"Is that what it means to be a Shinigami?"
Kibune Makoto watched as the black rickshaw carrying Shūsuke Amagai slowly disappeared into the distance. A passionate light flickered in his dark gray eyes.
I understand now, Shinigami-sama!
I… will definitely become a Shinigami!
Meanwhile, Hoko was still kneeling on the ground, holding the lunchbox in both hands.
Her emerald-green eyes stared blankly at the rickshaw disappearing in the distance. In her mind, the smiling face of Shūsuke Amagai kept appearing again and again.
Her small face slowly flushed red, though no one knew what she was thinking.
Whoosh!
As Amagai left, the gathered crowd quickly dispersed. Before long, the entire Tansaku Street was empty.
Only Kibune Makoto and Hoko remained, staring at each other.
"Hey!"
Fūjin Taichi waved a hand in front of their faces. "Wakey, wakey! You're both starting to drool!"
"Huh?!"
Hoko was the first to react. She hurriedly covered her mouth—only to realize she'd been tricked.
Immediately, she protested angrily: "Fūjin-kun, you're lying again!"
Two days earlier, when Hoko had asked who Tite Kubo was, Fūjin Taichi had answered with a completely serious expression:
Tite Kubo was supposedly his distant relative, one of the wise sages of the Central 46 Chambers, widely respected and beloved by the people of Rukongai.
The innocent Hoko had believed him.
But that same night, Kibune Makoto immediately pointed out the flaw in the story.
Members of the Central 46 Chambers were all nobles and elders of the Soul Society—powerful figures who had held influence for generations.
How could someone like Fūjin Taichi, who had just come from Rukongai, possibly have such a wealthy and powerful relative?
Fūjin Taichi tried to argue back with his smooth tongue, but Makoto simply rolled his eyes so hard they were practically whiter than ping-pong balls.
This time was no different.
Makoto rolled his eyes again, crossed his arms, and tried to walk away coolly.
But the next moment—
Slip!
He stepped on a watermelon rind and fell flat on his face.
"Showing off unintentionally… is the most fatal kind."
Fūjin Taichi shook his head.
Taking a rice ball from Hoko, he popped it into his mouth while teasing Makoto:
"They say cows eat grass but produce milk."
"But you eat grain, yet somehow manage to squeeze out brain matter instead."
"Use your brain a little. That's not how you act cool."
"Idiot!"
Kibune Makoto scrambled up angrily, kicked the watermelon rind that had caused him to fall, and looked around furiously.
"If I ever catch the guy who threw this here, I'll kill him!"
"Oh, good luck with that."
Fūjin Taichi stared thoughtfully at the green-striped watermelon rind that had flown away.
He seemed to remember seeing a silver-haired brat carrying a watermelon earlier that afternoon.
Yeah… a very annoying-looking kid.
"Hmph!"
Kibune Makoto rubbed his aching chin and walked over.
Taking another rice ball from Hoko, he bit into it fiercely and said:
"That Shinigami was right. Not only will we become Shinigami—"
"—we'll become the best Shinigami!"
"That way we won't have to go hungry, and we won't have to live in a dump like this!"
"Makoto!"
Hoko glared at him reproachfully.
Then she took another rice ball from the lunchbox and placed it in his hand.
"Don't say things like that anymore. Just eat."
"…"
Makoto didn't respond.
He silently chewed on the rice ball while Hoko nibbled on hers in small bites.
For a moment, everything became quiet.
Only the faint sounds of chewing could be heard.
At that moment, a familiar neighbor passing through Tansaku Street noticed them eating rice balls and exclaimed in surprise:
"Hoko! I remember that you and Makoto used to get full just by drinking water! Why are you suddenly eating rice balls lately? Are you sick?"
Hoko shook her head, not knowing how to explain.
Watching this, Fūjin Taichi silently thought to himself:
Just as I suspected…
After being affected by that Shinigami's spiritual pressure, their stamina was heavily drained, causing them to feel much stronger hunger than usual…
It seems they're naturally suited to becoming Shinigami.
With that thought, Fūjin Taichi took the last rice ball from the lunchbox and placed it into Hoko's hands.
"Hoko, you're a girl. Your body is still growing—so you should eat more."
"Huh? Fūjin-kun, how could I…"
"It's fine. I'm naturally good at enduring hunger."
Fūjin Taichi thought about the fifty years he had spent in the Hanagare District, living day by day without proper meals.
Yeah… my hunger endurance is pretty strong.
"Fūjin-kun… how about we split it together?"
Hoko held the rice ball and looked at him pitifully.
"You eat it. I'm not hungry."
Fūjin Taichi remembered the woman in red he had seen in the Jinzen space before he fainted.
He shook his head, indicating he was already full.
Then he quietly walked away.
Seeing that Fūjin Taichi truly wasn't pretending, Hoko and Kibune Makoto stopped insisting. They each finished the rice balls in their hands, then returned to the small cabin in the forest.
Nothing else happened that night.
...
The next morning, the sky was dim and gray, as if it might rain at any moment. Small gusts of wind blew in waves, sweeping bits of grass across the open fields and sending them swirling through the air.
Near a small lake by the Sixth Forest of Junmai, Kibune Makoto sat on the trunk of a zelkova tree, arms folded.
His dark gray eyes stubbornly stared into the depths of the sky, as if he were gazing toward some distant place—or perhaps trying to avoid facing something.
Meanwhile, Fūjin Taichi leaned silently against the tree.
His dark black eyes were fixed on a lonely grave beside the lake, and an inexplicable sense of sorrow appeared in them.
Buried in that grave was Hoko's mother, a woman named Kasumioji Sadako.
At that moment, Hoko was kneeling in front of the gravestone, burning incense and quietly sobbing.
According to the story, more than one hundred years ago, Sadako had been taking the five-year-old Hoko to school when they were involved in a car accident.
Both mother and daughter died in the accident and were later guided to Soul Society by a Shinigami named Ashido Kano.
Later on, a noble lord who had recently lost his wife encountered Sadako while visiting Junmai to mourn.
Because Sadako looked almost identical to his late wife, he insisted—despite strong opposition from his clan elders—on bringing Sadako and Hoko into the family.
From that moment on, they adopted the Kasumioji surname.
For a time after the marriage, they lived happily together.
Later, they had another daughter, Rurichiyo. Including Hoko, the family of four lived in harmony.
But not long afterward, the noble lord suddenly died.
Without anyone to protect them, Kasumioji Sadako and Hoko were driven out of the clan by the elders and expelled to Rukongai.
From then until now, more than fifty years had passed.
...
"Kibune… what was that noble lord's name?"
Fūjin Taichi suddenly asked from beneath the tree.
"…"
Sitting on the tree, Kibune Makoto turned his head toward Fūjin Taichi, then shook his head.
"I don't know. Hoko has never mentioned it. Maybe… her mother never told her either."
"Then how do you know all this?"
"I… heard it from the neighbors."
Kibune Makoto sighed.
"Some of them used to be members of the Gotei 13. They vaguely remember what happened back then."
"What was that member's name?"
"His name was… Takizawa Ichirō."
"That sounds like something you just made up."
"How could it be!"
"Then where is he now?"
"He probably… already died."
Sweat began forming on Kibune Makoto's forehead.
He clearly hadn't expected Fūjin Taichi to question things so seriously, as if determined to keep asking until the truth came out.
But this time, Fūjin Taichi simply said:
"Oh."
After that, he said nothing more.
He silently watched as the sun slowly rose in the east, climbing little by little above the horizon.
Kibune Makoto let out a sigh of relief.
When Hoko finished paying respects at her mother's grave and returned, Makoto jumped down from the tree.
Then he and Fūjin Taichi walked on either side of her, escorting her as they slowly headed toward the East Gate of Seireitei — the Shōryūmon.