Bleach: Starting with Marrying Retsu Unohana

After hearing Rukia's words, Ichigo simply laughed, seemingly full of confidence in himself.

"That wretched human brat..."

After hearing Ichigo's words, Renji frowned deeply. He decided to teach this arrogant human brat a lesson.

"Renji, protect Rukia."

However, just as Renji was about to make his move, Byakuya Kuchiki, who had been silent all along, left a message and walked towards Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Captain, are you planning to take action personally?"

Renji felt a chill run down his spine as he watched Byakuya prepare to attack. To be honest, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Byakuya Kuchiki personally take action.

"The Kuchiki family will correct the Kuchiki family's mistakes!"

Byakuya answered calmly. It was as if he was answering Renji, or perhaps himself, and at the same time explaining something to Rukia.

"Brother!"

Rukia's eyelids twitched slightly as she watched Byakuya prepare to attack.

"Rukia is optimistic..."

Byakuya didn't turn around to look at Rukia. He simply left half a sentence behind and went straight to Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Well done!"

Kurosaki Ichigo looked at Byakuya in front of him, laughed wildly, and immediately swung his Zanpakuto at Byakuya.

"Shh!"

However, the moment Ichigo Kurosaki's sword fell, Byakuya had somehow appeared behind Ichigo.

"How can it be?!"

For a moment, everyone present was stunned, including Rukia, Renji Abarai, and Ichigo Kurosaki himself.

"Snapped!"

Just as Ichigo Kurosaki was about to say something, his Zanpakuto suddenly made a soft sound, and then, as if snow were melting, it turned into countless fragments and scattered all over the ground.

"Shh!"

Immediately, two bloody streaks appeared out of thin air on Ichigo Kurosaki's chest, and countless drops of bright red blood gushed from the wounds. Ichigo Kurosaki stared at the wounds on his body with unfocused pupils, and he had no idea what had happened from beginning to end.

"Puff~"

Before Ichigo Kurosaki could think any further, he was already lying on the ground, completely unconscious.

"Ichigo!"

Rukia Kuchiki couldn't believe what she was seeing. She looked at Ichigo Kurosaki with a sense of helplessness in her eyes. She was just too weak, too weak to help Ichigo escape his fate of being killed.

"……it's over!"

After Byakuya finished speaking, Ichigo completely lost consciousness.

"Rukia, come back with us!"

Renji looked at Rukia, who had bowed her head because Ichigo had fallen, and seemed to want to say something, but didn't know what to say.

In fact, Renji knew perfectly well that the reason Byakuya chose to personally deal with a child who had just gained the power of a Shinigami was simply because he did not want a rift to form between him and Rukia because of the death of a human.

"..."

Rukia lowered her head and didn't say anything, only nodding slightly.

Because of her willfulness, Ichigo Kurosaki has already fallen. If she continues to be willful, everything she cherishes in the 'real world' may be ruthlessly destroyed.

"Rukia, don't go!"

However, just as Rukia was about to leave with Byakuya and Renji, she heard Ichigo Kurosaki's voice again.

"Ichigo?!"

Rukia turned around and looked at Ichigo Kurosaki, who had lost consciousness but was still murmuring her name. Her eyes couldn't help but well up with tears.

"Idiot! Are you stupid?"

Rukia's body swayed slightly as she gave Ichigo Kurosaki a bitter smile.

"It seems he's not quite dead yet."

Byakuya looked at Ichigo Kurosaki, who had already fallen but was still calling out Rukia's name, and a complicated look flashed in his eyes. In the end, he drew his Zanpakuto from his waist, intending to give Ichigo the final blow! There was no other way; in the current situation, only one of them could survive, Rukia or Ichigo.

"This time it's really over!"

Byakuya gripped his Zanpakuto, looked at Ichigo beneath him, and swung it fiercely.

"Ichigo!!"

Seeing this, Rukia couldn't help but lunge forward.

"Just bear with it a little longer, Rukia..."

However, Rukia was stopped by Renji before she could step forward.

"Ding~"

At this moment, Rukia was in utter despair.

However, when Byakuya's sword fell, the scene Rukia had imagined did not happen. Instead, there was an incredibly crisp sound of swords clashing against each other.

"You are?!"

Kuchiki Byakuya, who intended to kill Kurosaki Ichigo directly, had a slight tremor in his pupils and a hint of shock in his expression when he saw the person who had arrived.

"Bai Zai boy, show mercy when you can!"

"Shall we end this battle here?"

The speaker had a swirling tattoo on his face and looked somewhat like the lying Kurosaki Ichigo. He was dressed in a black shihaka outfit and held a sharp zanpakuto.

"Former head of the Shiba family, Shiba Tenjun! Why are you getting involved in this?"

Byakuya looked at the newcomer with a serious expression and asked in a cold voice.

Yes, the man who suddenly appeared and blocked Byakuya's fatal blow to Kurosaki Ichigo was none other than Shiba Tenjun, the former head of the Shiba family, who had disappeared after going to the 'human world' hundreds of years ago.

"The former head of the Shiba family?!"

"The former head of the Shiba family, who could rival the Kuchiki family and was one of the five great noble families alongside Kuchiki and Shihōin?!"

Renji and Rukia were shocked after hearing what Byakuya said. They had always thought that Shiba Tenjun was no ordinary person, but they never expected him to have such a powerful background.

"The former head of the Shiba family?"

"So this man in front of us is Vice Captain Haiyan's father?!"

Rukia murmured to herself.

"Of course we have to save this brat!"

"After all, this child is a member of our Shiba family~"

Just then, Tianjun dropped an even bigger bombshell.

"Huh? That orange-haired brat is actually from the Shiba family?"

Renji was completely terrified after hearing what Shiba Tenjun said.

"This……"

As for Rukia Kuchiki, she suddenly remembered that when she introduced herself and Ichigo Kurosaki to her classmates, she had mentioned that she was Ichigo's distant cousin. Thinking about it this way, wasn't it a self-fulfilling prophecy?!

"A member of the Shiba family? He's Kaien and Kukaku's brother?"

Byakuya paused, recalling Ichigo Kurosaki's repulsive face. His brow furrowed slightly. He wondered why Ichigo's face looked so familiar. It made him want to kill him at first sight. Since he was Shiba Kaien's brother, it made sense…

"Ichigo is Kaien's cousin."

Tenjun, carrying his sword, explained to Byakuya.

"Cousin? I see. That makes sense, the timing matches up."

"Ichigo Kurosaki is Isshin Shiba's son, right?"

Byakuya understood something and sheathed his Zanpakuto as he spoke.

"This blond idiot is actually Captain Shiba's son?"

Renji's expression changed drastically. He had heard too much information today and was starting to feel overwhelmed. He was even beginning to doubt whether he would be assassinated by the nobles themselves, given how much he knew about the 'Five Great Nobles'.

"Ichigo is Captain Shiba's son? If that's the case, then Ichigo's seemingly dim-witted father is actually Captain Shiba?!"

Rukia felt a lump in her throat for a moment.

Rukia suddenly remembered the first time she met Ichigo Kurosaki's parents. When she introduced herself with a smile, she noticed the kind expression on Ichigo's father's face. Rukia had initially thought that Ichigo's father was a simple-minded person who was easily deceived...

Looking back now, the only one with a simple mind was herself. Ichigo Kurosaki's father must have recognized her identity on the very first day, so he was just deliberately playing along.

"My heart hurts so much!"

Rukia felt like crawling into a hole whenever she thought about how she had been staying at Ichigo Kurosaki's house these past few days, putting on an act in front of Ichigo's father...

Although not much time has passed, Rukia's memories of her past death have begun to revive and are constantly delivering devastating blows to her.

At this moment, Rukia finally broke down...

"If I could, I'd really like to kill that version of myself who kept putting on an act in front of the former captain. Rukia, you're such a disgraceful idiot..."

Rukia's fingers trembled slightly. The thought of Shiba Isshin watching her perform while surrendering in his heart and showing her what seemed like idiotic concern made her breathless. She wished she could travel back in time and stab her past self in the chest.

"I see. If Ichigo Kurosaki was a member of the Shiba family from the beginning, then Rukia didn't transfer her spiritual power to a human! It was just a friendly exchange between two Shinigami~"

Byakuya is a very adaptable person, especially with a sister-obsessed wife at home. He quickly devised a way to exonerate Rukia based on the information he had.

"exactly……"

After hearing Byakuya's words, Shiba Tenjun nodded vigorously.

"Rukia, Renji, let's go back!"

“I know how to deal with Room 46.”

As Byakuya spoke, he gently waved his hand in front of him.

Suddenly, a tremor ran through the gate, and he appeared right in front of Byakuya.