Senbonzakura's blade transformed into countless tiny, razor-sharp fragments. Refracted light made them look like romantic cherry blossom petals, dancing through the air.
Renji Abarai still hadn't learned his Zanpakuto's Shikai. Watching the scene, he couldn't help becoming entranced. "So beautiful," he murmured.
Unlike him, the two servants lying in pools of blood and the one who had stopped Rukia stared at the scene before them, their pupils shrinking as disbelief filled their faces.
As servants of the Kuchiki Clan, they knew perfectly well that the pink petals filling the sky were the Shikai of their lord's Zanpakuto, Senbonzakura.
But the crucial point was that the one who had released Senbonzakura's Shikai wasn't Byakuya Kuchiki. It was Gilgamesh.
It shouldn't have been possible. They had never even imagined such a thing, yet it was unfolding right before their eyes.
At that moment, they felt their understanding of the world crumbling.
They weren't the only ones. Byakuya Kuchiki was stunned too, his pupils trembling as disbelief filled his face.
Only the owner of a Zanpakuto could release its Shikai. That was an unchanging law, and now it had been broken.
Byakuya couldn't help but reel.
Of everyone there, only Yoruichi Shihouin showed no surprise, because she knew King's Decree, King's Authority could do far more than this.
She turned to Rukia and said, "Lift your head. The king has prepared a gift for you."
Though still immersed in grief, Rukia couldn't help lifting her head when she heard this.
And when she did, she saw the pink petals dancing through the sky.
They were all swirling around her.
The beautiful sight made Rukia forget her grief, forget to cry. Entranced, she instinctively reached out to catch a petal.
But the petals seemed to have minds of their own, all dodging her outstretched