"Kuchiki-san—"

The day after the Gillian-class Menos Grande attacked the World of the Living, the high schoolers' daily lives went on as calm as ever. The incident was like a drop of water falling into the ocean, not a single ripple stirred.

"You look a little pale?" Orihime asked, concerned. "Are you sick? A cold?"

"Idiot Orihime, " Tatsuki Arisawa said in exasperation. "It's July. How would she have a cold... heatstroke, maybe?"

"No... I'm fine, thank you." Rukia smiled, unusually bright.

"..."

"..."

"Okay, okay." Orihime nodded, beaming. "If anything's wrong, tell us right away, okay?"

They'd only known each other about two months, but with Ichigo as their link, and having fought side by side as comrades more than once, Orihime already counted Rukia as a close friend. Among girls, second only to Tatsuki.

"Okay." Rukia's smile stayed bright.

"Speaking of which, Orihime, don't you have any sense of danger? That Kuchiki girl is living in Ichigo's house, you know?"

"Huh? Why would I need a sense of danger?"

"Don't you like Ichigo?"

"Wha—?! Who said that?!"

"Does anyone have to say it? Anyone with eyes can see it."

"Ah! Tatsuki, you—!"

"What..."

The light voices drifted away. High school girls' idle chatter always circled back to romance, even for those with special powers and high spiritual awareness.

As for Rukia, the subject of that discussion, she only smiled. Even though the girls had lowered their voices, she heard every word clearly. Her age didn't match her appearance; her true age was far greater than theirs. Being a long-lived species meant she wasn't like a human of the same age, but even so, she wouldn't suddenly develop romantic feelings for a teenage human.

They probably noticed...

Staring absently out the window, Rukia could still see yesterday's scene vividly, Ichigo crushing a Cero with his bare hand. She turned it over in her mind. A battle of that level... the Soul Society couldn't possibly have failed to notice.

Is this the end...

In truth, when she'd witnessed that astonishing sight, an unrealistic fantasy had risen in her heart. But she'd snuffed it out in an instant.

Ichigo... he's still just a child...

The memories of these two months surfaced. They'd fought side by side for two months now. Even though every battle ended with Ichigo or someone else instantly cutting down the Hollows, it had been a long time since Rukia had felt this way, a long time since she'd spent time with [comrades] like this.

I can't drag him into this... no matter how strong he is... he's still just a child...

A fifteen-year-old high schooler could save the world in fairy tales. In reality, plenty of fifteen-year-olds had already taken on heavy burdens, fighting to survive.

But in the eyes of most adults, they were still children, people who needed protecting. Adults didn't treat children as someone to lean on just because those children were mature and capable... at least, not the Rukia of now.

"What's wrong with that Kuchiki girl?" Outside the classroom, Uryu adjusted his glasses. "She's seemed out of it all day."

"Who knows?" Ichigo shrugged. "Isn't she always like this?"

"You're too dense, Ichigo." Yasutora Sado's voice was low. "Kuchiki clearly has something on her mind... did you bully her?"

"Come on! I'd be lucky if she didn't bully me!" Ichigo said, exasperated. "Last night she dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night to work. I was losing my mind! I haven't had a good night's sleep in a week!"

"Then that's where the problem lies." Uryu frowned slightly. "Last night's work, how was it?"

"Same as always. Wiped out those small fry in an instant."

"But your spiritual pressure was especially strong yesterday." Sado said. "It's not usually like that."

"That's because too many of them showed up at once yesterday. The Hollows." Ichigo scratched his head. "Cutting them down one by one was too much trouble, so I used sword pressure to wipe them all out."

"Too many Hollows... appeared yesterday?"

Quincy primarily manipulated spirit particles, and their perception was correspondingly sharp. But because Ichigo had arrived first yesterday, the spiritual pressures that appeared after were hard to distinguish carefully.

"Yeah, a dozen or so." Ichigo said honestly. "And there was some Menos Grande called something like Gi..."

"Gillian." Uryu said, resigned. "Didn't you remember anything from when Ryuken talked about Menos Grande?"

"When was that? How many years ago? How am I supposed to still remember!"

"You really are..." Shaking his head, Uryu continued analyzing. "The frequency, quantity, and quality of Hollow appearances are all abnormal. The Hollows this month alone are comparable to several normal years' worth."

"Hmm?"

"Which means it's possible someone is deliberately letting Hollows through." Uryu said, annoyed. "Can't you use your brain for once?! Ichigo!"

"Hey! With you around, Uryu, why would I need to use my brain?" Ichigo grinned. "You talk, I'll listen. Just like always."

"Tch!" Uryu clicked his tongue and went on. "That mastermind behind the scenes is making moves. Ever since Kuchiki arrived, he's been driving everything forward."

"What's the point? They're all small fry."

"For us, right now, sure." Uryu shook his head. "But suppose the mastermind is deliberately testing your strength."

"Then this kind of test is way too boring, isn't it?"

"But it's enough." Uryu adjusted his glasses, calm. "It was the lowest class of Menos Grande, but it wasn't small fry. Based on the battle where you killed it, someone could roughly estimate your minimum strength level, and keep gathering intel on you."

"..."

"...You didn't go too overboard, did you?"

"Hehe!"

"Hehe my ass!"

"Well, well, so what if they know?" Ichigo spread his hands. "How does that saying go, when soldiers come, block them; when water comes, dam it up?"

"You really are..." Uryu said, drained. "Pay more attention to Kuchiki. She seems to know something."

"Okay, okay." Ichigo agreed, then shifted gears. "Speaking of which, I still blame those adults. Wouldn't it be simpler if they just told us who's behind this, and then we rushed to the Soul Society and cut the guy down?"

"...That really does fit your way of thinking." Uryu adjusted his glasses, expressionless. "Musclehead."

"Who're you calling an idiot?!"

"Ishida didn't call you an idiot." Sado explained seriously. "He just thinks you can't do anything besides fight."

"Sado! You too?!"

➤ Next: The Arriving Soul Reapers