Chapter 006: A Genius? I've Been One This Whole Time. (Smug Face)
Yusuke was stressed. Genuinely, actively stressed.
The reason was simple. Search the entire Shin'o Academy campus and the only person capable of giving him any meaningful stat gains was Aizen Sosuke.
One week of skipped classes on Aizen's end meant one week of stalled progress on his. Was that frustrating or what?!
"Good morning, everyone. Today we'll be picking up where we left off two weeks ago..."
Why skip last week's material entirely?
Because what Rojuro Otoribashi had taught bore absolutely no resemblance to Aizen's actual lesson plan.
Being a captain really does mean you can just do whatever you want, huh.
Class wrapped up in due course. As Aizen gathered his notes from the podium, he glanced toward Matsushita Yusuke and gave him a small nod.
That kind of detail said a lot about the man.
Compared to Rojuro Otoribashi's blunt approach, Aizen Sosuke operated on a different level of social awareness. He'd thought ahead, considered that singling out a student by name in front of the whole class would expose that student's personal information, and communicated through a subtle signal instead.
It was a small thing, ultimately. Almost nothing. But precisely because it was so small, it showed the kind of personality that set Aizen apart.
Matsushita Yusuke picked up on it without needing to think. He quietly packed his things and slipped out after Aizen into the faculty office.
"Aizen-sensei..."
"Have a seat, Matsushita-kun."
Aizen's tone was light, warm in a relaxed and easy way.
"You don't have to be so stiff around me. Let's keep things casual. Tea?"
He was about to decline.
[Aizen Sosuke's Tea]
[Profile: You could say no. But think about it... this is the greatest smooth-talker in all three realms personally brewing you a cup. Don't you at least want to know what it tastes like?]
[Rewards: Tea Ceremony +5, Zanjutsu +1]
Oh what the heck!
There was simply no choice now. One cup, please.
Matsushita Yusuke nodded rapidly and made a show of being politely gracious about it.
"Well... I wouldn't want to refuse your hospitality."
Aizen paused.
He clearly had not anticipated this outcome in any way. I was just being polite. You actually Yes?!
But.
That was kind of interesting.
Aizen's smile deepened by a few degrees. He looked at Matsushita Yusuke, then gave a slow nod.
"Of course. What would you like?"
"Whatever you'd recommend, Aizen-sensei."
"Matcha it is, then."
Aizen said it quietly.
He reached into a drawer and produced a large canister of matcha powder. Scooped a generous portion with a small silver spoon, tapped it into a bowl, added hot water at the right temperature, and stirred with a slow, steady motion.
Until the clear water thickened slightly and settled into a gentle, flowing consistency. Then he set it in front of Matsushita Yusuke.
He laid his right hand out flat, palm up, and spoke in an unhurried tone.
"Please, go ahead. It's nothing especially professional, but when it comes to matcha at least, I have a little confidence."
Well, there was nothing left to say.
Bottoms up.
Matsushita Yusuke drank it in one go and smacked his lips like he was savoring it. Except he wasn't, really, because the matcha was honestly a little thick and coating on the tongue.
"How was it, Matsushita-kun?"
Asking for an honest reaction right now was a tall order. He'd downed it in one go before a single flavor had a chance to register.
Tasted like basically nothing.
Fortunately, Matsushita Yusuke had the quest System.
[Quest complete... Rewards acquired]
[Tea Ceremony +5... Your Tea Ceremony knowledge entries have reached full accumulation. Crystallized into skill: Tea Connoisseur]
A brief rush of sensation, and a wave of information poured in, taking him from zero to complete in that category in a matter of seconds.
His expression shifted. When he looked back down at the bowl in his hands, his voice had dropped into something quieter and more certain.
"The temperature of your brew is well-judged, Aizen-sensei. The bitterness is exactly where it should be. But compared to standard commercial matcha, there's a faint sweetness on the finish that lingers just a moment. That part caught my attention."
Aizen's expression shifted.
Then his eyes lit up quite visibly.
He leaned forward slightly, like a musician who'd been playing for an empty room and suddenly realized the room wasn't empty after all.
"You could taste that?"
His tone had gone a little odd.
"This is a blend I put together myself, something new. I did make certain... adjustments to it. I didn't expect Matsushita-kun to have any familiarity with this kind of thing."
"Just instinct, really. You're giving me too much credit, Aizen-sensei."
Good. Good. The System carried me there. I caught that one.
At the same time, Matsushita Yusuke could clearly feel that the way Aizen was looking at him had shifted in a way it hadn't before.
"I didn't think Matsushita-kun's interests would overlap with mine like this. That's quite..."
Aizen's lips moved quietly for a moment, his gaze drifting downward. Then, like the thought had finally finished forming, he let it out softly.
"An unexpected connection."
That's exactly what I was going for.
How else was he supposed to get close to Aizen Sosuke? If he wanted to join the man's little team, making a good impression on the big boss was a basic requirement.
And he meant it. If Aizen's hobby had turned out to be deep sea fishing, Matsushita Yusuke would be out there learning to swim right now, training to personally bait the hook before their next boat trip.
No choice. The rewards demanded it.
"Aizen-sensei, there are actually a few more things about the calligraphy I wanted to ask about..."
Back to a topic he was genuinely interested in. Aizen's attention was immediately redirected, and he responded with evident curiosity.
"More questions already? By all means, go ahead."
He was happy to work through it with a student. And as Matsushita Yusuke laid out the specifics, the look of appreciation in Aizen's eyes grew more pronounced.
"Your progress really is remarkable, Matsushita-kun. You're ahead of where I expected you to be by quite a margin."
Coming from Aizen Sosuke, a compliment like that was still somewhat ritualistic. But the sentiment behind it, in this particular moment, was closer to an observation than flattery.
Because Matsushita Yusuke's rate of improvement was genuinely surprising.
Acquiring foundational knowledge through the quest panel and then having it crystallize into a skill was itself a process of compression and refinement. The distance between raw exposure and actual mastery, collapsed into almost nothing.
And now that he carried the Elegant Bone calligraphy skill, the level he could actually demonstrate was well beyond any of his classmates.
So Aizen complimenting him made complete sense.
A genius?
I've been one this whole time. (Smug face.)