Blinding light didn't erupt the way Aizen expected.
Instead, searing arcs of lightning sprayed from the tiny gap between Kisaragi Akira's pressed fingertips. The electricity writhed together with blazing flames, and the temperature inside the dormitory surged higher and higher.
The energy ballooned at Akira's fingertips—expanding, compressing, then tightening into something impossibly dense. Even from a distance, Aizen could feel the raw destructive power pulsing beneath Akira's skin. The light made even the veins on the back of his hand glow hot red.
Akira grinned."Souya, look—it worked!"
"I really am a once-in-a-century prodigy. The Academy lucked out big time having me!"
It was only now that Aizen understood: once a kidō pattern was successfully engraved into Akira's spiritual body, that spell essentially became part of him. Manipulating Byakurai and Shakkahō was no different from moving his own limbs.
For Akira, it was purely instinct.
Like licking your own elbow—impossible for most people, but there's always that one freak who can manage it.
And, obviously… Akira was that freak.
This fusion wasn't like his earlier "dust explosion"—no, sorry, his so-called Red Smoke White Lightning. This time, the fusion was much closer to kidō's true nature—disassembling and recombining the formulas themselves.It wasn't synergy; it was transmutation.
The difficulty was on another level entirely.
Akira slowly pulled his hands apart.A dazzling radiance glowed between his palms, shimmering with streaks of flame and lightning—alive, volatile, breathtaking.
Even Aizen couldn't help but stare.
Burning thunder. Flashing flames. Two destructive arts merged into one, creating a force far greater than the sum of its parts.A true 1 + 1 > 3.
"I've decided," Akira declared confidently. "I'm naming this move—Knife Chops a Live Wire!"
Aizen stared.A silent, slow question mark.
Before he could voice any objections, Akira suddenly frowned, then grabbed the glowing fusion as if kneading dough.
A moment later… a perfectly straight longsword materialized in his hands.
Lightning ran through the translucent blade like veins. Flame curled around its edge, the heat twisting the air around it like a mirage.
"I've changed my mind," Akira said solemnly, raising the sword high."This name sounds way cooler—Firestorm Blade!"
Aizen's eyebrows twitched.
Why such a blunt name? He couldn't shake the feeling there was some deeper stupidity behind it.And… did this even count as a completed, original kidō?
He studied the sword carefully—until his gaze reached the middle of the blade.
His pupils shrank.
"Bakudō #31… Enclosure Fan!"
Without hesitation—or thought—Aizen released his defensive kidō purely on instinct, throwing up a barrier in front of himself and adding a second layer around Akira.
The next instant, danger shrieked in both of their minds.
Akira didn't even think.He threw the Firestorm Blade.
BOOM!!!
Blinding lightning detonated in an instant. A torrent of electrical arcs burst from the narrow sword like a ruptured thunderstorm.
The shockwave blasted outward—earth cracking, walls collapsing, the entire building shuddering as heat and pressure roared through it like a volcanic eruption. A column of incandescent light shot straight into the sky.
By the time Akira clawed his way out of the rubble, coughing dust, Aizen—who'd prepared in advance—looked nowhere near as miserable.
"Good news and bad news," Aizen said, pulling Akira upright. To his surprise, the idiot wasn't badly hurt—just scraped and bruised.
"I'm too softhearted to hear bad news," Akira mumbled, dizzy."Just give me the good one."
He hadn't expected the Firestorm Blade to be that unstable. The conflicting forces inside it had triggered a complete meltdown.
Aizen sighed."Good news: because the energy was so concentrated, the blast only destroyed three dorm rooms."
The new buildings had been intentionally spaced apart to prevent "another Akira incident."Clearly, Professor Kaede's precautions had been justified.
Aizen still felt weird saying the spell's name. Akira's naming sense hurt him on a spiritual level.
"That's perfect then," Akira nodded quickly. "Less damages = less compensation."
"Correction," Aizen said with a deadpan expression. "You will compensate. Not us."
"And you need to hear the bad news."He exhaled."To prevent you from violating academy safety regulations again, Professor Kaede moved his own dorm to the one right next to ours."
"And—as luck would have it—it is currently not class hours."
Akira slowly turned his head.
In the middle of the rubble stood an exhausted, hunched figure leaning against a cracked wall—Professor Kaede. His gloomy stare was fixed directly on them.
Kaede Rin'ya looked like a man whose soul had left his body.
Two days.The new dormitory had survived exactly two days before Akira blew it up.
He was too tired to even be angry.
"C-c-cool timing, Professor Kaede," Akira said with a shaky smile. "A totally minor accident during training. Really small. Micro-scale."
"Same compensation as usual?"
Kaede looked at Akira's shameless grin and let out a long, soul-weary sigh.
"Next time… could you train somewhere far away from the dormitory?"
"As for compensation, the academy will deduct it from the payment for your last two missions."
Akira froze, then stared at him like the man had grown a second head.
"Did you get hit by falling debris? Why are you so reasonable today?"
Kaede inhaled deeply, eyes twitching. Just as he was about to snap—
He realized the brat had already vanished.
Only Aizen remained, standing politely.
Of course.The moment Akira sensed Kaede's blood pressure spiking, he performed his signature move: Escape Technique—Wind at My Back.
Now that he didn't have to pay right away, he could resume developing the Firestorm Blade—a dream he'd been chasing since forever.
"Understood," Aizen said calmly. "Judging by the mission difficulty, the payment should cover everything."
Kaede exhaled and nodded.
Aizen, unlike Akira, was a model student—polite, brilliant, responsible. Professors across the academy adored him. If not for the unfortunate fact he spent too much time with Akira, his reputation would've been spotless.
"Right—one more thing."
Aizen stopped mid-step as Kaede called after him.
"Dean Genshirō returned from the First Division yesterday. He called me in for a long discussion… about Akira."
"Tell him to lie low for a while. Someone from the Thirteenth Division may come to evaluate him."
Aizen frowned slightly."This is about the attack at Zenteiji, isn't it?"
Kaede shook his head."I'm not sure. The Dean didn't ask me anything about that incident. Instead… he asked about Akira's daily life."