Cole stared dumbfounded at Nel.
What on earth are you saying?
Unohana?
Is that really a name you're allowed to just blurt out?
Rukia froze for a moment, then realized what Nel had just said. She shot Cole a fierce glare, then turned her head back with a bright smile toward Nel.
"Little sister…"
"Nel is Nel!"
"Alright, Nel. When did you see that onee-san called Unohana?"
Hearing Rukia's question, Nel raised a small hand and tapped her forehead. After straining her little brain for a while, she pointed out toward the endless white desert.
"It was next to the three-forked tree."
"???"
Rukia was completely lost.
This was her first time in Hueco Mundo—how was she supposed to know where any "three-forked tree" was?
Did Hueco Mundo come with map coordinates now?
Cole, on the other hand, already had a sheen of cold sweat on his forehead.
If he remembered correctly, that stone quartz tree Unohana had been leaning against while it begged for mercy had… pretty much exactly three forks.
But no one had said there were other people in that area.
And he'd clearly checked at the time.
No…
Even just a moment ago, he hadn't sensed Nel's spiritual pressure at all. She'd only popped out when she couldn't hold it in any longer.
Nel blinked and added, "The three-forked tree is way over there. Nel and the big brothers were playing hide-and-seek there at the time…"
"Cough, cough, cough…"
Cole hastily coughed a few times, scooped Nel up into his arms, and smiled.
"Rukia, Nel is this cute and this well-behaved. She might be a little Hollow, sure, but you're not planning on killing her, right?"
At that, Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka all looked pitifully at Rukia.
They could feel it.
Cole was the great demon king "750."
Rukia was the little demon king.
Neither of those demon kings were opponents they could beat right now—honestly, they probably couldn't even run away.
Rukia's expression twisted with conflict. After several seconds she stomped her foot and glared fiercely at Cole.
"Do you really see me as some kind of devil?"
Sure, a Shinigami's duty was to slay Hollows and keep them from hurting humans in the World of the Living.
But Nel really was adorable, and she didn't look dangerous at all. For all Rukia knew, this Hollow had never even left Hueco Mundo since the day she was born.
If that was the case…
How could she bring herself to cut down such a cute little Hollow?
Pesche and Dondochakka both let out a long sigh of relief, tears spurting from their eyes as they bowed gratefully to Rukia.
"You really are such good Shinigami!"
"Not like those three monsters we just saw…"
Cole, having successfully derailed the conversation, quietly exhaled in relief. While rubbing Nel's hair with one hand, he asked curiously:
"Three monsters? Who are you talking about?"
Nel munched on her konpeito sugar candy and mumbled, "Those three bad Shinigami. Nel saw they were hurt, so Nel wanted to heal them, but they actually tried to hit Nel."
"Three bad Shinigami…"
Rukia suddenly had a very bad feeling. She hurriedly asked, "The three bad Shinigami you mentioned—what did they look like?"
If she remembered correctly, when her brother came to Hueco Mundo… his group also had three people.
Nel thought for a while. "They were all wearing white clothes. One of them was wearing a mask, but the mask was about to break. Another one was covered all in blood. Another one had pink flowers on him, and there was also a little girl as small as Nel…"
"Brother!!"
Rukia cried out in alarm, grabbed Nel, and anxiously asked,
"Where are they now!?"
Nel popped another piece of konpeito into her mouth, then pointed her little hand toward the white desert.
"They're over there…"
Rukia immediately hugged Nel tighter and sprinted madly in that direction.
"Cole, hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Cole quickly followed, scooping Rukia up as well so he could use his own much greater speed. In a series of flashes, he blitzed toward that direction.
Pesche and Dondochakka were left staring blankly, then scrambled to chase after them while shouting:
"Little sister! Rukia!"
"Please don't hurt our little sister…!"
…
Very soon, the group arrived near a sand dune.
In the shade of the dune, Cole and Rukia saw a giant lying in a pool of blood.
Among them, Kenpachi was in the worst shape. His entire body was covered in wounds, skin and flesh peeled back, his clothes dyed red with blood. He looked like some hellish demon that had just crawled out of a meat grinder.
Byakuya and Mayuri, while not quite as mangled, were still in a terrible state.
Of the four, only Yachiru was mostly uninjured—but she was so busy she was practically tripping over her own hands and feet as she tried to treat the three.
The instant she saw Cole and Rukia, Yachiru's eyes turned cold.
A violent pink spiritual pressure burst from her small body—
That spiritual pressure actually formed the shape of a roaring beast.
Savage and domineering, like it might attack at any moment.
Cole remained unfazed, but Rukia jumped in fright, staring in shock at Yachiru.
"Vice-Captain Yachiru…"
Up until now, the 11th Division's vice-captain, Yachiru, had always been treated as a sort of mascot by most Shinigami in Seireitei.
After all, even in Seireitei, Yachiru really was just… too tiny.
How much fighting power could such a small girl possibly have?
Most people just assumed that Kenpachi was so strong that he could let a little girl be vice-captain if he felt like it.
Only now…
Only now did Rukia finally realize—
Yachiru was actually very strong.
Extremely strong.
That spiritual pressure she had just released for an instant…
It was almost on par with Rukia's own Bankai: Hakka no Togame (White Haze Punishment) form.
Fortunately, Yachiru only flared her reiatsu for a moment. Once she confirmed they weren't enemies, she immediately pulled it back.
"Cole! Rukia!"
Yachiru squealed in delight and launched herself forward, slamming straight into Rukia's arms.
But after feeling Rukia's chest for a second, she thought about it… then clambered over and sprawled across Cole's shoulder instead.
Rukia: "…"
"Cole, hurry up and heal Ken-chan! And Shiro and Mushi too, they're all about to die!"
Yachiru anxiously pointed at the three lying on the ground.
She had been healing Kenpachi this whole time, since his injuries were the worst—wait too long and he really would die.
But Byakuya and Mayuri were both seriously wounded as well.
Especially Mayuri—his Bankai, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō (Golden Cradle Cutting Jizō), had been cleaved apart by Aizen.
"I really should've brought Orihime…"
Cole couldn't help regretting that, but now wasn't the time for second-guessing. He rushed over and placed his hands over Kenpachi, activating Kaido (Healing Kido).
Rukia ran straight to Byakuya's side, crouched down, stretched out both hands, and likewise began using Kaido to treat him.
Nel hopped down from Cole's arms, blinked, and finally toddled over to the only one nobody was looking after—Mayuri.
"Cole, how is it?"
Yachiru crouched beside Cole, anxiously watching the unconscious Kenpachi.
She could use Kaido as well, but only low-tier spells. They had some effect, but they were basically useless for injuries this severe.
While continuing the treatment, Cole replied, "He'll be fine. As long as they're not already dead, the rest is just details."
Kaido (Healing Kido) was one of the three major branches of kido.
Unlike Hadō (Way of Destruction) and Bakudō (Way of Binding), Kaido specialized entirely in healing-type kido techniques.
It couldn't quite compare to Inoue Orihime's Sōten Kisshun (Twin-God Reflection Shield), but it still had all sorts of mysterious applications—more than enough to pull someone back from the brink of death.
Yachiru finally let out a long breath, tearful eyes shining as she threw herself against Cole's back.
"Cole, it's so lucky you got here in time! Otherwise Ken-chan would definitely have died. He lost so much blood just now…"
Kenpachi was always getting hurt every now and then, but this time was by far the worst.
His entire body wasn't just covered in wounds—
Even both of his arms had nearly been severed.
Cole nodded slightly, then said helplessly, "Yachiru, quit feeling me up. I don't have any konpeito on me right now."
Just now, Yachiru had been climbing all over him, patting and rubbing him everywhere, practically searching every inch of his clothes.
It tickled like crazy, okay?
Yachiru puffed out her cheeks.
"You always have konpeito on you."
Every time she met Cole before, this handsome human would always feed her konpeito. Why did he suddenly not have any this time?
Cole could only laugh dryly. Well, he had run into Nel before seeing Yachiru.
And both of them were little girls.
And both of them liked eating konpeito.
Yachiru remembered the blue-haired Hollow girl she'd seen on Cole's shoulder earlier. She narrowed her eyes and hopped off his back, stomping over with a fierce look.
When she reached Nel's side, Yachiru blinked curiously.
"What… are you doing?"
Nel was squatting next to Mayuri. She had lifted his mask, and her open mouth was drooling so much that his entire face was almost submerged.
Nel looked up at Yachiru, snapped her mouth shut, and said happily,
"Nel's saliva can heal, you know. Nel is healing this bad Shinigami—he'll be all better soon."
Yachiru suddenly understood, then held out a small hand.
"Give me the konpeito."
Nel immediately jumped up and clutched the small pouch in her arms to her chest, staring warily at Yachiru.
"No. Cole gave this to Nel."
"That's wrong! Cole gave those snacks to me."
"No way. Go get some from Cole."
"I don't wanna. He ran out already."
The two little girls glared at each other, neither backing down.
Then, at the exact same time, they both bolted. One blue, one pink, they turned into twin streaks of color as they dashed in circles around Mayuri.
Mayuri really was having the worst day.
He was already barely surviving, and now two little girls were stomping on him over and over again as they chased each other…
Even in his coma, he couldn't help but let out pained groans.
Rukia, who was in the middle of treating Byakuya, heard the noises and glanced over—and her eyes widened in surprise.
"These two… are both so fast!"
Nel in front was using Sonido (Sound Step).
Yachiru behind her was using hoho (Flash Step).
The two of them almost turned into streaks of light as they chased each other around.
And that speed was already far above Rukia's own hoho.
The corner of Cole's mouth twitched. He stopped channeling Kaido into Kenpachi, walked over, and thumped both girls lightly on the head.
"Alright, you two. If you keep running like that, you're going to trample Mayuri to death."
The Mayuri lying on the ground was already covered in dense footprints—
Anyone who didn't know the situation might think he'd been run over by several hundred people.
Yachiru pouted miserably.
She'd dragged three heavily injured people all this way, all because she wanted to eat a little konpeito…
Seeing her pitiful expression, Nel felt a little guilty. She loosened her grip on the pouch, grabbed a handful of konpeito, and held it out.
"Here, you can have some…"
Yachiru's face lit up with joy as she accepted the candy.
"Thank you! Yachiru likes you!"
"Nel likes you too. Let's go play a game later, okay?"
This was just how it was with kids—their grudges came fast, and they vanished just as fast.
A moment ago they'd been chasing each other like enemies; now they were already good friends.
Yachiru even copied Nel's favorite phrase.
Watching the two little girls playfully tumbling together, Cole turned to leave—then suddenly stopped, staring at Mayuri in surprise.
"Wait… this lunatic was wearing a mask before?"
He had just realized that Mayuri had been wearing a mask all this time. This was the first time Cole had seen his real face.
Rukia shot him an exasperated look.
"Did you seriously think that was Captain Mayuri's real face?"
Cole was just as exasperated.
"Seireitei is already a place where a giant dog can be a squad captain. What's one more rainbow-colored mad scientist supposed to be, shocking?"
Rukia thought about it and realized… that did sort of make sense. So she just fell silent and focused on treating her brother.
Cole gave Mayuri one last once-over, then walked away, muttering,
"Huh. Turns out he's pretty handsome. Totally doesn't match his personality."
He'd always assumed that a mad scientist like Mayuri, even if he wore a mask, would have some heavily stitched, grotesque face underneath.
But the reality—
He was actually better-looking than Urahara Kisuke.
Once Cole left, Nel continued to snack on konpeito while drooling all over Mayuri's face.
Honestly…
Once you'd eaten candy, your mouth did seem to produce saliva faster.
Yachiru watched for a while, then copied Nel and started spitting on Mayuri too.
Nel tilted her head at her. "Yachiru, does your saliva heal too?"
Yachiru thought about it, then nodded solemnly.
And so…
The two little girls really went all-out with their saliva.
Several minutes later…
Mayuri slowly regained consciousness and dazedly stared up at the eternal night sky.
"Hueco Mundo… has rain?"
According to his intel, Hueco Mundo was a dead world. Its environment had been exactly the same for millions of years.
Now that he had a bit more strength, Mayuri shifted his gaze slightly to the side.
And then—
He saw the two little girls beside him, earnestly spitting all over him.
"Ptuh! Ptuh! Ptuh…"
Mayuri froze. Then veins popped on his forehead as he glared at the two of them.
"You two… what in the hell are you doing?"
Yachiru looked at the now-awake Mayuri and said excitedly,
"Nel, look! He woke up! I knew my saliva definitely worked! Let's keep spitting!"
Nel nodded seriously.
The two little girls kept right on spitting.
Mayuri suddenly felt a murderous urge rise in his chest. Gritting his teeth, he snapped,
"Vice-Captain Yachiru, are you trying to provoke me!? Stop that this instant! You too, Hollow! Disgusting! That's so disgusting!!"
"Stop it! Stop it right now, or I'll kill both of you! Quit spitting on me! It's disgusting…"
All of a sudden, Mayuri sensed something else and his mouth began to twitch.
"My mask. Where is my mask!?"
He trembled like some recluse being forced into sunlight for the first time, his whole body spasming violently.
Finally, his head lolled to one side—
And he simply fainted dead away.
(End of Chapter)
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