The Beautiful Patissier, Yumichika!

 is the one hundred and thirty-fourth episode of the Bleach anime.

11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa helps the Plus Heita Momoyama bake a cake for his mother.

Summary
In his office in the First Division barracks, Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto sits next to his lieutenant, Chōjirō Sasakibe, behind his desk as he orders 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi to immediately travel to the Human World and search for the spiritual waves of the Arrancar and Espada in addition to simplifying the procedures for executing a Gentei Kaijo, with Mayuri staring intently at several papers in his hand during this.

Some time later, Mayuri stands next to his lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi, before his team of researchers in the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, where he instructs his 3rd Seat, Akon, to select one of the researchers to go to the Human World in order to fulfill Yamamoto's request. When Akon asks him about what he will be doing, Mayuri admits that he is interested in the Arrancar, but points out how there is no guarantee he will encounter an Espada in the Human World and dismissively tosses the papers aside.

While Nemu calmly catches the papers in midair, Mayuri walks away and concludes that he will set out in the winter during the climactic battle, leaving Nemu to hand the papers to Akon and reveal that these are the research documents prior to following Mayuri. Watching them leave, Hiyosu notes that the more likely scenario is Mayuri simply not wanting to be bothered with this. Akon turns to the other researchers and inquires about whether any of them want to go to the Human World, and though most of them decline or claim to be prevented from doing so by something like a chronic illness, Rin Tsubokura reveals that he does.

With his fellow researchers shocked by this, Rin meekly turns to Akon and Hiyosu and requests to be allowed to go, prompting Hiyosu to muse on how strange this is since Rin normally just eats sweets and lazes around. However, Akon states that it should be alright, to Rin's delight, and informs the latter that someone from the Fourth Division will be protecting and guiding him on this mission. Before Rin leaves, Akon hands him a small bag containing the replacement molars requested by 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame. Shortly afterward, an awestruck Rin stands with a large, filled bag before the central Senkaimon in the Seireitei.

Celebrating the opportunity to travel to the Human World finally arriving, Rin expresses excitement at it likely having many sweets that Soul Society does not and pulls out a booklet while deciding to try the Western sweets known as cakes first in order to determine what they look and taste like, only to be interrupted by 4th Division 7th Seat Hanatarō Yamada timidly greeting him from behind. Startled by this, Rin falls backward onto the ground, which results in Hanatarō tripping over a small rock and falling flat on his face when he attempts to rush to Rin's side in concern. As a bewildered Rin wonders if he is alright, Hanatarō apologizes for this.

Hanatarō reveals that he was assigned to accompany Rin to the Human World and introduces himself, which Rin returns the courtesy of. Once the two of them arrive in Karakura Town, Hanatarō leads Rin to the Urahara Shop and bangs on the front door to see if anyone is inside, prompting Rin to question what this place is. In turn, Hanatarō explains that he comes here often while in the Human World and enters the open front door with Rin following him, though the two of them do not find anyone inside. As Hanatarō begins looking for the staff, Rin notices the various sweets in the aisles surrounding him and begins gushing over how wonderful they look.

Despite Hanatarō warning him to not eat the sweets without paying for them first, a drooling Rin continues staring at one of the sweets in his hand before Tessai Tsukabishi appears behind them and demands to know what they are doing. Though Rin is startled by this, Hanatarō politely greets Tessai and observes that it has been a while since they last met. Once the three of them join Kisuke Urahara in the back room, with Noba bringing them a plate of crackers in his plushie body, Hanatarō explains that he and Rin have come here to research battle sites and figure out how to simplify Gentei Kaijo as preparation for the upcoming Arrancar battles.

With Rin pleased by the taste of the crackers and rapidly devouring them, Urahara confirms that he has heard about this from 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya and recalls how they had trouble in the battles against Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's Fracción because of how long it took to initiate Gentei Kaijo. Deciding to show them where the Arrancar first appeared, Urahara stands up and requests that 11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa show them the way. However, Yumichika, who is sitting behind the doorway leading to the room, asserts that he is still not convinced and questions why he was chosen for this task.

In response, Urahara reveals that Hitsugaya said Yumichika looked like he had the most free time and thus chose the latter to accompany Hanatarō and Rin, to Yumichika's astonishment, and with Hanatarō stating that they are counting on him, a dejected Yumichika wonders why this always happens to him. Some time later, Yumichika stands at the edge of the crater in the park that Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Llargo crashed down into, where he insists that Hanatarō and Rin wrap up their research at the bottom of the crater soon since he really does have other things to do. Down in the crater, a grotesque machine draws a multi-lined graph on paper for Rin.

Once Rin confirms that he has picked up a definite pattern from the readings, Hanatarō asks Yumichika to take them to the next site, to the latter's exasperation. The three of them begin walking through Karakura Town, with Yumichika commenting on how bothersome it is to have to get around this way and Hanatarō apologizing for not being good at Shunpo. As Rin gleefully notices something behind the, Yumichika sighs and acknowledges this while Hanatarō laughs nervously, only to stop upon noticing that Rin is no longer behind them. Though Yumichika assumes he got lost, Hanatarō is startled to see Rin inside a nearby shop buying a cake.

After the cashier thanks Rin, he leaves the store and replies to Hanatarō demanding to know what he is doing when they are on a mission by explaining that he had to buy one of their delicious-looking cakes. With Hanatarō confused as to how he managed to buy a cake when he is not in a Gigai, Rin details how he used another, smaller grotesque machine on the ground next to him that can make a Soul visible to those without spiritual awareness, which is what allowed him to buy the cake without a Gigai. Suddenly, while Yumichika bluntly asserts that he does not care and tells Rin to finish this up, Heita Momoyama walks out behind Rin.

Upon seeing Hanatarō, Yumichika, and Rin, Heita reels back in fright as Rin scampers back against the nearby railing and expresses fright at seeing a ghost, but Hanatarō and Yumichika notice Heita's Chain of Fate wrapping around the sign of the cake shop and realize that he is a Jibakurei. During this, Heita stops cringing in fear and inquires about whether Hanatarō and Yumichika can see him. While Hanatarō confirms that they can and identifies them as Shinigami, Yumichika counters Heita's relief at this and warns him that it is dangerous for Heita to stay here even though he seems to be attached to this store.

When Yumichika holds out his sheathed Zanpakutō, an alerted Heita defensively holds up his hands and questions what Yumichika is going to do with it, which leads Yumichika to explain that Hollows will come after Heita or he will become a Hollow and attack his relatives if he stays here as he grabs Heita's Chain of Fate and pulls the latter over. With Yumichika concluding that they will be preventing this by sending him to Soul Society and holds up the hilt of his Zanpakutō, which the Konsō seal begins glowing on, Heita frantically promises that there will be trouble if Yumichika does this and begs the Shinigami to listen to his story.

Despite this, Yumichika simply assures him that he will feel better soon and ignores Heita's pleas before attempting to perform Konsō, only for Hanatarō and Rin to restrain him simultaneously and insist that Yumichika listen to Heita's story, to his surprise. Later that day, with the sun beginning to set, Hanatarō, Yumichika, Rin, and Heita sit on a riverbank far away from the cake shop, where Rin comments on how abnormally long Heita's Chain of Fate is and Hanatarō notes that Jibakurei usually cannot move from their spots. At Yumichika's prompting, Heita introduces himself and reveals he used to work at the cake shop.

Elaborating that he was hit by a car in front of the cake shop, to Hanatarō's sympathy, Heita recounts how he trained hard every day to learn to make cakes, and when Yumichika bluntly observes that he cannot do so any longer, Rin protests that he does not have to say this, though Hanatarō points out how he is unusually responsive to talk of cake. Upon being asked by Yumichika about what is troubling him, Heita reveals that it is his mother, who comes to pray for him every day while the streets are still empty, but has been becoming thinner recently to the point where his sister and her husband suggested she live with them, which he approves of.

Heita clarifies that his mother never got to eat any of his cakes while he was training, to the others' surprise, and stands up while righteously proclaiming that he wants them to make a cake, which he will teach them how to do, because he still wants his mother to eat one of his cakes and believes that it will still be his if they make it to his specifications. As a startled Yumichika admits that he never expected Heita to say this, Rin enthusiastically agrees, further shocking Yumichika, and ignores Hanatarō deducing that he just wants to eat cake to insist that they help Heita, who thanks them, because they are talking about cake.

Shortly afterward, the group travels to the Urahara Shop, dresses in chef outfits, and enters the sparkling clean kitchen of the shop, which impresses them while Urahara declares that this is its first appearance. When Heita praises how nicely arranged it is, Urahara thanks him and details how he had it remodeled just recently after consulting with Tessai. Upon noticing Rin looking through one of the cabinets, Tessai pokes the top of his hat to get his attention and sternly warns Rin to not damage anything, which a frightened Rin agrees to. After informing them that all of their ingredients are present, Urahara notices Yumichika admiring himself in a reflection.

Urahara notes how strange it is for Yumichika to be interested in this as well, but Yumichika denies being interested at all and puts on his chef's hat. With the others chuckling at this and Heita responding to Rin's excitement by stating that he is counting on them, Yumichika admits that this is odd and continues admiring his appearance in the reflection of the glass, where he concludes that the clothes are not so bad and grins. At Heita's instruction, Hanatarō and Rin begin beating fresh cream in separate bowls with whisks, and when Hanatarō informs Heita that his eggs somehow became mushy, Heita is aghast at him managing to do this.

While Heita reminds Hanatarō that the eggs must be room temperature and making them this hot will turn them into spring eggs, which means he has to remake it, Rin repeatedly sticks a finger into the cream he is whisking and bring it to his mouth to taste some of it, prompting Heita to instruct him to not sample too much of it. Following this, Yumichika begins cutting up strawberries, and when Heita tells him to cut them smaller, Yumichika puts four on the cutting board at once and begins rapidly chopping them up, which Heita criticizes as being too small. Irritated by this, Yumichika suggests that Heita cut up the strawberries instead.

In response, Heita angrily reminds Yumichika that he is doing this because Heita cannot, which Yumichika recoils at. As night falls, Hanatarō, Yumichika, and Rin complete the cake, but when Hanatarō assumes that they can now give it to his mother, Heita reveals that they have to taste it first, which Hanatarō acknowledges. Once he concludes that they will make another cake to give to his mother if this one tastes good, Heita remembers that he cannot eat it and cuts out three slices for Hanatarō, Yumichika, and Rin to eat, only to learn that it is the first time any of them have eaten cake because no one makes it in Soul Society, to his shock.

Suddenly, as Heita laments the lack of anyone who has eaten cake before, Ururu Tsumugiya gets his attention and stares longingly at the cake from the edge of the countertop. Meanwhile, in the Study Chamber below the Urahara Shop, 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai sends his Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, hurtling toward Yasutora Sado, who manages to leap out of the way at the last second prior to Hihiō Zabimaru crashing through the area where he was standing and coiling around the surrounding rock formations, leaving Renji to berate him for still being too slow, though he admits that Sado has slightly improved.

However, before Renji can oblige a sweating Sado's request to continue, they are interrupted by Ururu running over with the cake and explaining the situation to them. With Sado observing that he has had cake before and Renji claiming to know everything about the Human World, they each take a slice from the platter and bite into it, only for their reactions to leave Ururu mortified. Back in the kitchen, Heita announces that they have to remake the cake and proceeds to have Hanatarō, Yumichika, and Rin bake several more cakes, with Sado and Renji left disgusted and heaving by the taste of the first one Ururu brings down to them.

A later cake put together after several failed attempts, involving Hanatarō falling asleep and spilling cream all over himself while Heita was focusing on Rin, who laughs hysterically at the sight of this, is multi-layered and brought down as Ururu as well, only for Sado and Renji to cower behind a nearby rock and hide from a confused Ururu at the sight of the cake. The next day, with the sun beginning to set, Hanatarō and Rin walk down the street with bags of ingredients. When Rin laments that he probably will not get to taste a delicious cake at this rate, Hanatarō encourages him to do his best instead of thinking like this.

Suddenly, the two of them see Heita standing forlornly in front of the flowers left by his mother, and when Rin notes that Heita's mother seems to be moving tomorrow, Hanatarō realizes that this means tomorrow is the last day she will visit the site of his death as Yumichika silently watches them while standing in the air above with Hohō. That night, Hanatarō and Rin fervently whisk the cream exactly to Heita's specifications, to his delight, and Yumichika perfectly slices up the strawberries prior to informing Heita that they will be making a beautiful and delicious cake for his mother since tomorrow is the last day she will come.

With Heita tearing up at this and thanking Yumichika, Hanatarō asserts that they will do their best and Rin agrees. Hours later, as morning dawns, the group stands before two completed, identical cakes and cheers at their success, where Hanatarō notes that they will be set if the cakes taste good. Upon each trying a bite of one of the cakes, Hanatarō, Yumichika, and Rin are astonished and effusively praise its taste, causing Heita to begin crying in delight, and Yumichika reminds him that they should get going because his mother is on her way. At the cake shop, Heita's mother finishes praying before a bouquet of fresh flowers and stands up.

Before she can walk away, Heita's mother is approached by Hanatarō, Rin, and Yumichika, with the latter holding the cake as Rin identifies them as friends of Heita and Hanatarō explains that they had heard she would be moving today. Thanking them for looking after Heita while he was alive, Heita's mother notices the cake, which a smiling Heita stands behind, and Rin tells her that it is Heita's cake prior to Yumichika clarifying that they are the ones who made it using the recipe that Heita taught them, meaning that it is Heita's flavor. While his mother expresses shock at this being his cake, Heita apologizes for it being a little late.

However, Heita's mother looks away and states that she cannot accept the cake, to the shock of the others, and when Rin inquires about why she cannot, Heita's mother reveals she cannot stand cakes anymore since seeing one always makes her remember Heita and causes her pain. With his mother apologizing and walking away, Heita attempts to run after her and jostles Hanatarō and Yumichika out of the way as he attempts to grab the cake, only for it to fall to the ground instead. Mortified by this, Heita laments how he just wanted his mother to eat it and tearfully begs her to come back. Suddenly, the base of Heita's Chain of Fate begins crackling with red Reiatsu.

Despite Hanatarō telling him to calm down, Heita stumbles back and groans while the Reiatsu intensifies in force, causing Yumichika to look up at the sky and deduce that the Reiatsu is attracting Hollows as a Kūmon forms in the air above and a Menos Grande emerges, terrifying Hanatarō and Rin. Though he calls them unsightly for being scared by a Menos Grande and confidently leaps toward it after exiting his Gigai with Gringo's Gikongan, Yumichika is forced to block a giant red Cero fired by the Menos Grande with his Zanpakutō and inadvertently sends some of the dispersed energy hurtling toward the cake.

Managing to block the energy at the last second with his body, Yumichika criticizes himself for being careless and hands the cake off to Gringo, who promises to take care of it and responds to Rin expressing concern for a departing Yumichika by telling him to worry about himself before worrying about others. After ignoring Hanatarō's advice to stay calm and maintain consciousness by throwing him off, Heita approaches his confused mother and demands that she not leave before wrapping his Chain of Fate around her and yanking his mother forward, where she falls face-down on the ground in front of the flowers, to Hanatarō's horror.

With Hanatarō exiting his Gigai to tend to Heita's mother and Rin telling Heita to get a hold of himself, Yumichika evades another Cero from the Menos Grande and is annoyed at how he is struggling against such a weak opponent prior to moving away with Shunpo to dodge the Menos Grande's extending tongue. On the ground below, Rin sees the base of Heita's Chain of Fate beginning to come off of his chest and realizes that he is about to become a Hollow as Heita demands to know why his mother will not eat his cake and pushes Rin away to grab his Chain of Fate with both hands and attempt to break it.

Seeing Heita throwing Rin off against despite the latter pleading with him to calm down and his Reiatsu further intensifying, Hanatarō realizes that this is the solution and draws his Zanpakutō, Hisagomaru, which leads a startled Rin to question what he is doing. Hanatarō notes that he has no choice and runs forward to slash Hisagomaru against the base of Heita's Chain of Fate, causing the gauge on its blade to rapidly fill up as the Reiatsu around Heita fades and dissipates. While Heita falls to his knees, Hanatarō releases his Shikai, Akeiro Hisagomaru, and releases its energy to slash diagonally across the Menos Grande.

As the Menos Grande reels back in pain from this, Hanatarō calls out to Yumichika, who releases his Shikai, Fuji Kujaku, and slashes diagonally across the Menos Grande's body in the opposite direction, causing it to shudder and disintegrate into the sky. When Rin runs up to him and wonders what this was while Yumichika joins them on the ground, Hanatarō explains that Hisagomaru reaches Shikai by absorbing the wounds of others and unleashing its full power, and when Rin deduces that he healed Heita's wounds, Hanatarō elaborates that a chest hole is a wound of the heart and that Heita's not being fully open meant he could do something.

With Yumichika impressed by this, Heita regains his senses and rushes to his mother's side in concern, where she regains consciousness and is surprised to see a relieved Heita kneeling before her. Despite not knowing how his mother can see him, though Hanatarō and Rin realize that the latter's device is making it possible, Heita assures his mother that he finally completed his cake, to her amazement, and Yumichika approaches them with the cake, which he notes will still taste good even though it has been dropped. After taking a slice with a fork and biting into it, Heita's mother praises the cake as delicious, causing Heita to tear up. While tears run down her cheeks, Heita's mother apologizes and promises that she will never say it hurts when she sees a cake again, to Heita's happiness.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
At the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, Rin Tsubokura announces his return and is welcomed back by 12th Division 3rd Seat Akon, who assures him that the data they received is fine and questions if Rin gave 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame his molars. In response, Rin reveals that he stomped on them during the fight against the Menos Grande and subsequently followed Akon's instructions to add a note to the bag claiming that they are molars which only morons cannot see, leaving Akon astonished that he actually did this as Ikkaku and 11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa stare at the note in confusion.

Powers and Techniques Used
Zanpakutō Techniques:
 * (flashback)

Hohō Techniques:

Hollow Techniques:

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

Bankai:

Fullbring:

Resurrección released:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)