Uryu Ishida

"Brother Biao, scoot over!" Shyarly squeezed onto the sofa, nudging Wu Biao, who was focused on watching Saint Seiya, to the side.

Wu Biao nodded casually and shifted his butt, then suddenly sprang up from the sofa, waving his arms and roaring: "Go for it, take him down, Seiya, Pegasus Meteor Fist!!!"

"Brother Biao, how old are you? Even Yuzu and I are too lazy to watch this kind of anime!" Shyarly glanced at him, accustomed to his behavior, and lowered her head to continue reading her textbook.

Clearly, their whole family had grown used to Brother Biao's intermittent mental episodes!

"Not true, Shyarly, I watch it too!" Yuzu, who was cooking in the back, said softly.

Shyarly couldn't help but sigh, turning to look at the clock on the wall: "It's already past seven, why isn't Brother Ichigo back yet?" Having said that, she suddenly remembered a certain jerk in the house and cursed angrily: "And that jerk, how can he be so carefree, leaving his two daughters at home while he goes out wandering every single night!"

"As for Ichigo, he should be back soon!" Wu Biao chimed in from the side: "He's out chopping things nearby; he'll be back once he's done!"

Chopping things?

Shyarly frowned, suddenly recalling the events she had experienced a while back, and after hesitating for a moment, she asked: "Brother Biao, tell me the truth, what exactly does that monster we saw at the graveyard have to do with Brother Ichigo?"

"Ichigo won't let me say..." Brother Biao replied without hesitation, then added: "And even if Ichigo let me, I don't understand that whole 'Soul Reaper' or 'Hollow' thing anyway."

"..."

You pretty much already said it, she thought. With a brain like Brother Biao's, where he couldn't figure anything out, Shyarly knew she wouldn't be able to get any real information out of him even if she tried.

On the other side, on the road home from school, Ichigo was walking.

"Hey, Rukia, is your Denreishinki broken?" Ichigo was in his Soul Reaper form, wearing a black kimono with a large sword strapped to his back: "This is the third time today; there's a signal, but I can't see any sign of a Hollow."

"Don't be annoying." Rukia spoke up: "I'm just relaying the orders from the Denreishinki to you. You should hurry up and get back into your body."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Ichigo closed his eyes slightly and returned to his physical body: "I'm telling you, Rukia, can't you just take it to get repaired?"

"Yes, yes, it's my fault, fine." Rukia said, looking displeased.

"Why are you two bickering?" Suddenly, a voice emerged, followed by the sound of footsteps in the darkness, and a figure stepped out from the shadows.

It was a young man dressed entirely in white robes. He pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and said: "Good evening, Kurosaki-san, Kuchiki-san."

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Ichigo frowned as he looked at the stranger.

The other person ignored him, instead turning his head to the left while shifting his body slightly: "Another new Hollow is here."

"What?"

Rukia and Ichigo were startled. Just then, the Denreishinki began to beep. When she pulled it out to check, a look of shock flashed across her eyes: "It's real, the order."

Ichigo looked at the boy with a strange expression and asked: "Where is it, Rukia?"

"Over there!" The boy, Uryu Ishida, pointed to the left with a mocking expression: "You can't even sense a Hollow? Is that really what you call being a Soul Reaper?"

After saying this, Uryu Ishida chuckled, and a decorative cross on his right hand suddenly erupted with blue light. In an instant, a blue energy bow appeared in his right hand.

Uryu Ishida glanced at the two stunned people beside him, grabbed the bowstring with his left hand, and pulled it back sharply. The energy bow stretched into a full moon, and an energy arrow formed upon it.

"Strike!" Uryu Ishida released his grip. The energy arrow shot straight into the sky. Suddenly, a Hollow that had just emerged from the void was pierced through the head by the arrow and dissipated into the air.

"The signal is gone." Rukia said, looking at the Denreishinki in her hand.

"Who... exactly are you?" Ichigo frowned at Uryu. The person in front of him was undoubtedly a human. Could it be that, like Brother Biao, he was some kind of human mutant?

"Uryu Ishida, a Quincy!" Uryu spat out the words in a cold tone, then turned to glare at Ichigo: "I hate Soul Reapers." Having said that, Uryu Ishida left immediately. Ichigo and Rukia watched him go without trying to stop him.

"Quincy, I've never even heard of such a name." A trace of doubt rose in Rukia's heart, and she secretly decided to go ask that profiteer about it tomorrow.

Back home, having experienced what happened earlier, Ichigo clearly had no appetite. He ate a quick bite and took Rukia's portion upstairs.

"What's wrong with Brother Ichigo again?"

"How should I know!" Wu Biao was smoking, lying sprawled out on the sofa.

Shyarly rolled her eyes at Wu Biao and looked toward the stairs with a worried expression.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Ichigo went to school by himself, while Rukia had disappeared somewhere early in the morning.

He had no heart for listening to lectures that day because he discovered that the person named Uryu Ishida from yesterday was actually his classmate. It had to be said that Ichigo's social circle was small; aside from a few people, he didn't know anyone else in the class.

Of course, his natural yellow hair played a part in that, and Ichigo always had a furrowed brow, making him look fierce and like a delinquent. Those in the class who weren't familiar with his personality kept their distance.

The day passed in observation of Uryu Ishida. Even after school, Ichigo couldn't suppress his curiosity and quietly followed behind Uryu.

"Are you planning on following me all the way home?" Just as they reached the pedestrian bridge, Uryu Ishida suddenly stopped and said: "Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Tch, so I was exposed?" Ichigo didn't care and stood behind Uryu Ishida: "When did you notice?"

"From the moment you and Inoue were observing me at the classroom door." Uryu pushed up his glasses: "You seem to lack the abilities that someone with high spiritual power should possess."

Ichigo's brow furrowed. Uryu's words were something he couldn't refute; after all, he was just a self-taught Soul Reaper, so naturally, there were many techniques he didn't understand.

"Let's settle this, Ichigo Kurosaki." Uryu didn't wait for him to speak and continued on his own: "I will make you understand who is superior between us, and that this world has no need for Soul Reapers."

"Settle this?" Ichigo repeated, curling his lip: "How boring. Why do we have to do something like that? It's like being an idiot. I don't know what grudge you have against Soul Reapers, but that has nothing to do with me!"

"How surprising, are you going to run away?"

"I won't be provoked by you, and I have no interest in settling anything with you." With that, Ichigo turned and walked away!

"Oh, right, I just remembered." Uryu Ishida looked at Ichigo with a hint of mockery and said, "Your Soul Reaper powers were obtained from Kuchiki Rukia, which means you are merely a substitute Soul Reaper. Without her consent, you wouldn't even be able to move a finger, let alone wield the power of a Soul Reaper."

"What did you say?" Ichigo's footsteps faltered, and he slowly turned around. "Fine, there's nothing else to do anyway, let's settle this." Ichigo set down the backpack he was carrying, opened it, and took out a plush toy that looked like a lion.

"Hey, Ichigo, even if it was the sister's order, how dare you stuff me into a backpack!" As soon as Kon came out, he started chattering incessantly at Ichigo, causing Uryu Ishida to frown slightly while wondering to himself how the plush toy in Ichigo's hand could talk and why it seemed to possess a soul.

"Time to switch!" Ignoring Kon's complaints, Ichigo reached his hand directly into the plush toy's mouth, pulled out the Mod Soul Pill, and swallowed it. Then, with a 'pop', Ichigo appeared in his Soul Reaper form.

"Kon, watch the fight from the sidelines!"

Kon did not hesitate; he picked up the plush toy and the backpack, then turned and ran to the side.

Uryu Ishida reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a capsule-like object. "Let's use this for our duel. It's bait specifically for Hollows. If you crush it and scatter it, Hollows will gather here."

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(End of chapter)