"Ahhh..." Just as she arrived at the entrance of Squad 10, Matsumoto Rangiku couldn't help but yawn. She stretched her back while facing the morning sun, but the exhaustion radiating from her body didn't ease in the slightest.
The squad member guarding the gate watched her, his Adam's apple bobbing as he silently swallowed. The sun was awfully bright today!
"G-Good morning, Lieutenant! Thank you for your hard work!"
"Good morning!"
Matsumoto raised her hand in a simple greeting. She fully deserved the praise for her hard work; she hadn't slept in days just to process the mountains of paperwork that had piled up.
'It's only been a month, how did the paperwork pile up so fast? I clearly process some of it occasionally on normal days?!'
This question repeated in Matsumoto's mind at the end of every month. Along with it came an increasingly urgent plea: please appoint a new Squad 10 Captain as soon as possible to share the lieutenant's burden!
But that wasn't the most pressing matter right now. She needed to hurry up, eat a hearty meal, and then get a good, long sleep. She was going to make up for all the rest she had deprived herself of over the past few days in one go. Anyway, next month was almost here; her days of suffering were over!
'I should go to that shop in the east, their dried persimmons are absolutely delicious!' It took less than a second for Matsumoto to decide her itinerary. In truth, this decision-making process was entirely unnecessary—it was just another one of her monthly routines.
But something seemed off today. Two figures suddenly rushed past on the right side of the road, loudly muttering, "Squad 4 is this way, right?" as if they were terrified people wouldn't know they were lost.
Getting lost in the Seireitei was incredibly common. *Seireitei Communication*, managed by Squad 9 and serving as the Seireitei's sole magazine for entertainment gossip and real-time news, had even run a special column on the topic last month. Rumor had it that the column was published because Squad 11's Captain, Zaraki Kenpachi, had gotten so lost that he didn't return to his squad barracks for an entire week...
So, getting lost wasn't the main issue. The issue was that those two lost individuals seemed to be members of her squad! And they were heading to Squad 4? Finally, she had just noticed that one of them seemed to be carrying someone on his back?!
'Did Squad 10 get a casualty? No, that doesn't matter. How can a group of people escorting a patient to the hospital not know where the hospital is? Can you guys really save anyone?!'
'So explaining the layout of the Seireitei using a map in that column really is useless! Setting aside whether lost people can even read maps, do you honestly think these guys would bother looking at one?'
Matsumoto grumbled inwardly as she quickly caught up to the two men who had already disappeared down the road. Calling out to stop them, she took a closer look. Alright, they really were from Squad 10. However, the identity of the injured person... it didn't seem to be a familiar face.
"Which squad is he from?"
"There's a snowdrop printed inside his collar, he should be from Squad 13!"
Matsumoto nodded and flipped the man's collar open to confirm. It was indeed Squad 13's insignia flower—the snowdrop.
"Hand him over to me. I'll take him to Squad 4."
"How could we dare trouble the lieutenant with such a small matter!"
Before the man could finish speaking, Matsumoto raised a hand to stop him. She didn't dare let these two clowns wander around blindly anymore. Given this man's condition, if he wasn't delivered to Squad 4 today, he was a goner. And she highly doubted these two could find Squad 4 within a single day...
"That's an order. Go to Squad 13 right now and inform Lieutenant Shiba about this. Tell him it might be a squad member who failed a field mission, and ask him to come confirm immediately!"
Whenever casualties occurred in any squad, the respective captain needed to be informed as quickly as possible. This was crucial for handling the aftermath of the mission and deploying potential search and rescue operations. It was just that for Squad 13, their lieutenant was destined to toil and run around just like her.
So this order was definitely correct. Yet, as Matsumoto walked away, she felt a faint trace of unease in her heart. Did something go wrong just now?
Meanwhile, in Squad 4, Kotetsu Isane looked at the bowl of white porridge in front of her with a blissful expression. A beautiful morning started right here.
"Time to eat!"
"Yo, Isane!" The sudden voice startled her so much she nearly threw her chopsticks. Turning her head, she saw a very familiar face. "Chō... Lieutenant Chōzuka?"
"I've told you so many times, I'm not a lieutenant anymore. Just call me Chōzuka or Kōe." Kōe waved his hand and continued, "You're eating. I'm not interrupting, am I?"
"N-No, you're not interrupting." Isane quickly replied before asking, "Do you need me to do something for you right now?"
Over the past year, aside from routinely dropping Zaraki Kenpachi off at Squad 4 once a month, Kōe would also occasionally bring over Shin'ō Academy students for emergency resuscitation. To everyone in Squad 4, Chōzuka Kōe was a very familiar regular.
However, hadn't Captain Zaraki already been dropped off this month? Plus, the Academy was currently on break. For a moment, Isane couldn't figure out what Kōe was actually here to do.
"It's nothing major. I just wanted to ask where Captain Unohana went? I couldn't find her in the captain's office."
Right, coming to chat with Captain Unohana was also one of the reasons Kōe visited Squad 4—an important reason!
"The captain should be in the herb garden out back right now. I'll take you there."
"I'll head over myself. If you don't eat your porridge soon, it'll get cold," Kōe replied with a smile. Just as he turned to head toward the herb garden, Unohana's voice drifted over.
"What's ailing you today that brings you to me, Kōe?"
"Good morning, Hana-nee!" Kōe greeted her enthusiastically before continuing, "I have some new ideas regarding Miyako's illness. Should we discuss their feasibility together?"
"You have another new idea?" Unohana was both amused and exasperated. Kōe had indeed provided quite a few ideas for dealing with Shiba Miyako's strange illness. Some were good, some were bad, and some were... well, suggestions she didn't even know how to evaluate, such as the idea that if she had no Reiatsu, her Reiatsu wouldn't conflict with itself.
In the medical system of the World of the Living, this concept would be akin to an amputation, but applying it in the Seireitei was somewhat inappropriate. Squad 4 was the medical division responsible for the Seireitei, and everyone within the Seireitei was a Shinigami with Reiatsu, not ordinary humans.
"The Academy is on break, so I have a lot of extra time to think."
Unohana nodded. Using his extra time to think was always better than faking an illness just to kill time with her. Besides, his mastery over Kidō might actually provide her with some inspiration; after all, Kaidō was just a specialized form of Kidō.
"Let's talk in the captain's office," Unohana said before leaving the room.
"Your porridge got a little cold, let me heat it up for you." Kōe reached out and used Kidō to warm the porridge on Isane's desk before immediately following after Unohana.
Kotetsu Isane stared at the white porridge, which was now steaming once again, her feelings suddenly becoming very complicated.
Lieutenant Chōzuka had actually always been a reassuring person. If he inconvenienced someone, he would try his best to make up for it. This bowl of porridge was heated perfectly, looking exactly as if it were fresh out of the pot.
But this bowl of porridge was supposed to be eaten cold! Who drinks piping hot porridge in the middle of summer?!