Chapter 78: I Refuse!

Our walk was quiet and peaceful. The only words exchanged were me asking where we were headed, to which she simply replied. "the Coordinated Relief Station." And that ended the conversation. When the building came into view, I noted its similarity to the First Division barracks, though I couldn't be bothered with the finer details.

Upon entering, a clean scent greeted me. 'Makes sense, it's pretty much a hospital.'

She led me to a separate section marked "Private." Turning as I entered, she closed the door and gestured to a seat with her kind smile. "Please set down your belongings, remove your top, and place them there so I may begin your check-up."

Nodding, I carefully set down the box containing Eri and began trying to remove my top. Either noticing my struggle or growing impatient, Unohana stepped forward to help. "Allow me." she said, loosening my obi and slipping my kimono off, leaving me in my black hakama pants. A faint smell of plums drifted from her as she backed away, and I found myself missing it already, shaking my head to clear the thought.

She opened her mouth to say something but paused, her gaze settling on the scars covering my torso. I looked down towards them as well then back to her with an awkward smile, suddenly aware of her intense scrutiny. I cleared my throat to bring her back to the present, and she met my eyes with a small smile.

"That's quite a few scars, Sasaki-san. I'd like you to tell me about them, especially the missing shoulder scar and the ones on your right side."

{MC Shirtless}

I nodded, moving to a nearby chair and sitting down beside her. "Well, the scar on my right side, the one that cuts across, is from a guy who called himself a god. He had lightning powers. It healed, and then I got hit with…" I shared the stories behind the scars she seemed somewhat interested in, carefully leaving out a few minor details.

Halfway through, she murmured something under her breath, and a faint green box of light surrounded me. "No need to be alarmed." she said gently. "This is a Healing Kidō, also known as Kaidō. I'm using it for a diagnosis. So far, as I speak, I've found sixty seven different poisons that have been temporarily suppressed. Have you been taking any antidotes?"

Stunned, I rubbed my face with one hand. 'No wonder Shinobu and Tamayo were getting irritated with me for refusing medicine, I was poisoned. But when?'

I managed an awkward smile. "I'm afraid not." I saw her twitch, just slightly, before she responded with that same beautiful, calm smile. 'Damn it, Ryou.'

"I see." she replied. "Please continue telling me about the scars and how they came to be."

I nodded and went on with the stories.

About an hour later, I finished telling my story, and she completed her diagnosis. The list was long, to say the least. I'd thought that Muramasa healed my old wounds when I made the sacrifices to it, but apparently, that wasn't the case. Thinking back, I could see where my mistake was, I had offered my lifeforce in exchange for power, not for healing. It was similar to the sacrifice I made to keep Eri's body preserved. If I'd applied the same thinking to myself, I'd probably be in top form right now.

It didn't stop there, though. Poison had accumulated in my blood in such quantities that, according to Unohana, if it were anyone else, they would've melted from the toxicity alone. My bones were another story, with all the times they'd been broken and never properly healed, they'd become jagged in places. I didn't even know that was possible. And finally, there was my lifespan. She'd managed to assess it and questioned why it was so low. I answered truthfully. "I've offered a lot to keep myself alive… and to keep my daughter from decaying." She didn't press further.

Now, I was lying down on a table, with her standing beside me. "Close your eyes, Sasaki-san. This may hurt a little." she said softly. 'She's like a angel.'

I nodded, closing my eyes and keeping my breathing steady. In that quiet, I realized something I hadn't thought about in a while, Amaterasu's blessing. It had vanished after I'd given the rest of it to Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and their loved ones. I didn't regret it, they'd done so much for me.

I was about to say something to Unohana when pain tore through me, forcing me to grit my teeth as I felt my arm and leg starting to grow back with my bones clicking into place. It was a strange sensation, like worms crawling through open wounds. I also felt something else seeping into me, familiar yet foreign.

'Reiatsu.' I instinctively started guiding it through my body as I would cursed magic, noticing the differences. Cursed magic was like sludge, corrosive to mind and body, whereas Reiatsu flowed like water, smooth and calming.

A gentle voice pulled me out of my focus as I maintained control of the Reiatsu. "All done. Congratulations, Sasaki-san, you're back in full condition."

I blinked at Unohana, still processing her words. "Really?"

She nodded and stepped away, disappearing from my view as I got to my feet. Glancing down, I took in the reality, she was right, I was fully healed. 'My right leg, left arm, and even my eye are back.' I clenched my left hand, feeling the renewed strength, and then noticed something new, black markings scattered across my upper body. Unohana returned with a mirror, allowing me to get a better look.

Four distinct black markings now decorated my left side, two bands wrapped around my left bicep, a line that cut across my scar near the obliques, circular markings encircling my upper left shoulder, and a series of square spots and a line with a curve in it forming a unique pattern to my chest and upper trap.

{New Shirtless with arm}

"They appeared while I was healing you." Unohana said calmly. "I assume it's a side effect of you now having Reiryoku."

I nodded, then looked at her sharply. "Why do I have Reiatsu now?"

She chuckled, putting the mirror away as I reached for my kimono. "I had to inject some of my own Reiryoku to initiate the healing process since you had none before. As for the scars, I thought you would want them as a reminder, so they remained."

She moved over to help me with my kimono, though I was managing fine. "Your shoulder scar however I wanted to remove, it actively rejected healing. I decided to go about it in a different way to regrow it."

I hummed in acknowledgment and confusion, thanking her as she patted me gently on the head. "You were promised to be healed, Sasaki-san, so there's no need for thanks."

After securing Eri's box, we headed toward the exit. "Still, thank you Captain Unohana-san. I've been trying to get healed for a long time, so this… it means a lot."

She chuckled softly, and I found myself wanting to hear that sound forever. 'Damn it, Ryou.' I shook my head, clearing the thought, and held the door open for her as she passed with a slight nod of appreciation.

Outside, two figures awaited us, Yachiru, nibbling on sweets atop the shoulder of a towering 6'6" Zaraki Kenpachi, who immediately grinned at me, his voice booming. "Fight me!"

I looked at him blankly, then at Unohana, who watched the scene with a faintly strained smile. Yachiru, meanwhile, looked just as eager as Zaraki.

Taking a steadying breath, I started walking past them. "I refuse."

'Like hell am I going to fight him.'

Then without hesitation, I hightailed it out of there, using Shundō repeatedly to put as much distance as possible. Glancing back, I unfortunately saw a black dot rapidly growing larger.