When he came out of the Fourth Division again, the moon was already high in the sky.
From time to time, he would pass by shinigami patrols and simply nod in greeting.
Arata rubbed his lower back with his left hand, while the bandaged right hand hung by his side; a wave of pain and fatigue was just about to overwhelm him.
If he had to go through such intense "special training" every night, he feared his body and mind would soon be drained completely.
Although Unohana Retsu was the captain of the Fourth Division and surely had a bunch of tonics and medicines at her disposal, Arata couldn't just sit and wait for ruin. He had to do something himself to strengthen his body.
He passed the headquarters of several divisions and returned to a secluded little veranda on the west side of Seireitei.
It was his private, personal residence, for which he had specially requested approval from old Yamamoto even before the founding of the Tea Association.
Including the Saito clan's family house in Rukongai and the Kendo Club lounge at the Shinō Spiritual Academy, Arata now had three places where he could sleep.
But in recent days, he mostly stayed in this small courtyard because it was most convenient for Rangiku.
It was close, and they didn't have to worry about being disturbed.
Creak—
Arata pushed open the courtyard door and noticed that a warm light was already burning inside.
Through the half-open wooden door, he saw Rangiku sitting cross-legged at a low table.
A thick book was open on the table, and her long blonde hair was carelessly tied into two pigtails hanging down her back.
"I'm back," Arata said softly, a faint trace of exhaustion in his voice.
Rangiku looked up at the sound of his voice; her gray canine teeth gently gleamed under the light.
"Did the lesson in the Fourth Division really take this long again?" She closed the book and came over, her nose wrinkling slightly. "Why do you smell weird? Don't tell me you came in without showering?"
Only then did Arata remember that he had only quickly dressed his wound in the Fourth Division but hadn't showered.
Instinctively, he touched the bandage on his right hand. The wound underneath had already mostly healed, but a thin scar was still visible.
"What can I say, there was no mercy in Unohana's 'lesson' today. I was drenched in sweat…" Arata said slowly, carefully choosing his words.
"All right, all right, go take a shower first!" Rangiku pushed him toward the bathroom.
But her fingers suddenly stopped when they brushed against the bandage on his right hand. "Wait a minute, what happened to your hand?"
Arata casually raised his right hand. "I got a small cut during practical healing kidō training. Captain Unohana already checked and treated it."
Rangiku gently ran her fingers over the spot with the bandage, then said with concern, "You really… no matter how much you study, you still have to take care of your body."
She turned, took clean clothes and a towel from the closet, and carefully prepared warm water so Arata could bathe in peace.
Soon, thick steam spread through the bathroom.
Arata immersed his whole body in the warm bathwater; his tense muscles finally relaxed, and a quiet sigh escaped his throat.
"Huh…"
He lowered his gaze to his right hand. He had just removed the bandage from his palm; underneath was only a shallow scar.
Unohana's eyes, filled with a mix of coldness and warmth, unwillingly resurfaced in his mind.
"Arata, is the water good?" Rangiku's voice came through the wooden door, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yes, it feels great," he answered, forcing himself to return to the present moment.
After a short bath, Arata put on clean pajamas and came out of the bathroom.
Rangiku had already prepared hot tea and snacks, sitting at the table flipping through the thick book.
When she saw him, she patted the cushion next to her.
"Come sit down, I have something to tell you." Excitement in her voice was clear, and she wasn't even trying to hide it.
Arata sat next to her, took the cup, and blew on it before taking a sip.
The tea's aroma spread across his tongue, easing the heaviness that was pressing on his heart. "What's making you so happy?"
"Today the captain talked to me." Little stars lit up in Rangiku's eyes. "He said Captain Yamamoto suggested I go to the Kidō Department at the Spiritual Arts Academy as a temporary instructor!"
Arata paused with the tea; he could see tiny ripples spreading across the surface in the cup.
"Oh? When did this happen?"
"The moment you dropped me off at the barracks tonight," Rangiku explained excitedly. "They said a few instructors in the Kidō Department suddenly fell ill, and Captain Aizen can't cover everything himself."
"To avoid canceling kidō classes, the Head Captain decided to temporarily reassign people from various divisions to help out."
Arata nodded thoughtfully, his gaze stopping on her flushed cheeks. "Which instructors reported being sick?"
"I think…" Rangiku tilted her head, trying to remember. "Shiraki-sensei, Tony-sensei, Tabuchi-sensei, and a few others whose names I can't recall."
As soon as he heard those surnames, Arata slightly furrowed his brows.
If he remembered correctly, Shiraki, Tony, and Tabuchi were surnames of several lower noble families in the Soul Society.
Except in extreme cases, surnames were not usually repeated within the inner Soul Society, it would be considered an insult to the nobility for commoners to openly carry the same surname.
And now suddenly several instructors, all from lower noble families, were "sick" at once… a bit too coincidental.
"What is it?" Rangiku noticed his silence and waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Arata, why the gloomy face? Aren't you happy? If I become an instructor, we'll have even more time together~"
Arata flinched, catching the hand she was waving. "Of course I'm happy, but…"
He continued, carefully choosing his words: "Don't you think it's a bit strange? So many instructors on sick leave all at once. That hasn't happened before."
Rangiku blinked, as if that hadn't occurred to her until now. "Maybe it's because of the change in seasons, so people get sick easier?"
"And, you know, lower noble families often intermarry. Maybe they were all at some family dinner and got food poisoning?"
Arata couldn't help but laugh. Rangiku's way of thinking always went down some strange path and found an angle he wouldn't even consider.
"Maybe," he didn't dig further, and instead asked, "When do you start teaching?"
"Next Monday!" Rangiku lowered her voice to a whisper in excitement. "Then we can go to work and come back together, but…"
Suddenly her expression softened and became worried. "I'm a little scared I won't teach well. It's true I was good at kidō back when we were at the Academy, but I don't have much experience teaching."
Arata tousled the blonde hair tied into two pigtails and gently said, "Don't worry, you're one of the best shinigami in the entire Soul Society. How could you not know how to teach?"
Rangiku actually wasn't completely inexperienced in teaching.
"Do you remember that instructor training class? The hall exploded in applause after your presentation." Arata smiled and teasingly pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her soft waist.
Rangiku blushed slightly, her body relaxing as she leaned on his shoulder. "You're the best in the world when it comes to cheering someone up."
"By the way, it looks like I've been assigned to second-year, class A. Those kids like Renji and Rukia will be my students."
"Then train them well. You know how Renji's talent for kidō is." Arata clearly remembered something funny, and a laugh slipped out.
"Sure." Rangiku agreed without hesitation, then suddenly smiled slyly. "But, you know… what I'm most excited about is teaching a certain 'classmate' named Arata~"
Arata just shook his head in resignation and let her tease him as much as she wanted.