DingDangDongDeng
The bell rang, announcing the end of the long school day, and Ren lazily rose from his seat while gathering his things.
Today had felt especially long because he had met many of his classmates again after being absent for quite some time, and he was already exhausted even before heading out to help Ichigo with his training.
"Ren! Tomorrow's a holiday. Do you want to go hang out somewhere?" Keigo called out with his trademark goofy smile. "You can invite that idiot Ichigo too — we haven't seen him in ages."
"Hmm… I'll check with Nii-san and send you guys a message if we're going or not," Ren replied after thinking for a moment, then gave the three a small nod — it wasn't such a bad idea to goof around once in a while.
"Alright then, I'm heading off, guys." Ren waved to the stunned trio, grabbed his bag, and quickly left the classroom, since he had to go help Ichigo gain control over his Hollow powers.
"Since when does he refer to Ichigo as Nii-san?" Mizuiro muttered in disbelief as he stared at Ren's departing back.
"I'm wondering that too... I've known both of them for years and I've never once heard him call Ichigo that," Keigo added, nodding almost mechanically.
"…" Chad didn't say anything, but a faint smile tugged at his lips — he had heard a few things from both Ichigo and Ren.
"I see…" Tatsuki murmured, a small, warm smile spreading on her face. "So that idiot finally managed to move forward."
As someone who had been their childhood friend, Tatsuki knew them well — she knew that despite their cheerful interactions most of the time, there had been resentment and buried guilt lingering between them ever since Masaki's death.
When Masaki died, Ren had placed the blame on Ichigo, who had been with her at the time — while Ichigo himself had carried the same blame internally — and that rift between them had remained unmended for years.
But now it seemed Ren had finally moved on — he even looked livelier and more at ease than before, as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"Well, that was when the legend of the Karakura Town Play Boy first began," Tatsuki chuckled dryly. Ever since he'd entered middle school, Ren had basically become a citywide urban legend — dating girls from middle school like himself, high schoolers, even college students. There were even rumors he had dated teachers and office workers, though only some of them had been confirmed.
As for Tatsuki, who was close to the Kurosaki family, she knew very well that he had dated teachers and office workers before — she had even seen Isshin angry for the first time in her life because of it.
"This is bad!" Tatsuki blurted out as she hurriedly packed her things and bolted out of the classroom, realizing she had gotten lost in her thoughts and was now the only one left inside.
"Guess I'll have to take a shortcut."
After checking the area beneath the window — confirming there were no students in the yard or anywhere nearby — she didn't hesitate to leap out of the fourth-floor window with perfect agility.
With her current strength, a fourth-floor jump was nothing at all. She quickly spread her senses and dashed toward Ren's location.
_
Karakura Town – The Abandoned Industrial District
"Is Ichigo really training in a place like this?" Tatsuki asked, curiosity in her eyes as she gazed at the derelict factory before them.
Despite being incredibly powerful now, Incinerate Anthem focused purely on destruction — meaning that although her senses could cover the entirety of Karakura Town, she still couldn't sense people who concealed their presence well, like the Visored, especially when protected by a barrier that concealed both perception and existence.
"Seems like I'll have to retrain you again, girl," Yoruichi said sharply, narrowing her eyes at Tatsuki.
The one who had taught Tatsuki how to use Incinerate Anthem was none other than Yoruichi, who had also trained her in Hakuda, Hohō, Zanjutsu, and even some basic Kidō. Now that Tatsuki belonged to the Shinigami faction, it seemed she needed a much broader and more complete style of training than before.
"Then I'll be in your care again, Yoruichi-san," Tatsuki replied, not backing down in the slightest. Instead, she smiled with excitement at the prospect of training under Yoruichi once more.
"You can discuss training later — why don't we head inside first?" Ren smiled helplessly as he shifted into his Shinigami form and opened a small gap in the barrier surrounding the factory before walking in.
Yoruichi, perched on his shoulder, gave no verbal response and simply began licking her paw in a catlike manner, while Tatsuki's lips twitched subtly before following them inside.
"Are they really down here? This place feels completely empty..." Tatsuki said as she took in the decrepit interior.
"This place has a space underground — similar to Urahara's shop," Ren replied as he stopped in the center of the factory. A surge of crimson energy erupted from his body, obliterating the entire floor so thoroughly that not even dust remained.
With the thick surface gone, a long staircase leading underground was revealed.
"Let's go," Ren said as he began descending the steps, ignoring the stunned looks on the girls' faces — because the power he had just used wasn't Reiatsu, but magic.
That energy just now… Demonic Power? Yoruichi's eyes narrowed dangerously as she replayed the crimson-black force in her mind — the one that had erased the entire floor into nothingness.
Although he could feel the suspicion radiating from the two girls behind him, Ren didn't offer any explanation — after all, everyone had their secrets.
...
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