The Messiah and the Drunk

Karakura Town, a small quiet town that only mattered to anyone because of it's unsually high amount of residual reishi and spiritual activity, was now the bar home of one Reno Kitsugi. The man had visited every bar in the city multiple times, and yet this one had given up trying to deter him and simply let him sulk in a corner drinking booze all day every day. He paid of course but since he didn't really..leave. The owner essentially gave him the unofficial job of protecting the bar while it was active or while it was closed, as long as he did not drink everything in sight without asking an on duty bartender to provide him with sustenance.

This day was like no other so far, most of the people were either plastered and barely awake which got them told they should go home, or muttering to themselves and their little friend groups, or were leaving. Reno rarely had to "defend" the bar, even when he did all that occurred was that he'd flare his reiatsu and floor the poor soul that was the intended target without getting up from his own table so that the real bouncer could then remove them from the property without fuss.

Spiritual entities that roamed Karakura generally avoided Reno's proximity as was, the rare hollow incident near him ending in little disaster because the stupid thing would try to pester him only to be dead moments later. He was almost like a local hero or legend at this point, but only for the bars. He did not leave, he did not talk to anyone, he did not stop drinking unless he was passed out.

They tried to wake him once each, the spirits and the humans, neither incident ended well. The humans survived, of course, since if he killed any of them he would have to leave the town, let alone he would get put on the Soul Society's radar but the spirits were generally obliterated in a fit of rage for bothering him at all.

Bored, Drunk and still minding his own business Reno continued the day as normal. For the most part. Some random hollow-esque thing had sauntered into the bar, yet it looked incredibly similar to a human, and thus far it not only noticed Reno and left him totally alone for now, but it also wasn't doing anything "wrong" yet. It had gone to the bar and asked for a drink like a regular person unlike it's normal hollow brethren.

Either he was a different thing altogether and had a brain, or he'd be dead soon. Reno didn't give a damn unless he started something though.

Karakura Town was a weird place.

It had a weird energy, a strange ambiance that seemed to obfuscate the various strange Reiatsu signatures that permeated the place. From a birds eye view, Karakura Town should be on fire with the mixes of rogue Shinigami, substitute Shinigami, Humans with strange powers, and of course the occasional high-end Hollow who wants to make a meal of that previously discussed conglomerate. It's the perfect place to retire if you're an old Shinigami wanting left alone, and a perfect place to find potential allies if you're looking for trouble.

And that was what brought Ika. A dumb rumor that was probably inaccurate, but if it wasn't he couldn't afford to let it lie.

That was precisely why Ika was here, sauntering into a bar which seemed to teem with the exuberance of young lives not yet lived, and the occasional Reiatsu signature mixing in with it all. Ika walked to the bartender, asking for a shot of whiskey as he saw his man and.. why the hell was a Hollow at the bar? It wasn't what he was here for but.. ah the occasional scuffle never hurt anyone.

Ika sat next to the Hollow with a shit-eating grin on his face, his eyes transfixed on a glass in front of him as his card burned in his right hand. "Don't suppose you come here often eh?.."

The Arrancar had only intended to run into the bar and mess with Reno himself, going to the bar more out of fear from what he found rather than stalling or waiting to see what Reno would do, so when a second Shinigami came near him that seemed just as strong as the one in the corner... He freaked out. Drawing at his zanpaktou and assuming he succeeded he would swing the thing at Ika's face. It would look like a regular tanto with the blade oddly serrated. The second he had yelled and attacked Ika every other bar patron had scattered from what they perceived to be the soon to be splash zones.

Reno on the other hand already knew who the hell that was being swung at and simply sat up in his chair before leaning it backwards and placing his feet on the table top to get more comfortable. The bartender even noticed and relaxed slightly though he was clearly still concerned for his building. This caused the bouncer to back off as well because the poor man was stupidly about to get involved thinking Reno was going to do what he normally did before he could get to them.

He didn't need to lift a finger, that thing just attacked Ika Mazi, he knew damn well it would be dead in a matter of moments. He was more concerned, and he didn't even feel actual concern mind you, that Ika was in HIS bar, probably to talk off Reno's ear about some stupid shit concerning other stupid shit that Reno ultimately wasn't going to give a damn about. Which led Reno to the only question on his mind that he DID care about.. How the hell is he going to make Ika Mazi scram out of Karakura and far far away from Reno himself. He could go mess with any city on the planet, and he decided to piss in Reno's cheerios?

Bah..

Ika frowned, ducking and grabbing the mans arm as he analyzed the Zanpakuto in his hand. "A blade eh? You Arrancar have been popping up more and more lately, an interesting development to be sure.. Well I'd ask why this is happening but I'm sure you'd tell me you don't know so.."

In an instant, Ika snapped his fingers and the card flew from his hands through the skull of the Arrancar, exiting the other side before burning out in the ceiling above them before the Arrancar even had time to fade into dust and death. Ika flicked his fingers once more, allowing for the card to reappear before being placed back into his pocket. His goal for coming here today was clear, and it had little to do with the Arrancar he'd just sent to the next life. "Reno Kitsugi.."

Ika smirked, slowly strolling towards him as he lazily retrieved his whiskey from the countertop. He sipped at it gently, letting the burn dull his senses a bit as he sat down next to his old.. Well friend was pushing it, but they'd met. "I suppose I should've known they didn't kill you. Was it for lack of trying, or lack of men that could get the job done?"

As expected the hollow thing was dead before it knew what had happened. Figures. Though he did get more information out of that than he had thought he would. Ika had name dropped what the thing was, and that there was more of them in recent times than ever before. Which meant something had happened, not that Reno cared particularly, it just meant that whatever had occurred was of such scale that Ika had bothered coming to Reno Kitsugi of all people.

Reno continued to be leaned back and simply shrugged when Ika finally approached him and started talking like they were best buds, "No idea. That was a really long time ago." figuring that Ika wasn't going to pull any stunts at this stage, Reno removed his legs from the table and returned to a regular sitting position. He rubbed his eyes a bit and sighed, "So what is it kid. Daddy finally kick you out for being spoiled or did you kill your stupid brother and then get kicked out."

He didn't know Bashira was a thing, nor did he realize Doku had not been captain commander for quite some time. He clearly hadn't been keeping tabs on Soul Society. not that that bothered Reno, he preferred not being dragged into their crap at this point, "Either way.. I assume you aren't just going to leave this irritated old man alone eh? What do you want."

Reno seemed to relax, removing his legs from the table as Ika made it pretty clear his intentions weren't immediately harmful. Reno seemed almost aloof about the idea he'd been hunted down for so many years, unaware or blissfully apathetic towards it. Reno was one of the lucky ones, deemed too powerful to be pursued by anything less than a pair of Captains and not nearly important enough to warrant that. He wasn't a noble or a man who held any high-end political aspirations, he was a warrior and a damn good one but that didn't seem as important to track down..

Idiots the lot of them.

"I forgot you've.. missed a lot. We'll have to go over the details of that all at some point but I'll hit you with the highlights. Dads dead, has been a while. We had a whole other CC for oh... 500ish years or so, I could be doing poorly on the math, then she made me CC. Then I was removed from that position forcibly, and my brother tried to kill me. I like you have been an expat for.. quite some time, but unlike you I've been paying attention to the world outside this bar and man, I think shits getting interesting."

Ika smirked, finishing off the shot of whiskey before continuing to speak. "The Hollows are evolving, the Gotei is in flux, the Humans are beginning to develop a capacity to defend themselves but have a clear need for development and guidance.. Doesn't that type of thing interest you?"

"500 years? huh. Never bothered keeping track. Neat." Reno said impassionately as he shrugged and continued to listen to Ika ramble on about recent events however the guy seemed to miss the bigger picture of why Reno had cut ties with the world which was made more apparently the longer he talked, "The hollows are always evolving.. that's kind of their thing. They either change or die. There's no gray area there.. Soul Society is ALWAYS having issues.. why do you think I left? as far as the humans go though.."

He rubbed his chin beard a bit and thought for a moment, "Yeah come to think of it more of them have been needing that special kinda ass whooping lately.. Stubborn punks." though Ika had implied that they needed a guiding hand, now Reno was definitely drunk, but he was far from brain impaired, he caught what the runt was putting down the moment it left his mouth and immediately asked if Reno got excited thinking about the world.

The short answer? Fuck no. He didn't go into the world for three reasons, Soul Society didn't know he was alive or cared and he'd like to have kept it that way, The hollow had learned to avoid this area for the most part and he didn't feel that would have been as simple if he moved around a lot, and third was because he was practically retired and almost nothing important happened in this quiet town.

However he was not about to sit here and watch a former shinigami of that much power guide the humans alone without any eyes on him in case he fucked off or fucked up. Reno happened to like the humans as was, and the booze wasn't a bad influencer either.

"yeah yeah brat I get it. No I'm not excited nor am I the fool.." He waved a hand non-chalantly at Ika before continuing, "Where are we going to start and do you even have a plan?"

Reno seemed largely unphased by the seemingly infinite passing of time. It was admirable to a point, had Reno really disconnected himself from the world to such a degree that all of this stuff was just.. news to him? More info on that could be gathered later, for now Ika needed to be sure that he could try and get the old curmudgeon onto his side. "The Gotei's always having issues, that much is true.. but I don't remember the Hollows evolving this quickly in this short of a period of time.. It's a bit spooky to me, seems artificial as opposed to natural."

Ika stroked his chin a bit, pondering the situation as the topic of the humans came up. "I mean don't get me wrong, you and I could still pretty easily run every human here off the map, it's just.. maybe we could train them up ya know? Set up a base of operations somewhere around here and see what we could do to get these humans equipped to take care of themselves. I think it could be a fun little adventure. What say you, Reno Kitsugi?"

Reno waited, listening, as Ika agreed that the Gotei almost always had some manner of issue going on whether it was apparent or in the background because of the nobles. He then expressed concern that the Hollow's, while agreeing they do evolve constantly as per their entire schtick, have been doing so quicker than anticipated lately, and in far greater number than should be happening, which only further served the idea that something or someone had been purposely working to that end.

"..so they have been doing it faster and in increased number and you got a wee spook from it.. I assume you have a suspicion as to why this has happened? If so then it's not exactly a mystery to you is it? You are just beating around the bush to nab my attention.. which you already had when you walked into this bar. I would assume for the sole purpose of talking to me."

The tone was flat, mostly because Reno was not amused that he had to even bring that up, Ika Mazi was old enough and hopefully by proxy smart enough to know why Reno was unamused. Which would be fortunate because he himself would not be explaining that today or possibly ever. Ika proceeded to go on about how he and Reno could likely destroy the human race together, but wanted to guide them towards a bright future instead. Lowering the "Saving of Humanity" to a mere adventure with which he would proceed to dangle in front of Reno like a carrot. As if he somehow believed Reno was that gullible or stupid. Problems for later however as Reno brushed it off for now.

"...kid I already asked where we were starting and if you had a plan. not once did I say or imply I would murder the humans. I merely mentioned that i've had to kick more superpowered human ass lately at this bar than seems normal."

He'd let that sink in for a moment before continuing, "So what you've told me, is that the hollows continue to be a threat, the gotei is worthless, and the humans are growing in strength. You have neither a base nor a plan other than to set up a base and figure out an actual plan." once again he paused to let Ika realize how very little he had actually told Reno and how silly what he HAD said sounded.

"I don't ultimately care about the lack of base, I care more about your lack of plan. Do you even have any of these super powered humans under your wing yet? Are we going on a recruitment drive? How exactly do you intend to guide 7 billion people towards the future with a mere fraction of their number? Have you considered the implications of raising them versus how Soul Society or anything else for that matter may react?"

He took a drink from the mug in front of him, draining it of the last of it's contents before setting it back down, and continued, "This sounds very similar to what happen to those.. what is it called. Quincy? Shit I don't remember. Didn't your brother kill those? Regardless.. What do you intend to do when and if Soul Society turns it's ever gazing eye upon your little group of heroes? You don't expect them to simply sit by and let this happen do you?"

He rested his chin on his hands at this point, elbows on the table, and waited.

Ika frowned a bit and crossed his arms. "Listen my dads been dead for centuries and you didn't even know, I thought you might be a little tuned out to the comings and goings of the world y'know?"

Ika lazily rolled his glass in his hand, debating whether or not this conversation was going to demand a higher BAC than he was currently managing to have. "I have to imagine that the creation of these Arrancar is artificial, but I'd be lying if I said I had any firm leads as to what's causing it. Hollows aren't particularly chatty when I walk up to them, and my list of contacts in the Gotei has dried up as well unfortunately."

Ika opted for another shot, retrieving the bottle from the countertop so that he could pour his drink himself. "I know you didn't imply it, I did. Hypothetically speaking, we'd probably be a lot safer if we culled them and kept the Human World a lower priority target for the Gotei and the Hollows. I think if we were younger men with more to live for, that is in fact exactly what we'd be discussing at this very moment but.. I get your point."

Ika smirked, swigging some whiskey around in his mouth slowly as he let what he was saying register. "I do have a base of operations, Aokigahara Forest is so dense with negative energy that it kind of neatly disguises me and the few others that frequent it. I don't know that it'd work as a home long-term, but in the short-term I think it's our best bet. I do have a variety of lower level Humans under my purview right now, mostly vice-captain and seated level fighters I'd say. I do have a Quincy who'd be a top-level Captain, and a few other folks on my radar who could be of interest.."

Ika smiled politely, finishing off his drink before acknowledging the most damning piece of Reno's commentary. "But you're right about one thing, I don't have a plan. I have an objective and some loose ideas on how to get there, but as far as something more comprehensive than that I've not spent the time putting anything together. I think any plan I draft is going to need to include folks like yourself, and I think it's going to need to be made based on how this little recruitment drive I'm on pans out."

Having finished his drink while leaving his hands little to do, Ika opted to avoid any further unnecessary pauses. "As for what we do about the Gotei if they intrude.. I mean we fight. You fight intelligently, you don't fight them head up in the field, but you make it known that any push they want to make into this world against us is going to come at an unsustainable cost. My guess is they've got bigger concerns, those Arrancar, chiefly."

Ika reminded that Reno wasn't aware of Doku's death, which got a shrug at Ika from Reno, since he didn't care one way or the other ultimately. Sure it was true Reno had no idea what had happened or what was going on outside this bar, but he knew enough of the past crap that it largely didn't seem any different than normal to him. The only exception had been the timeframe in which this had all happened. Which as Ika continued to point out, was very short. He didn't comment about anything concerning all that to Ika though since it didn't matter and it would have changed nothing about their current conversation.

At this point of listening to Ika speak about everything else however Reno finally had a reaction and laughed, for the first time since he had walked into the bar over a year ago, frightening the regular's and the bar owner, and the bouncer, though other than looking panicked they did nothing and quickly resumed minding their own business. "So you DO have a base. You should have just led with that." before shaking his head and returning to a normal demeanor, "No plan isn't necessarily bad though, at least you have a direction to go in."

Ika mentioned simply fighting the Gotei's military force and Reno frowned, not because of the idea, but because of the substantial task in and of itself, "That's not as easy as you seem to think kid. Even if I run this rust off and such, I'm not going to be able to fight all of the captains on my own, unless the state of Soul Society has deteriorated far beyond what I could possibly imagine. Humans are great, even with you saying a few are already reaching the peaks of Vice-Captain relevance, but I don't think they'd willingly die fighting an Enemy who only wants "you" and "I" dead.. not the humans themselves. Sure that's a problem for us later when we start trying to rally "Loyalty" but it's still something to consider."

Reno went ahead and stood up, once again shocking the entirety of the bar with his action, since they weren't even sure he COULD do that, before shooting them all a dirty look and making them resume their own shit a second time. "Yo. Barkeep. Tab's due innit? Whats the total." He was certain he knew the owner's real name, having probably heard it or been told it at least once, however he couldn't remember and didn't give a damn so he just said barkeep whenever he needed something.

The guy behind the counter called out a number that seemed....excessive.. but Reno sauntered over and pulled out a wallet that had hundreds of dollars in cash in it. Tipped it over to drop all the cash out, asked if that was enough, and upon being told it was "more" than enough he simply replied with a shrug and a smirk on his face, "Not my problem. I won't be here anymore. That's for all the trouble."

He scooped up the wallet itself, emptied of human cash now. Shoving it in some pocket somewhere and then turned to Ika hiking a thumb at the door, "Alright bossman. Lesgo. I got nothing more to do here and you got more important shit than skulking around this place any longer."

Reno seemed relieved at the mention that Ika did in fact have a base, seeming to think that was the most important part of the story even if Ika himself somewhat disagreed. Still, Ika was elated to hear that Reno was seemingly content to have a simple direction and purpose again. It'd have been easy to turn Ika away due to his lack of planning and manpower, but time seemed to have done a better job softening Reno up for this moment than Ika ever could have. "Ideally if we treat them well and take care of them, give them a sense of independence from the world beyond they'll return the favor with a bit of loyalty. If they don't.. me you and Johan are worth quite a few Captains I'd say. It's not a fight we'd win, but I have to imagine the losses they'd incur would open them up to the Hollows pretty quickly."

Ika smirked, standing up as he rolled his shoulders and began to ponder aloud. "I agree, problems for another day. Do you want me to get the ta-"

Ika watched Reno cover their drinks and rolled his eyes a bit before taking a polite bow in the direction of the barkeep. Once Reno had settled his meager affairs, Ika would heed his word and head for the door. "So, don't suppose you know anyone who might interest us rolling around do you?"