Though Hisagi had viewed Tokinada as an absolute enemy from the moment the man had attempted to kill Kyoraku and the others, he didn’t attack Tokinada right away. There was something he needed to clear up first. “What are you planning on doing…with that Hikone kid?”
“Hm? You know Hikone?” Though Tokinada was initially dubious, he seemed to recall something and nodded. “Ah, come to think of it, Hikone did say something about that. They met a kind Soul Reaper at the Seyakuin or something of the sort.”
“I’m asking you what you’re planning on, making that kid into the Soul King.”
“Does it matter? In order for Soul Reapers to rule over the three realms, we must have an absolute symbol to reestablish a new set of values in the world of the living and Hueco Mundo. Hikone is able to do that. They were created to do it. That is all—it’s a simple matter.”
At Tokinada’s indifferent reply, Hisagi’s rage was apparent in his words. “You use people like tools.”
“That’s a misconception. Hikone is indeed a tool, but I do not think that people are tools. I think of people as beings who think with their own free will, shout, scream, and let themselves fall into despair. I consider humans a truly comical show. A tool does not have its own will and instead entrusts itself entirely to my mind—that is a name for something that is not a person, such as Hikone.”
“You…”
“It is a simple fact. Hikone is no person. Hikone is not a Hollow nor are they a Quincy or a Soul Reaper. They are nothing more than a tool I created—a vessel of power to unobtrusively become king and suppress the three realms. Naturally. But compared to those incompetent, ignorant fools, I do have a preference for Hikone.” A sarcastic smile broke on his face as he shrugged lightly and said what he truly thought. “That thing is too single-minded when it comes to emotions. If I told them to die, they would simply do it, and if I told them to crush their own lungs and suffer, they would happily pry their chest open using their own fingers. They are somewhat dull to toy with.”
Liltotto, who heard that from afar, clucked her tongue, remaining cautious of Complete Hypnosis, since she didn’t know when it could assault them. While feeling slightly concerned that the words she was hearing even now might be exercising the power of Complete Hypnosis, she muttered to herself, recalling an exchange from just a few hours earlier.
“So if your pal Tokinada ordered you to die a painful death, would you actually go and die?”
“Yes! And I’d do my best to suffer while I do it!”
“So the kid wasn’t speaking metaphorically. That’s nauseating.”
“Did you…actually order Hikone to do that?”
“What reason do I have to deceive you about something so trifling?”
Hisagi looked at Tokinada smiling down at him and desperately held back the growing rage within him as he said, “…Well, I give up. I’m running out of options other than killing you ASAP.”
“You never had that option in the first place, since you’re not capable of such a feat.” This phrasing seemed designed to make Hisagi feel like a fool. Tokinada then asked the Soul Reaper, with deep curiosity, “But I do not understand—you only just met Hikone once at the Seyakuin, did you not? Why are you so fixated on this?”
In fact, Hisagi had met Hikone earlier, so they had seen each other twice, but he purposefully did not correct Tokinada as he replied, “Even if I’d never met the kid before, how could I stand silently by after finding out what you’re up to?”
“What? So then it’s nothing more than what you’d call chivalry? Or is it compassion? Regardless, how idiotic.” Tokinada responded disinterestedly, then went right on talking about Hikone. “If you’re trying to save Hikone, you’re misguided. The only way of life that thing knows happens to work out well for me. This is the result of my not teaching Hikone anything else, and also of Hikone never attempting to learn more. I never resorted to reward or punishment; that thing simply believes things are meant to be this way. Don’t you think stealing Hikone’s happiness would only serve your own sense of righteousness?”
Tokinada was the epitome of composure as he said this, and Hisagi then understood precisely the relationship between the being called Hikone and Tokinada. It wasn’t a relationship of control through fear. It wasn’t even a relationship of dependence through pleasure. Tokinada had simply used Hikone’s innocence and ignorance to his advantage, making the child think that he was their entire world.
He hadn’t made himself a god.
He had made Hikone the god and raised himself onto equal footing by becoming all they knew of the world.
How…?
Can that be the only rationale behind all this?
Biting back his anger, Hisagi released his zanpaku-to. “Reap, Kazeshini.”
Gripping the zanpaku-to now in its shikai form, Hisagi readied himself, however…
Arriving in Hisagi’s blind spot, Kyoraku grabbed the Soul Reaper’s collar while still carrying Nanao under his arm. Kyoraku used the hand that was still holding his own zanpaku-to to jerk Hisagi’s collar forcefully, then leapt, pulling Hisagi away.
“Huh? Why…?! Wha…?!”
In the next moment, the sensation of solid ground under Hisagi’s feet abruptly disappeared. He started to fall immediately, and his vision was seized by darkness.
Tokinada, who watched the whole thing transpire, looked at the flickering flames of the palace behind him. They were flames he himself had created earlier through his Ryujin Jakka. Next, he looked at the shadow it cast under his feet, which stretched out to the point in the distance that Hisagi and the others had disappeared to. A delighted smile broke on his face, and he muttered to himself, “Good grief, could you be more overprotective of your underlings? But are you sure about this, Kyoraku? You truly wish to entrust your last hope to a Soul Reaper such as him?”
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