Assessment

"Who are ya gonna take with ya?" Hollow Shinji asked curiously. Ichigo had just explained the situation to them all, and almost all of the Arrancar were eager to go to Hueco Mundo, curious what effect the dimension would have on their powers.

Ichigo sighed. "To be honest, I don't know. On the one hand, I want to leave the strongest Vizard here in case things go pear-shaped while I'm gone. But at the same time, I need people strong enough and smart enough to be able to take charge of groups of Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde Hollows and Arrancar, which means that I would prefer to take one of the ex-taicho just because of their experience and the ability to use Bankai if needed."

"But we can't use Bankai and Resurrección together until either we or our Inner Shinigami manages to wrest it from the other," Kensei pointed out.

"That's kind of the point," Ichigo retorted. "The desert in Hueco Mundo would be empty enough for you to have your fight. No matter what Yamamoto says, whoever I take with me is primarily going to be training to be able to use their Zanpakutō and Resurrección simultaneously. I can take care of myself, and there are plenty of powerful Hollows, so I'm thinking no more than three people should come along for the training. Any volunteers?"

"You've got a good point," Love agreed. "But like you said, you've a need for at least one ex-taicho, I think I should go." He hefted Tengumaru pointedly. Seeing as it was a gigantic spiked kanabō, Ichigo quickly assented.

"I'm coming," Hiyori asserted, glaring at Ichigo as if daring him to disagree. Rolling his eyes, Ichigo merely nodded. Doesn't matter if it's Hollow her or Shinigami her, they're exactly the same.

"I would come along, if you'll have me," Lisa spoke up unexpectedly.

"Of course," the Vizard agreed, though he was slightly confused. Lisa as a Vizard had been extremely distant from Ichigo the entire time he'd known her. Hollow Lisa was even worse, and almost seemed to prefer being alone despite the company of those like her.

"Well then!" Shinji said loudly, clapping his hands together as he grinned. "Sounds like you have your three. Get outta here."

Ichigo nodded. Not bothering to summon his mask, he called the traces of Hollow power that existed in his base form and opened a Garganta. He and his team stepped inside without hesitation. A short trip later, they stepped out into the vast desert expanse of Hueco Mundo, right in front of the doors to Las Noches. The doors themselves were enormous, and white just like the rest of the palace exterior. Despite that, the doors had an intricate design that must have taken a while to craft.

"Stay close," Ichigo ordered calmly as he felt a wave of Hollow reiatsu wash over him. With a single hand, he pushed open an enormous door and walked in.

"Hello, and welcome to Las Noches," a very familiar voice greeted. "Is there anything I can help you with… Ichigo-sama?"

"Pesche? Dondochakka?" Ichigo asked disbelievingly.

"Ichigo-sama!" The pair of the Fracción immediately bowed deeply in front of him. "My liege, what I can I do for you and your guests?" Pesche asked deferentially.

Ichigo grimaced and pointedly ignored the questioning looks from his comrades. "I need to see Nel and Ulquiorra immediately."

"At once, sir. Dondochakka?"

"Right!" the heavyset Arrancar ran off, presumably to fetch the ex-Espada in question.

"Ichigo-sama, please follow me to the meeting room," Pesche requested.

Nodding, Ichigo began to follow the strangely-formal Arrancar. "You don't have to treat me like I'm some visiting royalty or anything." Immediately after saying this, Ichigo regretted it, because he knew what was coming.

"But you are!" Pesche protested. "You're Kurosaki Ichigo, king of Hueco Mundo!"

"King?!" Ichigo's companions chorused.

"When did this happen?" Hiyori demanded.

"It was a very recent development," Pesche answered easily. "But after Aizen died, Ichigo-sama came back to Hueco Mundo and proved that he was stronger than everyone else, even the other Vasto Lorde-class Hollows! So he became king."

Lisa looked up at Ichigo. "… You didn't need us," she observed.

"No," Ichigo admitted. "I brought you along so you all could get stronger. And to keep Yamamoto off my back. I don't need to tell you that I'd prefer to keep this a secret."

Ichigo received a chorus of nods in return. That much was self-evident to the Vizard-turned-Arrancar, in a more literal sense than most – the Vizard were such because Soul Society had attempted to execute them for having Hollow powers thrust upon them. If Ichigo were to be revealed as the ruler of all Hollows…

"Ichigo!"

The transcendent turned to the sound and allowed a half-smile to cross his face. "Nel."

The gentle Arrancar smiled back. Starrk was a few feet behind her, along with Lilynette. They nodded at him, and he nodded back in acknowledgment. Then Starrk frowned. "Kurosaki-sama… what has happened? Your soul feels… incomplete. Something is missing."

Lilynette frowned and peered at him critically. "Hey, yeah, that's right. What'd you do?"

Ichigo blinked. "How can you tell?"

The former Primera gestured at himself and his Fracción. "Lilynette and I are two parts of the same soul, and one of our Resurrección powers is splitting our soul further. It's easy for us to tell when someone else has done the same."

Ichigo frowned. He hadn't been quite sure if his Togabito reflection had been part of him, or was an invasive soul fragment of Hell. Guess this answers that. But that meant very disturbing things for his own psyche that he'd have to meditate on later. "I'll explain in a minute, when Ulquiorra is here."

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Speak of the devil," Starrk commented lightly. "And guest, it would seem."

Ulquiorra had indeed entered the room, Tia Harribel walking slightly behind. "Harribel!" Nel greeted. "It's good to see you."

"Ulquiorra. Harribel," Ichigo acknowledged.

"What brings you back to Hueco Mundo?" Harribel asked quietly. "And who have you brought with you?"

"Let's sit down – this is a bit of a long story."

Pesche fetched some tea for everyone, and Ichigo filled in the former Espada as best he could. Silence ruled for several moments, before Starrk groaned. "We're going to war again?"

"Shut up!" Harribel barked out, her eyes intensely focusing on Ichigo's own. "You're sure? Quincy arrows send souls to Hell?"

"Positive," Ichigo confirmed.

"Then the next time you go, I'm coming with you," she asserted. "My Fracción are there somewhere."

"Fine by me." The Vizard turned to Ulquiorra. "Have any Togabito come here to Hueco Mundo?"

"I cannot say; there has been some strange reiatsu signatures appearing sporadically in Hueco Mundo, but it is gone quickly. I would normally assume that they are newborn Adjuchas who are swiftly eaten by other, more experienced Hollows, but I cannot be sure."

Nodding, Ichigo stood. The Arrancar stood as well in deference to their king. "We need to prepare for war. The Shinigami and my human friends are handling the living world, so it's up to us to protect Hueco Mundo. Ulquiorra, Starrk, Harribel, I need you to spread the word amongst the other Vasto Lorde and Adjuchas-class Hollows to keep an eye out for the Togabito. Las Noches is to be a safe haven, and any who wish to join us are welcome as long as they don't eat anyone else residing here."

He turned to Nelliel, who gazed upon him resolutely. "Nel, I need you to stay here with your Fracción. Have them ready some rooms for us, as we'll probably be in Hueco Mundo for a while. While they're doing that, I need you to train these three." He gestured at Hiyori, Love and Lisa. "They're new to the Arrancar thing, and would no doubt benefit from your experience."

"Sure, but what about you, Ichigo?" Nel asked quietly.

"Me? I'm going to find Grimmjow."

Ishida Uryū set down on the roof of his father's hospital with a sigh. It was the only place he could think of quiet enough for him to gather his thoughts. Spotting a simple folding chair nearby, Ishida raised an eyebrow. Apparently I'm not the only one who comes up here to think. Unfolding the chair, the Quincy sat and rubbed his temples.

Quincies don't destroy souls, after all. They send them to Hell. There's some sort of spiritual contract involved. Grandfather Sōken… did you know? Why did no one ever tell me? Shaking his head, Ishida struggled to set his feelings aside and analyze the data he'd been given. But there was so little to work from. In the end, it came down to two questions. Is there a physical contract somewhere? If so, where is the contract now? If Ishida could have a copy of the contract, that would be a place to start.

If Ryūken knew about the true nature of our powers, then he would have told me. It would have been one of his weapons to convince me to cease my spiritual activities, he reasoned. So, it follows that he probably does not know the whereabouts of the contract either. As we are the last of the living Quincy, that means I must do as Chad did.

Ishida stood, now having a plan. He needed to go to Soul Society and seek out his ancestors. And then he remembered – he couldn't do that. Kurotsuchi Mayuri had dissected a rather large number of Quincy, including Ishida's grandfather. Even if there were any Quincy remaining in Soul Society, then they would not respond to any requests for meetings.

Vaguely remembering the history lessons Sōken had given him when he was much younger, Ishida knew that the Quincy had originated in Germany. As a result, it seemed very likely that the contract had taken place there. But Germany was too wide an area for him to search, and it was entirely possible that the contract had been moved since then – he needed to narrow down the location.

Sitting again, Ishida grimaced. Much as he hated to admit it, it appeared that he would need to work with Mayuri. The man was a scientist, and he would no doubt have records of everything his prisoners had communicated. Among those records were bound to be mentions of the contract, and with any luck, clues to its location.

Working with the man who'd orchestrated his grandfather's demise was galling to the extreme, but Ishida saw no other choice. Gritting his teeth, he stood up to go see him.

"Uryū?"

Ishida turned to the side, where he saw Inoue step down off her Santen Kesshun, dissolving it back into her hairpins. "Orihime."

"Are you ok?"

"No." Ishida shook his head. "No, I'm not. My powers send souls, innocent souls, to Hell eternally. When I thought they destroyed the souls, I could live with it. 'It's only painful for a moment,' I would tell myself. 'Wouldn't any decent soul rather die than be forced to commit atrocities, than have to kill their loved ones and eat other souls?' I could justify it to myself, and I could deal with the consequences.

"But they don't cease to exist!" Ishida spat out. "They're sent to Hell! They suffer, and they suffer, and they never, ever get release! All these years, I've been condemning those souls to a fate worse than death!"

"But you couldn't have known," Inoue pointed out, coming closer. "If you'd have known, you would have stopped, Uryū-kun. I'm sure of it."

"Would I?" Ishida retorted disbelievingly. "Let's say for a moment that I had. Then I wouldn't have dared to go to Soul Society to help rescue Kuchiki Rukia. I would never have found out that Kurotsuchi Mayuri was responsible for the death of my grandfather. He would have gone after another, perhaps even you, Orihime!

"Or let's assume that it would have ended alright even without me. Kuchiki is saved, and events continue to play out. I wouldn't have gone to Hueco Mundo to help rescue you! Kurosaki would have gone after Zommari, who would have caught him in his technique and forced Kurosaki to slit his own throat! You would have been Aizen's plaything again!

"Or how about after that?" Ishida continued his rant, growing louder with every sentence. "Without me, Kuchiki and Abarai would have died! Kuchiki wouldn't have been alive to help you reject Baraggan, and he would have rotted everything! More would have perished! YOU would have died!"

Ishida took a deep, steadying breath. "The truly damning thing about me, Orihime, is that even knowing now that my powers condemn souls to Hell, I don't regret any of it. I know that if I hadn't acted, Aizen may have won, and then everyone would likely be dead anyway, sacrificed for the Ōken. But more than that, I would have done it all over again, if it meant that you and the rest of my friends stayed alive."

Inoue's eyes were wide. "But… but you're going to find that contract, right? And make it so your arrows don't do that?"

"Of course I am." The Quincy sighed, suddenly tired. "I don't want any more souls to suffer unnecessarily."

"Then I'll get stronger too," Inoue promised. "Strong enough to reject Hell's hold over all those souls. We'll make it right, together."

Ishida nodded sharply and turned away. "Come on, Orihime. We should head back." He leapt into the air and used his Hirenkyaku to dash away, glad she could no longer see his face. He did not want her to see the effect her words had had on him.

Inoue followed on her Santen Kesshun, never noticing how the air occasionally glistened. But the sharp-eyed man who stepped out of the shadows on the roof saw, and watched the wind ferry his son's silent tears to the ground.

Yamamoto sat alone in his office, contemplating the events that had led to this point. While he was confident that Hell would, eventually, be neutralized, he knew that there was every chance he might not survive long enough to see it. So, he needed to correct what he could, and do his best to prepare Shunsui for his future role as sōtaicho.

But in order to determine the future, he needed to understand the mistakes of the past. Where did it all go wrong? Yamamoto pondered the question for a time. Such a question could have a myriad of answers, all equally correct depending on the perspective of he who answered.

The Central 46 would likely condemn Kurosaki Ichigo for awakening Hell, and indeed he had. However, he had done so accidentally, while trying to save his family. Only a man without a heart could fail to understand, and despite Kurosaki's recent accusations, even Yamamoto's heart could ache in sympathetic pain.

Those who saw a bit more of the bigger picture, perhaps, would blame the Gotei 13 for not promptly assassinating Kurosaki after Aizen was finished. Surely, they would think, the Gotei had enough power to take down one human being, no matter how strong. And that too was true. If the Gotei 13 had followed protocol, killing or binding Kurosaki was the prudent and natural course of action. The living should never have the powers of the dead. But not only would that be difficult – how would it not be, after Kurosaki had gained such power? – but it flew in the face of morality. Kurosaki had sacrificed much in order to gain the strength he needed, and if not for him then Aizen would have won. Soul Society owed him a debt, and it was possible his strength would be needed in the future. Besides, humans led such short lives; by allowing Kurosaki to keep his powers, he would grow up with the Gotei 13 and naturally join them upon his inevitable death.

Either of those answers were true in their own way, but it was clear they were not analyzing deeply enough. In Yamamoto's opinion, the problems had begun the minute they believed the word of a single, charismatic fukutaicho whose powers were not fully known, over that of not only one, but two taicho. If the Central 46 had simply allowed Urahara and Tessai to defend and explain their actions, perhaps even alongside the Hollowified Shinigami that now called themselves the Vizard, then Aizen's treachery would have been revealed early. They would have been able to defeat him, and the Gotei would have recovered long before Kurosaki Ichigo had been born. If they had been able to retain the Vizard, then the Gotei 13 would have been even stronger for it.

But those decisions had been purely those of the Central 46. There had been nothing Yamamoto could do about that. A new Central 46 had been determined, and with any luck they would learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. So far, they seemed a reasonable sort, if their decision regarding allowing Zangetsu and Kuchiki-taicho access to their library were any marker to go by.

Yamamoto furrowed his brow. The next events of significance had been orchestrated by Aizen himself – Kurosaki Masaki had been eaten by the Grand Fisher, Kuchiki Rukia had been sentenced to execution via Sōkyoku, and Kurosaki Ichigo had invaded with his band of Ryoka. The latter events had been made possible purely because the Central 46 were so secretive that no one was permitted to see them unless summoned or if it was an emergency. That, he could do something about.

He would talk to the Central 46 and make a suggestion that they rotate guards, using high-ranking members of the Gotei 13. In doing so, Soul Society might avoid having a traitor speak with the voice of the Central 46 again. That decision made, Yamamoto renewed his focus on evaluating the past.

The next event was the decision to allow Kurosaki Ichigo to live. At the time, it had seemed wise to do so. Kurosaki was extremely strong, a taicho-class Shinigami who had never seen Aizen's Shikai. He was to be the final trump card. In the end, that decision was vindicated in that Kurosaki succeeded in killing Aizen. However, in the process of doing so, Kurosaki had grown strong enough that some wondered who was stronger – Yamamoto or Kurosaki.

And that, Yamamoto told himself with a heavy sigh, is where it all started to go wrong. While he still felt he was right to take precautionary measures in case Kurosaki went mad with power as far too many did, Yamamoto had made the same mistake that Hirako Shinji had made when he was Aizen's taicho. He'd distanced himself, and never came to actually know the person. If Hirako had grown closer, he would have detected Aizen's treachery sooner. If Yamamoto had allowed himself to get to know Kurosaki, then he would have been relieved to find that Kurosaki was still quite sane and merely wanted peace. Yamamoto would have been in a far better position to explain about Hell, and they could, perhaps, have sent a team who would not have accidentally awakened Hell.

Perhaps, Yamamoto had to admit, Shunsui had the right of it. To his prodigal student, the point of critical failure had been Yamamoto himself, by not treating Kurosaki Ichigo as an equal and underestimating how far the boy would go for his family. Kurosaki was not a member of the Gotei 13, and treating him like one of Yamamoto's soldiers was not only useless, but counterproductive.

Failing to see that was a mistake whose blame lay squarely on the ancient shoulders of Yamamoto. Kurosaki had always valued his nakama more than rules, more than law, more than tradition. It would of course follow that he would always rebel against anything that restricted his ability to protect them. But by the same token, he would always aid those who helped him in turn.

Yamamoto had seen Kurosaki's eyes when they had been speaking over the trans-dimensional communications monitor. He could see that Kurosaki only tolerated him now because he was needed, and would much prefer they never had anything to do with one another again. While it was not hate, it was certainly an intense dislike combined with wariness. Just another reason for me to retire soon – he seems to have better relations with Shunsui as it stands.

But, perhaps there was something he could do to mend the relationship between Kurosaki Ichigo and Soul Society. He made a mental note to remind himself to contact Kurosaki when he returned from Hueco Mundo, and then Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, sōtaicho of the Gotei 13, slowly rose to his feet. The time for reflection had passed. Now, he needed to work towards the future.

"Let's review." Urahara, Yoruichi, Hitsugaya, Rukia, Renji and Chad were sitting at the table in Urahara's shop, while Tessai brought out some tea for everyone. "We need to decide what to do now to best protect the living world," Hitsugaya continued, "so we need to understand our own situation."

Renji snorted. "We're about to be cut off from Soul Society, Ichigo's gone to Hueco Mundo, Ishida's having a breakdown from revelations about his power, and the strawberry's keeping secrets with Kuchiki-taicho. That about cover it?"

"Mostly," Urahara agreed. "Uryū-kun will likely be largely unavailable, as he'll be searching for that contract. I took the liberty of downloading all of Mayuri's notes about the Quincy, so with any luck we can avoid any unfortunate skirmishes between them."

Rukia nodded, looking somewhat relieved. She'd never liked the taicho of the 12th Division, and she'd heard the story of what had happened with Ishida's grandfather. "That leaves us with two of our heaviest hitters – Ichigo and Ishida – out of the picture for the time being. Kurosaki Isshin will probably help when he can, but has his two daughters to take care of. Likewise, Ishida Ryūken will protect the Karakura hospital. Speaking from experience, asking him to do more is useless."

Hitsugaya nodded, remembering when he'd sent Rukia and Rangiku to request Ryūken's services while Cazador de la Luna had been in control and in Hueco Mundo. "Sado-san, it's likely we're going to need your help more often."

The giant merely nodded. "Ichigo is counting on us to protect Karakura while he's gone. I'll do my best."

The ice-wielding taicho turned to Renji. "Abarai-fukutaicho, how is Kuchiki-san progressing?"

"She's getting stronger," Renji replied calmly. "Sode no Shirayuki has begun to use her Shikai attacks against Rukia. Rukia's Kidō is also growing stronger as a result."

"Excellent. Kuchiki-san, how is Abarai's Kidō?"

"Much better," Rukia admitted. "He's got a good grasp of the fire element spells up to Hadō 54: Haien. We'll be going over electric spells next."

"Impressive progress, given the short time you've had to work with," Urahara complimented. "Especially considering Abarai-kun's previously poor control."

"Very impressive." Rukia jumped, startled, not expecting Tessai's voice from right behind her. "When Ichigo returns, I may have you join in our sessions. I am interested to see your method of teaching Kidō."

Swallowing and calming her racing heart, Rukia slowly nodded. Apparently that was enough to satisfy the former taicho of the Kidō Corps, as he politely refilled everyone's tea before moving back into the kitchen.

"Going back to our discussion, I'll be quite busy assisting in manipulating the Dangai, in addition to maintaining and upgrading the barrier that limits Hell's attacks," Urahara began where they had left off. "The amount of power needed to rip open a path through closely-tied dimensions is actually quite little, as you all should know. Even the lowest grade Shinigami can open Senkaimon, and Hollows can instinctually open Garganta easily enough.

"My job is to make it as near to impossible as I can, at least for Hell" the exile continued. "Between Tessai, Mayuri and myself, we've set up a dimensional barrier, basically reinforcing our dimension's borders against Hell to the point where it takes someone powerful to open the path. Unfortunately for us, Hell has a, pardon the term, ungodly amount of power that can be utilized to a limited extent by the Togabito. It's analogous to the Reiō, essentially – so tremendously strong that even the air carries his spiritual energy throughout his realm, helping Shinigami grow stronger.

"This is why we're working with the Dangai – by the time we're done, it should take a combination of a Hell becoming personally involved, and a lot of luck, to be able to send Togabito to the living world. Hell should, and I do mean 'should', only be able to send a limited number of his forces at a time before having to recover." Urahara shrugged. "But, I have no idea how long that recovery time is. The only person I could compare against would be Ichigo, and ever since he killed Aizen, I haven't seen him brought low enough to need rest to regenerate his energy."

"But until you've got everything set up, you'll need us to run interference," Renji acknowledged, understanding.

Urahara nodded. "Exactly. So I have some equipment to give out." He handed everyone present one of the devices that he'd given Ichigo previously. "These are single-dimensional radios all bound to the same channel. They go in your ear," he continued, demonstrating, "and will allow us to communicate instantly regardless of distance. Please keep them in at all times – I will remotely activate them when Togabito are detected in the living world."

"Why do we need these?" Rukia asked curiously.

"They are a precautionary measure," the shopkeeper replied gravely. "We must be prepared for tactics that involve Hell sending waves of Togabito to different areas of Karakura. By having instant communication like this, we are able to better respond and coordinate to counter threats.

"They also serve as emergency beacons, so if you fall in combat someone can quickly locate and treat you," Urahara added.

Accepting the explanation, Rukia gently pushed the device into her left ear. The others did the same. "Wait," Hitsugaya suddenly said. "Yoruichi-san, you were head of the Onmitsukidō, and taicho of the 2nd Division once. Can you give us some insight into Hell? Why isn't Hell continuing the assault? Why didn't he send more Togabito?"

There was silence for a minute. "I cannot be certain," Yoruichi began slowly. "There are a number of factors at play. First, Hell was resurrected extremely recently. He may not be at full power, or he may be searching out his remaining soul fragments.

"Second, he showed an interest in Ichigo. He may have kept the numbers low so Ichigo would have felt there to be an opportunity to return to Hell, as he did. It would then follow that as Ichigo separated his Inner Togabito from himself, Hell is preoccupied with that Togabito Ichigo.

"Third, this was a test run, to examine our defenses and determine the best approach. He may be analyzing the data, or perhaps doing the same to Hueco Mundo as we speak.

"In the end, there is no way to know," Yoruichi concluded. "We must make the best use of the time we have. Get some rest, and don't bother with shifts. If Togabito arrive, Kisuke's machines will alarm quite loudly. If you're not woken by that, I'll have Tessai do it. Kisuke and I will take care of any Hollows."

Togabito Ichigo awoke once again, held up by several chains. Once again, he tested his strength against the chains, and as always, the chains held steady. Damn it.

Hell had quickly and effortlessly captured the Togabito shortly after he'd kicked Ichigo out of his dimension. Ever since, he'd been bound by the chains against some ultra-smooth wall. There was no escape from it – he couldn't even bite his tongue and bleed to death in the hopes of being resurrected sooner or later within the Hell dimension. He'd tried it the last time he had awoken here, and the only thing that had happened was that he'd spat out a lot of blood before passing out.

Togabito Ichigo did a quick check – yes, his tongue was entirely there. Either it had regenerated, or he'd actually died and Hell had promptly resurrected him and stuck him back on the wall. Well, that's frustrating.

"Awake, I see."

Togabito Ichigo focused his attention towards the bastard who'd locked him up there. "Hell."

"You have me at a disadvantage," Hell remarked with a smile. "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"I have no name," Togabito Ichigo spat. "I wasn't in Ichigo's soul long enough to be given one, not when he didn't trust me."

"I see." Hell came closer, inspecting him. "But you were borne from more than the soil of Kurosaki Ichigo's soul. My reiatsu gave the seed."

"So what?"

"So, you have been cast out of Ichigo. Now you are reliant on my power to even exist." Hell reached out and gently lifted a few links of the chain that protruded from Togabito Ichigo's chest. "If I were to cut this chain… your power would dwindle to nothing, merely from the exertion of maintaining your own form. And if you die, there'll be no one to protect Kurosaki Masaki from the Togabito who would so dearly love to sample such pure spirit." Hell smiled. "Or from me deciding she's not worth keeping around and crushing to join the sands of the desert."

Togabito Ichigo grit his teeth – Hell was right, on all counts. "What do you want?"

"Why, I want you to protect Kurosaki-san," Hell answered easily. "And if I have need of you on occasion, then I will want you to be pliant, and do as you're told."

"… Fine. Let me out."

Hell's smile grew a little wider. "Now, now, is that any way to address your master?"

Biting back the urge to spit in his face, Togabito Ichigo swallowed his pride and bowed his head. "Please loose me from your chains, Hell-sama."

"Much better." Without even a gesture from Hell, the chains loosened, and then vanished.

Togabito Ichigo landed on his feet and refrained from lunging at Hell – it would serve no purpose at this time. Besides, I need to know what I'm capable of. I'm separated from Ichigo now, so I have no idea if I have Zangetsu or Cazador de la Luna.

"Now then, we need a proper name for you. I can't just call you Ichigo, now can I?" Hell mused aloud. "You're a reflection, of sorts, but with my influence. Oh, what is that phrase that humans coined? Ah, yes." Turning back to face Togabito Ichigo, Hell smiled. "'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,' isn't it? Then I shall call you Zen'i, for you will pave the road for me, all in the name of saving your mother."