Shunsui Kyōraku was right.
Although the Tsunayashiro Clan was highly suspicious, there was no concrete evidence against them. Acting rashly would be anything but wise.
If they alerted the enemy, they would only place themselves in an even worse position.
The incident had happened so long ago. There was no need to rush now.
Muten Natsu was not working alone, nor did he need to deliberately put himself in a position where he had to handle everything by himself.
Waiting patiently for the investigation results was not only a sign of trust in his companions, but also a way of taking responsibility for them.
Before he received any word from Soul Society, however, Muten Natsu got an unexpected phone call.
"Hello?" Muten Natsu answered. "Karin, what's wrong?"
Karin Kurosaki's voice came through the phone. "I wanted to ask if you know what my brother's been doing lately."
"Hmm?" Muten Natsu frowned slightly. "What happened?"
"He's been coming home really late recently, and he spends all day out even on his days off." Karin Kurosaki could not hide the concern in her voice. "He's lost his Reiryoku, so I'm worried he might be getting himself into danger..."
"Have you asked him directly?"
"He never tells us anything..." Karin Kurosaki paused. "I haven't told him that I'm training my Reiryoku either. Just like I don't want him worrying about me, he doesn't want us worrying about him. But..."
"But you can't stop yourself from worrying." Muten Natsu understood the feeling. "Have you asked Urahara-san?"
"Urahara-san doesn't know either... He said he'd help investigate."
So this training had not been arranged by Kisuke Urahara.
Muten Natsu made up his mind. "I understand. I'll look into it right away and let you know as soon as I find anything."
Everyone tried to keep the people they cared about from worrying, so they hid what they were doing.
Muten Natsu shook his head.
But how could something like that be hidden so easily?
Those closest to you would naturally notice even the smallest change in your emotions.
What you thought was a successful deception was often nothing more than the people around you pretending not to notice... Huh?
Muten Natsu froze for a moment. Then a gentle smile appeared on his lips.
So that was it...
He collected his thoughts and prepared to fulfill the promise he had just made.
The most direct way to find Ichigo Kurosaki was to call him.
He did not answer.
After thinking for a moment, Muten Natsu called Yasutora Sado instead.
This time, someone picked up.
"Hello, Sado..."
Muten Natsu had barely spoken when he heard a girl's voice on the other end.
"Aaaaaah! I can't believe this! You suddenly tell me you need me now because you've reached some new stage, but I never heard anything about the earlier stages! You're hiding something, aren't you? Spit it out! Hey! I'm talking to you! Why did you answer the phone in the middle of this... Say something! Why pick up if you're not going to talk?"
Yasutora Sado said, "...Sorry."
Muten Natsu had no idea who the apology was directed at. "Is this a bad time to talk?"
"...No."
Did that mean it was a bad time, or that it was not?
Before Muten Natsu could figure it out, Yasutora Sado asked, "What is it?"
Muten Natsu chose not to mention Karin Kurosaki. "You and Ichigo have both seemed busy lately. Is something wrong?"
"I found some... companions to help Ichigo recover his Reiryoku," Yasutora Sado replied. "Everything up to now has been preparation. We're about to begin the next stage."
Stages meant they had a fairly complete plan and were reasonably confident it would work.
Muten Natsu pressed him for more. "Can you tell me anything about it?"
Such as who these companions were and what the training involved.
Yasutora Sado was silent for a moment. "They operate even more secretly than the Visored, and they're even more... hostile toward Shinigami."
"Hey... You aren't talking to a Shinigami, are you? It is a Shinigami, right? It definitely is!" The girl's voice rang out again. "If you dare tell a Shinigami anything about us, you're dead! I seriously don't understand you. You're a Fullbringer, yet you still hang around with Shinigami. You'll probably get yourself killed without even knowing how it happened..."
Muten Natsu fell silent. "...A Fullbringer?"
Yasutora Sado looked at the purple-haired girl with twin ponytails, who had suddenly stopped talking. "...I didn't tell him."
"Guh..." The girl's face turned bright red. "Hang up right now!!!"
"Never mind if it's inconvenient," Muten Natsu said, understanding Yasutora Sado's predicament. "I'll ask someone else."
Yasutora Sado showed the girl his phone screen. "He hung up."
"Aaaaaah!" The girl stamped her feet in frustration. "This is all because you insisted on answering! You're already hanging around with Shinigami, and now..."
"That's enough, Riruka." Kūgo Ginjō had appeared behind them without either noticing. "At this point, it doesn't matter if he knows. It'll all be over soon."
"Don't talk to me like that. None of this would've happened if you hadn't suddenly called me here." Riruka Dokugamine glared at Kūgo Ginjō. "I came because we're companions. Do you think I'm one of your subordinates who has to follow your orders?"
"Everything I've done has also been for our companions." Kūgo Ginjō led them into the run-down apartment building. "I've already found the right person. The problem that's troubled us for years will finally be resolved."
"The right person?" After taking the elevator to the third floor, Riruka Dokugamine pulled out a black card and swiped it through a reader on the wall. Then she kicked open the metal door. "You don't get to decide whether someone's suitable all by yourself!"
Beyond the metal door was a dimly lit bar. Thanks to one particularly wealthy member, the entire third floor and five adjoining rooms had been opened up into one spacious area.
"Hey! It's way too dark in here! Put in more lights!" Unable to see clearly, Riruka Dokugamine squinted and frowned, making her cute face look rather fierce. "I can't see anything!"
"I have no intention of doing that." Kūgo Ginjō sighed. "Just wear your glasses."
"I am wearing them, even though they're the contact lenses I hate so much," Riruka Dokugamine complained. "Contacts make my eyes dry out really fast because my eyes are so big!"
"No one asked." Kūgo Ginjō waved to Ichigo Kurosaki, who was lifting weights in the corner. "Ichigo, take a break. It's time to begin the next stage. This is Riruka Dokugamine. She'll help you..."
"Is someone over there?" Riruka Dokugamine squinted for a long time but still could not make him out, so she turned to search for a flashlight. "Who said I was going to help him? I'm not going to trust some stranger that easily. You can't tell whether someone's trustworthy just by looking at them. At the very least, I need to investigate him properly before..."
Riruka Dokugamine switched on the flashlight and aimed it at him.
The bright beam made Ichigo Kurosaki instinctively turn his head, revealing the clean, firm line of his jaw. Sweat from his intense exercise had soaked through his close-fitting tank top, outlining his solid muscles.
"Guh!"
Riruka Dokugamine's eyes flew wide open. Her legs gave way, and she dropped to the floor.
Ichigo Kurosaki hurried over and asked with concern, "Are you all right?"
"Uh..." Riruka Dokugamine turned her flushed face aside. "I-I'm fine..."
"Are you sure?"
"I already said I'm fine..." Her face grew even redder as Ichigo Kurosaki came closer. "You're so annoying! Stop asking me over and over!"
Kūgo Ginjō stroked his chin. "You were right about needing to investigate him..."
"Forget it..." Riruka Dokugamine muttered.
Kūgo Ginjō looked at her. "Hmm?"
Riruka Dokugamine raised her voice. "We don't have time to waste! I can evaluate him while he trains!"
"But you just said..."
"Shut up! You're so annoying!" Riruka Dokugamine turned toward Yasutora Sado. "Give me my case."
Inside the open case was an exquisitely crafted dollhouse.
"Giriko," Riruka Dokugamine called to the bartender behind the counter. "Put a safety limit on it."
"As you wish, Riruka-san." Giriko Kutsuzawa, a bearded, middle-aged bartender dressed in a waiter's uniform with a black eyepatch over his right eye, took out a golden pocket watch. A fluorescent glow appeared around it. "Will fifteen minutes be enough?"
"Fifteen minutes should be about right for his first time." Riruka Dokugamine glared at Ichigo Kurosaki. "Why are you still standing over there? I need to explain this to you. Get over here!"
"Okay, okay." Ichigo Kurosaki approached her. "Why are you getting mad at me...?"
"Wait!" Riruka Dokugamine's face grew visibly redder as he drew closer. "Stop! You should stay right there. Don't come any closer!"
Ichigo Kurosaki fell silent.
Riruka Dokugamine tapped the dollhouse. "Look at this box."
"I'm looking."
"Well?"
"What do you mean, well?"
"It's cute, isn't it?"
Ichigo Kurosaki stared at her. "Huh?"
"This cute box will be your training ground." Riruka Dokugamine curled the four fingers of her left hand around her thumb. "My ability lets me freely place things I find cute or like inside it, and take them back out again."
She flicked her thumb, sending a red heart flying onto Ichigo Kurosaki.
"This is my Fullbring, Dollhouse." Riruka Dokugamine pointed toward an open window in the dollhouse. "Come inside. You have my permission."
"What do you mean by permiss...?"
Before Ichigo Kurosaki could finish, the world spun around him. When he regained his senses, he was already inside the dollhouse.
Standing upright before him was a gigantic stuffed pig.
"What is that...?" Ichigo Kurosaki was struck by a terrible premonition.
"Your training is to fight it and defeat it." Riruka Dokugamine lifted the roof of the dollhouse and looked down at the tiny Ichigo Kurosaki inside. "Don't worry. It's weak, so it'll be easy to defeat. As long as you use Fullbring."
"ROOOOAAAR!!!"
The stuffed pig bellowed and charged at Ichigo Kurosaki.
"Aaaaaah!"
Ichigo Kurosaki turned and fled.
"Why are you running? Fight it!" Riruka Dokugamine complained irritably. "You could beat it instantly with Fullbring!"
"That assumes I actually know how to use it!" Ichigo Kurosaki shouted over his shoulder. "Is Fullbring really something you can learn that quickly?"
Riruka Dokugamine snorted. "I could use it from birth!"
Ichigo Kurosaki had nothing to say.
"Ichigo, Fullbring is the power of love," Yasutora Sado reminded him. "You need to draw out as much power as possible from an object you deeply cherish."
An object he deeply cherished...
Ichigo Kurosaki's gaze shifted toward the Quincy Cross hanging from his wrist.
Seeing Ichigo Kurosaki grip the silver cross, Yasutora Sado relaxed. Then he turned toward Kūgo Ginjō. "About Muten..."
"Don't worry about that." Kūgo Ginjō waved a hand. "Someone has already gone to explain everything to him. There won't be any need to hide it from him afterward."
"Someone?"
"Mm." Kūgo Ginjō accepted the glass Kiriko Tazawa handed him. "Tsukishima has already gone. They should be having a friendly conversation right about now..."
...
Clang!
Ink spread through the air, blocking the blade before it could strike.
Myōki sprang into Muten Natsu's hand. His cold gaze fixed upon the tall figure who had retreated to a safe distance.
The man had jet-black hair that fell to his shoulders and refined, handsome features. He wore a shirt and suspenders, and a scar ran from the left side of his forehead to his temple. He held a long katana in his right hand and a book in his left.
"You really are perceptive... I had hoped to explain things in a simpler way, but now I'll have to make it slightly more complicated." The blade in his right hand transformed into a bookmark, which he casually slipped between the pages of his book. "Hello, Muten Natsu. My name is Shūkurō Tsukishima, and I am a... Fullbringer."
Muten Natsu narrowed his eyes. "Should I take this as the Fullbringers' attitude toward me?"
"This is how Fullbringers treat ordinary Shinigami." Shūkurō Tsukishima smiled. "But you aren't an ordinary Shinigami. When it comes to being hunted by them, you're no different from us."
"Hunted?"
"Let me begin with some basic information."
Shūkurō Tsukishima gave him a concise explanation of Fullbring and Fullbringers.
"...Among Fullbringers, there is a common understanding. Once a Shinigami discovers you, you will be killed."
"This so-called common understanding..." Muten Natsu immediately grasped the problem. "It means the same thing has already happened many times, doesn't it?"
"Exactly as you suspect..." Shūkurō Tsukishima continued smiling. "The Fullbringers Yasutora Sado and Orihime Inoue entered Soul Society alongside you, yet both escaped unharmed and remain alive today. That proves hunting Fullbringers is not something all Shinigami agree upon."
"Or rather," Muten Natsu added, "it's a covert operation carried out by certain Shinigami."
"And you are not one of them. Furthermore, both Fullbringers who have been discovered by Shinigami are your companions."
"You want me to help uncover whoever is hunting Fullbringers."
"You would also be helping yourself," Shūkurō Tsukishima reminded him. "After all, two of your companions are Fullbringers. And now... there should be three."