CRASH!!!
CRASH!!!
CRASH!!!
Deafening roars echoed continuously through the streets.
One after another, trench-like sword marks appeared.
Never mind the humans who couldn't see anything, even the Hollow was scared out of its wits. "Are you insane!? You're a Shinigami! How can you not hide yourself from humans and openly destroy the city's buildings!?"
To this, Ye Yun offered no reply, instead intensifying his fierce assault.
The Hollow's ghastly white mask twisted in rage. It grabbed a passerby and roared, "If you dare to attack me again, I'll kill this human—"
BOOM!!!
Ye Yun's sword slash nearly split the Hollow in two.
The Hollow shook the human in its grasp in disbelief. "Don't you Shinigami care about human lives anymore!?"
Ye Yun's expression was ice-cold as he said, "If I don't kill an evil Hollow like you, do you know how many people will die? Some sacrifices are worth making."
"You—!#@%..." The Hollow's face turned purple. It had never seen a Shinigami like this before, as cold and terrifying as an iceberg.
"The spiritual pressure of a Hollow..."
"Ye Yun's spiritual pressure..."
On a street near the Kurosaki Clinic, Rukia Kuchiki's expression changed drastically. She whipped her head around to look. "To release such formidable spiritual pressure... how did he encounter such a strong Hollow?"
Ichigo Kurosaki was a bit dazed. "The auras of Ye Yun and a Hollow? Why can't I feel anything at all? I can hear sounds coming over, though."
"Sounds!?"
Rukia paused, and indeed, she could hear roaring sounds steadily approaching their location.
Just a few dozen seconds passed before the two of them saw the courtyard in front of them crumble amidst a ferocious flash of a blade.
A grotesque, blood-covered Hollow ran desperately towards them. Behind it, Ye Yun swung his eighty-meter-long sword, relentlessly cleaving down and turning the entire street into a ruin.
Rukia was almost dumbfounded. You've got to be kidding me...
Just from these few slashes by Ye Yun, she had no idea how many human memories she would have to alter.
"YE YUN!!!" Rukia screamed through gritted teeth.
Ye Yun also saw Rukia and Ichigo and said in a deep voice, "Ichigo, this is the Hollow that killed your mother! I just saw it manipulating her image! Hurry and stop it!"
Ichigo froze for a moment, his eyes gradually becoming vacant. "The Hollow... that killed my mother..."
He abruptly snapped back to his senses, his eyes filled with absolute rage as he stared at the Hollow before him. He gripped his Zanpakutō and charged forward. "It was you! It was you, wasn't it!!!"
"Ichigo Kurosaki!!" The Hollow also recognized Ichigo and roared back, "Wait! Don't you want to save your mother?"
As it spoke, it once again, like a puppeteer, summoned the phantom of Masaki Kurosaki, whom it had devoured.
Ichigo's movements did indeed falter because of this. But Ye Yun's did not.
He swung his eighty-meter-long sword horizontally, viciously slashing at the Hollow's lower body.
Swish!
The blade flashed. The Hollow let out a blood-curdling scream. It fell to the ground with a thud, its legs having been cleanly severed by that single slash.
"Ye Yun..." Ichigo stared blankly at Ye Yun. He knew that if Ye Yun had been serious, that last slash could have absolutely cut the Hollow in half at the waist.
Ye Yun smiled and said, "I still think that this Hollow must be killed by you personally."
Ichigo was silent for a few seconds. A glimmer of tears appeared in his eyes. He nodded heavily, his gaze filled with hatred as he looked at the Hollow. "Leave it to me!"
"Ye Yun, Ichigo..." Rukia watched, stunned, completely unaware of what had just happened.
"Come with me first. I'll explain later," Ye Yun said, grabbing Rukia's hand and preparing to drag her away without taking no for an answer.
"But the Hollow is still..." Rukia looked at the Hollow with its severed legs.
Ye Yun couldn't be bothered to explain. He directly hoisted her onto his shoulder and, with a leap, left the scene.
"Wait, Ye Yun..." Rukia said, annoyed, after being placed back on the ground. "Why didn't you let me watch from there?"
Ye Yun shook his head. "Trust me. That's the one who murdered Ichigo's mother. It's his own business. He absolutely wouldn't want anyone else to interfere."
Hearing this, Rukia gradually calmed down. "I understand... So what do we do now?"
"We?" Ye Yun gave her a strange look. "I'm going to Inoue-san's house. As for you, who knows."
A vein popped on Rukia's forehead.
The two of them arrived at Orihime Inoue's house together.
Looking at the ruin-like scene before them, Rukia couldn't help but look at Ye Yun. "Is Inoue-san's family this poor?"
Ye Yun couldn't help but cough a couple of times. To be honest, this was all his handiwork.
Seeing Ye Yun return, Orihime, in her soul state, had tears in her eyes and excitedly threw herself at him. "Ye Yun-kun, I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried about you! Thank you for saving me and my brother. I thought I was going to die just now..."
Rukia felt a bit awkward, mainly because when Orihime threw herself into Ye Yun's arms, her ample chest was squashed into two round cakes against him, making her feel just a tiny bit inferior.
Ye Yun patted Orihime's hair and comforted her. "It's alright. You're safe now, aren't you!?"
Orihime nodded with teary eyes.
Orihime's brother also walked over, looking at Ye Yun with gratitude. "Ye Yun, thank you. If you hadn't come in time, I really don't know what would have happened."
Ye Yun smiled at him. "It's nothing. After all, Inoue and I are classmates. It's only natural that I protect her."
Orihime's brother nodded, looking at his sister with reluctance. "Orihime, I won't be by your side anymore. You have to take good care of yourself, protect yourself, and don't get hurt."
Orihime hugged her brother tightly and said in a choked voice, "Brother, are you leaving?"
Her brother nodded, gently stroking her hair. He said with a smile, "I didn't leave before mainly because I was worried you would be lonely. But now you have friends, and you have someone you like. I can finally rest assured."
Saying this, he looked at Ye Yun again and said sincerely, "Ye Yun-kun, I'm entrusting Orihime to you. I hope you will treat her well in the future and not let her be wronged."
Ye Yun nodded slightly.
Orihime's brother then looked at the ruin-like apartment and said to Ye Yun with a smile, "Ye Yun-kun, look, my home has become like this. Orihime definitely can't live here anymore. Could she possibly stay at your place for a while?"
Ye Yun thought for a moment and agreed. After all, he had become a Shinigami now and no longer needed to board at the Kurosaki Clinic. And his own house was very large; two more people wouldn't be a problem at all.
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