Karakura Town, south side, Onose River.
"Sister Xiu~~"
Ukitake Hiroshi stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, his expression complicated. "Is it really all right for us to stay here?"
Of the three who had fled to the Human World without permission, he was the only one who had acted on a sudden impulse. He had come to the Human World partly because he had always been close to Nagano Kahide, and partly because... members of the Thirteenth Division often told him interesting stories about the Human World, leaving him intensely curious about it.
So when he had been carried away in the heat of the moment, he had agreed to Sister Xiu's proposal. But after arriving in the Human World, Ukitake Hiroshi had regretted it.
That was because the Ukitake Family was different from the other two families. His selfishness could very well cause trouble for his family.
Putting aside the wealthy Nagano Family, although the Ukitake Family was, like the Hachi Clan, a lower noble family, members of the Hachi Clan had been regular members of the Punishment Force for generations. The Ukitake Family, on the other hand... had neither the wealth of the Nagano Family nor the standing the Hachi Clan possessed within the Punishment Force.
It could be said that even among the lower nobles, the Ukitake Family was at the very bottom.
The entire family...
Had only one pillar: the head of the Ukitake Family, Ukitake Jushiro, the current captain of the Thirteenth Division.
That had never changed, from countless years ago until now.
As the head of the family, Lord Jushiro not only supported his five younger brothers and two younger sisters, but also single-handedly supported relatives from the other branches. It could be said that the family head alone supported the entire family. Their continued