Noble Love - Bleach (Kuchiki Byakuya x Oc x A bit of Various)

十五

A lot had happened since Asa last talked to Tadashi. Her Captain and Lieutenant were away, so Asa had to temporarily take over. And because the Visored felt that it was necessary for her to know the happenings in Karakura Town, he had Tamako, the Ghost Child, to report to her anything of importance.

According to the child, just the day after their encounter, two Arrancar appeared at Karakura Town, with one of them draining all the surrounding souls. Upon confronting that Arrancar, who had already taken down Sado and Orihime, Ichigo wasn't able to fight has his inner Hollow interfered to fight, and was severely beaten until Urahara and Yoruichi arrived to rescue them. Before the Arrancar could be killed, his partner decided that they should step back after realising how worthless it was to kill their target - Ichigo.

Their presence in Karakura Town alerted Soul Society, and under Captain-Commander Yamamoto's approval, Hitsugaya's team that consisted of him, Renji, Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika and Rukia, was dispatched for patrol; all of them posing as new students at Ichigo's school. However, a group of five Arrancar led by an Espada invaded Karakura Town, with each of them fight their own separate battles. The dispatched Shinigami managed to kill the Arrancar, but Ichigo and Rukia struggled with the Espada, who had taken down the latter and had to be healed by Orihime when everything had been settled, until Tousen stepped in and ordered the Espada to return to Hueco Mundo for violating orders. After this, Ichigo realised that he could no longer fight adequately with his inner Hollow constantly seeking to take control of him, and it drove him to train with the Visored; and according to Tadashi himself, it was "a pain in the ass".

"I don't think it's appropriate for you to use such language, Tamako-kun." said Asa sheepishly while listening to his report in her study room. "Your brother wouldn't approve that."

The Ghost Child flinched in fear when his sibling was mentioned and quickly covered his mouth. "Oops!" he said in his muffled voice before he continued sharing what was going on.

After defeating his inner Hollow, Ichigo continued with the Visored to increase his mask usage time. Sado trained with Renji in the Urahara Store basement to strengthen both their powers while Uryu trained with his father in his hospital's basement to restore his lost Quincy powers. Orihime visited Ichigo where he was training with the Visored and Hachigen restored her attack ability Tsubaki that was damaged by the Arrancar she encountered earlier. Rukia then decided to Orihime to Soul Society for training, only to decide to go back to the Human world first when four Arrancar invaded Karakura Town again. Ichigo fought the Espada he encountered days ago, whose name was Grimmjow, with his newly acquired Hollow mask transformation. But when his mask broke, Grimmjow gained the upper hand, only to fended off by Rukia and Hirako, who was dispatched by Tadashi himself.

Meanwhile, when Orihime went through the special gates, her guards were attacked by an Espada, who demanded her to follow him back to Hueco Mundo, otherwise he would kill her friends. It didn't take her long to decide, and as a result, she left to Hueco Mundo after bidding the boy she loved goodbye.

"It's scary that you know a lot, Tamako." commented Asa with blue lines beneath her eyes. "I can't even imagine you were present when Orihime kissed Ichigo before she left."

The said boy giggled with glee. "They don't call me Ghost Child for nothing." he said proudly. "I'm everywhere as long as there's shadow for me to play."

Asa took out another candy, only to be bigger than the one before, and handed it to Tamako as a reward for doing his job well. While he was indulging in the candy, she walked towards one of the windows and stared into the sky with her mind drifting off somewhere else. Just few days ago, Captain-Commander Yamamoto informed everyone of Aizen's true intentions - to kill everyone in the enriched spirit zone of Karakura Town to create the King's Key as a step towards overthrowing the Soul King. And if that was his main goal, what would Aizen want with Orihime?