Kazuki just nodded, handing him the pebble that had fallen from Yuna’s hand as she faded.
Ichigo stared at it. For a rare moment, the Substitute Shinigami had no wisecrack. He simply pocketed the stone and said, “Some debts don't die with a soul.”
Her name was Yuna. She wasn't a Hollow, not yet. Just a Plus who'd refused to cross over, waiting for a brother who never came. Kazuki, a rookie substitute Shinigami still clumsy with his zanpakutō, knew the rules: console her, perform the Konsō, and leave before sunrise.
Yuna smiled for the first time in three years. As the Konsō light enveloped her, she whispered, “Tell the short one with the spiky hair… his predecessor kept his word after all.”