta, referring to the giant Hollow that had plunged from the crack in the sky. It was easily between twenty and thirty meters tall, wore a white mask with beady eyes and a pointed nose, and its massive frame garbed in a black robe from head to pointed toe, giving it an appearance reminiscent of a demonic Nun.

"It's called a Menos," revealed Yoruichi, perched upon Ohta's shoulder. "More accurately, it's a Gillian-Class Menos. Their power allows them to go head to head with weaker Lieutenants, but their intelligence is low, and they're easy to avoid so long as you have a decent mastery of Hoho."

"Then, how's Ichigo supposed to defeat one?" asked Ohta. "From what I've seen, he can barely airwalk, much less execute a proper movement technique..."

"We've been over this before..." muttered Yoruichi. "Similar to you, Ichigo also possesses monstrous reserves of energy. Unlike you, however, his is spirit energy. If he could tap into and utilize it as he pleases, he'd surpass most Captains..."

Snorting through his nose, Ohta sardonically remarked, "Then let's hope he doesn't die..."

"He'll be fine," assured Yoruichi. "Just wa-oh, it's already over? That was much faster than expected..."

As Yoruichi noted, the defeat of the Gillian-Class Menos didn't even take twenty seconds from its emergence to its departure. All it managed was to fire off an energy blast eerily similar to the lasers Ohta unleashed in his Kusho state. Ichigo managed to tank the shot with his sword, and before the Gillian could fire a second one, he sent it fleeing with a slash from his blade that caused a penetrative energy wave to run up the Hollow's entire body, chipping its mask.

"How is this over?" asked Ohta, promptly pointing out. "The damned thing is getting away..."

"Just let it," said Yoruichi. "There is a functionally infinite number of Menos inhabiting Hueco Mundo. If you chased after it and somehow ended up on the other side, even you would be fucked."

"Whatever..." replied Ohta, adding, "I'm going to go find Rukia. If this ends up being our last night together, I'm putting it to use..."

"How enviable..." muttered Yoruichi, primarily as a joke, but there was a tell-tale glimmer in her golden eyes. It had been a few weeks since she and Ohta had 'resonated,' and it was starting to bother her...

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*pa* *pa* *pa* *pa* *pa* *pa* *pa* *pa* *pa* *pa*

"You're...being...too...rough...!" moaned Rukia, her brows furrowed and face contorted in vexation and pleasure as Ohta railed her from behind. She also knew their time was limited, but Ohta's passion left her feeling like her brain was going to melt, expelling her Soul from her body...

Pulling out of Rukia's tight snatch, Ohta turned her around, picking her up and slipping his cock inside her as she clung to him like a koala, trembling violently. He had told her they were fucking until the sun came up, so that was precisely what they did...

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"Haaaa....haaaaa...haaaaaaaa..."

Lying against Ohta with a completely blank expression, his hand, as usual, holding her ass, Rukia found it difficult to focus her gaze or form coherent thoughts. She felt like she was going to 'break' numerous times during the passionate intercourse, so the fact she hadn't scared her a little...

Alleviating Rukia's muddleheadedness in an instant, Ohta whispered, "I love you..." in a faint but deep tone that caused the diminutive Shinigami to tremble from her core. He often remarked that he loved specific parts of her, but this was the first time Ohta had affirmed his love directly.

Tearing up, Rukia buried her face into Ohta's chest, meekly whimpering, "You idiot..." in a sobbing tone. She was still hoping that Ohta wouldn't follow her into the Soul Society, but if her execution was announced, she knew he would find a way to reach her...

Cradling the crying Shinigami in his arms, Ohta found the idea of whisking Rukia away to safety increasingly difficult to suppress. Over the past few weeks, he had even started to suspect they were soul mates. However, as the person who most frequently appeared in his mind when it roamed was Yoruichi, it was difficult to be certain...

After deliberating for five minutes, Ohta attempted to lighten the mood by asking, "Want to go another round...?"

Hearing Ohta's question, Rukia slowly raised her face from Ohta's chest, revealing tear-stained cheeks, a lonesome expression, and watery eyes. She wanted to chastise him for making light of the situation, but after a moment of silence, she gave a slight nod, replying, "I want to feel closer to you..."

"There's no one else even half as close..." assured Ohta, adopting a faint smile as he teased, "But I'm certain we can become even closer if we put in the effort..." Then, even though they had already been going at it from around 8:18 PM to 5:49 AM, they made slow and gentle love until hunger compelled them to get up and eat...

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"Good, you're both here," said Yoruichi, phasing through the front door of Ohta's apartment in her cat form. Rukia covered her body with a sheet as she did so, but Ohta immediately got up, grabbed his boxers, and started to get dressed, asking, "Is it time...?" with a solemn look.

Nodding her head, Yoruichi directed her gaze at Rukia, revealing, "The Soul Society dispatched your brother, Kuchiki Byakuya, and his recently appointed Lieutenant, Abarai Renji. It won't be long before they discover this location."

Hearing that her brother, of all people, had come to retrieve her, Rukia's body started to tremble. She knew Ohta was powerful, but if he were to cross paths with Byakuya, he might not even be able to react before he received a fatal blow. Inversely, if Ohta turned out to be a match for her brother, seriously injuring or killing him, the Soul Society and the Kuchiki Clan would hunt him to the ends of the Earth...

Noticing Rukia on the verge of a panic attack, Ohta's expression softened as he said, "Relax...I promised I wouldn't intervene unless they attempted to harm you, remember? If their only objective is to arrest you, I'll stay out of it..."

As Ohta was 'usually' pretty good about keeping his word, Rukia exhaled a sigh of relief. She liked, even loved, Ohta, but she also felt an irremediable debt of gratitude toward Byakuya and the Kuchiki Clan. Renji was also a 'colleague' from her days as an impoverished youth stealing to survive in the Rukon District. They hadn't talked for more than forty years, but Rukia didn't want him to die at the hands of Ohta. As for the opposite occurring, she couldn't really imagine Renji harming Ohta in the slightest...

"Once you're ready, we'll set out and wait for them at a local shrine," said Yoruichi. "It's best if the Soul Society doesn't know the exact location of Ohta's apartment."

Directing her gaze to Ohta, Yoruichi narrowed her eyes and added, "As for you...I suggest you wait here. They definitely won't attempt to kill her, but there's a chance they will rough her up a bit. If you leap out to try and put a stop to things, everything comes crashing down..."

"..."

Glaring at Yoruichi with a fierce expression, Ohta was about to ask if she had gone senile in her old age when Rukia placed her hand on his arm, her expression soft and loving as she whispered, "I'll be fine..." in a faint, soothing tone. Soul Society wouldn't have dispatched her brother and someone she knew from her childhood if they intended to kill her. Rather, as Byakuya was the one coming to pick her up, Rukia believed the odds of her being placed under house arrest weren't zero...

("This shit better work out...") thought Ohta, responding to Rukia's words with a chaste but lingering kiss before whispering, "Then I'll see you on the other side..."

Though she returned a loving smile, Rukia caused Ohta's smile to cramp as she replied, "Just remember what I told you before..."

Understanding that Rukia was referring to 'permitting' him to see and sleep with other women if she was placed on house arrest, Ohta's smile faded as he asserted, "If you can wait, so can I..."

Standing on the tips of her toes, Rukia gave Ohta a quick peck on the lips before musing, "Then I'll see you around, dog boy..."

"Take care of yourself, spider-bunny..." replied Ohta, releasing his hold on Rukia and allowing her to depart alongside Yoruichi. Her departure made his small apartment seem much larger, like a barren and lifeless void, but Ohta did his best not to let his feelings show, stripping out of his clothes to take a long, scaldingly hot shower...

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Arriving a few hours after her departure with Rukia, Yoruichi found Ohta at his desk, his expression completely lifeless as he sketched the image of a familiar Shinigami in his sketchbook.

Exhaling a faint sigh, Yoruichi furrowed her feline brows and remarked, "You look like shit..."

"And your breath smells like rotten tuna..." retorted Ohta, adding a bit of detail to the sketch's eyes. One of the mistakes he had made in his past life was failing to keep a record of what little happiness he had been able to find. Thus, while the memory was fresh in his mind, he was attempting to preserve the image of Rukia's potentially final smile...

Realizing that Ohta didn't want to be disturbed, Yoruichi made her way over to his bed, leaping onto it before curling up near where he usually placed his head. The entire bed smelled of sex, but the scent of Ohta's pheromones served to both calm and excite her...

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"So, what did you come here for?" asked Ohta, interrupting Yoruichi's catnap.

Stretching her body like an actual cat, Yoruichi replied, "I figured you'd be relieved to learn that Rukia returned to Soul Society without sustaining so much as a single injury."

Though he was genuinely relieved, causing him to fall silent for several seconds, Ohta eventually questioned, "Is that all? I'm certain Ichigo got dragged into things somehow..."

"You're right," replied Yoruichi. "Since Rukia didn't attend school today, your favorite strawberry intended to come looking for her. Along the way, he happened to encounter Rukia being 'accosted' by two Shinigami, so he reacted exactly how you might imagine."

"He got his ass kicked...?" asked Ohta.

"Indeed," replied Yoruichi, adopting a catty smile as she added, "Not only that, but his Hakusui(Soul Sleep) was destroyed, and his Saketsu(Binding Chain) was severely completely. In other words, he no longer possesses the power of a Shinigami."

"..."

Before Ohta could ask what the point of having Ichigo lose his powers was, Yoruichi teased, "You should be pleased. I can't imagine you were particularly enthused, knowing a boy your age was running around with your girlfriend's spirit essence empowering his body..."

Though he had never thought about it before, Ohta did not attempt to refute Yoruichi's words. Instead, he asked, "So, what now? Kisuke makes Ichigo his pawn by offering him power and goading him into launching an attack on Soul Society...?"

"Something like that," replied Yoruichi. "However, Ichigo isn't the only one who will be participating in Rukia's recovery. During yesterday's incident, several of your former classmates awakened unique spiritual powers. One of the reasons I came over was to ask if you'd like to help me train them?"

Furrowing his brows, Ohta remarked, "If you tell me that Tatsuki's going to be there, I'm going to punt you..."

Exhaling a scoffing chuckle, Yoruichi flatly retorted, "You can try," before promptly evading Ohta's foot, landing atop his left shoulder as she added, "But no, Arisawa Tatsuki is not among those who awakened powers. She did receive a considerable boost to her spirit energy, but her 'rationale' is too grounded in reality. The duo who awakened abilities, becoming High-Spec Humans, are Inoue Orihime and Sado Yasutora."

"Hard pass," replied Ohta, not wanting anything to do with training the bubbly ginger. His limited interactions with Chad made the inordinately tall and taciturn Japanese-Mexican seem like a bro, but they had never been friends.

Shrugging her feline shoulders, Yoruichi remarked, "I thought you would say that." before leaping off his shoulder. "Anyways, I'm going to be out for a few days. You should use the time between now and our departure to center yourself. You have more than enough power to go toe-to-toe with most Lieutenants, and if you got serious, even Captains would have difficulty defeating you. If you can learn your Zanpakuto's name, you'll be a force to be reckoned with..."

Staring at the weapon resting on Ohta's desk, resembling a fairly modern bayonet, Yoruichi prompted the former to do the same.

"Right..." replied Ohta, his brows creasing to their limits. Alongside the cat he accompanied whenever he slept, an abyssal black shadow resembling a jackal had appeared in his soul space. The terrain outside the Japanese palace had also become a wasteland, bearing traces of ancient and modern battles. Unfortunately, no matter how he tried to coax the jackal into speaking to him, it immediately ran away...

Before turning to leave, Yoruichi narrowed her eyes and said, "If you need me, call Rukia's phone. She entrusted it to me before leaving, requesting that I look after you in her stead..."

"Just leave..." growled Ohta, not in the mood to deal with Yoruichi's antics. Fortunately, she did exactly that, disappearing through his front door and leaving him to his thoughts...

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(A/N: Poor Ohta (U ^ U)...)