"C-Cole!!!"
Rukia froze for a moment, then her face lit up with surprise.
That familiar voice—wasn't it the one she'd been thinking about nonstop lately?
Seeing that Rukia had guessed his identity, Cole smiled, withdrew his hand, leaned against the desk, and said,
"Captain Rukia's been really busy lately, huh? There are so many documents piled up on your desk."
Hearing that, Rukia's excitement instantly deflated. A troubled look appeared on her face, and she let out a helpless sigh.
"Lately, Soul Society's been through way too much. Every division's been swamped."
Cole nodded in understanding.
After all, the Hueco Mundo incident had even involved the Zero Division, and they'd learned so many shocking truths about the world.
The Seireitei was bound to react—and once that pressure trickled down, every division ended up drowning in work.
"Then what about Meat Peach?"
Cole asked curiously.
The previous captain of the Fifth Division had been Aizen, and his lieutenant was Hinamori—known as the Soul King's shield.
Even though that woman had basically been broken by Aizen, giving off the vibe of someone whose personality had collapsed…
When she was normal, she was still a functional person. If she came in to work, she should at least be able to share some of Rukia's burden.
At that question, Rukia sighed again and looked at Cole with pitiful eyes.
"Lieutenant Hinamori is still in the Fourth Division receiving treatment. Since Captain Unohana isn't here, even if she wants to be discharged, it'll take at least two more months."
As she said that, Rukia looked even more miserable. She even ran over, hugged Cole's arm, and asked with eyes full of hope, "873…"
"Cole-sama, can you bring Captain Unohana back, please!?"
Back in the Seireitei, the Fourth Division had always had the weakest presence, and because their combat strength wasn't high, they were often bullied by other divisions.
But only now did the other divisions finally understand how important the Fourth Division truly was.
Without strong healing support—
The entire Seireitei's system got thrown into chaos.
If this were wartime, it would mean the entire logistics chain was broken—something big enough to flip the tide of battle.
"Kotetsu Isane already went to look for her," Cole explained casually, then stretched lazily and smiled as he picked up one of the documents on the desk.
"But since you're so exhausted, I'll help you shoulder some of it."
The Fifth Division's responsibilities were rescue-related and should've been relatively relaxed, so he figured these documents couldn't be that hard.
And so—
Half an hour later.
Cole, utterly drained, slapped the documents onto the desk and spoke in a lifeless tone:
"No, what is this… These files are insane. It's not just Seireitei matters—they're making you handle Rukongai and the World of the Living too…"
"Personnel allocation, resettlement, all kinds of Hollow early warnings…"
"Why is even reconstruction the Fifth Division's job?"
After Cole finished, Rukia practically looked like she was about to cry. She stared at him pitifully.
"Cole… you're not going to stop helping me, right!?"
Before she became a captain, she truly had no idea being a captain was this miserable. Just processing documents made her head split open.
Meanwhile, Captain Ukitake and her older brother handled documents with ease.
Cole said helplessly, "Other captains have an experienced lieutenant helping them… but yours is Meat Peach, isn't she?"
Rukia looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"But it can't be helped. Lieutenant Hinamori's injuries are serious. I can't go bother her at her bedside."
"Then what about other divisions' lieutenants? Can't you borrow them to help for now?"
Cole thought of lieutenants like Matsumoto and the others.
"They can't either…"
Rukia said weakly, "The war ended not long ago. Everyone's busy—who has the energy to come help me process paperwork…"
"I see. Then I've thought of someone."
Cole rubbed his chin and looked excitedly toward the southwest.
"Wait here for a few minutes."
With that, Cole took a step—
And his figure turned into a streak of black light, crossing half the Seireitei at extreme speed.
Such an outrageous move immediately drew the attention of countless Shinigami.
Inside the Sixth Division.
Byakuya's expression darkened.
"How did that human get in? Didn't the Seireitei strengthen its barrier?"
Inside the Fourth Division.
Shinji, sitting by a hospital bed while processing documents, gave a bitter smile and rubbed his temples.
"I knew it… With his strength now, even if the Seireitei strengthens the barrier, how could it possibly stop him from invading?"
Beside him, Kensei—wrapped in bandages from head to toe—spoke weakly.
"Then what do we do? Drive him out?"
Shinji stared at him like he'd heard something ridiculous.
"Drive him out? Who's going to do it? You?"
With the terrifying combat power Cole had displayed, in the entire Seireitei, only the Head Captain could possibly contend with him.
But if those two fought inside the Seireitei, the whole place would get blown apart.
Kensei immediately fell silent.
He glanced at the bandages covering his body, his mouth twitching, then he scowled at Shinji and said through clenched teeth,
"Then we'll ignore it for now. But I'm warning you…"
"From now on!!! You are NOT allowed to use that Bankai on me again!!!"
"I don't want to die by a companion's blade!!!"
In the Karakura Town battle, he hadn't been killed by the enemy—
Instead, he'd been hacked more than ten times by Love and the others.
He'd almost gone straight to Hell on the spot.
"I know, okay? It's not like I activated it on purpose…"
Shinji complained, speechless.
Inside the Eighth Division.
"It's Cole! He came back to the Seireitei again! Captain, aren't you going to do something about it!?"
Nanao sensed Cole's spiritual pressure and looked at Shunsui with excitement, like she wanted to run over and take a look immediately.
She hadn't forgotten what Cole had promised her.
And with Cole's current strength, maybe he really could resolve the curse that had haunted the Ise clan for countless ages.
Hearing that, Shunsui—lounging in a chair—waved his hand lazily.
"Spare me. Compared to fighting that guy, I'd rather sit here and watch the cherry blossoms. It's cherry blossom season, after all."
As he spoke, a light breeze passed by, lifting a sea of sakura petals and scattering them through the air.
Shunsui yawned at just the right moment.
"This is what life is all about."
"Then I'll go take a look…"
Nanao really couldn't resist. With excitement written all over her face, she dashed toward the Fifth Division.
(For exhilarating novels, go to Faloo Novel Network!)
About twenty minutes later.
Just when Rukia was starting to wonder if Cole had run away—
Cole came back with a beauty slung over his shoulder.
"Rukia, look—I brought the one I promised!"
Cole showed off his "trophy" enthusiastically.
The "trophy" was so furious she nearly exploded. Holding a hard spiritual energy crystal ball, she repeatedly smashed it into Cole's head and shouted viciously,
"You brat, put me down right now! Believe it or not, I'll blast you to the ends of the world!?"
Rukia stared dumbfounded and stammered,
"K-Kukaku-san… why are you being carried here like this…?"
At that, Kukaku nearly blew a fuse. She glared at Cole and snapped,
"Isn't it because this brat went crazy!"
She'd been at home researching new fireworks when Cole suddenly barged in.
He started spouting nonsense about returning the Shiba clan to the Seireitei and reclaiming the Shiba clan's glory—and then he just grabbed her and brought her here.
Cole set Kukaku down on the floor and said with a smile,
"Kukaku-nee, the Seireitei used to have five great noble families. Now it's down to four. Aren't you unwilling to accept that?"
Kukaku ground her teeth.
"So what if I'm unwilling? You can bring us back?"
"Of course!"
Cole agreed without hesitation.
He'd been in the Seireitei long enough to learn why the Shiba clan had been struck off the rolls of Soul Society.
In the end, it was still a matter of strength.
The Ise clan might be weak, but their position was special. As a priestly clan, they managed the strongest divine artifact, the Muken Sword.
Even if the clan didn't have a single powerhouse to hold up the sky, they still qualified to stand among the top noble families.
But the Shiba clan was different.
Their duty was to maintain the special passage between the Soul King Palace and the Seireitei.
They were also the only clan that possessed that technology.
As long as you used Kūkaku Taihō (Kukaku Cannon), you could directly invade the Soul King Palace.
But that duty—while you couldn't call it meaningless—
Wasn't exactly irreplaceable either.
And back then, within the Shiba clan…
Isshin had lost his power for love and remained in the World of the Living.
Kaien had died saving someone.
The only one left was Kukaku, and she simply didn't have the strength to carry the Shiba clan's banner.
So the Shiba clan lost in political struggle, had their status as one of the five great noble families stripped away, and were driven into Rukongai.
Thinking of that, Cole smiled and said,
"Kukaku-nee, Isshin and I are good friends. If he comes back, he can definitely bring the Shiba clan back to the peak…"
"Don't you dare mention that bastard!!!"
The moment Isshin's name came up, Kukaku erupted on the spot.
"It's all that bastard's fault!! If he'd been more serious back then, Kaien wouldn't have died, and the clan wouldn't have been driven out!"
Back then, she hadn't been the head of the Shiba clan.
The head was Isshin—who was also the Tenth Division captain at the time, the Shiba clan's hope.
And then that guy suddenly disappeared, making everyone think he'd died.
With no other choice—
She took up the clan's banner herself.
But she still couldn't stop the Shiba clan's decline. In the end, they were all expelled into Rukongai.
Then after the Karakura Town battle ended, she found out—
Isshin hadn't died at all.
Because of various reasons, he'd willingly abandoned his Shinigami powers, stayed in the World of the Living to marry and have children, and even changed his surname.
He threw away all glory, completely cast aside her and the Shiba clan, and never once cared about what happened to them.
Just thinking about it made her want to explode.
Use that guy's strength to return to the Seireitei!?
What a joke!!!
She only wanted to chop that bastard to pieces.
Cole was stunned.
He truly hadn't expected Kukaku to feel this way about Isshin.
So how was he supposed to sweet-talk Kukaku now?
So Cole immediately switched gears, clenched his fist, and righteously denounced Isshin with fury:
"Kukaku-nee, you're absolutely right. Isshin is a bastard. In a bit, I'll go grab him—"
"—and drag him here so you can teach him a lesson."
Kukaku's eyes lit up instantly. She patted Cole's shoulder and said happily,
"Now that's more like it. When are you bringing him? Remember to use a few more seals. I'm going to break all four of his limbs."
Cole's mouth twitched. He silently felt pity for Isshin.
Isshin…
Looks like your road back home is going to be rough.
After Cole promised Kukaku he'd go catch Isshin later, Kukaku's mood turned bright. She laughed openly and said to Cole,
"Didn't you say you dragged me here to help? Fine—say it. What do you need help with?"
Hearing that, Cole finally let out a breath of relief. He hurriedly pushed Kukaku to sit in front of the desk and said with a smile,
"Kukaku-nee, you're the head of a clan. Handling some paperwork should be easy for you, right?"
Kukaku suddenly understood and laughed.
"So that's what you needed help with… Of course processing documents is easy. I used to be one of the five great nobles, after all. I've seen how Isshin handled paperwork back then."
As she spoke, she flipped open the documents on the desk, picked up a pen, and started writing swiftly.
Rukia's eyes practically sparkled.
"Kukaku-san is amazing!"
Documents that took her ages to think through and revise—Kukaku finished them in a few quick strokes.
And every solution looked perfect.
Cole didn't hold back his praise either.
"Kukaku-nee, I knew you had the potential to be a captain. You have to work hard. I'll go catch Isshin for you right now."
As he spoke, Cole quietly grabbed Rukia's hand and quickly pulled her out of the room.
"What are you doing, Cole…"
Rukia puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
"Kukaku-san is so amazing—I still wanted to learn more from her…"
Cole pinched her small nose and laughed.
"I finally came to see you once, and all you care about is paperwork?"
At that, Rukia's face turned slightly red. Her gaze flickered away, and she didn't dare look into Cole's eyes. With flushed cheeks, she said,
"T-Then what are we supposed to do instead!?"
Cole chuckled, took her hand, and said,
"What are you thinking? Of course we're going out to play!"
With that, he took a step, swept Rukia into his arms, and headed straight out of the Seireitei toward Rukongai.
That place was even more bustling than the Seireitei—basically like a shopping center.
Rukia let out a startled cry. When she realized what was happening, her face turned red as she leaned against Cole's chest and whispered softly,
"This time… it's only allowed to be the two of us."
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!]
[[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]