Published: February 28th 2025, 3:03:36 pm
The ryoka invasion may have revealed the traitors hidden within, but it crippled much of the Gotei 13. On account of three captains turning traitors, their squads were pulled back from active duty until the Captain Commander was satisfied with their loyalty. The involvement of Lieutenant Izuru in the traitors‘ schemes put the other squads under heavy scrutiny. Lieutenant Hinamori and Hisagi were also close to their captains. Even the distant possibility of their involvement was enough to keep Squads 3, 5 and 7 from active duty for the time being.
This left the other squads to bear the bulk of the work in the world of the living. This was how Harry found himself standing on a utility pole in the World of the Living, keeping his senses sharp. He didn’t know whether the Head Captain was punishing him for his insubordination by saddling him with an endless flow of missions in the World of the Living.
Harry’s senses tickled when a stray stream of Hollow spiritual pressure entered his sensory range.
Pointing a finger straight in the general direction of the Hollow, Harry gathered his magical energy into a condensed ball and let loose. The blasting hex he envisioned found its mark straight on the side of the Hollow’s mask, tearing a hole through its head.
Harry stared at the tip of his finger with a frown. The longer he practised combining magic with kido, the easier it became to use magic wandlessly. It came to a point where his magic spells were becoming far easier and safer to use compared to kido. The destructive power of kido still remained unmatched, mostly because his repository of spells was limited to his knowledge of his past life. He had even started to forget some of the spells, and it was only thanks to Amaterasu that he was reminded of some useful magic spells.
‘Hey, Amaterasu. Do you have any way to block Kyoka Suigetsu’s hypnosis?’ Harry posed the question deep in his soul where his Zanpakuto rested.
He listened keenly for an answer, but he was only met with silence, which made Harry frown. He thought hard about whether he had done something to offend his trusted Zanpakuto lately, but nothing came to his mind.
‘I’ll check later.’ Harry decided before focusing his efforts on the mission.
Reaching out his senses, he searched for more Hollows in the general area. When he sensed none, Harry disappeared from the street with a flash step, intending to circle the perimeter of his designated area.
His return to Soul Society was without much fanfare. A few low-level Hollows were purified during the mission. Other than that, it was a typical day, but one thankfully without paperwork.
“Hey, I’m back.” Harry waved his hand after setting foot inside the Squad 13 grounds.
He found his Squad barracks mostly empty, owing to most of his subordinates taking up the bulk of the missions.
“Lieutenant, sir!” Kiyone abruptly appeared before him with her usual bubbly personality.
“Kiyone, how is the Captain doing?”
“Captain Ukitake was under the care of Captain Unahona till this morning, but the Head Captain called for an emergency captain’s meeting.”
This was news to Harry. An emergency Captain’s meeting made him concerned for his well-being as he ended up going against the explicit orders of the Head Captain in Rukia Kuchiki’s execution.
“Did Captain Ukitake say anything before he went to the meeting?” Harry asked his subordinate as he paced restlessly in his office.
“Just that everything will be alright, and he asked not to worry.” Kiyone said meekly.
Harry dismissed her before going to work in his office.
Harry waited in his office, spending hours on paperwork. There was a mountain of work pending on his desk thanks to the bumbling way the ryoka invaded the city. The trail of destruction they left in the wake of their invasion required urgent patchwork of roads, buildings and other crucial military outposts. There was a lot of damage involved, thanks to the rampage of Captain Zaraki, who simply blew past a wall to get to a fight. Not only was the man unsuccessful in reaching Sokyoku Hill, but he also left several hundreds of walls and buildings in tatters.
Then, there was the colossal fight between Captains Zaraki, Tosen and Komamura.
He wasn’t confident why he was saddled with making a report about all the destruction in Seireitei and compiling them on the order of priority, but he suspected this was once again part of his punishment for disobeying direct orders from the Head Captain. Deep into the inspection reports drafted by Squad 10 members, he nearly missed the arrival of a guest in his office.
When someone cleared their throat, he looked up from the paperwork with bleary eyes.
“Rukia-san!” Harry momentarily lit up, seeing his wayward subordinate, who was all healthy and hale once more. “Come in.”
“Rukia Kuchiki reporting for duty, sir.”
Though he was happy Rukia was back, he was mindful of her weakened state and sensed the diminished spiritual pressure. He could see that despite her fast recovery, his subordinate was far from fully recovering her spiritual pressure. The Sekkiseki stone covering Rukia’s prison was designed to drain spirit energy from the prisoners. By his estimate, it’d take a few more days for a full recovery, considering the extent of Rukia’s soul taking the damage.
It was still a mystery what sort of technique Aizen used to take the buried relic from Rukia’s soul sleep. Everything was a mystery as the entire debacle with Aizen and the other two traitorous Captains was under the watchful gaze of the Head Captain.
“Are you sure you want to return to duty now of all times? You could take a breather for the rest of the week until you’re back to your former self. Squad 12 has yet to properly report any adverse effects to the kido Aizen used on you, Rukia-san.” Harry said, cautioning his subordinate against stressing herself.
“I can fulfil my duties, sir. I don’t want to bring shame to the Kuchiki name.”
‘Pride – the greatest folly of most Shinigami.’ Harry thought with an internal sigh.
“Very well. I’m assigning you to the logistics team. I hope your skills for gathering and assigning standard issue support packages to Shinigami operatives are up to par.” Harry said with a straight face while Rukia’s face twitched.
“Are you sure you have nothing else for me, sir?” Rukia asked with a hopeful look on her face and a friendly smile.
“Yeah, I have a mission to hunt down a rogue Vasto Lorde partying in a nightclub in the World of the Living.” Harry said with a deadpan look.
“Are you insane?” Harry knocked on Rukia’s head. “You just escaped a certain death by a hair’s breadth. I don’t think this is the time to get involved in anything life-threatening.”
Rukia’s shoulders dropped with disappointment.
“I don’t want to spend the days ahead cooped up in the squad barracks. As Shinigami, we’re expected to deal with death – even our own. It’s part of our duty.” Rukia said with resolve shining in her eyes, making Harry sigh.
“Be that as it may, you’ll be confined to the job I assigned until your spirit energy is restored to comfortable levels for field missions. That’s an order, Kuchiki-san.” Harry said in his ‘official’ voice, and the addition of her last name into the mix made Rukia agree promptly.
He charged Kiyone with assigning Rukia her duties while he spent the next half an hour sorting through various records of damages and calculating the costs to restore them all. His work was interrupted, however, when Sentaro slid open his office door with a bowed head.
“Sorry to bother you, Lieutenant. But you’ve been summoned by the Head Captain.” Sentaro said loudly, which probably made everyone in the barracks aware of what was happening.
Harry was momentarily struck cold by the order, worrying about the possibility of some kind of punishment. But then, he took a deep breath and prepared to face anything coming his way.
“Very well then. Keep an eye on active missions and send a hell butterfly in case of an emergency if I don’t return promptly.” Harry ordered before cleaning up his workstation and standing up.
“You got it, Lieutenant.” Sentaro yelled, making Harry cringe.
Thankfully, Kiyone was not present to turn this into a yelling match between the two, so Harry made his exit from the barracks at top speed without any delay. He ran through the rooftops at top speed using flash steps. He arrived at Squad 1 barracks at top speed. Upon his arrival, he was directed to the Captains’ meeting room.
The hall was closed, but he found Lieutenant Iba of Squad 7 waiting patiently outside the door. Seeing another Lieutenant, one not involved in the whole Ryoka debacle, made him somewhat relieved. This made him suspect he was not called in for any disciplinary action.
At least, he hoped so.
“You here for long?” Harry asked, finding it unsettling to face Lieutenant Iba’s dark glasses staring at him for too long.
“I received the summons only shortly, like you.” Lieutenant Iba said with a shrug.
“What do you think it’s about?” Harry asked, keeping his voice deliberately low.
“No idea.” Lieutenant Iba’s forehead creased as he stared at the closed door. “They’ve been in the meeting for too long. I suppose whatever is being discussed has something to do with the ryoka invasion and the subsequent escape of the traitors.”
“Hmm… I was half expecting to be called for some disciplinary action.” Harry muttered, casting a wary look at the closed door of the meeting hall.
“While your actions, along with that of Captain Ukitake’s and Captain Kyoraku’s, would be considered traitorous, your actions were in the interest of upholding the sanctity of the Gotei 13. The Head Captain knows this, and so does everyone else.”
Just then, the doors of the meeting hall were thrown open and out came the Captains one by one. The first to walk out was Captain Zaraki, with his head held high and a bored look on his face. The Squad 11 Captain suddenly stopped near Harry and Lieutenant Iba, looking directedly at Harry with a manic gleam in his eyes.
“I heard you fought the Old Man to a standstill. I’m interested in testing your limits soon. Come meet me at the training grounds of Squad 11, or better yet, I’ll find you in your training grounds.” Captain Zaraki said before walking away, leaving Harry spluttering.
Following the battle-crazed captain came Captain Soifon. If looks could kill, Harry would be dead, and his soul would turn into a puddle of goo at the bottom of her feet.
‘I guess I earned myself a long-term enemy for eternity with the stunt I pulled with her. I’ll need to watch my back from now on.’ Harry mused as Captain Soifon disappeared from the corridor using a flash step with nary a whisper.
Then came Captain Kurotsuchi, who didn’t so much as spare a glance at his side and was singularly focused on getting away from the hall. Following the clownish captain came Captain Hitsugaya, who only nodded in acknowledgement before walking away. After that came Captain Komamura, who no longer used a straw bucket to hide his face. Harry found it disturbing to look at the big wolfish face of the Squad 7 Captain. But at the same time, he had immense respect for the man. Anyone who can walk out of the infirmary the next day after taking on level 90 Kido was someone worthy of respect in his mind.
However, he had heard Captain Komamura was best friends with the blind Captain of Squad 9, Captain Tosen. No doubt, the betrayal of a close friend had shaken the man, and this betrayal possibly influenced Captain Komamura to stop covering his body from others’ eyes.
The large, burly Captain of Squad 7 paused before Harry and Lieutenant Iba.
“The Head Captain will see you both now.” Captain Komamura said, his guttural voice coming off like a distant thunder.
Harry took great care not to stare too long at the furry face of the large Captain.
“Yes, sir.” Lieutenant Iba dipped his head, and Harry followed suit.
Once Captain Komamura walked away, Harry let out a breath of relief. For some reason, the furry Captain of Squad 7 reminded him of werewolves back in the wizarding world. He was even starting to suspect the man was a werewolf in his previous life but was most likely not a native of his world.
‘Maybe there are native werewolf packs in this dimension.’ Harry mused in the confines of his mind.
Whatever the case, Harry and Lieutenant Iba walked into the meeting hall to find Captains Ukitake, Kyoraku, Unahona, and the Head captain engaged in a deep discussion. Once their footsteps became undeniably loud, the Head Captain and the three elder Captains looked their way. Harry and Lieutenant Iba bowed.
“Sir.” Harry and Lieutenant Iba chorused together.
But before they could say anything else, another set of footsteps quickly joined them. Harry immediately recognised the spiritual pressure of the new arrival. It was none other than Rangiku, who had vanished off the face of Seireitei after the debacle with the traitorous Captains.
“I’m sorry I was late, Head Captain.” Rangiku bowed her head.
The Head Captain merely grunted in displeasure and tapped his cane on the wooden floor.
“There have been several lapses in discipline within the Gotei 13, especially from seated officers.” Yamamoto grunted with closed eyes, but Harry knew he could count himself as part of that group.
“That will stop now as we’re faced with a threat the likes of which the Gotei 13 has never faced. The enemy is ourselves for once, and that makes Aizen Sosuke and his fellow traitors dangerous. They have been a part of us; therefore, they know our strengths and weaknesses. This needs to change.” Continued Yamamoto, and ever so slowly, the ancient warrior opened his fiery eyes to stare at each of them.
There was a pregnant pause followed by a heaviness in the air as the Head Captain stared at the three Lieutenants standing before him.
“Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto, you shall oversee the working of Squad 3 and keep a close watch on Lieutenant Izuru. Captain Hitsugaya has been charged with maintaining control over Squad 3 until a new Captain is found. Though preliminary interrogation of Lieutenant Izuru has revealed he was unaware of Gin Ichimaru’s true intentions, I’m inclined to err on the side of caution. Squad 2, under Captain Soifon, will be sweeping all squads for potential traitors and informants of Aizen Sosuke.”
Harry could see this would become a witch hunt of epic proportions. He worried his recent clash with Captain Soifon might contribute to more problems for his subordinates and himself in the coming days.
“Until such time as Captain Soifon gives a full report, you’re to treat Squad 3 as compromised.” The Head Captain then turned his eyes on Harry and Lieutenant Iba, “The same is applicable to the two of you. Lieutenant Harry will oversee Squad 5, and Lieutenant Iba will oversee Squad 9. You’ll keep an eye on Lieutenants Hinamori and Hisagi.”
“Yes, sir.” Harry murmured with the other two Lieutenants.
“Good.” Yamamoto nodded. “You may leave except Lieutenant Harry.”
Harry sweated lightly at being singled out by the Head Captain. He felt Rangiku and Iba leave his side, leaving him in the company of the eldest Captains of Soul Society.
“I have gone over the information you gathered amidst the ryoka invasion on the orders of Captain Ukitake. I can see what led you to believe Sereitei was being manipulated into a situation to the design of a traitor. Though you misjudged the traitor's identity, your instincts were correct, and that is all a warrior can do in conflict with an enemy in the shadows.” The Captain Commander said with a searching gaze.
Harry kept his mouth shut and let the ‘compliment’ wash over him.
“However, you should’ve come to me with your findings instead of joining Captains Ukitake and Kyoarku in their ill-thought scheme of destroying the Sokyoku. By doing so, you’ve become party to the destruction of a most valuable relic of Seireitei!” Yamamoto thundered, making Harry flinch.
“If you remember, you were being too stubborn for your own good, Captain Commander.” Captain Kyoraku interjected with an easy-going grin.
“Kyoraku!” Captain Ukitake warned, casting a pointed look at his friend.
The Captain Commander ignored the background chatter and instead focused on Harry.
“I understand you’ve achieved Bankai?”
“Yes, sir.” Harry nodded.
“Good. I’ll be calling you two weeks from now, and you’ll be asked to demonstrate your Bankai.”
Harry waited a few seconds for further details, but nothing else came from the Head Captain.
“Umm… might I ask why?” Harry inquired.
“No, you may not.” the Captain Commander said gruffly.
“Oh.” Harry muttered, casting a helpless look at his Captain.
“You may now leave.”
Harry just nodded and left the meeting hall as fast as possible. The second he landed on a roof outside the Squad 1 barracks, he was immediately put on the spot by a familiar face.
“So, what did the Head Captain want with you?” Rangiku appeared behind him with her hands folded beneath her ample bosom.
“Nothing important…” Harry said before a thoughtful frown overcame his face, “…I hope.”
“Fine, keep your secrets.” Rangiku puffed up her cheeks at his evasion. “You’ll be buying me sake tonight.”
“What!” Harry stared at the woman in surprise. “Are you insane? I have a mountain of paperwork to complete.”
“Oh, pfft!” Rangiku waved a hand dismissively with a roll of her eyes, “What good is a Shinigami with no sake in his belly?”
Rangiku threw a hand around his shoulder and dragged him towards the Rukiongai district. Though he put up a token protest, he was quite happy that this was happening. With the constant missions in the World of the Living and being saddled with more responsibilities, Harry took the opportunity to relax with some relief. Besides, Rangiku was good company.
Which sane bloke would say no to a night of drinking with a beautiful woman?