Half an hour before Mayuri Kurotsuchi encountered Yammy Llargo and Ulquiorra Cifer, the scene shifts to Honchō, Karakura Town—
In the silent sky above the city, Ichigo Kurosaki, dressed in his Shihakushō, raised his massive blade Zangetsu and cut down a pig-faced Hollow. Just then, a voice shouted from afar:
"Hey! You... who are you? Dressed like a Shinigami, looking all suspicious!!"
"Huh?" Ichigo placed his hand above his eyes and looked toward the sound. A Shinigami with wild, explosive curls came running over on tiptoe, pointing at him and shouting:
"My name is Zennosuke Kurumadani! I'm the elite replacing Miss Saitō, who was dismissed for misconduct—and the Shinigami stationed here in Karakura Town! Who are you?!"
"Uh… I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Shinigami! Here—this is my Substitute Badge!"
Ichigo pulled out the Substitute Shinigami badge given to him by Jūshirō Ukitake and waved it in front of Kurumadani.
"What? Substitute badge? Ahahaha… I've never even heard of such a thing! Kid, spit it out—who are you really?!"
Zennosuke Kurumadani refused to believe him, one hand on his hip and the other pointing accusingly.
"Tch… It's officially issued by Soul Society. Why doesn't it work on actual Shinigami?" Ichigo examined the badge in confusion, failing to notice a familiar figure silently approaching from behind.
"Heh~" That figure stepped quietly behind Ichigo, placing his hand on the rectangular hilt of his Zanpakutō, Sakanade, and slowly drawing the blade toward Ichigo's back.
"!!!"
Ichigo suddenly sensed a faint killing intent. He quickly leapt aside several steps. When he saw the person's face clearly, he shouted in shock:
"Shinji Hirako! It's you—"
"Shh~ Don't make such a fuss, Ichigo Kurosaki."
Shinji Hirako leapt forward and slammed his Zanpakutō down against Zangetsu with a sharp clang.
"What? That's a Zanpakutō too? Who exactly are you? Why have I never seen you in Soul Society?!" Ichigo demanded suspiciously.
Not long after Ichigo returned from Soul Society to Karakura Town, this strange guy named Shinji Hirako had suddenly appeared as a "transfer student" in Class 1-3 at Karakura First High School.
From the very beginning, Shinji seemed aware of Ichigo's identity as a Substitute Shinigami, deliberately approaching and testing him.
And yet—Shinji possessed a Zanpakutō and Shinigami powers, but he clearly wasn't a member of the Gotei Thirteen.
So who was he? Why was he here?
"Tch… I told you not to make a big deal out of it, Ichigo. Don't you get it?"
Shinji looked at Ichigo seriously.
"With spiritual power as massive as yours, even leaking a little bit of pressure will get you noticed."
"Noticed… by who?!" Ichigo asked, though he already had a sinking feeling about the answer.
"By who? Are you really that dense? Have you already forgotten your enemies?!"
Releasing a tremendous surge of spiritual pressure, Shinji blasted the observing Zennosuke Kurumadani far away before continuing:
"Look up at this beautiful afternoon sky! Because of you… a few disharmonious guests have already arrived. And you haven't sensed a thing…"
"What?"
"My, my! Has that thing inside you scared the wits out of you already? Kurosaki—Ichigo!!" Shinji said with a slow, drawn-out smirk.
"What?! How do you—"
Ichigo Kurosaki was startled. How does he know about the Hollow inside me? And not just know—he seems to know everything?!
"Oh? You're wondering how I know about you, right?"
Shinji Hirako suddenly leapt backward, widening the distance between them. Then he raised his left hand to his forehead and grinned.
"Because… I'm the same as you."
"What? What are you talking about... I asked who you are—"
Ichigo's voice abruptly cut off.
In Shinji's left palm, a jagged, bone-white Hollow mask was slowly forming.
"See? A Zanpakutō plus a Hollow mask—do you understand what I am now?"
Though Shinji appeared casual, a fleeting trace of loneliness and gloom flashed in his eyes. He then said clearly, word by word:
"I'm someone who stepped from the domain of Shinigami into the domain of Hollows. You can call it… Hollowfication."
"Hollow…fication? You mean… like the voice and mask that appeared when I fought Kenpachi?"
Ichigo recalled the White Hollow he had seen in his mind and within his inner world during his life-and-death struggle against Kenpachi Zaraki at Sōkyoku Hill.
As time passed, that white Hollow had appeared more and more frequently—growing stronger each time. It filled Ichigo with mounting fear, to the point where he no longer dared to fight at full strength.
"I told you before that we'd have to get along from now on, didn't I? So… join us. Join the Visored, Ichigo Kurosaki."
Shinji removed the Hollow mask and toyed with it in his hand, fixing Ichigo with an intense gaze. "You don't belong to the 'human' side. You don't belong to Soul Society either. And you definitely don't belong to that guy… Sōsuke Aizen, do you?"
"What?! Aizen... you know about Aizen too?!"
Though Ichigo hadn't played a major role in Aizen's betrayal, he had learned from the Seireitei about Aizen's faked death and his defection to Hueco Mundo.
So hearing Shinji casually mention Aizen's name shocked him.
After all, Shinji had never appeared in Soul Society before—so why would he bring up Aizen?
"Tch... why wouldn't we know Aizen? That's a pretty stupid question, Ichigo—"
With a crack, Shinji crushed the mask in his hand. A strange smile spread across his face.
"The bastard who turned us into this sorry state… was Aizen."
"Us? You mean… there are more people like you?" Ichigo asked hesitantly.
"Idiot! I told you—I belong to the Visored! A group that's neither human, nor Shinigami, nor Hollow…"
The moment Shinji finished speaking—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seven black figures suddenly appeared around Ichigo, surrounding him instantly.
"What! You... you're—"
Ichigo's eyes swept across the eight people encircling him, his face filled with shock.
"Hey, baldy! It's been this long and you still haven't handled this guy?! You're seriously ticking me off!"
With that brash voice, a small blonde girl with twin pigtails suddenly lifted her right knee, kicked her slipper into the air, and caught it mid-flight.
Then she swung her arm in a wide arc and smacked the sole of the slipper hard across Shinji Hirako's face—
SMACK!!!
...
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