"I'm… a Quincy?"
"We and the Shinigami… are enemies?"
He recognized every word, but…
Why, when put together, did they make no sense?
Ichigo, who was rushing toward Tatsuki's house, suddenly froze, his steps slowing.
Ishida continued, "In Soul Society, did you ever hear anything about the Quincy?"
Ichigo stayed silent. Ishida pressed on:
"You must be very curious, right? Shinigami have their own weapons, and Hollows are naturally evil souls that only grow stronger by devouring others. So… can humans only rely on Shinigami for protection? If there were no Shinigami, would humans just be eaten by Hollows?"
"And the Quincy… are actually humans who possess the power to exterminate Hollows. It's just… the reason you didn't know about us is because, over two hundred years ago, the Shinigami nearly wiped out the Quincy."
"?!"
Ichigo's pupils shrank; he immediately blurted out, "What did you say?!"
"You can ask the Shinigami who's always with you — see how she answers. But… I can tell you with certainty: you are indeed a Quincy."
"Think about it carefully. Before you gained Shinigami powers, you could already see souls, see Hollows, and even had the ability to exterminate them. Your sister even faced a Hollow and came out unscathed!"
"Now, do you still think you're just an ordinary human?"
"What exactly… are you trying to say?!" Ichigo snapped coldly, glaring at Ishida.
Ishida was momentarily puzzled.
Ichigo pressed on, "I don't know my origins, nor the grudges between Quincy and Shinigami. But… you must have your own purpose in telling me all this, right?"
"…That's right." Ishida fell silent for a moment, then said, "I just want to tell you: as a Quincy, don't associate with Shinigami."
"They'll only use you, and once you're no longer useful, they'll discard and eliminate you."
"It's because you're my companion that I'm warning you."
"Thank you for your concern, but I think… the Shinigami I've met aren't that cold."
At this point, Ichigo stopped — they had already arrived at Tatsuki's house.
Tatsuki's family ran a karate dojo, which had become busier than ever as Karakura Town prospered.
Ichigo rushed in; inside, Tatsuki was training with the others. Hearing the commotion, she turned.
"Huh? Ichigo?" Tatsuki blinked in surprise. "Why are you here?"
Seeing her unharmed, Ichigo finally breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that you're alright."
"?" Tatsuki was even more confused by his sudden, odd remark. She quickly stepped out of the crowd and came to Ichigo's side, eyeing both him and Ishida.
"You're… Ishida? How are you two together? And what do you mean, 'it's good that I'm alright'? What could possibly happen to me?"
She wasn't oblivious; she recognized her classmates. But she was very curious as to how these two, who never spoke in class, had suddenly teamed up.
"Have you seen Nezuko?" Ichigo quickly asked.
"Nezuko? She should still be at school. She had duty this afternoon, then Kendo Club," Tatsuki thought for a moment, then replied.
"That's good."
"?" Tatsuki grew even more confused. "Ichigo, what do you mean by that? Did something happen to Nezuko?"
Ichigo, of course, couldn't reveal the truth. Tatsuki was just an ordinary human; telling her would do no good.
"Since there's nothing going on here, then…"
Ishida also dropped the Quincy topic, and simply said, "Let's check the school."
"Mm." Ichigo agreed, and immediately got ready to leave.
But Tatsuki suddenly grabbed his hand. "Wait, what are you two talking about? Did something happen to Nezuko?"
"No! What could possibly happen to her?"
Ichigo forced a smile, then gently pulled away from Tatsuki's hand and hurried downstairs.
Tatsuki watched Ichigo leave, standing rooted to the spot. She sniffed the air, as if catching the faint scent of blood.
Though Ichigo's wound had healed and his clothes had been cleaned and stitched, some blood had still soaked in, leaving a faint trace for Tatsuki to notice.
A surge of worry welled up in her chest.
Something had happened.
By now, Ichigo was already gone.
…
"It looks like Tatsuki is fine here."
"Let's go check the school for Nezuko!"
Ichigo quickly ran back to the school. The sky was already growing dim. As he reached the gate, he happened to see Nezuko walking out.
"Ichigo."
She greeted him, casual as always. "What's up? In such a hurry — did you lose something at school?"
"Ah… no, just out for a walk."
Of course, Ichigo couldn't say, "I came to see if you're real or fake."
Nezuko glanced at Ishida. "Ishida, you out for a walk too?"
Ishida was silent for a moment, then asked, "Nezuko, have you been at school all this time?"
"Of course." Nezuko said, hands in her pockets. "What? You two cosplaying as secret agents?"
"No, no, just a walk," Ichigo said. "If anything, we were racing to see who could run faster."
"…Sounds a bit stupid," Nezuko said. "Well, you two keep running. I've got something to do, so I'll head back."
With that, she turned and walked away.
Ichigo watched her recede, deep in thought about the fake Nezuko's next target.
Or perhaps…
He himself was her only target.
Now that she had taken that thing from his soul, maybe she had just left. Even if she acted again, it might be against someone else. In that case, finding that Hollow would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
…
The next day, the third day, the fourth…
Still nothing happened.
On the second day, he made inquiries and confirmed Nezuko was indeed on duty at school at the time — which basically confirmed Ishida's speculation.
And then, nothing. Day after day.
Not even Ishida came to talk about the Quincy anymore.
However…
Although he stopped coming, those words had indeed piqued Ichigo's interest.
Especially…
He said the Kurosaki family was a Quincy family?
Could his bearded father, or even his mother, also be Quincy?
But if that was true…
How could they not see ghosts? And how could his mother…
Ichigo's thoughts drifted to that night of heavy rain.
How did his mother die?
Just then, Inoue walked over.
"Ichigo…"
"Orihime?" Ichigo snapped back to reality. "What's wrong?"
He'd been surprised at the start of the school year. So many old acquaintances in his class: Nezuko, Tatsuki, and Inoue!
He'd already met Orihime after the Inoue Sora incident. Back then, since Sora had died, Ichigo had resolved to look after Inoue's sister.
Unexpectedly, after entering high school, they were assigned to the same class. It truly was a coincidence.
"Um, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
Inoue seemed a bit shy, her voice very soft.
Ichigo looked at her, puzzled. "What is it?"
Orihime leaned in and whispered in his ear:
"Do you know where Orihime went?"
?!
Ichigo's pupils shrank. Instantly, he stood up, grabbing 'Orihime' by the collar and shouting:
"What are you saying?!"
That voice just now…
It wasn't Inoue's!
Though their appearances were identical, and even the spiritual pressure matched, after being deceived by the fake Nezuko before, how could Ichigo not realize — this Orihime was a fake?!
"Ichigo?!"
"Kurosaki!"
Seeing Ichigo suddenly grab Orihime's collar, the whole class was shocked.
"What are you doing?!"
Tatsuki, furious, ran over and slapped Ichigo's hand away.
"How can you bully Orihime?!"
"Exactly, Kurosaki! No matter what, you can't bully a girl!"
"I heard Kurosaki fought with delinquents every day in middle school…"
"That's too scary! There's such a violent person in our high school?"
"Even if Orihime said something wrong, you shouldn't use violence, right? Look how scared she is," Nezuko said, turning from the next seat.
These accusations made Ichigo anxious. He had no mood to explain. He pulled 'Orihime' by the hand and dragged her away.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Tatsuki shouted, but Nezuko stopped her.
"Let it go, I don't think anything's wrong. Ichigo and Orihime already knew each other, right? It's fine."
"But…" Tatsuki grumbled, but after Nezuko's words, she simply muttered, "That Kurosaki guy's been acting strange lately."
She glanced at Ishida, who just kept reading, uninterested in the commotion.
"Alright! Stop talking! Kurosaki isn't that kind of person!" Tatsuki barked, silencing the class.
Meanwhile, Ichigo had already dragged 'Orihime' to the rooftop. The latter was not flustered at all; she simply put her hands behind her back and gazed at the scenery.
"You Shinigami are really interesting, always meeting on the rooftop."
"Cut the nonsense! Who are you?! What did you do to Inoue?!"
Ichigo pressed 'Orihime' against the wall, furious.
"Were you the one who impersonated Nezuko before?!"
"That's why I said you're foolish, Kurosaki-kun." 'Orihime' smiled. "Didn't I say before? I'm looking for Miss Inoue's whereabouts. If I knew where she was, I wouldn't need to ask you."
"You bastard!" Ichigo snarled. "Could Inoue have just vanished on her own?"
"That's not it." 'Orihime' replied, "When I went to look for her, she was at home — she didn't detect my disguise at all. But just as I was about to make my move, she suddenly disappeared."
At this, 'Orihime' looked a little frustrated.
"What a pity. I was so close to getting that thing."
Suddenly disappeared?
Ichigo was surprised and loosened his grip. 'Orihime' easily broke free.
She didn't run. Instead, she circled Ichigo, saying, "So I took on her appearance, thinking maybe someone would notice and expose me, but… nothing happened. I'm truly disappointed, so I came to ask you directly."
Oddly, this made Ichigo breathe a little easier.
"You keep calling others foolish, but it seems you're not so smart yourself. If I knew Inoue's whereabouts, would I have been so shocked earlier? And why would I tell you?!"
"Heh, that's why I said you were foolish." 'Orihime' laughed coldly. "Orihime cares a lot about you, and the people around her. So… what if I use her appearance to kill everyone you care about?"
Her smile turned icy.
"I'll kill you, then Arisawa Tatsuki, then Kamado Nezuko, then everyone else… kill one a day. Can she still hold back and not come out?"
"You wouldn't dare!"
Ichigo's pupils shrank. He whipped out his Substitute Shinigami badge to enter his Shinigami state.
"Heh, don't get excited. If we fought here, your dear classmates would die too." 'Orihime' was completely unfazed.
Ichigo calmed down, realizing the risk.
"Then let's change places! Aren't you going to kill me? Why use the school as a shield?"
"Don't be impatient. I'm not so foolish as to say, 'If you don't let me kill you, I'll kill everyone in the school.' I just want to chat."
"I have nothing to chat about with you."
"Is that so." 'Orihime' took out a glowing fragment and weighed it in her hand.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. He recognized that fragment.
It was the thing she took from his body when she impersonated Nezuko!
"What exactly is this…?"
"Actually, I'm not sure either. But I suspect it might be the key."
'Orihime' said, "It's a good thing, but I can't use it now. The power inside is too sacred. I have to corrupt it before I can devour it."
This was the 'seed of light'.
Yoshio had implanted the seed of light into some people — but it was inert, hard to awaken.
So far, only Ichigo had awakened it. Most others were only semi-awakened, or it was still dormant.
Beelzebub had discovered these seeds of light.
Because he had the Evil Node within him — and the seed of light was a purified byproduct of the Evil Node — there was a connection.
Beelzebub was good at disguises and discovery, so…
He had located these seeds of light — or at least, the fully awakened Ichigo, and some around him.
So he took them out, using them as his aid!
"Key…?"
"Hm? You don't know?" Beelzebub was surprised, then chuckled. "Oh, right. How could you? This is a secret of the Three Realms — not many know it."
"Never mind. I'll tell you a few things you'd never know otherwise."
Beelzebub said softly, "Don't trust those around you. They might just be after the key fragment in your body. Of course… now it's already in my hands."
He laughed, "This is a treasure even gods covet. For it to fall into the hands of someone like you, who knows nothing."
…