In Hueco Mundo, the concept of day and night, entertainment, and laws were as absent as cheerful colors in a graveyard. This entire realm was sculpted in the image of Hell.
Kazuya got bored of roaming around and killing random Hollows. Naturally, he only killed those who wanted his and Apacci's flesh first. He'd have kept his Reiatsu on full display if he wasn't wary of Baraggan as that would create more problems than it'd solve. Appacci, too, had grown tired of carrying his ass around. So, they were now resting inside a natural cave that was tucked within a mountain.
"Kubo, you bastard. This is so hard."
Apacci, who was sleeping with her head resting on her back, raised her head and gave him a weird look. "Who is Kubo? Are your memories back?"
"Some guy I remembered from my human life," he said with a sigh. "It's kinda frustrating."
"What is?" She tilted her head. "Are you trying to confuse me on purpose?"
"I'll tell you later. Let's rest for now."
Apacci gave him a glare for being vague about things. She laid her back and closed her eyes. Her position revealed the see-through Hollow hole in her stomach. Discerning the symbolic meaning behind Apacci's Hollow hole was ridiculously simple.
She was fed up with being pursued. Thus, she craved the strength to survive.
He had oversimplified her present desire, as he had no means of delving into her past life.
"Good night."
Kazuya folded his wings to make them as small as possible and rested his head on Apacci, careful to avoid her Hollow hole in case it caused her discomfort. Irritated by his wings, he turned to his side.
"Where do you think you're sleeping?!"
"We had a deal, remember? Let's add something else to it. I'll use you as a pillow. You can do the same when you become an Arrancar."
In her Arrancar form, she wasn't very tall, while he was nearly 6'3", possibly taller after transforming into a Hollow. He could handle someone of her size with ease.
"Whatever." Apacci huffed and rested her head on the ground. He was the most insolent man she had ever met, not that she had any chance to deeply know anyone beside him. "Silly man."
"You're a silly woman," he said, patting her back. "Anyway, wake me up if anyone tries to attack. Don't fight on your own."
Apacci tucked her head in, realizing he was quite a considerate man. He was still a silly goose, though. Nothing he ever did would change that fact in her eyes.
Kazuya touched his mask with the intention of ripping it for the sake of evolution. Immediately, that familiar dread overcame him again. He let the thought go as a wrong step could spell his death.
'I'll find some Hollows to experiment with, preferably Adjuchas.'
Apacci glanced at him through her peripheral vision. His quiet reflection made her uneasy for some reason. "You keep mentioning Arrancar this, Arrancar that. What even is an Arrancar?"
He considered for a moment then decided to educate the ignorant deer. "Arrancar is a Hollow whose essence is closer to a Shinigami. We supposedly get this power from shattering our mask."
"Are you crazy?!" Apacci retorted, freaking out over the mere idea of destroying her Hollow mask. "This thing is a part of our soul. Take off the mask and we'll lose the power to control our energy. We might even die or regress into a Gillian."
Once an Adjuchas regressed, they could never regain their form. They would forever be stuck wandering the Hueco Mundo as a giant, mindless Gillian. No Adjuchas wanted to suffer from such fate, thus driving them to devour other Hollows.
Kazuya reached out and playfully tugged the unicorn-like horn protruding from her forehead. "Have faith in your determination to defy the norms... Well, who am I preaching to, anyway? You'd have been toast if I hadn't stepped up back there."
"I…" She wanted to say something but hesitated for a moment. "There is no point… Arrancar or not… we are just biding time. This is Hueco Mundo, dammit. Don't make me say the obvious."
They were going to die one day—she had realized the truth after witnessing the cycle of Hollows consuming the weaker ones. The cycle wouldn't change even if she had a Vasto Lorde protecting her. There was always a stronger Hollow waiting to devour others. Kazuya hadn't shown her enough to be considered the strongest Hollow in existence. If that day came for her, she hoped her death was a peaceful one.
Kazuya didn't expect his teasing to elicit such a dramatic reaction from her. She was feeling melancholic over her eventual death.
"What obvious? You think we're just prolonging our doom by surviving?" He asked, a biting edge tinting his voice. "Some Hollow will come that we can't defeat and devour us whole—is that what's going on in your mind?"
Apacci nodded vigorously, unashamed to admit the reality because it wouldn't change no matter what. "Kazuya, we'll never be the strongest."
"You're underestimating the power of a Vasto Lorde Arrancar." His voice got even firmer. "Apacci, listen to me… After dying as humans, shouldn't we, Hollows, make the most out of life here? Are you ready to throw down the towel and let some disgusting worm tear you limb from limb and savor your juicy legs? You will let it happen without retaliating?"
He had endured one life filled with oppression. Apacci seemed to be living under a similar oppression. He refused to let himself or her keep experiencing that despair. He was going to give it his all.
Gnashing her teeth loudly, she threw a furious glare his way. "Hell no. I want to live in peace!"
"Then say it with me. I'll kick every ass in Hueco Mundo and become the strongest Arrancar."
Apacci's burning emotions deflated in a second. "Why are you making me say embarrassing things?"
"Say it. Show me how determined you are."
His whisper brushed by her ears, making her groan. His voice was just too compelling for whatever reason. "I… I'll kick every a-ass and become… the strongest Arrancar! I'll kick every ass and survive!"
She was doubting his logic until she said those words out aloud. It got her fired up from the inside, making her feel invincible. She almost believed that she, a Hollow who barely held enough energy to be an Adjuchas, could become the strongest Arrancar.
This was refreshing, so much so that she repeated it for the second time in a cheerful voice, "I'll become the strongest Arrancar!"
Kazuya smiled at her newfound confidence. "We're off to such a fantastic start, young lady!"
***
After a dreamless sleep, Kazuya absentmindedly scrolled through the status shown by his System.
[General Information]
Name — Kazuya Ishihara
Gender — Male
Race — Hollow (Vasto Lorde)
Reiryoku Level — Great Level (Captain-Class)
Alignment — Neutral Evil
Affiliation — None
…
Racial Abilities
[Cero: Reiryoku offensive technique
Mastery level - Intermediate.]
[Sonido: Movement technique
Mastery level - Basic.]
[Garganta: Limited Spatial Distortion technique.
Mastery level - Yet to learn.]
He had already grasped all the basic Vasto Lorde abilities except for Garganta, which was useful for crossing over to the World of Living and Seireitei. He left its mastery for later, focusing on enhancing the combat abilities first.
'The World of Living.'
The faces of his ex-girlfriend and friend surfaced in his mind. He had come from a different universe; otherwise, he wouldn't possess any meta knowledge of this universe. Which meant…
'They must have buried me… if Terrorist-san was kind enough to leave my body intact.'
He could imagine girlfriend Yumi trying not to cry and his friend Ryosuke bawling his eyes out. Even his gramps would've shed a tear or two. The old man was extremely controlling because he had been through the grief of losing his sons, wife, and a daughter. Kazuya was the only thing left in the old man's life… but he didn't let it demotivate him. As much as he missed them, he one-hundred preferred his new life. Sure, it was boring at a glance, but he had the freedom to go anywhere! In Hueco Mundo, he had the freedom to do anything as long as he stayed the strongest.
While feeling melancholic over his other life, he spotted an intriguing detail in the System interface. Every row, except his equipment and abilities, had a pencil icon at the end; he tapped the symbol next to the gender out of curiosity.
[Options available for 'Gender' stat:
1 - Male
2 - Female
3 - Futa
…]
The list went on forever, showing absurd names as gender.
'Helicopter?! How is that a gender?'
Kazuya regretted experimenting on gender stat. At least he discovered one crucial element from this mishap—he could customize his status to some degree. The System referred to itself as 'Character System' for this very reason. He was a character, allowing him to customize many aspects. His eyes wandered to the Race icon, which had the same pencil icon next to it.
'Will it work?'
He gulped down his saliva. Every race in Bleach had unique abilities. Shinigami had Zanpakutō, which could unlock Shikai and Bankai stages. Hollow had Cero, Sonído, then Arrancar had their own versions of Zanpakutō to release different forms. Quincy with their own set of abilities, like Blut Vene and other busted techniques. Then there were Fullbringers born from extremely rare circumstances, and they, too, had ridiculously strong abilities.
The versatility of every race—he would love to possess that power. In modern times, only one person in the Bleach Universe will be born with the blood from each major race—Ichigo Kurosaki, the protagonist. The godly hybrid of Shinigami, Quincy, Hollow, and Fullbringer. Somehow, even that level of power failed against the Almighty Yhwach. It just went to show how terrifying the Father of Quincy truly was.
After a long fight with himself, he reached for the edit button positioned after the Race option while bracing for disappointment.
[Options available for 'Race':
Soul
Human]
The two options startled him. The second option seemed utterly unnecessary. He didn't want to become 'powerless' again.
'Can you show things in more detail?'
Defying his expectations, a long list of options appeared before him.