4-3 You Should Have Been the First

Maybe I've gone insane.

But I feel like risking it all. Not for you, who has taken such good care of me, nor for any of my 700,000 followers.

So you are Aura! Lord Tokinada taught me that you are like a mother to me!

I'm not sure what a mother is, but I look forward to spending time with you!

I feel like risking everything for a single child, one who never even paid much mind to me.

Interesting.

Then how about this? When that person you are trying so desperately to protect cuts you down unceremoniously...

...what sort of expression will you have on your face?

............

Oh, oh! I'll order him to do it right away! I'll have Hikone cut you down!

Not on my watch.

My, you have an impressive grasp on your Hollow powers! I can now see how you would most definitely make a good Soul King candidate!

If it suits you, you could cut down Hikone and myself right now and ascend to the throne of the Soul King. Want to give it a try?

Oh? I would be the Soul King? You sure are selling off that throne for dirt cheap.

That's not true. Do you know how Fullbringers come to be born?

I can wager a guess. Fragments of the Soul King, right?

If a fragment of the Soul King attaches itself to a Soul Reaper, it provides them with some sort of Mimihagi-like power. If it fuses with a human, it becomes the basis for a Fullbring.

If a mother's body takes one in, a unique form of Spiritual Pressure mixes with the unborn child...

...and then Hollows go after that. If they manage to land an attack, it means you end up with a Fullbringer, right?

If you are that well informed, then how about it?

If you, who is both a Soul Reaper and a Fullbringer, and who also possesses the power of a Hollow, were to become the Soul King, you could destroy the world and create it anew, just as you see fit.

I'm not interested. We have our own way of changing the world.

If that's the case, why are you helping Aura? Is it revenge?

You understand that I was not the one who ordered the killings of your comrades, right? That came from the main household of my family.

I'm not interested in that, either. Knowing who did it isn't going to change the fact that I'm an enemy of the Soul Reapers.

I've only got one grudge against you.

It's because of you that Jushiro didn't learn the truth.

Ha... Hahaha! Did Aura tell you that? I had a surveillance bug on her. How did she share that information with you?

Besides, don't you think she could've lied to you?

I won't tell you her modus operandi.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have my suspicions about her, but after talking with you just now, I can see that you're the kind of guy who would pull that kind of stunt.

Hahaha! Now I see! In that case, your desire to kill me is not misplaced! But don't misunderstand me.

It's not as if I had Jushiro in the palm of my hand.

He is the one who had a surveillance mechanism installed in the Combat Pass. There's no mistaking it. He made the decision to become your enemy.

I won't denigrate you by pointlessly lying about his bitter choices.

I merely decided not to inform Jushiro of the atrocities committed by the Tsunayashiro Clan and the truth about the Fullbringers after he made his decision.

But as a result of his decision, the Tsunayashiro Clan, and now I, profited from the situation. I'm quite thankful!

Oh, Jushiro's face was a sight to behold at the time, you know.

After all, he was the one who was most opposed to the nobles' order to add a surveillance mechanism to the Combat Pass.

Even when it came time for him to make the decision...

...he seemed to believe in you, saying that the suspicions against you were unwarranted and that the Central 46 would soon understand that.

And then your pathetic family took advantage of the tracking device.

They used it to find and kill my colleagues to collect fragments of the Soul King, right?

Yes. We altered the data from the Visual Department and told Jushiro that you had gone insane and killed a communications Soul Reaper along with your comrades.

He didn't believe me, but in the end, you wound up killing Jushiro's subordinates after you were labeled an enemy of the Soul Reapers, so the result was the same.

It's pitiful. Jushiro believed in you!

Though, I could have told him the truth and taken his siblings hostage to keep his mouth shut.

But if I'd played my hand wrong, Shunsui may have gotten suspicious. And if I'd pushed Jushiro too far into a corner, there was always a chance it would've stimulated Mimihagi.

The body of the Soul King is such a troublesome thing.

I don't regret what I've done, but...

You should've been the first Soul Reaper I killed.

Tch. To think he'd still have a trick up his sleeve.

(Now then, what's my next move? Hm?)

(Aura's Spiritual Pressure is starting to vanish.)

It's no fun if you die from emaciation like this.

Hikone! Kill Aura fir-

What?

............

How can this be?