“You’re the new recruit, Yukawa-san…
right?
You look a little unwell.
Did something happen?”
“No, it’s nothing, senpai.”
“Are you sure…?
Captain Unohana did let us know you’d be arriving late.”
“I was just speaking with Captain Unohana for a little while during the induction ceremony…”
“I-I see…”
Maybe my answer gave off the unmistakable smell of trouble, because my senior didn’t try to ask anything more.
After that rather intense conversation with Captain Unohana, I’d rested for a while until I recovered.
So now, only a little later than the other recruits, I was learning about the Fourth Division’s work from one of my seniors.
“Well, if you say you’re fine, let’s get started.
I’ll show you what we do.”
“Please do.”
I bowed my head.
In the Gotei 13, new squad members spend their first year as trainees, following a senior around and learning the work of a Soul Reaper.
You could think of it as an early version of the mentor system used in the modern world.
“Though you may already know this, Fourth Division work is split into all sorts of different areas—”
With that as an introduction, my senior took me around the actual workplaces and explained the various jobs one by one.
First, the Fourth Division has a large building called the Coordinated Relief Station.
If you imagine a big general hospital, you’re basically there.
The injured and sick are treated inside the Coordinated Relief Station.
Since Fourth Division members can generally use Kaidō, you could say that, in that respect, we’re all something like doctors or nurses.
But that’s only one side of a hospital.
A hospital can’t function on doctors and nurses alone.
For example—
“Yukawa-san, can you lend us a hand!?”
“Leave it to me!
Everything here needs to be finely chopped, right?”
Coordinated Relief Station — kitchen.
This was where meals were prepared for the Fourth Division as a whole, while also serving as the kitchen that prepared meals for patients staying in the hospital.
Depending on a patient’s condition, there were individual requirements like, “They’re not allowed solid food yet.”
Naturally, breakfast, lunch and dinner had to be prepared every single day as well.
In a way, you could almost say the people working here had days even busier than the doctors and nurses.
I was still only being shown around before I even properly started learning the job, and yet somehow I was immediately dragged into helping.
“Whoa!
You’re good at that!
Did someone teach you?”
“I’m from Rukon District.
I used to help out at an izakaya there, so this much is pretty normal for me…”
I quickly cut up the raw vegetables, taking care to make every piece the same shape and size.
Otherwise they’d cook unevenly.
“Wait, really!?
Then could you take care of this pot too!?”
“We need to start preparing the rice soon!
Can you help with that as well!?”
“Huh?
Erm, just give me a moment.”
I passed over the chopped vegetables, then checked the nearest pot first.
Hmm, let’s see.
This is—
And just like that, I ended up helping out properly until lunch was finally well on its way to being ready.
“Oh?
You’re rather good at this too.”
“I used to mend the proprietress’s and the others’ kimono back in Rukon District.”
Once I’d finally escaped food preparation, the next place we visited was the Shihakushō Sewing Room.
Even when a Soul Reaper wins a battle against a Hollow, injuries are common.
And if you’ve been injured, chances are your clothes have been torn as well.
So this was where the especially nimble-fingered members of the Fourth Division gathered to make and repair Shihakushō and captains’ haori.
What I was doing at the moment, though, was simply sewing small items from scraps of cloth.
Unlike cooking, you couldn’t exactly hand a brand-new recruit a Shihakushō and tell them to start sewing it straight away.
“No, she’s actually pretty good.”
“Her stitching is neat, and she seems strong enough that the seams come out nice and firm too.
We may have found ourselves a hidden gem.”
Getting praised by all the seniors around me made me feel strangely embarrassed.
This was really just another skill I’d naturally picked up over fifty years of living in Rukon District.
When you’re training all the time, kimono have a habit of ripping surprisingly easily.
“How does this look?”
What I’d finished for now was a simple drawstring pouch.
“As far as the finished result goes…
I think it’s not bad for an amateur.”
“Hey, your name was Yukawa-san, right?”
I asked rather nervously, only for one of them to confirm my name instead.
“Yes, that’s right, but…”
“Would you be interested in coming to work here properly?”
“What!?”
…Somehow, I’d received a much better evaluation than I expected.
Seriously, why is it always the skills that have absolutely nothing to do with the essential abilities of a Soul Reaper that people praise me for…?
“Well, this ended up being last, but now let’s go over Kaidō—in other words, healing—which is one of the Fourth Division’s core duties.”
After fleeing the sewing room and finishing our tour of the other sections, I was finally taught about medical and relief work.
“You studied Kaidō at Shin’ō Academy too, didn’t you, Yukawa-san?”
“Yes.
I learned the basics, at least.
Though my ability is only what you’d expect from an Academy graduate.”
“There’s no need to be modest.
I didn’t study Kaidō or relief work at all when I was at the Academy.”
“What!?
Really!?”
“Really.
So in that sense, you’re much more impressive than I was.
Still, I’m your senior now, so I’d better show you how it’s done.”
We chatted like that while I was shown the basics of the healing work as well.
Clang-clang!
Clang-clang!
As the sky turned a vivid orange, the sound of bells echoed throughout the barracks.
“Oh, is it that time already?”
That was the end-of-work bell.
It meant today’s regular duties were over.
Unfortunately, the Fourth Division often gets other divisions’ odd jobs dumped on it, so plenty of people end up working overtime.
And since this is basically a hospital, someone also has to be available around the clock in case a patient’s condition suddenly changes.
To put it bluntly: yes, we have night shifts.
“You can finish up for today.
Good work.”
“Thank you for today, senpai.
I’ll be heading off first.”
“Oh, right.
I almost forgot.
You probably already know, but don’t forget your work report.”
“Understood.
Thank you for the reminder.”
And with that, today’s work was over.
Except for one thing.
“Let’s see…”
After returning to the dormitory, I immediately started putting together today’s work report.
Every division has dormitories inside its barracks, and most squad members live there.
Just like at Shin’ō Academy, you’re allowed to commute from your own home instead, but naturally that’s something mostly limited to wealthy nobles.
Once you become a higher seated officer, you can even have your own private room inside the barracks.
…Everything comes back to promotion, doesn’t it?
As for the work report, it’s exactly what it sounds like.
After finishing work, every squad member writes down what they did that day and submits it to the collection box outside the office.
Apparently every division does the same thing.
So I followed the rules and started listing everything I’d done today, but—
“Looking back over it, I really did do a lot of different things…”
—This is seriously more than one division should be responsible for, isn’t it?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to recruit people who aren’t Soul Reapers for some of this?
There were enough different kinds of work here to make me seriously wonder that.
“Working in healthcare really is tough…”
I made a firm promise to myself that I would never look down on people doing this sort of work.
Author’s Notes
● Fourth Division Buildings, Duties and Working Arrangements
Most of this is based on descriptions from the novels—
*BLEACH THE HONEY DISH RHAPSODY*
*BLEACH The Death Save The Strawberry*
*BLEACH WE DO knot ALWAYS LOVE YOU*
—especially the parts about learning under a senior for one year, the sewing room, the kitchen, the end-of-work bell, squad members living in barracks accommodation, and submitting daily work reports.
As for the actual scope of the work, if you think of the Fourth Division as handling basically every kind of job you’d find inside a hospital and a hotel, you probably won’t be too far off.
Probably.
● Senpai
The fact that they never even get a name should tell you that there will be no opportunity for them to appear again.