Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

”Lieutenant Shihouin!”

”What is it now? Is Kenpachi here again?” In the Squad 1 lieutenant’s office, Kōe looked at the entering squad member like a startled bird.

These past few days, he had been buried under mountains of official duties. He really couldn’t understand how Sasakibe had managed all these bizarre documents by himself back when he was the sole lieutenant.

Kuruyashiki Kenpachi was also a troublemaker. Seven days ago, when Kōe refused Azashiro Sōya’s invitation, Kuruyashiki had seemed quite easygoing about it. But starting three days ago, Kōe had been harassed by him daily. Honestly, he was getting a little scared. What if he pushed the guy too far and got tied up and dragged over there by force?

”No, it’s not that. Lieutenant Sasakibe is asking if you’d like to join him for tea. Oh, Head Captain Yamamoto is there too. Today they’re drinking the black tea Lieutenant Sasakibe just cultivated.”

”I’m not drinking it! Can’t you see I’m busy!” Kōe slapped the documents in front of him, speaking with utter annoyance. ”Also, if Kuruyashiki Kenpachi comes looking for me, tell him I’m not here!”

*’How could those two old men be so free! Is there something wrong with how I handle my work?’* Kōe couldn’t figure it out. *’Wasn’t this promotion a little strange? In my past life, didn’t the lieutenants in the manga always seem to have plenty of free time?’*

While Kōe was questioning his life choices in front of a pile of paperwork, the Kuruyashiki Kenpachi he was so worried about was far away, standing before Azashiro Sōya’s cell in the Senzaikyū.

Kuruyashiki’s main goal wasn’t actually to drag him to see Azashiro Sōya. As for his repeated visits over the past three days, it was simply because he felt there was no way left to save Azashiro Kōzō.

He had originally planned to gather half the captains to petition Central 46 to change Azashiro Kōzō’s sentence, but to his surprise, barely any captains were willing to get involved. In a week’s time, he hadn’t managed to change a thing.

”I’m sorry. I couldn’t save Kōzō.”

”There is no need to mind it. I never asked you to save him in the first place,” Azashiro Sōya said calmly, as if the man named Kōzō had absolutely nothing to do with him. He mocked himself, ”However, that little guy named Shihouin Kōe... is he refusing to see me because he thinks there’s no point in looking at a failure?”

”I’ve told you, Sōya, your situation has absolutely nothing to do with him! No one can willfully make mistakes and then rightfully expect to be forgiven!”

Kuruyashiki was a bit irritated. He didn’t understand why, even at a time like this, Azashiro would completely ignore his own family and instead fixate on Shihouin Kōe.

Was it because of his pride that he wanted to see who had ruined his plans?

Or was he simply interested in Shihouin Kōe?

He didn’t understand, nor did he want to. Whatever the reason, such thoughts seemed far too arrogant and cold.

”Looking at you, do you have another lecture for me?”

Although Kuruyashiki looked like a ferocious man, he was actually extremely humble and easygoing. There weren’t many people who could force him to lecture them. Azashiro smiled, seemingly quite proud of himself.

”What’s the point of lecturing you now?” Kuruyashiki sighed. ”I’ll go look for that kid again. I’ll let you see him once before the execution tomorrow.”

After speaking, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi turned and left, looking as if he was going to ’negotiate’ with Kōe again. Seeing this, Azashiro smiled. Waiting until Kuruyashiki’s figure disappeared from sight, he slowly uttered a single sentence, ”Tomorrow? I’m afraid we won’t be seeing each other tomorrow.”

...

Night fell. The already quiet Senzaikyū became completely devoid of sound. There was no moon tonight, and Sōkyoku Hill outside the window looked like a giant black hound crouching in wait for its food.

Azashiro Sōya shifted his gaze away from the evocative scenery outside the window. He turned and walked to the door, bent his index finger, and began to tap rhythmically against it.

*Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump...* Azashiro seemed to treat the stone door before him as some sort of musical instrument, tirelessly repeating his inexplicable performance.

Such noise was uncommon in the Senzaikyū. Soon enough, a white-clad jailer was drawn over. Azashiro Sōya was acting a bit abnormal today.

”Keep quiet! Otherwise, I’ll seal your mouth shut!” the jailer scolded fiercely.

”Only one came? You arrived a bit faster than I imagined,” Azashiro said, stopping his rather unskillful performance. Looking at the jailer outside the door, he placed his index finger over his lips in a hushing gesture and smiled. ”It will be quiet, but you’ll have to keep me company!”

His originally loose clothing suddenly tightened. The jailer sensed something was wrong and tried to cry out, only to find he couldn’t. It was as if a pair of invisible hands had suddenly snatched the white cloth from his face, twisted it into a rope, and instantly strangled his neck.

He couldn’t even reach up to pull at the deadly noose around his neck. The clothes on his body acted like a torture rack, rendering him completely unable to control his own body. He couldn’t even fall down.

*Urgh... Urk...*

The sound, barely louder than a mosquito, didn’t last long before completely vanishing. Even in the quiet Senzaikyū, this noise was utterly insignificant. Yet, it was the final cry for help from a living soul—only, no one heard it.

”You didn’t bring the keys? Then I’ll have to trouble you to make another trip,” Azashiro Sōya said softly. The noose around the jailer’s neck reverted back into a white cloth and returned to its original position, without a single wrinkle on it.

Immediately after, the jailer—now a corpse—began to move on its own. Looking no different than when he was alive, he walked away step by step, disappearing from Azashiro’s line of sight.

It didn’t take long before the jailer returned to the Deep Prison with the keys. With a *click*, the cell door—which was supposed to remain tightly shut until noon the next day—was opened ahead of schedule.

The jailer then switched keys and unlocked the Kidō restraints on Azashiro Sōya’s neck and wrists that restricted his Reiryoku. Following that, his body went limp, collapsing at Azashiro’s feet.

Specks of white light surged from the jailer’s corpse, ultimately coalescing into a Zanpakutō. It was about three feet long, with a square handguard, a hilt wrapped in purple, and diamond-shaped ornaments displaying a grayish-white hue.

If anyone who had witnessed the Hollow Encampment Execution the Azashiro clan endured a century ago were present, they would be astonished to find that this was the very Zanpakutō Azashiro Sōya had awakened his Shikai with back then—the same Zanpakutō he claimed to have misplaced when he was arrested!

Unfortunately, there was no such person here. Thus, there was no one to inform the pitiful jailers of the Senzaikyū that Azashiro Sōya actually had another title—the Kamaitachi. Perhaps he hadn’t had his scythe before, but now, the Kamaitachi had picked up his weapon of choice. Next up was showtime—a performance destined to be a tragic harvest of lives.

A dark and windy night was the perfect time for murder! The jailers in the Senzaikyū were never individuals of great strength to begin with. Their greatest virtue was their absolute loyalty to the Seireitei, or rather, to Central 46. But at this moment, that loyalty was completely useless!

Silently and without a trace, they were slaughtered to the last man by the newly freed Azashiro Sōya. Let alone putting up a resistance, aside from the sound of flowing blood, they couldn’t make the slightest bit of noise.

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