Bleach: The Forgotten Captain - The Memoirs of Akari Miyazaki

Chapter 13: A Hundred Years Without You - Part 4: Betrayal

It took several weeks for me to wake up in the morning without the suffocating weight of grief tightening around my chest. The intensity of the pain in my heart gradually subsided, but it left behind an emptiness that I could hardly fill.

I spent my days teaching Mana how to fight. My presence had awakened her Kidō powers, and now she needed regular sustenance. I owed it to her to at least instruct her. It was also a welcome distraction for my mind.

Mana learned quickly. She absorbed all knowledge and trained physically so hard that she fell into bed exhausted after dinner. Her mother, Miaka, was initially skeptical, but after a while, she understood that her daughter had these powers now. Whether I trained her or not made no difference to her condition. It simply gave her the opportunity to control the powers within her.

One sunny afternoon, our training was interrupted by sudden applause, breaking the silence of the day. It was Yoruichi, who had once again come to visit.

Mana bid her farewell politely, and I was left alone with my old friend.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed in exasperation.

"You should try to get rid of these things instead of playing teacher here," I rolled my eyes and stretched luxuriously. "Yoruichi, give it up. I can't get rid of them anymore, and I'm tired of trying," I grumbled and left her bewildered.

I sat on a rock from which I could observe the small river that circled our village. Its steady splashing and murmuring filled my mind with a soothing peace that did me good. I liked to come here to meditate.

It took Yoruichi a few minutes to regain her composure and catch up with me.

"What? Is that it? You want to give up so easily? What's become of you?" She wanted to say something, but something about my gaze seemed to cut her off.

"Akari, what happened?"

I had known that this day would come, yet I didn't feel prepared to talk about the things that had happened. The events that had suddenly thrown my already chaotic life into complete disarray. I swallowed a lump in my throat and had to take a deep breath to choke back the tears welling up.

"He killed Hisana," I explained in a steady voice. Yoruichi's eyelids widened, she wanted to say something, but I raised my voice again. "And Yamachi."

My voice broke, and I could barely manage more than a whisper. It was the first time since the ceremony that I had uttered my brother's name. It lay heavy on my tongue like lead.

I had to avert my gaze from Yoruichi's face, contorted in shock. Her eyes had become glassy, and she clenched her fists. Shock turned into anger.

"That bastard," she cursed softly and sat down beside me.

"Yamachi ... he saved me," I whispered, feeling tears welling up again. "I should have been the one to die."

Yoruichi wanted to argue with me, but I shook my head.

"Yoruichi, please... You know I'm right. Yamachi had nothing to do with any of this. Aizen is just playing with us like puppets. He's the player, and we're just the chess pieces. If he doesn't need us anymore, we'll be sacrificed. We don't know his plans, but one thing is clear: he wants the Hōgyoku. And he won't hesitate to go over dead bodies to get his hands on that thing. And we... well, we can't take him on. We don't stand a chance against him, especially not with the abilities of his Zanpakutō."

Yoruichi chewed her lower lip, her eyes fixed on the ground. I sensed she was searching for counterarguments, but she remained silent.

"For now, it's best for all of us to hold back until we find a way to defeat Aizen. Either by finding a way to strip him of his ability or defeating him despite it. Until then..." I swallowed hard. I had prepared for this conversation in my mind several times over the past weeks, but it was still difficult to speak the words.