"Looks like the Head Captain has a soft spot for you," Soi Fon murmured when Shinomiya sat again, a ghost of a smile in her eyes. "Congratulations."
"Nothing to congratulate," Shinomiya said. "I'm not going to First after graduation."
"Oh?" Her brows rose. "Why? First has the tallest gate in the Gotei. They judge more than strength. With what just happened, if you apply and pass the test, it's as good as decided. You'd start high—maybe right under Sasakibe—and rise fast. For a rookie, there isn't a better route into the core."
He knew. Which was exactly the problem.
"An offer that good has a price," he said. "Not a price that bothers a prodigy—but a price that means the value is enormous for a normal recruit. If you parachute into First as a seated officer, the pressure will dwarf what a typical recruit suffers."
He glanced at her. "If I had to guess why those prodigies with bankai in school later 'went astray'… my money says First's politics helped."
"You still have… those old bones buried over there. Why stir the graveyard when I could be training? I'm already short on sleep." He pointed at the dark under his eyes. "Why waste youth playing court with the dead?"
Soi Fon actually gaped. Seeing through First's ecology was one thing; inferring that was another. And he'd tucked so much poison into such casual words that she wanted to check the walls for ears.
"Hey," Ichigo hissed.
"Relax." Shinomiya barely moved his lips, his body angled twenty degrees toward her. "I'm whispering."
Soi Fon's eyes swept the room. The Head Captain had started passing bowls and the noise rose again. Yachiru slammed hers back like a kid at a banquet and scampered off to run laps in the garden. On the far side, Ukitake had seized on the old man's lecture and was pouring his heart into Ichigo with such intensity that Ichigo actually wavered.
Across the room, the women traded looks and gossip, glancing over now and then. The men, save Sasakibe, drank like the tea was medicine for a bruised ego.
Soi Fon let out the breath she was holding and shot Shinomiya a daggered look. "Don't say things like that again. They'll call it slander. Then I'll have to arrest you for 'dangerous thought' and throw you in the Maggot's Nest. I'd rather not do that with my own hands."
"Thanks for the warning," he said, chastened enough to pass.
Seeing he'd actually listened, she shifted the topic on purpose. "In return for my kindness—how about Second Division? I can make you Third Seat and an Onmitsukidō squad leader on the spot. That's no worse than First in influence."
"???"
He stared. She bristled. "Don't give me that look. I'm not bad-mouthing First to poach you."
"Just surprised," he said.
"Divisions court students before graduation all the time," she said matter-of-factly. "Ise from Eighth. The current Captain of Tenth. It works. I do it too. Problem is, not many meet my bar. A genius isn't necessarily a fit for Second. You are. Being the Head Captain's pick is reason enough."
"So I'm riding his coattails." Shinomiya's mouth quirked. "Not because of my dazzling ability—or because I had a certain complete edition of Holmes shipped from the living world for you?"
Soi Fon coughed lightly. "Your ability would carry you anywhere. It has nothing to do with… anything else. And thinking about it, Third Seat is low. Ōmaeda is lazy anyway. Take his chair. He can have Third."
Shinomiya's eyes slid toward Ōmaeda. The big man felt the glance like a draft, looked back, and gave him a look that mixed pity with glee—as if to say, Sitting next to Captain? Tough. You wanted it. Don't expect me to switch seats.
"See?" Soi Fon said dryly. "The idiot's head is full of gods-know-what. If his father—former Second Lieutenant Marenoshin—saw this, he'd think I'd let standards slide. And if I say I've tried and this is the result, it embarrasses me more."
"Mm." For just a moment, Shinomiya felt the same tug Ichigo felt across the room when Ukitake coughed into his hand and refused to give up. Empathy is a funny magnet. It even bent the 'I'll go to Fifth' needle a hair.
The tea ended before sunset.
"Hey, you two—" Renji stepped in front of them in the entryway as Shinomiya was trading denreishinki numbers with Rangiku. Aizen, catching the vibe, drew Hinamori aside to give them space.
"What's with 'hey,'" Ichigo snapped. "Use names. Your eyebrows are already weird—don't add 'bad memory' to Kuchiki's workload. Why pick a gorilla to be your right hand?"
The vein in Renji's forehead bulged. He breathed through it. Twice. Three times. "Not here to fight. I thought you should hear this."
Ichigo's face set. "Rukia?"
"Yeah." Renji flicked a glance at Byakuya's back retreating down the hall, then grinned. "At first—huge push for stripping reiatsu and exile to the Dangai. But since the Kuchiki family arrested her and handed her to Central 46 themselves, the sages felt the Court's majesty was upheld. They argued for days. Last night they ruled:
"—One hundred years' confinement. Custody to Second Division and Onmitsukidō. The Maggot's Nest, most likely."
"One hundred—?!" Ichigo's relief died on the spot.
"What?" Renji frowned. "Why the drama?"
"Because that's a hundred years!"
"You're still thinking like a kid," Renji snorted. "Shinigami live a long time. A hundred years is… growing from child to adult. And the term can be shortened. Under certain circumstances, people have been taken out early. I don't know who, but the old hands swear it happens."
"…If that's so, I've got nothing to add," Ichigo muttered. "I didn't help. You did the legwork. I'm in no place to lecture you."
Renji blinked at the sudden turn, then tucked the smirk away. "C'mon. If you and your buddy hadn't stopped me and the Captain in the living world, this wouldn't have ended as well. That's why I came to tell you."
"Thanks. Didn't think a gorilla could be this reasonable."
"…Who're you calling—"
"Enough," Shinomiya said, grabbing Ichigo by the collar and bodily dragging him away before round two. "If you crack your skull on the stones, maybe you'll be quiet for an hour."
"That's called fainting!"
Renji watched them rejoin Aizen and Hinamori. His scowl melted to a crooked grin, and he turned away.
"You two look like you heard something decent," Aizen said when they came up.
"Mm. Sort of," Ichigo said. A hundred years was a lot no matter how Renji framed it.
"Sensei, Momo—dinner?" Shinomiya asked, glancing at the darkening sky.
"As it happens," Aizen smiled, eyes glinting, "there's a place nearby I wanted to show you both. We can eat there."
"The big bath?" Hinamori brightened.
"Right next to First Division," Aizen nodded. "Very popular. Even captains swing by after Captain's Meetings to loosen the mind. I think you need it, Shinomiya-kun."
"True," Shinomiya said. "As much as I'd love to sneak another hour in the Kido Recovery Room, a soak sounds good."
"You sure you've been using that room to rest your mind," Ichigo side-eyed him, "and not to train bankai?"
"Bankai isn't learned in a day," Shinomiya said solemnly. "You must balance work and rest."
He paused—and smiled. "Which is why I need to hurry up and reach the state where walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all training. Fold it into everyday life."
"…," said Ichigo.
"…," said Hinamori.
"…," said Aizen, smiling wider.
-------
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