Kōe naturally wouldn't refuse Rukia's small request, promising her that he would definitely bring Kaien to see her.
But even after Kōe left, Rukia never imagined that when this big brother spoke of bringing Kaien to see her, he didn't mean visiting her grave to pay respects. She believed her death was an absolute certainty. Those who constantly drown in their own powerlessness and are forced to give up only feel a sliver of relief when they finally give up on themselves.
If things had taken a turn for the better, it would have been fine, but the reality of what happened six days later only further confirmed her thoughts.
The execution date was moved up by five days. With less than fourteen days remaining until the execution, Rukia was officially transferred from Squad 6 to the Senzaikyū's Shishinrō. The person in charge of her transfer was none other than her childhood friend who had entered the Seireitei alongside her, Abarai Renji.
Traveling together, and seeing each other off. That was how it had always been with their companions in the Rukongai, until only the two of them were left at the very end.
However, the happiness she once envisioned now tasted a bit bitter. To have been able to protect her past self, yet be completely unable to decide her current fate—thinking about it was truly ironic.
Gazing out the window at Sōkyoku Hill in the distance, she repented for the sins she had committed while waiting for the day of her death. It was said that this was the origin of the Senzaikyū's name.
Through the narrow, elongated window, the sky appeared as a thin strip. So the sky could look quite beautiful like this too. Rukia smiled. She had just learned from Renji that Ryoka had invaded Soul Society yesterday. There were five of them in total, including a Shinigami with orange hair wielding a massive blade as tall as he was.
Kurosaki Ichigo. He had come to save her. He had definitely come to save her.
Such pure trust and reckless courage, though coming from someone so weak, were incredibly moving. Even though Rukia felt that the idiot probably wouldn't even make it past the Seireitei gatekeepers, just the fact that he had shown up was enough to encourage her.
Most importantly, she had learned that Ichigo was still alive and well. She could feel his feelings from afar—what Lord Kaien had called the heart of a comrade.
Similarly, she believed her own heart had been passed on to Ichigo. *'When you die, your heart is entrusted to your comrades.'*
Recalling the words Lord Kaien had once spoken, Rukia felt that she could now depart in peace. Death no longer seemed so terrifying...
*'How long has it been since I last saw it? That guy's incredibly excited expression.'*
Walking out of the Senzaikyū, Abarai Renji recalled the look on Rukia's face just now. He rubbed the back of his head and couldn't help but sigh. *'Just hearing about that orange-haired brat made her so happy. It really pisses me off!'*
*'What's there to be happy about? Although there's no accurate intelligence right now, rumor has it that the one who intercepted them was the Captain of Squad 3, Ichimaru Gin. He's done for. That kid is definitely done for!'*
If he had told Rukia this just now, it probably would have wiped that excitement right off her face. Thinking of this, Renji sighed again. He had been a bit mesmerized watching Rukia look like that earlier. Thinking about it now, hadn't he just traded his own annoyance for her happiness? *'The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get!'*
"Hey!"
Renji looked up. The person calling out to him from ahead was the Captain of Squad 5, Aizen Sōsuke, who was waving at him and saying, "It's been a while, Abarai."
"It's been a while, Captain Aizen."
"Do you have some time right now?" Aizen walked up to Renji. "Could we have a chat?"
A chat? After graduating from the Shin'ō Academy, Renji had first joined Squad 5, then transferred to Squad 11, and only recently became the Lieutenant of Squad 6. He was fairly familiar with Aizen.
Toward this captain who had saved him during his Academy days and offered him a great deal of help when he first joined the Gotei 13, Renji held a deep, genuine respect. Therefore, even though he didn't particularly want to discuss personal matters right now, he still followed Aizen back to the Squad 5 barracks.
Within the Seireitei, quite a few people knew about his history with Rukia, such as the current Squad 5 Lieutenant, Hinamori Momo. Surely Captain Aizen had sought him out this time to offer some comforting words, right? Sure enough, after some brief pleasantries, Aizen asked about his relationship with Rukia.
"Uh, well... it's..." Renji stammered, unable to form a complete sentence. In truth, he wanted to clarify that even though he had a relationship with Rukia, he wouldn't show favoritism. However, Aizen seemed to misunderstand and stated bluntly, "There's no need to hide it. From what I know, you two have been close friends since your time in the Rukongai."
"That's right," Renji replied in a low voice. They had clearly been friends back in the Rukongai, yet now he had to watch Rukia go to her death. It didn't sit well with him either.
"Then I'll speak frankly. From your standpoint, does she truly deserve to be executed?"
Aizen's words made Renji jolt in shock. Was this a test? *'Would Captain Aizen really do something like that?!'*
"I don't quite understand what you mean..."
"Don't you find it suspicious? Her crimes are transferring her Reiryoku to another without permission and overstaying her time in the World of the Living. I have never heard of such charges warranting the extreme penalty."
Renji couldn't help but swallow hard. Thinking about it carefully, he too had initially believed Rukia wouldn't receive an overly severe punishment. When he first heard she was sentenced to the extreme penalty, he hadn't believed his own ears...
"Furthermore, the Gigai she used is to be immediately recovered and destroyed, her grace period was shortened from thirty days to twenty-five, and the Sōkyoku is being used. All of these details are highly irregular." Aizen slowly laid out his points of suspicion, concluding, "I believe this entire matter is being manipulated from start to finish. By a certain individual, or perhaps several."
Hinamori Momo, who had known Renji was visiting the barracks and wanted to come over to say hello, happened to overhear this conversation from outside the door. She silently asked the same question in her heart that Renji voiced aloud inside the room: "Who exactly are you talking about...?"
Who exactly could it be? Inside the Squad 8 Captain's office, Kyōraku Shunsui looked at the intelligence he had summarized on a piece of paper on his desk, attempting to connect it to various individuals.
The deployment of the Sōkyoku and the advancement of the execution date were both orders from Central 46. But why use the Sōkyoku, and why move the execution forward?
His gaze drifted to another section where the word 'Gigai' was written. Beneath it, he had noted 'Urahara Kisuke.' Was the Sōkyoku being used because of Urahara? No matter how he thought about it, it didn't align with Central 46's original intentions.
And as for moving the execution forward? Shunsui picked up his pen, drew a line connecting the Ryoka to Urahara, and then added a question mark.
According to the intelligence, Ichimaru Gin had single-handedly repelled the Ryoka. Although there were five of them, none were familiar faces. Urahara's interference might be involved, but could a force of that level actually stop the execution? Shunsui felt that Central 46 shouldn't be so overly cautious as to reach this extent.
It was a bit too rushed. So rushed that it felt like a race was taking place. A race between Central 46 and the Ryoka? With Kuchiki Rukia as the prize?
Shunsui vaguely felt he was heading in the right direction. Perhaps the prize wasn't Kuchiki Rukia, or perhaps the goals of Central 46 and the Ryoka were actually entirely different?
It might even be that the two sides of the race weren't Central 46 and the Ryoka at all. Given that the enemy had already been repelled, showing weakness first on their own side was simply absurd.
Since the running had already started, did that prove both parties in the race were already inside the Seireitei? The question was, who exactly was racing against Central 46?
Or perhaps, Central 46 was completely unaware of it!