Chapter 150: The Incoming Captain Commander
Fourth Division General Medical Relief Station.
The hallway was as familiar as ever.
It was already late at night. Most of the medical staff were either resting or on duty, so no one came to disturb Takeru and Suì-Fēng as they discussed the case.
"At this point, the truth has basically come to light," Suì-Fēng said.
She stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the wooden railing of the hallway.
Takeru sat on the steps.
The scene was strangely harmonious, and the way they spoke carried an indescribable sense of rapport.
"I've already sent people to take full control of the Projection Hall and use its intelligence channels to track down the culprit and their accomplices. I don't know when we'll find them, but once the case spreads, the Noble Faction should quiet down for a while. I just hope they don't try to act clever and mistake it for something the Gotei 13 did."
"Good work," Takeru said. "From here on, just follow the normal procedure. You handle the investigation, and I'll take them into custody once they're found. As for what comes after, let the Captain Commander decide how to deal with the Tsunayashiro Clan."
"As it should be." Suì-Fēng paused, then added, "Speaking of arrangements, that surviving little girl from the Main Family started clamoring for revenge the moment she woke up and has been making all sorts of demands. She has some backbone, I'll give her that, but she's still too naive. She never even considered that, during this power vacuum, there are other Branch Family members hoping to elevate their own bloodline and become the new Main Family."
"Power struggles and greed are inevitable in any era," Takeru said thoughtfully. "But this time, it won't be that simple. Don't forget that the Tsunayashiro Clan still owes the Gotei 13 a large sum of money. There are also other factors in play. I'm afraid the situation you mentioned won't get the chance to happen."
"...No way."
Suì-Fēng seemed to realize something from his words, and her expression shifted slightly.
But the change passed quickly. In the end, she had no real interest in the Tsunayashiro Clan's fate.
Compared to some living people, some corpses mattered more.
"Phew... anyway, let's leave it there for now." Suì-Fēng let out a breath. "Sorry, Takeru. I failed to keep watch over your spoils of war and ended up dragging you here in the middle of the night."
"It's nothing." Takeru shook his head. "I was going to come back anyway. Ichigo is staying home, and so is Orihime. After the dinner party, I had nowhere else to go but the Soul Society. Orihime even invited me to stay over, but I thought it would be inconvenient, so I declined."
"?!"
"As for those so called spoils, I originally collected them just to extract the Still Silver needed to counter Yhwach. If they're gone, they're gone. As long as the Shinigami corpses are still there, it doesn't matter."
"I see."
Hearing that, the guilt in Suì-Fēng's heart eased a little, though it was immediately replaced by curiosity.
"But even if they're corpses, Shinigami corpses still have some use?"
"They're corpses now," Takeru said, "but that might not remain true in the future."
"What?"
"All the corpses that could be recovered had their basic vitality maintained by Orihime, and their dissipating souls were immediately sealed through technical means. The whole point was so that, once Captain Kurotsuchi returns, he can use his own method to revive them."
"Re... revive them?! That man Kurotsuchi actually has such an ability...?!"
"Yeah. I don't know what the success rate will be, but we'll do what we can."
This was also Takeru's reward for those who had followed him into battle and fought to the death.
Money, preferential treatment for their relatives, compensation... how could those compare to letting them live again?
Those things were only compensation.
They were not rewards worthy of those who had rendered great service.
Looking at Takeru's matter-of-fact expression, Suì-Fēng was speechless for a moment.
She certainly grieved for those who had died in battle, and she regarded the people who killed her comrades as enemies.
But the only things in her mind had been revenge and killing the enemy.
She had never once thought about saving the dead.
From that perspective, perhaps she was no more noble, and no more clever, than that little girl from the Tsunayashiro Main Family who kept screaming about revenge.
"What's wrong?" Takeru asked. "You look miserable. That face of yours is practically dripping with frustration."
"It's nothing..." Suì-Fēng muttered. "I just suddenly feel that I'm not only not especially noble, I'm not even a competent commander..."
Seeing her troubled expression, Takeru decided to share some of his own burden with her so she would at least know she wasn't the most miserable one.
"What for?" Suì-Fēng asked, confused, when he beckoned her closer.
"..."
"What did you just say?!"
"The Captain Commander already came to see me during the day," Takeru said seriously at first, then added in a lighter tone, "How about it? Do you want to come work under me?"
"...Fine! I'll go submit a report right now...! But if I leave, who's going to take over my position?"
"Are you serious?"
Takeru was actually caught off guard.
Seeing his reaction, Suì-Fēng felt some of the weight on her chest lift for no apparent reason.
"It's not a difficult decision," she said. "Compared to that, I'm more worried about the successor. That idiot Ōmaeda isn't Kira or Hisagi. He can't hold things together. And then there's the whole business with the Onmitsukidō."
"...As for a successor, what do you think of Yoruichi?"
Takeru really wanted to say he had only been joking, but at this point, if he said that, she would probably get furious and cling to him for ages. So he had no choice but to offer a relatively reliable suggestion.
"Her?"
Although the suggestion seemed perfectly reasonable to him, the moment Suì-Fēng heard the name, contempt showed on her face.
"At least her ability is up to standard."
"...I won't deny that."
"But you know her personality. There's no way around it. She'd have to be forced."
"Then it's her."
"..."
Watching Suì-Fēng's cold smile, which carried a trace of malicious delight, Takeru shook his head.
He knew very well that she wasn't really relenting because she acknowledged Yoruichi's ability.
She was relenting because it would cause Yoruichi trouble.
A lot of trouble.
It was a burden she had once thrown away with both hands.
Now she would have to pick it back up again.
For someone as wild and freedom loving as Yoruichi, that was a fate too cruel to imagine.
Elsewhere, a certain cat-like lady who was bullying her younger brother in the Shihōin Clan residence suddenly sneezed.
"Kisuke must be talking bad about me behind my back."
In the next instant, she shuddered for no reason at all.
That made Yoruichi instantly alert.
"No... that's not it. Who's plotting against me? Kisuke? No, he doesn't have the guts."
The result of that suspicion was Yūshirō receiving another round of his sister's heavy affection.
It was likely that, for quite a long time afterward, any time he thought about tonight's training, his bones would ache faintly.
The next day, January 10.
The weather was clear.
The sun hung high and bright in the sky.
The moment one pushed open the window, it almost felt as though winter had already passed.
A flood of morning light poured in from the east and fell over the First Division barracks, draping the pavilions and buildings in a golden veil.
Even the sky bridges between the buildings glowed brightly under it.
Takeru brought Shūhei into that warm corridor, only to discover that someone was already there, basking in the sunlight and fighting both the sandman and... his own lieutenant.
"Captain! Captain Kyōraku! Stop sleeping and get up! The meeting is about to start!"
"I'm not sleeping," Kyōraku mumbled. "I'm just resting my eyes while enjoying the sun... Ah, it's so warm... Nanao chan, let me sit like this for just five more minutes... Zzz..."
"You've already fallen asleep!"
Seeing someone approach and hearing footsteps, Nanao finally lost her patience and slammed the folder in her hand straight down.
Thud!
Even if it was only a folder, and even if she was the clerical sort of lieutenant, that hit was by no means light.
Shūhei instinctively shrank his neck and clicked his tongue inwardly at the sight.
"Ugh... I'm gonna be sick."
Kyōraku swayed once before flopping to the ground, clutching his mouth with a green face.
"Captain Kyōraku," Takeru said curiously as he looked down at the man crawling on the floor, "if I remember correctly, the victory banquet was the day before yesterday, wasn't it?"
"...Captain Takeru? Morning."
The moment Kyōraku saw who it was, he smiled without the slightest embarrassment and began to explain.
"Well, yesterday, which was the day after the banquet, Ukitake and I had another proper round of drinks. That's how I ended up like this."
"In the end, it's Old Man Yama's fault. Everyone's buried in work, yet he still insists on holding a meeting this early in the morning... Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Takeru reached down and pulled him up off the ground, but he himself made no move to leave.
There was still some time before the meeting started, so he simply followed Kyōraku's example and leaned lazily against the railing to enjoy the sunlight.
Shūhei and Nanao stood off to the side in silence, listening as the two captains chatted from a vantage point far above their own.
Even though it sounded like casual conversation, the information hidden inside it was enough to make the scalp tingle.
"Holding a meeting was necessary," Takeru said. "You've already heard about the Tsunayashiro Clan, right?"
"It'd be hard not to hear about it."
Kyōraku patted the dust off his clothes and answered lightly.
Before Takeru could continue, he suddenly added:
"The culprit is Tokinada, right?"
"The Intelligence Division really does live up to its reputation."
"Normally, I wouldn't belittle my subordinates' abilities like that," Kyōraku said, "but this really has nothing to do with Squad Eight. I reached that conclusion because... he used to be in the same class as me. I know exactly what kind of person he is."
He sighed.
"He isn't some crazed serial killer. He's just a complete scumbag."
"Tokinada, you see, was once imprisoned for murdering his own comrade and his wife... Sound familiar?"
The moment those words came out, Shūhei's body stiffened.
"Exactly," Kyōraku continued. "The female friend Tōsen Kaname once spoke of was Tokinada's wife. And Suzumushi is the keepsake she left behind."
"..."
Takeru's expression hardly changed, but Shūhei's eyes widened.
It felt as though he were sinking into a swamp, unable to breathe.
"Captain... Tōsen... It was because of him? Because of this man called Tsunayashiro Tokinada...?!"
"Not necessarily."
Takeru interrupted him calmly.
"Tsunayashiro Tokinada's actions, combined with Central 46's sentence, were at most a trigger. But sometimes a trigger is enough to completely alter the course of a person's life."
Shūhei's heart churned with complicated emotions.
The senselessness of that evil, combined with the reality of power being used as oppression, made him feel as if the Seireitei he had always lived in had been blanketed in a heavy shadow.
Perhaps that shadow had already dispersed.
But the person who had once been blinded by it and survived beneath it... was now gone as well.
Kyōraku changed the subject.
"I heard he stole the Quincy corpses?"
"Yeah." Takeru nodded. "He likely had an accomplice too. Someone with an ability similar to Orihime's. The Tsunayashiro Clan's ancestral Zanpakuto is also gone, though he left behind his own."
That answer made Kyōraku pause for a beat.
Then he drew in a slow breath. The cool morning breeze brushed against his face, making his eyes seem even clearer.
"I see... It really is a troublesome age."
"There's always plenty to do," Takeru said calmly. "One more thing won't matter, and one less thing won't change much."
That calm, collected attitude carried an extraordinary sense of reassurance.
Not only Shūhei and Nanao, but even Kyōraku couldn't help but smile at it.
"That's true." Kyōraku let out a low laugh. "No matter how troublesome Tokinada may be, he's still not more troublesome than the Wandenreich was. To be honest, even this postwar reconstruction is a bigger headache than whatever wicked ideas are churning in his belly."
"Speaking of the Wandenreich, what's the plan for that world now that all its reishi has dried up?"
"For the time being, we're leaving it alone. It might still have some value as waste material."
"For example, turning it into another hyperbolic time chamber?"
"?"
Takeru raised an eyebrow.
Kyōraku shrugged. "Don't misunderstand. I'm just saying it in passing. Old Man Yama has already grilled me enough. I don't feel like suffering any more than this. Honestly, if I had the choice, I'd like to retire just like Ukitake."
"Then you'd better find a successor first."
"...Can't you cut me some slack?"
"That would be too unfair to Captain Ukitake, who's pushing himself to find a successor."
"Hey, hey, hey... that argument is too underhanded. If you put it that way, then if I really tried to run away, Ukitake would come after me with murderous intent."
"So stop entertaining pointless fantasies."
"...I suddenly have a very bad feeling about the future. Is it still possible to go find Old Man Yama and convince him to change his mind?"
"Hard to say."
"Oh?"
"He might just appoint you out of spite."
"...Then pretend I never said anything."
"Come on. It's time for the meeting."
"You go on ahead." Kyōraku waved lazily. "I'll sit here in the sun a little longer while I wait for Ukitake."
Takeru nodded and left first with Shūhei.
Kyōraku watched his back disappear, then narrowed his eyes as he basked in the warmth.
"Captain, don't doze off again."
"I won't. I'm wide awake now. It's not that easy to fall asleep."
He gazed into the distance.
"Just seeing Captain Takeru and thinking about what's about to happen next is enough to keep my heart from settling down."
"..."
Nanao looked at him, feeling that something about the way he spoke was unfamiliar.
"Captain," she asked after a moment, "were you serious earlier... about wanting to retire?"
"You know me." Kyōraku smiled faintly. "I'm lazy, and I don't enjoy carrying too much responsibility. If I could retire, that would be a dream. Nanao chan, don't look so reluctant. Even if I retired, I wouldn't mind taking some idle post in Squad Eight. You'd still get to see me every day."
"No, I don't want to see you every day at all," Nanao said immediately. "Honestly, I'd welcome a more serious and reliable captain. Someone like Captain Aizen."
"That's a cruel thing to say."
Kyōraku laughed, but there was something else in his eyes.
"Still, I'd also like a successor like Sōsuke kun or Ichigo kun. That would be wonderfully reassuring."
"Unfortunately, that kind of condition is too demanding. We probably won't see someone like that again for a few hundred years. I'd like to just quietly slip away, but judging by Captain Takeru's attitude... that probably won't happen."
Nanao frowned slightly.
There was something strange in that.
She didn't approve of Kyōraku retiring, but the idea that he would abandon the thought simply because of Takeru's attitude made it sound as though Takeru's opinion carried too much weight.
There was nothing wrong with seeking the opinion of someone outstanding.
But this felt subtly different.
Just then, Ukitake and Ichigo arrived.
The moment he saw them, Kyōraku waved.
"Morning, Ukitake. Morning, Ichigo kun."
"Kyōraku, you're up early. Was that Nanao's doing?"
"Good morning, Mr. Kyōraku."
Ukitake and Ichigo both smiled.
"I've been waiting for you." Kyōraku straightened up. "Since you're here, let's head over together."
There was a faint solemnity hidden in Ukitake's smile.
"Yes... let's go witness history together."
"You're making yourself sound way too important," Kyōraku teased.
"Kyōraku, you scoundrel, stop pretending you don't know what I mean."
"Just kidding."
Then Kyōraku glanced at Ichigo.
"By the way, Ichigo kun, did you receive the haori?"
"Yeah."
Ichigo nodded, unusually serious.
Just before coming here, Ukitake had personally handed him the captain's haori that had once been prepared for Kaien.
"I... did receive it."
Not just the haori, but the convictions of one man still living and another long dead.
Kyōraku looked at his old friend, who seemed to have finally set down a burden that had weighed on him for centuries, and then looked toward the rising sun in the east.
"That's good, then..."
A short while later, inside the Captains' Meeting Hall...
The round table was gone.
Everyone stood in two rows, just as they had in the earliest days.
They listened in silence as the Captain Commander issued his instructions.
After spending a long while talking through the routine matters of the Gotei 13, the discussion finally turned to the Tsunayashiro Clan.
By this morning, news of the massacre had already begun to spread throughout Seireitei.
Even if someone had tried to suppress it, there would have been no point.
Because Yamamoto Genryūsai had no intention of tolerating evil of this sort.
"The Tsunayashiro Clan case has had an extremely vile impact."
"Although it was carried out by a criminal, the evidence discovered afterward of their many persecutions of innocent people is undeniable. Their crimes are unforgivable."
"Therefore, with the consent of two of the Four Great Noble Houses already secured, I have decided to expel the Tsunayashiro Clan from Seireitei."
"All their property will be confiscated. This judgment takes effect immediately and is not subject to revision."
No one present objected.
Even if Central 46 were reestablished one day, there would be no one willing to speak on behalf of the Tsunayashiro Clan.
After all, what that house had done went far beyond vile.
In addition to the long-term murder of humans, they had also carried out forbidden research.
Namely, collecting Soul King fragments from Fullbringer corpses and attempting to complete them, all in pursuit of recreating the Soul King's great power for themselves.
Tokinada had slaughtered the main family stronghold, taken the clan's ancestral Zanpakuto and its research成果, and left behind generations of records.
Whether he had done that intentionally, or simply could not be bothered to destroy them, no longer mattered.
At this point, it was Yamamoto Genryūsai, Takeru, and the very few others who knew the full truth who were forced to keep the matter secret, simply because of how severe the consequences would be if it became public.
From that perspective, the current verdict was already a stroke of luck for those Branch Family members and younger descendants who had never been qualified to know the clan's innermost secrets.
If the rest of the truth came out, then aside from causing an even greater storm, every surviving member of the Tsunayashiro Clan would likely have to be eliminated.
"And now... Jūshirō. Speak for yourself."
Yamamoto Genryūsai's tone softened slightly.
"Yes."
Ukitake stepped out from the line and stood in the center of the hall.
"I, Jūshirō Ukitake, due to my chronic illness and inability to continue fulfilling my duties, hereby request retirement from my position as Captain of the Thirteenth Division."
"My resignation has already been submitted and approved by the Captain Commander. Beginning today, I will officially step down from my post as Captain."
"I am ashamed to say it, but I ask all of you to carry my share of this will forward as you continue on."
He lowered his head deeply.
"Former Captain of the Thirteenth Division, Jūshirō Ukitake."
The speech flowed so smoothly and naturally that it felt as though he had rehearsed it in his heart countless times.
His voice had never sounded as clear as it did today.
If he truly had rehearsed it countless times, then all the sincerity within those words had likely been refined again and again until it became pure.
The expressions around the hall all differed.
But to one extent or another, everyone felt moved.
As one of the first graduates of the Spirit Arts Academy and a captain for centuries, there were very few captains whose seniority surpassed Ukitake's.
Many juniors younger than him had already retired.
And now, at last, it was his turn.
To say that everyone present was witnessing history would not have been an exaggeration.
However... this was only the prelude.
"Jūshirō..."
Yamamoto Genryūsai looked at his prized disciple, and countless thoughts surfaced in his heart.
Old scenes passed through his mind one after another like flowing lanterns.
A deep nostalgia was carved into the creases of his face.
He looked even older now, and his eyes seemed deeper still.
Once Ukitake stepped back into line, Yamamoto Genryūsai let out a long breath.
The lieutenants standing along the wall immediately sensed the shift in atmosphere.
A premonition surged up in all of them at once.
Something major was coming.
"Now that Jūshirō's matter is concluded, it is time for my own."
"A thousand years ago, I gathered the original captains and established the Gotei 13. Time passes, and the world changes. Just like Jūshirō, I too have found a successor worthy of inheriting what I leave behind."
"Therefore, my own path as a Shinigami will also come to an end."
"Captain of the Ninth Division, Shimiya Takeru. Step forward."
"Yes."
Takeru stepped out from the line in response and came to stand before the Captain Commander.
Under the stunned gazes of many present, Yamamoto Genryūsai drew out an appointment letter and handed it to him.
"Effective immediately, you are hereby appointed Captain of the First Division and Captain Commander of the Gotei 13."
"Yes."
Takeru reached out with both hands and accepted the letter solemnly.
It looked no heavier than a piece of paper, yet in truth it was as heavy as Mount Tai.
Yamamoto Genryūsai looked at the young man before him, and once again many images surfaced in his mind.
A thousand years ago, he had gathered comrades to oppose the ambitious Quincy.
A thousand years later, someone else had once again stood up and pulled all living things back from the brink.
The two were similar, yet not the same.
Still, those intertwined shadows across a thousand years of time all converged into this one moment of succession.
Many voices seemed to echo in his ears.
One voice in particular was the hottest, the loudest, and the most rebellious of them all.
And yet it was precisely that voice that belonged to the new generation.
"The Gotei 13... I leave it to you."
"Yes."
Takeru straightened his back and met the old man's gaze without retreating in the slightest.
His answer sounded firmer than before.
If Yamamoto Genryūsai embodied the history of the Gotei 13 itself...
Then from this moment onward, everyone present was witnessing that history being handed to Takeru.
The history of the Gotei 13, and even the history of Soul Society itself, would now continue through him.
.....
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