Bleach: The Oath of the Red Scarf
Chapter 1 — Inherited Duty
The cold in your bedroom wasn’t natural. It felt heavy—like pressure on your lungs. The lights quivered. The shadows thickened.
Then she appeared.
A girl in a black kimono stood between your desk and the window, a vivid red scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. Her gray eyes were flat, sharp, soldier-still.
“Get out of my room,” you snapped.
She didn’t move.
“I am Mikasa,” she said, voice low and calm. “Shinigami. The spike in your spiritual pressure is too dangerous. I must assess your threat level.”
Before you could respond, she raised a hand.
“Bakudō #4—Hainawa.”
Golden ropes shot toward your head— and dissolved instantly.
Mikasa blinked once. A microscopic twitch of confusion. “Impossible…”
The world split open.
A Hollow crashed through your roof with a shriek that rattled your bones. Bone-white mask, drooling maw, murderous pressure filling the room like poison.
Mikasa didn’t flinch.
“Kesshō—sever.”
Her blade glimmered as she vanished into motion. Swift, precise slashes carved at the Hollow’s hide, but it barely reacted. Its empty gaze shifted—not to her, but to you.
To your overwhelming spiritual energy.
The Hollow’s massive hand swept out. Mikasa tried to block—but the impact hurled her through the wall. You heard her slam into the hallway with a brutal crack.
“MIKASA!” you shouted, scrambling after her.
She lay half-upright among broken plaster, hand clutching her ribs, eyes blazing with refusal to break.
“Run,” she gasped. “It wants you. Get your family—”
A crash downstairs. Karin screamed. Yuzu cried out.
Your heart tightened. Memories of your mother’s last moments crushed your chest.
“No… NO!”
Mikasa lifted her head, breath thin but resolve unshaken.
“Take it,” she whispered, pushing her Zanpakutō toward you. “I can’t stop it. But you… your pressure is stronger.”
“What are you saying?! I can’t—”
“Stab yourself,” she ordered. Her voice sharpened into a soldier’s command. “Inherit my power. My oath. NOW.”
You moved before thinking.
As the Hollow lunged for your sisters, you drove the blade into your chest.
Light erupted—golden, violent. The house shook. Mikasa felt her strength tear from her body, flooding into yours in a tidal wave.
She collapsed, vision dimming.
Protect them… The oath is yours now…
When the light faded, you stood reborn in a black Shinigami uniform. A massive cleaver-like sword rested in your hands, pulsing with raw power.
The Hollow roared.
You answered with a single, furious swing that split it clean in half. Its mask shattered. Its scream died.
Darkness swallowed you.
Morning.
You woke in your bed, chest aching. The room intact. No Hollow. No blood.
And a small girl sat on your desk—wearing a Gigai, the same red scarf hanging loosely around her neck.
“Mikasa…?” you whispered.
“You took all my power,” she said coldly. “I cannot fight. You must.”
“I don’t want it!”
“You have no choice.” Her eyes locked onto yours—unyielding, absolute. “Until I recover… you are the Substitute Shinigami. You will fight the Hollows. You will uphold my oath.”
Your breath caught.