On a utility pole flanking the street stood a girl in a black shihakushō.
Her short hair flipped up at the ends, deep-violet eyes cool and clear. A single bang fell to her brow, her petite frame poised, a long blade at her waist.
"The Soul Reaper girl... Kuchiki Rukia."
Tachibana Yu watched her, a spark of delight flashing in his eyes.
He had chosen to live at Kurosaki Clinic partly for safety, and partly to wait for Kuchiki Rukia's arrival.
Only through her could he seize a chance at transcendent power.
One path was to become a Soul Reaper.
Another was to gain a strange ability under the Hōgyoku's influence.
Either way, he would shed his old skin. No more fleeing from Hollows. He would be the one to strike them down.
As he was thinking, Kurosaki Ichigo's anxious shout snapped him back.
"Yu, run. That thing is coming straight at us."
Yu's heart tightened. He turned and saw the ravenous Hollow charging at him with a roar.
"Damn it, you really think I'm an easy target?"
Anger kindled in his eyes. He stepped forward, forced some spiritual power over his fist, and slammed a punch.
He had not run all these years for nothing. At least now he could judge a Hollow's strength at a glance.
"Go... die!"
With a shout, his fist crashed into the Hollow's bone-white mask.
THUMP!
The blow landed. The Hollow staggered back several steps, howling in pain.
Up on the pole, Rukia's eyes widened. She turned toward Yu, unable to believe what she was seeing.
"He can see Hollows? No, it's more than that..."
Her gaze snapped to the Hollow's mask. A fist-shaped crater marred the surface, cracks veining outward as if about to shatter.
"A human nearly killed a Hollow?"
Rukia was shaken. She remembered lectures at Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy.
Their instructors had said humans were fragile. Even a hundred humans together could not bring down an ordinary Hollow.
That was why Soul Reapers maintained the balance of the three worlds by slaying Hollows.
But this human...
"ROAR!"
The Hollow bellowed in fury.
Rukia jolted into motion. Before Yu could swing again, she drew her zanpakutō and cut down in a single arc.
SWISH!
The Hollow's head came clean off. Its body unraveled into black reishi and faded away.
Ichigo stared, dawning comprehension on his face, then looked at Rukia with surprise and joy.
"So it was you protecting us from the shadows all this time?"
Rukia did not spare him a glance. She dropped lightly from the pole and landed before Yu.
"How peculiar. A human who can see Hollows, and that abnormal strength..."
Curious, she reached out and patted along Yu's arms and chest, as if hunting for the source of the anomaly.
Yu flushed, stepped back, and cleared his throat.
"I might be a guy, but I'm still pretty pure. Could you keep your hands to yourself a bit?"
Rukia blinked. Pop. Her face turned apple red, and she snatched her hands back.
Only then did she remember. If Yu could see Hollows, he could definitely see her.
"Um..."
The Soul Reaper girl spun and bolted.
"Hey, wait..."
Yu lifted a hand helplessly. "Why are you running so fast? It's not like I'm making you take responsibility."
Since she left, he did not chase.
As long as Urahara Kisuke and Kurosaki Isshin had not abandoned their plan, no matter how far she ran, she would still have to meet him tonight.
"..."
"Yu, that's so weird. She's been protecting us, so why did she run as soon as she saw us?"
Ichigo chatted as he slid open the front door of Kurosaki Clinic.
Standing to the side, Yu said casually, "I think you won't be pondering that much longer."
"Why?"
The moment the word left his mouth, a flying kick smacked him in the chest. BOOM. He smashed into the floor.
"Hahaha, Ichigo, you let your guard down. Didn't I tell you to be vigilant at all times?"
A burly man in a white coat roared with laughter.
Yu eyed the man speechlessly, though he did not dare take him lightly.
He might be human now, but years ago he had been Shiba Isshin, former captain of the 10th Division in Seireitei's Gotei.
With him here, Yu had survived the last five years in peace.
As Yu thought that, a whisper of air sliced by his ear. He reacted on instinct and slapped out.
SMACK!
The crisp crack echoed.
In Ichigo's stunned stare, his old man flew like a cannonball and cratered into the wall with a thunderous crash.
CRRRAACK...
Webs of fractures spread across the plaster.
At the center, Kurosaki Isshin was embedded like a decorative ornament, the wall swallowing him whole.
Yu sucked in a breath and rushed over, prying him free.
"Uncle Isshin, are you okay?"
Isshin trembled, then stuck up a thumb.
"Nice hit, Yu. There's nothing left I can teach you. Just remember, offer a few more sticks of incense for me next time..."
His head lolled to the side and he passed out.
"Uncle Isshin!"
Yu's shout cracked like a whip.
"..."
"How is he, is Uncle Isshin alright?"
Outside the bedroom, Yu watched anxiously as Ichigo stepped out.
He had not expected that a moment's distraction would end with a former 10th Division captain hammered into the wall and hard to pry loose.
"He's fine. The old man's just asleep."
Ichigo was not worried about his father. He looked at Yu instead, a strange glint in his eyes.
"Has your strength been getting bigger and bigger?"
When Yu first moved in, he had been within the human norm.
Five years flashed by, and Yu's power had grown terrifying, dozens of times stronger, like a monster in human skin.
Of course. I've spent the last five years pumping Strength... Yu thought, while smiling on the surface.
"With Uncle Isshin training me every day, how could I not get strong?"
Ichigo was speechless. "You call that training..."
He did not finish.
Another kick sent him flying.
Isshin lowered his right leg and laughed heartily.
"Ichigo, how many times have I told you, never let your guard down."
"Stupid old man..."
Hashtag veins pulsed on Ichigo's forehead.
...