Chapter 2: Shin'o Academy

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Time flew by, and before I knew it, ten years had passed.

For souls living in Soul Society, ten years was not as long as it felt to humans in the World of the Living.

Perhaps because I had become a soul myself, my perception of time did not seem particularly different from anyone else's.

A soul's internal clock had a strange way of working.

The twenty-four hours in a day felt much the same as they had when I was human, but the passing of years was entirely different. I would look up and realize that several years had gone by.

And ten years was how long it took me to grow enough to pass the entrance exam for Shin'o Academy, the institution that trained Soul Reapers.

"I'll grow up and become a Soul Reaper soon too! And then I'll catch up to you in no time!"

As I stared at the banner hanging over the entrance, which read, "Welcome, Class 2066!" Rikichi shouted beside me.

"Is that so? Good luck."

"Grr, show your older brother some respect, you little brat!"

"I do not speak respectfully to those smaller than me."

"!!!"

He might have been my older brother, but as someone who had once been an adult, it was difficult to speak deferentially to Rikichi when he still looked like an elementary schooler.

Even after ten years, my older brother Rikichi had grown only slightly and was still about as tall as a ten-year-old child.

From a human perspective, the way souls grew and aged was utterly unnatural.

Apparently, a soul's growth and aging were determined by a complex interplay of factors such as individual potential, mental state, and attitude.

Since it all depended on such abstract concepts, no meaningful research had been done on it.

Thanks to that, cases like Rikichi's and mine—where physical development was reversed regardless of birth order—apparently occurred from time to time.

In the original story, Rikichi would eventually come to admire Renji Abarai and decide to become a Soul Reaper. This Rikichi, however, had seen me working to become one and set the same goal for himself.

Unfortunately, permission to enroll at Shin'o Academy depended on one's physical development, so Rikichi had not even been allowed to take the entrance exam.

At his meager height of around 130 centimeters, he could not enroll unless he was on the level of Toshiro Hitsugaya—someone who constantly leaked Reiatsu into his surroundings and made people think, Oh, we're in serious trouble if we don't teach this kid.

"It's not like you're that big either!! I'll catch up in no time!"

Unlike Rikichi, my body had grown to a little over 160 centimeters.

However, all that growth had occurred during the first five years after I possessed this body. For the next five years, I had not grown in the slightest.

Don't tell me I'm not going to grow any taller than this.

I did not remember exactly how tall Ryunosuke had been in the original story, but I did not think he had been particularly tall.

...Ryunosuke's parents were both definitely on the taller side, so the original Ryunosuke probably had not finished growing yet.

And I had merely hit a temporary plateau. I was still growing too.

I had to be. Please.

"All members of Shin'o Academy's Class 2066, please assemble in the courtyard."

I did not know what device they were using, but the voice sounded as though the speaker were right beside me.

Is that Tenteikūra?

"Well then—Mother, Father, I'll be going now."

Shin'o Academy was a boarding school with almost no vacations during its six-year program, so on the day of the entrance ceremony, the gates were crowded with people seeing the new students off.

It was less like a school entrance ceremony and more like a military enlistment ceremony.

My parents had also carved time out of their busy schedules to come here with me.

"Off you go, then. When did you grow this much...? Take good care of yourself."

"You are my son. You will become a Soul Reaper without incident."

My mother was an ordinary noblewoman, but my father was a Soul Reaper serving in the Kidō Corps.

Thanks to him, I had been able to learn a variety of things about Kidō before enrolling at Shin'o Academy.

When I first started learning Kidō, I struggled with Hadō #4, Byakurai, for so long that I wondered whether I was an idiot.

But Byakurai was the only spell I was exceptionally bad at. After that, I learned other Kidō techniques relatively smoothly.

That was certainly a relief. Since I had decided to become a Soul Reaper anyway, what kind of true reincarnator in the world of Bleach would I be if I never got to use something beyond Byakurai—like Raikōhō, Sōren Sōkatsui, or even Kurohitsugi?

**

After I enrolled at Shin'o Academy, three of the six years passed like an arrow in flight.

Life at Shin'o Academy was similar to attending university.

All students completed the basic courses on Zankensoki—Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō—while choosing advanced courses in those disciplines according to their own judgment.

It was probably designed that way to account for differences in individual aptitude across the four disciplines.

One notable feature was that students were assigned to different classes according to their level, and the basic curriculum differed from class to class.

The hundred students were divided into five classes, including Class One, which was known as the advanced class.

Students from the other four classes rarely passed the enlistment exam and received official commissions as Soul Reapers, so everyone hoped to enter the advanced class.

Being placed in the advanced class was itself proof of one's ability, so rather than focusing on the still-distant enlistment exam, students devoted themselves to the immediate goal of earning a place there.

Fortunately, I had managed to enter the advanced class.

When I demonstrated Hadō #31, Shakkahō, during the entrance exam, I was practically waved straight through.

It was my first time reciting an incantation that lasted more than ten whole seconds in front of so many people, so as someone with modern sensibilities, I found it rather mortifying.

Thank goodness no one in this world thinks this kind of thing is cringe-worthy. This is a world where people still understand romance.

"Ryunosuke, I heard you'll be attending separate special lessons starting today?"

"Oh, Momo."

There was another benefit to being in the advanced class: I had been able to befriend characters from the original story.

They were the trio of Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, and Momo Hinamori.

This was a change caused by my growing faster than in the original story and behaving differently.

In the original story, Ryunosuke Yuki probably would not have enrolled at Shin'o Academy until several decades later.

"Yeah. There's not much point in taking Zanjutsu classes anymore."

The weapon that emerged when I achieved Shikai was a spear.

All the effort I had put into diligently swinging a sword was now halfway buried underground.

A spear... is about as far from a sword as a weapon can get.

"More importantly... I heard Captain Aizen came to see you in person and arranged everything?"

So that was what she wanted to know.

Ever since Aizen had saved Momo's life during the Soul Burial field exercise in our first year, she had fallen hopelessly under his spell.

I knew that incident was the first step toward the ruin of the character known as Momo Hinamori, but there had been nothing I could do.

I had had my own hands full.

All I had managed to do against the first monster called a Hollow I had ever encountered was point my sword at it with trembling legs.

I had not had any further dealings with Aizen since that day, but Momo's admiration for him had only continued to grow.

"That was the first time I'd seen him since that day. I don't know why he'd pay attention to someone like me, though."

"Don't say that! It's been decades since a student last achieved Shikai, hasn't it? Even Hisagi couldn't do it when he was here."

"Shikai... Right. Shikai is the problem."

"??"

Attracting Aizen's attention was one of the worst possible outcomes for someone reincarnated into Bleach.

I was happy that my efforts had allowed me to achieve Shikai, but the guard of my Asauchi had changed, making it impossible to conceal. Naturally, that had led to Aizen noticing me.

If things went wrong, instead of surviving the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, my first goal might become surviving Aizen as a direct result of all my hard work.

"By the way, what kind of person is the teacher who's supposed to train you?"

"Oh... I don't know either. Captain Aizen just said, "You'll understand once you meet him in person.""

His voice had been so kind that it was impossible to imagine him as the worst villain in Bleach, and chills had crawled all the way up to my scalp.

Come to think of it, who is it really?

Ever since meeting Aizen, my head had been so full of thoughts that I was screwed that I had not even considered it.

I just hope it isn't one of Aizen's subordinates.

**

"Good to meet you! My name is Kaien Shiba."

I had hoped it would not be one of Aizen's subordinates, but this did not seem much better.

...This isn't a death flag, is it...?

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