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"This is a lovely but cunning girl. She'll devour me completely one day."
Aozaki Reiji walked back to his dormitory, recalling the girl's shyness, feeling her warm lips and sweet breath, and nodded in satisfaction.
"A girl's love is indeed a sweet feeling; I can still taste the sweetness now."
"You must have eaten too many Botan Mochi. How could a normal person's mouth be sweet?!"
An ill-timed voice pulled him out of his beautiful romantic fantasy.
He looked up to see a white-haired old… boy standing in front of him.
Aozaki Reiji's expression gradually turned serious: "Matsumoto Rangiku has grown up, but you're still a little kid. Will you stay like this forever and never grow tall?"
"Even if I shattered your fantasy, personal attacks are too much! Matsumoto Rangiku is a special case; my growth rate is normal!"
The white-haired boy in front of him, with his narrowed eyes slightly open, immediately made Aozaki Reiji stop in his tracks.
His old friends had all grown into adults, making him exceptionally sensitive about his own youthful physique.
"Alright, alright, Ichimaru Gin, it was my fault, don't be angry!"
Aozaki Reiji said with a smile, his expression showing no sign of admitting fault, making Ichimaru Gin want to punch him in his handsome face.
Aside from Aozaki Reiji, no one in the Eleventh Division dared to comment on his height; they were either suppressed by force or gave him face.
Aozaki Reiji was the only one who dared to speak, and he couldn't even beat him, making the frustration in his heart difficult to alleviate.
How could he have been so blind back then, following him around so eagerly? He should have died in Rukongai back then; now he still had to repay a life-saving grace.
Speaking of which, he saved me again in the Second Division. That makes twice now. How long do I have to keep repaying him?
"So you came to find me, does that mean everything is ready?"
Aozaki Reiji leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, looking nonchalant, his Captain's haori wrinkled from the pressure.
Ichimaru Gin found it a bit hard to know what to say to this guy who completely disregarded his Captain status.
Among the other Captains, except for Yoruichi, who shared his rotten taste, all of them carried more or less the dignity of a Captain.
But this guy in the Eleventh Division looked exactly like a gang leader, no different from when he was a boss in Rukongai.
Yet, the Squad members of the Eleventh Division fell for his act. They usually used respectful terms like "Kenpachi," "Captain," and "Lord," but their attitude was no different from how delinquents in Rukongai treated their boss.
However, Ichimaru Gin didn't expect that this Captain, who constantly punched and kicked male Squad members but was gentle with female Squad members, could also find time to care about Squad affairs amidst his busy schedule.
But thinking about it, it made sense. This guy appeared to be idle, but in reality, he was secretly doing shady things every day. How could he truly be indifferent to everything?
This guy is dirty-minded!
Clearly, this guy had been paying attention to the rebel matters all along, but because the matter involved too much, he kept everything hidden in his heart.
In an instant, thousands of thoughts flashed through Ichimaru Gin's mind, but on the surface, he calmly looked at Aozaki Reiji, staring intently at those seemingly gentle black eyes.
"Kōga Kuchiki is waiting for you in the reception room. Vice Captain Yamazaki is currently with him," Ichimaru Gin said grumpily.
"Is that so? That's great!" Aozaki Reiji also looked at him quite happily. "It seems he's in a hurry too."
"The rebel forces have been quite frenzied recently, as if they know they're at their wit's end, so they're attacking various noble families. The Kuchiki's affiliated nobles have also been affected."
The two of them walked towards the meeting room, chatting and laughing.
"They know they've become pawns," Aozaki Reiji muttered to himself.
Yamamoto's decision to move against the rebels was clearly from above.
This indicated that the power struggle among the nobles had reached its end.
However, the Tsunayashiro Family's petty actions couldn't continue either.
Captain-class Shinigami died one after another, and even a true Captain was lost.
Cultivating Captain-class powerhouses required vast resources and effort; even a powerful family like the Tsunayashiro Family couldn't withstand such consumption.
This war was like a bottomless quagmire for them; if they didn't extricate themselves in time, continuing would only lead to a slow death.
The war had to end, but the rebels were, after all, traitors who attempted to overthrow the Seireitei.
For the rebels, this war was destined to fail. When the war ended, these rebels were destined to die.
But before they died, they could still contribute something for themselves.
Looking at the nonchalant, even somewhat gleeful Aozaki Reiji, Ichimaru Gin clearly knew that the rebels were probably in for trouble.
Although he didn't know what he was planning, it was definitely nothing good.
"Forget it, what does it matter to me whether those guys die or not? They deserve to die…"
Ichimaru Gin, deep in thought, followed behind Aozaki Reiji, silently thinking to himself. He cared about very few people, and those rebels were certainly not among them.
"What is this? They're just some rebels. Haven't I taken enough lives already?"
"The person I need to protect is right in front of me. For her, no matter how many lives I take, I will not regret it!"
The lazy Aozaki Reiji looked at the inexplicably fired-up Ichimaru Gin with some confusion. Although he didn't know what Ichimaru Gin was thinking, he could tell from his expression that he was very passionate.
"Young people, they're just too easily swayed by emotions. You've been with me for so many years, and you still haven't learned my composure," he sighed inwardly.
"Why is this guy looking at me with such a pitiful gaze? Has his brain finally completely broken?"
Ichimaru Gin watched Aozaki Reiji suddenly shake his head and sigh, and his eye twitched unconsciously.
Along the way, the two friends, one tall and one short, who could entrust their lives to each other, talked cheerfully on the surface, but in reality, they secretly questioned each other's mental state more than once.
"We're here. I'll go in first and call Vice Captain Yamazaki out. You two war commanders can discuss confidential matters; we won't participate."
Ichimaru Gin stood outside the reception room door a step ahead, perfectly demonstrating what professional conduct meant.
"Oh! As expected of my personal secretary, so thoughtful! I'll leave it to you." Aozaki Reiji nodded at the reception room door. "It seems I must give you a raise."
"Don't call me by that strange title!" Despite Aozaki Reiji's unreliability, Ichimaru Gin didn't refuse the condition of a raise. Instead, he gently knocked on the door.
Less than a minute later, Ichimaru Gin came out with Ikkaku Madarame.
"Captain Kōga is inside."
"Thank you for your hard work." Aozaki Reiji exchanged glances with them, pushed the door open, and walked in.
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