Chapter 164
"Teacher Hiratsuka?"
Yukino looked at Shizuka Hiratsuka with some surprise. She was worried that Shizuka Hiratsuka would encounter something. Just as she expected, the dark figure behind her passed right past her and came directly in front of Shizuka Hiratsuka, its blood-red eyes almost touching Shizuka Hiratsuka's face.
"Can you see me? Can you see me?"
However, Shizuka Hiratsuka didn't see it at all and continued to greet Yukino in front of the shadowy figure.
"Lunch break is almost over, you'd better hurry back to the classroom. I need to get ready for class too, and we're going the same way anyway, let's go together."
"Yes, Teacher Hiratsuka."
After finishing her sentence, Shizuka Hiratsuka turned and started to leave, while the shadowy figure ignored her and looked at Yukino Yukinoshita again.
Yukino reluctantly followed behind Shizuka Hiratsuka, and at the same time made a judgment: Teacher Hiratsuka couldn't see the dark figure, so she was fine. Sure enough, she couldn't let this monster know that she could see it.
If that's the case, we can only hope that no other students see this monster, otherwise...
Following Shizuka Hiratsuka, Yukino arrived at the school building. They parted ways at the stairwell and Shizuka Hiratsuka returned to her own class, 2-J. To Yukino's relief, no one else could see the shadowy figure; only she could see it from beginning to end. This put her at ease, at least preventing any students from being inexplicably killed.
As time went on, she began to shift her attention, because the dark figure made no move other than following behind her. This made Yukino wonder if she was really hallucinating, since it shouldn't be that only she could see it and no one else could.
After school, all the students in the class went out. Some went to club activities, while others went straight home. Yukino was left in the classroom. She couldn't help but rub her temples. The dark shadow behind her was still there, but it hadn't moved all afternoon, making her think that it was probably just a hallucination.
"Have you been too tired lately?"
"Xiaoxue, what's wrong?"
While Yukino and rubbing her temples, Yukino heard a voice behind her asking a question, and she habitually answered.
"Yuihama, I didn't..."
Yukino her sentence, because Yui Yuigahama couldn't possibly be in her class! And behind her was only that huge black shadow!
It was a probing attack from the Yuihama's voice and words!
Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes widened, then she looked behind her in horror.
"Hahaha! You can see me! You can see me!!"
The shadowy figure behind her suddenly burst into laughter, raised its enormous claw, and lunged straight at Yukino Yukinoshita's head!
Yukino quickly lunged forward to dodge the claw, but at the cost of having her table torn in two.
"It's true, it's all true!"
Yukino's eyes widened, and she hurriedly scrambled to her feet, trying to escape. However, the shadowy figure gave her no chance to run away. It grabbed the torn table and threw it at Yukino. The table missed Yukino but flew over Yukino and hit the classroom door, knocking down the cabinet next to the door and blocking it. This forced her to stop.
"If you can see me, I can eat you!! Hahaha! You can see me!!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the dark figure leaped up and pounced on Yukino Yukinoshita, opening its two huge claws, ready to knock Yukino.
"Don't want!"
Yukino, terrified, closed her eyes and screamed.
Plop—Thump
The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground rang out, and Yukino felt an impact on both sides before everything became quiet.
Confused, she opened her eyes and found two enormous bodies lying on the ground on either side of her. The dark figure had been sliced in two! And the one who did all this was a brown-haired man wearing a white haori, holding a long sword, and wearing glasses, who was standing in front of her.
The man seemed to sense Yukino's gaze, turned around, looked down at Yukino, and wore a gentle smile.
Are you alright?
"I... I'm fine..."
Yukino took a deep breath to calm herself down.
"May I ask who you are?"
"My name is Aizen Sousuke Bleach)."
Aizen, far away in Las Noches, suddenly frowned, sensing something was wrong.
278. Being able to see is a sign of exceptional talent.
"Give."
"Um... thank you."
Seeing the milk carton handed to her, Yukino Yukinoshita realized what was happening, quickly thanked them, and took it with both hands, holding it in her palms in a daze.
"Strawberry milk?"
"Sweets can make people feel good, especially if you need to calm down right now. Eating some sweets is the best choice."
"Um... thank you."
Yukino Yukinoshita Aizen her gratitude again, but she couldn't help but look up at Aizen in front of her and ask him a question.
"Even Bleach knows... I mean, do you drink strawberry milk too?"
"What, do you think Bleach is some old relic who is completely ignorant of human affairs?"
"Sorry, that's not what I meant. I was just a little surprised. A lot happened today."
Today's experiences were a bit too surreal. First, I encountered a terrifying evil spirit and watched helplessly as it devoured a soul that looked like a cat. Then, I was followed by the evil spirit all afternoon. At the critical moment, I encountered a Bleach fortunately appeared in time to save me, otherwise I was afraid I would have been eaten by that evil spirit.
"I understand. There aren't many people as unlucky as you. You're one in a million. You don't need to worry about it too much."
"..."
If you don't know how to comfort people, you don't have to.
Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Aizen with a speechless expression.
"Hurry up and drink it, drink something sweet to make yourself feel better."
Yukino looked down at the strawberry milk in her hand. It was the kind sold in the school's vending machine, a very common brand. Considering that the other person had just saved her, there was no possibility that they were trying to trick her with a drugged drink, so she opened the milk and started drinking.
Whether it was a placebo effect or the strawberry milk really worked, after taking two sips, Yukino felt much more relaxed and less nervous than before.
After calming herself down, Yukino looked at Aizen, her curiosity prompting her to ask the question that had been bothering her.
"Mr. Bleach, can you tell me what exactly happened with that evil spirit? And you... does Bleach really exist in this world?"
Aizen pushed up his glasses.
"Want to know about evil spirits and Bleach? No problem, I can tell you. But right now, you need to take care of your own affairs first."
"My own business?"
"That's right, your companions have arrived."
"Um?"
"Xiaoxue".
Yui Yuigahama appeared at the corner of the corridor.
"Ah, I've finally found you."
"The door to the activity room was locked. I thought you had gone home first."
Yui Yuigahama rushed up to Yukino and braked suddenly, then began to look Yukino.
"Sorry, I locked the door when I left for lunch break, and I haven't been able to go over for some reason."
"Hmm~~ It's nothing, it's nothing."
Yui Yuigahama quickly shook her head.
"I'm just glad you're alright. I thought something had happened to you and you had to leave school."
Can't you see the Bleach next to him at all...? He looks exactly like the evil spirit from before.
Yukino glanced at Aizen beside her, then looked at Yui Yuigahama.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking about some things."
"I never thought you, Xiaoxue, would have worries too."
"Why do you say that? Do I look like someone who doesn't have any worries?"
Yukino looked at Yui Yuigahama curiosity.
"Because Xiaoxue, you always seem very confident in everything you do, and you do it so easily. You seem really amazing!"
"I'm not confident in everything I do; I'm just good at what I'm relatively good at."
Yukino was unusually modest. As the most beautiful girl in the whole school, she encountered something she couldn't handle today, and the Bleach witnessed it was standing by watching.
Yukino stood up from her seat.
"Yuihama, I have some things to take care of today, so I'll head back first. As for club activities, I'm sorry, we'll have to pause for today and continue tomorrow, okay?"
"Huh? Ah... okay!"
Yui Yuigahama paused for a moment, then nodded somewhat blankly.
"Then I'll be going now. Please inform Hachiman for me."
Carrying her schoolbag, Yukino walked past Yuihama and left quickly. Yuihama stared blankly as Yukino left, then frowned in confusion.
"What's wrong with Xiaoxue? Did something happen to her family?"
Although they've known each other for a while, Yuihama suddenly realized that she knew absolutely nothing about Yukino, not even her hobbies or family situation.
After leaving Yukino, she quickly left the teaching building, crossed the courtyard, and began walking alone to her residence. She did not choose to take a car but walked alone, because this way she could avoid other people and communicate with Mr. Bleach was following behind her.
"Mr. Bleach, can you tell me about evil spirits and Bleach now?"
"There's no problem. If you're an ordinary person, you can't see evil spirits and Bleach, so it doesn't matter. But you're different. You can see Bleach and evil spirits. As the Bleach, it's necessary for you to know some of the truth about this world."
[Aizen] explained very kindly.
Is the world real?
I never imagined that after living for more than a decade, I would now be able to come into contact with the true face of the world.
"That's right, this world has a soul, that is the essence of humanity. The human body is just a vessel for the soul. Under normal circumstances, humans will live out their short lives, be born, grow up, age, and die. After death, the human soul will separate from the body and become a pure soul."
"Souls without obsessions will go to the Soul Society souls, where souls live and reincarnate, which is what you humans call becoming a Buddha. But souls with obsessions, such as things they didn't finish before they died, or things they still care about, will remain in the Human World because of their obsessions. As time goes by, they will gradually fall and become the evil spirits you just saw, which we call Hollows."
"Their hearts are empty. They initially stayed in the Human World because of their own obsessions, but eventually, in order to continue to stay in the Human World, they began to devour other souls. This is because the Human World does not contain the nourishment necessary for the continued existence of souls, namely, Reishi."
"But the soul is made up of Reishi, so the void will seek out other souls and devour them. The souls of living people contain the most Reishi, especially those who can see souls, whose souls are even richer in Reishi."
"So that's the kind of person I am?"
"That's right, this is a talent that only outstanding people possess."
Yukino's face darkened. Although she was often praised for her excellence, she really didn't want this kind of excellence!
279. Make a contract with Bleach and become a magical girl...?
"As I said before, being able to see souls is a talent that only very outstanding people possess, and you are such an outstanding person."
"Such excellence is a bit too much for me."
Yukino directly expressed her inner thoughts.
"Indeed, and just as I said before, you are one in a million unlucky people."
Is it because I can see souls?
"That's right."
Aizen pushed up his glasses.
"Being able to see souls proves the excellence of your own soul, which is indeed a talent. However, when this talent appears in a human body, it is not a talent but a burden. Because if you can see souls, it also means that souls can see you. Ordinary souls are fine, but if it is a Void, an evil spirit that has been transformed due to corruption, it will attack you the moment it realizes that you can see it."
"To them, your soul is the greatest nourishment. Having lost all attachment and only thinking about eking out a living in this Human World, they will frantically try to devour your soul!"
That's absolutely terrible.
Yukino recalled how the evil spirit had been following her, even testing her twice to see if she could see it. This was only the first time it had happened today, and if it continued to happen, it would be terrible.
The words spoken by the Bleach Reaper clearly indicated that this situation would continue to occur, which is why he was called the unluckiest person in a million.
"That's right. They have the talent to see ghosts, but they don't have the corresponding power. When facing evil spirits, it will only be a tragedy."
"Because you can see the other party, you will be attacked as prey, but because you have no power to fight back, you can only be hunted and wait to die. You have no ability to resist. This is the price of bearing this talent."
"I don't want this talent at all."
Yukino gritted teeth.