"Please pay for the damages."
Yoriichi Tsugikuni's voice was calm.
The smile on Mayuri Kurotsuchi's face, however, slowly froze.
Izuru Kira stood nearby, looking down at the parts on the ground, and suddenly felt that the farewell letter he had just written had been far too restrained.
If word of this got out...
How would he ever hold his head high in the Seireitei again?
"Pay for the damages?"
Mayuri tilted his head, slightly baring his golden teeth.
"Yoriichi Tsugikuni, you broke my important test subject, and now you dare demand compensation from me?"
"It caused losses."
Yoriichi said, "Lieutenant Rangiku's belongings, Lieutenant Ōmaeda's gold jewelry, and Kira's emotional distress."
Kira froze for a moment.
Emotional distress?
He raised his head and looked at Yoriichi's back.
For some reason, his gloomy mood suddenly eased a little.
His captain had even taken that into account.
But the next second, Yoriichi continued.
"And the Third Division's delayed paperwork."
Kira's face darkened again.
Of course.
Paperwork was still what the captain cared about most.
Mayuri let out a strange laugh.
"Heh heh heh. How foolish."
"The emotional fluctuations of a few mere Soul Reapers are hardly worth my time."
He raised his hand, and a tiny pill popped out from his fingertip.
"As long as I destroy the core, who can prove this thing belongs to the Twelfth Division?"
Kira's pupils contracted.
"Captain, he's trying to destroy the evidence!"
Mayuri's fingers were just about to move.
Yoriichi had already drawn his sword.
In that instant, everything around them seemed to slow down.
The night breeze hung still in midair.
Mist flowed close to the ground.
Kira's mouth hung open, and Ōmaeda clutched his gold chain, both their expressions seemingly frozen in place.
In Yoriichi's vision, the Reishi structure inside the pill, the direction