Tenjiro Kirinji’s city, the other side of Kirinden.

“Come on young girl, let’s go change,” said Kirio, before suddenly taking off all of her clothes and taking a glamourous pose in front of Isane.

“Eeh, you’re already naked!” Isane got startled.

“Don’t be silly, of course, I have to be naked, I can’t go in wearing these heavy clothes!”

“You’re going in as well?!” Isane was a bit surprised.

“But of course! I can’t leave you alone with that guy! You’re right after all; you can’t trust a guy with a Regent hairdo!” Kirio said firmly

…….

“Hatshu!” Tenjiro sneezed his eyes out, “Old hag!” he said furiously, and then looked at Yamada who was struggling inside the hot water.

“Are you okay there?! We’re going to the Blood Pond Hell in one hour, so just hang in there!” He shouted.

“B-Blood Pond Hell?” Yamada trembled.

“Yes, this is how it works.” Tenjrio said annoyedly, “Listen carefully because I won’t explain it again: First, you go into the White Bone Hell’s water, which will drive any damaged Reiatsu out of your body with your blood, then you go into the Blood Bone Hell where you all that blood will be replenished, then you do the same thing over and over.”

“A-And where will my old blood go to?!” Yamada started regretting everything.

“Listen Yamada-Kun,” Tenjiro said holding his fist up to his head, “by following my instructions, everything will be alright; you won’t even recognize yourself seven days from now!”

“B-But, my blood…” Yamada trembled in fear.

“No buts, forget about your blood, you can’t stop once you’ve started, either you do this like a man, or just die!” said Tenjiro excitedly.

“Oniiii!” Yamada screamed for help.

……

Oniiiiiiii~

“What is that?!” Isane, who was taking off her clothes, thought that she heard some noises from the other side of the hot spring.

“They seem to be getting along.” Kirio who was already inside the hot water smiled at Isane.

After hesitating for a while, Isane finally took off the last of her clothes, then gently dipped her toes into the water, “Weird, it’s not that hot.”

“Hmmm.” Kirio took notice of her words, and couldn’t help but smile.

Isane slowly walked into the water, and then looked at Kirio smiling at her, saying, “So, what’s up with you guys, you’re suddenly very…”

“Hey, I wanted to ask you, what’s the deal with you two?” Isane was about to say something first, but Kirio interrupted her with anticipation on her face.

“What do you mean?!” Isane was startled.

“I mean you and J. A. N. – K. U. N~.” Kirio said teasingly.

“W-W-What? M-Me and Jan?! There’s nothing between me and Jan.” Isane stuttered and immediately covered her flushed face.

“Eh, really?!” Kirio said in surprise, “I thought you two had something?”

“W-Why would you think so?” Isane asked in surprise, and then started mumbling to herself, “I-It’s true that we promised to have lunch together when we first met, is this a date? I wondered… And what should I wear in such a situation…”

“No, no, there’s definitely something! You haven’t seen how crazy he went when he thought Tenjiro was about to hurt you.” Not hearing her mumbles, Kirio crossed her arms and shook her head.

“He really did that…” Isane, who had steam starting to come out of her head, immediately came back to her senses when she heard this. As she spoke, her cheeks went red and a smile blossomed on her face.

Kirio couldn’t help but smile softly when she saw that, immediately standing up and rushing toward Isane, hugging her tightly into her chubby belly, “How cute~”

“Stop it, Kirio-San, you’re embarrassing me,” Isane said while giggling.

“Good, you look better now!” Kirio looked at her, then said with a lovely smile, “It’s very important to heal one’s heart before their body!”

She then sat back down and said: “Now sit down next to me and let’s enjoy the hot water, tonight you will be my guest!”

…………

Seven hours later, at night.

“Welcome to my Gatonden, my palace of food!” Kirio opened the door of the palace wide open, spreading her arms wide open and welcoming Isane excitedly.

“Thanks! When you said palace I did not expect this!” Isane said in surprise, then stepped into the palace, saying, “Excuse me for intruding.”

While the exterior of the palace was largely open, having walls constructed from several gigantic Noren, the inside contained a single, enormous dining table that was surrounded by chairs and lit from above by several lanterns suspended from the ceiling.

“You’re my guest, Isane-Chan, sit there and relax. I will be serving you plate after plate, just wait here!” Kirio said excitedly.

“No, I can’t just make you do all the work; please let me help!” Isane said.

“Isane-Chan, you’re so cute! Okay, follow me to the Kitchen, we must finish everything quickly, that Regenty-guy will be here with your friend in an hour!”

“Y-You mean… Jan?” Isane asked shyly.

“Oh, poor girl. No, the other one, and Jan won’t really need food where he is right now.”

“B-But…” Isane was about to say something but hesitated.

Kirio smiled gently upon seeing that, “OK, don’t worry, we will invite the Captain and everyone over, so you could ask him how Jan is doing!” Kirio said with a lovely smile, then winked at Isane.

“Now, follow me to the kitchen!”

“Yes!”

……..

Oetsu Nimaiya’s city, Hooden.

A simple shack located at the edge of a cliff, where Nimaiya himself lives and does most of his work.

Ichibe came to the place with a single flash step and then opened the door.

Unlike what its exterior suggests it to be, the inside of the shack is much larger. Instead of a small room, there is instead a deep pit into which, if not careful, people would fall into immediately as they set foot inside the palace.

However, Ichibe swiftly moved in, until he finally found Nimaiya sitting in front of a small table, with Jan’s broken sword in front of him.

“Nimaiya, you’re here?” Ichibe asked.

“Yeah.” Nimaiya said then pointed to a chair at the side, “Sit there, I’m trying to focus, and beware of that pit.”

“Buhahaha, a pit? I’m still not that old, kid.” Ichibe stepped forward with a big grin before sitting on the chair.

“Tsk, you’re so loud, Ichibe-San!” Nimaiya said annoyedly.

“Oh, sorry for that, sorry for that.” Ichibe said while smiling carefreely, “So, haven’t you figured out the story behind that sword?”

“I did.” Nimaiya sighed, “I’m just not sure what to do with it.”

“So what is it?” Ichibe seemed expectant.

Nimaiya turned around, and then said solemnly, “It’s a Vasto Lorde’s broken Zanpakuto.”

“Oh? And what could it do?” Ichibe said.

“Nothing.” Nimiaya said, “The way it is right now, it’s just trash.”

“Can you fix it?” Ichibe asked.

“No,” Nimaiya said firmly.

“Is it because you don’t want to fix it? Or is it because you can’t fix it?” Ichibe said with a grin.

“It’s incomplete because the transformation was stopped; I don’t think that it even has a name.” Nimaiya shrugged.

“Everything has a name,” Ichibe smirked.

“It doesn’t matter. I make Zanpakutos for Shinigami, not for Hollows.”

Ichibe laughed upon hearing that, then stood up and looked at Nimaiya, “Say, do you know why I called them Shinigami?”

“N-No.” Nimaiya stuttered.

“I called them Shinigami because they held the sword.” Ichibe grinned.

“I-I understand.”

Ichibe turned around and started walking away, “Do whatever you want with it, he won’t need it anyway. I just came here to ask if you’re coming to Kirio’s banquet.”

“No, I’m a bit busy.” Nimaiya sighed, “Tenjiro wanted me to make something as well.”

“Okay then; I’ll leave you to it.”

Nimaiya nodded, then looked again at the broken sword for a moment. By the time he raised up his head again, Ichibe was gone.