The bar in Junrinan.
A man with short black hair, dressed in a white haori, called out as he strode toward the table.
“Aw, Captain, look, these kids are all top students from the academy.
They just finished their exam.
I’m celebrating with them, that’s all.” Rangiku stayed right where she was sitting, though her expression had gone visibly flustered, and she hurried to explain.
“The Tenth Division’s badly in need of talent, you know.
I’m just getting a head start!” The moment Rukia and the others realized the newcomer was a captain, they shot to their feet and bowed.
“Captain.” None of them knew this captain’s name.
Moriyasu, meanwhile, had a jug of sake raised to his nose, taking a sniff, and pulled a face of open distaste.
Rukia tugged at his sleeve at once, and only then did Moriyasu turn his head, offering the newcomer a smile.
“Captain, care for a drink?” “Oh, well, since you’re inviting me so warmly, guess I’ll join in the celebration.” The young man dropped down cross-legged right there.
He grabbed a jug of sake and drained it straight down his throat in one long gulp, laughing heartily.
“I’m Isshin Shiba, Captain of the Tenth Division.” “You should think about joining the Tenth Division after you graduate.
Our work’s mostly patrol duty, none of the headaches the other divisions deal with.” Isshin’s voice carried a hearty, easy warmth, his gestures big and unguarded, radiating the kind of natural approachability that put people at ease right away.
Rukia and the others relaxed at once and settled back into their seats.
Rangiku leaned in close and spoke quietly.
“Captain, you see that little black-haired girl there?” Isshin glanced over, his eyes lighting up.
“Not bad.
Real talent right there.” Rangiku went on.
“She and Moriyasu Tokoyo next to her, neither of them got picked for the Advanced Class.
Something’s definitely wrong.” Isshin set his sake jug down, rubbed his chin, and gestured with his eyes for her to keep going.
Though Rangiku had leaned in and kept her voice low, she hadn’t deliberately tried to keep it from Moriyasu and the others.
So when they heard what was said, Renji, Momo, Kira, and Rukia all tensed up at once, their eyes turning toward Captain Isshin.
Rangiku repeated everything Renji had said earlier, in full.
Captain Isshin’s brow furrowed, and he spoke.
“Something’s definitely going on here.
Tell you what, I’ll head over to the academy tomorrow and have a word with the principal.
For today, let’s just keep celebrating.
Come on, everyone smile a little, no need to get this serious in a bar.” “Thank you, Captain!” Rukia braced her hands on the table and stood, thanking him again and again.
Renji, Momo, and Kira hurried to add their own loud thanks as well.
Only Moriyasu stayed quiet, quietly pouring a cup of sake and holding it out, pulling his sleeve back as he did to reveal the arm guard on his right hand.
Isshin took the cup with a smile, his gaze landing on Moriyasu’s arm guard, taking in the Eternal Eyes crest, and asked, curious.
“That your clan crest?
Pretty unusual design.” He raised the cup and drained it in one go as he said it.
Moriyasu answered with a smile.
“Have you ever seen the Eternal Eyes crest before, Captain Isshin?” “Hahaha, can’t say I have.
Sorry about that.
Never had much interest in noble crests myself.
I’m from the Shiba branch family, after all.
Never cared much for all those formalities.” Isshin set his cup down and answered with a laugh.
Privately, though, he was wondering: could this Moriyasu Tokoyo kid actually be the scion of some upper noble house?
Isshin Shiba was head of a branch family of the Shiba clan, one of Soul Society’s five great noble houses, and also the Captain of the Tenth Division.
The nervous, on-edge reaction Rukia and the others had shown the moment he appeared, that was the normal response to expect.
He’d noticed that this Moriyasu Tokoyo kid, though, had sat there completely unbothered the whole time.
Pouring drinks and offering toasts as though they were equals, that alone was proof enough that this kid’s background was no ordinary thing.
Unfortunately, though, when it came to noble clan crests, he genuinely had never taken much interest, and had never bothered memorizing any of them.
But then another question came to mind: if the kid really was the scion of some upper noble house, he shouldn’t have been shut out of the Advanced Class in the first place.
After all, within the Seireitei, both the upper nobility and the five great clans carried real privileges.
“Here, another one for you, Captain.” Moriyasu kept pouring with a smile.
It hadn’t surprised him at all that Isshin didn’t recognize the Eternal Eyes crest.
Once he officially became a Shinigami, he could go ask the main Shiba family directly.
There might be some information about the Tokoyo clan there.
In all of Soul Society, even Head Captain Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto didn’t know as much history as the ancient five great clans themselves.
They drank on well into the night before the gathering finally broke up.
Early the next morning, Renji, Kira, and Momo headed off to the Advanced Class on the training grounds next door.
Of the original group of five, only Moriyasu and Rukia remained, sitting together in a corner of the Regular Class.
Rukia had been on edge the entire morning.
Last night, as the gathering broke up, Captain Isshin had promised outright that he’d come by today to look into exactly what had happened.
Being left out of the Advanced Class was still weighing heavily on her mind.
“Moriyasu, why don’t you seem to care about any of this?” She looked at his indifferent expression and couldn’t help but ask.
“At its core, school’s just a place to learn and train.
Whether it’s the Regular Class or the Advanced Class, they both cover the basics.
Aside from slightly better food and teachers with a higher spiritual power rank, there’s nothing all that special about it.
And what those teachers have to offer doesn’t really do much for me anyway.
I’m here to teach you regardless, so it’s all the same in the end, isn’t it?” Moriyasu answered evenly.
“You’re just annoyed that all the high-Reishi food is either raw fish or boiled meat, and none of it tastes good.” After all this time together, Rukia already knew perfectly well that Moriyasu was someone who genuinely loved good food.
Given the choice, he’d rather eat something that actually tasted good than something dense with Reishi.
But high-Reishi food couldn’t handle complicated cooking methods, which really did leave it tasting flat.
Moriyasu spread his hands and shrugged, as if to say, “You already know the answer, so why even ask?” With that little exchange breaking the tension, the frustration on Rukia’s face gradually eased.
With Moriyasu around, his teaching was far easier to follow and understand than anything the actual teachers offered.
Whether or not she went to the Advanced Class didn’t actually matter all that much, in the end.
It was just that Renji and the others had gotten in and she hadn’t, and that still stung a little.
Ding, ding, ding.
The bell for the end of class rang.
The moment Rukia and Moriyasu stepped out the door, they spotted Captain Isshin standing in the corridor, arms crossed, expression somewhat grave.
The two of them walked over, and Rukia bowed.
“Captain Shiba.” Isshin turned toward them, letting his arms fall to his sides, and spoke quietly.
“I’m sorry.
I wasn’t able to fix your situation.
But I still hope that when you graduate, you’ll consider the Tenth Division.” With that, he gave the two of them an apologetic look and turned to leave.
Rukia stood frozen, mouth open, unable to get a single word out.
Moriyasu reached out and patted her on the head.
“Come on.
Back to Reishi control practice.” * * * After leaving the academy, Isshin’s brow stayed furrowed.
Not long before, he’d gone to see the principal and asked directly why Moriyasu and Rukia hadn’t been allowed into the Advanced Class.
What he’d learned was that the Kuchiki clan, foremost among the noble houses, had specifically intervened to keep Rukia out of the Advanced Class, for reasons unknown.
Isshin understood well enough: once the Kuchiki clan had spoken, there was nothing the principal could do about it.
He’d asked, puzzled, “And what about Moriyasu Tokoyo?” The principal’s expression had shifted through several stages before he finally took a deep breath.
“Because his spiritual power rank isn’t high enough.” Isshin studied the principal’s face a moment longer, decided not to press further, and turned to leave the office.
Now, out on the street, he looked up at the clouds overhead.
The Kuchiki clan.
Even a captain had no way around them.
Whatever else might be tangled up in all this, he had no intention of digging any further, for now.
Because right now, Moriyasu and Rukia weren’t under his command.
But if they graduated, joined the Tenth Division, and ran into something like this again…
then he wouldn’t turn a blind eye to it.
Not this time.