The night was a full moon, the sky glittering with stars.
Aizen hadn't stayed long at Higashino Shuuichi's home.
Until the end, he never voiced the question that clearly lingered in his mind.
After he left, Shuuichi sat alone by the window, elbow propped on the sill, staring out at the desolate street. Beside him, a steaming cup of Dragon Well tea from the human world.
With memories confirming that Matsumoto Rangiku and Gin Ichimaru were scraping by in East Rukongai, finding them wouldn't be difficult.
Originally, Shuuichi had planned to act himself. But after his trip to Hueco Mundo, Szayelaporro hadn't given him the answers he sought.
Szayelaporro knew how to extract a Soul King fragment from a shinigami—but not how to reimplant it and fuse it anew.
Either it happened by coincidence at birth, like with Rangiku, or it required overwhelming external intervention.
Shuuichi had neither.
So in the end, he had no choice but to report Rangiku's case to Aizen.
That lingering, meaningful look Aizen gave before leaving—what did it mean? Surely he knew what Shuuichi desired.
Tonight, Shuuichi's heart was restless.
This was the first time, in all the years he'd served Aizen, that he had asked for something.
Before, Aizen had given him private lessons in swordsmanship and kidō, but always on Aizen's initiative—out of impatience at Shuuichi's lack of strength.
This time, though neither had said it aloud, Shuuichi knew Aizen understood.
What Aizen intended, Shuuichi couldn't guess. But one thing was certain: at least, he hadn't opposed him.
Whether he seized this chance now depended on his own performance.
Aizen did not keep idle men.
"At least… it's not a bad start, right?"
He sighed into his tea.
From the moment he chose to follow Aizen, he had hoped for hollowfication, breaking his limits.
Now hollowfication was distant—but the Soul King fragment was near.
Rangiku's fragment especially, the nail shard that bore the power of infinite regeneration.
A superior form of Hollow regeneration—so long as the soul endured, the body would always recover. The ultimate survival ability.
And perhaps, it could complement Shuuichi's otherwise useless bankai.
This fragment, he would claim at all costs.
As the moon set and sun rose, he reported for duty at the 4th Division as usual.
While sorting herbs, noise swelled outside.
"Yōko, what's going on out there? Why so loud?"
His hands moved without pause as he called toward the door.
"Vice-Captain Shuuichi! It's that great criminal from last time! He's invaded Seireitei!"
Sato Yōko's panicked voice answered.
That great criminal? Shuuichi's lips curved. So it had begun.
The uproar was a bit larger than expected—but that was fine.
He set his work aside and stepped outside.
4th Division members hurried in and out, carrying wounded shinigami into the medical ward.
Some, too grievously hurt, were treated right on the steps.
In the crowd, Shuuichi saw 3rd Seat Yamada Seinosuke already using kaidō on a one-armed shinigami, struggling to reattach the severed limb.
Diligent fellow.
Shuuichi quietly admired him.
Ever since Unohana had demoted him from vice-captain twenty years ago, Seinosuke had thrown himself into healing, as if effort could earn her recognition.
"But no matter how much you do, she'll never truly look your way."
Shuuichi mourned him in silence, then turned and left the barracks.
"Eh? Vice-Captain Shuuichi, where are you going?!"
Yōko's voice trailed behind.
Shuuichi only waved.
"Eleventh Division."
He couldn't recall the original reason Zaraki Kenpachi stormed Seireitei and slew then-captain Kiganjō Kenpachi.
But now, he knew exactly why.
In recent months, casualties among Kasumiooji retainers had skyrocketed—thanks to Zaraki.
Zaraki himself might not grasp the implications, but the pink-haired girl always at his side, Kusajishi Yachiru, surely did.
"Yachiru, do you know who your Ken-chan's been killing lately?"
"Weren't they just ordinary shinigami?"
"They were Kasumiooji retainers—the nobles second only to the Great Five Houses."
".That's fine. Whoever they send next, the stronger they are, the more Ken-chan will love it!"
"And what if your Ken-chan must one day stand before the strongest shinigami in history—Head Captain Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni? Will he survive?"
".Ken-chan… will. He has to."
(smiling) "Yachiru, you know… sometimes, you don't need to stay in the chaos of outer Rukongai to enjoy battle."
That day, Shuuichi sought out Zaraki in the slums and fought him again.
This time, he used a reiatsu-sealing device taken long ago from Kumoi Gyoukaku.
At the cost of half his Taoyuan's Reishi Soldiers, he forced yet another double knockout against a restrained Zaraki Kenpachi.
After the clash, Shuuichi leaned weakly against rubble, speaking to the beaming Yachiru.
And after that, he never approached Zaraki again.
That was why Zaraki now stormed the Eleventh Division—because it alone upheld the tradition that the captaincy was taken by killing the last.
"Raise hell, Zaraki Kenpachi."
Shuuichi thought with satisfaction.
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