Bleach Chapter 4: Annihilation

“Self-assurance reassures others.”

***

Apacci could feel the confidence oozing from his voice, purging the fear and doubts bouncing around in her head. She didn’t feel like questioning the source of his conviction… As if she had faith in him.

‘A Hollow, having faith.’

She scoffed at the mere thought.

“Trust me.”

Then the pleasant whisper caressed her ears comfortingly and washed away her skepticism. She was like a groveling moth drawn to a candle. Apacci groaned at the absurd situation. Her choices narrowed down to two — dying inside a Hollow’s stomach or putting trust in the man who showed utter confidence in his ability.

“Don’t let me die!”

She channeled her Reiryoku into her legs, and a boom echoed behind her as she used Sonido.

The wind slapped against Kazuya’s face as Apacci accelerated beyond the speed of sound. This speed would’ve flung his old body into orbit. The current him found the wind pleasant as if he was riding his Suzuki.

Not allowing the opportunity to waste, he closed his eyes and felt the energy surging within him. Controlling this energy was like an instinct to every Hollow. He guided the stream of energy to his thoughts.

Apacci’s knees suddenly buckled as she was subjected to a terrifying Reiatsu. His Reiatsu made them crash. Suffice to say, his clothes became messier after rolling a couple of times on the ground.

He picked himself up and dusted his clothes, appearing unharmed after a devastating accident. His Hollow holes didn’t inhibit his movement in any shape or form, merely ornamental in their nature. And the sand in Hueco Mundo was peculiar, bonded stronger than the sand found on a beach. As if an invisible energy held it together.

Meanwhile, a wide-eyed Apacci stared at the light blue Reiatsu pouring out of Kazuya, her body paralyzed. The density of Reishi in his Reiatsu exceeded the boundaries of the Adjuchas-Class.

As if…

“Haha, I didn’t think there would be another one with you.” The giant Adjuchas laughed in glee, ignorant of Kazuya’s Reiatsu as though his senses were dulled beyond repair. To be fair, the snake-like Hollow was on the verge of regression. “I’ll eat you first, then relish the female there.”

Kazuya turned to the hungry Adjuchas and concentrated his Reiryoku in his hand. A dense ball of sky blue energy materialized, rending the air by its existence alone.

“What can—” The Adjuchas felt his entire being shiver. Turning around in a hurry, he tried to flee.

“Cero…”

At Kazuya’s command, the ball of energy shot out, amplifying in a thick beam of light. The Cero Ray obliterated the Hollow’s mask, his head, then blew a clean hole in the mountain behind him.

Kazuya’s first kill shocked him, but for completely unexpected reasons.

‘Holy cow. I’m strong.’

[Racial ability: Cero learned.]

[Current Master Level: Basic.]

The basic mastery had such destructive powers. He could hardly imagine the power of fully mastered Cero. He shook his head and approached Apacci, who was still in shock, reasonably so.

The Adjuchas that nearly ended her life — he destroyed that adversary in one Cero attack.

She looked into his eyes as though trying to predict his "real" intentions. “H-Huh.”

He was a Vasto Lorde Hollow, an existence feared by most, if not every Hollow in Hueco Mundo. Though not as abundant as Gillians and normal Hollows, one could find Adjuchas all across Hueco Mundo, especially in Las Noches.

‘Is he going to… eat me?’

She gulped and shakily got to her feet. Getting eaten by him seemed more tolerant than the giant Adjuchas, but she would not give up!

While she dealt with a self-imposed crisis, he hopped on her and stroked her back. “I told you to trust me… and I think I’m a Vasto Lorde.”

“No shit…” she whispered, and realized the weight on her back. “Huh?! What’s the meaning of this?! Aren’t you going to—” she stopped short of putting ideas into his mind.

‘What if… he doesn’t know that Hollows become bigger by eating?’

She found it highly possible, as he wasn’t aware of his own rank as a Vasto Lorde until now. Perhaps he lost his memories during a fight and ended up getting buried where she found him. She could speculate her entire life about his past and still wouldn’t find the exact reason for his moments of ignorance.

“Stop murmuring things. We gotta move.”

She slapped his back with her tail, the only retaliation possible in her current position. “You can walk and fly. Get off my back!”

He leaned down and caressed her ears. “I’ll protect you from Hollows. You’ll let me ride you. A fair deal, right?”

Hueco Mundo already looked plenty boring without much environmental deviations. He needed her in his life or he might just die out of boredom.

His honeyed voice momentarily stunned her. “Fair deal my foot. I’m not accepting it because I’m g-grateful to you for saving me.”

Her flustered voice went against her squeaky grumbles. As though she couldn’t handle the embarrassment, she strutted along obediently and increased her pace.

Kazuya couldn’t help but think of her as a tsundere; her actions wholeheartedly resembled one. To be honest, he kind of despised the trait. Seeing people being dishonest with one’s feelings was incredibly frustrating at times.

“Do you want to eat him?” Kazuya asked. “You can if you feel like it.”

Vasto Lorde-Class Hollows like him didn’t need to eat to evolve to the next level, and he didn’t use enough Reiryoku to feel hungry. Not that he was interested in eating a giant blob of unsavory raw flesh. The thought alone repulsed him.

‘My only evolution from here is becoming an Arrancar.’

It required him to somehow remove his mask. Any Hollow could become Arrancar as far as he remembered since Apacci and her friends weren’t Vasto Lorde when they met Aizen. They had the help of Hōgyoku but his point still stood valid.

‘How am I supposed to do it? Just rip off my mask… there should be more to it.’

The thought of removing his mark instilled him with primal fear in the same vein a normal being would fear death.

‘Interesting.’

It was no wonder Aizen needed the Hōgyoku to remove the line between a Hollow and a Shinigami to create Arrancar. Conquering this fear would require immense willpower and conviction. Not every Hollow could pull it off without dying or succumbing to their instincts.

‘I’ll need more information before trying it.’

While he was lost in thoughts, Apacci glanced at the Hollow and gulped. Truth be told, she was hungry enough to devour anything after using all her Reiryoku. Adjuchas needed to devour others to keep their individuality and class. Otherwise, they’d regress to their Gillian form, never to rise above Menos Grande.

A fate considered worse than death by many.

“I will not say thanks because you gave me food.”

Kazuya patted her back with a warm smile. “It’s hard to be honest with your words, isn’t it?”

“Argh. I’m completely honest!”

Amidst his amusing squabble with the tsundere Hollow, a sharp prickle hit his back. He slowly looked over his shoulder with eyes sharpening behind his mask.

A white figure stood atop a high hill in the distance, appearing blurry even with his enhanced eyesight. Where his ability failed, his meta knowledge helped him in recognizing the stranger.

‘Tier Harribel.’