The noon bell. A heavy sound—*goooong*—shook the air. It echoed across the white stone plaza. Hundreds in the crowd fell silent. All eyes fixed on a single man. Iron shackles on his wrists. Chains clanked and rattled. "[scared]U-uh..." Yuuki was dragged forward. His knees trembled violently. His body, sleepless all night in the underground cell, felt heavy as lead. His feet tangled. He stumbled on the stone. "Get up!" His arm was yanked hard. His shoulder creaked. The iron shackles bit into the skin of his wrists. Blood oozed out, warm and slow. It hurt. So cold. So afraid. The crowd buzzed. "That's the living soul who survived." "They say he used forbidden arts." "Monster." Angry shouts swirled. Curses flew. A stone fragment came flying. It struck his cheek. Hot pain shot through him. More stones hit—his shoulder, his back. One after another. (*Stop it... You're wrong...*) He couldn't voice the words. They forced Yuuki to his knees in the center of the plaza. Before the stone platform. The executioner stood there. In his hand—the *Zangetsu* blade. Rukia's sword. "[scared]Rukia..." Yuuki lifted his head. From another line, she was being led in. A small body clad only in a white prisoner's robe. Her wrists bound. No *Zangetsu* at her side. Her violet eyes found Yuuki. Their gazes met. Just for a moment. "[sad]Don't look down." A faint voice. But he heard it clearly. The escort soldier pushed Rukia's head down. Her gaze vanished. Yuuki too was forced down. Only the cold of the stone remained. The noon bell still rang. --- The executioner opened his mouth. The ritual proclamation. "For the crime of—the soul erasure of Sasaki Yuuki and Kuchiki Rukia is hereby—" The words stopped mid-sentence. The crowd split. To the left. To the right. Like water parting. No one made a sound. They simply opened a path by instinct. The air froze. The spiritual pressure was crushing. A white mask. Tall. At least 195 centimeters. An expressionless mask covering the left half of his face gleamed sharply in the noon light. His right eye was deep crimson. Long, tangled white hair hung down to his back. Valnesia. The crowd held its breath. Everyone felt a chill on the back of their neck. "[whispers]...Boy." A low, whispering voice. It reached every corner of the plaza. An eerie voice, like something crawling right beside your ear. Valnesia walked slowly forward. He stopped directly in front of Yuuki. "[whispers]I want to see your despair." He spread one hand. —*Mirage Lead*. The sky above the plaza warped. A massive illusion unfolded. Rain. After school. Third year of middle school. A dim hallway. Yuuki was in the image. Holding an umbrella. Standing at the edge of the hallway. On the far side, several boys were shoving a classmate into a locker. Textbooks scattered across the floor. Trampled by indoor shoes. (*Stop it.*) He couldn't say it out loud. The classmate, crying, looked at Yuuki. Eyes pleading for help. But. Yuuki averted his gaze. Clutched his umbrella. Walked away. Only the sound of his own footsteps echoed in the hallway. (*Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.*) He apologized in his heart. But his feet never stopped. A few days later, that classmate transferred schools. "[whispers]That was you." Valnesia's voice echoed inside his head. "[whispers]You watched him die. You lacked the courage to help. You ran. And yet now you try to save someone. Don't you find that laughable?" In reality, Yuuki collapsed from his knees. (*Stop... Stop...*) He shook his head. But the image wouldn't vanish. Valnesia grabbed Yuuki's left arm. Forcibly rolled up his sleeve. "[cold]Look. At this scar." Valnesia raised Yuuki's left wrist. He showed the scar to everyone in the plaza. "[cold]This man has always been like this. He pretends to help. In the end, only he escapes." The crowd buzzed. The nature of the angry shouts changed. From hatred to ridicule. "A coward, huh?" "You abandoned your comrade?" "And now you're playing hero?" Laughter erupted. Yuuki tried to hang his head. But the escort soldier grabbed his chin. Forced him to look up. (*Don't look at me... Don't look...*) --- The illusion encroached deeper. The stone of the plaza began to look like the rain-soaked hallway floor. The jeers of the crowd transformed into the laughter of a middle school classroom. (*I... I...*) His breathing grew shallow. The scar on his left wrist throbbed with a dull pain. That rainy day overlapped with this very moment. "[scared]Yuuki!" Rukia's voice. Far away. Still bound, she shook her body, calling out to him. A small shadow in the corner of his vision. But her voice was distant. Like hearing it from the bottom of the water. It held no meaning. Valnesia looked down at Yuuki. He jerked his chin at the executioner. "[cold]Do it." The executioner raised the *Zangetsu* blade. The blade caught the sunlight. Slowly, the sword began to move. The sound of it slicing the air. Yuuki closed his eyes. (*It's over.*) —That was when it happened. *CRACK!!* A sharp, high sound of iron shattering echoed through the plaza. "Huh...?" Yuuki opened his eyes. A black shadow stood before him. Rukia. She had burst her chains with an explosive release of spiritual pressure. Blood dripped from both her wrists. But—she stood. Her small body stood before Yuuki like a shield. "[angry]Don't move!!" The executioner's blade could no longer be stopped. The blade tore through the prisoner's robe at Rukia's shoulder. *Slash*. Blood sprayed. A dark stain spread. "[scared]Rukia!!" The fog of the illusion cleared in an instant. Yuuki's vision snapped back into focus. Rukia was facing him. She paid no attention to the executioner behind her. Her violet eyes looked straight at Yuuki. Only at him. Blood streaming from her shoulder. And yet, her eyes were unbroken. "[crying]There's still... one more thing—a future. There is one." Her voice trembled. Her breathing was ragged from the pain. But it reached him. It pierced deep into Yuuki's chest. Like a needle. (*Rukia—*) The self who abandoned someone in that middle school hallway. And the girl bleeding for him now, right here. They overlapped. And then they split apart. (*This time is different.*) From the depths of Yuuki's body, something surged upward. The spiritual pressure of *Retrograde*. But its direction was different. It wasn't pulling back. The pressure was pushing forward. "[scared]Rukia, your hand!!" Yuuki shouted. He grabbed her hand. He layered his own spiritual pressure onto Rukia's. Their spiritual pressures began to resonate. *Rumble... rumble... rumble...* The stone of the plaza shook. The crowd screamed. "What is this!?" Valnesia furrowed his brow for the first time. The next instant— *BOOOOOOM!!* Space tore open. A fissure of pure white light ran through the center of Yuuki and Rukia. A fault line in time pierced the plaza. "[scared]We're going!!" The two of them leaped into the fissure. "Uwaaaaaah!!" The screams of the crowd faded. Seireitei vanished from sight. Only Valnesia remained, expressionless, watching the tail of their fading spiritual pressure. --- Landing. Unfamiliar ground. A pale purple mist hung thick. Gravity was unstable. Their bodies felt light, almost floating. "[scared]U-ugh..." Yuuki tumbled across the ground. Beside him, Rukia also collapsed, clutching her shoulder. This was a boundary realm. A gap between spaces—neither the *Fuchinohara* nor the Hollow World. "[scared]Rukia, your wound!!" Yuuki crawled closer. Blood still flowed from Rukia's shoulder. The white prisoner's robe was dyed bright red. Her hand trembled as she pressed the wound. "[whispers]...It's nothing serious." Her voice was hoarse. Yuuki tore the sleeve of his *kagegoromo*. He pressed it against her wound. Rukia said nothing. She simply accepted his hand. "[sad]It's my fault... Because I'm weak..." "[gentle]...No." Rukia shook her head. "[gentle]In the end, you grabbed my hand. That's enough." Something tightened deep in Yuuki's chest. For a while, they caught their breath. They had succeeded in escaping. But the *Zangetsu* blade was still confiscated. *Retrograde's* remaining power was nearing a critical level. Returning to Seireitei meant immediate execution. They had no allies to rely on. "[serious]Yuuki." Rukia spoke quietly. "[serious]We have no next move. Nothing. But—we start from here." Yuuki nodded. Nothing. They had lost everything. But they were alive. Still holding Rukia's hand, Yuuki nodded once more. The pale purple mist of the boundary realm slowly enveloped them both. The path ahead was invisible. There was no road. Only one thing was certain—she was beside him.