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Chapter 73 - Return




“Huh?” The moment Suzuki Kusu finally opened her eyes, the scene that unfolded before she fainted earlier flashed in her mind. Hollow, blood, death, fear… and Captain Kimura!
“Captain!” When Suzuki Kusu remembered that Muyang was also there, she immediately called out his name while looking for him frantically.
“I’m here.” Muyang softly said as he knelt down and smiled at Suzuki Kusu.
“Thank god you’re here, Captain.” Suzuki Kusu said out of relief. When she saw Muyang smiling gently at her, a tear fell down the corners of her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I’m late.” Muyang apologetically said when he saw a tear rolled down the corner of Suzuki Kusu’s eyes. Twenty-four of his Division Members died, while one of them was traumatized because he made a wrong decision. Although what happened this time couldn’t be helped as he got the wrong information, it was also partly because of his own incompetence.
“Don’t say that, Captain. Hadn’t you come, none of us will survive, and there will be no way to avenge our fallen comrades.-By the way, what about the Hollow?”
It took Suzuki Kusu a while before she finally remembered the cause behind this tragedy because she was just so glad to see Muyang. However, she did vaguely remember that Muyang mopped the floor with that Hollow right before she lost consciousness.
“I finished him off, so don’t worry about it anymore.” Muyang’s eyes flash with hatred. The grudge he felt toward that Hollow wouldn’t disappear even after killing him 20 times.
“crackle crackle ~”
The firewood was burning in front of them. The atmosphere was quite romantic, and Suzuki Kusu’s complexion changed.
“Captain.”
“Hm?”
“You can…” Suzuki Kusu grabbed the hem of Muyang’s Shihakusho with a flushed face and bashful eyes.
“Captain Kimura!”
“Captain!”
“Kimura!”
Kyōraku suddenly showed up with Yoruichi and Hirako Shinji, interrupting Suzuki Kusu.
“Captain Kyōraku!” Muyang immediately stood up and turned towards the group that just arrived, “Shinji, Yoruichi, why are you here?”
“That’s my line. You ran off here without saying a word. Old man Yama was pretty mad and sent us to check on you.” Kyōraku said as he glanced around, “But it seems there’s no need for us to come after all.”
“Old man Yama did?” Muyang then turned at Hirako Shinji, “Shinji, didn’t I ask you to explain the circumstances to Captain-Commander?”
Hirako Shinji turned pale: “I did, but Captain-Commander said you’d be held accountable for this one.”
“Good grief…” After hearing Hirako Shinji’s answer, Muyang felt helpless. That was basically the same as not explaining anything, and now he had to explain himself to Old Yamamoto.
“You’ve taken care of the Hollow?” Yoruichi asked after noticing a pool of blood on the ground.
“Well, yeah.”
“How many of them are there?”
“One .”
“One?” Yoruichi glanced at the large pool of blood on the ground. There was no way that was the amount of blood from killing one Hollow. She might’ve believed it if Muyang said there were dozens of them, but one was simply unbelievable.
Yoruichi and Kyōraku looked at each other. They had their suspicions about what happened, but they didn’t want to say it out loud.
“Is she the only survivor?” Kyōraku asked Muyang and glanced at Suzuki Kusu. However, he saw Suzuki Kusu was glaring at him. He did recall that the Suzuki Kusu was the talented girl Muyang recruited when they visited the academy last time, but he didn’t recall doing anything that’d make her angry. He just shook his head helplessly as he thought of himself as someone who always respected a lady, so Suzuki Kusu’s hateful glare left him confused.
“She’s the only survivor, while the rest 24 Division Members died at the hands of the Hollow, and it’s all the mistake on my part,” Muyang said, clenching his fists.
“Don’t blame yourself too much. It’s not your fault,” Kyōraku gave Muyang a pat on the shoulder. ” There are too many unexpected factors that happened this time. Your decision itself is not wrong. It’s just that even us Shinigami have our own limits, and it’s not something you can do about.”
“Moreover, dying in the battle with Hollow is our longlife goal as a Shinigami, so don’t trample on your men’s resolve.”
Muyang just stood there and took in the meaning behind Kyōraku’s words.
“Okay, since everything is taken care of, we should head back. Old Yamamoto is still waiting for our report, and Kimura, get ready for Old man Yama’s good ol’ lecture.” Kyōraku chuckled and winked at Muyang.
“Oh my god!” Muyang face-palmed. He finally remembered how boring Yamamoto’s long lecture could be!
“You’re still injured. Let me carry you on my back.” Muyang said after glancing at Suzuki Kusu’s injury.
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“Yes!” Suzuki Kusu nodded his head gently and leaned onto Muyang’s back.
“Hmm?” Kyōraku noticed Suzuki Kusu’s bashful face, and it finally hit him. No wonder that little girl was so hostile at him earlier. It was because he came at the worst possible time!
“By the way, what were you saying earlier? Captain Kyōraku came before you can finish your sentence earlier, right?” Muyang suddenly asked on their way back.
“No, it’s nothing.” Suzuki Kusu shook her head slightly.
Suzuki Kusu laid her face on Muyang’s back, and Muyang’s smell relaxed her, giving her a peace of mind. Her Captain’s back was so warm that she didn’t feel the need to say what she wanted to say earlier as long as she could enjoy this moment even a second longer.
Muyang just faintly smiled.
Noticing the smile on the corner of Muyang’s mouth, Kyōraku smiled knowingly.
“I realy gotta hand it to you, though, Captain Kimura.” Kyōraku moved on to a new topic as he put away the smile on his face.
“What do you mean?”
“It only took us a few minutes to catch up with you here after Lieutenant Hirako reporting the situation, and Captain Kimura actually defeated that Adjuchas in such a short time. Moreover, judging from the situation at the scene, the battle has been concluded for quite a while.” Kyōraku glanced at Muyang. “Isn’t that right, Captain Kimura?”
“Your observation really is something else, Captain Kyōraku, no… As expected of Captain Kyōraku.” Instead of accepting the compliment, Muyang praised Kyōraku. “However… a Hollow of this level’d be defeated in an instant had it been up against you, Captain Kyōraku.”
“Ah ha ha! Captain Kimura, you jest! An Adjuchas is almost as strong as a Captain. There’s no way I can defeat it that fast! You overestimate me.”
“Hehe.” Muyang just chuckled without saying anything back. He knew how strong Kyōraku really was, and an Adjuchas was clearly no match for him.
“Here we are.” Muyang stopped and said to the other three people: “Go on without me. I will drop Suzuki at the 4th Division first and catch up with you guys later.”
“No, Captain.” Suzuki Kusu lifted his head from behind Muyang. “I’ll head back to the barracks on my own.”
“But your injury…” Muyang hesitantly said.
“I’ve pretty much recovered during our way back. Don’t worry about me, Captain! I can go back on my own right now. You should go and see Captain-Commander quickly.”
Seeing that Suzuki Kusu indeed pretty much recovered already, Muyang nodded and let her go back on her own. Captain-Commander was already mad as it was after he rushed to the scene without order. If he were late again, he wouldn’t get away so easily this time.
“Let’s go! Old Yamamoto should have sensed our Reiatsu.” Kyōraku pressed down his bamboo hat habitually and took the lead as they headed toward the 1st Division. “Get ready, Kimura. Old man Yama is really hard to handle when he’s angry.”
“Sigh, he shouldn’t get mad over such trivial stuff.” Muyang sighed, but he was a little calmer than earlier.
“Well, even if Old man Yama doesn’t say anything, those geezers in Central 46 may have their own opinion. Your absurdly fast promotion already arose dissatisfaction among so many people.”
“Tsk, those old geezers.” Muyang’s clicked his tongue when Kyōraku mentioned Central 46. A group of stubborn and incompetent old men. Since he was a Captain now, he had to answer to those incompetent old men.
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