CH 70: SHIBA (1)

"Welcome! Gojo-san, how have you been? and this is…?"

When Gojo finally reached the doorsteps of the Shiba house, he was received by a smiling Miyako.

"Hello! Well, everything has been pretty alright. The young beauty behind me is Nemu, vice-captain of the 12th division."

Miyako of course knew who Nemu was. Even though most divisions were pretty closed off, all divisions needed the help of the 12th division. So the higher-ups were pretty well known.

She briefly wondered what the 3rd seat of the 4th division and the 2nd seat of the 12th were doing together, before discarding the thought. It was not her problem and she was not the kind who liked to snoop in the private life of others.

And with Gojo's reputation as a skirt chaser, it was pretty easy to imagine the relationship between the two.

Coming to a conclusion, she smiled and bowed, "Welcome, Nemuri Kurotsuchi. I am Miyako Shiba. We are glad to have you."

"Hello."

Nemu responded by giving a simple bow. 

Miyako was not particularly surprised, she already knew about Nemu's personality. 

"Sooo, before we enter. Could you tell me who designed this house?" 

Miyako blushed. 

The current house was rather large, clearly showing that even though the Shiba were a somewhat fallen house, they weren't completely poor either. 

The problem was most of the decorations, like two muscled arms on either side of the door or the crab-like sculptures on the roof. 

Coughing a little, she gave a strained smile as she answered, "Do not mind the decorations, please. My sister-in-law just likes playing pranks sometimes."

She could not really say that her sister-in-law had a weird fashion sense. 

"Heh…" 

"Well, shall we enter? Everyone is waiting for us."

Deciding to not call out such a pitiful attempt at switching topics, Gojo simply nodded. 

"Lead the way."

---

After entering the house, they were led toward a rather large room with a long low table placed in the middle and large cushions to serve the purpose of chairs.

The table was already filled with food still hot fresh out of the oven.

"Finally! The star of the day is here! Man, I was starving."

Seated on the head of the table was a tall black-haired man who looked similar to Kaien.

He was wearing the standard uniform of the shinigami and a white coat. He was Isshin Shiba, the captain of the 10th division.

"Good afternoon, Satoru Gojo."

Next to him was a silver-haired man wearing the same uniform, Jushiro Ukitake.

"Hahaha, sorry for being late. I had to visit Byakuya Kuchiki to propose a little project of mine."

Waving his hand, he swept the room with a look,

Aside from Isshin and Jushiro, he could also see Kaien and Rangiku. He knew that Kaien had two other siblings, but since he saw no one else, it seemed that this was a shinigami gathering only or perhaps they were just busy.

"Hey~! Handsome guy, come take a seat."

Smiling at Rangiku he nudged Nemu to follow him before sitting on the right of Rangiku.

Lowering his glasses, he asked, 

"Hey! Sexy girl, how are my babies?"

The direction his gaze settled on was pretty clear. As always, the front of her Kimono was half-open, showing a ridiculous amount of cleavage.

Any other woman would have been rather incensed at such rude remarks. But Rangiku simply chortled and raised her chest with dissatisfaction, 

"Firstly, they aren't yours, and secondly, they are doing alright. Although you wouldn't believe how much of a pain it is to have them."

"Oh? You nearly choked again?"

"Yeah! Like, I was super drunk and I made the mistake of falling asleep on my stomach. Imagine dying from asphyxia because of a pair of boobs?"

"Honestly? It's like one of the top ways I wish to die."

The two of them immediately began to joke around while throwing around sexual innuendos.

Watching from the side, the other participant seemed a little surprised, 

"Are they always like this?"

Kaien asked Isshin.

Isshin smiled, "Well, pretty much, should I say? Those two are really friendly with each other. I even wondered why it never went farther. From what I know, he isn't shy about relationships."

Jushiro shrugged, "I heard even Shunsui's vice-captain had a pretty ambiguous relationship with him. It seems like he simply avoids any relationship that might be too serious."

Jushiro was a good man, but he wasn't a naive one. He wouldn't give his trust to someone like Gojo if he hadn't at least done some research beforehand. 

This was why he found the man to be extremely intriguing. 

In Jushiro's eyes, Satoru Gojo was an enigma more than anything. 

He sometimes acted frivolous and lustful, but at the same time, he seemed to be a caring man with his own code. 

He had tried to see if the man was just a scumbag that used and threw away women after getting what he wished for, but surprisingly, despite his playboy attitude, the women he had partnered with had nothing bad to say about him. 

The same went for his work ethics. 

He could clearly see in his way of acting and speaking that Gojo Satoru was the kind of man who could watch the world burn and laugh at it. 

He would give his all to save and protect his teammates, but he would feel no sadness should said teammates die far away from his eyes. 

In fact, it seemed that sometimes Gojo did not even bother remembering the name of those he did find interesting. 

This duality of his personality made him both a pretty interesting person; and an extremely dangerous man. 

But more than anything, 

'Those eyes of his.'

He did not know what the world looked like through the eyes of this enigmatic shinigami.

But there was one thing he was sure of, and that was that this man could see his greatest secret.

The fact that Mimihagi, the right hand of the soul king — inhabited his lungs.

---

[Seireitei, 2nd Division]

Right now, in the main office of the 2nd division, Soi Fon was reading an identification card in front of her with a frown on her face.

Looking at the somewhat haughty man standing in front of her, she asked,

"So, what exactly does Central 46 want from the 2nd division?"

The man, tall and black-haired, and wearing a luxurious Kimono fanned himself as he laughed, 

"This is where you are wrong. We are not asking for the 2nd division. But rather, the secret force."

Her eyes narrowed at the way he was talking, but since she represented both the Shihoin and the Fon family, she did not wish to affect the reputation of the families because of her impulsiveness, 

"What do you wish from us?"

"Simple. It seems that recently, an exiled noble family is acting in a rather fishy way. We caught traces of them in the Dangai, something that should be impossible. This is why Central 46 has decided to request their complete and absolute eradication."

"I see."

Soi Fon closed her eyes, as she asked, "The Dangai is a very dangerous place and would require much man force to keep inactive in order to avoid the sweeper. Such a mission is extremely dangerous. Too much for the secret force alone."

"That is of course. We have decided to name you as the leader of the operation. You will be accompanied by members of the 4th and 12th divisions of your choice. The Kido corps will also send some of their members. What do you think?"

She nodded. With such a deal, she did not have many reasons to refuse,

"So, which exiled family is the target?"

"One that was exiled nearly one thousand years ago — The fallen Ryodoji family."

(AN: Rangiku is a pretty interesting character. Some might see her as a slut, but she never entered any relationship. So she is a virgin. Basically, she is just a tease. She is a little like Yoruichi. They feel no shame at being looked at, but it's as far as it will go. Though Yoruichi's relationship with Kisuke is pretty sus. Of course that was in Canon. Not in my fic. The same goes for Rangiku/Gin. Also damn, imagine how powerful Jushiro would have been if he could use the power of Mimihagi without dying...)