The last few days of preparation before the beginning-of-term assessment slipped by peacefully.
Silas made one more pass through the training grounds for another round of fragments, and every one of his abilities climbed steadily.
[Name: Silas Vane]
Spiritual Power Level: Rank 9 (EXP: 305/5000)
Zanjutsu: Lv2 (EXP: 1920/2000)
Hakuda: Lv2 (EXP: 1845/2000)
Shunpo: Lv2 (EXP: 1785/2000)
Kidō: Lv3 (EXP: 1705/3000)
Zanpakutō: Asauchi Resonance 82%
[Special Abilities]
Hollowfication: Lv1 (EXP: 10/1000)
Hōgyoku (Awakening: 0.05%)
Silas ran his eye down the panel.
At this rate, once the large-scale fragment harvest during the beginning-of-term testing started, everything but Shunpo should break through to Lv3.
That afternoon, as the two of them finished training and walked out of the Kidō practice field, the setting sun had already washed the buildings of the Seireitei in gold.
“The beginning-of-term test is tomorrow,” Nanao said, leafing through her notes as she walked.
“I should go over the section on the functions and workflows of each division again…”
Silas let out a yawn and rubbed his growling stomach.
“Before any of that, shouldn’t we go get something to eat?”
Only then did Nanao realize she hadn’t eaten since noon, and her stomach gave a soft rumble right on cue.
Catching Silas pulling a face at her, she went red on the spot.
A rush of embarrassed irritation welled up, and Nanao made a grab for his waist to pinch it.
She was still small, her head barely reaching his waist, so getting her hand up there was a chore, and Silas took the chance to dodge.
Just as the two of them were carrying on, a slightly lazy voice came from the side.
“Yo. Long time no see, Silas.”
The two of them turned to look.
A young man in a Shin’ō Academy uniform was leaning against a maple tree.
His long black hair was loosely tied back, a few strands hanging carelessly over his forehead.
His features were handsome to the point of being feminine, his long eyes slightly upturned, a playful smile at the corners of his mouth.
The most striking thing was the lining showing beneath his academy jacket, expensive flowing brocade with intricate family crests worked into the cuffs.
Tsunayashiro Tokiiki.
A son of the main branch of the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of the current Four Great Noble Clans, and Silas’s classmate in the Elite Class.
“Tsunayashiro-kun.”
Nanao gave a polite nod, though a flicker of wariness crossed her eyes.
“The Ise family’s girl. As serious as ever.”
Tokiiki chuckled softly, and his gaze slid over to Silas.
“Got a moment to talk?”
Nanao looked at Silas, who scratched his head and gave her an apologetic smile.
Nanao hesitated a moment, then nodded and left with her books in her arms.
After a fair distance she couldn’t stop herself from looking back.
She saw Tsunayashiro Tokiiki and Silas standing side by side under the tree, both relaxed, as though they were only chatting about nothing in particular.
“What does that guy want with Silas this time?”
She muttered it under her breath, unaccountably unhappy.
We were supposed to eat together…
Damn it.
Nanao walked slowly away.
Under the maple, Tokiiki drew an exquisite gold cigarette case from his robe and shook out a long, thin cigarette, setting it between his lips.
“Want one? Rare stock, brought in from the Human World.”
Silas shook his head.
“No thanks. Not really interested. What do you want with me?”
A spark of spirit particle flame lit at Tokiiki’s fingertip, and he drew deeply on the cigarette once it caught.
“You know, out of the whole Elite Class, you’re the one who interests me most.”
Tokiiki flicked off the ash.
“The ones desperate to show off what they can do are, in my eyes, complete fools. But you… that thing I asked you about before. You really haven’t given it any thought?”
“I’m an ordinary man with thoroughly average strength. There’s nothing as deep about me as you imagine.”
Looking at the calm on Silas’s face, Tokiiki curled his lip.
“You’ll have heard that of the Four Great Noble Clans in the Seireitei, the Tsunayashiro have the largest numbers, and the fiercest infighting of any noble house.”
“I’ve been reading people since I was three. Everyone around me is either a flatterer or a schemer. I can tell what’s real and what’s put on at a glance.”
Silas clicked his tongue.
This one wasn’t easy to fool, sure enough.
“Want to know how I worked it out?” Tokiiki shrugged.
“Mostly because I was bored.”
“My family insisted I come study here a few years. Said it would look good on my record. I’m not going to the Gotei 13 to fight for my life, so what do I need a record for?”
He said it lightly, but Silas could hear the resignation under it.
For a direct descendant of one of the current Four Great Noble Clans, being packed off to the Shin’ō Academy to study beside commoners really was a kind of torture when your talent was thin.
“So to find something entertaining, I started watching the people around me.”
Tokiiki took another pull on the cigarette.
“And then I noticed you. Everyone else is training themselves into the ground and meaning it, but you… you’re like me. Deep down you have no respect for hard work.”
“Even so, I can see you want power. Especially when you look at the ones in the Elite Class, there’s a light in your eyes. Meanwhile you never spare a glance for the mediocre ones grinding away.”
Silas felt rather helpless about it.
That much was true, because it was hard to shake attribute fragments loose from anyone whose strength sat too far below his.
He just hadn’t expected anyone to notice.
“My confidence comes from the family standing behind me. Where does yours come from?”
Tsunayashiro Tokiiki stared into Silas’s eyes.
“Second, your attitude toward me, toward them, toward every noble child here is the same. Not servile, not arrogant, not fawning and not cold either. You don’t see that often in the Seireitei.” Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
Silas sighed.
He truly hadn’t expected anyone to study him this closely.
“Sharp eyes. But everything you’ve said is still guesswork. It doesn’t prove a thing.”
Tokiiki chuckled and stubbed out his cigarette carelessly.
“So you really won’t come to the Tsunayashiro?”
He looked straight at Silas.
“Come and be my retainer. I’ll see you treated at a lieutenant’s level. Food, clothing, lodging, transport, training resources, run of the library… everything the Tsunayashiro have to offer.”
Silas was taken aback.
The offer had climbed higher than the one before.
Lieutenant-level treatment meant a salary of several million Kan a year at minimum, plus access to resources and knowledge only nobles ever saw.
For a Shinigami of common birth it amounted to jumping a whole social class, let alone for a Shin’ō Academy student.
To Silas, though, none of it meant much.
He had businesses out in the Rukongai.
He wasn’t short of money.
And while on the surface it looked like a climb up the noble ladder, the benefits he could actually draw would be very limited.
Resources that touched anything at the core would never be opened to an outsider like him.
Most of all, the rules and restrictions of noble life would gut his efficiency at picking up fragments in the Gotei 13.
Not worth the trade.
“A very tempting offer.”
Silas looked up at the night sky.
“But I’m sorry. I’m still leaning toward the Gotei 13.”
“Is that so?”
There was a note in Tokiiki’s voice of something confirmed rather than learned.
The more Silas behaved this way, the more certain his private guess became.
“No need to rush the answer. There’s over a year until graduation. Take your time with it. Maybe you’ll change your mind.”
“In the meantime, if you run into trouble, some blind noble picking a fight, say, just use my name.”
Silas raised an eyebrow.
“Is that appropriate?”
Tokiiki lit another cigarette.
“People do each other favors. Even if you hold to your choice in the end, I’m still willing to be your friend. I trust my own eyes.”
He blew out a ring of smoke and looked off toward the sinking sun.
“Enough talk, I’m going.” Tokiiki waved a hand.
“Good luck on the test tomorrow, you genius who works so hard at staying mediocre.”
He turned and left, his black hair stirring gently in the evening breeze.
A few steps on, he suddenly turned back and winked at Silas.
“By the way. I wouldn’t get too close to that girl from the Ise family. When you have the time, go and look into her family’s background.”