Chapter 29 Persimmons and Strawberries 6

The secrets between two people...sounds a bit too close.

Kurosaki Utsuki bit the tip of her tongue.

He had said before that he didn't want them to be just "boss and employee" but wanted to be friends with her... This kind of direct statement was too damaging to her.

After thinking hard for a few seconds, Kurosaki Utsuki spoke a little stiffly: "The world I see should be no different from the world you see now."

"How could that be?" The boy beside him showed a surprised expression. He even gestured, drawing a semicircle with his hand. "Kurosaki-chan is a very special existence. She's like a bridge connecting humans and the god of death."

"...Using 'human' isn't quite appropriate at this time." Kurosaki Utsuki muttered softly.

Her mother had also said something like this, which was relayed to her by her father a few years ago. It seemed to have happened shortly after she and her brother were born.

"These children might be able to become a bridge between the Quincies and the Shinigami."

Of course, there is an even more important next sentence -

"But that kind of responsibility is fine, and it's best if they can do whatever they want in the future."

But in the end, she still embarked on a dangerous road of constant battles early on. And her brother, who she had placed great hopes on, finally held his Zanpakutō not long ago.

Hagiwara Kenji looked at her and said, "Hmm? If we don't use the word 'human', what word should we use instead?"

It almost sounds like a cliché.

"Who knows?" Kurosaki Utsuki waved her hand and casually replied, "The Shinigami and humans don't need to communicate. Protecting humans is just their job. Got it? It's a job."

"Okay, okay, got it."

Tuesday, June 16

After giving a simple explanation to Matsuda Jinpei that day, the boy never sought a more detailed answer from his good friend Hagiwara Kenji or the person involved, Kurosaki Utaki, which made the substitute Death Girl, who was tired of working part-time every day, feel relieved.

However, the daily overwork caused Kurosaki Utsuki's complaints to increase sharply——

"Can you give me a chance to get into the University of Tokyo? I don't want to skip classes anymore... I think Beihua City needs at least three stationed Shinigami to barely maintain a balance between work and rest."

And it seems that my relationship with Kenji Hagihara has become a little closer.

It was in the ward of the school's health center. Kurosaki Utsuki had just finished her work and returned to her body, getting out of the hospital bed - in the past few months, this bed by the window had almost become her exclusive seat.

It was not too late and the sunlight outside the window was very gentle.

He watched the girl complaining as she adjusted her skirt out of the corner of his eye. The boy, who had been waiting for a while, straightened the wrinkled sheets and asked casually, "Kurosaki-chan, do you want to apply to the University of Tokyo?"

"Well, the senior that I admire a lot is a student at the University of Tokyo and was my former tutor. And I plan to inherit Director Ishida's hospital in the future. Of course, I'm just skipping most of the process and only focusing on the results."

"Eh... I see." Hagiwara Kenji nodded. "Then the third-year exam preparation period will definitely be very difficult."

"I will definitely quit my job as a Death God when the time comes. Anyway, Geto can still complete the mission even without me."

It's just working day and night without sleep, which is nothing to the god of death... probably.

"And I don't know when his term will end. I feel like he's been in the living world for a long time. Maybe he'll return to Soul Society in the next two years, and then my job will end at the same time."

After all, not all Death Gods can accept the existence of a special Death God like her, not only trusting her to work with her, but also being very sensible and not reporting to their superiors at all.

...and who knows how long she can borrow this power.

"So, Kurosaki-chan is the Shinigami agent bound to Mr. Getsu?"

"You could say that... Ah, the bell rang. If I remember correctly, this is the last class, right?"

Kurosaki Utsuki sighed in her heart. She remembered that when Geto Suguru suddenly sent the message, the class was only one-third over, but the location where the Hollow appeared was not close, forcing her to spend a lot of time on the road.

She wanted to learn—or rather, she had never wanted to learn more than she did at that moment!

The semester was already halfway over, and having been on injury leave since the start of the semester and skipping classes intermittently since returning, she was still quite unfamiliar with most of the textbooks. If this continued, wouldn't she be embarrassed by Mr. Zhufu Gaoming during the final exam?

"Yes." Hagiwara Kenji gave a regretful affirmative answer, "I can only hope that there will be fewer Hollows causing trouble during class tomorrow."

Kurosaki Utsuki was stunned for a moment, then shook his head: "It doesn't matter tomorrow."

"Hmm? Is it because of tomorrow's class schedule? Indeed, I remember that PE and music classes are both tomorrow morning..."

"No, it's not about that." Kurosaki Utsuki pulled open the curtain surrounding the bed and took two steps outside. The atmosphere around him suddenly became quiet. "There's something very important."

"Important?"

"Yeah." The girl nodded gently, "It's my mother's memorial day."

The room fell silent. Although Hagiwara Kenji could usually defuse awkward situations with ease, he hesitated between offering comfort and encouragement and pretending nothing had happened by saying, "I'll take her leave tomorrow, and we'll see you the day after tomorrow."

After a long while, before he could make a final decision, the girl with her back to him suddenly turned around and invited him for the first time -

"If you have time on the weekend, would you like to come to my house and study together?"

Of course he wouldn't refuse.

·

After finishing the daily tasks of taking care of the cats at home, Kurosaki Utsuki set off to return to Karaoke.

On the way back, she was reviewing her own mentality, specifically what she was thinking when she invited Kenji Hagihara on a whim.

However, she failed and was unable to reach a conclusion.

When she got home, all the family members had gathered and were waiting for her at the dinner table.

The younger sisters, of course, welcomed their long-lost sister warmly. The last time she'd been home was when their house was demolished, and it had been nearly twenty days since they'd last seen her. The only adult in the house reacted even more dramatically, shouting, "Daddy's little Gexi, Daddy misses you so much!" before rushing over, only for her to duck away without a care in the world.

Tomorrow is a special day. No matter what day of the week it is, everyone in the family will go to visit the grave of the deceased hostess, so there will be a family meeting after dinner to briefly decide on the itinerary for the next day.

But, in the Kurosaki family, family meetings were never serious matters.

The main reason was that the meeting's host, the only parent in the family who had just tried to hug the eldest daughter but failed and instead bumped head-on into the wall, was too lively.

Kurosaki Utsuki held her cheeks with her hands and watched her father perform, while her eyes also stole a glance at the profile of her brother Kurosaki Ichigo who was within her sight.

The atmosphere quickly became lively. Listening to the cheerful voices of her sisters who were gradually being led away by their father, she gradually curled up the corners of her mouth, but her thoughts gradually wandered off.

How should I put it? As someone who habitually tries to restrain her spiritual pressure as much as possible, within her perception range, the blazing spiritual pressure of the Shinigami in her brother's room upstairs was just as blatant as the spiritual pressure she felt last time when her brother killed a Hollow.

It's Rukia Kuchiki.

...It didn't seem that exaggerated. The spiritual pressure wasn't high. It was just because she was a Quincy, she was very sensitive to spiritual pressure. And when she met Kuchiki Rukia before, she remembered her spiritual pressure.

But... I care a lot, the kind of care that makes my heart itch.

It was impossible not to care, right? There was a new family member in the house! He was still at her house at this time, which probably meant he was living there. There was a girl hiding in her brother's room, which of course made her, as a younger sister, perk up.

During these days, the girl was very concerned about whose pajamas she wore, whose towel she used, and whose bed she slept in...

There was another point that made her feel puzzled besides being concerned -

The last time she saw Rukia Kuchiki, she was wearing a prosthetic body. For a Shinigami invisible to ordinary people, it should be easier to move around without a prosthetic body.

If Kuchiki Rukia had somehow transferred too much spiritual power to her brother, leaving her too weak and forced to wear a prosthetic body, then now that more than half a month had passed, even if the spiritual energy in the real world was thin, her spiritual pressure should have recovered to some extent.

After all, her brother only obtained part of the spiritual power of the God of Death, but did not directly take away his qualification as the God of Death.

So the question is, the spiritual pressure emitted by the spirit wrapped in the artificial corpse is more or less different from the spirit itself, she can easily distinguish it, but the spiritual pressure she senses now is still exactly the same as the last time she saw Kuchiki Rukia.

The total amount has not increased at all, but he does not seem weak. He is quite stable, almost... like a human being.

"Sister Gexi?"

"Uta-sister--"

Suddenly being called by her sisters one after another, Kurosaki Utsuki came back to her senses, and the last thought in her mind was "Is this artificial corpse the kind that Mr. Urahara made in the last century, the kind that has been expired for a hundred years?"

She raised her head and looked at her sisters' faces. "What's wrong? What did I miss?"

Kurosaki Yuko was used to her sister's distraction during family meetings. "Tomorrow morning, will you still go out early and meet everyone at Mom's grave as usual?"

Kurosaki Utahi nodded: "Yeah."

This was her habit, and if she really had to explain it, it could only be explained as "habit." After all, even if she was avoiding her brother, she didn't need to avoid her lovely sisters.

Then again, there were other things that concerned her more.

It's still related to Rukia Kuchiki.

Even though she was a floor away from Rukia Kuchiki, several meters away, with no contact or even physical contact, she couldn't help but feel her heart racing and her body burning. That reaction had only begun when she entered the house, and by simple elimination, the only possible cause was Rukia Kuchiki.

Could it be that the person she fell in love with at first sight was not Rukia Kuchiki herself, but simply her spiritual pressure?

...This is difficult to comment on.

"Utahiki."

In the middle of her distraction, her name was called again. Kurosaki Utsuki regained her composure and looked at Kurosaki Ichigo who had spoken: "What's wrong?"

"Are you free later?"

"……What's up?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about." The orange-haired boy said tentatively.

well.

Kurosaki Utsuki sighed several times in her heart.

Seeing her expression change, Kurosaki Ichigo immediately decided to give in: "If you still have something to say, it's okay to talk next time."

well!

The problem between her and her brother has reached a point where she can no longer afford to lose time, and she must resolve it immediately!

"Why would I have other plans tonight? Would I bring homework with me?"

Kurosaki Utsuki dragged out her tone, her voice sounding a bit complaining, but her expression was quite serious.

"Do you have some misunderstanding about me? I'm physically and mentally sound, and I'm not a bubble that will break at the slightest touch. The same goes for you, tsk. Anyway, you don't have to be so cautious with me... Stupid brother."

The last "stupid brother" had a bit of a coquettish feeling in it. As soon as she finished speaking, her two sisters smiled and repeated it, imitating the tone of voice perfectly.

Then her father said, "Stupid Ichigo, everyone in the family knows that Utsuki is a tsundere. Even if she cares about something, she won't ask or say it. If you don't speak your mind directly, if you hesitate or hold back, she will never call you "Oh Ni-chan" sweetly like she did when you were little. That would be such a huge loss!"

Could she punch her father in the head right now? Just one punch, a blood-inducing punch?

·

After the family meeting, the restaurant emptied out. Both the caring sisters and the playful father quickly left the area around the restaurant, leaving a quiet space for the two who hadn't had a serious conversation in a while.

At this time, Kurosaki Utsuki began to regret it again. It was not that she didn't want to have a good relationship with her brother, but she was a little nervous and worried that her subconscious reaction would deepen his misunderstanding of her.

…She didn’t run away to the next city to attend school for her boyfriend, nor did she encounter any troubles that made her want to die. She just occasionally wondered if her feelings for her brother were mixed with “maternal love” because of the inherited memories.

After a brief silence, Kurosaki Ichigo looked at his sister who was looking down at her bracelet and asked, "Have you completely recovered from the injury you sustained in April?"

Kurosaki Utsuki murmured, "Yeah."

That was indeed healed a long time ago.

"Are you going for a follow-up check?"

"Um."

...Not really.

"I heard you have a cat. Are you getting along well with it?"

"Um."

"By the way, I heard about the cat from Hagiwara-kun. I exchanged contact information with him, but we only contacted each other that one time."

"I know."

After the words were spoken, the room fell silent again.

After a while, Kurosaki Ichigo spoke again: "There is a new student transferred to our class."

Um?

This sensitive new topic made Kurosaki Utsuki pause and suddenly raised her head: "And then?"

Could he be referring to Rukia Kuchiki? Indeed, the last time she saw Kuchiki, she was wearing the Karakura High School uniform—

But this topic was like fishing; the moment the fish raised its head, he reeled it in. "...No, nothing."

The corners of Kurosaki Utsuki's mouth twitched, but she didn't say anything.

Fortunately, the next topic also piqued her interest: "Ge Xi, you can see souls now, but have you ever seen a monster wearing a mask?"

She'd seen them, killed many—though she had the urge to self-destruct, she played dumb as she spoke. "What kind of monster? Ultraman, Kamen Rider? Or Godzilla?"

"No, this..." Kurosaki Ichigo scratched his head in distress. After hesitating for a moment, he gave up on explaining it clearly, just like the previous topic. "In short, if you encounter that kind of monster, don't look it in the eye, don't let it know you can see it, and then call me immediately."

Breathing stagnated——

"Why?"

She did ask, but she pretty much knew the answer. The person opposite her almost had "I'm worried about you" written all over his face.

"I will protect Gexi," she heard him say. "Wherever Gexi is, I will rush to her. So, if she is in danger, I hope she will ask me for help."

...Stupid brother.

"I know." She whispered, her cheeks slightly hot.

The boy opposite finally relaxed his brows and smiled: "Ge Xi, what did you mean by 'to you too'?"

He seemed to want to take advantage of the good atmosphere to ask his sister something she had previously swallowed. Although Kurosaki Utsuki didn't want to answer, she didn't want to disappoint him even more.

She bit her lip and then finished the second half of the sentence that she hadn't said at the time -

"I have no grudge against you either."

The young man in front of him was completely stunned.

Then, she lowered her head, softened her voice, and slowly said what she should have conveyed to him six years ago: "It's not your fault in the first place. It's your excessive concern that makes me unhappy...that's it."

·

Just after ten o'clock, after taking a shower and returning to her room, Kurosaki Utsuki put on her going-out clothes again, took out special shoes for jumping out of the window from the closet, and jumped out of the window quietly.

This is what she calls "going out early alone."

It was indeed early, but it was mentioned the night before.

Only her father, Kurosaki Isshin, knew the exact time she went out at home - her brother might know too, but he never mentioned it to her.

The destination is Rei Furuya's home. For the past six years, she has gone to disturb him at the same time every year.

Shortly before that, as she found a change of clothes and was about to shower, she overheard a conversation between her brother and the Death Girl in the next room. Perhaps sensing the cheerful atmosphere of the family meeting downstairs, the Death Girl excitedly asked him if the whole family was skipping school and going on a picnic.

She didn't listen any further, knowing that her brother would explain the truth anyway.

By the way, she found that one of her pajamas was missing, and she guessed that it was taken away by the Death Girl.

She didn't mind this, but she was a little suspicious that her size was a little too big for Rukia Kuchiki. Maybe Yuko or Kari's clothes would be more suitable for her.

"When can I officially meet Rukia-chan..." The orange-haired girl muttered softly and quickened her pace.

She couldn't wait to know what it was about the other person that attracted her.

At the same time, Rei Furuya, who had just come out of the bathroom, wiped his hair and went into the kitchen, and took the opportunity to stop his friend in the kitchen from planning to "bake some more cookies."

"Kurosaki must have had dinner," the blond boy said helplessly. He couldn't understand why his friend, who was only fifteen years old, exuded maternal love and was worried that her child wouldn't have enough to eat. "Even if Kurosaki liked the snacks you made, you wouldn't give her a snack so late at night."

Rei Furuya is now living semi-alone, his parents seldom come home, so it has become normal for his friend Keimitsu Morofushi, who is good at cooking, to stay overnight with him - of course there is also an empty room to accommodate Utsuki Kurosaki who is about to visit.

The origin of Kurosaki Utsuki's visit tonight can be traced back to five years ago, when the few of them were still in elementary school.

It was his and Morobushi Kagemitsu's turn to be on duty that day. As they cleaned and chatted, they realized the classroom was almost empty. The only person left was Kurosaki Utsuki, who remained in her seat.

At that time, the orange-haired girl not only had no intention of getting up and leaving, she didn't even pack her schoolbag.

Zhu Fujingguang, who had always cared about her, immediately asked her worriedly if she was feeling unwell, but she replied, "I don't want to go home."

He knew the next day was the anniversary of his and Morobushi Kagemitsu's acquaintance with her, and also knew it was the anniversary of her mother's death. Driven by various emotions and psychological factors, he extended a kind invitation, "Would you like to come to my house?" As a result, "coming to the Furuya household on the eve of the anniversary" became a regular part of her schedule.

Although he put down the flour bag he had just picked up, Zhu Fujingguang still explained: "You can give it to Youzi-chan and Xia Li-chan tomorrow. Wouldn't Utah's sisters like it too?"

"Even though that's the case, didn't Kurosaki say it wasn't necessary? She's not some unfamiliar guest."

A similar situation had occurred last year, when his friend had been trying to do something for the girl who had helped him uncover the truth behind his parents' murder. Although Kurosaki Utsuki had accepted the favor, she had also said that she wouldn't bother him in the future and would tell him when she wanted to eat.

"I know this too. Ge Xi is our friend," said Zhu Fujingguang.

Furiya Rei draped the wet towel he had used to wipe his hair over his forearm and raised his chin towards the living room. "Let's go play some games first. She should be here soon."

"Yes." Morofushi Kagemitsu nodded and smiled. "This time we must ask her thoroughly about the Hagiwara Persimmon."

Furuya Rei nodded in agreement, his tone tinged with dissatisfaction, "That guy actually hid it from us and secretly worked as a detective with someone who came from nowhere."

"Eh? Zero, are you jealous of that 'Hagiwara'?"

Facing his friend's teasing, Furuya Rei's face flushed a little with annoyance: "No! I just think it's incredible that someone with Kurosaki's personality can make friends so quickly."

It was at this time that Kurosaki Utsuki came out of Furuya Rei's room.

The orange-haired girl in a snow-white long dress suddenly appeared silently in the darkness, successfully scaring the two people who were just chatting about her.

"Wow, Kurosaki!" Seeing that she was still holding a shoe in her hand, she must have come in through the window. Furuya Rei was speechless with anger, and his breathing was a little rapid. "This is the fourth floor!"

This building has seven floors. It's neither going up nor down. How did she think of going through the window? No, why did she go through the window again?

Being glared at, Kurosaki Utsuki acted as if it was natural. "I know it's the fourth floor," she said, adding the reason why she chose to climb through the window, "Your window is open."

“That’s a window too!”

The orange-haired girl put her shoes at the entrance and shrugged innocently: "I know you are worried about me, but at that height, I won't get hurt even if I fall."

Originally only slightly angry, Rei Furuya was now completely furious: "I'm not worried about you! I'm worried about someone witnessing us and the police coming to our house!"

Kurosaki Utsuki was calm and composed. She walked over to the sofa and sat down. "That's perfect. You're going to be a police officer, aren't you? Just consider it as getting to know your colleagues in advance."

"Kurosaki!"

"Hey Jingguang, don't just watch. No, look, Furuya's tail is all standing on end."

"I don't have a tail!"

Kurosaki Utsuki curled up the corners of her lips in pleasure.

Just before she appeared, she heard Furuya Rei's last words. She hadn't yet admitted that Hagiwara Kenji was her friend, and subconsciously wanted to argue, but she found herself unable to utter the words "not a friend, just an employee."

This made her feel confused and depressed, and this unhappiness was naturally transferred to teasing Furuya Rei.

At this point, Zhu Fujingguang, who had been watching the two people bickering, finally spoke up: "Ge Xi, do you want some cookies?"

Fūya Rei, who thought his friends would at least say a few words to help him or at least try to calm him down, was stunned for a moment, and then fell into the pain of being betrayed by the whole world.

He doesn't understand!

"No, I'm sleepy." Kurosaki Utsuki politely declined, even though she wasn't sleepy at all. She glanced at the dejected Furuya Rei from the corner of her eye and decided to restrain herself so as not to lose her friends. "Aren't you guys ready to sleep yet? You still have classes tomorrow, right?"

"Zero and I have both taken leave." Morobushi Jingguang shook his head, "Tomorrow morning, we want to go with Utsuki to pay our respects to Aunt Masaki."

"Huh?" Kurosaki Utsuki looked at him in surprise, "Why? Do you know my mother?"

The boy opposite shook his head again: "No, although we didn't say anything, Aunt Masaki's smile gave me strength."

His eyes were sincere and firm, and Kurosaki Utsuki was defeated after looking into his eyes for a few seconds.

"...It's up to you."

She curled her lips, then stood up and went to the room prepared for her.

Although they didn't talk about anything special, after meeting and talking to them for a few minutes, she felt that her resistance to tomorrow had faded a lot, and she had a little motivation to let go of the past and look forward.

However, some people weren't feeling sleepy at all. Trying to calm himself, Furuya Rei stepped forward to block Kurosaki Utsuki's path and cut straight to the point: "You escaped last time, but this time you need to explain why you've suddenly become a detective."

During this time, he had several discussions with Morifushi Kagemitsu. They both agreed that Kurosaki Utaha had no interest in being prominent, and even less in being in the public eye. She yearned for a life more like Kira Yoshikage in "JoJo," a peaceful, plant-like existence.

Of course, if anyone dared to touch her or the soil around her, she would swish her leaves and throw a shovel and fertilizer at that person's face.

"Because the reward is very high." Kurosaki Utsuki answered sincerely, "I specialize in cold cases. In those cases, there's a reward just for providing clues, let alone if I provide the criminal and evidence together."

Didn’t they agree last time that he would investigate the results himself? But it’s okay to answer him, and it would also reduce trouble if she gave her own explanation.

Zhu Fushigami asked doubtfully, "But according to the police press conference, you barely provided them with any reasoning or argumentation."

"There's been a heated online discussion lately about whether you're a 'psychic detective' or a 'medium detective,'" Rei Furuya added, his face etched with a provocative air. "So which one are you?"

"Obviously, it's the latter," Kurosaki Utsuki replied lightly. "Psychic power focuses more on existing things. I don't have superpowers like mind reading."

However, apart from mind reading, she still knows some skills such as instant movement - Shunpo or Higankaki, and skills such as setting fire and discharging electricity - Kidō.

In fact, "medium" is not that accurate. After all, she can communicate with souls without the "séance" steps that everyone thinks of. Of course, she can't perform séance... It seems that this is more like "psychic power"?

So she took back what she had just said: "What kind of specific type it is, I need to go back and think about it."

Maybe I'll discuss it with Kenji Hagihara.

Zhu Fujingguang gave a wry smile: "Is this really okay?"

"That's totally fine," Kurosaki Utsuki nodded. Far from feeling bad about it, she actually felt somewhat relieved. "After all, it's rare to find a superpowered detective who can clearly identify the murderer, find evidence, and provide direct assistance to the police."

Anyway, she has never shown her face in public and her identity is completely confidential. Netizens can think whatever they want.

Who is Hagiwara Kaki and what is her relationship with Kurosaki Utsuki?

Seeing her so calm, Furuya Rei frowned: "Hey, Kurosaki, can you really talk to spirits?"

He still hadn't figured out how she had solved the mystery of the Zhufu family case without knowing anything about it. It wasn't an accident; she had been well prepared and only took action after knowing the identity of the criminal.

"What if it is? Would you believe it?"

...He was skeptical, but his good friends might have believed it a long time ago.

"Where do you find these unsolved cases?" he asked.

Kurosaki Utsuki raised an eyebrow: "This question needs to be connected to the context - didn't you just say that I can communicate with spirits?"

"Stop," Furiya Rei quickly gestured to stop. "Even according to your statement, there would have to be so many dead victims in Beika City for this to happen."

Kurosaki Utsuki nodded honestly: "That's right, there are so many."

How else would she find so many unsolved cases? By last weekend, she'd already recorded enough videos with Hagiwara Kenji to keep the TV stations running until New Year's Eve. And these were just the simple cases where she could find the culprit and evidence simply by talking to a few spirits.

How should I put it? Although she has almost gotten used to the situation in Mihua City, when she talks about it with people outside who don't know the truth, she still sighs sincerely: "This city of Mihua is really not simple."

Wednesday, June 17

Kurosaki Utsuki woke up early, before it was even light outside. This wasn't because it was a special day or because she was so used to her bed that she had trouble sleeping, but because she had received a call from Geto Suguru.

With resentment at being woken up, Kurosaki Utsuki said without any sympathy: "It's so early, you are not working all night again?"

"As you expected." The voice on the other end of the phone was weak. "These people have planned it out, so they come together to cause trouble for me while you're away..."

Kurosaki Utsuki shrugged. She didn't feel guilty at all, and her voice was even full of gloating. "Aren't you used to it by now? This is the experience given to you by Mika. You can't escape it. It's better to accept it with gratitude."

Xia Yujie sighed deeply, his tone becoming increasingly distressed: "Besides this, in just one night, I came across three crime scenes."

"……ah?"

Is this reasonable?

No, considering that it's Rice Flower City, it seems reasonable.

"One theft, two murders. I was powerless to stop the theft, but in one of the murders, the victim's soul is still at the scene. I'll send you the location later, and you can help him when you come back. I happened to see the other murder in progress, so I intervened."

Kurosaki Utahi turned over and sat up, eyes still closed: "You are quite gentle towards humans."

"Obviously, this is to reduce the workload. Otherwise, who knows if the deceased will become a Hollow in the future? But compared to my "gentleness", Kuchiki Rukia is more understanding."

There was a hint of sarcasm in his words, but Kurosaki Utsuki didn't pay any attention to them. She was more concerned about the content of his words: "Did you hear about it? Why?"

Although she felt that the other party was misusing idioms, she probably heard something - the purpose of this call was not to complain, but to alert her.

"Because I have a friend who's a noble. Even though the elder of his family is in charge, he's the one who gives all his orders." After showing off to his friend, Geto Suguru went on to explain, "Kuchiki Rukia is currently overdue and has lost contact with Soul Society. Since Karakura's Hollows are still being handled, the higher-ups speculate that she was lured into the real world, specifically, by humans, and has lost contact."

"……so?"

"So the higher-ups are about to send someone to investigate."

Kurosaki Utsuki's breathing stagnated: "When is 'soon'?"

"Who knows how efficient those old guys above are at work? Maybe it will be next month, maybe next week, or maybe tomorrow. No one can tell." Xia Yujie answered with a bit of disgust.

"Why don't you ask your friend again?"

"I really want to ask, but the cross-border signal is really bad, and I can't get in touch for a while - so what did Kuchiki do?"

Kurosaki Utsuki fell silent.

But as if he had guessed her reaction, Geto Suguru quickly gave his own answer: "Transferring the power of the Shinigami to ordinary people is a serious crime, even more serious than dereliction of duty. You might be stripped of your Shinigami status and sentenced to exile to the mortal world."

...That's right, he had been to Karakura before. Even if he had just gone to Urahara's shop, if he happened to see her brother using his spiritual power, it would not be difficult for him to deduce the truth by combining the clues.

Kurosaki Utsuki was about to speak when he added, "But he is a member of the Kuchiki family after all. Even if the elders of the Kuchiki family may not like this adopted youngster, the elders of other families will still show some mercy to him for the sake of this family name."

When she hung up the phone, Kurosaki Utsuki was fully awake, but she lay down again and didn't get up until she heard some movement outside.

By the time she had dawdled and finished washing up, she could already smell the aroma of breakfast in the air - this always made her sincerely feel that living with Zhu Fu Jingguang must be very happy.

Although her cooking skills were not worse than his, she was really too lazy to clean up.

"Furiya, you are so lucky."

"Huh? What?"

Kurosaki Utsuki secretly picked up a piece of bacon and stuffed it into her mouth, shrugged and didn't answer, with a look on her face that said, "You really don't know how lucky you are."

·

The weather is very sunny.

It was only mid-June, but walking in the morning sun, I felt like I was about to melt, especially since I had to climb a very high and steep slope to get to the cemetery.

The two young men who had skipped class on purpose were quite energetic. They pushed Kurosaki Utsuki forward from the left and right behind her, forcing her to stop feeling lazy even though she didn't feel tired at first.

"Kurosaki—stop leaning back on purpose!"

Kurosaki Utahi, who was almost at right angles to the ground, turned her head to glance at the slightly irritated Rei Furuya. "When you have support behind you, you tend to lean towards it unconsciously. Isn't that the purpose of a chair back?"

Of course the blond boy was even more furious now: "Kurosaki!"

"What's up--"

"Kurosaki?"

The sudden sound came from the end of the slope in front. Kurosaki Utsuki looked up when she heard the sound, and then stopped involuntarily, no longer receiving the push from behind, and stood up straight.

Because she was chatting with the two people beside her the whole time, she didn't pay much attention to distinguish the spiritual pressure around her. Although she didn't know why she was here, she finally, finally officially met Kuchiki Rukia!

My heart started beating wildly.

But unlike Kurosaki Utsuki's pretended calm attitude, the petite Shinigami girl suddenly took a step back, covering her chest when her eyes met hers. Her little face flushed slightly, and then she showed a confused look.

Kurosaki Utsuki held her breath.

No way, no way, could it be that she also fell in love at first sight?

Morofushi Kagemitsu and Furuya Rei also stopped.

"Is it someone Ge Xi knows?" asked the cat-eyed boy.

Before Kurosaki Utsuki could answer, the Death Girl on the higher ground scurried down, her pale yellow dress fluttering in the wind. Soon, the girl stopped in front of her. Although she was standing taller, she still tilted her head slightly due to the height difference.

The distance... is too close.

…My heart beat faster, and my legs seemed a little weak and I had difficulty breathing.