Byakuya and Rukia were in the middle of giving a certain snake man the biggest jumping of his life. However, the man had Hollow power—he managed to stay away from them for the most part.
Hollow Hierro truly was working wonders to keep him alive. He should have died. If he didn't have the Hollow mask, the combined power of Rukia and Byakuya would've killed him.
It was simple, really. At the beginning of this little raid of theirs, Rukia's strength was roughly at low Captain-level. Then the mission went on, and she kept getting stronger and stronger—until Sora's energy was infused into her body.
And with Sora being like the Soul King's son—like 1/3 of the Soul King's son—still the Soul King's son, his energy was now in her body.
It kind of acted like the Ōken the Royal Guard have, just weaker. Still, it buffed her like no other. And with Sora's adaptive Schrift being inserted into that?
She could now move normally while her Bankai was active. All in all, this is to say that she had gone up in terms of strength. She was stronger than some Captains.
And the number of Captains stronger than her could be counted on one hand.
Then there was Byakuya. Sure, he was somewhere around mid-tier Captain at the beginning—something, however, did change.
You know... after finding out his sister was dating a Quincy—and that said Quincy was stronger than him.
Yeah. So Byakuya kinda hit the gym. Like crazy hit the gym. Like he didn't stop training until his Reiryoku pool hit zero. In terms of how strong current Byakuya was? He was as strong as himself after training with the Royal Guard.
So yes, Gin needed that Hollowfication if he didn't want to get touched.
As Gin launched his sword once more, aiming to strike Byakuya—
Something caught his blade.
One hand casually caught the sword mid-swing, stopping it like it was no more than a butter knife. The other was casually in his pocket.
Gin's narrowed eyes gleamed with interest.
"...If you're here," Gin drawled slowly, voice still syrup-smooth, "then that means..."
"—Aizen is defeated," Sora finished without fanfare.
Dead silence followed.
Then, with zero ceremony, Sora tossed something small and metallic to Gin.
He caught it without looking, fingers closing reflexively around it. A flash of surprise flickered across his face.
Byakuya stepped forward. "Explain yourself." Why was Sora handing something over to Gin?
Sora didn't miss a beat. "Gin isn't necessarily a bad guy, per se. He's just..." Sora smirked and made a tiny heart gesture with his fingers.
"...the biggest devoted simp in existence."
Rukia blinked. "...What?"
Gin looked surprised. The fuck was Sora on... crack?
Byakuya's tone darkened. "Devotion doesn't excuse crimes. Attempted assassination. High treason. Abetting a threat to the balance of the worlds—"
"Soul King ordered it."
Byakuya's brow furrowed. What?
Suddenly, a voice could be heard in their minds. The voice radiated power, forcing everyone present to drop to their knees.
"The individual known as Gin Ichimaru is pardoned for his crimes."
Sora had a shit-eating grin on his face.
Byakuya couldn't even raise his head.
'So this is the Soul King's presence...'
He couldn't fathom it. This was the Soul King's power. He couldn't even move, much less blink.
Sora seemed happy.
He mentally thanked the Soul King in his mind. He got no words in response. Being Daddy's favorite really was a lot of responsibility.
Hm, another thing needed to be done.
{"Ichibē Hyōsube, Senjumaru Shutara, Tenjirō Kirinji, Ōetsu Nimaiya, Kirio Hikifune"}
Ichibē — Bald spot glossier than ever, beard disheveled, head dented like a used soda can. Looked like a tax fraud victim.
Senjumaru — Her mechanical arms were twitching like a laggy Xbox controller. One of her eyes was doing that anime white-out thing like she was mid-dramatic death monologue.
Kirinji — Still smoking. Literally. The man looked like he had been flash-fried and then dipped in soy sauce. Burnt tempura style.
Nimaiya — Man's swagger was gone. Sword missing. He was holding a broom handle like he was trying to cosplay himself and failing.
Hikifune — Hair a mess, apron torn, muttering about "never baking a power-enhancing pie again." She looked like she'd been punched into a gluten coma.
Was Sora petty by restricting the amount of Reiryoku that went into healing them when the Soul King passed the order? Was it his fault that they looked exactly like they did when they were beat?
Maybe.
He was petty, alright. Not petty enough to kill them, but to do small petty stuff like that. He wasn't evil. Nor like that version of himself who cracked that zombie chick... guy... no questions asked.
"You guys good?" he said with fake concern.
No one responded.
"Damn. Aizen turned y'all into spiritual roadkill. Couldn't be me though."
"Were you not on the verge of death a couple minutes ago?" The same voice could be heard saying.
"...Minor details..." Sora muttered, looking away.
He walked up to Ichibē first, crouched down a bit, and tilted his head. "All that 'I name all things' god complex stuff. Look at you now. Out here lookin' like Mr. Clean if he got uppercutted by the Pope."
Ichibē groaned faintly. Sora patted his bald head. Yes... he was that petty.
Bite him.
"Don't worry, baldy. You won't get more brain damage."
He turned toward the Zanpakutō creator.
"Yow, my friend, Ichigo needs another sword. Aizen kinda broke his. Would like it if you made another one. Trust the Soul King's words—I put that on the soul of every member of the righteous Tsunayashiro family."
...
...
Later that week, all of them were dead.
A/N....dam.