Kira swung his Zanpakuto in a flash, but his target was my handcuffs—specifically, the chain connecting my wrists.
He always was remarkably skilled.
The blade released from his hand sliced through the chain as if it weren't even there.
"Hah!"
On the return stroke, the tip of his blade carved a deep vertical notch into the metal bracelets.
With a cut that deep, I could probably smash them against a wall or even use a child's strength to force them open and break the shackles.
And yet, there wasn't a single scratch on my wrists.
As expected of Kira! He really has some talent!
"3rd Seat Kira!?"
"What on earth are you...!!"
"Do you have any idea what you're doing!?"
The surrounding squad members were the ones in shock.
Well, of course they were. One moment, they thought they had a submissive prisoner, and the next, he's muttering to himself before suddenly going wild and destroying my handcuffs.
[[You! What were you thinking!! That's the kind of retort I want to give! Those guys thought their work was finally over, you know!? Besides, the transfer of a Captain-class prisoner is dangerous business! I wish he understood a bit more about the hardships of public service!!]]
"Yeah, I know... I know exactly how foolish I've been..."
Regardless of why he did something so stupid, this was now an emergency. The squad members all drew their swords and surrounded Kira.
Facing them, Kira calmly held his Zanpakuto and shouted.
"Sensei, please escape!"
"Eh...!?"
I mean, being told to run so suddenly... I'm happy he believes in me, though.
He already broke one side of the shackles. The other side is intact, but since I can control my spiritual pressure again, I think I could tear it apart with my bare hands.
So, escaping would be easy, but—
"Kira! Why are you doing this!?"
"I've been with you since this morning! I listened to what you had to say! I watched Captain Hitsugaya! And I realized once again! It is absolutely wrong for you to be captured! I'm sorry for such a late decision!"
Ah... Kira, you've been agonizing over this the whole time, haven't you?
And now, at this moment, your resolve has finally hardened in the worst possible direction!?
[[Also, if you ask me, I think it's because you told him this morning that 'Renji confessed.' I suspect that's what made his hard-won resolve waver... Saving a captive princess is a classic trope, after all!!]]
Ah, Renji's confession. Now that I think about it, I did mention that.
...Wait! That was the reason!?
[[His butt must have been lit on fire...]]
I see... the heart of a man is a complex and mysterious thing...
[[ (I bet he's panicking and trying to show off his good side to My Lady... but looking at this situation objectively, it's just a match-pump scenario...) ]]
Nubatama, did you say something?
[[No, no, nothing. More importantly, look, Kira is saying something.]]
"I'll at least take care of things here! So Sensei! Please escape! Quickly!!"
"I can't possibly do that!"
Even as he shouted for me to run, Kira was swinging his Zanpakuto at the surrounding squad members.
Though he hadn't even used his Shikai, his skill was clearly on a completely different level.
Before they could even trade a single blow, he instantly closed the distance and landed a magnificent horizontal sweep.
"Backup! Call for backup!"
"The Assembly Hall is close! Contact them immediately...!"
"I won't let you!!"
He prioritized targeting those trying to leave the area, taking them down with a single strike.
Furthermore, he was striking with the back of the blade, limiting his attacks to incapacitating them. From their perspective, the only difference was being hit with an iron bar versus being cut by a sword, but I suppose it's better than bleeding out from a slash.
I stood my ground and watched Kira's grand performance.
...Seriously... what am I supposed to do here? He told me to run, but I can't just abandon him and flee!
Besides, if I were to run blindly, who knows what would happen...
That man is probably monitoring us from somewhere—that man whose glasses I'd love to smash to pieces.
For now, I started with the preparations. I removed the remaining shackle.
Eh? How? Well, obviously by just ripping it apart with brute force. If you can control your spiritual pressure, you can do at least this much.
While I was doing that, the fight ended in an instant. Sheathing his Zanpakuto, Kira approached me with a worried expression.
"Sensei, why didn't you escape...!?"
"Why, you ask... because there's no way I could leave you behind."
"That's... but, I acted like I was betraying you!! I don't have the right to be worried about..."
"I didn't think you'd take action like this, but you did it because you were thinking of me, right?"
I slowly approached Kira while checking our surroundings.
It might be conceit on my part, but I think that is about to come soon.
If there's a possibility, he might be disguised as one of the fallen squad members.
Or has this Kira already been switched? No, that is unlikely. I was watching the fight just now; I would have noticed if he had been swapped...
Though if he's been switched since the start of the day, I'm completely helpless.
"Indeed... I must say, this action of yours was quite unexpected even for me."
"!!"
"Eh...! No... that voice is..."
At the sudden sound of that voice, both Kira and I instinctively braced ourselves.
I see... so that's how it is...
I suppose if I'm the opponent, there's no need for petty tricks.
"It has been a long time, Captain Yukawa. 3rd Seat Kira."
"Captain... Aizen... why...!?"
Kira's face looked as if he were seeing something impossible.
With slow movements that oozed importance and a shadow mastermind face full of composure, Sosuke Aizen made his entrance.
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