Because Rukia had suddenly accepted the offer to join the Kuchiki Clan, she received noble-level privileges in every respect, and the gap between her and her old friends widened all at once.
This left Rukia feeling suddenly very lonely.
Most noble Soul Reapers joined the 6th Division because it was the division for nobles, specifically responsible for guarding them.
But someone with Rukia's background would face discrimination among the nobles.
So Byakuya Kuchiki sent Rukia to the 13th Division.
But then another problem arose. In an ordinary division like the 13th, people of noble birth were shunned by the regular squad members.
That left Rukia caught between two worlds, accepted by neither.
The one who broke that impasse was Shiba Kaien.
As a member of one of the Five Great Noble Families, whose standing matched the Kuchiki Clan, Shiba Kaien didn't have nearly as many hang-ups.
Seeing how downcast Rukia looked, he dared to smack her on the head.
Why else would Byakuya Kuchiki have sent his sister to him?
Rukia had been gloomy ever since joining the Kuchiki Clan, but Shiba Kaien's smacks knocked her out of it.
She became his little shadow, following him everywhere.
Even when Shiba Kaien and Aoto were drinking, Aoto teased him about Rukia.
"What's this, Kaien? Are you trying to marry into the Kuchiki Clan? Poor Miss Miyako. Her heartless fiancé is going to abandon her!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Shiba Kaien cut Aoto off before he could keep going. "I'm just doing Byakuya a favor. There's nothing romantic about it. Miyako and I are doing great!"
"Sure, sure, I was just talking nonsense!" Aoto said with a laugh as he poured him another drink. "Then don't be so nice to Rukia. A lonely girl who's never had anyone care about her suddenly meets such a kind older brother—of course she's going to start falling for him! You're too friendly with people, Kaien. It's easy to get the wrong idea."
"Is that so?" Shiba Kaien rubbed his chin. "Then I'll have to be more careful."
They ate the enormous roasted wolf leg, and it tasted incredible.
Shiba Kaien thought Aoto's cooking had improved tremendously.
"That has nothing to do with my cooking. It's an Adjuchas leg. It has an animal's form, and the meat seems to have changed too."
"But Adjuchas usually stay in Hueco Mundo. Unless they invade on their own, I can't go over there and hunt them!"
Shiba Kaien had only eaten a quarter of the leg before he felt too full to continue. "That's true. Its nutritional value really is nothing like an ordinary Gillian's."
"All right, we've had the roasted wolf leg. Let's talk intelligence!" Aoto leaned back in his chair. "Do you have answers to my questions?"
"I haven't heard a thing about that female member of the Punishment Force. I can't get information from inside the Stealth Force. But the noble who bribed her has been identified and punished by the Golden Seal Noble Council!"
"Money can make people do anything... But why bribe a member of the Punishment Force at that level and send her to Hueco Mundo?"
Aoto was genuinely curious.
"That, I don't know!" Shiba Kaien shook his head. "The Golden Seal Noble Council didn't punish that family very severely, so it probably wasn't anything serious enough to threaten Soul Society."
As long as there was no attempt to overthrow Soul Society, punishments for nobles were always raised high, then lowered gently.
Only the female member of the Punishment Force seemed to have been executed internally!
In any case, Aoto could no longer sense the spiritual pressure he had left on her.
"What about the 4th Division?" Aoto still had plenty of questions. "Why are they going through their special ingredients so quickly?"
At that, Shiba Kaien's expression turned strange.
"Actually, you should be asking your own 11th Division!" Shiba Kaien couldn't stop grinning.
Ask the 11th Division? What was going on? He needed to explain!
Aoto really couldn't make sense of it.
The truth was simple.
Every day, after the squad members finished sparring, they rushed to the cafeteria for food. But each squad member was limited to a fixed portion. No one would go hungry, but seconds were off-limits.
Aoto had set it up that way to make the squad members jealous of the Seated Officers' cafeteria, where they could get as much food as they wanted.
But once the 4th Division's medical station started serving the same food—and even let people go back for seconds—a pack of beasts changed targets.
Every day, they deliberately got themselves cut, then went to the 4th Division for a meal.
They wouldn't dare pull that stunt while Aoto was around, but when he went to the World of the Living, they did it for several days straight. The emergency ward's beds were packed every day...
But when they ate through the 4th Division's supplies by going back for seconds, Deputy Captain Yamada Seinosuke came to the 11th Division to get more food, and the beasts finally behaved!
They behaved so well that Aoto returned and never even noticed what had happened.
People below often hid things from their superiors, but not from each other. Shiro had already become a Seated Officer by then, so he didn't know what those squad members had been up to.
After Shiba Kaien finished explaining, he looked at Aoto. Sure enough, his face had gone dark.
Dark as could be!
Aoto felt completely humiliated.
Those beasts had disgraced him beyond belief!
He'd thought something was going on at the 4th Division, or that they had some special operation behind the scenes.
So it had all been caused by those beasts themselves!
Though he knew Shiba Kaien was enjoying his embarrassment, Aoto still thanked him. "Thanks, Kaien! Have as much of the wolf leg as you want. You can even take some home! Just leave me a quarter!"
With that, Aoto stood up.
He was going to deal with this right away.
He wouldn't be able to rest easy otherwise.
Watching Aoto's furious retreating back, Shiba Kaien burst out laughing.
He rarely saw Aoto this worked up. Those guys under him had better watch out, or he might beat them to death!
But wait, he could take the roasted wolf leg home?
If he had to leave Aoto a quarter... would leaving the bones be enough?
By weight or volume, a bone that big was definitely more than a quarter!
Food with level-four spiritual pressure would be a great help to Ganju's growth.
Although Aoto was furious, he didn't return to the 11th Division right away. Instead, he went to the 4th Division.
The moon had been up for hours, but the 4th Division was still brightly lit.
After all, hospitals never closed, wherever they were... except private hospitals.
Aoto had come to speak with Deputy Captain Yamada Seinosuke. If his squad members came in for routine injuries in the future, he wanted them stopped from getting seconds. Otherwise, those beasts would deliberately injure themselves.
But when Aoto entered the emergency ward, the person he saw wasn't Deputy Captain Yamada Seinosuke.
It was the 4th Division Captain—Unohana Retsu!
She wore her hair in two long braids and had her usual smile on her face, but the moment Aoto saw her, he immediately became very serious.
"Captain Unohana!" Aoto greeted her respectfully.
Unohana seemed to be deep in thought. At the sound of his greeting, she looked up and saw Aoto.
"Oh, Aoto!"
Her voice was lovely!
And yet it made Aoto's whole body go numb.