It was official: the children were nowhere in Las Noches. They weren't in their rooms, the kitchen, 또는 anywhere in the immediate area of the castle. No other arrancar had seen them all morning. Ichimaru, Tousen, and the fraccion had searched every nook and cranny, but to no avail. Finally, they were forced to approach Aizen on the matter.
Many would agree that Ichimaru was a scary guy, but even he trembled when it came to Aizen. After he had been told that the children were missing, he said nothing. Ichimaru wished he would yell at them instead of giving them silence, but Aizen never yelled. It was his lack of anger that was so nerve-wracking, topped with that small smirk of his, as if he was deviously plotting in his head a cruel torture to bestow upon the Shinigami. Finally, after what felt, to Ichimaru at least, like a never-ending silence, Aizen spoke.
"Missing? Well now, how many places could ten Espada children possibly go on their own?"
"Er..." Ichimaru had no answer.
"Perhaps they somehow managed to escape to the human world?" Tousen half suggested, half asked.
Ichimaru's jaw dropped. "The human world?! How would they have done that?!
"That is a good suggestion, Kaname." Aizen said. "I believe 당신 two should consider that and look into the matter. If 당신 must, then take the fraccion with you."
"Yes, Lord Aizen." Ichimaru and Tousen said in unison.
"How would they have gotten there all on their own?" Ichimaru asked when they were out of earshot of Aizen.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps we should see if we can 확인 it before we 십자가, 크로스 over to the other world and 검색 for them."
Ichimaru thought for a moment. "Ah! What about that little one, Nel? She's always runnin' around outside. Maybe she saw 'em."
"That sounds good. Let's go ask."
The Shinigami made their way outside Las Noches. Since there were few arrancar living out of the palace, it would be rather easy to pock out the small Arrancar's reiatsu. Sure enough, the two soon felt several presences heading their way.
"That must be Nel and her friends." Ichimaru said, taking several steps away from Tousen. "Uh... 당신 might wanna be careful..."
"Careful? What for? She isn't dangerous."
"Actually-" Before Ichimaru could explain, Nel ran head on into Tousen, knocking him over. Ichimaru winced as she was then followed 의해 의해 her 프렌즈 Dondochakka and Pesche, who tripped and landed in a pile on 상단, 맨 위로 of Tousen.
"Mmmmph! Mmmmph!"
"Uh-oh. I think we squished somebody!" Pesche said.
"I can't get up!" Dondochakka complained, uselessly flailing on the 상단, 맨 위로 of the pile.
Ichimaru sighed and pulled Dondochakka off, trying to help Tousen. Though he was successful in getting the Arrancar off of Tousen, Dondochakka had now landed on him, sitting right on Ichimaru's face.
With Dondochakka having been pulled off, Pesche got to his feet, followed 의해 Nel then Tousen.
Pesche gasped. "Dondochakka! Look who 당신 are sitting on!"
"Huh?" Dondochakka looked down at the flailing Ichimaru and, upon realization of who his rear end had landed on, leapt to his feet.
"Are ya tryin' ta kill me?!" Ichimaru yelled stumbling to his feet.
"Wah!" Nel hid behind Pesche. "We are sowwy! Nel didn't mean to wun into you! Pwease fowgive us!"
The three then got down on their knees and bowed repeatedly to the two Shinigami, chanting, "Sorry" and "Please don't hurt us!".
Tousen sighed. "We just came to ask 당신 a question."
The arrancar stopped bowing and looked up at the Shinigami.
"A question?" Nel repeated.
"Yes. Have 당신 seen a group of children about the same size as yourself around?"
Nel jumped to her feet. "Oh! Nel saw them! Nel wanted to ask them to pway Eternal Tag wif us, but dey vanished befowe we could ask."
"Vanished? What do 당신 mean?"
"There was a biiiiiig portal thing dey all stepped thwough!" Nel said while making a large circular motion with her arms. "Then dey were gone!"
Ichimaru made a pouting face as Nel confirmed his fears: the children had made their way to the human world.
"Let's gather the fraccion." Tousen said. "We'll have to leave as soon as possible. I'm afraid to think about what those children could do if we don't find them soon."
Ichimaru nodded and followed Tousen. As his partner gathered the fraccion, he began to daydream about what horrors the children would bestow upon the humans. Since the children wouldn't have gigai, the humans wouldn't be able to see as the Espada caused trouble. It brought a small grin on his face. At least, until he remembered he'd have to find them and bring the brats back.
"Alright, let's go!" Tousen said, bringing Ichimaru back to reality.
With a zipping sound, the portal between worlds opened. The two Shinigami stepped through, followed 의해 the fraccion.
"We're all going to 스플릿, 분할 up. Find the Espada without drawing attention from the humans." Tousen instructed.
"Yes, sir!" All the fraccion said in unison, disappearing in a flash with their Sonido.
"Can't we just let 'em wreak havoc?" Ichimaru asked with a slight grin.
Tousen shook his head. Ichimaru always wanted to cause trouble. "Lord Aizen has commanded us to return them, so that's what we are going to do. Besides, there is no reason to let them torture the citizens here."
"Alright, alright. We'll look for 'em." Ichimaru muttered.
It didn't take long for them to find one of the Espada. A large group of people had gathered in the 거리 around a car. Upon closer inspection, a child lay on the ground in front of the car.
"Oh my god, oh my god. What have I done?! I-I-oh my god!" A man repeated as he stepped out of the car.
"How did this child get into the street?"
"Where was his mother?!"
"Oh, poor thing!"
"How could 당신 hit him?!"
"Wait, he's moving!"
The crowd suddenly got silent as a rather large 5-year-old sat up, moaning and rubbing his head. "That hurt!"
"He's alive?!"
"He's alive!"
"But how? He was hit 의해 a car!"
Ichimaru's eyes looked like they were ready to pop out of his head. He watched as Yammy (who, though still a child, looked slightly different and 더 많이 human) punched the car, forcing it back slightly. Everyone in the crowd gasped. One woman fainted.
"They-they can see him?!" Ichimaru sputtered.
Had Tousen not been wearing a visor, he would have had much the same look on his face as Ichimaru. He quickly set all 질문 aside, realizing they had to take action fast before anything else happened. "I'm going to distract them, 당신 grab Yammy! Be sure to cover your ears well!"
The dark-skinned Shinigami unsheathed his sword. He hated having to resort to this, but at the moment, it seemed like the best option. "Cry, Suzumushi." A high-pitched screech emitted from his sword, paralyzing everyone within close enough proximity to Yammy. A moment later, they all fell to the ground, unconscious.
Ichimaru seized the opportunity to grab Yammy, who had, luckily, also passed out. "Alright, let's gather the fraccion and get our Gigai."
-----
Ichigo pulled himself away from the 망가 he had been 읽기 when he realized nobody else was answering the phone. He had forgotten Yuzu and his father had gone shopping, and Karin was out playing soccer.
"Hello?"
"Ichigo! There are two little kids running rampant in my house!"
The substitute Shinigami heard the shatter of glass in the background, along with a small boy's voice saying, "Hey, catch!"
Another shatter.
"Oops, I missed." A 초 voice said rather sarcastically.
"Keigo." Ichigo said to his whimpering friend, "learn to control your cousins."
Click!
Keigo was ready to have a breakdown as Ichigo hung up on him. He ducked just in time to avoid a light bulb being thrown at his head.
---
Noitora was walking down the sidewalk, looking for somebody else to bother. His last victim had been a little girl at a playground. He'd dropped a few bugs on her head, making her cry, then left before any adults could come.
"Oh my, 당신 poor child!" A woman's voice suddenly said.
"Eh?" Noitora hardly had any time to realize she was talking to him when two plump hands grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. "Hey, don't tou-"
"Oh, dear heavens! No wonder 당신 are wandering away without an adult, your mother must be starving you!"
"I ain't got a mother lady!" The Espada growled, trying to free himself, but to no avail.
The woman gasped. "You poor thing! Here, let Mary feed you. I just went shopping!" With one hand still holding on to Noitora, she grabbed an 사과, 애플 and stuffed it in the child's hand. "Don't be afraid now, I just want to help you. There is plenty 더 많이 where that came from!"
Noitora looked at the piece of fruit, then tossed it aside. "I don't want your damn weird food!"
Mary gasped again. "Oh, young man, 당신 need to learn manners! Come with me, I shall take proper care of you." She said, grabbing his thin wrist.
"Like hell I'm going with you!"
"Stop using those atrocious words! 당신 must respect your elders!"
"I ain't listenin' to a woman!" The Espada retorted, yanking himself away from the woman.
"You-"
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
Mary turned around to see a dark-skinned man addressing her, a rather pale man standing beside him.
Ichimaru grabbed Noitora away from Mary. "Sorry 'bout him."
Mary stared at the two men as if she suddenly had a dark epiphany. "Oh!" She put her hands on her hips. "Why, I ought to call the police on 당신 two, neglecting your child like that!"
"He'll be fine. Trust me, we're takin' good ca-"
"He needs a mother, that's what he needs!"
Tousen didn't seem to understand the implications from the woman. Ichimaru gave a nervous laugh.
"Well, we'll be going now. Come on, Noitora."
"What was she trying to get at?" Tousen asked after they had run around the corner, 안전한, 안전 from the woman's condescending glare.
"You don't want to know..." Ichimaru responded.
The two found Tesla, who sighed in relief when he saw that Noitora was okay. It had proved to be a lot harder to find the children since they had all decided to hid their reiatsu, with the exception of Yammy. The good side to that was Ichigo and Rukia wouldn't sense them, and that far outweighed the fact that it would take a little longer to find them.
"Take him back an' keep an eye on him." Ichimaru said, handing the 5th Espada over.
"Tesla!" Noitora scolded as his fraccion ripped open Garganta, "Where have 당신 been? That woman was crazy!"
"Well, Master Noitora, 당신 were hiding, so it was hard to find you."
"Doesn't matter, 당신 should have come sooner! Imagine what she could have done to me!"
"Sorry, Master Noitora, now please just come with me."
"Well that's two down." Tousen said as the rip in the dimensional barrier sealed back up, Tesla and Noitora disappearing behind it.
"Eight 더 많이 to go." Ichimaru finished Tousen's thought. This was quickly shaping out to be the worst week of his life.
Many would agree that Ichimaru was a scary guy, but even he trembled when it came to Aizen. After he had been told that the children were missing, he said nothing. Ichimaru wished he would yell at them instead of giving them silence, but Aizen never yelled. It was his lack of anger that was so nerve-wracking, topped with that small smirk of his, as if he was deviously plotting in his head a cruel torture to bestow upon the Shinigami. Finally, after what felt, to Ichimaru at least, like a never-ending silence, Aizen spoke.
"Missing? Well now, how many places could ten Espada children possibly go on their own?"
"Er..." Ichimaru had no answer.
"Perhaps they somehow managed to escape to the human world?" Tousen half suggested, half asked.
Ichimaru's jaw dropped. "The human world?! How would they have done that?!
"That is a good suggestion, Kaname." Aizen said. "I believe 당신 two should consider that and look into the matter. If 당신 must, then take the fraccion with you."
"Yes, Lord Aizen." Ichimaru and Tousen said in unison.
"How would they have gotten there all on their own?" Ichimaru asked when they were out of earshot of Aizen.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps we should see if we can 확인 it before we 십자가, 크로스 over to the other world and 검색 for them."
Ichimaru thought for a moment. "Ah! What about that little one, Nel? She's always runnin' around outside. Maybe she saw 'em."
"That sounds good. Let's go ask."
The Shinigami made their way outside Las Noches. Since there were few arrancar living out of the palace, it would be rather easy to pock out the small Arrancar's reiatsu. Sure enough, the two soon felt several presences heading their way.
"That must be Nel and her friends." Ichimaru said, taking several steps away from Tousen. "Uh... 당신 might wanna be careful..."
"Careful? What for? She isn't dangerous."
"Actually-" Before Ichimaru could explain, Nel ran head on into Tousen, knocking him over. Ichimaru winced as she was then followed 의해 의해 her 프렌즈 Dondochakka and Pesche, who tripped and landed in a pile on 상단, 맨 위로 of Tousen.
"Mmmmph! Mmmmph!"
"Uh-oh. I think we squished somebody!" Pesche said.
"I can't get up!" Dondochakka complained, uselessly flailing on the 상단, 맨 위로 of the pile.
Ichimaru sighed and pulled Dondochakka off, trying to help Tousen. Though he was successful in getting the Arrancar off of Tousen, Dondochakka had now landed on him, sitting right on Ichimaru's face.
With Dondochakka having been pulled off, Pesche got to his feet, followed 의해 Nel then Tousen.
Pesche gasped. "Dondochakka! Look who 당신 are sitting on!"
"Huh?" Dondochakka looked down at the flailing Ichimaru and, upon realization of who his rear end had landed on, leapt to his feet.
"Are ya tryin' ta kill me?!" Ichimaru yelled stumbling to his feet.
"Wah!" Nel hid behind Pesche. "We are sowwy! Nel didn't mean to wun into you! Pwease fowgive us!"
The three then got down on their knees and bowed repeatedly to the two Shinigami, chanting, "Sorry" and "Please don't hurt us!".
Tousen sighed. "We just came to ask 당신 a question."
The arrancar stopped bowing and looked up at the Shinigami.
"A question?" Nel repeated.
"Yes. Have 당신 seen a group of children about the same size as yourself around?"
Nel jumped to her feet. "Oh! Nel saw them! Nel wanted to ask them to pway Eternal Tag wif us, but dey vanished befowe we could ask."
"Vanished? What do 당신 mean?"
"There was a biiiiiig portal thing dey all stepped thwough!" Nel said while making a large circular motion with her arms. "Then dey were gone!"
Ichimaru made a pouting face as Nel confirmed his fears: the children had made their way to the human world.
"Let's gather the fraccion." Tousen said. "We'll have to leave as soon as possible. I'm afraid to think about what those children could do if we don't find them soon."
Ichimaru nodded and followed Tousen. As his partner gathered the fraccion, he began to daydream about what horrors the children would bestow upon the humans. Since the children wouldn't have gigai, the humans wouldn't be able to see as the Espada caused trouble. It brought a small grin on his face. At least, until he remembered he'd have to find them and bring the brats back.
"Alright, let's go!" Tousen said, bringing Ichimaru back to reality.
With a zipping sound, the portal between worlds opened. The two Shinigami stepped through, followed 의해 the fraccion.
"We're all going to 스플릿, 분할 up. Find the Espada without drawing attention from the humans." Tousen instructed.
"Yes, sir!" All the fraccion said in unison, disappearing in a flash with their Sonido.
"Can't we just let 'em wreak havoc?" Ichimaru asked with a slight grin.
Tousen shook his head. Ichimaru always wanted to cause trouble. "Lord Aizen has commanded us to return them, so that's what we are going to do. Besides, there is no reason to let them torture the citizens here."
"Alright, alright. We'll look for 'em." Ichimaru muttered.
It didn't take long for them to find one of the Espada. A large group of people had gathered in the 거리 around a car. Upon closer inspection, a child lay on the ground in front of the car.
"Oh my god, oh my god. What have I done?! I-I-oh my god!" A man repeated as he stepped out of the car.
"How did this child get into the street?"
"Where was his mother?!"
"Oh, poor thing!"
"How could 당신 hit him?!"
"Wait, he's moving!"
The crowd suddenly got silent as a rather large 5-year-old sat up, moaning and rubbing his head. "That hurt!"
"He's alive?!"
"He's alive!"
"But how? He was hit 의해 a car!"
Ichimaru's eyes looked like they were ready to pop out of his head. He watched as Yammy (who, though still a child, looked slightly different and 더 많이 human) punched the car, forcing it back slightly. Everyone in the crowd gasped. One woman fainted.
"They-they can see him?!" Ichimaru sputtered.
Had Tousen not been wearing a visor, he would have had much the same look on his face as Ichimaru. He quickly set all 질문 aside, realizing they had to take action fast before anything else happened. "I'm going to distract them, 당신 grab Yammy! Be sure to cover your ears well!"
The dark-skinned Shinigami unsheathed his sword. He hated having to resort to this, but at the moment, it seemed like the best option. "Cry, Suzumushi." A high-pitched screech emitted from his sword, paralyzing everyone within close enough proximity to Yammy. A moment later, they all fell to the ground, unconscious.
Ichimaru seized the opportunity to grab Yammy, who had, luckily, also passed out. "Alright, let's gather the fraccion and get our Gigai."
-----
Ichigo pulled himself away from the 망가 he had been 읽기 when he realized nobody else was answering the phone. He had forgotten Yuzu and his father had gone shopping, and Karin was out playing soccer.
"Hello?"
"Ichigo! There are two little kids running rampant in my house!"
The substitute Shinigami heard the shatter of glass in the background, along with a small boy's voice saying, "Hey, catch!"
Another shatter.
"Oops, I missed." A 초 voice said rather sarcastically.
"Keigo." Ichigo said to his whimpering friend, "learn to control your cousins."
Click!
Keigo was ready to have a breakdown as Ichigo hung up on him. He ducked just in time to avoid a light bulb being thrown at his head.
---
Noitora was walking down the sidewalk, looking for somebody else to bother. His last victim had been a little girl at a playground. He'd dropped a few bugs on her head, making her cry, then left before any adults could come.
"Oh my, 당신 poor child!" A woman's voice suddenly said.
"Eh?" Noitora hardly had any time to realize she was talking to him when two plump hands grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. "Hey, don't tou-"
"Oh, dear heavens! No wonder 당신 are wandering away without an adult, your mother must be starving you!"
"I ain't got a mother lady!" The Espada growled, trying to free himself, but to no avail.
The woman gasped. "You poor thing! Here, let Mary feed you. I just went shopping!" With one hand still holding on to Noitora, she grabbed an 사과, 애플 and stuffed it in the child's hand. "Don't be afraid now, I just want to help you. There is plenty 더 많이 where that came from!"
Noitora looked at the piece of fruit, then tossed it aside. "I don't want your damn weird food!"
Mary gasped again. "Oh, young man, 당신 need to learn manners! Come with me, I shall take proper care of you." She said, grabbing his thin wrist.
"Like hell I'm going with you!"
"Stop using those atrocious words! 당신 must respect your elders!"
"I ain't listenin' to a woman!" The Espada retorted, yanking himself away from the woman.
"You-"
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
Mary turned around to see a dark-skinned man addressing her, a rather pale man standing beside him.
Ichimaru grabbed Noitora away from Mary. "Sorry 'bout him."
Mary stared at the two men as if she suddenly had a dark epiphany. "Oh!" She put her hands on her hips. "Why, I ought to call the police on 당신 two, neglecting your child like that!"
"He'll be fine. Trust me, we're takin' good ca-"
"He needs a mother, that's what he needs!"
Tousen didn't seem to understand the implications from the woman. Ichimaru gave a nervous laugh.
"Well, we'll be going now. Come on, Noitora."
"What was she trying to get at?" Tousen asked after they had run around the corner, 안전한, 안전 from the woman's condescending glare.
"You don't want to know..." Ichimaru responded.
The two found Tesla, who sighed in relief when he saw that Noitora was okay. It had proved to be a lot harder to find the children since they had all decided to hid their reiatsu, with the exception of Yammy. The good side to that was Ichigo and Rukia wouldn't sense them, and that far outweighed the fact that it would take a little longer to find them.
"Take him back an' keep an eye on him." Ichimaru said, handing the 5th Espada over.
"Tesla!" Noitora scolded as his fraccion ripped open Garganta, "Where have 당신 been? That woman was crazy!"
"Well, Master Noitora, 당신 were hiding, so it was hard to find you."
"Doesn't matter, 당신 should have come sooner! Imagine what she could have done to me!"
"Sorry, Master Noitora, now please just come with me."
"Well that's two down." Tousen said as the rip in the dimensional barrier sealed back up, Tesla and Noitora disappearing behind it.
"Eight 더 많이 to go." Ichimaru finished Tousen's thought. This was quickly shaping out to be the worst week of his life.
