A Despicable Betrayal, Nemu's Death

Rangiku Matsumoto stopped staring at Gin Ichimaru and edged closer to the battlefield. She turned to look at Isshin, a glimmer seemingly moving through her eyes.

In terms of their feelings alone, Rangiku could hardly claim to have a deep friendship with Dōsan after only two brief meetings.

But Dōsan had agreed to fight because she had "used" the gratitude he felt toward her for recognizing his worth.

If Dōsan really died here, she, Rangiku Matsumoto, would never forgive herself for the rest of her life.

Even though intervening in a battle like this would mean facing judgment by Central 46 at the very least.

She, Rangiku Matsumoto, would not hesitate, even if it meant bearing the name of a traitor.

Matsumoto turned her head, but Isshin calmly shook his. His calm, however, lacked its usual ease and composure.

His hand was already resting lightly on his sword, and he was even releasing a faint trace of Spiritual Pressure.

Compared to Rangiku, he was the one who had more reason to blame himself.

He had met Dōsan two more times before this and believed that Dōsan, at full strength, was unquestionably worthy of a Seated Officer's rank.

But he had never imagined that Nemu Number Seven, Nemu Kurotsuchi, Soul Society's first artificial soul, would prove so tenacious.

Honestly, asking a boy with a boundless future ahead of him to take part in a battle of this caliber was an incredibly irresponsible act in itself.

What on earth was I thinking when I made that decision?!

"That drug just now, Superhuman Drug 1.0—after taking it, the world actually slowed down tenfold. The effect seemed pretty good, but this barbaric battle is finally over."

Kurotsuchi glanced at Nemu with contempt, then looked with boredom at Dōsan lying on the ground. He had experimented on plenty of Soul Reapers and the like. This brat might be a little special, but that was all.

It ends here.

"Oh my, it looks like things are changing, don't they?" Just as the captains all thought the outcome was settled, Gin Ichimaru, the little fox, suddenly spoke.

Everyone hurriedly looked over.

On the battlefield, Nemu's slender hand had long since pressed against Dōsan's chest, but it could go no farther.

"Hey, Nemu, what are you doing?"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi's voice rose sharply, not entirely because of Nemu's bizarre behavior, but because it was completely beyond what a scientist had anticipated!

"S-sorry, Lord Mayuri."

Nemu's entire body was trembling as though she had been electrocuted, her arms and neck quivering. Her hand wanted to reach into Dōsan's chest, but it could not advance another inch.

"Boom."

Finally, she reached some kind of limit. Nemu tilted sideways and fell at an angle in an extremely awkward posture, her whole body trembling as though she had been electrocuted.

Beneath his mask, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's face remained visibly astonished. Even after Nemu had fallen, he still could not figure out what had happened.

"What on earth is..." A startled voice among those present voiced the question on Mayuri Kurotsuchi's mind.

Just one slightly forceful thrust, and the battle would have been over.

Girl, are you sure you're not throwing the match?

With everyone staring at him expectantly and questioningly, Mayuri Kurotsuchi could only pretend not to notice.

And since the scientist could not figure it out, everyone could only hope that the "medical expert" would offer a reasonable explanation.

Unohana also studied the scene for a moment before finally speaking hesitantly, analyzing it from a medical perspective in a somewhat speculative tone. "Perhaps the Tsuzuri Raiden Jūzaburō Minamoto used caused severe paralysis in Nemu, especially around her heart. Afterward, she went through an intense battle, placing a greater burden on her heart and ultimately causing complete cardiac arrest."

In other words, the Tsuzuri Raiden Dōsan had used out of mercy more than ten minutes ago had paralyzed Nemu's heart.

And that earlier setup had finally paid off more than ten minutes later, just when Nemu needed only the slightest thrust of her hand to win?

Captain Unohana, we may be uncultured folk with nothing but sixth-grade diplomas, but you can't insult my intelligence like that!

Does that make any blasted sense?

It doesn't, does it?!

After offering this explanation, Unohana glanced at Mayuri Kurotsuchi again. It was only an explanation she had offered.

What she believed more strongly was that something had gone wrong with Nemu's genome.

After all, she was only an artificial soul.

There was simply no need to voice that speculation.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi also received the message conveyed by Unohana's gaze.

Although he gave no indication, Kurotsuchi, as a scientist, accepted that explanation.

Unohana, on the other hand, lowered her head slightly after exchanging glances with Mayuri Kurotsuchi, a trace of gloom in her eyes.

Was it really that simple?

Such a coincidental outcome was rather far-fetched to begin with, and Unohana also seemed to have noticed certain details.

Things might not be that simple, but she could not piece all the details together.

Superhuman Drug 1.0 had merely been an unintentional creation of Mayuri Kurotsuchi's. Nemu seemed to like it, so he had given it to her as a tool.

As time gradually passed, Dōsan woke up first.

But the moment he awoke, he saw Nemu lying before him, convulsing all over.

What's going on?

I just woke up, and someone's already trying to scam me by pretending to be hurt?

In the end, the tenacious Nemu did not get back up. Her body heaved, her breathing seemed to grow difficult, and her consciousness gradually faded.

Lying on her side on the ground, blood flowing from her mouth, Nemu silently felt her life slipping away as a figure slowly walked over to her.

This presence—even unconscious, she would never forget this scent, the scent of someone she had risked her life for and was willing to follow for the rest of her life.

"Mayuri, Lord Mayuri, please give me the Flesh Supplement. My body..."

"Idiot." Kurotsuchi's eyes rolled around, the whites staring menacingly at Nemu, who could clearly no longer move but was forcing herself to smile and show Mayuri Kurotsuchi her best self. "Idiot, are you saying the body I created is only capable of this much?"

"Brat, you've succeeded in drawing my attention." Paying Nemu little more heed, Kurotsuchi turned to Dōsan and gave a sinister chuckle.

"Did I win?" Dōsan gave a tired smile. Honestly, he did not seem to have been hurt much. The damage Nemu's plan had just caused him amounted to nothing more than superficial wounds.

But just as Dōsan relaxed, the scene before him nearly shattered his worldview.

"But Nemu, you really are pathetic!"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi kicked Nemu without mercy. Dōsan, who was close by, saw it clearly: the kick had even pierced straight through her body!

"I'm sorry, Lord Mayuri!" Blood gushed from the corners of Nemu's mouth. Her bright, innocent eyes were so full of sorrow. She slowly turned her head, and the last light in her eyes was left for Dōsan.

Behind her, Mayuri Kurotsuchi kicked Nemu's corpse far away as though throwing out garbage. He was not even willing to use his hands.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The voice trembled with anger.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi turned toward the source of the voice, then quickly turned back. "I can't hear the voice of a barbarian."

Dōsan's voice held back his anger. He was now so exhausted that he could pass out at any moment, but even facing a captain, he still had to speak as Nemu's final opponent. He still had to finish what Nemu had to say.

"I'm asking you why!"

"It's really hard to communicate with single-celled organisms like you!" Kurotsuchi leaned his head back, raised his chin as high as it would go, and twisted his head a hundred and eighty degrees to look at Dōsan Hanyū upside down. "She's my product. Now she's lost her effectiveness. There's nothing wrong with throwing something useless into the trash, is there?"

Dōsan did not know why, but the anger throughout his body was like a volcano about to erupt.

"I could feel it during the fight. Her body was running beyond its limits the entire time, but she still got back up again and again and stood in front of me. It wasn't until just now, when I saw the look in her eyes before she died, that I understood what she was fighting for!"

"Even in death, the only things in her eyes for you were tenderness and an apology for failing to ease your burdens!"

All alone, as though rejected by the world.

For ten years, he had been alone, living alone and eating alone. He would feel happy when he made delicious food at the restaurant and received praise for it.

But gradually, Dōsan understood that they were only praising the food, not Dōsan Hanyū's food.

The warmth he wanted was not there.

Loneliness ran through his entire life.

He came to District 1 and met Rangiku, Isshin, Ganju, and Kūkaku. Only then did he feel it, only then did he learn that souls had warmth.

From then on, his talent had value, his delicious food had value, and his battles had value.

A person who lived only for himself would not be happy.

Nemu Kurotsuchi was the same kind of person as him.

"Just as I thought, you're just like that piece of trash over there."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi turned his head, and from Dōsan's angle, all he could see were Kurotsuchi's round, bloodshot eyes.

"Trash?" Dōsan backed away involuntarily, unable to believe it. "She was fighting for you!

"Don't you have a heart?"