31 Chapter 31 - Haruki

At Yoruichi's request, he stopped by Urahara's shop to drop her off. Of course, she was perfectly capable of returning on her own, but why walk when she could hitch a ride on Jin's board? While stopping by the shop, Jin said hello to everyone, but Urahara narrowed his eyes at the greeting.

"I was going to see if you wanted to start training sooner, but you seem low on energy."

"Ah, yeah. Fought something annoying earlier."

"I see," Urahara mumbled in response. Without saying anything else, he walked through the door in the back of the shop. He returned a few seconds later and tossed a small bottle at Jin, which he easily caught.

"What is this?" Jin asked while studying the unlabeled bottle.

"An energy drink of sorts. It will help you recover more quickly."

"Will it help my body, or just my soul?"

"Your body is injured?"

"Yeah, but not too badly."

"Hmm. Well, that will just help you recover energy more quickly to a certain extent."

"Works for me. Well, I'll come back in the morning to train. Kido came in handy when I was fighting earlier, so I'm eager to learn more."

Tessai nodded with a barely noticeable smile on his face.

Since Jin didn't need anything else from the merry band of fugitives, he flew back home after a brief goodbye. Along the way, he drank the small energy drink. It didn't have much flavor, but he immediately felt the effects. His energy that had dwindled after fighting in the Toaru universe started recovering at a much faster rate than before.

After arriving home, he reentered his body. He then put on a fresh shirt to hide the wound on his shoulder and peeked his head outside his bedroom door. Not seeing anyone in the dark hallway, he stepped back into his room, grabbed fresh gauze and clothes, and walked back out into the hall toward the small upstairs bathroom to use the shower.

Showering and bathing turned into a struggle since he had trouble moving his right arm. After cleaning his body, and especially his wound, he dressed and left the bathroom. However, he immediately halted upon seeing a kid who looked quite similar to himself leaning against the wall. In contrast to Jin, though, his hair was dyed blonde, and he wore rather flamboyant clothes. The gold necklace around his neck especially drew attention.

"Haruki, eh?" Jin mumbled, furrowing his brows.

Pushing himself off the wall, the boy clicked his tongue and grumbled, "Took you long enough."

However, Haruki then glanced down and the bloody gauze held in his older brother's hand. His forehead wrinkled slightly, and his eyes uncontrollably scanned over Jin's body. It didn't take him long to notice the gauze wrapping visible near the neck of Jin's shirt.

"Someone hurt you, Aniki? I'll help you beat their ass."

Chuckling, Jin shook his head and quietly replied, "Nah. Hurt myself while training. Just don't tell mom. It'll be annoying if she gets worried."

"Mhm. Yeah, she always sticks her nose in where it doesn't belong."

"It's because she cares, so don't shrug it off too much," Jin casually chided.

"Tch. Whatever," Haruki grumbled, turning away. He walked into the bathroom without saying anything else.

Briefly following his younger brother with a hesitant gaze, Jin sighed and shook his head.

'Poor kid's going through his rebellious phase. Not really sure how to handle it, either.'

Setting aside his brother's problems for the time being, Jin quietly sneaked into his room. He threw the old gauze away in the trash can by his desk before jumping onto his bed. It didn't take him long to fall asleep even after drinking the energy drink Urahara gave him.

The next morning, Jin woke up the most painful morning wood he'd ever experienced, not to mention wet underwear, which had never happened to him in this life. He blankly stared at his underwear as though looking at a bill he didn't want to pay.

"Dammit, Kisuke. What the hell did you give me?"

Clicking his tongue, he got up, bathed again, and changed into fresh clothes and bandaging. The wound healed rather noticeably, which he appreciated since he would be heading to the One Piece world soon. After getting ready, he finally got around to checking his phone. He missed several messages, but checked the reward notifications first.

{Tutorial Mission #2 Completed. Issuing Rewards.}

{Received 1 Bronze Lottery Ticket.}

{Received 100 RP.}

He contemplated using the ticket, but eventually settled on saving it for now. If gacha taught him anything, it was to save up as much as possible or end up disappointed.

After settling the rewards, he checked the chat logs. In the middle of the night, Mikoto notified the group that they had finished the mission, but shortly after that, she pinged him directly.

Railgun: [I forgot about it while you were leaving, but you got stabbed in the shoulder, right? Are you okay, @Jin?]

Wizard-san: [You got injured, Jin? Do you need me to send any recovery items or anything?]

"Oh, Jellal changed his username," Jin mumbled to himself before scrolling down to the most recent messages. Mikoto sent a string of messages every half hour or so until now.

Railgun: [@Jin? Are you okay?]

Railgun: [Oi, @Jin? Are you alive?]

Railgun: [@Jin! Answer me, dammit!]

Railgun: [I think he's dead.]

Railgun: [@Jin, are you alive or not?]

Railgun: [@Jin, if you're alive, say "Railgun is the strongest".]

Railgun: [@Jin. Seriously. Are you okay?]

Wizard-san: [The group chat member list still shows him as an active member, so he's probably just resting, @Railgun.]

That was the most recent message that popped up around fifteen minutes before he checked his phone.

Jin: [I'm fine. Something came up in my world right after I got back, and I fell asleep right after taking care of it. @Wizard-san, if you have something that can heal my wound before I head to First-Mate's world, that would be great. I'm heading to a doctor this morning to get it checked either way, though.]

Railgun: [@Jin. You finally replied. I barely slept because of you, old man.]

Jin: [You're welcome.]

Railgun: [This is where you apologize! Well, you're injured, so sorry for bothering you, though. Glad you're okay.]

Jin could almost see the girl's pouting face through the text on the screen and smiled. She was a good kid.

Wizard-san: [I can send a potion over later that will help.]

Jin: [Thanks.]

Directionless First Mate: [Glad you are okay, Jin. You're coming here next?]

Jin: [Yes. I'll send a message when I'm heading over.]

Not expecting Zoro to be able to reply right away, Jin dematerialized his phone and left his room. The sun barely rose above the horizon, and it was still a little dark outside, so he left a note for his mother who had probably not woken up yet before leaving. He figured his father had already left the house, though. With that out of the way, he headed out toward the Kurosaki clinic to both get his wound checked and meet Isshin for the first time.