Early the next morning, three sprinting youths shattered the tranquil dawn of the Seireitei. The trio was none other than Kōe Shihouin, Shihōin Yoruichi, and Urahara Kisuke, who had toiled away the entire previous night.
"Since we're already late, let's just take a leisurely stroll over!"
The speaker was Urahara Kisuke. The price for completing the massive construction project of their secret base in a single night was that all three of them had overslept.
By the time they woke up, they realized that today was their first day entering the Shin'ō Academy. The entrance ceremony should have just begun, meaning the trio had perfectly missed it. What a coincidence.
Hearing this, Kōe, who was running at the front, couldn't help but recall a saying from his past life: *'Nothing in the world is difficult, as long as you're willing to give up.'*
If it were just an ordinary entrance ceremony, with his personality, he would have given up ages ago. Did he really need Urahara to remind him?
But Old Man Yama was personally attending this entrance ceremony, and he had specifically instructed Kōe last night not to be late.
Yet here he was, actually late. Kōe could only hope that Old Man Yama would see his sincere desire to make amends, so that he might survive his upcoming private lessons in one piece.
"I can't run anymore!"
Yoruichi suddenly stopped in her tracks, letting out a massive yawn. "I'm so tired. I'm going back to sleep!"
"Don't do that. Even if your last name is Shihōin, if you make the old man lose face, you'll be beaten to death... seriously," Kōe urged.
"Then I want to go back, take a bath, and change my clothes first!" Yoruichi sat right down on the ground, speaking in an annoyed tone while kicking her legs like a child throwing a tantrum. "We're already late anyway. Besides, if the old man blames us, I'll just sell you out!"
At this point, Kōe couldn't be bothered to lecture Yoruichi about having a conscience. He simply stepped forward, scooped the seated Yoruichi into his arms, called out to Urahara, and resumed his mad dash toward the Shin'ō Academy.
Yoruichi was surprisingly cooperative, leaning against Kōe's shoulder and falling asleep instantly. He saw right through her—all that talk about taking a bath, changing clothes, and not caring about being late was just an excuse to slack off, wasn't it?!
Rushing as fast as they could, Kōe's group arrived at the Shin'ō Academy in a little over ten minutes. By the time they got there, Old Man Yama was just about to begin his speech as the academy's headmaster. It seemed they weren't too late after all.
Today's entrance ceremony was exceptionally grand. Aside from the routine attendance of Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, the newly appointed Captain of Squad 8, Kyōraku Shunsui, and the Captain of Squad 13, Ukitake Jūshirō, had also arrived together.
As newly appointed captains of the Gotei 13, the two represented the highest achievements among Shin'ō Academy graduates. They were idolized by the young, newly enrolled Shinigami, and their presence served as a massive source of inspiration for the incoming students.
Of course, only Kōe knew that the two of them had come today specifically to see him. After all, as Old Man Yama's final disciple and their youngest junior martial brother, they had never actually met him before.
To be honest, considering Kōe's performance today, this first meeting was a mix of shocking and terrible. Being late to the entrance ceremony was one thing, but walking in carrying a girl in his arms made him look like an absolute playboy.
Heaven knows how many young girls shot him looks of disdain when he barged in. Even Old Man Yama on the stage opened one eye to a slit and glared at him.
*'My final disciple is hopelessly drowning in the pleasures of women.'* Kōe could practically guess Old Man Yama's thoughts. Imagining his miserable state during their next training session, he wanted to cry but had no tears left to shed!
However, his grand entrance seemed to have won the favor of his two senior brothers. Kyōraku Shunsui, draped in his pink haori, even smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. Kōe just didn't know if his senior brother would put in a good word for him to spare him some physical suffering later.
The old man's speech was far more concise than those of most school principals from his past life. There were no polite welcomes, nor any false encouragement.
The more excellent you are, the more opportunities you will have; if you are not excellent, you can still seek a stable life, though it will be one of mediocrity. To the majority of the newly enrolled children, the old man's speech felt like a reality so harsh it bordered on cruel disdain.
Everyone here had ambitions as high as the heavens. Just in Kōe's immediate vicinity, quite a few people silently clenched their fists. Whether they were dissatisfied with the old man's contempt or determined to work hard and prove something, Kōe couldn't guess. Perhaps it was a bit of both.
"Old Man Yama is truly merciful," Yoruichi whispered, her eyes still heavy with sleep. "For these people, just being called a Shinigami is already their absolute limit. And by that, I mean an ordinary Shinigami."
Though Yoruichi's voice was quiet, a few people nearby still heard her and shot them hostile glares.
"Hehe, she's not awake yet, she's just sleep-talking! It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding!"
Kōe smiled bitterly, raising his hands to placate the crowd. He leaned close to Yoruichi's ear and whispered, "Don't go making enemies. I don't want to be isolated for the next six years."
"You actually expect to make friends with them?" Yoruichi shot him a look of sheer disbelief, asking exaggeratedly, "Has your bottom line really dropped that low?"
"Keep your voice down!"
"Our friendship isn't a good thing for people like them. In the future, it'll even become a burden—both for us and for them. If Old Man Yama finds out you have such terrifying thoughts, he'll absolutely beat you to death, seriously."
Although Urahara didn't chime in, he still narrowed his eyes and smiled, nodding in agreement. Because that was simply the truth.
On the surface, this seemed to be about status. After all, Kōe was the Captain-Commander's final disciple. Even though he hailed from the Rukongai, with becoming a Gotei 13 captain as his absolute baseline, he was destined to be one of the few true power players in the Seireitei.
As for Urahara Kisuke, a high-ranking noble, and Yoruichi, the future head of the Shihōin clan—one of the Five Great Noble Families—they were born with silver spoons in their mouths.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of the students here were lower-class nobles, with a portion originating from the Rukongai. The disparity between the two groups was simply too vast.
However, Kōe knew that Yoruichi wasn't looking down on their origins. Origins could be compensated for, especially after the old man opened the Shin'ō Academy to the Rukongai. As long as one became a Gotei 13 captain, their background would no longer be an issue.
Yoruichi's meaning was simple: the talent and future prospects of these children were on a completely different level from the three of them.
Kōe and his two friends were highly confident that they would become the central pillars of the Seireitei in the future. If people without sufficient strength got involved with them, those people would easily be targeted by those with ulterior motives. It would be dangerous for them, and an unbearable burden for the trio.
Rather than letting that happen, it was better to erect a barrier from the very beginning. Yoruichi and Urahara's families taught them this, and the old man emphasized it even more.
Kōe couldn't help but sigh. He really didn't know if Yoruichi speaking so loudly was intentional or accidental.
Seeing the disgusted glares from a few pretty girls nearby, he figured the idyllic school life from his memories was never going to happen.
They say youth never returns. He just wanted to relive the school life of his past life, so why did it have to be this hard?
No, wait, it seemed he still had the chance to relive memories of getting into school fights. But this was Soul Society! There would be an endless amount of fighting in the future; he really didn't need to relive *that*.
Looking left and right in resignation, between Urahara Kisuke, Shihōin Yoruichi, and himself, Kōe Shihouin, he figured they were destined to be the most unpopular trio of this year's class.