CHAPTER 127: Hikikomori?

I didn't expect the fic to reach #13. Keep it up and we might even breach the top 10! Bonus chapters will be published on the weekend.

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{That fool Kaien doesn't know about your fetish. Partner likes to stick his dick in the crazy.}

'That will explain my attraction to you.'

{Fufu. I'm born to take care of my Partner. Born to be irresistible to you.}

"Ukitake hasn't changed a bit," Yoruichi whispered after they parted ways with Kaien, bringing up her former Gotei 13 comrade. "If I had to bet my life on one person to believe Aizen's true nature, it would be Captain Ukitake."

Kazuya gently tugged at her whiskers. "How much do you know about his disease?"

"How did you know that? Never mind, I keep forgetting about your past." Her eyes flashed as she slapped his intrusive hand away, her claw tips slightly grazing his skin. "Captain Ukitake has been suffering from a lung disease from a very young age. That's all I know."

"Heh."

"Your smirk implies you know more than me."

His contemptuous nature sometimes got under her skin so much that she almost couldn't resist unleashing her special claw attack on his face.

"I do know more than you. However, I can't share it. It's considered forbidden knowledge."

As the words left his mouth, he could almost hear Kisuke's chiding voice in the back of his mind. The forbidden knowledge wasn't much of a secret among the top brass of the Great Noble Clans. Had Yoruichi indulged her curiosity in her family archives, this conversation would be redundant.

'Nami, should we infiltrate Shihoin's library? It might have some useful info.'

{Agreed. You can also slap your meatstick against her trap little brother. In the wise words of Izanami-no-Makoto: when you get rejected by her sister, you either seduce her mother or her femboy brother.}

His body recoiled subtly, a visible cringe transforming his expression. 'Stop right there, you perv.'

{Hmph. Heed my wisdom for a heavenly pleasure, or oppose me and suffer in measure.}

Yoruichi poked his face with her claw. "Forbidden knowledge? Is that secret much more than our relationship?"

Cats were curious creatures, and Yoruichi was a cat through and through, albeit laced with a mature, observant side to her as well.

"Maybe try seducing me in your other form. This voice isn't working, Yoruichi."

With an audacious click of her tongue, she cleared her throat loudly. "How about now? Is this voice better?"

His eyes widened a smidgen. She spoke to him in a voice identical to her human form — a symphony compared to her grating old man voice.

She smugly narrowed her eyes at his surprise. "I can switch into a cat. What made you believe I can't change my voice?"

He shrugged. "All hail our Flash Goddess and her mysterious spells."

"That's right, mortal. Worship me. Muahahahaha."

One meaningful praise was enough to distract her curiosity away from the forbidden knowledge.

{That's a cat for you.}

…

Inside a dimly lit living room where shadows danced in the corners, the flickering black and white hues from a vintage CRT television illuminated the space intermittently. Mila Rose was sprawled luxuriously across a plush couch, her long legs nonchalantly resting on Apacci's lap. Apacci would have erupted in anger if she actually paid attention to Mila Rose's presumptuous posture. Fortunately, both of them existed in harmony and peace, owing to their interest in the thrilling drama playing on the monochromatic screen.

Just then — Ding-dong! Ding-dong! — the insistent ringing of the doorbell punctured the serene ambiance.

Apacci's eyes narrowed into slits. Harribel won't be back till late afternoon. Sung-Sun had gone off to spend time with Lisa, and would return after sunset.

'Could it be him?'

Her heart fluttered like a butterfly. The mere possibility of a reunion sent her excitement through the roof. Months of messages through the Hell Butterfly only cured her loneliness so much. She ached for the physical touch of her lover.

A nudge against her chin, however, snapped her back to reality.

"Get the door already," Mila Rose lazily commanded as she prodded Apacci with her toe. "Apacci, are you there?"

Apacci's grip tightened around Mila Rose's ankle, her eyes smoldering with fury. "Sung-Sun was right about you. You're utterly hopeless, even for the standards of lioness. A lioness hunts for her pride; you fucking sit in front of television all day. There's a term for people like you in Japan — hikikomori."

Apacci swept Mila Rose's legs off her lap and darted towards the door. Her heartbeat rose in a frantic rhythm as she could already smell his unforgettable scent on the other side. With an almost reckless urgency, she flung the door open, nearly yanking the wooden piece with her brute strength.

"Kazuya!" Joy radiated from her, a smile so bright it could rival the sun. But that light dimmed dramatically as her eyes landed on the stunning woman clinging to him, her demonic horns and the subtle Reiatsu around her revealing her race. A stabbing pang of envy cut through her as she registered the woman's Reiatsu. "You're a Vasto Lorde…?"

A tsunami of emotions engulfed her, the realization crashing down that yet another woman in his life had achieved what she so desperately yearned for.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Emilou Apacci," the Vasto Lorde said with a charming smile. "You're cuter than my husband's descriptions."

The word "husband" plummeted through Apacci like a bullet, darkening her expression. "How did you marry a Hollow in the Soul Society?"

Yoruichi, unperturbed by the familial drama unfolding, nimbly navigated between Apacci's legs and slipped into the mansion.

Kazuya cleared his throat, the weight of the unfolding drama dawning on him. He had underestimated the extent of Apacci's jealousy. Teasing her any further with Nami's presence would be nothing short of cruel.

He freed himself from Nami's grasp and drew Apacci into his arms. "Silly Apacci, don't you find any similarity in our Reiatsu? She is my Zanpakutō Spirit."

A veil of confusion clouded Apacci's eyes for a moment, her pupils dilating and contracting as she processed the information. "I thought your Zanpakutō Spirit was a bird or something."

"Evolution, baby!" Nami laughed and held Apacci's hand. "Something you're most terrible at."

Apacci's eyes widened just in time to see Nami dissolve into a ray of dark red flames, curling and unfurling as they shot into the hilt of Kazuya's katana.

He rubbed Apacci's back. "It's fine. I'll not leave this time before you're a Vasto Lorde."

He had exactly one week. And with Apacci teetering on the brink of transformation, he was confident in his ability to tip the scales. Hearing his promise, her grip tightened on his hand, the words 'thank you' spoken so softly they were almost lost in the wind.

Leading her into the living room, he found Mila Rose slouched on the couch. Her unkempt hair covered most of her face, her bra-and-panties attire laying bare the chaos that had been her life during his absence. Absorbed in her own world, she seemed impervious to his arrival.

{The cheerful lioness became a shut-in. What the actual fuck, Partner?}

'I'm more surprised than you.'

Stretching his arm out, he gave Mila Rose's cheeks a playful pinch. "Rose?"

Her hand slapped his away almost instantaneously. It took her a moment to register his presence; when she did, her eyes flared open and a smile illuminated her face. "You're back after three months. Busy pounding Shinigami women, right?"

Yoruichi's laughter erupted with unrestrained delight. Kazuya had indeed bedded more than a dozen women. She could've stopped his debauchery but he was seducing them with the intent to awaken his Zanpakutō Spirit. It was a necessary evil to their mission's success as he wouldn't progress far in the Gotei 13 without a Zanpakutō. Well, unless he joined the 11th Division, where raw prowess mattered more than their Zanpakutō evolution.

"A lot of shit happened," he said with a shrug. "By the way, I don't sense Harribel and Sung-Sun around."

"Sung-Sun went to Lisa's home. Harribel," Apacci paused, hesitating. "She is at her job."

He raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Job? Since when—"

The atmosphere suddenly shifted, everyone sensing an eruption of Reiatsu in the middle of the town. "--What the hell? More than a dozen Hollows?"

He frowned at the numerous presences that suddenly showed up. With the upcoming test in the Karakura Town, he had every reason to believe it was orchestrated by Aizen. "Apacci, I know you want to eat them, but not this time. Can you stay here?"

Apacci groaned. "If Mila Rose stays here with me."

Mila Rose shrugged, flicking the TV remote to turn off the screen. "I've no interest in stomping low-level freaks. Skull and Yoruichi can go."

"Thanks for understanding, you two. Yoruichi, with me."

...

Just a sidenote: There is a reason Mila Rose went down this route; it's deeply tied to her relationship with Kazuya and her identity as a Hollow.

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