10 Captain Discount

Sometime later at the Suzunami estate.

"Lady Konoka! We are back!" grinned a happy Fujimaru when he opened and entered the room where he expected her to be. The other two also just entered the room with him.

"Oh my, welcome back you three.", smiled Konoka at them. "How was your little trip?"

"Uh..." Fujimaru was already staring at another woman that was sitting around the table with Lady Konoka and sipping some tea.

"It was alright. We got lost at first but managed to find the place. Seireitei sure is huge. Why is it build like a labyrinth though?", answered Jin to her question and ignored Fujimarus stupor.

Matsuri only frowned a little after hearing him mention them being lost and then also stared at the new woman.

To get Fujimaru out of his daze, she elbowed him to his sides.

„Huh? Oh, hello." Fujimaru reacted entirely out of character.

For Jin, the person that was sitting near Lady Konoka was no one new. He knew her, and that is why he didn't react so surprised and formal as the other two did.

He reacted calmly to about everything around him. That is until he gets agitated or other circumstances happen.

Describing the woman was also no big challenge. The woman who sat at the table had black hair braided together in front of her body. The length of this braid was so long that it reached her belly. It just told stories about its range.

Jin wondered if it was that practical to have such long hair as a swordswoman.

"Are these the three you took in, Konoka?", asked the woman now after noticing their gazes on herself.

"Yes, aren't they the cutest?", answered Konoka back to her.

"Who is this, Lady Konoka?" asked Jin with a somewhat deadpan expression.

"This is a friend of mine. Her name is Retsu Unohana."

„Another captain as a friend? Lady Konoka sure is popular." Jin grinned slightly and stated the obvious.

This time he was the one that received Matsuri's elbow to his side.

"Ugh..." He looked at her, and the glare she gave him back was a sure meant way to tell him to behave correctly.

So he looked back at Unohana and smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Retsu...Ugh" Just when he nearly finished his corrected sentence Matsuri hit him again. "Captain Unohana..."

Unohana chuckled a little and put a smile on her face. This one was with her eyes wide open. It signified a real smile.

Her usual look was with her squinting most of the time because her smile was ever present and pushing her cheeks upwards. But in a weird unnatural way.

It was very much like Lady Konoka her courteous smile. Meaning a mostly fake smile that was more threatening than anything. At least compared to the real smile.

"How lively. It´s alright. I think it was Matsuri, no? Little Jin didn't say anything bad. You are not official Shinigami yet and don't need to be so formal. Calling me Lady Retsu is just fine."

Unohana was actually very much delighted to be called that. If someone that was acquainted with Unohana saw her now, they would immediately see that she was genuinely happy.

"Ah! Of course, Captain Unohana. No, I mean, Lady Retsu." Matsuri now smiled back and was relieved that this lady didn't take offense in Jin´s manners.

Fujimaru was also out of his little stupor and chuckled with a grin on his face. But that didn't last long until his sister glared at him to stop being so gleeful.

Lady Konoka also smiled happily. She liked how they seemed to get along. "Well, if one has such a brother like mine in the Gotei13, then meeting friends in the higher hierarchy is just natural." She was answering at Jin his previous remark.

"Now, come and join us for some tea. You are probably hungry as well. We also got some sweets to go along with the tea."

"Is that alright?" Asked Matsuri for confirmation. Fujimaru was already gulping and staring at those sweets.

Jin, on the other hand, just went forward and joined them both at the table. When he sat down he only looked back at Matsuri. "Didn't I tell you if you are invited, go along? If you don't hurry, I will grab all those wagashi for myself."

Matsuri immediately frowned. "It´s you who is so careless every time! How can you even...? Ah! Hey, don't eat all of them! Leave some for me as well!" She was instantly charging forward and grabbing Jin his chopsticks and stealing the sweets he nearly ate.

"Looks like sweets are your weak spot, huh?", Chuckled Jin and let her steal them from him. Then he changed his concentration to Konoka and Unohana since Fujimaru was also already with them at the table. No need to tempt him.

"So, in what is Lady Retsu specialized? I heard every Captain has their special field of expertise." Jin was the first one to start a conversation.

"I am the Captain of the 4th Division. We are the ones that stitch the people back together when they are hurt. So we are focused on the medical department."

"Oh, then Lady Retsu is just like Lady Konoka. Alright, now I like Lady Retsu even more.", Stated Fujimaru and grinned. In his point of view, everyone that could heal and help people was someone amiable.

"Oh my. Thank you, Fujimaru.", replied Unohana to his praise.

"And who is your Lieutenant?" Jin was eager to know every detail he could about the structure of the current Gotei13. He had some knowledge in his head but not all of it stayed as crystal clear as he really liked it to be.

"Right, we met Captain Urahara´s Lieutenant today as well," added Fujimaru after thinking about the same matter as Jin.

"That monkey? She sure was a feisty person." Jin was commenting immediately to his words. His expression also changed to someone that was annoyed. Just remembering their encounter made him somewhat mad for some reason.

And somewhere else a certain someone had to sneeze at this moment.

"Am I getting a cold?" asked a woman and rubbed her nose with a finger beneath it.

Matsuri also couldn't stay quiet and joined the conversation "Come to think. Lady Konoka, who is Lord Seigen´s partner?"

"That should be Sōsuke Aizen. You can immediately recognize him. He is wearing big glasses and exudes the atmosphere of a knowledgeable man. Is that about right, Retsu?" Lady Konoka put a finger on her lips and tried to describe Aizen as best as she could. She asked Unohana because she probably was more often in contact with him than herself.

One may think she should be the one closest to him since her brother was the captain but that was not the case.

"Hmm...Yes, I would say that fits him..." Unohana replied.

Jin frowned after hearing Unohanas words. What he saw in her expression was that of worry? ´Don't tell me she is having doubts about him already?´

"Now, what was it?" Unohana seemed to be somewhat in thought at first and came back to the question at hand. "

Ah, yes. My Lieutenant is called Seinosuke Yamada. He is...A very diligent and talented medic in my Division. And he has the makings of a Captain. Sadly he was rejected not too long ago. The Gotei13 only promotes someone to Captain after a spot opens up. And the last one was taken by Captain Urahara..."

"If a spot is available? Does that mean it is only possible after someone dies from the said spot?" Jin made his question so that Unohana needed to clear that out.

"Yes. That is correct..."

"That is sad. Why can't people share...", said Matsuri now and looked downcast and in thought.

Fujimaru looked at Matsuri, then back to Unohana. "Why not open up more Divisions? Then everyone could get a spot. Wouldn't the Shinigami benefit from this as well?"

"I am in the same opinion. The military strength would rise, and handling matters in a faster manner would also be possible. I noticed that in the Rukongai many Shinigami arrive too late or get overwhelmed by Hollows because of low counts...", nodded Jin in agreement and added more things to Fujimarus words. "Pushing the citizen of the Rukongai out from the center in itself is somewhat of a debatable choice. One wants to protect them but keeps them at bay at the same time..."

Now Unohana and Konoka were surprised hearing their words. Especially Jin´s. These kids sure

"Now, there is also another way to make a spot free, but that is a secret. So I can't tell you kids anything about it. And Jin - The Gotei13 is under the command of the central court of 46. We are just a military under a government. If they deem 13 Divisions as sufficient, then we have no say in that matter."

"That still would breed discontent...Is Seinosuke-san alright with the decision that was made?" rebuked Jin lightly without thinking much. It was his old habit of discussing things very openly.

"Jin..." Now even Konoka tried to intervene. She did notice how Unohana became quite agitated by that topic.

"It´s alright, Konoka. He has a very bright mind. You are right, Jin. My current Lieutenant is not satisfied, even enraged to be certain. But then it is up to me. I will have to reason with him..."

Then Unohana stood up. "Right, it is about time. I enjoyed this tea, Konoka. I hope to see you again soon."

Jin frowned now after seeing this and realized what he did.. "I am sorry, Lady Retsu. I didn't wish to be too invasive."

"Don't worry about it, Jin. More than anything. I am quite pleased that we will have people that think for the future of Soul Society...Now, If you will excuse me." She bowed lightly and started walking

Konoka also stood up and went together with Unohana to the estate's entrance to say her goodbye.

---

"Well done, Jin. You started and ended the conversation in one go.", said Matsuri and sipped the tea in front of her.

"Damn..." He scratched the backside of his neck. "But it is the truth. Anyway, you seem to have a better mood out of a sudden."

Matsuri smirked. "Of course. You, walking into your demise, sure was fun to watch. I did warn you."

Jin just stayed silent to those words.

"Doesn't it sound like Soul Society has many problems?", asked Fujimaru now while the silence slowly crept in.

Jin only sighed. "It does, but in the end, we will have to protect it as well when we are official Shinigami..."

Then he looked at the table and saw all the things still lying around. "Let us clean things up here. I think Lady Konoka is going to prepare food soon for Lord Seigen."

The two nodded and helped out.