Chapter 42
With the now-familiar sound of Sonído, a figure that looked especially sinister in the darkness of night appeared directly in front of Haruto.
At that critical moment between life and death—
"Strike fiercely, Shiden!"
A release command Haruto had never heard before descended in front of him, accompanied by lightning that dyed every bit of night within sight a brilliant purple.
"Boom!!"
"..."
An unknown amount of time passed.
Haruto finally opened his eyes. It took him more than half a minute to gradually regain his senses, listening to the crackle of burning firewood beside him and looking at the night sky, its edges tinged orange-red.
"Seigen, I think he's awake."
A soft, gentle voice reached his ears. Its soothing tone did more to dispel the darkness of the night than even the campfire.
"Oh?"
An impatient male voice, tinged with a hint of tsundere, followed.
"If you're awake, get up already."
"Tell us what happened here and why it took so much of Ika's Reiatsu... Which division are you a newly appointed Seated Officer from? How come I've never seen you before?"
"..."
As if the words held some magic, Haruto sat bolt upright.
"My wounds..."
The pain and the nausea that came with it were gone.
There was still a faint stinging and itching in his chest, but that was normal for a body recovering quickly.
"Thank Ika."
"If she hadn't been here, even a Seated Officer or lieutenant from the Fourth Division might not have been able to save you."
The man's voice rang out again.
Now fully conscious, Haruto could finally see who had saved him: a young man with long, dark red hair and an impatient look on his face, and an older woman whose hair was noticeably brighter but who had the air of a married woman.
"Thank you both for saving my life."
Even after living in Soul Society for so long, Haruto still wasn't very used to Japanese etiquette.
But before his lifesavers, Haruto braced his weak body and stood up from the ground, which was not cold and had a thin mattress spread over it at some point. Then he bent at the waist in a formal ninety-degree bow.
"You don't need to thank me. Thank Ika—"
The man was cut off halfway through:
"No, Seigen. When someone thanks you sincerely, you should accept it graciously."
"...Got it."
Though the man strongly disagreed, he agreed aloud.
"All right, all right!"
A large, broad hand vigorously scratched at his hair.
"You heard what I said earlier, right?"
The man hurried to change the subject.
"Which division are you from, and why were you here?"
"That Menos just now would have been a handful to deal with even for a lieutenant."
"..."
The question caught Haruto off guard. After weighing his words, he decided to tell them the truth.
"I'm not a Soul Reaper from the Gotei 13."
"Then you're with the Kidō Corps?"
The man glanced at the Zanpakuto lying not far from Haruto.
"We only found this place because of the huge commotion you caused when you used that high-level Hadō earlier."
"No."
Haruto shook his head.
"I'm..."
"A student at Shin'ō Academy. I'll be entering my sixth year after this year's vacation."
"..."
The three of them fell silent at once, leaving the flames crackling and leaping along the edges of the firewood as the clearest accompaniment beneath the night sky.
"Huh!?"
The man's mouth hung wide open, revealing enviably gleaming teeth that made one wonder what brand of toothpaste he used.
Even the woman beside him raised a hand to cover her mouth without thinking.
"You're a student at Shin'ō Academy?"
"...Yes."
"Bullshit!"
"Seigen!"
The woman rebuked the man in a somewhat displeased tone the moment he swore.
"You've got to be kidding!"
The man rephrased himself.
"If the students Shin'ō Academy turns out were all at your level... no, even if only a tenth of them were at your level, Old Man Yamamoto—"
"Seigen!!"
"..."
The man continued as though nothing had happened.
"Why would Captain-Commander Yamamoto need to send a Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force? He could just send everyone through the Dangai and steamroll the place!"
"You..."
The man was about to continue when he stopped, as if something had just occurred to him.
"Wait!"
"The way you look..."
Rubbing his chin, the man looked Haruto up and down rather rudely.
"I think I've heard about you somewhere?"
While he was still looking puzzled, the woman beside him picked up the conversation.
"You must be Komatsuzuru's student."
"I saw it fairly clearly when I was treating him just now. If I remember correctly..."
"Haruto."
"That's your name, isn't it?"
"Yes..."
Haruto gave the two who had recognized him a wry smile and nodded.
At the same time, he had figured out who they were from their appearances and strength. Only someone at Captain-level could possess the formidable combat power to kill a Menos comparable to a Gillian in one blow using only Shikai.
Then there was the older sister, who not only had a talent for Kaidō comparable to the Fourth Division's, but whose Zanpakuto ability was also Kaidō. If not for the former's position as a captain and their relationship as siblings, the Fourth Division would surely have poached her long ago.
"Captain Kyōshiba, Lieutenant Kyōshiba."
"I see."
In less than ten minutes, Haruto gave the siblings a selective account of his origins in District 66 and the battle that had just taken place.
"I didn't expect this to be your hometown."
Ika Kyōshiba looked around the clearing, where only the well remained intact, as she spoke with feeling.
"Come to think of it."
A trace of reminiscence appeared in her eyes.
"Although the elders often talked about the glory days when we were nobles, I don't think we enjoyed much of a noble life when we were little."
"Tch!"
Though Seigen Kyōshiba was the Fifth Division Captain, he was like a child in front of his sister.
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't the old man make us read enough books?"
"But without those books, we wouldn't have been able to return to the Seireitei as he wished. That's true too, isn't it?"
"..."
Ika Kyōshiba had evidently hit the nail on the head.
Haruto spoke up of his own accord.
"Then what were you two captains planning to do?"
Ika Kyōshiba gathered her long hair and answered Haruto with a smile.
"Same as you. We were going to see our 'old home' in District 74."
"As luck would have it, when we were passing near District 66, Seigen sensed a Hollow's Reiatsu and fluctuations from Kidō, so we came over to take a look."
"...I see."
From the siblings' conversation, Haruto gained a new understanding of the Fifth Division's captain and lieutenant, whom he had never met before.
The Kyōshiba Family had once been members of the upper nobility. After all, nobles who could be banished from the Seireitei had to at least be upper nobles; if middle- or lower-ranking nobles had committed an offense of the same severity, their household would most likely have been confiscated outright.
By their generation, the declining family had recovered somewhat thanks to the emergence of Seigen Kyōshiba, a Captain-level fighter.
Of course, returning to its former peak was certainly unrealistic.
"All right!"
"Enough of this boring family talk!"
Seigen Kyōshiba interrupted their conversation.
"Your Reiatsu has recovered quite a bit, kid, but a body quickly healed with Kaidō isn't as tough as one you've trained yourself."
"If there's nothing else, hurry up and lie down and sleep!"
Though the Fifth Division Captain looked and sounded fierce, his concern was entirely genuine. Haruto had heard Teacher Mutsuki say before that the Fifth Division was very protective of its own, but he hadn't even joined the Gotei...
"Smack!"
Seigen Kyōshiba pressed Haruto's shoulder and made him lie back down.
"Don't leave yourself with any lasting problems."
"The Fifth Division goes out on missions quite often. Being even a little unprepared in a fight could lead to a failed mission or even death on the battlefield."
Hmm...
It seemed he already regarded Haruto as one of the Fifth Division's own.
In fact.
Seeing such a promising young man, even Seigen Kyōshiba had begun thinking of promoting him. He had no other particular intention; he simply wanted to make things easier for himself and his sister... especially his sister.