In this abandoned classroom that had long been relegated to a dusty storage space, a rare spark of energy and life flickered within its walls.
"Asakura-sensei! I have a question!"
Inoue Orihime raised her hand primly, looking like a model student as she faced Asakura Yoh at the chalkboard. Her eyes were bright, filled with eager anticipation.
"Go ahead."
"Sado-kun said his arm suddenly started glowing, and then he looked like Ultraman—" Inoue Orihime asked with dead seriousness.
"Is that what Fullbring is?"
A vein throbbed in Sado Yasutora's temple.
"Inoue... I'm fairly certain I never used that comparison," he attempted to clarify.
"I never said a word about my arm looking like Ultraman."
That was entirely a product of Inoue Orihime's own imagination.
"Hey! Yasutora-kun, no whispering during the lesson. Maintain classroom order!" Asakura Yoh put on a stern face and tapped the desk with his finger.
"Exactly, Sado-kun," Inoue Orihime played along, adjusting a pair of nonexistent glasses.
"You have to raise your hand before speaking."
At this moment, Inoue Orihime looked exactly like a newly appointed class president in elementary school.
"..."
Sado Yasutora fell silent.
He began to seriously wonder if he was going to have to spend the next few weeks playing along with this role-playing game with these two...
Arisawa Tatsuki sat nearby, watching the scene play out with a helpless smile. She gave Sado an apologetic look—this situation was honestly to be expected.
"Ahem!" Asakura Yoh cleared his throat.
"Quiet, quiet. Back to the subject at hand."
He wrote a few characters on the chalkboard.
"Inoue-san is right. That form Yasutora-kun took is indeed Fullbring."
He turned back to face the three of them.
"The light emitted before the ability activates is one of the signs of Fullbring. It's also known as 'Fullbring Light'."
He paused, noticing that Sado Yasutora was dutifully raising his hand.
"Oh? Good job this time, Yasutora-kun. Speak."
Sado lowered his hand, his voice deep.
"Since you're explaining this to all three of us, does that mean... Inoue and Arisawa also have the potential to awaken this power?"
"Unfortunately," Asakura Yoh made a large 'X' with his arms across his chest.
"You're wrong."
Three pairs of eyes fell on him simultaneously.
"It's not that Inoue-san 'might' awaken—" Asakura Yoh turned his gaze toward Inoue Orihime.
"She already has."
"Eh?"
Inoue Orihime froze, her head full of question marks. When did she awaken? How come she didn't know?
Arisawa Tatsuki and Sado Yasutora also looked at her with curiosity.
They knew that with Inoue Orihime's personality, she wouldn't hide something like that on purpose. That left only one possibility: she probably hadn't even realized she'd awakened herself.
"Yesterday," Asakura Yoh spoke calmly.
"When Tatsuki was being controlled by the Hollow, your power would have activated then if I hadn't shown up."
He paused.
"At that moment, your hairpins were already showing signs of Fullbring Light. It just didn't fully manifest because I cleared the crisis directly."
Inoue subconsciously raised her hand, her fingertips brushing against the two snowflake-shaped hairpins in her hair.
Whether it was a psychological effect or something else, the sensation of touching them really did feel different than before.
It was a subtle feeling, as if something was sleeping quietly inside them, waiting to be woken up.
"Now, I'm sure you're wondering how to trigger this power—"
"Wait, what about me?"
Arisawa Tatsuki interrupted him.
Asakura Yoh had only mentioned that Orihime had awakened, but hadn't even brought up her name.
"About that—" Asakura Yoh looked at her, his tone bluntly honest.
"As far as I know, Tatsuki, you don't have the aptitude to become a Fullbringer."
"Huh?"
Tatsuki's reaction was surprisingly composed.
Though there was more or less a hint of disappointment in her voice, she still remembered what Asakura Yoh had promised her yesterday—he said he would help her get stronger.
So even if this path was a dead end, there had to be another possibility waiting for her.
"Then why did you call me here too?"
"Mascot."
The moment the words left Asakura Yoh's mouth, his right hand was already reaching out—
A notebook came whistling through the air.
He caught it steadily, casually flipping it open to take a look.
On the paper was a sketch: a karate practitioner standing on a podium, a gold belt tied around her waist, arms raised high in high spirits.
It was a drawing of Arisawa Tatsuki.
'Hmm, not a bad drawing.'
He tossed the book back. Arisawa Tatsuki caught it with one hand in a clean, sharp motion, as if she had practiced it countless times.
Inoue Orihime gave an enthusiastic round of applause from the side.
"Back to business," Asakura Yoh pulled the conversation back.
"Even if you can't learn Fullbring, Tatsuki, you can still gain an understanding of the essence of this world. It will be beneficial for your future cultivation."
Next, he explained the knowledge of Spirit Particles and souls to the three of them in detail.
From the Spirit Particles and Matter Particles that make up the world, to the forms in which souls exist, and then to the invisible rules of the world.
Asakura Yoh's explanation wasn't too deep, but it was clear enough. The three listened intently, and he answered the occasional question from them one by one.
Of course, a single lunch break wasn't nearly enough time to cover everything.
But he didn't expect them to memorize it all at once; having a general concept and an awareness of the truth of this world was enough for now.
"That's all for today."
He checked the time and clapped the chalk dust off his hands.
"If you have time after school, you can go straight to the base from yesterday. If Riruka and Yukio are there, have them use their abilities to help you train."
"Both of them are Fullbringers with highly developed abilities. They're more than capable of teaching you."
He looked at Arisawa Tatsuki.
"Even though Tatsuki can't learn Fullbring, you can use their abilities to gain more combat experience—after all, real combat is different from regulated fighting."
"Yoh, aren't you coming with us?" Sado Yasutora asked.
Asakura Yoh's words had clearly excluded himself.
"Yeah, I'm heading back with Ichigo later," Asakura Yoh smiled, having no intention of explaining further.
"I'm spending the night at his place tonight."
Arisawa Tatsuki's eyes flickered slightly.
She silently calculated the date in her mind and pursed her lips, saying nothing more.
"Asakura-kun and Kurosaki-kun really are close!" Inoue Orihime said with a look of envy.
"Kurosaki-kun's family all seem so interesting. I'm sure you'll have a great time."
Something suddenly occurred to her, and a smile blossomed on her face.
"Oh, right! Actually, Tatsuki is coming over to my house to play tonight too, hehe!"
"Is that so?" Asakura Yoh nodded, as if suddenly remembering something.
"By the way, Sora's soul is very stable now. if you want, he can go back and live with you."
"Really!"
Inoue Orihime practically bounced out of her seat.
Her eyes instantly lit up with incredible intensity, and her entire being seemed to glow like a lit lantern, her excitement nearly overflowing.
"Yeah." Asakura Yoh nodded toward the empty corner beside them.
"Come out, Sora."
"Orihime."
"Big brother—!"
Inoue Orihime lunged forward.
Watching this scene, a genuine smile touched the corners of Arisawa Tatsuki's mouth. She stepped forward and softly congratulated Inoue Orihime.
But soon, her gaze involuntarily fell back on Asakura Yoh.
He stood there, watching the reunion of the Inoue siblings with a faint smile on his face.
That smile was gentle and calm, without a hint of abnormality.
But Arisawa Tatsuki knew clearly—
It only *looked* like nothing was wrong.
...
"And now! Let the meeting to decide tomorrow's mission begin!"
In the living room of the Kurosaki Clinic, Kurosaki Isshin stood before the dining table with his hands on his hips, his voice so loud it made one worry about noise complaints from the neighbors.
He was wearing a shirt that was a bit too flashy, covered in an exaggerated tropical floral pattern.
Outside the door, a sign reading 'Closed Tomorrow' had been posted.
A circle of people sat around the dining table.
Kurosaki Ichigo leaned against the edge with an exhausted 'here we go again' expression.
The twins, Kurosaki Karin and Kurosaki Yuzu, were huddled together.
Asakura Yoh sat cross-legged on a nearby sofa with a cup of barley tea, looking like a spectator.
His relaxed posture made it clear he was a frequent guest here.
"Since I am the Chairman who holds all the power—" Kurosaki Isshin puffed out his chest and pointed a thumb at himself, announcing solemnly.
"All decision-making power rests in my hands!"
"Hah!?" Kurosaki Karin slammed her hands on the table, making the whole thing jump.
"Then how is this even a meeting!"
Her protest was sharp and forceful, her eyes full of intense dissatisfaction with this 'dictatorship'.
"Hey! Raise your hand if you wish to speak! Chief of Staff!" Kurosaki Isshin put on a stern face, using the tone of a superior lecturing a subordinate.
"Chi... Chief of Staff..."
Karin froze for a moment, pointing at herself. The anger on her face was instantly replaced by a subtle expression.
It was a mixture of surprise and... a joyful blush.
It seemed she really took a liking to that 'title'.
"Yuzu, you'll be the Bento Consultant, just like before!" Kurosaki Isshin turned to his other daughter.
"Yes!" Kurosaki Yuzu raised her hand primly, acting as if she were actually attending a formal meeting.
She had a gentle smile on her face, having no objection to the arrangement.
"Karin is in charge of carrying things!"
"Hah!?" The irritation Karin had just suppressed flared up again.
"What kind of Chief of Staff is that!"
"Ah, right." Kurosaki Isshin's tone suddenly shifted as he touched his hair, a hint of expectation in his voice.
"I went to get a haircut today. What do you guys think?"
The living room fell silent for two seconds.
Kurosaki Karin glanced up and spoke flatly.
"There's no difference at all, is there?"
"How can you say that..." Kurosaki Isshin's shoulders slumped, his voice full of exaggerated despair.
Kurosaki Yuzu quickly tried to smooth things over.
"There is! There is! You look much more refreshed!"
"Yuzu is the only one who understands me!" Kurosaki Isshin was instantly revived, giving his daughter a thumbs-up.
Watching this family's daily farce, Asakura Yoh and Kurosaki Ichigo instinctively locked eyes.
The two shared a smile.
Ichigo had seen this kind of family interaction since he was a child, and Asakura Yoh had witnessed it countless times in this house as well.
As for how much sweetness and how much bitterness was contained in that smile, it wasn't something an outsider could truly understand.
...
Having finished his shower a step ahead of Ichigo, Asakura Yoh changed into the pajamas he kept at the Kurosaki house and headed toward Ichigo's room with practiced ease.
He pushed open the door and flicked on the light; everything was familiar.
He walked to the closet almost entirely by muscle memory—he had stayed over in this room so many times that he could find where the futons, blankets, and pillows were stored with his eyes closed.
He placed his hand on the closet door.
He pulled it open.
And then, he locked eyes with a pair of blinking eyes.
Kuchiki Rukia was curled up in the closet wrapped in a quilt, blinking awkwardly at him.
Her hair was a bit messy and her cheeks were slightly flushed from sleep, clearly startled by the sudden opening of the closet door.
Asakura Yoh froze.
Only then did it hit him—
Right, Kuchiki Rukia was living at Ichigo's house now.
And she happened to live in this exact closet.
"..."
"..."
Both sides fell into a bizarre silence.
Rukia in the closet didn't know what to say.
Yoh outside the closet didn't know what to say either.
The air felt frozen, with only the sound of insects and birds outside the window filling the awkward void.
Asakura Yoh blinked.
Rukia blinked back.
Then, Asakura Yoh slowly spoke.
"Congratulations to you both."
"It's not what you think!!"
A flustered Kuchiki Rukia spent a long time explaining to Asakura Yoh, while Yoh simply kept nodding along in cooperation.
Finally, Kurosaki Ichigo arrived, having also finished his shower and changed into pajamas.
"Yo, Ichigo. Life's been pretty sweet lately, hasn't it?"
Asakura Yoh's voice was full of teasing. Ichigo didn't react, but Kuchiki Rukia immediately put Yoh in a headlock, her eyes gleaming with a murderous light.
"You brat, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Hah! You're doing it on purpose!"
"I was... I was wrong..."
After teaching Asakura Yoh a lesson, Kuchiki Rukia looked at Kurosaki Ichigo with a strange expression. Based on her understanding of him, he usually would have given Asakura Yoh a flying kick by now.
But he had been quiet—not just now, but since they got home, Ichigo had been far too silent.
"Ahem! You guys seemed pretty happy just now."
Seeing the atmosphere wasn't right, Kuchiki Rukia changed the subject, though her words caused both Asakura Yoh and Kurosaki Ichigo to fall silent.
"What are you referring to?"
"What am I referring to? Your family meeting just now, of course! And Asakura is going with you, right?"
As she spoke, Kuchiki Rukia cheerfully struck a strange pose.
"It's that, right? That! You're all skipping work and school tomorrow to go on a picnic!"