Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 43 - Those Who Would Break the Rules

"Shiba... Captain?" Hearing the familiar name, Hitsugaya blinked. "Do you two... know each other?"

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. He's my old man." Ichigo explained. "He took my mother's family name. Goes by Isshin Kurosaki now."

"Is that so... but why give up the Shiba name? It carries such honor."

"That's exactly why." Ichigo scratched his head. "My old man told me once, because the Shiba name is filled with honor, someone who abandoned it, whatever the reason, no longer has the right to carry it."

"I see..."

Hitsugaya gave a small nod, his stance loosening slightly, some of the hostility bleeding away. And as it did, Ichigo's face began to overlap with another in his memory, someone who had died unexpectedly over a decade ago.

"By the way, where's your lieutenant?" Ichigo glanced around. "My old man said the Captain and lieutenant of Squad 10 were off-limits for fighting. Apparently he used to cause you all a lot of trouble back when he was in office."

"Heh..." Recalling the old Captain's habits, Hitsugaya couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. "So he was aware of that..."

"What are you going to do about her?" Ichigo jerked a thumb back toward Momo Hinamori. "By Gotei 13 rules, regardless of the circumstances, recklessly attacking a Captain—even for a lieutenant—isn't something you can just let slide, right?"

"Right now, Hinamori has lost the ability to reason." Hitsugaya shook his head. "About Sosuke Aizen, is it true?"

"You're already asking me that. Do you really need me to confirm it?"

Eliminate all other possibilities, and what remains, however unlikely, tends to be the truth.

Hitsugaya didn't believe the Sokyoku could destroy Seireitei, let alone all of Soul Society. As a tool of execution it was certainly powerful, but also limited, as far as Hitsugaya knew, several Captains were capable of stopping the Sokyoku's strike, to say nothing of the strongest Soul Reaper standing watch over everything.

But assuming the letter had been written in Sosuke Aizen's own hand and hadn't been tampered with, and given the corroboration from the old Captain's family, something was absolutely wrong with Sosuke Aizen for having written those things.

"The specific truth is yours to dig up. Honestly, anything I say amounts to nothing." Ichigo shrugged. "Good luck, Captain."

"...I will." His expression grave, Hitsugaya said, "Even so, thank you, Ichigo Kurosaki. Without you, Hinamori would certainly have been hurt."

"Don't mention it." Ichigo waved a hand and turned to leave. "Work on the counseling, make sure that when the truth comes out, she isn't still standing up for the enemy."

The night deepened. News of Squad 12 Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi's defeat spread across Seireitei, and Soul Reapers who had been on the verge of sleep found themselves unable to rest. Barely a day and a half since the Ryoka invasion, and already three Captains had fallen.

Three consecutive defeats. Something that hadn't happened in a hundred years. The Ryoka's strength had shattered every assumption Soul Reapers held about what was possible.

On top of that, the mysterious death of Squad 5 Captain Sosuke Aizen hung over Seireitei like a sky blotted out by storm clouds, oppressive, crushing, impossible to shake.

"Ugh..."

A groan, and Yasutora Sado came back to consciousness. The injuries to Sado's hands had received emergency treatment; a full recovery would take time, but movement was no longer impaired.

"Hey, you're awake!" A slightly hoarse voice came from nearby. Yoruichi sat to one side in human form. "So, what do you think, after going toe-to-toe with a Captain?"

"Hmm... still very strong." Sado thought for a moment, then continued: "A Captain's Bankai really is something. It felt even stronger than Mr. Fullbring without the mask on."

"Well, you feel that way because you didn't set up a proper combat strategy." Yoruichi analyzed. "Against that kind of opponent, you shouldn't be going blow-for-blow. You already knew that attacking the Bankai would injure the main body, so why not use hit-and-run tactics? Even at worst, it wouldn't have ended up like this."

"But..."

"No buts. Don't let Ichigo rub off on you." Yoruichi said earnestly. "You reached Captain-level strength in almost no time, that makes you a monster too. But Ichigo is a monster that stands above everything. You can't follow his example."

"...Understood."

The sun rose slowly in the east, casting its light across Soul Society. The warmth drove away the night's cold, but did little to soothe the turmoil in the Soul Reapers' hearts.

The first news of the morning: the execution of criminal Rukia Kuchiki had been moved forward again. Sentence to be carried out tomorrow at noon at the Sokyoku execution grounds.

An already unstable situation now felt like a storm about to break. Even the most oblivious could sense something was wrong. Everything, every single thing, was steeped in it.

And yet almost no Soul Reaper raised any objection. The orders came from Central 46, the highest governing body of Soul Society. Even the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 answered to their commands; everyone else dared not even form a thought against them.

The Captains were almost entirely the same. Among Soul Reapers, a group where individual strength stands exceptionally prominent, there had to be rules.

Having Central 46, composed of those who were not Soul Reapers, decide the affairs of Seireitei: that was one of its most fundamental rules. Break it, and Soul Society would spiral into chaos.

But nothing is absolute. Some held their own convictions and, when something felt wrong, began to act, investigating quietly, on their own. And others made the decision to break the so-called rules outright.

Approaching noon. The gates of Squad 6.

"Where are you going, Renji?"

A cool, clear voice cut through the air. Squad 6 Captain Byakuya Kuchiki stood behind the gate, stopping the lieutenant who had been about to step through, Renji Abarai.

"Ah—Captain!" Renji froze mid-step. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm asking you. Where are you going?"

"Nowhere in particular, Captain." Renji smiled. "Just heading out to clear my head. Take a walk."

"Going out to clear your head, bristling with killing intent." Byakuya said flatly. "Since you returned from the World of the Living, you've been training alone and not showing your face until just now. And now you want me to believe that you, radiating murderous intent, are simply going for a walk?"

"Ha... I really can't hide anything from you, Captain!" Renji laughed, and then his expression went cold and hard. "Those guys from the World of the Living showed up, didn't they? I'm going to go have a word with them."

"That orange-haired one especially... that night was nothing short of a humiliation for me!"

Byakuya was silent for a moment. Then he stepped forward, closed the distance, and looked Renji directly in the eyes. "That is the truth. Correct."

"Right?! Captain, I was just about to go cut him down, "

"But." Byakuya cut Renji off. "Your eyes tell me there is something more important buried in your heart."

"Renji, you want to go save Rukia, don't you?"

➤ Next: The Howling Stray Dog