"Hold on."
Katori stared at Makoto, who sat poised at the desk with paper and pen at the ready. Her eyes widened as she pointed at him, cutting in, "Makoto-kun! These 'forbidden books' you mentioned… they wouldn't happen to be…"
Makoto, seated primly, nodded with utmost seriousness. "Yep. They're all up here."
He tapped his temple.
"Eh!?"
Katori's voice stretched into a stunned squeak, her disbelief locking onto him.
"What?" Makoto's face hardened into a stern mask. "Don't tell me you still doubt me?"
After their recent exchanges, he'd begun to unravel the enigma of this future Captain of the 8th Division.
So long as she remained in her unreleased state, Katori stayed soft and pliable, a form he'd dubbed Lamb Mode.
In this mode, Makoto's confidence soared.
But once she released her Shikai…
Well, good luck to him then.
Having clashed with her blade firsthand, Makoto knew beyond doubt this was a captain-class powerhouse in the flesh.
Not some middling figure like Komamura Sajin or Tōsen Kaname could even dream of touching.
His sharp tone made Katori flinch, her head shrinking back. Yet, unwilling to yield her beloved books, she mumbled, "But I thought you had a stash of rare volumes at home, which is why I followed you here and said all those harsh things to everyone…"
The doughy girl stood aside, head bowed, casting him a pitiful, sidelong glance. Her fingers fidgeted nervously, her braid drooping as if the words 'utterly disappointed' were scrawled across her face.
"I get that you're eager, but hold your horses."
Makoto spouted his nonsense litany while his pen flew across the page. "Satisfied or not, you've got to at least read it before you judge, right? I write fast now. Two thousand words used to take me two hours, but since dying? Ten minutes, tops! Might be a bit sloppy, sure. But everyone says my stuff's a good read."
"Really?" Katori pursed her lips, eyeing him with blatant skepticism.
"Really."
Makoto's assurance carried no trace of bluff.
After all, he was cribbing from the internet classics of his past life.
The higher a soul's reiryoku, the sharper their self-awareness and memory.
In Soul Society, most Shinigami below third-class reiryoku rarely lived past a thousand years give or take, they'd dissipate into the cycle of reincarnation or maybe go to Hell.
The majority settled into human-like patterns of marriage and family within three or four centuries, the backbone of noble lineage here.
Only rarities like Yamamoto or Unohana, monsters etched into Soul Society's annals, could sustain millennia of dominance.
For old relics like them, forgetting some event from a thousand years past mid-life would be downright comical.
Makoto was no different.
His mere twenty-odd years of mortal memory now sat in his mind like a fresh brand, every detail at his fingertips.
In no time, a steaming opener chapter rolled off his pen.
He handed it over casually, the other hand still scribbling furiously. "Start with this. Chapter 2's coming soon."
"Is this the forbidden book?"
"Nope." Makoto's face stiffened, holding his composure. "With books, you ease in from the simple stuff."
Truth be told, he hadn't figured out what the 'forbidden book' should be.
It'd just slipped out, a lure too tempting to resist.
Katori's small face flickered with suspicion, but she took the page obediently, glancing at the start.
Lord of Mysteries?
Didn't sound like a nice guy.
[Pain! Such pain!… Klein Moretti lost in sleep and felt…]
Her eyes slid down the lines, her mind swiftly sinking into the bizarre, kaleidoscopic world unfurling within.
But a single chapter was far too brief.
Barely immersed, Katori hit the end of the page.
She froze.
Huh… this was actually pretty good?
Her first brush with the genre sent her pulse racing, a strange thrill bubbling up.
It was like that time as a child, rifling through her mother's study, poring over tales stitched from cryptic words—raw curiosity tugging her forward like an invisible hook, urging her to read on.
In those scant thousand words, Katori became a believer that Makoto's head was a treasure trove of wonders.
With that, she sidled up behind him, craning her neck to peek at the paper.
At first, Makoto, lost in his fervor, didn't notice. Only when he stretched his back did he jolt, something warm pressed against him.
Turning, he found Katori practically draped over his shoulders, engrossed in his pilfered tale.
"Katori?"
"Eh?"
She snapped to, eyes widening with glee. "Makoto-kun, is this chapter done too?"
He shook his head, pointing at her clothes with a grave tone, "If you don't get up, I'm standing up."
"Huh?"
Katori blinked, bemused.
"Look." Makoto inhaled deeply. "Just sit over there for now, it's almost done."
"Oh, yes! …Sorry."
Katori dipped her head in an instinctive apology.
Makoto watched her habitual droop, a bemused smile tugging at his lips. "You're really an odd one, you know that?"
"Eh? Where?"
"Everywhere."
"Eh!"
Katori's face flared with panic, her head bowing further as she fumbled with her sleeves and braid, searching herself for quirks.
Makoto paid her no mind.
In a few swift strokes, he finished copying the second chapter.
Handing it over, he promptly made for the door.
"Makoto-kun?"
Katori didn't hesitate, she snagged his sleeve, clutching it like a lifeline, words tumbling out in a rush, "Where are you going? It's only Chapter 2!"
"I've got training."
Makoto shot her a matter-of-fact look, holding up two fingers. "Two chapters a day, that's it. No more."
"It's the art of teasing restraint."
"W-Wait, hold on!"
Katori's eyes widened as if she'd heard something unthinkable, mirroring his two-finger gesture. Though her face stayed soft and frail, her voice stiffened with resolve when it came to her precious books, "Only… two chapters?! But Makoto-kun, that's not what you promised me!"
Makoto countered: "Katori, how long do you think you'll live? A thousand years? Two thousand?"
"I don't know."
She shook her head, puzzled.
Makoto let out a long sigh. "Think about it, two chapters a day makes seven hundred thirty a year. Stretch that over a millennium, and what kind of number do you get? Tell me, would you rather I dump everything in my head onto paper right now, fill a whole library for you? Or should we take it slow, savor it over a thousand years, passing the torch bit by bit?"
To hammer it home, he leaned in with a sly flourish, "You know, Katori, even a library's worth of books runs dry once you've read them all. Then what? Nothing left."
Those few words pierced straight through Katori's defenses.
Nothing left…
She knew the agony of a book drought all too well.
On reflection, a little daily satisfaction did sound smarter than gorging for a fleeting stretch!
But still... too stingy!
Katori, unsatisfied, clung to his wrist. "Then… could you write just a bit more each day? Even a tiny bit!"
Her near-pleading gaze locked onto him.
"Like... ten chapters! Five would do!"
Makoto shook his head firmly. "I've got training to do! I'm swamped!"
"Training?"
Katori blinked as if the word defied belief.
More important than her reading?
She mulled it over, then ventured in her usual timid whisper, "Well… if I helped you with your training, would you write a bit more? Just a little!"
She strained to mask her longing, pinching two slender fingers to show a minuscule gap.
Makoto froze at her words.
Wait a second...
There's a deal this good?!
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)