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Back at school as summer break nears, Ichigo discovers that no one recalls Rukia at all. A classmate now occupies her desk and her name never comes up. It drives home for him exactly what returning to Soul Society costs, her existence wiped clean from both the world and the hearts of everyone in it. Dulling his healing wounds with Urahara's pills, he drifts through an otherwise ordinary day that suddenly feels hollow.

While his friends make summer plans and Keigo tries to drag everyone onto a beach trip, Ichigo turns them all down, unsettled by how easily life carries on without Rukia. Orihime then approaches and stuns him by asking where their friend disappeared to, revealing that she too still remembers. After Ichigo explains, she gently challenges whether hauling Rukia away from her own family is truly kindness, then answers her own question by insisting he has already decided and is right to.

Mimicking the stubborn resolve she so admires in him, Orihime urges Ichigo to save Rukia so their friend can live to see her loved ones again someday, and he thanks her sincerely before racing off. She quietly phones Sado to say she has made her own choice as well. Arriving at Urahara's shop with his wounds faded to scars, Ichigo bows and shouts his thanks for being saved, only to play it off when questioned, as Urahara grins and says he is looking forward to what comes next. The chapter was adapted into episode 18, Reclaim! The Power of the Shinigami.