In the real world, Ichigo is in school when he see Lurichiyo Kasumiōji, who has come back to the real world because she is angered that Ryūsei "Kenryū" Kenzaki, her retainer, would not allow her to play kemari when she has other important duties. This leads to an outburst between Lurichiyo and Kenryū, and Kenryū intends to kill himself to make Lurichiyo "happy". After Ichigo and his friends persuade Kenryū, they put on an act to fool Lurichiyo into forgiving him, but she sees through the trick. This leads to another argument and culminates in Lurichiyo challenging Kenryū to a kemari game to see who is right.