Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 42 - That Person's Real Name Is Isshin Shiba

The first thing to catch the eye was the large kanji for "Ten" printed on that white Captain's Haori, unmistakably, this was the Captain of Squad 10. No one in Seireitei would ever dare wear a Captain's Haori without the right to it.

Next came the appearance, which was entirely at odds with the rank: a child of maybe ten years old, a Zanpakuto nearly as tall as its owner strapped across the back, a head of white hair, a permanent scowl set into a baby face. The brows seemed locked in a furrow that never loosened, and those green eyes looked vaguely fierce, yet there was something almost comical about it, a kid playing at being an adult.

"Hitsugaya..."

Standing alongside Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of Squad 10, was a female Soul Reaper: petite frame, hair tied up in bun-like loops, looking almost fragile. But the badge of Squad 5's Vice-Captain hung from the left shoulder, and that meant anything but fragile.

"What is it, Hinamori?" Hitsugaya's brow was already furrowed. "You called me out here in the middle of the night—what's going on."

"If it's about Aizen, don't worry. I will find whoever killed him."

"What's wrong, Hinamori."

Head slightly bowed, hair falling over the eyes, Momo Hinamori said nothing. Hitsugaya frowned and stepped forward, the next moment his eyes went wide.

SHHHK,

The Zanpakuto at the hip flew from its sheath, and Momo Hinamori's blade pointed directly at the childhood friend grown up alongside: Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of Squad 10.

"What... are you doing?" His expression froze. "Hinamori... do you know what you're doing? You're actually drawing your blade on me?!"

No composure. No dignity befitting a Captain. He just couldn't understand, why would his closest childhood friend draw steel on him?

"Rukia Kuchiki's crime was never deserving of death, yet she was sentenced to execution. And the date of that execution kept being moved forward. Whoever is driving all of this from the shadows has only one purpose: the Sokyoku."

"The Sokyoku, as an instrument of punishment in Soul Society, carries destructive power comparable to millions of Zanpakuto." Momo Hinamori spoke slowly, a single line of tears trailing down the face. "Whoever intends to carry out this execution plans to use that power to destroy Seireitei, and all of Soul Society."

"And the one behind it all is—Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"...Is this something Aizen left behind?" Hitsugaya's fist clenched. "Are you certain it's real?!"

"That is absolutely Captain Aizen's handwriting..." Momo Hinamori raised the Zanpakuto high overhead. "I could never mistake it!"

The blade came down. Every last trace of spiritual pressure inside erupted at once, and the single swing drove the ground into a crater, white smoke billowing in all directions.

"Impossible!" Hitsugaya burst from the smoke, caught the Zanpakuto, and shouted. "Think clearly! Why would I destroy Seireitei and Soul Society?! There is no reason for it!"

"[Please, carry on my dying wish and avenge me. Not as Captain of Squad 5, but as a person. I am asking you: stop Toshiro Hitsugaya.]"

Reciting the words of the letter aloud, Momo Hinamori charged again. The face was soaked with tears, the voice a raw scream, blade aimed straight at him.

"Idiot!" Hitsugaya leaped back. The attack tore up the ground where he'd been standing. "Why would Aizen leave something like that behind?! How could he ever ask a subordinate to clean up after him?! He was never that kind of coward!"

"But... but that is what Captain Aizen said." Momo Hinamori's grip on the Zanpakuto went slack, and the face crumpled into misery. "What am I supposed to do, Toshiro... I don't know what to do anymore. Toshiro..."

"Ngh!"

It was the first time he had ever seen his friend like this. It shook him to his core, but the instant his feet moved toward her, Momo Hinamori's stance snapped back into an attack position, freezing him mid-step,

A figure with orange hair appeared out of nowhere between them.

Both startled. In the same moment, the same thought surfaced: the intelligence report about the Ryoka who had cut Gin Ichimaru down to critical condition with a single strike. A Soul Reaper with conspicuously orange hair.

"Enough, have either of you even thought about this." Ichigo Kurosaki shook his head and stepped forward, done watching the farce. "Isn't it possible the mastermind behind all of this is Aizen himself? That he left that letter specifically so he could sit back in the shadows and watch the two of you tear each other apart?"

"Ry, Ryoka!" Momo Hinamori's voice cracked. "Captain Aizen would never do something like that! He... he is."

"He is what?" Ichigo asked. "What do you actually know about him?"

"Captain Aizen was... he was so kind, he was someone I looked up to... it's absolutely impossible! Absolutely impossible."

"Looked up to? So you were already wearing rose-tinted glasses." Ichigo shook his head. "If you're looking at someone through a filter like that, how are you supposed to see them clearly? Cut it out."

"How dare you! What do you know about any of this! Ryoka!"

Watching the person so admired get slandered like this, Momo Hinamori was consumed with fury. Everything else was thrown aside, and the charge at Ichigo came, ready to fight to the death.

"Cut it out."

Ichigo's eyes went cold. His spiritual pressure erupted.

"The weak don't need to cause this much trouble. Just wait for the truth to come to light on its own."

"Ngh!"

That spiritual pressure crashed down on Momo Hinamori like a bottomless abyss sealing shut. The crushing weight rooted the spot, and a second later, foaming at the mouth, eyes going glassy, crumpling unconscious.

"Hinamori!"

Hitsugaya forgot everything else. One Shunpo closed the distance and caught Hinamori before hitting the ground, checking the condition with urgent hands.

"Relax. Only fainted from being unable to handle my spiritual pressure." Ichigo said. "The mind was already on the verge of breaking down, went under all at once."

"Just who are you, Ryoka." Hitsugaya finished his check, stepped back, and put Hinamori behind him. The Zanpakuto came out. "What you said just now, I can't pretend I didn't hear it."

"What I said?" Ichigo paused, then caught on and let out a short laugh. "You mean about Aizen?"

"Like you already know him well."

"Just know the name, that's all." Ichigo gave a self-deprecating smile. "That guy was right, though, if I just went around telling you two things about Aizen out of nowhere, you'd believe him over me every time. Saying anything would be pointless. It'd only make you hostile."

"Aizen is dead. I saw it with my own eyes." Hitsugaya's voice was flat. "I will not allow you to insult a Soul Reaper who died protecting Seireitei."

"Hey." Ichigo sighed. "Alright, alright—just pretend you didn't hear what I said, okay?"

The hostility didn't ease. Word had just come in of Squad 12 Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi's defeat: no casualties, just a retreat after burning through too much energy, but since the Ryoka's arrival, three Captains had gone down. Hitsugaya had no intention of treating the person standing in front of him as anything harmless.

And besides, as quietly satisfying as it was to hear, whoever had put Gin Ichimaru in critical condition with a single cut was undoubtedly standing right there...

"You're Toshiro Hitsugaya, right?"

"Know my name too, do you."

"Not exactly, someone specifically brought you up before I came out here. Said you were someone I'm not allowed to cut down." Ichigo smiled. "That person's name is Isshin Shiba."

➤ Next: Those Who Would Break the Rules