Ten Unohana's H Soul

"Hm? Where's Rukia?" Ten Unohana asked.

Sipping her drink, Yoruichi said, "Oh, about that. Rukia got up early and went to see Kisuke. She said she wanted to get a Gigai so she could look around the World of the Living."

Ten Unohana looked at Yoruichi. "You were the ones who tempted Rukia, weren't you? She's never been to the World of the Living, so how could she know so much about it?" Yoruichi said sheepishly, "Oh, don't worry about that."

Ten Unohana frowned.

That wasn't what worried Ten Unohana. What if Kisuke Urahara had put the Hōgyoku inside Rukia again?

Speak of the devil: Rukia came skipping over with her hands behind her back.

The moment Ten Unohana saw Rukia's body, he sensed trouble. "Rukia, come here," he said gravely.

His tone gave Rukia a fright. Thinking she had done something to upset him, she walked over to him nervously.

"What's wrong, Ten?" Masaki asked in confusion.

"There's a problem," Ten Unohana said solemnly.

Rukia was confused now. Not knowing what he meant, she asked, "What's going on?"

Ten Unohana pulled Rukia over and put an arm around her.

"Hey, hey, you pervert!" Mashiro Kuna immediately cried.

"Stop fooling around!" Ten Unohana said sternly.

Then Ten Unohana sighed, released Rukia, and sat down to one side with a frown.

"What's wrong, Big Brother Ten?" Yoruichi was getting a little anxious.

Ten Unohana glanced at Yoruichi. "There's something wrong with the Gigai." Then he looked at Rukia. "When you went to Kisuke Urahara, didn't you tell him you knew me?"

"No," Rukia said, puzzled. "Why?!"

Yoruichi also asked, "What's wrong with the Gigai?"

Ten Unohana looked at Yoruichi and said gravely, "Kisuke Urahara put the Hōgyoku inside Rukia's body."

"What?!" Yoruichi was shocked.

The other women looked grave as well.

Only Rukia still looked bewildered. "What's wrong? The Hōgyoku? What's that?"

Ten Unohana said, "Let them explain it to you first. I'll go prepare a few things and take care of this for you." With that, he went into the room.

Yoruichi, looking solemn, began explaining the Hōgyoku.

While things kept happening on Ten Unohana's side, the battle for the Espada rankings also began in Hueco Mundo.

And that meant...

Las Noches

Nelliel stared at Nnoitra, her expression grave, recalling the warning she had received long ago from that strange person who was a combination of Soul Reaper and Hollow.

As time went on, Nelliel came to understand more and more how terrifying that level was. Only now did Nellinel understand how powerful the combined strength of a Soul Reaper and a Hollow was, and Nelliel didn't know what kind of power the person who had gravely injured that individual back then possessed.

She had simply taken that person's words to heart: "Be wary of a Hollow named Nnoitra."

So, unlike in the original story, Nelliel hadn't held back from the start and had fought with all her strength, but Nnoitra had escaped.

Afterward, Nelliel hadn't paid much attention to anything else, merely guarding against another attack from Nnoitra. But she didn't know the specifics of the attack this time: two future Espada were coming for her.

"Hahaha, what are you going to do this time, Nelliel?" Nnoitra shouted, holding Nelliel's two unconscious Fracciones on the edge of his blade... The masks on their faces were gone—Nnoitra had forcibly ripped them off.

"You—!" Nelliel was furious, and she soon gave Nnoitra a thorough beating. Thanks to Ten Unohana's warning, Nnoitra's sneak attack didn't succeed.

So Nnoitra did something even more shameless than a sneak attack: he teamed up with Szayelaporro to gang up on Nelliel. But Nnoitra soon discovered that even with the two of them attacking her, they were no match for her.

Then Nnoitra came up with an even more underhanded idea...

"Hahahaha!! Nelliel!! Your Fracciones are trash!" Nnoitra laughed as he used Nelliel's two Fracciones as shields.

Nelliel had little she could do about that. With her movements restricted, she left an opening for Nnoitra, who seized it and struck her mask with his blade...

Nelliel was still turned back into a child.

"Where am I? Who are you? My head hurts!" Nelliel had still lost her memory.

"Pant... pant... Pesche, this..."

"Dondochakka, we're badly injured now. We can't protect Lady Nelliel anymore. There's only one way: find the person who warned Lady Nelliel. She told us about that place. We'll find him and entrust Lady Nelliel to him."

"But, Pesche, can we hold out that long?"

"We have to, even if we can't. Otherwise..."

Leaving aside the three in Hueco Mundo struggling to find Ten Unohana's home, let's turn to Ten Unohana in the World of the Living.

World of the Living

Ten Unohana frowned as he considered a solution.

Ten Unohana didn't want to remove the Hōgyoku, because Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado needed it to awaken their powers. Besides, having the Hōgyoku sealed inside her body wasn't without benefits. He only needed to make a change, though that change was a little troublesome.

Ten Unohana walked out slowly and said to Masaki, "Masaki, come with me to Hueco Mundo. We'll solve the problem with Rukia's Gigai. Rukia has to come too. As for things in the World of the Living, I'll leave them to you."

"All right," Yoruichi said quietly. She had supported Kisuke Urahara in making the Hōgyoku, and because of it, Ten Unohana now had to make a trip to Hueco Mundo before his power had fully returned.

Seeing everyone's worried expressions, Ten Unohana said, "It's all right. After more than ten years, my power has almost fully recovered. My Zanpakuto has already taken shape, so don't worry."

With that, Ten Unohana drew Masaki and Rukia into his arms. "All right, I'm off."

Then—

"Creak—"

With a strange sound, a Garganta slowly appeared.

Ten Unohana waved goodbye to the women and left.

Hueco Mundo.

A Garganta slowly appeared in Ten Unohana's residence.

"Ah, we're out. Being in the Dangai was really uncomfortable," Ten Unohana said loudly.

Masaki and Rukia looked around and asked in confusion, "This is...?"

Ten Unohana walked outside with a smile. "My palace in Hueco Mundo. What do you think?!"

"Husband!!" A figure slowly appeared, and a cool voice rang out.

Ten Unohana looked toward the voice and smiled. "Little Bell?!" Too busy speaking, he didn't notice the dim look in Masaki's eyes, but Tier Harribel, being a woman herself, did.

She asked Ten Unohana, "Who are these two?"

"This is Masaki, a Quincy, and this is Rukia, a Soul Reaper. All right, let me make this clear now: no hostility toward one another," Ten Unohana told the three women.

Harribel nodded. "I don't have a problem with it, but the ones you should worry about, husband, are Cirucci and the others. They won't be so easy to talk to."

Hearing this, Ten Unohana said with a headache, "As long as they don't fight, it'll be fine. But if they do, I'll show them what a man's fury looks like." Frowning, he added, "Let's forget those troubles for now. Little Bell, go tell Aizen that starting today, they're forbidden from entering this palace until I say the restriction is lifted."

"All right."

After watching Harribel leave, Ten Unohana took Masaki by the hand. "Come on, let's find ourselves a room to stay in tonight. Hehe..."

A little while later,

Rukia sat in a room in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking about.

In another room, Ten Unohana looked at Masaki as she held on to him. After a while, she said quietly, "Ten, am I really stupid?!"

Ten Unohana looked at Masaki. She had been acting a little strangely since earlier. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked.

Masaki looked at Ten Unohana. "I like you. I like you a lot. Am I very..."

"Mmph." "Mmph." "Mmph."

Ten Unohana pulled Masaki into his arms and pressed his lips against her cherry-red lips.

A long time passed.

Only when Masaki was out of breath did Ten Unohana smack his lips and say, "Mm, so sweet. All right, now I've had someone confess to me too. Hahaha!"

"Um, Ten, I..."

"Call me husband."

"Husband."

"Mm..."

"I, I, I..."

"What is it?? Don't tell me..."

"I want a child..."

"Mm—"

"Come on!!" Hearing that, Ten Unohana pounced on Masaki and pushed her down onto the bed.

And then...

There couldn't be an "and then."