Abandon All Hope

Ichigo stepped out with the others, emerging on a large square platform. "Ichigo!"

Ichigo's attention moved to his left, on a lower platform, where Kokutō was calling him. Shunpo-ing to him to make room on the platform, Ichigo faced the Togabito with a serious expression. "Kokutō."

Kokutō raised an eyebrow as he saw the number of people come through. "You've got a lot of friends, Ichigo."

"Yeah, I do. I wasn't able to prevent my mother from being banished here. Where would she likely be?" Ichigo demanded coolly.

"Probably somewhere here, on the top level of Hell," Kokutō replied, gesturing beyond the platforms. There were buildings and roads for as far as the eye could see, with strange monsters far too large to fit on the roads, somehow making their way without breaking the buildings. The creatures were the dark bluish purple of the skin of a man starving for air, with elongated skull-like heads and enormous hulking arms and shoulders that forced them to walk on all fours. If Ichigo was seeing right, they were simply phasing through the buildings. "This is where all souls first end up. On this level, the Kushanāda devour the souls that are here. Everyone runs, and trains as hard as they can, but it's no use – no one has ever managed to defeat the Kushanāda as far as I'm aware."

"What happens after a soul is devoured by a Kushanāda?" Renji asked quietly, who had approached during Kokutō's lecture.

"Everyone who dies in Hell, is reborn in Hell. Usually up here, but sometimes on the lower levels depending on how strong they are," Kokutō explained. "Those who don't have a chain, get one upon their rebirth. Get eaten enough times, and you go insane. You'll see more as we move through. We have to find a good spot to dive down into the next level of Hell – Shuren and the others are down on the third level, so we've got a ways to go to get your sisters. But we have to move quickly – the air here in Hell will kill any human after enough time, and then they'll be like me – a Togabito, regardless of whether they performed any sins in life."

"Then there's no time to waste," Ichigo acknowledged. Turning to address his comrades, he spoke loudly enough to be heard. "We're dividing up into two groups. One will search for my mother on this level of Hell. The others will join me and Kokutō deeper into Hell. Renji, Rukia, Tōshirō, you three will search for my mother, since you actually know what she looks like. Yoruichi, you go with them to get Mom to Urahara, and then lead the others back to me. Any objections?"

Rukia shook her head, remembering the happy poster of Masaki that the Kurosaki family had on the wall for as long as she'd known them, and the fear she'd felt when the Grand Fisher had molded its lure into Masaki's form to deter Ichigo's attacks. No, she knew Masaki's form well, and she knew that that was a valued asset.

Renji and Hitsugaya exchanged a glance before silently assenting to Ichigo's orders. Both had only seen Masaki once, when Aizen had held her hostage against Ichigo, but the image was ingrained in their minds – Ichigo's outraged assault made it impossible to forget.

"Kokutō, what are we looking for in order to reach the next level of Hell?" Yoruichi questioned with narrowed eyes.

"The roads down there, look for a dead end, and then jump down," Kokutō answered easily. "Not as easy as it sounds, though – most of the roads just lead into each other. Look in areas that have more Kushanāda."

"Got it. We'll find her, Ichigo," Yoruichi assured him. "Let's go, Renji, Rukia, Hitsugaya-taicho." The four of them flickered away with Shunpo.

Ichigo turned back to Kokutō. "Well? Lead the way."

"Heh." The Togabito leapt down to the roads, closely followed by Ichigo, and then the rest of the Vizard and Soifon. Immediately upon landing, they began running. "Keep your reiatsu as minimized as possible," Kokutō warned, "or the Kushanāda will notice you and try to consume you. Remember that if you die, you're stuck here in Hell!"

Hiyori scoffed. "I thought the point was to destroy everything on the way, Ichigo!"

"My family comes first," Ichigo growled. "If my mother wasn't somewhere on this level, I'd agree with you, but right now there's too much chance of accidentally killing her. If she dies, I will kill whoever killed her, and I don't care if she'll be resurrected down here in Hell. Got it?" he asked quietly with a glare.

Hiyori met his stare for a moment before turning away first. "Got it."

"Good." Focusing hard and feeling his Zanpakutō's understanding and consent, Ichigo once again sealed Zangetsu, and kept his reiatsu in its evolved state – that was about as undetectable as he could make it, and he could feel the others' reduce to almost nothing as well. The Vizard seemed especially good at it – Ichigo couldn't say he was surprised. They'd had to hide themselves for a century, after all.

As they ran, Soifon was relatively pensive, analyzing the situation as it stood to her. It did not escape her notice that she'd not been selected for finding Kurosaki's mother, despite having seen the admittedly beautiful woman as well. Mentally sighing at not being with Yoruichi-sama proving her worth, Soifon had to acknowledge that Kurosaki was being appropriately cautious.

**Flashback**

"…if Yamamoto-soutaicho ever suggests you need to be eliminated, I will be the FIRST to line up for the job," Soifon promised.

Kurosaki gave a bitter chuckle. "Typical."

**End Flashback**

To her knowledge, of all the ones Kurosaki had brought to Hell with him to save his family, Soifon was the only one whom he had not befriended, and she had actively threatened him. It made sense then, to keep Soifon nearby where Kurosaki and his allies could keep a close eye on her and, if necessary, take necessary action. Of Kurosaki's friends, only the Vizard would be physically and emotionally capable of killing her without mercy. Kuchiki had never killed a Shinigami before, and would hesitate. Abarai would not prove much of a challenge, even with his Bankai – Suzumebachi could take his life easily. Yoruichi-sama had emotional ties to Soifon, or so the assassin liked to think.

But the Vizard… none of them knew her outside of her being a taicho of the Gotei 13, and they had been emotionally hardened by Hollowification, and betrayed by Soul Society. Paired with the fact that they were taicho and fukutaicho even before Hollowification, and they were possibly the best counter that Soifon could think of.

Soifon observed Kurosaki warily as they continued to run across the street – as before, she still felt he was too immature, too emotional to wield taicho-level power. If every taicho let their emotions rule them as Kurosaki appeared to, the worlds would have been destroyed several times over, and that was without counting Yamamoto-sōtaicho. But it seemed he had grown somewhat… he made rational plans, and delegated when necessary.

And he finally learned how to seal his sword, she noted with a mixture of satisfaction for the boy finally following the rules, and nervousness for how much control that must have required with his incomprehensible strength. Stronger than Zaraki, with far more control. She briefly imagined what the constantly battle-hungry taicho would be like in Kurosaki's position, and repressed a shudder. On second thought, perhaps Kurosaki's self-restraint is something to be grateful for…

"Alright. We've been lucky so far, not hitting any Kushanāda, but we're approaching one of the dead ends now," Kokutō announced quietly, turning left at the next intersection. "They'll sense us for sure, so be ready for some acrobatics. Don't get caught by them!" They made another right, and this time there was a Kushanāda phased right through the road, turning to face them.

Hiyori scoffed. "They don't look that tough." Leaping forward ahead of the others, she materialized her Hollow mask and opened her mouth wide, a red Cero charging for only a second before being unleashed on the Kushanāda in a blindingly bright crimson light. She kept up the Cero for a few more seconds, before letting it fade.

When everyone could see again, the Kushanāda's head and shoulders had been obliterated. "Hmph. That wasn't so hard," she gloated, turning around as she pulled her mask sideways, keeping her Hollowified eyes but otherwise wearing her mask on the side of her head.

"Erm, Hiyori?" Rose pointed behind her. She spun, and paled a little when she saw three Kushanāda suddenly focus their attention on her and begin lumbering towards them.

"Run to the dead end and jump!" Kokutō cried, bursting forward into a run towards the dead end. The others quickly pursued.

"Baka Hiyori!" Shinji chastised frantically as he sprinted alongside the snaggle-toothed Vizard. "Now we have to avoid three of them instead of just one!"

"Oi, how was I supposed to know that would happen?" Hiyori protested, jumping up onto a neighboring building and leaping forward to dodge out of the way of a gigantic hand coming down towards her. It narrowly missed her, and crushed the building with several souls scrambling to get out of the way.

"The Togabito did say that it's very difficult for a denizen of Hell to defeat Kushanāda," Soifon answered nearby, as though it were fairly self-evident.

"So if one goes down, the others are at risk and will have to work together. You just didn't think it through," Lisa finished.

"Shut up," Hiyori muttered, embarrassed at her foolish mistake.

"Doesn't matter," Kensei declared. "We're at the end. Jump!"

And the ten of them leapt down towards the purple miasma that was so far below. Emerging underneath, Ichigo was slightly surprised to see that they'd all emerged in a new area mostly covered by ocean, with a violet sky and scattered tiny land masses shaped like water lilies. Landing on the edge of one, Ichigo frowned and reached out with his senses. "This place feels abandoned," he commented.

"There's a reason for that," Kokutō said aloud, landing next to Ichigo a moment later. The others had landed safely nearby, and were walking back to Ichigo to regroup. "Look over there."

Ichigo cast his gaze where Kokutō gestured, and saw an enormous skeleton inside the middle of the water lily-shaped island. It looked really familiar. "Oh. Skeletons of Kushanāda?"

"Yeah. This is where they're born."

"Seriously?" Love asked incredulously.

Kokutō nodded. "If too many people are here, for too long, the skeletons will become new Kushanāda and will single-mindedly hunt the ones that awakened them. At least up there you've got a chance at distracting them with someone else. Down here, no such luxury. We need to keep moving."

"You're not going anywhere." Ichigo spun and drew Zangetsu in a single motion, slicing off a tentacle that had been ready to pierce him from behind. Just a single island over were three of the four Togabito, all still wearing their garb from when they'd invaded the living world. The Togabito who had attacked nodded, as though expecting that result. "Kurosaki Ichigo. I am Gunjō. Shūren-sama awaits you further below, with your sisters. However, you are to come alone."

"Not a chance, you tentacle freak!" Hiyori retorted, shifting her Hollow mask back to her face.

The other Vizard, save Ichigo, stepped in front. "Let us handle this, Ichigo," Shinji requested. "You've got to get your sisters. We'll catch up."

Ichigo nodded. "Alright. Soifon, Kokutō, let's move."

"Dive into the water," Kokutō ordered. "That's the way down to the next level."

"Let them pass," Gunjō commanded aloud. "We'll see them soon enough."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Togabito-san," Shinji criticized softly. "Collapse, Sakanade."

"Blow it away, Tachikaze." Kensei's Zanpakutō quickly shifted into what appeared to be a military-issue combat knife with a bronze guard.

"Play, Kinshara," Rose almost sang, and his blade transformed into a golden whip, with a very pointy golden flower on the end.

"Crush down, Tengumaru," Love muttered, his sunglasses flashing as he hefted his now giant spiked club.

Lisa adjusted her glasses, making them flash dangerously before raising her own blade. "Smash, Haguro Tonbo," The Zanpakutō's hilt quickly elongated to being even longer than her body, the blade expanding into something resembling a monk's spade.

"Heh. Chop cleanly, Kubikiri Orochi," Hiyori called out, bloodlust clearly audible in her tone.

Mashiro looked at her Zanpakutō for a moment, but left it unreleased, instead drawing her Hollow mask. It seemed to be a bee, or a hornet mask, which Ichigo took as rather enlightening. From personal experience, he knew that Zanpakutō and Hollow followed a theme according to the owner's soul. His own theme was the moon. If Mashiro had a mask like that, odds were good that her Zanpakutō had something to do with the insect it resembled.

But there was no time to theorize about it, Ichigo had to leave. As his Vizard companions readied for battle, Ichigo, Kokutō and Soifon dove into the depths of the ocean below.

Renji leapt from rooftop to rooftop, his eyes constantly in motion seeking out the woman he'd only seen once. It was hard going, as most of the souls here in Hell were cowering in fear from the constantly-patrolling Kushanāda, and the ones that weren't had gone either comatose or violently insane.

Just then, he spotted a soul standing up nearby, with hair that resembled that which Renji had seen Masaki wear while captured by Aizen. Lunging forward, Renji pulled on the shoulder of the woman in front of him and twisting her around so he could see her face. "What's your name?"

"Onumura Ayara," she whispered.

Renji's face fell. "Damn. You're not her."

"Who are you looking for?" Ayara asked desperately. "Get me home and I'll tell you anything you want! I'll give you anything you want! Please!" she begged.

Renji shook his head. His heart ached, but he reminded himself that for her to end up in Hell to begin with, she had to have committed very grievous sins while alive. Odds were that she deserved being here, and he was on a tight schedule. "Sorry, Onumura-san."

Then he felt Rukia's reiatsu flare – not much, but just enough to signal him. Gently but firmly removing the new Togabito's desperate clinging to his Shinigami robes, he Shunpo-ed away.

Arriving at Rukia's location, Renji found he was the last one there – Yoruichi and Hitsugaya-taicho were there already, and Rukia was speaking very quickly to an obviously traumatized Kurosaki Masaki. "Kurosaki-san, we're friends of your son, Ichigo," she rapidly related. "Ichigo found out where you were being held, but you were banished here before he could get to you."

"Where is he now?" Masaki demanded, clearly suspicious of another plot.

"He's looking on a lower level of Hell," Rukia replied, carefully not mentioning Masaki's daughters. If the mother was anything like her son, then Masaki would stay and try to help even if it meant that she'd be trapped forever. "We're going to get him after we get you out of here. If people stay in Hell long enough, they get damned here regardless of where they are supposed to be."

"We need to get you back to Soul Society, but the living world will do for the moment," Hitsugaya stated. "We've already identified the culprits of your kidnapping, and I assure you that they will be taken care of."

Yoruichi brought up her wrist and rapidly pressed the button three times per Urahara's instructions. "There, Kisuke should have a portal up and running in a few seconds."

"Kisuke? Urahara Kisuke?" Masaki questioned. "Blond, wears clogs and a bucket hat?"

Yoruichi nodded. "That's him."

Masaki sighed in relief, her tenseness fading. "I'm sorry for being so standoffish. I thought you might be working for the ones who kidnapped me."

"No problem," Rukia responded easily. "I'd be worried too."

They waited several more seconds, and then up to a minute, but no portal opened, and all of the Shinigami kept their senses open. There was no sign at all of any interdimensional portal, even where they'd first come in.

Yoruichi looked troubled. "That's not good. Either this transponder is a dud – which I doubt since Kisuke made it – or Kisuke and Tessai both must've had to leave the shop."

"Well, it's too dangerous to stay here for the Kushanāda to eat us," Hitsugaya pointed out.

"We should take the time to go join up with Ichigo," Renji suggested. "Who knows, maybe the portal opened on a different level of Hell this time."

"Worth looking into," Yoruichi agreed. "Alright, Kurosaki-san, we need to move quickly. Hop on my back, we'll be going at high speed."

Masaki nodded and climbed onto her back, wrapping her arms around Yoruichi's neck as gently as possible to give her room to breathe while still being firm enough to stay on.

A few moments later, they began hurrying to find a dead end to jump down through to the next level of Hell.

Ichigo emerged through the bottom of the ocean to find himself landing on what seemed to be a volcanic area. It was extremely rocky, with yellow lava that oozed constantly from several pools. "How much further?"

"Their base is on the next level, so not long now assuming that Shuren hasn't found himself any other hired help…" Kokutō answered lowly. "We should hurry; your sisters won't last much longer."

Nodding, Ichigo followed the Togabito, Soifon silently a few steps behind.

"Why are you aiding us, Kokutō?" Soifon asked. "You are a Togabito, damned to Hell for sins performed in life. If you were an honorable person, then you wouldn't be here in Hell, so what personal motive do you have?"

"…" Kokutō sighed. "It's true, I am a Togabito. I did perform sins in life, but what you don't know is that I had a sister once. I'm in Hell because I avenged her."

Ichigo blinked. "What?"

Kokutō gave a bitter laugh, stopping and turning around. "You know perfectly well what, Ichigo. Wouldn't you do the same if your sisters were killed? I slaughtered her murderers to the last, even when they begged for mercy. Mercy?" he scoffed. "I had no mercy for those who killed my family. That was the sin that damned me, Ichigo! I'm in here because I did what any other person would do, because I felt what any other person would feel! And you would do it too; I can see it in your eyes, that smoldering fire that rages in your soul, lusting for vengeance against Shuren and the others for taking your sisters. You'd smite them down and take brutal satisfaction in every second of it!" His voice had grown more and more fanatical by the second, as though he were reliving the sin with a smile on his face.

Ichigo was silent – he couldn't deny it. Hell, it could be argued that he'd already done just that against Aizen after the traitor had held his mother hostage.

Soifon scoffed, though inwardly a bit chilled by Kurosaki's lack of rebuttal. "You should have left it to your justice system."

"Shut up," Ichigo snarled. "You don't know what you're talking about. You have the power and authority to take lives as you please, assassin. For us petty mortals, no one knows what they're capable of doing until they're confronted with it. Kokutō found in his darkest moment that inside him is a vengeful killer that he let out to avenge his sister. And you already know what I'm capable of if pushed too far."

"And now you see the final result of that," Soifon rebutted, gesturing at Kokutō. "Continue like this and you too will be damned to Hell upon your death."

"I will ascend to the heights of heaven, or descend to the pits of Hell," Ichigo pointedly repeated the heartfelt vow that had led him to Resurrección. "Angel or demon, those titles mean nothing to me, as long as I can fulfill my desire."

Soifon shivered, her mind seeing Ichigo's Resurrección superimposed over him, and vaguely hearing the roar it had let loose upon its birth.

"My desire has always been to protect, but while I do not enjoy killing, I will do whatever it takes," the Vizard continued, not noticing Soifon's reaction. "And should a loved one die, I will wreak unholy vengeance upon the perpetrators."

"You understand," Kokutō breathed, staring at Ichigo with a mixture of wonder, relief… Is that hope? Ichigo thought, meeting the Togabito's eyes. Visibly shaking himself, Kokutō reassumed his previous countenance. "In any case, I'm helping in memory of my sister, because seeing you try so hard to save them…" He trailed off, but both Soifon and Ichigo knew what had been left unsaid. "We should get going."

They began walking again. "Ichigo," Kokutō murmured. "If you can, when we're done…"

"I'll free you from Hell, Kokutō," Ichigo promised under his breath, just loud enough for the Togabito to hear, but too soft for Soifon to catch. "I'm sure your sister misses you, and it's our duty as big brothers to protect them."

"… Thanks."

It was only a few minutes later that they emerged in the fourth level of Hell, where Ichigo could see an empty desert as far as the eye could see, with a single, solitary structure in the distance. Soifon frowned as she stood upon the sand – the way it shifted was similar but unlike the way sand would move in a desert. The grains beneath her feet did not feel right at all; it was not sand at all, something different. A tiny sniff of the air gave another hint that tickled at Soifon's comprehension, but she couldn't place it. "Togabito. What are we standing on?"

Wind whipped around, churning the 'sand' for a moment, and Kokutō sighed before turning to address the Shinigami. "Bones. The sand here is made up of the crushed bones of all the Togabito who have lost all hope and given up on their afterlife here in Hell. They turn to ash after being eaten for the last time by the Kushanāda, and their skeletons are tossed down here to decompose. Be careful not to breathe too much of it in – I've heard that the sand seeks to drag down anyone who steps onto this level of Hell. Now c'mon, Shuren's hideout is just over there; let's finish this."

Hiyori growled behind her mask as her opponent, whom she was sharing with Shinji, once again got up and regenerated nigh-instantly with his damnable tentacles. The Togabito had long since discarded their black cloaks and revealed their true garb, and Gunjō was a tall, pale man with his entire upper head from the bridge of his nose up covered in grey bandages, though neck-length dark hair dangled freely from the back of his head. Twin scars ran from the bottom of the bandages down his cheeks, all the way to either side of his chin.

Gunjō had revealed that he was able to use at least seven tentacles simultaneously, and could heal them extremely rapidly, which was the only reason Hiyori hadn't just cut him in half already. Shinji was helping where he could with Sakanade, but Gunjō's apparent blindness must have gifted him with extraordinary powers of reiatsu perception similar to Tōsen Kaname, as he was very rarely fooled by the Reversed World effect. As a result, Shinji was looking for an opportunity to use Hiyori's finisher, but it was taking a long time…

"Hurry up, you useless baka!"Hiyori criticized Shinji without any real rancor, dodging another very pointed tentacle strike that had been aimed to pierce her head and using Kubikiri Orochi to chop another one off as it attempted a follow-up strike.

"You're clear, Hiyori!" Shinji called out.

"About damn time!"Taking only a moment to open her mouth and gather her energy, she fired a Cero at the troublesome bastard.

Hiyori was extremely gratified to see the blast take out the entire left side of Gunjō's body, save his leg. She was about to move the Cero to finish Gunjō off, but then she gasped in pain, her Cero fizzling out as she froze. There was a tentacle piercing her chest, right at her collarbone. And then the tentacle retracted, and agony ripped up her nerves to assault her brain. She fell to the ground, her vision fading, the sound of Shinji's desperate voice quieting, the stone beneath her feeling more and more comfortable…

"Don't you dare."

Hiyori opened her eyes to find herself in her Inner World. Around her were the foggy marshlands that her Zanpakutō spirit resided in, with several pools of water barely visible in the mist. The water, she knew, created paths in the tall, wet grass, the paths winding their way towards where Hiyori knew Kubikiri Orochi liked to spend time. Kubikiri Orochi was nowhere in sight, but it was impossible not to notice the other resident of this world, as she was standing right in front of her. "Hollow."

"Don't you dare fucking give up, Hiyori!" the bleached white version of herself demanded heatedly, getting straight into Hiyori's face. "You don't get to give up!"

"Well what exactly do you expect me to do, huh?" Hiyori yelled back. "I can't do much with a freaking hole in my chest!"

"Ah, but I can, you idiot! Hollows have holes, remember, or have you decided to forget everything you learned while you were a mere Shinigami?" Hiyori's Inner Hollow reminded rudely. "Give me control or we'll both die!"

Hiyori scoffed, but had to admit that she had a point. "Fine."

The Hollow side of Hiyori blinked, taken aback by the seemingly easy acceptance. "What? You're not going to fight me, to demand me to do what I can and then give back control?"

"You're part of me, Hollow, and I know I can at least trust in your wish for survival," Hiyori pointed out. "But I'll be watching, and the instant you do something I have issues with, I'll drag you back here screaming and take control again! Besides, I was thinking we should start working together more often anyway."

The Hollow looked at her suspiciously, but slowly nodded in assent. "Whatever. We can talk about that when we live."

"Better get going then," Hiyori taunted. "Or are you scared?"

Hiyori's Inner Hollow cackled with a fierce grin and eyes that lusted for battle. "Me, scared? Never."

Outside, everyone paused in their battles as they felt a very familiar pulse of reiatsu. Shinji had scooped up Hiyori and was about to dash to Lisa, who knew the most healing Kidō of all the Vizard outside Hachi, but then he froze as he felt the sinister feeling of Hollow reiatsu running across and through his comrade's body.

Hiyori's skin paled considerably, and the hole in her chest grew a little larger, stabilizing and no longer bleeding as the lower half of her mask began to crumble, leaving only the part covering her forehead and around her left eye. Red diamond markings were emblazoned all across the mask fragment, with the large horn curving upwards remaining dead center in the middle.

Hiyori's clothes shifted and changed as well, keeping the overall theme of red and white, but now they seemed like an extension of the mask markings, as lily-white diamonds ran down the sleeves of her crimson red coat, as well as down each leg of her pants. Finally, she opened her eyes and Shinji noted that her eyes had the black sclera of Hollowification just like Ichigo, with her usual brown as the iris.

"Oi, let go!" the Hollow that had taken Hiyori's body demanded. She shoved her way out and dusted herself off. She stretched Hiyori's arms and back, and several loud, almost-painful-to-hear cracks could be heard as she grew accustomed to the body.

Shinji's wasn't sure whether he wanted to throttle Hiyori, or congratulate her – it was obvious her Inner Hollow had taken over much like Ichigo's had, and given that she hadn't completely Hollowified during the switch Hiyori hadn't fought it. Which means that it's not permanent. Which means that Hiyori didn't get eaten. "So, what's your name?" he asked the Hollow casually, not betraying the nervous excitement that he felt so keenly. Had Hiyori gained what she needed for Resurrección?

"Not a damned clue. I'll figure it out later, but right now we've got… bigger…" Hiyori's Hollow suddenly clutched her head, crouching down as though she were in incredible mental pain. Another pulse came from her body, and Kubikiri Orochi jumped into her hand from several yards away. But then, she let loose a primal scream, and it promptly melted into the white goo that had Hollowified them all to begin with a century ago, and splashed her straight in the face.

Hiyori's mask completely regenerated and then grew even further, wrapping completely around her head, her spiky pigtails shifting upwards to look like additional horns for her mask. Her coat and pants swiftly turned a darker crimson color but otherwise remained unchanged, but now from her knees and elbows she had a single short ivory blade-like protrusion each, all of them aiming down at a sharp angle. Her nails grew longer, sharper, and Shinji noticed that it seemed like her entire body had gained some extra muscle mass.

When the Hollow Hiyori had become let loose a scream of challenge to the sky, Shinji knew exactly what to say about the situation. "Well, shit."