Chapter 16: The First Subordinate
The Living World, somewhere on the outskirts of Kyushu.
After coaxing (scamming) Ainicht into leaving Hueco Mundo, Mizuma had found an abandoned village and turned it into a temporary base of operations.
This clone of his, infused with only a sliver of reiatsu, was pathetically weak—so weak that even the most mediocre Hollow from Hueco Mundo could easily swat him like a fly. Fortunately, Ainicht was a master-level coward. Rather than resist, she had huddled in a corner of the clay hut where he'd locked her up, knees to her chest, staring blankly at the wall and not daring to move.
Now that the rest of his business was wrapped up, all that was left was to settle this matter—and he could return to being a happy, carefree slacker again.
…Easier said than done.
To win her over quickly, Mizuma had gone all in on playing the part of an unstable, unpredictable thug. He'd scared her so badly that she'd completely shut down her ability to think. Still, her ability might prove invaluable in the future—especially against the Wandenreich. If used properly, her mastery over Garganta could serve as a dimensional bridge between worlds. With a bit of finesse, he could have her hopping between the three realms at will—enough to drive the Sternritter mad with frustration.
He didn't yet have a concrete strategic plan, but keeping a few valuable cards in hand was always wise.
Simply put: he needed to recruit this timid little Adjuchas.
Unfortunately, their first meeting had been a complete disaster, and every interaction since then only made things worse. So now, Mizuma stood outside the door, debating for a long while about how he was even supposed to start this conversation.
He wasn't Aizen, the master manipulator of bleach, nor Yhwach, who ruled through sheer fear. Hell, even assigning missions to his own squad members was a struggle for him. Personally recruiting a subordinate? That was new territory entirely.
What now…
Ah, screw it. One step at a time. Maybe his newly acquired "cross-world skill" could help with this.
Having made up his mind, Mizuma pushed open the door and walked in.
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Ainicht sat curled up in the corner, her arms hugging her knees as she stared blankly at the flickering oil lamp on the table.
How… had things come to this?
She still remembered the day she became a Hollow—
The emptiness that tore open her chest, the pale white fluid that poured out, hardening into the mask she could never remove. Then came the hunger. Endless, gnawing hunger that devoured her from within—the kind that no amount of flesh could ever fill.
Hollows were born of violence and slaughter. Battle was their only escape, their only path to evolution. But Ainicht had been born weak—pathetically weak. Any Hollow could have crushed her beneath its claws. If not for her ability to open a Garganta faster than they could catch her, she'd have died a thousand times over.
Survival became her only purpose.
She ran. And ran. Until she reached the barren edges of Hueco Mundo, where even Hollows feared to tread. And there—
Szayelaporro found her.
Before a Vasto Lorde, her escape technique was worthless. He captured her effortlessly and dragged her to Las Noches.
To study her ability, Szayelaporro had wounded countless Hollows, forcing her to devour them one by one, artificially raising her evolution to the level of an Adjuchas.
Then came the torment. Szayelaporro didn't care for the pain of his test subjects. Her ability was unusual but not rare enough to be treated with care. He had subjected her to dozens of half-destructive experiments. If not for her regeneration—which was decent for her class—she would've died long ago.
His cruelty shattered her will to resist. She had become little more than a trembling puppet, obeying every order, forgetting she could even escape through her own Garganta.
Disobeying meant death.
And death… was worse than the emptiness in her chest—worse than Szayelaporro's lab.
Then, death came anyway—or rather, a Shinigami.
He took her from Hueco Mundo to the Living World.
Should she resist? She wasn't his match. Resistance would only bring more pain.
Some Hollows whispered that a Shinigami's Zanpakutō could "purify" them—free their souls from the endless void, send them to reincarnation.
Would that be peaceful? Would there be happiness in the next life?
The wooden door creaked open.
The Shinigami who had taken her stood there calmly, eyes faintly glowing with a brilliant blue light.
Mizuma activated his newest skill—Mind Beacon.
It worked flawlessly.
Probably because her reiatsu was far weaker than his. With just a glance, he slipped into her mental world.
Everything was pitch-black. Ainicht sat beside a half-assembled cylindrical machine, her long white hair spilling like snow across the floor.
She wore a simple white dress. No mask. No Hollow hole. Just… a girl.
And she was beautiful—delicately, heartbreakingly beautiful.
Around them, flickering fragments of memory floated like film reels: being hunted by lesser Hollows, shivering alone in the wastelands, screaming as Szayelaporro's scalpels tore into her, quietly assembling the machine that now sat beside her.
Mizuma's hand trembled. His conscience felt like it had been stabbed a dozen times.
Damn it… she's really that miserable, huh?
He wasn't a saint—but he wasn't heartless enough to torment someone after seeing all that.
Decision made. He'd still recruit her, but the method would change. A bit more kindness, a better offer—maybe even… a salary.
He sighed, stepped closer, and pointed at the cylindrical device beside her. "What's this? Something important to you?"
"This… is a self-operating automaton I designed. It protects me."
She lifted her head slowly, her gaze unfocused as she looked around. "Where is this…?"
"That's not important." Mizuma scratched his head. "Let's get to the point, Ainicht Bionis—how about changing employers?"
"Changing… employers?"
Her voice sounded dazed, her eyes hollow. Whether it was the Soul Beacon's effect or just her own numbness, he couldn't tell—but it worked in his favor. It meant he didn't have to waste time comforting her, which he was terrible at.
"Work under me," he said simply. "Flexible hours, great pay, no Szayelaporro breathing down your neck. You can keep building your automatons—just help me when I call for you." He shrugged. "Interested?"
"You… won't hurt me?"
"I'm not a sadist."
"Then…" She glanced around the darkness again, and then, as if freed from something heavy, smiled faintly.
"…I accept."
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〔TL〕
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