Shunsui Kyōraku swayed, finally unable to hold himself up, and slumped down against the broken wall behind him.
Around the gaping hole through his waist and ribs, charred flesh mingled with ruptured organs.
Great swaths of dark blood soaked through his tattered haori, pooling in a dark hollow on the white stone ground.
Nanao Ise dropped to both knees in the pool of blood, pressing her trembling hands against the wound that pierced straight through him.
The green glow of Kaido hastily flared in her palms, only to flicker with the disorder in her Reiatsu.
"Captain, please don't move!"
Tears filled Nanao Ise's eyes, and her voice shook with sobs. "I'll stop the bleeding right away. It'll be all right in a moment!"
Shunsui Kyōraku coughed up two bubbles of bloody froth, his face utterly drained of color.
He slowly raised his calloused hand and rested it gently on the back of Nanao's trembling hand.
"Little Nanao, don't panic like that."
Shunsui Kyōraku tugged at the corners of his cracked lips, barely managing his usual carefree smile.
"This old man just had a little chunk of flesh knocked off, that's all. My organs are still ticking."
"An injury like this, once we get back, Captain Unohana can... ah, no, I should have Isane and the others bandage it now. A couple of flasks of sake, and I'll be mostly better."
Nanao Ise bit her lip, tears pattering onto the back of Kyōraku's hand.
"How can you still be talking nonsense at a time like this!"
"If I hadn't rushed out just now, you wouldn't have taken that hit at all!"
Guilt and regret twisted endlessly in Nanao's chest like a tangled skein.
Had she not rashly tried to intervene in the battle with Kidō, the Acting Captain-Commander would never have