Name

"Ichiro, my name is... call my name... Ichiro, my name is... call my name... I have been waiting for you... Ichiro..."

As a beam of sunlight pierced the dormitory, Ichiro slowly opened his eyes, which were filled with melancholy. At this moment, the voice in the depths of his heart vanished completely.

Ichiro knew very well that it was the voice of his Zanpakuto spirit. According to the academy, reaching this stage meant he was not far from achieving Shikai. However, "not far" was relative; history was full of Shinigami who had been stuck at this stage for decades or even centuries.

Ichiro gently stroked the Zanpakuto resting by his side and muttered to himself, "What must I do to hear your name clearly?"

"Oh, wow," Urahara stretched and said, "You can hear your Zanpakuto's voice now? Is it willing to tell you its name?"

"Yeah, it spoke, but unfortunately, I couldn't hear it. What do you think is missing?"

"Hard to say. Everyone's situation is different. I heard the name the moment I heard the voice. But in your case, could it be related to alchemy?"

Ichiro paused, then lowered his head in thought. After Urahara mentioned it, he recalled an original plot point from the source material that fit his current situation perfectly: Kuchiki Koga. When he lost trust in his Zanpakuto, both he and his Zanpakuto, Muramasa, could no longer hear each other's voices.

In other words... do I not trust you? Or perhaps, you haven't truly acknowledged me...

Ichiro didn't know the answer. It could be his own fault, the Zanpakuto's, or perhaps a bit of both.

Shaking his head, Ichiro stopped dwelling on these thoughts and immediately got up to pack. It had been three days since they returned from the living world.

In these three days, the affairs of the new semester had been settled. Next, Ichiro would begin a brand-new training regimen!

He was entering Squad 4 for an internship!

Entering a squad for an internship was a rule at Shino Academy that had never been utilized. If a student's talent and aptitude met the standard, they could apply for an internship in certain squads to experience the work ahead of time, while still remaining a student.

In reality, this rule had never been used since its inception. To obtain an internship permit, one needed a certain level of talent, but most talented students skipped grades, and those who couldn't skip grades couldn't pass the requirements.

Consequently, this rule was practically a decoration. Skipping grades sounded impressive, but it made the study schedule incredibly rushed. When others took six years to finish their studies, you were doing it in three, or even one or two years—how could you possibly have time for anything else?

Only the three slackers, including Ichiro, had the conditions to pull this off.

Therefore, after seeing this clause in the library, Ichiro acted immediately. For him, Squad 4 was a paradise for researching body alchemy!

Body alchemy itself leaned toward healing; strengthening was merely a deviant path he had developed. In Squad 4, there were countless experiments—oh, no, patients—waiting for his tender care.

There was simply no better place than this!

Most importantly, unlike in his previous life, where medical institutions were suspicious of alchemists' activities and made it inconvenient to do many things, in this life, heh heh heh...

"Pfft!"

Seeing Ichiro suddenly let out an evil laugh, Urahara threw a pillow straight at him.

"What are you thinking about? If you're late on your first day of reporting, you won't leave a good impression."

"Sigh, I know, I'm going... wait, why are you so fast today?" Ichiro stared, dumbfounded, at Urahara, who was already packed. They had woken up at roughly the same time.

Usually, he would have taken at least two more naps!

"Oh, Yoruichi and I are heading back. It seems like some trouble is brewing in the Soul Society. Be careful yourself. If you encounter an enemy, release all your spiritual pressure immediately, and we will arrive as soon as possible."

"Understood, take care." As he spoke, Ichiro climbed out of bed. Regarding the turmoil Urahara mentioned, he had some guesses due to the earlier incident with his Zanpakuto.

Ichiro remembered that the source material described Kuchiki Koga as a genius Shinigami from several centuries ago who had mastered Bankai while still in the academy and rose through the ranks after distinguishing himself in battles against rebellious Shinigami.

That was about all Ichiro remembered. The key point was the rebellion—multiple rebellions, in fact—so the Soul Society was never truly peaceful. Judging by the timeline, it was entirely possible he might run into Kuchiki Koga.

However, Ichiro didn't pay much mind to it. No matter how chaotic things got, it had nothing to do with a student from Shino Academy. Besides, his strength was on par with an average seated officer, and if he counted his vast repertoire of Kido, he was even stronger than most. As a student, he wasn't panicked at all.

Although the number of seated officers was significant—each squad had about 30 to 50 (the more members, the more seats, but the lower limit of strength remained consistent)—the Thirteen Court Guard Squads were still filled with cannon fodder. Thus, seated officers were already considered the second-tier combat force of the Soul Society.

Not to mention the Shihoin clan was around, so Ichiro wasn't worried at all, unless they dispatched a captain-level officer specifically to deal with him!

But if that happened, he would just accept his fate.

After grooming himself, Ichiro walked out of Shino Academy and headed straight for Squad 4.

Along the way, patrolling Shinigami cast frequent glances at Ichiro in his white school uniform, all speculating about his identity.

None of this affected Ichiro. Following the map he had obtained from his teacher, he arrived at Squad 4, took his hands out of his pockets, straightened his attire, and walked inside.

Before entering Squad 4, Ichiro had imagined many scenarios: being personally welcomed by Captain Unohana, who would then teach him Kido and Kaido hand-in-hand; or being greeted by a cheering crowd of squad members, with enthusiastic "big" sisters kindly helping him get familiar with the environment.

Or perhaps being intentionally ignored and given dirty, menial tasks to temper his character, while they secretly observed him.

Or perhaps they would take a liking to his swordsmanship talen... well, that fantasy had no follow-up.

In short, after walking into Squad 4 with his head full of wild expectations, Ichiro realized it was nothing like he had imagined.

He was greeted only by a middle-aged man carrying a white satchel. Aside from feeling slightly surprised by the Shino Academy regulation, the man registered Ichiro's information just like any other member, handed him an identical white satchel and a broom, and that was it...

That was it!

It was only then, prompted by the man, that Ichiro remembered Squad 4 was also responsible for daily cleaning duties!

I, the number one... two... three genius of Shino Academy, am reduced to a janitor here? No wonder no one comes! Bah!

Can this be tolerated?

The more Ichiro thought about it, the angrier he got!

"New guy! Keep it down, you're kicking up all the dust!"

"Coming~"