Outside, the afternoon sun fell lazily across the solemn, open plaza.
Yet that calm was broken by several figures quietly waiting at the corner of the corridor.
When the captains began leaving one after another, Momo Hinamori, Renji, and the others immediately tensed.
They held their breath, searching anxiously among those imposing figures.
Then they saw him.
After several captains had walked out, some hurried, others deep in thought, a tall, composed figure stepped across the threshold at an unhurried pace.
Sunlight fell across him.
The first thing they saw was the pure white haori.
Beneath it was the familiar black shihakushō.
And beneath that was a face they knew well—yet somehow, in this moment, it felt unfamiliar.
Yanagawa.
A white… haori?
How could Yanagawa be wearing a captain’s haori?!
The first to recover enough to speak was Renji Abarai.
He pointed at Yanagawa and blurted out the explanation he thought made the most sense:
“Yanagawa, you bastard!
So you really were getting promoted!
I knew something was off when I saw you yesterday!
Is that… the Chief of the Kido Corps’ uniform?
Don’t tell me you quietly became the new Chief?!”
His voice rang out awkwardly across the plaza.
Even a few captains in the distance, such as Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake, turned to glance over.
They exchanged faint smiles, shook their heads, and continued on.
“Renji!
That’s not it!” Hisagi was also shaken by the white haori, but his discipline as a lieutenant helped him calm down faster.
“Use some common sense.
The Chief of the Kido Corps may lead the Corps, but their uniform is different from a captain’s haori.
It’s not this style or color.
This looks more like…”
He paused, uncertainty and deeper shock filling his voice.
“Don’t tell me… Yanagawa has been appointed captain of a vacant division?
But…”
He quickly ran through the names of the thirteen captains and recent rumors in his mind, only growing more confused.
“I haven’t heard of any captain stepping down or any vacancy opening.
How could it happen so suddenly, right after a captains’ meeting…?”
His analysis was reasonable.
But that only made the scene before them feel even stranger.
Not the Chief of the Kido Corps.
Not an ordinary captain.
Then what did that white haori represent?
At that moment, a cool voice, trembling faintly, interrupted Hisagi’s thoughts.
It struck the others like cold water.
The speaker was Rukia Kuchiki.
At some point, she had stepped half a pace forward.
Her eyes were fixed on the emblem on the back of Yanagawa’s haori.
It was not the insignia of any division in the Seireitei, nor any noble crest she knew.
Rukia’s pupils shrank.
Her breath caught.
She would not mistake it.
Absolutely not.
In the ancient archives of the Kuchiki family, she had once seen reproductions and descriptions of that emblem.
It was a mark closely tied to the Royal Palace, and to the legend that stood above the Gotei 13.
“Royal… Guard…”
Her voice was very soft, filled with disbelief, as she forced out those heavy words.
“That emblem… belongs to the Royal Guard.”
The Royal Guard.
Those words struck everyone present like a final hammer blow.
Izuru Kira staggered, nearly losing his footing.
The Royal Guard.
The Royal Palace.
An existence spoken of only among the highest ranks, a legend to most Shinigami.
A realm above the Gotei 13, charged with protecting the foundation of the world—its members all recognized for irreplaceable achievements.
Yanagawa…
Their old classmate, the man who had chosen the Kido Corps and seemed to live idly and quietly— had become a member of the Royal Guard?
Yanagawa stopped.
Naturally, he had seen the group waiting near the corridor.
Yanagawa!
What the hell is going on?!
The Royal Guard?!
Since when did you become one of them?!
Something this huge happened and you didn’t say a damn word to me?!
Do you even still think of me as a friend?!”
Renji’s questions were blunt, rough, and emotional.
Strangely enough, there was not much awe or distance in them toward Yanagawa’s new status.
There was far more anger and shock that a friend had hidden something so important.
That familiar, completely impolite attitude loosened the frozen atmosphere a little.
Yanagawa looked at the familiar faces before him, then at Renji’s openly accusatory glare.
He sighed inwardly, knowing he had to give them some explanation—though it could never fully satisfy their curiosity.
He raised a hand and lightly brushed the strange fabric of the white haori, calm as if straightening an ordinary garment.
“It is a long story,” Yanagawa said.
His voice was still the same steady, clear tone they all knew.
There was no arrogance or distance despite his sudden change in status.
“And it involves certain matters… that cannot be explained in detail.”
“What I can tell you is this: due to special circumstances—though I cannot disclose the specifics—the Royal Palace took notice of me and gave me this opportunity to be promoted to the Royal Guard.”
“I did not intentionally hide it from you.
Before today’s meeting, the matter itself had not been fully settled, and secrecy was required.”
His explanation avoided the core issue, attributing everything to the will of the Royal Palace and confidentiality.
It was reasonable, and it blocked further questioning.
After all, anything involving the Royal Guard and the Royal Palace naturally carried secrets outsiders were not meant to know.
He paused, then turned his gaze toward Hinamori.
“As for the twin Hyōrinmaru incident, the Captain-Commander formally ordered during the meeting that I am to handle it with full authority.”
“Hitsugaya is your childhood friend.
Publicly and personally, I will do everything I can to ensure his safety.
You can rest assured of that.”
“Yanagawa…”
Hinamori nodded hard, her voice trembling with tears.
“Thank you, Yanagawa!
I… I trust you!
Please… please take care of Shiro!”
Her trust in Yanagawa’s abilities, combined with the confidence brought by his status as Royal Guard, finally allowed the heart she had been holding in fear to settle slightly.
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