Chapter 22:Black or White
"Orihime...Inoue?" Ukitake spoke with a raised eyebrow
"Orihime-chan..." Nel spoke quietly
All eyes were glued to the Orange haired girl that no one noticed the barrier dissolving around Ulquiorra
"Don't misunderstand" Orihime said to the bat arrancar as he slowly descended down "I'm didn't save you for myself, I saved you because it would be bad for Kurosaki-Kun's army if you died"
Ulquiorra faced the woman with a mostly blank expression
"Of course...I highly doubt you would do anything for me out of the good of your heart" Ulquiorra said in a mocking tone as he walked past Orihime, making his way to Ukitake "Shall we resume, Jushiro Ukitake?"
The Captain's response was to raise his swords
"Protect me with that shield or not, it does not matter" Ulquiorra said to Orihime "Just stay out of the way, woman"
"Their relationship is strained" Ukitake spoke subconsciously "It's clear that they don't consider themselves comrades, perhaps I can take advantage of that..."
"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to end this" Ukitake stated
"Very well, I was just thinking the same" Ulquiorra declared as he raised his lance
"Koko Gonryu Rikyu is the only Bankai with lightning based powers" Chojiro stated to the smoking crater "Its power is absolute, so absolute that it can damage even those much more powerful than I, even your leader would fall before it's pow-"
He was cut off as he jumped to avoid a cero
"Do...you ever shut up?"
Chojiro looked in awe as he watched the figure emerge from the smoke
The entire top half of his attire has been shredded, his body covered in cuts, bruises and burns
"Incredible..." Arturo panted "I've never been struck by a Banaki before"
Once Arturo had fully emerged from the smoking crater, he stood and gazed directly into Sasakibe's eyes
"Sadly, I cannot continue this fight, two fights with two different lieutenants spells suicide, I should of realized this at the start
So I'll be taking my leave"
"What did you say?" Chojiro asked, taken aback
"My reiatsu is gone" He said as he turned to leave "I can't fight in this condition, I want to fight you at full strength"
...
"And you seriously think I'll just let you leave?" Chojiro asked as he reverted his blade back into Shikai
"Of course you won't" Arturo said as he began to walk away and clicked his fingers and opened a Garganta "But that won't stop me"
Chojiro held his sword forward and a bolt of lightning extended from the blade
"Heal your wounds and wait, for one day, I will return"
And with that, the garganta closed with Arturo inside, Sasakibe's bolt missing it by a mere second
"So...you're doing nothing?"
"Yes"
Cirucci sighed as she sat down next to Uryu
"So...do you agree with Kurosaki?"
"No" Uryu said as he and Cirucci sat on one of the roofs of the Gotei 13 barracks
"So why are you on his side then?"
...
"Because I hate Shinigami..." Uryu stated "I'm a Quincy, I'm naturally inclined to"
...
"Is that the only reason?"
"...My grandfather was killed by a hollow" he began to explain "Because a Shinigami captain prevented help from coming, he then took my grandfathers body and stole in for experimentation"
"I see..." Cirucci said as she looked onwards "That's a pretty valid reason, but is siding with a psychopath"
...
"Kurosaki...is my friend" He sighed "And quite frankly, I don't think I have anywhere else to go"
Uryu sighed as he turned his head to Cirucci
"My mother died when I was young and my father...Ryuken, has been pretty distant ever since"
"Abuse?"
"No...nothing like that" he said as he looked into her eyes "But, I honestly think he doesn't even care that I'm gone"
Cirucci looked at her feet with a sad look on her face
"I see...guess we both grew up with pretty shitty childhoods"
"Suppose so"
"Question is, are we going to fight for him?"
"Does it matter? The fighting's mostly done"
"And if Kurosaki asks?"
"Lie"
...
"Hey, Ishida...I-"
"You little pussies"
Uryu and Cirucci were alerted by the presence behind them, his loud footsteps and roaring voice immediately gave away his identity
"Get lost Yammy!" Cirucci snapped
"Oi, Oi, is that any way to speak to me fraccion?"
"You shut up" Ishida groaned
"What did you say, you punk ass human?" Yammy scoffed
"Don't you have better things to do than flaunt your six functioning brain cells? I don't care if you are a higher rank than her, she certainly is more capable than you"
"'The fuck you say?!"
"Besides, I don't see you fighting anyone"
"Ishida! Knock it off, his power is based on anger!" Cirucci stated as she grabbed his arm
"Oh I get it now" Yammy laughed "You're trying to all brave and heroic in front of your girlfriend"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Uryu glared
"I-I'm not his girlfriend!" Cirucci spluttered "I'm barely even his friend!"
"Oh but you're working on it, aren't you?" Yammy laughed "You want the Quincy's d-"
Yammy stopped his sentence as he swiped away one of Uryu's arrows
"You need to shut up, now" Uryu said through clenched teeth "I won't tolerate you-"
"-Talking about your girlfriend?" Yammy laughed "Isn't that cute, hey Cirucci, he feels the same way!"
"You shut up!" Cirucci snapped "You know that I was the 10th espada long before you!"
"Yeah, until you got kicked all the way up to triple digits, face it, you got no place amongst us!"
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Uryu scoffed "What rank were you? ZERO espada, yet what have you actually done in terms of taking care of the enemy?"
"Shut it you litt-"
"Are you scared?" Uryu said with a dark chuckle "Is that prized Cero Espada nothing more than a scared man who happens to have a lot of reiatsu"
"You better watch your mouth!"
"Or what? Incase you forgot, I sent you plummeting through that tower back in Las Noches"
"This is your last warning!" Yammy snapped
"Knock it off Ishida!" Cirucci warned him "This is a guy you do not want to piss off!"
"Why?" Ishida scoffed "What's the harm in pissing off this useless shit?"
...
"I warned you" Yammy growled as Bala's surrounded his fist
Uryu's response was simply raise his bow
Cirucci's was to sigh
"Are you sure this will work?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Shunsui asked
"This, joining the Soul Society" Starrk explained "They tried to kill Ichigo Kurosaki for being part hollow, you seriously think they'll accept an arrancar in their ranks"
"I'll be honest...probably not"
"Then what's the point of this?!" Starrk snapped
"You may not be accepted into the Gotei 13, I will make sure that you are not wrongfully judged like Kurosaki..."
"Can you guarantee that?"
"...To be honest...no" Shunsui stated with a shameful dip of his hat "But...I will make sure you do not meet the same fate as you did last time"
"You mean that you're not going to slash me across the chest? I'm grateful, truly" Starrk sarcastically scoffed
"Well...if you want" Shunsui began "You can head on back to Hueco Mundo and bide your chances with your neuva espada"
"And go back to being a murderers puppet? No thanks" Starrk grumbled
"Then I suppose you'll have to bide your chances with us" Shunsui chuckled
...
"I don't really have a choice in the matter, do I?"
"Guess not..." Shunsui confirmed "But before anything happens, I'm gonna take you to a little place"
"Where?"
"I'm gonna introduce you to a few friends of mine...and don't worry, they're friendly"
Renji Abarai dashed through the Seireitei, his target was close
"Kurosaki's reiatsu...it's close" he mumbled "Finally, I can-"
"La Gota"
Renji's train of thought was interrupted as he was knocked to the ground by a large spike of water
"Wha-?!" Renji shouted in his mind as the wind was knocked out of him
"We made a trade you know...he would get to take care of the old captain...and in return..."
Renji musted the strength to look up, and gazed to find the Tercera Nueva Espada, already in her released form
"I would get you"
Renji flared his nostrils, narrowed his eyebrows and uttered one word
"Bankai"
"That's Renji's reiatsu" Rukia said
"I know, but Harribel is there to take care of him" Ichigo stated as he and Rukia made their way down to the reiatsu
"Speaking of reiatsu...do you feel that? Akutabi and Sakata are fighting"
"Let them fight amongst themselves" Ichigo scoffed "Better they sort it out by themselves than me having to step in"
"And Plateado's reiatsu vanished sometime ago, did he die?"
"Maybe, maybe not, there's a lot more than where he came from, now let's get going"
"Where are we headed now?" Rukia asked
"You told me about the Maggot's nest, a place where Shinigami who are no longer needed go"
"Yeah?"
"Well, where else would they keep the Vizards?"
Ulquiorra parried yet another strike from the Captain as Nel and Orihime watched onwards
"Why aren't you helping him?" Nel asked
"Why should I?" Orihime scoffed
"Because he's your comrade!"
"So what?" Orihime asked as she turned to face Nel "Why should I help the man who ruined my chances with Kurosaki-kun?"
"Wha-"
"It was him bringing Kurosaki-Kun to near death that made him realize his feeling for Kuchiki-san, if he hadn't then Kurosaki-Kun and Kuchiki-san wouldn't be together!"
...
"Are you really that delusional?"
Orihime's eyes widened form the unexpected come back
"You seriously think that just cause that made him realize at that very moment, that he would never of told her?" Nel asked "You think that you could of convinced him otherwise? You-"
"You don't understand! He-"
"Could never love you" Nel said slowly "Believe me...one look in his eyes, and you know he always only had eyes for her"
"But-"
"Trust me..."
"Ulquiorra said the exact same thing and I refused to believe that" she scoffed and went to turn away, only for Nel to grab his shoulder
"Listen...sometimes no matter how long or hard you've loved someone, they'll never love you back..and no matter how much it hurts you have to be okay with that...It took me a while but I think I'm starting to get over him...maybe you will too..."
...
"He..."
"If he loved you, then he would of confessed to you after Ulquiorra almost killed him...but he confessed to her, that's all the proof you need, that's all that will ever become of your relationship"
...
"Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked with tearful eyes
"Move on..." Nel stated "Like I did"
It was then she turned to face Ulquiorra
"…Are you afraid of me?"
"No…I'm not afraid"
...
"Now I know…I Know I can never have Kurosaki-kun…but I was right about one thing…I've found my Soulmate"
...
"Orihime…Why-"
"Shut up! Just go away Ulquiorra!"
"But…I-"
"I Hate you!"
...
"I don't hate you...I don't"
Ulquiorra's lance locked with Ukitake's Sogyo no Kotowari once more, the blades interlocked, and then-
"I DON'T HATE YOU!"
...
Ulquiorra's eyes widened as his head snapped, his eyes met with a tearful Orihime...
"I don't...I don't hate you...I-"
The Captain took advantage of his distract and managed to slice open the side of the arrancar's neck
"No!" Orihime and Nel screamed in unison
Ulquiorra quickly retreated, holding his wound as his high speed regeneration got to work
"My reiatsu is low...I can barely hold this form as it is, my healing will be slow so I should end this now"
Ulquiorra once again help up his lance to block the captain's strike
Only for a familiar orange shield to block it once more
"Santen Kesshun!" Ulquiorra recognized
Ukitake reeled back from the shield, only to discover that Nelliel's cero was coming towards him
He raised Sogyo No Kotowari, intending to use his catch and return technique
Only for Ulquiorra's tail to wrap around his neck
The Captain struggled to escape as the Arrancar's tail lifted his into the air
His oxegen was beginning to fade as he tried to swing his Zanpakuto at the tail, but he was slowly losing himself
Blood began to seep from his mouth as he began to fade
Only for him to fall as the Arrancar's tail vanished
Along with the rest of his Segunda Etapa form
"Out...of reiatsu" he panted as he fell to his knees
But it didn't matter
This battle was over
The wound on his neck began to close up as the Orange haired girl ran over and embraced him
"I don't hate...I don't hate you" she sobbed "I love you...I love you"
Kotetsu Isane screamed once again as she lunged at the hollowfied Hanataro
Hatred, fury, fear and grief were amongst the feelings she had right now
"My sister is dead!" she roared "All because of you bastards!"
Isane swung her Zanpakuto like a wildman, Hanataro struggled to keep up
And even with his increased power, Isane managed to slice him across his chest
Which then began to glow
"Wha-!"
"What is this?!" Hanataro cried out
"GET DOWN!"
A hand roughly grabbed her and pulled her back but her eyes never left the sight in front of her
Hanataro's body began to crack, glow and then-
detonate
With a loud scream, the body of Hantaro Yamada exploded, spraying blood all over the battlefield
"Wha-...what the-"
"It's a process called Soul Suicide...when the Hollow soul is exposed to the regular soul by means of a wound, the souls intertwine and the body cannot take the pressure"
Isane then turned to face her rescuer
"Kisuke...Urahara?"
"Step aside" Ichigo declared as he used Getsuga Tensho to knock a field of prisoners away
"Listen here!" Rukia declared to the inhabitants of the Maggot's nest "A few weeks ago, several former Shinigami known as Vizards were brought here"
"And we simply want to know where they are..." Ichigo finished for her
...
"You won't find them here"
"That voice! Kyoraku!"
Ichigo and Rukia turned their heads to face the captain
And met the eyes of him
The Vizards
Coyote Starrk
Byakuya Kuchiki
And Isshin Kurosaki