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Now You Feel Like Number None [Bleach Arrancar Quest]

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Redshirt Army said:
Hmm. Who was Hooleer/Beauty of a Falling Leaf in this High School AU?

For some reason I'm imagining the school janitor, who Principal Groban fired after Nemo convinced them to petition for a raise.
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A demolitions contractor. Aaroniero and the old marching band managed to trick him into setting up demolitions for the school when everyone was out, before Nemo told him the truth.
Unfortunately Aizen got to him before he could report the school's insanity to the authorities.
 
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In which Ichigo explains it all.
_________________________
Substitute Shinigami: A Historical Study.
A.K.A. Ichigo Recap​

Kurosaki Ichigo approached the Red Tower.

He had been invited by one of Cirucci's underling. He wasn't sure what Nemo wanted with him, but she was one of the nicer arrancars, and he really didn't have much better to do right now. One of the drawbacks of being stuck on a desert world with little to no forms of entertainment.

He enters the Quinta's domain, and speaking of which, there she is. Cirucci was sitting at a table drinking tea with a calavera attending to her when Ichigo arrived.

She puts her cup down when she notices him. "Hmm? If it isn't Ichigo. To what to I owe this unexpected visit?"

Ichigo groaned. "Oh come on, don't give me that cliche line. I'm just here to see Nemo. She invited me over for something."

Cirucci gives him a confused look. "I'm afraid you must be mistaken. Nemo is currently away and said she'll be out all day."

"What?" Ichigo exclaimed. "But Tesra said that 'a servant of the 5th Espada requested my presence' so I came over thinking Nemo wanted something from me."

Cirucci sighs and shakes her head. "This is why you shouldn't make base assumptions. I have more than one servant you know."

"Well then who else do you have?" Ichigo exclaimed.

Cirucci places a finger to her chin. "Well, there's Luppi, who's currently with Grimmjow. He's my only other Fraccion, so-"

It was then that Ren entered. He saw Ichigo and headed right to him. "Oh good, you're here. Come along now, we aught to start sooner rather than later."

"Oh right. There's also him." Cirucci explained. "Ichigo, meet Ren. And since that solves the mystery of who invited you, you two have fun." She then went back to drinking her tea.

"Wait, just like that? You don't even know what he wants with me! And what kind of an introduction is that, anyways? Who is this guy?" Shouted Ichigo.

Ren grabbed Ichigo's sleeve and pulled him away to his room. "Come on, now. We mustn't tarry."

Ichigo was still shouting at Cirucci. "Why does no one explain anything until the last second? You arrancars are just like the shinigami! Just like them!" And then the door closed.

_-_

Ichigo sat down in a chair across from Ren. "So what the hell do you want from me, old guy?"

"I'm a historian, and I want your perspective." Answered Ren.

Ichigo blinked twice. "Huh!?"

"You're a human with both shinigami and hollow powers. You're a rather unique existence that might never exist again for a thousand years. On top of that, you were there when Lord Aizen reviled his true colors to the powers that be of Soul Society. The other two that were there, Gin and Tousen, ignore all my requests explain the events that transpired. Thus, I have at least two good reasons to chronicle your story, boy."

Ichigo thought on that for a moment, then realized that he didn't have anything better to do for a while. "Alright, fine. So where do I start?"

"Anywhere you want. How about when you where born, or even before with how your parents met?"

"Nah, none of that is relevant. My family's normal and isn't involved with all this spirit stuff. I think I should start with the day I met Rukia. It was the first time I met a shinigami and was attacked by a hollow."

"Alright, go ahead."

"So I live with my dad and two sisters, with my mom having died years earlier to what I would later find out was a hollow attack. I could also see ghosts since I was little. I talked to ghosts all the time, but weirdly I never saw hollows or shinigami until I met Rukia. She was tracking a hollow and came to my house, which was later attacked by said hollow. It nearly killed my sister Yuzu and I, but Rukia protected us, getting wounded in the process. The hollow was about to kill us and she couldn't take it on with her injury, so she offered turn me into a shinigami by giving me half of her power. So she pierced me in the chest with her zanpakuto to do it."

"Is that how it works? Interesting."

"Yeah, I'd have been more skeptical if I hadn't been in such a tough spot. And don't ask me if arrancars can do the same thing, because I sure as hell don't know. Anyway, I accidentally take all of her power instead of only half and easily dispose of the hollow, but I'm left doing her job until she recovers her powers. She ends up living with me, buying a Gigai and soul pills from Urahara's shop, And showing me how things work."

"Ah yes, the rogue captain Aizen considers his intellectual equal. So that's when he started getting involved then?"

"It didn't appear like that at the time, but turns out he was doing some stuff in the background. I think things were pretty standard for a while. There was that one time when I saw the door to hell."

"I know about the red door already. Continue."

"Right. I also fought the hollow that killed my mother. He got away, unfortunately, but maybe someday I'll find him again an end him once and for all."

"Classic revenge plot. I certainly hope you get a climactic showdown for me to transcribe. Now what about your powers? Did you develop them during that time?"

"Probably more like cleanup, since I'm way stronger than I used to be. And not really for the powers, at least until I met Uryu Ishida. He's the last of the Quincy, an old group of spiritually sensitive humans that fought hollows. They where massacred by the shinigami because they completely destroyed the soul instead of returning it to the cycle of reincarnation. He showed me that I couldn't sense Reiatsu because I wasn't restraining my power at all, but he was also pissed about what happened to the Quincy and decided to take in out on me for being a substitute shinigami."

"Interesting. This is the first time I heard of a soul being completely destroyed."

"Yeah, and I see why that would tick off Soul Society, but he still had beef. He attracted a whole bunch of hollows to the city and challenged me to a hollow slaying competition to prove I wasn't needed. And eventually, we attracted a Menos Grande. One of those big Gillians, ya know. It fired a Cero right at me, but my power increased and I managed to repel it. It fled while my zanpakuto was blowing up or something. Uryu fixed that and we became… not enemies."

"Interesting. So things went back to normal then?"

"Not for very long. Pretty soon Renji and Byakuya showed up, and lieutenant and captain respectively. They came to arrest Rukia because she gave me her powers. And Byakuya was her brother too, so that was messed up. Renji had already beaten up Uryu by the time I showed up, and then I started fighting him. It was my first time seeing a Shikai, too. Anyway, I think I started coming out ahead, but then Byakuya stabbed me in the Saketsu and Hakusui, taking away my powers. They returned to Soul Society with Rukia while I was left bleeding on the ground. I'd have been dead if Urahara hadn't shown up."

"So now he starts getting involved more overtly? And it's convenient that he arrived when he did."

"Yes, and too convenient in that order. That bastard let me fight them on purpose just so I'd realize how weak I was in comparison!" Ichigo yelled. "But he offered to help me regain my powers and train me in ten days, and then send me to Soul Society, since we were supposed to have one month before Rukia's execution. He took me out of my body and had me dodge Ururu's attacks so that my Reiryoku would rise and my movements would become sharper. And after he judged that my Reiryoku was completely recovered, he killed me."

"Ah."

"As in he had Tessai cut my Soul Chain and separate me from my body. I can't say I expected that as part of my training. He also tied me up and sent me down a hole, and said that if I wanted to avoid becoming a hollow when my chained corroded, I had to become a shinigami first."

"That's… rather extreme. But you're here now so the situation was resolved."

"Yeah, barely. I had a hole in my chest and a mask forming on my face by the time I got my powers back. I met old man Zangetsu for the first time and came out of that hole carrying a broken sword and wearing my robes and a mask. I think that's when I got my Vizored powers, being a bit hollowfied as I also underwent shinigamification. I don't think Urahara expected that, but who knows with that guy."

"It's certainly not how I imagine it happening, but he and Lord Aizen are likely the only experts on the creation of hollow/shinigami hybrids. What do I know about how it works."

"Well back to my training, Urahara tried to kill me again. He whipped out his zanpakuto and attacked me until I was left with just a hilt. I had to learn Zangetsu's name and activate my Shikai. Once I did, it never changed back, by the way. My sword's in a permanent Shikai state."

"Hmm, uncommon."

"So I'm told. So the day came to travel to Soul Society. I entered the Senkaimon with Yoruichi, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime."

"Wait, who were those last two?"

"Chad and Orihime. They're friends of mine. Sorry I glossed over them but I didn't know they unlocked powers before then. Also I thought Yoruichi was a male cat. I still don't what kind of shinigami power lets someone turn into a cat. So back to the story, we had to make it through the Dangai in four minutes or we'd be trapped there. It's like a long hallway of black flowing sludge. We got chased by the cleaner inside, but we made it out alright and arrived in Soul Society."

"Finally, on to the interesting part."

At that point, Cirucci came in. "Ichigo, Tesra wanted to know when you'll be back at the Quatra's tower."

"Tell him maybe an hour or two." Said Ichigo.

"Damnit you- mistress, he was just about to talk about his invasion of Soul Society. It's a rare account which I could compare to other historical information about Soul Society, so I would appreciate not being interrupted. With all due respect." Ren explained.

"Ohh? So that's what you've been doing." Cirucci grinned. She sent a Calavera to relay a message to Tesra and took a chair to sit on. "That sounds interesting, so I think I'll listen in."

Ren groaned in frustration. He did not want to interact with Cirucci more than necessary. "If you must, mistress. Let's just continue."

Ichigo didn't care much that Cirucci joined in and resumed. "So we arrived in what looked like a city from feudal japan. Old wooden buildings and dirt roads everywhere. Everyone were wearing plain cotton kimonos and sometimes wooden sandals when they weren't barefoot." Cirucci couldn't help but think of how Nemo would shudder at that and agree to invade Soul Society for fashion principles.

"We where about to enter the Seireitei when suddenly massive white walls came crashing down around the place. They were made out of Sekkiseki, which is a rock that repels Reiryoku, so we couldn't break through."

"A wall?" Ren interrupted. "How peculiar. None of my other accounts mention a wall. Already you're giving me new information."

"Ulquiorra did say that Yammy was supposed to be a battering ram." Cirucci mentioned.

"Who's this Yammy guy?" Ichigo asked. "I've heard of him in passing as some strong dude you beat to become number ten, but not much else.

A regretful look crossed Cirucci's face as Yammy's fate wormed its way into her thoughts again. "No one you need to concern yourself with. Please leave it at that."

Ichigo stared at her for a moment, then acquiesced. "Well not sure how he was supposed to get passed the anti-reishi wall. You'd need a meteor to break it. So we went to one of the four gates of this wall, and we're confronted by this really huge guy named Jidanbo. I didn't think regular souls were supposed to get that big. That seems more like something that happens with you arrancars. I beat him real easily though, and he agreed to let us through. With his huge size, he lifted the gate up for us."

"Mystery solved, he would've just had to lift it." Cirucci added.

"Well, that's when Gin showed up. He cut off Jidanbo's arm, and then I tried to rush him but he flung me back with his extendo-blade. The gate closed and we were all locked out." Cirucci silently took note of what Gin's power was according to Ichigo.

"So we stayed around the Rukongai for a while, healing Jidanbo and figuring out how another way to get in. We eventually met Ganju and arrived at the Shiba clan's place. I think they're firework experts, and their clan head is a friend's of Yoruichi's. She's a one-armed woman named Kukaku."

Ren interjects. "Shiba is actually the name of one of the five noble families of Soul Society. There's no mistaking it, they date back since ancient times."

"Really? They didn't really look noble. Their front yard has some goofy looking stone arms holding a banner."

"They must've fallen from grace. I can sympathize with the experience." Cirucci states.

"Well they taught us how to use Reishukaku to break through the barrier around the Seireitei. It's an orb that you focus Reiatsu into to form a spherical barrier around yourself. After we got the hang of it, all of us and Ganju made one sphere for all of us and got into a cylindrical room. That's um, when I realized we entered a cannon, and we were the cannonball."

Cirucci was wide eyed at what Ichigo just said while Ren kept writing. "The… Shiba… have… a… cannon. Noted. Go on." He said nonchalantly.

"Right, well we got launched and landed on top of the Seireitei. We got through the barrier, but we all got separated. I ended up staying with Ganju. We started running around trying to get to where Rukia was being held, but we soon ran into some shinigami. Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa, third and fifth seat of the eleventh division. I fought Ikkaku while Ganju fought Yumichika. Well I say 'fought' but it sounded more like he was running away from Yumichika the whole time."

A smile appears on Ichigo's face. "Ikkaku's a pretty good fighter. He sure showed me a thing or two before I beat him. Oh, and Ganju won too somehow. We also met a member of squad four called Hanataro, who we took hostage or at least tried to, but Rukia's execution didn't sit right with him either, so he agreed to help us out. He showed us how to get through the sewers and lead us to her cell."

"Sewers under the Seireitei. Good to know. But I'll never set foot in such a disgusting place. Maybe I could send Luppi through it though."

"But when we exit the sewers, we run into Renji. We have our rematch and I was pretty confident I could take him, until he reveals that Lieutenants and Captains get a power limiter when they go to the human world, so he's at least five times stronger than he was then. He started kicking my ass while asking me how I intended to save her and blaming me for everything that's happened to her. I got my shit together and beat him by using the Getsuga Tensho for the first time. I admitted that he actually blamed himself and asked me to save Rukia. I'm pretty sure that's when our friendship began."

"It feels good to gain allies when rescuing someone you care about, doesn't it?" Cirucci asked with a faint smile.

"Yeah, it does. It gives you hope that you'll succeed and you've got people to rely on, you know?" Ichigo agrees. "So Renji still messed me up real bad and we had to hide out and rest for a while and so Hanataro could heal me. He found my hollow mask in my robes, which was creepy, cuz I thought I had smashed that."

Ren interjects again. "Wait, you smashed your mask? Mention that next time! I thought you were wearing it the whole time."

"Well sorry, it just didn't seem that important to mention." Ichigo said defensively.

"So we were on the move again and we just kept running into people progressively higher on the totem pole, because the next asshole that wanted to fight me was Kenpachi Zaraki, captain of the eleventh division. He's a tall strong guy with pointy hair that have bells on the ends and wears an eyepatch, and he loves fighting. He's monstrously strong too, so much so that I couldn't even break his skin initially."

"That sounds like Nnoitra."

"You're right it does. I can't believe the shinigami have their own Nnoitra."

Ichigo snapped at them. "Again with people I've only heard about in passing! Ugh! So he's the guy you beat to become number five, right Cirucci? How's he so much like Kenpachi?"

"Well," Began Cirucci. "He's a tall strong man with an eyepatch that loves fighting and had unbreakable skin. Though instead of bells in his hair, he had ridiculous pointy shoes and a horrid spoon collar. The bells aren't as bad, but I think Nemo wouldn't approve of those either."

"Okay yeah, they sound a lot alike. So I fought him to let Ganju and Hanataro escape. I start finally being able to injure him later in the fight. He claimed that his sword didn't have a seal on it so he was in permanent Shikai too, though I sure as hell don't know what its power was if that's the case. But he was able to stab right through Zangetsu when I relaxed my guard, so he's still no joke."

Cirucci silently took notes on what Ichigo said about Kenpachi, in case she ever had to fight him.

"The old man bails me out, and our battle escalated. In the end, we decided to just clash head on at full power. He removed his eyepatch, and it turns out he has both eyes. The eyepatch is an invention from the science division that seals a portion of his power so he could extend his fights." Cirucci notes that it sounds like what memo made for her to help her train.

"I had an advantage though. Kenpachi thinks that zanpakuto are only tools of war, and their disharmony made them weaken each other. That's probably why his zanpakuto looks so worn down and chipped when they can repair themselves. I managed to end the fight in a draw, and then Yoruichi found me and got me out of there."

Ren and Cirucci listened in rapt attention, although for separate reasons. Cirucci was grateful for information on a potential enemy while Ren was grateful for the information on shinigami.

"I woke up in some underground area. Yoruichi took me there to recuperate, and also wouldn't you know it, the mask was on my person again. I gave it to Yoruichi and she revealed her true form to me. And…" Ichigo looked down with an annoyed expression and blushed. "…and she was completely naked."

Cirucci was highly amused at Ichigo's reaction. "You're surprisingly innocent for a teenage boy, Ichigo. I take it she's quite beautiful then?"

"I already got plenty of teasing from her and I don't need anymore from you, thank you very much!" Ichigo yelled. Cirucci snickered.

"Anyway, I sensed Byakuya's Reiatsu and grabbed the thing Yoruichi used to bring me to the cavern and went out to confront him. I ended up saving Ganju and Hanataro from him, but before Byakuya released his Shikai, Yoruichi caught up and knocked me out, then took me back to the secret cave. She flat out told me I wasn't strong enough to beat Byakuya, but said she could train me to be strong enough in three days. She told me about Bankais, and how every captain except Zaraki had one."

"Interesting. Veeery interesting." Cirucci added.

"Wait, are you getting information on your enemies from me?! You've got some nerves, Cirucci!" Ichigo shouted while standing up.

She shot him a cocky grin. "I didn't ask you to tell me anything about them, Ichigo. You graciously provided the knowledge all by yourself."

Ichigo sat back down in a huff. "Me and my big mouth. So she explained that even for geniuses it takes at least ten years to achieve Bankai and it requires being able to materialise your zanpakuto spirit, but Urahara made something to could help me obtain it faster. It was a white doll that could manifest my spirit, and I basically had to fight Zangetsu. He summoned a whole bunch of swords and told me to find the real Zangetsu while we fought at the same time."

"And the other shinigamis don't use this doll themselves?" Ren asked.

"Nah, it's too dangerous. So later Renji showed up. He was doing his own Bankai training and told us that Rukia was going to be executed sooner than initially scheduled. Now I had a time limit. Renji achieved Bankai first and left to try and rescue Rukia first. I finished later and immediately set out for the execution ground as soon as I could. I made it in the nick of time and stopped a giant fire bird from killing Rukia. It was apparently called the Sokyoku and had the power of a million zanpakutos."

"A million zanpakutos? Are you certain?" Ren suddenly exclaimed.

"Um, yeah, that's what I was later told."

"Excellent." Said Ren, writing enthusiastically.

"You don't seem to have any qualms talking about such a powerful weapon of the shinigami in front of us." Cirucci stated.

"Well, that's because it was destroyed almost immediately after by Shunshui and Ukitake, so I don't see the harm in telling you."

"What?! No!" Ren screamed. Ichigo and Cirucci looked at him in confusion while he appeared dejected. "Such an ancient artifact. Why?" He mumbled.

"…Right. So I freed Rukia and threw her at Renji. Then I just beat three Lieutenants with my bare hands and finally had my showdown with Byakuya."

"Ichigo, shame on you." Cirucci interrupted. "You don't just throw a lady. Show some care and gentleness."

"I really don't care, Cirucci. And it was quicker in the end."

"Utterly unacceptable. You need to realize that-"

"So, You were about to tell us of your battle with Byakuya." Ren cut in.

"…Indeed." Cirucci reluctantly dropped the previous subject. "This will be rather interesting. Please spare no detail."

"Yeah, about that. I don't think I'll be telling you anything about his powers this time. So long as we're at war, you're getting the cliff notes version and that's that."

"Ah, politics. Interfering with accurate historical records once again." Ren laments.

"Long story short, he unleashes Bankai, disses my Bankai for being small, I make him eat his words, and my inner hollow briefly takes over before I regain control and beat Byakuya. There, that's the fight."

"Booo." Cirucci heckles.

"You're welcome. So that's when I get a telepathic message informing me of Aizen's betrayal and his illusionary powers. Then Rukia and Renji are brought back to the execution grounds by Tousen while Aizen shows up with Gin. I charge right at him, but he stops my sword with a finger. He flexes his finger, and suddenly my belly's cut open. And on top of that, Aizen comments that he's disappointed he couldn't bisect me completely."

Cirucci had a serious expression. To hear about Aizen casually bringing down captain class opponents is entirely expected, but still sobering.

"He cuts down Renji and riches Rukia. Turns out Urahara hid the Hogyoku inside Rukia when she lost her powers, and that was why she wasn't regaining them." 'The Wishing Stone.' Cirucci thought bitterly.

"Captain Komamura appeared and tried to kill him, but Aizen effortlessly beat him too. He revealed that he intended to have the Sokyoku evaporate Rukia's soul to retrieve the Hogyoku. Since that failed, he went to his backup plan and used an extraction procedure invented by Urahara. Once he got the Hogyoku, he didn't need Rukia anymore and ordered Gin to kill her." Cirucci isn't surprised to hear about Aizen disposing of those no longer useful to him either.

"Byakuya, saved Rukia and took the hit. Pretty soon, Yoruichi and Captain Sui Feng showed up and restrained Aizen. Yoruichi was keeping his zanpakuto sheathed while Sui Feng had her blade to his throat. Aizen had the other three gate guardians show up to try to distract them, but Kukaku and Jidanbo arrived and knocked them out. Then the rest of the Captains and Lieutenants arrived to restrain Gin and Tousen too. That's when the Negation came down from the sky around the three of them and let them escape."

"By the way, if you were told of Aizen's betrayal of the shinigami, could we get more details?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, alright. He said he conducted experiments on creating hollow-shinigami hybrids for years. When Rukia was captured, he killed the Central 46, which are the judiciary authority in the Seireitei or something like that. He made everyone thing everything was fine using illusions and impersonated them. He faked his death while my friends and I were invading, leaving behind an imaginary body, so that he could move freely. He had Gin draw all the suspicion with his natural sketchiness and trolling while everyone thought he was some super nice guy, and also dead."

Classic Aizen. Cirucci's frown deepened.

"So: Aftermath. Everyone was reunited and and got healed. Rukia was pardoned, and we stayed in Soul Society for another week. I became an official substitute shinigami, with a badge and everything. I had it on me when you captured me, so it should be with my clothes."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "They have a badge for that? Were there other substitute shinigami before you?"

"I don't really think so. They had a whole week to make that badge, after all. Anyway, me and my friends went home and things went back to normal, sort-of. I just fought hollows and attended school for a while before, well, you would know." He said, looking at Cirucci.

"It was nice meeting you too." She said with a smug expression.

"I still don't like what you did to Tatsuki, by the way."

"Oh come now. I didn't mean her any harm, and she was fine afterwards."

Ren interjected once more. "So nothing else exiting happened between Soul Society and fighting mistress Cirucci?"

"Not really, sorry. What, you want me to make up a story about fighting spirit vampires to make things interesting?"

"No, that's not necessary."

"Well, you already know how that fight went, so after you left the Gotei 13 sent some reinforcements. They were Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, and Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya. Good thing too, since Grimmjow and his posse showed up soon after."

"Sounds like we're nearing your capture. Anything else happened between Grimmjow's attack and then?" Ren queried.

"Well, Tatsuki got powers too and I trained with the Visoreds to control my inner hollow. That took a while, and I was trying to extend my time limit before you showed up."

Ren stopped writing. "That was a fascinating tale. Thank you for coming. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some cross-referencing to get to." Ren got up and walked away.

Ichigo got up in turn. "I better get back to Ulquiorra's place myself. He's insufferable when he starts scolding people, which he does often since I'm pretty sure 'quiet disgust' is his default emotion."

"Give my regards to the Quatra, Ichigo." Cirucci said as he left.
 
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Tnoz said:
principals
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Principles. A principal is the person who runs a school, a 'principle' is a rule, guideline, or standard.
extando-blade
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Extendo-blade, because it extends.
Also, you have a problem with switching tenses.

Hm... A reasonable course of events to have happen but since so much of it is recap of things the audience already knows it needs a bit more punching up to really be entertaining. All the best bits are outside the recaps, like when Ichigo asks why no one ever explains everything. And some of those bits are pretty good, I just didn't feel like there was quite enough of them. Or maybe it was the format of the recap itself? Your Ichigo has a very repetitive style of talking, he just lists out events much of the time.
 
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SolipsistSerpent said:
Hm... A reasonable course of events to have happen but since so much of it is recap of things the audience already knows it needs a bit more punching up to really be entertaining. All the best bits are outside the recaps, like when Ichigo asks why no one ever explains everything. And some of those bits are pretty good, I just didn't feel like there was quite enough of them. Or maybe it was the format of the recap itself? Your Ichigo has a very repetitive style of talking, he just lists out events much of the time.
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Thanks for the corrections.
And yeah, I struggle with repetition. I try to get better and omakes make for good practice. Stuff I left out was mainly because I was afraid of making it too long.
 
Because this is apparently a recurring theme in my writing, while I finish up the next Intermission, I should mention that I have not, in fact, seen the Venom movie.

(I may have been exposed to a bunch of memes)
 
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Intermission - Wingman
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    • Intermission - Wingman


    The city was wrong.

    Ichigo's mindscape had always been the same - tall buildings of steel and glass stretching to a sky of endless azure, occasionally marred by great rains, the ground seeming too far to see. Gravity was a mere suggestion here, and he had walked the height of these towers as if they had been lying on the ground.

    But now the city was stretching away from him. There was a ground after all. He stood in an empty street. The buildings rose far, far above him, blind and indifferent. He could only see the sky as little blue puddles between this concrete canopy. And the ground… The ground was cold. The wind blew relentlessly, catching his white uniform like a flag in the breeze.

    He wasn't alone, though Ichigo wished he was. Though even there, things were wrong. The Hollow did not wear white anymore. Oh, his face was still the same - white skin and white hair with an unnatural ashen tone His black teeth and eyes never stopped smiling. But now he wore a black kimono, an exact replica of the one Ichigo had not been able to wear since he was taken to Las Noches.

    The Hollow was mocking him.

    "I did what you asked, when I was okay with it," Ichigo said ruefully. "Helped you - us - learn these Arrancar tricks. And when I wasn't okay with it, I still did things your way: I beat you to show you why we'd do things my way. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

    "It's certainly been a lot of fun in this boring place," the Hollow called back, crossing the street to come closer to him. Though his bearing was casual and relaxed - even cheerful - Ichigo immediately tensed, bracing for a punch-out.

    "Then now that we're square," the teenager said through gritted teeth, "you're going to show me the old man."

    The Hollow's eyes widened in mock surprise.

    "Oh, Ichigo, did you think that was some kind of trade? I'm sorry to be a downer - but I ain't gonna let you see that geezer."

    "You bastard," Ichigo hissed, clutching his fists. "What did you do with him? Did you eat him? That's what Hollows do, isn't it?"

    "Oh, Ichigo," the thing with his face said, grinning wider, "that is what Hollows do."

    Ichigo froze for a second, the answer taking him off-guard; he had not meant it in truth, just as an insult, a jab to the spirit he hated and was forced to share his soul with. But the idea that it even could be true…

    "Aw, don't make that face!" the Hollow said, opening his arms as if to show the desolate cityscape around them. "Don't you love how we've been growing closer together lately? C'mon, Ichigo, buddy, friend, pal! We're partners in crime now! We've been doing such great work! Like scaring the crap outta that servant girl, or duking it out with that Cirucci chick again! That was awesome! And I have whole new places in your mind-town to show you! There's a great coffee shop - I mean there's no staff, obviously, so we'd have to make the drinks ourselves, but-"

    "Shut up!"

    Ichigo's own tone surprised him, and he paused to watch his breath and rein in the anger and fear creeping into his chest. The Hollow just raised an eyebrow.

    "If you're not going to let me see the old man," Ichigo said darkly, "I'll just beat you around the entire town until I find him."

    The Hollow's eyes flashed, his black lips curling into a more predatory smirk.

    "Then by all means," he said with a mock bow.

    Cold resolve flowing in his blood, Ichigo shifted his foot forward, raising his fists, drawing on the dark, hungry power that connected him to his inner Hollow, bracing for-

    He blinked, and relaxed, lowering his fists.

    "I'm a dumbass," Ichigo muttered.

    "I- what?" the Hollow said, freezing mid-dramatic martial arts pose to stare in confusion.

    "You just said you were bored!" Ichigo said, pointing an accusatory finger at his counterpart. "That was the first thing you said when I came in! And all your words! You're not going to 'let me' see the old man? 'That's what Hollows do'? You're dodging the subject!"

    The Hollow's smile faded, his eyes narrowing suspiciously - and, perhaps, Ichigo thought nervously. Righteous vindication warmed his chest.

    "You have no idea where Zangetsu is either!" Ichigo said triumphantly.

    "Well technically he's right here," the Hollow mumbled.

    "Yeah, but you don't know how to access him any more than I do, so you're bored out of your mind alone in this place, which is why you keep antagonizing me and trying to get me to fight you! For your entertainment!"

    "It's not what I meant but let's go with that," the other said sourly.

    "So let's change my question - do you have any idea why we can't find the old man?"

    "Well, to start with, you don't have your sword," the Hollow said, shrugging.

    "No, that makes no sense," Ichigo said shaking his head. "I couldn't see him when the Espada let me hold it either. Haven't since…" He frowned, tilting his head in thought. "...since that fight when the Visored were training me, uh."

    "Fascinating," the Hollow said, yawning. "Can we fight now?"

    "No, no, I feel like I have it almost in my grasp, something really important…"

    "Put a pin in it then," the white one said, looking up at the sky with a frown. "We got a visitor."

    "What?" Ichigo said, blinking as he was drawn out of his thoughts. "What do you mean a visitor-"

    "See you later!" the Hollow shouted, waving his hand, and Ichigo's stomach nearly turned upside down as gravity inverted and he fell precipitously towards the distant sky.

    "Why is this always so awful!" he shouted. The smug bastard below was still waving when the sky opened up to spit Ichigo out into his own body.


    ***
    ​

    Ichigo jolted to awareness as if he'd received an electric shock, gasping.

    The girl in the room started, letting out a small yelp.

    "I'm sorry! I thought you were asleep!"

    "Oh so you were just sneaking into my room while I was asleep, which is fine," he groaned back, long-honed brother instincts allowing him perfect comebacks in the instant of wakefulness. Blinking his bleary eyes and rubbing his hair, he sat up in his bed, swinging his legs over the frame, and gave the girl a sour look.

    "Well… ah. Hm," the other said articulately, visibly flustered. She was short with shorter hair, a blonde with spiky bangs and a fragment of mask eating up half her face and hiding her right eye - Menoly, was it?

    "Where's the suicidally aggressive one you always hang out with?" Ichigo said wearily, fearing an impending headache.

    "Downstairs," she mumbled. "That's, hm, the thing. Lord Aizen had some very important stuff to relay to Master Ulquiorra, and he scares the hell out of me, so I, hm, snuck away. It's not like he cares."

    Ichigo gave her a dubious look, then nodded to himself after a moment.

    "Yeah, I can definitely see it."

    Menoly sighed with relief.

    "But why my room though."

    She immediately tensed right back up.

    "I didn't…" she started. "I did… I was just looking for a place to be discreet, I didn't really…"

    <Oh my god she's adorable.>

    Ichigo immediately jumped two feet up at the new voice, his whole body shuddering. He looked at the girl, who paused in surprise, then everywhere around him, seeing only the blank stone walls and spare furniture of his room.

    "Who said that?" he asked nervously.

    "Who said what?" Menoly answered back.

    <Okay,> his Hollow's voice said, echoing in his skull, <Don't freak out or tell people you're hearing voices, they'll think you're crazy!>

    "What the hell…" Ichigo whispered.

    <Yeah, this, what you're doing? The opposite. Do the opposite.>

    "Give…" Ichigo said, looking at the baffled and confused girl standing near his door, and raising a hand, "give me a second. Rough wake-up. Didn't I have water somewhere?"

    "Uh…" Menoly said, then eyed his quartz-wood cupboard; he followed her gaze but, before he could take the glass and jug of water on it and pour himself a drink, she hurried to it and did it for him.

    <Didn't I tell you? So cute. She's totally into you, Ichigo.>

    "Shut up," Ichigo mumbled under his breath.

    "I'm… not talking?" Menoly said, raising an eyebrow and handing him a glass of water.

    <You're so bad at this, I love it.>

    Ichigo muttered thanks and blushed as he took the drink, the entire situation already making him feel vaguely ashamed and terrible. He should have been free of his Hollow's nonsense while outside his mindscape, that was the rules, that was how it was supposed to be-

    He took a sip of cool water and managed to relax somewhat. His body was still not used to the desert, and he easily forgot that his throat got dry and parched after a little while without drinking.

    "Thanks," he said, waving the glass in Menoly's general direction. She nodded.

    "You're… not as scary as I expected," Menoly said, her eyebrow still pointedly raised. That had to be hard to do. Maybe she got eyebrow cramps? She did only have the one, so it had to pull off the work of two eyebrows. Maybe that trained its… Eyebrow muscles. Whatever.

    "Why would I be scary," Ichigo said suspiciously.

    "I mean, big name Shinigami captive, mysterious component of Lord Aizen's plans, huge resources mobilized to snatch him from the real world?" she continued, shrugging, her body language visibly relaxing. "I didn't expect you to ask for a glass of water and mumble to yourself, I guess."

    <Yes,> the Hollow said wistfully. <I can see it. The color scheme is reversed, but she has the kind of shorty, boyish spunk Rukia had. You should totally go for it, buddy! You need a rebound gal. And think about it this way! You can buy her ice cream on a date without people thinking you're treating your kid sister!>

    Ichigo last sip of water went straight out his nose at this precise moment.

    "Are you… okay?" Menoly said from the opposite corner of the room, having somehow managed to flash-step her way out of the water spray. She sounded less awkward than concerned now.

    "It's… nothing," Ichigo said, coughing up water.

    <There's even that Tesla guy watching over you, bonding with you and stuff, he can be your new Renji! I mean sure, he seems totally head over heels for that asshole Ulquiorra, but that just makes him even more of a Renji - nobody will ever convince me that guy didn't have the hots for Captain. It just means you need to show him the way to a healthier relationship->

    "Don't…" Ichigo started.

    <-just like Renji!>

    "Oh my god," the miserable Shinigami whispered.

    He squinted his eyes shut, trying to push back the voice and the disturbing feeling of a presence inside his skull (not even his mind; a physical thing in his head, moving behind his eyes, watching through them), and sighed. Then he opened his eyes, looking at Menoly's curious and vaguely worried look.

    "Sorry," he said, "just ignore the last five minutes. I was trying to commune with my Zanpakutou when you came in and it leaves me a bit… loopy at first."

    "Eh," she said with a shrug, "you won't find me giving you crap for it. I haven't had the best day myself."

    "Yeah?" he said, looking around for something to occupy his body and, failing to find anything better, pouring another glass and offering it to the Arrancar girl. She looked at it with surprise, then a faint smile, and took it with a nod of thanks.

    "I've never really done anything of my own initiative, you know?" she said. "I've always been happy to let Loly take the lead and rein her in when she really went overboard. But yesterday I… I almost died. It was like nothing I've felt before, not even all these times she got us in trouble with Espadas, and this time it wasn't even her fault. I just… I guess I realized if I never did anything on my own, I might die that way. So I decided, screw it, I'm just gonna go and talk to someone. It's a small start but it's a start, eh?"

    She raised the glass as if toasting him, and took a slow sip.

    "I'm sorry to hear it," Ichigo said, meaning it and feeling awkward for it - he'd barely ever talked to this girl, and she was his enemy and everything, as difficult as that concept seemed to be to grasp lately. He walked over to the window, the warm air brushing his hair; in the sky the last edge of darkness was disappearing from the sun. "That was… because of what happened yesterday? The night that showed up out of nowhere, that… thing people have been talking about?"

    Menoly nodded grimly, leaning against the walls, pulling her arms tighter around her chest as if to ward off a cold.

    "Did you see it?" she asked in a low voice.

    Ichigo shook his head.

    "Felt it. Even from this far. Ulquiorra went to check it out and told me to stay put, and Tesla to make sure I did. I… didn't take it very well."

    She let out a dry chuckle.

    "That why Tesla has a cut his cheek?"

    "We didn't get very far into it," Ichigo said, rubbing his hair awkwardly. "Whatever happened seemed like a… short fight."

    "Yeah…" Menoly said, her voice trailing. "Lot happened in that short a time, though."

    Ichigo gave her a look, inviting her to go on, and she seemed to hesitate strangely; not as if she wasn't sure she wanted to talk, but more surprised that someone was listening to her and waiting for her to continue speaking.

    "That thing… it called itself Beauty, and it was like a god - a god gone mad. It wanted to reshape the world, to transform everything based on its whims. It was going to kill us. Loly and me. And it didn't even seem to realize it. It wanted to… merge us. Make us one being. Destroying our individuality."

    Ichigo stared wide-eyed at her.

    "Someone could do that?"

    "No," she said darkly. "No one can. But it could. I saw my death at the hands of an uncaring God, treating me like a… toy. An art project. I was just paint to it. And then Nemo saved us, but… she couldn't stop it. It brought the night, killed a Calavera to make a tree out of it, it was rambling about all the terrible things it would do in the name of beauty…" She gulped down a breath. "But Aizen came. He saved us all. He killed that pretender. That monster."

    Ichigo bit his lip, casting his eyes on the sand below his window, wanting to say something and knowing it was a bad idea.

    <No, it's a great idea. This place makes no sense, it needs a cold bucket of truth on its head!>

    Ichigo flinched. Wait, could the Hollow actually hear his thoughts? Then he didn't need to talk to him aloud in the first place…

    <Yeah but it's more fun that way!>

    Ichigo gritted his teeth, ignoring his annoying passenger, and turned to Menoly.

    "I don't get it," he said.

    "What's there to not get?" she asked, looking confused.

    "An uncaring god, reshaping the world and people to its whims? Taking people and twisting their souls and turning them into new things and not caring who dies? That's literally Aizen. Why was that 'Beauty' so scary, and Aizen some kind of savior?"

    A shadow passed across Menoly's face, her lips curling in anger. Then as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

    "You don't get Aizen. He's different."

    "I've seen him try and kill the people I loved and smile about it," Ichigo said, his own anger rising as Menoly's left her.

    She shrugged. Just for a moment, Ichigo really wanted to shake some sense into her.

    "It's war," she went on. "There are enemies to defeat. It's not the same here. Aizen… Aizen would never do anything like that. Aizen has never changed us without us first agreeing to it. He offered us release, he did not force it on us. Even those who stood against him, even those Hollows who had been his enemy, if they lived through their defeat, and if they knelt… he'd welcome them at his side, and give them power and freedom."

    "Only because you're useful to him- no," Ichigo said, shaking his head. "It's not even that. You're just plain wrong. I have crossed swords with him. I know his soul. He does not care. He would take a funny-looking soul and bent it like a pretzel if he thought he'd learned something neat from it."

    "No," Menoly said, and the certainty in her tone gave Ichigo pause. How could someone be so deluded about someone they were so close to? "No," she continued, "you're wrong, and I know, because I've seen."

    "Seen what?"

    "I've seen him fail," she said softly. He stared at her, and she smiled a sad, pained smile. "I've seen the one time he did not ask, did not consider, did not care. When the Octavo - Szayel - wanted a subject for an experiment of his, and thought a centipede Hollow who had only wanted to become Arrancar was best-suited for it. I saw Aizen give his approval, and Szayel giggle as he cut her apart, tore her soul in half in some stupid, pointless attempt at understanding his own wound. And I saw Aizen after… when the two Arrancars laid shivering, crying on the ground, mutilated, broken…" She swallowed. "How he bent down, kindness and compassion in his eyes, how he offered his hand, and said..."

    Menoly raised her eye to the ceiling, her gaze a million miles away, seeing neither Ichigo nor the room.

    "'I'm sorry.'"

    Ichigo could not take his eyes off her, off that distant sorrow and pain so obvious in her expression - but it wasn't distant, was it? It was fresh, renewed every day. His throat was tight, disbelief fighting against sympathy.

    "Aizen," he said incredulously, "apologized."

    Menoly chuckled, shaking her head as if to shed the memory, and looked at him again.

    "He did. And then he took these two broken souls at his side as his favored servants, and he never did anything like it ever again. I should know; I've been with him ever since that very day."

    There was silence for a moment as Ichigo processed this.

    "I'm-" he started.

    <If you apologize for Aizen tearing that girl in two I am taking over your body and killing someone just as a statement. Have some self-respect.>

    Ichigo gritted his teeth, the sentence dying in his throat.

    "So that girl Loly," he tried instead, "she's your… other half?"

    "She's my sister," Menoly said simply. Irritation flashed across her face. "God, Antenor is the worst."

    "But she's not really the best one to talk about painful stuff with, is she. That's why you're… saying all these things even though we've barely met. You're not used to having someone to listen to you."

    Menoly snapped her head to him, frowning, an angry quip rising to her lips - then calmed down in the same moment, and nodded weakly. That surprised him - it wasn't the first time something like this happened; something like emotions rising to her face, and then immediately gone. Like they didn't… Stick to her. Like strong feelings slid off her.

    "She loves me," she said. "But if I told her how I feel about what happened yesterday…" Menoly winced. "She'd probably decide that Elcorbuzier, Antenor and Aaroniero are to blame for me feeling hurt because they had a hand in that thing being born, and she'd try and murder them one after the other. And then she'd actually die. So I keep it to myself."

    Ichigo nodded seriously.

    "Family is… complicated," he said.

    <You think?> the Hollow said sarcastically.

    "You think?" Menoly said sarcastically.

    Ichigo winced, feeling the headache rising. He rubbed his temples, leaning against the window frame, his back to the sun, the smell of sand and distant ash weighing on the world. He cast a shadow on the floor stretching almost to Menoly's feet, and that shadow seemed to wink at him.

    "I don't even know what I'll tell mine when I get home," he said tentatively, putting words to buried thoughts he had done his best to avoid.

    "Hail Aizen, Lord of all the Realms?" Menoly said, cocking her eyebrow.

    "Okay," he said sighing, "humour me. Assume the war is put on standby or something and I get home with the world as it is."

    "Sounds like it'd suck, but go on," she said, uncrossing her arms to give him a little wave. She was still holding the empty glass.

    "When I first landed here…" Ichigo said, forcing himself to speak against his instincts, against the Hollow's mocking chuckle at the back of his head, "Aizen came to me and told me things… Fuck. I decided he was lying but that was just cowardice. I knew it was the truth."

    "He's good at that," Menoly said with a thin smile. "What did you learn?"

    "That my life is a lie," Ichigo said, his lip twisting in anger and frustration. "That I'm not some kid who landed in hard circumstances and pulled through, who made it through by trusting in my friends and myself, by being dedicated and taking risks and working hard to get the strength to save the ones I love. That I had the strength all along, because my jackass doofus of a father is actually a renegade Captain of Soul Society coming from a whole lineage of powerful nobles, and that I inherited his power. Aizen told me things about my lineage, my birth, my childhood that I never knew. My father lied to me, lied to us all, and so much of the trouble I went through was because of his lies, but I only survived this trouble because of his strength."

    There was a pause.

    "Wow," Menoly said, kicking her head back. "That's some heavy shit."

    The words came easy now, a flow unleashed from some locked vault in his heart, not unlike his Hollow's power. And like it, it took Ichigo in its current, made him want to go on, speech spilling from his lips without thought yet all of it from the heart.

    "I never thought of myself as, I dunno, someone who 'pulled himself up by his bootstraps' or whatever? I never smugly told someone that I had done all I had with 'hard work.' Hell, half of my survival at the time looked like straight-up lucky breaks. But I was wrong about that too! It was all that… inner potential! Just bursting through dams every time I hit them. I was just becoming myself. And I was never warned, never prepared, even though it was all coming to me eventually, even though… even though he knew," he finished, the last word so bitter he could taste it.

    "So your next chat with your dad is gonna be awkward as hell," Menoly said with a wise nod. "I get it. I don't mean that to dismiss it. It sucks."

    "It's not just my dad," Ichigo said, then sighed wearily.

    "Yeah? Your mom?"

    The pain was sharp, a lancing in his chest, and he flinched on reflex.

    "...ah. Sorry," Menoly said, looking down bashfully. "We've been briefed on your family, too, so I should have remembered. Sorry."

    "It's fine," he said. "It's been a long time, it's just… all this stuff dragging it back up to the surface. I was thinking about my sisters."

    "Oh?" Menoly said, then paused, staring at a wall, and winced. "Oooh, yeah."

    "What?" Ichigo said, surprised that she'd react as if she already understood.

    "Lord Aizen never talked about your sisters, which, given what you just said… uh. They don't know either, do they? They don't know anything at all."

    "They… suspect," Ichigo said sadly. "They have the same latent powers, yeah? Not as much as me, it always looked like. Maybe just 'cause they're younger. I thought they might be lucky and think it's their imagination. Or else I'd talk to them about it, but…" He sighed. "But back then I thought they were just that. Just like me. Kids who could see ghosts. It changes your life, but, really, not all that much. But instead…"

    "They're the daughters of an obscenely powerful spirit, with incredible potential," Menoly said.

    "Yeah."

    "That's great!" she added, grinning. Ichigo stared at her in bafflement - her smile looked like it was trying to be sympathetic, even encouraging.

    "I'm sorry?"

    "Power solves everything!" she said. "Power saves your life. Power lets you do the things you want to do even when the world pushes back. You can only ever have as much freedom as your power allows."

    "That's a… kinda depressing outlook," Ichigo said, vaguely incredulous.

    "It's true, though, isn't it?"

    "No…" He shook his head. "No, it's not. Power brings trouble. Power alienates you from… well, everyone who doesn't have it. Friends, family… I've been thinking about it. That kind of power, especially? It means you gotta step into fights and you gotta see people get hurt and die, your friends fight for their lives, you gotta fear for the world-"

    "Yeah, so?" Menoly said with a shrug. He frowned at her; this speech was one he'd rehearsed himself for nights since that dinner party with the other Arrancars and now that it was disrupted, he'd lost the track. So she continued instead. "Hollows are born of normal humans, you know? Normal humans fear, hurt, die. War happens to them too. Sickness. Grief. 'cept they have no power, so they can't do anything about it. Do you think you'll ever die in a car accident? Or, I dunno, from cancer? That stuff is beneath you now. It could be beneath your sisters."

    "I should have expected that," Ichigo said sourly.

    "What?"

    "You're a Hol- You're an Arrancar. You live in this… horrible, uncaring desert, under your asshole wannabe god. Of course you'd think that way."

    "Am I wrong, though?" she said. There was a gleam of amusement in her one green eye. There might've been one in her hole too, but he couldn't tell.

    "If I did not tell them, if they didn't grow into that potential, they could have a chance at a normal life. At safety from these cosmic wars fought over the egos of millenia-old dickbags. At thinking the world is simple…"

    "I love what you just said," Menoly said, cutting him off again. He swallowed his frustration at it and gave her a glare, to which she smiled meanly. "If you didn't tell them. Not 'if they chose not to take up that life.' If you didn't tell them. Because you know that if they knew, they'd make the same choice as you. You can't know, and then look away. Isn't that what your father thought? Isn't that why he did from you. Are you saying…" she paused deliberately, "that he was right?"

    Ichigo opened his mouth, and no answer came out. He closed it again, lacking a come-back to Menoly's sardonic expression.

    <Ichigo, I think I'm in love. If you're dumb enough to pass that chance, please let me have your body for the day so I can ask her out. We could go hunt a Hollow and eat it alive. She looks like she'd love that. You'd be way too squeamish to treat a girl to that kind of entertainment.>

    "Shut up," Ichigo said through clenched teeth, and Menoly's smile faded.

    "What, truth hurts?"

    "I wasn't… sorry," he said, rubbing his forehead. "I didn't mean that for you."

    "You're weird, Shinigami boy."

    "So I've been told. I just… God. I'm gonna have to tell them and talk to my father and…"

    "Hey," she said brightly, "plus side: Lord Aizen is going to stomp the Shinigami order into the dust, become God, and then there'll be a lot less nonsense warfare going around."

    "Right," he said, his voice flat as the sand outside his room. "Well, you gave me… uh. A lot to think about. I guess I should thank-"

    "Doyouwanttograbadrinkorsomething," Menoly blurted out, her face perfectly stoic. Save for the wave of red creeping up her cheeks.

    "What," Ichigo said flatly.

    <Ichigo>

    "I don't- I didn't-" he mumbled.

    <ICHIGO>

    "You just shouldn't be staying in this room chewing things over endlessly on your own," Menoly mumbled. She was now approaching Cero-red. He hoped she wasn't about to explode. "I mean, you're already talking to yourself. And I'm Aizen's assistant so I'm qualified to keep an eye on you. It's fine."

    <Ichigoooo>

    "This…" he waved his hand at the window and the flat expanse of desert. "This is Las Noches! It's a desert! Where do you even want to 'grab a drink,' it's not like you have coffee shops or something!"

    That response was like playing right into one of the 'trap cards' of that collectibles game Karin was obsessed with. It only seemed to embolden Menoly. She inhaled, and blurted out, "There's a canteen some Numeros put together near the kitchens! We could get some nice food while we're there - you haven't had breakfast, right?"

    "I-"

    <I c h i g o>

    The Shinigami sighed, brushing his hair with one hand, resigning himself.

    "Sure. Okay. I could really use some fresh air and food. But it's just breakfast, okay? It doesn't, like… mean anything," he said with a suspicious look.

    "What would it mean?" Menoly said with very fake-sounding offense. "I didn't say anything that implied-"

    "You snuck into my room while I was asleep."

    "...so I did," she mumbled, looking down.

    "Okay," he said again, feeling dumb for how he was repeating himself. "Let's do it."

    "Sweet," she said, her smile returning, earnest and bright. "Follow me!"

    She then headed straight for him. Before Ichigo could get past a second's confusion, Menoly barged past him, hopping up onto the window ledge.

    "Wait, what are you doing? Why aren't we taking the door?"

    The Arrancar girl turned to him, her one-eyed expression one of dead seriousness. He still didn't have a grasp on her flickering emotions. "Because Loly is still downstairs, and if she sees you leaving with me, you'll never live to reach that canteen," she said. "So hop on down."

    Ichigo's mouth opened on an exclamation of protest and many, many questions regarding the apparently deadly implications of a simple breakfast, but it was far too late. Menoly had already jumped, letting out a 'wheee!' as she fell to the sound, and he could only watch.

    "Oh, god," he whispered to himself.

    <If you do not jump right out of this window this instant, I will find the old man just so that I can eat him in front of your eyes.>

    "Your threats are kind of one-note, you know," Ichigo said distantly.

    <I am a spirit of single-minded focus and sheer will. Now jump.>

    Ichigo's sigh contained entire worlds of regret and sad resignation.

    But he did jump.
     
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