Eero glanced at Ichigo, who arrived on the bridge playfully. ’Well, everything is the same as the anime; soon I will destroy all of your plans,’ he thought to himself.

"Hey, I am here to save you. What’s with your expression? You should be glad and happy."

Ichigo’s voice, though rough, was laced with a desperate, familiar hope. He reminded Rukia that he came here to save her and instructed her to look happier.

Rukia’s vision blurred, the memory of her tearful command for Ichigo to never come after her... leaving him bleeding out in the Human World... a raw ache in her chest. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Why don’t you listen? You shouldn’t have come to save me." She berated him, the words choked with a fresh wave of tears that streamed down her pale cheeks.

"You are right; you can yell at me as you want, but after I beat this guy’s ass,"

Looking at an unconscious Ganju nearby, the silence around them heavy with the scent of dust and high Reiatsu, Ichigo replied, acknowledging Rukia is right and gives her permission to yell at him as much as she wants after he beats Byakuya, whom he turned to face with grim resolve.

As a concerned Rukia, feeling the biting cold of Byakuya’s spiritual pressure even from a distance, approached him, Ichigo inquired if she wanted him to leave after coming so far already and refused to do so even if she wanted to be executed before proclaiming that he was ignoring all her opinions from now on.

Bewildered by Ichigo not listening to the one he was rescuing, Rukia demanded to know what kind of tyrannical rescue this was, prompting Ichigo to assert that the rescued should not complain as he instructed Rukia to tremble in a corner and beg him to save her.

Angered by the idea of trembling, Rukia glared at Ichigo, her eyes burning with defiance despite the fear that was a knot in her stomach, while he stuck his tongue out at her. The moment stretched, a fragile mix of rage and relief, only for them both to suddenly calm down as a small, genuine smile finally broke through Rukia’s distress. She observed that Ichigo had not changed at all and still did not listen to anything she said.

Ichigo questioned what she expects and claimed that she only ever worries about him rather than about herself as he assured her, a new, grounded certainty in his tone, that he had gotten a bit stronger.

On the other hand,

Upon being asked by an astonished Ukitake who Ichigo is, Byakuya clarified that he is just an ordinary Ryoka rather than the man Ukitake is remembering and promised to end this trifling fight by killing Ichigo while walking forward, with Ichigo approaching him in turn.

When Ichigo pointed out how Byakuya did not attack while he was talking to Rukia as he gripped the coarse, cloth-wrapped handle of his Shikai, Zangetsu, Byakuya inquired whom Ichigo believed he was talking to and questioned if the latter believed Byakuya needs to look for an opening in order to kill him. His voice was a flat, cold edge. He warned Ichigo to not be so confident as he exerted his Reiatsu on the surrounding area.

The air itself seemed to compress, turning heavy and suffocating like a deep-sea current. The spiritual pressure was a physical force, cold and diamond-hard, rattling Ichigo’s bones. As an intimidated Ichigo grit his teeth and braced himself, Rukia gasped, the sheer weight of it driving her to her knees, and she quickly confirmed with Hanatarō that he was alright.

Seeing Ichigo pull Zangetsu from his back, the massive blade gleaming dully, Byakuya noted that he had improved considerably if he was not instantly crushed by this Reiatsu and admitted that he did not know how Ichigo acquired Shinigami powers once more before admonishing Ichigo for coming here to throw away his saved life rather than live peacefully in the Human World.

However, Ichigo declared, his own Reiatsu flaring in rebellious orange defiance, that he was not throwing it away and would leave after he beat Byakuya, who reiterated that Ichigo should not be so confident. Then, with a soundless shuu that was felt rather than heard, Byakuya disappeared with Shunpo, the space he occupied a mere fraction of an instant before, to Ichigo and Rukia’s shock.

Suddenly, a rapier-like shing sliced the air behind him. Byakuya was moving behind him and attacking. Ichigo reacted on instinct, twisting his body and blocking the stab at the last second with the broad side of Zangetsu. Clang! The steel-on-steel collision echoed sharply across the quiet bridge, shocking Byakuya, and Ichigo, a feral grin spreading across his face, claimed he can see Byakuya now.

Breaking their initial clash with a powerful, desperate swing of Zangetsu that pushed Byakuya back a few steps, Ichigo asked Byakuya what he thought of his movements being readable. The wind of his strike whipped Byakuya’s scarf around his face. When Byakuya told him, his voice regaining its icy composure, not to think so highly of himself after a lucky blow, Ichigo suggested they test if it was really luck as he rushed toward Byakuya. Byakuya, his eyes narrowing slightly in irritation, disappeared with Shunpo once more before Ichigo could reach him, leaving only a faint ripple in the air. Coming to a sudden, scraping halt, Ichigo’s instincts screamed. He saw a flash of white movement behind him and swung Zangetsu to intercept Byakuya’s attacking blade once again.

K-chank! As sparks flew in a brief, brilliant shower from their repeated clashes, a wild, wide grin split Ichigo’s face. He began repeatedly crossing blades with Byakuya, the high, rhythmic krr-shing of steel dominating the bridge. A stunned Hanatarō, watching the blinding dance of two masters, expressed amazement over the two of them clashing as equals.

...