Tokoyo Misao

Author: Honggu Shaopai

Synopsis:

[Pure-blooded Soul Reaper world, no system]

Misao stayed up late watching anime. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dark space.

"Do you desire power?" asked the only old man in the space.

"No, I desire...

Misao gained the name Tokoyo and an inherited power—Spirit Ribbon Vision.

A pair of eyes that could see through the Reishi in all things.

He immediately searched for a way out of the gap between the three worlds and Hell.

In the end, he entered Soul Society.

"I'll have fun in this life."

Chapter 1: Tokoyo Misao

The eye volume

Deep within the sheared-away eyelids,

the eyes knew the world was but a collection of threads.

These eyes dwelled in the darkness of Tokoyo.

Because they saw through too much truth,

they forgot how to lie.

Outside Kobushi Mountain, North District 3 of Rukongai, Soul Society.

Warm morning sunlight fell over a tranquil meadow. As a gentle breeze blew, many small creatures narrowed their eyes in contentment, lazily sitting or lying in the sun.

Crack, crack.

A sudden sound came from above the meadow.

The animals pricked up their ears, searching for its source.

They gazed at the blue sky and white clouds in confusion, unable to understand why a sound was coming from the sky.

Bang! It sounded like shattering glass, only more piercing, striking straight at the soul.

A crack suddenly appeared in the clear blue sky.

Pat, pat, pat! Squawk! Flap! Amid the jumble of footsteps and beating wings, the animals scattered.

The cracking in the sky grew more rapid until it reached a critical point, and all sound abruptly vanished.

The crack in the sky suddenly widened, and two pale hands reached out from within.

The hands gripped the edges of the spatial crack and pulled hard. Then, as if performing a high jump, Misao leaped out through it and landed on the grass.

The very next instant, the spatial crack snapped shut and vanished without a trace.

"Wow, that feels good. I finally escaped that dark place."

Misao raised both hands high and stretched comfortably, his nostrils twitching as he greedily breathed in the scent of the breeze and grass.

He moved his body a little, but it felt heavy, as though an invisible mountain were pressing down on him. Even lifting a hand was somewhat tiring.

"Out in the wilderness. Not a bad spot."

He closed his eyes and, after about three breaths, snapped them open. A silver thread appeared in the center of each of his once-black pupils.

The entire world changed completely in his vision.

Whether it was the grass beneath his feet or the soil, the surrounding trees or the insects and small animals living on them.

In Misao's eyes, they all took on forms made up of strands of white Reishi.

He looked into the distance, where several strips of red Reishi floated about two kilometers away.

"Red Spirit Ribbons?"

With that, he set off toward the red Spirit Ribbons.

When his right foot touched the grass and ground, the patch of soil and grass he stepped on turned into Reishi and surged into the sole of his foot, leaving a hole behind.

He walked toward the red Spirit Ribbons, leaving a hole in the ground with every step.

Everything he stepped on turned into Reishi and surged into his body, which gradually grew lighter.

After about a hundred steps, he stopped and felt the power in his body. It wasn't particularly strong.

If Misao absorbed it at full strength, he could quickly become hundreds or thousands of times stronger than he was now, but he had no intention of doing so.

"That should be about enough. I guess that completes my Reishi reconstruction."

He held his hands up before his eyes, repeatedly opening and clenching them, then jumped up and down on the spot.

He felt that his body was completely different from before, much lighter.

Misao closed his eyes again. When he reopened them, the silver threads in his pupils had disappeared.

He continued in the direction of the red Spirit Ribbons he had seen.

Before long, he heard a clear, bell-like voice coming from a short distance ahead.

"Everyone, line up and collect your registration numbers! Only thirty years until reincarnation!"

Misao walked toward the voice.

Before him stood a lively girl with medium-length golden hair, a scarf tied around her neck, black clothes, and a long sword at her waist.

People with red Spirit Ribbons were special souls of Soul Society—Soul Reapers.

She was calling out to the people in hemp clothing around her.

They walked up to her, stopped, and held out their arms.

She would run a finger over each person's arm, and a string of numbers would appear on it.

That was a registration number. It let these people line up and wait for the reincarnation ceremony held once every sixty years.

The people dressed in hemp were humans who had died in the World of the Living.

When people died in the World of the Living, their souls left their bodies and wandered the world.

One of a Soul Reaper's duties was to find these souls, known as Pluses, in the World of the Living and perform Soul Burial on them.

Through a Soul Reaper's Soul Burial, a soul would be broken down and then pass through space to reach Soul Society.

Because humans in the living world were made of Kishi, their bodies would be reconstructed from Reishi upon arriving here after Soul Burial.

They would also lose all their memories as a result and become wandering souls.

Misao himself didn't know why, while staying up late watching anime, he had closed his eyes and, upon opening them again, inexplicably found himself in a dark space and met an old man named Tokoyo.

The old man had even insisted on entrusting his surname and abilities to him.

But after leaving that space, he had actually arrived in Soul Society, so none of that mattered.

This was the Soul Reaper world he had watched in his previous life, which meant he could obtain the abilities he had dreamed of day and night.

And the moment he saw the short-haired blonde beauty ahead, Misao finally confirmed that the man named Tokoyo hadn't lied to him.

"The Five Great Noble Clans?"

Misao murmured under his breath.

From what he knew, there were Five Great Noble Clans in Soul Society, but he had never heard of a fifth great noble clan sealed in a dark space.

"Since I've accepted your power, and I really have been given another life, my name will be Tokoyo Misao from now on."

Head of the Tokoyo Clan, one of Soul Society's Five Great Noble Clans. That sounded pretty damn impressive.

But Misao had watched Soul Reaper countless times in his previous life, and this clan simply didn't exist in it.

That meant there had to be a lot more he didn't know about.

At the thought, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly into a smile.

He stepped toward the blonde Soul Reaper girl—Rangiku Matsumoto.

"Hello, could you tell me how to get to the Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts? I want to become a Soul Reaper."

Misao stopped three steps in front of Rangiku Matsumoto and spoke before she could issue the next wandering soul a registration number.

Rangiku Matsumoto turned and looked Tokoyo Misao up and down without reservation.

He had short black hair, sharply chiseled features, and bright, spirited eyes. His smile was like a spring breeze, putting people at ease.

Though he wore hemp clothing, he stood straight and upright.

He kept a distance of three steps, neither too close nor too far, showing a fine sense of propriety.

He was a well-mannered person who knew the rules.

As she continued looking him over, she noticed that Misao wore a sleeve guard on his right arm. Its style was unusual, and it bore decorative patterns resembling golden threads.

In particular, there was a strange design on the arm that looked like the crest of a noble clan.

Rangiku Matsumoto frowned slightly. She had been taught how to recognize noble clan crests at school.

Though she hadn't paid much attention, if a crest as unusual as this one had been taught in class, it surely would have left an impression.

The crest was an eye, with symmetrical line patterns above and below it, all enclosed within a circle.

For some reason, staring at it gave her the feeling that everything about her was being seen through, making her inexplicably uncomfortable.

She looked back at Misao's face. At the sight of his clean, handsome features, her discomfort faded, and she said with a smile:

"The Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts is in West Junrinan, District 1. You're at Kobushi Mountain in North District 3 right now. First, go to Junrinan in North District 1, then head west along the Seireitei, and you'll see it."

"Thank you."

Misao thanked her, turned, and headed toward Junrinan in North District 1.

Rangiku Matsumoto watched him leave and extended her spiritual senses. A moment later, she withdrew them and shook her head slightly.

"His Rei'i level is a little borderline."

She put Misao out of her mind and continued her task of issuing registration numbers for the day.

Misao strolled along, constantly looking over the scenery of Rukongai.

Soul Society was vast, but the Seireitei and Rukongai, which the Soul Reapers managed, were fairly concentrated.

The area under the Soul Reapers' control could be thought of as a giant circle.

At its center was the Seireitei, where the Soul Reapers and nobles lived.

Rukongai consisted of streets built around the Seireitei at the center, specifically to house souls.

The whole of Rukongai surrounded the Seireitei like an onion, divided into districts extending outward.

The ring closest to the Seireitei was called Junrinan.

It was divided into the east, west, south, and north District 1 areas of Junrinan, according to the Seireitei's four gates.

After most of the day had passed, he finally arrived outside the Seireitei's west gate.

Junrinan in West District 1 was where the Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts recruited students.

The admissions station was quite simple. Only two instructors sat at a table, on which lay two round orbs—spirit-measuring orbs.

Anyone who wanted to enroll in the academy first had to pass the orb test to see whether they had enough Rei'i.

What distinguished Soul Reapers from ordinary wandering souls was whether their Reishi concentration was strong enough.

Ordinary wandering souls with insufficient Reishi concentration could continue to exist in Soul Society just by breathing.

Wandering souls whose Reishi concentration was too high, however, felt hunger and needed to eat food containing Reishi to sustain their bodies.

Rei'i level was the standard used to classify Reishi concentration.