No matter how many undercurrents were surging through Soul Society, no matter how many people were secretly setting their own little schemes in motion, the world itself continued to turn steadily, and everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
Three months had been enough to smooth over the wounds of most people in Soul Society.
Because Hueco Mundo had also, in Soul Society's opinion, suffered heavy damage this time, these three months had become the span with the fewest accidental Menos Grande incursions in recorded history: only a single incident had occurred, in South Rukongai, District 58.
But one woman was not among those who had put everything behind them: Shiba Kuukaku.
"So annoying! So annoying!"
Today was the official recruitment day for the special advanced class Higashino Shuuichi had set up at the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy—the Hirutsuki Class. Early in the morning, he had come to the dedicated school building for the Hirutsuki Class beside the Academy, the one he'd specially had approved through Tsunayashiro Kamihara. What he hadn't expected was that his very first visitor of the day would be Shiba Kuukaku.
"What's wrong now? Who pissed you off this time?"
Higashino Shuuichi pulled over a chair for Kuukaku and asked as she sat down.
"Who else? Kyoraku Shunsui! Ise Nanao!
I described that Arrancar's appearance in such detail, down to every little feature, but they still tell me that among the Arrancar who invaded Soul Society together with Baraggan back then, there was no such Arrancar!
But didn't you say that, in that incident, none of the Hollows who attacked Soul Society were able to return to Hueco Mundo?
Then where's that damned Arrancar who killed my father?!!
He can't seriously be pretending to be an ordinary soul or a Shinigami and secretly living here in Soul Society, right?"
Kuukaku spoke with her face full of anger.
At first, she had just wanted to see what the Arrancar who killed her father looked like in death, then scatter his ashes to comfort her father's spirit.
But three months had gone by, and that damned Kyoraku Shunsui still kept telling her there was no such Arrancar.
How was that possible?!
In her view, it had to be that the elders of the Kyoraku family were putting pressure on Kyoraku Shunsui, making him deliberately give her a hard time while the Shiba family was suffering such heavy losses!
Yeah, that had to be it!
The more Kuukaku thought about it, the angrier she got.
"Uh…"
Higashino Shuuichi could only look helpless after listening. To be fair, that Arrancar really had taken on the guise of a Shinigami and was now lurking within Soul Society.
Stop it already, Kuukaku. Tosen Kaname is really not someone you're going to find…
"What's with that 'uh'? You also think Kyoraku Shunsui is teaming up with Ise Nanao to brush me off on purpose, don't you?"
Kuukaku glared at Higashino Shuuichi as she spoke.
"Not quite. Shunsui might pull something like that, but Nanao-chan shouldn't be that type." Shuuichi shook his head, then decisively changed the subject. "Anyway, whether you can find that Arrancar or not isn't the crucial point. It's certain that no Hollows made it back to Hueco Mundo, so for all we know it just died somewhere out in the wilderness and we haven't found the body yet.
But Kuukaku, what about the cannon to the Soul King Palace? You still haven't finished it? It's been almost three months."
Honestly, ever since he had confirmed from Aizen that Aizen had no interest in hitching a ride on his little "free shuttle," Higashino Shuuichi had told Kuukaku early on that he planned to make a trip to the Soul King Palace.
After her initial shock, she had indeed contacted the Zero Division to confirm his permission to enter.
Shuuichi had no idea whether that was actually true; all he had to go on was Kuukaku's explanation that the cannon capable of reaching the Soul King Palace was extremely troublesome to construct. The Shiba family had originally had one in stock, but it had been used up when Hikifune Kirio went up to join the Zero Division.
Coupled with the heavy damage the Shiba had suffered this time, she simply couldn't put together another cannon in the short term.
"You think that cannon is so easy to make? Forget three months—even if you gave me three years, I might not be able to build one. You know, for confidentiality reasons I'm the only one who can construct it. Having a single person build a cannon like that is a huge pain, okay?!"
Kuukaku rolled her eyes at him, then casually grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the bowl Shuuichi had prepared for the Shinigami who would come to sign up.
"If you trust me, I can come help when I have time. Having the Grand Blade-Hunting Chief himself as your assistant—what an amazing deal, right?"
Higashino Shuuichi joked, feigning nonchalance.
"You? I'd rather not. Letting a Shinigami who yells about fighting and killing all day handle that kind of delicate work would have it ruined in minutes.
Did you already forget what happened last time?
Just don't get in my way and I'll already be grateful!"
Kuukaku spoke with undisguised disdain.
Shuuichi could only give an awkward smile.
It was true: Kuukaku had given him a chance before, letting him try his hand at making a simple firework as a test.
Predictably, he had failed a dozen times over. The fireworks either exploded during assembly or malfunctioned the moment they were lit.
In short, not a single firework made by Higashino Shuuichi had ever detonated properly.
He genuinely had no talent in that area.
Shuuichi felt this was probably one of the few things Aizen could never have predicted.
So in front of Aizen, Higashino Shuuichi never breathed a word about it.
At that moment, while Shuuichi and Kuukaku were still chatting, two people arrived together at the doorway.
"Yo~ Higashino Shuuichi, just like you wanted, I'm here!"
The bald one among them bared his gleaming white teeth at Shuuichi and shouted.
By contrast, the other Shinigami, whose looks were almost excessively handsome, bowed a little awkwardly to Shuuichi and said,
"Grand Blade-Hunting Chief Shuuichi, thank you very much for extending an invitation to Ikkaku and me. Being able to join this Hirutsuki Class you've founded for the sake of Soul Society's future is our honor."
This was why people said Ayasegawa Yumichika really knew how to talk.
In Shuuichi's opinion, without Ayasegawa Yumichika around, who knew what kind of trouble Madarame Ikkaku might cause.
Sure, he technically wasn't under the same chain of command as the Gotei 13 anymore, but who did Madarame Ikkaku think he was? Just some small fry from the Eleventh Division, and he dared talk to him like that?!
If Shuuichi didn't think that both Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika had very high ceilings and were perfect subjects for creating the various combat scenarios he would need in the future, he wouldn't have bothered seeking out a hardhead like Ikkaku at all.
"If I remember correctly, you two are currently the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Seats of the Eleventh Division, right?"
Choosing to ignore Ikkaku altogether, Higashino Shuuichi looked only at Ayasegawa Yumichika as he spoke.
"Yes, Grand Blade-Hunting Chief."
Yumichika nodded.
He, too, was very curious as to why Higashino Shuuichi had specifically named him and Madarame Ikkaku to join this so-called Shinigami improvement course, the Hirutsuki Class.
By rights, Shinigami as ordinary as them—especially when Ikkaku had repeatedly offended Shuuichi—would have been lucky if Shuuichi, once he stopped serving as Grand Blade-Hunting Chief, merely had them flayed. That would have counted as a good temper.
Yet instead of doing anything to them, he actually wanted to help them grow stronger. What kind of saintly good guy was this?
Was this really the same Grand Blade-Hunting Chief of the Katana-gari-shū, the man rumored to exist solely to target Shinigami?
"Do you two want to become Captains?"
Higashino Shuuichi came straight to the point.
Crunch.
Before Ikkaku and Yumichika could react, the one to respond was Kuukaku, sitting on the chair beside Shuuichi—she bit straight through the sunflower seed she'd just put in her mouth.
Shell and all.
"Huh? Did I hear that right? You're asking those two if they want to become Captains?"
Kuukaku's body, which had just reclined, shot upright.
"Hey, hey, hey, Higashino Shuuichi, we're talking about 'Captain' here, you know! You're sure you didn't forget to put 'Vice' in front of that?"
On the other side, Ayasegawa Yumichika also looked over at Shuuichi, beautiful eyes full of surprise.
"Grand Blade-Hunting Chief, we're still just lower-ranked seated officers. Becoming Captains is of course our dream, but it's still far, far away. And with our qualifications, becoming Captains would definitely be extremely difficult—"
Before Yumichika could finish, Madarame Ikkaku shouted excitedly,
"Being a Captain or whatever isn't what's important. What's important is: if I study under you here, will you fight me?"
In that moment, both Yumichika and Kuukaku felt an overwhelming urge to stuff this brain-scrambled Madarame Ikkaku into a sack and toss him out.
How the hell is that the main point?!
"I didn't misspeak. I meant Captain." Shuuichi smiled, glanced at Kuukaku, then looked back at Ayasegawa Yumichika—yes, once again completely ignoring Madarame Ikkaku.
"In fact, there's something you should know. On paper, the Hirutsuki Class is open to all Shinigami, but in reality I run it by invitation only. I only recruit Shinigami whom I believe have the potential to become Captains.
After all, below Captain level, everyone is just an ant. If a Shinigami doesn't even qualify to become a Captain, there's no need for me to waste extra effort training them."
At those words, the whole room fell silent—even Madarame Ikkaku was no exception.
He hadn't expected Higashino Shuuichi's evaluation of him to be so high.
"Mm, hey, Shuuichi, are you serious? Is Captain-class strength really that easy to obtain?"
After a long pause, it was Kuukaku who broke the silence.
She remembered what her father had once told her: in order for the Shiba family to produce another young Captain, he had worried himself sick.
It wasn't until her elder uncle, Shiba Isshin, burst onto the scene that her father's wish was finally fulfilled. Unfortunately, her father never got to see the moment when Uncle Isshin actually became a Captain.
Yet something that difficult sounded as easy as drinking water when it came from Higashino Shuuichi's mouth.
"For other Shinigami, it might not be so easy, but for you two, I trust my own eye."
Shuuichi looked straight at Ayasegawa Yumichika and Madarame Ikkaku as he spoke.
Though the question had come out of Kuukaku's mouth, he knew she was most likely voicing the doubts of the two men as well.
Then Madarame Ikkaku laughed, raised his right thumb and jabbed it toward himself.
"But of course! I, Madarame Ikkaku-sama, am definitely going to become a Captain!
And when that time comes, I swear I'll defeat you, Higashino Shuuichi!"
Still just as rude as ever, but this time Higashino Shuuichi's eyes were filled with appreciation.
That's right—this was the attitude he wanted to see.
And so, for the first time today, Higashino Shuuichi responded directly to Madarame Ikkaku.
"Then I'll be waiting for your challenge, Madarame Ikkaku. Don't make me wait too long."
"Hahaha, I definitely won't!
Anything even our current Captain can't do—I, Madarame Ikkaku, will definitely accomplish it!"
To him, fear was a foreign concept.
He merely held fast to the convictions in his heart and believed he could do it—and then he did it.
That was the life creed Madarame Ikkaku had always believed in.
Standing beside him, Ayasegawa Yumichika still hadn't recovered from Shuuichi's earlier words.
He felt oddly out of place compared to everyone else present.
Had everything he'd been told since becoming a Shinigami been wrong?
The position of Captain—if you looked across the whole history of Soul Society, the total number of Shinigami who had held or were holding that title couldn't even break three digits.
Was this Grand Blade-Hunting Chief really that confident in him and Madarame Ikkaku?
Even he himself didn't think he had that kind of potential.
What Ayasegawa Yumichika didn't know, however, was that something even more shocking awaited him.
Suspicious, Kuukaku snatched up the form on Shuuichi's desk, the one on which he'd just marked red checks next to Ayasegawa Yumichika and Madarame Ikkaku's names.
"One, two, three, four…"
She counted down the list of names, then hissed through her teeth.
Staring at the list of names, Kuukaku slapped the form back down onto the desk.
"Good one, Higashino Shuuichi—I almost let you fool me. And you still dare say you 'believe' in them?!
This is what you call belief?
Believing this many Shinigami can all become Captains, huh?
Yeah right, like hell I believe you!"
Faced with Kuukaku's suspicion, Higashino Shuuichi could only spread his hands helplessly and shrug with a wry smile.
He really wasn't just talking big. In the future, every one of these people would truly possess Captain-class strength…
Just half an hour earlier, over at the Fourth Division barracks, the current lowest-seat officer of the Fourth Division, Kotetsu Isane, had nervously knocked on the door of Captain Unohana Retsu's quarters.
"That Grand Blade-Hunting Chief sent you an invitation?"
After listening to Kotetsu Isane's explanation, Unohana Retsu smiled gently as she spoke to her.
Thanks to Unohana's attitude, the heart that had been pounding wildly in Isane's chest finally calmed down a little.
If Higashino Shuuichi had been there to see Kotetsu Isane's state, he would instantly have recognized it as that of the "keyboard warriors" from his previous life:
swinging heavy punches online, but the moment it came to real life, shrinking back and mumbling meekly.
Back when people were crying injustice on Higashino Shuuichi's behalf, she had been one of the Fourth Division members at the very front of the crowd. During the Women's Shinigami Association event, she had also been the first to step up and rate and comment on him.
Yet the moment Higashino Shuuichi actually turned his attention to her and extended an invitation, Kotetsu Isane had chickened out right away.
She truly believed that Higashino Shuuichi had never betrayed Soul Society, but she couldn't ignore his current position as Grand Blade-Hunting Chief, nor the way Soul Society viewed the Katana-gari-shū.
Kotetsu Isane really had no idea what to think. If she accepted his invitation and went to that so-called Hirutsuki improvement class, how would the Gotei 13 view her?
And what about her Captain?
Would Unohana see her as a traitor?
Heaven and earth could attest that Kotetsu Isane's loyalty to the Fourth Division and to the entire Gotei 13 was rock solid.
"Yes, Captain. In his letter, Shuuichi-sama said that he noticed me because of the male Shinigami rankings we of the Women's Shinigami Association published in the Seireitei Bulletin. He said that being able to join the Association together with so many outstanding female Shinigami must mean my potential is outstanding as well…"
The more Kotetsu Isane spoke, the smaller her voice became, until by the end it was barely more than a mosquito's buzz.
She felt that Shuuichi-sama really thought far too highly of her. How could someone like her be mentioned in the same breath as the other members of the Association?
Aside from her and her younger sister, Kotetsu Kiyone, the others were all Captains or Lieutenants. Only the two of them, mere lower-seated officers, seemed so out of place among them.
Isane had originally thought it was an incredible stroke of luck that she and her sister had been allowed to join the Association at all. She never imagined that both of them would actually catch Shuuichi-sama's eye as well. That sort of luck was something she wouldn't have dared to dream of.
Yet compared to her sister's decisive refusal, Kotetsu Isane just couldn't make up her mind—because she had to admit, she was genuinely curious about this Shuuichi-sama.
After all, even just hearing the brief outline of his past…
He had started as an ordinary member of the Fourth Division, spent over a hundred years steadily working his way up to the position of Lieutenant, then gone undercover in the Kasumiooji family, once his noble superiors, and contributed greatly to preventing an even greater catastrophe for Soul Society.
After that, he worked for one of the Five Great Noble Houses, disappeared for five years, and upon his return immediately became the Eleventh Division's Lieutenant.
He was then framed, forced into Hollowfication, and single-handedly fought five Captain-class Shinigami in a desperate battle.
In the end, he cleared his name, returned to Soul Society, founded his own division and became its Captain, then killed the former ruler of Hueco Mundo—the one even the Head-Captain had been unable to slay.
Even though Shuuichi-sama was still alive, just that résumé alone would make anyone exclaim:
"He's a living legend!"
Shuuichi-sama had practically reached the very limits of what a commoner from Rukongai could achieve—he was only one step away from becoming Head-Captain of the Gotei 13. And that might very well happen in the future; after all, for the past several months this had been the hottest rumor circulating throughout all of Seireitei.
So Kotetsu Isane truly did want to attend this Hirutsuki Class.
And the one who helped her finally make up her mind was her Captain, Unohana Retsu.
"Then you should go, Isane. There's no need to overthink it.
Shuuichi used to be my Lieutenant—I know what he's like. He has lots of little flaws, but one virtue: he never does anything without being fully prepared. If he says he believes in your potential, then in reality he must already have investigated you thoroughly.
Don't believe that nonsense he wrote in the letter. That's just him joking around~"
"Really? Then, Captain, I'll go?"
With her Captain's encouragement, Kotetsu Isane finally steeled herself.
Similar scenes were playing out in several other Captains' quarters—and in various other rooms besides.
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