Bright World [Bleach fanfic]

Kill them with kindness or a knife

***Hello and welcome to the continuation of the cliffhanger from the last chapter. Also I hope everyone doesn't hate the 5th Division for how they behaved last chapter. The entire Division are all going through a lot right now. It doesn't mean that their behavior is excused at all, just that they are going through an extreme emotional betrayal of someone they all deeply respected and Jun became the easiest outlet for all those negative emotions. It didn't help that Jun was poking the bear by being adamant about their thoughts that Aizen's a bitch. It was basically a situation of a bunch of emotionally compromised people meeting and crashing like a freight train; everyone was at fault and hurting and it resulted in a mess. Speaking of trains, I will be continuing the angst train and consequences of Jun's poor life choices in this chapter. It's not all bad though because there's actual comfort in this chapter compared to the last at least.***

Sleeping is great. Sleeping is wonderful. Being asleep means not being awake and having to deal with the noise currently being thrown above Jun who had just woken up. With the continuous ache pulsating from their chest as a reminder, Jun rose in a fitful state. They sat up too quickly and somersaulted backwards into the only space they felt a body not occupying.

"Jun!" Someone cried in surprise and worry. Jun's back slammed into the corner of the room they escaped too, both their hands gathering as much of their Chain as Fate as they could, while their chest heaved up and down loudly and they stared at the room's occupants with a wild gaze. With Jun's regained consciousness, Ama's image now had the ability to reform. He sat in a crouched position in front of Jun.

Don't come closer! Stay away from us! Jun's gaze was skipping across the room in a frantic fashion, catching last minute onto their Zanpakuto laying against the wall, away from them. The sight of their Zanpakuto not being in their hands made Jun's breathing quicken in anxiety, their eyes still flickering across the faces in assessment.

"Jun, sweetie," Rangiku held up her hands in an universal signal for peace. Her voice was soft and unarming. She made no effort to reach towards Jun and Ama holed up in the corner or the room. "I need you to slow your breathing. You're making your injuries worse." Jun's entire body held phantom pains so they couldn't even tell what parts of their body were actually injured. At Rangiku's calming suggestions, Jun did start to regulate their breathing slightly. Their chest not as visibly lifting up and down anymore. "That's it, you're doing so well." Rangiku praised. Jun noticed Rangiku also had bruises lining her face as well as bandages around her abdomen.

Jun looked to who else was in the room. Tessai and Kisuke were grouped together, surrounded by medical items and an assortment of documents. Toshiro sat in the other corner of the room with a solemn expression. Chad was sitting between Toshiro and Rukia quietly. Rukia was beside Rangiku, giving Jun a worried yet encouraging look for Jun to continue calming down. It looks like everyone had decided to leave the job of talking to Jun to Rukia and Rangiku, more friendly and warm faces.

"Jun," Rukia called gently, "you need to come back here. Urahara-san and Tsukabishi-san still need to seal your Chain of Fate." At the mention of their Chain, Jun pulled the Chain closer to their body, the links clinking together in the otherwise quiet room. Jun's Chain had continued growing in visibility during their time time knocked out, as their Chain's line had grown longer since they last saw it. It had phased through the room wall, leading out of the building and towards the direction Jun's human body was. Jun's reiatsu was all the place, displaying clear agitation in their vulnerable state. Ama scowled and made no moves to stop blocking Jun from them.

No one's touching Jun's Chain. What were you doing to it? Don't you dare break it! That seemed to be the main anxiety for Jun and Ama. They were concerned that now that the Chain had been revealed, they would be forced to break it and officially join the Shinigami in the land of the dead. Jun wasn't willing to relinquish their living status that no one had knowledge of before now. Jun shook their head in refusal of moving towards the Shinigami watching them.