Chapter 29

At his current rate of progress, he would probably master Shunpo in about a year. It sounded like a long time, but plenty of Seated Officers had studied Shunpo for decades or even a century without making any progress.

If word of Haruto's speed got out, it would be enough to make plenty of jaws drop.

If Shunpo was like that, Hakuda went without saying.

Even in Soul Society, very few Soul Reapers truly mastered Hakuda and relied on it as their main means of combat. Aside from training his body and reflexes, Haruto had no interest in ordinary secret Hakuda teachings, and the things he did want didn't seem easy to obtain now... or for a long time to come:

Shunkō, Sōkotsu, and the Thousand-Mile Heaven-Piercing Palm.

The Shihoin Clan's secret technique, Shigekuni Yamamoto's Hakuda move, and Zero Division Captain Ichibē Hyōsube's enhanced basic attack...

Even at Captain-level, they were hard to hope for.

Snap.

Haruto casually plucked out two hairs and carefully used them to tie the Kidō Orb to the guard of his Asauchi. After taking the Heavenly Bedding Pill, his hair had been the first part of his body to grow stronger. It wasn't as tough as the strings that had cut his head, but it was much better than ordinary rope or hemp.

"Very good."

Haruto looked at his handiwork with satisfaction. Before transmigrating, he would never have dared such an outrageously extravagant act.

"I don't use my Zanpakuto much to begin with, so this should be reasonably safe."

Thump.

Haruto first slid open the closet's paper door, then stomped hard on the tatami beneath his feet.

After confirming there were no traps or ambushes, he tugged hard on the rope binding his bedding roll and took out all the bedding and pillows he had brought with him.

"This fourth floor is much roomier than the second floor was. A private room for honored guests really is something else. It's so much better than the VIP rooms that were everywhere in my last life."

"It's just..."

Haruto looked around the empty room, his mood suddenly tinged with disappointment he could hardly conceal.

"Manager Ichihara still isn't enlightened enough."

"One Kidō Orb was hush money, and the other was an angel investment... The fake girl turned into bugs and ran away, so shouldn't she make it up to me tonight?"

"...Ten bucks is still money."

Haruto sighed with some regret.

The lights in the street had chased away much of the sleepiness of the pitch-black night, and it was still far from bedtime. The room was large enough, but it wasn't suitable for practicing Kidō, so all Haruto could do was undress and go to sleep with his Zanpakuto as a pillow.

Back at Shin'ō Academy, Haruto would surely have gone to the training grounds alone to practice his Zanjutsu and Hakuda, then taken a good rinse at the bathhouse. After all, working up a sweat was the best way to help him sleep.

And in a place like the pleasure district, once those heated little thoughts were stirred up, they were hard to dispel without a satisfying bout of exercise before bed.

"Sigh~"

Haruto folded his hands behind his head, and his eyes slowly closed as he gazed at the ceiling.

"What a long, long night..."

"With only my sword for company."

Volume one: 019, cliche, but always welcome

"—"

Haruto opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling...

Well.

Transmigration wasn't something that happened just like that.

And so the bustling night in Yoshiwara District passed with a scare but no danger. Manager Ichihara hadn't sent anyone to disturb Haruto, and the fourth floor was so well soundproofed that no moans or cries had reached him from next door or below.

"Ahh~"

Haruto flexed his waist and abdomen and sat up on the tatami, letting out a huge yawn.

"I slept pretty well."

Haruto rubbed the dried moisture from the corners of his eyes and patted his cheeks twice, quickly waking up. Yoshiwara in Rukongai, located in East District 45, was definitely prosperous compared with its surroundings, but not so lavish that people used clean water to wash their faces and brush their teeth.

After all,

Another ten-odd districts farther out, any well could be what dozens or hundreds of people depended on to survive...

And the cause of their killing one another.

"Although it can't compare with the dorms at Shin'ō Academy, it does bring back the feeling of living in Rukongai."

Haruto got ready quickly. He dressed, folded his blankets, and packed his bedding in one smooth sequence, taking less than two minutes in all.

Of course,

If any of the Kidō he knew had been related to running water, Haruto might have spent twice as long taking care of his personal hygiene.

Tap, tap, tap.

It was the first time since he had arrived in the fourth-floor room the night before that such clear footsteps had sounded from the corridor outside.

And—

"Come in."

Before the visitor could knock, Haruto had already sensed them and spoken.

Swish.

The familiar sound of a sliding door opening and closing, a familiar figure and face.

The girl who had turned into bugs and scattered the night before was carrying a square wooden tray with today's breakfast.

"...Just put it there."

It had to be the real person this time.

After all, given Haruto and Naa Ichihara's future partnership, she surely wouldn't use illusions and bugs to toy with him again.

But!

After seeing the swarm of bugs with his own eyes, Haruto really found it hard to take an interest in the girl... even though his buddy had risen early and full of energy along with him.

"..."

After an exchange of meaningless pleasantries, the sliding door closed again, leaving breakfast laid out on the table:

Seaweed and tofu soup, natto, rice, chunks of white radish, a few green vegetables, and little sausages fried to look like octopuses.

A perfectly standard Japanese breakfast: delicate, balanced, and poor.

"..."

"Thanks for the meal."

Haruto had spent some years in Soul Society, and certain habits had finally taken root without his noticing. After spending five minutes polishing off the entire breakfast, he planned to take his leave of Manager Ichihara.

However...

"She went out?"

In front of the magnificent, enormous paper sliding door on the fifth floor, Haruto was gently stopped by the burly man he had met yesterday.

"Yes."

The man nodded.

"The manager had important business to attend to in District 41. She specifically instructed me not to neglect our honored guest, so if you don't mind—"

"Never mind."

Haruto shook his head, declining Naa Ichihara's kindness.

She had even made it clear where she was going, so she obviously wasn't trying to brush Haruto off. After all, he was the unexpected factor.

"There will be another chance to meet."

Whether or not he saw Naa Ichihara, Haruto had already shown more than enough courtesy, so there was naturally no need to stay.

Taking the stairs he had come up, Haruto left this wealthy pleasure quarter without... with a little reluctance.

Yoshiwara Street had a different feel during the day.

The pleasure-district establishments, ablaze with lights and revelry at night, had taken on an entirely different appearance under the sun. Breakfast spots, fresh-food shops, tailors, and cheap snack stores—all sorts of respectable businesses filled the area with the bustle of everyday life.

If it weren't for the young women bustling about inside and outside these shops, all still carrying traces of the night to varying degrees,

Haruto would definitely have suspected that he had fallen under an illusion the night before.

"?"

Haruto studied the shops lining the street with interest. Just as he was thinking of going in for a look, a vaguely familiar Reiatsu slowly approaching him forced him to abandon the idea.

He glanced behind him out of the corner of his eye.

Though he saw no familiar Shihakushō, the Reiatsu of an official Soul Reaper stood out among the ordinary people filling Rukongai.

"Plainclothes?"

The Gotei 13 had strict rules on that front. Soul Reapers had to wear their Shihakushō on missions and weren't allowed to wear their own clothes.

Of course, if your standing in your division was high enough, no one above you would look too closely if you altered your Shihakushō.

As for the Punishment Force and the Kidō Corps...

They covered themselves even more thoroughly than the Gotei 13 on missions. The only ones allowed to show their faces were Captain-level and Vice-Captain-level figures. Shin'ō Academy's textbooks specifically explained it; it wasn't because the "author" wanted to save effort by not drawing faces.

"This is far enough from Seireitei. It's probably a Soul Reaper on leave, but why are they watching me?"

There had been no spectators when he fought Naa Ichihara last night, and Shin'ō Academy had no rule against students hiding their strength.

"Interesting..."

Haruto walked faster and faster.

He quickly left the three busiest streets in the central area behind, heading toward the more remote eastern part of Rukongai.

At a shadowy corner where the surrounding buildings were especially dilapidated and cramped, blocking some of the sunlight—

"You followed me all this way..."

Deep in a dead end full of graffiti and garbage, Haruto turned his head and addressed the people who had shown themselves.

"You must have something very important to discuss with me, right?"

"..."

Two Soul Reapers, two civilians... No, the clothes on the latter two were obviously not something a plus in Rukongai could afford, though they didn't look so luxurious as to be recognizable at a glance.

Nor did they have the understated restraint Haruto had seen so often lately.

Lower nobles—

Haruto instantly judged the two's identities.

"Haruto, fifth year, class one?"

The somewhat gloomy voice came from the young nobleman standing at the far right.

"That's me."

"What can I do for you, seniors?"

Since they had mentioned his class, they had to be students from Shin'ō Academy.

Although Soul Society respected strength above all, at Shin'ō Academy, where the student atmosphere was still strong, seniority mattered more than strength. Anyone who dared address Haruto like that naturally wasn't his junior, so they could only be seniors who had just graduated with this year's class.

And judging by the other's gritted teeth...

The sixth-year students who had clashed with Haruto in the past had long since been taught a lesson by him in secret and had lost their nerve.

Some had even been directly removed from Shin'ō Academy.

So.

The only ones who would show their feelings so openly should be those weaklings whose Hakuda assessment scores had been affected at the main training grounds.

"Showing your seniors so little respect when you talk to us—isn't that reason enough for us to teach you a lesson?"