Ichimaru couldn't believe the scene in front of his eyes. Sitting on the floor outside of Szayel's lab were eight Espada children, each no more than five years old, looking around in a daze. Even Aaroniero had been affected, taking the form of a young Kaien, which seemed to be his preferred disguise. Szayel rushed passed the young Arrancar and into the lab, only to discover Yammy and Szayel had suffered the same fate.
"They've all been turned into little kids!" Ichimaru cried out in disbelief.
"Little kids?" Tousen repeated. That would explain their sudden drop in reiatsu. It seemed their powers had been diminished quite a bit due to their sudden drastic decrease in age, though they were still stronger than the low level Hollows. "Shall I go inform Aizen?"
Ichimaru frowned. "Yeah, I suppose I'll stay and keep an eye on 'em. Go quickly though, will ya?" He would have preferred going to tell Aizen himself, but with Tousen's blindness, it would be more difficult for him to prevent anything else from going wrong
As Tousen walked away, Yammy began crawling to a pile of broken glass.
"Woah, woah, woah! No you don't!" Ichimaru swept down on the large five-year-old and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the sharps shards. Yammy, however, had no intention of leaving the shiny pieces, and began to whine, reaching for the glass.
Ichimaru turned around and began walking away, dragging young Yammy with him. "That's not to play with."
The Tenth Espada's protests grew louder until he had reached the point of screaming. "Let go! Let go!" When his yelling got him nothing more than being yanked forward, he decided it was time to force Ichimaru to give him what he wanted. Positioning himself right beside the Shinigami, Yammy delivered a powerful kick to Ichimaru's leg.
"Yeow!" Ichimaru yelped as he let go of Yammy's hand, letting the Espada run from him. "Why you little-"
Yammy laughed as Ichimaru was forced to run after him, chasing him around the lab like a cat chasing a mouse. Several times the Shinigami had almost crashed into a table or shelf. He had finally almost caught up to the Espada when he slipped on some spilled liquid, lost his footing, and landed hard on his rear end. At this, Yammy laughed, clapping as the man chasing him rubbed his behind. He was so busy laughing, he didn't realize Ichimaru had gotten back to his feet, and was roughly grabbed and dragged outside to where the other Espada were still sitting, most of them laughing at the spectacle. Szayel shook his head mumbling something about fools and following Ichimaru out of the lab.
"Don't you ever try to ru- ah, Aizen!" Ichimaru gave a nervous laugh as he realized Aizen and Tousen were waiting outside the lab.
"Gin, why are you handling Yammy so roughly?" Aizen asked in his naturally fatherly voice.
Ichimaru let go of the Espada's arm, letting him drop to the floor where he pouted. "Well, he tried ta play with some glass, and ran away when I tried to take him outta the lab."
Tousen shook his head while Aizen gave Ichimaru an unnerving grin. "You are going to have to learn how to properly take care of children. Perhaps Kaname can assist you." He turned his gaze to Tousen. "You take care of Wonderweiss, correct? I take it you can teach Gin how to watch these...children?"
"Yes, I can." Tousen answered. Aizen smiled.
"Very good. Well, with our Espada out of commission for the time being, I'm going to be rather busy. I'll leave you two to care for them, though I'll be available if there is an emergency."
Ichimaru nodded as Aizen grinned and walked away. The silver-haired Shinigami sighed. The instructions Aizen gave were his pleasant way of saying, "Make sure these kids don't do anything wrong and do not bother me unless somebody's life is in danger."
"Ain't this just wonderful. Now we gotta watch a bunch of little brats"
"Hey, who are you callin' brats?" A young Noitora asked, glaring up at Ichimaru. "Asshole."
The Espada's choice of insult caught Ichimaru by surprise. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Squinty!"
"Why you-"
An extended arm was all that kept Ichimaru from going after the skinny child. Tousen shot Ichimaru a glare- or, at least, he guessed that was the look he would be receiving had it not been for the visor that covered the bind man's eyes- and kneeled down to Noitora.
"Noitora, that is not how you speak to Ichimaru. You should also not be using bad words."
"I'll say whatever the fuck I want." The Espada sneered.
"Noitora." Tousen's voice was stern enough to grab the child's attention, but not so harsh as to make him even more defiant. "Do not use those words. If I hear you speak like that again, you will be in trouble. Do you understand?"
Noitora's glare didn't soften, but he did give in. "Yeah, I understand."
The Shinigami gave a small smile. "Good. Now can you apologize to Ichimaru?"
"F-" Noitora caught himself before finishing the word he had just been warned not to use and tried again. "I ain't 'pologizing to him. He is the one who is being mean!"
"You are right, Ichimaru should not have said that. He is going to apologize for it, but I would like you to apologize as well."
Catching Tousen's hint, Ichimaru sighed. "Sorry for callin' ya brats." He had to resist rolling his eyes, for Noitora was glaring at him and would certainly catch the movement. He couldn't believe he was apologizing to the five-year-old version of somebody ranked below him.
At first, Noitora would not say anything, but when Tousen did not move, he realized he had no choice but to apologize. "Sorry that you are such a jerk, and I won't use bad words." He grinned to himself as he noted that he never promised not to swear anymore. At least, he would try not to when the adults were around.
Ichimaru opened his mouth to say something about the apology he had received, but stopped as Tousen stood up.
"Good enough for now. Now, we are going to need a play room for you all." The Shinigami thought for a moment, trying to figure out where there was a safe room the Espada could stay.
"There's a large room near the northeast that nobody is usin'. There's nothin' in it."
Tousen gave a small nod. "That sounds like a good idea. Would you like to lead the children?"
The look on Ichimaru's face said no, but he gave in. "Okay. Everyone, follow me."
Little Ulquiorra stood up and got behind Ichimaru, Szayel getting behind him to start a line. Grimmjow, however, wouldn't have Ulquiorra being ahead of him, and ran to the front of the line, tossing Ulquiorra a dirty look before facing forward. In turn, Noitora decided that he didn't want to be the fourth in line, and got in front of Grimmjow.
"Hey! I was here first!" Grimmjow complained, stepping in front of Noitora.
"So? Who says you get to be first?" Noitora shot back, reclaiming his position in front of Grimmjow.
This time, Grimmjow spun Noitora around to face him. "I say that I get to be first."
"Well I say that I get to be first!" Noitora sneered.
The two Espada were soon yelling at each other, only moments away from wrestling each other to the ground. Deciding something had to be done, a mustache-less Barragan stepped in front of the two.
"I know how to fix this."
The fifth and sixth Espada took their attention off of each other and onto Barragan. "How?" They asked in unison, glaring.
"I'll be first." He replied simply, taking what he believed to be his rightful place in the front of the line.
"No way!" Grimmjow yelled, getting in Barragans' face.
Before anybody got a chance to punch anybody else, Ichimaru got between the children, pulling them apart.
"We aren't going to fight over who is first in line, it doesn't matter. Just follow me and no more arguing."
Tousen cleared his throat, signaling Ichimaru to wait. "Noitora and Grimmjow, I want you both in the back. Since Ulquiorra is being so well behaved, he can be in the front." He held up a hand as Grimmjow tried to argue, silencing him. "If you are going to argue about who is going to be first, that is what is going to happen. For misbehaving, you are sent to the back. If you behave, the next time we get in a line, you can be first."
Grumbling, Grimmjow marched to the back of the line, Noitora reluctantly trailing behind him. The rest of the Espada had fallen into line without much difficulty. Finally, Ichimaru began leading the children down the halls, Tousen walking beside him.
"How are ya so good at this?" Ichimaru asked, a bit amazed and surprised at Tousen's ability to deal with children.
Tousen shrugged. "It's not too difficult. You have to remember, they are only 5 years old now. They need instruction. You have to guide them without just barking out orders. You have to let them know why they got in trouble and why they have to do certain things. That's how they learn."
Ichimaru sighed. Tousen was so much better at this than him. Why couldn't Aizen take care of the kids with Tousen while he ran Hueco Mundo? It couldn't be that hard, it's not like there was much of anything to do. Until Ichigo or Soul Society decided to invade, there wasn't anything to worry about. Ichimaru suddenly realized that they would be in trouble if anybody decided to show up now. The Espada wouldn't be able to take on Shinigami now, and the Privion Espada and fraccion were only good for so much.
Now that he thought about it, why didn't Aizen just have the Espada's fraccion take care of them? Why was it that he had just two people caring for ten children? Did he not want the event to be known? If so, it was going to be awfully hard explaining the Espada's absences. Whatever the reason, he'd have to remember to ask Aizen about it as soon as the head honcho got back. Hopefully he was already discussing the matter with them.
By the time Ichimaru realized it, they were already at the place designated to be the Espada's new play room.
"Ah, here we are! Well, shall we let them play and go find Aizen?"
Tousen raised an eyebrow. "They need toys, Ichimaru. Do you expect to just leave them in an empty room and they will keep themselves entertained?"
"They can play with each other."
The darker skinned Shinigami shook his head. "You saw what happened between Noitora and Grimmjow earlier. Do you really expect them to just get along and play when they have no toys?"
Ichimaru felt like he wanted to bang his head against a wall. "Where are we going to find children's toys?"
Tousen put a hand to his chin. "Hmm...Perhaps one of us will have to take a trip to the real world and buy some toys. There is nothing I can think of in all of Hueco Mundo suitable for young children, and there is nobody available to make anything. I shall go find Aizen and ask him about it. Will you be able to handle the children?"
"You are better at this than me. Shouldn't you watch them while I go to the real world?" Ichimaru really didn't want to be stuck with the brats while Tousen was shopping.
Tousen frowned. He wouldn't mind staying and watching the children, but the fact he was blind made keeping an eye on them rather difficult. At the same time, he feared leaving Ichimaru to care for them all on his own. It was a choice between the lesser of two evils: having a blind man watch 10 five-year-olds, or having a man who seemed to know nothing about children watch 10 five-year-olds. A difficult decision indeed.
The Shinigami's thought's were interrupted as he felt a tugging on his hakama. Young Stark was looking up at him, frowning. "I'm hungry."
"Ichimaru, perhaps this will work out after all. I can take the children all to the kitchen to eat, and you can head out to the real world to get the toys. How does that sound?" Tousen suggested.
Ichimaru grinned. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Shall I get going?"
"Hold on a moment. You'll need money. You weren't going to just walk into a store and steal their toys, were you?" The silence that followed told Tousen that stealing was exactly what Ichimaru had in mind. Tousen sighed. "You can't just cheat the poor people out of their money. I'm sure Aizen can help you. Why don't you go find him, tell him what is going on, and I'll get the Espada to the kitchen."
Ichimaru held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright." Things just had to be difficult, didn't they?
"Please try and go as fast as you can." Tousen added in before Ichimaru left the room. "Alright, back in line everyone. This time, show me you can get into line without a problem."
Much to the Shinigami's satisfaction, the children managed to get themselves into a line without difficulty. Noitora, of course, had rushed to the front the moment Tousen mentioned getting in line, but Grimmjow didn't argue. Ulquiorra had taken up the rear along with Stark without any complaints, so Grimmjow had no qualms about being sixth in line. Barragan was slightly annoyed at not being first, but was satisfied with being the second in line in front of Halibel.
"Everyone ready? Follow me." Tousen led the 10 Espada down the halls once again, this time heading for the kitchen. He wondered if any of the Arrancar that ran it were still in there. It was an odd time of the day for the kitchen to be in use, having just finished with afternoon tea. Luckily, he wouldn't have to cook for the Espada. All he needed were enough small Hollows to fill 10 little stomachs. The kitchen was at the edge of the castle, being not far south of the newly designated playroom they had left from. This granted easy access to the outside, where, if necessary, he could gather more Hollow. Tousen figured feeding the children wouldn't prove to be too difficult. As long as Ichimaru returned before they were finished, Tousen wouldn't need to find a way to keep them entertained.
"Stop poking me!" Szayel suddenly complained, turning around to glare at Grimmjow behind him.
"Why is your hair pink? Pink is a girly color." The sixth Espada teased, pulling at a piece of Szayel's hair.
The scientist whacked Grimmjow's hand away. "Pink is a wonderful color. Don't think that just because it is light doesn't mean it can't be dangerous."
At the use of the word dangerous, Grimmjow laughed harder. "Dangerous? Pink is for girls and you know it!" Before Szayel could retaliate, Grimmjow began to chant, "Szayel is a girl, Szayel is a girl!"
"Grimmjow!" Tousen yelled, catching the Espada's attention. "Do I have to send you to the back of the line again? Stop teasing Szayel. "
"But he likes pink! Everybody knows pink is a girl's color!"
"Everybody has their favorite color. If Szayel likes pink, there is no problem with that. No color is just for girls or just for boys."
As Gimmjow quieted down and ceased his teasing Szayel, Yammy decided he no longer wanted to walk, and plopped himself down on the ground where he had been standing. Almost tripping over him, Aaroneiro grew aggravated. "Yammy, why are you sitting? You are in the way, get up!"
"I'm tired of walking. I want to eat." The large Espada complained.
"That's where we are going! So get up and keep walking!"
Tousen rubbed his forehead, beginning to get a headache from the constant bickering. He hoped that whatever had turned all of the Espada into children wouldn't last long. It would be wonderful if they were returned to normal by the end of the day, though he had to be prepared to take care of them for longer. One thing was certain: until the effects of the accident wore off, Tousen and Ichimaru were going to have very long days ahead of them.
"They've all been turned into little kids!" Ichimaru cried out in disbelief.
"Little kids?" Tousen repeated. That would explain their sudden drop in reiatsu. It seemed their powers had been diminished quite a bit due to their sudden drastic decrease in age, though they were still stronger than the low level Hollows. "Shall I go inform Aizen?"
Ichimaru frowned. "Yeah, I suppose I'll stay and keep an eye on 'em. Go quickly though, will ya?" He would have preferred going to tell Aizen himself, but with Tousen's blindness, it would be more difficult for him to prevent anything else from going wrong
As Tousen walked away, Yammy began crawling to a pile of broken glass.
"Woah, woah, woah! No you don't!" Ichimaru swept down on the large five-year-old and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the sharps shards. Yammy, however, had no intention of leaving the shiny pieces, and began to whine, reaching for the glass.
Ichimaru turned around and began walking away, dragging young Yammy with him. "That's not to play with."
The Tenth Espada's protests grew louder until he had reached the point of screaming. "Let go! Let go!" When his yelling got him nothing more than being yanked forward, he decided it was time to force Ichimaru to give him what he wanted. Positioning himself right beside the Shinigami, Yammy delivered a powerful kick to Ichimaru's leg.
"Yeow!" Ichimaru yelped as he let go of Yammy's hand, letting the Espada run from him. "Why you little-"
Yammy laughed as Ichimaru was forced to run after him, chasing him around the lab like a cat chasing a mouse. Several times the Shinigami had almost crashed into a table or shelf. He had finally almost caught up to the Espada when he slipped on some spilled liquid, lost his footing, and landed hard on his rear end. At this, Yammy laughed, clapping as the man chasing him rubbed his behind. He was so busy laughing, he didn't realize Ichimaru had gotten back to his feet, and was roughly grabbed and dragged outside to where the other Espada were still sitting, most of them laughing at the spectacle. Szayel shook his head mumbling something about fools and following Ichimaru out of the lab.
"Don't you ever try to ru- ah, Aizen!" Ichimaru gave a nervous laugh as he realized Aizen and Tousen were waiting outside the lab.
"Gin, why are you handling Yammy so roughly?" Aizen asked in his naturally fatherly voice.
Ichimaru let go of the Espada's arm, letting him drop to the floor where he pouted. "Well, he tried ta play with some glass, and ran away when I tried to take him outta the lab."
Tousen shook his head while Aizen gave Ichimaru an unnerving grin. "You are going to have to learn how to properly take care of children. Perhaps Kaname can assist you." He turned his gaze to Tousen. "You take care of Wonderweiss, correct? I take it you can teach Gin how to watch these...children?"
"Yes, I can." Tousen answered. Aizen smiled.
"Very good. Well, with our Espada out of commission for the time being, I'm going to be rather busy. I'll leave you two to care for them, though I'll be available if there is an emergency."
Ichimaru nodded as Aizen grinned and walked away. The silver-haired Shinigami sighed. The instructions Aizen gave were his pleasant way of saying, "Make sure these kids don't do anything wrong and do not bother me unless somebody's life is in danger."
"Ain't this just wonderful. Now we gotta watch a bunch of little brats"
"Hey, who are you callin' brats?" A young Noitora asked, glaring up at Ichimaru. "Asshole."
The Espada's choice of insult caught Ichimaru by surprise. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Squinty!"
"Why you-"
An extended arm was all that kept Ichimaru from going after the skinny child. Tousen shot Ichimaru a glare- or, at least, he guessed that was the look he would be receiving had it not been for the visor that covered the bind man's eyes- and kneeled down to Noitora.
"Noitora, that is not how you speak to Ichimaru. You should also not be using bad words."
"I'll say whatever the fuck I want." The Espada sneered.
"Noitora." Tousen's voice was stern enough to grab the child's attention, but not so harsh as to make him even more defiant. "Do not use those words. If I hear you speak like that again, you will be in trouble. Do you understand?"
Noitora's glare didn't soften, but he did give in. "Yeah, I understand."
The Shinigami gave a small smile. "Good. Now can you apologize to Ichimaru?"
"F-" Noitora caught himself before finishing the word he had just been warned not to use and tried again. "I ain't 'pologizing to him. He is the one who is being mean!"
"You are right, Ichimaru should not have said that. He is going to apologize for it, but I would like you to apologize as well."
Catching Tousen's hint, Ichimaru sighed. "Sorry for callin' ya brats." He had to resist rolling his eyes, for Noitora was glaring at him and would certainly catch the movement. He couldn't believe he was apologizing to the five-year-old version of somebody ranked below him.
At first, Noitora would not say anything, but when Tousen did not move, he realized he had no choice but to apologize. "Sorry that you are such a jerk, and I won't use bad words." He grinned to himself as he noted that he never promised not to swear anymore. At least, he would try not to when the adults were around.
Ichimaru opened his mouth to say something about the apology he had received, but stopped as Tousen stood up.
"Good enough for now. Now, we are going to need a play room for you all." The Shinigami thought for a moment, trying to figure out where there was a safe room the Espada could stay.
"There's a large room near the northeast that nobody is usin'. There's nothin' in it."
Tousen gave a small nod. "That sounds like a good idea. Would you like to lead the children?"
The look on Ichimaru's face said no, but he gave in. "Okay. Everyone, follow me."
Little Ulquiorra stood up and got behind Ichimaru, Szayel getting behind him to start a line. Grimmjow, however, wouldn't have Ulquiorra being ahead of him, and ran to the front of the line, tossing Ulquiorra a dirty look before facing forward. In turn, Noitora decided that he didn't want to be the fourth in line, and got in front of Grimmjow.
"Hey! I was here first!" Grimmjow complained, stepping in front of Noitora.
"So? Who says you get to be first?" Noitora shot back, reclaiming his position in front of Grimmjow.
This time, Grimmjow spun Noitora around to face him. "I say that I get to be first."
"Well I say that I get to be first!" Noitora sneered.
The two Espada were soon yelling at each other, only moments away from wrestling each other to the ground. Deciding something had to be done, a mustache-less Barragan stepped in front of the two.
"I know how to fix this."
The fifth and sixth Espada took their attention off of each other and onto Barragan. "How?" They asked in unison, glaring.
"I'll be first." He replied simply, taking what he believed to be his rightful place in the front of the line.
"No way!" Grimmjow yelled, getting in Barragans' face.
Before anybody got a chance to punch anybody else, Ichimaru got between the children, pulling them apart.
"We aren't going to fight over who is first in line, it doesn't matter. Just follow me and no more arguing."
Tousen cleared his throat, signaling Ichimaru to wait. "Noitora and Grimmjow, I want you both in the back. Since Ulquiorra is being so well behaved, he can be in the front." He held up a hand as Grimmjow tried to argue, silencing him. "If you are going to argue about who is going to be first, that is what is going to happen. For misbehaving, you are sent to the back. If you behave, the next time we get in a line, you can be first."
Grumbling, Grimmjow marched to the back of the line, Noitora reluctantly trailing behind him. The rest of the Espada had fallen into line without much difficulty. Finally, Ichimaru began leading the children down the halls, Tousen walking beside him.
"How are ya so good at this?" Ichimaru asked, a bit amazed and surprised at Tousen's ability to deal with children.
Tousen shrugged. "It's not too difficult. You have to remember, they are only 5 years old now. They need instruction. You have to guide them without just barking out orders. You have to let them know why they got in trouble and why they have to do certain things. That's how they learn."
Ichimaru sighed. Tousen was so much better at this than him. Why couldn't Aizen take care of the kids with Tousen while he ran Hueco Mundo? It couldn't be that hard, it's not like there was much of anything to do. Until Ichigo or Soul Society decided to invade, there wasn't anything to worry about. Ichimaru suddenly realized that they would be in trouble if anybody decided to show up now. The Espada wouldn't be able to take on Shinigami now, and the Privion Espada and fraccion were only good for so much.
Now that he thought about it, why didn't Aizen just have the Espada's fraccion take care of them? Why was it that he had just two people caring for ten children? Did he not want the event to be known? If so, it was going to be awfully hard explaining the Espada's absences. Whatever the reason, he'd have to remember to ask Aizen about it as soon as the head honcho got back. Hopefully he was already discussing the matter with them.
By the time Ichimaru realized it, they were already at the place designated to be the Espada's new play room.
"Ah, here we are! Well, shall we let them play and go find Aizen?"
Tousen raised an eyebrow. "They need toys, Ichimaru. Do you expect to just leave them in an empty room and they will keep themselves entertained?"
"They can play with each other."
The darker skinned Shinigami shook his head. "You saw what happened between Noitora and Grimmjow earlier. Do you really expect them to just get along and play when they have no toys?"
Ichimaru felt like he wanted to bang his head against a wall. "Where are we going to find children's toys?"
Tousen put a hand to his chin. "Hmm...Perhaps one of us will have to take a trip to the real world and buy some toys. There is nothing I can think of in all of Hueco Mundo suitable for young children, and there is nobody available to make anything. I shall go find Aizen and ask him about it. Will you be able to handle the children?"
"You are better at this than me. Shouldn't you watch them while I go to the real world?" Ichimaru really didn't want to be stuck with the brats while Tousen was shopping.
Tousen frowned. He wouldn't mind staying and watching the children, but the fact he was blind made keeping an eye on them rather difficult. At the same time, he feared leaving Ichimaru to care for them all on his own. It was a choice between the lesser of two evils: having a blind man watch 10 five-year-olds, or having a man who seemed to know nothing about children watch 10 five-year-olds. A difficult decision indeed.
The Shinigami's thought's were interrupted as he felt a tugging on his hakama. Young Stark was looking up at him, frowning. "I'm hungry."
"Ichimaru, perhaps this will work out after all. I can take the children all to the kitchen to eat, and you can head out to the real world to get the toys. How does that sound?" Tousen suggested.
Ichimaru grinned. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Shall I get going?"
"Hold on a moment. You'll need money. You weren't going to just walk into a store and steal their toys, were you?" The silence that followed told Tousen that stealing was exactly what Ichimaru had in mind. Tousen sighed. "You can't just cheat the poor people out of their money. I'm sure Aizen can help you. Why don't you go find him, tell him what is going on, and I'll get the Espada to the kitchen."
Ichimaru held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright." Things just had to be difficult, didn't they?
"Please try and go as fast as you can." Tousen added in before Ichimaru left the room. "Alright, back in line everyone. This time, show me you can get into line without a problem."
Much to the Shinigami's satisfaction, the children managed to get themselves into a line without difficulty. Noitora, of course, had rushed to the front the moment Tousen mentioned getting in line, but Grimmjow didn't argue. Ulquiorra had taken up the rear along with Stark without any complaints, so Grimmjow had no qualms about being sixth in line. Barragan was slightly annoyed at not being first, but was satisfied with being the second in line in front of Halibel.
"Everyone ready? Follow me." Tousen led the 10 Espada down the halls once again, this time heading for the kitchen. He wondered if any of the Arrancar that ran it were still in there. It was an odd time of the day for the kitchen to be in use, having just finished with afternoon tea. Luckily, he wouldn't have to cook for the Espada. All he needed were enough small Hollows to fill 10 little stomachs. The kitchen was at the edge of the castle, being not far south of the newly designated playroom they had left from. This granted easy access to the outside, where, if necessary, he could gather more Hollow. Tousen figured feeding the children wouldn't prove to be too difficult. As long as Ichimaru returned before they were finished, Tousen wouldn't need to find a way to keep them entertained.
"Stop poking me!" Szayel suddenly complained, turning around to glare at Grimmjow behind him.
"Why is your hair pink? Pink is a girly color." The sixth Espada teased, pulling at a piece of Szayel's hair.
The scientist whacked Grimmjow's hand away. "Pink is a wonderful color. Don't think that just because it is light doesn't mean it can't be dangerous."
At the use of the word dangerous, Grimmjow laughed harder. "Dangerous? Pink is for girls and you know it!" Before Szayel could retaliate, Grimmjow began to chant, "Szayel is a girl, Szayel is a girl!"
"Grimmjow!" Tousen yelled, catching the Espada's attention. "Do I have to send you to the back of the line again? Stop teasing Szayel. "
"But he likes pink! Everybody knows pink is a girl's color!"
"Everybody has their favorite color. If Szayel likes pink, there is no problem with that. No color is just for girls or just for boys."
As Gimmjow quieted down and ceased his teasing Szayel, Yammy decided he no longer wanted to walk, and plopped himself down on the ground where he had been standing. Almost tripping over him, Aaroneiro grew aggravated. "Yammy, why are you sitting? You are in the way, get up!"
"I'm tired of walking. I want to eat." The large Espada complained.
"That's where we are going! So get up and keep walking!"
Tousen rubbed his forehead, beginning to get a headache from the constant bickering. He hoped that whatever had turned all of the Espada into children wouldn't last long. It would be wonderful if they were returned to normal by the end of the day, though he had to be prepared to take care of them for longer. One thing was certain: until the effects of the accident wore off, Tousen and Ichimaru were going to have very long days ahead of them.