Riku's POV. Three months later.

Feeling the familiar reiatsu of my roommate approaching awoke me. I didn't bother to open my eyes. Letting my mind rest for a moment longer. It seems though, like my roommate disagrees. "Hey man, get up! We're going to be late. I don't want Ninth Seat Myoga chewing me out because-"

"Alright, alright. I heard you." Waving him away, I conceded and leapt off my bunk. Landing gently on the creaky wooden floor, I dialled up my reishi sense to its maximum.

Usually, I would reduce the observation radius to a few hundred meters when I'm sleeping. Doing so allows my mind to rest during the sporadic periods of sleep that I allow myself.

Seeing that everything is still normal, I relax my body a bit. Living on borrowed time is not a pleasant experience. Constantly making sure there was no unexpected Captain-level reiatsu near me, or any strange reishi concentrations in general, have led to me having my guard up at all times.

My roommate seeing me up and about, promptly turned around and hurried off. He, like many young men, had more energy than he knew what to do with. Even though there was a full hour before the squad meeting, he just needed to be seen going the extra mile. And honestly, good on him. Everyone needs some level of ambition. However, it's tragic that his effort and loyalty are misplaced.

Interacting with him and my other squad mates allowed me to realize I was not as jaded as I thought I was. Talking and joking around with decent people showed me just how much I missed being a part of a community. Shinigami, for all their power, are still very much human. And like most humans, we were never designed to live alone in this life.

Feeling a slight tug on my mind, I didn't panic but softly called out. "Morning to you too, bud." Focusing on my skin, I willed all the grime and dirt covering my body to decompose into pure reishi. I allowed myself to just watch the beautiful blue dust dissipate in the wind. Even after a century of handling reishi, my appreciation for the phenomena has never waned.

Feeling a bit more upbeat, I decided to leisurely stroll to the meeting room.

Walking past Shinigami, running up and down the corridors, I couldn't help but notice how unfamiliar they were. Aside from the Captain and Vice-Captain, there are no remaining officers from my time of service. And judging by the nature of the division's mandate and the fact that Shinigami are generally weaker than Hollows, it is very likely that everyone I knew is dead. Not many Shinigami are lucky enough to retire. Captains die on a regular basis - every century or so - not to mention drastically weaker officers.

Staying in the division is a decision I made partly due to nostalgia and my need to secure an escape route.

During the few skirmishes I've been a part of during the last few months, I've had time to study Hollow reiatsu and techniques. Granted that the only technique I got to study was the Cero when a few Gillians decided to commit assisted suicide. But more importantly, I was able to study the Garganta.

More experimentation needs to be done to confirm, but I'm optimistic about my chances of escaping Soul Society using unwilling Hollows as my means of transportation. However, I'm also looking into my Plan B.

A few noble families are rumoured to have private Senkaimon in their clan compounds, but again, I need to confirm.

Escaping into the Human World will weaken me immensely, although I have a few ideas to bypass that restriction. Those ideas require me to have knowledge of seals. Knowledge that I will be able to access once my application to transfer into the Kidō corps is approved.

Before attempting to jack their shit, it would be wise for me to map out the interior of their compound. The sands of time are not on my side, but that doesn't mean I have to act recklessly.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

...

After a couple of long detours, I see three of my squad mates gathered together and talking. Walking up to them, I called out, "How long have you guys been waiting around here?"

Yato, my roommate, wasn't anywhere to be seen, but my reishi sense shows that he was accompanying the Ninth Seat. Arata, one of the Shinigami, answered. "Apparently, an emergency Captains meeting was called not long ago. All task teams are on standby until informed otherwise."

After some idle conversation, I made my way to one side of the meeting room. The room wasn't particularly special. It had the same black-and-white colour scheme as the rest of the building, excluding the wooden floors and door frames.

I made myself comfortable and waited for the meeting that might not happen to start. Performing Jinzen instinctually, I arrived in Sōten ni zase's inner world.

The inner world hasn't changed greatly. It's still the all-encompassing white void it used to be, but now blue circuits ran along the floor in all directions. I'm not sure what the circuits do, but nothing negative came of it.

Sōten ni zase himself actually experienced larger changes than his world.

He grew much larger in size, going from roughly the size of a basketball to the size of a wrecking ball. This is likely a reflection of his vastly improved control and processing power. Surprisingly enough, his shape also changed.

Instead of a perfect sphere, he became tear-shaped, with three concentric blue halos hovering above the tapered end of his body. His matte white colouration also changed to a more metallic white and grey.

Not every change was a sign of growth. He also has a few scars running across his surface.

Once a Shinigami becomes close enough to their zanpakutō spirit, a deep spiritual connection establishes. This connection can be further deepened, finally resulting in the fusion of Shinigami and zanpakutō.

The downside is that, if one partner has mental issues, then the other partner also suffers the consequences. Each scar on his body represents a mental wound I unknowingly inflicted on him. Even if Sōten ni zase doesn't process thoughts the same way as humans do, some experiences are universal, so he must have felt my anguish and sorrow for all these years. The fact that he didn't abandon such a terrible partner speaks volumes of his character...

...

Narrator's POV. Captains Meeting Room, First division headquarters.

All the Captains of the Gotei 13 were gathered. Each division Captain was standing in their predetermined position, with the Captain-Commander standing at the metaphorical head of the table. The ancient man seemed to be resting. If one did not know better, one could be tricked into thinking he was a frail elderly man taking a well-deserved rest.

After a few moments, the Captain-Commander raised his head and brought the causal conversations of the respective Captains to an end by knocking on the floor with his disguised zanpakutō - the legendary Flowing Blade-like Flame, Ryūjin Jakka. The blade that has taught all the enemies of the Gotei 13 to be humble.

Although most of the Captains had an idea what the agenda of the meeting was, the Captain-Commander still prompted the head of the Intelligence division to speak. "Captain Shihōin, you may begin."

"Hai." She calmly stepped forward and quickly surveyed her colleagues. Some of those present were senior and respected Captains. Some were actually as new to Captaincy as she was. Not wanting to keep her audience waiting, she started addressing the Captains.

"We have been tracking Quincy activity in the Human World for the past centuries after Yhwach's invasion. Up until recently, a small detachment of Quincy has been significantly overhunting Hollows even after we have communicated with them repeatedly to desist. As we all know, Quincy reiatsu completely destroys a Hollow's soul. Meaning that as the number of Hollows hunted by Quincy increases, the balance of souls across the Three Worlds becomes more and more unstable."

Tacitly ignoring the increase in the room's temperature, she continued, "Roughly ten hours ago, we lost track of several groups of known hostile Quincy. We believe that they have likely gathered together and might launch an attack on either Hueco Mundo or Soul Society..."

The newly christened Second division Captain quickly stepped back after her address. The remaining Captains silently turned to face the Captain-Commander. Most of the Captains present haven't lived long enough to have experienced the Quincy invasion.

Quincy themselves rarely attack active Shinigami officers, meaning the Captains' only real perception of the Quincy come from the history books. Only the Captain of the Fourth division had a rare look of nostalgia flash across her face.

After a tense moment of silence, the Captain-Commander addressed the waiting Captains. "Captain Shihōin, you are to find these rogue Quincy as soon as possible. No enemy of Soul Society is to be allowed the freedom to act upon their malice."

"The remaining Captains are to mentally prepare themselves and their divisions for combat. I will inform you of further orders once I have come to a decision after discussing the matter with the Central 46."

The elderly man paused and looked down at his blade.

"We have been patient and lenient with the Quincy. But no longer..."