Bab 13: Chapter 13: Return to Soul Society
AN: Hey everyone hope you're all doing well. My left eye's been swollen and I couldn't see well for a day. Conjunctivitis...well, at least it's not Covid, but it has hindered my writing progress a bit. Anyways, I'm still here to update. Chapter 14 should follow not too long after. As always, thanks for your continued support.
Reading the story:
-Scene change: "888"
-Hello, how are you? (Someone in their own thoughts)-Hello how are you? (Zanpakuto Spirit speaking in a Shinigami's mind)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach.
Chapter 13
Kishin yawned as he waited for everyone to finish packing their bags. Their year long mission had turned into 3. Mostly because one single year wasn't enough for Akon and the other researchers to find anything, much to Akon's chagrin. Kishin was just as disappointed. He was happy at first that he got another 2 years to explore Hueco Mundo, however in truth that didn't happen. First and foremost, Hueco Mundo was incredibly vast. And second, he could never stray too far from the camp or else he could potentially jeopardize the rest of the team's safety. He wanted to argue that they'd be fine without him for a few days or weeks, but in the end he lost the argument and was forced to always remain within a 10 minute Shunpo distance from the camp. This severely limited his range of exploration and so he spent most of his days in Hueco Mundo completely bored. In turn he simply read books that Akon downloaded for him to pass the time.
But finally their mission in Hueco Mundo had come to an end and they were preparing to return to Soul Society. He took a deep breath in as he sat on the soft sand watching the still and ever perpetual night of Hueco Mundo. Aside from the incident with those six Adjuchas and that one Vasto Lorde nothing else had happened during their time here. He inquired Akon of his findings, but it didn't seem that there was too much to report. The interesting bits that Akon was able to discover, however, included the potential threat of someone having implanted a virus in the R&D department's massive operating programs, the strange occasional abduction of Hollows in Hueco Mundo for who knows what, and the bodies of the three dead Adjuchas that were recovered after Kishin killed them several months ago. Unfortunately Akon wasn't able to glean anything related to Hollowfication or the vanishing souls case, however the abduction of Hollows in Hueco Mundo seemed extremely mysterious and suspicious.
In truth, describing it as abduction may be the wrong term to use as there was no evidence to directly link the disappearances of the Hollows in Hueco Mundo as some sort of kidnapping, however after thinking about it some more Akon had theorized that someone or something must be behind it due to the appearances of strange Hollows that have been encountered and documented in Soul Society's history. An example would be Metastacia that killed Shiba Kaien, the completely white and black masked Hollow that Kishin, Toshiro, and Kinji fought, and the Hollow that he fought called Sting. All three of those Hollows were extremely strange and couldn't have developed by normal means. Pairing that with the discovery of Hollows going missing in Hueco Mundo and someone implanting a virus in the R&D departments systems only furthered Akon's theory. The questions Akon failed to understand were for what purpose, who is behind it, and since when has this been happening.
Kishin had no idea how Akon even discovered that Hollows were being abducted in Hueco Mundo, but he didn't question the man's methods. After all, he knew who was behind it anyways. The problem that Kishin faced was that even if he knew it was Aizen, he had no way to expose him. Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu was too perfect of a counter to anything Kishin could come up with. Even if he had incriminating evidence, if and when he presented it to any of the Captain's, the case would go nowhere. With everyone being under Aizen's complete hypnosis he could simply make the evidence go away. He could plot to make another Captain take the fall. He could even simply kill and get rid of a Captain all together.
And if by some miracle Aizen was found guilty, then he'd be placed on trial by Central 46, but Kishin knew that Central 46 was the most unreliable justice system in all of Soul Society. In all honesty he didn't really understand what requirements were needed for people to be chosen as a member of Central 46, but if he had to guess then he guessed that the only requirement would be that one only needs the ability to count to the number two because that's how dumb he thought the people who sat on the council of Central 46 were. In the end the only thing he could think of doing was to try to stop Aizen's plans from going the way that he already had knowledge on, but even then he knew that that wouldn't stop Aizen from achieving his goal since he'd just come up with another plan. In fact he knew that Aizen probably had several redundancy plans in place already. On top of that he began having doubts if he should even try to interfere at all. The reason was because he didn't know what other plans Aizen had as backup and those could potentially result to being even more dangerous and bloody. Kishin let out a bored sigh lost in his thoughts when he felt Nemu's presence behind him.
"Is everyone finished?"
Nemu nodded. "Yes."
"Okay, then let's get going."
Kishin stood up from his seated position and stretched his back before turning his attention to Akon.
"Senpai, we're just waiting on you."
Akon nodded his head and took out a green colored sphere. After pressing a button and throwing it in front of him, a little portal opened up leading into the Dangai. Akon let out a relieved sigh. "Haaaah...finally we're finished here. Let's go."
No one raised any objections and entered the portal following Akon. The moment everyone stepped into the Dangai the portal closed and the green sphere shattered. A black hell butterfly was waiting for them and led them straight back into the Soul Society.
"Phew." Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief as they stood in front of the giant Senkaimon gate in the Seireitei. Kishin looked up to the bright blue sky that contrasted the dark night of Hueco Mundo in which he had spent three entire years.
"So senpai, we don't all need to report to the Captain right?"
Akon raised his eyebrow and shook his head. "Well...no, bu-"
Kishin grinned and patted Akon's back interrupting him. "Then I'll leave that to you and the Lieutenant. I was mostly acting as a guard anyways so there's nothing that interesting I have to say. Have a good chat!" He then dashed off into the distance.
Akon could only let out a sigh in defeat. "Haaaah...well he was quick to disappear." Akon turned to look behind him only to let out another sigh. "So the others left already too huh? Guess it's just you and me Nemu."
Nemu nodded her head and began walking off. "Mn. Let's go report to the Captain."
888
Fwish!
Kishin dashed through the Seireitei heading towards the 10th division barracks as he hadn't seen Toshiro and the others in a while. Just as he landed atop the roof of a tall building he took note of Gin and Kira walking around the street. "Well...I haven't seen Captain Ichimaru and Kira-senpai in a while. I wonder if they'll be surprised if I greeted them first." He smirked and disappeared in a flash of Shunpo.
Fwish!
Gin and Kira halted their steps as Kishin arrived right in front of them.
"Ohya ohya, Kishin-kun? What a surprise. Ya' popped up pretty fast there." Gin commented with an amused tone.
Kishin grinned and waved at them. "Yo, Captain Ichimaru. Kira-sen...pai? Eh?" He took note of the emblem on Kira's left shoulder and raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "Kira-senpai, are you the Lieutenant now?"
Kira grinned and embarrassedly nodded, "Ah...uh, yes. Haha, while I am still lacking in many areas I will do my best to serve the 3rd division as its Lieutenant."
"Hmmm...I see. Then, congratulations on your promotion!"
"T-Thanks!"
Gin still had his unchanging smiling facial expression as he watched the exchange between the two and questioned, "So Kishin-kun, it's nice to see you again, but did ya' stop by only to say hi?"
"Yeah, that's all. I haven't seen you both in a while so I thought I'd drop in and say hello."
"Oh? I see. Then how've you been?"
"Pretty good. Did anything interesting happen the past few years?"
Before Gin could give an answer, Kira tilted his head to the side in confusion at Kishin's question and chimed in, "Umm...Kishin, what do you mean by that? Were you not here?"
Kishin inwardly frowned at Kira's comment as it most definitely meant that something had actually happened. "Ahem. Right...I was out on a mission for the 12th division. I'm guessing from your tone of voice that something pretty big happened."
Kira nodded. "Well, this past year Abarai Renji became the Lieutenant of the 6th division. I became the Lieutenant of the 3rd division. Hinamori became the Lieutenant of the 5th division. And…"
Kishin raised his eyebrow curiously at Kira's pause towards the end. "And?"
Kira cleared his throat before continuing. "Ahem. I guess...the biggest change was that Hitsugaya Toshiro was named the new Captain of the 10th division."
Kishin slightly flinched as he was greatly shocked. "Toshiro became Captain? That's...that's...but what happened to Captain Shiba?"
Kira awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and turned to look at Gin who simply shook his head. "No one knows. He disappeared."
Kishin tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean disappeared?"
"I mean he disappeared. Over the past couple years there were reports of members from the 10th division dying while stationed in the World of the Living. Specifically Naruki city which is under the 10th division's jurisdiction. Captain Shiba went to investigate and according to him, he fought a strange Hollow much like the one you fought, only instead of being completely white it was completely black colored with a white mask. Shortly after giving his report he disappeared a few weeks later and never came back. A real mystery. Anyways the 10th division needed someone to take the reigns and Hitsugaya was the perfect candidate. He already served in the division, is powerful, intelligent, and has already learnt how to use his Bankai, so after he passed his Captain's examination he took over."
Kishin was inwardly stunned at how much had happened in just 3 years. The 3 years that he was away from Soul Society and something as major as this happened, not that he would have had any power to prevent the incident from happening anyways. He had known that something was going to happen to Captain Shiba but still, he hadn't expected it to be coming so soon and that this was what happened. In fact he still couldn't be sure if this event was similar to how Captain Shiba disappeared in the past or if it was different since he didn't have that knowledge.
Gin noted Kishin's silence and asked, "Is everything alright?"
Kishin let out a sigh. "Haaaah...seems like a lot happened in just 3 years. Well, Captain Ichimaru, Lieutenant Kira, it was nice to see you both, but since Toshiro was promoted to Captain I should go congratulate him. I'll be off then." Without waiting for a reply he dashed off with incredible speed.
Captain Shiba is gone? Toshiro is the new Captain? Then...there's only one place that Captain Shiba could possibly be...The World of the Living! If he fought against a strange Hollow like the one I did then...does Captain Shiba become a Hollowfied Shinigami? No...that can't be right...but why did he go to the World of the Living after defeating that strange Hollow? According to Gin, Isshin returned safely to Soul Society and gave a report before disappearing. What happened exactly?
Kishin struggled to filter out his memories of what he knew of the past and future before an epiphany hit him.
Wait...the only thing that would keep Isshin in the World of the Living would be...Ichigo's mom right? And Isshin opens up a medical clinic I believe. Right, this must be the reason why Isshin returned to the World of the Living and didn't come back, but why hasn't anyone gone to search for him? Why doesn't Soul Society send a team to confront Isshin? Then again...after Urahara, Tessai, Yoruichi, and the Captain's from nearly a century ago disappeared Soul Society didn't do anything at the time either.
Kishin's facial expression turned into a disbelieving and dumbfounded one as that thought crossed his mind. "Haha...wow...now that I think about it Soul Society doesn't seem to really care about pursuing these kinds of matters unless it is an immediate threat to the safety of the Soul Society as a whole. Even though Urahara was framed for Hollowfication experimentation and was supposed to be stripped of his power before being exiled to the World of the Living, he simply disappeared before his power was taken away. Even Tessai who was sentenced to the 3rd level of the underground prison wasn't pursued after. Neither was Yoruichi or the other missing Captains at the time. Soul Society and Central 46 simply didn't care that they disappeared and didn't even send out a search party. They just calmly accepted that the criminals they passed judgement on left."
Kishin let out a sigh and shook his head. "And this is why I don't understand the justice system within Soul Society nor do I understand how the members of Central 46 are appointed. They all seem pretty daft to me. I guess in the end they just didn't care that Isshin disappeared. Since they didn't find that he would be any threat to the security of the Soul Society as a whole they just let him be."
Fwish!
He finally halted his steps as he arrived right outside the entrance to the 10th division barracks. He took a deep breath before walking inside, however the moment he took one step into the barracks he was smacked in the face by something incredibly soft.
"Ooft!" He groaned as his face was squished into a soft barrier before the recoil knocked him into the ground. He simply blinked a few times confused at what just happened before he heard the sound of Matsumoto's voice.
"Ah! I'm sorry! I was in a rush and wasn't paying attention. Are you okay kid?"
Kishin slowly sat up and just stared at Matsumoto who was in front of him. Her large breasted chest was the first thing that came in his line of sight. The memory of how it felt against his face replayed a few times in his head before he covered his face with his right palm in defeat and sighed with a whisper. "Haaaaah...soft."
Matsumoto tilted her head in confusion. "Hmm? What was that? If you whisper I won't be able to hear what you say."
Kishin shook himself out of his trance before standing back up to face her. "It's nothing."
Matsumoto smirked as if she knew why Kishin was in a trance and teased, "Oh? Hoho, could it be...you're Kishin right? Don't tell me just now you were enthralled by the softness of my breasts? Muahahaha! So? What do you think? Pretty good huh? Boy..."
Kishin raised his eyebrow at her and knew that she was trying to make him feel embarrassed by teasing him, however he wasn't bothered in the slightest and simply gave her a confident toothy grin. "Mn, soft as clouds. Way better than my pillow."
Matsumoto was a bit taken aback at his answer and stared at him with disbelief written all over her face. She wanted to tease him more since her teasing always worked against Toshiro, however the answer she received from Kishin went beyond her imagination. She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck and replied, "Oh...haha...uh, I see."
"Ahem, anyways Lieutenant, I heard about what happened. Where's the Captain?"
Matsumoto's face became a bit downcast as she recalled the events that took place the past few years and let out a soft sigh. "Haaah...Captain Hitsugaya is in the training field."
Kishin nodded in appreciation and began walking off when he heard Matsumoto call out to him. "Kishin-kun...thanks for stopping by. Everything happened so suddenly and everyone is still dealing with the repercussions. Toshiro could use a friend."
He smiled back at her in response. "I can't say whether he'd be happy to see me or annoyed, but if he's sulking then you can trust me to beat some sense into him. Oh, by the way where were you off to in such a hurry?"
Matsumoto grinned and began walking off as she replied, "To buy more liquor of course! I ran out. See you later!"
Kishin shook his head in amusement as he watched Matsumoto disappear off into the distance before he continued on his way to the training ground. There he found a single person drenched in sweat looking completely exhausted. It was obviously Toshiro. Kishin watched for a bit as Toshiro continued swinging his sword in a series of refined movements, however every time he began the start of the advanced movement set of his sword formation his form would become sloppy and rough. Toshiro gritted his teeth in frustration and tightly gripped the hilt of his Zanpakuto before swinging out in a wide arc slashing the air in irritation.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
He then panted heavily as he stared at the ground in anguish.
Kishin let out a sigh from the corner he was watching from and slowly walked out of the shadows.
"Yo."
Toshiro flinched in startelement at the sound of the voice and whirled his head around to see who it was. When he took note of Kishin's appearance he could only stare in shock. "K-Kishin?"
Kishin smirked in amusement. "The one and only."
"What are you doing here? And when did you get back?"
"Just got back today. And what am I doing here? Am I not allowed to visit?"
Toshiro awkwardly looked away and sheathed his sword. "Right...sorry."
Kishin just let out a light laugh at Toshiro's reaction. "Hahaha, what's with that? You're apologizing for no reason Toshiro. Or should I say, Captain Hitsugaya."
Toshiro's eyes became downcast as he heard Kishin address him as Captain. "So you heard."
Kishin simply nodded. "I did. I'd say congratulations, but something tells me you aren't that happy about being promoted."
"Haaaah...how can I be? Captain Shiba is missing and Central 46 has no intention of allowing Soul Society to search for him. They don't want us Shinigami needlessly stirring up trouble and problems by trying to search for the Captain. They also don't seem to really care that Captain Shiba is missing. Instead they simply declared him as being exiled from Soul Society."
"I see...then you were chosen as Captain because?"
"Well...the 10th division couldn't just go on without a Captain. I mean...I suppose it could, but that isn't ideal for the Gotei 13. You, Kinji, and Yushiro already knew that I've learnt how to use my Bankai. Captain Shiba, Captain Ukitake, and Matsumoto knew as well. In fact Captain Shiba wanted me to succeed him as the 10th division Captain someday. I just never imagined it'd happen so soon. It was Captain Ukitake that recommended me to take the Captain's examination so I did. After I passed I was granted the title of the 10th division Captain."
"I see. And you're out here alone training with a sloppy form because?"
Toshiro flinched at Kishin's comment. "I...I just don't understand. That's all."
Kishin lightly grinned as he walked over to one of the nearby buildings and sat down on the front porch that was facing the training grounds. "Well, I can understand your confusion. I don't understand what's going through the minds of the Central 46 chamber either. But, what's done is done. After Central 46 has made a ruling we can't go against it else we're held accountable as well. And who knows what sort of idiotic and ridiculous sentence Central 46 would give us."
At this point Toshiro also walked over to the porch and sat down beside Kishin. "But what about the Captain? Am I supposed to just...to just forget about the Captain's safety?"
Kishin looked up to the sky for a moment lost in his own thoughts before replying nonchalantly, "Eh, you don't have to worry about Captain Shiba's safety. He's perfectly fine."
Toshiro widened his eyes in shock and joy as he turned to face Kishin. "You...did you hear something? Do you know something? Do you know where the Captain is?!"
Kishin grinned and leaned against a wooden pillar. "I can't say definitively, but let's just say that I have a pretty good idea of where Captain Shiba is."
Toshiro stood up and quickly asked with excitement, "W-Where is he?!"
"Calm down."
"How can I be calm? If you know where the Captain is then we should go to him right now!"
Kishin simply shook his head. "Unfortunately we can't do that."
Toshiro frowned as he took a seat once more. "Why not?"
"You're Captain now Toshiro, think about it for a moment."
Toshiro furrowed his brow and pondered to himself for several moments before resting his head in his hands. "Haaah...Central 46...huh...because their ruling is absolute and they don't have a history of ever overturning the rulings they made they won't just let us go searching for the Captain. Even if we told them that we have an idea of where Captain Shiba is they wouldn't believe us. Plus they already ruled that Captain Shiba is exiled. Even if we found him he wouldn't be allowed to remain in Soul Society. In fact Central 46 will probably make things harder on him instead. Then that means...it'd be better to not report any of this to Central 46."
Kishin nodded in agreement. "That's right. If you want to bring Captain Shiba back then you have to report it to Central 46, but since they exiled him already then bringing him back will only mean that Central 46 will have the Captain's powers stripped from him causing him more trouble. Also, because you were his subordinate they wouldn't let you detain Captain Shiba due to your close relationship. They'd send someone else instead. And you can't arbitrarily go meet Captain Shiba or else you'll be violating orders from Central 46 and they'd probably pass some sort of ridiculous sentence on you."
Toshiro clenched his fist and asked, "Wait...you still haven't told me. Where is the Captain anyways?"
"Hmmm...if I'm not wrong...then he's in the World of the Living."
"Huh? Why would he be there? Wait, and how did you find out anyways? You haven't told me that either."
"Hmmm...well...I am a member of the 12th division and have access to the knowledge, tools, and equipment of the R&D department. If you want specifics then I can't tell you how I know, but you'll just have to trust me on this."
Toshiro gave a suspicious glance at Kishin. "What are you hiding from me?"
Kishin simply smirked in response. "I'm obviously hiding a lot of things from you."
Toshiro just face-palmed as he knew Kishin was just being Kishin, however even though he felt that Kishin was hiding some significant secrets from him he always felt that he could trust him. In the end he just let out a sigh. "Fine. Have it your way then. Are you sure the Captain is fine?"
"He should be."
Toshiro stood up and exclaimed in disbelief. "W-What do you mean he should be?! Didn't you say before that he was alright?"
"Haha...I mean, I'm not omnipotent. Look, we're talking about Captain Shiba here. Of course he'll be alright. I know he's somewhere in the World of the Living. You should know the Captain better than anyone Toshiro. He returned after fighting a dangerous Hollow and then he CHOSE to leave Soul Society. Even though he didn't tell anyone about his leaving it was still a choice that he made. He probably made it for a good reason so you should trust in your Captain's decision. The best way you can help is to stop sulking about the matter. I think that Captain Shiba would be glad to know that the 10th division is under your care. Don't you agree?"
Toshiro let out a sigh and let Kishin's words sink in before he nodded. A new found resolve filled his eyes. "Right. Since Captain Shiba chose to leave then he must have his own reasons. Then...I'll trust that the Captain is fine. Mn...I should do my best to lead the 10th division."
Kishin grinned and yawned as he stood up to stretch his legs and back. "Alright. Well, I'm gonna return to the 12th division."
"Eh? Already?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"But you just got here?"
"Not really. I mean we had a whole talk and all."
Toshiro just stared at Kishin a bit stunned. He didn't really know what to say in response.
Kishin stared back at Toshiro for a moment before closing his eyes and turned his back towards him. "Toshiro."
"Hm? Yes?"
"Watch out for-..." Kishin paused mid-sentence and furrowed his brow.
No...I...shouldn't say anything about Aizen. Tsk.
Toshiro tilted his head in confusion at Kishin's sudden change in demeanor. "Watch out for what?"
A moment of silence passed between them before Kishin continued, "Nothing. It's been a long day and I just returned to Soul Society not too long ago. Just...you are Captain now so watch out for yourself...I guess is what I meant to say."
Toshiro blinked a few times unsure of what to say. "A-Alright...I will. Are you're alright though Kishin?"
"Yeah...like I said. Just a bit tired."
"I see...then, make sure to get some rest."
"I will."
Just as Kishin began walking off he heard Toshiro say from behind, "Kishin. Thanks for stopping by. Even if we can't see Captain Shiba, I...I appreciate you telling me about him. Even though I know you're hiding some secrets from me and I have no idea how you know where he is when all of Soul Society couldn't find his whereabouts, I'll trust you."
Kishin smirked and nodded. "It's only natural."
"Heh. Natural you say...You know, there are times when I don't really understand you, but even so I'm oddly okay with that."
"I'm only telling you this stuff because...I guess I..."
"You guess you...?"
"...I guess I consider you a friend."
Toshiro's facial expression turned 180 degrees from a serious and melancholy expression to complete dumbfoundedness. "Eh? Come again?"
Kishin face-palmed and said a bit embarrassedly, "I said...I'm telling you because...I consider you a friend."
The atmosphere became a bit awkward as Toshiro scratched the side of his cheek in amusement. "Umm...Kishin. Are you perhaps...by any chance embar-"
"Shut up! I'm not embarrassed! I've never had friends before okay. It's...weird to admit it so straightforwardly."
Toshiro was at a loss for words. He didn't know how he should respond but he couldn't help the smile that involuntarily graced his lips. In all his years of knowing Kishin never once had he ever thought he'd see Kishin become flustered. And of all the things to be embarrassed about he never once imagined that this cunning, vicious, deceitful, intelligent, and powerful red headed friend of his would be embarrassed to utter the word friendship. Sure Kishin had mentioned the words a few times in conversation, but never had he ever been so direct and outwardly spoken with the word before. At this point Toshiro didn't even care about what secrets and hidden motives Kishin might have and decided to just unconditionally place his trust in his friend.
Kishin took a deep breath as he recomposed himself. "Ahem. I'm leaving now."
"Eh? That's it? Are you sure there's nothing else?"
Kishin clicked his tongue and began walking away. "Tch. Just remember to keep our discussion between us. And don't go off trying to do something rash."
Toshiro smirked and waved at Kishin's retreating form. "Alright. Got it. Friend!"
Kishin nearly tripped over his feet when he heard Toshiro's comment at the end.
That bastard. Tch. Consoling others isn't what I do...I can't believe I almost told him about Aizen. It's useless anyways even if he knows. Toshiro might go and do something rash and stupid if he found out Aizen was behind everything happening in Soul Society.
Oh, young master. I see you're finally showing some more compassion towards your friends.
Zansatsu? Tch. What a bother.
Hahahaha! Ever since you defeated your darker self and your soul became complete you've been slowly discovering some of your humanity.
I don't know what you're talking about. I'm the same as always.
Hahaha, sure, sure. In the past you wouldn't have opened up to people like you did just now.
Open up? Like what?
Do you really want me to say? You actually called Toshiro your friend out loud and meant what you said.
I...what's wrong with that?!
Nothing. That's what I'm telling you. This is the first time you ever sincerely and directly acknowledged anyone as a friend. This is good. You're making progress, young master.
Hmpf. I haven't heard your voice in a while so why are you up now? Why don't you go back to sleep or something. Shouldn't you only appear if I'm in mortal danger or if I enter my inner world?
Hahaha, that and if our bond is strong enough then I can shortly manifest myself in your mind. You could shut me out if you wanted. Plus, rarely does anyone gain the upper-hand against you in a conversation so I thought it was amusing. You gave that kid Toshiro some ammunition against you.
That was once. I'm over it now.
True. But still it was amusing to see you trip up over yourself.
I'm your master. Shouldn't you back me up and not want me to trip up over myself.
Sure, if you're up against your enemy. But I don't have to worry about that. You're quite ruthless to your enemies.
Kishin smirked at Zansatsu's comment and was brought out of his mental conversation as he arrived back at the 12th division. He went straight to the research lab and sat down at his designated work station. "Alright. Finally some time to myself."
Kishin logged into his computer and began combing the database. It didn't take long before something caught his eye.
"Eh? This...looks interesting. Oh, this would definitely be useful. Ah, as the 5th rank officer I can easily procure something like this from the lab huh? Nice. I wonder if Toshiro would be interested in something like this. Hmmm...nah. Then we couldn't make height jokes in front of him anymore."
Kishin smirked and clicked the item that appeared on his screen. It was a small bottle of white circular pills called Shinigami Conversion Growth Factor. He quickly placed an order and continued browsing the database as he waited for the pills to be delivered to his desk. 10 minutes later he was interrupted by the sound of Akon's voice.
"Ahem. Kishin."
Kishin turned to look behind him and noticed the pills he ordered were in Akon's hands.
"Eh? Senpai, isn't your position a bit too high up on the spectrum to be personally hand delivering orders to your juniors?"
Akon awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and placed the bottle of Shinigami Conversion Growth Factor pills on Kishin's desk. He then also pulled out a small black cube and handed it to Kishin.
"I came because I promised to give you a reivice. I keep my promises. Since I saw that you placed an order for the Shinigami Conversion Growth Factor pills I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone."
"Oh, nice senpai. Thanks."
"Kishin, are you really planning on taking the SCGF pills?"
Kishin picked up the bottle and nodded his head. "Yup."
"I see...you do know that it doesn't boost your reiatsu or Shinigami powers at all right?"
"I know."
"Well...I won't tell you not to take them but...you're already pretty ferocious the way you are. If you take those pills I think you'll only become more ferocious."
Kishin smirked at Akon's comment. "Senpai. The Captain was the one who developed these pills right?"
Akon nodded. "That's right. As you know Shinigami's develop at a much slower rate than humans do, physically at least. Within 5 years a human's physical growth can change drastically. Especially in their year of puberty, however for Shinigami it'd probably take a span of at least 50 years, sometimes even up to 70 or 80 years just to have a similar change in physical growth as that of a human. Many Shinigami were a bit impatient with having to wait so long to grow in height so they asked the R&D department to come up with something. At that time the Captain had already created a drug that allowed him to perfectly regrow limbs and organs that were cut off or destroyed. He just tweaked the serum a bit and that's how he created the SCGF pills. You need to take it twice a day. Once in the morning when you wake up and once before you go to bed. During those times the drug will slow the flow of your reiatsu and redirect its energy into stimulating your growth hormones to accelerate your growth. It will also help guide the reconstruction of your reishi body making your growth more natural. In essence it is called the Shinigami Conversion Growth Factor pill because it allows your Shinigami body to grow as if you were human. Instead of waiting several decades to grow a few inches you can grow like a human who can grow several inches in height in a few years. But…"
Kishin raised his eyebrow. "But what?"
"Haaah...if you start taking these pills now then in 8 years you'd probably grow into your full natural height. Wouldn't you only be more intimidating then?"
Kishin smirked in amusement. "Senpai, don't tell me you're scared of me?"
"I would be if we were enemies. I saw your battle against those Adjuchas in Hueco Mundo. You already sport an ominous aura. Once you grow into your full height I think you'd only be more intimidating."
"Hahaha! Wouldn't that be a good thing? Like you said we aren't enemies. I do find it a bit annoying that I'm growing so slowly in my Shinigami body. As you know senpai, I once was a human, so I suppose you could say I'm a bit impatient about my physical growth."
"Well, then you'll find the pills extremely satisfactory."
"Great. That's what I was hoping to hear. Oh, by the way how'd the report to the Captain go?"
Akon simply shrugged his shoulders. "The Captain is the Captain. He solved the issue of the virus in a second. Apparently the Captain had a backup of all the running programs that we are running in our system so he deleted everything and wiped the slate clean. Then he just uploaded the backup and everything was up and running again."
"Ehh? As expected of Captain Kurotsuchi. It's good to know that the virus problem was solved."
Akon nodded in agreement. "Right, but the mystery still lies in the abduction of Hollows. Well, since there is no concrete evidence that someone is abducting them and performing experiments on them there's nothing we can really do at the moment. We can only make Central 46 and the Gotei 13 Captains aware of the situation hoping that someone will find something useful."
Kishin frowned and questioned, "Is that a wise decision? Making the Gotei 13 aware? What if it's someone within the Gotei 13 that is behind all of this?"
Akon just shook his head. "There's no other choice. We can't solve this on our own and it is a problem for the entire Gotei 13, not just the 12th division. Plus there isn't a guarantee that the culprit is one of the Captains or even part of the Gotei 13. The probability is high, but not absolute. Even if the culprit is a Captain there's no way that they would be able to come out unscathed against the entirety of the Gotei 13."
Kishin inwardly frowned in disagreement.
If only you knew how wrong you were, Akon-senpai. Aizen already has them all in the palm of his hands.
After exchanging a few more talking points with Akon he returned to browsing the 12th division's database, however this time he was searching through the restricted archives.
"Sorry Akon-senpai. I don't have anything against you, but I'm going to borrow your login password for a bit." He mumbled to himself.
Being stuck in a team together with Akon for 3 years sure made it easy to find out what his login details were, not that he needs to know that I know what it is now.
As Kishin was scrolling through the incredibly long archive there were a few files that caught his eye.
"With Kaien's passing and Isshin's disappearance I wonder what'll happen to the Shiba Clan...Let's see...if I recall correctly at some point and time someone new took over for the Clan. A woman I think...but for now it seems like the position of the Shiba Clan Head is vacant. Surprisingly the information that the 12th division has on the Five Great Noble Clans isn't that in depth either. From what I can gather there was a point and time when Soul Society didn't exist. In that time there were Five Great Noble Clans. They were the Kuchiki, Tsunayashiro, Shihoin, and Shiba Clan. The fifth of the Great Noble Clans name was long lost. Apparently once Soul Society was established the fifth of the Noble Clans mysteriously disappeared, however the other four Noble Clans continued to hold onto their high status and power. They have great influence over the workings of the Soul Society and even the Gotei 13 divisions aren't supposed to get involved with the issues and politics of the Noble Clans. In fact not even Central 46 has much power over the Great Noble Clans...I wonder why the Great Noble Clans are able to possess so much power? What makes them so special?"
Losing interest in the topic he clicked on the next folder that caught his interest.
"Oh? Well I guess this might answer my question. According to this, apparently the Soul King gave certain tasks or granted favor to these Great Noble Clans. Certain special duties were given to them huh? That must be why they hold so much power. Eh? So the Kuchiki Clan is tasked with compiling and protecting the history of the Soul Society? I originally thought it was the Tsunayashiro Clan that was tasked with such a duty, but I guess I was wrong. Who the heck is the Soul King anyways? I wonder what kind of person they are. According to the conversation I had with Captain Unohana a long while back, the Soul King is protected by the Zero division. Now I'm curious who the members of the Zero division are. From the information I've gathered I only know that the 12th division Captain before Urahara, Hikifune Kirio was promoted to join the Zero division. I believe the reason was...the invention of the Artificial Souls. Apparently her work was recognized as a major contribution to Soul Society. Hmm...this Soul King must be pretty strong then right? I wonder if I'll get a chance to meet them and the Zero division one day."
After completing his reading he simply moved on to the next subject and clicked on the file labeled as Quincy.
"Eh? So there's some information on Quincy's huh? As expected. I don't remember all that much about Quincy's. There wasn't too much information given on them from what I recall in my past life. What I do remember is that Ichigo was supposed to have a Quincy friend right? And that the Quincy's should be nearly extinct."
As Kishin continued reading through the files he slightly raised his eyebrow with interest while taking in everything that was recorded.
"So Captain Kurostuchi performed experiments on a Quincy named Ishida Soken...Eh? Didn't Ichigo's Quincy friend have the surname Ishida? Ah...I forgot his name. I'm pretty sure he wore glasses or something. So, it seems that Quincy's have the power to absorb reishi. They are human's that possess powerful reiatsu and can live longer than normal humans because of that. Approximately 200 years ago all Quincys were killed."
Kishin furrowed his brow in contemplation as he simply talked to himself. "I wonder how many are left in the world?"
He kept on reading for a few more hours through the 12th division's restricted archive until his eyes started becoming droopy. He yawned and took note that it was extremely late at night already so he called it quits and returned to his sleeping quarters. After letting out a soft sigh he stared at the SCGF pill bottle in his hands.
"One at night, one in the morning...Well, here goes nothing."
He popped a pill in his mouth and gulped. A moment of silence passed before Kishin grinned in pleasant surprise. "Eh? Not bad. Tastes like watermelon. To think that Captain Kurotsuchi was kind enough to give these pills flavor."
He then paused as he thought about it for a moment. "Unless it's not...ah well, it tastes good. No need to think about what exactly went into it. If Akon-senpai says the results are great then I'm sure I'll be just fine…"
He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes as sleep soon took him over.
MISC.
Reivice: It is a small hand held black colored cube that can analyze and store reishi matter. It cannot store things that exhibit reiatsu or the device will break. It also can't store living things or things with a soul. It is an object that was created by Akon.
Shinigami Conversion Growth Factor Pills (SCGF Pills): Allows for a Shinigami to grow physically like a Human. One pill taken in the morning and one at night.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone