Within the barracks of the Fourth Division in Seireitei, things were unusually lively. Nearly every seated officer and unseated mber was too busy to catch a breath.
All but three—those who stood at the top of the Fourth Division's power structure: two were inside, and one was just outside.
"Soone saw your Reishi Construct last night."
"I activated my Zanpakutō's Shikai without the Captain's permission. That's on ."
"But no one saw you."
"On my way to reinforce the area, I encountered two Shin'ō Academy students being attacked by a Hollowfied Shinigami."
"Two Captains died last night. Kamikawa Ren'nosuke of the Third, and Makikura Hitoshige of the Tenth."
"I was devastated. The Hollowfied Shinigami created by the Kasawagi Clan... they deserved to die."
"Captain Kamikawa, maybe due to his injuries, but Captain Makikura—among the thirteen, he may not have been top-tier, but he wasn't weak either."
"...Captain, are you saying there might be another reason for Captain Makikura's death?"
Unohana Retsu and Higashi Shuuichi volleyed words like blades disguised as silk.
Shuuichi's face—utterly sincere.
"Hmph."
Unohana didn't pursue the topic further.
She knew too well—she'd never gotten anything concrete from Higashi Shuuichi before. Then or now.
Silence settled heavily over the room.
Until a hell butterfly fluttered down onto Unohana's shoulder.
"The Head-Captain wants you at the Central 46 Chambers. Now."
Unohana read the ssage aloud, casual as ever.
"Yes, Captain!"
Shuuichi welcod the escape. The longer this conversation dragged, the more he felt like he was sitting on broken glass.
Unohana hadn't said it directly, but every word of hers scread: Did you kill Makikura Hitoshige or Kamikawa Ren'nosuke?
After all—Higashi Shuuichi had the ti. And the power.
As for motive?
That part didn't matter. Not yet.
She would find it out eventually.
Though Unohana's original self might have done nothing with the truth, that didn't an the present Unohana would follow the sa path. People change.
And Higashi Shuuichi had no intention of being caught in the open.
He stepped out of his office and found soone waiting: Yamada Kiyonosuke, face stormy as ever.
"Don't tell you were eavesdropping the whole ti?"
"In a situation this tense, why did Captain call only you? And why were you in there so long?"
Kiyonosuke ignored the question.
"If you're so curious, ask her. But you said it yourself—things are tense. Then why are you standing here doing nothing?"
Shuuichi didn't bother hiding his dislike. He snapped back imdiately.
"There's a patient only the Captain can heal."
Short and clipped. Kiyonosuke never wasted a word.
"Then go find her. I'm heading to Central 46. Orders from the Head-Captain. Problem?"
If he hadn't been on assignnt, Shuuichi would've given Kiyonosuke a proper verbal thrashing.
He walked away, leaving Kiyonosuke to glare holes into his back.
It wasn't long before Higashi Shuuichi stood before the gates of the Central 46 Chambers.
The place was more damaged than when he last saw it—signs of recent battle still raw and visible.
Blood from the Hollowfied Shinigami hadn't even been fully cleaned. The air still carried the scent of death.
In the great hall, only one person remained under judgnt.
The forr head of the Kasawagi Clan—Kasawagi Shinsuke.
"That's him! That Shinigami right there—Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division, Higashi Shuuichi! That so-called 'Heart of the Soul King'—he was the one who gave it to !"
The mont Shuuichi entered, Kasawagi pointed straight at him, his voice trembling with anger and desperation.
He had seen the tragedy with his own eyes.
He knew now—all his dreams were ash.
Kasawagi Shinsuke was fully aware he wouldn't escape death. But he still had a family. A clan.
He couldn't let them bear the sins they didn't commit.
In Soul Society, guilt was a curse.
The fall of the Chijō Clan still echoed in living mory.
Labeled as traitors, they lost their noble status. Forced to live as peasants in Rukongai. Worse, the surviving Chijō were treated like toys by the other noble clans.
If not for one boy's awakening during the Hollow Arena bloodsport—if not for the slaughter he unleashed on all who mocked them—every last Chijō would have been defiled to death.
But monsters like that? They were born once in centuries.
Kasawagi Shinsuke wouldn't let his clan gamble on such odds.
"The Heart of the Soul King? What's that?"
Shuuichi kept his tone mild, but he'd already guessed why he was summoned.
Originally, the plan was to eliminate both Kasawagi and Yunoi Yōkaku amid the chaos.
But plans are fragile.
He never expected Kasawagi to be bold enough to walk alone into Central 46, bring along one of his "projects," and face questioning like a fool.
Still, arrows nocked must fly. At least he'd killed Yunoi—the one who knew far more dangerous secrets.
"You're still playing dumb?! You were the one who brought that... that thing capable of Hollowfication—from the Kenpachi District of North Rukongai! That's the Heart of the Soul King!"
Kasawagi scread, voice cracking.
He had to drag soone else into this. It was the only hope of saving his clan.
If Yunoi had survived, he would've taken the fall. Maybe Kasawagi could've even walked free.
But Yunoi was dead—slain by the very Hollowfied Shinigami he helped create.
A laughable irony. A pitiful end.
"Ohhh... you an that, Kasawagi-dono?"
Shuuichi acted as if realization had just dawned. He turned to face the ever-present figure seated in silent judgnt: Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, the Captain-Commander.
"I clearly rember, back then, I was the first to report this discovery to you, Head-Captain.
"And whether to you or to Kasawagi-dono at the ti, I only ever said: 'I discovered a terrifying power.' Those were my exact words. I never said anything about a 'Heart of the Soul King.' I don't even know what that is."
Yamamoto nodded slowly.
Many other Shinigami present back then could corroborate Shuuichi's account.
And now, hearing Kasawagi's accusation—that this was his grand evidence? Yamamoto's eyes narrowed.
The Heart of the Soul King?
Even so Captains didn't know the Soul King existed, much less his anatomy. And Higashi Shuuichi... he ca from nothing. A Rukongai commoner with modest Reiatsu.
That he'd even made Vice-Captain was a testant to how hard he had worked. But Hollowfication? Conspiracy?
Yamamoto exhaled, the breath silent but weighted.
From any angle, Shuuichi didn't have the ans. Nor the mind.
And definitely not the heart.
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