Izuru Kira could not help thinking of Muten Natsu.
For quite a long time after Kaien Shiba's death, Izuru Kira had sensed something similar in Muten Natsu.
That state of using a heavy burden to steady oneself... Izuru Kira understood it all too well.
When Muten Natsu escaped from Muken and shouted that he would take revenge on Rukia Kuchiki, Izuru Kira had immediately felt that something was off.
Muten Natsu should not have thought that way...
Later events proved that Izuru Kira's judgment had been correct.
That judgment had come from the belief that Muten Natsu thought the same way he did.
But in the end, they were still different.
Izuru Kira recalled the way Muten Natsu interacted with others. Unlike Izuru Kira's own gloom, Muten Natsu had buried the pressure in his heart somewhere much deeper.
Izuru Kira, however, had failed to keep his own pressure buried. It showed on the surface, turning him into a dull person.
"Looks like it still needs repairs..." Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi stopped what he was doing and shifted his gaze from the violin to Izuru Kira. "Is the Shihōin Clan's court music ensemble still around? I used to ask them to take care of Candice..."
"I'm not really sure," Izuru Kira admitted. "People like us have no way of knowing anything about the Four Noble Families."
Although every Shinigami within Seireitei could technically be considered a noble, the gap between them was no smaller than the gap between Shinigami and the residents of Rukongai.
At the very top were the Four Great Families, clans like the Shihōin and Kuchiki Clan, which had existed since the beginning.
Below them were long-established families responsible for sharing the work of the Four Great Families, focusing on duties tied to the foundation of Seireitei itself, such as the Amakado family.
After that came families that lived in Seireitei without entering the core of power or possessing any irreplaceable ability, forming family lines through generation after generation.
To put it more directly and cruelly, these nobles were essentially expendable resources for higher-ranking nobles, families like the Suì-Fēng family and the Kira family.
Before Izuru Kira entered the Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts, his parents had already died in battle.
In reality, there was no small gap between the Kira family and the Suì-Fēng family either. At the very least, the Suì-Fēng family could still come into contact with the Four Noble Families.
"I see..." Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi looked a little apologetic. "Then I'll have to ask Yoruichi about it later."
Izuru Kira watched Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi murmur to the violin and realized that the conversation seemed to have ended again. Perhaps unwilling to let it drop, he took the initiative to ask, "Speaking of which, why did you hide your violin like this? Was there some rule back then that forbade playing musical instruments?"
Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi shook his head and narrowed his eyes nostalgically, his slender fingers gently gliding over the violin. "When I was Captain, my Lieutenant was a very strict person... Do you know Chikane Iba?"
Izuru Kira thought of that all-capable Lieutenant of the 7th Division. "If I remember correctly, she was Lieutenant Tetsuzaemon Iba's mother, right?"
Some rather unpleasant memories had clearly surfaced. Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi scratched his hair, his brow furrowing as well, though his eyes remained nostalgic. "She always said that once I had this, I would spend the whole day not working, so she often forced me to be separated from Candice..."
Because of his bad habit of not knowing when to stop once he started playing, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, Rose, was not even allowed to use the violin to adjust his mood when he was feeling frustrated.
Although she would return the violin to him once he finished the day's work, Rose simply could not wait until then.
If he could not play when he wanted to, then no matter how hard he played when he was finally allowed to, it no longer felt the same.
"So I thought I might as well hide it myself before it got confiscated, and asked Urahara to make this storage space for me." Ever since he had obtained that secret storage space, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi would take his violin away from the barracks every lunch break and play to his heart's content somewhere Chikane Iba could not hear.
Although Chikane Iba would scold him for returning late from lunch, compared to the stress of being unable to touch his instrument for long stretches of time, that little bit of scolding was nothing.
Izuru Kira was dumbfounded. "Just for that?"
"This is very important!" Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi declared solemnly. "Besides, according to the rules, a Captain is allowed to expand or renovate the barracks according to their own needs! Your Captain must have remodeled something too, right?"
"No. As far as I know, Captain Ichimaru never changed the barracks." Izuru Kira pointed out the window. "Except... that tree was planted by Captain Ichimaru."
In the backyard stood a sturdy persimmon tree. Its branches stretched in every direction, heavy with fruit gleaming orange in the light.
Because Gin Ichimaru often went to the Kuchiki Clan to steal persimmons, Byakuya Kuchiki chose the best-growing tree in his courtyard and had someone send it to the Third Division barracks.
Servants responsible for transplanting the tree had come with it, but Gin Ichimaru said that whether it was planting or stealing, it only had flavor if he did it himself, so he refused the help of the Kuchiki Clan servants.
Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi gazed at the bright fruits. "Persimmons?"
"Yes, but they're the astringent kind. The Captain loved dried persimmons..." When Izuru Kira remembered eating dried persimmons himself, his expression turned bitter without his noticing. But when he thought of those precious memories with his Captain, his face softened again. "So every year around this season, he would make them by hand."
Thinking back now, Captain Ichimaru must have known long ago that he was going to leave. Apart from this persimmon tree, which someone else had sent him and which he truly loved, he had left no trace behind.
Before, because he had needed to focus on preparing for battle, Izuru Kira had deliberately avoided this sole proof that Gin Ichimaru had once existed. Only today did he realize that the tree had borne so much fruit.
Every time the season for making dried persimmons arrived, Gin Ichimaru would put aside all his work and devote himself fully to making them.
Gin Ichimaru would also hand the Captain's Seal to Izuru Kira and leave all official business entirely in his hands.
Although Izuru Kira's workload increased, Gin Ichimaru would not complain at all about that day's work afterward. Compared to usual, it was actually much easier.
Izuru Kira would handle the work of two people at an unhurried pace, occasionally stopping to go to the office window and look out at the backyard, watching Gin Ichimaru make dried persimmons together with the squad members and feeling the arrival of winter.
"Dried persimmons! If you add a little chopped walnut to cream cheese and sandwich it inside dried persimmons, the taste is truly wonderful..." Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi rubbed his fingers together and looked at Izuru Kira expectantly. "Do you know how to make dried persimmons too?"
"Well... I've watched Captain Ichimaru make them before. If I really had to do it, it shouldn't be a problem."
Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi finally became willing to set down the violin in his hands. "Then let's make them this year too! With so many beautiful fruits on the tree, it would be such a waste to let them go!"
Izuru Kira looked troubled. "But I don't really like dried persimmons..." It was not that he disliked the taste. It was just that eating persimmons always upset his stomach. But seeing how enthusiastic the other man was, he felt uneasy again. "Ah... sorry, I..."
"Izuru Kira... something's bothering you, isn't it?"
"Huh? Ah... yes." Izuru Kira nodded honestly. He had heard words like that many times before.
Even in the Third Division, where despair was the division's defining mood, his gloom stood out a little too much.
Many female squad members had shown him extra concern because of it, but after interacting with him and realizing that Izuru Kira truly was gloomy, they gradually kept a respectful distance.
"Music is a bridge between people. When you are drawn to music, it means my melody has already entered your heart." Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi gave a confident smile and carefully observed the changes in Izuru Kira's expression. "Come to think of it, you and Muten both seem like people with a lot on your minds."
"No..." Izuru Kira shook his head. "There are similarities, but... his strength is far beyond mine."
Although he had not seen the battle directly, every Shinigami had already learned that Muten Natsu had defeated Sōsuke Aizen.
"Strength is certainly part of it, but I think it has more to do with personality." Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi considered his words for a moment. "Both of you take guilt onto yourselves, but Muten Natsu does not close himself off."
Izuru Kira murmured, "Close himself off..."
"He doesn't reject other people's kindness, and he gives back in turn." Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi blinked. "That is how relationships between people work. You get to know each other by troubling each other. First, you entrust each other with small, insignificant things, then gradually more important things. Once there is enough trust, you become companions who can rely on each other in life and death, sharing happiness and worries together."
He didn't reject other people's kindness? Muten Natsu had not been like that in the past, especially during the period after Kaien Shiba's death.
Izuru Kira thought back. It seemed that after returning from the World of the Living, Muten Natsu had stopped resisting other people's help. Had something changed him... or someone?
Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi pointed at the violin. "It is like an instrument. Only through practice, again and again, can you produce results. If you put the instrument down yourself, then no matter how wonderful it is, it cannot make beautiful music on its own."
Izuru Kira seemed to understand something. "I think... I understand a little."
If he had honestly expressed that he wanted to follow Captain Ichimaru, perhaps Captain Ichimaru would have told him more of the truth.
Then what he received might not have been an abandonment born from kindness, but a chance to fight side by side.
It was precisely because he had been satisfied with mechanically obeying Captain Ichimaru's orders, clinging to the ease that came from depending on him, that things had ended this way.
Not wanting others to trouble him, and so not troubling others in return. That way of thinking was not wrong.
But always keeping himself closed off while still expecting a closer relationship with others was far too wishful.
"I'm glad you understand!" Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi patted Izuru Kira on the shoulder. "Then I'll leave the dried persimmons to you. The way I mentioned just now is guaranteed to be delicious! If there's no cream cheese here, I can go to the World of the Living and get some! I'll help too! How about it?"
So this was about the dried persimmons after all...
Izuru Kira sighed. "...All right. Let's try making them."
"Really!? Thank you!"
"No, you don't need to thank me... After all, this is something we do every year. Some of the squad members may be looking forward to it, just like you."
Izuru Kira looked up at the persimmon tree. Since Captain Ichimaru was no longer here, he would let this persimmon tree trouble him instead.
For a moment, Izuru Kira seemed to see Gin Ichimaru standing beside the persimmon tree again, hands tucked away, smiling as he looked up at the persimmons.
Complicated feelings mingled with the mournful melody beside his ear...
Wait.
Izuru Kira turned to look at Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, who had started playing again. "...Didn't you say you were going to help?"
Rose stopped playing. "Ah... I almost forgot."
Izuru Kira: "..." No wonder they confiscated his instrument.
"Of course I'll help! But the two of us alone can't possibly handle all this work, can we?" Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi turned slightly and beckoned. "Everyone is willing to help too, right?"
"Yes!"
"Of course!"
"Definitely!"
At some point, the Third Division squad members had gathered nearby.
A female squad member had tears in her eyes. "After the Captain left, I thought no one would ever make dried persimmons again. I'm so happy that everyone can gather like this again...! Thank you, Lieutenant Kira!"
With Sōsuke Aizen's sentence announced, more people had learned of Gin Ichimaru's efforts.
So the performance just now had been meant to draw more squad members over?
A faint smile appeared on Izuru Kira's gloomy face. "Then... I'll be counting on everyone."
"Actually, we secretly look forward to this every year! After all, this is the only chance everyone usually gets to gather together without worrying about seats or units."
"I was just telling everyone while we were cleaning this morning that it would be such a shame if the persimmons ripened and rotted like that."
"I'm so glad we can make dried persimmons together again~!"
Hearing everyone's friendly words, Izuru Kira gained a deeper understanding of what Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi had said earlier.
He really is a senior after all.
Izuru Kira thought this, and then saw Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi raise the violin again.
Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi smiled in complete satisfaction. "Leave the BGM to me."
...So in the end, it was still about playing.
Izuru Kira sighed. "Then could you at least play something cheerful...?"
The pieces Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi played always carried a weight that made Izuru Kira's mood sink.
"Sorry! But the moment I see you, inspiration comes one after another. I can't stop it no matter what..." Rose continued playing, turning the impression Izuru Kira gave him into melody through the violin. "Right now, I'm not the composer. I'm only the performer."
So it's my fault... Izuru Kira had thought Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi's playing was simply so masterful that it moved the heart. It turned out the music had been composed for him directly.
Listening to the gloomy music, Izuru Kira silently peeled persimmons and began making the dried persimmons that would give him a stomachache if he ate them. His expression grew gloomier still.
Perhaps because of the occasional lighter passage in the melody, whenever Izuru Kira looked toward the persimmon tree, the corners of his mouth would sometimes lift in a faint smile.
Once they were ready, he would send some to everyone.
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