Chapter 69: 1,000 Yr BWArc: Falling Apart

Minata's POV

"The Quincy leader . . ." I mumbled to myself I ran down the hallway, disgust echoing from my tone as Mizukiri, Todoroki, and a few other shinigami we wrangled together followed close at my heels. ". . . Why did it have to be the Quincy leader of all people!?"

"Are we even sure that it is the Quincy leader that's making his way into Muken though?" one of the shinigami asks, her tone almost sounding desperate to hope that it was such the case. "Couldn't it just be a low-level Quincy posing as a distraction?"

"That would imply that the Quincies were after something different somewhere else within this division, however, the only other person that they could possibly be interested in left the barracks to go out onto the field," I remind them, remembering how the Captain Commander left earlier. "No, this is definitely no distraction. The Quincies have a reason for going into the prison sector."

"Aizen. . ." I hear Todoroki utter, my eyes catching her head shaking in my periphery. "It has to be Aizen. Who else down in Muken is going to catch the Quincy leader's interest beside that fucking traitor?"

"But why though?" Another shinigami asks; judging from the sound of the voice, it was probably our newly appointed 20th Seat. "Why would he seek out Aizen now?!"

"Maybe he wants to join forces with him . . . You know, so he could eradicate the rest of us that much faster?"

"What a dreary thought to have Nobunaga!"

"What?!" Nobunaga bites back, stressing the word. "Considering the predicament our homeland is currently going through, can you blame me for having such a thought? Things are looking bleak for us, and unless something happens to turn the tide . . . well, I don't want to think about it."

"Man, you are depressing . . ."

"Well, he did come from the Third Division after all. Working under someone like Lieutenant Kira can do that to a person."

"Well, I guess it's nice to see that some of us can still joke around while our entire home world is in life-threatening danger. . ." I mumble, expecting a response from Mizukiri in kind.

I never got one, and when I turned my head to see what was wrong, my zanpakuto's desperate expression spoke volumes.

"Mizukiri, what's wrong?" I ask, speaking through our link. "What's the matter?"

"Master, can't you sense it?"

"Sense what?!"

"Senbonzakura, Captain Kuchiki . . . I can barely sense them."

"Well, we could barely sense them the last time we checked in on them. . ." I say, spotting the corridor that led toward the prison sector's entrance just up ahead. "Considering that we've only traveled further into the barracks, I'm sure the connection became that much worse."

"Master, I can still sense them, but Byakuya's spiritual pressure is weakening . . . And I can't sense Senbonzakura at all!"

Her words made me pause, and I almost tripped over myself as I let her words sink into my mind. Stretching my senses out, I find him, but to my horror, Mizukiri's words ring true.

Deathly true.

Byakuya was still alive, but barely, his spiritual pressure weakening minute by painful minute. As for Senbonzakura, I couldn't sense him at all. It wasn't like he had left the area or went back into his master's inner world.

He was gone.

Like he was never even there. . .

. . . And the pit in my stomach deepens even more.

Feeling no trace of a shinigami's zanpakuto was a major indicator that the shinigami was not long for this world, and as I felt the tears coming to my eyes, I braced myself for what was to come.

Byakuya . . . dying.

Living a life as a shinigami always meant that you were pursuing a career where your life would be on the line for as long as you lived in this world, but I always thought that Byakuya would always be one of the few to survive it all.

I always pictured him in the same vein as his grandfather: rising to the rank of captain at a very young age, working as a model shinigami and clan leader for a number of years before retiring to enjoy a simple life as an elder who watched over the latest generation of young talent.

I pictured the two of us together, throughout all those years. At first, it was simply as friends, but as our relationship grew and flourished, I pictured us closer than ever before.

Married . . . with children that inherited the best of the two of us.

A son that had his looks, but my eyes and disposition.

A daughter that would be my mini-me, but with a demeanor that would make her father proud . . .

I never pictured him dying young. With his power and acumen, it was just an unfathomable possibility.

And yet, it was still a possibility. . .

. . . Now becoming an unspeakable reality.

"Lieutenant Fukudome, are you okay?" I hear Todoroki ask, concern lacing her tone as I sensed a spike of spiritual pressure coming from the sector.

"I'll be fine," I manage to spit out as I bury my feelings deep, knowing that it was not the time to reflect on my beau's possible demise. "What we need to focus on is Muken. Be prepared! We need to be ready for anything!"

"YES MA'AM!" I hear them shout, just as the walls started to collapse around us.

Byakuya's POV

The pain . . . It is eviscerating.

I can barely move a millimeter before I'm overwhelmed by blistering sensations and open wounds all across my body, too piercing for me to move, to even scream for help.

Now that's a peculiar thought. . .

. . . Me, screaming for help.

How am I even still alive?

I can feel the wind along my open ribs . . . I know that half of my left arm has been ripped away . . .

I was absolutely decimated in my battle against the Quincy. From the moment that I allowed my bankai to be stolen from me, I knew that the odds were not in my favor.

But to be defeated so thoroughly?

But to be defeated like I was nothing?

It's disheartening, defeating . . .

It's a shame to my office as a captain.

It's a shame to my position as a clan leader.

The clan . . . How are they faring in this mayhem?

Have they been attacked yet? Have the Quincies decided to ignore them for the sake of eradicating all the active shinigami first?

Where is Rukia? Renji?

Mina . . ?

I can't sense anything. I can't sense anyone. . . My body has been so depleted, that I fear I may not be long for this world.

I feel like I am dying, and I couldn't do anything to stop them.

I've failed to protect my home.

I've failed to protect my subordinates.

I've failed to protect my division.

Rukia, Mina, Renji . . . I've failed them all.

Renji respected me as captain and a warrior, but I could barely put a scratch on my opponent.

Rukia trusted me as her older brother, but I failed that trust by not stopping the threat, allowing them to take my bankai to terrorize and raze our home even more.

Mina . . .

. . . I never got the chance to tell her I loved her.

I never got the chance to propose to her.

I wonder what she's doing now . . . Does she have any idea what happened to me?

Did she sense what happened?

Knowing her, it's possible she did.

"Byakuya?"

"Ku . . . Kurosaki?" I couldn't help but think as the sound of his voice registered in my head. It was a pain to look up, but I somehow managed to do it, seeing the orange haired teen standing mere feet away from me, his face entirely unreadable.

"You're awake after all. Good . . . Renji's alive, and so is Rukia," he mumbles, turning his head to look around. The sudden hitch in his voice when he said my sister's name . . . Maybe there is more to their relationship than what I previously thought after all. "Oh, your girlfriend is fine too. I can sense her spiritual pressure from here. It definitely doesn't feel happy, but it's certainly active . . . Rukia was right. You picked a strong one to be with Byakuya."

"So, they're all alive then . . ." I think, their faces flashing in my mind as relief somehow took hold of me. "That, that is good to hear . . . Kurosaki, I must apologize."

His eyes slightly widen at my words, but he remains silent, allowing me the benefit of continuing.

"This, this battle. . . It's not your war. It shouldn't have been your war, and yet here you are," I start off, somehow managing to keep my gaze leveled with his. "As a captain, I swore to protect and uphold the sanctity of Soul Society, and I am ashamed to say that I have failed today."

"I failed to stop the enemy from invading this world. I regret that they have killed so many fellow shinigami. Subordinates, friends, family; they all have to suffer through unimaginable losses because we weren't strong enough to stop the onslaught, to stop all this bloodshed. . . You're a human. You never needed to involve yourself in this world's affairs, but you did, and was successful at every turn. . ."

"And now I ask for you to do it again. . ." I concede, watching as he turned his head to the side, his face still unreadable, though his eyes told a different tale. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you have great power, and you have used it as a way to protect others. Now you must use it here, for the sake of the Soul Society. Protect this world. Do what you must to end this carnage. . ."

Without a word, he leaves, shooting up into the atmosphere before turning west, likely going toward the heart of the action. . . As if I expected anything less of him.

"No yelling. . . No direct proclamations; just silence and a stare," I mused. ". . . I understand it though. No words could match the rage. . . in. . . his eyes."

I could barely hear my own words as my vision started to fade. Whatever grip I had on what remained of my zanpakuto loosened at that moment, and as I slowly looked down, I watched as it disintegrated, crumbling into nothingness as I started to fall.

Goodbye . . . old friend. . .

A/N: Remember that author's note last chapter? Particularly how I wrote about Byakuya's journey taking a different route? Yeah, I'm getting to that in the next chapter, most likely. . . As a hint for what's to come, let's just say a blast from Byakuya's past is going to make an appearance.

Anyway, please review!