CLANG!

"Ichigo, " The small bedroom door was flung open, and Rukia called out loud: "We've got a job!"

"Ugh!" Ichigo had just lain down. He dragged himself out of bed with obvious reluctance. "Day after day... will it ever end! How can there possibly be this many Hollows!"

For the convenience of carrying out missions, Rukia had moved directly into Ichigo's home. After explaining the situation to the two adults of the household, the Kurosaki family cleared out a spare room for her.

During that process, Isshin Kurosaki lodged a protest, Ichigo already had Orihime, and they couldn't let a beautiful girl like this get any closer, only to be overruled by a single veto from the head of the household.

"Who knows! Just hurry up! The Hollow is about to appear!"

As a proper Soul Reaper, Rukia carried a Denreishinki from Soul Society. More often than not, Soul Society could detect a Hollow's movements before it even crossed into the World of the Living, then relay that intelligence through the Denreishinki to the stationed Soul Reaper, allowing them to reach the location ahead of time and minimize casualties among wandering souls.

"Unbelievable." Channeling his spiritual pressure, Ichigo separated into his spirit body, and Soul Reaper Ichigo made his grand entrance. "We should divide this up into zones, one block for me, one for Yasutora Sado, one for Orihime, one for Uryu Ishida."

"Yasutora Sado and Uryu Ishida would manage, but if the Hollow is on the stronger side, Orihime alone would be in danger!"

"Honestly..."

Two months had passed since Rukia's arrival and Ichigo began carrying out Soul Reaper duties on her behalf. It had been manageable at first, Hollow appearances weren't all that frequent, but as time went on, they showed up more and more often, and their strength kept climbing right alongside.

From the small-fry Hollows at the start, to the somewhat stronger ones last month, to the massive Hollow that appeared just last week, powerful enough to match an ordinary seated officer, Rukia couldn't help wondering whether the next one to show up would be a Menos Grande, the kind spoken of in legends.

Over those two months of living together, the two of them had grown considerably more familiar, and Rukia had come to learn about the situation with Ichigo's friends.

Mizuiro Kojima, Keigo Asano, and Tatsuki Arisawa were all high-spiritual-pressure individuals, capable of clearly seeing and even touching souls, and their potential was extraordinarily high.

Yasutora Sado and Orihime Inoue, on top of their high spiritual pressure, had both awakened special powers. Yasutora Sado had awakened over a year ago; the ability manifested as a transformation of the arm, granting a massive boost in physical strength along with the capacity to emit shockwaves. A preliminary assessment put Yasutora Sado at the level of a lower seated officer or above, at minimum.

Orihime Inoue had awakened three months ago, possessing the ability known as Shun Shun Rikka, a power that combined offense and defense while also carrying a healing function, making it nothing short of all-purpose. Unfortunately, the user's own spiritual pressure was insufficient, and combined with a nature that wasn't suited for combat, Orihime could hold up against an ordinary Soul Reaper well enough, but anything stronger would be a struggle.

Uryu Ishida was a Quincy, the kind spoken of in legends. Of the three, Uryu Ishida was the strongest, having trained from childhood and mastered numerous Quincy techniques. A preliminary estimate put Uryu Ishida somewhere around the level of an upper seated officer, or perhaps even a lieutenant.

"Hey — this is the place, right?"

THUD!

The words had barely left his mouth when the night sky not far ahead seemed to tear open. A massive black void split wide, and a huge Hollow stepped slowly out from within.

"Another big Hollow... wait. That's not right...?"

THUD!

Another sound that struck straight to the core rang out, and a dozen more black voids tore open simultaneously across the surrounding area. One enormous Hollow after another stepped through.

The most conspicuous among them emerged from the largest void of all: its entire body jet-black like a curtain of darkness, its frame towering dozens of stories high, without arms, moving on two legs alone, a long white-nosed mask covering its face.

"ROOOAAR—!"

"This is... a Gillian?!" Rukia stared at the black Menos Grande that had come through last, unable to believe what she was seeing. "This is a Menos Grande... no ordinary Soul Reaper can handle this!"

"Menos Grande?" Ichigo indicated this had entered his blind spot of knowledge. "What's a Menos Grande?"

"Just, regardless, unless you have the strength of a lieutenant, do not engage it in combat!" Rukia's expression turned grave. "Be careful, Ichigo! This enemy is beyond anything we expected! A Menos Grande shouldn't even be able to appear in the World of the Living!"

"Lieutenant strength, lieutenant strength... you keep saying that, but I have no idea what a lieutenant's strength is actually supposed to be." Ichigo couldn't help grumbling. "Though, if a lieutenant is enough to handle a Hollow with this kind of spiritual pressure, it sounds like your Gotei 13 isn't all that impressive."

Through these weeks of living together, Ichigo had come to understand roughly how the Gotei 13 was structured. In terms of power tiers, captains formed the first, and the so-called lieutenants were the second.

"Don't let your guard down!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

His right hand gripped the long blade at his back, his left hand held the short blade at his hip in a reverse grip. Ichigo's words were dismissive, but his movements were clean and precise.

"ROOOAAR—!"

The dozen-odd Hollows roared in unison, their collective presence utterly overwhelming. As if receiving a signal, the massive Hollows charged toward Ichigo all at once.

"Here we go!" Both blades cleared their sheaths, and a faint smile curved the corner of Ichigo's mouth. "Small fry, keep quiet."

The black long blade rose high. Spiritual pressure became visibly manifest at its tip, and as the blade swung down, that immense force released from the edge. Golden radiance blazed through the night, and the enemies were swallowed whole.

"This...?!"

Rukia stared at the scene before her in disbelief. In the past, Ichigo had always cut directly with his blade, one swing and done, certainly, but this was completely different. That enormous golden slash carried a spiritual pressure so crushing it sent a flicker of genuine fear through her.

She suspected she was dreaming. She had always thought she'd been estimating high, but now it was clear she had still been underestimating him. A power like this could only mean...

"Hmph, " Ichigo turned his gaze toward the black Menos Grande, toward the Gillian. "So you're the last one. I'm hoping you'll give me a new impression of what a Hollow can be."

"ROOOAAR!"

As if sensing the danger, the Gillian gathered every last trace of its spiritual pressure in front of its mask. A crimson glow flared and quickly coalesced into a massive orb of red energy.

"A Cero?" Ichigo looked at the sight before him, something almost nostalgic crossing his face. "It's been a long time since I've seen a Cero... or rather, this might actually be the first time I've seen a real one."

"Focus, Ichigo!" Watching Ichigo remain utterly relaxed even now, Rukia seethed. "You're still in the middle of a fight!"

"A fight?"

He turned back. Behind him, the red Cero had fully charged. Crimson radiance exploded outward, and a massive red beam, the kind that could obliterate everything in its path, erupted from the Gillian's maw and shot straight toward Ichigo.

BOOM,

The Cero struck its target.

The sight before her was destined to be etched into the deepest recesses of Rukia's memory. Even later, after she had lived through the greatest battles across the Three Realms, nothing would hit her with the same force as this moment.

"Is this what you'd call a fight?"

A voice of utter boredom rang out. The short blade in his left hand had returned to his hip at some unknown point. The terrifying red beam had come bearing terrifying momentum, and been effortlessly stopped by a single hand.

"It's just one-sided... slaughter."

With a slight squeeze of his left hand, the Cero that had looked so utterly terrifying, the one no lieutenant would ever attempt to catch barehanded, was crushed with ease, as though it were not a Cero at all, but simply a red balloon.

"Well. So a Menos Grande is only at this level."

Golden radiance surfaced once more at the tip of the long blade. Without even turning his head, Ichigo swung it down toward the Gillian. The colossal golden slash was unstoppable, the Gillian was split clean in two, dissolving into scattered particles of spirit particles that faded into the air.

"Let's go home, Rukia."

Ichigo Kurosaki. The greatest anomaly in the World of the Living. The absolute core of his group. A human in name, yet possessing the power of a Soul Reaper, and beyond that, dual Zanpakuto, a rarity even in Soul Society. Spiritual pressure unfathomably deep. Strength estimated at captain level.

Or above.

➤ Next: Idle Chatter Before the Prelude