Hinamori Momo screamed in panic for the first time.
It was shrill and piercing, as though it might tear her throat apart. Sharp and sudden, it echoed through the skies-it was the kind of scream that only came from witnessing the unthinkable.
Her cry reached the ears of nearby squad members and captains alike.
"What's wrong?"
"That came from the Eastern Great Sacred Wall!"
"It's Vice Captain Hinamori's scream…!"
They rushed toward the source of the sound.
What they saw brought them to silence.
On the pristine white stone of the Great Sacred Wall, blood had painted itself across the surface in grotesque symmetry, blooming like some twisted crimson flower. Long streaks of blood dripped down from the top to the base of the wall, stretching dozens of meters down.
Whoever had died had suffered greatly.
Hinamori stood there, frozen with shock, both hands covering her mouth. Her wide eyes overflowed with tears that wouldn't stop. Her gaze was locked on the body above.
Just yesterday… Captain Aizen had smiled-spoken to her as if nothing were amiss.
Why was he dead now?
Who could have done this?
Her knees gave out as she dropped to the base of the wall, eyes locked on the blood staining the stone and now her hands. It stained her fingers-the same hands that had touched Aizen's office door just the day before. It felt surreal.
"Captain Aizen!"
"Captain Aizen!"
"Don't… I don't want this… don't want!"
"I don't want this to be true… Captain Aizen!"
Her cries became hoarse and scattered, tangled in sobs and disbelief.
Suddenly, behind her came a cold, detached tone:
"What are you doing? Making noise this early in the morning…"
Her blood ran cold. She turned slowly.
It was Ichimaru Gin… and he was smiling, even here, even now. That expression didn't change even while standing in front of what remained of Aizen.
Elsewhere, Hitsugaya Toshiro, already nearby, recognized Hinamori's scream and moved instantly toward the wall.
"That's Hinamori's scream. What happened?"
He arrived in time to see the scene-and his brows furrowed. Standing beneath the bloodstained rock wall, he looked small in frame but not in presence. The Zanpakutō on his back shimmered as cool light passed over its blade.
"Aizen Sosuke went out alone last night… and ended up here?"
While Hitsugaya tried to make sense of it, Hinamori was already on the move.
She drew her Zanpakutō and pointed it toward Ichimaru Gin. "It was you!"
Her hands trembled with rage and disbelief.
"You were sneaking around in Captain Aizen's office last night… standing behind him and smiling for no reason!"
"As soon as I came in-you ran!"
"Everything points to you!"
She swung with fury. Her blade fell toward Gin without hesitation.
Gin's eyes remained narrowed, his smile unchanged, as his right hand drifted to the hilt of his sword-but before anything else happened-
Clang!
Kira Izuru's Zanpakutō intercepted hers in midair, the ring of steel ringing out between them.
Kira had stepped in front of Gin at the last possible moment.
He looked directly at her. There was tension in his expression-less aggression and far closer to pain-but he didn't waver.
"I am Kira Izuru, Vice Captain of the Third Division. No matter your reasons, I cannot allow you to raise your sword against Captain Ichimaru."
Hinamori's words trembled with emotion. "Kira… move!"
"I… I cannot."
"I said move!"
"I said I cannot!"
"I told you to get out of the way! Don't you understand!?" Hinamori shouted louder now.
"When I said I couldn't… Didn't you understand!?" Kira shouted back in the same way.
"Bloom-Tobiume!"
As Hinamori called out her Zanpakutō's release phrase, her weapon shimmered. The pink thread wrapped around the hilt unraveled, and the blade split into multiple branches-a seven-branched sword. A pink glow surrounded the weapon, and plum petals began to flicker around it. Her spiritual pressure surged noticeably.
She gave the weapon a light swing-fire gathered at its point and launched toward Kira in the shape of a blazing ball.
Boom!
It struck the wooden floor, sending out shockwaves and fire. Smoke followed in thick, fast waves.
Kira leapt backward through the smoke. He looked disheveled but unharmed.
"You're using Shikai here? Do you know what you're doing?" Kira said sharply as he wiped soot from the corner of his mouth.
Hinamori didn't answer. She launched another pink fireball straight at him without hesitation.
Kira sidestepped again and narrowed his eyes. He reached for his weapon, resolved now.
"Don't blame me for this… I'll treat you as an enemy."
"Raise your head-Wabisuke!"
His Zanpakutō shimmered and changed form-a blade now curved at the tip like a hook. It looked ill-suited for direct fighting-but it held purpose. Wabisuke was not for clashing swords-it was for punishing the vulnerable.
With both releasing their Shikai, the clash became serious. Their weapons could no longer be restrained.
Just as their blades neared impact-
Another presence stepped between them.
With one foot and one arm, Toshiro Hitsugaya intercepted both attacks simultaneously.
His Zanpakutō had barely been unsheathed-but it was enough to catch Wabisuke mid-swing.
His foot came crashing down on Tobiume, pinning it to the floor beneath them with force that cracked the wood beneath them.
"Neither of you move," he said coldly.
Hinamori and Kira both froze as Hitsugaya's spiritual pressure fell over them. It was overwhelming-a reminder of the gap between lieutenant and captain.
"Hitsugaya…" Hinamori said softly, tears refusing to stop.
"Arrest them both."
At his command, subordinates moved in immediately to place both vice-captains under control.
Ichimaru Gin watched it unfold with his usual smile. "Ah… sorry about that, Captain of the Tenth. My people caused trouble."
Hitsugaya did not look back. "Ichimaru," he said, his tone low, "what was it you just said…?"
"Were you planning to kill Hinamori?"
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