Chapter 1096 Immediate Reunion
Uryu was in his suit and sat down in one of the open seats and looked around, "You really don't have any customers even though it's lunchtime."
"You are my customers!" Keigo Asano, the owner of 'Spirit Ramen' and their high school friend shouted in protest while preparing everyone's meal.
Uryu ignored the almost crying owner and turned to Yasutora Sado, also known as Chad, "I'm surprised you made it. And you have no injuries." Uryu asked because Chad is now a professional boxer and just had a match yesterday which they all watched. Although he has bandages, it didn't escape his notice that Chad actually doesn't have any wounds aside from the one on his lower lip.
"Inoue insisted on healing me." Chad briefly answered, "What about you? Don't you have patients you have to tend to? Is it alright for you to be here?"
"It's fine. I canceled all my non-urgent appointments and asked someone to cover for me for the rest. What happened last night was much more important." Uryu then turned to Ichigo and said, "Could you recount what happened last night? As much detail as possible."
Ichigo granted his request also for Chad and Inoue's sake.
"...and that's the gist of it." The group is slurping their ramen as they listen to Ichigo finish his account of the events and obviously, their biggest is the fact that the Captain Commander, Captain Unohana, and Captain Ukitake were sent to hell unknowingly. Even though they could understand the purpose of the ritual, they still couldn't accept the outcome.
"The Soul Society will probably increase their surveillance to watch out for these doors of Hell and some people will probably be sent if scouting is possible," Uryu muttered as he finished his food.
Chad also finished his and said, "It was already hard for us to accept the news so I can't really imagine how heartbreaking this is for those who were close to them. In any case, we can't really do anything aside from being wary of our surroundings. I'm canceling everything I have for the next few months or until things settle down."
"I'll also ask everyone to patrol the vicinity," Inoue added while touching her six-petal blue hairpin.
"...Hell, huh? How scary..." Keigo suddenly joined their conversation, "But that's not really what's urgent, right? This Hell thing is still predictable, however, the last part of your story seems a bit more concerning to me."
Uryu frowned a bit upon hearing it, "A young woman who instantly froze and snatched one of the strange Hollows... Are you certain that you didn't feel an ounce of Reiatsu from her?"
Ichigo shook his head, "There's probably something but it's incredibly thin. It wasn't a Fullbringer either because Akon came back to me this morning to further ask anything I noticed in our brief clash because even Captain Kurotsuchi couldn't figure anything out with the data they gathered."
The five of them became silent until Chad suddenly asked, "...Is she an enemy?"
Ichigo went back to their brief exchange but even after thinking about it, he couldn't draw any conclusions. Though before he could give an answer, the door of the ramen shop suddenly opened, "Oh~! It's a bit hidden but it looks like a good place."
"I'm taking the window seat~!"
"Tanis, please don't run."
"Hmmm... I wonder what I should get~?... Fried chicken!"
A rowdy group of beautiful girls had entered. But to Keigo's eyes, they were pure Angels that would save his shop from destituteness, "Oh! Dear customers! Welcome! Please have a seat wherever you like!"
Uryu and Chad, on the other hand, felt it was a shame since they have to stop talking about the Soul Society now, "Should we go to my place after?" asked the former.
"That sounds good." Chad answered, however, there was nothing after that which confused both of them, and turned to look at Ichigo and Inoue who suddenly became quiet, "What's wrong?"
Meanwhile, Inoue noticed Ichigo's behavior and tugged his sleeve, "Ichigo, that's rude. Don't stare at her."
But all of these fell deaf on his ears, "...You!"
Serafall, who was reciting her order to the owner, met his eyes and smiled in greeting, "Ah! The orange head from last night. Hmmm? You were a Human?"
Thanks to him being over cloud nine for finally having customers aside from his friends, Keigo didn't notice the strangeness in the atmosphere and asked Serafall, "Miss, will that be all?"
Serafall turned his attention back to him and replied, "Please add a plate of gyoza."
"Coming right up!"
"Miso Ramen for me and a plate of fried chicken!" Claire also gave her order.
Kunou and Tanis also asked for Shoyu and Shio Ramen respectively. Keigo gladly took their orders but he finally noticed the weird atmosphere in Ichigo's group. Nevertheless, he still properly served them.
Ichigo was about to get Serafall's attention again when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder and pulled him back. When he looked back, he saw Uryu shaking his head at him, "They're having their lunch so don't disturb them, at least for now."
Ichigo properly returned to his seat and sighed, "I'm sorry. I lost my cool for a moment there."
Inoue, Chad, and Uryu were able to guess why Ichigo reacted like that after Serafall called him the 'orange head from last night'. Since it looks like they won't be leaving anytime soon, Chad ordered more food and some drinks.
It was entirely coincidental that this place is a ramen shop as Serafall just wanted to see who were the people giving off an aura that was way above normal people. But because her and Kunou's senses aren't tuned to accurately measure Reiatsu, she actually has no idea who was inside so it's also a coincidence that she met Ichigo again.
'Oh? A lot more lenient indeed. If this was the previous world, we would be pressuring each other because I trespassed on their territory.' Serafall thought while receiving her food, "Thank you~!"
And just like that, Serafall, Claire, Tanis, and Kunou peacefully enjoyed their lunch. Although Ichigo's group is peeking at them from time to time, that doesn't bother them and it's actually understandable if they are in their shoes.
However, this peace didn't last long as Serafall, Kunou, and Ichigo's group felt another set of strong Reiatsu coming towards them.
A second later, a petite young girl with chin-length blonde hair and purple eyes entered followed by a tall and well-endowed girl of slender build with long wavy pink hair and short bangs that framed her forehead and green eyes, "Finally found you, Uryu! Explain what happened last night!"
"Liltotto and Meninas? Why are you here?" Uryu asked back.
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