Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 45 - The Bloodthirsty Beast

"Zaraki, huh..." Looking at the newcomer, Byakuya said calmly, "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You're a Captain, at least. Have some dignity."

"Tch!" Kenpachi clicked his tongue. "My dignity is slaughter! It's battle! Why all the talk? Are you fighting or not?!"

"Save your strength. The Ryoka problem hasn't been dealt with yet."

"That's a separate matter, I—"

"Would you both stop talking over me!"

Renji cut through the two Captains' conversation. Struggling, throwing everything else aside, Renji forced up to stand, the blades still scattered around were mercilessly sharp, every movement sending bone-deep agony through the body.

But physical pain couldn't stop Renji's feet. From somewhere deep in the soul, a voice roared: absolutely cannot stop here.

"I haven't... gone down yet!"

Roaring, Renji gripped the Zanpakuto tight. Eyes like a feral dog, wild and unyielding. One large stride forward, blade thrusting straight at Byakuya.

CRACK SLASH!

"Your fangs..."

The blade shattered. Blood sprayed from Renji's back in a torrent. The white blade in Byakuya's hand dissolved into countless tiny razors and drifted slowly through the air. In that single instant, Byakuya had severed Renji's Zanpakuto and delivered a killing blow.

"You did touch me."

Zabimaru had pierced Byakuya's left shoulder, but the broken blade hadn't even torn through the clothing. Renji tried to say something more. Lips moved, faintly. Then Renji crumpled to the ground.

'Rukia... I... still couldn't catch up to you... I'm so frustrated... Damn...'

Fallen in a pool of blood, Renji's consciousness faded. No matter how fierce the obsession, no matter how strong the will, the body, crushed under the weight of everything, had nothing left.

"Hey, hey, hey... isn't this your own Vice-Captain? How could you hit your own person that hard? Nearly dead."

In that final moment, an annoying voice rang out. Renji recognized it, that orange-haired Soul Reaper from the World of the Living, the one who had once surpassed Byakuya Kuchiki. The nightmare living in Renji's heart.

'You came... Ichigo Kurosaki... Rukia... I'm counting on you...'

The unspoken plea echoed through the fading mind, and Renji closed both eyes. The howl of a wild dog rang to the heavens, and couldn't reach the cold, distant moon.

"You're Byakuya Kuchiki." Ichigo frowned. "Whether as an older brother or as a Captain—don't you have even a shred of human feeling?"

"Ryoka..." Byakuya's body took an involuntary step back. He thought of that night. "I want to ask you something. Why are you so fixated on Rukia? You only knew each other for two months. Yet you'd make an enemy of all of Seireitei just to save her."

"Because she's my friend." Ichigo said slowly. "I don't have many friends to begin with. And you people were going to kill her, how could I just stand by and do nothing?"

"...Just because of that?"

"Isn't that enough?"

"Strange human."

"This is what humans are."

"Is that so..."

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you two going on about?!" Kenpachi cut into the conversation. "Since the Ryoka's here... that means we can fight, right?!"

Savage spiritual pressure erupted outward. Seireitei's most battle-hungry Captain fixed his eyes on Ichigo like a beast locking onto prey.

"I'm Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of Squad 11... I've finally been waiting for you! Ryoka!" The ferocious, gleeful grin wouldn't stop. Kenpachi swung the blade in his hand. "Come and fight! Ryoka!"

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Karakura Town's strongest..." As if seeing straight through to the man's core, Ichigo frowned. "What a weird guy. You've actually sealed away your own power, and it looks like you weren't even aware of it. And that eye patch, is it absorbing your own spiritual pressure? I really don't know what you think you're doing."

"Oh! You saw through it?!" Kenpachi laughed. "This eye patch of mine—"

"Alright, alright. I'm not interested in someone like you." Ichigo cut in. "The power you have right now is too weak."

"...What are you talking about..."

"Orihime!" Ichigo called behind him. "Go ahead and help that red-haired monkey first! At this rate Renji's actually going to die!"

"Ah! Okay!"

Orihime stepped out from behind a section of wall. Following a single thought, two small lights flew from the hairpins, spiraled once through the air, then shot toward Renji.

"Soten Kisshun! I reject!"

The two lights formed an elliptical curtain of radiance, enveloping Renji within. Byakuya glanced over, watched Renji's injuries recover at a visible rate, said nothing, and shifted a step further away.

"Hey! What is this thing?!" Kenpachi reached a hand toward it without a care.

"Why do you have to be so much trouble?"

Eyes going wide. The hand Kenpachi had been extending toward the curtain of light was seized in an iron grip. Looking up, he found Ichigo standing right in front of him, with no idea when that had happened.

'That was fast...! When did! And... what a grip!'

Keeping that thought off his face, Kenpachi tried to pull his hand free. No matter how much force he put into it, the grip holding his hand was like an iron vise. Completely impossible to move.

"Just like that Byakuya guy, wouldn't it be simpler to stand over there and watch? Can't keep your hands to yourself, huh."

Not bothering to hide the annoyance, Ichigo's arm tensed and jerked, hauling Kenpachi by the arm. That massive body lifted as if it weighed nothing, raised single-handed, swung once through the air, and flung away.

BOOM!

The towering frame crashed into a nearby wall. The wall collapsed outright, throwing up a great cloud of dust. Kenpachi Zaraki, renowned across all of Seireitei, handled like a small child.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Maniacal laughter erupted from the rubble. Soaring spiritual pressure blasted the dust aside. Kenpachi had torn off the eye patch. Spiritual pressure surged to its absolute peak, already surpassing the Captain-level standard.

"Now this is interesting!"

Laughing, Kenpachi swung the blade, and the wall behind him was instantly split clean in two. The sword pressure was immense.

"Tch, can't you just be quiet." Ichigo shook his head. "If you want to fight, then fight. Why so much talk? Making such a production out of everything."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The laughter wouldn't stop. Kenpachi had never seen anything like this before. Even the one held in the deepest esteem within his heart, that light dimmed now. Instinct said it plainly: the thing standing here was a monster that surpassed everything.

"Come on! Come and fight!" Kenpachi bellowed and charged, like a bloodthirsty beast, enough to send a chill down the spine. "Let's have a real, all-out fight!"

"Tch. You still haven't woken up yet, have you." Ichigo muttered. He drew both blades anyway. "Fine. I'll play with you for a bit."

➤ Next: The Cold and Noble One