Chapter 24: Momo Hinamori’s Request

Two days after Rukia and the other two had begun preparing their performance, Momo Hinamori suddenly came to see Xin again.

“President!”

Xin was working on matters related to the cultural festival. When he saw Hinamori, he asked, “What is it? Have you finished preparing your performance?”

“Not yet. We’re still rehearsing,” Momo Hinamori replied with a bright smile.

“What are you preparing? I didn’t see anything on the list.”

Hinamori smiled mysteriously. “Hehe, that has to remain a secret for now. I guarantee it’ll give you, President, quite a surprise when the time comes!”

Hearing this, Xin smiled as well and set down the work in his hands. “All right. I’ll look forward to it.”

He had already guessed that she must have come to him about something.

Sure enough, Hinamori spoke up. “President, there’s something I’d like to ask for your help with.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“The Spiritual Arts Academy’s cultural festival is such a rare occasion.”

“If it goes well this time, it’ll be held every year from now on.”

Hinamori continued, “I have a friend who also possesses spiritual power. I’ve always wanted him to come study at the academy, but he keeps refusing. So I want to take this opportunity to let him see the place for himself. I’m sure that once he comes here, he’ll fall in love with the academy!”

A friend?

Xin could not help but pause. He immediately realized whom Hinamori was talking about.

The future captain of the Tenth Division, Toshiro Hitsugaya.

According to the original timeline, however, Toshiro Hitsugaya would not enroll until after Momo Hinamori had graduated from the academy.

Could it happen earlier?

Xin pondered this in silence.

Hinamori moved closer and began rubbing his shoulders ingratiatingly. “President, I know this is difficult, but you must have a way, right?”

Hinamori had been born in the Rukongai, while the Spiritual Arts Academy was located in the Seireitei.

The Seireitei was a place reserved for nobles and Soul Reapers. Under normal circumstances, residents of the Rukongai were not permitted to enter freely.

Not even those from District One, Junrinan.

When all was said and done, Xin was merely an ordinary student. He did not possess that kind of authority.

Hinamori, however, had not thought things through so deeply. She simply believed that her president was in frequent contact with the academy’s leaders, and even with such great figures as the captains and lieutenants of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. In her eyes, that made him an extraordinarily capable person.

“You really dare to dream,” Xin said with a soft scoff.

“President, is it possible?” Hinamori gazed at him with eyes full of expectation.

“You should know the rules of the Seireitei. You actually came up with such a reckless idea. Do you understand the consequences of doing this?”

“It’s not possible…” Disappointment was impossible to conceal from Hinamori’s eyes. Then she began to feel that perhaps she truly had been indulging in a wild fantasy.

Even if the president possessed the ability, he could not casually break the rules. Looking at it that way, she really had been thoughtless.

“I’m sorry, President. I shouldn’t have disturbed you.”

Hinamori bowed to Xin and turned to leave.

“However, I do have a way.”

Hinamori immediately turned around, hope blazing anew in her eyes.

“But it carries considerable risk,” Xin added, feigning hesitation.

Hinamori hesitated as well. She did not want to cause trouble for the president, and this was not something that absolutely had to be done.

“President, it’s all right,” she said at once. “If it means breaking the rules, then there’s no need. I didn’t think it through carefully enough.”

Xin could not help laughing. “Are you and this friend of yours very close?”

Hinamori nodded. “His house is right next to mine. We grew up together.”

In this world, growing up together did not carry any ambiguous romantic implication. It simply referred to childhood friends who had been raised side by side.

“Since he’s such a close friend of yours, there’s no harm in bringing him here once. It would be a shame to let all your thoughtfulness go to waste.”

“President…”

Hinamori was deeply moved.

The Seireitei and the Rukongai were separated by a white wall built from spirit-pressure stone. To pass through it, one had to enter through one of four gates: the White Way Gate, the Azure Current Gate, the Black Ridge Gate, or the Crimson Hollow Gate. Each gate was guarded by an exceptional Soul Reaper.

As a student of the Spiritual Arts Academy, Hinamori could travel freely by presenting her student identification.

Xin’s method was simple: Hinamori only needed to bring an academy uniform and a student identification card, then go and escort him back.

The gatekeepers did not strictly regulate the movements of academy students. After all, these students would eventually become Soul Reapers. As long as they presented their identification, they were allowed through.

“Thank you, President!” Hinamori was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

“Are you only going to thank me with words?” Xin asked with an amused, unreadable smile.

Hinamori suddenly grew bashful. She answered awkwardly, “I—I’m grateful in my heart too.”

[Affection: 48]

Xin cast a discreet glance at the system interface.

Once affection reached the fifties or sixties, it became extremely difficult to raise. Rangiku Matsumoto, whom he had known the longest, had only reached a little over sixty even now.

And the reason her affection was so high was that they had known each other for several years.

Momo Hinamori’s affection had risen quickly, partly because of her naturally pleasant personality. But once it climbed past fifty, he would need to find another approach.

If he relied solely on the slow accumulation of time, who knew how many years it would take to obtain the full-completion reward?

Xin had always been rather dissatisfied with his system. Wasn’t it practically forcing him to become a villain?

Take this favor he had done for Hinamori. It was not particularly difficult, and the supposed consequences were nearly negligible. Even if the academy discovered what he had done, it would never punish him over such a trivial matter.

But if he had agreed immediately the moment Hinamori asked, the increase in her affection might have amounted to almost nothing.

Going through all these twists and turns was troublesome, but for the sake of becoming stronger, Xin felt that it was the better way to handle things.

Ultimately, he was simply increasing the perceived value of the favor. Yet with a girl like Momo Hinamori, the tactic worked remarkably well.

“All right. You can use my uniform and student identification card. Come find me the day before and take them.”

“Please continue with your work, President.”

Hinamori left in high spirits.

Xin, meanwhile, began pondering Toshiro Hitsugaya.

The circumstances of his enrollment would still occur several years later, when Rangiku Matsumoto happened upon him. In that respect, he was rather similar to Xin himself.

Compared with Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, and the others currently studying at the academy, Toshiro Hitsugaya possessed even greater talent. Like Kaien Shiba and Gin Ichimaru, he would graduate from the academy after only one year. He would go on to become a captain in the shortest time recorded in Soul Society’s history—and the youngest captain ever.

He also possessed Hyorinmaru, reputed to be the most powerful ice-type Zanpakuto.

Toshiro Hitsugaya’s age should have been roughly the same as Momo Hinamori’s. Yet even decades later, he still retained the appearance of a boy in the original story. Perhaps that alone served as indirect proof of his astonishing talent.

He was a true prodigy.

And Xin still had one year before graduation.