Chapter 73: Only That Which Cannot Be Destroyed Can Be Called Reality
"?!"
"?"
Takeru's expression froze. Some last remaining human instinct almost made him throw his hands up.
Yoruichi reacted in the opposite way.
With the missile suddenly no longer aimed at her, the suffocating sense of imminent death vanished. Combined with the way Soi Fon's icy façade had cracked, she could not stop herself from letting her imagination run wild, glancing suspiciously back and forth between the two of them.
"Captain Soi Fon, please calm down."
"You pull something like this and still want me to calm down? In your eyes, am I that easy to talk down?"
Soi Fon glared straight at Takeru.
"I did not have a choice before, but now I want to be a decent person. If I put it like that, can you understand?"
"Then go kill Yoruichi right now, and surrender afterward."
"Kill Yoruichi? Captain Soi Fon, are you serious?"
Takeru's face twisted into a strange look.
"I already made up my mind. If you had not jumped out and interrupted, that woman would have been blown to dust by now."
"…So I arrived just in time."
"?"
As Soi Fon narrowed her eyes, Takeru waved a hand.
"Relax. I am not here to save her. I am here to save you."
"Takeru… Are you really Takeru? Or did the Captain Commander hit you a little too hard and rattle your brains so badly you started saying this nonsense?"
"To be fair, Yoruichi is indeed a traitor. A criminal. A scoundrel who deceived you, hurt you, and constantly brought you trouble."
"…"
"???"
"But as a vassal of the Shihoin, the Fon family swore absolute fealty to Yoruichi. No matter what excuses you have, you cannot personally execute her. That includes trying to use me as the one to kill her for you, unless you are prepared to commit suicide afterward to atone."
As Takeru finished, Yoruichi's expression shifted slightly.
Soi Fon fell into silence.
"That is a scene I absolutely do not want to see," he said quietly, "so I came here to save you."
"…I see."
Soi Fon murmured under her breath.
She seemed to accept that explanation.
Yoruichi finally let out a deep breath of relief.
"So that means, as her accomplice, you are planning to help me out of this mess by stepping forward and dying in her place, right?"
Soi Fon suddenly spoke again.
She did not spare Yoruichi a glance, her eyes locked only on Takeru.
"In that case, Yoruichi, get lost. The farther the better. Get out of my sight. I do not have time for you right now."
"Huh?"
Yoruichi stared in disbelief.
Just a moment ago Soi Fon's resolve had been that heavy and unshakable.
How did it turn into her being tossed aside in an instant the moment Takeru appeared?
"Hey, Soi Fon, you two are not…"
"Shut up. I am not like you. I would never betray Soul Society for some person."
"Um… I was not doing it solely for Kisuke back then. I was mostly forced into that situation. But leaving that aside, your answer is a little off topic. Fine, I will stop talking."
Seeing Soi Fon swivel the launcher back, Yoruichi immediately raised both hands in surrender and shot Takeru a look that clearly said, "I am out of ideas, you handle it," then fell quiet to watch.
"Captain Soi Fon, you seem very angry."
Takeru's tone was unruffled, which did not match a man staring down the mouth of a missile at all.
"Of course I am angry. Do I have any reason not to be?"
Soi Fon's expression was as dark as ink.
"The day the ryoka invaded, I specifically warned you to stay put and not run around."
"Yes, I remember that day. I also apologized to you."
"…So from that time on, or even earlier, you were already playing me?"
"To be precise…"
Takeru cut her off.
He met Soi Fon's eyes head on, eyes that were almost burning with rage.
"It was from that time that I became certain what I was doing was right."
"Right?"
Soi Fon laughed angrily, opening her mouth to snap back, but Takeru once again spoke over her.
"Because I agree with your ideals more than anyone. Everything I am doing is what you wanted to do and could not."
"What did you just say?"
His answer stunned both Soi Fon and Yoruichi.
"Is that so hard to understand?"
"Brother Kurosaki is my friend. If he wants to save someone, there is no reason for me not to help, even if it means becoming Soul Society's enemy."
"That… is not that exactly what you once wanted to do, but lacked the chance?"
"…!"
Soi Fon's lips parted slightly.
She stood frozen in place like she had been struck by lightning.
Takeru kept walking toward her as he talked.
"I mentioned earlier that you seem very angry. It may sound like a pointless observation, but to me, you should not be angry."
"You resent Yoruichi for saving someone without bringing you along. You resent her for acting on her own and ignoring your feelings, for not giving you the chance to fight by her side."
"And I understood that pain. I felt the torment in your heart, so when I encountered a similar choice, I made a different decision."
"Otherwise, I would have become you. The you that you hate most. The old you."
"In this situation you really have no reason to be angry. If anything, you should be happy for me."
His words were expertly chosen.
Every line hit the center of Soi Fon's heart.
Every step he took forward pressed down on her will until it shook.
"No… No. That is not how this should be. I am a Captain of the Gotei 13. I have no reason to be happy for a traitor. I never asked you to make up for my regrets in my place."
Soi Fon bit down hard on her lip, forcing herself to snap out of it.
"You… I almost got taken in by you. You are still as smooth as ever. But if you think you can earn my understanding, or even my guilt, with a speech like that, you are too naive. I told you, no criminal can lie in front of me."
At that, Takeru stopped walking.
"A lie is something that will never come true."
"Conversely, something that has already become reality is called the truth."
"I am standing right here in front of you."
"If you believe I am lying, dodging, twisting right and wrong, then fire. Use your Bankai and crush the criminal in front of you who is trying to deceive you."
"?!"
"Takeru."
Yoruichi had not expected the conversation to veer in this direction.
She was about to step in when Takeru flicked his sword guard. A thread of Kido shot out and slashed across the ground, leaving a clear line.
That glowing mark formed an invisible boundary that Yoruichi could not cross.
She could not move a single step forward.
"The purpose of a criminal's lies is almost always to survive, so they would never willingly stand here and let you execute them."
"In other words…"
Takeru looked straight at Soi Fon, his face utterly serious.
"For me to stand here and let you kill me means I have no need to lie, because lying would be meaningless. It cannot save my life anyway."
"So go ahead. Attack."
"I will show you who the real criminal is, what truly harms Soul Society, and what is already real and cannot be destroyed."
"Takeru… Reverse psychology will not work on me."
Soi Fon's teeth ground together. Her eyes were shaking even as she glared at him.
"Of course I know. Ever since the night at the izakaya, I understood you are actually very delicate and sensitive. You tend to go to extremes as well."
"So, to earn your trust, I need a more extreme approach."
Takeru's lips curved into a faint, chilling smile.
He raised a finger and pointed it at Soi Fon, then recited a spell that neither of the women had ever heard before.
"Crucio…"
They had never heard that word, but the surge of spiritual pressure and the sense of mortal danger that came with it were very real.
Soi Fon's finely honed instincts moved against what she thought she wanted.
Her body reacted on its own.
Smoke hissed out from the launcher.
A golden missile roared free.
"It is over."
For a moment Soi Fon's mind went blank.
She only came back to herself when Yoruichi's panicked shout rang in her ears.
"Move!"
"Takeru!"
For someone skilled in Shunpo, the missile's speed was not impossible to evade.
But neither Yoruichi nor Soi Fon saw Takeru make a single move to dodge.
The second half of his incantation died in his throat.
At the very end, they only saw his lips move slightly.
It looked like he said something.
Yet the sound did not reach them.
There was only the deafening roar.
A blinding light exploded outward.
The chain of detonations and shockwaves crashed down like a natural disaster, swallowing the streets and alleys in an instant.
Buildings within several kilometers were drowned in pure heat and pressure.
It was not hard to imagine the scene inside that storm, where everything had been burned away and reduced to nothing.
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