Three days later, the Spirit Arts Academy auditorium held the entrance ceremony for the new class as scheduled.
Takashi went without saying, and Ichigo, as expected, also successfully passed, and was on the list with grades second only to his.
From the moment it was posted on the bulletin board, the two became highly anticipated genius prodigies.
Gossip began to circulate within the Gotei 13.
The Headmaster was proud of them, standing on the podium and speaking with extra enthusiasm.
He completely failed to notice the two students he valued highly: one was staring blankly, and the other was tightening his face, afraid that he couldn’t help but yawn.
However, Takashi was not really staring blankly, but exploring his cheat.
〔Great as you are, you not only murdered the Child of Destiny but also broke the entrance record of the Spirit Arts Academy with the best grades in history; you have obtained Compound Potion〕
〔Compound Potion: After drinking, it can restore a small amount of Reiatsu and physical strength; limit of two times, refreshes the next day〕
Setting aside the smear about murdering the Child of Destiny, Takashi had initially figured out the principle of the cheat after these few days.
In short, it could be regarded as an Achievement Catalog.
Completing a certain feat or triggering a specific event would cause ink-wash painting style narration text to appear, like a bard singing an epic.
Then, perhaps it was spoils of war, perhaps a reward from fate, or perhaps a tribute to a legend.
It didn’t matter what it was called.
In short, one could get some benefits.
Therefore, Takashi decided to call this cheat the Machine Soul, which sounded very compatible with the Soul Society.
Regarding the second entrance gift given by the Machine Soul.
He was quite satisfied.
After all, how much glory he could soak up by relying on the miracle of transmigration and what his talent limit was, remained an unknown.
Although he temporarily suppressed the stat monster beside him with a superior score, he still needed to put in two hundred times the effort to not be left behind.
A potion that could help grind training progress was worth its weight in gold.
“Phew, I’m alive again.”
The ceremony ended, and on the way back to the dormitory, Ichigo moved his neck and shoulder joints while walking.
“It was only an hour.”
Takashi was calm and indifferent.
“If I could zone out and lose focus like you, I would also feel that time passes very quickly.”
Ichigo rolled his eyes.
The two chatted idly as they walked along the tree-lined stone path within the Spirit Arts Academy, reaching the dormitories.
The Spirit Arts Academy accepted at most a hundred students per class.
Even if everyone lived on campus, it wouldn’t be a burden for the Spirit Arts Academy.
The dormitory had an architectural style leaning towards the Taishō era, the kind of old wooden school building common in Japanese anime.
It had three floors in total.
The first floor contained public facilities such as the courtyard, the large cafeteria, and the large public baths for men and women, while the second and third floors were the dormitories for male and female students, respectively.
The interior decoration was very similar to a hot spring inn.
It made one clearly aware that this was a public place, yet it also had a homely feeling, like returning to one’s own living room or hallway.
The Spirit Arts Academy arranged for each student to have their own room.
A classic four-and-a-half-mat room.
“By the way, is the person in that room also in our living group?”
Ichigo suddenly remembered something and pointed at the door adjacent to his, mentioning it.
“That’s right.”
Takashi glanced at the room number and the name written in calligraphy on the outside.
“Rindō Yū, I have an impression of him; he was sitting right behind you during the meeting in the auditorium just now. I heard he is deaf and mute.”
“What?”
Ichigo’s face darkened.
“You could have at least reminded me. I don’t want to be seen as someone who ostracizes their peers. Although I don’t care much about my reputation, I absolutely refuse to have that kind of reputation!”
The Spirit Arts Academy arranged three people per living group, which was equivalent to being roommates.
They were also neighbors; whether it was cleaning or doing other trivial tasks, the academy would often directly assign one or more living groups to handle it.
This was not only convenient but also helped students communicate and grow together, so generally, there was no phenomenon of being isolated.
“Who said we didn’t say hello? Turn your head and look.”
Takashi lifted his chin.
Ichigo instinctively turned around to look and saw a delicate, quiet-looking boy standing there.
“Wh-when… I didn’t hear any movement at all…”
The boy raised his hand and traced his fingertips through the air, outlining a line of text with reishi.
[Nice to meet you, I am Rindō Yū.]
“Uh, I’m Kurosaki Ichigo, and this one here is Shinomiya Takashi… ah, sorry, I forgot you seem to…”
Just as Ichigo was scrambling to find paper and a pen, Rindō wrote another line of text.
[I can sense other people’s emotions, so there is no barrier to communication. You don’t need to specifically take care of me; I will try my best not to cause you any trouble.]
“…”
Ichigo felt as if something was stuck in his throat; he didn’t know what to say.
It wasn’t because of the communication skill the other party displayed, but rather the way he lived so calmly and comfortably in his own way, which shattered his perception of disabled people.
Soon, Ichigo revealed a sincere smile.
“I understand. Please take care of me from now on, Rindō.”
[Please take care of me.]
“By the way, how did you two greet each other before?”
“Just like how I reminded you just now.”
When Takashi said this, Ichigo suddenly understood.
“…I see.”
The chin-lifting gesture could mean look over there, or it could mean let’s go talk outside, or follow me.
It was indeed much more convenient than walking up to someone to say hello.
It was just that doing this to a stranger seemed a bit too familiar.
It could only be said that in terms of interpersonal relationships, Takashi also possessed a rare equanimity similar to Rindō’s.
However, that equanimity vanished completely in the face of the Asauchi they received.
Time arrived at the next day.
The Spirit Arts Academy distributed Asauchi to first-year students uniformly; it was not at all like what Takashi had imagined, where they would be led into some dark, gloomy secret chamber to pick one that suited their fancy.
To put it bluntly, first-year students simply didn’t have that privilege.
After all, the Asauchi were only on loan; they would only truly belong to the individual after graduation when they officially joined a squad.
It was clear that the Spirit Arts Academy didn’t place much importance on the compatibility between students and Asauchi.
Takashi had reason to suspect that the small number of elite Shinigami who mastered Shikai also had to do with this factor.
But regardless, he did not hold any prejudice towards his Asauchi.
The gaze fixed on the sword could be described as more affectionate than looking at a dog.
The hand stroking the scabbard was both gentle, as if caressing a young girl’s skin, and somewhat eager, wanting to draw the sword and practice a few moves.
“Takashi, you look like one of those samurai from the past who went insane and used people to test their blades.”
Ichigo, sitting next to him, twitched his mouth.
Although he was also very excited, it was entirely out of a desire for the power of a Shinigami; he didn’t have many thoughts about the sword itself, instead feeling it was a bit too ordinary.
If no one said anything, one might think it was a traditional craft from the Human World.
“Are you really a high school student?”
Takashi raised his head with a look of deep suspicion on his face.
“What do you mean?”
“Even elementary school students can’t help but pick up a straight tree branch when they see one on the road and wave it around.”
“You said it yourself, that’s elementary school students; high school students wouldn’t be that childish.”
“Indeed, high school students are more realistic; they simply cannot refuse cool battles, cannot refuse the cool power that transcends the world, cannot refuse the cool passion of protecting the world, and the cool demeanor of being praised by others after showing off.”
“…You don’t have to emphasize the concept of cool so much… right?”
“There’s more.”
“There’s more?!”
Ichigo widened his eyes, completely failing to notice that in addition to Rindō behind him, there was also a curious blonde girl.
“Yes.”
Takashi looked seriously at the big toy in his hand, with the rigor of discussing academics.
“Didn’t you hear Teacher Ōnabara say it? The Zanpakutō and the Shinigami are one in body and soul; one needs to carve their soul’s essence into it to resonate and thus grow. That is why they distribute the Asauchi as soon as possible, to strive for early achievements.”
“But the point is not this, but that the Zanpakutō has a soul; to a Shinigami, this is a partner that fights side by side and never leaves.”
“Suppose this partner is a beautiful girl; what do you think a high school boy would think?”
Coolness, power, and a beautiful girl.
Gulp.
With these three elements put together, even Ichigo was deeply shaken.
However, he wasn’t so greedy as to drool.
The next moment, Takashi, Ichigo, and Rindō silently looked at the person who made the sound.
The other person was also very familiar, not feeling awkward at all; she wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and said with a grin:
“I am Hachihara Kumayuru. I heard that the two best prodigies of this class just came from the Human World. As it happens, I am very interested in the gyaru culture of the Human World. If you don’t mind, let’s be friends!”