Slime Soul (Tensura x Bleach Crossover) (Patreon)

Chapter 5: Of Names and New Bonds

Satisfied at getting Ichigo to agree, I released his hand after a few seconds and stood back in a relaxed posture.

“Oh, by the way,” I added casually, though there was an edge hidden behind my grin. “If you give me a dumb name, I’ll not only kick your ass, but the deal’s off. So, you better put some thought into it.”

Ichigo flinched, pointing at me in protest. “Hey! That wasn’t part of the deal, asshole!”

“I thought it was implied,” I said with a shrug, entirely unfazed. “I won’t have you half-assing it. This name’s gonna stick with me for life, you know?”

“Ichigo’s horrible with names,” Uryu remarked dryly, adjusting his glasses with that smug little smirk of his.

“Shut up, Uryu! Nobody asked you!” Ichigo snapped, cheeks reddening.

“I think it’s reasonable,” Sado added calmly, driving the nail in with quiet precision.

Ichigo’s blush deepened until he looked more like his namesake than ever. “Fine! Fine! Stop ganging up on me already!”

While they bickered, I turned my attention to Nel, still perched happily on my shoulders. Gently lifting her down, I knelt so we were eye level.

“Hey, Nel,” I began softly. “It’s about to get really dangerous from here on out. Since I’m helping those guys, maybe you should stay here where it’s safe.”

I tried to keep my tone light, but the thought of her getting caught in a fight made my stomach twist. I didn’t know how long I’d be out after evolving—hours, maybe days—and if she ran into another Espada while protecting me, especially Nnoitra, things could end badly. I didn’t want to risk that even if that was the whole point of seeking her out.

But, of course, I should’ve known better than to expect Nel to agree. Her eyes filled with tears as she glared at me like I’d just betrayed her.

“What are you talking about, Mr. Slime? Of course Nel is coming too!” she shouted, voice trembling but firm. “Mr. Slime is Nel’s friend, and Nel wants to protect him just like he’s protected her these past few days!”

I winced at the emotion in her voice, guilt pricking at me before her brothers stepped up behind her.

“If Nel goes, we go too,” Pesche declared, his usually goofy tone replaced by rare seriousness.

“Of course we are, don’t cha know!” Dondochakka added with an eager nod.

Looking at the three of them, I couldn’t help but smile. They might be weird, loud, and ridiculous, but damn if they weren’t loyal to the core.

“Alright, you can come, but make sure to stay close to me, okay?” I said, patting her head gently. Her sad expression vanished instantly, replaced by a bright smile as she nodded rapidly.

“Okay~!”

“So, are we doing this or what? We’re wasting time here,” Ichigo interrupted, sounding as impatient as ever.

I let out a small sigh, suppressing the retort I really wanted to throw his way. Instead, I smiled one last time at Nel, stood up, and turned back toward him.

“Stop getting your panties in a bunch, idiot. I’ve been ready.” I said with a shrug, mentally preparing myself for whatever name he’d cooked up.

“Tsk. Dumbass.” Ichigo clicked his tongue but quickly calmed down, his usual fiery eyes turning serious. “Alright then. Let’s do this. So… do I just say it out loud or what?”

“Yes,” I replied, my tone turning more formal. “But the most important thing is that when you name me, you need to see me as an equal, not someone higher, and not someone lower.”

I didn’t want to risk ending up in a Master-Subordinate bond; I wanted an Equal Naming, just like Veldora had done with Rimuru.

“Hah, whatever. I never thought of you as above or beneath me anyway,” Ichigo replied with a shrug.

That made me smile. Beneath all that hotheaded bluster, he really was a good kid.

He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and declared firmly, “Your name is… Caius Aurelius.”

The moment the words left his mouth, I felt something deep within my soul shift. Power rippled through me as the name Caius Aurelius carved itself into my very being. For an instant, my eyes glowed with light, then faded as the energy settled.

“Whew… that was a rush,” Ichigo muttered, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. “You were right, though, I suddenly feel a little drained.”

“Are you sure, you’re alright Ichigo?” Sado asked stepping up to his friend and classmate.

“Yeah, just fine. Don’t worry.” Ichigo waved his concerns away with Sado nodding in slight relief.

Still processing the rush of my new identity, I repeated my name in my head—Caius Aurelius—and then shot Ichigo a teasing grin.

“A fan of Shakespeare, huh? Rejoice, Gold? Really?”

“Shut up, idiot!” Ichigo barked, his cheeks flushing a faint red. “Be thankful you got such a cool name!”

“Notice. The strength of Master’s soul has been further boosted. All preparations for Evolution are now complete and optimal,” Great Sage chimed in, its calm voice ringing in my mind.

‘Thanks for the update, Great Sage,’ I replied mentally before turning to face Nel and her brothers.

“Caius~! You have a name now!” Nel cheered, clapping her hands with a radiant smile that made the whole desert feel brighter.

“Congratulations, Caius,” Pesche said with a dignified little clap of his own.

“Congrats!” Dondochakka echoed, his enthusiasm as loud as ever.

“Thanks, everyone,” I said with a grin. “Now before anything else, let me give you two a little boost.”

Both Pesche and Dondochakka blinked in confusion as I turned toward them, focusing internally.

“Pesche Guatiche.” I declared, feeling energy surge outward from me and into him. Then I turned to the other. “Dondochakka Birstanne.”

Magicules flared again, glowing faintly around them before fading.

I took a small breath feeling about 2/10 of my magicules decrease at their naming before focusing again.

“W-Whoa! What was that!?” Pesche yelped, taking a surprised step back as he felt the foreign energy coursing through him. Dondochakka was even more dramatic, waving his arms wildly.

“I just gave you a small power-up,” I explained with a faint smile. “You might need it later.” I looked at them meaningly causing them to nod slightly.

“You mean… you can do that for anybody?” Uryu asked sharply, adjusting his glasses with that trademark suspicion.

I met his gaze evenly and shook my head. “Never mind that for now. Didn’t you guys say you were in a hurry?”

Ichigo crossed his arms, already impatient again. “He’s right, Uryu. We’ve wasted enough time already.”

Uryu frowned but didn’t press further, clearly filing the information away for later.

“We can ride on Bawabawa!” Nel suddenly announced, pumping her fist into the air as she retook her perch back on my shoulders.

The massive eel roared in agreement, bobbing excitedly in the sand.

“Well, looks like we have a plan,” I said with a grin. Without waiting for anyone else, I leapt up and landed on Bawabawa’s back, settling near the front.

The others quickly followed, getting into position behind me.

And just like that, with the wind whipping around us and Las Noches looming in the distance like a pale giant, we charged forward, toward the heart of Hueco Mundo.

=====

On Ride to Las Noches

Some time had passed as we steadily made our way toward Las Noches, talking with Ichigo’s group and getting to know each other better.

They’d been cautious at first, understandably so, but eventually, they loosened up. Soon enough, they were peppering us with questions about Hueco Mundo, which Nel and her brothers eagerly answered, being the best qualified to explain the place they called home.

“Hey, I just realized something,” Ichigo suddenly said, turning his gaze toward me. “Earlier, after I named you, you mentioned Shakespeare. Have you been to the human world before or something?”

His question instantly caught everyone’s attention, and soon, every eye was on me, waiting for an answer.

I let out a small sigh, already knowing I wouldn’t be getting out of this one. “Well, just like Hollows and Pluses, I was once human. I lived in the human world too,” I began, shifting into a more comfortable position.

“As you might expect, though, most of my memories from that life are gone. What I have now are just fragments, pieces of what I did, or what I liked. I don’t even remember the name I had before I died and was reborn as a Majin.” I gestured vaguely toward myself.

“I see. Sorry, man,” Ichigo said, his expression softening. “Didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a wave of my hand. “It’s all in the past now.”

Before the conversation could go further, I felt two spiritual pressures approaching from the distance, somewhat strong ones, and familiar in presence to Ashido.

Nel, being the closest to me, immediately noticed the shift in my expression. “What is it, Caius?”

It took me a second to realize she meant me; I still wasn’t entirely used to my new name. “It seems we’ve got company,” I said, my gaze focusing on the horizon. “And based on their spiritual pressure, I think they might be with you guys.”

“What do you mean?” Ichigo asked, frowning as he turned to look back, though, unsurprisingly, he didn’t sense anything yet, not being very good at things like that.

Case in point, Uryu squinted into the distance before his eyes widened. “He’s right. I sense two familiar presences approaching.”

“Yes… I can feel them too,” Sado added with a slow nod.

Ichigo, clearly annoyed at being the last one to catch on, closed his eyes and concentrated hard. After about a minute, his expression shifted from frustration to relief, and then to a grin.

“So they made it after all,” he said, sounding genuinely happy.

“Friends then?” I asked for confirmation.

Ichigo and the other two nodded.

“Yeah, they’re good, reliable friends,” Ichigo replied confidently.

“Well, it seems our chances of survival just went up a bit,” I said with a pleased nod. I’d been wondering when Rukia and Renji were going to show up.

“Are the Espada really that strong?” Uryu asked curiously, pushing his glasses up.

“Hmm, how should I put this…” I said, resting my chin on one hand before nodding thoughtfully. “Alright, think of it like this: Espadas numbered seven through nine are about as strong as Ichigo and I are right now.” I gestured between the two of us for emphasis.

“Seven through nine?” Sado echoed, tilting his head. “Then what about Espada number ten?”

“The Espada aren’t numbered one through ten,” I explained, shaking my head. That caught their attention immediately. “Their ranks actually go from zero to nine, with Espada number zero having the highest spiritual pressure once his Zanpakutō is released.”

The ones who had already met Yammy blinked in disbelief, clearly struggling to reconcile that information with the loud, not-so-bright brute they’d encountered earlier.

“Anyway,” I continued, “Espadas five and six are both stronger than we are right now, at least if my understanding of a Shinigami’s Bankai is correct. Then you’ve got the real monsters, Espadas zero through four. Those guys are on a whole different level, many times stronger than we are currently.”

Ichigo’s group looked uneasy at first, but their expressions quickly hardened into determination.

“We knew from the start this wouldn’t be easy,” Ichigo said firmly, glancing at his friends. “But that’s never stopped us before.” Sado and Uryu nodded in agreement, faces set.

“That’s good to hear,” I said with a small, approving smile, before my tone turned a little drier. “Just remember, all of that still leaves Aizen himself… and he’s easily the biggest threat of them all.”

That hit home. Everyone stiffened, Ichigo most of all, his memories of facing Aizen were clearly not pleasant ones.

“Right,” he muttered grimly.

After that, our conversation naturally lulled as we waited for Rukia and Renji to catch up.

While we rode, Nel had made herself perfectly at home in my lap, her tiny body nestled comfortably as I absentmindedly traced my hand over the crack in her mask. With every pass, I subtly used my skill to heal her, watching the fracture shrink little by little.

By now, only a thin line remained. I stopped there, not because I couldn’t finish it, but because I wanted to keep her full recovery a surprise for later. The less the enemy knew about Nel’s true form before we reached Las Noches, the better.

Still, I couldn’t help the faint nervous flutter in my stomach at the thought of meeting her adult self. Nel and I had grown close in her childlike state, but her real form was… well, a whole different person. I just hoped we’d get along the same way.

When I glanced down, Nel noticed my gaze and beamed up at me, her smile so bright it could’ve outshone the desert moon. She then wriggled a bit to get even more comfortable before resting her head against my chest, utterly content, as if the world around her didn’t exist.

Before long, two familiar spiritual pressures drew closer until our “guests” landed gracefully on Bawabawa’s back. Both wore brown cloaks, one short enough to barely reach my mid-chest, and the other tall, broad-shouldered, and unmistakably Renji.

“You guys!” Ichigo shot up, grinning from ear to ear.

The warm reunion lasted exactly three seconds before Renji’s fist buried itself in Ichigo’s kidney. He doubled over, wheezing in pain, just in time for the shorter figure — Rukia, of course — to land a perfectly aimed punch straight to his face.

‘Oof… yeah, he kinda had that coming,’ I thought, wisely deciding to stay out of it as the two proceeded to scold Ichigo for running off ahead and not waiting for them.

While they were busy, I extended my senses toward the new arrivals, analyzing their reiatsu more closely.

‘Hmm… a little weaker than Ashido was when I fought him,’ I mused. ‘Then again, I never gave Ashido the chance to release his Shikai.’

My quiet pondering was interrupted when Ichigo suddenly waved a hand in my direction.

“And over there are some friends we met. Nel, Pesche, Dondochakka and Caius, the guy with the white hair. He’s agreed to help us take down Aizen’s Arrancar after a deal I made with him.”

Both Rukia and Renji turned toward me, their expressions wary and curious. I couldn’t resist having a little fun.

“Yo,” I greeted casually, raising a hand. “As you heard, I’m Caius Aurelius, just a humble slime offering a helping hand.”

Then, with perfect comedic timing, I let my body shimmer and collapse into my true form, a glossy blue slime that landed with a plop and wiggled cheerfully on Bawabawa’s back.

“And though I may be a slime… I’m not a bad slime! Slurp~” I said in a playful, sing-song voice.

For a few seconds, everyone just stared.

Then, exactly as I expected —

“Sooooo cuuuuuute!” Rukia squealed, instantly teleporting to my side. She scooped me up and hugged me against her chest, rubbing her face into my soft, gelatinous body like an overexcited cat.

Yup. Called it.