Bring on the Wonder

by VTHX (V_Haley)

Summary:

Decades before Ichigo becomes a Substitute Shinigami, Yumichika is thrown into Hueco Mundo. With no way home and no rescue in sight, he relies on his shikai to survive... with catastrophic consequences. Irreversibly corrupted by hollows he's consumed, Yumichika resigns himself to fighting to the death in that hellish world.

Until Starrk and Lilynette come back to the cave he's co-opted.

Notes:

Warning for dubious consent, because Starrk doesn't know what sex is and Yumichika understands he isn't really in a place to give informed consent. Starrk thinks he's a thousand-year-old hollow who is more than capable of making his own decisions about what new experiences he'd like to try and would prefer it if Yumichika would stop trying to inflict his shinigami hangups on him, thanks. Also, they are definitely not following kink best practices!

This is one of those fandoms that I started reading because an author I liked was writing in it. I started watching the anime to do my due diligence and separate fanon from canon, but the sheer amount of material to go to unfortunately outpaced my interest in the show, particularly given the complications the Wandenreich added. The idea of catching up and finishing this story became overwhelming, and it's been sitting in my WIP folder for I think well over a decade (maybe even a decade and a half). It was spitting distance from being a finished story, so I wrote out an ending to it, but I had originally intended it to span in detail through the war with Aizen and the aftermath. It ends where it ends, and I hope it satisfies (and please pardon all canon and cultural mistakes).

Bring on the wonder; bring on the song.

I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long.

-Susan Enan, Bring on the Wonder

Yumichika should have been fine. The hollow he faced was strong, but not particularly clever. If the timing had been slightly different… but a lucky hit from it threw Yumichika back in the air. He was already twisting to get his feet under him, prepared to rebound back into the fight, when he struck, feet first, into the second hollow behind him.

The hollow attempting to escape.

Yumichika's momentum sent them both through the garganta and out into the sands of Hueco Mundo. The portal closed as soon as they cleared it, and they landed: the hollow in the dirt and Yumichika on his feet, having neatly sprung off his new foe. Yumichika spun to face it, zanpakuto raised.

"Open the way back, hollow," he demanded.

"That's suicide, Shinigami," it growled, getting to its feet. "You'll do."

It lunged at Yumichika, clearly intending to make him a meal. Yumichika—preferring a fight to cooperation regardless--showed it how precisely wrong it was about who was going to eat whom. Afterwards, he shook his zanpakuto clean-ish, wiped it on what remained of the hollow's robe, and waited. He didn't believe his captain would abandon him here, and he knew Ikkaku wouldn't. It was simply a matter of time until they came for him, and the first rule when lost was don't wander.

He killed more hollows while he waited, all of them drawn to the corpses of the previous hollows he'd killed and the delicious sting of Shinigami reiatsu in the air. When they started to overwhelm him, well. There were none around but hollows, and no one who had seen Yumichika's true shikai had lived to tell of it.

"Split and deviate, Ruri'iro Kujaku!"

Spring came to the desert, and when there was nothing left of the hollows but dust, Yumichika feasted on the flower petals. The healing powers of Ruri'iro Kujaku were exceptional--hunger, thirst, exhaustion, injuries: all vanished. Pity it couldn't do anything about dirt or blood. When Ikkaku found him, he'd look a fright. If only he'd thought to bring a change of clothes… Until he was rescued, however, there was the thrill of the fight.

Later, when Yumichika's sanity returned and he was once again capable of reflection, he realized it must have been the hollow reiatsu. He had never killed so many hollows or ones of such strength, and he had never needed to eat more than one or two of Ruri'iro Kujaku's blossoms, an amount of power easily assimilated by his own strength.

In Hueco Mundo, consuming flower after flower, the balance tilted the other way. It wasn't accurate to say his mind hazed, per se; Yumichika prided himself on being collected in any fight, even under the influence of hollow hunger. His priorities, however, slanted. He didn't think of the Seireitei, the eleventh, Ikkaku, or even how he should, by rights, capture a hollow and force it to bring him home; all he thought of was the next fight, the next kill, and the ever growing hunger that twisted in his stomach and up his spine. He killed every hollow in range to sense him, swallowing down their reiatsu until it hummed through him, certain that if he just killed something strong enough, the hunger would ease instead of grow.

Even had he wanted to sate that impossible hunger on something other than hollow reiatsu, there was nothing to drink in this desert and nothing to eat except hollows. When there were no more hollows to kill in the place he'd initially landed, he moved on. If he didn't, he'd die, and he was far from ready for that, even if the silence pressed in on him more with every minute and the maddening ache of need never left.

He started off in shunpo, and the reiatsu of it lured more hollows to him. Soon he felt as fresh as if he had just set foot in the desert. He didn't use anything but his true shikai; he didn't even consider that he might leash it. If he cared for anything except killing and feeding, it was to watch that beauty spread out unfettered.

He found the mountain range almost by accident—a towering mass of starless black in the eternal moonlit dark of Hueco Mundo—and chose a cave at the base of the mountains to sleep in, defensible and secluded. The opening was tall enough to walk upright through and wide enough that his fingers wouldn't touch the edges if his arms were spread. It wasn't ideal, but it allowed him to sleep in truth instead of using his shikai to stave off exhaustion. If nothing else, sleep would pass the time and let him ignore the drive to feed, if only briefly. The tracks inside the cave showed it had been lived in once, but whoever owned it was dead or gone. If they returned, Yumichika would eat them.

There was no way to track time in the relentless night and no desire to do so. He didn't know how long he hunted, how many hollows he consumed, before he finally gorged himself to satiation. One moment, all he knew was hunger, and then the hunger shattered in him and his mind twisted back as if he had never gone mad with that empty devouring.

Yumichika fell to the sand, dug his hands in it to the wrists, and wished with a despair as deep as his previous hunger that he had never regained his sanity. He shuddered and wept and didn't care for the loss of beauty, because his beauty had already been robbed from him. The bone that covered his forearms and his neck might be concealed, but the ones that protruded from his cheekbones and curled up over his temples to scroll on his forehead marked him: once as an ugly thing, unsuited to beauty, and once again as a fallen Shinigami, irrevocably corrupted and hollowed. He had the mind to leave Hueco Mundo again, but he no longer had the will.

There was nothing for him in the Seireitei. Hybrid creatures were forbidden. The only thing he earned by returning was a quiet execution. His friendships were forfeit: they would consider killing him to be the last duty they could do for the memory of their fallen friend, and even that memory would be tarnished by the unconcealable truth of his zanpakuto, so that he could lose their respect before he lost his life.

He considered returning anyway. He could leave his zanpakuto here, return to the eleventh, and seek konso. His loneliness, his pain, could simply end here.

Or he could live. He could find his pleasure in fighting and do his duty to cleanse hollows as long as his strength and his luck held out. If he stayed in Hueco Mundo instead of returning to Soul Society or going to the living world, they wouldn't find him. Yumichika's breathing eased as the despair gentled, became tolerable. He still had his duty, even if none would believe him still capable of performing it.

Yumichika was no fool. If the shinigami were going to come for him, they would have. He was not afraid to die for the right reasons: to keep the respect of the eleventh, in a good fight, or defending those he cared about. But he wouldn't die for principles. He wouldn't die just to keep from becoming a monster—or becoming one again.

In truth, dying to anything but a Shinigami's blade—of which there were none in this forsaken land—would only lead to becoming a hollow sooner and, in all likelihood, more completely. He had lost the eleventh, but as long as he had his life, he would fight.

Yumichika stood and took back up his zanpakuto. For one moment, he hated it as perfectly as he had ever hated anything: for being a kido blade he hadn't dared use in the fight that stranded him here; for keeping him alive in this hell when anyone else would have died.

Then he closed his eyes, pressed the handle to the bone on his forehead, and kissed the blade. Ruri'iro Kujaku was the other half of his soul, and he was the only thing Yumichika had left. Hatred was pointless and self-defeating. It would change nothing.

Yumichika set off at a shunpo back to his cave—not home; that was and would always be the eleventh—and surveyed it with a saner eye. His instincts for security had been spot on, but there was nothing of elegance or beauty to it. His own clothes were in no better shape than the cave, little more than dirty rags, and no doubt if he wasn't accustomed to his own smell, it would be rank.

Well, where there were problems, there had to be solutions. Trying couldn't be worse than sitting in his filth, waiting for the next fight. He was a member of the eleventh, but he wasn't a barbarian. The first thing to do was to secure the cave in truth. His hunting mind had considered his senses to be good enough defense—and a childhood in rougher parts of the Rukongai district had taught him to sleep lightly and strike ruthlessly when woken, something that the enthusiastic brawling of the eleventh had honed, not tempered—but Yumichika thought precautions would not be amiss.

Kido was widely disregarded in the eleventh, but it wasn't forbidden, not outside of combat, and even then, it was truly only discouraged as a matter of cowardice. Yumichika had always been skilled with kido—exceptionally so, as his soul reflected—and there were few enough resources in Hueco Mundo outside of his strength of will and what he could shape with it… and that strength was substantial indeed now.

Yumichika hadn't been weak before his time in Hueco Mundo; he'd like to think he could have rivaled most of the lieutenants in the Gotei Thirteen and perhaps some of the captains with the true strength of his zanpakuto. But he had never felt as strong as he did here, even if it was a hollow's strength, born of cannibalizing his enemies.

The first step to securing the cave was a kido ward across the entrance, impassible to anyone but himself. The second was to pile stones high in front of the entrance, blocking visibility and minimizing light. He could make a proper wall eventually, with sand and water for mortar, fired hard by kido. For now, this would do. He didn't want any light in the cave to create a beacon the hollows could follow right to where he lived.

The third step was light, and dim as he could make it, it was nearly too painful for his eyes after nothing but moonlight. However, it was the light that made him feel human again. Light made civilization, no matter how advanced or barbaric. With light, he could explore deeper in the cave, and he could see it led to an entire cave system.

With the kido ward across the cave entrance, he slept for a time on the bare stone. He woke, feeling neither thirsty or hungry, and returned to the depths of the cave. It took time--and a path carefully marked with loose rocks--to find a section of cave far enough back to hide any light, appropriately sized to feel like a home instead of a cave or a closet, and with only one entrance, which could be blocked while he slept.

Yumichika raised a kido-driven wind to scour a stone floor out of the sand on the side cave, and the sand was relegated to a trench not much bigger than Yumichika, cut as gently as was feasible from the floor. Distasteful as sleeping in it was, the sand was softer than stone, if as cold.

He made a second trench, shorter and deeper, to serve as a bath filled with kido-created and kido-warmed water, at which point Yumichika stripped off his rags and bathed for the first time since his exile. His hair was still greasy and he suspected he still smelled; Ruri'iro's healing could cure chapped lips and wind-roughened skin, but it couldn't create shampoo or soap or duplicate their effects.

His hair had grown long enough to be nearly to his waist, which was a mark of time in its own right. It meant years, at minimum, lost to this place. He breathed deeply as he untangled the knots with his fingers and braided it back. He would lose more years yet.

When he was as clean as water and sand scrubbing could get him, he started soaking what was left of his clothes. He would likely need to scavenge more from the hollows he killed, and thread for patching could be unwoven from the worst of the rags. He had no needle and no idea how to create one, so for the moment, it would be the coarse method of punching holes either with Ruri'iro or exceptionally precise kido and pushing the thread through. If Ikkaku could see him now: wearing rags a peasant wouldn't touch!

The cave became Yumichika's touchstone to civilization. The bed--such as it was--became deeper and wider, covered with layers of hollow robes to protect him from the chill of the ground. Then he added a blanket and pillows painstakingly stitched together with a needle carved from a hollow bone. The bones would dissolve into reishi eventually, but of all the parts of a hollow, the bone lasted the longest.

He explored the cave system, eventually marking more permanent directions into the stone of the walls, killing the few hollows he found. He found an underground lake, suitable to swim in, and the first non-kido-created water he'd seen yet in Hueco Mundo. It, also, was the same relentless cold of the nighttime desert, but there was space enough to swim if he chose, and vigorous swimming warmed him soon enough. He had swum in cold rivers as a child; he had been spoiled as a Shinigami with heated pools.

When his interest in exploring waned, he scavenged wood from the dead trees and used a hollow-bone knife to carve a set of chairs: one for himself, one for Ruri'iro. His bath became a large pool with benches at various heights, and he could heat the water with kido nearly to steaming if he wanted luxury. He carved the walls with flowers and trees, and cast his kido light on the mural's sun. He patterned the floor with swirls and spirals, and then carved niches and created pedestals to hold the most beautiful and unique of the rocks and wood he found.

It was almost a place of beauty, save for the merciless gray and grit of it. When he could stand no more of false promises, he sought Ruri'iro in his mental world, where there was true color and true beauty and the only company to be had in this world. Yumichika had never sought bankai, had restrained his shikai at nearly every turn, but in Hueco Mundo, there was no reason to hold back and long hours enough to make any exercise palatable. A Shinigami's best teacher was his zanpakuto, after all.

In what passed for the days after Yumichika's reiatsu peacock finally bloomed as bankai over his mountain, Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck returned to their cave. He felt them coming, of course: their reiatsu rolled over him like a tsunami, greater even than Captain Zaraki's. Yumichika pulled his zanpakuto, smiled, and went to meet his death or give it.

What he encountered was entirely unexpected. These hollows were like him. They appeared human, a man and a young girl, except for their hollow holes and the broken bones on the head of one and around the neck of the other. Yumichika paused. Fighting was excellent—a good fight, better yet—but Hueco Mundo had been relentless solitude punctuated by fighting, and it had been so very long since he had spoken with anyone except Ruri'iro Kujaku that he hesitated.

"Hello! I'm Yumichika Ayasegawa. Who are you?"

The man paused, looking him over.

"I am Coyote Starrk. This is Lilynette Gingerbuck. What sort of hollow are you?"

"And why aren't you dying?" Lilynette added. She stayed tucked in close to Starrk, but she stared at Yumichika with undisguised curiosity.

"I was a Shinigami," Yumichika said. "I suppose I still am, after a fashion. What sort of hollows are you?"

"We were one soul, but no one could get near us and live, so we split into two beings, two parts of one soul," Starrk explained. "It gives us companionship."

"I had companions once. I expect they would try to kill me now if they saw me. They would probably even think they were doing me a favor." Yumichika touched the bone that covered the entirety of his throat. It was patterned with peacock's feathers. "After all, what Shinigami would want to live as a hollow?"

"That's dumb!" Lilynette said. "Why should they care?"

"Shinigami feel it is their duty to purify hollows," Yumichika explained.

"Is that what you have been doing?" Starrk asked.

"Nothing so noble. I killed what hollows I have simply because I was hungry. There is nothing here for me to eat. I would have died long ago if I didn't use their reiatsu to heal myself, although I find I hardly need to eat at all lately."

"We never need to eat," Lilynette said.

"Truly?" Yumichika said. "How fortunate. I would certainly prefer to speak with you than eat you."

"I'd much rather you didn't eat us, either," Starrk said dryly. "It's nice to talk to someone besides each other."

Yumichika tilted his head. "Are there many hollows like you?"

"How should we know?" Lilynette demanded, and Starrk shrugged his agreement.

"Even the strongest hollows don't last more than a few minutes, and they're usually screaming, not talking. You are fortunate to be weak enough to have companionship," Starrk said.

Yumichika smiled. "Weakness has its own perils. I would prefer to be strong, because it is easier to gentle strength than to gain it. Weakness isn't what you want, anyway, although if you truly wish to be weak, I can help you. I've created reiatsu restraints for Captain Zaraki. I can manage something for you. What you need is control, and I can teach you that as well."

"Why would you?" Starrk asked.

"Yeah, what do you want for it?" Lilynette demanded.

Yumichika shrugged and sheathed his sword. "If you stay, I will have company. Besides, what else do I have to do with my time?"

"By your own admission, your kind kills ours," Starrk said.

"What I was," Yumichika corrected. "I'm a hybrid now, part hollow. It does not bother me to kill hollows, but it hasn't bothered me to kill anyone for a very long time."

"Because you became part hollow," Starrk said.

Yumichika laughed. "Hardly! I'm the beautiful monster of the eleventh. I was quite young when I learned to kill without mercy--long before I became a Shinigami, much less a hybrid. Hollows have no monopoly on inhumanity."

"In that case, what's to prevent you from making us weak and killing us?" Starrk asked, but the question wasn't hostile as much as distrustful.

"I feel no need to make you weak at all!" Yumichika said, exasperated. "Let your reiatsu kill anyone who threatens us until you learn control. It's certainly easier for me. Besides, even if I gave you a reiatsu limiter, it's not as if I'm going to keep you in chains. There's hardly sekkiseiki stone and metal about. The best I can manage is something carved into wood and hung around your neck with string; you'll be able to remove it whenever you'd like."

"Ah," Starrk said, a bit sheepishly.

"Do try to remember that you're both more powerful and outnumber me," Yumichika said.

"Well, then how do you know we won't eat you?" Lilynette demanded.

"Lilynette," Starrk hissed, but Yumichika just spread his hands.

"Why, because you haven't. You have immense power, if unfocused. I certainly wouldn't make it easy for you, if you decided to kill me, but it's likely you would win."

Starrk shook his head. "We don't want to kill you."

"Again, we are in agreement about preferring company to homicide. Come. My cave is close by. I don't have anything to offer as refreshments except water, but even that is valuable in its scarcity."

He led them back to the entrance to the cave system, now concealed with wooden planks, which had proved easier to carve down from dead trees than stone had been to create bricks. The kido ward was the real defense; he only needed something to block any light.

"Hey!" Lilynette yelped as they walked back to his shelter. "That's our cave!"

"Was it? You should see what I've done with it, then. I expect you'll be surprised."

Yumichika pressed his hand to the kido ward, lowering it long enough for the three of them to enter.

"What's that?" Starrk asked.

"I have a kido set to keep anyone from entering, either here or further back in the cave. Kido is a reiatsu technique," he added at Starrk's confusion.

"You have made it quite defensible," he said.

"And interesting!" Lilynette added, bending down to run her hands over the patterns on the floors. Yumichika replaced the door and created a sphere of light. Lilynette held a hand over her eyes to shield it from the light.

"I've made it beautiful," Yumichika corrected her.

"What's with the light?" she demanded as they followed him deeper. He went first, trusting that if they attacked, he could react quickly enough to defend himself.

"The spirit world and the living world are both lit brighter than this half the time," Yumichika said. "I get bored of the dark."

"Brighter? How can you even see anything?" she asked

"Your eyes will adjust. This is where I live," Yumichika said, lowering the second kido ward on the entrance to his side cave. Lilynette's eyes went wide as she ran over to the knickknacks in their shelves, running her free hand over the first bit of rock and picking it up to examine it closer.

Starrk, also, examined the room, but despite the lack of obvious enthusiasm, he seemed more animated than he had on the sands.

"What's this?" Lilynette asked, crouching next to his pool and dipping her fingers in. She yanked them away quickly. "That's cold!" she shouted, rubbing at her fingers with her other hand.

"It's a pool of water for bathing and comfort," Yumichika said, smiling at her.

"That's not comfortable!" she protested.

"It is when it's warm," Yumichika said, moving forward and touching the kido marks next to it. He pushed reiatsu into it, and the water began to heat and churn. Lilynette jumped back with a yelp.

"What's it doing?" she demanded. Starrk moved closer, kneeling down to trail his fingers in the water.

"The motion of the water will feel good," Yumichika explained. "It will also help get me clean."

A gesture demonstrated the difference in their appearance, clearly illuminated now by the light. Starrk looked at him thoughtfully, then pressed both his hands into the water.

"It's warming already," he noted, watching the dust and sand wash off his hands. Yumichika stuck his own in to demonstrate washing. Starrk mimicked him, then asked, "What's the point of this? Getting clean?"

"It's a never ending chore in Hueco Mundo," Yumichika said. "Cleanliness is critical for beauty. You can't tell by my appearance now, but once I was the most beautiful Shinigami in the Seireitei. It also feels better than being grimy, which is why even my brutish companions can be persuaded to bathe occasionally."

Starrk pushed his arms in further.

"I'd like to try it," he said.

"Me, too!" Lilynette demanded immediately, although she eyed the water with suspicion.

"How is it done?" Starrk asked, looking over at him expectantly.

"Generally without clothes. And alone, unless in a bath house," he emphasized, because hollow or not, Lilynette looked like a preteen girl.

"That's an impractical way to learn," Starrk commented, standing up and letting the cloth he wore wrapped around himself drop off. He shucked off the clothing underneath: a mismatch of ill-fitting and probably scavenged garments. "You should stay here and make sure we do it right."

Yumichika's breath sped up a bit at the lithe grace of the movement, the unashamed nudity. It had been a very long time since he had slept with anyone, and it only took an eyeful for Yumichika to know that desperation had lowered his standards. He had never been shy about expressing interest, despite living in the conservatively traditional Seireitei, but even for someone of his admittedly lax morals and artificially deflated standards, hitting on a man who didn't even understand bathing in front of a girl who looked like she was maybe ten years old and acted it? He drew the line.

"Do I just step in?" Starrk asked, looking back at him. Excitement brightened his eyes, tilted his lips up into a smile. It was a flattering expression.

Yumichika nodded. "The benches are solid, and the different heights let you submerge more or less of your body when you sit on them."

"You could join me. A demonstration would be helpful, and it seems large enough for three."

"That would be inappropriate if Lilynette were to join us," Yumichika said with a disarming grin. Starrk looked between them. Lilynette frowned at him.

"I don't understand," Starrk said at last.

"Bathhouses are normally segregated by gender," Yumichika explained. Not that he hadn't been in his share of mixed baths, but the Seireitei had no official ones and none of the unofficial ones had involved children. "It's a cultural taboo."

"That's dumb. What's the big deal?" Lilynette asked. Starrk's smile broadened and he stepped backwards into the water with the kind of showy balance that made Yumichika wonder if he was such an innocent after all.

"Come now, Yumichika. We're hardly in the Seireitei. What do your shinigami taboos matter here? If you enjoy the water, you should join us." Starrk backed to the other side of the pool, never losing eye contact with Yumichika, then sank until he was submerged to his neck. "Come in, Lilynette. It is quite pleasant."

Lilynette needed no further urging. She ditched the cloth she wore wrapped around her, revealing clothing that was, if anything, less well-fitting than Starrk's. It didn't stay on long enough for Yumichika to gauge how truly terrible it was; as soon as she finished stripping, she jumped into the pool as well. Yumichika moved forward in a flash step and grabbed her arms even as her feet slipped on the slick stone of the steps, pulling her head above the water before she could more than partly submerge.

"Careful," he said as she coughed her lungs clear of water. "Wet surfaces are slippery."

"I know that now," she said waspishly, tilting her head up to glare at him. When she had her feet under her, he let her go.

"It's odd," Starrk said, running his hands through the water. "I can't remember coming across something and thinking it was new before we saw you. But some of what you say and show us… it seems like the knowledge was already there, just hidden. Like I've been reminded, instead of being taught. Yet some of it—like your kido—seems entirely outside my experience."

"Your knowledge from before you were a hollow, perhaps," Yumichika offered. With his clothes already damp from Lilynette's panicked, if brief, splashing, Yumichika gave in and stripped off his clothes and stepped into the water. He could keep arguing, but he was always terrible at denying himself what he wanted.

Starrk's smile broadened briefly, then his expression became restful, eyes closed and head tipped back. Yumichika relaxed back into the water as well. Lilynette was more active, splashing and jumping from bench to bench with increasing recklessness. The pool was deep enough that she submerged completely if she stood on the floor, and she figured out quickly enough to cover her nose with a hand and push herself down, trying to stay down longer each time.

When she finally tired, Starrk opened his eyes and looked at Yumichika.

"Would you tell us about where you're from? This Seireitei?"

Yumichika hesitated, because hybrid or not, he was still a shinigami, and he was reluctant to tell any hollow about the specifics of the Gotei Thirteen, no matter how harmless they seemed or how lonely he was.

"Let me tell you about where I was born, instead," Yumichika said, because there was nothing sensitive about the outer districts of the Rukongai and no one he cared about lived there. If Starrk ate anyone in the Rukongai, he'd draw the attention of the shinigami soon enough. It would take a captain to give him konso, but Yumichika trusted Captain Zaraki to manage it. Starrk didn't seem upset at the offer, merely inclined his head.

"Some souls in the spirit world are born. Some come there after dying in the living world. I was a born soul, but that doesn't mean much if you aren't born to the noble clans or to a rich family. In the better districts, most families are families of choice. In the worst districts, like the one I was born in, it was more like wolves. No one wanted to be the lone wolf, but some people don't fit in packs." Yumichika's smile was sharp. "You are hollows. Do you understand hunger?"

Lilynette and Starrk looked at each other.

"Of course," Lilynette said. Starrk looked away.

"Strong plus souls feel it, too. Eating is a need for us, not a luxury, but the spirit world is full of liars. No one ever believes you're starving, so you take what you need by trickery or by force. It's not as violent or as desolate as Hueco Mundo." Although he had not understood how much worse living could be when he had been on Rukongai's streets. "We fought for the food we ate. We didn't eat each other. You might still be killed over it, but they might be satisfied with simply taking it from you, or nearly killing you. I was small, pretty, and alone. I found ways to work the first two to my advantage, and I was quick enough with a knife that the last rarely mattered."

Yumichika smiled. "Shinigami tell the souls we give konso to that we are sending them to heaven. It is a pretty lie. Soul Society is heaven only for a few. For the rest of us, it is much more like living."

"Is it worse than here?" Lilynette asked.

"No. It is less dangerous and more interesting," Yumichika said.

"Can we go once he makes us weak, Starrk?" Lilynette asked.

"Perhaps," Starrk said to her, and then looked at Yumichika. "We went to the living world once, long ago. People there died faster than hollows." He looked at the wall. "Hollows in Hueco Mundo kill and eat each other. It is the nature of this world. They don't often cry or beg. We left the living world not long after we arrived, and we did not return."

"You seem ill suited to being a hollow," Yumichika commented. "I would have made a far better one."

Yumichika turned the topic back to his time in the Rukongai district, and after the tenth question from Lilynette on his attempts to describe it, he started creating kido illusions of the streets and shops.

At last, Lilynette tired from playing in the water. She shook herself off, re-dressed, and curled up on Yumichika's bed. With his head back and eyes closed again, Yumichika worried that Starrk had fallen asleep in the water, but when Lilynette's breathing deepened into sleep, he opened his eyes and sat up.

"This has been the most amazing day either of us can remember," Starrk said softly. "I will give you anything you want if you let us stay."

Yumichika tilted his head. "That is a very dangerous bargain to make."

"We don't remember anything except this place. We don't even have the solace of a past. Can you understand how desperate we are for what you can offer?"

Yumichika could imagine all too well, and the idea of a grateful man on his knees and willing to do anything hit more of his kinks than he'd care to admit. Yumichika was not a nice person, but he had never coerced anyone into sex and he didn't intend to start with the only non-homicidal hollow in this horrid world. The image would serve him well enough when he had privacy.

He smiled at Starrk. "I only want your company. I fight my own battles, and I doubt you would enjoy defending me as much as I will enjoy defending you. I prefer people to memories, anyway. Feel free to take the bed with Lilynette. I'll hunt while you sleep and be back before you wake."

"Hunt?" Starrk asked, sitting more upright.

"Unlike you, I do need to eat, if irregularly, and I used an unreasonable amount of energy manifesting my bankai. It should not take long; there will have been plenty of hollows drawn by the feel of it." Yumichika arched an eyebrow meaningfully at Starrk, who nodded.

"We felt the power. It's why we came. I hoped you would be strong enough not to die."

Yumichika smiled. "My pleasure to oblige."

"Would you like me to come with you when you hunt?" Starrk asked.

Yumichika laughed. "I can see your reluctance. No, I enjoy killing. It will bring me pleasure to do it, and unfortunately, your reiatsu will kill them before they get close to me. I need them alive."

"Then how do you feed?" Starrk asked.

"My zanpakuto gives me their energy." It was strange to say it aloud, even after all these years of not hiding it, but it was not an unpracticed confession. Yumichika had said it often enough to those hollows he had killed with his shikai. "It is a kido-based ability, which my former comrades consider cowardly. You are the only person I've told and allowed to live," Yumichika added.

"I'm honored," Starrk said, a little warily. "I would love to see it, as long as you're not using it on us."

Yumichika shrugged and grinned. "It does not need to be fatal; I've simply always chosen to use it so. I could demonstrate in a spar; or, if you prefer, on an enemy once you have enough control of your reiatsu not to kill everything near you."

"You really think that's possible?" Starrk asked. Yumichika was a monster, but he was still moved a bit by the combination of hope and skepticism in the hollow.

"Of course," he said, and it wasn't empty reassurance. "If you can't manage it yourself, I can manage it for you." He had no basis for faith in the other man's self discipline and control, but he had absolute confidence in his own kido skills.

Starrk ran a hand over his face. "I worry that I'll wake to find I've been dreaming."

"A baseless fear. I'm sure you'd dream a kinder companion, even if you couldn't dream a more beautiful one," Yumichika said.

Starrk laughed. "At least I dreamed an honest one."

"Oh, I'm a liar when I need to be, but I rarely find it necessary anymore. What point is there to lying now? If I see my friends again, we'll try to kill each other."

"You mentioned that before, but you didn't explain why," Starrk said.

"I'm corrupted by hollow power," Yumichika explained. "You see this bone?" He gestured to the bone that wrapped his forearms, to his neck, and to his forehead. "It came from feeding on hollow energy here in Hueco Mundo. Before I came here, I was beautiful. Now, I am deformed."

Starrk shook his head. "I don't understand your use of beautiful."

"You don't understand beauty?" Yumichika asked. That did truly sadden him.

"No, I understand beauty. I simply don't understand why you think you aren't. Other than my Lilynette, you are the most beautiful person I've ever seen."

Yumichika smiled wryly. "Your compliment is most appreciated, but I'm afraid your pool for comparisons is limited."

Starrk smiled back with the kind of confidence that made Yumichika's stomach flutter. "I still know what I see, whatever you think about my inexperience. So you think your companions--your friends--would try to kill you for being ‘corrupted'?"

"I am certain of it," Yumichika answered. "Hollow power is a forbidden strength, however it is gained. Hybrids such as myself are considered no better than hollows and are treated as such. It has been a more strictly enforced law in the last century, since a group of captains and lieutenants were caught trying to become part hollow. It was quite the scandal, I understand. The ones who tried died from it, and the ones responsible for inducing the condition fled before they could be executed."

"It seems unfair that you would be judged the same way if you were simply trying to survive," Starrk commented.

"Soul Society is rarely fair," Yumichika said. "Still, I miss it."

"How did you get here?" Starrk asked. "I've never seen anyone like you before."

"A mistake. My division was fighting a group of hollows, and I was caught in a garganta when one tried to flee."

"They didn't come for you," Starrk said softly.

"No," Yumichika agreed. "And eventually, the hollow reiatsu overcame my own. I have been here for years, and most of what I remember is hunger and killing."

"What changed? I assume it changed since you haven't tried to eat us." Starrk's look was considering but not unduly paranoid.

Yumichika laughed. "I don't know for certain. I believe either I killed enough hollows to fill the hunger or I gained enough power to overcome it. One minute, there was nothing in my mind except satiating it. Then I killed a hollow and the hunger, for lack of a better way of phrasing it, broke."

"Ah," Starrk said softly. "You became like me."

Yumichika raised an eyebrow. "Like you?"

"I am an arrancar, the last evolution of hollows. It happens when we break our masks." He touched the broken teeth around his throat. "I don't remember when I did it, but I know it happened, and I know that's when I stopped feeling hunger."

"Fascinating," Yumichika said. "Have you seen other arrancar?"

Starrk paused, and then shook his head. "It's simply something I know."

"How frustrating. Perhaps you will remember more."

"I do the longer you speak to me," Starrk said. "A favor?"

"And what favor could you want from me?" Yumichika asked.

"Before you go hunt, make the device that will limit my power, so that if something were to happen to you..."

"Or if I should choose not to return?" Yumichika asked archly. Starrk looked away.

"You owe me nothing," he said.

"I don't, but a reiatsu limiter is easy enough."

Yumichika pulled himself out of the water, enjoying the cool air on his superheated skin. He eyed his collection of found objects and picked up a piece of wood about the size of his fist. Captain Zaraki's eye patch was smaller, but it also needed to contain less. It felt a touch unfaithful to his captain to think he was weaker than this hollow, but if Yumichika made an honest evaluation of their relative strength, Starrk came out ahead. That didn't mean Stark would win in a fight, of course. There was more to victory than reiatsu strength!

He touched his finger to the surface of the wood, most of the way to the top. "Burn," he said, and the kido seared a needle-thin hole through it. He pushed a bit more power through, enough to make threading the would-be necklace easy, and then let it fade. The second kido, the one to effectively suppress reiatsu, was a tricky one to cast, but self-perpetuating once it was. It took reiatsu from the person who wore it; that reiatsu was used to power the kido that drained the reiatsu. A neat perpetual-motion machine, as long as the wearer didn't use too much reiatsu. It simply needed a push to start it.

Starrk pushed himself out of the water and came over to watch as Yumichika held the piece of wood in his hand and chanted. Yumichika grinned slightly at the dubious look on his face; it was clear he wasn't sure if Yumichika was playing with him or was serious about the strange words, but this wasn't a kido Yumichika cared to get wrong, so there would be no abbreviation. Once he finished, he strung it on one of the thin pieces of twine he'd untwisted from hollow cloth and handed it over to Starrk.

"You need to wear it against your skin. To start it, simply push your reiatsu into it. The harder you push, the more it will take."

Starrk swallowed and examined it closer. The knot of kido at the back of it lit like a tiny sun. "How long will it last?" he asked.

"It will last as long as you wear it. If you take it off, that depends on how much power it has saved. Eventually, it will run out and the kido will collapse, but I expect with the amount of reiatsu you intend to give it, you will be able to safely remove it for months, if you choose." Yumichika paused. "Give it a few days first to completely charge before you risk it that long."

Starrk nodded and strung it over his head, showing the good sense to turn it so the brightly-lit kido was skin-side. Yumichika felt the omnipresent reiatsu in the air, which until a moment ago he had acclimated to, spike and focus. The kido necklace hummed as the reiatsu was pushed in, and Yumichika could sense the moment when it switched over and started pulling. The necklace smacked against Starrk's skin as if it was a magnet to Starrk's iron; kido and reiatsu bound together through the barrier of Starrk's skin.

Starrk's expression was vaguely surprised, but at Yumichika's nod, he kept pushing more reiatsu in, which in turn pulled more out. He kept going far past where Yumichika would have, until his reiatsu was barely more than a whisper in the air where it had been a cyclone.

"Take it off and put it on again if you wish to change how much it takes," he advised. "If you are threatened before I return, remove it. It's designed to return most of your reiatsu to you when you do." It was a limiter designed for Shinigami like Captain Zaraki, after all: people who may need their reiatsu to fight, not prisoners who needed to be contained.

"Thank you," Starrk said, voice hoarse.

"This is no substitute for discipline," Yumichika said severely, because he'd never been allowed to say it to his captain--not if he cared to live. "Thank me by dedicating yourself to your control. I'll be back in a few hours."

He wondered, as he left, if the odd hollows would still be there when he returned. Gambling had never been his vice--at least, not with anything less precious than his life--but if it were, he'd say they would. Yumichika prided himself on his ability to read people, even if it was mostly used against his foes. Loneliness and gratitude were powerful motivators.

To his satisfaction, Starrk was curled up beside Lilynette in his bed when Yumichika made it back to the cave, bloated on the energy of the hollows. Between the lure of his bankai and the loss of Starrk's power, the sands below his mountain had been good hunting. Starrk opened his eyes as Yumichika entered.

"You came back," he said.

"I am generally a creature of my word," Yumichika said. "The hollows think I've killed you."

Starrk sat up, shoving the blankets off himself. "They think what?"

"They think I've killed you. They called you the faceless hunger. They think you came here to eat me but instead I ate you."

"If you could kill me, why would they come anywhere near you?" Starrk asked.

"They wished to recruit me. Apparently Hueco Mundo has a new king."

"I didn't know it had a king at all. Will you go?" Starrk seemed genuinely indifferent.

"No," Yumichika said. "I'm a member of the eleventh. I won't follow a hollow king." He tilted his head. "If you'd like to go, I won't stop you. You could find hollow companions there."

Starrk shook his head immediately. "What have those hollows done for me? We'll stay here." His shoulders stooped. "If you don't mind? We'll leave if you want us to."

Yumichika waved a hand towards the bed. "Stay as long as you'd like. I prefer the company to the silence."

"Do you think they'll be back to recruit you again?" Starrk asked.

"Not those hollows," Yumichika answered with a pointed grin. "Still, I won't need to eat for a good long time, and I'd prefer not to draw the attention of an army of hollows. It would be a glorious way to die, but not a very useful one."

Truth be told, Yumichika was curious about the hollow king--most specifically, what it would take to kill him--but Starrk was the first interesting creature Yumichika had met since he'd been unintentionally exiled. He was not terribly eager to be eaten when there was finally companionship to be had. A fight was grand--a fight with a king grander yet--but Yumichika would prefer there be more than one in his future.

"We'll stay in the caves," Yumichika decided. "Even if they find us, they can't enter, and you can work on your control. There are even caves large enough to spar, if you'd care to learn the sword."

Starrk laughed. "I can tell you'd hate it if I did," he said, and Yumichika laughed with him because no, he hadn't been one bit subtle about his eagerness.

"I had a friend, Ikkaku. We fought each other often. I'll admit I miss it. It is, of course, your choice."

Starrk waved a hand. "It's an easy enough favor in return for everything you've done for us."

"Ha!" Lilynette said sleepily, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. "You're volunteering for work and calling it easy. You!"

Starrk's smile became sheepish. "I've been accused of laziness before," he explained to Yumichika.

"You'd rather sleep than do anything!" Lilynette complained.

"There was nothing interesting to be done," Starrk said. "This will be new."

"And what am I supposed to do while you're learning to fight?" she grumbled, looking over at Yumichika with wide eyes. He laughed.

"If you want to learn, you can simply ask. I would be glad to teach you as well," Yumichika said.

"I'm not very strong, not like Starrk," she said hesitantly.

"All the more reason to be good with a sword," Yumichika said.

"You could teach her instead," Starrk offered, laying back down on the bed and closing his eyes. The corner of his lip twitched, and Yumichika suspected he was baiting the other half of his soul, who fell for it without hesitation. Lilynette poked him sharply in the side, causing him to open his eyes back up with a quiet oof.

"Stop being lazy! If you keep your power that low, you need to know how to fight, too!" Lilynette shouted.

"I can always take this thing off," he said. His grin was playful, but that underlying confidence was still there. Starrk, Yumichika suspected, had never lost. It was quite possible he had never been challenged. As attractive as strength and confidence were, invincibility was an illusion.

"Skill and strategy can beat strength," Yumichika said, "and there are people nearly as powerful as you in the Seireitei. The Shinigami will see you as a hollow. They'll kill you, and then they'll kill Lilynette, because it won't matter to them that she's a weak child."

Starrk's eyes narrowed and he started to frown.

"Hey, I'm not weak!" Lilynette shouted.

"Either you are strong enough to defend what's yours or you lose it," Yumichika said to Starrk, ignoring Lilynette. It was as true for a life as it was for things. Starrk stood up, and Lilynette shot Yumichika a look of respect, anger forgotten.

"You didn't even have to kick him," she marveled.

"Would you like me to?" Yumichika asked, smiling at her. He had no special fondness for children, but he could make an exception for such liveliness in the middle of this cursed emptiness.

"Yes!" she said, jumping up. "Please?"

Starrk shot her a sour look. "If he kicks me, he should kick you, too."

"I'm more than willing to kick you both," Yumichika offered in his best placating tone. Starrk's dry look made it clear he was not one bit fooled by the false generosity. Yumichika grinned brightly back. "But there is no rush, if you need more sleep," he offered. Starrk shook his head.

"I can sleep afterwards if I'm tired," he said, "and Lilynette has most of our energy. She should be fine."

"Way more than you!" she said to Starrk. "I bet I learn how to fight faster, too! I'll kick your ass; just you watch!"

Yumichika laughed. "I look forward to seeing that. Come with me, then. I'd rather not destroy anything in here unnecessarily."

Yumichika led them deeper into the cave system, pausing only long enough to grab the three sticks he had left by the cave entrance in what was, he admitted, shameless optimism. He had lit the closest caves with the same kido lights he used for his cave; they activated when reiatsu was pushed into them and burned as long as the reiatsu held out. It had been a way to pass the time, and Yumichika didn't care to be in the dark any more than necessary.

The cave he wanted was one of the farthest back he had explored and the path to it was narrow, but it was the tallest of the caves, easily a hundred feet up and at least that across. The floor was largely flat, but it turned into a series of ledges to one side and most of the stalactites and stalagmites were against the walls. There would be minimal interference in a fight. Lilynette's eyes were wide as she looked around.

"This place is amazing!" she said. Starrk nodded his agreement.

"I suppose you've never seen it before," Yumichika commented.

"No," Starrk agreed. "We only came into the caves themselves once. We became lost--it was only luck that we found our way out again. To be trapped alone in the utter dark…" Starrk looked away. "We preferred the sands, even if it meant killing."

"I understand. When I first came down here, I found hollows who had become lost. They were quite mad. I was careful to mark my way back lest I share their fate."

He tossed one of the sticks to Starrk and another to Lilynette. "This would be easier of course if you had zanpakuto of your own, but we will make do."

Starrk stared at the stick thoughtfully. "How different will it be from using an actual sword?"

"Much, regrettably. The weight and the aerodynamics will change, as will the motions and strategy depending on which kind of sword you are using. Reiatsu augments strength and durability--" Yumichika cut himself off then smiled. "For shinigami, anyway. I'm not sure how it will work for you. With intelligence, a good learning curve, and a reasonable amount of strength and endurance, I expect you could pick up a sword and do well against most opponents. It will be better once we've had the chance to visit Soul Society and acquire actual weapons to train with."

"Where do we start?" Starrk asked.

"With the academy forms. These are the basic techniques taught to all shinigami at our Spirit Arts Academy. It will be far less beautiful than sparring, I'm afraid, but it is a necessary foundation nevertheless. Watch," Yumichika instructed. He showed them the first kata facing them, so they could see what it looked like.

"Now again," he said, moving between them and facing the same direction, so they could see it as it would be done.

"It doesn't seem that hard," Lilynette said, and Starrk nodded his agreement.

"It's intended for beginners," Yumichika said. "The point is to be precise. If you are sloppy when you learn the basic forms, your attacks will be ugly and unbalanced. You will leave yourself open to defeat."

He walked them slowly through the steps one at a time: Lilynette first, to get her practicing instead of demanding. Starrk watched carefully as he instructed Lilynette, and repeated the kata flawlessly. Yumichika was delighted to see that, while Lilynette's enthusiasm needed to be reigned in to keep her from getting sloppy, Starrk practiced each move with precision and grace.

Yumichika flash-stepped forward and closed his hand around Starrk's, stilling his "blade". The hand was warm and roughened from the wind and sand, and Starrk's eyes went wide with startlement.

"Do you remember this, pretty hollow?" Yumichika asked, eyes narrowing. He smiled at the way Starrk swallowed.

"I do," Starrk said, and wasn't it interesting that he didn't remove his hand? Did it indicate a lack of social context towards "appropriate" contact between men or an inherent predisposition like Yumichika's own? Yumichika had never been terribly demonstrative physically, but the lack of friendly contact had come to wear on him, even in the relatively short time he had been sane in this wasteland. He wondered if Starrk and Lilynette were the same or if their own dual nature served well enough.

"There are no specific memories, but the skill seems… familiar, even with this proxy." He glanced down at the stick to make his point.

"Interesting," Yumichika said, letting go and moving back. "I wonder how well that familiarity translates into skill."

He raised his own stick in a "guard" position. "Would you care to try?"

Starrk nodded and raised his own.

Yumichika started slowly; he wanted to savor this first fight. Starrk's first hit was hard, but after the warning vibrations in the stick, his next blow was gentled. Yumichika approved; even without reiatsu-enhanced strength or speed, their weapons were only brittle wood. It was likely they wouldn't make it through one practice bout if either were careless. Starrk's initial attacks were basic, the kind of attack any ugly thing picking up a sword would make, and his parries and dodges were more akin to quick reflexes than skill. Within minutes, however, he was fighting as well as any academy graduate, and improving notably with each blow.

Yumichika smiled and sped up more.

It was, ultimately, a mistake. Starrk's skill improved even more quickly at the increased pace, as reflex overcame intelligence, but that reflex ultimately proved fatal for Yumichika's poor weapon. Starrk moved to block Yumichika, recognizing at the last second the tricky move he had intended, and he did so with no hesitation in strength or speed. Yumichika's "sword" snapped in two, and the second half went flying.

"Sorry," Starrk said sheepishly. "I should have been more careful."

"It's only a stick," Yumichika said, "rare, but not irreplaceable." He drew his zanpakuto. "This blade will be more durable."

Starrk drew up straighter and took a step back, one hand coming up to rest on the reiatsu limiter. A corner of his mouth turned down, and his eyes narrowed. "Are we still sparring, shinigami?"

"We are," Yumichika agreed.

"That's not fair," Lilynette growled, throwing her stick at Yumichika's head, forcing him to deflect and catch it. "You're going to hurt him!"

"Certainly not," Yumichika said. Then he ticked up an eyebrow at Starrk. "Not unintentionally. Do you trust me, pretty hollow?"

"I trust you to not break your new toy quite yet," Starrk said, lifting his stick.

"On the contrary," Yumichika said, "I take good care of what's mine."

"And are we yours?" he asked.

"Do you wish to be?" Yumichika countered.

Starrk was quiet. "I believe that depends on what it means to be yours," he said at last. "We are not belongings, Yumichika, but we would very much like to belong."

"I don't ask for obedience; I could care less for the protection of your reiatsu," Yumichika said. "The only thing I want is entertainment and company in this hellish place. What do you think that makes you to me?"

Starrk grimaced. "I honestly can't tell. How do you think of us?"

Yumichika laughed and didn't bother to hide the obvious affection. He liked these two, and the confusion on their faces was simply lovely.

"I think of you as comrades. Perhaps, in the future, we will even be friends. That doesn't mean I won't kill you, of course, but it does mean I won't do so capriciously. If you don't interfere in my fights or betray me, it's likely I will never bother."

Starrk stared at Yumichika thoughtfully, and then glanced at Lilynette. "I will stay out of any fight you ask me to," he said. "If you betray us, I'll kill you, but I won't try for anything other than that." His lips quirked up into a small smile. "I would, in fact, welcome your assistance in any fight I find myself in. I prefer Lilynette safe to testing a strength I don't want."

Yumichika nodded his agreement. "May we continue?" he asked, tossing Lilynette's stick back to her.

"If you'd like," Starrk said, moving his hand away from the reiatsu limiter at last and attacking once more. Yumichika appreciated the challenge of it: parrying Starrk without destroying his makeshift weapon. It required more precision and control than he generally used, and he struggled to make his combat beautiful while under this kind of restraint. Starrk wasn't limiting himself to defense, even against the superior weapon, but Yumichika would be a fool to miss the wariness implicit in how he positioned his body, never trusting either the stick to block the zanpakuto or Yumichika to pull his blows. That was just good sense; Yumichika approved.

He wished very much that Starrk was a shinigami. Yumichika would love to give him a true zanpakuto and let him fight Captain Zaraki. Such a fight would be beautiful to witness, and if Starrk lived through it, Yumichika might even allow him the fourth seat uncontested. Well, perhaps with only a token fight… little more than a homicidal spar, really.

Still, for all Starrk's theoretical strength and surprising skill, he was still new to that skill and working under reiatsu limitations that left him little more strength than a seated officer. Yumichika was of the eleventh. He got past Starrk's guard, pushing the tip of the stick down and out with the flat of his zanpakuto and then flicking his sword back in. He had intended to poke Starrk right below the hollow hole--had already pulled much of the force, in fact--but Starrk's eyes went wide with panic. He jerked the stick up, meeting Yumichika's zanpakuto cleanly with all his strength. Yumichika resigned himself to the loss of their second stick when his zanpakuto was pushed up. With a reflexive twist of his wrist, Starrk finished the parry and pushed Yumichika's zanpakuto to one side.

In his hand, the stick remained whole.

"My," Yumichika breathed, returning his zanpakuto to his side. He reached forward to touch the stick. It had been infused with reiatsu. "Can you do this again?"

Starrk was cut off by Lilynette hitting him with a full force hug. "Starrk, you were amazing!" she shouted. "Show me how to do that!"

"It was quite impressive," Yumichika agreed.

"You pulled the blow," Starrk said instead of responding. Yumichika nodded.

"As I said I would," he reminded Starrk.

"You did. Thank you."

"You are most welcome. Your mistrust, however, has given us a beautiful surprise," Yumichika said. "Your reiatsu reinforced the stick enough to hold up to my sword. You have nearly exhausted yourself doing so, however. With your limiter bound that tightly, such a thing is dangerous."

Yumichika reached for the limiter, but Starrk caught his hand. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Adjusting it. Such manipulation is beyond you at the moment, but not beyond me. If you'd prefer, I can simply do it after you collapse."

Starrk scowled, but let him go. Yumichika rested his fingertips on the limiter. It was easier because this kido was his, even if Starrk was powering it. He coaxed the power back out of it, and the paleness in Starrk's cheeks returned to a more healthy color. The nearly infinitesimal tremors in the hollow's hands stilled. Yumichika stopped the transfer and pressed his hand flat on the device. He looked up to meet Starrk's eyes.

"This is not just an instrument of death," he said. "This power is more than the cause of your loneliness. This is your life, and this is Lilynette's defense."

"Hey!" she objected. "I'm my own defense!" They ignored her.

"When you are careless with this, you are not just careless with your own life, you are careless with hers. What do you think happens to her if you die? Do you think she will outlive your death?"

"You've made your point," Starrk said, voice steady. He pushed Yumichika's hand away.

"Reiatsu limiters, even the best designed, are dangerous. Control, pretty hollow. That's what you need."

"Then show me how to control it," Starrk said impatiently. "Show me how to ‘control' this awful, hungry power you think is so great."

So Yumichika set the pouting Lilynette back to practicing katas and sat down with Starrk. The simplest academy reiatsu control exercise--making a globe glow--was out of reach back in the Seireitei, so they would need to improvise.

"Control is a matter of visualization, willpower, and--above all--practice. It comes more easily to some than others, but it's possible for everyone. What do you visualize when you try to contain your power?"

Starrk shrugged. "Can't you give me something to visualize?"

"It will work better if I know what has already failed for you," Yumichika explained.

Starrk scratched his beard and looked away. "I'd rather just try something you choose."

"Ah," Yumichika said softly. "So you haven't tried anything."

"I didn't know there was anything to try," Starrk grumbled, still refusing eye contact. Yumichika looked over at Lilynette, who shrugged.

"We just thought this was how we were. We didn't think it could be fixed."

"Hmm, I see. In that case, we'll start with meditation. For a shinigami, this is the first step towards reaching our inner world, where we meet our zanpakuto spirits. In your case, you are learning the boundaries of yourself and your reiatsu. Once you know where those boundaries lie, you will line them up."

"How do I do that?"

"You pull in your reiatsu until it extends no further than your skin. Again, this is a matter of visualization and will. I imagine it as sheathing a weapon." Yumichika let his control slip until the press of his reiatsu was thick in the air, then brought it in sharply; it felt, as always, like his zanpakuto sliding home. Starrk's eyes were dark with focus.

"Did you feel what I did?" Yumichika asked.

"Yes. Hollows are good at sensing reiatsu," Starrk said. "The better to hunt."

Yumichika laughed. "If you think to frighten me, please keep trying. I find threats beautiful." Especially from one who was capable of following through if he chose.

"If we are here a millennia more, I don't think I'll understand you," Starrk said, closing his eyes. His breathing deepened as he tried to focus on Yumichika's instructions.

"Except for Ikkaku and my captain, the shinigami had a similar reaction," Yumichika admitted. "Other people seem to find an irreconcilable conflict between death and beauty."

"I have to agree with them," Starrk said. "I've seen a lot of death, and no part of it was beautiful."

Yumichika smiled. "You are not a monster, my pretty hollow."

Starrk opened his eyes. "Explain it anyway," he said. "How can you find death beautiful?"

"Death is not simply death," Yumichika said finally. "Death is the power to take life. It takes power to incite fear. It takes power to wield a sword well or cast kido skillfully. Not all beauty is power, and I don't find all power beautiful, but of all the kinds of beauty in the world, I see it easiest in power."

"Thank you for explaining," Starrk said. "I don't agree that power is beautiful--I will probably always find it horrifying--but I accept your point of view."

"You're welcome. It was novel to be asked. I don't believe it's ever happened before. The eleventh, as a rule, don't think about the nature of beauty, and our division rarely associates with people outside our own."

"Why not?" Starrk asked.

Yumichika waved a hand. "A lack of shared interests, primarily. We are a rowdy bunch, and our preferred method of entertainment is fighting. Well, and anything that might lead to fighting, usually drinking. The other divisions tend to avoid us, which is to their detriment but our preference."

Starrk nodded and went back to his meditation. Yumichika went to help Lilynette, since it was far more interesting than watching someone breathe.

"He's going to fall asleep on you if you let him sit there with his eyes closed," Lilynette predicted. "He's not used to anything being hard."

Yumichika held out his hands, but spoke loudly enough for Starrk to hear his reply. "It doesn't matter to me if he masters his reiatsu. The only people I care about are durable enough to survive him. If he wishes to trust to a bit of wood and string to keep from killing anything near him, that's his choice. I should find it quite interesting to watch him rip souls to shreds."

"Yeah, so get working, Starrk!" Lilynette shouted, grinning at Yumichika. He smiled back, enjoying the conspiracy.

"Shouting at me is certainly helping," Starrk said with pardonable sarcasm.

When Lilynette lost her patience with learning katas, Yumichika let her spar with him. Spar was a kind word. It was closer to a child playing than an actual fight, but she was both enthusiastic and durable. Yumichika had never fought with Yachiru, but he wondered if it would have been anything like this relentless energy and cheer. When Lilynette had tired herself out, Yumichika brought her back to the hot tub and let her get clean, leaving Starrk alone in the cave to meditate. Lilynette's eyes went wide as she slipped into the warmed water.

"This feels amazing! Even better than before!"

"Indeed," Yumichika agreed. "Swim as long as you'd like. When you're finished, I'll braid your hair."

Lilynette ducked her head under the water and came up shaking like a dog. She giggled and did it again, letting her green hair hit her face and stick.

"What's 'braid'?" she asked.

"Like this," he said, patting at his own braid.

"Why?" she asked.

"So it looks nice and stays out of your face," he said. "And because I'm bored and want something to do."

"Okay," she agreed and got out of the water. Yumichika looked away while she dried off and clothed herself.

"Here, in the chair," he said. Her hair only came down to her shoulders, so it would not be as easy to braid as long hair, but Yumichika had time and skill. He started by combing out the tangles. The wooden comb was crude but functioned well enough. He had sanded it down until it pulled through hair without catching. He was gentle, not only because he knew she would squirm and whine if he was rough but also because he couldn't bear to be crueler to her poor hair than the desert of Hueco Mundo already had been.

"That feels nice," she said, and he could see her shoulders relax.

"It is a wonderful feeling. I will teach you, if you like. We can practice on Starrk."

"Okay," she agreed, and he didn't need to see her face to tell she was getting sleepy. He divided her hair into two, intending to braid each side separately.

"This braid is commonly called the french braid," Yumichika said. "It's more complicated than the one I used today, but it is also more beautiful." He started at the top of her scalp, braiding down deftly. "The lieutenant of the eleventh is Yachiru. She is a child shinigami, as you are a child hollow."

"I'm not a kid," Lilynette protested sleepily.

"Do I treat you as one?" Yumichika asked. "I use the terms only to make you understand. She is my captain's daughter in all but name. I have often braided her hair for her. It is even shorter than yours, which proves difficult."

"Don't you guys all like fighting and stuff?" Lilynette asked.

"We do. Yachiru is much like the rest of us. She's a terror," he said with a little laugh.

"You sound like you like her a lot," Lilynette said.

"Oh, I do. She will be ferocious if she grows up. She is already strong enough to hold the lieutenant seat. I expect in the future she could be a captain, if she chose."

"Do you think she will?"

Yumichika tied the braid off and moved to the other side of Lilynette's head.

"No. She and Captain Zaraki are devoted to each other. She wouldn't leave him for another division, and she would never take the captain's place from him. Ikkaku and I are much the same. Ikkaku holds the third seat. I would never take it from him, even though three is the most beautiful number."

"So you're the fourth?"

"Hardly! Such an ugly number! I have the fifth seat."

"Then who's the fourth?" she asked.

"It stays empty," Yumichika said, not bothering to hide his satisfaction. "No one can beat me to take it."

"Doesn't that make you actually the fourth seat?" Lilynette asked, confused.

"Certainly not," Yumichika said, laughing. "Why, there's a perfectly good fourth seat waiting for someone to claim it." He tied off the second braid and tugged gently on it. His smile faded. "I suspect both fourth and fifth seats are taken now. It's hard to remember, sometimes, that the division has moved on without me."

Lilynette twisted around. "We can be your division now, if you want." Her eyes were very wide, and the look of vulnerability on her face made Yumichika gentle his response. He was a monster, but he was not a monster.

"I will only ever be part of the eleventh division, even if I never see the Seireitei again," he said kindly. "And the eleventh is a violent division, unsuited to you and Starrk."

Lilynette snorted. "Starrk, maybe. He's a wuss! He complains about me being violent all the time!"

Yumichika chuckled. "All right, then. Would you care to be my fourth seat?"

Lilynette crossed her arms over her chest. "Would I get to boss you around?"

"You could certainly try," Yumichika said, winking at her.

"Hmph! Could I boss Starrk around?"

"Don't you already?" he asked.

"Yeah, but he doesn't listen!" she complained.

"Authority without the power to enforce it is useless," Yumichika agreed.

"How do I fix it?" Lilynette demanded.

"You become powerful," Yumichika teased. Lilynette swung at his face. Yumichika caught her hand.

"My, you are suited to the eleventh," he grinned. "There are different kinds of power, and not all of them are equal--or equally effective in all situations." He let her hand go; she immediately started rubbing at it, scowling. "There is physical power, which is my favorite. To some, beauty is power. Intelligence, charisma--these things can win people to your side. Some people have a high social rank, like the noble clans or the Gotei 13 captains. Some people are in a position to change public opinion, like writers, or change the laws, like the Central 46. It's easier to use convincing words or a high social rank to change a law than it is to use a sword. It's easier to kill someone with a sword than with words, no matter how beautiful. So part of what you need to determine is what your aim is and what power you need to achieve it."

"I want to be part of the eleventh!" Lilynette said.

"That's a good aim," Yumichika said. "If you're in the eleventh, you need to know how to fight, which I can teach you, but it also means acting as a shinigami."

"But I'm a hollow," Lilynette said.

Yumichika poked at the hollow hole on her stomach. She put her hands protectively over it. "I'm aware. I said act as a shinigami, not be one."

"What does that mean?"

"Shinigami preserve the balance of the worlds. We give konso to spirits in the living world so that they can pass into Soul Society, and we defend them from hollows."

"Like us," Lilynette said quietly, looking down.

"Hardly. You're not trying to eat anyone, are you?" Yumichika asked. Lilynette shook her head. "Unfortunately, most people consider hollows nothing more than ravenous monsters, which is why we will take care to conceal your hollow holes and mask fragments if we go to soul society." He tapped her on the helmet-shaped mask fragment to make her look up. "Most hollows are not like you and Starrk. You said yourselves you've never met anyone like you. There's no one like me, either."

"That makes us kind of the same, huh?" Lilynette asked.

"Except with our own special abilities. I can give konso, but I can't make gargantas."

"What's konso do?"

"Sometimes souls don't pass on when they die, which severs the soul's chain of fate. If they are not given konso by a shinigami before that chain rots, they become hollows and will try to eat more souls, which creates more hollows."

Lilynette touched the edge of her hollow hole. "Was this where my chain of fate was?"

Yumichika nodded. "Just so."

"And then shinigami kill the hollows," she added, because that's how hollow stories ended.

"Yes, but as with konso, when we kill hollows with our zanpakuto, the soul is cleansed and passed back into the cycle of rebirth. It's not entirely an end, you see. Not when shinigami kill."

"Is that why you don't care about killing people?" Lilynette asked.

"No," he said gently. "I don't care because I am a monster. When a soul is reborn, it remembers nothing of any past lives. Everything the person was is destroyed. It is relevant only to keeping the balance. But you can see why people consider konso, which sends a soul on to Soul Society with memories intact, to be kinder than cleansing hollows, which is for all purposes death."

Yumichika rested his hand on her head again. "I won't lie to you by telling you any world is kind, but I will show you how to keep yourself as safe as you can be."

Lilynette lunged forward and hugged him. "Will you protect us?" she asked, looking up.

"Better. I will teach you to protect yourselves, and I will stand at your back while you do it. That's what it means to be eleventh."

Lilynette nodded furiously. "I'll be a strong fourth seat!" she promised, stepping back.

"I expect no less. Your reiatsu is weak only relative to Starrk's or my own. You are at least as strong as a seated officer and likely closer to a lieutenant, and as I told Starrk, skill will overcome strength if the discrepancy between the two is not too great."

"Will you tell me about the other girl? Yachiru?" Lilynette asked.

"Of course. First, let me show you your hair. Sleeping on it will ruin it, unfortunately, but I can re-braid it for you after you're awake, if you like it."

The kido Yumichika used was intended to reflect incoming reiatsu attacks--either kido or ceros--but as a side effect, it functioned as a mirror. It faced away, unfortunately, so it was no use to Yumichika himself, but it served well enough to show Lilynette her hair. The girl stepped forward, entranced.

"Is this what I look like?" she asked, touching her face, and what a horrifying fate, to not know if you were beautiful!

"It is," he said. Lilynette turned her head to see the braids, reaching up to feel them as she did. With a quick glance at Yumichika to determine he wasn't getting impatient, she grabbed her cheeks, pulled them out, and stuck out her tongue, wiggling it around. He let her make faces at the mirror for a bit longer, and then collapsed the kido and sent her off to bed.

"I'll go get Starrk," he reassured her before walking back to the cave where they'd left him. The kido lights still burned, and Starrk appeared not to have moved. He opened his eyes when he heard Yumichika's footsteps.

"I haven't gotten it," he said, quite a bit surlier than he'd been when Yumichika had left. "This is much harder than playing at sword fighting."

"Probably because you're learning it instead of remembering it," Yumichika pointed out, coming to stand over him. "If you expect immediate results every time you try something, you'll never learn anything. Take a break. Lilynette is already asleep." He offered Starrk a hand up, which the hollow took.

"I could use a nap," Starrk commented, sounding more cheerful.

Yumichika led the way back, although he had pointed out the arrows to both hollows and they were not a difficult principle. Starrk noticed Lilynette's braids immediately.

"Those are quite interesting. Could you do mine as well?" he asked, looking at Yumichika expectantly.

"Braiding is an uncommon look in men," Yumichika said.

"You have yours done similarly," Starrk pointed out.

"My appearance is always unusual," Yumichika said. "Bathe first, please." They might live in a cave, but he would damn well instill good hygiene in his new companions. Starrk's eyelids lowered, and he smiled in a way that suggested strongly he was humoring Yumichika.

"You're quite keen on water," he commented as he stripped down.

"I am," Yumichika agreed, moving to join him. He hadn't bathed either after their workout--such as it was--earlier. He unbraided his hair gently and ducked his head under the water. His hair had adapted to the water-only washing method; even if it wasn't conditioned, so at least it didn't get terribly greasy. He came up to breathe only to feel a tug at his hair. Starrk had grabbed a handful and was examining it closely.

"Like what you see?" Yumichika asked with reflexive coyness.

"It's interesting," Starrk responded. "Does the length serve a purpose?"

"Only to show the passage of time," Yumichika said. "It came down to my chin when I was trapped here. Now…" He gestured at the length.

"It grows?" Starrk asked, startled. "Ours never does."

Yumichika examined his hair. "That might be a good thing. Your hair seems to get dusty but not greasy as a shinigami's would if it wasn't washed."

"Did you prefer your hair short?"

"I did, but I lack the means to keep short hair beautiful, so I keep it long now."

"Isn't long hair a problem when you're fighting? I nearly grabbed for it several times, but I was unsure if it was a trap."

"Oh, yes!" Yumichika laughed. "I wouldn't dare keep it so long if I was sparring against Ikkaku. With my shikai, however, no dangerous hollow gets close to me. If they did, I would simply cut it. It will grow again."

"Shikai?"

Yumichika hesitated, but it was common knowledge. What could it hurt? "All zanpakuto have two levels they can reach. The first is shikai; the second is bankai. Any shinigami with shikai is dangerous; only our strongest have attained bankai. Bankai is usually limited to our captains, and in fact is usually a requirement for being a captain. My division is the exception; Captain Zaraki was strong enough to kill the previous captain without even shikai."

"He killed your former captain?" Starrk asked, appalled.

"Not my captain. I have only ever served Captain Zaraki. But yes, it is how the eleventh traditionally passes leadership. The other divisions do it more civilized." Yumichika's tone left no doubt how he felt about that.

"Do you have this bankai?" Starrk asked.

"My bankai is what led you here," Yumichika said.

"Ah. So would you become a captain? If you went back?"

"I will only ever serve in the eleventh," Yumichika said. Starrk hummed.

"Then do you intend to kill this Captain Zaraki and take his place?" he asked.

"Hardly! I admit I'm curious who would win a fight between us, but I am most certain it would not be me."

Starrk blinked. "Why not? You're very strong."

"My zanpakuto is a kido-type blade. It is a coward's weapon, forbidden in the eleventh. I tricked them by calling my zanpakuto by a nickname he hated. He would only release part of his power, which made my zanpakuto appear to be a melee one. As we are now, I could not bear to taunt him so. If I fought my captain, I would do it with honor, which means without my shikai or bankai. I would inevitably lose."

Starrk frowned. "It seems less honorable to lie to him and fight him with only a fraction of your power."

"If I lie, I retain their respect, even if I lose my life," Yumichika explained.

"Yes, but if you lose your life, Lilynette and I are alone again," Starrk said. He was clearly troubled by the idea.

"I don't owe you anything," Yumichika reminded him, because he certainly didn't feel guilty about leaving Starrk and Lilynette to their fate. Not two hollows when the eleventh's honor was at stake! ...but he only met Starrk's eyes with difficulty.

"You don't," Starrk admitted. "But it would be lonely again without you, and I suspect no one else would be so willing to help two hollows."

"The point is irrelevant," Yumichika said. "I'm certainly not running off to fight my captain, and he is unlikely to come to Hueco Mundo. Come, I'll braid your hair, and then you can sleep."

"Don't you sleep?" Starrk asked.

"Yes, but I need time to meditate with my zanpakuto. If you'd prefer, you can stay awake and meditate with me instead of sleeping," Yumichika added with a malicious grin.

"I will be fine asleep, thank you!" Starrk said hastily. Yumichika laughed at him and pulled himself out of the water.

"Let's get you to sleep, then," Yumichika advised, twisting the water out of his hair and braiding it back again with practiced motions. He held a hand out to help Starrk from the water. Starrk was less fidgety than Lilynette while Yumichika braided his hair, slumping down in the chair until he was nearly out of it. Yumichika avoided the dual french braids he had given Lilynette; while hilarious, they would be terribly ugly on the man. Pigtails--and their braid equivalent--were adorable on children and women but were substantially harder to pull off as a grown man.

Instead, he braided several thin braids from Starrk's temples towards the back of his head. He braided several more, starting under the horizontal braids, which went straight down. It was a more barbaric look than Yumichika preferred, but Starrk didn't have the aquiline features to pull off either aristocratic or waif, and his hair wasn't long enough to do a single braid like Yumichika's.

"Thank you," Starrk said, running his hands over the braids with care.

"Would you like to see what it looks like?" Yumichika asked, pulling up his mirror kido again. Starrk turned to face him, and his eyes widened at the mirror.

"That is incredible," Starrk said, reaching out to touch it. His hand passed through; it was made to stop reiatsu, not bodies. "Can I learn this?"

"I don't know," Yumichika admitted. "I'm not sure if hollows can use kido. The first step either way is control."

"The idea of being able to do this magic is very motivating," Starrk admitted.

"Motivating enough that you'd care to meditate with me?" Yumichika asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Tomorrow is soon enough," Starrk said hastily. "I would likely fall asleep sitting up if I tried now."

"Tomorrow, then," Yumichika said, inclining his head. Starrk went to go curl up on the bed with Lilynette while Yumichika sat on the chair and settled into his inner world. Ruri'iro waited for him, arms crossed on his chest.

"You've been busy," he commented. "Adopting strays?"

Yumichika waved a hand. "They're the first sane creatures to find us in this ugly place," he explained.

"And better companions for you, I suppose," Ruri'iro said, eyes narrowed.

"They are my companions in addition to you, not instead of you," Yumichika said.

"It would not be the first time you cast me aside for physical companions," Ruri'iro reminded him, because the rift between them had been bridged, but not forgotten. "You would still die before you would show my beauty to the world!"

"Before I would show your beauty to the eleventh," Yumichika corrected.

"They are your world," Ruri'iro hissed, moving toward Yumichika in a way that promised violence.

"Not anymore."

"You think you can lie to the other half of your soul, Yumichika?" Ruri'iro snarled. "You are exiled, but they are still your world. You merely count down the days to your death!"

"You would have me forget them? Forget myself?"

"No, but I would like you to remember you existed before the eleventh--before Ikkaku, too. You have new companions; perhaps even a chance at a life with beauty in it, if that civil hollow can learn the control he seeks. I would prefer you didn't throw it away for one unsatisfactory fight with your former friends."

"If they find me, they will kill me," Yumichika reminded him. Even here, in his inner world, his appearance reflected his hybrid nature.

Ruri'iro's eyes glittered and his smile was cruel. "Only if you let them. All I ask, beautiful wielder, is that you do not let them."

"I don't intend to let anyone kill me," Yumichika said coolly.

"Your inaction is as good as letting them! If you refuse to fight with all our beautiful strength, what's the point of our reconciliation? Why not simply bathe in soy sauce and march yourself into the mouths of those hollows?"

"If nothing else, konso is a kinder fate than a hollow's stomach," Yumichika said, smiling with black humor.

"Your deflection doesn't change that I'm right," Ruri'iro said. "Your pretty hollow gives us hope that this ugly place can be a retreat without being a trap. I didn't argue with your death wish when we had no chance of changing anything, but new circumstances require new discussions. We are not what we were," Ruri'iro admitted quietly. "But that doesn't mean that our life isn't worth living."

"I don't want to die, Ruri'iro; we merely disagree on how far we're willing to go to stay alive."

"I hope that when the time comes, you will go far enough," Ruri'iro said.

Yumichika didn't answer; he simply faded out of his inner world. As expected, Starrk and Lilynette were both deeply asleep, which gave him the perfect opportunity to slip away to the lake. He stripped his clothes off and swam until he was warm then lay on the rock. It was cold and in no way comfortable, but Yumichika would make do. It was the privacy that mattered.

He closed his eyes and imagined Starrk before him, head bowed and kneeling, repeating that word anything. He imagined grabbing Starrk by the hair and pulling him forward. He slid a hand over himself. His wet hand was a poor imitation of what Starrk's mouth would feel like, but imagination closed the gap well enough. His breathing became heavier as he imagined Starrk's hands sliding up his thighs, fingers digging into his hips as he struggled to take Yumichika in deeper. Yumichika came quietly; the last thing he wanted was a curious Lilynette finding him... or a worried Starrk.

When he opened his eyes, he found instead a combination: a curious Starrk.

"I wondered if you were leaving while we slept," he explained. "Is this a shinigami thing?"

"It's usually a private thing," Yumichika said dryly.

"I apologize," Starrk said, sounding not one bit apologetic. "Should I leave?"

"A bit late to ask that now. I'm finished."

"Why do you do it?"

Yumichika smiled at him. "Because it feels nice."

"Really? It didn't look like it," Starrk said doubtfully.

"Mmmm quite."

"Can I try it?" Starrk asked.

"If you'd like," Yumichika said, getting up. "It's not difficult. Just do what feels good. You'll know when to stop."

"That's quite unclear," Starrk said dubiously. "Can't you just show me?"

"Doing this act with someone else implies a degree of intimacy. It is often taken very seriously, and it can cause problems for people and between people."

"Because you share something that feels good between you?" Starrk asked, and his confusion was obvious. "Is this another silly Shinigami thing?"

Yumichika laughed. "I suppose. My life has occasionally been complicated by trying to keep this act uncomplicated."

"I promise no complications," Starrk said wryly. "Show me?"

That was more than Yumichika's self control was good for.

"Come here," he said softly, because this may very well only happen once. He stood to meet Starrk. "Traditionally, it starts like this."

He stepped into Starrk's space and cupped one hand to his cheek, curling the other around the back of his neck. He guided Starrk forward so their lips met. He kept the kiss gentle, although that was rarely his preference. Starrk leaned into the contact, and Yumichika pressed his tongue against Starrk's lips. Starrk, obligingly, parted them, and after a moment, slid his tongue against Yumichika's.

With Starrk understanding the basic idea, Yumichika let go of his face and neck in favor of running his hands up under Starrk's clothes. He touched the smooth skin of Starrk's stomach, then pulled away from the kiss.

"We do things we like," he said. "If you don't like it, tell me. If I tell you I don't like something, stop."

Starrk nodded. "Are we supposed to stop using our mouths now?"

Yumichika laughed. "Use your mouth as much as you like, wherever you like. What we were doing is called kissing. It's done that way between lovers."

"Are we lovers?"

"Nearly. Romantics call this ‘making love'. I prefer to call it sex. The words are synonymous, although some believe them to have different implications."

"Is the definition important to the action?" Starrk asked.

Yumichika laughed. "Not terribly."

"Good, then let's talk about it later. I'd rather do this," Starrk said, leaning forward to kiss Yumichika again. His hands on Yumichika's waist were warm and roughened by sand and wind. Yumichika didn't mind. For all that he'd taken care of his hands before Hueco Mundo, they had been unavoidably calloused by his zanpakuto; similarly, so had the hands of nearly everyone he'd taken as a lover. The coarseness was familiar.

Starrk, to Yumichika's delight and as he half expected, took as quickly to sex as he had to sword fighting. Whoever Starrk had been before he'd become a hollow, he hadn't been inexperienced, although given his occasional pauses and hesitance, Yumichika suspected that experience had been largely (or entirely) with women.

He didn't object, however, when Yumichika pulled him down, laying him out on his back on the ground, and pulling down the ill-fitting pants. Yumichika breathed lightly over his skin, simultaneously running his thumbs up the inside of Starrk's thighs. Whatever differences there may be between normal hollows and shinigami, it was clear that Starrk, at least, reacted like a man would. Yumichika pressed his lips to Starrk's cock, allowing just the tip of his tongue to slip out and tease.

"Please," Starrk begged, voice rough. His hand fisted at his side.

Yumichika met his eyes and grinned. "Do you even know what you're begging for?" he asked.

"I've got a pretty good idea," Starrk growled. "Yumichika…"

Yumichika laughed and obliged; later, if this happened again, he would show Starrk the power of anticipation, but he didn't terribly feel like denying himself at the moment. It had been a long time for him, too, and he wasn't sure if it was better or worse that he could remember it. His memories gave him plenty of fodder for fantasy, but he also knew exactly what he was missing.

Starrk's breathing sped up as Yumichika slid up and down him, and Yumichika was pleased that he had the good manners to hold still and not ram himself down Yumichika's throat--nor did he grab Yumichika by the hair and try to control his head. He didn't warn Yumichika before he came, but he also didn't look upset when Yumichika spit the stuff back out. Yumichika might enjoy the act, but he didn't care terribly for the result; slimy goo was nothing he cared to swallow.

Starrk closed his eyes and laid there as if he was capable of nothing more. Yumichika gave his inner thigh one more caress and moved to get his own clothes. Starrk caught his hand before he could more than start to move.

"You shouldn't leave without giving me the chance to return the favor," he said, opening his eyes. Yumichika's smile was rueful.

"Appreciated, but unnecessary. Also, impossible, I'm afraid. It will be awhile before I'm ready to go again."

"Do we lay together afterwards?" Starrk asked. "I remember nothing specific, but I am convinced that should come next. Or is that one of the complications you spoke of?"

Yumichika knelt down by him. "It is, or at least a symptom of those complications. It is common to sleep with your partner after the act, but done like this, between two men, intending for it to only happen once… generally, having sex is enough. There doesn't need to be anything more to it. It's simply a hook up, without implying that there is anything more expected, either in time or in emotional intimacy. Among shinigami men, it is common for these encounters to occur discreetly, with neither lingering at the time nor acknowledgement after."

"Because men who like men are not always well received," Starrk said.

"It is not forbidden, but discrimination is common enough. Ikkaku and my captain do not care, and obviously I myself am quite open with my affections, which means our division serves as a haven of sorts."

"Of sorts?" Starrk asked.

"We are a rough crowd. Not many find the freedom of our division to be worth tolerating our members," Yumichika said, grinning.

"And in the other divisions?"

"I've heard stories of harassment and violence. Harassment would be answered by violence in our division, but other divisions have a more verbal and less effective response to such things. Do you remember anything?"

Starrk shook his head. "Only the feeling that it is forbidden--shameful--but you didn't act like it was either." He smiled, and it was a colder expression than Yumichika had seen yet on him. "Then, too, I am a hollow now. What do I care if the shinigami or the living forbid it?"

"Precisely, my pretty hollow, at least with regards to sleeping with men." Yumichika tilted his head. "I would hope that your newfound understanding also means you will do this alone or with me, but not with Lilynette."

Starrk frowned. "Yes, but why is it different?"

"Because she's a child. Sex will cause her harm, even if she doesn't understand why it would."

Starrk closed his eyes. "I don't understand why it would." He waved a hand. "I believe you that it will. This damn knowledge without context agrees with you. I just don't understand why. This doesn't seem like a harmful thing."

"It is also a complicated thing, and children don't have the maturity or the experience for it. It is abuse for an adult to coerce or force a child this way--a betrayal of trust."

"I'm surprised you feel so strongly about it. You have been quite clear that you consider yourself a monster."

"I am a monster. It's not consideration; it's consensus. In this, however… this act destroys beauty. The ones who are broken by it, some recreate their beauty, and some never have a chance to be beautiful. I find that abhorrent."

Starrk sat up. "When I looked at you, all I felt was curiosity. When you kissed me, only pleasure. Now, I remember too much, and all I feel is shame. You didn't lie, when you called this complicated."

"I regret that it has become complicated for you," Yumichika said.

Starrk twined his fingers in Yumichika's, and Yumichika wondered if this hollow would stop surprising him at some point. "I don't want to be ashamed. Teach me how not to be?" He looked away. "I know I ask for a lot."

"This I don't mind giving you," Yumichika said. "It's not without benefit to myself, after all."

He leaned forward to kiss Starrk again. Starrk looked troubled, but kissed back willingly enough. Yumichika cleaned them both as best he could with kido and lake water, and then led Starrk back to the living cave. When Starrk took his hand again with a stubborn set to his jaw, Yumichika allowed it. He had never been a great fan of any displays of affection--public or not--considering them little more than the pathetic begging of clingy lovers.

Years of solitude could apparently make that line waver. He doubted any former lover would believe the degree to which he was indulging Starrk, but the contact was not unpleasant. Starrk curled up next to Lilynette, pulling Yumichika down behind him. Yumichika slipped an arm around his waist, pressing his lips into Starrk's neck briefly, before drifting off to sleep himself.

Starrk slept deeply and late enough into the morning that Yumichika began to worry that something was wrong, but Lilynette just shrugged.

"He sleeps a lot," she said.

All well and good, but that left Yumichika with a child to entertain. He could leave her alone, but he suspected from her energy and what he'd seen of her behavior that she'd be a pest when bored.

"How about a game?" he suggested.

"Yeah!" Lilynette said at a volume that was not quite a shout but not far off. She jumped to her feet. "What should we play?"

They were limited in their options with two people and few resources. Tag would be a fine idea in the sands, but restricting themselves to the caves made the game dangerous. Hide and seek in the treacherous darkness was an equally terrible idea.

"Have you ever played hopscotch?" Yumichika asked. Lilynette shook her head.

"What's that?"

"I'll show you."

Yumichika led her to another of the caves close by. It was larger and had a section of reasonably flat floor to accommodate jumping. Hado 27: Rend the Earth was put to the humbler and less elegant task of carving out a children's game, much to Lilynette's delight. He made the common ten in a connected, linear path but he expected that simplest version to become stale quickly. He numbered higher in more and more difficult arrangements: spirals of numbers, increasing space between them, smaller targets to land in--some not much bigger than a child's foot--some set up on rocks or down in crevices, a few set up on the walls where she'd have to bounce off them or learn to defy gravity, and the penultimate one hundred set on the side of a large stalactite directly above the number ninety nine.

"You may hit the last with your hands," Yumichika allowed. "The rest you must jump to. Use one foot unless there are two numbers together. If you or your rock land outside the number or even on the border, you have to start again!"

"My rock?" Lilynette asked.

Yumichika picked up a large pebble from the rubble in the cave and tossed it on the number one. "You toss it on the numbers in order. Whatever number the rock is on, you must skip over."

Lilynette eyed the increasingly difficult numbers scattered around the room with a new respect and slight apprehension.

"That's going to be hard," she said, but it wasn't a complaint. She all but quivered in anticipation of the challenge. She glanced at him. "You should go first!"

Yumichika didn't miss the way she carefully followed the order he landed in as he leapt carefully through the impromptu obstacle course hopscotch game. Someone else might have intentionally failed to allow the child to feel it was a fair competition. Yumichika did no such thing, hitting the small targets on the balls of his feet, cleanly in the center of every target, until he reached ninety nine. For the hundredth, he jumped straight up to it, kicked it lightly, then landed back on ninety nine and retraced his steps.

Lilynette wanted to be in the eleventh. He would show her what that meant and give her something to aim for.

"If you don't know your numbers, this game will teach them to you," Yumichika said mildly, handing the stone over to her.

Lilynette scowled and tossed the rock on the first number. She made it to a respectable twenty three before landing with her foot solidly on the line. She stomped back to Yumichika with a determined bite to her lip.

"Show me again," she demanded.

Yumichika tossed the rock on two, this time counting aloud as he jumped. Lilynette, on her turn, counted aloud as well. When her count faltered, Yumichika took over. Once she mastered the numbers, it would be an easy thing to add in a bit of math, make a puzzle out of it. Exhaust her and teach her all at once.

They were still playing when Starrk found them, likely by the noise of voices and the clatter of rocks. Lilynette explained the rules to him, words nearly tumbling over themselves in her excitement. At the end of it, she looked him over, hands on hips.

"You'd probably suck at it, though," she summarized.

"Probably," Starrk said placidly.

Lilynette kicked him viciously in the ankle. Starrk cried out and hopped backward on one leg, rubbing at the sore spot.

"Yeah, just like that," Lilynette said with bloodthirsty satisfaction. "You should give it a try. You can even use your good leg!"

Starrk's expression was decidedly glum, but the careful distance he kept from her made it clear he thought she wasn't finished with violence.

"Fine," he agreed. His attempt was worse than Lilynette's... more likely out of indifference than ineptitude, Yumichika suspected. He jumped along halfheartedly until Lilynette had exhausted herself, and then they returned to the living area.

With two chairs and three of them, there was no easy way to seat them all, a problem which Starrk solved by flopping down on the bed and closing his eyes. Lilynette glowered at him, and then demanded a story from Yumichika, which he obliged. Starrk, for all he feigned sleep, kept opening one eye slightly to watch Yumichika. It was a fine setup for Yumichika, who delighted both in being appreciated and sitting at the center of attention.

His personal reward for being both babysitter and tutor was to drag Starrk—quite literally, one hand in Yumichika's and one in Lilynette's—down to the cave for more sparring. Yumichika was not a teacher, but he had slaughtered (usually metaphorically) enough ambitious and incautious members of the eleventh to recognize that the rate at which Lilynette had improved was excellent and Starrk's was downright prodigal.

Yumichika was not sure at what point his skill would plateau, but Yumichika suspected that his indifference towards the art of violence would handicap him more than his skill. Starrk had not internalized what it meant to fight for something, even if that something was only yourself and your love of fighting.

Some people didn't learn how to fight for something until they risked losing it. Starrk seemed the type. Maybe he'd remember Yumichika's words if it came to that.

He left Starrk meditating again while Yumichika sparred with Lilynette. She needed more help with her swordwork anyway, and wearing her out again didn't hurt. He ensured she bathed, re-braided her hair, and left her sleeping before returning to Starrk.

"No progress," Starrk growled, opening his eyes.

"Expecting miracles is foolish. Hard work is the key to getting what you want," Yumichika returned, unbothered.

Starrk's eyelids dropped and he smiled. "What I want?" he repeated, voice low. Yumichika's breath quickened. That tone was new from Starrk but exceptionally familiar.

Starrk stood with slow and graceful control, never breaking eye contact, and sauntered towards Yumichika. The expression on his face was calculating in a way that was definitely not a turnoff for Yumichika. He stopped no more than an inch away, tilting his head down in a way that emphasized the height difference between them; Starrk was a tall man.

"You took care of Lilynette today," he said, a non sequitur.

"It was more interesting than staring at rocks," Yumichika said, tilting his head to the side and up. It was a terribly flattering angle, he knew.

"When I woke and you were both gone, I was worried that you'd done something to her." Starrk's voice was rough. "But she was safe and happier than I remember seeing her. You gave her that."

Yumichika's lips twitched into the ghost of a smile. "My pleasure."

"Yes," Starrk said, "it will be. You can have anything you want from me, Yumichika."

Yumichika's breath caught and his eyes went wide. He didn't know what look he gave Starrk, but Starrk's was one of pure satisfaction at whatever it was.

"Yes, I thought that might be the case," Starrk said. He moved his head toward Yumichika's, stopping when his mouth was a hairsbreadth from kissing. "Anything," he repeated, voice a growl that held both confidence and determination--and nothing of desperation. Yumichika could feel the heat of Starrk's breath ghosting over his lips, the barest touch of skin as he said the word.

And then Starrk dropped slowly to his knees until he stared up at Yumichika, supplicant and temptation. Yumichika forced himself to stay very still, or his self control would break and he would take what this foolish man didn't realize he was offering.

"You don't know what you're asking for, my pretty hollow," Yumichika said, voice tight.

"I think I do," Starrk disagreed. His voice was rough as he admitted, "I like the idea of having my power taken away from me. I like the idea of you taking my power away from me, and I think you do, too. So take what you want, my silly shinigami. I know how to say no."

Yumichika should say no. He should say no. He should-- "Use your mouth," he ordered. "Hands behind you."

Starrk obliged with his hands, but cocked an eyebrow at Yumichika. "There's nothing for me to use my mouth on," he pointed out, grinning slightly.

Yumichika grabbed him roughly by the hair before he thought, and fuck, they hadn't negotiated--but Starrk's smile had slipped in favor of a gasp that was not unhappy; his pupils dilated. Yumichika gentled his grasp.

"Is this okay, my pretty hollow?"

A spark of that humor twitched back into Starrk's mouth and his eyes focused a bit. "Still nothing to use my mouth on, silly shinigami."

Keeping a hand fisted in his hair, Yumichika found exactly what he wanted to use to shut Starrk up, hiking up his shihakusho and pressing Starrk's head down. Starrk took him in, mouth hot and eager, tongue playing against the shaft in a way that suggested both curiosity and experimentation but lit every nerve on fire regardless. He heard Starrk inhale, and then Starrk sank his mouth entirely down on the shaft.

Just as quickly, he jerked back. Yumichika let go of his hair as he did. The look Starrk shot him was disgruntled.

"That is not as easy as you made it look," he said sourly.

Yumichika laughed.

"You might need a bit more practice before you learn my tricks," he said gently.

"Hmm," Starrk said, eyeing him. He leaned forward and took Yumichika's cock back in his mouth, watching Yumichika's expression closely as he played over it with his tongue and mouth. He slid it deeper in, experimentally, and Yumichika could see the concentration, the struggle to get it deeper, to please Yumichika. He fisted the hand back in Starrk's hair, fighting to stay still and not fuck Starrk's mouth until he choked from it.

Starrk hummed again, pleased, as he tried to push slightly further. Gave up, pulled back, tried again. Sucked harder and gentler until Yumichika was fighting to stand. Getting a blowjob on his feet with nothing to brace against was a brutal competition between willpower and pleasure.

He growled and pulled Starrk off him and to his feet, kissing him harshly, hands moving to strip off first Starrk's clothes and then his own. A thin layer of cloth would be more comfortable than stone, if barely. Yumichika wanted nothing more than to bend Starrk over one of the nearby stones and make use of him, but the only lubricant in Hueco Mundo was water.

Yumichika pushed aside the image of Starrk's cries as Yumichika tried to slip inside him with nothing but water, the way his hands would scrabble at the rocks, the way his thighs would tremble. That would be a poor introduction to the activity.

Instead, he pushed Starrk down on his back, laying on top of the other man, pressing their bodies together, kissing him roughly.

"Hands above your head," he demanded when Starrk went to touch him. Starrk obeyed, eyes dark and breath harsh.

Yumichika took his time, teasing and licking and touching his way over Starrk's body, biting at his neck and enjoying every bit off cry and tremble, until Starrk could do nothing but writhe and beg, until he taught Starrk the true meaning of anticipation before he allowed him to come. Starrk lay still in the aftermath, breathing heavily and sheened with sweat, but he reached for Yumichika with clear intent.

"Oh, no," Yumichika ordered softly. "Hands above your head, pretty hollow."

Starrk stilled and replaced his hands. His eyes gleamed, half-closed and exhausted, but still curious. Yumichika knelt down by Starrk's chest and took himself in hand, basking in the beauty before him: that power, bound by his kido; that mind, overcome and quieted by his actions; that body, obedient to his wishes. His breathing grew harsh, and he leaned over Starrk's stomach, one hand resting on Starrk's thigh.

"I'm going to finish on you," Yumichika warned. "This is your opportunity to say no."

Starrk nodded slightly, cheeks flushing. "Mark me," he begged, voice low.

Yumichika finished on Starrk's stomach, aiming the splatter carefully away from the hollow hole's fascinating but unexplored physiology. Starrk shuddered and pressed himself tighter against Yumichika's legs.

"What do you need, Starrk?" Yumichika asked.

"Touch me. Let me touch you," Starrk answered immediately. Yumichika stretched out next to him, body half over Starrk's to partially pin him, one leg slung between the taller man's. He rested on his weight on his elbow, leaving his other hand free to cup Starrk's cheek.

"You may hold me," Yumichika allowed, and Starrk pulled his arms down, clutching at Yumichika like he was the only fire in this cold darkness, pressing his face into Yumichika's neck. Yumichika moved his hand to the base of Starrk's head, as reassuring a gesture as he could make.

"Are you alright?" he asked as Starrk relaxed into him.

"Recovering," Starrk admitted. "That was… intense. Good intense, but I didn't expect it. I… didn't expect how much I liked it. I told you before that I was a person, not a possession, but… for a moment there, I wanted to be. I wanted to be something possessed, and owned, and used."

"Marked and kept," Yumichika said. Starrk nodded.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, my pretty hollow. It's a certain kind of fantasy, and sometimes fantasies come from our experiences or are shaped by our pain. It doesn't surprise me that a lonely man wants to belong so completely, or that a man who hates his power enjoys being weak. We are happily compatible here. I enjoy being dominant. My usual proclivity is to mix pleasure and pain."

"I don't know if I would enjoy pain," Starrk said.

"I don't need you to," Yumichika countered. "I'm happy with what you're willing to give me for as long as we are both interested in this continuing."

Starrk pulled back slightly. "Even if it gets complicated?" he asked dryly.

"When you see the wider world, you will find better complications than me," Yumichika said with a little laugh. It was only the truth; Yumichika was ill-suited to being a long-term companion for anyone other than Ikkaku, and Ikkaku had always been disinclined towards men, even pretty ones.

Starrk relaxed his grip on Yumichika and laid back on the rock. He raised his eyebrows. "Yes, I'll just trust the Shinigami, whose purpose is to cleanse every hollow, even hybrids, and who are the kind of people who would kill you, their friend. No thank you, silly shinigami. If you stop being interested, you stop being interested, but don't fool yourself that I'll find someone better."

Yumichika kissed him. "I won't hold you to your nativity."

"I'll be gracious enough not to say ‘I told you so,'" Starrk countered. "Let me up, please. This is starting to itch." Yumichika laughed and rolled off him.

"The sand and cold water cleanup is easily my least favorite part of this."

"Mmm," Starrk agreed. "If we're going to continue, perhaps it would be worth making a second room like the one you live in, something with warm water and a more comfortable bed than rock."

"And privacy, so we can be loud without fear of your littler half," Yumichika said. "Some pieces of a new room will take longer than others."

"Hueco Mundo has nothing but time and sand," Starrk pointed out.

They cleaned themselves quickly and dried with kido-created wind. When they were clothed, Starrk stepped up to Yumichika and kissed him again.

"Thank you. I enjoy what we do very much," Starrk said. "I will learn not to be ashamed."

"Or you'll learn to enjoy your shame," Yumichika said, tilting his head at Starrk. The sharp inhale betrayed his startlement at the idea, but he didn't argue--merely took Yumichika's hand and led the way back through the caves to where Lilynette slept. Starrk curled up next to her, pulling Yumichika down behind him again.

Yumichika's days passed in increasingly difficult hopscotch games and increasingly skilled sparring; stories, lessons, and lessons disguised as stories; meditation; and time stolen with Starrk in a hidden room. They were limited in what they could do without toys or any kind of supplies, but there was plenty enough that two clever men could do with hands and tongues.

A hollow's hole was a lingering point of fragility, sized perfectly for a smaller hand: easy to grab and pull Starrk where he wanted; easy to slip his hand in and slam Starrk against the nearest wall, pinning him while wrist deep in that indeterminate something inside. With Starrk's strength poured into the reiatsu limiter, he could even be restrained with something as weak as stone-pinned cloth.

Yumichika tried to avoid thinking of what more they could do with what was available in Soul Society. That world would open to them or it wouldn't; longing for it only depressed him, and moping was ugly.

Starrk failed and failed and failed at meditation, until he didn't, and the whisper of power he had left vanished from the cave. Yumichika and Lilynette paused in their sparring. Yumichika expected him to look smug, but instead, Starrk looked peaceful.

"What did you do?" Yumichika asked, coming over to him. Starrk smiled.

"I am not a fighter, Yumichika. I am a lazy man who likes to sleep. I simply… put my power to sleep."

"May I?" Yumichika asked, gesturing at the limiter.

"Please," Starrk said. Yumichika touched it, manipulating the kido to give more of Starrk's power back to him, but the cave stayed empty of power. Starrk had the trick of it, and even with the limiter dead in Yumichika's hand, not a whisper escaped. Yumichika clutched the thing--no more than driftwood and string now--and sobbed terrible, ugly tears because he could finally leave this hell and go home.

He was aware of Starrk holding him, of Lilynette frantically tugging on his shihakusho, promising him it would be okay, whatever it was. He couldn't get the breath to explain he was crying because it was going to be okay. Until now, Yumichika hadn't given this ugly place a single tear, but the idea that this relentless darkness, cold, and sand might end was enough to break him down.

"It's alright, my silly shinigami," Starrk said, voice soothing. "We can leave any time. You can see your brilliant sun and eat your fill on food instead of reiatsu. We'll get real clothes and you can have a proper bath with whatever that shampoo stuff is--"

Yumichika found himself laughing as helplessly as he'd cried. "I don't believe for a minute you don't remember shampoo," he told Starrk.

"How can I know for sure until I see it?" Starrk said reasonably, the corner of his mouth twitching. "I can open a garganta right now, and you can show me."

Yumichika's breath caught in his throat because they really could leave this minute. There was nothing to pack, nothing to keep. Lilynette squealed.

"Let's go!" she demanded. "Right now, let's go!"

"Do you need time?" Starrk asked Yumichika. Yumichika kissed him, fierce and hard.

"Bring us to Soul Society," he demanded. "I will show you everything you've missed."

Starrk smiled and a garganta spun up next to them. Lilynette bolted through first. Starrk grabbed Yumichika's hand and sprinted after her, a wild smile on his face when he glanced back. The black of the garganta came and passed quicker than Yumichika could blink, and then they were in the sorely missed light of Soul Society's sun.

"It's so bright," Lilynette said, halfway between complaint and awe.

Starrk reached out to examine the leaves on one of the bushes. "I didn't realize how much different everything would look with your colors everywhere."

"Explore near here and avoid people," Yumichika said. "I'm going to go into whatever town is closest and find better clothes. I'll come back," he promised Starrk.

Starrk's smile was crooked. "I know you will, but even if you don't, we'll find new companions. You've given us the world."

Yumichika nodded and left in shunpo. He had to travel farther than he liked to find a large enough town, but where there was Rukongai, there was rot. He used shinigami speed to steal a festival mask and a scarf to hide the visible bones on his neck. After that, it was a simple matter of finding a source of money, clothes, and food. He was careful to wash the blood off himself afterwards.

It was an indulgence, but he delayed returning long enough to moisturize his sand-roughened skin and braid feathers into his hair. With new and flattering clothes, he could reasonably be seen in public! He was careful to take the mask off before approaching where he'd left Starrk and Lilynette. No sense in risking a mistaken identity. Lilynette had climbed up into one of the trees and was swinging from the branches. Starrk was lying in the sun, eyes closed.

"Yumichika!" Lilynette shouted happily, jumping out of the tree: dangerous, if she was the child she appeared to be, but extreme hopscotch had proven that her hollow hierro was resilient against something as mundane as a fall. Starrk's eyes opened and he sat up. His eyebrows raised.

"That's certainly a new look," he commented. Yumichika twirled.

"Do you like it?"

"It's nice. Differently nice. It's certainly interesting."

Yumichika laughed. "Don't worry. The outfits I have for you are not so outrageous."

"What about me?" Lilynette demanded.

"I brought you a rainbow," Yumichika promised.

Starrk's options were a mix of bright and subdued colors: a small selection, but enough to give him a choice in what he wore. Starrk went toward blue, cool but brilliant. Yumichika snatched the clothes away before Starrk could put them on.

"Let me show you soap, first," Yumichika said. "Bathe, and you may have all the clothes you want."

Starrk rolled his eyes, but complied. Once he was clean and dressed, Yumichika draped a scarf around his neck, swathing the bone jaw. He had an overly large straw hat for Lilynette. The horn from her mask poked through it, but Yumichika decorated the entire thing--hat and horn--with ribbons, feathers, cloth flowers, and dangling beads that clanked when she moved her head. The entire effect was terribly distracting, and the brim hid her face and its bone eye-patch from anyone other than another child. He tied the hat under her neck with a ribbon to keep it secured.

With the two of them washed and dressed to his satisfaction, Yumichika brought out the meat pies and presented them with a flourish.

"What's this?" Starrk asked.

"Real food. Are you hungry?"

There was an odd, confused expression on Starrk's face. "I am."

"Me, too!" Lilynette insisted. Yumichika handed over the pies, which were devoured with a lack of manners that made him wince. He ate his own more neatly, savoring the flavor--and the experience--of eating something other than flower petals.

"More!" Lilynette demanded.

"Are you still hungry?" Yumichika asked, genuinely curious. Starrk shook his head.

"No," Lilynette admitted reluctantly. "But it tasted good!"

"There will be plenty of food to taste later. Eating too much can make you sick. However..." He trailed off, looking expectantly at Lilynette.

"What? What?" she shouted, tugging on his sleeve.

"I did bring dessert." Yumichika pulled out two sticks of dango, handing one to the impatient Lilynette and the other to Starrk.

"This is amazing!" Lilynette said, first ball in her mouth. "I only want to eat this! This is so much better than the other thing!"

"But not as filling or nutritious," Yumichika pointed out. "You need strength to fight, and part of that is eating food that gives you strength."

"Okay," Lilynette agreed reluctantly, clearly torn between wanting ‘strength to fight' and sugar.

"As a consolation…" Yumichika reached once more into his pack and pulled out a wakizashi. Lilynette's eyes lit up. "It will do for now, until we have a chance to let you try different kinds and see what suits you."

Lilynette grabbed it from his hands. "You'd better watch out!" she crowed. "I'm one step closer to fourth seat!"

"Oh, good," Starrk said dryly. "You got my murderous other half a sword."

"Not only her," Yumichika corrected, pulling out a katana and holding it out hilt first.

Starrk took it without hesitation. "And I suppose you want to make sure we can use them before you let us near people."

"It isn't only pretext for a spar, my pretty hollow," Yumichika said, not denying it. "It's good sense to try your weapon before a shinigami recognizes you and tries to cleanse you."

Yumichika sparred with Lilynette first, both to tire out the impatient child and to give Starrk time to familiarize himself with the katana. When he had exhausted her, he gave her a thermos of cold water and a bag of nuts to snack on, letting her sit out of the way to watch. The fight with Starrk was what he had anticipated since he had taken the katana.

"A spar, silly shinigami?" Starrk asked, katana in hand and wariness in the tension in his shoulders. Yumichika smiled.

"A spar, my pretty hollow. I wish to fight you far more than once."

Starrk nodded and attacked.

Starrk with a reiatsu-reinforced stick in a cave was a good opponent. Starrk with a reiatsu-reinforced katana in an open area was… better than Yumichika could match without shikai. It had always been cheating--the worst kind of cowardice—to use his true shikai against the eleventh, and he had matched well against Starrk in the cave's limitations without it. Now, with Starrk moving so quickly in sonido that Yumichika was striking only afterimages, with him free to leap into the air out of range and return with a sudden jump in skill that proved Yumichika had guessed terribly, wonderfully right with his choice of katana…

"Split and deviate, Ruri'iro Kujaku!"

"We're still sparring!" Yumichika called out, reassurance counterpoint to the vines that now shot for any image of Starrk. Starrk still outmatched Yumichika's speed, but they were closer now, enough that Yumichika's experience let him anticipate enough to keep pace.

Then Starrk started firing ceros at Ruri'iro Kujaku's vines: ceros without warning or gesture that hit with the explosive force of a captain-class kido user. It was exhilarating to fight and unbearably beautiful. Yumichika flattered himself that after his time in Hueco Mundo and in bankai, he could give any captain in the Gotei 13 a decent fight, but if Starrk had Yumichika's temperament, Yumichika expected Starrk would even win against those captains.

Yumichika returned his zanpakuto to a sealed state. "I concede, pretty hollow!" he shouted, breathless from more than just exertion. Starrk landed in front of him.

"Satisfied?" Starrk asked with a pleased little smile. He made a startled sound when Yumichika grabbed him, kissing him with a ferocity that rivaled his emotional reaction to seeing Starrk so glorious. It was only the presence of Lilynette that gave Yumichika enough control not to slam Starrk into a tree and demonstrate exactly how much Yumichika had enjoyed their spar.

He could feel Starrk laughing even as he wrapped his arms around Yumichika and kissed back.

"I'll have to remember that," Starrk said, pulling back.

Lilynette ran into the two of them, one arm wrapping around each waist.

"Starrk kicked your butt, Yumichika!" she said cheerfully. "You need more practice or he's going to end up fourth seat instead of me!"

"If Starrk were fourth seat, I would have to keep challenging him for it," Yumichika said, giving Starrk a devilish grin. It was pure fantasy, of course; even the eleventh didn't accept hollows, no matter how impressive their martial prowess.

"There could be benefits to that," Starrk said, giving Yumichika a thoughtful look.

"Later," Yumichika promised. "For now, we should move on in case any ambitious shinigami comes to investigate."

Yumichika led them at what was closer to a meander than a hike, directing them away from the town he'd come from. He had left no witnesses, but it was better not to risk drawing shinigami attention. Like fighting the hollow king, slaughtering his way through an army of shinigami would be a glorious death, but once they sent the captains for him, there would be no more fighting. When his death came for him, Yumichika would meet it sword in hand, but he had no intention of throwing himself on its blade, especially not with the beauty of the world returned to him.

Starrk was content to walk beside him, but Lilynette ran wild through the trees, climbing and swinging and jumping, counting out imaginary games of hopscotch until she finally ran out of energy and fell asleep. Starrk slung her over his shoulder and kept moving.

"We can move faster if you'd like," Yumichika offered. Starrk shook his head.

"There's plenty new to see. Why rush?"

They walked along in silence for a short while longer before Starrk spoke again.

"I understand, now, why Hueco Mundo was such hell for you. We've been here less than a day and I can't imagine never seeing it again.

"If there was any debt between us, my pretty hollow, freeing me from that place would have paid it," Yumichika said softly.

"I prefer there be no debt between us," Starrk replied. "I want to be your companion and your friend, not your banker."

"I prefer the same," Yumichika agreed. He canted a sly smile at Starrk. "Food and clothing weren't the only things I brought back."

"Oh?" Starrk asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I'll demonstrate them later," Yumichika promised.

"Why not now?" Starrk suggested. "Lilynette will sleep for at least another hour, and there's no one nearby." A hollow's senses would know, and Lilynette, for all that she looked and acted like a child, had proven to be easily a lieutenant-strength hollow. No average plus soul trying to attack her would have an easy time of it.

"You will have to be very quiet," Yumichika said thoughtfully. "I could probably help with that."

"Please," Starrk begged, because he had no pride and knew exactly how to get what he wanted, knew exactly what that tone would do to Yumichika.

They tucked Lilynette under a tree, laying her on the spare clothes and tucking others over her. Yumichika slipped the items he needed out of it before leaving the pack for her to use as a pillow. Starrk followed him a short distance away--enough to muffle quiet noise, but not so far they wouldn't hear her if she woke and made a fuss.

"On your knees," Yumichika ordered. Starrk dropped gracefully in front of him, looking up with anticipation. Yumichika pulled the collar out, reiatsu-limiting kido blazing on the underside of it.

"You may say no, of course. It won't change what we do."

"Yes," Starrk breathed, and it was with hunger, not with fear. "Please."

Yumichika slipped the collar on him, tightening it until it was snug against the skin. "Let go of your power, pretty hollow. Trust it to me."

Starrk shuddered slightly and the kido swelled with his power, drinking it down until he swayed on his knees, clutching at Yumichika's kimono. He let go of his control, and his reiatsu was nothing more than a faint tickle in the back of Yumichika's throat. The collar wasn't locked; Starrk could remove it himself if they were attacked--or even if he chose. Yumichika knew he wouldn't. He wanted to obey… wanted to be powerless.

Yumichika pulled out the ball gag. They'd used cloth in Hueco Mundo, but Yumichika thought it lacked the elegance of leather straps… and the humiliation of drooling. Starrk accepted the gag, pupils blown with desire. Yumichika handed him a silk handkerchief to hold, more beautiful and pleasing than the scraps they'd used before.

"If you drop it, we stop," he reminded Starrk, who nodded his acknowledgement.

A pair of handcuffs were last. Starrk stared at them for a moment, then held his hands up over his head so Yumichika could slip them on. With his reiatsu unbound, they'd never hold Starrk, but with the collar on his neck, they were as good as unbreakable. He hauled Starrk to his feet by the chain between them and slammed his back against the nearest tree, arms up over his head.

Starrk's breath caught as he hit it--aroused, not winded--and Yumichika wasted no time drawing his zanpakuto. Starrk's eyes widened in reflexive fear, but his grip didn't waver on the silk. Yumichika leapt and drove his zanpakuto into the tree, right under the chain of the handcuffs. The upward angle of the sword would make it tricky to lift the cuffs off over it, effectively pinning Starrk to the tree with his hands in the air.

With malice aforethought, Yumichika had ensured that the shirts he brought for Starrk opened down the front. He undid the buttons, promising himself a slow tease later, but very aware of the potential time limit if Lilynette woke up. He licked and bit at Starrk's neck, collarbone, and nipples, dragging his fingernails up Starrk's sides and back, teasing his fingers under the waist of the pants.

Starrk let out a begging whine, wrists straining against the sword. Yumichika undid his pants, letting them slide down to his ankles, and then knelt and pulled them off one foot at a time. He looked up at Starrk, letting him understand his vulnerability--restrained, gagged, naked. Starrk was hard with it, and he made another frustrated whine.

Yumichika pulled the lube out of his pocket and uncapped it, pouring a bit onto his fingers: unpretty and messy, but necessary. He nudged Starrk's thighs open and massaged one finger against the outside of his hole. Starrk jolted, made a noise that could have been surprise or protest. Yumichika waited, but the silk stayed in hand, and after a second, Starrk relaxed, opening his thighs wider in invitation.

Yumichika massaged the outside of the hole again, back and forth, then tracing the rim. Starrk relaxed further as he did. Yumichika pressed the tip of one finger in, teasing. Slid the tiniest bit in and out. He pulled away, appreciating Starrk's muffled protest at the loss. He added more lube and returned to teasing the outside, then pressed in further, slow and tantalizing. Starrk made an aggravated noise and wiggled, trying to push down on the finger. Yumichika allowed it, but only because he had taken away Starrk's other ways of communication.

He took Starrk's cock in his mouth, one deep thrust to the back of his throat, simultaneously pushing into Starrk. Starrk whined and bucked into his mouth. Yumichika glanced up, but the silk was still in hand. He sucked hard coming out, slipping down more gently, and repeated it in sync with his finger, giving Starrk time to get used to being finger fucked.

He slid a second finger in, enjoying Starrk's inadvertent clench and the reluctant stretch. He wondered if Starrk was one of those men who had enjoyed prostate stimulation--assuming hollows had the equivalent--and he angled his fingers to thrust against where it should be.

"The problem with gags is I can't hear you beg," he lamented before going back down on him.

As rushed as they potentially were, Yumichika ensured Starrk enjoyed it, reducing him to quiet, frantic moans, straining wrists, and trembling. Starrk's back arched as he came. Yumichika spat and stood, taking himself in hand. He leaned forward to whisper in Starrk's ear, pressing their sides together as he jerked off.

"If you were more experienced in such things, I would lift your leg and thrust into you. I would shove myself with no gentleness into your slick hole and make use of you. I would see if you could come from nothing but my cock inside you--"

Starrk made a frustrated noise and dropped the scarf. Yumichika stopped immediately and pulled off the ball gag.

"Do exactly that, you silly shinigami," Starrk growled.

"You should have a gentler first time than this," Yumichika disagreed. He wanted Starrk to like this activity, not be put off entirely. "You won't enjoy it."

"I enjoy your pleasure," Starrk countered. "You give me so much; let me give you this. You taught me how to say no if it's too much."

In this way, Yumichika was a weak man.

"You will say no if I'm causing you harm--or even if you find it unpleasant."

"Of course," Starrk agreed, more peaceable now that he was getting his way. Yumichika slid two fingers back into Starrk, and he opened around them easily. Yumichika gave it a few strokes--both for himself and for Starrk. Starrk was breathing carefully, but he gave Yumichika a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, not too sensitive anymore. Keep going."

"Are you very sure?" he asked.

"Do it," Starrk said, and there was nothing hesitant or unsure in tone or body language. That didn't mean he knew what he was getting into; Yumichika still remembered the first time Starrk had gone down on him… and his response to discovering he had a gag reflex.

He grabbed Starrk's thigh with his right hand, opening his legs and lifting him away from the tree. Starrk took his weight on the cuffs, angling his hips to give Yumichika better access. Yumichika grabbed his cock in his left hand and pressed the tip against Starrk's hole. It opened for him slick and easy. Yumichika kept his eyes on Starrk's face; Starrk kept eye contact, his breathing even. The only sign of strain was the way his lips pressed together, but he stayed quiet as Yumichika pushed slowly in.

His hips came to rest gently against Starrk's ass and he couldn't help rocking against him, trying to be closer than was physically possible. Starrk's breathing grew ragged and he wrapped his legs around Yumichika's waist, freeing Yumichika's hand and taking some of the weight off his own shoulders.

"Is this all you're going to do?" he demanded, clenching down on Yumichika. Yumichika couldn't resist that kind of challenge. He grabbed Starrk's ass with both hands right where it met his lower back, helping to take the weight and brace them both as he started moving his hips.

Starrk turned his head and bit at the collar of his shirt, trying to muffle the desperate whines. His cock bounced on his stomach, small and flaccid. Yumichika knew the state was from Starrk's recent orgasm, he knew Starrk was enjoying himself, but the sight of him pinned against the tree: limp, bound, shoulders staining, thighs trembling, hands fisting desperately together… He could imagine so easily that Starrk wasn't there by choice, that he had gagged himself because he knew begging would do no good, that he was so tight from resistance instead of cooperation, that he was nothing more than a hole forcibly taken, a thing hung up and used against a tree where anyone could see him…

Yumichika pressed his forehead into Starrk's shoulder as he came.

He rested there for a long moment as his breathing settled, then pressed a kiss to the shoulder and pulled gently out. Starrk unwrapped his legs and Yumichika lowered him back to the ground. He should probably release him—Starrk's shoulders had to be an aching inferno by now—but he couldn't resist pressing close and going up on tiptoe to kiss Starrk.

Starrk kissed him back briefly before pulling back.

"Free my hands so I can hold you."

Yumichika released the straps on the handcuffs, rubbing gently at the skin on the wrists. Starrk rolled his shoulders a few times, and then pulled Yumichika into a hug.

"Are you okay, my pretty hollow?" Yumichika asked, trying to bury his uneasiness. Was this the thing that was too much? Starrk hadn't said no, but he hadn't been encouraging, either. Had still been a little oversensitive from his own orgasm. Hadn't even been able to get hard. Everything felt very fragile suddenly; he felt very fragile in a way he didn't understand. He'd played these games before.

But not with someone he genuinely cared for.

Starrk kissed his head, right above the bone crown. "I'm fine, my silly shinigami. It was very intense."

Yumichika pulled back enough to see his face; Starrk was smiling slightly.

"The expressions on your face… I only wish I could have seen you come. Truly, Yumichika, I'm alright. I promise." His smile widened, crinkling the corners of his eyes. "Usually it's you comforting me. It's nice to be able to take care of you, for once."

Yumichika buried his head back in Starrk's shoulder and allowed himself to be held, to understand he hadn't ruined this with his impatience. Starrk stroked the back of his head.

"Can you tell me why this affected you so much?"

"I imagined you weren't willing," Yumichika admitted.

Starrk huffed a little laugh. "That did it for you, huh? My sparkling sadist."

Yumichika didn't feel like a sadist; he felt like he was hollow in truth, gutted of the monster that usually lived just under his skin, empty and shaky in a way he couldn't remember being. Starrk's arms felt comforting around him in a way he would never normally permit. His brain felt like it had been hijacked.

"It's fine, Yumichika. I enjoyed it in a delightfully unenjoyable way. I would be very enthusiastic about playing that sort of game again as a more engaged participant."

Being held, the gentle fingers through his hair, the acceptance in Starrk's soothing words… It was all annoyingly effective at settling him back in his skin. Yumichika made a disgruntled noise. Starrk's chest shook against him as he tried to suppress a laugh. Yumichika pinched him viciously. Starrk cursed and flinched, but didn't let him go.

Lilynette was still safely asleep when they came back to her, and Starrk slung her over his shoulder without waking her. They made a curious sight for the houses they passed, but this far out, no one risked questioning them. Unfortunately, once the initial elation of being free from Hueco Mundo passed, Yumichika was reminded of how much the outer Rukongai was mostly… boredom, with the occasional moment of attempted murder or thievery. Better than endless dark sands, but Yumichika was starting to crave the luxury of the inner districts.

But that invited shinigami, and captains, and that last, glorious fight. Yumichika might have made that trade if he was alone, but he was enjoying the secondhand delight of his companions. And there was so much more to explore with Starrk in bed. Perhaps he was mellowing in his old age; perhaps returning to civilization had dulled his sharpness.

Perhaps he had started to love living more than he loved chasing death.

It took longer for Starrk and Lilynette, but after weeks of mostly the same food, of kids who stared warily and refused to play, of the small town standoffishness towards weird strangers, they were growing bored as well. Yumichika had been with the Eleventh and before that with Ikkaku, spinning in their own cyclone of bloody destruction. The outer districts treated him very differently when he didn't have a knife to their throats. He did not appreciate the change, and the only reason he hadn't sent a flood of souls into the reincarnation cycle was the frustrating awareness that he wouldn't be the only one to pay the price of a Kenpachi-level bloodbath.

Lilynette broke the impasse, aiming a kick at Starrk.

"This is dumb. Everything's the same. Show us the living world next!"

Starrk looked at Yumichika, who shrugged.

"No one will be able to see us, but there is much more to see."

Starrk nodded and opened a garganta. On the other side was a nondescript town, quiet and mundane.

"Why here?" Yumichika asked.

Starrk shrugged. "It was easiest to open one here."

Before Yumichika could demand what that meant, they felt the rise of reiatsu—Shinigami and hollow—nearby.

---

A single word kido binding slammed into the two hollows Ikkaku was fighting, throwing them back. He turned to snarl at whoever dared to interfere in his fight, only to be met by the sight of a dead man stepping up to his side. Even with his face half-masked, Ikkaku would know Yumichika and his feathers anywhere. He was, if anything, more feathered than Ikkaku remembered.

"Our deal was that I stayed out of your fights as long as you gave me my share of the opponents. You may have one hollow or the other, Ikkaku; not both," Yumichika said, like he'd never left. Like this was normal.

"Yumichika," Ikkaku said.

"Alive and mostly intact," Yumichika said lightly with a flamboyant flip of his wrist.

"Intact? You have a mask," Ikkaku pointed out, raising his sword. Yumichika must had died in Hueco Mundo decades ago; only hollows came out. And the hollows were Aizen's.

"My time in Hueco Mundo has disfigured me," Yumichika lied. It must be a lie, unless he counted dying as disfiguration.

"Disfigured, right. Take that mask off, Yumichika, if you can," Ikkaku demanded, because the last kindness he could give his friend was konso.

"So suspicious!" Yumichika tilted the mask up slightly, wiggling the fingers of his other hand under it, which no hollow could have managed, even if they'd disguised the bone. Ikkaku felt hope for the first time since that terrible assignment. "It's a cosmetic mask, nothing more. My face is no longer beautiful, and I don't want it seen."

Which was completely in character. Yumichika was the most vain, bloodthirsty bastard Ikkaku had ever met.

"How are you alive?" Ikkaku asked.

"Perhaps we should discuss that after we finish our fights," Yumichika suggested. "Pleasure before business, after all."

As much as Ikkaku wanted answers immediately, he had an assignment and he didn't intend to fail it.

The arrancar were not easy opponents, and Ikkaku had to bring his shikai out to win. Yumichika fought with nothing but his zanpakuto, and it was obvious that his time in Hueco Mundo had only made him more deadly. Even in shikai, Ikkaku had difficulty following Yumichika's unaltered speed. His ruthlessness hadn't changed, however, and his sword by all appearances still gave konso. With their opponents dead, they should reinforce their allies, but Yumichika had always been Ikkaku's weakness.

"How are you alive?" he asked again.

"Did you expect me to die because you left me there?" Yumichika asked, smile cruel.

"I tried to find you! We're not the twelfth. The captain commander rejected Captain Zaraki's demand to rescue you. I even went to Kurotsuchi. I begged. No one would help us rescue a fifth seat who was probably dead," Ikkaku said bitterly.

Yumichika's smile became more genuine. "They should have known better. The eleventh are hard to kill."

Ikkaku shook his head. "Come on, we're not that hard to kill. Not after two decades in the desert. Unless there's more to Hueco Mundo than we've heard?"

"Water is scarce, but I know kido to create it. It is not completely unknown in Hueco Mundo, either. There was a lake under the mountains," Yumichika said.

"But even if you had water, what did you eat?" Ikkaku asked.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Yumichika asked. "What do you think there is to eat in Hueco Mundo?"

Ikkaku felt sick. Yumichika laughed.

"I assure you, the hollows were eager enough to eat me. It was only fair I returned the favor."

The two of them had done terrible, desperate things in the Rukongai to survive, but cannibalism—

"Yumichika!" a young girl shouted from down the block. "There's some kids in trouble!"

Ikkaku cursed. "That'll be Ichigo and his friends. Aizen must have sent more than these two."

"Aizen sent these hollows?" Yumichika demanded. "Captain Aizen?"

"He's not a captain anymore," Ikkaku corrected. "And you've been in Hueco Mundo. You should know."

"Know what?"

"Aizen's betrayed the Gotei 13. He's been creating these hybrid hollows—calls them 'arrancar.' They're a hell of a lot more powerful than regular hollows."

Yumichika pointed his zanpakuto in a graceful sweep towards the sounds of combat. "Shall we find out how powerful they are?" he asked, with that same damnably eager smile.

The answer: not more powerful than a reunited Yumichika and Ikkaku, and that was two of Aizen's creatures that Yumichika had destroyed. It could be a trap, a way to gain their trust—how much care would a traitor have for his new forces?—but… maybe Ikkaku was an idiot. He wanted to believe. He wanted his best friend back.

Once Ichigo and his tag-alongs had been rescued, Ikkaku had time to examine Yumichika's companions more closely. The man was sedately dressed, with shoulder length brown hair and a faded goatee. He wore a katana, but hadn't drawn it. The child—his daughter?—looked like a paint pallet had been upended on her, complete with gaudy straw hat, but she was armed with the paired wakizashi.

"Who are your friends?" Ikkaku asked.

"Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck," Yumichika answered, glancing over at them. The man was drifting closer, girl following. He examined Ikkaku neutrally, but the girl glared.

"Where did you meet them?" Ikkaku asked with warranted suspicion.

Yumichika hesitated. "I ended up in the outer districts when I escaped," he said. "I met them there."

"And how did you end up here, in the living world?" Access to the senkaimon was extremely restricted, and the timing…

"I was in Hueco Mundo for a long, very boring time. Do you think it's that hard to learn to travel between worlds?" Yumichika asked.

Maybe it was stupid of him, but Ikkaku wanted to believe. Would have fallen for the explanation, except the girl was looking at Yumichika like he was crazy.

"You're brilliant, Yumichika, but you were alone with nothing but sand and stone. If it wasn't a garganta, if you do have a kido that crosses worlds, prove it," Ikkaku demanded.

Yumichika's "explanation" only reinforced that no matter how miraculous his return, things were fundamentally, irrevocably changed between them. Yumichika had always been a liar, but not to Ikkaku.

Starrk stepped forward, putting a hand on Yumichika's arm.

"We traveled by garganta. He rescued us from Hueco Mundo, but we're the ones who brought him here," Starrk explained.

"You're hollows," Ikkaku said flatly.

"Not Aizen's hollows," Yumichika insisted lightly. Ikkaku ignored him.

"You're hollows from Hueco Mundo, and he rescued you," Ikkaku repeated to Starrk.

"He did," Starrk said placidly. "And I rescued him in return. Lilynette and I have never met this Aizen. Hueco Mundo is a large place, and we didn't associate with other hollows. I didn't even know someone claimed to be king until Yumichika killed the hollows that tried to recruit him."

"But you brought them here. Now." Their presence was too unreal, too impossible.

Starrk shrugged. "The timing is coincidence; the place isn't. It was easiest to come here, so this is where we came."

Ikkaku didn't know enough about kido or traveling between the worlds to know if they were lying. More: he didn't want to kill Yumichika, assuming he even could.

"I'll take you to Urahara," Ikkaku decided. "He knows more about all of this than me, and he can probably put you up for the night." He'd almost certainly be able to tell if there was something wrong with Yumichika and his friends. "He's not with the Gotei 13 either," Ikkaku added.

"Urahara? The one who turned those captains and lieutenants into hybrids?" Yumichika's incredulity was evident even with half his face hidden. Ikkaku missed those damn feathers he hung from his eyebrows. He'd spent so long trying to get Yumichika to stop wearing the ridiculous things, and look: he had his wish. He'd do anything to take it back.

"It's complicated. Aizen was behind that, too."

---

Ikkaku led them to a shop, of all things, knocking brusquely on the door.

"Urahara, open up. I have guests."

The door swung open, revealing a blond man with an atrocious haircut in a green and white striped hat that should be burned.

"Guests, hmm? Who are they?" Urahara asked, examining them.

"Yumichika Ayasegawa, former member of the Eleventh. And his friends, Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck."

"Hollows," Urahara said, tilting his head.

"They're reformed," Yumichika added, placing a hand casually on his zanpakuto.

"And you're Ikkaku's Yumichika, who was lost to Hueco Mundo, quite suspiciously alive and conveniently here, ready to be taken into our confidence."

Yumichika drew Ruri'iro Kujaku, heedless of any allies Urahara had in the building behind him, of Ikkaku who might think him one of Aizen's, of anything except rage at his loyalty being questioned by a traitor shopkeeper.

"I fight for the eleventh," he spat. "I have done my duty even in that hell, and I serve no hollow king."

He was aware of Starrk at his shoulder, hand on his katana despite the unhappy look on his face.

"Could we please not die over something as pointless as honor?" Starrk asked, a plaintive note in his voice. He yelped as Lilynette kicked him. She had her sword out entirely.

"Honor's not pointless," she said fiercely. "Sticking around these assholes is pointless. All they're gonna do is insult us and make Yumichika sad."

Urahara's eyebrows raised. "Sad?"

Lilynette poked Yumichika in the back. "What's your rank?"

"Fifth seat of the eleventh," he said automatically.

"See?" she demanded. "You're gonna make him fight even though he thinks you're his companions. But you're not. You're just shinigami jerks!"

Ikkaku snorted. "Since when does it make Yumichika sad to fight? I doubt Hueco Mundo changed him that much."

"You are so very certain he's your friend," Urahara commented to Ikkaku, "but he arrived when Aizen's arrancar did in the company of yet more arrancar. And…" Urahara pulled his hand away from his side, showing the device in his palm with a flourish. "Your friend shows as much hollow reiatsu as the arrancar do."

"What's he talking about?" Ikkaku demanded, betrayal not quite kept from his voice or face.

"Yumichika," Lilynette said uncertainly, tightening her grip on her sword. Yumichika put a hand on her head.

"It was a good illusion," he said wistfully, "that we could be friends again, Ikkaku."

He reached up and pulled off the festival mask, showing the stark bone against his forehead. He dropped it to the ground and unwound the scarf from his neck, exposing the bone that armored it.

"The Gotei Thirteen has no tolerance for hybrids, as you are quite aware, Captain Urahara," Yumichika added.

"So you are with Aizen," Ikkaku said harshly.

"I don't throw in with traitors. I die as I served: in the eleventh," Yumichika said coldly.

"Wait, hold up. If you're not with Aizen, why are we fighting?" interjected the orange-haired kid peeking from behind Urahara, the one Ikkaku had called Ichigo. He looked between them, confused. "Are we really talking about killing them just because they're part hollow?" He sounded a little lost as he said it.

"I haven't been talking about killing them at all," Urahara said dryly. "Everyone keeps jumping to very violent conclusions."

Lilynette's fist clutched protectively at Yumichika's sleeve. "Yumichika said you'd kill him for being part-hollow. That you'd kill all of us for being part hollow."

"It is the policy of the Gotei Thirteen," Yumichika reminded them all.

"So? We're not in the Seireitei," Ichigo insisted. "If you haven't done anything, why would we kill you? Those stuck up bastards were going to execute Rukia for something that wasn't even her fault. Ikkaku, this guy's your friend. You're going to turn your back on him?"

Ikkaku straightened up. "Of course not," he growled.

"If you're not with Aizen, then we have no problem with you," Ichigo said.

"Although if you aren't, however did you become part hollow?" Urahara asked. Yumichika didn't miss the suspicion in the question.

"They say you are what you eat," Yumichika said lightly. Ichigo made a face, but Urahara didn't flinch.

"An interesting hypothesis, but quite incorrect," Urahara replied. "Hollows don't provide sustenance, nor would eating them cause hollow reiatsu to integrate with your own. But Aizen's hogyoku could have restored to you a semblance of your shinigami form if he made you an arrancar."

Yumichika smiled, suddenly at peace; he had anticipated this moment since he had first realized his corrupted state. Now that it was here, there was nothing to do but to enjoy his last fight. He only regretted that Starrk and Lilynette might follow him into konso. "I have no answer I will give you."

"This is where you stand your ground?" Starrk demanded. "This is the secret you're going to die over?"

"This was always the secret I was going to die for," Yumichika reminded him.

"You stubborn, idiot shinigami!"

"Yes, my pretty hollow." Yumichika would die here, for his honor and his secrets. He had hope that Starrk would either win or run with Lilynette.

"Wait, so he is with Aizen?" the kid asked.

"No!" Starrk snapped. "He's an uncompromising, honorable fool who doesn't appreciate what he has."

Ikkaku pushed in front of Yumichika, empty handed and furious. "This is not happening. I just got you back. I'm not losing you over some stupid secret."

"It's hardly stupid," Yumichika snarled, stung out of his sense of calm. "I'm not making this stand on a whim."

"Then what?" Ikkaku demanded. "You can't be worried about my opinion of you. I've seen what you do to your enemies—what you enjoy doing to your enemies. If I don't care that you're part hollow, what can you possibly think is worse?"

There was a swift, unexpectedly hard kick to Yumichika's ankle. "You!" Lilynette snarled, kicking at him again. Yumichika dodged. "Are!" Another kick dodged. "Overreacting!" A fourth kick, also dodged. "Be an adult! Talk to your stupid friend! Argh, why are shinigami so dumb?"

Yumichika spread his hands. "The respect of my comrades is more important to me than my life."

Ikkaku went deadly quiet. "Yumichika. Is this about kido? You stupid idiot! I know you must have used kido to survive in Hueco Mundo."

Yumichika covered his face with his free hand. "I used," he said, with deliberate precision so his voice did not break unbeautifully, "my kido-type zanpakuto to sustain myself by absorbing the energy of the hollows I fought."

The street went terribly, ominously silent.

"Okay, wait, is that it?" Ichigo demanded. "That's the terrible secret? Are you kidding me?"

Starrk sighed, but he moved up to put his arm around Yumichika.

"I can't believe it… did you just lie?" Ikkaku asked, voice rough. "Yumichika, I've seen your shikai. It's melee, just like the rest of us."

"A partial release," Yumichika explained, lowering his hand. Ikkaku was owed that, at least, now that he knew. "If I called my zanpakuto by the nickname he hated, he would allow me only a part of his power and appear to be a melee blade."

"What's the big deal?" Ichigo asked. "Nobody chooses their zanpakuto, right? It's just part of who you are."

"Kido is a coward's weapon. People with kido-type blades are inherently cowards and not allowed in the eleventh," Yumichika explained, ignoring Ikkaku's dawning horror. It was no less than he deserved. "So you see, I used a forbidden weapon, and it corrupted me. What point was there in trying to return? There was no place for me anymore with my companions and nothing left to do but fight."

"You have a place with me. Of course you have a place with me," Ikkaku growled. "You're my friend, you asshole. How could you doubt that you'd be welcome? How could you refuse to come home?"

"He's a very silly shinigami," Starrk said dryly, and shoved him without warning into Ikkaku's arms. Ikkaku wrapped him into a hug, fierce and unhesitating. Yumichika returned it slowly.

"I don't understand," Yumichika said. "I've heard what you think of kido zanpakuto."

"I have mourned you for a decade," Ikkaku said harshly. "And you spent that time alone, fighting for your soul against a world full of hollows. How could I think you're a coward?"

Yumichika breathed very carefully to keep from crying. Crying beautifully was three parts control, one part genetic luck, and if he started now, it was unlikely he could keep from sobbing in the most ugly fashion.

"Are we settled now?" Starrk asked. "No one's going to try to kill anyone?"

"If you're not with Aizen and you're not planning to eat anyone, I don't see any reason to fight," Ichigo said bluntly.

"We haven't eaten anyone that I can remember," Starrk said. "I prefer the food Yumichika's been bringing us regardless. It's less work," he added with a smile.

"How did you meet Yumichika?" Ikkaku asked, pulling back.

"We felt his reiatsu in the desert and thought he might be strong enough to live if we met him," Starrk explained. "Before he taught us to control our power, no one could come close to us."

"Wait, no one?" Ichigo asked. Urahara tipped his hat in interest.

Starrk shrugged. "They were all ripped apart. Yumichika made me a reitsu limiter to use until I learned control, but he's the first being we remember ever speaking to."

"That sounds awful," Ichigo commented.

"It was. Lilynette and I used to be one soul, but we split in half so we wouldn't have to be alone anymore. So you understand, don't you, why we won't leave Yumichika. He rescued us from our hell as much as we rescued him from his."

"Starrk—" Yumichika started.

"You've said your piece. I've said mine," Starrk said bluntly. "I'm not leaving unless you ask me to, and I'm not going to ‘find anyone better,' you silly shinigami. My loyalty is nothing you get a say in. You're only allowed your choices, not mine."

Ikkaku made a noise of understanding, and the look he gave Starrk was speculative. "Hot damn, Yumichika. You had to all the way to fucking Hueco Mundo to find one with spine."

"Ah," Urahara said, looking between Yumichika and Starrk. Starrk shot him a wary look back.

"Is there going to be a problem?" Starrk asked, slouching down and looking away. It made him look both non-threatening and non-confrontational, but Yumichika was familiar with deceptive body language. It was easy to pretend not to be a threat when you could move as fast as Starrk did.

"The opposite, I'd think," Urahara said thoughtfully. "How long have you been together?"

Yumichika laughed. "How could anyone tell in that place? Longer than months, less than years."

"The new king of Hueco Mundo tried to recruit you right after we met," Starrk said, tapping a finger on his katana. "You killed those hollows near the caves."

"I killed a lot of hollows near the caves, but you're right. We stayed under the mountain for weeks after that." Yumichika shot Ikkaku a wry smile. "I thought about killing a hollow army to fight a hollow king. It seemed a terribly grand way to die, but I put it off because Starrk and Lilynette were the first new thing to happen to me since I was trapped there."

Starrk turned to Urahara. "Yumichika's reiatsu limiter made my presence vanish abruptly, which made the hollows think he killed me. Any hollow strong enough to kill the faceless hunger would be a good target for recruitment. Yumichika declined."

"Pointedly," Yumichika added with a grin.

"If you know how long this Aizen has been recruiting hollows, you probably have a good idea of how long we've known each other," Starrk said with a shrug. "I don't think you're correct, however, to equate time with commitment. It undervalues events in favor of longevity."

"I'd hate to do that," Urahara said dryly. "If we're not going to fight to the death, you might as well come in."

There were too many of them to fit around Urahara's small table, so Starrk unwound the scarf from his neck, revealing the sharp-toothed bone jaw, folded it up neatly, then flopped down on the floor and used it as a pillow. He closed his eyes, to all appearances asleep. Ikkaku looked at Yumichika incredulously.

"He's probably faking it," Yumichika offered, kneeling at the table. Ikkaku, Urahara, and Ichigo joined him while Lilynette wandered the room. "Why in the world did Aizen leave the Seireitei for Hueco Mundo? There are better beaches. Ones with water."

Ikkaku snorted. "Power, what else?"

"There's no power worth that," Yumichika said flatly. "He's one shinigami. Is his army of hollows that impressive? Why haven't the captains stepped in?"

"Because of the nature of his shikai," Urahara said blandly.

"His shikai?" Yumichika demanded. "You can't mean to tell me that his shikai is a match for the captain commander's bankai. That's ridiculous."

"Not the strength, the nature. If you have seen his shikai, he can trap you at any point in an illusion, whether his zanpakuto is released or not. And all the captains have seen his shikai over the centuries," Urahara explained. "We would be very easy to turn against each other."

"What about captain-level fighters?" Yumichika asked, carefully not looking at Ikkaku.

"Unfortunately, we have none," Urahara shrugged.

"He means me," Ikkaku cut in. "He's not fishing for information, so quit it with the paranoia. He's talking about my bankai, but he's still trying to keep my secrets."

"They know?" Yumichika demanded.

"They do now," Ikkaku scowled, crossing his arms and glaring.

Urahara's eyebrows raised. "You have bankai?"

"Yeah, what of it? I don't want to leave the eleventh," Ikkaku said curtly. "And I'm not ready to challenge Captain Zaraki."

"Achieving bankai is what drew Starrk and Lilynette to find me," Yumichika confessed. "Perhaps, when this is over, we can find a place to see whose is stronger."

Ikkaku's return grin was as bloodthirsty as Yumichika's. Yumichika looked over at Urahara. "As for Aizen, I have also never seen his shikai." Why would a random fifth seat of the isolationist eleventh have warranted Aizen seeking him out? "I will happily show him the fate of traitors. And I have never met a hollow of Starrk's power. His reiatsu is stronger than Captain Zaraki's. I would bet on his skill against any lieutenant and most captains… if you can convince him to fight."

Starrk shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm not a violent man, but I will defend what's important to me. If Yumichika fights for you, I'll be there."

"We'll be there," Lilynette corrected aggressively.

"You're a kid," Ichigo protested, entirely hypocritically in Yumichika's opinion. "You should be playing or making friends, not fighting!"

"Pfft," Lilynette scoffed. "Who's gonna make friends with a hollow?"

"I'll introduce you to my sisters," Ichigo said determinedly. "As long as you promise to be careful with them, because they're human and pretty easy to hurt accidentally."

Starrk put a hand on her head. "Lilynette is as strong as your lieutenants, and she's brave enough to defend what's hers."

"Yeah!" Lilynette agreed.

"That doesn't mean she should fight!" Ichigo argued. Starrk met his gaze evenly.

"I was talking about protecting your sisters if any of Aizen's hollows got past us."

"Oh," Ichigo said softly, looking stunned.

"Starrk—" Lilynette started.

"I know you want to protect me," Starrk interrupted. "I want to protect you, too. I'd rather keep you in sight, but Ichigo isn't going to be able to fight and protect his sisters. This is what it means to have comrades—sometimes we take risks to keep them safe." Sneaky Starrk; even if he'd rather keep her in sight, she would be safer away from the fight.

"They might not even like me," Lilynette argued.

"But Ichigo does," Starrk countered, silently daring Ichigo to make him a liar. "Do you want him to be sad?"

"That's cheating," Lilynette grumbled.

"It's irrelevant for the moment," Urahara interjected. "We've thwarted Aizen's hollows from taking Ichigo's friends. All that's left is to guard Karakura until he makes his next move. If, however, you wish to spar with your friend, I know a place you can use."

And Urahara would have the chance to see how Yumichika fought; no matter. A man could examine the moves of a tidal wave, also; that didn't guarantee he'd be able to counter it.

"Ikkaku?" Yumichika asked.

"No holding back anymore?"

"There is nothing left to hold back," Yumichika promised.

And it was a glorious fight, followed by a glorious war, and a glorious victory. Yumichika even, graciously, allowed Starrk and Lilynette to hold the fourth seat with only weekly challenges.

Notes:

I had intended this to span through the winter war and everything that would change with Yumichika publicly using his shikai (and having bankai) and the addition of Starrk/Lilynette switching sides. The ultimate end was for Yumichika and Starrk to go back to the eleventh division, Lilynette and Yachiru to have a violent, delightful friendship, and Starrk to be fourth seat to Yumichika's fifth. There was a bloody happy ever after for them.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Winter Amnesty: Works No Longer In Progress