(Ryoto's pov)
Another 2 months had passed, and we were about to leave and start our travel to the 1st district. Right now, we were packing our things. We didn't have much, so we mostly packed food that we bought for our journey. We also had some clothes but nothing more except the ones we will be needing.
As we were about to leave the house and say our goodbyes to everyone we knew in the 78th district, we took the last look at our home.
Rin: "I will miss this place."
I put my arm around her and pulled her closer as she rested her head on my shoulder.
Ryoto: "Me too, but a new chapter will start this very moment."
Rin: "I know."
We stayed like this for a while. It was kind of hard to leave a place you called home for over half a year, but I know we will be safer inside Seireitei... for a while. If I'm correct, then we have around 300-400 years until canon. Maybe 200 years. The timeline isn't that clear. Yoruichi seems to be in Shinigami academy, and I know that she was captain 110 years before canon and Tessai Urahara's friend and shop helper, mentioned that the name Quincy was familiar to him. I know that Quincy's extermination happened approximately 200 years before canon, so they must be over 200 years old, and since Urahara, Tessai and Yoruichi are childhood friends, they must be around the same age.
Aizen started his plan about 150-200 years ago. It's difficult to tell, but it's my best guess. That means that unless I'm wrong about the timeline, I have at least a century for me to grow stronger as fast as possible. After that, I need to be careful about Aizen. I'm not scared about his illusions as I would be immune to them, but even without them, Aizen is a terrifying opponent. What's worse, I can't even remove him from the picture because he is essential in the future. Without him, there's a chance that Ichigo won't even be born, and he is needed against the Quincy boss.
My quest is to survive until the last boss is defeated by me or someone else. The last boss is probably referring to Yhwach. I'll try to kill him before he ultimately resurrects, but it's not possible for me for a long time.
First, I would need to find him, which is already a problem. I am aware that all of Yhwach and his allies are hiding in the shadow of Seireitei, but what does that mean? Is that some kind of Quincy technique? Machine maybe? I don't know, and I'll need to research it but I would rather dump it on someone who knows what he is doing, but it would be difficult to explain to them how I know what I know. I would need to plant some hints here and there so they would figure it out by themselves, but how?
The other option is to get stronger than Yamamoto, Kenpachi, Aizen, or Ichibe.
...
Planning it is.
I'm not delusional enough to believe that I could become stronger or even equally strong to at least one of them. The problem is that I also don't think that I'm smart enough to plan out everything as I want. Not to mention that there are geniuses here that could see through me. Aizen, Urahara, and Unohana have scary instincts, and Yamamoto is wise but stubborn, just to name a few.
In summary, the plan is not that complicated. Get stronger, figure out how to hint about Quincies, don't be suspicious or dangerous, so Central 46 tries to kill or imprison me, and don't get fucked by Aizen.
It's not going to be easy, is it?
*Sigh*
Before we started traveling, Rin and I said our goodbyes to residents of the 78th district. Those we know, at least. This included our co-workers, some clients, and the kids that were our accomplices in stealing. I gave them some candies as lollipops weren't invented yet.
Sad. It was my coping mechanism as well.
At least I can still make delicious food to make my mood better. Not to mention if Rin is safe, then it's enough for me.
The family that lived with Rin was still scared of me and avoided me, not that I cared.
We lived here for about 7 months. A pretty long time, but it will be short in retrospect.
Since we have 2 weeks before recruiting begins, we can save some money by going on foot to the 1st district. It can also double as a fun trip for Rin as long as I'm careful.
---
On our trip, I made sure that Rin enjoyed herself. We went through many beautiful forests, stopped near some rivers, saw a few lakes and surprisingly a lot of animals.
We also stopped at a few districts to refill our food supplies, but we slept under the naked sky. Even if we didn't want to save money and stay at an Inn, we could ask some people to use their stable or empty room, but it didn't matter since I didn't plan to drop my guard either way. Just like I used to do in the abandoned house, I had Zangetsu near me to wake me up in case of trouble.
Why did I choose to sleep in nature away from people then if there's no difference?
Because camping could be fun and I could save money on food as well. I fished, I hunted, and I cooked. It was an enjoyable time, and looking at Rin, I knew that she had fun as well.
At that time, a small thought crept inside my head. What if Rin and I just kept living like that? In the wild, I mean. Far away from all the trouble, people and danger.
I quickly dismissed this thought. It would not only be not healthy for Rin in the long run and it would mean that I killed Yan Fon for nothing. In that case, her death would weigh me even more than it already is.
---
Finally, after two weeks, we arrived at the 1st district. The fee was hefty, and since Shinigami academy was recruiting at the moment, they increased it. It looks like corruption is high in more luxurious districts. It also seems counterproductive. There are some powerful Shinigami who come from poor backgrounds, and that way, Soul Society loses a lot of potential strength. It's possible they'll fix it in the future since otherwise, Rukia and Renji wouldn't be able to come and take a test unless they sneaked in.
Maybe it was Kenpachi who became captain, or after getting Mayuri out of Nest of Maggots, they started understanding the importance of people with poor backgrounds but great potential.
The other explanation has to do with Quincy's extermination. It's possible that there were a lot of casualties, and they needed to fill empty places.
I will just need to see.
But enough theories. Rin and I are standing in a line to start a test to see if we can become Shinigami.
---
END
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