A Villain from Rukongai

"Why are you here?" Rukia was a little surprised. She hadn't expected him to visit her again after only a month.

"I have business with the head of the Kuchiki Clan." Tokoyo Misao smiled and stepped forward to greet her, lightly touching a pebble on the ground with his right foot at the same time.

With a snap, the pebble shot toward Rukia's forehead like a bullet.

With a bang, the pebble shattered the instant it struck her forehead.

"Is Clan Head Byakuya Kuchiki out right now?" Tokoyo Misao slowly approached Rukia.

But with every step, he gently kicked a pebble off the ground.

The pebbles shot like bullets toward various vital points on Rukia's body.

Without exception, however, Rukia concentrated Reishi at each corresponding spot to strengthen her defense, and the pebbles shattered on impact.

"Big Brother should be back soon. Wait a little while."

"You've been training well lately. You've already reached the peak of the Eighth Class, and it looks like you're close to another breakthrough. You really are very talented."

Tokoyo Misao praised her with a smile.

When he got within about a meter of Rukia, he stopped approaching and began circling her instead, continuing to kick pebbles as he went.

"It's not as simple as you think. Back at the academy, you should have learned that starting from the Tenth Class, the difficulty of advancing each grade is like the difference between a hillside and a mountain, and it only gets worse as you go."

"Many Soul Reapers spend their whole lives working hard, only to remain at Eighth- or Ninth-Class Rei'i. Even when their bodies grow old and they die, they still can't break through."

Rukia shook her head, her expression serious.

The two continued their battle of attack and defense as they chatted.

At some point, the Kuchiki Clan's old butler had come to stand in the corridor, watching the two in the rear courtyard alongside a maid and a tutor.

Today's tutor widened her eyes and exclaimed:

"No wonder Lady Rukia learns so quickly. Her control over Reishi has become completely instinctive."

"I'm sure Lady Rukia will achieve great things in the future."

"Of course. She is the Kuchiki Clan's young lady, after all," the head maid beside her agreed with a smile.

She watched Rukia and Tokoyo Misao with a gentle gaze and said softly:

"Don't you think Lady Rukia and that head of the Tokoyo Clan make a good match?"

The tutor frowned. "But his status hasn't been confirmed, has it? To be with Lady Rukia, he has to be her equal in status. At the very least, he'd have to be a captain."

"Ahem. You two, get back to your duties." The Kuchiki Clan's old butler had also been about to join the conversation.

But then he suddenly sensed a familiar presence and immediately changed what he was going to say, sending the two away.

The next moment, Byakuya Kuchiki came around the corner of the corridor.

He walked straight into the rear courtyard, stopped in front of Tokoyo Misao, and asked coldly, "What is it?"

"B-Big Brother!" Rukia had been facing away from the corridor and hadn't noticed Byakuya Kuchiki's arrival. She immediately turned around and shouted, looking a little flustered.

"Rukia, you've let your guard down. Even while defending against attacks, you need to keep your senses spread out. How could you let someone get behind you so easily?"

Tokoyo Misao stopped and sighed as he spoke to Rukia.

"Idiot, that's Big Brother! His mastery of Shunpo is second to none in Soul Society.

"Even when he's just walking normally, he can perfectly conceal his presence. There's nothing strange about me not noticing him."

Rukia shouted at Tokoyo Misao, worked up.

Byakuya Kuchiki, standing nearby, heard this, and his brows twitched a few times of their own accord. He simply stood there and waited quietly.

"Your Reishi Manipulation and combat skills are very strong, but when it comes to sensing and concealing presences, you're definitely no match for Big Brother."

Rukia continued speaking.

After working up the courage to speak to Byakuya Kuchiki in the main hall last time and going to the ancestral shrine to bow before the ancestors, she had been able to talk with him from time to time.

She had also discovered something, though she hadn't shown it.

A few days ago, when she went to Byakuya Kuchiki's study, she saw a memorial altar honoring a woman who looked nine-tenths like her.

Rukia wasn't an idiot. Although she had no memory of the woman in the portrait,

there was already something very questionable about the great noble Kuchiki Clan suddenly deciding to adopt her.

But if she had an older sister who had married the head of the Kuchiki Clan, then it all made sense.

From that day on, Rukia had tried being a little more forward from time to time.

She discovered that everyone in the residence, from the maids and cooks to the old butler, was very indulgent with her.

Even when she occasionally barged into Byakuya Kuchiki's study, he would only tell her, "Mind your manners," without punishing her in any way.

That was enough to prove her guess was almost certainly right.

This feeling of suddenly having family had made her very happy lately, so she was doing her utmost to defend Byakuya Kuchiki now.

"All right, all right, I get it. You stink of sweat. Go wash up."

Tokoyo Misao had no intention of continuing the conversation with Rukia.

When he turned his head, however, he found that Byakuya Kuchiki seemed a little reluctant for it to end.

It seemed Rukia's barrage of praise had pleased him greatly.

Only then did he get straight to the point. "I want to apply for a transfer from the 11th Division to the Second Division. Can you help me out?"

Byakuya Kuchiki's answer was just as straightforward. "No."

Chapter 56: A Villain from Rukongai

Tokoyo Misao left the Kuchiki residence.

He hadn't expected Byakuya Kuchiki to be completely unwilling to put in a word for him.

As for going to the Second Division to see its captain, Soi Fon, in person, the result would probably be much the same. Things hadn't gone very well the last time they met.

That left only the Shiba Clan, another great noble clan.

At present, the head of the Shiba Clan served as a lieutenant in the Gotei 13, while Isshin Shiba, the head of a branch family, was captain of the Tenth Division.

Normally, information about a clan's history would surely be kept by its main family.

But the Shiba Clan's situation was somewhat complicated.

Not only had they voluntarily left the noble district to live in Rukongai, but they also changed residences from time to time, as though they were running from something.

If the Shiba Clan really was avoiding something, there was a good chance they had hidden some of their clan history with the branch family.

After all, according to his memories, the Shiba main family wasn't strong at all. The branch family, on the other hand, was frighteningly powerful.

Not only did Isshin Shiba possess the Shiba Clan's secret techniques, but he was also much stronger than Kaien Shiba of the main family, to say nothing of the son he would have.

Of course, all of that lay in the future.

Come to think of it, back at the Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts, Isshin Shiba had said he could come to him if he ever ran into trouble.

If nothing else worked, he could go to the Tenth Division.

Of the major clans that still existed, the Tsunayashiro Clan was actually the most likely to have retained information about the Tokoyo Clan.

It was just that none of the clan's current members had joined the Gotei 13, and besides...

Tokoyo Misao turned his head toward the end of the street, where the Tsunayashiro Clan's residence stood.

Although the lights at its entrance were lit, it was utterly silent.

There were dozens of Spirit Ribbons inside the vast residence.

Judging by their size and density, the strongest was only at Seventh-Class Rei'i.

In other words, the Tsunayashiro Clan didn't have a single noteworthy figure at the moment.

However, he spotted quite a few members of the Stealth Force around the residence.

Whether they were watching the clan or protecting them was hard to say.

Should I go in and have a look?

After standing there and thinking for a moment, Tokoyo Misao turned and walked out of the noble district.

He decided not to rush to the Tsunayashiro Clan. He would deal with his transfer from the 11th Division first.

Over the next two months, Tokoyo Misao continued going on missions with Iba.

Fortunately, Hollows had been appearing less and less frequently lately, and everyone could finally catch their breath.

To Tokoyo Misao's surprise, however, no one had chosen to transfer out of the division so far.

According to the rumors going around, he was the only one who had actually gone to another division to ask about transferring.

Of course, no one else knew about that either.

Over those two months, he had collected more than a hundred beads. If he swallowed and absorbed them all at once, he might be able to advance straight to the Third-Class Spiritual Pressure grade.

Now that the busiest period had passed, it was about time to go to the Tenth Division and talk to Isshin Shiba about transferring.

In the corridor by the training ground.

Iba stood beside Tokoyo Misao and spoke softly:

"Thank you. If it weren't for you these past two months, I'd probably have died in Rukongai."

"How could that be? You're quite the joker, Iba." Tokoyo Misao replied with a smile.

Iba shook his head, sighed, and continued:

"I don't know what kind of rotten luck we've had. Our squad keeps running into really powerful Hollows.

"The other two haven't noticed, but I know that if you weren't in our squad, the three of us would have died a long time ago."

He turned his head, interrupting Tokoyo Misao before he could laugh it off again:

"You said before that you wanted to transfer out of the 11th Division. Do you still feel that way?"

Tokoyo Misao smiled. "If I stayed here, wouldn't I be competing with you for the lieutenant's position? That wouldn't be very nice."

"Hahaha, then I should be even more grateful to you for stepping aside." Iba laughed heartily.

The 11th Division's rules for promotion were fundamentally different from those of the other divisions.

Although the Seated Officer positions had remained unchanged these past two months because of the frequent Hollow appearances,

he knew that as soon as everyone had some free time, they would immediately start fighting over the seats.

He already had his eye on the Fifth Seat and was confident he could take it.

Give him another eight or ten years, and he might have a chance at the lieutenant's position too.

But it would be an entirely different story if Tokoyo Misao stayed in the 11th Division.

He had no confidence whatsoever in his ability to defeat Tokoyo Misao.

"Where have you decided to go?" Iba asked again.

Suddenly, a shout came from the main gate. "Is this the 11th Division?"

Tokoyo Misao turned to look.

A Soul Reaper came in, leading six wandering souls dressed in hemp clothing.

He pointed to a tall, burly, potbellied man behind him and said:

"This is Kiganjō from Rukongai. He's come to the 11th Division for a Kenpachi duel."

The division members on the training ground instantly stood up and surrounded the six hemp-clad wandering souls led by Kiganjō.

They looked the newcomers up and down, their gazes full of disdain.

But they remained silent, merely staring at them coldly.

"He came after all," Iba sighed softly. "I just didn't expect it to be someone from Rukongai."

A flash of silver passed through Tokoyo Misao's pupils.

Kiganjō, who led the group, had a Fourth-Class Rei'i Grade and carried an enormous weapon shaped like a meteor hammer.

But the hammer was attached not to an iron chain, but to an iron rod.