CH 52: PLAYING THE FOOL

"...Satoru… Satoru! Wake up!." 

"Hum…"

Opening his eyes, still blurry with sleep, Gojo observed his surroundings before remembering where he was. 

Turning around, he jumped from the tree he had been using as a makeshift bed and smiled at the silver-haired woman standing in front of him. 

"Hello, Isane. What brings you here on such a beautiful morning?"

"It's Afternoon."

Gojo did not miss a beat as he continued, "What brings you here on such a beautiful afternoon?"

Sighing, Isane knew that she could never shake Gojo and simply decided to speak about important matters.

"Captain Unohana is calling you. She wishes for you to bring the pills prescribed to Captain Ukitake to the 13th division."

"Hm?"

Gojo frowned, he did not like dealing with the captain of the 13th division. 

Even though the man appeared like a kind and gentle elder, Gojo could feel a cold and devious side to the man.

But this wasn't the problem, after all, it wasn't as he himself was a saint.

What bothered him was the overwhelming amount of power hidden in the lungs of that man.

It was like another existence dwelled inside of those lungs. An existence so large Gojo had difficulty describing it.

From what Gojo had observed with his eyes, Jushiro Ukitake should have died long ago. His disease should have reaped his life a few years after it manifested.

But here he was, still alive. Sick–But alive. This meant that whatever hid in his lungs was keeping him alive.

"Sigh. Oh well, I might as well pay a visit to Rukia. I need her to call her brother for me."

Stretching, he murmured and gestured for Isane to lead the way.

"Hm? What do you want to speak of with Captain Kuchiki? Don't tell me it's another fight?"

"Hahaha! Do you think I am such a guy?"

"Yes, you are."

"Heh, my Isane knows me so well! I am touched."

"Be more serious please."

"Alright, alright. I am seriously not going to fight with him. I am going to talk about business."

"Business?"

"You know that there is a book in circulation whose story is about some BL between him and me?"

Isane blushed and began to stammer, "Wh-what do you m-mean!? *Ahem* How could someone buy such a shameless book?"

Gojo looked at her with a faint smile for a few seconds without a word.

In the end, Isane could only relent. "I bought one, okay! But just one."

"..."

"Okay, it was three."

"..."

"Argh! I admit I bought the whole story! Satisfied?"

Isane was so red that steam seemed to float above her head.

Gojo caressed her head as he said gently, "There, there, it wasn't hard, was it?"

Even though Gojo only had a few centimeters above her, the scene did not seem awkward.

"Ugh."

"Hahaha. Little Isane is so cute."

Isane blushed and swatted his hand away, "You are the only one who would call me little."

Gojo knew that Isane had some weird complex with her height. He did not really understand why and he did not care either.

"Your height is of no importance to me."

Gojo knew that if he wished to, he could wrap Isane like a fiddle. She had so many insecurities that anyone kind and patient enough could have tricked her.

Sadly, even though he was quite interested in her, he was not interested in forming a permanent relationship.

If he ever broke Isane's heart, he was sure that one terrifying woman would chase him with a blood sword.

Discarding those thoughts, he went back to the matter, 

"Anyway. This whole BL business allowed me to understand something."

"What is it?"

"The Shinigamis are really bored."

Isane opened her mouth for a few moments before shutting it.

Gojo was right. Even though the perception of time for Shinigami was different from humans, living hundreds or thousands of years while doing the same thing was extremely boring.

Of courses, there was some entertainment there and here, but at the end of the day, it was just ephemeral and transient.

"So you want to develop the entertainment industry?"

"Of course. The role of the Kuchiki family is protecting and compiling the history of the soul society. They should have some juicy stories to share. What's more, having the backing of a great noble family would be really helpful."

Saying so, Gojo waved his hand in the air, 

"Imagine. Hundreds of stories written every week. There would be all kinds. Romance, war, drama, psychology. This would be the start of a new age--and it would rapport a shit ton of money."

"So money is really your sole goal?"

"Hahaha! What do you mean? I am an outstanding, upright, and model citizen. Of course I am doing it for the money."

In reality, Gojo wasn't really doing this for money… Well, he was indeed doing it for the money, but it wasn't his main goal.

The full history of the soul society.

How could Gojo resist stea–borrowing some books from their archives?

Knowledge was power.

Forbidden knowledge, even more so.

This wasn't all.

The reason that he wished to claim the seat of captain wasn't just to show off.

His goal was the Daireishokairo. The greatest Library in the whole Soul Society, a place only accessible to the members of the central 46 and a few authorized captains.

The plan with the Kuchiki family was a long shot, but the chances of him being allowed to enter the Daireishokairo were extremely high.

During those 5 years, he had shown a brash and hot-headed personality but had enough respect for his superior and was not that strong. 

No matter how he saw it, this was the ideal type of personality any Leader liked in his subordinates.

Strong but not too much.

Talented but not too much.

Smart but not too much.

Of course, the fact that he was just five years old by soul society standard should have been a problem, but Gojo had managed to create rumors by using some of the women he had night relationships with and who were obviously honey traps laid for him.

Like how in reality he was a few hundreds of years old.

Like how in fact, he had failed the test entry of the academy many times before succeeding.

Like how he was weak to women and was ready to give away all his secrets. 

A flawless person invited wariness. 

A person full of flaws invited disgust.

Only someone talented, but with enough flaws to be usable was liked by higher-ups.

It has been honestly pretty easy.

Five years of scheming where he showed his light and showed his darkness, all so that he could lower their vigilance.

Even for his Shikai, the only ones in this world who knew its true power were Zaraki Kenpachi and Unohana.

Still, 

'They should send me more honey traps. I must admit, the quality of women in the Soul Society is extremely high.'