Sly Fox

See through?

Matsumoto Rangiku sank into silence, her eyes low. She gripped her blade and struck again, the weapon in her hand shifting into several arcs of light—swift and fierce, impossible to tell which was real, or if every single one was.

Shin reacted just as fast, blocking each of her attacks. Blade met blade, sparks bursting brilliantly.

Matsumoto Rangiku grew more unsettled by the moment. Shin seemed to be suppressed by her, unable to counterattack, yet he also pinned her into a relentless offensive. Could he see through all her strikes? Or was he merely parrying due to a gap in speed? What if she stopped her assault?

Gritting her teeth, Matsumoto Rangiku suddenly withdrew her blade. In that instant, a cold gleam flashed before her eyes—the unadorned Asauchi thrust in at an impossibly sharp angle, grazing past her cheek.

A miss?

Or had she dodged? Heart pounding, she caught a glimpse of a golden strand of hair drifting down onto the blade before her.

Matsumoto Rangiku swallowed, frozen in place.

Shin slowly pulled his sword back and took a step away.

"Miss Matsumoto?"

"..."

Matsumoto Rangiku seemed still lost in the shock of that single strike, unsure if she had even heard Shin's quiet call.

Hisagi Shūhei had watched the entire exchange. He saw Rangiku, who had been suppressing Shin the whole time, suddenly defeated in one blow.

Miss Matsumoto lost?

No way...

Matsumoto Rangiku let out a long breath and sheathed her Zanpakutō.

"Back then, did you defeat your teacher the same way?" she asked.

Shin replied, "Teacher Nanda was much weaker than you."

In his match with Nanda Hidezawa, both had used wooden swords, and Shin had cut straight through his opponent's weapon.

Matsumoto Rangiku let out a sudden laugh. She didn't really want to, but she didn't know what expression to wear besides a smile.

She had lost just like that?

A full Vice-Captain, defeated by a student who hadn't even graduated from the Spirit Training Academy!

Only in swordsmanship, perhaps she should say.

Even with that excuse, Matsumoto Rangiku found it hard to accept.

She recalled the first time she met Shin—in a crumbling building in the Gokō District, a thin boy holding a sword, several bodies lying at his feet.

She had forgotten that.

This kid was far more than just slick.

"I came to see you about something." Matsumoto Rangiku finally brought up the real matter, glancing at Hisagi Shūhei as she spoke.

Hisagi immediately said, "I've got something to do, so I'll take off. You two talk."

The sword-training room fell quiet again. Shin walked to the side, picked up a water flask, and took a drink.

Matsumoto Rangiku thought for a moment, then asked, "Did Vice-Captain Shiba of the Thirteenth Division invite you too?"

"Yeah."

"What seat did he offer you?"

Shin tilted his head. "Miss Matsumoto thinks too highly of me. Seats in the Thirteenth Division aren't just cabbages by the roadside."

Matsumoto Rangiku thought: So you do know that, you little brat.

"Then which division do you want to join in the future?"

Shin said slowly, "Haven't decided yet. I still have some time before graduation, no rush."

Matsumoto Rangiku finally said, "If you're willing to come to the Tenth Division, you can start directly as a seated officer. Which seat depends on your own ability."

Shin grinned. "Miss Matsumoto is really good to me. But that's still too far off. I'll think about it when I graduate."

Matsumoto Rangiku felt a surge of irritation. She had laid out such sincerity, and this kid was acting like he was hot stuff, thinking he was some kind of incredible genius?

But thinking it over, the swordsmanship he had just shown was indeed something ordinary people couldn't achieve.

The Tenth Division was the patrol and guard unit. The work wasn't especially dangerous, but it was busy every day. Her captain happened to be a lazy sort, piling most of the division's duties onto her alone.

Matsumoto Rangiku desperately wanted someone to share the burden.

In terms of ability, Tachikawa Shin could certainly handle an Upper Seat Officer position after graduation. Even if he started as the 10th Seat, with talent like his, promotion would come fast.

The Third Seat—that is, Assistant Vice-Captain.

Tachikawa Shin wouldn't take long to reach that position in the Tenth Division.

Remembering her captain's instructions before she came, Matsumoto Rangiku chose to give ground again. "Why don't you name your own terms? What seat do you want?"

Seeing Matsumoto Rangiku pressing so hard, Shin didn't want to seem too ungrateful. He said, "Miss Matsumoto, I'll prioritize the Tenth Division after graduation. Vice-Captain Shiba already told me—I won't be joining the Thirteenth Division."

Matsumoto Rangiku narrowed her eyes. "Really?"

"Really!"

Shin nodded very seriously at first, then grinned and said, "I'd also like to see Miss Rangiku every day."

Matsumoto Rangiku just shot him a charming sidelong glance at that, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and then thought back to the golden lock Shin had sliced off with his blade earlier.

What a shame she hadn't managed to gauge the kid's real strength.

She wasn't reckless enough to go all-out in a duel against an ungraduated Spirit Training Academy student.

They exchanged a few more casual words before Matsumoto Rangiku left the academy and returned to the Tenth Division barracks to report.

"That kid's a slippery one."

Shiba Isshin burst out laughing after hearing Matsumoto Rangiku's account.

"No wonder he could come up with an idea like that—he's no pushover, Rangiku. If you're counting on him to be your assistant and share the division workload, I think you're in for a rough time."

Matsumoto Rangiku pursed her lips, about to say something, when she suddenly froze.

"I never said I was going to make him Third Seat, Captain? And what idea are you talking about?"

Shiba Isshin replied, "There's nothing in our division that would satisfy him except the Third Seat, and even that he might look down on."

"Captain, you're going too far. That kid wouldn't be eyeing the Lieutenant Captain position, would he? And no one becomes Lieutenant Captain right after graduation—even if their strength is enough, they definitely can't handle the division duties. Didn't your nephew start from Third Seat?" Matsumoto Rangiku couldn't help saying.

Shiba Isshin chuckled and said, "Before Kaien, no one thought someone could become Third Seat right after graduation either. So-called geniuses are meant to do things ordinary people can't predict—otherwise, the title of genius would be far too cheap."

Matsumoto Rangiku furrowed her elegant brows and fell silent.

Shiba Isshin continued, "Let's leave it at that for now. If that Tachikawa Shin wants to come to the Tenth Division, he will. If he doesn't, there's no point in us forcing the higher-ups to requisition him. Good work, Rangiku."

But Matsumoto Rangiku said, "No, Captain, you're definitely hiding something from me."

Shiba Isshin shook his head lightly. "There's something that shouldn't be made public yet, but you'll find out soon enough."

"..."

Matsumoto Rangiku was completely baffled. She realized something had happened between the captain and Tachikawa Shin that she didn't know about.

But the two of them shouldn't have had any contact.

What exactly did that kid do...