Day after day, year after year, spring gave way to winter and winter to spring.
Another ten years passed.
Soul Society, Seireitei, the Shihōin estate.
In the rear courtyard, beneath a cherry blossom tree, a man stood perfectly straight like a spear.
His black hair was cut into uneven locks, with a few longer strands hanging beside his ears.
A metal forehead protector was tied around his brow.
He wore a tight black combat uniform and fingerless gloves that covered half his hands, while a completely black Zanpakuto was strapped across his back.
His dark eyes remained as cold and indifferent as ever, carrying a faint chill sharp enough to make others instinctively keep their distance.
“Shadow!” A sudden shout rang out.
A figure launched herself onto his back.
Short purple hair stopped around her ears, framing healthy tan skin.
She wore the tight uniform of the Executive Militia beneath a short orange jacket, with a black ribbon tied around her neck.
“Yoruichi-sama!” The instant Yoruichi Shihōin threw herself onto him, Shadow’s usual cold composure vanished.
Feeling the softness pressing against his back, his entire body stiffened.
His voice carried a rare trace of helplessness.
“What?” Yoruichi asked innocently, blinking her golden eyes at him.
Internally, however, she was delighted.
“N-Nothing.” Shadow immediately surrendered.
“Really?
If something’s bothering you, you have to tell me.” Feeling how rigid his body had become, Yoruichi laughed to herself while maintaining an utterly serious expression.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, she deliberately shifted around on his back.
“Yoruichi-sama!” Shadow’s sharp-featured face immediately flushed red.
He gritted his teeth and said helplessly, “You’re imagining things.
There’s really nothing wrong.” “Is that so?” Yoruichi narrowed her eyes.
Her smile was adorable and completely shameless.
Shadow had been beside her since childhood.
He had sheltered her from danger, protected her through every storm, and nearly died for her more than once.
Yet after all these years, he was still the same cold, adorably awkward man he had always been.
A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard.
As though answering some unseen call, cherry blossoms drifted down from the branches above.
Their faint fragrance mingled with the clear chirping of birds as countless petals filled the air like a magnificent pink rain.
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Perhaps both of them had become completely absorbed in the peaceful atmosphere, because neither spoke.
They simply looked toward the distant sun.
Spring had arrived again.
…
Ten years was neither particularly long nor particularly short.
But it was more than enough time for many things to change.
Some time ago, Soul Society had gone to war with the Quincy of the Human World.
From what they had heard, the fighting had been brutal.
Many Seated Officers and even several lieutenants had died.
None of that had much to do with Shadow or Yoruichi, however.
As the heir to the Shihōin Clan, Yoruichi naturally had no reason to be sent to the battlefield.
More importantly, she hadn’t held any seated position in the Second Division at the time, so there was no reason for her to be deployed in the first place.
However, the casualties from that war had created many vacancies.
Kensei Muguruma was appointed lieutenant of the Ninth Division.
Mashiro Kuna became the Ninth Division’s Third Seat.
Kūkaku Shiba was appointed lieutenant of the Tenth Division.
Because of certain circumstances of his own, Kaien Shiba was only promoted to Third Seat.
Hiyori Sarugaki became lieutenant of the Twelfth Division, while Lisa Yadōmaru became lieutenant of the Eighth Division.
Even Kisuke Urahara, who normally cared about little besides his research, was promoted to Fourth Seat.
After finally completing her almost completely isolated training with the Executive Militia, Yoruichi learned that practically everyone else had become a lieutenant, while even the lowest-ranking among them were Third or Fourth Seats.
Then she looked at herself.
She didn’t even have a seated position.
Lady Yoruichi immediately lost her mind.
Fortunately, Tansei Shihōin readily gave her the recently vacated position of Third Seat.
The reason was simple.
Yoruichi’s Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure) had genuinely reached captain level.
More importantly, she had already achieved Bankai.
Tansei’s plan was to have Yoruichi familiarize herself with the Second Division, the Executive Militia, and the Onmitsukidō (Stealth Force).
Once she had completely mastered her Bankai, he intended to dump every responsibility currently resting on his shoulders onto her, retire, and spend the rest of his days wandering leisurely around Soul Society.
And by “familiarize herself with the work,” what Tansei really meant was that Yoruichi would handle practically everything except the most important matters.
For someone as energetic as Yoruichi, this was pure torture.
As far as she was concerned, it was nothing more than Tansei shamelessly avoiding his own responsibilities.
Still, the situation led Lady Yoruichi to make an extremely useful discovery.
Shadow was surprisingly excellent at paperwork.
He handled everything methodically, knew exactly when to advance or back down, and kept every matter clearly organized.
Yoruichi therefore made an immediate decision.
From that point onward, Shadow would handle all the paperwork.
As for her…
She transformed into a black cat again and spent every day wandering around Seireitei to “play.” And so another half year passed.
During Yoruichi’s so-called “playtime,” the title of Flash Goddess officially began spreading throughout Soul Society.
Her astonishing Shunpo (Flash Step) and terrifying Hakuda (Hand-to-Hand Combat) made her strength impossible to deny.
Not even the captains dared dismiss her ability.
Her development of Utsusemi (Cicada Shell) had also been completely successful.
It had proven extraordinarily useful in combat, though thus far it remained a technique unique to Yoruichi alone.
As for Shunkō (Flash War Cry), it was simply too dangerous.
A single mistake in controlling it could cause the tremendous Kidō (Demon Arts) energy to obliterate the user’s body.
Even Yoruichi, fearless as she usually was, didn’t dare experiment with it recklessly.
Shadow, meanwhile, remained much the same as always.
If anything had changed, perhaps he had simply become even colder.
The cloth band he once wore around his forehead had been replaced with a metal forehead protector, and he had allowed some hair to grow longer around his ears.
His daily routine was simple.
He handled Yoruichi’s paperwork.
Then he followed her wherever she went.
Throughout those ten years, whenever Yoruichi had free time, she would constantly talk beside his ear about Shinigami (Soul Reapers), Zanpakuto, and countless other things.
Shadow, however, usually let everything go in one ear and straight out the other.
His identity as a ninja had long since become ingrained into his very bones.
How could something like that possibly be changed so easily?
Yoruichi found the entire situation incredibly frustrating.
She didn’t deny the existence of that strange power he used, something similar to Kidō yet fundamentally different from it.
But she had always felt that whatever weighed on Shadow’s heart somehow involved her.
Even so, Yoruichi never asked.
Some things were better resolved by the person carrying them.
More importantly, Yoruichi trusted Shadow.
Just as Shadow trusted Yoruichi.
…
Today, both the Shihōin estate and the Second Division were unusually lively.
There was only one reason.
Today was the coming-of-age ceremony of Yoruichi Shihōin, the princess of the Shihōin Clan.
Once the ceremony ended, Yoruichi would officially be recognized as an adult.
Tansei had arranged for the ceremony to be held at the Second Division barracks.
After all, Yoruichi would become the new captain of the Second Division before long.
The nobles affiliated with the Shihōin Clan, the Executive Militia, and the Onmitsukidō were all required to attend.
Because the ceremony carried another meaning as well.
It was a declaration of loyalty.
Loyalty to the Shihōin Clan.
And loyalty to Yoruichi Shihōin.