Chapter 52: I Have a Moral Bottom Line

"No… no need. I only hope you can heal Rangiku."

Gin quickly refused.

"Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

Makoto asked, his tone carrying a hint of reluctance.

After all, patients like Gin, who seemed to embody the textbook definition of severe ptosis, were rare. It made Makoto's hands itch to take on the challenge.

It was a classic case of a skilled doctor encountering a textbook-worthy illness—letting it go untreated felt almost like a betrayal of his professional integrity.

"No, really, there's no need. I just want you to heal Rangiku," Gin replied, holding firm to his resolve, determined to avoid being dragged into whatever bizarre "treatment" this guy might have in mind.

As a physician, Makoto spoke gently, trying to soothe his patient's obvious unease.

"Don't worry. As a doctor, I have my ethical boundaries. If a patient who needs help appears before me, I will do everything I can to treat them. That little girl, Rangiku, is one such patient, and so are you. That's why I want to treat you as well. Do you understand?"

Of course, Makoto privately admitted that his moral boundaries could be… flexible when he wasn't wearing his doctor's hat.

Hearing Makoto's willingness to treat Rangiku, Gin felt a flicker of joy. However, his head shook fervently like a rattling drum, signaling his unyielding refusal.

"Are you really sure? I guarantee that after the treatment, your eyes will be more beautiful than 99% of women's," Makoto added, unwilling to give up just yet.

Gin's pupils widened in shock, and his head shook even faster.

Has this guy revealed his true nature?

Is he planning some kind of twisted transformation on me?

Surely not… right? All I did was accidentally bump into him. Does that warrant turning me into a beautiful girl?

But then a more chilling thought crossed Gin's mind. If he refused, would Makoto take it out on Rangiku?

The idea filled Gin's ocean-blue eyes with a mix of humiliation and determination. He steeled himself and said, "If you absolutely must do something to me, then… after you've healed Rangiku, I won't resist."

??

Makoto blinked.

Realizing that Gin had misunderstood the situation as some sort of coercive and degrading treatment, Makoto felt a twinge of regret but ultimately abandoned the idea.

"If you're truly unwilling, then fine. I'm very democratic," he said gently.

The soft tone left Gin, who had already braced himself for the worst, momentarily stunned.

After all, respecting a patient's wishes is a hallmark of a good doctor.

As for forcibly conducting bizarre treatments or transformations, Makoto had no intention of becoming the kind of perverse doctor you'd find in a midnight hospital horror story.

Meanwhile, observing the interaction between Makoto and Gin from the sidelines, Taimei Kujo let out a subtle sigh of relief. While the conversation had taken a strange turn, the outcome was positive—Makoto wasn't going to refuse treatment out of spite for Gin's earlier rudeness. He even seemed willing to offer a "two-for-one" deal.

"As expected, Makoto is such a kind and decent person!"

"Makoto, should we start the treatment now?" Taimei asked.

Makoto hesitated for a moment before replying, "Wait, let me check if my insurance is still valid."

Both Gin and Taimei stared at him in confusion as Makoto rummaged around.

Makoto took a large step outside and glanced towards where Unohana had been standing earlier.

The graceful and gentle figure of Unohana was still there, though she seemed slightly puzzled by Makoto's sudden appearance.

"Good, sensei is still here..."

With a faint smile, Makoto casually waved in her direction, as if noticing her presence by coincidence, before turning back inside.

Aizen Sosuke. This man was simply too dangerous.

In Makoto's judgment, Aizen likely had no real concept of good or evil. Killing was merely something he deemed necessary to achieve his goals—nothing more, nothing less.

Everything in Aizen's eyes might simply be pieces on a chessboard. If useful, they were kept; if not, they were discarded. It was as simple as that.

Thus, after confirming that Aizen was indeed the mastermind behind the recent small-scale incident of missing souls, Makoto naturally felt the need to ensure his Unohana Medical Reishi Insurance was still within reach—just in case of any unexpected complications.

"No issues. Let's begin the treatment now…"

At Makoto's instruction, Ichimaru Gin and Matsumoto Rangiku lay side by side on the makeshift medical beds. Kujo Taimei, meanwhile, instinctively prepared to step away to avoid disrupting the process.

"Wait, Mr. Kujo, could you stay?" Gin suddenly spoke up.

"This…"

Kujo hesitated, looking slightly troubled.

Makoto immediately grasped the situation. Clearly, Gin's hyper-vigilant nature was at play here. The young fox was on guard, wary that Makoto might do something underhanded to him the moment Kujo left.

"Enough, Gin," Makoto said with exasperation. "Your suspicion is an insult to my professionalism as a doctor. Aren't you worried about offending me? What if, after treatment, you wake up as a cute little girl?"

For a moment, Gin locked eyes with Makoto's subtly displeased expression. The ever-cool and composed Gin felt a rare flicker of unease, as if he were a little snake tied helplessly to the operating table, trembling under the scalpel.

"Relax. As a doctor, ensuring the safety of my patients is a fundamental principle. There's no need to be scared." Makoto's tone was warm and reassuring.

Yet, these words did little to comfort Gin.

While Gin didn't believe Makoto to be an outright villain—nor someone aligned with the Shinigami who had taken something vital from Rangiku—he was certain of one thing: Makoto was absolutely not trustworthy.

Gin wasn't worried about his life. No, he was worried about his name. He feared that when he woke up, "Ichimaru Gin" would have become "Ichimaru Nine."

*(TL/N - the character "银" (Gin) means "silver," but with the removal of the little dot at the bottom, it would resemble "九" (Nine).)

The critical little dot…is gone!

The youthful Gin swallowed hard and nervously asked, "D-during the treatment, will I be unconscious or something?"

Senju thought for a moment before replying in a deliberately ominous tone, "Generally speaking, to prevent any unforeseen complications, I usually ensure my patients are sedated. This minimizes disruptions caused by wailing, screaming, struggling, or attempts to escape…"

As Gin processed each word, his face grew paler and paler.

"Ahaha, just kidding!"

Makoto's warm smile returned. "If you're that concerned, I'll let you stay awake. Besides, I trust you won't do anything to disrupt the treatment…"

"After all, the little girl beside you—she's more important to you than your own life, isn't she?"

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