Chapter 21: Spirits?

"Finally, those ten hours took a long time. I wonder what Jasmine is up to right now."

After returning from his sea of consciousness, Yun Che was back to his own body. He was about to open his eyes but,

"Milord ? Are you awake? My lord, please answer me". The voice pleaded.

"Milord? Whose voice was this? All I remember was Jasmine was the only one in my inner world. If she started to call me 'My Lord,' I would rather have Zangetsu shoved his feet up my ass." Yun Che sighs. Wait, Jasmine's voice was young and quiet, had this arrogant tone. This voice sounded rather womanly, and it was pretty soothing to hear. As she talked, he swore he could feel the aura of coldness around him. As Yun Che was figuring out the mysterious voice, another voice entered his ear.

"Calm down, my lady. His connection with our souls finally restored itself. He'll wake up very soon."

"That voice, Old Zangetsu? Where is he? His inner world? The void?"

Then, another voice kicks in. An annoying voice that Yun Che was very familiar with. "Hmph…This bastard, let me have a few rounds with his face. I am sure a few slaps and kicks would wake him up."

'Ah, that voice.' Yun Che's sweat dropped. That was the voice of his hollowed self. Yun Che's subconscious was stupefied. The main question was how did they get into his inner world?

Then, he suddenly felt something on his face. He admitted it was soft. Bouncy soft. Then, that soothing voice sounds once more. "No, don't you dare… He'll wake up soon. I can feel his feelings through us again." It sounds like a showdown is about to start between Hoyuu and the owner of that soothing voice.

"Don't worry. A slap is all I need."

"You! You might have the same face as Milord, but that doesn't mean you're entitled to hit him!"

"Can you all stop bickering? He'll wake up soon enough. The disciple of this princess isn't going to die so easily. If he does, I'll find him in the afterlife and kill him again."

That voice, Jasmine? Did she talk to them? Can she converse with his Zanpakuto spirits? Just how?

He had many questions and wouldn't play dead for much longer as he heard those Zanpakuto spirits of his were going to start a rumble. Good thing it was far from him. "All right, now the time to wake up before Hoyuu slaps the living hell of me." Yun Che finally grunts as if waking up from a long slumber. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Jasmine. She wore a snow blue kimono with a red sash around her waist. Seeing her in that, he was entirely speechless for a while. She was pretty beautiful, and Yun Che was stunned by her momentarily.

It's almost like he thought he was still dreaming.

Jasmine wore a kimono isn't something he could see every day. It might be every day now that she properly became his master. He smiled as it was better than her bloodied outfit.

"Hmph, about time you wake up. This princess started to get bored after ten hours. I assume the process is complete??" Jasmine asked Yun Che.

"Yeah, it was. Mind telling me the license plate of that truck that hit me?" Yun Che slowly got up, and Jasmine was clueless about what he was talking about.

"This world change a lot. What happened?" Yun Che asked Jasmine.

"You tell me."

His inner world changed a lot after the upgrade. Previously, the sky in his world had two layers of color. Now, his inner world sky color divided itself into three colors. One part of the sky was red, another was green, and the last was blue. Moreover, his inner atmosphere was still full of stars compared to before. Yun Che can feel that his Heretic God powers came from the red part of the sky, his Sky Poison Pearl from the green part, and his Soul powers from the blue part of the sky. The cloud formation was expanding, and it was becoming even more beautiful. The system core was getting larger and shinier. It almost resembles a star.

The skies remind him of the Soverngard Realm from Skyrim—a realm he can access only once.

His floating island was expanding rapidly as well. It was now the size of two football fields, and Yun Che was under a massive spiritual tree. As Jasmine said, the mysterious tree suddenly grew from the middle part of the land when he was hibernating. It was surprisingly huge, but it had no leaves on it. The man could sense the power of his Profound Spirit Force. Could it be it represents his cultivation? He assumed the tree grew after successive fusion in his power sources.

But his mind refocuses back on Jasmine. He turned towards her and was curious about the kimono she was wearing. He never bought anything Japanese-related for her, and the last time he saw her was in that bloodied outfit where she found the little beauty. "Where did you get these clothes?" Yun Che asked her.

"Milord!!! You are finally up. I was so worried." A woman was sprinting towards him and immediately tackled him to the ground.

"Ekkkk, so cold and quite soft." Yun Che realized that his head was on her bosom. That feeling was softer than any pillow he had slept on before.

'No..no..no…now not the time for that.' Yun Che finally looked at the owner of the soothing voice as he was curious. Now he can take a good long look at her. The soothing voice woman was a pale-skinned young woman with icy blue eyes. She has long, pale lavender hair, partially tied up in the back in a long bun, and falls behind her shoulders while a strand falls between her eyes and is parted on the left side of her head by a blue, star-shaped hair clip. She wears a white kimono with oversized sleeves and a long hem and has a pale yellow-green obi wrapped around her waist, which is attached to a large, pale purple bow on her back.

She was beautiful and can be considered a literal heavenly beauty. She was comparable to Jasmine herself.

"You are...." Yun Che slowly murmured as he recognized this girl. She appears in some episodes of the Bleach filler arc The Zanpakuto Unknown Tales – The Rebellion Arc. She is the materialization and human form of Kuchiki Rukia's Zanpakuto Spirit.

"Sode No Shirayuki," Yun Che subconsciously said, earning her attention.

"Milord, you recognized me? Even you never met me before? I am so happy." The heavenly beauty immediately cried and started to hug Yun Che once more. For a Zanpakuto, for their master to recognize them is a sign that their master acknowledges them. Of course, Yun Che knows her. She was one of his 2D crushes in his previous world.

"Hmph… It's about time you wake up. One more second, and I might shove my feet down your throat." Hoyuu was speaking while looking at him, smiling creepily. Sode No Shirayuki wasn't aware of his and Hoyuu's frienemies relationship and tightened the hug around Yun Che while glaring at his evil self.

"Nice to be up as well, Hoyuu." Yun Che looked at him while smiling as well.

[Ding…affinity with Hoyuu increased by 5]

Ah, yes, affinity. These points were awarded to the host, Yun Che himself, if his relationship with his Zanpakuto improved. With zero being the lowest and a hundred is the highest. Since Zangetsu was a male, the connection at complete affinity was as close as his brothers. He instead dies if it goes beyond.

Not the same can be said among female Zanpakutos.

"Looks like you have grown stronger, boy." Old Zangetsu interjects.

"Heretic God Arts. Quite a trick you learned. I will use these new tricks to beat your sorry ass later." Hoyuu declared as he sweatdropped. He forgets that Hoyuu learned what he learned. It means this hollowed Zanpakuto has access to the Heretic God Berserk Arts. Wonder if he can beat this hollow of his in the future.

"Yeah, 'stronger.' Sort of." Yun Che hides his level for now. Who knows what they might do to him if he tells them he lost half his stories? He technically nerfed himself.

"Ara…Hsss…, your aura grows stronger. You are worthy enough to be my master, after all." A sexy and alluring voice suddenly enters Yun Che's ears.

This voice….

A white snake suddenly emerges beside him. The snake was snow white and had red eyes. Yun Che was shocked because this was his first time seeing a talking snake.

"Did I just die or go crazy? I saw a snake talking to me." He started to ask his other spirits.

"Hey, that's rude. Hissss…." the snake replied to him with tick marks.

"The snake talks!!" Yun Che pretended to be shocked again.

"Hsss….this guy is asking for a beating… hiss... "The snake was preparing its tail to slap the living shit out of him, and Yun Che raised his hands in defense.

"Hahaha… can't help it. It is my first time seeing a talking snake. So I assume you are Zabimaru? "Yun Che regains his bearing.

"In the flesh….Well, part of me. Originally, I was supposed to have a baboon form, but I only have my snake form for some reason. Odd. Hssss…I don't have my human form yet. My human would be available if you mastered bankai with me…. hiss…." Zabimaru's snake form answered his question.

"One day for sure, Zabimaru. How did all of you in here anyway? I thought you couldn't enter my inner world." Yun Che asked his spirits.

His spirits kept quiet, and even Hoyuu turned his back on him, unsure what to answer. Shirayuki has taken the mantle of answering his question. "Milord, ever since our connection was off. I ….I mean, we started to worry about you. Everyone was as if the past was attacking us again. So we forcefully materialize ourselves in your inner world and regain this form of ours. It is been a while since I had human form. The last time was…." Shirayuki suddenly went quiet on the last part. Shaking her head, she continued.

"So we enter your world to look for you. We saw a young lady sitting in front of you. We thought she was the one who defeated you, but even if her clothes were blood-soaked, we sensed no malice from her. So we didn't try to harm her. Ever since then, we stand guard in front of your body...…."

*drip

A tear suddenly fell on Yun Che's hand.

"Please, don't ever sever the connection. The feeling was too much to bear." She immediately hugged Yun Che once more. She started to cry again, remembering the feeling of being severely disconnected from her master.

Her old master.

"Shirayuki, what happened to your old master?" Yun Che asked Shirayuki. At first, she was reluctant to tell, but this man is her new master. She won't lose him like she lost her previous one.

"I don't know. We were supposed to die alongside our masters, but somehow all Zanpakuto from back then were sent to a world where we all existed. Alive and well. We all lost our masters as they were severely cut off from us. No explanation and no nothing. We were never summoned once more. We lost everything: our masters, our swords, and our powers. Some of the Zanpakuto spirits were trying to return, but the world we were trying to go to has ceased to exist. In the end, all Zanpakutos went into slumber as we waited for thousands and thousands of years. Awaiting for the call of a master or Shinigami once more."

"Wait…. Did something happen to the Bleach world? What happened to them for the Zanpakutos to be severely removed from their masters?

"Then, I was summoned once more. The feeling of having a master was awakened within me—after thousands of years in slumber. I was delighted that I was granted a master's once more. How long I waited to be free from eternal sleep. I was looking forward to meeting you. Then, when your life was forced extinguished, I came out looking for you. I am not going back to that long slumber. Should you perish, let me or us perish with you." Shirayuki spoke between sobs. She waited thousands of years to be granted a master again and now only to lose him.

"Well, Jasmine explained to us about your situation. Hoyuu was about to go full hollow on you. Knowing that you immediately died after being resurrected." Old Zangetsu explained.

"You are my king, but you being a whiny bitch isn't one of my forte. If it weren't for that red-haired brat explaining things, I would obliterate your body." Hoyuu immediately points the sword in front of his face.

Patting the sword away, Yun Che pats Sode No Shirayuki's head to assure her. "I am sorry, everyone. The reconstruction process requires absolute silence and no interference. I didn't mean it. It will be the first and last, I promise. Don't worry, Shirayuki. I might not know what happened to your previous masters and their world, but I assure you, all of you are my Zanpakutos. As my spirits, you will live and die alongside me."

"It better be. I won't be sent back there. Not anymore." Zabimaru nodded.

"Umu," old man Zangetsu nodded.

"Do it again, you bastard. I might kick your ass for fun," Hoyuu said, and Yun Che nodded in understanding. Hoyuu was his protector. Despite his being evil, he was the one who looked after him, and he was being thankful to him.

"Promise me, Milord, promise you wouldn't do it again?" Shirayuki looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"I promised," Yun Che replied, still patting her head and hugging her. These Zanpakuto spirits may look ordinary, but they were waiting for a master for who knows how long. He promises to treasure them as the system awards them to him. He might feel sorry for the other Zanpakuto spirits still waiting inside this Spirit World that Shirayuki mentioned. Not all Zanpakutos can be with him, but as his current Zanpakutos, he'll do his best to care for them. As Jasmine watches his interaction with Shirayuki, she felt an uneasy feeling in her heart. A beautiful sword spirit hugs her disciple with emotions that make her uncomfortable. She immediately shakes it off.

"Yun Che, aren't you forgetting something?" Jasmine spoke with a flat tone.

"Forget what?" Jasmine didn't say anything as she pointed toward his spirit tree. He turned and saw two eyes watching him from behind the tree. As the eyes saw him, two figures suddenly emerged and ran towards him at full speed.

"Onii-chan!!!!!" Two voices sounded behind him, and it was getting closer and closer before ramming him to the ground. Shirayuki saw them from a distance before slowly getting off him, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

"What in the...….UGGHhh…" He grunted before blinking his eyes and saw the sources of the voices that landed on his torso. When his eyes were clear, Yun Che saw twin girls wearing Japanese priestesses or Miko outfits. Both wore these Miko outfits with red skirts. The girls have green eyes and long white hair. They looked lovely as if they were children blessed by the heavens.

"This aura…Sogyo No Kotowari?" Yun Che immediately identifies them. He widened his eyes as these children weren't like the original Sogyo No Kotowari design from the original Bleach. The same goes for Zabimaru. Except for Shirayuki, the other two seem quite different from their counterparts. What could be the main reason their original form changes?

Supposedly, Sōgyo no Kotowari should manifest its spirit as two young boys with light green eyes and silver hair pulled back into ponytails and hanging down in large bangs before their faces. They should wear large, triangular blue hats with small red fans on either side, light blue robes over kimonos with vertical red and yellow stripes near their waists, lightweight beige hakama, and blue shoes.

However, they manifested as two little twin girls with traditional Miko outfits. The upper part of their clothes is white with red linings, while their lower part is red. Their features were almost the same as their male counterpart. These two had silver hair with green eyes. Their hair hangs down as bangs and lets loose until their waist instead of tying them into ponytails. They also wore white socks with red sandals.

"Nii-chan is okay, Nii-chan is okay." The girls immediately surround him as if they found a new toy to play with.

"Nii-chan, are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere? That pretty nee-chan said you went to heaven just now. Do you bring candy for us?" Yun Che was bombarded with questions from the twins.

"I am okay, see? I am as strong as ever." Instead of freaking out, Yun Che reassured them by patting their head. Despite them being Zanpakuto spirits, he still treated them like little girls.

"Ne nii-chan? Are you going to heaven again? We can't feel you if you're going to heaven again. It hurts to feel it." The girls started to cry after saying that. Shirayuki came by before she began to hug them, as she understood that feeling well.

Yun Che frowns as he is always fond of little girls. Another thing he hates the most is seeing a girl crying in front of him, tiny girls like these twins. It reminds him of how a father feels for his daughters. He pats their head as he gives them a sweet smile. "No…no..no…I am not going anymore. Nii-chan is staying." Yun Che reassured the girls to prevent them from crying again.

"Really, yeah…nii–Chan is staying with us." The twin girls were happy once more. They were going around and around him. Jasmine only said he passed out as they couldn't feel the connection. It took her a while to reassure them.

It reminds her of her little sisters back in God's Realm.

"It's getting lively in here. Never expect your spirits to care for you." Jasmine said while looking at him.

"Yeah, they care." Yun Che told her he refused to let them feel the loss of connection again.

Shirayuki turned towards him and bowed her head. The twin girls and Zabimaru followed her actions. As for Hoyuu and Old Zangetsu, they watched from the side but were thankful to him. "My lord, thank you for summoning us as your Zanpakutos. Thank you for freeing us from that world. Having a master once more is a blissful feeling. Promise you won't leave us."

"You girls are my precious spirits. Of course, I won't leave you. Let us grow more robust in this new world. From now on, I, Yukihira Yuuki, acknowledge you girls, Zangetsu and Zabimaru, as my Zanpakuto. Please take good care of me."

"Hai~~, please take care of us as well, Yuuki-sama," Shirayuki spoke with a healthy blush. Initially, her former master was a female, and she had never experienced having a male master before. Maybe this time, she can explore her wonderful feeling when looking at her new master's smile.

"Likewise, king," Hoyuu spoke as he leaned on the tree. Old Zangetsu seems to use his spirit tree as a base.

After going through a round of reassuring, Yun Che sent his spirits back to their world and promised to visit them later. He wanted to see their worlds personally; having them tour him might be fun.

"Nii-chan, you must come and play with us later." The twins said while still pulling his cheeks. He nodded; despite being manifested as girls, they still have the traits they used to have when they were Ukitake's Zanpakuto.

"All right, all right. After this, I'll come and play with you girls." Yun Che said before sending them back.

"Hsss…boy… I'll be waiting for you to give me a human form…as you promised, and maybe I'll have a little taste of your new powers...Hsss.." Zabimaru winked at him before entering its world as well.

"Did I just get hit on by a snake?" Yun Che sweatdropped, and that snake's word just now sent chills down his spine.

"Milord Yuuki, I'll be waiting for you to use me to your heart's content." She bows to him and Jasmine before reentering her world.

"That really can cause misunderstanding, you know," Yun Che said, but he was sure Shirayuki had disappeared before she could hear it. He looked at Jasmine but only heard one word as she walked away. "Disgusting, humph"

'It's not my fault. The spirits' teasing might put me in trouble one day.' He said in his heart while shaking his head. Now, he began training to master every one of his Zanpakuto.