Chapter 3 Kurosaki Utaha III
It would only take a few seconds to reclaim my body, and I would just aim at the hollow's head and swing the knife.
The Death Agent, who had completed his work with ease, stared at the chest of "Promising Future" for ten seconds and sighed five times.
Although when she first saw the causal chain on the other person's chest, she seriously considered for a few seconds whether his accidental death was due to bad luck or a mistake in her work.
But she soon noticed that the chain of cause and effect had not been broken, and the other end was still intactly connected to his body. He was now just in a state of suspended animation with his soul out of his body, and she could still save him at this level.
...It is possible to rescue him, but it will take some time.
This is certainly a good thing for the other person and their relatives and friends in this world.
But because she finished her work too quickly, the commotion died down before it could escalate. If she wanted to save the person in front of her in her spiritual form, she would not have time to deal with the surveillance video that might have recorded some supernatural events. Although the door to the women's restroom was a blind spot for surveillance, her body had just been thrown out by Xu, and now she was lying miserably at the stairs.
Holding a knife and looking at the crowd that was gradually gathering, the substitute Death Girl who had just saved the school covered her face with her hands in grief.
It's very annoying.
...This happened on the first day of school. Whoever likes this school can go.
The orange-haired girl sighed once more, determined to play the role of an innocent victim for a while—if asked about the situation later, she could just answer "I don't remember" and get away with it.
"Um, Kurosaki-san?" Hagiwara Kenji, who had called out to her earlier but received no response, now only saw her sighing at him, gave her an awkward but polite smile. "What on earth is going on?"
He glanced at his own body not far away, then at the girl across from him who was dressed in strange black attire: "Could it be that I'm dead?"
Kurosaki Utahi, who had already started using the healing method, said without even looking up, "No."
Hagiwara Kenji blinked and continued to ask, "What was that monster just now? And what is Kurosaki-san? Is he a magician?"
But the girl didn't answer. With a strange feeling of being pulled, he returned to his body. Then, a transparent spray of unknown composition hit him in the face, and his consciousness disappeared in an instant.
·
I thought today's misfortunes had accumulated enough, but it turned out that worse was yet to come.
Kurosaki Uta looked at the snow-white ceiling of the ambulance and wanted to give up thinking for a moment.
Why, why!
Why did the guy who was beaten to death just now only have minor scratches and is being treated in the school's health room, while she, the agent of the god of death, had to be the first to get on the ambulance and be sent for emergency examination?
The worst part was, she had just watched the accompanying teacher call her parents, and before the call was connected, she already knew how it would develop.
Her family is a single-parent family with a father raising two pairs of twins. She has an older brother who is a few minutes older than her and two younger sisters who are five years younger than her.
Her father was the only doctor in her family clinic, and it was impossible for him to abandon his patients. Her sisters were too young, so the only relative who might be present was her brother, Ichigo Kurosaki, who also started school today...
Help! It has been more than a year since the relationship between her and her twin brother Kurosaki Ichigo became strained. Although they lived in the same house, they tried not to see each other as much as possible, and tried not to talk when they did meet. She didn't want to meet her brother because of this unexpected disaster!
It all started when she was arguing with her father during spring break that year and she couldn't help but say something.
She couldn't quite remember the reason for the quarrel, but it was probably because her father wanted her to socialize more with people her age and go out and play with her brother during the holidays, while she wanted to go to the underground training ground of Urahara Shoten.
But she could still repeat the words that came out of her mouth at that time -
"I've already told you I don't want to be with my brother all the time! Dad, you know full well that my feelings for my brother are completely different from those of Xia Li and Youzi!"
Originally, it was just a statement made in the heat of the moment, thought to increase the persuasiveness of his words, but when he turned around, he found that the person mentioned was standing at the door, with disbelief written all over his face, obviously he understood the words literally.
…Thinking back to that scene, she just wanted to jump out of the emergency bed, carry the ambulance and rush all the way to Soul Society.
The "feelings" she was talking about at the time certainly had nothing to do with orthopedics, but the time had not yet come to tell the other person what it really referred to.
She couldn't think of a suitable excuse that would not make the matter more obvious, so she avoided contact with the other party. When she decided on her career path, she applied to a school in the neighboring Mihua City and ran away from home.
Seriously...can she just jump out of the car and run away now?
Her chest seemed to be gradually aching. That damned Hollow was really cruel to her frail body, but it shouldn't be a big deal, right?
Even without activating the Quincy's "Still Blood Suit" and being completely defenseless, her spirit body can withstand the strength of several Hollow claws without any damage. As a container, her body should not be particularly fragile, right?
·
"Mr. Kurosaki? Is he asleep? He was clearly awake just now..." The nurse looked around at the door of the ward, then turned to the attending doctor who had just approached and shook her head to indicate that the person was unresponsive.
With her eyes closed on the hospital bed, Kurosaki Utsuki sighed in her heart.
Of course, she was pretending to be asleep, trying to alleviate the awkwardness of meeting her brother by using this temporary solution that did not address the root cause.
Soon, the doctor's voice at the door reached her ears: "First, let me explain to your relative that the patient has two fractured ribs, but fortunately, they are not displaced. It is recommended that he be hospitalized for three days for observation, and then he can go home to recuperate."
Huh? Do I need to stay in the hospital again?
"I've already told her teacher that she needs to stay in bed as much as possible for the next two weeks. After two weeks, based on the follow-up examination, we'll see whether she can go to school. Of course, she should also avoid strenuous activities after that, and it's best not to participate in physical education classes until after May."
...Is this the rhythm of letting her rest until after the Golden Week?
The doctor explained some more detailed precautions, and after that her brother thanked him. Then there was the sound of the door closing - but he did not enter the ward. Instead, he made a phone call in the corridor outside.
It was several minutes later when the door was opened again. Along with the sound of footsteps approaching the bed, the boy's helpless voice reached her ears: "Ge Xi, can you wake up now?"
Kurosaki Utsuki opened her eyes awkwardly and nervously: "...Did you find out?"
The boy, who had the same hair color as her, didn't answer. "Dad said the patients' appointments are booked until closing time. You should stay here tonight to observe the situation. I'll ask a friend to come over tomorrow to help with the transfer procedures. You should be more accustomed to the empty general hospital than this one."
"……Um."
After all, when she was a child, she had to stay in that hospital once a year, and each time lasted for half a year.
This reminded him of his childhood, when he would go to the hospital with his mother to visit his eldest sister almost every day whenever she was hospitalized. Kurosaki Ichigo couldn't help but sigh, "I always feel a little nostalgic."
"……ah."
After the words fell, the two fell into silence.
This is not a very pleasant topic, because the family’s favorite mother, who also appears in those memories, has long gone away forever.
It was certainly not a natural death, but a tragedy caused by a combination of many factors. There were several culprits behind it, and even someone as wise as Urahara Kisuke could not help them find the culprits.
After a while, Kurosaki Ichigo finally found a new topic to talk about: "I heard from your teacher that you were caught in a sudden explosion. What exactly happened?"
Before answering the question, Kurosaki Utsuki first concentrated on sensing the other party's spiritual pressure, and was not surprised to find that his spiritual power had become much stronger.
If it were now, he should be able to see the void and the whole more clearly, and he would be only a step away from knowing the "truth of the world".
But this level was still not enough. He hadn't encountered a certain opportunity yet, nor did he have the ability to become a Shinigami or a Quincy. So her answer was the one she had prepared long ago -
"I don't know. When I woke up, I was lying on the ground."
"I see..."
Silence followed again.
The awkward atmosphere in the room was once again broken by the mumbling of the whole person huddled in a corner of the ward. Kurosaki Utsuki, who always ignored the soul in front of others, could not help but hear the content of his mumbling during this silence, and also sorted out the storyline that made him obsessed.
It's very simple to explain. He was sent to this hospital because of a car accident, and died after failed rescue efforts. Then his lover started dating a doctor in this hospital.
Of course, she wasn't the only one who noticed the presence of this chattering soul. Looking at the boy's face not far away, where his brows were gradually furrowing, the orange-haired girl asked knowingly, "What's wrong?"
Ichigo Kurosaki, who still didn't know his eldest sister's identity as a Quincy and a Shinigami agent, and hadn't even been told by her that he could see souls, habitually hid the truth and shook his head slightly: "It's something I'm a little concerned about."
"Really? I happen to have something on my mind as well." The girl carefully supported herself on the bed and struggled to get up. Before her brother could come over to help, her expression suddenly turned cold. "He's already my ex, so let's stop tangling with him."
Since you are going to die, can't you just hope that the other person will be okay?
Moreover, she always felt that the obsession and twisted possessiveness of his lover in his words was not just like the gradual psychological abnormality after death - it was hard to say whether the girl was his girlfriend or not, maybe it was just his wishful thinking.
Kurosaki Ichigo was stunned: "Utahiki, you too——"
The person whose name was called didn't stop talking, and even raised his voice: "Give up your obsession as soon as possible and start over. Men who are endless and sneaky are the most annoying."
She had just finished speaking when there were three knocks on the ward door, but it was opened impatiently before she could answer.
The people who came were two boys she had just met in her new class, Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda. They were standing at the door, each carrying a schoolbag, and Matsuda was holding an extra one in his hand. It looked like they had just finished some opening-of-school activities.
Matsuda was the first to speak. He waved the bag in his hand and said, "Kurosaki, can we come in? We brought your things."
After the door was opened without waiting for the people in the room to respond, Kurosaki Utsuki looked up at the two boys' serious expressions as if they had made some important decision, and the corners of her mouth twitched almost inaudibly.
She responded, thinking back to what she had just said and how to ordinary people there were only two people in the room, and suddenly she had a bad feeling in her heart.
"Are you Utsuki's classmates?" Kurosaki Ichigo, who had also noticed something unusual but didn't pay much attention, naturally turned towards the door. He guessed their identities by their uniforms at a glance, and then spoke in a very friendly and brotherly manner, "My Utsuki is in your care."
"My home?" Matsuda Jinpei repeated, his tone rather sarcastic, then nudged his friend beside him. "Hey, Hagi, say something."
The corners of Kurosaki Utsuki's mouth twitched, and she felt that her bad premonition was about to come true.
While she was trying to suppress her impulse and avoid throwing the pillow to interrupt the conversation, Hagiwara Kenji, who was urged by her friend and stared at by the seemingly bad boy with orange hair, finally spoke -
"Regretfully, no matter what you think, it won't be long before you become 'my Utsuki'."
...It is indeed so.
No, as expected! What the hell is this line?! Although she understood that her classmates had misunderstood her relationship with her brother and had come up with a last-minute act to help her get rid of her "ex-boyfriend's entanglement", this disgusting statement was beyond the scope of throwing a pillow at someone. It made her want to get out of bed and jump out the window and run away!
Hearing this for the first time, Kurosaki Ichigo couldn't help but be stunned for a few seconds: "You and Utsuki——"
Hagiwara gradually got into the role and admitted it straightforwardly: "Yes, I am Utahi's boyfriend."
Matsuda also chimed in: "The kind that gets married as soon as they reach the age."
Oh.
Kurosaki Utsuki wanted to give up thinking directly.
But what made her give up thinking was what happened next. The orange-haired boy was briefly surprised, and then he suddenly relaxed as if he had figured something out. That expression made his originally ferocious face look much gentler.
"I see. So, it was for you that Utsuki left home and came to Mika."
Having convinced himself in this way, he seemed to have figured out something that had been bothering him for a long time, and smiled even more happily: "My sister, please take good care of me from now on."
Huh? Huh?!
This time it was Kurosaki Utsuki's turn to be stunned.
What does "So that's how it is" mean? What does "Please take care of me" mean? What is that guy, her brother, talking about?
What kind of reaction is that! How can a brother be so gentle to his sister's "boyfriend"!
Was he so happy that she had a boyfriend? Was he not only not worried about her leaving home and coming to Mihua, but actually excited about it? A stranger claimed to be taking her away from him, and he actually, actually said thank you?
Hiss, my breathing is getting short and my chest hurts—
"Then go ahead and let him stay and take care of me!"
After saying this angrily, Kurosaki Utsuki suddenly turned his head towards the window, paused for a second, then turned back and threw the pillow behind him at Kurosaki Ichigo.
"Stupid brother! I hate you the most!"
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