Ōki was an ordinary member of the 13th Division of the Gotei 13. His routine duty was to stand watch at a nameless island in the middle of the ocean in the World of the Living.
Sea in every direction, no humans living here. Even when the occasional ship passed by, no one would choose to stop at a barren rock like this.
In short, being posted at this surveillance point was mind-numbingly dull.
Ōki had even suggested to his captain that they just abolish this outpost altogether—no Hollow would come to a place like this anyway.
"Another boring day~"
Standing at the shore, letting the sea breeze wash over him, Ōki stretched and stared out.
He really envied those teammates stationed in busier parts of the World of the Living.
Sure, the work might be a bit tougher, but the entertainment? Way better.
"O Sovereign above! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, wings that beat, things crowned with the name of Man! Heat and strife, surge across the sea to the south, step forth!
Hadō 31: Shakkahō (Red Fire Cannon)!"
With nothing else to do, Ōki kept drilling the kidō he'd learned at Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy.
A fireball scored a line of mist across the sea, then fizzled out before a hundred meters.
Just as he was about to chant the next spell, the air split open at an angle behind him—an opening torn in midair—and a chilling spiritual pressure burst from some unknown creature.
"What the—?!"
Ōki cried out, immediately beginning a Hadō incantation at the creature.
He was only a regular foot soldier; he hadn't even achieved Shikai. Kidō was one of the few combat tools he could actually bring to the table.
But before he could finish the chant, that pitch-black thing streaked down like a meteor and appeared before him.
A pair of flexible, flattened, tentacle-like arms lashed him.
Dirt and rock burst skyward as Ōki's body was hammered into the wall of the outpost.
With the last scrap of consciousness, Ōki stared up at the bizarre creature closing in, its mass blotting out his view—then used the last of his strength to send an alarm to the other surveillance points in the World of the Living.
Japan, Akihara Town.
After a lighthearted cookout, Higashino Shuuichi led Rangiku and the others into the town.
Though the principles behind gikon (artificial souls) had been worked out by the 12th Division captain Kirio, and there were first-gen trial gigai (artificial bodies), there still weren't the portable gigai that would appear in the future.
So for now, in the World of the Living, Higashino Shuuichi and the others could only appear in spirit-particle form.
In other words, ordinary humans couldn't see them.
"Are cities in the World of the Living always this lively every day?"
Rangiku took in the constant flow of people around them, curious.
"Not really. Normally it wouldn't be this crowded—but today seems to be this city's Mizuhara Festival. On big holidays like this, people take to the streets to celebrate in groups."
Higashino Shuuichi turned his body slightly to pass a mortal on the shoulder as he spoke.
The Seireitei had very few traditional festivals like those in the World of the Living.
"Are all these people commoners?"
Kisaragi Shūsuke circled a few nearby humans, observing, then asked.
"Of course. Daimyō and samurai don't join 'vulgar' pastimes like this."
Higashino Shuuichi chuckled.
"Shuuichi-sama also thinks this has no appeal?"
Soi Fon tilted her head, bored, looking at Higashino Shuuichi.
For her, watching a group performance was dull—nothing like a good, sweat-soaked session on the training grounds.
"Quite the opposite, Koyō—this is exactly the kind of thing that makes life fun~"
As he spoke, Higashino Shuuichi had stepped into the heart of the celebration. At the center of the crowd, a shrine maiden danced in flowing steps.
"Oh~ I get it, Shishō—this is what they call 'so happy you forget to go home,' right?"
Kisaragi Shūsuke stared at the miko for a long time, then declared with sudden clarity.
"Forget-your-home, my foot! Don't use phrases you don't understand! Sit over there and enjoy it properly!"
Higashino Shuuichi shot Shūsuke a glare. The kid was obedient, sure—but he overthought everything and loved to show off.
"Haha! Serves you right for pretending to know, Shūsuke! Here, a specialty from North Rukongai—persimmon wine!"
Seizing the chance to rest, Rangiku promptly produced an unfinished bottle of persimmon wine from the ample space of her chest, hauled the very unwilling Soi Fon along, and the three of them started drinking merrily again.
Only Gin didn't join in—clearly prearranged.
"You wanted to talk to me?"
Seeing this, there was no way Higashino Shuuichi would miss the hint. He glanced sidelong at Gin quietly edging up beside him.
"Yes, Shuuichi-sama," Gin nodded, unfazed. "My instructors say that at my current pace, in three months I can graduate together with the sixth-years from Shin'ō Academy."
Higashino Shuuichi's brow twitched. He'd known this was coming—yet it hadn't even been a year.
Back then, how long did it take him just to reach Shikai?
How long to learn kidō, zanjutsu, and shunpō?
Comparisons really could kill a man.
"You want to ask which division to join after you graduate?"
Higashino Shuuichi could pretty much read Gin's mind.
"Yes. I heard that after entering the Gotei 13, the vice-captains mainly handle the subsequent training. So I wanted to ask you in advance what each division's vice-captains are best at, so I can decide where to go."
Gin replied.
Hearing that, Higashino Shuuichi almost laughed. Nice excuse—what he really wanted was intel on Sōsuke, right?
Playing the whole "cover one thing with another" routine with him, huh.
"I see. Let me think. The 1st Division's vice-captain, Chōjirō, should specialize in hakuda and kendō; I haven't seen him use much kidō.
"The 2nd Division's vice-captain Ōmaeda… hard to comment—let's say he's fairly balanced?
"The 3rd Division's current vice-captain, Iba Chikane, was just promoted from 3rd Seat, so I don't know him well yet.
"The 4th Division's vice-captain—that's me—zanjutsu, hakuda, shunpō, kidō, and kaidō (restorative arts)… I know a little bit of everything.
"The 5th Division's vice-captain, Sōsuke, is similar to me—zanjutsu, hakuda, shunpō, kidō—he's got breadth across the board, and he's a little better than me at each."
Higashino Shuuichi didn't call him out, and instead gave Gin a serious breakdown.
Truth was, this had been a tiny errand Sōsuke had asked him to run.
He recalled that day at his home, when Sōsuke intentionally made the request in front of Rangiku—who was under Kyōka Suigetsu—"Guide Gin to join the 5th Division."
For a moment, Higashino Shuuichi wondered if Sōsuke had some weird "in-front-of-the-lady" kink.
But that had nothing to do with him. If the boss liked to dance on a knife's edge, that was the boss's business. As the employee, he'd dutifully carry out the assignment.
As expected, after putting on a show of "careful comparison," Gin chose "well-rounded development," apologized to Higashino Shuuichi, and picked Sōsuke—the one who, according to Higashino Shuuichi's description, was just a bit better than him in every aspect.
He even had the cheek to ask Higashino Shuuichi to introduce more of Sōsuke's background.
On that, Higashino Shuuichi held nothing back. He praised as needed—after all, Sōsuke's usual facade was that of a genial good guy. There was a sea of people who never saw his true face; what difference would one more make?
While Higashino Shuuichi was savoring the unique amusement of watching Gin rack his brains to fish for intel, a 13th Division foot soldier in shihakushō suddenly rushed over from a nearby monitoring point.
"Bad news! Vice-Captain Shuuichi! Something big has happened!"
To be honest, I'm nervous about laying this thread—though I do love Kubo-sensei's imagination here.
And I've heard a new project over there is already greenlit, so I might be slapped in the face any moment… but I still couldn't resist starting. Hopefully the slap won't be too harsh when it comes.
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