The Madman Who Stripped Down in the Dead of Winter and Shouted, "I'm Hot!"

The Madman Who Stripped Down in the Dead of Winter and Shouted, "I'm Hot!"

"I'm home!" Kurosaki Ichigo pushed open the door and trudged inside, looking utterly exhausted.

A dark blur shot toward him at incredible speed. Without a word, it planted a foot right in his face.

The kick landed squarely, sending Kurosaki Ichigo stumbling backward with a hand over his nose just as he stepped into the house.

"You bastard! Is this any way to welcome your son home after a long day?" Kurosaki Ichigo sprang up in a fury.

"Maybe if you weren't such a bastard and came home so late!"

"..."

As the saying went, there was no point talking to someone who wouldn't listen. After a few more shouted words, the two started a father-son brawl right there in the entryway.

Yuzu and Shyarly didn't even glance over. They ate at their leisure, as if the eccentric father and son weren't there at all.

Wu Biao, on the other hand, held a rice cooker in one hand and shoveled rice into his mouth with a serving spoon while watching the fight with keen interest. "That's not right—use your feet, Boss! Ichigo, now! Hit him with a low blow..."

The rice cooker he was holding had been bought especially for Wu Biao. He ate so much that they had to cook two pots of rice every time: one for the Kurosaki family, and one for Wu Biao.

And once the Kurosakis finished eating, Wu Biao would polish off all the food left in their pot, too. Shyarly had complained more than once, "Good thing we don't have a dog, or it would starve to death!"

In the end, Yuzu couldn't take it anymore and spoke up. "You two have had enough, haven't you? The food's going to get cold!"

"Just let them be, Yuzu!" Shyarly didn't even turn around. She simply held out her bowl to Yuzu. "Another serving!"

"I think it's pretty great!" Watching the two fight made Wu Biao itch to join in. "Boss, Ichigo, let me in on it!"

"..." The Kurosaki father and son froze. A few seconds later, Kurosaki Isshin straightened his collar and patted Ichigo's shoulder with a loving smile. "Welcome home, son!"

"I'm home, Dad!"

"Then let's eat!"

"Yeah."

Wu Biao watched the Kurosaki father and son appear at the table in a flash and start eating in earnest. He blinked, baffled. "Why'd you stop fighting?"

Who the hell would want to fight someone as inhuman as you?

The corners of Kurosaki Isshin and Kurosaki Ichigo's mouths twitched in unison. After all these days, they'd realized that this guy wasn't just a bottomless pit—he was also incredibly good at fighting.

Whenever the bastard claimed he was only using ten percent of his strength, they'd end up sore for days. The Kurosaki father and son had learned one thing: unless they wanted to die, they absolutely couldn't pick a fight with this inhuman monster!

Yuzu gave them a cute smile and served each of them a bowl of rice.

Shyarly glanced over her shoulder and said irritably, "Ichigo, someone followed you home again!"

Kurosaki Ichigo looked back and sure enough, a bespectacled middle-aged man was floating behind him. A flash of annoyance crossed his face. "You followed me all the way home?"

Wu Biao looked at Kurosaki Ichigo in confusion. "Another ghost followed you?"

"Yeah." Yuzu nodded slightly and pointed behind Ichigo. "There's a hazy figure there. But unlike Ichigo and Shyarly, I can only make out its general shape."

"That's still better than me. I can't see anything at all!" Wu Biao looked enviously at the space behind Ichigo. "I wonder if there are any evil spirits. If there are, they must be strong. Too bad... I don't have spiritual vision."

"Evil spirits?" Shyarly scoffed, not even looking up. "I don't believe in ghosts or spirits."

Yuzu looked surprised. "But you can see them, Shyarly. The only ones who can't are Brother Biao and Dad!"

"Whether you can see them or not, if you don't believe in them, they don't exist."

"..." Yuzu was speechless.

Even the ghost floated over with a speechless expression!

"Hahahahahaha! I knew I liked you!" Wu Biao burst out laughing. Ichigo's little sister had such a strong personality. "Exactly! Ghosts, spirits, who cares? If anything messes with me, human or ghost, I'll beat it to death!"

"..." The whole Kurosaki family twitched at the corners of their mouths. Did this violent man not know how to feel fear?

The ghost's mouth twitched, too. It seemed he'd been completely ignored.

But when he saw the rice cooker in Wu Biao's hands, he floated closer, full of curiosity. "What the hell? Is this guy even human? He's eating straight out of a rice cooker!"

Wu Biao couldn't hear him, of course, but Ichigo couldn't help smiling.

It was true. Anyone who saw Wu Biao eat like that would question what species he was... and his strength was ridiculously overpowered, too!

The ghost moved closer and scrutinized Wu Biao. "He looks human. How can he eat so much?" As he spoke, he unconsciously reached out to touch him. He knew it wouldn't work—except for people like Kurosaki Ichigo, he could pass straight through everyone.

But the moment he stretched out his hand, Wu Biao's expression suddenly changed. He sprang up from his chair and punched toward the ghost.

Pfft—

A sound like a fart reached the ears of everyone with spiritual vision. They all looked up, and their pupils shrank at the sight.

"How is that possible?!"

The instant Wu Biao's punch struck the ghost, the ghost burst apart and vanished in a wisp of smoke.

Had its soul been destroyed?

Wu Biao looked around, furious. "Damn it, which bastard just tried to sneak up on me? Show yourself if you've got the guts! I'll beat the crap out of you!"

"..." Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Shyarly both twitched at the corners of their mouths.

Kurosaki Ichigo stared at Wu Biao in shock. "Brother Biao, you said you couldn't see it!"

"What are you talking about? What do you mean, see it or not?" Wu Biao turned to him, looking confused. But he didn't notice the faint warmth that had flowed up his arm and into his body the moment the ghost shattered, like a fragment of a soul.

"By the way, did any of you see that bastard who just attacked me?"

Isshin's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. "What happened?"

"Brother Biao... just punched that ghost to pieces!" Ichigo stared at Wu Biao in shock.

Isshin's pupils contracted. Looking at Wu Biao as he glanced around, he could tell that he hadn't seen the ghost before hitting it.

It looked more like instinct... the kind of animal instinct that sensed something about to attack and made his body react at once, without even thinking.

But such terrifying reflexes were all the more astonishing.

Even the battle-crazed man from the 11th Division might not have instincts this terrifying!

Was Wu Biao... really human?

"Damn it, sneaks up on me and then runs off. What a joke!" Wu Biao grumbled as he sat back down, completely unaware that he'd just destroyed a ghost's soul!

Those words confirmed Isshin's guess even further. Wu Biao's instincts were so strong they were downright terrifying, and he trusted them completely. He never once doubted that he might have felt wrong!

Was he really human?