Captain's Inspection

Hinamori Momo and Izuru Kira, both first-year students, were assigned to the Organization Department under Hisagi Shūhei.

No one had a particularly clear idea of the Student Council's departments' specific duties, so there were no objections. They only hoped to do their jobs well in the future.

Rukia's name was read last.

"Rukia, you will serve as the Student Council President's assistant."

The Student Council President's assistant?

Quite a few people were surprised to hear that. There was a position like that?

But soon, some looked envious.

In these first-years' eyes, the Student Council President was already an important figure, surely on the same level as the Spirit Training Academy's teachers. Being able to follow him around was naturally a good thing.

Rukia herself was somewhat dazed. She did not understand what set her apart from all the other new students, or why she had been assigned such a job.

In truth, she did not like this sort of special treatment. The looks from those around her put immense pressure on her, even making her uneasy.

Ever since Renji had been eliminated in the first round of the Student Council selection, she had not been very interested in the Student Council. It was not as though she absolutely had to join; if Renji had not encouraged her, she might have given up back then.

However, Hinamori Momo beside her could not help lightly tugging at her sleeve, looking excited.

Rukia suppressed her somewhat disordered emotions and answered, "Yes."

After every first-year had been assigned to a department, the newcomers were taken away by their respective department heads or upperclassmen for individual talks.

Rukia, meanwhile, was left alone in the office.

Xin looked at the girl before him and spoke leisurely. "You don't seem very satisfied with this arrangement?"

Rukia hurriedly said, "No! It's just... I just don't think I can handle such an important position."

Xin smiled faintly. "It's only a Student Council assistant position. It isn't that important. If you don't want it, I can find someone to switch with you. I don't like forcing people to do things they don't want to do either."

Rukia's thoughts raced. She felt that refusing outright would be very rude, so she said, "You've misunderstood... I-I'll work hard!"

Xin smiled encouragingly. "I already said this isn't such an important position. You should have more confidence. Even if it were an extremely important position, how would you know you couldn't do it? Spend these next couple of days getting familiar with the work. Once you get used to it, it'll be fine."

At least the President was a very kind person...

Rukia thought to herself.

"Y-Yes, President!"

"Then go back for now. Don't you still have class this morning?"

In truth, after binding the Reaper's Wedge to Rukia, Xin had begun to regret it somewhat. He had not known that this "Second Reaper's Wedge" could be activated. As the female lead of the original Reaper story, Rukia's rewards should have been higher than anyone else's.

But Rukia was not an easy person to win over.

Compared to her, Hinamori Momo was much simpler.

But since things had already reached this point, there was no point regretting it. He could only take things one step at a time.

With Rukia and Hinamori Momo before him, Xin's strength should enter another period of rapid growth.

After leaving the Student Council headquarters office, Rukia could not help letting out a breath of relief. At the end of the corridor, she found Hinamori Momo standing there, apparently waiting for her.

"Rukia!"

Hinamori waved at her with a bright smile.

"How did it go?"

The moment Rukia approached, Hinamori asked impatiently.

"How did what go?"

"The President! You're the President's assistant now, so you'll be able to stay by his side often from now on." Hinamori Momo said excitedly.

Rukia had already been worried about this, so she said, "I don't even know if I can do this job well..."

Hinamori Momo cheered her on. "You'll definitely do great!"

"I'll work hard," Rukia said. Then she asked, "What about you? Your department head is that upperclassman Hisagi, right?"

Hinamori Momo looked somewhat discouraged. "Upperclassman Hisagi is a little too serious, and so are the two classmates assigned with me. That Izuru Kira always has such a grim face too. They all feel so gloomy. Come to think of it, I'm really jealous of you, Rukia. The President is such an easygoing person."

Rukia thought that was indeed true. Then she felt that someone with a more cheerful personality like Hinamori Momo would be better suited to her job.

With that thought, the already unconfident Rukia began to waver even more.

"Forget it. It'll be fine once I get to know everyone better. Let's both do our best, Rukia."

Hinamori Momo comforted herself, then encouraged Rukia as well.

During the break, Renji Abarai from Class A came to find Rukia.

Rukia told him about some of the Student Council matters, including how she had become the President's assistant.

"The President's assistant..."

Renji Abarai scratched his head, feeling that it should be a very high position, like a captain's adjutant.

Of course, he did not know that the Student Council had a vice president. He did not know much about the Student Council to begin with.

But Renji was still happy for Rukia. "That's great, Rukia! Looks like that President really knows quality when he sees it!"

"Idiot! I'm not some kind of merchandise!" Rukia snapped.

Renji quickly corrected himself. "I mean your President has a good eye! Hahahaha!"

"..."

Seeing her friend sincerely happy for her, Rukia's expression softened considerably.

"Renji, since we've come to the Spirit Training Academy with the goal of becoming Reapers, we should both work hard. You need to work even harder in Class A!"

"Yeah, I know!"

Renji raised his fist, his face full of confidence. "Don't worry, Rukia. We'll definitely become incredibly powerful Reapers!"

After establishing the Student Council, Xin could openly skip class.

Nanda Hidezawa was helpless about this behavior of his, but he also knew there was really nothing left for him to teach Xin.

All he could do was advise Xin not to neglect his training. Although Xin's overall strength ranked among the best in the Spirit Training Academy, once he left the academy, he would be nothing. There were plenty of people stronger than him.

Xin naturally understood this as well. Even with the system helping him improve, he still set aside time every day to train.

However, because of the system's character information interface, he could tell that his training was producing results very slowly, nowhere near as effective as interacting with Rukia and Hinamori Momo.

"A captain is coming to inspect the Spirit Training Academy?"

Xin suddenly received this news from one of the academy's teachers.

"That's right. This happens every year, so you should know about it. This year, your Student Council will be responsible for receiving them. Mainly, you'll guide them around each of the first-year classes."

Xin knew that the Spirit Training Academy had this tradition. Not long after new students began each year, captains would come to inspect the academy.

One major reason was to let the new students see the captains of the Thirteenth Division with their own eyes, thereby inspiring their determination to join the Thirteenth Division.

"Then may I ask which captain is coming to inspect this year?"

"Oh, Captain Sosuke Aizen of the Fifth Division."