Keigo and Mizuiro stand before a raging Hollow. The masked spirit is large, and it almost reminds Ichigo of the Minotaur. It's tail whips and weaves in agitation at the puny humans before him, and his hot breath smokes out of his nostril holes. His hand scraps at the desert floor as he prepares to charge. Keigo and Mizuiro take note of this as they debate what to do. Mizuiro acts first, but Keigo is much faster. They jump out of the Hollow's range, and roll back to their feet.
Ichigo's group have the Hollow and two humans in a kill circle of sorts. It's mostly to be sure the Hollow doesn't run off, and for someone to intervene quickly as need be. Rukia stays by Ichigo, and the Arrancar siblings stay close together. Tatsuki is only a few meters away from Inoue in case the former girl's power gets out of hand.
Rukia suddenly leans on Ichigo, tearing the ginger's attention away from the battle. She seems more peaceful than usual. Was it Ichigo's declaration of war against Aizen that did it? Who knows? At least she's in a better mood than before.
"What are you going to do about Szayel?" She abruptly asks.
Ichigo realizes he was staring at her. "What?"
"Szayel. He helped Nnoitra kick a kid out of the safest place in this entire realm. What are you going to do about it?"
"Maybe scare him a little? I don't know if I need to do more than that. I can't kill him. I promised I wouldn't, and even then, he's important."
Ichigo wonders if it was Szayel that beat Rukia. He certainly doesn't have a problem against acts of conspiracy. Another part of Ichigo thinks it wasn't him. There wasn't anything from Rukia that hinted it was him. So it's Grimmjow? He doesn't really know Grimmjow that much. He's never actually spoken to the guy, yet he doubts it was Grimmjow.
"I agree. I need that new uniform," she jokes.
Ichigo drinks in the warmth of her vibrancy. She's so cute. And beautiful. Her uniform is all in all the same as her shihakusho; this one is just white. Well, there is something missing. Sode no Shirayuki isn't on Rukia's hip where she belongs. Ichigo needs to talk to Aizen about that.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
Ichigo's neck burns when he realizes he still staring. "Uh no. No, I was just thinking about how to get your zanpakuto back."
She gives him a sad smile. "Aizen told me I can only get her back if I prove my loyalty to him."
"And you can't?"
"He wants me to kill someone I feel emotion for."
"Who?" Ichigo blinks. "Like a lover or something?"
"No, idiot!" She snaps. "It could be my brother, you, Renji, any one person from my division - it doesn't matter who as long as Aizen knows of the connection."
"I'm sorry, I don't get it. Why just anyone from your division? Don't tell me you know everyone."
"You don't understand the bond Shinigami form with their division. It's like a family. They can be as distant as cousins get, but they're still you're family. You'd feel something if they died. That's why."
"Oh," is all he offers.
"Yeah," she sighs.
"And you don't want to kill."
"No."
Ichigo goes to say something else, but there's a certain commotion that catches his attention. Keigo is kneeling behind Mizuiro with a gash going across his chest. Blood slips through the brunet's fingers, but it's not pouring out at an alarming rate. Uryū is in the process of drawing an arrow, yet the Hollow moves quickly in striking down Mizuiro.
A blue arrow pierces the Hollow's face, and it releases a blood curdling scream as it evaporates. Everyone dashes to the fallen boys, Ichigo being the first one there. Keigo is a little more vocal about his wound, but Mizuiro's looks worse. Inoue reaches for her pins. Ichigo throws a hand up at her.
"Wait, no. They need to heal from these wounds the hard way," Ichigo states.
"I hate that," Inoue frowns.
"Me too."
"Ichigo, why don't you close them up the same way you healed me?" Rukia inquires.
"What way?" Inoue tilts her head. "Do you have healing, too, Kurosaki-kun?"
"Kinda. I don't really get how it works yet," the ginger shrugs.
"Are you guys alright?" Chad asks.
"I feel like I'm dying," Keigo groans loudly.
"It hurts to breathe," Mizuiro confesses.
"Itsygo should let Nel help," Nel declares.
Ichigo regards her. "Go for it."
She wobbles over, her brothers watching her like a pair of hawks. She leans over Keigo with little balance, and proceeds to release a wave of slobber onto the wounded brunet's gashed chest. He wails in disgust, along with Tatsuki and Rukia.
Ichigo quickly scoops up the green haired child before Keigo gets the chance to clobber her. Keigo sits up, holding his arms out as he gawks at his rapidly healing wound. Ichigo instantly becomes intrigued, shifting himself closer to get a better look. So Nel has healing spit? He can recall having a similar power when he coated Rukia's stitches in spit. So it's a Hollow thing? Weird. He supposes it makes sense since it's an animal's instinct to lick its wounds.
"Mizuiro's turn," Ichigo chuckles, holding Nel over his friend's cut up torso.
"I'd rather bleed out," Mizuiro proclaims.
Too late. A large glob of saliva slaps onto the short teen's wounds. He whines in disgust, his frown forever imprinted into his face. Ichigo and Tatsuki can only chuckle at their misfortune. Rukia lightly hits Ichigo's shoulder, yet from the humor in her eyes, one can tell she doesn't mean it.
All wounds are healed and everyone is to their feet. Ichigo whips up a portal to Las Noches, and everyone hops through. They land in a corridor at the half way point between Aizen's throne room and Ichigo's palace. The ginger gives a casual command for his fracción to go to the palace before departing for Aizen with the new recruits.
Nel is shaking in his arms as he carries her. Ichigo wonders if he should say something.
"It's okay to be scared, Nel. Just know your brothers and I are here for you, okay? We won't let you go through this alone."
"Why is Itsygo so nice to Nel? Itsygo hardly knows Nel, and Nel hardly knows Itsygo," the child sniffs.
"Because you needed help, and that's what I'm here to do - help people."
"Then why did Itsygo kill Espada?"
The question throws him off for a moment. "Because I'm helping good people. I never said anything about protecting the bad."
Ichigo enters the throne room in the middle of - what looks like - a meeting. He pauses in the doorway with Dondochakka and Pesche behind him. All heads turn to look at the newcomers from the table that wasn't there before. All of what's left of the Espada are present along with a new guy. Ulquiorra can't even be bothered to roll his eyes, but Grimmjow definitely can. All Aizen does is offer a smile.
"Speaking of the devil," Aizen jokes.
"Am I interrupting?" The ginger questions politely.
"Not at all. Come in. We were just talking about you, actually."
"Oh?" Ichigo quirks an eyebrow, followed by a small grin. "Should I be worried?"
"I don't think so."
"Why? Something guilty on your consciousness?" Grimmjow snaps.
Ichigo crosses over to them, and stands by Aizen's side. Tousen is usually standing here, but the blind man is nowhere to be seen. Neither is Gin. That's a little suspicious. Ichigo can't recall a time they weren't with Aizen.
"I'm not in the mood, Grimmjow," the ginger states. "I've come to speak to Lord Aizen, not entertain your demented head."
"What did you say!" The blue haired Espada snarls.
"What can I do for you, Ichigo?" Aizen interjects casually.
"I've found an Espada replacement."
"The little girl?" Starrk asks.
"She is Harrible's predecessor."
Harrible's eyebrows disappear behind her blonde bangs. "Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck was an adult before Nnoitra killed her. That cannot be her."
"Oh? You don't recognize her mask?" Ichigo asks, angling Nel better.
Harribel goes silent as she studies the child in the Cero's arms. She hums in thought. "The child does bear a strong resemblance."
"I think this is Nelliel," Ichigo confesses. "And if that's true, she's Espada material, no?"
Aizen grins. "I had wandered what happened to Nelliel. I knew she wasn't dead, but I couldn't find her. Thank you, Ichigo. If you give her to me, I'll find a way to reverse what Nnoitra did to her."
Ichigo is a little hesitant giving Nel to Aizen, but he has a role to uphold. The child, however, screams bloody murder before she could be handed off. She wails loudly, attaching herself to Ichigo's kimono top. He gently tugs at her to realize she's not coming off without a fight - a fight that he doesn't want to be a part of because she's a five year old.
"Maybe I can tag along?" Ichigo says sheepishly.
Aizen sighs, a smirk pulling at his lips as he shakes his head. "As I said the other day, Ichigo, loyalty clings to you."
"Not unlike Nel," Ichigo agrees.
"I'll have to bring this meeting to a close. We'll continue it later. Dismissed."
* * *
Aizen's laboratory isn't as bad as Ichigo thought it would be. It doesn't even look like Szayel's lab, and that place is literally a palace. It's mostly white with a black floor. At least it's a little different in color. There's a pedestal in the middle of a raised part in the laboratory, and if Ichigo had guess, that's where Aizen keeps the Hogyoku.
There's a metal table about the size of an average dining room table seven meters away from the raised pedestal. He sets Nel down on the table post request. She holds his index finger captive, trying to keep the ginger close. Pesche and Dondochakka are so nervous, Ichigo can hear the sweat rolling down their faces and over their masks.
Aizen just finished searching for something when Gin walks in. The narrow eyed man gives Ichigo a look that sets him on edge. What the fuck? All alarms are going off in his head, his instincts are screaming. Something is wrong here, he thinks. Something is very wrong.
He returns the look as indifferently as possible. Gin goes to tell Aizen something when the lord waves him off. Gin tilts his head in confusion.
"I apologize, my dear Gin, but this matter is of the utmost importance. Ichigo here has found our lost Nel," Aizen gestures to the child. "I'll speak with you when I'm done changing her back to her normal size."
"Of course, Lord Aizen. My apologies. I didn't even recognize the little squirt," Gin plays off smoothly.
"You can stay if you wish. Unless your task needs another inspection?"
Gin hums in thought. "I suppose I could give it another run down. I'll come find you again when I'm sure that's everything."
Gin gives Ichigo one last look before departing. Oh, something is so so wrong. What task? What is he talking about? Is Aizen onto the coup Ichigo didn't even speak of until earlier today? What is happening? How would he have known that? Unless Aizen sent Gin after him. If that's true, where is Tousen?
Ichigo holds in his panic for Nel's sake. Aizen doesn't seem to want to cause her harm, so he'll be calm for now. Once he gets back to the palace, he needs to speak with his group. He has to. He can panic all he wants once he's away from Aizen.
He zones out of the process Aizen proceeds to delicately. He tries paying attention, but it's no good with his mind as scattered as it is. This is all so wrong. He's ready to get on out of here. Nel's tightening grip seems to bring him to reality long enough to witness what's happening next.
Aizen applies some kind of pressure to her scar with some kind of tool. Nel shrieks in sudden pain. Her grip becomes so tight on Ichigo's finger, bones pop from his three different joints. Before Dondochakka or Pesche could say anything, a puff of smoke encases Nel, followed by Aizen and Ichigo.
The ginger coughs as he waves away the smoke with his free hand. His neck hairs are standing on end. What the shit just happened? Did the smoke come from Nel? Aizen, him being less than a meter away, cuts his hand through the smoke, the action chasing away the cloud.
What Ichigo sees next is something he's not quite sure how to explain. There's no longer a five year old girl clenching his index finger, but a well defined woman in her mid twenties. And by well defined, he means her tits are fucking enormous. The hoodie that was once too big for Nel is now ripped in half, barely containing her chest and hips. She's as surprised as Ichigo, her eyes gawking at herself and then him.
"Ah, Nelliel. It seems you're back to your old self."