When the news reached the Kyoraku Clan mansion, it was already afternoon
It wasn't someone who came to report, but Shunsui himself went home at noon. After the morning class, he ran back and bumped into his brother Kyoraku Haruyama when he entered the door.
The heir of the Kyoraku Clan was standing in the corridor, holding a cup of tea in his hand, and was about to go to the study room to read documents. He saw Shunsui walking in from the main door wearing the white top and blue hakama school uniform, and the tea cup almost lost its balance.
"You are..."
He looked Shunsui up and down. "Going to the Spiritual Arts Academy?"
Shunsui nodded, walked past him, walked a few steps and then stopped, turned around and said, "Commander-in-Chief asked me to go."
"What?" Kyoraku Haruyama's face was full of questions
The news spread quickly within the Kyoraku Clan. Before Shunsui had finished lunch, several elders of the clan had already gathered in the meeting hall.
Their expressions are very complex
Kyoraku Clan is one of the Upper Nobility families that responded to the Shin'ō Academy enrollment brochure very early, sent people to ask about the specific situation very early, and said it was "considering" very early. After "considering" it for so many years, it finally sent its children in this way.
"That kid Shunsui..." An old man with gray hair and beard spoke up. He was the previous generation of the Kyoraku Clan. There was a hint of anger in his tone. He was obviously very dissatisfied with his decision after hearing Shunsui's explanation.
Yamamoto told him to go and he went?
Of course, there were other nobles who got the news.
It's no secret that there are characters from Captain-Class in the Spiritual Arts Academy's teaching team.
But knowing comes knowing. When the children of the Kyoraku Clan actually entered, this matter changed from "knowing" to "problem".
The first ones to come to the door were Upper Nobility who were closest to the Kyoraku Clan.
They came with their hands empty-handed, brought gifts, made small talk, and exchanged pleasantries over a cup of tea before slowly turning the conversation to business.
"Shunsui kid, I heard that he went to the Spiritual Arts Academy?" The person who spoke was a middle-aged aristocrat with shiny hair. His family had been operating next door to the Kyoraku Clan for several generations. The relationship between the two families was not far or close, which was just enough for him to ask this question.
Kyoraku Clan There is no need to deny it, and it cannot be denied
Shunsui walks in and out in school uniform, Seireitei is so big, the news spreads faster than Hell Butterfly.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto... really accept it?"
They want to ask, "Why is it Kyoraku Clan?", "Did Yamamoto say anything?", and "Do you have any private agreement with Yamamoto?" But these questions cannot be asked, and Kyoraku Clan owner cannot answer them.
"After all, who wouldn't want to be taught skills by those captains?"
The atmosphere in the meeting hall suddenly changed. The captains of Gotei 13 took turns teaching at the Spiritual Arts Academy. This was no secret.
Taken individually, each of these names is Soul Society's top figure in a certain field. Put together, they form a top-notch teacher lineup that even Four Great Noble Clans can't put together.
The nobles said "Spiritual Arts Academy is for Rukongai people", but what they were thinking was something else.
Early the next morning, there was a pile of greeting cards on Yamamoto's desk.
The nobles of Seireitei are well-informed. The news that Shunsui entered Spiritual Arts Academy was only confirmed in the meeting hall of the Kyoraku Clan yesterday. The greeting card was delivered early this morning.
Yamamoto didn't read those greetings, not because he was being cold-hearted, but because he could probably guess what was written in them.
The Squad Members of First Division shuttled through the streets of Seireitei, knocking on the doors of aristocratic mansions, standing there and saying businesslikely, "Commander-in-Chief has an order. Enrollment for this year has ended. Please come back next year."
When the news reached various nobles, their reactions were different. Some people breathed a sigh of relief. It was not that they would not go, but that they would not go this year. We would talk about it next year and worry about next year's affairs next year.
Some people frowned, Yamamoto is hanging on to them. If they don't accept it this year, will they accept it next year? How will they be divided into classes after accepting it? Will they take classes with Rukongai people? Some people didn't react at all, just nodded, and then closed the door.
But after receiving the message, more nobles turned around and did the same thing. They called their children to come forward.
"Next year, you will report to the Shin'ō Academy."
The noble's voice was not loud, and his tone was not harsh, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from the cracks in the stone, hard, cold, and unquestionable.
The aristocratic young man did not speak, and the curve of his mouth curled down a little further, almost turning into an upside-down crescent moon.
"Did you hear that?"
"Heard"
The boy's voice was very soft, almost inaudible, but his father heard it, not his answer, but his reluctance.
In another mansion, a girl wearing a gorgeous kimono sat on her knees in front of her mother, with her hands folded on her knees and her back straight.
Her mother was sitting opposite, holding a cup of tea in her hand. Her tone was gentle, but there was a firmness that could not be refused. "I have asked someone to measure the Spiritual Arts Academy school uniform. It will be delivered next week. You can try it on. If it doesn't fit, then change it."
"Mother."
"Huh?"
"Can I not go?"
Mother put down the tea cup, and the bottom of the cup hit the tray with a soft sound.
"Can't"
The girl didn't ask any more questions.
The news poured into every house like a tide.
Some people accepted it silently, some threw the cup on the spot, some locked themselves in the room for a whole day and did not come out, some went to other nobles all night to inquire about the Spiritual Arts Academy, and some did nothing but sat in the yard and stared at the sky in a daze.
Shin'ō Academy, where is that place? It's a place where Rukongai people go. Those who don't even have enough to eat, don't have surnames, and haven't even touched Zanpakutō, wear school uniforms of white and blue or white and red, sit in the same classroom, and listen to the same teacher.
Are noble children going to attend classes with those people?
"What a joke!"
This sentence rang out in many corners of Seireitei at the same time. Someone smashed the tea cup, someone kicked over the low table in front of them, and someone crumpled the Spiritual Arts Academy school uniform that had just been delivered and stuffed it into the deepest part of the cabinet.
The noble children could not accept it.
It's not because they are bad, it's because they never know what it feels like to "take classes with Rukongai people".
They studied in a family private school since they were young. They were surrounded by people who were similar to themselves, wore similar clothes, spoke the same words, and had similar backgrounds.
They don't need to compare with others, they only need to compare with themselves.
Now suddenly someone tells them that you are going to a place where there are hundreds of people from Rukongai. They sit in the same chair, use the same table, and listen to the same teacher as you.
Their school uniforms are issued, their tuition fees are free, and their meals are provided by the canteen.
The noble children were filled with fear.
I am afraid that I will lose all the privileges brought by the status of "noble" in that environment.
It's not that I look down on others, it's that I'm afraid of being looked down upon by others.
But the parents' attitude was much firmer than they expected.
A father said to his son at dinner, "You think I want you to go? You think I don't know where Spiritual Arts Academy is? But look at the Kyoraku Clan. Kyoraku Clan has gone, but if you don't go, what will you say when people ask you 'where did you graduate?'? Say 'my private school'? What can you do to make up for the gap between those taught in private schools and those taught by the Spiritual Arts Academy?"
The young man lowered his head and placed his chopsticks on the bowl without moving.
An elder from another family said at the clan meeting, "This is not a question of whether to go or not, but a question of standing in line. Yamamoto set up Spiritual Arts Academy there and dragged the captains of each division to serve as instructors just for this day. Kyoraku Clan has already stood over. If we don't stand over, will there be any of our people in Gotei 13 in the future?"
No one refutes, it's not that they agree, it's that they don't know how to refute.