CHAPTER 67: The Shark Queen


    <span style="font-weight:400">M Rose felt Api’s Reiatsu spike in the midst of her mock battle with Ciri. She halted abruptly, signaling Ciri to cease as well. “Absurd.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ciri cast an envious nce at Api. “She has surpassed both of us.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You mentioned Baraggan having a cult, right?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah. They’ll try to avenge their leader when they find out Baraggan is dead.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">A wicked grin split M Rose’s face, revealing her sharp, predatory fangs. “Not if I devour them first. We’re storming the doors of Las Noches when we return to Hueco Mundo!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ferocious lioness set her eye on the poor Hollows under Baraggan, intending to use them as fuel for her growth. Harribel wouldn’t be able to say anything if those Hollows attacked M Rose first during her tour to Las Noches.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">‘My n is impable.’</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ciri’s eyes widened at the audacious n. Entering Las Noches also meant a potential encounter with Szayel. She was unsure if her heart was prepared for his smug grin. “I think I''ll sit this one out…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Stop being a pussy. I’ll protect you.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“...Okay.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The goth Arrancar changed her mind at M Rose’s insistence.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">‘Kazuya wouldn’t let me die, right…?’</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">…


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harribel approached Api and patted her back with her sword arm. “I don’t n on stagnating… Kazuya, do me.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh my. You should ask us to leave before giving him an order like that~,” Kisuke said as he winked at Kazuya. “You struck gold, Kazuya-san.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The chance of a man having multiple partners — a harem — was highest in the Hollow race since their race mostly followed thew of the jungle. He had hardly seen a man having a harem outside of the noble families of the Seireitei.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya smiled. “Isn’t it natural to fully enjoy my life after my death?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I wasn’t the only one who saw this as a harem gathering,” Yoruichi added, her golden eyes glinting with mischief. “This kid went from a side mob to a main character. This is shitty writing I expect from teenagers, not the gods sitting in high heavens.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Gods aren’t real, Shihōin-san,” he said. “Even the one ruling over the Soul Society is a husk.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kisuke narrowed his eyes. “You know about that too.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yup.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yoruichi pawed Kisuke’s face. “What did he mean?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I can’t tell you now.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Stop hiding things from your childhood friend!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya fiddled with the Hōgyoku and looked at the tomboy who kept clinging to him. “Api, how about we cuddle during the night?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You heartless goose, I’m naked… Do you want everyone to see my private parts?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">She told a convincing lie to cover up her ulterior motive of feeling his warmth — a skill shepletely learned from him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leaning closer to her, Kazuya whispered in her ear, “This body is mine. I won’t let anyone else defile it with their lustful gazes.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Excuse me, I feel like you’re calling me out!” Kisuke jested. “Yoruichi-san, I feel like we should leave.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I kinda have that feeling too.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The ck cat and the merchant felt awkward but they couldn’t leave before retrieving the Hōgyoku.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya held Api close and started Harribel’s transformation process. As the blinding light enveloped her, the surrounding moisture coalesced and rushed towards her, forming a massive, heart-shaped cocoon that lifted her into the air.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kisuke’s eyes widened in rm. “Oh no, she will flood my poor shop!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Yoruichi sitting on his hat, he rushed up thedder, stopping halfway along its height. He found the current the safest location to protect him from a flood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yoruichi, meanwhile, watched Harribel’s transformation with intense interest. “This woman embodies the phrase ‘Still waters run deep.’ The heart shape must represent her emotions.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">She tried to decipher the symbolism behind Harribel''s transformation with the information at her hand. Spection was all she could do.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kisuke shrugged. “It could be anything.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, Kazuya floated a safe distance away from Harribel’s water cocoon, holding Api securely in his arms. “Harribel sure knows how to leave asting impression.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“She wouldn’t be your mommy if she didn’t do your way… the shy way.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“How do you know about our secret rtionship?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It’s not a secret anymore. Harribel confessed she treats you like her son.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Huh? When did that happen?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Sometime ago. Oh, she is here.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, the tip of a white de pierced through the cocoon, slicing it in half. As the water sshed down in a massive wave, Harribel emerged, levitating in mid-air. Her expression was as serene and cold as the deepest ocean depths.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Gripping her Zanpakutō, she held it up, examining it with a focused gaze. “This power... it should be enough to make my dream a reality.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya observed Harribel''s transformation with a smile. Her Resurrión form had revealed her gorgeous face, adding two lightning bolt tattoos on either side of her face. Her golden hair was just as wild as it was in her Vasto Lorde form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her Hollow Mask had evolved into a fascinating form, with a bone cor encircling her neck and extending to cover her chest. Additional bone structures appeared on her shoulders, resembling shark fins. A spine-like formation ran down her stomach, and she now wore a bone mini-skirt and knee-high white boots.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her Zanpakutō had morphed into arge gauntlet that resembled a giant shark’s tooth, marked with three gill-like lines.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unlike Api, he couldn’t spot any differences in Harribel from her canon version.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">‘Strange. I thought her personality shift was just as big as Api.’</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">As she turned to him, her features softened, her lips curling into a soft smile. “Kazuya, I wish we had the Hōgyoku for your transformation. You would have avoided so much agony.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Rather than reveling in her new power, Harribel wasmenting the agony Kazuya had endured during his own transformation, which had been a much more grueling process without the Hōgyoku.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya shrugged off her concern with a grin. “No point worrying about it now. By the way, you’re looking pretty deadly right now.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">She looked at herself, as though observing her physical changes. She had shed her bone armor, which had be redundant after gaining Hierro, the defensive skill of Arrancars. The sensation of the air against her bare skin was actually quite refreshing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A hint of excitement flickered in her eyes. “I want to test my new abilities. Will you spar with me?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya knew a small spar between could lead to hour-long battles, especially since they both were considerably strongerpared to theirst spar. “Let’s do that after I get you all some clothes.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">He wanted them to take the time to appreciate and adjust to their new forms, particrly Api, who experienced a rough timetely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harribel narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need clothes. I have…” She trailed off, cing a hand on her chest and closing her eyes in concentration.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A thinyer of water emerged from the gills on her Zanpakutō and enveloped her in a smaller version of her heart cocoon.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When the water subsided, it revealed a significant change in Harribel’s appearance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her blonde hair was now elegantly tied in a rxed ponytail, and she wore a crown featuring four horns. A translucent veil covered her mouth, unlike her vicious mask in the original canon. For attire, she was dressed in a pristine white coat trimmed with ck fur, draped over a revealing, high-cored white top. A grand cape of white with a royal purple interior cascaded from her shoulders, the base decorated with ck fur. Her outfit waspleted with loose white pants cinched with a water droplet-shaped golden belt essory.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harribel’s aura wasmanding and demanded awe and respect, making her seem every bit the regal queen. Yet, there was a wild edge to her persona, a queen who wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her Zanpakutō hanging by her waist followed her regal appearance. While the de retained its unique shape from the anime, it was no longer hollow in the center. The purple Zanpakutō with a massive hilt seemed like a broadsword when seen from afar.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">‘It’d make sense if she became more mother-like, but she turned into a queen.’‘</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">He understood her inclination to remove her iconic mask since it made her seem more Hollow than a human. However, the rest of her aesthetic changes went over his head.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">‘Shark Mommy transcended to Shark Queen Mommy.’</i>


    <span style="font-weight:400">Api’s pinch at his waist snapped him from his thoughts. “Stop staring at her.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It’s natural to admire beauty.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Pulling down her veil, Harribel offered a soft smile. “I didn''t expect these kinds of clothes.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Neither did I,” he whispered. “It’s like an exclusive perk for Vasto Lorde Arrancars.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Some Arrancars gained clothes in their Resurrión form but only Kazuya, Harribel, and perhaps Baraggan gained new spiritual clothes in their base Arrancar form.