Shikai

As Hu destroyed the mask covering Shimizu's face, Shimizu's consciousness finally broke free of the Hollow's influence for the time being.

"Hu..."

Shimizu called Hu's name in a weary voice tinged with sorrow.

"Shimizu..." Hu's voice rang out as well. "What on earth happened? Why were you turned into a Hollow? Were you swept into Hueco Mundo when the Garganta opened?" Hu had already reached a conclusion about the method used to turn ordinary souls into Hollows, but it wasn't something someone of his rank should have known about, so he had to look for clues in what had happened to Shimizu.

"Wait, we'd like to hear about this too."

Just as Shimizu was about to speak, Cilian's voice came from behind Hu. It was Cilian, with his one arm and one eye, accompanied by the Onmitsukidō member who had gone to notify him.

Cilian walked up beside Hu and studied the face revealed beneath the shattered mask. "Are you Shimizu, the guard serving the Fon Clan? I heard from a few of the instructors under me that a newcomer named Shimizu has been working hard both in class and on the job lately. Several of my subordinates who've dealt with you think it won't be long before you're ready to enroll in Shin'ō Academy."

"Is that really what the instructors think of me?" Shimizu was genuinely happy for a moment, but when he saw his deformed body, he sank into profound despair again. "But... I... I've become... like this... I've really failed to live up to the instructors' teachings."

"Did you go into the Garganta on your own and fight Hollows?" Cilian asked somewhat sternly.

"No... I didn't forget what the instructors taught me. As soon as I saw the Garganta open, I told the nearby residents to take shelter. But..." Shimizu seemed to recall something that overturned his understanding of the world, and his pupils trembled slightly. "The Hollows didn't all come out of the Garganta. Hollows started appearing among the people being evacuated, too. One second, the residents around me were just ordinary souls, and in the time it took to turn around, they'd become masked Hollows. I had no idea what was happening."

Hollows appearing among the residents? Once souls entered Soul Society, the erosion should have been stopped, and it should no longer have been possible for them to turn into Hollows.

"After that, the Hollows scattered the whole crowd of evacuees. Seeing there was no hope of getting away, I hid my fiancée in a house by the street and planned to defend it to the death. But the more I fought, the less clearheaded I became. In the end, my mind was a complete haze. It wasn't until just now, when the mask was broken, that I realized I'd fallen and become... become..." Shimizu's words grew slurred, his composure began to crumble, and tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.

Cilian was shocked. Making people fall and become Hollows without their noticing was no ordinary method. Something had to be wrong here, and he decided to report the matter to the leader.

Cilian looked at Shimizu again. As an attendant of the Fon Clan, this man had indeed been diligent up to this day. Though he was somewhat lacking in talent, he made up for it with his solid work ethic. If properly trained, he might not reach the top, but he certainly had the potential to become a competent Soul Reaper. In a hundred years, he might even make it to the lowest ranks of the Seated Officers. What a pity...

Cilian stepped forward, resting his only hand on the hilt at his waist. "Shimizu, third-class guard of the Fon Clan, the Fon Clan will not forget your contributions up to this day. Though you have now fallen and become a Hollow, it was not by your own will. If you have any wishes before your death, now is the time..."

As he spoke, Cilian slowly drew his Zanpakuto and walked toward Shimizu, as though giving him time to think, or perhaps mourning what had happened to him.

Watching this, Hu felt a surge of anguish and displeasure.

"Doesn't this piss you off?"

The Zanpakutō spirit's voice reached Hu's ears. In Hu's eyes, the Zanpakutō spirit, dressed like that man, stepped out from behind Shimizu and looked straight at him. "Did you cross over just to watch a tragedy like this?"

Speaking in an accusatory tone, he walked toward Hu at the same slow pace as Cilian. "Is this what you are? A good-for-nothing who can only watch his friend end up like this, unable to do a thing?"

Just as Cilian drew his blade completely, he arrived in front of Shimizu. At the same time, the Zanpakutō spirit reached Hu.

"Keiko, my fiancée, the woman who just accepted my proposal today, is hidden in a house behind this street. I didn't let a single Hollow get inside, so she should still be safe. Please, Lord Cilian, save her, and look after her a little in the days to come... Aside from the Fon Clan, she's the person who's cared for me most in this world. Please..."

After thinking it over for a while, Shimizu spoke those words.

"Keiko. What a lovely name. You can tell just from hearing it that she's a good girl. That kid Shimizu succeeded in confessing his feelings, but what a pity... Today, two souls who've just decided to marry are going to lose each other forever. Soul Society isn't the World of the Living. Souls live long lives here. Just imagine how that girl will spend the next few hundred years in tears!

"And all of this is because of you! Hu! You failed to save them. When you clearly had the power to save them, you backed down and hid behind your instructor as if it were none of your business, watching your friend go to his death!"

"Oh, fuck off! Where was I supposed to get that kind of power? If I had it, why would I let Shimizu die like this? I don't have any way to help him now! I don't even know what to do about Shimizu becoming a Hollow! You tell me what I should do! What else can I do?!"

Perhaps the Zanpakutō spirit's accusations had driven him over the edge, for Hu shouted directly at him in the real world. Hearing him, Shimizu and Cilian both thought Hu was wallowing in self-reproach.

"Hu, this isn't your fault. The fact that there's an ordinary face beneath a Hollow's mask is a secret even students at Shin'ō Academy aren't told. You only learn it after becoming a Soul Reaper. Once we've seen Shimizu off today, you should get some rest. You can also ask Princess Shaoling to suspend your assessment. These are special circumstances; our princess will understand."

That was Cilian.

"Hu, I'm already grateful that you let me regain my consciousness as Shimizu before I die. I can feel it myself: a Hollow's Reiatsu has become a complete part of me. It's impossible to remove it entirely. This can't be reversed, so you don't need to blame yourself like this."

That was Shimizu.

"Do you really not have that kind of power? Think about what that man did in Devil May Cry 5 and how he did it. The makeup of that power is engraved on your soul down to the smallest detail!

"All you need is the resolve to use it!"

The Zanpakutō spirit spoke to Hu.

Hu, however, fell silent. His peaceful life had made him reluctant to shoulder responsibility, and he had pursued power with the attitude that it was nice to have but that he wouldn't mind going without. Now, however, he felt hesitant and lost.

"Do you have time to be lost? Your friend is about to die right here. Can you do nothing but fulfill his last wishes? Are you willing to accept that?"

Afraid he might have a further negative effect on Hu, Shimizu nodded to Cilian. Cilian understood. "I'll do my best to make it painless for you." In an instant, his hand rose and his blade fell, and Shimizu closed his eyes.

"Clang!"

Shimizu had thought he would disappear just like that. Yet all he heard was the clash of blades. He opened his eyes again and saw Hu holding Cilian's Zanpakuto at bay with his own.

"You've gotten quite good at Shunpo, haven't you? That was nearly a hundred meters." Cilian smiled, then his expression turned cold. "And now? What do you mean by this? Are you trying to protect a Hollow? Let me make this clear: if you protect a Hollow, you absolutely won't pass 'slash.' Shimizu won't stay lucid for much longer either. Letting him go with dignity is the best way to respect him."

Hu said nothing, and Shimizu grew anxious too. "Hu, stop this. I've seen enough today to know what kind of creatures Hollows are. I don't want to die like that! Remember me as I am now, become a true Soul Reaper, and make sure nothing like this ever happens again!"

"Hu, are you going to defy his wishes? Are you going to profane his noble will and make him disappear in such a miserable state?"

"Hu, did you come to this world just to let one tragedy after another keep playing out? Is my master really such a coward?"

"Hu..."

"Hu."

"Hu!"

"All of you, shut the fuck up!!!" A powerful surge of Reiatsu erupted from Hu, pushing both Shimizu and Cilian several meters away. Hu stood between them. Shimizu's condition began to deteriorate: something white writhed beneath his navy-blue kimono, the whites of his eyes began to turn black, and he let out pained groans. Cilian was becoming annoyed. Few people ever made a scene like this in front of him, and Hu...

Hu raised his head, his eyes bloodshot.

"I'm not going to defend a beast that has nothing but instincts and no reason!!" That was for Cilian.

"The woman you won over yourself is yours to protect! Don't just leave her to someone else and die! If you can't accept it, then work to change things like you did before!!!" That was for Shimizu.

"I'm leaving her to someone else because I can't do it myself, you selfish bastard!" Shimizu flew into a rage. A white mask covered his face once more, and he charged at Hu.

"I didn't come to this world to watch shitty tragedies like this either! I'm going to change everything I can't stand until it's the way I want it! I came here to have a damn good time!!!!" That was for the Zanpakuto.

At that moment, the Zanpakutō spirit burst out laughing. **"Hahaha... That's it! That's it!... Hahaha... That's the way!

"Lost, my ass... You've just had too much time on your hands!

"Call my name, Hu! The two of us can do anything we want. We're invincible! No common sense or rules can cage us! As long as we dare to imagine it, we can fly higher than the Soul King Palace!!"**

"Break out of the cage and spread your wings! Jiku'a!!"

"Uchiyabure rōya o, soshite habatake! Jiku'a!"

In an instant, strands of blue light radiated from beneath Hu, surrounding him in the shape of a birdcage. Then the blue lines shattered space, tearing a pair of wing-shaped rifts in the space around him. When the rifts healed, the Zanpakuto at Hu's waist had completed its Shikai:

The hilt was wrapped in white and decorated with an intricate golden pattern shaped like an infinity symbol. At the top of the hilt, just below the guard, was a golden Eastern dragon ornament. The guard consisted of a pair of hexagons, simple yet distinctive, connecting the blade to the hilt. The scabbard was black, with a black cord at its mouth. Its end fitting was decorated with three golden dots in a row.

It was identical to the one in the Zanpakutō spirit's hand!

Hu pushed a portion of the blade from its sheath and spoke to the charging Shimizu. "That's why I can help you break out of this situation! You still owe me a fishing trip, so don't think you can just die on me!!!"

Hu gripped the hilt and unleashed a slash of pure blue. Beneath that blue light, Shimizu's human-shaped black shadow and the Hollow's white shadow were completely separated. The sight so shocked Cilian, watching from behind, that he nearly lost his grip on his sword.