Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

Although there were other reasons he had to do it, for Yoruichi, this reason was enough.

Or rather, this reason alone was more than enough.

Kōe held her even tighter. The empty cave was silent; this was their world, filled only with the sound of each other’s heartbeats. This sincere rhythm was powerful proof that as long as they had each other, the world was still gentle to them, and they were still a source of warmth to the world.

Her tightly clenched fists had unknowingly relaxed. Yoruichi’s heroic eyes had curved into two intoxicated crescent moons. The dignified Shihōin Yoruichi actually becoming someone’s weakness—something usually seen as a disgrace—sounded so incredibly sweet right now.

Actually, they just needed to find a way to leave again, just like when she rescued Urahara from Central 46 a century ago. There was always a way, not to mention that dead-fish-eyes had two swords, so their chances were even greater...

*Wait.* Although the atmosphere was a bit inappropriate, Yoruichi’s thoughts uncontrollably drifted to a strange place. Perhaps, this was the direction she should have been focusing on all along.

”I understand everything now.”

”Understand what?”

Despite calculating every step so meticulously, Kōe was surprisingly idiotic when it came to intuition. Just as he was feeling both amused and helpless at Yoruichi’s denseness, a heavy punch to his stomach made the choice for him.

*Cry. No reason needed, just cry immediately!*

*What is this situation!* His body flew backward uncontrollably. Kōe could never have anticipated Yoruichi’s attack this time. Was this how she expressed her love? Some unknown, bizarre custom of the Shihōin clan?

”Are you even a woman, Shihōin Yoruichi?” Kōe asked in dissatisfaction through gritted teeth. He wasn’t one to suffer in silence, even if the perpetrator was Yoruichi.

However, he was destined to take the loss this time. Yoruichi lightly uttered a name, making him swallow all his subsequent complaints.

”Old Thief Ao...” Kōe’s heart skipped a beat. The words Yoruichi squeezed through her teeth next chilled his heart completely. ”You almost slipped by me again, Kōe Shihouin.”

From the moment Kōe released his second Zanpakutō on Sōkyoku Hill, Yoruichi had faintly felt something was wrong. If a battle hadn’t occurred then, or even if the person fighting wasn’t Kōe, she probably would have immediately realized that she had actually seen this sword before.

Old Thief Ao. This old bastard she had mobilized Squad 2 to search for over the span of no less than thirty years had actually been right in front of her all along. She used to think Kōe had been led astray, but looking at it now, he had been a bastard since childhood!

Later, because Aizen escaped due to her own slip-up, a somewhat guilty Yoruichi had overlooked Kōe’s own peculiarities. Actually, it couldn’t be called overlooking; it was just that this guy always did things beyond common sense, making the people around him somewhat used to it.

”W-Well, I never intended to deceive you guys. I said when I was a kid that I had two swords,” Kōe explained in a panic. ”It was all Old Man Yama, he made it a top secret and wouldn’t let me leak it.”

”I said I understand everything now.”

The Complete Hypnosis of Kyōka Suigetsu, possessing two Zanpakutō... For a Shinigami, the talents of both Aizen Sōsuke and Kōe Shihouin were far too dangerous. Two beasts whose fangs grew sharper as they grew; just giving them time to grow was unsettling.

It wasn’t strange at all that Old Man Yama would classify this matter as top secret, even keeping it from the great noble clans. There might be some intent to control, but it was mostly for protection.

Yoruichi could understand this point, but...

”Was running away from our wedding also some top-secret mission?” Her knuckles cracked as she clenched them, laughing out of extreme anger. ”Also, how are you going to settle the score with Old Thief Ao? Seppuku?”

*It’s over, it’s over.* Kōe’s throat dropped. It seemed she really did understand everything. ”I-I can explain...”

”Right now, you can’t.”

”Ah!”

”Running away from the wedding, your legs are pretty agile, huh!”

”I had my reasons, ah!!”

”Reasons that meant you couldn’t even stay one more day?”

”Then would I have been able to bear leaving? You underestimate... don’t scratch my face, don’t!”

Rocks shattered, dust filled the air. This cave beneath Sōkyoku Hill seemed to have never known true peace.

Just as Urahara said, as long as Kōe and Yoruichi were together, they would always inexplicably get into arguments. This was the unique way these two interacted.

As long as they were together, this world seemed to remain childish and pure.

”So, did those two childish fools play so hard they forgot about business, or did they think they didn’t need to tell me the results?”

In the World of the Living, Urahara finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the news Tsukabishi Tessai brought back. ”Kōe should be able to handle the aftermath well, we don’t need to worry, Tessai.”

”But according to Kūkaku’s intelligence, Aizen retreated completely unscathed. The situation isn’t good at all, Boss.”

”Since it’s already happened, we just need to prepare our response,” Urahara said, unable to hold back a yawn, seemingly truly exhausted. ”Besides, it’s not entirely without good news. At least this time, we won’t be as miserable as we were a hundred years ago. We can let loose.”

Unlike Tsukabishi Tessai, in Urahara’s view, the Sōkyoku being destroyed, only Aizen’s trio leaving the Seireitei, and Kōe and Yoruichi being safe and sound—all of this was good news.

Perhaps Aizen Sōsuke was a dangerous figure, but as long as the Hōgyoku existed, anyone with intentions who controlled it could become a dangerous figure. Therefore, how to handle the Hōgyoku was the problem he had always been thinking about.

If there was a way to destroy the Hōgyoku, even if it required Urahara himself to go to the Seireitei, he would definitely take the risk and go once, destroying it at all costs.

Unfortunately, such a method didn’t exist. Therefore, the Seireitei might be the best battlefield to deal with Aizen, but it was absolutely not the perfect place to handle the Hōgyoku; in fact, it was the worst place.

If Aizen truly fell in the Seireitei, the Hōgyoku would inevitably be left behind. From then on, endless disputes surrounding the Hōgyoku were completely foreseeable. As for whether these disputes would be effective?

Yamamoto might be able to block swords in the open, but he couldn’t block the human hearts in the dark. The Seireitei indeed had a long history, but that didn’t mean time couldn’t destroy it. It knew very well itself that whether it was the external Gotei 13 or the internal Maggot’s Nest, what it had always been doing was avoiding getting hurt.

One careful treatment was enough. After hesitating for a century, it was long past time to put an end to it.

Since they held the idea of making a complete end of it, they had to bear the corresponding risks and have the resolve for complete failure. Urahara believed that this conviction of his had already been conveyed to Kōe from the moment Rukia was brought back to the Seireitei.

At the same time, he also understood Kōe’s response. From the moment the other party didn’t leave with Aizen, that attitude had become completely clear.

Let the rust-mottled clock belonging to the Seireitei start ticking once more.

Although they had failed once before, this time, they just might succeed.