Momo Hinamori lay in her hospital bed, an oxygen mask over her face, covered by a blanket, her eyes closed.
She didn't move at all.
Izuru Kira stood at the doorway, unable to find the courage to step inside.
A cold voice sounded from behind him.
"How long are you planning to stand there?"
"Captain Hitsugaya..." Izuru Kira turned around, lowering his head, only then noticing Tōshirō Hitsugaya's striking silver hair. "I'm sorry, I..."
"If you're apologizing for following your Captain's orders to lead me away, there's no need." Tōshirō Hitsugaya folded his arms across his chest. Though younger than Izuru Kira and having enrolled later, his presence was far more imposing. "As a Lieutenant, obeying your Captain's orders is the right thing to do."
"But..."
"Whether those orders were right or not is something you should think about later." Hitsugaya's gaze shifted slightly. "If you're apologizing over Hinamori, then wait until she wakes up."
"...Yes."
Izuru Kira bowed deeply. Realizing that Tōshirō Hitsugaya likely wanted to be alone with Momo Hinamori, he tactfully took his leave.
The General Medical Center covered a vast area, with large buildings and long corridors lined with evenly spaced doors. No matter where you walked, the scenery looked the same.
Izuru Kira had worked in the 4th Division before, so he wasn't worried about getting lost. He quickly found the administrative office.
"Wow... you've already handled this much?" Isane Kotetsu flipped through the documents Rukia Kuchiki had completed, her face full of surprise. "This saves so much time. Thank goodness for you, Rukia."
Rukia Kuchiki shook her head. "It's just work I've done before. It's nothing special."
"You know how overwhelming the paperwork in the 4th Division can be. This really helps a lot." Isane Kotetsu was about to continue when she noticed Izuru Kira at the doorway. "I'll go submit these first."
As she passed by, Isane Kotetsu gave him a small nod in greeting.
She knew Izuru Kira, but she was rather introverted and found it difficult to deal with someone as gloomy as him. Their interactions had always been minimal.
Just as she reached the second floor, she heard a somewhat hesitant voice call out—
"Lieutenant Kotetsu?"
"A friend of Muten's." Isane Kotetsu looked at the bespectacled man, his body still wrapped in bandages. "Ishi—"
"Uryū Ishida. Just call me Ishida." Uryū Ishida tilted his head up slightly as he spoke to Isane Kotetsu. "I wanted to ask if there's any place here with tools for sewing clothes?"
"Sewing clothes... do you mean a sewing room?"
"Do you know where I can find one?"
Balancing the documents in one hand, Isane Kotetsu pointed downward with the other. "Yes, there's one on the first floor."
The General Medical Center didn't just treat injured Shinigami; it also handled repairs to damaged Shihakushō, so a sewing facility had been set up on the first floor.
Having a dedicated place like that was an unexpected bonus. Uryū Ishida's fingers twitched slightly with anticipation.
"Could I use it for a bit?"
"Of course, that's no problem..." Isane Kotetsu looked at him curiously. "Will you be using it yourself?"
"Yeah. I need to make clothes to wear when I go back to the World of the Living..." His previous clothes had been ruined in battle, and Uryū Ishida had no intention of returning in Shinigami attire, so he planned to make them himself.
Isane Kotetsu blinked. "You know how to sew?"
In truth, he was highly skilled, but Uryū Ishida simply replied, "I'm decent at it..."
"Well then, um... I'll go submit these documents first. Could you wait here for a moment?"
On the first floor of the medical center, the Shihakushō sewing room was staffed by a specialized team selected from the 4th Division, members with particularly deft hands, responsible for making and repairing Shihakushō and Captain uniforms.
But that was as far as it went.
"Wow... it's so cute!" Isane Kotetsu held up the dress Uryū Ishida had made against herself, her face lighting up with a genuinely delighted smile.
As the condition for letting him use the sewing room, she had asked Uryū Ishida to make her a Western-style dress. The result far exceeded anything she had imagined.
"Ishida-san, thank you so much!"
"No need to thank me!" Uryū Ishida flushed slightly at her enthusiasm, adjusting his glasses several times in quick succession. "It was just a small favor... really nothing worth thanking me for..."
"No! I'm really happy! Soul Society does have shops that sell clothes in the World of the Living style... but I'm too tall, so they never have my size." Isane Kotetsu let out a small sigh. "Captain Unohana brought me a couple before, but she can't go to the World of the Living very often."
Standing at 1.7 meters, Uryū Ishida looked up at Isane Kotetsu, who was close to 1.9 meters tall. "Ah... right."
There wasn't much else he could say.
"Then I'll make you another outfit..."
"No way! Ishida, I'm next!" Kiyone Kotetsu, the Third Seat of the Thirteenth Division, popped her head out from beside her sister. After seeing Uryū Ishida's handiwork, she immediately wanted one for herself.
Isane Kotetsu looked down at her younger sister, who stood at about 1.5 meters. "But... Kiyone, can't you just wear the ones sold outside?"
Kiyone Kotetsu put her hands on her hips, completely unapologetic. "Clothes in the World of the Living style are way too expensive! How could I pass up a chance to get one for free?!"
"Kiyone!" Isane Kotetsu tugged at her sleeve. "Ishida-san..." For Kiyone, this was just a free opportunity, but for her, it might be the only chance she'd get. "Then... I'll buy it for you, okay?"
Kiyone Kotetsu immediately looked up at her sister. "Really?! You mean it?! You have to buy it for me!"
Isane Kotetsu nodded while mentally calculating her recent expenses. "Mm, mm."
"Yay! Just as planned... Big sis, you're the best!" Kiyone Kotetsu jumped happily, then left in high spirits after getting what she wanted. "Bye-bye! Big sis! Ishida-san!"
She had definitely been about to say [Plan successful] just now... Uryū Ishida noticed that Isane Kotetsu didn't seem to catch it, so he chose not to point it out. He adjusted his glasses and began picking out suitable fabric for her.
"Are Shinigami salaries really that tight...? Come to think of it, do Shinigami even get paid?"
"Of course they do. Daily expenses add up, after all." Isane Kotetsu smiled. "I'm a Lieutenant, so I earn quite a bit more than Kiyone as a Third Seat. But compared to Lieutenants in other divisions, it's still much less..."
"Does that have something to do with the Captain?"
"The base salary is the same for everyone. But divisions that fight on the front lines receive hazard pay. The 4th Division mostly stays in the rear providing support, so that part is much lower."