Seiji sat quietly downstairs on the couch. He has been sitting still on the couch for the past two hours, taking in what he experienced earlier today. Behind his usual stern look was a vulnerable mind unclaimed of the uncertainty and wonders of the world, feeling he didn't belong outside.

He appreciates his time with his mother and all, but the lifestyle in the West before returning to Karakura Town was boring and neglectful. Money was the only goal. Corporate power and being at the top were the daily life. To be fair, he was only lucky to make it through that confrontation with a possessed Soul Reaper. Rukia doesn't have the answers to emphasize what had occurred as it was unusual and abnormal for an event like that to happen.

Questions were left unanswered as to where his future would be heading. Ichigo doesn't focus much on these issues as he stated he was only a substitute soul reaper at best. Rukia and Renji didn't stay for that long after dinner and had to depart, returning to Soul Society.

Seiji looked at his black katana, wondering what it could potentially lead to. The constant thoughts put him to sleep as he lay on the pillow on the couch amid the fact that he was given a spare room.

Morning came quickly and Seiji awoke from the illuminating sunlight piercing through the window blinders. He heard the sizzling sound in the distance, realizing it was breakfast. As he turned away from the couch, he was met with a cup of water and a plate filled with a slice of toasted bread. His black katana was gone, causing him to silently freak out.

"Please, make yourself welcome," Orihime said, likely noticing movement from the couch.

Seiji throbbed his eyes as he slowly woke up from a deep sleep. He lifted his lazy body from the cushions and reached for the cup of water, waterfalling his esophagus.

He took a bite of the toast, tasting the crunchiness as it clashed with his white teeth. Wow, this is tasty. While having a bite, he turned to the kitchen and saw Orihime cooking thin slices of salmon on the pan.

"Morning," Seiji greeted while having a heavy bite of the toast.

Orihime looked up, smiling. "Morning. How's the bread?"

"Oh, it's really good. You didn't add anything to it right?"

Orihime shook her head, "Just a minute of toast."

Seiji took one full bite of the bread and went to the bathroom to get washed up. By the time he came back out, the rest of the family had woken up. Ichigo was at his seat, drinking coffee. He had his phone and a few pieces of paper on his desk.

"Another translation works?" Seiji asked, pulling a different chair.

Ichigo scanned through the three pages, "Yeah, this is for one of the businessman contacts who was visiting Tokyo for a presentation. He only needed a few pages worth of speaking for his part."

"From what you told me yesterday, you have plenty of connections. It must be nice," Seiji said, feeling a little envious of his social circle.

"From an outsider's perspective, sure, but in reality, out of all of them, I only kept in contact with a few ever since my first gig with each of them."

"Still better than mine, I have no real outside work relationships. It's all about money over there. No matter how wealthy I am, no one cares. Another reason why I moved back to Japan."

Orihime came with plates of food for breakfast as Kazui and Yuzu came out from the door. She started setting out the rice bowls for each before sitting down. Kazui, cheerful as he always was, lit up the mood at the table and happily waited for his mother to hand him his bowl.

The sound of the door opening from the hallway creaked again, this time it was an older man with a full-grown beard and a few strands of grayish hair. "Morning, smells good… who's this?"

Seiji turned around and stood right around the same height. "Greetings. Isshin, or Mr. Kurosaki. Do you remember the frail kid, Seiji?"

"Seiji? Hmm, I remember Masaki used to talk about him many times when Ichigo was still in the dojo," he said before blinking. "Hold on a second, is that you?!"

Seiji smiled, "Good to see you again. It's been more than twelve years since we last met."

"Please, sit." Isshin urged, quickly dashing to his seat.

They all sat down, each taking the first bite of the rice and the grilled salmon as a side. Isshin returned to the conversation, "So, Seiji; You are in a relationship yet?"

Seiji sighed, grabbing his bowl. "No, never. Everyone always asks me that as if I should have one."

"Oh, come on. A big guy can't take one, that's rubbish. I—"

Crack!

Seiji's fingers gripped tightly onto his bowl, creating a crack mark over the surface. He then gently lowers it onto the table. "I didn't come here to keep repeating trivial answers. But since you are here, I guess you have to listen through it."

Orihime scooted her chair back. "I'll get you a cold drink. What do you want?"

"One soda pop is fine, thanks," Seiji answered. "Can you see ghosts?"

Ichigo turned after the question. "You?"

"Yes, I can."

"We all can but since when have you been able to?"

"During the day I went to the hospital. I got a glimpse of a shadow, revealing a spider-like creature about as big as an elephant moving past me before I lost sight of it. Since then, my spirits have become more vivid as the days progressed. And I can't stand them invading my privacy." Seiji paused, taking a sip of the soda pop Orihime brought. "It was only when I experienced my freshly born abilities, that I discarded them away. Sounds good until a couple of years ago when fresh turned boil that I had to be away from my business office, and eventually work at home. Rarely meeting my co-workers from eye-to-eye."

"Is that why you're here?" Ichigo inquired.

Seiji nodded his head. "That, the Katana, and returning to my hometown permanently."

"After a while, where will you be staying?" Karin asked.

"I bought a house in the street down the opposite side of the entry I walked in. They are doing the finalization of the papers and renovation, so I might be here for the next couple of weeks. Is that okay?" Seiji pulled out his wallet, prompting Ichigo and Karin to restrain him. "What? You don't want me to pay the rental fee?"

"No. Thanks for the kind gesture, but that's a no—" Karin responded, subsequently turning to Isshin. "NO! Dad! We are not accepting it, end of the topic."

Darn. At least accepting my generosity would be nice. Seiji sighed, putting his wallet back into his pockets. "Well, I can't complain then."

Ichigo in a contemplative gesture, appears more interested in Seiji's power. "Have you used it?"

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Seiji slightly nudged. "Maybe. I don't know. I've never fully opened myself to it. The most I did was to try to keep the urges in. I assume the ghost that disappeared from my vicinity is one of them. It's always quiet everywhere I go. Before at least one or a group were scattered anywhere in the city, peaceful kind or not."

"That would be convenient here, mainly my home because occasionally one to a couple could arrive and freeload the living space."

"Ah, shucks. That's annoying. How about others here? Do you guys get disturbed by this?"

Karin shook her head. "I just don't care about them. In turn, why should I be disturbed when something isn't worth my time."

Fair point. "Well, that's one way of looking at it," Seiji assented.

Orihime's opinion aligned more with the pacifist side of things but would objectively prefer the place to be clean.

Yuzu can't really see them vividly to give her insight so it's safe to say it's a pass.

"I have someone who can help you," Ichigo muttered.

Seiji's head turned. "Who?"

"Close friend. But first, let's eat breakfast."

2.2

"This the place?" Seiji asked, taking off his sunglasses.

"Yep," Ichigo replied.

Looks like an ordinary vendor shop you'll find just in any block in the city. Who the heck works here? Seiji felt curious as he was the first to step forward right to the entrance door. He pulled the door to the right, revealing the retail shelves stashed with various consumables that can't be found in supermarkets or drugstores. Vision candy…Wait a minute, is that hypertrophy pills. The heck is this place?

Focusing ahead, Seiji saw a man in a dark green samue(作務衣)with a black haori that had diamond patterns imprinted around the lower half. One turned in the direction of the entrance, and the man's upper half face was shadowed by his striped dark green and white bucket hat, appearing a little menacing.

"Oh, Kurosaki-San?!" The menacing spirit immediately died out, revealing the carefree attitude through his greeting. It was similar to friends meeting up at a reunion after long-term excluded from seeing each other. But put that as a person as the first twist of impressions that Seiji was mentally confused.

"How have you guys been? It's been a long while." The man continued, focusing on everyone else who went along.

Is this the guy that Ichigo said he can help? Hmm…interesting. Seiji walked further around the retail shelves, observing the contents being on sale. The food section was intriguing. The "Vision Candy" he saw earlier was stacked in multiple quantities and each was packaged in the shape consumers thought would be granola bars. He glared at the shelf tag standing behind the stack. 185 yen? That's a deal. Seiji then took one from the shelf. "Where's the cash register?"

The man now turned his attention to Seiji, curious about the new guy in his store. "And who you might be?"

"Seiji. Friends of Ichigo and Tatsuki. We had known each other since the dojo days. And you?"

The man took his fan out. "My name's Kisuke Urahara, it's a pleasure to meet you, Seiji." He opened his hand. Seiji grabbed two 100-yen bills, placing them in Kisuke's hand.

"Keep the change," Seiji mentioned while peeling open the package wrap and taking a bite. Sweet but spicy. It's good at least. As he took more bites of the bar, corners of his vision began to sparkle like seeing the stars. Though, the discomfort wouldn't come to fruition. In the next couple of seconds, the supposed stars surrounded the perimeter of his vision and altered his eyes, making it more vivid. He took one last bite of the bar and braced his grip around the shelf with his eyelids forced to shut. The head started to unravel and moving along came the continuous beat of thumping sounds that was reminiscent of drums.

Slowly he flickered his eyelids open, and his katana summoned around his grip, fulfilling as a cane, and bracing him from falling.

That's where my katana was. "This isn't a candy bar, is it?" Seiji questioned.

"No, I was told in advance that someone needs help. So, I created this marketing tactic to get your attention…no worries this is more of a test to see where you currently having a problem with and what you need to fulfill that."

Seiji grimaced with his eyes now half-opened. "I'm still standing though," he said, finding a seat on the edge of an elevated floor. "How long is this supposed to last?"

"A minute at most," Kisuke answered, walking back further inside, and sitting at the table behind Seiji. "Ichigo and Orihime will help you as well."

A moment of silence. Ichigo and Orihime were the only ones who went along to the shop, and they, along with Kisuke, sat quietly observing him.

Bong! Seiji flinched in a jolting manner after he felt what was like a hard heavy tap to his back and both of his thighs. Subsequently, his eyes closed again, and the thumping drums stopped. But the music continued playing and transitioned to more of a harmonious musical piece heavily emphasized with the d keys. It soothed his body and mind, calming all the ailments he had experienced after eating the candy bar. The cold internal breeze was the perfect final touch, and within a couple seconds, he opened his eyes back more relaxed and one light exhale. He turned to Kisuke who was drinking some tea.

"Oh, great. You have made it."

"So?"

"Since you didn't faint, you must have a strong spirit. The candy bar "Vision candy" tests the individual's willingness to clash against the varied ailments that were inflicted on you," Kisuke stated, standing up from the floor. "Because you dealt with it, I got enough of an idea of how you might perform."

Seiji stood up from the edge of the elevated floor. "Where are we going?"

Kisuke pointed his finger down, revealing an opening down. "Underground."

Seiji walked up right beside it and saw an entire ladderway straight down. He went down first, sped through the ladder, and landed on the rocky floor. "Woah, this place is humongous."

What appeared to be a daylight blue sky was the walls that were painted to probably give a sense of earthly remains left. Around him was all bare rocky terrain like a desert. Only branches and dead trees were scattered around the vicinity. But that doesn't matter to Seiji as he wants to find out how to deal with his powers first. "What's next?"

Kisuke, thumping across the floor with a clunking sound from his wooden sandals, strolled past Seiji's side before turning right back at him directly. "Orihime will be your first opponent. Ichigo will be her support, providing you the majority of your time. While I will monitor and handle the finale of this instruction."

Seiji wielded the black katana. "Whatever you are ready. I'm game."