"What happened?"
"What happened?"
"Why is everyone around missing?"
Mikami Asui felt panic begin to stir in her chest. She had heard Aizen Sōsuke explain his Zanpakutō's ability to create illusions through the random reflection of mist and water-but this experience felt far too vivid.
Suddenly, cold wind rushed past both her sides and blew the thick fog away.
Her surroundings cleared, revealing open wilderness. Although it was nighttime, there was no darkness. The sky overhead was open and high. A gleaming moon hung in place, illuminating everything with pale silver light.
Two enormous shadows loomed above her.
Their shapes were savage and terrifying, and drool dripped from the greedy maws of the monsters before her.
One word came to her mind immediately-Hollows.
Mikami looked up and saw two massive Hollows surrounding her. Each of them had that chilling hollow hole in their chest-a void that seemed ready to consume her whole.
Compared to them, she felt as fragile as glass underfoot.
Her hair bristled across her skin-cold sweat drenched her back.
Is this what death feels like?
Die! Death! Gone!
Tremors spread through her body. Since birth, she had not once been so close to the line between life and death-so aware that this could be the end.
Run!
Her instincts screamed it over and over again-Run!
Her heart begged for motion-but her legs refused to move. They had gone stiff and heavy with fear. Her body ignored every desperate signal coming from within.
Paralysis settled in completely.
Somehow, in that helpless moment, power erupted from inside her-like magma bursting free from stone.
Her entire body surged with pressure-as if some private universe had awakened within her and decided to burn for survival.
Soul, body-everything roared to life. Her eyes opened wide with intensity she hadn't known she possessed.
She could see everything around her clearly now-down to the smallest breeze brushing against her skin.
Every part of her felt alive and alert-on fire with purpose and intent.
What… what is this power?
Does being called "a genius" have anything to do with this?
Mikami bit down hard on her tongue-she tasted salt and iron immediately as blood filled her mouth.
Her vision shifted-everything looked redder than before.
Moonlight reflected across cold steel as she drew her sword from its sheath in one motion fully instinctual rather than planned.
She moved forward without hesitation and slashed at the creature before her-
Fast. Too fast to stop even if she wanted to.
It was the fastest sword she had ever swung in her life.
And it struck true-but it carried the sensation of cutting into air or cloud. The resistance wasn't there-it felt like the blade met water instead of flesh. Her strike lost its power instantly-as if crushed by some superior force far beyond her reach.
Extreme motion collapsed into unnatural silence in less than a second.
At that same moment, she heard it-glass breaking. The sound came from somewhere near her ear. It was delicate, thin as crystal-and then came the words:
"Break it-Mirror Flower, Water Moon."
"… Yeah. You three really surprised me."
Sōsuke Aizen's calm laughter rang close behind.
"Huh?"
Mikami tried to make sense of what just happened. She looked around again and realized-somehow-they were back in the square.
Opposite her was Captain Aizen-and she saw that he had stopped her full-force strike with only one finger.
On the far side stood Kanae and Juri-neither of them looked any better off. Both were pale with cold sweat on their faces-as if they'd seen similar shadows behind the fog too.
Mikami felt sweat trail down her cheek as realization settled in-
When she thought she was swinging at those Hollows-was she really attacking her best friends?
Is this what Kyōka Suigetsu does?
Only now did Mikami begin to understand what Aizen's Zanpakutō truly was capable of during its initial release.
Captain-level power-this is what it means?
Even though sunlight bathed the square now-her whole body trembled. Her hands went cold as wind passed over again-and it wasn't from exertion-it was fear.
Had she actually killed either of them...
Her stomach dropped at the thought. If either Kanae or Juri had died by her own hand-even by accident-she would've been buried beneath guilt even if she survived the mission itself.
They were shaken too-just as afraid as she was of what might've happened instead.
"No…"
Mikami's lips parted as another realization struck her-
"Wait-didn't I close my eyes before Captain Aizen released his Zanpakutō? Why did I…"
Sōsuke chuckled softly beside them-
"When did you start believing that 'Break it apart, Kyōka Suigetsu' is my Zanpakutō's command phrase?"
Mikami's thoughts halted completely-
No way…
"As soon as I unsheathed my Zanpakutō-and you saw its blade reflected-you were already under my Shikai."
His explanation rang in her ears-and everything finally clicked into place for Mikami Asui. What she thought had been reality had actually been illusion-the moment she heard "Break it…" for the second time was the exact moment the illusion itself broke apart from within.
Everything before that-the battlefield, the Hollows, the desperation-it had come from Kyōka Suigetsu alone…
And its power was horrifyingly complete for just being a Shikai.
Across the square, Yuta Hideki watched carefully as Aizen spoke. From the moment Sōsuke drew Kyōka Suigetsu, Yuta had felt it-a strange spiritual ripple pressing against his senses. He knew then that its ability had already begun taking effect… but no one else around him did.
Kyōka Suigetsu's true horror lay not in visual trickery-but in permanence. Once someone laid eyes on its release, that person was permanently caught in Aizen's trap-for life. No amount of logic or resistance could undo it once triggered. Whenever Aizen chose to reapply its illusions-they would fall victim again and again without warning or escape.
There were ways to resist-but only three known methods could break Kyōka Suigetsu's control:
One: touch the blade before release is complete.
Two: stay blind or avoid seeing its first activation entirely.
Three: possess spiritual pressure stronger than Aizen's-outright surpass him in power and presence alone.
Yuta clenched his teeth slightly at what he remembered next-
Tsunayashiro, one of Soul Society's noble families, passed down Enrakyōten-the oldest known Zanpakutō capable of copying others' abilities. It had once mimicked Kyōka Suigetsu successfully…
…but even then-it failed to match Kyōka Suigetsu's original strength unless wielded by someone with pressure greater than Sōsuke himself-which was no easy task on any front.
After fusing with the Hōgyoku, Aizen's spiritual pressure surpassed even that of Yamamoto Genryūsai-and became so vast that it could no longer be sensed by other Shinigami at their limit-levels.
To them… it was like trying to sense gravity itself while buried beneath rock-
It was unknowable-and insurmountable.
No one understood what Aizen became after merging completely with Hōgyoku-because no one could comprehend it anymore at their level of existence alone…
Even so-
Even against that kind of monster-
Yuta wanted to try anyway. He wanted to see if he could climb higher-to reach for spiritual pressure beyond what he knew now… beyond even Aizen Sōsuke himself.
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