Uryuu looked up from his plate as Euden returned from the kitchen, wondering why the other was so convinced that dragonfruit would be helpful; he’d never known dragonfruit to have any special effects in his world—

(*But we ain’t in our world anymore,*) Shiro said thoughtfully, eyeing the two bright red fruits that Euden was carrying. (*What’s t’say we’re thinkin’ ‘bout the same thing?*)

(*That’s… true,*) Uryuu grudgingly admitted as he set his fork down and pushed his plate away; as delicious as Cleo’s cooking was, he couldn’t force any more of it down than he already had. What he’d eaten sat in his stomach like a leaden weight, just on the edge of discomfort, and the idea of trying to eat something else, something more, made him feel sick.

(He certainly understood Urahara’s warning, now!)

(He… probably should have eaten less…)

“Here you go,” Euden said as he reached the table and set the two fruits down, pushing one towards Uryuu and one towards Urahara. “Midgardsormr says these will help.”

Uryuu hesitantly lifted the fruit from the table and frowned down at it, turning it over and over to take it all in; unlike the dragonfruit he was used to, this one was huge — he needed both hands to hold it comfortably — and had well defined ‘scales’ over the entire fruit. The scales were smooth and cool to the touch, almost like silk against his fingers, and it was heavy, much heavier than he expected, really.

He had a sinking suspicion that, despite the name, these were entirely different from the sort of dragonfruit he knew of.

“Just take a huge bite, they’re delicious!” the little fairy he’d been introduced to before — Notte, he believed her name was — exclaimed as she landed on the table nearby.

“I’m not particularly hungry right now,” Uryuu demurred as he carefully set the gigantic fruit back on the table, wondering how long he could actually get away with not eating the strange fruit. If this ‘Midgardsormr’ — whoever that was — insisted eating it would be good for him…

Euden gave a sheepish laugh and rocked back a bit on his heels, a touch of color rising to his cheeks. “Sorry, Ishida Uryuu, I didn’t think about that. You don’t have to eat it right now! Just… give it a try when you feel hungry again? Midgardsormr isn’t the sort to lie, and he really does think it’ll help you.”

At his side, Urahara made a thoughtful noise and balanced the fruit upright on the table, then brought his left hand up, emerald green power gathering around his fingers and—

Turning into claws?

Uryuu stared as the man casually sliced the fruit into wedges with reiatsu claws of all things.

(*Huh, that’s an interestin’ skill,*) Shiro murmured, slipping a bit closer to the front and staring down at their left hand in consideration. (*Bet we could do it. S’just shaped reiatsu, ain’t it? Like yer bow?*)

(*Probably, but lets not try it here,*) Uryuu urged, casting a wary glance at the others around the table. He didn’t know how they’d take Shiro and him experimenting, but he’d rather not do it where anyone else could see their inevitable mistakes.

Understanding-acceptance-agreement slipped from Shiro to him, and the Hollow withdrew a bit, leaving Uryuu in sole control of their body once again.

“Huh,” Urahara murmured as he pulled the fruit apart, laying the wedges side by side almost like odd watermelon slices; the flesh was even a vivid red, dotted with small seeds in a more orderly arrangement than any dragonfruit Uryuu had ever seen before. “So this is a dragonfruit…”

“Have you never had one before?” Notte asked as she leapt back into the air and fluttered closer to Urahara. “They’re super tasty! Just take a bite and try it!”

Urahara gave her a flat look and then picked up a wedge, using his reiatsu to slice a small piece off and then holding it out to her. “Since you’re so interested.”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Notte exclaimed, snagging the piece from Urahara’s hand and taking a bite. Juice ran down her chin and she wrinkled her little nose a bit, trying to juggle the large — to her — piece and wipe her face off at the same time without dropping the piece or making more of a mess. “S’good,” she mumbled around her bite.

Urahara watched her for a moment longer, then shrugged and sliced another piece from the wedge, carved the red flesh from the outer skin, and picked a few of the visible seeds from the piece before popping it in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, surprise-interest-consideration flickering across his expression. “That’s… different,” he finally settled on, cutting another small piece off the wedge and offering it to Uryuu. “Try it, you’ll probably like it.”

“You should try it with the skin, too!” Notte chimed in. “I almost like the skin best, it’s soooo good.”

“Not sure I like the idea of ‘different’,” Uryuu grumbled as he carefully took the piece from Urahara’s palm and gave it a sniff; it had a mellow scent that he couldn’t quite place, but it really wasn’t bad at all. Just… odd.

(*Eh, mini-Hat’n’Clog’s is fine, might as well, right?*) Shiro prodded.

Uryuu snorted but nevertheless popped the piece into his mouth whole, not wanting to go through the effort of biting or prying the flesh free when Notte seemed to think the skin was tasty too. Which was definitely different from the dragonfruit he knew, though for all he knew it was just a difference in how a fairy perceived taste compared to a human.

He carefully bit down, expecting… he wasn’t quite sure. Blandness, maybe, like he’d always heard dragonfruit described. Or sourness from the skin. Or… or something to that effect.

(*Huh, this actually ain’t bad,*) Shiro mused as they chewed.

Uryuu had to agree; the skin was crisp, its flavor light but distinctive, and the flesh had a creamy, sweet flavor almost like ice cream. It… really didn’t taste a thing like he expected, but it certainly wasn’t bad.

It was also full of the odd power that permeated this world, purer than anything he’d ever sensed before. The power soaked into his body and merged with his own innate power, and though he’d only taken a single bite he could already tell the difference; he felt… stronger, more steady, more in-tune with this world’s power.

(If a single bite was enough to do that, what would an entire fruit do to him?)

(He… didn’t know if he really wanted to know, but at the same time…)

(At the same time, he kind of did.)

“It’s really good, isn’t it?” Notte asked him as she accepted a cloth from Euden and scrubbed at her face and hands. “I really love them, though the ones with green spikes on the scales are even tastier! Sometimes there’s even flowers on those, which are also edible. They taste sort of like spun sugar, or maybe a bit like honey? It kind of depends, but it’s always good.”

Uryuu wrinkled his nose at the idea. “You can have them, then. I’m not really a fan of pure sweets like that.”

“Alright! More for me!” Notte cheered as she dropped the cloth and leapt into the air, fluttering around happily. “Thanks, Ishida Uryuu!”

“Why do all of you insist on using my full name?” Uryuu blurted out before he could bite the question back, then grimaced at the looks that Euden and the others exchanged.

“Would you prefer us to use a different name?” Elisanne asked as she leaned forward a bit. “We don’t want to be rude and assume how you’d like to be called.”

Uryuu frowned and glanced from Elisanne to Euden to confirm her words, wondering if this was some sort of cultural difference between their worlds; now that he was thinking about it, it was really odd that they could understand each other so easily. Why wouldn’t there be differences like the definition of dragonfruit or in how people used names?

“I didn’t realize that was a difference, sorry,” Urahara explained away with a soft laugh. “Call me Urahara and him Ishida. Our other names are more for close friends and family.”

“We can do that,” Euden said with a nod. “Thank you for letting us know.”

“Of course,” Urahara agreed, then cast an apologetic look at Uryuu and said, “Sorry for not catching that earlier.”

Uryuu shook his head. “You’ve had other things on your mind,” he told the man, then pushed himself to his feet and gave the group a shallow bow. “I think I’m going to retire for the evening. I’m… more tired than I expected.”

“Don’t let us keep you,” Euden said kindly. “I hope you rest well.”

“Remember that you can come down here whenever you want to get something to eat,” Cleo added.

“Ah— Midgardsormr wants to say that you should try to only eat one of those—” Euden gestured towards the dragonfruit in front of Uryuu— “a day for now. Too much could end up hurting you instead of helping.”

Uryuu blinked at Euden’s words then nodded; it made sense, given the effect that even a single bite had produced. “I will keep that in mind,” he said as he stepped away from the table, hesitating a moment before reaching out to scoop up the dragonfruit that Euden had handed him; it wasn’t bad and… and maybe it would help like this ‘Midgardsormr’ person insisted.

At the very least, it meant he wouldn’t have to leave his room for a snack whenever he got hungry next.

For that alone, he’d take it with him.

(And maybe to practice his reiatsu manipulation with.)

(That… might be fun.)

(But for now… sleep.)