After returning from Soul Society, the Shinigami incident ended.
Though Ichigo became a Substitute Shinigami, he spent most of his time living as a human.
Rukia took on the work of hollow-slaying and exorcising, only helping ease some of the after-school pressure.
Yes—two weeks had passed since Ichigo returned to the Human World, and he successfully entered high school.
These two weeks were peaceful. Hollows occasionally invaded Karakura Town, but they were not as strong as expected.
Just like before, Rukia could handle everything alone.
This made Ichigo feel like he was in a dream, as if everything that had happened was nothing more than a dream story.
Suddenly, thrilling battles of gods and demons had returned to the ordinary life of high school.
But just as Ichigo thought this peaceful life might continue, a sound from downstairs interrupted his thoughts.
"Nezuko?"
Looking down from the second floor, Nezuko was standing on the street, apparently waiting for him.
Why was she here?
After entering high school, the two were in the same class again.
But recently she seemed busy; after school she went straight home and hardly went out.
He hadn't expected her to come looking for him today.
Ichigo went downstairs without hesitation and opened the door. Outside was Nezuko.
He blurted out, "If you're looking for me, just come in. Why are you standing in the street?"
"I have something to say outside," Nezuko smiled strangely. "Let's go somewhere together."
As she spoke, she turned back and beckoned for Ichigo to follow.
Ichigo was confused, but followed anyway.
He didn't suspect Nezuko. Her surname was Kamado, but she clearly had no blood relation to the Yoshio Kamado of the Gotei 13.
So Ichigo followed her to an abandoned warehouse area.
"By the way… what are we doing here?"
Ichigo was a little curious.
Nezuko turned back, walked to him, and suddenly smiled.
"You really are easy to fool."
?!
In an instant, Ichigo felt a sharp pain in his chest!
He stared at the Nezuko before him in disbelief—at that moment, Nezuko's hand pierced straight into his body!
?!
Ichigo's pupils widened. In that instant, it was as though the beautiful, delicate hand reached into his body; blood flowed out, dyeing her wrist red.
In the next moment, he felt pain as if something was being pulled out of him.
The pain was unbearable. His face twisted, and he dropped to his knees.
"Nezuko…"
He looked at her in pain, and she withdrew her hand.
She seemed to have taken something glowing from Ichigo's body—very similar to the scene when Yoshio extracted the Hōgyoku from Rukia.
Yoshio Kamado, Nezuko Kamado… was there really some connection between the two?
Ichigo was confused and in even more pain. At this moment, he felt like he understood how Rukia had felt back then!
"Why…?"
Nezuko let go of Ichigo. Ichigo collapsed from his knees, enduring the intense pain as he spoke to her.
More than physical pain, he couldn't accept that the one who did this was Nezuko!
"…," looking at the fallen Ichigo, Nezuko smiled and said. "So, I said you're really easy to fool—or… have you actually been doubting me all along?"
Ichigo didn't understand her meaning, but the next moment he saw Nezuko tap her index finger lightly against his forehead.
In that instant, Ichigo felt something cold on his forehead. Kneeling on the ground, a sense of danger surged in his heart!
Ah—he was going to die!
The moment Nezuko narrowed her eyes, faint light gathered at her fingertip, as if about to pierce Ichigo's head!
"Isn't that enough already?"
Suddenly, a man's voice sounded from the side, and the light in Nezuko's hand vanished instantly.
Ichigo was startled. Looking toward the sound, he saw a man with glasses leaning in the corner of the warehouse.
The sun had already set and the warehouse was very dark, so they hadn't noticed him earlier.
Ichigo felt like he recognized him, but couldn't remember where.
Seeing the man, Nezuko withdrew her hand and said, "Ah—Quincy. What, a Quincy is coming to help a Shinigami?"
"Don't misunderstand. I didn't come here to save him," Uryū said calmly. "I just became concerned about you."
As he spoke, a bow appeared in his hand.
He aimed it at Nezuko: "Don't move, or this arrow will… take your life."
"…" Seeing the Quincy bow aimed at her, Nezuko was silent for a moment, then let go of Ichigo's forehead, shrugged, and said:
"I have someone else to find, so I don't want to waste time with you here."
With that, her body vanished in an instant!
?!
The speed was terrifying. Both Ichigo and Uryū's pupils widened.
Damn it!
Uryū gritted his teeth and immediately tried to chase, but Nezuko had already disappeared.
"Ugh… ugh…"
At that moment, Ichigo suddenly vomited blood and collapsed to the ground.
Uryū frowned, stepped forward, and said, "How pathetic."
Even so, he crouched down and gave Ichigo basic treatment.
Quincy medical methods are far superior to Shinigami methods—indeed, much more comprehensive.
Shinigami healing is mainly used to heal spiritual particles, but Quincy methods are different.
They can heal both mentally and physically.
Ichigo was damaged both physically and spiritually, so this was the best case for Uryū to handle.
Ichigo wasn't unconscious. Even while lying down, he gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.
"Damn it…!"
He couldn't understand why Nezuko would do such a thing.
"That guy was right. You really are dull," Ishida said coldly. "Do you think she was Nezuko Kamado?"
"What did you say?"
Ichigo paused, then immediately asked, "What do you mean?"
"She is not Nezuko. Someone only impersonated her," Ishida said calmly.
"…How can that be?"
"That's right. You think so because there's a seed of doubt somewhere in your heart," Ishida said, pushing up his glasses.
"So you judged it that easily."
"!!"
Ichigo's pupils widened. Ishida's words stabbed into his heart like a knife.
Yes—he really had questioned Nezuko.
After all, the name of the betrayed Tenth Division captain was Kamado; sharing a surname alone wasn't enough to suspect someone strongly, because many people share surnames.
But in his memory, he had in fact doubted Nezuko multiple times.
The first time was the day his mother died. Before he lost consciousness, he felt like he heard Nezuko's voice.
The second time was when the Hollow appeared. The earth shook and, for some reason, he fell into the Hollow world—then too, he felt like he heard Nezuko's voice.
So he had long suspected that Nezuko, like him, might be able to see ghosts, but she always denied it.
Combining those two points with her surname, it was indeed unavoidable for suspicion to arise.
That's human nature. Trusting someone is hard—but destroying that trust and becoming suspicious is easy.
It wasn't a big deal originally, but the sudden attack earlier amplified that tiny doubt until he didn't even question whether it was true!
But…
If that Nezuko was a fake, how did this person know?
"Today is Thursday, so Nezuko is on duty at school," Uryū said calmly. "So she couldn't have come to find you and hurt you."
?!
Ichigo felt a faint itch in his chest, sensing his body recovering, but Uryū's words confused him.
Nezuko is… on duty?
Seems like… yes?
Today is her duty day—she should still be at school right now.
Or maybe he could ask classmates tomorrow.
But…
"Who… are you?" Ichigo asked, a little confused.
How did this person know that Nezuko was on duty today?
"…" Hearing that, Uryū looked shocked. "You don't know who I am?!" He suddenly got angry.
Ichigo was a bit bewildered. He did feel like he'd seen Uryū before, but…
He felt like he'd seen him somewhere.
Seeing Ichigo truly didn't recognize him, Ishida was speechless. "I'm Ishida Uryū! Third year at Karakura First High School—Ishida Uryū. You don't even know your classmate?!" he blurted.
Hearing that, Ichigo finally understood.
Right—there was someone named Ishida Uryū in the class. Oh… so that's it.
He was his classmate?
Ichigo felt a little embarrassed. This situation was really awkward.
Someone saved him, but he didn't even know the person was a classmate!
No wonder Ishida knew Nezuko's duty schedule.
"She went to look for someone else," Ishida said, pushing up his glasses.
"…Who exactly is she?" Ichigo asked seriously.
"A Hollow," Ishida said softly. "She stole something from your body. It wasn't something only you possessed."
"Who else has it? What is it?"
"I don't know, but… since the enemy chose to become Nezuko, they may continue targeting people in the class."
They didn't know whether this disguise ability was limited to only one person—or whether it could transform freely…
If they knew the enemy could become Nezuko, then anyone around them could become a problem!
Hearing that, Ichigo immediately forced himself up from the ground.
He could barely stand, but even so he ran fast!
Ah—Tatsuki!
Nezuko didn't have much free time besides class, so she didn't actually have many close friends.
Others might go out to play after school, but she rarely did.
She hardly joined extracurricular activities, so she truly only had a few friends.
One was Ichigo, and the other was… Arisawa Tatsuki!
He didn't know whether Tatsuki was the target, but he had to go check.
Without hesitation, he ran straight to Tatsuki's house!
Ishida watched Ichigo leave, thought for a moment, and ultimately followed.
"Wait—you still haven't told me who you are!" Ichigo shouted when he saw Ishida easily catch up.
"…Indeed. You don't even know my identity—don't even know my name," Ishida said after a pause.
"Quincy, Ishida Uryū. Kurosaki Ichigo—you… should have been on our side."
"What?" Ichigo frowned. "Wait—did you say Quincy?!"
He seemed to have heard Rukia mention that word before. Apparently it was also because of the Quincy that the captains of the Sōkyoku Hill suddenly vanished, and Rukia and Kuchiki Byakuya got lost in another dimension!
That action undeniably helped them, but they attacked Mr. Angra.
This made Ichigo wary.
"Seems you know about the Quincy," Ishida said calmly. "Then have you ever thought about why you can see souls—and why you are special?"
"…What are you talking about?" Ichigo frowned.
"In other words, you are actually a member of our Quincy family. 'Kurosaki'… was originally a Quincy family name!"
Ishida said in a low voice. "We fight Shinigami…"
"They are the enemy!"