Have you ever been to heaven... no? Too bad.
Because Gabriel was in heaven—not because he had died and his soul had gone there. Chances were, if he died, he would be dragged to Hell.
He had done quite a few atrocious things, probably had thousands of deaths on his soul and thousands more who had suffered due to his shenanigans.
His heaven was something much greater than anything he could have now.
He could feel her gentle, delicate hand running through his hair... From his point of view... yup, those were her breasts staring at him. He respectfully stared at them.
While thinking about how soft they looked, his mind began to wander.
He wasn't good, nor did he claim to be.
Maybe he was a good person as a human, but he was not human anymore. Clinging to human morality wouldn't do him any good.
This did not mean he would become a heartless, sadistic monster. It just meant he would think twice about exterminating a threat to his loved ones... even if it was a baby.
Better nip it in the bud.
This feeling... of lying there on her lap, listening to her hum to him, still felt like a mother caring for a child. Yet, either because he was too tired or too preoccupied, he didn't say much about it.
He would get it. His pursuit of it shall not wane.
But not completely.
His thoughts drifted, swirling like the fragmented souls he had twisted, molded, and broken in his relentless pursuit of power. His recent discoveries regarding souls fascinated him. Dordonii and Cirucci—former Espada-class Arrancar—had given him crucial insight into what separated true Arrancar from the hollow abominations he had been creating.
Their souls were whole, yet fractured in a controlled manner, like tempered steel, whereas his failures were jagged, unstable, and filled with endless suffering. There was a pattern, a balance, that he had not yet grasped.
He needed to understand it.
He needed to create an Arrancar specifically designed to counter that old fuck's power.
The answer was clear: complete suppression of unnecessary faculties. An Arrancar whose sole existence was to negate Baraggan's decaying touch. If he could erase an Adjucha's pain, fear, unnecessary emotions, and sense of self, leaving behind only the absolute will to endure, then perhaps... just perhaps, he could forge a perfect countermeasure.
His fingers twitched as he thought about it, but then—
"Why are you doing all of this?"
Harribel's voice pulled him from his spiraling thoughts. He blinked, staring up at her golden eyes, ones that carried both warmth and a silent demand for the truth.
For a moment, he considered lying. Saying it was for power, for survival, for control.
But that was bullshit... he wasn't really doing it for any of that shit.
At the end of the day...
"Because I love you."
He felt her body stiffen slightly at his words. A rare moment where she was caught off guard. She had always thought of his affection as something childish, something fleeting. Yet here he was, months later, still pursuing her.
He wasn't a fool. He knew what he was, what he had done, what he continued to do. He was cruel, a monster by all definitions. He and humans were not the same.
Did that mean he would just let a Shinigami slay him? Fuck no. He would remain a Hollow. He had found a purpose, and he would use that purpose to grow even more.
A moment passed in silence before he spoke again. "What's your dream?"
Harribel studied him, then exhaled softly. "To bring some form of order to this broken world."
Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment, letting the weight of those words settle. Then, a slow smile formed on his lips.
"I can do that," he murmured. "With my power... with us together... I can make it happen."
He looked up at her, and to his utter shock—
A kiss.
Not on the lips, but a simple, soft press of her lips against his cheek.
He was frozen.
Mila Rose, Sun-Sun, and Apacci—who had been observing from a distance—were frozen.
Even Harribel herself seemed momentarily taken aback by her own action.
Gabriel's mind blanked for a moment before rebooting entirely. Then, a grin—wide and dangerous—spread across his face.
"Heh... heh... heh..."
His expression shifted into something far too giddy for someone of his nature. "That was my reward?"
She gave him a small nod.
Already filled with new purpose, he sat up slightly. "Alright then... what do I have to do for another? Maybe on the lips next time?"
To say he wasn't eager would be an understatement. Gabriel was pumped. He was kissed. He was so happy.
Probably the happiest man in the world right now.
Well, he was a Hollow... but still.
He had gained renewed purpose.
He would find a way to create that Arrancar, and once that was done, kill Baraggan.
The old fuck had been alive for too long.
"He is not going to evolve again, is he now?" Apacci muttered upon looking at Gabriel's giddy expression.
The bastard had turned into a Vasto Lorde just because he needed to get stronger.
His strength....seem to double....oh for fuck sake.
A/N