CH 34: DON'T TRUST EXTERNAL APPEARANCE (1)

A few days after officially graduating, Gojo left the academy with Momo in tears and Toshiro determined to graduate as soon as possible.

Rukia had already left the academy and joined the Kuchiki family as well as the 13th division.

Currently, he was standing in front of the door of the academy as he waited for someone to come pick him up.

The Seireitei was like a giant maze, and each division zone was as large as a little city.

Because of this, new recruits had to wait for members of the division they chose to come to pick them up in order to avoid getting lost.

This time, Gojo wasn't wearing his white and blue school uniform, but a fully black kimono with wide pants as well as his usual blindfold covering his eyes.

The sun was already shining high in the sky and the temperature was steadily rising. But, thankfully, he didn't have to wait long.

"Sorry!"

Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw a tall woman running toward him with her cheek flushed. Though clearly more from embarrassment rather than fatigue. 

Once she finally reached him, she said, cheek still flushed, "I am so sorry. I was supposed to come sooner, but I had an emergency."

She flushed even more at this bold-faced lie. After all, she had just overslept.

But how could she keep her pride as a senior if she gave such a lame explanation?

Gojo lowered his blindfold and looked at the woman in front of him.

A woman nearly as tall as him, short silver hair, a well-toned body with beautiful curves neither too small nor too big. She nailed the tomboy look perfectly.

'Yeah, I like her.'

"Hello, my name is Satoru Gojo. Though you should already know this."

Isane immediately became more flustered, "Oh! Where are my manners? *Ahem*," 

Putting on a more serious expression, she continued,  "I am Isane Kotetsu. Vice-captain of the 4th division. Satoru Gojo, welcome to our division. I hope we will have a happy collaboration."

"I wish the same."

----

Once they arrived at the district belonging to the 4th division, Isane immediately began to introduce him to the different locations.

The barracks of the fourth division were divided into two main buildings.

One used for official meetings and such, while the other one was the hospital where the wounded were sent.

Watching the 'young?' women wearing pink kimonos akin to nurse uniforms, Gojo nodded imperceptibly.

He wasn't happy because he would be surrounded by sexy nurses. Oh, who was he kidding? Of course, he was happy about being surrounded by beautiful sexy nurses.

But it wasn't just that. 

Now he could finally observe people using Kaido, but he wasn't in a hurry to copy them.

Healing techniques were no joke. Gojo didn't want to play around with his life if it wasn't necessary.

Once they were done looking around, Isane finally stopped and turned towards him.

"Normally, with your grades, you should have already been given a seated position."

In the Gotei 13, every division had 20 seats. The captain being the 1st seat and so on.

Aside from the first and second seats that could only be occupied by one person, the other seats could be occupied by multiple people.

Of course, even though it was possible, because of unspoken rules, only the seats from 10th and onward were occupied by more than one person.

Of course, even then, it was rare for seated officers to number more than thirty... 

If you took into account that each division had a little over 200 members, it was proof of how elite they were.

The problem for the 4th division though was that, while they respected martial prowess, at the end of the day, their job was healing, rather than fighting.

As such, to get a higher seat in this division, what was important were your healing skills.

Even though this was the rule, Isane couldn't help but be a little embarrassed.

After all, even though she did not care about the 'genius' title, it went without saying that if Gojo had chosen any other division, being offered a seat in the top 10 would have been a piece of cake.

In fact, there was already a betting pool about how long he would last before asking to be transferred to another division.

Gojo, of course, understood all of that.

Different places, different rules. This was easy to understand.

He just had to become the best, and nothing else would matter.

"There is no worry."

Placing her hand on her chest, Isane let out a sigh of relief,

"Well then, I guess you must be tired. We need to visit the captain first, and then I will direct you to your personal quarters, and that will be it." 

'Oh, I am finally going to meet that woman. Retsu Unohana.'

She was another reason he was so interested in this division.

After all, from what Nanao said, the captain of the 4th division was one of the few people to have reached the master rank in Kido, alongside the captain commandant.

Nodding at Isane, he began to follow her and entered the hallway leading toward the office of the captain.

At first, everything was alright.

But the more he walked in, the heavier he felt.

Gojo had experienced many kinds of Reiatsu over the past months.

And when he felt the power of that one behind the door, all he could say was 

'Badass.'

It wasn't just a question of power, but also control.

He could see it clearly. The energy wasn't affecting Isane, as if it was consciously avoiding her. 

Gojo was sure about something. 

If he fought that woman as he was now, he would die.

When they finally reached the door,

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Good morning Captain, It's Isane Kotetsu and the new recruit. May I enter?"

"Enter."

Opening the door, Isane gave place to Gojo, who, once he entered, was astonished by the stunningly beautiful woman sitting in front of him.

But more than anything, as he observed the amount of energy stored in her body, Gojo could only murmur,

 "What a frightening woman."

It was simply insane. His frame of reference was broad enough to make some basic comparisons, and he understood one thing, comparing his woman to normal shinigami was an insult.

Gojo had to accept that he felt goosebumps, like a lot of snakes were crawling on his skin.

His heart was beating fiercely as adrenaline surged in his mind. 

This was it. This was what he had really been searching for. 

Gojo had a hunch.

That woman will be essential to him one day.