Restricted Death

Chapter 218 Masaki
In the present world, an afternoon in Karakura Town.

"Young Master Longxian, wait for me."

In the bustling street, a little girl with black hair is hurrying after a silver-haired boy running ahead.

The silver-haired boy ahead kept walking. He was wearing a clean light-colored shirt, and the cuffs of his trousers were slightly rolled up as he ran. Occasionally, he would turn his head, his brows furrowed, and his clear voice carried a hint of impatience: "Ye Hui, you're too slow!"

Two children, a boy and a girl, made their way through the crowd. The silver-haired boy ran to a bridge first, his eyes fixed on the grassy bank of the river. Sure enough, he saw the person he was looking for there.

"Masaki!" he couldn't help but shout, his voice filled with joy. He turned around without hesitation and ran quickly down the stone steps leading to the riverbank.

The silver-haired boy also came to the grassy area by the river, and unconsciously slowed down his pace, sitting down next to the girl.

The orange-haired girl turned her head at the sound, looked at the boy, and immediately gave him a bright smile: "Longxian."

At the same time, Katagiri Hae, panting heavily, finally arrived. She rested her hands on her knees to calm her breathing, and without regard for herself, immediately bowed respectfully to the orange-haired girl on the grass: "Ms... Masaki-san."

Ryugen Ishida's bright eyes were fixed on the face of the girl named Masaki Kurosaki, and he went straight to the point: "Why didn't you go to school this afternoon?"

"Classes are so boring," Masaki Kurosaki pouted. "Don't tell my parents when you get home."

Ishida Ryūken immediately puffed out his chest, patted one hand, and vowed, "Don't worry, I'll definitely keep it a secret!" As if suddenly remembering something, he turned to look at the black-haired girl standing beside him, still slightly out of breath, "Yehei won't tell either, right?"

Katagiri Yoru's small face clearly showed her distress. She twisted her fingers, her voice soft and weak, carrying a hint of hesitation and persuasion: "Ms. Masaki, what you are doing is wrong... You should take the initiative to admit your mistake to Shingo-sama."

Hearing this, Masaki Kurosaki felt helpless, but she didn't say anything. Instead, Ryūgen Ishida became a little annoyed and said to Hae Katagiri, "What's wrong with you?! I shouldn't have brought you out!"

Katagiri Yoru pouted and lowered her head without saying a word.

She was just a maid in the Ishida family, a member of the Quincy clan, but her bloodline was incomparable to that of Ishida Ryugen and Kurosaki Masaki.

"Can't you be a little nicer to Ye Hui?" Kurosaki Masaki couldn't stand it anymore and scolded Ryugen with a helpless expression. "She didn't do anything wrong. It was just me skipping class."

Ryugen Ishida defended him without hesitation: "But didn't you also say that you skipped class because you were bored? There's a reason for that! It's not like you skipped school on purpose!" His reasoning sounded quite righteous.

"..."

Kurosaki Masaki was momentarily speechless at this absurd logic and simply gave up arguing. She nimbly stood up and deftly brushed off the bits of grass and dirt stuck to the back of her pants. Then she walked straight to Katagiri Hae, who was standing with her head down, and naturally reached out to take the other's somewhat flustered little hand, saying in a light tone, "Let's go, Hae, I'll buy you a soda."

She hoped to soothe Ye Hui's emotions.

Seeing this, Ryugen Ishida quickly stood up, intending to follow. Masaki Kurosaki immediately turned back, made a big face at him, and stuck out her tongue: "Hey! Don't follow us!"

However, Katagiri Hae, who was being pulled along, seemed to be electrocuted and subconsciously pulled away from Masaki's hand. She kept her head down and her voice was so low it was almost a buzzing: "Miss Masaki... I think I'll stay with Young Master Ryugen."

"..."

Masaki Kurosaki patted her forehead and sighed, "I can't stand you guys!"

Ryugen ignored Masaki's scolding and persisted, saying, "Then I'll treat you to soda! I happened to bring some money with me!"

The boys and girls left the riverbank. Ishida Ryūgen, with his sharp eyes, quickly pointed to a red and white vending machine by the roadside and exclaimed, "There's one over there!"

He strode over, took out a brand-new, large-denomination banknote from his pocket, but when he confidently inserted the banknote into the vending machine's coin slot, the machine unceremoniously made a soft "click" sound and ejected the banknote.

"Oh dear!" Long Xian was dumbfounded. He picked up the money that had been spat out, completely bewildered.

Masaki Kurosaki leaned over to take a look at the large bill and pointed out helplessly, "You have too much money! The machine can't make change!"

"What should I do? I only brought this one bill." Ishida Ryūgen looked at the large bill in his hand, completely bewildered and at a loss.

Masaki Kurosaki patted her pockets and realized she didn't have enough money to buy three people's food.

"Then I'll treat you two to drinks."

"No way!" Long Xian immediately rejected the idea.

Katagiri Yoko then waved her hand: "Young Master Ryugen, Miss Masaki, I don't need to drink, you don't need to worry about me."

Masaki shook her head: "No."

The three children were at a loss, staring blankly at the vending machine and the useless banknote. Their small figures looked somewhat lost in front of the machine.

Ryūgen Ishida frowned, looking around for a place to exchange change. His gaze swept across the roadside and settled on a bench a short distance away. A tall, slender figure in dark casual clothes was sitting there, drinking a can of soda, his eyes seemingly staring aimlessly ahead. Ryūgen's eyes lit up, as if he had found a savior.

He walked over and, after seeing the other person's face clearly, thought for a moment before asking, "Uncle, do you have any change?"

"Cough cough!"

Xin choked on his soda, staring wide-eyed at the silver-haired brat who barely reached his chest, his voice filled with astonishment and displeasure: "You called me 'uncle'?! Am I that old?!"

I look no older than twenty, what kind of eyes does this brat have?!

Just like Zongxian, he's a bit annoying!
The reason Shin was sitting by the roadside was because he had noticed Kurosaki Masaki lying on the grass by the riverbank after skipping school.

Ryugen Ishida was a little confused by Shin's reaction. He blinked, looking at Shin's young face, then at the soda in his hand and his casual posture, completely unable to understand why the other man cared so much about being called "uncle." He was just stating his opinion.

Masaki Kurosaki and Hazumi Katagiri joined in at that moment. Masaki smiled sweetly and said, "Brother, could you help us get some change?"

This "brother" was clearly much more pleasant to hear than the previous "uncle." The slight displeasure on Shin's face vanished instantly, replaced by a gentle smile. Without a word, he deftly pulled a handful of coins from his pocket, counted out the exact amount needed to buy three cans of soda, and handed them to Kurosaki Masaki: "Here, no need to exchange, I'll treat you to drinks."

Masaki Kurosaki took the coin with delight, her smile growing even brighter: "Really? Thank you, brother!" she said in a clear voice.

Shin nodded happily as he looked at Masaki's smiling face, then glanced at Ishida Ryugen with a hint of resentment. Ryugen couldn't understand the meaning in Shin's gaze, only that he felt this uncle was a bit strange.

The three children cheered and immediately turned and ran back to the vending machine. Watching the coins slide smoothly into the coin slot, they pressed the button, and the sound of the beverage cans falling with a "clink" was particularly pleasant.

Xin's gaze remained fixed on them.

The three children each have distinct personalities: Kurosaki Masaki is cheerful and precocious, Katagiri Hae is gentle and sweet, and Ishida Ryugen... is a clueless brat. The difference from the original story is that Kurosaki Masaki's parents are both alive and well, so she doesn't need to live with the Ishida family. A happy and harmonious family is extremely important for a child.

The three children, each clutching a can of soda, laughed and ran back to the bench where Shin had been sitting, and very politely expressed their gratitude to him again: "Thank you!" "Thank you, brother!" "Thank you... brother." The last, slightly stiff thank you came from Ishida Ryugen.

Xin just smiled. He didn't come to the mortal world very often. To these children, he was just a passerby who appeared suddenly. They would probably forget about him soon.

Ishida family.

The vast mansion was unusually quiet. In the study behind the heavy oak door on the second floor, Ishida Sogen sat upright at a large desk, his expression focused. He held a book in one hand and a pen in the other, writing something in a leather-bound notebook. The ink blotted across the paper, leaving neat and strong handwriting.

Suddenly, he paused slightly in his grip on the pen, walked to the window, and looked down from the villa onto the doorway. He saw his maid talking to someone.

Ishida Sogen seemed to be deep in thought. He turned and left the study, then went to the living room. He ran into a maid who came in to report and said to her, "Let the person outside in."

A moment later, clear footsteps came from the entrance hall, and Xin, wearing a dark coat, appeared at the open door of the living room with a slight smile.

"It hasn't been that long, and your servants have already forgotten about me? They won't even let me in."

Ishida Munen said calmly, "It's only right for my servants to stop you, and besides... it's been a long time since you last came."

Upon hearing this, Xin tilted his head and walked to the sofa to sit down.

"Has it been that long? I really had no idea."

He looked at Ishida Sogen and realized that time had indeed left its mark on him. Ishida Sogen now looked much more composed than before, no longer so sharp-edged, and his face had matured.

Xin chuckled and said, "That's true, you're a father now, it's just that your son doesn't have much discernment."

Ishida Munen was taken aback: "You've met Ryugen?"

"We happened to run into him; he was accompanied by two little girls."

"Just happened to run into..." Ishida Sogen didn't quite believe this explanation; there couldn't be so many coincidences.

Ishida Munen pondered to himself, "If it were anyone else, it wouldn't matter, but this guy has been asking about my child ever since we first met, and now he's appeared again after seeing my child first. It's hard for Ishida Munen not to overthink this."

Xin then berated him to his face: "Your son actually called me 'uncle,' but I look so young!"

Ishida Sogen was speechless for a moment, thinking to himself that with your actual age, let alone my son, I could probably call you uncle without any problem.

He didn't know Shin's actual age, but since he was the captain of the Gotei 13, he was probably an old guy who had lived for over a hundred years.

He and Xin hadn't seen each other for a long time, and their relationship had become much closer than it had been at the beginning.

One reason for this was that Shinji cured Kurosaki Shingo, and another was that no Shinigami appeared in their lives afterward. It seemed that the people of Soul Society had forgotten about them, the Quincy. Ishida Muneyuu discovered that the Shinigami who had been secretly monitoring them had also disappeared.

He later inquired about the other party's situation during a meeting with Xin.

The letter told him that as long as he didn't do anything outrageous, he could live in peace.

"Is there something you need this time?"

"Can't I come to catch up with you if there's nothing wrong?" Xin asked with a light laugh.

Ishida Sogen also walked over and sat down on the sofa, and then, surprisingly, took the initiative to talk to him about the child.

“Longxian is a very talented child with strong innate spiritual power. If he is properly nurtured, he will surely become a powerful Quincy in the future.”

Speaking of which, it was Xin who suggested the name Longxian.

Ishida Sogen didn't know what Shin was planning, but since he was indebted to him, he granted Shin's wish after his child was born.

Upon hearing this, Xin raised an eyebrow and said, "The way I'm getting it is that you don't seem to want him to become a Quincy?"

Ishida Sōgen said, "He has no choice but to become a Quincy."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Ishida Sogen added, "Given his status and lineage, without power, he would be at the mercy of others."

"When you say 'at the mercy of others,' who are you referring to, Soul Society?"

"..."

Ishida Sogen simply glanced at the letter and did not continue explaining.

Shin leaned back on the sofa, his posture casual: "I can guarantee that the Soul Society will not cause you any trouble or disturb your lives, provided that you do not actively become enemies with the Soul Society."

"..."

"But if you have other enemies besides Soul Society, perhaps you could talk to me about them. Maybe I can help you?"

Ishida Munen lowered his eyes and said, "You overestimate yourself."

Shin laughed upon hearing this: "You underestimate the Soul Society. Don't forget who rules the three realms now. It's us Shinigami."

Ishida Munen shook his head: "I don't want to talk about this."

Xin asked curiously, "Didn't you initiate the conversation?"

"...I just wanted to talk about something related to children, but you led me astray."

After calming himself down, Ishida Muneaki paused for a moment before saying, "If I were an ordinary person, I could probably give Ryuken a better life."

"Don't always think about what to give your child. Maybe he already likes his current life very much, and he might also like his future identity."

(End of this chapter)