(T/N: Chapter 1 Out of 3!)
"School is so boring."
The general education class was so dull that Shiba Isshin was about to fall asleep.
Deciding he needed a distraction, he poked the student sitting in front of him with a pen. "Sōsuke... Sōsuke..."
Aizen Sōsuke turned his head slightly and said helplessly, "If you don't pay attention, Shirai-sensei is going to make you stand outside."
The previous general education teacher at the Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy had retired, but a replacement hadn't been hired yet. For now, teachers from different departments took turns covering the class.
The general education teacher for the freshman class was Shirai Riko.
"Even better!" Shiba Isshin didn't hold back—he got even more excited. "We can sneak out while standing outside. Sitting in the classroom is just unbearable!"
Right at that moment, Shiba Isshin felt a sudden chill—he sensed a terrifying killing intent coming from the front of the classroom.
Whoosh! A piece of chalk shot through the air at high speed.
He could've dodged it with just a slight tilt of his head.
But Shiba Isshin didn't.
Thwack! The chalk smacked directly into his forehead.
If he hadn't taken the hit, the chalk would've struck the female classmate behind him.
After blocking it, he even turned and gave her a thumbs-up with a radiant smile.
But the girl had no idea what just happened. Her face was full of confusion.
"Shiba Isshin, Aizen Sōsuke, talking during class again! You two—out!" Shirai Riko shouted furiously.
Shiba Isshin was the most mischievous student in the class. It had only been a few days since the semester started, and he'd already been punished several times.
"Yes, ma'am!" he replied with glee, eager to leave.
Once outside the classroom, Shiba Isshin immediately said, "Let's go for a walk. The hallway is too stuffy."
"You got me into this, and you're not even a little sorry!" Aizen Sōsuke retorted.
Truthfully, Aizen wasn't too interested in wasting time on these less important classes either. But the semester had just begun, and he hadn't yet found a good opportunity to show off Kyōka Suigetsu in front of the academy's teachers and students.
"You don't want to sit through general education either, do you?" Isshin said. "Come on, we'll sneak back before class ends. She always runs late—she won't notice."
Aizen didn't argue. The two quietly left the corridor.
Once they were far from the classroom, their paths diverged.
"Hey, hey—after all the trouble of sneaking out, you want to go to the library?" Isshin grabbed Aizen's arm.
"I haven't finished reading the Academy's books yet," Aizen replied, adjusting his glasses.
"You mean you actually plan to finish reading all of them?!" Isshin was shocked. Judging by his own standards, he added, "There are way too many. You couldn't finish them all in a lifetime!"
"Why not? I only read what I haven't seen before. It won't take that long," Aizen said with a soft chuckle.
"But that's still a crazy amount..." Isshin stared at him like he was a monster. He was starting to feel an unbridgeable distance between them.
"It wouldn't hurt to skip reading for once. We've gone through all the trouble to sneak out—let's not waste it on something like that!" Isshin pulled Aizen away from the library.
"There's not much to see around here," Aizen said.
"Don't you think wasting time is a kind of pleasure?" Isshin said, trying to sound philosophical.
"How is that any different from staying in the classroom?"
"It's different! Out here, you get the added thrill of breaking the rules in secret!"
Aizen was beginning to regret following him.
As they wandered the hallways, they could still hear the muffled voices of teachers lecturing in other classrooms.
Isshin basked in the forbidden joy of playing hooky.
At the next corner, Isshin jumped back in surprise when he saw a boy and girl standing outside a classroom.
"Uh-oh, someone's ahead!" He thought they were teachers from another class and quickly pulled Aizen behind the corner.
They weren't far away, and Isshin and Aizen could clearly hear the two speaking.
"That girl's voice... it sounds familiar," Isshin whispered.
"That's Kakyō, the new disciple taken in by the teacher. If I'm not mistaken, she's a third-year," Aizen replied.
"Ohh, it's her... Got called out during class, huh? Same reason as us—disrupting the lesson?" Isshin grinned. "She looked like the quiet type... I didn't expect her to get chewed out by a teacher."
"You're the reason I got dragged out," Aizen reminded him.
They both fell silent, continuing to eavesdrop on the "lecture."
But after a while, it became clear this was no teacher scolding a student.
"Tokinada-sama, didn't I already make myself clear to the Vice Dean yesterday? Why are you here again?" Kakyō said softly. "I'm sorry. I have no intention of marrying you."
"It seems the hospitality we've shown you these past few days has given you the wrong impression." Tsunayashiro Tokinada replied coldly. "Don't be ungrateful. You don't have the right to refuse."
"I'm sorry, but I must decline." Kakyō's tone grew firmer. "All I want is to train under my teacher."
"Your teacher? What's so great about these instructors at the Spiritual Arts Academy?" Tokinada glanced into the classroom at the teacher inside. "If it's training you want, the Tsunayashiro Clan can provide far better. Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kidō—we have elite Shinigami to teach you all of it. That's much more useful than what you're learning here, isn't it?"
Tokinada wasn't the type to be patient. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have even bothered talking this long.
But his desire to marry Kakyō wasn't driven by personal feelings.
It was a directive from the clan.
The Tsunayashiro Clan was interested in Kakyō's unique body—which contained fragments of the Soul King. They viewed her as a test subject, and ordered Tokinada to marry her so she could be kept under observation and studied more easily.
"I'm Katori Nanatsuki's disciple. I only wish to train under my teacher," Kakyō said earnestly.
"You're Katori Nanatsuki's disciple?" Tokinada's face turned dark. "Why haven't I heard about this? Are you seriously using his name as a shield in front of me?"
Tokinada was furious. He believed Kakyō had learned about the internal conflict between him and Katori Nanatsuki over the Department Head position—and was now using that to push back.
"She is the teacher's new disciple."
Shiba Isshin and Aizen Sōsuke stepped out from behind the corner.
"The Tsunayashiro Clan has stooped so low they're harassing students of the Academy now?" Isshin said with a smile.
"A member of the Shiba Clan, huh...?" Tokinada's brow furrowed.
Shiba Isshin, as a valued new-generation member of the Shiba Clan, was already a well-known name in Seireitei. There was no way Tsunayashiro Tokinada didn't recognize him.