26 Part 24

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A small welcome back present. Hope you like it

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Raven was standing at the location where Ichibe had told her she would meet one of the members of the Gotei 13. It was not the best start she thought.

She was expecting the Monk to show her the ropes, but that seemed like too much. He did say that he'd meet her first thing when he is finished with his work.

He couldn't be blamed really. She was the one that told him she was ready to have a look. It was not that he told her this date and then didn't show up.

So, she was standing in Central Park, New York, waiting for someone from the Gotei 13 to pick her up. Hank was with her there and waiting as well.

It seems he was still suspicious of the Monk right now. But it was a lot less since the first time they met.

"Are you still sure about this? You don't have to do this, you know."

"No, I must. It was a fair deal. Coming back to you and the others, for having a look at this Gotei 13 is a very generous offer, Hank.

Besides, he said that if I don't like it, I can come back. And it's not like you won't see me again."

A black SUV drove to the sidewalk where they were standing. A back door opened, and a young lady exited the car. Something about the lady felt familiar, but Raven couldn't put her finger on it.

The lady looked at them and smiled. Then she approached them.

"You must be Raven, right?", the lady offered a handshake.

Raven took the hand and replied.

"Yes, I'm Raven. This is Hank McCoy, a friend of mine."

The lady looked at Hank and offered him her hand as well.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Píng'ān. I am here to pick you up, Raven. Are you ready to go?"

Raven hesitated for a moment and then asked Píng'ān something.

"Píng'ān, is there a possibility that Hank can come with us?"

"Hehe, the Head Captain said that you might ask this.

However, I am sorry to tell you, that it's not possible. You are to come alone and make your decision without someone else influencing you.

If you should accept, you are allowed to show your friends and loved ones the things I'll show you as well."

Raven was surprised that the Monk knew about it, but he was a very mysterious person, so that was not the weirdest thing about him.

"I see. That's fine with me. See you later Hank."

"Bye Raven.", Hank looked after Raven as she entered the SUV and the car drove off.

"So tell me, are you the Monk's secretary?"

"Hahaha, no nothing of the sort. I am the captain of the 3rd division of the Gotei 13, Píng'ān. Nice to meet you, Raven."

"Oh a captain is it? I didn't know that this Gotei 13 was a military group."

"Not in the sense that you might suspect, but in a sense, we are indeed soldiers.

We are the keepers of peace in the areas that we control. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

First, we'll go to our headquarters and show you everything there. After that, I and the Head Captain will show you some things that might interest you and how we function."

"With Head Captain, you are referring to the Monk?"

"Exactly. He is the founder of the Gotei 13 and the strongest of us."

"What is he exactly? He brought me back and said something about me being a Shinigami or something.

And that my body is no longer a body in the actual sense or whatnot."

"Ah yes. It can be a bit confusing in the beginning. You are a soul that the Head Captain claimed and allowed to function in a similar way as he does.

This means that you could become a Shinigami. In theory that is. You must first make your decision and then we will see further."

"And what does a Shinigami do exactly."

"In short, we watch over the lands that we control and aim to create a peaceful life for all those who live there.

That includes crimes of any sort, which are extinct there. As the Head Captain despises the thought of taking away the freedom of choice, he has settled on not taking over the whole earth.

On the contrary, we take some pieces of land and make sure that those areas are looked after.

Other than that, we don't interfere with anything. We do own quite a few businesses, but that is to make money and to make sure that the people are not ripped off."

"So other than crime, you don't do anything?"

"As I said we own a few businesses. Those have to be looked after. Then there are other organizations that are looking to take back what was once theirs."

"Then how does this Gotei 13 work? Do you have different units?"

"As you suspect, we indeed have different units. We call them divisions. In total there are three at the moment. But there will be 13 in the future.

The units are responsible for different things.

My division, division three, is responsible for information gathering of all kinds. No matter what, it is collected and then saved somewhere.

This is a very delicate and dangerous job. You see those with the most information, are the most powerful. But some information is dangerous to acquire.

The second division, whose captain you will meet as well, is responsible for assassinations and covert operations. They are the ones we send out if we don't want to make a scene.

Sometimes it is favourable to have your enemy guessing who it might be, that attacked them, and that causes confusion and infighting.

Then there is the 6th division. Well, they do different things. But mostly they are responsible for everything business and funding related."

Raven was surprised. This was a very well-organized group. But she didn't quite understand where she fit in there.

"Well, that seems fine and all. And if you truly reduce crime to almost nil, then that is a dream, but what is my place in all this?"

"You see Raven, amongst the Gotei 13, all members are normal humans, except the three captains. We are all Shinigami.

That means that Ichibe chose us personally. And it also means that we three died once already."