4th Division, Captain's Office.
Although the night was deep, Toshiro burned the midnight oil, handling various tedious matters of the Gotei 13.
The desk was piled high with reports on Gotei 13 casualties, building damage, and the specific details of the Zanpakuto rebellion.
After leaving the Technology Development Bureau, Toshiro had returned to the 4th Division. Since they had decided to temporarily use the 4th Division as the command center, Toshiro, as Acting Captain-Commander, naturally had to work here as well.
Unohana had directly vacated her office for him. At first, Toshiro had declined, but according to her, the 4th Division had little to handle besides treating the wounded, so her office was often empty. It was better to give it to Toshiro, who needed it more.
So Toshiro declined no further.
"Sigh, finally finished. This is really tiring..."
After a long time, Toshiro sighed, stretched, and then slumped exhausted into the back of his chair.
Creak—
Unohana pushed the door open and entered.
"Captain Unohana, you are..."
Toshiro looked somewhat surprised at the late-night snack Unohana was carrying. There was even sake.
"Toshiro, there's no one else here. Just call me Hana-chan like you do in private."
Unohana said with mock dissatisfaction.
"Hana-chan..."
Toshiro corrected himself.
"It's so late, and I saw the light still on in the captain's office, so I knew you were still working. I thought you might be hungry, so I made some late-night snacks and brought them over. There's even your favorite sweet natto."
Unohana said with a gentle smile.
"Mm, now that you mention it, I am a bit hungry."
With that, Toshiro prepared to take the late-night snack she had prepared.
"I also warmed up some sake to help you relax. Coincidentally, the moon is quite nice tonight. How about we drink and enjoy the moon like last time?"
Unohana suggested.
Toshiro was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Mm."
Then Toshiro and Unohana sat on the veranda outside the captain's office, using the late-night snack as an accompaniment, drinking sake and gazing at the moon in the sky.
"Thank you very much for today, Hana-chan."
Toshiro suddenly said.
"Why do you say that?"
Unohana Retsu smiled.
"I can see some things, Hana-chan. You were the first to speak up today, proposing that I act as Captain-Commander. You also kept supporting my words, and even lent me your office as a command center. If it weren't for your support, the most senior Captain besides Genryusai-sensei, even if I temporarily acted as Captain-Commander, problems might have arisen due to my lack of prestige."
Toshiro said with emotion.
"Oh my, calling me the most senior Captain... are you calling me an old witch, Toshiro?"
Unohana said with a mischievous smile.
"No, no, no, that's not what I meant at all."
Seeing Unohana's mischievous smile, Toshiro instinctively felt a chill and repeatedly denied it.
Unohana's personality was quite mischievous. Even Kyoraku and Ukitake were very 'afraid' of this 'senior'.
"Oh my, oh my, I was just joking, Toshiro."
Unohana said.
After the joke, Toshiro said nothing more, focusing on eating the late-night snack. The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.
"Ha..."
After finishing the snack, Toshiro let out a long sigh, as if trying to vent the frustration in his heart.
"Toshiro, you're exhausted, aren't you?"
Unohana Retsu looked at him, inexplicably feeling a pang of heartache.
"No, although there's a lot to handle right now, I wouldn't say I'm tired."
Toshiro shook his head.
"I'm not talking about work. You're actually very sad, aren't you? Because of Hyorinmaru."
Unohana patted Toshiro's shoulder.
Hearing this, Toshiro's body trembled slightly, and he fell silent.
Unohana continued: "I don't know why, but when facing Muramasa, you didn't seem worried that your Zanpakuto would rebel. But precisely because of that, when Hyorinmaru left, the blow to your heart was all the greater, wasn't it? You're just forcing yourself to cheer up because you know the Gotei 13 needs you to take charge."
Unohana's guess was not wrong. Before this, Toshiro had not believed that Hyorinmaru would be bewitched by Muramasa and leave him.
But precisely because of that, when Hyorinmaru actually left him, Toshiro was all the more hurt.
Because of his knowledge of the original plot, Toshiro knew that only by treating his Zanpakuto sincerely and trusting it without reservation would the Zanpakuto truly respond to the Shinigami, and the Shinigami would gain greater power.
So from the very beginning, Toshiro had trusted Hyorinmaru without reservation, treating her as a comrade through thick and thin.
It could be said that in this world, the person Toshiro trusted most from start to finish was Hyorinmaru. Because Toshiro believed that even the best of friends could become enemies for various reasons.
But only Hyorinmaru, of one heart and body with him, sharing life and death, would never betray him.
But as the saying goes, 'the deeper the love, the deeper the hate'. Because Toshiro trusted Hyorinmaru too much, when she betrayed him, he experienced a bone-deep sorrow.
If it weren't for the fact that Yamamoto was absent and Toshiro needed to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Gotei 13, he might still be wallowing in the pain of Hyorinmaru's betrayal, unable to extricate himself.
Seeing Toshiro's lonely and sad expression, Unohana suddenly moved closer to him, reached out, and gently pulled his head to rest on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, Hyorinmaru is only temporarily confused by Muramasa's power. She will definitely come back to you. Definitely."
Unohana comforted him gently.
Toshiro closed his eyes, leaning on her shoulder, and murmured: "I always feel... Hana-chan has a kind of maternal feeling..."
"Oh my, if Toshiro wants to acknowledge me as his mother, I wouldn't refuse."
Unohana laughed.
Toshiro refused: "Well, forget it. Obviously your age is who knows how many times older than my grandmother, and you still want to..."
"Oh my, Toshiro, what are you saying? Don't you know a woman's age is a secret, not to be mentioned casually?"
Unohana looked at him with a 'kind' smile, reaching out to pinch his waist and twisting it 360 degrees.
"Ah! That hurts, that hurts!"
After the playful banter, Toshiro stood up and looked at the moon in the sky, his expression complicated.
'Hyorinmaru, why did you leave me?'
"Hyorinmaru-sama, why did you leave Hitsugaya-sama's side?"
On a secluded hillside within the Seireitei, far from the Gotei 13, Sode no Shirayuki hesitated as she looked at Hyorinmaru, who stood atop the slope gazing at the bright moon.