Two days after Rukia and the other girls began rehearsing their act, Hinamori Momo came looking for Nobu.
"President!"
Nobu was working through some of the cultural festival logistics when she arrived. Glancing up, he asked, "What's up? Is your performance ready?"
"Not yet—we're still rehearsing," Hinamori replied with a bright smile.
"I haven't seen your entry on the program list," Nobu remarked.
She grinned mysteriously. "Hehe, that's a secret for now. You'll be blown away when you see it, President!"
Nobu laughed and set his work aside. "All right, I'll wait and see."
He figured she had something else on her mind.
Sure enough, Hinamori said, "President, I have a favor to ask."
"Let's hear it."
"You know how the cultural festival is a rare, special event for the Academy?"
"If we do it well, it might become an annual tradition."
Hinamori nodded eagerly. "I have a friend who has spiritual power too. I've been trying to convince him to enroll here, but he keeps turning me down. So I thought if I could get him to come visit during the festival, maybe he'd change his mind. I just know he'd fall in love with Shin'ō Academy once he sees it!"
Friend?
Nobu paused, quickly guessing who she meant.
The future captain of the Tenth Division—Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
But in the original timeline, Tōshirō didn't enroll until after Hinamori had already graduated.
Could he be convinced to enroll early…?
Nobu turned this over in his mind.
Meanwhile, Hinamori had stepped up beside him, massaging his shoulders with great enthusiasm. "President, I know this is asking a lot… but if anyone can make it happen, it's you!"
Hinamori was born in Rukongai, while the Academy—and the Seireitei—were within the central court districts.
The Seireitei was strictly restricted to nobles and Shinigami. Normally, Rukongai residents weren't allowed entry—not even from the relatively safe District 1, Junrin'an.
And Nobu, in the end, was just a student himself. He didn't really have that kind of authority.
But Hinamori hadn't thought about it that deeply. In her eyes, the student council president had ties to the Academy's leadership—and even captains and vice-captains of the Thirteen Divisions. That made him someone truly impressive.
"You've got some nerve," Nobu said with a snort.
"Can we do it, though?" Hinamori looked up at him, eyes full of hope.
"You do know the rules about the Seireitei, right? You really think you can bend them? Do you understand what could happen if we break them?"
"…So we can't?" she said, visibly deflated. It hit her that maybe she'd been too naïve.
Even if Nobu could pull it off, he probably wouldn't risk breaking the law.
She bowed her head. "I'm sorry, President. I shouldn't have asked."
But then—
"Well, I do have an idea."
"..."
Hinamori turned back quickly, eyes lighting up.
"But," Nobu added, frowning slightly, "there's a risk involved."
That gave her pause. She didn't want to cause trouble for the president, especially not for something that wasn't truly necessary.
"President, it's okay," she said quickly. "If it breaks the rules, I won't push it. I wasn't thinking clearly."
Nobu chuckled. "Is this friend of yours really that important to you?"
Hinamori nodded. "He lives right next door to me. We grew up together—he's my childhood friend."
In this world, "childhood friend" didn't carry any romantic connotation—just meant they'd grown up together, practically like family.
"In that case," Nobu said, "inviting him once isn't a big deal. It's rare to see someone make this much effort for a friend. Wouldn't it be a shame if it went to waste?"
"President…"
Hinamori looked touched.
The Seireitei and Rukongai were separated by massive white walls made of sekkiseki—a stone that suppressed spiritual pressure. The only way through was by passing one of the four main gates: Hakutō, Seiryū, Kokuryō, and Shuwaka—each guarded by an elite gatekeeper.
As a student of the Academy, Hinamori had the right to pass through these gates using her ID pass.
Nobu's solution was simple: she just had to wear her uniform, bring her student ID, and escort the guest herself.
The guards weren't strict with Academy students. Since all of them were future Shinigami, so long as they showed proof of enrollment, they were generally allowed through without issue.
"Thank you so much, President!" Hinamori beamed and bowed repeatedly.
"Just words of thanks?" Nobu asked, half-joking, half-teasing.
Hinamori flushed. "I—I'm grateful from the bottom of my heart, too!"
[Affection Level: 48]
Nobu cast a glance at his system interface. Once affection levels hit the fifties and sixties, progress slowed dramatically. Matsumoto Rangiku, who he'd known the longest, was still barely over sixty.
And that was only because they'd known each other for years.
Hinamori's affection had risen fast, thanks in part to her sweet personality—but once she crossed fifty, he'd need to switch tactics.
If I'm stuck relying on natural rapport, who knows how long it'll take to hit max affection and unlock all the rewards? Years? Decades?
Nobu was deeply skeptical of the system that had been foisted on him. Isn't this basically encouraging me to become a manipulative bastard?
Take this situation with Hinamori: it really hadn't been hard to arrange. The "risks" he'd mentioned were negligible. Even if the Academy found out, they wouldn't punish him over something so minor.
But if he'd just said yes the moment she asked, her affection score wouldn't have risen much at all.
By dragging it out, adding a sense of difficulty and self-sacrifice, he'd increased the perceived value of the favor.
A bit underhanded? Maybe. But it worked—especially on girls like Hinamori.
"All right then. Use my uniform and ID badge for the day. Come pick them up from me one day beforehand."
"President, you're the best!"
With her spirits high, Hinamori left the room.
Nobu, meanwhile, started thinking seriously about Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
In the original timeline, his enrollment was set in motion when he met Matsumoto Rangiku years later. That wasn't unlike Nobu's own situation.
Compared to current standouts like Abarai Renji and Kira Izuru, Hitsugaya's talent was on another level. Like Shiba Kaien and Ichimaru Gin, he graduated from the Academy in just one year—and then became a captain in record time, the youngest in Soul Society's history.
His Zanpakutō, Hyorinmaru, was known as the most powerful ice-type Zanpakutō in existence.
Tōshirō was roughly the same age as Hinamori, but even decades later, he still looked like a young boy—a testament, perhaps, to his extraordinary spiritual potential.
A prodigy, without question.
And I've got one more year before I graduate.