"Captain, it's Karakura Town again—another unidentified reiatsu."
Inside the Twelfth Division captain's office, Akon, the third seat, reported respectfully.
Before him stood the man in the white haori, wearing his grotesque mask—Kurotsuchi Mayuri, the Twelfth Division Captain, feared as the mad scientist of Soul Society.
Busy tinkering with a new invention, Mayuri didn't even glance up. "Hadn't I already notified Squad Two?"
For days now, unidentifiable reiatsu had been spiking in Karakura Town.
The Research and Development Bureau had therefore passed the matter to the Onmitsukidō.
"But…"
Akon hesitated, lowering his voice. "Captain, the shinigami assigned to Karakura Town is Kuchiki Rukia. She's Captain Kuchiki Byakuya's younger sister. Shouldn't we perhaps consult him—"
Mayuri's hand stilled. His masked face swiveled slowly, eyes cold.
"So, you're suggesting I bow and scrape to that bastard Kuchiki Byakuya?"
Akon paled, sweat dripping. "I-I wouldn't dare!"
Compared to other captains, his was not only foul-tempered but cruel—more terrifying than any Hollow.
Several shinigami who had dared defy Mayuri had ended up as his lab specimens.
"Tch." Mayuri snorted, turning back to his work. His voice was icy.
"Tell Squad Two's punishment force: if they encounter a Quincy in the World of the Living, bring me a specimen."
"Yes, Captain!"
Akon bowed deeply.
…
The next morning.
Cole's body slumped unconscious over his desk, while his soul sat lazily on the classroom window frame in shinigami form.
Rukia frowned. "Cole, why are you always absorbing spirit energy? Can your body even contain that much?"
She'd been endlessly curious. Every spare moment, he absorbed reiryoku—yet normally, shinigami had strict limits. Once filled, their bodies simply could not hold more.
Cole yawned. "Because I'm healthy. Remember last time? I lifted you with one hand."
Rukia's face went red instantly. That was the time he had hoisted her up—to spank her.
Her teeth ground in fury.
"Oh, right." Cole tilted his head. "It's been half a month since I became a shinigami. How's your body recovering?"
At that, Rukia's expression dimmed.
"…Worse than before, actually. Instead of healing, it feels like I'm fusing into this gigai."
Normally, a gigai gradually restored a shinigami's strength. But in her case, the opposite—her body weakening further, as if being bound to it.
Cole's gaze narrowed. He knew the culprit.
Urahara Kisuke. The man who had hidden the Hōgyoku within Rukia's soul, and designed a special gigai to anchor it—turning her into a human vessel.
Sooner or later, Aizen would come for her.
Cole leapt from the windowsill, landing in front of her.
"…What are you doing?" Rukia blinked.
"Don't move. I'm running an experiment."
He needed to extract the Hōgyoku—then Aizen's target would vanish, and she'd be safe.
Rukia swallowed nervously. Against her better judgment, she allowed it.
Then—her eyes bulged.
Cole placed his hand on her chest, pressing and prodding seriously.
"Y-you… what are you doing!?"
"Quiet. I'm investigating."
His face was all seriousness—but his hand wasn't.
For half a minute, he groped thoughtfully. Then he looked up, grave.
"Rukia, take your clothes off. Or better, enter shinigami form. I need a clear look."
BANG!!!
Her fist smashed into him, face scarlet, chest heaving. "You perverted brat! I'll kill you!!"
Cole rubbed his head with a sigh. Still, his suspicion was clear—her body hid the Hōgyoku, sealed by some unknown kido. Not something brute force could undo.
Troublesome indeed.
"Rukia…" He tried again. "I've got another experiment in mind—"
"Shut up!!"
Her knuckles cracked as she glared murderously. If not for being in class, she might have torn him limb from limb.
Just then, their teacher Ochi Misato entered—with a bespectacled youth in white trailing behind.
The moment he stepped into the room, the young man froze, eyes widening as he spotted Cole.
A shinigami—sitting casually in class, flirting with a woman.
Cole turned and met his gaze.
He recognized him immediately.
Ishida Uryū. One of the main cast—the last Quincy of the town.
Feeling his stare, Uryū coughed, averting his eyes, pretending to be just another student.
Cole sighed. "…Really? You think I can't sense your reiryoku?"
After his recent upgrades in reiraku perception, Uryū's disguise was transparent.
Uryū's face flushed blue, then purple. To be exposed so easily…
Moments later, he sneered coldly.
"So this is what shinigami are. Lazing around as students, flirting with women… Is that what you call duty? Trash like you disgust me."
......…
.........
(End of Chapter)
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