Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto quickly found Momo Hinamori in the Fifth Division. Momo's eyes were red and swollen; she had been crying ever since Aizen died.
"Momo~, my condolences," Tōshirō, seeing Momo so upset made him feel terrible too.
Momo Hinamori saw Tōshirō, tears immediately welled up in her eyes. Between sobs, she bravely said, "Shiro-chan ~ thank you."
"Tao Tao~, have you heard what my captain said?"
"Mmm," Momo nodded.
Shiro-chan composed herself; she couldn't bear to be sad with Momo any longer. "I want to find out the truth, Taotao. Will you cooperate with me?"
"Yes," Momo Hinamori nodded vigorously, finally managing a smile, and said, "Shiro-chan is still so brave. As long as it can help Captain Aizen avenge himself, I will do everything in my power to help you."
"Alright! Then I'll begin my questions. When did Captain Aizen arrive at the unit today?"
7:13 AM
The timing, accurate to the minute, shows how much Momo cares about Aizen, but Tōshirō wasn't paying much attention to it at the moment.
Who discovered Captain Aizen's death?
"It's me"
"You!?"
"Mmm," Momo nodded sadly, tears welling up and streaming down her cheeks. "Captain Aizen has a habit of reading while drinking morning tea. I'm his adjutant, and I've always been the one to prepare and deliver it to him."
"Captain Aizen is amazing. He finishes his daily duties very quickly, and today was no exception. He finished at 8:23. Then he called me in and said he wanted pancakes, so I went to prepare them for him. Waiting for me to come back... sobs"
As she spoke, Momo burst into tears, squatting on the ground and sobbing uncontrollably. In this state, it was impossible to get any information out of her, and Aizen's death was clearly very composed.
Thinking back to what Chun had said, the Little Lion suddenly realized that Chun was absolutely right; there must be a huge conspiracy at work, and a group of evil beings were orchestrating everything from behind the scenes.
Aizen may have been controlled by them for some reason, and now they're forcing Aizen to do certain things. At this moment, Aizen feels he can't accept this, and after a struggle within himself, he calmly faces his death.
But what exactly is it? What controls Aizen? What are Aizen's weaknesses that might be exploited by the person behind the scenes? These questions remain unanswered. At this moment, the Little Lion finally understands the hardships Jun endured back then.
Surrounded by members of the Second Division, the Punishment Force, and the Fifth Division, it was clear that everything Aizen had left behind in the Fifth Division had been thoroughly investigated, but to no avail. The Little Lion himself went through the already examined items and reviewed some files deemed suspicious, but found nothing.
Tōshirō felt this wasn't the main point and decided to go look for Aizen's house instead. So he went to Momo's place to say goodbye, but Momo suddenly stopped him.
Momo Hinamori cried uncontrollably, "Shiro-chan ~ why?"
"What? Why?" the Little Lion asked, completely bewildered.
"Why did it have to be Captain Aizen died?" Momo cried out. "He was so kind! He was such a good captain! Why did it have to be Captain Aizen died!? Why!?"
Looking at the heartbroken Momo Hinamori, Tōshirō felt a strange irritation rise within him. Of course, he wouldn't show it; the gentle Little Lion wasn't quite gentle yet. So, he mimicked Jun's smile and gently touched Momo's face.
"I don't know why, but you have to believe me! I will find out the truth! I will avenge Captain Aizen for you!"
"Mmm! Thank you~ Shiro-chan," Momo threw herself into the Little Lion's arms, hugging him and crying, "Thank you so much, thank you so much!"
The two left the Fifth Division. Rangiku, holding a small notebook, tucked the pen up into her chest pocket, making Tōshirō blush and forget what he wanted to say. He quickly turned his face away.
Rangiku laughed and pulled Tōshirō into her arms. "Little Vice-Captain, do you like our Momo?"
"What... what do you like?" Tōshirō stammered, forgetting to yell at Rangiku not to hug him.
Rangiku smiled wickedly, "Still saying you don't like it? You can't even speak properly anymore."
"Shut up! That's not true!" Tōshirō quickly broke free from her embrace. "Come on! We're going to Aizen's house!"
Hi~ Hi~
The two quickly arrived at Aizen's house, where there was a large crowd, mainly members of the Punishment Force. They weren't stopped, but after several hours inside, they still found nothing.
"Captain Aizen is being far too cautious, isn't he? Or is the mastermind behind this so dangerous or powerful that they've managed to cover everything up!?"
Rangiku didn't answer the Little Lion, but instead said, "Why don't you ask the captain what he thinks?"
"Captain?" Tōshirō thought for a moment. Mainly, Jun's image in Little Lion's eyes wasn't great, but after searching for so long and learning about Jun's past, Tōshirō felt it was best to consult his senior. "You're right, let's go."
"Have you made your decision? Are you prepared to explore this enormous shadow?"
As Jun said this, he was practicing the Tea Ceremony. It was then that Tōshirō and Rangiku realized how skilled Jun Tea Ceremony it; every movement was graceful and imposing.
Chun has lived for over six hundred years. There's a saying about the elderly, "Old people are like children," meaning they're easygoing and have a clear understanding of life. Chun has long since achieved that. So why do we talk about those elderly people who extort money? It's because they can't let go of their attachments. They've lived a whole life and are still calculating about so-called benefits at the very end—it's truly pathetic.
Why is Chun able to take things so well? It's all about experience, lots of experience. He's seen it all, done it all, and in the end, he has no regrets. That's true freedom.
Jun is currently performing, but his own ideas are also incorporated into it. Jun is currently training Tōshirō, and this question has two meanings: first, it's about Tōshirō's resolve; second, it's about his perseverance.
"Hey! I'm all set!"
"Since you've already made up your mind, why are you still coming to me?"
Tōshirō was stumped by the question, but Jun gave him the answer, "Five hundred years ago, in the very beginning, I didn't have a single companion. I had to fight for them all. I'm happy that you've come to me now, but why don't you doubt me?"
"What do you mean?" Tōshirō and Rangiku were both completely bewildered.
Chun stopped moving, her gaze sweeping over the two of them. Her icy eyes sent shivers down their spines. "Unqualified. People change. Was the me of five hundred years ago and the me of now truly the same person?"
"Captain," the Little Lion swallowed hard, "What do you mean by that? Are you saying..."
"No, I'm not," Jun answered directly. "Believe it or not, I'm not, but! We'll soon be enemies, Tōshirō."
Jun laughed, pushed the prepared Matcha towards the two of them, and asked, "Want to know why I'm telling you all this?"
Tōshirō had calmed down by now. After all these years of experience, and thanks to Jun's guidance in showing him care for women, the Little Lion was finally less impulsive.
He then took the teacup, bowed respectfully to Chun, and asked, "Please tell me, why is this?"
"The Soul Society needs pillars. The pillars of power have always existed, but where are the pillars of faith?"
When Jun mentioned the pillar of strength, all three looked towards the First Division. Then Jun asked about the pillar of belief. Tōshirō and Rangiku fell into deep thought, and then Tōshirō tentatively asked, "Is that you?"
"To put it bluntly, I am one of them, and the Captain-Commander is one of them. We represent different beliefs. What do I represent?"
Courage?
"Correct!" Chun laughed, the Little Lion's training had yielded initial results. "But I'm five hundred years old now. I've experienced widowhood, relinquishing power, and many other things. I've seen too much. I'm not young anymore. The older you get, the more timid you become, haha."
"Are you saying you've lost your courage?"
"Who knows?" Chun looked out the window. "I've lost a lot of my courage, but I still have some. It's just that I can't muster the courage for many things anymore. I've learned to make choices. For example, in this incident, I won't get involved, but you recklessly rushed in like a fool, understand?"
"Then what does it mean that we will eventually become enemies?"
"It means exactly what it says. I've lived for over six hundred years, and I'm now a mid-level noble. I have my own interests and needs. Without realizing it, I've become one of them, understand?"
The Little Lion instantly went on guard, but Chun just smiled. "There are reasonable bad guys and unreasonable bad guys. I'm a reasonable bad guy. Do you remember the original purpose of the Women's Soul Reaper Association? It was me who asked you to do it."
"What do you mean? What does this have to do with that?"
"Keep in touch? Haha, no. What I want to ask is, how many years has it been? How many years has it been since the Women's Soul Reaper Association was founded?"
"Uh," the Little Lion can only look at Rangiku.
Even the carefree Rangiku thought about it for a long time, "Uh, Jūshirō or fifteen, fourteen years."
"Oh~ It's been so long? Has the matter from back then been resolved? The lives of female Dead Souls, those things, hmm?"
Rangiku blushed, because the Women's Soul Reaper Association had become almost exactly like it was in the original work—a gathering place for female Soul Reaper, having long since abandoned its original purpose.
Looking earnestly at Tōshirō, she said, "Tōshirō, this is what I'm going to tell you now. Don't be embarrassed. You just lack experience and understanding, that's all. Besides, someone else took your original responsibilities, so it's not your fault."
Upon hearing this, Rangiku wanted to bury herself in the ground, Tōshirō straightened his posture and listened attentively to Jun's words.
"Justice is never a one-person affair. What you do must have a lasting impact, otherwise it's as if you haven't done anything at all. Only change is the essence of life. I changed the relationships among the nobles of Soul Society back then. Now, what do you want to change? If you don't understand this, it's not too late to stop now, otherwise you will definitely regret it."
The Little Lion swallowed hard. In the original story, he was relentlessly toyed with by Aizen, suffering agonizing torment alongside Momo Hinamori. Aizen satisfied his perverse pleasure, and the two of them got some training—a cause for celebration, my foot!
Jun is telling Tōshirō that he needs perseverance and goals. A reckless fool will never amount to anything. Having awareness without a goal is just a joke. However, this kind of understanding is precisely what the Soul Reaper of Soul Society lack most.
Or rather, all the protagonists of shonen manga lack this quality, because having it makes it difficult to maintain that passion. And to achieve their goals, they sometimes have to sacrifice certain things, which is how they become villains.
"Go do what you want. You can report me, but I won't tell you anything else. This is the limit, Tōshirō. The title of hero of Soul Society isn't so easy to obtain."
"I don't"
Chun reached out and stopped the Little Lion, saying, "You may not have thought about it, and neither did I at first, but if you succeed, my name will definitely be yours. Good luck, young man!"