Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 114 - Rukongai — What Was Lost

Chapter 114, Rukongai

Momo Hinamori looked about fourteen or fifteen, dressed in coarse linen, dancing and cheering at Wayne's side. His arrival seemed to have sent this girl into pure, uncontained joy.

"Momo, enough!" The white-haired boy in equally coarse clothes had his hand grabbed by her and fought to pull free, without any success.

"Momo Hinamori. Toshiro Hitsugaya." Wayne recognized them both immediately and quietly recited their names. At the same time, he began piecing together the timeline. Aizen's Hollowfication experiments on Soul Reapers had started roughly a hundred years before the main Ichigo Kurosaki storyline. His invasion of Hueco Mundo fell somewhere around that same period.

Neither Toshiro Hitsugaya nor Momo Hinamori had become Soul Reapers yet. That put the current timeline somewhere between fifty and a hundred years before Ichigo became a Soul Reaper.

According to the Dominator of Hueco Mundo, Wayne had spent several more years condensing his soul after death. Then there was the Hell Butterfly's journey from Hueco Mundo to Soul Society on top of that.

Conservatively, Wayne estimated he was somewhere between fifty-five and sixty-five years before the main story. A more precise figure would have to wait until he gathered more intelligence.

"So — what's your name?" Momo's bright, clear voice cut through his thoughts.

"Way—" Wayne caught himself and shut his mouth. This wasn't Hueco Mundo. Names in the Rukongai ran Japanese in style. And if he kept using the name Wayne, Aizen would eventually notice.

"I... my name is Tsukishiro." He turned it over for a moment, then answered.

Tsukishiro.

The moon of Hueco Mundo. The city of return.

Two images surfaced in his mind at once, and the name came out before he'd fully decided on it.

"Tsukishiro?" Momo tapped the corner of her mouth, thinking. "Mm! Decided! From today on, you're Tsukishiro Hinamori! My big brother! I'm Momo Hinamori — pleased to meet you!"

"Tch." Shiro-chan muttered from the side. "Who ever heard of an older brother taking his little sister's surname." He clasped his hands behind his head and added, with complete indifference, "I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya. Pleased to meet you."

"Mm... pleased to meet you." Wayne stood up. He reached both hands forward and groped slowly through the air until his fingers found Shiro-chan's shoulder.

"Sorry," he said.

"Huh?" Both children blinked. Then Momo waved a hand in front of Wayne's face. "Tsukishiro big brother... you... can't see?"

"Yeah." Wayne nodded. Not a flicker of expression crossed his face. "Sorry. I should have said something sooner. My eyes don't work."

"Ehhh?!" Both children yelped. They could see his pale violet eyes clearly enough, they just hadn't imagined those eyes saw nothing at all. The way Wayne had turned toward them earlier had only been him following the sound of their voices.

Can't see? Not quite. Wayne could see everything around him with perfect clarity. But inside Soul Society, there were only two ways to deal with Aizen. The first was to crush him completely in Reiatsu and resist Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis through sheer force of will. That was flatly impossible for Wayne right now. Never mind Aizen, if you put an elite Low-tier Hollow in front of him at this moment, he probably couldn't win. His body contained no spiritual power whatsoever. He was as fragile as a newborn.

The second method was to cut off any chance of being hypnotized by Kyōka Suigetsu at the root.

As long as he never witnessed Kyōka Suigetsu's release, he could never be controlled. Kaname Tōsen was proof of that. So from this moment of rebirth, Wayne intended never to use his eyes. He would rely on spiritual power instead, well, he had none of that either right now. Hearing would have to do for the time being.

"Anyway... let's just go home. We'll find a way to treat your eyes later, Tsukishiro big brother." Momo had thought about it for a long moment and still couldn't find the right words for the situation.

She was happy to have a big brother. Of course she was. But this new brother was blind. It wasn't that she looked down on him for it, it was just that life would be harder for him, and she didn't know what that might mean down the road. Still, it didn't matter. He had been born right at her doorstep. That made him family.

"Ah. Thank you, Hinamori."

"Just call me Momo~" She took Wayne's arm and led him toward her home. As they walked, she talked him through everything about the house.

"Tsukishiro big brother, this is where we live." Momo guided his hand to the wooden nameplate beside the door. The characters for Hinamori were carved into it in intaglio, letting him read it by touch. Even though Wayne could see it perfectly well, he felt a quiet, small warmth at her thoughtfulness.

"Got it." He made a show of running his fingers over the nameplate, then followed her inside.

The room was bare: a tatami-mat dwelling with no appliances from the World of the Living, just a rough table and chairs cobbled from wood planks and a few fired clay pots and bowls.

"As expected," Wayne thought. "Nothing in the Rukongai comes close to the Seireitei."

With Momo's help, he made his way to the bedroom. An old, worn futon was the only thing in the room that could be called furniture. Not even a small table. Perhaps this was just how everyone in the Rukongai lived.

"Tsukishiro big brother, I'm sorry — you'll have to sleep in the living room tonight. I'll go ask Granny for another set of bedding tomorrow." Momo's cheeks went a little pink. She had always lived in this house alone. Having someone else move in suddenly left her flustered, and the bedding situation had caught her completely off guard.

"That's fine." Wayne nodded. "Sorry for the trouble, Momo."

"Hee hee, it's nothing." She smiled. "Oh, right — big brother. Residents here in the Rukongai generally don't get hungry. As long as we have water, we can survive. Only souls with spiritual power feel hunger. Shiro-chan and I are both like that. What about you, big brother?"

"I'm... not sure yet." Wayne considered it. "I've only just arrived."

"Better hope he doesn't get hungry." Shiro-chan cut in from the side. He wasn't being cruel, it was simply the truth. In the Rukongai's poverty, hunger was a genuine ordeal. Many ordinary residents couldn't get food at all. And among those with spiritual power, more than a few had starved to death because they missed the Seireitei's entrance exams and food distributions.

Survival of the fittest. That law held here as much as anywhere, which was why robbery and theft were constant in the parts of the Rukongai beyond the Seireitei's reach. Shiro-chan and Momo, living in Rin'an of West Rukongai, were better off than most. Behind Shiro-chan's house grew a patch of watermelons. They were only fruit, but they gave the two of them a decent base for sustaining their spiritual power. Toshiro's grandmother occasionally traded some of their melons for other provisions, so they never truly ran short.

"A few more hours and I'll probably know one way or the other." Wayne wasn't worried. He just smiled faintly. No spiritual power? As if that were a permanent condition.

The way Hollows circulated spiritual power was completely different from how Soul Reapers did it, yes. But Wayne had once been a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow beast, a being who had stood at the peak of Hueco Mundo. Regaining control of spiritual power was a matter of when, not if.

"Then, big brother — just get settled today. I still need to go to Shiro-chan's and help with the watermelons. I'll bring one back for you later~" As a newly appointed family member, Momo had already thrown herself into the role of little sister without a second thought. She didn't doubt Wayne's character for a moment. Those of poor character had long since been sent to Hell. The people left behind weren't irredeemable, at worst, they were ordinary souls scraping and fighting over food and water. As for what kind of person Wayne was...

From every word and every movement he'd shown since stepping through the door, Momo had caught no hint at all that the man standing in front of her had once been a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow beast who had devoured and evolved his way upward without end.

Then again, all that spiritual power was gone now.

"We're heading out."

"Sorry for the intrusion!"

Momo and Shiro-chan left. Wayne let his deliberately unfocused eyes sharpen again and quietly took stock of the sparse room. Then he walked out of the bedroom and into the small courtyard. Under a tree nearby sat a large clay jar, filled to the brim with water, Momo's usual supply, most likely.

The walk from the Rukongai to the stream outside the district was not short. And outside the district, stray Hollow beasts occasionally crept in, making it difficult for ordinary souls to collect water and supplies reliably. Filling a jar that full must have taken real effort. Perhaps she had been stockpiling it for the day she might suddenly find herself with a new family member.

As for Hollow beasts invading Soul Society, the Seireitei's position was to look the other way. Any Hollow beast spotted should be eliminated, yes. But the source was never addressed. Maintaining the Three Worlds' balance required a certain degree of attrition. And the Seireitei's new blood needed wild Hollow beasts to sharpen their skills against.

Wayne crouched over the water's surface and got his first clear look at himself. Ash-white hair falling just to his shoulders. A sharp, well-defined face. A pair of violet pupils catching the light, as though straining to make out their own reflection.

He didn't linger on his appearance. A quick look confirmed he seemed somewhat better-looking than in his previous life, not his Hollow beast life, but his original human one. Passable, at the very least.

He picked up the ladle beside the jar, scooped some water, and drank. There was no instant rush of Reishi shifting through him the way consuming Hollow beast fragments had once felt. The water probably didn't hold enough Reishi for that.

He wondered what actual food would feel like.

After a moment's thought, Wayne checked that the courtyard was empty, sat down cross-legged, cleared his mind, and attempted to gather Reishi.

His first attempt failed.

"Just as I expected." He looked at his own hands, brow creasing. "The circulation method is completely different from a Hollow beast's. I'll have to figure out how Soul Reapers do it first."

He got to his feet, ready to head out and find something to eat, something that might help him feel out the Reishi flow. But before he reached the door, he remembered: Momo would be bringing a watermelon back that evening. That would give him some Reishi to work with.

As for this sudden little sister, Wayne accepted it. Momo Hinamori was a significant figure in the Bleach story. More importantly, she would eventually become the lieutenant of the 5th Division, and that would give Wayne a direct path closer to Aizen.

He turned it over, then decided to stay home for now.

He was a resident of the Rukongai. That was his reality. Building his spiritual power and becoming a Soul Reaper was no longer a distant goal, it was the next step. As for getting close to Aizen and finding an opening to take the Hōgyoku, the outline of a plan was already forming. First priority: learn how Soul Reapers circulate their spiritual power, as fast as possible. Then improve. Then find a place inside the Seireitei.

According to the manga, Momo had entered the Shin'ō Academy a few years before Toshiro. He didn't know exactly how much time remained, but judging by her current apparent age, it couldn't be far off. He remembered: at enrollment, Momo Hinamori, Izuru Kira, Renji Abarai, and Rukia Kuchiki had all been in the same class, the Class of 2066. If he could find out what class year it currently was, he'd be able to pin down the timeline precisely.

"Food. Water. The Soul Reaper method of circulating spiritual power. The timeline." He ran through it quietly. "And I need to develop what Kaname Tōsen had, the ability to perceive the world without using my eyes. Then: get close to Aizen. Take the Hōgyoku."

With the rough shape of a plan in place, Wayne went back to the bedroom and lay down on the tatami. He stared up at the empty ceiling for a moment, then closed his eyes.

"Nel. Jekain. Harribel. Timd. Mude. And all those Hollow beasts who followed me..."

His thoughts drifted far. The faces of those who had fought beside him surfaced one by one. But the world had turned. Wayne was now a member of Soul Society. In the future, he would be a Soul Reaper, standing across the line from everything he had once been. It was all for freedom. He knew that. But the thought that he might one day be forced to raise a blade against his own comrades made his brow tighten without meaning to.

There was no clean way through this. He had choices to make, and some of them were going to cost him. He could only hope that by the time he crossed paths with any of them again, he would already be strong enough to face what came next. Otherwise, the freedom he was chasing was nothing but a word.

He shook his head and brought himself back.

There was one more thing he'd nearly forgotten. Beyond staying alive and building spiritual power, he needed to map out the Seireitei's intelligence properly. The manga hadn't given him everything. He would have to fill in the gaps himself. He ran through the captains and officers of each division, their abilities, their positions, everything he could recall.

After a long while, those tangled thoughts slowly pulled him under.

Unlike a Hollow beast, which could fight without end as long as its spiritual power held, Wayne was a soul now. He needed rest. And here in Soul Society, saturated as it was with Reishi, sleep itself was a way to absorb it.

In his dreams, the old faces returned. He and Nel, resting together in the quiet. Harribel, walking him through the Flash of the King Hollow. Jekain and Timd, debating the layout and management of the city they were building. Old Bai, fighting at his side across the sand. His own steps forward, one after another, through everything that had made him who he was.

The dream stretched on.

The road was still long.

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