Placing Raiden back in his sheath, Suisenro watched with sorrow etched into his face as the man in the striped hat carried the boy off into the building beside them. Captain Mutsu followed him, leaving him standing there with Captain Ukitake.
He turned to the white haired captain. "I am sorry that we could not be of more use here. Maybe things would have gone better." He cast his eyes downwards. "Maybe not."
Juushiro set a hand on his head and smiled gently at him. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Suisenro. Your presence was a great boon to our side, even if it didn't appear to that way." He let his hand fall.
"If we hadn't been blind-sided by Kita and Toshiro's action, we might have made a dent in Sousuke's army, we might have not. It is hard to say with an opponent like him, but that doesn't give you a reason to belittle your actions today." He let the young captain soak in his words before turning to a new topic.
"For what reasons did Nori and yourself search us out?"
Realizing that Suisenro did not follow her into the shop Nori turned and exited back outside. There she saw Captain Ukitake and Suisenro speaking. Hearing Captain Ukitake's question Nori spoke up.
"We came to tell you some news that I had uncovered about Kita. However, from what we just witnessed I am starting to wonder if what I found was correct or not." She stopped a few feet back from them both.
Suisenro picked up the story.
"We have done research on the seraph and discovered that she is unable to kill. Everyone in Soul Society is set on believing that she killed Captain Hitsugaya, when the truth is that she was physically unable to. She did not kill him, she only sealed him."
Suisenro turned to gaze at the shop. "Which means that this one is not dead either. Merely sealed." He turned back to the eldest captain. "Who is he, may I ask?"
“Tsukiro Ashimitsu, eighth seat of Hitsugaya’s division,” Juushiro replied. His eyes saddened. “When Sousuke was sneaking around Soul Society before you were made captains, he saw Tsukiro with me and marked him for death. I sent him here for better protection after the first attempt.”
He sighed and turned back to the news at hand.
“I have already found out that information about the seraph, but it is not the right time to inform the Captain Commander. “ His eyes narrowed slightly. “This is not being taken as a single action after peaceful times. Betrayal or the murder of a captain is a terrible enough crime but now it is too soon since Sousuke’s bloody revolution. The desire for justice is thick in the air.” The captain started, coughing into his hand, and closed his eyes. “Therefore, Central 46 won’t consider removing her sentence without seeing Captain Hitsugaya themselves.” He stood tall again, eyes narrowed in determination. “We must wait until we retrieve Hitsugaya from the person he is now; only then may Kita be safe from the bars of justice in Soul Society.”
The two captains with him nodded and looked at the landscape with him.
Now it was only a waiting game, a waiting game for some kind of sign as of where Kita may be and if she was truly still alive, a waiting game to discover the state of Toshiro Hitsugaya’s soul and mind. A waiting game for something to lead them.
Continued to: Answers for the Minority
