Bleach: Gazing Mirage

Miel tilted her insect-like head, curiosity was evident in her multi-faceted eyes. "Help? Am I stealing something again? Shouldn’t we be hiding?"

Yuichi shook his head, "No, I don’t have time to waste. I need information about two locations. Things will rapidly change the Soul Society over the next couple of weeks, and this will be the safest time to find out these two locations. You've got a knack for gathering information without being noticed.”

Miel buzzed with understanding, her wings fluttering slightly. "Yes sir, tell me what you need to know, and I'll do my best to gather the information. But please remember, I will do my best but since you’re saying we can only find this place now then I’m assuming it’s very dangerous. While I follow you I'm not doing this out of loyalty but fear. So long as I get to live then I will obey, that's all."

Yuichi nodded, acknowledging the hollow's stance. "Don’t worry, I understand all that. That’s why I’m telling you to find it now. I want you to follow me after I rest up. I’ll be heading to the house of the owner of the first target. His name is Urahara, he’s a captain, and he has a hidden lab somewhere. I want you to find its location, but keep your distance; he’s very cunning, and even the smallest mistake will lead to him discovering you."

Miel’s wings furrowed and buzzed with agitation. "Captain? That sounds like quite a risky target. So you want me to find this place only, correct? What do you plan to do once you have the information?"

“His lab holds something that I want, but I doubt he’d leave it unprotected. So the next best thing would be to get the data on it. I don’t know how I’ll go about getting this data, but for now, just knowing the location will be enough,” answered Yuichi.

“What’s the second location?” asked Miel.

Yuichi’s face turned serious as he said, “The second location is also a lab, but it is vastly more dangerous. The target’s name is Aizen, but you must not approach him. He has two associates named Tosen and Gin. You’ll have to find and tail one of them but do so with your clones and never directly approach them. This is very important, so keep your senses sharp when dealing with these three. I just need to know the general area they visit the most,” explained Yuichi.

Miel's wings buzzed with apprehension and worry. "Urahara and Aizen… These sound like high-profile targets. I'll do my best, but you know this won’t be easy. One is a captain and from the way you spoke of the other one I can assume he’s also as strong as one. Since you also said not to apporch them then I can assume they have eyes and ears everywhere. What’s the reason behind gathering this information?"

Yuichi hesitated for a moment, weighing his words. "There are things happening, Miel, things that will shake the foundation of the Soul Society. The information I seek is crucial for understanding the unfolding events. The less you know about the specifics, the better. Just focus on the task at hand."

Miel nodded, seemingly satisfied with the response. "Very well, I'll gather the information and report back to you. But remember, my loyalty is to self-preservation, not allegiance. Once this task is done, I expect you to uphold your end of the deal."

Yuichi understood Miel's perspective and nodded in agreement. "Don’t worry you'll be rewarded for your services, as promised. I’ll keep you safe, help you become stronger, and help you return to Heuco Mundo.  Now, rest up, and we'll move when I'm ready. Keep your clones active and be discreet. I don't want those targets to catch wind of our activities. If they do dying will be the least of our worries."

With those words, Miel walked off, sat near a boulder, and began Reiki Shuusoku’ 霊気集束 (Spiritual Energy Gathering) pulling the reiki in the air into her body. Yuichi fell back unable to continue sitting up with his aching body. However, just lying down was a waste of time so he began Reitai Rensei 霊体練成 (Spiritual Body Tempering) the process of condensing his reiki body into a denser reiryoku-like state.

After an hour of the gruelingly painful process, Yuichi opened his eyes to see Miel still absorbing the reiki in the air. Using his spiritual senses he saw that the rate of absorption was slowing down. It seemed like she would finish her meal in a half hour.

‘So she can fill her hunger in an hour and a half without any danger but I doubt she’ll be able to evolve like other hollows. From what I remember about Grimmjow a hollow’s anatomy is somewhat similar to that of a caterpillar. They eat souls not only filling their hunger but also absorbing and assimilating a part of the soul’s into their own. Once they reach the maximum amount of reiryoku their body can take it triggers an evolution. So if I taught her Reitai Rensei she could theoretically gather enough reiryoku to trigger an evolution. This might also deal away with the dangers of the Gillian evolution. I’ll look into it more later.’

Forcing his aching body to stand Yuichi walked over to the hot springs. Soaking in the medical bath did relieve some of the pain but only by 30 percent.

As he sat with his eyes closed a voice pulled back his attention. “My Lord I have finished eating and am ready to leave whenever you please.”

“Sure give me a moment to get dressed and we can go,” said Yuichi as he exited the spring and placed on the white shihakushō he had received from the 4th Divison.

Soon they left the training ground and headed in the direction of Urahara’s small mansion. Miel in her insect form stood on Yuichi’s shoulder as he walked over. As they were arriving near the mansion Miel started buzzing near Yuichi’s ear and said, “My Lord there is a person on that tree hidden in a similar manner to my ability.”