Bleach : I Need To Rizz To Become Stronger ?!

Rukia's knuckles were white as she stared into the ripples of her teacup, her fragmented reflection trembling with each wave.

She let out a faint, inexplicable laugh. She had foolishly hoped that Shin might say something unexpected—some hidden pain, some reason beyond what she had imagined.

But now, it was clear. He could say sorry that easily.

It was a luxury to expect otherwise. He had no deeper reason.

Rukia raised her eyes to look directly at Shin's face. He was far calmer than she had expected. Her own tangled mess of emotions, in comparison, seemed all the more pathetic.

"Rukia," Shin spoke again.

"I never saw you as something cheap or dispensable. What I told you back then was sincere. When I said I liked you—I meant it. But I'm not someone who can stay faithful to just one person. You might think that's despicable, but that's the kind of person I am."

"…"

Rukia went quiet for a moment before she suddenly gave a cold, sharp laugh. "So… Vice-Captain Kotetsu is a victim too, then?"

"If that's how you want to see it, sure."

Rukia's chest tightened with anger. "What a grand, self-serving answer. If you truly love someone, how could you ever change your heart? In the end, you never saw the other person as someone important—someone you couldn't throw away."

"Maybe," Shin said, offering no rebuttal.

That silence—his calm indifference—only deepened her helplessness.

That was the sorrow of watching someone you loved, who no longer stirred for you.

"I'm so stupid."

She lowered her head, then put down the teacup, stood up, and walked straight to the door.

No words of farewell—just the sound of the door shutting behind her.

Outside Shin's home, Rukia's gaze clouded with confusion. Her chest surged with bitter dissatisfaction.

She had come here seeking an answer. Now she had it—and yet, it didn't ease her heart. That ache, that weight, still wouldn't let go.

What should she do?

Was he really someone not worth loving anymore?

For so long, she had seen Shin through a lens of quiet perfection. Even now, despite everything he'd done, her heart refused to cast him aside completely.

Maybe…

Maybe it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Maybe there was still something she didn't know.

But just as the thought rose, reason shoved it away.

Torn and dazed, Rukia didn't even know how she got home.

Two days later, the Fourth Division received a critically wounded patient.

A Shinigami stationed in the World of the Living had been struck by a Hollow, half his body shattered. Luckily, reinforcements arrived in time, but the wounds were too severe. The field medics could only barely keep him alive as they rushed him back to the Fourth.

Isane Kotetsu flinched when she saw the patient. Beneath the blood-soaked bandages, the body was in ruin. It was a miracle he was even breathing.

She examined him carefully, her expression darkening.

This level of injury required the Captain herself. They might even need help from the Twelfth Division.

She rushed to Unohana's office, breathless.

"How pitiful," Unohana said calmly upon hearing the report.

"Captain?" Isane didn't understand.

"He's going to die. How pitiful indeed. But with wounds like those… even dying right now would be expected," said Unohana.

Isane spoke urgently. "But Captain, we haven't even tried yet! At least come take a look—I believe you can save him!"

Unohana remained still, lifting her tea with steady hands, the curse-lock on her wrist glinting slightly in the light.

"Do you really think I can save him like this?"

Isane froze, then quickly replied, "In cases like this, we can request for your restraints to be lifted. Vice-Captain Sasakibe said so himself."

Unohana answered, "From request to approval, then removal of my binds—how long would that take? Do you think the patient on that bed will live that long?"

Isane stood in silence. Unohana was right.

Still, as a healer, she couldn't let even the faintest chance slip.

That Shinigami's broken body flashed in her mind. She bit her lip. "Then I'll file the request immediately."

She ran from the office, heading straight to the First Division to report in person.

Her mind was a whirlwind—not just from the urgency of the situation, but from her captain's indifferent demeanor.

Unohana said "pitiful," but there wasn't a shred of sorrow in her eyes.

Before, they had lost patients in the Fourth. When no healing could save them, the Captain had grieved.

But now…

She had changed. Too much.

Before leaving, Isane dispatched a Fourth Division member to call on the Twelfth for emergency assistance, and told Iemura to stay with the patient.

And then she summoned Aoshika.

"Please… go to the Tenth Division—bring back Captain Tachikawa."

Tachikawa Shin returned with Aoshika in a blur, having already learned the situation.

He strode directly into the emergency treatment room.

"Captain Tachikawa?" Iemura blinked in surprise.

"What's the status?"

"Critical. Half his body is shattered. His reishi is already dispersing."

Reishi dispersing—death imminent.

Even Unohana couldn't stop that.

Iemura had already resorted to flooding the man's body with his own spirit energy, just to slow the decay.

"Leave it to me," Shin said simply.

Reishi dispersal meant nothing to him. His Zanpakutō wasn't based on healing—it reversed the impossible.

As long as the man wasn't dead, he could be brought back.

Iemura stepped aside in awe.

First, Shin used "Stasis" to halt the dispersing particles. Then, he applied "Reversion."

In Iemura's wide-eyed stare, the wounds began to close. Muscle reformed. Bone regrew. Skin sealed.

It took effort—more than Shin liked. The patient had almost no energy left, so the process drew heavily on Shin's own.

He thought, If I could draw reishi from the environment like a Quincy, this would be easier…

And such power did exist.

"Captain Tachikawa… How did you—?"

"I'm just… a bit special," Shin replied with a calm smile.

As he exited the treatment room, he found Isane returning—accompanied by Sasakibe Chōjirō.

Both paused upon seeing him.

"He's stable. Just in time," Shin said. "Any later and we'd have lost another comrade."

Isane breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

She trusted Shin's abilities. That's why she had sent for him in the first place.

Shin turned to Sasakibe. "Vice-Captain Sasakibe. I believe Captain Unohana's restrictions need reconsideration. What if I hadn't been available today? Another life lost."

Sasakibe nodded solemnly. "I'll report everything to the Head-Captain. You have my gratitude."

He stepped into the treatment room, Isane following.

Shortly after, Sasakibe returned. "The matter's resolved. I'll make my report in detail. I believe the Head-Captain will understand."

He departed.

Isane lingered, then stepped close to Shin.

"Thank you. If not for you, he'd be gone."

"You're welcome to thank me," Shin smirked. "But really, he should be the one thanking me."

"…"

Isane fell quiet. With the crisis over, there was nothing more to say.

"You've cooled down?" Shin asked suddenly.

"What?"

"You said you needed time to cool down. Have you?"

"…"

"Isane. I have things I want to say."

"I do too," she said softly. "Let's talk in my office."

They entered the Fourth Division Vice-Captain's quarters.

But the moment Shin stepped through the door, he turned, shut it behind him, and pulled her into a fierce embrace. He spun her around, pinned her to the door, and kissed her.

"Mm!"

She struggled at first—but lightly, like her heart wasn't in it.

She had missed him. Every day. That longing surged out now, and she kissed him back with desperate heat.

His hands roamed, slipping through the folds of her uniform—until her hand clamped down hard on his wrist.

He tried to soothe her as he once had—but her grip was firm. Unyielding.

She leaned back, foreheads touching, breath ragged. "Take it out."

"…"

Feeling the resolve in her voice, he did as she asked, withdrawing his hand.

She smoothed her hair and uniform, then asked, "What did you want to say?"

"I missed you."

"…Mm."

She nodded, but her eyes dimmed.

She had hoped—hoped that after all this time apart, he might say something meaningful. Something about them. Or even a word about what had happened with the Captain.

But there was nothing.

If he missed her so much… why hadn't he come to see her?

Then again, she had told him to give her space. Could she really blame him?

"Shin… Have you ever thought about our future?" she asked quietly. "What it would look like? Will it just be the same as before?"

"I feel like… there's always been a distance between us. I want to know you deeper, but I can't. You keep avoiding me when I try. Are you… rejecting me in your heart?"

"…"

Shin's expression changed. He hadn't expected that.

Maybe he hadn't even realized it himself.

It wasn't that he was hiding secrets.

It was that, with memories from another life, he couldn't help but see himself as… other. Not one of them.

Rukia hadn't seen it. Hinamori hadn't. Kira or Kaien hadn't.

But Isane—who had loved him, lived beside him—she had.

She stared at him, waiting for something. Anything.

He had no words.

She smiled bitterly.

She remembered that kiss, remembered all their nights tangled together, and thought… I thought we understood each other.

But they didn't.

He never let her see what he truly felt.

And when it came to Unohana, she'd made her stance clear—but Shin had pushed ahead without once considering her feelings.

What tore them apart wasn't Unohana. That was just the spark.

Isane leaned back against the door and exhaled slowly.

"I thought we each needed our own space. Our own secrets. That we shouldn't interfere too much with each other."

"But the space I gave you… turned into a gulf between us."

"Shin…"

"Can you really love someone with your whole heart?"