A Battle of Revenge

"If you so much as lay a finger on Shyarly or the others, I swear I'll cripple you!"

In the woods, Wu Biao's figure blurred into a streak. Every time he touched down, he shot dozens of meters forward. In less than a minute, he had raced out of the cemetery. In the distance, he saw a furry Hollow chasing Shyarly and Yuzu.

Shyarly had even been pinned to the ground beneath its giant claw. At the sight, Wu Biao's eyes went bloodshot. Though they hadn't known each other long, he thought of the two girls, so different in personality, as his little sisters.

The instant he landed, Wu Biao charged forward.

"Shyarly!"

When Yuzu saw Shyarly suddenly fall to the ground, she turned and ran back without a second thought. But after only two steps, a tentacle wrapped around her neck and lifted her into the air.

"You piece of trash, get away from her!"

A furious shout rang out, growing louder as it drew near. By the time the final word left his mouth, the roar was right beside them. The moment he finished shouting, Grand Fisher felt a sharp pain in its tentacle, which exploded apart.

After tearing off the tentacle, Wu Biao turned and caught Yuzu as she fell. Using the momentum, he kicked out.

"Get your claws off her!!!"

His kick, carrying a fierce gust of wind, struck Grand Fisher in the chest. It let out a scream and staggered back several steps, its claw releasing Shyarly. She took the chance to scramble up and run toward Wu Biao.

"Shyarly, take Yuzu and get farther away!"

"Brother Biao..."

Shyarly stared at Wu Biao in a daze. For the first time, she felt that this gluttonous guy could make her feel so safe.

Wu Biao set the thoroughly startled Yuzu down and flashed his signature goofy grin. "Yuzu, get the bento ready. Brother Biao's going to kill the bastard who bullied you, then we'll eat, okay?"

Seeing Brother Biao's familiar silly smile, Yuzu's fear faded by more than half. She nodded hard. "Mm-hmm! You can do it, Brother Biao!"

Wu Biao slipped his left hand into the pocket of his white coat and pulled out Yuichi, who had been hiding inside. He handed the parrot to Shyarly and instructed them, "You three, run farther away!"

"Mm!" The two girls and the parrot all nodded, then ran toward the back.

Wu Biao watched the two girls and the bird run off before walking toward the wary-looking Grand Fisher.

By now, Grand Fisher was already thinking of retreating. The force behind that kick had filled it with dread.

But Grand Fisher was a Menos Grande that had hunted countless Shinigami over the past fifty years. It quickly steadied itself and stared at Wu Biao. "What exactly are you?"

The boy in front of it looked human, but his strength made it clear that he wasn't an ordinary human. It guessed he was some kind of combat weapon, perhaps one made from a modified soul.

"I'm not a thing—"

Wu Biao had barely begun speaking when he choked on his words. Then he flew into a rage. "What the hell? You shameless, despicable, sleazy bastard! How dare you insult me!"

"..." Grand Fisher was speechless. Where had this lunatic even come from?

"By the way, who's that ugly mushroom-headed woman standing in front of you?" Wu Biao asked, eyeing the woman in front of the Hollow, who was even shorter than Rukia.

"Yuzu, Shyarly!"

Before he could finish, he saw Ichigo and the others running toward them in the distance. When they saw that Yuzu and Shyarly were safe behind him, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

The Soul inside Ichigo wasted no time. He led Yuzu, Shyarly, and Yuichi—two girls and a bird—farther away, afraid the fight would catch them in the crossfire.

"It's..."

When Ichigo and the other two saw Grand Fisher and the woman standing in front of it, their expressions changed in unison.

Rukia and Xitang's reactions were understandable: they recognized the Hollow.

It concealed its true form and used the mimicry atop its head to disguise itself as a human. It targeted people who could see through that disguise—in other words, those with high spiritual awareness. That was why it had always been a priority target for the Soul Society. Countless Shinigami had tracked it down over the past fifty years.

But ordinary Shinigami were no match for it, and whenever a powerful Shinigami appeared, Grand Fisher never showed itself.

Ichigo, however, was different from the other two. He stared blankly at the Hollow's disguise, and his mind returned to the rainy night when his mother died. The woman who had appeared by the river back then was this very disguise.

"What's going on?" Ichigo murmured. He could faintly guess the truth, and a murderous glint appeared in his eyes for the first time. "You... You're the one from the river that night, aren't you?"

"What, is this one of your classmates too?" Wu Biao asked, scratching his head.

Ichigo ignored him completely and glared straight at the Hollow. "It was you, six years ago today?"

"Six years ago? Could it be..." Rukia exclaimed.

"Yeah. I tried to save her, but when I came to my senses, she was gone. And my mom..." Kurosaki Ichigo couldn't finish. His whole body began to tremble.

Even without him saying the rest, everyone understood what he meant—not even Wu Biao, who had been about to rush over and beat the Hollow to a pulp, was an exception!

The scene fell silent. Everyone's face grew heavy.

In a low voice, Rukia explained the Hollow's history to Ichigo, helping Kurosaki Ichigo understand the cause of his mother's death.

"Hee hee hee hee, so that's what happened!" Grand Fisher understood as well. A string of mocking laughter escaped it. "You're a lucky little brat to have survived after seeing me. Maybe I wanted to eat you first, with your high spiritual power, but... women taste better!"

Though it spoke to Ichigo, its eyes kept darting toward Wu Biao, a sly glint in them.

Just as it had expected, Ichigo was overcome with rage. But he didn't charge forward right away. Instead, he spoke to Wu Biao, who stood in front of the Hollow. "Brother Biao..."

"Ah, my arm suddenly hurts so much!"

Wu Biao cut him off. He held his bandaged right arm with his left hand, turned toward Ichigo, and grinned. "I'll leave this piece of trash to you. Cut him to pieces for me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Biao retreated to the side without looking back and plopped down in front of Ichigo's mother's gravestone.

Ichigo was stunned for a moment. Then gratitude flashed in his eyes. Even without him saying anything, Brother Biao had understood what he meant—and had deliberately moved beside the gravestone to keep the fight from reaching it!

"Ichigo!"

Behind him, Rukia was full of concern. She had once looked up information on Grand Fisher and knew how difficult it was to deal with. How could she feel at ease letting Ichigo, who had only just become a Shinigami, fight it?

"Stay back, Rukia!" Ichigo watched Grand Fisher coldly. "Please, don't interfere! This is... my fight!"

A fight for revenge!

Wu Biao had noticed as much, which was why he had handed over the prey that had practically been served up to him.

"Come on over!" Wu Biao casually took out a cigarette and lit it, then drew a deep breath. "A man can't run from certain fights!"

At his words, Rukia gritted her teeth, but said nothing more.

Xitang wanted to say something, but after Wu Biao shot him a fierce glare, he obediently went over and stood beside the gravestone, feeling both amused and exasperated.

What was all this? He was a Shinigami of the Onmitsukido, and he'd just been threatened by a human from the Human World...

Grand Fisher watched Ichigo charge toward it, its eyes full of triumph. That was exactly why it had provoked Ichigo. Though it wouldn't admit it, deep down it didn't want to get into a fight with Wu Biao.

That was why it had chosen to provoke Ichigo and make him step forward alone.