Bleach Cfyow Read Online – CHAPTER FIVE – Part 1
SOUL SOCIETY, ARISTOCRATIC DISTRICT
“NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I COME HERE, I never get used to walking around the aristocratic district.”
Mansions, high-class restaurants, and exclusive establishments lined the roads leading into the eastern sixth ward, the aristocratic district. Hisagi sighed slightly as he headed toward the central block where the general populace couldn’t enter without an invitation or formal permission.
“You’ve been here before?” Hanataro asked Hisagi mid-sigh.
“Omaeda invited me and Abarai out to eat and stuff. I couldn’t afford to eat a the restaurants here on my own with my salary.”
“N-not even with an assistant captain’s salary…Is it really that ridiculous…?” “Yeah…well, I use most of my paycheck to get gasoline and guitar stuff from
the world of the living so… When it comes to money, I’m a little…” Hisagi answered a bit awkwardly.
He had ordered his motorcycle and guitar from the world of the living, along with the amp and electrical generator and the fuel to run everything. Since he had needed them all to be converted into reishi, he had racked up quite the reishi processing tab at the Urahara Shoten. As a result, even though he was an assistant captain, most of his salary disappeared to pay off his loans at Urahara Shoten. But he didn’t intend to give up either of his hobbies, motorcycle or guitar.
“Omaeda’s an assistant captain like me, but he’s supposedly got his own jewel mine. Seriously, ‘when it rains it pours’ really applies to money.” Hisagi
suddenly stopped and turned toward a dazzling structure that stood out from the rest of the buildings.
“Is something the matter, Hisagi?”
“No, but I think that might be the Tsunayashiro estate.” He was in front of an extravagant estate with an expansive roof that reached higher than the surrounding structures. With few exceptions, the Soul Society wasn’t inclined toward building vertically and looked more like Japan in the Heian era than the high-rises of the current world of the living.
That aesthetic applied to the aristocratic district as well, but the design of this estate made it seem as though it were looking down at the other nobles’ mansions. It was as if the estate were asserting that the Tsunayashiro were the rulers of the neighborhood, with utter disregard for the Sixth Company and the Kuchiki family who served as the district’s wardens.
“Oh, that’s the residence of the head of the Four Great Noble Clans. It’s directly opposite the Kuchiki manor, isn’t it.”
“Hmm.” Hisagi thought that eventually he would have to visit the estate to cover it, but he also thought that it was unlikely an outsider like him would be let in.
At least there wasn’t the slightest chance the Tsunayashiro would invite him over casually, unlike the Omaeda. The Tokinada estate exuded an atmosphere of rigidity even less welcoming than the Kuchiki. Hisagi stared at the estate as they approached until Hanataro interrupted as though he had just noticed something. “Oh, I can see it now. That’s Shino-Seyakuin. I haven’t been here since we
celebrated my brother taking office… Isn’t it even more extravagant than the First Company barracks…?”
While Hisagi did get that that impression, it also gave off another vibe. “It’s kind of like… The atmosphere is similar, even though it looks completely different on the outside.”
“Huh…? W-what are you talking about?” Hanataro broke into a cold sweat, as though Hisagi’s serious expression had intimidated him.
Hisagi replied with little confidence, as though he himself wasn’t convinced. “It’s like the Twelfth Company’s Department of Research and Development.”
≡
TWELFTH COMPANY,
DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
“Nominate the most important establishment in the Seireitei.” Many of the aristocrats and members of the general population would offer up places relevant to the Central 46 or government institutions in answer to this prompt, but most active Soul Reapers would give the following three options:
- The First Company barracks. The headquarters of the Thirteen Court Guard Companies and the fortification that guarded the central, deepest underground prison, Mugen.
- The Fourth Company relief station where most of the injured were brought for treatment. Although the Fourth Company had been made light of in the past because they were medical specialists, after they saved so many Soul Reaper lives during the battle with the Quincies, few still saw them as unimportant.
- The Department of Research and Development operated by Twelfth Company.
Ninety percent of the high-caliber reishi technology in the present-day Seireitei had been created by the Department of Research and Development. Its founding director, Kisuke Urahara, and second director, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, were indivisible from the Soul Society’s history.
But naturally, the director wasn’t the only figure that worked in the department. Many of the researchers, at the director’s occasional instructions, Soul Reaper requests, or even occassionally for their own amusement, used their acumen to maintain the cutting edge that was continually developing their civilization. They were the aspirational stronghold that swiftly solved all of the Soul Society’s varied and impossible demands. They were the Department of Research and Development!
And today, another new unreasonable demand stood in their way.
“Hngh! I’m hungry. I’m hungry, hungry, hungry! Nikooo, I want a snack!
Share yours with me! I want a castella cake! One with tons of sugar on top!” The self-proclaimed Ninth Company super assistant captain Mashiro Kuna was flailing her limbs like a child on the floor of the Department of Research and Development.
Niko Kuna, one of the bespectacled female engineers, spoke to Mashiro exactly as though she were admonishing a child. “You already had a snack yesterday, sis.”
“Nu-uh, nu-uh, nu-uh! I get to have a snack every day! And I get New Year’s
money every year!”
“No! If you get New Year’s money this year, you don’t get any next year!” A man sporting a horn on his forehead seemed exasperated as Niko scolded
Mashiro, who was not only still flailing her arms but had also started to roll around on the floor in a tantrum. The one so annoyed was the Department of Research and Development’s assistant director, Akon. He muttered to himself, “Well…you could give out New Year’s money every year.”
“Actually, why would the younger sister give her older sister New Year’s money after all, especially at their age?” Hiyosu, a man next to Akon who seemed to be the fusion of a large catfish and a temple bell, sighed as though he were fed up after muttering his question.
Hiyosu continued, “Just when I thought little Miss Kusajishi wouldn’t be coming anymore, you seem to have traded places with her.”
Rin Tsubokura, a member of the department, continued to type away on the observation equipment as he listened in. He groaned and sighed loudly. “Is this place cursed?”
Rin stretched his hand into seemingly empty space and, from a small hole that opened for him, stealthily pulled out a pastry.
“Have you finally started hiding snacks in the pseudosubspace?”
“When all’s said and done, she is a member of this department.” Akon’s reply to Hiyosu seemed to hold deep emotion.
But when he looked at Mashiro, still causing a ruckus on the floor, seemed to recall something. “The actual Ninth Company assistant captain sent an interview request to the captain again. He got rejected pretty quick.”
“Why don’t you talk to him, as the assistant captain?” “It’s not like I’d be able to answer his questions.”
“Huh? We’ve got some kind of weird activity here!” Rin pointed at the abnormality on the monitor as though to interrupt Akon.
Akon leaned in and observed the activity for a while. His eyebrows knit slightly as he told Rin, “Yeah, you can ignore that one.”
“We can? But it looks like strange reishi, and it’s heading straight for the aristocratic district without using a gate…”
“It’s fine. That reishi pattern has been cleared. The Four Great Noble Clans sent us a direct noninterference notification. So the alarm won’t sound either. Of course, the captain is probably monitoring it himself, since he never really complies with noninterference notifications.”
Although he had answered indifferently, Akon looked at the numbers from the
reishi patterns and furrowed his brow. “The spiritual pressure looks like it’s gone down a lot compared to what we observed in the aristocratic district a few hours ago… I wonder what happened?”
≡
SHINO-SEYAKUIN WAITING ROOM
“This is amazing! The furniture and everything look exactly like an aristocrat’s estate. Is this really a waiting room for sick people?” Hisagi and Hanataro were sitting in the Seyakuin’s waiting room.
Seinosuke Yamada was presently out but was expected to return shortly, so they were waiting. The clinic was taking a day off from general examinations, and they were accepting anything except emergencies. And when Hanataro had said his name at the front desk, they had been led politely to the waiting room.
There was a proper visitor’s room, but Hisagi felt nervous about sitting in a room meant for the great noble clans, so he had asked to stay in the waiting room.
“I-I think that this is the bare minimum they could get away with. My brother never really liked wasteful decoration, so I think that the aristocrats must have requested it.”
“So they won’t even wait for examinations unless the room’s extravagant.
Must be hard, dealing with the nobility’s vanity.” “But Captain Kuchiki doesn’t decorate much.”
“People say that, but he wears that scarf around his neck, doesn’t he?
Apparently you could build about ten mansions with what that thing’s worth.” Hanataro made a surprised sound, though his eyes remained half shuttered.
“T-ten of them!?”
“I didn’t know at first either. But when I was doing a feature on old, well- known shops, I happened to hear about it… Did you know one of those hair ornaments could buy several motorcycles…hm?” Hisagi had been on a roll lamenting the financial disparity between him and the nobles, but he abruptly raised his head and turned his eyes to the Seyakuin courtyard outside the waiting room.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Hisagi?” Hanataro tilted his head questioningly. Hisagi narrowed his eyes and answered, “I just felt some strange spiritual
pressure…”
The courtyard he had been glaring at while he spoke suddenly opened up like the maw of a beast. “Wha…?!”
It wasn’t one of the gates the Soul Reapers used. A crevice like a Hollow’s garganta opened, and a shape appeared from within it.
A Hollow attack!? But we’re inside the shakonmaku soul shield membrane!? Hisagi stood up in shock, but he realized he didn’t currently have his zanpaku-to at his hip.
Now that the wartime exceptions were no longer in effect, there were several places where wearing a sword was prohibited even to an assistant captain, and inside of Seyakuin was one of them.
Hisagi was planning to run to the front desk and retrieve his zanpaku-to, but he stopped in his tracks when he recognized the identity of the shape that stepped from the schism.
It was a child in clothing similar to a shihakusho, wounds splashed all over their body.
“Th-this is terrible! We need to help quickly…!” Hanataro ran into the courtyard, still wearing his indoor sandals. The arrival was young and androgynous with a gashed shoulder, several holes bored into their abdomen, and one arm twisted in entirely the wrong direction.
The child wasn’t so much on the verge of death as on the verge of being mistaken for an actual corpse had they not been standing and walking. On seeing their state, Hanataro immediately held his hands over the child’s wounds and used recovery kido—kaido.
“…Ugh.”
The child dropped to their knees and their face contorted in pain.
“It’ll be fine. Your wounds will close up soon! Can you hear me?” Hanataro, normally fainthearted, was like an entirely different person as he resolutely tried to encourage the child, his voice echoing through the courtyard.
The child shook their head sadly as tears welled up in their eyes. “You can’t help me. I can’t live anymore…”
“That’s not—“
“I-I wasn’t able to fulfill Lord Tokinada’s commands… Th-there’s no value to my life anymore. Please let me die…!”
“You’re just confused. It’ll be okay! Please hold yourself together!” Hanataro cried desperately as he continued to use kaido. Behind him, Hisagi had frozen.
What…did they just say…? Did they just say “Lord Tokinada”?
While Hisagi was caught up in bewilderment at hearing the name the child had uttered, Hanataro was flustered for a different reason. This spiritual pressure is continuously changing! I can’t close these wounds with just my kaido!
Judging that the situation would become dire if nothing more was done, Hanataro yelled, “Hisagi! Please call the Seyakuin staff immediately! We need to carry the child to an emergency treatment room!”
“O-okay!” Hanataro’s voice brought Hisagi back to reality, but as he turned he realized a man was already standing right there.
“…?! Do you work here?! This child is wounded—”
Before Hisagi could finish speaking, the man walked over to the calm, bloody child and placed hands on the wounds alongside Hanataro’s.
“You’ve become better at kaido. But this patient appears to be unique.
Someone at your level still can’t heal this one.” “Huh?”
Hanataro looked at the person who had appeared next to him and opened his eyes wide as he exclaimed. “S-Seinosuke!”
“What?!”
Hisagi opened his eyes wide from surprise too. The man with the sharp eyes and imperturbable demeanor didn’t match Hisagi’s image of Hanataro at all. The man—Seinosuke—didn’t pay their surprise any mind as he skillfully transformed the nature of his kaido spiritual pressure and continued with the treatment.
The bleeding stopped and the wounds began to close before their eyes. Hisagi held his breath as he watched. No stranger to being treated, Hisagi realized that this man’s kaido level was far beyond that of a normal Fourth Company member. He’s not even like Hanataro… Maybe he’s better than Unohana?
Although he wasn’t anywhere near the level of Orihime’s rejection of phenomenon, Hisagi was astounded by the rare kaido skills of Shino-Seyakuin’s top practitioner.
Only the child being treated seemed displeased about receiving kaido. “Oh, Mr. Yamada. I’m done for. Please don’t heal me…!”
“Not a chance. Forcing life on patients who want to die is my hobby. I won’t let you die so easily, so just get used to it. Prepare yourself for the embarrassment of having lived.”
“I can’t show my face to Lord Tokinada! Just let me rot here like this!”
“No. You’re one of Tokinada Tsunayashiro’s possessions, aren’t you? I don’t suppose that Tokinada Tsunayashiro will forgive you if you go about dying on
your own.” “Uh!”
Seinosuke chuckled at his words. The child on the other hand groaned and grew wide-eyed.
Hisagi and Hanataro were taken aback by the exchange, but the child, now healed, stood up and slowly started walking. “Thank you very much, Mr.
Yamada. I was just about to do something unbelievably disloyal to Lord Tokinada.”
The child’s despondency made Hisagi realize that they had been in torment earlier not because of the pain from their wounds but because they had been anguished at not being able to show devotion to Tokinada. Did they even feel the pain in the first place?
While Hisagi’s off feelings about the situation were causing him to hesitate over what to say, Seinosuke Yamada spoke up. “I’ve patched you up for the time being, but you require full medical treatment. I apologize, since you came to me, but may I have one more day, Assistant Captain Shuhei Hisagi?”
“Uh…y-yeah…”
Seinosuke must have received Hisagi’s message from the front desk. Hisagi knew that the interview wouldn’t be happening yet as soon as Seinosuke referred to him by name, but there was something he couldn’t help being bugged by. He asked in a firm tone, “Hey, how’d the kid get hurt so bad? What kind of relationship have they he got with Tokinada Tsunayashiro!?”
The child, who had started to walk as though the injuries had never existed, replied instead of Seinosuke. “Are you asking about me? I’m Lord Tokinada’s servant!”
“His servant? But you…”
Hisagi looked at Seinosuke hesitantly. The man had a nasty smile on his face as he said, “Sorry, but as a doctor, I can’t divulge a patient’s personal affairs.”
“Wait a second, there’s a ton of things I want to ask officially as the assistant captain of the Ninth Company, so…”
There were multiple things he couldn’t ignore as a Soul Reaper of the Thirteen Court Guard Companies, such as a gravely injured child coming out of something that resembled a garganta.
Furthermore, it didn’t look like this was a situation where a Soul Reaper had matured into a body that still had the appearance of a child’s, as with Hitsugaya. This person looked as though they were actually a kid.
If Hisagi had been the type of guy who could turn a blind eye to a child being
hurt, regardless of whether or not that child was involved with the Four Great Nobel Clans, eh wouldn’t have been qualified to be an assistant captain.
He reached toward Seinosuke’s shoulder to stop the man and—
Hisagi’s world turned upside down. By the time that registered, he was looking up at the Soul Society’s sky.
“Huh?!”
Somehow, the child had grabbed his hand and gently thrown him down.
Hisagi’s eyes went wide with comprehension.
The child’s voice reverberated above him. “Oh, s-sorry! I thought Mr.
Yamada was in danger…” “…”
“But if this showed you that I, Hikone Ubuginu, have the power to fight for Lord Tokinada, then I’m happy! Yes!” The child prattled on without indicating if they were even reading the room.
Hisagi’s thoughts were seized by deep confusion. Hey, wait a sec… What did that kid just do to me?
He was proud of how experienced he was with surprise attacks, even among Soul Reapers. But the flow of reishi he felt from the Soul Reaper who had just called themself Hikone was different from all the Hollows, Soul Reapers, or even Quincies he had ever fought.
This kid is different from anything I’ve ever come up against. This feeling… It kind of reminds me of that zanpaku-to when my spiritual power was being manipulated by Ayasegawa…
Hisagi fully surrendered to the feeling of his spiritual power, his physical strength, his emotional force, and all other forms of potency in his body being dispersed, though the child had only thrown him once and the attack hadn’t hurt in the least. Hisagi looked at the sky in a daze.
Seinosuke Yamada simply shook his head and smiled as he watched him. “This is the domain of the aristocracy. Without the wartime exception in place, the logic of the Thirteen Court Guard Companies doesn’t apply. You should assume common practices that are normally praised as good sense won’t be allowed here.”
Seinosuke then turned back to Hanataro. “I’ll say it again, Hanataro. You should take a break from the companies for a while.”
With a smile of self-derision on his face, Seinosuke shrugged and continued. “If you don’t want to become more involved in these things than you already are, that is.”
Seinosuke and the child turned as if to leave. Hisagi got up and asked, “Hey! I don’t understand what’s going on here at all, but is Tokinada really so valuable that you’d let him use you until you get hurt like that?”
The child turned back to him and responded, sporting a smile that gave no indication whatsoever that they had just been on the verge of death. “Yes! Lord Tokinada is a wonderful person! A life like mine can’t even compare in value to his!”
The child continued to speak as Hisagi hesitated over his response. “And Lord Tokinada said that he’d even make someone like me into the king! I have to spend the rest of my life repaying him for that with my gratitude!”
“Into the king…?”
Seinosuke smiled wryly at Hisagi’s and Hanataro’s dubious faces and asked the child, “Now did Tokinada Tsunayashiro say you could tell others about that?”
The child tilted their head like a small pet, face paling rapidly. “…?! Oh, ohhh!
I didn’t say anything! Please forget about that! Thank you for your kindness…uhh…sorry, your name was…?”
“R-right. I’m Shuhei Hisagi. He’s Yamada—Hanataro Yamada.”
“I see! Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Hisagi and Mr. Hanataro! Please somehow forget about me! But I won’t forget your kindness! When I become king someday, I’ll make sure to repay you!”
Still with that wry smile, Seinosuke led the child back toward the treatment room. Even though the child’s blood staining the courtyard was evidence that the events that just transpired were real, Hisagi doubted his senses and wasn’t sure if it had all been a dream.
“I don’t get what’s going on… What’s happening…?”Hanataro, on the other hand, was in a daze as he talked to himself. “My brother’s first aid is amazing, but… I can’t believe anyone with wounds like that could walk immediately…” Hisagi was lost in thought about something next to him as Hanataro recalled the faces of those he had healed in the past and inadvertently said their names.
“That was almost like Captain Zaraki or Ichigo…”
≡
Seinosuke had Hikone lie down on the bed in the emergency treatment room. Hikone’s nerves were a wreck, to the point that the child’s earlier smile seemed to have been nothing more than an illusion.
Seinosuke aimlessly prayed and muttered as Hikone lay there, unconscious. “Good grief, looks like Hikone was terribly hurt by the Hollows, but I suppose this was within the calculations… Well, regardless, I won’t let Hikone die.”
In order to hide his true feelings, Seinosuke broke into a smile as he used his extraordinary kaido.
“Even if this child’s life has not a single hope.”
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