After the brief chaos, the street lay in ruins.
Even though Higashino Shuuichi kept his reiatsu restrained, he couldn't offset the last surge when so many armored samurai released theirs at once. The civilians who lived here—most already in poor health—were virtually all killed by that frenzy of spiritual pressure.
If reiatsu only around an upper seated officer's level could cause this much damage, it was no wonder Soul Society limited a captain- or vice-captain-class Shinigami to twenty percent of their power in the World of the Living.
"Shūsuke, I remember the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy taught Konsō (Soul Burial), right?"
Looking at the freshly dead around them, Shuuichi spoke up.
He wasn't one to meddle, but he was interested in Nagasawa Satomi's Fullbring. If helping a little here could grease the wheels, he didn't mind.
Besides, from the look of him, Kisaragi Shūsuke seemed eager to do this kind of work.
Konsō was simply the rite guiding the souls of those who died in the World of the Living to Soul Society.
Most residents of Rukongai arrived that way.
Including the original owner of the body Shuuichi now inhabited.
"Shuuichi-sama, thank you!"
Standing aside, watching the sweat-drenched Shūsuke busy with Konsō, Satomi stepped to Shuuichi's side and gave heartfelt thanks.
Things had been twisted and went far beyond her expectations, but at least the outcome was good in the end.
She had helped secure a chance for those people to go to Soul Society.
From the bottom of her heart, she wished them happy lives there.
As for the sudden samurai, Satomi knew they had come for her. She had no resentment toward Shuuichi's group—if anything, she owed them.
If not for Higashino Shuuichi, with her power, the odds would have been grim.
"No need to thank me. This is our duty as Shinigami (Soul Reapers)."
Shuuichi absently replied, feeling the texture of a fragment of armor he'd torn from the last red-helmed samurai.
Sometimes he hated that he had the brain for it but knew nothing of research.
Weren't clever people supposed to be quick studies?
He couldn't be an idiot, could he?
He could tell the fragment was no ordinary thing—but he couldn't work out what it was.
Handing it to Kisuke Urahara? Out of the question.
If it tied to Fullbringers—or more directly, to fragments of the Soul King's body—it'd be like throwing meat buns to a dog: gone for good.
Silence.
Shuuichi and Satomi stood quietly to the side, watching Shūsuke work up a sweat with the rites.
"Um… Shuuichi-sama, is there anything I can do to help Shūsuke? He looks really tired."
At last, Satomi broke the silence.
"No. You're not a Shinigami, you haven't learned Konsō, and you don't know how to guide souls through the Dangai (Precipice World) to Soul Society…"
His face almost spelled out: don't go over and make it harder.
"Oh."
Satomi snuck a glance at Shuuichi's profile. He didn't seem as gentle and easygoing as Shūsuke-kun had said.
He was… very stern.
By contrast, she looked toward the drenched Kisaragi Shūsuke. As expected, Shūsuke-kun was cuter~
"By the way, Satomi—calling you that is fine, right?"
Just as Satomi was watching Shūsuke's Konsō in absorbed silence, Shuuichi's voice made her jump.
For once, with her pressing worries set aside, she'd let down that guard she so rarely lowered.
"Ah? O-of course it's fine, Shuuichi-sama!"
Satomi turned to him. Okay, he still wasn't looking at her—just making conversation?
"Mm. Satomi, you said someone told you about us Shinigami. May I ask who? And do you know where they are now?"
He set the armor fragment aside. He had someone in mind who could help, but reaching them wouldn't be quick.
"Oh—Shuuichi-sama, do you mean Onee-san Mai? She saved me from a Hollow and raised me. But nearly a year ago, she left with her husband…"
Sadness touched Satomi's face. Her feelings for that "Onee-san Mai" ran deep.
"She left with her husband? Nearly a year ago?" Shuuichi frowned.
Nearly a year ago—what timing was that?
It wasn't random. It was right when he and the others had defected from Soul Society and come here.
Leaving at such a sensitive moment…
More and more interesting.
"Satomi, do you know Onee-san Mai's full name? Or her husband's?"
He pressed on.
"Mm." Satomi thought a moment, then nodded. Onee-san Mai had never told her to keep her name secret, so it should be fine… and Shuuichi-sama didn't seem like a bad person.
"I remember Onee-san Mai's family name was Kurosaki—but that wasn't her maiden name. She said she took it after marrying Kurosaki-san."
She spoke with innocent candor.
She had no idea the wave it sent through Shuuichi's heart.
Kurosaki.
Tsk, tsk…
That surname had weight.
At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if Satomi not only knew things about Soul Society, but even said she knew Yhwach.
The name Kurosaki represented one of the few remaining pure-blood Quincy families in the World of the Living.
Not to mention, the future protagonist bore the same surname.
Shuuichi didn't know how strong the pure-blood Quincy were at this point in time, but one thing seemed obvious: Kurosaki Mai and her husband had left because people like Shuuichi had arrived.
They might even have met Kisuke Urahara.
"I wonder if that Zuobu-sama is connected to the Kurosaki as well."
Shuuichi tucked the thought away.
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