Seeing a Kido spell—something only a Soul Reaper could use—appear right before his eyes, Asuka didn't dare stick around.
He immediately rolled behind the shadow of an abandoned water tank, gesturing for the boy to keep quiet and not expose his presence.
Holding his breath, Asuka peered out through a gap in the water tank.
He watched as a figure clad in a black Shihakusho leaped lightly down from the roof.
"Why does it feel like there are more and more Hollows in Karakura Town lately..."
It was an incredibly ordinary-looking Soul Reaper. To Asuka, he didn't even give off as strong an impression as Arai's group from that night.
The Soul Reaper didn't notice Asuka hiding in the shadows. He simply frowned and looked at the trapped Hollow.
Then, he drew the Asauchi from his waist.
*Slash—*
With a clean, decisive strike, the Hollow's mask was cleaved vertically in two. Under the impact of that spiritual power, its entire body gradually crumbled into fine black smoke and dissipated into the air.
The crisis was averted.
However, a wave of frustration suddenly washed over Asuka.
'I can't even handle an enemy of this level right now... How am I supposed to get my revenge...'
But now was not the time to dwell on that. He kept himself carefully concealed, watching as the Soul Reaper walked step by step toward the boy, who was too terrified to move.
"Don't worry, it's over now," the Soul Reaper said. Though his words sounded somewhat rehearsed, they genuinely served to soothe the boy in this moment.
He crouched down and pressed the pommel of his Zanpakuto against the boy's forehead.
"There is a place far more suited for you over there. Go on."
A blue-and-white light bloomed from the hilt of the blade.
Within that light, Asuka saw the boy's expression gradually shift from terror to tranquility.
His body dissolved into countless shimmering motes of light that slowly drifted into the sky before vanishing completely.
Just before the boy disappeared entirely, he turned his head slightly toward Asuka's hiding spot and offered a grateful smile.
'So that is... Soul Burial.'
After the soul ascended, the Soul Reaper casually jotted something down in a notepad before vanishing from the spot with a Shunpo.
Asuka remained hidden for a long time.
Only when he was absolutely certain that the Soul Reaper's Spiritual Pressure had faded completely did he slowly stand up.
He looked down at his hands, which were covered in dust and marked with red lines from dragging the boy earlier.
He suddenly felt the urge to laugh.
"What was that? Did I think I was a Soul Reaper? Sticking my nose where it doesn't belong," he muttered.
"Hey! Mr. Deliveryman! What suddenly got into you!"
A housewife's shout echoed from the entrance of the alleyway. "Your bicycle fell over, and all the packages spilled out!"
Asuka snapped back to reality.
"Ah... coming," he replied.
He jogged back to the alley entrance and righted the fallen bicycle.
"Urahara is going to nag me to death over this," he sighed.
Dusting off his apron, Asuka hopped back onto the saddle and pedaled hard, rushing down the street.
After all, he still had deliveries to finish.
It was just another afternoon in Karakura Town; nothing seemed to have changed.
Except for a black cat in the corner, its intelligent eyes gleaming as it witnessed everything.
"Oh? He's quite the sentimental kid. How interesting," the cat mused.
Urahara Shop.
Asuka kicked down the bike stand and neatly grabbed the remaining empty paper bags from the basket.
He slid open the wooden door and called out out of habit, his face drooping. "Pardon the intrusion. I'm back from the deliveries."
However, the man who always waved his little folding fan with a fox-like smile was nowhere to be seen.
The space behind the counter was empty, with only the afternoon sunlight crisscrossing through the narrow storefront.
"Manager Urahara?" Asuka frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over the shelves crammed with baffling sundries.
"Kisuke went to a Reishi gathering point in the World of the Living to buy materials. He won't be back until later."
A deep, slightly hoarse voice echoed from behind him without any warning.
Asuka followed the sound and found a completely black cat with brilliant golden eyes sitting on the steps behind him. He had no idea when it had gotten there.
The black cat elegantly licked its paw, those golden eyes exuding the imposing aura of a superior.
"A cat?" Asuka blinked, staring at the black cat in disbelief. "A cat that can talk?"
"I am the Vice Manager here. Just call me Yoruichi," the black cat said, pausing her grooming. Her voice was as hoarse as a middle-aged man who had spent years drinking, sounding casual and relaxed.
Clear suspicion leaked into Asuka's eyes. "...Vice Manager? A cat?"
In a world filled with Soul Reapers and monsters, perhaps he shouldn't be surprised by a talking cat.
But pinning the title of Vice Manager on an animal definitely created a strong sense of dissonance.
"Hey, hey, what's with that look? Didn't Kisuke teach you not to judge a book by its cover—or a cat by its fur?"
The black cat, Yoruichi, leaped up, landing lightly on the counter closer to Asuka. The tip of her tail flicked back and forth at a leisurely pace. "Asuka, even though you're just an ordinary human right now, your vigilance is much higher than I expected."
Asuka relaxed his tense muscles, setting the paper bags aside as he replied calmly, "Since Mr. Urahara isn't here, I'll just leave these delivery receipts right here."
"Don't be in such a rush to leave," Yoruichi called out, stopping him. Her golden pupils stared straight into Asuka's eyes. "This afternoon, in that dead-end alley in the West District, you did something quite out of line."
Asuka froze.
He hadn't expected his actions to be witnessed by this cat.
"You were there?" he asked.
"Ah, just passing by," she replied.
Yoruichi shifted her posture, sitting on her haunches on the counter. "A guy who has lost all his spiritual power and can barely protect himself actually dared to provoke a Hollow for the sake of a wandering soul he didn't even know..."
"Should I praise you for being brave, or say you've got a screw loose? What were you thinking?"
Asuka answered without much thought, "I just heard someone calling for help, and my body moved on its own. That's all."
"That's all?" Yoruichi let out a low purr that sounded like a chuckle. "Even though you couldn't even scratch the thing, you still dared to provoke it..."
Then, her tone suddenly grew a few degrees more serious. "Asuka, reality is very cruel."
"You were lucky today that you ran into a Soul Reaper who happened to be patrolling by. If that Soul Reaper had arrived ten seconds later, or if that Hollow had been a slightly higher level, both you and that brat would have already become nutrients for that monster."
Asuka clenched his fists, only to release them powerlessly.
"But personally, I don't dislike your spirit," she added.
Yoruichi stood up and shook out her fur. "Come with me."
"Where to?" he asked.
"Cut the chatter and just follow me."
Yoruichi jumped off the counter, leading Asuka toward a partitioned room deep inside the shop.
Passing through several ordinary-looking wooden sliding doors, Yoruichi stopped in front of a concealed tatami mat in the backyard.
She reached out a paw and pressed down at a specific angle.
With a few muffled clicks, the floorboards slowly parted, revealing a seemingly bottomless sloped tunnel.
Asuka followed the black cat down.
As they went deeper, his field of vision suddenly opened up.
It was an underground training ground so vast it bordered on the absurd.
Overhead was a towering artificial dome, complete with lighting equipment that simulated sunlight. The rocky ground was hard and dry, and a few scattered living quarters could be seen in the distance.
Asuka knew this place. This was where he had woken up before Urahara dragged him upstairs.
He just didn't understand why Yoruichi had brought him here.
"This is a secret base developed by Kisuke," Yoruichi said, walking to the center of the grounds and looking back at Asuka. "Here, you can go as wild as you want without worrying about being discovered by the humans in the World of the Living, or being caught by the Soul Society's surveillance."
"Right now, you are just an ordinary mortal wearing a Gigai. In this Karakura Town, if you don't have some means to protect yourself, I don't think you'll even survive until the day you return to normal."
"Training?" Asuka looked at the open space, seemingly understanding Yoruichi's intentions.
"Exactly." Yoruichi crouched on the ground, tilting her head to look at him. "I plan to teach you some self-defense methods. Since you have no spiritual power, we'll start with pure physical combat."
Asuka blinked in surprise, then shook his head. "If it's that kind of training, I already know how. I have my sword techniques, and I have Breathing Styles that coordinate with my body's movements. As long as you give me a suitable sword..."
"No," Yoruichi interrupted him mercilessly.
"Why?" he asked.
"This is the World of the Living. It's the civilized society of the twenty-first century, Asuka."
Amusement flickered in Yoruichi's golden eyes. "You are a legal 'deliveryman,' an ordinary citizen."
"If you walk down the street every day with a long sword strapped to your waist, you'll be arrested by modern society's security personnel for illegal possession of a controlled weapon in less than five minutes."
"When that happens, who knows how much effort it will take just to bail you out."
Asuka fell silent.
He hadn't fully adapted to the laws and rules of this era yet. Although the Sword Hunt Edict existed back in the Taisho era, this society was clearly much stricter.
"Besides, sword techniques are too flashy," Yoruichi added. "Therefore, what you need to learn isn't how to use a weapon, but how to use this body of yours."
The black cat's silhouette was stretched long under the lights.
"What we are going to practice is [Hakuda]."
"A pure, unarmed combat art that does not rely on weapons."