Help! I am bound to Aizen!

Chapter 240

Seeing the man approaching from not far away, Rangiku’s eyes went wide.

He had long hair, his clothes were tattered and covered in dust, and his eyes glowed with a bloodthirsty light. His grin suggested rows of sharp fangs. In his hand, he casually held a long sword whose edge was full of nicks, as though the blade were just a toy.

One solid cut from that thing would probably take months to heal.

Instinctively, Rangiku hid behind Kaelith.

Seeing her reaction, Kenpachi Zaraki frowned.

“What’s the matter? Get out here and cross blades with me!”

“Why on earth would I want to fight a monster like you?!”

Rangiku felt faint. Kenpachi gave her a puzzled look.

Not long ago, Kaelith went to Rukongai, dragged him back, and Kenpachi turned out to be extremely strong.

After that, Kaelith went again and brought back Komamura. Though Komamura wasn’t as skilled, his brute strength made sparring with him enjoyable enough if Kenpachi went easy.

In Kenpachi’s mind, anyone Kaelith hauled back from Rukongai had to be a fearsome fighter.

So why was this one so feeble?

He grumbled, “Anyone who can’t fight has no place in the 11th Division!”

Again, who said I wanted to join your division anyway? Rangiku lamented silently, but only dared to complain in her mind. The tall, gaunt man radiated such a terrifying pressure that she found herself ignoring her grievances with Kaelith just so she could stay behind him.

Kaelith waved his hand. “Don’t rush, Kenpachi. Rangiku’s still young—she’s not ready to fight yet. Let her grow up a bit, learn some skills, and then she can go head-to-head with you.”

Kenpachi scratched his head. Grow up… how long would that take? He had no idea and found it annoying to even think about.

After a moment, he turned his gaze back to Kaelith, flashing a savage grin. “If she won’t fight, then you fight me, Boss! Lately I’ve been eating a ton, and I’m way stronger than before. I’ll definitely win!”

Kaelith snorted. “Come back and talk to me about being ‘full’ when you weigh 270 pounds.”

Because Kenpachi had lived in Rukongai for so long, he was extremely thin despite his height. When he first arrived at the 11th Division—at almost two meters tall—he weighed barely 130 pounds. Even so, he fought like a monster. Some people just defy the rules of nature.

Kaelith had told him to eat as much as possible until he was at least 200 pounds. He wasn’t the least bit worried about Kenpachi getting flabby; the guy burned outrageous amounts of energy every day brawling with the rest of the division.

One by one, more Shinigami came over to greet Kaelith, bowing respectfully. Rangiku watched in surprise. Could this Kaelith person… actually hold some lofty position among the Shinigami?

While she was still stunned, a figure dropped from the sky into the courtyard. He had spiky white hair, and his haori—minus its sleeves—revealed muscular arms. The newcomer was the Ninth Division Captain, Kensei Muguruma.

Seeing him, Rangiku felt even more taken aback. Although she was from Rukongai, she’d heard of the Shinigami’s strongest elites—the Captains—who wore the white haori. This spiky-haired man was one of the top fighters?

Should she kneel?

As Rangiku looked on, Kensei landed, raised a hand, and smiled broadly at Kaelith.

“Hey, Commander Kaelith! Long time no see!”

Years ago, he and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi (the 3rd Division Captain) had once served in Kaelith’s special operations squad. Ever since, both of them called Kaelith “Commander.”

Kaelith eyed Kensei curiously. He wondered how strong Kensei was now. On that trip to the World of the Living dealing with Quincy, Kensei, as a captain, had fallen for the enemy’s trick and got blindsided—an embarrassing fiasco.

Maybe afterward he’d worked hard to improve. If he was still lacking, maybe Kaelith would have him dragged into the 11th Division for a few months of hellish training…

He waved casually, then smirked. “Kensei, since you’ve come all this way to the 11th Division, how about a little spar?”

“Huh?” Kensei blinked, then his eyes lit up. “Sounds good to me! But hang on… I came bearing a delivery.”

With that, Kensei pulled a folded white garment from the bag he’d been carrying.

“Oh, they finished it so soon?” Kaelith took it and snapped it open. It was a new white haori with a black, diamond-shaped design on the back, bearing the kanji for “Eleven.”

After examining the fresh haori, Kaelith nodded in satisfaction and slipped it on. The weather was chilly, and another layer certainly helped.

Seeing Kaelith donning the captain’s haori and conversing with Kensei, Rangiku blinked repeatedly. Wait… Kaelith is also a captain?!

That spiky-haired man had the number nine on his back. Kaelith’s said eleven. And from how polite Kensei was to him, did bigger numbers mean higher rank? Did that make Kaelith stronger than ten other captains?

Was he really that strong?

Within a single day, Rangiku’s young mind had been shattered by too many surprises. She felt like her entire worldview had flipped upside down.

Initially, Kaelith was about to test Kensei himself, but when Kenpachi heard there was a chance for a fight, he insisted on going first. Kensei was curious about the newly appointed 11th Division Vice-Captain too, so the two left together for the training grounds.

Kaelith, meanwhile, suddenly remembered the girl he’d brought back. He found two female squad members and asked them to help Rangiku bathe and change into something warmer.

A small note: these two ladies represented exactly half of the total number of women in the 11th Division.

Right before leaving, Rangiku turned to Kaelith anxiously. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

He cocked his head. “Become a Shinigami.”

She stared, puzzled. “Become a Shinigami… what does that have to do with working off my debt?”

Kaelith clicked his tongue and chuckled. “When you think about it, this job is basically selling yourself to the Seireitei. We’re all selling ourselves, one way or another.”

That’s definitely not how it works! Rangiku thought, exasperated. This guy was beyond strange. Yet, when he laughed like that, she couldn’t help feeling oddly reassured.

…

Close to sunset, Aizen arrived at the 11th Division. After asking a few squad members where Kaelith was, he learned that Kaelith was alone in his study. Aizen’s eyes flickered with a hint of surprise.

Kaelith… alone in a study? That was more unusual than any experiment subject volunteering for dissection.