Chapter 112: Lolis Are Black-Bellied from Ancient Times

Early summer dawn bathed Seireitei in soft light. Birds chirped, dew clung to roadside grass, and a faint white mist lingered, brimming with vitality.

Hachiuma Chiyo shed her heavy twelve-layered kimono for a light white gauze dress, a gift from Shutara Senjumaru before she left the Yamabuki Clothing Store. She wore new sandals—Haruto’s design, a hit among Seireitei’s girls, crafted after he ditched uncomfortable clogs.

Learning the assassin was caught, Chiyo returned to the Hachimayo Clan’s mansion. Though she was its last survivor, it was still home.

Knock knock knock!

Chiyo peeked through the door’s crack, spotting Yamabuki Haruto. “Chief of Staff! Come in!” Her smile was pure, radiant.

Haruto entered, a faint grin on his face. “Not scared, living alone in this big place at night?”

Chiyo shook her head. “The assassin who killed my brother’s caught, right?”

“He is, but the mastermind’s cunning. They might target you again. Be careful. Need help? I’m here,” Haruto said, smiling.

“Trouble the Chief of Staff? I wouldn’t dare!” Chiyo chirped. “I’ll make tea—wait here.”

She didn’t seem like someone grieving a brother.

“No need,” Haruto said. “I’m here to return something, then I’m off—work’s piling up.” He handed her a cloth bag.

Chiyo opened it, her expression freezing. Gold coins gleamed.

“Chief of Staff, what’s this? Why give me so much gold?” she asked, curious.

“It’s yours—the betrothal gift from Shimo Dashichoufu to your brother,” Haruto said, eyeing her. Chiyo maintained a surprised look. “Didn’t Hachimayo Chiyo gamble it away?”

“Your brother was a scoundrel, not a fool. I checked every gambling den in Seireitei after his death. Shocking truth: he hadn’t gambled in days. Yet two-thirds of the betrothal gold vanished. Curious where it went?”

Chiyo tapped her lips, striking an innocent pose, then shook her head.

“I found this gold in the assassin’s pocket,” Haruto continued. “Even a fool like your brother wouldn’t pay to kill himself. You said you heard his cry for help, rushing to the courtyard. He wanted to live. But the assassin used your family’s gold to kill him.” Haruto’s smile turned bitter. “Why target you and your brother separately? Shijima Chigiri never warned you he’d kill you in three days. How’d you predict his attack?”

Chiyo’s smile stayed cute, innocent. “Chief of Staff, I don’t understand!”

Haruto drew Reversal, Silver Angel and thrust it at her. Chiyo didn’t dodge, letting the blade pierce her. No blood, no harm.

She smiled.

“This is the answer,” Haruto said, withdrawing his sword. The Chiyo before him was an illusion, the real Hachiuma Chiyo watching from afar.

“No fog today, yet your courtyard’s misty. Your Zanpakutō’s work, right? You’re exposed. Come out,” Haruto said.

The illusion dissolved into white mist. The inner hall door creaked, revealing Chiyo in her white dress. Haruto flashed forward with Shunpo, pinching her cheek until it reddened.

“Ow!” she yelped.

“Real this time,” Haruto said, releasing her. Tender cheeks.

“How’d you find me? I hid well,” Chiyo said, her eyes now cunning, unlike the illusion’s innocence.

“I suspected you from the start,” Haruto said. “Too calm for someone whose brother died before them. Fear in your eyes? An act to fool amateurs. The Hachimayo Clan’s fallen, but a noble family gets Zanpakutō easily. Your Reiatsu’s strong—you’ve been suppressing it.”

Chiyo grinned like a fox, raising her sword hilt. “Return, Mist-Gazing Flower!”

The courtyard’s mist swirled back into the hilt, forming a short sword, less than a foot long.

“My Shikai, Mist-Gazing Flower, turns the blade into mist, creating illusions and clouding vision,” Chiyo said, chin high. “You’re the first to see through it, Chief of Staff. Since you’ve unraveled my plan, I’ll tell you why I killed that fool.”