Boom.
A sound like thunder splitting the heavens exploded.
It existed only in the minds of people with weak spiritual power, such as Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko.
Someone at Shiraishi's level would not hear it. He would only sense a heavy, profound Reiatsu rapidly filling the room from above the stairs, like two millstones pressing down on his shoulders.
What was going on?
If this was meant as intimidation, it was going too far.
The thought flashed through Shiraishi's mind. He rushed to the foot of the stairs, then stopped. If he went up now, he might cause even more trouble.
As he hesitated, a little boy burst out of a door, shouting, "Big sis, what's going on?"
His childish voice carried down the corridor and received a stern reply. "Don't come over here, Ganju!"
The Reiatsu withdrew.
Ganju did not obediently listen.
A child's curiosity could always outweigh an adult's words, and he kept running up.
Should I stop him?
Shiraishi stood at the foot of the stairs and thought for a moment. In the end, he decided not to stop him and moved aside.
Ganju ran up the stairs and got a clear look at what was outside. He froze.
Under the cold moonlight, a black-haired Soul Reaper walked across the grass. Her lovely face was stained with blood, devoid of the vitality a person should have, like a demon come from hell.
She silently dragged someone forward.
"Big brother Kaien..." Ganju murmured.
Kūkaku Shiba had no time to scold her younger brother for disobeying her. She struggled to suppress her turbulent Reiatsu and killing intent, her fists clenched tight, veins throbbing on the backs of her hands.
"I killed him."
Without a word of explanation, the female Soul Reaper dropped the corpse on the ground. Her deep purple eyes were filled with deathly stillness.
She looked as though she did not care about her own life at all, as though she was even prepared to die.
Kūkaku Shiba did not attack. Beneath her bold exterior, she hid a sensitive heart, and she could see that the expression on her elder brother's face was not one of anger or resentment at being killed by a comrade.
His faint smile seemed relieved, yet also a little apologetic.
Even in death, her elder brother had not resented the Soul Reaper.
Why?
She did not know the reason, but she chose to respect her elder brother's choice rather than give free rein to the grief and anger in her heart.
"Get lost," she spat.
The female Soul Reaper raised her head and said indifferently, "You can kill me."
"I said get lost! Do you hear me?"
Kūkaku Shiba repeated herself furiously. Savage killing intent flashed through her olive-green eyes, only to be forcibly suppressed by reason.
"...You can come kill me whenever you want."
With those parting words, she turned around. Dark clouds covered the stars and the bright moon, creating an inky darkness that swallowed her departing figure.
Young Ganju recovered from his shock and ran to his elder brother's side. His mind could not comprehend it, but he felt that something was wrong. On the verge of tears, he said, "Big brother, wake up! I'll listen to you from now on, I promise. I won't talk back. I'll even become a Soul Reaper if you want me to."
"Ganju... Big brother is like Father and Mother. He'll never wake up again."
"No, big sis, I don't want that! Boo-hoo..."
Ganju burst into tears. Children did not need to worry about so much; if they wanted to cry, they could cry as hard as they liked.
Kūkaku Shiba pressed her lips together but did not stop him. She crouched down, an unprecedented tenderness appearing on her face. "Big brother, welcome home."
"Lady Kūkaku, please accept my condolences."
Shiroganehiko offered those words of comfort, but tears were already welling up in his eyes.
Lord Kaien, who had treated everyone warmly and was full of ambition, had only recently said that he wanted to succeed the captain of the Thirteenth Division.
Yet now he had come home like this.
He had died so young. Was the Shiba Clan cursed?
Its geniuses were withering one after another.
"Shiroganehiko, prepare some water. I want to make my elder brother presentable."
Kūkaku Shiba gently lifted her elder brother's body. She gave herself no time to grieve; she had to get rid of his disheveled appearance.
She was in no hurry to investigate the cause of death. Someone would come and tell her the details.
However far the Shiba Clan had fallen, it was still one of the Five Great Noble Clans. Its status was plain for all to see.
With the death of the clan head, the Central 46 Chambers and the Thirteenth Division could not possibly remain silent forever.
Otherwise, she would not need to make a fuss.
Her uncle Isshin, the captain of the Tenth Division, would turn the Seireitei upside down.
Kūkaku Shiba reached the bottom of the stairs and glanced at Shiraishi. "Sorry, find an empty room to stay in. I don't have time to look after you right now."
"Yeah, you..." The words of comfort reached Shiraishi's lips, but he silently swallowed them. "Don't worry about me. I've never been one for standing on ceremony."
Kūkaku Shiba nodded, her face shrouded in a sorrow that would not lift, making him desperately miss the smile she had worn just moments ago.
Shiraishi let out a breath. Even the air seemed a little cold.
He had been an orphan in his previous life. He had transmigrated while playing a game, and he had not taken over anyone else's body. He still looked like himself, just a little younger and thinner, and he had a set of Yasuo's prestige clothes.
So he could not understand the grief of losing a loved one. Judging by Kūkaku's expression, it must have been painful.
But Kaien Shiba just died. How many years was it until the story began?
Shiraishi tried hard to remember, only to find that he could not come up with any concrete reference point.
It was all because 98 had handled the timeline so vaguely. Anyone who wanted to piece together a specific timeline had to fill in the gaps themselves.
If he remembered correctly, the story should take place in another twenty or thirty years.
During that time, Kūkaku Shiba would lose an arm and become a one-armed hero like Yang Guo.
Now that he was here, he had to look after her and make sure the loss of her arm did not happen again.
Shiraishi was quite fond of Kūkaku Shiba, though perhaps that fondness came from her looks and figure.
But was that not how feelings worked?
First came attraction to someone's appearance, then attraction to what was inside.
If someone's appearance did not appeal to you, how could you have the patience to learn what they were like inside?
Thinking about all sorts of things, Shiraishi walked down the corridor, picked a room that did not even have a blanket, and casually lay down to sleep on the floor.
He dozed for two or three hours, unable to sleep properly at all. How was anyone supposed to sleep without a blanket or pillow?!
Shiraishi complained inwardly and reluctantly got up, not to ask Kūkaku Shiba for a pillow and blanket.
He went to find the Shiba Clan's toilet instead.
Spiritual bodies did not need to defecate like humans, but they did need to urinate.
Drink water, and it had to come back out.
That was a principle that had to be obeyed even in the Soul Society.
He opened the sliding door. The glow of the luminous vines lit the corridor twenty-four hours a day, and no one else was there.
He went to the right and saw a door ahead, so he hurried over and opened it.
It was not the toilet, but the room where the Kūkaku Cannon was kept. The room was circular and spacious.
A thick, pitch-black cannon barrel pierced the center of the ceiling, extending outside into a huge structure resembling a chimney.
Kaien Shiba's coffin rested on the cannon platform.
Kūkaku Shiba sat in front of it, with Ganju lying asleep across her lap after crying himself out. Hearing the door open, she turned around. "You're still awake?"
"Yeah, I need to use the toilet."
"Turn right when you go out, then go straight to the end."
Having said that, Kūkaku Shiba continued staring blankly at the coffin.
Shiraishi scratched his head. Instead of leaving, he walked over, unzipped his leather jacket, and reluctantly took his treasured possession out of his shoulder bag. He set it beside her. "These are the Aoi Family's special spicy rice crackers from West District Three. They're one of a kind in the Rukongai. Give them a try."
"I guarantee they're spicy enough to make you cry."
"Is that so? I'll have to try one."
Kūkaku Shiba accepted the rice crackers.
Shiraishi quickly left.
Crunching sounds rang out as tears silently streamed down her cheeks. "So spicy..."