"GRAAAAAAAH!!"
The monster's roar of rage shook the very foundation of Las Noches. The mere overflow of spiritual power mixed into his shout created a blast wave that surpassed most wind-type Zanpakuto. The Captains of the Gotei 13 immediately adjusted their distance with Flash Steps.
"Tch... what incredible spiritual pressure."
"He's the type who gets stronger through the death of his comrades... the exact opposite of Stark. How troublesome," Shunsui Kyoraku noted, his eyes narrowing.
This was the enemy who had pushed Kenpachi Zaraki and Byakuya Kuchiki to their absolute limits. The six reinforcements steeled their resolve, refusing to underestimate the titan.
"Sting all enemies to death... Suzumebachi."
Soi Fon, the Captain of Squad 2, was the first to strike. Having fought through Gegetsubi, Baraggan, Momo Hinamori, and Sosuke Aizen, she was a veteran of the front lines. She lunged at the monster's massive frame without a hint of fear.
"Hey! That's my prey!" Kenpachi barked.
"Shut up, Zaraki! There's no need to waste time—I'm ending this in a heartbeat!"
—Death in Two Steps—
Though she had lost an arm in her fight against Baraggan, her spiritual pressure had been restored by Healing Kido. She thrust the stinger of Suzumebachi—the blade that kills any foe if struck twice in the same spot—with the precision of the Gotei 13's greatest assassin.
But...
"What was that? A mosquito?"
"What!?"
The stinger hadn't even pierced his skin. His Hierro was as hard as armored steel, preventing the "Hornet's Crest" from forming.
"Stop buzzing around me, you pests!!"
"Tch—"
The beast brought down his left fist. The casual movement caused a disaster-level shockwave, transforming the desert floor into a massive crater in an instant.
"Gah! Is everyone alright?"
"Phew... that was close. Talk about raw power."
"Get back, Captain Soi Fon! A Shikai won't be enough for this one!"
"Fine... I have no choice."
The Soul Reapers escaped the collapsing ground and took positions in the air, surrounding the enemy from all sides.
"Then I shall take the second strike!"
Sajin Komamura, the Captain of Squad 7, stepped forward. Like Soi Fon, he had survived the battle in the World of the Living, carrying a heavy burden of sorrow in his heart.
"Now! Bankai!!"
—Kokujo Tengen Myo'o—
Even the monster Yammy Llargo widened his eyes as the colossal armored samurai manifested above him.
"Wh-whoa...?"
"Let's go, Myo'o! Strike!!"
Unlike the small-scale attacks from before, this was a strike of massive weight. The giant samurai brought its blade down in a full-force overhead strike, slamming into the Espada's shoulder.
"Gah... h!"
"Rejoice, Arrancar! This is the giant's duel you crave!"
"You... bastard...!"
The blade didn't just cut; it crushed. The impact vibrated through the Hierro and into his very bones, making the monster falter.
The Captains did not miss the opening.
"We should rely on pure destructive power."
"Then let's do exactly that!"
—Shunko—
Determined to avenge her failed Shikai strike, Soi Fon unleashed her trump card. A violent wind of Kido wrapped around her arms—the ultimate technique of hand-to-hand combat.
"I suppose I should get to work too... Captain Komamura! Move aside for a moment!"
Shunsui Kyoraku, the Captain of Squad 8, began to weave a high-level spell.
"—The spear-wall of ill omen that crosses the great river. The crimson and white dragon-breath that freezes in the polar night. The great wall of purple ice... the gathering army of conquest, the fluttering banners of frost. Roar in the northern sky, the silver cavalry calls for the storm!"
It was one of the highest-level Destruction spells, ranked in the 90s. Once Komamura was clear, Kyoraku unleashed the technique from his fingertips.
"Cool your head a bit, Number Zero."
[Way of Destruction 92: Hyoga Seiran — Frozen Fang Conquest Storm]
It was a tsunami of ice. A raging torrent of blue-white spiritual pressure rushed toward the monster, freezing everything it touched.
"You're in the way. Step back."
The killing intent of a young genius, frustrated by his own earlier failure, rained down from above.
—Senkei: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi—
A rain of pink. Billions of tiny blades condensed into a thousand swords, their lethality pushed to the absolute limit. They pierced into Yammy's exposed right shoulder.
"GAAAAAGH!? DAMN IT...!"
"Now, Soi Fon!"
"Right!"
Frozen on the left and shredded on the right, the enemy was wide open. The female commander delivered a devastating blow to his vitals.
"Stay down, you oaf!!"
—Shunko Ultimate: Fujin Senrin — Wind God War-Wheel—
"GAH—!"
Soi Fon delivered a spinning kick to Yammy's unprotected face, her spiritual gale carving into the horns on his head.
"You... pieces of trash...!"
"Unbelievable... he's still standing."
Despite taking the ultimate moves of three Captains, the monster refused to fall. Pushing past the pain with sheer rage, the 0th Espada opened his mouth as wide as it could go.
Deep within his throat, a terrifyingly large mass of spiritual pressure gathered.
"I'LL TURN YOU ALL TO DUST!!"
—Cero Oscuras—
A colossal discharge of black energy erupted with a deafening boom. The pillar of light, thirty feet wide, incinerated everything in its path as it lunged toward the Soul Reapers.
But before it could reach them, one man stepped directly into its path.
"All waves, become my shield. All thunder, become my blade."
—Sogyo no Kotowari—
The wielder of the rare twin blades was Jushiro Ukitake, Captain of Squad 13. He pointed one blade at the enemy and used the other to catch the incoming blast. In a flash, the Cero Oscuras was reflected back like a mirror.
"Sorry, Yammy Llargo. As long as I am here, that kind of attack won't work on the Gotei 13."
"What—GAH!?"
Unable to react to his own reflected attack, the monster was engulfed in a massive explosion that swallowed his entire colossal frame.
"Good grief, is it finally over?" Mayuri Kurotsuchi drawled.
"You have quite the nerve, standing there watching," Kenpachi grumbled.
"That was a terrifying Cero," Ukitake noted. "It was the first attack since Head Captain Yamamoto's that actually put a crack in my blades..."
"Yikes. No wonder Zaraki and Byakuya were in such a state."
The Captains gathered around the rising pillar of dust, watching for signs of life.
With Sosuke Aizen sealed by Ichigo and Urahara, the Gotei 13 had come to Hueco Mundo to find the remaining Arrancar refugees and identify their new leader. Their goal was submission and interrogation, not necessarily extermination. It would be best if this monster simply gave up.
But their hopes were quickly shattered.
"D-damn it...!"
A wet, low, terrifying voice drifted out from the smoke.
"You've got to be kidding me. He can still move?"
"Wait... something is wrong."
The mountain-sized shadow of the monster was rapidly shrinking. But the change in spiritual pressure was the opposite—it wasn't the sound of a Resurrección fading from exhaustion; it was a clear expansion of power.
"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!!"
What was happening to him? As the Captains stood confused, it appeared.
"DAMN YOU ALL TO HELLLLLLLL!!"
Suddenly, the Soul Reapers were hit by a shockwave that felt like being slammed into an invisible wall. It was a blast of pure emotion. A simple scream had manifested with enough physical pressure to blow back everyone in the vicinity.
"You Soul Reaper wretches... acting all high and mighty..."
"How interesting," Mayuri muttered.
Then, the Captains saw the monster's new form.
"No way..."
Standing there was a creature with a skin like molten lava. He was relatively small compared to his previous mountain-sized form, now no larger than a standard Huge Hollow.
But the spiritual pressure coming from his body was overwhelming. It was as if the entire mass of his previous form had been condensed into this smaller frame. Radiating a sense of presence that reached into a new domain of fury, the 0th Espada stood in the desert.
"ROAAAAR!!"
—Bala del Rey—
"Gah!?"
Soi Fon's small frame was sent flying. The Commander-in-Chief of the Stealth Force, the fastest Soul Reaper in the Gotei 13, hadn't even been able to move a finger in response.
The others reflexively braced themselves, but the situation gave them no time to recover.
"GRAAAA!!"
"Gah!"
"Scatter! Everyone, move!"
Invisible attacks followed in quick succession, sending Shunsui Kyoraku and Sajin Komamura tumbling through the air. Ukitake shuddered; even the strongest of the Gotei 13 couldn't react to this speed.
"I am the 0th Espada! I am the strongest! You insects... don't think for a second you can beat me!!"
The roar became an explosion that slammed into the Soul Reapers. Ukitake shielded himself with a Kido barrier and saw the enemy winding up a punch.
"I don't care about Aizen! I don't care about Hinamori! I don't care who wins or loses!"
"Guh...!"
"If I kill you all, I win! I WIN!!"
The monster's eyes were bloodshot; one was even burning red with spiritual pressure.
"ME! IT'S ME! IT'S ME!"
The intensity of his rage made the Captains falter.
"UAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"
His sanity was gone. Burning with a literal flame of fury, the crazed Espada launched a full-power charge at the Soul Reapers.
"Stand back, children."
An old man stepped forward.
"Head Captain!?"
The Captains shouted in shock. Ignoring the tremors of the earth and the fierce gale of spiritual pressure, the old general stood perfectly still, waiting for the monster.
"You still rage, Espada?"
"GRRRRROOOOOOOOAR!!"
It was the anger of a beast that had lost its mind. Yet, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto—the "Oldest Soul Reaper"—honored the tiny fragment of a human heart he saw within it. He drew his smoldering blade.
"You cast aside your humanity for righteous fury... a fine display of loyalty."
"My flames are a fitting end for you."
"Bankai."
In a flash, a searing heat that boiled the desert sands dominated Hueco Mundo—and then it was gone.
A single strike. It left no purple lightning, no sound—it was a masterpiece of swordsmanship. After a long moment of silence, the hilt of the sword clicked into the scabbard.
"Gah... h..."
On that signal, the monster's left arm was severed from his shoulder, and the 0th Espada, Yammy Llargo, collapsed into the sand.
***
『—Hehe, what do you think? It's delicious, isn't it?』
...She lost. The woman who was stronger than all of us. That meddling woman.
I can't believe it. Why?
Did the Soul Reapers cheat? Did Aizen discard her like a tool? Or did the enemy just exploit that soft side of hers—the side that smiled even at us Hollows?
I'll never know the answer now.
The Espada who rule at the peak of the Arrancar army each govern a specific "Aspect of Death." These aspects were granted by the Army Leader based on their philosophy, abilities, and pride.
Yammy Llargo.
The only one among the Espada who used an emotion—Rage—as his weapon. His Aspect of Death was Fury.
It was the thing humans lose when they fall into the abyss to become Hollows, and the thing they suffer to reclaim. Perhaps the reason he was granted the rank of 0th Espada was because he was the only one who could turn a fragment of that "Heart" into power. There was a hope-filled meaning to his rank beyond simple combat strength.
The solitary Ulquiorra, who wanted to understand the "Heart" more than anyone, would always visit him. Grimmjow, who lived as a heartless beast, would always pick fights with him. Even the arrogant Baraggan never once questioned Yammy's rank.
The current 0th Espada might not have matched his predecessor in raw power, but in terms of being envied, resented, and acknowledged...
He was truly the "Highest" of the Arrancars.
"I won't... let it... end..."
His broken body creaked. His limbs screamed in agony, and smoke rose from the stump where his arm had been.
"He can still move!?"
"No... it's over."
The strength drained from his body. His vision of the giant Soul Reaper fell toward the ground. He realized his broken Zanpakuto was lying right in front of him.
"I... won't... lose..."
He reached out his remaining arm to grab the hilt.
"I am the strongest...! I am the elite...!"
"Stop it, Espada. This is meaningless...!"
"Guh... ugh... OOOOAR!"
Not enough. More. I need more rage.
Think of my fallen comrades. Think of my broken body. Think of these Soul Reapers who destroyed the army we built with her.
That was the source of his power. It had to be. But his body wouldn't move, and no matter how much he ordered it, his Zanpakuto refused to release its power.
"Captain Kurotsuchi. Grant this warrior mercy."
"Sigh... if it's an order from the Head Captain, I suppose I have no choice."
"You should be grateful," a voice said. The "insect" stepped in front of Yammy and released a massive surge of spiritual pressure.
"Bankai."
—Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo—
A giant caterpillar with the face of a golden baby appeared. It was likely a Bankai of the same class as the armored samurai. A literal insect was looking down at him.
Don't make me laugh, Yammy roared internally. If I could just get my power back, I'd crush this trash in a heartbeat.
But the Arrancar's rage was just a hollow fire in his chest.
Don't screw with me. My will to fight isn't going to vanish just because my Resurrección was cancelled.
My power. My fury. My "Heart"... it won't disappear.
I'm going to stand up and kill them all with Ira. And when it's over, I'll eat those amazing hamburgers while she lectures me and I'll say I'm sorry—
...Ah. Right.
I can't... eat her food... anymore.
"D-damn it..."
Something inside him withered rapidly. An unbearable sense of loss. A mental hunger. Consumed by a void he had never known, the man's vision faded into darkness.
It was the same darkness he had seen on the night he became a Hollow, his heart burned away by the flames of rage.
"Do it, Ashisogi Jizo. Use the sedative and the truth serum."
The giant caterpillar's human face inhaled deeply, preparing to stockpile something in its mouth.
He had no strength left to resist. Having lost the last fragment of the "Heart" he had reclaimed, the "Highest Arrancar" Yammy Llargo waited for his final defeat in the depths of despair.
"—I believe I told you not to give me orders?"
"—A Soul Reaper wretch has no business speaking to me."
The distant voice of a man—a familiar, smooth baritone—reached the Espada's fading ears.
***
"What!?"
The Soul Reapers watched in shock as Mayuri's Bankai underwent a sudden change.
As the mysterious voice echoed, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo turned around and exhaled a horrific cloud of purple smoke at the eight Captains.
『Greetings, Soul Reapers. I hope you enjoy the gift.』
"Is this... poison gas!?"
"Gah! Cough! Kurotsuchi! What is this!?"
The Captains fell to their knees in agony. It was a neurotoxin with no lethal effect, but a vicious paralyzing power.
The giant caterpillar looked down at the dying Espada with a smile of admiration.
『Hello, Yammy. Thank you for stalling.』
"You... that voice...!"
Yammy stared in disbelief, wondering if he was hallucinating.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi, one of the few Captains still standing, looked at his own Bankai with a hateful grin.
"I was wondering when you'd get tired of playing hide-and-seek."
—Szayelaporro Granz.
The name of the 8th Espada—the one Mayuri had supposedly defeated with his "Superhuman Drug."
But Mayuri had remained on guard. The original specimen his Bankai had consumed was a scientist; there was no way a man like that wouldn't have tinkered with his own body. Mayuri had been waiting for this chance to "interrogate" him.
Swallowing his previous frustration, Mayuri addressed his enemy.
"I let you roam free so you'd crawl out of your hole eventually. Surely you have more useful information than the dying Number Zero over there?"
『Hehe. As expected of the Soul Reaper who defeated me. You have a sharp eye, Mayuri Kurotsuchi.』
Mayuri prepared to capture him, but Szayelaporro's voice—coming from within the Bankai—remained perfectly calm. The Soul Reaper frowned at his confidence and activated his tracking device to find the source of the nerve-manipulation signal.
But...
"Captain Mayuri...!"
Nemu's confused voice reached his ears.
"What is it, Nemu?"
"It's no use! The dimensional sensing... it's been cut off!"
"What!?"
Even Mayuri shouted in surprise. If the signal was cut, it meant the source was no longer in the Soul Society, the World of the Living, or Hueco Mundo.
"Impossible!"
Mayuri's shock was justified. Because according to his data...
Szayelaporro Granz was currently nowhere in the three realms.
『—Now, my comrades.』
On Szayelaporro's signal, it happened.
『It's a pity, but it's time to say goodbye to this place.』
—The Arrancar Army hereby abandons Las Noches.
Suddenly, space itself began to warp—not just around them, but throughout Hueco Mundo.
"What is this...?"
"It's not a Garganta... is it?"
"Captain Mayuri! These readings... it's a Valley of Screams...!"
"No, this is too different! What the hell is this!? I've never seen anything like this!!"
The dimensional sensors were screaming. Billions of spirit particles swirled as countless horizontal rifts, glowing with a divine rainbow light, appeared throughout the desert.
"Look up there...!"
A massive dimensional gate opened directly above Yammy Llargo. From within the shimmering, mysterious space, several figures emerged. The Soul Reapers stared in shock.
"Yammy!" 『We've come to save you.』
Two voices—one high, one low. Two spheres floating in a creepy red cylindrical tank called out to the battered Yammy.
—The 9th Espada: Aaroniero Arruruerie—
"I thought he was just a troublesome brute... I suppose I owe him an apology."
A dark-skinned man appeared next, praising his comrade.
—The 7th Espada: Zommari Rureaux—
"Yes. He is truly the 0th Espada. A man worthy of representing us."
A dark-skinned woman agreed.
—The 3rd Espada: Tier Halibel—
"Hmph. The beast actually showed some spirit."
An arrogant old man snorted. Despite his words, his raspy voice sounded almost warm.
—The 2nd Espada: Baraggan Louisenbairn—
"ZARAKIIII! I see you're still alive! I'M GOING TO ENJOY KILLING YOU, YOU BASTARD!"
A tall, slender giant shouted Kenpachi's name with a piercing voice.
—The 5th Espada: Nnoitra Gilga—
"Tch. Kurosaki isn't here, is he?"
A blue-haired youth looked around, disappointed at the lack of his rival.
—The 6th Espada: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez—
"Now, now. I heard Ichigo Kurosaki was the one who defeated Lord Aizen. Yammy's a pain, but don't you go overdoing it too..."
Finally, a handsome man with a bit of stubble appeared. He looked lethargic as he tried to calm his battle-hungry comrade, yet he radiated a massive amount of power.
—The 1st Espada: Coyote Stark—
Seven Arrancars, all radiating astronomical spiritual pressure.
Following them were the Fraccions they had supposedly killed, the modified Arrancar Wonderweiss who had defeated the Head Captain, and even Pesche—nearly a hundred Arrancars in total were gathered within the massive gate.
"Wh... what... did you say...?"
The Gotei 13 were paralyzed with horror.
"That's impossible! Those are the Espada we defeated in the World of the Living!"
"Baraggan should have been erased! And Gegetsubi... my Suzumebachi's lethal strike... how!?"
"Why are they alive!? Why are all of them alive!?"
The Captains shouted from the ground, ignoring the pain of the poison. They couldn't accept a reality where their victories had been reduced to a mere illusion.
"Is it... Soul Regeneration?"
A logical voice broke through the panic—the bitter deduction of the President of the Research and Development Institute.
"Soul Regeneration...?"
"The ultimate taboo of spiritual science... recreating a lost soul from its spiritual factors! They must have been using those black box-like transfer devices we saw earlier to recover the factors of the fallen Arrancars!"
"!!?"
The Soul Reapers' minds went blank.
Theoretically, it was possible to restore life, appearance, personality, memories, and abilities—a literal "Resurrection of the Dead."
How was such irrationality possible? Had Aizen obtained such technology through the Hogyoku? The Gotei 13 struggled to process the despair.
"Forgive us. That's exactly what it is."
A mocking voice, identical to the one from Mayuri's Bankai, rang out. A young man with pink hair stepped forward within the gate.
—The 8th Espada: Szayelaporro Granz—
"Are you the leader of the Arrancars now?"
Head Captain Yamamoto asked the question with a cold, quiet voice. It was a command that snapped his trembling Captains back to their senses.
Right. Regardless of the impossible, our objective is to speak with Aizen's remnants.
"Leader? Hah! Don't be ridiculous. I am but a loyal servant. I was simply given the order to welcome our dear comrades."
Szayelaporro dismissed the old man's question with an exaggerated gesture and smiled at Yammy, who was being helped up by several other Arrancars. The giant looked awkward, his face a mixture of resentment and joy.
"Then deliver a message. We have matters to discuss regarding the balance of the three worlds."
"How disappointing for you. I'm afraid we have no interest in making deals with you—as of just a few minutes ago, it is no longer necessary."
"What do you mean?"
Yamamoto frowned, his ancient mind flashing back to a legend—the attack of a massive Menos on a sacred realm.
"You... have you allied with them!?"
Szayelaporro's mocking smile was his only answer.
But then, Mayuri asked another question. "Wait. You called yourself a 'loyal servant'?"
"Oh?"
Mayuri had also been building a hypothesis. Recovering spiritual factors from a destroyed soul and using them to resurrect the dead was theoretically impossible. There was only one way to achieve such a miracle: the power of the Hogyoku.
But Aizen's was with him, and Momo's had supposedly vanished.
Unless... what if those light-clones that ascended to the heavens weren't what they seemed?
"Who is your leader!?" Mayuri screamed.
"Hehe. I'm glad there's at least one clever person here. With this... Her Excellency's wish will finally come true."
Aizen's former subordinates exchanged cryptic words, leaving the Captains in a state of shock.
"Anyway, our business here is done. We'll be taking our leave."
"Wait!" "Don't let them escape!" "Who is this person!? Answer me, Szayelaporro!"
To be mocked and then allowed them to escape would be a disgrace to their names. The Captains struggled to stand, barking their frustration.
"Feel free to follow us," Szayelaporro laughed. "But if you do, you'll be the ones branded as 'evil.' Be prepared for that."
"What!?"
"It's part of the 'treaty,' you see."
Mocking the Soul Reapers' fury, the Arrancars turned and began to vanish into the light, one by one. It was a victory parade right in front of the Gotei 13.
"Let's go, everyone."
"—To the Sacred Palace where our Goddess sits..."
"—To the Great Hall of Val-Alya."
Yamamoto and the others caught a final glimpse through the rainbow gate: two figures, and between them—a pair of pale pink wings.
"Damn it...!"
The gate vanished without a trace.
The mission to capture the remnants of the Arrancar army ended in mystery. The Gotei 13's full-force operation resulted only in a crushing set of facts, exhaustion, and a resentment that would not fade.
***
A cold November rain was falling.
The Tenkai Kechu had been released, and Karakura Town had returned to reality as if the war had been nothing but a bad dream.
Looking out at the dim streets, Orihime Inoue sat on a windowsill, lost in thought.
So many things had happened in the last four days. Fear, joy, and sorrow. A world of the abnormal that a high school girl should never have experienced.
It felt like a dream. Her heart felt heavy. Yet she was relieved to be back with her friends. It was a strange, complex feeling.
She let out a small sigh and looked away from the window, tentatively glancing into the room.
"Ichigo..."
The master of the room lay in the bed next to the window.
He was the person who had worked harder than anyone to protect them. The one Orihime loved.
"..."
She reached out to touch his bandaged arm, but quickly pulled back. It was a gesture she had repeated many times, and her face held none of the sweetness of a girl in love. There was only a dark shadow.
"I'm the worst..."
Orihime closed her eyes tight. The terror of that moment wouldn't leave her. The sight of Ichigo—the person she loved most—stabbing his enemy over and over again. The enemy who might have actually been able to become a friend.
"I'm so sorry..."
He had come to save her. He had suffered so much to fight for her. She wanted to say "thank you," she wanted to tell him not to push himself... she wanted to send him a thousand words of gratitude.
But as a coward, she could only offer a pathetic apology to someone she couldn't even name.
"I'm... sorry..."
Her vision blurred. She couldn't stop the sobs. Was Ichigo going to suffer for this forever? Would she spend every day telling him he wasn't to blame, while secretly shaking with fear at the memory of the Hollow he had become?
And she would never see that tragic Arrancar again. She had wanted him to know the wonderful things "Heart" could bring.
It was all her fault. Because she was weak.
Orihime bit her lip, convinced she had no right to cry. She slumped her shoulders in a state of suicidal self-loathing.
...And then.
The faint light from the streetlamp was blocked by something.
"Huh?"
She wondered if it was someone from the Soul Society visiting Ichigo. She wiped her eyes and turned toward the window.
And there, she saw a miracle.
"Ah—!"
Outside the open window, enveloped in the shimmering rain...
A youth in white stood in the air.
She would never forget those emerald eyes. The youth stared at her without expression. Orihime's eyes widened to their limit.
"Ul... quiorra...?"
When did I fall asleep? Is this a dream? She couldn't believe the fantasy, yet she didn't want to wake up. She wiped her tears and stared back at him.
"Orihime Inoue. Ichigo Kurosaki."
The youth in the air looked at her and then at the injured boy in the bed.
"I was ordered to give you these."
"What...?"
He floated closer to the window and held out two bracelets. Orihime took them in a daze.
They were different from the ones he had given her before; these glowed with a faint, seven-colored light.
"These are keys to our new base. No one else will be able to perceive them."
"!"
"You were told that you are 'always welcome.'"
Orihime stared at him. It was unbelievable. She had assumed the Arrancars hated them, like Yammy did.
But if that faint warmth she had seen in his eyes in his final moments wasn't an illusion...
"I have delivered them."
"Wait! Please!"
Orihime grabbed his hand as he began to pull away. She was shocked at her own boldness, nearly falling out of the window as she scrambled for words. The youth waited in silence.
"Um... Ulquiorra!"
She poured her feelings into her eyes. The words came easily—she had wanted to say them for a long time. She took a deep breath and opened her lips.
"—Will you... be our friend?"
The emerald eyes widened ever so slightly.
After a silence that felt like forever, the youth glanced at Orihime and Ichigo one last time, then turned and walked away. He headed toward a space of rainbow light that had appeared to welcome him.
Does he hate the idea? The girl watched him go, anxious. But just before he vanished into the light...
"I suppose I can try," he said in a flat, even voice.
—The 4th Espada: Ulquiorra Cifer—
***
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