That night, in Ichigo's room.
"Ichigo."
A familiar voice echoed in his ears.
"That voice… Zangetsu-san!?" Ichigo was stunned.
Ever since the battle with Aizen a year and a half ago, Zangetsu had completely vanished from his inner world.
Even when Muramasa and White Ichigo were chasing him down inside his mind, Ichigo had called out many times—but never caught a glimpse of Zangetsu.
And yet, tonight… he had returned.
"I never imagined losing your powers meant so much to you," Zangetsu said with a sigh, shaking his head.
As the Quincy power within Ichigo, Zangetsu had always wanted him to live a peaceful life—free of battle. That alone would have been enough.
But to Zangetsu's surprise, Ichigo's loss of power didn't bring peace—instead, it brought even more people trying to manipulate and target him.
That wasn't what Zangetsu wanted.
So naturally, he appeared once again before Ichigo.
"I'm sorry, Ichigo… I was wrong. I shouldn't have made the decision for you."
Ichigo smiled.
"It's okay, Zangetsu-san. I've always trusted you. I knew you'd never do anything to hurt me."
Zangetsu sighed and smiled back before dissolving into dark reiryoku that flowed back into Ichigo's body.
"I'll become your true power once more."
In that moment, Ichigo's spiritual power returned!
The seal on his Shinigami and Hollow powers was lifted.
Ichigo could feel it—he wasn't just back to his old self.
He was stronger than ever before.
A new power had awakened inside him.
And it was perfectly harmonized with his Shinigami and Hollow sides.
The Next Day
Ichigo received bad news.
"What?! Keigo and Mizuiro were attacked?!"
He clenched his fists, furious.
"Yeah. They're in the hospital now—right next to Uryū, actually," Tatsuki said, exasperated.
Ichigo's eyes darkened. So someone had shifted their focus to him, huh?
"Don't worry. Leave it to me," Ichigo said, his confidence blazing.
Tatsuki was taken aback. It had been over a year since she'd seen Ichigo with this kind of fire in his eyes.
At the same time, Rukia, Hiyori, and Nozomi returned to Soul Society to report his recovery—creating the perfect illusion that Ichigo had no backup.
Ichigo was finally learning how to fish.
That night, he looked at the business card he'd received.
Ever since meeting that man, things had spiraled out of control around him.
Clearly, this was all bait to get him to reach out.
"Hmph… Let's see what you're really after."
He dialed the number.
Xcution's Secret Base
"Yo, Kurosaki Ichigo. Knew you'd show up."
The man with slicked-back hair grinned.
The room was full of unfamiliar people. But none of them acknowledged Ichigo.
"Relax. You don't need to worry. I approached you for one reason: to help you recover your Shinigami powers."
Ichigo narrowed his eyes.
"Is that so?"
"Take a seat. I'll explain everything."
The man introduced himself.
"My name is Kūgo Ginjō. We're not ordinary humans here. Everyone in this organization was born with special powers."
To demonstrate, he had a man dressed like a bartender pour him a drink.
Placing his hand near the glass, Ginjō emitted a faint green glow. The drink floated—on its own—into his mouth.
It looked like magic.
Even with Ichigo's vast pool of Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy powers… he'd never seen anything like it.
"This power… is real."
Ginjō grinned.
"I just extracted the soul of the drink and told it to come to me."
Ichigo frowned slightly.
"In this world, everything has a soul. Our ability is to draw out the soul within things, enhance it, and manipulate it."
For example—extracting the soul from asphalt lets you control it, giving you inhuman speed and jumping ability. Draw out the soul of a liquid, and you can walk on water—or have your drink serve itself.
"If you find the right object to bond with, you can even reshape it."
He held his necklace, and in a flash of green reiryoku, it transformed into a massive cross-shaped sword.
This was Fullbring—a power born from love and willpower made manifest.
Suddenly, the door opened.
In came a red-haired twin-tail girl and a tall man.
Ichigo's eyes widened.
"Chad?!"
Just yesterday, Orihime had said Chad hadn't been to school in a while—Ichigo feared the worst.
He hadn't expected him to show up here.
Ichigo's expression darkened. Chad was special to him.
Among the girls, no one was closer than Tatsuki.
Among the guys, Chad was his truest friend.
Before Ichigo could say anything, the red-haired girl asked curiously, "Who's this?"
"He's Kurosaki Ichigo. My best friend," Chad said firmly.
The girl squealed with joy—knowing their group wanted Ichigo to join.
She grabbed a flashlight from the bar to get a better look.
But the moment she saw Ichigo's face—
"So… so handsome!!"
She practically floated upward like her soul had left her body.
Ichigo took a nervous step back. "Uh… are you okay?"
"Of course not!!" she cried, her face flushed.
Ginjō sighed. "Cut it out, Riruka. Don't lose control just because he's hot."
After the chaos settled, Ginjō began explaining the truth behind Fullbring.
"Kurosaki Ichigo. Do you know why Hollows have holes in their chests? It's because they've lost their hearts."
"And those hearts become their masks."
Every Hollow's appearance and abilities are shaped by the soul they lost. Form reflects the heart.
All Fullbringers have one thing in common: they were attacked by Hollows before birth—while still in their mothers' wombs.
Some, like Chad, Orihime, and Tatsuki, awakened later—triggered by Ichigo's reiatsu and the influence of the Hōgyoku inside Rukia.
But the truth was far more complex.
Fullbringers were born with fragments of the Soul King inside them.
That's why they lose their powers if those fragments are taken away.
Their abilities closely resemble Hollow powers—and they hate that.
"We loathe these powers. After years of research, we discovered that if someone has the opposite—both Shinigami and Human traits—they can absorb our powers and free us."
All eyes turned to Ichigo.
"In fact, you're not the first. Others have been healed this way."
That's why they needed Ichigo.
"That's not what I care about. I just want to know—who attacked my friends?!"
But Ginjō gave no answer.
Ichigo left with nothing.
The next day, Chad joined the group.
He didn't want to be cured—he wanted to help Ichigo get his powers back.
Watching Ichigo for the past year and a half, unable to fight, had been painful.
So, with Chad's encouragement, Ichigo officially joined Xcution.
To regain his powers, Ginjō said, Ichigo had to learn Fullbring.
His first teacher?
Riruka—the blushing girl who could barely be near him.
Her ability was Dollhouse—a spatial technique that allowed her to store anything (or anyone) she found "cute" in her room or summon them from it.
It was like Doraemon's pocket—though it couldn't warp space like Nozomi's Zanpakutō.
After explaining, she stuck a pink heart on Ichigo's chest.
"I permit you to enter!"
"What are you talking about?"
Before Ichigo could complain, he was pulled into her Dollhouse.
Inside was a room... and a giant plush pig.
Ichigo realized that if he used his Shinigami powers, he could easily escape. But instead, he played along—pretending to be powerless.
His first training?
Defeat Piggy-sensei.
Chad explained the key to Fullbring.
"You need an object you can emotionally connect to. For me, it's my skin—I'm proud of it. What about you?"
Ichigo thought… then pulled out his Squad 4 badge.
It symbolized his bond with Unohana Yachiru.
Instantly, spiritual pressure—shaped like the guard of Zangetsu—began to glow from his hand.
Even without fully losing his powers, Ichigo was now in a balanced state—he could wield this new ability freely.
"Hmm… so this works too?"
He could feel it. Even from the badge… he could unleash Getsuga Tenshō.
With one strike, Piggy-sensei went down!
In just a few days, Ichigo could already manipulate Fullbring freely.
Black spiritual energy coiled around him like armor.
"This sensation… it's something else."
But in the background… Tsukishima and Ginjō's plan continued to unfold.
Until that night…
(End of Chapter)
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