At this point in history, the everyday entertainment of London's citizens was rather limited—so any scrap of news could spread through the city at astonishing speed.
The sinking of a cruise ship more than satisfied the Londoners' ever-present curiosity.
Higashino Shuuichi followed behind Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others as they moved upstream from the docks, pushing against the flow of enthusiastic London citizens who had rushed to the banks of the Thames to watch the commotion. Eventually, they arrived at a small bakery.
"Satomi's Bakery…"
Higashino Shuuichi looked up at the signboard above the shop. Well, it was pretty obvious who this store belonged to.
They headed into the back room. Kisaragi Shūsuke flipped a switch, and the tungsten filament inside the lamp gradually heated under the current until a soft, pale yellow glow lit up the entire room.
"Shuuichi-sama, I'm really, truly sorry… We honestly don't know much about that so-called First Division Captain, Sakahone Saizō…"
On the way there, Kisaragi Shūsuke had already heard from Higashino Shuuichi why he had gone to so much trouble to make contact this time. Now, standing in the lamplight, he bowed his head apologetically.
Silence—that was Higashino Shuuichi's only response for the moment.
He hadn't held out much hope for Shūsuke to begin with. He'd realized long ago that this kid simply wasn't cut out for intricate schemes and mind games. If Shūsuke had even half of Gin Ichimaru's level in that area, he wouldn't have been stuck spinning his wheels here for more than ten years.
But even so… Shuuichi himself had been stuck in East Administration and, just from fragments of information, had already managed to piece together parts of the truth. For Kisaragi Shūsuke—who had been operating on the ground in West Administration for years—to have no leads at all… that nearly made Higashino Shuuichi lose his composure.
Honestly, he really wanted to say:
"From now on, don't tell people you used to run with me. It's embarrassing."
Fortunately, he held himself back.
"It's fine if you don't know. What about Shihōin Yoruichi? And Urahara Kisuke? Don't they know anything?
If I remember correctly, back then Urahara Kisuke arranged for Shihōin Yoruichi to take a small unit and track down the source of those armored warriors we ran into, didn't he?
And those armored warriors, I can say with certainty, are tied to that Sakahone Saizō who tried—and failed—to launch an assault on Soul Society. They're from the same faction… or maybe even the same mastermind."
Having heard the brief overview from Kabuma Sayako about what she and the others had been doing all this time, and the efforts they'd made, Higashino Shuuichi finally voiced his doubts.
It was precisely because of that original arrangement that, before coming here, he'd had confidence in Kisaragi Shūsuke.
After all, Urahara Kisuke and Shihōin Yoruichi's investigative abilities could leave Shūsuke in the dust several city blocks over.
Yet reality had completely overturned his expectations.
From Kisaragi Shūsuke, he learned that back then Shihōin Yoruichi's group had only managed to find a single manufacturing plant on the outskirts of London. They had never uncovered the true controller behind it all.
As for Urahara Kisuke—because he was wanted by East Administration, West Administration didn't exactly welcome him either. For all these years, he'd never had a peaceful, open meeting with that particular West Administration Captain.
But all of this was only the self-reported version of events that Higashino Shuuichi had heard through Kisaragi Shūsuke.
Frankly, whether it was Shihōin Yoruichi or Urahara Kisuke, Higashino didn't believe either of their explanations.
Of course, he couldn't show that in front of Sayako and Shūsuke.
Otherwise, that sort of distrust toward allies who were at least publicly still on his side would only make Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others feel personally slighted as well.
"So, setting them aside for now—about this Count Locke Martin, Shūsuke, are you confident in him?"
Higashino Shuuichi had no desire to waste more words on Yoruichi and Urahara. Sooner or later he'd seek them out himself. When that happened, he could question—or test—them face to face. There was no need to interrogate Shūsuke here.
Even if he got an answer from Shūsuke, he'd still have to verify it later.
So he brought the topic back to Shūsuke and the others themselves.
From Shuuichi's perspective, whatever Urahara's situation was now, and however many clues Shūsuke had actually dug up about the Soul Society Asauchi theft case, his own purpose this trip was to bring Shūsuke and the others back from West Administration to East Administration—and fold them into his Katana-gari-shū (Blade-Hunting Corps).
"I'm sure of it. Locke Martin has to be the mastermind behind the Asauchi theft case back then! I found an unused Asauchi in his residence, and a set of operational orders personally signed by Locke Martin himself. The content of those orders was to instruct his embedded agent in Soul Society to secretly steal a batch of Asauchi and smuggle them out…"
The moment Higashino Shuuichi mentioned Locke Martin again, Kisaragi Shūsuke's eyes lit up.
After such a long period of careful maneuvering, his covert investigation into Count Locke Martin had finally reached the point where the clouds were parting and the moon was breaking through.
Everything was on the verge of coming to light.
In fact, Shūsuke felt that the evidence he currently held was already enough for Eighth Division Captain Kyōraku Shunsui back in Soul Society to accept that Locke Martin was the man behind it all.
Of course, the idea that a mere human in a distant land under West Administration could orchestrate an operation targeting Soul Society—and almost walk away without a scratch—would still be hard for many to believe.
Originally, Shūsuke had intended to seize Locke Martin directly at his estate today and drag him back to East Administration. But just before he took action, he hesitated and decided to bring the evidence back and discuss it with Kabuma Sayako first.
He never realized that what he saw as a moment of triumph was, from another angle, something else entirely.
Through Higashino Shuuichi's eyes, the scene looked very different:
He could practically see Locke Martin lurking somewhere in the shadows of that estate, body swallowed by darkness, only those snake-like eyes gleaming as they fixed on Shūsuke's back.
It made him shiver just imagining it.
The reason he thought this way was because he knew that behind the Asauchi theft case lay a tangled web of relationships—people and secrets beyond counting. There was no way it could be as simple as Kisaragi Shūsuke believed.
And yet, Shūsuke had seen "a truth" with his own eyes—enough to explain everything, or so it seemed.
If that was the case, there was only one explanation:
From the very beginning, this was a trap Locke Martin had carefully set for Kisaragi Shūsuke.
As for Count Locke Martin's ultimate goal?
Higashino Shuuichi had no idea.
Maybe he just wanted to spice up his life a bit.
After all, Londoners of this era were indeed starved for entertainment. A single form of amusement like opera really wasn't enough to satisfy people's needs.
But just from Locke Martin's taste in women—which almost seemed tailored specifically around Matsumoto Rangiku—Higashino could tell that the Count had set his sights on Shūsuke's group from the start.
Thinking about that, Higashino Shuuichi could only feel exasperated.
How had Shūsuke and the others ever thought it was just "good luck" that Rangiku happened to match Locke Martin's preferences so perfectly?
If he'd been there back then, Locke Martin would've gone straight onto his high-risk list. There was no way he would have let them drag things out, entangled with this Count for nearly three years.
Not to mention, the appearance of Sakahone Saizō, plus the young Yamamoto and the younger version of himself back then, already proved that whoever was orchestrating that incident possessed extraordinary power—just the Fullbringers involved would've been enough to bury Shūsuke.
"I get the picture. From here on out, I'll take over everything related to Locke Martin.
Shūsuke, you should start getting ready to bring Sayako and Rangiku back to East Administration."
Thankfully, he'd arrived in time. With his involvement, he could at least stop the bleeding before things got any worse.
"But Shuuichi-sama, I think I can still—"
Faced with Higashino Shuuichi's sudden, forceful declaration, Kisaragi Shūsuke could feel it: Shuuichi must have noticed something off in their earlier conversation, some tiny detail he himself had missed.
He wasn't foolish enough to press for those details, nor did he feel that Shuuichi was "stealing his credit." After all, everything he'd done was purely to help Shuuichi-sama return to Soul Society. He'd never planned to use this in front of Kyōraku Shunsui as some kind of personal achievement.
Shūsuke just wanted to stay and help Higashino Shuuichi.
In his mind, with his current strength, he should at least be qualified to stand by Shuuichi's side and lend a hand.
In principle, an extra pair of hands was a good thing.
But from Higashino Shuuichi's perspective, the situation wasn't so simple.
In his eyes, if Locke Martin had chosen to act even after learning Kisaragi Shūsuke and the others' true identities—baiting them for nearly three years by playing the role of prey while actually being the hunter—then let Shūsuke finally "discover" evidence of his crimes…
There was no way Locke Martin didn't know exactly how Shūsuke would react upon finding that evidence.
The only plausible reason he would show his hand like that was because he already had a way to deal with Shūsuke—he just needed Shūsuke to make his move.
Under that assumption, there was no universe in which Higashino Shuuichi would let Kisaragi Shūsuke—or Matsumoto Rangiku, Kabuma Sayako, or Nagasawa Satomi—get involved in this any further.
This was something he had to handle personally.
As for whether this Quincy body was up to the task…
What a joke. Kabuno Takuya wasn't here to fight them.
He was here to join them.
The world wasn't just about fighting and killing. It was also about relationships, favors, and delicate social dances.
"Open the door. Let's be friends."
A disposable, completely unconnected avatar—that was exactly what this body was designed to be.
Just as Higashino Shuuichi was about to ask Shūsuke for more specific details on Count Locke Martin, he sensed the wards he'd placed around his body being triggered.
Leaving Kabuno Takuya with a set of instructions, Higashino Shuuichi hurriedly pulled his consciousness back into his Shinigami body.
In Soul Society, the sky was pale with the first hint of dawn.
The bespectacled man standing outside wore a white haori spotted with beads of morning dew.
"Aizen-dono? What brings you here?"
Higashino Shuuichi asked, puzzled.
This was Seireitei. Because of Gin Ichimaru, Aizen had to pay a much higher price to secretly meet with Higashino Shuuichi here than he would with anyone else.
He could use Kyōka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon) freely with others. But when it came to Shuuichi, that was off the table. He needed solid, concrete pretexts and methods.
Otherwise, unaffected by Kyōka Suigetsu's illusions, Gin Ichimaru could very well notice something about Shuuichi.
By now, with his current strength and status, Higashino Shuuichi didn't really care about that anymore. He knew that even if Gin found out, the man would simply swallow the truth along with his broken teeth and slink away like a viper, biding his time for the perfect moment to strike.
And a snake whose nature and habits you fully understood was no real threat at all.
But Aizen cared.
His twisted sense of amusement made him eager to see Gin Ichimaru's face on the day Shuuichi openly stood by his side. Aizen was certain that expression would be a masterpiece worth savoring.
That sort of moment needed ceremony and surprise.
If Gin discovered it on his own beforehand, it would ruin the fun—and that, Aizen could never accept.
"I've just come back from reading in the Great Spirit Book Corridor, and I had some thoughts. I felt I needed someone to talk to, so I came here."
Aizen sat gently across from Higashino Shuuichi.
This house had been built entirely according to Shuuichi's preferences; he'd personally chosen the furnishings and layout. As a result, the room wasn't arranged with traditional tatami seating but with a more modern setup: chairs and a table.
At first, Aizen clearly found it unusual. After a short time, though, he began to appreciate how comfortable this style really was.
"If I recall correctly, Aizen-dono, aside from when the Kasumiooji family was still around, you used to go to the Great Spirit Book Corridor quite often. But after they fell, you've hardly gone at all. What made you suddenly decide to visit it again?"
Higashino Shuuichi picked up the teapot and poured Aizen a cup of Longjing (Dragon Well) tea he'd brought back from the World of the Living.
He wasn't surprised by Aizen's ability to access the Great Spirit Book Corridor. With Shinigami lifespans, so long as you didn't court death or stumble into disaster, living several hundred or even a thousand years was trivial. A mere few decades was too short for the Tsunayashiro family's appointed administrator to be replaced.
And thanks to Shuuichi's help, that Tsunayashiro family member had long since fallen under Kyōka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon). For Aizen, the Great Spirit Book Corridor might as well have been his private garden—he could come and go as he pleased.
"It's simply that, in the past, I never paid much attention to Hell.
But this latest incident, plus your performance back then, made me realize that Hell might be quite an interesting place."
Aizen took a small sip of the Longjing, frowned ever so slightly, then set the cup down without a word.
Hearing that, Higashino Shuuichi straightened in his chair and met Aizen's gaze.
Why did he get the feeling that, in this lifetime, after all his meddling and "guidance," Aizen's ambitions had grown even larger than in the original timeline?
"So, Aizen-dono… the Soul King, and that not-yet-awakened Quincy King—are they no longer enough to satisfy your appetite?"
Aizen's lips curled faintly.
"Shuuichi… desire has never had a limit. That has never been a bad thing.
It's because there is desire that evolution happens. Only then can the world progress.
Those who have no desires, who cling to the status quo—such people deserve to be swept aside by the world."
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