Akira arrived late to the meeting. By the time he stepped into the assembly hall, all the captains of the Gotei 13 were already present.
"Now that Captain Akira has arrived," Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni intoned, his eyes flicking toward the newcomer as he rested his Zanpakutō against the floor, "we shall begin."
At his command, the captains formed two neat rows facing one another—an ancient custom marking the formal commencement of a captain's conclave.
"Today, two matters of grave urgency require our full attention," Yamamoto declared, his voice resonating with solemn authority. "Both demand careful deliberation."
"The first," he continued, "concerns Captain Tōsen Kaname of the Ninth Division. According to a report submitted by his lieutenant, Shūhei Hisagi, Captain Tōsen has been missing for over three days."
A sharp intake of breath came from the far side of the hall. Komamura Sajin—Tōsen's closest friend and long-standing ally—stiffened visibly.
"My squad and I have scoured Seireitei thoroughly," Komamura said, his voice low but firm. "We found no trace of him. Something has happened—of that, I am certain."
A heavy silence settled over the chamber.
"A captain vanishing without a word…" Jūshirō Ukitake murmured, his brow furrowed with concern. "It's unthinkable."
Soifon, captain of the Second Division and commander of the Onmitsukidō, narrowed her eyes. "Could this be another defection? Like… before?"
Her voice dropped slightly at the end, and a shadow crossed her features—memories of Yoruichi Shihōin's abrupt departure still lingered like an open wound.
"Nonsense!" Komamura growled, his canine features twisting with indignation. "Tōsen's conviction is absolute! He would never betray the Soul Society—or the Gotei 13!"
Soifon's reply was ice-cold. "I offered a possibility, Captain Komamura. Not an accusation."
"Then consider others," Komamura countered. "What if he was ambushed? What if someone… killed him?"
A ripple of unease passed through the assembled captains.
"Is that even plausible?" Ukitake mused aloud. "Tōsen is no ordinary shinigami. To eliminate him without raising an alarm—let alone leaving no evidence—would require extraordinary skill."
"Not necessarily," drawled Kyōraku Shunsui, tilting his straw hat slightly. "Even the strongest among us have vulnerabilities. Case in point—" He glanced at Ukitake with a wry smile. "—you yourself are often absent due to illness."
Ukitake opened his mouth to protest, then sighed and fell silent.
Before the tension could deepen, a calm, measured voice cut through the air.
"On the subject of possibilities," Aizen Sōsuke said, his tone deceptively mild, "I reviewed an intriguing report this morning. On the night Captain Tōsen was last seen, the East Gate sentries recorded another captain exiting Seireitei. That captain… was you, Akira."
Every eye in the room swiveled toward Akira.
"Captain Akira," Kyōraku said, his usual ease tempered by genuine curiosity, "care to shed some light on your whereabouts that night?"
Akira gave a dismissive shrug. "I was taking a walk beyond the walls—to clear my head. Unless the Gotei 13 now polices midnight strolls, I fail to see the issue."
Komamura stepped forward, his voice thick with suspicion. "Of all nights to 'clear your head,' you chose the one Tōsen disappeared? That's more than coincidence."
Akira's expression hardened. "Suspicions are not evidence, Komamura."
He swept his gaze across the room. "And let's be clear—what motive would I have to harm Tōsen? If anything, our views on Soul Society's current state have always aligned."
His eyes locked onto Komamura's. "You know as well as I do that Tōsen despised the corruption within Central 46 and the unchecked privilege of the noble families. Isn't that why he stayed silent for so long—waiting for change?"
The hall fell utterly still. A dozen captains exchanged uneasy glances, the unspoken truth hanging in the air like smoke.
Hearing this, Komamura Sajin fell silent. He could not deny the truth in those words.
"As for me…" Akira's voice lowered, carrying a weight of old wounds. "As you all know, I was once sent on what was claimed to be a standard reconnaissance mission near the borders of Hueco Mundo—a mission later revealed to be a trap orchestrated by one of the Four Great Noble Houses, with whom I had a prior dispute."
"At the time, I held only the rank of third seat. Yet I was abandoned in the desolate wastes of Hueco Mundo, left to die without support or extraction. Does that not make me, too, a victim of the Four Great Noble Houses—just as Captain Tōsen once was?"
Not only Komamura, but several other captains exchanged uneasy glances. Even the ever-composed Shunsui shifted slightly in his seat.
Tōsen Kaname's fall from grace—and the hidden machinations of the nobility—were subjects the Gotei 13 rarely acknowledged openly. They spoke to the rot beneath Soul Society's gilded surface: centuries of unchecked power, silenced dissent, and the quiet ruin of those who dared oppose the old order.
"So…" Akira spread his hands, his tone edged with bitter irony. "Why is it that none of you suspect the Four Great Noble Houses of orchestrating this incident?"
He let the question hang, then pressed further. "You refuse to question their motives—despite their history of manipulation—yet you so readily cast suspicion upon me?"
His sharp gaze locked onto Aizen. "Captain Aizen… I wonder. Have you, perhaps, become a mouthpiece for the nobles? Are these accusations truly your own—or merely convenient echoes of their will?"
Aizen's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. This was… unexpected. He had anticipated resistance, perhaps even defiance—but Akira's rhetorical precision and political awareness were far keener than anticipated.
With just a few well-placed words, the man had deflected suspicion from himself and cast doubt upon the very foundations of their assumptions. Worse yet—he had turned the accusation back toward Aizen himself.
Interesting. Aizen's mask of benevolence remained intact, but inwardly, he smiled. No matter. If the first thread snaps, another can be woven. Akira will still serve his purpose—willingly or not.
"Enough." Yamamoto Genryūsai's voice cracked like thunder, silencing the murmurs before they could grow. "We will await the findings of the Onmitsukidō before proceeding further."
Without pause, the Head Captain moved on. "Now, to the second matter. The Western Gate reports that unauthorized souls from the World of the Living have breached the Dangai and reached the outskirts of Seireitei."
A ripple of surprise passed through the captains. Unauthorized crossings were rare—and brazen intrusions into the Seireitei itself were virtually unheard of since the Quincy War.
"But that is not the primary concern," Yamamoto continued, his burning gaze settling on Akira. "Captain Akira of the Sixth Division engaged these intruders and repelled them… yet made no attempt to apprehend or interrogate them."
The tension in the chamber thickened.
"Akira," Yamamoto's voice was low but resonant with authority, "do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Unfazed by the weight of every captain's stare, Akira remained calm.
"I have nothing to defend," he said plainly. "Nor do I need to."
Yamamoto's brow furrowed. "Explain."
Akira tilted his head slightly. "Tell me this, Head Captain—were these individuals wanted by the Gotei 13 before my encounter with them?"
Silence.
Kurosaki Ichigo and his companions had never been formally designated as criminals. There had been no warrants, no alerts, no orders for their capture. Their names were unknown to Central 46 until after the breach.
"They were not wanted," Akira stated, confirming what everyone already knew. "And as a captain of the Gotei 13, my sworn duty is to protect Seireitei—not to detain souls who have committed no crime in our jurisdiction."
He stepped forward, just enough to underscore his point. "Moreover… they never crossed the threshold into Seireitei proper. I intercepted them in the buffer zone beyond the outer walls."
His eyes held Yamamoto's without flinching.
"So I ask you, Head Captain… what, exactly, do I stand accused of justifying?"