A tense silence hung between myself and my new assistant as we walked through the Seireitei. It wasn't due to any fear of her being subject to a similar fate to Kageroza, or her having been fully informed of my status as a time traveler, or even anything I did, truthfully. It was due to the whispers of the Shinigami we passed by, and the nature of what they were whispering about.
"He has a Squad now? Do we call him Kurosaki-taicho?"
"You think the orange was really necessary? I mean, look at that Squad symbol."
"How do you think I could get into his Squad? I wonder if I can submit a transfer request."
"What if his Squad just becomes a way for him to keep his harem together? It'd make it less troublesome to keep everyone's schedules open if he's the one that makes them."
"No way, you think Yamamoto-soutaicho would drop his pay just to be in Kurosaki-taicho's Squad? They're gonna rule the Gotei like King and Queen."
"Who's the Queen in that scenario?"
"Kurosaki-taicho, no question. He is totally a brat."
"But doesn't Kurosaki-taicho always win their spars?"
"Why do you think he's a brat? He gets all confident because he can win a physical fight, but Yamamoto-soutaicho knows how to get him all whimpery and it keeps him on a leash."
"Oh, true, true." …Sometimes I hated Hollow hearing.
Nozomi had been stuffed into a uniform that was designed by a trio of people who took far too much pleasure in messing with others and was accepted by an old man too exhausted by other matters to really pay attention to what those nutjobs did. With the justification that Nozomi should be easily distinguishable as War Preparation Assistant, she was not dressed in standard Shinigami robes. Kisuke had proposed the argument that each group that was under the Gotei 13 umbrella but not directly Squad members (like the Stealth Force and Kido Corps) wore unique uniforms, therefore anyone part of the War Preparation group needed their own unique uniforms. It was my belief that Yamamoto didn't even read what the reasons were for the uniform, he just saw the words 'War Preparation' and blindly agreed so as not to deal with it. It was also my belief that Kisuke predicted that, but provided reasoning anyway for shits and giggles.
If only I was wrong, as the idea behind the combined suggestion of Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Unohana was that, since everyone knew I was the War Preparation Leader, Nozomi's uniform should make people instantly think of me. Her shihakusho, rather than being black and white, was black and orange, and with a pair of white cloth sashes that crossed over her chest to mimic my armor. Around her right bicep was a Lieutenant Badge, though with orange cloth binding it, and rather than a Squad number and associated flower, it instead displayed the kanji for war. Rather than standard hakama, she wore what was basically the equivalent of hotpants, again with orange cloth underneath rather than white. Her zanpakuto was at her hip, but she hadn't awakened to her Shikai yet. It would likely take a few more days before she can call it out, but thankfully we wouldn't need to nearly kill her again to figure out what it does.
I had brought her with me to familiarize her with the layout of the Seireitei, as well as formally introduce her to most of the people she'd be working with. We had gone over the specifics of what I would expect out of her while we were clothes shopping a week ago. We had all felt it was better to let her settle in a bit before having her start working. To her dismay, the home she had been provided was the abandoned home Rurichiyo and her bodyguards stayed in, so we were neighbors.
The tasks I had decided to leave to her once she fully picked up the role were to pick up and drop off my paperwork from Kisuke's shop each morning, then go through them and sort them by Squad. Since the paperwork from any arrancar not named Halibel was purely me going to Hueco Mundo myself to check in on progress before writing it down, Nozomi's basement was installed with a Garganta she could use to enter and leave Hueco Mundo. I had made the executive decision to not let Kisuke enroll her in Karakura High, and instead had her spend her days going through all of my older reports to get an idea of what I wanted each Squad to improve in and how much they were expected to improve. I had also made it clear to her that she was free to come up with her own suggestions and discuss them with me. If there was anything I thought was a good idea, I then let her handle the paperwork and execution herself.
"I swear I was not involved at all in the process of creating your uniform." I apologized.
"Pervert." She muttered, knowing I would hear it even if it was under her breath. It had not taken long for me to remember that was almost akin to a default response from her, especially if she was in a bad mood.
"If Yama hadn't already approved that, I would have let you wear a normal uniform."
"Pervert." I hung my head.
"…At least you're not wearing my actual clothes, I'm certain Yoruichi would have tried if she knew that Yamamoto wouldn't actually check what was submitted."
"Perverts." She amended.
"There's no way to escape the rumor mill, by the way." I sighed. "They honestly don't have anything else to do but chat amongst themselves, attempting to argue against it just makes them more invested."
"Perverts." Her tone seemed to have an air of understanding, so I decided I would take whatever form of communication I could get.
"Next on the list is Squad Nine, by the way. The Captain is Kensei Muguruma, he's a Vizard like Shinji." Still giving me the passive-aggressive treatment, my assistant nodded. "The Lieutenant is Shuhei Hisagi, but there's another Vizard named Mashiro Kuna who calls herself a 'Super Lieutenant'. The only difference between them is that Mashiro commissioned her own badge out of gold and Kensei only gives her enough paperwork to shut her up. I've been told it's a very specific amount to prevent her from getting bored with too much or going back to bothering him if it's too little." Another nod. "Since you haven't actually seen it yet, you'll be joining me when I pull Shuhei away for training. I'll be mostly talking with him because I believe he's being an idiot. If there'll be any sparring, it will only be if he's unlocked Bankai yet. In my time, he only used it on extremely specific occasions, which is best, but getting more practice in is always better."
"His Bankai is one better rarely used? Does it have an easy-to-discern counter?" She wondered. Ah, that was good. Giving her something to pick apart apparently was a way to get her to come out from her shell.
"I can't think of any counters for it, actually." I shook my head. "It chains his reiatsu and that of a single target's together, then forces both into a state where the pooled reiatsu will heal any injury inflicted unto either against their will." Purple-red eyes flicked to me in confusion.
"…I don't understand, that sounds exclusively beneficial for the enemy. They receive Hisagi-fukutaicho's reiatsu on added on top of their own, and they can drain that to heal any of their injuries."
"It's the exact opposite, actually. His Bankai is a death sentence." My grave warning filled the space between us. "It heals any injury received, temporarily making both Hisagi and his target immortal while it's active, so the only way you can disconnect yourself is if he decides to deactivate his Bankai. And it takes from your shared pool to heal injuries from either party, so you can't just wring him out. You cutting him down will drain you both, him cutting you down will drain you both, and either of you cutting yourselves down drains you both. Eventually, neither of you will have anything left in the tank, and then neither of you will survive any hit from a fresh enemy that comes in after the Bankai comes down." I caught the girl's body tense and her stride stutter slightly at the information.
"I see." Nozomi gulped. "Then it's because it was rarely suited for the situation, if you were nearly constantly fighting hoards of enemies." She shuddered slightly, likely hung up on the image presented to her. "…Would even you be vulnerable to a Bankai like that?" I nodded.
"I might be able to forcefully break it using Sklaverai, but I don't have much confidence in that. My only other idea would be to tie him up in a Bakudo and try to outlast his patience." My shoulders shrugged. "Honestly, if I didn't already know that You-Know-Who can shatter Bankai, I would have it that Shuhei would be the one to take him out." The girl peered at me hotly from the corner of her eye at that.
"Have you figured out who will?" She challenged. I turned away as I winced. The only other person who knew the details of the plan thus far was Kisuke, and I planned for it to stay that way. She had made her displeasure of that clear, questioning why I allowed her input on everything else, but not that. My decision didn't stem from any lack of trust or malicious intent, which I had told her. There was just nothing she would be able to provide on that standpoint. She didn't have the unbound paranoia of Kisuke to consider every little thing and be willing to stoop to any low necessary to accommodate. Tell Kisuke what boxes needed to be checked for victory, and he would come up with something that could achieve it. The green-haired Mod Soul, I was certain, couldn't match that level of ruthlessness. Kisuke would decide therapy could be had for those that survived and order everyone to desecrate corpses so they could not be revived. Nozomi would balk and scream at the mere thought.
Truly, the only reason I included Kisuke yet not Kyoraku was that I knew it was binary with Kisuke. If I said we needed a plan where everyone survived, Kisuke would do everything he could to meet the demand. Kyoraku, however, would likely doubt the likelihood of achieving it and quietly wait until it was too late for me to stop him before sacrificing those he felt he had to.
"The more I tell you, the more you'll try to get involved." I explained, not for the first time. "Kisuke is one of, if not the most cautiously prepared individual I know. He's smart enough to notice things I don't, he'll do everything in his power to stay inside the lines I set for him, and most importantly, he's willing to do whatever he needs to win." I thought about it for a second. "Hypothetically, if the plan demanded that we had to let several Shinigami get tortured, could you accept it?" She jumped back in horror.
"Absolutely not!" She shrieked. I let my eyes fall onto hers.
"Kisuke would." I stated simply. Not pointedly, or accusingly. No indicator that there was an issue with her morals. "Once upon a time, I would have agreed with you. But after what I've been through, I'd much rather stitch their wounds than bury their bodies." A snarl left her.
"How you win matters just as much as winning itself. Do we even deserve the victory if we stoop to such extents?" I shifted my gaze to the road in front of us at her words.
"Ask me that question for a war we haven't already lost before." Fell from my mouth. In my peripheral, I saw her flinch from the reminder.
The rest of the walk to Squad Nine was spent in far colder silence.
When we stepped inside, we turned many heads. Just as quickly, the attention ripped away from us, likely catching the tension between us and not wanting any part of it. I led Nozomi through the Division until we reached the shared office between Kensei and his Lieutenants. Pulling the door open brought all three to turn to me. Kensei sat directly opposite the door, with Shuhei on his left and Mashiro on his right. Mashiro's desk being connected to the silver-haired man's was likely her doing. Just as likely, he had fought her on it until he realized the uselessness of it and gave up. Oddly, the tattooed lieutenant stiffened as soon as he recognized me, eyes widening and pupils contracting. His gaze snapped to his Captain before returning to me, and he gulped heavily.
"No." Kensei grunted firmly before immediately returning to the paperwork in front of him.
"You have absolutely no idea why I'm here." I pointed out.
"And I plan to keep it that way. Get out of my Division before a Hollow comes out of the floorboards or something." At his resistance, I snorted.
"If anything came out of the floor, it wouldn't be a Hollow."
"Which is exactly why I think that would happen with you. Get your bullshit spawn point out of my division before something happens." Shuhei and Nozomi both twitched their heads to the side in confusion. Their reactions furthered when I burst out laughing.
"Alright. Kensei, this is Nozomi, my new assistant. Corroborate with her on the Ninth's training while I nab Shuhei." There was no hesitation whatsoever in the militant man grabbing his subordinate by the collar of his top and hurling him over the desk towards me.
"Bye. I'll send her out when we're done, don't come back here." He declared. Dazedly, Shuhei climbed to his feet to stand by me. At the same time, Nozomi kept a neutral deadpan while she stepped up to Kensei's desk and kneeled down to start talking shop. I turned and waved for the tattooed man to follow me as I left the office. He rushed up to fall into step with me.
"This wouldn't happen to be related to the Seireitei Bulletin, would it?" The Lieutenant asked with resignation.
"I'd have waited for your shift to be over if it were." I confirmed.
"Considering you've more or less adopted a schedule, why don't you do so now?"
"I normally do. School's out for a holiday and I didn't want to waste the free time."
"Could…you not have spent the day with your girlfriends?" He wondered.
"If I do this now, then I have the full weekend to spend with them. Thanks to Kisuke, my phone now has two phone numbers, one of them being an emergency line all of the Captains have access to. Thanks to that, I can spend the weekend with them with a guarantee of no interruptions unless someone is dying."
"What if someone calls you for a non-life-threatening emergency?" He offered. I laughed, low and threateningly.
"If that ever happens, I assure you, someone's life will be threatened." The 'who' did not need to be explained. "I've already had a date night be interrupted once, and technically I killed over two dozen zanpakuto and an asshat of an exiled noble in retaliation."
"N-n-noted." He gulped. "Though, I am getting additional training with Muguruma-taicho and Kuna-fukutaicho. You could have selected someone else for today, perhaps Marechiyo-fukutaicho. He…really needs it."
"I go from top down, Shuhei. Sure, I'm slightly influenced by convenience and personal bias, but it's more effective to strengthen the strong first." It went without saying that Marechiyo did not fit above the lieutenant who already possessed Bankai in that order.
"…K-Kurot-"
"I can't go near the 12th with how much surveillance there is around it." I shot down. "And I honestly can't do anything for Nemu or Nanao. Nemu is an artificial soul with abilities given to her by Kurotsuchi, not adopted via zanpakuto. Nanao is a Kido specialist, and while I know Kido spells, that's different than having the mastery necessary to screw around with them. Past that, I know about her ceremonial sword, but Kyoraku has that hidden away somewhere anyway and it's specialized to the point that it's useless to practice with." The dark-haired man blinked with the shock of someone discovering profound information. Right, Nanao's sword was a family secret.
"I-I see. But-"
"Why are you fighting this so much? It doesn't seem like you to be afraid of training. Which is a bit ironic, all things considered." He winced at my question, turning away in embarrassment.
"I-I'm less afraid for my training as I am…concerned when you're in my Division." He muttered the latter part.
"…Why?" I asked, completely dumbfounded. He kicked at the ground, the two of us having paused in our stroll.
"…I'm scared for my Captain." He revealed.
"…I'm…only getting more confused."
"The last two Captains I've had, you've outed for plotting treason and decapitated in front of me." He spoke just barely above a whisper. "And the one I just got has a known history of having been banished from the Soul Society for crimes forced upon him that he couldn't realistically be faulted for." That…was a pattern that made concerning amounts of sense.
"I'm not going to kill Kensei. I'm the reason he was pardoned and placed back into his position." I attempted to reassure. "Though I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to ask you if such a pattern exists because there is a terrible vetting process for Captaincy or if there's fundamentally a reason so many people have problems with the Soul Society."
"My answer is that your distaste for Central 46 is nowhere near as hidden as you think it is." He answered blankly.
"That's impressive since I was trying to scream it from the rooftops." I snickered at his stunned expression. "You can't seriously believe that I thought I was subtle by openly refusing to go to court with the Tsunayashiro's and telling C46 that I don't care if they fire me."
"…I don't think you want to know what the Gotei thinks."
"You're absolutely right. Half the reason I have Nozomi as an assistant is so that I can distance myself from the gossip."
"You're the one with a podcast talking about your life." A small smile rose on his face.
"If anyone gets the balls to ask me who's the top between Yamamoto and I, they will never be seen again." I smiled sweetly back.
"Fair." His smile was far stiffer at my words. "I appreciate the assurance that you're not going to decapitate every Captain of mine. And that you're not going to kill Muguruma-taicho." He added as an afterthought. "So, what is my training? I haven't managed to unlock Bankai quite yet. I can summon Kazeshini, and I've been fighting him, but I haven't defeated him yet."
"Kazeshini will be involved in this, but in name mostly." I crossed my arms over my chest. "The biggest issue you're going to be working out with me is your fear of yourself." Instantly, the lieutenant cringed, his face twisting in grief. A part of me was grateful that Shuhei was one of the extreme few who didn't need the talk about zanpakuto. Though, he always took his awareness a bit too far.
"Am I…really wrong to?" He attempted to argue. "My zanpakuto spirit is a bloodthirsty sadist, and my Shikai is a weapon specifically designed for taking lives. Both of those had to have come from somewhere."
"Your zanpakuto spirit hates you, and is not necessarily bloodthirsty. The shape of your Shikai is far less telling of who you are than what its abilities are. Honestly, if you wanna focus on shape, I'll remind you that scythes are famously only used for farming wheat." I countered.
"Scythes may have been designed for harvest, but it's also famously a weapon synonymous with the Grim Reaper." Shuhei seemed to focus on shape for now. I figured it was because it was the easier topic of discussion. My eyes rolled at his logic.
"Have you considered that maybe it has that shape because you are a Shinigami? That you focused so much on becoming one that your Shikai took the shape of what you felt was the weapon of a Death God?"
"And yet mine is the only one shaped that way? There's not a single other Shinigami with a scythe zanpakuto, that has to be telling of something." The tattooed man questioned. I snorted with amusement.
"I'd say that has more to do with how awkward of a weapon a scythe is in combat than anything else. Even you use Kazeshini as more of a throwing-type weapon than a slashing-type. Just because there's iconography linking it to death doesn't mean it's actually designed for taking lives. If anything, I'd actually say, thanks to your Bankai, that you have a zanpakuto with the least inherent killing ability." A slightly irritated breath left Shuhei at my comment.
"I might have something to say about that if I even knew what my Bankai did. Don't tell me." He warned, though I wasn't going to anyway. "In any case, I felt that a scythe was synonymous with death, and then my Shikai became a scythe. That's the important part, and you know it just as well as myself."
"The important part," I took the opportunity, "is far more about what your zanpakuto spirit is like, rather than your Shikai. My Hollow blade has a gap in the center of the blade, any none of us really even know why. In contrast, Shiro is driven by his instincts to dominate others, form a pack, and relax where he can. All of that is his version of my desire to keep those I care about safe and enjoy their presence."
"Fine." Shuhei clearly wasn't happy to be discussing his zanpakuto, but seemed to acknowledge that I wasn't going to let him drop it. "Then in what way could Kazeshini being a crazed psychopath be explained as anything other than me being the same?"
"Well that's easy." I answered. "He's only a psychopath to you. He only relishes in seeing you in agony. He only ever is antagonistic to you."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" He huffed as he crossed his own arms over his chest. "That I hate myself?"
"Yes." The quickness of my confirmation visibly caught the lieutenant off guard. "Shiro used to be violent and antagonistic to me for two reasons. First, as a Hollow, the only way he knew to get stronger was under threat of death. He constantly threatened to take over my body because it gave me motivation to get strong enough to stop him from doing that. Second, I constantly treated him as an enemy because he was a Hollow, and that made him lash out. Tosen tried to teach you to be cautious of your capabilities of destruction, to be conscious of what you could do so that you would keep a closer eye on your strength. You took that too far and feared your own strength. You fight afraid of maiming your opponent, you fight afraid of failing to perform your duties, and you fight afraid of what you would do if you didn't keep yourself in check."
"…Which explains Kazeshini how?" He attempted to deflect with skepticism, but he only ended up providing the final nail in the coffin.
"You taught yourself to be afraid of your own power, and Kazeshini is your power. What is he to do but become your personal monster? What is he to do but turn into the perfect image of what you're afraid of your power turning you into? You're afraid of unchecked strength turning you into a heartless monster, so Kazeshini became a heartless monster. And all of that only becomes a self-fulfilling curse where you reject him further because of what you think he represents, and he lashes out even more for being rejected." His automatic response was to scoff in disbelief.
"What, so everything will be resolved if I stop treating him like a psychopath?"
"Honestly? Probably." Once again, my quick response nearly sent him into complete mental shutdown. "As long as you actually stop viewing him and your power as something monstrous, then absolutely. If you just do it for the sake of doing it, then nothing changes."
"That's easy for you to say." Shuhei tried to play off. "I know from your podcasts that Shiro never meant to actually take over."
"If you listened to my podcasts, then you would remember that I didn't know that." I glowered at him. "I haven't gotten there yet, but the first time I accepted Shiro, it was after I fought him for three months and finally realized I felt no lethal intent in his blade. It was only four years later that I learned the truth of my heritage and properly accepted him as part of my zanpakuto rather than simply being a Hollow residing in my soul. I'm trying to help you expedite that process." The lieutenant met my gaze for several long moments, uncertainty wavering within his eyes.
"…Why aren't you afraid of what you can do?" He whispered. "Your strength is so much more than mine, than Muguruma-taicho's, than even Yamamoto-soutaicho's. How are you not afraid of hurting someone without meaning to?" A smile slowly crept onto my face, small and fragile.
"Because it's my power. Because I know every ounce of it is from my desire to protect. I would hate to hurt anyone I care about, which means that I know, at my worst, Zangetsu wouldn't let me hurt someone I cared about." My eyes fell away as I continued. "I have my moments where I'm out of control, I won't deny that. Zangetsu's been affected by those moments, I'm also aware. But, in the most blind of rages I've ever been in, I've never done anything to someone I cared about that couldn't be easily recovered from."
"You make it sound so simple." The tattooed man breathed.
"You're one of the few that actually remembered zanpakuto are part of you. Do you want to hurt people?"
"No, but-"
"There's no buts." I declared firmly. "Do you want to hurt people?"
"Absolutely not."
"What sense would it make for part of your soul to desire differently?"
"It…it wouldn't."
"Then why would you think it does?" I emphasized as much as I could.
"E-ever since I first heard Kazeshini's voice, he's always been violent, sadistic." Shuhei stuttered. I raised a curious eyebrow, not actually knowing the answer to my next question, but having a very strong gut feeling about it.
"And the first time you heard Kazeshini's voice, was it before or after you met Tosen?" His grey eyes widened. "I'm aware of how much respect you have for the man, but there's a difference between being conscious of what you can do, and being fearful of your own abilities. Part of how I'm able to keep from hurting those I care about is knowing how much they can take, rather than focusing on what I'm able to do to them. I have the power to kill the Soul King. When do you think was the last time I used that level of strength?" That drew him to pause in contemplation.
"When…you killed Yhwach?" He concluded. I nodded.
"That's right. Everyone else I've fought since then, I've used an appropriate level of strength. Power is neither inherently monstrous nor good-natured. It's whatever you use it for. Use it to maintain balance as a Shinigami, and it becomes a tool to maintain balance."
"You're…absolutely certain that I have nothing to be afraid of in Kazeshini? That it's not some sign that I am malicious deep down?"
"Not a doubt in my mind." I reaffirmed. The man turned further thoughtful, his gaze slowly turning to the hilt poking out from his hip.
"Then…if you could give me -us- some privacy?" Shuhei requested. "It seems we need to have a conversation." A smile rose onto my face. Without saying a word, I turned away, slid my hands into my pockets, and began walking back toward Squad Nine.
Upon my return, Kensei had kicked Nozomi and me out like we carried a plague. Of course, we all knew he was specifically kicking me out, but that didn't stop my assistant from glaring at the silver-haired man on her way out. We still had a few more stops to make, being the rest of the Squads bar Squad 12, but we ended up getting interrupted between Squads 10 and 11.
"Color me impressed!" A male voice sounded from behind us that took me a moment to recognize. "Every time I think I've seen the limit to how gutsy you can be, you go even farther!" Both of us turned to see Tokinada Tsunayashiro walking up with a truly congratulatory look on his face.
"What?" I blinked.
"No one in history's ever had the confidence to refuse Central 46's summons for a hearing, let alone if it involved one of the Four Great Noble Clans." He explained. "I'd have thought that, at the very least, you'd bide your time in the World of the Living until things calmed down, but no. Here you are, strolling around with your brand new assistant of all things, without a care in the world for all of C46 wanting your head." Lifting my head in understanding, I regarded the noble.
"With an attitude like that, I figure you're not gonna try to bring us in?" I took the reigns of the conversation as I noticed Nozomi flinch back in anxiety. Unlike me, she treated C46 as an absolute authority. Subtly, I shifted a bit so that she was behind me just the slightest. Tokinada chuckled delightfully at my words.
"I appreciate that you think I'd have enough self-confidence to even try." He waved his hands placatively. "I'm a bit too fond of remaining in good health, though. As much as we nobles think we're above everything, some of us are aware of how many Shinigami only listen to us because they think they don't have a choice. A few of you do know that, but I dare say you're the only one that actually takes advantage of that knowledge."
"I wouldn't put it to use if I felt anyone in C46 had good intentions, but I know from experience the only people their intentions are good for are their own."
"Well, that's an interesting point of view to have. Are you sure that your knowledge is accurate?"
"As sure as I am that I'm a Shiba." I stated. The declaration had Tokinada's eyes snap wide. A second later, he burst out laughing once more.
"Wow!" He giggled uncontrollably. "That is a use of words I can respect! Right in my face, too! My admiration for you just keeps growing!" One of my eyebrows raised at that.
"You admire me for pointing out that nobles are corrupt?"
"Should I hate you for pointing out the sky is blue?" He countered.
"I can get you sharing my issues with Central 46, but what about me telling your Clan Head to piss off?" At my questioning, he only waved a dismissive hand.
"You think you're the only one that hates my father? You're just the only one who doesn't pretend otherwise." He spat. "I'd say the same of my mother, but most of those in high nobility are aware of how rarely the person she shares a bed with is her husband. All of them are vile." Both of my eyebrows shot up in my astonishment, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Nozomi mirroring my expression.
"Can't wait till he passes the title down to you, then?" To my surprise, the green-haired man's face twisted in a vicious sneer.
"I'd have to wait for half my damn family to add their filth to it before I have my chance." He corrected. A small wince dressed my face.
"Ah, no way to skip the line, I take it?" I threw out. Green eyes stared at me in surprise, as though he hadn't considered the possibility.
"What could I accomplish if I did?" Tokinada asked slowly. An easy shrug came from my shoulders.
"I'm trying to weed out the corruption in the Soul Society. Having another Great Noble House helping me out is hardly something I'd complain about." His eyes widened.
"Everyone knows of your disregard, but to think that's your endgame…"
"Everyone bitches and moans about how unfair things are, or how corrupt C46 are." I felt a glare settle over my face over the subject. "You've acknowledged that a fair amount of Shinigami don't realize they have a choice. I'm just the one showing them they can do something about it."
"You think it'll work?" He tested cautiously.
"I think sitting back and complaining about a virus doesn't make it go away." I clarified.
"…I'll think about it." Tokinada breathed softly, suddenly distracted by his thoughts.
Next Chapter: Move Forward and Never Stop