"You're awake?"
A woman's voice sounded from nearby, and only then did Ishida Uryū realize someone else was in the room.
'So it wasn't a dream?'
He'd assumed what he remembered from before losing consciousness was nothing more than a hallucination.
Then he got a clear look at the woman standing before him.
"Wait… why were you the one who saved me?"
Surprise filled Uryū's eyes.
The woman before him was none other than Yoshino Sōma, one of the Bounts.
Not long ago, she'd been relentlessly pursuing him and seemingly trying to kill him.
The contrast was so extreme that Uryū couldn't understand what was going on.
"Curious?"
The corner of Yoshino's mouth curved slightly, her expression somewhere between amusement and mockery.
She gracefully picked up two steaming cups of coffee, walked over to the bed, and handed one to him.
Uryū accepted it almost automatically.
Warmth seeped through the cup into his hands, and the rich aroma of coffee reached his nose. Without hesitation, he took a large drink.
Heat flowed down his throat and settled comfortably in his stomach, clearing away much of the fog still clouding his head.
"You're not worried I poisoned it?"
Yoshino suddenly asked.
A hint of curiosity appeared in her eyes.
For someone who'd previously been hunted by her, Uryū was remarkably willing to drink something she handed him without even checking it.
Either there was something wrong with his head, or he trusted her for some inexplicable reason.
"You saved my life."
Uryū's expression remained as impassive as ever.
"I don't think you'd bother killing me with poison after doing that."
Despite sitting in front of the woman who'd just rescued him from danger, he showed very little of the gratitude normally expected toward a lifesaver.
"So it really is trust…"
Yoshino murmured quietly.
Her thoughts drifted into the past.
It had been a very long time since anyone had trusted her so easily.
Ever since joining Kariya's group, manipulation, suspicion, and scheming had become part of everyday life. People used one another and expected betrayal in return.
Trust had become a word so distant that it barely seemed real anymore.
"Why did you save me?"
Uryū's blunt question pulled Yoshino from her memories.
His dark eyes remained fixed on her, as though he were trying to see through the cold exterior and discover her true intentions.
"If I told you…"
Yoshino slowly raised her head to meet his gaze.
"I saw loneliness in your eyes, and it reminded me of my own… would you believe me?"
Her voice was low, almost hoarse, and carried a sadness that seemed to have built up over countless years.
Uryū didn't answer immediately.
Instead, his eyes swept around the room.
The furnishings were extremely simple. There was only one bed, a table, and a chair.
Clearly, Yoshino lived here alone.
That made Uryū wonder whether she'd deliberately chosen not to live with the other Bounts.
Dong…
Dong…
Dong…
A deep, resonant bell suddenly rang from outside.
The sound came from the large clock tower nearby, marking the passing hour and drawing Uryū back from his thoughts.
The reason Yoshino had given for saving him sounded absurd.
And yet, strangely enough, it also felt genuine.
She'd risked herself to save his life for something as intangible as recognizing loneliness in another person.
It was hard to believe, but Uryū couldn't completely dismiss it.
"A long time ago, I lived together with companions too."
Yoshino had been quietly watching him and seemed to recognize what he was thinking.
She walked toward the window and stared out at the busy street below.
"But as time passed…"
She continued speaking, recounting pieces of her past.
When she finally finished, Uryū regarded her thoughtfully.
"You say you hate the passage of time, yet you chose to live inside a clock tower."
He found the contradiction strangely revealing.
In his view, Yoshino didn't truly hate time itself.
She was searching for a reason to continue living.
As a Bount, she possessed an unnaturally long life, almost untouched by aging.
Combined with everything she'd experienced and the rejection she'd suffered, that endless lifespan had left her with no clear idea what she was supposed to do with her future.
And surprisingly, Uryū — normally the most rational and detached member of Ichigo's group — understood that feeling far better than he would have expected.
He might not possess the Bounts' seemingly endless lifespan, but loneliness was hardly unfamiliar to him.
The Quincy had almost disappeared from the world.
Most of his people were already dead.
Even his mother had been robbed of her life by Yhwach, the very progenitor of the Quincy whom their people revered.
And his beloved grandfather had ultimately died because the Shinigami failed to intervene in time during a Hollow attack.
Different circumstances.
The same loneliness.
"Why are your people hunting us?" Uryū finally asked.
Urahara had already explained that Bounts particularly favored souls with spiritual power, but that alone didn't justify mobilizing so many members of their group against Ichigo and the others.
"Our goal isn't actually to kill you."
Yoshino answered without the slightest hesitation.
"We're putting you in danger so Soul Society will send Shinigami to rescue you."
"The Shinigami are the ones we really want to kill."
Uryū stared at her.
She'd just revealed their entire plan without even trying to hide it.
Was that really wise?
What was stopping him from immediately contacting Soul Society and telling them to send enough people to wipe out Kariya's entire organization?
"All right, Quincy boy."
Before Uryū could decide what to do with that information, Yoshino suddenly approached him.
"I think I've finally found something worth continuing to live for."
Then she wrapped both arms around him in a tight embrace.
Uryū froze.
Before his brain could even process what had happened, Yoshino released him, turned around without hesitation, and walked briskly out of the room.
Uryū remained standing there in stunned silence.
For him, that simple hug had been nothing short of catastrophic.
He'd always been painfully inexperienced when it came to women.
Other than his mother, he'd hardly ever shared that kind of physical closeness with any woman in his life.
Yoshino's sudden embrace hit him like a storm.
His face grew hot.
His heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.
Uryū could only stare blankly toward the doorway through which she'd disappeared, replaying the moment again and again in his head.
And with that single embrace, two people who should have belonged to entirely different worlds became connected in a way neither of them could yet explain.