Oh my ~ I originally planned to give him half of my spiritual power…
But he took all of it? How did that happen?!
Having lost her Shinigami powers, the color of Saitō Tsukiyomi's Shihakushō completely faded to white. She collapsed onto the ground, staring at her hands and murmuring to herself.
"ROAR—"
Sensing the drastic change in Kurosaki Ichigo's power, the ape-headed Hollow instinctively recoiled. Its enormous body slowly faded into the void—
"Trying to run already? Not that easy!"
Ichigo hoisted the golden greatsword onto his shoulder and sprinted forward, slashing at the Hollow's thigh!
Slash!
One leg was severed cleanly at the root. Green blood sprayed out, splattering across the ground before transforming into reishi and slowly dispersing into the air.
"Roooar…"
Attempting to retreat into the void, the ape-headed Hollow lost its balance due to the severed leg and collapsed to the ground. In the next instant, it saw Ichigo raise the two-meter-long greatsword and sever its right arm as well—
"Hey, Kurosaki! That's not how you use a Zanpakutō! Aim for the Hollow's mask!"
Tsukiyomi shouted with all the strength she had left.
"I see! Then let's end this, Hollow!"
Ichigo raised the golden greatsword high and brought it down with full force onto the ape-headed Hollow's white mask!
With a sharp shhk, his Zanpakutō sliced through the Hollow like a hot knife through butter, cleaving it cleanly in two from head to toe. The Hollow let out a final scream before crumbling into ashes.
"That was amazing!"
Tsukiyomi stared wide-eyed at Ichigo, watching him intently as she thought to herself:
He's clearly human… yet his spiritual pressure is almost on par with Big Brother's!
And even a high-level Hollow that I couldn't handle—he cut it down with a single strike… Huh? Wait—
Is that really a Zanpakutō? Why is it so huge?!
"Tsukiyomi! Thank you!"
Ichigo walked up to her and pointed the two-meter-long golden greatsword at her chest.
"So next, if I stab the sword through your chest, I can return your Shinigami powers, right?"
"Huh?! Are you kidding me?!"
Tsukiyomi hurriedly jumped aside, exasperated.
"Leaving aside whether that thing even counts as a Zanpakutō—if I get pierced by a sword that big, I'll die!"
"Huh? Really?"
Ichigo sheathed the golden greatsword, glanced at the silver armor on his body, and asked,
"Then what do we do?"
"What do you mean 'what do we do'?!"
Crossing her arms, Tsukiyomi jerked her chin to the side.
"Just return to your body first! As for giving my Shinigami powers back… let me think of a solution!"
"Oh! So Shinigami exist in a soul state!"
Ichigo exclaimed as he returned to his body. Sitting up, he looked at the now all-white Tsukiyomi and said,
"Then what about you? Without your Shinigami powers, if you run into another Hollow…"
"Stop nagging! I'll figure something out myself. You go home first—I'll come find you if I need to!"
"Then… alright."
Ichigo hesitated for a moment, then added,
"My house is next to Kurosaki Clinic on Karakura's Tanzaku Street. If you don't have anywhere to go…"
"Enough!"
Tsukiyomi slowly stood up and walked away.
"I already told you—I will never accept help from a human. That's my pride as a Shinigami!"
"Uh… I was just offering…"
Ichigo scratched the back of his head. Seeing no one else around, he picked up his schoolbag and hurried off.
"…Sigh. I say that, but where can I even go now that I've lost my Shinigami powers?"
Peeking out from behind a utility pole, Tsukiyomi watched Ichigo's retreating figure and sighed softly.
"Well well~ Looks like you're in a bit of trouble, Miss Shinigami.
How about I lend you a gigai?"
Urahara Kisuke appeared silently at Tsukiyomi's side, holding a small folding fan in one hand and pressing down the brim of his fisherman's hat with the other.
"Y-you are—"
"Who I am isn't important. What is important is that you need my help right now, Miss Shinigami."
With that, Urahara turned and began walking away, speaking softly as he went:
"I mean you no harm—and I'm also the only one who can help you right now.
So, please come with me, Miss Shinigami."
"B-but…"
Tsukiyomi hesitated. Seeing Urahara walk faster and faster and nearly disappear around the alley corner, she finally couldn't help but chase after him.
"…"
Hearing the footsteps behind him, Urahara slightly lowered his head. His green eyes glanced sideways at Tsukiyomi as he thought to himself:
Sorry about this… nameless Shinigami girl…
"Um… my name is Saitō Tsukiyomi. Mister, who are you?"
Tsukiyomi followed behind Urahara Kisuke at an unhurried pace for quite some time before finally asking.
"You can call me Mr. Urahara—or just Shop Owner."
"Why?"
"Because I really do run a general store."
After leading Tsukiyomi through several streets, Urahara brought her to a secluded corner.
"Urahara Shop?"
Tsukiyomi examined the shabby, run-down little store in front of her, doubt showing in her eyes.
"A shop in a place this remote—can you really get any customers?"
"Of course!"
Urahara walked into the shop, rummaged around in the storeroom for quite a while, and finally dragged out a pitch-black humanoid gigai.
"Miss Tsukiyomi, please lie down inside."
"This thing… it's way too ugly!"
"Don't worry, Miss Tsukiyomi. This gigai is specially made by me—it automatically adjusts its appearance to match the user's body. So you have nothing to worry about!"
Urahara slowly sat down on the shop's threshold and fixed his sharp gaze on Tsukiyomi.
"If you want to reclaim your Shinigami powers, then before you get eaten by a Hollow, you'll need to hide your soul inside a gigai… and then find a way to take your power back from that guy."
"…Alright. I understand."
Thinking it over, Tsukiyomi felt that Urahara's reasoning made sense, so she followed his instructions and lay down inside the gigai.
At once, she felt this new body brimming with vitality—as if she had become human again, regaining the normal five senses and full awareness.
"Oh, right—I have something else for you."
Urahara clapped his hands, and a little boy and a little girl each stepped forward, carrying wooden trays and placing them in front of Tsukiyomi.
"This is…?"
Tsukiyomi picked up a skull-patterned gauntlet with a red base and black markings from the tray on the left, examining it carefully.
"A pair of gloves that can instantly separate your soul from your body.
You can call it the 'Soul-Extraction Glove', or whatever you like.
Also, I've prepared a cellphone that can receive signals from Soul Society, as well as the latest model of memory-modification spray! If you run out, feel free to come back anytime for refills!"
"Thank—"
Before Tsukiyomi could finish saying "thank you," Urahara snapped open his folding fan and gently fanned it in front of his nose.
"Thank you for your patronage. The total comes to 9,888 kan!"
"What?! These few little things cost nearly ten thousand kan?!"
Tsukiyomi's face went pale at Urahara's quoted price.
"Ohohoho~ Miss Shinigami, first: our shop has clearly marked prices and treats all customers fairly.
Second: once sold, no returns or exchanges!
Third: we're a small business—no credit allowed!
So then… how would you like to proceed?"
"Uh… but I—"
Tsukiyomi had originally planned to refuse. After all, these items would cost only a few hundred kan at the Soul Society's Research and Development Institute!
But when she noticed that the previously sweet-looking little girl, Tsumugiya Ururu, and the little boy, Hanakari Jinta, were now holding a kitchen knife and a baseball bat respectively, grinning at her ominously—
Tsukiyomi decisively handed over her money pouch, forcing a grateful smile as she said:
"Many thanks, Shop Owner Urahara! Then I'll be taking my leave!!"
"Oh, what a beautiful crabapple blossom embroidery!" Urahara casually praised the design on the money pouch, then tossed it to Tessai Tsukabishi inside the shop.
"Alright, let's use this to repay the debt we owe Mr. Yoruichi first!"
"It's still not enough," Tessai said coldly.
"Eh… I'll think of something else."
Urahara chuckled awkwardly and turned his gaze back toward Tsukiyomi—but she had already bolted the instant he looked her way.
"Shop Owner—one more thing."
Tessai's glasses glinted sharply in the sunlight. "The shop was hit by another theft last night... preliminary estimates place the loss at around 50,000 Kan!"
"Dammit!"