A Year Later

Time flew by, and before they knew it, a year had passed. Over the course of that year, Ichiro had become best friends with Urahara and Yoruichi. The two of them had shown him their secret base, and Ichiro had told them about his Alchemy, claiming he had brought it with him from the World of the Living. He had deliberately steered the conversation toward Fullbring whenever he could, so Urahara hadn't been particularly suspicious.

Of course, he still hadn't told them he could make Spirit Food that directly increased spiritual pressure. It was far too extraordinary, a secret he was destined to take to his grave.

That was the extent of Ichiro's social life that year. Unlike him, the others had lived for decades, even centuries, but their minds didn't seem to have matured accordingly. Ichiro showed signs of it too, but he had already grown up before he transmigrated, so there was still a considerable generation gap between him and the others. Their relationship went no further than classmates.

In terms of strength, Ichiro had nearly finished learning everything taught in the first three years at Shin'o Academy except swordsmanship. With the help of Spirit Food made through Alchemy, his spiritual pressure had also reached the level of an average Seated Officer.

The one thing Ichiro regretted was that, although he liked swordsmanship, he simply had no talent for it. His swordplay was still no better than a beginner's, and perhaps because of that, the release of his Zanpakuto seemed a long way off.

However, Ichiro had an exceptional talent for Kido. He had learned every spell below number thirty, and could cast them all with Incantation Abandonment. He had even taught himself every spell above number ten!

That terrifying talent had nearly scared Urahara to death. He'd learned all that on his own! Urahara and Yoruichi had only progressed so quickly because their clans had instructors dedicated to teaching them.

He'd taught himself spells up to number thirty. If he also skipped grades, wouldn't he reach number fifty?

Of course, with Ichiro's arrival, the course of events had changed somewhat. Urahara's Kido wasn't as outrageous as Ichiro's, but he had still learned every spell below number thirty, and could use Incantation Abandonment on spells below number twenty.

He was a little behind Ichiro in Kido, but when it came to swordsmanship, he left Ichiro far behind. Urahara had already achieved Shikai, and after Ichiro's "casual" hint, he was now studying a convenient way to achieve Bankai, as in the original story.

In other respects, he was about on par with Ichiro. His spiritual pressure had already been high before enrollment, and after getting Spirit Food of exceptionally high quality from Ichiro, it was growing even faster.

Yoruichi was about the same as the two of them overall, but her Hakuda and Shunpo far surpassed theirs. Overall, she was the strongest, Urahara was second, and Ichiro was third...

But not many people at the academy knew how strong they really were. None of them wanted to skip grades—or, more precisely, Urahara and Ichiro didn't. Yoruichi was simply keeping them company.

Seriously, what was there to gain from graduating early, besides a reputation as a genius and a life as a corporate drone?

Nothing. The resources that seemed to be rewards were really just being allocated to you ahead of time. Once you were strong enough, they'd be yours anyway.

So, after Ichiro talked him into it, Urahara decided to lie low with him at Shino Academy. They wouldn't graduate before completing all six years!

They got room and board at the academy, could do whatever they liked outside of class, and even slack off during lessons. If they ran into a problem, they could ask a teacher. What was there not to love?

Why rush to graduate?

It wasn't as if they had rocks for brains!

"Ugh... ah... Urahara, what time is it?" In the dormitory, Ichiro sucked in a breath through his teeth, massaged his temples, and struggled up from the floor.

Their class had held a party after yesterday's exam. They'd drunk through the night. The classes had already been reshuffled according to their previous grades, so most of them would be split up.

So even though they hadn't been close with everyone, Ichiro and the others had gone anyway. They'd been classmates, after all. Then they'd gotten carried away...

"Ugh... how should I know? My head's killing me! What's the rush? We're off today. Classes don't start until tomorrow..." Urahara thumped his head, then slumped back down halfway through sitting up.

That was another way Shin'o Academy differed from ordinary schools. It wasn't a normal school, so it had no vacations. At most, they got a day or two to rest and unwind before a new round of studies began.

It was less a school than an army with relatively lax rules.

"What if we sleep through it?" Ichiro said, tossing a pillow at Urahara. "Use Kido to check. Didn't you develop a spell that tells the time?"

"Pfft—"

"..." After a moment of silence, Urahara quietly lifted the pillow off his face and said weakly, "Idiot, that's not what that spell is for..."

Despite what he said, Urahara's hand still instinctively cast the spell.

A flash of blue light passed, and Urahara buried his head in his pillow again. "Classes are tomorrow..."

"That's good..."

"Pfft—"

At the news, Ichiro relaxed at once, toppled over, and sank into his blanket. Tomorrow was the first day of their second year. They'd also be going to the World of the Living for their first Konso training!

Starting in their second year, training in the World of the Living was added to their courses. Second- and third-years practiced performing Konso on Pluses in the World of the Living. The only difference was the spiritual land's grade, which determined the likelihood of Hollows appearing.

Starting in their fourth year, they would train to kill Hollows. What interested Ichiro most was the Konso practice in the World of the Living. Since they were going there anyway, he could test whether the Alchemy he'd learned in his previous life would work.

In theory, it should. The World of the Living wasn't made of Reishi; at least, most of its matter was the same as that of his previous world.

If he could use the Transmutation Circle from his previous life, it would be a huge boon to his Alchemy research.

"Whoosh—bang!"

"You two... how long are you going to sleep?!"

Suddenly, the dormitory door was flung open, and Yoruichi shouted at them.

"Ugh... there's no class today. Let me sleep a little longer..."

"Classes don't start until tomorrow. What's the hurry... no rush..."

With that, the two of them rolled over and went back to sleep.

Yoruichi's brow twitched as she stood in the doorway. She took a deep breath, let it out, then expressionlessly raised her right hand, palm facing them, and began chanting rapidly:

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all things, fluttering wings, bearing the name of Man! Inferno and chaos..."

"Holy crap!" x2

Ichiro and Urahara woke up in an instant. With no time to react, they bolted straight out the window!

"...Ride upon the sea and surge southward, march on! Way of Destruction No. 31: Shakkaho!"

"Boom!!!"

"Hey! We would've been dead if you'd been any slower!"

"Exactly! And we'll have to pay for the damage to the dorm!"

"It's fine. Money's the one thing I've got plenty of. Hurry up and get ready. We've got another party today."

Ichiro scratched his head and asked curiously, "Another one? With who?"

"Our new classmates. Unless something unexpected happens, we'll be in the same class for the next five years, so someone suggested we all get together first."

"What's the point of that? Honestly."

"Then why are you already dressed?" Ichiro called Urahara out without mercy.

"Aren't you?"

"I never said I wasn't going."

"Okay, you two. Let's go."

"Yeah!" x2

A new year had begun. Thanks to their carefully controlled exam scores and a tiny bit of help from the Shihoin Clan, the three of them had ended up in the same class again. It was still Class Three, though—a number that made Ichiro a little uneasy...