The next day, with the workweek beginning again, Tsunayoshi rarely dressed himself neatly and left home early. The weekend was over, and it was time for school again. He had to head out early to go to Tatsuki's house.
According to Tatsuki, after entering high school, she had hardly had any time to go to and from school together with Tsunayoshi. Now that Nana Sawada and the others were home, she wanted to take the chance to properly make up for the regret of carrying the lonely school commute by herself.
"Morning, Tsunayoshi."
Although he said he was going to pick Tatsuki up for school, there was basically no need to go all the way to her house. She was already waiting early at the most convenient intersection along the route.
"Morning. Have you been waiting long?"
The two walked side by side.
"I just got here too. What did Auntie Nana say after she went back yesterday? Was the training a little too intense?" Tatsuki asked.
Yesterday's training had not been easy. In order to let the Sawada couple master Fullbring as quickly as possible, all the Hollows Tsunayoshi had set up pressed right against his parents' limits.
At first, Nana really could not take it. She screamed several times. But when she saw Iemitsu get sent flying into the rocks and still grit his teeth without making a sound, Nana's attitude changed.
Looking at the unyielding look in Iemitsu Sawada's eyes, Nana finally understood what her husband had been facing before, and with what kind of tenacious mindset he had hidden everything from her while facing the dragons in London that could attack at any moment all by himself.
From simply not wanting to hold them back, Nana's goal changed into definitely mastering Fullbring. Nana, who had always been carefully protected by her family, felt a desire for power for the first time.
In order not to cause trouble for her husband and son, Nana also went mad, launching her tickle-like attacks at the Hollows again and again. After a whole day of torment, she returned home with lifeless eyes and fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.
"She's fine. Don't underestimate Mom. She's even going to Xcution on her own initiative today," Tsunayoshi said.
Today was a workday. Tsunayoshi and the others had school, while Iemitsu had to report back to his company. Nana had even given up on housework and gone straight to Xcution for training, because she knew that her husband's progress was already far ahead of hers.
Iemitsu's Fullbring had faintly begun to take shape, while Nana's Fullbring was still a green lump, completely impossible to identify.
That motivated Nana to go to Xcution and train even though her whole body ached. Fortunately, Jackie had plenty of free time. With her help, even without illusionary Hollows, Nana could still train normally.
"What about Noel-chan and the others?" Tatsuki had already started calling Noel "Noel-chan" quite naturally, and Noel herself seemed to like the form of address. It was only Ninny who never called her that.
"Ninny has practice with her group members, and they also have to rehearse the concert program. When she has free time, she'll go near Xcution to look for that Disguiser Dragon."
"I heard it's a Hollow that's very good at disguising itself. Doesn't that make the humans around it really dangerous?" Tatsuki asked worriedly.
"It's dangerous, but there's nothing we can do. Before it exposes an opening, all we can do is hope Ninny can recognize it."
Tsunayoshi shifted the topic to the other person.
"As for Niihashi-san, she should be reporting to her new school today."
"Will she come to our school?" Tatsuki was full of anticipation. The feeling of making a new friend was pretty good.
"How would I know? Karakura Town has more than one high school. She didn't say, and I didn't ask."
There was a high school near Uryū's house, for example, but because of his relationship with Tsunayoshi and the others, Uryū had still chosen to attend the same high school as his friends.
"Do you think Noel-chan might come to our class?"
"It's possible. I don't believe Wing Bind hasn't investigated my family. Arranging her in the same class as me would be reasonable."
…
"Everyone, this is our new transfer student, Noel Niihashi. She will be spending one month in our class as an exchange student. Please welcome her!"
Amid a wave of cheering and applause, Tsunayoshi stared at Noel Niihashi, who was standing at the podium in a black school uniform, with an expression that said, "Just as expected." Noel's seat was behind Tsunayoshi. When she passed him, she even deliberately nodded to him.
"Damn it! Tsunayoshi, what's your relationship with this beautiful new classmate who clearly trusts you?!"
"Sawada already has Arisawa, and now he wants to lay his hands on the new girl too?!"
"Tsunayoshi, confess everything you know, and we might still spare your life!"
For some inexplicable reason, The jealous classmates 's anger was suddenly directed at Tsunayoshi. But to Tsunayoshi, these classmates were not particularly close to him, so their collective outrage was completely painless.
At lunchtime, in Uryū's clubroom.
Because Uryū had joined the Handicrafts Club, and besides himself, the only other members were Tsunayoshi and Chad, who had been dragged in just to fill the headcount, the clubroom was usually empty. As a result, it had become the group's regular lunch spot. Noel Niihashi was brought over as well.
"A witch?! Magic really exists in this world?"
Everyone present was one of their own, so Tsunayoshi directly introduced Noel's identity to the group. This immediately drew exclamations from Ichigo and Orihime. Even Uryū had to push his crooked glasses back into place.
"Noel-chan, do you really have flying brooms?" Orihime immediately pushed Ichigo aside and grabbed Noel's hand as she asked. After all, what youthful girl could resist the temptation of magical girls?
No one knew how Orihime's brain worked. She could clearly stand high in the sky using Fullbring light, yet she insisted on being interested in inconvenient magical brooms.
With two naturally sociable girls like Orihime and Tatsuki present, Noel quickly blended into the group. Tsunayoshi also took the opportunity to tell everyone about the Disguiser Dragon and sent its portrait into the group chat as a warning.
"So Hollows are called dragons in the West. Tsunayoshi, do you think we could make Hollows and human souls coexist peacefully?" Ichigo's imagination suddenly ran wild.
The big-sister-looking, little-girl-at-heart lady at his house had already openly told Ichigo that not all Hollows were heinous monsters.
"Before that, we'd have to seize control of Hueco Mundo first. Speaking of which, how's Nel?" Tsunayoshi asked in return.
"She originally wanted to go back to Hueco Mundo, but I don't know where she saw news about humanity's control over heavy firepower. After that, she started studying all kinds of laws and management systems."
Ichigo held his head, his expression slightly pained. Orihime, meanwhile, spoiled Nel far too much. As long as the books were related, whether they were useful or not, she bought them all for Nel.
"I can't understand the books she's reading anymore. Seriously, she's clearly suffering too, but she still forces herself to chew through them."
"Even if she doesn't understand them, as long as they're good for Hueco Mundo, she probably wants to memorize them and bring them back, even if she has to copy them mechanically," Tsunayoshi guessed Nel's state of mind.
"Forget about Nel for now. Speaking of which, I still haven't seen magic. Do I have the honor of witnessing it?" Ichigo could only ask Tsunayoshi, because there was no way for him to cut into the conversation among the three girls.
"Niihashi-san probably won't join any clubs. After school, she'll go to Xcution and train in magic and Hirenkyaku with Chad. If you're interested, you can go watch."
"Hirenkyaku?" Uryū heard something that interested him.
"Right. Magic also uses a wand as a medium to control Reishi, so learning Hirenkyaku shouldn't be a problem. Uryū, go over when you have time too. Your teaching method is more detailed than mine. Oh, and bring those two Seele Schneider."
With Tsunayoshi's talent, he had never encountered any difficulty when learning Hirenkyaku. Once his eyes understood it, his feet did too. Uryū, on the other hand, understood the difficult points of Hirenkyaku much more clearly.
Uryū almost choked. The way Tsunayoshi said it made it sound as if he had thrown all the trouble onto him.
"Come on, don't look so depressed. I brought you a gift. Here, a ticket to a popular idol group's concert."
Tsunayoshi took out the ticket he had prepared in advance and stuffed one into Uryū's hand.
Since Uryū had lived longer in the World of the Living, he had a better understanding of this newly arrived popular girl group in Japan. He knew just how difficult it was to get a ticket like this, especially one in the front row.
"That's more like it."
Uryū could tell that everyone had received a ticket, but at least Tsunayoshi's attitude was in place, so it did not embarrass him too much.
As for Tsunayoshi, he did his best to hide his "just as planned" expression. Using Ninny's complimentary tickets to get Uryū to help meant he had not paid any price at all.
And just like that, Noel officially blended into Tsunayoshi's little group.
When Chad was free, Noel would directly go to Xcution with him. When Chad had activities for clubs other than the Handicrafts Club, Tsunayoshi would take Noel wandering all over Karakura Town. Whenever they occasionally ran into a Hollow, he would let Noel handle it. Noel's strength steadily improved.
A week quickly passed. On Saturday night, it was the day of Cecile Die Twice's first performance in Japan. Including Noel, the group of young people gathered in front of Ichigo's house, preparing to head to the venue.
The reason they chose Ichigo's house as the meeting point was because Ichigo had invited both Yuzu and Karin along, and he did not want the two little girls to have to travel far. So the minibus's departure point was set at Ichigo's house.
When it came to cheering for idols, Yuzu seemed incredibly professional. Support outfits, cheering fans, banners, light boards—she had everything. Even Karin, who was not particularly enthusiastic, had been decorated by Yuzu.
According to Ichigo, Yuzu had even specially asked Uryū for help with these fan-support items. Thanks to Uryū's exceptional crafting skills, they had managed to finish making all the goods in such a short time.
As expected of tickets Ninny had specifically reserved, Tsunayoshi's group sat in the very front row on the right side. The most excited among them was undoubtedly Yuzu. She seemed to have endless energy as she worked hard to wave her fan-support goods.
Ginjō had also come. However, at his strong request, his seats were separated from Tsunayoshi's group. He and his date were placed in two seats in the left-side corner. He did not want Tsunayoshi and the others laughing at him and ruining his alone time.
"Ginjō-san, thank you so much for bringing me to this concert."
Ginjō's little girlfriend—no, she could not quite be called his girlfriend yet—Yūko said to him happily.
Yūko was practically the image of the Yamato Nadeshiko in the hearts of Japanese people. It was no wonder Ginjō Kūgo had become so deeply immersed in this gentle paradise.
When Yūko learned today that her date with Ginjō was at the concert, she had been so excited she almost fainted. This concert ticket had been a test she gave Ginjō. If he could accomplish it, then perhaps she could consider…
On the stage, noisy music began to play. The lights across the entire venue dimmed. Suddenly, two beams of light shone down on the stage, and two girls in dazzling performance outfits appeared. The entire venue erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Ginjō-san, would you be willing to try dating me? To become my boyfriend?"
Amid the blaring music, other than Ginjō, whose attention was completely fixed on Yūko, no one heard what she said.
"Of course, Yūko-chan! I'll love you for the rest of my life!"
Ginjō's eyes were filled with sincerity. He tightly held Yūko's hands and, using all the courage of his life, made a lifelong promise to her.
Yūko's pupils suddenly contracted.
The word "love" seemed to touch some kind of switch. Her long-silent heart began beating once more, and the courage to give everything for love became round and full like a swelling bubble at that moment.
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