7-2 -

You...

I have something I need to say to you. I take back what I said about your family being hopeless losers. I am sorry.

Wait, please! You're horribly injured! You'll succumb to your wounds if you don't do something!

You do know who I am, don't you?

That doesn't matter! It's just...I can't leave you like this! Besides, I heard that you're an incredibly strong person.

But even so, you avoided fighting with my brother and father.

If you were actually a bad person, you would have cut me and my brother down.

(Is she trying to say that I am a good person because I didn't kill them all? That is ridiculous.)

I'm fine. Thank you for your concern.

If your family is ever to suffer unjustified criticism in the future, I will at least vouch for your integrity.

Huh? Um, please wait!

I see you've ended your fusion. The air in the Seireitei feels a bit different. So, what are you going to do now?

As a criminal, I will return to prison. Please tell that to the Head Captain.

If you ever happen to visit Kuruyashiki's grave in the Rukon District, offer him a cup of sake for me, will you?

It looks like he's been set free from the Kenpachi name, Kuruyashiki.

Hey there. I figured you'd be back soon, if you were coming back at all.

If I were coming back at all, huh? Were you hoping that I'd die, perhaps?

Of course not. I thought there was about a ten percent chance you'd beat Kenpachi Zaraki, actually. If you had used your Shikai from the start, that is.

I will tell you one result that you would not have been able to predict, Aizen. I also lost to a human man today.

Interesting.

He was a clown of a man who kept fighting while protecting a Hollow woman, of all things. And he did it after getting caught up in a battle between Soul Reapers and Hollows, despite being powerless.

But, thanks to him, I learned what a meaningful defeat is.

Was this man's name Kanonji, by any chance?

You know him?

Yes. I saw him once before, in Karakura Town.

I was fused with the Hogyoku at the time, and even though he knew the difference in our strength, he still stood up to me. All to save some lost children.

I see. A man who would stand against you, even when you were fused with the Hogyoku, huh. No wonder he did not fear me.

You might even say that it's the chance of someone like him appearing that makes this world an interesting and meaningful place.

That is precisely why the world should be led by someone who is worthy, wouldn't you say? Not that thing.

Do you intend to lure me into becoming a tool to kill the Soul King, like you did with Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen?

You are free to interpret things however you like. Including whether you are a mere tool or not.

Let's leave my conclusion for the next time we meet.

The next time I appear before you, I may be a completely changed person, after all.

Then I hope you'll be a good neighbor or at least a good enemy when you do, Soya Azashiro.

Urozakuro.

Keeheeheehee! Yes? Are you gonna be okay, by the way? You know we'll be here, just the two of us, for many hundreds of years to come!

I thought I'd ask you to give back a few of the things that I left in your care.

Keehahaha! You really think I'd give them back so readily?

No, I'm sure it'll be difficult. That's why I'll take them back little by little, no matter how many years it takes.

Thinking back on it now, you did actually try to stop me for my own good, huh.

Hmmm? Whatever do you mean? I'm pretty dumb, so I have no idea what you mean! Keehee! Keehaha!

I'm sure there was a reason for everything you told me. Now that I think about it, you were probably trying to keep me on the right path.

And yet, I don't even know the incantation for releasing you.

Keeha! You're overestimating me! There is no right path! Life's all about the side trips and detours!

Besides, you might've called them pointless conversations, but don't forget that I am made up of all that stuff you threw away, all right?

My pointless ramblings have been increasing lately, but maybe it's because that's what you wanted.

What do you mean?

You must've seen the changes in the Soul Society that Ichigo Kurosaki brought about and started to admire all the Soul Reapers who are now able to talk freely with each other, eh?

The fact that you can waste time talking now is proof that you're happy! You unconsciously longed for happiness, and that forced me to try my best to make it happen. How awful of you!

You are me, and I am you. The only reason you can't fuse with a living being is that you wanted to be alone, y'know!

It's already too late, but how about refraining from saying things that'll make me feel bad?

I will take it all back. Every single thing I've thrown away since I met you.

And then, I will obtain your power once again. Next time it will not be at your whim, though. I will do it deliberately.

Starting with the incantation to release your power... No, actually, starting with the meaning behind your name. One thing at a time.

Fine, I'll give you a kiss when you manage to figure it out, Soya.

No, thank you.

Why is it that your face has to look just like my sister's? So pointless.