Decades ago.
On a warm afternoon beneath a bright sun, Rukia Kuchiki joined the Gotei 13.
Standing in a half-open room, she was guided by an ordinary member of the division-a slightly overweight man with a flattering smile plastered across his face.
Rukia spoke casually with only a few words, and the man instantly replied nervously:
"Yes! What can I do for you?"
Rukia asked tentively:
"I'm just a new recruit... can I be treated with the usual reception method?"
"Ah, alright. I'll pay more attention next time."
However, when the man left, he muttered to two other members outside.
"Treat her normally? Who are you kidding?"
The others glanced at each other.
"Who is that girl?"
"It's someone from the Kuchiki family-the one we heard about."
"It's been said she didn't even take the graduation exam from the Academy-or the division entrance assessment."
"You're joking, right? We worked so hard to get here..."
"Tch... must be nice being a noble. You don't even need real ability to join a squad."
Inside, Rukia lowered her head, her shoulders stiff. Even here, within the division she had longed to join, the treatment hadn't changed.
Just then, a voice called out sharply.
"Hey, are you slacking off? Get moving."
It was Shiba Kaien. Despite being a lieutenant, he carried none of the arrogance of rank, and everyone in the 13th Division respected him greatly.
...
Kyōgoku Palace.
Rukia caught a glimpse of a Hollow from the Espada flashing by into the distance and instinctively pursued.
Inside a room, the figure removed its mask.
"Rukia Kuchiki... long time no see."
Beneath the mask was Shiba Kaien's face.
Rukia lowered her head, her expression hidden beneath her hair.
"The Thirty-third of Hadō: Blue Fire, Crash Down."
Flames ignited from her hand, blasting through the roof. Sunlight pierced the chamber, burning Aroniero's face in an instant.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"You... how do you know...?"
Though the Kyōgoku Palace lay underground, its construction gave the illusion of a false sky, similar to Urahara Kisuke's training grounds, sunlight pouring into the dome.
Aroniero's exposed features burned away, leaving only a glass tube filled with blood-red liquid. Floating inside were two Hollow masks, the number 9 carved upon them.
"You... how did you know my weakness?"
He retreated quickly into the shadows.
Rukia had known Aroniero's secret in advance because Yuta had told her-but she gave him no answer.
"In that case, let me show you my true form."
"You'll regret crossing me."
"Devour, Hollow!"
Aroniero released his Resurrección.
His upper body remained humanoid while his lower body warped into something grotesque and cephalopod-like. Tentacles stretched outward; two enormous jaws and scarlet eyes leered from either side. His hunger demanded more than one mouth to satisfy.
"Do you understand? My ability allows me to absorb Hollows, taking their memories, experiences, abilities, and spiritual pressure."
"The number of Hollows I've consumed is thirty-three thousand, six hundred and fifty!"
"In other words-you face an army of thirty-three thousand Hollows alone!"
"Tremble if you must! The Resurrección of the Espada is incomparable to that of ordinary Arrancar!"
The pressure bore down thick and suffocating.
Aroniero's form shifted back into Kaien's likeness.
"So... I absorbed Shiba Kaien's soul. That makes me Shiba Kaien as well."
His gaze hardened.
"You killed me once before. I want revenge for that."
He tilted his head dangerously.
"Although... I could let you live-if you bring me the head of your comrade. What do you say?"
Rukia silently drew her Zanpakutō. Her eyes, hidden under her hair, carried a sharp resolve.
She whispered:
"Bankai..."
Memories surfaced from long ago.
That day, Kaien had taken her to train in Zanjutsu.
"Tell me, Rukia," he had said. "Where do you think your heart is?"
She had answered: "In my chest."
Kaien had looked at the sky and said:
"No... the heart lies between friends."
"If you're alone, you have no heart to speak of."
"Our bodies may return to the earth... but our hearts remain with our comrades."
"This legacy of will, to protect Soul Society... that is the heart."
...
Rukongai.
Yuta stood before Kuchiki Rukia as she released her Zanpakutō. Cuts and scars already marked her body; she had poured herself into the fight.
Her Some no Mai and Tsugi no Mai techniques had been useless against him.
The weight of futility pressed against her spirit.
"Your Zanpakutō is ice-type," Yuta's voice was calm. "Its true Bankai is Shirafune: Hakka no Togame."
"Pay close attention."
He lifted his Zanpakutō.
"Bankai."
---
"Hakka no Togame."
As the words left her lips, dust in the air froze into countless crystalline flakes. The blade in her hand turned to shining blue ice.
Her eyes reflected a pale violet light through the snowstorm. Frost spread across her brow, her hair, her uniform, until every part of her became engulfed in wintry stillness.
An immense blizzard stretched upward, piercing the roof of the palace, transforming the space above into a frozen sky.
Aroniero shouted in disbelief.
"This ability... what is this?"
"This is impossible!"
"How could I-a Numeros Espada-be defeated by you? Impossible!"
But the storm consumed him entirely. The whirlwind of ice left no room to flee. His body froze within the encroaching tundra, his voice vanishing into silence.
Rukia stood in the aftermath, her black hair coated in snow-white frost, dyed violet by refracted light. She looked as though carved from ice itself, unmoving within the frozen field.
When she exhaled, her breath crystallized instantly into falling frost, freezing the air itself.
[T/N: there's a timeskip in the latest chapter on patreon btw]
PS GOALS: 150 PS= 5-10 extra chapter on an update.
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