Walking on the streets of Karakura Town, Kyoya looked at the colorful neon lights of the living world, feeling a sense of familiarity, but more than that, strangeness.
Although it was also 'modern', compared to before Kyoya's transmigration, Karakura Town still fell short in many ways.
The hustle and bustle of the people around him let Kyoya feel the 'human atmosphere' that was missing in the Soul Society.
Kyoya had been a Shinigami for over two hundred years.
He seemed to have grown accustomed to the life of a Shinigami.
But it wasn't until today, after seeing these living people, that Kyoya suddenly remembered… he seemed to already be dead...
'Does this count as being in a state between life and death?'
For some reason, such a question surfaced in Kyoya's mind.
Kyoya remembered that in the earliest times of this world, because the three worlds hadn't been separated yet, the living and the dead souls coexisted in the same world.
The living could see the souls of the deceased, and the souls of the dead could still live with their families in the living world. Therefore, the 'boundary between life and death' in the entire world was very blurred. People did not fear death… on the contrary, some living people, feeling they had lived enough, would even commit suicide to become souls.
The people living in the Soul Society, even the Shinigami, when it came down to it, were just 'souls'.
Even though, due to the characteristics of this world, the Shinigami who could manipulate Reishi became the rulers of the world, it didn't change the fact that Shinigami were all souls.
'Reishi and Material Particles...'
Kyoya came to a bench in a park and lay down, looking up at Orihime playing on the slide in the sky, thinking to himself: 'It seems that in the future, I still need to find Urahara Kisuke or Kurotsuchi Mayuri to see if they can convert my Reishi into Material Particles.'
Reishi was the fundamental substance composing the bodies of souls.
Material Particles, on the other hand, was the term for the substances that made up human bodies in the living world. The bodies of the living were called Material Particles, while the bodies of the dead were called [Gigai]. The form of a Shinigami could indeed exert its greatest effect in the Bleach World.
However, in the future, after Kyoya left the Bleach World, he would inevitably need to make himself 'alive' again. After all, in Kyoya's memory, most worlds were worlds of the living.
If he were to barge into these worlds in the form of a soul, it would probably cause quite a commotion.
"Hey, are you a Shinigami?"
"Hmm?"
Just as Kyoya was contemplating the future, a voice sounded beside his ear, making him pause for a moment.
'Could see me, knew of Shinigami...'
Raising his eyes to look, a young girl who felt familiar to Kyoya came into view.
"You can see me?"
Kyoya asked in surprise.
The person now standing before Kyoya was none other than Ichigo's childhood friend and also Orihime's best friend… Arisawa Tatsuki.
If Kyoya remembered correctly, Tatsuki at this time should not yet be able to see spiritual bodies.
It was only half a year later, after enduring the pressure of Ichigo's powerful Reiatsu for a long time, that Tatsuki developed Reiatsu of her own and, during the battle with Aizen, saw Aizen covered entirely by a Hollow shell.
However, Kyoya quickly realized that now the Hollow [White] within Ichigo had truly become his Zanpakuto, allowing Ichigo's current Reiatsu to truly reach 1st-Class.
Under such intense Reiatsu, it wasn't unacceptable for Tatsuki to awaken her Reiatsu early.
But, just like Ogawa Michiru and Asano Keigo, although they possessed Reiatsu, they themselves did not have fragments of the Soul King, so they couldn't cultivate Fullbring.
Perhaps they needed to wait until after death, entering the Rukongai, before they could bloom their own light.
At this point in time, they were merely background characters for the protagonist.
"Yes."
Tatsuki nodded: "My name is Arisawa Tatsuki. I can barely see your presence, sir."
"May I ask, are you a Shinigami?"
"Well, I suppose I've been a Shinigami for a period of time."
"Then, can you tell me, can I become a Shinigami?"
A trace of expectation flashed in Tatsuki's eyes.
As Ichigo's childhood friend and Orihime's only friend, Tatsuki really wanted to stand by their side and face those crises together with them.
But unfortunately, just from the few limited battles she had seen, she knew that even if she told Ichigo and Orihime that she could see souls, she wouldn't be able to help much, only causing them needless worry.
Now that she had finally encountered a Shinigami, Tatsuki wanted to see if she could become a Shinigami herself and fight alongside Orihime Inoue and the others.
"Little girl Tatsuki, Shinigami power is a force that only deceased souls can master."
"Are you sure you want to die in order to gain Shinigami power?"
"But... I have a friend who is a living person, yet he can wield Shinigami power..."
Tatsuki was somewhat unwilling.
"You're talking about Kurosaki Ichigo, right?"
Kyoya smiled. "Kurosaki Ichigo was able to become a Shinigami because a Shinigami, disregarding the Seireitei's ban, gave his own Shinigami power to him, activating his latent Shinigami power."
"Oh, I forgot to mention, in the Seireitei, privately transferring Shinigami power to a human is a capital offense punishable by death."
After hearing Kyoya's words, the light in Tatsuki's eyes faded.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you."
Although Tatsuki very much wanted to have the power to fight side by side with Ichigo and Orihime, if obtaining such power required someone else's life in exchange, then Tatsuki Arisawa would rather not have such power.
After giving Kyoya an apologetic nod, Tatsuki turned to leave.
"Hey, little girl."
"In this world, besides Shinigami, there are some other powers capable of fighting Hollows."
Seeing Tatsuki's expression, an idea suddenly flashed through Kyoya's mind.
Tatsuki was also a character Kyoya rather appreciated in the Bleach Anime.
"And coincidentally, I happen to possess such power."
"Little girl Tatsuki, do you want to learn it?"
"Master!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Tatsuki Arisawa immediately performed a deep bow towards Kyoya.
Seeing this, Kyoya laughed heartily.
"Alright, I accept you as my disciple."
"However, Tatsuki, you need to think it through. You are just an ordinary person."
"To obtain power capable of fighting Hollows, you must put in ten times, even a hundred times the effort to reach the level of Sado or Inoue!"
"Master, please rest assured!"
"What I fear the least is hard work!"
Looking at the fervor in Tatsuki's eyes, Kyoya nodded.
Indeed, if relying solely on effort could yield results, then undoubtedly, even Ichigo wouldn't be Tatsuki's match.
She was, after all, a champion who had won the national middle school karate tournament.
"Then let's go, begin our training!"
After speaking, Kyoya got up from the bench and led Tatsuki towards the direction of Urahara Shop.
There were only a few training locations in the Living World.
The abandoned building where Shinji and the Visored were.
The large mansion of the Fullbringer Yukio.
The tavern of the Bount, Kariya.
The underground training ground of Urahara Shop.
Since Kyoya had decided to teach Tatsuki and give her a new choice, he naturally wanted to provide her with the best training conditions.
Undoubtedly, Kisuke's training ground was the best among these locations.
"This is...?"
Tatsuki had secretly followed Orihime and the others before, knowing they often came to this out-of-the-way shop.
After Ichigo and Orihime entered, Tatsuki had also gone inside once.
But after walking around the small shop a few times, Tatsuki couldn't find Ichigo and the others.
Moreover, the two children in this shop and the shop assistant who was like an iron tower made Tatsuki Arisawa realize this shop was not ordinary.
At that time, Tatsuki had also fantasized about someday entering the hidden side of this shop together with Ichigo and Orihime.
Now, was the truth of this shop about to be revealed before her?
Seeing this shop, Tatsuki also felt relieved in her heart.
At least from this point, it seemed Kyoya was not on the opposing side of Ichigo and Orihime.
"Let's go, Tatsuki."
"Yes, Master!"
Tatsuki followed Kyoya into Urahara Shop. The one who received them was still the burly shop assistant she was familiar with.
To Tatsuki's surprise, this shop assistant named Tessai seemed to be very respectful towards her master.
"Kyoya-sama."
"Tessai, this is a disciple I've taken a liking to in the Living World. I wanted to find a suitable place for her to train."
"Urahara's underground training ground should still have available space, right?"
"You jest. As long as you need it, if the underground space isn't big enough, I would immediately carve out a training ground to your liking."
The figure of Kisuke emerged from behind the shelves, his eyes looking towards Tatsuki behind Kyoya.
Kisuke was naturally not unfamiliar with Tatsuki.
After all, she had connections with Ichigo, Orihime, and others.
She had even followed behind Ichigo and the others once to investigate Urahara Shop.
However, that time she was turned away by Tessai.
In Kisuke's view, Tatsuki was just an ordinary person.
Although it was possible she had developed Reiatsu due to being close to Ichigo.
But humans in the Living World, without fragments of the Soul King within them, had almost no potential.
Or rather, Tatsuki's potential would only be realized after her death when she entered the Soul Society.
Under such circumstances, Kisuke's judgment that Tatsuki had no training value wasn't inappropriate. What puzzled Kisuke was what exactly Kyoya saw in Tatsuki.
Or rather, what could Kyoya possibly teach Tatsuki?
If even someone like Tatsuki could be trained up by Kyoya, what consequences would it bring to the Seireitei and the rule of the Gotei 13 if the living humans mastered such methods?
"Then let's go."
"During this period, Tatsuki and I will probably be training here."
"Oh, by the way, Orihime's abilities have a very good boosting effect for Tatsuki's training."
"When she comes tomorrow, bring Orihime down directly."
"Alright."
"Huh? Orihime is back?"
Hearing Kyoya's words, Tatsuki felt a surge of joy in her heart.
As Orihime's best friend, Tatsuki naturally knew about Orihime's disappearance.
However, when she went to ask Ichigo and the others, the answer she got was that Orihime had gone out traveling and would be back after some time.
If not for the fact that Ichigo, Chad, and Uryu showed no signs of worry on their faces, Tatsuki might have suspected something had happened to Orihime.
"Mhm."
Kyoya nodded. "I took Orihime to Hueco Mundo for a couple of weeks some time ago. We just returned tonight."
"Is that so? Thank you, Master."
Tatsuki let out a sigh of relief.
Kyoya only released a light laugh.
This youngest disciple of his was quite interesting.
He could teach her to become stronger, she acknowledged him as her master, but didn't say a word of thanks.
Yet, upon learning that he had taken Orihime out for a trip and brought her back, she came to thank him.
'She really did spoil Inoue rotten.'
In fact, while watching Bleach, Kyoya felt that compared to Orihime, Tatsuki was more suitable for Ichigo.
It was just a pity Tatsuki lost out because she herself didn't possess any special abilities.
Kyoya had always felt that Tatsuki actually liked Ichigo.
It's just that between her childhood friend relationship with Ichigo and her friendship with Orihime, Tatsuki chose friendship.
After all, in Tatsuki's view, apart from Ichigo, Orihime had nothing left.
If she expressed her feelings to Ichigo, Orihime would definitely not compete.
But at the same time, the relationship between them would probably be difficult to maintain.
Tatsuki couldn't possibly show how happy she would be being with Ichigo in front of Orihime… that would be like twisting a knife in Orihime's heart.
On the other hand, if Tatsuki hid her true feelings, both Ichigo and Orihime would be happy.
The only one hurt would be Tatsuki.
However, for Tatsuki, aside from losing the person she liked, her relationship with Orihime and Ichigo wouldn't change much.
As long as Tatsuki didn't say anything, neither Ichigo nor Orihime would know about her former feelings. She would still be Ichigo's childhood friend and still be Orihime's best friend.
"..."
Following Kyoya into the underground training ground, unsurprisingly, Tatsuki's eyes widened in astonishment.
She could guess that Urahara Shop had a passage or basement… otherwise, she wouldn't have been unable to find Ichigo and the others in the shop.
But she never expected the basement to be this large.
Much larger than a stadium.
More importantly-
Looking up at the sky with its drifting clouds, Tatsuki Arisawa couldn't help but ask.
"That sky, those clouds... are they real?"
If she had woken up in this underground training ground instead of coming down with Kyoya, Tatsuki wouldn't have doubted the sky was fake at all.