Chapter 303: One life
(Rin's pov)
Ryoto was right. Aizen was an absolute monster. Faster, stronger, more strategic, and not to mention that annoying Zanpakuto of his. Thankfully, we were prepared, but even with that, the fight was too close for my comfort. Ryoto wasn't at his full strength with the loss of his arm, and he wasn't fully healed—almost, but not entirely. He was at about 70-80%, I would say, not counting his arm.
I tried to support him to the best of my ability. I know that Ryoto is strong and he can take care of him, but I can't stop worrying about his current state and seeing himself fight, I was right. He wasn't moving as he usually does. I'm not saying that he was sluggish or anything like that because saying that meant that almost every Shinigami in Soul Society was incompetent. Still, as someone close to Ryoto, I knew when something was off.
At the moment, Aizen was winning. Not by much, but still. Both Ryoto and I were barely standing. I needed to support myself with Tsunagari, now Ensō, just so I wouldn't fall on my knees. Ryoto was in a similar state, but I couldn't check on him right now. I was focusing entirely on Aizen. I could only trust my eyes. All my other senses could and were controlled by the traitor in my sight.
We were currently at an impasse when I suddenly heard the sound of a blade going through the body. It was from Ryoto's direction, but I didn't look. It could be a trap, so I didn't move and focused on Aizen. Then I heard Soi Fon and Ryoto talking. From what I gathered, Soi Fon stabbed Ryoto, and she was having a panic attack. Not turning and running there was hard, but I needed to remember who we were fighting. It could very well be another of Aizen's tricks. It wasn't until I heard the name Koro-sensei that my eyes widened. I involuntarily turned my head to see Ryoto on the ground, bleeding, and Soi Fon next to him.
I immediately understood what happened. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. Aizen was behind it because Soi Fon would never attack Ryoto that way.
The moment I realized that Ryoto was not only in danger but dying, I started moving. His eyes started losing their shine. It never happened before. As long as I knew about them, they have always been the light source in a dark room. It wasn't the only answer, but at the moment, I could only think that it was a sign of him dying.
My injuries hurt. The loss of my blood made me weaker, and I was barely standing even with the support of my Zanpakuto, but against all odds, I was walking towards the pair. Every step was full of pain, every second was a precious moment, and every meter, I was closer to my goal. I gave Aizen one last look to see if he'd try to stop me from doing what I was about to do, but he just looked amused and curious. I didn't have a lot of time, so I ignored it for now. Ryoto is my priority.
As I finally stood above Ryoto, his voice was barely strong enough to speak, and his voice was quiet enough to escape my notice.