20 Chapter 20 - Black Cat

"Do you need something… it was Hideyoshi-Kun, right?"

"Yeah. Are you new? Not sure I've met you before," Jin replied while forcing himself not to think too much about the fact that he once knew her as a fictional character.

Nodding, Hiratsuka stood up, bowed slightly, and said, "Yes. This is my first year as a teacher, so please take care of me."

'Huh. She isn't exactly the same as the Hiratsuka I remember, then. I guess it wasn't just my imagination to think she looked younger.'

"Likewise," Jin replied, returning the introduction. Then, out of curiosity, he asked, "Which year are you teaching for?"

"I'll be teaching Japanese classes for the first-year class."

"Ah, gotcha. Since I'm a third-year, we might not see each other much. Good luck with teaching, though."

"Thanks," Shiratsuka said while sporting a small smile and brushing her black bangs away from her eyes.

"Here's that paper, Hideyoshi-kun," Natsuki-Sensei suddenly interrupted.

"Thanks."

"Just fill out the time you need off and have one of your parents sign it. Also, don't forget about joining the next competition when you're done."

"Got it. See you later, Natsuki-Sensei."

With that, Jin gave a final nod to both teachers before leaving, which they politely returned. Without her realizing it, Hiratsuka's eyes followed Jin until he left the room.

"He seems like a good student," She remarked.

"Sure. His grades aren't too bad, and he's a decent kid, but the main thing is that he's totally amazing at kendo. It's a shame he doesn't participate in the club more. Actually, it would just be great if he wasn't such a loner in general."

"...A loner, you say…"

Hiratsuka's eyes briefly flashed, but then she shook her head and resumed grading homework.

* * *

Right after receiving the papers he needed, Jin left the school. During his normal trip home, he disembarked the Shinkansen one station before his normal stop, landing him in the denser area of Karakura Prefecture. While eating a small breakfast from a food stall, he glanced at the map on his phone screen.

'Couldn't find Urahara's shop on any maps, but the Kurosaki Clinic is on here. I'd imagine they're pretty close to each other, though. If I can't find it, then I'll just text Rukia, I guess, though I'd rather not bother with them too much just yet. Already got enough on my plate with the chat group missions. '

With that in mind, he meandered through Karakura Prefecture. For the most part, he didn't recognize anything from the Bleach anime or manga he knew. Occasionally, he saw lost souls with chains attached to their chests, but he ignored them since he couldn't do anything about them right now aside from maybe turning them into hollows by breaking their chains. Doing that would just bring problems his way, though, so his curiosity about the hollow process stayed on the backburner.

Eventually, he followed the navigation to the front of the Kurosaki clinic. A wave of nostalgia rushed over him when he laid eyes on the building. It looked exactly like it did within the far reaches of his distant memory. However, this building wasn't his target. Instead, he turned away and walked around the neighborhood for a while. He searched for anything that could possibly be Urahara's shop. During his search, he occasionally chatted with the other chat group members.

Railgun: [You're coming here next, right, old man?]

Jin: [Yeah. Also, I'm not old.]

Railgun: [Sure. *rolling eyes emote* When are you coming?]

Jin: [What time is it there?]

Railgun: [Morning. I just woke up a few minutes ago.]

Jin: [Gotcha. Our times aren't too different, then. The app will probably transport me around the time you normally get out of school.]

Railgun: [Uh, where should I go, then? You said to go somewhere outside prying eyes, but I can't think of anything.]

Jin: [Are you unable to leave Academy City?]

Railgun: [You think I can just leave whenever I want? I thought you were supposed to be a Sage who knew a bunch of things?]

Jin: [Fair enough. I guess somewhere where that satellite can't directly see me teleporting in will have to do. Anywhere with no cameras or anything of that sort might be good enough for the time being, though I won't be surprised if somebody notices my arrival either way.]

Railgun: [Uh… My dorm bathroom might work?]

Wizard of Regret and Redemption: [Haha. That's a great place to invite guests.]

Origami Master: [...]

Jin: [I don't care where it is as long as I avoid as much unwanted attention as possible. @WizardofRegretandRedemption, do you have some invisibility spells or something I could try to use to avoid trouble there?]

Wizard of Regret and Redemption: [Not anything that you could learn quickly enough, but I'll see if I can send a book about it to you.]

Suddenly feeling a tingle of wariness as though he was being watched, Jin raised his eyes from his phone. He looked around for a few seconds until he discovered a yellow-eyed black cat standing atop a nearby brick wall. Since it was staring intently at him, Jin frowned. As a test, he turned away and walked around for a few more minutes. The cat followed him from a distance, though it mostly remained out of sight.

'It's probably Yoruichi, but why is she following me?'

Jin halted and turned his head. This time, he didn't see the cat, but he still felt her eyes on him. An idea to somehow get her attention to possibly converse with her crossed his mind.

Despite his relative unfamiliarity with supernatural powers, he was already starting to notice Reiatsu, the spiritual energy of this world, in the atmosphere. Perhaps because of the power veins, he felt that he would be able to wield it as freely as Ethernano back in the Fairy Tail world. As such, he barely noticed tremors in the surrounding Reiatsu in a certain direction. Hoping to get her attention and potentially initiate a conversation, he flared up the energy within him for only a second before calming it again.

Instantly, a blur shot out from behind a tree. Jin's eyes barely kept up with its movements. The black cat pounced onto a wall close to him and glared at him with narrowed eyes. In response, he gave her a friendly smile. At this point, he was completely sure it was Yoruichi following him.

'Not sure I would've been able to see her movements before my training with Irene and Jellal, though,' Jin noted to himself.

Outwardly, however, he said, "I'm looking for a small shop run by a pervert who wears a weird green and white hat. Maybe you've seen it before and can help me find it?"

The cat's eyes widened briefly, but then narrowed even further than before. After a brief staring contest, the cat started walking away in silence.

Sighing, Jin decided to follow her. Whether she would actually guide him to the dude's shop remained to be seen, but he figured it was worth a shot. Although he didn't think he could handle a Captain-level opponent yet, he didn't think he would die immediately, either.

'Well, hopefully this goes well. If I could gain Soul Reaper or Fullbring abilities before going to the Toaru world, that would be even better, but I probably shouldn't get my hopes up.'