BLEACH: Soul Infiltration — The Color Between Black and White - Shattered Night

That silhouette on the roof of the abandoned factory wouldn't leave his head. "Finally, you came. I've been waiting." That voice kept looping. Low, cold, yet somehow enjoying itself——Souga kept his eyes closed in bed, staring at a single point on the ceiling. He couldn't sleep. His body was exhausted. But his mind wouldn't stop. Morning of the third day arrived. Through the window of the second floor of Kurosaki Clinic, the sky was beginning to pale. A crow cawed somewhere in the distance. The sound of a car driving far away in the city. Ordinary morning sounds. Yet everything felt distant. ——But still. Nobody knows what I really am yet. Souga pushed the futon aside and sat on the floor. He looked at his palm. It wasn't glowing this morning. Just an ordinary hand. When he clenched his fingers, he could still faintly feel the residual heat from last night at the abandoned factory. The door to his room opened. "Checking communications" It was Rukia. With her short purple hair neatly arranged, she held a Soul Pager——a device that looked like an old-fashioned cell phone used by Soul Reapers in the living world, capable of detecting Hollows and communicating with Soul Society——and operated its screen as she entered the room. Souga watched silently. Rukia's movements stopped. "……There's no response" "To Soul Society?" "The signal is transmitting. But——" Ichigo entered the room, toast in one hand. He stopped eating when he saw Rukia's face. "What's happening" Rukia looked up from the device. Her expression was calm. But her hand holding the device stopped for just a moment——Souga didn't miss it. "Someone is blocking communications between Karakura Town and Soul Society. Deliberately, from outside. Right now, our request for support won't reach Soul Society" Ichigo set the toast on the table. Silence fell. Souga looked out the window. The morning landscape of Karakura Town. Shops preparing to open, commuters, an unchanged daily routine. But beneath that town——a spiritual anomaly was flowing, the boundary between the living world and the spirit world was thinner than anywhere else in the world, and he——a being with unknown power that was neither Soul Reaper nor Hollow——existed in this town right now. Complete isolation. "So if something happens, nobody's coming to help, that's what you're saying" "That's correct" Rukia's voice was quiet. Which made it all the heavier. Before Souga could say anything, Rukia turned toward him. "I can't guarantee I'll be able to protect you completely. But I won't abandon you either" A statement stripped of emotion. Not comfort. Not encouragement. Just a declaration of will. But for Souga right now, it became his only support. ＊ Past noon, Rukia's device rang. Not once. Continuously, without pause. The moment Rukia looked at the screen, her eyebrows twitched slightly. "North district——Station plaza——Central shopping street——East ward. Hollows are appearing simultaneously in four or more locations" Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu. He was already moving before he could sling it across his back. "I'll clean them all up" "Ichigo, this isn't natural occurrence. Hollows don't concentrate in one area in such a short timeframe. Someone is guiding them" Ichigo's feet stopped. "——The goal is to separate me and leave Souga defenseless" "Likely" Souga watched the two of them. Ichigo's eyes looked at Souga. Sharp orange eyes. Not anger——eyes making a judgment. "Rukia, stay here with Souga. I'll handle what's outside" "But——" "No buts. Don't move" Ichigo kicked the door open and flew outside. Boom boom——a distant explosion-like impact echoed. The sound of Zangetsu's spiritual pressure detonating across the town. Rukia stared at the data on her Soul Pager and spoke quietly. "Four locations. We still don't know how many Hollows in total" Souga pressed his back against the wall. Ichigo was running through the town alone. Facing multiple Hollows. All because of me——he tried to push that thought away, but couldn't. ＊ Thirty minutes later. Outside, Ichigo's combat sounds continued intermittently. It wouldn't end. Even when he defeated one, another came. With each movement Ichigo made, Rukia's device showed new responses appearing in different locations. Souga and Rukia were in the living room on the first floor. Rukia kept operating her device while looking toward the window facing the outer wall. Souga sat in a chair——could only sit——and waited endlessly. "Ichigo's spiritual pressure is stable. No problems so far" "I see" "Please stay calm" "Easier said than done……" Then. Boom!!!! The outer wall exploded inward. Concrete fragments flew. Dust rose up. Souga reflexively shielded his face with his arms. His vision turned white, and the next moment——two Hollows burst into the room through the hole. About three meters long. White bone masks. Black miasma leaking from the hollow in their chests. Smaller than the one he'd seen at the abandoned factory yesterday, but their killing intent was directed straight at them. Rukia moved. "Bakudō, Number Nine!" Black rope-like light wrapped around one Hollow's legs. Its movement stopped. In that opening, she unleashed a Hadō——an offensive Soul Reaper spell——and struck it. A roaring sound. Cracks ran across the wall. One Hollow flew back, cracks appearing in its mask. But the second one moved. From Rukia's blind spot——the right side——it quietly raised its claws. "Rukia——!!" Too late. Sharp claws tore through Rukia's right shoulder. The sound of fabric ripping. Blood sprayed. Vivid red scattered across the floor. Rukia dropped to one knee. One hand on the floor, trying to steady her breathing. Souga's mind went completely white. Rukia was bleeding. She couldn't stand. The second Hollow raised its claws toward her. His body moved. It wasn't logic. The same impulse as when he'd stood in front of that woman in the shopping street yesterday——before he could think, his feet moved, and when he realized it, Souga was standing between Rukia and the Hollow. He spread his arms. He had no power to fight. No zanpakutō. Couldn't use kido. But he couldn't retreat from here. The Hollow brought its claws down—— In that instant, both his hands burned. Blue-white light. Overflowing from his fingertips, enveloping his entire arms, and the moment it touched the Hollow's body——the light detonated. Engulfing the Hollow's form. A low groan of agony. Fine cracks spread across the white mask. The cracks expanded—— The light vanished. A sharp pain pierced through his head. Like something was tearing him apart. His vision spun. His knees buckled. Souga collapsed to the floor. "……" In his blurred vision, he could see the Hollow still standing. Cracks in its mask. But he hadn't finished it. The light was gone. His body wouldn't move. Rukia was still on one knee—— The door was kicked open. Ichigo. Zangetsu in his right hand, breathing hard through his mouth, he surveyed the room in an instant——Rukia's blood, Souga collapsed, two Hollows——the judgment took less than a second. He stepped in. Zangetsu split the air. He smashed the first Hollow's mask head-on. Crack!! The mask shattered, the body dissipated. Continuously to the second one——before it could raise its claws, a single slash. Shwish! He cut straight through the center of the mask and followed through. The second one vanished too. Silence. Dust drifted. A large hole gaped in the wall. Blood spread across the floor——Rukia's. Ichigo dropped to one knee beside Rukia. "How deep is the wound" "……It's not a problem. I can stop the bleeding with Kaido——spiritual healing technique" Rukia placed her left hand on her right shoulder. A faint light seeped out, and the bleeding stopped. Her complexion was poor. But her voice didn't waver. Ichigo slowly stood and looked at Souga. Souga was on the floor, trying to push himself up. The headache was still there. After using the light, it always happened like this——it was the same at the abandoned factory. "You idiot……are you trying to die" It was a shout of anger. But something else was mixed in at its core. An emotion that hadn't been there on the first day. Anger concealing——worry. Souga looked up at Ichigo from the floor. He couldn't say anything. Rukia's blood spreading across the floor entered the edge of his vision. It's all my fault. ＊ Night fell. Rukia's wound was sealed with Kaido. Ichigo went out for a final check and returned. The three of them were in the same house, each in separate rooms. Souga lay in his futon on the second floor. His eyes were open. He couldn't close them. From down the hallway, he could faintly hear Ichigo and Rukia's voices. Quiet, the content indecipherable. But they were talking——the sense that the two of them were discussing him was unmistakable. Rukia's shoulder wound wouldn't leave his head. The moment blood scattered across the floor kept replaying. That wound was inflicted protecting him. The window glass shattered silently——from the inside. Souga jolted awake. Glass fragments spread across the floor. Night wind entered. The air in the room changed. The temperature dropped, or rather, it felt like a different mass had entered. A figure emerged from the darkness. Long silver hair tied back. Eyes of different colors on each side——left red, right silver. A mask hung from the neck. A line-shaped scar running across the left eye. A tall frame of 185 centimeters crossed the room silently—— And stood at Souga's pillow. "I've been waiting for you" No voice came out. He tried to escape, but his legs wouldn't move. He tried to scream, but his throat wouldn't make a sound. The figure looked down at Souga and quietly extended a fingertip. It touched his forehead. Souga's consciousness was painted white. Images flooded in. Buildings collapsing. The ground splitting, buildings crumbling——the streets of Karakura Town transformed into rubble before his eyes. Blood. Blood everywhere. Someone's screams. Many people lying down. And at the center of it all——blue-white light stood. A human figure stood at the center of the light. He realized it was himself. Souga stood at the center of the collapsed town. Blue-white light overflowed from both his hands. He couldn't stop it. Didn't know how to stop it. The surroundings were being destroyed. Whether he was destroying it or the light was destroying it, he didn't know——everything just crumbled. "Inside you sleeps a power to destroy the world" The voice echoed in his head. "It will awaken eventually. And you——won't be able to stop it" Souga tried to scream. No voice came. His body wouldn't move. The Souga in the vision stood motionless in the light. Consciousness returned. The ceiling of the room came into view. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat. His fingertips trembled. The figure was still there. As if confirming Souga's terror, after a pause—— "If you resist, be prepared when we meet next. I'll destroy what's precious to you first" Quietly, it vanished. Only night wind remained outside the window. Glass fragments scattered across the floor. Souga couldn't move. Tears came. Wouldn't stop. Before he even realized it, his face was wet. I'll destroy what's precious to you first——Ichigo and Rukia's faces surfaced. Today, Rukia's shoulder was torn. That was because of me. Next time—— "……Because I'm here" His voice trembled. No one was in the room. Because I'm here, they get targeted. To protect me, Rukia's blood spilled. Ichigo faced multiple Hollows alone today. All because I'm here—— If that vision was real. If it was true that a power to destroy the world slept inside him. If it was true that—— I should disappear. Voices came from the hallway. Ichigo and Rukia talking. So quiet he couldn't make out the words, but serious, discussing something intently. The two were thinking about Souga. The two were trying to protect him. That's exactly why it was wrong. Souga stared a

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Episode 4

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

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