CH 68: USEFUL MISUNDERSTANDING

[Seireitei, Kuchiki family]

"Haha! Byakuya, stop pulling such a long face. It was just a prank, nothing more."

Sitting face-to-face on a tatami in a tea room, Gojo laughed boisterously while trying to calm down Byakuya Kuchiki.

"While I believe that everyone has the right to love whoever they want. I do not appreciate jokes that put my sexuality in question."

"Heh, isn't it just because you don't want to look uncool in front of your sister?"

Byakuya did not answer.

There were many bad rumors about Byakuya and Rukia.

The main reason for that was the fact that Rukia simply looked too much like the deceased wife of Byakuya.

Because of it, some people thought that rather than a sister, Rukia was a surrogate wife for Byakuya and even warmed his bed.

But Gojo understood clearly. This man bore no romantic feelings toward Rukia.

He was just a devoted brother who wished to take care of his adoptive sister, though an awkward and clumsy older brother with a stiff face that did not know how to properly express his feelings.

Currently, the two of them were in one of the training rooms of the compound.

On the wall, he could see quite the number of swords, each clearly of high quality.

After his little stunt earlier, Gojo nearly died of laughter as he watched the expressions of the two siblings.

Now though, sadly, wasn't the time to think of the past.

Rather, it was time to think of the future.

After Gojo explained his plan, Byakuya pondered a little.

"So you wish to develop the entertainment industry and for this, you need our help?"

"Exactly. I don't really need monetary help. I mainly need your relay stations and your backing for some operations."

"What kind of entertainment do you have in mind exactly? More importantly, why should we help you?"

Gojo wasn't surprised by the question.

The two of them had a certain respect for each other and they recognized their strengths, but that was all.

Of course, Gojo could call in the debt Byakuya owed him since he saved Rukia, but doing so would be far too short-sighted.

It wasn't easy to get the head of such a powerful family indebted to you. He had to be careful with that.

And this was where it became tricky.

What did the Kuchiki family lack?

Money? Their clothes were worth houses.

Influence? They were the first family.

Power? Both Byakuya and his grandfather were powerhouses.

"For your first question, Aside from that Magazine called Seireitei Communication. You guys really lack a way to entertain."

The Seireitei communication was a magazine created nearly one thousand years ago that was pretty cheap.

The one in charge of publicizing that magazine was the 9th division, currently under Kaname Tosen.

A blind bastard who seemed to have a bone to pick with him.

That guy had some weird sense of justice and did not seem like a bad guy, but Gojo hated dealing with the man.

He hated that sanctimonious act of his and all the jazz that came with it.

Of course, the guy didn't simply have something against him. It seemed that he also hated Zaraki very much and had been one of the few to vehemently object when Zaraki had been named as captain.

Currently, Shuhei was working as the 10th seat of that division.

The two of them sometimes met each other but Gojo had nothing to say to the man. So they never spoke to each other.

Byakuya brought him back from his random thoughts.

"The magazine is indeed the only way of entertainment. Captain Yamamoto initiated it over one thousand years ago and had the goal to keep the shinigami informed of what was happening while raising morale during times of war and increasing solidarity.

'Heh, what a nice way to describe propaganda.'

Even so, Gojo understood what Byakuya meant.

The Seireitei was massive and each division was pretty much isolated from each other.

Captains could spend years without meeting. Plus, events that needed all captains to meet were pretty rare.

This was even more so for people on lower levels.

Even missions were done by teams from the same division most of the time.

The only divisions that had regular contact with all the other ones were the 2nd, 4th, and 12th divisions, for obvious reasons.

"So you see, we could work with the 9th division and create a special magazine. The problem is their captain, he pretty much hates me. So I would need your influence."

Currently, some of the captains would write short novels or such from time to time in the magazine. Some were popular while others were not.

"Drawings, music, films and so on. There are so many things you can do."

The technology of the soul society was more than developed enough. Bringing things such as TV would be so easy.

"As to what it can bring you… Wouldn't it be beautiful if you could lower the poverty rate in Rukongai?"

Byakuya's expression shifted, clearly becoming much more interested.

"Explain."

Gojo smiled, "The main problem with the Soul society is that the prerequisite to enter the shinigami academy or obtain money is to have enough spiritual power. Basically, the military and nobility are the most important. But, 90% of the souls cannot develop a great amount of Reiryoku, and out of those remaining another 90% are too weak to enter the academy."

Only the elite could enter the academy and only the elite out of those elites could become seated officers.

"But what if you guys developed an industry where having power is unnecessary. An industry that could help those with power to have more distraction and lower their stress levels."

You didn't need to have the power to dance or draw or so.

If those industries were developed, the poor would become slightly less poor.

"Of course, even then, people would need to have a certain amount of talent and it would take time and money to form them. But the result would without a doubt be worth it."

Byakuya stayed silent for a short while before looking at Gojo with complicated eyes.

Ever since he had married Hisana, he had always been interested in helping the civilians living in the Rukongai.

But no matter how rich the Kuchiki family was, there was a limit to what it could do alone.

What's more, as a traditional man, he had been in the mindset of needing power to leave the Rukongai and becoming useful.

But the man in front of him, one who came from the Rukongai, seemed to be really worried about the well-being of his compatriots and thought so much to help them.

He did not even ask to get money and only wished to help them out of pure goodwill.

'What an admirable man.'

If until now Byakuya had only respected the power of the man, now he came to respect his character as a person.

"Satoru Gojo, you are really a man worthy of respect. The soul society needs a captain like you. I promise to vote for you later."

With a grave expression, Byakuya solemnly swore, leaving a bewildered Gojo.

'Humm… Did he perhaps have a misunderstanding?'

If it was a game, he felt like he would have seen Byakuya affection points shoot through the roof.

If Gojo could read Byakuya's thoughts, he would have exploded with laughter.

After all, he couldn't really care less about what happened to the people of Rukongai. Of course, he wasn't a cold bastard and didn't mind helping people. But he would never cogitate entire nights just for that.

Satoru Gojo was a selfish man at heart and he still did not really identify himself with the soul society.

How could he? After all, he knew that he should be ready to bolt out at any moment should the Gotei 13 or the Central 46 get a whiff of what his true research was about.

Still, even though he didn't understand what happened, he was smart enough to not miss the opportunity that was presented to him.

He decided against mentioning that he wished to take a look at the history and simply gave a faint smile.

'Yeah, let's use that favorable opinion of his and slowly develop some deep friendship first.'