So far, Jūshirō had only seen the walls from a distance; he remembered that, as a kid, he had always wanted to know what lay beyond them.

Now that he was finally standing so close to the entrance of Seireitei, he could literally feel its magnificence, the enormous spiritual energy the giant court city was radiating.

He felt nervous, light-headed even, as he tried to listen to the shinigami official giving the welcoming speech; the bigger part of his attention, however, was directed at his fellow students.

Jūshirō was scanning the crowd, hoping to catch sight of the one he promised to meet here.

It was only after the enrolment procedure that Jūshirō finally found what he had been looking for; Shunsui, in fact, was a person that stood out a mile amongst others. He was wearing a colourful haori and a hat the way it was considered fashionable amongst young souls at the moment.

Jūshirō waved tentatively, wondering whether his childhood friend would recognise him after all these years.

He did.

Jūshirō's heart skipped a beat when he saw him wave right back at him and quickly make his way through the crowd. A surprisingly deep voice called out his name.

Shunsui's appearance baffled him – he had grown up, much more so than Jūshirō felt he had himself.

»It's so good to see you again« Shunsui said happily, »you look healthy!«

Jūshirō took it as a compliment, even though he wasn't too sure about himself – pale, delicate and ghost-like as he was. Insecure, too.

Nevertheless he returned Shunsui's bright smile.

»Let's start a brand-new chapter, shall we? The two of us are going to be the greatest students this academy will ever see« Shunsui proclaimed with a wink as he and Jūshirō finally got to pass the gate.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deep grey. Liquid quicksilver, but with an energy that could set the whole world on fire. A spark…

»We'll be sharing a room, right? Ah, let's explore the forest after the formalities are done with, I've heard they have beautiful nature in Seireitei… I wonder how much leisure time they'll grant us. Not much probably, I guess the education's quite demanding, or that's what I've heard after all. We'll see, right? Shiro-chan? Jūshirō?«

The white-haired woke from his daydream and quickly apologised for not listening; Shunsui laughed. »I'm talking too much, I'm the one that should be sorry. But I'm so excited! Aren't you?«

Jūshirō quickly confirmed his own excitement – his heart was still pounding in his chest as testimony. »I'm looking forward to meeting Yamamoto-sama again, it's been a while since I've seen him« Jūshirō noted, and Shunsui laughed again.

»Ay, he'll be giving us a lengthy, tedious speech in just a moment and inform us about all the fun things we're not allowed to do around here. But I'm willing to listen, you know… I'll be the first to ever break every single rule.«

Jūshirō chuckled, unsure whether the latter statement was meant to be a joke or a promise.

»And you're going to help me with it, ne, Shiro-chan?« Jūshirō started coughing when Shunsui slapped his back a little too harshly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The room they were going to share from now on was much smaller than what Jūshirō had called his chamber back at home.

There was a single window facing to the north side, a small table and two futons at opposing sides of the room.

Jūshirō immediately knew this place would feel like a home to him in no time; he already liked it so much more than his family's residence. This room won't be a prison.

Shunsui carelessly dropped his belongings on the floor and threw himself onto the thin bedroll; his hat flew off and revealed his dark brown hair.

The soft curls, his effervescent nature and the spark in his eyes were the only things that hadn't changed from when Jūshirō had last met him; he felt like a stranger to him yet familiar at the same time, just like the first time they had met.

As if they had known each other in a long-gone past life.

Jūshirō was unsure of how to treat him. Shunsui, however, didn't seem to feel the same inhibition; the entire day he had been acting as if their last meeting had only been yesterday.

Childhood friends. That was the label Jūshirō had given their relationship in his mind all the time, too, yet now that he was with Shunsui the man, not Shunsui the fidgety boy, he wasn't so sure about it any more.

He wondered whether Shunsui had noticed changes in him as well, or if he had stayed the same; so far he hadn't said anything along the lines of you've grown up, or you look different.

Absentmindedly Jūshirō started unpacking his belongings. Maybe it simply didn't matter and he was overthinking it. Shunsui, after all, appeared to be happy, so Jūshirō decided he should be, too.

»This is going to be the start of an era, I can feel it in my bones« the brown-haired noted when Jūshirō had finally sat down.

The way these grey eyes were casually resting on him made him feel nervous for some reason. There was no agitation in them, just a well-controlled fire.

His own eyes opened wide, Jūshirō stared back; he didn't know what to answer.

Shunsui helped him out, though. »Tomorrow at seven sharp, that's what he said, right? Old man Yama, I mean.«

Jūshirō nodded yes, still trapped in his counterpart's gaze.

»Then we should probably get some sleep, don't want to be late on the first day, right? Oh well, or maybe I should… would make for a grand entrance, tough…« Shunsui mused, averting his gaze, and all of a sudden Jūshirō found himself at ease.

The deep laughter echoed through the room and Jūshirō realised it would be the very first night he wasn't going to spend alone.