Muses with AFP

Bleach meta and random thoughts. Side blog. Main blog is @afinepiece

[muses-with-afp]

WDKALY

So, it has been a while since I last revisited We Do Knot Always Love You ("WDKALY"), a Bleach light novel that I am pretty sure still lacks a formal English translation. (See the translation that I reference here.)

Full disclosure: None of the light novels really hits for me. I don't know if it is a function of "lost in translation" since I am very much not the intended audience or what, but they all read like very mid-tier to lower-mid-tier fanfiction. However, I persevere because I want more lore and character moments that are sort of, kind of (if you squint really hard) "official."

With that disclaimer out of the way, as I was wandering through my latest re-read, I stumbled upon the part where Renji is invited to Kuchiki Manor for breakfast:

(MissSTORMCALLER, WDKALY, Part 13.)

O.M.G. I love all of this. How gloriously awkward. Like, imagine, you go over to your boss's house to see your fiancée for breakfast, and it is dead silent during the meal. They don't even make sounds while eating. What in The Stepford Wives is this even?

Run, Renji, run!!!!

Although maybe I am being unfair to the Kuchiki: How noisily is Renji being? Is he being normal, and they are just odd, or has he pulled up to the table and is scarfing down his meal like a ravenous pooch?

Renji, probably.

Most generously to all characters, maybe Renji is anxious to be around his boss and his boss's sister, whom he is planning on marrying. Like, the setup in and of itself is just so wonderously awkward.

I love it. More. Yesss. Yesss.

The second thing that strikes me as such a detail is that Byakuya and Rukia generally eat separately. In my head, I always assumed they probably had silent, uncomfortable meals together. Rukia's explanation, however, makes sense for why they don't usually eat together; it also gives a sense of scale and directionality to Seireitei vis-à-vis Kuchiki Manor.

Next up, is the exchange between Renji and Byakuya regarding sleeping arrangements, with Renji assuming Byakuya sleeps overnight at the Sixth, which he quickly corrects. I love this, too. Like, one, Renji doesn't know that Byakuya goes home at night? I feel like this is a thing you would know about your boss, given how much time you spend with them in close proximity. However, when your boss is Byakuya, perhaps you actively extract yourself from all subjects personal. Thing two, here, is Byakuya's correction.

This weird ass man. I love it because why would he bother with a correction? Is it a character tic, e.g., he cannot let a falsity stand where it regards him? Or, is there something cultural, i.e., "I am not broke enough to need to stay at the squad to save time"? Or is it a personal thing, i.e., "I would rather die here and now than let you think I spend one extra moment at this job like a loser"!

Byakuya, probably.

Moving along to more delightful and awkward moments in this gift of a scene:

Okay, starting with Renji calling Rukia "gluttonous"--or at least I think it is Renji calling Rukia "gluttonous" and not the waitstaff, which would be breathtakingly crazy in a very different way--I re-read that line so many times. I was assuming (until that line) that Renji finds this meal very nerve-racking, given his reaction to the silence mentioned above and deference to Byakuya, but maybe he really is pulling up to House Kuchiki and slurping down the meal because what the fuck, my good dude?

At this point, my brain flies to the fact that food and the descriptions of food in this passage are probably working on a few levels. The most obvious to me is class/culture: Byakuya and Rukia display exceptional manners and take their meal in silence, which seems alien to Renji. The second most obvious point here, to me at least, is that the abundance of food paired with "gluttonous" is probably a reflection of Renji's relationship to food as someone with no generational wealth and who hails from one of the most abject slums of Rukongai. Because, yes, Rukia's comment about wanting to eat at Kuchiki Manor every day does seem gluttonous from that perspective. (Even as Renji is on bowl 4 of the rice....)

What Renji seemingly misses, however, is what prompted her to say this very odd thing--something that Byakuya seems to pick up with a hacking acknowledgment: Rukia's comment isn't really about food at all.

This is the point where I hop on my high horse about how meals in fiction are rarely ever about the meals themselves. Instead, mealtimes in fiction serve so many great functions: bringing folks together, forcing interaction between characters, getting people into casual or overly formal situations where they might behave differently, what food is being served and what that means to the characters, etc. You also don't really have to explain much, since everybody eats, including the audience, who can fill in the gaps in the scenes with their own understanding of the banalities of mealtime.

Hopping off that horse now, Rukia's comment seems to highlight how Rukia isn't really talking about her love for the head chef's direction at Kuchiki Manor. She's blushing and mumbling. The blushing is mentioned several times, which makes this comment confessional. Because food for Rukia is also a loaded subject, given her own Inuzuri heritage.

This confession, also, isn't really aimed at Renji, even though he blurts out his opinion as if it were. The confession is aimed at Byakuya, who quickly moves to tell her that, "It's fine if you want to come back here to eat anytime."

This is all just so friggin' sweet!!!! Byakuya, good job! He picked up Rukia's anxiety about change, about leaving her home, the home she shares with him, and the comforts he gives her, even if they aren't physically in the same spot to share these comforts. And I can't help but believe he understands this confession, at least in part, because he has similar feelings about his little sister growing up and leaving.

Renji's response to Byakuya being, "Awesome! Thank you very much, captain!!" Is... just... so... Renji....

The Kuchiki staff, probably.

Byakuya's comeback being, "I wasn't talking to you!" is 10/10. Captain Rich Bitch does not play about meal invites, especially if you are chowing down like a wild animal, Renji. I like this ribbing, though, because it seems very in character coming from the man who intentionally ran Renji into a wall for the comedy.

Which also serves as the visual analogy for how this breakfast is going for Renji.

What a sweet moment between Byakuya and Rukia.

And Renji is... there ... knocking into decades of emotional constipation between two of the most emotionally constipated characters in the game.

I love it.

Good for Renji that it seems Chiyo is on his wavelength because... I don't think many want to get on the Kuchiki siblings-in-law's wavelength.

[muses-with-afp]

Musings Mushy Brain Style

So, my brain has been absolute trash lately. It has hit capacity. Too much is happening all at once. But, between life and the occasional and often much-regretted look at the news, I muse. My most recent Bleach musing is: Kuchiki heirs!

And, oh, boy, prepare for mushy brain time!

[Warning: As mentioned, the brain is too full, so pardon me for rambling from my increasingly porous memory on this one!]

A n y w a y...

As my particular niche interest in an already niche interest focuses mainly on the Kuchiki characters and their immediate loved ones, my what-ifs constantly poking at what even is this family? Based on what I can remember and the few snippets I can easily find, we know the following "things" about the family and family dynamics:

🌸Thing the First: Byakuya is the 28th Head of the Kuchiki Family and the captain of the Sixth🌸

I don't have a scan at my fingertips for this particular factoid. The Wikipedia (not always a source of truth, I know) cites the Souls databook, which certainly feels correct. However, I remembered it being in Color Bleach. Either way, this information is interesting for purposes of this musing because, well, if Byakuya is the 28th Head of the Family, that means there were likely at least 27 other heads of the Family.

Which also means....

There must be a process for Head-dom! 🤸

🌸Thing the Second: Ginrei, Byakuya's granddad, was the 27th Head of the Kuchiki Family and was captain of the Sixth 🌸

So, I got the snippets for the "granddad" and "captain of the sixth" parts of this factoid. I don't think there is a scene in the manga proper that explicitly spells out that Ginrei is the 27th Head; although, my porous brain may be kicking in, so perhaps there is. I remember the Masked Q&A pages, where during Kubo's explanation of WTF happened to Byakuya's dad, Soujun, he revealed that Soujun was the next family head, but died in battle. I am presuming, then, that Soujun died before taking over the family and the squad.

This was all a long preamble to the next point that I find interesting, which is: It seems the captainship of Squad 6 is inherited to an extent, and this brings us to....

🌸Thing the Third: Soujun Kuchiki is Byakuya's father, who was Vice Captain/Lieutenant of the Sixth🌸

So, there isn't much about Soujun in the manga. What I remember about him comes from the Masked databook. Specifically, a Q&A with Kubo:

Q: Who is Sojun Kuchiki?

KUBO: Byakuya's late father.

Q: Was he killed in action?

KUBO: Yes. He was never cut out to fight, but since he's from the Kuchiki family he has the talent. Ginrei was concerned about his health, but he was the next family head so that's why he was appointed as assistant captain. But he dies in battle in the end.

Q: Was he talented though?

KUBO: He had the talent, but he was too quiet and too nice.

So... it would seem: (i) most Kuchiki have "talent," (ii) the titles of Head of the Family and Captain of the Sixth appear to follow a patrilineal line of inheritence, but (iii) Soujun was, indeed, "talented," which could be inferred to mean that he was capable (although the note of him being too quiet and nice is a knee-slapper given who we know for sure has helmed the Sixth).

On the last point, it isn't explicitly clear to me whether Soujun's capability was an important factor in his being next in line to lead the family and the Sixth. At the very least, the statement that Soujun "was never cut out to fight," would seem to bar him from leadership in a fighting manga organization, so... maybe "competence" (in the traditional sense) isn't as important for these roles or he had other skills to make up for the fact that he wasn't really "cut out to fight."

Either way, Kubo spells out that since Soujun was the next to head the family, he was appointed as assistant captain. This, too, is something to ponder over because... well... what does this mean in practice?

Based on Rukia's treatment, it doesn't seem that Kuchiki necessarily go to the Academy; although, it's unclear to me if this was just a special thing for Rukia--i.e., a byproduct of Byakuya being very literal about the "keep her safe" part of the vow he made to his wife--or if all Kuchiki or main-family Kuchiki skip out on the Academy. Maybe Soujun had private tutors and didn't slum it with the "public school" shinigami before heading into the ranks. Or, maybe Soujun was appointed straight to assistant-captain status after his super-duper Kuchiki training. Given just how hierarchical the Seireitei is, it's possible that Soujun never served as a lowly grunt under another ranked officer, especially since he wasn't very good at that whole fighting thing.

Who can say?

Stepping past Soujun for a second, though, I am assuming we are to believe the Kuchiki inheriting the Sixth's top officer roles wasn't always the case. Why? Well....

Because this person was the first captain of the Sixth:

And that person is Furoufushi Saitou... whose name is suspiciously not Kuchiki. But, hey, her hair is the same color as the Kuchiki guards so... put on your tinfoil hats and best believe there is a connection, baby!

🌸Thing the Fourth: Soujun Kuchiki died🌸

As mentioned in the Q&A excerpt above, Kubo confirmed that Soujun perished during battle. When? What battle? Who was there?

Great questions! And, at least from my recollection, they remain a mystery. Maybe this is the set-up to the mystery of who Byakuya showed his bankai to?

🌸Thing the Fifth: Ginrei Kuchiki is... Alive? Dead? Unclear🌸

Unlike with Soujun, Kubo hasn't been as explicit about Ginrei's fate, as I recall it. I think with Byakuya being both the Kuchiki Head and the Captain of the Sixth, one could assume that Ginrei might not be among the "living" in Soul Society, especially since there's a sense that the Gotei 13's retirement plan is likely til death do you part. But, while I prefer to think of the Gotei 13 as an organization operating on The Godfather style rules, we do know at least one lieutenant who effectively retired canonically, and that is the Sixth's lieutenant prior to Renji.

So....

Maybe Ginrei's retired, hanging out at the Kuchiki cabin on the lake fishing into his... twilight years? (Midnight years, really....)

There is perhaps some support for the "Ginrei Is Alive" theory in CFYOW (a source that is certainly there):

This happens in the Third Book (I think???) during a scene where Kyoraku is battling Temu Urahara with an Opioid Addiction this guy:

Now, I'm not going to pretend to understand CFYOW. The more I try to understand it, the more brain cells I actively lose, which is probably more a function of time than what I will charitably blame on the translation of this story. One could take the above excerpt to mean that Kyouraku plans to offer up his gratitude to Ginrei after all the battling stops, which implies that Ginrei is, y'know, actually around to receive such gratitude. Although, maybe Kyouraku is being cheeky and plans to dumb a cup of sake on the geezer's memorial. Or maybe he means that he'll have to remember to be nice to Ginrei when they reunite in hell or something.

It is Kyouraku after all.

So, why does it matter? Well, assuming Ginrei is indeed alive, it means the Kuchiki Lord can abdicate power to the next in line, which is...something??? Maybe??? If you squint -_-

🌸Thing the Sixth: Byakuya married Rukia's sister, Hisana, a pauper from Rukongai🌸

I'll pin that factoid here since it's interesting in the sense that we learn that Byakuya was given a choice as to his bride. That choice, as noted below, seemed to go over like a lead balloon with the fam.

Digging deeper, it is an odd choice for Mr. Law-and-Order Byakuya Kuchiki to fall in love with a peasant. Also, how the hell did L&O Kuchiki come across a peasant from Rukongai, anyway? We are given some details about the state of How Nobles and Peasants Interact from Renji's memories of the Academy days and the years that followed, so it doesn't seem like something that would have happened without some shenanigans. Kubo, however, has never shed light on this to my knowledge, which makes sense since it keeps Rukia's past mysterious, and mystery allows things to be open-ended should he want to take some random direction with Bleach at a later point in time.

🌸Thing the Seventh: Byakuya's marriage--or, more specifically, marrying someone from Rukongai--was against somebody's laws🌸

I say "somebody's laws" because it is unclear to me whose laws are being violated based on the English translation of the manga. I am assuming that it is the nobility's/Seireitei's laws and not clan-specific laws, but maybe the Kuchiki have their own black-letter laws and regulations along with the necessary guidance materials for interpretive and procedural purposes. (You just know this family has an Employee Handbook if you join along with a week-long orientation process with a test you must pass before you are allowed to do anything.) To support that assumption is another scene from CFYOW, also between Kyouraku and Tokinada:

I would assume that if a noble family could raise objections to what another noble family was up to re: marriage, that whatever Byakuya was doing here was a violation of the Law, law and not the Kuchiki Handbook for Good Little Heirs and Their Noble Consorts.

Digressing, the phrasing of "marrying someone from Rukongai" is interesting. Literally taken, this phrasing means even spiritually gifted folks who were born outside Seireitei would be precluded from marrying a high noble or, more narrowly, a Kuchiki. Which means that souls going through the soul cycle would be precluded, along with souls born in Rukongai. This is interesting since we learn that Vice Captains can mingle with high nobles, thus explaining Renji's dogged motivation to become a Vice Captain so that he could reunite with Rukia. It's possible that: (i) Byakuya is speaking imprecisely here or the translation is imprecise; (ii) socializing and marrying have different standards (i.e., Renji can share the same air as Rukia but they can't marry per the law/Kuchiki custom); and/or (iii) the laws/customs for an heir/current head of a Great Noble family are different from the laws/customs for members of that same family who are not in the direct or immediate line of succession.

🌸Thing the Eighth: Byakuya adopted Rukia as a sibling, which was also against The Rules🌸

Okay, so, here is where I want to talk about family.

The credited response whenever thinking about fictional families.

Specifically, the Kuchiki family presumably consists of more than just Byakuya, Ginrei, Soujun, Hisana, and Rukia. There are these--quite literally--faceless "family" members (see: the black panel above full of absolutely no one). How many other Kuchiki are there? Who can say? How influential are they? Well, Kubo makes it sound in his Q&A that the family is generally regarded as talented, so, probably somewhat. They are also members of one of the Great Noble Families, so... they have that going for them.

It doesn't seem as if these nameless, faceless "family" have much of a vote on what the Head chooses to do. What did resistance even look like, here? A strongly worded letter? A drive-by "I disagree!" in the corridors of Kuchiki Manor? Pearl clutching in the halls? I suppose there could have been defections. Perhaps some branch families decided to align themselves with another Great Noble Family to avoid the "sullying" of being associated with Rukon girls. We know the Tsunayashiro objected, but... in what forum? How did that look? Was it a public debate? A congressional hearing? A strong finger wagging at the Seireitei Convention Center?

A n y w a y....

These fistfuls of fun little factoids sort of bring me to the conundrum of what's next for this family?

Based on what I've read and retained, I get the sense that Byakuya hasn't remarried. (However, this, too, may be an assumption since Bleach isn't really about the nobility aside from Ichigo's curious place in it.) We also don't have any sense of who would be the next in line for the Kuchiki. It doesn't appear that Byakuya and Hisana's marriage produced a viable heir (although... this, also, is an assumption), and we don't have a next-in-line Vice Captain holding the water for Byakuya.

Perhaps Byakuya would marry again and produce an heir. However, given how the marriages in Bleach tend to go, though, perhaps not.

The sibling adoption angle is an interesting one, and one that I sort of wish Bleach had stuck with when it came to "families" (i.e., the better-funded families snatching up powerful prospects elsewhere to groom to be the next in line). This may have been the direction Kubo was heading from the very beginning, when Byakuya and Renji were introduced. And, there's historical precedent in the Edo period and earlier eras in Japan where families would adopt young men to groom and later run the family.

Perhaps, if ever revisited, this question is answered solely for the sake of parsimony/everything getting wrapped up in a pretty red bow, and Ichika becomes the next in line.

[muses-with-afp]

Micro-Musing

I'm gonna be real here and admit that it was probably on my second or...  tenth... viewing of this panel that I caught the comedy of it--i.e., Byakuya letting poor Renji skid into the wall. As to Byakuya's intention here, one might say, "Well, perhaps he doesn't know that Renji is getting dragged right now," or, "Maybe it couldn't be helped given all that war going on around them."

Yeah, I'm not so sure, friend-o.

Look at Rukia's face.

She is on the other side of Byakuya (the safe side), and even she notices her buddy getting pummeled by Wall.

Then, there is the very obvious "OW!" coming out of Renji.

And the sound effect!

Yes, I know. It's all very subtle. (Which is probably why I missed it the first twenty times.)

What really sells it for me as an intentional dragging, though, is Byakuya's face.

That's the face of a man who knows what he's doing.

So, then, for me, the question becomes: To what end, man?

My rote, boring first thought is that he's teasing Renji for not thinking it through since... well... Byakuya is Renji's boss, and, after all their Super Fancy Royal Realm Training, Renji shouldn't need to be bailed out like this... and with Byakuya's baby sister in tow, no less! Tsk, tsk. In which case, this is just a gentle ribbing. A proverbial smack on the hand. A tongue-in-cheek critique. A fun little shoulder check into a wall. You know, sane Bleachy boss things that totally wouldn't merit a call to HR. (As if Soul Society had a functioning HR prior to all this war happening.)

The zanier part of my brain wants to make it about this:

True, I'm am never not thinking about this spread. Yes, I realize it's non-canonical. No, I don't care. I choose to believe its purpose is to lay out the goofy feelings all these characters have toward themselves and/or their buddies/family/workmates that can't be fully scoped out in the story proper because... well ... the character dynamics may be why I like Bleach, but that's not the only thing Bleach is about.

My brain jumps to this vignette in particular because we have a very obvious dick joke.

And, looking onto said dick joke is Byakuya with his plate firmly in hand.

Maybe he's just putting it all together regarding Renji and Rukia's relationship. Perhaps he already knows and is just very unamused that it's unfolding in public... or ... in front of him... or (let's be honest) at all.

So, my tinfoil hat explanation/headcanon for this--

--is Byakuya knows. He knows all about Renji's interest in his sister. He knows all about their "training" sesh in the Royal Realm.

Whether he knows because of direct observation and hearsay or whether he knows on some unconscious level....

He knows.

And so he's dragging Renji--at least in part--because Renji has intentions toward his baby sister, and he, as big brother, feels an obligation--nay, a duty--to harass Renji over it. Playfully. Unseriously. But, still. Them's the breaks, Renji.

You chose this.

💀💀💀

[muses-with-afp]

Among the cobwebs tangled about in the ole noggin is: Byakuya really is just out there living a whole 'nother life inside his head, isn't he?

We see this get clocked by Toshiro in Chapter 674 (above) and, hopefully, Rukia and Renji (i.e., the "they" to whom Toshiro is referring). You could surmise that Toshiro is very perceptive and that's how he discerned what Byakuya was doing. And, sure, Toshiro is plenty perceptive. But... also... like... how often does Byakuya do this? How often does he put on some weird "performance" that he's fairly certain others "see through"? Or, at least, he intends for others to see through?

My guess is: The whole damn time.

I like to think the below Q&A from KlubOutside isn't just some continuity error that Kubo is fixing in post, but, rather, a suggestion that Byakuya is really out there living a life completely untethered from reality.

KlubOutside Q&A, as translated by reikorun

Like... we know from the SS Arc that Rukia does not view her relationship with Byakuya as warm and fuzzy. She says as much with her words and actions throughout that arc.

But... umm... the above seems to suggest that she and Byakuya likely discussed Renji at some point during their 40/50-year relationship. And, from that/those discussion(s), Byakuya left feeling intimately acquainted with not only Rukia, but Renji as well. Enough so that the man married to formality thought he could totally dispense with it when he met Renji.

Rukia, on the other hand? Girly, didn't blink an eye at her crazy "brother's" crazy antics during the SS Arc. She was like "he'd kill me himself and not give a damn" (paraphrasing). And like... understandable since it did seem to be going that way, but for Ichigo et al.

However, what subtle "hints" had Byakuya dropped that he just assumed she understood during the SS arc? Probably a million. Maybe he thought they were totally aligned then. Maybe he thought she knew the extent of his troubled heart along with the whys and hows and whatfores.

Maybe he was really out there living his best headcanon life.

[muses-with-afp]

While I'm here, a related (semi-related? maybe more of a distant cousin?) thought: So, this confirms that Byakuya knew about Renji and Rukia prior to making Renji his lieutenant. And, good lord, is this factoid a whole five-course meal to chew on! I have so many questions.

So many, many questions.

First, did he pick Renji because of his imaginary familiarity via Rukia? I mean, maybe it wasn't the whole reason he made Renji his lieutenant, but, y'know, it must have played a part. I wonder if it was more of a, "I'll give the kid a chance. Rukia likes him." Or like a, "What is this kid even about, especially given Rukia's stories?" Maybe it was a, "As long as the kid doesn't step on a rake and whack himself in the head during the interview, I'll take him. For Rukia." Relatedly, I wonder if the bar was set ridiculously high. Or, was Byakuya primed to like Renji due to the imagined relational proximity via Rukia? It could go a lot of ways, but at this very specific moment in time, I'm guessing he was primed to like Renji, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Second, when Byakuya picked Renji was he expecting Rukia to be excited? Or, did he think she wouldn't notice? Maybe he felt somewhat responsible for their separation, and so he's bird-dogging Renji back to Rukia as a gift? Like, Byakuya is definitely his own brand of strange, but the man plans ahead. So, he must have factored in her noticing that his new lieutenant was the guy she mentioned before. There'd be like an announcement, I'm guessing, at the very least. And, if he felt some sort of familiarity with Renji via Rukia, maybe he thought this would be a great opportunity to connect with her. Also, BONUS, he gets a competent lieutenant. BONUS x 2: Renji could, in a way, fill in Kaien's surrogate brother role, but, unlike Kaien, Byakuya could better control Renji. (Or so he thought....)

Third, did Renji know that Byakuya was aware of his past with Rukia? As a whole, the various squads don't seem that interconnected, so Renji likely did not know Byakuya all that well personally. At least, not on a first-name basis well. Maybe he chalked up Byakuya's casualness as a sign of social hierarchy. Although, imagine the workplace antics of Renji trying to (a) tiptoe around his Great Big Plans regarding Byakuya and (b) pretend he didn't know Rukia that well, and, all the while, Byakuya is acting like he and Renji have known each other for years! Was Byakuya confused by Renji? Did it never come up? Or did Byakuya nod along, editing the interaction in his head to conform with his personal headcanon anytime Renji said something truly bizarre. This period alone could be a Shakespearean comedy.

Fourth, what the hell did Rukia say to Byakuya to make him feel personally acquainted with Renji? During this time, it seemed their relationship consisted mostly of very concise reports and distance. This makes me wonder whether Rukia said anything directly to Byakuya at all. Was Byakuya reading her journal entries? (Let's be real, if this were the case, her staff would've been reading them and giving Byakuya the summaries.) Maybe she spoke to her staff about Renji, and they reported what she said to Byakuya. If this happened, I wonder if he read the reports on the edge of his seat like they were his own personal soap operas....

Well, now, I'll never see these panels the same way again:

All this time, I figured he was doing work. Now? Now, I think he might be annoyed that she's interrupting his version of a telenovela... about her life.

Lastly (because I have to end somewhere, not because I'm actually done with my silly musings), how dumb do you think he felt when he got the order to seize Rukia at the start of the SS arc? Pretty dumb, I bet. Imagine it: There he was, probably thinking he was finally crushing it as her older brother and a boss, only to realize that all he's really done is stack the deck against himself by hiring her old buddy, Renji.

Oops.

[muses-with-afp]

Among the cobwebs tangled about in the ole noggin is: Byakuya really is just out there living a whole 'nother life inside his head, isn't he?

We see this get clocked by Toshiro in Chapter 674 (above) and, hopefully, Rukia and Renji (i.e., the "they" to whom Toshiro is referring). You could surmise that Toshiro is very perceptive and that's how he discerned what Byakuya was doing. And, sure, Toshiro is plenty perceptive. But... also... like... how often does Byakuya do this? How often does he put on some weird "performance" that he's fairly certain others "see through"? Or, at least, he intends for others to see through?

My guess is: The whole damn time.

I like to think the below Q&A from KlubOutside isn't just some continuity error that Kubo is fixing in post, but, rather, a suggestion that Byakuya is really out there living a life completely untethered from reality.

KlubOutside Q&A, as translated by reikorun

Like... we know from the SS Arc that Rukia does not view her relationship with Byakuya as warm and fuzzy. She says as much with her words and actions throughout that arc.

But... umm... the above seems to suggest that she and Byakuya likely discussed Renji at some point during their 40/50-year relationship. And, from that/those discussion(s), Byakuya left feeling intimately acquainted with not only Rukia, but Renji as well. Enough so that the man married to formality thought he could totally dispense with it when he met Renji.

Rukia, on the other hand? Girly, didn't blink an eye at her crazy "brother's" crazy antics during the SS Arc. She was like "he'd kill me himself and not give a damn" (paraphrasing). And like... understandable since it did seem to be going that way, but for Ichigo et al.

However, what subtle "hints" had Byakuya dropped that he just assumed she understood during the SS arc? Probably a million. Maybe he thought they were totally aligned then. Maybe he thought she knew the extent of his troubled heart along with the whys and hows and whatfores.

Maybe he was really out there living his best headcanon life.

[muses-with-afp]

In terms of Bleachy things that I am never not thinking about given my particular sort of brainrot, it would have to be Chapter 179, Confession in the Twilight. Today, I want to overthink long and hard about assumptions fandom often makes about Hisana. Some of these assumptions are not well-supported by the canon. Other of these assumptions likely stem from material added by the anime and/or the movie Fade to Black.

Because I'm sort of "meh" on the supplementary material from the anime and pretty "blah" on the Bleach movies overall, I will stick to the manga. (I am also a simple creature with only two brain cells to rub together now-a-days so... there's that, too.) I am sure there are more assumptions one could pick apart and torture to death, but for the sake of brevity (I write cackling because when am I ever brief?) below are my top three.

1. Assumption One: Hisana had no spiritual power/pressure

This one is odd to me because we, the audience, do not have a whole lot of evidence to base this assumption off of. Byakuya never says anything of this sort to Rukia during the confession:

Although, it is possible that Hisana was spiritually weak, and what made it difficult for her to survive was taking care of a baby with significant spiritual pressure/power. This explanation is entirely possible, but, based on the English translation, it is not the only interpretation one could draw.

Honing in on the"[b]ut it was hard for her to survive there while caring for you..." bit, this could suggest that Hisana, in fact, needed more than vibes and water to survive herself. We get a sense in Bleach that siblings often have similar capacities in terms of spiritual power and pressure, and we know Rukia is spiritually gifted. Accordingly, one could make the leap that Hisana, too, had some spiritual capacity. Now, I think the case for sibling similarities in spiritual talents is probably strongest for the souls born in SS since they presumably are most "genetically" related (or whatever concept passes for "genetic" relationships in SS), one assumes. This, of course, also assumes you buy the idea that Hisana and Rukia were just ordinary souls who passed from the WOTL to SS. KT, however, has thrown a wrench into this explanation by suggesting that Rukia is a secret... eighth thing/potential hybrid. (At least, I think we are up to eight soul "ecotypes" now .... Maybe it's nine if we add in the lore from Burn the Witch.) Perhaps this secret variation/hybrid is specific to Rukia, or maybe it applies to both sisters equally.

Other evidence that could support Hisana as having some spiritual capacity (beyond being a spiritual dandelion) includes:

According to Renji, the only way to escape Inuzuri was to attend the Academy/become a shinigami. It's possible that Renji was speaking only in terms of "legality" (i.e., the only legal way to leave your assigned district/town/placement is to gain admittance to the Academy) since we know Kenpachi and crew exist. Could Hisana have gotten out of Inuzuri using the Academy loophole? Sure! Why not? Was Hisana a bloody tank like Kenpachi and fought her way out of the city? Maybe but probably not, since she felt driven to abandon her sister, which doesn't seem very warlord-like of her. Maybe Hisana never actually left Inuzuri after the abandonment. The "[a]bandoned you and ran" (emphasis mine) part of the story makes it sound like she left the city, but maybe she just ran away from Rukia and went to another part of Inuzuri or the district.

Rukia somehow managed to survive (i.e., maybe it wasn't the demands (or just the demands) of a spiritually needy baby that drove Hisana to abandon her). We don't know much/anything about the period of Rukia's life between the abandonment and meeting Renji, so it's hard to say how needy she was as a soul baby.

Hisana hung out with/lived with Byakuya, who we know (a) has a metric ton of spiritual power and pressure, and (b) lives in a city full of similarly situated souls. Canonically, weaker souls seem greatly affected by the spiritual pressure of the more spiritually capable souls in Bleach, which could suggest that she had enough to withstand living in Seireitei and being married to someone with a lot of the stuff.

Depending on whether you think Rukia is anywhere near the ballpark in terms of her age vis-à-vis Ichigo (150 years, by the way), Hisana's life span would have been about 100 years in SS, which isn't particularly short. It seems that souls with some spiritual power/pressure tend to live longer than souls without it.

As Byakuya continues with his confession to Rukia, he says that Hisana "searched for [Rukia] almost every day for the next five years." If you take this literally, it sounds like Hisana went out into the slums regularly, which is pretty far away from Kuchiki manor. Without some sort of fast travel option (the Kuchiki are rich so maybe one exists...), it seems that she would have needed to learn a pretty good flash-step to make that trek anyway feasible. Although, it is possible that Byakuya meant Hisana searched for Rukia in a more abstract sense since, as a noble, she would finally have resources (beyond her physically trekking out there) to conduct a search. It could also be both.

2. Assumption Two: Hisana was (or was not) doing XYZ before marriage

This assumption likely piggybacks off the one above. Since we are given no indication as to what Hisana was doing before marriage, if you assume she was a spiritually weak being, it makes sense for the years between abandonment and marriage to be full of scrounging and hiding from scary beings/thugs/monsters/take-your-pick. And, true, the reckless noble/prince taking an unwashed but kindly peasant girl as a wife is an oldie goldie in terms of romance tropes.

But, as noted above, Hisana could have been literally anything. Shinigami? Sure! Secret agent/informant? Why not!? In CFYOW, Yourichi gets pretty annoyed at Tokinada for speaking ill of Hisana. It's possible that she's irritated with him because he's trying to goad Byakuya into an altercation and is using Byakuya's dead wife as the ammo (which, yeah, is a pretty gross thing to do). Alternatively, there could be a personal connection between the two women (which may provide further color on Rukia being chosen as a vessel for the orb, don't mind me just out here speculating). We know the higher districts are rough, and, at least according to Renji, Inuzuri is full of criminals and bastards of all stripes. Hisana could've been a crime lord, a lackey to a crime lord, a thief, a prostitute, a hustling gambler, a bookie, basically anything. The vagueness is glorious!!!

3. Assumption Three: Hisana died of ghost consumption a respiratory illness

This assumption likely arises from the anime (although forgive me if I'm wrong about this since it has been a while since I've watched the anime) and Fade to Black, which has a scene where Hisana has a coughing fit. The manga, however, gives no indication:

All Byakuya says is he "lost his wife." To what? Who knows?! Be more specific, Byakuya!

We also don't get a whole lot of evidence to indicate what killed her during the confession scene.

Hisana isn't sweating, and her futon is white as is the bit of clothing we see, so it doesn't look like she's necessarily suffered a physical attack/assault. She's also, notably, not coughing....

For reference, below are Byakuya's bludgeoned panels because we have a lot of parallels between her deathbed request and Byakuya's confession to Rukia:

To be fair, Byakuya's blanket and pad aren't bloody either, but his captain's coat sure is, and, goodness, is he sweaty! Although, perhaps Byakuya's memory of Hisana strips away the gory and gruesome bits (e.g., blood, sweat, coughing, gasping, gurgling death rattles, anguished groaning, etc.) since... well... no one actually dies pretty.

Based on the manga retelling of Hisana's expiration, the cause of death was... literally anything. Okay, I kid. I kid.

Sort of.

Maybe her COD wasn't literally anything. She was at least in a bed ready for death and had enough time to call upon her husband. (Although, so is Byakuya here, and he was stabbed like thirty minutes ago and is giving similar sorts of vibes to poor Rukia.) My guess is that whatever Hisana had, she succumbed to it over a period of time, which rules out causes of death that come fast, but a lot of deaths aren't immediate (unfortunately). Maybe she sustained internal injuries that took her, which would parallel nicely with Byakuya in these panels. Maybe she had "beautiful wife consumption," which is an oldie goldie trope for doomed lovers. Maybe she had whatever soul flu or illness afflicted Byakuya's dad. Maybe she had some sort of soul cancer. If you're doing the math (or a version of the math since time in Bleach is wobbly), Byakuya and Hisana married a year or so after WWII. It's not a pleasant thought, but cancer (leukemia and solid) rates went up five+ years later for obvious reasons, and perhaps this is an abstract/unconscious nod to that of sorts.

But, who can say??? Not me, that's for damn sure!

From a practical story-telling perspective, I imagine that KT leaves a lot of wiggle room around this period to avoid caging himself in for whatever reveal he had/has in store regarding Rukia's backstory/heritage/why Urahara picked her to put the orb into/etc.

[muses-with-afp]

In terms of weird-o Bleachy thoughts that rampage through my mind at various times, there is always this page from the TBTP arc:

And while this is a banger of a page in an arc full of them, my goober mind mostly telescopes in on this one panel:

Am I not supposed to wonder at this panel? Because here I am on a Friday wondering. More specifically, I am wondering: What am I supposed to take away here? And, what is it that I do actually take away here (today at least)?

As usual, I'll start by describing it because you have to start somewhere, I guess. This scene is a mostly pointless aside to the story, since I don't think we learn anything super substantive, plot-wise. What we do learn is that Byakuya is what passes for a "teenager" during this period, takes his training and role super seriously, and Yoruichi tortures plays with him on occasion.

The panel that draws my eye, however, seems to be communicating a few things at once: One, Byakuya realizes he has a guest. Two, that guest is Yoruichi. And three, Yoruichi greets young Byakuya tits out, which provides some color as to the nature of their relationship. I don't think either points two or three are revelations to the audience. Is anyone shocked the guest is Yoruichi? No, we've already spent some time with her in this arc and know she's definitely around. Also, is anyone really shocked that she and Byakuya have a teasing quasi-sibling relationship? Again, no, we've probably gathered as much since at least the SS arc.

For me, then, it's point one that scratches at the ole brain pan. What I am to make of Byakuya realizing he has a guest? Does he often receive guests at House Kuchiki? My guess is no. He looks sort of curious. The art isn't giving, say, razzle-dazzle anticipation, either (i.e., in that he is really keen on the guest being someone specific). I suppose you could squint really hard and say he might be hopeful as to who could be calling on him, but more in a diffuse "someone took time out of their day to see me" sort of way and less of a heart-skipping prayer that the guest is XYZ, who he's been dying to see again for ages.

I think this latter interpretation might be closer to the truth once the scene continues, and Byakuya goes from, "A guest for little ole me?" to this:

Which is just the zany shit I love to see from my Bleach characters. To be perfectly honest, I think Kubo does a pretty good job at nailing teenagers in all their ridiculous reaction formations and exaggerated responses to things (I say lovingly). However, I think that his relative curiosity ("A guest?") turned immediately to, "GO AWAY, YOU," could be read as he may have been excited or hopeful to receive a guest, one who is not Yoruichi. And, his overblown reaction to Yoruichi likely betrays the fact that even though she's a pain in his ass, he's pretty happy to see her.

So, what to make of all that. Well... perhaps we're supposed to take home the idea that perhaps Byakuya is isolated, even now. We get a hint of that at the very beginning of the scene:

Here, Ginrei (Byakuya's grandfather) notes that he is staying at the manor rather than the barracks, which implies that at least one close family member doesn't always come home. Given that Byakuya's father is the Vice Captain of Squad Six, it's likely his father has a similar schedule (i.e., periods of absence from the home where Byakuya lives). Combined with Byakuya's curiosity at receiving a guest and subsequent deflation at who that guest winds up being, perhaps we are supposed to understand that he's pretty lonely.

Now, before someone accuses me of going easy on Byakuya, I definitely think some of that loneliness is of his own making, given what a cocky brat he is to Yoruichi in these panels, a perspective that gets echoed by Kaien shortly afterward:

But, being a cocky brat is sort of a thing teens do on occasion. And, not having a lot of people to socialize with probably doesn't help with beating that quality out of someone learning how to behave appropriately.

Given how this arc shakes out in the end--with Yoruichi going into hiding to help a friend--the potential people left to call upon Byakuya dwindles further. Then, after his dad dies an unspecified amount of time later, it dwindles further still.

And so, on that thought, I end this post. Because what's Bleach without a little tragedy coupled with humor? (My personal favorite variety of Bleach.)