"Oh… so it's Mr. Fūjin. My apologies, my apologies,"
Urahara Kisuke said the words, though there wasn't the slightest hint of respect on his face.
"Lord Fūjin, I am Tessai Tsukabishi from the Urahara Shop in Karakura Town. If you ever have the chance to return to the Human World in the future, please feel free to patronize our humble shop."
As he spoke, Tessai handed over a business card, then extended his other large hand—clearly intending to shake Fūjin Taichi's hand.
"Alright…"
Fūjin Taichi reached out and shook Tessai's hand—only to immediately bare his teeth as the other man's grip tightened with tremendous strength.
"Since things here are settled… let's head back,"
Urahara Kisuke said as he closed his folding fan and spoke to Tessai.
"OK!"
Tessai nodded in satisfaction, released Fūjin Taichi, and followed Urahara Kisuke as they headed toward Karakura Town.
"Wait! Shopkeeper Urahara—please hold on!"
Fūjin Taichi called out hurriedly.
"Hm?"
Urahara paused slightly and glanced back.
"Thank you."
Fūjin Taichi meant it sincerely. After all, his chest had been pierced by Ichimaru Gin's Kamishini no Yari. If Urahara hadn't treated him… he would have been long dead.
"Ahahaha…"
Urahara grinned broadly, raised one hand to hold down his wind-tossed fisherman's hat, and said in a low voice:
"Mr. Fūjin, if you're going to thank someone—
you should really thank the friend inside you."
"And besides… judging by the location of your wound, that person deliberately avoided your vital organs. In other words, it looked serious, but… it was never fatal."
"What…?"
Fūjin Taichi's heart jolted.
Gin… why would he hold back against me?
And what does Urahara mean by 'the friend inside me'?
"It's nothing, Mr. Fūjin,"
Urahara said as he resumed walking forward. His casual voice drifted back on the wind:
"If you ever feel unwell in the future, be sure to come find me in the Human World right away…
otherwise, you won't need to pretend to be 'dead' anymore."
"…Oh."
Fūjin Taichi watched as the two disappeared from sight, then lowered his gaze to the wounds on his body.
Sure enough, there were no traces of bandaging or treatment. Although large bloodstains still remained on the surface, the wound that had pierced straight through him had already healed completely.
"Holy crap…"
Fūjin Taichi's face turned pale as he muttered to himself:
"Don't tell me… there's also some terrifying Hollow inside my body?"
"What Hollow?"
Just then, Shiba Isshin returned from Karakura Town. Upon hearing the word Hollow, he asked curiously.
"That bull-headed Hollow earlier! Captain Shiba, did you see it?"
Fūjin Taichi forcibly suppressed his doubts and asked instead.
"Oh, that thing? Yeah… it's already been destroyed."
Isshin scratched his head, chuckled awkwardly, then added:
"By the way, your name is Fūjin Taichi, right?"
"Yes."
"I've heard about you from Kaien—ah, right! A few years ago he even asked me to transfer you into the 10th Division as a seated officer."
Isshin recalled:
"I seriously considered it and was planning to observe you for a few days before submitting a request to the Captain-Commander… but later I heard you'd already been dispatched to the Human World."
"So that's how it was!"
After hearing this, Fūjin Taichi remembered that before leaving Soul Society, Shiba Kaien had indeed mentioned that there were other ways besides marrying into a family to become a seated officer. Gratitude welled up in his heart.
"Then, Taichi—once you return to Soul Society, come join my 10th Division!"
Isshin formally extended the invitation.
From Isshin's perspective, the fact that Fūjin Taichi had survived ten years in the perilous Naruki City alone was proof enough of his extraordinary ability.
What's more, Fūjin Taichi had once saved Shiba Miyako and shared a brotherly bond with Shiba Kaien, so Isshin was more than happy to offer this opportunity.
"…Alright. No matter what, thank you very much, Captain Shiba,"
Fūjin Taichi said solemnly.
"Hahaha—no need to be so stiff!"
Isshin laughed, then added:
"Though, at most, I can only recommend you for Fourth Seat… and you probably won't ever get the chance to become a future captain!"
"Huh?! Future captain?! I haven't thought that far ahead at all!"
Fūjin Taichi stared at Isshin in disbelief, thinking:
What kind of leap in logic is this guy making?!
It was just a matter of transferring a candidate for the 20th Seat among the top 15 of the Gotei 13 into another division—within a captain's authority!
How did that turn into succession to captaincy already?!
"Cough, cough. Taichi—let me be honest with you. The current Third Seat of the 10th Division, Tōshirō, is someone I hold in very high regard. I'm grooming him carefully as a future captain…
So, Taichi, I have to apologize to you first… because I originally intended to make you the Third Seat."
Shiba Isshin spoke with genuine sincerity.
Heh… I doubt that's really the case,
Fūjin Taichi thought to himself.
The 10th Division's captain, Shiba Isshin, is a lazy disaster, and his vice-captain, Matsumoto Rangiku, is just as undisciplined…
If they don't recruit a few competent, hardworking Shinigami, the division won't even be able to keep up with daily operations—
they'd be getting chewed out by Captain-Commander Yamamoto every single day.
So Fūjin Taichi gave an awkward yet polite smile and said nothing more. He looked around, then bent down and picked up the half-broken "bull horn" he had cut off earlier.
"Taichi, what's that?"
Isshin asked, glancing at it.
"Remains of that bull-headed Hollow earlier… I think if Captain Shiba takes it back to Soul Society and presents it to Captain-Commander Yamamoto, it'll make tonight's 'incident' far more convincing."
"Ohoho! Just as expected of my Fourth Seat! Your work ethic and ability are already on par with Tōshirō's!"
Isshin exclaimed exaggeratedly.
"Tch… just a precocious kid, that's all,"
Fūjin Taichi thought arrogantly.
If I hadn't had the foresight to pull Hitsugaya out of Rukongai back then, he'd probably still be there playing 'mud pies' right now.
"Then, Captain Shiba—please submit this evidence yourself,"
Fūjin Taichi said, stuffing the "half bull horn" into Isshin's hands without giving him a chance to refuse.
After all, White was Aizen's private experiment, and Taichi had already taken a slash from Ichimaru Gin because of it, nearly dying in the process.
Although bringing the "bull horn" back to Soul Society would count as a great merit, Fūjin Taichi felt that so-called great achievements were far too illusory compared to his own life—
like a bubble: brilliant for a moment, but easily popped.
"Ah—alright then,"
Isshin didn't think too much about it. He nodded and accepted the horn, then looked around and frowned.
"Ah, this is troublesome. The Shinigami responsible for communications with Soul Society in Naruki City seems to be dead.
If we want to return, we'll have to use Karakura Town's fixed Senkaimon—and that would inevitably be detected by Soul Society…"
Isshin spoke with a troubled expression.
"No need to go through all that trouble, Captain Shiba,"
Fūjin Taichi said.
Knowing that Isshin had slipped into the Human World without authorization, he drew his shorter blade "Ichi" and traced a cross-shaped 'ten' in the air.
Instantly, a cross-shaped spatial black hole appeared.
"Eh? What is this—?!"
"Don't be so surprised. This is just one of the 'twelve uses of my Zanpakutō,"
Fūjin Taichi said with a chuckle.
"They're all pretty useless, really."
He sheathed his blade and made a courteous "please" gesture.
"Well then—let's go!"
Isshin nodded and stepped into the cross-shaped void.
In the next instant, he realized he had already returned to Soul Society, and his heart shook with astonishment.
What a miraculous spatial ability! It bypassed the Dangai and arrived directly in the Soul Society!
Is this really his Zanpakutō's power? Looks like I seriously underestimated him when I recommended him as a seated officer…
Well then… I'll proceed with that idea I had earlier.
It should also help erase any traces of the Quincy appearing in the Human World! To avoid her being disturbed by the Soul Society again!!
…
At the same time, several hundred meters away atop a vertical water tower,
Tessai Tsukabishi put away his binoculars and asked Urahara Kisuke:
"Shopkeeper… is it really alright to let Lord Fūjin return to Soul Society like this?"
"It's fine,"
Urahara yawned.
"Mr. Fūjin's 'symptoms' aren't obvious yet."
He then glanced in another direction and said softly:
"What I'm more concerned about is the Quincy who appeared earlier…
If I'm not mistaken, the disappearance of that Arrancar is definitely related to her.
But based on my understanding of the Quincy, in all of Karakura Town, the only ones capable of defeating an Arrancar of that level on their own would be Sōken Ishida and his son."
"So that Quincy must have used a special method to destroy the Hollow,"
Tessai said after a moment of thought.
"And… it's very likely she's been contaminated by Hollow poison."
"Mm… Shopkeeper, she seems to be a pure-blood Quincy fostered by the Ishida family. Should we go check on her?"
"No. It's still too early to intervene,"
Urahara sighed.
"The Quincy's hatred toward Shinigami isn't any weaker than their hatred of Hollows…
So let's wait a few days before following up."
"OK."
Tessai nodded slowly and lifted his gaze to the night sky.
Several black Hell Butterflies fluttered gracefully beneath the bright moonlight—
and moments later, vanished together into the vast darkness of the night.