Visored

"Hollowfication? This guy?"

Ichigo eyed the utterly unreliable-looking Shinji Hirako suspiciously.

"Do you remember how I came to the Human World?"

Ichigo froze for a moment. "Wasn't it because you took the blame for Aizen?"

After learning that Aunt was a Soul Reaper and entering Soul Society with them, he had learned why Yoruichi and the others had defected from Soul Society.

Yuko pointed at the speechless Shinji beside her. "Guess who the unlucky victim of that incident was?"

The corner of Shinji's mouth twitched. "If you want him to guess, stop pointing at me."

If he remembered correctly, Aizen had conducted Hollowfication experiments on several captains, then framed Urahara, ultimately forcing Aunt and the others to flee Soul Society.

Could it be...

"This guy was a captain?"

Yuko nodded. "Yep. Though he was a captain who got selected."

"What do you mean, 'got selected'? I became a captain through my own abilities, okay?"

She made him sound like Urahara, who had gotten his position through connections.

"Selected by Aizen."

"...Don't bring up whatever kettle you see first."

"You were the one who answered. Who else are you going to blame?"

"..."

"He does look a bit like trash." Yuko looked Shinji up and down before continuing, "But Ichigo, if you can't suddenly explode with power, you'll probably have a hard time beating him."

Shinji replied unhappily, "Hey, hey, what do you mean, 'have a hard time beating this guy'? Am I that weak?"

At the end of his sentence, he seemed to realize Yuko might follow up with, Obviously. Do you think you're strong? He hurriedly added another line to save face.

"I'm still more than capable compared to this guy, right?!"

"Oh my, so you're not denying that you're trash?"

"..."

He had accounted for one angle, but