Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 71 - The Shinenju? No—She Is Senna

"What is it this time?"

His expression hardened. Ichigo's brows knit together, spiritual pressure surging through him as he shifted into Soul Reaper form.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?"

Senna asked the question with a puzzled look, then shifted into spirit body as well, entering Soul Reaper form alongside him.

But where Ichigo transitioned seamlessly from physical to spirit, no seam, no gap, Senna's shift was different. A faint, strange white light flickered across her as she changed, like a spirit flashing out from inside a Reigai. Then, in the next instant, the physical shell that had resembled a Reigai simply vanished.

Ichigo took it all in. Puzzled, but he said nothing. He kept his attention fixed on the space ahead, where the disturbance was growing stronger by the second, hand already resting on the Zanpakuto at his back. If those strange things showed up again, he wasn't going to handle it the same way as last time.

"Hmm...? Is that Soul Society?"

The spatial disturbance intensified. Ichigo sensed a vaguely familiar fluctuation, the signature of a Senkaimon. Steadier than the feeling he got passing through one himself.

Within seconds, an ancient-looking gate appeared in front of them without warning. Its doors were pulled open from both sides, and several figures stepped through.

"Toshiro?" Ichigo let his stance ease. "Sui-Feng, Renji, Rangiku, what brings you all here?"

"Oh right, I remember now, Orihime mentioned it yesterday. You're here for pre-battle preparations, yeah? Still, you didn't need to send two Captains and two Vice-Captains just for that..."

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Hitsugaya cut him off. His face was grave. "An anomaly has occurred in space. The distance between the World of the Living and Soul Society is closing, and it isn't stopping."

"...What does that mean?"

"Soul Society and the World of the Living are two separate worlds in separate spaces. No matter which side wants to travel to the other, it can only be done through the Dangai, there is no other way. Attempting to cross on your own, you could spend an entire lifetime trying and never reach it." Hitsugaya's voice was measured, unhurried. "When souls from the World of the Living enter Soul Society, they sometimes lose their way and end up wandering the gaps between spaces forever."

"Based on the fundamental principle that the total number of souls remains constant, those drifting souls—called Blanks—do not simply fade away on their own. Instead, they accumulate and form a special kind of space. That space is called the Valley of Screams."

"Hold on, how do souls just gather together and turn into a space." Ichigo made no effort to hide his confusion. "And, are Blanks those weird things that look kind of like gillian but way smaller? All white, pointy hats?"

"So you've already run into Blanks." Sui-Feng took over, continuing without pause. "Ordinary souls would never become a space. But Blanks are souls without memories, they're a special kind of existence."

"When enough of them gather, they spontaneously become that space."

"Do you need my help with this, or what?"

"I'm not finished." Sui-Feng's eyes locked hard onto the violet-haired young Soul Reaper. Senna. "Blanks have no memories, not because they forgot them, but because when they transformed from souls into Blanks, their memories were absorbed by the gaps between spaces. Based on everything we've seen, those memories are typically swallowed and erased."

"But there have been cases where something went wrong in the Dangai, and the memories weren't erased. Instead, they converged, forming an entirely new soul. We call that soul the Shinenju."

"...That's something I did, isn't it..." The corner of Ichigo's mouth twitched as the mess he'd made in the Dangai came back to him. "So you came here to... hold me accountable for that. Fine, I'll admit it, that was me, so what exactly are you planning to do about it..."

"The Valley of Screams is generally not dangerous under normal circumstances." Hitsugaya cut him off again, his eyes equally fixed on the violet-haired girl. "But if it is provoked, it will destabilize the spatial equilibrium and trigger a collision between Soul Society and the World of the Living."

"If the Shinenju enters the Valley of Screams, the level of provocation will be at its absolute maximum."

A brief silence. Then Ichigo smiled. "So you want my help? No problem, I can, "

"How long are you going to keep playing dumb?! Ichigo!" Renji's voice cracked out like a whip. "Besides you, who else can switch freely between spirit body and physical body?!"

"And there has never been a Soul Reaper named Senna in Soul Society." Sui-Feng's tone was flat, clinical. "I had Xing Jun pull the records. The Zanpakuto Mirokumaru belonged to a Soul Reaper who was swallowed by the Kototsu a hundred years ago."

"In other words, Ichigo Kurosaki, the one standing behind you is the Shinenju."

"We are taking the Shinenju into custody." Hitsugaya stepped forward. "We have already detected unknown intruders infiltrating the Valley of Screams and provoking it. The distance between Soul Society and the World of the Living has already begun to close."

"If the Shinenju remains free and something goes wrong, the consequences will be catastrophic."

Ichigo's head dipped slightly. Orange hair fell across his eyes, hiding his expression entirely.

"I... Ichigo..."

Senna clutched the hem of his clothes and stared up at him, her face full of helplessness. She hadn't been able to follow most of the conversation, all that talk about spaces and distances, but she understood the one thing that mattered. The Soul Reapers in front of her had come to take her away.

"I... I don't want to be taken... I... I'm a Soul Reaper... I... I just forgot, that's all. I only... forgot..."

Her fingers locked around the fabric like it was the only thing keeping her from falling. Her face was all desperate pleading, all helplessness. Whether as a human or as a Soul Reaper, in this moment, she had been denied completely. Both of her, at once.

"...Of course." A warm smile settled at the corners of Ichigo's mouth. He reached out and patted her on the head. "No matter how you came into being. No matter what your true nature is. That doesn't change this."

"As long as you believe you are something, then that's what you are."

"I... I'm Senna!" She let go of his clothes and looked back at him head-on, her voice steady with conviction. "I'm a Soul Reaper. And I'm a human!"

"That's right, Senna."

The curve of his smile climbed higher. Ichigo ruffled the violet hair, and then his gaze shifted, and the warmth was gone. He looked at the Soul Reapers with eyes like cold steel.

"First, I have a question for all of you." He rolled his neck slowly. Spiritual pressure began to rise around him, quiet and steady. "The World of the Living, with me in it, isn't it safer than your Seireitei?"

"Hitsugaya. Sui-Feng. Do either of you actually think there's someone in Seireitei stronger than me?"

"You can't possibly be at her side every single moment." Sui-Feng's voice stayed cold. "The instant you let your guard slip, she could be taken—and then, "

"First of all, her name is Senna, not 'the Shinenju.'" Ichigo cut right through it. "Second, I've only ever heard the saying that a thief can strike every day. Never heard anyone say you have to stand guard against one every day."

"Just cut down whoever shows up meaning to cause harm. Problem solved."

"And one more thing." His spiritual pressure detonated, a thunderous surge that filled the air with raw, crushing weight. "Other than my family, I don't recall ever telling anyone that I'd taken Senna in."

"For that matter, even her Zanpakuto's name, I'd half-forgotten it myself."

"So how exactly did you come to know about any of this?"

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