As weeks passed into months, Soul Society slowly began to change. Captains Abarai and Hisagi were settling into their new roles. Nanao Ise was reorganizing Squad 3 as provisional captain, with the result that Captain Kyoraku was spending a great deal of time in Squad 3 and very little time in his own division. Nonetheless, all of Soul Society was getting ready, drilling, practicing, and fighting in preparation for the coming war. There were increasing concerns about shinigami-hollow hybrids in the human world. A few at a time, shinigami were being stationed in Karakura Town, were the reports were coming from.
Not all the changes were for the worst, however. Hinamori was conscious increasingly often, although how well she was actually recovering was unclear. Hanatarou was no longer stationed on cleaning duty in the wing where she was staying, but it was said that she wasn't sleeping well and seemed depressed.
The training exercises which Captain Unohana was administering were getting more and more difficult. None of them went quite as badly as the second one, though. Hanatarou was tired, and he knew the rest of his unit was, too. Still, they were becoming a real team. They were learning to act both a whole and independently to accomplish their mission. Even he was getting better both at swordsmanship and at Kido.
Today, there was a meeting for all the paramedic units. Hanatarou was looking desperately for his zanpakuto. He had a bad habit of taking it off without paying attention. His sword made it difficult to do some things because it caught on things and tangled in his legs, so he tended to fling it aside when he was trying to work.
He had been assigned to unload food wagons yesterday, so he rushed to the drop-off point to see if that was where he had left his sword. Fortunately, it was there. Unfortunately, someone had stuck it in the top of a wooden flagpole. He sighed and glanced at the sun. Even if he left his sword, he was probably going to be late, so he might as well retrieve it.
He took his medical pack off his back, took out the bandages, and wrapped the palms of his hands to give him a better grip. He backed up a few paces, ran at the pole, and jumped as high as he could. He grabbed it a few feet away from his sword and desperately tired to scramble upwards. His left arm slipped and he tumbled off.
He was about to try a second time when he heard a quiet voice ask, "Would you like some help?"
Hanatarou turned around in surprise. "Lieutenant Kira," he said, bowing politely. "I suppose so. I'm late for a meeting as it is."
Kira nodded and murmured a Kido incantation. Hanatarou's katana floated gently down to him. "Thank you," Hanatarou said. He began to walk back to Fourth Division. Kira fell into step beside him. "Um…Lieutenant Kira?" he asked. "How did you happen to walk by? And why are you helping us so much? I mean, I appreciate it, but surely you have many duties in your own squad."
Kira shrugged. "I always pass this way on my morning walk. As for my job, Captain Ise doesn't exactly need a lieutenant. She's used to doing that job and the captain's job, so she doesn't really need me. Besides," he said, avoiding Hanatarou's eyes, "the others don't really feel comfortable with me around. Anyway, I used to be in Fourth Division, so I know how difficult it can be."
"The truth is, though" he said, "I hate fighting. I mean, it's one thing to cleanse Hollows, but that isn't really killing them. We've already died once, so you'd think we wouldn't need to kill each other again. War is…it's just pointless. I never really wanted to leave Fourth Division, but they promoted me out anyway."
"I'm surprised that Captain Unohana let you leave," Hanatarou said. "She usually makes sure shinigami who can heal stay in Fourth Division."
"She said I couldn't be a good healer until I understood that some things are worth dying for," he said.
Hanatarou didn't answer. He was glad that Kira wasn't simply shirking his duties. And he seemed calmer now than he was before. They reached a branch in the road. "Good-bye," Hanatarou said. "Thank you for retrieving my zanpakuto."
Hanatarou slipped into the meeting hall as unobtrusively as possible. He tripped over the leg of a chair and went flying into the table.
"Good morning, Hanatarou-kun," Captain Unohana said calmly. "If you will take your seat, we can continue."
"Sorry," Hanatarou said. He sat down, his cheeks burning.
"As I was saying," she said. "All of you need practice working with trauma beyond that which we can simulate here. All of you will need to take shifts in the Rukongai hospital, starting next week. Paramedic squad leaders will train for these first two weeks. After that, you'll be expected to bring your unit with you. You will be expected to clock at least ten hours per week." She paused. "If there are no questions, I'll get the medical supplied and take you there for your orientation in ten minutes."
oOoOoOo
Few people remembered now, but Retsu Unohana had founded Rukongai's only hospital. It hadn't been easy. She was a member of the minor nobility, but she wasn't wealthy. Still, at the time, the only help available for injured shinigami outside Seireitei came from amateurs. It had been her dream to start a proper hospital and train non-shinigami to administer care.
As a young shinigami, Retsu took every opportunity to volunteer for hospital duty. A large concentration of souls tended to hover around hospital, so a shinigami needed to be sent to 'clean' the hospitals on a weekly basis. It was a duty generally reserved to lower-ranking shinigami, but Retsu always volunteered. She wanted to learn everything she could about conventional medicine.
She took care to interview any souls who had been doctors, and she tried to leave herself enough time to observe procedures in the hospital itself. There had even been a few doctors who were spiritually aware enough to see her. Those were always the best, because then she could ask questions about what she was learning. Medicine in Soul Society never kept pace with medicine in the outside world, but the things she learned still helped. Besides, the work may have been tedious, but she earned money with each soul she cleansed.
The hospital opened a mere hundred years after Retsu was born, a remarkable accomplishment for such a young shinigami. At the time, she had just become a seated officer. Still, she spent as much time as possible in the hospital. Still, the drawback was always that the best healers were taken to Seireitei.
Well, now she had a chance to get some assistance. She took some medical supplies from the cupboard—it was a training mission, after all—and went out to the main entrance. As she turned the corner, Kira nearly collided with her. "Sorry, Captain Unohana," he murmured, clearly wanting to get away.
"Izuru-kun," she said.
"Yes, Captain Unohana?" he asked, turning towards her shyly.
"You could go in to see her, you know," she said. "She appreciates the presents, but I'm sure she'd rather see you in person."
He ducked his head, as if he were trying to hide behind his hair. "She should have better friends than me," he said. "I should have let her kill Ichimaru."
"Don't be absurd," she said firmly. "First, if she had successfully killed Ichimaru, she would have been charged with treason. Second, powerful though she is, there is simply no way she could have actually killed Ichimaru, and given that she attacked him, no one would have blamed him for killing her. You did the right thing."
"I led Hitsugaya away. She was defenseless against Aizen because of me," Kira insisted.
Retsu sighed inwardly. His words had the ring of self-accusations endlessly repeated. "Izuru-kun, we were all fooled by the traitors. You are not alone in this. We teach shinigami to trust their captains; you cannot be blamed for following your training.
Kira didn't answer. "Well, I hope sometime you'll speak with Hinamori-san in person," she said. "At any rate, thank you for helping my subordinates. Hanatarou's group has improved a great deal."
"Thank you, Captain Unohana," he said, and he hurried away.
Noticing the time, Retsu shook her head and went out to join her trainees.
oOoOoOo
Momo had heard some of the conversation between Captain Unohana and Kira. She had wanted to go out and tell him it was all right, that Gin had fooled everybody, even Captain Aizen, but she didn't want to interrupt.
Aizen…
No, she couldn't start thinking about him again. Every time she remembered what had happened, her heart began to pound all over again. She couldn't think about him.
But why? Gin fooled everybody, right? But even so…how could he really believe that it was necessary to hurt her? But she had believed that Hitsugaya was her enemy, so he could believe that Momo was his enemy, couldn't he?
Just stop it, she told herself. Just stop. She clenched her sheets tightly.
She was physically healed, for the most part, but she still had a scar on her stomach. It hurt if she moved too much.
Why couldn't he have told me? Why couldn't he have explained what was happening? What did Gin tell him?
She had to think about something else. There was a book in the corner which Kira had left. It was a story about a young woman who could turn into a seal. She tried to read, but the words wouldn't seem to focus.
Aizen always loved to see her read. "What are you concentrating so hard on, Hinamori-san?" he would ask. And she would look up and see those beautiful eyes, those eyes that told her how much he trusted her and loved her…no one ever looked at her like that before.
No, no, no… she felt sick now, and cold. She stumbled outside and vomited, shaking and sobbing. Why? Why did he leave?
oOoOoOo
Overall, it had been a very successful day. The Fourth Division recruits had gotten some excellent practice, and they had saved quite a few lives. Of course, not all their care was a matter of life and death. Hanatarou had helped one of her most promising interns deliver a baby. The expression on his face was simply priceless.
Still smiling slightly, she took the day's reports from the shinigami at the front desk. "Is there anything in particular that I should know?" Retsu asked.
"Hinamori seems to have had something of a relapse," the nurse said. "Shortly after you left, she ran outside and threw up. We had to sedate her in order to get her back to her room. I'm also a little worried that only two drops of Shinten knocked her out. That indicates that her reiatsu is badly depleted again."
Retsu nodded. "I'll look in on her before I leave for the evening."
Hinamori was staring out the window, wrapped in a blanket when Retsu walked in. "Hinamori-san?" she said softly. The girl turned around slowly, and Retsu saw the dark circles under her eyes. "I hear you had a difficult day," Retsu said.
Hinamori nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" Retsu asked.
At first, she didn't think Hinamori would answer, but then she said, "I can't stop thinking about him. It…just…Gin lied to him, I know it. But why did he hurt me? I thought he…he…" She started to sob and flung herself into Retsu's arms. "Oh, Captain Unohana," she said, crying into the older woman.
Retsu let her cry. Finally, she thought. Momo had cried before, but this was the first time she had really let her emotions go. She sobbed for more than a half hour, until she started to get drowsy.
Retsu gently set Momo back in her bed and pulled the covers up around her. "Captain Unohana?" she said sleepily.
"Yes?"
"Who was that one boy who was working here for a while?" she asked. "He had a funny name…Hana-something."
"Hanatarou Yamada," Retsu supplied. "He's a paramedic squad leader. He was just working on cleaning duty in the hospital for a while."
"I'd like to see him again someday," Momo said drowsily. "He was nice." And she went to sleep.
