Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach franchise it is owned by Tite Kubo.
The Contingency
Part II
Would you like to know what I have seen, brother?
I see myself fulfilling the command the Emperor gave me. I see the seals binding his body, holding him in place as the lynchpin that in turn holds reality together, break. I see his power gushing forth, a tidal wave of darkness marked with countless all-seeing eyes.
I see the Soul King Palace overwhelmed, the Royal Guard consumed and their power robbed to restore the Emperor. Just like the Gemischt were robbed of their powers nearly twenty years ago. Auswahlen…but no longer limited to the Quincy.
And then what?
I see the Seireitei drowning in the power that overflows from on high. I see the Human World breaking apart, as does Hueco Mundo, and the Vandenreich. Countless people die, their souls cast shrieking into the chaos where once they orderly passed between realms, hollows forming as fear and terror consume them and they consume one another in turn, the worlds breaking and what's left merging together into…
…that which must not be.
Let us leave it at that brother. I looked away before I can see more of the madness that the Emperor seeks to return to reality.
There's no need for either of us to be even more haunted by such a dark might have been.
But I do want to see you. And I do see you, along with the choices you make. And the most important of them all, around which your futures pivot, is the one you choose to stand by your side.
Did you know? In more than half the futures I can see with the Almighty, you choose Orihime Inoue. Perhaps that says something about you, that the two of you are fated to be. Though I wonder, if you knew that, would you choose her? Would you allow something so cruel, inhuman, and uncaring, as fate leash you?
I do not know, brother. Even the Almighty, it seems, is blind to such a thing.
Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned there. It doesn't matter. Not here. Not now.
What matters is that the futures where you choose Inoue always end in either your greatest happiness or your greatest despair. And it always comes down to the sum and product of your love.
…ha. Listen to me. I sound so dramatic. Maybe it's the Almighty getting to me, but that too doesn't matter.
Love is a double-edge sword, brother. It can hurt as well as comfort, can tear out your heart as easily as it can give you strength in the darkest and coldest of nights.
I know that quite well.
After all, did I just not destroy the happy and peaceful life you had built for yourself these past ten years? Did I just not undo the Emperor's plan to return and finish what he started?
How could I not? You're my brother, my other half. Even if I don't truly know you, I can't bring myself to let the Emperor force you to drink the cup of despair he's poured out for you.
I can't…I won't!
…Kazui…Kazui is the key…in so many futures I see him become a Shinigami. Such power he has…he can become stronger than you, you know. A Shinigami with the powers of a Hollow and a Quincy…stronger than me, even, a Quincy with the powers of a Shinigami and a Hollow.
And that is something the Soul Society cannot forgive. Perhaps…once every few generations…and properly harnessed for their own purposes…I see it. But Kazui…he is one too many.
I see pain…sorrow…despair…
…I look away.
In other futures I see Kazui turns away from the path you and I have chosen. He lives his life as an ordinary Human, and for a while I see contentment. But inevitably…something goes wrong. A truck driver falls asleep at the wheel. A pandemic sweeps across the globe. A wrong turn leads to a knife in the dark. A broken heart leads to an empty bottle of sleeping pills.
So many ways to end in despair…
…regardless, Kazui is the fulcrum on which the future of your relationship with Inoue balances. And should that fulcrum crumble, well…
…that said, do not think there are no futures where Kazui avoids such pitfalls, and despair is withheld from you for a time. Like I said, it is not simply the greatest despair that your futures with Inoue end in, but also your greatest happiness.
But…you already know what awaits you down those roads. They all end the same way, with the Emperor's shadow looming over the paths of the future. Do not think the Emperor had only one contingency in place. I am but one of many, and I fear there are others that even I cannot see with the Almighty.
Other futures exist. So many are strange…would you believe there are futures where you live out a perfectly ordinary and unremarkable life with Tatsuki? Or how about the ones where you spend a thousand years and more in exile in Hueco Mundo, wandering the sands under the eternal moon with a certain green-haired Arrancar?
Perhaps it's too much for you believe.
I will not choose those futures.
There is too little contentment for you in them, because you have known more, and you will always want more.
Even if the Emperor can never return in those futures, I would not let you live such twilit lives.
But…then what?
I see them.
Second only in number to the ones where you choose Inoue are the futures where you choose her. Rukia Kuchiki…the one who opened the doors to the power in your soul, and introduced you to the greater supernatural world around us.
One could even say that she has as much claim to be fated with you as Inoue does, though I see that many would contest this.
It doesn't matter.
Know this, brother. In all the futures where you choose Rukia, you can never experience the greatest happiness, nor the greatest despair. You will never know lasting peace either, for one way or another, your future will be irrevocably tied to Soul Society.
There will be battles and wars to come. Sousuke Aizen was not the first nor the last enemy to challenge Soul Society. The Emperor was only the greatest threat to Soul Society's reign over the supernatural world.
Others…so many others…I see them…
…and I see you…you and Rukia…at times fighting side-by-side…at other times back-to-back…and I see you and her, chasing an uncertain future together…
…but I also see contentment. For every century of war and battle, there will two or three more of fleeting peace. A thousand and more years to slowly gain wisdom, to tie your fates together, and though you and her will wonder at what might have been, you will always find the answer together.
And the Emperor can never return.
How can he? You will never be at your happiest.
But you will be content. In a way, that too is happiness in its entirety.
…shall we end this, brother? This is my first, and last gift to you, by the power of the Almighty.
I wish you well, in all the battles and struggles to come.
Goodbye.
Ichigo's eyes sprang wide as he jolted awake, his knees striking his desk with a loud thud. "What was that?" he asked himself, looking around him. His office looked the way it'd always been for several years now, and even to his spiritual senses, nothing seemed out of place.
And yet…
…he couldn't help but feel…
…as though…something…
"Did you fall asleep at your desk again, Captain Kurosaki?" Rukia asked, the last two words of her sentence spoken with a mocking undertone, though there was nothing malicious to it.
"Ha, ha, ha…" Ichigo faux-laughed. Rukia raised an eyebrow, and then slightly lowered her head.
"Is something wrong, Ichigo?" she asked softly.
Ichigo gave her a look, and then after a few moments, sighed. "Nothing…" he said, only for Rukia to scoff.
"I've known you for nearly twenty years now," she said, walking over to stand right in front of his desk, and then leaning closer, until their faces were barely a couple of inches apart. There was a time when this would have seemed oddly inappropriate, but now…
"And so I know when something's up." Rukia finished.
Ichigo snorted, and then gave her a small smile. "Yeah," he said with a teasing touch. "And more than that even."
"Stop that!" Rukia snapped with a small blush, and Ichigo laughed.
"Fine, fine," he said. "But back to your question, yeah, something's…off. It's like…I don't know. I don't really remember anymore. Just a sense of wrongness, but it's gone now. Well, more like it's fading away…"
Ichigo trailed off while scratching his head, and then he shrugged. "Eh, it's probably nothing." He said. "Just a bad dream."
"I warned you not to eat those duck's eggs last night." Rukia primly said. "But no, you just had to be all macho, always competing with Ikkaku or Captain Iba."
"Oh really?" Ichigo replied deadpan. "Then, how about all those little competitions you and the rest of the SWA get up to all the time? Like last's year…GAH!"
"Yes, well." Rukia said with a cough, and pulling back her hand from having pinched Ichigo's shoulder. "Never mind about that. Anyway, the Captain-Commander's sent out a bulletin…"
"Not again." Ichigo groaned, turning away to rest his chin against an elbow. "What is it this time? A pool party over the weekend? A bring-your-own-date dinner party this evening? Cherry blossom viewing even when it isn't in-season?"
Rukia laughed, walking behind Ichigo and massaging his shoulders. "Well, that's part of the bulletin." She said, and laughed again as Ichigo gave another groan. "It can't be helped. You know that's just how Captain-Commander Kyouraku is like. At least he's much more easygoing compared to Captain-Commander Yamamoto. Believe me, you probably wouldn't have been able to ease into your duties as Thirteenth Division Captain at your own pace if the latter were still in charge."
"…I guess I should cut Kyouraku some slack, then." Ichigo said with a sigh. Then reaching up with a hand, he placed it on top of Rukia's own, who then placed her other hand on top, and squeezed gently. "Thanks."
"No problem." She said, the two of them sharing a fond smile. "Anyway…onto the rest of the bulletin. The Captain-Commander wants to hold a memorial service for everyone who died during the war twelve years ago, and as part of Captain Ukitake's konsou reisai ceremony."
"Huh…that's not a bad idea." Ichigo conceded, taking the paper Rukia offered him from out of her sleeve, and gave it a quick read. "Hmm…well, he won't get any arguments from me, not that my opinion really matters. Ouch! Hey!"
"Be polite, Ichigo." Rukia chided, having pinched his shoulder again.
"Yeah, yeah." Ichigo said. "Well, I guess I ought to send an acknowledgement letter back to Kyouraku. That, and see if there's anything we can propose for the memorial service."
Rukia nodded. "I'll get right on it both." She said.
"Spread the word around the division." Ichigo said. "I'm sure everyone can put together more than a few good ideas. We'll look it over once they're all in, and send the best over for Kyouraku and Nanao to make the final decision."
"Sounds good."
"Thanks, Rukia."
"No problem, Ichigo."
With another nod, Rukia left Ichigo's office. He stretched his arms overhead, and then turning his head, sighed at the sight of the stack of paperwork on one side of his desk. "Why did I decide to accept this job again?" he asked himself, as he took the topmost sheet, and began to read it through.
As he fell into his daily routine once more, the bad feeling Ichigo had sensed earlier likewise fell into the back of his mind, and forgotten soon after.
A/N
And here's the second part. Hikari basically used the Almighty, enhanced by the sacrifice of the Juureichi (why do you think she deliberately went to the middle of Karakura Town before using the Almighty), to rewrite the past ten years.
All to ensure her brother can never be at his happiest, because doing so would allow Yhwach to return…as well as to keep him from his saddest. In the futures she witnessed with the Almighty, the Rukia Route (ha!) essentially walks the middle path, ensuring the conditions for Yhwach's return never happens. At the same time, this means Ichigo can never be completely happy, but he will be content, because he has Rukia with him, along with everyone else in Soul Society.
In any case, contentment with what is does seem to be a major theme in Bleach.
As for what happened to Hikari after using the Almighty…I'll keep that ambiguous. Maybe I'll write more about her in the future. I might even write more about Ichigo and Rukia's time together in Soul Society going forward. For now, though, this story is complete.