"Yoruichi-san, I heard Rukia came to Karakura Town too, but I haven't seen her even once. What's going on?"
Ichigo suddenly remembered Rukia.
As far as he knew, she didn't have many friends in Karakura Town.
Kazuma was an exception, of course, but he'd already returned to Soul Society to resume his duties as a captain.
There was no reason for him to still be hanging around the Human World.
"Suì-Fēng, did Rukia really come here?"
Yoruichi was just as confused as Ichigo.
She rarely bothered keeping track of minor personnel assignments like this, so she turned toward Suì-Fēng, who'd only recently arrived from Soul Society.
"That's an internal Seventh Division matter. How would I know all the details?"
Suì-Fēng shrugged.
"Though now that you mention it, Kazuma has been missing for quite a while too."
Rukia wasn't important enough for Suì-Fēng to keep tabs on personally.
Kazuma, on the other hand, was another matter.
The man had suddenly vanished again, and this time his own wife had been called back to Soul Society to cover his position.
"Huh?"
Orihime, who'd been quietly listening, looked puzzled.
"Captain Suì-Fēng, did you just say this was a Seventh Division matter? Wasn't Rukia originally in the Thirteenth Division? Did she transfer?"
"I don't really know the details either."
Suì-Fēng gave another helpless shrug.
"All I know is that Rukia is currently assigned to the Seventh Division."
"Wait."
A knowing look appeared in Yoruichi's eyes.
"Did you just say Captain Kazuma isn't in Soul Society?"
If both master and student had disappeared at the same time, Yoruichi had a pretty good idea where they were.
They were almost certainly with her ancestor, Shihōin Chika, and the other original captains.
"Yeah. Kazuma suddenly disappeared a while ago."
Suì-Fēng's expression immediately became animated as her appetite for gossip took over.
"And you wouldn't believe who's acting as captain of the Seventh Division right now — his wife! The bastard actually has a wife! Can you believe that?"
When Kyōraku had revealed it during the captains' meeting, Suì-Fēng had nearly been struck dumb.
"His wife?"
Yoruichi blinked.
"You mean Katori Batsu'unsai, the original captain of the Eighth Division?"
Of course Yoruichi knew who Kazuma's wife was.
It was hardly some earth-shattering secret.
"You knew about Captain Batsu'unsai?"
Suì-Fēng had expected Yoruichi to be just as shocked as everyone else.
Instead, she sounded as though the two were old acquaintances.
"Hahaha! Why wouldn't I?"
Yoruichi laughed and patted Suì-Fēng on the shoulder.
"I even met her when I was little. I just hadn't seen her since she left Soul Society. I didn't expect her to suddenly go back."
Yoruichi had been around Soul Society for a very long time herself. Knowing something like this was hardly unusual.
As they continued walking, Yoruichi and Suì-Fēng also discussed the Shinigami they'd seen inside the Bount estate.
If neither of them was mistaken, the man had once belonged to the Eleventh Division.
Why a Shinigami had chosen to side with the Bounts was another matter entirely, but Suì-Fēng would need to report the situation to Soul Society so a formal warrant could be issued.
"Suì-Fēng, take Ichigo and the others back to Kisuke's place for me."
Yoruichi suddenly stopped.
"There's something I need to check."
She urgently wanted to confirm whether Kazuma really was staying with the original captains.
Before Suì-Fēng could ask why they couldn't simply go together, Yoruichi had already accelerated away in the opposite direction and vanished.
"Seriously…"
Suì-Fēng muttered irritably.
"I don't even want to see that bastard Urahara Kisuke."
She'd never forgiven him for what happened all those years ago.
Yoruichi had helped Urahara escape Soul Society and ended up abandoning everything herself in the process.
As far as Suì-Fēng was concerned, that damned man in the striped hat had stolen Yoruichi-sama away from her.
She would hold that grudge for the rest of her life.
...
At the estate where the original captains were staying, Kazuma and Rukia were sitting on the roof, supposedly observing the stars.
Well…
That sounded much more dignified than the truth.
They were bored, so they were drinking while staring at the night sky.
"Teacher, you're a terrible captain."
Rukia took another sip of alcohol as she complained.
"You barely went back to Soul Society before running off again, and then you tricked Master's wife into going back and covering for you. Does your conscience not bother you at all?"
As far as Rukia could tell, her teacher had very few redeeming qualities aside from being ridiculously strong.
She still had no idea what Batsu'unsai had ever seen in him.
Had Master's wife gone blind?
Or had Kazuma somehow drugged her?
"Sounds like someone's itching for another beating."
Kazuma casually raised his flask and took a small sip.
This little brat was getting more disrespectful by the day.
Rukia seemed to have developed a particular fondness for arguing with him, as though every successful jab gave her some tremendous sense of accomplishment.
Worse, she appeared to be addicted to it.
The moment Rukia imagined Kazuma beating her again, a shiver ran down her spine.
She absolutely didn't want another serving of his special brand of corporal punishment. Her backside had barely survived the last one.
Unfortunately, her mouth had always been faster than her survival instincts.
Realizing she was in danger of saying something else, she hurriedly took several large drinks and used the alcohol to keep herself quiet.
"Hm?"
Kazuma suddenly paused.
"What's she doing here?"
A familiar spiritual pressure had entered his perception.
Yoruichi.
But why was she coming here?
Wasn't she normally inseparable from that scheming bastard Urahara Kisuke?
Had something serious happened?
"Huh?"
Rukia stood up and craned her neck around in confusion.
"Who's here? I don't see anyone."
She looked left.
Then right.
There wasn't a single person in sight.
Kazuma stared at her.
"Are you an idiot? You know how to sense reiatsu, don't you?"
He immediately raised his hand and smacked her on the head.
Thump!
"Ow!"
Rukia grabbed her head and yelped in pain.
"Oh! Right! I forgot about that."
She quickly closed her eyes and concentrated on the surrounding spiritual pressure.
It didn't take long before she detected the familiar presence approaching them.
"It's Yoruichi-san."
Rukia opened her eyes.
"Why is she coming here?"
Her strength had improved substantially. Being able to detect Yoruichi's reiatsu from this distance already placed Rukia firmly among the stronger Shinigami.
How strong was she now?
Well…
She could probably handle about three Kenseis.
Call it roughly three Mugurumas' worth!
"How should I know why she's here?"
Kazuma rolled his eyes.
"I'm not living inside Yoruichi's head. Maybe she suddenly started missing her charming ancestor."
...
"Hm?"
As Yoruichi drew closer to the estate, she soon detected Kazuma's spiritual pressure.
There was another reiatsu beside him as well.
It felt both familiar and strangely different.
More importantly, its intensity was already around the third tier.
Yoruichi frowned.
'Who is that?'
Once she came close enough to clearly make out the figures on the rooftop, she nearly stopped dead.
The person sitting beside Kazuma was Rukia.
Yoruichi stared at her as though she'd just seen a ghost.
How long had it even been since they last met?
And Rukia's reiatsu had already reached the third tier?
Was this girl secretly some kind of genius too?
Had her talent simply been buried all these years?
During the Aizen incident, Rukia's spiritual pressure had only been around the fifth tier.
On paper, fifth to third tier was only a difference of two levels.
In reality, that gap was enormous.
There were Shinigami who could train their entire lives and never cross it.
Reaching third-tier reiatsu meant possessing the qualifications necessary to master Bankai.
Someone at that level was virtually destined to grow into a captain-class Shinigami.
For Rukia to have advanced this much in such a short period of time was simply unbelievable.