Time flew.
Four days after Yoshio arrived in the Living World, Saturday came.
He took Nezuko out of Karakura Town.
In Naruki City, he met Kūgo Ginjō again.
Ginjō's base was much better than last time. Back then it was half-abandoned.
Now, from outside it looked similar, but inside it was a whole other world.
It was basically a proper bar. Outside was bright, but inside it dimmed at once.
In the low light, with soft music, you could relax.
"Ginjō, why are you back?"
There was still only one person inside. Compared to before, Tsukishima looked much more mature.
He turned—and froze, then looked surprised.
"It's you?!"
The first time Tsukishima met Yoshio was nearly ten years ago.
Back then, Tsukishima was just a kid; now he was in his late teens.
For a Shinigami, ten years is nothing; for a human, it's a long time, bringing big changes.
Over the years, Yoshio rarely visited—less than once a year.
He did come a few times, so Tsukishima remembered him; Yoshio looked almost unchanged from ten years ago.
And he was the only Shinigami Ginjō said could be trusted.
So although he tensed at the shihakushō at first, he relaxed quickly. "You here for Ginjō?"
"Kind of," Yoshio said. "Where is he?"
"He went out to buy drinks," Tsukishima said. "Should be back soon."
"All right, I'll wait here." Yoshio sat on a sofa with Nezuko.
Her eyes shone with curiosity. To her, this place was the coolest—who would think such a secret base could be hidden in an ordinary city?
Her father knew these people? What were they—secret world-saving organization, or a villainous one trying to overturn the world?
"Nezuko, Fullbring isn't easy to master. If I go back to the Seireitei, have Hela bring you again."
"Don't worry, I'll learn fast!" Nezuko was confident.
Yoshio would stay a month in the Living World; even if she only came on weekends, that was about eight days.
Eight days—enough to learn Fullbring!
"This is…"
Hearing them, Tsukishima asked, "She's a Fullbringer too?"
"She has the potential, so I brought her to Ginjō—to awaken her latent Fullbring."
"So you want me to do the dirty work again."
Suddenly, the door opened. Ginjō came in with a plastic bag of sodas.
He walked with distaste to the fridge, stowed the drinks, then came to Yoshio.
Seeing Nezuko, he was surprised. "This young?"
"This is…"
"My daughter," Yoshio said simply. "Don't worry, it won't take long."
"Your daughter?!" Ginjō stared at Yoshio, then at Nezuko. "It's only been a few years and you already have a daughter?"
"What do you mean already?" A vein popped on Yoshio's forehead. "I'm a noble in the Seireitei—and I'm a captain!"
"What's her name?"
"Nezuko," Nezuko answered before Yoshio. "Are you my father's friend?"
"Friend…" Ginjō paused, then nodded. "You could say that. Why do you want to learn Fullbring? Little miss, you must be true-blood. If so, why not learn Shinigami powers?"
"That comes too easily for her," Yoshio said. "I think Fullbring, which directly boosts her body, suits her better right now."
"Fair. But you know not everyone can learn Fullbring," Ginjō said. "You need residual Hollow power in the body."
"Of course."
"All right, I'll teach her. But afterward, you two owe me a favor when needed," Ginjō said.
"No problem," Yoshio said calmly. "Depends on difficulty, though. If it exceeds my limits, I won't do it."
"Deal."
Truthfully, there wasn't much bond between them.
Seeing each other every few years—what bond? It was mutual need.
Especially after being betrayed by Shinigami, Ginjō's heart-walls were thick. Reaching him was almost impossible.
Mm, probably only Kurosaki Ichigo could.
Yoshio glanced at Tsukishima Shūkurō again.
In fact, Tsukishima's favorability toward Yoshio was higher than Ginjō's.
Ginjō's was forty-six; Tsukishima's was forty-nine.
Yoshio didn't expect to push them to eighty; sixty would be nice.
So he said, "Let teaching Nezuko offset my favor. If you want Nezuko's help in future, you should offer someone on your side too."
"Hm?" Ginjō was surprised. "You need my help?"
"More Tsukishima's than yours," Yoshio said. "Don't worry—should be sometime soon. I'll come pick Tsukishima up in advance."
He turned to Tsukishima. "Is that okay, Tsukishima-kun?"
Tsukishima blinked. "As long as Ginjō agrees, I'm fine."
Ginjō nodded. "All right. Start now?"
"Of course."
Yoshio told Nezuko, "Go learn from Ginjō properly. Don't wimp out."
"Okay." Nezuko nodded, feeling these people seemed complicated.
Fullbring, in short, extracts and manipulates the soul within things, controlling or changing their form.
In the Shinigami worldview—pantheism—everything has a soul.
Fullbring manipulates the souls of all things and draws miracles from something one dearly loves, making it into a weapon.
Who knew what Nezuko's Fullbring would be?
Since Yoshio had trained her in Shinigami arts from childhood, she didn't need Modified Soul, gloves, or a Substitute Badge like Ichigo to become a Shinigami.
More like Kurosaki Kazui—if she wished, she could do a living-body apotheosis.
Ichigo only did that once; the rest of the time he used the Substitute Badge.
That's fine—because if you apotheosize in the flesh and get hurt, your body is injured.
A soul leaving the body avoids that.
Though Yoshio had made her a tool like the Badge to separate soul from body, Nezuko preferred living-body apotheosis.
So her Fullbring wouldn't be the Badge. What would it be?
Yoshio didn't dwell on it; he'd find out soon enough.
He didn't return that day—stayed with Nezuko and waited for Ishida Sōken.
With his aerial circuits and Azashiro's reishi surveillance, he could track Sōken anytime.
Once Sōken came to Naruki City, he'd go wait at Chōbara.
He ended up waiting more than half a month.
Every weekend, Nezuko came to learn Fullbring; weekdays, she went to school.
…
Two weeks later, on a Wednesday, Yoshio saw Ishida Sōken heading for Naruki City. He went ahead, borrowing Tsukishima.
They reached Chōbara together.
Two hours later, Ishida Sōken arrived.
In the past half month, Mayuri hadn't sent more Shinigami after Sōken, but Sōken still felt uneasy.
So after much thought, he decided to come and meet the person Gabriel mentioned.
Chōbara wasn't a single building but a street. Upon arrival, he felt heavy reiryoku in the air.
Deliberate—guiding him where to go next.
Following the trail, he came to a recently built apartment.
He stood at a door and knocked.
Knock, knock…
The door opened shortly after. He looked inside, not noticing a boy behind him stabbing a blade through his body.
The next instant, it was as if nothing had happened.
Sōken sensed nothing wrong; seeing the person inside, his pupils widened in surprise.
"You're…?"
"Long time no see, Sōken," Yoshio smiled. "It's been decades, right? I hear you even have a grandson now."
"Kurosaki…?" Sōken remembered. Decades ago, shortly after he'd been expelled from the Wandenreich, he'd met a Quincy in the Living World who had lost all Quincy reishi.
He hadn't seen him since in decades.
He hadn't expected to meet again—and he looked unchanged!
"How…?" Sōken asked, confused.
"Ah—you mean my age?" Yoshio said softly. "I chose spirit-body form and, with a Quincy soul, became a Shinigami."
?!
Sōken's eyes widened. "Is that possible?"
"In theory, no. A Quincy soul is Quincy. But I had some tricks," Yoshio said. "In fact, I'd already entered the Seireitei before that."
"We've all been thinking about the Quincy's destiny. How to fight fate? I don't know your answer, but mine was to transform from Quincy to Shinigami."
"The first time we met, I knew you were preparing for this day."
"And by then, my soul had already transformed—that's why my Quincy power was so weak."
He opened his hand; reishi gathered into a very faint spirit bow.
He had once trained in Quincy arts under Sōken, which let him form Quincy factors within, then nurture Baelz from them.
Looking at the bow, Sōken's eyes softened with nostalgia. "Time flies. As you said, we each prepare for the future."
"Are you in the Seireitei now?"
"Not only that—I'm Captain of Squad 10," Yoshio smiled. "My name is Yoshio Kamado now. Come in."
He stepped inside.
"Do you plan to oppose the Wandenreich as a Shinigami?" Sōken asked.
"Not exactly. I never sought to fight the Wandenreich—only to protect myself," Yoshio shook his head. "To be honest, I don't care much about the feud between His Majesty and the Shinigami."
"…" Sōken was silent a moment, then said, "Thank you for earlier."
"As Captain of Squad 10, I received a task from Central 46 to act against Quincies in secret," Yoshio said slowly.
"…Why?" Sōken frowned. "We did as the Shinigami asked. We shouldn't be enemies anymore."
Yoshio didn't answer directly. "After becoming a Shinigami, I felt some claims in the Wandenreich weren't wrong. Shinigami as a race can be vile."
"The more you deal with them, the more you feel the darkness inside."
Then he added, "From what I know, Mayuri's R&D Bureau never lacks Quincy souls. So… don't think the Shinigami are good just because you were expelled by the Wandenreich. In the end… all factions in the Three Realms are a race to the bottom."
"…Perhaps," Sōken sighed.
"What are your plans?" Yoshio asked.
"What plans can I have? I'm old—may not have many years," Sōken shook his head. "I only hope to see Uryū grow up in my last years."
"Ishida Uryū… your grandson?"
"Mm."
"I have a child too—Nezuko Kamado. I didn't put her in the dangerous Seireitei but protected her in the Living World," Yoshio said. "By generation, though she's the same age as your grandson, she'd be his father's peer."
"You mean Ryūken?" Sōken said. "I adopted a girl from the Kurosaki family once."
"I know," Yoshio said. "I've even met her."
"But I have no intention of revealing my true identity to anyone but you, and I hope you won't either. The past is past; we must live anew."
"You're right," Sōken nodded. "The past is past. So… your assignment…"
"Don't worry. I won't strike at my kin. I went to the Wandenreich and brought back some corpses. That should suffice," Yoshio said. "I only came to see an old friend."
"I'll deal with Mayuri for you. And… one last suggestion."
"…What?"
"I hope you'll help me. I know you're weak now. But if, one day, your body's at its limit and you don't want to reincarnate, you can come here anytime—I can make you a Shinigami."
"What's your goal…?"
"I can't tell anyone outside my companions. But I promise—I'll only make the world better."
"…Everyone says that," Sōken sighed. "Everyone says they'll make the world better. But who actually does?"
"You have a point," Yoshio admitted. He'd thought Sōken was a naïve old man—turns out his insight ran deep.
"So I won't force you. Decide later. At least… if you help me, you can witness your grandson's future."
"You have a point," Sōken nodded. "I'm happy to see an old friend again—but I can't stay long, or I'll bring you trouble."
"If there's a chance, have your daughter come by my house. I'm alone sometimes—gets boring."
He turned to leave.
"If there's a chance, we will," Yoshio said. "Goodbye, old friend."
"Goodbye."
Sōken waved and left.
From start to finish, Yoshio never asked for his method to escape Auswählen.
Because he already had it.
That was why he brought Tsukishima.
With Tsukishima's ability, peeking into someone's memories is easy.
Earlier, he had only reminisced, seeing if he could raise favorability.
In fact, when Sōken entered, his favorability toward Yoshio was 77; by the time he left, it had reached 80.
Yoshio permanently gained the trait "Quincy Heir."
He could now train in Quincy arts.
Balance, again.
His main power was Shinigami, supplemented by Hollow and Quincy. Compared to Hollow power, his Quincy was far too weak.
Now, that gap could be filled.
Also, he'd ask Tsukishima for the data on Auswählen research he extracted from Sōken's memories.