Immediately, Yoruichi's golden vertical pupils moved with agility. She stretched out her cat paw to lick it and then calmly sat on Yuta's shoulders, resting the full weight of her feline form on him.
"It's messy down here. Clean it up for me. I'm heading to the rooftop to get some air."
Though Yuzu and Karin were young girls, their practical skills were solid. As daughters of Kurosaki Isshin, their physical strength surpassed that of the average person, so it didn't take long for them to tidy up.
Inoue Orihime and Arisawa Tatsuki joined in to help, both absorbed in the task.
Yuta made his way to the rooftop, hands in his pockets, watching the surroundings in silence.
Kurosaki Ichigo's home also served as Kurosaki Hospital-a standalone, three-story building that functioned as both residence and clinic. Though the hospital name sounded formal, it was suitable mostly for basic treatments or minor surgery and operated like a small local clinic.
Above the sky, lightning split through the clouds, casting cracks across the heavens like spiderwebs. Moments later, thunder rolled across the city. Rain was on its way.
Ichigo stepped onto the rooftop and approached Yuta with determined eyes. "Mr. Yuta, I want you to teach me how to fight. I want to gain strength."
"I've thought it through. You might be able to save us once or even twice, but you won't always be there. I have to become strong enough to protect my family myself."
Yuta's face didn't change. He had already anticipated this. "Go to Urahara's shop. Ask Kisuke Urahara to train you. He'll help you awaken your Shinigami powers."
"The power of death?" Ichigo looked surprised. He always thought he was just human. Yet Yuta's instruction gave him direction-even if the details remained unclear for now.
"Thanks, Mr. Yuta."
Ichigo left the rooftop and went downstairs to assist his sisters again.
Kurosaki Isshin walked up soon after. In his hand was a flip-top lighter and an unopened pack of cigarettes.
With a practiced flick, the flame caught. He lit one and exhaled slowly as the smoke drifted upward.
"I didn't think you'd pick up smoking after spending so long as a human," Yuta said without turning around. He had sensed Isshin long before the man spoke.
Isshin stepped beside him. "I couldn't help it. Comes with being human."
"You're not planning to tell Ichigo you're a Shinigami?"
"I haven't figured out what to say." Isshin took another drag before dropping the cigarette to the ground and stamping it out beneath his foot. "He blames himself for what happened to his mother. Always has."
"Your son spoke to me earlier."
"I figured he would. He's the oldest-wants to take care of his sisters. I'm not surprised he wants to train. I'll leave that to you. I owe you one."
Isshin hesitated before continuing. "Also… thanks for saving Yuzu and Karin today."
"No problem. They're good kids. I like them too."
"Right? They're sweet girls. Masaki would've…"
Footsteps interrupted him mid-sentence. Isshin's serious demeanor vanished, replaced by forced cheer.
"Haha! Don't tell me you've fallen for my precious daughters already! They're cute, aren't they? Too bad! Daddy's precious little cotton-padded jackets-"
Before he could ramble on, Natsuri Kurosaki appeared and struck him in the face, deadpan.
"Go to hell, you pervert."
Isshin stumbled back dramatically, whining as he held his cheek. "Why… Why does my daughter treat her father this way? It's too cruel! She used to love me!"
With exaggerated cries, he limped away, arms and legs flailing behind him.
Yuzu came up afterward holding out a small blue hot water bottle. "Brother Yuta, it's cold on the rooftop. This is to warm your hands." She then held out a bowl in both hands. "And here's some ginger soup I made. Please drink it to stay warm."
Yuta accepted both. After he finished the soup, he returned the bowl to her gently. Yuzu's smile grew wide as she ran off to wash the dish herself.
Shortly after that, Inoue Orihime and Arisawa Tatsuki arrived together on the rooftop.
Orihime hesitated, unsure of how to begin. Her eyes stayed on Yuta's face longer than they should have. She was momentarily lost in thought until Tatsuki waved her hand in front of her eyes.
"Didn't we come up here to thank him? What are you staring off into space for?"
"Ah… Oh. Right…"
Tatsuki sighed faintly. Orihime often drifted into her own world, and it worried her sometimes-especially when things were serious.
Orihime placed her hands over her chest and bowed deeply. Her words were sincere. "Mr. Yuta, thank you so much for saving us. I'm Inoue Orihime, and this is Arisawa Tatsuki. We go to Karakura First High School."
She pointed into the distance. "From here... you might even be able to see my house. It's that way. If you're ever free, Mr. Yuta, feel free to visit."
Tatsuki gave her own bow, though she lacked Orihime's physical mannerisms. "Really, we owe you."
Yuta's eyes moved to Orihime's accessories. "Your hairpin-was that from your brother?"
"Are you talking about this?" Orihime took off the two flower-shaped pins from her hair and placed them in her palms. "Yes. My brother gave them to me. I always wear them."
"That day… he gave me flower-shaped hairpins, but I didn't like them. We argued-worse than ever before. I finished dinner without speaking and went to sleep facing the wall. And the next morning… I didn't even say goodbye…"
Thunder rolled in the distance. Raindrops followed soon after, trickling from the sky like thin strands of silver.
At the same time, the rooftop shook slightly. A hollow roar echoed across the air.
"Ho ho ho ho ho!"
"Orihime… You look like you're in pain."
Emerging from the edge of the rooftop was a grotesque hollow-a giant creature with the head of a human and the body of a snake. A white mask covered its face, and its massive claws gleamed red with bloodlust.
"I tried to hold back… but I just couldn't anymore."
"I'm so lonely. So lonely!"
"Your soul-it smells so sweet. I want to eat it."
"In that way… we'll be together forever!"
Orihime stumbled back in horror. "Who… what are you?!"
For a moment, the hollow hesitated-then its tone changed into rage.
"Orihime-you don't recognize me?"
"I'm your brother!"
"I'm heartbroken!"
"I'm… I'm gonna kill you!"
His claws lunged forward, aiming for her chest-
-but before they could reach her, white light flashed through the storm.
It was fast-clean-brilliant.
Like lightning itself had cut through the dark sky, the blade's shine turned the rooftop's night into day for one brief moment.
With one clean stroke, Inoue Sora's arm was severed and disintegrated into spirit particles before hitting the ground. He couldn't even react.
Inoue Sora was shocked and angry. "Are you here to steal my Orihime too?"
Yuta held a hot water bottle in one hand and "Kusawokaru" in the other. He stared blankly ahead, not taking Inoue Sora seriously at any level.
"One of the ways to break the path is to rush."
Spiritual power surged from Yuta's fingertips and shattered Inoue Sora's mask into five or six fragments that dropped to the ground. Even after reducing the power, the ghost path was enough to knock Sora down flat onto the wet pavement.
At that moment, Inoue Orihime finally realized that the monster before her was actually her brother-Inoue Sora. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"You… are you really my brother?"
Inoue Sora lay on the ground, raindrops striking his face and washing away the blood from his skin. He spoke slowly.
"When I was fifteen, my sister was born."
"She's really closer to being my daughter than my sister."
"Our parents were criminals, and the only thing they ever reacted to was if I made you stop crying."
"When I turned eighteen, I left that house with her."
"We lived on our own from that point."
"Later, when I died... at first, she prayed every day."
"But with time, she started to stop."
"I thought... if Orihime couldn't live for me, then at least... she needed to die for me."
Orihime cried openly as she spoke through tears. "I'm sorry…"
"I did pray for you every day in the beginning. It hurt to think about you."
"But I felt later that if I kept looking sad, you'd worry about me."
"I thought I should try to look happy, so that if you saw me from wherever you were, you'd know I was doing okay… and you could rest easy."
"I didn't know that doing that would make you feel forgotten."
Inoue Sora was silent before he answered. "I knew you were trying to make sure I wouldn't worry… but I wanted you to pray for me, even just so I could feel you were with me."
Arisawa Tatsuki stepped forward and interrupted. "What are you talking about? That hairpin on Inoue's head-you gave it to her, didn't you?"
"Dead or alive, people are lonely just the same. Saying you're the loneliest… that's just selfish."
"And another thing-there's no 'Orihime who belongs to you.' She belongs to herself."
Sora froze. He looked down and saw the hairpin in Orihime's hand. The one he thought she would've thrown away long ago.
He couldn't remember the last time he even thought about it. He had fixated only on her-on the resentment that had grown inside him. Blaming the gift he gave her.
It was that resentment that had twisted and dragged him down so far.
"So… you really haven't forgotten me…"
His expression softened for the first time. A faint smile appeared as his body began to fade into spirit particles, dispersing slowly in the rain. Yuta's sword had worked-his arm was gone, and it was enough to cleanse his soul.
Orihime's eyes filled again with tears. "Brother… on the day you left, there was so much I wanted to tell you…"
"Please walk slowly."
She watched him disappear, piece by piece, as he moved toward the Soul Society. Her hand went to the corner of her eye, wiping away the tears gently.
She bowed to Yuta. "Mr. Yuta has saved me twice now. I must thank you."
"If there's ever a time when you're free… or if there's anything you want to eat… may I cook for you?"
"I don't know if my cooking is good enough for someone like you. This is the only way I know how to express my thanks. I know it doesn't measure up to what you've done for me…"
"…but please, don't say no."
"And… where does Mr. Yuta plan to live? When the time comes, I'd... like to visit you."
Yuta answered evenly, "There's no rush."
Orihime touched her long hair with her fingertips and looked toward the ground. "It just feels like… you're so far away from us. As if… if I don't invite you this time, we might not meet again…"
Yuta gave her the barest of smiles. "Don't worry. We'll meet again."
With that, he jumped down from the rooftop.
Kuchiki Rukia stood at the door below, her sword in hand, waiting silently.
"Rukia, let's go."
In the next instant, the two vanished from Kurosaki Ichigo's home.
As they moved through the air, Rukia glanced over. "Yuta, what are your plans now? Are we returning to the Soul Society?"
Yuta's eyes narrowed. "Yes-but first, I have to remove the Hōgyoku from your body."
"Hōgyoku?"
They stopped on the rooftop. Rain fell steadily now in the dark night, washing the city in white noise. The surroundings dulled under the downpour until nothing remained but the sound and the presence of the two of them.
Yuta stood dry, spiritual pressure repelling the rain long before any of it could reach his uniform.
"There are two Hōgyoku-one made by Sōsuke Aizen, the other by Kisuke Urahara."
"The four primary combat techniques of Shinigami-Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō…"
"Each one has its limits."
"No matter how strong you are, if you're Shinigami, you'll eventually reach the ceiling of your spiritual growth."
"That's the fate of death."
Rukia's eyes widened slightly at the implication. The limit of death was farther away for her-but it was always there.
"Is there no way to surpass it? To evolve beyond the threshold?"
"Both Aizen and Urahara asked the same question. Both found the same answer: Hollowfication."
"If you remove the barrier between the two-between Shinigami and Hollow-then higher evolution becomes possible."
"To pursue this goal, both of them created the same thing-the Hōgyoku."
"A substance that dissolves the boundary and lets souls evolve."
"To prove it worked, Aizen began experiments-ones involving forced Hollowfication of Shinigami."
Rukia's jaw tightened, breath catching. The experiment from over one hundred years ago… Shiba Kaien's death…
"…was Aizen's doing?"
Yuta nodded once.
"When he realized what he had created, Urahara tried to destroy it."
"But he couldn't. So instead… he hid the fragment of Hōgyoku he made-inside your soul."
PS GOALS: 150 PS= 5-10 extra chapter on an update.
💕💕
READ 45+ ADVANCED CHAPTER AT MY P@TREON! FOR ONLY 10$
at [email protected] /Zaneninjacat
💕💕
💀💀 gimme powerstones!💀💀