CHAPTER 19

The Repentance Cell, or Shishinrō, is a solitary white tower embedded deep within the heart of Seireitei.

Inside this solemn structure, Gosuke Shigure sat cross-legged in the center of the stone floor. Everything was still.

Until suddenly, the rhythmic sound of approaching footsteps broke the silence—low, echoing, and deliberate. Each step rang out, oddly jarring in this quiet prison.

Shigure raised his eyes, the sound drawing his attention.

The first thing he saw was a flash of color.

"It's rare," Shigure said flatly, an edge of irony in his tone. "I'd assumed everyone had forgotten me. Treated me as a criminal, like the real sinner they decided I was. Didn't expect anyone to visit."

The visitor smiled faintly, the brim of a familiar straw hat casting a shadow over his eyes.

"How could we?" the man replied gently.

"I've been working behind the scenes for you this whole time, Gosuke."

"Really?" Gosuke Shigure said, raising an eyebrow. "You mean you've been gathering intelligence related to Kenpachi Sōya of Mole District?"

There was no attempt at denial.

"You're right," the man replied. "I've been collecting all the data and testimony we could gather related to Sōya's activities. And the more we gathered, the more convinced I became of something."

Gosuke's eyes narrowed.

"What is it?"

"That you're innocent."

The visitor's voice was steady. Unwavering.

Gosuke Shigure's expression, however, didn't shift. He didn't smile. He didn't react the way most would upon hearing their name cleared.

Instead, he asked, "Then why am I still here? Why hasn't Central 46 released me?"

The man's face turned more serious.

It was Kyoraku Shunsui, captain of the 8th Division, a veteran Shinigami and one of the most respected officers in the Gotei 13.

"Gosuke, you know how Central 46 operates. They process things based on priority and hierarchy. Since Kenpachi Sōya surrendered and the scope of his crimes became clear, they've diverted their full attention to preparing his trial."

He sighed.

"Right now, they don't have the time—or perhaps the will—to revise their judgment of you. But don't worry. I plan to petition for your release personally. I doubt it'll be more than a few more days."

Kyoraku looked at him seriously, his voice lowering.

"I also came to ask something important of you. Please, don't lose faith in the Gotei 13 or Seireitei. And especially... don't bear resentment toward Central 46. They're just following protocol."

Gosuke Shigure's lip curled slightly.

"A convenient excuse," he said coldly. "Calling it 'protocol.'"

Kyoraku flinched slightly at the bite in his voice but said nothing more.

What could he say? Central 46 had falsely imprisoned someone without conclusive evidence, levied charges based on speculation, and had not yet made a single move to correct their mistake.

To expect Gosuke not to bear resentment… it was unfair.

Still, to Kyoraku's mild surprise, Gosuke didn't continue down the path of criticism. Instead, he asked:

"Tell me everything you've found out about Kenpachi Sōya."

Kyoraku nodded, adjusting the collar of his haori.

"It started with the disappearances in Rukongai," he said. "Originally, we thought Sōya was simply killing souls—grim, but not unprecedented for a rogue Shinigami. But after his confession and with the evidence we've gathered, we now know the truth was much worse."

"He was conducting experiments on souls," Kyoraku continued, voice dark. "Trying to forcibly convert them into spiritual weapons. He harvested spirit particles from Rukongai souls to create constructs he believed could challenge Hueco Mundo itself."

"Those disappearances weren't random—they were failures. When the soul couldn't handle the transformation, the spiritual pressure backlash caused the soul to collapse."

He paused before saying heavily:

"Trying to create spiritual weapons in that way... it violates the laws that maintain the balance between worlds. It's a cosmic felony. If left unchecked, it could've caused a catastrophic imbalance between the worlds."

Shigure closed his eyes.

"And his punishment?"

"Since he turned himself in," Kyoraku said, "it's unlikely they'll execute him. But I'd bet they'll send him to Muken, the deepest level of the Central Underground Prison. Indefinite incarceration."

Shigure let out a slow breath.

How ironic, he thought.

When he'd awakened in this world—reborn in Seireitei more than a year ago—it was just after the previous Kenpachi had fallen. Sōya of Mole District had inherited the title of Kenpachi.

And Gosuke Shigure, already Vice-Captain of Squad 11, had briefly wondered whether that path would one day fall to him.

He'd even once considered whether he could nudge Sōya toward a better direction. Toward balance. Toward honor.

But somewhere along the way, that opportunity had been lost.

He never did learn when Sōya had begun to walk that dark path. And now... now it no longer mattered.

This, too, was the nature of life. Full of unfinished chapters and regrets.

He sighed, but it wasn't a heavy sigh.

"If he'd just listened to me in Zaraki District that day," he said quietly, "if he had just walked away from it all, buried the evidence, let go of his obsession... things might have turned out differently."

"But he didn't," Kyoraku said softly.

"No," Shigure replied. "He didn't."

After a few more quiet words, Kyoraku turned and left the Repentance Cell.

---

Several more days passed.

The trial for Kenpachi Sōya had yet to formally conclude. Though most of the evidence had been compiled, Central 46 was still preparing the final judgment.

But the matter of Gosuke Shigure had reached its resolution.

He was innocent.

On that day, the Onmitsukidō's enforcers arrived at the Repentance Cell.

They removed the heavy spirit-suppressing restraints from Shigure's body, returned his Zanpakutō, and informed him that he was free to return to the 11th Division.

That was it.

No formal declaration. No apology. No ceremony.

Of course, such things were beneath Central 46.

To them, admitting a mistake would be the same as admitting fallibility.

And those in power could not afford to seem fallible.

Thus, Gosuke Shigure left the Repentance Cell as quietly as he had entered it.

But within him, something had shifted.

And if the Central 46 believed this chapter had ended...

They were wrong.