Bleach: I Love Making Friends

Haruki still didn't answer, just smiled at Rukia.

Seeing Haruki's smile, Rukia gradually lost her confidence and sat back down, falling into silence.

She liked sweet foods, Byakuya liked spicy foods, and yet every meal at home was always sweet.

What did this mean?

Was her brother…

Actually caring about her?

But…

Why?

Was Vice-Captain Haruki lying to her?

Rukia looked at Haruki, momentarily lost in thought.

"I'm Renji's good friend," Haruki said. "To be honest, I've seen you a few times, and every time, you seem to be in a gloomy mood."

"You're Renji's friend, and I'm Renji's friend, so that makes us friends too. I don't want my friends to be unhappy every day, which is why I'm telling you this."

Haruki continued, "In daily life, there's no need to lock away your heart. Accept your identity openly, and you'll naturally notice the love people around you have for you."

With that, Haruki stood up.

He walked over to Rukia and patted her shoulder.

"Ten minutes is almost up. You should head home now. Don't make your brother worry."

After saying this, Haruki left the room.

After settling the bill, Rukia also walked out.

She saw Haruki standing at the door, approached him, and bowed slightly, whispering, "Thank you."

This time, Haruki accepted her gesture of respect without hesitation.

He smiled. "Don't look so down anymore. If the stars were unhappy, how boring would the night be?"

He pointed to the sky.

It was already dark, and the weather wasn't great. The night sky was almost devoid of stars.

"…" Rukia didn't say anything, just watched as Haruki waved and walked away.

She then turned and headed back to the Kuchiki estate.

After leaving the 6th District, Haruki chuckled softly.

This was the benefit of doing his homework.

If he hadn't done his homework, how could he have accurately recommended books to Nanao?

If he hadn't done his homework, how could he have known that Rukia liked sweet foods and Byakuya liked spicy ones?

Well, this part was thanks to his memories from his past life. After all, he had been an ultimate Bleach fan in his previous life, so he even knew about the Kuchiki family's private affairs.

Thinking this, Haruki felt a sense of satisfaction.

As for how things would develop between Rukia and the Kuchiki family from here, he didn't know.

All he knew was that Rukia's favorability toward him had now reached 55. He was close to obtaining the one-time ability "Star."

Humming a tune, Haruki returned home and let time flow by.

Three months later, Haruki had raised Nanao's favorability past 60.

During these three months, Nanao had come to the 5th Division's library several times to borrow books, all recommended by Haruki.

Nanao's impression of Haruki had also improved significantly. She believed that someone who loved reading couldn't possibly be a bad person.

"I don't know what kind of spell you've cast on little Nanao, but even I, a captain, got told by her to 'learn from Vice-Captain Haruki.' It's really embarrassing."

Once, during a drinking session, Kyōraku Shunsui couldn't help but complain to Haruki.

Haruki just chuckled.

Look at Nanao. Someone who initially didn't pay much attention to me is now willingly offering her soul ability.

In a little more time, Haruki was confident he could raise her favorability to 80 and permanently obtain "Mirror Reflection!"

Now look at you. Your favorability is stuck at 50 like it's glued there!

It was 50 three months ago, and it's still 50 now!

So ungrateful!

Later, Haruki's gaze at Kyōraku even carried a hint of resentment, making Kyōraku feel a bit uneasy.

However, the biggest change during these three months was White.

White had successfully completed its transformation and gained a peculiar ability.

That is…

Whenever White killed a Shinigami, it would evolve.

Not only would it become stronger, but it would also grow more intelligent.

Its Hollow hole was now filled with a heart-like tumor, though it was unclear how many Shinigami it had killed.

Haruki had only seen White twice since then. He knew that Aizen hadn't stationed White permanently in the human world. Occasionally, it would go to the Rukongai to ambush patrolling Shinigami.

As for Rukia, Haruki had seen her once during a work-related visit to the 13th Division.

Rukia thanked Haruki again, but what had happened in the Kuchiki household remained a mystery to him.

Haruki had thought time would continue to pass uneventfully like this until the main story began decades later.

But on this day, as Haruki was heading to the 5th Division as usual, he overheard the division members discussing something.

"Something happened?"

Curious, Haruki approached Momo Hinamori.

Momo was startled at first but relaxed when she saw it was Haruki.

She said, "Yesterday, Shinigami from the 13th Division were attacked by Hollows. Our people went to rescue them, but they also ended up sacrificing their lives."

Haruki was surprised. "This isn't a small incident. Who died?"

"9th Seat Shinta died, and I heard the 3rd Seat of the 13th Division also perished."

Shinta had been promoted to 9th Seat after Haruki, but Haruki hadn't had the chance to obtain his soul ability before he died.

As for the 3rd Seat of the 13th Division…

Shiba Miyako?

The Shinigami who died at the hands of Metastacia in the original story, Shiba Kaien's wife—she had still ended up dying?

Was this the so-called inertia of history?

Even though Metastacia had been killed by Haruki, she had still met her end?

Although Haruki didn't know the details, he knew that whenever something bad happened, it was best to go straight to Aizen.

Everything was Aizen's fault.

Haruki bid farewell to Momo and entered Aizen's office.

Aizen was reading the latest issue of the Soul Society Bulletin.

Haruki's The Thousand-Year Blood War had been published three months ago and was now on its 13th chapter.

The current chapter featured the protagonist, "Kehokugama," gathering a group of allies to help his navigator fight a werewolf who had fallen into the realm of beasts.

"If you write it like this, Captain Komamura won't be happy," Aizen said as Haruki entered.

"It's fine," Haruki replied. "It's not like there won't be good werewolves. I'm even planning to have one join the protagonist's crew later."

"Anyway, let's not talk about that." Haruki sat down across from Aizen and asked, "I heard something happened last night. What's going on?"

Aizen continued reading the Soul Society Bulletin as he spoke. "I only know the general details. It seems the 3rd Seat of the 13th Division, Shiba Miyako, encountered a strange Hollow."

"She was too confident, thinking she could handle it, but in the end, she died by its blade."

...

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