Run? Was it even still possible to run?! Fear would inevitably lead to death. With resolute eyes, Ichigo swung his blade and took the initiative to charge at Kōe Shihouin, who was approaching them step by step. He had never once considered saving Rukia by hiding!
Kōe maintained his leisurely stroll. His figure flickered in and out of existence, like pages of a flipbook flipping rapidly. In one frame, the edge of Ichigo's blade was already pressing against his body; in the next, he had casually strolled behind his opponent.
Ichigo had seen this kind of miraculous footwork from Kuchiki Byakuya. Back then, the man had clearly appeared behind him, yet the blade had struck his chest, moving like a phantom.
But that was half a month ago. Ichigo spun around violently, sweeping his blade horizontally at Kōe, whose back was turned to him. He was no longer the weakling he had been half a month ago. Besides, the man in front of him wasn't as fast as that guy named Byakuya!
He swung at empty air once again. Kōe kept his gaze straight ahead, not even sparing Ichigo a glance. He walked directly up to Ishida Uryū, extended a hand, and said softly, "Hand her over."
His tone sounded conversational, but his words were an absolute command. Ishida stared at the palm extended in front of him. Did this man want Sayo, or did he want his life? Or perhaps both?
He couldn't stay here. When facing certain people, one had to be prepared to lose their life. The man standing before him was undoubtedly one of those people!
"Split up, Ichigo!"
"Sigh." Kōe let out a breath and retracted his empty right hand, glancing to the left where Ishida Uryū was fleeing. *'Taking what belongs to someone else and acting like the victim... Are people nowadays really this unreasonable?'*
*'Whatever. I might as well play with the little guy for a bit.'*
"Turning your back on me is way too arrogant, you bastard!"
Although Ishida appeared to be running away, Ichigo understood that he was trying to lure Kōe Shihouin away. After all, Sayo was still in Ishida's arms.
However, it wasn't certain who was covering for whom. As long as he could stall the man in front of him, Ishida would have a chance to rescue Rukia. He could see the man's movements; the gap between them wasn't insurmountable!
But was that really true? Had he actually seen Kōe Shihouin's movements?
Zangetsu hung suspended in midair, striking the exact spot where his opponent had just been standing. But now, the man named Kōe Shihouin had vanished.
Yes, vanished. Ichigo hadn't seen how he disappeared at all. Thinking back carefully, he hadn't even seen how the man appeared in the first place.
*'So he was just messing with me earlier? Damn it!'*
Just as Ichigo was about to give chase, a furious roar erupted from behind him. He hastily spun around, using the broad flat of his blade to block an incoming thrust. Abarai Renji's ferocious expression was even more obnoxious than his fiery red hair.
"You seem to have forgotten that I'm still here."
"Don't get in my way!"
"Didn't I tell you not to ignore me!" Knocked back, Renji ran his left hand along the blade of his Zanpakutō, transforming it into a broad, segmented sword with six jagged teeth. "Howl, Zabimaru!"
*'He's just a human, yet he didn't even spare me a single glance. It makes me feel even more like a stray dog! Either be torn apart by me, or tear me apart and go do what I don't have the courage to do...'*
"Looks like I won't be able to get past without taking care of you first, you annoying bastard. Then I'll give you exactly what you want!"
"Exactly what I wanted!"
The two blades clashed heavily. This single strike was evenly matched, with neither gaining the upper hand. Renji's heart was filled with contradiction, and the tension in Ichigo's chest was no less intense. He had to finish this guy off quickly, otherwise, Ishida would be in danger...
Danger? No, Shiba Miyako, who had recovered slightly, knew very well that they were currently on a path to certain death. As long as that man found them, there was no escape. Absolutely no escape.
From his initial, relentless Kidō experiments to his gradual confirmation that the Hōgyoku wasn't on her, Kōe Shihouin had never shown much emotional fluctuation. That was exactly what made him so terrifying. In this man's eyes, there were no people—only pawns to be used.
The widespread alarms that triggered before the Seireitei was invaded were Kōe's doing. Back at the Shin'ō Academy, he had planted minuscule, insignificant Kidō inside the bodies of the students. Once they graduated and scattered across the various squads of the Seireitei, he could cause these Kidō to collide with one another whenever needed. Although the resulting Reiryoku fluctuations caused no harm, they were more than enough to trigger the alarms.
There were very few things that could slip past him. This was Shiba Miyako's summary of Kōe after all these years. He was completely different from how Shiba Kaien had described him. His apathy was ingrained in his very bones. It was like a child smiling as they stomped on ants—not out of cruelty, but simply because they lacked empathy and did it for fun.
Would a man like that spare the two boys who had come into contact with him?
"I'm sorry, I need to help Ichigo, so I can't take you with me." Shiba Miyako looked up from his arms. Ishida's expression was incredibly gentle. "When you get the chance later, run away on your own. I will definitely protect you and make sure you get away safely, on..."
"On my pride as a Quincy."
The moment he saw Kōe, Ishida cradled Sayo in his left arm and raised his right hand into a combat stance, guarding against a sudden attack. Was this guy waiting for him?
"On your pride as a Quincy, huh..." Kōe was leaning against a wall, the corners of his mouth twitching up into what barely passed for a smile. Yet, to Ishida, this forced smile felt far more genuine than his previous demeanor.
"That outfit, the footwork you used to run away just now, and that talk about Quincy pride... You really are a Quincy, kid. It's just that your Hirenkyaku is a bit slow."
"I had to slow down so you wouldn't lose track of me. After all, our Quincy Hirenkyaku is much faster than your Shinigami Shunpo..."
"Faster?" Kōe was instantly in front of him again. Although he hadn't seen the movement, Ishida had anticipated Kōe's intentions. He preemptively used Hirenkyaku to weave between the buildings, not forgetting to leave behind a mocking remark. "That's right! It's much faster than your Shunpo, which crawls like a turtle!"
"Assuming you aren't a turtle yourself."
*'Behind me!'* Ishida violently spun around. A pale hand sliced through the air, leaving a visible trail in the empty space like a blade carving through reality. His left arm couldn't bypass it, folding cleanly in two along the edge of the trail.
"Gah, urgh..."
The iron grip around his neck continuously tightened, choking off his cries of pain while setting an impassable barrier for the free-flowing air.
"Abilities may have their highs and lows, but they are not an insurmountable chasm. You seem to have misunderstood something, kid."
Ishida struggled incessantly. Reflected in Kōe's stagnant eyes, he looked utterly pathetic. Even his right hand, which was gesturing for Sayo to run, resembled an ugly, withered branch that might scatter in the wind at any moment.
"I won't kill you just yet." Kōe suddenly loosened his grip. Ishida Uryū slid downward, collapsing to his knees as he gasped frantically for air. For a moment, even the agonizing pain in his broken left arm seemed insignificant.
"On your pride as a Quincy?" Shiba Miyako hadn't run far before she was entangled by a rope of light. Kōe Shihouin's voice drew closer and closer to her. "So, has your guarantee expired, or is your pride simply not worth mentioning?"
"Do you still have the guts to stand up? Why don't you ask yourself if you even have..." A blue arrow of light grazed past his temple. Kōe didn't dodge—or rather, he didn't need to. The arrow had been aimed off-target from the very beginning.
"Back then... it was you... who attacked us, wasn't it?" Ishida's pale lips twitched slightly. It couldn't even be called a smile, yet in Shiba Miyako's eyes, he looked incredibly confident. "I'm just taking back a little interest for now."
The black glasses frame fell to the ground, snapped in two. Kōe lowered his head and crushed it to pieces under his foot.
"So the answer is that you have pride? I'm not very satisfied with that."