Chapter 38: Internship in the Mortal Realm

It felt slightly strange for Shin not to have Rukia wandering around beside him all of a sudden.

News that Rukia of First-Year Class B had been adopted by the Kuchiki family soon spread throughout the Spiritual Arts Academy. Many students envied her, jealous that she had received such an extraordinary opportunity. After all, the Kuchiki family was one of the Four Great Noble Houses!

Hinamori also came specifically to ask Rukia about it. She had known about the matter, but had not realized that Rukia would be taking a month’s leave.

“I wonder what she’ll be like the next time we see her,” Hinamori sighed.

An orphan from the Rukongai had suddenly become one of the Soul Society’s highest-ranking nobles. Even those close to her would probably find such a drastic change in status difficult to adjust to. No one knew how Rukia herself would cope.

Rukia’s temporary departure became little more than a topic of conversation among the students and did not have much effect on anyone else’s life.

With nothing better to do, Shin went to the classroom for a lesson.

His appearance surprised Shuhei Hisagi. “Do you need something?”

“Am I not allowed to come to class if I don’t need anything?”

“How strange!” Hisagi replied without the slightest courtesy.

Quite a few students found Shin’s presence remarkable. From a seat some distance away, he also spotted Kanizawa.

Ever since the student council dinner on the day of the cultural festival, she seemed to have been deliberately avoiding him. Even the student council’s routine affairs were now handled by other members, who came to Shin in her place.

Shin greeted her with a bright smile. The usually stern disciplinary committee member suddenly flushed and turned her face away.

Today’s lesson concerned methods of communicating with Zanpakuto. Their homeroom teacher, Hidezawa Minamida, was teaching the class.

When Teacher Minamida saw Shin, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. At long last, the boy remembered that he was a student!

As far as Shin was concerned, Minamida had long since been forced to adopt an attitude of deliberate indifference. He knew there was no way to change the boy’s bad habits, so he no longer bothered trying.

The boy’s reputation and standing within the academy had already surpassed his own, and even the headmaster held him in high regard.

The material covered in class was neither profound nor obscure to Shin. Ever since acquiring his Zanpakuto, he had crammed himself full of knowledge on the subject, studying practically every book about Zanpakuto in the library.

The lesson passed peacefully.

When the bell rang, Hidezawa Minamida called out several names from the podium.

“Shuhei Hisagi, Kanizawa, Aoshika—come here for a moment.”

Hearing this, Shin casually asked, “What does he want you for?”

Hisagi explained, “It should be about the first-year students’ field training in the World of the Living. We’re supposed to lead them. Teacher Minamida informed me about it beforehand.”

Shin suddenly froze.

Field training in the World of the Living…

This so-called field training was divided into two types: soul burial practice and simulated combat against Hollows.

After first-year students had studied at the academy for a certain period, they could participate in the latter under the guidance of their seniors.

The simulated Hollow combat training took place within a barrier established somewhere in the World of the Living, where the students engaged in real combat against a number of low-level Hollows.

“How come I didn’t know about this?”

Hisagi looked speechless. “You haven’t attended a single class in an entire month. How could you possibly know?”

“When are we leaving?”

“In three days, I think.”

“Is it First-Year Class A?”

“It should start with Class A.”

Shin rose abruptly. “I’m going with you.”

“Going where?” Hisagi asked, bewildered.

To put it plainly, this sort of assignment amounted to babysitting younger students. As senior students, they had already participated in field training in the World of the Living many times.

When Kanizawa saw Shin walk out alongside Hisagi, she instinctively averted her gaze.

The four of them went together to Hidezawa Minamida’s office.

Minamida was equally puzzled when he saw Shin accompanying them. “Do you need something?”

Shin immediately volunteered himself. “Teacher Minamida, a field-training assignment like this naturally ought to be led by the most outstanding student in the class. I believe I happen to be that student.”

Hidezawa Minamida was rendered speechless. He thought that if Shin had attended class normally every day, he naturally would have been chosen. But the boy was practically never seen—where was he supposed to find him?

Although the training involved combat against Hollows, the actual risk was very low. In addition to the senior students leading the group, active-duty Soul Reapers would be monitoring the situation from the shadows. The Hollows released into the training area were all weak rabble, intended merely to give the first-year students some practical experience.

Minamida pondered for a moment. “Very well. You can lead the group this time. Although the main participants will be first-year students, I hope you’ll carry out your duties responsibly.”

Field training in the World of the Living was familiar territory for Shin and the others, so there was no need for many additional instructions.

Hisagi and Aoshika were both puzzled as to why Shin, who had always shown little interest in his lessons, had suddenly volunteered for such a thankless and exhausting task.

Kanizawa, however, did not see it that way.

She lowered her head, with only one thought in her mind.

Could Shin have joined because of her?

The more she thought about it, the more certain she became. Judging from Shin’s usual personality, he would never have volunteered. Even if Teacher Minamida had specifically gone looking for him, he probably would have found every possible way to refuse.

Kanizawa could think of no other explanation except that he had done it for her.

Come to think of it, she had indeed been keeping her distance from him far too much these past few days.

If Shin had not come, Shuhei Hisagi would most likely have been responsible for leading the group. Hisagi was now more than happy to have been spared the trouble.

Hidezawa Minamida explained the details of the field training, including the exact time and location in the World of the Living, the Soul Reaper squad responsible for the handover, and the students participating in the exercise.

He compiled everything into a document and handed it to Shin.

On the way back, Hisagi reminded them, “We need to prepare the things we’ll be taking with us.”

“Got it,” Aoshika replied.

They would be spending two or three days in the World of the Living, so they needed to bring food and other necessities.

In truth, even if Shin had not attended class that day, he would have learned about the field training from Hisagi later. The two student-council ministers would be away for several days, so naturally they would have needed to inform him in advance.

Kanizawa, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly stopped and called out, “Shin.”

Hisagi glanced over, then took the initiative to pull Aoshika away.

Shin stopped as well and turned to face her.

Kanizawa hesitated before asking, “Why did you volunteer to join us this time?”

By asking such a question, she had already formed the answer she wished to hear.

Shin glanced at the document in his hand and gave a faint, indifferent smile.

“Because of you.”

Kanizawa’s face flushed crimson in an instant.

She did not know that if Shin had not come this time, she might very well have died in the World of the Living.

She did not know what Shin was thinking, nor did she know that someone might already have laid a secret scheme behind this field exercise.

She only felt that what she had imagined might actually be true—that it had become reality.

Her voice trembled slightly. “What do you mean by saying something like that?”

Shin did not explain. He merely rolled the document in his hand into a cylinder and lightly tapped her on the forehead with it.

“You don’t need to know.”

There was no way he could explain. Was he supposed to tell her outright that Aizen might be manipulating things from behind the scenes?

With that, Shin turned and walked away.

Kanizawa raised a hand to cover her forehead and stood there in a daze, watching his back gradually disappear into the distance.

The last place he had kissed her was her forehead, too…