Bleach: I Can't Get an Amen
Episode 9 - The World of the Living
The distance between you, beyond that unreachable door, and my heart, pounding as if it might burst.
In this strange land where forests of iron and waves of electricity surge, like a lost child, I tuck the melody I wish to give you into a small box.
What illuminates the darkness is not the brilliant neon signs, but a tiny flame—the desire to save someone.
Deeper than the silence of a night when the rain clouds have cleared, my heart winds its spring toward you.
Even if this song is buried in noise and never reaches you,
The reason my heart does not stop is because the confession I want you to hear still echoes within me.
"..."
Azuma Shohei stood before Soi Fon’s office.
In all his life, this was the first time he had ever stood before this particular door.
It was a place he had always longed to visit, but now that he was actually here, it felt different.
His heart hammered against his ribs.
This was truly, truly the day he had dreamed of.
To face her directly.
His cheeks flushed, and his pulse quickened with intensity.
"Hey, Azuma."
Omaeda, who had been watching from the side, poked him in the ribs.
In that instant, Shohei snapped back to reality.
"Ah, yes, Lieutenant..."
"You always get so timid the moment the Captain is involved."
"That’s... well, because she’s the Captain, she’s different from everyone else..."
"Good grief... you’ve certainly become talkative. You’re about to receive a very important mission."
Omaeda’s subsequent words didn’t quite register in Shohei’s ears.
He was simply staring at the door with cautious reverence.
"Now, knock and go in. Don't be so nervous; just stand there like you did when you gave the report before. And try not to let your face get too red. Got it?"
"Yes, I understand..."
Azuma stood carefully before the door and knocked.
"Who is it?"
"It's... the 9th Seat..."
"...Enter."
He opened the door slowly.
There she stood—his superior, his idol, and the object of his secret affection.
"So, you've come..."
Soi Fon looked at Azuma.
Her gaze made his mind go hazy, but he struggled to maintain a composed exterior.
"I'll get straight to the point. Recently, reports have been coming in from a certain region in the World of the Living that souls are evaporating instead of passing on to the Soul Society."
"Yes, ma'am..."
He was absorbing her words, one by one, with painstaking focus.
"Furthermore, the Soul Reapers assigned to that region have eventually gone missing. Therefore, the Stealth Force has decided to investigate directly."
"Ah, yes..."
He managed a nod.
Soi Fon let out a small sigh.
"You and your friends—which division are you in?"
"Ah, we... we are in the 2nd Division."
"For this mission only, I will temporarily change your affiliation to the 4th Division. Lead your friends there and conduct a proper investigation. Is that clear?"
"...Yes, ma'am..."
"...Sigh, that look... honestly..."
"Pardon...?"
Azuma flinched and looked up.
Soi Fon kept her head down for a moment before looking back up at him.
"...It's nothing. Depart as soon as you are ready. Omaeda will give you the passes for the World of the Living."
"Ah, yes..."
He nodded, his cheeks still flushed.
Whether Soi Fon noticed his state or not, she sighed again and spoke once more.
"Azuma."
"...Yes?"
"Just remember that the World of the Living is not the Soul Society."
"Ah, yes..."
Without fully grasping the weight of her words, he bowed and turned around.
To be precise, he didn't turn away completely.
He lingered, stealing glances to keep her in his sight for as long as possible before finally closing the door and exiting the office.
As soon as he stepped out, Omaeda patted him on the back a few times and handed him four passes.
The passes bore the seal of the Captain Commander of the 1st Division.
"Good luck, Azuma. Go broaden your horizons a bit. And take this..."
Omaeda held out several slips of paper.
"Wh... what is this?"
"It's money used in the World of the Living. If you get hungry... buy the kids something delicious. Though you might not have time for that during the mission. Or just buy something you want and bring it back. Think of it as a small perk of the job."
"Ah, yes..."
Shohei bowed and expressed his gratitude.
A small smile naturally tugged at the corners of his mouth.
He felt like he could do this. Surely...
"Go on now. Be careful."
"Thank you. I will definitely return once the mission is complete."
Bowing once more, he turned and set off to summon Ren, Mia, and Sora.
---
A few hours later, in the World of the Living.
The Senkaimon opened, and Hell Butterflies fluttered out from within.
The four of them, including Azuma, failed to land properly and crashed onto the rooftop of a building.
"Gah! Ow!"
Azuma clutched his lower back in pain.
The others were also curled up, clutching their heads or waists.
However, the pain was fleeting.
The four of them froze at the sight of the World of the Living spread out before them.
They had vaguely expected it to be more advanced than the Soul Society.
But they hadn't imagined it would be like this.
Strange lumps of iron moved on their own without people pulling them, and humans climbed in and out of them.
They saw people who appeared to be trapped inside something, only to vanish an instant later.
"Shall we... head down first?"
At Sora’s cautious suggestion, all four nodded and took the stairs down to the ground floor.
On the way, they passed a machine that moved up and down on its own; Azuma had a faint memory of seeing something similar in the 12th Division.
"...Hmm..."
Stepping onto the first floor, the World of the Living felt even more chaotic.
People dressed in clothes they had never seen before bustled past.
The iron things running on the roads were still moving busily.
A cacophony of voices mixed together from all directions.
The same thought seemed to strike all four of them at once: Why are those people staying sealed as if they're trapped...?
The humans of the World of the Living didn't seem to perceive them at all.
Even when they moved right next to them, no one paid any mind.
Azuma pushed his own reactions aside and surveyed the surroundings.
"There are... people inside the buildings, but they're moving without dying...? And... food moves automatically...?"
Ren stared at the various sights of the World of the Living with the expression of someone encountering a new civilization for the first time.
Well, it was a new civilization to them...
"So you're saying humans in this world sleep amidst all these lights and this noisy racket..."
Mia frowned as she scanned the city.
However, her eyes were moving restlessly.
In particular, her gaze kept darting toward the places where clothes were on display.
"..."
Sora said nothing, simply staring at an electronic billboard hanging in the middle of the city.
It said 'Tokyo Station.'
"Sigh..."
Azuma glanced at the three of them and let out a sigh. He was looking around, wondering where they should head first.
His gaze was naturally drawn to a certain spot.
Music was drifting from that direction.
It was the gentle sound of a music box.
He walked slowly toward it.
The melody was identical to the music box he had listened to until it was familiar in the Soul Society.
He pulled out the human currency Omaeda had given him.
He added up the amounts written on the notes and compared them to the numbers on the music box.
He had more than enough.
Hadn't Omaeda said he could buy whatever he wanted?
Then... perhaps giving a music box like this to Soi Fon wouldn't be such a bad idea.
His logic was that since he was giving her something containing the music he cherished most, she might like it too.
It was at that moment, while his eyes were completely fixed on the music box.
Someone tapped him lightly from behind. He turned to see Sora.
"Sora... what is it?"
"That... over there..."
Sora pointed in one direction.
Azuma looked.
A strange creature shaped like a metal rat was scurrying around.
Looking closer, the rat was moving toward a specific target.
It was the soul of a young child.
There was no mistake.
The feeling was different from that of a living human.
The rat approached the soul and seemed poised to pounce, bristling with metallic scales.
"...I'll handle it!"
Instinctively, he gripped his sword and ran toward them.
Sora watched his retreating back for a moment before signaling Mia and Ren and following after him.
The sound of Azuma’s Shikai release command was swallowed by the city's noise.
"..."
A fine misty rain rose around Azuma, muffling his footsteps.
Successfully approaching right behind the rat, Azuma first sliced through the scales and then cut down the rat in a single stroke.
"Whew..."
As he sheathed his sword, Ren, Mia, and Sora appeared behind him.
He saw faint black fragments leaking from the remains of the sliced rat.
He couldn't tell exactly what they were.
However, an intuition flashed through him that this might be the key to their mission.
"...M... Mister... Misses... what happens now..."
The child's soul stood there, looking at them with a helpless face.
"I'm scared because Mommy and Daddy aren't here... I think they went ahead of me..."
Azuma reflexively knelt before the child.
His body moved before his mind could think.
Like himself back then... no, let's not go there.
"You won't hear those loud noises anymore. And you'll be able to meet your Mommy and Daddy in a much better place."
He remembered learning at the Spiritual Arts Academy that the Soul Society was a better place than the World of the Living.
"...Thank you, Mister."
The child's form turned into white spirit ribbons and faded away.
He watched the soul ascend toward the sky.
He could feel other souls ascending as well.
However, a small number of souls seemed to be heading underground.
It didn't seem like a normal path.
"...Some of the souls..."
Azuma frowned.
"They're going underground..."
Sora spoke up cautiously from behind.
"Yeah... we'd better go investigate quickly."
The other three nodded.
The four of them began to move, searching for the place where the souls seemed to have been sucked in.
Several hours had passed since they started wandering aimlessly through the city.
"...This is a bit exhausting..."
Ren said, taking several ragged breaths.
"...Tell me about it..."
Azuma also sighed at the situation that seemed to have no answer.
The four of them entered a deserted back alley.
"...L-Leader?"
This time, Mia tapped Azuma on the back.
He looked back.
"...What is it?"
"Th-There..."
Just as Sora had done, Mia pointed in one direction.
Azuma wondered if it was something like that rat from before and slowly headed that way with his Zanpakuto drawn.
It was clear there was a presence with spiritual pressure.
"..."
However, as he drew closer, he realized it looked different from the rat he had seen earlier.
Is that... a small lion plushie?
"...What is this...?"
He carefully picked up the moving lion plushie.
"Hey! What kind of jerk is..."
The moment it was picked up, the lion plushie whipped its head around.
And its eyes met Azuma’s.
"..."
"..."
The two beings stared at each other in silence for a moment.
"Aaaaagh!!!"
"Kyaaaagh!!!"
They both screamed at the same time.
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