[Death] Void bite

When Aizen talked about "the present world", "hot springs" and "travel", I couldn't help but suspect that he was a fake.

"We didn't want to provoke the soul world, so we didn't go to Karakura Town." He said calmly, "Hakone is good."

That's how things settled.

And I have no idea what happened.

In fact, I have not been in a good state these days. I can't help but think of many things, experiences that belong to me and experiences that don't belong to me.

Everything that happened recently was also very sudden. After the so-called "truce", we really spent a short period of time in unimaginable peace with the world of souls.It stands to reason that if Aizen proposes something related to the present world, the most likely reason is to restart the war.Especially yesterday, Aizen asked about something related to it inexplicably...

But Hakone?

When I came back to my senses, the first Kiora and I had already arrived in the real world with Ichimaru Gin, hiding in the skeleton to conceal the Reiatsu—to buy some things for the trip.

I didn't think it was necessary at first. I have gone through errands like going shopping in this world a few times, and I can solve it by myself. Ichimaru Gin took a surprised look at me and asked, "Does Kalan know what to buy?"

Nothing to say.

Buying some clothes and supplies, the most basic part, should be like this, I still looked at the casual clothes, yukata, and kimono, and fell into self-doubt.

In fact, there is something corresponding in that memory, but I don't want to think about it.

Besides, things are different now, right?

"What is Kalan thinking?" Ichimaru Gin leaned over to look at the shopping list in my hand.

"I'm thinking about the world." I replied perfunctorily.

"That's right." Ichimaru Gin also replied perfunctorily, while sweeping the messy food on the shelves into the shopping cart.

I saw sakura dango, which in my memory was a pretty but ordinary dessert.Regardless, it's really nice to look at.

"What's the matter——" Ichimaru Gin mistakenly thought I was protesting silently, "Food is the simplest thing for Xu, and everyone will be happy if I buy these."

"I have no opinion." I didn't try to explain, just said.

And what happened next was a surprise.

At the corner of the street, we froze in place at the same time as the oncoming humans.

Ichimaru Gin was still playing with a festival mask bought on the side of the road.

It was my negligence that I didn't deliberately explore the nerves, I just thought that it would be easy to be monitored by the soul world-this is not the first time this mistake has been made, and I reluctantly planned to open the black cavity.

Kurosaki Ichigo, I was the first to notice this human being.Then I looked at Inoue Orihime and Matsumoto Rangiku. I thought this composition was not prepared for battle.Then I glanced at what the male human was holding - a shopping bag.

I believe that the other party does not know how to react as much as I do.

Ichimaru Gin didn't know what he was thinking, and put the mask on his face... No, it's useless, although I also wanted to pretend that I didn't know him.I turned around first.

And a spiritual pressure is approaching here.

Not Kurosaki Ichigo, the weak and non-threatening Reiatsu.

"Inoue—!" I heard Kurosaki Ichigo shout worriedly.

The human girl took my hand and let it go quickly. She was a little nervous and embarrassed, and asked, "Galan-sang... why are you here?"

I looked at her for two seconds.

"Shopping." In the end, I still raised the shopping bag in my hand to signal.

"Ah...what a coincidence! We also went shopping," her eyes were bright, she blinked, "how about we go together?"

It doesn't make sense.I looked at her suspiciously, even though I knew Orihime Inoue would not recognize me as someone else, I couldn't help but think so.Then I caught a glimpse of Matsumoto Rangiku who was silent on the sidelines.

Orihime Inoue nodded to me silently but eagerly.

"... Ichimaru-sama,"

Before I could say anything, Gin Ichimaru interrupted me: "Why are you asking me, Karan, you are so irresponsible."

Who is irresponsible... "Please don't be willful."

"I don't understand what you're talking about at all~" he said cheerfully, hiding his expression behind the fox mask.

So I gestured to the shopping bag in my hand again, "Then I'm familiar with the general process, the next work can be done by me and Kiora, you can go shopping nearby."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" a captain-level god of death whose mind had degenerated to five years old yelled.

I gave in when Ichimaru Gin was shaking my hand nonchalantly, forget it, if anything goes wrong afterwards, even if it was Ichimaru Gin who made the decision, I would still be scolded, so take care of him It's hard to say whether it's self-esteem or a good mood.

On my behalf, I agreed to Inoue Orihime's extremely unreasonable request.

But it's really nothing.

After a few minutes, I almost ignored the few people walking by, and the probe nerves faithfully fed back the surrounding empty spiritual pressure fluctuations, telling me that this was really just a coincidence.Except for Kurosaki Ichigo, the other two can be regarded as no threat.

As for Kurosaki Ichigo - I refrained myself from looking at him.The funny thing is, even now, I still have the confidence that he won't sneak up on opponents without warning.

There are only some common clothes left to be purchased, and Aizen said that he can buy more, which will be used in the future.

I don't really know how to use it, let's forget it this time, does he plan to bring the ten blades to the world next time... to travel?

I blink.

□□ Kiora's eyes fell on a piece of clothing.

Few things caught his eye.So I looked over, and when I saw the hoodie with animal ears, I was a little helpless and a little indescribably happy.

I picked up the dress and compared it, and he replied for sure.

In fact, this should be a bear-like design.I think of the white bear in the palace that is still there now.Lions are not a common design element for people. The patterns on their bodies are not as obvious as tigers and leopards, and they are not as close to people as cats——from the redundant knowledge in "memory".It doesn't matter.

I put on my hoodie and tried to give him the cat sign—from that memory, too. □□ Kiora seemed interested in the ears on my head that weren't mine.So I approached him too, thinking what kind of reaction would those ears be?No, no, they don't respond, they don't move, and they aren't real ears.

Then he looked at me.

He cares about my eyes - why.

It's okay, there's no need to ask.Maybe he'll say it sometime.

This light touch is very comfortable, and I want to touch him too, but I am worried that I will disturb him, so I press my own movements and just get closer.

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo."

This man is really unreasonable.

He didn't even exchange a word with Matsumoto Rangiku along the way, does he know how slim the chance of meeting him next time after this time is?

Still inexplicably, with a pitiful look, he casually pointed the finger at others.

"We are not a couple, Ichimaru-sama." I said.

As if he didn't understand what I said, Ichimaru Gin looked at me, and even the usual curvature of the corners of his mouth drooped.

Then he looked at First Kiora, who was looking at him strangely.

"Uh, that's what I mean?" he asked, as if genuinely surprised.

"I don't think there is any other meaning to this sentence." I am a little confused about the situation.

"You guys are my beautiful dreams when I was a child," he said something I didn't understand at all, as if he wanted to find something strange on my face, "Hey, if it's a joke, it's too funny."

"so--"

"Okay, okay, don't say any more." Gin Ichimaru raised his hand and interrupted me as if surrendering, "I don't want to hear it anymore, don't destroy my memory anymore."

Fine.

But this topic is not over.

It didn't take long before Ichimaru Gin pretended to ask casually, "So Stark and Lilinette—"

He didn't finish his sentence, and while I found it difficult to understand, I also knew what he meant, "They are the same person." I said.

"Theoretically, that's right..." Ichimaru Gin scratched her hair in distress.

Please, worry about your own problems first.I sigh inwardly.

"So Nilu and Neutra..." It didn't take long before he couldn't help but speak again.

That name caught the attention of the humans on the side, and I tried hard not to look in the direction of Kurosaki Ichigo.

"I don't know much about their affairs before, and I was not very familiar with other broken faces at that time." I tried to be objective, although I felt that it was too outrageous for Shimaru Gin to mention these two people, but I thought again I think, it seems that it is not unrelated, "Speaking of which, I did not apply for a replacement seat. I originally thought that Lord Neutra would be unhappy because of this matter, but he didn't come to trouble me. He has been asking Ni Miss Riel challenged. I lost once publicly before, but it wasn’t Miss Nelliel who challenged him, but he also lost the ‘5’, as if she would look down on him if she didn’t take it away. look."

"Why didn't Nagaran apply?" Ichimaru Gin asked completely out of focus.

"I'm used to it. There's no need." I said helplessly, "What I want to say is that Lady Nelliel is not a belligerent character, but she is willing to accept the challenge of Lord Neutra, even After what happened before. I think she may have some feelings for Lord Neutra. And vice versa."

"How did you come to this conclusion?" Ichimaru Gin looked puzzled.

"What?" I also looked puzzled.

"I don't understand the structure of your brain at all, Jialan... But in short," he concluded without sincerity, "it is a good thing that the number of cute girls has increased."

"Miss Nelliel is an upright and easy-to-get along person, and I'm glad she didn't mind that matter and is willing to continue to stand by our side." I said.

"That's a very high evaluation, although you can say good things to everyone." Ichimaru Gin said, and suddenly remembered something, "...What about Neutra?"

"I hate him." I said without thinking.

There is nothing to hide.

It was so blunt that Ichimaru Gin laughed.

I don't know how interesting such a topic is, but Gin Ichimaru seems to be very happy to pass the time with these today.However, I didn't look back, knowing that the female Grim Reaper on the side kept a close distance from him.He might just need to say something.

"Little Ge Mingming also has an annoying personality. You haven't said you hate him so bluntly." He said.

indeed.

If you want to say who among the Ten Blades is most often provoking everywhere indiscriminately, there is no one but Grimmjow.He's even vaguely targeting the best Kiora.

...Is it because Grimmjow makes people feel less malicious? His purpose is very simple, and his battle is also very simple.

"I kind of like Grimmjow." I thought for a while and said.

This is just an ordinary feeling, it doesn't make much sense to me, I also like Stark or Harribel very much.

But I looked at the first Kiora.

What he said just now caught his attention.

He even looked away.

What did we talk about just now?I even need to recall.

--Like it.

I never thought it would be possible to discuss this topic between me and him one day, so that a cluster of soft surprises stretched in my heart.

"What about me?" Ichimaru Gin asked.

I have forgotten the content of the conversation just now, "You?" I asked back a little out of state.

"Yes, me." Mr. Death smiled like a fox.

"I don't think you should ask people's evaluation of you in person like this..." It's not that it's important.

"What's the matter~"

"...it would be embarrassing for each other." And it would be embarrassing for everyone else.

"I'm not embarrassed, just tell me," he pretended to be sad, "Even if Jialan hates me, I won't be too sad."

It was so vexatious, I sighed.

But I don't want to say something that is against my will and really hurts people.

"I like you very much, are you happy?" I said honestly.

"Of course." Ichimaru Gin replied.

Is it a pleasure to be liked, I thought.

...Probably, I'm not sure.

Then Ichimaru Gin deliberately lowered his voice again, as if this was some topic that could not be brought up, and asked, "What about the little one?"

It would be great if you could put this inexplicable energy into your own affairs.I stared dead at this guy asking questions of no answer value.

He shut up resentfully.

The setting sun in this world still looks a little different from Xuye Palace.As a result, this period of walking together was meaningless after the day ended, and Ichimaru Gin made a lot of noise, but he didn't say anything as if his old acquaintance didn't exist.The things on the shopping list were overbought. I repeatedly wrote the address of the hot spring hotel on the delivery note, and I almost wrote down this place.

If Aizen didn't use this incident as a cover, then he could really leave in a few days.I thought.

It's not that I didn't notice that Matsumoto Rangiku asked the store surreptitiously, but if it is the responsibility, there is nothing wrong with it.

I was wondering if I should say goodbye to them out of politeness, when I heard Kurosaki Ichigo speak.

"What did I do? . . . and after that, during the time I was in the void," he asked.

what have you done?

A killing intent, almost shuddering, ran down my spine.

... You killed the most important existence to me, leaving him unknowing and uncaring—even he himself turned into nothingness.

Although in another world.

Other than Aizen's words, this is the only reason why I didn't reach out to Zanpakuto right now.

"I'm sorry, you," Ichimaru Gin's voice interrupted my train of thought, and he walked up to Kurosaki Ichigo, and I was a little grateful that he blocked the human from my field of vision. "Our Jialan doesn't like chatting with strangers very much, don't bully her too much."

"If Jia Lan wants to kill you, don't expect me to help you stop her."

This sentence tore away all the illusion of friendship, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.But it also strangely brought me back to my sanity.

Honestly, if things were going to go the way they are now—

I think that's fine too.

"I will not disobey Aizen-sama's order." I hid all my emotions and said flatly, "We should leave, Ichimaru-sama."

□□ Kiora looked at me with a questioning look.I know I don't often show my hostile side to anyone in front of him, but I just shook my head and said it was okay.He didn't pay much attention to it either. When he heard what I said, he didn't say anything, and opened his black mouth.

He has other things on his mind, I thought.

Is it from before?

While wondering what that could be, I stepped into the dark cavity.

The previous conflict quickly disappeared from my mind.

When Sal Apollo said it would snow tomorrow, I took a second or two to think.

——It doesn't matter, it's better to say that snowy night also has a special scene.

This is Aizen's answer.

So, really, a trip to the hot springs...

I thought that as soon as I left the black cavity, there would be all the captain-level gods of death... or something like that, but when I searched for nerves in the streets of this city, I didn't find any Reiatsu that surpassed the human level.

Not even the low-level emptiness that is usually present in this world.

It's no surprise that Hakone isn't a ghost town like Karakuma.

Probably too many simultaneous exploration nerves were so obvious that it was a little itchy, which made Aizen smile, and he said, "Don't be so nervous, everyone."

Hakone has a lower concentration of reishi than Karaza-cho, but Yami didn’t complain about it this time. It may be because the senses are somewhat blocked by Yoshiko, or it may be because of the roasted whole lamb in the restaurant.

"Welcome~" The proprietress of the restaurant greeted us impeccably.

This is a barbecue restaurant. As soon as you step in the door, you can hear the sound of oil and fire in the kitchen.

It's something new, the other diners are in their places, surrounded by beer and food, and if they look up, it's only because there's a new group of guests.

Human intuition really isn't very useful.

The new year in this world has just passed, but people always resume their daily life very quickly, after all, this is the real life.

As a tourist mecca, Hakone has also become lively.

I sat down at the long table with others, and I thought that Aizan would book a private room anyway, but he just led us to sit among a group of humans, which seemed quite natural.

The food was brought up almost as soon as we sat down, probably because of an appointment.

These foods are worthless in terms of reiki concentration, but maybe they taste good, at least judging by the reactions of others.

I cut a little lamb chop out of courtesy and diced it on the plate, not so much for eating as for pure tasting. □□ Kiora didn't want to eat at all, the rum was passed here, so I poured him some, and he sipped.

It was a miracle that there were no casualties after a meal.

It was already dark when we went to the hotel. Even at this time, there were still a lot of tourists. They all had their own places to go. We were not so conspicuous among the crowd coming and going.

I went to the front desk to pick up the things that had been mailed here, and Ichimaru Gin gave me a dozen small wooden signs, which seemed to be something like a door card.After putting the luggage in the room, when I came back, I saw that Ichimaru Gin was also issuing key cards to others.

"The ones in Jialan's hand are distributed to the girls." Ichimaru Gin explained without looking back.

I instinctively followed suit and asked casually, "Are these different?"

"Well, the girls have a room alone," he replied.

I just handed a small wooden sign to Lilinette, and she and I stopped when we heard this sentence.

"May I ask why you are so—"

"Is there a mistake?!" The voice twice as loud as mine was Lilinette.

Ichimaru Yinxu covered his ears, "Hey, don't complain to me, Captain Aizen booked the room, besides, isn't this normal?"

I shook my head, distributed the remaining key cards to No.30 Blade and the former No.30 Blade, and then apologized to them: "I don't mean any offense to the two adults, but—"

"I understand, it doesn't matter," Nelliel, who was not familiar with me, said understandingly, "You have to go to him, right?"

That's why I have a crush on her.

"Don't worry about it." Harribel nodded.

Stark was sitting behind the wooden door when he opened it, reading one of the strange magazines in the hotel, and Lilinette jumped on his face—yes, the face—like a tiger cub.The vague voice of "Lilinette, what are you doing" was suppressed.

"Although it doesn't matter, no, it does matter a little bit," Ichimaru Gin said wearily, leaning against the door, "Isn't there such a thing as defense between men and women? Sunsun and the others obviously care about it."

"Why do I need to care about such things when it's me?" Lilinite barked her teeth.

"Li, put—to die—" This is Stark.

I think they're both cute.

I look the other way.

□□Kiora is spreading the quilt.

Or in a daze, he hugged a stack of quilts, but didn't make any further moves.

I don't often see him alone.Of course, if I could see, he wasn't alone.But that look was strange and familiar at the same time.

Ah, the scene in my "memory".

When I came to him, he looked at me in surprise.

"Here—" he said, but hesitated before continuing.

I recalled a brief moment when he... kind of avoided me because he sensed my gender.

I really hope this is no longer the case.

"Lilinette is here too. It's okay." I said reassuringly.

He glanced over there, and said again almost instinctively, "But,"

But I also want to be with you.

I hugged him gently, but didn't say the words.Will he know if he doesn't say it?I want to stay by your side, can I?

He didn't say anything more, just,

--thump.

Heartbeat sound.

Although Xu should not shed tears, the sudden heat in his eyes should not be my illusion.

The noise not far away was no longer heard.

Being near him always puts me at ease.He wasn't used to it at first, and I could touch his frozen body.But gradually, to accommodate me, he will relax.

"What about me?" After a long silence, he suddenly asked.

Like waiting for this moment for the past few days, I suddenly understood the meaning of the question.I took a deep breath, trying to take away the inexplicable moisture that surged up in front of my eyes.

Probably because I misunderstood that I didn't understand, he wanted to explain, I stopped him in a low voice, "I know," I lowered my voice softly.

I let go of my hand a little and turned to meet his eyes.Within a few seconds, I reached out involuntarily and just held his hand.I really like hugging him, the touch itself is meaningless, but once the distance is reduced to zero once, it becomes unbearable any more. One minute is too much, one centimeter is too much.

"I thought you might not like the answer to that question." I looked into his eyes.

His pupils dilated, so the emerald jade became a darker color—he was uneasy, whether it was the answer he was about to get, or the matter itself.

I took his hand, I didn't know what to think, kissed it lightly, and then placed it on the empty hole in my chest.

That made him look at me in bewilderment.

If there is not a hollow there, it should be able to touch the beating of the heart.

No matter what he thinks of this answer, I should say it. Whether he accepts it or not, I will continue to be by his side.

I opened my mouth, and my voice was hoarse for a while, so I took another breath——

"I love you." I replied.