Seeing You Again

Time was limited, and Byakuya and Akina only had a fleeting glimpse of each place they visited, but Akina was very happy because she found her past memories in these places.

Whether happy or sad, they are all memories from before she became the Bleach.

But why are the people who accompanied her in these memories all different? Byakuya, why isn't the Byakuya she knows in these scenes?

This is not right. The upturn of Akina's lips gradually diminished. She realized that something was wrong with the world, or perhaps something was wrong with her.

"What's wrong?" Byakuya asked softly, not missing the subtle expression on Akina's face.

"Um, it's nothing." Akina shook her head, forcing a smile, and said, "I want to see my old home, is that alright?"

Byakuya would agree without hesitation; as he said, he would accompany Akina to every place she wanted to go.

As dusk fell, two figures, one tall and one short, cast long shadows on the ground. They were so close, yet a faint gap separated them, the furthest distance between them.

Akina skipped and hopped, leading Byakuya toward the home she remembered; her restless movements masked her inner unease.

Reaching the entrance to a courtyard, Akina stopped. She raised her hand and pointed at the gate, and miraculously, the gate was not locked; she simply reached out and opened it.

Akina led Byakuya inside, but after only a couple of steps, she abruptly stopped. This was no home at all; there was no trace of a residence in the courtyard.

The rows of stone tablets standing around clearly indicated that this was not a place inhabited by the living; it was a cemetery. Fortunately, the sky was not completely dark, so the cemetery did not look so gloomy.

But this cemetery was enough to shock Akina. Memories of her family kept flashing through her mind, and she seemed to see herself being buried here by her parents.

Akina staggered as she walked inside, until she reached the fourth tombstone from the far end. Her legs gave way, and she knelt on the ground.

Byakuya wanted to help Akina up, but seeing Akina trembling body and somewhat frightened eyes, he subconsciously slowed his pace.

When the time came to reveal the truth, a hint of bewilderment appeared on Akina's terrified face. She discovered that Akina's name was not on the tombstone at all.

The Sato family grave has the names of the Sato couple engraved on the epitaph, but she is not buried here at all.

Who is she?

Akina couldn't help but ask a question, as other different memories surfaced in her mind once again. She had been a high school girl, had been abused by her father, had a happy family and husband, had lived alone, and had seen Byakuya's heartbroken face when she was barely clinging to life.

No, that's not how it is. Akina clutched her head in anguish, wanting to deny everything, to deny her shattered life.

Byakuya's hand was trembling as he held hers. He wanted to comfort her but didn't know how. This wasn't something he was good at. All he could do was stay by Akina's side.

Sadness turned into two lines of clear tears that streamed down Akina's face. She stood up numbly, her mind filled with too many chaotic memories, making it impossible for her to react.

Overwhelmed by a barrage of positive and negative emotions, Akina was left in a daze. She hugged her arms, stood up, and walked out step by step, not even noticing when she bumped into Byakuya.

At this moment, Akina wanted was to escape this place, anywhere at all, to leave, to leave this place, because it didn't belong to her.

Byakuya could only follow closely behind Akina, leaving the cemetery with Akina and wandering aimlessly through the streets.

As darkness fell, Akina walked to the edge of a small hill. She didn't know why she had come here. Looking up at the towering steps and the solitary torii gate, she stepped up.

As Akina gradually reached the mountaintop, she seemed to hear a clamor of voices. Looking up again, the mountaintop was brightly lit. Was this... a temple fair?

Akina's gloomy mood lessened considerably, and her steps became lighter. She turned to Byakuya and said, "Byakuya, there's a temple fair up there. Let's go take a look."

Byakuya quickly caught up and stepped onto the last step of the mountaintop. The place was indeed bustling with activity. Various stalls were set up on both sides in front of a temple, and adults and children in yukatas were moving among them, with happy smiles on everyone's faces.

Akina wandered around the various stalls, seemingly struggling to decide what to buy: candied apples? Chocolate bananas? Taiyaki? It seemed like she liked everything.

Unlike the happy and lively temple fair in Akina's eyes, Byakuya felt a strange atmosphere after entering the fair; it was a faint sense of death.

It was this moment of doubt that caused Byakuya to bump into a passerby. Just as he was about to apologize, he saw that the passerby's eyes were completely expressionless, like a walking corpse.

Something was off. Byakuya immediately tried to call back Akina had wandered deep into the temple fair, but instead heard that voice he had been longing for so much right beside him.

"It's been a long time, Byakuya- sama."

Without any hesitation, Byakuya immediately turned around and saw a familiar black yukata embroidered with fluttering pink cherry blossoms.

Byakuya kept this yukata in his room, only taking it out to reminisce about her during the New Year. It was the yukata she wore to perform a celebratory dance at the New Year's festival.

Byakuya's pupils trembled, a shimmering light gathering in his eyes. Standing before him was his deceased wife, Hisana Kuchiki.

"Byakuya- sama, have you been living a good life all these years?" Hisana Kuchiki smiled charmingly. The two people she worried about the most were Byakuya Kuchiki and her younger sister Rukia.

Just as Byakuya was about to answer, he heard Akina's indistinct voice behind him, "Byakuya, is this another one of your friends?"

Akina, with a taiyaki in her mouth, looked at Hisana Kuchiki with great curiosity. For her, who wanted to expand her circle of friends, every new friend was precious.

"Not a friend, but my wife. Her name is Hisana," Byakuya said.

"Huh?"

Before Akina could react, she saw Hisana Kuchiki slightly in thanks. "Thank you, Akina- sama."

Thank you Akina, for allowing me to see Lord Byakuya again.

Akina completely panicked. She had absolutely no experience dealing with this kind of etiquette, and with so many snacks in her hands, she didn't even know where to put her hands.

"Me too, thank you so much, Akina." Byakuya's manners and Hisana the same as Hisa's.

After Byakuya thanked her, even the slow- Akina finally realized what was going on. "So you've been following me and taking care of me because of Hisana?"

"So, it was all a lie after all?"

Akina's lowered eyelids couldn't hide her disappointment. She had already considered this possibility on the way here, but she had been resisting it, resisting the so-called truth.

Akina loosened her grip, and the taiyaki and candied apples in her hand turned into a puff of white smoke and disappeared. At the same time, the lively scene around her suddenly froze, and everyone turned to face Akina, their eyes filled with a terrifying emptiness.

"Lady Akina, no matter how you refuse, this is the truth," Hisana said.

With a soft sigh, Akina accepted the result of her self-deception. The next moment, except for Hisana, everyone at the temple fair changed their appearance, and they all became the Blanks figures with red pointed hats and white robes.

The once bustling temple fair has now returned to its true form, with dilapidated stalls lining both sides of the street and no special snacks available.

The existence of the Thought Bead naturally attracts Blanks, and these Blanks change into whatever form Akina desires. If Akina wants to visit a temple fair, the Blanks conjure up a temple fair, all based on her memories.

When Akina realized the truth, she no longer looked forward to the temple fair, so the Blanks returned to their original forms.

A helpless smile appeared on Akina's face. She had figured out what kind of existence she was: a collection of the pasts of countless different people. In the lives of these people, Akina and her companion had never appeared.

She just didn't expect that Byakuya's wife was also on her, so when canceling the temple fair, she deliberately didn't cancel Hisana.

Byakuya spent the whole day with her, and Akina had nothing to repay him with. Perhaps fulfilling Byakuya's longing was a way of repaying him.

Just as Akina was about to say something, she saw Hisana suddenly lunge at her, shouting anxiously, "Watch out!"

As Akina was tackled, an arrow landed where she had been standing, narrowly missing her.

Upon seeing Hisana nearly injured, Byakuya's boundless rage was instantly ignited. He flung away the Gigai, took a step forward, drew his sword, and stood in front of Hisana and Akina.

"Byakuya- sama, I entrust Lady Akina to you." With that, Hisana merged into Akina's body, while her original body transformed into a mindless, Blanks.

Byakuya didn't answer Hisana. He would do his best to fulfill anything Hisana had said. Today, he would protect Akina. No one was allowed to hurt Akina.

Looking up, six people dressed in green robes and armor stood in the night sky, looking very much like the figure that Byakuya had exchanged blows with during the day. It was no surprise that these people were after Akina.

The mature woman with purple hair was carrying a crossbow; the arrow that launched the sneak attack was from her.

At this moment, Byakuya remembered the information Tsuna had shared with him: the people in the air were, without a doubt, nobles exiled from Soul Society to the Dangai, and the people behind this incident.

As the Kuchiki of the Kuchiki clan, a leading noble family, Byakuya happened to know the name of this family, the Ryūdōji Clan, and that someone had actually survived.