Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 126 - Big Bro, Hey! I'm Kon!

"Last night? Several Captains?"

Ichigo thought of his dad and mom. That explained why the trams had stopped running.

"Ah. I don't pay much attention to Soul Society affairs, but I'd never mistake Retsu Unohana, however many years she's been a Captain." Kugo Ginjo's expression darkened. "There was also the head of the Kuchiki Clan, Byakuya Kuchiki, and the Captain of Squad 10. Some white-haired little brat."

"The wounds on my body were cut by Retsu Unohana. If one of my companions hadn't had a space-related ability, we probably all would have died last night."

"Are there still wounded?" Orihime Inoue spoke up. "Where are your companions right now?"

"...They're at our base here in Karakura Town." Kugo Ginjo said slowly. "Truth is, I was afraid to come find you, Ichigo Kurosaki. I don't know which side you're actually on. If you're after Soul King Fragments too—judging by the shockwaves from your fight with Sosuke Aizen a year and a half ago—not one of us would be a match for you."

"But Ganju trusts you. And honestly, I had no other choice. Retsu Unohana's spiritual pressure is too overwhelming. Our healing methods aren't working."

"Cut the 'what ifs.'" Ichigo curled his lip. "If I actually had any designs on the Soul King Fragments, you'd have been dead long ago."

"First, take us to see your companions. It's not just the so-called Fullbringers, that girl Ganju mentioned has some serious problems too."

CREAK,

The door to a unit in some old Karakura Town apartment building swung slowly open. The worn hinges let out a harsh, grating cry, and the people inside, already battered and bloodied, all tensed at once.

"Is that... Ginjo?"

A young woman with reddish-purple hair held her gaze on the door, gun trained on it. If anything felt off, she'd pull the trigger without hesitating.

"Yeah, it's me."

A familiar voice. Kugo Ginjo's silhouette came into view, and the room let out a collective breath.

"Thank goodness you're alright, Ginjo." The young woman lowered her gun. "When that Ganju guy dragged you off, I really thought you weren't coming back."

"Those injuries were that bad and he still pulled through, looks like this Ichigo Kurosaki really is something."

"Being capable and being able to heal aren't exactly the same thing."

"Still, isn't there a big...?!"

The young woman's pupils snapped tight. She'd only just realized the voice wasn't Kugo Ginjo's. It was a stranger's.

"What's this, you know my name, but you don't know what I look like?" Ichigo stepped forward, sweeping his gaze around the room. "Looks different from the outside. The inside is a lot bigger."

From the street it looked like any ordinary small apartment. Inside, it was remarkably spacious, multiple floors, clearly the result of knocking through several rooms and levels on purpose.

"Didn't expect Ginjo to actually bring you all back here."

A refined-looking young man with sharp, handsome features watched Ichigo and the others file in. His grip tightened on the katana in his hand, gaze cold, the tip of the blade aimed directly at Ichigo.

"Ginjo—are you sure they can be trusted?"

"Put the sword down, Tsukishima." Kugo Ginjo stepped forward and pressed the blade down. "We don't have any other options. All we can do now is put our hopes in them."

The man called Tsukishima slowly lowered his sword. Then his whole body went slack, like a punctured balloon, and he crumpled straight to the floor.

"You held up well."

Kugo Ginjo steadied him, let out a quiet sigh, and glanced over at his companions. Every one of them was covered in wounds. The heavy stone pressing down on his chest finally settled.

"These wounds are definitely consistent with attacks from those individuals."

Ichigo swept his gaze around the room, eyes slightly narrowed. Kugo Ginjo's group had six members. One, a blond-haired young man, bore obvious frostbite. Tsukishima, still collapsed on the floor, had fine, shallow cuts across his body, the kind left by a thin blade.

"Let me take a look and confirm whether it really is their spiritual pressure."

His narrowed eyes opened wide. It was as if some restraint on his body had simply been released. Ichigo's entire presence shifted.

THUD!

The Fullbringers heard a low, muffled impact, like space itself couldn't hold the weight. They stared at Ichigo in disbelief. They hadn't felt anything, and yet a suffocating pressure bore down on them from all sides. Ants before a dragon. Instinct, pure and wordless.

"Yeah... that's definitely Byakuya and Hitsugaya's spiritual pressure. No question."

Then the feeling shifted again. He was standing right there, and yet he seemed to vanish. Not a trace of presence. Nothing at all.

"But something's off." Ichigo's brow furrowed slightly. He kept sensing, carefully. "It is their spiritual pressure. But there's something strange mixed into it..."

"Soul King Fragments... and not just that. There's something else too, highly similar, but with subtle differences from their actual pressure."

"What do you mean?" Kugo Ginjo asked. "Are you saying the ones who attacked us weren't the Soul Reaper Captains?!"

"Yes and no." Ichigo rubbed his chin. "It is the Captains' spiritual pressure, but it's not a perfect match. I can't confirm it."

"What I'm leaning toward is that someone used some kind of strange method to replicate the Captains. You probably can't sense it, but there are clear traces of Soul King Fragments woven into this pressure."

"Then what on earth is going on?!" The reddish-purple-haired young woman couldn't hold back anymore. "Who exactly are our enemies?!"

"No idea." Ichigo shrugged. "I'd actually like to ask you the same thing, who was it that attacked you?"

"Here's what I'd suggest: come with me later to meet Kisuke Urahara. He's the smartest person I've ever met." Ichigo glanced around at the group. "No one among you is going to top him."

"The former Captain of Squad 12?" Kugo Ginjo murmured. "We're wanted criminals in Soul Society. Meeting a former Captain doesn't exactly seem like the wisest move."

"He was a wanted fugitive himself once. It'll be fine." Ichigo looked over at the other Fullbringers. "And besides, I've never heard of any Fullbringers being wanted. Just you."

"If they're only after you as a fugitive, I won't get involved. But dragging innocent people into it,"

"Once I know, I can't look away."

The words were light and offhand. But they landed with weight. Instinctively, no one doubted them.

"Besides, anyone who dares lay a hand on my people, even if it really is Byakuya and Hitsugaya, I'll still make sure they hear about it." A cold glint flicked through his eyes. "People from the Shiba Clan aren't something just anyone can, what the hell?!"

"What is that thing?!"

He was pointing at the table. A cartoon lion stuffed toy had stood itself upright. It had been lying there limp just a moment ago, and now, right in front of him, it had gotten up like a living person. Ichigo felt his brain stall out completely.

What kind of stuffed toy just moves on its own. And that look on its face, proud and self-satisfied, like it was the one who actually belonged to the Shiba Clan.

"Hey, big bro! Name's Kon!"

➤ Next: The Dangai Acting Up Again (Again)