Chapter 44: My Biggest Flaw Is That I Cannot Play Dumb
Hearing the Captain Commander call their names, Takeru and Ichigo both stood and stepped forward.
"Thank you for the tea."
"Thank you for the tea."
Takeru's bow and tone were elegant and flawless, every movement refined.
Ichigo tried to copy him for about half a second, realized it was impossible, and simply settled on what he felt was his most serious, respectful posture.
The Captain Commander silently watched the two of them.
After they each lifted a bowl, took a light sip, and set it back down, the old man finally spoke.
"How does it taste?"
"It tastes pretty good," Ichigo answered.
"Passable," Takeru said.
Ichigo could not help but glance sideways at him. That was a little too blunt in front of the old man.
But Takeru was not finished.
"The tea leaves are very ordinary," he continued calmly. "They are not some rare or precious variety. But through skillful preparation, you have drawn out all of their potential."
"Hey, Takeru…"
Ignoring Ichigo's anxious whisper, Takeru closed his eyes and slowly exhaled.
"So although the taste itself is nothing special, for an amateur drinker, it will soon be forgotten after the last sip. At the same time, that also means there will never come a day when one grows tired of it.
"In daily work, something like this would never be acceptable. But as a cup of tea after work, it can always preserve a small sense of freshness in life. It makes the work that came before feel a little less dull and suffocating.
"And that gentle feeling, together with the taste of the tea, seems to flow out of the body with the turbid breath, then quietly fade away from both body and mind."
His words sounded less like an answer and more like a quiet monologue.
The voice was soft and even.
Like the steam rising from the surface of the bowl.
Like the faint tea fragrance spreading out, drifting very naturally into everyone's ears.
It flowed slowly through their hearts and made it easy to empathize.
"…"
Perhaps many people in the room felt that way.
Ichigo, however, just stared at Takeru with a very strange expression.
He opened his mouth, wanted to say something, then thought better of it, then wanted to say something again.
At that moment, Yamamoto Genryusai gave a slight nod.
"To be able to comprehend it to this extent, this old man has nothing more to add. Your excellence far surpasses this old man's expectations," he said.
"Indeed, calling you here today was the right decision."
"Eh?"
Ichigo was more startled by that last line than by being praised alongside Takeru.
"The Captain Commander already thought very carefully about this," Takeru said, lifting his bowl again for another sip, his tone as casual as if they were chatting in a classroom. "He knows it would not be appropriate to formally summon two students who have yet to graduate, so he chose this method instead.
"Only by doing so can he better understand what kind of brats have been causing trouble behind the scenes lately… am I right?"
The old man opened his eyes fully and looked straight at him.
"Boy, did your teacher never tell you that flaunting your cleverness can sometimes backfire?"
"I had no choice," Takeru replied. "Before I was even born, a fortune teller pointed at my mother's belly and said, 'This child's biggest flaw in the future will be that he cannot play dumb.'"
He set the bowl down and met the Captain Commander's gaze head on.
"Captain Commander, do you think I can still change?"
"That is already your nature. There is nothing to be done."
The old man brushed it aside without much emotion.
"Let us speak of something more serious."
"As the most dazzling twin stars in the history of the Spirit Arts Academy, this old man has been observing you ever since the Headmaster turned in his first report. At the time, I believed that even with your exceptional talent, you would not begin to build up merit until after graduation.
"Unexpectedly, first there was the Rukongai serial murder case, then the prohibited drug incident, and then, most recently, that unprecedented Soul Burial accident."
"Though you are still young, your active performance already surpasses that of most seated Shinigami, and you have even dragged two other talents of your generation into the spotlight along with you."
"This old man is both the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 and the founder of the Spirit Arts Academy. While I am pleased, I am also concerned. Growing too quickly is not always a good thing."
"This old man has seen far too many gifted ones go astray."
"But now that I have met you in person, this old man is at ease."
"Especially you, Takeru."
Takeru, whose name had been called, paused for a heartbeat.
"Captain Commander, why do you say that? I personally feel I am a lot more reliable than the guy sitting next to me."
"…Even though I cannot argue with that, could you at least think about my feelings a little?" Ichigo muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Because you look very tired," Yamamoto replied.
His answer left many of those present, including Ichigo, momentarily confused.
But what followed was impossible not to understand.
"When I asked Aizen to bring you here, I also inquired about your recent condition. He reported that you have both been training diligently, to the point that the effort was obvious even through the fatigue.
"This old man could only think of one possibility.
"Takeru, you have already begun training for Bankai, have you not?"
"What?!"
Renji, among the gathered Vice Captains, almost had his eyes pop out as a wave of absurdity crashed over him.
It had taken him decades after graduation to reach that step.
And now a current student had caught up to him?
The others were not calm either.
Byakuya's face grew a shade more serious, his thoughts impossible to read.
Soi Fon's eyes widened with surprise and doubt, as if she were forced to reassess Takeru from the ground up.
Retsu Unohana, Ukitake, and Kyoraku each showed a flicker of surprise at first, then the sort of expression that said, so it has finally come to this, just as expected.
As if they had seen something similar once before.
Only Aizen smiled faintly and said nothing.
Komamura's reaction was hidden completely beneath his helmet.
Tosen remained silent.
As for the Vice Captains, the female Shinigami were relatively calm. Because of Momo's stories, they already knew a little about Takeru and Ichigo, and besides admiration and emotion, they did not feel much else.
The male Vice Captains, on the other hand, with the exception of Tsuchibone, generally reacted the same way as Renji.
"No way. He is only a first year," Omaeda blurted.
"He actually said Bankai…!" Kira Izuru whispered.
"So this is the strongest prodigy in the history of the Spirit Arts Academy. What a despair inducing talent," Tetsuzaemon Iba muttered.
"Hey hey hey, there has to be a limit to how ridiculous things can get," Shuhei Hisagi added under his breath.
To be honest, they were not the only ones feeling that way.
Even Ichigo, who was also classified as one of the "oddballs," was stunned.
"Takeru, since when were you…!"
The center of all this attention, meanwhile, only looked a little regretful.
So much for his surprise.
He had wanted to wait until he had completely mastered his Bankai before revealing it as a hidden trump card.
Yamamoto, however, misread the look on his face.
"What is wrong, boy? Did you think you could keep it from this old man?"
"Do not be so pleased with yourself. There have been geniuses in the past who achieved Bankai while still at the Spirit Arts Academy. Quite a few of them ended up taking the wrong path."
"From what I see, you do not have that tendency. That is very good."
"Moreover, this old man has reviewed the records from the viewing room. Your composed fighting in the World of the Living showed outstanding leadership. Although your actions caused a great deal of negative impact in that world, in light of your youth and the fact that you stepped in to turn the tide, I will not pursue the matter."
"In the end, you minimized the losses. Some destruction was unavoidable. On the contrary, the decisiveness with which you were willing to take responsibility is something this old man greatly approves of."
The one most moved by those words was not Takeru, who was being praised to the heavens, but Ichigo.
So he was finally cleared of the infamous crime of "destroying the city."
But still.
He never expected that doing something like that would actually earn him approval.
"You overpraise me," Takeru said. "As you said, it was nothing more than youthful hot blood. When I saw the Hollows invading the World of the Living in such large numbers, I instinctively stepped in. I did not have time to think too much.
"I am already grateful that things did not develop into something even worse."
When they heard that, quite a few eyes in the room shifted, almost in unison, toward Aizen.
No one could believe that this kind of steady, modest attitude had not been influenced by his teacher.
"Hmm. That is indeed how it was," Yamamoto said with a nod.
"It seems your claim that you cannot play dumb was not an excuse."
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
"…Here!"
Hearing his own name suddenly called, Ichigo straightened his back on reflex.
The old man fixed him with a steady look.
"In that battle, your first thought was to protect your family in the World of the Living. Considering that you are not yet an official squad member, this old man cannot judge you by the standards of dereliction of duty that apply to official Shinigami."
"But while this old man appreciates such a pure heart, I also hope you remember this."
"There will be times when you are forced into such situations again. And in those moments, you will be made to choose between sacrificing someone and not sacrificing someone."
"If you do not wish to face such a choice, then strive to become stronger."
"I hope to see talented young people grow. But I do not wish to see them grow through regret and hatred of their own powerlessness. That will only create unnecessary trouble for others… and for the whole of Seireitei."
"…I understand!"
Ichigo replied with a deeply serious expression, then bowed his head low in gratitude for the old man's teaching.
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