"Is Master's psychological manipulation really that simple?" Kōga muttered, still unable to understand the fragile ego of a mad scientist.
After Mayuri left, Kōga, Byakuya, and Hisana prepared to depart.
Kazuma stopped them. "Hold on. Byakuya, you two shouldn't leave yet. Hisana can't withstand the ambient Reishi pressure in the streets right now. Find an empty guest room in my barracks and stay here. It'll be easier for me to reapply the Stellar Sanctuary when her spirit body weakens again."
Byakuya bowed deeply in gratitude, and the couple settled into a quiet room in the Seventh Division.
...
Over the following days, Kazuma's routine involved channeling his localized starlight to maintain Hisana's fragile soul.
Watching the couple act so desperately devoted and lovey-dovey every single day began to grate on his nerves.
"Hasn't Mayuri synthesized a cure yet?" Kazuma grumbled, pouring himself a drink. "This is so annoying! The days are crawling by.... i finally understand why Saitō hates romance."
Meanwhile, after storming back to the SRDI, Mayuri gathered his top researchers and locked down the primary lab.
After several days of manic obsessive work, Mayuri cracked the code.
The reason Hisana's soul was collapsing was simple: she was a common soul, entirely lacking a Hakusui — a Soul Sleep — to generate protective Spiritual Pressure.
To make her soul strong enough to survive the Seireitei, she had to be artificially endowed with Reiatsu.
However, directly injecting raw Spiritual Pressure would cause her to explode instantly.
Mayuri needed to synthesize a biological medium capable of safely anchoring and regulating the power.
After poring over restricted data and conducting highly unethical tests, Mayuri perfected the compound.
He grabbed the containment vial and marched back to the Seventh Division.
...
The moment Kazuma saw the arrogant smirk on Mayuri's face, he knew the madman had succeeded.
"Captain Mayuri, have you actually found a solution?" Kazuma asked, feigning surprise.
"But of course!" Mayuri laughed smugly. "It is a mere spirit-body density problem. How could something so trivial possibly stump the greatest scientific mind in Soul Society?"
"Really? Are you entirely confident it won't kill her?"
"Captain Kazuma, don't think I don't know what you're doing. You're questioning my genius," Mayuri sneered.
"Rest assured, I would not waste my time bringing a flawed prototype to a Great Noble."
"That's good to hear," Kazuma sighed in relief. "But how does it actually work?"
Mayuri gave him a sinister, secretive smile. "That is my exclusive proprietary formula. I cannot tell you."
Kazuma shook his head helplessly.
Mayuri was insufferable, but as long as Hisana survived and Byakuya owed him a massive favor, that was all that mattered.
Then Kazuma decided to twist the knife one last time.
"I suppose Urahara probably doesn't have an achievement like this under his belt, right?"
A look of absolute pride lit up Mayuri's face. "Naturally! Urahara is obsolete! I am the pinnacle of science!"
"Yes, yes, Captain Mayuri is the best," Kazuma placated, waving a hand.
The two walked down the hall and arrived at the guest room where Byakuya and Hisana were staying.
When Byakuya saw Kazuma and Mayuri enter, he immediately stood.
The arrogant look on Mayuri's face was enough to tell him what had happened.
He rushed to the bed and gripped his wife's hand. "Hisana! Captain Kazuma and Captain Mayuri are here. They have the cure!"
Hearing the news, Hisana wept with overwhelming joy, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
She threw herself into Byakuya's arms and buried her face in his Shihakushō, choking back relieved sobs.
Byakuya held her tightly, his stoic facade breaking as he gently stroked her hair. His voice was thick with emotion.
"Don't cry, you're safe now."
"Ahem."
Kazuma let out a loud, highly exaggerated cough, breaking the intimate moment.
Byakuya and Hisana quickly separated, both looking deeply embarrassed, though their eyes still shone with happiness.
Kazuma smirked. "Alright, you two, save the dramatic romance for your own manor. Let Captain Mayuri administer the cure."
Byakuya nodded and stepped aside, allowing Mayuri to approach the bed.
Mayuri pulled a diagnostic scanner from his coat and checked Hisana's vitals.
"It seems Captain Kazuma's starlight ability was actually effective. Her core hasn't degraded any further."
Byakuya bowed. "Captain Kazuma has been blessing Hisana with his power every morning."
Mayuri packed away the scanner and turned to Byakuya. "Her spirit body is stable for now. But to completely solve this problem, she needs to generate her own Spiritual Pressure. She must effectively become a Shinigami."
"I understand," Byakuya said. "But I have no method of forcing a Hakusui to bloom in a common soul."
Mayuri reached into his robes and pulled out a specialized containment vial. Carefully, he popped the seal and rolled a tiny, glowing blue pill into his palm.
"Look closely!" Mayuri boasted. "This is the miracle I synthesized over the past five days. It is a highly compressed Reishi-seed. Once ingested, it will forcefully anchor itself in her chest and grant her the baseline power required to survive as a Shinigami!"
Byakuya stared intently at the glowing pill, his eyes wide with desperate anticipation. He reached out to take it.
Mayuri pulled his hand back. "However… this procedure still requires Captain Kazuma's active participation."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Me?"
Mayuri nodded. "Yes. Although the Reishi inside the pill is perfectly calibrated, that is only relative to a trained Shinigami. An ordinary soul cannot withstand the violent ignition of a new Hakusui. She would simply combust. I need Captain Kazuma to infuse this pill with his localized gravitational pressure. Your 'starlight' will act as a dampener, allowing her body to slowly absorb the power without exploding."
Kazuma nodded in understanding.
He held out his hand, and Mayuri dropped the pill into his palm.
Kazuma concentrated, mobilizing a fraction of Hokushin's power. He slowly channeled his heavy, starlight-infused Spiritual Pressure into the tiny pill.
As the power flowed in, the pill began to emit a soft, pulsating silver glow.
"It's done. Give it to her," Kazuma said, handing the pill to Byakuya.
With trembling hands, Byakuya placed the silver pill in Hisana's mouth.
Hisana swallowed.
The effect was violent and instantaneous.
Raw Spiritual Pressure ignited within her chest.
A chaotic aura flared around her, and her face twisted in agony as the artificial Hakusui took root in her soul.
Seeing the violent reaction, Kazuma immediately stepped forward and placed his hand over her heart.
He pushed his Domain's power down, acting as a heavy, crushing lid on a boiling pot, forcing the chaotic Reishi to calm and integrate smoothly into her body.
The minutes dragged on.
Gradually, the agonizing pain faded.
The Spiritual Pressure radiating from Hisana stabilized, slowly climbing up the power scale.
Grade 20…
Grade 19…
Grade 18…
Finally, the Reishi settled, locking in at a solid Grade 15.
Watching the diagnostic scanner, Mayuri scoffed, clearly dissatisfied.
"I synthesize a biological miracle, and even with your dampening effect, it only pushes a common soul to a pathetic Grade 15? How disappointing. I calculated it would easily reach Grade 12."
Byakuya, however, was ecstatic.
He quickly bowed to both men. "Possessing enough Spiritual Pressure to simply survive the Seireitei is more than enough. This is a miracle! I am eternally in your debt, Captain Mayuri, Captain Kazuma."
"Yes, yes, whatever." Mayuri waved a dismissive hand, entirely uninterested in emotional gratitude.
"The experiment is concluded. I 'm returning to the SRDI since i have real work to do."
With a flourish of his coat, Mayuri left the room.
Byakuya turned back to the bed and carefully pulled Hisana into a tight, desperate embrace.
"Hisana… we're safe. Now we can finally live together in peace.,"
"Get lost! Both of you, go be sickeningly sweet in your own manor! I can't stand it anymore!" Kazuma complained loudly, waving them out of his barracks.
"Batsu'unsai, come back from the Living World quickly! I'm dying of loneliness over here!"
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