Unohana Retsu followed Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni into the tea room, her gaze calm and steady.
When she saw who was sitting inside, she showed no surprise at all, as though she'd expected it all along.
"Kazuma, it's been a long time. Are Batsu'unsai and Saitō doing well?" she asked.
Her voice was calm and warm, carrying the fondness of an old reunion.
His being here was a little unexpected, yet she seemed to have already sensed as much.
"They're fine. Better than fine, actually. The two of them are living pretty comfortably in the World of the Living," Kazuma said with a smile.
Unohana smiled faintly, relief flickering in her eyes.
Then she turned to Yamamoto and went on, "The one who fought the Ryoka earlier was Chōjirō, wasn't it? With you here, even a wounded Chōjirō could heal fast enough to fool both me and Shunsui. It's a shame that talent of yours isn't in the Fourth Division. Since you're no longer captain of the Seventh anyway, how would you feel about joining mine? I could hand you the captain's seat."
"Pfft!"
Kazuma spat out a mouthful of sake, his face caught somewhere between a laugh and a groan.
"Unohana, you still love teasing people like this! I have zero interest in being a captain."
He waved a hand in quick refusal.
Just then, though, Yamamoto gave a soft cough and shot Kazuma a faintly threatening look.
The look made Kazuma's chest tighten, and he swallowed hard.
"Ah, hahahaha. How about we change the subject?"
Kazuma forced a stiff smile.
His eyes wandered around the room, and he felt oddly guilty, as if he'd done something wrong.
Unohana watched him and raised an eyebrow.
"Tell me. Why did you call me here?"
She had never cared for talking in circles and liked to get straight to the point.
Kazuma took a deep breath, gathered himself, and said, "I'd like you to head over to Central 46. Tōshirō and Byakuya are..."
Before he could finish, Unohana was already on her feet, ready to go.
Kazuma quickly stopped her.
"I'm not done yet. Don't you want to know what's going on?"
Unohana glanced at him, amusement in her eyes.
"No need. Once I'm there, I'll find out soon enough. Besides, you wouldn't send me into harm, would you?"
There was a sly edge to her smile that made her hard to read.
Her words left Kazuma with little to say, so he just nodded.
"All right, all right. Just be careful."
Unohana gave him that quietly menacing smile of hers again.
It sent a chill straight down Kazuma's spine!
He'd meant to say something more, but the nerves pushed the words back down his throat.
In the end, all he managed was, "Just... be careful."
Once Unohana had gone, Kazuma got ready to move as well.
He needed to cover the gap Byakuya had left behind, because Renji would soon storm the Senzaikyū to rescue Rukia.
For that, Kazuma had asked the Captain-Commander to prepare a full set of Executive Militia gear and uniform.
When the time came, he'd cover his face, and as long as he didn't draw his own Zanpakutō, no one would recognize him.
After all, handling Renji would only take plain Zanjutsu and Hakuda.
There was no chance anyone would work out who he really was.
"You may go. I'll send for Shunsui and Ukitake to come here. That way, if anything unexpected comes up, no one will be free to rush to the Senzaikyū."
"Got it."
Kazuma was practically buzzing.
He could finally get outside!
After being cooped up in the tea room for days, he felt like he was starting to grow mold!
...
"Hmm. That kid Renji isn't here yet. I'll go check on Rukia first."
Kazuma reached the Senzaikyū in no time.
He felt out the area and found no sign of Renji drawing near.
He knocked out the guards watching Rukia without much effort and slipped inside.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Rukia, waiting for news in her cell, caught a blur of movement.
All at once, an Executive Militia soldier stood in front of her.
There was no way an Executive Militia soldier would answer her, but she asked anyway, out of habit.
"So, Rukia, has life in here treated you well these past few days?"
The soldier actually spoke. Not only that, Rukia knew the voice.
It was Kazuma.
"S-Sensei! You came back to Soul Society? You said Ichigo and I would be fine. How did it end up like this?"
The moment she recognized him, Rukia started venting everything at once.
"Oh, relax. You're not dead, are you? Then it's not a real problem. Just watch what I do. Your teacher will make sure you live."
Kazuma looked completely at ease, as if none of this were a big deal.
"Renji might come to rescue you soon. So i'm going to give you another lesson on how Zanjutsu is really done, so pay attention."
"What is even happening right now? Sensei, are you planning to cut Renji up too?"
Rukia was about ready to lose her mind over how unreliable her teacher was!
"Quiet now. Renji's here. Remember, I'm just an Executive Militia soldier. Don't say anything strange."
"O....kay."
...
Fully healed from his injuries, and fired up by everything Ichigo had said to him earlier, Abarai Renji had made up his mind to save Rukia.
Using the chaos rolling through the Seireitei as cover, he made his way to the Senzaikyū in secret.
"Rukia, I'm here to save you!"
Renji strode in with his Zanpakutō over his shoulder, ignoring Kazuma completely.
"Hey, you. Executive Militia. If you don't want to die, get out of the way."
He was a little puzzled about why an Executive Militia soldier was guarding the place instead of a Seventh Division Shinigami, but that didn't stop him from talking big.
Kazuma still said nothing.
He simply drew an Asauchi and leveled it at Renji.
That instantly got on Renji's nerves.
This guy actually had the gall to ignore him?
So he shouted again, "I said move!"
His reiatsu flared at the same time, meant to put this clueless soldier in his place.
What came next, though, caught Renji completely off guard.
The soldier across from him didn't so much as flinch, utterly unmoved by his reiatsu.
On top of that, the man dropped into an odd stance, as if silently daring him.
'Come on. If you've got the nerve, come and cut me.'
"Roar, Zabimaru."
Stung by the insult, Renji ran a hand along his Zanpakutō and released his Shikai.
He didn't want to waste time.
Every extra minute here meant more danger.
Renji eyed the soldier with open contempt and swung Zabimaru lazily, as though the man were no more than a bug. In his head, one careless swing would be enough to finish him.
He had no idea what that carelessness was about to cost him.
'Tsk, tsk. Underestimating an opponent you don't even know? The arrogance.'
Kazuma quietly tracked Renji's every move. To his eyes, Renji's slash was full of gaps, far too crude to hold up against a real counter.
Then something Renji never saw coming happened. The soldier in front of him slipped the attack with that same strange posture and flashed in close. Before Renji could react, Kazuma had already swung the Asauchi and cut hard across his chest.
With a wet, heavy sound, a long gash opened across Renji's chest, and blood poured out.
Renji's eyes went wide as he stared at Kazuma in shock. He couldn't believe he'd been cut down so easily.
Renji stared at Kazuma in disbelief, a vein bulging at his temple.
This soldier, this nobody of an Executive Militia soldier, had actually wounded him!