Aizen muttered softly to himself, his voice warm and gentle.
He pushed up the black-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose and turned his head, his gaze not directed at the door.
Instead, it fell upon an inconspicuous shadow on the courtyard wall.
"How much longer are you going to hide, Nichika?"
There was not a hint of reproach in Aizen's voice; rather, it carried an indulgent tone of someone who had already seen through everything.
As his words fell, a petite figure jumped out from the shadows, looking somewhat flustered.
It was Nichika Ubuyashiki.
Her short white hair was meticulously groomed, and her large eyes were filled with a playful joy at being discovered.
"Teacher Aizen..." Nichika stuck out her tongue and leaped nimbly from the top of the wall, landing without a sound.
"As expected of you, Teacher. Even though I used Presence Concealment, you still saw right through me at a glance."
"Your concealment is perfect, Nichika."
Aizen set down the shears in his hand, turned around, and smiled warmly.
He looked like a patient mentor waiting for his student after school, his eyes holding nothing but praise as he spoke. "It is just that the wind here told me you had arrived. After all, the flowers and plants filling this courtyard all remember the scent of your Spiritual Pressure."
Nichika's small face flushed slightly.
She quickly walked over to Aizen's side and tilted her head up to look at the tall man.
"Lady Shinobu went to an emergency meeting, and my sister is watching over the wards..."
Nichika softly explained the reason for her appearance, a hint of minor rebellion in her tone. "Before she left, Lady Shinobu repeatedly warned me to absolutely never leave the Fourth Division, and especially not to go wandering around visiting other barracks..."
"But rumors are spreading outside that the Ryoka this time are incredibly vicious, and even the members of the Tenth Division couldn't stop them..."
"I was worried that you might get dragged into it, Teacher..."
Hearing this, the smile on Aizen's lips deepened.
He reached out and gently rubbed Nichika's soft white hair.
"Thank you for your concern, Nichika. However, a disturbance of this level is not enough to threaten me."
Aizen guided Nichika to sit at the stone table in the courtyard and personally poured her a cup of tea.
The fragrant steam curled upward; it was Nichika's favorite jasmine tea from the World of the Living.
"As for you, sneaking out against the orders of the Fourth Seat Kocho... if she finds out, I'm afraid a scolding will be unavoidable, won't it?"
"Hehe, I'm not scared!"
Nichika cupped the teacup, feeling the warmth in her palms, and pouted slightly. "Lady Shinobu always treats me like a child! Even though I'm almost forty years old! Even that annoying Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi has praised my unique Spiritual Power..."
"But Lady Shinobu is always worrying about this and worrying about that... With the Ryoka invasion this time, it's clearly the perfect opportunity to contribute and show what I can do, yet she told me to hide in my room and not come out."
At this point, Nichika's eyes dimmed a fraction, carrying a sense of unwillingness unique to a young girl.
The people here were just strange like that.
Sometimes, the passage of time would remind her that she was no longer young, yet at other times, she still felt like a child.
"Actually... back then, I wanted to submit my enlistment application to the Fifth Division."
She raised her head, looking at Aizen with burning eyes. "I wanted to become your subordinate, Teacher Aizen. I wanted to stay by your side and learn more knowledge about the world, instead of facing those bottles, jars, and bandages every day in the Fourth Division..."
"It was Lady Shinobu and Father who insisted I go to the Fourth Division..."
Aizen listened quietly to the girl's complaints without interrupting.
He knew what Shinobu Kocho was guarding against.
That perceptive woman, although outwardly respectful toward him...
Ever since the Spiritual Disaster in Fuyuki City that day, a deep vigilance always hid within the depths of those purple eyes.
It was likely due to Asuka's influence.
Thinking of this matter, Aizen felt it was somewhat a pity that he had actually let the precious Number Seventy-Eight slip away into another world...
But, so what?
Vigilance brought about guardedness, which in turn spawned overprotection.
This often meant alienation, and alienation was precisely the breeding ground for rebellion.
Without Asuka, he had unexpectedly obtained other precious materials.
Such as the Prison Realm, and such as... Nichika.
"Miss Kocho is also doing it for your own good," Aizen said softly, his voice devoid of any trace of hypocrisy. "The Fourth Division is a relatively safe place. She has experienced far too much combat, loss, and separation, so naturally, she doesn't want you and Hinaki to get hurt again."
"I know..." Nichika lowered her head, looking at the jasmine petals floating in her teacup. "But in this world, if you're always protected in a greenhouse, how can you ever see the real sky?"
"Teacher Aizen, those sights you once showed me... I have never been able to forget them."
Nichika's voice became somewhat dreamy.
That was a secret known only to the two of them.
Without Shinobu Kocho or the Ubuyashiki couple knowing, Aizen had secretly taken Nichika out of the Seireitei multiple times under the guise of extracurricular tutoring.
They had even gone to places beyond their wildest imaginations.
For Aizen, who possessed Kyoka Suigetsu, covering up a young girl's whereabouts was child's play.
During those secret journeys, Nichika had seen far too many things that completely overturned her understanding of the world.
In a shrine in the World of the Living, she had seen an irritable young man with a head full of white hair and animal ears bickering with a girl dressed as a high school student.
Yet, he was easily subdued by a single command of "Sit!" from her.
She had also seen a boy with a flame burning on his head, wearing nothing but his underwear, sprinting frantically through the streets and alleys as if rushing to get to class.
Following behind him was a baby in a suit with a pacifier, looking utterly comical.
She had even participated in a Night Parade of One Hundred Demons alongside Teacher Aizen one night.
Those monsters were not Hollows, but wondrous beings she had never even heard of before. Even thinking about it now felt unbelievable.
However, these worlds were like mirages, often dissipating within a day or even just a few hours.
If it weren't for Teacher Aizen, she feared she would never have been able to witness these wondrous sights in her lifetime, nor learn the truth of the world.
It was just that the current her did not know yet.
These scenes were not something Aizen had taken her to witness out of the goodness of his heart.
On the contrary, it was precisely because of her that Aizen was able to catch glimpses of other worlds within the chaotic Spiritual Pressure fields that occasionally appeared in the World of the Living.
"The real sky, is it..."
Aizen repeated the phrase, his gaze becoming deep and distant.
He stood up and walked to the edge of the courtyard, gazing up at the square patch of sky enclosed by the high walls.
"Nichika, do you think the current Soul Society is just?"
Nichika froze for a moment.
Teacher Aizen had asked this question before, but every time he asked, she felt something different.
"I don't like it here," Nichika answered honestly. "Although there are no demons here, there are rules and hierarchies everywhere. It's suffocating."
"The nobles sit high and mighty above everyone else, while the residents of the Rukongai suffer from starvation! The Soul Reapers even slaughter innocent souls in the name of so-called soul balance..."
"And then there's the matter with Miss Rukia this time!"
Nichika clenched her fists, a flash of anger in her eyes. "Miss Rukia clearly only shared her power with a human to save lives, so why did Central 46 sentence her to capital punishment? Why go so far as to use the Sokyoku?"
"It's completely unreasonable!"
"Yes, it is completely unreasonable..."
Aizen turned around, his back to the sunlight.
His face was shrouded in shadow, making it impossible to read his expression.