Jūshirō Ukitake was a pale man with a gentle air. His slender frame made his Shihakusho and Captain's Haori look far too loose.
At first glance, people from other divisions would wonder, Is someone like him really a captain?
He had no intimidating presence at all. If anything, he looked ready to drop dead at any moment, less impressive than some lieutenants or Third Seats.
That was a grave misconception.
Hidden beneath Jūshirō Ukitake's gentle exterior were convictions more unyielding and steadfast than anyone else's, as well as absolute rationality.
To save Kaien, he could disregard his own health and life and spend time contending with the Hollow.
And when he learned that Kaien was beyond saving, he could strike to kill without the slightest hesitation.
His rational judgment was that if Kaien couldn't be saved, he had to at least preserve Kaien's spirit body and keep the Hollow from devouring it whole.
That rational choice, contrasted with his gentle appearance, made him seem especially cold.
Cold enough to send a chill down people's spines, even making them think absolute coldness was his true nature and overlook his gentle side.
"You bastard!"
Hearing Kūkaku Shiba curse him, Jūshirō Ukitake offered no rebuttal. He took two steps forward, his face full of guilt.
"I should have come to explain what happened last night, but my old illness flared up, and I couldn't stay conscious. Thank you for not laying a hand on Rukia."
He fell to his knees and bowed his head to the ground.
"Enough."
Kūkaku Shiba looked terribly impatient. All she wanted was to seize the man by the collar and demand answers, but halfway through reaching out, she forced her hand back, afraid that a rough movement would leave him even less able to speak.
"What happened? Why did my brother die at a Soul Reaper's hands? That fatal sword wound definitely wasn't inflicted by a Hollow!"
Jūshirō Ukitake slowly stood, his expression grave. "Miyako was killed by a Hollow."
"Miyako..." Astonishment flashed across Kūkaku Shiba's face. Then she understood and said no more.
She listened quietly as Jūshirō Ukitake recounted the events of the previous night, bit by bit.
What had happened wasn't very complicated.
The deaths of Miyako and the squad members had led Kaien Shiba to face the Hollow alone. He wanted to finish the mission his wife and the squad members had left unfinished and fulfill his responsibilities as a husband and lieutenant.
"I gave him permission."
Jūshirō Ukitake looked pained. Perhaps he shouldn't have told Kaien where the Hollow was.
But who could have imagined that a Hollow that wasn't even a Menos Grande would possess such an abnormal ability, one that even a Menos Grande didn't have?
"That Hollow's ability could make a Zanpakuto disappear."
Most Soul Reapers relied on their Zanpakuto for their combat strength, especially a rising genius like Kaien.
He hadn't trained long enough to master Zankensoki, so he could only specialize in training with his Zanpakuto.
That approach wasn't necessarily wrong. It was precisely because he specialized in his Zanpakuto that Kaien had learned Bankai at such a young age and gained the strength to succeed the captain of the Thirteenth Division.
But once he lost his Zanpakuto, his lack of proficiency in Zankensoki became a glaring weakness.
Kaien's fighting ability plummeted, turning a Hollow he should have been able to kill in a few moves into a life-or-death struggle.
"Rukia saw his Zanpakuto disappear and wanted to help, but I stopped her."
"It was about his dignity..." Kūkaku Shiba murmured. She could understand why Jūshirō Ukitake had stopped her.
To her brother, his own life had never come first.
Comrades, wife, family, dignity-her brother would give his life to defend any of them.
That was the kind of person he was.
"Yes." Jūshirō Ukitake let out a heavy breath and continued, "Kaien was locked in a difficult fight, but he was still gradually gaining the upper hand. Then the Hollow revealed another, even more astonishing ability: spirit-body fusion.
"Its head detached from its body at tremendous speed and burrowed into Kaien's body, beginning to consume him from within. I should have stopped it, cough, cough."
Overcome as he spoke, Jūshirō Ukitake broke into a violent coughing fit. More scarlet stained his handkerchief, but he paid it no mind. His face was full of anguish as he said, "But I couldn't stop it. Instead, I made Rukia shoulder a responsibility she shouldn't have had to bear. She respected Kaien so much."
"No wonder my brother had that expression on his face."
Kūkaku Shiba unclenched her fists, not knowing whom to vent her grief and anger at over losing her brother.
The Soul Reaper named Rukia? No. Judging by how she had looked last night, that woman had plainly been suffering the most. The despair on her face had been heartbreaking.
Jūshirō Ukitake, who had stopped her from helping? No, not him either. He had been protecting her brother's dignity, which mattered more to him than his life.
The Hollow?
They were all fucking dead.
Kūkaku Shiba felt a surge of disgust at herself. Why did she have to think so clearly?
If she were a little less clearheaded, she could vent her grief and anger instead of bottling them up in her chest and making herself feel so miserable.
"Ahem." Shiraishi stopped listening in and cleared his throat, drawing both their gazes. A helpless look appeared on his face as he said, "Perhaps this isn't the time for me to interrupt."
"Then shut up!"
Kūkaku Shiba yelled at him. At a time like this, he was still standing there spouting nonsense. Couldn't he see she was in a terrible mood?
He just had to walk into the line of fire!
Shiraishi looked even more helpless and pointed at the coffin on the cannon platform. "But your brother's spirit body is dissipating bit by bit."
"You're full of-" Kūkaku Shiba turned to look, and the rest of the word died on her lips. Pale blue motes of light were indeed rising from the coffin on the cannon platform. She roared instead, "Why didn't you say so sooner?!"
"I only just noticed it myself," Shiraishi explained, but no one listened.
Kūkaku Shiba used Shunpo to reach the coffin. Seeing that her brother's lower body had already turned into Reishi and scattered, while his upper body was also gradually dissipating, she stared in shock. "Wh-what's happening?"
"He's turning into Reishi so quickly... Is it because he fused with a Hollow?"
Jūshirō Ukitake used Shunpo to reach the coffin. Faced with this abnormal phenomenon, he could only attribute it to Kaien's fusion with the Hollow.
Otherwise, a Soul Reaper with Captain-level Reiatsu couldn't possibly turn into Reishi and return to Soul Society so quickly without undergoing Konso Reisai.
No, was he returning to Soul Society?
He raised his head and watched the fading motes of light. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were going somewhere else.
If fusing with the Hollow had turned Kaien entirely into a Hollow, where would the Reishi of a Hollow killed by a Soul Reaper in Soul Society go?
Hueco Mundo?
"Kaien!" Kūkaku Shiba reached out to grab him, but Kaien's face broke apart into blue motes of light that drifted past her fingertips and vanished into the air.
"Ah!"
She slammed her fist down in a rage, blasting the coffin apart. "Bastard!!!!"
"..." Shiraishi stood nearby, unsure how to comfort her, when the hairs on his back suddenly stood on end and a chill seeped into his bones.
Someone was attacking him from behind!
His Reiatsu erupted in an instant, and he drew his sword and swung it sharply.