Hinamori Momo's Request

Two days after Rukia and the other two began preparing their performance, Hinamori Momo suddenly came to see Xin again.

"President!"

Xin was handling some Cultural Festival matters. When he saw Hinamori, he asked, "What is it? Is your performance ready?"

"Not yet. We're still rehearsing," Hinamori Momo said with a smile.

"What are you preparing? Why didn't I see it on the list?"

Hinamori Momo smiled mysteriously. "Hehe, that's a secret for now. When the time comes, it'll definitely give you a huge surprise, President!"

Xin smiled and set down his work. "All right, I'll look forward to it."

He guessed she had come to him for something.

Sure enough, Hinamori Momo said, "President, there's something I'd like to ask you to help with."

"Let's hear it."

"Our Spirit Training Academy's Cultural Festival is such a rare occasion."

"If this one goes well, there'll be one every year from now on."

Hinamori Momo continued, "I have a friend who has spiritual power too. I've always wanted him to attend the Spirit Training Academy, but he always refuses. So I want to use this opportunity to let him see the place. I'm sure that once he comes here, he'll definitely fall in love with the Spirit Training Academy!"

Friend?

Xin was taken aback. He immediately thought of who Hinamori Momo meant.

The future captain of the Tenth Division, Tōshirō Hitsugaya.

But according to the original timeline, Tōshirō Hitsugaya had only enrolled after Hinamori Momo graduated from the Spirit Training Academy.

Could it happen earlier...?

Xin pondered silently.

At that moment, Hinamori Momo stepped closer to Xin and diligently began massaging his shoulders. "President, I know this is difficult, but you must have a way, right?"

Hinamori Momo came from the Rukon District, while the Spirit Training Academy was located in the Seireitei.

The Seireitei was a place reserved for nobles and Shinigami. Under normal circumstances, residents of the Rukon District were not allowed to enter freely.

Not even those from Junrinan in the First District.

Xin was, after all, only an ordinary student. He did not have that much authority.

But Hinamori Momo had not thought that deeply. She only felt that her President was usually in contact with the Spirit Training Academy's higher-ups, and even important figures like the captains and Lieutenant Captains of the Thirteenth Division. In her eyes, he was an extremely capable person.

"You've got some nerve to even think of that!" Xin snorted.

"President, can it be done?" Hinamori Momo looked at Xin with hopeful eyes.

"You should know the Seireitei's rules. You actually had the audacity to come up with something like this. Do you understand the consequences of doing so?"

"So it can't be done..." Hinamori Momo could not hide the disappointment in her eyes. Then she felt that perhaps she truly had been indulging in a fantasy.

Even if the President had the ability, he could not casually break the rules. Thinking about it that way, she really had been thoughtless.

"Sorry, President. I've disturbed you."

Hinamori Momo bowed to Xin and turned to leave.

"However, I do have a way."

"..."

Hearing that, Hinamori Momo quickly turned around, hope rekindling in her eyes.

"But it would involve taking a great risk." Xin put on an indecisive look.

That made Hinamori Momo hesitate as well. She did not want to cause trouble for the President, and this was not something that absolutely had to be done.

"President, it's fine," she said immediately. "Since it means breaking the rules, there's no need. I didn't think it through."

Xin chuckled. "Is that friend of yours very close to you?"

Hinamori Momo nodded. "His home is right next to mine. We grew up together."

In this world, childhood friends did not carry so many ambiguous implications. It simply referred to friends who had grown up together.

Only then did Xin say, "Since he's such a good friend of yours, it wouldn't hurt to bring him over once. It's rare for you to care this much. Wouldn't it be a pity if your efforts went to waste?"

"President..."

Hinamori Momo was deeply moved.

The Seireitei and the Rukon District were separated by white walls built from Saketsu Stone. To pass through them, one had to go through one of the four gates—White Road, Blue Current, Black Ridge, or Vermilion Hollow—and each gate was guarded by a dedicated Shinigami champion.

As a student of the Spirit Training Academy, Hinamori Momo could pass through freely with her student identification.

Xin's method was simple: Hinamori Momo only needed to bring a Spirit Training Academy uniform and student identification to pick him up.

The gate guards were not strict about the movements of Spirit Training Academy students. After all, these students would become Shinigami in the future; showing identification was enough.

"Thank you, President!" Hinamori Momo was overjoyed after hearing this and thanked him repeatedly.

"Are you only thanking me with words?" Xin asked with a teasing smile.

Hinamori Momo suddenly became a little bashful and said stiffly, "I-I'm grateful in my heart too."

Affection: 48

Xin secretly glanced at the system interface. Once Affection reached fifty or sixty, it became difficult to raise. Even Matsumoto Rangiku, whom he had known the longest, only had Affection a little above sixty.

And the reason it was that high was simply because they had known each other for several years.

Hinamori Momo's Affection had risen quickly, which had something to do with her naturally good personality. But once it had reached above fifty, he would have to find another way.

If he truly relied only on gradual accumulation, who knew how long it would take to obtain the Full Course Reward.

Xin himself had quite a few complaints about this system. Wasn't it forcing him to become a bad person?!

Take Hinamori Momo asking him for this favor, for example. It actually was not that difficult, and the so-called consequences were almost negligible. Even if the Spirit Training Academy found out, they would not punish him over such a trivial matter.

But if he had agreed directly the moment Hinamori Momo asked, the Affection he gained would probably have been only a tiny amount.

Going around in circles like this was troublesome, but for the sake of becoming stronger, this was the better way for Xin to handle it.

In the end, he was only raising the value of the favor a little, but it worked very well on a girl like Hinamori Momo.

"All right. When the time comes, use my uniform and student identification. Come find me the day before to collect them."

"President, please get back to your work."

Hinamori Momo left in high spirits.

Xin, meanwhile, began thinking about Tōshirō Hitsugaya.

His chance to enroll would still come several years later, when Matsumoto Rangiku encountered him. In that respect, he was quite similar to Xin.

Compared to Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, and the others currently in the Spirit Training Academy, Tōshirō Hitsugaya was even more talented. Like Shiba Kaien and Ichimaru Gin, he graduated from the Spirit Training Academy after only one year, became a captain in the shortest time in Soul Society's history, and was also the youngest captain in history.

He also possessed Hyōrinmaru, hailed as the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya should have been about the same age as Hinamori Momo, yet in the original story, he still looked like a teenager decades later. Perhaps that also indirectly showed just how astonishing his talent was.

Now there was a talent!

He still had exactly one year before graduation.

Sorry, I was too sleepy yesterday. I'll make it up tonight, and there are still several more chapters to update.