A tense, oppressive atmosphere hung over Urahara Shop.
Ichigo and the others had spent the entire night waiting anxiously for Uryū to return, but there'd been no sign of him.
With every passing minute, their worries grew heavier, and increasingly grim possibilities kept running through their minds.
"Come on, Ichigo. You don't need to worry quite so much. Ishida-kun will be fine."
Urahara Kisuke remained as relaxed as ever, seemingly unconcerned by the situation.
Of course, he alone knew that the Bounts' true targets were not Ichigo and his friends, but the Shinigami of Soul Society.
Even if Uryū had fallen into enemy hands, the Bounts probably wouldn't kill him.
To them, he was far more valuable as bait to lure Shinigami into a trap.
"Urahara-san, what do I have to do before I can use Bankai again?"
Ichigo was in a terrible mood.
Guilt and frustration had been eating away at him all night.
If he'd been able to use Bankai when it mattered, Uryū might never have disappeared in the first place, and the situation wouldn't have gotten this far out of control.
"I'm afraid that's something you'll have to figure out for yourself, Ichigo."
For once, Urahara put away his usual carefree smile and became serious.
"As for how you can regain the ability to use Bankai properly, I really can't give you a direct answer. You'll have to find the breakthrough yourself."
Urahara possessed methods that could help someone achieve Bankai far more quickly than normal, but that didn't mean he could simply hand another person the ability to use it whenever they wished.
Just as Ichigo and the others finally lost patience and prepared to head out in search of Uryū, the front door of Urahara Shop opened.
Uryū had returned.
"Ishida-kun!"
Orihime's face immediately lit up.
"Where have you been? We were all so worried about you!"
The heavy cloud that had been hanging over her all night vanished the moment she saw him standing there safely.
"Sorry. I made everyone worry."
Uryū looked at the concern on his friends' faces and felt warmth spread through his chest, though it was accompanied by a faint sense of guilt.
"Last night, I headed out alone to find help, but my injuries caught up with me and I collapsed along the way. Fortunately, a kind passerby found me while I was unconscious and took me back to their home."
"I only woke up this morning. As soon as I did, I came straight back here."
As he finished speaking, Uryū unconsciously lowered his head, as though hiding something.
He hadn't told them the entire truth.
The person who'd rescued him had certainly not been some ordinary passerby.
It had been Yoshino Sōma.
As for why he was hiding that fact, even Uryū couldn't completely explain it to himself.
Perhaps he was worried about what might happen if the others found out.
Perhaps he simply didn't want to create more trouble for Yoshino.
Whatever the reason, he chose to bury the secret in his heart for now.
"You're safe. That's what matters!"
Orihime clasped her hands in front of her chest and repeated the words with obvious relief.
She was simply happy to see Uryū return unharmed.
"You've all been awake all night because of me. You should go home and rest."
Uryū looked at his exhausted friends.
Everyone seemed drained after staying up until morning, and his voice carried genuine concern.
Orihime immediately let out an enormous yawn.
Now that the tension had disappeared, the exhaustion hit her all at once.
All she wanted was to go home, crawl into bed, and sleep for hours.
"Huh?"
As Ichigo and the others stood to leave, he noticed Uryū was still sitting where he was.
"Uryū, aren't you going home too?"
"Oh, well…"
Uryū hesitated briefly before quickly coming up with an excuse.
"I still have a few injuries that need treatment, so I was going to ask Urahara-san to take a look at them. You don't need to wait for me. Go ahead."
He waved them off.
Urahara stood nearby with his arms folded, watching Uryū with an amused smile.
His sharp eyes naturally saw through the excuse immediately.
The boy was hiding something.
More importantly, whatever secret Uryū was carrying, he clearly didn't want Ichigo or the others to hear about it.
That was why he'd deliberately stayed behind.
Once everyone else had left, Uryū turned toward Urahara.
"Urahara-san, can you track down the owner of a particular spiritual signature?"
He carefully reached into his clothes and pulled out a small, delicate bottle.
A faint spiritual glow emanated from within it, indicating that it contained a trace of some unusual reishi.
Uryū had secretly collected it after Yoshino left.
At the time, her sudden departure had left him standing there in a daze for quite some time before he finally recovered.
He'd been unable to forget the look in Yoshino's eyes as she walked away.
There had been a strange sense of release in them, almost as though she'd finally let go of every attachment she still had to this world.
Uryū and Yoshino had only met a handful of times, yet in that brief moment, he'd clearly felt some indescribable connection between them.
Something deeper than simple sympathy.
That strange bond made him worry about her safety.
Whatever happened, he didn't want Yoshino to come to harm.
That was why he'd taken the risk of collecting a trace of her spiritual pressure and brought it to the extremely knowledgeable Urahara Kisuke.
Urahara immediately recognized the spiritual signature inside the bottle as belonging to a Bount.
He didn't bother asking why Uryū possessed it.
"That shouldn't be too difficult."
Urahara took the bottle.
"Sit here and wait for a bit."
He got up and disappeared into his laboratory.
Before long, he returned carrying a device resembling a mobile phone and handed it to Uryū.
Functionally, it was similar to a Shinigami's Soul Pager, capable of detecting nearby spiritual fluctuations.
The difference was that this particular device had been specially calibrated to track the exact spiritual signature Uryū had given him.
Uryū stared at it with genuine admiration.
He had to admit that Urahara's scientific ability was extraordinary.
"That'll be 200,000 yen."
Uryū nearly choked.
"What?!"
His admiration vanished instantly.
"Why don't you just rob me?!"
He almost flipped the table.
Two hundred thousand yen for this little device?
"Now, now. This shop does need to make a profit."
Urahara smiled innocently.
"Surely Ishida-kun isn't saying he can't afford it?"
There was absolutely no chance Urahara was going to let such a perfect opportunity to make money slip away.
He'd named an outrageous price without the slightest shame.
"You bastard…"
Uryū glared at him, visibly pained.
Then, with immense reluctance, he reached into his wallet, pulled out his credit card, and handed it to the shameless merchant.
...
"Well, well! Since Ishida-kun was generous enough to pay without making too much of a fuss, I can't exactly take your money and do nothing in return, can I? Hehehe… How about I throw in some treatment for those injuries as a little bonus?"
The moment Uryū paid up, Urahara Kisuke's eyes lit up and a delighted smile spread across his face.
He eagerly rubbed his hands together, then began using Kaidō to treat Uryū's injuries.
Streams of green light flowed from his palms and wrapped around the wounded areas, causing the injuries to close at a visible rate.
'This guy really is obsessed with money. Whatever. At least I'm getting healed out of it…'
Uryū stood there expressionlessly as Urahara worked, shaking his head in resignation.
"Am I supposed to thank you? This so-called complimentary treatment feels awfully halfhearted."
The corner of Uryū's mouth twitched as he moved his body experimentally.
His injuries were no longer serious, but the results were obviously nowhere near as effective as Orihime's Sōten Kisshun.
"Oh, come now, Ishida-kun. Don't be so picky."
Urahara patted his chest confidently, completely unfazed by the criticism.
"I happen to be quite proud of my Kaidō! I may not be one of the Fourth Division's professionals, but the results are still perfectly respectable."
"Proud? It's basically a worthless freebie!"
Uryū rolled his eyes.
"If I had the time, I'd be better off asking Inoue to heal me. Her ability is much more effective than yours, and most importantly, she does it for free."
The more Uryū thought about it, the more convinced he became that he'd been thoroughly ripped off.
Unable to tolerate remaining in this den of profiteering for another second, he turned and walked straight toward the door.
"Please come again, Ishida-kun! We always appreciate returning customers! Hahahaha!"
Urahara called cheerfully after him.
He was in an excellent mood.
Two hundred thousand yen from a single transaction.
What a wonderful business!
Uryū visibly grimaced when he heard him and immediately started walking faster.
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