Beginning of Spring, outside Rice Village.
Tall white poplars stood on both sides of the dirt road. A gentle breeze rustled their shadows as several children ran freely down the road, trampling the sunlight scattered across the ground.
A boy with a black cloth over his eyes laughed as he chased after them and threw his arms around the person in front of him. "Haha, caught you!"
As he spoke, the boy pulled off the cloth, eager to see which of his playmates he had caught.
He saw a thick thigh and a brightly colored kimono. His face turned deathly pale.
The Beginning of Summer District was much better off than the Outer Rukongai, but not so much that ordinary Rukongai residents could afford brightly colored kimonos.
Most people wore clean clothes made of coarse linen.
"Brat, do you know that in the Edo period, when we were alive, a samurai would cut a commoner's head off on the spot for bumping into him?"
The tall, burly man crouched down. A long, narrow, grotesque scar ran from the left side of his forehead to the right corner of his mouth, so that the slightest expression made him look like a grinning demon, his murderous aura bearing down on the boy.
The boy had never seen anything like it. He was too frightened to move or even cry.
His playmates had all turned to stone.
"Haha, don't be afraid. Those were the rules when we were alive, not the rules now."
The scarred man smiled and raised a hand to pat the boy on the head.
The boy tried to force a smile in response.
A companion beside the man said casually, "Kenji, are you going to play that boring game again? If you want to cut someone down, just do it. Why come up with so many excuses?"
The boy's face froze.
"Shut up. We've left the Outer Rukongai, so some rules need to change. Stop saying things so bluntly all the time."
Kenji retorted.
Ever since Yagyū had sought him out at the beginning of January to deal with Hollows for that noble Soul Reaper, he had fallen deeply in love with this place.
Water sources everywhere, young women, cowardly men, and plentiful food.
It was so much better than District 80.
Even he had been affected by the peaceful atmosphere and felt it necessary to cultivate some refinement and be less crude than before. He said gently, "I'll put this black cloth over my eyes. If you can escape for one minute without me killing you, that means heaven has given you a way to live."
"Haha, what do you mean, heaven's given him a way to live? If you're serious, what difference does it make whether your eyes are open or closed?"
"Shut your mouth."
Kenji snapped back.
He couldn't deny that these four companions worked well with him in battle, but their views on life didn't quite align.
They still couldn't shake off the savagery of the Outer Rukongai. They saw themselves as beasts, doing everything in a simple and brutal way, without the slightest understanding of what made life interesting.
An ordinary killing became thrilling with a blindfold on.
The person being killed would experience the ultimate terror of not knowing when death would come.
"Brat, did you piss your pants? What a pathetic little thing." Kenji curled his lip, with no intention of letting the boy go.
It wasn't that he bore the boy any ill will. He was simply bored and looking for some amusement.
They would play a game, and whether the boy lived depended entirely on Kenji's mood during it. If he was pleased, he might spare his life.
If he found it dull, he would kill him.
Kenji took the black cloth from the boy's hand and tied it over his own eyes. "Don't just stand there like an idiot. Run, like you were doing just now. And remember to smile. You'll look better when you die."
"One, two, three!"
The boy shuddered and scrambled to his feet on all fours.
The first stroke came down just past his scalp. Kenji playfully caught up to the boy in a few strides and raised his hand to swing his sword.
A chill shot up his spine to the crown of his head. Like a startled kitten, he hastily jumped back, joining his four companions as he pulled off the blindfold.
There was another man on the road ahead.
He had a handsome, upright face and silver hair tied in a ponytail. He wore unusual clothes and carried a sword at his waist.
Powerful spiritual pressure settled on their shoulders. Without a word, it made his strength clear.
Kenji swallowed. "May I ask who you are, sir?"
"I came to say hello to my new neighbors, but this is what I see the moment we meet. Looks like you do this sort of thing quite often."
Shiraishi spoke unhurriedly. "Do you like playing battle royale? What a coincidence. So do I. I'll give you one minute. If you can last that long, I'll let you go on living in Beginning of Summer."
Kenji's face turned alternately pale and livid at those words. He was furious, but his body didn't hesitate for a moment. He turned and ran.
His companions were no slower.
In the face of absolute strength, anger and numbers were little tougher than a sheet of paper.
Shiraishi didn't hurry after them. He looked down at the boy, who had run headfirst into his leg, and crouched to pat him gently on the head and wipe the dust from his face. "There, don't be afraid. Big brother has chased the bad guys away."
"Waaah!" The boy burst into tears, and the other children followed, crying loudly to vent the fear and unease in their hearts.
"All right, all right, go ahead and cry. Cry as hard as you want. When you're done, go home to your mothers. I have other things to take care of, so I'll be going."
Shiraishi hated children crying more than anything. Instead of staying to comfort them, he slipped away.
They raced through the grove.
Kenji and his four companions saw a blur before their eyes. Sunlight filtered through gaps in the trees and fell on long, silvery-white hair.
Shiraishi gripped his sword hilt. "Looks like heaven hasn't given you a way to live."
"Who are you? Why are you trying to kill us?"
"Does killing someone need a reason?"
He threw the question back at them, his face full of mockery.
Earlier, when they wanted to kill a child, it was entirely on a whim. Now that it was their turn, they wanted to ask for a reason.
Shiraishi found it ridiculous.
"...Then let's see who dies!"
Kenji took a deep breath. Now that things had come to this, he could only fight with the sword in his hand.
Five swords were drawn at once.
Pfft. Pfft.
Sharp blades pierced Kenji's body. His eyes widened as he looked around at his four companions.
Their gazes were so cold, with none of the laughter they had shared while drinking and fooling around before.
They pulled out their swords, and blood gushed from his sturdy body. The cold left Kenji weak, without even the strength to stand, and he fell straight down.
The four knelt in unison, as though they had rehearsed it.
One of them looked up and said, "My lord, Kenji was the one who wanted to kill someone. It had nothing to do with us. Please show mercy and spare our lives."
The Outer Rukongai was a cruel place, rife with betrayal, treachery, and deceit.
They believed they had taken no part in the game and had no need to fight for their lives like Kenji, so they killed him at once in the hope of earning Shiraishi's forgiveness.
There was nothing wrong with that approach in the Outer Rukongai.
But this wasn't the Outer Rukongai.
Seeing how ruthless they were toward their friend, Shiraishi felt a chill in his heart.
Without another word, he rushed forward with Steel Tempest. He was so fast that he had passed through the speaker's body before any of the four could react, then followed up with Steel Tempest.
A circular golden slash appeared.
Heads flew, and blood sprayed out, splattering the fallen leaves in the grove.
Shiraishi had already gone far away. He had forgotten to ask for directions, so he could only look for the Soul Reaper stationed here himself.