The dining hall at Shin’ō Academy.
Moriyasu and the others were gathered together eating.
Momo said, sounding a little anxious, “I heard from the teacher the class placements go up this afternoon.
I wonder if we’ll actually make it into the Advanced Class.” “Idiot, of course we’re getting in!
We’re the best in this whole year’s class.
You and Kira are both already at rank twelve, and you’ve got three ‘Excellent’ marks across Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kidō, and Shunpo.
No way that’s not enough.” Renji said, then turned to look at Rukia beside him.
“Rukia’s about to break through rank eleven and hit rank ten too, that’s a level only senior seated officers usually reach, and she’s got ‘Excellent’ across all four categories.
No way she’s not in either.” Finally, his gaze landed on Moriyasu, greasy chicken leg in hand, taking another bite, chewing away with a look of pure satisfaction on his face.
“And sure, Moriyasu only tested at rank fourteen, but his actual combat ability’s on another level.
That should count for a lot of points.
I can’t even beat him.” He said that last part through gritted teeth, glaring hard at Moriyasu.
Deep down, he knew perfectly well that without Moriyasu’s help this past month, there was no way he’d have reached rank twelve on his own.
Let alone landing “Excellent” in two categories and passing Kidō besides.
Over these weeks together, he’d long since come to think of Moriyasu as a real companion, and someone he genuinely respected.
But the problem was…
Renji’s eyes flicked sideways to catch a glimpse of Rukia’s profile.
He roared the words in his own mind again: I will absolutely not give up!
“Hahaha, hearing Renji break it down like that, I’m starting to feel like all of us are getting into the Advanced Class.” Kira chimed in with a laugh.
“We really owe Moriyasu for that.” Hearing his name, Moriyasu lifted his head to look over.
At Kira’s word of thanks, he reached out a greasy hand and swiped the day’s special chicken leg right off his plate.
“Consider this my thanks.” He opened his mouth and took a big bite, grease running down his chin and dripping onto the table.
“Moriyasu, could you eat with a little more grace?
It’s been a whole month.
Why do you still eat like you’re starving to death?” Rukia pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve without a second thought and reached over, scrubbing it firmly across Moriyasu’s chin.
Moriyasu paid her no mind at all and carried on with the great work of demolishing his chicken leg.
The scene didn’t go unnoticed by the three sitting across from them.
Renji’s jaw clenched even tighter, while Kira, expression unreadable, glanced over at Momo beside him.
Momo, chin propped in both hands, watched the two of them with a bright smile, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
Ding, ding, ding, the assembly bell rang out.
This year’s first-years filed out of the dining hall and back to the training grounds, lining up.
Gengoro Ounahara walked out, step by step, to the platform on the training grounds, swept his gaze over the assembled students, and spoke without preamble.
“Here is this year’s list for the Advanced Class.” “Renji Abarai.” “Oh!
I knew it!” Renji bounced on the spot with excitement.
Ounahara didn’t scold him for it, just nodded back with a smile, waited a few seconds, and continued.
“Kira Izuru.” “Hahaha, I knew you’d make it.” Renji reached over, clapping Kira on the shoulder with a laugh.
“Yeah.” Kira grinned, genuinely happy.
“Momo Hinamori.” “Yay, I made it too!
This is great, Rukia, we get to be classmates!” The moment she heard her name from Ounahara, Momo spun around happily, ran over, and grabbed Rukia’s hand, beaming.
“My name hasn’t come up yet.” Rukia said it lightly, but the smile never left her face.
She had every confidence she’d make the Advanced Class.
The Advanced Class, put simply, existed as a fast track for genuinely gifted students.
A spiritual power rank of twelve was already good enough to qualify as a Shinigami fit for a seated position, which was also the minimum bar for entry into the Advanced Class.
Not a single division in the entire Gotei 13 currently had all its seated officer positions filled.
The demand for talent was severe.
Rukia hadn’t just started at rank eleven, she was on the verge of breaking through to rank ten.
Rank ten was the watershed line in the entire Shinigami spiritual power rank system.
Reaching it was a requirement for any senior seated position.
Which meant, without question, Rukia was the most naturally gifted student in this entire year.
“There’s no way you’re not getting into the Advanced Class, Rukia.” Momo laughed, patting the back of her hand, then turned toward Moriyasu, who was in the middle of a yawn.
“Let’s celebrate at a bar in Junrinan afterward.” “If you’re all buying, I’m definitely in.” At the mention of free food and drinks, Moriyasu perked up a little.
“That’s the complete list for the Advanced Class.” Right at that moment, the words rang out from Ounahara up on the platform.
“Wait, what?
Rukia and Moriyasu aren’t on the list?” “Something’s wrong here, right?
Rukia’s got the highest spiritual power rank, and Moriyasu’s combat ability is unmatched.
How could they not make it?” “Don’t tell me there’s something shady going on.” The other students didn’t bother lowering their voices at all, genuinely shocked, blurting out exactly what they were thinking.
The confident color drained from Rukia’s face in an instant, leaving her pale.
She looked up at the teacher on the platform, disbelieving, her mouth moving a few times without any sound coming out.
Moriyasu, meanwhile, kept the same lazy look on his face, like someone who’d just eaten too much and couldn’t summon the energy to care, drowsy through and through.
Renji closed the distance to the teacher in two strides, fists clenched, and shouted.
“This isn’t right, sir.
Something’s definitely wrong here.” Ounahara lowered his head slightly, tucking the list behind his back, and spoke in a heavy voice.
“What matters most for the Advanced Class is potential, room to grow in the future.” He kept his head down, eyes locked firmly on Renji, not even sparing a glance toward Rukia or Moriyasu, the hand behind his back gripping the list in a tight fist.
“The rest of you saw a huge jump in spiritual power rank over this past month, all the way up to twelve.
But Rukia started at rank eleven the day she enrolled.
A month’s gone by, and she still hasn’t broken through to rank ten.
That tells you her potential isn’t what it should be.
And Moriyasu, sure, he went from rank nineteen to rank fourteen, but that’s still short of the minimum requirement of twelve.
So neither of them qualifies for the Advanced Class.” “Huh?
Sir, that can’t be right.
Going from eleven to ten is nothing like me going up to twelve!
Nobody could pull that off in a month.” Renji shouted, his voice rising.
“Yeah, something’s definitely off.” “The textbook literally says rank ten is the watershed line.” “Of course there is!” Ounahara’s roar cut through the noise and silenced it all at once.
“The current Captain Gin Ichimaru of the Gotei 13 enrolled at rank eleven.
By his one-month exam, he’d already reached rank seven.
By the time he graduated a year later, he was down to rank five.” He lifted his head and looked at Rukia, taking in her small, resentful face, his fist tightening further behind his back as he went on.
“What the Advanced Class wants is potential, real genius.
And the two of them simply didn’t meet the bar.” “Dismissed.”