Chapter 11: The Blade

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Rukia felt something strangely inexplicable. She looked toward the group of upperclassmen seated before her, and at last her gaze settled on Taichikawa Shin.

Aside from seeing him among the crowd at the entrance ceremony, this was probably their first proper meeting.

And yet, the way he looked at her was almost as though he already knew her.

Feeling slightly ill at ease, she lowered her eyes and bowed to everyone present.

Shuhei Hisagi proceeded with the formalities. “Please introduce yourself first.”

“Hello, everyone. I’m Rukia from First-Year Class B. I’m from Inuzuri, District 78 of South Rukongai. I don’t have any particular hobbies. I hope that through my studies at the Spiritual Arts Academy, I can become an excellent Soul Reaper. If I’m accepted into the student council, I’m willing to serve in any department.”

Compared with Momo Hinamori’s performance moments earlier, Rukia’s introduction had been rather underwhelming. Shin had already noticed that the man beside him, Mitsugorō Kasumioji, had given her the lowest possible score.

A student from Rukongai, and from Class B at that—in Kasumioji Mitsugorō’s mind, she had probably already been eliminated.

“Please answer the first question.”

“I would choose to remain behind and fight alongside my senior against the Menos Grande.”

“Please explain your reasoning.”

Rukia pressed her lips together. “I simply feel that, in a situation like that, I shouldn’t abandon my senior and leave him to face it alone. Even if it meant sacrificing myself, having someone stay by your side would still be a good thing, wouldn’t it? I’m not an outstanding student. Compared with me, the loss of a senior would certainly be far greater for Soul Society. If I stayed behind, I should be able to reduce the risk he faced.”

After hearing her answer, Shin raised his brows slightly and suddenly said, “That was very well said.”

Everyone present froze for a moment. Shin continued, “For a newly enrolled student to possess such awareness is truly rare.”

Mitsugorō, seated beside him, said nothing as he frowned. He looked at the girl named Rukia once more. Other than being reasonably attractive, there was nothing particularly remarkable about her—and she was a Class B student besides.

Still, after hesitating for a moment, Mitsugorō amended the score he had written beside Rukia’s name.

So far, there were not many candidates who had passed. Half of the places for first-year students had long since been reserved for noble students, and Taichikawa Shin had no way to change that. As for the remaining candidates, they could do as they pleased.

After hearing Shin’s words, the student council officers seemed to understand something as well, and several of them began writing on their score sheets again.

With a smile on his face, Shin listened as Shuhei Hisagi said, “Please proceed to the second question.”

As for the remaining two questions, Hinamori’s answers had been thoroughly standard. For the second question, she had described her course of action in detail, while for the third, Momo had cleverly said that she would first seek the council president’s opinion.

Rukia’s answers were considerably less impressive by comparison. Yet the officers did not immediately assign their scores. Instead, they first looked toward Shin.

Only after seeing that he continued to encourage her did they resume their evaluations.

At last, Shuhei Hisagi said, “After careful assessment, Rukia, congratulations. You have passed the interview.”

Rukia herself had never expected to pass so smoothly. Even she felt that her performance in the latter half had been terrible, and for a moment, delighted surprise appeared in her eyes.

“Thank you, seniors.” She bowed repeatedly.

“You really should thank the president. He’s been remarkably lenient with you,” Mitsugorō suddenly remarked sarcastically.

Shin was not offended. He merely chuckled. “We should always give our juniors a few more opportunities. I believe I’m not mistaken about her.”

Even Rukia, slow to pick up on such things, realized that the other officers had probably raised their scores because of the encouragement the council president had given her. Gratitude immediately welled up inside her.

And Shin, having noticed her reaction, smiled even more broadly.

“All right. Remember to report here on time tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

After Rukia left, Shin gave Mitsugorō another cheerful glance. Mitsugorō could not help wondering whether the man had something wrong with his head. He had clearly been mocking him just now.

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What Shin naturally did not know was that Mitsugorō’s sarcastic remark had caused Rukia’s favorability toward him to rise instantly to fifteen points.

[Spiritual Pressure Level: Lv. 17]

[Zanpakutō Unlock Progress: 10%]

Rukia left the interview room and saw Momo Hinamori waiting for her in the corridor.

“Rukia!”

“Hina... Momo.”

“How did it go? How did it go?” Hinamori asked impatiently.

“I passed too!” Rukia said with a smile.

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Hinamori exclaimed, throwing her arms around Rukia in delight.

Although they had only met recently, Hinamori’s warm and outgoing nature did not make Rukia uncomfortable in the slightest. Instead, Rukia felt that she was a genuinely kind person.

“I only managed it because you encouraged me. I was sure I had already been eliminated,” Rukia said sincerely.

Hinamori beamed. “Don’t mention it. Besides, you passed because you’re capable! It doesn’t have much to do with anyone else.”

Rukia still felt shaken. “When I first walked in, I was so nervous I thought I was going to die. The seniors were terrifying.”

“Right? I thought so too. Seeing all those seniors sitting together with such stern expressions was really nerve-racking. But the president seems like a very kind person.”

Taichikawa Shin’s image flashed through Rukia’s mind. After a moment’s thought, she said, “The president really is a good person. I didn’t perform particularly well, but he encouraged me, and the other seniors seemed to relax their standards because of him.”

Hinamori spoke excitedly. “Exactly! You think the president is wonderful too, don’t you? I heard he was the first person to propose establishing this student council! And he’s a famous genius at the Spiritual Arts Academy himself. He’s best at swordsmanship—even his swordsmanship instructor is no longer a match for him!”

“You know quite a lot.”

“Of course. I made inquiries in advance. I thought I might meet the president during the interview, so learning more about him would probably help.”

Rukia silently marveled at how thoroughly Hinamori had prepared. Compared with her, passing this interview had truly been a stroke of luck.

It was all thanks to President Shin’s generous nature and kindness.

The two chatted as they walked out of the school building, and Hinamori asked which department Rukia wanted to join.

“I haven’t decided yet. I don’t know enough about the departments.”

“It would be wonderful if we were assigned to the same one.”

“Mm.”

#

There were still quite a few students left to interview, and Shin and the others spent another hour or two before finally finishing.

In the end, a total of nineteen first-year students passed the interview.

Those nineteen students would then be distributed evenly among the six departments: Discipline, Organization, Finance, Publicity, Academics, and Cultural Affairs.

That worked out to three new students per department.

After completing the final assignments in the student council headquarters, Shin leaned back in his chair and stretched.

“I’m exhausted. That was hard work.”

Mitsugorō led the others away.

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“Shall we go get something to eat?” Shuhei asked. Kanizawa looked over as well.

“You two go ahead. I still have something else to do.”

Shuhei stared at him in surprise. “What?”

Shin merely smiled. “It’s a secret.”

Shuhei gave him a peculiar look. “You’re not going to meet one of the new junior girls from today’s interviews, are you?”

Shin rolled his eyes and could not be bothered to explain.

Shuhei Hisagi and Kanizawa left the office together. On the way to the cafeteria, Kanizawa suddenly asked, “Does Shin really like one of the junior girls he interviewed today?”

The unexpected question left Shuhei momentarily dumbfounded. Scratching his head, he said, “That girl named Hinamori is pretty cute... It might actually be possible.”

Shin also left the student council headquarters. It was already the afternoon meal break, and the students’ classes for the day had ended.

He went alone to the swordsmanship classroom and, using the privileges of the student council, entered without difficulty.

Beside the swordsmanship classroom was the sword-storage room. Countless black blades stood in neat, densely packed rows throughout the entire chamber, each one marked with a number beneath it.

Students at the Spiritual Arts Academy could not carry an Asauchi at all times. They could use one only during swordsmanship and practical combat classes. During the six years at the academy, very few students awakened their Zanpakutō. Ninety-nine percent only began to awaken theirs after graduation, once they had been issued their own Asauchi.

Even so, the vast majority of Soul Reaper officers never possessed a Zanpakutō of their own throughout their entire lives. Having one, meanwhile, was essentially the qualification needed to become a seated officer.

A Zanpakutō was forged in the image of a Soul Reaper’s own soul. After obtaining an Asauchi, a Soul Reaper would gradually infuse it with spiritual power over the course of many years. Eventually, they would be able to communicate with it on a spiritual level and obtain its power.

Shin moved slowly among the countless Asauchi. He stopped before the number of the Asauchi he commonly used during swordsmanship class and reached out to grasp it.

Yet he felt nothing unusual.

After a moment of silence, he returned the Asauchi to its place.

[Zanpakutō Unlock Progress: 11% (Partial Shikai)]

[Zanpakutō Unlocked. Call its true name to reveal its true form.]

Call its true name... Call its true name...

Shin swept his gaze across every Asauchi in the storage room. To him, the blades were all indistinguishable. Not one gave him the so-called sensation of spiritual resonance.

Was it not here?

Frowning in thought, Shin examined his system interface again and again. Suddenly, he realized something.

[Spiritual Pressure Level: Lv. 18]

[Spiritual Power Reserve: 15%]

The so-called spiritual power reserve meant exactly what it said. The spiritual power within his body was constantly below its maximum because he was releasing spiritual power at all times. It was like opening a tiny hole in a ball and allowing the air to leak out continuously. The opening was so small that hardly anyone would notice it.

He did this because his spiritual pressure was already far beyond that of students at the same level. He did not believe that any supposed method of concealing spiritual pressure could fool someone stronger than himself.

As long as his spiritual power remained below its maximum, the total amount within his body would appear unremarkable, and outsiders would be unable to detect anything unusual.

He returned to the swordsmanship classroom and sat cross-legged in the center of the room, slowly closing his eyes.

[Spiritual Power Reserve: 16%]

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