Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 69 - The Reflected World of the Living

Fwoosh,

Another arrow tore through the air behind him. Ichigo's brow furrowed slightly. He hadn't planned to bother with such a feeble attack, but he realized the arrows weren't targeting him. They were aimed at Senna.

"Tch! Pretty clever!"

Clicking his tongue, Ichigo had no choice but to turn around. He dropped the severed arm he'd been holding, turned his palm outward, let his spiritual pressure gather there, and simply used it to swat the arrows out of the air.

"You people—"

The words died in his throat. The four attackers read the situation instantly and didn't hesitate for even a second. Four black circular voids opened up behind them. Without so much as a backward glance, they leapt in and vanished.

"Next time... I won't let you off so easily!"

A voice soaked in resentment rose up behind him. Ichigo turned to look and found that a strange black void had appeared behind the large, heavyset man as well. Before Ichigo could react, the big man jumped backward into the void and disappeared.

"Tch!" Ichigo clicked his tongue in pure disgust. "Why does every single one of them have some kind of spatial ability..."

The sky gradually darkened. The sun sank slowly in the west. The brief skirmish had left neither of them hurt, but it left both of them full of questions.

Ichigo had originally assumed Senna was just an ordinary Soul Reaper who'd lost her memories due to some mishap crossing through the Dangai. But judging by this attack, things clearly weren't that simple.

Senna, for her part, felt unease creeping in. Before the attack she'd been fine, no memories, but she'd spent the whole day wandering without a care, and even running into Ichigo hadn't troubled her much.

After being attacked, though, she'd been trying hard to remember something, anything. All that surfaced were scattered, fragmentary images with no connection to the attackers whatsoever. Memories from when she'd been human. From the World of the Living.

"You really don't recognize those strange guys, Senna?" Ichigo asked as they continued down the road home. "It was pretty obvious—they came specifically for you."

"I have no idea. I've never seen them before." Senna shook her head. "Not even the faintest impression."

"Is that so?"

Ichigo was quiet for a moment. Whether it was a spirit body or a physical one, the brain was always the most complicated thing. Memory loss was unpredictable, even things that had once been completely ordinary and familiar might feel like nothing at all after forgetting them.

"That said." Ichigo spoke up suddenly. "Since you've lost your memories, why did you—"

"Attack those white things?"

"...No idea." Senna thought about it, then looked up with a completely guileless expression. "Just instinct, I guess. Just a feeling."

"A feeling that I needed to destroy them. Send them on into the cycle of reincarnation."

Ichigo was silent for a moment, then tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Is that so?"

Soul Society. Seireitei.

Compared to the tranquil atmosphere from before, the air within Seireitei now was saturated with tension and killing intent. Half a month ago, the terrifying scene at Sokyoku Hill was still vivid in everyone's minds, and Sosuke Aizen's defection had dealt an enormous shock to ordinary Soul Reapers, a weight pressing down on every one of them.

Then came the follow-up report: the Quincy, thought annihilated a thousand years ago, might still have a powerful remnant force, one that could come seeking vengeance against Soul Society within the coming years. That news pushed the pressure to its absolute limit.

After that, every Soul Reaper shed whatever slack and laziness had crept into daily life and began training in earnest.

Each person pursued a regimen suited to their own circumstances. Ikkaku Madarame, the third seat of Squad Eleven, notorious throughout all thirteen squads as a battle-hungry hothead, sought out an old friend: Tetsuzaemon Iba, the lieutenant of Squad Seven, for a sparring session.

"Ha!"

Gripping a released spear, Ikkaku charged. Tetsuzaemon Iba had released their own Zanpakuto as well and came forward to meet the attack with a two-handed grip.

CLANG!

The blades met with a sharp crash. They were old rivals who knew each other through and through, and this kind of match typically dragged on for a very long time. Ikkaku wore a savage grin and moved to charge again.

"...Huh?!"

The forward momentum stuttered to a halt. Ikkaku's eyes went wide, staring up at the sky in disbelief.

"What is it, Ikkaku?"

Tetsuzaemon Iba's brow creased behind the sunglasses. Turning to look, the sight stopped everything cold: the previously clear blue sky was now filled with a sprawling mass of buildings. One glance was enough to know, those were absolutely not structures from Seireitei. Not from anywhere in Soul Society. They were... the World of the Living.

"What in the world is... going on..."

This was no mirage. Soul Society and the World of the Living existed in two completely separate spaces. Something had happened, something beyond imagination. Every Soul Reaper with even a little experience reached the same conclusion in that moment.

In a secluded pocket dimension deep within a valley, the five people who had just attacked Ichigo were down on one knee, kneeling before a tall, white-haired man.

"A Soul Reaper Captain, appearing in the World of the Living." The white-haired man had a scar at the corner of one eye. His brow furrowed now, and the scar seemed to stretch with it. "How strong?"

"Not someone we can fight head-on." The large, heavyset man kept his head bowed. The severed hand had already fully restored itself. "The feeling was that this one is even stronger than you."

"...Is that so." The white-haired man said evenly. "Then we move to the second contingency plan for now. Once everything is in order, use the Blanks to strengthen ourselves to the maximum. Seizing the Shinenju would be ideal."

"But if we can't seize it, that's fine too. It will be enough all the same... to destroy Soul Society."

The Kurosaki household.

"Oh?" Masaki Kurosaki, head of the Kurosaki household, looked at the blue-haired girl standing in front of her. "So what you're saying is, you barely just saw Rukia off, Ichigo."

"And you've already picked up another pretty girl?"

"No, what do you mean 'picked up'... and Rukia only stayed here because it was convenient for her work, okay? Don't make it sound so complicated."

"Oh?" Senna's expression crumpled at that, eyes going watery. "So Ichigo has brought other girls home before... and I'm not even the first..."

"That's just too heartbreaking..."

"Hey, hey, hey! Stop being such a drama queen!" Ichigo clenched his fist. "She's just... an amnesiac Soul Reaper I happened to run into! I only brought her back because I was worried she'd wander around outside on her own and cause trouble for people!"

"Don't make it sound like some kind of romantic story setup!"

"Hmm..." Masaki furrowed both brows, looking genuinely troubled. "You know, Ichigo..."

"Yeah?"

"You don't happen to like boys, do you..."

"...No." Ichigo nearly choked. "Mom, where on earth did you get that from?!"

"Well, look, there's Yasutora Sado, Uryu Ishida, and then Mizuiro Kojima and Keigo Asano, all getting along so well with you." Masaki laid out the case with complete composure. "Especially Mizuiro and Keigo, even though you haven't known them all that long, the bond is really strong."

"And yet Rukia, who lived under the same roof with you for so long, somehow feels like less."

"I... that... AAAAAAH!" Ichigo snapped, grabbed his own head, and bolted for his room. "I absolutely like girls!"

"Yes, yes, of course."

Masaki smiled quietly and said nothing more, then winked at Senna. Senna froze for a moment, then broke into a bright, happy smile.

➤ Next: Died and Crossed Over