Chapter 50: Titles
"Rumors, about me?"
Hearing this news, even Suoh Tsukasa himself felt somewhat puzzled, speaking with some surprise.
These rumors hadn't floated anywhere near him as the person in question, so Suoh only learned about this right now.
Though students usually discussed things around him daily, what actually drifted into his ears was mostly:
"Is that Suoh Tsukasa!"
"He doesn't really look like it!"
"He really can eat so much!"
And also discussions like "He's so good-looking!" "I wonder if he has a girlfriend..." and such.
He'd long grown accustomed to these voices.
After all, from the very first day of enrollment, the gazes directed at him and discussions about him were too numerous to count.
As for what new rumors about him had emerged recently, he really hadn't heard much.
Abarai Renji looked at his completely unaware appearance, also somewhat surprised.
"You don't know? You could be called the Shinoreijutsuin's most famous student right now!"
"Forget the fifth and sixth years who first spread the rumors—even in the second, third, and fourth years, you'd have trouble finding anyone who hasn't heard rumors about you."
"The super star who will definitely become an elite Shinigami!"
"The strongest new student!"
"An ultimate genius encountered once in a hundred years!"
"The suddenly descended Black Morning Star!"
"The Black Night Noble Young Master of the elite class!"
"Hand..."
Then extending his fingers, Abarai Renji began recounting like a treasured collection all the titles he'd heard attached to Suoh in those rumors, speaking each one seriously.
"Stop, stop..."
Hearing the last nickname, Suoh immediately raised his hand to halt him, his brow furrowing slightly.
The first few sounded fine. He was quite satisfied with them. That last one was really a bit embarrassing. The flavor was too strong.
"What the hell is Black Night Noble Young Master? At least give me a nickname like 'Black Emperor' or something—that would sound cooler."
Suoh covered his head somewhat speechless, his skull also feeling a bit fuzzy as he complained internally.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed that Toshiro beside him showed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever on his face. He asked with confusion.
"These... you've heard them all?"
"Mm, I've heard most of them. I thought you already knew yourself."
Toshiro nodded faintly, his tone calm in response.
The elite class classmates had some reservations in front of Suoh and wouldn't discuss things to his face.
In front of Toshiro, they had nothing to worry about and discussed things especially enthusiastically.
In their words, they even took pride in being able to attend the same class as Suoh, even having ideas about establishing a fan club for him.
Though Toshiro never participated in others' idle chatter normally, he would still pay slight attention to the content of surrounding people's discussions.
As long as the conversation content didn't involve belittling Suoh, he generally had no opinion and even found it somewhat interesting.
Just listening occasionally on the side like this, over time he basically knew everything.
And in his impression, Suoh had never cared about others' gazes and discussions since they'd known each other, so he hadn't particularly mentioned these rumors.
"So I'm the last to know."
"Alright then."
Having heard this, Suoh sighed helplessly.
These exaggerated rumors and titles quite fit his stereotypical impression of Japanese school life.
Simply put, everyone's daily lives had too few sources of entertainment.
So much so that publications like the Seireitei Communication, whose main content consisted of official announcements from institutional bodies, were deeply pursued by students just because they occasionally included some rumors and gossip information.
Having frequently visited the library, from enrollment until now he still hadn't managed to see this famous publication in the library.
Ultimately, life at the Shinoreijutsuin was still too oppressive, even more oppressive than real-world schools.
'Just suffocatingly boring!'
Having reached this conclusion and gathering his thoughts, Suoh took out a package of dried meat from his bundle and casually tossed it over.
"By the way, Abarai, this is for you. Consider it payment for the intelligence."
"What is this?... Smells good."
The oil paper package traced an arc through the air. Abarai Renji instinctively caught it with his right hand, his fingertips sensing a solid, substantial weight.
At the same time, a sweet-salty meat fragrance mixed with rich spice aromas came with the wind straight toward him, making him involuntarily take a deep breath.
"Exclusive secret recipe snack jerky. You can't buy this outside."
"Looking at your movements, you're almost healed. Eating more meat will help you recover even faster."
Suoh said with a smile, his gaze sweeping across Abarai's right shoulder which still showed some stiffness in movement.
"Great! I'll accept this gesture. Thanks!"
Since the two were already friends, Abarai Renji wasn't the type to be overly polite. He immediately accepted it straightforwardly.
This package of dried meat lay quietly in his palm, becoming the first token of their new friendship.
"You're welcome. We'll head back to unpack now. See you."
Suoh nodded with a smile and waved his hand.
"See you!"
Abarai Renji waved in response and turned to walk toward his own dormitory direction. His red hair swayed in the sunlight, much lighter than when he'd arrived.
Watching his departing figure, Suoh and Toshiro turned and walked into the small courtyard.
Having walked only a few steps, Toshiro beside him suddenly spoke, asking with some curiosity.
"You seem to appreciate him quite a bit?"
The day before, they'd been at drawn swords on the dueling platform. Today they'd become friends. This transformation was really somewhat fast.
However, Toshiro could also sense that Suoh genuinely wanted to make this friend. He was purely curious.
Suoh slowed his steps, recalling the scene from yesterday's duel, his tone serious.
"His nature isn't bad, and he has quite a bit of talent and ability."
"Yesterday he seemed furious and wanted to defeat me with full strength, but when he actually made his move, he still consciously held back somewhat."
Suoh understood yesterday's battle situation most clearly. If there had been strong malice, he would have detected it immediately.
Similarly, if Abarai Renji hadn't held back his own strength, the first bakudo wouldn't have been so easy to break free from instantly.
Precisely because he'd sensed the other party's self-restraint, Suoh had also held back when releasing byakurai. Otherwise, it wouldn't have just been a matter of two holes punched through his body.
After all, a person's left hand had five fingers.
"I see."
Originally, Toshiro's first impression of Abarai Renji had been somewhat negative. Even after learning he was Hinamori Momo's classmate and friend, it remained so.
Hearing Suoh's explanation now, he changed his view of Abarai Renji slightly.
"Besides, after everyone enters the Gotei Thirteen later, we'll still be colleagues. Having one more friend isn't a bad thing."
Suoh smiled and continued.
He was originally someone who loved making friends. One of his great interests in life was cooking food for friends to eat.
Moreover, while delicious food eaten alone certainly had flavor, eating together with a group of friends multiplied the deliciousness many times over.
"What you say makes sense."
Regarding Suoh's reasoning, Toshiro nodded in agreement.
He also wouldn't obsess excessively over this kind of thing. Though he couldn't immediately consider Abarai Renji a friend, he no longer found him displeasing from the bottom of his heart.
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