Rukia and Renji

"Rukia, what are you looking at?"

The red-haired boy with the eye-catching hairstyle pushed through the crowd, arriving beside his companion, and also looked up at the bulletin board.

"Didn't they mention it at the ceremony? The Student Council."

Beside him stood a petite, pretty girl with short black hair that flipped up at the ends. Her deep purple eyes were fixed on the notice board, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hey, do you want to join this Student Council?" the red-haired boy asked.

"Haven't thought about it. Just looking."

"If you're joining, I'll join too!"

"It's not that easy. It says there'll be an exam."

The red-haired boy shrugged nonchalantly. "We'll definitely pass!"

As the two spoke privately, a figure suddenly stepped in front of them.

"Underclassmen, are you interested in joining the Student Council?"

The person was tall, with a notably long face and small eyes that were nearly invisible even when open—a combination that left a strong impression at first glance.

"I'm Aoshika, a fifth-year student. If you want to join the Student Council, you need to register first. May I ask your names?"

As he spoke, Aoshika had already pulled out a roster without waiting for a reply, looking at the two.

The red-haired boy responded cheerfully: "Oh! I'm Renji Abarai, and she's Rukia!"

"Renji, you..."

Rukia hadn't made up her mind yet. She knew nothing about this Student Council; she'd only come over because a crowd had gathered out of curiosity.

Aoshika noted their names and asked, "What about your classes?"

"I'm in Class A, she's in Class B."

Aoshika paused in his writing, subtly writing "Inferior" after Rukia's name and "Superior" after Renji's.

In every grade, Class A was the special advanced class, gathering the "elite students." First-year students had no academic records upon entry, so class placement was based on their spiritual pressure levels.

Still, a person's initial spiritual pressure could determine a great deal.

The Student Council's membership criteria were already set, clearly stated in the regulations: priority was given to those with outstanding performance.

This wasn't decided by the President alone but was discussed at higher levels, establishing the Student Council's recruitment threshold along with its rules and regulations.

"In three days, there will be the first written exam. If you pass that, there'll be a second interview. Passing the interview will make you a Student Council member."

"That's a lot of trouble," Renji Abarai finally said.

"Only through layers of screening can one prove their excellence," Aoshika said with a smile.

After leaving the crowd, Rukia scolded Renji Abarai for his recklessness: "Idiot! Didn't I say I hadn't decided yet? How could you just sign us up!"

Renji Abarai scratched his head. "No need to overthink it. If you want to join, just sign up."

Rukia sighed in frustration. "I... ugh. I saw a lot of our batch signing up just now. The competition's going to be fierce, and I'll probably get weeded out."

Renji Abarai replied, "Those guys didn't look that impressive to me. We'll definitely pass."

Rukia was speechless. Being placed in Class B meant her spiritual pressure and aptitude lagged far behind Renji's. She just didn't know what the Student Council's evaluation criteria were...

#

The Spirit Training Academy had allocated a very spacious classroom exclusively for the Student Council to use as their headquarters office. The Academy placed great importance on the Student Council, so they provided generous conditions for everything.

For example, the chair Shin was currently lounging in, and the high-end wooden desk in front of him.

The moment Kasumi Oji Gorō walked in, he saw the Student Council President with both feet shamelessly propped up on the desk, and his face darkened.

"Yo, Kasumi!"

Shin greeted him amiably as he entered.

Kasumi Oji Gorō walked expressionlessly to the front of the desk. Many of the facilities and equipment in this office were sponsored by his family, and this desk in particular was a model and wood type he had personally selected.

Suppressing his inner anger, he spoke in a low voice: "Tachikawa Shin, this is no way for a President to act! It's vulgar!"

Shin tilted his head and smiled. "What can I do? I'm the President anyway."

"You!"

Gorō's breath caught in anger, his chest heaving.

Shin leisurely lowered his legs and said with a light smile: "Kasumi, your family sure is rich. Having you as Vice President is great. The Student Council will have to rely on you a lot from now on!"

Gorō only snorted coldly. Shin's mention of "rich" merely referred to him furnishing the office with these items. He disdained to respond. The Kasumi Oji Clan he belonged to was an upper-tier noble family in the Seireitei, controlling the technology for crafting weapons in Soul Society, second only to top-tier ancient nobles like the Kuchiki, Shihōin, and Tsunayashiro. The scale of their estate was likely beyond Tachikawa Shin's imagination.

He placed a thick stack of documents on the desk.

"These are the new student registration files I just retrieved from the Spirit Training Academy's archives."

"That many!" Shin clicked his tongue in surprise.

"The vast majority of new students signed up, wanting to join the Student Council," Gorō said.

Shin picked up the files and flipped through a few pages casually. He noticed the documents had already been sorted: a small portion was clipped together separately, while the rest formed another group.

"These are all Class A students. The Student Council needs to recruit members from the new students, so just pick from these." Gorō said.

Upon hearing this, Xin's expression remained calm as he removed the clips holding these files together and mixed them in with the rest.

"What do you mean by that?" Gorō frowned.

Xin leaned back in his chair and asked, "Do you know what would happen if all the first-year members of the Student Council came from Class A?"

"...What are you trying to say?"

"If that were the case, the Student Council would become a thoroughly privileged organization, lording over the students."

Gorō frowned but said nothing.

"Class A doesn't have many people to begin with. If most of them joined the Student Council, what would Class A turn into?"

Gorō said, "You're well aware of the Student Council's recruitment standards."

Xin replied, "I am, but among these new students, it's still too early to tell who's truly excellent. The membership of Class A changes the most in the second year—you should know that too."

Gorō said in a low voice, "If you're determined to do this, I'll report the situation to the Principal of the Spirit Training Academy."

Xin let out a wry laugh. "The Principal is busy every day. There's no need to bother him with such a trivial matter. I've already decided, Kasumi Oji-san. If Class A students are truly outstanding, they'll naturally pass the assessment."

Kasumi Oji Gorō didn't argue further with Xin. He only stayed for a short while before leaving, but as he went, he turned back and said to Xin, "Don't put your legs up on the table anymore. It's too vulgar!"

Xin flipped through the student files. He knew in his heart that if Kasumi Oji Gorō's prejudice ran deep, he wouldn't have bothered to bring the files of students outside Class A.

Not a bad guy.

And more importantly, rich!

Besides Rukia and Renji Abarai, whom he'd met earlier at the Plaza Bulletin Board, Xin found two familiar names among the new student files.

Momo Hinamori.

Izuru Kira.

Both were in Class A, and their files recorded their origins—each from districts with relatively low numbers in the Rukon District.

Xin's gaze swept back and forth over these two files, his fingers lightly rubbing the paper.

The office door opened, and in walked Hisagi Shūhei and Kanazawa.

"You sure take it easy."

Shūhei looked at Xin with his legs propped up on the table and felt a bit unbalanced.

"Who says so? I'm busy with work too."

Xin gestured with the files in his hand.

The two walked up to the desk and saw the thick stack. Shūhei exclaimed, "That many? All of them want to join the Student Council?"

"Yeah."

Shūhei couldn't help saying, "How long will the interviews take?"

Beside him, Kanazawa said flatly, "Not that many. The Written Exam will weed out ninety percent."

Shūhei was stunned, then said, "The competition's fierce."

Xin said, "These new students just entered school; they're always full of curiosity and enthusiasm for everything."

He put down the files and straightened his posture, stretching.

But Kanazawa noticed that the top file was a girl's, with a photo printed on it—cute and charming features, her hair tied in a bun.

She glanced at Xin and suddenly said, "This girl's pretty cute."

Upon hearing this, Xin immediately nodded, lightly stroking his chin, and said, "Right? I think so too. I happen to need an assistant..."

Shūbei looked at him speechlessly.

#

Three days later, the Written Exam.

Because many students had signed up to join the Student Council, the exam venue occupied a large Lecture Hall.

Since these were newly enrolled students, the Written Exam didn't test professional theory. Instead, it consisted of tricky questions, mostly asking what they would do in certain situations—questions with no fixed answers.

There was one particularly special question.

[Have you undergone spiritual pressure training before enrollment? If yes, answer the questions on page 2. If no, you may leave it blank. Leaving it blank incurs no penalty, answering incorrectly deducts points, and answering correctly adds no points.]

After the Written Exam, the Student Council members graded the papers, directly eliminating ninety percent of the participants.

Among them, Class A's Renji Abarai was cut.

His paper was graded by Shūhei.

[After graduation, you end up in a Division different from your preferred one. How do you handle it?]

Renji Abarai's answer: Submit a request to the Captain to transfer Divisions.

[You become an ordinary Shinigami soldier and don't become a Seated Officer for ten years. Share your thoughts and actions.]

Renji Abarai's answer: There's no way I wouldn't become a Seated Officer in ten years.

[Your friend tells you your superior has accepted bribes to bend the rules for others. What do you do?]

Renji Abarai's answer: Report it!