Ten Years

Shihoin Tōno looked at Ye Yang strangely, as though he were looking at a monster. He could not help saying, "Ye Yang, you never cease to surprise me. Fortunately, you're a member of my Shihoin Clan. Having you and Yoruichi is truly a great blessing for the clan."

Ye Yang hurriedly said, "Being part of the Shihoin Clan is our good fortune too."

"By the way, what was that Hakuda you just used? I've never seen or heard of anything like it before," Shihoin Tōno asked.

Sure enough, he had asked. Since Ye Yang had used it, he was prepared to explain. "Grandfather, it's a form of Hakuda I created myself. I call it Tai Chi."

"Tai Chi?"

"Yes. This form of Hakuda is very special. It emphasizes overcoming hardness with softness, defeating strength with weakness, and striking after the opponent to gain the advantage. Tai means great; chi refers to the end, the ultimate point. When things reach their extreme, they change, and change brings transformation. That is Tai Chi!" Ye Yang explained.

Shihoin Tōno fell silent for a long moment before bursting into laughter. "Good, good, good! What a fine Tai Chi! Ye Yang, you can be called the best of your generation." He said "good" three times in a row and lavished praise on Ye Yang.

Yoruichi also said, "The best of your generation? Little brother, you absolutely deserve it. Only the brother of the beautiful and gracious Lady Yoruichi could live up to that title." Yoruichi indulged in a little vanity.

Kisuke Urahara could not resist saying, "Hey, hey, Yoruichi, don't make it sound like he's talking about you."

Yoruichi gave Urahara an irritated kick. "My brother and I aren't that different. Would it kill you to keep your comments to yourself?"

Kisuke Urahara smiled wryly. He really had no way of dealing with this young lady.

At that moment, Shihoin Tōno spoke. "All right, let's go. I believe Ye Yang can keep watch over this place. Also, Ye Yang, can you teach this Hakuda of yours to the Punishment Force?"

Two words were plainly written on Ye Yang's face: "No way." This was a secret Ye Yang would not pass on. Only if he took a disciple in the future would he teach them everything he knew.

"Grandfather, this is a form of Hakuda I created myself, and it's my trump card. I'm afraid I can't teach it to the Punishment Force," Ye Yang said, declining tactfully.

Shihoin Tōno was not disappointed. After all, no one would be willing to pass on something like this. He had only asked to see if it was possible.

"That's all right, I understand. Let's go." He led the three of them out of the Maggot's Nest, then looked up at the sky and sighed. "In the future, this sky will belong to your generation. Our era has passed. You must bring glory to the Second Division. I want to see a powerful Second Division and a powerful clan." The first half was directed at all three of them, and the second half at Ye Yang and Yoruichi.

"Yes! We won't let you down!" the three said together.

The days that followed grew busy. After becoming lieutenant, Yoruichi had documents to review every day, but her personality did not change because of it. She was as playful as ever. Of course, even after she got busy, Yoruichi often skipped work so the three of them could go drinking, and they occasionally went to the underground base to practice.

Ever since Ye Yang took charge of the Maggot's Nest, the people inside had become noticeably more obedient. Since his only duty was to keep watch, he usually had plenty of time. When he had nothing to do, he would help Yoruichi look over her documents, but every time he went, Yoruichi took the opportunity to slip away, leaving him speechless.

Kisuke Urahara was the most leisurely of the three. He had taken charge of the Fourth Division, the logistics unit, and had nothing to do most of the time. This made Ye Yang exclaim that he should have become Fifth Seat instead. With so much free time every day, Kisuke Urahara became engrossed in research. Every day, he worked on who knew what in his room. It was so cluttered with experimental equipment that even Ye Yang was unwilling to go inside.

His research was not without results, however. Many of the little gadgets he made were quite useful. One, for example, was called a communicator. By channeling Spiritual Pressure into it, two people could talk over long distances, much like a cell phone from Ye Yang's previous life. It was much faster than a Hell Butterfly, but it had limitations. So far, Kisuke Urahara had only developed three that could communicate with one another. In other words, only those three could be used to talk to each other, not to any others. They were only useful for a small group of three or fewer, so as soon as he made the three, each of them got one. That way, they could chat while working too.

There was also something called a Spiritual Pressure controller, which could suppress the wearer's Spiritual Pressure. Wearing it during training caused Spiritual Pressure to be consumed faster, producing twice the result with half the effort. There were other little gadgets as well, but they would not be listed one by one.

When all three had work, they worked diligently. When they had time, they went out for drinks, chatted with Kaien and the others, or visited the Kuchiki Clan to tease little Shiro-chan.

Just like that, ten years drifted by, and the boy of those days had grown into a young man. Ye Yang was now 1.8 meters tall. Although he was not heavily muscled, the explosive power in his body was unknown to others. His thick, long black hair fell down his back and fluttered in the wind. His equally black eyes were much more restrained than they had been a few years ago, when their sharpness had been on full display. His handsome face had sharply defined features that fully embodied masculine beauty, and he was hailed as one of the male Shinigami in Soul Society best suited to being a boyfriend.

Yoruichi, too, had grown more mature over those ten years. She had cut her formerly long purple hair short, leaving it just past her ears. She said it was to keep it from getting in the way during battle. Her figure as a young woman had also begun to emerge. Her wheat-colored skin gave her a spirited, valiant appearance, and her golden eyes gave people a sense of closeness. Her cheerful nature made her quite popular in the Seireien. She could exchange greetings with everyone from noble captains to ordinary division members, and after ten years as lieutenant, she was also quite popular within the division.

Kisuke Urahara had spent most of the past ten years in his laboratory, producing quite a few novel little gadgets along the way. But spending all day there had made him much more unkempt, and he increasingly resembled the unscrupulous merchant Ye Yang had seen in his previous life. The intimidating look that had once been in his eyes had also become restrained, giving him a sense of having returned to simplicity.

Many things had happened over those ten years. After Ye Yang and Kisuke Urahara became Seated Officers and Yoruichi became a lieutenant, Soul Society had been abuzz. Becoming a lieutenant just one month after graduation was something that had never happened before in Soul Society. For a time, they were called talents seen only once in a century, causing a sensation throughout the Seireien. At Shin'ō, the three were held up as role models. Whenever a student failed to take things seriously, the teacher would say, "That's how Lieutenant **ichi got through it back then."

Also worth mentioning was Sōsuke Aizen, the boy Ye Yang had saved back then. Seven years ago, he had graduated first in his year and joined Shinji's Fifth Division. He was now its Tenth Seat, becoming another exemplary Shin'ō figure after Ye Yang and the others.

Three years later, his close female friend passed away. There was no grand funeral, but Ye Yang attended it. He told him, "The dead are gone. You can't live in the past forever. My condolences."

The boy said nothing, facing it in silence. His eyes were empty, without a trace of emotion, like a lifeless corpse. Ye Yang had no idea what to do about it. As for what path he would take in the future, that was up to him. Ye Yang could not bring himself to kill him, either. At least for now, he was still an innocent boy.

Speaking of this, the Kuchiki Clan's little one had to be mentioned. Byakuya was now a young boy, only about waist-high to Ye Yang. The Kuchiki Clan had begun training him when he was ten. This was extremely harsh for a ten-year-old child. Ye Yang had once raised the issue with Sōjun Kuchiki, who said that Byakuya's grandfather had insisted on it and there was nothing he could do. Ye Yang was very fond of little Shiro-chan. To give Byakuya a happy childhood and keep him from ending up with that expressionless face, Ye Yang and Yoruichi discussed it and decided to become his instructors.

Ye Yang became his Hakuda teacher, while Yoruichi became his Shunpo teacher. When Ye Yang proposed the idea to the Kuchiki Clan, Ginrei Kuchiki agreed without hesitation. Others might not have been very familiar with their abilities, but Ginrei Kuchiki often chatted with Shihoin Tōno. As heads of two great noble clans and men of the same era, the two had a close personal friendship.

Through their usual conversations, Ginrei Kuchiki had already learned that Ye Yang's Hakuda was extraordinary. As for Yoruichi's Shunpo, he had heard about it back when she was at Shin'ō. How could Ginrei Kuchiki refuse when two such talented teachers came to him?

And so Ye Yang and Yoruichi officially became Byakuya's teachers. Byakuya never called them teacher, however. He continued to call Yoruichi a demon cat and Ye Yang "Brother Ye Yang."

Ye Yang did not teach Byakuya his martial arts. That would have been too cruel for a child just over ten. He only taught Byakuya some basic techniques, no different from what an ordinary teacher would teach. But Ye Yang always insisted that Byakuya practice those basics, laying a solid foundation for his future training. This method showed no obvious results at first, but once a person began training in advanced techniques, they would find them easier to handle. Byakuya had also asked why he only taught him these things. Ye Yang had just one answer: "You'll know later."

Yoruichi's way of teaching him Shunpo was different. Her method was unusual: playing tag. She explained the principles of Shunpo to Byakuya and demonstrated it for him only the first time. After that, she would take something of his each time and make him chase her. With Byakuya's fiery temper, he naturally could not stand it. Every time, he chased Yoruichi for all he was worth, but he never caught her once. Yoruichi would deliberately shake her head and say, "How can the heir to the Kuchiki Clan be so weak?"

Every time, an angry Byakuya would say, "Shihoin demon cat, sooner or later my Shunpo will surpass yours. When it does, I'll give you a beating!" But this game of tag was indeed very effective. Byakuya's Shunpo could be said to have improved extremely quickly.

(What will the story be like ten years later? Thank you, everyone, for continuing to support Death God: Falling Leaves. Your support will be my greatest motivation.)