Chapter 58: Old Love and New Sadness Part 3
On the way to the agreed restaurant.
In the past, it would have been impossible for Kurosaki Utsuki to have someone approach her without her noticing. However, this was a different time, and now she could only hope in the Shinigami sent by Soul Society to protect her.
"If you're looking for Vice Captain Ise," the frivolous and sweet Kansai accent beside her ears made her feel dangerous, "she's been imprisoned two intersections away by the Binding Path. Given her spiritual power level, it will take Captain Kyoraku about two hours to receive the news."
...Oh no.
Kurosaki Utsuki was trying hard to think of a countermeasure and did not say anything for a while. Morobushi Kagemitsu noticed her sudden turn of head and also turned around, quickly frowning.
"Is this someone Ge Xi knows?"
Kurosaki Utsuki's breathing stopped again.
He could see Gin Ichimaru? In other words, Gin Ichimaru was wearing a prosthetic body? No wonder he was wearing a yukata, which is quite normal in modern society.
"Oh, yes." The silver-purple-haired man answered the question for her. "I used to work with Ms. Kurosaki's employer."
Furuya Rei also turned around and asked, "Are you talking about Urahara-san?"
"Oh, do you know Urahara-san too?"
"I've met him once. Isn't he the owner of Urahara Shoten... Kurosaki?"
The orange-haired girl turned completely sideways, took a step across to block the man and her best friend, and pushed Furuya Rei beside her to take a step back, in a completely protective posture.
In her opinion, Ichimaru Gin and her are basically still in a hostile relationship. Although she feels a little relieved that he did not directly attack her or hold her hostage, he is still a dangerous person with unknown purposes.
"You really do hate me." Although he said this in a disdainful way, the man's smile widened. "I just hope that Miss Kurosaki can take me to meet former Captain Urahara."
...Is the focus on Urahara Kisuke, or is she also going to see Urahara Kisuke?
Kurosaki Utsuki raised her eyes and said in a cold voice, "You want to see Mr. Urahara? He may not want to see you."
She didn't think that Urahara Kisuke couldn't beat Ichimaru Gin, and that taking Ichimaru Gin to Urahara Shoten would bring any danger to Urahara Kisuke. She just wanted to delay the time as much as possible. If Kyoraku Shunsui or Urahara Kisuke could detect Ichimaru Gin's movements in advance, the situation might be more favorable to them.
"As you can see, I am no longer qualified to work for Mr. Urahara."
Kurosaki Utsuki continued speaking, and when she finished speaking, the other party obviously lost some patience - or maybe it was just a urge for her.
The intense pressure from spiritual pressure she felt for the first time made her hair stand on end and even breathing became difficult, but she still tried to hold on, not knowing why she was holding on.
…Probably pride.
However, a few seconds later, she still accepted her fate because of Xu who happened to break through the space at this moment.
"But if you can get rid of this trouble right now," Kurosaki Utsuki sighed softly in her heart, "then I have no reason to refuse."
·
Even without a Zanpakutō, for a captain-level Shinigami, killing a small Hollow was just a matter of raising his hand. After the Hollow dissipated into the air, Kurosaki Utsuki also kept his promise and said goodbye to the friends he had just met.
"We'll have dinner together tomorrow." She spoke quickly, her tone brooking no refusal. "Today his matter is more urgent. I'm taking him to see Mr. Urahara."
Finally, she added, "I'm going alone. You, especially Furuya, are absolutely not allowed to follow me."
It is not Kurosaki Utsuki's usual style to refuse to explain instead of making a reasonable excuse. This reaction is really strange, and it almost says "otherwise you will be in danger" clearly.
When his name was called, Furuya Rei almost questioned him, but was helped along by his friend. The two boys, feeling they couldn't just let Kurosaki Utsuki go, but at a loss as to how to proceed, simultaneously looked to the oldest and most reliable, Morobushi Takaaki, for help.
However, the latter just stared at the orange-haired girl in silence for a few seconds, and finally responded slowly: "I understand."
After getting the consent, Kurosaki Utsuki turned around and left. Ichimaru Gin glanced back at the remaining three people with a smile, and soon followed.
As the two figures gradually moved away, one in front and one behind, Furuya Rei, still feeling that this was not going to work and that it would be best for him to follow them secretly, was about to leave when he heard Morofushi Takaaki say beside him, "Kagemitsu, immediately inform Utaki's brother Ichigo-kun of what just happened."
Morobushi Kagemitsu immediately did as he was told, while Furuya Rei looked up at him, his face full of confusion: "Brother Gao Ming, why did you let Kurosaki leave like that? That man looks weird no matter how you look at him, right? What Kurosaki asked him to do is also inexplicable-"
Zhu Fu Gaoming shook his head slightly.
"Our presence will make Ge Xi embarrassed."
He just explained it like a riddle and said no more, turning his attention to Zhu Fujingguang who had already made a call.
Half a minute later, Zhu Fujingguang put away the phone that had been hung up before he could finish his words. Recalling the past, he spoke hesitantly, "Ge Xi's reaction was very intense." He said, "Especially when he heard that the person who took Ge Xi away was a silver-haired man."
Hearing this, Furuya Rei only felt more worried: "That guy is indeed a dangerous person——"
But Zhu Fu Jingguang shook his head: "But he also said that it was someone he knew, so we shouldn't worry and there was no need to call the police."
The two boys looked at each other and felt relieved. Since Kurosaki Utsuki's brother said so, there should be no problem.
On the other side, Zhu Fu Gaoming suppressed all expressions.
It’s not that there’s no need to call the police, but rather that calling the police is useless - the person just now is probably not an ordinary human being.
Although he didn't want to admit that this was not a materialistic fact, even if he ignored the "specialness" of Kurosaki Utsuki that he knew, the evidence gave him the same feedback - in the direction the orange-haired girl had looked before, the awning above the aisle and a section of the steel frame no longer had the original curvature.
That is the arched ceiling of the shopping street that was renovated just last month. I'm afraid you can see clearer traces of it above the awning.
Just now, an invisible object suddenly appeared there, easily bending the steel frame, and the "trouble at hand" that Kurosaki Utahita asked that person to solve was it.
But he couldn't tell this to the two young men in front of him. The "speciality" of being able to see things that ordinary people couldn't see and possessing some kind of supernatural power was a secret that Kurosaki Utsuki had kept until now. Before she revealed it herself, he could only treat it as a guess.
In comparison, he was more concerned about what she called "the qualifications to work for Mr. Urahara."
He suddenly realized that if this meant that she had lost that supernatural power, then his previous inference that she could fight without hesitation after being away from them...
The cell phone suddenly vibrated. Zhu Fu Gao Ming looked down and saw that the email he had just received was from Kurosaki Utsuki.
"Thank you, Mr. Gao, for stopping them. Don't worry. He's a bad guy, but he needs my help, and he can't beat Mr. Urahara. Tell Kagemitsu and Furuya that we'll meet at the same time tomorrow night."
...I hope he is just worrying too much.
·
On the other side, Kurosaki Utsuki, who had just finished sending an email, put away her phone and looked up at the calm silver-haired man beside her: "Aren't you afraid that I will ask my brother to beat you up?"
After leaving the range where her friends might be affected, she started to be alone with Ichimaru Gin, and when the other party withdrew all his spiritual pressure as if to show his friendliness, perhaps because of the influence of Matsumoto Rangiku, whom she liked very much, she no longer had such strong hostility, and the atmosphere between the two of them became a little more harmonious.
The man beside him spread his hands innocently: "I have no hostility, nor do I mean any harm to you. I just want to ask you to lead the way."
Kurosaki Utahi snorted coldly, "Have you forgotten that you severely injured my thigh on the Double Killing Hill?"
"I thought you'd already cut me in half in return."
...That's true.
"Then we're even."
"No, it's not a clean break." The man next to him immediately denied it. "If Miss Kurosaki forgets the agreement we made, I'll be very troubled."
He was just expressing his opinion normally, but his rare normal Kansai accent made Kurosaki Utsuki hear a sense of threat, as if to say, "If you dare to forget, I will kill all your relatives and friends."
Kurosaki Utsuki, who had no intention of breaking the contract, looked up at the sky speechlessly: "I know, but haven't you revealed all the information yet?"
For example, the species proportions and ability characteristics of Aizen's Hollows, and more importantly, the method to break the complete hypnosis ability of Aizen's Zanpakutō "Kyoka Suigetsu".
"So I'm just looking for someone I can tell the information to~"
…If you really want to tell the truth, why don’t you just stay in the prison of Soul Society!
Kurosaki Utsuki looked up at the sky again, speechless: "How did you escape from prison? Do you have an accomplice in the Seireitei?"
She had originally wondered if the rescue would be led by Aizen Sosuke, but if that were the case, there would be no need for Ichimaru Gin to come alone in his artificial body and blend into the crowd to find her. It would have been easier for him to just bring a team to capture her.
Moreover, according to Kyoraku Shunsui, Ichimaru Gin's Zanpakuto "Divine Spear" is still under the jurisdiction of Soul Society, and the person who helped him escape did not help him retrieve his Zanpakuto.
That day in Soul Society, Aizen had the help of a Hollow. If he really wanted to save people, he couldn't just send one subordinate - besides, Gin Ichimaru had previously explained that Aizen had a palace in Hueco Mundo and hundreds of useful subordinates.
But the person next to him answered the question irrelevantly: "Have you heard from Captain Kyoraku about the newly established Central Forty-Sixth Office?"
Kurosaki Utsuki was stunned: "No."
Are these two things related? And what does the power center of Soul Society have to do with her?
"Gojo Satoru, the head of the Gojo family you once dealt with, personally joined the new Central Forty-Six. On the day of their first meeting, he had a huge argument with the elder of the Tsunayashiro family, one of the Four Great Nobles. He acted in a way that almost drove the old man to death."
……ah?
"Not only that, he's also blatantly forming cliques as a collaborator of the travel disaster, based on the positions taken by the noble Shinigami during your rescue of Rukia Kuchiki. To have prepared to this extent in just one month, the head of the Gojo family is truly a genius."
The noble Shinigami, do they refer to Yoruichi Shihōin, Byakuya Kuchiki, and Ukitake Kyōraku and the others?
A month ago...it was almost the same time when the previous generation of Central Forty-Six Rooms were slaughtered.
"Is Mr. Gojo in cahoots with you?" Kurosaki Utsuki bit her lower lip. She didn't want to believe this fact.
Fortunately, the person who revealed the information to her did not hide her intentions: "Unfortunately, the head of the Gojo family does not support Captain Aizen's plan. He has been waiting for the opportunity to start a revolution in Soul Society."
“…I see.”
Therefore, the head of the Gojo family, who was quite friendly to her, knew about Aizen's conspiracy early on. He needed Aizen to eliminate the previous Central Forty-six Chambers to clear the obstacles for himself, but he did not want Aizen to win and cause greater chaos in Soul Society. So he used Aizen to achieve his own goals, and at the same time assisted Rinpoche who came to Soul Society to fight against Aizen.
He would help Ichimaru Gin escape, which was probably their prior agreement, but he may have felt that it was too dangerous to let Ichimaru Gin leave without making his position clear, so he deliberately ignored the Zanpakuto outside the scope of the agreement.
"That guy is terrible." Kurosaki Utsuki pouted, not dwelling on issues that shouldn't concern her. She stopped and saw Urahara's shop in front of her. "We're here. Urahara-san is inside. Can I go now?"
"Not yet."
As she refused, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by the person next to her, followed by a barely audible sting. She was stunned for a moment before realizing that the person had stabbed her with something.
"It's a cell-dissolving toxin."
The previously harmonious atmosphere vanished completely. Ichigo Kurosaki, dressed in his Death Hegemony uniform, rushed out from the side and inserted himself between the two. The silver-purple-haired man, pointed at by the huge Zanpakutō, instantly stepped five meters away. His narrowed eyes and smiling face looked more and more like a venomous snake spitting out its tongue.
"Miss Kurosaki has three days left. If within these seventy-two hours, Miss Kurosaki does not recover enough spiritual pressure to support Bankai to suppress the poison, then unfortunately, I have no other way to prolong Miss Kurosaki's life."
And the snake had already bitten her neck.
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