A while back
If Rukia remembered correctly, Sora should be speaking with Aizen right now—either that or fighting Grimmjow—which kind of meant that the main man's attention would be on Sora. They could use that chance to escape, just like Sora had planned.
Rukia and Uryu moved swiftly, shadows flickering across the eerie halls as they ran.
For a while, neither spoke. There was no reason to—they were on a small five-minute window.
Sora had told her chances were that he would probably get instigated into losing his shit, so they had a small window of time before he got trigger-happy.
Then—
"You okay?" Rukia asked, glancing at Uryu out of the corner of her eye.
Uryu adjusted his glasses, ever the composed one. Couldn't be caught lacking in front of his brother's girlfriend. Next thing he knew, she might snitch on him.
"I'm fine. No reason to get so worried."
Rukia scoffed, clearly unconvinced. "Right. Because being locked up in some twisted psycho's prison is totally a minor inconvenience."
Uryu merely shrugged.
"You're really something, you know that?" she muttered, shaking her head.
A brief silence settled between them, broken only by the distant sounds of battle somewhere in Las Noches.
Then, Rukia spoke again—her voice softer this time.
"You know... Sora was so worried about you, he actually talked back to Captain Yamamoto."
Wait, for real? Sora spoke back to the man who had slammed dunked on him? The old man who hopped from the floor all the way up to Sora in the air... Mind you, Sora was 300 feet in the air before practically getting dunked on.
Didn't Sora get traumatized from that?
"...What?"
"He disrespected the old man's orders just to come get you."
A strange warmth filled Uryu's chest.
Sora... cared that much?
It wasn't that he thought Sora didn't care, but... to go so far as to challenge Genryūsai Yamamoto himself?
That was insane.
He glanced at Rukia, expecting her to be exaggerating, but her face was dead serious.
"Apparently, he said something about how he 'doesn't give a damn what some old fossil says' and that he was 'going to get his brother whether they liked it or not.'"
Uryu swallowed.
A part of him felt... touched.
Another part of him was deeply concerned that Sora had the nerve to disrespect Yamamoto of all people. Was Sora not scared of being dunked on again?
Then Rukia added, "Oh, and he also told me that if you ever said anything stupid, corny, or tried to act too cool and detached, I should personally smack you."
Uryu stiffened. How the fuck did Sora know him so well?
He had just been about to say something along the lines of, "Hmph. I knew he'd do something reckless for me."
But the moment he imagined Rukia's hand slamming into the back of his head, his instincts screamed at him to abort.
He cleared his throat.
"...I see. I'll keep that in mind."
Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You sure? Looked like you were about to say something."
"Absolutely not," he lied, stone-faced.
"Mhm. That's what I thought."
As they rounded a corner, the air suddenly grew... heavy.
And then—
A figure stepped into their path.
A ghost from the past.
Uryu immediately noticed Rukia's body tense.
Her breath hitched.
Her eyes widened.
Because standing before them was a man who looked exactly like—
"...Kaien-dono?" she whispered.
But Uryu?
Uryu felt nothing.
The momentary tension lasted only for Rukia.
For Uryu, this was just another enemy. His senses had been sharpened due to being so close to Sora... And that was a Hollow.
Without hesitation, he raised his bow, drawing in spiritual energy—
And fired.
The arrow pierced directly through the Espada's eye.
Bullseye.
The creature shrieked, its form shuddering and warping as its illusion collapsed.
The true form of Espada Number 9 was revealed.
A grotesque mass of flesh and countless absorbed souls, writhing together in a twisted amalgamation.
Uryu adjusted his glasses.
"It doesn't matter what that thing used to be. Right now, it's our enemy."
Rukia's hands clenched into tight fists.
"...You're right."
She stepped forward.
Her fingers tightened around her zanpakutō.
Her voice was cold. Final.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."
A pure white glow erupted as her shikai activated. The room's temperature plummeted.
Uryu took a step back.
He had never seen Rukia this furious before. As if she had seen a fraud {Yhwach}.
And then—
She attacked.
She unleashed hell.
It wasn't just a fight.
It was a massacre.
With every strike of her blade, the Espada cried out.
With every movement, ice spread like wildfire, trapping, encasing, suffocating.
Rukia was relentless.
Each blow carried the weight of Kaien's memory.
She was pissed that someone dared take his face. This seemed personal.
She would not allow this monster to mock his legacy.
Meanwhile, in the background, Uryu stood there, arms crossed, silently watching this one-sided obliteration.
And he made a mental note.
"Never. Ever. Piss Rukia off."
By the time she was done, the Espada was frozen solid.
Uryu adjusted his glasses again. "...Remind me to never be on the receiving end of your bad mood."
Rukia exhaled, sheathing her sword. "Then don't be an idiot."
"...Duly noted."
Uryu, from the corner of his eye, noticed a small Hollow. Deciding to be on the safer side, he took it and placed the Hollow in his pocket. If shit hit the fan, he could use his power on it.
A/N