บท 99: Meeting Ginjo
***Author Note***
A little shorter than usual, sorry about that~
***End of Author Note***
A few more days passed, and Ichigo was currently on his way to school. Unlike before his fight with Aizen, he no longer had any Spiritual Power and, as such, could no longer see ghosts, Hollow, or Shinigami.
Although he had to admit that he was somewhat missing the thrill of battle against other Shinigami and Hollow, he couldn't really complain about his life in general. That being said, if there were an opportunity to get back his powers, he would undoubtedly take it.
"Help, he stole my back!"
Hearing someone yelling for help, Ichigo gazed at the source of the call and noticed a young man with black hair running after a masked man with a back in his hands, carrying a knife and swinging it around frantically.
Seeing that, Ichigo could only shake his head as he approached the knife-wielding man. Although he lost his Shinigami powers, that didn't mean he lost all the combat experience he went through. Frankly, an amateur with a small knife was no longer something the current Ichigo considered a threat.
So, Ichigo casually dodged the thief's attack, lowered his body, and smashed his fist into the assailant's stomach, knocking him out instantly. Following that, he simply picked up the stolen back and handed it back to the owner.
"Oh, thank you for the help, young man."
"No worries, just be careful."
Following those words, Ichigo simply walked away, leaving the man for himself, causing the man to smirk.
"Hehe, so that was Kurosaki Ichigo, huh? Interesting."
A grin appeared on the man's face as he casually flung the freshly received bag over his shoulder, resulting in a Substitute Shinigami Badge briefly being visible.
"Hee~ I didn't know that there were other Substitute Shinigami~ I wonder why Ukitake didn't mention you?"
The man almost had a heart attack as he heard someone speaking from slightly above him. He looked up and noticed a young woman squatting on a nearby wall and looking at him.
However, as soon as he saw the woman, he quickly averted his eyes.
"*Cough* Young lady, squatting in a high place while wearing a skirt is rather unbecoming. I can almost see your underwear."
"Mah, no worries, I'm not wearing any~"
"THAT MAKES IT EVEN WORSE!!!"
The young woman chuckled in amusement and jumped down the wall to face the other person properly.
"Yuna Uzumaki is the name. Nice to meet you."
Hearing that name, yet again, he almost had a heart attack, as he knew exactly who that was from his spying work on Seireitei.
'Shit, how unlucky to meet this monster this early. I doubt I can win against her with my current power. No other choice but to play dumb.'
"Haha, so you noticed the badge, huh? It's too bad. I planned to keep that a secret for now and surprise you with it. The name is Kugo Ginjo."
Kugo Ginjo was a tall man with black spiky hair and brown eyes, and he had spent the last few months spying on what was going on in Seireitei and the world of the living after he caught wind that another Substitute Shinigami had appeared. Obviously, while gathering information, he also had heard about Yuna and her little group, making him a little apprehensive about approaching Ichigo.
However, he also realized that he wouldn't get anywhere if he didn't make the first move, so he decided to be a little bold today and approach Ichigo. Unfortunately, straight after meeting him, he encountered Yuna, making him smile bitterly. He really didn't want to be on Yuna's radar right now.
"Mhh, Kugo Ginjo, huh? Sorry, I never heard about you. However, I really wonder why you approached Ichigo like this. Mhh~ Any nefarious plans?"
While Ginjo cursed internally, due to Yuna's insight, he kept a calm smile on the outside. Frankly, Yuna's ability to see through schemes was the main reason why he didn't want to have any contact with her.
"Haha, not at all. In fact, it's the opposite. I heard of the plight of my fellow Substitute Shinigami, so I did a bit of digging and found out all kinds of interesting things. To put it bluntly and cut the conversation short, I have a method to bring back Ichigo's power and only wanted to make a good first expression to ease him into the idea of trusting me."
Yuna's purple eyes shone with wisdom, intimidating him a little, but despite that, he didn't falter.
"Oh? So, you have a method to get Ichigo's Shinigami powers back? That's great."
"Ah, sorry, I formulated that incorrectly. I have no clue how he could back his Shinigami powers, but I know how he can get a different kind of power."
Ginjo briefly hesitated, wondering how much he should and shouldn't reveal, but in the end, he decided that the more truths he spoke, the safer he was. That being the case, he removed his necklace, and after putting his Spiritual Power into it, it turned into a large sword, drawing Yuna's curiosity.
'Mhh? What kind of power is this? Interesting. It seems centered around an object. I don't think it has anything to do with that necklace in particular. As is, if someone else had that necklace, they probably couldn't use it. Mhh maybe it has to be a cherished object of the user? That possible.'
Unaware of Yuna's thoughts, Ginjo turned his sword back into his necklace and resumed speaking.
"This power is called Fullbring, and only humans whose mother has survived a Hollow attack before have it. It was hard to dig up, but I believe Ichigo is such a human."
Yuna didn't think about it much more and simply nodded her head. She had, totally by accident, of course, looked through quite a few of Aizen's research papers, and there was indeed an accident where Ichigo's mother was attacked by a Hollow.
'I see, what he said is mostly the truth, but I can feel some hidden motives behind his words. Mhh, I'll let him go for now and intervene when necessary.'
"Indeed, he is. I'm aware that such an incident took place in the past, so go for it. I'm looking forward to what kind of power Ichigo will manifest."
Hearing Yuna's words, Ginjo sighed in relief due to Yuna apparently believing his words.
'It was a good decision to primarily tell the truth while only leaving a few hidden implications behind. However, I need to change things up. I don't think I can survive more conversations with her without slipping up at some point. It's a rather drastic measure, but I guess I need the help of Tsukishima Fullbring, so I actually believe what I say myself.'
Finishing their brief conversation, the duo parted ways, with Yuna wishing Ginjo good luck with helping Ichigo while simultaneously claiming that she wouldn't mind helping out as well.
Having finished the conversation, Ginjo took a deep breath, apparently having avoided being found out. Realizing how dangerous the situation was just now, he quickly retreated toward his hideout, where multiple people were already waiting for him.
"Yo, you are back, Ginjo."
The first to greet him was a mature woman with dark skin and hair, but Ginjo didn't pay much attention to her greeting, only briefly glancing at her.
"Sorry, Jackie, but this is an emergency, and I don't have any time. Where is Tsukishima?"
"An emergency!? This quickly!? Well, I believe he is upstairs."
Simply nodding his head, Ginjo headed upstairs to meet Tsukishima. He quickly located him and started speaking.
"Tsukishima, there is trouble."
Tsukishima, a tall man with black hair and black eyes, looked up from the book he was currently reading and frowned deeply. He wondered how there could already be trouble when today was literally the day they started their schemes against Ichigo.
However, before he could say anything, Ginjo had already resumed talking, his words causing Tsukishima to pale.
"Just when I was done with my little meeting with Ichigo, Yuna Uzumaki appeared and started talking to me. She had already found out about me being a Substitute Shinigami due to seeing the badge in my bag.
Considering what kind of person she is, I had to reveal a lot of information to get her off my back, and I have no idea if she saw through any of my half-truths."
Hearing Ginjo's words, Tsukishima frowned deeply. Frankly, that was bad. Very bad. Yuna was probably the person they wanted to meet the least during their schemes. Obviously, meeting her at some point was inevitable, but they hoped for that to happen when they had already established a relationship of trust with Ichigo.
"I see; in other words, you want me to use my [Book of The End] to change your memories, to make it look like you are genuinely caring for Ichigo."
"Yeah, sorry about that, but you'll have to become an enemy for a while, Tsukishima."
Hearing those words, Tsukishima only scoffed, not really caring about being seen as an enemy. After all, with his [Book of The End], all he needed was a single successful attack to insert himself into the victim's past, allowing Tsukishima to make that person think of him as their best friend.
As such, by acting solo instead of inside a bigger group, he could get a lot of things done.
Meanwhile, back at Ichigo's school...
"We are looking for the one named Kurosaki Ichigo! Show yourself."
... a mob of what appeared to be old-school gangsters appeared in front of the school's gate. Upon closer inspection, one of those gangsters was the thief Ichigo had previously beaten up.
"Listen well, Ichigo, we of Miya High Gang will be blocking this gate until you show up."
"Mhh? How brazen to think someone would dare to block this young miss's path."
Suddenly, a group of two young women and one young man appeared, walking toward the currently blocked gate.
Seeing the trio, the leader of the little gang sneered and was just about to mock the approaching due. However, before he could do so, he gave them a closer look, instantly causing his face to pale.
"Hee~ Will you look at that? Two beauties are coming forward on their own. How about we pl..."
That was as far as one of the gangsters got with his jeering before his boss took his head and smashed it on the ground with all his might.
Moments later, a forceful smile appeared on the leader's face, and sweat started flowing down his back like a river as he did his best to appear courteous.
"Hehe, this little one greet Yuna-sama, Hinata-sama, and Naruto-sama."
"Mhh? Do I know you?"
"Haha, how could someone as esteemed as you know this little one? I have only heard about your great name and have seen you from afar, but I have never gotten a chance to meet you in person."
While everyone was looking at their boss like an alien, due to how courteous he acted, the gangster boss could only hope that he could avoid conflict with this little group in front of him.
Unlike his underlings, the boss enjoyed visiting various underground fighting arenas that were established here and there, so he had actually seen that trio in front of him in action. In conclusion, they were complete monsters, seemingly untouchable by mere mortals like him and his gang mates.
"I see; however, what are you doing here at the school I'm attending?"
"W-Well, it seems like one of my underlings got in conflict with someone named Kurosaki Ichigo, and we came here to beat..."
"Oh? Ichigo? He's an acquaintance of mine."
"... *cough* to apologize for my underling's unacceptable behavior."
"Okay, is that so? Then what's with the big group? And what about blocking the gate?"
"*Cough* Since we are all one gang, it's only natural that we apologize as a unit, and as for blocking the gate, I might have gotten a little bit too agitated and overreacted. I simply didn't want to miss Ichigo-sama's departure."
"I see, so it is like that. Alright, do your thing, and don't cause any more trouble."
"Of course, of course, hahaha."
Laughing nervously, the boss motioned for his goons to open a path for Yuna and her little group, and although they had no idea what had just transpired, they still did as their boss told them to.
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