Chapter 9: A Rebellious Spark
Jesse K the Bubba
They call me...Bubba
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Saga of the Princess of the Hollow World
Chapter 9: A Rebellious Spark
This was going way better than Kaien had expected. Sure, they hadn't talked to Rukia yet, but the fact of the matter was that the crime Kaien feared she may have committed was actually not a crime at all. Giving Shinigami powers to a human was illegal, but there were no rules about giving them to other Shinigami. …Though, they would be stretching the definition in this case. Having Shinigami powers didn't necessarily make one a Shinigami. They were members of a specific organization. Of course, they couldn't really argue that his cousin, whom he had yet to meet, was a konpaku. Not in the general sense. So, it was better to instead argue from the point that he was Shiba Isshin's son, and let the conclusions draw from there.
After the girls had gone back to bed, Uncle Isshin had finally explained what exactly had gone down 20 years ago to lead to this. It could, if one was pessimistic, get him into trouble. But if they narrativized it right, the judges were likely to be very lenient. There'd have to be some give. Isshin might have to face being recalled to the Seireitei, but if it exonerated Rukia and prevented harm to his son, it was worth it to the old goat.
"But anyways, one morning I woke up, and my soul had just…left my gigai. I was freaking out, especially since this was just after the whole incident at the cemetery. But Kisuke looked, and nothing seemed to be wrong. Then we heard about how you…ate the Grand Fisher," he said while pointing at Princess Tanya. "I don't know how it all works, but something about you being an Arrancar…changes things with the seal."
"Indeed. This is all unprecedented," Urahara agreed. It was still strange to see the man out here after everything, but he seemed to be behaving. Kaien had to wonder if he had anything to do with Aizen's whole Arrancar situation. Then again, maybe his accusations from back then held some merit. "It opens up a whole line of questioning I never thought we'd get to explore. How close are Arrancar to Shinigami if it affects something like this so specifically?"
"A question others have had, I'm sure," Tanya responded. "Though I am interested in these gigai you have. I'm sure you would want to be careful about them. I imagine there are restrictions, especially if they can be so varied, but I would like to purchase a few, if possible. Not to mention, it could be a significant step in returning Kurosaki-san's wife."
Oh yeah. That was weird. Kaien hadn't felt any himself, but Hollows did eat souls, and those souls would be there inside of them somewhere. Tanya knew how to remove them, tossing out the core soul but keeping the reiryoku they had produced before and after consumption. It seemed strange, but he was reminded that Shinigami, with their single soul, could often match or eclipse any Hollow with their hundreds or thousands of souls. But when Tanya had found Kurosaki Masaki's soul, she held onto it in order to get informed consent about what to do with her. Ichigo wanted to have at least one last chance to say goodbye, she had said. Isshin, of course, wanted his wife back. Having once thought he'd lost his wife forever, Kaien understood completely. If things were different and he turned out to have Miyako's soul somewhere inside him, he would be working on getting her a body, too. The Quincy, who he supposed was an in-law now, technically (and that felt strange even before taking his Hollow form into account), seemed split on letting her pass on or bringing her back. It felt like the man had long accepted her passing and wasn't sure how to reconcile her possible return.
"There are some I obviously can't hand out like candy," Urahara explained, a little joke in there concerning his other goods. "But there are some older models that are taking up space you might find useful for basic tasks on Earth. You'd need reiatsu limiters in place for some people, otherwise, they might just tear them apart from the inside."
"Ah, then I'll have to take those alongside them. Reiatsu suppression is not a skill many Arrancar find…applicable. Aside from myself and some stealth-preferring examples, most just let theirs pour out all around them like a badge of pride. If anyone wants to go to a genuine taco stand, they'll need some way to control that."
"...A taco stand?" the Quincy asked.
"Someone started complaining about some foods not being authentic, and that he wanted to go to Texas where he knew a genuine taco stand would have real Mexican food. Of course, that idea died in its crib, but it's become a popular sentiment. There's even a club where they've been trying to recreate foods accurately, but due to limited resources, they can only get so close. Can't complain about the results, myself. Food quality has only increased since they've started."
"And you think they would use a gigai to go to...a taco stand in Texas?" Ryuken questioned further.
"They would certainly apply for the attempt. But that would be low-priority. Among the first uses for a gigai I would assign are to further the Soul Resonance research to see if we can't pull a soul from someone into it. Others for supply requisitions in the Living World. I have...some ideas there that should bear some fruit. ...There's a company called 'Apple' that makes music players, yes?"
"I've heard of them," Urahara admitted. "Why do you ask?"
"Just seems like a good investment opportunity, in my mind." Kaien wasn't sure why she was interested in investing in a music company, but she was smiling like she'd just found the secrets to unlimited power. However, her attention was suddenly taken.
"Ah, I'm getting some rapid updates from the field," she explained.
"Updates?" Isshin asked. "On what?"
"We actually found Rukia and Ichigo not too long ago. I was just going to wait for them to come home. No need to be rude and rush everyone, after all. I've had some people keeping an eye on things and the situation has been getting more and more... What?" She suddenly put a finger to her ear, activating that little communicator she was using to keep up with her agents. Kaien didn't take much time to learn about them before they sped off, but there were 5 of them, and 4 were apparently sisters. "Huh, wait, do not kill the Shinigami!"
"What?!" the men at the table asked in shock.
"I repeat, non-lethal takedowns only!" she said into her communicator before letting off on it. "Something's happened! Kuchiki Byakuya and Abarai Renji have shown up with intent to arrest Rukia. Uryu and Ichigo tried to intervene but were disabled. Now... We need to get over there. I don't think Veronica can take on a Captain without a surprise first hit."
Urahara was on his feet first. "I see. We better go help the kids, then."
"Byakuya?" Kaien asked as they all started leaving the house. "Rukia's brother?"
"I don't... Maybe it's being handled by the clan, but Veronica..." Tanya grimaced, her teeth clenched tightly. "You and I will stay hidden while Urahara and Isshin give her a chance to extract herself. Can you two at least distract him? With words, preferably?"
Isshin nodded with a confirming grunt. "Sure. Don't want to fight anyway. I'm not exactly fully recovered."
"Then let's go!"
With that, the two of them sped off with Sonido while the Shinigami followed along in Shunpo. Only a few steps in, though, Kaien noticed how much slower his uncle was than expected. Even the Quincy was way ahead of him with his...whatever. He didn't blame him, because whatever was going on, it would have ended even before Kaien could have made it going full speed. Tanya heard the reports and blanched about halfway there, and then she was telling them to immediately call for Francisca.
What they arrived to find was an injured young Quincy, a kid who looked an awful lot like a younger Kaien with orange hair, and a young Arrancar girl sliced into pieces. He had thought she was dead, but her sister quickly arrived via Garganta and started pulling her back together, accompanied by a creature he'd never seen before that carried spare organs in its body, accessible through zippers. Like some nightmare creation of the 12th Division that happened to serve a pretty useful function.
Tanya, for her part, looked shaken by the whole thing. She kept going back to her agents and questioning them, probably trying to figure out where the sudden order to engage came from, and then she was talking to Urahara. Kaien felt for the girl. This was probably her first real taste of the aftermath of a lost combat engagement, and she was trying to find out how everything had just gone so wrong. He had been there many times, but sometimes the only thing to do was accept one's failures or to realize that the whole thing was lost as soon as it began.
Still, that order came from somewhere, and it wasn't her. He was right there, as were the other men, when she heard the confirmation. Something fishy was going on.
"This whole thing stinks something fierce," he muttered as they sat in Urahara's shop. Ichigo was patched up and back in his body, but he was in rough shape with his Saketsu and Hakusui broken. "Rukia was being taken in, which was bad, but salvageable. Uncle Isshin could've still straightened everything up. But with Veronica's attack..."
"Now it's all been escalated," Shihoin Yoruichi said in her cat form. "Without further context, it will appear to anyone in the Seireitei that a Hollow was trying to rescue Rukia. Veronica-chan's specific appearance and abilities will lead to even more speculation, and none of it bodes well for Rukia's chances."
"To join forces with Hollows... No one would argue against it being treason and be taken seriously." Some good souls who know her might try to give her the benefit of the doubt, but without more evidence or testimony, the majority would all come to the same conclusion: Rukia was in league with Hollows in some way. On top of the supposed crime of giving her Shinigami powers to a human, she was facing at least the Nest of Maggots if not a place in the Central Great Underground Prison or execution.
"Your little princess seems very concerned about what happened to cause that."
"Someone got into our channels and...imitated her. There's more than a few people who could do the first, but the second... Either someone had to be prepared..."
"Or have the ability to make people hear what they want them to."
Kaien's frown deepened. Like most, he hadn't believed Urahara's claims when the situation with Hirako Shinji and the others had happened. But with Aizen now heading a small civilization of creatures from the opposite side of the spectrum and confirmation that his Shikai was way more than what he had been claiming this entire time, it was looking far more credible. Aaroniero knew well what the power of Aizen's Zanpakuto was, and even that thing had tried to find counters to it. Kaien had scattered bits of that knowledge, but it was useful in getting around, physically and politically.
"You think it was him?" he asked the woman disguised as a male cat.
"Given what we know, this would have indeed secured some of his plans going forward. Veronica's reveal tipped his hand slightly, but there's no direct line to him for anyone to draw. And we know Tanya has not revealed his connection to the Arrancar to Rukia, so even if they interrogate her thoroughly, they won't gain anything leading them there."
"Why does he want her arrested, though? Even if it causes division, now they're all wary of Arrancar."
"That...is something Urahara will have to explain. Suffice to say, Rukia has something he wants. And the only way to get it now is with the Sōkyoku."
Kaien's eyes went wide at that.
"Wait, you're kidding me?!" Isshin decried. "What the Hell did you guys do?"
"Like Yoruichi said, I'll explain it later," Urahara said as he exited his basement. "Tanya's taking a minute to sort things out down there. Shiba-san, I believe you had a question."
"More like...an observation." Kaien wracked his mind as he recalled what happened after he woke up in Hueco Mundo. "Aizen's been pulling the Arrancar around for over half a century now, but from what I heard, Tanya runs the systems. And her dad has her back with everything she does. Aizen just sort of...lords over everything. He gives marching orders, but it's the ones like her that tell everyone how to step. When she explained how everything worked...I thought she was just stating how it is, but I think she was covering herself. 'Whatever regal authority I might have held under the old system is basically ceremonial at this point,' she told me. And when I saw him holding his little...court to introduce some new guys, Aizen basically just watched them all go at it. Worse than any Captain's meeting I ever sat in on, and it seemed normal. Like he was watching a bunch of puppies tussle. He only interrupted it to ask about me."
Urahara nodded. "In other words, while Aizen holds the keys to the kingdom, she's the one who puts on all the locks. With a handful of spares. He's been content to let things run themselves, but now with everything so close, he may want a tighter grip."
"Yeah, and... What if he's noticed her influence? This time it was just using her voice, but next time? How far does he want this to go? Just get an excuse to demote her, or break whatever trust the people have with her?"
"Poor Tanya-chan seems shaken by the whole thing as well," Urahara admitted. "I could see the realizations coming to her. After all, the Arrancar are a means to an end for Aizen. To her, and you as well, it's your people and their lives."
Kaien wanted to refute it almost instinctively, then remembered the mask on his face. He wasn't a Shinigami anymore. Not even a konpaku in most minds. He was Hollow. Like it or not, the Arrancar were his people now.
"So, we have ourselves a conundrum. Aizen's grip on the Arrancar appears to be absolute, but is it? Sounds to me that Tanya-chan has more pull than even she realizes if he's trying to damage that reputation. And his plans right now include the death of an innocent girl I know more than one person cares far too much about to allow."
Kaien's teeth ground at that.
"What're you planning, Kisuke?" Isshin asked the man.
"It's simple, really. We need a rescue operation and a way to pull back the veil on Aizen, for both the Gotei and the Arrancar. Maybe even get a dialogue going between the two. Hey, Kaien, you have a good history with a captain or two, and you're an Arrancar now. Surely you could bridge the gap?"
"You want me to go to the Seireitei and... What? Talk to Ukitake-taicho and...convince him..."
"That even if Rukia-chan had gotten involved with Hollows, there was good reason," Urahara finished the thought. "Sure, she didn't know about you yet, but they don't know that either. And as responsible and law-abiding as Ukitake-taicho is, I'm sure your presence could help convince him to argue in your favor. Especially since, if I recall correctly, there's no express law forbidding the toleration of a Hollow existing. In fact, it's required for a lot of scientific study. Central may demand the destruction of a specific one, but they've never outlawed keeping some alive."
"...You want to use me to cause division between Central and the Gotei. If Ukitake pushed and got the Soutaicho on his side in the matter...the 46 would have to choose between setting a new precedent or making an enemy out of one of the oldest and most powerful captains in the Gotei, not to mention his whole Division and any of his friends. Kyōraku-taicho is almost certain to take his side if nothing's changed between them in the past 40 years. And both of them could convince the Soutaicho to give it a shot."
"Oh, you thought up a whole lot more than me! I just figured you could convince him to help save Rukia and help you escape."
Kaien scoffed. Urahara could downplay it all he wanted, but it was obvious where his devious plan was leading. And if they delayed or even prevented Rukia's execution by Sōkyoku, Aizen would have to do something to counteract them. Assuming these two weren't pulling his leg, what he wanted must have been hidden in Rukia's soul. If it was so important to push things to this point, then he wouldn't just sit back and let them stop it. And now, with the situation with the framing, Tanya was in a spot herself. She didn't want to go to war with the Seireitei, even if that was what Aizen aimed for.
Break off his connection to the Gotei and the Arrancar at the same time, and Aizen would have to stand alone with whatever elements he could salvage in the aftermath, which might not be much. That was Urahara's goal, and damn it all if Kaien wasn't playing right into his hand, but he didn't really have a choice. He owed Rukia after what she tried to do for him. He couldn't consign her to death out of convenience. Even if Tanya decided to play it safe and stay out of it, he was going to go and rescue her.
"You're full of it. You know exactly what this is going to do. All right, but we need to prepare. We can't exactly infiltrate the Soul Society with a depowered Shinigami, an Arrancar, and a single Shihoin."
"Ah, worry not, Shiba-san! We're getting a team together even as we speak and have a plan to help Ichigo with his particular issue. Not to mention, I don't believe you're going to be the only Arrancar on this little quest."
She had been so afraid that it was coming back. After speaking to her weapon's spirit, there was the tiniest fear that the echoes of the Type 95 might reach her, but they hadn't seemed to. When every one of her agents swore they heard her give the command to engage, she thought it was the first sign of it coming back to haunt her. But then neither Kurosaki Isshin nor Kaien agreed, claiming that they had witnessed her going from calm and explaining they had found Rukia and Ichigo to screaming for Veronica to go non-lethal. No commands to engage so much as muttered. Urahara was her third confirmation to that effect, even if he was biased.
The idea that they would all be independently lying about something two of them would have no reason to lie about was unlikely, but she knew how Aizen's power worked. She remembered how her father looked when he'd released him from his control. The shock and surprise at seeing all his guards dead. The idea that her agents had all, at some point, been put under its influence, was not impossible. And if this had been his plan, he would have made sure to set it all up beforehand. But she couldn't just ask her subordinates if he had revealed his Shikai to them. It would be too suspiciously specific. The only safe thing was to assume everyone was touched by it until proven otherwise.
It wasn't until she had practically given her life's story to Urahara that she realized a grave possibility: Aizen was looking to use her, and maybe many others close to her, as scapegoats. Potentially all of Las Noches. He was at the head of their hierarchy, running it like a military junta, but so uninvolved as to appear completely separated from it in totality. He wasn't even always the one passing down the orders. Sometimes it was through Ichimaru or Kaname. If and when they collided with the Gotei, Tanya was reasonably sure of their success. Even if it wasn't a resounding win, they could eke out enough victories to lay down a new norm. To be recognized as people, even if it required holding up a sword in a threatening posture to enforce.
But if Aizen's goal was the throne, then he needed the institutions of the Shinigami, not the fresh-faced city of Arrancar. If one needed to go, he would not choose to throw out the one with thousands of years of built-upon knowledge and power. If the Seireitei could not abide by the existence of a rival power of Hollows, even at peace, and resisted Aizen because of it until there was only so much rubble, then the obvious choice was to do away with them.
Just have the most powerful Espada see enemies where there were civilians. And when the fake bodies were replaced with real ones, have them see each other as Shinigami. Half at a time, until only one was left. Hell, have her father see the images of her broken corpse, and most of the work would take care of itself from there.
She stayed there long after Urahara had left. She might not have been his prisoner, but she did not want to test it. Besides, she didn't want anyone to witness her panicked pacing or hear her mumbled rantings.
Maybe the Shinigami agent didn't actually care about her plight and only wanted to use her, but Aizen was the same, at the end of the day. Really, believing he had their interest at heart was just her being optimistic. Perhaps he cared, perhaps he couldn't care less. The man was an actor, but a good one where she could never tell what was a genuine smile and what was him covering up his disgust. Few were the times he showed honest surprise. Urahara had also kept up an act, and she couldn't trust that his seeming empathy was real.
She was caught between two horrible possibilities. If she went with Aizen all the way, then he might someday throw them under the bus when he no longer needed them. If she followed along with Urahara's plans, she might doom her people's best chance at freedom to, at best, become a client state under the thumb of the Seireitei. And unlike the souls of the Rukongai, they needed carefully managed resources to survive.
However, if Aizen was true, he would lead them to conquer the very Heavens…a far-fetched, pie-in-the-sky claim that seemed silly even at this level of existence, now that she took time to reflect. But with Urahara…they weren't guaranteed their freedom, but they could still fight for it. Aizen had provided a lynchpin to their society, but did they need him anymore? If he disappeared today and never returned, what would change? The systems were set and infrastructure was being built where it wasn't already raised. Urahara's line of questioning led her to make it sound like she was the primary one responsible for it all, but she was just one branch on a large tree. Others had been there to contribute and help her along, and most of it was actually outside of her hands beyond the basic setups she initiated.
Risk and reward. She had to weigh everything and make a careful decision. But luckily, it looked like Urahara wasn't pushing for her to answer him immediately.
She needed time. She needed to get her trusted allies together on the same page about all of this. And she needed a way to get around Kyoka Suigetsu. Right now, avoiding ever looking at it would only help so much. Others could be under its power, and all Aizen needed was a clear view of the situation to make them see what he wanted. Once she knew more, she could start making some serious decisions. Until then, she could keep a loose tie with Urahara. Let him provide them with supplies to make him think she was considering it very seriously, which she was, if not fully on board, which she couldn't decide right now.
"Was this the new game plan the whole time?" she asked into the false sky. "I could understand I had my options after last time, but now they're not just limited, but completely obfuscated. I have to put my 'faith' in something?" She scoffed at the idea. "No. I'm only going to work with certainties and chances. Logical deductions. 'Faith' is a meaningless thing. 'Trust' is an earned return on investment. Someone will prove themselves, and they'll earn my trust. Somehow, Aizen managed to break his, and there was so little after all this time, that I'm positively shocked. Now an agent running a candy store as a front is even with him. What a joke!"
She took her Zanpakuto from her back and sat down, resting it on her legs as she focused. She needed someone to talk to about this, and what would be a more secure place than in her mind?
"Quite the pickle, huh, Princess?"
"Focus, Sangrante," Tanya admonished the weapon spirit. "We're going to have to act on this soon. At the very least, we need to set the foundation in the case that we have to sever ourselves from Aizen."
"Little late, don't you think?" the winged woman pointed out while lazily floating on her back. "He's dug in deep. Half the Arrancar practically worship him by now."
"Yes, I should have seen it earlier, but we can't worry about what could have been. I'm not saying we have to get everyone on board, but we do need something in place should he throw us to the wolves. At the very least, a plan about Kyoka Suigetsu."
"Every power has its limits," the spirit pointed out. "We don't know what his are, but they have to exist. Otherwise, he could have played out your whole paranoid episode but with the Shinigami and the Noble Houses."
"...You said you couldn't read my mind."
"Not in here. It's different when you think so loudly on the outside. You were basically ranting out loud from my point of view."
"So, you can see out there?"
"In a manner of speaking. I'm aware of what you're aware of, but there's a layer of separation. Imagine a video or audiobook is playing out loud on a computer. I can ignore it, listen in, or even stop what I'm doing to focus on it."
"I see. And you've never witnessed his Shikai release?"
"Nope." She smirked at that. "For several reasons. Of course, I know where you're going with this. It's worth exploring, but we can't assume we're so independent of each other that if it affects one of us then the other might still be fine. Hope for the best, plan for the worst."
"And what plan do you have for 'the worst'?"
"We gotta pick back up on our magic. Relearn how to cast illusions, then how to get past them." She grimaced at that as her clawed hand hovered over the jewel beneath her shirt. "You used the disciplines of magic to learn Arrancar abilities better, but this will be further than we've ever gone. It might require me to use that."
"...You don't have to do that to yourself."
"Don't worry. It doesn't extend to you when I'm sealed. At the very least, that part." She took a deep breath and exhaled, her silver eyes glowing gold as she opened them again.
"Lord, let us hear and see only your truth! Blind the eyes of the unbelievers, and deafen their sinful ears, until your Light and your Word reach them!"
Illusionary copies of the woman appeared, all with that manic look in their eyes as they spread out. Tanya felt her teeth grind at the sight. Her Zanpakuto spirit was going to dive into that contamination for her sake. As much as she was glad it wasn't her, she was all the more infuriated on behalf of that part of her that became her weapon. She took a deep breath, then focused on what she remembered of her time as a mage to get past illusions.
Chapter 9: A Rebellious Spark
This was going way better than Kaien had expected. Sure, they hadn't talked to Rukia yet, but the fact of the matter was that the crime Kaien feared she may have committed was actually not a crime at all. Giving Shinigami powers to a human was illegal, but there were no rules about giving them to other Shinigami. …Though, they would be stretching the definition in this case. Having Shinigami powers didn't necessarily make one a Shinigami. They were members of a specific organization. Of course, they couldn't really argue that his cousin, whom he had yet to meet, was a konpaku. Not in the general sense. So, it was better to instead argue from the point that he was Shiba Isshin's son, and let the conclusions draw from there.
After the girls had gone back to bed, Uncle Isshin had finally explained what exactly had gone down 20 years ago to lead to this. It could, if one was pessimistic, get him into trouble. But if they narrativized it right, the judges were likely to be very lenient. There'd have to be some give. Isshin might have to face being recalled to the Seireitei, but if it exonerated Rukia and prevented harm to his son, it was worth it to the old goat.
"But anyways, one morning I woke up, and my soul had just…left my gigai. I was freaking out, especially since this was just after the whole incident at the cemetery. But Kisuke looked, and nothing seemed to be wrong. Then we heard about how you…ate the Grand Fisher," he said while pointing at Princess Tanya. "I don't know how it all works, but something about you being an Arrancar…changes things with the seal."
"Indeed. This is all unprecedented," Urahara agreed. It was still strange to see the man out here after everything, but he seemed to be behaving. Kaien had to wonder if he had anything to do with Aizen's whole Arrancar situation. Then again, maybe his accusations from back then held some merit. "It opens up a whole line of questioning I never thought we'd get to explore. How close are Arrancar to Shinigami if it affects something like this so specifically?"
"A question others have had, I'm sure," Tanya responded. "Though I am interested in these gigai you have. I'm sure you would want to be careful about them. I imagine there are restrictions, especially if they can be so varied, but I would like to purchase a few, if possible. Not to mention, it could be a significant step in returning Kurosaki-san's wife."
Oh yeah. That was weird. Kaien hadn't felt any himself, but Hollows did eat souls, and those souls would be there inside of them somewhere. Tanya knew how to remove them, tossing out the core soul but keeping the reiryoku they had produced before and after consumption. It seemed strange, but he was reminded that Shinigami, with their single soul, could often match or eclipse any Hollow with their hundreds or thousands of souls. But when Tanya had found Kurosaki Masaki's soul, she held onto it in order to get informed consent about what to do with her. Ichigo wanted to have at least one last chance to say goodbye, she had said. Isshin, of course, wanted his wife back. Having once thought he'd lost his wife forever, Kaien understood completely. If things were different and he turned out to have Miyako's soul somewhere inside him, he would be working on getting her a body, too. The Quincy, who he supposed was an in-law now, technically (and that felt strange even before taking his Hollow form into account), seemed split on letting her pass on or bringing her back. It felt like the man had long accepted her passing and wasn't sure how to reconcile her possible return.
"There are some I obviously can't hand out like candy," Urahara explained, a little joke in there concerning his other goods. "But there are some older models that are taking up space you might find useful for basic tasks on Earth. You'd need reiatsu limiters in place for some people, otherwise, they might just tear them apart from the inside."
"Ah, then I'll have to take those alongside them. Reiatsu suppression is not a skill many Arrancar find…applicable. Aside from myself and some stealth-preferring examples, most just let theirs pour out all around them like a badge of pride. If anyone wants to go to a genuine taco stand, they'll need some way to control that."
"...A taco stand?" the Quincy asked.
"Someone started complaining about some foods not being authentic, and that he wanted to go to Texas where he knew a genuine taco stand would have real Mexican food. Of course, that idea died in its crib, but it's become a popular sentiment. There's even a club where they've been trying to recreate foods accurately, but due to limited resources, they can only get so close. Can't complain about the results, myself. Food quality has only increased since they've started."
"And you think they would use a gigai to go to...a taco stand in Texas?" Ryuken questioned further.
"They would certainly apply for the attempt. But that would be low-priority. Among the first uses for a gigai I would assign are to further the Soul Resonance research to see if we can't pull a soul from someone into it. Others for supply requisitions in the Living World. I have...some ideas there that should bear some fruit. ...There's a company called 'Apple' that makes music players, yes?"
"I've heard of them," Urahara admitted. "Why do you ask?"
"Just seems like a good investment opportunity, in my mind." Kaien wasn't sure why she was interested in investing in a music company, but she was smiling like she'd just found the secrets to unlimited power. However, her attention was suddenly taken.
"Ah, I'm getting some rapid updates from the field," she explained.
"Updates?" Isshin asked. "On what?"
"We actually found Rukia and Ichigo not too long ago. I was just going to wait for them to come home. No need to be rude and rush everyone, after all. I've had some people keeping an eye on things and the situation has been getting more and more... What?" She suddenly put a finger to her ear, activating that little communicator she was using to keep up with her agents. Kaien didn't take much time to learn about them before they sped off, but there were 5 of them, and 4 were apparently sisters. "Huh, wait, do not kill the Shinigami!"
"What?!" the men at the table asked in shock.
"I repeat, non-lethal takedowns only!" she said into her communicator before letting off on it. "Something's happened! Kuchiki Byakuya and Abarai Renji have shown up with intent to arrest Rukia. Uryu and Ichigo tried to intervene but were disabled. Now... We need to get over there. I don't think Veronica can take on a Captain without a surprise first hit."
Urahara was on his feet first. "I see. We better go help the kids, then."
"Byakuya?" Kaien asked as they all started leaving the house. "Rukia's brother?"
"I don't... Maybe it's being handled by the clan, but Veronica..." Tanya grimaced, her teeth clenched tightly. "You and I will stay hidden while Urahara and Isshin give her a chance to extract herself. Can you two at least distract him? With words, preferably?"
Isshin nodded with a confirming grunt. "Sure. Don't want to fight anyway. I'm not exactly fully recovered."
"Then let's go!"
With that, the two of them sped off with Sonido while the Shinigami followed along in Shunpo. Only a few steps in, though, Kaien noticed how much slower his uncle was than expected. Even the Quincy was way ahead of him with his...whatever. He didn't blame him, because whatever was going on, it would have ended even before Kaien could have made it going full speed. Tanya heard the reports and blanched about halfway there, and then she was telling them to immediately call for Francisca.
What they arrived to find was an injured young Quincy, a kid who looked an awful lot like a younger Kaien with orange hair, and a young Arrancar girl sliced into pieces. He had thought she was dead, but her sister quickly arrived via Garganta and started pulling her back together, accompanied by a creature he'd never seen before that carried spare organs in its body, accessible through zippers. Like some nightmare creation of the 12th Division that happened to serve a pretty useful function.
Tanya, for her part, looked shaken by the whole thing. She kept going back to her agents and questioning them, probably trying to figure out where the sudden order to engage came from, and then she was talking to Urahara. Kaien felt for the girl. This was probably her first real taste of the aftermath of a lost combat engagement, and she was trying to find out how everything had just gone so wrong. He had been there many times, but sometimes the only thing to do was accept one's failures or to realize that the whole thing was lost as soon as it began.
Still, that order came from somewhere, and it wasn't her. He was right there, as were the other men, when she heard the confirmation. Something fishy was going on.
"This whole thing stinks something fierce," he muttered as they sat in Urahara's shop. Ichigo was patched up and back in his body, but he was in rough shape with his Saketsu and Hakusui broken. "Rukia was being taken in, which was bad, but salvageable. Uncle Isshin could've still straightened everything up. But with Veronica's attack..."
"Now it's all been escalated," Shihoin Yoruichi said in her cat form. "Without further context, it will appear to anyone in the Seireitei that a Hollow was trying to rescue Rukia. Veronica-chan's specific appearance and abilities will lead to even more speculation, and none of it bodes well for Rukia's chances."
"To join forces with Hollows... No one would argue against it being treason and be taken seriously." Some good souls who know her might try to give her the benefit of the doubt, but without more evidence or testimony, the majority would all come to the same conclusion: Rukia was in league with Hollows in some way. On top of the supposed crime of giving her Shinigami powers to a human, she was facing at least the Nest of Maggots if not a place in the Central Great Underground Prison or execution.
"Your little princess seems very concerned about what happened to cause that."
"Someone got into our channels and...imitated her. There's more than a few people who could do the first, but the second... Either someone had to be prepared..."
"Or have the ability to make people hear what they want them to."
Kaien's frown deepened. Like most, he hadn't believed Urahara's claims when the situation with Hirako Shinji and the others had happened. But with Aizen now heading a small civilization of creatures from the opposite side of the spectrum and confirmation that his Shikai was way more than what he had been claiming this entire time, it was looking far more credible. Aaroniero knew well what the power of Aizen's Zanpakuto was, and even that thing had tried to find counters to it. Kaien had scattered bits of that knowledge, but it was useful in getting around, physically and politically.
"You think it was him?" he asked the woman disguised as a male cat.
"Given what we know, this would have indeed secured some of his plans going forward. Veronica's reveal tipped his hand slightly, but there's no direct line to him for anyone to draw. And we know Tanya has not revealed his connection to the Arrancar to Rukia, so even if they interrogate her thoroughly, they won't gain anything leading them there."
"Why does he want her arrested, though? Even if it causes division, now they're all wary of Arrancar."
"That...is something Urahara will have to explain. Suffice to say, Rukia has something he wants. And the only way to get it now is with the Sōkyoku."
Kaien's eyes went wide at that.
"Wait, you're kidding me?!" Isshin decried. "What the Hell did you guys do?"
"Like Yoruichi said, I'll explain it later," Urahara said as he exited his basement. "Tanya's taking a minute to sort things out down there. Shiba-san, I believe you had a question."
"More like...an observation." Kaien wracked his mind as he recalled what happened after he woke up in Hueco Mundo. "Aizen's been pulling the Arrancar around for over half a century now, but from what I heard, Tanya runs the systems. And her dad has her back with everything she does. Aizen just sort of...lords over everything. He gives marching orders, but it's the ones like her that tell everyone how to step. When she explained how everything worked...I thought she was just stating how it is, but I think she was covering herself. 'Whatever regal authority I might have held under the old system is basically ceremonial at this point,' she told me. And when I saw him holding his little...court to introduce some new guys, Aizen basically just watched them all go at it. Worse than any Captain's meeting I ever sat in on, and it seemed normal. Like he was watching a bunch of puppies tussle. He only interrupted it to ask about me."
Urahara nodded. "In other words, while Aizen holds the keys to the kingdom, she's the one who puts on all the locks. With a handful of spares. He's been content to let things run themselves, but now with everything so close, he may want a tighter grip."
"Yeah, and... What if he's noticed her influence? This time it was just using her voice, but next time? How far does he want this to go? Just get an excuse to demote her, or break whatever trust the people have with her?"
"Poor Tanya-chan seems shaken by the whole thing as well," Urahara admitted. "I could see the realizations coming to her. After all, the Arrancar are a means to an end for Aizen. To her, and you as well, it's your people and their lives."
Kaien wanted to refute it almost instinctively, then remembered the mask on his face. He wasn't a Shinigami anymore. Not even a konpaku in most minds. He was Hollow. Like it or not, the Arrancar were his people now.
"So, we have ourselves a conundrum. Aizen's grip on the Arrancar appears to be absolute, but is it? Sounds to me that Tanya-chan has more pull than even she realizes if he's trying to damage that reputation. And his plans right now include the death of an innocent girl I know more than one person cares far too much about to allow."
Kaien's teeth ground at that.
"What're you planning, Kisuke?" Isshin asked the man.
"It's simple, really. We need a rescue operation and a way to pull back the veil on Aizen, for both the Gotei and the Arrancar. Maybe even get a dialogue going between the two. Hey, Kaien, you have a good history with a captain or two, and you're an Arrancar now. Surely you could bridge the gap?"
"You want me to go to the Seireitei and... What? Talk to Ukitake-taicho and...convince him..."
"That even if Rukia-chan had gotten involved with Hollows, there was good reason," Urahara finished the thought. "Sure, she didn't know about you yet, but they don't know that either. And as responsible and law-abiding as Ukitake-taicho is, I'm sure your presence could help convince him to argue in your favor. Especially since, if I recall correctly, there's no express law forbidding the toleration of a Hollow existing. In fact, it's required for a lot of scientific study. Central may demand the destruction of a specific one, but they've never outlawed keeping some alive."
"...You want to use me to cause division between Central and the Gotei. If Ukitake pushed and got the Soutaicho on his side in the matter...the 46 would have to choose between setting a new precedent or making an enemy out of one of the oldest and most powerful captains in the Gotei, not to mention his whole Division and any of his friends. Kyōraku-taicho is almost certain to take his side if nothing's changed between them in the past 40 years. And both of them could convince the Soutaicho to give it a shot."
"Oh, you thought up a whole lot more than me! I just figured you could convince him to help save Rukia and help you escape."
Kaien scoffed. Urahara could downplay it all he wanted, but it was obvious where his devious plan was leading. And if they delayed or even prevented Rukia's execution by Sōkyoku, Aizen would have to do something to counteract them. Assuming these two weren't pulling his leg, what he wanted must have been hidden in Rukia's soul. If it was so important to push things to this point, then he wouldn't just sit back and let them stop it. And now, with the situation with the framing, Tanya was in a spot herself. She didn't want to go to war with the Seireitei, even if that was what Aizen aimed for.
Break off his connection to the Gotei and the Arrancar at the same time, and Aizen would have to stand alone with whatever elements he could salvage in the aftermath, which might not be much. That was Urahara's goal, and damn it all if Kaien wasn't playing right into his hand, but he didn't really have a choice. He owed Rukia after what she tried to do for him. He couldn't consign her to death out of convenience. Even if Tanya decided to play it safe and stay out of it, he was going to go and rescue her.
"You're full of it. You know exactly what this is going to do. All right, but we need to prepare. We can't exactly infiltrate the Soul Society with a depowered Shinigami, an Arrancar, and a single Shihoin."
"Ah, worry not, Shiba-san! We're getting a team together even as we speak and have a plan to help Ichigo with his particular issue. Not to mention, I don't believe you're going to be the only Arrancar on this little quest."
She had been so afraid that it was coming back. After speaking to her weapon's spirit, there was the tiniest fear that the echoes of the Type 95 might reach her, but they hadn't seemed to. When every one of her agents swore they heard her give the command to engage, she thought it was the first sign of it coming back to haunt her. But then neither Kurosaki Isshin nor Kaien agreed, claiming that they had witnessed her going from calm and explaining they had found Rukia and Ichigo to screaming for Veronica to go non-lethal. No commands to engage so much as muttered. Urahara was her third confirmation to that effect, even if he was biased.
The idea that they would all be independently lying about something two of them would have no reason to lie about was unlikely, but she knew how Aizen's power worked. She remembered how her father looked when he'd released him from his control. The shock and surprise at seeing all his guards dead. The idea that her agents had all, at some point, been put under its influence, was not impossible. And if this had been his plan, he would have made sure to set it all up beforehand. But she couldn't just ask her subordinates if he had revealed his Shikai to them. It would be too suspiciously specific. The only safe thing was to assume everyone was touched by it until proven otherwise.
It wasn't until she had practically given her life's story to Urahara that she realized a grave possibility: Aizen was looking to use her, and maybe many others close to her, as scapegoats. Potentially all of Las Noches. He was at the head of their hierarchy, running it like a military junta, but so uninvolved as to appear completely separated from it in totality. He wasn't even always the one passing down the orders. Sometimes it was through Ichimaru or Kaname. If and when they collided with the Gotei, Tanya was reasonably sure of their success. Even if it wasn't a resounding win, they could eke out enough victories to lay down a new norm. To be recognized as people, even if it required holding up a sword in a threatening posture to enforce.
But if Aizen's goal was the throne, then he needed the institutions of the Shinigami, not the fresh-faced city of Arrancar. If one needed to go, he would not choose to throw out the one with thousands of years of built-upon knowledge and power. If the Seireitei could not abide by the existence of a rival power of Hollows, even at peace, and resisted Aizen because of it until there was only so much rubble, then the obvious choice was to do away with them.
Just have the most powerful Espada see enemies where there were civilians. And when the fake bodies were replaced with real ones, have them see each other as Shinigami. Half at a time, until only one was left. Hell, have her father see the images of her broken corpse, and most of the work would take care of itself from there.
She stayed there long after Urahara had left. She might not have been his prisoner, but she did not want to test it. Besides, she didn't want anyone to witness her panicked pacing or hear her mumbled rantings.
Maybe the Shinigami agent didn't actually care about her plight and only wanted to use her, but Aizen was the same, at the end of the day. Really, believing he had their interest at heart was just her being optimistic. Perhaps he cared, perhaps he couldn't care less. The man was an actor, but a good one where she could never tell what was a genuine smile and what was him covering up his disgust. Few were the times he showed honest surprise. Urahara had also kept up an act, and she couldn't trust that his seeming empathy was real.
She was caught between two horrible possibilities. If she went with Aizen all the way, then he might someday throw them under the bus when he no longer needed them. If she followed along with Urahara's plans, she might doom her people's best chance at freedom to, at best, become a client state under the thumb of the Seireitei. And unlike the souls of the Rukongai, they needed carefully managed resources to survive.
However, if Aizen was true, he would lead them to conquer the very Heavens…a far-fetched, pie-in-the-sky claim that seemed silly even at this level of existence, now that she took time to reflect. But with Urahara…they weren't guaranteed their freedom, but they could still fight for it. Aizen had provided a lynchpin to their society, but did they need him anymore? If he disappeared today and never returned, what would change? The systems were set and infrastructure was being built where it wasn't already raised. Urahara's line of questioning led her to make it sound like she was the primary one responsible for it all, but she was just one branch on a large tree. Others had been there to contribute and help her along, and most of it was actually outside of her hands beyond the basic setups she initiated.
Risk and reward. She had to weigh everything and make a careful decision. But luckily, it looked like Urahara wasn't pushing for her to answer him immediately.
She needed time. She needed to get her trusted allies together on the same page about all of this. And she needed a way to get around Kyoka Suigetsu. Right now, avoiding ever looking at it would only help so much. Others could be under its power, and all Aizen needed was a clear view of the situation to make them see what he wanted. Once she knew more, she could start making some serious decisions. Until then, she could keep a loose tie with Urahara. Let him provide them with supplies to make him think she was considering it very seriously, which she was, if not fully on board, which she couldn't decide right now.
"Was this the new game plan the whole time?" she asked into the false sky. "I could understand I had my options after last time, but now they're not just limited, but completely obfuscated. I have to put my 'faith' in something?" She scoffed at the idea. "No. I'm only going to work with certainties and chances. Logical deductions. 'Faith' is a meaningless thing. 'Trust' is an earned return on investment. Someone will prove themselves, and they'll earn my trust. Somehow, Aizen managed to break his, and there was so little after all this time, that I'm positively shocked. Now an agent running a candy store as a front is even with him. What a joke!"
She took her Zanpakuto from her back and sat down, resting it on her legs as she focused. She needed someone to talk to about this, and what would be a more secure place than in her mind?
"Quite the pickle, huh, Princess?"
"Focus, Sangrante," Tanya admonished the weapon spirit. "We're going to have to act on this soon. At the very least, we need to set the foundation in the case that we have to sever ourselves from Aizen."
"Little late, don't you think?" the winged woman pointed out while lazily floating on her back. "He's dug in deep. Half the Arrancar practically worship him by now."
"Yes, I should have seen it earlier, but we can't worry about what could have been. I'm not saying we have to get everyone on board, but we do need something in place should he throw us to the wolves. At the very least, a plan about Kyoka Suigetsu."
"Every power has its limits," the spirit pointed out. "We don't know what his are, but they have to exist. Otherwise, he could have played out your whole paranoid episode but with the Shinigami and the Noble Houses."
"...You said you couldn't read my mind."
"Not in here. It's different when you think so loudly on the outside. You were basically ranting out loud from my point of view."
"So, you can see out there?"
"In a manner of speaking. I'm aware of what you're aware of, but there's a layer of separation. Imagine a video or audiobook is playing out loud on a computer. I can ignore it, listen in, or even stop what I'm doing to focus on it."
"I see. And you've never witnessed his Shikai release?"
"Nope." She smirked at that. "For several reasons. Of course, I know where you're going with this. It's worth exploring, but we can't assume we're so independent of each other that if it affects one of us then the other might still be fine. Hope for the best, plan for the worst."
"And what plan do you have for 'the worst'?"
"We gotta pick back up on our magic. Relearn how to cast illusions, then how to get past them." She grimaced at that as her clawed hand hovered over the jewel beneath her shirt. "You used the disciplines of magic to learn Arrancar abilities better, but this will be further than we've ever gone. It might require me to use that."
"...You don't have to do that to yourself."
"Don't worry. It doesn't extend to you when I'm sealed. At the very least, that part." She took a deep breath and exhaled, her silver eyes glowing gold as she opened them again.
"Lord, let us hear and see only your truth! Blind the eyes of the unbelievers, and deafen their sinful ears, until your Light and your Word reach them!"
Illusionary copies of the woman appeared, all with that manic look in their eyes as they spread out. Tanya felt her teeth grind at the sight. Her Zanpakuto spirit was going to dive into that contamination for her sake. As much as she was glad it wasn't her, she was all the more infuriated on behalf of that part of her that became her weapon. She took a deep breath, then focused on what she remembered of her time as a mage to get past illusions.
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