On the way to his trial, Sora looked relaxed, as if he feared nothing. Byakuya would ponder on it but didn't say much. Anything that goes on in Sora's mind shall stay in Sora's mind.
This child was very weird to decipher. In Byakuya's 200 years of being alive, not once had he met someone like Sora. Yoruichi was a close second, but the way this boy moved and acted—it was as if he viewed the world differently.
Sometimes, the man wondered if the boy was on the spectrum—if Sora was special in that sense.
"Oh, by the way... brother-in-law, I apologize in advance for what I will do," Sora said in a rather calm voice.
Byakuya's brow furrowed, his mind trying to ponder what kind of BS shenanigans Sora had planned. Would he make every man in there bald? Would he switch shampoo with glue?
Would he swap out the deodorant with itching powder?
Or would he teach a noble's son how to swing a sword or how to play catch, just to be petty and take away the pleasure of the father having taught such an important skill himself?
Byakuya's mind was filled with pointless questions, yet... he didn't want to ask why.
He wondered why.
Once arriving at Central 46, Sora wondered why this place felt like a fucking jail cell. So many guards in this shit, and what seemed to be the entire Gotei 13 was there.
Yamamoto seemed done with this shit—but oh well.
As one man attempted to cuff Sora, the teenage boy simply glared at the man. And the second he did so...
The man backed away. The moment he had gotten close to cuff Sora... Sora had downloaded 5 terabytes worth of shit that would happen to him if he went through with it—and none of them were good.
The most tame one? Getting the Adam22 treatment. Yes, Sora was petty enough to use The Almighty for this shit.
There was also being reincarnated as an innocent village girl in Goblin Slayer... one day before a goblin attack and the guards weren't in town.
You know, shit to make someone back off.
Anyway, time for this joke to start.
"You sit there, accused of complicity in the destruction of a Great Noble House, and this is how you behave?!"
Sora blinked slowly.
"Yeah," he said, popping the 'y'. "Because this is stupid."
The chamber fell silent. One noble gasped. Another noble fainted. A third clutched their pearls—which were probably forged from reishi-crystallized ego.
Byakuya stood off to the side, arms folded, maintaining that impossible neutral aura of I do not condone this, but I also might throw hands if you insult my sister's taste.
A particularly puffy noble with too many rings on his fingers stood up.
"Do you not comprehend the gravity of your actions, QUINCY?" he snarled. "We are discussing treason. We are discussing Aizen's legacy—your bloodline. Your resemblance! You—"
"Okay, timeout," Sora said, raising his hand like he was in a high school classroom. "Let me stop you there, Lord Pompous Maximus."
Several nobles bristled. Byakuya exhaled. Hard.
Sora stood up, full height, like a divine being who accidentally walked into a preschool drama club.
"You're accusing me of Aizen's sins?" he said, arms outstretched. "Buddy, that's like blaming a newborn for their dad's tax evasion. Do you want to arrest Ichigo for being Kurosaki Isshin's kid? Should we put Renji on trial for that time his ancestor probably failed gym class? What's the standard here?"
"You dare mock us?!"
"Constantly," Sora said. "It's basically foreplay at this point."
He clapped his hands together with an expression of exaggerated joy. "Now, let's talk about evidence. Do you have any? Like... even a crumb? A snippet? A blurry screenshot? A Reddit thread?"
"We—!"
"No? Great. Because until someone shows me an actual log, recording, or celestial playback of me whispering 'oops' while firing a multiversal holy arrow through a perfectly timed half-millisecond gap into the Tsunayashiro guest bathroom—"
He tapped his temple. His eye glowed briefly. A few strands of fate unraveled. "I view this whole thing as a joke."
Murmurs spread.
"And frankly," Sora continued, checking a watch that didn't exist, "I've got a chemistry test in like two hours, so this 'oh no, noble politics!' crap ranks pretty low on the priority list."
"You mock the very fabric of our society!"
"I mock anything that requires me to sit through PowerPoint speeches in 4D," he said, deadpan. "I have, like, 100 better things to do right now. Even helping a granny cross the road would be higher on my priority list."
Another noble stood, pointing dramatically.
"This insolence is unacceptable!"
Sora casually raised his hand and snapped.
The noble's chair spun 180 degrees and locked in place—now facing the wall.
"...What just—?!"
"I gave your opinion the attention it deserves," Sora said dryly.
Someone in the corner tried not to laugh. Someone else failed.
Byakuya's brow twitched slightly.
One final elder stood up, the oldest of the bunch, beard like white silk, cane shaking with righteous indignation.
"This is not a stage for your antics. This is the Sacred Council! You are here to answer for blood spilled under your watch!"
"Okay," Sora said, his tone cooling for the first time. The chamber stilled.
"You are the only one capable of doing such a thing. Your reishi manipulation has proven time and time again that you are a viable threat."
"Oh... so you just need an excuse. You could've just said that and we could've avoided this whole shitshow," Sora sighed a bit.
Then yawned, before looking at them.
"So, let us end this farce. I have a test in like two hours," he said, looking at his non-existent watch. He had shit to do.
"You will not go, Quincy."
"Hop off my dick. Jeez, like come on—out here bouncing on that shit, let it breathe," Sora said dryly. Truly, he didn't want to be here.
A/N...So, there was a light vote on the discord for 3 chapter to be posted yesterday, but the goal wasn't meant, so, only reason you guys are not at chapter 190 right now, is entirely their fault, not mine, I did nothing wrong.
S/N Wow...blaming the reader, that crazy work. That could never me.
A/N You want to plow Rukia or not, cause due to them, that shit wont happen today.
S/N....HOw dare yall, I trusted you all, and I not I get no buns because of you all, dam.
A/N But didn-
S/N Shut up.