The food tastes terrible.
That was the first lifestyle problem raised when we in Yon-sama's faction established our base here in Hueco Mundo forty years ago.
The harsh words from Kaname Tōsen—one of the Soul Society's finest chefs—must have troubled Las Noches's menial staff back then.
Their species: Arrancars. Having grown closer to Shinigami and mostly stopped devouring fellow Hollows and good spirit Pluses, Arrancars maintained their life activities by absorbing spirit particles from the atmosphere through breathing.
In other words, with no demand, it wasn't that food tasted bad—the culture of fine dining simply didn't exist.
"...Should we selectively breed spirit insects for consumption?"
"We're supposed to eat those...?"
Edible spirit insects—mysterious spiritual organisms inhabiting Hueco Mundo that canon Arrancars supposedly ate. The actual product wasn't insect cuisine but euglena-type liquid food, and our palates weren't impoverished enough to satisfy ourselves with that.
"They say delicious food is essential for armies, and since the Arrancars became human, I think they should experience the joy of eating. Why not create a large-scale farm for them?"
"...Intriguing. But where?"
Thus began our Food Improvement Plan with culinary enthusiast DJ, excited despite his age.
But here in Hueco Mundo—in a dual sense—the world of evil spirits was so dead that not even grass grew, with completely lifeless soil and atmosphere. Creating a nearby farm required importing soil and vegetation from outside to build an indoor TOKI○ farm.
So after immediately importing necessities from the World of the Living and Soul Society and decades of trial and error, we finally succeeded in operating satisfactory rice paddies, wheat fields, and vegetable-fruit orchards.
"...We've created something good, Hinamori."
"Yes, Captain Tōsen!"
The completed Aizen Farm (official name) stocked major produce available at World of the Living supermarkets—vegetables, fruits, etc. Unfortunately, fresh foods like meat and fish plus some seasonings from secondary industries were nearly impossible to process, so it was a bit bland, but we reproduced items once obtained in the World of the Living using novel-cheat-character Loly's Thread of Negación.
Thanks to the farm and Big Sis Loly, Las Noches transformed from a palace of death into a palace of fine cuisine with first-class chefs (DJ & my Arrancar disciples) and fresh ingredients.
Fufufu, the Gotei folks never dream we traitors enjoy richer food than the Soul Society.
...To our efforts, Gin just said "Would've been faster having Loly make everything from the start"—that tone-deaf idiot. You moron, do you know how much work Loly handles normally? Unlike you, that girl's swamped being in demand!
"I was going to send Ulquiorra but you'll do. This is a World of the Living shopping list for Loly to reproduce. If you're free, go, Ichimaru."
"I'm Lord Aizen's aide though... Why not just Ulquiorra?"
"Hold on, you two! He's about to investigate Kurosaki Ichigo's Hollowfication progress, so don't randomly dump errands on him!"
Seriously, what do these guys think the glorious Espada are? Even the Arrancar army's most stylish Ulquiorra couldn't stylishly appear before Ichigo pushing a cart loaded with cardboard boxes through Garganta. Don't turn the canon "I'll report to Lord Aizen..." famous scene into surreal comedy.
Gin kept refusing so we played rock-paper-scissors, and I lost and ended up grocery shopping. Incidentally, Tōsen didn't participate—goddamn DJ.
Well, it's been a while in the modern World of the Living, so whatever! I'll visit our Naruki City hideout without Urahara later...
✦ ✦ ✦
"And so, Ulquiorra-san... I want Ulquiorra to investigate this human boy Kurosaki Ichigo's abilities."
Scene change to Momo-chan's office.
I called Ulquiorra by name since he dislikes human honorifics, giving instructions for that canon combat analysis mission from Yon-sama's rare direct order.
Quick explanation—the upcoming canon event has Sōsuke Aizen send Ulquiorra and Yammy to Karakura Town in the World of the Living to gauge Ichigo-kun's growth rate, leading to battle with the protagonist faction. A stylish scene revealing the fearsome power of mature Arrancars as the main enemy force, while simultaneously emphasizing the troublesomeness of Ichigo's Inner Hollow.
My memories of watching it in my past life's anime Bleach, feeling quite thrilled and excited, remain vivid.
In this world, my massive blunders have considerably strengthened Yon-sama's faction, so I'm also strengthening the protagonist faction to balance things for the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. That's the enhancement of the parasitic Hollow White from twenty years ago—the source of the protagonist's talent.
As I mentioned before, White-kun has various modifications, one being a helper character to let Ichigo-kun—whose mental state is like a low-rebound pillow—safely draw out Hollow power. Commonly known as "masked me."
This helper character was inspired by Old Man Yuha inside Ichigo, created using Hōgyoku power and Urahara's artificial soul technology to form an artificial personality dwelling in a Soul King fragment. This form naturally emerged to freely manipulate the sealing power using the Soul King fragment. The personality model is, of course, canon Hinamori-chan.
I'm trying to be careful about blunders. To prevent the artificial personality from randomly fully releasing the seal, I input only convenient information into this "masked me," directing her to naturally cooperate with the knowledgeable Ichigo-LOVING Old Man Yuha. The old man would absolutely never permit complete seal release, and most importantly, the personality I designed modeled on canon Hinamori-chan obviously wouldn't let Ichigo become a Hollow. She should perfectly pull off the "bookworm big sister" move from six years ago as White's administrator.
Ulquiorra's mission includes checking whether this operates normally.
"This footage is reference material about Kurosaki Ichigo. Please use it."
"I'll review it."
I played my treasured file Ichigo-kun Growth Record on the office's video monitor. Not everything, of course—just from his meeting Rukia-chan through his battle with Byakuya in the Soul Society.
"I especially want information on his state wearing this Hollow mask. Combat ability of course, but also focus on mental changes—personality, expressions, emotions."
"...Understood."
Hm, he hesitated slightly just now. Does he feel uncertain about the mission analyzing opponents' psyches and hearts?
"It's fine. You just need to report what you see. Kurosaki Ichigo and... this Inoue Orihime are humans with very strong hearts, so if you watch them closely, your 'world reflected in your eyes' will surely expand."
"...!"
Ulquiorra's eyes widened faintly. Given his circumstances, those words are critical. I casually manipulated impressions to interest him in Orihime-chan too, but canonically it's a minor detail.
Finally, I advised that taking Yammy would stir things up and make observing Ichigo easier, encouraging Ulquiorra.
Then after lowering his eyes briefly, he raised his face and stared intently at me.
"...Commander."
"Yes?"
"If he proves a threat to Lord Aizen, shall I kill him?"
Ugh, this loyal dog. To readily abandon this opportunity to know hearts with minimal hesitation—how like him.
Still, Ulquiorra absolutely cannot kill Ichigo.
First, if things get dangerous, the other me will release some of White-kun's power to help him. Even if that's insufficient, Old Man Yuha, Urahara, and Yoruichi are there, so help should arrive while Ulquiorra's stylishly tormenting Ichigo. Worst case, even if he dies, Orihime-chan's there for revival—insurance abounds. As expected of a protagonist.
So there's only one answer.
"As Commander, I entrust everything to you. If he's an opponent requiring elimination at that point, do so. Both nipping potential in the bud and crushing it after full growth are correct forms of loyalty."
"...Understood, Commander."
"However, absolutely do not kill Inoue Orihime. Captain Aizen is interested in her abilities. Please and thank you."
"Yes."
Bowing once, Ulquiorra finally left Momo-chan's office. Mmm, his tailcoat-like coat's tails are supremely stylish. Cool.
Truth be told, Ulquiorra's my favorite Arrancar character. The sin of awakening me to eighth-grader syndrome in my past life is heavy, Murciélago!
Plus in this world I searched forty-plus years for this Hollow, so I'm deeply attached.
Aah, I wanted to see what life Ulquiorra who learned about hearts from Orihime-chan and Ichigo would lead in canon. But that massive "The heart?" final scene is also his greatest and best showcase...
Ugh, is there no salvation, Sensei?!
After tearfully mourning the supreme Oshare god's mercilessness toward Arrancar forces for a while, I took repeated deep breaths, patting my cheeks to shift mental gears.
Right, the canon event.
Just watching this event could be done through Ulquiorra's Solita Vista or stealth Hollow surveillance video recording devices. But as a Bleach fan, wanting to observe on-site is unavoidable...!
I'm especially curious about what bonds White-kun—whose creation and inheritance I participated in—builds with protagonist Ichigo. Following canon as closely as possible is ideal, but having prepared so thoroughly, wishing greedily to see slight changes makes me a bad girl Momo-chan.
—HYAHHA, I can't stand it! With Shiro-chan making no moves, I have no choice but to go see Chad!
Excitement filling my chest, I entered a spiritual-pressure-blocking gigai and headed to the World of the Living after so long.
Oh right, cart and cardboard boxes. Can't forget shopping either.
***
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