Saga of the Princess of the Hollow World (Youjo Senki x Bleach)

Author's note beforehand, all of the "scientific" stuff here is canon to SOTPOTHoW, even if the story portion itself is not. That includes the totally scientific reason for Szayel's hair color.

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Saga of the Princess of the Hollow World

Chapter ?: Three's a Crowd Crowned

---

People could say what they wanted about Szayelaporro Granz, that he was obsessive, impulsive, compulsive, insane, weird, strange, oddly homoerotic, but none could deny that he was a genius! Which honestly just made his current work more than a little...frustrating. He had been trying to clone a few Arrancar since it was one of the many things on Aizen's List (capitalized, as it was that important) of things for him to experiment with. After all, if they could clone, say, the Espada, then they'd just have to make a few clones of each one and basically run ramshod over the Shinigami in short order. With enough clones, it wouldn't even be that hard. Barely an inconvenience. However, there were inconveniences in the way of this simple (on paper) solution. First, he was pretty sure they'd have to grow the clones from infanthood. Not too hard. Growth hormones, nutrient injections, and hypnosis training could speed things along. He'd get around to figuring that out if only he could get past the first hurdle.

Hollow DNA was not like human DNA.

Oh, it had human DNA. Lots of it, in fact. Unfortunately, because most Hollows worth anything were actually the amalgamation of thousands of human souls, which all carried a spiritual version of their DNA from life (some minor alterations here and there thanks to the transition doing a combination of resetting and mutating to adjust to a spiritual existence), once they became Menos Grande, all of that got more or less blended together. Normally, not a problem. He'd just isolate the proper sequence. Except, most of them did not have a proper sequence that could be isolated. Even though every last Adjuchas had a single soul in charge of its total being, the makeup of its body took bits and pieces from many of its souls collectively to form it. It's why he had naturally pink hair now, despite being blonde when he was alive. Somewhere along the way, one of the many Hollows that formed him ate the soul of a flamingo. Szayel just had to eat some shrimp once in a while to keep it in this nice shade.

Faced with this conundrum, Szayel made many tests on various sorts of Hollows and finally managed a breakthrough when he grabbed a soul right on the verge of encroachment and cloned the resulting Hollow. Rather than a normal baby soul or some mishmashed creature that shouldn't exist like in past attempts, this time, he actually got a real clone of the Hollow. There were differences, of course. This was still soul science, after all, and a person's innermost being was as important for determining how a spirit looked as much as their DNA, hence why both souls and Arrancar had such a broader range of phenotypes than their living counterparts, but it was still a very close match.

So, it seemed that the answer was to only try to clone Arrancar with a single soul, until such time that he could figure out how to sequence the DNA of hundreds of thousands of souls at one time whilst accurately comparing them to the existing body. In other words, only useful for the things they had no examples of and something that could only be useless if they did exist.

...Wait, no, there was an exception. In a manner of speaking. The Princesa, a creation he was most proud of despite her supposed enmity towards him - it was kinda adorable, really. The term Ichimaru used to describe it was 'tsun'-something - had been born with a single soul. As was every 'naturally' conceived Hollow. He'd run the tests before. Even if they were Adjucha or Vasto Lorde in form, they had always been born into the world single-souled. Which meant that their body had its DNA 'straightened out' for lack of a better term. Whatever sequences the parents passed down reformed into a stable strand, which also gave stability to born Adjuchas, nixing the issue of falling into a Gillian. Unfortunately, he had few examples of this to work with, and all of them had eaten some Hollows here or there by this point, he was sure, and that could muddy results and just bring him back to square one in the testing. Instead, he would approach this from another angle.

Deep in his storage freezer, he had kept the umbilical cord and placenta harvested after the Princesa's birth frozen. He'd only ever used samples from it a handful of times, but it was a unique specimen that he likely would have to wait decades to get anything even close to it unless he went out and made one himself, which he really didn't fell like doing. The baby souls he had to deal with and make Hollow nannies for were more than enough. They'd be useful little specimens, but first they had to be grown into that usefulness. From both parts, he took samples to clone from. Then, as another test, he had one of his Fracciones go retrieve a fresh sample from the Princesa. He half-expected it to get blown apart on the first try (perfectly acceptable as he had some rejuvenation drugs he wanted to try out for a different entry on Aizen's List), but apparently, he was smart enough to go to the lesser Pala scientist Fraustein for assistance. She got it rather quickly and efficiently (if only she wasn't such a moralist, he could actually have a decent assistant he didn't have to make from the ground up), and the work began in earnest.

Months later, in vats partly made of recycled flesh, metal, and glass for viewing, he had three perfectly normal Arrancar fetuses with little variation to the original.

Success! Aizen will be pleased!

...Or he would, if this could be applied to anything other than the born Hollows, but that seemed decades away from feasibility.

Maybe he could convince Harribel to donate some ova?

---

She thought she'd lived a good life, given the circumstances. Sometimes the memories of the war would come back to keep her up, and then there was that reporter who had been so doggedly determined to dig up her past. Well, by the time he found out, she was already old, and along the way, he had pretty much exonerated everything she ever did that could've been used against her. After that, it was pretty much all clear. She was safe, retired, had plenty of loved ones, and was even comfortable on her deathbed as the hourglass slowly trickled down.

Any regrets? Eh, none worth mentioning at this point.

But then she woke up to being pulled out of something squishy and gross, placed on a cushioned table, and looked over by a strange, pink-haired man with bright amber eyes and glasses that looked like they were made of ivory.

"Ah, there we are! Subject Alpha is looking alive and well. Should be crying though, we need those lungs cleared."

She then felt her foot being grabbed between two fingers and her toes being flicked. It hurt, and she tried to tell the man to knock it off, but her voice wouldn't obey and only came up as gurgles. Realizing what her tininess and inability to speak meant, she started shouting out in anger.

'Did He forget to turn off whatever let me keep my memories? I've been reincarnated with my past life again! This definitely counts as something to complain about! I just got done telling my great-grandchildren goodbye! I don't want to remember those crying faces for another 80 or more years!

'And what's this about 'subject'? Am I a science experiment in this life?!'

"There we are. Now to check the other two."

'There's more?!'

---

She liked to think she did well.

There was only so much one could do, in the end. As powerful as any mage can be, they're still only one person. People might believe that there are "Great Men" throughout history who pushed civilization to its current state, but the truth is that there are circumstances behind and around all those historical figures that shaped both them and their environment. Take Alexander the Great and put him in Feudal Japan, and he might not do so well there, even if you wave away the language barriers and give him enough men to start. So was she, too, just someone shaped by her past and the situation around her. Without those memories, without the war, she would've been a very different person leading a very different life. Even if her magic meant she was bound to the military whether peace continued or war began. Maybe talented in this or that, but certainly not whatever people thought she was: prodigy, genius, or what-have-you.

Still, she's pretty sure she did the best she could muster, even though they were defeated, even though she was defanged, defamed, and denounced.

She really did expect that trial to go way differently though. Turned out, her lawyer knew well both the laws and how to play a crowd. Yes, he basically had to foot the whole butcher's bill she racked up to the former government of the Empire and make her look like a smart, but ultimately immature child. It took a lot of tongue-biting from her, but it was pride she had to swallow. This wasn't a mere argument, they had been fighting for her life!

But it worked? She was basically banished from her homeland after all was said and done, but seeing as they were getting lambasted and blacklisted for 'using an innocent girl to wage their bloody wars', she couldn't blame them. Strange how the new administration kept it in place, though.

So she was taken away to live out her days in political asylum on the island nation partly responsible for everything getting that far in the first place. It wasn't all bad. The food wasn't great, but she was basically guaranteed a job. Almost got through to retirement age, too.

Then some vengeful soldier knifed her in the back. She wasn't even sure who it was or why, other than a mention of their 'father's death is avenged.' She would have told them off if one of her lungs weren't full of blood.

But then her daughter shot the attacker, her aim as impeccable as it ever was on their little hunting trips. The assailant lived long enough to hear her scream, "Mother!" before the second shot blew off their skull (though she could barely see it at that point), but she was certain she saw the horror in their eyes before death claimed them first.

They must have knicked something important because she blacked out not long afterward. But now her eyes were opening again. But things were not at all how she expected. She'd been stabbed before, though not quite like that, but this wasn't like waking up from a stab wound at all. In fact, it reminded her of something a little older.

"Subject Beta's doing good as well. Hair color didn't change, but seems wavier. ...Are you writing this down or chewing on the pens again?"

"Wah, sorry Master Szayelaporro!"

The weird, pink-haired doctor sighed and pushed at his nose as she realized she probably needed to act the part of a baby properly and start crying.

"Never thought the little rock would be the best note-taker. Anyways, time to get Gamma."

---

She really wanted to scream, but being immersed in liquid made that hard. Wait, she was in the air now. Good! Let the world and Being X hear her roar!

...Oh, that's a baby's cry she's doing. And...there are more babies around? Yep, at least two she could make out.

So, that damn unkillable Valkyrie actually got her in the end. Damn stupid orb overload! Well, she outdid her old man, at least. She actually managed to get the target, even if it cost her an eye and all the brains behind it. Small comfort, in the end.

"Ooh, a real healthy set of lungs on this one!" some effeminate, pink-haired doctor said as he set her on a table, other doctors and nurses tending to the cord and cleaning of her infant body. From her side, she could see two more baby girls in the same situation as herself. However, they both had strange growths on their heads that looked like bone. "Subject Gamma is perfectly healthy. Forming a mask near the back of her jaws. Interesting, it's in two parts. Reminds me of my brother's ornery pack leader."

She didn't like how this was shaping up. If the looks and terms were anything to go by at all, then this was looking like she had been reborn as some sort of science experiment. Being X must have known that she would try and get out of the situation if she could, so he went and closed off all other avenues. Now she was stuck with whatever designs this mad scientist had in mind. Oh, she was going to tear into Him next time He bothered to come down and gloat!

'Damn you, Being X!'

---

"Sister, you need to eat more," Tasha, the silver-haired girl with a mask formed on her head like a circlet and a hole below her heart admonished her younger 'sibling'.

"But it's so gross!" Tina, whose mask was under one eye and mirrored by a silver Stigmata, hole where her belly button would have been, complained, sticking out her tongue. "Not even Albion made cuisine so tasteless."

The poor girl had apparently been an expat after the war, but unlike herself, got placed in Londinium. Not so bad, but as she told it, she died of a stabbing attack. Tasha wasn't sure what she did to get reincarnated like this. Maybe it was a fluke?

"It's apparently all clones like us are worth," the ironically named Ticha groused, forcing down her own nutrient paste with an expression most wroth. Her mask formed on both sides of her face, looking like the back of some beast's jaws, and her hole was in her neck. She died in a suicidal attack and blamed it on 'God'. Probably a religious fanatic from Francois. There were a lot of those, even before the Tiegenhoff psycho. Must have gotten her in the desert. "Not even worth the salt it'd take to add taste."

"Don't be like that. If we're lucky, this will be the last time we ever have to eat this stuff again."

"What makes you think this Lord Aizen guy is going to change anything?" Ticha grumbled.

"Yeah, he's the one who ordered our whole creation in the first place?"

"For one, we're going to be the cutest, most innocent-looking science experiments anyone has ever seen," Tasha explained, a smile slowly growing on her lips. "And if that doesn't do it, I think I finally got a message to the princess."

"Wait, the one the drones keep talking about?" Ticha asked, looking curious.

"She's supposed to be extremely competent and utilitarian, right?" Tina added.

"That's what they say. And she has a lot of pull. Not to mention, if I'm correct, then she also might be something of a softy." Tasha's smile took on a more devious tint. "Szayel keeps complaining about her 'Pala scientist' not being willing to take real risks. I managed to find a way to ask what he meant without sounding out of place, and now I know why. She's not allowed to be nearly as brutal with her experiments. All above board kind of things, like one might expect from a 'good guy' organization."

"That's a bit of a reach," Ticha pointed out. "And how do you know this message even reached her?"

"It was Bludo."

"Ah, that one." Ticha immediately understood where the confidence was coming from, then. "She's going to know soon if she doesn't already."

~

Not long after their flavorless lunch, Aizen's inspection came around, and alongside him was a girl about twice their own height, with blonde hair, blue eyes, a crown-like mask, and a hole at the bottom of her chest.

"You bastard!" she screamed while rounding on the mad scientist. "Who said you could make clones of me?!"

"I'll have you know I had Aizen's full backing for this project." At a look from said man, Szayel cleared his throat and corrected himself. "...That is, while I had not specified who the clones were of, there was never any stipulations about limiting who to clone."

'That's it! Our ticket out of here!'

"I oughta have you tossed into an incinerator with all the damn experiments you've made!"

That, however, immediately crushed their hopes. Normally, the three would have schooled their expressions and stood firm, but there was no chance of that working here. They weren't appealing to the military arm of an empire, they were trying to get a princess to take pity on them. So the three cried out in fright and started clinging to each other as if scared and desperate, making sure to look as frightened and as close to tears as possible. The princess looked back at them, and her rage was replaced with shock and remorse as she seemed to realize what she'd said.

"H-hey, I wasn't... I didn't mean you three," she tried to explain.

'Keep up the tears! Keep up the tears!'

Well, the samurai with glasses looked disappointed, but that was fine. They didn't need the general to approve of them. They needed the royal family. They just had to get this princess to go crying to her father or mother, whichever had the crown, and get them out of this laboratory.

"While impressive as a whole, Granz, the subjects leave something to be desired," Aizen pointed out. "If you could repeat this, how long will it take to raise up more...suitable examples?"

"While I have done my best to apply growth treatments to these three, the best I could manage was getting them to age at a human rate," Szayel lamented. "Assuming the rate is constant, we're looking at around 14 to 20 years, if I start with new samples as soon as possible."

"It would appear then that this avenue of approach is not worth the investment. Feel free to discontinue the project at your leisure. The army won't be able to incorporate it in time at this rate."

"Of course, my lord. Should I dispose of these, then?"

"Absolutely not!" the princess yelled before clearing her throat and then standing up straight and putting her arms behind her back, doing her best to look dignified despite the outburst. "If you have no further need of them, then I will be taking them into my custody. Whatever the origin, these are still good, useful Arrancar of Vasto Lorde stock. If properly taught and cultivated, they will become a force to be reckoned with in a few decades."

"Yes, yes," the madman said while waving his hand dismissively. "Go take them home and let Roka play with them or whatever. What, are you going to want the soul clones while you're at it?"

"...the what clones?"

---

Figuring out what to call each other was hard. The mad scientist who made their bodies in this life just gave them numbers. In Ispagnan, for some reason. In the end, they agreed to all abandon their old name and wrote a new one on a piece of paper before all sharing it at one time, and that issue was solved.

"So, you actually let her live?" Marian asked Martha, who nodded.

"I just...couldn't do it. Not when she was just holding her grandchild like that. I wanted to, so badly, but then I thought about...how much I hurt for so long, and I realized I'd just be doing the same thing to someone else. To a lot of someones. And if I did that, wouldn't I have just been worse than her, in the end?"

Marian grimaced. "Maybe. ...I...didn't even know. I was just so angry about how everyone seemed to be sanitizing her role. They pinned everything on the government and acted like she was some innocent angel forced at gunpoint to commit all those atrocities, but... I don't know, maybe she was. She was just a kid for the whole war. And if she really thought that it was 'follow orders or firing squad' and 'kill the enemy or be killed by them' the whole time... I never even entertained it until after I died. And right before that girl who looked just like her got me, she was crying and screaming, "Mother!" Did I become the actual monster in the end?"

Martha looked uncertain, and Maddy shrugged.

"I don't know. I think I managed to kill her at Tiegenhoff."

"What?!" the other two half-shouted. Out of all their past life stories shared, that was probably the most surprising bit up to this point. "How?"

"Overloaded my orb. I would've been fine without it, but I think she blew off half my head."

"How would you even know that?" Marian asked her.

"The other half stuck around long enough to die in the explosion, but I know she was at least gone from the waist down." She then frowned. "You guys are actually making me feel bad about it, though. Do you think she could've gotten better after the war? That she wasn't really...evil?"

"Well, mine was definitely completely changed," Marian admitted. "We even talked, and...I think she recognized me. Maybe even knew that I knew. She was willing to let bygones be bygones and just live out her life, working for the US government."

"If I had paid more attention, I might know better," Martha said with a downcast look. "But if she had a daughter willing to...kill to protect her? Guess it's best I never had any children. The cycle ended."

"Hey, you look rather invested over there," Marian called out over to one of their male companions. "Got anything to add? Anything you wanna share?"

He shook his head and continued huddling behind his pillow. "You guys go ahead. It's all...interesting."

Lehrgen wondered which sin exactly had earned him this kind of hell. He had no idea if any of these reborn Bloody Valkyries were from the same world as him, but the fact that two of them had managed to kill her frightened him beyond belief, even if they had nothing like their past lives' powers. And the one that hadn't actually done it had apparently seen her grow into old age. He could be a little happy that she'd learned to be human in one life, at least.

The second scared him, though. If they all agreed that maybe it was the Empire's fault that she became what she did - and he couldn't blame them, honestly - then that meant whatever ire they had left would be aimed at people like him. Better to pretend he was some fresh soul rather than another unfortunately reincarnated one. Like those five who had also been watching with strange interest. Not focused like he'd let himself get, just curious as children can be. The girl looked a little upset, though. Well, it was rather sad, in a cosmic sense.

Then the door to their little cell barracks was slammed open, and she was there, a crown of bone upon her head, three smaller versions just behind her legs.

The three Valkyries were probably extremely thankful that their new bodies had different hair colors than before.

"Szayel, you bastard!" she called back. "Now I have to open an orphanage!"

...what?

Sorry for the double post but I gotta crosspost my omake or my brain will explode.

Omake: Unconditional Motherly Love

The mother that was once a tool was, for the first time in years, truly struggling with the role she had been given after her daughter took her from Szayelaporro. Word had reached her about the most recent meeting that her daughter had attended with Lord Aizen and the Espada, surprisingly before the girl herself who had found other duties to attend to for the next few hours instead of joining Roka to spend time together and speak of her day herself. The information had been, instead of some new improvement to Las Noches or it's various organizations, about Tanya herself.

Evidently one half of the latest Espada, one Lilynette Gingerbuck, had been rather forward with Tanya and unintentionally revealed Tanya's interest in her own sex. To much teasing from Nnoitra who also attempted to provoke Baraggan with claims that his lineage would end thanks to Tanya. Roka did not know how to process the tangled knot of emotions regarding the Espadas' actions, with Lilynette seeming to bear no ill will and Nnoitra simply being wrong as Tanya's mere existence proved, so she discarded the thought to focus directly on her daughter.

It should not be of any real concern that Tanya prefers girls, yet Roka can't help but feel like there is something she should be doing as a mother.

Something important, for when Tanya returns home.

Roka expends a handful of her vacation hours to skip out on her duties as a medic for the day, so that she can delve into researching a solution. Nel is out with her mother's friends for the day and Roka's own motherly intuition, a concept she learned of early in her role as Tanya's mother and hopes she's honed well over the decades, tells her that Tanya will be late. Intentionally so this time, which only spurs Roka to more fervently devour any information she can find on this facet of parenthood.

She does not like what she finds.

More than any other subject under the umbrella of parenthood that Roka has data on, a subject already fraught with flawed data and ungrounded opinions, handling a child who has been revealed to be homosexual is incredibly contradictory and divisive beyond all reason. The "advice" rooted in theology ignorant of the nature of the universe or an incorrect understanding of biology is directly contrary to all notions of being a good mother that Roka has learned with it's mildest advice being rejection of the child. The worst advice evokes an emotion in Roka that she recognizes as kin to Tanya's feelings toward Szayelaporro.

She almost doesn't trust the opposing opinion.

It really couldn't be that simple, could it?

A handful of the quicker and cleverer agents with permission to visit the living world are needed to acquire what Roka does not have on hand in time, but it is well worth it. As when Tanya finally makes it home, Roka feels a warmth she cannot articulate as she pulls her daughter into a hug and tells her that nothing will change how much Roka loves her. A confused but enthusiastic Nel joins in and Roka pointedly ignores whatever reaction she feels coming from her daughter until she can compose herself and pull free from the embrace. Her small family then moves to the dining table, where a rainbow-iced cake sits waiting to be cut.

Saga of the Princess of the Hollow World

Chapter 8: Amor Incondicional

---

Saki was not doing well. She knew she wasn't doing well. Well, she was doing a little better. She had a lot of money saved up, after all. She just had to be careful. Her last hit should hold up for a while.

'...can't waste it,' she thought, looking at the bundle of cash in her hands. 'One week's worth. It's less than usual.' She opened the locker with her things inside, including the duffel bag where all her savings were kept. 'Because my belly is like this, less people want to pay…' Her hand went over her gravid stomach, the tiniest warmth arising at the thought of her child. As she placed the bundle of cash inside her bag with several others like it, she heard someone behind her.

"Whoa! This bum's loaded!"

"What? No way!"

She looked back and saw…her old classmates. What were they doing here?

"Amazing! You already got millions in there, don't you?" one girl asked her, leaning forward to get a better look. Saki wished she could remember her name. Any of their names, really. "Hey, how come you have so much money?"

"Stop," the other girl whispered while pulling her back, "she's dirty."

Well, that hurt. Yeah, she didn't smell great right now, but she had a bath the day before yesterday.

She made to close the locker, but one of the men caught it.

"Aup, why are you closing it? Can't we just take a look?"

"Isn't this…you know? Where did you steal this money from?" the shorter girl who'd called her dirty asked accusingly. "There's no way a bum could get this much money legally."

"I… I didn't! This is from work!"

"What? Your work as a bum?"

"Hm, stolen, huh?" another man mused, smiling widely. "So, you're a thief…"

"Ah, she's a thief! Now it makes sense!"

Saki's heart was racing, pounding against her ribs. Fear was coursing through her as she realized what was going down. It didn't matter what she said or what she tried to do. She'd heard people talking like this before. Before…when…

She had to get away!

Saki turned, grabbed her duffel bag, and tried to make a break for it, but the big man who had stopped her from shutting her locker reached his arm out and caught her.

"Hey! Don't…run!" he yelled while throwing her back. Saki screamed as she fell, dropping her bag and scattering the rolls and wads of money from within it. Her back hurt, she felt dizzy, and her coat had opened up. She was worried. Worried for herself, her child, her savings, and those eyes. They were looking at her with such disgust and…cruel smiles. They were saying something, but she couldn't make them out. She was too dizzy. Her last hit probably made the pain more bearable, but it definitely didn't help her focus.

"Hey! What the fuck?!" a loud voice shouting in English cut through everything. Her old classmates stopped and turned to look at the interruption. There was a woman there with straight, light-brown hair and green eyes, gazing ruefully at her tormentors. "Just what the hell is going on here?" she demanded switching over to Japanese, though heavily accented.

"Hey, this doesn't concern you, lady," one of the boys tried intimidating her.

The woman scoffed, eyes narrowed and lips twisted in disgust. "So much for that Japanese politeness. I just saw that man throw a very pregnant woman to the floor. I don't care who you are or what you think you're doing, this just became my business."

"What, you care about this dirty bum, gaijin-san?" the taller girl said playfully, stepping closer to Saki and lifting up a foot, pushing it against her belly. "What are you going to do if I-" she started to ask as she reared her foot back.

Whatever question she was asking would go unfinished. Saki hadn't seen the woman move, and not just because she had been looking in fear at the foot getting in position for a kick. One second, the brunette was on one side of the locker room, and the next, she was there, her fist smashed against the girl's face and sending her sprawling, blood and teeth flying through the air and smashing against the lockers along with the girl, who could barely let out a yelp and pained grunts before she fell over.

The others looked on in fear and shock for a moment, and then the man who had thrown her raised up a fist and swung it at the woman with a yell. She ducked, and then her own came up, smashing against his chin just before her other went forward and bashed his nose. He stumbled back, clutching it as it bled, and the other two rushed forward in anger. The woman wove through their punches, catching one's arm and then shoving his elbow back and into his fellow's eye. With one distracted, she focused, yanking the arm forward and slamming her elbow down onto it while gripping the wrist. He screamed in pain, and the woman kicked him away and then knocked the other to the floor with a haymaker.

The first man was back, trying to grab her, but she ducked, stepped to the side, and yanked him along. As he tried to keep his balance, she spun in place and jumped, kicking out and nailing him across the cheek with all the force of her weight and momentum, sending more teeth across the floor. The second swung, but she turned and knocked his arm away, punched him across the face twice, then grabbed his head and jumped up with her knee to slam his face against it, bloodying him further and knocking an incisor loose.

The smaller girl had stood frozen the entire time, as caught up watching the rapid display of one-sided violence as Saki had been, but with far more fear growing as her side slowly lost the battle. She was practically shaking in terror as the woman's gaze lingered upon her.

"Pl-please…I-i-i I didn't do anything."

"You stood there," the woman said darkly. "You egged them on. You bore false witness!"

She backed up when the woman stepped forward, then turned to try and run, but the woman caught her, practically a blur when she dashed, and swung around while holding her arm twisted behind her back and clenching her hair.

"No! No! No! No! No! NO!" she screamed as the woman practically carried her over and reared back, ready to smash her face into a concrete wall.

Something seemed to come over her, though, and she stopped. For a few moments, all Saki heard was the girl's whimpering and the woman muttering under her breath. Not English or Japanese, but a different language she couldn't identify. Unfamiliar to Saki's ears, but comfortable on the woman's tongue.

She suddenly let the girl go, shoving her aside as she did.

"Get out of here!" she seethed, and her former classmate obeyed, running as though her life depended on it. The third boy was trying to prop himself up, looking up at the woman with hatred in his unswollen eye.

"You'll pay for-" Apparently, the violence hadn't fully left her, as her boot smashed into his mouth. More blood and teeth hit the floor as he made muffled cries through his hands clenching his face.

"Learn to shut up," she spat at him. She looked around at the scene she'd created, then took a deep breath and slowly released it. With that, she looked over to Saki and offered her a sad smile.

"Sorry about the mess. Let's get you out of here, okay?"

Saki could only nod as the woman bent down and started picking up her money and helping her pack it back up. Moments later, they were leaving the coin locker as her former classmates stirred. The girl had been first and was distraught and crying at her busted lips and cracked teeth, and the men likely weren't faring better. None of them were going to have complete smiles now unless they got a lot of work done, much like Saki with her one missing canine.

The girl led her away from there and then further into town. She started getting self-conscious about the looks they were receiving, but she couldn't go an alternate route if she wanted. The lady was holding her bag for her.

"Hm, we should be fine out here," the woman said while looking around. It was a very public street, which was why Saki felt so anxious at the moment. People kept giving her sideways glances. Between her tan, her bleached blonde hair, her ragged clothes, and her stomach, she was very noticeable and stuck out like a sore thumb — an unwanted one. "My name's Mary, by the way. Mary Sundén."

"...Yoshida Saki. Wh- Can I ask why you stepped in back there?"

"What a strange question!" Mary half-exclaimed. "Why did I pummel that lot of scum mistreating a poor, expectant mother? Because I have two fists and a heart, because my father taught me to always fight for what's right, and because it was the right thing to do." She winked at that last point. It… It just seemed so silly, like Saki was talking to some anime protagonist come to life. She couldn't help the giggle that came out of her. "Ah, now there's a smile!"

"You're- You're an odd person, Mary-san," Saki said as she rubbed at her eyes.

"My friends tell me that all the time. Anyway, we need to get you set straight. I don't know how the conversion to dollars works, but I know a lot of money when I see it," Mary informed her while hefting up her duffel bag. "Putting all of this in a locker is not safe at all. Even if no one saw you today, someone could have figured it out and broken in to steal it. You need a bank account. Checking if nothing else."

"Uh, I…can't open my own bank account," Saki admitted. "I'm still…a minor…for five more months."

Mary's eyes went wide at that revelation, and Saki felt despair returning.

"Your parents…?"

"They kicked me out a while ago because…" Could she even tell Mary what all led to this point in her life? Any one thing she went through would have made her seem like the filthiest whore in the world. She certainly felt like it some days. She winced, knowing that anyone could paint their own picture. A pregnant gyaru kicked out of her parent's house and somehow having plenty of money despite clearly being homeless? It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on with her.

However, no harsh words came from her new acquaintance. Instead, she suddenly felt herself being pulled forward and held in a tight hug. Saki wasn't a stranger to physical contact with people, but this…was the gentlest anyone had ever held her since her mother's sudden turn.

"You poor child," Mary muttered in English. "No one should have to go through such." She then stepped back from the hug and gave Saki another sad smile. "C'mon. I think I know a way to get around this. Somewhere you can get some real help."

Saki was tired. The heroin in her system wasn't doing anything good for her, and her feet had practically been constantly hurting for months, but she followed Mary. She had no idea where they were going, but she had a feeling. Something about all of this… The American - she was pretty sure she was American by the accent - had jumped in and fought to protect her. Risked herself to get in their way and protect someone she didn't even know. And when she caught just an inkling of her story, she hadn't been disgusted and repelled, she was…saddened. For Saki's sake.

It had been a while since she trusted anyone. The last few people she'd tried to give her trust to had just ripped it up and thrown it and her away. Her mother. Her first serious relationship. They just tossed her out when it became too much for them. But there was that little spark in her heart that still longed to trust someone. Even if it was a foreign stranger whose kind acts to her had included incredible violence. She followed her as she led her along, looking at a strange watch with a compass imposed over its face every once in a while.

As the kept up their walk and took a bus, Saki saw the buildings of downtown give way to smaller, homelier buildings and more trees than before. Appartments then houses took the place of storefronts and small businesses before they stepped off the public transport, and Mary checked her compass-watch again before leading her forward. Soon, they were passing through the doors to a building Saki never would have thought to enter. Mary made a gesture across her chest, and a white man in a priest's outfit noticed them.

"Ah, welcome children! How can we help you?"

"Wh-where are we?" Saki quietly asked.

"A church attached to the nearby American military base." She then nodded to the priest before answering him. "Thank you, father. Just give us a moment please."

"A church?" Saki didn't know much about churches or religions in general, but…wouldn't they despise someone like her? "Are they- Will they help?"

"Not just them. It's just one step. I have a friend, and she's got some credentials, but right now, you need a safe place to rest, and this is a good crossroads. A peaceful place where you'll be safe."

She seemed so sure of this, but Saki wasn't.

"How do you know?"

Mary gave her another smile, but this one lacked all of the sadness her previous ones had.

"Because I'm right where He's led me."

---

Tanya was mildly aggravated about Nnoitra's completely unnecessary commentary during the introduction of the new Primera, the smaller half of which had declared an intent of friendship, like something out of a magical girl manga, only stranger, somehow. Normally, magical girls weren't also soul-eating creatures… Normally. That one with the pink-haired girl and the time traveler she saw in her first life was different.

Still, there was now talk spreading among the populace. By the end of the week, word was going to get around that she was supposedly homosexual.

'...Wait, am I gay, though? I mean, I definitely feel attracted to women. 150 or more collective years of being female hasn't really changed that, has it? Well, if I think about Harribel…yeah. Okay, what about Mila-Rose… Okay, these are bad examples. Loly? Well, if she wasn't so mouthy… Menoly… Sun-sung… Right, yeah, they're all definitely attractive. Maybe I'm looking at this from the wrong angle. What about… Do I even want to be attracted to men? No, no, it's not about want. …Actually, it's precisely about want. Ach, focus! Okay, obvious examples I hate or can't like, like the Granzes, are out. Then maybe…Grimmjow? Oh dear. Uh…Ggio? Kinda? Hm, Redder? Maybe if he smiled more. Findorr? Too much mask. Wait, hold on a second?! I am attracted to some men!'

"Is this…what they call bisexual?"

"What's a baisekushuaru?" Lilynette asked as she joined Tanya at the table, setting down a plate of soft-shelled rabbit tacos.

"She likes men and women," one of the four men playing cards at the other table answered, having apparently heard.

"I will have you digging sand trenches, maggot!" Tanya threatened when she realized it was Roder Tyranus, one of her Escudo.

"Just giving honest intel, ma'am," he answered before pushing some chips forward to call. The tan-skinned Arrancar male was black-and-white-haired, the white appearing as patches and spots among the black, and had a mask covering his mouth and nose that looked like a sharp-toothed mouth with teeth around two inches long, each. His currently-opened coat revealed the Hollow hole directly on his stomach. His current opponents consisted of Stark, Ulquiorra, and Ruddborn Chelute. With two of the men having excellent poker faces, and the other two showing little to none of theirs, the advantage of reading their opponents was effectively nulled. Kaien had been cleaned out and was stuck spectating not long in.

"Call," Ulquiorra said as he followed suit.

The Escudo had been excited to invite the Primera over for a game when he learned the man remembered the rules from life. Tanya didn't know how he got Ulquiorra and Ruddborn in on it, but she supposed that was just one of Roder's talents: getting the unexpected done. That and eating enough to supply a small army on his lonesome. Good thing his wife was one of their best cooks.

As Tanya and Lilynette chewed on tacos, Kaien looked over the one offered to him and took a tentative bite.

"So, you planning on going to the Living World tonight?" he said when most of the bite was consumed.

"Yes, and I can already tell what you're going to ask."

"Hey, let me finish, at least," he said before swallowing. "Look, I've had some training in stealth, and I've heard about these cloaks you guys have. Onmitsukidō would have actually killed to have something like that back in the day. Besides, it'll help with your mission, won't it?"

"I have not informed you what my mission is."

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it? Rukia?" He made a level-handed gesture. "You said she's on a mission in the Living World right now. And your kid sister was yapping about your 'fwiends' earlier."

Tanya rubbed her head. Of course, Nel didn't understand why telling anybody about her short stint in the Living World was…complicated, to say the least. To the tyke, she just went on a bit of an adventure with some friends that got a little hairy towards the end.

"But yeah, I think I get it, and I can help. You want her to not spill the beans on whatever she might know about your operation, and I'm on board. Honestly, don't like the idea of suddenly being picked out as a target by my old comrades, individually or as a group. You guys are pretty cool. I can barely tell you're Hollows half the time."

Ulquiorra looked over at Kaiba, then back to Roder.

"Were we insulted?"

"Actually, I think it might have been a compliment," the man answered just before Miyako and Rosa Diamante, Roder's wife, exited the kitchen, followed closely by Roka and a happily sleeping Nel in her arms. The first two were carrying more food, mostly varieties of tortilla-wrapped meat, cheese, and vegetables, and Roka had a cooled case of drinks.

"Ah, thankye, love," Roder said appreciatively as they set the food down on the counter next to the poker table. "Let's finish this round and eat up. Two pairs, aces and sevens."

"Flush," Ruddborn called while laying out his cards.

"Straight flush," Coyote topped, having the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Spades. All eyes then went to Ulquiorra, who set his cards down to reveal…

"You had nothing," Tanya noticed with a mite of confusion at the sight of the cards.

"I think you were only slightly better off than a Devil's Hand," Coyote pointed out.

"My strategy was to bluff by doing nothing," Ulquiorra explained. "In the event that someone raised higher than I was willing to risk, I would fold."

"And there I was getting scared you had a Royal," the Primera noted with a slight chuckle. "Damn, I guess it worked out. If you had folded a bad hand early, I mighta pushed a little higher."

"It is a part of a long-term strategy. A drawn-out loss to deprive opponents of future resources."

"Man, I really had no hope here, huh," Kaien noted before looking back at Tanya. "But yeah, what do you say? Let me help out."

There were certainly arguments against bringing him along, but he made a solid point. If Rukia felt pressured to report, she just might, going native or not. But if there was more at risk, like the safety of an old friend she once thought was dead, that could shore up her resolve to keep quiet. And Tanya was fairly certain that there was no lingering prejudice against Arrancar that could override her old friendship. If there were, Tanya would have been ambushed during that whole swarm situation. If anything, they had probably gone out of their way to tell their superiors they had everything under control to keep them from poking in, seeing as neither Nel nor any of the Picaro had been harmed. In fact, the Picaro wrangled a few pets and a new member out of the whole situation.

"Very well, but if you're control starts slipping enough that I think you're giving away our position, I'm tossing you back in through a Garganta."

"That's fair. But thanks."

"Tanya," her mother then said, approaching her with a box. "I had heard…from others at Médico something that I hadn't known before, which helped bring everything about earlier today into context." She set the box down in front of her, pushing the platter of tacos to the side, then bent down and wrapped Tanya in a tight hug.

"M-mom!" This was incredibly unusual for Roka to do so suddenly. Sure, she hugged her every once in a while, usually before and after going to work. But there were other people here! At least two of them were subordinates, and three were peers she needed to look professional in front of.

"No matter what, I will always love you," she said comfortingly, and Tanya felt her heart swell with emotion a little, despite the embarrassment.

"I love you too, mom, but…" Roka stood up from the hug, then took the top of the box off, revealing a cake inside, iced in a rainbow color pattern with little icing doodles of herself, Roka, Nel, Pesche, Dondachakka, and Bawabawa on the top, heart-shaped sprinkles lining it all. "El Amor es Amor" was written in little icing letters just below them.

"Oh," Tanya realized. It seemed her mild issue of perception from the outside was also a concern for Roka, but her mother chose to be supportive. It was rather touching, all things considered. She could admit to feeling a little misty-eyed at the sight, right? "Thank you."

"Nel drew the pictures before she tired out," Roka explained. "Rosa helped with baking it and making the icing."

"We used chocolate," Rosa added, pushing her pink hair back, "since your mama said it's your favorite."

"Oh yeah, that El Gibbitkey stuff," Roder mentioned, seeing the cake.

Tanya blinked. "El…Gibbitkey?"

"Yeah, you know. L-G-B-T-Q-I," he spelled out while picking up a burrito. "How else would you say it?" His mask popped open with a 'clack' and he placed the whole foodstuff into the void that was his mouth, then it clicked back shut, and he started chewing. "Mm, delicious as always, dear."

Tanya shook her head and smiled lightly at the cake once again. Maybe she was being sentimental, but it felt nice to know that she was loved and cared for in this life.

"I think I know what cake is," Lilynette said while leaning over her to get a better look, pressing herself to Tanya's arm, where her short sleeve allowed her skin contact with the other girl's bare sternum area. "I want some! Let me have some!"

"Er, yeah, sure." Tanya wished she could just tell Lilynette not to get so close, but with them so new to everything, it might seem cold and rejective after Roka's recent display of affection. She just really didn't want to be directly touching the skin of a girl who looked prepubescent, even if she was in the same boat as her.

'Hell, she might be technically older than all my lives put together! Damn confusing growth rates!'

---

Isshin was fuming after Urahara's detailed explanation of the situation with his wife's soul. He had to be talked back down into his seat three times when he'd been prepared to run out and get answers, needing to be reminded that he couldn't exactly go to the Hollow World and track down the girl.

Ryuken was there, as well. He had almost as much right to know about Masaki's current fate as her husband. After all, they were still family, awkward as their situation may have been back in the day. If life had gone differently, the two families would have probably run into each other more often, eventually.

"Is there any way to ascertain her…honesty about this?" Ryuken finally asked. While he normally would have wanted all the afterlife's problems to stay away, this one was too close to home.

Urahara shrugged. "Never really needed to separate the souls within a Hollow before, gently or not. I could probably throw something together and work from there, but it'll take time. But right now, I'm more worried about what she's after."

"What do you mean, what she's after?" Isshin demanded. "She's been messing with my family, with Ichigo's whole thing! Trying to sweeten them up so she can whisk them away for something!"

"Yes, for something," Urahara emphasized. "That's what I want to know. Because depending on what that something is…it might be worth going along with rather than preventing."

Isshin looked at him like he'd grown a second head, but Ryuken looked a bit more curious.

"How do you mean?"

"When I put it all together, some things didn't add up. Aizen's planning has got to be coming to a head. Whether he knew it was coming or not, I've already set the stage by placing the Hogyoku in that draining gigai. Even if poor Rukia-chan was removed from it, the Hogyoku is deep inside her soul. Not her spiritual body, but her actual soul. It will break down over time, though I fear it's going to cause a lot of changes in those around it before it finally fades. It's already started. If she dies, it'll still follow her, and be lost in the Cycle. Therefore, Aizen's best interest, should he have learned about it, would have been to wait patiently and then strike, probably with some way to remove it from her if not just keep her around. Instead, I got an Arrancar effectively telling us that he knows. I thought it was a taunt, but the appearance of those…kids at the swarm made me think differently."

Isshin scoffed. "Don't tell me you were fooled by them?"

"That's just it. I wasn't. Most of those kids were proudly going by numbers before names. Uno, Dos, Tres, so on. And it was clear that they were far too in sync for normal children. Still kids at heart, but a kid who can just as easily pick the legs off of a bug as they can run out to save a kitten in the middle of a busy road. They weren't raised normally. It was too organized and similar. Like a production line."

Isshin blinked a few times before going wide-eyed.

"Then there was the little one, Nel. Not nearly as synced up with them. In fact, she was off the mark with their little ticks almost every time, like she was just following along to try and fit in with the bigger kids. But her power… She swallowed a Gillian's Cero and spat it back out with more power added to it than before. It stunned her to do it, but she was right back on her feet seconds later. Then she spit out healing drool. That's not the kind of power you expect a Hollow to have at any level. If they have healing abilities, it normally just expresses itself as regeneration of different sorts. Healing others isn't something they do, naturally."

"But artificially?" Ryuken tried, having followed along about the explanation of Aizen's past experiments earlier and seeing where this was going.

"Not only that, but when she came through… She hadn't really noticed us at first. She was genuinely concerned about Nel. I don't know if she wanted me to hear or hadn't realized what she was saying, but the Cero trick was apparently inherited from the girl's mother. And she hadn't even known about the healing ability. Then there was the adult… What can I even say…?"

"Adult?" Isshin asked. "What'd she look like?"

"Fairly plain and incredibly human. The mask was the only thing giving her away, but I could feel her reiatsu. Very calm and controlled, but big. Tanya referred to her as 'mom' a few times, but she didn't say or do much aside from watch over Nel and follow the princess around like a puppy. Whatever Aizen has set up over there, it has at least two distinct methods. Whatever is producing Arrancar who act more like machines, and whatever is making their elite forces, specialized and powerful Arrancar like Tanya and Nel, only he may have a collection of far more powerful adults at this point and time."

"That's…not good," Isshin admitted. "But what does that have to do with going along with this Tanya's plans?"

"Because it's possible everything she's been doing may have been playing ignorant innocent child not for our perspective, but for Aizen's." He held up a finger and gave them a contemplative look. "Think about it. If Aizen wanted to taunt me, it'd be a risk. I might change course. I could stop him from getting the Hogyoku right now by just killing Rukia, twice if I have to, and then her soul is the Dangai's until it decides to have her reborn in the Living or Soul World, and neither are easily scoured for something so hidden. He has no reason to think I wouldn't. I'd hate it, but if I thought it was the only way… Well, let's just never let the kids know what lengths we'll go to.

"So her doing this comes across more as an information leak if he picks up on it. But it's small, subtle, and deniable. After all, she's not here for Rukia. She's been looking into your kids, and I have my theories about why that started," he added at Isshin's glare, "but right now, it's what she's trying to get to me. After Rukia showed up, she laid the groundwork and extended a hand of trust with that healing serum. The stuff's good, but it also shows that they have some kind of production set up, which includes medicine made specifically for humans. Even if I hadn't picked up her sounding out other names for things a Hollow would never need, just that one proves as much. So then, Rukia has reason to trust her, assuming she used the medicine. She didn't, but your son decided to test it himself, and at least proved it does exactly what the label says. Just in time for her next visit. By the way, that blue crystal? Dumortierite quartz of that purity at that size can easily run for 70,000 yen."

Isshin blinked a few times. "That's…not insignificant, but not a whole lot, either. But if she's been doing that often…"

"Basically giving a low salary's worth of goods to your kids as presents on her visits. All under the guise of paying them back for some coffee." Urahara nodded. "But back to her visit, she revealed Masaki's Quincy past to them." Ryuken's frown deepened. "And after explaining that, she decided to tell Ichigo more in private, but he decided to bring Rukia along. Think he wanted her there for her perspective as a Shinigami, but she couldn't do much while it was happening. That's where they learned about her eating Grand Fisher, the Hollow that killed and ate Masaki."

"That still seems strange to me," Ryuken commented. "Quincy souls…don't mix well with Hollows."

"It's only a theory, but I think after the entire situation with White, her soul might have gained some sort of an…immunity or resistance, either like a vaccine or as parts left behind by the treatment. There's no telling unless and until this Tanya brings us proof. But still, she revealed a lot to them both, about the Quincies in general, but also about herself. Things she hadn't explained to Ichigo before that, from the sound of things. And now, with those kids, I think I see what her message might be."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Isshin demanded. "What do you think she wants?"

"Help. Against Aizen."

The former Shinigami Captain's eyebrows went high.

"She's called the princess, but her father was overthrown. She was very careful to tell them that it was an acceptable situation, but now that we've seen what those kids and her mother are like… She wants us to empathize. Aizen isn't just making some oasis in the desert to bait powerful Hollows, he's been altering, experimenting, and breeding them while taking the bulk and training them into near-mindless soldier drones, either to be put on the battlefield or used to make the next generation from which he could pick out the exceptional ones. Maybe he was aiming for something specific. Nel-chan there was basically designed for defense and recovery. What if he wanted something able to mess with electronic signals, or an Arrancar specifically designed to extinguish fires no matter how large?"

"...Damn," Isshin muttered as he realized what that would mean. "The Old Man wouldn't be defenseless without it, but…"

"He'd be able to neutralize one of his most potent weapons," Urahara finished the thought. "The Princess is one of those specialized ones, going by how free-willed she is, but she was still subjected to the process. Her mother is basically a broken soul, and her father would have to be one of the most spirited, no matter what Aizen did to get him in line. She'd see that, and compare it, and realize what's going on. She knows what Aizen has done, what he's doing, and what he plans to do with them, and she wants out. And that's why she's reaching out to people like your kids, potential Quincies. And why she's now trying to get messages to me."

"Hypothetically," Ryuken reminded him.

"Like I said, the only other options are that Aizen is taking a risk to toy with me, which might seem like something he'd do, except not for something this important to him. Or, she's somehow completely clueless about everything and just happened to gesture in our direction with words and events that just appear to be a call for help. But with what she said to me, 'violent people with grudges.' That's not Aizen, that's the Seireitei. …And perhaps myself and Shinji's gang. She knows the Shinigami won't be of help, so she's coming to the people who have a bone to pick with Aizen. If he kept any records or told any tales about us, it would have given her a hint as to where to look. Assuming they weren't something she just happened to stumble upon, she would have felt your kids' spiritual pressures and figured that someone would have to come around sooner or later. Or that much is just a coincidence, and she was hoping they could be useful on their own. Rukia just happened to come in right before she would've started getting them up to speed, so she decided to nix the problematic part about Quincies and encourage Ichigo to develop his Shinigami talents. She might not know the whole deal about Substitutes, though. If she found out about you, she might have been thinking it was something you planned out."

Isshin scoffed. "Damn!"

"I just need to get confirmation. She's going to come back around at some point, and I have left an open invitation for her to come check out the shop. In disguise, of course. We need to talk somewhere secure enough she feels confident telling us whatever she wants without Aizen looking in."

A small alarm beeped. Neither doctor knew what it was, but the scientist looked surprised before he pulled out a phone-like device.

"That…is my Garganta alarm. It's probably her."

"Damn," Isshin muttered as he stood. "Can you tell where she's headed?"

"She's really good at suppressing her reiatsu. …But someone else must be with her. Faint signature. En route to your house."

Isshin tensed up at that while Ryuken got to his feet and adjusted his glasses.

"I suppose we're going there, then?"

"We?" Isshin asked the man.

"This concerns my family as well. While I don't like getting mixed into soul business, your children are still my kin. And if this Arrancar is looking around for Quincy allies, then I'd prefer to tell her myself that she's not going to find any more."

"Always good to have backup," Urahara said after reaching over into a stall and tossing a Gikongan container over to Isshin. "Best if we get there as fast as possible."

Isshin groaned. "I'd rather the girls not see me like this, but…" He took out the pill and swallowed it, ejecting his soul from his gigai body. "Oof, been a while. Hey, just sit here and wait for us," he instructed the Gikon.

"Hey, no problem, Boss," the false soul said before taking a seat.

"Let's go," Isshin said before taking off in Shunpo, feeling like he was stretching an old, unused muscle as he did, the other two right behind him. It was certainly much faster than just walking or driving, but he told himself that he couldn't let himself get used to it. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to be like this much more often after this. Tonight was just a special case, after all.

They stopped just outside of the clinic, then he walked over to hide behind a tree.

"What are you doing?" Ryuken asked him, sounding quite annoyed.

"Hiding, what does it look like?"

"Do you honestly think that that's going to work? They'll probably-" Whatever the Quincy was going to say was interrupted by the sound of two beings coming to a stop a few meters away, as though they snapped into place.

"Oof, okay, that was different," a male voice said, perking up the ears of the two Shinigami-in-exile.

"Told you," the voice of a young girl trying to sound mature answered. "I don't know how exactly Shunpo is supposed to work, but Sonido functions differently. Different methods for the same results. Hm, oh, Urahara-san, fancy seeing you here! Ah, who is this?"

Urahara gestured to the Quincy. "Ishida Ryuken. You met his son the other day, you'll recall."

"Ah, the Quincy boy! I hope he's doing well."

"He doesn't talk to me much these days," Ryuken answered, adjusting his glasses again while getting a good look at the girl.

"And, of course, we have Isshin over here," Urahara said while stepping over. A small, blonde girl fitting the description of Tanya to the T went stiff at the sight of him, recognizing his shihakusho.

"Shinigami! Wh- Why didn't I sense you?"

"Uncle Isshin?!" the other called out in shock, making the man look over and balk at what he was seeing.

"K-k-k-Kaien?!" he shouted before jumping forward, landing just in front of his thought-to-be-dead nephew and looking him over as he was, in turn, looked over.

"You got old," the Arrancar version of his nephew pointed out, making him grimace.

"It's been a little rough, okay. And what about you? You…lost an eye?" He tapped a finger to the mask over Kaien's right eye, looking like a much tinier half of a face on his face, and got swatted away.

"N- No, I can still see out of that one, sort of. Pretty sure it blinks and stuff. Never mind that. What are you doing here?"

"I live here," he pointed out while gesturing to the house, then smiling proudly. "You like it? I opened up a clinic."

"You… It says 'Kurosaki'."

"I took my wife's name."

"...Somebody married you?"

"Aw, you're still a little knucklehead!" Isshin declared before wrapping an arm over Kaien's shoulder and pulling him in for a side hug.

"Wait, your uncle?" Tanya finally got out, getting the two's attention. Apparently, the Arrancar girl had been completely caught off-guard by their sudden reunion, not that the other two men were in a much better position. "You're his uncle? A Shinigami? But you…live here? Kurosaki?"

"Ah yeah, we haven't met yet," Isshin said as if just realizing it. In truth, he was switching gears inside, now seeing that the girl was off-kilter. So she hadn't known about him. "Don't know how it works for you Arrancar, but around here it's kinda rude to not introduce yourself to the owner when you're constantly visiting their house."

"Oh, uh, I apologize," she offered with a polite bow. "You've always been out when I was around. …I was also under the impression you couldn't see spirits."

"It was a bit of condition I had," Isshin said in order to brush off that. "I'm better now. Tell you what, let's go inside. I gotta introduce Kaien to his cousins!"

"You reproduced?!"

"You're hilarious," Isshin shot back with a laugh. He was definitely feeling good with this pleasant surprise. For a second, he was worried they had just copied his nephew's likeness, but he could feel his reiatsu under that cloak of his from this close. It was definitely Kaien's. It was tinted by a Hollow signature, but if he had felt it from a distance (and thought he was alive for some reason), he would have just assumed it was Kaien standing near a Hollow. Also, no fake was able to recreate the particular familiar snark Kaien possessed. He led the group inside, checked the time, and figured his kids could afford to be up a little late if they weren't already staying up past bedtime. "Yuzu, Karin, Ichigo! Come on down, I got somebody important for you to meet!"

The twins stumbled out of their room, bleary-eyed, but waking up.

"What the heck are you waking us up for?" Karin asked in annoyance. "And what are you wearing?"

"Who is-" Yuzu started to ask as she opened up her eyes and saw them. She then shouted in fright, scarring the lot of them.

"Daddy, no!" she yelled before running down the stairs and then leaping to wrap her father in a hug. "You're a ghoooooooost!"

"Huh, wha? No, I'm not a-"

"I can see through you!" she declared with despair.

"Ah, you must look transparent to her," Tanya pointed out. "She couldn't see me at all at first, so she's grown since then."

"Wait, Dad's dead?" Karin asked as she caught up to her sister. "What happened?"

"Girls, I'm not dead. It's just…an out-of-body experience kind of…thing. My body's perfectly fine back at the shop."

"Why's your body at a shop?" Karin asked pointedly as Yuzu slowly calmed down, still looking up at him with watery eyes. "And since when could you astrally project?"

"It was the quickest way home." He thought that over for a moment. "I've been practicing, and it worked. Anyways, I got important things to tell you and your brother."

"I think Ichigo's out doing something," Karin told him, and Isshin sighed.

"Boy's too wild for his own good."

"Does it have anything to do with why he's sometimes wearing clothes exactly like this?" she asked while pinching at his shihakusho's sleeve.

"Uh, I'll explain that later. First, let me introduce you girls to your cousin. Meet Shiba Kaien!"

"Yo," Kaien greeted them with a smile. "Heh, now that I see ya, you look almost just like my little sister when she was a kid."

"Wow, you look just like Ichi-nii, but with black hair!" Yuzu pointed out, her tears wiped away now and her frown replaced with a smile.

"Wait, are you a ghost?" Karin asked. Kaien rubbed the back of his neck as he thought it over.

"Kinda," he admitted. "I mean, I was born in the Soul Society, then I got eaten by a Hollow, but then I got out."

"...How?" Urahara decided to ask.

"Something about a Soul Resonance machine."

"Ah, yes, we were testing out a new invention, Resonador del Alma," Tanya explained. "It let's us isolate souls within a Hollow and possibly stimulate them in order to bring their consciousness to bear. Officially, it's for pushing Gillians through to Adjucha status. Though I am hoping it leads to finding a way to…" She suddenly looked over to the girls as she stopped herself from explaining further. Isshin was sure he knew where she was going with that, though. "Well, it helps find us particular souls, is the point. Kaien happened to be in our test subject."

"And Miyako," he added.

"Your wife's alive, too?" the elder Shiba asked.

"Yeah, she just stayed back in Hueco Mundo while I came… Oh yeah, we're supposed to be looking for Rukia."

"Rukia-san?" Yuzu asked. "You know her?"

"Sure do." He gave her another smile. "I owe her for helping me out a while back. And the princess here wants to check in with her about some things."

"Oh, so you really are a princess?" Karin asked.

"You thought I was lying?"

"I honestly had no idea if you were or weren't. For all I knew you were the daughter of a tribal chief who bossed around maybe 20 people."

"...I suppose you had no way of confirming, so I can't blame your skepticism. Still, kinda hurts. Tribal chief children don't have teams of scientists working on solutions to growing food in the desert."

"Guess not. By the way, who are these guys?"

Attention then shifted over to Urahara and Ryuken, the shopkeeper giving a big smile to the girls.

"Why I am Urahara Kisuke, proprietor of the Urahara Shōten."

"Oh, that reminds me, after we speak with Rukia, I need to place a bulk order with you if you can handle it."

"Bulk order?" the exile asked, interest mildly caught.

"Mostly candy with reishi content. Flavors don't matter, as long as there's a significant amount of chocolate included. Seeds capable of growing under desert conditions. And do you happen to know if you can obtain livestock that could survive Hueco Mundo's atmosphere?"

"Ah, I will have to look into it, but I have a good feeling." Nodding in satisfaction, Tanya then gestured over to Ryuken.

"Oh, before we forget, this man's a Quincy," she said, surprising the doctor. "You should introduce yourselves to him. He could be helpful."

"Oh hey, for real?"

"Did you know our mom?" Yuzu asked hopefully.

"Maybe we should all sit down for this?" Isshin suggested.

Odd as it all was, things were going pretty well in his opinion. His nephew was alive, his wife might be able to come back, and Ryuken looked like he was about to get grilled by his tween daughters on information about their mother. And for Urahara, it looked like he was getting whatever it was he wanted from the Hollow Princess. Maybe it was a big step on the way to tripping up Aizen something fierce?

Yeah, it was looking like a good day.

~

Veronica was having a terrible time. She had managed to track down the Princesa's targets, only to find them being harried by a pair of Shinigami. Subject Rukia was apparently being arrested. The Quincy Ishida had tried to intervene but had been dispatched by one of the Shinigami. And now Kurosaki Ichigo was down after having fought off one, only for the other to down him almost instantly.

"Agent V, requesting permission to engage Shinigami," she spoke into her headpiece. She had enough data here, she believed. She knew how the redhead fought, and now she had a decent idea of the dark-haired one's speed and strength. Kurosaki might have been impressive for a human, but this was on a different level compared to what he could perform at. The sort that she was made to engage in and finish quickly.

She grimaced as she was reminded again of the purpose of her creation: to kill. Her mother was just bad at it, with claws that cut too precisely and tendrils that wanted to close any wound they sensed, hers or another's. So she made a killer, then improved her, over and over.

"Agent Blue speaking, we can't approve this," Usagi Azula answered her, sounding slightly scared about the situation they found themselves in. They hadn't imagined that the Shinigami were going to extract their own agent and cover their tracks so forcefully. It looked like Kuchiki Rukia's attempt to go native had taken a bad turn.

"Princesa here, confirming engagement," Princess Tanya's voice suddenly said through the link. Veronica smiled, her razor teeth showing. Oh, how she hated her purpose, but the chemicals flowing as she prepared to kill always felt so nice. She'd hate it later, but right now, she was on top of the world.

"Engagement orders confirmed. Extracting assets," she said as her perception sped up and her muscles tightened and limbered in alterations.

"Huh, wait, do not kill the Shinigami!" the Princess suddenly added, sounding confused. "I repeat, non-lethal takedowns only!"

That would be harder, but…Veronica could do that. Just…don't go for the vitals. Tendons, muscles… They could survive gut wounds if they got Fran on the case.

Yeah, she could pull it off.

"Con-firmed," she got out before she dashed forward, hitting her stride to rush out of the alley and blindside the already injured redhead identified as Abarai Renji, currently gripping Rukia by the neck. He grunted as her open palm strike landed, two of her needles extending and piercing flesh before injecting their contents. In her ring finger was a temporary neuro-blocker, and the index had a morphine extract. They would take some time to circulate, and neither dose was enough to down him on their own, but between them and batting him down, he stood no chance.

"Argh, what the hell is with this place?!"

"Ni-ni-ni-ni-nice to meet you. Prepare for incision!" her mouth chattered. She always hated that effect, but they felt funny while they were happening, so she laughed right now. "Nurse, swab!" she said before reaching under her shawl with both hands and drawing her preferred weapons, one razor-sharp sickle, perfect for hooking around limbs from running subjects, and her long dagger, great for getting in between someone's ribs from behind.

'Focus! Fight! Not running!'

"Who…are you?" Rukia asked her, gaze looking over her, pausing at her face. She was probably focusing on the x-shaped scar over her face. Or her eyes. They probably looked glassy from the outside.

"Hola, señorita, you have retained the services of one Euthanasia Expert Veronica. Please hold while we finish our business here. Might take a while!"

"What are you?" the one identified as Kuchiki Byakuya asked her, gaze leveled and sword held at the ready. "Your reiatsu is not human."

"Please hold all questions until after the presentation."

She dashed over in Sonido, sickle coming down and parried, then jabbed forward towards the man's head. He dodged, stepping to the side in Shunpo.

'Fast! Be faster!'

Her brain felt another rush of adrenaline, specialized glands filtering out the oxidized adrenochrome as fast as it could build up. Her blades flashed forward again and again, the Shinigami finding he had to change to using both hands to keep up after a cut found its way on his wrist. Veronica's smile grew, her teeth separating a bit as she laughed. Her senses then called out to her before she spun and raked her dagger across Renji's chest when he tried to sneak up on her.

"Abarai!" the captain called out to his subordinate after they both Flash-Stepped away.

"Taichou, that brat…she poisoned me with something!" the lieutenant grunted while clutching his chest. Rukia looked at her in surprise.

"You poisoned him?!" the girl asked in surprise.

"Hey, you better clear that up," Usagi Rojami told her. "She sounds upset. I think they know each other."

Ah, what a time-waster! Oh well.

Veronica raised up her hand, index pointed up, and extended the hypodermic needle.

"C-c-concentrated morphine." Then she switched over to the ring finger. "Temp-orary neuro-blocker. You will live. Orders are order are law!"

"Tch, what the hell sent this thing?!"

"I do not know. It appears unstable. Tend your wounds. I will stop this."

Veronica could feel some shakes starting. Not good. She had to tag the captain quickly. The scratch was barely an irritant. She had a lot more work to do.

"I am Kuchiki Byakyua, Captain of the 6th Division."

Oh, they were doing that now?

"Veronica Fraustein. Euthanasia Expert. Cuerpo de Palas. I must incapacitate you now. Careful with the bleeding!"

He then took a stance. Classic, in her eyes. She took her own, ready to spring forward, dagger held in front, sickle held back for a swing. She kicked off, cracking the pavement as she launched forward, bringing her sickle around and letting go of her dagger long enough to reach forward, prepared to use a fast-acting paralytic.

Suddenly, she felt none of the comforting resistance of her sickle in hand. Nor did she feel her right hand at all. And the target was no longer in front of her.

A clattering sound reached her ears as she grabbed her dagger from the air and turned to see her sickle on the ground, her hand still wrapped around it, as well as most of her arm up to a few inches from her shoulder, now severed from her.

"W-what?" she asked, stunned by the sight. She looked at her side and saw the bleeding stump, coagulating agents working to slow the bloodloss. Pain slowly registered as her systems switched over from kill mode to survival. She heard a rush of air and turned, trying to strike with her dagger, but the man's sword was already on the path. Her left hand was sliced off behind the wrist, and she screamed in pain and terror as she finally processed what was happening.

"My hands!" she cried out, backing away from the man in fear. The Shinigami was now looking at her differently, an expression that she couldn't decipher. "You… You cut off my arms!"

Suddenly a fist impacted her face, knocking her down. Pain was back to normal, and her severed limbs were hurting like hell, but she still felt that and was dazed by it. Her glands were sending signals to her body to get up and run. Glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acids were going into overdrive to convince her to get out of there.

Oh, but her hat fell off…

"What the hell?! Is that…a Hollow mask? And a hole? In her head?"

"A Hollow?" Byakuya asked, eyes narrowing in anger. "Why was a Hollow…sent to stop us from taking in Rukia?"

"Veronica, get out of there!" Verdea screamed. "Help's too far! Just escape!"

Escape? She had to get…away!

Veronica scrambled to her feet, her lack of arms making it more clumsy than it should have been, but as she got to her feet, the Captain was there in a flash, his blade driving forward. Veronica gasped as she felt it pierce her Hierro and drive through her chest, looking down to see the Zanpakuto impaling her. Tears began to escape her eyes as she realized just how outclassed she had been this whole time.

"N- Nii-sama!" Rukia called out. "She was…running away. She…"

"She's a Hollow," the elder Kuchiki ground out, pushing his blade in deeper before slashing it down and through her. Veronica screamed out in pain as her blood spattered out across road and sidewalk, knees shaking and threatening to collapse. "Our duty is to purify them. That is the merciful thing to do."

Veronica was finding it hard to stand, dizziness threatening to force her to drop, but…there was something about the man in front of her. His words.

"Kill them quickly, my child. Be merciful." "Better a quick death." "Everything about you is designed to kill a single target as quickly as possible. You aren't made for fighting." "Just land the killing blow first."

Not even Fran could completely override their mother's designs, even years later. At best, she made her recovery time quicker, so she could fight, in short bursts. Filtering out and holding back the crashes from her systems tuning her up to strike a killing blow and nothing else. Useless for anything that wasn't dealing instant death.

This just proved it, didn't it? She tried to fight, aimed for the non-lethal options, and now she was dying for it.

Well, if this was it…

Then what the fuck did any of it matter?!

Her mouth opened and clamped down on the Shinigami's hand, as fast as she could muster. Her teeth bit through skin and flesh and started to crack the bone beneath. The man flinched up, and with his other hand, swung his blade, severing Veronica in half below her ribcage. She only bit down harder, and then it gave. She fell down, a pinky and connected metacarpal clenched in her jaws and gone from his bleeding hand.

At least she finally got a good clear expression out of him. Anger.

'Doesn't matter so much now,' she thought as her muscles all began to unclench, her eyes rolled up, and her brain felt cleared of its interfering chemicals. 'Guess I'll…go to sleep now.

'May we be reborn to a better life.'

~

Urahara figured he shouldn't have left this to chance. He knew Ichigo needed to learn the hard way. Not even Isshin could argue with that.

He didn't expect to walk upon a scene of butchery right next to the unconscious boys. An Arrancar that looked so much like a little girl, already covered in scars. He thought she was dead, but…

Well, their doctor, almost as scarred as her, was putting her back together, getting replacement organs from a human-shaped walking receptacle where she needed them. If he caught her name right, then she was the same one responsible for that healing serum. Four arms worked their magic, snipping and stitching and injecting.

"I should have stepped in," he heard Yoruichi state and looked down at her cat form.

"Not like you to regret how you approach a fight."

"I could say the same about you."

He nodded. "There's been more going on than we expected." His gaze then turned to Tanya, who had gone pale and had yet to recover as she got debriefings from each of the four subordinates who had been monitoring the situation. Each of them was a young-looking woman, rabbit-like masks on their heads with minor differences between them, and a variety of hair colors. She then looked at him, worry on the verge of panic written across her face before she approached.

"Urahara, you were there. You heard what I said," she reminded him of her sudden outburst into an earpiece she was using to keep updated on her people's movements. She'd apparently known about Ichigo and Rukia's locations not too long after they started talking at the Kurosaki household but had wanted to be polite and wait for them to come home. "Did I… Did I make an order to engage?"

Kisuke thought it over, then shook his head. "You said for someone to "not kill the Shinigami" and use "non-lethal takedowns only". Almost those exact words."

"Nothing about confirming an engagement?"

He shook his head. "I don't believe the word left your mouth."

Slowly, the panic in her eyes was subsiding. There was something there that she was scared of, though he didn't know what exactly it was. However, he did have a good idea about what might have happened in this instance.

"Say, why don't you come rest at my store? We're taking Ichigo there to look over his wounds a little closer. Fraustein-san did good work, but… I'm afraid his injuries are rather specific. I have a place where we can talk privately. No chance of eavesdropping. At all."

She seemed to understand that much, at least, and nodded before going over to the four-armed doctor, who was now monitoring vitals with a stethoscope. "Fran, is everything all right?"

"...She's stable, but…it was really close. Her backup hearts kept her torso alive, and necrosis didn't set into the arms, but…I've never dealt with a wound made by a Shinigami's blade before. There's something different about this. She's not healing the same."

"...I am…sorry. About what happened." The doctor just shook her head.

"You couldn't have known. She's always been too confident for her own good." One hand then reached over and ruffled the hair of the unconscious Arrancar, thumb rubbing against the mask that resembled a viper's face hanging off to the left side. "Maybe she'll be more careful from now on and stop worrying her big sisters so much."

Ah, that's right. Yoruichi had caught her name. Veronica Fraustein. A pair of siblings that resembled stitched-up creations of a mad scientist, with potentially more in Hueco Mundo.

Aizen really was trying everything over there.

"Head back once everything's secure here. …Leave whatever reports you feel you have to write down on my desk."

"Organs age out and have to be disposed of all the time," the girl explained. Far too serene for someone who just had to put her little sister back together.

"Of course. I'll be along shortly, once I have…dealt with some things."

With that, he led her away from the scene, thinking about whether or not Aizen was watching everything, or even if he could. In a moment, he wouldn't be able to, but until then, best to remain quiet. After Ichigo was safely set down and Tessai began tending to him with Kaido, Urahara then led the girl down into the basement.

"Well, would you look at that?" he said as they came out to the underground area designed by him. "Someone built a place like this underneath my shop!"

"...Did you build this place?" she asked in astonishment.

"Oh, well, I had some help, of course," he joked, feeling a bit of that weight coming off his chest.

"It's no Dome of Las Noches, but it's still impressive in its own right. You must have used some…spacial techniques to keep it all under your own property." She then looked at him in a new light. "Just who are you, Urahara Kisuke?"

"Why I'm but a simple shopkeeper who happens to know a few things. For instance, do you know what the power of Aizen Souske's Zanpakuto is?"

"...Complete hypnosis," she muttered, surprising Urahara a little, but she seemed more shocked than him about that. "You…know about Aizen?"

"Probably more than anyone else. Not saying much, but still."

"You know his plans."

"The broadest strokes. I know what he plans to do with your people, Tanya-chan." He pointed his cane up at the ceiling. "Don't worry about being overheard. The Kido we've layered over this place basically makes it next to impossible for anyone to spy on us here."

"I… I…see. You're…not going to interrogate me?"

"I think I'd rather hear what you want to tell me yourself."

She gulped. He could understand the hesitation. She had gone from constantly being watched and was just told that she was finally secure. It wouldn't be easy to get her to open up completely.

"Let's start simple, then. How did you first meet Aizen?"

"...When he first came, they'd killed all the Adjuchas at court that day and…held father at sword point." Her eyes were starting to look downcast, her fists tightening. He felt a little bad, asking her to relive that time. "I was…maybe eight months old? Almost a year? All I knew was he was in danger, but…"

He listened along and nodded. He said it wasn't an interrogation, but he did ask questions to help her find her pace. Soon, she was explaining how Aizen ran things, and how she'd worked to make everything work despite him.

It was, at once, not the exact kind of bad he thought, yet in many ways worse. Mad scientists created Arrancar out of whatever they could. Patrols were sent out to find the legendary Vasto Lorde in order to recruit and convert them. A bloody promotion system encouraging back-stabbing and violent competition. And to fuel it all he tossed the 'chaff' to the former Princess for her to make something useful out of. Palas. Shovels. If his kanji was written right, then it could also come out as Dirt Biters.

He was sure he saw tears trying to escape and suggested that they take a break, but she refused. She really wanted to get it out.

"And now…you think he interfered directly. Tried to cause that incident?"

"If the Usagis and Veronica have all seen his Shikai, then they can be tricked wherever they are, so long as he's aware of what the situation is. All he'd need is one listening device."

The look on her face was dark, but it was to be expected. That was her direct subordinate he had sent to get killed, and she almost had. If there wasn't a doctor like that Francisca on hand, she wouldn't have made it. Even if Tessai could heal a Hollow as well as he could humans and souls, he couldn't have saved her if he tried.

"...But I haven't," she muttered. "Because…when he used it on Father, I looked away."

…Now, wasn't that interesting?

"And never after that?"

"I would remember if I had. I just…stopped thinking about it after a while. I was busy with work. Training, recruiting, building, documenting…"

"Building a civilization where there wasn't."

She nodded. "What…do I do now?"

"Well, I have a plan, but I've got to see if Ichigo will be able to get back in shape for it. He was hurt deeply."

"His Hakusui and Saketsu," she recalled. "Like that, he's powerless, unless Quincy reishi manipulation works differently somehow. I read that once those are destroyed, they can't be fixed."

Urahara allowed himself a large smile. "Ah, but I may actually have a method."

~

"There you go, little guy," Vicky said as she poured some cat food into a bowl for the old feline. Nearby, a little old lady smiled at the sight.

"Glad to see there are still decent you people out there," she said as she slowly began to fade away, the chain linking her to the house disappearing into motes of light.

"We'll get him to a good home," Mary reassured her, hand placed reassuringly over the passed away elder's.

"I believe you. Hm, good kids." And then she was gone, and the lights that had arisen with her finally passing into the afterlife slowly winked out, one by one.

"Always something else to see that happen," the young Warren Grant said, squatting near the door. As he stood, Ellya walked in from outside.

"Little old lady moved on?" At the others' nods, she sighed. "That's good. Got news about your stray. The folks at the base have her put up. Got a rehab ready for her and temporary care for her kid. Somehow almost no one's calling these as favors, except my contact who's got a job prospect at the restaurant."

"Well, would you look at that," Mary said with a hint of sarcasm. "Faith in humanity can lead to good things."

"You got the cheat sheet to the world, kid. Most folks have to try a dozen times to get half as much done. Still, can't really nay-say the results. How are we on our trip to this Karakura place?"

"Well, after we drop off Johny here," Mary said before calling upon her nail. "We need…to take the train south and…a bus. Look for the…Urahara Shōten. …And don't start any fights with little girls? What?"

"Why would any of us start a fight with a little girl?" Matt asked, eyebrow arched.

"Maybe there's a really rude one around there?" Warren figured with a shrug. "Does it specify verbal or physical?"

"Uh, no, actually. Yeah, just to be on the safe side, ignore any little girls being rude or confrontational."

"What happens if we do?" Vicky asked out of curiosity.

Mary blinked and frowned deeply. "We might die? Uh, okay, it's an actually serious thing, then."

"You think it could be a Nail Bearer?" Elly asked.

"Possibly. Hey, maybe even who we're looking for. Okay, then. We've got a good idea of what to do." She reached over and stroked the old cat, who meowed quietly.

Internally, Mary wondered if this little warning was also serving as a reminder about her karma. Either way, she would be careful.

Her last fight with a little girl didn't go well for anyone involved, after all, least of all her.