For the entire night, Silas was busy harnessing his spiritual powers. What he was truly doing was a technique known as spiritual pressure perception. It allowed him to sense spiritual occurrences, something common that most people with the aptitude could perform. He could sense things like an old man pacing aimlessly around an empty house. That same old man was truly a wandering Soul that had already died.

By the time Silas opened his eyes, the sun was already rising. He hadn't slept the entire night. He was too mesmerized by his new senses and what he was seeing that he had forgotten he needed sleep. The moment he stood up, he felt fatigued. It wasn't a natural one, but a spiritual one. His body was so exhausted that he didn't feel like going to school today. So he got in bed and decided to rest.

Not even a minute later, Isshin kicked his door down. The loud noise it made caused him to slowly get up. "What's going on with you, Ichigo?! I don't like the way you've been acting lately. Yuzu told me you were mean to her last night!"

"I'm sorry. I'm just sick, is all…"

"Sick! Why didn't you say so?!" Isshin pointed dramatically. "I'll go and get you some medicine!"

He then bolted out the door, not even asking Silas what sort of symptoms he had. This was exactly like him. He pretended to be a fool in front of his family, hiding the fact that he was once a Soul Reaper. But no matter how comical he acted, Silas would never find his predicament funny.

By the time Isshin returned, Silas was already asleep. So he instead placed some medicine by his table, hoping that he would get better.

Some time had passed until Silas woke up. It was already sunset, meaning he had slept the whole day. When he saw the medicine on his table, he furrowed his brows. Ready to return to his covert spiritual training, the doorbell suddenly rang.

"Ichigo, it's your friends from school!" Karin yelled from downstairs.

Annoyed that he couldn't be left alone for even a day, Silas walked down to meet them. It was none other than Keigo and Mizurio again. They heard he was sick, so they decided to bring him today's homework. They even went so far as to give him get-well cards.

Handing them over, Silas ripped up the cards and told them to get lost. The atmosphere quickly turned sour. Keigo began to yell at him for how disrespectful he was. Even Karin and Yuzu thought his act was too much. Silas brushed all their comments away and returned upstairs. There was something much more important than doing meaningless homework and making friends.

He sat there in silence, meditating on his spiritual powers. Thanks to Ichigo's potential, the gains from last night's training were already showing. He could sense people a lot easier. Downstairs, Keigo and Mizurio were being led out by Karin. Silas could see their spiritual powers were. It wasn't strong like his, but it was a tad much for regular high schoolers. And if theirs were high, people like Chad, a side character at the least, was far superior.

• • •

The next day at school, a student named Tetsuo Momohara begged Silas to join the karate club. Silas had not remembered this character, so he gave him the cold shoulder. When others in class saw it, Tatsuki confronted him.

"What's wrong with you, Ichigo? Ya've been acting strange these past couple of days."

Ichigo and Tatsuki had grown up together. She was also the same person who helped comfort him when his mother passed away. Of course, she, of all people, would dare try to approach him.

"It doesn't concern you, so get lost…"

The tomboy became so upset that she threatened to beat him up. But when Silas hadn't responded to those empty threats, Orihime quickly pulled her away, apologizing. "Don't say sorry to that blockhead!" Tatsuki screamed. Tatsuki and Orihime would be attacked by a Hollow one day. That same Hollow was actually Orihime's deceased brother. Silas may one day have to rescue them. But until that time came, there was no need for him to associate with either of the two.

For the entire afternoon class, Silas remained quiet, not once acknowledging anyone in the room. And the instant lunch time came, he left the school entirely. Outside, he made it to a remote park that he was certain no one special ventured to. He had even been practicing his spiritual powers enough to sense if people were following him.

The only abnormal things were the invisible Souls, which would pass by from time to time. These were things he had long gotten used to seeing—never once engaging or acknowledging their presence.

With the coast clear, he sat down on a swing, removed his coat and began meditating again. There had been something on Silas's mind for some time. It was when the story would start taking place.

As far as he remembered, Ichigo wouldn't regain his Soul Reaper powers until summer break started. That wouldn't begin until around the end of July. Today's date was March 3rd. Assuming Rukia Kuchiki spent a few months with Ichigo on their little adventures together, that would mean her imminent arrival in the world of the living would happen soon.

• • •

By the time Silas opened his eyes, it was already nighttime. His body had finally adapted to using his spiritual powers more effectively. They were still a little faint, but they were enough to help him understand how to manipulate it to a certain degree.

Spiritual powers were what determined how strong someone was. The more they had, the more they could overwhelm their opponent(s) in battle. If Silas were to guess, he could easily knock someone unconscious with a karate chop to the neck. Not because Ichigo's own body was strong, but because Ichigo was naturally conceived with a lot of spiritual powers.

Silas eventually made it home, where he was casually greeted by Isshin. It was evident that, due to his recent behaviour, Isshin hadn't wanted to attack him like last time. So Silas ignored him and went upstairs without needing to utter a word. As foolish as Isshin was, he wasn't completely stupid. He knew when to leave someone alone who didn't want to be bothered.

Assuming the school would call him to report that he was skipping classes during lunch, Silas already had many excuses to make. His only reason for doing so in the first place was to gain enough space to practice his spiritual powers. Once he got enough practice in, he would try and act a little normal so as not to arouse any more suspicion.