Awakening

"Ah! My head hurts..."

The noisy voices woke Kyoraku from his groggy state. A moment later, the world began spinning around him.

He opened his eyes and found himself sitting against a wall, both hands shackled to a pair of iron rings. The space before him was pitch-black, with the only light coming from a small oil lamp a few feet away.

Memories of what had happened before he passed out suddenly came rushing back. Kyoraku shuddered. "Damn it, those two bastards kidnapped me!"

Someone had actually dared to kidnap the young master of an upper noble house in District One of Rukongai, the safest place in the area?!

Kyoraku shouted, "Anyone there? You two, come out! You dare do something rotten, but you're too scared to show your faces?!"

"Hey, boss, looks like our young master's awake!" a rough, simple-minded voice called from far away.

"Go check on him first. I'll be there in a moment."

Light footsteps sounded from the darkness, and a short, stocky figure gradually emerged into the faint light.

It was Kuramoto, one of the two men who had captured him.

Kyoraku's pupils widened abruptly. "You again! You two bastards actually dared to kidnap me! Don't you know who I am?"

"Oh, dear, young master Kyoraku, you'd better calm down. Instead of pointlessly getting angry, you should accept the fact that we've captured you." A smile appeared on Kuramoto's dark, round face, looking eerie in the dim lamplight.

"Hmph! You two teamed up to take me on because you're bigger and stronger, bullying me just because I'm a kid. Now it's just you and me. Dare to fight me one-on-one?" Kyoraku remembered what had happened before he passed out. His body trembled slightly, but his words were defiant.

At that, Kuramoto remembered the two dazzling streaks of "Byakurai" that had cut across the sky. A hint of unease flickered in his eyes, but he quickly changed tack.

"Young master Kyoraku, let's put the fighting and threats aside for now. Why not ask about your bodyguard first?"

"My bodyguard?" Kyoraku was puzzled. He followed Kuramoto's gaze and looked beside him, only then noticing Lin Nan, still unconscious and bound to the wall.

"Lin Nan!" he cried out.

How had Lin Nan ended up here too? Hadn't he gone back to my house to get the money?

A flood of thoughts flashed through Kyoraku's mind, but he couldn't think clearly. He anxiously called Lin Nan's name, but received no response.

Lin Nan's silence stirred an inexplicable fear in Kyoraku.

"Young master Kyoraku really cares about his subordinate. You're this worried just because your bodyguard got hurt." Kuramoto picked up the oil lamp and walked a few steps closer, setting it down between Lin Nan and Kyoraku.

"Don't worry, he's not dead. He's just a little hurt. We didn't mean for things to turn out this way, but he put up too much of a fight."

The light brightened, and Kyoraku could see Lin Nan clearly: his upper body was bare, his muscular arms bound tightly with ropes and suspended above him. Thick bandages wrapped his abdomen, dark red blood already seeping through them.

"What did you do to him?! You bastard!"

Seeing Lin Nan's injuries, Kyoraku flew into a rage. He twisted his body and arms against the ropes, trying to break free, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. "I'll kill you!"

Kuramoto had pictured it going perfectly. After seeing blood, a sheltered rich kid like Kyoraku would be scared witless, wouldn't he? Then, whatever he demanded, the boy would surely agree without a fuss.

But Kyoraku was now like a furious wolf, completely catching Kuramoto off guard. Kyoraku's roars choked off every word he had prepared. He couldn't even find a chance to interrupt.

Kyoraku spent a full two minutes cursing and struggling, but never managed to break free. Kuramoto stood dumbly beside him for those same two minutes.

Now, in the darkness, the uneven sound of footsteps approached, accompanied by several beams of light.

"Judging by how you're acting toward that unconscious boy, he isn't one of your family's servants, is he?" asked a voice Kyoraku barely recognized. Iwamoto Raizo entered the dark room with his men.

As the light grew stronger, Kyoraku could make out the newcomers.

"Who are you?!" Seeing so many people behind the man, Kyoraku felt a surge of unease. He stared at him with anger and wariness.

Then he spotted the tall Masaki behind Iwamoto, still walking awkwardly with his legs slightly bent. Kyoraku immediately understood. "You're the leader of those two? Why did you kidnap me?"

"My name is Iwamoto Raizo. Remember it. One day, that name will resound throughout the Soul Society." Iwamoto glanced at Lin Nan, who remained unconscious beside him. "Is this boy your friend? He's quite skilled. Did your older brother hire him to protect you?"

Kyoraku didn't look surprised at all. "His name is Lin Nan, and of course I know he's strong. You don't need to tell me that. You keep changing the subject. Is there something you want to ask me, but don't dare say?"

Iwamoto seemed quite interested in the boy before him. "You're not afraid? Why assume I want to question you? Maybe I kidnapped you for ransom."

It wasn't that Kyoraku wasn't afraid. Something else on his mind had made him forget his fear. His thoughts raced. Right now, he needed to find out as much as he could about the other man.

"Stop beating around the bush, Mr. Iwamoto. If you dared kidnap me, you must know who I am. If you wanted ransom, you had plenty of better targets than me. Take the Omaeda family, for instance. They're far richer than my family."

Iwamoto Raizo laughed heartily, a rare look of approval on his face. "You're a clever little brat! You're right, I'm not after ransom. I'm after your older brother, Kyoraku Seishu."

Kyoraku Shunsui was taken aback for a moment, then immediately understood the crux of the matter.

Money wasn't the goal, and neither was his noble status. The thing his brother had that he didn't was the status of a Soul Reaper.

"You're... rebels?"

A trace of distaste crossed Iwamoto's face, but he calmly replied, "Rebels? So that's what they call us in front of you kids? You don't know anything.

"My lord's family had served the Four Great Noble Houses for generations. They had even helped them establish Seireitei. And yet they were branded as rebels.

"We only wanted a share of power that never belonged to them in the first place, and that made us rebels in their eyes? Tell me, is that right? Is that fair?"

Kyoraku was confused. He knew about the Four Great Noble Houses, but he had no interest at his age in learning about things from thousands upon thousands of years ago.

"Whether it's fair or not has nothing to do with me. It's not up to me to decide."

"No, Kyoraku Shunsui. It has a great deal to do with you. Once we win, it'll determine whether your family is allowed to continue." Iwamoto wagged his index finger. "As the second son of the Kyoraku family, you should also shoulder the responsibility of restoring your family's fortunes, shouldn't you? Especially when your brother eventually dies in battle..."

"Bullshit..." Kyoraku was startled by those last words and trembled again despite himself.

Ever since he'd grown old enough to understand things, his relationship with his older brother had been lukewarm. But hearing someone say that his brother would die in battle still filled him with fear and anger.

"Don't worry, I don't mean now or anytime soon. And I didn't capture you to hurt your brother." Iwamoto's face took on a smug smile.

"As you said, we exist to resist Seireitei. Perhaps your brother has told you something about the Court Guard Squad, or shared some information with you. If you tell me everything you know, I can guarantee that, when we fight Seireitei in the future, I'll spare your brother;

"and once our masters earn the right to serve the Soul King, your Kyoraku family will be able to retain its glory."

"You're dreaming. Even if I knew anything, I wouldn't tell you!" Kyoraku gritted his teeth and said viciously.

Lin Nan opened his eyes. Once again, he was in that familiar, dim corridor.

"Here again. Sigh, I didn't expect to be sent back so soon." Lin Nan instinctively touched his stomach.

"That man actually broke through my defenses. Is he as strong as Unohana? Why have I never heard of him... Could he be someone who existed in the original story?"

"...Forget it, now's not the time to think about that. They must have kidnapped Kyoraku and me by now. The most important thing is to get stronger before they kill me, then find a chance to escape with Kyoraku..."

He gave a barely perceptible nod, turned, and briskly pushed open the wooden door to the Playback Room. The glowing screen came into view as before—

Outer shell damage detected...

Warning: Outer shell repairs incomplete; damage exceeds capacity limit!

Warning: Damage to torso detected!

Rei-Pressure Shell protection function disabled...

Rei-Pressure Shell transfer terminated...

Outer shell repairs interrupted...

Emergency bodily repair program initiated...

Bodily repair in progress...

Internal reiatsu circulation initiated...

Warning: Rei-Pressure Shell protection lost. Proceed with caution...

Friendly reminder: Without the Rei-Pressure Shell, reiatsu exposure will increase. Proceed with caution and do not panic excessively...

A long string of characters scrolled up from the bottom of the screen, one line after another. Lin Nan had never seen the machine display so many messages at once, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

Although he couldn't quite understand them, the words "reiatsu exposure" made him wonder.

The outer shell's damage would expose his reiatsu? He'd thought the Rei-Pressure Shell was only for protection. Did that mean it had previously concealed his reiatsu?

Lin Nan's thoughts raced as he quickly worked through the possibilities.

"The reason those Soul Reapers were surprised I survived Unohana must have been that my reiatsu seemed insignificant. If I had reiatsu like Yamamoto, nobody would've been so surprised."

He spoke to himself, turning his gaze toward the coldly glowing monitor.

On the left side of the screen, the familiar tree-shaped menu appeared. The playback of his fight with Iwamoto Raizo was right there.

Lin Nan let out a sigh of relief. He was about to open the video when his eyes returned to the line still displayed in the center of the screen.

"Internal... circulation?" Lin Nan rubbed his chin, perplexed.

"What does that have to do with the endocrine system?"