Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 50 - Isn't It a Hero's Job to Show Up Last?

As their teacher, Captain-Commander Yamamoto knew these two rebellious students better than anyone, one who treasured subordinates like they were precious, and one with a nose sharp enough to smell trouble before it arrived. Neither of them would allow Rukia Kuchiki to be executed without a fight.

Of course, Captain-Commander Yamamoto was also fully aware that something was deeply wrong with this execution. Everything that had happened recently felt like an unseen hand pulling strings from behind the curtain.

But as the founder of the Gotei 13, the mightiest Soul Reaper in a thousand years, Captain-Commander Yamamoto was bound to uphold every order issued by Central 46.

If he were to object to one of those orders, or openly defy it, it would mean Central 46 had lost its authority, and Seireitei had lost its order. The whole of Seireitei, even all of Soul Society, would plunge into chaos, reverting to what it had been a thousand years ago: no different from a living hell.

"Does anyone know where they've gone?" Captain-Commander Yamamoto furrowed his brow. "Captain Hitsugaya especially, he doesn't miss these things as a rule."

"I heard Captain Hitsugaya received a lead and went after the culprit who killed Captain Aizen." Shunsui Kyoraku said with a cheerful smile. "Young people are so full of energy, always dashing off somewhere."

"Is that so?" Captain-Commander Yamamoto held Shunsui Kyoraku with a long, searching look. "And what about you, Shunsui, do you consider yourself young?"

"Me?" The smile never left Shunsui Kyoraku's face, but both eyes went as still and flat as stagnant water. "Oh, I'm certainly not young anymore. I'm much better suited to standing on the side and watching, just watching the young ones do their thing."

"And do you feel the same way." Captain-Commander Yamamoto turned to the other rebellious student. "Jushiro."

"Cough, cough, if nothing unexpected comes up." Jushiro Ukitake coughed several times and managed a strained smile. "My body really doesn't allow me to move around too much, I'm afraid."

"Is that so?" Captain-Commander Yamamoto nodded and said evenly, "Then the two of you may stand aside and watch."

Up on the scaffold, Rukia stared at the spear before her, her mind flooding with a thousand thoughts at once. Yesterday, from inside her cell, she had sensed four powerful spiritual pressures. The weakest among them had been an old friend: Renji Abarai.

The other two belonged to her elder brother Byakuya Kuchiki and the Captain of Squad 11, Kenpachi Zaraki. She had sensed both of their spiritual pressures dim and falter in defeat.

She had also sensed Ichigo's, familiar, yet powerful to the point of being unrecognizable. Nothing like what it had been back in the World of the Living.

Rukia had originally intended to plead with the Captain-Commander, to ask him to let her friends from the World of the Living go free. But when she saw those two captains wrapped head to toe in bandages, the words died in her throat.

"Release the Sokyoku! Prepare for execution!"

At Captain-Commander Yamamoto's command, the spear was freed from its restraints. Terrifying spiritual pressure surged across its surface. The iron weapon, once cold and inert, slowly transformed into a great bird wreathed entirely in flame, like the legendary divine bird said to incinerate all of heaven and earth, magnificent and awe-inspiring.

"Ahh—is it over now..."

Murmuring those words, Rukia's mind drifted back several months, to that first day she had arrived in the World of the Living. That one night that changed everything.

"Kisuke Urahara?" Inside the Urahara Shop, Rukia stood with a furrowed brow, having been invited in. "Who are you? What exactly is all this about?"

"Oh my, oh my." Kisuke Urahara held a small fan up to cover the lower half of his face, smiling pleasantly. "You haven't heard my name in Soul Society?"

"Are you supposed to be famous?" Rukia's frown deepened. She racked her brain for a long moment and finally gave up. "I've never heard that name. Were you a Soul Reaper once?"

"Well, I suppose I was, in a manner of speaking." Kisuke Urahara chuckled. "Do you know Yoruichi Shihoin?"

"Yoruichi Shihoin..." Rukia turned the name over before it finally surfaced. "The head of the Shihoin Clan from a hundred years ago? I've heard she fled Soul Society after committing some serious crime."

"If you know Miss Yoruichi, then this will be much easier." Kisuke Urahara's expression grew deep and solemn, and he began to recount what had happened. "About one hundred and ten years ago..."

"So it was, like that..." Rukia whispered in disbelief. "I met Captain Aizen once myself. He always seemed so approachable, so easy-going. I never imagined he could be such a terrifying existence..."

Faced with a story stretching back over a century, Rukia chose to half-believe it. Everything Kisuke Urahara had told her was too outlandish, without concrete evidence, who would believe it, who could believe it, who would even dare.

"Suppose, just suppose what you're saying is true." Rukia said earnestly. "Why tell any of this to me? I'm just an ordinary Soul Reaper. No great power, not a true noble, no voice in matters that count."

"Then, taking your own premise, Miss Kuchiki, just suppose everything I've told you is true." Kisuke Urahara's expression turned fully grave. "I need a Soul Reaper. One who can carry the Hogyoku sealed inside their soul and serve as bait, to draw Sosuke Aizen out from behind the curtain and into the open."

"You want revenge against Sosuke Aizen?"

"Not exactly." Kisuke Urahara shook his head. "As long as the Hogyoku remains in my hands, he will never leave me alone. Given that, it's better to hand it over and let him expose himself completely."

"Why me?" Rukia asked. "There must be plenty of other candidates."

"That's because you are the one he designated."

"What do you mean?"

"As the adopted daughter of the Kuchiki Clan, you should never have been assigned to patrol a place like Karakura Town. Being a Jureichi, it's rather too dangerous here." Kisuke Urahara explained slowly. "And where you appeared was completely wrong, the Senkaimon should not have opened there, and the Hell Butterfly should not have guided you to the Kurosaki household. All of it was tampered with."

"Through all of that, Sosuke Aizen was sending me a message: 'I know where you are, Kisuke Urahara. I will keep my eyes on you, unless I get the Hogyoku.'"

"So because he wants it, you're simply going to hand it over?"

"There's no time, Miss Kuchiki. I'll be direct, in a few years, a far more terrifying enemy will appear. Sosuke Aizen almost certainly knows this, which is likely why he sent out this signal now."

"Then what do you need me to do."

"Simple in concept, yet extremely dangerous in practice. The question is whether you're willing to accept that, Miss Kuchiki."

"As a member of the Kuchiki Clan, I carry the resolve of a noble!"

"Very well—then let me explain the basics..."

The scorching flames dragged Rukia's thoughts back to the present. With her life on the verge of ending, she could not stop a single tear from tracing down her face.

The fire bird beat its wings, its merciless gaze locked onto her.

SCREECH

It let out a piercing cry and surged toward her with unstoppable force. The flames drew close, drying the tear on her cheek.

Ahh, even though I'd thought about it... now that death is really here, I still...

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you thinking about?! What's with that miserable look on your face."

A familiar voice shattered her final thought. The binding scaffold seemed to lose all effect, Rukia felt herself kicked clean to the side.

"I—Ichigo?!" She opened her eyes. That unmistakable orange hair. "Why are you here?!"

"Stop wasting words! Didn't that bastard Urahara tell you?! I'm here to save you!"

"But, but why so late?!"

A beat of silence. Then Ichigo grinned, flashing a mouthful of white teeth.

"Isn't it a hero's job to show up last?"

➤ Next: Double Breakthrough