Not a Mob: Psycho

"This guy is starting to annoy me..." remarked Ohta, slowing the psychic platform to a crawl as Runuganga materialized a 20m tall wall of sand to block their path. He could easily break through it, but, having grown tired of the sand-formed Hollow's antics, he decided to end it once and for all.
"I see you've consigned yourself to your fate!" shouted Runuganga. "Now, prepare to have your bones ground to dust...!"
Extending his hand, Ohta released an invisible wave of energy with the intention of crushing Runuganga as he had the contortionist Hollow back in the underground passage. Before he could, Rukia leaped from his lap, shouting, "Leave this one to me...!" as she manifested Sode-no-Shirayuki without calling her name.
"I'll help...!" added Orihime, rising to her feet but staying atop the psychic platform as she shouted, "Cry gently, Kokoroyoi! Suzu-no-Kyoshin...!"
Empowered by Orihime, Rukia brandished her Zanpakuto to freeze the entirety of Runuganga in a single go. Moisture happened to be the natural enemy of the monstrous Hollow, so while he wasn't killed outright, he was incapacitated and would suffer tremendously for the next couple of hours.
Returning to the psychic platform, landing near Ohta, Rukia puffed out her nearly non-existent chest and hummed, "Did you see that? You don't have to try and do 'everything' yourself. Orihime and I make a great team, even without-"
Interrupting Rukia's bragging, Ichigo abruptly shouted, "When did Orihime become a Shinigami...!?"
"Are you kidding me?" asked Uryu, staring at Ichigo in disbelief as he added, "It was right after we returned from the Soul Society. Just how oblivious are you to your surroundings?"
"I was focused on my training!" contended Ichigo. However, as he had seen Orihime wearing a Shihakusho numerous times, that wasn't a good excuse. He just thought she was cosplaying to fit in or not draw attention to herself during battle...
Jingling the bells of her Kokoroyoi, Orihime, feeling much better after releasing it, adopted a radiant smile and explained, "I wanted to be of better help to everyone, and..."
Directing her gaze to Rukia and Ohta, focusing on the latter, Orihime added, "I wanted to stay beside the people I respect and admire the most..."
Though she wanted to say something a little different, Orihime didn't want to put Ohta on the spot in front of so many people. She also didn't want to make it sound like she was betraying Rukia. However, as there was a good chance they could die on this mission, she had to say something...
Fortunately for Orihime, Rukia promptly gave Ohta a swift smack when he initially just stared at her, shouting, "Stop trying to act cool and pat her on the head or something, you dog-brained buffoon...!"
"I don't approve of domestic violence..." muttered Ohta, rubbing the spot Rukia had slapped him even though he hadn't felt the blow. Then, eliciting a startled yelp from Orihime, he pulled the buxom ginger to sit in his lap, wrapping his arms around her abdomen as he said, "Protect me from the monkey-bun, Gingersnap...!"
"Uh...o-okay...!?" replied Orihime, surprising both Ohta and Rukia as she pointed to the flower-shaped pins in her hair before producing a triangular barrier to 'protect' him.
Adopting a shit-eating grin, Ohta pat Orihime on the head, saying, "Good girl," while Rukia stared at him with narrowed eyes before sighing in mock exasperation...
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After finally reaching the base of Las Noches, Ohta asked, "So, what now? Are we passing through or going up? Those towers at the top of the dome are pretty conspicuous."
"Do you think that's where they're keeping Karin?" asked Ichigo.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ohta replied, "I genuinely have no idea. But I doubt someone who wants to depose the closest thing in this world to a god would be content concealing their throne in a heavily guarded area. At least one of those towers should be Aizen's ego den..."
Furrowing his brows and crossing his arms, Ichigo put his few surviving brain cells to work, seriously considering his response before stating, "I don't think it's a good idea to fight Aizen without the support of the Gotei 13. Unless we confirm that's where Karin is being held captive, we should try and avoid it..."
"I don't agree with that plan," said Ohta. "Kidnapping Karin had to have been Aizen's idea, so even if she isn't being kept near him, he's the most likely to know where she's being held."
Shaking his head, Ohta's expression became serious as he said, "The six of you can enter the main complex of Las Noches to lure the enemy and search for Karin there. I'm here for the snake's head..."
"That's crazy!" exclaimed Renji. "There's no way you can take on Aizen by yourself! We should use this opportunity to diminish his forces before the final battle...!"
Furrowing his brows, Ohta asserted, "We came here to rescue Ichigo's tomboy sister. Besides, do you believe the enemy will line up and wait for us to gang up on them individually? What if the opposite happens, and we must battle all the Espada simultaneously? Ichigo can barely hold his own against one of their mid-tier fighters. What-"
Interrupting Ohta's tongue-lashing, a powerful Reiatsu descended on the group from above, compelling him to move the psychic platform backward to evade a small yet exceptionally fast figure. When the figure impacted the ground, an explosion of white sand and crystalline debris hundreds of meters tall was produced. At the same time, a powerful shockwave struck the outermost layer of Ohta's barrier, causing it to shimmer before peeling away like a plastic wrapper.
Before the massive cloud of dust had a chance to disperse, several fast-moving projectiles, remarkably similar to the arrows fired by Uryu, struck the second layer of Ohta's barrier, piercing through several others as they got lodged into the invisible membrane. Then, a much larger, spherical projectile impacted the center of his barrier, causing it to become visible as it indented and began to fracture.
Leaping toward the powerful projectile, Ohta slapped his hands together, transforming into his jackal form as he shouted, "Get to a safe distance...!" before slamming his fist into the rapidly spinning spherical projectile. He intended to shatter it to pieces. Instead, the sphere deformed under his fist before rebounding into the cloud of dust, creating a cylindrical tunnel through the veritable column of sand.
To Ohta's surprise, a vaguely familiar figure came into view when the 'ball' of dense Reiryoku returned to its origin, producing a large shockwave that created a void within the cloud of dust. They, or, more accurately, she had darker skin, aquamarine eyes, a mask resembling a forehead protector, a Hollow hole just below her navel, and an incredibly skimpy outfit, but Ohta immediately recognized the raven-haired individual as Karin...
After catching the sphere of Reiryoku with the sole of her foot, the Karin-like Arrancar briefly juggled it like a soccer ball, ultimately resting it on her knee as she asked, "How is it? Still think I'm weak...?" with a smug grin on her face.
"I think you're in serious need of an ass whopping..." retorted Ohta, his expression a deep-set frown as he resisted the urge to attack the Karin lookalike, forcing himself to ask, "What happened? Why are you attacking us...?"
Instead of answering Ohta's question, the Karin lookalike turned her body sideways, grinning mischievously as she gave herself a firm smack on her perky bottom and teased, "I always knew you were a sadist, what with all that intense training you put me through. Did you know, every time you pushed me to the point of exhaustion, I imagined you taking advantage of me? Then, when you didn't, it made me feel self-conscious, even though I knew you weren't that type of guy..."
Before Ohta could respond to the Karin lookalike's words, Ichigo rushed over, screaming, "Karin! Is that you!? What...what happened to you...!?" in a frenzied panic.
Furrowing her brows into a pout, the Karin lookalike muttered, "Ichi-nii..." before kicking the super dense sphere of Reiyroku into the air, bouncing it off of her knee before leaping up, abruptly twisting her body with extreme speed and flexibility as she shouted, "Can't you see I was talking to Ohta-kun...!?"
Kicking the Reiryoku sphere like a soccer ball, Karin caused the pupils of Ichigo's eyes to shrink as it barreled toward his chest with meteoric force. He managed to pull his cleaver-like Zanpakuto from his back, blocking the projectile with the flat of his blade, but he couldn't arrest its momentum. Instead, like a superhero trying to stop a train, he was forced backward at nearly the same speed as the projectile, obliterating several dunes before deflecting the superdense energy sphere skyward.
Using the time she had bought for herself, the Karin lookalike regained her smile as she scampered over to Ohta, exclaiming, "Did you see that, Ohta-kun!? With this kind of power, I don't need protection, and I never have to feel afraid anymore! I might not be as strong as you are right now, but I'm sure I can catch up if you keep training me...!"
Recovering from a momentary stupor, Ohta extended his hand to caress the Karin lookalike's head. There was a good chance she was a fake sent to distract them, but if she were the real deal, it indicated Aizen had done something to fuck with her common sense. He didn't want her going full postal by lashing out or chastizing her, so he forced a smile and said, "You certainly got stronger...now, mind explaining to me what happened? Also, stop bullying your brother. He did come all this way to try and rescue you, after all..."
"Eeeeeh..."
Looking past Ohta to where Ichigo was staring at her with equal parts shock and concern, the Karin lookalike exhaled an exasperated sigh and replied, "Fine, but only because you asked me to. If Ichi-nii and Tou-san had told me the truth from the start, I might not have been kidnapped so easily. At the very least, I could have become much stronger than I was. Not that I have anything to complain about now. Here, check this out..."
Extending her left hand to the side, Karin materialized a bow, seemingly formed from the same white bone as a hollow mask. There was no string, but as she grabbed at the location where one would have been, Reiryoku condensed around her hand and fingertips in a manner nearly identical to Uryu. As she pulled back and prepared to fire, however, what condensed at the front of her bow was more like a Cero, a spiraling mass of dark blue energy that caused the surrounding space to warp slightly.
As she loosed the Cero-like arrow into the distance, a look of expectation formed on Karin's face as she noticed Ohta's 'awe.' She had no idea how powerful she was at the present moment, but as long as it was enough to impress Ohta, she didn't care about the specifics.
Causing her to care at least a little, Karin's unique Cero impacted a sand dune several kilometers away, subsequently detonating like a small-yield nuclear warhead. A blinding light forced everyone witnessing the scene to shield their eyes, but when they regained the ability to see, they couldn't quite believe what they saw as a dark blue mushroom cloud had formed on the horizon. A few seconds later, a wall of sand, driven by a powerful shockwave, impacted them, nearly burying several of them before Ohta took action to pull them to safety, holding the broadly smiling Karin under his arm as she stared at the destruction she had wrought with glistening aquamarine eyes...
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(A/N: Sorry about the limited chapters yesterday. No one was leaving any comments, so I took a long nap. I'll try to publish a fourth one today, but positive feedback and power stones go a long way toward ensuring I'm sufficiently motivated (O 3 O)...)

After moving everyone to a reasonably safe location, Ohta gave Karin a flick on her bone forehead protector, surprising her as she actually felt a sharp pain.
"Ow! What was that for...!?" shouted Karin, staring at Ohta with a pout as she rubbed her forehead or, at the very least, tried to. The bone mask representing her Hollowfication prevented her from massaging the area directly, so she promptly gave up.
"Karin-chan...is that you?" asked Orihime, recognizing Ichigo's little sister at a glance but refusing to believe her eyes as it indicated Karin had been killed or had her soul extracted from her body...
"Oh, hey, Orihime," replied Karin, raising her hand as if nothing was out of the ordinary while looking around at the surprisingly large group of people accompanying Ohta, presumably to come to her rescue. Her eyes lingered on Rukia for a bit, but she didn't say anything and simply smiled. It wasn't by much, but she was taller than the 144cm woman, and her breasts were markedly larger. Not 'large,' but big enough.
"Did all of you come here to rescue me...?" asked Karin, already knowing the answer but still feeling compelled to ask.
Before anyone could respond, Karin shrugged her shoulders and added, "Well, as you can see, I'm perfectly fine. I'm not human anymore, but the same can be said for everyone here."
"What are you saying, Karin!?" exclaimed Ichigo, staring at his younger sister in disbelief as he shouted, "You've been turned into a Hollow! How can you be so calm...!?"
Digging into her left ear with her pinky, Karin rolled her eyes, sporting an annoyed look as she contended, "You and that big guy in the back also have Hollow powers. Or what, are you mad because you're not the only one who's special? Well, tough luck. This is the new me. I'm never going back to being weak, defenseless, and scared all the time."
Punctuating her words, Karin grabbed Ohta's arm, asserting, "I'm going to live and train with Ohta from now on. You and Tou-san couldn't protect us, so I might bring Yu-"
Before Karin could say anything else, Ohta plopped his hand atop her head, ruffling her surprisingly cold hair with a bit of force as he said, "Don't think your newfound power allows you to say or do whatever you want, boku. That Aizen cunt clearly messed with your common sense, so remain calm and choose your words carefully. You're someone who cares about their family and was willing to endure extreme hardships to become strong enough to protect them. Your brother is the same, so don't criticize him for being too weak at sixteen to overpower enemies that have sucked air for hundreds or thousands of years..."
Retracting his hand from Karin's head, Ohta added, "Besides, just look at you. In your current state, you wouldn't be able to return and reside in the human world for an extended period due to the lack of Reishi. I doubt you want to devour human souls to live, so we need to recover your body and find a way to seal your Hollow powers. Then you can work to master them like your brother..."
As she had conditioned herself to listen to Ohta during her training, Karin hung her head and reflected on his words. The thought of devouring the souls of humans didn't bother her, but she knew it 'should.' She also knew Ohta would hate or regard her as a monster if she acted like one, so even though she felt no attachment toward Ichigo and her father, the two who had 'betrayed' her, Karin knew she should at least pretend to get along with them. As for her twin sister, Yuzu, she was still determined to protect her with her life...
"You're right..." conceded Karin, staring down at her body and the palms of her hands as she added, "I'm...not myself right now..."
Raising her head, Karin forced a smile as she looked at Ichigo, adding, "Sorry, Ichi-nii...I know you're doing your best..."
Feeling relieved now that Karin was back to 'normal,' or at least getting there, Ichigo exhaled a sigh, adopting a far more heartfelt smile as he replied, "And I'm sorry for keeping secrets and not being there when you needed me the most. Once we return to the human world, let's sit down and have a long talk with dad and Yuzu, okay?"
Nodding her head, Karin's smile broadened as she replied, "I'd like that," in a sincere-sounding tone. However, while Ichigo was easily convinced, everyone else had the distinct impression something was 'off.'
("Looks like we have a little psychopath on our hands...") thought Ohta, recognizing many of his qualities in the current Karin. His 'condition' had improved since his reincarnation, but his opportunistic nature was a side-effect of a much darker period in his life. A time when he would have done just about anything to get his revenge...
Ruffling Karin's hair a second time, this time much less forcibly, Ohta said, "That's better. Now, explain to us what happened. If that's too much right now, settle for telling us where your physical body is."
Shrugging her shoulders, Karin replied, "I have no clue, but that Aizen guy told me to tell you it's being kept in the palace of something called an Espada. He also said the order to preserve it would only last thirty-one hours, so if I want to regain my humanity, you should stay away from his throne room and give him a good show."
Though his expression didn't change from a relaxed smile, Ohta internally growled, ("I seriously fucking hate scheming bastards...")
"Anything else...?" asked Ohta.
"Three things," replied Karin, holding up three fingers as she revealed, "He said there are three rules you must obey if you enter Las Noches. First, he said my body isn't being held by the Primera, Secundo, or Tres Espada, so you're not supposed to attack them. Secondly, the other Espada have all been told to remain in their palaces and are prohibited from leaving unless you attack them directly. Lastly..."
Looking directly at Ohta, Karin said, "He said that if you choose to ignore his rules and attack the Primera, Secundo, or Tres Espadas, you shouldn't kill more than one of them as it would ruin the balance between the three realms."
"Of course, it would..." replied Ohta, rolling his eyes so forcefully it hurt. Yoruichi had given him a similar warning in her texts, but he told her he would slaughter each of them if push came to shove. After all, it was far better to kill them and deal with the consequences later than allow them to be weaponized by Aizen...
"Then that settles it," said Ichigo. "We can't leave without Karin's body, so we stick together and find out which of these Espada bastards is keeping it. After that..."
Looking at Ohta, Ichigo furrowed his brows as he asked, "Can I ask you to ensure she gets to safety? You're the only one that can move freely in this place. If the enemy tries to pursue us, I'll defend the rear with my life..."
"Did you forget what comes after this?" asked Ohta. "Alongside me, you're one of the 'weapons' meant to counteract Aizen's Zanpakuto. The thirty-one-hour timeframe coincides with the timeline of the final battle, so if we can't find Karin's body within twenty-four hours, we'll need to leave it and find a way to return..."
"What are you&ndash;we can't do that!" shouted Ichigo. However, before he could say another word, Ohta silenced him by drawing his lips together with psychic energy, stating, "Calm down. If we can't recover her body, that bastard Kisuke can supply her a Gigai no different from a normal human. If Aizen slaughters us and succeeds in supplanting the Soul King as literal God, do you think recovering her body will have any meaning...?"
"..."
Though he initially panicked when Ohta zipped his lips, Ichigo had calmed down by the time the former was finished speaking. He didn't like it, but it was true that if they couldn't defeat Aizen, it wouldn't matter if Karin was a Hollow or a human. They would all be dead...
Not really helping the situation, at least from Ichigo's perspective, Karin shrugged her shoulders and said, "If I can acquire a new body once we return, we might as well just leave. This place isn't nearly as creepy as it was, but I'd rather not stay here if I don't have to."
"As reasonable as that is, I'm going to have to disagree," declared Ohta, crossing his arms and asserting, "I might have come here to rescue you, but I also came to beat the asses of the people who kidnapped you. The rest of you can return, but I'm not leaving until I paint these sands with at least one of the top three Espada..."
"If you're staying, I'm staying," declared Rukia, prompting Orihime to add, "And if the two of you are staying, I 'have' to stay~!" in a forcefully bubbly tone.
"Yeah, there's no way I'm leaving my little sister's body in the hands of these monsters," appended Ichigo, meeting Ohta's gaze as he affirmed, "Twenty-four hours..."
Nodding his head, Ohta repeated, "Twenty-four hours..." before pulling out his phone and setting the alarm. He knew he wouldn't get any signal in a place like Hueco Mundo, but he had brought it with him, just in case.
Waiting until Ohta had returned his phone to his pocket, Karin said, "I'm fine with sticking around for a while longer, but if we're going to split up into groups, I'm going with you. I want to show you how useful I am, and if we meet that asshole who abducted me, I want to give him at least one good kick before you tear him apart slowly."
Not expecting to hear such 'violent' words from his little sister, Ichigo muttered, "Karin..." in a faint tone. Inversely, Ohta had to suppress a smile as he ruffled the feisty lass's head and said, "Of course. Just remember to back away when I tell you to and make sure to guard Orihime. If you can't do that, you can follow your brother."
Before Karin could respond, Ichigo asked, "Wait, are we actually splitting up? Wouldn't it make more sense for us to stick together...?"
"We can cover more ground if we split up," contended Rukia. "Also, in case you've forgotten, Ohta's power isn't very friendly to his allies. If there are too many of us around, he won't be able to protect and attack effectively."
"Yeah, I get that..." replied Ichigo, scratching the back of his head as he looked around at the rest of the group with an awkward look. He was fine with splitting up, but he could tell at a glance how the groups would be broken down. Chad, Uryu, and Renji had gotten much stronger, but Ichigo didn't think they could survive without his or Ohta's protection. However, if they were with him, he also couldn't go all out due to the instabilities of his Hollowfication...
"Chad, Uryu, Renji...I think the three of you-"
Before Ichigo could finish speaking, Chad materialized his red and black gauntlet, throwing a powerful punch that sent the ginger Shinigami flying. At the same time, as if they had coordinated things in advance, Uryu lept into the air, forcing Ichigo to evade a rain of arrows while Renji activated his Bankai, manifesting a giant red-maned snake whose body was formed of interconnected bones. He also gained a furry mantle and pauldron with a baboon's skull affixed to it, but the most notable thing about his Bankai was how much it screamed 'overcompensation'...
With the trio refusing to let up even after he screamed at them multiple times to cut it out, Ichigo was eventually forced to release his own Bankai to escape the pressure. Once he had, the trio immediately ceased their assault, Chad representing the group by asking, "Still think we're weak...?"
Retorting from the side, Karin, standing with her arms crossed, said, "Ichi-nii can be really full of himself. He thinks he-"
Though he didn't say anything, Ohta interrupted Karin's grousing with a light chop to her head. He had similar thoughts about her brother's hero complex, but there was a time and a place for everything...
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(A/N: My psychotic kouhai can't be this cute...also, daily reminder that Not a Mob: Psycho is NOT a harem novel.)

"So, this is Hueco Mundo..." muttered Ohta, his eyes reflecting a vast expanse of white sand sprinkled with dead-looking trees made from a type of white, spiritual quartz that glistened subtly under the light of a perpetual moon. Sparse clouds meandered across the sky, and though there were no stars present, the endless void above had a strange allure that gave the impression it was descending toward you if you stared into it for too long.
"And I'm guessing that's Las Noches..." remarked Ichigo, staring intently at a megalithic structure that defied human comprehension as it towered over the horizon. According to the information Ohta had been provided, it was roughly 28km tall and nearly 140km across. With the entire structure visible, they had to be a substantial distance from its base.
"It's...unbelievable..." muttered Chad, swallowing nervously. He had been feeling strangely 'invigorated' since entering Hueco Mundo, but Ohta's casual displays of power and the sight of Las Naches made him feel small and inconsequential...
"So, what's the plan?" asked Renji. "Most of us can use Shunpo, but I get the feeling that building is a lot further away than it looks. We might want to conserve our strength by running normally..."
"Yeah, but wouldn't that take hours?" asked Ichigo, shifting his attention to Ohta, Rukia, and Orihime. He felt that even if they didn't rush over, they could save time and energy by riding atop the translucent 'beanbag' Ohta had created.
Seeing through Ichigo's thoughts, Ohta shaped the squishy beanbag into a large platform, stable enough to stand on but soft like a futon.
"You're free to hop on but keep in mind that I don't do anything for free. If you want to ride on my constructs, you'll owe me a favor," cautioned Ohta.
"Seriously, man?" asked Ichigo, his expression forming a frown. "We're here to rescue my sister, and you're talking about us owing you favors?"
"That and this are different," contended Ohta. "Your sister is something of an apprentice to me, and I owe you for risking your life to help save Rukia. However, I don't recall you carrying my ass when we were in Soul Society, so don't expect me to bend over backward when I'm holding myself back from just leveling all of Las Noches..."
"..." x4(Ichigo/Renji/Uryu/Chad)
Undercutting Ohta's statement, though he didn't say anything to contend it, Rukia waved her hand dismissively and said, "Don't take Ohta's words too seriously. For you to 'owe' him once all of this is over, Karin needs to be rescued, and Aizen needs to be defeated. Think of it as Ohta putting pressure on himself to ensure everyone makes it through alive."
Hearing Rukia's explanation, everyone but Renji became significantly less tense. Ohta felt the urge to remind Uryu of their first encounter when the bespectacled Quincy pushed up his glasses and chuckled, but he didn't want to sabotage Rukia's efforts to make him look like a good person. He definitely wasn't, but it wasn't like he was evil or overtly malicious toward those not actively attempting to harm or interfere with his life...
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With everyone eventually boarding his psychic construct, Ohta controlled the speed to around five times Chad's running pace, 200km/h. He could go much faster, but the bigger the construct and the more wind he had to block, the greater the energy expenditure. More importantly, he found the 'ambiance' of Hueco Mundo's surprisingly pleasant, almost serene...
Voicing Ohta's thought aloud, Rukia remarked, "It's surprisingly peaceful here..." in a soft tone. "I kind of expected it to be more...chaotic..."
"I don't know..." muttered Orihime, tentatively gazing at the sky before clinging to Ohta more closely as she added, "It feels desolate and lonely. I'm worried about Karin..."
Though he was tempted to remark even desolation had its charms, Ohta held his tongue when Orihime commented on Karin. Not everyone could appreciate the stillness of a land of death, and a part of him didn't want a kind and caring woman like Orihime to get used to the transient calm that often preceded tremendous violence and acts of cruelty...
"We'll definitely rescue her..." assured Ohta, his expression calm and stoic even as a pure white sandstorm built on the horizon, gradually obscuring Las Noches. Ichigo and the others panicked when they saw it, telling him to go around or fly over it, but Ohta flew them directly into it, knowing full well that the fastest way to weather a storm was to push through without fear or hesitation...
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Observing the progress of Ohta's group through a circular monitor, Aizen, looking much less Groban-esque, gently tapped the armrest of his throne with his right index finger. He had 'engineered' the sandstorm to throw the group off course and try to split them up, but Ohta just tackled everything he threw at him as if it weren't a big deal.
"If only you had appeared a hundred years ago..." muttered Aizen. He had encountered people with abilities similar to Ohta's, but none came close to the power displayed by the domineering youth since his transition from a human to a Shinigami. If Aizen had discovered him before implementing his current plan, he might have been able to mold Ohta into a useful pawn or a potential 'successor.'
Ceasing his rhythmic tapping, Aizen's voice resonated through his throne room as he said, "Invite our guest over. I would like to chat with her," in a calm yet penetrating tone. Less than a minute later, Karin was ushered into the throne room, looking nervous in a predominately white outfit with soot-black trim. Had Ichigo been present, he would have blown a gasket as her ensemble consisted of bottoms that covered less than a swimsuit, a zipperless vest she prevented from opening by crossing her arms over her chest, sleeve-like arm warmers, and a pair of thigh-high boots.
"Kurosaki Karin..." muttered Aizen, gesturing toward the terrified girl as he said, "Come closer..."
Though she didn't want to, Karin found herself stepping toward Aizen as if her trembling body were being puppeteered like a marionette. She wasn't cold or anything, despite her state of dress, but the Reiatsu exuding from
Aizen, even when he wasn't actively releasing it, caused her to tremble in the depths of her soul.
Once Karin was in front of him, kneeling with a wide-eyed expression, Aizen pressed a concealed button on his throne, causing a square-shaped pillar to rise from the floor. Once it reached its full height, the top opened to reveal a crystalline container, within which sat a beautifully glowing orb that emitted predominately bluish-white light, tinged with accents of pink and dark purple.
"Do you know what this is?" asked Aizen, unsurprisingly when Karin responded with a faint, quivering, "N-N-No..."
"It's called the Hogyoku. With it, the boundaries between Shinigami and Hollow can be broken down. However, after considerable research, I've discovered it has a far more important function..." revealed Aizen.
Removing the Hogyoku from its crystalline protection, Aizen held it with his index, middle finger, and thumb. As he picked it up, an intense light exuded from the Hogyoku's interior before becoming pitch like the heart of a black hole, actively absorbing light as tiny tendrils of the same black substance entangled his fingers.
"The true power of the Hogyoku is the absorption and actualization of desires..." revealed Aizen. "The greater and more primitive the desire, the more potent its effect. Now, tell me, Kurosaki Karin. What is it you desire the most at this moment...?"
Swallowing hard, Karin meekly replied, "I...I want to go home..."
"Is that truly the case?" asked Aizen, adopting a faint smile as he held the Hogyoku right before her face and asked, "Are you absolutely certain you don't desire the power to escape this situation? The ability to free yourself from the shackles that bind you and live true to your desires...?"
"I...I..."
As the darkness from the Hogyoku seemed to draw her in the longer she stared at it, Karin's voice trailed off, her eyes losing focus. Soon after, her arms slumped to her sides, exposing a length of chain with a lock bearing a skull attached to its end. Her soul had been separated from her body shortly after being brought to Hueco Mundo as she lacked the Reiryoku to endure the aspect of death permeating everything. As such, she was in a state that was neither dead nor alive, making her extremely susceptible to the influence of Reiatsu and other forms of spiritual suppression.
Narrowing his eyes, Aizen observed with fascination as the abyssal black tendrils from the Hogyoku extended to touch Karin's face. As they did so, the light from her eyes completely faded, the sclera of her eyes gradually replaced by inky darkness as her soul began cracking like glass, releasing an intense light from within...
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Feeling a sudden shortness of breath, Ichigo clutched his chest, beads of sweat forming on his brow.
Being the closest to Ichigo, proximity-wise, Chad asked, "You okay...?" in his usual flat tone.
"I'm...fine..." replied Ichigo. "I just...it's difficult to describe, but I have the feeling something terrible just happened..."
Hearing the strawberry-blonde's groaning remark, a frown marred Ohta's face as he asked, "Should we speed things up?" while gradually doing just that.
Shaking his head, Ichigo forced a smile as he replied, "No...to be honest, this kind of thing has become pretty normal for me. Since my inner Hollow awakened, I occasionally experience bouts of dread, and my emotions go haywire. I think the atmosphere of Hueco Mundo is making it stronger..."
"I've also been feeling strange ever since we came here..." revealed Chad, holding his hands palm-sides up before balling them into fists. "It's like an infinite amount of energy is coursing through my body..."
"That makes sense," said Uryu. "From what I've seen, that red and black gauntlet you summon draws in Reishi from your surroundings instead of solely utilizing the Reiryoku in your body. The way we Quincy form our bows and arrows is very similar, so I've also been experiencing a feeling of empowerment."
"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Ichigo, largely due to Uryu having a very serious, almost grim expression.
"Ordinarily, yes," replied Uryu, pushing up his glasses as he added, "This place would make an excellent training ground if we wanted to increase our strength in a short period of time. However, while the abundance of Reishi in the environment makes our attacks more potent, we can expect it to have a similar effect on our enemies. Rather, since they are native to this land and have acclimated to it, they should have a significantly easier time manipulating the Reishi than we do..."
"Oh, well, that's just great...!" exclaimed Ichigo. He could barely hold his own against the Rank 6(Sexta) Espada back in the human world. If it were true that Grimmjow was even stronger in Hueco Mundo, they were in for a tough fight. Well, all of them, except for maybe Ohta...
Interrupting the group's discussion, one of the many dunes separating them from Hueco Mundo rose like a tidal wave before condensing into a vaguely humanoid figure with a large, greyish-white body and massive arms that grew larger as they extended past its hips, culminating in giant fists adorned with white bracelets. Its head resembled a sand castle with a mustachioed Hollow mask, and there was a massive hole in the center of its chest, within which no light could escape.
"Foolish invaders! I am Runuganga, Guardian-"
Before the sand-formed Hollow could finish its introduction, Ohta caused the psychic platform to accelerate like a slug fired from a railgun, piercing through the Hollow's chest and causing its entire body to disperse as the group continued on their way unabated. Ohta was marginally surprised to see it reform in their path, but as it took several seconds to materialize, he rammed through it a second, third, and sixth time before it simply gave up trying to block them directly, instead utilizing sand waves and tornadoes that had little effect on his psychic barrier...
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..
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(A/N: Aizen is over here digging the deepest of graves...)

Chapter 78: Fear's Absence