Ninth Division's office was dead quiet.
Rukia stared in disbelief. "Captain Shunsui, you're joking, right?"
In her eyes, even if every captain in Seireitei betrayed them, Byakuya absolutely wouldn't.
"I wish I were joking, but I'm not." Shunsui scratched his hair and pointed at Soi Fong. "Her leg—Byakuya and Senbonzakura did that together."
Rukia couldn't help glancing at Soi Fong's leg—slender, pale… and carved over with bloody cuts, deep and shallow, almost ruined.
Soi Fong felt the stare and looked a bit stiff. "Don't know what Muramasa told that guy. He suddenly turned on us."
Ukitake coughed weakly and gave a wry smile. "Muramasa is Kuchiki Koga's zanpakuto. There is… family there. You could say they're of the same clan."
Rukia fell silent. At this point, of course she knew the ties between Koga and Byakuya. Byakuya even had to call Koga 'uncle.' From that angle, defection almost made sense. Even if the Shinigami lost, Byakuya's status wouldn't change.
Cole kneaded Soi Fong's thigh and chuckled. "Don't overthink it. From where I'm standing, that stiff-board Byakuya isn't the type to betray."
Rukia looked at Cole with hope.
Cole didn't let her down. "That guy almost killed you once for the sake of 'honor.' You think he'd throw Soul Society away over Koga?"
To him, Byakuya was definitely a siscon. If he could go that far against his own sister, that showed how much he prized clan honor and rules.
Rukia's face darkened. She ground her teeth and glared. "Did you have to use me as the example?"
Like it or not, after Cole's "comfort," the knot in her chest loosened. There had to be more to it.
Soi Fong cut in through gritted teeth, cheeks red. "How long are you going to keep squeezing my leg!?"
The thigh was a sensitive place. After being kneaded this long, heat was spreading through her whole body.
"Sorry, sorry," Cole offered with zero sincerity—then kept massaging.
That topic ended there.
Shunsui looked to Kisuke. "Let's skip Byakuya. Since you're here, it's time we launched a counterattack—take Seireitei back from the blades."
Kisuke nodded slightly. "With Cole's zanpakuto here, we might be able to take out the culprit, Muramasa—"
"Leave me out of it," Cole said lazily.
Renji blinked. "You're not going to help next?"
"Yup."
Even Soi Fong couldn't hold back. "You're not even hurt—why won't you fight?"
"Why does it have to be me?" Cole gave her a look and, in the same motion, peeled off her pink sock to rest his hand on her foot and heal it.
Soi Fong's face went apple-red. She wanted to refuse—but couldn't bring herself to speak.
Rukia bit her lip. "But Shunsui and the others are badly injured. If you don't—"
"So what if I don't? The world gonna end?" Cole swept a glance over the room. "Far as I know, besides the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, the Soul King has a special ops unit, right?"
The Shinigami present froze.
Rukia nodded, hesitant. "There… is such a unit."
It wasn't a big secret. Almost everyone knew the Soul King had a top-tier special force by his side—and every member was said to be very strong.
"Then why aren't they acting?" Cole said coolly. "If they moved, things wouldn't be this bad."
He didn't mind fighting blades—but he hated being used as a tool.
No one knew what to say. They'd considered so much—but not the Soul King's special ops.
Shunsui sighed. "Cole, you're not a Shinigami, so you don't know—those people protect the Soul King. They almost never involve themselves in Seireitei's affairs…"
"Then let the blades fight their way up to the Soul King." Cole cut him off. "I don't believe they'd still sit out then."
Shunsui gave a bitter smile and let it drop. Anything about the Soul King was taboo; he didn't dare give details about the Royal Palace—much less mention the Zero Division.
Rukia opened her mouth to persuade him again, but Cole simply pointed toward the depths of Seireitei and said coldly, "Besides the Soul King's spooks, Seireitei's got these so-called nobles. Why aren't they stepping up?"
He hadn't forgotten the contempt he'd felt back in the Tsunayashiro estate. So high and mighty—yet, now that Seireitei was in crisis, where were they? Why did it have to fall to him, a 'lowly human'?
"Nobles…" Rukia struggled for words.
In the end, Shunsui's lieutenant—Nanao, heir to one of the Five Noble Houses—spoke up, mortified. "Only I came from my family. The rest fled to Rukongai."
"What about the Tsunayashiro?" Cole asked.
"They ran to Rukongai, too…" Nanao wilted further, wishing she could bury her head in the sand.
The Four Great Houses of Seireitei held vast power and lived in splendor. And now? Apart from the Kuchiki, the other three hadn't even showed their faces.
Only Cole dared say it out loud; the Court has strict hierarchies. Even the most disgruntled common Shinigami wouldn't target the nobles as a group.
Yoruichi, just arriving, heard and flushed with shame. "Those good-for-nothings—every last one of them ran."
"Exactly," Cole drawled. "If the Soul King's unit and the Four Great Houses won't show themselves, why should I go die on the front line?"
No one could answer.
Soi Fong endured the tingling in her sole and snapped, "Then what are you here for—to watch Seireitei burn?"
"Of course not." Cole grinned, lightly scratching her arch. "I might hate those lofty types, but I don't want you, Ikkaku, or Yumichika getting hurt. You're my friends."
Soi Fong's ears went pinker. She kicked him in the face. "Sweet-talking brat—still bullying me."
She felt like he was toying with her… though she didn't exactly hate it.
Cole smiled, playing with her small foot as he healed. "So here's the deal. Until those 'above it all' people show up, I'm not that interested in tangling with blades."
He winked at Nanao. "You lot have 'divine tools,' don't you? Even without your zanpakuto, you'll manage."
Nanao nearly burst into tears. She did have the Ise family's heirloom Yata Mirror—but her reiatsu was too weak to use it.
Time slipped by, deep into night.
The office had long since emptied. Cole and the others left Ninth Division for a Seireitei safehouse—the same pocket-space where the Shinigami Transformation Ritual had been held.
Orihime dozed, swaying in a blue sling made by Bakudō #37: Tsuriboshi (Hanging Star). She'd healed so many today that she was drained.
On another Tsuriboshi, Soi Fong reclined, cheeks flushed, watching as Cole kept kneading her small foot. "Cole, it's been hours. Aren't you done!?"
His big hands on her little foot left her whole body soft and numb; she didn't want to move a finger.
"Almost," Cole said cheerfully. "Your foot and leg are so soft—great handfeel. Didn't expect that. It's… surprisingly therapeutic."
At first she thought nothing of it—then the more he talked, the stranger it sounded. Face burning, she kicked at him. "You little—are you even healing me!?"
She jolted—and realized the pain was gone. That only made her angrier. She pounced on him and started swinging.
Cole dodged and complained, "I finished three hours ago! You were the one enjoying it."
Soi Fong's face went even redder. She bit his shoulder hard. "Brat…"
Night settled in for real.
Finally driven off by a crimson-faced Soi Fong, Cole yawned and wandered toward the hot springs.
"Bakudō #37: Tsuriboshi!"
A fresh blue sling unfurled. After tidying up a bit, he headed for a pre-bed soak.
He stuck a foot in—and hissed. "Cold!"
He'd taken the rising vapor for heat—turned out it was chill.
A small head popped up from the icy spring—Sode no Shirayuki. She frowned at him, voice clear as frost. "Done playing with Soi Fong?"
Cole felt a twinge of guilt and swam over to hug her. "Jealous?"
"Hmph." She turned her head. "Why would I be? I'm just a zanpakuto. A tool. It's only normal if you don't care."
That jealousy was practically crystallized sugar. Cole stroked her snow-white hair and smiled. "How could I ever treat you as a tool? In my heart, you're one of a kind."
"What about my master?" Sode no Shirayuki stared up at him.
"Uh… also one of a kind…"
Hearing that, she huffed and pressed a kiss to his lips—icy reiatsu spread from her mouth, almost freezing him solid.
"What a bone-chilling kiss," Cole shivered, the hairs on his arms turning to ice. He still held her close, pinched her little nose, and grinned. "Don't be mad. I didn't forget you. When I made hammocks tonight, yours was the first, wasn't it?"
That finally pleased her. Curling in his arms, she whispered, "That's more like it… If you hadn't driven off that hateful Muramasa today, I might have died."
She could see it clearly—despite his talk of "liberating zanpakuto," Muramasa didn't treat them as comrades. He saw them as tools—disposable tools to rescue Koga. Bewitched by his power, most blades didn't notice.
"What are you saying?" Cole tapped her forehead and laughed. "You're my girlfriend—the softest part of my heart. Of course I protect you."
A faint blush colored Sode no Shirayuki's cheeks as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Then what if my master—Rukia—raises her blade at me, to cut me down and regain her Bankai?"
Cole kissed her back and chuckled. "Then I'll tie her up and spank her… Sode no Shirayuki is this cute and gentle—how could she bear to hurt you?"
She closed her eyes, flustered but happy, and let him press her down. Heat and ice tangled; soft sounds echoed over the spring.
Behind the mountain above the spring, Rukia peeked, face crimson. "That brat… bullying my zanpakuto again…"
Her favorite man. Her own zanpakuto. And they were doing that behind her back.
"Even if a zanpakuto is part of me, this is too much. I haven't even done that with Cole…"
Muttering, she suddenly sensed something and smothered her reiatsu, slipping into a corner.
A few seconds later, Soi Fong shuffled in, cheeks aglow—taking Rukia's former spot to shyly watch the spring's 'scenery.'
A few seconds after that, Soi Fong felt a presence and glanced sideways—meeting Rukia's bashful eyes.
(End of Chapter)
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