BLEACH: Soul Infiltration — The Color Between Black and White - Ripple at the Abandoned Factory

Last night, Rukia's words still echoed in Souga's mind. "Your body isn't normal. But I don't sense any malice." No malice—that single phrase kept catching on something inside Souga. It should have been a frightening thing to hear, yet somehow it made him feel a little lighter. The afternoon sun was pale, and gray-tinged clouds stretched across the sky. The three of them walked northward in silence. They passed through residential streets, the roads narrowing until the smell of rust drifted toward them. "This is the northern district of Karakura Town—the abandoned factory zone" Rukia spoke without turning around. The ruins of the abandoned factories were worse than Souga had imagined. Touei Heavy Industries Karakura Factory—the name of the building that once stood here was barely legible on a rusted sign. Concrete walls were cracked, exposed steel beams pointing toward the sky. Grass covered the ground, and somewhere metal sang in the wind. Souga looked around. That thin distortion he'd felt throughout the town yesterday—it was denser here. The air felt different. The light refracted strangely. The boundary between the living world and the spirit realm was thin—he could feel it in his skin now, understanding Rukia's words from before. "This district has the thinnest spiritual boundary in all of Karakura Town. To measure the reactions from your body, Souga, this location is ideal—where spiritual energy amplifies most easily" Ichigo followed silently. Souga could tell he was committed to his role as guard. But he kept checking the shadows of the factory buildings as they walked. Not trusting, exactly, but watching carefully—that was the kind of movement it was. *(These two were arguing so much yesterday...)* Souga glanced at Ichigo's profile from the corner of his eye. His mouth didn't open, but he showed no sign of rejecting Rukia's judgment either. His words were rough, but his actions moved in the direction of protecting his allies. That's the kind of guy he is, Souga thought. They entered one of the abandoned factories. In the high-ceilinged space where machines once lined the floor, only dust and rust remained now. Light filtered through several holes, illuminating the floating particles. "Please stop here, Souga" Rukia stopped in the center and gestured to Souga. He stopped as instructed. "Bakudō—it's the general term for the spiritual arts used by Soul Reapers. Bakudō specializes in defense and restraint techniques. I'll now use bakudō to form a spherical barrier centered on you. By measuring you in a state where external spiritual interference is blocked, I can capture your unique reactions more accurately" "...Understood" It would be a lie to say he felt no anxiety. Being surrounded by something wasn't a pleasant sensation. But he wanted to know. What was that pale blue light inside him? What was that thing that flickered at his fingertips last night? Rukia spread both arms. Her pale violet eyes narrowed. The air changed. A transparent membrane enveloped Souga like a dome. The light refraction shifted, and the barrier's wall became faintly visible. Souga stood inside, breathing slowly. Rukia pulled out a Denreishinki. A device that looked like an old mobile phone—exclusive to Soul Reapers. She turned the screen toward Souga inside the barrier. Seconds of silence. "...As expected, your spiritual pressure is nearly zero. The same level as a Plus—an ordinary soul of the deceased. Completely different from a Soul Reaper's readings" Ichigo crossed his arms while leaning against the wall. His face said something like, "We already knew that." "However..." Rukia's eyebrows moved slightly. "The wavelength is... strange" The numbers on the screen wavered slightly. Not in a steady rhythm, but irregularly. Not the blue-purple waveform that Soul Reaper spiritual power showed, nor the black-red waveform of Hollow miasma. A completely different shape—a fluctuation pattern he'd never seen before. Rukia whispered softly, "A third wavelength..." That was when it happened. Souga's hand grew warm. He wasn't moving it. He hadn't intended it. But from his fingertips, that light seeped through—the same pale blue light as last night. Whether his body reacted on its own to the measurement stimulus, or whether the special environment inside the barrier drew it out, Souga didn't know. But the light was definitely there. "Ah, this..." The light touched the barrier's wall. In that instant, ripples spread like dropping a stone in water—concentric circles across the entire spherical barrier. Quietly, but certainly. The wall wasn't shaking. Just the light pattern spreading like waves, receding, spreading again. Rukia froze. "...This wavelength" She stared at the Denreishinki's screen. Her hand stopped. Souga was seeing Rukia surprised for the first time. No matter the situation yesterday or the day before, she'd always been calm. But now, only now, her expression crumbled. "As far as I know... there's no record of this wavelength in any literature" Souga looked at his own hand. The light was still there. Pale blue, quiet, trembling. His mind went blank. Not in any literature. Not Soul Reaper spiritual power. Not Hollow miasma. The Gotei 13's elite guard—the five specialists who protected the Spirit King—might not even know about it. A completely unknown power. And it was inside him. *(After all, I'm not normal...)* He'd already known that. But having it thrust in his face again felt heavy. More than fear—something with deeper depths. No one knew what he was. He didn't know himself. "Ichigo" Rukia called to Ichigo. He was about to turn around when— BOOM!!! The factory ceiling exploded from the inside. Concrete fragments rained down. Steel beams twisted and groaned. The holes where light had filtered through became one massive opening. A black body fell. *Huge*—that was Souga's instinctive thought. At least five times the size of the Hollow from the shopping district yesterday. Over ten meters long. The white bone mask's shape was complexly distorted, and the black miasma leaking from the hollow in its chest was thick. A high-level individual close to Gillian-class—a giant species born from multiple Hollows fusing together. The impact of its landing alone cracked the factory floor. Ichigo immediately drew Zangetsu. "Come on—!" The Hollow moved. It didn't face Ichigo. It came straight at Souga. "Why—!" Ichigo shouted and cut in. Zangetsu's blade struck the Hollow's arm from the side—CLANG!! Sparks scattered. He couldn't push it back. The Hollow's arm kept pointing toward Souga, trying to push forward even with Ichigo in the way. "Don't ignore me!!" Ichigo threw his weight into pushing back. Zangetsu bit into the arm. But the wound regenerated before his eyes. Flesh bulged up, black miasma filling the gash. The regeneration speed was abnormal. Souga retreated to the edge of the barrier. He tried to get out, but the bakudō wall blocked him—Rukia couldn't attack while maintaining the barrier. Souga was trapped. "Bakudō, Number Four—!" Rukia shouted sharply. Black rope-like light coiled around the Hollow's legs. Its movement stopped for an instant. Ichigo took that opening and lunged—Zangetsu swung down vertically. SLASH! The blade cut into the Hollow's shoulder. "Next—Bakudō, Number Nine!" Another light wrapped around the Hollow's torso. Its movements dulled. Ichigo jumped high—Zangetsu was raised. Getsuga Tenshou. A crescent-shaped spiritual slash burst from Ichigo's zanpakutō, tearing through the air. BOOM!!! It hit the Hollow's chest directly. The black body shook violently. Cracks appeared in the mask. "One more—!" A second Getsuga Tenshou. This time it struck the center of the mask head-on. CRACK!!! The mask shattered. The Hollow's form dissipated like mist. Its limbs dissolved away, leaving only black miasma—which scattered too. Silence returned to the factory. Ichigo lowered Zangetsu, breathing heavily. Rukia released the barrier. Souga's strength left him, and he dropped to his knees. His body was shaking. *(Again... I was targeted again.)* The Hollow had ignored Ichigo and come straight at him. He didn't know why. But it was certain—the way it moved, it recognized only Souga as its target. Because he was here, that thing came. Because of him, Ichigo had to push himself. And Souga had done nothing. Just cowered at the edge of the barrier, trembling. "Souga" Ichigo tried to call out to him—when his gaze shifted upward. Souga looked up too. On the edge of the factory roof—on the collapsed wall—a figure stood. A deep hood obscured the face. Tall, with a slender frame. Just standing there, yet the presence felt wrong. As if it had appeared suddenly after the battle ended—or maybe it had been there all along. Neither Ichigo nor Rukia had sensed its spiritual pressure. The figure looked down only at Souga. Slowly, the corners of its mouth rose. "Finally came. I've been waiting for you" Low, cold—yet somehow enjoying itself. That was the voice. "Who are you!!" Ichigo shouted, Zangetsu raised. His voice echoed off the factory walls. The figure didn't answer. It tilted its body slowly. Backward, quietly—dissolving into darkness like it was melting away. Without sound, without trace. Just gone. Ichigo kept Zangetsu raised toward the roof for a while, unmoving. "...I tried to record its spiritual pressure" Rukia held the Denreishinki and spoke quietly. "But nothing was recorded. Even scanning finds nothing. Not even the location where that person stood—there's no record of it anywhere" Souga still knelt on the floor. *(Waiting for me.)* That voice wouldn't leave his head. It was cold. But it had warmth. It had emotion. It recognized Souga—knew his name without ever hearing it, looked down at him knowing exactly who he was. It said it had been waiting. Why. Who was waiting for him. Why was he being waited for? "...That being might be something even the Gotei 13 doesn't know about" Rukia's voice was quiet, but Souga understood the weight of her words. The Gotei 13's elite—five specialists whose combined strength matched all thirteen captains—didn't know about this being. A completely unknown existence that left no spiritual pressure record. "...I'll report this to the Gotei 13" Rukia began typing something into the Denreishinki. Ichigo still watched the roof. He made no move to sheathe Zangetsu. Souga slowly stood up. His knees were shaking. His hands were shaking. It wouldn't stop. The remnants of that spiritual pressure—even though it had vanished, the sensation still clung to his skin. Something cold, something bottomless, had been directed at him. There was a being that had been waiting for him. *(What am I...)* The answer was nowhere to be found. Only the question grew heavier. Souga looked at his own palm. The hand that had glowed moments ago. That being might have been watching that light. Outside the factory, the sky was beginning to darken. Dusk was approaching. Somewhere, wind sang. That was all that remained in this place now.

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Episode 3

Name: BLEACH: Soul Infiltration — The Color Between Black and White
Author: Novelia

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