Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 31 - A Perfectly Fine Morning

The sun crept up over the horizon. Another clear morning.

After a full night on patrol duty, two shifts back to back, the Soul Reapers were running on empty. It had been a long time since they'd faced this kind of sustained pressure, and now with the Ryoka threat hanging over everything, the exhaustion was bone-deep.

"Captain Aizen seemed so serious yesterday."

Momo Hinamori, vice-captain of Squad 5, surfaced from sleep with that image still vivid in mind: the captain's face when returning from Squad 4 last night. That dark, brooding expression. Momo had never seen it before. Not on someone normally so gentle and composed.

"Hitsugaya went out of the way to warn me to be careful yesterday, too. But as long as Captain Aizen is around, everything should be fine."

Murmuring to herself, Momo stepped out of the room and headed toward the captain's office. Seeing the person Momo looked up to most, first thing every morning, it was enough to lift the mood for the whole day.

"Huh? That's strange. Where's Captain Aizen?"

Sosuke Aizen was always there, punctually handling squad business. But the office was empty. Momo frowned and went to look.

"Captain! Captain!"

That bright, clear voice rang through the Squad 5 barracks. The other squad members who heard it couldn't help but smile. It was a familiar sight around Squad 5, anyone with eyes could see how much Momo Hinamori looked up to Sosuke Aizen.

"Captain! Captain Aizen!" The calls kept coming as Momo moved outside the barracks. "Captain! Cap —?!"

The words died in Momo's throat.

There, pinned high against the barracks wall, was the person Momo admired above all else. Dark red blood ran down along the body, or more precisely, the corpse. Even from here, the detail was unmistakable: Sosuke Aizen's eyes were still open. And they were completely empty.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A wretched scream split the morning sky, announcing that things had just taken a far darker turn.

"Another clear day."

Ichigo Kurosaki walked out of a warehouse and stretched, working the stiffness out of his spine. The conditions weren't exactly ideal, but he'd managed a decent night's sleep.

"Mm."

Behind him, Orihime Inoue emerged with dark circles under both eyes. They'd been sleeping at a fair distance apart, but just the thought of spending the night in the same room as the person Orihime had feelings for had been enough to make sleep completely impossible.

"Orihime, do you have trouble sleeping somewhere new?"

"I—I do, a little."

"Then let's find a proper place to stay."

Last night, Ichigo had thought it through. Right now, there was no need to go out of the way to do anything. As intruders, they'd already stirred up a storm inside Seireitei. Aizen was definitely moving in the shadows.

All Ichigo had to do was wait for him to surface. If the guess was right, that moment would come at Rukia Kuchiki's execution. As the bait, Rukia clearly knew a great deal. What exactly that bait was, Ichigo had no idea.

But one thing was certain: Rukia had something Aizen wanted. Whatever had stripped away her Soul Reaper powers, that was something Aizen would go to war with all of Soul Society to get his hands on, even if it meant blowing his cover completely.

So. Wait. Wait for Aizen to expose himself, then cut him down.

Simple enough.

"Still, it's frustrating." Ichigo said, rolling his shoulders. "I really just want to charge straight into Squad 5 and cut Aizen down right now. How easy would that be."

If only. The real worry was not finishing it in one go, then drawing every captain in Seireitei down on them at once.

Ichigo wasn't afraid of that, confident enough to take them. But one slip and it could mean killing one or two of them. At that point Ichigo would truly become the villain. Calling yourself Karakura Town's top guy was one thing, but actually going down that road was another. His old man was still around, after all.

"Come to think of it, it's pretty quiet this morning."

Ichigo reached out with his senses. No significant spiritual pressure anywhere nearby. Looking at the empty street ahead, something felt off. Given how thoroughly the Soul Reapers had been sweeping the area last night, Ichigo had been fully braced for a fight the moment they stepped outside.

"Did something happen?" Orihime said. "Do you think Sosuke Aizen might be making a move?"

"Hard to say. Quieter is fine by me."

"Captain Aizen, he..."

Inside Squad 4, several captains had gathered. The news that Squad 5 Captain Sosuke Aizen had been murdered spread like wildfire. Some captains showed no visible reaction. Some made their way to Squad 4. Others headed straight back to their own squads and tightened the patrols.

"He's already dead." Retsu Unohana lowered her brows, her expression unreadable. "The killer was strong. One strike, fatal—likely an ambush. There are no other wounds on the body."

"Is that so..." Shunsui Kyoraku tugged the brim of the hat lower, voice carrying an odd note. "Lost a drinking companion..."

"Ahem." Jushiro Ukitake coughed twice. "Can we confirm who the killer is?"

"There are no traces of anyone else's spiritual pressure on Captain Aizen's remains." Retsu Unohana shook her head. "But one thing is certain, the killer was someone Captain Aizen knew. Otherwise there would have been a fight."

"The Ryoka seem unlikely..." Jushiro Ukitake frowned. "But then... who? Did Captain Aizen find out something..."

"That much isn't clear."

"Let's take a look in Aizen's quarters." Shunsui Kyoraku said. "Maybe we'll find something."

"The killer is... how is this possible..."

Momo Hinamori stood holding a letter, murmuring in disbelief. It had turned up in Sosuke Aizen's quarters. After breaking down completely, Momo had come straight here to look for answers.

The despair and rage were bottomless. But the basic judgment was still intact. With no leads and no target, all that grief and fury had nowhere to go.

"How could it be him... impossible... but this is unmistakably Captain Aizen's handwriting."

The letter's contents were unthinkable. Yet the facts were right there. A moment passed. Momo's gaze slowly hardened into something fixed and certain, but there was not a trace of light left in those eyes.

"That Aizen guy... what is he playing at. Faking his own death to move more freely?"

By late morning, the group from the World of the Living had noticed the patrol intensity ramping up again, and the atmosphere had shifted completely. The Soul Reapers they ran into now were nothing like last night's, these ones were screaming about revenge as they charged in.

"This is ridiculous. Do none of these people think?"

Ichigo knocked out the last one and couldn't help venting. Ichigo wanted to deal with Aizen too, but the situation just wouldn't allow it.

"Aizen's dead, so naturally we're the prime suspects."

Orihime Inoue carefully arranged the fallen Soul Reapers into better positions, genuinely worried they'd wake up with sore necks from the way they'd landed.

"If we actually were the ones who did it, something would feel off." Ichigo shook his head. "From the outside, we have zero motive for killing Aizen. No history with the guy. And killing just that one person while leaving everyone else alone, what would even be the point. Come on."

➤ Next: The Clever (?) Ichigo