It didn't take long for Iba Tetsuzaemon to hurry back to the Seventh Division with Kuchiki Kōga in tow.
Kōga was practically glowing with happiness.
His teacher was about to become Captain-Commander!
And as Kazuma's first — and only — student, surely his own status would rise along with him.
The moment Kōga stepped into the room, however, he spotted Captain Kyōraku sitting there.
His heart immediately sank.
'Wait. Why is Captain Kyōraku already here?'
A troubling thought crossed his mind.
Could it be that, in his teacher's heart, Kyōraku Shunsui was actually more important than his one and only direct student?
Kōga's expression changed slightly, though he quickly composed himself and bowed respectfully.
"Sensei, did you call me here because you've finally decided to accept the position of Captain-Commander?"
"...?"
Kazuma stared at him.
It was as though a dozen question marks had suddenly appeared over his head.
Fine. Shunsui and the others didn't understand his true feelings.
But Kōga?
His own student?
The student he'd always treated practically like a son?
How the hell had he also managed to conclude that Kazuma wanted the Captain-Commander position?
Where had their profound master-student bond gone?
Shouldn't Kōga have been standing firmly on his side without even needing to ask?
Kazuma felt his blood pressure spike.
He nearly blacked out from sheer anger.
"You brat, are you still half-asleep or something?!"
Kazuma glared at him.
"Captain-Commander? Me? Don't make me laugh!"
He pointed angrily toward the door.
"Haven't you heard all those ridiculous rumors spreading through the Seireitei?"
"Oh, that?"
Kōga's face immediately lit up.
"I did that."
He puffed out his chest proudly.
"How was it, Teacher? Pretty impressive, right?"
Kōga was genuinely delighted with himself.
As far as he was concerned, he'd just rendered a massive service to his teacher.
Surely Kazuma would praise him.
Maybe even look at him with newfound admiration.
So Kōga eagerly moved closer, wearing the most ingratiating smile imaginable as he waited for his reward.
Kazuma's blood pressure shot straight through the ceiling.
His entire body began trembling.
"You treacherous student!"
He pointed a shaking finger at Kōga.
"YOU were the one behind it?!"
Kazuma had spent this entire time assuming Old Man Yama was responsible.
He'd been furious, sure, but Yamamoto was still the Captain-Commander, which made openly beating the old bastard somewhat inconvenient.
But now?
The real culprit was actually Kōga.
His beloved student.
The student he'd personally trained and cared for.
Worse, the bastard wasn't even ashamed.
He'd come here asking for praise!
He genuinely thought this deserved a reward!
Kōga finally noticed Kazuma's increasingly murderous expression.
His heart skipped a beat.
'Oh, shit.'
'This is bad.'
Cold sweat appeared across his forehead.
He suddenly realized he might have catastrophically misunderstood the situation.
His teacher didn't want to become Captain-Commander at all.
In fact, judging by the look on his face, Kazuma seemed to hate the idea with every fiber of his being.
But that was completely different from what Yamamoto had told him!
The Captain-Commander had confidently explained that Kazuma had secretly coveted the position for a long time but was simply too embarrassed to openly ask for it.
Yamamoto himself supposedly wanted to retire, so he'd asked Kōga to quietly build momentum and create public support for Kazuma.
At the time, it had sounded perfectly reasonable.
Now?
Not so much.
'What do I do?'
Kōga began panicking internally.
'How do I get Teacher to calm down?'
His mind spun at full speed as he desperately searched for some way to repair the damage.
Unfortunately, Kazuma had already run out of patience.
His hand shot to the Zanpakutō at his waist.
He pulled it free—
then flipped it around.
Today, he was going to beat this treacherous student to death with the sheath and clean up his own household.
"I'll teach you to spread rumors!"
WHACK!
"I'll teach you to run around talking shit!"
WHACK!
Kazuma's eyes were bloodshot, his expression resembling an enraged lion that had finally found the idiot responsible for ruining its day.
"I'M FUCKED!"
Kōga immediately turned and ran.
He darted left.
Then right.
Then ducked behind a table as Kazuma chased him through the room, swinging the sheathed Zanpakutō like a club.
Within seconds, the place descended into complete chaos.
Tables overturned.
Chairs went flying.
Tea cups crashed to the floor and shattered.
Kazuma chased.
Kōga fled.
It became a full-blown cat-and-mouse pursuit through a room that had never been designed for this kind of nonsense.
Kōga moved like a terrified rabbit, putting everything he had into escaping.
Unfortunately, there was one obvious problem.
He couldn't outrun his teacher.
He barely managed one or two laps around the room before Kazuma caught him.
"Awooooo!"
A miserable howl echoed through the barracks.
Kōga desperately wanted to escape.
He simply couldn't.
No matter how hard he struggled, Kazuma's hand remained clamped around him like an iron vise.
"You treacherous student!"
WHACK!
"You damned treacherous student!"
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
Kazuma's arm moved so quickly that it left blurred afterimages in the air.
Every strike brought another miserable scream and another sharp crack of impact.
His rage had reached its absolute limit.
He'd already thought Rukia was troublesome enough.
Who could have imagined that Kōga — the student he'd always trusted, personally trained, and placed such high expectations on — would stab him in the back too?
Had Kazuma committed some terrible sin in his previous life?
Was that why this life had saddled him with two members of the Kuchiki family specifically designed to torment him?
Or were their fortunes simply incompatible?
Was he destined to spend eternity being screwed over by these people?
"Awooo! Stop hitting me!"
Kōga wailed.
"Sensei! Please! Stop!"
He twisted desperately as strike after strike rained down on him.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he would end up in this position.
This was supposed to be Rukia's role!
Whenever that brat pushed Kazuma too far and got herself beaten, Kōga had always enjoyed standing off to the side, eating up the drama and laughing at her misery.
It had been great entertainment.
Wonderful memories.
But fortune's wheel had finally turned.
Now he was the one getting thrashed.
As the Zanpakutō sheath came down yet again, Kōga could only bitterly remember all those happy occasions when he'd watched Rukia suffer from the safety of the sidelines.
At this point, he wanted nothing more than for the nightmare to end.
He desperately missed being part of the audience.
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