At Karakura Elementary School, a short-haired girl stood with her hands on her hips, glaring angrily at Tsunayoshi.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi! Where exactly did you go during the holiday? You weren't at home, and you weren't at Ichigo's house either. Didn't we say we'd hang out together?"
The one speaking was Arisawa Tatsuki. She was clearly unhappy that Tsunayoshi had disappeared during the break.
"Come on, Tatsuki, don't be like that," Ichigo said beside him, trying to defend Tsunayoshi.
"Mom said Tsuna had something important to do."
"Oh please," Tatsuki snorted. "Ichigo, you're always clinging to your mom. When are you going to grow up and be independent?"
Instead of helping Tsunayoshi, Ichigo's defense ended up drawing Tatsuki's ire toward himself.
Ichigo didn't seem angry at all. He simply grinned.
To him, there was nothing wrong with liking his mom.
"Tatsuki, after school we'll go to your dojo. Your new move won't work on me."
Tsunayoshi immediately saw through Tatsuki's little plan.
With her tomboyish personality and the fact that her family ran a karate dojo, she loved challenging the boys to sparring matches.
Ichigo was usually her punching bag.
However, Tatsuki had never beaten Tsunayoshi.
He was certain she had developed some impressive new technique during the vacation and was eager to try it out on him.
Unfortunately for her, no matter what she tried, Tatsuki—an ordinary human—could never defeat Tsunayoshi, who now possessed both Fullbring and Quincy powers.
"Hmph! We'll see about that!"
Tatsuki tossed her head proudly and returned to her seat.
Class was about to start.
Once school ended, Sawada Tsunayoshi would finally lose.
Before the teacher arrived, Tatsuki looked around aimlessly.
When her gaze drifted toward the window—
A bead of cold sweat slid down her forehead.
Floating above the schoolyard was a fat man in a suit.
Drifting in midair.
What… was that?
A ghost?
Tatsuki couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Her rational mind insisted ghosts didn't exist.
But her eyes clearly saw the floating figure.
"Tsunayoshi… Ichigo… c-can you see that thing?" Tatsuki asked nervously, pointing outside.
"Oh, that guy?" Ichigo replied casually.
"Don't worry. They're usually harmless. Sometimes they mess around a bit, but they're not dangerous."
"You sound way too used to this," Tatsuki said in disbelief.
Ichigo wasn't the only calm one.
Tsunayoshi was calm too—though for a different reason.
The Chain of Fate on the soul's chest had almost completely eroded.
And the spirit itself seemed to have lost most of its consciousness.
It was a sign of imminent Hollowfication.
Once the Chain of Fate was fully corroded, a hole would open in the soul's chest.
A soul that lost its heart would transform into a Hollow, becoming a creature driven only by the instinct to devour Reishi.
While Ichigo was busy explaining spirits to Tatsuki, Tsunayoshi quietly slipped out of the classroom.
That soul was already beyond saving.
There was no time to fulfill its lingering wishes and guide it peacefully onward.
All he could do now was prevent the soon-to-be Hollow from rampaging through the school.
Tsunayoshi couldn't understand why Soul Society hadn't stationed a Shinigami in Karakura Town.
He had only spent a month training at the Ishida house, yet another soul had already reached the brink of becoming a Hollow.
If a Shinigami were present, they could perform Konsō with a Zanpakutō.
But Tsunayoshi had no such ability.
The only thing he could do was destroy the Hollow before it caused harm.
As he ran through the hallway, Tsunayoshi silently moved the idea of acquiring Shinigami powers higher on his priority list.
Outside the classroom window—
Right before Ichigo's confused eyes and Tatsuki's shocked gaze—
The spirit's chest suddenly opened into a fist-sized hole.
Its body twisted grotesquely.
Monstrous claws formed along its limbs.
A white Hollow mask covered its face.
It had completely transformed.
Just as the Hollow's claw lashed toward the classroom—
Tatsuki screamed.
The entire class turned toward their direction.
And suddenly—
The sky went dark.
At least, from Tatsuki's perspective.
The terrifying claw vanished from sight.
On the roof of the elementary school, Sawada Tsunayoshi stood with a silver gauntlet covering his left hand.
The gauntlet bore the Vongola family crest and the symbol of the First Vongola.
From it extended a long stretch of black fabric that spread outward—
Covering the entire school building.
The cloak of the Vongola Primo, embodying the Sky Flame:
Purifying everything. Devouring everything. Encompassing everything.
The cloak's immense defensive power blocked the Hollow's attack.
Tsunayoshi drew a long cylindrical weapon from his waist.
It was the Seele Schneider Ryūken had recently given him.
Tsunayoshi's Fullbring allowed him to wield all the weapons of the First Vongola Guardians, granting him versatile combat options.
However, there was one flaw:
He could only manifest one weapon at a time.
To switch weapons, he had to change his Fullbring form.
Right now, with the cloak deployed for defense, he couldn't summon another weapon.
His spirit bow was also half-useless.
Fortunately, Ryūken had given him the Seele Schneider, which was more than enough to deal with a newly born Hollow.
A blade of vibrating Reishi extended from the weapon.
Tsunayoshi swung it toward the Hollow's mask.
Under the intense vibration of high-density Reishi, the mask split open like tofu and dissolved into spiritual particles.
The Seele Schneider embedded itself into the center of the playground.
Tatsuki's vision suddenly returned.
All the students were talking excitedly about the strange "solar eclipse."
Everyone looked up at the sky.
Only Tatsuki kept staring at the schoolyard.
She caught a glimpse of a familiar figure flashing past.
Tatsuki prided herself on her dynamic vision.
She recognized that silhouette instantly.
No wonder that troublemaker had disappeared right when the chaos began.
When the teacher finally arrived, the commotion subsided.
Tsunayoshi quietly slipped back into his seat.
The moment he sat down—
Tatsuki spun around sharply and stared at him.
"Where did you just go?"
Tsunayoshi hadn't expected her observation skills to be so sharp.
Ichigo was still laughing cluelessly beside him, yet Tatsuki was already interrogating him.
"Stomachache. I went to the bathroom."
"Really?"
Tatsuki clearly wasn't convinced, but she held back.
She would deal with this after school.
After class, Tsunayoshi and Ichigo accompanied Tatsuki home.
Once the other students had gone their separate ways, Tatsuki finally confronted them.
"Can you two… see those ghosts?"
"I think 'souls' is the better word," Ichigo replied casually.
"I see them all the time. Nothing scary about it."
"Not scary?!" Tatsuki snapped.
"That monster thing earlier wasn't scary?!"
Then she turned to Tsunayoshi.
"What do you think?"
Tsunayoshi hadn't expected Tatsuki to gain spiritual awareness this early.
Originally, she only began seeing spirits in high school due to Ichigo's influence.
After thinking about it, Tsunayoshi could only attribute it to the combined influence of himself and Ichigo.
He possessed spiritual talent similar to Ichigo.
And since Masaki hadn't died, Ichigo never became withdrawn and remained close to Tatsuki.
Their combined spiritual influence likely awakened her perception earlier.
In Tsunayoshi's memory, Orihime Inoue and Yasutora "Chad" Sado also developed spiritual awareness due to Ichigo's influence—and eventually awakened Fullbring abilities.
Could Tatsuki also develop Fullbring?
But Fullbringers were typically defined as humans who possessed fragments of the Soul King.
Such individuals attracted Hollow attacks while still in the womb due to their spiritual pressure.
Some believed the ability came from a mother being attacked by a Hollow during pregnancy.
In reality, the key factor was possessing a fragment of the Soul King.
However, the original story never clearly stated that Orihime or Chad possessed such fragments.
Yet they still awakened Fullbring.
Even so, Tsunayoshi had no intention of encouraging Tatsuki to pursue Fullbring training.
Fighting Hollows wasn't a game.
It was life-and-death combat.
"Hey, Tsuna, why are you staring at me like that?" Tatsuki said, blushing slightly.
"Don't overthink it," Tsunayoshi said quickly.
"You probably just imagined things."
"Imagined it?" Tatsuki jabbed a finger into his chest.
"I haven't even asked about you yet!"
"That person who suddenly appeared in the schoolyard earlier—was that you?"
"How did you appear and disappear like that?"
"Superpowers or something?"
"Superpowers?" Ichigo asked, confused. He hadn't seen that moment.
Tsunayoshi hadn't expected Tatsuki to catch the instant when he retrieved the Seele Schneider.
She had only seen his back—but recognized him anyway.
Most people would have dismissed it as a trick of the eye.
Deciding not to push the conversation further, Tsunayoshi suddenly darted away.
"I have no idea what you're talking about!"
His reaction made Tatsuki stomp her foot angrily.
She grabbed Ichigo and chased after him.
Later, at Tatsuki's house—
After their usual sparring and playful fighting ended, Ichigo ran home.
Tsunayoshi prepared to leave as well.
As he reached the front gate, he narrowed his eyes and glanced toward a nearby corner.
A "little kitten" was hiding there.
"You can come out now," Tsunayoshi called.
"It's getting late. Are you still playing hide-and-seek?"
Tatsuki slowly stepped out from behind the wall, pretending nothing had happened.
"I was just… heading out to buy something."
Tsunayoshi said nothing.
Instead, he stepped into her blind spot.
Moments later—
Tatsuki appeared right in front of him.
"Going somewhere, little Tatsuki?" he said with a smile. "Need help?"
"Oh… I'm just buying something. No need."
Tsunayoshi looked her up and down.
She was still wearing her karate uniform—no pockets, no money.
Sighing slightly, he took 1,000 yen from his backpack and placed it in her hand.
Then he gently patted her head.
"It's too late today."
"If you want to follow me, try again tomorrow."
With that, Tsunayoshi turned and walked away.
Tatsuki looked at the money in her hand and pouted.
She knew he had seen right through her plan.
She had intended to secretly follow him and catch him in the act.
She was certain that the person she saw earlier was Tsunayoshi.
He was hiding something from her.
But it seemed she would have to wait for another opportunity.
Once Tsunayoshi lowered his guard—
She would try again.
If he refused to tell her the truth…
Then she would find the answer herself.