My Brother-in-Law... No, Lieutenant Shiba

"The Thirteenth Division? They're short on manpower?"

"The Captain-Commander knows about your situation. He has no objection to you staying in the Fourth Division, but you'll need to help out in the other divisions regularly."

"Can I refuse?"

"No."

"Can I just not go?"

"No."

Wang Chuan resigned himself to his fate, then suddenly thought of Aizen. "Does that mean I'll have to go to every division eventually?"

"No. It depends on which division requests extra manpower. If several divisions apply at once, you can pick one. If no one applies, the Captain-Commander will make the arrangements. That's how it will work for the time being."

"How long will I be there?"

"Four months, then four months back in the Fourth Division. Repeat."

"All right."

"They've recently taken in new recruits and are rather busy, so they want you over there as soon as possible. Hehe."

Seeing the look of misery on Wang Chuan's face, Unohana laughed aloud.

... The despairing dividing line where vacation was about to disappear ...

"Hello, I'm Wang Chuan from the Fourth Division, reporting for duty. Could you tell me how to get to the captain's office?"

After arriving at the Thirteenth Division barracks, Wang Chuan stopped a passing squad member to ask.

Seeing Wang Chuan in his shihakusho and carrying his reporting documents, the squad member pointed him in the right direction.

"Captain Ukitake, why did you ask for Wang Chuan to come over? I know the rumors say he's strong enough to defeat two Gillians on his own, but we're not that short on people, are we?" Kaien Shiba sounded somewhat displeased.

"Cough, cough. His strength isn't just a rumor, so the Captain-Commander wants me to help assess his situation."

"The Captain-Commander?"

Shiba said no more. He was merely unhappy that someone from another division had come to work in theirs, making the Thirteenth Division look incompetent.

Since it was the Captain-Commander's order, there was no need to do anything more.

He could also guess at some of the reasons Wang Chuan had been assigned to the Thirteenth Division. It was no secret that their captain was the Captain-Commander's disciple. Besides, their captain had been seriously ill for years, so they really did need a strong squad member to help out.

Knock, knock—

"Excuse me, is Captain Ukitake here?"

"Come in."

"Captain Ukitake, I'm Wang Chuan from the Fourth Division, reporting for duty. Here are my documents."

"Kaien, could you take care of that? Cough, cough." Jūshirō Ukitake coughed for a while. "Sorry, my health isn't very good."

"I could take a look. I'm not particularly skilled, so I probably can't cure you, but I do know a little healing kido. I should be able to make you more comfortable, Captain Ukitake."

"Sorry for the trouble."

"Not at all."

With that, Wang Chuan began his examination. He actually knew the cause of Jūshirō Ukitake's illness.

Jūshirō Ukitake had sacrificed his lungs and become the Soul King's Right Arm's Jinchūriki, gaining immense power in the process.

Wang Chuan guessed that, just like a Jinchūriki in the Shinobi World, Jūshirō Ukitake would die if the Soul King's Right Arm were removed. After all, he no longer had lungs and was relying entirely on the Soul King's Right Arm to keep him alive.

So there was no cure for his illness. All Wang Chuan could do was ease his pain or make him cough less.

After failing to find the cause of the illness with healing kido, Wang Chuan began treating him with it. A soft green light emerged from his hands.

After a while, Jūshirō Ukitake felt a little better, though he knew it was only temporary.

A light sweat beaded on Wang Chuan's forehead as he stopped. "Although I couldn't figure out the cause of your serious illness, Captain Ukitake, this should ease it a little."

"Thank you. I do feel much better."

"That's good."

The two smiled at each other.

Watching from the side, Kaien Shiba also felt a little more favorable toward this Fourth Division member who had come to "muscle in on their work."

"Kaien will help you get familiar with the work. If you need anything afterward, feel free to come to me."

"Thank you, Captain Ukitake."

And so Wang Chuan began following Kaien Shiba around on the Thirteenth Division's missions.

He also met Kiyone Kotetsu, Sentarō Kotsubaki, Miyako Shiba, and Rukia Kuchiki.

Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentarō Kotsubaki were like a comedy duo, always providing laughs and sneaking drinks during the day.

Miyako Shiba, Kaien Shiba's wife, was a gentle, graceful Yamato nadeshiko.

Rukia Kuchiki was a goofy, adorable rookie.

The atmosphere in the division was excellent overall, relaxed and harmonious.

Wang Chuan hadn't had many chances to fight these past few days and had mostly handled the healing. After all, Kaien Shiba was strong, and with a group of squad members who worked well together, the battles against Hollows had gone smoothly.

After another Hollow hunt in the field, Wang Chuan was tending to the wounded.

"Say, Wang Chuan, are you really that strong?"

"I'm average, I guess."

As he spoke to Kiyone Kotetsu, who was completely sober because she hadn't been drinking before the battle, Wang Chuan continued treating the wounded and held up his thumb and forefinger with his free hand to show how strong he was.

"Then how do you compare to my sister?"

"Lieutenant Isane? I've never sparred with her, so I'm not really sure. But I'm a healer, after all, so my strength is nothing special."

Kiyone Kotetsu rolled her eyes at Wang Chuan. As for this guy who called himself a healer, she took whatever he said with a grain of salt.

She knew her own sister. Although her strength was average, she at least had a Shikai. She was no match for a Captain-level fighter, but she wasn't weak among lieutenants. Even without sparring, someone who spent time with her every day should have some idea of her strength.

But this guy hadn't given her a straight answer. It was all evasions.

Kaien Shiba, who had finished assigning tasks to the squad members, wasn't interested in Wang Chuan's strength.

He was more impressed by Wang Chuan's healing kido. Over the past few days, many squad members had recovered noticeably faster, so he wanted to become better acquainted with him.

"Wang Chuan, you're off tomorrow. If you have time, how about we go out together?"

"Sure."

"Then meet at my place tomorrow at noon."

The next day, at nine in the morning, outside the Shiba residence.

Wang Chuan had woken up naturally at the miserable hour of six. His body clock had been reshaped for work. A sad story.

"Wang Chuan, you're here. It's still early, so come in and have a seat."

Wang Chuan had just raised his hand to knock when Kaien Shiba spotted him, having just returned from his morning training. Wang Chuan then followed him into the Shiba residence.

Boom—

They had barely entered when a tremendous explosion rang out. Wang Chuan's hand flew to his Zanpakuto.

Kaien Shiba, leading the way, looked a little awkward. "It's fine. Someone in the family probably had a small problem with an experiment."

Wang Chuan relaxed, but still gave Kaien Shiba a strange look. You call that a small problem?

The look left Kaien Shiba visibly embarrassed.

"Come on, let's have some tea first."

"Shouldn't we do something about that?"

"It's fine. I'm used to it."

Ignoring Wang Chuan's increasingly strange looks, Kaien Shiba simply led the way.

After the two of them had wound their way through the residence for a while, Wang Chuan marveled inwardly. As expected of one of the Five Great Noble Clans: even in decline, they were still beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Suddenly, a woman came out ahead of them, her face and clothes marked with patches of black and white.

Her long black hair was divided into two bunches, and she wore a headscarf. On her upper body was a short red top bearing the Shiba Clan's "falling sky, collapsing whirlpool" crest in the center. Below it was a long, slit white skirt, though it was hard to tell whether it was one piece of cloth or two.

Looking at the woman before him, whose figure stretched her already short top even shorter, Wang Chuan suddenly connected her to the explosion and realized who she was.

Kūkaku Shiba.

Come to think of it, she was quite famous too, though not at this point.

Ichigo Kurosaki, the protagonist later on, was her cousin.

After Kaien Shiba and Miyako Shiba both died in battle, she became the new head of the Shiba Clan and upheld its standing.

She also practiced a rare profession in Soul Society: fireworks maker.

And she was an exceptionally skilled one at that. The Kakaku Cannon she built could even fire the Tenchūren, the vehicle carrying Ichigo and his companions, through seventy-two layers of barriers and up to the Soul King Palace.

This was a secret art unique to the Shiba Clan. Even the Twelfth Division under Mayuri Kurotsuchi couldn't reproduce it completely and could only make a single-use version.

All in all, she might not have been very strong, but her preservation and use of the Shiba Clan's secret arts, as well as her steadfast character, were truly worthy of admiration.

"Big brother, do you have a guest?"

"Yes. Did you fail again?"

"Stop nagging. I'm going to wash up. Go entertain your guest."

Without paying Wang Chuan any attention, she walked straight away on her own.

"Sorry, that's just how my little sister is."

"She has a forthright personality. Hmm, a lot like you, Captain Shiba."

"Is that so? Hahahaha." Kaien Shiba laughed for a while, then continued, "Come on, let's have some tea."

As Kaien Shiba laughed on, Wang Chuan wasn't sure whether it was because he had praised his sister or because he had called him captain.

Either way, Kaien Shiba was in a good mood, so it made no difference.

Wang Chuan shrugged and followed him.

Before long, they reached the tea room. It was the same routine as with Retsu Unohana back then: a tea ceremony that took forever before he could drink even a little tea.

It was also difficult to talk to Kaien Shiba during the ceremony. Supposedly, conversation could easily disturb the atmosphere of the tea ceremony.

Wang Chuan couldn't sense any particular atmosphere. He thought it was more likely that he and Kaien Shiba didn't know each other well, and since he'd arrived too early, neither knew what to say. So they had simply resorted to a tea ceremony to get through the awkward stretch. Once more people arrived, there would be no need to worry about awkwardness.

Before long, Kaien Shiba brought out a cup of tea and handed it to Wang Chuan with an expectant look. "Have a taste and see what you think of my tea ceremony."

Seeing the expectation on Kaien Shiba's face, Wang Chuan suddenly had a bad feeling.

But the host had spent so long preparing it that it would be hard to justify not taking a few sips.

He accepted the cup and took a small sip.

Yep, that settled it. Kaien Shiba really didn't know the tea ceremony. He was just using it to pass the time.

"Kaien, are you inflicting your tea ceremony on someone again?"

Miyako Shiba entered the tea room carrying a tray of snacks.

Wang Chuan thought, Well, well, this isn't the first time.

With Miyako Shiba exposing him, Kaien Shiba launched into a whole spiel: how could anything to do with the tea ceremony be called inflicting harm? It was art, refinement.

As he went on, even he couldn't hold back his laughter, and soon the air was filled with the three of them laughing happily.

In the middle of laughing, Wang Chuan suddenly froze. Had he already become part of the group?

Kaien Shiba's interest in making friends really wasn't just talk, was it?

A man in the lofty position of lieutenant had shown his shortcomings, and when exposed, he hadn't flown into a rage out of embarrassment. Instead, he had laughed along with them.

Handled poorly, something like that could easily come across as contrived and awkward. Wang Chuan didn't think he could do it himself; he didn't have the talent.

They ate, drank, and chatted, and time passed little by little.

The others Kaien Shiba had invited also began to arrive one after another.