Chapter 25 (Kumiko)

"I need special permission to go to the World of the Living," I bowed deeply, silently praying that Kenpachi would let me.

He let out a long, dry sigh and I knew that the answer would be no, "Shit, Kumiko. You know that I hate following orders just as much as any other person. But someone's gotta be here while I run around."

"Sir, I need to go—"

"After we crush these guys, you can go do whatever the fuck you like," He shrugged, "But that old rag of a Head-Captain is up everyone's ass ever since Ichimaru screwed up and let that orange-haired Ryoka escape."

I nodded stiffly, "Yes, sir."

Storming out of the office, I tried to think of ways to get a hold of Kisuke. Finding him in the World of the Living would have been easy but it was significantly harder to reach him from here, in the Seireitei.

There was also the matter of Central Forty-Six breathing down my neck the moment I try contacting him. So I couldn't do anything from here…I would have to wait until this Ryoka situation had passed.

I looked up at the sky where they had broken through hours earlier. There was only one family I had known that could do something like that—Kaien Shiba's. But why would Kukaku help a group of humans that had broken into the Soul Society?

And the bigger question that no one seemed to be asking was how had they broken into the Soul Society in the first place?

There were more questions than answers, and I was becoming increasingly frustrated by the barriers being thrown in my way.

Inside my office, I pushed my reports to the side and pulled out my files. I had been going them again, trying to recall anything that I might have missed years ago. I was hoping that looking at the reports with fresh eyes would have helped but I was still stuck.

Nothing.

"Damnit, Kisuke," I slammed my palms against the desk. If only I had gathered up the courage to leave all those years ago and found him. Maybe then I wouldn't be riddled with all these questions.

I had my hands through my hair when I noticed that a photo had slipped loose of my file. It was one taken long ago, when Kisuke and I had just started seeing one another. He wasn't in it—it had been a photo of me, Rika and Maki, Misago, and Nari.

I stared at the photo. Nari…the poor girl had always been so quiet. Who would have guessed that she was entwined in the conspiracy that nearly crippled the Soul Society.

I still remember how the light bled from her eyes as she clung to my blade. She had smiled, as if I had relieved her of some burden. Had she really found peace in those final moments?

Hisoka…Ai….

Hisoka been another soul taken by my zanpakuto, but who was Ai? Who was Zen? Kisuke and I had searched for them relentlessly but to no avail—and he had been gone before I could find out who had pinned this all on him.

I shut my eyes. Perhaps I was trying to cherry pick through the evidence. Perhaps Kisuke had been behind these murders all along—how else could I explain this Hogyoku thing he had created? Perhaps the answers had been in front of me all along and he was guilty.

No. I sat up and looked down at the photo again. It was one of the few ones I had of Rika and Maki—the rest had been destroyed after they had run away from Squad Eleven. I had been smiling, albeit wryly, because Misago and Rika had been so pushy about taking a photograph. Nari, Maki, and I had humoured them.

I couldn't believe that Kisuke was guilty or else it would mean that the lives in this photo had been ruined for nothing—including mine. There was too much blood on my hands for me to simply give up justifying it.

The sound of frantic footsteps caught my attention. I was already out of my seat when my office door was thrown open.

"Ma'am! Ikkaku…he's been transferred to Squad Four," The squad member huffed, "He—he was defeated!"

"Did we apprehend his attacker?"

"No—they were gone by the time we arrived. Yumichika…he's also down…"

I picked up my zanpakuto and stalked out of office. With the Captain and Lieutenant out on the prowl, and Yumi and Ikkaku out of action, I would have to put this snooping on the backburner.

"Send out the patrols. Have them report back every twenty minutes. You're point—set up in the admin offices and have the girls help you convey between me and our Soul Reapers," I ordered him. "I need to find and inform Captain Zaraki."

"Yes, Ma'am."

I flexed my fingers against the hilt of the sword. Several presences caused my knuckles to tingle—several presences that didn't belong here. It was time to see what these Ryoka were made of.