Carrying Yamamoto's command, Aizen left the training grounds and headed toward the Shihōin estate.
After traveling several miles, he allowed himself a barely perceptible sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Yamamoto hadn't suspected anything unusual about him.
And truthfully, there was no reason to suspect him.
If, one day, Yamamoto ever inexplicably turned his focus toward Aizen, it would undoubtedly be Kaelith Yurei's fault.
At that thought, Aizen took a deep breath, feeling his blood pressure rise slightly.
Upon arriving at the gates of the Shihōin estate, he explained his purpose to the gatekeeper.
Hearing that he was sent by Yamamoto, the gatekeeper didn't dare delay and quickly went inside to deliver the ssage.
Shortly after, a maid erged, her hands clasped in front of her, and bowed slightly to Aizen.
"Apologies, sir. The head of the household and Lord Kaelith departed for the Second Division barracks last night and have not returned to the estate."
Aizen raised an eyebrow.
The Second Division barracks…
Could he have misjudged? Perhaps Kaelith wasn't out enjoying himself but was training instead?
After all, Kaelith would soon join the Second Division upon graduation.
Familiarizing himself with the barracks beforehand would indeed be a practical choice.
With this thought, many things began to make more sense to Aizen.
Kaelith's rapid leaps in strength were well-known.
While Kaelith dedicated considerable effort to skills like Zanjutsu and Hakuda, Aizen rarely saw him focus on refining his spiritual pressure.
Could it be that Kaelith went to the Second Division specifically for spiritual pressure training?
With this hypothesis in mind, Aizen left the Shihōin estate and headed to the Second Division barracks.
Having visited before, navigating the barracks this ti was relatively straightforward.
After verifying his identity and explaining his purpose, Aizen was granted entry.
As he approached, Kaelith's spiritual pressure beca discernible in the distance.
Following the trail, Aizen eventually heard a loud, pained wail.
"Spare ! I really can't do it anymore!"
Aizen paused, montarily stunned.
Before he could process the situation, Kaelith's voice rang out:
"What nonsense! You're far from done!"
"Don't forget—I'm about to join the Second Division and beco one of the top n!"
"If you don't do as I say, you know what kind of consequences to expect, right?"
"Get back to it!"
Aizen: "..."
After a brief mont of incredulity, he hurried toward the source of the commotion.
Rounding a corner, he arrived at an open field.
There, a young Shinigami with disheveled blond hair, dressed in a shihakushō, knelt on the ground with a pitiful expression.
Kaelith stood beside him, exuding an air of superiority, barking commands like a lord surveying his domain.
Scattered across the ground were papers covered in equations and diagrams.
A short distance away, Shihōin Yoruichi leaned against a tree, looking half-asleep.
The blond-haired youth, hunched over in apparent despair, stared intently at a partially completed formula in front of him.
It was none other than Urahara Kisuke, whose bond with Kaelith had deepened during the prison incident.
After staring at the formula for a while, Kisuke turned to Kaelith.
"This isn't working. Just imagining it doesn't give any ideas. At least give sothing physical to look at!"
Kaelith frowned slightly. "Sothing physical, huh? That would an heading to the human world. Applying for a Senkaimon pass for a regular Shinigami is a hassle."
Hearing this, Kisuke's face lit up with hope.
"In that case, let's not rush. We can wait for an opportunity…"
Before he could finish, Yoruichi, who had been silent until now, grinned and raised a hand.
"That's no problem! The Shihōin family has a noble-exclusive Senkaimon. Just tell what kind of device you need, and I'll have soone fetch it for you!"
Kaelith smiled in satisfaction.
Kisuke, on the other hand, looked as though he was on the verge of tears.
Hearing approaching footsteps, Kaelith looked up.
Seeing Aizen, he froze for a mont before breaking into a cheerful grin and running over.
"Sōsuke, you've co at just the right ti!"
Grabbing Aizen by the arm, Kaelith dragged him forward despite the latter's pained expression.
With his other hand, he pulled Kisuke to his feet.
"Co, co, let introduce you two."
"Sōsuke, this is Urahara Kisuke. He's a genius—his intelligence is on par with mine!"
Aizen: "…"
Intelligence on par with Kaelith Yurei… is that supposed to be a complint?
"Kisuke, this is Aizen Sōsuke, my classmate. His intelligence is also on par with mine!"
Urahara Kisuke: "…"
Perhaps it was due to working through the entire night, or maybe because Kaelith's statent had too many things worth critiquing, but Urahara found himself montarily speechless.
He raised his eyes slightly to look at the young man in front of him.
Although he appeared to be a few years younger, the boy nad Aizen gave off a palpable tension at first glance.
A dangerous individual…
Urahara's body instinctively tensed.
Aizen, on the other hand, was also studying Urahara.
Despite Kaelith's flair for hyperbole, Aizen trusted his classmate's ability to read people.
If Kaelith claid soone was exceptionally intelligent, then this scruffy blond man likely had true talent.
After a brief mont of scrutiny, Aizen offered a gentle smile.
"Hello, Mr. Urahara. I'm Aizen Sōsuke, a student at the Shin'ō Academy. It's a pleasure to et you."
"Uh, the pleasure's mine. Please, let's get along."
Urahara was montarily taken aback but quickly forced an awkward smile in return.
Despite already having mastered Shikai and possessing strength comparable to a high-ranking seated officer, Urahara was, at his core, a socially anxious person.
Even when faced with a student like Aizen, he struggled to assert any sense of seniority.
Originally, he intended to observe Aizen further and figure out what exactly made him feel so dangerous.
But just as his gaze swept over Aizen, Kaelith tugged on the back of his robe.
"Alright, alright. Introductions are over. Let's get back to work."
"You wouldn't want Vice-Captain Ōmaeda to find out that your injuries are healed and you're just pretending to be on dical leave, would you?"
"Guh!"
Urahara's face lit up with dread.
Under Kaelith's triumphant gaze, he reluctantly sat back down, propping his chin on his hand as he resud working on the gaming device Kaelith had requested.
Watching the scene unfold, Aizen sighed.
"Kaelith, stop wasting ti. Did you forget what today is?"
Kaelith froze for a mont, looking at Aizen in surprise.
"What did you just call it?"
Aizen, unfazed, replied expressionlessly: "Today is graduation exam day."
"The Captain-Commander is already waiting at the training grounds. If we're late and delay the start, you might as well prepare your final will."
Kaelith broke into a cold sweat at those words.
Last night, he had been practicing Hakuda with Yoruichi at the Second Division when they bumped into Urahara, who had been out for a late-night walk.
Recognizing Urahara's inventive genius, Kaelith couldn't resist roping him into conceptualizing a gaming device using the leverage of his authority.
Caught up in his excitent, he had completely forgotten about sothing as important as the graduation exam!
Abandoning thoughts of the gaming device, Kaelith quickly hurried off toward the training grounds with Aizen.
---
As they approached the training grounds, both couldn't help but exchange surprised glances.
At so point, a massive crowd of Shinigami had gathered.
Even though they weren't yet at the training grounds, there were already around 500 Shinigami milling about nearby!
What was going on here?
Were they selling tickets for this event??
Reviews
All reviews (0)