"Eh, Tatsuki, those dark circles are heavy... did you not sleep at all last night?"
Cole walked out of the bathroom, towel in hand as he wiped the water droplets from his hair, looking curiously at Tatsuki.
She was supposed to be a bright, energetic high school girl, but right now she looked completely worn out.
Especially the two dark circles on her face—
It was like she hadn't slept for several days.
Tatsuki's face flushed first, then she glared at Cole fiercely.
"That's all your fault!"
She hadn't slept a wink the whole night.
Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was that hazy scene she'd glimpsed in the bedroom.
Just thinking about it made her cheeks burn; how was she supposed to feel sleepy after that?
"My fault?"
Cole scratched his head in confusion. Then something seemed to click and he nodded in sudden understanding.
"Oh, you must've been scared by the fight yesterday, right?"
He grinned.
"That's pretty normal. The real world is survival of the fittest, after all."
Whether it was Soul Society or Hueco Mundo, those with strength ruled, and the weak could only be dominated.
For a high-school girl raised in a law-governed society, it was completely normal that Tatsuki couldn't adapt.
"That's not it at all. But the real world is way too brutal..."
Over the last two days, her former worldview had been completely shattered.
She'd caught a glimpse of a dangerous yet seductive world.
A world with almost no order, where strength was everything.
And humans—who had always proudly called themselves the most intelligent of all things—
In front of Hollows, they were nothing more than food.
But in front of Cole, those gigantic Hollows that were terrifying to humans were as weak as ants.
From that perspective, Cole's tangled relationships with those girls were... actually somewhat understandable.
In a world where strength ruled, it was only natural that someone with overwhelming power and almost endless life would want to enjoy some "interesting things."
"No, no, what am I even thinking?"
The more she thought about it, the redder Tatsuki's face became. She shook her head hard and fled down the hallway toward her room.
"I'm skipping breakfast, see you at school!"
"Eh?"
Cole watched her leave, completely baffled.
"But I wasn't planning on going to school."
With things having escalated this far, he'd lost all interest in school.
No matter how good his grades were, that wouldn't stop the Wandenreich's invasion, nor would it slow the advance of Hell.
For the foreseeable future, he'd be staying in Hueco Mundo to absorb spiritual power.
After lunch—
Cole lay lazily on the sofa, chatting with the girls in high spirits.
"So you're saying the members of the Visoreds—Shinji, Kensei and the others—are planning to go back to Seireitei?"
Unohana smiled and nodded.
"Seireitei is short on manpower right now. If they return, they can directly take captain positions."
Cole suddenly understood, and finally realized why, in the original timeline, they hadn't all gone back together.
Just the Visored group alone had four former captains.
If you added Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Isshin—
That made seven captain-level combatants.
On top of that, there were several lieutenant-level forces, including the former Grand Kido Chief and his former deputy.
If that many people returned to Seireitei all at once, there simply wouldn't be enough captain seats to go around.
And if you told them to serve as lieutenants instead—
With their pride, there was no way they'd accept that.
So rather than going back to Seireitei, it was easier to keep living freely in the Human World.
They'd already been here for a hundred years; they were used to it.
Returning to Soul Society would actually feel boring.
Thinking of that, Cole suddenly remembered something and asked, interested,
"Right, what about Gin? What's going to happen to that guy?"
Even if Gin's betrayal had been unavoidable, he'd done a lot of bad things alongside Aizen—
Including the Hollowfication incident back then.
By Soul Society's rigid rules, Gin might avoid the death penalty, but he definitely wouldn't escape punishment.
He might very well be thrown into Muken, the lowest level of prison.
"Gin, huh..."
At the mention of the former Seireitei captain, Unohana shook her head helplessly.
"His situation is hard to say. The Captain-Commander actually spoke up on his behalf, but you know how those old fossils in Central 46 are."
Rukia sighed as well.
"Back when Central 46 was wiped out, Gin killed at least half of them himself. There's no way the newly reformed Central 46 would just let him go."
Cole clicked his tongue.
Wow.
What a maniac.
He'd thought Central 46 had been wiped out completely by Aizen alone.
He hadn't expected Gin to have taken out half the group on his own.
"But for the time being, he should be fine," Unohana added with a smile.
"After all, Aizen still hasn't been captured, and Gin is the one who understands Aizen best."
Only then did Cole nod slightly, though he still felt a bit regretful inside.
He genuinely admired Gin's talent.
If Gin were sentenced to Muken, Cole had already decided he'd break him out and bring him along to help build up Hueco Mundo.
But there was no way to do that just yet.
Never mind whether Aizen would even be captured—
Even if he was, it wouldn't be more than a year or so before the Wandenreich invaded. Gin would probably be released anyway to help combat the new enemy.
"Speaking of which, Cole, are you really going to Hueco Mundo?"
Unohana seemed to recall something and looked at him with amused curiosity.
"I heard you're going there to be the King of Hueco Mundo?"
Cole coughed awkwardly twice.
"I'm going there to train, don't call me the King of Hueco Mundo. That's embarrassing. If you want to come along, you're welcome to."
He truly had no interest in ruling Hueco Mundo.
It was a barren wasteland.
The number of intelligent Arrancar you could count on your fingers.
The rest were mindless Hollows, constantly tearing each other apart and devouring each other.
Even given a few million more years, Hueco Mundo would still never match the prosperity of Soul Society or the Human World.
As a guy who'd grown up in a modern city—
He just wanted to use Hueco Mundo as his private backyard.
"I'm not going with you, but Captain Unohana will," Rukia said, eyeing Unohana with a hint of jealousy.
Then she shot Cole a fierce glare, gritting her teeth.
"Let me make this clear first—you two are not allowed to fool around over there in Hueco Mundo."
Cole coughed lightly again, feeling guilty as he avoided Rukia's eyes.
He definitely wasn't about to tell her that the first time he and Unohana had gone to Hueco Mundo, they'd already "fooled around" there for a whole day and night.
But he was genuinely surprised about one thing, so he turned and looked at Unohana.
"Hana-nee, if you come with me to Hueco Mundo, what happens to Soul Society? Aren't you still the Captain of Squad Four?"
Unohana smiled.
"I resigned. I'm no longer Captain of Squad Four. The new captain is my former lieutenant, Isane."
Cole was surprised for a moment, then quickly accepted it.
In the original timeline, Unohana had become Captain of Squad Four after being defeated by Kenpachi, giving up her love of battle.
Now that she'd been defeated by him instead, and he had no interest in becoming the next Kenpachi—
It was only natural that she'd lose her desire to continue serving as a captain.
"I just didn't expect Isane, that little girl, to be using bankai already," Cole said, unable to stop himself from feeling a bit emotional.
He really couldn't picture what Isane's bankai would look like.
Was the "weakest captain lineup" about to welcome another new member?
In Seireitei, aside from Squad Eleven—where captaincy was decided by a very... direct system—
Any other squad captain had to meet one rigid requirement.
They had to be able to use bankai.
Rukia rolled her eyes.
"Isane is already two or three hundred years old. She's older than your great-grandmother by a century, and you're calling her a 'little girl'?"
Cole just laughed and didn't argue.
Instead, he asked, "Hana-nee, did old man Yamamoto really just agree to you resigning that easily?"
Something felt off to him.
With Yamamoto's personality, it didn't sound like him to accept that so readily.
And Unohana hadn't even gone back to Soul Society herself.
Unohana gave a small smile.
"That's mainly because Seireitei has changed its strategy regarding Hueco Mundo. Central 46 decided they can't just let that place slip completely out of their control. At the very least, they need to know what's going on over there."
Cole immediately understood.
In the end, Aizen had left too big of a shadow on Soul Society's heart.
That former Captain of Squad Five had seized Hueco Mundo centuries ago, and Soul Society hadn't had a clue.
Now he himself was about to become the so-called King of Hueco Mundo.
Having just been wiped out once, there was no way Central 46 could relax.
Forget them—not even Yamamoto could relax.
Even the Squad Zero members up in the Royal Realm would be on edge, worried that Cole might pull an "Aizen" and launch an invasion of Soul Society.
Letting Unohana accompany him to Hueco Mundo was also a way of having someone monitor him.
In the original timeline, it had been similar.
After Aizen's defeat, Soul Society, as the victor, had the Technology Development Bureau monitor Hueco Mundo by various means to prevent another Aizen from appearing.
Unohana smiled.
"What, you don't want me to go with you?"
"How could I not..."
Cole quickly snapped out of it and shook his head.
He was just about to say something when he caught a glimpse of Rukia's dangerously narrowed eyes.
So he swallowed his original words and changed his tone righteously.
"What I mean is—why aren't Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki going? I clearly wanted to work with them in Hueco Mundo."
Only then did Rukia look satisfied, though she was still eyeing Unohana with jealousy.
If she hadn't just become a captain of Seireitei and been reluctant to give up her position, it obviously should have been her accompanying Cole to Hueco Mundo.
Seeing her expression, Cole tried to comfort her a bit.
"Rukia, don't be disappointed. It's not like I'm staying in Hueco Mundo forever and never coming back. I'll be coming by to see you a lot."
Things were different now.
He'd already learned how to tear open space.
The Three Worlds were vast, but there was nowhere he couldn't go.
He could be in Hueco Mundo today, the Human World tomorrow, and Soul Society the day after.
Rukia pouted.
"You wish. The Captain-Commander has already ordered multiple layers of barriers to be put up around Seireitei, to stop enemies from directly invading."
Cole just chuckled, not taking it seriously at all.
Barriers?
With the powers of his Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden-Hooped Staff), barriers weren't any obstacle to him.
But he didn't bother telling Rukia that.
He planned to give her a surprise in a little while.
Just like that—
They spent several more days tangled up together in the Human World.
Once things in Soul Society had settled down, Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki finally said a reluctant goodbye to Cole.
In front of the ancient world-passage gate—
Sode no Shirayuki grumbled unhappily.
"Small-fry master, if you're going back, you could just go back by yourself. Why do I have to go too?"
She still wanted to stay with Cole a few more days, and it would've been best if she could have gone sightseeing in Hueco Mundo as well.
Rukia was so annoyed she nearly exploded.
"You're my zanpakuto. If you're not with me, how am I supposed to use bankai?"
Because Sode no Shirayuki had been manifested into the world, Rukia could currently only use her shikai.
Normally, shikai was more than enough.
But she'd just become a captain; if she couldn't use bankai, she'd always feel uneasy.
More importantly, if Sode no Shirayuki went with Cole to Hueco Mundo—
They would do whatever they wanted over there, and she'd be stuck all alone in Soul Society.
On top of that, she'd still have to endure the tingling sensations transmitted back through their shared bond.
That would be pure torture.
Sode no Shirayuki rolled her eyes at her small-fry master but didn't expose her real thoughts.
She simply waved at Cole reluctantly.
"Cole-kun, see you..."
"See you, Cole-kun!"
Cole smiled and watched them go.
When the gate in the sky closed, he couldn't help letting out a breath.
"This really feels like life-and-death parting."
If he didn't have the ability to tear open a Garganta, Rukia's departure might have meant they wouldn't see each other again for who knew how many years.
Once he'd adjusted his mood, Cole eagerly tore open a Garganta.
"Hana-nee, let's go too. I wonder what Hueco Mundo looks like now after we left last time."
Unohana smiled and nodded.
The two of them stepped into the black rift.
Heaven and earth spun.
A familiar scene unfolded before their eyes.
White desert—
Quartz-like white outcroppings—
A moon that never set—
And the occasional small Hollow drifting past.
Unohana's cheeks immediately flushed a little as she shot Cole a sharp glance.
"Why didn't you just go straight to Las Noches?"
The scenery in Hueco Mundo all looked similar, but she could tell at a glance—
This was the exact spot where she and Cole had fooled around before.
Cole grinned, walking over and firmly pushing Unohana down into the white sand.
"Hana-nee, you don't like this place?"
(End of Chapter)
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