Seriously, if you're visiting a patient, could you please come all at once? Don't you know patients need quiet rest? This is a sickroom, not a tourist attraction, damn it!
"Come in."
Irritated or not, Kensei couldn't refuse a visitor. It just proved how likable he was!
A girl's head with neatly cut bangs peeked through the door crack. Her eyes looked somewhat timidly at Kensei on the hospital bed.
"Excuse me... are you Lord Kensei Kenzuru?"
"And you are?"
Kensei felt the girl looked familiar but couldn't quite remember where he'd seen her.
"I am Soi Fon of the Punishment Force. You saved my life the other day."
Hearing the girl's soft voice, Kensei remembered indeed saving someone from Kishita's blade. That must have been her.
"To repay your life-saving grace, I heard you were severely injured and requested permission from Lady Yoruichi to take care of your daily needs these days." As she spoke, Soi Fon brought in a fruit basket and a lunchbox she had placed by the door, setting them on the table. "Until you recover, Lord Kensei, please feel free to command me for anything you need!"
"Uh..." Being suddenly subjected to such enthusiastic care from a beautiful girl left Kensei a bit flustered. "It was just a simple act at the time. You don't need to go to such lengths."
"How could I not! Although the Soi Fon family is a lower noble house, we know the principle of repaying a drop of kindness with a spring! Let alone you saving my life!" The girl grew a bit agitated. "And if you hadn't saved me, I wouldn't have had the chance to be promoted by Lady Yoruichi to the Corps Commander's Guard, and I certainly couldn't have inherited the 'Soi Fon' title!"
For Soi Fon, although she was noticed and promoted by Lady Yoruichi for her excellent performance against the invaders, if Kensei hadn't appeared at that critical moment to save her, she would have long since gone to meet her deceased grandmother. One could say all her honors were only attainable because of Lord Kensei.
Watching Soi Fon use the short blade she carried to peel an apple for him, Kensei felt momentarily conflicted. It seemed he couldn't shoo away this somewhat single-minded Soi Fon now. Oh well, might as well enjoy it since it's come to this. Do you people even understand the worth of the Soul Society's number one back?
Seeing Soi Fon earnestly feeding him peeled fruit, Kensei felt a bit regretful that she wasn't yet wearing her future neck-baring, backless outfit. Otherwise, he could enjoy the view now.
"By the way, isn't it a problem for you to be here taking care of me instead of training with the Punishment Force?"
"It's fine. After you recover, Lord Kensei, I will train twice as hard to catch up!"
Noticing Soi Fon's hand pause slightly, Kensei thought about it. His arms' recovery time was uncertain; he couldn't keep delaying Soi Fon's training forever.
"Soi Fon, do you want to learn my Shunkō: Heaven-Crushing Thunder God, Flash-Light, Super Wheel-Dance, Roar, Triple Style? Once you learn it, you can easily thrash ordinary Captain-level fighters. Guaranteed to make you a top general under Yoruichi!"
Soi Fon felt a bit dizzy hearing the strangely long technique name from Kensei's mouth. But recalling the two inhumanly mangled corpses she saw when helping Lady Yoruichi retrieve Kensei, no wonder it has such a long name. It must be because the power is too great; a normal name couldn't showcase this move's specialness!
"I'll learn it!"
Soi Fon immediately prepared to prostrate herself and formally become his disciple, startling Kensei who hurriedly stopped her.
"You don't need to bow and call me master. Just think of it as me being too bored and looking for something to do."
It must be because my strength is too low to earn Lord Kensei's recognition. I will definitely work hard to avoid shaming Lord Kensei and Lady Yoruichi.
Seeing Soi Fon's eyes dim for a moment before growing determined again, Kensei felt she had misunderstood something. He just wanted to know if a Soi Fon who learned Shunkō + Sōkotsu would still be suppressed by Aizen. After all, her Shikai, touted as a "two-hit kill," didn't seem to have much of a record, and she couldn't use her Bankai every day.
On the other side, the departed Unohana began searching through the notes left by Tenjirō Kirinji; her medical skills were personally taught by him. If he were still in the Seireitei and not in the Royal Guard, Kensei's injuries could be easily healed.
Kirinji's records weren't extensive. After searching all afternoon, Unohana finally found a record that might be effective for Kensei's injury—the Hell Spring, a miraculous healing substance capable of treating all wounds. Unfortunately, the medicinal ingredients recorded as necessary to concoct this spring were extremely precious and might not all be obtainable.
But at least it was a glimmer of hope. Unohana didn't rest and went straight to the First Division. Collecting these rare items required the Captain-Commander's power.
The First Division at night was always eerily quiet. If not for the lights visible in the barracks, one might think no one lived there.
"Ginrei, what brings you to this old man so late at night?"
"I have also heard of the severe injury to your beloved disciple, Captain-Commander. Lord Kensei assisted my son-in-law some time ago. By all accounts, our Kuchiki family should do our humble part for him."
Yama looked at the resolute Kuchiki Ginrei across from him, thinking, If only those arrogant nobles could be as principled as the Kuchiki family.
"Captain-Commander, I have found a possible method to treat Kensei's injuries."
Yama was just about to explain the difficulty of treating Kensei when he heard Unohana's exciting news from outside the door. Entering, Unohana handed the manual recording the Hell Spring to Old Man Yama. Seeing the various rare items listed, Yama immediately understood Unohana's purpose.
"Captain-Commander, may I take a look?" Kuchiki Ginrei took the manual, scanned the contents, and nodded. "Our Kuchiki family has some of these medicinal ingredients. The Captain-Commander can personally come with me to retrieve them. As for the others, Captain Unohana, you might try the Shihōin family."
Which noble didn't know now that the head of the Shihōin family and Yama's little disciple were as close as two peas in a pod? If they had them, the Shihōins would surely provide them.
The three in the room quickly sprang into action. The sooner they prepared, the sooner Kensei could recover. Shihōin Yoruichi, learning from Unohana that Kensei could be healed, practically wanted to give Unohana all the medicinal ingredients from her family treasury.
"Coincidentally, the Tsunayashiro family gave me quite a few things recently. See if any are useful and take them. I'm still waiting to continue discussing cuisine with the young man." Kirio Hikifune proactively found Unohana, showing her if the things from Tsunayashiro could be of use. "If not, I'll just make another trip to the Tsunayashiro residence. Don't be shy."
That very night, the main Tsunayashiro family's warehouse was emptied. The guards only reported hearing the sound of shattering glass that night with no other abnormalities, yet the warehouse windows were completely intact. The Tsunayashiro could only swallow their anger and accept the loss.
After a week of preparations, Unohana and Yoruichi, following Kirinji's manual, concocted the Hell Spring on the hill behind the 4th Division barracks. The group prepared to bring Kensei over to see if this red-and-white Hell Spring would be effective, only to arrive at the sickroom and find the bed that should have held Kensei empty.
"Where has that brat run off to now?! Injured and still can't behave!"
Yama was so angry his beard seemed to float. He directly used Kakushitsuijaku to trace Kensei's location, determined to see where this troublesome disciple had run off to instead of resting properly.
Kensei, who was teaching Soi Fon Shunkō in a small grove, suddenly felt a chill down his spine and a sense of foreboding.
Looking at the diligently practicing Soi Fon, the girl had already followed his teaching and changed into the classic neck-baring, backless outfit. The first time she practiced Shunkō, he had forgotten to warn her of the consequences. The result was predictable; it was the first time Kensei had seen someone's face turn that shade of red.
Of course, she only wore it during training, always putting on an outer coat otherwise, as she found it too embarrassing.
Maybe healing my arms isn't that important after all. What's the point of fighting and killing when teaching a beautiful girl is so much more interesting?
At that moment, Kensei had no idea that Yama, Unohana, and Yoruichi were heading his way. He was quite contentedly enjoying the present moment.