"Captain Kaien. I found Isshin in the World of the Living."
On the day I returned to the Thirteenth Division after switching places with Rukia, I reported the result of the favor he had asked of me.
The circumstances were different from when I had hidden Isshin’s survival from Toshiro.
They would most likely find out in two months anyway. Ichigo and his friends were bound to make contact with the Shiba Clan.
"...Is that right? Was he doing well?"
"He has three children and looks very happy."
Kaien looked sullen for a moment upon hearing that, then spoke.
"So now I’ve got a whole bunch of cousins I’ve never even met...."
"You’ll recognize his eldest son the moment you see him. He looks exactly like you, Captain. Though his hair is orange."
"My face with orange hair? If anything, that makes it harder to imagine."
He seemed a little amused as he pictured it.
"Well, I’m glad he’s safe. Think he’ll come over to this side in another hundred years or so? I’ll beat the hell out of him when he does."
"In any case, you won’t have to worry about your brother becoming a Soul Reaper anymore."
Kaien’s younger brother, Ganju Shiba, admired him and wanted to become a Soul Reaper, but he had practically been forbidden from even enrolling at Shin’o Academy.
The only people who could be considered legitimate heirs capable of carrying on the Shiba Clan’s bloodline were Kaien’s immediate family and Isshin Shiba.
For fear that the bloodline might die out, Ganju had refrained from becoming a Soul Reaper and devoted himself solely to training in Rukongai.
"That guy’s already better in a fight than most Soul Reapers, but he’s still rough around the edges. I don’t even know whether he could pass the entrance exam if he took it next year."
"Shin’o Academy isn’t the only way to become a Soul Reaper. If he’s good enough at fighting, he might be able to join the Eleventh Division."
"Heh. Anyway, thanks. Go get some rest."
Kaien’s expression looked much lighter now.
Would I be able to wear such a carefree expression three years from now?
Sometimes, I genuinely wished I could act without knowing anything at all.
But perhaps those who learned the future could no longer live without clinging to it.
"...."
Byakurai’s voice, which I had heard constantly in the World of the Living, was silent here in Seireitei, where using Bankai was forbidden.
The fact that Rukia Kuchiki had gone to the World of the Living meant that the original story was truly beginning.
Rukia would soon be placed in danger. That did not mean I intended to step forward and save her myself.
Ichigo would save Rukia. The best-case scenario was one in which I had no need to interfere.
Ironically, Ichigo saving Rukia was one of the ultimate objectives of Aizen, the mastermind behind this incident.
In that sense, Aizen and I were of one mind when it came to controlling any variables that might arise along the way.
But I couldn’t allow myself to be certain.
I would trust Ichigo, but never stop watching him.
...For now, though, I should go see some familiar faces. I’d just gotten back. It would be awfully cold of me not to at least show my face.
**
I wandered aimlessly through the streets of Seireitei that afternoon.
My family probably wouldn’t return until evening, so I might as well meet someone in the meantime.
I had no idea who was off duty today. Rather than contacting anyone in particular, I figured I would simply spend some time with whichever friendly Soul Reaper I happened to run into.
But was something going on?
Astonishingly, I didn’t encounter a single person I was close to. All I did was exchange greetings in passing with people whose names I barely knew or with whom I had purely professional relationships.
Seriously? Not one person I knew was off duty?
Come to think of it, most of my friends were either in the Thirteenth Division or people I met at lieutenant meetings.
I didn’t have that many close friends to begin with, so I supposed days like this were inevitable.
Scrape—scrape—
Only Yachiru Kusajishi, her pink hair fluttering behind her, raced wildly all over Seireitei while dragging her Zanpakuto across the ground.
Sometimes her head popped out from an alleyway, sometimes she ran along the top of a wall like a ninja, and sometimes I caught sight of her back as she overtook me. In one way or another, she kept making her presence known.
She might have held the title of lieutenant, but both her appearance and mentality were those of a preschooler, so no one ever tried to make her work.
In fact, whenever she tried to do something, it was usually a prank. More often than not, people simply stuffed a rice cracker into her mouth to keep her quiet.
"Hey, Ryunos—"
I turned around, feeling as though someone had called out to me, but no one was there.
Even when I searched with my Reiatsu, I sensed nothing.
Scrape—
All I could hear was the sound of Yachiru dragging her Zanpakuto.
"Yachiru?"
Wondering if I had somehow gotten caught up in one of Yachiru’s pranks, I called to her. But she was wearing something like a headset over her ears and didn’t turn around no matter who spoke to her.
Could they be speakers shaped like a headset?
I had heard that Nemu Kurotsuchi of the Twelfth Division often played along with Yachiru’s pranks. She must have made them for her.
"I guess there’s no helping it...."
I might as well go to the library.
Yachiru wouldn’t follow me into the Soul Society Public Library.
After all, the prank-loving Yachiru had been banned from entering it.
Scrape—
Sure enough, the sound of Yachiru faded once I headed toward the library.
Surprisingly, Soul Society’s library wasn’t all that different from one in the modern world.
The only notable difference was that instead of computers and barcode scanners at the counter, souls managed the records by hand.
Rather than bookshelves finished with plastic or paint, the interior was filled with pure wood. Every breath carried a deep, rich fragrance.
And there, I finally managed to find a familiar face.
Isane?
Perhaps she was studying something. She sat in one corner of the library, deeply focused on whatever was before her.
Golden waves of sunlight streamed in through the window and shimmered along her silver hair.
That flowing light eventually gathered upon her gently furrowed brow.
When I approached quietly and sat beside her, she turned toward me and stared with wide eyes.
"Ryuno...!"
She instinctively began to call my name aloud, only to cover her mouth.
Shh—
I placed a finger against my lips, and we looked at each other and smiled quietly.
**
"Isane, there is something I need you to research at the library today. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to give up your day off."
"What...? But...."
"You can’t go running to see Ryunosuke the very day he returns. You are not even officially dating yet. As I told you, when one person presses too close in a romance, the other pulls away. Trust my experience."
Retsu Unohana had been single for over a thousand years.
"In any case, do as I say today. I’ll move your day off to next week."
Isane was disappointed.
She had originally planned to visit Ryunosuke today after his long and arduous assignment away from home.
Her spirits sank a little. She even felt a cautious flicker of resentment toward her captain, but she soon shook her head.
Her captain had always helped her. She was surely right.
Isane headed straight to the library. If she finished the research quickly, perhaps she would still be able to see him.
But the research made little progress.
It was a paper published under the name of Jushiro Ukitake, the former captain of the Thirteenth Division, titled The Effects of Reishi Flow on Natural Objects According to Its Direction and Intensity. It was far too difficult.
She had spent hours wrestling with it, her brow creased in concentration, when she suddenly sensed someone sit beside her.
"Ryuno—...!"
She was so startled to see him that she raised her voice without realizing it.
But rather than scold her, he merely smiled and placed a finger against his lips.
Shh—
The sight was so adorable that she unconsciously copied him, then remained still for a moment as she gazed at him. The warmth seeping in through the window suddenly felt a little more vivid.
Because they were in a place where silence had to be maintained, he leaned closer than usual to whisper.
His quiet voice lingered around her ear, staining it crimson like balsam dye, and Isane felt immensely grateful for the hair that covered it.
"Would you like some help with what you’re reading?"
For a moment, she didn’t understand what he meant, but she quickly came to her senses.
"No, no. You only just returned today."
"I’m not tired at all. I was just off having fun."
There was no way that was true, yet he told such a transparent lie.
She should have refused. But while hoping Ryunosuke wouldn’t notice her selfish desire, Isane gave in and nodded.
"Oh, right. Isane."
"Yes?"
"I have a present for you. I don’t have it with me right now, but it’s a souvenir I brought back from the World of the Living."
Isane found herself grateful that her day off had been postponed.
Thankful for the unexpected stroke of good fortune, she cautiously gathered her courage.
"Then... I have next week off. Could you give it to me then?"
If it was a present from him, she felt as though even a single pencil would make her happy.
**
While Ryunosuke was away in the World of the Living, his older brother, Rikichi Yuki, had become a Soul Reaper and been assigned to the Sixth Division.
After hearing that his brother would return today, Rikichi had found himself utterly unable to wait for him to come home and had gone out searching for him.
He wanted to proudly announce that he had become a Soul Reaper.
Though you may be ahead of me now because of the difference in our growth rates, I’m your older brother. I’ll catch up to you soon enough.
That was the vow he had made.
Before long, he spotted Ryunosuke and loudly called out to him, but—
"Hey, Ryunos— Ghack!"
Someone subdued him.
Beyond the black cloth that had enveloped his entire body, all he could see was a young girl with pink hair.
"You can’t interrupt him! There’s someone Ryuno has to meet today."
It was Yachiru Kusajishi, lieutenant of the Eleventh Division.
She looked so young that everyone saw her as an innocent little child, but she was the field commander of the Shinigami Women’s Association’s Romantic Operations Squad.
She was truly the perfect choice—someone no one would ever suspect.
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