There was not much time.
Every place Byakuya and Senna visited was only seen in passing, but Senna was very happy. In those places, she found memories that had once belonged to her.
Whether joyful or sorrowful, they were all memories from before she became a Shinigami.
But why were the people accompanying her in those memories all different?
Byakuya.
Why was there no familiar Byakuya in any of those scenes?
That was not right.
The curve of Senna's lips gradually lowered. She realized that something was wrong with this world.
Or perhaps something was wrong with herself.
"What is it?" Byakuya asked softly.
The tiny changes in Senna's expression could not escape his notice.
"Mm-mm, it's nothing."
Senna shook her head, forced herself to rally, and once again put a smile on her face.
"I want to go see my old home. Is that okay?"
Byakuya naturally had no objection.
Just as he had said, he would accompany Senna to every place she wanted to go.
Under the glow of dusk, two figures, one tall and one short, stretched long shadows across the ground.
They were clearly so close, yet there seemed to be a faint gap separating them.
That was the greatest distance between them.
Senna skipped along, leading Byakuya toward the home in her memories. Her restless movements allowed her to conceal the unnecessary unease in her heart.
When they arrived at the entrance of a courtyard, Senna stopped.
She raised her hand and pushed at the gate.
Strangely, the gate was not locked. With just a push, it opened.
Senna led Byakuya inside.
But after taking only a couple of steps, her feet abruptly came to a stop.
How could this be her home?
There was not the slightest trace of any residence inside the courtyard.
The stone markers standing all around them clearly showed that this was no place for the living.
This was a cemetery.
Fortunately, the sky had not completely darkened yet, so the cemetery did not appear too gloomy.
Even so, this cemetery was enough to shock Senna.
Scene after scene of family life from her memories continuously flashed through her mind. She seemed to see the scene of herself being buried here by her parents.
Senna stumbled forward, walking all the way to the fourth gravestone from the innermost row.
Her legs went weak, and she knelt on the ground.
Byakuya wanted to reach out and support her, but when he saw Senna's trembling body and the fear in her eyes, his steps instinctively slowed.
The time had come for the truth to be revealed.
A few traces of confusion appeared on Senna's terrified face.
She discovered that the name on the gravestone was not Senna at all.
Grave of the Satō Family.
The epitaph was engraved with the names of Mr. and Mrs. Satō.
The one buried here was not her at all.
Then who was she?
Senna could not help asking herself that question.
The other completely different memories surfaced in her mind once again.
She had once been a high school girl.
She had once suffered domestic violence from her father.
She had once had a happy family and a husband.
She had once lived alone.
And when her life had been lingering at its end, she had seen Byakuya's heartbroken face.
No.
That was not right.
Senna painfully clutched her head. She wanted to deny everything.
She wanted to deny her fragmented life.
Byakuya's hand was also trembling.
He wanted to go forward and comfort her, yet he did not know what he should do.
This was not something he was skilled at.
The only thing he could do was stay by Senna's side.
Sorrow turned into two clear streams of tears sliding down Senna's face.
She stood somewhat numbly. Too many chaotic memories filled her mind, leaving her completely unable to react.
Under the impact of all kinds of positive and negative emotions, Senna was left only with blankness.
She hugged her own arms and stood up, then walked out step by step.
Even when she bumped into Byakuya, she did not react at all.
At that moment, Senna only wanted to escape from this place.
Anywhere would do.
Leave.
Leave this place.
This place did not belong to her.
Byakuya could only follow closely behind Senna, step by step.
He followed her out of the cemetery and wandered aimlessly through the streets.
Only when the sky had completely darkened did Senna arrive beside a small mountain.
She herself did not know why she had come here.
Looking up at the towering stone steps and the solitary torii gate, she lifted her foot and began walking upward.
As Senna's steps gradually reached the mountaintop, she seemed to hear the clamor of people.
When she raised her head again, the summit was brightly lit.
This was…
A temple fair?
Senna's depressed mood was diluted considerably, and her steps became a little lighter.
She turned her head and said to Byakuya,
"Byakuya, there's a temple fair up there. Let's go take a look."
Byakuya quickly quickened his pace and followed her.
When they stepped onto the final stair at the summit, the place was indeed extraordinarily lively.
On both sides of the path in front of a temple stood all kinds of small stalls. Adults and children dressed in yukata moved through the fair, every face filled with a happy smile.
Senna kept wandering between the stalls, seemingly unable to decide what she should buy.
Candy apples?
Chocolate bananas?
Taiyaki?
It seemed like every single thing was something she liked.
Unlike the happy and lively temple fair in Senna's eyes, the moment Byakuya stepped into the fair, he sensed something strange within the atmosphere.
It was a faint aura of death.
Because of that moment of suspicion, Byakuya bumped into a passerby.
Just as he was about to apologize, he saw that there was no light at all in the person's eyes.
They were like a walking corpse.
Something was wrong.
Byakuya immediately wanted to call Senna, who had already walked deeper into the temple fair, back.
But then, beside his ear, he heard the voice he had missed so dearly.
"It has been a long time, Lord Byakuya."
Without the slightest hesitation, Byakuya immediately turned around.
A familiar black yukata entered his sight. Pink cherry blossoms were embroidered across it, as though they were drifting in the wind.
That yukata had always been kept by Byakuya in his room. Only during the New Year would he take it out, using it to remember its owner.
It was the yukata she had once worn when performing a celebratory dance during the New Year's festival.
Byakuya's pupils trembled.
Light gathered in his eyes.
The person standing before him was none other than his late wife—
Hisana Kuchiki.
"Lord Byakuya, have you been living well all these years?"
A captivating smile appeared on Hisana Kuchiki's face.
The two people she had been most unable to let go of were Byakuya Kuchiki and her younger sister, Rukia.
Byakuya was just about to answer when he heard Senna's muffled voice come from behind him.
"Byakuya, is this another friend of yours?"
Senna was holding taiyaki in her mouth, looking curiously at Hisana Kuchiki.
For someone like her, who wanted to expand her circle of friends, every new friend was precious beyond measure.
"Not a friend."
Byakuya said,
"She is my wife. Her name is Hisana."
"Huh?"
Before Senna could react, Hisana Kuchiki bent slightly and thanked her.
"Thank you very much, Lady Senna."
Thank you, Lady Senna, for allowing me to see Lord Byakuya once more.
Now Senna was completely flustered.
She had no experience dealing with this kind of etiquette. On top of that, she was holding a large amount of snacks in her hands. For a moment, she did not even know where to put them.
"I, too, am deeply grateful to you, Senna."
Byakuya's movements and etiquette were exactly the same as Hisana's.
With Byakuya thanking her as well, even the slowest Senna would have realized what was happening.
"So you kept following me and taking care of me because of Hisana?"
"As expected…"
"Was all of this fake?"
Senna's lowered eyelids could not conceal her disappointment.
She had already thought of this possibility on the way here.
It was just that she had been resisting it all along.
Resisting that so-called truth.
Senna's hands loosened.
The taiyaki and candy apples in her grasp turned into white smoke and vanished.
At the same time, the lively scene around them suddenly froze. Everyone turned toward Senna, their eyes nothing but terrifying hollows.
"Lady Senna, no matter how much you reject it, this is the truth," Hisana said.
With a soft sigh, Senna accepted the result of her self-deception.
In the next moment, except for Hisana, the appearance of everyone at the temple fair changed.
They all turned into Blanks wearing red pointed hats and white robes.
The lively temple fair also returned to its true appearance at that moment.
On both sides of the road were broken-down stalls. There had never been any specialty snacks at all.
The existence of the Memory Rosary naturally attracted Blanks, and those Blanks changed according to Senna's thoughts into the forms she wanted.
Senna wanted to visit a temple fair, so the Blanks created one for her.
All of it had transformed according to her memories.
And when Senna recognized the truth, she no longer held any expectations for the temple fair.
Thus, the Blanks returned to their original forms.
A helpless smile appeared on Senna's face.
She had already understood what kind of existence she was.
She was the aggregate of countless different people's pasts.
And in the lives of all those people, the person named Senna had never appeared.
She simply had not expected that Byakuya's wife was also within her.
That was why, when she dispelled the temple fair, she had deliberately not erased Hisana.
Byakuya had accompanied her for an entire day.
Senna had nothing she could use to repay him.
Perhaps fulfilling Byakuya's longing was also a way of repaying him.
Just as Senna was about to say something, she saw Hisana suddenly throw herself toward her, shouting with a tense expression,
"Look out!"
At the same time Senna was knocked down, an arrow struck the spot where she had been standing.
She had nearly been hit by the arrow.
Seeing that Hisana had almost been injured, Byakuya's overwhelming fury was ignited in an instant.
His Gigai was ejected away from him. With one step forward, he drew his blade and stood in front of Hisana and Senna.
"Lord Byakuya, I leave Lady Senna in your care."
After saying that, Hisana merged back into Senna's body.
The body she had left behind turned into a completely unconscious Blank.
Byakuya did not answer Hisana.
As long as it was something Hisana had said, he would do everything in his power to accomplish it.
Today, he would protect Senna.
No matter who it was, he would not allow anyone to harm her.
He raised his head and looked up.
In the night sky stood six people dressed in green robes and armor. They greatly resembled the figure Byakuya had briefly clashed with during the day.
Barring any surprises, these people had come for Senna.
Among them, the mature-looking purple-haired woman was holding a crossbow.
That sneak attack had come from her hand.
At this moment, Byakuya recalled the information Tsunayoshi had shared with him.
These people in the air were most likely the nobles who had been exiled by Soul Society into the Dangai—the masterminds behind this incident.
As the head of the Kuchiki Clan, the leading family among the nobles, Byakuya happened to know the name of that clan.
The Ryōdōji Clan.
So there were actually survivors.
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