CH 45: I WAS BORN READY

[4th division, healing quarter]

Even though the moon hung high in the sky, the hospital was still full of activities.

After all, Shinigami were always at the risk of being wounded.

While the bustle still continued, Gojo, sitting on his bed, was deep in meditation.

He was reviewing the fight with Ikkaku.

What were his mistakes?

How could he correct those mistakes?

Such thoughts filled his head as he replayed the scene of the fight again and again in his head.

At the end of the day, one of his two greatest weaknesses was the lack of healing methods and clear defense methods.

Using the Bakudo spell he used to block the Shikai once again against the Bankai had clearly been a foolish move born from his habits of using Limitless.

At the same time, he did not have the ability to heal himself anymore.

But this wasn't all, one of his greatest mistakes was underestimating the power a Bankai could bring.

The way Ikkaku went from being too weak to an equal was a clear show of just how powerful the Bankai was.

What's more, he had clearly felt that Ikkaku had a poor mastery of his Bankai and should have basically never trained in it.

Aside from this, his sword-wielding abilities were clearly too low. After all, he was more used to fighting bare-handed.

'Well, let's see the training that that woman plans to bring.'

Being powerful did not mean you were necessarily a good teacher. As such, if he found that her teaching was useless, he would simply leave and join another division.

'I need to shift my priorities.'

Until now, he had been obsessed with re-creating Limitless. He had even managed to push out his inner domain. Sadly he was unable to completely control it.

Still, the most important thing was to become stronger as soon as possible.

As such, he would firstly attain at least Shikai. Then once he did, he could learn Bankai and at least become a somewhat bigger fish.

'Well, let's sleep. We will think about this tomorrow.'

---

The next day, and the few after it flew so fast that Gojo did not even feel them.

During those days in the hospital, he had received the visit of Nanao and Rangiku.

Those visits had been rather enjoyable since Gojo would never reject the visit of a beautiful woman.

What's more, Gojo was far from dense.

He could clearly feel that Nanao had begun to develop feelings for him since the time she taught him in the academy. Though, as it was now, she only had budding feelings for him.

That's why he always played dumb in front of her.

After all, he wasn't a scumbag.

If Nanao was just in search of a short and physical relationship, he would have been more than happy to accept it. After all, she was really nice and beautiful.

Sadly, this wasn't the case. She was clearly reticent about the relationship and if she chose him then it would without a doubt be a serious relationship -- which wasn't something he could give her.

Gojo could not see himself being serious about a woman. But he did not want to break a woman's heart either.

So the best solution was to only have casual physical relationships.

As for Rangiku, the woman was really fun to be around with. He liked how she acted as if she had no shame when she was in fact someone full of insecurities about herself.

The two of them had rapidly become friends and she would come from time to time to complain to him about how her captain was ditching his work on her and she wished she had a competent 3rd seat to ditch the work to.

Women aside, members of the 11th division would also come to visit him while bearing many gifts.

He had also met a man named Yumichika, a funny and narcissistic fellow. At the same time, he was a fierce and loyal man.

During his fight with Ikkaku, he had always kept a part of his attention on Yumichika. After all, who knew what could happen? 

The result had been surprising. Yumichika clearly wanted to intervene, but each time he would hold himself back. Clearly out of respect for his friend. This made Gojo respect the man.

From Yumichika, he had learned that Ikkaku's wounds, despite being lighter, still took time to heal. What's more, he had stayed in the coma for a few days before waking up.

Gojo knew that this was the result of his incomplete Domain. Thankfully, he did not destroy the mind of Ikkaku.

He had also met Ikkaku's sister. A cute, if not loud girl. Also a member of the 13th division.

Apparently, Rukia had wanted to come to visit him but had been retained to do so by her new brother.

She was also a member of the 13th division, though it seemed that the situation wasn't all that beautiful.

Gojo could clearly understand why. After all, even though Rukia was talented, it was far from enough for her to graduate in one year and get a seated position. 

But since she was a member of the Kuchiki family, there should be no shinigami dumb enough to bully her.

As such, either she was completely ignored in her division, or people were too busy licking her boot to really become friends with her.

Either way, poor Rukia shouldn't be really happy. 

He had decided to visit her once if he had time. After all, the 4th division always had to deliver medicine to the captain of the 13th division.

All in all, it has been an interesting, if leisurely, week.

Gojo could feel that he was slowly integrating deeper into the soul society. He felt less and less like a stranger nowadays.

At the end of the week, even though he still had some bandages there and here, he was now able to move and was in fighting shape.

At the end of the week, he finally left his bed and went to Unohana's office. 

----

[4th division, Captain office.]

"Hello captain, it isn't nice to not even have visited me once. My feelings have been hurt, you know?"

Entering the office with his hand in his pockets, Gojo saluted Unohana.

The one who had been tasked to heal him was Isane. As such, it had been a week since he had last seen Unohana.

Of course, he was lying about his wounded feelings, after all, he understood why she did not visit him.

"As of now, it has been two months since you joined my division. Do you remember our deal?"

"Of course."

"Good. Those two months were also a way for me to observe you and I must admit that I am very pleased about what I have seen."

Gojo did not ask what would have happened if she had not been pleased.

"So now the choice is yours. Do you choose to stay in the 4th division? Or Do you wish to join another division? If you choose the former, I will teach you everything I know. If you choose the latter, I will write you a letter of recommendation so that you can join any division of your choice as a 3rd seat."

Did Gojo need to ponder?

Of course not, 

"I wish to stay."

"I see. Then, I welcome you once again to my division. You will be installed as the 4th seat, but you will not become the leader of a relief team. After all, you will be training with me. I hope you are ready."

"I was born ready."

Unohana gave an enchanting smile when she heard Gojo saying so, but all Gojo could see was the smile of a bloodthirsty maniac.