The One Who Stopped Her

Early morning • Sakiro's room

Sakiro sat in her room, a sheet of paper covered in writing spread out on the desk before her.

She picked up her brush, added the final sentence at the end, then set it down and quietly looked at the letter.

The sky outside had just begun to pale. Morning light streamed through the paper window, falling on the letter and her face.

Hesitation and worry showed on her face, along with the exhaustion of a sleepless night.

After a moment, she stood and walked to a corner of the room. A complex ritual array was engraved in the floor there—a secret array for emergency communication within the Fon Clan, capable of sending a letter directly into its intended recipient's hands.

Sakiro crouched down and placed the letter in the center of the array.

She closed her eyes and formed seals with both hands, slowly pouring Reishi into the array.

The ritual glowed with a faint blue light. Within it, the letter gradually turned transparent, finally becoming a glimmer that dissipated into the air.

Sakiro opened her eyes and looked at the empty array, murmuring to herself:

"I hope it's not too late for everything..."

She turned her gaze to the window, her expression grave.

The scenes from last night surfaced in her mind again.

Last night

Fon Shaoling did not return to her room.

She went to the underground cells.

Sakiro followed behind her, watching her push open the door to the prison and walk straight toward the cell deep inside where the new Hollow was being held.

She walked quickly, too quickly to resemble the usually composed and graceful Princess Shaoling, still less the unflappable Soi Fon. She looked more like someone who had held everything in for too long and had finally found an outlet.

"Open it."

Fon Shaoling's voice was calm, but Sakiro sensed something suppressed beneath that calm.

The Onmitsukidō guards asked no questions and immediately opened the cell door.

Fon Shaoling walked in and stood before the Hollow, which was three times the size of a person.

It was still asleep. Hu's Bakudō and the Onmitsukidō's restraints kept it lying there unconscious.

Fon Shaoling raised a hand.

A surge of Reiatsu poured straight into the Hollow's body.

The Hollow's eyes snapped open, and it let out a howl of pain. The restraints shattered instantly before her, as if they were made of paper.

Sakiro frowned but did not step forward.

The Hollow was not fully awake yet. Beneath his slowly regenerating mask, his face was full of confusion and terror. He looked at the petite figure before him and instinctively tried to back away.

Fon Shaoling gave him no chance.

She raised her hand and smashed her fist into the Hollow's mask.

Bang!

The mask, which had barely begun to recover, shattered completely, revealing a plain face streaked with tears.

The man froze.

"Who... who are you...?"

Fon Shaoling did not answer. She simply stood there, looking down at him.

"Speak."

Her voice was cold as ice.

"Who turned you into a Hollow?"

The man's body trembled. He was not fully conscious yet, and painful memories came flooding back—the despair of being altered, the fear of losing himself, the confusion after becoming a monster...

"I... I don't know..."

"You don't know?"

Fon Shaoling narrowed her eyes slightly.

She raised her hand, which began to glow with Reiatsu.

The white substance on the Hollow's body began to squirm, trying to spread again. Fon Shaoling reached out, seized it and tore it off by force.

The man let out a piercing scream.

Sakiro's frown deepened, but she still did not move.

"Who experimented on you?!"

"I really don't know!" the man cried. "It hurts... it hurts so much..."

"Where were you turned into a Hollow?"

"I don't know... ah!!!... I really don't know anything..."

The white substance began to spread again. Fon Shaoling reached out and tore it off once more.

The man's screams echoed through the underground prison.

Sakiro could not bear to watch any longer.

She stepped forward and reached out to grab Fon Shaoling's arm.

"Leader."

Fon Shaoling turned and looked at her.

The usual warmth was gone from those eyes. All that remained was a chill that made Sakiro's heart tremble.

Sakiro's heart tightened, but she did not let go.

"Leader." Her voice was soft but steady. "In his current state, you won't get any answers from him. If you keep questioning him, he'll either break down completely or lose his humanity entirely. Then we won't get anything."

Fon Shaoling stared at her for a long time.

Sakiro did not back down.

Finally, Fon Shaoling looked away, turning her gaze to the Hollow curled up on the floor, trembling.

She was silent for a while, then raised her hand and cast Bakudō on him again.

The Hollow's body went limp, and he fell asleep once more.

Fon Shaoling turned and left the cell without a word.

Sakiro stood where she was, watching her disappear down the passage.

She let out a long sigh...

The memory ended.

Sakiro stood before the window, watching the sky outside gradually brighten.

She knew her princess was in an extremely unstable state.

A century's worth of resentment, anger and unwillingness to accept what had happened had been completely ignited by this incident. Princess Shaoling, usually gentle and dignified, was now on the verge of being consumed by negative emotions.

Sakiro alone might not be able to dissuade her at all.

That was why she had sent the letter to Cilian.

Cilian, who had served Fon Shaoling's father and brothers in turn, was in a sense her elder. He was the only person in the manor who might be able to stop Fon Shaoling from running out of control.

Before Cilian returned—

Sakiro turned and looked toward the door.

There was one other person in the manor who might be able to hold her back for a while.

Through those pure and clumsy feelings.

She opened the door and headed for Hu's room.

Early morning • Hu's room

Hu sat on his bed with his head in his hands, looking as though he had lost all desire to live.

His mind was full of scenes from last night.

"Because I like her!"

Those words repeated over and over like a curse.

How had he said it out loud?!

How had he said it in front of so many people?!

Sakiro's smile, the shocked looks on the Onmitsukidō members' faces... he never wanted to remember any of it for the rest of his life.

Worse still was what had happened during Zanjutsu meditation.

When he entered his Inner World that morning, he had been stunned by the sight before him.

Pink bubbles filled the sky beneath the enormous Demon World Tree. Big and small, they fell in dense swarms like snow. A strange, cloyingly sweet scent filled the entire Inner World.

Jiku'a stood atop the tree's crown, covered in bubbles, with "I want to kill someone" written all over his face.

Before Hu could say a word, he was kicked out.

"Don't come back in until you've cleaned those things up!"

Then, with a bang, the door to his Inner World slammed shut.

Now Hu could not even practice Zanjutsu meditation.

As he sat there fretting, footsteps sounded outside his door.

Knock, knock.

"Ye Xing?"

It was Sakiro.

Hu hurriedly composed his expression, trying to look a little more normal.

"I'm coming in."

Sakiro opened the door, entered and sat down at the table.

She looked at Hu's expression, which only made his attempt to hide things more obvious, but did not call him out. She merely sighed softly.

"I came to tell you something."

Hu paused.

"What is it?"

Sakiro smiled slightly, then spoke.

"It's about my princess. Would you like to hear it?"

The moment she finished speaking, Hu flashed over to sit opposite Sakiro, wearing an obedient expression that said he was listening.

"The first time I met her was at one of her older brothers' funerals."

Sakiro's voice was soft, as though she were recalling something from a long time ago.

Hu listened quietly.

"She was still very young then, such a little thing, standing in the funeral hall with her eyes slightly red, but her back perfectly straight. Together with the previous Lady Soi Fon, she received the guests who came to pay their respects."

The corners of Sakiro's lips lifted slightly.

"She was clearly hurting, but she stubbornly forced herself not to cry. I thought then that she was such a strong child, and so adorable."

Hu pictured the scene, a wave of complicated emotions welling up in his heart.

"The second time I saw her was a few years later," Sakiro continued. "By then, she had graduated from Shin'ō Academy and followed in her family's footsteps into the Second Division."

"She was still young, and her youthful inexperience had yet to fade, but she was already outstanding. She carried out the tasks assigned to her well, and she had made friends of her own in the Second Division."

Sakiro's smile deepened a little.

"Because she was cute and hardworking, the Second Division members all liked her and always wanted to help her with something. But she refused them firmly every time. I remember thinking how adorably stubborn she was."

As Hu listened, the corners of his lips rose unconsciously as well.

"The third time I saw her wasn't much later," Sakiro said. "She had distinguished herself and become my squad captain."

She paused, her gaze softening.

"I still remember her standing in front of me, tilting her head up and telling me with a perfectly serious face, 'I'm your captain from now on. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to tell me anytime.'"

Sakiro chuckled softly.

"She was so small then, saying those things to me when I was so much taller than her. I'll never forget that scene. I remember thinking, how could this child be so stubborn and so lovable?"

Hu remained silent, an indescribable feeling welling up in his heart.

That was a Fon Shaoling he had never seen.

A little girl who stubbornly held back her tears, a young girl who firmly refused help, an adorable little thing who tilted her head up and said, "I'm your captain."

As Sakiro's smile slowly faded, the story grew heavier.

"But the memories after that... aren't so pleasant."

Hu's heart tightened.

"One hundred and ten years ago, some truly terrible incidents occurred in the Seireitei."

Sakiro's voice grew low.

"She lost her two best friends. She also lost the right to go on being a child."

"Then the old Lady Soi Fon grew elderly, and managing the Fon Clan became more than she could handle. Shaoling began to take on the clan's burdens," Sakiro continued. "After that, the title of Soi Fon passed to the next generation, and she formally took over most of the family's affairs. When the new Soi Fon became Second Division Captain, her burden grew even heavier."

A moving scene gradually formed in Hu's mind: two sisters who had lost their father and brothers, supporting each other.

"That succession of events weighed on her until she could barely breathe. By the time everything settled down, she had grown up without even realizing it."

"She went from being an adorable little princess to someone in a position of authority, the head of a family. Her heart was submerged in endless affairs."

Sakiro's voice trembled slightly.

"But the scars in her heart... had no time to heal."

Hu sat there without moving.

He thought of the young woman standing in the morning light, dressed in a pale cyan short jacket. He thought of the "teacher" in the Kidō Practice Room, wearing glasses and teaching him Kidō with a serious expression. He thought of the little tease who had tied a bow on him and said with a smile, "Make sure you catch lots of fish."

So such deep wounds had been hidden beneath those smiles.

"Now this incident has torn that scar open again." Sakiro looked at him. "And deeper than ever before."

Hu sprang to his feet.

"The incident one hundred and ten years ago... was someone conducting a Hollowfication Experiment?"

Sakiro said nothing.

"Was it because of the Hollowfication Experiment that Shaoling lost her best friends?"

Sakiro remained silent.

Hu's mind raced:

The Hollowfication Incident in the original story, Aizen's conspiracy, Yoruichi and Urahara's escape... Soi Fon's reaction in the original story, that almost obsessive resentment... So Shaoling had lost her friend then, too.

Hu could hardly imagine Fon Shaoling, who was younger than Soi Fon, handling it any better than Soi Fon had.

This was bad.

This was really bad.

With those painful memories from the past weighing on her, he didn't dare imagine what Fon Shaoling might do.

Hu whirled toward Sakiro, his voice changing pitch.

"You knew all this, so why did you insist on telling Shaoling instead of Soi Fon?!"

Sakiro looked at him calmly.

"There's not much difference between telling Soi Fon and telling Princess Shaoling," she said. "They'll both find out eventually."

"Even so, you can't—"

"Besides," Sakiro cut him off, "Princess Shaoling is my direct superior. I can't go over her head."

Hu scratched his head in frustration.

"Then what do we do?! Just stand by and watch her—"

"Calm down."

Sakiro's voice was so steady that Hu stopped without realizing it.

"I didn't tell you all this just so you could worry yourself sick."

She stood, walked over to Hu, and looked him in the eye.

"Listen to me. Right now, all the useful leads are in the hands of those Hollows."

Sakiro's voice trembled slightly too; this was also the first time she had done something behind Fon Shaoling's back:

"Those twenty-seven, plus the one you caught last night. If we want to get the crucial clues, we have to go through them."

Hu nodded.

"And you're the only one who can separate Hollows from Pluses."

Hu nodded again.

"So Princess Shaoling will definitely come to you for help."

Hu froze.

"She'll come to me?"

"She definitely will." Sakiro looked at him. "Today."

Hu fell silent.

"There's something else you need to know."

The corners of Sakiro's mouth rose slightly, a complicated smile appearing on her face.

"Princess Shaoling heard everything you said yesterday."

Hu's face turned bright red in an instant.

"Wh... what?!"

"She was standing right behind you. She heard it." Sakiro's smile deepened. "And judging by her reaction... you have a chance."

Hu's head buzzed, and his brain shut down again.

Sakiro couldn't help laughing at the sight of him, but quickly stopped.

"That's the key."

Hu stared at her blankly.

"Growing up, my princess has never had anyone of the opposite sex confess their feelings to her like that," Sakiro said. "She has no experience dealing with this sort of thing. And she isn't averse to your feelings."

She paused.

"So she might listen to what you have to say."

Hu's heart began to race.

"But," Sakiro said, her voice growing serious, "Princess Shaoling is very good at spotting lies. Whatever you say to her must be completely sincere, straight from the heart. Only then might you be able to sway her."

Hu took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

"Then what... what should I say?"

Sakiro looked at him, a trace of complicated emotion in her eyes.

"I don't know," she admitted. "You only need to remember one thing—"

She reached out and placed a hand on Hu's shoulder.

"Today, she might say things she wouldn't normally say, things that... might hurt you."

Hu's heart tightened.

"But I hope you won't give up on your feelings for her because of that."

Sakiro's voice grew soft, as though she were speaking to herself.

"She's just a child under so much pressure she can barely breathe. A child who had to learn to grow up when she was very, very young."

She let go and turned toward the door.

When she reached it, she stopped without looking back.

"Please."

Then she opened the door and left.

Hu was alone in the room.

He stood there, his mind in turmoil.

Sakiro's words echoed in his head again and again.

"She's just a child under so much pressure she can barely breathe..."

Hu slowly sat back down on the bed and looked out the window at the brightening sky.

The morning light shone on his face, but it couldn't reach his jumbled thoughts.

Would she come today?

What would she say?

What should he say?

He didn't know.