Where for me, it all started.The place is crowded with sick, wounded and medical staff. Complaints from the patients in pain resonate through the corridors. Unohana-Taicho keeps patrolling to cure them without losing her ice-cold composure, followed by her loyal vassal Isane. Hanatarou often pops out of a room, his hands full of bandages.
A daily ruckus at the barracks of the Healing Squad.
I love this atmosphere.
Not the screaming of the wounded of course (oï, I ain't no bastard!), but the solidarity built up by people facing a severe situation that needs strong partnership to get solved.
I am standing on the threshold, my sharp eyes looking for someone in need for help.
Dammit, him again...I rush towards Hanatarou who is almost drowning under a mountain of medicine boxes.
"Need a hand, 'Tarou?"
"Ah! It's you! Er... I'm fine! Really really fine!"
I look at him through two boxes covering his face and smile broadly.
"Nah, c'mon, there's nothing wrong with getting help!"
"Uh, o...okay then, here, could you take this...and this... er, that too..."
Hanatarou seems relieved after we equally share the weight.
He glances at me with a shy smile and adds:
"I, I'm sorry Aniki, I didn't get to take time training as you told me to...If only I had, surely I would get stronger and carry all that alone, wouldn't I?"
"Hey, alright there, Onii-chan, time isn't something one can grasp. What about tonight? I'll take you to the woods.
It's pretty quiet, we'll be able to rest our hearts and put our brawn into action! What d'you say?"
I guess my expression looks so ferociously determined that the poor Hanatarou can't help but feeling terrorized.
"Is he teasing you again, Hanatarou?"
Shit.That voice pours lead up to my bone marrow.
"U...Uno...Unohana-Taicho, I...I was offering him to strengthen his body, since he looks a little pale! Nothing wrong with that I hope! Taicho!"
"Yowaiseishin Hiroshinji-san. Do you think that not having an athletic body means that one lacks strength?" she replies.
"Of...of course not, Taicho, I meant that he could take some time off, just for tonight, to...to clear his mind put under the stressful atmosphere of the 4th Squ..."
"Don't you dare let him get a single scratch with your exercising. Do your best, Hanatarou-chan, hm?"
As she leaves, I am feeling as if the world has been lifted away from my crushed shoulders. What an incredible aura she has.
"So it's settled, Anikii? Tonight, training in the woods?" says the young healer, his eyes shining.
"Yup, and don't forget to grab a bite at least two hours before the rendezvous, alright?" I wave him goodbye and go out of the barracks looking for my wife.
It will soon be noon, I am starving, and since I am not allowed to cook my own meals
("How can you possibly eat such badly mixed-up ingredients?"), I can't help but rejoin her at our house in the 3rd District.
The morning has been tense already, I hope for a better afternoon...
To be continued at the 11th Squad's barracks.