Your Name

"Kid, stop right there."

Jidanbō, the guard of the West Hakutōmon, yawned as he stood in Dōsan's way, holding two great axes.

"Hey, kid, you think you can force your way through my Hakutōmon without a pass? Hah... And you even picked such a late hour. Do you think a good gatekeeper would fall asleep? Hah..."

The last time Dōsan had disguised himself as a Soul Reaper, he had managed to slip through with Rangiku, but this time, it clearly wouldn't be so easy.

"My sincerest apologies, but..."

"No buts. Get going, get going. Don't disturb my sleep, or even in the middle of the night, I'll send your blood splattering five paces."

Didn't you just say you didn't sleep?

Uh...

Dōsan wanted to introduce the young captain, but then he remembered he didn't know her name at all. He could only straighten her unconscious body and turn her face toward Jidanbō.

Jidanbō waved his arms. "Don't think I'll let you in just because you're bringing me a wife. We have rules too."

That was what he said, but the rules didn't say he couldn't look. Jidanbō quietly turned his meter-high head.

Once he looked, he couldn't turn away.

"This is... This is..." Sweat streamed down Jidanbō's face.

Dōsan pricked up his ears, his heart beating faster. Was he finally going to learn the young captain's name?

"Commander of the Punishment Force!"

As he spoke, Jidanbō somehow pulled a copy of Seireitei Communication from inside his robes, one smaller than his palm. Like a student sneaking a peek at a comic book, he glanced between Dōsan and the publication, comparing them.

Although the reporter hadn't photographed Dōsan's face from the front, the Shiba Clan crest had been captured clear as day.

It's him.

A good portion of Jidanbō's sleepiness vanished. There was a sizable reward for supplying news to Seireitei Communication now, enough to cover a month's expenses for those poor orphans in Rukongai.

"All right, you can go in."

Dōsan nodded and was just turning his head when an axe chopped into the path ahead, cutting him off.

"Although the commander of the Punishment Force may enter, you may not."

"She's badly injured and can't move on her own." Dōsan didn't think there was time to argue. The young captain was out of danger, after all, and this big oaf didn't seem like a bad person. "Then, sir, could you help me take her for treatment?"

"No, I'm responsible for guarding the Hakutōmon!"

Dōsan: (?°?°?)

"Then let me in."

"No..."

Click. Dōsan drew his Zanpakuto and held it upright before his chest. In a battle between Soul Reapers, size wasn't what mattered.

"Wait! You're the commander-in-chief's man. I wouldn't dare make an enemy of you!"

Dōsan missed the detail and was a little baffled.

"I can let you in, but even with a reason, trespassing through the Hakutōmon is a very serious offense. You might even be executed."

"Open the gate."

Dōsan didn't hesitate, nor did he offer any explanation. Wasn't it only natural to risk his life to save a friend?

Jidanbō bent down, and with a tremor and a roar, he lifted the ten-meter-high stone gate.

"I acknowledge that you're a hero no less than I am." Jidanbō held the Hakutōmon on his shoulders and laughed loudly. "Young man, your name!"

Dōsan walked through the Hakutōmon step by step. Once he was all the way through, he turned his head slightly. "My name is Dōsan Hanyū!"

"Dōsan Hanyū, is it? I, Jidanbō, will remember it!"

With a clang, the great stone gate fell, kicking up a layer of dust.

No, wait.

Dōsan spun around and hammered his fist against the stone gate. "I don't know the way! I don't know the way!"

In the end, Dōsan never managed to wake Jidanbō again.

He knew the Fourth Division was in charge of treatment, and that its captain was a very gentle older lady.

Dōsan carried the young captain and used Shunpo to head toward the Soul Reapers.

Thanks to his Kaidō treatment, the young captain's condition wouldn't worsen for a while. As luck would have it, Dōsan hadn't gone far before he ran into someone he knew.

Beautiful orange hair gleamed in the moonlight. The lady held a jug of sake, her little foot raised as she hummed a tune.

"Miss... Rangiku? Haven't you gone to bed yet? It's so late."

It was probably already past midnight.

"Little Dōsan?" Seeing Dōsan in Seireitei, Rangiku initially thought she'd had too much to drink. After taking a moment to process it, she hurriedly hung the sake jug from her belt. "I'm the lieutenant of the Tenth Division, responsible for maintaining order in Seireitei. Do you think I'm like Uncle Isshin, who only knows how to rest?!"

Her breadth of vision, her sense of duty—Dōsan was simply stunned.

Rangiku also noticed the young captain in Dōsan's arms. She covered her mouth with her hand, incredulous. "This is, this is... the vice president!"

Are you all stacking buffs on me here?

How many titles has she had now?

Although Rangiku had noticed Soi Fon right away, she could tell Soi Fon was all right for the moment, so she had the presence of mind to look at Dōsan with a face full of gossip and disbelief. "I never thought Seireitei Communication would actually report something true this time!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Rangiku, her cheeks flushed, covered her red lips and giggled.

With Rangiku leading the way, Dōsan arrived at the Fourth Division Barracks, where the beautiful older lady of a Fourth Division captain received them in person.

Seeing how badly Soi Fon was injured in Dōsan's arms, Unohana's pupils contracted. "This is, this is... the Second Division Captain! Isane, report to the Captain-Commander at once!"

"Yes."

The tall, white-haired woman glanced at Soi Fon with deep concern. Hearing her captain's order, the kindhearted woman was so anxious that her long legs set off before she had even turned her head.

With a duang, the silver-haired woman's forehead slammed squarely into a steel pipe erected in the barracks.

The pipe, as thick as an arm, was knocked askew. On closer inspection, there was even a visible dent at the point of impact.

"Isane!"

Dōsan had even heard the tall woman's skull crack. He looked nervously at the captain. "Perhaps you should treat this lady first."

Unohana had already turned around before Dōsan could say anything. "Miss Rangiku, please report the current situation to the Captain-Commander."

After an anxious bout of treatment in the second half of the night, mostly emergency treatment for Isane, Dōsan spent his first night in Seireitei at the Fourth Division Barracks.

Just like the first day he had spent there, this first night had been bizarre and unexpected.

The captain's medical skills were superb. Dōsan learned quite a lot just by watching.

The young captain, meanwhile, went from unconsciousness to a deep sleep.

Just as the sun rose over the horizon, Rangiku arrived with a squad of black-robed Soul Reapers following her. Dōsan recognized the older man leading them: Chōjirō Sasakibe, who had served as his referee.

Sasakibe went straight to Unohana and pulled a written order from inside his robes.

Mr. Sasakibe also glanced at Dōsan, the Ryoka, but paid him no further attention. Standing before Soi Fon's sickbed, he raised the supervision order:

"By order of the Captain-Commander, we shall investigate the incident in which Soi Fon, captain of the Second Division, acted without authorization, resulting in the deaths of seventeen Soul Reapers of the Second Division. From this moment on, this place is under our supervision."

Once Chōjirō Sasakibe had read out the order, the Soul Reapers he had brought erected a barrier around Soi Fon's sickbed.

So her name is Soi Fon.

Dōsan turned his head, concern showing in his eyes. Having learned Soi Fon's name under these circumstances, Dōsan found it hard to be happy.