First Steps into Shin'ō

The three stopped at a tavern, the one where they often drank. Suddenly, a voice came from behind them: "Well,

well, what a coincidence! Yoruichi, Ye Yang, what are you doing here?"

Ye Yang turned around and saw that it was Shunsui Kyōraku. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, Uncle Kyōraku? The captain of the Eighth Division actually snuck out

for a drink? Careful, or I'll tell Sister Yadōmaru~"

When Shunsui Kyōraku heard that, three black dots floated over his forehead, and his expression fell like a frostbitten eggplant. "Come on, I'm still your senior,

you know. I only came out to slack off for a bit, so don't tell Yadōmaru, all right? If you tell her, with her personality, there'll be no end of trouble. After all, it's not as if you

don't know what your Sister Yadōmaru is like, right? Unruly, willful, **..."

Before he could finish, Yoruichi interrupted him. "Uncle, it's not nice to talk badly about someone behind their back."

"What's wrong with that? It's only..." But he was interrupted again, this time by a woman's voice. "Is that so, Captain? Could you repeat what you just said

?"

Shunsui knew that voice all too well. He turned around, and sure enough, it was his lieutenant, Lisa Yadōmaru. Shunsui Kyōraku hurriedly put on an apologetic smile. "My

Lisa is the cutest girl of all, of course."

Yadōmaru ignored Shunsui and spoke to Yoruichi and Ye Yang. "Sorry you had to see that. Today was your entrance exam, wasn't it?"

Yoruichi replied, "That's right, Sister Lisa. We came here to celebrate the end of the exam. Why don't you join us?"

"Sure, let's go." With that, she took Yoruichi's hand and went inside.

Only Ye Yang and Shunsui Kyōraku were left outside. Shunsui pulled Ye Yang aside and whispered, "When did she get here?"

"She was here the whole time," Ye Yang answered matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean, the whole time?"

"She was here when we saw you."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"You didn't ask..."

"..."

After their drinks and another few days of waiting, the exam results finally came out. Ye Yang placed second in the Spiritual Pressure test, with Yoruichi in first. Since Ye

Yang had only answered the last question on the written exam, he had not expected to score ninety points on that question alone, putting him in third place. As

for the third test, Ye Yang's performance had been so astonishing that his combat talent was rated SSS.

In the final overall rankings, Ye Yang had actually come in first. This troubled him greatly: his plan for an ordinary school life

had failed. Yoruichi remarked, "Isn't first place good enough? You really don't know how lucky you are."

Today was the start of the school year at Shin'ō. With the first and second highest overall scores, Ye Yang and his sister were naturally assigned to Class One.

When Yoruichi

and Ye Yang walked into the classroom, only a few people were there, with several more filing in through the door. They found seats near the middle, toward the back,

and sat down to wait for their instructor.

After about half an hour, an unremarkable middle-aged Soul Reaper finally entered the classroom. His face was so ordinary

that he would have been impossible to pick out of a crowd.

He walked up to the lectern and said, "Today is everyone's first day at the Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy. I'll be your instructor from now on. My name is Murakami I, and you

can call me Instructor Murakami. As you all know, the Spiritual Arts Academy was founded by Captain-Commander Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai and has a history of almost two thousand years.

Everyone who graduates from here is among the elite of the divisions, and those of you gathered in Class One are undoubtedly elites. Since this is an elite class, you must demonstrate

the abilities expected of one. So I hope all of you will work hard in your future lessons. You can't lose to the students in the other classes. Is that

understood?"

A resounding answer rang through the classroom. "Understood!"

Inoue Mura nodded. "Good. We'll start this lesson with introductions." He then pointed to a boy sitting in the first seat

and said, "You can start."

The boy walked up to the lectern. His pale hair fell loosely around his head, and glimmers of light occasionally flashed in his brown eyes. Ye Yang's

first impression was that he had an unmistakably sharp edge, like a keen sword.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Kisuke Urahara. It's nice to meet you, and I look forward to getting along with you." With that, he stepped down.

Ye Yang was startled when he heard the name. Isn't that the shopkeeper who taught Ichigo to fight in the story I watched in my previous life? I didn't expect him to be a Soul Reaper too. In Ye Yang's memory,

the shopkeeper was definitely someone who kept his true abilities well hidden.

While he was lost in thought, his turn came. Ye Yang exchanged a glance with Yoruichi, and they walked up together. "Hello, everyone. My name is Ye Yang Shihoin

, and this is my older sister." Yoruichi continued, "Yes, I'm Yoruichi Shihōin. It's nice to meet you."

Their introduction immediately sparked a discussion. After all, who didn't know the direct heirs of one of the Four Great Noble Clans?

"I didn't expect the Shihoin young master and young lady to come too."

"I've heard about them. They're known as the Dancing Princess and the Guqin Emperor."

"Yeah, my father attended that banquet. He told me it was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen."

"Really? Tell us about it."

And so, the first lesson passed with introductions. After class, Ye Yang was just about to go meet Kisuke Urahara, but to his surprise, Urahara

came over to him first.

"Hello, Yoruichi, Ye Yang. I heard you two placed first and second this year. Can I be friends with you?" Kisuke Urahara said as he came

up to them.

Ye Yang looked up at the younger Kisuke Urahara and said, "Urahara, I don't think we know each other well enough to be on a first-name basis yet."

Ye Yang's attitude was less than friendly. The reason was that, in his previous life, he had learned that the cat by the shopkeeper's side was Yoruichi, and he had guessed that the shopkeeper

had lured his sister into the World of the Living. Whenever he thought of the unclear nature of Yoruichi's relationship with the shopkeeper, Ye Yang felt annoyed. His own lively,

cheerful sister would actually follow that sleazy uncle from the future. Ye Yang felt it was unfair to his sister.

But from his first impression of Kisuke Urahara today, Ye Yang couldn't connect him with that sleazy uncle at all.

Yoruichi took over. "It's fine, little brother. We're new classmates, after all, and calling each other that is friendlier. Besides, we're siblings. If everyone

called us Shihoin, wouldn't it be hard to tell us apart?"

Kisuke Urahara chimed in, "Right, right, Ye Yang. It's also to distinguish you from Yoruichi. But you really are

amazing, Ye Yang. You passed the third entrance exam with an SSS rating. What a genius~"

Although Ye Yang's first impression of Kisuke Urahara was good, he couldn't help feeling a little resentment whenever he thought of his sister. He merely snorted

and said nothing.

Seeing Ye Yang ignore him, Kisuke Urahara scratched his head awkwardly and whispered to Yoruichi, "Uh... did I say something wrong and upset Ye Yang?"

Yoruichi burst out laughing and patted Kisuke Urahara on the shoulder. "Don't mind him. My little brother's just awkward like that."

Hearing Yoruichi say that, Kisuke Urahara said, "I look forward to getting along with you, Ye Yang."

Since he had said that, Ye Yang couldn't very well keep ignoring him, so he replied, "Yeah, I look forward to getting along with you too, Urahara."

Just then, the bell rang, and Murakami I came in and said, "Hello, everyone. Our first lesson will now officially begin. Today, we'll start

with the history of Soul Society, as well as the basics of training and controlling Spiritual Pressure."

Inoue Mura then began his lecture, covering everything from the origins of Soul Society to the founding of Shin'ō, as well as Soul Society's development, the duties of Soul Reapers

, and the dangers of Hollows. In short, it was all meant to teach them about the duties of Soul Reapers. He also covered Spiritual Pressure training. Ye Yang grew drowsy listening, and Yoruichi,

beside him, looked just as uninterested. There was nothing to be done about it; they had received this kind of instruction every day at home and were sick of hearing it.

The lesson passed with Ye Yang half asleep. The second lesson was Kidō. Kidō referred to advanced spells that only Soul Reapers could use,

and it was divided into two types: Hadō and Bakudō.

Since Ye Yang had never studied Kidō before, he was particularly interested in the class. His initial understanding of Kidō was that one used spoken incantations to guide one's

Spiritual Power into a certain arrangement, thereby achieving the purpose of destroying or restraining an opponent.

Facing a target, Yoruichi chanted, "Hadō #4: Byakurai." A bolt of white lightning shot from her finger and blasted the target to pieces.

The teacher nodded. "Very good. That's how it's done. You should all learn from Yoruichi."

Yoruichi smiled at Ye Yang, her eyes seeming to say, Well? Impressive, right?

Although this was Ye Yang's first encounter with Kidō, he was still quite confident in his control over Spiritual Pressure. He carefully controlled his Spiritual Pressure and

chanted, "Hadō #4: Byakurai." A bolt of lightning appeared at his fingertip. It was thinner than Yoruichi's, but it struck the bull's-eye.

Instead of shattering the target as Yoruichi had, it pierced straight through, leaving a hole in the center. Piercing the target without breaking it demonstrated a degree of Spiritual Pressure

control that was breathtaking.

The other students, however, merely thought that although Ye Yang's Byakurai was accurate, it lacked power, and paid it no mind. Only Kisuke Urahara gave Ye Yang

a meaningful look.

After the other students tried, only Kisuke Urahara managed to match Yoruichi's performance. Although they were all students in Class One, the gap between the others

and Yoruichi and Ye Yang, who had trained since childhood, as well as a genius like Kisuke Urahara, was still quite large.

Kidō was the last lesson of the day, and school ended as soon as it was over. Surprisingly, Yoruichi did not go home with Ye Yang.

She told Ye Yang she was going out drinking with Kisuke Urahara and even invited him along, but he refused. Ye Yang didn't stop Yoruichi, either. After all, what was meant to happen

would happen, and there was no use stopping it. He might as well let things take their course.