"That's just the old geezer's prejudice! "
Yūshirō Shihōin roared furiously the moment he heard that his application for early graduation had been rejected, storming straight into the headmaster's office of Shin'ō Academy.
"Please calm down, Young Master Yūshirō! "
Ōetsu Nimaiya was wiping sweat from his forehead with tissues as if it were pouring like rain, desperately trying to pacify the enraged heir standing before him.
"What's that supposed to mean? You're looking down on me? "
"Or is it that old man Yamamoto actually thinks his current Gotei 13 is impressive? "
"Half the captains in his so-called Gotei are slackers! "
"Other than the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, and 13th Divisions, can those others even be called captains? "
"That's six whole squads led by useless frauds! "
Yūshirō slammed his palm on Ninomiya's desk again and again, his voice brimming with protest.
"T—this… even if you tell me this, I can't do anything. This is the Captain-Commander's direct order. Unless you appeal to the Central 46 and get their approval for early graduation, my hands are tied. This is already far beyond my authority as headmaster!"
For Ninomiya, this was the most humiliating moment of his acting career. But what could he do? The one storming into his office was a Shihōin heir! Against that, he had no options—he could only endure.
Among the Five Great Noble Houses of Soul Society, Ninomiya personally admired the Kuchiki the most. As authors of the legal codex of Soul Society, they embodied nobility through discipline and order, serving as paragons. Every member of the Kuchiki upheld rules with rigid precision.
Second, he liked the Shiba clan, the only one of the Great Houses that lived outside Seireitei's walls (the Central 46 feared all five houses gathering too closely). The Shiba had no aristocratic airs, living almost like commoners, easy to speak with.
Then came the Shihōin and another house: though a bit brash and insensitive to others' feelings, the Shihōin never abused their noble status or acted outrageously.
The one family Ninomiya truly despised, however, was the Tsunayashiro. Every member carried themselves as if they were the center of the universe—"We alone are Soul Society's true nobility; all others are trash! " Their arrogance was infamous. Few in Soul Society did not detest them. But as one of the Five Houses, with captain-class combatants in their ranks, no one could touch them.
And yet at this moment, Ninomiya suddenly thought: The Shihōin are unbearable too. True, they didn't bully commoners, but bullying him was hardly better!
Because of Yūshirō alone, his opinion of the entire Shihōin family had dropped sharply. Not that Yūshirō cared in the slightest.
"You expect me to beg those decrepit old fools in the Central 46?! "
"What kind of joke is that?! You want me to go crawling to them? I'd rather sit through lectures! "
With that, Yūshirō stormed out of the headmaster's office, fuming. He already loathed the Central 46; there was no way he'd beg them over something so trivial. Especially after once rescuing a pair of noble siblings, only to watch the Central 46 condemn their entire family on trumped-up charges, forcing them into death matches against Hollows for the amusement of other nobles. Yūshirō had been livid then—if not for his sister stopping him at the last second, the Central 46 would already be history.
Classroom.
Yūshirō sat in the very back row, chewing gum crafted by Senjumaru using his "creative" instructions.
Crunch, crackle, snap.
The sound echoed through the classroom, but no one dared to say a word to stop him. They all knew how terrifying he was. After all, every one of them had seen with their own eyes the Kidō that blasted a hole through the academy roof on their very first day.
That oppressive spiritual pressure, that earth-shattering destructive force—it had left even the proudest of them shaken. Compared to that, what was their so-called talent? Even if they one day reached Bankai, they doubted they could match the power Yūshirō unleashed with a single Kidō spell.
"Kidō is the collective term for the spiritual arts used by Shinigami. It is divided into Hadō (Destructive Arts), Bakudō (Binding Arts), and Kaidō (Healing Arts). For example, during the entrance exam, Yūshirō-sama used Hadō against the ceiling. Of course, Hadō #91, Senjū Kōten Taihō—the Thousand-Hand Bright Sky Cannon—far exceeds the capacity of any ordinary student. In general, as long as one masters Kidō below #20, graduation is assured…"
The instructor droned on from the podium. But few in the elite class were truly listening. As noble-born prodigies, they had already memorized all the incantations for Kidō below #30. What they were really curious about was the young man in the back row—the one who had stolen the spotlight on the very first day by blowing the roof off the training hall.
"Um… why do you wear that eyepatch? "
One of the upper-house noble girls finally worked up the courage to speak to him. She was strikingly beautiful, cheeks tinged with pink. Her grandfather was a sage in the Central 46. For her family to rise higher, the only path left was to connect with one of the Five Noble Houses that had direct ties to the Spirit King.
Yes, she had entered Shin'ō Academy with a mission.
"Hm?"
Yūshirō tilted his head at the sweet-faced girl, then casually blew a massive bubble of gum, completely blocking his face from hers.
"Eh?"
The girl blinked, baffled by the enormous bubble.
And then—pop!
The bubble burst, splattering all over her nose and face.
"Damn it! I was about to break my record! And thanks to your pointy nose, my super-giant bubble failed! "
Yūshirō frowned, more annoyed about his ruined bubble than the mess on the girl's face. He didn't comfort her at all—instead, he complained bluntly.
"Forgive me…"
The girl stood abruptly, bowed slightly, and ran crying from the room.
"…Huh?"
Yūshirō stared at her retreating figure, utterly puzzled beneath his eyepatch.
"Pfft—"
"Ahem, cough, cough…"
Sitting beside him, Aya Suzushiro couldn't hold back a laugh. But realizing the situation, she quickly stifled it with a series of polite coughs.