His shoulder slammed into the rock. The pain stole his breath. [scared] "Ugh… ah…" They were inside a pale purple mist. The ground was slick with mud. The air was heavy, crushing his lungs. Gravity wobbled and swayed. He couldn't stand. Rukia crouched beside him. The shoulder of her prison garb was stained pitch black. Blood still oozed from the slash wound. [scared] "Rukia…!" He crawled toward her. Mud caked his knees. He didn't care. Yuuki grabbed the sleeve of his own kagegoromo and tore it with brute force. The fabric ripped with a sharp sound. [gentle] "…It's nothing serious." Rukia's voice was hoarse. Her lips were pale. [angry] "Like hell it's nothing!!" He shouted as he pressed the cloth against her wound. Rukia's body flinched. His fingers touched her shoulder. Cold. The blood still wouldn't stop. [scared] "This is my fault… because I'm weak." He muttered it. In the middle school hallway, he had abandoned that guy. Now Rukia was dying right in front of him. Unable to protect anyone's life, only he kept surviving. His Retrograde was running low. The more he used it, the more his own existence faded. He had only a few uses left. What could he do with that? [serious] "…You're wrong." Rukia lifted her head. Her violet eyes stared straight at Yuuki. [serious] "You… grabbed my hand at the very end. That's enough." Those eyes hadn't broken. Yuuki's throat tightened. He couldn't say a word. The mist thickened. The scenery around them warped. The boundary realm—the gap between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society—made everything ambiguous. Rukia quietly opened her mouth. [sad] "…I had an older sister." Her voice didn't tremble. But her hands did. [sad] "The poorest district of Rukongai—District 80. We had nothing to eat. We huddled together just to survive." Yuuki held his breath and listened. [sad] "One night, a swarm of Hollows attacked the settlement. The moment one lunged at me—my sister stepped in front. She wasn't a Soul Reaper. She wasn't anything. Just a soul. Even so, she stood before me." Rukia's fist clenched tight. [crying] "I couldn't move. I just watched. Watched my sister get devoured by the Hollow. I couldn't do… anything…" She held back the tears. But the edge of her voice shook. [serious] "So I became a Soul Reaper. To change the past where I couldn't protect anyone. I've staked everything on saving the hero." Something throbbed inside Yuuki's chest. The middle school hallway. Clutching his umbrella, averting his eyes. He had run away while looking at eyes that begged for help. (I'm the same.) Yuuki hung his head. [whispers] "…I abandoned someone too. A long time ago." Rukia said nothing. She just listened. [scared] "A classmate was being bullied. His eyes were begging me to help. But I only thought about myself… and I ran. He transferred schools. It was probably my fault." The guilt still pierced his chest like a thorn even now. They fell silent. The pale purple mist of the boundary realm drifted slowly past. Their pain took different shapes. But the root was the same. [serious] "…There's still more." Yuuki murmured suddenly. The words Rukia had shouted at the execution grounds—there's still a future. In that moment, his body remembered how Retrograde's pressure had pointed not backward, but forward. He closed his eyes. Focused. Retrograde—the power to rewind time. But that wasn't the truth. It wasn't just rewinding. (It decides… the future.) In his mind, he envisioned twelve seconds. A pebble on the ground before him. A future twelve seconds later where that pebble lay three meters ahead. He locked it in place. From deep within his body, something surged upward. White light spilled from his fingertips. The next instant— The pebble moved through the air by force of will. It floated gently and dropped exactly where he had designated. [surprised] "!?" Rukia's eyes flew wide open. [excited] "I did it… It's not rewinding time. It's advancing it. It locks the future into place!" His voice shook. [serious] "With this… I can overwrite the false memories Valnesia rewrote with Mirage Lead. A determined future is stronger than a false past." Rukia understood immediately. [serious] "…You're going." [serious] "Yeah." Yuuki nodded. Pressing down on her wound, the two walked through the boundary realm. Using her remaining spiritual power, Rukia pried open a rift in space. The scenery warped. The next moment— The execution grounds. On the stone pavement. The crowd was gone. But dozens of Soul Reapers still remained. The instant they saw Yuuki and Rukia, every one of them raised their blades. [angry] "The traitors are back!!" [angry] "Seize them!!" Yuuki didn't run. He approached one Soul Reaper head-on. He recognized him. The man whose life he had saved during the Hollow battle that day. [serious] "…Come back." Retrograde activated. Future determination—a future twelve seconds later where that Soul Reaper stood not with Valnesia's false memories, but with his true memories. White light enveloped the Soul Reaper. The man clutched his head and staggered. The false memories peeled away. The next moment, he lifted his face. [surprised] "…You're the one from back then." There was no hatred in his eyes. Confusion, and then—understanding. His blade lowered. [excited] "Wake up!!" Rukia shouted from the center of the grounds. Her wound must still have been agonizing, yet her voice reached every corner of the plaza. [excited] "Your memories have been rewritten by Valnesia! Yuuki can overwrite those memories!!" Yuuki moved to the next Soul Reaper. Again, he activated future determination. One by one, false memories shattered. Soul Reapers lowered their blades. The faces of those who had regained their sanity shifted from confusion to rage. [angry] "…We were being controlled." [angry] "Valnesia… you bastard!!" A reversal—from traitors to comrades. Standing atop the stone steps of the execution platform, Rukia looked around at the faces of her comrades who had come back to their senses, one by one. [crying] "…Thank goodness." For the first time, unable to hold back her tears, her face crumpled. At that moment— The air froze. From above, a heavy spiritual pressure descended. Valnesia. Long white hair. A white mask covering the left half of his face. His right eye was a deep crimson, and for the first time, it harbored genuine fury. There was no elegant stride. He descended from a rift to Hueco Mundo, wreathed in spiritual pressure. [cold] "…Interesting." A whisper-like voice echoed inside their heads. [cold] "The power to advance time. To think you'd nullify Mirage Lead, boy." Valnesia raised his right hand. Mirage Lead activated. Yuuki's vision began to warp—but he instantly activated future determination. He forcibly locked in a future twelve seconds ahead where illusions had no effect. The illusion shattered. Valnesia's eyes widened slightly. His composed smile froze. [cold] "…I see. A genuine threat." A low voice, stripped even of its usual elegance. He spread both arms. The rift to Hueco Mundo tore open wider. Zuzuzuzuzu… A heavy driving sound. They emerged from the rift. Humanoid, gigantic Hollows. Void Knights. One, two, three—twelve in total descended upon the grounds. The stone pavement cracked beneath them. [cold] "Destroy everything." Valnesia gave the curt command. The Void Knights moved as one. Yuuki's remaining Retrograde was nearly at its limit. His legs trembled. But. He turned around. Behind him stood Rukia. And the Soul Reapers who had regained their sanity, lined up with blades ready. [serious] "…We can do this." Yuuki faced forward.