Dinner with Reina was really pleasant. Despite the fact that she indeed didn't have all that many types of vegetables or vegetables, but after a stroke of luck where he found two small and still fresh tomatoes, he managed to use cabbage, onions, cheese and some herbs he found alongside riverbank, to make a greek dish with rice. What was it called? Lara…? Laha…? Nevermind. It typically isn't eaten with meat or fish but he somehow managed to combine it with lightly grilled eel that he caught in the river, and it mixed quite well. Lahanorizo! That's how it was called!
"It seems my greek is getting rusty… I haven't used it for ten years after all."
He murmured to himself while cleaning the table after meal. Kamui himself was very fond of greek cuisine. He spent there seven months at his first volunteer project, and it's also the place where he learned how to cook and discovered that he has quite a bit of talent in it. That's why despite his many travels afterwards and many experiences in the kitchen, his food always had this mediterrenian touch.
Currently Reina was rushing around her living room preparing after meal tea. It was a compromise of sorts. She originally insisted on cleaning dishes, but after a fierce dispute they settled on a Kamui cleaning, while she prepared tea.
When they finally settled back at the table, she smiled sweetly at the much younger male.
"But that was amazing Kamui-kun. Who would have thought that you are such a marvelous cook. I know! You should forget about being a Shinikami. Instead let's go and open up a restaurant together!"
"Thank you Reina-san. However it wasn't anything that special. Most of the charm in the dish came from the fact that it was something different from what you usually eat. You'd get sick of it fast." He chuckled here. "And of me even faster."
"That's hard to believe. *sigh* But you know, I sometimes forget how young you are. Being this talented, and so mature."
Kamui, stilled for a moment, while holding his cup to his lips. In fact he himself forgot, how young is his physical age. He quickly put himself together however and replied.
"I'd say, in Soul Society, there are not that many people who are acting their age. They hardly have a chance to do so."
Reina visibly saddened, while Kamui started cursing himself in his thoughts. There are times when brutal honesty really doesn't work. Time to switch topics.
"But you know Reina-san. Me going to the Shinigami Academy doesn't mean that I won't visit and cook for you. You said it yourself. If even a captain has a time to come here to see your charming face, then who am I to do otherwise?"
He was laying it a little thick, but judging by her happy laugh it worked as intended. There is no one who doesn't like receiving compliments. Especially genuine ones.
"My, my, Kamui-kum. Careful there, or I'll really forget your age."
"And we wouldn't want that Reina-chan. I still have to get up early in the morning…"
He froze. Along with the mature woman he just naturally started flirting with.
Damn it. It was a force of habit! He cursed while sensing the awkward atmosphere. Pretend nothing happened! You're twelve. In your case playing innocent will look cute and convincing. But before he could say something to get out of this situation, Reina started laughing, and said in a teasing manner.
"While that is an interesting prospect, Little Kamui, I'm afraid that's a challenge that's above your capabilities."
What a woman! Kamui thought, while looking at her with admiration. Confidence was always attractive, and coupled with her charming face, and mature figure it is something that many dream to see yet never reach.
Yet no matter how sad it was for him to admit, she had a point. His current body was indeed not up to the task. And it would be disrespectful to this amazing woman, to try with anything less than his best. So he'll back off. For now
He stood up, and faced a slightly confused woman.
"Thank you, Reina-san, for this most enjoyable evening. However I indeed need to get up early in the morning so regrettably I must leave."
He said while bowing slightly. When he looked up at her, she had this condescending and triumphant look on her face.
"That's fine Kamui-kun. Children need sleep after all. Have pleasant dreams."
She winked at him, a pleased expression still on her face.
"Sleep well, Reina-chan. We will come back to our conversation at some other time."
Without waiting for her reply, he turned around and left. Thanks to Tenseigan's vision, he noticed that her pleased expression was gone.
Next morning, when Kamui went to Reina, none of them mentioned the previous evening. They both considered that as a little more than innocent flirting. Even if the topic were somehow to continue, it would be years down the road. So they just hugged shortly for goodbye, and Kamui left. He even got an extra lunch for the road from the elder woman. So with a smile he waved at her while walking away.
Road from 5th district to the first wasn't all that eventful. While seeing many examples of Edo like architecture, was something new
and interesting for him, the novelty quickly wore off. Especially considering hundreds and thousands of souls that he passed along his way. While earlier he felt that their attention was understandable, it started to annoy him over time. He felt like a circus freak.
The only noticeable event was meeting a patrol of shinigami along the way. At first he felt kinda weird seeing them. That big of a city, and he only pumped into a group of five soul reapers, keeping watch over it. If that's the situation in those low districts, then it's scary to imagine how it looks in high districts, like forty, sixty or even eighty.
Anyway, despite the patrol of shinigami being visibly interested in him, they didn't bother trying to stop him. The only thing he gained from meeting them was knowledge that even all five of them combined don't have as much reiatsu as him.
When he finally reached District 1 and the gate to Siretei it was already late in the night. While he was exhausted, he was also amazed. When he earlier estimated his journey for eighteen hours, it was a very optimistic estimation. He was completely prepared to arrive here shortly before the test starts, and go in without rest. Not the first time he'd do that. Heck even worse things happened in his life.
But to think that his current adolescent body could handle such physical exertion without problem, was amazing. He even felt like just by standing there his exhaustion is slowly but surely passing away. However he wasn't completely sure if that was a result of his high reiatsu, or something else.
Earlier when he thought about his appearance he commented that it's an 'idealised version' of himself. But maybe that idealisation extends to more than just his external appearance. In his previous life he enjoyed physical activity. Meaning he was pretty fit and healthy. If his physical body was also somehow idealised, then that would explain a lot.
Shaking off his thoughts, he looked around and noticed that despite there being more than ten hours to the start of the test, there were already hundreds of souls waiting on the square in front of a gate. And more and more were filling in every minute. By carriage or by foot.
It was quite surprising to him, but only a small part of the crowd was focused on him. Almost all the rest were in their own little worlds, visibly anxious.
Kamui smiled slightly seeing that. It seems that even in afterlife tests are the same.
He sat down on the roof of one of the surrounding buildings in the place that he won't be easily noticed by anyone, closed his eyes, and tried to rest without falling asleep.
Only now he noticed a peculiar thing. As long as he keeps his eyes closed for a longer while, the reiatsu he's exerting on the surroundings lowers by itself, without him doing anything. But as long as he even cracks open an eye, the spiritual pressure returns in full.
In short he was not pleased. The more weird phenomena surrounding himself and his eyes, the more trouble he invites upon himself. While his second reincarnation ability could potentially save him in case he got captured, it's not unlocked, and who knows how long it would take him to unlock it and bring it to operational level.
He spent the rest of the waiting period, coming up with various contingency plans, just to discard it shortly after. While he watched anime previously and he always had very strong memorization ability, anime focused mainly on the action, discarding plenty of information that would be critical for him right now. It would probably end up with him making plans on the fly, and dealing with information as they come. And while that was always where he shined, he couldn't help but to be a bit uneasy.
When he finally opened his eyes, noon was fast approaching. There was a literal sea of souls surrounding the gate, or rather a podium in front of it. On the podium currently stood with soul reapers with, and elderly looking bespectacled man in front of them.
Kamui jumped off the roof into the crowd and started to make his way slowly towards the center. His 'stay away' aura finally being of any use, as all the souls gave him way by themselves. He chuckled when he realized that. If you think about it there is no useless ability. If you think it's useless you just haven't found an application for it yet.
When he was about twenty meters from the front he stopped and waited for the show to start. Thankfully he didn't have to wait for a long while, before the elderly looking soul reaper spoke.
"Greetings everyone, on the annual Spiritual Arts Academy admission tests. I am proctor for today's examination, Ninth Squad, Twentieth Seat, Minamoto Arui."
He stopped speaking and looked with pleased expression on the crowd looking at him with awe. Kamui only concluded that since he was not familiar with him, then he's at most a 'cannon fodder'.
''Now then, I'm sure that everyone gathered here with hopes of reaching the sky, but I must inform you that by past experiences only one in twenty souls will be admitted to attend our academy. Those who do not meet the mark I implore to not feel discouraged, and try again next year."
There were some murmurs, among the crowd but seeing that he won't be interrupted, proctor continued with his speech.
"Test will be divided into two parts, with the first being elimination. For those of you who fail already at the first part, members of squad four prepared a relief station, where they will check you for injuries, and give you a warm meal. Now then. Without any further delay. First test is to pass the gate into Seireitei."
When the gathered souls looked among themselves confused at the strange type of the exam, suddenly the area around the podium, which everyone has to pass to get to the gate, was subjected to the pressure of a strong reiatsu.
Some souls directly collapsed, some stood but with a visible difficulty, some were uncomfortable but made a tough face, and a few like Kamui outright ignored it.
Kamui looked around baffled by the fact that spiritual pressure which for him was barely noticeable, had such a big effect on the crowd.
Figuring it's irrelevant for now, he walked towards the gate, careful not to step on anybody laying down on the ground. Judging by groans from the surroundings, not everyone had such considerations.
When passing by the gate, Kamui glanced at proctor and noticed that he closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, there was even a bead of sweat trailing down his face. Clearly it was not easy for him to exert his pressure like that.
After passing through the gate Kamui and the rest of the souls who passed were separated into three and lined up before three big tents, to which they were invited one by one. He noticed that the majority of people were coming back from there with sour looks on their faces. Five percent admission rate may have been an exaggeration by proctor.
Finally it was Kamui's turn to enter the tent. In the center was a big desk with yet another soul reaper behind it, writing something in a big ledger. On the side of the tent stood two white pillars covered in strange markings. Finally the soul reaper without even looking away from his ledger spoke in a monotone voice.
"Name and district of origin."
"Shirato Kamui. North District Five."
"Hmmm, please turn to your left. Those are Spiritual Awakening Rods. Their goal is to test the amount of Reiatsu and Reirokyu you possess. Reiatsu is the spirit energy you can manifest externally, while Reirokyu is the amount you can manifest internally. If you don't have any questions then please step up to the rods, put your hands on both and pour your energy within. To pass you require level two spiritual energy."
Kamui smiled wryly at the lackluster words of his examiner. Almost every single thing about him screamed that he didn't want to be here.
Deciding not to stall any more he stepped to the pillars, and following instructions he put his hands on them pouring his spiritual energy within. Surprisingly he needed only to pour a small amount within, before the pillar latched into his energy and started absorbing his energy by itself.
After a short time, both pillars light up and in the space between them in the air appears a shimmering rune symbolizing number seven.
That actually gave Kamui a pause. While he learned to speak japanese before, so he took it for granted that he can speak it, Kanji always gave him a lot of problems. For him to immediately recognize the symbol it was the first.
He was torn out of his musings, by gasp of surprise behind him.
"Level seven spiritual energy! That's above average for lieutenants!"
He stared with disbelief on his face at Kamui before shaking his head and writing something in his ledger. Afterwards he took some paper, scribbled something on it, stood up and with the paper in his hand walking towards the back of the tent where another exit was. After a short while he returned and said to Kamui.
"Go outside, and follow the student waiting there. He'll take you to the final stage of the test."
Kamui bowed down a little, thanked him and left through the back entrance. Outside indeed waited a student.
It was a pretty but rather stiff girl, in a red and white uniform of Spiritual Arts Academy. She didn't even greet him, just turned around, and robotically marched away.
Seeing this Kamui shook his head with a slight smile, not expecting to meet such a nervous student. Or maybe she's just trying to be cool in front of a potential freshman. After all he remembered in his high school, he was also trying to impress newcomers when helping with the orientation. Good times, good times.
They did not go far. Instead they went to one of the plenty nondescript white buildings that you can find here at every corner.
The student knocked on the door, entered, said a few words after which she left and signaled Kamui to enter by himself.
Inside however he met someone he didn't expect.
"Hello" Came the dry greeting from a tall, bespectacled, dark haired woman with a serious expression and a lieutenant badge on her left arm. "My name is Yadomaru Lisa, lieutenant of squad 8. I will be responsible for the rest of your examination."
Well at least now he had a rough idea of the timeline he's in.
He chased off the stray thoughts and schooled his nerves, before bowing slightly to the woman, who he felt held Reiatsu slightly higher than himself.
"Hello, Yadomaru-san. Excuse me, but I didn't expect any lieutenant to be here."
"At each test venue the lieutenant has to be present in case of atypical students." Wow her poker face is almost as mine. "And you…" here she looked at the paper she held "Shirato-san, qualify for such treatment."
She stared at him with piercing eyes, as if trying to make him prostrate himself on the ground from the intensity of her stare alone. When he didn't flinch, she narrowed her eyes but didn't commend.
"Anyway Shirato-san, the next part of the test is to see whether you're eligible for awakening your Zanpakuto."
There it is. Thought Kamui excitedly.
"I see, Yadomaru-san. How does such a test commence?"
"Normally, there's a special procedure, similar to the one you went through when checking your spiritual energy, but since I'm here we'll skip that part."
Here she drew her sword, and if Kamui were honest with himself it really freaked him out.
"Any Shinigami, who has achieved Shikai, can touch the body of a soul in question to see whether he has a Zanpakuto spirit or not. If there is any resonance at all then that means you possess a spirit of your own. If there's no reaction at all then you don't. While you'd still be allowed to join the academy whether you have it or not, the result will influence your placement."
Before he had a chance to respond, she already pressed a flat side of her blade against his shoulder. Kamui felt that her blade is extremely heavy, yet she doesn't show any effort in using it.
After a twenty seconds or so of increasingly awkward silence, her blade shuttered slightly, which was apparently a good sign because she took her sword away.
Yet she didn't sheathe the blade, and it was something that was hard to overlook.
"You possess the Zanpakuto spirit of your own. Congratulations." Based on her flat tone she evidently didn't think much of it." Now then onto the second matter. Your spiritual eyes. Describe them."
Here it comes. He was a little surprised by the new term, but he just filed the name for later and gave her a prepared beforehand answer.
"It allows me to have 360 x-ray vision without any blank spots. It's called Byakugan"
"Anything else?"
"No."
In soul society names have power. If he said outright that his eyes have a name:Tenseigan (reincarnation eye), then he sincerely doubted he would be safe. On the other hand byakugan(white eye or all seeing white eye) is considerably more harmless.
She looked at him with suspicion, searching for any falsehood, but his poker face coupled with the fact that he didn't lie, just twisted the truth a little, meant that she couldn't find anything to fault him about. So she sheathed her sword.
But her expression was still a bit weird.
"X-ray vision is it?"
She was visibly deep in thought, so Kamui didn't interrupt her. Eventually she shook off, scribed something on the paper she held, and said.
"Exams should be about to end. We'll wait here additional ten minutes to see if there are more matters requiring my attention, and then I'll take you to enroll. Welcome to Shin'o Academy, Shirato Kamui-kun." She said with a slight deep of her head, which he figured was as much as he's gonna get from her.
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