Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 80 - The Strange Desert Siblings

Outside Las Noches stretched an endless wasteland. White sand blanketed all of Hueco Mundo, and sparse, withered trees stood motionless, bringing not a trace of life to this world, only making it feel more desolate.

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!"

In a region far from Las Noches, a piercing wail split the sky. The small creatures nearby, well-practiced in this kind of disruption, scattered from the area without a second thought. Scenes like this happened all the time. Even without higher intellect, they had gradually come to accept it as part of daily life.

"Hah... hah..."

A small child in green clothing ran across the sand. Behind the child, a massive worm churned through the white dunes. Two strange figures, one rail-thin and one heavyset, moved ahead of the worm, chasing after the child.

"Waaaaah... ah?"

WHOOSH

The child let out a frantic shriek, as though suffering something terrible. Then something shifted nearby, inexplicable and sudden, and the scream died in the throat.

"A strange... feeling..."

The green garment was pulled back into place, and a head of light green hair came into view. Across the bridge of the nose sat a red marking. Atop the head was a cracked mask fragment, and running along the fracture line was a jagged scar.

"The space... has changed?"

The hazy, unfocused eyes sharpened in an instant. The child surveyed the surroundings, radiating a presence that was difficult to name. Behind, the worm and the two strange figures watched with excitement, but neither dared draw close.

"Why... huh? What is Nelliel saying?"

Midway through the thought, the eyes drifted unfocused again. The child, who had called herself Nelliel, turned to look back at the two older brothers and their pet.

"Pesche! Dondochakka!" Nelliel smiled with innocent cheer. "Shall we keep playing...?"

In sharp contrast to that guilelessness, both brothers stared back in sheer terror. Nelliel seemed to sense something. Slowly, Nelliel turned around.

"What... what is that?"

ZZZZT

A pitch-black hole had opened behind her. It radiated a crushing oppressive force, and the space around it groaned as though being wrung out of shape. Nelliel stared at it blankly, unable to form a reaction.

"Huh? Someone's there?"

An orange head slowly emerged from the hole. The moment of entry into Hueco Mundo, a black kimono materialized over what had been a bare body. A white haori draped across the back. Two black-bladed swords hung at the back and at the waist.

"Who is that?"

Nelliel scratched a head of light green hair and padded over barefoot, poked the face of the person who had suddenly appeared, and confirmed that this was indeed a person. Judging by the appearance, a man.

"What a strange fellow!"

"Mmh..."

The throat was parched and the vocal cords deeply uncomfortable, as though no water had passed through in a very long time. That was the first sensation Ichigo registered as awareness returned.

"Where is this..."

Forcing through the discomfort, Ichigo opened his eyes and swallowed. A vast white expanse greeted him, desolate in every direction, feeling even more barren than the dead center of the largest desert in the World of the Living.

"The concentration of spirit particles in the air... is even higher than in Soul Society..."

As consciousness surfaced, his body began absorbing the surrounding spirit particles on its own. They flooded in, and every trace of discomfort dissolved.

"Strange... when did I pick up an ability like this..."

He stared at his own hands, brow furrowed. By rights, operating on the Soul Reaper framework as he did, he should still have some need for food and drink. And yet right now...

"Wahh!" A child's voice rang out behind him. "You're awake?!"

"...Who are you?"

He turned around, saw nothing at first, then looked down and spotted the small figure. Ichigo's brow creased, puzzled by the creature standing before him.

"I'm Nelliel!" The smile was innocent and utterly unguarded. "What kind of person are you?"

"Me? I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." He paused, then smiled. "A human."

"Is this Hueco Mundo?"

"It is!" Nelliel looked him up and down. "A human, huh... Nelliel thought you were a Soul Reaper. That was scary."

"Oh? Do you have a grudge against Soul Reapers?"

"Well, Nelliel is an Arrancar." Nelliel said. "Soul Reapers are bad guys!"

"...What an absurdly simple chain of logic..." Ichigo couldn't help but remark. "Though it's not entirely wrong—for an Arrancar, Soul Reapers would be the bad guys."

Back when he had been around Shinji Hirako and the others, Ichigo had picked up some knowledge about Arrancar. The inverse of a Soul Reaper's Hollowfication mask, an Arrancar was a Hollow that had undergone Soul Reaper-ification, another form of species evolution.

"It's actually my first time meeting an Arrancar." Ichigo looked Nelliel up and down in turn. "Are all arrancar like you, with a human-like appearance and a broken mask?"

"Those ones over there, you can stop hiding. That little twig really isn't covering you."

The withered sapling was too small to conceal the two oddly-shaped figures, let alone that enormous worm. They were still acting as though they had hidden themselves perfectly.

"Don't... don't try to fool us!" The one built like an ant, body thin as a bamboo pole, jabbed a finger at Ichigo and shouted: "That Shihakusho and that Zanpakuto—if you're not a Soul Reaper, who is?! Don't think you can trick Pesche!"

"Exactly, exactly!" The one whose face occupied roughly a third of the body, stocky and powerfully built, chimed in: "Soul Reapers and humans—Dondochakka can still tell them apart!"

"What bizarre-looking creatures." The corner of Ichigo's mouth twitched. "What exactly are you two? Are you even real things?"

"Also, Soul Reaper is just an extension of my power. At my core, I'm still a human."

"Is that so..." Dondochakka said with sudden understanding. "Then it's fine."

"It really is... like hell it is!" Pesche smacked that enormous head. "How can it possibly be fine?! Just because he says so?!"

"Use your brain, Dondochakka!"

"My brain is right here, perfectly fine..." Cradling that big head, Dondochakka said with a wounded look: "If it were any bigger, walking would be very inconvenient."

"Well..." Pesche paused, stroking a chin in thought. "I suppose that's true too..."

Ichigo was struck speechless. He looked toward Nelliel. "Those two, do you know them?"

"Nelliel doesn't know them." Nelliel shook the head and edged a little closer to Ichigo. "They just happened to turn up here, maybe?"

"Waaaah! Nelliel! What are you saying!" Pesche lunged forward and threw both arms around Nelliel's small feet, wailing with tears and snot streaming freely: "I'm your big brother! Nelliel! You can't abandon me!"

"Wuaaaah!" Dondochakka followed right after and wrapped both arms around the other foot. "You don't want me anymore?! Nelliel! What happened to being siblings for life?!"

"Oh, oh now..." Nelliel patted both brothers on the head, grinning as the soothing began: "It was a joke, a joke, just going along with what this... human was saying..."

"By the way, what's your name? Nelliel forgot."

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Pleased to meet you."

➤ Next: Hueco Mundo's First Battle