Green light flickered beneath his feet.
Tsuna stepped on Fullbring light, carrying Ichigo and Tatsuki as he dashed rapidly through the streets and alleys of Karakura Town. From time to time, when they passed through deserted areas, he would even leap high into the air with them.
Fortunately, both Ichigo and Tatsuki had strong nerves. Neither of them let out a single scream.
Tatsuki clung tightly against Tsuna's chest, while Ichigo occasionally let out excited shouts.
"Tsuna, you should've shown us this ability earlier!" Ichigo exclaimed, adrenaline surging as he looked down over Karakura Town from the sky.
"No wonder I always ran into dead ends when I followed you—you were deliberately leading me into traps, weren't you?" Tatsuki demanded.
Tsuna just laughed it off.
He brought the two of them down into a wooded area. The moment they landed, both Ichigo and Tatsuki fell silent.
Not far away—
A white-masked monster was chasing Uryū.
Uryū moved like a skater, gliding over blue light as he kited the creature. From time to time, he turned back and fired arrows, precisely drawing the monster's attention.
When Uryū noticed Tsuna and the others, he instinctively prepared to use Hirenkyaku to retreat—only to see Tsuna waving at him.
Uryū smoothly curved in an arc and slid over beside Tsuna, his expression displeased.
"What's the meaning of bringing two extra people here?"
"Relax. They can both see Hollows," Tsuna said, waving it off.
"You know that's not what I mean," Uryū replied. "Hunting Hollows is dangerous. Bringing two ordinary people along is reckless."
He was already raising his bow again.
"Wait, Uryū—leave this one to me."
Tsuna pressed down on Uryū's hand. Green spiritual pressure flickered in his palm, and a black pair of handcuffs appeared.
Fullbring — Cloud Attribute Equipment: Alaudi's Handcuffs.
Tsuna ducked low, evading the Hollow's attack, and in the same motion snapped the handcuffs onto its claw.
Then—
With the Cloud Flame's propagation property, the handcuffs began multiplying.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
In an instant, rings of iron spread across the Hollow's entire body, locking it down completely.
Unable to move.
Tsuna kicked the Hollow to the ground and turned back to Ichigo and Tatsuki.
"See that? That's what we call a Hollow. When a human soul can't pass on and lingers too long in the world of the living, it turns into something like this."
As he spoke, he glanced back.
Tatsuki looked relatively calm—shocked, but not panicking.
Ichigo, however—
He was clutching his arms tightly, cold sweat pouring down his face, his expression filled with fear.
"I've seen this… I've seen something like this before!"
Fragments of memory flashed through his mind.
"Wait… then how did I survive?"
From what he'd just witnessed, there was no way he should have survived an encounter like that.
"No… Mom!"
Ichigo suddenly shouted.
At the end of his memory, his mother had been standing in front of him.
Then—
How had she survived?
"Relax, relax. Didn't everyone turn out fine in the end?" Tsuna said, patting Ichigo's back. It was the first time he'd ever seen Ichigo look genuinely afraid.
Ichigo gradually calmed down, then immediately grabbed Tsuna's shoulders.
"Tsuna… my mom… is she some kind of superhuman too?"
It was the only explanation he could come up with.
"Uh… don't overthink it. Masaki-san should just be a normal person," Tsuna said—quietly adding in his mind, for now.
"Tsuna, every time you shook me off, it was to fight these things, wasn't it?" Tatsuki asked.
"More or less. Usually just patrols. Hollows don't appear every day."
"Then can I become like you and Ishida? Can I gain the power to protect Karakura Town?"
Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
"It's… possible to try," Tsuna said, not giving a full guarantee.
"Then from now on, I'll patrol with you. We'll protect Karakura Town together!"
She looked straight at him, her gaze unwavering.
Tsuna wasn't the oblivious version of himself from before.
He could clearly feel when someone had feelings for him.
He wasn't a dense guy from shounen anime where even if they got 'I like you' from the opposite gender, they would brush it off with a nonsense logic.
Tatsuki was beautiful, strong, and had grown up with him—and now she was willing to face danger alongside him.
How could he pretend not to understand?
"…Alright," Tsuna replied softly with a smile.
Tatsuki smiled in satisfaction, though a hint of shy awkwardness crept into her expression.
"Ahem. If you two are done flirting, can we deal with this Hollow? You're about to crush it to death," Uryū said dryly.
With Tsuna's spiritual pressure feeding into them, the handcuffs tightened further and further.
The Hollow couldn't even scream anymore.
"Oh—right, sorry about that."
Tsuna lifted his hand slightly.
The restraints contracted completely—
And the Hollow was destroyed.
...
"Tsuna," Ichigo said, grabbing him again. "If I train with you, I can gain power too, right? I want abilities. I never want to feel that helpless again."
"You don't have a problem."
"What does that mean? Why is it that Ichigo has no problem?" Tatsuki protested.
"People have different talents. Accept it," Tsuna thought to himself.
That's Ichigo—the man with arguably the highest potential in the entire Bleach world. How could an ordinary person compare?
Uryū, watching them, asked:
"So what exactly are you planning to teach them?"
"These two both have spiritual power. They can see Hollows. The question is what kind of power they should learn."
"Fullbring," Tsuna answered.
"That's the most suitable ability for humans."
More importantly—
He couldn't just teach Ichigo Shinigami or Quincy powers without the consent of the Kurosaki family.
Fullbring, on the other hand, was different.
"So," Tsuna continued, "you understand now why Inoue's brother is dangerous, right?"
"I get it," Ichigo said. "But… is there a way for Inoue to meet her brother one last time before he passes on?"
As expected of Ichigo—
that almost overly compassionate nature was exactly who he was.
Looking at the entire story of Bleach, Ichigo usually fought to defeat, not to kill.
The only time he truly showed killing intent was when Shūkurō Tsukishima manipulated the memories of everyone close to him.
Only when pushed into absolute emotional despair did Ichigo ever harbor killing intent.
Tsuna thought for a moment before answering:
"For most people, that would be impossible. But… with you and me, it might be worth trying."
"Really? Then let's go find Inoue right now!"
"You're in that much of a hurry?"
"You said souls can turn into those monsters, right? Then we should deal with it as soon as possible!"
Tsuna sighed.
"His Chain of Fate is still intact. There's no need to rush. Also… have you thought of a reason to visit her house twice in a row?"
Ichigo scratched his head awkwardly.
Then—
Tsuna said something that instantly changed his expression.
"By the way, you're worried about Inoue… but what about your own house? Didn't you say spirits show up there all the time?"
"…Wait, now that you mention it," Tatsuki said thoughtfully, "if that's the case, Ichigo being perfectly fine all this time means he's insanely lucky, right?"
Ichigo grabbed Tsuna's shoulders again.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?! We even played with those spirits when we were kids! If it's that dangerous, we should've driven them away!"
"Isn't it because an idiot like you didn't reject them that those spirits were able to pass on peacefully?" Tsuna said. "Relax. It's not a big problem."
He even suspected Ichigo's overly kind nature had been shaped by growing up surrounded by those spirits.
"…I guess that makes sense?" Ichigo nodded, still confused.
Then his expression changed again.
"But there could still be accidents, right? What if we run into those masked—uh, Hollows again?"
"That's definitely possible."
"Then let's start training right away! I can't wait anymore!"
At that age, who could resist the idea of gaining supernatural powers?
"In that case, come to my place," Tsuna said.
Then he turned to Uryū.
"I'll trouble you again tomorrow. I'll take them to Inoue's house again after this."
Recently, Tsuna's father had taken on a project in another region of Japan, and his mother had gone with him.
So for now—
Tsuna had the house to himself.
Which meant he didn't need to hide his use of Fullbring at home.
Uryū waved his hand helplessly, indicating he'd take over Tsuna's patrol duties.
Tsuna wrapped an arm around Tatsuki's waist, casually grabbed Ichigo, and shot off using Fullbring light.
Ichigo's protest could be heard echoing through the air:
"Hey! Could you hold me properly, you idiot—!"
---
At Tsuna's House...
While explaining the principles of Fullbring to Ichigo and Tatsuki, Tsuna simultaneously used it to control every object in the house—cooking an entire meal under their amazed gazes.
"You understand the basics now, right?" Tsuna said.
"Before you start training, pick an item you cherish deeply. It'll be easier to draw out the soul within it. If you don't have it on you, we can start tomorrow."
"No need," Tatsuki said immediately.
She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a wrist guard.
"That's my treasured item."
It was the birthday gift Tsuna had given her two years ago—she had worn it ever since.
The moment Tsuna saw it, he became even more certain of her feelings.
If she successfully developed Fullbring through it, with spiritual power reinforcing it, there would be no need to ever replace it.
After exchanging a glance with Tatsuki, Tsuna turned to Ichigo.
Ichigo hesitated for a long time before finally pulling something out from under his collar.
"My treasured item… should be this."
Hanging from his neck—
was a cross-shaped pendant.
Tsuna recognized it instantly.
That was a Quincy Cross.
Masaki's Quincy Cross.
After losing her powers, she had left it to Ichigo as a protective charm.
===================
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