The next day, early morning—
The faint morning light drove away the haze of night.
The door opened, and Rosse walked out looking refreshed, his brows filled with the lazy ease that came after satisfaction.
Shiba Kukaku, who had already been waiting outside for quite some time, immediately stepped forward. With practiced movements, she draped the captain's haori over him and carefully straightened every fold of his Shihakusho, looking entirely compliant.
Before leaving, Rosse turned around and gently hugged Shiba Kukaku.
There was a trace of warmth in this embrace, far kinder than how he treated Kurosaki Masaki and the others.
After that, he left the Shiba residence with light, brisk steps.
After all, because of yesterday's farce, the matters awaiting his attention today were piled up like a mountain.
Still, as the drama gradually unfolded, he was very much looking forward to everyone's performances afterward.
Watching Rosse's figure disappear from sight, the obedient look on Shiba Kukaku's face instantly cooled. Replacing it was a calm, indifferent expression as she turned and pushed open the door to the room where Rosse had stayed the night before.
The moment she stepped inside, a murky stench rushed at her. Kukaku's gaze swept toward the center of the room.
That girl lay there, her body completely naked.
A flicker of surprise passed through Kukaku's eyes.
She had thought she would see something far bloodier, far more shattered.
But unexpectedly, aside from some bloodstains left behind where the body could no longer bear the strain, and the more severe bruising across her chest, the body was, for the most part, still intact.
At least in Shiba Kukaku's eyes, this already counted as Rosse holding back and not going too far.
Expressionless, she walked forward and began cleaning up the mess in the room.
After the one-sided brutal conquest that had taken place here yesterday, it was only natural that it needed to be tidied up.
During this, Kukaku noticed that Inoue Orihime had actually been awake for quite some time.
But there was no reaction at all.
The girl's originally bright, lively eyes had lost all focus, filled with a chilling emptiness and vacancy as they stared straight at the ceiling, as if her soul had already dissipated along with last night's violence. She was no different from an exquisite corpse.
Her pretty red lips were still stretched wide open, frozen in a stiff position that could no longer close, with even traces of blood at the corners of her mouth.
Seeing this, Shiba Kukaku paused her movements and gently shook her head. She walked over to the bed and reached out to pinch Inoue Orihime's chin.
No resistance, no trembling, only deathlike stillness.
Her fingers tightened, jerking upward.
With a crisp "crack!", Inoue Orihime's jaw, dislocated for who knew how long, was set back into place.
Yet even with the bone restored, the girl still maintained that slightly open-mouthed, vacant look, as if the muscle memory there had been completely fixed in place.
Looking at her like this, a second of regret flashed through Shiba Kukaku's heart.
'What a pity for that beautiful, alluring little mouth. In the future, even closing it might become a luxury.'
Of course, the greater likelihood was that this toy, whose novelty had not yet worn off, would be completely played out and discarded by Rosse in a couple of days, thrown away like trash.
Once it came to that point, when even her life was gone, whether her appearance was intact or not would no longer matter.
"When did you become like this?"
Just as Shiba Kukaku finished cleaning up and was about to leave with a basin of water, a low, complicated voice suddenly sounded at the doorway.
Yoruichi Shihoin stood there, her gaze heavy with pain.
"When did it happen?"
Shiba Kukaku paused slightly, not turning around at once. Instead, she tilted her head a little, as if pondering an interesting question.
A moment later, she slowly turned, her eyes icy and sharp as blades.
"Maybe when Aizen Sosuke had my brother and sister-in-law killed. Or maybe when the Kyoraku family and the Feng family joined hands in perfect understanding and nearly wiped out my entire clan. Or maybe when my brother and sister-in-law's first seven days of mourning weren't even over yet, and your little fangirl Sui Feng barged into my home trying to take my life. Or perhaps…"
She paused, the corner of her mouth lifting into a mocking curve as she looked straight at Yoruichi.
"It was when you came to my home back then, completely disregarding my feelings, only caring about pleading for your beloved little fangirl, asking me to forgive Sui Feng."
'Only now do you put on that heartbroken expression and accuse me of helping evil. Don't you think it's a bit too late?'
"I'm sorry about what happened to your family."
Yoruichi Shihoin frowned deeply, her gaze falling on the Shiba Kukaku before her, who showed no warmth even toward an old friend. An involuntary chill rose in her heart.
"But that's not a reason for you to fall this far. I broke my promise before, so the humiliation I suffered yesterday afternoon was my own fault. But what about this child? What did she do wrong?"
Yoruichi's eyes passed over Kukaku and landed on the girl on the bed, who looked like a broken cloth doll.
That miserable state instantly reminded her of Sui Feng. Although Inoue Orihime didn't look as badly off as Sui Feng had been, this wasn't lawless Hueco Mundo. This was Soul Society, a place that prided itself on rules and order.
Had she known the other party would suffer this, she should never have brought her to the Shiba residence yesterday.
At worst, she could have borne everything herself.
"Before you accuse me, answer me one question first. What did I do wrong?"
Shiba Kukaku looked at Yoruichi coldly, the mockery in her eyes growing even stronger.
'It's always like this. Always standing there with that air of righteous justice.'
'Whoever is weaker, that's where you shower your mercy, standing on the moral high ground to judge others.'
'That's how it was with Sui Feng before. Now it's Inoue Orihime, and it's still the same.'
"Have you ever thought about what they did before this? Maybe they were forced, maybe they were dragged in innocently, but once they stepped into this game, does the word 'innocent' still mean anything?"
Kukaku's voice suddenly rose several degrees, carrying resentment that had been suppressed for far too long.
"When my brother and sister-in-law were murdered back then, when my family was destroyed and I was left wandering the streets, wasn't I innocent too? At that time, where was your justice?"
"You didn't do anything wrong. You and I have both lived through misery. But that's not a reason for you to commit evil. Laying hands on someone who has no power to fight back, the you now makes me deeply disappointed, Kukaku!"
Yoruichi Shihoin did not choose to empathize with Kukaku, who had sunk into obsession, and instead continued to voice her anger.
In this world, who has it easy? Who hasn't been harmed? Wasn't she herself suddenly struck by disaster for no reason, forced to abandon everything and flee to the Human World?
No matter how tragic one's fate is, it's never an excuse to raise a blade against someone even weaker.
She had originally come to the Shiba residence this time to ask about Kurosaki Masaki.
After all, the few words Kurosaki Masaki had said yesterday still weighed heavily on her mind.
But now, after seeing Inoue Orihime in such a state, all those questions were pushed aside.
This Rosse, and this Shiba Kukaku who helped him do evil, made her feel repulsed and sick from the bottom of her heart.
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