Daily life in Soul Society rarely changes for any one person.
Shuuichi was no exception.
His return stirred some waves in the 4th Division and among those who knew him, but otherwise everything moved on as usual.
Well—except for the 11th Division.
A certain captain who'd been itching for Shuuichi for a long time heard he'd regained his freedom and, without a word, dragged him from his home in West Rukongai's 2nd District to the 11th Division barracks, then publicly announced new appointments.
Shuuichi would serve as the 11th Division's fukutaichō. As for the former fukutaichō, Yachiru Kusajishi, she somehow kneaded out a comfy "captain's assistant" post for herself.
Hard to say whether Ise Nanao's future position owed anything to Yachiru's…innovation.
Fine. He'd just slipped one Kenpachi's grip only to fall into another's pocket.
And in Hell, he'd trained under a Kenpachi as well.
Maybe in a past life he'd been fated to cross paths with the title "Kenpachi."
For Shuuichi's looming plan, being the 11th's fukutaichō actually helped.
It would make his "reckless" deployment later that much easier to justify.
After all, that was the 11th's proud tradition. If the vice-captain caught the bug, who could blame him?
So Shuuichi's days shifted from teaching medics to sort herbs…to simple, honest cutting.
Cut captains, cut seated officers, cut rank-and-file.
Under Kenpachi's lead, the entire 11th ran on a single-brain-cell operating system.
After work each day, Shuuichi stopped by to see Sayako of the Kabuma clan, told her stories, and used Kaidō (Healing Way) now and then to see if he could nudge her recovery along.
Sometimes he dropped in to correct Kisaragi Shūsuke's zan-ken-sō-ki (Sword-Fist-Flash-Kidō) training. Back home, he played drinking buddy to Rangiku, listening to her unload the day's parade of oddities.
A full month passed like that.
At last, on a day when Sōsuke—teaching at Shin'ō Academy—led students to the World of the Living for field training…
…the 10th Division Captain and the 4th Division's Retsu were dispatched to Hueco Mundo to respond to an uprising…
…and the 13th Division's Jūshirō was tied up in the World of the Living handling a squad blunder…
…the calm of Soul Society broke under a spate of shinigami Hollowfication incidents, witnessed firsthand by Rukongai civilians.
"Hollowfication—again?"
Kenpachi had just come back from a captains' meeting at the 1st Division barracks when Shuuichi put on a show of surprise.
"Yeah. North, south, east, west—shinigami Hollowfying in every sector. The old man ordered all fukutaichō and above to investigate. Well? Shuuichi, want to come take a look with me?"
Kenpachi tossed out the invitation.
"Of course, Kenpachi-taichō." Shuuichi eyed him, thoughtful. "But is it just the two of us?"
"'Course not. 9th's captain Kensei, 3rd's captain Rōjūrō, and 5th's captain Shinji—we four take one direction each. The rest stay and hold Seireitei. Which fukutaichō they bring, I dunno."
Kenpachi explained.
Hearing that, Shuuichi felt even more certain.
"Then let's move now!"
Impatient, he urged Kenpachi toward the door.
With their shunpo (Flash Step), the two cleared Seireitei's north gate in no time and reached North Rukongai District 51.
Shuuichi didn't stop until he found an empty stretch.
"Why stop? The Hollowfied shinigami up north was seen in District 62."
Kenpachi sounded puzzled.
Shuuichi turned, reiatsu snapping in a sharp flare.
"I don't know how you did it and I don't know who you are—but you aren't Kenpachi, are you?"
"Kenpachi" chuckled. "How'd you notice?"
"Yachiru never leaves Kenpachi's shoulder—unless he's brawling with the squad or sleeping in the 11th. She even went to the captains' meeting with him. Your shoulder has no Yachiru."
Shuuichi's gaze stayed cold.
He knew perfectly well who this "Kenpachi" was—either Kaname or Gin. Odds favored Gin.
Sōsuke loved a good self-destruction drama.
"Maybe another captain borrowed her help. She was fukutaichō," "Kenpachi" said with a nasty grin.
"If it were Kenpachi, he wouldn't say that much," Shuuichi answered. "He'd ask whether I'm coming. If yes, I follow; if no, I wait at the 11th. All this extra talk? Not his style."
Not Shuuichi's either. Normally he'd have struck already.
But today he had to line his timing between the other captains' defeats and Kisuke's arrival.
Too early, and he might not last until Kisuke showed. Too late, and if Kisuke arrived before he Hollowfied—awkward.
So a little stall-for-time chatter was the simplest tool.
And of course he'd be last on Kisuke's list.
Thanks to Sōsuke's little trick, no one would realize for a while that Shuuichi had followed a fake "Kenpachi" out on support.
"As expected of Shuuichi-dono. Only a handful in Soul Society can match that perception."
With that, the disguise fell away. Kyōka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon) released, revealing silver-haired Gin.
…?
Shuuichi blinked—not at the reveal, but at the timing.
Kyōka Suigetsu, canceled right on cue.
Sōsuke, are you peeking again?
He seethed—silently. Out loud, he leaned into the play.
"Gin?!! Why you?!"
His chest rose and fell, voice ragged with "emotion."
"Because, Shuuichi-dono, you never should've become the 11th's fukutaichō. If you were still the 4th's, we might not have had to meet like this so soon."
Gin's smile was as venomous as ever.
Inside, he apologized to Rangiku and Shuuichi both.
He had his own reasons he could never say.
If that man weren't so strong—so hopelessly strong—Gin would have killed him long ago and fled.
But there were no ifs. The day he felt that sun-bright, endless reiatsu, he knew what it would cost.
That man was a god, not a man.
"Is that so. I don't judge others' choices." Shuuichi's eyes narrowed. "But Gin… do you have the right to stand before me?"
He drew his Zanpakutō—the bandage still coiled around it.
"Shuuichi-dono, you've been gone five years. That's long enough to transform a shinigami. And now, you can't release your Zanpakutō."
Gin drew his own blade.
He didn't want to kill Shuuichi this way. But he had no choice.
"If you ever learn the truth, I won't beg forgiveness, Rangiku."
Rangiku's face, never once forgotten, hovered over Shuuichi's outline.
He knew how tangled her feelings for Shuuichi were: teacher, father, friend.
Because of Shuuichi, she had survived.
He was the most complicated—and irreplaceable—person in her life.
And that man would die by his hand today.
"Utsuse—Shinsō! (Shoot to kill—Divine Spear!)"
Gin's blade flashed and shot long in an instant.
Seeing him finally move, Shuuichi moved in the same breath. No more time to stall.
"Nadegiri (Clean Sweep)!"
Reiatsu ripped across the ground. The earth shuddered at their first clash.
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