Kurosaki Ichigo, who had just returned to the classroom after following Rukia Kuchiki to kill the Hollow, stopped at the door of the classroom.
Before he could return to his body, he saw that terrifying figure sitting on a seat not far from him.
"What's wrong, Ichigo? Why don't you go in?"
Kuchiki Rukia, who was walking behind, stepped forward and asked with some confusion.
Then, she was also stunned.
"Why...why is this man here?"
This is the common doubt in the minds of Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki at this moment.
Soon, they remembered that Kojima Mizuiro seemed to have mentioned that there was a transfer student in the afternoon!
"Yo!"
Noticing the return of the two men, Xuan Hao raised his hand and greeted them with a smile.
"Yo...yo!"
Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia responded with ugly smiles on their faces.
"We are all classmates, don't be nervous." Xuan Hao said softly.
However, in the ears of the two of them, the sound seemed to be able to penetrate their souls. The man seemed to have used some special method to directly convey the sound to their ears from a distance.
Who the hell wants to be your classmate? The two of them roared in their hearts, but they could only smile on their faces.
No one wants to be in the same room with such a scary guy who doesn't know the details, right?
Kurosaki Ichigo walked up to Xuan Hao cautiously, held his thighs with his hands, and bowed at ninety degrees, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding last time!"
Don't ask him why he did this. He was just afraid that this scary guy would kill him because of the knife he cut last time. Is this wrong? No! You know, the guy in front of him can take him with one finger.
That ruthless guy with a Zanpakutō nearly two meters long! You can't afford to offend him.
"sit."
Xuanhao smiled slightly and indicated that Kurosaki Ichigo could return to his body.
"yes!"
Kurosaki Ichigo sat on his seat obediently, his soul and body overlapped, and then his body trembled, bouncing up as if waking up from a nightmare.
"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, you're awake!"
On the side, Orihime Inoue clapped her hands happily when she saw Ichigo Kurosaki wake up after sleeping all morning.
"Click——"
The pen in Xuanhao's hand was accidentally broken.
The sound sent shivers down Kurosaki Ichigo's spine. He turned his head and saw that the man was smiling at him.
But for some reason, he felt that such a smile seemed extremely dangerous. No, there was no need to feel it. The way this man looked at him definitely became more dangerous!
······
off day.
"Huh huh huh~"
Orihime Inoue was humming to herself, holding a shopping bag in her hand and standing in front of the traffic light, waiting.
There was a faint smile on her face, and she seemed to be in a good mood.
Soon, the green light indicated that it was okay to pass.
She looked around and took steps.
She would not have any accidents if she obeyed the traffic rules, but the prerequisite was that everyone obeyed the rules.
Just when Inoue Orihime was halfway there, the tires of a speeding car in the distance scraped against the ground and made a sharp and harsh sound. Perhaps because the car could not be stopped, the driver honked the horn frantically.
"!?"
Hearing the harsh sound, Inoue Orihime turned her head subconsciously.
She saw the vehicle speeding towards her, but failed to react.
Because the car came so fast that ordinary people couldn't react at all.
"coming."
Xuanhao, who was guarding Inoue Orihime in the dark, fearing that something might happen to her, looked at this scene expressionlessly.
He didn't take action because he knew someone would save Inoue Orihime.
From the first moment she saw Inoue Orihime, he felt an aura hidden around this girl.
That was Xu's breath. But what surprised him was that this breath didn't seem to have any malicious intent.
This made him recall some things about this girl from his vague memory.
Inoue Orihime seems to have a dead brother.
And after the brother died, he stayed in this world because he couldn't worry about his sister, and later became a virtual one.
It was exactly what he expected.
A hand stretched out from the shadows suddenly grabbed Inoue Orihime's leg and pulled her out of the path of the car.
He saved her, but left bruise-like marks on her body.
And at this moment, Xuan Hao finally locked onto this virtual aura.
After confirming that nothing serious would happen to Inoue Orihime, he followed the breath and left here.
It is true that the brother who has transformed into a 'Void' has been protecting his sister so far, but if this continues, there will definitely be problems.
Because this is a 'virtual' after all.
Xuanhao, who has spent such a long time in Hueco Mundo, is fairly familiar with creatures like Hollows. Humans who transform into Hollows will gradually forget whatever emotions they had when they were still humans.
Except for the small number of Hollows who have self-awareness, the rest of the Hollows will eventually turn into real 'beasts', and will devour their loved ones without hesitation even if they see them. This is beyond their control.
Obviously, Inoue Orihime's brother is not that small group of special Hollows.
Therefore, before things develop to the worst, he plans to kill this virtual one first.
So, following the breath left by this Hollow, he arrived at the door of Kurosaki Ichigo's house.
"..."
Looking at this familiar place, Xuan Hao was speechless.
Should I say that it’s you as expected? Kurosaki Ichigo! Everything has something to do with that little boy!
Before he could enter the house, there was a commotion in Ichigo Kurosaki's room upstairs.
"Aim for its head!"
Seeing Hollow suddenly crawling out of the void, Kuchiki Rukia commanded.
"clear!"
Ichigo Kurosaki pulled out his Zanpakutō from behind and slashed at the Hollow's head.
But perhaps because he had just obtained the power of the Shinigami and was not able to grasp it well, and he was also a little unfamiliar with the use of the Zanpakutō, the blow was a little shallow.
Rukia Kuchiki told him that the Hollow's weak point was the head, and the trick to kill the Hollow was to cut off the mask together, killing it with one blow.
But his knife only cut off a corner of the virtual mask.
And after this corner was broken, the face that was revealed stopped his hand that wanted to attack again.
Xu screamed and retreated into the void, his breath disappearing without a trace.
"What are you doing!?"
Rukia Kuchiki yelled angrily, "Hurry up and chase!"
"I...can't do it..."
"Why?"
"Because...that was...Inoue's brother just now!"
"well……"
Rukia Kuchiki sighed as if she was discouraged, "Just to avoid this situation, I asked you to approach the Hollow from behind as much as possible and kill with one strike. Because this can not only minimize the damage in the battle, but
, and if you win with one blow, you won’t see Xu’s true face.”
"Why...is this happening?"
"Because all voids, before they become voids, are actually the souls of ordinary people."
A calm voice sounded behind Kurosaki Ichigo.
He turned his head blankly and saw that Xuan Hao had arrived in his room at some point and was standing where the Xu escaped into the void just now.
"You...what did you say?"
Ichigo Kurosaki looked at the man's calm back with some disbelief. He turned to look at Rukia Kuchiki aside, hoping that she could deny what the man said.
But Kuchiki Rukia was just holding her arms tightly and turning her head away.
There is no doubt that she admitted this man's statement.
"Hey, hey, this is not funny. I have never heard of such a thing! Lucia! Didn't you say that Kyūdu are monsters that should be destroyed?"
"Yes, now they have all become monsters, so they must be eliminated." Rukia Kuchiki looked directly at Kurosaki Ichigo's face and told him this cruel reality.
"So...all the people I killed before were...human beings?"
Kurosaki Ichigo's hand holding the sword trembled a little.
He never thought that one day he would kill someone.
"Don't be naive, kid."
Xuan Hao turned his head and glanced at Kurosaki Ichigo coldly, "While you are hesitating whether to kill them, they are threatening other people's lives."
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and opened the void in Kuchiki Rukia's shocked eyes.
This is the dark cavity that can only be opened by Xu, and it is also the place where the Xu escaped just now.
"you……"
Before she could ask any questions, the man's figure had disappeared and the black cavity was gradually closing.
"Follow Ichigo."
"What!? Do you want me to kill... Inoue's brother?"
Kurosaki Ichigo was hesitant. He didn't understand why these two people could make such decisive judgments. Even if that person was a stranger to them, he shouldn't be so indifferent, right? Could it be that this is the so-called 'Death God'?
'?
"He's right, Ichigo, you are still too naive."
Kuchiki Rukia rushed into the black cavity and turned around, "If we hesitate to kill them, they will kill you or your relatives. What will you do?"
"this……"
Kurosaki Ichigo was asked.
"Now that girl is in danger, are you sure you want to continue to stay here like this?"
"hateful!"
Kurosaki Ichigo gritted his teeth and roared angrily, then rushed into the black cavity.
······
"Xuhui does not eat souls to fill his stomach. In fact, creatures in the soul state will not die even if they do not eat."
In a dark voice, Rukia Kuchiki said while riding on the running Kurosaki Ichigo, her voice seemed a little low.
"In order to escape the emptiness and pain, they will constantly devour the souls of others to fill it. Hollows are actually fallen souls, souls that cannot be extradited to the Soul Society by the God of Death, souls that are defeated, souls that cannot bear the encirclement of Hollows
, they will lose their hearts due to depravity, and eventually turn into monsters like Xu who constantly devour the souls of others in order to fill their lost 'hearts'.
And the best thing to fill a lost 'heart' is the thing they loved most during their lifetime."
"So...he will devour Inoue's soul!?" Kurosaki Ichigo asked with a frown.
"That's right."
Rukia Kuchiki replied firmly.
"I've wanted to tell you for a long time, Ichigo. Since you have decided to become a Shinigami, you should have the corresponding awareness.
If you don't have awareness, don't save people, because - when we save people, our hands will also be stained with blood. It is impossible to continue to be naive. There is no way to have the best of both worlds in the world, you must make a choice."
······
"boom--"
The stuffed bear fell to the ground with a muffled sound.
"This is……"
The Inoue family.
Inoue Orihime was having afternoon tea with her best friend Arizawa Ryuki when she heard a strange sound coming from behind her.
The two of them looked at the stuffed bear that fell on the ground in confusion.
It was a stuffed animal placed on the cabinet. The room was calm and quiet, a bit eerie.
How could it fall for no reason?
There was cold sweat on Arizawa Ryuki's forehead, and he seemed to feel a little strange.
But the rough-and-tumble Orihime Inoue didn't seem to realize what was going on.
She called the puppet's name and rushed over to pick it up, looking very distressed.
"Ah!"
"What's wrong!?"
Arizawa Ryuki heard Inoue Orihime's scream and quickly followed him.
"Why...cracked?"
Inoue Orihime handed the doll to Arizawa Ryuki.
"!?" Arizawa Ryuki saw that the doll's head seemed to have been cut open by something sharp, and cotton leaked out. No, this is not the point. The point is why Orihime's hands were stained like blood.
thing?
She realized something was wrong and quickly tried to take Inoue Orihime's hand, but it was too late.
An invisible force pushed Inoue Orihime's body away, right in front of her.
"Orihime!!"
Arizawa Ryuki's face turned pale, "There is something...near here!"
She quickly realized that something was wrong. There seemed to be something unclean in this room.
In the sight that Arizawa Ryuki could not see, Inoue Orihime huddled in the corner, desperately shouting for her friends to run away.
Inoue Orihime's current condition was not much better than Arisawa Ryuuki's, and she had no idea what was going on.
At this moment, she could clearly see her body lying on the ground, but her 'self' was in another corner, with a slender chain connecting her to herself lying on the ground.
The sight in front of her frightened her even more.
A huge monster is behind his good friend, but his friend seems to be completely unaware of the other person's presence.
No matter how much she shouted, her voice could not reach her.
Ryuki Arizawa stared blankly at the empty space in front of him.
Although she had realized that there seemed to be something unclean in the room, she still couldn't see anything.
Ordinary people cannot see Xu or the God of Death, even if the other party is already standing in front of them, even if the other party's claws are roaring towards them.
"No! Xiaogui, run!"
Inoue Orihime shouted as she rushed over desperately, trying to knock away the monster in front of her who was extending its claws towards her best friend.
"Orihime, why do you want to save her?"
Feeling the impact on his body, Xu stretched out his hand in confusion and held Inoue Orihime in his hand.
"Let...let me go!"
Inoue Orihime struggled and screamed, even biting the empty finger with her teeth to try to let it go.