Tenth Division's Squad Member is called Kotani, and he has been on the Rukongai patrol line for several years.
He doesn't hate being Soul Reaper, nor does he particularly like it. He patrols every day, kills Xu, comes back to sleep, and goes back the next day. This is how his life goes, neither bad nor good.
The area patrolled today is from South Third District to South Tenth District. The route is very long.
"Ah~ There are so many tasks recently. Many seniors have gone to West District. Why are there so many people there?" Kotani muttered dissatisfiedly, his voice swallowed up by the dusk.
He was walking on the streets of South Third District. It was almost dark. The shops on the street began to light up, and many shops were closed.
He walked past familiar shops and saw an unfamiliar sign.
[Kirinji Hell Hot Spring]
Kotani stood at the door of the store, tilting his head and looking at the plaque
Hot springs? Are there any hot springs in Rukongai? He has been patrolling South Third District for several years. He has walked this road hundreds of times and cannot remember any hot springs here.
Maybe it's newly opened. I was standing at the door wondering whether to go in or not.
Gotei 13's Squad Member, what should I do if my colleagues see me soaking in a hot pool with my clothes on? Will I be scolded if Seated Officer finds out?
But he walked a long way today. His legs were very sore, his feet were sore, his back was sore and he felt uncomfortable all over. His body was still sticky. Shihakushō's collar was soaked with sweat and was hard, rubbing the back of his neck.
Finally he reached out and pushed the door open.
The inside of the store was brighter than he expected, with light coming from the lamps on the wall.
There is steam in the air, which is moist and warm, with a faint herbal smell.
There was a man sitting behind the counter. He was leaning back on the chair, with his hands folded behind his head, his feet raised high and crossed on the edge of the counter. His posture was extremely lazy, and he had a thin bamboo stick in his mouth, which was shaking slightly up and down with his breathing.
His hairstyle is extremely exaggerated, with the sides and back of his head pushed very short. The hair on the top of his head bulges forward and upward, forming a full arc, and the front end curves downward into a sharp hook shape, like the tip of an anchor.
The cross-collar yukata on her body was completely unfastened, and the skirt was open, revealing her strong chest and well-defined abdominal muscles.
The collared uniform on his body was completely untied, and his chest and stomach were completely exposed.
"Um... is this a hot spring?" Kotani's voice was a little uncertain
"Eight Hundred Wen, put the knife on the knife rack in the warehouse behind me. There is a dressing room inside." The plane head didn't open his eyes, he just raised his hand and waved his fingers casually in the direction behind him.
Kotani was stunned for a moment, "... Huh?"
"You are Soul Reaper, and you are very tired." The pilot put his hand behind his head and his tone was as calm as stating a fact that did not need to be confirmed.
Kotani's pupils suddenly contracted
"What?!" His Reiatsu climbed uncontrollably, and his hand instinctively grasped the handle of Zanpakutō.
"Hey, don't get excited." The aircraft head finally sat up, with his hands on his thighs, his eyes opened a crack, and he looked at the tense Soul Reaper. There was no hostility or panic in his tone, as if he was comforting a cat with explosive fur.
Kotani's hand slowly loosened from the handle of the knife, but his eyes remained alert.
He has been at Tenth Division for so many years, and it's not like he has never seen the world. The owner of Rukongai's shop recognized him as Soul Reaper without looking at him, and he would not say things like 'you are very tired' in an understatement.
This person is either a hidden master or some kind of monster disguised as a human.
"Eight hundred cents a time" He raised his hand and extended his index finger.
"If I don't relieve my fatigue, I'll give you 800 yuan." He stretched out his middle finger again, and held his index and middle fingers together in front of Kotani, as if making a victory gesture, but his expression was still lazy.
"Really?" Kotani questioned.
"I won't lie to you"
The water in the hot spring was milky white, and the pool was larger than he imagined.
Kotani squatted by the pool, scooped up some water with his hands, and tested the water temperature.
Yeah
Just right
He put his feet in first, and slowly stretched his toes in the hot water, then his calves, knees, and thighs. He held on to the rocks beside the pool and slowly sank until his entire body was submerged in the water, with only his head and two arms hanging on the edge of the pool exposed.
"Hiss~ah~"
At that moment, he felt that he was alive.
Kotani was walking on the way back to the team building, his pace was much faster than when he came here, and his body felt a lot more relaxed.
His mind was spinning around that shop, that airplane nose, and the milky white hot springs.
Kotani was lying on the bed, tossing and turning, and the bed board creaked under his pressure.
His roommate's name is Yamazaki, and there is a wooden bedside table between them.
"Kotani, what's wrong with you?" Yamazaki's voice came from the darkness, with a tone that was suppressed and not irritable after being woken up.
Kotani turned over and faced the direction of Yamazaki. Yamazaki's face could not be seen in the darkness, but he knew that Yamazaki was looking at him.
"South Third District has opened a new hot spring." Kotani's voice was muffled.
Yamazaki waited for a while and found that Kotani did not continue, "Then what?"
"I'm in"
"Then what?"
"Then I soaked"
"Then what?"
"Then he charged me 800 yuan."
Yamazaki was silent for a moment, then sat up from the bed, and the bed board creaked. "Eight hundred Wen? You spent 800 Wen on a hot spring bath?"
Kotani also sat up, the two of them sat facing each other in the dark
"Are you comfortable?" Yamazaki asked
Kotani was stunned for a moment, then nodded and added, "... comfortable."
The next evening, Yamazaki and the two Squad Member in the next room followed Kotani to South Third District
Four people stood at the door of Kirinji Hell Hot Spring, looking up at the plaque with the words engraved on it.
Kotani stood at the front with a complicated expression-
Yamazaki stood next to him, folding his hands on his chest, tilting his head and looking at the store facade.
The other two Squad Members stood behind, one named Watanabe and the other named Inokuchi. They were both ordinary Squad Members from Tenth Division. They were both people who had been running on the patrol line for several years, and their legs, feet, back and back were not sore every day.
"Is this here?" Yamazaki asked
Kotani nodded.
Yamazaki opened the door more decisively than yesterday Kotani. The door shaft creaked, and warm yellow light leaked from the crack in the door, falling like a golden thread in the dusk.
The four people filed in, and the plane head was still the same.
"Here you come again? And you brought someone with you?"
Kotani opened his mouth,
In the hot spring
"Hiss~ah~" the four people shouted in unison, and the hot water in the pool was like a pair of invisible hands, pressing precisely on the nodes of each of their sore muscles.
"It turns out Kotani didn't lie to me"
Watanabe and Inokuchi have begun to sigh with contentment
Inokuchi raised his head, resting his head on the rocks beside the pool, looking at the warm light softened by the steam on the ceiling. He soaked for a while, and suddenly spoke, his voice seemed particularly lazy in the steam. "I think I will also want to come tomorrow."
No one contradicted him.
Yamazaki closed his eyes, put his arms on the edge of the pool, his fingers were slightly bent, and the fingertips were still filled with the heat of the hot spring.
He remembered the sound of Kotani's bed turning over and over last night, and his tone when he questioned Babai Wen, and the corners of his mouth moved unconsciously. "Go back to the team building to put things away before coming tomorrow."
Watanabe and Inokuchi snorted with laughter at the same time. Kotani did not speak, just soaked in the hot water with his eyes closed, with a satisfied expression unique to a person with a proven good story on his face.