"Old Man Yama, you shameless bastard! You fight dirty! What happened today will go down in history as one of its darkest pages! I was forced into this!"
Kazuma's furious roar echoed through the meeting hall, but it changed nothing.
The succession ceremony was already complete.
Everything was settled.
Kazuma stood there in despair, reduced to impotent rage.
"History?"
Yamamoto snorted.
"Write whatever you like. I couldn't care less about something that meaningless."
From this moment onward, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni was officially retired.
Admittedly, losing two-thirds of his pension hurt.
But compared with finally throwing off the burden of Captain-Commander, it was worth every coin.
Yamamoto opened a Senkaimon in the middle of the meeting hall and stepped through without looking back.
His final words rang through the room.
"Everyone, I'll see you in the Human World!"
Batsu'unsai immediately jumped to her feet.
"Bastard! Don't you dare run! You still haven't paid me!"
Before anyone could react, she chased him straight through the Senkaimon.
The remaining captains stared at one another.
That was it?
The Gotei 13 had just changed leadership like that?
And judging from Batsu'unsai's last words, there was clearly some kind of financial arrangement involved.
What money?
Why did the former Captain-Commander owe her?
What exactly had happened behind the scenes?
Was this the corruption of human nature or the collapse of morality?
The meeting hall fell silent.
Every captain slowly turned toward the newly appointed Captain-Commander.
Kazuma immediately grew uncomfortable.
"What are you all staring at?"
He touched his face awkwardly.
"Do I have flowers growing on me?"
No one looked away.
Then a suspicious figure quietly edged closer.
Kōga.
The traitorous student leaned toward Kazuma and whispered with an ingratiating smile,
"Sensei, everyone's waiting for you to dismiss the meeting."
Kazuma's appointment might have been rushed, ridiculous, and borderline farcical, but the authority of the Captain-Commander was real.
Whether he liked it or not, from this moment onward, Kazuma was the man at the top of the Gotei 13.
"Meeting dismissed."
The tension in the room immediately eased.
Kazuma rubbed his nose, his feelings complicated.
Even now, he hated acknowledging the reality of the situation.
But if he kept standing there in denial, all these captains would just continue waiting around like idiots.
So after one last internal struggle, he gave the order.
The captains bowed respectfully, then began filing out.
That was when one particularly sneaky figure tried slipping away with the crowd.
Kuchiki Kōga.
Unfortunately, Kazuma noticed.
Just before Kōga reached the door, a hand grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back.
"My dear student…"
Kazuma smiled.
"And where exactly do you think you're going?"
He pulled Kōga closer.
"Don't rush off. Come here and let your teacher show you some proper affection."
Then came a sinister laugh.
"Hehehehe…"
The sound echoed through the emptying hall like the cackle of a third-rate villain.
Kazuma froze.
'Wait.'
His expression changed.
"Shit. I sound like the villain."
He abruptly slapped himself across the face.
He was a righteous character!
A shining beacon of justice!
How could he laugh like some creepy bastard plotting murder in a basement?
Again.
Kazuma cleared his throat and put on what he believed was a warm, sunny smile.
"Hehehehe…"
Same sound.
Kazuma's smile vanished.
Something was wrong.
Apparently, the universe had automatically corrected his alignment.
He really had become the villain.
And from Kōga's perspective, that certainly seemed accurate.
"No."
Kazuma frowned.
"This is nine parts wrong out of ten."
He cleared his throat again.
"Hehehehe…"
Still evil.
Kōga was already sweating.
His legs were trembling.
That laugh was fucking terrifying.
'I'm finished.'
With Batsu'unsai already gone to the Human World, there was no one left to save him.
Another beating seemed inevitable.
Kazuma, however, had temporarily lost interest in beating him.
He needed to understand why every laugh suddenly sounded evil.
If he couldn't fix this, how was he supposed to laugh normally ever again?
"My good student, you can leave now."
Kazuma tested the words calmly.
"Go wherever you need to go."
Then he laughed.
"Hahaha…"
Kazuma blinked.
"Huh?"
Kōga looked as though he'd been granted a royal pardon and immediately turned to flee.
"You treacherous student! Get back here and take your beating!"
Kazuma shouted.
Then—
"Hehehehe…"
The evil laugh returned.
Kōga stopped dead.
Kazuma's eyes narrowed.
"Go."
"Hahaha…"
"Come back."
"Hehehehe…"
"Leave."
"Hahaha…"
"Get back here so I can beat you."
"Hehehehe…"
Kazuma repeated the experiment several times.
Eventually, the pattern became obvious.
Whenever he intended to beat Kōga, his laughter automatically turned villainous.
If he had no violent intentions, it sounded perfectly normal.
What the hell?
Kōga was suffering through every second of it.
He didn't know whether he was allowed to leave or supposed to stay.
It felt like someone pointing a gun at his head, repeatedly switching between, I'm going to shoot you and Nah, you can go, purely for entertainment.
"Holy shit."
Kazuma stared at him.
"Did this brat unlock some kind of cheat ability?"
Was becoming Captain-Commander secretly giving him a villain buff whenever he disciplined his students?
But Yamamoto had beaten Shunsui and Ukitake plenty of times without suddenly sounding like an evil overlord.
None of this made sense.
"Whatever. Get lost."
Kazuma finally waved him away.
"And bring Rukia here."
He could investigate this strange phenomenon later.
There was plenty of time to beat Kōga in the future.
For now, Kazuma was still angry.
Very angry.
If Kōga couldn't serve as his punching bag, then unfortunately Rukia would have to make the sacrifice.
What were students for, after all, if not occasional stress relief?
Besides, Kazuma wanted to test whether the same strange laugh happened when he considered beating her too.
Kōga, already mentally exhausted from the repeated threats, misheard Kazuma's order and instinctively answered,
"Yes…"
His heart sank completely.
"Why are you still standing there?"
Kazuma stared at him like he was an idiot.
"Get moving."
Was this brat actually asking for another beating?