BLEACH: Soul Infiltration — The Color Between Black and White - The pale blue light of dawn

White sand trembled faintly, though there was no wind. Souga stood before the man. Pale blue light flickered weakly from both his hands. His legs were shaking. His entire body was battered. The marks where spiritual pressure had been forced into his arms still burned hot. Yet he remained standing. Behind him, sand exploded. Two heavy footsteps thundered across the desert. "Sorry I'm late——!!" Souga turned around. From the sand cloud, Ichigo emerged in his black shihakusho. 183 centimeters tall. A massive Zangetsu strapped to his back. Sharp orange eyes fixed directly on him. Half a step behind, Rukia followed. Her short purple hair was disheveled. The bandage on her right shoulder was stained with sand. He almost cried. If he was being honest, he did. But he gritted his teeth against the surge of emotion and instead lifted the corner of his lips slightly. He wasn't sure if it looked like a proper smile. "……You came" Rukia stopped and quickly assessed Souga from head to foot. "Can you still stand?" "I'm standing" Ichigo glanced at Souga briefly, then immediately turned back toward the man. Silver-white long hair. Mismatched eyes—one red, one blue. A mask hanging from his neck. His spiritual pressure spread outward, crushing the desert air. "……So there are three of you now" The man spoke quietly. His voice was emotionless. A tone that merely confirmed facts. His left red eye swept across the three of them in turn. Ichigo drew Zangetsu. "I'll go first" He stepped forward. Closing the distance in an instant, he swung Zangetsu horizontally with full force. Clang——!! The man caught the blade with his right hand alone. It stopped. Ichigo's full-body strike halted perfectly against a single palm. "What——" Rukia followed. She unleashed three binding spells in succession. Black ropes cut through the air and wrapped around the man's body——the next instant, the man simply dispersed his spiritual pressure thinly, and the ropes scattered like mist. No resistance. Nothing. Ichigo was sent flying, his feet sliding through the sand as he braced himself. Rukia's spells were completely negated. Two against one, and this was the result. Souga remained standing, watching the man. (The scale is different. Even back in Episode 3 on the abandoned factory roof, even in Episode 4 when he stood at my bedside——this existence has never gone all out.) The man slowly advanced. He didn't even glance at Ichigo. He moved straight toward Souga. He reached out his hand. He tried to touch Souga's right hand——at that moment—— The pale blue light overflowing from Souga's hand touched the man's fingertips. For just an instant, the man's movement stopped. One instant. Less than a second. But it definitely stopped. Since arriving in Hueco Mundo, this was the first time the existence had halted. Not when he was restrained at the Misato River's banks. Not when spiritual pressure was forced into him in Hueco Mundo. Never once had he stopped. (When this light touches him, he dulls.) Souga quickly shouted toward Ichigo. "Ichigo! Keep him occupied from the front!" "Huh? You're giving orders——" "Trust me" Ichigo paused for one second. Then the corner of his mouth lifted. "……Got it" Just two words. But it was different from when they'd argued in the abandoned factory at first. Back then, no matter how many words they exchanged, nothing got through. Now a single short phrase was enough. He turned to Rukia. "Rukia, I need you to bind his feet with a spell. Maximum output" "……Understood" Souga took a deep breath. He extended both hands forward. The light he'd been letting run wild. The light that burned the ground at Misato River's banks because he didn't know how to control it. The light that shattered his restraints in Hueco Mundo. This time, he would move it by his own will. An old man's voice echoed from deep in his chest. Protect——only that one word came through clearly. (I want to protect. That's all.) Ichigo lunged forward at the man from the front. Zangetsu howled. The man's attention turned to Ichigo. At that moment, Rukia deployed a binding spell infused with all her spiritual power. "Binding spell, seventy-five——Five Pillar Iron Penetration!!" Five black pillars erupted from the sand, piercing through the man's legs, arms, and torso, pinning him in place. The man's movement stopped. His feet were sewn to the ground. "Now, Souga!!" Souga thrust both hands forward. Light poured out. With a strength he'd never unleashed before. Crash——!! Pale blue light engulfed the man entirely. His spiritual pressure wavered within that light——being neutralized. The overwhelming heaviness that had filled the desert began to lose its power the moment it touched Souga's light. "Go——Ichigo!!" Ichigo stepped forward. "Getsuga Tenshou——!!" Boom——!!! The shockwave tore through Hueco Mundo's eternal night. White sand exploded upward. Thunder roared across the entire desert. Light and sand dust mixed together, turning the world white. Souga fell to his knees, having spent every last bit of his light. The sand dust slowly cleared. The man was on his knees. For the first time. From the Misato River's banks until now, no one had ever seen this existence kneel. He was on one knee, one hand gripping the sand. Ichigo stood in place, Zangetsu still raised. Silence returned to the desert. Slowly, the man rose to his feet. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of his finger, narrowing his left red eye. "……Interesting" His voice was low. Not anger. Something strange mixed in the depths of that red eye as he looked at Souga. Something like anticipation——something. "You are indeed growing. But it is still not enough" The man looked behind him. A rift began opening in Hueco Mundo's sky. Black darkness spread its mouth wide. "When we meet next——you will know everything" With only those words, the man quietly sank into the rift. Ichigo took a step to pursue. "Wait——!!" The rift closed. Silently. Completely. The desert sky returned to its empty, eternal night. The three stood in silence for a while. Ichigo clicked his tongue. He couldn't pursue. But——today, that man had knelt. That single fact slowly spread across the desert. ＊ When the three emerged from the Soul Society and landed on Karakura Town's ground, the eastern sky was turning white. Dawn. The rusted factory roof was bathed in pale light. A bird's cry echoed in the distance. Karakura Town's morning was beginning quietly. Souga stood, barely suppressing the trembling in his knees. His hands no longer glowed. He'd used everything. His body felt hollow and light. But it wasn't a bad feeling. Just tired. Ichigo turned around. He grabbed Souga's shoulders with both hands. "Don't disappear on your own like that again" His tone was rough. His voice was coarse. But——it was different from when he'd shouted "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" in Episode 4. That had been anger. This was something else. "You can't do anything alone" Souga tried to nod. No sound came out. Tears spilled instead. He couldn't stop them. He tried to wipe them with his hand, but his arm had no strength. "I'm sorry……Thank you" His voice trembled. Pathetically trembled. Ichigo kept his hands on Souga's shoulders and said nothing. But the grip tightened slightly. A short distance away, Rukia watched the exchange. The girl who rarely changed expression was smiling faintly in the dawn light. Despite the bandage on her right shoulder being stained with sand, her face held something peaceful. After a moment, Rukia approached Souga. "Your light has a wavelength recorded in no documents" Her voice was quiet. "But——at least today, it protected us. It is worth investigating" When she'd first measured Souga at the Misato River's banks, she'd said "I sense no malice in you." That was all then. Now it was different. Words that acknowledged him as a comrade were there. Souga looked up at the dawn sky. He might never return to his original world. He still didn't know what he was. That man had said "when we meet next, you will know everything" before disappearing. Souga didn't understand what that meant yet. But now, Ichigo was beside him. Rukia was here. His resolve to live in Karakura Town quietly solidified. ＊ Around the time Souga and the others disappeared into the streets of Karakura Town. In the Seireitei——the central city of the Soul Society where the spirits of the dead arrive, the Sereitei——at the headquarters of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, a single report arrived. The seat official in charge of present-world investigations slowly opened his mouth after reviewing the spiritual pressure measurement readings multiple times. "Multiple unknown spiritual pressure wavelengths have been detected in the present world, Karakura Town." The upper echelon received the report and checked the records. Not the spiritual power of a Shinigami. Not the miasma of a Hollow. Nothing in the Seireitei's two-thousand-year database matched. "Dispatch an investigation squad." A brief order was given. Souga didn't know this decision. As he walked through Karakura Town's dawn with Ichigo and Rukia, neither of them knew that the signs of a storm were quietly moving toward them.

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Episode 7

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

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