At the entrance to the examination hall—
Although Bai Chen noticed that Abarai Renji and the others seemed to be whispering among themselves, clearly discussing him in secret,
he didn't care.
Nor did he have any intention of taking the initiative to strike up a friendship.
After all, before coming to Seireitei, Bai Chen had never expected to run into so many familiar faces here.
Besides—
Thanks to the wooden plaque given to him by Shiba Kaien,
Bai Chen could skip the written exam that was about to begin,
putting him a step ahead of Renji and the others.
However—
Just as Bai Chen was patiently waiting,
a gentle female voice suddenly spoke up behind him.
"Um…"
"Hello, big brother… if I'm not mistaken, you must be a noble who originally lived in Seireitei, right?"
The voice was soft and sweet, tinged with a hint of shyness—
pleasant to the ear, like biting into a piece of cotton candy.
"…Huh?"
Caught off guard, Bai Chen paused.
A strange feeling welled up in his chest—both unfamiliar and oddly familiar at the same time.
He turned around in confusion—
And after just one look, his expression instantly became… complicated.
Petite figure. Fair skin.
Large brown eyes—bright and lively.
An overall impression that could only be described as adorable.
"So it's… Momo?!"
Bai Chen was genuinely startled.
No matter how he thought about it, he never would've expected that—
The person who had approached him on her own—
Would also be one of the important figures from the original story.
The girl famously teased as the "strongest meat shield"—
Hinamori Momo.
"Ah—!"
"D-Did I scare you? I'm so sorry!"
Mistaking Bai Chen's reaction for being startled by her sudden greeting, Momo hurriedly apologized.
But—
At such close range, their eyes met.
Taking in Bai Chen's handsome features,
and sensing that unique aura he carried—so different from the other examinees around them—
the soft-natured Momo felt her cheeks heat up.
Flustered, she quickly lowered her head, too shy to maintain eye contact.
"N-No… you misunderstood."
"I'm not a noble. I'm from Rukongai…"
Sensing her embarrassment, Bai Chen tactfully shifted the topic.
At the same time, he couldn't help but marvel at what had happened in just a few short minutes.
Seriously—
He'd barely stepped into the examination hall,
and already he'd run into this many familiar faces.
"If nothing unexpected happens…"
"For a long time to come, I'm bound to have plenty of interactions with Momo and the others…"
Bai Chen quickly recalled—
In the original story, roughly fifty years ago,
Hinamori Momo, Kira Izuru, Abarai Renji, and Kuchiki Rukia
had indeed applied in the same intake.
It was just that Momo came from Junrinan District, which was very close to Seireitei—
so she hadn't known the others back then.
"Really? You're from Rukongai too? Which district?"
Finding common ground, Momo quickly relaxed and asked with interest.
"West Rukongai, Third District," Bai Chen replied.
Strictly speaking, he hadn't been born there—
But since he'd come to Seireitei and enrolled thanks to his encounter with Shiba Kaien,
answering like this wasn't wrong.
"The Third District?"
"I've heard before that Kofuseyama has beautiful scenery!"
Momo's eyes widened.
Those clear brown eyes sparkled with genuine curiosity and innocence.
"…Is that so?"
Hearing this, Bai Chen's lips twitched slightly.
His mind instantly flashed back to the scene a few days earlier—
When Kofuseyama had been left completely barren after he'd released his reiatsu.
He answered with a guilty conscience,
"Well… it's alright, I guess. Personally, I think there are quite a few other places in Rukongai with even nicer views."
Heh.
Sweet, innocent Momo…
What Kofuseyama?
If he hadn't restrained himself in time that day, the entire Third District might've been flattened.
"I see…"
"If I get the chance, I still want to go see it someday…"
Momo nodded obediently, her voice full of longing.
And just like that—
The two of them chatted casually while waiting in line.
Before long, they'd grown familiar with each other and exchanged names.
"Bai Chen…"
"Hinamori Momo…"
After introductions were done,
the written exam portion soon began.
When it was Bai Chen's turn to enter, he took out the wooden plaque on his own initiative.
"You actually know Shiba Kaien-sama?"
The examiner took the plaque.
Upon recognizing the engraved division insignia and the two characters 'Shiba'—
his attitude changed instantly.
When he looked at Bai Chen again,
there was unmistakable respect in his eyes.
And his words—
sparked a huge stir throughout the examination hall.
"Did I hear that right… Shiba Kaien?"
"That's the current Vice-Captain of the Gotei Thirteen! One of the Shinō Academy's most famous graduates!"
"Just who is this guy? He actually has Shiba Kaien's personal plaque!"
In that instant—
Every examinee in the hall—
including Hinamori Momo, Kuchiki Rukia, and the others—
cast looks of envy toward Bai Chen.
What they envied
wasn't the fact that the plaque let him skip the written exam.
It was the connection behind it—
Shiba Kaien himself.
Compared to Hueco Mundo or the World of the Living,
Soul Society might look like a kind of "heaven."
But—
That was only on the surface.
Wherever there were people, there was hierarchy.
Soul Society was no exception.
The numbered districts.
The divide between nobles and commoners.
All of it pointed to a rigid social order.
Under such circumstances,
having backing—having connections—
was something every soul longed for.
And a Vice-Captain of the Gotei Thirteen?
That was about as solid a backer as one could hope for.
Of course—
Not everyone felt admiration.
Some felt jealousy.
And resentment.
Among them—
Abarai Renji most of all.
"Tch…"
"Kira, Rukia… didn't I say it earlier?"
"I knew it. This guy 'Bai Chen' doesn't have any real ability. He's just fooling around."
As he spoke,
Renji clenched his fists tightly, teeth grinding as he sneered.
"I just didn't expect him to be this shameless—actually relying on a Vice-Captain to pull strings!"
While talking,
Renji deliberately raised his voice,
making sure the words 'pulling strings' echoed clearly through the hall—
so no one could miss them.
However—
Rukia, his childhood friend, held the opposite view.
"Renji, don't say that…"
"The written exam is already extremely easy. The pass rate is basically a hundred percent."
"So it's not really 'pulling strings' at all. Even without that plaque, Bai Chen would've passed effortlessly."
Rukia spoke calmly, trying to reason with him.
In her eyes, this was just how the world worked—
there was nothing worth being this bitter over.
It was obvious her childhood friend's heart was simply too small.
"Rukia, you—"
Being contradicted by the girl he secretly liked,
Renji found himself at a loss for words.
Left with no outlet,
he could only grit his teeth and direct all his resentment back toward Bai Chen.
"Fine…"
"Even if he passes the written exam, that's as far as he goes."
His gaze locked onto Bai Chen's retreating figure,
Renji spoke with absolute certainty, his tone dripping with mockery.
"I'll say it right now."
"With the reiatsu in that guy's body—so weak it's practically nonexistent—"
"There's no way he'll pass the reiatsu test."