#HE SHATTERED KOMAMURA'S BANKAI

[keikakudori]

did you think you could simply bury me under superior numbers and brute strength? HOW NAIVE.

personals do not reblog.

requested by @godkilller

[recurring-polynya]

Once again, I am thinking about the dubious claim that people make from time to time that Renji would have gotten better character development in the TYBW arc if Byakuya had died. The thing is, though, that Renji did get excellent character development in this arc, particularly with respect to his relationship to Byakuya, it was just very subtle and I want to talk about it.

So, the first thing I want to point out is that the captain-lieutenant relationships is one of the major themes of the TYBW. A lot of this is sort of weird and awkward, but this is perfect, actually, because captain-lieutenant relationships are, for the most part, weird and clunky and awkward. Take for example, the part that I always make fun of, where the captains are told not to go to bankai, and Hitsugaya, Komamura, Byakuya and Soi Fon immediately go to bankai-- but they all do this on the assumption that they are luring their opponent into a trap to see how this works, and that their lieutenant will somehow ??defeat them anyway?? (well, except Soi Fon who seems to think she can one-shot her Quincy). There’s Sasakibe’s funeral, where we find out that Yamamoto cared far more for him than we ever imagined. Kyouraku returns Nanao’s zanpakutou to her and stands behind her as she defeats an opponent he can't. Iba carries Komamura’s body off of the battlefield as he loses the last of his humanity. Isane struggles to keep her head above her grief because that’s the burden Unohana left her with. Rose avenging Kira. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto fighting and (sort of) dying together. The Zaraki-Yachiru thing. The Mayuri-Nemu thing. Momo and Shinji actually got to have a relatively normal one, which they each deserved, but at least they got to have normal one together. Anyway, that could be an entire essay, but as usual, I only want to talk about Renji and Byakuya.

Renji’s introduction as a character happens in stages. Initially, he sort of appears to be Byakuya’s sidekick-- he's here to do the dirty work during Rukia’s arrest, while Byakuya stands by and calls the shots, but even early on, it’s clear that Renji’s a little hung up on Byakuya. He’s trying to impress him, and gets more embarrassed and self-conscious as things go progressively pear-shaped. When Byakuya finally enters the action, Renji’s thought bubbles reveal that he’s watched Byakuya for a long time, that he knows all his moves. When we get the Renji backstory reveal a few issues later, we learn that Renji’s goal is to defeat Byakuya, which he seems to feel is necessary to seeing Rukia again, even though there has never been any sort of causal link revealed between these two things. Don’t get me wrong, if Young Academy Renji had tried to continue to be friends with Rukia, I think Byakuya would have kicked him out on his ass, but it’s clear that a lot of Renji’s hang-ups are internal-- he doesn’t want to face Rukia again until he can stand against Byakuya. I think the origin of this is that he simply wants what’s best for Rukia, and he can’t stomach the idea of asking her to leave her rich, noble family for him, unless, of course, he’s somehow better than Byakuya in some dimension, and the only thing Renji’s ever considered himself good at is fighting.

Even more interesting is that he’s chosen to go about this by... studying the man’s every move and becoming his lieutenant. But for as much energy as Renji has put into learning Byakuya’s favorite combat moves, he doesn’t actually know anything about him as a person. He’s shocked when Rukia predicts that Byakuya won’t lift a finger to help her, and then horrified when this actually comes to pass. A few chapters later, as he’s running Hinamori through, Aizen comments that “Adoration is the state furthest from understanding.” I would probably classify Renji’s feelings towards Byakuya more as admiration or idolization, rather than adoration, but I think this statement is also very true of Renji and Byakuya’s relationship. Unlike poor Momo, Renji gets a little more time and opportunity to do something with this information. With a little Ichigo-forced soul searching, he realizes that he’s not going to come out the hero of this story no matter what, but if he doesn’t do something, Rukia’s not going to come out of this story at all, and even if he’s not really ready, he’s spent 40 years trying to figure out how to beat Kuchiki Byakuya, let’s hope all that was good for something.

The Byakuya-Renji fight has no direct impact on the events of the Soul Society Arc. It makes Byakuya show up to Rukia’s execution 5 minutes late and without his scarf. Renji gets healed, so it really doesn’t matter all that much to him, either. You could argue that they both wasted a bunch of energy (that they could have used to fight Aizen later) but it’s primarily a character-driven moment of them both drawing lines in the sand about where they stand, vis a vis Rukia. Byakuya wins this fight, and he wins it handily, but he’s wrong, as he comes to realize a few issues later, when Ichigo kicks his ass and tells him he’s a bad brother, a lesson that Byakuya will take to heart for the rest of the manga. Byakuya claims that the difference between Renji and himself is class, but the real difference between is the heart, and in the long run, Renji is the real victor of this fight.

The hospital scene is an interesting footnote to this. Byakuya defeated Renji, but Byakuya was the asshole and everyone knows it. There’s an expectation that perhaps Renji will quit or perhaps Renji will give him an earful and perhaps even Rukia will choose to leave the family, either to go to the Living World or to be with Renji (and Byakuya would deserve this), but instead, both Renji and Rukia give Byakuya another chance, which is not, I think, a place Renji ever expected to be.

Rukia and Byakuya building up a sibling relationship after this is fairly straightforward (although I’m sure it had its weird moments), but Byakuya and Renji now have this profoundly awkward relationship where Byakuya is obviously in charge, but he sort of depends on Renji as a personal compass because he’s shit at dealing with people and he doesn’t want to screw stuff up with Rukia again. Take for example, the part of the Hueco Mundo arc where Orihime is kidnapped and Rukia and Renji desert their posts to come help rescue her. Kubo takes to the panel-space to tell us that Byakuya has tacitly approved this. As a clan head and a captain, a person who is entrenched in the hierarchy of Soul Society, Byakuya couldn’t possibly go to Hueco Mundo-- but he can turn a blind eye while his sister and lieutenant scurry out through the Kuchiki family senkaimon. Renji, for his part, tried to go to Hueco Mundo through official channels and got shot down. We don’t know what Renji would have done if Byakuya had explicitly forbidden him from going, but it doesn’t matter-- Byakuya enabled Renji to follow his heart here, because Byakuya can’t. Rukia would have gone to Hueco Mundo regardless. She cares about Byakuya, but she doesn’t depend on him for validation the way Renji does.

I said this was going to be about the TYBW, so let’s get to that. Early in the arc, we’re shown several scenes where it’s clear that Byakuya respects and values Renji as a lieutenant, but he’s also pretty damn patronizing to him. Renji is the first one to engage As Nodt, and when Byakuya shows up, he acts surprised that Renji hasn’t taken him out yet, but then proceeds to take over the fight (real, “stand back, fives, an eleven has arrived” energy). After Byakuya then loses his bankai like a doofus, Renji wants to take point so that Byakuya can figure out As Nodt’s attack and Byakuya won’t let him... and then proceeds to get thrashed.

This has to be one of the most emotionally charged fights in Bleach. Byakuya is losing, and Renji jumps in, absolutely incensed that As Nodt would use Senbonzakura against Byakuya. Renji isn’t doing great, but he’s not doing terrible when Byakuya gets up and tries to help Renji, even though he’s a big bloody mess. As Nodt reacts by shredding Byakuya into chunks, and Renji just loses it, and if Mask de Masculine hadn’t shown up and kicked him halfway across the Seireitei, I daresay Renji would have killed himself trying to take down As Nodt.

This is where I usually make the point that if Byakuya had died to here, it would have broken Renji into little pieces, but that’s not today’s essay. Instead, everyone goes to the Royal Realm, and by virtue of the fact that Byakuya is injured worse than everyone else, Renji has to go forward without him or his approval.

In typical Renji fashion, the thing that motivates Renji here is not glory or heroism, but the desire to accompany Ichigo, the need to be with his friends in their times of trial. In fact his companionship here is absolutely essential-- at Hikifune’s, Ichigo expresses deep doubts that he’s doing the right thing, and Renji reminds himself that if he wants to protect others, he has to take care of himself first.

At Nimaiya’s however, Renji and Ichigo are split up because they must follow their own paths. The other extremely interesting thing that happens here is that Renji’s sword is reforged. Byakuya shattered one of Hihio Zabimaru’s joints the very first time Renji used them in combat. Renji brushed it off at the time, saying that he could get by without it. Even though Byakuya has long been his motivating force and his mentor, he’s also been held back by his connection to him. And at this point, it’s gone.

I really wish we got to see where Renji and Rukia meet up again, but we don’t. Unlike with Ichigo, though, Rukia doesn’t seem to need anything from Renji. They travel together, fight together as equals, wear matching outfits, like you do. Oh. Wait. After all this time, in the 493 chapters between Needless Emotions and Blue Stripes, Renji can finally see himself as an equal to Rukia. They get. bankai. Together.

I want to emphasize that it’s not really anything about Rukia herself that allowed Renji to make bankai, it’s the fact that he’s finally managed to move past the feeling that he’s not enough. Defeating Byakuya would not actually have solved this problem, and having Byakuya dying in front of him wouldn’t have either. Renji gets criticized for losing a lot of his fights, but that’s such a key to his character. He’s not always the strongest, he doesn’t always win, but he keeps fighting for what he cares about. He struggles with his need for approval, for external validation, but Renji is at his best when he doesn’t have time to think about that, when he’s just fighting by his friends’ sides against impossible odds, doing what he knows in his heart is right.

I think people tend to make a little more than is strictly necessary of the line where he tells Mask that he’s “a villain”, I think he’s most just making fun of Mask’s own self-aggrandizement. On another level, though, this is just Renji being at ease with himself. Byakuya typically enters a fight bloviating about the honor of Soul Society and “how dare you raise your sword against me, the 28th Head of the Kuchiki” and even Ikkaku had the whole deal about telling people your name before you kill them, but Renji is more like “you beat up my friends, so I’m gonna break your face,” like there’s no ego in it, just you’re there, and he’s there, and then you’re lying on the ground and he’s taking a nap somewhere. This is so different than the insecure, posturing young man he was at the start of this series and I love this growth for him.

Even after he eventually meets up with Byakuya again, something has changed about their dynamic. The group gets split up and rejoined two or three times, and Renji and Rukia always stay together while Byakuya ends up fighting alongside others, Hisagi and later Hitsugaya and Zaraki. This is cemented in their last scene together, where Rukia and Renji try to stay with Byakuya and he sends them off to fight with Ichigo by saying “your help is not needed here.” In some ways, it’s an echo of Byakuya sending them off to Hueco Mundo, but in other ways, it’s acknowledging that they are their own people, not just an extension of him.

Hitsugaya follows it up with this:

There’s more here than meets the eye, though-- Byakuya and Renji have maintained a pretty strict superior-subordinate relationship, because that’s the easiest way for them to make sense of the world, but the fact is, they do care about each other and are important to one another.

I know there would be a certain narrative satisfaction in seeing Renji make captain at the end-- he’s one of the hardest working people in Bleach, and it frankly seems weird to see Iba get the haori when he doesn’t. But Renji has never wanted to be a captain. Renji becoming captain would, in some ways, be a failure. He spends years pre-canon chasing rank and prestige because that’s what he thinks will make him worthy, and it didn’t. Instead, he found worth in being himself, in loving his friends and being there for them, in learning things from Byakuya and teaching him things in return. Renji doesn’t need to be Byakuya’s lieutenant anymore, he just does it because he likes it. It makes him happy. What better character development is there than that?

[littleeyesofpallas]

You still havent talked about the "magic pants" properties of the Shuhakusho. Ayon tore half of Rangiku´s shuhakusho (alongside her torso) but after she was healed her robes were intact. After Ichigo almost fully hollowified trainning with the vizards the "shell" around Ichigo fell apart, but he had a new set of clothes under it, when the shell had formed under his original set. Are these just artistic concession for modesty or are the shinigami uniforms magic? (there you have an excuse to talk about Shutara again)

Yeah... I don't know that Kubo was ever consistent enough to draw any real conclusions about it, but for sure there are some examples of odd cases with the shihakushou we can look at.

For one, the first example of it we really get is pretty specific: Ichigo takes his original substitute powers from Rukia, and while he suits up, she's left in only the white underrobe. And when Ichigo gains his own powers in the shattering shaft, he's materialized his robes with no contact with Soul Society. It really seems like it's just a part of the powers. Originally Zangetsu himself was dressed in shihakusho as he was clearly meant to be the embodiment of Ichigo's shinigami powers. (It was only in later appearances that Kubo simplified his look into just the loose single white collar.)

But at the same time, Renji shows up in a casual nonuniform kimono, so it seems like Shinigami can just wear regular clothes; and that kind of thing shows up semi frequently during the SS arc. By itself doesn't mean much, but all I can really do here is build some kind of context... Yoruichi also doesn't wear a shihakusho very often, even in flashbacks, but also doesn't wield her zanpakutou, but also definite had one... but also never "lost" any of her shinigami powers.

Urahara sort of counts as well, although he's kind of(?) implied to be in a physical human/gigai form while on Earth --although he can still access and wield his zanpakutou that way... I guess originally Urahara was kind of excused as there was some implications that having been exiled included somehow stripping him of some form of his shinigami powers, although much later developments contradict that. Visored, I maintain, weren't meant to be proper shinigami in the first place, but humans with bootleg powers like Ichigo's, which would excuse them from not having uniforms originally... But if we count the later developments it does become weird that they can just remove their robes or put them back on and it doesn't seem to really mean anything or have any effects? Isshin also retains his uniform after 20 years, which isn't explicitly odd, but it just feels like another instance worth noting.

Like you mentioned there's the kinda vague nature of how healing does or doesn't work in relation to the robes. We frequently see people in bandages while receiving medical attention, and we're told that Ichigo's bankai's incorporation of the robes as part of it are unusual... But they do still seems to just regenerate along with healing at times. And there's the weird moment in the final arc where some of the Visored just put on shinigami robes, which again, isn't used to indicate anything really, but it feels like it should??

Anyway there's also other non-shihakusho that shinigami wear, usually the faceless underlings of non Gotei specific groups. But there's also the conspicuous parallel of the Arrancar uniform, which would seem kind of silly if the shinigami robes had a unique inimitable function that Aizen just opted to not bother with in favor of aesthetic... And again going back to shinigami who can just remove their uniforms with not apparent consequence, making it seem like the uniforms don't actually do anything... Aizen's own shinigami just swaps uniforms.

Oh and then there are a few weird times People either put on or take off their uniforms in ways you'd think wouldn't really work if they're metaphysically/spiritually linked to them and/or their powers at all? When Uryuu shoots Ikanzaka in his random pressurepoints and says he'll never be a shinigami again... His robes stay on. Orihime and Uryuu straight up steal the clothes off some 12th division unseated's backs. For all of like a flicker of a scene inbetween Ichigo fighting Byakuya and then everyone turning attention to Aizen, for some reason all the non shinigami invasion team has donned shihakusho???? Ikkaku fought Zaraki with a zanpakutou but didn't have a shihakusho on, which is odd. When Mayuri juices himself his robes don't go with him. When Komamura's werewolf form wears off though... his robes vanish along with his powers... Tousen's lover had a zanpakutou but died and was buried not in shinigami robes...

Again though, Shutara's thing is clearly clothes. If she contributed something to the foundations of soul society, it could only sensibly be the shihakusho, although that also implies shinigami existed before the uniforms. But if her contribution was a big deal, surely it must do something, right? And as fun as it is to pin all these disparate scraps onto the big crazy cork board to make a big conspiracy web out of, there's really just nothing here. Would definitely have been something nice to get any actual clarity on in the series. And it's a fun arena for fanfic and headcanon to try and iron out to be sure.

I dunno how I thought I was going to end this...

[bleachcracklist]

Captains grocery shopping in the human world (toilet paper edition)

It has came to captain´s attention that toilet paper has became a very important item in the human world. So here is how each one of them handle this situation.

Also this is to make fun of the toilet paper meme that has been going on now. Why does people feel the needs to panic buy so much toilet paper?

Yamamoto

He would hit people who are fighting and tell them not to panic buy, then get angry at them.

Sasakime: Sir, how were you able to buy toilet paper?

Yamamoto: I used my zanpakuto.

Sasakime: Did you burn them?

Yamamoto: No, I hit them

SoiFon

While everyone is in the middle of a battle for the last bag of toilet paper, Soifon is too fast for regular humans. So she activates Shunko in the middle of the supermarket, destroying parts of the property.

Omaeda: Captain… you just destroyed 3 shelves.

Soifon: You´ll pay for the repairs. Right?

Omaeda: …

Omaeda: Yes, Captain, but please don’t hurt me.

Yoruichi

She would enter the shop naked to distract the people then get the toilet paper, but her plan backfired when she got arrested for nudity.

Urahara: Yoruichi-san, did you get the toilet paper?

Cat Yoruichi: Nope, sorry, just escaped prison.

Urahara: What did you do?

Cat Yoruichi: My plan was to go in there naked, but apparently it’s illegal to walk around naked.

Gin

He would do anything for Rangiku, even if it means losing his life in the process. He fights bravely for the last bag of toilet paper.

Gin: Izuru-kun, please get this to Ran-chan, I’m counting on ya.

Kira: CAPTAIN! Please don’t die!

Rose

He’s quite indifferent about this entire shopping for the toilet paper thing, why bother when he can just stay in his office reading manga. And when he needs something he could just take them from Kensei.

Kira: Captain, shouldn’t you go shopping?

Rose: It’s fine, there is no need.

Kira: ...

Unohana

She tries not to use her bloodthirst side too much so she tries to stop the fight in a friendly way, but when the people don’t listen to her, she uses her intimidating smile. They all parted away.

Unohana: Hanataro, why were they so scared when I told them to stop fighting?

Hanataro: I-I am not sure Captain.

Unohana: Oh well, at least we got some toilet paper.

Isane

She would be too scared to get close to the people fighting. So she'd wait until everyone calmed down.

Kiyone: Why didn’t you get anything sis?

Isane: There were so many people fighting and I was afraid. When they left, there was no more toilet paper left…

Kiyone: ...

Kiyone: You’re not going shopping next time.

Aizen

Aizen wouldn’t bother with the actual shopping, he uses his zanpakuto to trick people into believing that there is no toilet paper left.

Aizen: Shatter Kyoka Suigetsu!

Aizen: Minions, go get them all.

Aizen: This is all according to my perfect plan.

Shinji

Gets distracted by all the young women in the supermarket and he tries to flirt with them all.

Momo: Captain Hirako, care to explain why you came back empty-handed?

Shinji: …

Momo: You got distracted and started calling everyone your first love, didn’t you?

Shinji: Maybe?

Momo: Captain! You need to stop doing that!

Byakuya

Byakuya is so rich, that he wouldn’t even bother with going shopping himself. He would send his servants to the world of living to do those peasants errands.  

Renji: Captain, why didn’t you go shopping like everyone is doing now?

Byakuya: There is no need for me to personally do such activities such as shopping.

Komamura

He wouldn’t be allowed in the shop… need I say more?

Officer: Sir, please you need to take off your um… fursuit before entering the shop.

Komamura: What are you talking about? This is not a fursuit…

Officer: ...

Iba

Gives his all in the fight, but when he is about to grab the bag, Nanao grabs it. So they start a fight, in the end, someone else got it and they both lose.

Iba: This toilet paper is finally mine!

Nanao: Not so fast, this belongs to me, Captain Iba.

Iba: What are you talking about? I touched it first.

Nanao: You are delusional.

Kyoraku

He isn't interested in toilet paper so he goes to the alcohol section instead, leaving the actual shopping to Nanao.

Nanao: Captain, stay away from the alcohol, we came here to buy food, not sake.

Kyoraku: Nanao-chan, don't be mean!

Nanao: Sir, you are the head captain now, you should learn how to behave.

Lisa

She wouldn’t bother buying toilet paper as the only thing she wants are those questionable magazines.

Hiyori: What the hell are you doing? Shouldn't you be shopping?

Lisa: Who needs toilet paper when I can get all this magazine?

Tosen

Since Tosen really care about justice, when he entered the supermarket the only thing he thought to do was to start a monologue about justice, no one is listening to him as they are all too busy fighting for that last bag of toilet paper.

Hisagi: um… Captain?

Tosen: What is it Hisagi?

Hisagi: Captain… nobody was listening…

Tosen: The path to justice...

Kensei

Kensei being quite aggressive in battle doesn't really care about the outcome, as long as he got what he wanted.

Mashiro: Ohh, I see that you got the toilet paper.

Mashiro: How did you get it?

Mashiro: Did you just send the other people flying?

Mashiro: Come on tell me!

Kensei: Shut up!

Isshin

Just being his goofy self, when people saw him cry to the picture of his wife they took pity on him.

Isshin: MASAKI, I'M ABOUT TO SACRIFICE MYSELF FOR OUR CHILDREN.

Isshin: WE WILL SEE EACH OTHER SOON.

Isshin: I’M SORRY, MY CHILDREN, I CAN'T BE HERE FOR YOU ANYMORE.

Ichigo: I don't know him, I swear.

Hitsugaya

Hitsugaya is tired of being always shoved to the side by the people twice his size. He uses his bankai to grow up a bit.

Hitsugaya: There Matsumoto, the stuff you asked for.

Rangiku: You were even able to get toilet paper?

Rangiku: How? The last time I went there, people were fighting for it.

Hitsugaya: I have my ways. Now go back to work.

Rangiku: Captain… you used your bankai, didn't you?

Hitsugaya: ...

Kenpachi

He would join the fight, because let's admit it, there is no way he will back away from a fight. And so... he forgets his original objective.

Kenpachi: Is that a fight?

Yumichika: It is, but we didn't came today to fight, we need to buy toilet paper.

Yumichika: Captain?

Ikkaku: He didn't hear you. He's already fighting them.

Ikkaku: We need to stop him before he kills those humans.

Urahara

After Yoruichi´s failed attempt to get toilet paper, Urahara thought it was better to send his clones to do the dirty work.

Jinta: Oh my god, how the hell did you get this much stuff in just one shopping trip?

Urahara: I used myself.

Jinta: What?

Urahara: It's nothing.

Mayuri

He tends to have a lot of illegal drugs, and nobody is willing to test them for him, so he thought the human world is the best place to put those drugs in action.

Mayuri: Nemu! Paralyse them.

Nemu: Yes, master Mayuri.

Ukitake

Ukitake would want to go to the human world but couldn't, because he is sick and has to stay in his room instead.

Sentaro: Captain, please, you have to stay put.

Ukitake: But I need to get some new candy for Shiro-chan.

Sentaro: Please don't make me call Captain Unohana.

Ukitake: ...

Ukitake: On second thought, I will stay in my room.

Rukia

Rukia being a bit more familiar with the human world thanks to her constant visits, she learns not to make a huge scene like the rest of the captains. She often watch videos from the human world and she learns how humans fight for toilet paper.

Ichigo: Is she... pulling on that other woman's hair?

Renji: Yeah…

Ichigo: Why is she doing that?

Renji: Well she thought that's the way human fights.

Ichigo: We need to stop her…

Renji: Nah… She will be fine.

[tuliharja]

A Whole New World

-At the Las Noches-

 (Recently Kaguya Ōtsutsuki came to Hueco Mundo and met Sōsuke Aizen, which has started between the two of them friendship and maybe something more…)

Kaguya: *Is combing her hair when suddenly Aizen appears.*

 Aizen: *Reaches his hand for Kaguya.* “I can show you the world Shining, shimmering splendid Tell me, goddess, now when did You last let your heart decide?”

 Kaguya: *Looks thoughtfully down.*

 Aizen: *Lifts Kaguya’s chin up, just so their eyes meet.* “I can open your eyes Take you wonder by wonder Over sideways and under On a magic Menos ride”

 Kaguya: *Blinking gazes now down as they’re actually top of a Menos.* Umm…Sōsuke…

 Aizen: *Places his finger top of her lips.* Hush, the next stanza is about to start.

 Zommari: *Tries to throw flower petals toward them, while Nnoitra is holding ladders.*

 Nnoitra: *Looks to the side.* Tch.

Szayelaporro: *Is holding an extra flower basket.*

Lilynette: *Tries to shake Starrk awake.* Starrk! You’ll miss the song!

 Starrk: *Merely snores.*

 Aizen: “A whole new world A new fantastic point of view No one to tell us no Or where to go Or say we're only dreaming!” *Opens garganda to Soul Society where the Menos walks and starts stomping down buildings and shinigamis. Behind them follows Aizen’s arrancar army.*

 Kaguya: *Eyes start now glow lightly from excitement.* “A whole new world~ A dazzling place I never knew”

 Yamamoto: Everybody! It’s Aizen and…a rabbit woman?

 Soi Fon: *Sweat drops slightly.* And they’re singing?

 Hisagi: Where is my camera?! *Frantically manner looks for his camera.*

Kaguya: *Throws her arms high in the air.* “But when I'm way up here It's crystal clear That now I'm in a whole new world with you!” *Smiling looks at Aizen.*

 Grimmjow: Where is Kurosaki?!

 Aizen: *Throws with his tea mug Grimmjow.*

 Grimmjow: *Rubs his head annoyed manner.* That hurt!

 Ulquiorra: *Smacks Grimmjow to head.* Silence.

 Aizen: “Now I'm in a whole new world with you...” *Gazes deeply into Kaguya’s eyes.*

 Gin: Aww…*Wipes a fake tear away from his eye.* Reminds me from Ran-chan and-…*Shivers slightly as suddenly behind him are both Rangiku and Kira.* Um…*Quickly shunpoes away.*

 Rangiku: Gin!

 Kira: Ichimaru-taichou!

 Kaguya: “Unbelievable sights Indescribable feeling Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling Through an endless diamond sky…” *Looks around the Soul Society as the Menos keeps going on.*

 Random Shinigami: Aaaah! *Gets stomped by Menos.*

 Kaguya: “A whole new world!”

 Rukia: Where is Ichigo?!

 Aizen: “Don't you dare close your eyes”

 Renji: I don’t know!

Kaguya: “A hundred thousand things to see”

 Byakuya: Rukia, did you call him?

 Aizen: “Hold your breath, it gets better”

 Rukia: *Looks shocked her brother as she realizes she didn’t.*

Kaguya: “I'm like a shooting star I've come so far I can't go back to where I used to be…” *Leans now closer to Aizen.*

 Toshiro: Is NO-ONE seriously not going to do anything?!

 Aizen: “A whole new world”

 Momo: *Has tears in her eyes.* Aizen-taichou…why you never sang to ME?!

 Kaguya: “Every turn a surprise”

 Toshiro: *Looks shocked Momo, before he grits his teeth.* That’s it! BANKAI! Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!

Aizen: “With new horizons to pursue” *Glances now to the side as Toshiro flies toward them with high-speed.*

 Kaguya: “Every moment, red-letter” *Merely sends a bone-like arrow toward him that shatters his ice-wing, making him to crash down to the ground.*

 Aizen: *Pulls Kaguya to his lap.* The next stanza…

 Kaguya: Ah! *Smiling nods her head.*

Aizen and Kaguya: *Sing now together.* “I'll chase them anywhere There's time to spare Let me share this whole new world with you!”

 Komamura: *Howls now to this.*

 Aizen: “A whole new world”

 Kaguya: “A whole new world”

 Mayuri: Tch! *Scowls to this.* How annoying.

Aizen: “That's where we'll be”

 Kaguya: “That's where we'll be”

 Mayuri: We already got the point! Move already to the ending!

 Unohana: How delightful this song is making even you, Kurotsuchi-taichou, moved. *Gives him smile.*

 Mayuri: *Merely pulls away, while ‘tching’.*

Aizen: “A thrilling chase”

 Kenpachi: A chase? Count me in!

 Unohana: *Gives him one of her ‘scary’ smiles.* Zaraki-taichou, let them finish.

 Kenpachi: *Joins Mayuri, while ‘tching’ too.*

Kaguya: “A wondrous place”

Aizen and Kaguya: *Leans now toward each other.* “For you and me…”

Ukitake: Ooooh! *Claps his hands.*

 Kyoraku: Marvelous! *Claps his hands too.*

 Nanao: Umm, taichou…*Sweat drops heavily.*

 Ukitake: Encore! Encore!

 Kyoraku: *Whistles to this.*

 Yamamoto: *Suddenly appears behind the duo, while there are flames behind him.* IDIOTS!

 Ukitake: *Stumbles now together with Kyoraku.* Awww, but I thought it was sweet…

 Kyoraku: Ah, young love~. *Sighs now dreamily.*

 Kaguya and Aizen: *Merely smirking kiss each other.*

[akaluan-dark]

Shattered Eclipse Part 1

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | ????

((Okay, so I know some people have be pretty interested in seeing Shattered Eclipse, the variant of Dragon Eclipse where Uryuu doesn’t go back in time.

I’m not actively working on it at the moment, but I DO have somewhere around 7k words written for it. If I do keep posting this story here, it’ll probably end up being a case where I get basically “a chapter” out of pieces, mush it all together and edit it, then throw the combined pieces onto AO3 and FFNet. Which means the pieces on tumblr will end up out of date because I do change quite a bit in these longer pieces when I edit them.

Anyway, this story is pretty dark. This segment isn’t so bad, but next segment is... yeah. Not good. It was never meant to be very long, either, but we’ll see how that works out.))

Ichigo surged to the fore before Aizen could even blink. He didn’t bother allowing Uryuu’s bow to dissolve into his sword, but rather bared his teeth at the monster and called out, “Bankai! Enshroud the world in a moonless night, Kakure Ichigo!”

As the power rose around them, Ichigo took that mental side-step, inviting Uryuu forward. They settled, together, as Uryuu wove his ransoutengai loosely about their body’s limbs and drew back their bow, a black arrow flashing into existence and coursing through the air.

Ichigo snarled, as he darted under Aizen’s retaliatory strike, bow flowing into sword and blocking the blow. With Uryuu’s strength added to his own, his arm didn’t even quiver, and he snarled in Aizen’s face as he kicked the other away.

“Where’s all that vaunted power now?” Ichigo asked, as he darted after Aizen, forcing his sword back into a bow briefly so Uryuu could aim and fire another Getsuga Tenshou straight into the monster’s torso.

“I will admit to some surprise,” Aizen said, as he struck again, sword singing as it clove the air. “You work so well together, one might even think you had hope to defeat me!”

“We will defeat you!” Ichigo roared back, as he lashed out with his free hand and grabbed Aizen’s sword, a trickle of blood running down his palm from the edge. He sneered in the man’s face, at Aizen’s dumbfounded expression, and thrust forward with his sword.

They danced across the sky, cutting and striking at each other. Uryuu lurked in the background, manipulating their reiatsu to resist Aizen’s blows, to force the other to constantly exert more and more effort. And whenever they had a moment, Ichigo forced his sword into a bow, and Uryuu shot a black arrow at Aizen.

It was wearing on the man, they could tell. Their tag-teaming was coming smoother, with Zangetsu having to step in less and less as they continued to fight. The Getsuga arrows were everything they had hoped — Aizen, in his hubris, had allowed the first to land, and blood still marred his right shoulder, even though the wound had long closed.

(*The Ginto,*) Uryuu murmured, as he hardened their reiatsu to resist another of Aizen’s strikes.

Ichigo grunted in acknowledgment, and reached back with his left hand to pull one of the tubes free of Uryuu’s belt. He didn’t do anything with it, not yet, merely held it ready as he felt Uryuu feeding a trickle of their power into it in preparation for its use.

“Your foolish defiance will end here!” Aizen proclaimed, as he retreated momentarily and raised a hand to the sky. “All your strength is worthless against kidou!

“Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny!”

Ichigo grit his teeth, as he gave way before Uryuu’s prompting. The Ginto erupted into black light in their hand, and he felt muscles straining as Uryuu pulled his bow to a full draw.

“Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud!”

The Ginto-empowered Getsuga Tenshou arrow lanced forth from their bow, leaving a slash of pitch black in its wake.

“Unite! Repulse!”

Aizen’s eyes widened in shock, as the arrow pierced his torso. Blood dribbled down the corner of his mouth. The power gathered around his hand flickered, wavered, as the man choked out the last of the incantation, “F-fill with s-soil an-and know your own powerl-lessn-ness! H-hado nin-nety, K-kurohi-hitsugi!”

“Shit!” Ichigo shouted, as huge black boxes with leaning spears atop them began to multiply around them. He remembered when Komamura had been hit with a version of this, and how Aizen had said it was barely a third of its strength without the incantation.

Frantic, he glanced around, looking for an escape and finding none.

(*Ichigo!*) Uryuu’s sharp voice cut through his panic, even as Ichigo felt his left hand going for one of the remaining Ginto. It snapped to life as Uryuu forced it open, shedding bright green light over the darkening world. (*Ginto sever the bonds of reiatsu!*)

“Right!” Ichigo slung the bow over his back as if it was his sword, and switched the Ginto to his right hand. They had no time for finesse, not when the space remaining around them was growing smaller with every second. With a shout, he poured everything he had into striking out, cutting through walls and severing spears as quickly as they appeared.

Sweat dripped down his forehead. The Ginto was dragging through the kidou, shattering pieces of it haphazardly, and he could feel the weight of power pressing in on them, fluctuating constantly.

Finally, with a shout that Uryuu echoed, the two of them pulsed their reiatsu as high as possible, making the Ginto flare nearly white with power as the kidou shattered into a million fragments around them, exploding outwards in a rush of power and unchained destruction.

Ichigo bit back a cry of pain, as shards dug into their shared body, gouging wounds that they couldn’t defend against. So much of their power had been directed towards the purpose of escape, of destroying the kidou they were trapped within, that they had nothing left to defend with.

They stayed on their feet through force of will alone, and Uryuu clumsily wove the ransoutengai over their entire body, supporting it with puppetry. Blood dripped into their eyes from a gouge across their forehead, and Ichigo clumsily wiped it away, squinting through the pain and dispersing fragments of reishi to find Aizen. Even as damaged as they were, they *couldn’t* give up, not when they had come this far, fought him so well, *wounded him* the way they had.

(*Oh.*) Uryuu said, as they finally spotted their enemy, a rush of relief flooding them at the sight.

Aizen was on his knees, wounded gravely by both the ginto skewered through his chest and the shards of exploding kidou, and Urahara, his face set in a snarl of concentration, was applying… something… to the traitor. The more Urahara worked, the less inhuman Aizen looked, until he looked no different from the smug bastard that had taunted them so long ago, as he left Soul Society through a negacion.

They were both viciously pleased to note that the ginto remained even through the change, the lingering black reiatsu that clung to it lashing out any time Urahara attempted to pull it free, until the shopkeeper finally gave up and just let it be.

But finding that their battle was over, the fight won and the monster defeated — if not killed, but perhaps that would come later, and they both hoped they were invited to the execution — their energy flagged. Adrenaline started to flush from their system, and the sting of their wounds blossomed into sheer *agony* as the world dimmed and flickered around them.

Ichigo groaned softly, as Uryuu allowed their body to settle onto the broken ground. He just… wanted to sleep. That sounded like a wonderful plan.

“Ishida..? Damn!” Urahara’s voice broke through the gathering fog in their mind, and Ichigo forced their head up slightly to squint in Urahara’s direction. The panic in the man’s voice was… concerning. But… he could deal with it later. Apologize for failing. For falling, on that rooftop in Hueco Mundo.

“Hold on, kid. Don’t die on me now, damnit!” Urahara snarled.

A rush of healing kidou rippled through their body, and Ichigo sighed at the relief it brought. As the pain eased off a bit, he felt the call of sleep rising up, until it was all he could do to cling to consciousness.

“Shit, just hold on. I’m going to get Inoue.”

Inoue? But… she was in Hueco Mundo still. Wasn’t she?

He just… wanted to sleep.

Uryuu slipped away. The ransoutengai faltered. Failed. Leaving Ichigo to slump over on the broken ground. It was… uncomfortable. But he was just… so tired.

He closed his eyes.

||||

“*… I reject!*”

||||

Uryuu swam to consciousness, feeling worse than the time his father had pushed him to his limit, and then *beyond it*, in order to reawaken his powers. His entire body ached, and he felt too tired to even force his eyes open.

But… the longer he rested, the better he felt, though nothing seemed to touch on that bone-deep weariness at his core. It made him just want to go back to sleep, to sleep and sleep until nothing hurt and he could just pretend that this was just a figment of his imagination.

The ground was uncomfortable under his body, and Uryuu tried to gather up the will to move, knowing that he’d regret not doing so if he fell back asleep at this point.

“Don’t you dare move!” Inoue’s voice cut through his thoughts, deflating what little will he had gathered. She sounded… worried. Terrified and barely holding back tears. “Don’t you *dare move!* I almost… I almost… NO! *I refuse to lose you too!*”

At her panicked declaration, Uryuu finally managed to force his eyes open, and shifted his head until he could see Inoue through the glowing golden dome that she had erected over him. Her palms were pressed tight against it, tear tracks stark upon her pale cheeks and her eyes red from crying.

“Inoue..?” Uryuu forced out, as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He was just tired, just needed sleep… wasn’t he?

“Don’t you ‘Inoue’ me!” she practically yelled at him, her voice breaking halfway through as she choked on a sob. “When I arrived, you were almost *dead!* *I almost couldn’t heal you!* You… you *idiot!* If Kuchiki-sama hadn’t agreed, and wasn’t so fast, *I wouldn’t have made it!*”

At the Captain’s name, Uryuu shifted his head slightly, trying to spot the man. He wouldn’t have thought that Kuchiki Byakuya would agree to ferry anyone anywhere, no matter the emergency, but if Inoue was speaking truthfully…

He spotted the Captain finally, sitting on a piece of ground that had been thrust upwards during the combat. The man looked worse for wear, missing his haori and nearly all of his left sleeve, while the rest of his shihakushou was torn and tattered. Blood dripped from open wounds, already drying in place if the slight expression of distaste on Kuchiki’s face was an indication. Urahara was moving around the other Captain, his hands glowing green with healing kidou, though he kept glancing over his shoulder and towards Uryuu as he worked.

“Everyone..?” Uryuu managed to force out, wondering what else had happened while he was apparently unconscious.

“They’re fine,” Inoue told him through her tears. “Even… even Tatsuki and Chizuru and /everyone/, even Kurosaki-sensei! So just… just get better!”

Uryuu sighed slightly, allowing his eyes to slip closed once more, and hoped that he wasn’t going to regret falling asleep once more. But even with Inoue’s healing, even with the energy flowing into him, exhaustion was clawing at his mind and dragging him back down into the darkness.

The last thing he heard was Inoue’s terrified cry of his personal name.

[stephanericherthanyou]

Ch316-330

Ch316: Swang the Edge Down

this fucking panel!

i'm so glad this was like 15 years ago lmao....also the close up of her face on the next page, like damn kubo

Ch317: Six Hearts Beat as One

still having tatsuhime feelings about all this though /holds head i just....tatsuki..... :(

the close-ups!!! of their faces!!!

"you may not be able to feel the exact same things as someone else but when you care about each other deply you can put your heart a little closer to them. surely that is what making your hearts as one means." and again, the callback to rukia and kaien's 'heart' convo

"if it cannot appear in my eyes then it does not exist" and that's a bit of a flashback to sth aizen said in tbtp....lemme see i knew i grabbed a screenshot

that's from....TBTP 10? maybe? anyway

"if i tear open your chest [...] if i shatter your skull" is this an (intentional) callback to grimmjow & nel?

Ch318: Five Towers / Four Pillars

yes yes good pacing/a-b switching (the plots are about to scatter like sebonbanana again but rn we have ulqui/ichi fight and everyone in fkt)

the best & brightest!! that's' you shuuhei <3

Ch319: Ants and Dragons

'i may not have said anything' SOIFON PLS

'now that you mention it....i don't really have anyone to pray to...' IKKAKU PLS

yumichika.vine (did i make that ref already? yeah probably)

Ch320: Beauty is So Solitary

the word 'troll' has ceased to have meaning

Ch321: Black Briers and Brambles

"not in anyone's eyes...i see....thanks" YUMICHIKA

Ch322: Oath Under the Rose

i like that kubo rotates who gets to have big fights....the benefit of so many characters but that other series don't necessarily take advantage of! and obv my faves can't get a good fight every time but it's still a decent rotation yknow

Ch323: (Untitled)

DAMN KIRA this is such a good chap for him

Ch324: The Claws*

Shuuhei!!! (oh he uses kido too....plus nice panel of him w kazeshini)

Ch325: Fear For The Fight*

ahh this dialogue is rather like kira's warrior stuff...interesting

"he who does not fear the sword he holds is not worthy of holding a sword" SHUU!!!

so ikkaku is hiding his bankai just like yumichika hides his shikai

Ch326: Knockdown Monster

and komamura, who had also hidden himself for so many years...but ah now that he and iba are here...i don't remember how this fight ends so i'm quite interested

Ch327: Knockdown Monsters

komamura so cool....

Ch328: The Knuckle Debate

IBA & IKKAKU :'(((((

'my ears are not working very well today' KOMAMURA I LOVE YOU

Ch329: Raging Rampage

"no no it's my shoulders that are stiff" "what are you talking about? i've never once seen you with stiff shoulders" shunsui pls

"we can't fight at full power with her here. the same is true for you as well, right?" because she's him, basically....starrk vs kenchan woulda been good

Ch330: Crossing Swords

water vs water

[keikakudori]

hey, casual reminder that aizen can stop bankais with his bare hands if he wants to.