Soul Society, Seireitei, The 1st Division Barracks, Yamamoto’s Office.
Chōjirō Sasakibe, the lieutenant under Captain Yamamoto suddenly appeared inside the office. He cleared his throat, then knelt and said, “Captain, Captain Unohana wishes to see you.”
Yamamto, who was overlooking the Seireitei from his big balcony, didn’t turn around upon hearing Sasakibe’s voice.
Sasakibe raised his voice a little bit more, and called for him, “Captain Yamamoto!”
But the calm aura around Yamamoto didn’t waver.
Sasakibe was left in awe looking at Yamamoto’s back–– The captain truly cares about this world and its people, so much that he can’t even get his eye off it when he’s alone. Once a demon, he’s now more like a father to everyone, he truly deserves my resp…
Suddenly, Sasakibe could swear that he heard whistling coming from Yamamoto’s way!
“That’s impossible! The Captain never whistles, that’s not like him!”
Flabbergasted, Sasakibe froze in place staring at Yamamoto, whose head suddenly tilted a bit to the side, and a bubble appeared to be coming out of his nose…
“HE’S ASLEEP!”
Feeling like he was deceived, Sasakibe furiously shouted, “CAPTAIN!”
The bubble popped, but Yamamoto kept his composure, “Oh, Sasakibe, didn’t see you there.”
Sasakibe replied respectfully, “Yes, sir. I only came in now. I wanted to inform you that Captain Unohana wishes to see you.”
Yamamoto turned around upon hearing that, and said solemnly, “Tell her to go in.”
“Yes sir.” Said Sasakibe calmly, and then disappeared.
A few moments later, Retsu Unohana entered the room with a gentle smile on her face, immediately greeting Yamamoto while bowing her head, “Captain.”
Unohana and Yamamoto go way back, and the two shared many battlefields, considering that she was there when Yamamoto found the Gotei 13 as the 1st Kenpachi, so she was always welcomed at his barracks.
“Unohana, it’s a surprise to see you here, you rarely come to chat.” Yamamoto walked casually to his desk as he talked.
“Yes Captain. I wouldn't be here if all I wanted was a chat.” Unohana kept her gentle smile and calm tone as she talked.
While her words would be out of line if said by anyone else, they didn’t seem to surprise Yamamoto as he carried on walking forward until he reached his desk and sat down, “So what made you come here?” He asked solemnly.
“I came here to inform you that we have determined the names of the Shinigami related to the disappearance of the Soul Elevator. It was third seated lieutenant Isane Kotetsu and the new recruit Hanataro Yamada. Witnesses of this event said that they were escorting a new soul to the elevator, when something wrong occurred and they ended up being launched to the sky.”
“Good. Is that all you came here to say?” Yamamoto replied calmly.
“I came to ask you to gather all the captains, so we can start investigating this sudden disappearance of the two Shinigami and an A-Classified Shinigami Tool. We don’t know the one responsible for such a thing, nor do we know their intentions, but it should not be tolerated and this situation must be handeled with great care.”
“There’s no need for that.” Yamamoto chose such a short vague answer as a reply to Unohana’s pleading.
She didn’t make any reaction upon hearing those words, waiting calmly for him to share further information.
“We already know where they are.”
Unohana kept her gentle smile and waited for Yamamoto’s explaination with great patience.
“But we lost the A-Classified Shinigami Tool.”
Unohana finally cracked, her eyes widening as she said, “Impossible!”
“Yes, this incident has truly caused turmoil in the Soul Society, and now that we know exactly what happened, we need to handle it with great care,” Yamamoto stopped to take a sip out of a cup of tea on his desk as Unohana watched him, then said, “Aging makes one lose their manners! Excuse me, do you want some tea?”
“No, I’m good.” Unohana replied calmly, but Yamamoto's last sentence had finally wiped her smile off her face.
“Uhm,” Yamamoto cleared his throat in distress, and then took out a sealed letter with the Royal Guard emblem out of his sleeves, saying, “I have received a letter from the Royal Guards, saying that the elevator ended up in the Soul King Palace, but got destroyed at the crash, and that Jan will return to Soul Society with the two Shinigami in seven days.”
Unohana was surprised to hear about the Royal Guards, but was mostly interested in something else, “Who’s Jan?”
“It should be the name of that newcomer.” Yamamoto said calmly.
“But why did they mention him in the letter by name?” Unohana asked.
“That, is what I want to know.” Yamamoto said solemnly.
Unohana pondered for a moment, then said, “What should we do with them when they return?”
“The Royal Guards ordered us to not bother Jan as he’s considered untouchable,” Yamamoto said then leaned at the back of his chair, “They insisted that the Gotei 13 and Central 46 should allow him and the two Shinigami to normally resume their lives within Soul Society.”
“The Royal Guards usually never interfere with Soul Society, but you seem to be fine with this!”
“Since they’ve added that at the end of the letter, I guessed that it means one or two of them have already violated some laws that Central 46 wouldn’t tolerate usually. We have allowed Central 46 to exist to bring order to Soul Society, but in recent years, I’ve felt that they’ve got so much over their heads. I guess that after bearing them for 1000 years they’ve truly become a pain in the a…"
Yamamoto did not finish her words. He just sighed and said: "Look at me, I guess aging truly makes one lose their manners...”
“No, it’s okay.” Unohana shook her head with her gentle smile returning her face.
“The Royal Guards' authority is higher than anyone within soul society and everyone must follow their orders. Thus, Jan and these two Shinigami shouldn’t be bothered by anyone once they return.” Yamamoto said firmly, “However, since one of these two Shinigami is a third seated lieutenant in your division, I expect that you would obtain further information about what exactly happened there.”
“Yes Sir.” Unohana replied respectfully.
Yamamoto stood up with an air of frailty, then sighed, “Seven days, huh?!“ He pondered for a moment, then his posture straightened up, and said firmly, “When they return seven days from now, we will be there to greet them.”
“Sasakibe!” Yamamoto shouted.
Sasakibe instantly Flash-Stepped in, kneeling, “Yes, sir.”
“Call all the captains, we’re going to have an urgent meeting.”
……..
Seven days later, at night.
Shunsui Kyoraku, who was standing in the middle of the left line of captains, suddenly sighed, “Oh dear, it seems that we got stood up.”
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Thanks for the chapter, though I hope to see the main character in the next one
Tftc