Yoshio still didn't answer, just smiled at Rukia.
Seeing his smile, Rukia's certainty wavered. She sat back down, falling silent.
She likes sweets, and Byakuya prefers spicy, yet meals at home are always sweet.
This...
What does that mean?
Could her brother...
Has he been caring for her?
But...
Why?
Or is Lieutenant Yoshio lying?
Rukia looked at Yoshio, lost in thought.
"I'm Renji's good friend," Yoshio said. "To be honest, I've seen you a few times, and each time you looked gloomy."
You're Renji's friend; I'm Renji's friend. So you're my friend—Yoshio's friend. I don't want my friend to be unhappy every day, so I'm telling you these things.
Yoshio said, "Actually, there's no need to close yourself off. As long as you accept your identity calmly, you'll naturally feel the love of those around you."
As soon as he finished, Yoshio stood up.
He walked over, patted her shoulder.
"Your ten minutes are almost up. Head home so your brother doesn't worry."
He left the room as he finished speaking.
After paying, Rukia also came out.
She saw Yoshio standing at the door, walked over, bowed slightly, and whispered, "Thank you."
This time, Yoshio calmly accepted her bow.
He smiled. "Don't be so gloomy. Look—if the stars aren't happy, how boring the night would be."
He pointed to the sky.
It was already dark, and the weather wasn't good. The dim sky held almost no twinkling stars.
"..." Rukia said nothing, just watched Yoshio wave and leave.
She turned and walked toward the Kuchiki estate.
Leaving the Sixth District, Yoshio smiled faintly.
This is the benefit of doing extra homework.
Without extra homework, how could he have chosen books so precisely for Nanao?
Without extra homework, how would he know Rukia likes sweets and Byakuya likes spicy food?
Well, credit his previous life's memories. Who knew he was a hardcore Shinigami fan back then—knowing even the Kuchiki family's private habits.
Thinking of this brightened Yoshio's mood.
As for how things would develop between Rukia and the Kuchiki family, he wasn't sure.
He only knew Rukia's favorability toward him had reached fifty-five; he'd soon get a one-time ["Stars."]
Humming a tune, Yoshio headed home and let time pass.
…
Three months later, Yoshio successfully pushed Nanao's favorability over sixty.
In these three months, Nanao came to the 5th Division library several times to borrow books, all recommended by Yoshio.
Nanao's impression of Yoshio improved steadily—she believed people who love reading can't be bad.
"I don't know what spell you cast on Nanao, but as a captain I got told to 'learn from Yoshio.' How embarrassing," Kyōraku Shunsui complained to Yoshio once while drinking.
Yoshio only chuckled.
Look at Nanao—the one who barely acknowledged me at first is now willingly contributing her Soul Ability.
Soon, I'm confident I can push her favorability to eighty and permanently get [Mirror Reflection]!
And look at you—your favorability is still stuck at fifty!
Fifty three months ago, fifty now!
So heartless!
At the end, Yoshio shot Shunsui a faintly resentful look, making Shunsui a bit uneasy.
But the biggest change in those three months was Hollow White.
Hollow White completed its transformation and gained a very strange ability.
It's...
As long as Hollow White kills a Shinigami, it evolves.
It not only grows stronger, but also smarter.
Its hollow hole is now full of tumor-like masses, like a heart. Who knows how many Shinigami it's already killed.
Yoshio had seen Hollow White only twice since then, and only knew Aizen hadn't left Hollow White in the Human World permanently—it would occasionally go to Rukongai to assassinate patrolling Shinigami.
As for Rukia, Yoshio later visited the 13th Division for work and saw her there.
Rukia thanked Yoshio again, but Yoshio didn't know what exactly had happened in the Kuchiki family.
He'd thought time would continue flowing quietly step by step, until the plot arrived decades later.
But that day, as Momo was on her routine visit to the 5th Division, he heard people from fifth division discussing something.
"What happened?"
Curious, Yoshio approached Hinamori Momo.
Hinamori Momo was startled at first, but relaxed when she saw it was Yoshio.
She said, "Yesterday, 13th Division Shinigami were attacked by a Hollow. Our people went to help, but they were all killed."
Yoshio was surprised. "That's no small matter. Who died?"
"Ninth Seat Sanada was killed, and I heard the 13th Division's 3rd Seat also died."
Sanada had been promoted to Ninth Seat after Yoshio, and before Yoshio even had time to obtain a Soul Ability, he had died.
And the 3rd Seat of the 13th Division...
Shiba Miyako?
In the original story, the Shinigami who died to Metastacia—Shiba Kaien's wife—still died?
Is this the so-called inertia of history?
Metastacia had already been eliminated by him, yet she still had an accident?
Although Yoshio didn't know exactly what happened, he knew if something bad occurred, he should look for Aizen.
It's always Aizen's fault.
Yoshio bade Hinamori farewell and entered Aizen's office.
Aizen was reading the latest issue of Seireitei Communication.
Yoshio's novel had been running for three months, with thirteen chapters so far.
The current storyline had the protagonist gathering comrades to help his navigator and take on a Wolfman fallen to the Beast Realm.
"If you write it like this, Captain Komamura won't be pleased."
Aizen spoke when he noticed Yoshio enter.
"It's fine," Yoshio said. "There are good werewolves too. I even plan to have a Wolfman join the main cast later."
"Alright, enough about that," Yoshio sat opposite Aizen and asked, "I heard something happened last night. What exactly?"
Aizen kept reading Seireitei Communication. "I only know the rough outline. It seems the 13th Division's 3rd Seat, Shiba Miyako, found a strange Hollow."
"She was overconfident, thought she could handle it, but in the end died by the sword."