Kurogane: The lost legacy

Prologue

After reviewing the last case of the day, Kuchiki Ginrei leaned back against his chair. Compared to the days before, he felt somewhat more tired. His eyelids were heavy, and the stiffness in his joints was beginning to bother him. Although his workday had not been any busier than usual, this exhaustion was not an unfamiliar feeling to him. Perhaps old age had finally begun to take its toll on him as well.

Writing the final report was the only task he had left to complete. After a moment of thought, he removed and carefully straightened his Kenseikan—the hairpiece—then took the white scarf from around his neck and placed it beside the desk with quiet respect.

He leaned over his desk once more. He neatly arranged a stack of blank papers and picked up his pen. With one hand, he rolled up the sleeve of his gray kimono and began to write.

Among several reported thefts in Rukon District 79, the review of several official letters from noble families, and the confirmation and filing of reports from the previous week, only one of the reports submitted by the Twelfth Division—Research and Development—of the Soul Society seemed to be of any particular seriousness.

The report described an unusual accumulation of spiritual pressure in one of the areas of the World of the Living. He wrote down the necessary orders to be sent to the responsible division the following day.

The smell of melted wax and the fragrance of ink mingled in the room, weighing heavily upon the air. His gaze remained fixed on the burning candle atop the desk. Only a few minutes remained before its dying flicker went out, and the long shadows cast across the wooden walls bore witness to the final moments of its light.

He realized that writing the report had taken longer than it had on other nights. As he sealed it with his ring, the symbol of the leadership of Central 46, he blew out the candle and leaned back into his chair once more.

In the silence and darkness, he gazed at the thin rays of moonlight streaming through the window. Only the chirping of crickets broke the deafening silence of the night.

After several minutes of enjoying the stillness and silence of the night, he decided to leave his office. He wrapped his scarf around his neck and straightened his men's kimono.

After locking the door, he made his way through the narrow, dark corridor of his office and reached the Central 46 building. He descended the stairways, which seemed to him to take years.

The distance between the main Central 46 building and the Kuchiki family's traditional residence was not great, but several turns through the tightly packed alleyways kept the journey from becoming monotonous. The sound of his wooden sandals against the stone pavement was strangely at odds with the almost feather-like movement of his body, especially at his age.

Several years had passed since the Great War. The destroyed buildings were no longer visible. The reconstruction of the Soul Society was nearing completion, and order and security had once again become the responsibility of the principal rulers of the Seireitei.

Not only within the Soul Society, but also in the World of the Living and Hueco Mundo, balance had been restored.

Ginrei appeared at ease with this peace. Anyone who did not know him might have mistakenly thought he was smiling, even as the tall walls swallowed the moonlight and cast his face into darkness.

He was now taking the final steps of his journey. The Kuchiki estate had come into view, its tall, expansive walls surrounding it.

Above the two enormous dark wooden gates, beneath the protruding eaves of the roof, the emblem of the noble family gleamed beneath the pale moonlight: a cherry blossom at its center, with two birds spreading their wings beneath a cloud.

And that was the last thing Ginrei saw.

The biting cold and the silence of the crickets, accompanied by the fading sound of flash steps, left him alone in the darkness of the night.