“Hirotomaru…” Yamada repeated the name, then smiled, “Thank you, Tenjiro-San!”

“Humph.” Tenjiro snorted and then turned to the other side, saying, “You can call me Aniki...”

Yamada’s eyes welled with tears, and he couldn’t help but smile cheerfully, while Nimaiya was left dumbfounded as he watched them, “When did these two bond so well?!”

“He’s a good kid; he grew so much under Tenjiro’s care too,” Ichibe said.

“Tell me about it, he really did grow up, the guy looks completely different.” Nimaiya said with a wry smile, “But I don’t know if he will be able to control that Zanpakuto. He might look different, but he didn’t get stronger.”

Ichibe put his hand on his chin, “He didn’t get stronger, you say…” He said then started stroking his beard, “I wasn’t talking about his power or his physique when I said he grew.”

“What were ya talking about then?!” Nimaiya was confused.

“I believe he was strong already; he just didn’t have it in him before.” Ichibe said, “This place helped him grow both physically and spiritually.”

“I don’t know about the spiritual part…” Nimaiya said as he watched Yamada crying and shouting out loud ‘ANIKIIIII!’

“He did, but he’s not the most impressive one.” Ichibe looked at Isane who was talking and laughing with Kirio.

“Those two bonded as well!” Nimaiya looked a bit sad.

While Nimaiya has a tendency of being loud and cheerful, this was mostly a coping mechanism he used to alleviate the pressure of his lonely life. At some point, he started to manifest an abundance of Zanpakuto spirits as cheerful, beautiful entities, just to have someone around. But these ‘creations’ were not enough to replace true company.

“Well…” Nimaiya sighed, “It seems like the only people who didn’t find someone to bond with are me, you, and Senjumaru…”

The thought brought him laughter, “Senjumaru… Hahaha! Just imagine that, Ichibe san!”

“I don’t need to imagine; just look over there,” Ichibe said calmly and pointed at the end of the table.

When Nimaiya looked in that direction, he saw Senjumaru Shutara sitting next to Jan, resting her head on the palm of her hand, and observing him eating with what looked like a lovely smile showing on her face..

“WHAT?!!!!” Nimaiya exclaimed and it caught everyone’s attention, and then he quickly walked toward Senjumaru with googly eyes, “W-What?!”

Everyone quickly gathered around the table in confusion. None of the Royal Guards members had ever seen her behave like this, and before Senjumaru could even bring herself to answer Nimaiya, Isane freaked out, “K-Kirio-San, W-W-W-W-What is she doing?!!!”

“What? I thought I was invited too.” Senjumaru looked at him and then looked at Isane, before snorting and looking away.

Both were women… As soon as Isane saw her reaction, quick calculations went through her head, and she instantly knew for sure: It was on!

Yamada looked back and forth, and then looked at Tenjiro and said, “I know why this one is freaking out,” pointing at Isane, who had steam beginning to come out of her head as Kirio was trying to calm her down, and then looked at Nimaiya who was still stunned and continued, “But why is he freaking out?!”

“I’ve known Senjumaru for thousands of years, yet I never imagined that she’s capable of having such an expression. If I cared even a little I would freak out as well.”

“Then you never saw me interested in something,” Senjumaru spoke, and then with one of her six golden skeletal artificial arms, she fed Jan a dumpling.

By this point, it looked less like a woman feeding a man, and more like her feeding a grinder that destroyed everything thrown its way…

Still, even with how emotionless Jan made the process, Nimaiya freaked out even more and started roaming back and forth screaming, “She’s feeding him! SHE’S FEEDING HIM!!!”

Ichibe had to literally stop him at that point, holding his head in place with his big hand to eventually stop his feet that kept going for a second “Calm down, calm down.”

After that, he looked at Senjumaru and said, “Did you prepare it?!”

“No, I need to take measurements first,” She replied very seriously, and then she looked at Jan and continued, “So I have to take this one with me.”

“What about the girl?!” Ichibe said.

“I already took her measurements, and I’m not interested in seeing her naked body,” Senjumaru said and then flickered her fingers.

“N-N-Naked?!” Isane repeated with reddened cheeks.

“No way!” Yamada also said with reddened cheeks, “Why am I ruled out of this?!”

Tenjiro smacked the back of Yamada’s head, “Stop acting like a perv! I already gave you the special Oken clothing, so you don’t need one. However, they do, since that is the only way for you to withstand the friction that comes with breaking through the 72 barriers between the Soul King Palace and Soul Society as you go down.”

Tenjiro's explanation fell on deaf ears, as Yamada was still bemoaning about not taking part in this, until Tenjiro took him to a corner and explained how this experience can be really painful and hurtful to one’s pride, and that he actually did him a favor, relieving him from this. Yamada then had to nod in understanding, but deep down, he was still cursing his luck…

“Hey, skeleton woman! I’m not gonna let Jan go with you alone, and I have never let you take my measurements!” Isane took a stance.

Senjumaru hummed playfully, and then she pointed at her body without saying any words.

A few seconds went by as Isane stared at Senjumaru’s finger, and eventually, she had no option but to look down at her own body, just to find that her outfit had already changed!

She was now donning a white, turban-like headpiece covering the upper half of her head and trailing off to her shoulders; a tasseled muffler covering her mouth; and a white cape with a thick, light-colored hem worn over her Shihakushō.

“What?! When?! This is impossible!” Isane covered her body with her hands embarrassedly.

Senjumaru snorted, and then glared at her, "Swift work is my biggest strength. Understand, Shinigami, never underestimate the name of Senjumaru.”

Isane felt irritated but she still fought back. She quickly grabbed Jan, who hadn’t stopped eating this entire time, by his arm and said, “I’m not going to let you take him!”

“If you won’t let go, I’m gonna take your arm with him!” Senjumaru threatened, and her six golden arms suddenly started swaying creepily.

Fortunately, Ichibe quickly stopped her, “Now, now, you don’t need to act this way; these are our guests!”

“Fine, I’ll just do it here,” She said and then quickly turned to Jan, immediately starting to strip him out of his clothes as he continued to eat…

“NO!” Isane exclaimed with a reddened face, “Just take him!”

Senjumaru snorted and then looked at the state Jan was in, and she had no choice but to put him inside one of her white spheres.

……..

Two minutes later, inside Senjumaru Shutara's palace…

At the top of the set of stairs, sitting on her medium-sized cushioned seat made of wooden bars, Senjumaru smiled and then said, “Now take all of your clothes, Jan.”

“Yes,” Jan replied solemnly, then immediately started taking off his clothes, which made Senjurama hum playfully.

Out of all the new characters that were introduced in the last arc of the Manga, Senjurama was the only one that left a strong impression on Jan, she was the most mysterious, and the most scary one out of all the members of the Royal Guards. After she took their measurements, Rukia didn’t even want to recall what happened to her and Renji in Senjurama’s palace, and when the latter was opposed by literally anyone her threats has always involved cutting body parts, she even threatened Renji that she will cut his thingy when he refused to strip off his clothes… A woman like this Jan decided that he should never oppose.

After taking off his white garment, Jan was surprised to find that he was wearing a white Fundoshi underneath. However, without any hesitation, he started taking that off as well but was interrupted by Senjurama, who suddenly stood next to him.

“I did this numerous times, but there was never someone brave like you who just took off his clothes without arguing.”

Jan looked at her and gulped heavily, thinking to himself, ‘I just don’t want you to cut my thing…’

Senjurama looked straight into Jan’s eyes amusingly, and then she slowly looked down at the lower part of his body and said, “Now carry on.”

“Yes, ma’am.”