138 Chapter 138: Enlighten Rangiku

Third Division 

Mazuru glanced at Gin and said, "The captain of the Tenth Division disappeared without any reason, and was labelled as a defector shinigami by Central 46. Rangiku, as the vice-captain of the Tenth Division, is probably very sad at the moment. As a friend, don't you want to go and comfort her?"

Gin was taken aback by the sudden question. In all fairness, he certainly wanted to comfort Rangiku.

But from a rational point of view, he finally restrained himself abruptly.

"Forget it, I am an outsider to the Tenth Division after all, and it is not good time to visit the Tenth Division." Gin explained.

Mazuru said, "That's really a pity. I originally planned to let you accompany me to the Tenth Division. Since you refused, I can only go alone."

Gin was confused for a moment.

So, is it too late to take back your words now?

Obviously, it was too late because Mazuru didn't give Gin a chance to change his words at all, his figure flickered, and he left the captain's room straight away.

Gin stared at the direction where Mazuru was leaving for a while, and then saw a thick stack of documents on the table that had not been dealt with. 

Gin sighed, and started processing the documents.

For the Tenth Division, Mazuru is actually not very familiar with it, and the number of visits are not many after all.

When he stepped into the Tenth Division, the entire place was enveloped in a sad and depressed atmosphere. Mazuru was very familiar with this kind of atmosphere. Back then, when he succeeded as the captain of the Third Division, the situation was same.

Though he obviously sympathized with what happened to the Tenth Division, but he also knew about Isshin's situation and choice, so naturally he couldn't say much. 

Along the way, he met some members of the Tenth Division, and spoke a few words of comfort to them.

Then, he came to the captain's room alone.

He heard that Rangiku didn't even touched alcohol after learning the news of Isshin's disappearance, and hid in the captain's room alone, as if she was caught in self-blame.

Pushing open the door and entering the captain's room, Mazuru saw Rangiku who was squatting alone in the corner of the captain's room. She sat there lowering her head, her hair covering most of her face. She has been in this state for a while now. 

To be precise, she became like this after learning the news of Isshin's disappearance. Perhaps, in her heart, she thought that she, the vice-captain, did not do her job well by not preventing the captain from going to the world of living without authorization, so these things happened.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

The crisp footsteps echoed in the small captain's room, which announced that someone had come in.

Hearing the sound, Rangiku couldn't help raising her head and glanced at with her pale face and bloodshot eyes.

"Captain Mazuru…"

Seeing Mazuru, she whispered hoarsely.

Mazuru didn't replied, he walked up to her silently, lowered his hand, pulled her up, and then without saying a word, placed her on the chair in front of the captain's desk where Isshin usually used to work.

"?"

Rangiku was taken aback for a moment.

Only one thought flashed through her mind, 'Captain Mazuru won't do some unspeakable things and take advantage of my vulnerability right...if so he should give me some time to prepare.'

(T.L Note: The author of this fanfic has shipped Rangiku with Mazuru who already had love interests, but it was a one-time thing and then they was acted ambiguous. I for one, personally support Gin and Rangiku as a pair when in this fanfic Mazuru and Rangiku basically just had a one-time thing, but these all things depend on you guys. I will start a poll where you guys will choose whether I should follow Mazuru and Rangiku's pair or do some slight changes and pair Rangiku with Gin

Poll Results: Gin won)

'Besides, in this kind of place...'

But Mazuru's next words proved that she simply thought too much.

Mazuru said: "What is this?"

His finger points to something.

Rangiku who was still full of thoughts, when faced with Mazuru's question, she looked at the place Mazuru was pointing at.

"..."

She read a word while her voice was still hoarse.

On the wall directly opposite to the entrance of the captain's room, and directly above the desk where the captain used to work, there is a word, a simple word, and under the word, there is a narcissus. When put together, it is the logo of the Tenth Division.

Like the national flag of a country, this is the symbol of their division.

"In the Gotei 13, the team flower of the Tenth Division is Narcissus, and the flower language represents new beginnings, renewal, optimism, grace, inspiration, and self-love. So now, let me ask you, have you lost yourself?" 

"Just after your captain disappeared, you became so depressed. If you, the vice-captain, become like this, how will the other members of the Tenth Division feel? They will probably feel even more uncomfortable and desperate."

"Captain Mazuru, I..." Rangiku whispered.

Mazuru continued, "And, in the final analysis, the disappearance of a captain, didn't such a thing happened to Gotei 13 in the past?" 

"Decades ago, Gotei 13 lost six captains at once, and many teams even lost their vice-captains."

"At that time, the sorrows of those team members were no less than yours, but they all overcame it, so why couldn't you do the same?"

Hearing Mazuru's words, Rangiku was surprised for a moment, but immediately realized what Mazuru was talking about, "I remember, Captain Mazuru seems to be..."

"That's right, it was at that time of crisis, when I was transferred from the Thirteenth Division to the Third Division, and became their captain."

"Do you know what the Third Division looked like when I first joined it?"

Rangiku looked puzzled.

It was rare to hear Mazuru say something about the past. Although she was still sad in her heart, she calmed down a little and listened carefully.

"When I arrived in the Third Division, although the members below were also sad and desperate because of the captain's accident, the Vice-captain Chikane Iba had stepped forward and stabilized the internal situation."

"I don't know if you know her. Vice-captain Chikane is also a veteran female shinigami with high seniority. She was the vice-captain when I became the captain of the Third Division. She was supposed to retire when the previous captain joined, but because the previous captain Otoribashi Rojuro took office not long ago, and his personality was quite weak, Vice-captain Chikane stayed in the position of vice-captain for a while to help him."

"In the end, no one thought that the captain Otoribashi Rojuro, who had only been in office for a few years, had an accident. In terms of sadness, Vice-captain Chikane at that time was sadder than you, but she didn't fell into depression. Suppressing the sadness in her heart, she managed the team until I took office, and assisted me for a long time until the situation of the Third Division was completely stabilized before officially retiring."

Rangiku listened quietly, although Mazuru didn't use too many words to describe Chikane's sadness, but she put herself in the situation and thought about it, but she could feel it.

A vice-captain who was supposed to retire, stayed in the position of vice-captain for a while in order to help the new captain get used to the new position. Unfortunately the new captain had an accident and the team was put into an embarrassing situation where the senior who was planning to retire remained and the new young captain was lost.

But for the team, she forcibly held back her sadness, and set an example by leading the team members out of that situation.

*****

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