"Ugh… why is my head spinning so badly? I seriously regret drinking that much last night."
Kazuma groaned as he slowly forced open his heavy eyelids.
Sunlight streamed through the window in golden shafts and fell across his face, its warmth gently pulling him out of the drunken stupor that had knocked him flat all night.
Still half asleep, Kazuma raised both hands and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision.
His head kept buzzing as though a whole swarm of bees had gotten trapped inside his skull.
Once he'd gathered a little awareness, he lifted his head and looked around.
The sight startled him.
At some point he'd fallen asleep facedown across his desk and stayed there the entire night.
Kazuma shook his head helplessly.
He really couldn't let himself drink that recklessly again.
"Tetsuzaemon!"
His shout echoed through the quiet office.
Before long, hurried footsteps approached, and Tetsuzaemon rushed inside like a gust of wind.
"Captain, you're finally awake! I'll prepare some hangover soup right away. Please wait here."
Concern filled Tetsuzaemon's face as he turned to leave.
"Wait. Don't run off yet. What time is it?"
"It's already noon, Captain. Lunchtime passed a while ago. Are you hungry? Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
Tetsuzaemon stopped and turned back, assuming Kazuma had woken up starving.
"What? I actually slept until noon?"
Kazuma's eyes widened in disbelief.
He scrambled to his feet, hurried to the window, and threw it open.
Brilliant sunlight flooded the office and made him squint. When he looked up, the sun was already high overhead.
"Damn it. Where did those two little bastards, Ichigo and Rukia, run off to?"
Kazuma still had unfinished business with both of them.
"Captain Ukitake came early this morning and personally took them to the Thirteenth Division. He said he needed to discuss the Substitute Shinigami position with Kurosaki Ichigo."
"You were still sleeping deeply, and your hangover looked rather severe, so I didn't dare disturb you."
"All right. Bring me that hangover soup. Once I drink it, I'm going to see Ukitake."
...
Tetsuzaemon soon returned with a steaming bowl of soup.
Kazuma drained it in one go and immediately hurried toward the Thirteenth Division.
"Ukitake! Ukitake! Where the hell are you?"
Kazuma started shouting before he'd even reached the entrance, startling several squad members inside.
"What are you yelling for? Can't you keep your voice down?"
An irritated Shinigami came outside.
The moment he recognized the visitor, his brain seemed to stop working.
"C-Captain Kazuma? What brings you here?"
When the first squad member stayed frozen too long, another impatient Shinigami stepped out.
The sight in front of him immediately set him stammering too.
"Quit standing around and take me to Ukitake. I need to speak with him."
Kazuma had no interest in making trouble for the squad members.
Right now, he only wanted to ask Ukitake exactly how he'd taught Rukia and why she'd ended up like that.
Naturally, Kazuma never stopped to consider that the real problem might have been himself, or who Rukia had actually copied all those bad habits from.
"The captain is in the tea room discussing the Substitute Shinigami position with the Ryoka. I'll take you there right away."
...
"Kurosaki Ichigo, that is the entire arrangement."
Inside the tea room, Ukitake had finished explaining the decision from the captains' meeting.
"Think it over carefully. Are you willing to accept the position of Substitute Shinigami?"
"You're basically holding my friends over a fire and asking whether I'd like to jump in after them."
Ichigo frowned miserably.
"If I refuse, you'll punish Inoue and the others for invading Soul Society, right? It's not like I actually have a choice."
With no other option, he reluctantly accepted the position.
"I'm glad you understand."
Ukitake carefully removed a small badge from inside his robes. It gave off a faint, mysterious glow as he handed it over.
"This is a Substitute Shinigami Badge, developed by the Department of Research and Development. With it, you can separate your soul from your body and take your Shinigami form whenever necessary in the World of the Living."
"When you need to activate it, simply concentrate and channel your reiatsu into the badge."
Ukitake explained its use patiently and with great seriousness.
"Huh. This thing's pretty solid."
Ichigo took the intricately designed badge and turned it over curiously.
It felt unusually heavy for its size, and the material was remarkably hard.
For some reason he couldn't explain, a strange thought entered his mind.
He wanted to test exactly how durable it was.
Without another word, Ichigo opened his mouth, shoved the badge between his teeth, and bit down hard.
Crunch.
Ukitake stared at him in stunned disbelief, the corner of his mouth twitching violently.
'What is wrong with this child? Is there something missing in his head?'
This was an extremely important device, yet Ichigo had immediately stuffed it into his mouth and started chewing on it.
What if he actually broke it?
Fortunately, anything produced by the Department of Research and Development was built to last.
Otherwise, Ukitake would have had to ask Kurotsuchi Mayuri to make another one.
"There is one more thing."
Ukitake suddenly remembered the most important detail.
"Besides letting you enter your Shinigami form, the badge also transmits your location so Soul Society can track you in real time. You may consider it a kind of surveillance device."
Ukitake had nearly forgotten to mention that part.
The original Substitute Shinigami, Ginjō Kūgo, had grown to resent Soul Society's surveillance.
After Tsunayashiro Tokinada manipulated him further, he'd ultimately turned against Soul Society.
"So with this badge, if I call for help, you'll know exactly where to find me?"
Ichigo looked completely unconcerned.
"That sounds pretty useful."
Ukitake stared at him blankly.
"I just told you it works like a surveillance device and lets us monitor your movements. Why aren't you reacting at all?"
He'd been worried Ichigo might reject the arrangement once he learned about the tracking.
Instead, the boy barely seemed to care.
It made all of Ukitake's careful concern feel oddly wasted.
"What's there to worry about?"
Ichigo shrugged.
"I'm not originally a Shinigami, so it's reasonable for Soul Society to put some restrictions on me. I'm not planning to cause trouble anyway."
"Why should I be afraid? It's not like you're going to use that thing to spy on me while I'm taking a bath."
Ichigo might behave like an idiot now and then, but his sense of right and wrong was remarkably sound.
By any reasonable standard, he was an exemplary young man.
You simply had to overlook the orange hair.
That part was natural, after all, and there was nothing he could do about it.
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