Asuka closed his eyes. The scenes of his past surfacing in his mind caused his brows to furrow and relax repeatedly.
He was a boy shivering in the freezing wind, his stomach burning with hunger amidst the heavy snow.
He was in the infinite hell of an inverted space, facing fanged demons that fed on humans.
He was making life-or-death choices, fighting desperately for survival in battle after battle...
These memories were like countless thorny brambles tightly wrapping around his soul. Every touch brought waves of discomfort.
Asuka did not know how to recount this unbearable past to a teacher who lived a comfortable, peaceful life.
Instinctively, he wanted to refuse with silence.
However, when he opened his eyes and met Mr. Kinpachi's gaze, which was full of sincerity and respect...
He suddenly felt that perhaps speaking about it wouldn't be as difficult as he had imagined.
"My past isn't anything pleasant to listen to... It's a story solely about surviving," Asuka's voice was a bit dry.
He didn't give a long-winded speech, nor did he use flowery language to embellish his past.
He simply used the most plain tone to recount his struggles and battles, describing those bizarre and legendary experiences.
"...I've seen how hypocritical and fragile those who call themselves gods can be, and I've seen how insignificant mortals can erupt with terrifying power for the sake of their obsessions and desires."
"The reason you see me sitting here right now isn't because I have some grand vision of saving the world. It's just because I want to live. I want to live and be with the family I fought so hard to gain."
"It's that simple."
Asuka took a large gulp of the now-lukewarm sencha. "A pretty boring story, right?"
"Now you know. Someone like me isn't suited to stay in a school that plays house like yours."
Asuka spoke these words extremely slowly, and Mr. Kinpachi listened with utmost attention.
He sat there quietly the entire time, never interrupting Asuka's tale, nor showing any fear or discomfort.
His gentle eyes gradually filled with a profound sense of resonance and emotion.
"No, Asuka."
Mr. Kinpachi looked at Asuka with a burning gaze, his voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity. "You just said that your past was nothing but blood and fire, a thoroughly boring story."
"But I must tell you, you are wrong. Dead wrong."
He turned around and walked briskly to the small blackboard in the office used for recording lesson plans.
He picked up a piece of white chalk.
Swish! Swish!
With two strokes, he wrote a large kanji character right in the center of the blackboard.
"Do you recognize this character?" Mr. Kinpachi turned around and pointed at the board.
Asuka frowned, looking at the character. "...I might not know many words, but I'm not so illiterate that I don't recognize this one."
"It's the character for 'human'."
"Exactly. It is the character for 'human'."
Mr. Kinpachi put down the chalk and gently traced the writing with his hand. "In your Basic Kotodama Studies class, Mr. Bunin might tell you about this character's pronunciation, its structure, and its evolution in ancient spells."
"But that is all cold, rigid knowledge."
"Asuka, look closely at this character."
Mr. Kinpachi's finger slowly slid down along the strokes of the character for 'human'.
"It isn't made up of two lines haphazardly pieced together. Look at this stroke on the left. It's long, leaning its body, bearing an immense weight."
"And this stroke on the right, though short, steadily supports the waist of the left stroke, preventing it from falling."
"The character for 'human' is written by two individuals supporting and holding each other up."
Asuka froze. He had never thought about the shape or meaning of characters before.
He looked at the incredibly simple kanji on the blackboard, feeling as though something in his heart had been touched.
"Asuka, you've always believed that you survived until today relying solely on your own ruthlessness, through constant slaughter and devouring. You think of yourself as a lone wolf."
Mr. Kinpachi's voice became very gentle, every word striking deep into Asuka's heart.
"But when you were telling your story just now, I noticed you mentioned many comrades who supported and held you up along the way."
"Those humans who sacrificed themselves to protect their companions, those comrades-in-arms who fought and grew alongside you."
"Whenever you mentioned them, that piercing killing intent around you would unconsciously recede."
"Asuka, if you truly were a monster who only knew how to slaughter, you would have lost yourself to those obsessions long ago and become a walking corpse."
"The reason you can still sit here, still use reason to control your blade, isn't just because you want to live."
"It is precisely because of the people you've met, those bonds you cherish, that have transformed deep within your soul into that right stroke, supporting you so you don't fall!"
Asuka's breathing grew heavy.
Before his eyes flashed Kenta's gap-toothed smile, Kyojuro Rengoku's back burning like a roaring flame, and the figures of the Kamado mother and daughter leaning on each other.
Finally, he thought of Shinobu Kocho's tear-filled purple eyes as she welcomed him home.
'That's right... If it weren't for them, could I really have held on until now?'
'If it weren't for my desire to come back and see her again, how could my consciousness, which nearly collapsed in the turbulent currents of space and time, have managed to reform time and time again?'
Mr. Kinpachi walked up to Asuka and gently patted his broad, stiff shoulder. "Everything you've experienced in the past—the suffering, the loss, even the hatred—none of it is a boring story."
"That is the most precious wealth in your life. They are the indelible bonds you carry."
"You've already done incredibly well, Asuka. You understand what it means to protect and what responsibility is far better than anyone else here."
"However..." A trace of pity flickered in Mr. Kinpachi's gaze. "During this half-month at the Shin'o Academy, you've sat alone in the back row, eaten alone, and endured those strange looks all by yourself."
"You've rejected everyone's approach, locking yourself away on an isolated island."
"Although you wield a sharp blade capable of severing space, can your sword sever that loneliness?"
Asuka didn't speak, falling into a deep silence.
'Loneliness? I've long since gotten used to it.'
But it was undeniable that in this academy, which should have been brimming with youthful vitality, whenever he watched the new students chatting and laughing in groups, discussing their future dreams...
...a fleeting sense of emptiness would indeed occasionally flash through his heart.
That feeling was like standing on a bustling street, only to realize he was a transparent ghost.
"Asuka, I feel that the Soul King's Palace sending you here might not be so you can learn how to cast complex Kido, nor to turn you into a scholar well-versed in history."
Mr. Kinpachi smiled at him. "Perhaps they simply hope that in this relatively peaceful environment, you can relearn the meaning of being [Human]."
"Try interacting with the classmates around you, Asuka."
"Even if you don't learn a single piece of theoretical knowledge in these three months, if you can make just one friend here—even if it's just a friend to share a bento lunch with..."
"...then this period of study will have been a massive harvest for you, won't it?"
'Make friends?'
Asuka's mind recalled the brats in the classroom who trembled in fear the moment they saw him, and his mouth couldn't help but twitch.
"...That sounds like a huge pain," Asuka muttered.
But he didn't refute Mr. Kinpachi's words.
Looking at the large character for 'human' on the blackboard, the hardened barbs in his heart—raised from being in hostile environments for so long—miraculously softened quite a bit.
This feeling of being gently guided by a caring elder was very strange.
The last time he experienced this feeling was back at the Ubuyashiki Estate.
But to be honest, perhaps it was because he had been alone since childhood, rarely experiencing familial love and kindness.
Or perhaps the people speaking these words possessed a magical charm that moved hearts, allowing him to truly listen.
Regardless, he didn't hate it.
"I get it." Asuka stood up and returned the empty teacup to Mr. Kinpachi. "I'll... try my best, but don't expect me to go out of my way to strike up conversations with them like an idiot."
"Haha, of course. Everything must be taken one step at a time." Mr. Kinpachi laughed in satisfaction, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothing out.
"Off you go. You have Zanjutsu class this afternoon. Remember to eat!"
Asuka nodded, turned around, and walked out of the office.
Watching his back—which, though still exuding a bit of aloofness, was clearly no longer so tense...
Mr. Kinpachi let out a soft sigh of relief and picked up the red pen on his desk used for grading assignments.
"What a... good kid, cold on the outside but warm on the inside."