What does a Soul King fragment feel like inside the body?
If you ask Higashino Shuuichi, the answer is: it doesn't.
Aside from the initial sting when it was jammed into him, the pain faded as the fragment gradually fused with body and soul.
That might also be because his current strength already sits at normal captain level, and what fused into him was only a fingernail shard of the Soul King.
"Hmm."
Amusement on his face, Shuuichi heard a puzzled sound behind him from Sōsuke.
This was Sōsuke's first time reintegrating a Soul King body fragment into a Shinigami as well, and the feedback from Shuuichi surprised him.
"Your reiatsu cap didn't rise?"
After double- and triple-checking his own perception, Sōsuke finally asked.
It was strange.
Based on past cases—even those with only trace amounts of Soul King remnants could burst beyond their innate ceiling. Yet Shuuichi, with a much fuller fingernail fragment, didn't show the fountain-like reiatsu surge Sōsuke had pictured.
"It is and isn't," Shuuichi said, fully aware of Sōsuke's line of thought. With the fusion complete, he now knew something about the fragments that even Sōsuke hadn't tested.
He unleashed everything in the reiatsu-sealed space Sōsuke had prepared.
This time it behaved as Sōsuke expected: years of accumulation let Shuuichi break past his limiter—his reiatsu intensity hit more than double.
"The fragment doesn't directly increase my inherent reiatsu cap. If my built-in cap is one reservoir, then the Soul King fragment digs a second, deeper reservoir alongside it.
When I release reiatsu, I can choose the new reservoir or stick with the old.
So if I ever lose this fragment, my original cap will be exactly what it is now."
In modern terms: the Soul King fragment is like a time-limited pass that grants a fixed extra reiatsu cap.
If Shuuichi wants even more usable cap later, he'll need to collect additional fragments and fuse them as well.
By comparison, Hollowfication (Hollowfication) is more "solid"—it truly breaks a Shinigami's personal limiter, and even if Hollowfication is stripped away, the broken limiter doesn't snap back.
With that, Shuuichi understood why, even late in the original line, Sōsuke never showed interest in integrating Soul King pieces. Owning the Hōgyoku (Breakdown Sphere) is one reason; another might be that Sōsuke's experiments revealed the flaw of relying on fragment boosts.
But what Sōsuke scoffs at is still a treasure for Shuuichi now.
No one minds more life-saving trump cards—especially when the Soul King fingernail fragment brings along an undemonstrable, limitless regeneration.
Shuuichi wants Hollowfication (Hollowfication). He wants Soul King fragments, too.
"Tasteless to eat, a pity to throw away."
After hearing him out, Sōsuke summed up with eight words—and then tossed Shuuichi something like a beating heart.
"The 'Soul King Heart' you wanted."
Tch…
Reabsorbing his reiatsu, Shuuichi clutched the "heart" and sucked in a breath.
A little too realistic, wasn't it?
Smaller than a real one, but without any trace of carving.
He could only admit it: Szayelaporro really is an artist among scientists.
"How do I use it, Sōsuke-dono?"
Shuuichi slipped the "heart" into a waiting case and asked.
"Have them place it at their chest. Leave the rest to it~"
"Every Hollow has its own hole. You intend to turn their hearts into Hollow holes? If they can't endure it, they'll have no chance to live at all."
"Failures in an experiment have no value living, do they?"
Lately he'd been spending too much time with Tōsen—always prattling justice; two lines can't go by without love and peace.
Whatever pity Sōsuke once had dropped sharply.
"True enough. It just means my workload goes up. With the Kasumiooji's current number of Bakkōtō wielders, I'm afraid they can't absorb many losses."
Shuuichi didn't object; he only pictured Masasuke and Gyoukaku demanding bodies from him while he dodged the Gotei's eyes and snatched Shinigami for the Kasumiooji… and his scalp tingled.
"I'll have the Espada cooperate with you."
Talking with Shuuichi really was refreshing.
Sōsuke got the subtext—he needed Hollows? Fine—he'd have them.
Both sides left satisfied.
That night, Shuuichi returned to the division.
He settled Rangiku in Fourth's medical rest rooms. In her condition, she wouldn't wake for at least ten days to half a month.
"You feel different."
The voice from the shadows caught him off guard as he stepped out.
"You noticed that, Captain?" Shuuichi turned with a wry smile. In the dark stood Retsu, hair let down and tied behind her.
A silk robe embroidered with pale cherry blossoms traced every line of her figure in the moonlight.
If you forgot her fearsome history, it was a perfect "yamato nadeshiko greeting her husband" scene.
He hadn't expected Retsu to be here at this hour—and to catch him right after he'd tested his infinite regeneration in the medical room.
"Seems you didn't come back empty-handed these past days~"
Her eyes were blades; her voice, water.
"To realize my vow, I've never stopped working," he answered, earnest.
Retsu held his gaze for two silent seconds. Then her geta clicked as she turned, the wood tapping the floor.
"Come with me to the training grounds."
No room for no.
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