The Tenth Division barracks showed none of the solemnity expected of a mainstay of the Gotei 13 that afternoon. As usual.
Warm sunlight slanted across the courtyard's pale, scrubbed flagstones. A few wisteria trees swayed idly in the breeze. It should have been a peaceful scene, but a sudden crash shattered it.
Bang!
A dull impact sounded from around the corridor corner. Papers flew everywhere as two figures hurtled into the courtyard, one chasing the other.
"Shiba Isshin! Get back here!!"
Lieutenant Chang Huxiaoshan Gangwan charged after him, his broad, wall-like frame driving a heavy gust of air ahead of it. His usually steady face had turned purple with rage, and veins throbbed at his temples.
Chang Huxiaoshan Gangwan held a thick stack of mission records high in his right hand.
The Rukongai patrol report was supposed to be neat and orderly, ready for review by the First Division and Central 46. Its handwriting looked like a drunkard's stumbling tracks. Worse, the blank space on the crucial Reiatsu residue assessment page had been filled with a crude but remarkably lifelike drawing of a wild boar rooting for food, rendered in vermilion and char-black ink.
A dozen or so paces ahead, a young Soul Reaper darted back and forth around the corridor's turns with slippery footwork.
His short black hair stuck up in a mess. His Shihakushō hung open at the collar, exposing his solid chest, and his Zanpakutō dangled loosely at his waist. Far from looking afraid, he wore a maddening grin.
"Oh, come on, Lieutenant! Why get so worked up?"
He shot forward as though his feet were greased, then deliberately turned to run backward. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he called out with a grin:
"The mission went off without a hitch, didn't it?! I smashed every