When under another's roof, one had no choice but to bow one's head.
Shin found it hard to imagine that one day, he too would be press-ganged into service.
He had intended to happily begin his leisurely life in this plane, only for that old man Yamamoto Genryusai to completely ruin it.
Of course, teaching the students at Central True Spirit Academy was not particularly tiring work.
Shin simply disliked the feeling of being ordered around.
That day, after finishing his classes, Shin returned to the Shihōin Clan estate.
Dusk was approaching. The maple leaves swayed in the evening breeze beneath the setting sun, adding a touch of beauty to the scene.
Although Soul Society was a world of the dead, its sense of time was surprisingly consistent with the world of the living, with each day likewise measured in twenty-four hours.
The only difference was that, since everything here was formed of spirit particles and its inhabitants were all souls, their natural lifespans were incomparably long.
Even the departed souls of Rukongai could live for a very long time, so long as they were not devoured by Hollows or killed in an attack.
Shin liked worlds with such an extended concept of time.
Because the longer he remained here, the more he could grow.
There were still over a hundred years before the Soul Reaper storyline began. Shihōin Yoruichi was still serving as the captain of the Second Division.
Urahara Kisuke had only just graduated from the academy, Aizen was still a deeply concealed schemer, planning his grand Visored scheme.
Hirako Shinji and the others had yet to defect, while the younger generation, such as Kuchiki Byakuya, were still growing up.
It could be said that this was Seireitei's most stable era.
Well... if Shin had not been here.