"Kill that woman already! Do you have any idea how much damage she's done to Soul Society? More than half the Sages of Central 46 are dead or wounded. Her crimes are unprecedented and utterly unforgivable! Why are we keeping her alive? Execute her now!"
These people had been nowhere to be seen during the fighting. Now that it was safe, every last one of them had something to say.
Yamabuki Chidori slashed backward. Sword pressure swept over a Great Sage's head, nearly taking it off. The man dropped onto his backside and wet himself!
"Say one more word and I'll cut you down too! Central 46 is already in ruins. I can always kill you and pin it on her." Yamabuki Chidori glanced at Unohana, who was slumped over his shoulder. "I doubt my colleagues would object. What do you think, Saito? Uncle?"
Saitō Fubōfu had never liked these bastards. She was already itching to draw her sword.
Gen'en Kinra looked at the Sages of Central 46, his eyes glinting with hostility.
"Wait... wait, Chief Strategist. I spoke too harshly just now. But... what are you going to do with this woman? You're not keeping her, are you? She's too dangerous to control! Why not... hand her over to Central 46 for execution? Or, if that's out of the question, lock her in Mugen Jigoku..."
Before he could finish, Yamabuki Chidori's blade flashed. The man's head flew off, blood spraying far across the room. The remaining Sages fell dead silent!
What was wrong with these lunatics?
Now there was another one who feared nothing!
"Didn't you hear me? Say one more word and I'll cut you down too!" Yamabuki Chidori's eyes shone with menace. "You parasites claim there are plenty of replacements for you, don't you? If you all die, we'll appoint another batch. If you want Central 46 dissolved, just say the word. I'll help. Otherwise, I'm going home!"
The dozen or so Sages left alive clapped their hands over their mouths, terrified to make a sound in case they were next.
"I'm going home to rest. I'm exhausted. Let me know when the Captain Commander gets back." With Unohana over his shoulder, Yamabuki Chidori staggered home.
Once inside, Yamabuki Chidori locked the door and tore off Unohana's damaged clothes.
Unohana quietly watched the boy's movements. She neither struggled nor tried to stop him.
In the end, only a thin shirt clung to Unohana's body. Yamabuki Chidori opened a hidden passage, carried her down to the underground training ground, and dropped her straight into Bone Hell.
"Soak here for a while. Once you feel the damaged reiatsu and blood have drained away, go soak in the red pool next door. Go back and forth a few times, and your injuries should be mostly healed. We can talk when you're better," Yamabuki Chidori said.
He had thought the springs would be a great help to him. But he had awakened Super-Speed Regeneration so soon that the two springs had become practically useless to him.
And in the final moments of their fight, he had awakened Hard Skin and Blut Vene too. From now on, getting hurt would be difficult, let alone needing treatment!
Two hours later, Yamabuki Chidori brought her a change of clothes.
He had prepared some fine white stockings. But when he saw Unohana's pale thighs and delicate feet, a question thundered through his mind.
Stockings or bare feet? Which should I choose?
What a tough decision!
He finally decided to have Unohana try on the white stockings first. If they didn't look good, he could always tear them off!
I really am a genius!
How did I come up with a solution that gives me both options?
As for the rest of the outfit, it was a plain-looking white dress.
As the owner of Soul Society's first fashion boutique, he couldn't sell nothing but maid outfits and other frivolous things. He needed something respectable too. Summer was coming, so Yamabuki Chidori had made breezy dresses based on his memories of his previous life. Sure enough, they had been a hit as soon as they went on sale.
Setting trends a thousand years ahead. That's me, all right.
Unohana gently dried herself with a towel, took off her wet clothes, and changed into the new outfit.
Judging by her face, Unohana looked only seventeen or eighteen a thousand years ago, much younger than she would look a millennium later.
She had less of that mature composure and more of a young girl's innocence.
At least on the surface! That madwoman who had cut her way from Seireitei's East Gate to Central 46 hardly counted.
Once dressed, Unohana sat there quietly, like a little white flower blooming beside the road in early spring.
"Put these on. They'll suppress your reiatsu. I'm responsible for guarding you until the Captain Commander returns," Yamabuki Chidori said.
Unohana didn't resist. She obediently fastened the reiatsu-suppressing manacles around her wrists.
After that battle, she felt she had gotten everything she wanted out of life. What happened to her next didn't matter.
Yamabuki Chidori took Unohana upstairs and settled her in a side room.
Please, no more trouble before the Captain Commander gets back!
Leaning against the wall, Unohana quietly watched the cherry blossoms outside. No one knew what was on her mind.
Yamabuki Chidori sat nearby with his sword propped against him. He had already told the Gotei 13 to bring him food when it was time to eat—enough for two!
If those little brats forget, they'll regret it when I get back!
The Captain Commander Returns
At mealtime, Chōjirō Sasakibe arrived with a food box. Yamabuki Chidori sat squarely in the doorway.
Chōjirō Sasakibe tried to peer inside. Yamabuki Chidori smacked him hard on the back of the head. "What are you looking at, kid?"
Chōjirō Sasakibe asked quietly, "Brother Yamabuki, can you really guard her alone? Should I bring a few more people?"
"If I can't keep her here, neither can you. I heard you were the first one to charge her when she broke in?" Yamabuki Chidori grinned at Chōjirō Sasakibe. "That took guts!"
Chōjirō Sasakibe smiled bashfully.
"But I also heard you were the first one she knocked out. Can't you size up the difference in strength before charging in?" Yamabuki Chidori gave him another hard smack on the head. "There's no shame in a strategic retreat. Now, let's see what's good today."
Chōjirō Sasakibe opened the food box, releasing a mouthwatering aroma.
There was stewed meat, fried fish, stir-fried greens, and two bowls of white rice. Yamabuki Chidori's appetite surged at the sight.
"The dining hall's serving food this good today? I should've eaten my fill before coming back." Yamabuki Chidori set one serving by the door to Unohana's room. "Food's here!"
Chōjirō Sasakibe pursed his lips. "Delia made this especially for you. She wouldn't give me any, even when I asked! But is it all right to feed a prisoner something this good? What if she eats her fill and escapes?"
Yamabuki Chidori narrowed his eyes. "What do you suggest?"
"We should starve her until she can barely move," Chōjirō Sasakibe said fiercely. "Then she won't have the strength to run."
Yamabuki Chidori called into the room, "You heard him, right? Nothing to do with me. It was all his idea. If you go hungry, take it up with him!"
Chōjirō Sasakibe's face went green. There was no need to throw him under the carriage like that.
"Oh, right. Eating with handcuffs on must be awkward. I'll take them off." Yamabuki Chidori took out a key and unlocked Unohana's cuffs.
Chōjirō Sasakibe looked even more distressed. "B-Brother Yamabuki, is it really all right to take off her cuffs? What if she starts wrecking things again?"
Yamabuki Chidori smiled at Unohana. "I've fed her for now. She won't wreck anything else. You can go."
Chōjirō Sasakibe remained baffled. Had this vicious woman torn through Seireitei just to get a meal? If she was that strong, couldn't she simply have asked? Why destroy everything?
What a strange woman.
With only a wall between them, Yamabuki Chidori and Unohana began to eat. Delia's cooking had improved lately. She had no talent for fighting, but her housekeeping skills were nearly perfect, and she had picked up some basic medical knowledge.
Then Unohana held out her bowl. She had eaten every last bite. After fighting for so long, she must have been hungry.
"Could you wash the dishes?" Yamabuki Chidori asked tentatively.
"Mm." Unohana didn't refuse. She washed the dishes and came back, and Yamabuki Chidori put the cuffs on her again.
Unohana looked as though she had a great deal to say but didn't know where to begin.
"Have a question?"
"Mm."
"Want some tea? We can talk over it," Yamabuki Chidori asked.
"Mm."
Yamabuki Chidori brewed a small pot. It was excellent tea, which he had shamelessly begged from the Captain Commander during their last meeting in his office.
Unohana took a small sip and asked, "What exactly are you?"
Huh? Why does that sound like an insult? What does she mean, "What are you?" I'm a person sitting right in front of her!
"No human heals that quickly. An ordinary person would have died in a fight like that," Unohana said with certainty. She wasn't a doctor yet, but she had killed so many people that she knew exactly which wounds were fatal.
An ordinary person would have died several times over in their fight. Yet here Yamabuki Chidori sat, drinking tea with her.
Once she ruled out every other possibility, however absurd the remaining answer seemed, it had to be the truth.
There was only one truth.
"You're not human!"
That was Unohana's conclusion.
"You're the one who isn't human! Neither is your whole family!" Yamabuki Chidori shot back. How am I not human? So I awakened the Quincy ability to control reishi and Blut Vene. So I awakened Hard Skin and Super Regeneration. How does that make me not human? Young lady, you need evidence before making accusations. Keep it up and I'll sue you for slander.
"Enough about me. You're the one in serious trouble. You wrecked Seireitei and slaughtered half of Central 46..."
"Nonsense. You killed one of them yourself. Don't try to blame that on me." Unohana smiled.
"...Even if I killed one, you killed most of them, didn't you? When the Captain Commander gets back, you're dead." Yamabuki Chidori wasn't exaggerating. What Unohana had done was unprecedented. Those bastards in Central 46 had been scared witless; they would never let someone so dangerous live.
Unohana showed no fear. She listened quietly as Yamabuki Chidori continued.
"There's only one way for you to survive: join the Gotei 13. We're a separate organization from Central 46. However much authority they have, they can't pass judgment on a Gotei 13 member. Join us, and those old men won't be able to touch you. The Captain Commander might be stingy and stern all the time, but he looks after his own. And with your strength..." Yamabuki Chidori thought of Unohana's astonishing power. There was no way the Gotei 13 would turn her down now.
Unohana didn't answer right away. She looked up at the drifting cherry blossoms, then suddenly said, "I'll join the Gotei 13, but I want to be in the same squad as you. That's my only condition."
"Well..." Yamabuki Chidori was the First Division's Lieutenant. Did that mean he had to bring Unohana into the First Division?
"All right. I promise." After a brief hesitation, Yamabuki Chidori agreed. He could worry about the details once he had talked her into joining.
Unohana smiled. "By the way, these clothes you gave me are strange. I've never seen anything like them in Rukongai. Is this a new style?"
"It's the most fashionable outfit in Seireitei." Yamabuki Chidori puffed out his chest. He was a man who set trends a thousand years ahead of their time.
Suddenly, Chōjirō Sasakibe called from outside, "Brother Yamabuki, the Captain Commander is back!"
Complaints from Central 46
Seireitei.
Central 46's temporary headquarters.
The remaining Sages exchanged glances.
Was this simply an unlucky year? Nothing seemed to go their way. Not long ago, the Gotei 13 had been founded and had all but supplanted them as the most powerful organization in Soul Society.
Then a madwoman had appeared, cutting down everyone in her path and wiping out more than half of Central 46.
And that Yamabuki Chidori had shown them no respect whatsoever!
Now they had gathered to discuss what to do next.
"We absolutely cannot condone this behavior. Disrespect for Central 46 is disrespect for Soul Society. It must be stopped. Though... having so many seats open up isn't entirely a bad thing," the sole surviving Great Sage said coldly.
Before he could finish, someone poured cold water on that thought.
"What good are empty seats? The nobles would rather join the Gotei 13 now. A woman cut her way through Seireitei, and Central 46 has been utterly humiliated! I insist that madwoman be executed. No exceptions." The Sages broke into discussion. "And Yamabuki Chidori killed a member of Central 46 in public. He has no regard for us. He must be punished—and severely."
They could swallow the humiliation of Unohana cutting through Central 46 as proof that they lacked the strength to stop her. But Yamabuki Chidori's behavior was open contempt. Had they heard what he said?
He had claimed they could replace people in such important positions at will!
What a joke!
Every person seated here had a great family behind them. Did he think just anyone could take a seat?
Did those commoners understand nothing of noble blood?
"Why don't we have him assassinated?" one bright spark suggested.
The moment he said it, everyone else looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"Shall I give you a sword so you can assassinate Yamabuki Chidori tonight?" the Great Sage asked coldly.
They all knew by now how powerful Unohana was!
And Yamabuki Chidori had beaten her head-on.
Assassinate him?
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto hadn't returned yet. If they made a move tonight, then given Yamabuki Chidori's unhinged temperament, their heads would be lined up in a row tomorrow morning!
Just as they were racking their brains for a solution, a subordinate hurried in.
"My lords, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto has returned."
At the news, everyone's eyes lit up.
Before you continue