Tatsuki's New Friend

The timeline reached Tsunayoshi's middle school years. By this point, Tsunayoshi had already mastered all his Bankai. From that perspective, having a large number of Bankai wasn't necessarily a good thing—it had taken him nearly three years to fully grasp the power of a Shinigami, a timeframe that would have let Ichigo speedrun straight through Yhwach.

Unsurprisingly, Tsunayoshi ended up in the same class as Tatsuki and Ichigo again for middle school. What did catch him off guard, though, was that Ishida Uryū had also been placed in their class.

"What are you doing in our school? Isn't your place pretty far from here? And you're transferring in all of a sudden?" Tsunayoshi dragged Uryū into a corner and asked. They'd already been in middle school for a month, and Uryū was only now showing up as a late transfer.

"As the last true heir of the Quincy, I have to see for myself what kind of ability you have—you traitor who abandoned the Quincy!" Uryū declared firmly.

Uryū still held a grudge over Tsunayoshi's decision to forsake the Quincy and embrace the Shinigami. As for his old man Ryūken, he certainly wouldn't bother explaining the real reason Tsunayoshi left. That left Uryū, ever since he completed his training, constantly trying to one-up Tsunayoshi in silent rivalry. And now he'd even followed him into the same class.

"Fine, suit yourself. But I'm telling you now, Tatsuki and Ichigo don't know about my identity yet..."

"What are you two sneaking around for?" Tatsuki's voice rang out from behind them.

"Ah, Tatsuki, Ichigo, let me introduce you to a new friend—Ishida Uryū..." Tsunayoshi introduced Uryū to Tatsuki and Ichigo. The two sides exchanged friendly greetings, marking their first acquaintance.

"Speaking of friends, I've got someone I want to introduce to you too. Wait here."

Tatsuki vanished in a flash. After a while, she dragged back a girl with long orange hair from some corner. The girl looked timid, her expression subdued, yet there was a hint of simple-mindedness about her. Her prematurely developed figure, however, gave away her identity: Inoue Orihime.

"This is Inoue Orihime, a new friend I just made. And this is Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kurosaki Ichigo..."

Tatsuki introduced Orihime to the group one by one. Orihime politely greeted each new classmate in turn. Compared to her courtesy, the reactions from Tsunayoshi's trio were rather flat, which immediately prompted Tatsuki to call a quick huddle.

"Listen up, something happened in Inoue's family. So be lively, get excited!" Tatsuki whispered in a threatening tone.

The three immediately clapped to welcome Orihime. Ichigo even stepped forward, patting her on the shoulder and muttering some half-hearted words of comfort. From the slight flush on Orihime's face, Tsunayoshi could tell this girl had already been won over by Ichigo.

"Hiss!" A sharp pain in his waist snapped Tsunayoshi back to reality.

"What are you staring at?"

Tsunayoshi turned his head slightly and caught Tatsuki's unfriendly glare. He grumbled, "Nothing. Just lamenting an innocent girl falling into Ichigo's web. By the way, what's this about Inoue's family?"

"Apparently, her brother passed away. She's the only one left in her family now. I don't know the details. I just saw her huddled alone in a corner, so I went over to talk to her. One thing led to another, and we became friends." Tatsuki quickly summarized the situation.

"So you want her to make more friends and cheer up?"

"No duh. A young girl moping around all alone—what kind of picture is that?"

"You're really kind-hearted," Tsunayoshi said. "Since you want to liven up her life, how about we find an excuse to throw a party at her place? Cheer things up?"

Tatsuki squinted, sizing Tsunayoshi up from head to toe. "What are you planning? What do you want to do at a girl's house?"

"What are you thinking? She's lively at school, but doesn't she go home to an empty house?"

"You've got a point. I'll ask Inoue about it sometime." Tatsuki was actually considering Tsunayoshi's suggestion.

Compared to Tatsuki's suspicion that he had ulterior motives, Tsunayoshi's thoughts were much simpler. Orihime living alone meant her brother had already died. It was precisely because her lonely figure caught kind-hearted Tatsuki's eye that the two became friends. If Tsunayoshi remembered correctly, Orihime's brother, Sora Inoue, would later transform into a Hollow and attack her—though that was still in the future.

Since Sora had become a Hollow, it meant his soul had been lingering near Orihime all along, whether he was devoured by another Hollow or turned due to emptiness in his heart.

Now that he'd met Orihime early, he might as well find a reason to help her eliminate this hidden threat, just in case Ichigo ended up losing his wife before he even had one.

Tsunayoshi watched the orange-haired boy doing his best to make Orihime laugh and sighed inwardly. If it weren't for the fact that he and Ichigo were longtime friends, he wouldn't bother with all this trouble.

On the weekend, Tatsuki used "study group" as an excuse to gather everyone at Orihime's house.

"Tatsuki, couldn't you have come up with a better excuse? Look at my grades—do I look like someone who'd hold a study session?" Tsunayoshi complained, carrying his schoolbag. Since he spent most of his time training, he was the dead weight of the class.

"That's exactly why you need to study more! Ichigo and I are here to keep you company!" Tatsuki said firmly. If it weren't for her forcing study sessions before every exam, Tsunayoshi might not even be able to advance to the next grade.

"Tsunayoshi, didn't you invite the new guy?" Ichigo looked around and didn't see Uryū.

"That guy's a top student. Extra tutoring is completely unnecessary." Tsunayoshi made up a flimsy excuse. In reality, Uryū was busy—Tsunayoshi had asked him to patrol Karakura Town for any Hollow intrusions.

"Enough chit-chat. Inoue's already waiting for us at home. Let's go!" Tatsuki got behind the two of them and pushed them forward like two boulders.

At the Inoue residence, Orihime happily welcomed everyone inside. She bustled about preparing drinks for the group, while Tsunayoshi's trio fixed their gazes on a cabinet against the wall—or more precisely, the spot beside it.

There, a short-haired man in a suit was crouched. Seeing Orihime so joyfully greeting strangers, he brightened for a moment, then grew somewhat dejected, as if afraid these outsiders would steal his place in her heart. He was Orihime's recently deceased brother, Sora Inoue.

"So this is why you insisted on coming to Inoue's place?" Tatsuki leaned in and whispered to Tsunayoshi.

"What's the problem? It's just a soul." Ichigo was puzzled. Souls like that often showed up in groups at his house; he was long used to it.

"Idiot, that's Inoue's brother. Look at the photo on the cabinet!" Tatsuki scolded in a low voice. Ichigo's nerves were way too thick—he hadn't even noticed.

Only then did Ichigo see that the photo on the cabinet matched the soul perfectly. Clearly, it was a memorial portrait. He was about to act when Tsunayoshi grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Let's wait until the study session is over. Don't stir up Inoue's painful memories," Tsunayoshi advised.

Even with his thick nerves, Ichigo saw Orihime approaching with drinks for everyone. He forced himself to look away and joined Tsunayoshi in diving into the so-called study session.

As soon as they left the Inoue house, Ichigo couldn't hold back and grabbed Tsunayoshi. "Tsunayoshi, what's going on? Inoue's brother?"

"As you saw, Orihime's brother died in some accident. Because of his attachment to her, his soul couldn't move on, so it's been lingering in her home," Tsunayoshi explained.

"Could her brother's soul cause any harm to Orihime?" Ichigo always had an uncanny sharpness in places Tsunayoshi least expected.

"You could say that."

"Then what do we do?" Tatsuki asked Tsunayoshi. From her two years of tailing him, she was pretty sure he had some special ability, but she hadn't caught him red-handed yet.

"I'll drag her brother's soul out tonight and force it to ascend. Simple as that." Tsunayoshi spoke with confidence after seeing the scene firsthand.

"Wait, you're going to break into Inoue's house at night? No way!" Tatsuki immediately objected. "She's a girl living alone. What business do you have going there by yourself? At the very least, at the very least, take me along."

"Wait, you two just decided Orihime's brother's fate like that? Even if he's going to ascend, shouldn't Orihime be the one to decide?" Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, watch your words. Orihime's brother is a soul—he's already dead," Tsuna corrected.

"But how can you be sure Orihime's brother is in danger?" To Ichigo, souls were a common sight; aside from causing some trouble in his daily life, they'd never posed any real danger.

"This... how do I explain it to you?" Tsuna was a bit troubled. With Ichigo's way of thinking, the best approach was to show him the facts rather than argue logic.

Just as Tsuna was racking his brain, his phone rang. It was Uryū calling.

"Uryū, run into something you can't handle?" Tsuna jumped ahead.

Uryū choked on Tsuna's words. He'd wanted to prove the power of a Quincy, yet here he was, calling Tsuna for help after just one day.

After a long pause, Uryū finally said, "There's a soul here whose Causal Chain is about to disappear. If you can make it in time, you can send him straight to ascension."

This was indeed something only a Bleach could do; it wasn't Uryū's fault for lacking ability.

"Ah, I'll be right—"

"No need. A Hollow Hole's already appeared." Uryū cut Tsuna off. Once a soul turned into a Hollow, there was only one solution: destroy it.

"Wait, Uryū, keep an eye on it. Don't let it hurt anyone. I'm on my way." Tsuna hung up and turned to the other two. "Here's your chance. You two interested in seeing the real world?"

Tatsuki was raring to go. She'd been chasing Tsuna for over two years, and now she finally had a chance to achieve her goal. She didn't hesitate.

Tsuna stopped Tatsuki before she could speak, his tone grim as he warned, "Choose carefully. Once you touch the truth of this world, you could be risking your life!"

"I'll keep up with you. No matter what, I'm not letting you leave me behind this time!" Tatsuki said firmly. Tsuna was the only boy who'd ever beaten her since childhood, and she'd had feelings for him from a young age.

Though they were friends, Tatsuki had always felt the distance between her and Tsuna growing. That feeling had only become stronger since she started seeing souls. She'd followed Tsuna time and again, never even catching a glimpse of his trail. Now that she had this chance, Tatsuki was determined not to let Tsuna shake her off again. She would walk beside him!

Ichigo hadn't expected Tatsuki to be so decisive. With her taking the lead, and his worry for Orihime Inoue, Ichigo answered too, "I'm coming with you!"