The root cause of Rukia’s peril was the struggle between Kisuke Urahara and Aizen over the Hōgyoku.
In the World of the Living, Kisuke Urahara discovered Rukia after she had transferred her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo and collapsed.
He then deceived her, placed her in a state closer to that of a human, and hid the Hōgyoku inside her.
Aizen’s apparent objective was to capture Rukia and use the power of the Sōkyoku to extract the Hōgyoku at the very moment her life was extinguished.
*
I was acquainted with Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihōin, though only barely. I had also heard the truth about who they were.
However, I had not been in contact with Kisuke Urahara since returning to Soul Society.
I had no means of contacting him, and he had no intention of telling me his plans.
I didn’t know whether he felt guilty about using my subordinate to hide the Hōgyoku, or whether he was worried I might interfere.
Or perhaps he had realized that I was hiding something.
What mattered was that, because of that, I had no choice but to determine how things were progressing on my own.
If I had to run around gathering information myself, I would. But anything I could learn simply by asking, I intended to ask.
Yoruichi and Urahara had been childhood friends with Kaien’s younger sister, Kukaku, so Kaien was naturally close to them as well.
By now, they had probably established some means of contact.
That was why I had come to the captain’s office again today, just as I had yesterday.
"Captain Kaien. I have something to ask."
"Haven’t you been coming to see me a little too often lately?... Go on."
"Is the Kukaku Cannon built by Kukaku Shiba working properly?"
"You...!"
The Kukaku Cannon could be called the Ryoka’s only means of infiltrating Seireitei from Rukongai.
All of Seireitei was enclosed within the transparent, spherical Shakonmaku, which prevented intruders from entering, while Soul Reapers already guarded the four gates that provided official access.
Ichigo and his companions were therefore bound to make contact with the Shiba Clan.
Moreover, Kaien was not the sort of man who would turn away an unofficial cousin who had come running to save a comrade merely because it was dangerous.
"You don’t need to concern yourself with it. If something happens, I’ll deal with it."
"How can I not? They came here to save Rukia."
As though my words had given him a headache, Kaien vigorously scratched the back of his head.
"There’s just something that bothers me a little. I won’t do anything dangerous."
"...Just don’t make more work for me. As for the Kukaku Cannon, they’ll probably fire it tonight or around dawn tomorrow."
It seemed there was no need for me to help Ichigo’s group infiltrate Seireitei.
"By the way, if the Shiba Clan helps the Ryoka infiltrate, it’ll definitely be stripped of its status among the Five Great Noble Clans this time. They’ve already been looking for an excuse."
"Heh! That title is nice to have, but if we lose it, so be it. I do feel sorry for our ancestors, but if the lives of a subordinate and a cousin are at stake, I’m sure they’ll understand."
It seemed the people of the Shiba Clan were romantics to the bone, ancestors included.
"So, is that all you wanted to ask?"
"...What do you think about what Captain Kuchiki said?"
"Huh? You’re a lieutenant too, so you must know what I was going to tell Renji yesterday. He’s just a hopelessly doting brother."
That was difficult to believe as an assessment of the rigid Byakuya Kuchiki, but from the Thirteenth Division captain’s perspective, it was entirely reasonable.
After all, it was Byakuya Kuchiki who pressured the Thirteenth Division captain to keep Rukia as an ordinary rank-and-file member despite her abilities being worthy of a high-ranking seated officer.
From the Thirteenth Division captain’s perspective, Byakuya Kuchiki’s behavior could only seem like absurdly excessive overprotectiveness.
In the original story, Jushiro had also taken things easy until the execution was imminent. Only after hearing Byakuya’s true feelings did he change his attitude.
"Of course, but... you’ve known each other since childhood, so I wanted to hear it from you directly."
"What a pointless question."
I was worried that Kaien, a person who had not been around at this point in the original story, might do something unexpected. But it seemed I could relax a little.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
Not long after I left Captain Kaien’s office, an alarm bell began to ring—the bell announcing a captains’ meeting.
*
A captains’ meeting began to question Gin Ichimaru over allowing the Ryoka—Ichigo and his companions—to escape, and to discuss measures for dealing with them.
No one but a captain was permitted to enter the meeting chamber, so the lieutenants were ordered to don their lieutenant’s armbands and wait in Side Chamber Two until the meeting ended.
All the lieutenants gathered there appeared confused.
Momo, in particular, could not sit still.
"Renji... Have you seen Captain Aizen...? Since yesterday, he’s barely even acknowledged me when I greet him..."
Two days. That was how long Aizen had been acting unusually grave around Momo.
After only two days, Momo was already crouching on the wooden floor like an abandoned puppy, tears welling in her eyes.
Was it because she was so emotionally fragile, or because Aizen’s influence over her was simply that immense?
Considering how she would eventually overcome her wounds and rise again, it had to be the latter.
When I had read the manga, she had merely seemed like a somewhat cute and deeply pitiable character. Seeing her in person, however, her dependence on Aizen was far beyond anything I had imagined.
It was enough to make me wonder why the people around Momo had not noticed the problem and warned her about it long ago.
Had no one worried precisely because the person she depended on was Aizen?
"Don’t worry... I’m sure it’s nothing."
Renji tried to comfort her, but his words clearly failed to reach her.
At the end of the incident currently shaking Seireitei, Ichigo would save Rukia.
And after standing against the true mastermind behind the incident, Ichigo would become a hero of Soul Society.
But perhaps this was the shadow cast by that brilliant light.
There were people even Ichigo could not save.
Momo could be called the foremost example.
If I could lessen even slightly the pain suffered by those beyond Ichigo’s reach—if there was anything I could do... that was all I wished for.
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