Under the twilight-colored sky of the Soul Society, the white walls of the Seireitei stood forever amidst that enduring sense of oppression.
This was an insurmountable barrier, a class hierarchy that countless Ryoka and wanderers of the Rukongai desired to climb but could not reach.
Inoue Orihime was gasping for breath. Due to running for a long time, her long orange hair was already wet with sweat, plastering against her cheeks.
"Ishida-kun... Kurosaki-kun..."
She supported herself against the rough stone wall, her eyes filled with confusion and helplessness. During the operation to rescue Kuchiki Rukia with Kurosaki Ichigo and the others, Inoue Orihime didn't know what had happened.
She only remembered a flash of flowing light before her eyes, and then Ishida Uryu, Kurosaki Ichigo, and the others who were acting with her all vanished. Their hiding spot was also discovered. To evade the search of a squad of Soul Reapers, Inoue Orihime had to start fleeing and accidentally intruded into this old urban area that looked abandoned for a long time.
"My, what good luck. To actually catch a stray kitten here."
A lazy voice, laced with a trace of chill, rang out abruptly from the corner of the narrow alley. Inoue Orihime's body stiffened instantly.
She turned her head stiffly and saw a man draped in a white Captain's haori, leaning against the pale-painted wall. The man had short silver hair, his eyes permanently narrowed into thin slits, and the corners of his mouth held an arc that made one shudder.
Gotei 13, Captain of the 3rd Division—Ichimaru Gin.
"S... Soul Reaper?"
Orihime subconsciously wanted to retreat, only to find that the path behind her had been sealed off by a heavy pressure at some point. That was the terrifying Spiritual Pressure of a Captain-class Soul Reaper.
No one knew why the Gotei 13 would deploy Captain-level combat power just to hunt down these Ryoka who hadn't even had time to invade the Seireitei yet. This included the disappearance of Kurosaki Ichigo and Ishida Uryu just moments ago.
All of this was too sudden for Inoue Orihime, so sudden that it was unacceptable for a girl who had just reached high school age.
"No need to be so afraid. I'm not like those rude guys who only know how to cut people down."
Ichimaru Gin slowly straightened up, his hands tucked into his sleeves. Those eyes, which were always squinted, resembled a venomous snake staring at its prey.
According to the original arrangement, his mission should have been to continue lurking beside Aizen, that fellow hiding enormous ambition, waiting for an opportunity to strike. But at this critical juncture when Kuchiki Rukia was about to be executed, he didn't know what kind of madness had suddenly seized the guys in Central 46.
They had actually issued a death order for all Gotei 13 Captains to move out and capture any potential Ryoka in the Rukongai on the outskirts of the Seireitei. It was hard to say whether this was a lion using its full strength to catch a rabbit or just overkill.
Consequently, Ichimaru Gin planned to casually kill a few Ryoka and go back to report his mission—had he not suddenly discovered Inoue Orihime, this somewhat interesting Ryoka girl.
Truly a peculiar ability. As a Captain-class Soul Reaper who had mixed with that research maniac Aizen for so long, Ichimaru Gin could be considered knowledgeable. If this girl's ability were utilized well, it might be helpful for his future revenge plans.
Besides, he didn't want this Ryoka girl with the peculiar ability to fall into the field of vision of Kurotsuchi Mayuri or Aizen. In this Gotei 13, which had basically no mercy for Ryoka, running into him could be considered good luck for Inoue Orihime.
"Come with me, little girl. It's very dangerous outside."
Ichimaru Gin smiled even more brilliantly, though this smile looked fake at a glance. He planned to protect Inoue Orihime and use her as a possible idle chess piece.
"No... I'm going to find Kurosaki-kun and the others!"
Orihime summoned her courage and shouted, her right hand waving out abruptly.
"Santen Kesshun, I reject!"
A clear yellow light shield instantly unfolded, protecting her in the center.
"Oh? Truly a very interesting ability. Is it actually a rejection of 'phenomena'?"
A gleam of light revealed itself through the slits of Ichimaru Gin's narrowed eyes. He extended a hand, his fingertip pressing lightly against the light shield.
"However, in the face of absolute power, a barrier of this level is very fragile, you know... Hmm?"
Just as Ichimaru Gin prepared to exert a little Spiritual Pressure to forcibly shatter this shield and take Inoue Orihime away, a sense of violation he had never experienced before—as if the world itself were shifting—quietly descended.
The air stopped flowing. The surrounding buildings composed of Spirit Particles, the ground, and even the Spiritual Pressure released by Ichimaru Gin all became as fake as clumsy stage props in this instant.
"How strange."
An ethereal and holy voice, yet carrying no emotion or fluctuation, came from behind Ichimaru Gin, this Captain-class Soul Reaper. It was the voice of an unfamiliar young girl.
"To be able to sense such fresh and urgent 'Love' in a place filled with the scent of decay."
Ichimaru Gin's pupils constricted abruptly. His instincts as a top-tier Soul Reaper blared crazily, urging him to leave his spot immediately. He turned violently, the Zanpakuto at his waist unsheathed in a flash!
"Shoot to kill, Shinso!"
A stream of silver light, moving at a speed beyond the naked eye's capture, went straight for the owner of that voice! Just as Ichimaru Gin expected, his Zanpakuto pierced through the heart of the girl's figure that had suddenly appeared behind him without any delay!
"Ugh—?!"
The sight of scorching hot blood splashing out caused even Inoue Orihime to let out a terrified sound. Was it a fatal blow?
"I forgive you, stranger."
But in the next moment, when the Zanpakuto returned to Ichimaru Gin's hand, the girl who should have been killed by his single strike stood there as if nothing had happened. She stood quietly, not even an eyelash trembling, even though there were already splashes of blood on the ground.
"Resist. Resist fate. The more you resist fate, the more you will receive its favor. Whether it is you, or the girl behind you."
Inoue Orihime watched, stunned. Appearing before her eyes was none other than the [Witch of Vainglory], Pandora.
Perhaps due to arriving in another world, she was no longer in that appearance of being draped only in a white cloth with her petite, youthful body completely naked. Although she was still barefoot, she now wore a rustic-style white plain dress underneath that cloth which looked like an apron. It was unknown who had given it to her.
"Who are you?"
Ichimaru Gin's smile disappeared completely, and the cold sweat in his palm made his grip on the sword tighten slightly. He couldn't feel the opponent's Spiritual Pressure, nor could he feel any fluctuation of her aura.
In the Soul Society, where everything is composed of Spirit Particles, this situation was extremely abnormal. For this to happen, there was only one possibility: the opponent's strength was so great that it was beyond his comprehension—
Ichimaru Gin subconsciously ruled out the possibility that the opponent had no Spiritual Pressure; people always tend to use their own common sense to explain things they cannot understand.
"I am a Witch, Pandora."
The Witch of Vainglory tilted her head. In the look she gave Ichimaru Gin, there was no anger, nor was there contempt. Unable to read any emotion from her eyes that always held a smile, Ichimaru Gin felt that she looked at him and Inoue Orihime as if looking at ants by the roadside.
"Do you want to protect this girl? In order to use her power to assist yourself in reclaiming the 'Love' that belongs to you?"
Pandora spoke softly, her voice possessing a magical quality that bewitched the heart.
"How about this. You put the sword away first, and go stand in the corner. I will talk to the girl behind you first."
Thud—!
Ichimaru Gin abruptly knelt on one knee on the ground. His hand, uncontrolled, actually sheathed the Zanpakuto, Shinso, back into its scabbard. Before he could even release his Spiritual Pressure, an irresistible will directly took over his neural reflexes, making him unable to move like a statue.
"This... exactly what kind of monster is this..."
Ichimaru Gin gritted his teeth, his eyes full of horror.
Pandora paid no attention to this immobilized Soul Reaper Captain. She turned slowly, stepping onto the clean stone-paved road with her bare feet, and walked toward Inoue Orihime.
Orihime's hand gripping the shield was trembling violently, her eyes full of unease and fear. Although this platinum-blonde girl, who appeared abruptly and looked even younger than her, had just saved her, that "Evil" which rushed toward her face—viewing life as if it were nothing—was a thousand times more terrifying than Ichimaru Gin's fake smile.
That was a natural indifference toward life; the so-called emotions proper to a "human" did not exist in her at all.
"Inoue... Orihime-san? I heard that you are called by this name?"
Pandora approached until her soft, platinum-blonde hair, filled with a cold fragrance, almost touched the tip of Inoue Orihime's nose. She extended a finger, pressing it lightly against Inoue Orihime's slightly trembling red lips.
"Tell me, what kind of 'Love' are you driven by? Why is it that for someone as weak as you, your heart can beat so violently when facing an enemy stronger than yourself?"
"Does the emotion named 'Love' really have such great driving force?"
Pandora's eyes flickered with a near-pathological desire for exploration. After letting go of the obsession with her original world, she seemed to be using all her energy to explore what "Love" is.
"Even knowing you will die, even knowing it is meaningless, you still came here for the sake of others? 'Love' is truly wonderful. Wonderful enough to make one want to obtain it..."
"Clearly I am so philanthropic, yet why is no one willing to give me 'Love'?"
Orihime opened her mouth, her voice so faint it was almost inaudible.
"I don't know what you are saying... I just didn't want Kurosaki-kun to fight alone, so I came here... Rukia is also our friend..."
"Friend, is it? As expected, it is this answer again."
Pandora chuckled softly. Her eyes clearly hadn't changed, yet they made one feel a depth within them that was unlike a normal person. The finger pressing against Orihime's lips began to slide down slowly, finally stopping at Orihime's tender neck.
Orihime felt a piercing chill, as if a scythe were cutting open her skin inch by inch. This girl calling herself a Witch was very dangerous! She didn't care about factions, didn't care about good or evil; she only wanted to understand clearly what true love was.
Just as this icy sense of crisis was about to swallow Inoue Orihime whole—
A roar of an engine, loud enough to shatter glass, suddenly came from the void not far away, or rather, from a door in space!
Vroom, vroom...
A bus painted with bright yellow paint appeared in the field of view, driving slowly out of that door. The wheels made contact with the stone-paved road of the narrow alley, bringing a slight bumpiness that caused some commotion from inside the vehicle.
Squeak—
The bus came to a steady halt, appearing extremely incongruous within this strictly guarded Soul Society. The door opened, and a man dressed as a farmer, his face full of dark lines, jumped down first just like that.
"Pandora, who let you act on your own?"
"I was just afraid those little Witches would get carsick, so I opened the door to let them go down and get some fresh air. Good grief, in the blink of an eye, you ran off on me!"
Suke clapped the dust off his hands. He suddenly regretted bringing along this Witch of Vainglory. If not for what Tsukishiro Yuki said about needing their power to make a clean break with that King of Quincies.
"Sorry, Sir. I was merely curious about this place."
Pandora turned around. The moment she saw this Farmer, her line of sight was completely attracted to him. Also as "Love," the love possessed by this Farmer, compared to others, was like the moon compared to the multitude of stars in the night sky.
It was not the same quality, not the same quantity at all. Just seeing it gave Pandora an impulse to possess it. Unfortunately, she was no longer the representative of "Fate"; the moment the gamble with the Great Witch ended, she could no longer use her own will to rewrite the reality of all living beings.
Pandora looked down at the plain dress she wore under the white cloth draped over her. This was actually bestowed upon her by that Great Witch. She said it was for her to mind her image, otherwise, it would incur the displeasure of the Door Witch, who was also a "Witch."
But the maker of the plain dress was undoubtedly the man before her eyes. She wondered, regarding such love, did she have the qualifications to share a portion of it?
____
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