Suì-Fēng was the first to reach Kazuma's office, though she wasn't particularly happy about being there.
Even now, some part of her still resisted the idea of Kazuma as Captain-Commander, though she couldn't entirely explain why.
Maybe she was still holding a grudge over the time he had deliberately kept information about Yoruichi from her.
Whatever the reason, it hardly mattered.
Suì-Fēng was captain of the Second Division and Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō, so when the Captain-Commander summoned her, she came
Unless she someday found the courage to tell Kazuma, 'Fuck this, I quit,' she was stuck working for him.
Before she had even caught her breath, Kazuma gave her an order.
"Captain Suì-Fēng, go to the Human World immediately and bring Shihōin Yoruichi back to Soul Society. Don't waste any time."
His expression was unusually serious, serious enough that Suì-Fēng instinctively opened her mouth to complain, only to stop herself.
Kazuma wasn't joking.
Whatever had happened, it was clearly important.
"Understood."
She vanished in a flash, already racing toward the Twelfth Division as one thought kept circling through her head.
'What the hell happened? This might be the first time I've ever seen that bastard look this serious.'
Unfortunately, reaching the Human World on official business was never as simple as opening a Senkaimon and leaving.
Captain-class Shinigami had to place restrictions on their spiritual power to avoid disrupting the Human World, and then there was all the paperwork and procedure that came with it.
Suì-Fēng hated the entire process.
One of these days, she was going to corner Kazuma and make him come up with a less irritating system.
As for why he had sent her personally instead of simply contacting Yoruichi himself, the answer was probably appearances.
Kazuma could call Yoruichi directly over private matters without anyone caring, but this was official business involving the Captain-Commander and the head of the Shihōin Clan.
Going through the proper channels looked considerably better.
Apparently, being Captain-Commander meant caring about things like that now.
What a miserable job!
...
Meanwhile, every captain and lieutenant currently in the Seireitei had gathered in the First Division meeting hall.
"My, my. Everyone from lieutenant upward?" Shunsui strolled in wearing his usual lazy expression.
"What kind of disaster requires this many people?"
Complaining before a meeting had practically become part of his routine, but a gentle voice soon came from nearby.
"Captain Kyōraku, perhaps you should watch what you say."
Unohana Retsu smiled pleasantly. "This is Captain-Commander Kazuma's first emergency meeting on this scale. Something serious must have happened."
Her smile was as calm as ever, and for some reason, Shunsui found that slightly unsettling.
Of everyone present, Unohana might secretly have had the most reason to be bitter.
She had been a captain for thousands of years, yet Genryūsai had retired, Batsu'unsai had effectively retired with him, and the other original captains were now enjoying themselves in the Human World—fishing by the river, gambling together, eating hot pot, and generally living like people who no longer had jobs!
Unohana, meanwhile, was still working.
Batsu'unsai had even been shameless enough to brag about retirement directly to her.
Naturally, Unohana was delighted for her old friend.
Deeply, sincerely delighted!
She also wanted to know why the hell she was still clocking in.
"Whoa… there are a lot of people here."
Ōmaeda Marechiyo looked around in open amazement.
It had been a very long time since he had seen nearly every captain and lieutenant gathered in one place, and he craned his neck—to the extent that a man built like Ōmaeda actually possessed one—as he searched for Suì-Fēng.
She was nowhere to be seen.
Probably for the best.
If his captain had heard him gawking like a tourist, she would have considered it an embarrassment to the Second Division and beaten him on principle.
Nearby, Yachiru lay sprawled across Kenpachi's shoulder.
"Ken-chan! Do you think Kazuma's throwing a huge party? Maybe that's why he invited everybody!"
Kenpachi's face tightened. "Yachiru, could you stop inventing weird nicknames for the Captain-Commander?"
For reasons even Kenpachi himself couldn't explain, Kazuma triggered an instinctive fear response in him.
Usually, the sight of a strong opponent made his blood boil, but the sight of Kazuma did the exact opposite.
His fighting spirit simply disappeared—no excitement, no urge to challenge him, nothing at all.
It was like a mouse spotting a cat.
Momo glanced toward the Sixth Division's place in the room and frowned.
"Where's Captain Kuchiki?"
The spot was empty, which was strange enough on its own.
Renji had also been missing for quite some time, while Kira and Rukia claimed they had no idea where he had gone, and even Hitsugaya had been unable to tell Momo anything.
Before anyone could dwell on it, however, the doors opened and Rukia entered with Shiba Kūkaku.
Conversation stopped almost immediately as everyone turned to stare.
Some recognized Kūkaku while others clearly didn't, but the same question seemed to cross half the room at once: why was the head of the Shiba Clan attending a Gotei 13 officers' meeting?
"Lieutenant Kuchiki?"
Several people looked toward Rukia for an explanation.
Rukia blinked, glanced around the room, and then seemed to realize what she had done.
"Oh. Sorry, wrong room." She grabbed Kūkaku by the arm. "I was supposed to take her to the Captain-Commander's office."
With that, the two hurried back out, leaving the meeting hall silent for a moment as everyone stared after them in mild bewilderment.
Shunsui, however, had stopped looking amused.
He nudged Ukitake beside him. "Jūshirō, something's wrong."
Ukitake glanced over, and Shunsui lowered his voice.
"Byakuya isn't here. Suì-Fēng isn't here. And now Shiba Kūkaku suddenly shows up. Byakuya is head of the Kuchiki Clan, Kūkaku represents the Shiba, and if Suì-Fēng is missing because Kazuma sent her after Yoruichi…"
That would bring in the head of the Shihōin Clan as well.
Shunsui's usual relaxed demeanor vanished as his eyes narrowed.
"What exactly happened that made Kazuma start gathering the leaders of the Great Noble Clans?"
...
The meeting hall had gone unusually quiet, and almost everyone looked tense except Kōga, who sat with his usual composure and his eyes half-lidded.
He had already formed a few suspicions of his own, but the matter was far too sensitive to discuss in front of so many people.
"Captain Kōga," Shunsui finally asked, breaking the silence, "do you know where Captain Kuchiki is?"
As a senior member of the Kuchiki Clan, Kōga seemed the most likely person present to know what Byakuya was doing. Kōga merely shook his head.
"Sorry, Captain Kyōraku. Byakuya left early this morning. I don't know where he went."
That wasn't entirely true, but Kōga had no intention of sharing his guesses.
Better to let Kazuma explain everything himself.
Minutes passed, and the waiting officers gradually grew restless.
"What is the Captain-Commander doing?"
"Everyone's already here. Are we just supposed to keep waiting?"
Before the grumbling could grow any louder, Rukia rushed back into the hall.
Every head turned toward her, expecting Kazuma to appear behind her, but instead she announced.
"Captain Unohana, Captain Kyōraku, and Lieutenant Ise—the Captain-Commander wants the three of you in his office first."
Then she turned and hurried away again.
The room immediately fell into another round of confused murmuring.
First Rukia had shown up with some mysterious woman, and now Shunsui, Unohana, and Nanao were being called away separately.
Whatever Kazuma was doing, he certainly wasn't making it easy for anyone else to follow.
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