"Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock..."
Rain continued to fall on the ground. The middle-aged man, soaked to the bone, sat outside the gate of the Kurosaki mansion, trembling uncontrollably, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, soaked by the rain and impossible to light.
"Hey! Have something to drink!" Just as the man was repeatedly trying to light the unburnt cigarette, Ichigo Kurosaki pushed open the door and handed over a towel and a glass of warm milk.
"Thank you..." The man's fingers trembled as he took the towel from Ichigo Kurosaki and gently wiped the water from his head.
"..." Ichigo Kurosaki looked at the man with a hint of helplessness, placed the warm milk beside him, and then sat down next to him...
"Hello..."
"The girl inside seems to be in stable condition..."
"But what exactly is going on!?"
"Who exactly are you people, and what have you done to be hunted down by the Soul Society!?"
Ichigo Kurosaki sat down next to the middle-aged man and asked softly.
"We committed a crime..." Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man looked up at the sky filled with dark clouds.
"What crime?" Ichigo Kurosaki, puzzled.
"We've committed..." the middle-aged man took a deep breath, then answered weakly, "The sin of existence!"
"The sin of existence?" Ichigo Kurosaki didn't understand. "How can existence be wrong?"
"Sometimes, existence itself is a mistake." The middle-aged man's words were full of helplessness. "We made that mistake!"
"Are you kidding me!?" Ichigo Kurosaki exclaimed angrily. "How can this be so unreasonable?"
"Hahaha..." The middle-aged man chuckled softly upon hearing Ichigo Kurosaki. " Ichigo Kurosaki, you're a good person! So I want to ask you for a favor. If possible, please help me take care of Riruka Dokugamine. She's the last one left among us."
"The last one of you?!" Ichigo Kurosaki contracted. "What do you mean by that!?"
"That's just the literal meaning..." The middle-aged man ignored Ichigo Kurosaki and continued to use his trembling hands to light cigarettes that couldn't even burn.
"Hey, explain yourself! Stop playing games..." Ichigo Kurosaki frowned.
" Ichigo! Come in quickly! That girl has woken up." Just as Ichigo Kurosaki was getting angry, Isshin Kurosaki's voice suddenly rang out from inside the room.
"He's awake!" Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes lit up upon hearing this, then he turned to the middle-aged man. "Hey! Did you hear that? Your comrade has woken up..."
However, when Ichigo Kurosaki turned around, the area outside the door was empty. All that remained for Ichigo Kurosaki was a neatly folded towel, an empty baby bottle, and a note that read "Apologize."
"That guy!?" Ichigo Kurosaki frowned, staring at the middle-aged man who had vanished. "Damn it..."
"Sigh..." Ichigo Kurosaki sighed, then slapped his cheeks hard with both hands to make himself look a little more energetic as he walked into the house.
As Ichigo Kurosaki entered the house, he saw a red-haired high school girl sitting on the sofa, staring at the television with her chest and body wrapped in bandages, wearing only a very thin long robe, bare feet, arms tightly wrapped around her legs, and clutching a rabbit doll in her hand.
"Um..." Ichigo Kurosaki tried to appear less serious as he attempted to strike up a conversation with the high school girl in front of him.
"He's gone, right?" Before Ichigo Kurosaki, the high school girl in front of him spoke up first.
"Hmm..." Ichigo Kurosaki nodded slightly, "I'm sorry."
"..." The high school girl remained calm, as if she had already anticipated the current situation. She simply clutched the doll in her hand tightly and continued watching television silently.
"What's your name?!"
"Where do you live?"
Do you still have family?
What are your family's phone numbers?
Ichigo Kurosaki stood in front of the high school girl, asking her questions repeatedly.
"..." However, the high school girl just stared blankly at the TV. No, rather than watching the TV, she was just staring blankly in the direction of the TV.
"Is there no other way!?" Ichigo Kurosaki sighed helplessly. "I guess we'll have to call the police after all!"
"Hey!" Just as Ichigo Kurosaki was about to call the police, Isshin Kurosaki suddenly appeared in front of Ichigo and slapped the phone out of Ichigo hand. "Hey! What are you doing!?"
Ichigo Kurosaki glared angrily at Isshin Kurosaki.
" Ichigo, don't be so heartless! There's no one else who can help her right now except you." Isshin Kurosaki said with a grin, then leaned close to Ichigo's ear, "Listen, Ichigo, if you want to kill this girl, you can call the police now, but... do you really think that if it's the Soul Society, or a powerful Kidō user, chasing after this girl, the police in the World of the Living can protect her?!"
"That's true, but..." Ichigo Kurosaki frowned, "I believe the Soul Society has a reason for hunting someone down. The people of the Soul Society aren't the kind who don't follow the rules, so I think..."
" Ichigo Kurosaki up! Soul Society is never as wonderful as you think..." Isshin Kurosaki silenced Ichigo Kurosaki, "Besides, this girl is so pretty, she can't be a bad person."
"Forehead..."
"So in the end it all comes down to looks!?" Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes twitched slightly. "What if I'm wrong?"
"Hahaha..." Isshin Kurosaki suddenly burst into laughter, "How long do you think your old man has lived? Hundreds of years of experience, how could I possibly misjudge someone? So rest assured! This girl is definitely not a bad person... Of course, this brings us back to the problem: if she's not a bad person, considering the causal relationship that if one party isn't bad, then the other must be bad, so the bad person right now is naturally..."
Isshin Kurosaki paused abruptly, gently squeezing Ichigo Kurosaki's shoulder. "Anyway, that's the gist of it. The choice is yours, Ichigo. I respect your decision."
After finishing speaking, Isshin Kurosaki said nothing more and walked towards his room.
"Ah! Ah! I understand!"
"What a hassle!"
After thinking for a while, Ichigo Kurosaki's reason finally gave way.
"Do you have any clean clothes to change into?" Ichigo Kurosaki asked the girl.
However, no one responded.
"Sigh..." Ichigo Kurosaki sighed helplessly, "I knew it, you can't respond to me at all. Anyway, come on up!"
Ichigo Kurosaki spoke, he knelt down in front of the girl.
"Huh!?" This time the girl finally reacted, looking at Ichigo Kurosaki with a strange expression.
"What are you waiting for? Get on!" Ichigo Kurosaki gestured for the girl to climb onto his back.
"..." The girl was silent for a moment, then climbed onto Ichigo Kurosaki's back as instructed.
"Although I don't know exactly what you've been through..."
"Anyway, now that you're here, you might as well stay until you're bored!"
Ichigo Kurosaki sighed and spoke thus.
"Aren't you afraid of trouble?!" The girl asked for the first time. "Me? I'll bring disaster."
"I already knew that!"
"I knew you would bring disaster the moment I saw you."
"Honestly, since you know you've brought disaster upon yourself, why don't you find a secluded corner and fend for yourself!"
Do you realize how much trouble you can cause to other people's lives by casually appearing in front of them?
Ichigo Kurosaki angrily scolded the girl on his back.
"..." The girl did not respond; her once slightly lively eyes turned ashen.
"But..." Just as the girl felt despair, Ichigo Kurosaki spoke again, "Now that you've appeared before me in such a traumatized state, how could I possibly ignore you?"
"I can't just see someone getting hurt and not offer a helping hand!"
"So don't worry! As long as you're still in this house, I'll protect you!" Ichigo Kurosaki hugged the girl's legs tightly behind him. "So why are you still trembling? Give me a little bit of reassurance!"
Yes, ever since the girl got on Ichigo Kurosaki's back, she has been trembling, trembling incessantly, trembling continuously...
"..." The girl didn't speak, but clenched her teeth, tears streaming from her eyes, falling drop by drop onto Ichigo Kurosaki's back.
"..." Ichigo Kurosaki seemed to sense something, muttering under his breath, "Ugh, this damn weather! The rain outside is so heavy, even this house can't withstand it... This is..."
As he spoke, Ichigo Kurosaki carried the girl back to the room and threw her into the closet where Rukia had always lived.
"Take a good rest for a day!" Ichigo Kurosaki looked at the girl, whose eyes were filled with tears and who was gritting her teeth in pain. His already furrowed brows furrowed even deeper. "When you wake up, you can talk to me properly. You can tell me everything without holding anything back. No matter the reason, I, Ichigo Kurosaki, will always stand on the side of those who are treated unfairly! So don't worry!"
After Ichigo Kurosaki finished speaking, he prepared to turn and leave...
However, just as Ichigo Kurosaki was preparing to retreat, the girl grabbed the hem of his clothes.
"You... will you really always stand by us?!" The girl grabbed Ichigo Kurosaki, sobbing uncontrollably, and asked, "Will you abandon me and leave too?!"
"..." Ichigo Kurosaki looked at the girl and gently stroked her head. "I will never leave your side, not even until I wither away!"
"..." Upon hearing this, the girl's face suddenly turned red. She then pushed Ichigo away and slammed the closet door shut.
"..." Ichigo Kurosaki stared dumbfounded at the girl who had closed the closet door. So, was he being disliked? Was he really being disliked?
"Are you still there?" Just as Ichigo Kurosaki was about to leave, a small crack suddenly appeared in the closet. The girl looked at Ichigo Kurosaki through the crack, like a young animal afraid of the light, and asked softly.
"Ah! I'm here!" Ichigo Kurosaki's figure was light, but it reassured the girl.
"Thank you..." The girl felt relieved after seeing Ichigo Kurosaki through the crack. Slowly, she closed her eyes, her body growing weary, and she drifted off to sleep...
Time passed second by second. When the girl woke up, she panicked and immediately began to scan the room through the crack.
"No!"
"No!"
Still no!
The girl did not see Ichigo Kurosaki...
"Liar!" The girl was furious. She felt deceived once again, just like her companions, who all said they would stay with her but then left her.
"Liar!" the girl shouted angrily as she opened the huge gap.
"Liars won't give you food!" Just as the girl opened the closet, Ichigo Kurosaki placed a delicious meal in front of her.
" Ichigo Kurosaki..." The girl looked at the food, then at Ichigo Kurosaki, and suddenly her nose stung with tears. "Don't leave me."
"I've never left you." Ichigo Kurosaki helplessly, "Anyway, hurry up and eat, and heal your injuries."
"Yes!" The girl nodded emphatically, then continued to pronounce Ichigo Kurosaki's name, " Ichigo Kurosaki!"
Yes! I'm here!
" Ichigo Kurosaki!"
"I am here!"
" Ichigo Kurosaki!"
"..."
" Ichigo Kurosaki! Ichigo Kurosaki! Ichigo Kurosaki!" the girl kept repeating Ichigo Kurosaki's name.
"I've always been here!" Ichigo Kurosaki smile. This adorable girl, who was the heartless bastard who hurt her to this extent!?
"Anyway, hurry up and eat..." Ichigo Kurosaki urged, then seemed to remember something, "Oh right, you haven't had any water, have you? I'll go get you some!"
However, just as Ichigo Kurosaki was about to leave, he was once again grabbed by the girl.
"What is it now?" Ichigo Kurosaki turned around helplessly. "Is the food not to your liking? What do you want to eat? Let me make this clear first! I'm a complete cooking idiot who can only make egg white rice. That means whatever you want to eat, I can only listen, but I can't make it."
"No! I love Ichigo Kurosaki's omelet rice the most..."
"So, please Ichigo Kurosaki, don't leave me, not even for a moment."
The girl made a request to Ichigo Kurosaki.
"Not even for a moment!?" Ichigo Kurosaki felt a headache coming on, but looking at the girl's Mujō eyes, he simply couldn't refuse! "I, Ichigo Kurosaki, will never leave you for a moment, probably..."
" Ichigo! Ichigo! Ichigo!..." the girl excitedly called out Ichigo's name.
"Whatever! Call me as long as you want!" Ichigo Kurosaki sighed helplessly.
(End of this chapter)