Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 75 - Shinji Hirako

"Captain!"

Several squad members with severed arms nearly burst into tears the moment they saw that white haori-clad figure arrive. Whether from being moved or from the pain, it was hard to say.

"So they did draw in a captain-level after all." Wayne furrowed his brow and fixed his gaze. The captain was tall and lean, long golden hair cut in straight bangs, expression sharp and cold, and a pair of upturned eyes that looked like they were just begging to be punched.

"This person looks familiar." Wayne searched his memory, but couldn't place which captain those upturned eyes belonged to.

The era was the issue. The current generation of captains hadn't turned over yet to the ones from the main storyline, it should still be the previous batch. With that in mind, the golden-haired captain in front of him did stir something faint.

"Are you the captain?" Wayne moved Nel behind him and squared off. Facing a captain-level, he had no choice but to get serious. Asking it this way, he wasn't afraid the other party would refuse to give his name.

"5th Division Captain, Shinji Hirako." Golden bowl-cut hair, upturned eyes curled into a smirk, the whole air of someone who couldn't care less, yet the look he wore when facing an enemy was calm and completely cold.

Wayne began to recall this captain.

Shinji Hirako. Former captain of the 5th Division, who later underwent Hollowfication due to Sōsuke Aizen's scheme and became the leader of the Visored. During his tenure, distrustful of Aizen, he had kept him close as lieutenant and quietly watched him the entire time, yet in the end still couldn't prevail against Kyōka Suigetsu. He ultimately fled to the World of the Living to live in hiding, with help from Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihōin.

And now Shinji Hirako was standing before Wayne as an active captain. Which meant the current point on the timeline had to be at least 110 years before the start of the main storyline, if not longer.

But 110 years wasn't actually that long. Counting from when Aizen first made contact with Hueco Mundo and began creating the Hōgyoku, that was only about ten years' worth of events.

"Looked at that way, I don't have much time left at all." Wayne ran the numbers. Within the next decade or so, there was a very real chance he'd cross paths with Aizen, whether Aizen was a captain or still a lieutenant by then.

Because even as a lieutenant, Aizen had been hiding his true strength. Otherwise, how could someone at lieutenant-level abandon incantation entirely and intercept a Kidō in the nineties?

"What do you mean, time isn't much?" Shinji hadn't followed.

"Nothing. Never mind." Wayne shook his head. "In any case, Captain Hirako — I'll say it one more time. I have no hostile intentions. I've never attacked humans in the World of the Living, and I've cleared over a thousand Hollows from the surrounding area for you. Doesn't that count for something?"

"Hmph. You injure my squad members and still have the nerve to make excuses." Shinji seemed to have no goodwill toward Hollows whatsoever, and no interest in conversation, even standing in front of one with obvious intelligence.

"As I already explained, my companion needed Reishi to advance, so I took a small amount from your squad members. And I left them alive — isn't that good faith enough? Because otherwise, what you'd be looking at right now would be their corpses. Actually... there might not even be corpses left."

"Insolent!" Shinji Hirako's Reiatsu spiked. "A Hollow is a Hollow. Enough excuses — talk! What is the purpose of two Adjuchas coming to the World of the Living?!"

"Sightseeing."

Shinji:?

"What kind of garbage reason is that?"

"Then what else?" Wayne wasn't in any hurry. "Besides — rather than interrogating me, you should get your squad members out of here. At least then they won't bleed out."

"Tch..." Shinji clicked his tongue. He had to admit it. His squad members were all injured, not life-threatening, but he couldn't leave them like that. "You worry about yourself first!"

"I know, the ambush." Wayne wasn't rattled in the slightest. He casually drew the Sky-Rending Greatsword and sent a sword arc slashing toward the space on his left.

The arc hadn't traveled far before a figure burst out of thin air.

The figure was also dressed in a white captain's haori. Light sandy hair, a rough stubble, and a pair of slightly drooping army-green eyes, though those eyes were locked with full focus on the exact spot Wayne's attack had just hit. The words coming out of his mouth, however, were something else entirely.

"Oh my, oh my, I was so close to landing that surprise attack. It's all your fault, Captain Hirako."

"Kisuke Urahara." Wayne said the name quietly.

If he still held a faint unfamiliarity toward Shinji Hirako, then Kisuke Urahara was different. As both a semi-protagonist and a figure who threaded through the entire Bleach manga from start to finish, that name was one Wayne could not possibly not know, and that face one he could not possibly not recognize.

"Oh my? This Hollow gentleman actually knows me?" Urahara's army-green eyes lifted slightly, an expression of mild surprise crossing his face.

"12th Division Captain, Kisuke Urahara. I've heard of you." Wayne gave his blade a small flourish and leveled a finger at Urahara. "Going for a surprise attack on me is one thing. But the one you were just trying to ambush was my companion, wasn't it?"

HMMM!

A pale gold Cero shot straight at Kisuke Urahara.

"Sing, Benihime!"

BOOM!

The hexagonal Blood Mist Shield had barely deployed when the full-force Cero slammed into it point-blank. The blast buried Urahara in smoke and debris.

"That was just a small warning. If you want to talk, I'm happy to. If you want to keep throwing ambushes at me, I don't care. But, if you dare lay a hand on my companion while her guard is down, next time I will take your life."

"Oh my, oh my, what a terrifying Cero." The smoke cleared. Urahara, shielded by his Blood Mist Shield, still wore that same languid expression, seemingly unconcerned by the near-shattered state of the shield behind him.

In truth, though, both he and Shinji Hirako were shaken. A single Cero had come that close to shattering the Blood Mist Shield entirely. It had been blocked, yes. But what about a second shot? A third?

"Captain Hirako, this Adjuchas is a bit dangerous. Should we request a Limit Release? Oh, I forgot to mention, Hollow friend, once our Limit Release goes through, our Reiatsu will be..."

"Five times, right?" Wayne laughed without much humor. "Enough, Kisuke Urahara. Talking big at this point won't get you anywhere. Your Limit Release was already lifted before you got here. What you're showing me now is your full strength. When it comes to reading Reiatsu, I'm no worse than either of you."

Think about it, when Shinji Hirako had come charging in, his Reiatsu was already level with Wayne's. If every captain carried Reiatsu five times that of a peak Adjuchas, Hueco Mundo would have been wiped out long ago. Wayne called it immediately: Urahara was bluffing.

"Oh dear. I've been seen through." Urahara's eyes grew noticeably more dangerous. Facing an opponent who knew exactly what he was capable of, he had no choice but to take this seriously.

"All right, I'll say it one more time. I have no intention of fighting any of you. This trip to the World of the Living was simply to let my companion see it for herself, and to pick up a few things on the side. Those things pose no threat to humans, they'll just cause a bit of inconvenience, nothing more."

"The words of a Hollow are nothing but garbage." Shinji didn't believe a word of it. He drew his Zanpakuto.

"Captain Hirako." Wayne stepped forward. "Let me ask you something."

"Make it quick."

"Where is your lieutenant?"

"Hmm?" Shinji's gaze sharpened. "What do you mean by that?"

"I just swept the area with my Reiatsu. Aside from the Soul Reapers already here, there are no other Soul Reaper signatures anywhere nearby. So, where is your lieutenant?"

"You seem to know quite a lot about the Thirteen Court Guard Squads." Shinji's eyes narrowed.

"I simply learned a few things through certain channels. If your lieutenant isn't here, he's probably over by the city, standing by to help civilians evacuate at a moment's notice, otherwise a lieutenant would never leave a captain's side without good reason." As he spoke, Wayne used Sonído to step back to Nel's side.

"Nel, how are you holding up? Has your Reiatsu stabilized?"

"Barely, my lord. Fighting or fleeing, either is fine, but I can't sustain it for long." The recent absorption had managed to settle her unsteady Reiatsu just enough. As long as they got through this moment and left, it wouldn't be a problem.

"Barely stabilized means it still isn't stable enough." The brow beneath Wayne's Hollow Mask tightened. He thought it over, then spoke.

"Captain Hirako, Captain Urahara. How about we make a deal?"

"Ha? What the hell, are you serious right now?" Shinji was fuming. He had never once heard of a Hollow trying to cut a deal with Soul Reapers.

"If I wanted to flee, I could open a Garganta right now and be gone. With the two of you at your current strength, stopping me before I stepped through would be basically impossible. But if a real fight breaks out, we wouldn't walk away clean either. A mutually destructive outcome isn't what I want." Wayne stepped forward.

"So here's the deal. I hand over some intelligence to you. In exchange, you give me enough spiritual energy to help my companion advance. We'll have plenty of chances to meet again in the future, consider it building some goodwill between us."

"Why do you talk so damn much? If you want a deal, show me you've got the ability to back it up!" Shinji Hirako had clearly been worn down by the rambling. He drew his Zanpakuto and closed the distance.

CLANG!

Blade met blade. Wayne blocked the strike head-on, with one hand.

"Captain Hirako, you really are a short fuse. At this rate, in the future, you're actually going to get yourself killed by your own lieutenant."

"What?!"

Shinji's gaze snapped tight. He Shunpo'd back immediately.

"What did you just say?"

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to." Wayne made no move to pursue. "I'll ask one more time, where is your lieutenant?"

"...He went to coordinate the evacuation. Standing by in case you two attacked the human city." A long silence. Then Shinji finally answered.

"Good." Wayne sheathed his blade and turned away. "In that case, let's move somewhere farther off to talk." He brought Nel along and left via Sonído.

Shinji Hirako watched him go, teeth clenched, and in the end chose to follow.

"Shinji!" Urahara moved to call him back, but Shinji had already turned his head. "Go treat the squad members first, then catch up. There are things I have to confirm with that Hollow myself!"

➤ Next: Kisuke Urahara