Chapter 35

"...I understand. I'll be going, then. I'm heading to Sōkyoku."

At that moment, Miyako Amamiya's tightly shut eyes opened.

Before that, in Miyako Amamiya's inner world, he and his Zanpakuto had still been fighting.

The twin blades Miyako Amamiya wielded were no match for his opponent, while the White-Haired Boy fought with increasing vigor.

"Didn't you say you were a Quincy? Why aren't you using that power today?" the White-Haired Boy demanded.

"Without your Quincy powers, you can't even fend me off, yet you still want to obtain my power. What a fool's dream."

The White-Haired Boy mocked Miyako Amamiya for overestimating himself, but he seemed to be reminding Miyako Amamiya to use his Quincy powers against him.

But after so many battles, Miyako Amamiya still had a faint feeling that he couldn't use his Quincy powers against him. As for why, Miyako Amamiya couldn't explain it himself. He simply sensed instinctively that he couldn't use his Quincy powers in their fight.

"Quincy powers? I can make you hand over your power without using them." Miyako Amamiya put on a brave front, though he knew it was nothing but empty boasting.

"Is that so?" The White-Haired Boy sneered, vanished from where he stood, and slashed at Miyako Amamiya.

Miyako Amamiya hurriedly parried, but there wasn't much he could do, and he suffered more wounds.

Although this was the Mindscape, the agony from his wounds was all too real.

Am I going to fail again this time...? Even now, Miyako Amamiya still hadn't found a way to defeat him.

Blood was pouring from Miyako Amamiya's body, and he looked as though he might collapse at any moment. Yet he kept his eyes fixed intently on the white-haired boy in black robes, refusing to give up.

"What's wrong? Is that all you've got, you fool?" the White-Haired Boy taunted.

Miyako Amamiya noticed something he had overlooked. Ever since they first met, the White-Haired Boy had treated him terribly. Every name he called him was an insult, but it didn't seem like he was trying to humiliate him. It was more like he was reminding him of something.

"Hey, I have a name. Why do you keep calling me a fool?" Miyako Amamiya shouted at him.

Miyako Amamiya had thought the names were nothing more than mockery and abuse, but after all this time, he finally realized something was wrong.

"A name? Hahahahaha!" The White-Haired Boy stopped what he was doing and pressed the hand holding his sword to his forehead, letting out a contemptuous sneer.

"Miyako Amamiya? You mean that name? Is that your name?" His eyes narrowed slightly, his expression disdainful.

Miyako Amamiya fell silent. Miyako Amamiya really wasn't his name. It was only a name he had inherited to say goodbye to his past.

At that moment, he finally understood why the Zanpakuto before him had always refused to give him its power. After all, how could someone who could even deny his own past have a future?

"I see... So that's how it is..." Miyako Amamiya lowered his head and murmured to himself.

"I cared too much. I cared too much about the emotions 'Miyako Amamiya' left me with before he died. Because of that, I neglected my own past and kept relying on the original Miyako Amamiya's power."

Having understood everything, Miyako Amamiya looked at the White-Haired Boy before him, realization on his face.

"Jue Nian was reminding me not to forget the fear of facing death. You were reminding me not to lose myself because of fear."

"Thank you for reminding me. I'm Miyako Amamiya, but I'm not him."

"The Quincy powers are only Miyako Amamiya's powers, powers I inherited. They aren't my true powers."

"You aren't Miyako Amamiya's Zanpakuto either. You're 'my' Zanpakuto." Miyako Amamiya finally understood why his Zanpakuto was so hostile toward him.

Hearing this, the White-Haired Boy lowered his head, his whole body trembling. It was impossible to tell whether it was from anger or something else.

"So what?!" the White-Haired Boy shouted, charging at him.

Seeing the White-Haired Boy approach, Miyako Amamiya didn't counterattack. Instead, he lowered the twin blades in his hands.

The White-Haired Boy's blades pierced Miyako Amamiya's body without resistance. The two blades brought excruciating pain, but Miyako Amamiya didn't strike back. Instead, he grasped the blades that had pierced him.

"Although I'm not Amamiya, I'm still Miyako. That name really is my own, and I haven't forgotten it."

"So lend me your power. Not to Amamiya, but to Miyako, to the 'Miyako Amamiya' I am now."

The White-Haired Boy said nothing. His hands trembled incessantly around his swords, and his lowered head hid his expression.

Then his black body slowly vanished, turning into specks of light that drifted toward the twin blades.

Once he had completely disappeared, Miyako Amamiya pulled out the twin blades, and all the wounds on his body vanished.

The dark clouds in the night sky began to disperse, and moonlight fell on Miyako Amamiya. He raised the brand-new twin blades and smiled as he watched the moonlight reflected off them.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

Miyako Amamiya knew this was only the first step, but it was also the most important one. Then his consciousness left this place...

After Miyako Amamiya left the Mindscape, the dark street lay beneath a sky free of clouds. The moon was clearly visible, and the stars shone brilliantly.

The White-Haired Boy appeared again. White material emerged from his black robes, and before long it left his body and formed another person.

Black-Haired White-Clad Jue Nian appeared once more. He said to the White-Haired Boy, "That was pretty quick. I thought he'd keep relying on my power."

The White-Haired Boy said nothing, simply gazing silently at the sky.

"What are you looking at? Oh, that thing. It seems to be stirring too. We'll be in big trouble if it's discovered."

"It's not stirring. It's only responding to Miyako. Besides, with me here, its fluctuations won't escape," the White-Haired Boy said.

"Haha, you finally said his name," the Black-Haired Boy teased. "But you really are a contrary one. You refuse to acknowledge Miyako, yet you help him suppress those fluctuations. When all's said and done, whether it's Amamiya or Miyako, the person he is now is just Miyako Amamiya. You're too strict."

This time, black-haired Jue Nian didn't return to the White-Haired Boy's body. The two of them simply gazed silently at the Gemstone shimmering with blue-black light in the sky.

Below Sōkyoku Hill, Renji Abarai was about to leave when Miyako Amamiya called out to him.

"Wait, Renji. I'll go with you. You're a fugitive now, after all, so you can't just rush up there. Captain Kuchiki won't let you show up at the execution." Miyako Amamiya had opened his eyes by then and spoke to Renji Abarai.

"Miyako, you're finally awake! What were you doing before? Why did you spend so long communicating with your Zanpakuto when you'd already achieved Shikai?" Renji Abarai asked.

"No, I just... came to understand myself a little better." Miyako Amamiya looked completely relaxed, and his whole demeanor seemed to have changed.

"I get the feeling there's something different about you." Renji Abarai looked at Miyako Amamiya hesitantly.

"Let's go, Renji. We're going to Sōkyoku Hill!" Miyako Amamiya shook his head and walked toward the exit.

After the two came out, Miyako Amamiya stopped Renji Abarai.

"Renji, don't go straight to Sōkyoku Hill just yet," Miyako Amamiya said.

"Why not?!"

"Don't forget, you're an escaped prisoner. If Captain Kuchiki sees you, a fight will be hard to avoid." Miyako Amamiya didn't want Renji Abarai to clash with Byakuya Kuchiki at this time.

"Even if it's Captain Kuchiki, I have to..."

"Don't lose your head, Renji. Leaving aside whether you can defeat Captain Kuchiki, even if you managed to beat him by luck, there are still so many captains on Sōkyoku Hill. How would you save Rukia?" Miyako Amamiya frowned at him. At this point, Renji Abarai lost his head whenever Byakuya Kuchiki was mentioned.

"...I understand. I'll wait for you here."

"Don't forget what I told you yesterday. Even if all the captains are occupied, he'll definitely show up."

Renji Abarai still couldn't believe what Miyako Amamiya had told him yesterday, but after Miyako Amamiya persuaded him, he calmed down and prepared to run up once everyone had arrived at Sōkyoku.

Seeing that he had calmed down, Miyako Amamiya waved goodbye.

On the only road to Sōkyoku, Miyako Amamiya finally met Ukitake, with Sentarō Kotsubaki and Kiyone Kotetsu following beside him.

"Whew, Miyako, I'm glad you showed up." Ukitake visibly breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Miyako Amamiya. He turned to the two beside him and said, "Sentarō, Kiyone, don't follow us. We may not be able to look after you when things happen."

"Captain Ukitake!" Sentarō Kotsubaki shouted. "I want to..."

Before he could finish, Kiyone Kotetsu stopped him.

"Sentarō, Captain Ukitake is right. If we follow them... we'll only get in the way. Let's leave things up there to Captain Ukitake and Lieutenant Miyako."

Sentarō Kotsubaki fell silent.

"Kiyone, Sentarō, trust the captain and me," Miyako Amamiya said reassuringly.

"And later, if you see Renji Abarai coming up, remember not to stop him. He's our comrade," Miyako Amamiya reminded them.

With that, Miyako Amamiya and Ukitake headed for Sōkyoku, preparing for the final moment.

On the way, Miyako Amamiya asked Ukitake, "Captain, where is it?"

"It's hidden behind my Captain's Haori. Shunsui agreed too, so don't worry," Ukitake said. "But I tried to persuade Byakuya, and he's very firm about Rukia's execution..."

"Someone will deal with Captain Kuchiki when the time comes. We just need to do what we're supposed to."

"Yes..."

On Sōkyoku Hill, Byakuya Kuchiki had arrived early because Renji Abarai hadn't intervened. With the execution about to begin, Ukitake and Miyako Amamiya were instead the last to arrive.

"Captain Ukitake, it seems the other captains couldn't come because they had matters to attend to. There are only the Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth Divisions, plus our Thirteenth Division," Miyako Amamiya said to Ukitake.

"Yes, that's a good thing." Ukitake felt much more at ease at the sight. After all, if it were just him and Shunsui Kyōraku, they couldn't deal with the captains and lieutenants of the entire Gotei 13.

Up ahead, Rukia saw Miyako Amamiya and Ukitake and gave them a worried look.

Both nodded firmly at Rukia.

Byakuya Kuchiki frowned at Jūshirō Ukitake and Miyako Amamiya, but with the execution about to begin, he paid little attention to their small gestures.

"Then, let the execution begin," Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto commanded from the front. "Release... Sōkyoku!"

The Senzaikyū personnel released Sōkyoku's restraints. Three white cubes rose from beneath the execution platform, carrying Rukia Kuchiki high into the air.

On the other side, the Sōkyoku Spear revealed its true form. Gōkakyū burst into flames, and the spear, surrounded by fire, gradually transformed into a gigantic bird.

Everyone on Sōkyoku Hill was awed by Gōkakyū's power.

When Gōkakyū had fully taken shape, Ukitake finally made his move.

"Now, Shunsui!" Ukitake shouted to Shunsui Kyōraku beside him.

Everyone turned toward Ukitake as he swiftly pulled the Shihoin Family's Heavenly Gift War Artifact from behind his back.

"Been waiting for you, handsome." Shunsui Kyōraku quickly came to his side.

Nearby, Soi Fon noticed the Shihoin Family Crest on the Heavenly Gift Armaments and shouted to Marechiyo Ōmaeda beside her, "Stop him! He's going to destroy Sōkyoku!"

Marechiyo Ōmaeda stood frozen, unsure what was happening. Hearing his captain's call, he prepared to charge over.

"Separate them, Divine Arrow: Severed Thought." Miyako Amamiya joined his twin blades into a bow and quickly fired an arrow in front of Marechiyo Ōmaeda.

"Sorry, but our captain has something to take care of. Could I ask you to wait a moment?"

Nanao Ise, standing nearby, knew her captain's personality. Though she didn't know what was happening, she stood beside Miyako Amamiya, ready for anything.

The Heavenly Gift Armaments split open, releasing the ropes hidden inside, which shot toward the firebird formed by Gōkakyū.

The Heavenly Gift Armaments' ropes bound the firebird. Jūshirō Ukitake and Shunsui Kyōraku drew their Zanpakuto and drove them into the Heavenly Gift Armaments. In an instant, the enormous firebird high in the air exploded with a roar.

The commotion of Gōkakyū's disappearance affected the people below, who instinctively lowered their heads and shielded their eyes.

"Now, Renji!" Miyako Amamiya shouted. He had already sensed Renji Abarai's arrival.

"Bankai! Baboon King Zabimaru!" Zabimaru transformed into a giant serpent in Renji Abarai's hands and rapidly closed in on the Execution Pillar at Sōkyoku.

But Byakuya Kuchiki, standing nearby, had long since noticed Renji Abarai, who had disappeared earlier. Using Shunpo, he appeared in front of Baboon King Zabimaru and continued to block Renji Abarai's Bankai with his sword in one hand.

"What?" Renji Abarai looked surprised to see his Bankai stopped.

"Renji, what are you doing?!" Seeing that his lieutenant was trying to destroy the Execution Pillar, Byakuya Kuchiki stepped forward and stopped him.

The two began to fight.

"Tch... Is Ichigo Kurosaki still not here? Then I'll have to..." Miyako Amamiya raised his bow, formed three arrows, and fired them at the three cubes holding Rukia high in the air.

Once the cubes were destroyed, Rukia fell. Miyako Amamiya released his Shikai, leaped high from where he stood, and headed toward the falling Rukia.

Rukia saw Miyako Amamiya coming and reached out to him.

Miyako Amamiya reached out as he drew closer. At last, their hands met in midair. He pulled hard, holding Rukia tightly, and looked toward the ground.

Watching the ground draw closer, Miyako Amamiya freed one hand and aimed it downward.

"Bakudō #37: Tsuriboshi!"

Just as they were about to fall, the large bed created by Tsuriboshi caught them both.

Although Rukia had already heard Miyako Amamiya's entire plan, seeing him and Captain Ukitake take such a risk in front of everyone still brought tears to her eyes.

"Don't cry, Rukia. This is what everyone wanted," Miyako Amamiya said to her with a smile. "Besides, what comes next is the crucial part."