The two chatted while leaving the area.
But they didn't notice — a man dressed in white was secretly observing them from the shadows.
At Ichigo's home—
"I went to see that shady merchant. There's nothing wrong with the device," Rukia said upon returning.
Ichigo stroked his chin. "Then it seems someone's messing with us in secret. Rukia, next time, let's keep a closer watch around us. Maybe we'll spot someone suspicious."
Rukia nodded. "Mm."
By now, it had been over a month — almost two — since Rukia started living at Ichigo's house.
Ichigo, a little curious, asked, "Rukia, is your injury still not fully healed?"
Hearing the question, Rukia looked at him and teased, "Why? Are you that eager to kick me out?"
Ichigo hurriedly shook his head. "Of course not! I was just wondering... how come you're healing so slowly?"
"Even though the spiritual energy in the human world isn't abundant, it should be enough to recover from injuries, right?" Ichigo added, puzzled.
Truthfully, Rukia had been wondering about that herself.
"My injuries have mostly healed already... but strangely, my spiritual power hasn't recovered. In fact, I feel even weaker," Rukia said, looking down at her hand.
"That's weird... what's going on?" Ichigo frowned, rubbing his chin.
"I asked that shady merchant. He said my soul chain was damaged. Even though the wounds have healed, it'll take more time for my powers to come back," Rukia explained.
"So that means you'll be staying at my place for a while longer?" Ichigo asked.
Rukia nodded. "Until my powers return, I'll still be troubling you."
"No trouble at all!" Ichigo quickly said, smiling brightly.
But just then, the Soul Pager buzzed again.
Ichigo and Rukia exchanged a glance — and once more rushed toward the target location.
"This time, I'm definitely figuring out what's going on!" Ichigo said, full of fighting spirit.
When they arrived, the Hollow's presence had already disappeared again.
But this time, they didn't leave. They stayed and kept a sharp lookout around the area.
It was late at night — no one should be wandering around without reason.
So anyone lurking around here... was definitely suspicious!
This time, they caught someone standing hidden in the shadows!
"Got you!" Ichigo shouted, pointing at the figure.
However, the person didn't panic. Instead, he calmly stepped out into the open.
It was—
Uchiha Sasuke!
No, wrong series — let's redo that!
It was none other than the one who claimed to be the last Quincy: Ishida Uryū!
"Ah, Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia. You Shinigami took your sweet time noticing me, huh?" Ishida said mockingly.
"Hm? Who are you?" Ichigo asked bluntly, ignoring Ishida's provocations.
"I am Ishida Uryū — a Quincy. And I hate Shinigami!" Ishida said coolly, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger.
But to Ishida's surprise, Ichigo and Rukia didn't react much to the mention of Quincy.
Instead, they stared at each other, wide-eyed.
"You ever heard of Quincy?" Ichigo asked.
Rukia shook her head. "Nope."
Instantly, the dramatic flair of Ishida's entrance plummeted.
These two didn't even know what a Quincy was?!
Was he just throwing pearls before swine?!
"Tch. No matter. You'll soon understand the power of a Quincy!"
Ishida declared confidently.
At that moment, Rukia's Soul Pager buzzed again.
Before she could even speak, Ishida dramatically pointed in a direction.
"Over there! You half-baked Shinigami can't even sense enemies properly?"
From his wrist dangled a silver cross, which instantly transformed into a glowing blue spirit bow.
Ishida nocked an arrow and fired in the direction he had indicated.
The spirit arrow shot through the air — and a Hollow, as if perfectly timed, popped out and was blasted into nothingness!
Ichigo could tell — that Hollow hadn't been purified.
It was completely destroyed.
After finishing off the Hollow, Ishida calmly put away his spirit bow and turned back toward Ichigo and Rukia.
"I despise Shinigami. But I don't attack girls. Kurosaki Ichigo — I hate you."
With that, Ishida turned and walked away, leaving behind two very confused individuals.
"...What did he mean by that?" Ichigo asked, utterly bewildered.
From what he could sense, Ishida's spiritual pressure wasn't much stronger than Rukia's current weakened state.
Rukia fumed. "That arrogant bastard! Looking down on me like that!"
Seeing her ready to rush after Ishida, Ichigo quickly grabbed her to stop her.
"Don't waste your time fighting with crazy people," he advised.
Both of them found Ishida Uryū's sudden appearance baffling.
...
The next morning—
"I'm still really curious about what Ishida said about Quincy. I'm going to ask that shady merchant. I'll skip school today," Rukia said.
"Yeah. Tatsuki told me Ishida's actually our classmate. I'll go keep an eye on him at school," Ichigo replied.
"Alright, we'll split up. Meet back at home after school," Rukia agreed.
And so, their first coordinated investigation began.
Rukia headed to Urahara Kisuke's shop to dig up some info, while Ichigo, dragging Tatsuki along, secretly observed Ishida at school.
Tatsuki, puzzled by Ichigo's sneaky behavior, asked, "Ichigo, why are you so interested in Ishida?"
Ichigo grabbed Tatsuki's arm and whispered, "Shh! Keep it down! That guy Ishida Uryū... he's dangerous!"
Tatsuki, still clueless, nodded blankly.
In her eyes, Ishida just looked like an ordinary nerdy classmate!
Then, as Ichigo and Tatsuki huddled behind the classroom door, Orihime wandered over.
"Tatsuki-chan? Kurosaki-kun? What are you two doing?" Orihime asked, peeking curiously at them.
"Shh! Orihime-san! Quiet!" Ichigo whispered exaggeratedly.
Orihime, easily convinced, copied their pose and peered into the classroom too.
"Ishida-kun? Why are you guys spying on him?" Orihime asked innocently.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My Patreon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][www.p@treon.com/zaelum]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]