Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any other series I might use for inspiration.

Author Notes:

Those of you who have read my other abandoned story "New World Order" will probably note some similarities between that story and this one, that is probably because this is a remake of that story, except Ichigo is the main character in this one and this version aint a crossover for the most part, though as is usually the case in my stories, there might be elements of other anime series utilized in this story. I hope you all enjoy the story.

Self Made/No Debts

"It's been too long now hasn't it, Neliel-sama?"Yin asked with a disturbed expression, clearly not feeling all that secure when it comes to the current situation.

"I agree. It's been way too long. Do you...do you think Ichigo-sama could've...abandoned us?"Yang asked hesitantly, she more than anyone else appalled by the mere insinuation that Ichigo were capable of such a thing yet here she was, unable to help but to wonder.

As twins, Yin and Yang are almost identical in appearance, however, whereas Yang is seen with short red hair, Yin can be seen with longer blue hair that is parted into two pigtails. The remnants of the two arrancar's masks act as some kind of headband, both of which go vertically down the middle of their heads before reaching their eyebrows. The remnants of the masks also act as a sheath to their zanpakuto, both of which a sheathed behind their heads horizontally. Their outfits are exactly the same, typically reminiscent of the white arrancar uniform, a sleeveless white jacket, elbow length gloves, white bracelets on each wrist, sock-like stockings, black high-heeled arrancar themed boots, and short school-girl themed boots. Of these, the skirts, stockings, and gloves are coloured to represent their element, red (fire) for Yang and blue (lightning) for Yin.

"If you don't have anything wise to say then it is best to restrain yourself, Yang-chan."Nel replied with a calm and collected facade, a facade she needed to maintain for as long as possible if the five of them were going to survive long enough to see Ichigo again, and she had no intention of giving up on Ichigo, after all, she, Pesche, and Dondochakka were eternally indebted to him. Ichigo was the one that had not only fixed their masks but had also gone out of his way to help them get stronger. He made sure they were sheltered, that they were fed, and even went so far as to make sure that they were happy. There was no way Ichigo had abandoned them.

"I agree with Neliel-sama, Ichigo-sama would never abandon us. I trust him with every fibre of my being..."Yin trailed off.

"However?"Nel asked perceptively.

"My trust in Muramasa has its limits. What if he has done something to Ichigo-sama? And what about Aizen-teme? It's been almost two weeks now since we defeated his fifth and sixth espada, he'll send stronger warriors next time. If he sends number one or two, will we be able to come out of that encounter unscathed? " Yin inquired with concern, bringing up some valid points that caught everyone's attention with immediate effect.

"I'll admit, I too have my reservations about Muramasa, however, Ichi-kun is no fool, he knew exactly what he was getting into with Muramasa, and therefore, it is my belief that he always had a plan should Muramasa betray us. He would never recklessly put neither us nor himself in danger, that is what my heart tells me."Neliel replied reassuringly, taking a deep breath before continuing where she left off.

"As far as Aizen is concerned, I'm not worried at all. He will never be able to find this place, and even if he could, it would take him too long to find it, Ichi-kun will have already returned by then. Let us say however that Ichi-kun hadn't returned by then, Aizen would still have a lot of trouble bypassing this barrier that surrounds this place, after all, this is some of Ichi-kun's best work. And finally, say Aizen bypasses all of that and gets to us, so what? Aizen sent his men to recruit us, that means that he wants us alive and we are no use to him dead. Therefore, in such a scenario, where we failed to defeat number one and two, or Aizen came to get us himself, we could simply surrender, join Aizen's army, and then use his own resources to find our true leader, Ichi-kun."Nel explained clearly and concisely, her calm and composed facade never once slipping from her facial features.

"Very impressive Nel-sama. You're starting to sound more and more like Ichigo-sama."Pesche replied in that typically irritating tone of his, a tone that made it incredibly difficult to tell whether he was joking or being serious, even whether he was insulting or complimenting you. Pesche is a male arrancar of average height, with blue eyes, long blonde hair and a mask that resembles some kind of horned insect, the mask covering the front top of his head and the left side of his face up to just below the nose area. He, like Neliel, Yin, and Yang is wearing his own custom made version of the arrancar uniform, with arrancar style white hakama pants, black shoes, and long sleeved arrancar top, his zanpakuto held by a rope around his waist.

"That's quite a big compliment Pesche, but unfortunately, there is only one Ichi-kun."Neliel replied solemnly.

"Ya don't have to be him, ya a great leader yaself dontcha know. Ichigo-sama knows this too, that's why he knows he can leave everything up to ya in his absence dontcha know."Dondochakka retorted. He is a very tall and muscular man, standing at a full two metres in height and weighing in at one hundred and thirty five kilograms. He has a light brown skin and wears a standard arrancar outfit with his zanpakuto sheathed on his waste. His mask looks like a typical red tiki mask except that, like Pesche, his mask covers only the left side of his face. The mask is also significantly smaller than the one he wore when Ichigo found them, the current version of it fitting into the mould of his facial features like a glove.

"I disagree. You're a decent leader but you are light years below Ichigo-sama. Ichigo-sama would have never stopped us from killing Grimmjow and he would have never spared Nnoitra of all people."Yang argued, still miffed by the, in her mind, absurd decision that Neliel made two weeks ago.

"We are not animals, and therefore, we shouldn't kill needlessly." Neliel replied.

"How exactly is it needless to kill your enemy?"Yin inquired irritably.

"And while we're at it, why don't you tell us what your relationship with Grimmjow is exactly? The two of you seemed...suspiciously concerned for each other's wellbeing." Yang added salt to the wound.

"My personal life is none of your business."Neliel replied emotionlessly, doing everything in her power not to break under the pressure.

"Personal life? Oh my god you're fucking him aren't you?" Yang exclaimed with a shocked expression, Neliel spotting her own surprised expression, mixed in with a lot of embarrassment, in fact, she couldn't remember a time she was more embarrassed than she was right now.

"That's..."

"Don't you dare deny it. It's written all over your face."Yin cut in swiftly.

"That...that was a long time ago. It was literally over a hundred years ago! I don't judge you about your past so what makes you think you have the right to judge me? About something that happened over one hundred years ago no less!"Neliel retorted defensively, tears falling rapidly down her face, a look of shame and anguish morphing onto her facial features, a look that made Yang regret ever bringing up the issue, but not Yin.

"Nice attempt at downplaying the situation, but we all know that you've had amnesia for one hundred and three of those one hundred years you were gone from Las Noches. That means that for you, it's only been five years since you last saw Grimmjow. And judging by your valiant effort to come to his rescue two weeks ago, I'd say that your feelings for the man are still pretty strong. Your feelings for this man have compromised your position in this family, and I don't even want to go to your failure to exterminate Nnoitra, the man who did unspeakable things to not only you, but to your so called beloved subordinates. You're a bitch in every sense of the aaaargh!"Yin choked on her words as Neliel, with blistering speed caught her by the throat and smashed her through and to the outside of the inner wall of the building.

"How dare you!"Neliel exclaimed with a furious, borderline deranged facial expression, only to receive a kick to the side of the head from Yin's twin sister, sending her skidding across the surface of the earth before quickly regaining her bearings, coming to a complete halt as she assumed a threatening stance with her left hand hovering over the hilt of her sword.

"You call almost everyone who fights you a savage, but who is the one trying to resolve her issues with violence now?"Yang spoke on her sister's behalf, Yin still trying to recover from Nel's incredible chokehold as she let out a series of painful coughs.

"I'm going to kill you if it's the last thing I do, you bitch!"Yin exclaimed with an ugly snarl on her face, pulling out her zanpakuto from its sheath, which was located behind her head, a loud crackling of lightning resonating around the barren land as she snapped the whip attached to the guard of her zanpakutou, a whip made entirely of lightning.

"What is this? I'm gone for barely twelve months and you guys have turned each other into enemies already? It breaks my heart to come back and see you all like this, although I'm glad to be back."A voice that everyone recognised resonated around the hideout as a space-time vortez opened in between Nelliel and the twins but a little to the twins' right hand side and to Neliel's left, the spiralling portal puking out two relatively tall individuals, one everyone recognised as Muramasa and the other a man they didn't recognise at all.

The mysterious figure wore the standard white hakama pants that male arrancar typically wore and black footwear and on his upper body one would see sleeveless white jacket that covers his whole upper body with the exception of his arms, neck, and head, including his hollow hole which was located near the top of his chest. The fragments of his hollow mask were in the form of labret piercing, multiple piercings on each of his ears and a tight fit necklace which was made of small human-like skulls except for the skull in the front middle, that one being a size bigger than the other fragments. Sheathed on his back one would find a gigantic skyscraper of a zanpakuto and strapped to his left hip one would find a significantly smaller, normal sized zanpakuto. Last but not least, the figure spots short, orange, and spiky hair with brown eyes, and seems to have the body of a sex god with all the muscles and toning in the right place, not too big, not to small, just perfect.

"Who the hell is this? And where's Ichigo-sama, Muramasa-baka?"Yang demanded obnoxiously.

"..." was the only response that Muramasa gave, not being a man of many words and seemingly not feeling that the question was worthy of a response. Muramasa is a tall, thin man with pale and shaggy, dark brown hair, two bangs of which cross over the bridge of his nose. His pupils are blood red with a black three pronged shuriken shape in the middle of the pupil and his eyes appear to be circled by spiked purple ovals. The remnants of his hollow mask take the form of a bony face mask covering the lower half of his face and he is wearing a long knee length white coat with a high collar over his outfit. His zanpakuto is sheathed on his hip and his hollow hole can be found around the area where his belly button would be.

"Didn't you hear what she said? Where's Ichigo-sama! Muramasa-teme!"Yin exclaimed with a mixture of anguish and suspicion, afraid that her worst fear since Ichigo-sama had left with Muramasa had come to pass, that Muramasa had indeed betrayed Ichigo-sama and murdered him.

"Geez what's with you guys, I'm standing right in front of you and you can't even tell it's me? I didn't know I had such a forgettable face."The mysterious orange haired teen replied with a mischievious smirk, causing Yin, Yang, Pesche, Dondochakka, and Neliel's eyes to widen in surprise and realisation.

"I...Ichigo-sama...?"Yin and Yang stuttered simultaneously.

"Yin, Yang, I've missed you so much, all of y..."Ichigo was about to say before he was cut off by the twins.

"Ichigo-sama!"The girls exclaimed as they both tackled the young arrancar to the ground, the twins burying their heads at the crook of his neck and squeezing him tight as they cried uncontrollably.

"Ichigo-sama! We missed you so much!"Yin cried.

"We were afraid that you, that y-you...Ichigo-sama! I'm so happy that you're back!"Yang exclaimed with tears of joy.

"Please! Please don't leave us again like that."Yin said desperately.

"Promise me, promise you won't leave us again, please Ichigo-sama. I couldn't bare it!"Yang cried, the two twins looking straight into the eyes of the young arrancar with a look that broke his heart into pieces.

"Yin, Yang, please forgive me. If I had known my absence would cause you this much grief, I would have never left you to begin with. At the very least, I might have taken you with me instead."Ichigo apologised with a heavy heart, his eyes softening considerably as he held on a little tighter to the twins in an effort to symbolize to them how much they meant to him and how close he would keep them to him from now on. The scene was quite touching even to someone like Muramasa, who barely displayed any emotion whatsoever. Pesche and Dondochakka were crying on the sides uncontrollably, muttering about how sweet and touching the scene was and how happy they were that Ichigo had returned and Neliel...Neliel looked like a dear caught in headlights, jealousy, happiness, envy, joy, frustration and even fear, fear of what Ichigo might think of her if he found out about her history with Grimmjow.

In hindsight, Nel couldn't believe how silly and delusional she must have been to have ever thought that she could keep her history with Grimmjow a secret from Ichigo, especially considering how much she had pestered him over the last three years about going to Las Noches with her. Ichigo had always wondered how she could be so determined to go back there after she was discarded the way she was, and she had always defended the place by pointing out the that Nnoitra had done what he did of his own violation and not because of Aizen's orders. When Ichigo asked why she wanted him specifically to join she had refused to tell him the truth, to tell him that she was overflowing with love and lust for him that she couldn't possibly contain any longer, to tell him that his lack of sex organs as a vasto lorde frustrated her to no end. She hadn't told him the truth partially because she was too embarrassed to do so but also partially because she thought it should have been obvious, that she shouldn't have had to even explain herself at that point in their relationship.

So instead of telling Ichigo the whole truth, she had merely pointed out that becoming an arrancar would make him even stronger than he was back then, knowing that all hollows strived to get stronger especially Ichigo, he was practically obsessed with strength and knowledge. It was one of his more endearing character traits, how much time and effort he was willing to sacrifice in order to become strong enough to protect his precious people. Neliiel had always known how selfish her true reasons were for asking ichigo to re-join Las Noches with her, but now she also knew how silly her reasons were considering her history with Grimmjow. Whoever heard of a man, his girlfriend, and her ex living in the same complex. That was a recipe for disaster, especially now that she knew that she wasn't completely over Grimmjow. It wasn't that she thought she would cheat on ichigo, she could never do that to him, but that didn't mean that there wouldn't be complications.

Grimmjow is a loud mouth who does and says whatever the hell that he wants, and if he still wanted her, as Nel suspects he would after their recent confrontation, then all hell would break loose. Grimmjow would probably rub his history with her on Ichigo's face every chance that he got and she would have to have her own defences always on alert for a Grimmjow move on her. It certainly wouldn't be a healthy environment for a romantic relationship to bud and she knew it. However, all hell would break lose before she allowed Ichigo to slip out of her fingers, she knew that it was selfish of her, the best thing to do really was to let him go, let him find love elsewhere, let someone else who is more deserving have him, like the twins for example. But she couldn't and wouldn't do that, Ichigo was hers and that was the end of it.

"Hey Nel, Pesche, Dondochakka, how are you guys doing, and why are you so quiet, Nel?"Ichigo greeted casually, finally managing to untangle himself from the twins, just long enough to get on his feet before they glomped him again, Yang hanging on to his left arm and Yin to his right.

"Ichigo-sama! It's a pleasure to have you back again sir!"Pesche exclaimed with a goofy military salute, Ichigo rolling his eyes in dismay at the blonde haired arrancar's antics.

"We missed you so much doncha know!"Dondochakka added his own two yen to the table.

"Yeah I gotta admit that I missed you guys too, even as frustrating as you guys can be at times."Ichigo replied with visible sincerity in his eyes and tone.

"Well, I don't know if I can believe that Ichigo-sama, with your handsome new looks and boyish charms, I'm sure you were having too much fun with women of all shapes and sizes to even think about us, you man whore you!"Pesche retorted with an indignant expression, causing a tick mark to appear on Ichigo and the twins' foreheads.

"How dare you Pesche you slime ball! Ichigo-sama would never leave us for a bunch of sluts! Right, Ichigo-sama?"Yang asked with the utmost conviction one could ever see on any woman's face, a puppy eyed expression directed at Ichigo as she waited for him to confirm the truth in her words.

"Of course not! This idiot, as usual, doesn't know what the hell he is talking about."Ichigo bit out with a dangerous glare directed at Pesche.

"Hn! You may have them deceived but you can't fool me. I see right through you, Ichigo-sama! As if a guy would go through a complete makeover like that if it wasn't for the ladies."Pesche argued stubbornly.

"I take back what I said, I didn't miss you at all!"Ichigo retorted furiously.

"Aha! See, your true colours finally come out!"Pesche exclaimed confidently, as if he had just discovered the cure for cancer or something.

"That's enough Pesche."Neliel ordered calmly.

"F-forgive me, Neliel-sama."Pesche apologised sincerely.

'If that's all it takes to shut him up then why didn't she do that earlier.' Ichigo thought with exasperation.

"It's okay, you did after all bring up an important topic of discussion. Please tell us Ichi-kun, how did you get this ummm...makeover? And why do you have two zanpakuto as opposed to one?"Neliel asked the question that was on everyone's mind, Ichigo metaphorically scratching his head in confusion as he wondered why Neliel had such a down and borderline cold mood right at the moment. He'd have expected her to be a little more ecstatic about his return, and an ecstatic Nel was a ditsy and childish Nel. This version of Nel was the serious Nel, and serious Nel meant that it was either serious business time or something was terribly wrong. Nevertheless Ichigo figured he would get a chance to ask her about it soon enough, after all, one doesn't go through such a profound change and not expect to have questions to answer upon his return.

"Well, let me first say that Aizen had nothing to do with it. This transformation is the result of an experiment Muramasa and I undertook post the results of our investigation in the world of the living."Ichigo replied.

"What do you mean Ichigo-sama? What research was this?"Yin and Yang asked consecutively.

"Well, I allowed Muramasa to sift through my memories up to the first time I gained awareness as a hollow. The memories revealed that I first gained awareness in Kurakara Town of japan in the living world, and that there was an orange haired woman and an orange haired child close by. There was also another hollow who goes by the name Grand Fisher which I devoured. Grand Fisher had injured a shinigami female as well before I attacked him. I was about to devour the shinigami female and the two orange haired females when two other souls arrived and rescued them. Of these two souls one was a blond haired man and the other an ebony woman with purple hair. These two souls had spiritual pressure remiscient of a shinigami and the blonde haired male even carried a zanpakuto, but neither seemed to be part of the gotei 13 as they were not garbed in the standard uniform."Ichigo explained.

"What does this have to do with you going to the world of the living?"Yin asked suspiciously.

"You will understand as I tell the story, for now just listen okay?"Ichigo said softly, a reassuring smile plastered on his facial features.

"Okay..."Yin said reluctantly, not really sure she wanted to hear the rest of the story as the potential outcome of this investigation made her feel uneasy, but if Ichigo=sama said it was going to be okay then she would trust him.

"Okay, this man and woman are powerful and they would have easily killed me at the time were it not for my high speed regeneration. Fortunately, they didn't anticipate this and I managed to escape. Long story short, we went to the world of the living to investigate the identity and background of these souls. We found out that the man and woman are Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi. They are former captains of the thirteen court guard squads, two very dangerous individuals. The young orange haired girl is known as Inoue Orihime and from my understanding, the orange haired woman took her in and raised her as her own along with her own two daughters. The name of this woman is Kurosaki Masaki..."Ichigo trailed off, leaving everyone else to put two and two together on their own, though it was more like putting one and one together really given how obvious the inference was.

"D-don't tell me this woman was your wife?" Neliel asked with a look of despair, scared to death that she might have lost her chance with Ichigo forever now, surely he would want to go back to his wife now that he knew about her, her emotions state and subjective view of the situation causing her to temporarily forget the incredible barrier between Ichigo and his wife, said barrier being the fact that Ichigo was a hollow and she was presumably a human.

"No, it turns out that she was my mother, and it turns out that I was only nine years old when I died and turned into a hollow. So you guys are all like, old enough to be my great grandparents."Ichigo said with a small chuckle, figuratively scratching his head again when nobody laughed at his joke, the tension in the atmosphere almost suffocating.

"Hmmm...I guess that wasn't very funny. In any case, the first thing I'm going to tell you is that I have no recollection of my human life and I don't even remotely consider myself to be a human. I'm a hollow and you guys are my family, end of story."Ichigo replied with unwavering conviction and sincerity, everyone visibly relaxing at ichigo's declaration, the tension in the air decipitating mostly, but not entirely.

"I have however discovered that perhaps I was never a human to begin with. Turns out that my biological father when I was human was in fact a shinigami." Ichigo continued, once again much to the shock of everyone present with the exception of Muramasa, so much so that Yin and Yang's grip on his arms loosened considerably, the twins almost letting go completely but their love and devotion overriding their suspicion and wariness, although not entirely.

"Show me your hollow hole."Ying demanded with a stern and uncompromising tone, pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to relax for one second until Ichigo proved that he was still a hollow, despite the fact that his spiritual pressure suggested that that was the case. But you know what they say, seeing is after all, believing.

"It's on my chest, if you could just let go of my arm I could..."Ichigo trailed off as Yin took matters into her own hands, or rather, her own right hand as she unzipped Ichigo's jacket.

"Okay...that's good."Yin, breathing in a huge sigh of relief.

"I agree. However, what does your father from your human life being a shinigami have to do with anything?"Neliel asked curiously, though whether the curiosity on her face was related to the question or Ichigo's god-like physique was another story altogether, the twins not fairing any better themselves, especially considering the close proximity they had with their beloved leader.

"Normally, it would only explain the vast amounts of reiatsu that I have as a hollow and the extent of my potential as a hollow, nothing more and nothing less. This is because the hollow transformation forced the latent shinigami powers I had to become suppressed to such an extent that they are impossible to awaken. However, I happen to have Muramasa as a friend and comrade, Muramasa the former zanpakuto spirit and current arrancar who has the ability to delve into the depths of a soul and not only manipulate and subdue another's zanpakuto spirit, but also to forcefully manifest it. As an arrancar is majority hollow and part shinigami, the release of my zanpakuto spirit allowed me to tap into my shinigami powers, prompting the transformation that I have undergone to become an arrancar. This event also explains the reason why I have two zanpakuto. The small one on my waist contains my ressurrecion and the big one on my back has my shikai and bankai."Ichigo explained patiently, a cocky smirk plastered on his facial features, satisfaction prevalent on his facial features as he observed the awe and surprise in the expressions of his comrades.

"Th...that's amazing ichigo-sama!"Yin yelled as she and Yang re-snuggled into the carrot topped teen's body, revelling in his scent and the warmth that he radiated, though said warmth was an entirely subjective feeling because no enemy or even neutral who felt his spiritual pressure would associate it with anything even remotely related to warmth and comfort, his spiritual pressure was actually terrible and frightening, and that was putting it lightly.

"Don't get me wrong Ichi-kun, no one is happier than I am about these recent developments, though my rational mind cannot ignore the obvious question... "Neliel trailed off with a serious tone.

"and that would be?"Ichigo asked curiously.

"Why, if arrancar are hollows who have attained shinigami powers, do only you have a shinigami zanpakuto, and how did you convince your zanpakuto to teach you, a hollow, shikai and bankai release?"Nel asked curiously.

"Hmmm...it's an interesting question I must admit. The best way to explain is this, if you guys are part shinigami and part hollow, then I am part visored and part arrancar."Ichigo explained much to the confusion of everyone with the exception of Muramasa once again.

"I don't know what a visored is doncha know."Dondochakka stated obliviously.

"A visored is the polar opposite of an arrancar, in other words, a shinigami who has acquired hollow powers. I am the first and only of my kind, part arrancar and part vizard, and just to quickly answer your other question Nel, I didn't get my zanpakuto spirit to teach me those abilities, I simply devoured him and my inner hollow and gained their powers. I am still a hollow after all."Ichigo replied with a sinister smirk, causing Nel's , Ying's, and Yang's eyes to widen in realisation.

"Sugoi Ichigo-sama! You're so powerful and smart and amazing! I bet you're much stronger than anyone in Hueco Mundo and Soul Society put together now!"Yang exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, I always knew that if anyone could do it, it was you, ichigo-sama."Yin replied with a small smirk.

"Ahem..."Nel coughed in her hand loud enough for everyone to hear, Yin and Yang casting dirty looks at Neliel for interfering with their quality time with Ichigo-sama.

"What is it, Nel? More questions?'Ichigo asked patiently.

"Just one more. What exactly is an inner hollow?"Neliel asked curiously.

"It's sort of like a zanpakuto spirit but in hollow form, it's what happens when a shinigami undergoes hollowfication. I was a half shinigami who turned into a hollow, so I developed an inner hollow when I transformed, but it was suppressed deeply into my soul along with my shinigami powers because well, an inner hollow is something that only shinigami develop. When those shinigami powers were forced to the surface, so did my inner hollow. However as I said, I devoured him along with my zanpakuto spirit." Ichigo elaborated.

"I see..."Neliel trailed off with a thoughtful expression, Ichigo wondering what could be on her mind right now, after all, he had just announced that not only was he technically a different species to the others right now, but that he was actually of shinigami lineage, there was bound to be some measure of weariness or even suspicion.

'They have never fully trusted Muramasa because of his former shinigami zanpakuto state, will they have the same issues with me as they do with him? No, it doesn't matter, not really. Neliel seems to have a high degree of respect and trust for Aizen, and he is one hundred percent shinigami compared to me, who is by all intents and purposes, a hollow. All I have to do is be true to myself and to them, and everything will be okay.' Ichigo thought with unwavering conviction.

"So anyway, if there are no more questions, I would like to ask one of my own."Ichigo said, effectively snapping the green haired bombshell out of her musings.

"Oh, what is it Ichi-kun?"Nel asked with an innocent expression, a little bit of her ditsy self coming back to the fore, a sign that she was slowly getting used to the idea of Ichigo being an arrancar-visored, if that's what you could call it.

"I'd like to know why you guys were fighting earlier on when Muramasa and I arrived?"Ichigo asked with a small frown, the thought of his most precious comrades fighting against each other not sitting well with him at all.

Nel on the other end could feel a chill run up and down her spine. This was the question she had been dreading since Ichigo and Muramasa arrived, in fact, she had been hoping that the many questions she and her comrades had been asking would have helped direct him away from that line of questioning, and she had hoped that Yin and Yang would be too happy for Ichigo's return to bring that up again. However, fate had other plans for her it seemed, though in all honesty she should have known better, Ichigo does after all pay a great deal of attention to the needs and feelings of those that are important to him, something that she loved about him even though it was the bane of her existence at the moment.

"I ummm...Ichi-kun I..."

"She's sleeping with the enemy that's what! And she had a chance to kill Nnoitra and yet she allowed him to live. A warrior who doesn't have the will to kill our enemies is a liability, she'll get us all killed someday. I say we ditch her now while we still can."Yin said through clenched teeth, a hateful glare directed at the buxom green haired arrancar.

"Yin-chan, we don't betray or abandon our own, that's not how we do things around here, that's not our legacy."Ichigo said with a kind but firm tone.

"G-gomen Ichigo-sama, it's just, it's just, I feel let down and betrayed. She doesn't care about our feelings or how her actions might affect us in the future, it just seems like the only thing she cares about is making herself feel good. Nobody likes killing obviously, we're not animals, but we do what we have to, we don't take any chances when it comes to our loved ones. Isn't that our legacy, Ichigo-sama?"Yin argued passionately, tears free falling from her eyes almost like a waterfall, at the very least a fountain.

'Yin-chan? Is this how you felt the whole time? Are these your true feelings? Have I...have I really betrayed you all? Have I really been selfish? No, self centred is the more appropriate term.' Nel thought with astonishment and heartache, tears threatening to stream down her eyes

"Yin-chan, what happened while I was gone? Tell me everything, and don't leave anything out." Ichigo ordered with authority behest to him as the strongest hollow in the group, but also because of the respect and admiration his friends had for him as a person.

Yin did just as ordered, taking Ichigo's words literally and not leaving even a single detail out, which slightly frustrated Ichigo as there were some unnecessary descriptions in her story but nevertheless, it was he who made the order and Ichigo concluded that he would have to live and die by his word, the carrot topped teen listening intently up until the end of the story. Needless to say, Ichigo wasn't pleased at all by what he had just heard, especially regarding Neliel's showing of mercy for Nnoitra of all people. Yin was right, Neliel did need to sort out her priorities and if she continued to behave like this then she would eventually become the biggest threat to their wellbeing, more so than any other enemy out there.

The Grimmjow situation presented quite a challenging puzzle to Ichigo. On the one side, Grimmjow was an enemy and should have been dealt with, but with another point of view, ichigo could sympathise with Neliel, he didn't think it would have been easy for any of them had they found themselves in her shoes, even though part of Ichigo wanted nothing more than to rip this Grimmjow character into a billion molecules for some reason that he was beginning to understand to be jealousy. He didn't quite understand why but the thought of what Neliel and this guy might have, no, almost certainly did in their private time pissed him off to no end. It was a time like this that he was grateful that he had devoured zangetsu, the old man's emotional control was very handy in situations like this he had come to learn.

'I have no right to be jealous, Nel and I are nothing but comrades and I don't even know the first thing about that kind of relationship, I don't even understand my own feelings regarding her.'Ichigo tried to convince himself, though in all honesty he thought he was being as true to himself as he could be.

'Besides, any move I could make now would just complicate matters even more, especially considering the next move that I plan to make. I don't want to put that kind of burden on her, and honestly, I don't want to always have to wonder about her and Grimmjow all the time. Trust is a very sensitive issue from what I have read, especially in these kinds of situations, and love is selfish and self centred, it only cares about itself and itself alone, and a single event or misunderstanding can turn that love into an unimaginable magnitude of hate. I don't want to put neither myself or Neliel in such a volatile situation. If I truly love her, then I will simply create the platform for her to find her happiness whilst seeking my own. And if I never find it, then so be it, as long as my precious people are taken care of and happy, I'll be content.' Ichigo thought with his eyes closed, the others all waiting with baited breath to hear Ichigo-sama's judgement, none more so than Neliel, who seemed to be at the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"I...Ichigo-sama...?"Yang whispered hesitantly, swallowing her desire to soothe Ichigo's conscious somehow out of an inexplicable sense of fear, a sense of fear perhaps stemming from the fact that Ichigo, despite logic dictating that he would never harm her, was still a very dangerous hollow.

"Before I say anything, Nel, I would like to know if you have anything to say for yourself? If you have any reasonable explanation for your actions, I would like to hear it. You must understand that it is important for me to understand your feelings and line of thinking at the time in order for me to pass a fair and accurate assessment and judgement of your actions."Ichigo asked with a neutral tone and expression.

"I...I have no excuse. Yin-chan is right, I...I betrayed everyone, I let everyone down and put them in needless danger. I'm...I'm not fit to be a leader." a distraught Nel sniffled, the emotional trauma she was feeling so heavy that it seemed to cause her physical pain her body was shaking so much.

"Listen, Nel, I won't condemn you for falling in love, truthfully speaking, I'm not sure I would have done anything different from what you did regarding this Grimmjow guy. When I try to imagine if it was you, Pesche, Muramasa, Yin-chan, or Yang-chan that I hadn't seen for over a hundred years, and you or they were working for a potential enemy, I seriously doubt I would have been able to kill you. No, scratch that, I know I wouldn't have been able to kill any of you. No number of years could ever erase my feelings for all of you, you are all more than members of the Hollow Community, you are my family." Ichigo said with the utmost sincerity, so much so that one could reach out and grab the honesty in his words, Ichigo portraying his thoughts and feelings so clearly that they were almost tangible.

"However, I cannot excuse your behaviour regarding Nnoitra. After what he did not only to you, but to your dearest subordinates and friends Pesche and Dondochhakka, I can't believe you would allow such a dangerous man to live, especially considering how determined you have been to get us to go to Las Noches. How do you expect Pesche and Dondochakka to live in such a place, after all, the last time you refused to kill him didn't he attack your subordinates in retaliation? Or do you expect them to grovel by your side twenty four seven? Afraid that they will be struck down as soon as they are one hundred metres away from you? Do you expect them to live that kind of a life, Nel? Constantly afraid, constantly looking over their shoulders? " Ichigo asked, his voice taking on an angered tone, a controlled anger, but anger nonetheless, making Nel feel more horrible than she had ever felt before. Sure, Ichigo had been irritated with her once or twice before, but he had never spoken like this to her, he had never truly been angered or disappointed in her, and she was finding out now just how horrible it made her feel to be the focus and source of his ire, just how much she never wanted to disappoint him like this again.

"Nel, as a leader, you always have one of two choices, in fact, not just as a leader, but as part of this family, you always have two choices. Your heart, or your comrades. Do you know what that means, Nel?"Ichigo asked rhetorically, Nel shaking her head in the negative as more tears spilled out of her eyes, Ichigo needing to pull on all of his willpower to resist the urge to apologise for being angry at her and warmly embrace her, but he wouldn't, he couldn't. Nel's attitude needed to be corrected and he knew that he would be causing more damage in the long run if he didn't address this issue right then.

"It means that the pain and despair you feel when you take a life is the sacrifice that you make in order to protect your loved ones. If it eats away at your soul every time that you take a life, then it just shows how much you are willing to endure in order to keep your loved ones safe. Therefore, your willingness to endure this pain and despair is the ultimate expression of your love and devotion to your loved ones, and conversely, your unwillingness to endure is the ultimate expression of your lack of resolve and selfishness. Do you now understand where you have erred, Nel?" Ichigo asked uncompromisingly, deep down hoping beyond hope that his words were getting through to Nel, because otherwise he wouldn't know what to do.

"Yes, and...thank you, Yin-chan, Yang-chan, Ichi-kun, I think I finally understand now." Nel said with a serious and emotionally devoid tone, the kind of tone that was often associated with her when she was about to do battle with a dangerous opponent, the buxom green haired arrancar wiping her tears away before prostrating herself in front of her friends, catching Ichigo and everyone else completely off guard with her actions. Ichigo wanted to ask her what the hell she was doing, but held himself at the last moment, deciding to rather wait and see how this plays out.

"Yin-chan, Yang-chan, Ichi-kun, Muramasa-san, and especially the two of you, Pesche, Dondochakka, I hope you can all find it in your hearts of hearts to forgive me for the betrayal, humiliation, and the danger that I have subjected you all to, all because of my weakness, cowardice, and self centred and selfish beliefs."

"N-Neliel-sama thats..." Pesche was about to say before he was quickly intercepted by Nel.

"And...! Undeserving as I am, I would be eternally grateful if you would give me one more chance to redeem myself and make right my wrongdoings, a chance to make it up to you and to show you the true extent of my newfound resolve. I beg of you."Neliel poored her heart out, though some might find it strange that she seemed to take on a much colder persona than normal whenever she was expressing her deepest emotions.

"I...hey you don't have to...tche! Whatever, as long as you don't get in my way next time!"Yin exclaimed with a furious blush, directing her gaze away as an audible huff escaped her throat.

"Translation, we forgive you so stop making us feel bad already."Yang replied with a small smile, causing a tick mark to appear on Yin's forehead, who the hell told her bitch of a twin sister that she needed a translator? And even if she had needed one, who died and made her the translator?

"Your words have reached me, and they have successfully moved me. I just hope that you will live up to your promise."Muramasa replied with a piercing gaze.

"I will, you can count on it, Muramasa-san."Neliel replied with conviction as she raised her head to meet Muramasa eye to eye, a soft 'hn' the only response she was able to get out of him.

"Pesche, Dondochakka? What about you? Can you ever forgive your baka of a leader?"Neliel turned to them with a sorrowful smile, the comical duo falling flat on their knees and balling their eyes out, exclamations of praise for Neliel and declarations of their unworthiness of the humble princess Neliel enough of a giveaway that there were no hard feelings there, Nel smiling happily at the antics of her friends and surrogate younger/older siblings before facing the person who's decision meant everything, and not just because of his authority as leader but also because of his importance to her.

"You want to hear what decision I have made?"Ichigo asked with an unreadable tone and expression, the carrot topped teen hollow gently ejecting himself from the embrace of Yin and Yang and taking a few steps towards Nel, who was still on her knees, Nel fearing for her life even though her heart of hearts told her that he would never harm her, but then again, one would have to ask how she could trust something that doesn't even exist considering that hollows biologically don't even have hearts.

"I forgive you, Nel."Ichigo said as he offered his hand to the green haired beauty, Ichigo secretly marvelling at how beautiful she looked even with tear stains on her facial features.

"I...Ichigo!"Nel exclaimed happily, using his full name now instead of her pet name for him as she bypassed his hand and glomped him at the speed of light, catching Ichigo off guard with a very powerful embrace, her sizeable breasts meshing against his body with his own arms reflexively wrapping around her figure.

'This...this feels so great...so...so fitting...like she was made to fit in perfectly into my arms.' A slightly dazed Ichigo thought.

'N..No! I cannot fall prey to childish fantasies and emotions like that!'Ichigo exclaimed in his mind, trying to pull away from the embrace but finding out quickly that it would not be such an easy feat between Nel's strength and determination to hold on and his own reluctance to pull away, Muramasa watching the scene transpiring before his eyes with a casual curiosity, the mysterious arrancar absent mindedly wondering what the true status of Nel and Ichigo's relationship was, especially now that Ichigo had made his evolution into an arrancar.

"Hn, I hope this excitement pertains to your promise to redeem yourself Nel-chan, because not that I doubt you or anything, but the merit of those words will be tested much sooner than you might think." Ichigo said with as casual a tone as he could master.

'There, that should get her to back off.'Ichigo thought, grateful that Nel, just as he anticipated, quickly broke away from his embrace, because he wasn't sure if he wouldn't have changed his mind and make her his if she held on any longer, history and consequences be damned, though unable to help but to note how cute and sexy at the same time she looked with that deceptively innocent look of confusion and curiosity she now spotted on her facial features.

"W-what do you mean Ichi-kun?" Neliel asked, simultaneously hating and loving how she could never tell what was on his mind, Ichigo possessing the ability to always surprise her, and almost always much to her delight. Nel however was not the only one who's curiosity was peaked by Ichigo's words, Muramasa, Pesche, Dondochakka, and the twins all waiting with bated breath to find out what their leader had in mind.

"What I mean is, we're going to Las Noches in about an hour or so, right after we pack some of our stuff that we're going to need into Muramsa's kamui dimension. This is what you always wanted right? Well, good news, it's finally happening, and it also means that you'll inevitably get a chance to redeem yourself by disposing of Nnoitra as I'm sure you won't even have to go after him, he'll come after you of his own accord. Also...this means that you will hopefully never have to choose between Grimmjow and us, because he'll be an ally."Ichigo said a heavy heart, although he did effectively manage to suppress said feeling from manifesting in his smile.

To say Nel was devastated would be the same as saying Aizen Sousuke is an intelligent man, a massive understatement. Neliel knew very well that being angry and disappointed at ichigo was illogical given the fact that not only had she failed to confess her feelings to him, but also because she had just recently proven that she still had feelings for Grimmjow and on top of that she was the one that had started the 'lets go to Las Noches' bandwagon to begin with. However, despite all that, Nel still couldn't help but to feel hurt and disappointed by Ichigo's words, after all, if Ichigo felt the same about her as she'd hoped, shouldn't he have fought for her instead of passing her on to Grimmjow like a soccer ball, shouldn't he at the very least have tried to keep her away from him instead of sending her straight into the lion's den?

The more Nel thought about it, the more frustrated she became, to the point that it even crossed her mind to sleep with Grimmjow as the first action to take as soon as she returns to las Noches just to see what Ichigo would do. However, she wasn't that type of woman and not only did she know that she could never try to hurt Ichigo like that, but she knew that using such a cruel and underhanded tactic would eliminate any possibility of her and Ichigo ever becoming an item, she would never become Mrs Kurosaki that was for sure if she walked down that path.

'Why is this happening to me? Why doesn't he understand that the only reason I wanted us to go to Las Noches was so that he could become an arrancar...so that we can be together!' Nel yelled internally before she was thankfully distracted from her self loathing thoughts by one of the twins.

"I don't understand Ichigo-sama, weren't you going to become King and change Hueco Mundo? I don't understand how becoming one of Aizen-teme's lackeys falls into that promise!"Yang inquired desperately, a look of fear tangible in her eyes, not the kind of fear one feels when they are in danger, but the kind of fear and despair one feels when it dawns on them that the person they trusted and respected the most might not actually be who he says or pretends to be.

"I did promise to change Hueco Mundo for the better, but if you haven't noticed, Hueco Mundo has been and is in the process of changing for the better already, and that is not by my doing but by Aizen's doing. Don't get me wrong Yang-chan, I'm not discarding the promise that I made to you and Yin-chan, however, those espada along with the rest of the arrancar army are very powerful and important not only to maintain law and order in Hueco Mundo, but to protect it against the injustice of soul society and it's thirteen court guard squads. Those arrancar are at the moment all loyal to Aizen and if I try to forcefully replace Aizen, it will lead to a war between us and Azien's army, a war in which we are vastly outnumbered. Why should we engage in a war against and kill each other while the true enemy, the thirteen court guard squads remains undisturbed in their pursuit of injustice against the hollow species?"Ichigo asked rhetorically.

"I...I understand what you're saying but, how could you of all people serve a mere shingami? Hueco Mundo should be ruled by a hollow, it should be ruled by you!"Yang argued vehemently.

"I don't know if it should be ruled by me or not, but what makes you think I don't intend to rule it one day?"Ichigo asked, a small but cocky smirk morphing into his facial features.

"Ichigo-sama, what are you saying exactly?"Yin asked curiously.

"Listen, I promised Neliel, Pesche, and Dondochakka that I would restore their true forms and help them to redeem themselves whilst regaining their dignity and status in the arrancar army. I've fulfilled the first part and returning to Las Noches sets the stage to fulfilling the second part of that promise. I promised Muramasa that I would help him get revenge on seiretei for the death of his former master, so since this arrancar army is built to go to war against the thirteen court guard squads anyway, then joining the arrancar army not only sets the stage but also provides the resources and backup for Muramasa's goal to be realised and my promise to be fulfilled..."Ichigo trailed off, pausing slightly in order to give everyone a chance to digest the information before carrying on from where he left off.

"And last but not least, joining the arrancar not only prevents us from killing each other, but it also paves a way for me to ascend to king through a path that provides the least bloodshed amongst us and our arrancar kin. Joining the army provides us with a chance to form bonds with the other members and to gain their trust, respect, and loyalty, that way, should Aizen betray hollow kind, as I suspect he will, then I will be there to take him out and our comrades will rally behind us." Ichigo explained clearly and concisely, everyone amazed at how much thought Ichigo had put into this, his comrades, including Muramasa, marvelling at how smart and wise ichigo had become at the ripe age of just fifteen years old.

"What happens if Aizen doesn't betray hollow kind? What then? Will you instead become the traitor?" Muramasa asked out of more curiosity than anything else.

"Not at all. You see, judging by how Nel, Yin, and Yang's fight concluded against Nnoitra and Grimmjow, I'm quite confident that all the three of them and the two of us will break into the espada ranks. That means that five out of the ten espada will be coming from our group, and if I, you, and Nel-chan can make it into the top three or four, then all the better for us."Ichigo said with a satisfied smirk.

"In other words, not only do you plan for us to join the espada, but also to attain majority rule and control of the espada, and if we control the espada..."

"Then even Aizen will be weary of the consequences of betraying us. Eventually, he might become nothing but a glorified figurehead, that is, if we play our cards right." Ichigo finished Muramasa's sentence, once again, the girls along with Nel's fraccion marvelling at ichigo's brilliant mind, a reminder of just why they had practically forced leadership of the group unto him, though Ichigo hadn't tried that hard to resist.

"I...I understand, I'm sorry for doubting you Ichigo-sama, please forgive me."Yin apologised sincerely.

"There's nothing to forgive, it was quite a surprise that I sprang up on you, it's understandable to have questions. Having said that however, are there any objections to the plan? Please do not shy away from saying anything and don't succumb to peer pressure, because if even one of you is unhappy then I'll just have to come up with a better plan, one that will be to everyone's satisfaction. You are not my subordinates but my family, so you don't have to blindly follow me."Ichigo asked a he looked everyone in the eye, one by one until he got to the last one, Dondochakka, who also seemed to have no objections.

"Okay, then hurry and pack everything you need, we will be using Muramasa's kamui as a storage facility. You all have one hour."

Four Hours Later

"Szayel, any progress in the effort to find Neliel and her new friends?"Aizen asked calmly, some of the arrancar's faces contorting and twisting in disgust at the mention of the so called traitor, none more so than Nnoitra Gilga, who's hate for the former tres espada was the stuff of legends.

Aizen is a man with brown hair and and dark eyes along with a pair of glasses, wearing the standard shinigami shihakusho along with a captain's hoari. Right now he was in Hueco Mundo, but without his comrades Gin and Tousen as it was too much of a risk for all three of them to be away from soul society at the same time. He was also sitting on his throne in the middle of the quite literally humungous room, with almost pavilion like seats on his left and right side, the whole arrancar army with the exception of the guards present for this meeting, the espada's sitting on the mini pavilion win groups with their fraccion. The pivaron espada were also huddled together and the rest of the numeros were scattered around the meeting room.

"My apologies Aizen-sama, but it seems they either do not reside in hueco Mundo at all, or they, in as much as I hate to admit it, have stealth capabilities beyond my capabilities to snuff them out at this point in time."Szayel replied diplomatically.

"Nani...? Why does it sound like you don't even want to find them, Szayel-teme? I've never heard you admit to anyone being superior to you in anything. You wouldn't perhaps happen to have something to do with her disappearance would you now, Szayel-teme?"Loly asked from her position standing right next to Aizen on his right hand side, with Menoly standing on his left hand side.

Szayel on the other hand didn't know whether he was too furious or too nervous at the moment, nervous because of how easily Loly had hit the bull's eye, and furious because of how arrogant and disrespectful she was to him, an espada, when she on the other hand was nothing more than trash who would probably never amount to anything. It sickened him, as did it many of the other arrancar, how much she sucked up to Aizen and how much she used that close relationship she had with him to mock and abuse warriors that were far superior to her. A lot of the stronger arrancar would have probably murdered her a long time ago had she not so slimly abused Aizen's protection like she did. Some of them, Szayel included, suspected that Loly and Menoly's feelings for Aizen were one sided, that Aizen probably wouldn't give a damn no matter what they did to her, however, as Aizen incomprehensively tolerated her behaviour and even tacitly allowed it, there was no way to be sure and no one, Szayel included, was willing to take that risk.

"T-that's not true, I assure you that I had nothing to do with Neliel's betrayal. Besides..." the pink haired, bespectacled scientist trailed off with his head facing down, a sinister smirk morphing into his facial features.

"However...?"Loly demanded with authority that she neither earned nor possessed.

"Well, I don't mean to throw anyone under the bus but I'm not the one who spurned a perfectly good opportunity to capture and return her to Las Noches. If anyone should be put under the microscope..."

"You slimy piss of shit! What the fuck are you trying to say, huh? That I would spurn a perfectly good opportunity to kill that bitch? Huh?"Nnoitra snapped furiously.

"Ahem, I believe your orders were to bring her back alive, not kill her."Szayel retorted as he unnecessarily fixed his immovable frameless spectacles.

"That's true! I can't believe you ants couldn't complete such a simple task as retrieving a puny little girl, and the nerve to come running back here with your tails between your legs, hn!" Barragan snorted with disgust. He appears to be an old man with a scar running across his missing left eye and crown on his head as the remnants of his mask. Unlike the others, Barragan is actually seated on his own custom seat made out of bones.

"I don't think that is a fair assessment. From what I understand, this Neliel formerly held the rank of tres espada, yet Grimmjow and Nnoitra are the fifth and sixth espada. Should it really be a surprise that they lost, especially if her new allies are as powerful as was described in Grimmjow's report.

"Stop jumping to conclusions! We didn't even use our ressurrection so there's no telling how the fight would have gone down if we had! Okay!"Grimmjow yelled in frustration.

"That's a ludicrous excuse, Grimmjow. It's simple logic to conclude that if you were outmatched in your standard form then activating your resurrection would not have made much of a difference, because the enemy could have just simply activated their own resurrection. Now I'm willing to admit that resurrection varies from person to person, Yammi is a perfect example of this. However, the fact that you chose to fail the mission rather than to release your swords is more than enough proof that you were so outmatched that you didn't think using it would make a difference. Perhaps you were even afraid that the gap between you and your enemy would have become even greater had you..."

"Aaaaargh! I'm sick of this shit! I'm not listening to another word of your incessant yapping!"Nnoitra exclaimed as he got up to leave, only to be halted in his tracks as the most terrible and incredibly powerful reiatsu he had ever felt washed over him and the rest of the occupants of the room, not only Nnoitra's and the Espada's eyes widening in shock and fear, but even Aizen's eyes widening significantly at the magnitude and power of that reiatsu.

"At ease everyone, we come in peace."A voice reverberated around the room as a spiraling portal appeared in the centre of the room, everyone watching with bated breathe as the portal puked out five individuals, the individual seemingly appearing in a sort of triangular formation, with Ichigo, the leader, taking point and Muramasa on his right hand side slightly behind him and Neliel on his left, Yin and Yang standing further behind with Yang on Muramasa's right and Yin on Neliel's left hand side. Their stances however seemed so carefree and relaxed that one would never say that these people had just entered the heart of enemy territory, surrounded on all sides even.

All the espada, their fraccion, Loly, Menoly, and Aizen stared at the scene with disbelieving eyes, shocked by literally everything related to the scenario, from something as simple as the way these individuals looked to the manner of their entrance and even the fact that they had dared to come here anyway, though the reiatsu coming from them suggested that these people really didn't have much, if anything to fear. The rest of the numeros who weren't cloaked and protected by their espada's reiatsu or Aizen's reiatsu in Loly and Menoly's case were either unconscious already or at the brink of it, such was the magnitude and fierce nature of the reiatsu they were being subjected to. Truth be told even some of the espada were finding it hard to breathe and the pivaron were pushed to their limits just to maintain their consciousness.

'That's impossible! At least two of them have even more reiryoku and stronger reiatsu than Stark and Barragan, that shouldn't be possible.'Ulquiorra thought disbelievingly.

"Hello there, Aizen-san, I have an interesting offer for you, I hope I didn't catch you in a bad mood."Ichigo said with a confident smirk.

"Perhaps you would like to stop lashing out at my comrades with your terrible reiatsu first, you might actually kill one of them."Aizen retorted, a small frown plastered on his facial features as he, for the first time in a long time, was caught completely off guard, a feeling he was not accustomed to nor did he ever wish to be accustomed to, being the ever a meticulous man that he was.

"My apologies, we were just loosening up our reiryoku muscles just a lil, you know, in case someone tries anything funny." Ichigo retorted as he and his comrades suppressed their spiritual pressure, providing much appreciated relief for everyone in the meeting room, some of the almost unconscious arrancar in the room stirring and waking up those that had actually lost consciousness, a series of murmurs filtering around the meeting room before Aizen raised his hand, an action that elicited complete and utter silence with immediate effect.

" So what do you think? We good enough to make your espada ranks?" Ichigo asked rhetorically, already knowing, at least reiryoku wise that he and Muramasa had more than anyone of the arrancar in the room, it didn't take him too long to figure that out. There were two that he could immediately tell had more than Nel and another two who had more than either Yin or Yang, which wasn't bad at all things considered.

"Kurosaki Ichigo? That's your name isn't it?" Aizen asked rhetorically, a small smirk morphing into his facial features.

"You know of me? That's impressive Aizen-san, considering how great the lengths I have gone to keep a low profile." Ichigo replied with a dumbfounded expression.

"It is very difficult for anything occurring under the sky and over the sands of Hueco Mundo to occur without my knowledge, such is the requirement bestowed upon those who attain the rank of King in Hueco Mundo."Aizen replied, gaining a little confidence now that he was taking control of proceedings. Ichigo's spiritual pressure was terrible and comparable to even his own in magnitude, however, his numbers were greater and if ichigo was here to join his army, then it was simply a matter of time before he capture the young hollow in his kyoka suigetsu, and that would be the end of it, he would not have to worry about the young lad anymore as a potential threat to his position as king.

"I see. So how long have you known about me?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"From the beginning."Aizen rhetorted simply.

"Since I entered Hueco Mundo?"Ichigo asked, unable to stop the surprise from leaking into his tone.

"No, since you were in Kurosaki Masaki's belly. I've been monitoring you ever since, I even helped to facilitate your growth in Hueco Mundo by sending strong hollow your way for you to feast upon, and yes, I sent the hollow that ended your human life."Aizen replied with devastating effect, Ichigo completely shocked by the news that he was hearing, but believe it not, his comrades and even Aizen's arrancar army even more surprised than he was.

"That's...that's crazy? Why would you...wait a minute, are you telling me you planned for this very moment all along? You knew that eventually I would come to you and join forces with you? Why go through all that trouble?" Ichigo asked disbelievingly, unable to believe the auditory information his ears were retrieving from this man's lips.

"Yes and no." Aizen replied cryptically, the frown on Ichigo's face deepening as his irritation grew.

"What does that mean?"Ichigo bit out dangerously, though if Aizen was intimidated, he did well to hide it completely.

"You were not the intended target that day. Grand Fisher was supposed to kill your mother and you were supposed to live. Your mother was in the way of your progress, she was making you weak and dependent. I wanted you to be strong and when I realised what an obstacle she was to your growth, well, I decided that she had to be taken care of. Things didn't go as planned however and you ended up dying and becoming a hollow. I must admit that I was disappointed at first but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that this was more of an opportunity than a loss, so I simply adjusted my plans and...well, voala, Kurosaki Ichigo, a hollow, an arrancar, and a future espada."Aizen said with his usually calm and collected tone, though the facial expression showed infinite amounts of satisfaction and amusement.

"Wow...that's...that's quite impressive, Aizen-san. I can see why you have so many loyal followers, you have quite a brilliant mind on that head of yours."Ichigo replied with an eye smile, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Though I imagine it must bother you that, unlike the other arrancar, I do not owe you anything. After all, I didn't come to you for power, seeing as I was able to become an arrancar all on my own, a powerful and perfect one at that." Ichigo retorted, his sheepish smile morphing back into a cocky smirk as the words left his lips.

"Hn, not the response I expected, all things considered."Aizen retorted with a raised eyebrow, everyone watching the back and forth conversation with more than a little interest, everyone wondering who the hell this Kurosaki ichigo was, and how the hell he could have become a perfect arrancar on his own, one that seemed to be more powerful than all of the other espada if their readings were correct.

"I have no memories of my so called mother or any of my human life, and therefore, I am not that human boy who's life you toyed around with. And if you think I regret becoming a hollow then guess again, because I don't. If I hadn't become a hollow, I would have never met Nel-chan, Yin-chan, Yang-chan, Muramasa, Pesche, or Dondochakka. The moments I have spent with them are the happiest of my life and I have gained this strength that I have so that I can protect them and help them get stronger. I don't have any regrets, Aizen-san, nor do I hate you for what you did. Now, having said that, hurry up and use your kyoka suigetsu so that we can join the army, that's the requirement to join, right? That we be under your zanpakuto's spell?" Ichigo retorted with another one of his cokcy smirks, this time Neliel, Muramasa, and the twins also spotting matching smirks of their own, a deep frown etching itself on Aizen's forehead, his so called experiment doing yet something else that completely blindsided him, much to his joy and chagrin at the same time.