Secret Base

After Hiroe kept practicing for another hour or so, Yamamoto's swordsmanship lesson for the day finally came to an end.

"Tomorrow, you'll be entering the Spiritual Arts Academy," Yamamoto said in a calm, conversational tone. "You have no problem keeping your spiritual pressure suppressed, right?"

"As long as I stick to the same old routine, nothing should go wrong."

Hearing Hiroe's answer, Yamamoto nodded in satisfaction.

The Spiritual Arts Academy was the only Soul Reaper academy in Seireitei. Anyone who wanted to become a Soul Reaper—or, more specifically, a Soul Reaper in the Gotei 13—had to study at the academy.

That was the rule on paper, but people with special status didn't have to follow it. The next heirs of the Five Great Noble Families, for example, or the personal disciples of the Head Captain himself, could join the Gotei 13 without going through the academy.

They were going through all this trouble partly to avoid special treatment, but also to keep Hiroe hidden and protect him.

Yamamoto had been about to say a few more things when someone ran in from outside the courtyard, making him swallow his words.

"Reporting to the Head Captain: Her Highness, Yoruichi of the Shihoin family, requests an audience!"

"Oh? Yoruichi? Isn't that little one already here?"

The messenger froze and turned to look beside him. The little girl in a white kimono patterned with flowers, who was sprawled along the veranda, was none other than Her Highness Yoruichi of the Shihoin family.

"Your Highness Yoruichi, didn't I tell you to wait outside? Why did you sneak in again?" the messenger asked with a pained expression. From the sound of it, this wasn't the first time she'd done this. The little girl really was a handful.

The girl gazed innocently at the two people inside, as if she had no idea she was causing trouble. But Diezuka Hiroe, who had his back to her, knew she was as sharp as they came. That innocent, blameless look was all an act.

"Didn't you say we'd go out tonight, Hiroe?" Yoruichi asked timidly, drawing out the end of her sentence to sound pitiful. "I waited for you for ages, but you never came out. I thought you'd fallen asleep~"

Yoruichi's voice sent a shiver down Hiroe's spine, raising goosebumps all over him. So gross! Her deliberately cutesy act was genuinely nauseating. He could picture the pitiful expression she was putting on, too—but no, better not. Why put himself through that?

"So you have a date tonight, Hiroe?"

"Not at all, Sensei! I think we should do another round of training!" Hiroe hurriedly shook his head. Strictly speaking, he did have plans tonight, but that was just an order from Yoruichi. He'd never actually agreed to it.

Before Yamamoto could answer, Yoruichi burst into loud sobs outside the door, accusing Hiroe of being heartless and looking every bit like someone who'd been abandoned.

Watching the scene outside, Yamamoto—usually so stern—actually smiled. It was the tender smile of a father looking at his future daughter-in-law.

Hiroe was overcome with embarrassment. He lowered his head and covered his face with one hand, looking mortified as he stared at the wooden floorboards and thought, That crack looks pretty wide. If I really tried, maybe I could squeeze inside.

"No more training today. Go have some fun with Yoruichi."

"Don't go back on your word, Grandpa Yamamoto!" Yoruichi immediately stopped crying and broke into a grin. But her little face was still perfectly dry; all that crying had been sound effects.

"Just don't forget that tomorrow is the academy entrance ceremony, and make sure you aren't late," Yamamoto replied with a nod. He stood and headed into the inner room. "Hiroe, there's no need to see me out."

Yamamoto's "no need to see me out" was a godsend—but unfortunately, it helped the other side. Now that Hiroe had no excuse, what was he supposed to do?

Hiroe thought it over. There was no way out. With a helpless sigh, he slowly turned around. Even if doomsday had arrived, he still had to face it.

"Hey, you're here!" Hiroe greeted her with a smile, trying to smooth over the awkwardness of having just tried to escape.

Yoruichi wasn't buying it. With a wicked grin, she put one hand on her hip and pointed behind her, then turned and walked away without a word.

Her meaning was clear: Come out. We'll talk.

What would happen if he didn't go? Hiroe had considered going straight back to his room to rest, but if he did that, the outcome would probably be miserable. So no more harebrained ideas—he'd better follow her.

As soon as they left Yamamoto's residence, Yoruichi—who had been walking ahead—whirled around and launched a flying kick at Hiroe's face.

For Yoruichi, "talking" meant fighting. That was common knowledge, at least where she was concerned. Hiroe knew it, of course.

He raised his right hand in front of his face and blocked her attack. Grabbing her foot, he said, "How can a girl be so violent? Why not learn from Hana—"

Before he could finish, Yoruichi switched moves and landed a right roundhouse kick squarely on the side of his face. Amid a cloud of dust and a yelp, he flew more than two meters.

As the dust settled, a smiling face topped with pale yellow hair appeared before Hiroe. "Good evening, Hiroe."

"Looks like you couldn't escape her clutches either, Urahara!"

Everyone had a few close friends in their youth, and Soul Reapers were no exception. The person in front of him was Urahara Kisuke. Along with the one who'd started all this, Yoruichi—whose full name was Shihoin Yoruichi—he was one of the only two close friends Hiroe had made in his fifteen years living in Seireitei.

Hiroe knew that the two of them would become famous figures in the future. But for now, they were still young and hadn't earned the title of "figures." They were simply geniuses.

"Did you upset Her Highness Yoruichi again?" Urahara asked, reaching out to pull Hiroe off the ground.

"Practicing swordsmanship with Old Man Yama is exhausting! Can't you let me slack off for once?"

Yoruichi, standing a little way off, heard him. Her mood, which had only just settled, flared up again. She flashed over and stomped on him, making Hiroe—who had barely managed to sit up—lie flat on the ground once more.

"Dead-fish eyes, you're feeling pretty cocky now, aren't you? You say you're slacking off like it's something to be proud of!"

"Who are you calling dead-fish eyes? My eyes are just a little small. What's that supposed to mean?"

"The future head of the Shihoin family is calling you dead-fish eyes. You got a problem with that?"

Seeing the conversation start to drift off track, Urahara spoke up. "We don't have much time. We still have important business to take care of."

"Exactly!" Hiroe turned the tables, slapping the ground as he spoke with righteous indignation. "Are we doing this or not? Get your foot off me already!"

"Calm down, calm down!" Urahara hurriedly tried to stop Yoruichi, whose fists were clenched tight. "If you beat him up, we'll both be the ones who suffer."

"Hmph. Dead-fish eyes, you're doing half the work later. Got it?" Once Hiroe nodded, Yoruichi lifted her foot. "Hurry up. We have a lot to do tonight!"

Seeing Yoruichi so fired up, Urahara and Hiroe exchanged a glance, smiled, and hurried after her.

Sokyoku Hill, the highest point in Seireitei.

But it wasn't the seat of power in Seireitei. It was an execution ground.

So no matter how beautiful the view was, no one would come here to admire the moonlight. And this was where Hiroe, Yoruichi, and Urahara were headed tonight.

Of course, they weren't there to enjoy the scenery. More precisely, their destination was underground, beneath Sokyoku Hill.

Before entering the Spiritual Arts Academy, the three of them had decided to build a secret base in Seireitei, one that belonged to them alone.

Urahara Kisuke had first proposed the idea—or, to be precise, he'd come up with it that very morning. Everyone, including Hiroe, had agreed.

That's right, Diezuka Hiroe had agreed too. No one had tricked or threatened him; he'd agreed outright, and he'd even been the first to do so. So when you thought about it, Yoruichi had actually been pretty restrained just now, hadn't she?

Three hundred meters underground, a vast space nearly fifty meters high and about half the size of a soccer field had already taken shape. But it was still far from what the three of them had envisioned.

"We've only finished a tenth of it! Pick up the pace!" Yoruichi punched through the rock wall in front of her, then shouted at Hiroe in the distance, "Especially you! Double your speed!"

Hiroe looked thoroughly reluctant, but his pickaxe was already swinging much faster. "We could finish this in no time with Kido! Do we really have to dig it all out by hand?!"

Urahara Kisuke, who was laboring nearby to haul away the rubble, silently nodded too. But he didn't say anything, because Yoruichi was sure to have an explanation. No matter how ridiculous it was, to them it would be absolute truth.

"You're the one who talks too much. This is training, too. You know what training is, don't you?"

Yoruichi did have her reasons, after all. Hiroe stopped resisting. What good would resisting do? The fact that she hadn't made him dig with his bare hands was already an act of immense mercy. He ought to be grateful.

They worked through most of the night, and at last, the secret base—nearly the size of five soccer fields—was complete. All three of them lay on the ground, gasping for breath. They were clearly exhausted.

"Let's take a break, then lay the stone tiles."

"Let's leave it as it is. Tiles will break after a few rounds of training anyway." Hiroe wearily gave his opinion, then nudged Urahara beside him with his right hand. "What do you think?"

"Agreed!"

Normally, Yoruichi would have insisted on having her way at this point. This time, she didn't say a word. The sun must have risen in the west.

Hiroe looked to his left. At some point, Her Highness Yoruichi had fallen asleep. He and Urahara exchanged a high five with a smile. One way or another, the matter of the stone tiles was settled.