Three days later, the Academy's opening ceremony for the new class was held as scheduled in the main auditorium.
Shigū Takeru, needless to say, had passed. And Ichigo, "as expected," had also made it through, even appearing on the honor roll with a score second only to Takeru's.
From the moment the results were posted on the bulletin board, the two of them became the center of attention as genius prodigies.
Small rumors even began to circulate within the Gotei 13.
The Headmaster was beaming with pride, speaking with extra enthusiasm on the podium.
He completely failed to notice that the two students he valued so highly were: one, staring blankly into space, and the other, struggling to keep his face straight, afraid he would yawn.
However, Takeru wasn't actually spacing out. He was exploring his golden finger.
[Great one, not only did you conspire in the demise of the Son of Destiny, but you also broke the Shin'ō Academy's entrance record with the highest score in history. You have obtained a 「Compound Potion」.]
「Compound Potion」: After drinking, restores a small amount of Spiritual Pressure and stamina. Max 2 uses, refreshes the next day.
Putting aside the slanderous "conspiring in the demise of the Son of Destiny" part, Takeru had, over the past few days, figured out the basic principle of his golden finger.
In short, it could be regarded as an "Achievement Log."
When he completed a certain feat or triggered a specific event, an ink-wash-style narration, like a bard singing an epic, would appear.
Then, perhaps as spoils of war, a reward from fate, or a tribute to a legend... whatever you want to call it.
In any case, he would get some benefits.
Therefore, Takeru decided to name this golden finger [Machine Spirit]. It sounded like it fit right in with the "Soul Society" (lit. Spirit World).
He was quite satisfied with this second "entrance gift" from the [Machine Spirit].
After all, it was still unknown how much of an advantage he could gain from the miracle of transmigration or what his talent ceiling was.
Although he had temporarily surpassed the "stat monster" next to him with a slightly better score, he would still need to put in two hundred times the effort to not be left behind.
A potion that could help him "grind" his training progress was worth its weight in gold.
"Phew, I'm alive again."
After the ceremony, on the way back to the dorms, Ichigo stretched his neck and shoulders as he walked.
"It was only an hour." Takeru said lightly.
"If I could space out like you, I'd also think time passed quickly," Ichigo rolled his eyes.
The two chatted idly as they walked along the tree-lined stone path of the Academy and reached their dormitory.
The Academy accepted at most a hundred students per class. Even if they all lived on campus, it was no burden for the Academy.
The dormitory building was in the Taisho-era architectural style, the kind of old wooden schoolhouse often seen in anime.
It had three floors.
The first floor held the courtyard, a large cafeteria, and the men's and women's large public baths. The second and third floors were the male and female student dorms, respectively.
The interior resembled a hot spring inn.
It clearly felt like a public place, yet it also had the homey feel of one's own living room or hallway.
The Academy assigned one room per student.
A classic 4.5 tatami mat room.
"By the way, is the person in that room also in our 'life group'?" Ichigo suddenly remembered something and pointed to the door next to his.
"Correct."
Takeru glanced at the room number and the name written in calligraphy on the nameplate.
"Rindo Itaru. I remember him. He was sitting behind you during the assembly in the auditorium. I heard he's deaf and mute."
"What?"
Ichigo's face darkened.
"You could have at least given me a heads-up! I don't want to be seen as the guy who ostracizes his roommate. I don't care much about my reputation, but that's the one reputation I'd die to avoid!"
The Academy arranged students into "life groups" of three, which was equivalent to being roommates or suitemates.
They were also neighbors. Whether it was cleaning or other miscellaneous tasks, they were often assigned to one or more life groups. This was both convenient and helped students interact and grow together, so cases of isolation were rare.
"Who said I didn't say hello? Just turn your head and look."
Takeru gestured with his chin.
Ichigo subconsciously turned around and saw a delicate-looking and very quiet youth standing there.
"Wh-When did you... I didn't hear a thing..."
The youth raised his hand and drew his fingertips through the air, outlining a line of text with spirit particles.
[Nice to meet you. I am Rindo Itaru.]
"Uh, I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. This guy here is Shigū Takeru... Ah, sorry, I forgot you probably..."
Just as Ichigo was fumbling to find a pen and paper, Rindo Itaru wrote another line.
[I can sense the emotions of others, so there are no communication barriers. You don't need to go out of your way for me. I will do my best not to trouble you.]
"..."
Ichigo felt like something was stuck in his throat, and he didn't know what to say.
It wasn't because of the communication method the other boy displayed, but because of his calm and natural way of living his life, which shattered Ichigo's perceptions of people with disabilities.
Soon, Ichigo broke into a genuine smile.
"Got it. Please look after us from now on, Rindo."
[Please look after me.]
"By the way, how did you two say hello before?"
"The same way I just gave you a heads-up."
When Takeru said that, Ichigo instantly understood.
"...I see."
A nod of the chin could mean "look over there," or it could mean "let's talk outside," or "follow me."
It was indeed more convenient than walking up to say hello.
It's just that doing it to a stranger seemed a bit overly familiar.
One could only say that in terms of social interaction, Shigū Takeru possessed a rare "sense of normalcy" similar to Rindo Itaru's.
However, that "sense of normalcy" vanished completely in the face of the Asauchi (Shallow Sword) he had just received.
Time passed to the next day.
The Academy distributed Asauchi to all first-year students. It wasn't at all like Takeru had imagined, where a group of people would be led into some dark, secret room to choose the one that "spoke" to them.
To put it bluntly, first-years didn't get that kind of treatment.
After all, the Asauchi were only on loan. They wouldn't officially belong to the student until after graduation and formal entry into a division. This showed that the Academy didn't particularly value the compatibility between a student and their Asauchi.
Takeru had reason to suspect that the small number of elite Shinigami who had mastered Shikai was related to this.
But regardless, he held no prejudice against his Asauchi.
The way he stared at the sword could be described as "more affectionate than how one looks at a dog."
His hand stroking the scabbard was gentle, as if caressing a young woman's skin, yet he was also itching to draw the blade and give it a few swings.
"Shigū, the way you look right now reminds me of those old samurai who went crazy and tested their new blades on people."
Ichigo, in the next seat, felt his lip twitch.
Although he was also excited, it was purely out of a yearning for Shinigami powers. He didn't have much of a feeling for the sword itself. In fact, he found it a bit too plain. If you didn't say what it was, he would have thought it was a traditional craft from the human world.
"Are you really a high school student?"
Takeru looked up, his face full of suspicion.
"What do you mean?"
"Even an elementary school kid will pick up a straight stick on the road and can't resist swinging it around."
"You said it yourself, that's an elementary school kid. A high school student wouldn't be that childish."
"True. High school students are more realistic. They simply can't refuse a cool fight. They can't refuse possessing cool power that surpasses ordinary people. They can't refuse the cool, hot-blooded passion of protecting the world. And they can't refuse the cool feeling of being admired after showing off."
"...Do you have to emphasize the concept of 'cool' so much...?"
"And one more thing."
"There's more?!"
Ichigo's eyes widened. He hadn't noticed that, besides Rindo Itaru behind him, a curious golden-haired girl had also joined them.
"Yes."
Takeru looked earnestly at the big toy in his hand, with the seriousness of an academic discussion.
"Didn't you hear Teacher Ōunabara? A Zanpakuto and its Shinigami are one body and soul. You must imprint the essence of your soul onto it to resonate with it and grow. That's why they distribute the Asauchi as soon as possible, so we can achieve results sooner."
"But that's not the main point. The point is that a Zanpakuto has a soul. To a Shinigami, this is a partner who fights alongside them and will never abandon them."
"So, what if... this partner... is a beautiful girl? What do you think a high school boy would think then?"
Coolness. Power. And a beautiful girl.
Gulp.
Even Ichigo was deeply swayed when these three elements were laid out.
Though he wasn't so thirsty as to actually gulp.
The next second, Shigū Takeru, Ichigo, and Rindo Itaru silently turned to look at the source of the sound.
The newcomer was very friendly, not at all embarrassed. She wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and said with a grin:
"I'm Yayahara Kumanaru! I heard that the top two prodigies of this class just came from the human world. Coincidentally, I'm super interested in the 'gyaru' culture of the human world. If you don't mind, let's be friends!"
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