13 Shinigami Academy Part 1

Jin and the other two walked into what seemed to be the central gathering hall of the academy.

The hall was huge. Its purpose was probably just like the modern counterparts of schools where announcements and such were made.

A shinigami that seemed to talk to everyone slowly approached the trio as well.

"Names."

"Jin Narukami. And this here is Matsuri and Fujimaru Kudo.", answered Jin and pointed at himself and the twins respectively.

The shinigami looked through the papers in his hands and nodded.

"Looks like you are in class one...Here are your identification papers proving your status as students here. Don't lose them."

"Class 1?", asked Fujimaru.

"You don't even know that? How did you even end up in that class then? You kids seem to have higher potential than others and therefore will be put into class 1. There are actually two main classes. The first class is for geniuses and the likes and the second class is for people showing lesser potential. But don't think you can be happy. It only means that the academy expects more from you."

"Really? We didn't know about that.", said Matsuri and tried to back her brother.

"It's alright. Now move to the crowd and position yourself in an orderly fashion. The Captain-Commander will hold a speech for all first years."

"Alright, thanks." The trio mingles themselves into the crowd that was now slowly forming orderly rows. They ended up being on the far right side of one that was exactly in front of the stage where the commander would probably perform his speech.

They ended up there because they were clearly the youngest out of all the students present. And everyone kind of pushed them forward until they stood there. Not like they would see anything otherwise.

It somewhat irked Jin. Did he actually become a child soldier without really thinking about it?

There were even people that were already watching them, and some of them even smirked and whispered something.

"I kind of get second thoughts right now. What about you two?", asked Fujimaru after glancing around nervously.

"Just stay calm. We cannot be possibly the only ones starting at our age...", reassured Jin him.

And just when he said that an elderly man came from nowhere and walked slowly to the middle. He was accompanied by another man that also looked somewhat old but definitely not as much as the elderly.

"Is that the Captain-Commander? He is so old.", commented Fujimaru in a whispering voice.

"Shhh." urged Matsuri with a frowning face.

"Quiet, he can probably hear you. And rethink your words. If he is that old, that only means he is very strong. Why else would he reach that age otherwise? Shinigami do risk their lives every single day after all.", hushed Jin as well and true enough, the gaze of the elderly did travel to them as if he heard them speaking.

Well, it was not all that hard to find the source since there was only some rummaging around in an otherwise pretty silent hall.

The good thing was that there was no malevolent feeling from him. Just curiosity by the looks of it.

It didn't take long, and the old man looked to the whole crowd after seeing them not saying anything anymore.

If one had to count, there were about a few hundred people gathered up here. But not more than 500 people.

"Welcome!" Despite the outer appearance, the voice of the elderly was firm and especially loud. "I am Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. I am the Captain of the 1st Division of the Gotei13. Many probably knew that already. But for those who didn't, I welcome you all to my academy. As the founder of the Spiritual Arts Academy, I am very pleased to see that we have so many recruits this year around."

The speech was actually pretty straightforward and didn't take that long at all. Somehow Jin expected more.

"Good. With these words said, I wish all of you some enjoyable six years here at the academy. And I hope that all of you do your very best to become the backbone of the Seiretei."

‚What a lie...', thought Jin at that moment. Contrary to his inner reaction, Matsuri and Fujimaru were attentively watching and listening to the old man.

Shigekuni then left the stage, and everyone started talking again as if a deep pressure left their bodies.

"Where do you think we need to go?", asked Matsuri while looking around.

"Class 1! Gather around me!", shouted a bulky man.

"Looks like that is where we need to go.", answered Jin and smiled to her.

While they moved towards that man, Matsuri seemed to think about something else. "Did you also notice the Captain-Commander mentioning a Spiritual Arts Academy?"

"Hmm? Oh, that's just the real name of the Shinigami Academy. But for us outside of Seireitei and Rukongai in general, it is just called mostly the Shinigami Academy.", explained Jin to her.

"Why is that? How come you know that?", asked Fujimaru.

"Well, unlike you. I do read stuff.", smirked Jin now and looked at the blondie. Matsuri giggled since she knew he was right.

"Hey, I am not the brightest, but you don't have to always rub it in. It's just you being a total bookworm is weird.", rebuked Fujimaru to his comment.

"Is it? Anyway, it was the academy's old name I think. Before everything started to diversify so much. You know we got a medical team now and such. And for that, Kido is essential. Not only Swordmanship and a few bandages..."

"So that is why they had to change the name?"

"I guess. Maybe someone else had a say in it. Now, let's hurry up."

When they arrived and gathered up, Jin and the others could see that not a lot of people were actually admitted into the first class. From all the people only about 50 were now in this class.

The man that gathered them up also leads them along many corridors into a classroom that looked a lot like a university classroom.

"Alright, everyone take a seat." The man ordered them to take their positions. Everyone could choose where to sit, so the trio sat right beside each other.

"So we ended up in the same classroom.", smiled Fujimaru. He was right about this. But his talking earned him an elbow from his sister.

"My name is Gengorō Ōnabara. I am the Head Instructor of this class. I welcome you as well. You are the lucky few that were put into this special accelerated class. Some may now even ask what that means."

While saying his last words, he actually looked at Jin his little group.

"This class is specially made for people with high spiritual powers and potential. It is there to push you all even harder than the normal classes would. With that said we expect nothing but success from you all your classes."

"That goes especially so for the four main Shinigami combat forms. Those being Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō. Zanjutsu means the art of fighting with your sword. Next ist Hakuda. It is also fighting but without your sword. To support both Zanjutsu and Hakuda, we have the art of movement - Hohö, and lastly, there is Kidō. Which is basically magic if you want to have the short answer. In general Kidō is the use of spells for about everything. It can be used offensively, defensively, and even supportive."

Gengorō now pointed four fingers upwards. "We call those four the Zankensoki (Zan=Cut, Ken=Fist, So=Run, Ki=Spirit). Those will be your major classes. Of course, there will be other classes about the duties of a Shinigami, but those will be the most important ones."

"Now, since you are class one, we are going ro push you so hard that ypu hopefully graduate faster."

"And you are the lucky ones to receive your weapon right at the get-go. Normally people do not receive those Asauchi until they reached their fourth year. So I will lead you to the Zanjutsu training hall. Do follow."

With that said, everyone moved with him to another place. It was the hall where they would receive their Zanjutsu training later on and also could train on their own in the yards if they do want to.

In a somewhat smaller room, Gengorō stomped on the ground, and a massive rack of katana appeared from the ceiling. Now the room looked like a library for katana. But each looked very much the same.

"Now, everyone. Grab one of these Asauchi. Do note if you feel weird after choosing one, you can always change your decision. That is until we leave the room. After that, your decision will be final even when you chose not the most suitable weapon."

Jin now raised a hand and started talking. "Why is that? Arent all these weapons just basically the same katana?"

Gengorō looked at the black haired kid and was slightly surprised. It was rare for such young people to appear here at the academy. And he was actually proactivly engaging into a conversation and asked about certain things.

He had a feeling this one was somewhat of a promising student.

"These Asauchi are like blank canvases that shape themselves around its wielder. An Asauchi that has revealed itself to its wielder is also called a Zanpakuto. But not every canvas can always contain the painting one wants to draw."

The answer he gave to Jin was weirdly philosophical. It made Jin frown.

Did he mean to say that every Asauchi could only handle a certain amount of power?

Gengorō saw Jin his frowning and smiled. "I mean that even though all Asauchi here look the same, and are without an owner, they still are all smithed by hand and differentiate between each other."

"That is also why every Zanpakuto is unique. So if you feel that an Asauchi feels not right, it is a clear indication that the current Asauchi you picked may not suit your soul."

"Alright, why don't you try it out yourself? What is your name?"

"Jin Narukami.", Jin replied.

"Well then, Narukami. Go ahead and pick one." Gengorō looked to the others. "We will do this in an orderly fashion. So the rest waits for their turn."

Jin nodded and walked to the closest weapon shelf and took the very first sword he could reach. He was not really believing that it mattered at all whichever he picked.