Help! I am bound to Aizen!-Chapter 284

Chapter 284

2-in-1 chapter:

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“Whaaat did you say?!”

Yoruichi dropped down behind Kaelith, landing beside Byakuya. With a wicked grin, she grabbed the boy’s cheeks and tugged them back and forth. Byakuya tried using Shunpo to dodge, but his footwork was like a child crawling when compared to Yoruichi’s skill—utterly useless.

“You little brat. If Kaelith can transform into a cat, then why am I the only ‘cat demon’?”

“Kaelith’s not like you at all!”

“Oh? And how exactly am I different?”

“…W-well, you just are!”

Seizing the moment when Yoruichi’s grip loosened, Byakuya swung his bamboo sword, darted away from her clutches, and hid behind Kaelith. Once he saw that she wasn’t pursuing, he shot her a triumphant grin and stuck out his tongue.

Narrowing her eyes, Yoruichi prepared to demonstrate some real cruelty to this cheeky kid, but she suddenly noticed someone behind Byakuya and stopped. A small smirk formed on her lips, full of anticipation.

Byakuya was still basking in his so-called “victory,” until he heard a voice directly behind him.

“Did I ever teach you it’s acceptable to act rudely to guests?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin. Spinning around, he stiffened to attention the moment he saw who it was: Ginrei Kuchiki, draped in a white, flower-patterned scarf, approaching at a measured pace.

“Hey there, Lord Ginrei! Have you eaten yet?” Kaelith raised a hand, smiling in greeting.

Ginrei dipped his head politely. “Thank you for asking, I’ve already had my breakfast.”

“How’s Sōjun doing?”

“Come with me.”

Hearing Kaelith mention his father, Byakuya looked puzzled.

“Grandfather, isn’t Father at the squad barracks?”

Ginrei hesitated, as if weighing how best to respond. Kaelith seemed to grasp something and spoke before Ginrei could. He gave Byakuya’s head a gentle pat.

“You should come too.”

“Alright!” Byakuya agreed at once.

Ginrei briefly appeared as though he might object, but after a moment, he let out a small sigh and led the way. They arrived at Sōjun Kuchiki’s room, where a strong medicinal odor lingered even from outside.

Opening the door, Kaelith saw Seinosuke Yamada inside, busy with various tasks. Time had tempered Seinosuke; he was no longer the brash young graduate he once was. Years in the Fourth Division had taught him much. He greeted Ginrei with a polite tilt of the head, but the moment he spotted Kaelith, his refined composure cracked into a familiar, mocking grin.

“Kaelith, I heard you got dragged off to do some real work?”

“Yeah, the Kuchiki family said they needed you to cure someone’s rear end or something—”

“?”

If Seinosuke’s hands weren’t full, he’d have slugged Kaelith by now. As the pair traded jabs, a servant showed in another visitor. Aizen entered with quiet elegance, in stark contrast to Kaelith’s empty-handed arrival—he carried a paper bag filled with fruit. After offering Ginrei a respectful bow, he passed the fruit to the servants.

Watching Aizen, Ginrei felt a bit emotional. Of Sōjun’s friends, Kaelith was undeniably the flashiest. But the one who inspired the most confidence, who put people at ease, had to be this young man named Aizen.

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The three who had once trained together at the Shin’ō Academy gathered around Sōjun’s bedside. He lay sleeping, silent and still. Kaelith turned to Seinosuke, who understood at once and carefully pulled back part of Sōjun’s blanket.

To be honest, Sōjun had a rather delicate, graceful appearance, and the way Seinosuke peeled the covers made it feel like there might be something…well, interesting underneath. But that was hardly the time for such thoughts. Beneath the bandages wrapped tightly around him, large swathes were stained with blood.

Byakuya gaped in horror.

“Father!”

Smack!

Kaelith flicked his forehead. “Why are you shouting? He’s not dead.”

That finally brought Byakuya back to his senses, and he mumbled an apology to everyone before returning his attention to his father. Kaelith studied Sōjun as well.

Lately, all of Seireitei’s resources had been focused on the Wandenreich situation. Under Yamamoto’s orders, they were conducting a new search for shadow-space traces, meaning fewer patrols in the Rukongai. Sōjun had volunteered to help fill in those patrols. Normally, as part of the Sixth Division (an elite, noble-oriented squad), he wasn’t expected to handle such grueling duties. Because of that, the division’s members generally had solid base skills but far less real combat experience.

While patrolling, Sōjun’s team encountered an incursion from Hueco Mundo. Sōjun sustained injuries protecting local residents, and, being physically frail to begin with, his body relied heavily on spiritual power just to function. The tainted spirit particles from the Hollow infection disrupted that delicate balance, leaving him comatose. Had Gin Ichimaru’s group not arrived in time to slay the Hollows, Sōjun’s squad would likely have been wiped out.

Kaelith used Soul energy to check Sōjun’s condition. Confirming it was serious but not lethal, Kaelith breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yoruichi, I’m taking Sōjun to the hot spring for treatment in a bit.”

“Sounds good,” she said easily. “That’s why we built it in the first place.”

After a quick consultation, Kaelith reassured Byakuya. Under the pretense of needing a bathroom break, he and Aizen slipped out into the hallway.

“Aizen…that Hollow that attacked Sōjun?” Kaelith asked.

“It was one of my experimental subjects,” Aizen answered before Kaelith could press further. “I’d sent it to the Forest of Menos to test some new abilities, but a fluctuation opened a path to the Soul Society. Once I detected its spiritual pressure, I had Gin head over right away, just to be safe.”

He paused, voice calm. “Sorry. My mistake nearly killed your friend.”

Kaelith studied him curiously.

“…What?”

“It’s strange to see you apologizing about something like this, you who’ve always been so cool and composed.”

Aizen cut him off, exasperated. “If you have time to crack jokes, you’d be better off taking him for treatment.”

Kaelith nodded thoughtfully. It really was unexpected. In the original timeline, he suspected that Sōjun had died in a similar incident—no large-scale wars happened during his era, so the one plausible cause of death would be a Hollow infiltration. Ordinarily, Sōjun was powerful enough that ordinary Hollows stood no chance. Being physically frail didn’t negate his near-captain-level skill. It would likely take a modified Hollow from Aizen’s experiments to kill him.

Fortunately, in this timeline, Aizen wasn’t completely cold-hearted. He’d dispatched Gin in time, and Sōjun survived. Which meant…in a roundabout sense, Aizen’s action was also Kaelith’s achievement, right? Kaelith’s eyes lit with satisfaction at the thought.

Receiving Ginrei’s permission, Kaelith brought Sōjun to their secret hot spring base for a full treatment. Because of Sōjun’s special status, Ginrei and Seinosuke Yamada came along as well. As the wounded man soaked in the spring, dark Hollow spiritual energy seeped from his injuries, while the wounds themselves visibly mended at an astonishing rate. Seinosuke’s eyes lit up; compared to this, the Fourth Division’s best medicine seemed lacking. If they could build hot springs like these, it would drastically reduce casualty rates.

He went straight to Kaelith to propose the idea. Kaelith fell into thought. If the hot springs belonged solely to him, that would be one thing…but the knowledge behind creating them in the Soul Society belonged to Yoruichi. He couldn’t simply give it away himself.

While Kaelith pondered, Yoruichi’s voice drifted over from nearby:

“Sure, I don’t mind! I’ll send Tessai over to the Fourth Division soon so we can collaborate on building a few hot springs there. But remember, you’ll need properly trained personnel who know the protocols. Mishandling these springs can lead to nasty accidents!”

Hell Hot Springs were incredibly potent, but came with just as many drawbacks. Even the version she and Kaelith used here had been heavily weakened. If someone soaked for too long or at the wrong temperature, there was a risk of serious flesh erosion.

Seinosuke bowed deeply to Yoruichi, fully aware that the nobility guarded their assets fiercely—particularly something as valuable as Hell Hot Springs, which bolstered a clan’s authority. Sharing them so openly was no small gesture.

…

By sunset, Sōjun’s injuries had stabilized enough that Seinosuke believed he’d regain consciousness before the night was over. Relieved, Ginrei led his grandson Byakuya back home, having offered sincere thanks to both Kaelith and Yoruichi for their help. Seinosuke also departed soon after.

Once everyone had gone, Kaelith and Yoruichi sat atop a small hill near the hot spring, watching the sun dip below the horizon.

“The Soul Society really is a beautiful place,” Yoruichi murmured with a smile.

Kaelith nodded. “In terms of scenery, yes—it’s gorgeous.”

Yoruichi turned to look at him. “Kaelith, you’re planning something big, aren’t you? Something that could shake the entire Soul Society, upending its current order.”

He met her gaze without a flicker. After a moment of silence, Yoruichi smiled.

“Surprised I noticed? It’s simple. Your whole aura is different than before.”

“My aura?”

“Exactly,” Yoruichi said with a small nod. “When I first met you, you were more noble than any actual noble. You came from the Rukongai, yet you had no worries—everything rolled off your back like it was beneath you, as if you were standing above the rest of us, looking down with a detached eye.

"Cause I just wanted a stable 9-to-5 job" Kelith tought to himself

“But gradually, you started feeling…heavier. I’m not sure what you saw or experienced, but it isn’t hard to guess. The Soul Society’s been rotten for a long time. Seeing a fraction of that ugliness is enough to weigh on anyone’s heart. In time, most Shinigami resign themselves to it, choosing to ignore what’s wrong.

‘I’ve clawed my way out of that muck, so why dive back in?

I’ll just do my duty and nothing more…’

Even captains end up feeling that way eventually.

“I used to think you’d do the same.”

“Yet lately, I sense you’ve discovered a new purpose. You’re driven—constantly moving forward with a clear goal in mind, shining with that determination.”

Kaelith blinked, genuinely impressed. Many of the people who spent the most time around him hadn’t noticed such changes, but Yoruichi had.

Seeing his surprise, she grinned smugly. “Don’t underestimate a cat’s intuition!”

Kaelith rested his hands on the ground behind him, leaning back as he studied the warmth in Yoruichi’s golden eyes. He flashed a grin of his own.

“You’re right—I am working on something out of the ordinary. Someday, it might not be so good for you. Got any clever ways to handle that, Miss Shihōin?”

Yoruichi let out a little huff. “Don’t forget, I have a lot more tricks up my sleeve than you think. If you ever hit a wall, you can always come to me for help.”

“I appreciate it,” Kaelith replied, smiling. Then his tone turned sincere.

“Thank you, Yoruichi.”

“Idiot,” she teased, giving his shoulder a playful thump. “Stop being so formal—it’s embarrassing.”

Basking in the last light of the setting sun, they both broke into laughter.

That same evening, Sōjun Kuchiki finally woke. Ginrei personally visited Squad Eleven to thank Gin Ichimaru for saving his son. Spending even a short while in Kaelith’s “bandit den” was enough to give Ginrei a mild headache. The Eleventh Division had always been a bit wild, but this was on another level—clearly Kaelith’s influence at work.

From a distance, Ginrei watched the man perched on a bearskin throne, laughing and drinking with his subordinates, and couldn’t help but smile wryly. Kaelith was truly someone impossible to define by normal standards.

…

After finishing his midday meal, Aizen left the Fifth Division barracks and headed toward Squad Eleven. Halfway there, he paused, feeling as though someone was watching him. But when he continued on, the sensation faded the moment he stepped into Squad Eleven’s territory.

A slight scowl pulled at Aizen’s lips. Being tailed so blatantly…was that meant as a warning?

If it were because he’d actually done something and been caught, he might feel intrigued by a worthy opponent. But in this case, he truly hadn’t done anything—and yet he was being watched. His own captain must have too much spare time on his hands.

Still deep in thought, he heard a voice from afar:

“Vice-Captain Aizen! Good afternoon! Have you eaten?”

Seeing Isshin Shiba waving enthusiastically as he approached, Aizen folded his arms, eyes narrowing as if he’d found the perfect target for his frustrations.

“Isshin, go do ten thousand sword strikes at the training grounds.”

“...Huh?”

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