Shuhei Hisagi, who had been dispatched, and Tessai, the person who had done the dispatching, were unaware that when a Tenkaiketchu post was operating on its own, it automatically set coordinates to the center of its effective radius. In this case, the center of its effective range was…
“…This is…a Kyogoku?”
Shuhei Hisagi regained consciousness in a place entirely different from Urahara Shoten. From the moment he was sent flying he had felt a strange sense of drunkenness, like missing his footing in Dangai, but he didn’t feel like much time had passed.
“Well…that’s because the flow of time in Dangai is weird. So I guess I can’t use it as a standard to judge by.”
Hisagi, who had been transported through darkness that didn’t even exist in Dangai—through the garganta—first dedicated himself to grasping the situation he had been thrust into. Looking around, it seemed he had been transported to an indoor structure that was not much different from any in the Soul Society.
However, there was no source whatsoever for outside light, and the inside of the room wasn’t lit by hotaru kazura. Instead, it seemed to be entirely illuminated by the newfangled lighting equipment that was also used by the Department of Research and Development.
“Why, in a building like this…”
He thought that he might not have actually been transported correctly into the Kyogoku and had instead drifted into the Soul Society somewhere, but he sensed that the concentration of reishi adrift in the air around him was indeed different from that of the world of the living or the Soul Society. His knowledge didn’t extend to Hueco Mundo, but according to interviews he had done, he didn’t think that desert would contain Japanese structures such as this.
“In which case, this definitely has got to be the Kyogoku… Right?”
When he probed the spiritual pressure, he felt something rather large coming from somewhere far below his current position.
Below? Am I on such a high floor?
In addition to the spiritual pressure being distant, because the reishi’s concentration around him was irregular, he had difficulty distinguishing between the individual spiritual pressures. However, one among them made a particularly striking impression on his memory.
“Wait, wait…is Captain Zaraki’s spiritual pressure mixed in?”
So that means the Soul Society has made a move? I see, since my message to request Gentei Kaijo was cut off…
Because Hisagi had no idea of the separate incidents that had occurred in the Soul Society, he mistakenly came to believe that the Soul Society had independently sensed something was wrong in Karakura Town and started an investigation of their own that brought them to the Kyogoku.
Okay, but are Kyogoku really that easy to find? They might have captured members of the religious group and looked into it themselves…
It’d be a piece of cake for Captain Kurotsuchi if he had a sample of one of the posts… But I guess a lot of time really has passed…
“Well, if Captain Zaraki is here, I guess I don’t have to worry about battles… Anyway, I’ve got to meet up with them and tell someone about Mr. Urahara.”
He tried to pull out his Soul Pager, but naturally it was still blocked from communicating with the Seireitei.
Thinking that he needed to first join with the Soul Reapers who were here by following the spiritual pressure, Hisagi once again probed the state of his surroundings.
“Captain Zaraki’s spiritual pressure is pretty far off…How many floors has this place got?”
Based on the fact that the other spiritual pressures seemed quite far below, he guessed he was in a tall tower or somewhere near the top of the place.
“Where’s the door? …Huh? The hell is that?”
At that point, Hisagi realized that what he at first had thought was a pillar was in fact something entirely different. The thing at the center of the room was a gigantic cylindrical glass case installed on some kind of apparatus. The transparent vessel, which looked like it could easily fit an entire person, was currently empty, and though the device was also connected all over the place with electrodes and what looked like reishi tubing, it didn’t seem to be currently in operation.
“When I interviewed the Department of Research and Development, I saw something that looked like that.”
Figuring that the device might be related to recent events, Hisagi painstakingly examined it to figure out what it was and whether it had a forwarding system that led outside, but he didn’t find any written information or any data at all that indicated what the thing could be.
“Ah, damn it. If I could just get in contact with Akon… Maybe I should just break this thing. But if I break it, it might be one of those things that can’t be undone…”
As he was considering that, Hisagi heard a voice from behind him. “Oh, that’s supposed to be my throne!”
“Huh?!”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t break it, if possible, since I wouldn’t have any other place in this castle to rest if you did. Yes, indeedy!”
It was an innocent voice.
Yet it was also a voice that made him feel mental and physical repulsion. Hisagi had heard that voice before—it was several weeks ago, while he was covering the Shino-Seyakuin.
He turned around to find the child who had been terribly wounded back then.
“You…”
“I’m Hikone Ubuginu! Umm…and you’re Shuhei Hisagi, aren’t you?! Thank you so much for earlier!”
When Hikone bobbed their head down in a bow in front of him, Hisagi automatically froze.
What is this? This kid’s spiritual pressure is making me…
At that moment, Hisagi had a realization.
He realized that his sense of the Kyogoku’s concentrated reishi was an illusion. Of course, the reishi in the Kyogoku’s atmosphere was already concentrated, but the spiritual pressure that Hisagi stood in was far denser than any regular Kyogoku.
Is the room filled with this kid’s spiritual pressure?
Since he had leapt right into the fluctuations of that spiritual pressure, Hisagi hadn’t noticed that he was next to the child.
The Soul Reaper, who was neither a girl nor a boy, tilted their head as they asked Hisagi, “But why are you also here, Mr. Hisagi?”
“Oh, I’m…”
“Oh! Did Lord Tokinada call you? If you’re Lord Tokinada’s guest, then please let me be your host to the best of my abilities!”
“Uh…”
When he heard the name Tokinada, Hisagi’s spine straightened. Though he had never met the aristocrat directly, he recognized at this point that it was clearly the name of an enemy.
“Tokinada Tsunayashiro is here?”
“Yes, he’s down there right now! Would you like to greet him?”
“Uh! I-Is he?”
Hikone’s openness made Hisagi hesitant and vaguely apprehensive. The situation was too strange, and he felt instinctively cautious. However, he couldn’t retreat now.
He had no idea whether this had happened by chance or was an inevitability, but it seemed that he had plunged much deeper into the bosom of the enemy than he had ever imagined himself capable. When Hisagi realized his situation, he immediately steeled himself. At the same time, it once again occurred to him that the spiritual pressure of the child standing before his eyes was indeed very abnormal.
It contained Soul Reaper, human, Quincy, and also Hollow.
That spiritual pressure, which contained the amalgamation of all sorts of konpaku, had transformed into something different from what he had encountered in the past at the Seyakuin. The presence of Hollow had become more pronounced, and as though reacting to that, the other varieties of spiritual pressure had also increased.
This kid was dangerous back then, but this spiritual pressure is on a completely different level now.
It wasn’t just instinct, but also his experiences up until that point that brought him to this conclusion.
Seriously, have I ever been so intimidated by a kid?
In Hisagi’s mind, the faces of Toshiro Hitsugaya, Yachiru Kusajishi, and Hiyori Sarugaki appeared.
I guess I have been, actually.
Even as cowardice caused him to cringe inwardly, Hisagi corrected his appearance and addressed Hikone with a serious expression. “Hey.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Do you know what this Tokinada guy is trying to do?”
“You mean Lord Tokinada?”
Hikone turned toward Hisagi with their wide eyes, but didn’t leave much time before they broke into a smile and answered, “I don’t understand complicated things so much! But if Lord Tokinada is doing it, I think it’s the right thing to do!”
“That’s not something you should say lightly.”
“Huh? Why is that?”