Shin'ō Academy's Sakura has opened another season.
The freshmen were lined up in uneven rows along the bluestone slab, carrying luggage, wooden knives, and those Reiatsu who had not yet learned to keep their heads down, making the corridor a little noisy. Most people looked left and right, trying to find evidence of whether they could stand on others' faces first.
One of them is particularly eye-catching.
The eyes were covered with a cloth. The cloth was not just a perfunctory one, but was wrapped very carefully, with neat edges. Even if this person could not see it, he would not allow a scratch on his body. He just stood steadily in the line, with a Zanpakutō on his waist.
"Hey, look at that person..."
"Can a blind man be Soul Reaper?"
"You brought a knife with you? Doesn't Spiritual Arts Academy's hair not count?"
Whispers flowed like a tide from one end of the queue to the other, with curiosity, suspicion, and a bit of inexplicable rejection. The rejection is not vicious, but the young people don't understand yet. Some differences do not need to be explained first, but can also be allowed first.
Tōsen Kaname heard it.
He couldn't see those scrutinizing eyes, but he could hear the direction of the voice, the weight of the footsteps, and the protruding thorn in Reiatsu. He didn't turn his head or explain. The stone path stretched under his feet. The gaps, wear, and slight inclination all followed the echo of Reiatsu and fell into his heart. He walked very straight, causing several people who originally wanted to see him tripping to slowly swallow their words.
In the first few days of school, strange things became normal one by one.
He couldn't see the bowl, but he could pick up the rice accurately and eat it in one bite without spilling it or in a hurry. He couldn't see the knife, but he could pull out the Zanpakutō and put it back steadily, with the wind of the blade close to his ear, not even moving the bangs of the person next to him.
During the night patrol, others relied on the light, but he relied on the thickness of the Reishi in the wind. Someone deliberately placed a wooden barrel on the road he had to pass. The barrel was still there the next day, but his steps had already bypassed it, so naturally, as if the barrel was always supposed to be there.
His classmates thought he was weird at first.
Later, admiration gradually overshadowed curiosity.
"How on earth did he do it..."
"Reiatsu, I heard it depends on Reiatsu's perception."
"It's amazing... my eyes are fine, and I even fell down at night."
To the surprise of many people, Tōsen Kaname is not bad at popularity.
He doesn't talk much, but he never conflicts with others. He will quietly help anyone who is in trouble.
And in the Spiritual Arts Academy, he made a very good friend.
Sajin Komamura.
If the monsters in Tōsen Kaname are quiet, then the monsters in Sajin Komamura can scare people away at a glance.
He was frighteningly tall, with a huge hood covering his head, which completely hid his entire face, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
No one knows what's underneath the hood.
No one wants to know.
"That guy... could he be Xu?"
"Don't go near him, what if."
"It's not normal at first glance. How could Spiritual Arts Academy accept such a person?"
The words are harder than those given to Tōsen Kaname. They are harder because of fear. You need to push the other person away before you feel safe.
Sajin Komamura heard it. His ears were in the hood and he heard it better than anyone else. He did not refute. To refute, he had to take off his mask first, and he refused to let anyone see what was under the mask more than anyone else.
So he ate alone, eating a lot, but being careful about how he ate, as if he was afraid that his shadow would occupy someone else's seat.
When a person practices the sword, the force of the sword is heavy and steady, and every blow feels like an apology to someone, and also like proving to someone: I can speak only with the sword.
A person was sitting in a corner by the playground, waiting quietly, with cherry petals falling quietly on his headgear.
But even so, his honest and honest temper still saved a few people for him.
Not much.
There are very few people who are willing to hold down the monster first and then listen to what he says. He speaks slowly and has no scheming.
If anyone asked him about sword skills, he would answer; if after answering he found that the other person did not understand, he would lower his head in embarrassment and say the same sentence shorter and more stupidly.
Stupidity is sometimes the only form of sincerity that is willing to show itself.
Among these people, the one who is closest to him is Tōsen Kaname.
No one can tell how these two people got together. One couldn't see it, and the other refused to be seen. Maybe because of this, they saved a lot of unnecessary looking at each other.
Tōsen Kaname didn't need to take off his hood, and Sajin Komamura didn't need to explain his eyes to him. They sat in the same corner by the playground, one listening to the wind, the other looking at the clouds, occasionally saying a few words, and most of the time just staying in silence. There was no temptation, no pity, and no curiosity in that kind of silence. Only two people who had been glanced at by the world finally found a place where they didn't have to be looked at too much.
One night while practicing swordsmanship, Komamura asked, "Why do you want to be Soul Reaper?"
Tōsen Kaname was silent for a while, the insects chirped very softly, and he put his hand on the knife he brought with him.
"Because some things should not be decided only by strong people. If the rules are blind, someone should see them. I can't see the light, but I can hear injustice. When injustice falls, the sound is very loud."
graduation day
Light snow is flying outside the window
When the list was posted, the corridor was noisier than when we entered the school. The names of the squads were read back and forth, like doors that had been opened one after another.
Tōsen Kaname stood in front of the list. He didn't need to read the words. Someone had already come over and read him the line related to him. There was a bit of incredible respect in his voice. He got good grades.
The invitation arrived after everyone had dispersed.
Fifth Division Lieutenant Sosuke Aizen.
He stood in the light of the corridor, his smile as gentle as ever. Lieutenant came to the Spiritual Arts Academy himself to invite people, which was not an ordinary courtesy.
"Tōsen-kun, come to Fifth Division."
Tōsen Kaname was silent for a long time, then slowly said, "Sorry, Aizen Lieutenant, I want to go to Ninth Division."
Aizen's eyes flickered slightly behind the lenses. He didn't ask more why, he just smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, Ninth Division is a good choice."
He wanted to see, see where she had been, see justice
Sajin Komamura, went to Seventh Division.
No Lieutenant personally invited. Seventh Division wanted someone who could wield the knife to the end, and his grades, his Reiatsu, and his temperament of leaving fear to others and concessions to himself, were just enough for a distribution order
The day he left, he was wearing that big hood
There were still graduates in the corridor who were still laughing, but no one waved to him.
He looked back and saw Tōsen Kaname standing not far away.
"Good job" Tōsen Kaname said.
"You too," Sajin Komamura responded in a muffled voice.
The two weirdos were separated into two different doors.
Perhaps many years later, they will stand opposite each other again through an invisible line.