"So, do you know what this is?" I asked while Urahara kept running some sort of diagnostic Kidō over the shriveled corpse.
"Indeed I do." He said with a nod and a serious tone. "It's a corpse." And then he got kicked in the head by Yoruichi.
"You deserved that."
"Indeed I did." Urahara said as he got back up. "Let me be more... thorough with my examination. As far as I can see, this man has had his spirit, for all intents and purposes, sucked dry." He said with a thoughtful glint in his eye coming from under his hat. "It's quite fascinating really, the closest thing I saw to this was an Hollow with an ability to absorb weak souls in it's vicinity with a roar but it didn't have this aging-like effect."
Yoruichi crossed her arms and looked down at the body with a faint frown. "So whatever did this didn't just kill him."
"No, I would say just being killed would have been far less unpleasant for this man." Urahara said with a solemn tone. "Spirit and body are connected, that connection is how healing through Kaidō is possible. But for this kind of effect... I would say that this man died slowly and painfully."
"Meaning that we have some sort of overgrown mosquito hovering around the town with no care for what happens to its meals after feeding." I said with a scowl, not liking the situation. Especially because I felt like there was something familiar about this situation yet couldn't be sure about what exactly.
"Crude, but not incorrect." Urahara said as he pulled a syringe out and took a sample of blood from the corpse, it looked unhealthy with a shade far closer to purple rather than red. "I have few ideas about how to deal with this issue. I will obviously be also sending information to Soul Society as well but my own idea should be ready in about a week. Till then, I must ask you all to be on the lookout."
"I understand." Tatsuki said with a nod, looking uncharacteristically subdued.
It was understandable. It was easy to forget with how far she came along but this body before us was likely the first dead human she had to deal with in the Living World. And unlike the time when Mayuri bombed one of his subordinates to catch her and Ishida off guard, she didn't have anything to distract herself.
"We'll let Aura, Chad, Orihime and Ishida know as well." I said as I got up.
"Not Kurosaki-san?"
"Carrot top is in the middle of his offscreen training arc right now." I said with a snort. "He can know when he's done learning how to not be a dramatic little bitch."
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"...what happened to you?" I couldn't help but ask the downed form of one very muscular and very much burnt Sado 'Chad' Yasutora.
Compared to him, Orihime looked very much fine. And she looked like she was about to faint, swaying on her feet with a blank look in her eyes.
"We were training evasive maneuvers." Aura said as she flew down on a gust of wind and landed beside us. "He didn't dodge."
"I can see that." I said as I looked at Chad twitch while trying to get up, only to fail and for his face to meet the ground with a thud. "And what happened to her?" I pointed at Orihime, who had given up on standing and was now rocking on her bottom while holding her knees.
"I had her heal Sado-san whenever he ended up unable to continue. And I also had her focus on the fundamentals of Fullering use." Aura said without blinking. "She started becoming unfocused after healing Sado-san for the seventh time. Speaking of which, Inoue-san, Sado-san is in need of healing."
"...and the skies split, the old one's hand came down to deliver judgment. May the commandments be..." Orihime kept mumbling and I actually started to think that I may have made a mistake by making Aura handle their training.
"Training is over for today, we have more important matters." I said with a sigh as Tatsuki tried to shake Orihime back to sanity.
Chad groaned as Orihime finally managed to place one of her healing barriers on him and started to reject his sorry state.
"...sorry, Sado-kun." she mumbled, her eyes still not fully focused.
"It's fine" Chad said, even though half his shirt had been burned off and he still smelled faintly like grilled meat.
Aura watched the exchange quietly before speaking again.
"Inoue-san's endurance is improving."
"She had a mental breakdown." Tatsuki said flatly.
"Enough." I stopped their potential argument before it could begin. Normally I would be all for watching Tatsuki lose her shit against Aura's no-fucks-given state of existence but we had work to do.
Orihime suddenly gasped and grabbed my sleeve. "Cain-san!"
"Yes?"
"Did the sky stop trying to kill us?"
"...yes." I said while giving Aura a look.
"Thank goodness." Orihime said as her shoulders sagged in relief.
Chad slowly pushed himself upright, testing his arm as Orihime's golden barrier finished knitting his injuries back together. "What is the situation?"
See, this was the reason I liked Chad. He might be kinda weak compared to many of the threats we would be facing but he had the whole 'ride-or-die' thing going on. It was mostly with Ichigo but he was ready to do it for us too.
"We got a new pest in town."
"A Hollow?" Aura asked.
"Unknown." I admitted, even if it hurt to do so. "But we already have a victim, so I need you guys to be on the lookout for anything suspicious." I said and got nods as answers.
Still, I couldn't help but feel like I was forgetting something.
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