Chapter 30 Persimmons and Strawberries 7

"You must be Ichigo's twin sister, Utsuki!"

The purple pupils of the Death Girl sparkled, which was a somewhat exaggerated performance, but coupled with her slightly red face, the picture seemed to have switched to a love-themed channel.

"I'm Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo's classmate."

Kurosaki Utsuki didn't say anything, but glanced back. The ramp was empty; they were the only four people on the road all day.

In fact, they did arrive earlier than her family members had arrived in the past, so Kuchiki Rukia did not come with her brother...she might have come here first to wait for him.

After all, today is a special day...

"Hello." Kurosaki Utsuki responded as calmly as possible.

Only after she had said this did she feel that she shouldn't have treated the person she fell in love with at first sight in this way. However, being so close to him, the "source" of the heat that surged in her heart and spread throughout her body gradually became clear to her.

It certainly had nothing to do with her inner thoughts.

What actually generates temperature and fluctuations, transmits the temperature to her whole body through spirit particles, and causes her to become excited and aroused, etc., is the black stone she has been wearing on her wrist.

That was the "Spiritual Power Stabilizer" given to her by Urahara Kisuke. It was said to be a replica of a certain item... No wonder he had no reaction when he heard her describe the situation before. I guess he already understood the reason.

I don't know whether she should feel regretful or not. It seems that this has nothing to do with love at first sight.

But the Death Girl in front of him who also reacted didn't seem to understand, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Kurosaki Utsuki had to take the initiative: "My brother has always been taken care of by you."

"Eh?" The black-haired girl was startled, then quickly waved her hands. "No, no, I'm the one who's being taken care of by him."

Kurosaki Utsuki shook her head, briefly introduced the two young men beside her, and then they walked towards the platform above together.

Then again, what exactly was her stone reacting to? Was it the impersonated original? She hadn't seen Kuchiki Rukia wearing any jewelry like bracelets or necklaces... She'd better ask Urahara-san later.

·

"Eh—really? Did your brother mention me?"

"Yeah, almost every day." The Death Girl's words didn't sound like a formality. "She says you're independent and opinionated, and very capable. She says she's very proud to have a sister like you."

...Stupid brother.

It was at the intersection at the top of the slope. Morofushi Keimitsu had already read the air very well and took Furuya Rei to the Kurosaki family cemetery first - Kurosaki Utsuki had pointed them in the direction just now, and now there were only the two of them around.

Although she secretly wanted to hear more about her brother, at this point in the conversation, Kurosaki Utaki decided to prioritize the overall situation and try to get some clues: "Does Kuchiki-san have an older brother or sister?"

The Death Girl hesitated for a moment before giving a positive answer: "I have a big brother."

That's Byakuya Kuchiki, right?

"That expression on your face...does it mean you're not on good terms with your brother?"

According to Kurosaki Utsuki's character, she would not ask such a hurtful question so directly - of course, she would never ask about other people's family situation.

But the girl on the other side clearly didn't understand her character, nor did she find her question offensive. She thought for a few seconds before answering, "It's not that it's bad, it's just different from the relationship between Ichigo and you."

Kurosaki Utsuki nodded. She had thought that the other party would be somewhat wary and would not tell her too much information, but she did not expect that the other party would continue to talk -

"Big Brother has taken great care of me, but I haven't done anything to repay him. I can only try to cause him as little trouble as possible..."

Perhaps she suddenly remembered that she had passed on her spiritual power to humans and must have caused trouble for her brother again, so the Death Girl became depressed and hastily ended her answer.

"But, Big Brother didn't have any expectations of me anyway."

This whole response made Kurosaki Utsuki regret asking such a question. In her heart, she complained about Byakuya Kuchiki, who she had only heard fragments of from various people, and quickly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, Kuchiki-san, why are you here?"

Almost as she finished her words, the spiritual pressure belonging to her brother that she had sensed earlier had already approached to the distance where she could see them.

So Ichigo Kurosaki rushed over with a terrified cry. When he ran to her side, he said to her, "I have something to talk to this guy alone," and quickly took the Death Girl beside her away.

Hmm...it seems her brother had no idea that Kuchiki Rukia would come here, so let them talk alone--

"Xia Li? What's that expression on your face?" Kurosaki Uta twitched the corners of his mouth as he looked at his sister hopefully.

"It's an expression of deep feeling, 'Oh, my brother has reached this age!'" Black-haired Kurosaki Kari speculated seriously, rubbing her chin. "I didn't expect my brother to enter that field before me."

"Huh?!" Kurosaki Yuuko, who has a bit of a brother complex, exclaimed in disbelief and immediately asked his sister for confirmation, "Sister Utahiki, is what Xia Li said true?!"

"Who knows." Kurosaki Utsuki shrugged and looked up in the direction where her brother had just disappeared. "But how should I put it... I feel that at least her attitude towards her brother doesn't seem like love."

"Maybe it's love for me that's yours" - swallowing these words, Kurosaki Utsuki took a step forward.

"Let's go, ignore them, let's go to mom first."

·

After the Kurosaki family gathered, Furuya Rei and Morofushi Kagemitsu also said goodbye to Kurosaki Utsuki, saying that they had to go to school in the afternoon and would not disturb their family's worship activities anymore.

Kurosaki Utsuki silently watched the backs of the two boys leaving. She couldn't help but think that their so-called coming to pay tribute to her mother was more like taking responsibility to send her back to her family as a guest, depriving her of the opportunity to be alone on such a sad anniversary.

"So which one is it?" The voice of his old father, Kurosaki Isshin, suddenly came to his ears, full of ridicule.

Then came Youzi's voice: "So the elder sister was the first one to step into that realm - so which one is it?"

"Neither of those." Pushing her father's head away, Kurosaki Utsuki, whose hair had gotten in the way, rolled her eyes. "Until I'm successfully admitted to the University of Tokyo, I won't consider any crooked ways that will affect my studies. My love is study itself."

...Although, she has been skipping classes since the beginning of the school year. Not to mention the unattainable University of Tokyo, even this semester's final exam feels precarious.

But her words are still full of conviction - as long as she has enough confidence, she can maintain the image of a good sister who loves to study and is positive in front of her younger sisters.

So the gossip that hadn't even started to get discussed was immediately put to rest, and the group of four quickly arrived at the Kurosaki family's tomb.

It only took a few seconds to get into the state. The two sisters stood near the tombstone, while Kurosaki Utsuki stood a little further away. She glanced at her father, who had a complicated expression and was wondering what he was thinking, and clasped her hands together devoutly and closed her eyes.

Although she knew that these words could not be conveyed to her most important mother who was no longer around, she still carefully and attentively composed the experiences she wanted to tell her mother, forming complete paragraphs in her mind and conveying them silently and attentively.

The timeline starts from this time last year. The first story is about her preparations to go to school in the next city. It ends with her visiting Urahara Kisuke and telling him that she is going to Beika City. Kisuke waved a small fan and said that it was perfect. The Shinigami stationed in Beika City was too busy to handle it alone, so he asked her if she was interested in taking a part-time job as Beika City's Shinigami agent.

Then the new semester arrived. Originally, her memories were focused on the recent past: the magical Rice Flower City, the endless emergence of Hollows, the friendly stationed Shinigami, the new school, new classmates, and especially... Kenji Hagiwara.

From the failed attempt at "Persimmon Time" and accidentally falling into his arms to hiring him as her photographer, only three months had passed, but she was able to think of so many words to tell the stories of the time she spent with him.

"So, if you were Mom, would you think I was a psychic detective or a medium detective? ...I think I could be considered a detective, since I'm solving cases. If I'm not a police officer, then detective is the only option, right?"

...Well, let’s stop here.

"Then, Mom, we'll come visit you next year."

"I hope that by this time next year, I will have successfully avenged you."

After saying the last sentence in her heart, Kurosaki Utsuki opened her eyes.

"...It's a bit of a stretch after all, a year to get revenge or something."

She muttered softly and quickly dodged backwards, avoiding the old father who was attacked by his daughter Youzi for saying trash words in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

Hmm...what did her mother see in her father back then?

·

The cemetery is in the temple. Kurosaki Isshin, who was attacked by his daughter, went to talk to the abbot about something. Kurosaki Utsuki squatted on the side of the road, chatting with her two sisters, while roughly sensing the spiritual power around her.

Her brother, Ichigo Kurosaki, had already separated from Rukia Kuchiki. Although there had been a minor incident at the beginning, once her brother came to pay his respects to their mother, this year's tomb-sweeping ceremony would be concluded successfully, just like in previous years.

Not far away, a spiritual pressure suddenly entered her perception range.

Kurosaki Utsuki's whole body tensed up, and she even held her breath unconsciously.

That spiritual pressure did not belong to her brother, nor to Rukia Kuchiki. She probably tried her best to hide it until she needed to draw her sword.

A strange Shinigami Reiatsu suddenly appeared in a place like this, right next to Kuchiki Rukia. And the person Geto Suguru mentioned on the phone, the one coming to investigate, had actually already arrived?! This astonishing efficiency was completely different from what she had imagined!

Kurosaki Utsuki took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Although they were supposedly here to investigate, their purpose wasn't limited to investigating, but they also likely wanted to bring Kuchiki Rukia back to Soul Society. However, Kuchiki Rukia had no plans to leave yet. If her guess was correct, it was because her spiritual power hadn't recovered yet, and because she was still immature and unable to handle the duties of a Shinigami agent independently. So...

Ah, her brother went there too.

There should be a fight... Her brother is probably unable to defeat the opponent now. Should she go and help?