In the western corner of Rukongai District 5 stood the largest graveyard in all of Soul Society. Yuzu's grave was there.
The two girls wept as Jun sat in front of Yuzu's gravestone and drank a little. He didn't say anything. There was nothing left to say, really.
When souls died in Soul Society, they returned to the World of the Living. Whether they became humans again or pigs, dogs, cattle, or horses, nobody knew.
In Soul Society, graves were simply places to remember the dead. The grave before Jun, for example, had nothing in it. Yuzuki Samidare was an ordinary Soul Reaper from Rukongai, and she hadn't had much in the way of savings. Her only clothing had been a single Shihakushō, which had dissolved along with her when she died. There hadn't even been anything to put in a cenotaph for her.
Everything in Soul Society was made of Reishi. Unless you were a fashion enthusiast, you could wear a single outfit until you died. Many Soul Reapers did just that, owning only one Shihakushō and never wearing anything else.
Jun was the same now. His Shihakushō was comfortable and made him look especially cool. Being a Soul Reaper carried a fair bit of status, too. When they walked through Rukongai, ordinary residents had to bow to them. Of course, there weren't as many rules in the more lawless parts of Rukongai, but even there, people weren't blind enough to provoke a Soul Reaper.
"Let's go." Jun finished his drink and stood, then glanced at the two girls. "Or do you want to stay a little longer?"
Nana's eyes were red, but she said nothing. Isuzu shook her head. After a few final looks at the gravestone, the three left together.
As they were leaving, they saw some newly arrived mourners. This graveyard was one of District 5's main sources of income. Funerals weren't common in Soul Society, but people needed a place to remember the dead, and this was one such place.
A month was neither long nor short, but to a couple deeply in love, it passed far too quickly. Jun felt he hadn't enjoyed himself enough in that haven of tenderness, and Isuzu didn't want to sleep without a solid shoulder to lean on. But it was time to go back to work. There was no helping it. That was reality.
He took Isuzu back to the Twelfth Division, where Captain Hikifune was remarkably warm and welcoming. Jun felt his decision to have Isuzu join the Twelfth Division couldn't have been better.
He didn't have to walk far afterward, since the Tenth Division was right next door. That was great. He could drop by often in the future.
Speaking of the Gotei 13, the street everyone saw most often in the original anime was where the Gotei 13 were based.
At the easternmost end of the street was the First Division, the headquarters. South of it were the remaining odd-numbered divisions: the Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, 11th, and Thirteenth. To the north were the even-numbered divisions: the Second, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, and Twelfth. They faced each other in six pairs.
So the Tenth and Twelfth Divisions were next to each other, though they weren't exactly close. As mentioned before, the barracks were behind the office areas, which bordered the street. The grounds were actually enormous, with offices and training grounds, followed by lounges and the division's disciplinary rooms, or little black rooms. Behind the work area were rows upon rows of barracks.
The Gotei 13 occupied a tremendous amount of land, but however large it was, its area was fixed. Although the divisions' grounds varied in size, the difference generally wasn't very great.
The Twelfth Division, for example, had very few members, while the Tenth was a large division, so the Tenth's grounds were a little bigger. Even so, the Tenth Division still didn't have enough room in its barracks, while the Twelfth had a little house for every member and still had room to spare. They couldn't even fill them all. Wasn't that infuriating?
Jun learned all this when his quarters were assigned. Of course, the shortage didn't concern him. Everyone with a single-digit seat got their own quarters, so he didn't need to worry about anyone else. Jun had no intention of making trouble for himself, either. As long as he was comfortable, that was enough. He didn't want to live with someone he didn't know.
Jun also took advantage of his privileges to commandeer a building that hadn't originally been designated as private quarters. It was the closest one to the Twelfth Division, right up against the wall. Across from it were the Twelfth Division's quarters, specifically the one Isuzu lived in. Ahem, that was all that needed to be said.
But nighttime matters could wait until night. On Jun's first day of official work in the Tenth Division, the first thing he had to do was choose an aide. That caught him completely off guard. He actually got a lackey to help him with his work? Ahem, that was a harsh way to put it.
He could choose anyone, as long as they held a seat below his and weren't someone else's aide. Jun glanced at Nana Onibe, who was training on the grounds, but just then Isshin Shiba spoke up.
"Pick an aide who can handle paperwork, not one who can fight. Of course, someone who can do both would be best."
Just like that, Jun gave up on Nana Onibe. Besides, an aide was basically an errand runner, and the work was quite tiring. It would be awkward ordering an acquaintance around. Then inspiration suddenly struck him.
"Um, can I choose Asai Shinten?"
Isshin Shiba looked at Jun as though he were some kind of demon. Jun had just knocked the girl out of the ninth seat, and now he wanted to make her his aide!? Could he be any more ruthless?
"Are you sure?"
But Jun's thinking went like this: Miss Asai seemed a little yandere, and she apparently couldn't accept that he had defeated her. So it would be best for him to spend more time with her and get rid of the distance between them. Then he could give her some psychological counseling while he was at it, and wouldn't guiding her training bring them even closer?
In short, of all the mentally ill people in Soul Society, Jun didn't want to be responsible for creating one. Still less did he want a boss to appear someday with a grudge against him. His desire to survive was certainly strong.
"Yeah, let's go with her. I think she'll do."
And so a young woman Jun had defeated became his aide. At present, however, she had been dispatched to the World of the Living on a local security assignment: slaying Hollows and guiding souls. Every division except the First had such assignments.
"So what will my daily work be?"
"Uh..." Isshin Shiba hesitated, thought for quite a while, then said, "You really are a special case."
"???"
Isshin Shiba proceeded to explain things to Jun.
Generally, a newly graduated Soul Reaper entered a division near the bottom of its seated ranks. At that stage, there were a few assignments to choose from, such as guarding the gate and cleaning. Those were the only jobs available at first, until the next class of graduates came to take over.
After three years of guarding the gate and cleaning, they could go on patrol. The Tenth Division's patrols were especially tiring because of the vast area they had to cover. After all, the Tenth Division was the patrol and security division. That was its job.
At that point, they became full-fledged members. Tenth Division members did that every day for a very, very long time. Once they had put in enough time to become veterans, they could do other things.
Veterans could choose teaching assignments and become instructors at Shin'ō Academy. They could also be dispatched to the World of the Living, as Asai Shinten currently was. Beyond that were the single-digit seats.
Single-digit seated officers could hold evaluation meetings. To put it plainly, these were large presentations, or they could be considered open classes. Generally, they were open classes on training held by the big shots, as well as presentations of Shikai and release. Aizen had used one of these to hypnotize practically the entire Gotei 13 in one go back then.
And that was all there was to do. Training and the like were personal matters.
What made Jun unusual was that he had skipped straight past the work ordinary members were supposed to do and reached the big-shot level. Yet he lacked the experience and accomplishments of a typical big shot and couldn't do their work, which made things a little awkward.
"So I'm free to use my time however I want now?"
"Emmmm, that's right."
Jun and Isshin were both a little speechless. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Jun said, "How about I teach at the academy for a few months?"
"But you only graduated a little over a month ago."
"Tch. Then I'll go next year."
Isshin's eye twitched twice.
"I definitely don't need to guard the gate or clean."
"Mm, we really can't have you doing that."
"What about assignments in the World of the Living?"
"A new group was just sent out, and nobody's come back yet. You can't go."
Jun clapped his hands and looked at Isshin expressionlessly. "Lieutenant, this kind of scheming isn't very nice. You could've just said you wanted me to patrol."
"Ahem." Isshin's face reddened. "Well, couldn't you do some training too? It's fine."
"Oh, give me a break. It's my first day at work. I should at least do something. Otherwise, the esteemed ninth seat of the Tenth Division won't have done a single assignment for his own division. How am I supposed to do my job if I don't understand anything? Assign someone to take me around."
"You want me to find someone? Onibe's free over there. Go ask her yourself. Don't you two know each other?"
Jun stared at Isshin Shiba, utterly, utterly speechless. Isshin Shiba looked back at him, utterly, utterly innocent. In the end, Jun lost. He had seriously underestimated how thick-skinned this man was.
"Why me? I finally got a day off. Damn it!" Nana complained as they walked.
Jun wasn't embarrassed in the slightest. "Can't be helped. Who told you to be the only person I know? Besides, the lieutenant sent me, and I'm the ninth seat now. You're the 74th seat, Onibe, so watch how you talk to me, got it?"
"Aaahhh!" That was what Nana Onibe found hardest to accept. Fire blazed in her eyes. "How long have you been lying to me, you jerk? And you corrupted Isuzu too! You actually kept it from me together, you shameless couple! Damn Isuzu! An old cow eating tender grass!"
"What old cow eating tender grass? That's a little harsh. Lingling and I are only five years apart."
"Whoa! Lingling!? Aren't you two affectionate! I can't take it!"
The two of them left the Seireitei, bickering all the way. Jun coughed twice. "Mind your image. We're almost at Rukongai. Don't disgrace the Soul Reapers, okay, Nana?"
"Hmph. I'll have more to say about you later, you little liar." Nana put on a stern face, and the two officially began their patrol.
The Tenth Division had the largest patrol area, but that didn't mean the other divisions had no patrol duties. Jun's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Shimizu, had died on a patrol assignment for that very reason.
In fact, though, there weren't that many divisions patrolling outside. Then again, there were only thirteen divisions in all, so how much could the number vary? The First Division didn't need to do it. Neither did the Second, since it was the Stealth Force. The Seventh Division was the inner court patrol, so it patrolled the Seireitei and didn't concern itself with the outside. The Twelfth Division had no routine duties and devoted itself entirely to research.
That left nine divisions with outside patrol assignments: the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, 11th, and Thirteenth.
The Fourth Division was the medical division. Its members were few and rare, so it was assigned the smallest patrol area, close by and entirely in the highest-numbered-by-rank Rukongai districts.
The Eighth Division also had few members, being the intelligence division. Its assigned area was second-smallest after the Fourth's, and it too covered the higher-ranked Rukongai districts. So when Mr. and Mrs. Shimizu died in battle, they had gone outside their assignment out of a sense of duty.
Then there were the Sixth and Ninth Divisions: one was reserved for nobles, and the other was the Prison Squad. The nobles could do a little less work so the young masters and ladies wouldn't get tired, while the Prison Squad already had to watch over the prison, so going out on patrol was a chance to relax. Thus, these two divisions were assigned territory around the middle-ranked Rukongai districts.
That left the Third Division support squad, the Fifth Division rescue squad, and the 11th Division combat squad. All three were dedicated to fighting and had fairly high combat strength requirements, so their patrol areas were large and consisted mostly of lower-ranked Rukongai districts.
That was how Aizen had encountered Gin Ichimaru and Rangiku Matsumoto back then, and how those guys from the 11th Division had found Kenpachi Zaraki atop a pile of corpses: their patrol areas were in the chaotic outer districts of Rukongai.
All the remaining territory belonged to the Tenth Division. That was right: the Tenth Division didn't patrol Rukongai, but the land beyond it, that vast expanse of mountains and rivers. In truth, though, it wasn't all that large. Soul Society had boundaries.
"So what our people do every day is dive straight into the woods?"
"Hey, hey, hey! Watch it, I'm still here, you know! Why do you make it sound so perverted?"
Even as Jun and Nana spoke, they really did dive straight into the woods. It was the truth. After leaving Rukongai territory, Nana no longer had to maintain a Soul Reaper's image, and the two started bickering again.
"How long does a patrol take?"
"A day, of course. How long else? Ahhh, my day off!"
Jun finally felt a little sorry and smiled awkwardly. "Then what about the patrol range?"
"That's up to us. The Tenth Division's main job is to look for Hollows that have wandered into the outskirts of Soul Society and eliminate them. If we find them, everything's fine. If we don't—uh, Jun, I'm not talking about what happened to your family."
"I know. If we don't find them, the whole division gets disciplined, right? I know that too." Jun no longer cared about what had happened back then. "Then let's get going. Let me see how good your Shunpo is."
"Aaahhh, Jun, you jerk! Don't look down on me! My Shunpo is definitely better than yours!"