NOVEL NEXT Chapter 309: Aftermath
(3rd's pov)
Currently, Squad 4's headquarters are busier than they have been in a long time. All the members are running around in haste, moving around the medical equipment and checking on the patients.
Multiple Captains and Lieutenants were hospitalized because of the Quincy invasion, some more damaged than others, but in the end, Squad 4 was overworked. It didn't help that some patients were more rowdy.
"Captain Ryoto! Please stay in your bed! You are still injured and not in a condition that you should be moving!" A member of Squad 4 begged Ryoto, who just stood up from his bed.
"Don't be like that. I need to move around a bit. I also want to check on others. You are not heartless enough to stop a loving father and lover from checking on his family, are you?"
Ryoto asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly trying to pull some emotional strings on the poor medic. He almost succeeded, but it all stopped when a new medic arrived.
"I would kindly ask you to stop trying to emotionally manipulate my squad member, Captain Ryoto."
Hearing this voice, Ryoto flinched, and the reason was understandable since it was the voice of the Captain of Squad 4, Retsu Unohana.
"Captain Unohana." Ryoto started with fake excitement. "Do you truly believe that I would steep so low as to manipulate this poor little guy? Do you really think so lowly of me? I'm just a worried father and lover." Ryoto wiped the nonexistent tear. "This lack of trust really hurts, you know."
Before Ryoto even finished his performance, Unohana allowed a low-ranked medic to exit the room since she would take over for now.
Seeing that they are alone, Ryoto stops his charade and turns slightly more serious.
"Can't you let me see the others, Unohana? I promise I'll return to bed after I confirm that everything is alright."
Unohana eyed Ryoto carefully.
"As a doctor, I should advise you against moving at all costs. The wounds you sustained during the fight were very dangerous and are still currently in danger of opening up. For unknown reasons, your body stopped regenerating your skin tissues like you showed me before, not that it would help much with how deep the wounds were. It probably would save you from receiving your newest scar. People often say that your body is a biography, but with all your scars, it's more true in your case than most others."
The true reason for Ryoto losing his poisonous blood and other abilities was unknown to Unohana but not to Ryoto. The reason he 'regained' them in the first place was because of the Soul King, and when the connection with the Soul King in the form of a pole or rather a buried arrow left Ryoto's inner world, so did end the connection and whatever Soul King did to Ryoto.
Names have power, so when Soul King bestowed a letter to Ryoto, practically giving him his name, he was able to restore the powers of 'Ryoto Yuuki' to Ryoto Yuuki. It was somehow a loophole only available to Soul King since he was the one upholding all of this world's realms.
"Buuut..." Ryoto wanted Unohana to continue talking since she 'said as a doctor'.
"But I know that trying to stop you would probably do more harm to you. However, I'm asking you not to strain yourself too much. I don't wish for you to increase my workload more than necessary."
Hearing her answer, Ryoto allowed himself to smile a little.
"Thank you, Unohana. I know that I'm not saying it too often, but I really appreciate everything you have done for me and for us. I don't know what would happen without you."
This time, it was Unohana's turn to smile.
"Think nothing of it. We are family, after all. I'm sure you are aware of it, but I think of Isane as my daughter. I found her and gave her a name, and you made her happy. Pulled her out of her shell and gave her a son and a loving family. Bigger and stranger than ever imagined, but a family nonetheless. It's natural then that I see you as a son-in-law. I couldn't thank you enough for what you've done. Just as you are thankful to me, I'm thankful to you, so let's just say that we are even, and don't forget that you can always ask me for help if needed, and I'll do the same."
(Ryoto's pov)
I really thought it would take a lot more to convince Unohana, but I should listen to her and try not to reopen my wounds, so I'll take my time walking.
First, I'll see my children. All of them who still need to be cared for are in one room. I entered the room without knocking, a bad habit I developed since I'm usually a top boss everywhere I go. I can also sense anything inside the room.
There were 3 beds in the room, but only 2 were occupied. Masaru and Akio were in that room since Gin was barely injured in his fight. The same could be said about Rangiku and Yukima, although to a lesser degree, and I'm thankful for that.
"How is it, boys? Hope that hospital food is up to your standards."
"Dad... You know that no one can cook better than you. The closest one is Mom, but even she can't compare to you." Masaru answered with a strained smile, to which I replied with my own smile.
"Stroke my ego even more. I feel like I'm not praised enough for my cooking." Joking aside, I decided to change the topic to the one I came here for and dropped my easygoing smile. "How are you two feeling?"
"Not bad, Dad. I wasn't that injured in the first place, and I'm still weak after using up all my Reiatsu."
Masaru answered truthfully, but in the end, he started losing focus as he turned his head towards his younger brother, who was bandaged to the point he almost looked like a mummy. He was feeling guilty.
"Masaru, stop."
"Huh?" I regained his attention.
"Akio chose to save you, so don't disrespect his choice to save his oldest brother. You would do the same for him, and so would I for all of you." I moved what I had left of my left arm with a slight smirk to emphasize that what I was saying was the truth. "Don't feel too down about it. Sometimes things like these just happen, and the only thing you can do is to accept it and live on."
Now into my other son.
"And how about my fellow scarred man. Still in pain, I assume."
As I talked with Masaru, Akio stayed quiet, and the older siblings will probably do the same.
"...Better. It still hurts, but members of Squad 4 said that it will pass in a week or two. Of course, the scars will stay."
"That's good, that's good..." It's gotten a bit awkward now that I don't know what to say. I still need to tell them that I'll be leaving with Rin soon, but it will need to wait until they are healed.
"I would love to stay with both of you, but I shouldn't even get out of bed. I only came to check on you, and since I already did it, I should go. I'll visit Rin and return to bed before Isane and Unohana team up to tie me to bed, and not in a fun way."
My last comment caused my sons to cringe, but soon after, they smiled at me.
"We understand. Thanks for coming anyway, but you should take better care of your body. We still have a lot to learn from you."
I waved my hand and exited the room.
---
I walked slowly toward Rin's room, and I somehow got the feeling that she was waiting for me. Opening the door, my suspicions were proven right, as Rin was looking directly at me.
"You should be in bed." She said,
"And I will be after. I'm sure that everything is alright."
I answered as I closed the door behind me and went to a chair next to the bed. I sat there in comfortable silence. We usually don't need to say anything to understand each other, but it feels stronger than before. It has been like this since we fought with Aizen, and right now, she is feeling a bit shaken.
"You used your Bankai on me." I started, and Rin's expression changed from her mask in the form of a small smile to a shock.
"How...?"
"It was pretty obvious. At first, I didn't have time to think about it, so I pushed it to the back of my head during my fight with Yhwach and his right-hand man. I was stabbed in the shoulder, but the pain vanished almost instantly. The next time I see you, you have a new wound on your shoulder in the exact place where I got hit."
Rin looked embarrassed at how badly she had hidden it, but to her credit, she didn't exactly try to hide it since she probably wanted to tell me that soon.
"Also, have you looked in the mirror lately? You cut the connection between our eyes, but one of your eyes stayed blue."
At the moment, Rin had one of her eyes blue and the other brown.
"So I've been told..." Rin turned quiet before speaking again. "Ryoto... I apologize for doing that. I know that I said multiple times that I won't allow you to die before I say so, but doing that by linking our lives is something entirely different. I don't regret what I did, and I would do it again, but I'm sorry that I couldn't discuss that with you before doing that."
"I know. Literally, at this point, thanks to our connection. But..." I flicked Rin's forehead.
"Please think about your health before trying to help me."
"As if you should be the one to tell me." She answered with a small smile while being slightly annoyed as she rubbed her forehead.
Now, onto the main topic. I'm slightly nervous saying that, but she'll discover it soon enough. She feels my emotions but thankfully can't read my mind, which means that she knows that I plan on telling something and waits patiently.
"Rin... in about one and half weeks from now... we are going back. Home, I mean."
That was the biggest news I delivered ever, and it showed in Rin's emotions. A whirlpool of emotions flashed through her at the same time until they finally settled on acceptance.
"I see... So it's finally time."
"Yeah..."
Once again, we stayed silent until Rin decided to ask me a question that also wandered through my mind.
"Do you think that we'll manage to fit into ordinary life again?"
"Probably with time. Just like everything, it will take time. How does it feel knowing that you'll be back working under Saki?" I asked, curious about her answer. Although I could probably make a very accurate educated guess, we respect each other enough to wait for an out-loud answer.
"Strange... Nostalgic in some ways. When I was young, I thought that I would serve Saki- excuse me, Saki-sama, my whole life. It was my entire world, but today, being here over 250 years later, that was a small part of my whole life. Working under someone weaker and younger than me will be something unique but not exactly new. I mean, I was Saki..-sama's bodyguard before, but it feels like child's play compared to being a Captain. I even stopped calling her 'Saki-sama' in my head. I guess I'll need to get used to doing that again. But it could feel like a nice vacation compared to whatever happens in Soul Society."
"I guess... I think we earned our retirement. Forced or otherwise."
"I can't disagree... Have you told anyone about this?"
I shook my head. "You are the first. I thought that you deserved to be the first to know. I decided to tell everyone after we will be discharged."
Rin nodded her head and hummed.
"How will you explain our absence to others?"
"I already have an idea, but I'm not sure you'll like it." I managed to grin as I thought about my stupid idea, and Rin could only sigh as she knew that whatever I had in mind wasn't the smartest, but it definitely would be funny.
Now that we were done with our serious talk, it was time for me to return before someone grabbed me by the collar and dragged me back by force.
---
It took about a week before we were all relatively healed and could leave Squad 4 headquarters. The first thing I did when we returned home was to cook a feast for everyone. I think they deserved it, and since my cooking was reserved for at most once a week or special occasions, it was mostly Rin who cooked since she enjoyed it.
There was also a Captain meeting, and the main topic was the Quincy invasion and Aizen's betrayal. In the case of the first issue, it was mostly solved as all the Quincies who invaded were dead. Most, if not all, Sternritters were killed by Yhwach himself when he activated The Almighty, and I killed the last standing Quincy enemy. There are, of course, Quincy communities in the Living World, but they had nothing to do with this whole 'war,' but that's beside the issue.
The second problem is Aizen. He escaped Soul Society together with Tosen, Captain of Squad 9. Komamura took the news hard.
We don't know his current location, but thanks to the Arrancars' testimony, there's a lot of suspicion of him being in Hueco Mundo. Many witnesses saw Tier, her Fraccion, and Starrk fighting the Quincies, and I stepped in, saying that they were with me and explaining how I met them.
I gave my word to everyone that they weren't dangerous in the slightest, and since Central 46 is dead thanks to the former Captain of Squad 5, I only needed to convince Yama-jii, and it was... easy. Surprisingly. Although they will still need to be under supervision of someone and I choose Kisuke. Better be in the Living World than be anywhere near Mayuri.
After the whole thing with Yhwach, Yama-jii wasn't in the best state of mind. Not that he was doing anything stupid, but it felt like he was constantly somewhere else with his mind, thinking about something.
I mean, I get it. His worst enemy returned, almost killed him, nearly destroyed Sereitei, and almost killed his student. I don't doubt that he'll bounce right back soon enough. He is Captain Commander, and he has been in this position for over a thousand years.
I also mentioned Ryouka and how they opposed Aizen's plan to save Rukia Kuchiki. I may have exaggerated a bit, but no one will know.
Most importantly, I dug out all the evidence I had, plus what we 'learned' today, to get a pardon on Yoruichi, Urahara, and Tessai. I managed to do it, to Mayuri's dismay, so I say it was a win-win.
Soon after the meeting, Rin and I explained how we would return to our world soon. The whole conversation was difficult because it was a difficult topic to even discuss. It's just so unbelievable. The meeting was full of explanations, hugs, crying, and even laughs. I needed to clarify to everyone that it didn't mean that I wouldn't ever see them. I would probably return or maybe create a portal that would allow us to visit whenever we wanted.
Soon, it's time to leave.
---
Today is the day that I'll leave with Rin and return to Sainan, our hometown. We decided to meet in Urahara's Study Chamber. Before that, I said my goodbyes to everyone I was relatively close to. Sometimes, in person, and other times, I just left a letter like in the case of Yama-jii. They were all surprised by my sudden departure, but they could do nothing but bid me farewell and wish me a good life. Also after long discussion with Kisuke we decided that I should take Hogyoku with me so Aizen wouldn't be able to take it as he planned. I didn't really want to take this little plot device but it was a best choice so I did it anyway.
The only ones present here were my family, Yoruichi, Isane, Masaru, Akio, Yukima, Gin, Rangiku, plus Urahara, Starrk, Tier and Tres Bestias and Soi Fon. We were waiting patiently for the moment Rin and I would vanish, but if I remember correctly, it wouldn't be sudden unless something had changed.
"I think it's the first time a group this big is waiting for me."
No one noticed when this person with short platinum-colored hair and a cigarette appeared, and that was surprising since there were multiple Captain-level Shinigami here. They were ready to attack, but I stopped them.
"Don't worry. He is an acquaintance."
"Only an acquaintance?" He asked me.
"We met only once over two centuries ago. You don't expect me to see you as a friend, do you?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Fair enough, but before we go to business, I have a proposition for you."
That made me curious. A proposition?
"For reasons I'm not allowed to share, you got a chance. An emergency mission if you will. It's not that kind of mission." He refrained from speaking about the system, but I was sure that it was what he meant about 'that kind of mission'. "All you need to do is to cook something for a certain group of people. I'll send you there, you complete your mission and get your arm back. That's all. I'll even give you a bonus and allow you to regain all of your abilities there."
Now, that was something I wasn't expecting, but I wasn't the first to ask about the details.
"Can you really get Ryoto's arm back?" Rin asked.
"Not me exactly, but he can get it back, yes." Truck-kun answered.
"Can I go with him?" Rin said, not wanting to leave my side despite the fact that we can't really be separated anymore.
"I don't see why not. It's not an official mission, after all." He finally answered after thinking about it for a short time while rubbing his chin. I also see that you made your decision, so I won't waste any more of your time, so let's get going. And don't worry—the whole thing shouldn't take longer than 24 hours, so before you know it, you'll get home. "
"Wait, before I go I have one last thing to do."
I went to kiss all my children on their forehead as a last goodbye, went to kiss Isane and Yoruichi passionately and some children fake gagged while others averted their eyes or tried to avoid looking inconspicuously. After that I approached Kisuke and stood in front of him for uncomfortable amount of time as if I was to kiss him but it only ended with a handshake. I bet he was disappointed. After that it was Starrk and Lilynette's turn and I handshaked the former and patted the head of the latter.
Soi Fon didn't want to show any signs of affection but I did give her headpat anyway which she reluctantly accepted. I also left some last minute advice for everyone.
The last but not least was Tier and her Fraccion. I started with the trio of Arrancars under Tier and patted heads of Franceska and Sung-Sun. Apacci refused the headpat though. Shame. When I finally approached Tier she expected an usual goodbye, a headpat maybe but she was in for a surprise as I zipped down her jacked to show the lower part of her face and pecked her on where her lips were. It was super effective as she didn't know what to do and stood frozen.
"I'm ready" I announced after being done.
"Now, without any further delay, let's go."
---
With a snap of my fingers, my whole vision went white, and even before I regained it, words flew out of my mind while some information entered my head.
"Servant class, Foreigner. Ryoto Yuuki. I answered your call, however temporary it may be."
"Servant class, also Foreigner. Rin Yuuki. Two people and two bodies we may be, but we are one in spirit. One Heroic Spirit, two people."
It seems like the same thing happened to Rin, but whatever it was felt familiar. I soon regained my vision of seeing two girls and an animal. One had short lilac hair, and the other had shoulder-length red hair tied in a side ponytail. She had a wide smile as if she got an early Christmas present. The gears in my brain started rotating as I began to remember why they seemed familiar, but when my eyes landed on the white-furred animal, all my senses started screaming at me that it was the most dangerous thing I'd ever met and I could die at any moment. There was this primal fear that I hadn't felt ever in my life. Even meeting the Soul King for the first time couldn't compare to this.
My whole body tensed as my hand reached for my sword. I didn't draw it, but I grabbed it tightly by the handle.
And then I released Conqueror Haki at full power with that thing as my target.
---
END
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