After that day, Jun and Aizen got along even better.
In Soul Society, Aizen was lonely. Many of his ideas and views ran counter to the mainstream, so he couldn't share them with anyone. But now he could talk to Jun, because Jun was like him.
The same was true for Jun. Still, he couldn't possibly tell Aizen everything about himself, like how he had transmigrated and been reborn. And had Aizen told Jun everything about himself? Of course not. Nobody would expose every part of themselves; that would be abnormal.
So both of them probed each other in conversation. But whenever they approached a boundary and one showed the slightest displeasure, the other would back off. It was an unspoken understanding that helped maintain their relationship.
Under Aizen's guidance, Jun's Kidō advanced rapidly. In two months, Jun had mastered Hadō through number 22 and Bakudō through number 17, and could use Incantation Abandonment.
When it came to Incantation Abandonment, Jun discovered that Aizen was actually like him. Both possessed that same unusually fine control over Reishi, and Aizen could also essentially perform Incantation Abandonment by completing the incantation simultaneously.
So that explained why Aizen could casually use Incantation Abandonment in the original work. It was pure talent; heaven had favored him.
Then, one day, the two were practicing Kidō as usual. Mostly, Jun practiced while Aizen guided him, and whenever either noticed a problem or had an idea, they would discuss it on the spot.
Today's practice was Bakudō number eighteen, Descending Wind. It confined the air, or rather the space, within a certain area, restraining an enemy. If the enemy's Reiatsu was fairly strong, it could only slow them down. If they were stronger still, it couldn't hold them at all.
In the middle of their practice, Aizen suddenly said, "Someone's coming!"
Jun calmly canceled the Bakudō he was preparing. With a shift in the flow of Reishi, the spell he cast became Bakudō number nine, Geki. Then they saw who had come: Yuzuki Samidare.
"Ah~~ Jun, there you are~" Senior Yuzu breathed a sigh of relief. Then she saw the Bakudō Jun had cast and Aizen standing beside him. "Um, is that you, Aizen?"
There were only about a thousand people at Shin'ō Academy. Students like Yuzuki and Aizen, who had been there for more than thirty years, had basically met everyone. They might not be close because they rarely spoke afterward, but they wouldn't fail to recognize each other.
"Hello, Samidare."
"Yuzuki~"
The three greeted one another, and Yuzuki noticed the red rope of Spiritual Power in Jun's hand.
"Are you two practicing Kidō?"
"Yeah~ Senior Aizen's been guiding my Kidō practice, hehe."
Jun started acting carefree. Aizen glanced at him, then switched into his gentle, courteous, modest and accommodating mode. Before Yuzuki could say anything, he offered an apology.
"I'm sorry, Samidare. I took it upon myself to guide Jun before getting your permission."
With him putting it that way, what else could Yuzuki say? Besides, Yuzuki was only a little confused and hadn't meant to hold him accountable, so she hurried to apologize to Aizen in turn.
"Not at all! I couldn't be happier that Jun has your guidance. Why would I blame you? You're too polite, Aizen~"
The two exchanged pleasantries, gradually moved on to ordinary conversation, and eventually got around to why Jun and Aizen were together.
Jun and Aizen spun her a whole story, and Yuzuki had no further questions. They also explained why they were training in a place like this. Jun had an excellent excuse: he was afraid of being recognized. Yuzuki knew about that problem of his, so she didn't question it.
Then Yuzuki explained why she had come. She hadn't seen Jun at the Kidō training grounds, so she had come looking for him. After all, Jun was so talented that Yuzuki thought he should probably be learning some advanced Kidō by now. So why hadn't he come?
After they talked it over, Yuzuki grew embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, Aizen~ Our Jun really can't go to the training grounds because of his circumstances, so could I ask you to continue guiding him from now on? Please, I'm begging you! Thank you so very much!!"
"Not at all~ Jun's talent and ideas have given me inspiration too. This is by no means a matter of me guiding him alone; I've benefited as well. I really don't deserve such thanks."
The two exchanged pleasantries again, but by then Yuzuki had no concerns left. After a little more polite conversation, she left, completely at ease leaving Jun with Aizen and quite happy herself. She had no idea what kind of looks the two men gave each other after she left.
Jun glanced sidelong at Aizen and teased him. "Oh my, oh my~ No matter how many times I see it, I'm amazed at how good you are at changing your face, Senior Aizen~~"
Aizen looked at Jun with disdain. "You're pretty good at playing the nice kid yourself~"
"Oh my~ But I really am still just a kid~~"
"Yes~ And I really am a man who wants nothing to do with worldly disputes~"
"Like hell anyone would believe that~~!!" they both shouted.
After all this time, each knew what the other was really like, and Jun's age was no longer an advantage. Aizen didn't hold his initial probing against him, though. Things had come to this, and Aizen accepted it: he had indeed been outplayed back then.
"Come to think of it, have you been hiding your progress from the senior you live with?"
"What kind of question is that? Do you think I could afford not to hide it?" Jun shot Aizen an annoyed look. "Speaking of which, Senior Aizen, why do you hide your own strength?"
Aizen fell silent. Jun thought his question had crossed a boundary and hurriedly tried to laugh it off. "Well, let's get back to training."
Jun had just begun gathering Spiritual Power when Aizen suddenly asked a question.
"Jun, are you afraid of dying?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Uh, why ask that all of a sudden?"
"I just wanted to know."
Jun sighed. "Of course I am, aren't I? My parents died in battle. Otherwise, why would I—"
"Sorry."
"Ha~ No need."
"But my mother died in battle too."
"Huh?"
"My father is Fumiyama Aizen, the Fifth Division's seventh seat. My mother was Seirin Aizen, the Fifth Division's twenty-ninth seat—former twenty-ninth seat. She died on a mission thirty years ago."
"Sorry."
Aizen waved a hand. "You don't need to apologize for that. Jun, do you know about the expedition missions?"
"I do. You mean the 11th Division's expeditions to Hueco Mundo, right?"
"That's the one. It isn't just the 11th Division. They do provide most of the personnel, but other divisions send people too. It happens once every fifty years." Aizen looked up at the mountain wall, his voice tinged with dejection. "The one thirty years ago was the largest so far, and it suffered the greatest losses."
"Was your mother among them?"
"No, she wasn't. But the Fifth Division was the rescue team."
"So the expedition was in trouble, and the Fifth Division sent a rescue team?"
"Exactly. In the end, thirty-one of the hundred members of the expedition returned, while the twenty-person support team assembled on short notice from the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Division, and Seventh Division was completely wiped out." Aizen sighed deeply. "My mother was among them."
"Jun~ What do you think Soul Reapers are?"
That was a difficult question to answer. Jun had many ideas, but they weren't easy to express, so he chose the safest answer. "A sharp blade that protects Soul Society?"
"A sharp blade? Heh, do you know the death rate on those expeditions?" Aizen sneered. Without giving Jun time to answer, he supplied the answer himself. "Fifty percent! Half the Soul Reapers on those expeditions never come back! A sharp blade!? A blade that breaks in half when it cuts down an enemy? Hehehe."
"Then what are you saying? That Soul Reapers are expendable?"
"Of course that's not what I mean. But who is the sharp blade? What level of existence can be called a sharp blade!? Huh~!?"
Aizen and Jun looked at each other, and Jun could see a trace of resentment in Aizen's eyes. "Are you questioning how Soul Reapers are selected and educated?"
"More than that. Let's stop here for today. I'm a little tired."
"Okay, me too, a little."
Their conversation ended there. Jun didn't know where Aizen went, but as he thought back on Aizen's words, he finally understood why Aizen would later massacre Central 46.
There were the expeditions, that death rate, and everything else in Soul Society at present. As mentioned before, Central 46 was the real ruling authority of Soul Society, not the Head Captain.
So Aizen blamed Central 46 for all of it. Hundreds of years of these things, along with his own mother's death, were the source of his hatred.
Still, some things were perhaps regrettable. Aizen massacred Central 46, and authority temporarily passed to the Gotei 13. But nothing in Soul Society actually changed. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was just as hidebound as Central 46, and Soul Society remained as stagnant as ever.
And speaking of the education system, students could study at Shin'ō Academy for up to sixty years. If they still hadn't graduated after sixty years, they weren't suited to becoming Soul Reapers. In this environment, there really were people who failed to graduate even after sixty years. As a result, the later someone graduated, the more they were looked down on.
Think about it: because of differences in talent, some people really weren't suited to graduating early. Take Yuzuki Samidare, who now lived with Jun. She had studied for thirty-two years, and her abilities in every area had only just met the graduation requirements, with no major breakthroughs.
So if someone at that level went out and became a Soul Reaper, could they really make tremendous progress on the job? Impossible. Then, decades or a hundred years later, if Yuzuki Samidare were selected for an expedition, what would happen to her? It was obvious: she would be cannon fodder.
That was the situation. If you were really as damn impressive as Shunsui Kyōraku, Gin Ichimaru, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Sōsuke Aizen, Kenpachi Zaraki or Jun, who the hell cared if you graduated after one year?
But if you weren't at that level and didn't have that kind of talent, wouldn't it be better to spend more time building up your strength at the academy before going out? Soul Society's current attitude, though, was that a Soul Reaper only needed to be good enough to use. Cannon fodder would always be cannon fodder; no matter how much they trained, they would still be cannon fodder. Getting them out earlier saved resources.
But not everyone could accept that approach. Everyone had family and friends; people weren't without feelings. Take Jun: the parents he had never even met had died at the hands of a Gillian. At that level, in the original story, it would have been a single transitional panel, part of the background. Any more mention of something at that level would have been a waste of ink.
But what about Jun? Jun was very strong. In that situation, should he resent society? Of course, Jun was different because he was a transmigrator. But if the original occupant of his body had been a native, whom would he hate? The Eighth Division? The Tenth Division? His own parents? The Head Captain? Or Central 46? Or, further still, all of Soul Society?
That was Soul Society's biggest problem. Geniuses didn't just appear out of nowhere; they had families and circles of their own. Yet Soul Society valued geniuses while looking down on their parents, relatives and friends, treating them all as cannon fodder. Wasn't that just asking for trouble?
So how could someone protect their family and friends? There was only one way: become a noble. But even Jun didn't know how to do that. And judging by the original work, becoming a captain didn't make someone a noble. In a world where strength was paramount, strength still couldn't get you everything. Wasn't that just fucking asking for trouble? So, yeah~ Soul Society had some serious problems!
If that old monster Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto hadn't been there holding things down like a pillar stabilizing the seas, Soul Society would have been overturned countless times already.
So Soul Society had it coming. That old immortal Yamamoto really deserved to die. If he died, Soul Society could be torn down and rebuilt. An old man who lived on without dying was a menace, all right. He had dragged Soul Society all the way into the second thousand-year war, only to die in battle himself. If Ichigo hadn't been given an official cheat, Soul Society would have been finished.
Jun rolled over in bed and pulled the blanket over his face. Sigh~ There's no use thinking so much. Time to sleep. If I want to get anything done, I still need the strength to back it up. Everything else can wait. The most important thing is to stay alive until I'm able to stir things up.