Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. They belong to Tite Kubo and whoever else actually owns it and I make no money from writing this. This story however is mine and is not to be replicated, reposted, or copied in any way without my consent. Thank you.
Rights of Royalty
...
Not only that, they were visible. "
Long time no see, Kurosaki." And there stood Grimmjow.
...
The silence in the room was overpowering as the entire class stared at the new arrivals, one cuddling closely to Ichigo's midsection, and the other looking smugly on as his eyes scrolled over the room before falling on the orange-haired poet. The man in question however seemed to be having problems of his own, as the sword he had revealed to represent his life was quivering from his hand's likewise motions. They had never seen Ichigo's face like it was now, as if it was narrowing in challenge at the newcomer. To those with any tidbit of spiritual awareness however, they would be able to see the Hollow-like transformation overtaking his eyes as well.
That tension was all broken when a childlike voice called out excitedly, if not a bit sadly, "Ithigo! Why're you thtill here! I waited jutht like you told me but you never came!"
Ichigo's eyes softened as he looked down on the tearing-up little girl that had wrapped her arms possessively around his waist. She was wearing a cute little white beret where the half of her Hollow mask would usually reside had she not been in a gigai, and most of her body was covered by the overly large t-shirt that covered the equally cute little shorts she had on. On her feet were simple sandals and all in all she looked like a perfectly normal little human girl with an endearing lisp. In response to her question, Ichigo merely set down his sword and wrapped his arms around the little girl to hold her close to his chest.
"I'm sorry Nel, I lost track of time," he answered solemnly, before playfully adding, "Can you forgive me?"
If the entire class had been stunned before, this took the cake. Why on earth did Ichigo know this little girl, where did she come from, and why the hell was he acting so kind to her! It would appear they could get even more shocked, because when Nel changed her arms from his waist to his neck and started sobbing into his collarbone while Ichigo just sat there quietly and held the little girl in his arms, their eyes bugged out from their heads. The females especially, who had never seen any reason for his engagement other than his rugged good looks, were quickly finding reason to try and talk him out of it for a chance of their own. He was a natural with kids, and seeing him with one nestled in his arms set off some very interesting imaginations.
Tatsuki even more so, which brought on one of the largest blushes she had ever had when she realized what she was thinking.
Then of course, Ichigo's eyes shot up and glared at the space behind Grimmjow's back. "Still, I thought I told you never to come here except in emergencies!" He shot out gruffly.
"It
was an emergency," a passive voice replied nonchalantly. "If you expect me to put up with two children and a frustrated woman when you're obviously late, you're clearly overdue for a head examination."
And from behind Grimmjow, Ulquiorra Schiffer stepped out into the light.
His gigai matched his regular body perfectly, down to the pale white skin and dark green facial markings. The only thing missing was his samurai-like half-helmet usually located on the left side of his head. He was dressed in regular human clothes unlike Grimmjow, but they were no less extravagant in their own right. A deep emerald t-shirt that matched his eyes perfectly was fitted on his chest and a white button-up shirt was done up haphazardly over that. On his legs were pocketed white khaki's and only his feet held anything regarding the Espada, for that was where the black socks covered by sandals akin to those of the Espada were worn. He looked remarkably handsome in the slightly more casual clothes even with his usual expressionless face… and the undertone that practically screamed 'emo.'
"Hey!" Grimmjow yelled, "You calling me a kid like her!" Ulquiorra's eyes looked over at him before going to Nel, which spoke in no uncertain terms that that had been
exactly what he had been implying. Grimmjow looked like he was ready to pound the living tar out of the other gigai'd Espada, but a quick glance over at Ichigo, then the situation in general, prompted him to lower his eagerly shaking fists with a great deal of difficulty. "Screw you," he hissed instead.
"I'd rather not," the Cuatro Espada replied with what may be called the slightest of smiles.
This earned an annoyed growl of Grimmjow, but he knew if he were to start a fight here in the form he was now, Ichigo would not let him get away with it. As frustrating, yet at the same time, relieving, as it was to know Ichigo held power over him, he knew it was necessary. After all, if the King's own Espada didn't obey him, then there would be no reason for the lower levels of Menos and Hollow to fear him now would there? Still, it was against his nature to ignore a challenge and it was even more illogical for him not to fight, but with Ichigo watching him right then he knew he had to keep his cool. After taking a few deep breaths, he searched for his way to do that. Finally, he spotted her in the crowd of students still seated stupefied at their desks.
"Hey babe, been a while, hasn't it?"
All eyes turned to the young woman he appeared to be addressing, but they all stopped short upon realizing who that particular person was.
There was no way.
It wasn't possible.
It went against everything they had ever known.
The universe
wouldn't allow it.
This was all a dream.
That's it, they all thought simultaneously,
this is a dream. Not real, nope, nuh-uh, not a chance. For there, with possibly the brightest blush conceivable on a human face…
…was Chizuru.
Normally, something like this wouldn't be such a big surprise. It was common knowledge, common
sense even, that high school girls—and boys naturally—experimented with their sexuality maybe once in their life, but Chizuru…Chizuru had always been an
open lesbian, claiming that men were a scourge on the very race they had created. To think, to even
imagine, that the ultimate image of a bad-boy in front of them had changed Chizuru's ways even for just one night…it was mind-boggling.
No matter how damn attractive he was and the fact that he practically
oozed sexuality and arrogant confidence.
And damn them if they didn't notice how charged Ichigo had become since these people had shown up. He suddenly changed from their classmate, to someone that seemed to command power and respect and was willing to fight for that title to whatever the end may be. He looked tender and kind to the little girl in his arms, but the general aura they had always felt from him seemed to have changed completely.
And damn them
all if they didn't find it just as attractive as the man with the striking blue stripes sliding away from his equally astounding blue eyes.
Chizuru was quickly trying to gain back her composure though, and under habit reached for the gaudy red glasses she no longer wore. She cursed herself for having changed to contacts, but when she had started growing out her hair her glasses really got in the way. Someone had once told her he liked longer hair—like that of Orihime's—even as he devoured her mouth and set her body on fire. Just remembering those times with him was making her shake in her seat, but she had never thought Ichigo knew him, or that he would show up at school, in the middle of class of all times!
She thought she liked girls, and she still did, but he hammered away at that knowledge to introduce her to the pleasures of men in the most
delightful of ways. He had just appeared out of nowhere one day and while it may not have been love at first sight, it was definitely
lust at first sight. When two dominant personalities clash together, it only makes sense that the more powerful dominance would succeed, and Grimmjow was not one to be beaten at
anything, in fact there were only a handful of people in the
universe that could claim that.
"WHAT!" She screeched embarrassedly. "Why are you all looking at me like that!"
She would never tell them that it had been so much more than just 'one night.'
One person though, her reaction was much different, and it was directed at a completely different source. Her breathing had become shallow with rage and her muscles were all tense as steel as she saw the man standing beside her taller fiancé and the blue-haired man. Her memory flashed in front of her eyes like a subliminal slideshow and she gritted her teeth in anger.
"
She's trash. Kill her…Yammy." "
I"M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She screamed as her Hollow's mask took form on her face unwittingly, like her anger itself had called it out. She lunged across the room faster than any regular human eye could follow, going straight for the throat of the albino Espada.
She was so close to her goal too, and even the ever-emotionless Ulquiorra looked stunned as he saw the beautifully terrifying mask on the woman charging towards him in pure fury. Seconds later his vision was covered by the body of his King, and Ichigo was in front of him with Tatsuki's hands on his throat, likely thinking she had caught her prey.
The tomboy's eyes widened behind her mask as she realized who was in her grip and she let go instantly, horrified at what she had just done. She fell to her knees as Ichigo stood calmly above her, Nel now off to the side.
"Why?" She croaked hoarsely as she looked up at him with black tears falling from her Hollowized eyes.
"I remember him; he was the one who ordered that thug to kill me…. Why are you protecting him!" Ichigo knelt down in front of her and embraced her softly as her emotions ran their course. "I'm sorry Tatsuki, but I had to. He was under orders from Aizen back then, and to him, you were nothing but an obstacle. I swear, he won't ever try to hurt you again…I won't let him."
Then, in a voice so small it was almost unintelligible, he whispered one last thing to her.
"The Espada would never harm their King's Queen, nor would their King allow it."
Tatsuki's mask shattered in her surprise and she stared at him confusedly.
"But," he continued, "this is neither the time or place to talk about it, so…" The young man straightened up and looked over at the still stunned Miss Ochi. "Tatsuki and I will be gone for the rest of the day and likely tomorrow, I'm sorry but our reasons are our own. We have business to take care of." He seemed to sense the smart remarks about to come from the crowd, and with a single glare that bled his usually-contained authority, they all closed their mouths in shock. "Glad we understand each other. See you later."
And with that, the group of five walked out of the room, but not before Ichigo leaned his head back in and said, "Oh, and Chad, if you haven't realized it yet, she's waiting for you on the roof." His eyes softened momentarily. "Sorry I forgot by the way."
And then he was gone, leaving too many questions to answer in a lifetime for the remaining classmates.
His friends had all disappeared long before that, and Chad was quick to follow.
...
Chad walked onto the roof of the school and smiled one of his deep, emotional smiles when he saw the white-clad blonde waiting for him. She was looking off into the distance of the midday sun and her bronze skin gleamed in the light, and it made her look like some Amazonian goddess rather than a regular woman.
But then again, she was no regular woman.
She felt his reiatsu and turned to face him silently, where a sensually hungry smile drew itself over her face, unhindered by her mask thanks to the gigai.
Yes, there she stood, the only remaining female Espada.
And that was all there was until she impatiently pushed their lips together and reminded him just why she had chosen to help them instead of remain beside Aizen.
It would appear Tatsuki didn't know everything, because she thought Chad didn't have a special someone in his life.
That couldn't be more wrong.
...
The air itself seemed to be tense as the four powerful beings sat aloof on one of the highest roofs in Karakura Town… and then there was Nel, who only had an inkling of what was going on, but she knew enough to keep quiet at a time like this. She was also smart enough to gather that there was an important reason for the black-haired female to be there, but then again that was pretty obvious, considering having a Hollow's mask in human form was a feat rarely accomplished.
However, she didn't know what to make of the girl leaning ever closer to Ichigo, and there was also the fact that Ichigo didn't seem to mind.
"It's not like you ta forget one of the few times ya actually told us you would be there! Jeez, the little brat was driving me crazy for the whole frick'n day 'till now, so you better have one damn good excuse!" Grimmjow groused irritably as he ran a hand through his neon hair.
Ichigo could still feel that Tatsuki's eyes had never left the former Cuatro Espada, but he was grateful for Grimmjow's attempt to change the topic, even if that hadn't been what he had been trying to do intentionally. "Things got pretty hectic in my life over the past couple of weeks, let's put it that way," he said as he sighed.
"Yeah!" Tatsuki confirmed proudly. "He asked me to marry him, that's what happened!" She threw a particularly hateful glare over at Ulquiorra just to send the point across.
There were few things that could make Ulquiorra widen his eyes, and even fewer that could make Grimmjow almost fall off the ledge he was sitting on, but that was exactly what happened at Tatsuki's proud claim. "What the hell did you just say!"
"She said I asked her to marry me, and it's true. You should get to know her, because I'm pretty sure she'll be seeing a lot of you guys, being that she's gonna be your Queen an' all," Ichigo added with an evil smirk, as if he was daring the blue-haired Espada to challenge him.
Nel was probably the one most shocked by this announcement. She didn't know much about the human world, but she had one of the dirtiest minds there was for someone her age, so coming up with something was pretty easy for her. The names she called Ichigo when he had tried to leave her behind as they tried to find Orihime only proved that. Still, she was careful to voice such opinions out loud, considering if Ichigo thought it worthy to taunt the Espada about such a thing, she probably shouldn't try anything too reckless either. "Thoooo, what are you to Ithigo?" she asked Tatsuki, impure intent behind the question seemingly said so innocently.
I could ask you the same thing, Tatsuki thought, but answered otherwise. "You could call me his fiancé right now, but girlfriend works if you don't understand that. Soon I'll be his wife," she explained patiently, expecting that the little girl had little to no knowledge of what that meant. The lime-green haired girl looked up into the sky contemplatively and bit her lip cutely as she thought the words over, something Tatsuki thought was way too endearing for the girl's own good.
"Ahhhh! I get it!" She exclaimed proudly. "You're thcrew—!" She was stopped rather hastily by Ichigo's hand being put quickly over her mouth as he knelt behind her with a mortified flush to his cheeks as he whispered something into Nel's ear, to which she nodded with childlike understanding and didn't complete the sentence. Tatsuki had an idea as to what she might have been trying to say, but she shook it off because she knew no kid could possibly have knowledge of such a thing.
The way Ichigo had seemed so desperate to cut her off did set off some warning flags in her mind though, no matter how absurd the former idea had sounded.
"So, what are
you to Ichigo?" The female Vizard asked instead.
"My name'th Nel!" The little girl proclaimed proudly as she pointed her thumb to her chest.
Ulquiorra elaborated. "She is probably the luckiest Arrancar in existence. She's the only one to have the King's personal protection outside the Espada, you could even go as far as to say she's like his adopted daughter."
Tatsuki was stunned, and not even so much by that last sentence. "Arrancar!"
Ichigo sighed and put his hands on her shoulders from his place behind her. "Tatsuki, when I defeated Aizen and destroyed the Hougyoku, and his aims of using me to create the Royal Key were crushed, there was a huge power vacuum left in Hueco Mundo. The Espada that had helped us overthrow Aizen were still Espada, and they couldn't care less what happened to it as long as they got to continue their way of life, and before I knew it they had all made me the King.
"The laws of Hueco Mundo are basically the strongest rules, and being that I was the strongest and had even managed to get some of the Espada behind me, I was their shoo-in. Ever since then I've been going there at least once a month, usually on the first, to make sure everything hasn't collapsed into chaos yet. That'd be why that other Arrancar you fought was so afraid when he saw me, because he had broken one of the few rules I set in place. The Menos and regular Hollows come to the Living World all the time to try and sustain themselves and grow stronger, because they don't know anything else, but an Arrancar's zanpakutou seals their Hollow form
and most of their Hollow powers; so as long as they continue to live in Hueco Mundo they don't need to feed off Wholes, and there is no fear of regression
because of their zanpakutous.
"Because that state had rarely been reached before, I had no way of knowing if they could use gigai's or not, but apparently because their zanpakutou seals so much of their power and allows them the appearance of what they likely looked like in life, when I asked Urahara to make a few gigai's for them it turned out it worked perfectly," he explained, and he was surprised at himself for putting it so well without jumbling it all up.
"When Arrancar's come to the Living World, the only reason we would have to devour souls is because this world has barely any spiritrons except for the ones of human souls, so in order to survive over here that would have been what we would do, but even then we have the choice to do so or not. However, Urahara made gigai's with exceptionally more spiritrons than even those Shinigami's use to regain their powers in this realm, and so they act like breathing masks for us. This is the closest to life any of us have ever gotten before, and it was thanks to Ichigo that this step was taken," Ulquiorra explained further, and if Tatsuki didn't know any better, there was actual
gratitude in his voice.
"So…" Tatsuki began hesitantly as she looked over at her fiancé, "You're the…the
King…of all Hueco Mundo?"
Ichigo shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess so, but I don't really care what they all do as long as they keep that one rule, or go near Nel of course."
"And…what would happen if they
did go near Nel?"
This time it was Grimmjow to speak up, and the maniacal grin he wore said enough of what he said going to say. "Well damn, that's when we get to see Kurosaki finally act like the King he's supposed to be! Last time someone tried that…" he broke only momentarily to give a wicked laugh, "…man, if the killing blow hadn't been given by a zanpakutou we'd still be picking up pieces of him!"
Inwardly, Tatsuki could hear her Hollow's approval, and as much as what he had just said should have unsettled her, her Hollow's feelings kept that from happening. It was a very strange feeling to say the least. "And you...have no problems with that?"
Ulquiorra gave her a blank glance as his eyes moved to regard her. "You're like Kurosaki are you not? You should know that answer already. You
are part Hollow, correct?" She nodded mutely. "Well then, that's your answer right there." Leave it to Ulquiorra Schiffer to sum it up perfectly without even giving an actual answer.
The awkward silence that followed certainly wasn't what any of them was used to, Nel especially, and so she piped up with what she had wanted to do all day. "Ithigo, can we go for ithe cream again like we did latht time?"
Ichigo looked down at her, like he had temporarily forgotten she was there, before his face broke into a small grin matched by his warm eyes. "Sure Nel," he answered softly. He made sure he turned to the others first before they left. "So, what are your guys' plans for the next couple of days?"
Ulquiorra shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure they arrived to you without killing anyone. I may explore this world in greater detail, but then I will likely return to Hueco Mundo."
Grimmjow smiled heatedly. "I've got a date with my fiery redhead. Can't have my woman forgetting who I am after all. I wonder if she's bringing any of her girlfriends this time…" He trailed off as he jumped from the roof and within seconds his form disappeared completely as Sonido took him back to the school, time of day be damned.
Tatsuki turned back to Ichigo, her wide eyes displaying the episode at school had finally input itself into her mind. "He wasn't talking about Chizuru…was he?"
Ichigo couldn't even look her in the eyes, but one of the largest dumbass grins she had ever seen was on his face. "When he saw what she was doing to Orihime I could have sworn he was going to kill her, but instead he decided on a better way to get Chizuru to stop bugging her. He always did like challenges."
Something clicked in Tatsuki's head. "So
that's why she started growing out her hair." Ichigo chuckled as his answer, but there was one other thing bothering her. "But that was…"
"Yes," Ulquiorra answered passively, "that was a long time ago. We've had these gigai's for a while. Roughly a few weeks after Ichigo began his reign to be exact. Now, if you'll excuse me…" At Ichigo's nod, the former Cuatro Espada disappeared.
"So Tatsuki," Ichigo stated as their group was reduced to them and Nel, "you wanna come along?"
Tatsuki sighed dramatically and smiled. "I guess I should now shouldn't I? After all, if she's like your adoptive daughter then I'd better get to know her too, being that I'm going to be your wife an' all," she said, mock-mimicking his previous use of the words to Grimmjow.
"Yay!" Nel beamed. "Can we go the way we uthually do Ichigo?" She asked hopefully, and the look on Ichigo's face was that of one that had been completely whipped into submission by his kid, one who could never deny her anything.
"Tatsuki doesn't know how to use Shunpo…" He didn't bother continuing that sentence; instead he shook his head as if trying to get rid of the stupidity that had even created that remark, and lifted Tatsuki into his arms into their traditional position unexpectedly, earning a un-Tatsuki-like yelp from his fiancé. Swiveling his back to Nel, he looked over his shoulder. "Hop on."
Unlike Tatsuki, Nel had no problems with riding on his back, and within moments she had her small arms wrapped around his neck, her meager body weight hardly enough to even cause him breathing problems. "Here we go!"
Before Tatsuki could even ask what it was he was about to do, he suddenly jumped straight up, higher than any regular human could ever achieve, and noticed briefly that his eyes were Hollowized again. It was a jump straight up nearly twenty feet before they started a dive headfirst down the tall building, just a few feet away from the windowed wall of the office complex. The wind rushed past them and Nel's squeals of delight and Ichigo's smile as they fell told Tatsuki they had done this before, but this speed was attained by the velocity of their fall, and there was nothing stopping them from making a nice 'splat' on the ground rapidly approaching.
Out of impulse, she closed her eyes as the ground seemed to be an inevitable conclusion, but right before they hit she felt a jolt and suddenly they were flying along the ground as Ichigo used Shunpo to make them all but completely invisible to the passers-by. He had pushed off the building moments before impact and used his reiatsu to lighten their velocity before shooting them across horizontally to make the transition into running a breeze.
"Yipeeeeeeeeeee!" Nel squealed again, and this time Tatsuki couldn't agree with her more. That was an adrenaline rush fit for the record books. Once again, Ichigo's incredible power was being displayed to her so naturally, like he didn't care, or didn't even acknowledge, how much power he actually had. He was carrying two people and using Shunpo to a ridiculous degree, and he was barely breathing hard.
Sometimes he didn't realize how frightening he was.
Or how damn hot that was.
And all too soon the ice cream had been bought and the day melted away as fast as their snack did. And thus Tatsuki fell in love with the little girl that Ichigo felt bound to protect even though he was a Soul Reaper and she was an Arrancar.
To him, there were no 'boundaries.' He was a human, who became a Shinigami, who discovered his Hollow. He fit in all worlds; a mongrel to some, a savior to others…and biased to none.
She could only smile and laugh.
And he was hers.
...
The next week proved to be rather interesting. It didn't matter what was going on or what she should have had planned, Rukia and Orihime always dragged her off to Soul Society for the Association's planning sessions. Ichigo
seemed to have no problems with this, as he made it a point to take that time to visit Hueco Mundo, doing…she didn't know…kingy stuff probably.
She was careful not to voice his position to the Association, because not only was she unsure if they knew it or not, she was unsure of how they would react in general. And since no once commented even though Rukia and Orihime
had to know about him, it was pretty clear that they hadn't said anything either.
Still, Ichigo hadn't counted on democracy when they had agreed to let the Association plan their wedding, and Tatsuki realized very quickly over the course of the week that she was only
one person. Ichigo was going to kill her when she broke the news to him.
...
And Ichigo? Though he had
seemed fine with her going to Soul Society, he hadn't counted on there being no subsequent time for
them. He went to Hueco Mundo after school just to blow off some steam in the form of fighting the many Menos and regular Hollows, reigniting their loyalty to him as well as giving him the relief of thinning some of their numbers while releasing his own pent-up emotions in the form of Ogihci's aggression.
He could barely even look at her in class anymore without getting 'uncomfortable,' but he'd be damned before he stalled the progress of their wedding's planning for something as minor as personal relief.
Oh who was he kidding? If Rukia and Orihime didn't give her a break soon he was going to abduct Tatsuki to Hueco Mundo and stay there for a solid week just for themselves. He had never known what it felt like to go through withdrawal before, but God help him if this didn't feel damn close.
Grimmjow was delighted though. Not only did it give Ichigo more of an irritable temperament, which meant prodding him into fights more easily, it meant he could also taunt his King with stories of his own over the course of those battles, and watch in amusement as Ichigo's face went red but his hits got harder.
That was the thing about Ichigo as King. Aizen treated the Espada like they deserved recognition, but he wouldn't lift a finger to help them no matter what the situation they were in. They were expendable. All he cared about was his own goals of breaking past his limits, and for that he would do anything. Ichigo though, he wasn't afraid to fight them just for the Hell of it, or help them, or even talk to them if need be. The only reason he had to rule through fear was that was one of the few things the lower levels understood, but to the Arrancar and Espada he was actually civil and treated them no differently than if they were one of his friends. Only a few Espada remained alive after the war to get back Orihime, but they were enough to completely tip the balance in Ichigo's favor during the final battle.
In truth, they had
wanted Ichigo as their King after that, for he represented a truth that was refreshing in its own right. He didn't hide who he was or what he stood for, and while he could send them to their knees with his intense spiritual pressure just like Aizen did, he didn't. Aizen ruled through false promises mixed with absolute fear, but Ichigo didn't even think of himself as a ruler, just someone chosen to keep the peace. He never treated them any differently than he had before, but he recognized times when he had to use that power else his rule get undermined, and he was in no way hesitant when those times came.
They had found a worthy King.
And it was only thanks to Grimmjow's fights that Ichigo was able to sleep at night, because he'd be so exhausted after returning home from his bouts with the Espada that he would fall right to sleep and wouldn't even have the energy to acknowledge his groaning body, aching in more ways than one.
This even went on into the next week, but thankfully there was a saving grace that week, for Captain Unohana had deemed her part in the planning finished and had offered to start their medicinal training. Needless to say Ichigo threw himself into their work,
anything to get his mind off Tatsuki and his want to rush her into the nearest janitor's closet and have her scream to high heaven, even if it was in
school of all places.
The entire Fourth Squad was stunned by both his progress and his devotion to the material, and soon he had even started training with his reiatsu instead of training for medical school, that was how far he had progressed in a mere week. However, that also meant it had been a good half-month since he and Tatsuki had had any alone time and there was only a week left until graduation from High School.
However, Ichigo was Ichigo, and his coping mechanisms had always been different from regular people. That only dawned on Retsu Unohana when she walked by the Fourth Division's headquarters in the middle of the night, as sleep had eluded her for some reason, and she witnessed a yellow-eyed Ichigo pouring over the books he had been given to read. She knew better than anyone that Shinigami needed maybe a quarter of the amount of sleep, if that, of regular humans and Vizards had at least ten-times the energy stores of a regular Shinigami, but Ichigo was pushing himself far beyond regularity.
Apparently he had discovered that while his Hollow had an impressive amount of knowledge, more than any captain-class Soul Reaper, he also had an impressive memory, and by using his Hollow as well as his brain he was able to learn things at double the speed and remember them just as easily. However, reading books was just reading books. She, and many others for that matter, knew he developed fastest through firsthand experience. No matter how much he read, there was no way he was going to get through everything that easily. She didn't mind however, she knew she had everything short of eternity to teach him. He would be a fine doctor some day.
While she was impressed at his diligence, she didn't want to know what would happen when all the pressure he seemed to be under finally reached a boiling point.
She would have to bring this up the next time the Association met.
The last thing they needed was for their newest captain to be too tired to attend to his duties should the need ever arise, and since he was also one of their greatest warriors, having him dull in battle could be a fatal mistake.
For some reason she thought it had something to do with Tatsuki.
Clarity dawned on her like the small amount of red that dusted itself on her cheeks as the answer came to her.
Oh my…
...
Author's Notes: Another one bites the dust. Thanks for reading.
