The sudden appearance startled Satoru.
Thanks to a certain someone, his spiritual pressure sensing ability had greatly improved.
Even the stealth operatives of the 2nd Division couldn't get close without him noticing.
Yet now, someone had gotten right up to him without him sensing a thing!
After staring at the girl for a few seconds, he suddenly frowned.
"Yoruichi Shihōin?"
Though her hair was shorter and her outfit quite different, the girl gave off the same vibe as Yoruichi from the anime.
The girl looked surprised. "Oh? You know me?"
"Yeah, Young Master Kuchiki mentioned you."
"Young Master Kuchuki?"
"Sōjun Kuchiki."
"Ah... that nice guy."
At the mention of Sōjun, Yoruichi grinned.
Snapping back to reality, she noticed Satoru had already moved to a nearby window and was peering inside carefully.
She quickly followed.
"You're wearing a Shin'ō uniform but sneaking around the 1st Division barracks... You're Satoru Mikami, right? That prodigy student?"
Yoruichi circled around Satoru, eyeing him curiously.
Satoru nodded, then shook his head.
"I am Satoru Mikami, but I'm not the prodigy here."
"Aizen Sōsuke, my classmate, is the real genius."
Yoruichi tilted her head, thinking for a moment.
Then she shook her head. "Never heard of him."
"There's a lot you haven't heard of."
After scouting the "enemy situation," Satoru chuckled and climbed through the window.
Seeing this, Yoruichi followed suit.
Looking at the ingredients around them, she asked, puzzled, "What are you doing here?"
"Of course I'm here for food. What else, to cook?"
Satoru gave the girl a pitying look.
She looked perfectly fine, so why did she ask such a stupid... or rather, cute question?
Yoruichi: "..."
Just moments ago, when she spotted someone sneaking toward the 1st Division's mess hall, her first thought was that this person intended to poison the food.
She had been ready to strike immediately, but upon seeing the academy uniform Satoru wore, she hesitated.
A student from the Shin'ō Academy, inside the 1st Division barracks.
Putting the two together, she instantly deduced his identity.
Satoru Mikami—a commoner from Rukongai, who, in less than half a year of training, had already reached vice-captain-level strength and earned personal guidance from Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
Such a prodigy, even if he were a spy planted by rebellious nobles, would never be assigned something as lowly as poisoning.
After some thought, she decided to reveal herself and give him a scare, hoping to observe any tells in the chaos.
But it turned out this guy just wanted to steal some food?
Do Shin'ō students these days not even get enough to eat?
As if sensing Yoruichi's confusion, Satoru swallowed the meat in his mouth.
"Yoruichi Shihouin, you never attended Shin'ō, did you?"
Yoruichi blinked, then nodded. "Children of the Shihouin family receive private education from a young age, specializing in the Onmitsukidō's training. It's a different path from Shin'ō, so we don't attend."
"That explains it."
Satoru took a sip of soup, savoring the warmth.
Since the Gotei 13 often carried out missions at night, the kitchen kept the soup heated at all times.
After swallowing, he leisurely continued, "Shin'ō Academy has fixed meal times. If you miss it, you go hungry."
"I, Satoru Mikami, might skip class. I might skip training. But I will never skip a meal."
"Today, the only reason I missed dinner was because the Captain-Commander screwed me over. So eating his food is perfectly justified."
Watching him spout such nonsense with a straight face, Yoruichi couldn't help but smile.
This guy... seemed pretty interesting.
As she studied the young man before her, he suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Want some?"
Satoru tore off a drumstick from the roasted chicken, wrapped it in oiled paper, and handed it to Yoruichi.
For a moment, she looked surprised at the offering.
Then, grinning, she accepted it and took a bite.
After swallowing, she chuckled. "You're not bad, kid."
"Even though this chicken isn't yours, sharing the best part with someone you just met? You've got a decent heart."
Hearing this, Satoru shook his head and said, "Sharing the chicken with you isn't because I'm nice—it's for two reasons."
"First, you're really cute, so giving you food doesn't feel like a loss to me."
"Second, if you eat my chicken, you become an accomplice in theft. If you try to report me to Captain Yamamoto later, you'll get scolded too… That way, I avoid a potential headache."
Yoruichi: "…"
The first half of his words had actually made her a little happy—she thought this guy had good taste.
But the second half nearly choked her to death.
Though it made perfect sense, hearing it stated so bluntly was still infuriating.
Just as she was about to say something, she noticed Satoru suddenly frown.
"Damn, someone's coming."
The moment he spoke, Yoruichi also sensed the approaching spiritual pressure.
She gave him a surprised look.
As the heir to the Shihōin family, she had been trained in the Onmitsukidō since childhood.
Detecting spiritual pressure was one of the most crucial skills she had mastered.
She had always believed that among her peers in the Gotei 13, no one could surpass her in reconnaissance.
Yet just now, Satoru had noticed the approaching presence slightly faster than she had.
This guy… really kept surprising her.
In the distance, the voices of the gatekeepers could already be heard.
"Lieutenant Chōjirō!"
"Have you seen anyone suspicious around here?"
"Reporting, Lieutenant! All clear!"
Despite the response, Chōjirō didn't seem reassured.
A few seconds later, he pushed open the mess hall door and stepped inside.
Satoru's expression darkened. "Crap, it's the First Division's lieutenant!"
"If he catches me stealing food from the kitchen, my reputation will be ruined forever."
Yoruichi couldn't help but laugh.
"What reputation? You're just a student."
"Still, want to beg me? If you can convince me, I might lend you this divine artifact that can mask spiritual pressure."
"The condition isn't too hard either—just promise to join the Second Division after you graduate. Deal?"
Satoru frowned slightly, weighing whether humiliation was worse than working for the Shihōin family.
Before he could decide, another voice called out from outside—
"Lady Yoruichi! Are you in there? Answer me if you are!"
Hearing this, Yoruichi stiffened.
"Oh no, it's Marenoshin. Why is he here too?"
"Marenoshin?"
"The head of the Ōmaeda family, lieutenant of the Second Division. With him around, escaping using Onmitsukidō techniques is impossible…"
As she spoke, under Satoru's bewildered gaze, Yoruichi took off her black cloak and draped it over both of them.
(Preemptive clarification: This cloak isn't the one developed by Urahara Kisuke—it's an earlier prototype.)
----------
For advance chapters join my Patreon.
[email protected]/Aarvan