When Kiyone came home in the evening, she finally saw her elder sister, and her eyes lit up instantly. She hurried over.
Isane was in the middle of preparing dinner. Seeing her sister return, she only gave a small smile.
"You're back."
Kiyone wore a peculiar grin, her eyes darting mischievously over her sister without saying a word.
Isane felt uneasy under that stare. Of course she knew why Kiyone was looking at her like that. Her cheeks warmed, but she forced herself to remain calm.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kiyone giggled.
"Last night… how did it feel?"
Isane's face turned crimson on the spot. She shot her sister an accusing glare—how could she ask something like that?
But Kiyone had no intention of letting her go so easily. She grabbed her sister's sleeve and pressed on.
"Come on, tell me—last night, how was it?"
Isane turned her gaze aside, stammering.
"How was… what?"
"You know perfectly well what. You didn't come home last night—don't tell me you slept on the street?"
"…I… I slept at the division barracks."
Kiyone's face said yeah, right.
Isane cleared her throat lightly.
"Don't ask anymore."
Kiyone immediately pouted.
"Wow, sis! After all I've told you these past few days, now you get what you wanted and just toss me aside?"
Isane, flustered and annoyed, said,
"You—how can you put it like that? 'Get what I wanted'? I wasn't… expecting… that kind of thing!"
Kiyone's eyes lit up like stars.
"So you did sleep together last night?!"
"…"
Isane knew she'd misspoken. Words failed her; she lowered her head, feeling extremely self-conscious.
Kiyone peppered her with questions.
"How did it feel? Did it hurt? How long? How many times? Did you use protection?"
Hearing her sister dive into such private matters, in terms far from polite, made Isane's head spin.
How was she supposed to answer?
Was she supposed to recount every sensation from last night?
Even thinking about it now made her heart tremble and her cheeks burn.
But Kiyone's relentless curiosity left her both embarrassed and helpless.
She mumbled softly,
"Don't ask such things… How could I even put that into words?"
Kiyone's eyes rolled, then she asked with a cheeky smile,
"Then… did it feel good?"
"…"
Isane wanted to tear her sister's mouth off. She glared, trying to muster her elder-sister authority.
"Enough!"
Kiyone clung to her arm like a spoiled child.
"Come on, sis—tell me. Besides, I might never have that kind of experience in my whole life. I'm really curious."
Isane's eyes trembled slightly. She stayed quiet for a long moment before letting out a whisper,
"It was… pretty much like in the books…"
"Books?" Kiyone asked, puzzled. "What books?"
"The kind… that describe those kinds of scenes."
Kiyone nodded knowingly.
"So… that means it felt pretty good, huh?"
"…"
Isane said nothing, her face still red.
"Congratulations, sis!" Kiyone said with a grin. "I finally have a brother-in-law."
Something occurred to Isane, and she cautioned her sister,
"About me and… Nobu—you mustn't go telling people."
"Telling what?"
Kiyone blinked, then froze.
"Wait—you're not going to make it public?"
Isane pressed her lips together.
"I… haven't decided yet."
Kiyone looked baffled.
"You're dating, you've already slept together, and you still need to think about it? At this point, shouldn't you be planning the wedding?"
"…Just don't tell anyone."
...
A day later.
Fourth Division barracks, captain's tea room.
Isane found her captain there, preparing tea.
"What's going on with you and Tachikawa?" Unohana asked directly upon seeing her.
Isane froze, staring blankly at her captain.
Had Nobu told her?
Unohana's tone was calm.
"Isane, you're not someone who hides her feelings well."
"…"
"Why did you choose him?"
Isane lowered her head slightly. Alongside her embarrassment, there was an undercurrent of guilt.
"Captain… I didn't mean to hide it from you. But if you ask for a reason, I… can't really explain it myself."
Unohana regarded her for a while, then said,
"Sit."
Isane obeyed, docile and well-mannered, taking the seat opposite her captain and watching as Unohana's hands moved unhurriedly over the tea set.
"Isane."
"Yes, Captain!"
Unohana poured her a cup of tea, then spoke slowly.
"All these years, you've been the person closest to me."
"…"
Isane was startled. She assumed the captain meant to talk about her and Nobu.
Unohana was the person she respected most, someone she had served for years like a revered elder.
Surely the captain would give them her blessing.
"The captain has always treated me well. I've never forgotten that."
"Is that so."
Unohana's reply was even, her demeanor today slightly strange—not as warm as usual, her gaze deep and shadowed, as if weighed by some private thought.
"Over the years, I've had many vice-captains. Isane, you're the one I've been most satisfied with—or rather, the only one I've been satisfied with."
Isane didn't know how to answer.
She said carefully,
"Yamada-senpai was excellent too. He's always been my role model."
She meant Yamada Seinosuke, the previous Fourth Division vice-captain.
"You don't need any role model. Just be yourself," Unohana said.
"…Yes."
Lifting her teacup, Unohana's tea was perfectly still, not a ripple in sight.
Then she spoke words whose meaning was unclear.
"Peaceful days for too long… they almost made me forget."
Isane tried to read into her phrasing, then asked cautiously,
"Captain… what do you mean by that?"
Unohana looked up at her, finally smiling faintly.
"If one day I were to leave you…"
Before she could finish, Isane blurted out in alarm,
"Captain, you're leaving?!"
Unohana tilted her head, half-smiling.
"Where to?"
Isane faltered.
"But you just said… you'd leave…"
"That day will come eventually," Unohana said.
"…"
Isane pressed her lips together.
"But if you go, what will happen to Fourth Division? Fourth can't be without you. The Seireitei, the Gotei 13—none of them can be without you!"
"No one in this world is truly indispensable. No one accompanies another forever."
Unohana's tone remained serene.
"Even the Seireitei, in endless time, could turn to drifting ash."
Isane couldn't understand why her captain had grown so reflective.
"So… you won't be leaving, right?" she asked again.
Unohana chuckled unexpectedly.
"Isane, do you think you really understand Tachikawa?"
"…"
Isane was stunned for a long while before answering,
"I… just like being with him. I haven't thought that far."
"Then your feelings are truly pure," Unohana murmured, as if in a sigh.
Isane's thoughts were tangled. She didn't understand why her captain spoke like this—mentioning Nobu, offering cryptic reflections.
It made her feel as if the captain didn't entirely approve of her being with him.
She lifted her teacup, a shadow in her eyes.
After a long silence, she said softly,
"Captain, you are the person I respect most… and one of the most important people to me."
Unohana only smiled.
"Is that so?"
"Your strength is unmatched, your mastery of Kaidō unparalleled. Even if I had another thousand years, I could never match your steps. You're also a gentle, kind person. You've saved countless lives, and all of Soul Society remembers your mercy and benevolence."
Unohana said nothing. Her gaze flicked to her cup; the tea she'd sipped from rippled faintly, as if countless unclaimed asauchi had drowned in its depths.
She sat there, captain's haori white as snow—but in the deepest folds of those pristine robes, the sediment of a thousand unpurified souls lay hidden.
And she spoke, almost to herself:
"Mercy… is but a withered petal between death and rebirth."
"Fingers that heal are coiled with the breath of the living, while beneath the Zanpakutō's edge settles the blood-dew of a thousand years."
Mercy… mercy…
That should never have been a word to praise her with.
Her true name had long since been lost—carried on wails more ancient than the Thirteen Court Guard Squads themselves.