Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 64 - Kisuke Urahara's Bewilderment

"Why is it still the Dangai?" Walking through the dim corridor, Ichigo couldn't help but grumble. "Didn't we use a proper Senkaimon? Or is it like this for every Soul Reaper?"

Inside the Dangai, the Kototsu had been destroyed and most of the Koryu hadn't finished growing back yet. Compared to the frantic scramble of their arrival, the return trip was almost embarrassingly relaxed, each of them strolling along at a leisurely pace, like a group on a weekend outing.

"No way. If it were like that for everyone, the casualty rate would be insane." Yoruichi walked slowly with her characteristic cat-like gait. It was her first time strolling through the Dangai too. "You have to follow your own Hell Butterfly to take the proper passage, and we don't have one."

"Speaking of which, couldn't they have assigned me one? They already went and arranged the Captain's Haori." Ichigo couldn't help grumbling. "Pretty stingy."

"That's not really stingy. They did specially set up the World of the Living Special Operations Squad for you, after all."

"On a different note, I have a question." Uryu pushed up their glasses. "Over all these years, has the World of the Living really never produced anyone like Yasutora and Orihime, other ability users?"

"...Don't overthink it." Ichigo gazed ahead, tone flat. "If it were you, could you feel at ease letting someone with extraordinary power and an unclear background roam freely in the World of the Living?"

"At the end of the day, if it weren't for the fact that I'm too strong and they're afraid I'd turn on them, what they'd mostly want is to keep me under surveillance."

"And besides, doesn't this Haori have some kind of surveillance function?" Ichigo tugged at the Captain's Haori draped over his shoulders. "They just switched to a more discreet method. Honestly, I can understand their thinking, even though right now we're all comrades on the same side."

"But who knows if I'll turn into something different down the road. When you have power that overwhelming, you have to accept that others will be wary of you."

'It feels like... after just this one trip, Ichigo has grown up a lot.'

The youthful color in his face was still there. But between Ichigo's brows sat a different kind of maturity, and in those slightly furrowed brows there seemed to linger a trace of quiet sorrow.

'Is he blaming himself... for not managing to keep Sosuke Aizen...?'

Watching him, Yoruichi found an answer forming in her heart. The boy who had once charged forward without a second thought, convinced he could barrel through anything, after being thoroughly schooled by Sosuke Aizen from both sides, he had quietly changed.

"Oh oh! Almost there!"

A bright, lively voice shattered the quiet. Orihime pointed at the light ahead with barely contained excitement, even bouncing on both feet.

"Oh oh... the journey's over, huh."

That same feeling settled over everyone. They'd only been in Soul Society for a few days, but a lot had happened in those days.

Uryu and Yasutora had defeated scores of Soul Reapers and fought captain-class opponents. Ichigo had clashed with multiple captains in rapid succession, and at the end had even unleashed the Transcendent form of Trinity. And Orihime, who had stayed close to Ichigo the entire time, hadn't dared relax for a single moment, terrified that something might happen too fast to treat.

Now that they were almost home, it was as though a tightly wound string in each of their hearts had finally gone slack.

SWOOSH,

In the sky above Karakura Town, a tiny door invisible to the naked eye appeared without warning. Behind it was nothing but black. A moment later, four people and one cat stepped through.

"Whoa—we're in midair!"

Everyone found their footing in the sky. The initial sensation was a stomach-dropping lurch of nothingness underfoot, but the moment spiritual pressure gathered at their soles, they all steadied instantly.

"Whooooa!"

Orihime suddenly pointed at something in the distance and cried out. The others looked over and spotted what appeared to be a white carpet-like object sailing toward them, with the faint outline of a green-clad figure riding it.

"A white magic carpet!"

"That's Urahara." Ichigo couldn't help but grumble. "What's that guy coming over here for?"

"Everyone, long time no see." Kisuke Urahara greeted them with his usual grin. "Come on up and rest a moment. We're still just a tiny bit away from home."

"It hasn't really been that long, has it." They climbed on one by one. Ichigo said, "We were only gone three days?"

"That's from your perspective." Kisuke Urahara raised his fan to cover the lower half of his face. "In the World of the Living, half a month has actually passed."

"...Hah?!" Ichigo's eyes went wide. "Half a month?!"

"That's right." Kisuke Urahara explained. "Because you all ran into the Kototsu—and Ichigo cut it down on top of that—it caused an anomaly in the Dangai. The time differential ended up off."

"That's completely insane?!" Ichigo clutched his head, looking like he genuinely couldn't process it. "So you're telling me my vacation... is already half gone?!"

"A little more than half, actually." Kisuke Urahara delivered the finishing blow with a cheerful smile. "It's already August 10th."

"I... AAAAAAAAAH!" Ichigo lunged forward and grabbed Kisuke Urahara by the throat, shaking him relentlessly. "You bastard! Give me back my vacation!"

"Gk, gk, gk, gk,"

Shaken violently, Kisuke Urahara foamed at the mouth, the very picture of someone on the verge of passing out.

"And another thing, you bastard, you really didn't tell me a single thing." After the fit was over, Ichigo dropped down cross-legged on the carpet. "The Hogyoku, Sosuke Aizen's ability, couldn't you have given me a heads-up?"

"I'm sorry." Kisuke Urahara dropped into a proper dogeza. "I truly did not want to drag you into this mess. Even for someone as powerful as you, Ichigo, there was still the chance something could go wrong."

"Tch." Ichigo clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. "You don't have to go that far. I'm just wondering, do you think I'm too stupid? That if you didn't tell me everything, I wouldn't be able to figure it out?"

"Uh..." Raising his head, Kisuke Urahara stared at Ichigo with a genuinely startled look. Everything left unsaid said everything.

CRACK!

"Ow!"

An elbow to the face. Kisuke Urahara's nose started bleeding, and Ichigo very nearly reached for his sword.

"You bastard!" Ichigo said through gritted teeth, exerting every ounce of self-control he had. "I genuinely want to cut you down right now! You absolute bastard!"

"Ow..." Covering his nose, eyes welling up against his will, Kisuke Urahara apologized with tears in his eyes. "Sorry... it won't happen again..."

"Tch!"

"By the way, Ichigo, what's the story with that Captain's Haori?" Kisuke Urahara latched onto the detail. "Squad 3? Squad 5? Squad 9?"

"Surely it can't be the First Division captain's Haori... haha... haha... ha..."

Nobody said anything. A single bead of cold sweat traced down Kisuke Urahara's face, and his eyes locked hard onto Ichigo.

"It... it can't actually be... that they made you Captain-Commander... haha... haha... ha..."

"They wanted to. I wasn't interested." Ichigo tugged at the corner of his mouth. "They stuck me with the captaincy of something called the World of the Living Special Operations Squad."

"Haha... right, of course, making Ichigo Captain-Commander, Yamamoto would have to..."

"Though personally, I think." Uryu pushed up their glasses, the lenses catching a glint that could only be described as wisdom. "This Special Operations Squad captaincy might actually be paving the way for you."

"Under normal circumstances, you'd become a captain before becoming Captain-Commander. Ichigo already has captain credentials on record now, being promoted straight to Captain-Commander afterward is entirely possible."

"...That's not wrong." Ichigo thought it over and nodded. "Whatever. It's their problem to sort out. I'll deal with it when it comes."

"Fair enough."

"Haha..."

'Is Seireitei finished? They're actually thinking of making someone like this the Captain-Commander... surely not...'

Gazing out toward the horizon, Kisuke Urahara felt a deep unease settle over him at the thought of Seireitei seriously considering Ichigo for Captain-Commander.

What on earth had happened in Soul Society.

The question rose from somewhere deep inside this former captain of Squad 12, and it didn't let go.

➤ Next: The Ordinary Days of the New Semester (?)