Enrollment

(A quick aside: I see a lot of people are still hung up on Fullmetal Alchemist, so let me clear things up. The first forty chapters involve Alchemy from Fullmetal Alchemist. This story hadn't reached that point yet, so I couldn't very well change it. But after chapter forty or so, the Fullmetal Alchemist elements will be removed. The Alchemy after that will be based on the Soul Reaper system. Those are the main points of contention. I can't change the synopsis for another five days... Sorry for the trouble.)

Tenshin Ichiro was sixty-four years old, a new student at Shin'o Academy, and a hapless two-time transmigrant.

In his first life, he had been an office worker on Blue Star. He'd already bought a car and a house and was just about to start looking for a girlfriend. Then, in his third year, he binge-watched forty episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist during his vacation and died suddenly, transmigrating to the world of Fullmetal Alchemist...

In his second life, he'd learned his lesson. He'd cultivated good sleeping habits from a young age and worked hard to learn Alchemy. In the end, he'd passed the examinations and become an honorable State Alchemist. For someone who was content to coast through life, it was fair to say he'd had a fulfilling one.

However, perhaps it was a curse. In his third year as a State Alchemist, an experiment with explosives suddenly went out of control. With a bang, he was dead once again...

When he woke up, he found himself in Rukongai, with a new name: Tenshin Ichiro...

He'd forgotten the memories of his previous life. All that remained in his mind were nearly twenty years' worth of memories from his life in Rukongai.

Ichiro was lucky. In this life, he had once again been born with the potential to wield this world's supernatural power: Reiryoku. Though it was weak, it set him apart from the other residents of Rukongai.

So, despite Rukongai's meager resources, Ichiro spent nearly forty years before finally passing the examinations and officially becoming a first-year student at Shin'o Academy!

After straightening his white uniform, Ichiro looked in the mirror and flashed a confident smile. "I'm still as handsome as ever!"

Walking along the academy paths, Ichiro was just like the other students who had grown up in Rukongai. He craned his neck curiously to look at the scenery like a country bumpkin, drawing frequent looks of disgust from the refined nobles nearby.

The other students felt their gazes and, out of embarrassment, shrank back and stopped looking around so brazenly. Ichiro alone paid no attention to anyone's looks and continued to take in the academy.

After all, even setting aside those dull forty-odd years in Soul Society, Ichiro had lived for several decades. You couldn't lose face if you didn't have one!

"Hm? They're being this fair?" Ichiro stared at the class assignment list on the bulletin board, surprise flickering in his eyes.

The first-years hadn't been assigned to classes based on their entrance exam scores. Proof of that was that Ichiro, who had taken forty years to get in, was in the same class as Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara. The two of them would later become powerful Captain-level figures.

Of course, he could predict that things wouldn't stay this way for long. It wasn't conducive to distributing resources fairly, so there would probably be another placement exam later. But by then, Ichiro was confident he could catch up with everyone else!

Ichiro's class was Class 3, Year One. There were thirty students in all, not a particularly large number. Any more, and there wouldn't be enough teachers for the four major subjects: Zanpakuto, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kido.

As Ichiro entered the classroom, his gaze lingered on Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi for a moment. Then, while carefully observing the other nobodies who hadn't appeared in the original story, he headed for his seat: second from the back, by the window.

The back row by the window—the king's homeland!

Before long, the classroom was full. The students gathered in twos and threes to chat, clearly divided into three groups: Seireitei nobles, Rukongai delinquents, and Kisuke Urahara and Tenshin Ichiro.

Though Kisuke Urahara was a fallen noble who'd grown up with Yoruichi—at least, that was Ichiro's guess—the word "fallen" said plenty on its own.

As a result, Kisuke didn't have the nobles' manners, but he wasn't overly rowdy, either. The best way to describe him was as a gentleman who wasn't bound by etiquette. In that respect, Ichiro was much the same.

After all, he'd spent several years as a State Alchemist in his second life and could more or less be considered a minor official. He'd enjoyed a decent social standing and learned plenty of etiquette. The worlds were different, and so were their customs, but the bearing he'd developed hadn't been affected.

So, in that little space, the two met each other's eyes and smiled. Neither said a word, but Kisuke remembered Ichiro, the student from Rukongai.

Soon, the teacher walked in, and the classroom fell silent. Even the rowdiest delinquents from Rukongai sat obediently at their desks like little chicks.

That was because the teacher had entered with his spiritual pressure fully unleashed!

For beginners like them, who had only just started training, the pressure was immense.

Seeing everyone quiet down, the teacher smiled faintly and withdrew his spiritual pressure. "Welcome to Shin'o Academy. I look forward to working with you over the next six years."

After speaking, he gave them a slight bow. The nobles stood and returned his bow, while Ichiro and the others from Rukongai imitated them, offering somewhat awkward bows before sitting down.

There wasn't much to say about what came next. They couldn't start proper lessons on the first day, so the teacher had them give brief introductions, handed out books, and explained some of the academy's rules.

Next came an all-school assembly to hear a speech from the Head Captain of Squad 13, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, who was also the academy's principal. This was one of the few chances the students at Shin'o Academy had to see the Head Captain.

For the other students, it was a tremendous honor. But for Ichiro, apart from feeling a little excited at first glance, it stirred no other emotions. And honestly, the Head Captain's speech wasn't anything special. It was all social pleasantries, the kind of thing Tenshin Ichiro had heard for two lifetimes and was long used to.

After the speech, the teacher showed them around the academy's main facilities, then dismissed them. That was all for the morning. In the afternoon, they would be free to explore the campus, and classes wouldn't officially start until the next day.

Yes, classes at Shin'o Academy only ran in the morning and afternoon. There was no such thing as evening study. When you had a long lifespan, you could afford to be carefree...

But now Ichiro understood why there were so many no-names in the original story. With a setup like this, how much could anyone learn in six years? Unless they were geniuses, all they'd produce were nobodies.

But given Seireitei's system, it made sense. They couldn't hand too much power over to ordinary people.

And in Soul Society, though the comparison wasn't entirely accurate, strength was more or less equal to power!

That made the situation understandable. But none of it had anything to do with Ichiro. After they were dismissed, he turned down the other students' invitations and headed straight to the library. He needed to look up some information, and it would determine how quickly he progressed at the academy!

"Whoa..." Ichiro couldn't help exclaiming as he pushed open the library doors. There were far more books here than he'd ever imagined. He'd spent plenty of time in the National Library in his previous life, but it couldn't compare to this place in terms of the sheer number of books!

And this was just the collection for students!

Still marveling, Ichiro stepped closer. Only after seeing the guide posted on the shelves did he understand why there were so many books here.

Eighty percent of them were about Kido!

Though the core powers of the Soul Reapers fell into four categories—Zanpakuto, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kido—the first three were more practical in combat. In terms of how widely they could be applied, though, they were nowhere near Kido.

Take Zanpakuto, for example. There were countless sword styles, but most people could only learn one or two schools. Unohana, the Fourth Division Captain, had carved her way through countless opponents with a single blade, earning the name Yachiru!

Hakuda and Shunpo were much the same. The advanced techniques were kept under lock and key.

Kido was different. Even its most widely applicable branches were extensive and profound, enough to keep a Soul Reaper studying for an entire lifetime!

Many Soul Reapers only ever got to study Kido.

So it was only natural that there were so many books on it. But that wasn't Ichiro's goal today. He was after something more fundamental: the theory of Reishi...

That evening, his roommate still hadn't returned. Ichiro drew a circle on the floor with chalk, then wrote a series of complex symbols inside it!

That's right. Though he didn't yet understand the principles behind it, this was Ichiro's cheat: the Alchemy he'd inherited from the world of Fullmetal Alchemist!