Chapter 286: Sōjun's Dream
Sōjun had a dream.
In the dream, while carrying out a mission, he was killed by a Menos Grande while protecting civilians.
After his death, his father sternly trained Byakuya, and after countless efforts, finally molded Byakuya into an excellent Shinigami capable of holding a captain's position.
After that, Byakuya married.
Because his wife was a commoner from Rukongai, weak in strength and of low birth, Byakuya repeatedly clashed with the elders who opposed him.
A few years later, after his wife passed away, Byakuya completely transformed from a lively child into a silent adult.
Watching his son, who spoke not a word daily and only diligently performed his duties as head of the family, Sōjun's heart ached, and his hands trembled.
That son who always loved to jump around and cause mischief had ended up like this.
Amid his heartache, he suddenly thought of a question.
What about Satoru?
Given Satoru's personality, how could he stand by and do nothing while Byakuya was treated like this?
As the dream continued, he gradually realized something was off about it.
In the Gotei 13, it was as if Satoru had never existed.
The captain of the Eleventh Division was Kenpachi Zaraki, who was currently the vice-captain of the Eleventh Division.
Seinosuke was not in the Fourth Division but had gone to the noble-exclusive hospital, Shin'ō Academy.
Aizen was still the vice-captain of the Fifth Division, but he was very different from the Aizen he knew.
In reality, Aizen was somewhat aloof, but deep down, he harbored a trace of warmth.
In the dream, however, it was the opposite.
Outwardly gentle and polite, but inwardly cold as ice.
He showed no concern for Byakuya's plight, not even expressing any interest.
Sōjun felt somewhat sad.
He hoped that Satoru would leap out from some unknown corner, using his audacious spirit to pull Byakuya out of his predicament.
But gradually, Sōjun realized that Satoru seemed never to have existed in this world.
The previous captain of the Eleventh Division was named Kiganjo, a fierce warrior from Rukongai who ultimately died at the hands of Kenpachi Zaraki.
The one before that was Kenpachi Kiganjō.
The Eleventh Division had never had a captain named Satoru.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto's disciples were only Kyōraku and Ukitake.
Time advanced rapidly.
Sōjun's perspective grew blurry.
He saw Byakuya, seemingly trying to save someone, get stabbed.
He saw Byakuya become friends with a boy who had spiky orange hair.
He saw Byakuya travel to Hueco Mundo, where he competed against a humanoid Menos Grande in a Flash Step contest and ultimately emerged victorious.
He witnessed Byakuya engage in a fierce battle with Kōga Kuchiki, ultimately slaying Kōga and upholding the honor of the Kuchiki Clan.
Finally, he saw Byakuya fighting against a Quincy from the Wandenreich.
In the heat of battle, Byakuya unleashed his Bankai.
It was beautiful, like cherry blossoms drifting in the wind.
But somehow, the Quincy managed to steal Byakuya's Bankai.
Under Sōjun's horrified gaze, the Quincy summoned Byakuya's Bankai.
Countless cherry blossom blades engulfed Byakuya.
When the wave of cherry blossoms passed, Byakuya was no longer recognizable as human.
All that remained was a mangled mass of flesh.
"No... NO!!!!"
Sōjun screamed and abruptly sat up in bed.
He gasped for air, his face deathly pale.
As he struggled to distinguish between dream and reality, consumed by fear, a delicate hand holding a towel gently approached and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Following the arm, Sōjun saw his wife.
Standing by the bed, she wiped his sweat while quickly instructing the servants to summon a medical Shinigami.
"Lord Sōjun, you're awake... thank goodness."
"Did you have a nightmare? Don't worry, everything is fine at home, and the Soul Society is peaceful too..."
Turning back to him, his wife spoke in soothing tones.
Sōjun nodded at first.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he looked at his wife.
"Where's Byakuya? Where is he?"
"Captain Satoru took him away."
"Captain Satoru said you need rest, and Byakuya is too noisy, so he took him to avoid disturbing you."
Hearing this, Sōjun was momentarily taken aback.
Then, he shook his head with a light chuckle.
"That Satoru..."
Sitting on the bed, he reached out and helped his wife sit down.
"Ayako, tell me... if something really happened to me this time... ah, sorry, I don't mean it like that, just hypothetically."
"If something did happen to me, and when Byakuya grows up, if he gets bullied by the clan elders or anyone else... what do you think would happen then?"
Ayako frowned slightly, displeased with her husband's ominous topic.
But since he brought it up, she gave it some thought.
After a few seconds, her expression turned somewhat subtle.
"If that really happened... Captain Satoru would probably be the first to object."
"Given his personality, he might directly resort to physical confrontation."
Imagining Satoru storming into the Kuchiki estate and beating up every elder who bullied Byakuya, she couldn't help but smile.
Sōjun also laughed.
"Indeed, if it's Satoru, he would definitely do that."
As his mind gradually cleared, he realized that what he had dreamed wasn't mere fantasy.
Everything in the dream felt too real.
Perhaps... he had glimpsed the other side of the Sanzu River and witnessed events from another world.
In that world, Satoru didn't exist.
He himself had truly died.
Byakuya had indeed suffered those hardships, ultimately having his Bankai stolen by the Quincy and being cut beyond recognition...
Considering this possibility, Sōjun took a deep breath, his mood growing heavy.
He got out of bed.
"Lord Sōjun, you haven't fully recovered yet. You shouldn't be getting up."
Ayako quickly tried to dissuade him.
Sōjun raised his hand, stopping his wife.
He was now eager to find Satoru to discuss the dream he had.
In his view, Satoru was a remarkable person, making him the most suitable to consult about such peculiar matters.
Seeing that she couldn't dissuade her husband, Ayako had no choice but to accompany him to the Eleventh Division.
Fortunately, having been born into nobility, she had learned some footwork techniques since childhood and wouldn't hold them back.
When the two arrived at the Eleventh Division, the guard recognized Sōjun and flashed what he thought was a friendly but actually quite ferocious smile, immediately granting them entry.
As they walked through the division barracks, several Shinigami who knew Sōjun came to greet them.
Observing these enthusiastic Shinigami, Ayako was somewhat surprised.
"I heard... the Shinigami of the Eleventh Division all despise nobles."
"When I was young, Father often warned me not to go near the Eleventh Division's grounds."
"I never expected everyone to be so friendly."
Sōjun smiled faintly.
"The Eleventh Division of the past was indeed as you described."
"No... even now, not much has changed."
"The reason they're so friendly is because I'm Satoru's friend."
Hearing this, Ayako was momentarily taken aback.
Could one person truly have such a profound influence on an entire division?
As they spoke, the two arrived outside Satoru's study.
From somewhere unknown, Suì-Feng suddenly appeared in a flash.
Seeing Sōjun, she showed a slightly surprised expression.
Yesterday, Sōjun had been taken by that scoundrel to the hot springs for treatment due to his severe injuries.
Although the hot springs were remarkably effective, such wounds shouldn't have fully healed in such a short time.
Instead of resting properly at home, he actually came to the Eleventh Division...
Scoundrel, look what you've done. If you hadn't taken their child away, would both parents have come looking for you like this?
While thinking this, Suì-Fēng prepared to open the door for the two.
But Sōjun suddenly heard something and raised his hand to stop her.
From inside the room came Satoru's voice—
"Little Byakuya, have you been in love recently?"
"Love?"
"It means liking a girl, wanting to be with her, and making babies with her..."
"I, of course I know what love means! I'm just surprised why you're suddenly asking this!"
Byakuya interrupted Satoru Mikami discontentedly.
"To become the strongest Shinigami, I train hard every day. When would I have time to care about girls?"
"Hmm... I see... No wonder I sent people to search but found nothing at all."
"It seems using you as a reference isn't very reliable."
"Right, you're still a noble after all. An old cow eating tender grass is perfectly normal—the girl might be much younger than you, and she might not have appeared in Rukongai yet..."
Listening to Satoru's inexplicable muttering, Byakuya was full of question marks.
But outside the door, Sōjun's eyes widened.
For a moment, he couldn't help but breathe more heavily.
Swish!
Under his somewhat excited gaze, the door suddenly slid open, revealing someone's head.
Satoru leaned against the doorframe with one hand while pulling the door open with the other, looking at him in surprise.
"Sōjun? Are your injuries completely healed? Why did you suddenly come over?"
Byakuya quickly followed, bowing to the two:
"Father! Mother!"
Sōjun didn't answer his son, instead staring intently at Satoru.
Under the latter's puzzled gaze, he asked his wife to take Byakuya out first.
After closing the door, he placed his hand on Satoru's shoulder.
"Satoru... what did you mean by what you just said to Byakuya?"
"What I said to Byakuya?"
"About asking him about love... Why do you think Byakuya would find love in Rukongai? He's from the highest nobility in Soul Society, the eldest son of the Kuchiki Clan!"
Hearing this, Satoru showed an expression of sudden understanding.
He clicked his tongue and shook his head: "Sōjun, I never expected you to be someone who cares so much about background too."
"Unfortunately, you're destined to be disappointed this time."
Under Sōjun's gaze, Satoru crossed his arms, showing a proud expression.
"I, Satoru Mikami, am the reincarnation of a sage, born with knowledge!"
"Knowing five hundred years past, foreseeing five hundred years future, understanding the heavens above and the earth below—that describes me!"
"I've calculated with my fingers—the one Byakuya will love in the future must be a woman from Rukongai. If not, it must be because you, as his father, obstructed, complicated, interfered, and stole his love... ahem."
The last term wasn't quite right.
"Whether you believe it or not, this is fate and cannot be resisted, hehehe!"
After throwing out these alarming statements, Satoru didn't expect any particular reaction from Sōjun.
After all, to normal people, his words were no different from madness.
But Sōjun suddenly became excited, his face flushing red with enthusiasm.
"So you had that dream too!"
"You also saw Byakuya's future, right!"
"Huh?"
Satoru sprouted question marks.
Under his puzzled gaze, Sōjun quickly recounted the dream he had previously.
Halfway through listening, Satoru already understood how valuable this dream was.
Damn, after brushing with death, Sōjun actually saw "the original plot"!
Especially at the end, when he heard Sōjun mention Wandenreich and Quincy, he became even more excited.
"Details, Sōjun, details!"
"In your dream, what powers and methods did Wandenreich possess?"
"How many troops did they have? In what manner did they invade?"
"Did Yhwach appear? What was the final outcome?"
Faced with Satoru's rapid-fire questions, Sōjun was somewhat taken aback.
He said in surprise, "Could it be that our dreams were different?"
"Maybe the locations were different, so the signals received were different... Ah, don't ask too much about metaphysical matters. Hurry and answer my questions—what if you forget after a while?"
Sōjun thought for a few seconds.
Then he shook his head and said, "Sorry, in my dream, the perspective was almost entirely focused on Byakuya, and many parts in between were quickly skipped."
"I don't really know about the things you mentioned. I only know that the Quincy fighting Byakuya had the ability to steal others' Bankai and use it against the Bankai's owner."
Satoru rolled his eyes.
Although he hadn't finished watching the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, he had at least seen the beginning.
He naturally knew that Quincy could steal Bankai.
However, he was still somewhat surprised that in Sōjun's dream, Byakuya was sliced beyond recognition by Senbonzakura.
After all, Byakuya was one of the face characters of the Shinigami series, a character standing at the peak of the popularity pyramid. How could Kubo be so ruthless, killing him off so casually?
He figured there must be a reversal later—perhaps someone saved him.
Like Orihime's Santen Kesshun, or the complete version of Hell Hot Spring...
While thinking about these random things, he pulled open Sōjun's clothes to check the wounds inside.
"Not bad, almost healed. But it's best to rest a bit more."
Looking at the wounds that were still oozing blood—enough to terrify ordinary people—Satoru gave his assessment.
Before seeing Sōjun off, he reminded him not to talk about the dream with others.
"Don't worry, as long as I'm alive, I won't let what you saw in your dream become reality."
Satoru patted his chest and made the promise.
Sōjun smiled.
Since Byakuya wanted to spend the day playing in the Eleventh Division, he didn't take Byakuya back with him.
Walking on the road with his wife, Sōjun suddenly sighed.
"If Satoru were a girl, I would have insisted on marrying him into the Kuchiki Clan back then."
Ayako: "?"
Under her puzzled gaze, Sōjun showed a thoughtful expression.
"However, in that case, it probably wouldn't be easy."
"Sōsuke would definitely compete with me, and I might not win."
"It would be better if I were a girl. Then Satoru could enter the Kuchiki Clan as an adopted child, marry me, and inherit the Kuchiki Clan."
Ayako: "???"
Seeing her husband's sentimental expression, she couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.
"Lord Sōjun seems to have recovered well, even having the mind to fantasize about such things."
"In that case, let's work hard together today and try to give Byakuya a little brother or sister!"
Sōjun was slightly taken aback.
Then he smiled and said, "Alright."
Under the setting sun, the two walked side by side.
In the Eleventh Division, Byakuya was being teased by Satoru, crying out in protest.
Just like any other day.