NOVEL NEXT Chapter 94: Answer
Yuki was walking down the empty schools hallways by her lonesome. After the attack, the school was put on temporary shutdown, and most students had left to go be with their families.
She still wasn't sure on what happened the other day. All of a sudden she had a brother, and just as quickly he left. And now even Shido had disappeared too. Maybe it was time for her to go back home.
Then she noticed something strange. Particularly with the ceiling. She fired a small pulse of Kido which caused one of its boards to flip. As it did, a student came falling out. His head was covered in a black bag, and all his limbs were tied together, preventing escape.
"??????"
She quickly pulled off the mask, only to discover Ito who was unconscious.
Meanwhile, In Kai's Medical Room
He laid in his hospital bed, paralysed from grief. Shinten was dead, and Shido was missing. The grandmaster had also perished. Everything he knew was starting to crumble away.
"This is the second time my friend died in front of me. I keep trying to get stronger, and I'm even successful... YET IT'S NEVER ENOUGH. WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO!?? WHAT THEH HELL DO I HAVE TO DO!???"
Suddenly the door to his room opened as three Soul Reapers barged in. Two of them seemed to be random nobodies, but the one in the middle had the badge of a Lieutenant. His eyes were tired and a great part of his blonde hair had been combed over his left eye.
"Your the Lieutenant from the entrance exam? What do you want- Ow!"
"That's Lieutenant Kira to you. Although I don't really care. Let's just get this over with already. I have some questions you need to answer for me."
The two Soul Reapers quickly cuffed Kai in Spiritual Pressure sealing cuffs before dragging him out of his bed. Several Nurses barged in and complained.
"What are you doing!?? He's not ready to leave yet!"
Kira then raised up a letter.
"I received permission from Captain Kotetsu to take him out. This is also an official order from the Gotei so I ask you don't get in my way."
They were angry but they took a step back in front of his authority. This situation was out of their hands. The Two Soul Reapers paraded Kai out of his room, while Kira walked ahead. Eventually they reached the main lobby where Yukiko was still arguing with the receptionist.
"Kai!? What's going on?"
"I'll be fine, I just need to answer some questions."
He lightly smiled at her, but even that was fake. She could tell it was, but there was nothing she could do anyway.
The two walked outside of squad 4's grounds and walked all the way to the department of research and development. As they did, Kai got to see the consequences of that battle.
Numerous buildings were destroyed, as rubble and dust were rampant in Soul Society. Children were crying as their homes had been destroyed or their parents had been killed by the rampaging hollows. Because of this, Kai felt guilt.
"I could've saved them... but I was driven by revenge. If I stayed behind and fought, could I have changed something?"
Eventually the group arrived at Squad 12's department of research and development. However the place they were going was far deeper than that.
After some time walking, the other 2 Shinigami were dismissed, however Kai and Lieutenant Kira kept walking down a hall way, eventually arriving at an elevator. The two went in and began heading down to the deepest layer available.
"If you just wanted to ask questions, you could've done it while I was in bed. What's really going on?"
He kept quiet.
Eventually the elevator stopped, and its doors opened to a dimly lit corridor. The two walked down it, and were greeted to a stupidly large empty room with that was filled pure white tiles.
Kai's cuffs suddenly came undone by themselves, which he found surprising. Kira walked a couple paces away from Kai.
One of the tiles in the ceiling opened up above Kai, and from it both of his Zanpakutō fell. He quickly caught them as he realized what was going on.
A voice then echoed across the room.
"This is Mayuri Kurotsuchi of Squad 12. Right now, your being investigated as a potential threat against Soul Society. If you lie, you will be killed, if you refuse to answer questions, you will be killed. Understood?"
"What the hell?"
Izuru Kira quickly unsheathed his Zanpakutō and flash stepped next to Kai. He swung his sword at his neck, but Kai quickly blocked it with the sheath of his own.
"I thought I was supposed to answer questions?! Why are you fighting me as well??"
He remained quiet but continued to attack. Kai quickly moved back, but Kira kept advancing while striking. Although he struck with the intent to kill, Kai could feel that he was holding back.
"For the first question, when new Souls arrive to Soul Society, they go through Ticket management where they're assigned a district to live in. You ended up in district 64, yet you've never went through ticket management. After you crossed over in this world, what happened to you?"
Kai screamed, "HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW I JUST WOKE UP THERE!??"
"Izuru, increase the difficulty."
Izuru changed his sword stance as he now grabbed his Zanpakutō with two hands allowing for a proper form. He swung his sword with such speed that Kai couldn't keep track of it, and his cheek split apart slightly.
"Why did you increase the difficulty?? I answered truthfully!?"
"I forgot to mention, every time you give me an answer I don't like, I'll make him fight more and more seriously. So be careful with what you say from now one."
"Tch!"
Kai quickly unsheathed his Wakizashi Zanpakutō and shouted,
"Jigoku, 3%!"
The second he did time appeared to freeze. Standing behind Kira was the spirit of his Zanpakutō, Mitsuna Hoshi.
"Kai, don't go above your limit again. If you do, you will really die."
She disappeared just as quickly as she left, causing Kai to panic. But nevertheless he still had to fight.
-Somewhere in Seireitei
Shunsui Kyōraku walked down the corridors of Squad 1's base by himself. He greeted a few Soul Reapers as he passed by, before heading straight to his destination.
It was a small tea house on the outside, standing right next to a decently sized lake. he opened the sliding doors and stepped inside. It was still the same as he remembered.
There was a small table in the centre placed on top of a tatami mat. There was a tea set, although it had gone unused for a long time. He decided to inspect it, and was surprised at how clean it was.
"Had someone been in here?"
Most importantly on one of the walls was a painting.
It was of man shaped demon from the distant past. With his sword in hand, he was drenched in flames as he stood over boundless ash. Shunsui then remembered what Yamada Fujinishin had told him before departing.
'Look behind the back of the demon.'1
Shunsui walked up to it and tilted the picture forwards ever so slightly. This caused a folded envelope to mysteriously slip out of it and fall onto the floor.
With a heavy heart and steady breath, he picked it up and slowly opened it. Inside was a letter that he read. On the surface it appeared to Yamamoto's will. But as he read on it was much worse then he realized.
"No one can find out about this, no matter what."
He quickly shoved the letter into his Shihakushō, keeping it on him at all times.