Chapter 28 Persimmons and Strawberries 5

In the past short fifteen years of his life, Matsuda Jinpei had experienced many sudden feelings of uneasiness, shortness of breath, and discomfort in his entire body. He knew that meant that some ominous presence had appeared.

It was not until recently that he was finally able to clearly see the full appearance of that "existence" - it was a huge monster wearing a mask.

He had a vague feeling that those monsters fed on souls and generally would not offend living people. Even if he was one of the rare humans who could see their existence, as long as he hid in the crowd and did not meet their eyes, he would not be discovered.

Of course, if he was unfortunately discovered, he would have no choice but to stay away from the crowd as much as possible and make a last effort for his survival.

But... this was the first time he saw someone fighting that kind of monster.

Still an acquaintance.

"Kurosaki..." He called out the name of the orange-haired girl who was hovering in the air not far from his sight in a daze. The girl was facing sideways towards him with the tip of the knife hanging close to him. Although she looked weak and harmless, he had just witnessed her killing a monster with one knife. That was definitely a power that should not be underestimated.

Is that the secret his best friend had been hiding for her? A superhero who fought bravely to protect the city's peace, hidden from everyone's sight?

Not long ago, it was the day when Kurosaki Utsuki jumped out of his best friend's window. After she left, he asked his friend who seemed to know a lot about the inside story for the truth, but was rejected.

"That's Kurosaki-chan's secret. The only reason I know about it is because she got an expired item." The boy explained to him seriously, "I can't tell Jinpei-chan because I don't want to be disliked by Kurosaki-chan."

He certainly didn't want to embarrass his best friend, so he gave up trying to find out the truth. He thought his best friend would keep it a secret, so it couldn't be a bad thing. But after witnessing this scene, the desire to find out the truth suddenly ignited in his heart.

What exactly are those existences, what is the truth of the world, and who is she? He can't wait to know the answers.

Since his best friend couldn't tell him, he would go find the person involved and ask for clarification.

Tuesday, June 2

The moment the school bell rang, Matsuda Jinpei stood up and blocked the way for Kurosaki Utsuki to leave her seat. He looked at the girl who had already started packing her schoolbag before the bell rang and asked, "Kurosaki, don't you have any club activities today?"

Kurosaki Utsuki raised her head, and before answering "definitely not," she listed the reasons why their club had no activities today: "The club leader has to study for the exam and is a ghost club member. Itadori-san has to go to the hospital after school, Rokudo-san doesn't participate in daily activities anyway, and as for you and Hagiwara-san, you both have part-time jobs. So, yes, we don't have any club activities today."

The corner of Matsuda Jinpei's mouth twitched slightly: "I don't have any work today, what about you? Do you have any plans?"

Suddenly realizing that the other party might be here to pry into her secrets, Kurosaki Utahiki zipped up her bag and stood up: "I'm just going home to do my homework - do you want to join the club activities?"

She had already killed four Voids during the day and buried the souls of four ghosts, which completely exceeded the daily planned tasks. She could skip work to do her part-time job in the evening.

"Or, do you have anything else to say?"

At the back table, Kenji Hagiwara paused his tidying up to look over, seeming to want to say something, but after a brief hesitation, he decided not to interrupt.

...if the ground hadn't suddenly started shaking.

As Kurosaki Utsuki's phone vibrated, the three of them looked out the window towards the playground at the same time. They were all overly familiar with this feeling, but their expressions were different - Matsuda Jinpei frowned, Kurosaki Utsuki was speechless and irritated, and Hagiwara Kenji very consciously stretched out his hand, ready to catch the falling body of the girl in front of him.

This shaking was of course not related to the earthquake, but was the source of a rather frequent disaster in Beika City, the new job of the God of Death – a Hollow, and one that appeared even before the Soul Society's detection devices sent a message.

"It's that kind of monster again," Matsuda Jinpei muttered to himself. Halfway through, he suddenly remembered Kurosaki Utsuki beside him, "Kurosaki you——"

But the girl who entered his sight did not show the resolute expression full of awareness and mission, as he had imagined, ready to fight hard to protect the world and humanity. Instead, she looked lazy and unmotivated: "I have to work overtime..."

"It can't be helped," Hagiwara Kenji comforted her as usual, then asked, "What should Kurosaki-chan do?"

Although he felt that the situation seemed urgent and that he should prioritize work to prevent the students around Hollow from being attacked, even with Matsuda around who knew nothing about her true identity, it still depended on what she thought.

Kurosaki Utsuki didn't say anything.

She hadn't really thought much about it, or more accurately, she hadn't paid much attention to Jinpei Matsuda's presence. Having entrusted Hagiwara with the task of "explaining to Matsuda," she had assumed that Matsuda understood her "specialness" as a human. So, the few seconds of hesitation she'd experienced after the Hollow's appearance were simply spent seriously considering whether it was necessary to leave her body to fight.

But the final conclusion was that it was unnecessary - because the enemy was too close, within the attack range of the Holy Arrow of Destruction, and even within the range of her ghost path of the Destruction Chant.

Because all the students had gone to take shelter from the earthquake, the classroom was almost empty. Kurosaki Utsuki's seat was next to the window. Under the two boys' confused or surprised gazes, she raised her left hand towards the void outside the window. The Quenching Cross on her wrist lit up with a bright blue light, and the surrounding spirit particles instantly condensed into the shape of a bow and arrow.

When she pulled the slender bowstring, the spirit arrow naturally fell on the bow. The moment she let go, a huge hole was pierced through the neck of Xu, who was roaring not far away.

To reduce the health bar, I used the Quincy's skills, and of course, I had to use the Death God to finish it off.

"Hadō no 31," the orange-haired girl chanted briefly, shifting her aim to the Hollow's mask. Without hesitation, she recited the following words, "Red Fire Cannon."

From the moment she first raised her hand to the moment the nearby Hollow transformed into spirit particles and dissipated into thin air, the entire battle lasted only a dozen seconds, even shorter than the time she'd spent hesitating and pondering. Only then did she answer her still-vibrating phone, her tone as unamused as her expression. "It's resolved—were you slow, or was it the Soul Society?"

After receiving the answer that "the signal from the Technology Development Bureau to the real world is bad and there is a serious delay", she hung up the phone while mockingly saying "This is the result of losing Mr. Urahara", and her mood seemed to improve a little.

Hagiwara Kenji raised an eyebrow.

Matsuda Jinpei seized the opportunity and said, "Who are you, Kurosaki?"

"I'm not purely human," Kurosaki Utsuki said decisively. "I'm currently working to eliminate the monsters like those I just saw—but don't get me wrong, I'm not some righteous partner. I'm just responsible for the wages I receive, and I simply hate the existence of those monsters."

The boy opposite her retorted, "It doesn't matter, does it? It might not be what I expected, but you did destroy that monster and protect everyone."

Kurosaki Utsuki subconsciously looked at Hagiwara Kenji beside her, then instantly looked away.

"You really are the same kind as Hagiwara-san," she sighed with a subtle emotion, then picked up her bag. "Well, I'm going home now. It's better to learn more about you after you die and go to that world."

But before she could even take a step, Hagiwara Kenji quickly picked up his schoolbag and smiled naturally: "I'm on my way, let's go back together."

·

So that's how it happened, the two of them walked side by side on the way home - this wasn't the first time they went home together, and Kurosaki Utsuki didn't feel awkward at all. As soon as they left the school, they started complaining about what had just happened.

"I've always felt that monsters like Hollows, who are far more powerful than humans, have no point in letting ordinary people know of their existence, other than simply increasing their fear."

Hagiwara Kenji, who had only been updating his understanding of the world for a few months, shrugged. "That might be true if you knew nothing at all, but once you notice something unusual, the situation changes. After all, most humans are curious. The more they feel like they're being kept in the dark, the more they want to know the truth." He laughed. "For example, what does the world look like through Kurosaki-chan's eyes?"

The world in her eyes... Kurosaki Utsuki lowered her eyes.

Although the subject of the conversation is actually Jinpei Matsuda, she can't help but think of her brother. How will her brother, who knows nothing about the truth of their mother's death, ask her for answers when he senses something is wrong and realizes that he has been kept in the dark by his twin sister for so long and feels guilty about it?

She didn't understand the feelings of the person who had been kept in the dark, but because she didn't understand, she tried to imagine, and exaggerate as much as possible, how strong her brother's reaction would be when he knew the whole truth.

...Let's think about it later. After all, there will always be a way out. She is not the only one who hides things.

"I thought you would at least tell Matsuda-san that I have a special identity," Kurosaki Utsuki spoke again, her tone quite nonchalant. "Although I originally wanted to completely hide my identity and forcibly modify the other party's memory if it was discovered, but now that I have revealed it to you, it doesn't make much difference whether one person knows it or two people know it."

The person next to him seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking, half explaining, half clarifying, "But for me, there are still some differences."

"Hmm? Maintaining your image of being completely loyal to me, your employer, and keeping my secrets? I'd be very happy with that..."

"It's more than that." Hagiwara Kenji shook his head and slowed down his pace. "It should be considered... I don't really want it to be a secret between Kurosaki-chan and me anymore, right?"

"Huh?"

He...what is he talking about? !