Slime Soul (Tensura x Bleach Crossover) (Patreon)

Chapter 28: Paths Diverge

“T-That’s certainly unexpected of you,” Ichigo muttered in surprise as he leaned back in his seat, looking at me curiously. “Why the change of heart? Didn’t you say you didn’t like Soul Society?”

“And what about that whole ‘capture on sight’ order they have on you?” he added, crossing his arms.

“Enemy of my enemy and all that,” I shrugged, unconcerned. Only one person in this world even had a chance of harming me, so I wasn’t overly worried.

“I’m hoping they’ll be smart enough to look the other way while the war is going on. But if not…” I waved it off. “It doesn’t really matter. Their opinion means nothing to me. I’ll do as I please.”

My answer made Ichigo frown slightly as he mulled it over.

“I guess that’s the best I can expect from you,” he admitted before narrowing his eyes. “Do you at least know what Yhwach’s real plan is?”

“Yes,” I nodded, meeting his gaze. “He plans to return the three realms to their original state—or rather, merge them into one.”

“Wait! Doesn’t that mean—”

I cut him off with a nod.

“Yes. Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the World of the Living will all collapse into a single realm… killing most in the process.”

“That’s insane! That’s even worse than Aizen’s plan!” Ichigo exclaimed.

“Yep. And to do that, he needs the Soul King’s power,” I added calmly.

“Tsk, the Soul King again… Why is every asshole after him?” Ichigo muttered.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I raised an eyebrow. “Power. As the ruler of this world, it stands to reason he would have challengers to his throne.”

“Hmph… I guess.” Ichigo sighed before looking back at me. “But are you really sure you can beat someone like that? With an ability like his… aren’t you afraid of losing?”

I blinked, then grinned in amusement at the perfect setup Ichigo had just given me even adopting a cool pose and leaning my head against my hand.

“Nah… I’d win.”

“…Caius-sama is being silly again. The being known as Satoru Gojo from his memories is so far below his capabilities that even his Haki alone could kill him, yet he compares himself to him,” Astra said flatly.

‘Let me have my fun, Astra.’ I pouted internally, earning a small huff in response.

Ichigo, meanwhile, just stared at me blankly.

“You’re not taking this seriously at all, are you?”

I chuckled and shrugged. “Think whatever you want, Ichigo.”

“Tsk… you’re messing with me again.”

“Anyway,” I continued, shifting the topic. “Your training is finished. Tomorrow morning, we will be leaving this city. We stayed longer than planned you know, but out of the kindness of my heart, I decided to stay to train you all.”

Ichigo blinked before crossing his arms and looking away.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” he muttered. “At least tell me how to contact you when the war starts… and if you know when it’s going to begin.”

“I won’t be contacting you. I can’t keep babysitting you forever, after all,” I said with a shake of my head, earning a scowl. “And based on my estimates, you’ve got a few months.”

“Focus on your current problem first, the Fullbringers. I’ve seen them lurking around the city these past few days, so it’s only a matter of time before they make contact,” I added calmly.

Ichigo blinked, then frowned slightly.

“…Right. I almost forgot about them, if I’m being honest. Thanks. I’ll stay on guard, and I’ll tell the others to do the same.”

“Good.”

I stood up, and Ichigo followed suit as we faced each other.

“Then this is goodbye for now, Ichigo.”

He nodded, then awkwardly scratched the back of his head, looking away with a faint blush.

“T-Thanks… for everything,” he muttered. “You didn’t have to do any of this, but you still did. You even restored my powers and trained all of us…”

I said nothing and crossed my arms while grinning in amusement enjoying the scene of Ichigo making a fool of himself.

Ichigo noticed immediately, his face turning even redder.

“Tsk… I should’ve known you’d react like this,” he muttered. “Forget it. I’m outta here. Inoue, Chad! We’re leaving!”

Orihime and Sado quickly got up, saying their goodbyes to everyone before heading toward the door.

“Hey, Ichigo.”

He turned back with a slightly annoyed look, only to pause when he saw my expression.

“Watch yourself out there. Just because you’re stronger now doesn’t mean someone sneaky can’t catch you off guard.”

Ichigo’s expression turned serious as he nodded.

“…Yeah. Got it.”

With that, they finally left.

I stood there for a moment, watching the door, before Nelliel stepped beside me with a small smile.

“Hihihi… I knew it. At the end of the day, you can’t help but look out for Ichigo in your own way, huh?” she teased gently.

I felt a slight blush creep onto my face.

“You’re imagining it,” I replied, stealing Astra’s usual line as I willed my blush to disappear.

“I think it’s really cute~” Nelliel added, patting my arm.

“Totally cute,” Riruka chimed in, appearing on my other side with an excited grin.

“Who knew the big bad Caius had a soft spot for the Strawberry~” Lilynette added with a mischievous smirk.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Is someone forgetting where all the money for her games and cute stuff comes from?”

That shut Riruka and Lilynette up immediately.

Then I turned to Nelliel, who was watching with amused hazel eyes.

“And you, stop teasing me.”

My finger darted forward, poking her right under the ribs.

“Eeep! O-Okay! I’ll stop! Hihihihi—noooo!” Nelliel squealed, breaking into laughter as I kept poking her while she tried—and failed—to escape.

=====

With Ichigo

Leaving Caius’s current residence for the last time, Ichigo said goodbye to his friends. Instead of heading home, however, he made his way toward a certain shop, even though it was already late in the afternoon.

As he approached, he wasn’t surprised to find Urahara standing by the entrance, his usual bucket hat shadowing most of his face.

“My, my, if it isn’t Kurosaki-san~” Urahara greeted cheerfully, snapping open his fan. “What brings you here so late to my humble shop?”

“Let’s talk inside,” Ichigo said, his expression serious as he walked past him.

“Of course~”

Inside, Tessai was already waiting, a cup of tea prepared. That didn’t surprise Ichigo either, now that he had his powers back, they would have sensed him approaching the minute he left Caius’s residence.

“Hey, Tessai,” Ichigo greeted with a half-hearted wave as he sat down.

“Ichigo-san, it’s good to see you again in full health,” Tessai replied with a respectful nod before pouring him some tea.

“Thanks,” Ichigo muttered as Urahara joined them moments later, Tessai serving him as well.

A brief silence followed as both Ichigo and Urahara took a sip of their tea.

Urahara was the first to speak.

“Before anything else, congratulations on regaining your powers, Kurosaki-san. I knew it was only a matter of time… though I didn’t expect such unexpected assistance,” he said lightly.

“Yeah… me neither,” Ichigo replied, shaking his head before his expression hardened.

“We can talk about that later. I’m here because of something Caius told me.”

“Judging by your tone, I’ll assume it’s not good news,” Urahara said, his voice growing more serious, though his smile didn’t fully disappear.

Ichigo didn’t hesitate.

“The Quincy are planning to attack Soul Society within the next few months.”

At that, Urahara’s smile finally vanished. His head lowered slightly, the brim of his hat casting his face completely in shadow.

“…I see,” he said quietly. “Please, continue.”

=====

Back to Caius

After getting my revenge on Nelliel for teasing me, leaving her breathless from all the laughter I had subjected her to, she now lay stretched across the sofa, resting her head on my lap.

“When are you leaving?” Nelliel asked softly after catching her breath, looking up at me.

“As soon as we move to our new location,” I replied just as softly, gently running my fingers through her long green hair.

“Do you really have to travel to Hell?” she asked, a hint of worry slipping into her tone. “I know you’re powerful, but… I’ve heard a lot of scary stories about that place.”

“Yes,” I answered gently. “It’s the only place I haven’t been to yet. There might be… interesting things there I can learn from.”

We had already had this conversation before, with her and the others. Nelliel being the worrywart she was though, hadn’t stopped trying to convince me otherwise.

“…Hmm. How long will you be down there?” Nelliel asked, pouting slightly after realizing I wasn’t going to change my mind.

“A few days at most. I want to see if I can pick up a particular branch of magic I’ve been interested in for a while,” I said calmly.

“What kind of magic?” she asked, blinking curiously.

Smiling down at her, I poked her nose, earning another pout.

“I think I’ll keep that a surprise for now.”

“Mou, you’ve really taken a liking to teasing me lately,” Nelliel complained, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at me.

“Wahaha, that’s because you make the best expressions~” I teased with a grin before shifting my attention forward.

Tier had quietly joined us.

“Meanie~”

“Tier,” I said, “I know I’ve already asked, but are you sure you want to head back to Hueco Mundo for reconnaissance? You could wait a few days until I’m done in Hell, and we could go together.”

“It’s fine,” Tier replied, shaking her head, arms crossed. “I want to make myself useful. And with the war coming, I want to see how I measure up against a Quincy.”

Seeing my expression, she let out a small sigh, though a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“However, since I knew you wouldn’t be satisfied, I took the liberty of asking Starrk to accompany me. I trust Nelliel will have no issues looking after the others by herself while we are occupied.”

‘Heh… more like she threatened him into coming along. That lazy bastard wouldn’t leave his room otherwise, unless Lilynette dragged him out,’ I thought in amusement.

Nelliel let out a soft sigh before reluctantly sitting up and moving beside me, then nodding.

“I don’t like the idea of staying behind, but rest assured, I’ll do my best to protect everyone while you’re away.”

Pleased, I nodded.

“Then it’s settled.”

=====

Following Day

Thanks to my ever-useful Imaginary Space, it only took us minutes to pack all our belongings before we finally left the city after staying there for several months.

I could tell that both Tier’s subordinates and Nelliel’s were pleased that we were moving. It meant they no longer had to stay cautious every time they stepped outside the suite.

That didn’t mean Tier’s subordinates weren’t upset, though.

Their leader was heading to Hueco Mundo with only Starrk for company to conduct reconnaissance on possible Quincy movement. Thankfully, it would only be for a few days—otherwise, I had no doubt they would have disobeyed orders and followed her regardless.

Since distance meant nothing to me, I took the opportunity to relocate our base far south, to New Zealand, in a remote mountainous area overlooking a beautiful lake.

Thanks to our travels around the world, I had “relieved” several complete houses from certain unsavory individuals and stored them in my Imaginary Space. Most of them were massive mansions, people like that always did enjoy their luxury.

That was how our new cliffside home came to be, hidden behind a barrier that concealed it from both locals and supernatural observers alike.

With the house fully stocked for several weeks—even if we didn’t actually need to eat—and a few generators running, I was satisfied.

It was time for me to leave.

“Alright everyone, behave yourselves. And don’t cause too much of a commotion with the locals if you decide to visit civilization,” I instructed calmly, my gaze sweeping over those staying behind, lingering especially on the three women standing together.

Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun all looked away with faint blushes, clearly understanding my meaning.

“Don’t worry, Caius-sama. I’ll make sure these two don’t cause any trouble,” Sung-Sun said, regaining her composure as she looked at me with admiration and respect.

That was another welcome change.

All of Tier’s subordinates now looked at me with the same awe they once reserved only for her. It probably helped that I had personally trained them, and never asked them to do anything that went against their morals, even if I knew they would have followed my orders regardless.

“Tsk, stop trying to suck up to Caius-sama, Sung-Sun!” Apacci snapped, turning to her with a scowl.

“Quiet, you two. This is exactly why I’m stronger than you now, because you never listen when Caius-sama is speaking,” Mila Rose said, shaking her head.

That immediately drew glares from the other two.

“Huh!? What did you say!?”

“I’m afraid I misheard you, Mila Rose. Could you repeat that?”

Shaking my head at their antics, I turned my gaze to Tier and Starrk, who were standing off to the side. The lazy bastard was already yawning, looking like he might drop into dreamland at any moment.

“Tier, Starrk, be careful. Remember, your only mission is reconnaissance. If it turns into a fight though, don’t hold back. You’re allowed to use your full power,” I said seriously.

Tier nodded immediately, while Starrk just yawned again, only for Tier to elbow him sharply in the side, making him wheeze.

“Caius-sama is addressing us. Show some proper respect, Starrk,” Tier muttered, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

“Tsk, you didn’t have to hit me that hard…” Starrk grumbled, stepping away the moment he saw her elbow twitch again.

“Hah… troublesome. Fine. At least we’re not expected to fight,” he added before giving me a small nod of acknowledgment.

Tier nodded in satisfaction at that.

“Please don’t take too long, Caius… come back soon.” Riruka suddenly said as she launched herself into my arms, hugging me tightly around the waist.

Smiling down at her, I gently patted her head. “Don’t worry, Riruka. I’ll only be gone for a few days.”

She nodded before reluctantly pulling away, revealing Nelliel standing just behind her.

Without saying a word, Nelliel stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me, holding me for a moment before pulling back and looking up at me with a soft smile.

“We’ll be waiting for you. Stay safe,” she said quietly.

Before I could respond, she leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek.

Riruka immediately puffed her cheeks in jealousy, while Tier’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“…Of course,” I replied with a small nod, choosing not to comment, though Astra’s faint huff of jealousy echoed in the back of my mind.

Turning to Pesche and Dondochakka, I gave them a nod. “You two know what to do.”

“Leave it to us, Caius-sama!”

“Yeah!”

With that settled, I took a step back. Giving everyone one last look, and a small smile, I focused inward.

‘Ready, Astra?’

Instead of answering, a swirling vortex opened beside me.

Without hesitation, I stepped into it.

‘Let’s see what Hell has in store for us. Which is something I never thought I’d hear myself say but here we are.’