Chapter 60: Old Love and New Sadness Part 5
【Friday, August 28】
Twentieth day after Aizen launched the rebellion.
It was in the training ground in the basement of Urahara Shoten.
"Is there anything else I need to prepare?"
Wearing a death suit, Kurosaki Utsuki looked down at her body soaked in a pale yellow liquid that looked like formaldehyde, and rubbed her chin as she recalled a movie she had seen a similar scene in before.
"As for the suicide note, I've already written it and given it to Ichimaru."
As a captain-level Shinigami who "abandoned the dark and joined the light" and provided considerable help to the Shinigami side, Ichimaru Gin's Zanpakutō has returned to his hands through Kyoraku Shunsui.
This didn't matter to her. No matter where the vibration knife was, she could use all of its spiritual power.
And she already roughly understood the wish he wanted her to fulfill.
Because of this, she was willing to trust him a little and agreed to let him take responsibility for protecting her family in the world.
...Although she felt that she would not leave much spiritual power for him, she could only hope that no one would take advantage of the chaos to target her family, and that the props provided to him by Urahara Kisuke were reliable.
"Please leave the rest of the preparations to me." The man in the green striped hat bowed his head to her, expressing his gratitude and apology. "Miss Ge Xi, just do your best to survive."
The war is about to begin.
"...Mr. Urahara, don't be like this. I wasn't forced to join the war." Kurosaki Utsuki turned her head away.
Even though his brother tried to dissuade her at one point, due to her persistence, or just her silent gaze into his eyes, he finally chose to respect her wishes and did not say anything about protecting her.
What was there to protect? This time, she wasn't going to fight on the front lines like him. Instead, she was just going to be in the safest position, hiding in the rear as a logistics and support.
In fact, she had heard that the Soul Society did not want them to participate in the war, and vaguely did not want to cause trouble to unrelated humans, but how could they be considered unrelated?
Even without mentioning the Shiba family's Shinigami bloodline, or the harm their parents had suffered, they could not ignore the fact that Aizen was currently planning to sacrifice Karakura Town, their hometown where they grew up.
Moreover, her abilities can provide absolutely favorable conditions for this crusade.
"Also, I want to repay Mr. Urahara, who has helped my family so much."
Urahara Kisuke responded in a low voice, the brim of his hat covering most of his face, making it impossible to see his expression.
"Don't worry," he said. "Miss Ge Xi, just go ahead and do it. After that, I will definitely do my best."
Kurosaki Utsuki also responded in a low voice.
"I know."
She was still willing to believe him.
·
The Soul Society's attack on Hueco Mundo, or more precisely, the "Kuyogū" currently controlled by Aizen Sosuke, was scheduled for midnight that night.
Of course, Soul Society isn't the only one participating in this crusade—the living world team will set out together three hours after the Shinigami depart, after confirming the situation.
And now, for Kurosaki Utsuki, it is time to say goodbye again.
She had only been back from Soul Society for a week—and had spent almost that entire week in special training with her brother, with absolutely no rest at all—and yet it was time to go out on adventures again.
...I hope I can come back before school starts, although the hope is really slim.
Earlier in the day, she had already visited Furuya Rei and Morobushi Kagemitsu, and also stopped by to visit Morobushi Takaaki. At that time, she was still in her body and said that she had to go protect the world and might be out of contact for a while.
Because they had never seen it, they could not imagine how dangerous it was. Her friends asked her to solve the problem as soon as possible and come back early. Furuya Rei even teased her, saying that she was going to apply to the University of Tokyo in the future, and she should not skip classes and fall behind in her studies just to protect the world.
But in fact, she didn't know whether she could come back.
Zhu Fu Gao Ming asked if there was anything she could do to help, and her answer was, "If my sisters need help, I hope you can give them extra lessons when you have time."
She didn't know whether her father would join the war, but she knew he had regained the strength he once had as captain of Squad 10 and could easily resolve any problem. She was only worried about her two sisters, who had never known the truth. She just hoped that if anything happened, they wouldn't be too sad.
…She actually felt like she had suddenly grown up.
As for meeting another friend, you can use your current spiritual state.
Of course, she could have called, but she still made a special trip to Mihua to say goodbye. Using her spirit form, she easily evaded the fare by sitting on the roof of the tram, and her destination was still the other person's window sill.
Before arriving at Hagiwara's house, she met Matsuda Jinpei on the road and mentioned that she was going to save the world. After struggling with his words for several minutes, he uttered a blunt "Be careful."
Kenji Hagiwara's room was empty. Calculating that it was already dinner time, Utsuki Kurosaki skillfully entered through the windowsill and waited in the room for a while until the boy came back.
When he pushed the door open and saw her, the boy's expression and eyes were visibly happy: "Kurosaki-chan——"
"I came to say goodbye."
After the words were spoken, both of them fell into silence.
After a while, Hagiwara Kenji, realizing that the girl was about to embark on another adventure, spoke first, his tone sounding quite relaxed: "Time flies! Summer vacation is almost over."
Kurosaki Utsuki nodded. "Yeah, but I haven't had any rest yet... There's only one episode left of W, the finale." She managed to watch it even with her reduced sleep schedule. "I wonder what will happen to Philip."
"What's the theme of the next story?"
"Hmm, I didn't pay much attention to it. I just knew that the transformation item was a coin."
"Eh—that sounds interesting."
"I hope so. I'm not really interested in this kind of thing," she said. "But we'll know whether it's good or not when it starts airing."
...Alas, she really wants to see the finale of "Kamen Rider W" as soon as possible.
"Will you come back before then?" Hagiwara Kenji asked. Before the other party could answer, he immediately requested, even relaxing the deadline, "Can you make a promise with me that we will meet Kurosaki-chan on the windowsill again before the end of summer?"
He already felt that the atmosphere today was unusual, completely different from the last time the girl said goodbye to him. It was filled with a sense of tragedy that he didn't know whether it should be called "determination to die."
But the orange-haired girl opposite shook her head slightly.
"I'm sorry, Hagiwara-san," she replied softly, "I can't make an appointment with you this time."
After a brief silence, the young man Hagiwara finally spoke. He looked into the girl's eyes, with stars twinkling in them.
"Then consider it a unilateral agreement between me and Kurosaki-chan." He said it very seriously, as if swearing to himself, "Until Kurosaki-chan comes back, I will always take care of Maya and Sakuya for Kurosaki-chan, and I will pray every day to see Kurosaki-chan again."
...Really.
"Don't use the name 'Kurosaki-chan' anymore."
Kurosaki Utsuki lowered her eyes, her voice became lower, but her cheeks became hot.
"...Utahiki, when I come back, you can just call me by my name."
Saturday, August 29th
It was approaching three in the morning.
The Shinigami who went to Hueco Mundo more than two hours ago did not send any information that needed special attention, and there were no special spatial fluctuations around Soul Society and Karakura, which meant that Aizen and his group had no intention of escaping to the real world or seizing Soul Society or the real world in the chaos. So it was almost time for them to set off.
Mako Hirako and his group of eight, along with Yoruichi Shihouin, dressed in tights, were already on full alert. Ichigo Kurosaki also entrusted his body to Gikonmaru and waited on the side with his huge Zanpakuto on his back.
"It's time." Urahara Kisuke said.
He stood on a wooden pillar protruding horizontally from the top of the cliff, and Kurosaki Utsuki stood beside him. She didn't need to go with the subjugation team below, it was enough for her to use her Bankai here.
Putting her hand on the hilt of the sword, Kurosaki Utsuki suddenly spoke: "Mr. Urahara."
The man beside her immediately turned to look at her, his expression unusually serious, as if he attached great importance to her final words, which might even become her last words. "Miss Ge Xi, is there anything else you would like to say?"
"It's not a big deal. I just wanted to say it while I still had the chance. After all, I don't know what will happen next."
Kurosaki Utsuki answered, her voice low enough that only the people next to her could hear.
"Actually, Urahara-san was my first love."
Urahara Kisuke seemed to have not expected her to confess at this moment. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly: "Ms. Utahiki, this is really..."
"But I've thought about it seriously," she continued. "If I can successfully complete the mission, repay Mr. Urahara's kindness, and survive, I will start trying to like someone else."
In fact, she didn't think about it too seriously. Her current life goal was to get into the medical department of the University of Tokyo. Before that, there was no point in dating.
"I'm only sixteen years old. I want to live my life happily and fully as a human being."
But... she couldn't help but feel her heart beating faster because of the look in Hagiwara's eyes at that time.
"Oh? Looks like Miss Kakuhi already has someone she likes?"
Kurosaki Utsuki laughed, but did not answer. Instead, she suddenly raised her voice to the people below: "Mr. Hirako, everyone in the Masked Corps, Yoruichi, and my brother, I wish you all good luck in the martial arts world."
Now, it's her turn to perform.
The orange-haired girl drew her Zanpakutō from her waist and pointed the blade toward the sky.
"Swastika——"
The spiritual pressure surged.
It was a Bankai that was beautiful to an evil degree, its crimson spiritual pressure spreading across the vast underground space, dyeing the ceiling crimson.
"——"Lotus Moon Scattering Flowers"."
The vortex above the girl's head is a blood-red moon, the cyclone around her is a blooming blood lotus, and she and her gradually dissipating Zanpakuto are the golden stamens of the lotus.
Then at some point, the moon disappeared, the lotus disappeared, and the girl disappeared.
Urahara Kisuke pulled out an unknown device from his pocket. The tiny dots displayed on the LCD screen confirmed that the device was functioning normally. "Perfect, Ms. Utahiki," he said, looking at the shop assistant, Tessai Goryou, who was already prepared nearby. "Let's get started."
·
After the "black cavity" leading to Hueco Mundo closed, Urahara Kisuke looked at the screen in his hand again. The equipment was still operating as usual, but his expression did not show any relaxation.
In comparison, the other person present was much more relaxed.
"You're so welcome, Miss Kurosaki." Ichimaru Gin's lip curled up in amusement. He was standing a little further away, wearing a light-colored yukata, his arms folded across his chest, his Zanpakutō hanging from his waist. But now, the vibrating short sword had become a mere ornament, unable to be used in his Shikai—he had almost no spiritual energy left.
No one responded to him. Urahara Kisuke jumped down from the wooden pillar and walked towards another large instrument that had been set up in the distance. He stood there for a while before reaching out and grabbing something out of thin air.
This was the first time Ichimaru Gin had seen Kurosaki Utsuki's Bankai, but perhaps because of the existence of the "connection", he instantly understood what the Bankai that disappeared without a trace was.
The vibrating sword is both a flower petal and moonlight, and it is the ultimate liberation form that can completely transform the sword holder into the lepton state.
Those spirit particles temporarily attached themselves to Kurosaki Ichigo, setting off with him, and then dispersing after entering Hueco Mundo. Even in a space the size of "Kuyakuya," she could easily achieve "omnipresence."
And since it has no main body, it naturally has no weaknesses.
Gin Ichimaru didn't know how Kurosaki Utsuki released her Bankai. He thought there must be some special reason why she released her Bankai in this world first. He didn't care much about it, but he just felt sincerely that Kurosaki Utsuki's ability was too easy to use.
When the spirits cannot stop the exchange of spirit particles, they become a part of each other.
"Give," then "take," repeating in a cycle like breathing.
The potion that Urahara Kisuke injected her with in advance marked the locations of all her spirit particles, making it easy to construct a map of the entire Kyon Palace, and the spirits with whom she had a loan relationship would also update their location information on the map in real time.
Not only that, there are not only enemies in her circulation system, she can also give her "cognition" that is constantly refreshed due to the circulation to all the death companions she recognizes.
Under the premise that she has not seen the beginning of the solution of the mirror flower and water moon, complete hypnosis can no longer deceive anyone.
Lying flat on her back in Ichimaru Gin's mental world, Kurosaki Utsuki yawned and lazily turned over. Before entering the Palace of the Nightingale, she planned to relax and have a good night's sleep to recharge her energy for the extremely demanding work that was to come.
There is another task besides sharing information with all companions...
The orange-haired girl sighed softly.
That was a plan her brother didn't know about, and it was also the reason why she doubted that she would be able to return smoothly - she wanted to gamble with Urahara Kisuke on a possibility that had never been realized.
In order to fulfill the promise made to Gin Ichimaru, and also to solve a certain problem once and for all.
This was also something that Urahara Kisuke had known in the past that it was possible to solve the problem in advance, but he never let her try it.
The moment she comes into contact with the Collapsing Jade, she will try her best to "seize" its spiritual power completely by "giving" it away.
If this step is successful, then the next step is her contest with the Houyu - can her will overcome the Houyu's will? She didn't have much hope for this, even though Urahara Kisuke promised that he would do his best to help her win.
But at this moment, she regained some confidence.
This war, Soul Society will win, her brother will win, and she will win too.
She still has unrevenged revenge, unfulfilled promises, and decades of life full of hope.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
