The uniform for the Spirit Arts Academy students was standardized, a variation based on the kimono, with a distinct style.
Paired with the wooden school buildings, it had an atmosphere reminiscent of an ancient private school.
But some people were destined to have a hard time blending into that atmosphere and being ordinary students.
For example, Takashi and Ichigo, and also Hachihara.
She said she liked Human World culture, and no one would question it because her appearance was too trendy; she didn’t just wear light lip gloss and eyeshadow.
Her beautiful long blonde hair was tied in a side ponytail, and her delicate girl’s skin was tanned, presenting a soft, chocolate-like luster.
No matter how you looked at it, she seemed like a JK deeply influenced by the Human World’s gyaru style.
So much so that Ichigo couldn’t help but ask: “Did you also just come from the Human World?”
“Nope, I was born in the Seireitei. My family runs a clothing store. Because we reference a lot of trendy culture from the Human World, it’s very popular. So I was curious and went to learn about it, and then I couldn’t stop~”
Hachihara waved her palm with a smile like a beckoning cat, revealing her personal secrets without a care.
“I can tell…”
Ichigo’s mouth twitched slightly, resisting the urge to comment further on her makeup.
People with normal aesthetic sense would more or less feel that the beauty of a gyaru is like coffee with too much sugar, a bit too sweet and cloying to swallow.
“Human World clothing, huh? It’s different from the Rukongai. The Seireitei is actually much more progressive than I thought.”
Takashi was lost in thought.
“Sigh, this is going to be difficult.”
“What’s wrong?”
Rindō wrote on the desk.
“Nothing, just considering future life.”
“What are you talking about?”
Ichigo asked habitually.
“Look, when you were in the Human World, you would also take advantage of holidays to go work part-time, right?”
“Hmm… I think I understand what you mean. You want to earn some money to live a rich life here, so you thought of borrowing commercial ideas from the Human World culture. No matter what you do, as long as one product succeeds, you won’t have to worry about living expenses.”
“That’s right, but Hachihara’s words reminded me that the Soul Society only looks backward on the surface; in reality, it might just be doing so intentionally. Some of those things already exist, and some have no market demand. Although this point is debatable, in short, money is not that easy to earn.”
Takashi felt a bit regretful.
He had originally wanted to set up a Shinomiya conglomerate in the Soul Society to let those nobles obsessed with past glory see what a capitalist of the new era was like.
“Now that you mention it, our living allowance is provided by the Spirit Arts Academy, which only guarantees basic food and clothing expenses. We can’t count on anything else, like buying a few sets of Human World change-of-clothes from Hachihara’s family store.”
Ichigo scratched his hair, realizing the severity of the problem.
“If you come, I can give you the lowest discount!”
Hachihara smiled, making a peace sign in front of them and giving a cute wink.
“We’ll talk about that later.”
Seeing the teacher arrive, Takashi proactively ended the conversation.
However, using this encounter as an opportunity, the two sides gradually became familiar with each other.
Mainly because Hachihara was tirelessly looking for them in private to chat about Human World topics.
To others, it seemed that after Rindō, the prodigy duo had recruited the fourth place of the same batch into their camp, thus forming the most eye-catching small group in the Spirit Arts Academy.
While the other students were envious and wanted to join, they couldn’t help but shrink back in the face of the minimum threshold of a high-ranking Seated Officer with at least Reii Level 7.
Unknowingly, a week had passed since the start of school.
Various subjects were rolled out one after another.
Takashi, with his high enthusiasm for learning, didn’t pay much attention to the passage of time at all.
One afternoon, at the training hall.
Bang!
A strike like a thunderclap landed on Ichigo.
If it had been a real blade, he would have been slashed from shoulder to abdomen, his ribs severed and his organs exposed.
So he was very grateful he was facing a wooden sword.
There was still some chance of turning defeat into victory.
“I won’t be defeated by the same move twice!”
Bracing against the slash, stabilizing his footing, and seizing the gap when the opponent’s move was spent to counterattack quickly.
From this perspective, his combat will and reactions weren’t bad.
He deserved the excellent rating from the Kendō instructor nearby.
Unfortunately, Takashi was simply inhuman.
He steadily blocked Ichigo’s rapid-fire onslaught without his form swaying once, like a reef being battered by ocean waves.
Once he grew accustomed to the rhythm of the attack, he lunged forward with a massive step after a block, much like a riot policeman holding a shield, using his physique and weapon size to forcibly push the culprit back until they fell.
Then he suddenly retracted, leaving enough space for a swing, and knocked him down in one go from the front with a standard Karatake vertical strike.
From the result, however, it looked more like he had simply smashed his opponent over with brute force.
“Damn it, your swordsmanship and grappling techniques clearly aren’t as good as mine, but I just can’t beat you no matter how hard I try.”
Ichigo rubbed his aching wrists, feeling both indignant and helpless.
“That’s the charm of raw stats.”
Takashi said as he wiped his sweat with the towel Hachihara handed him.
“But your progress is fast enough. You can already fight me for this long; at the start, you lost in a single move. I think it won’t be long before you can…”
“Before I can beat you?”
“Before you can lose more gracefully.”
Hearing this, Ichigo almost lost it.
The veins on his forehead bulged, and he gave a forced smile.
“Oh, really? Want to try again? I feel like I can go another round. You can use the same strategy as before and see if it still works.”
Takashi looked back with a gaze of pity.
“Don’t waste your energy. Even if I don’t use any strategy, just fighting you normally, I can win through endurance. I only did that because I didn’t want to waste time.”
“You bastard…! Just you wait!”
Ichigo gnashed his teeth, secretly vowing to find an opportunity to mock him back later.
“You guys are really motivated. Are all students in the Human World like you?”
Hachihara, watching from the side, commented dryly.
“That depends on the country. But this guy is simply disgusted by his own Kidō. He feels that with his self-destruct style of Kidō, he’s destined to never achieve all-around strength, so he’s desperately trying to make up for it elsewhere.”
Takashi mercilessly exposed Ichigo’s thoughts.
Over the past week, everyone’s performance in class had fully demonstrated the importance of innate talent.
Take their small group, for example.
Hachihara was lively, had sharp senses, and was full of energy.
She learned everything quickly, but she was very willful.
She was only passionate about basic training like Hakuda and Shunpo, and had little interest in Zanjutsu or Kidō classes, so her grades were average.
This kind of specialization was actually more of a headache for the teachers, who had already labeled her a problem child.
Rindō, being deaf and mute, possessed an unimaginably strong inner self.
His spiritual power control was unnaturally strong; he was practically a natural-born vessel for Kidō, and he learned it as if aided by gods.
But in other areas, he was unremarkable, only performing well enough to justify his place in Class One.
However, unlike Hachihara, he was at least willing to study and practice diligently.
Ichigo, on the other hand, specialized in Zanjutsu and Hakuda.
His combat talent was so obvious it overflowed.
Any teacher who saw him was amazed, praising him as a natural powerhouse and saying the Captains of the Gotei 13 had gained a perfect successor.
However, they fell silent after learning that he had almost blown the entire training field into the sky with a Shakkahō during Kidō class.
The evaluation of Captain Successor wasn’t retracted, but they added a note in their hearts: limited to the Eleventh Division.
Finally, there was Takashi.
His performance lived up to his record-breaking entrance score.
He was an orthodox genius in the eyes of the public.
Zan-Ken-Sō-Ki, he was proficient in everything.
Furthermore, because of the physical specialization and growth buffs granted by the Blood of Cinderella, he possessed a massive natural advantage in the two fields of Zanjutsu and Hakuda.
This resulted in the bankruptcy of Ichigo’s plan to take first place in these two classes to regain his lost pride while getting stronger.
“You can only use Shakkahō yourself, it’s not like your Kidō is much stronger than mine. Besides, when it comes to working hard, you’re not in a position to talk about me.”
Ichigo curled his lip.
“Sneaking in extra training at night instead of sleeping… I don’t know where you get the stamina.”
“?”
Hachihara’s eyes widened, looking at Takashi with an incredulous gaze.
In her eyes, Ichigo was already working very hard, spending most of his spare time studying.
He wasn’t nearly as rebellious as he looked, being surprisingly earnest.
She didn’t expect there to be someone even more competitive.
Training through the night?
It had only been a week since they entered the academy.
Was it really necessary?
“I only tried it once, and you just happened to find out.”
That had been an experiment with a Compound Potion.
It turned out that the thing could only alleviate the fatigue of staying up late; it couldn’t replenish the energy lost throughout the entire day.
So Takashi decisively abandoned that plan.
At that moment, Rindō wrote a line of text.
[There’s a calligraphy class this afternoon. Is everyone going?]
“Calligraphy class… I’m not really interested. Although they say the teacher is a very popular Captain, I don’t want to miss the Human World goods that arrived today, so pass~”
Hachihara tapped her chin with her finger, mused for a moment, and finally shook her head with regret.
“Me too. I’ve already made an appointment with the swordsmanship instructor for a sparring session, I can’t break it. However, I have something to discuss with the calligraphy lecturer, so I’ll head over after class.”
Although the Headmaster had smoothed the way, cultural literacy was Ichigo’s weak point.
This was also reflected in his daily studies.
Sometimes he couldn’t understand the grammar of the textbooks at all, finding it very difficult to grasp, and frequently had to ask Takashi for help.
Ichigo had never liked troubling others.
Fortunately, the Headmaster had the foresight to arrange a tutor in advance.
It was precisely the calligraphy lecturer.
Because they didn’t come to teach often, today was the first chance to meet.
“Then Rindō and I will go have a look.”
Takashi thought for a bit.
An ordinary calligraphy class might not be worth attending, but he had to see that man’s calligraphy class to broaden his horizons.
“Oh! See you after class then.”
Ichigo’s spirits lifted, feeling that while the other was in a culture class, his own training progress would catch up just a little bit more.
Little did he know that Takashi had a growth potential +1000% buff.
At least in terms of basic Zanjutsu and Hakuda training, catching up through normal means was likely hopeless.