In the World of the Living, Karakura Town.
The afternoon sun wasn't as scorching as it was at midday, but the muggy heat was still unbearable.
The bustling streets, the shops coming and going, the dazzling lights—this was the prosperity of the World of the Living. Even though he had seen it many times before, Mashiro Kuna still looked around with great interest.
Fortunately, I have all the money. Whenever this happens, Hachigen Ushōda is walking behind, would sigh like this. Actually, if they weren't broke, they would have at least fulfilled Mashiro Kuna's wish. But they can't now because they only have enough money to buy bento boxes.
Originally, Hiyori Sarugaki and Mashiro Kuna were supposed to go shopping today, but today was an exception. Hiyori Sarugaki was busy training Ichigo Kurosaki and didn't have time to come out, so he had to come along instead.
"Hey! Shiro, it's Yuzaki!"
A familiar, hearty laugh suddenly rang out from ahead. Mashiro Kuna and Hachigen Ushōda turned around and saw Yoruichi Shihōin with a purple ponytail and casual clothes.
" Yoruichi!" His eyes lit up immediately, and Mashiro Kuna ran over.
" Lady Yoruichi!"
Hachigen Ushōda bowed slightly with a hint of respect. He held Yoruichi Shihōin in high esteem, just like his former superior, the Great Kido Master Tessai Tsukabishi. Back in Soul Society Yoruichi Shihōin, before becoming the Vice Kido Master, he was also a member of the Second Division and Yoruichi Shihōin's subordinate.
"Ah!" Yoruichi Shihōin responded, waving the bag she was carrying and smiling, "Ice cream, just bought it, how about it, want to try some!"
"Yes, I want it!"
Mashiro Kuna nodded without hesitation, took the bag, picked out two of her favorites, and gave one to Hachigen Ushōda.
"I'm not eating it, I..."
Before Hachigen Ushōda could finish speaking, he waved his hand and Mashiro Kuna forcibly ripped open the packaging and stuffed it into his hand.
"So delicious, Yoruichi!" After taking a big bite, Mashiro Kuna immediately smiled with satisfaction.
"Not bad, right!" Yoruichi Shihōin grin; "By the way, what are you two doing here!"
"I'm out buying takeout!" Mashiro Kuna said between bites. "With Ichigo here, we ran out of food, and Hiyori was too lazy to cook, so we had to come out and buy some!"
"Sure! I don't have anything else to do anyway, I'll come with you guys!" Yoruichi Shihōin said with her hands on her hips, "I'll recommend the best fish restaurant around here!"
"Huh!" Mashiro Kuna exclaimed in surprise; " Yoruichi, we're not planning on eating..."
"It's alright, let's go, let's go, hurry up!"
"······"
······
Meanwhile, inside the Visored Base, Ichigo Kurosaki was diligently running on the " Super Hiyori Walking Machine " created by Hiyori Sarugaki.
"Lunch is taking so long!" Shinji Hirako complained, lounging on the sofa with her chin resting on her hand, utterly bored. "Why aren't Shiro and Hachi back yet? Hiyori, why don't you go make something to eat?"
"Are you bald?!" Hiyori Sarugaki, sitting to the side, yelled angrily; "Why should I cook? Besides, even if I did, I wouldn't let you eat it, you bald guy!"
" Love, have you heard the new song that Prince of Darknese released a while ago?" Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi asked with great interest.
"By the way, Rose, have you seen this week's Jump?" Love Aikawa laughed until tears streamed down his face.
"No!" Looking at Love Aikawa, who was laughing so hard he was doubled over, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi lowered his head helplessly. "Speaking of which, didn't you always forbid me from watching?"
"Ha ha······"
" Lisa!" Kensei Muguruma voice, his fist wrapped in bandages, "You'd better keep a close eye on that Bleach!"
"I'm watching him, he's so talkative!" Lisa Yadomaru glued to the swimsuit magazine in her hand.
"Where are you looking? You've been looking at swimsuit magazines the whole time!" Kensei Muguruma exclaimed, raising an eyebrow.
"Stop making so much noise, get out of here and stop bothering me!" Lisa Yadomaru said impatiently.
"Isn't it your turn to be on duty today?!"
"Anyway, all you have to do is help him count the beats, right? Come on! 12, 12..."
"Lunch is taking so long!" Shinji Hirako complained helplessly once again.
"You idiot!" Hiyori Sarugaki, arms crossed, interrupted as always.
"······"
"12, 12..."
"Ha ha······"
Seeing these guys in front of him, each doing their own thing, Ichigo Kurosaki's pent-up anger finally exploded.
He kicked Shinji Hirako, who was completely lost in thought, flying away, and also dragged Hiyori Sarugaki.
"What are you doing, you brat!" Hiyori Sarugaki roared, furious. "If you get too cocky, I'll beat you up, you bald guy!"
"Those were my lines!" Shinji Hirako helplessly, bleeding profusely.
"Those are my lines!" Ichigo Kurosaki the Roar, equally furious. "What do you mean, 'I'll teach you how to suppress Hollows until you remember it'? You made it sound so impressive, but why do I have to frantically shake this thing all day? It's obviously a piece of junk weight-loss machine I made myself! Are you an idiot?! And then again, am I an idiot for obediently following your instructions?!"
"That's right, you're an idiot, you're the only idiot..." Hiyori Sarugaki the Roar, veins bulging on her forehead.
Kensei Muguruma, Lisa Yadomaru, and the others sighed and shook their heads helplessly. At that moment, the warehouse door opened, Yoruichi Shihōin and Mashiro Kuna walked in carrying large and small bags. Behind them Hachigen Ushōda was carrying a huge pile of bags, sweating profusely.
We're back!
"Thanks for your hard work!"
Love Aikawa turned around and was immediately startled by the large number of bags. He quickly took the bags from Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi's arms and put them on the ground with Hachigen Ushōda who came over.
"Haku, Yoruichi, did the three of you run into each other?!"
Kensei Muguruma and Lisa Yadomaru also came over and took the bags from Yoruichi Shihōin and Mashiro Kuna.
"Yeah! I ran into Yoruichi on the street!" Mashiro Kuna said with a smile; "So we came back together!"
"You bought a lot of things!" Lisa Yadomaru put the bags on the ground and asked suspiciously, "But we don't have enough money left! Did Yoruichi take the money?"
"Anyway, I rarely use money from the World of the Living!" Yoruichi Shihōin waved his hand dismissively. "By the way, what's going on here? I heard noises outside the door. Why are Hiyori and Ichigo arguing?"
"Sigh! It's a long story!"
Kensei Muguruma, Lisa Yadomaru, Love Aikawa, and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi exchanged glances and all sighed helplessly.
"It's all because you kept nagging me and wouldn't do what I said, you bald guy!"
"That bald guy is so noisy, Tiger Fang Girl!" Ichigo Kurosaki yelled angrily; "What kind of training is this?!"
"The term 'bald' doesn't refer to someone without hair; it refers to an idiot like you who knows nothing!"
"You mentioned baldness again..."
"·····"
Hiyori Sarugaki, dragging Shinji Hirako Ichigo Kurosaki and didn't notice anything happening around them.
"Really!" Yoruichi Shihōin sighed helplessly.
"I bought the bento box, do you want to eat it now?" Mashiro Kuna asked, ignoring everything else, as she picked up the bag containing the bento box.
"I want to eat! I want to eat!"
The four nodded quickly; they were starving.
Kensei Muguruma pulled out a large table from somewhere and set it up. Yoruichi Shihōin and Mashiro Kuna placed the bento boxes, snacks, fruits, and drinks they had bought on the table.
"Wow! What a feast!" Kensei Muguruma exclaimed excitedly. "And there's wine too! That's my favorite!"
"All you do is drink!" Mashiro Kuna rolled her eyes fiercely; " Kensei is a big idiot!"
"What?! You're saying that again!" Kensei Muguruma was furious.
" Kensei is an idiot!"
"Bai, you bastard..."
While the two on one side were arguing fiercely, the other side was also bickering like sworn enemies. Yoruichi Shihōin, Lisa Yadomaru, and the others were used to it. Let them argue! They just treated it as entertainment. The group picked up their chopsticks, sat down, and started eating their bento boxes.
Seeing this, Kensei Muguruma and Mashiro Kuna stopped arguing, immediately found a place to sit down, grabbed a chicken leg, and started gnawing on it. As the saying goes, "Nothing is more important than eating."
Meanwhile, the battle had already escalated. How could Ichigo Kurosaki possibly be a match for Hiyori Sarugaki? He was immediately utterly defeated, and the two of them started fighting without regard for the situation or the circumstances.
"Alright! Stop talking nonsense and just keep going until you collapse!"
Hiyori Sarugaki picked up the treadmill she had made and named, which was still lying to the side, and smashed it hard on Ichigo Kurosaki's head.
"If you want us to teach you Hollowfication, you'll need to be able to use it continuously for at least three days before we even start!"
"You bastard..."
Clutching his head, Ichigo Kurosaki a somewhat outrageous manner, "What a joke! That thing, let alone three days in a row, it could last a week without any problem. I already know from just this one day that touching it consumes a lot of Spiritual Power. That's how this machine is constructed. Your goal is to see how many days I can last, so you can test my maximum Spiritual Power, right?!"
"But with my current Spiritual Power, I can easily last at least five days. This kind of test is meaningless. Hurry up and teach me how to suppress the Hollowfication. I don't have much time left, and I don't have time to play with your Visored Army..."
Everyone stopped what they were doing, including Yoruichi Shihōin, who turned to look at the excited Ichigo Kurosaki.
"What's all the noise about!" Shinji Hirako shouted, his expression more serious and grave than ever before.
"You say there's no time left! This guy doesn't even know when the Hōgyoku, and he really dares to say that!"
In an instant, Ichigo Kurosaki's pupils dilated, and cold sweat immediately poured down his back.
"Wait, what did you just say...?"
"I'm telling you, whether it's the Hōgyoku or Hollowfication, those who know nothing about it should stop making a scene!"
"Why, how do you know about the Hōgyoku?!" Ichigo Kurosaki exclaimed in disbelief.
"I know! I've known about it for many years now— the Hōgyoku, the Arrancar, and..."
Shinji Hirako's expression instantly turned ferocious as he uttered that name, word by word.
" Sōsuke Aizen!!!"
"Who... who are you people?!"
Ichigo Kurosaki was trembling uncontrollably. He felt like an insect trapped in a lantern, unable to escape no matter how hard he tried.
"Really! You didn't know!" Shinji Hirako grinned, revealing a large, zipper-like mouth. "So it seems you don't even know your own background!"
"My background! What are you talking about? I am a perfectly respectable human being, I am..."
" Ichigo!!!"
" Miss Yoruichi!!!"
Ichigo Kurosaki, the blond-haired kid, was completely stunned. His mouth was agape as he stared dumbfounded at the group of people sitting together—or more accurately, at the familiar figure sitting among them.
Yoruichi Shihōin
" Miss Yoruichi, what are you doing here? Do you know them all? What's going on? My background? Don't joke around! I'm a human. I only became Bleach by chance after meeting Rukia. You know that, don't you Miss Yoruichi?"
With a bewildered the Roar, Ichigo Kurosaki was completely stunned. Why were people he thought should have no connection with each other sitting together so casually? This could only mean that they were too familiar with each other.
"That's right, Ichigo, I know what you mean!" Standing up, Yoruichi Shihōin walked to Shinji Hirako and Hiyori Sarugaki and said calmly, "But Shinji is also right, because you belong to the Bleach!"
" Miss Yoruichi!"
"Listen to me quietly. Originally, Isshin and we were planning to tell you this after we defeated Aizen, so you could be recognized as part of the family. But now it seems better for you to understand things a little better!"
"Dad, acknowledging our ancestors? What are you talking about! Miss Yoruichi, my father is just an ordinary doctor. He can't even see souls, how could he possibly..."
"That's because he fell into Aizen's trap and lost his Bleach powers to save your mother!" Yoruichi Shihōin voice. " Ichigo, listen carefully. Your father, Isshin Kurosaki, is Bleach. More than fifty years ago, he was one of the Gotei 13, the captain of the Tenth Division Soul Society. You know his lieutenant back then, Rangiku Matsumoto. Also, the current captain of the Tenth Division, Toshiro Hitsugaya, was only the Third Seat back then!"
"..." Ichigo Kurosaki.
"Oh! There's one more thing. Your father wasn't originally named Isshin Kurosaki. His real name was Isshin Shiba, and he was the head of a branch family in the Shiba Family. So, you should really be named Shiba Ichigo Shiba. Kūkaku Shiba is your older sister, and Kaien Shiba and Ganju Shiba are your older brothers. You should belong to the Shiba Family, do you understand?"
"Then... then what about my mother! She's not an ordinary person either!" Ichigo Kurosaki didn't want to believe it, but his intuition told him that it was all true.
"Your mother is Quincy Quincy, just like Ishida, so logically speaking, you and Ishida are relatives!"
"As for Shinji and the others' identities, you'll find out later!"
I... I am...
Ichigo Kurosaki shuddered violently, unable to believe it, but he had no reason not to.