"Yuzu, are you all right?"
Ichigo held Yuzu in his arms and called to her softly.
"Big Brother?"
Yuzu opened her eyes and answered.
"Cough, cough..."
Then she started coughing again.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, move aside. I need to examine her."
The voice behind Ichigo belonged to Ryūken Ishida, and his tone brooked no argument.
"Sorry to trouble you, Uncle Ryūken."
Ichigo quickly moved out of the way.
Everyone else gathered in a large circle around Yuzu, making sure that fresh air could circulate while watching her anxiously.
"She has a penetrating wound to the lung. She needs treatment."
Ryūken accurately assessed Yuzu's condition.
"Uncle Ishida, should I treat her?"
Orihime asked.
She had always served as the support member of the group.
This time, however, Ryūken rejected her suggestion.
"No."
"The effect of your Sōten Kisshun feels more like returning the body to a previous state."
"Yuzu's previous state was when she had the chains of Hell piercing through her."
"We can't take that risk."
"Sawada, you're treating her this time."
"The combination of Sun-type Activation and Kaidō should accelerate the healing process."
Ryūken had already worked out the treatment plan.
"Got it, Uncle."
Tsunayoshi raised both hands as though he were a surgeon asking for his instruments.
Yellow flames ignited in one hand, while a gentle green light radiated from the other.
After spending so much time in the Soul Society, Tsunayoshi had learned Kaidō as well.
He simply didn't use it very often.
He had a certain battle-obsessed Kenpachi to thank for that.
After their battles, Zaraki had paid Tsunayoshi in a rather unusual way.
The reward wasn't based on what Tsunayoshi wanted.
It was based on what the other party happened to possess.
Tsunayoshi brought his palms together.
The power of Kaidō flowed from below while Sun-type flames burned above it.
He used the activating property of the Sun attribute to amplify the healing effect of Kaidō.
Before long, the pain disappeared from Yuzu's face.
She stopped coughing as well.
A little while later, she was even able to open her eyes and smile.
"All done."
Tsunayoshi withdrew his power.
"The injuries are completely healed. Get some sleep and you'll be fine."
"Thank you, Big Bro Tsuna. I feel better than ever!"
Yuzu's mischievous, adorable expression made Tsunayoshi unable to resist ruffling her hair a couple of times.
He then quickly stepped aside, allowing her emotional parents to embrace their daughter.
"Great job, Tsunayoshi! I knew you could do it!"
Ichigo put an arm around Tsunayoshi's shoulders, desperately trying to keep the tears from falling.
If there had been enough room, he probably would have joined the family embrace himself.
"You're the one who saved her."
Tsunayoshi stabbed him with the truth without mercy.
"And if nothing unexpected happened, your panicked behavior probably had something to do with Yuzu getting into this situation in the first place."
"Ahaha... I'm going to check on Karin."
Ichigo scratched the back of his head and slipped away.
Tsunayoshi exchanged a glance with Tatsuki.
The two silently headed toward Karin as well.
They were curious about her condition.
Unlike Yuzu's power, which had disappeared almost immediately after activation, Karin was still floating in the air.
Tsunayoshi and Ichigo, both possessing Quincy heritage, could sense Reishi gradually gathering around Karin.
"It looks somewhat similar to my Earth Flames."
Tsunayoshi made an assessment.
The characteristic of the Earth attribute was gravity.
When a planet collapsed, it could form a black hole with an enormous gravitational pull, continuously drawing everything around it inward.
Karin's power was different from the Earth attribute.
The things absorbed by a black hole left no trace behind.
The Reishi gathering around Karin, however, was being compressed into a single point.
It was as though the Reishi were being forcibly squeezed together.
When the Reishi finally condensed into a sphere roughly the size of a fingertip at Karin's chest, the sphere sank into her body.
Karin slowly descended from the sky.
"Huh?"
Karin moved her arms and legs, feeling better than she ever had.
"Big Brother Ichigo, Big Bro Tsuna, Tatsuki-chan, why are you all staring at me?"
"Oh, right!"
Karin suddenly remembered something.
"Big Brother Ichigo, shouldn't you hurry up and save Yuzu?!"
"Don't worry."
Ichigo smiled.
"Yuzu's already awake."
He hadn't even finished speaking before Karin shot past him and hurried toward Yuzu.
Tsunayoshi stared thoughtfully at Karin's back.
"Ichigo, don't you think Karin's running style looks a little like Hirenkyaku?"
"No way."
Ichigo frowned.
"Mom shouldn't have taught her that, right?"
Although Ichigo and his parents hadn't explicitly hidden supernatural matters from Karin, they hadn't taught her how to train, either.
"What are you two guessing for?"
Tatsuki smacked each of them once.
"Just ask Karin later."
Just like when they were children, whenever the three of them were together, Tatsuki naturally became the big sister of the group.
Another round of chaos and emotional crying ensued.
Even now, Tsunayoshi still wasn't entirely accustomed to the Kurosaki family's unique way of expressing affection.
Even Karin, who had always been the calmest of them, was beginning to resemble Isshin when it came to expressing her emotions.
Eventually, after who knew how long, the Kurosaki family finally calmed down.
Meanwhile, the Ishida family's barbecue feast was ready.
"Yuzu, Karin, do you know what your abilities are called?"
Once the Kurosaki family had settled down somewhat, Tsunayoshi quickly changed the subject while holding a piece of grilled meat in his mouth.
He really didn't want to spend the entire meal listening to Isshin's crying.
"Oh, right!"
Masaki's attention immediately shifted.
"Quickly, tell Mommy. What are your Schrift?"
"Schrift?"
Yuzu blinked adorably.
"What is that?"
"It's the power inside your body."
Ichigo leaned over.
"The name of that thing is—"
"Don't teach her anything."
Tsunayoshi stuffed a piece of grilled meat into Ichigo's mouth.
"Come sit over here."
He dragged Ichigo toward the dining table.
"Close your eyes and feel it."
Ryūken began explaining.
"You should be able to sense countless tiny particles in the air."
"Those are Reishi."
"Then calm your mind further."
"There should be similar particles within your own body."
"Use your consciousness to investigate them."
"They should respond to you."
"It may be a word."
"Or perhaps a letter..."
No one found Ryūken's explanation tedious.
Following his instructions, Yuzu and Karin quickly entered the proper state.
"As expected, Ryūken is much more professional."
Masaki sat down at the table and began chatting with Kanae.
"It reminds me of the days when we studied together as children..."
"Come to think of it, why doesn't Mom teach Yuzu and Karin herself?"
Ichigo leaned toward Tsunayoshi and began discussing the matter.
"Aunt Masaki's carefree personality..."
Tsunayoshi glanced sideways at Ichigo.
"She was probably a bit of a beautiful airhead when she was young, too."
"When it comes to theoretical knowledge, we both know Uncle Ryūken is more reliable."
Tsunayoshi paused.
"And if Aunt Masaki weren't a little airheaded, would there even be a Kurosaki Ichigo?"
He couldn't help thinking it.
After all, if Masaki had been more cautious, she and Isshin could have simply stayed at range and fired arrows at White together.
There was no way White would have been able to get close to her.
Everyone continued eating and chatting.
Before long, the two girls found their respective Schrift according to Ryūken's instructions.
"Mom, I know!"
Yuzu excitedly raised her hand.
"That Schrift thing!"
"As expected of my daughter!"
Masaki enthusiastically encouraged her.
"Masaki."
Ryūken spoke seriously.
"Yuzu and Karin have exceptional talent as Quincies."
"In fact, their talent is somewhat greater than Ichigo's."
"I understand."
Masaki nodded without hesitation.
"Ryūken, I'll leave them to you."
She was remarkably open-minded and showed no intention of interfering.
"Wait!"
Ichigo protested loudly.
"Uncle Ryūken can evaluate them if he wants, but why does he always have to drag me into it?"
"My Schrift is A!"
"How does that make my talent inferior?!"
"Because you keep using Heilig Pfeil like a sword..."
Even Ryūken had begun making fun of him.
"That can't be my fault!"
Ichigo protested.
"They just look too much like Tensa Zangetsu!"
"You two stop arguing already!"
Isshin cut in with a lovestruck expression.
"Come on, my precious daughters! Tell Daddy what your amazing powers are!"
Karin gave Isshin a disdainful look.
"My Schrift is C."
"Compress."
"I can compress the surrounding Reishi into a sphere and then fire it."
As Karin spoke, she demonstrated.
She raised one finger.
All the surrounding Reishi gathered toward her fingertip.
Just as Tsunayoshi had seen earlier, a small Reishi sphere appeared at her fingertip.
Karin pinched the sphere between her fingers.
Then, using the motion of shooting a marble, she launched it.
Boom!
The Reishi sphere exploded like a grenade.
"The power is considerable."
Ryūken recorded the data.
"Does it have any usage limitations?"
"No."
"As long as there is enough Reishi around me, I can release as many as I want."
Ryūken continued writing for a moment before stopping.
"It hasn't exceeded the limits of Reishi manipulation."
"It seems more like you've transformed Heilig Pfeil into an attack resembling an artillery shell."
He looked at Karin.
"Would you be willing to initially manifest your Quincy bow in the form of a slingshot?"
"Um..."
Karin scratched her head.
"Uncle, you can decide."
She had only just begun learning about these powers.
She didn't have enough experience to make that kind of judgment herself.
"Then we'll leave it like this for now."
"If you can condense the projectiles quickly enough, we can even replace the bow with a firearm."
"We'll test the details later."
Ryūken had managed to introduce firearms into the discussion in just a few sentences.
"Uncle Ryūken's thought process really jumps around."
Tsunayoshi turned toward Uryū.
"Is he no longer satisfied with just using a bow?"
"Isn't that because of you?"
Uryū sighed.
"You told Father before that the Wandenreich already had Quincies using firearms a thousand years ago."
"Grandfather didn't bring those records out."
"And our own combat style has become too rigid."
"Father probably wants to experiment with Karin."
"Next is me!"
Yuzu cheerfully announced.
"My Schrift is P!"
She made a V-sign beside her eye.
"Purify!"
The moment she finished speaking, Yuzu became somewhat embarrassed.
"But Yuzu doesn't know how to demonstrate it."
The moment everyone heard the word Purify, they immediately understood why the chain of Hell had disappeared.
There was no doubt that this Schrift had been responsible.
Masaki quickly comforted her.
"Yuzu, don't be sad."
"You've already shown us your ability."
"Really, Mommy?"
After receiving confirmation from Masaki, Yuzu immediately became happy again.
Everyone continued enjoying the feast prepared by the Ishida family.
Only Ryūken remained quietly calculating their future training plans.
"For Karin, I intend to first help her construct a proper Quincy Spirit Bow and establish basic combat capability so that she can protect herself."
"As for Yuzu, I prefer a more balanced development plan."
"She should begin with the fundamentals of Quincy combat."
Ryūken's plan received unanimous approval.
Only Karin silently raised her hand.
"Um..."
"I carefully sensed my ability."
"I don't think I've completely manifested it yet."
"But I don't know what the other part is."
"It feels like... it isn't the power of my Schrift."
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