CH 4: THE POWER OF THE ROKUGAN
"Let me examine your body, will you?"
Her face became immediately completely flushed.
“Wha~! wha~! wha~!”
She began to stammer, so shocked that she couldn’t even gather her thoughts correctly.
After all, even thoughts she was already in her hundreds, she had died when she was a teen, and be it back then or earth or here in the Rukongai, the amount of contact she had with people of the opposite sex was pitifully low.
‘What should I do?!’
For a genius like her who was already able to use Kido even though she entered the academy a few months ago, this was the first time she was stumped by a question.
“Hum! Hum! Hum!”
Above her, she could hear the muffled screams of her friend. He was most likely trying to ask her to not listen or something. Sadly for him, those actions were what pushed her to make her decisions.
With steam flying above her head, she lowered her trembling hand and slowly brought them toward her clothes. The man was without a doubt very powerful, and he did save their life. But, just as she was about to disrobe, she was stopped by a hand.
Raising her head to stare at the man with her teary eyes, she wondered if he wouldn’t even give her the right to take her own clothes off.
Gojo meanwhile wore a rather bitter expression, he had just been trying to play a prank. How could he have thought she would react like that?
‘This girl is more naive than I thought. She seems like the kind to be used then discarded by some bad man. Now, how do I explain that?’
He was smart enough to understand that saying that everything was a joke was perhaps the most stupid action. As such, taking a serious expression, he nodded,
“Well done. I was curious to see how far you were willing to go to repay your lifesaver. Your actions surpassed my expectations. Now, this is enough.”
‘When you are awkward, just bullshit your way out.’
“This was...a test?”
“Indeed. I am sorry for the grief I caused. I hope you will forgive me.”
He had been bullshitting about the test, but he was indeed sorry. Making a young girl cry wasn’t one of his hobbies. Though, making mature women cry in pleasure was something he very much enjoyed. (E/N: What about traps?)
Wiping her tear, with the back of his hand, he stood up and stretched his hand toward her,
“My name is Gojo. Satoru Gojo, what about you little lady?”
Sniffing a little, she took his hand and stood up with his help, “My name is Hinamori. Momo Hinamori. I am a first-year student in Shin’o academy.”
'Ohh. Seems like I really hit the jackpot.’
Exclaiming in surprise, he said, “Incredible. So you are a future shinigami?” Then he frowned, “I thought the entrance exam was underway?”
Momo shook her head, “We have an entrance exam for new students every semester. Currently, the first-semester students are on holiday. This is why I was able to come to meet Shi- Ah!! Shiro-chan!!”
Raising her head, she remembered how her childhood friend had been tied and suspended on a tree. Bowing to Gojo, she pleaded, “Gojo-san, I know Shiro-chan can be a little brash sometimes, but he doesn’t mean anything bad. Please forgive him.”
Looking at the bowing girl, Gojo simply shrugged. He had always been a little weak about such headstrong but kind and naive people. Yuji was like that and now he also had to deal with another one just a week after death.
----
A few minutes later, a sullen white-haired boy was bowing with Hinamori.
“Once again, thanks for saving us.”
Hinamori said before glaring at the boy next to her, sighing a little, the boy finally opened his mouth, “I apologize for my previous conduct. My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, thanks for saving us.”
Gojo stared quietly at Toshiro. He hadn’t paid attention to it previously, but the amount of energy dwelling on this little boy seemed far larger than anyone he met previously.
Since even Hinamori didn’t have a third of his energy despite being a student, this means that either Hinamori was below average or it was this boy that was far above average.
Smiling, he patted the head of the boy, who was resisting the urge to swat his hand away, “You should have already heard my name earlier. Now then, how about we go together to the first district?”
‘If this girl is like Yuji, then this boy is like Megumi. Even the way he acts is as cute as him.’
Teasing Megumi had been one of his favorite ways to pass time. It seemed that he wouldn’t be bored for now
Hinamori accepted his proposal. After being nearly killed by a hollow, she was still a little jumpy, and being with someone strong was helpful.
“Gojo-san, are you going to report the situation to the Seireitei?”
Gojo suddenly stopped and pointed at his own face in surprise, “Me? Why should I?”
It was Hinamori's turn to be surprised, “Aren’t you a member of the Kido corps?”
The Kido Corps, alongside the Gotei 13 and the Onmitsukido were the armed forces of the soul society.
As the name indicated, the Kido corps specialized in the usage of spells, and people excelling at all kinds of Kido were accepted. From the lack of a sword and his powerful usage of the hado spell, Hinamori thought that he was one of them.
Once she explained her reasoning, Gojo laughed out loud before finally answering, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh at you. Also, I am not even a shinigami yet. I just entered the Rukongai not long ago.”
This time, Momo and Toshiro were completely dumbfounded. Momo even more so, since his weird words, when he saved her from the hollow came back to her mind.
‘So, he really learned the hado I used after just one look?’
Feeling the gaze of awe on him, Gojo smiled. No matter if he was dead or alive. Being gazed in awe was always a good feeling.