The new transfer student

Before the first class of the morning began, the classroom was much noisier than usual.

The homeroom teacher pushed open the door, followed by a blond boy with blunt bangs. His hands were in his pockets, his school tie hung loose, and a devil-may-care smile played on his lips.

"We have a new transfer student today."

The homeroom teacher looked beside him.

"Please introduce yourself."

The blond boy walked up to the teacher's platform, picked up a piece of chalk, and carefully wrote his name on the blackboard, stroke by stroke.

Shinji Hirako.

Only the two "child" characters were both reversed.

Or rather, all the characters were reversed; it was just that "ping" and "zhen" looked the same when flipped horizontally.

The classroom fell quiet for a moment.

The homeroom teacher pushed up his glasses and reminded him, "Hirako, you've written your name backward."

"Heh!"

Shinji Hirako glanced back, and his smile grew even more smug.

"Well? Pretty good, right? I'm really good at writing backward like this."

The corner of the homeroom teacher's eye twitched.

Some of the students had already started laughing.

Shinji Hirako held the chalk between his fingers and turned around with a grin.

"The 'hira' from flat feet, and the 'ko' from Ono no Imoko."

"The 'shin' from true nature, and the 'ko' from spicy cod roe."

He spread his arms, revealing a neat row of white teeth.

"Put them together and you get Shinji Hirako. Nice to meet you all!"

Keigo Asano lay over his desk and couldn't help muttering, "Why does every part of that explanation sound so weird?"

Mizuiro Kojima smiled.

"At least it was memorable."

"That's not an introduction anyone should learn from!"

The homeroom teacher ignored them and pointed toward the back of the classroom.

"Hirako, sit beside Kurosaki."

"Sure thing."

Shinji Hirako put down the chalk and walked straight toward the empty seat beside Ichigo Kurosaki.

As he passed Yoriichi Tsugikuni's seat, his steps slowed for a moment.

Yoriichi raised his eyes.

Their gazes briefly met.

The smile on Hirako's face didn't change.

So this is the person Urahara mentioned?

He pulled out the chair, sat down, and turned toward Ichigo.

"We're desk neighbors now. Let's get along."

Ichigo frowned. "Keep your distance."

"So cold, Kurosaki-kun."

Hirako leaned his face a little closer.

"We're going to have lots of fun together."

Ichigo planted a palm against his face and pushed him back.

"Who wants to have fun with you?"

Another burst of laughter filled the classroom.

Yoriichi looked away.

The Visored!

After the lunch bell rang, Shinji Hirako grabbed Ichigo by the collar and dragged him straight out of the classroom.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about. No need to be so loud."

They made their way behind the old school building. Few people usually passed through here. Several discarded desks were piled in a corner, and the rustling leaves muffled the noise from the playing field.

Ichigo shook off Hirako's hand.

"Who the hell are you?"

Hirako leaned against the wall and slipped his hands back into his pockets.

"Finally getting to the point."

He stared at Ichigo, the corners of his mouth slowly lifting.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, I came here specifically for you."

"That guy inside you has been getting more and more restless, hasn't he?"

Ichigo's pupils contracted slightly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Still playing dumb?"

Hirako raised a hand and tapped his own chest.

"When you wake up in the middle of the night, have you heard any voices?"

"Suddenly losing control during a fight, feeling another guy steal your body-it's not pleasant, is it?"

Ichigo clenched his fists.

Hirako was right.

His white self, the shattered mask, and that power that tried to seize his body every time it appeared.

"Just how much do you know?"

"More than you do."

Hirako took a step forward.

"So you'd better do as I say."

"Otherwise, when that guy inside really crawls out, the people around you will be in trouble."

"Speak more politely."

A calm voice came from behind a tree.

The smile on Hirako's face froze for an instant.

Yoriichi emerged from the shade of the tree, the Gray-Bladed Uchigatana at his waist swaying gently with his steps.

"Yoriichi?"

Ichigo froze for a moment.

"What are you doing here too?"

"I came to take a look."

Yoriichi stopped between them and looked at Hirako.

"I don't like this guy."

"Well, well, so you were following us the whole time."

Hirako tilted his head.

"But eavesdropping isn't a very good habit."

Yoriichi didn't want to waste words on him. He would beat him up first.

The next instant, he was already in front of him.

All Hirako saw was a palm rapidly filling his vision.

Bang!

The back of his head struck the wall, and the entire wall shook.

Hirako gritted his teeth and drove a knee toward Yoriichi's stomach.

But as soon as his knee rose, Yoriichi sidestepped it, seized his wrist, and slammed him to the ground.

Dust burst outward.

Standing beside them, Ichigo's mouth twitched.

"W-wait!"

With the side of his face pressed against the ground, Hirako finally shouted.

"I'm here to help him!"

Yoriichi released him.

"Then just say so. Who are you making that punchable face at?"

Hirako climbed to his feet and dusted off his uniform, his smile now a little less arrogant.

That bastard Urahara never said this guy had such a short fuse.

"Let me introduce myself again."

He raised a hand over his face, and a surge of Reiatsu mingling Soul Reaper and Hollow power erupted.

White material rapidly gathered between his fingers, turning into a bony mask like a Hollow's in the blink of an eye.

Beneath the mask, Shinji Hirako's voice became electronic.

"We are people who have crossed the boundary between Soul Reapers and Hollows."

Scarlet light gathered at his fingertip.

The air gave a piercing hum.

"Cero?"

Ichigo abruptly grabbed Zangetsu's hilt.

Hirako dispersed the red light at his fingertip and removed his mask.

"Now do you understand?"

"The power inside you isn't impossible to control. We can teach you, provided you're willing to come."

Ichigo fell silent.

When that mask appeared, the white figure inside him seemed to stir as well.

That wasn't his imagination.

The other man's power really did share the same source as the Hollow inside his body.

Yoriichi looked at Ichigo.

"Do you want to go?"

Ichigo lowered his head and looked at his palm.

After the battles in Soul Society ended, he had thought he already possessed the strength to protect his companions.

But every time he gripped Zangetsu, that white mask would surface in the depths of his memory.

If one day he really lost control...

"I'll go."

Ichigo raised his head.

"But let me make this clear first. I'm not joining you."

"I just want to learn how to control it."

"Suit yourself."

Hirako smiled again.

"Once you meet the others, you'll definitely be crying and begging us to take you in anyway."

"Who would cry and beg you?"

"That expression you're making looks pretty close."

"Are you asking for a beating?"

Hirako instinctively glanced at Yoriichi and immediately backed away two steps.

"Violence is bad. We should all get along peacefully."

A vein throbbed on Ichigo's forehead.

That wasn't what you were saying when you were acting so cocky.

After school, Hirako took Ichigo away from the school.

Yoriichi didn't go with them.

The setting sun fell at the end of the street, stretching his shadow long.

He walked alone through several quiet alleys and finally stopped in front of a general store with a wooden sign.

The shop door swayed gently in the wind.

Kisuke Urahara sat behind the counter, a paper fan concealing half his face.

"Mr. Tsugikuni, what brings you to my humble shop today?"

Yoriichi entered the shop and rested his hand on Hekyō's hilt.

"Ichigo has gone to learn how to control his Hollow."

"And?"

"I have training I need to complete too."

"As Soul Society's Third Division Captain, I can't afford to have any weaknesses."

"So I need Mr. Tessai Tsukabishi to teach me Kidō."