Chapter 7: Hachihara's Surprise Party
Time slipped by in the usual blur.
After class, Shimiya Takeru and Rindo Yu had just stepped out of the room when they ran straight into Ichigo.
"Yo, how was class? You were not drooling on the desk with a brush in your hand, right?"
"If someone can fall asleep in Aizen sensei's class, their head must have been injected with a Collapse Point."
Takeru raised an eyebrow at Ichigo's teasing.
"What is a Collapse Point?"
Ichigo looked confused.
Rindo Yu calmly wrote the answer, expression unchanged.
["A powerful anesthetic, said to be difficult for even the highest ranking Shinigami to resist."]
"...Injecting anesthetic into the brain, you actually thought that far. But that means this teacher is really good, right?"
"If I had to describe it, it is like listening to the greatest contemporary thinker give a lecture. If he had been born in Germany half a century earlier, maybe humanity would already be united."
"He is a thinker?! That is clearly the resume of an ambitious schemer with deep cunning, full of pretty speeches and skilled at manipulating people, is it not?"
"If you do not want to get jumped in your sleep tonight, you might want to lower your volume a bit."
Without turning around, Takeru jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the classroom behind them.
Ichigo instinctively glanced that way. Through the window, he saw the podium surrounded by a crowd of male and female students. In the middle of them, he could vaguely make out a tall figure dressed differently from the rest, which had to be the man he was talking about.
Whether he was a swindler or not, speaking badly of a popular teacher in front of his fan club definitely would not end well. And Shimiya Takeru would absolutely sit back and watch the show.
"This is your fault for exaggerating everything... Forget it, I am going!"
Watching Ichigo's retreating back, Takeru mused, "Rindo, what do you think his first thought will be when he comes back tonight?"
Rindo Yu shook his head.
["I do not know."]
Takeru smiled.
"I bet he will say, 'Shimiya, you were absolutely right. I was too arrogant.'"
Rindo added another line.
["Actually, I also do not quite approve of getting too close to that person."]
Takeru turned, surprised at the unusually serious look in Rindo's eyes.
Rindo Yu explained.
["Because I can barely sense Aizen sensei's emotions."]
"Rindo, have you ever thought that this might actually be normal?"
Takeru's tone stayed calm.
Rindo froze for a moment at that.
"We cannot read a person's character at a glance. It usually takes long term observation and shared experience before we can even try to judge someone. Even then, the chance of being wrong is still very high."
"So the real question is: if everything is so uncertain, why do people not just choose to live completely defensive lives and shut everyone out?"
"The reason is simple. Because it is the same for everyone."
"Think about it. If you could not sense my emotions and I could not sense yours, of course you would still be cautious with me. But that is just the normal response to a stranger. It would not immediately turn into viewing me as a villain and putting up an extreme level of defense, right?"
Faced with his question, Rindo hesitated briefly, then nodded.
"So, Aizen sensei, who feels terrifying to you because you cannot read him, does not seem that different from others to me. I also do not know what anyone is thinking, and I do not need to. It is not important to me."
Rindo asked.
["Then what is important?"]
Takeru clapped him firmly on the shoulder, letting his action complete his answer.
"What you do. That is what matters most."
…
Room 001 of the dormitory was Shimiya Takeru's room.
Just as the clouds outside the window were burning their brightest red, Ichigo slid open the door.
"Shimiya, I have to admit, sometimes you say weird things that actually make sense."
Takeru sat at the low square table. Across from him, Rindo Yu had just closed his book. Takeru shot him a look that said, See? Told you.
Rindo silently wrote.
["It seems you two are getting along very well."]
After their earlier conversation, even Rindo had relaxed his initial "prejudice" about Aizen and was more willing to respond to Ichigo's thoughts.
"Yeah."
Ichigo changed his shoes, stepped onto the tatami, and dropped cross legged into an empty spot at the table. Without hesitation, he grabbed the mugicha Takeru had poured earlier and downed it in one go.
"So thirsty. I was so focused on class I did not drink a single drop of water."
"Normally, I should be happy for you. But thinking that I will not see your miserable face in the next exam is a little disappointing."
Takeru picked up his Asauchi from beside him, shaking his head as he began his daily maintenance, cloth moving steadily along the blade.
"Do not look down on me. Even without extra lessons, I can pass just fine."
"I will pretend I did not hear that. Instead, tell me how your opinion of Aizen sensei changed."
Ichigo obviously wanted to argue, but in the end he let it go and did as Takeru wanted, recounting everything that had happened.
In short, it boiled down to a single sentence.
He had been moved by sincere attitude and conquered by excellent teaching.
"At first, I thought he was just some sly, calculating guy in glasses. Turns out he is a gentle, reliable good guy. He helped me lay out a self study plan, and he also asked about other academic and daily problems I have been having... I owe him a lot now."
Ichigo sighed heavily.
He was probably feeling ashamed of the petty suspicion he had shown at first.
Takeru asked, curious, "From what you are saying, you also told him about being a Kido nuclear bomb?"
"Who is a Kido nuclear bomb?!"
Ichigo exploded at once.
"I knew people were whispering when they looked at me! Have you been spreading that behind my back?"
"Brother Kurosaki, you know me. If I am going to talk bad about you, I do it to your face. That is what they call low emotional intelligence."
"You are using that as an excuse...? You jerk, just you wait till I get the chance, I will roast you so hard!"
"Then remember to ask Aizen sensei to expand your vocabulary for you. You know how I am. Low power attacks do not work on me."
…
Staring at Takeru's completely straight faced arrogance, Ichigo's fists itched.
"Hmph, keep acting smug. You guessed right, by the way. Aizen sensei invited me to the Fifth Division this weekend. He said he can help me with my Kido problem."
"This weekend? I am free too. I will go with you."
Takeru nodded as if it were natural.
"Wait, you do not have any problems that need fixing."
"But Aizen sensei must have also asked you to pass an invitation to me, right?"
"How did you know?"
Ichigo stared, genuinely shocked.
"Do you really need to ask? It would make no sense to offer special tutoring and skip the top student, would it?"
…
Ichigo decided he did not want to talk to Takeru anymore and turned to Rindo instead.
Rindo did not disappoint him. He raised a hand and wrote in the air.
["Shimiya performed exceptionally well in class and received Aizen sensei's praise."]
"No wonder his tone got way warmer when he mentioned you."
Realization dawned on Ichigo.
"Geniuses are drawn to each other."
"Sounds like that makes me a genius too."
Feeling like he had caught Takeru praising himself, Ichigo puffed up proudly.
"Aren't you?"
Takeru's genuinely surprised expression made it seem as if he had just heard something outrageous.
Ichigo froze for a beat, then grinned as it clicked.
"Of course I'm a genius. The two of us, and Rindo, and Hachihara, we are all geniuses."
"Speaking of Hachihara, where is she? She sent a message on the spiritual communicator earlier saying to meet here, but I do not see her."
Just as he finished complaining, the door banged open again.
Hachihara stormed in like a one person whirlwind.
Before anyone could shout "Too loud!", she proudly hoisted up a large food box, showing it off with full confidence.
"Tadaaa! Look what I brought!"
"Oh, let me see... This is pizza?"
Takeru put away his Asauchi and maintenance tools, stood up, and took the food box from him. When he opened the top layer, a wave of familiar Human World aromas hit his nose.
"Does Soul Society sell pizza?"
Ichigo stared, eyes round.
"There is more!"
Clearly delighted by their reactions, Hachihara eagerly opened the rest of the boxes.
And sure enough, it had been too early to be surprised.
Besides pizza, there were tomahawk steaks, creamy pasta, fried chicken burgers, fries...
None of it was rare in the Human World, but in Seireitei, people still clung to pre twentieth century traditional Japanese cuisine. They did not even have curry, let alone ramen that had been introduced around the same time, or later inventions like fried chicken burgers.
"Is this what you spent your whole afternoon on?"
Takeru's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Bingo!"
Hachihara flashed him a thumbs up.
"You know how much I love Human World culture, but this actually did not start with me. My family is the same. We have special channels to order Human World goods through black market merchants. Do not tell anyone, though. Trade secret."
"Do not worry, I would not talk even if you killed me!"
Ichigo gulped, staring at the spread of food, suddenly feeling the full weight of Hachihara's greatness.
Right now, this was probably the only way to taste Human World food in Soul Society.
Even without that, he would never betray a companion's secret.
"Even with a channel, it cannot be easy to get this much special food together. Thanks, Hachihara."
Takeru was genuinely moved.
"No problem. We are friends, right? It is only right to give friends from out of town a proper Human World style welcome feast. Do not hold back, dig in!"
Then she suddenly slapped her own forehead as if remembering something and pulled two large bottles of liquor out of her bag.
"Almost forgot. What is a party without alcohol?"
"Hey, hey, I am still underage."
Ichigo was stunned.
"You are already dead, who cares about Human World laws? Just pretend you have lived a hundred years. The Shinigami who ferried us here looked like a middle schooler anyway."
Takeru shrugged.
"That is true... Fine, I do not care anymore!"
"That's the spirit! To celebrate our beautiful future as souls, I even specially ordered a drink called the Water of Life. How about that? Super meaningful, right?"
Even Takeru's expression twitched at that.
Ichigo's jaw dropped further.
"Life... wait, do you mean that one? Do you know how strong that is? You will not feel any meaning after drinking it!"
"Oh my, Ichigo, are you scared?"
"?!"
With one sentence, Hachihara backed him to the edge of a cliff.
Ichigo had no retreat left.
Takeru, on the other hand, was completely unbothered. If he could face Aizen with a calm mind, what was a bottle of ninety six proof vodka to him?
"Cheers."
The four of them sat on the floor in the small four and a half tatami room, each claiming a corner. It did not feel cramped at all. If anything, there was a perfect sense of balance between them.
Even though Rindo sat quietly, mostly observing, he did not hesitate to raise his cup and drink with the others, fully part of the warmth and noise.
At some point, the fiery clouds outside the window had faded away.
Night slipped in without a sound, lamps lit against the dark.
Inside Room 001, the air was soft with laughter, alcohol, and the gentle, pleasant blur of tipsiness.
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