Chapter 49

"I'll just say—"

Tap.

He stacked the speech Isane had revised, which he couldn't find a single fault with, and tapped it lightly against the desk in front of him.

"One sentence."

Haruto raised his index finger and addressed the hundreds of Shin'ō Academy students below the stage:

"I hope you all enjoy six fulfilling years at Shin'ō Academy—"

"That's all!"

The moment Haruto finished, the students, who had been holding their breath for so long, shouted as if they had finally found an outlet:

"Yeah!!"

"Senpai, you're so cool!"

"It's finally over!"

"..."

Standing at the side of the stage, Mitarai turned to Mutsuki Shōkaku beside her and asked awkwardly in a low voice:

"Was my speech that bad?"

"..."

Teacher Mutsuki pinched the bridge of her nose. Her silence was answer enough.

Meanwhile.

"Sorry."

As soon as Haruto stepped down from the podium, he went straight over to Isane.

"Given how everyone was doing, I couldn't make use of the effort you put into it."

"It's all right, you don't have to..."

Haruto interrupted the rest of Isane's customary response in a voice loud enough to carry over the commotion:

"To make it up to you!"

"There's still a little time before noon, so with the time we saved, I'll treat you to some sweets..."

"How does that sound?"

Volume One: 032, the Spiritual Arts Academy's pirate crew

"So. Tell. Me."

On one side of the long coffee table.

Byakuya sat with his arms folded and his crossed legs bouncing impatiently, an uncomprehending look on his face.

"Why are you all gathered in my dorm room?!"

"Wrong. It's our dorm room."

Haruto poked his head out of the room adjoining the living room to correct him... his hands were still busy with something, so he couldn't come out.

"Didn't you have anywhere else to go?"

"Who would've thought the area around Shin'ō Academy would change so much in just two weeks?"

Haruto sounded a little regretful too.

After the morning meeting ended, Haruto had originally planned to treat Isane to something to eat as thanks. But Isane was so shy that he had no choice but to drag everyone else along too... even Nanao, who had been reading in the library.

And so.

The six of them set off together in a great procession.

Then...

The only one of the Seireitei's most popular dessert shops near Shin'ō Academy had closed. The reason given in its closure notice was the same as the reason Mitarai had become head of the academy: the owner and the chefs had all been conscripted into the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force.

It was the first time Haruto learned that the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force wasn't made up solely of the Gotei 13. All members of the middle- and lower-ranking noble clans were eligible for selection, and some lower-ranking noble families had even been conscripted in their entirety.

There was nothing they could do.

Space in the Seireitei was worth its weight in gold. There were no other shops that offered both seating and a sufficiently wide variety of sweets.

At that point, Ayaka, their human guidebook, proved invaluable. There were hardly any shops in the Seireitei she hadn't visited—and after making the rounds of four shops, they finally managed to buy something each of them liked.

Except...

Isane, the guest of honor, hadn't found anything.

Isane liked thin rice porridge and other kinds of congee, which were staple foods in Soul Society, and few shops could turn them into suitable desserts. Since the only shop that could had closed, Haruto naturally had to cook for her himself.

That was why everyone had gathered at the dorm.

Incidentally.

Although Shin'ō Academy had separate dorms for men and women, students were not forbidden from visiting one another; they simply weren't allowed to stay overnight. The dorm rooms themselves didn't have kitchens either, so as Haruto bustled around his makeshift "kitchen," the flames he used all came from Sōkatsui.

"Fine."

Byakuya gritted his teeth and accepted Haruto's explanation.

"But!"

"Could you at least tell me before you come mooching off my meal?!"

Since they had bought so many sweets, they obviously weren't planning on having a proper lunch.

At Ayaka and Kiyone's urging, they had bought all sorts of snacks too. Haruto was the poorest of the group, but with those two egging everyone on, none of them had been the least bit shy about plundering his wallet.

After all, he had been stealing the spotlight lately.

Fortunately.

Haruto had managed to get hold of quite a bit of money on his trip home. In the past, everyone would naturally have paid their own way and only teased him about it.

For the girls, all that was enough to serve as lunch, but it certainly wouldn't fill Haruto up.

He wasn't worried about that, though, thanks to the square food containers of all sizes covering the coffee table:

The lunch Byakuya's mother had prepared for him was enough to fill an entire four-tiered, super-deluxe bento box.

That was right.

Haruto had long since made up his mind to come back to the dorm and mooch off Byakuya's meal. Once the others saw Byakuya's outrageously large bento, their eyes were glued to it as well.

If Haruto hadn't been there, they certainly wouldn't have dared act so casually around Byakuya, given his status as a high noble.

But now—

"One bite each! Let's share it!"

Haruto invited them to dig in as naturally as could be.

Of course, Byakuya wasn't really angry either. Though he rarely went to class, he could still recognize all the classmates before him—even if he didn't remember them very well, listening to Haruto go on about them all day had left an impression.

"I did tell you. I mentioned it as soon as we got back to the dorm."

"#!"

A vein throbbed on Byakuya's forehead:

"Is there something wrong with your understanding of 'before'?"

"What's the problem? You never finish it anyway, and your mother packed some for me in the first place, didn't she?"

Haruto said shamelessly.

Byakuya's mother was even happier than Kuchiki Sōjun that their son had made friends at Shin'ō Academy. Otherwise, Byakuya could have simply gone home to eat, and there would have been no need to pack such an enormous bento.

"All right, all right."

Haruto stopped Byakuya from acting on his impulse to charge into the kitchen.

"With so many people watching, show a little of the grace expected of one of the Four Great Noble Clans."

To be honest.

Everyone had been quite shocked to see Byakuya's true personality... their image of him as an aloof high noble had come crashing down.

"Besides, didn't we bring you gifts too?"

Haruto couldn't very well eat Byakuya's food without giving him anything in return.

Haruto had bought plenty of the junk food Byakuya never even got a chance to sneak at home, enough to make sure he had his fill.

These were all things Byakuya couldn't go out and buy himself, no matter how much money he had. His face was highly recognizable among the nobles of the Seireitei, and virtually everyone qualified to open a shop was a noble.

And besides...

Haruto came sideways out of the kitchen, carrying a plate and a pot.

Thud!

"Twice-cooked pork with mixed vegetables, made just for you."

The Kuchiki Clan's food was light and refined. Before Haruto showed off his cooking, Byakuya had never seen such an extravagantly bold dish.

"And osmanthus, lotus seed and fruit porridge for Isane."

Haruto pulled the bandanna off his forehead—

"Sorry it isn't much!"

Afternoon classes started at two.

Napping was uncommon in Soul Society. The midday period wasn't for resting, but proper training. Eating was only one of the ways Soul Reapers absorbed Reishi. Although ordinary food provided more Reishi than breathing, the stronger a Soul Reaper was, the better their digestion, so there was no problem with food building up in their stomachs.

Most of the food served in the Seireitei's shops was meant to satisfy the palate and couldn't provide extra Reishi.

So...

Less than half an hour after eating, the group had nothing to do and started chatting. Out of habit from his previous life, even if Haruto didn't take a nap, he would close his eyes and rest for a while. Either way, he certainly wasn't going to run off to the training grounds in the middle of the day.

"Haruto."

Byakuya was the first to raise the issue.

"Hmm?"

"Why are all the people you're close to girls?"

Byakuya didn't speak loudly, especially with the girls happily chatting away. There might not have been enough of them for two plays, but a full ensemble drama was inevitable. Even Nanao, who wasn't much of a talker, had joined in enthusiastically, let alone Isane.

"..."

Hearing that, Haruto fixed his gaze on Byakuya, staring until he began to feel uneasy.

"W-what are you looking at?!"

Byakuya instinctively covered his chest.

That delicate gesture, paired with his frail appearance, his fair skin that never seemed to tan, and the long ponytail hanging down to his waist—

"I didn't even know. Byakuya, were you a girl all along?"

"#!"

"Other than me!"

Byakuya said through gritted teeth.

Whether in terms of Plus strength or status.