Entering Soul Society

"Son, bear with it!" Retsu Unohana said to Ten Unohana. Ten Unohana had originally only said it casually and had not expected Ten Unohana to answer, since he was such a small child.

But Retsu Unohana had not expected—

"Mm, Mom, I'll bear with it."

Stunned...

Retsu Unohana gazed excitedly at Ten Unohana, whose voice still had a babyish lilt, and was filled with emotion for a moment.

"Can you talk now, Little Ten?"

"Mm."

"Then be a good boy, Little Ten! Let Mommy patch up the hole in your hand, all right? Don't worry, it won't hurt too much."

"Mm."

"Mm! Little Ten is such a good boy."

Suppressing her surprise that Ten Unohana could speak so early,

Retsu Unohana placed her Zanpakuto against Ten Unohana and slowly fed her Reiatsu into his body, gradually merging it with his Soul Reaper Reiatsu while suppressing the Hollow Reiatsu deep within his soul.

But as one Reiatsu rose and the other fell, Ten Unohana felt terrible, as though one half of his body were rising while the other half sank.

After quite a while,

"Just a little longer, Little Ten. It'll be over soon," Retsu Unohana said, placing Ten Unohana's Zanpakuto on top of her own so that both rested against his body. She increased the amount of Reiatsu she was feeding him.

"This is the last step. It'll be repaired soon!" Retsu Unohana steeled herself and forcefully drove her Reiatsu into Ten Unohana's body. Ten Unohana let out an agonized scream and passed out. He was still a child, after all, and had limited stamina.

When Ten Unohana passed out, a trace of pain flashed in Retsu Unohana's eyes. Blaming herself, she said, "Son, I'm sorry! Mommy didn't protect you."

With that, she held Ten Unohana tightly for a long time without a word.

After this series of events, Retsu Unohana's vacation officially came to an end, and Ten Unohana officially began his life in Soul Society.

Soul Society, Retsu Unohana's home,

The Senkaimon slowly opened.

Holding Ten Unohana, Retsu Unohana was filled with emotion. "After everything that happened, I finally managed to give birth to my child and bring him safely into Soul Society. Next, I need to find an excuse to make the child officially mine. Hmm—I'll say I found him outside the Seireitei!"

The next day,

Genryūsai summoned Retsu Unohana to the First Division to report on her work. Retsu Unohana, however, gave him the cold shoulder and refused to cooperate. In the end, the only thing Genryūsai learned was that Retsu Unohana had adopted a child outside the Seireitei.

In the end, Genryūsai had no choice but to let Retsu Unohana leave. And just like that, the only ripple in Soul Society began with a bang and ended with a whimper.

Soul Society sank back into stagnant waters, with no fun to be had.

After all, Soul Society couldn't possibly be fighting great battles all day long.

And so Ten Unohana slowly grew up in boredom,

Though he didn't know what point it was in the original story.

Not until twelve years later,

When he saw Yoruichi,

Did Ten Unohana realize that Yoruichi Shihōin was just a twelve-year-old girl, the same age as him.

With nothing else to do, Ten Unohana had a wicked thought—raising a loli was out of the question! After all, she was already twelve and understood the basics of some things.

But there was no problem with bullying a twelve-year-old a little.

And so the twelve-year-old Yoruichi Shihōin promptly fell to her knees. Being twelve was rough!

The twelve-year-old Yoruichi's IQ was definitely no match for Ten Unohana's adult soul, so he succeeded every time he bullied her.

"Onii-chan—" A voice brimming with resentment rang out outside the Fourth Division Barracks. Everyone in the Fourth Division had covered their ears before the voice even sounded,

Because the people who had heard that "Onii-chan" the previous few times had all been beaten up badly!

"Ah, ah, ah... it's Yoruichi! Huh—who made them cover their ears? Could it be..." As he spoke, he looked at Yoruichi.

Yoruichi immediately panicked. If she let that "bastard" Ten Unohana find out that she had beaten them up so they didn't dare listen to her call the bastard "Onii-chan," she'd be in trouble. At the thought, she hurriedly said, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"

"Huh? Did I say it was you? You gave yourself away!"

Yoruichi shouted, "Who gave herself away?!"

Ten Unohana grinned wickedly. "Oh my! I wonder who couldn't accept losing a bet. She lost and had to call someone 'big brother,' but in the end, she went and beat up everyone who heard her say it..."

Yoruichi's face flushed as she shouted, "Let's not talk about that! I'm here to make another bet with you. I'll definitely win this time."

Ten Unohana slowly brought his face closer to Yoruichi's. Her face grew redder and redder, but she didn't move away.

"We agreed you could only challenge me to a bet once every three days at most. Hmm, it's been three days this time, so what do you want to bet on?" Ten Unohana asked, stopping less than a centimeter from Yoruichi's face.

Yoruichi felt the warmth of their breaths as they breathed on each other. Her voice, so loud just a moment ago, immediately dropped to a faint murmur. "Hakuda. We'll compete in Hakuda this time. My wager is that if I win, you have to follow my orders for a month. Whatever I tell you to do, you do."

Hearing that, Ten Unohana moved his face away from Yoruichi's with an intrigued look. "Oh—you're not competing in IQ anymore? You're going to compete in Hakuda, the Shihōin Clan's specialty? A wise choice!"

Hearing Ten Unohana's words, Yoruichi immediately said excitedly, "What's this? Are you admitting defeat, bastard?"

Looking at Yoruichi's excited face, Ten Unohana couldn't help delivering a cold blow. "Call me big brother."

Yoruichi flew into a rage and shouted, "Bastard, I'm going to..."

Ten Unohana cut her off. "Call me big brother..."

"O—nii—chan—" Yoruichi said through gritted teeth. "I'm definitely going to win, and then, for the rest of the month, heh heh..."

Looking at Yoruichi, lost in her fantasies, Ten Unohana said, "I'm not like a certain black cat. The stakes started at one hour, then went up to a day, then a week, and now a month. What's next, a whole lifetime?"

"Who'd want a bastard like you for a lifetime?" Yoruichi said furiously.

Ten Unohana said expressionlessly, "Call me big brother!"

With a fierce smile, Yoruichi called out, "Onii-chan."

At that, Ten Unohana's expressionless face immediately broke into a radiant smile. "Hmm... what should I ask for as my stake? I've already made a certain black cat go to the First Division and smash Old Man Yamamoto's windows, and made a stupid cat shout 'I'm an idiot' in the street. I also made a shameless silly cat stand up to use the toilet like a boy. Hmm—what else could I ask for? Seems like there's nothing left. Maybe we should just forget it..."

"No way! You have to name a stake. At worst, if you win, I'll let you order me around for a day. No, two days. No, make it a week. Hmm, um, could it be? All right, two months. Two months it is." Yoruichi had finally glimpsed a chance to win and wipe away her humiliation. She had been watching Ten Unohana's expression the whole time, but he had continued to look displeased. This time, Yoruichi had put up high stakes. She asked again, "Then how long do you want?"

Ten Unohana gave a wicked smile inwardly. She took the bait.

But he kept a look of disdain on his face and said, "Who wants an idiot servant who can't even cook or sweep? Hmm—or, wait—your first kiss. Yes! Your first kiss it is. Come to think of it, that's the Shihōin Clan princess's first kiss. Even though this princess is stupid and idiotic and can't do anything, she's still a princess, so I suppose I can settle for giving her my second kiss!"

Yoruichi froze. So she wasn't the first. She murmured, "Second? Am I only the second?"

Ten Unohana was startled. He'd gone too far. He hurriedly pretended not to care and explained, "Of course my first kiss was with my mom! A cat really is just a cat. Even wearing human skin, its IQ is still that of a cat!"

Yoruichi unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did she react and shout, "Bastard, are you calling me an idiot?"

Changing the subject, Ten Unohana looked away and said casually, "Aren't you betting anymore? If not, I'm going home!"

Although Yoruichi was still angry that Ten Unohana had called her an idiot, she could only go along with it. "Of course I'm betting!" With that, she used her Shunpo, in which she had achieved minor proficiency, to race toward an open space in the distance.

Ten Unohana sneered. "Kitty, did you forget you can't beat me at Shunpo either?" With that, he instantly overtook Yoruichi and deliberately flashed in front of her, making her grind her teeth in anger. But she couldn't catch up, so she could only let it go.

"All right, here I come!" As soon as Yoruichi arrived, she attacked first and only then warned Ten Unohana. Smiling, Ten Unohana blocked her kick.

A single exchange was enough to reveal their skill, and Yoruichi's expression changed at once. Neither her speed nor her strength could match Ten Unohana's.

It's over. I'm no match for this perverted bastard in Hakuda either.

"Silly cat, you can't space out in a fight!" Ten Unohana said, looking at the slightly dazed Yoruichi. She hurriedly focused her attention on him, but it was already too late. A leg swept toward her, growing larger in her vision.

Boom! Yoruichi flipped over several times in succession to disperse the remaining force of the kick.

"I won't lose! Again!" With that, Yoruichi attacked once more.

Clink!

"Wrong, stupid cat. This time you should've quickly feinted with your hands."

Yoruichi said nothing, but immediately changed her attack, rapidly feinting with both hands as Ten Unohana had told her.

Clang!

"Wrong again. Your legs have tremendous strength, and tremendous strength comes with tremendous attack power. Attack with all your might!"

"Ha!" Yoruichi shouted, her legs whipping through the air.

"Waist." Ten Unohana drove an elbow toward Yoruichi's waist.

Yoruichi twisted at the waist, narrowly avoiding his elbow strike.

"Head." As he spoke, Ten Unohana swiftly kicked at Yoruichi's head.

Bang! Yoruichi blocked it, but—

"Combo." Even as Ten Unohana spoke, his next attack was upon Yoruichi.

This time, Yoruichi failed to dodge.

Ten Unohana kicked her in the chest.

"Ah—!"

Ten Unohana hurried forward. "Are you all right?!"

"Again!" the teenage Yoruichi roared, tears in her eyes.

Ten Unohana frowned and thought for a moment, but took up his stance again.

Yoruichi stood up, wary of Ten Unohana's next attack.

"Head and stomach." As he spoke, Ten Unohana swiftly thrust his five fingers together toward Yoruichi's head. Before she could block, he rapidly bent his knee and drove it toward her abdomen.

"No, I won't let you!!!" With that, Yoruichi shouted, "Shunkō!"

What?! Has Yoruichi already developed Shunkō? Ten Unohana was startled.

But after seeing Yoruichi's Shunkō, he breathed a sigh of relief. No, that's not right. This can't be called Shunkō. At most, it's an incomplete version, right? Just as I thought, Shunkō would be too hard on Yoruichi's body right now.

Bang! The force of the blows burst outward as Yoruichi blocked Ten Unohana's move with both hands. She then counterattacked, but it was an incomplete Shunkō, after all, and Ten Unohana blocked her in the end.

"Now, bastard, take this!!!" Yoruichi said, drawing the Zanpakuto hanging at her waist.

"Oh, has kitty finally decided to use her claws? Remember, kitty, there's no such thing as good or bad claws. Whether they're good or bad depends entirely on the cat using them!" Ten Unohana said with a smile.

But his unconcerned expression angered Yoruichi. She swiftly slashed her short Zanpakuto at him. Just as it was about to strike, Ten Unohana brought his hands together and caught Yoruichi's Zanpakuto between his palms.

"Ah—!" Yoruichi shouted, increasing the Reiatsu she fed into it.

But then, "Urgh—"

Ten Unohana suddenly vomited a large amount of unidentified white substance...