The dim glow of the screen flickered, and a creaking sound echoed inside the room.
Haggard—that was Tokinada Tsunayashiro right now.
"Hehe…"
Tokinada lay back in his seat, laughing a little foolishly.
"Higashino Shuuichi… what a fine batch of students you taught…"
Just moments ago, the First Generation Captain puppet he had been controlling—Sakahone Saizō—had lost.
Felled at the hands of Kuchiki Byakuya, whose face was icy, brimming with killing intent and rage. The countless Senbonzakura petals drifting through the air were Saizō's finest funeral.
That outcome had been within Tokinada's expectations from the start. He never believed a First Generation Captain puppet—one that had already lost its soul and existed only to be manipulated—could take down a real Gotei 13 Captain.
But what truly caught him off guard were those two seated officers of the Eleventh Division: the one named Madarame Ikkaku, and the one named Ayasegawa Yumichika.
One of them had already mastered Bankai, and with that overwhelmingly destructive power, was able to clash head-on with Saizō in Bankai.
The other… somehow had learned an absurdly powerful set of Kidō (Demon Arts). A mere Seventh Seat of the Eleventh Division, yet he could smoothly cast Kidō in the 80s—and even Hadō Bangō 90: Kurohitsugi (Black Coffin), which he could barely force out as long as he performed the full incantation.
Add to that Iba Tetsuzaemon, whose Zanjutsu was solid—and who, in the end, could even unleash a Bungetsu-giri (Crescent Moon Slash) from the side as support.
With the three of them working together, Tokinada—controlling the First Generation Captain Sakahone Saizō—failed to kill a single person from the moment Saizō appeared to the moment he was completely destroyed!
Not even a single civilian from Rukongai!!
Because when Yumichika realized something was off and rushed over, he had already secretly used Bakudō Bangō 58: Kakushitsuijaku (Summoning of the Tracking Sparrows) to notify nearby Tenth Division members to evacuate the civilians.
This was the basic emergency-response procedure Higashino Shuuichi had drilled into every member of the Hirugetsu Class until they could perform it reflexively.
Compared to Ikkaku and Iba Tetsuzaemon—two battle-crazed men who leaned toward fighting above all else—Ayasegawa Yumichika had taken Higashino Shuuichi's teaching the most seriously, and kept it closest to heart.
Some respect didn't need to be spoken aloud—it could be shown through action.
So Tokinada was furious.
He remembered that Shinigami's name: Ayasegawa Yumichika.
Because it was that very Shinigami—Yumichika—who, at the moment Saizō had the best chance to kill Ikkaku, used a "special-type" Zanpakutō that didn't match the Eleventh Division's vibe at all, and absorbed away the Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure) that had been restraining Ikkaku.
And that bizarre ability kept pushing forward. When the absorption reached full bloom, Yumichika nearly—nearly—managed to take down the Saizō puppet with nothing more than the status of a seated officer.
If not for the sheer gap in Reiatsu between them, that Saizō puppet probably wouldn't have lasted long enough for Kuchiki Byakuya to arrive with a group of Shinigami and clean up the aftermath.
"If I get the chance…"
Tokinada snorted.
He would make Ayasegawa Yumichika understand what the consequences were for ruining his plans.
That Shinigami named Madarame Ikkaku… seemed to be one of the people Yumichika valued most, didn't he?
Next time, Tokinada would personally kill Ikkaku right in front of Yumichika—then watch Yumichika struggle helplessly and pitifully before him!
But for now, he had something even more important to deal with.
Since Kuchiki Byakuya had appeared at that place exactly as planned, then it was time for Tokinada to set out on his end as well.
In a spotless white room, a faint fragrance drifted through the air.
"Fujin, you really don't need to do this yourself—please, let us handle it!"
A plainly dressed servant saw Kuchiki Hisana personally burning and blending incense in the room and hurried over, speaking anxiously.
Everyone knew the Clan Head's wife was in poor health. If anything happened during this… then every servant of the Kuchiki household would be as good as dead.
"You can't. This is a method I saw in the Seireitei newsletter. You haven't even read it—so you don't know how~"
Hisana shook her head and refused the servant's help.
In truth, she wanted to give her little sister a gift she made with her own hands—as a tiny, insignificant repayment for what she had done in the past.
It just so happened that recently, Fourth Division Vice-Captain Kotetsu Isane had published a simple method for making several kinds of incense used in the Human World in the Seireitei newsletter. Hisana read it and immediately wanted to try it herself.
She had examined it carefully. The method was simple—so simple that even she should be able to make it with ease.
The servants in the room remained worried about Hisana's condition and refused to leave. Hisana didn't bother with them and continued her work.
Before long, abnormal commotion outside interrupted her.
"What's going on out there?"
Hisana asked, confused.
Because her husband, Kuchiki Byakuya, had only just taken some Sixth Division Shinigami out to handle official business. The highest authority still present in the household was Kuchiki Hisana herself.
"It seems another Zanpakutō materialization incident happened outside. It's probably retaliation from that traitorous former Grand Blade-Hunting Chief, Higashino Shuuichi. He must be holding a grudge because Kuchiki Kōga-sama testified against him that day!
But it's fine, fujin. Before the Clan Head left, he stationed many Sixth Division Shinigami nearby, and there's also a unit in the house on standby. This kind of thing won't affect you."
Soon, a servant returned from outside and reported, even tossing in his own "unique" analysis.
Unbeknownst to him, that analysis only made Hisana more confused.
Because the ordinary Kuchiki servants didn't know this—but Kuchiki Hisana did: Higashino Shuuichi and the Kuchiki clan were actually on the same side. And the Shinigami who could cause Zanpakutō materialization was Kuchiki Kōga, not Higashino Shuuichi!
Why would Kuchiki Kōga activate his Zanpakutō's Bankai near the Kuchiki estate at a time like this?
And besides, Kuchiki Kōga didn't seem to have any reason to do so…
Unless Kōga and Byakuya—and the others—had a hidden plan they hadn't told her?
Hisana felt that was possible.
After all, she was just an ordinary person with barely any Reiatsu to speak of. In this household, she truly belonged to the kind who—just by staying alive—had already exhausted everything she had.
If Byakuya wanted to hide something from her, to keep her from knowing… then it would definitely be so she would worry less. It would be for her sake.
So the best thing she could do now was ignore whatever was happening outside, and let Byakuya and Kōga's plan continue to unfold.
If Byakuya hadn't let her know or participate, then she would simply act as if she knew nothing, saw nothing.
And just like that, Hisana convinced herself with ease.
She returned to her incense-making.
Only when all sound around her vanished—when everything fell into absolute dead silence—did she finally sense that something was wrong.
"Konami? Kakako…"
Hisana called out the names of the servants who had been with her in the room just moments ago, but no one answered. At some point, she had been left completely alone.
Nervously, Hisana looked around—and found that beyond the small area nearest to her, which was still the original room, everything else had become a vast snowy plain.
"Th-this is…"
Hisana's pupils tightened, because this scene was far too familiar. On countless nights, she had dreamed her way back to that snowy night.
And the moment her gaze reached the distant snowfield, the last bit of the room beneath her feet melted away as well, merging completely into the white expanse.
Even Hisana's breath came out as a murky white mist.
"Am I… dreaming?"
Hisana's voice trembled.
Then, deep within her field of vision, she saw a black dot.
In that instant, Hisana's heart clenched.
Because she thought she knew what that black dot was.
Yet she desperately hoped it wasn't.
But her feet still carried her forward, against her will.
One step. Two steps.
As she drew closer, as the image of that black dot sharpened, Hisana's pace quickened—until at last she broke into a run!
"No…"
Hisana sobbed softly.
She reached the spot, plunged both hands into the snow, and hauled that figure up, clutching them tightly to her chest.
She tried to warm that body—one that had long since lost all warmth—with her own.
It was a youthful face that resembled Hisana by eight parts out of ten.
A face etched deepest into Hisana's memory.
Her name was Rukia—Kuchiki Hisana's little sister.
It was on a heavy-snow night like this that Hisana—already feeling she could barely survive—had gritted her teeth and chosen to abandon the still-young Rukia, who had no ability to survive on her own.
On countless nights after that, in countless warm beds, Hisana had dreamed of this very scene.
She had dreamed of tiny Rukia, collapsed helplessly in the blizzard, reaching out to hold her—only to never find her.
Only, every time, Hisana would wake up just before she could clearly see the face of the person lying in the snow.
Maybe… maybe deep down, she had never wanted to believe it.
But this time…
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Rukia… Onee-san didn't mean it back then… Onee-san apologizes to you…"
Tears streamed unceasingly from Hisana's eyes, dripping onto the cold, rigid corpse in her arms.
Dream or reality no longer mattered to her. She only wanted to say the words she most wanted to say—the words she could never bring herself to say—and spill them all out at once.
And then, at that moment, an extremely ill-timed, grating laugh sounded behind her.
"What a wonderful picture~ I knew Kuchiki-fujin would never be able to forget that day."
Hisana turned her head—and saw a male Shinigami she had never met before.
Beneath, he wore a black shihakushō, but over it he had draped a pale-yellow noble haori bearing the crest of the Tsunayashiro clan.
That sinister gaze—one look was enough to make Hisana want to turn away.
"Who are you? Why are you here?!"
Hisana forced herself to endure the discomfort and demanded answers.
"Good question~
My name is Tokinada Tsunayashiro. I'm a noble as well—and also a member of the Five Great Noble Clans~ Though I'm merely an insignificant, low-ranking branch member…
Still, I share a great many common topics with the current Head of the Kuchiki clan, Kuchiki Byakuya~"
Tokinada stood in place, smiling as he spoke.
"You… share common topics with Byakuya?"
Hearing that Tokinada was from the Tsunayashiro clan—and seeing that he was indeed wearing Tsunayashiro garments—Hisana didn't completely drop her guard, but her mental defenses did ease by more than half.
No matter how hostile the Tsunayashiro and Kuchiki clans were toward each other, he was still just a low-ranking branch member of the Tsunayashiro. No matter what, he wouldn't dare do something bad to her, the wife of the Kuchiki clan head… right?
And he said he shared common topics with Byakuya—could he be another Higashino Shuuichi?
That was Hisana's honest thought.
With Higashino Shuuichi as a precedent—someone who had once nearly shattered Hisana's worldview—this guess didn't feel that far-fetched.
After all… could anything be more outrageous than the fact that Higashino Shuuichi, now hated by the entire Gotei 13 as an enemy of Soul Society, was actually an inside man?
"Of course~ Kuchiki-fujin may not know this, but my wife is also a commoner~"
Tokinada continued smiling.
As if he wasn't in a hurry at all.
"Your wife is also a commoner?
Really?
Could I… meet her?"
The moment Tokinada said his wife was a commoner, the last line of defense in Hisana's heart collapsed completely.
Because after all these years married into the Kuchiki clan, Hisana had never heard of many nobles in Seireitei—those with name and standing—who married a Rukongai commoner as a wife. There were plenty of commoner male Shinigami who married into noble houses, yes—but noble men who took commoner wives? Almost unheard of.
And this was the Tsunayashiro clan, one of the Five Great Noble Clans.
It made Hisana even more certain: this Tokinada Tsunayashiro must be an inside man. And if he made her relive this scene… maybe it was Byakuya's instruction?
Maybe Byakuya couldn't bear to let her keep these words trapped in her heart, so he asked this Tsunayashiro friend to help her untie the knot.
Hisana thought naïvely.
Some people were like that—protected too well by others, so they mistakenly believed the world was always kind.
And Tokinada Tsunayashiro's favorite thing in the world was to pierce that ignorant fantasy.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Kuchiki-fujin~"
Tokinada spread his hands with an air of regret, speaking as if he had no choice.
"Why? Is it because of the current position between our two clans, so it's inconvenient to meet?
That's fine. Then could you at least tell me… her name?"
Hisana offered understanding, because given the relationship between the Kuchiki and Tsunayashiro clans right now, private contact truly was inconvenient.
"Neither of those~"
Tokinada's smile didn't change.
"Because my wife, Kakyō… I personally killed her with my own hands~"
And yet, in the most teasing tone, he spoke the cruelest words.
In that instant, the smile vanished completely from Hisana's face.
Because she understood now—
This man before her was truly, unmistakably, malicious.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810