A Gift
"This is my graduation gift to you... We'll never meet again, Baiye."
So sleepy.
Baiye felt his face burning as though it were on fire. His entire body ached unbearably, limp and weak. He tried to open his eyes, but no matter what he did, he couldn't.
Something was placed on his forehead. A cool sensation seeped into his skin, and he suddenly felt alive again.
Baiye finally opened his eyes. The sun was shining outside, its light streaming into the room through the half-open window. He lay in the shadow beneath the other half, a damp towel on his forehead and Hayate sitting beside him.
"What happened to me...?"
"Brother, you're awake?" Hayate cried out in delight before explaining, "You started running a fever around midnight last night. Mother stayed by your side the whole time. I only managed to persuade her to go back and rest after I woke up this morning."
Midnight? Baiye was stunned for a moment. He remembered leaving the Hatake Clan, going to an izakaya, then returning home and entering Shin'ō Academy—but his head was groggy now, as if it had been stuffed full of something, and thinking took an extraordinary effort.
"I'm glad you're awake. I'll go tell Mother right now—"
Hayate got up and started to rush out.
"Wait." Baiye spoke, his throat terribly dry and his voice low and hoarse. Hayate didn't hear him and had nearly reached the door. Mother had only just fallen asleep. If Hayate woke her and she heard that Baiye was awake, she might not get any proper rest for the rest of the day.
"Stop!"
In his urgency, Baiye sat up and shouted, his voice carrying a commanding tone. A force rampaging through his mind seemed to find an outlet in an instant, surging out with his low shout.
Thud!
Hayate dropped to his knees instantly. He turned back with difficulty, his eyes full of fear as he looked at Baiye.
Baiye froze. Reiatsu suppression? What's going on? His soul strength had only been a little over five hundred, Eighth-Class Reiatsu. That should have been nowhere near enough to suppress someone until they couldn't move. He hurriedly drew his Reiatsu back and opened the system panel for a glance.
[Soul strength: 1050 (Third-Class Reiatsu)]
Captain-level.
Baiye's hand trembled. He was already having trouble drawing his Reiatsu back, and it slipped out of his control and spread out again.
Thud!
"Brother!" Hayate, who had just gotten back to his feet, fell flat on the floor again. This time, there was a trace of aggrieved anger in his gaze as he looked at Baiye. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"
"...Sorry." Baiye hurriedly reined in his Reiatsu completely and raised a hand, signaling Hayate not to move yet. "Sit for a while. Don't go out just yet."
Hayate sat back down in the chair suspiciously, perching on the edge and ready to flee at any moment.
Baiye turned his attention to the panel.
[Host: Gekkō Byakuya] [Soul strength: 1050 (Third-Class Reiatsu)] [Current Fate Points: 84] [Swordplay: A (1000/30000)] [Shunpo: A (5/30000)] [Hakuda: B (8910/10000)] [Hadō: A (700/30000)] [Bakudō: A (800/30000)] [Healing: B (2000/10000)]
All of his Zankensoki had crossed the threshold into A rank, and his soul strength had doubled from just over five hundred, skipping the entire lieutenant level and reaching the threshold of Captain-level. No wonder he'd had a fever all night—with such enormous changes affecting his soul all at once, the only reason he'd been able to wake up the next day was that his own soul was resilient enough.
But the increase was far too great. As a graduation reward from Shin'ō Academy, it was well beyond the normal range, and the system hadn't given him any notification either.
The panel scrolled with Baiye's gaze, revealing the remaining information.
[Gin Ichimaru (Shikai), Shinsō: 1/1] [Rukia Kuchiki (Shikai), Sode no Shirayuki: 0/1] [Sajin Komamura (Bankai), Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō: 1/1] [Sōsuke Aizen: Kyōka Suigetsu 3/3]
Kyōka Suigetsu?
Aizen's voice sounded in his mind again. "Of course you need to thank me. Controlling the illusion wasn't the only authority I borrowed."
Not just control over the illusion.
Baiye turned his Reiatsu Detection inward, his consciousness sinking into the depths of his soul. That piece of soul, which had belonged to Aizen and had been locked away by the Four Symbols Seal before Aizen himself cut it off, had completely merged into the depths of Baiye's soul. Not a trace of it remained.
Through that piece of soul, Aizen had given him much of what belonged to him: experience, skills, and even his Zanpakuto's ability.
Why did the system allow it?
Or was it unable to intervene?
Was it unable to take back a reward once it had been issued?
The jumble of thoughts made his headache worse. Baiye stopped dwelling on it. He rubbed his head with his left hand while reaching behind him to the right with his other hand, grasping the Tachi leaning against the corner and pulling it to his side.
The whole movement had an effortless, matter-of-course naturalness to it.
"Whoa!" Hayate sprang to his feet. "Brother, how did you do that? I moved the sword over there while you had a fever! You didn't even look that way, so how did you know where it was?"
"Huh? You're still here?" Baiye turned his head to look at him, raising his eyebrows slightly.
The concern had yet to fade from Hayate's face when those words left him speechless and red-faced. "Don't push it, I'm telling you! When you're old, I'm definitely going to challenge you to a duel! You're the one who used a terrifying move to stop me from leaving and told me to wait here!"
Baiye turned to look out the window, then looked at Hayate, seeming only then to notice that he was still in the room. "Right... By the way, don't you have to report to the Anbu today?"
"I took the day off!" Hayate folded his arms and straightened his back.
"You've only been there a few days, and you're already taking time off?" Baiye leaned against the headboard, his right hand resting on the sword's hilt as he lazily raised his eyes to look at him. "Careful, they might not let you come back tomorrow."
"And! Whose! Fault! Is! That?!" Hayate slammed a fist onto the low table beside the bed, making the water in the cup slosh back and forth.
Baiye watched him fume, and at last he couldn't keep the corners of his mouth down. He chuckled softly. Hayate froze, then grew even angrier.
"I'm joking. Don't be angry."
"Hmph!" Hayate turned his face away and folded his arms tightly.
"Let Mother keep resting for now. While you're at it, help me ask the hospital for the day off."
"Why don't you go to the hospital and get checked out instead?" Hayate turned back and stole a glance at his pale face. "Hmph!"
Baiye looked down and squeezed his own wrist, then flexed his fingers. "It's all right. I know my own condition. There's nothing seriously wrong anymore."
"Are you sure you won't go?" Hayate stopped at the door, gripping the frame and leaning back to look at him. "If it's you, Brother, Lady Tsunade would take a look at you, wouldn't she? Hmph!"
Baiye picked up the cup and waved him away without looking up. "Go on, go on. Where did this hmphing monster come from? Hurry up and get it done."
"Hmph!"
Hayate slammed the door shut. His footsteps thudded away down the hallway.
Only then did Baiye lay the sword across his legs and slowly close his eyes.
Jinzen.
His first priority now was to gain complete control over his rapidly increased Reiatsu.