"Hey, what are you guys doing? I wondered why no one was on the first floor, and here you all are."
Karin stood at the stairwell, looking speechlessly at Isshin and Yuzu.
"Shh! Karin, keep your voice down."
Yuzu turned around and said nervously.
"Let me tell you, this is a huge emergency! Ichi-nii brought a girl home!"
Yuzu lowered her voice.
"He brought girls home in middle school too, remember? I think it was Tatsuki."
Karin said nonchalantly.
"Hmm, this one's different from Tatsuki. She feels more... feminine, somehow."
Yuzu thought for a moment.
"But I heard that Tatsuki's figure became amazing once she got to high school!"
Karin said.
"Eh? R-really?!"
Before Yuzu could respond, Isshin suddenly shouted excitedly.
"Don't get any weird ideas, you stupid dad!"
Seeing Isshin's reaction, Karin immediately warned him sternly.
"Where are your thoughts going?! Your dad is a gentleman! He would never—"
Click—!
"All of you, shut up!!"
Ichigo suddenly opened the door and yelled at Isshin and the others.
"Waaahhh—!!"
Isshin and Yuzu screamed in surprise and fled in disgrace.
"Seriously, eavesdropping on your own son... What kind of father does that?"
Watching Isshin run downstairs, Ichigo muttered discontentedly, then went back into his room and closed the door.
…
First floor.
"Matsumoto's Reiatsu... It's been a long time since I've sensed her. But the other two pressures are unfamiliar. Did they join the 10th Division after I left?"
Isshin, having retreated in 'disgrace,' muttered quietly to himself downstairs.
"Hmm?"
Isshin suddenly seemed to sense something else. He looked up towards the second-floor window.
Although the wall blocked his view, he could indeed sense the presence of a familiar person there.
"Oh dear, oh dear. That guy... since he's already come to my house, he could at least show his face and see this old friend."
Isshin muttered vaguely.
"Dad, what are you mumbling about?"
Karin Kurosaki suddenly asked.
"Ah, nothing, nothing..."
Isshin waved his hand repeatedly.
…
Ichigo's room.
After chasing away his eavesdropping father and sister, Ichigo returned to the room.
"Heh, Ichigo, your family is still as interesting as ever."
Rukia sat on Ichigo's bed and teased him.
"Alright, Rukia, just tell me already. What exactly are 'Arrancars'?"
Ichigo said impatiently.
"Don't rush."
"Click!"
With a soft sound, a section of Ichigo's ceiling was suddenly opened, and several heads popped out.
"We'll tell you about the Arrancars!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several figures jumped down from the ceiling.
"Waaaahhh—!!"
"W-Where did you come from?! And what did you do to the light in my room?!"
Ichigo pointed at the suddenly appearing Renji, Rangiku, and the others.
The section of ceiling they had removed was precisely where the light fixture was installed, but the light was now gone.
"Ehehe, sorry, I tried using fire to light the light bulb..."
Rangiku stuck out her tongue, trying to act cute and play innocent.
"L-light it with what?"
Ichigo twitched the corner of his mouth, asking in disbelief.
'Were light bulbs something you lit with fire?'
Just then, Kon suddenly got excited and started shouting.
"Aaaah! It's the big sister with the uniform and chest weapon!!"
Noticing Rangiku, Kon suddenly lunged towards her magnificent chest.
Bang!
Rangiku very skillfully punched Kon away, then said sheepishly, "Well, well, Kurosaki, don't worry about little things like light bulbs. Let's talk about the Arrancars first."
Hearing Rangiku's words, the group stopped fooling around. First, Rukia, the 'soul artist', gave a simple explanation about the Arrancars with illustrations. Then Renji explained the main purpose of their coming to the Human World.
"The 'completion' of the Arrancars happened even earlier than the Soul Society predicted, and they attacked the Human World. This is a major incident. So the Soul Society immediately formed an advance team and sent us here."
Renji said gravely.
"And who decided on the members of the advance team?"
Ichigo asked.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto decided to form the advance team. The specific members were selected by Captain Hitsugaya."
"The Central 46 have been annihilated. So, until the next Central 46 are elected, all authority in the Soul Society rests with Captain-Commander Yamamoto and Vice-Captain-Commander Hitsugaya. The advance team's specific actions in the Human World are subject to the orders of Vice-Captain-Commander Hitsugaya, who is leading the team."
Renji explained.
"But why choose you and Rukia, who are from other divisions, to join the advance team?"
Ichigo asked again.
"Well, that's all because of Rukia. She went begging—"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Before Renji could finish, Rukia suddenly coughed loudly, interrupting him.
"ough. I was chosen because of my strength, of course. After all, one division alone can't provide that many powerful Shinigami. So they had to ask for help from other divisions. And naturally, elites like me were selected."
Rukia said seriously, keeping a straight face.
'You just wanted to come to the Human World to see Ichigo, so you begged Captain Hitsugaya to let you join.' Renji glanced speechlessly at Rukia but didn't expose her lie.
"Oh, right, why are those Arrancars targeting me? During the fight yesterday, I got the feeling they were specifically looking for me."
Ichigo asked, puzzled.
"Actually, I'm quite puzzled about that too."
A voice suddenly came from the window.
"Toshiro."
Ichigo looked towards the sound and saw Toshiro leaning against the window frame with his arms crossed, looking dashing and unrestrained.
"Ah, Captain."
Rangiku greeted Toshiro, then said to Ichigo with an amused look, "You know, Captain was the only one who refused to come through the ceiling with us. Such an uncooperative Captain Hitsugaya."
Then Rangiku grinned and asked Toshiro, "Captain, were you waiting outside by the window all along? That won't do, you know. A silver-haired elementary schooler is already eye-catching enough. If you do things like this, what if you cause a commotion?"
"Rangiku, you... when we get back to the Soul Society, you're dead!"
Toshiro stared 'fiercely' at Rangiku and threatened.