Chapter 37: Getsuga... Tenshō!
Dressed in black with a white haori draped over his shoulders and adorned in exquisite, elegant ornaments, he looked less like the Captain of the Sixth Division and more like a distant noble descended from some higher world.
The spiritual pressure flowing from him made the air feel heavy, as if someone had quietly poured molten lead onto everyone's shoulders.
Hachihara and Rindo Yu both stiffened.
Their breathing turned rough, cold sweat beading on their skin.
This oppressive feeling was familiar yet strange.
The Menos Grande they had fought together earlier had possessed spiritual pressure comparable to a Captain's, but even that was clearly inferior to the man now standing before them.
Only Takeru, Ichigo, and Abarai Renji remained outwardly calm.
"Rukia, you have grown weaker."
Kuchiki Byakuya stated the fact in his usual flat tone.
That was all.
Ignoring the way Rukia stood frozen, as if she had plunged into an ice lake, his gaze slid past her and rested on the only human present, Inoue Orihime.
"An hour ago, the Onmitsukido sent a report from the monitoring room. They confirmed you were acting together with a human suspected of possessing Shinigami power. Now, seeing you in a gigai, your spiritual pressure so depleted it is barely perceptible… I have nothing more to ask."
"As a member of the Kuchiki clan, our duty is to safeguard the order of Soul Society. For one of the Kuchiki to violate spiritual law is to stain the pride of the Kuchiki name."
"So… prepare yourself, Rukia."
"…Yes."
Rukia bowed her head deeply.
Her body had stopped trembling. It was as if all her strength had been drained away, leaving behind only quiet resignation.
"Kuchi…!"
"Hey!"
Seeing her like that, Orihime could not stop herself from stepping forward, but someone else moved faster.
Ichigo.
He stepped up and glared at Byakuya like he was looking at the very type of person he hated most.
"Yeah, she broke spiritual law. I get that much."
Ichigo's voice was low, every word edged in anger.
"But she did not hurt anyone. She gave up her own power to save someone. And as her older brother, when your sister is in trouble for that, instead of protecting her, you punish her in the name of 'family'?"
"Whatever the original intent, a violation of the law cannot be forgiven. Watch your tone, boy. You are not even a formal member of Soul Society. Strictly speaking, you are still a commoner."
Byakuya's voice remained indifferent.
"Someone like you has no standing to lecture me, Captain of the Sixth Division and current head of the Kuchiki clan. This is your first warning. If there is a next time, I will teach you what proper etiquette is."
"Yeah? You are right, I do not have some impressive title."
Anger burned in Ichigo's eyes, but a crooked, challenging smile tugged at his lips.
"But honestly… in terms of strength or anything else, I do not feel like I am any worse than you."
"So if all you have is status to throw around, keep it. It just makes it look like that is the only impressive thing about you."
"You little…"
Renji's pupils shrank.
If Kuchiki Byakuya was "nothing special," then how pathetic did that make him, the man who aspired to catch up to him?
Whether from genuine respect or his own pride, Abarai Renji could not accept anyone insulting his Captain.
"Take that back. Otherwise… I will deal with you and that woman together."
"What do you mean, 'deal with that woman'? Spell it out."
Ichigo's expression chilled.
"Do I really need to explain? I mean killing her to retrieve Rukia's powers."
By the time he finished, Renji had already drawn his Zanpakuto and leveled the tip at Orihime.
Cold killing intent surged from him without the slightest attempt to hide it.
He was not saying it just to scare them.
He meant every word.
Everyone could feel that.
A flash of resolve passed through Orihime's eyes.
"If this can lessen Miss Kuchiki's punishment… then I am willing."
"Stop it!"
Rukia, who had already resigned herself to whatever awaited her, panicked the instant she heard that.
"If you do that, then everything I did will be meaningless!"
"But…"
"Die."
Renji, impatient and boiling with rage, moved to strike.
Rukia reacted at once, stumbling forward to block his path.
"Stop, Renji!"
"Move, you idiot! Do you want to add to your crimes?!"
Renji flung her aside with a harsh shove.
Rukia hit the ground and slid, the asphalt scraping her palms and arms raw.
Seeing that, Orihime instinctively tried to enter her Shinigami state, just as she had done when facing Hollows before.
A hand fell on her shoulder, stopping her.
"Shimiya… kun?"
She turned in surprise and met Takeru's calm eyes.
"Calm down."
His voice matched his expression, steady and even.
That alone was enough to pull Orihime back from her panic.
"You are not going to die."
"I am not worried about that!"
"Then there is nothing to panic over. What comes next is an internal conflict in Soul Society. It is not something humans should interfere with."
As if to prove his point, a gleaming greatsword suddenly appeared in front of Renji, blocking his advance.
Forced to halt, Renji stared at Ichigo with shock and anger.
"Kid… do you understand what you are doing?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
Ichigo planted his Zanpakuto between Renji and Orihime, standing in front of her and Takeru, eyes cold.
"She gave up her Shinigami powers to save someone. If you kill Inoue here, does that not erase every bit of meaning from what she did?"
"It never had any meaning to begin with."
"What?"
"Sacrificing your own strength to save someone is meaningless. It is wrong. And when something is wrong, it needs to be corrected, especially… before judgment."
Renji roared, anger flaring in his eyes just as fiercely as in Ichigo's.
"If you heard me clearly, then get out of my way."
"…Yeah, I heard you loud and clear."
Ichigo lowered his gaze for a moment, then lifted it again, his eyes firm.
"So that is why… I absolutely will not move."
"…Is that so? Then don't blame me for being rough. Roar, Zabimaru!"
Renji swung his arm as his Zanpakuto transformed, the blade splitting and extending.
The snake belly sword whipped forward, a seven segment chain of steel that struck like a long, fanged whip, its cutting power high enough to slice through a Menos Grande's neck.
But an attack at that level was no longer enough to make Ichigo take even half a step back.
He did not dodge. He did not flinch.
"Getsuga…"
Facing the incoming strike, Ichigo simply raised his sword in one hand. At the same time, his spiritual pressure surged violently, and Renji's expression twisted.
"What…?"
"Tensho!"
The shark jaw shaped slash came down with a roar even more furious than his own.
Spiritual pressure burst from the tip of his sword and exploded into a towering wave of light, surging upward and tearing apart the dark clouds that had gathered unknowingly above them.
"…!"
Renji stared dumbly at the short length of broken blade left in his grip. Within his trembling pupils, reflected in the shattered metal, was Ichigo's silhouette.
Bang.
"Ugh!"
Ichigo's fist slammed into his face, sending Renji flying just as he had thrown Rukia. This time, Renji smashed through a wall and disappeared beneath a shower of debris and dust.
"Damn… it…"
Renji staggered up, face swollen and red, hair in disarray, his goggles gone who knew where.
"How is he this strong… Weren't they saying taking down the Menos Grande was mostly that Shiba woman's achievement?!"
"Hey."
"?!"
Ichigo's voice sounded right in front of him.
Renji froze midway through standing and slowly raised his head.
Their eyes met, and for a moment it felt like both of them could see into the other's thoughts.
"I want to ask you something."
Ichigo spoke first.
"The Spiritual Arts Academy textbooks clearly say our duty is to protect humans. Is that wrong?"
"…Tch. There are good humans and bad humans."
"Is Inoue a bad human?"
"That is not the point. Whether they are good or bad, their lives are nothing compared to some other people."
"So that is how you see it."
Ichigo tightened his grip on his sword.
"Then I have to beat you down. Otherwise… I do not see any way to convince you to let go of that belief."
"Heh. The road here was dead quiet. I take it that means you wiped out all the Hollows on the way."
Renji let out a low laugh.
"If I lose to someone like that, I have nothing to say. Come on."
He pushed himself fully upright, broken sword in hand, gathering every last drop of spiritual pressure he could muster.
He would answer this fearless, infuriating, and strangely admirable opponent with everything he had.
Ichigo steadied his stance and raised his Zanpakuto, ready to move.
At that moment, a fierce wind blasted across the street, spawned by a sudden clash of spiritual pressures. Their clothes snapped and fluttered violently in the gust.
"?!"
"What now?!"
Both of them turned at the same time, looking toward the source of the surge.
It was the rooftop where Byakuya and Renji had first appeared.
By rights, only Byakuya should be there now.
But another figure had joined him.
Shimiya Takeru.
At some point, the two had begun to clash.
From the ground, it almost looked like Takeru had simply decided to pick a fight with a Captain.
In reality, there was a very clear reason.
Byakuya's hand had been resting on his sword, fingers lightly hooked around the hilt, his posture making it obvious he was ready to step into the fight at any moment.
No… if Takeru had not moved when he did, Byakuya might already have drawn his Zanpakuto.
So Takeru had appeared first, gripping Byakuya's wrist, blocking the moment the blade would have left its sheath.
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