Rangiku walked straight to the door but didn't intend to open it with her hands. Instead, she kicked it directly.
Bam!!
With a loud noise, the Captain's office door was kicked open by Rangiku.
Then, Rangiku walked in casually and relaxed, followed by Isshin.
"Oh, you two are here. Took you long enough."
Hearing the door-kicking, Toshiro looked up from behind the desk and said somewhat casually.
Toshiro was long accustomed to Rangiku's door-kicking habit, so he wasn't particularly surprised.
Then, Toshiro tidied the thick stack of documents in his hands and said somewhat unhappily to Isshin and Rangiku, "You two have great timing. I've finished handling all the documents, and you just come back."
"Uooohhhh—!!!"
Hearing all documents were handled, Isshin Shiba couldn't help but shout excitedly. If all work was done, he didn't have to work… though he hardly ever worked anyway.
Then, Isshin rushed to Toshiro's side, repeatedly patting his shoulder. "Well done, Toshiro!! Truly worthy of being our 10th Division's next Captain!!"
Hearing this, Rangiku behind him immediately said discontentedly, "Hey, hey! Captain, I should be the 10th Division's next Captain… by rank!!"
Nominally, Rangiku was the 10th Division's Lieutenant. If the 10th Division were to choose the next Captain, as the Lieutenant, Rangiku's priority would indeed be higher than a Third Seat like Toshiro.
Of course, only nominally higher. Unless something unexpected happened, Toshiro was undoubtedly the next Captain.
Isshin Shiba looked at Rangiku speechlessly. "What are you saying, Rangiku? If someone like you became Captain, the whole division would collapse!"
Toshiro also piled on. "The Captain's right. The 10th Division's next Captain is naturally me. As for you, Rangiku, if you want to be Captain, learn Bankai first."
Seeing Toshiro and Isshin team up to 'bully' her, Rangiku immediately stepped forward, grabbed Toshiro's collar, and glared at him 'fiercely'. "Hey! Toshiro!! You too, what are you saying!! The Captain's position should naturally be taken over by me, the Lieutenant!"
Of course, Rangiku was just talking, joking around. She wasn't someone who cared much about power.
Back when Toshiro first graduated from the Shin'o Academy, Rangiku invited him to join the 10th Division. But then, the 1st Division invited Toshiro to become Lieutenant.
Yet Toshiro ultimately chose to be the 10th Division's third seat.
Rangiku always felt somewhat responsible, thinking if she hadn't invited Toshiro, he might have had better opportunities.
So when Toshiro first joined the 10th Division, Rangiku even considered giving her Lieutenant's position to Toshiro, but Toshiro refused.
"Hey! Rangiku, that's enough bullying Toshi… Huh?" Isshin was about to stop Rangiku from 'bullying' Toshiro but suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"Did you see the buns I hid here, Toshiro?" Isshin asked Toshiro.
"Cough."
Hearing this, Toshiro coughed, then brushed off Rangiku's hand holding his collar. He said seriously, "Don't worry about such trivial things, Captain. The reason I asked Rangiku to call you back is because there's an important matter to discuss."
Toshiro then picked out a specially marked document from the thick stack and said to Isshin Shiba, "Captain, this document is—"
"Ah, ah, talk about the buns first! Did you see the buns I specially hid there, looking forward to eating them?" Isshin interrupted Toshiro.
"Shut it! Buns aren't important right now!" Toshiro said somewhat angrily.
But Isshin persisted. "Never mind important or not. Just tell me, where are the buns?"
"I ate the buns!! So what?! Got a problem?!" Toshiro shouted unhappily.
Isshin showed an 'as expected' expression. "So you did eat them! Why try to hide it? You're such a bad guy!"
Toshiro said, feeling mentally exhausted, "Can we not talk about buns? I called you here for an important matter."
Here, Toshiro asked seriously, "Do you remember the report from two months ago, Captain?"
"Narumishi, a mid-sized city. Two months ago, the Shinigami responsible there died unexpectedly," Toshiro continued.
Isshin thought for a moment. "Ah… seems there was such a thing. But the specific cause is still under investigation."
"That's right. Last month's report from that city came in," Toshiro said.
"Last month, two more Shinigami died. The cause remains unknown!" Toshiro said gravely.
Hearing this, Isshin turned around without another word, wanting to leave.
Rangiku quickly asked, "Hey! Captain, where are you going?"
"I'm going to Narumishi. The rest is up to you, Toshiro, and Rangiku!" Isshin waved behind him without looking back.
"Huh?! Now?! Alone?! Wait a minute—!"Rangiku immediately tried to stop him.
"Oh, right! I'll probably be back around the day after tomorrow. So tomorrow's work is on you two," Isshin added.
Seeing Isshin acting on his own, Toshiro also tried to stop him. "Captain, don't be reckless. This kind of thing should be reported to the Captain-Commander—"
But before Toshiro finished, Isshin's figure had already vanished.
Seeing this, Rangiku complained, "Captain, really! Toshiro! Let's go bring Captain back together!"
"No, let's not," Toshiro thought for a moment, then gave up on chasing Isshin.
"Why, Toshiro?" Rangiku asked, puzzled.
In Rangiku's view, Toshiro should help her bring Isshin back, not let him act recklessly.