Shihoin

In the face of absolute strength and the combat experience of men who had killed countless times, exquisite swordsmanship was as fragile as paper.

At first, Xuanxin still had the strength to hold his own against the bandits, and he even killed one who had let his guard down with a sneak attack. But once the bandits realized Xuanxin was no ordinary villager,

They stopped treating it as a game. Taking advantage of their numbers, they attacked Shin in shifts.

As time passed, Shin's stamina and energy both dwindled to nothing. Now, every attack from the bandits felt like the last straw that would break the camel's back.

His earlier confidence slowly gave way to desperate compromise:

Damn it... even if I die, I'm taking one more down with me. Then at least I won't have died for nothing!!

In the final moments of his life, Shin's eyes turned blood red. He abandoned all defense, letting several cold blades pierce his chest as he drove his own blade viciously into another bandit's throat.

Blood poured from his wounds as he fell onto the fire-scorched earth, his consciousness sinking into the abyss.

Shin had thought that closing his eyes this time would bring him an endless sleep.

But after an unknown amount of time, his consciousness was pulled from the chaos as if by an invisible hand, and he woke once more.

When he opened his eyes, his surroundings left him even more bewildered—this time, he was in an unknown place, utterly desolate and deathly silent.

Worse still, the boy looked down at his hands and discovered that he had shrunk again, taking on the appearance of a child in his early teens. Not only that, but he also found his mind completely blank.

Now he knew nothing at all.

At this moment, all that remained in this body was the dual-blade swordsmanship engraved deep in his soul like instinct, and one lonely name—Fujiwara Genshin.

Who was he? Where had he come from? Where was he going? These deeply philosophical questions had become Xuanxin's most immediate concerns.

"Well... I guess I'll keep moving. I've got to stay alive, right? Even if I die, I should at least find a better place for it!"

And so Xuanxin, having lost everything, could only walk mechanically forward through the desolation, to no purpose.

After an unknown amount of time, his surroundings finally began to change ever so slightly. Though the land was still barren, there were at least a few more withered plants on the ground than before.

It was only a tiny, inconsequential change, but it gave Xuanxin a glimmer of hope. That hope, however, did not last long.

Gradually, thirst and hunger began to torment his body relentlessly, clinging to him like a festering sore.

There wasn't a drop of water to be seen in this strange place, let alone food to fill his stomach. Nearing his limit, Xuanxin could only pin his last hopes on what lay ahead.

He kept walking, and walking...

Finally, a faint patch of long-unseen greenery appeared at the edge of his vision. But Fujiwara Genshin's body had finally reached its limit. His legs gave way, darkness swept across his vision, and he fell heavily to the ground with a thud.

Just as his consciousness was about to plunge into darkness, rustling footsteps sounded, and a pair of delicate shoes slowly stopped in front of him.

Xuanxin no longer had the strength to raise his head. He could only let his heavy eyelids close as he passed out completely.

Just then, from behind the owner of the shoes came an attendant's voice, full of resignation and entreaty. "Lady Yoruichi, we should head back. Your going to school is unavoidable, and the family head..."

But the owner of the shoes, the one called Yoruichi, wasn't listening to the report at all. Her attention was wholly captivated by the face of the handsome white-haired boy at her feet.

She folded her arms and bent down slightly to look him over, then spoke.

"All right, all right, quit nagging! And take this good-looking guy back with us while you're at it! Don't let him die."

At that, the attendant's voice rose several notches, his tone turning anxious.

"Lady Yoruichi! We can't do that. We don't know where he came from. What if he's a dangerous character from the outskirts of Rukongai..."

"I said, take him back!!"

The woman's voice cut the attendant off, her tone imperious and willful, brooking no refusal.

"Otherwise, I'm not going back! Shin'ō Academy or whatever—whoever wants to go can go. I'm not going!"

With that, the owner of the shoes turned on her heel and walked back, humming a tune.

The attendant left standing there sighed, looking helplessly at the unconscious Fujiwara Genshin on the ground.

In the end, he could only resign himself to carrying the boy of unknown origin on his back. Silently, he followed Yoruichi, disappearing into the distance across the barren wilderness.

Chapter 2: Shihoin

The Shihoin Clan mansion, Seireitei.

The moment Yoruichi stepped into Seireitei, news of how she had conspicuously "snatched" a wild boy from Rukongai reached the ears of Shihoin Seigen, the current family head.

But the result took everyone by surprise. As head of the Shihoin Clan, he did not throw the boy straight out. He even summoned a doctor from the Fourth Division to check on his condition.

No one knew a daughter better than her father, and Seigen knew his daughter's stubborn temper all too well. If he forcibly threw the boy out now, Yoruichi would absolutely dare to climb over the wall in the middle of the night and run away after him.

In that case, it was better to indulge her for now and keep her settled. As long as he could get this young lady safely into Shin'ō Academy, everything would be fine.

Besides, could the illustrious Shihoin Clan really not afford to feed one brat from Rukongai?

Thus, Seigen tacitly allowed Yoruichi's antics. But that didn't mean he truly paid them no mind.

The moment the boy entered the mansion, Seigen's Stealth Force had spread out like a fishing net to investigate his background.

As for calling the Fourth Division to treat him, that was only to put Yoruichi at ease and keep up appearances. After all, he was just an ordinary wandering soul, hardly worth the attention of the illustrious Shihoin family head.

Several days later, Xuanxin finally woke from his long unconsciousness.

When he slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a wheat-skinned face very close to his, framed by slightly disheveled purple hair. The girl was staring at Xuanxin's handsome face, looking a little lost in thought.

When she saw him open his eyes, the girl leaned even closer and asked casually, "Hey, little brother~ You're finally awake! What's your name?"

Xuanxin's mind was still a blur, and after that long period of starvation, his brain hadn't even started up yet.

It took him a while to register Yoruichi's question. Then he said hesitantly, "I don't remember... I think my name is probably Fujiwara Genshin."

The girl folded her arms and pondered for a moment like a little adult, then curled her lip in distaste.

"Fujiwara—Xuanxin? That doesn't sound good. But since you've lost your memory anyway, why don't you take the same surname as me and call yourself 'Shihoin'? Shihoin Xuanxin—that sounds pretty good!"

As she finished, a sly light flickered in Yoruichi's eyes. Xuanxin was slightly taken aback by the suggestion.

To him now, a name was just a label. He didn't even know whether that was really his name.

He had only given those four characters as his name because they were the only four characters in his mind.

Of course, he also had no idea that in an ancient, class-bound society like Soul Society, the woman generally took her husband's surname. If a man took the woman's surname instead, there was a well-known term for it, both now and in ages past—marrying into her family!

Clearly, Xuanxin, who lacked even common sense, had no idea that he had nearly stumbled into the role of a live-in son-in-law of one of Soul Society's most prestigious families.

His only thought was that this person had saved his life, so changing his label to repay her seemed only natural.

"Then, all ri—"

Xuanxin had just opened his mouth and hadn't even finished agreeing when a respectful voice suddenly came from outside, abruptly interrupting the conversation that had nearly changed the Shihoin Clan family register.

"Lady Yoruichi, the family head requests your presence on an important matter."

A guard knelt respectfully outside the door to deliver the message, then waved a hand. Several maids immediately entered carrying food boxes. "The family head also instructed that, since this guest has awakened, he must have been hungry for a long time. I have ordered the kitchen to prepare a meal."

The enticing aroma of food instantly filled the room. To Xuanxin, who had nearly starved to death, the smell was an irresistible temptation.

Yoruichi looked at the guard her father had sent and knew she couldn't avoid this questioning. She casually untied a token engraved with the family crest and her name from her waist and tossed it into Xuanxin's lap.

Yoruichi patted Xuanxin on the shoulder and said with great authority, "Take this. You can wander anywhere in the mansion except the forbidden areas, and no one will dare stop you. As for changing your surname, we'll continue that discussion when I get back!"

With that, she hurried off with the guard. From beginning to end, Xuanxin hadn't understood why the person in front of him was so determined to make him change his surname.

But right now, that question was far less important than the food in front of him. Xuanxin immediately lunged at the meal and began eating his fill.

Meanwhile, in the study, Seigen looked helplessly at his daughter, whose face was full of defiance.

On Seigen's desk lay the information gathered by the Stealth Force. After repeated verification, the boy had indeed turned out to be an ordinary wandering soul who had only recently arrived in Rukongai. His background was clean, as clean as a newborn's.

Seigen put down the documents and said to Yoruichi,

"You can keep him at the estate. Our family can afford another mouth to feed. But put those ridiculous ideas of yours away. Don't ever bring up that nonsense about making him change his surname and marry into the family again!"

Yoruichi pouted. Though somewhat disappointed, she had at least managed to keep him there. She was just about to slip away and go back to coaxing the amnesiac boy she had picked up.

But just as she was about to cross the threshold, her father's stern voice stopped her. "You haven't finished your training today. Since I've agreed to your request, it's time you fulfilled your obligation. Now, get to the training ground!"

With no choice, Yoruichi had to abandon her "coaxing plan" for the time being and obediently go train.

Over the next few days, Xuanxin's life was indeed as Seigen had promised: he lived as though he were being kept in an enclosure. He had no worries about food or clothing, and no one interfered with him.

But there was a limit to a person's patience. After several days in his room living a "domestic pig's life" of eating and sleeping, Xuanxin was bored out of his mind and decided to get some exercise.

However, the Shihoin Clan mansion was truly enormous. Xuanxin, who had no sense of direction whatsoever, unsurprisingly got lost and blundered straight into Yoruichi's private training ground.

The moment he entered, the Stealth Force members lurking in the shadows tightened their grips on their sword hilts. But Seigen, seated on the raised platform, lifted a hand slightly to stop the guards and let him walk in.

Yoruichi, who was undergoing intensive training in the center of the grounds, also noticed Xuanxin's arrival. Her previously precise movements began to lose their form.

At the edge of the grounds, Xuanxin watched the training with an expression of "clear-eyed bewilderment and stupidity." Seeing it, Seigen, on the raised platform, finally believed that the intelligence really was true.

He wasn't a plant sent by another noble family. He was just a wild boy who knew nothing and had nothing going for him except his looks.

Once Seigen had settled on that thought, an even deeper wave of self-doubt swept over him.

Could Yoruichi really have taken a fancy to his looks? Who on earth did she inherit that from? I don't remember being that shallow when I was young...

Seeing that his daughter's mind was elsewhere, Seigen waved helplessly, signaling that she could take a short break.

Yoruichi's eyes lit up at the reprieve. She had noticed Xuanxin's bewildered gaze long ago. If that old stick-in-the-mud hadn't still been sitting up there, she would have run over to tease Xuanxin already.

"Whoosh!"

Her afterimage remained where it was, but Yoruichi herself had crossed dozens of meters and appeared before Xuanxin in an instant.

Without warning, Yoruichi pressed two fingers together and, grinning, brought them down in a hand chop aimed straight at Xuanxin's forehead!

The strike carried no Reiatsu, but with the extreme speed of Shunpo behind it, an ordinary person wouldn't even have been able to make out the afterimage!

In that lightning-fast instant, something incredible happened.

Facing an attack that, to Xuanxin, appeared before him in an instant, Xuanxin hadn't even had time to react, but his body followed the instinctive movements buried deepest in his soul!

Raise his hand, lower his shoulder, block!

"Bang!"

A dull thud of flesh striking flesh rang out. The instant Xuanxin made contact, the tremendous force drove him abruptly to his knees.

But he had blocked it!

On the raised platform, Shihoin Seigen's hand, which had been casually holding a teacup, suddenly froze in midair.

To others, that unconscious movement might have looked like pure luck, but as a battle-hardened family head, he had seen it clearly.

"A wandering soul who's just undergone Soul Burial and lost all his memories can actually block Yoruichi's surprise attack on instinct."

Although it was only an unconscious block, Xuanxin had unwittingly made the best possible choice. Blocking, diverting the force—that was absolutely no stroke of luck! It was muscle memory engraved deep in his soul!

If the Stealth Force hadn't repeatedly confirmed that the boy wasn't a suicide operative with ulterior motives, that unconscious block alone would have been enough for Seigen to follow the principle of "better to kill an innocent than let a threat escape" and snap the boy's neck on the spot.

It seems this girl really might have accidentally picked up an uncarved piece of jade... Hmm, she must have inherited that eye for talent from me. She really is my daughter.

Early the next morning.