Grand Training Field · Main Gate
Mikazuki Munenori and Ling Qing walked side by side toward the entrance.
Ling Qing had no desire to walk like this. No matter whether he sped up or slowed down, Mikazuki adjusted his pace to match him.
Like a child stubbornly competing out of spite.
"Mikazuki."
Ling Qing kept his eyes forward and spoke without turning his head.
Even though he had already decided to teach the other man a lesson, his tone remained gentle—
Almost friendly, as he addressed him by name.
"What?"
Mikazuki's response was sharp and confrontational.
"Coming here for a True Blade Trial will delay the academy's graduation exams," Ling Qing said calmly. "Aren't you worried the seniors might cause trouble for you?"
Graduation exams and post-exam recruitment all took place on the same day. The more time wasted, the fewer remaining slots there would be in the Gotei 13, the Kidō Corps, and the Stealth Force.
Their duel might cost several graduating students their desired positions.
"Tch."
Mikazuki curled his lip in disdain.
"I'm the heir of the Mikazuki family. You think those bottom-ranked nobodies would dare trouble me?"
He disliked Ling Qing—but he despised the sixth-year graduates even more. There was not a trace of respect in his words.
"Is that so?" Ling Qing replied with a faint, knowing smile.
Mikazuki immediately realized he had been led into another trap.
He had a loud voice by habit.
Normally, none of those sixth-year students would dare provoke him. But after that remark, grudges would certainly be remembered and repaid someday.
"Ling Qing, you—"
"By the way."
Ling Qing cut him off at precisely the right moment.
"Huh?"
The drawn-out tone betrayed Mikazuki's irritation.
"I thought you had already given up. What gave you the courage to accept my challenge today?"
Mikazuki was not stupid—his emotions were simply written all over his face.
"What, want me to reveal my hand so you don't lose too badly?"
His arrogance flared instantly.
"No."
Ling Qing shook his head, his gaze briefly flicking toward the asauchi at Mikazuki's waist.
"You wasted half a year and still failed to achieve Shikai. What exactly made you so confident?"
For a Soul Reaper, the two releases of the Zanpakutō represented the greatest leaps in power.
From Mikazuki's behavior, it was obvious he had not achieved Shikai. Otherwise, he would never have bowed to Mutsuki Shōkaku earlier.
"You bastard!"
Ling Qing had struck a nerve.
While Ling Qing trained Kidō, Mikazuki had devoted himself to communicating with his Zanpakutō—after all, Shikai meant instant transcendence.
Unfortunately—
Not only had Shikai failed to manifest, the gap in Kidō had grown even wider. And worse still, Mikazuki hated one word above all others.
Arrogant.
For someone bearing a refined noble surname, it was the ultimate insult—and the most common reprimand he had heard from his elders since childhood.
"Who gave you the nerve to mock a noble?"
"Faith."
"…What?"
As Mikazuki desperately searched his memory for some unknown noble house—
"Stop thinking."
Ling Qing's voice drifted away as he walked ahead.
The Mikazuki family was a well-known mid-tier noble house in Soul Society. Their only weakness was the lack of protection from a great noble clan.
If Ling Qing truly knew an upper noble capable of suppressing the Mikazuki family, Mikazuki would certainly have heard of it.
The number of families worthy of being called upper nobility was not much greater than the Four Great Houses.
"Tap."
Ling Qing stopped.
Just one centimeter ahead lay the boundary separating inside and outside the Grand Training Field.
"The match…"
His narrow eyes slowly closed, concealing the sharpness within.
"…begins now."
Shin'ō Academy · Grand Auditorium
"Th-thank you!"
Nanao Ise accepted the thin sketchbook with solemn care, bowing repeatedly—her voice trembling with nervousness.
She immediately turned and hurried toward the main entrance, never looking back.
Still nervous.
"She really likes you, doesn't she?"
Click.
A pen cap slid over a sharp fountain-pen tip.
The bright red pen was tucked into a chest pocket, standing out vividly against a black cropped sailor uniform that exposed her midriff.
Paired with matching full-frame glasses and long braided hair—
Lisa Yadōmaru, Vice-Captain of the Eighth Division.
A Soul Reaper who embodied refined elegance and unmistakable allure in equal measure.
Lisa watched Nanao's small figure disappear.
"Oh?"
A magnetic voice answered lazily.
"She asked you for an autograph. What does that have to do with me?"
A wide straw hat tilted casually, worn over a captain's haori, paired with a light pink outer robe, a visible chest, and smiling eyes—
Shunsui Kyōraku, Captain of the Eighth Division.
The man responsible for awakening countless admirers to their fondness for older men.
"Because her eyes never left you for a second," Lisa replied flatly.
"And…"
She paused.
"She's from the Ise family, isn't she?"
"Huh?"
Shunsui subconsciously touched the decorative hairpins in his tied-back hair.
"When did you figure that out, Lisa?"
"You never really hid it, Captain."
"Ahaha…"
Shunsui scratched the back of his head.
"Could you at least pretend to take me seriously? You're making it look like we're both fools."
Lisa pressed a hand to her forehead in open exasperation.
"No, no," Shunsui waved quickly.
"You're sharper than I expected. I did choose you myself as vice-captain, after all."
Before Lisa could respond, Shunsui lowered the brim of his hat, hiding both his gaze and expression in shadow.
"It's just that Nanao…"
"She's not ready to approach me yet."
Nanao Ise was the daughter of Shunsui's elder brother. Due to complicated circumstances, she had been adopted by an elderly couple of the Ise family.
By blood, she was Shunsui Kyōraku's niece.
As captain of the information-focused Eighth Division, Shunsui possessed knowledge surpassed only by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Combined with his noble lineage and status as Yamamoto's prized disciple, he was a natural candidate for future leadership.
Too many eyes watched him.
Until Nanao matured enough, he had no intention of exposing her identity.
Just then—
Ding.
"What was that sound?"
Lisa's question was cut short by the clear chime from outside.
"From the Grand Training Field," Shunsui said, turning east.
"If I had to guess… a True Blade Trial."
"What's that?"
Lisa admitted bluntly that she had never heard the term.
"Well…"
Shunsui's gaze drifted, as if recalling his own academy days.
"It was pretty common when we were students."
"Lisa."
He looked up at his vice-captain.
"Yes?"
Her tone remained dismissive, but her posture was attentive.
"Leave things here to me. If you're curious, go watch the trial next door."
Something about the sound had stirred his nostalgia.
"The Captain who hates work is volunteering?" Lisa asked incredulously.
"I'm already here—"
She cut him off immediately.
"Dear Captain, did you forget who dragged you here in the first place?"
"Ahaha…"
Shunsui resorted to his signature foolish laugh.
Normally, that ended the conversation.
But today was different.
"Or are you planning to sneak away?"
"Of course not."
"Then give me a proper reason."
Shunsui paused, choosing his words carefully.
"…Spiritual pressure."
"Spiritual pressure?"
"The spiritual pressure from the Grand Training Field feels very similar to something I sensed earlier on Nanao."
Lisa was not surprised by his sensitivity. Within the Seireitei, the Eighth Division excelled at detection and tracking.
What puzzled her was why he would single out a student.
From his tone, someone had interacted with Nanao earlier—clearly a Shin'ō Academy student.
"…I heard that among the fifth-year students, there's one named Ling Qing who's quite close to Nanao."
"One of the duelists should be him."
"Oh?"
Lisa dragged out the syllable.
"So."
She smiled teasingly.
"You know quite a lot, Captain. Surely you didn't mobilize the Eighth Division's intelligence network to investigate a mere academy student?"
"To gather information is literally our job," Shunsui replied with dignified conviction.
"That's impressively justified… so what's wrong with this Ling Qing?"
Lisa sighed lightly.
Shunsui would never act purely out of personal sentiment. If he had investigated Ling Qing, there had to be reasons beyond Nanao.
"Other than frequent contact with noble students, everything about him is normal."
Lisa nodded.
"If he dares enter a True Blade Trial, he certainly has courage. Watch his strength for me."
She was about to reclassify this as an overprotective uncle judging a boy near his niece—
When Shunsui added quietly:
"Collecting information early never hurts."
"The academy instructors have their limits. Accurate firsthand data is best gathered by you."
"I have a feeling…"
"…this one will bring interesting changes to the Seireitei."
Shin'ō Academy · Grand Auditorium · Fifth Division Recruitment Area
"Ah—"
A weary sigh escaped.
A sly grin, careless posture, crooked bangs, brilliant teeth, and shoulder-length hair tied at the back—
Shinji Hirako, Third Seat of the Fifth Division.
"Shinji."
A gentle female voice spoke from behind him.
"You look exhausted. Why don't you go rest? I can take over here."
Bright red hair was tied into a ponytail, adorned with a handmade white flower hairpin.
Her nonstandard shihakushō looked elegant and refined, lined with soft pale pink.
"Vice-Captain Shiba…"
Shinji rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"This is a formal setting. You should call me Third Seat Hirako."
"Huh?"
She covered her mouth in surprise.
"But you usually call me by my name too, Shinji…"
"…That's to avoid confusing you with the Captain," he replied helplessly.
The red-haired woman was Shiba Iha, Vice-Captain of the Fifth Division.
Unlike captains, vice-captains could be directly appointed. Strength mattered—but trust mattered just as much.
The Fifth Division's harmonious atmosphere owed much to her presence.
She was the twin sister of Fifth Division Captain Shiba Seigen.
Truth be told, the Third Seat was often a fascinating position.
Because vice-captains were appointed, Third Seats were often just as strong—if not stronger.
The Fifth Division was no exception.
In terms of combat power, Shinji Hirako surpassed Shiba Iha by a wide margin.
She had only mastered Shikai.
He, on the other hand, had already grasped Bankai.
Even without it, he believed he could fight Captain Shiba evenly.
But—
Shinji hated trouble.
Captains and vice-captains had far more responsibilities, including frequent meetings at the First Division headquarters.
For someone as laid-back as him, that was unbearable.
So he was perfectly content remaining Third Seat.
By the same logic, he suspected the Fourth Seat felt the same way.
That man's name was Aizen Sōsuke.
At that moment—
Ding.
The familiar spiritual pressure arrived with the bell.
"Hm?"
"A True Blade Trial."
Soul Reapers aged slowly as their spiritual pressure grew stronger.
Though they looked young, Shinji and Iha were nearly a century old. Anyone not born noble typically came through Shin'ō Academy and would naturally know such trials.
"That spiritual pressure…"
"It's Shōkaku," Shinji said immediately.
While Shinji had already identified it, Iha was still concentrating. Her duties kept her from honing perception—by design, as her brother wished to protect her.
After a thousand years, despite countless graduates, the Gotei 13 still numbered only around six thousand Soul Reapers.
Casualties spoke for themselves.
"Looks like she's officiating," Shinji said, referring to Mutsuki Shōkaku.
"Well, we're due for a break anyway," Iha said lightly.
"Why don't you go take a look?"
"…Sure."
Idle was idle.
And compared to dealing with anxious graduates, a True Blade Trial sounded far more interesting.