Bleach Episode 007 - Greetings From A Stuffed Toy

At the Urahara Store, Urahara puts down a heavy something-or-other wrapped in bandages as Ururu timidly walks out from behind some shelves and apologizes to him for causing all the trouble. Urahara smiles and reaches out his hand. Ururu, thinking that he must be about to hit her, winces, but opens her eyes when she feels his hand on her head in a comforting sort of manner. Urahara tells her that it doesn’t bother him at all and asks her why she is so timid. Giving her a hug, he adds that they are a team, and he will fix everything. As Ururu begins to cry, Jinta and Tessai arrive and tell him that preparations are complete. The four of them, Ururu carrying the bandaged-wrapped thing and Jinta armed with a baseball bat, are ready to go collect their merchandise.

The three boys whom “Ichigo” saw are staring at him, wondering what he is up to, posing light he’s going to fight, and subsequently kicking the air. Rukia arrives and sees the fight between Ichigo and “Ichigo”, in which Ichigo dodges “Ichigo’s” attacks with ease. Ichigo explains that once he calms down, his moves are easy to dodge. After a few more unsuccessful attempts at kicking Ichigo, “Ichigo” is flung away by Ichigo, but escapes further damage by jumping over more fences. Rukia’s communicator beeps and she tells Ichigo that they have orders – A Hollow is going to appear nearby.

The three boys’ yells gets their teacher running over to them, and they tell her that an orange-haired high school student had tried to attack them. She notices their gameboys on the floor and picks one of them up and tells them that they have been playing too many video games. Meanwhile, “Ichigo” is running along rooftops, cursing the three boys and Ichigo for ruining his buzz. He stops short when he senses a Hollow in the direction from which he came, going to attack those kids, whose words flash through his mind.

The subjects of his thoughts have been made to stay back and clean up, and are complaining incessantly because of that. A caterpillar-like Hollow appears behind the unsuspecting and unknowing children, and laughs. Ichigo and Rukia are obviously running in the wrong direction, and as the phone beeps, Rukia says that her phone has been acting weirdly, and wonders if it is out of battery. Noticing the new Chappy charm on her phone, he says that if he had time to order it, she should have gotten an extra battery as well. Ignoring him, she says that she cannot sense the Hollow’s location.

The Hollow is suddenly kicked in the face by “Ichigo”, and the force of the Hollow landing on the ground behind them sends the three children flying back. They recognize him as the high school student from earlier, but instead of attacking them, “Ichigo” gives a war cry and runs at the Hollow, evading the first two extendable legs but getting cut on the shoulder by the next. As he lands back on the ground, the three children run away, frightened by “Ichigo” as well as the invisible thing that makes a crater in the ground behind him. Rukia and Ichigo spot the Hollow as well as “Ichigo” a distance away, and Ichigo dashes off in that direction, Rukia calling after him. The Hollow tells “Ichigo” to mind his own business instead of interrupting his meal and running around, and extends another leg to hit him on the back. Another leg comes at him as he lands back on the floor, but it is stopped by the real Ichigo, who chops off the end of it. However, he is not doing this to save the temporary soul, but because it is his body that has gotten all injured.

“Ichigo” says that he is only fighting because he took so long to arrive, and Ichigo tells him to shut up, and mocks the fact that he is supposed to be a battle soul. The Hollow interrupts their little quarrel, and together, they defeat the Hollow, “Ichigo” kicking the Hollow and Ichigo slicing the Hollow. The Hollow falls backwards, and it looks like it will fall out of the rooftop boundary to whatever lies below. Seeing this, “Ichigo” runs and gives the Hollow another kick, dissipating it, and he himself falling down. However, Ichigo grabs his ankle just in time, and chides him for taking such a risk when there was no one around, as a Hollow will disappear on its own if its mask is cut. He then hears voices coming from below: it is the three children once more, trying to convince the teacher about the existence of a “blood-soaked teenager”. She does not believe them and instead tells them to stay back and clean up the next day too.

The two Ichigos watch as a line of ants marches past them, and Ichigo asks “Ichigo” if he used to hate those children. He replies that it doesn’t matter, as if he hadn’t saved them, they would have died – and he doesn’t kill anyone. He remembers and retells his life story, whereby right after his birth he was ordered scrapped – the day after he was born, the day he would die had already been decided. Inside the pill, he was afraid everyday while watching the comrades around him disappear day by day. He was lucky enough to mix with other medicines and escaped the warehouse, but continued to live in fear that he would be found and scrapped. He asked himself all the time why his life is decided by strangers, and why he can’t decide for himself. After all, living and dying belong to each individual person. Therefore, he will kill no-one and will not see anyone die.

Urahara had heard the entire thing, and complains that now, the equipment he had brought is completely useless. Using his cane, he swiftly pokes out the little green pill, which falls just next to the body. He picks it up and walks toward the rest of his gang, saying that the collection is complete. Jinta is displeased because he had thought he was finally going to get a battle after so long. Ichigo asks Urahara what he plans to do with the pill, and he replies that he will destroy it. Ichigo is surprised that Urahara is able to see him, and asks what he is. Before Urahara can answer, the pill is snatched out of his hand by Rukia, who finishes Urahara’s sentence, saying that he is a greedy merchant. Urahara tries to get back the pill, and Rukia asks him if his store does not refund goods they take back. Urahara reluctantly agrees to refund her, but Rukia replies that there is no need as they are satisfied with the product. Furthermore, he is acting out of spirit laws – there is no obligation for him to go that far to retrieve the pill. Urahara replies that if any trouble comes, they’ll just go into hiding and Rukia replies that she’s become quite used to trouble.

She passes the pill to Ichigo and they go off on their way. Ichigo winces in pain and complains that the temporary soul only did as he liked because he knew it wasn’t his body. He starts to scold the pill, and Rukia comments that he looks weird like that. He asks Rukia how he can complain directly to the temporary soul, and Rukia replies that he should put it in some dead body. Ichigo says that there is no way they could find that, but he suddenly spots a lion plushie. He wonders if that will do, and asks Rukia. Rukia thinks he is carrying it too far, then remembers that her body right now is also not flesh. They decide to try it as an experiment, and put the pill in the lion plushie’s mouth. He picks up the plushie, and is annoyed that their experiment has failed. But wait! As he spins it in the air, it comes alive and calls Ichigo a dumbass, saying that it hurts. He then demands a rematch with Ichigo, but suddenly realizes that he is a stuffed toy much, much shorter and smaller than Ichigo. Ichigo puts a hand on his head, making the plushie squeak. He tells it that he better say his prayers, but it declares that even in this state, he will fight Ichigo.
The next morning, he wakes Ichigo by jumping onto his chest and demanding an apology, or else he will hide in his bag and go to school with him so that the girls in the class will think him gross for carrying stuffed animals around in his bag. Ichigo picks him up and throws him against the closet, telling him to be obedient and be quiet like a normal stuffed animal. Ichigo says that calling him “Modified Soul” is such a hassle, so he has shortened it to “Kon” (from the “konpaku” part of “kaizon konpaku”). Kon suggests that he be called “Kai” instead, because “Kon” sounds lame. Ichigo refuses because “Kai” sounds cool and therefore pisses him off. The closet door opens and Rukia emerges, complaining that they are too loud so early in the morning, depriving her of peace to change in. As she jumps out of the closet, she steps on Kon. Kon does not protest, after all, from where he is, he has an excellent view. Yuzu suddenly walks into the room, informing Ichigo that Mizuiro and Keigo are downstairs. She sees her brother frantically plastering himself to the closet door, and wonders what he is doing. She tells him it isn’t at all early, so Ichigo hastily starts to change his clothes. He looks out of his window and shouts to his friends that he had overslept, and would be down in a while. They tell him to enjoy rushing, and he steps away from the window. Rukia opens the closet door and Kon falls out.

Ichigo asks her if she had once again erased his classmate’s memories, and Rukia says that she did, if not, he would have problems too. As he puts on his watch, he thinks to himself lately, despite the number of happenings, everything goes on as normal.
He suddenly notices the date display on his watch – 16 June. Just about the jump out the other window, she notices Ichigo staring at his watch and asks him what the matter is, but he says that it is nothing. In school, Michiru asks Tatsuki if she is in the Art Elective, and when Tatsuki replies that she does, she asks if she has done “the future me” assignment. She wants to see Tatsuki’s because she thinks hers is no good. Tatsuki’s art piece shows her in a boxing ring holding up the champion’s belt. As Michiru stares at the art piece in awe, Tatsuki declares that one day, she will become the female Vale Tudo champion. When asks, Orihime gladly pulls out hers because she actually feels secretly proud of it.

The “future Orihime” has a top speed of 380kph, from the mouth 20000 C flames, from the eyes special destruction lasers. In front of her, a student calmly continues his needlework. As Ichigo walks into the classroom, Orihime greets him, and strangely enough, he greets her back with a smile – something his classmates aren’t too used to seeing. Tatsuki asks Michiru for the date, and hearing that it is 16 June, knows what is up with Ichigo, who is in a corner with his friends, laughing. She says that Ichigo makes that face not when he is happy, but when he is very tense. Tomorrow, he will take off from school.

Outside the Kurosaki clinic is a notice, saying that they will be closed the next day. Inside, Isshin says that they will now decide on the jobs for the next day. However, he, being the chairman, has complete authority to decide. Karin opposes that, arguing that that is not how meetings work, but Isshin tells her to raise her hand if she wants to speak, addressing her as “Chief of Staff”. She finds that this “Chief of Staff” job doesn’t sound too bad actually. Yuzu is given the job of “Lunch Staff”, and Karin’s bubble is burst when she hears that she has to carry the bags. Isshin also seeks their opinion in his new haircut.

Back in his room, Rukia comments that the family meeting looked fun, and asks if he plans to skip school tomorrow and go on a picnic. The closet door opens and Kon says that a picnic sounds good, but Rukia shuts the door in his face. Ichigo asks if he can take the day off Shinigami work tomorrow, but Rukia refuses, asking him what is wrong with him, as he has been acting strangely since the morning. Ichigo replies that tomorrow is the anniversary of his mother’s death, or rather, her murder. Outside, clouds cover the moon and it begins to rain. Orihime looks out her window at the rain, remembering what Tatsuki had told her about Ichigo, and wondering if she were the rain that binds together the earth and sky, which in all eternity will never mingle, would she be able to bind two hearts?

Ichigo lies in his bed, a towel over his eyes as memories of that rainy night flash through his mind. As he walked with his mother he had seen a girl by the river bank take a step into the raging waters, and had gone to rescue her. Ichigo covers his eyes, trying to block out the painful memories. His attempts are unsuccessful, as he remembers his mother calling after him as he ran to the girl. The next thing he remembers is being by the side of his dead mother.

Over in Soul Society, a number of little children and a Shinigami are playing with tops. The Shinigami loses, and says that he will play again, and definitely win. Another Shinigami with a sheet over his face appears and the first Shinigami has no choice but to leave the game and speak with the other. The sheet-faced Shinigami tells the other that it is no. 13, Kuchiki Rukia. Hearing the name “Kuchiki”, the latter laughs and asks what “the little princess” has done. The other replies that she has exceeded the time limit for staying in the human world, and also that there must be more beneath the surface for him (the other Shinigami) to investigate. He is told to leave right away.

Bleach Episode 006 - Fight to the Death! Ichigo vs. Ichigo

Rukia sits atop a building, holding up a lighter-like device that has 4 little windows, one of which blinks. It also makes beeping noises as Rukia continues to stare at it, commenting that there is not much left. Raising her other hand, she proceeds to make awkward movements with it. She stares at her hand and says that there is not much there either – time to go shopping.

Ichigo, a plate of Japanese rice balls in his hand, knocks on his closet door, indicating to Rukia that her breakfast is here. Hearing no answer, an annoyed Ichigo slides open the door violently, but realizes that Rukia is not inside in the first place. He proceeds to eat Rukia’s breakfast, while his sisters, who are downstairs, eat theirs. Yuzu comments that Ichigo has been behaving weirdly recently: eating more and going upstairs immediately. Isshin declares that Ichigo, being 15, is at a sensitive age, and does only one thing in his room that all young men in the primes of their youth do. His sentence is cut short as Ichigo kicks him in the face, accusing him of being a pervert. Isshin replies that that is what true parents think of. A tussle ensues between the two as Yuzu and Karin calmly continue their breakfast, Yuzu saying that the food is getting cold, and Karin saying that it is such a “peaceful” morning.

At the Urahara store, a red-haired boy, Hanakari Jinta is fantasizing about baseball, and is using his broom as a baseball bat to hit a ball. He misses, and the girl, Tsumigi Ururu, next to him who is quietly sweeping looks up at him. Shyly, she warns him that if he does not clean up, Tessai will get angry at him. He points the broom at her and tells her to shut up, as he is not even afraid of Tessai. He then starts to “punish” her for talking back to him by rubbing the broom on her head. He says that she is of lower “level” than him, despite the fact that she is three whole years older than him. The broom is suddenly whizzed out of his hand and flung away. He swirls around, wondering who it is. Realizing that it is only Rukia, he relaxes, as does Ururu. Rukia says that he will never change, calling him “shorty”, then asking if the “manager” is in. Jinta reluctantly welcomes Rukia back and pushes open the doors.

A muscular man, Tessai, carrying a number of boxes scolds him, saying that it is not time to open yet. He then notices Rukia, and tells her to wait a minute while he wakes the manager. An oddly-dressed man walks up behind Tessai and says that it is too bad, as he is already awake. He then lets out a big yawn and puts on his sandals. Rubbing his eyes with one hand and the other in his pocket, he greets everybody. He tells Rukia that they just got stock from “there” yesterday. Rukia buys the cheapest (D-rank) spare fuel rod for her spirit communicator, and 60 bottles of Soma Fixers. The man, Urahara Kisuke, warns her that excessive use of Soma Fixers to align her soul with the faux body will result in hell when she leaves it. Rukia acknowledges this, but mentions that lately, her integration with the faux body has been poor, and sometimes it is hard for her to even move. Urahara happily asks if she would like a check up at a good deal, but Rukia refuses, and asks if the item she had ordered had arrived. Urahara says that it has, and sends Ururu to the storeroom to fetch it, saying that it is in a box which says “new goods”.

Looking around the box-filled storeroom, she spots the box she wants and opens it to retrieve the item inside. Rukia unwraps the item and asks Urahara if this was the only kind he could get. Urahara scratches his neck and replies that even getting this was hard as it is the second most popular. He then tells Rukia that she cannot pretend forever.

Rukia arrives in class late and greets everyone sweetly, saying that she is late due to family matters. She then asks Ichigo if he has a moment, but Ichigo says that if she has anything to say, to say so there and then. He is punched in the stomach and dragged away by Rukia, who exclaims that he needs to see the nurse. Their classmates stare after them, asking themselves if Rukia had punched Ichigo or not. On the rooftop, Rukia hands Ichigo the item she bought today, Gikongan - a medicine that forcibly removes the soul from the body and puts in a fake one. She tells him to use it if he encounters a Hollow without her being present. Ichigo asks why it is labeled “Soul Candy”, and Rukia indignantly replies that the League of Women Shinigami complained that the name Gikongan wasn’t cute, and had it changed. Ichigo then asks why the tube has a duck’s head on it, and Rukia says that even she wanted the most popular, “Chappy the Rabbit” too. Ichigo insults her for that, and she steps on his head as punishment.

She then instructs him to try one, and he does so, pressing the duck’s head so that a green pill is ejected into his mouth. True enough, he sways a bit, then his Shinigami self appears. Ichigo appears surprised, and Rukia tells him that there is now a temporary soul in his body so that no one will realize that he has left. The body moves and greets them, saying that “Ichigo’s” favorite phrase is “Early to bed, early to rise”. As the real Ichigo demands to know how that “Ichigo” is anything like him, Rukia’s phone begins to beep. She drags a complaining Ichigo away as the body waves at them and tells them to leave it all to him.

Urahara wanders into his storeroom and notices the opened box on the floor. Jinta yells at Ururu, asking her to read what it says on the box. She mistakes what she sees for “Infester Goods”. Jinta tells her that it is “Inferior Goods”, and that she has just sold that to a customer. Ururu sighs and hangs her head, and Jinta starts to pull on her bangs, but is stopped by Urahara. Tessai looks at a piece of paper and says that the Gikongan would bring trouble, and Urahara agrees, saying that they had better take care of it immediately, as they know not what “he” might do.

Indeed, Ichigo’s temporary soul stretches his muscles, then experiments with his new body by kicking in a wall. A teacher comes along and recognizes “Ichigo” due to his unique hair, and asks “Ichigo” what he has just done. “Ichigo” walks toward the teacher, then jumps right over his head, landing on a roof a distance away with great ease. The teacher stares after “Ichigo”, who jumps away gleefully. The lunch bell rings and Orihime cheers happily. Tatsuki, who does not think Lunch is such an important event, is told by Orihime that a healthy young high school girl comes to school specially to eat lunch. She pulls out a large loaf of bread and a can of sweetbean paste and asks Tatsuki what she has brought for lunch. Tatsuki ruffles Orihime’s hair and says that she eats a normal lunch.

Another of their friends, Chizuru (a lesbian) asks them if she can eat at their table, and Orihime, who is eating her bread whole and smiling with crumbs on her cheeks, agrees. Chizuru gives Orihime a big hug, exclaiming the Orihime’s way of eating is so cute. Suddenly, “Ichigo” jumps up to class from the first storey, shocking many of his classmates. The real Ichigo quickly finishes up the Hollow and says that he has a bad feeling.

True enough, “Ichigo” is standing on the window sill, his friends staring and asking how he got there. He tells them that he jumped up, though many of them do not buy his story. He is very pleased that all of them, guys and girls, are looking at him. He stares at the girls and comments that they are all very hot and above average. He notices Orihime and her assets and goes up to her, strokes her hair, and in a very gentleman manner, kisses her hand. Tatsuki immediately pulls him away, asking him if he knows what he is doing. “Ichigo” looks at her and says that upon looking closer, she actually is pretty cute.

Rukia asks Ichigo why he is rushing back to class, as the temporary soul is definitely alright. Ichigo has his doubts, and they are confirmed when they hear screams coming from their classroom. A table flies out the window and Rukia decides that he is righ – they had better return quickly. It is Tatsuki who is flinging tables at “Ichigo”, as he had just kissed her on the cheek. Rukia walks into the classroom and stops the fight, and the panicked “Ichigo” runs to the window. Rukia shouts for Ichigo, and the real Ichigo jumps up to the window, cornering the temporary soul, who then begins to rain down on Ichigo a great number of kicks. All their classmates see, however, is “Ichigo” kicking the air repeatedly. As “Ichigo” sends Ichigo flying into some tables with a kick. Their alarmed classmates only see some sort of force push back all the tables – they, of course, cannot see Ichigo. Orihime stares curiously as a table is lifted by invisible hands, and “Ichigo” smiles at Rukia and jumps out of the window, freefalling down to the ground floor. Ichigo and Rukia stare after him, who runs away at extremely high speed. Rukia’s eyes widen as she tells her self that it cannot be what she is thinking. She changes her mind as she continues to watch. He is a modified soul.

Ichigo jumps down out the window, and Rukia runs out of the classroom, their classmates watching her. A flaming Tatsuki declares that she will not let Ichigo off, and Chizuru tries to “comfort” Orihime, who stares out the window. Orihime tells them both that the guy earlier was not Ichigo. Meanwhile, Rukia and Ichigo have arrived at a dilapidated house, but have lost sight of “Ichigo”. Rukia comments that he has a moratorium, and Ichigo retorts that it isn’t the time for incomprehensible jokes. “Ichigo” has to be caught for using his body and kissing Tatsuki and Orihime. Rukia does not see why he is so agitated, because, to her, kisses are merely greetings, and in a book she was reading, much more was happening. Ichigo tells her not to compare the two, as kissing an ordinary classmate is a very serious thing, and asks her what sort of books she reads. He gives a wail of despair and complains that the image he took years to build up is gone. Rukia is surprised that he had an “image”.

Ichigo then asks her about the temporary soul being a “modified soul”, and she explains that in Soul Society, there was a plan called “Spearhead”. In it, souls specialized for Hollow vanquishing were injected into soul-less dead bodies. These souls, or mod-souls, would endow some part of the body with superhuman powers. Rukia uses her crude drawings once again, this time as an animation (flip-book style), to explain to Ichigo. Ichigo understands what she means, but comments that with her drawings, the moment’s tension is gone, earning him red spirals on his cheeks and a smack. Rukia continues, saying that the plan was ditched and all mod-souls ordered to be destroyed due to the inhumanity of making dead bodies fight. Wiping off the spirals on his cheeks, Ichigo asks if that means mod-souls were created and destroyed at the convenience of Soul Society, and if she is satisfied with that. She says that is not the question – the scrapping of mod-souls was one of Soul Society’s laws, which are set up to protect human souls. They then set off, running around the town trying to find and hence retrieve Ichigo’s body.

As he runs, Ichigo wonders how the temporary soul feels: being created and then ordered to be destroyed against his will, then surviving and finding a body and yet having to run away. However, contrary to what Ichigo thinks, “Ichigo” is having a great deal of fun jumping along fences and jumping over people’s heads and seeking attention. He says that he likes having powers that attract attention, although it is said that there are mod-souls with more power. Leaping off a fence, he notices three school children sitting behind a store room playing video games and decides to go see what they are doing. He lands lightly on the fence behind them, and watches as they, unaware of his presence, complain about P.E. lessons. One of the boys then exclaims that his character in the video game is not performing up to standard. “Ichigo’s” ears prick up as he hears the boy say that he will just delete the character, and does so, adding that he will just make a better one.

“Ichigo” grips the fencing so hard it starts to break, and the boys turn to look at him. He gets off the fence and looks very angry as he tries to kick the children. His kick is stopped midair by the real Ichigo, and he jumps away from Ichigo and smiles.

Bleach Episode 005 - Beat the Invisible Enemy!

As in the previous episode, the Hollow tells Rukia that if she allows him to eat her, he will tell her what she wants to know. Rukia swiftly delivers a knee in the Hollow’s face, then performs Way of Destruction number 33. This however, has next to no effect on the Hollow – Rukia’s powers have yet to return but a little. Ichigo, as he runs to Rukia’s aid, wonders how long it has been since he saw Karin cry. Until their mother’s death, Karin and Yuzu had been cry-babies. Yuzu, strong and capable, tried to fill the gap left by her by doing the housework. Karin, not as capable as Yuzu, was only able to reduce the family’s worries by not crying – even if she lost in a fight with a bigger kid, even when she was lectured for throwing a ball through the principal’s window, not even when she broke a leg when hiking. He promises Karin to fulfil her wish.

The Hollow puts a hand around Rukia’s neck, asking her to shed the human shell. By some stroke of luck, help arrives for Rukia. Chad lands a punch to the Hollow’s cheek, sending the Hollow flying. Rukia is shocked that Chad hit the Hollow, thinking that he can see ghosts. However, she changes her mind when she sees him standing not far away, punching the air. The Hollow is relieved that Chad’s punch was merely a lucky one, but is soon punched again by Chad, who is pleased. Rukia wonders how Chad is able to hear the Hollow if he cannot see it, and hence, how he is able to coolly and fearlessly confront an enemy he cannot discern.

The Hollow curses, then jumps into the air, wings spread wide. He ridicules them for their inability to reach him, and Rukia shouts for Chad to run. Chad merely blinks and asks if “Transfer Student” can see ghosts. Rukia replies that it does not matter, as they cannot hit it when it is flying. Chad asks where the Hollow is, then tears off most of a telephone pole with his brute strength whilst the Hollow continues to scorn at them. With Rukia giving directions, Chad swings the pole down in front of him, smacking the stunned Hollow to the ground. Rukia runs up to the Hollow and tells it to give up, as someone able to get rid of him will arrive soon. Laughing, the Hollow props himself up, telling Rukia that is the reason why so many Shinigami are beaten by Hollows – because they underestimate the Hollows. As if on cue, little blue creatures (that look like Stitch from Lilo & Stitch) jump over the walls and pin both Chad and Rukia to the ground. The Hollow decides that he shall eat Rukia first before Chad, but Chad, to the shock of both Rukia and the Hollow, flexes his muscles and all the squeaky Stitch-like creatures go flying. As the Hollow asks if he plans on letting his muscles do the talking, Chad does just that by trying to punch him again. He misses, but continues punching the air as the Hollow comments that his intuition is amazing. Rukia instructs Chad to kick over her, and he does, once again sending the Stitch-like creatures flying.

The Hollow rises into the air once again, so Rukia tells Chad that she has an idea. Chad, poised to “shoot” Rukia into the sky, asks if she is sure this plan will work. Rukia replies that it will – a combination of his strength and her abilities. Chad comments that the idea seems rather dumb, but is shut up by Rukia, who tells him to shoot her in “Tiger direction”. Chad, however, does not know what she means, so Rukia has to tell him that it means the left. As the Hollow gloats that being so high, a telephone pole will be unable to hit him, he launches her in that direction, and as Rukia flies towards the Hollow, she tells him to give up. The Hollow says that it will give up, but a few seconds later withdraws that and a Stitch-like creature appears on his shoulder. The creature spits out purple things in a green liquid at Rukia, who begins to fall to the ground below. Chad runs towards her and manages to catch her, who apologizes for being caught off-guard.

Rukia tries desperately to remove the purple things from her body, but fails as they are leeches that do not come off easily. The Hollow tells her that they are also his targets, and rings his tongue, exploding the leeches. The leeches are in face mini bombs that resonate with the sound of the Hollow’s tongue and explode.
Chad walks up to the Hollow, ready to challenge him. The Hollow then reveals his captive – Shibata the cockatiel, who he had bought time earlier to capture. Shibata apologizes for getting caught and the Hollow tells Rukia to run around so that he can have fun hunting her alone. Rukia stands and tells Chad not to move or the birdcage will be exploded, then, telling Chad not to worry as she had promised not to slip up, takes off in the opposite direction. A large number of Stitch-like creatures chase her, followed by the Hollow himself. The creatures catch up with her, and shoot leeches at her, but she jumps and evades them. She is, however, covered in the leeches, which get exploded by the Hollow, when one of the creatures appears out of seemingly nowhere. Rukia begins to bleed, and the Hollow says that he likes the cute blood-stained look, then produces more of the creatures and leeches, all of which Rukia dodges. The Hollow asks her how long she will run, and says that if she like, she can attack him. She stops suddenly at a fence, and the Hollow interprets that to mean she is giving up. Rukia replies that she is not, but merely has no more reason to run. She will take on the counter-attack offer.

Ichigo arrives and steps on the Hollow’s head by way of heroic entry to save the damsel in distress. Ichigo asks Rukia why she has slipped up this much despite her promise, but Rukia replies that what Ichigo had said were words from someone who was at least a little worried. The Hollow moves slightly and yells at Ichigo, asking how long he plans to stand on his head, then stands up fully when Ichigo jumps lightly off his back. Ichigo introduces himself as a “substitute Shinigami”, and tells the Hollow that if he were looking for someone to play tag with, he found the wrong person. The Hollow, hearing that Ichigo is a “substitute Shinigami”, curses, saying that he should have went after him from the beginning.

Rukia pulls on her glove and, while the Stitch-like creatures shoot out leeches and the Hollow rings its tongue, pushes Ichigo’s soul out of his body in time for him to attack the Hollow. The Hollow comments that Ichigo smells the tastiest, and Ichigo asks him if he had used the bombs to tie down Chad so he could have fun chasing Rukia, calling him a “dirty son of a bitch”. The Hollow retorts that now, he shall be eaten by that “dirty son of a bitch”.

Chad arrives with the birdcage in his arms, and the first thing he sees is Rukia watching what seems to be nothing and an unconscious Ichigo at her feet. Worriedly, he calls out to Ichigo, but Rukia stops him, telling him that right now, Ichigo is fighting. She also instructs him to take him and Shibata to somewhere safe. Meanwhile, Ichigo kills Stitch-like creature after Stitch-like creature, cutting them in half and spilling their insides (which are leeches). The Hollow laughs and compliments him, but reminds him that despite his slaying the creatures, the bombs are still detonable. To prove his point, he sticks out his tongue and rings it, exploding them all at once. His glee is short-lived, for Ichigo jumps out of the smoke, and swings his sword down on him. Catching him on the neck, Ichigo asks him if he was the one who murdered Shibata’s parents.

Shibata tells Chad and Rukia that all this is his fault, because he wanted to bring his mommy back to life. Hearing this, Rukia asks if someone had told him he could bring his mother back to life. The Hollow tells his life story to Ichigo, saying that when he was alive, he was a very fussed-about famous serial killer. Shibata’s mother, who ran around frantically trying to protect Shibata to the end, was his last victim. However, as he cornered them on the veranda, he ended up dying a stupid death – Shibata had pulled his shoelaces, causing him to fall to his death. Therefore, to punish Shibata, he shoved his living soul into the cockatiel and told him that if he could run around like that for 3 months, he would bring his mother back to life. The Hollow mocks Shibata, as he knows full well he cannot being a dead person back to life. The most fun part of the punishment was that he got to kill every human who tried to protect Shibata, who would whine. However, he would brighten the moment he was reminded of the eventual “reward” – the return of his mother. Ichigo begins to tremble, allowing the Hollow an opening to push away his Zanpakutou and jump back into the air.

He launches another two more of his leech-spewing creatures, but Ichigo catches and squishes them with his hand. He runs to the Hollow and smashes the Hollow’s front teeth such that his hand along with the leeches are in the Hollow’s mouth. He asks the Hollow if he still plans to explode the leeches, and to try ringing his tongue. The Hollow does nothing, so Ichigo claims the tongue by yanking it off and jumping away. As the Hollow winces, Ichigo jumps towards him once more, this time his Zanpakutou is ready. He cuts the Hollow’s mask, but the Hollow does not disappear as most Hollows would. A green light shoots out of the wound and a door with two skeletons on it appears. Ichigo is taken aback by what he sees, and Rukia explains to him that it is hell. Zanpakutous only wash away sins committed after death, but not those before. For those that have committed mortal sins in life, the doors of hell will open. For this Hollow, the doors do just that, the chains on them breaking one after the other.

The doors break open fully, and hell appears to be a fiery place. A strong wind blows as the Hollow now screams as his mask dissipates. A sword, held by a big blue hand, appears from hell and pierces the Hollow. The doors then slide close once more and shatter.

Later, Rukia reports that Shibata’s Chain of Fate has been severed and there is no trace of it. Therefore, he will be unable to return to his body. Seeing Shibata’s sad face upon hearing the news, Rukia tries to comfort him, saying that Soul Society is not a bad place, but rather, a place where you never get hungry, your body is as light as a feather, and it is 80-90% better than the living world. Ichigo comments that at least if Shibata goes to Soul Society, meeting his mother would be of higher possibility. Since they cannot bring his mother back, the best would be for him to go to her. Shibata’s crestfallen look is lost immediately, and he looks at Chad and thanks him, as he had carried him while running around and thus he did not get hurt. Chad says that it is nothing, and Shibata leaves the cockatiel’s body. Chad requests that should he die and go to Soul Society too, he would like to carry him and run around again. After Shibata agrees, Ichigo commences the soul burial, successfully fulfilling Karin’s wish. Karin, at home in bed asleep, thanks Ichigo as a black swallow-tailed butterfly flutters to the moon.

Bleach Episode 004 - The Cursed Parakeet!

As police sirens wail in the background, Chad and two friends, Shiego and a black-haired boy sit at a construction site with a white cockatiel in a birdcage. The black-haired guy tells Chad and Shiego that it is a cursed cockatiel, all of whose previous owners died horrible deaths. He offers it to Shiego, who turns it down, then at Chad, saying that it is cute. Shiego says that Chad has a soft spot for cute things. The bird mysteriously begins to flap its wings and caw loudly, and the three friends look up to see a steel beam falling down on them.

In the rugged landscape where Hollows seem to live, a voice says that they will continue to consume to fill the emptiness of their existence. A dark figure with creepy red eyes materializes, continuing by saying that Shinigami taste exceptionally nice, and once one knows the taste, one inevitably becomes captive to it.
The steel girder, luckily or unluckily, falls on Chad’s shoulders and thus, the rest are unhurt. Chad bleeds from the forehead, but nothing more. Suddenly, the cockatiel speaks, thanking Chad (it calls him “Mister”) for saving him, and after telling Chad that his name is Shibata Yuuichi, asks Chad what his name is. While his two friends stare in amazement that the bird appears to know what is happening, convinced that the bird is really cursed, Chad replies with his name. Shiego comments that Chad is really fascinated by it now.

Ichigo does not believe that his wound had healed up in one day, but Rukia says that her grades in Demon Magic were tops, so healing like that is a piece of cake. Ichigo is rather surprised too that Shinigami actually have a school. Rukia asks him how she should drink from a packet, and Ichigo vaguely replies that she should stick the straw in it and drink. While she continues to stare at the packet, Mizuiro walks up and comments that the two are awfully friendly with each other, and when Ichigo denies that, he says that is okay too, and that Ichigo should consider what others think a bit more. Ichigo replied that if he did, he would have dyed his hair black long ago. Rukia is still trying to drink from the packet, but after having found the straw, she does not know where to stick it into. Mizuiro greets her, and Rukia, acting as usual, greets him politely. He is pleasantly surprised that Rukia actually remembers his name. He gives a brief autobiography, but is interrupted by Ichigo, who tells Rukia that Mizuiro’s hobby is girl-hunting, so she had better be careful. Despite Mizuiro’s denials, he says that beneath the innocent look, Mizuiro is actually an incurable womanizer. Mizuiro complains that Ichigo is ruining his “image”, then says that in any case, he only goes after older women. Ichigo says that this is the precise reason why he told Rukia to beware. Remember, Rukia is almost 10 times Ichigo’s age.

Keigo comes along just then, speaking in the olden Japanese we often see Rukia speaking, asking what Rukia is doing here. As revenge, Mizuiro says that Ichigo had hit on her and lured her up. Keigo at first curses Ichigo, then congratulates him for a job well done. He then walks up to Rukia, over shrouding her petite frame. He thanks her for coming to this “squalid garden of manliness”, then announces that lunch will be a huge party. He also tells Rukia that should she need any help, she can always turn to him.

Hearing this, Rukia is pleased and thrusts the packet drink in Keigo’s face. Keigo takes a step back and accidentally bumps into Chad, who is bandaged up. His friends ask him what happened, and he explains that his head injury is because of a steel beam, the one on his hand from a traffic accident in which he also carried the injured motorcyclist to the hospital, causing him to be late for school. Ichigo wonders what Chad is made of. Chad puts the birdcage down, and Shibata greets them, telling them his name, and asking for theirs. Ichigo and Rukia both see that something is amiss, but Keigo is more excited, asking the birds to recite after him his name.

Ichigo asks Chad where he got the bird from, and to cut things short, Chad simply says that he “got it” yesterday. As Ichigo continues to stare at the bird, Rukia tells him not to worry, as whatever is inside the bird isn’t bad – probably a lonely ghost. Rukia adds that sometime tonight, they should give it a soul burial, causing Ichigo to lament that he will lose out on sleep yet again. As he takes the drink out of her hand and helps her to stick the straw in it, she is glad that Ichigo actually worried about others at just the hint of a ghost, and learning the mindset of a Shinigami.

Ichigo tells Rukia that it was in 8th grade that he met Chad. Because of his hair, Ichigo had constantly gotten into fights. On the day when the fights became serious, it was Chad who stepped in to save him. Chad however, will not retaliate when he is attacked. Rukia comments that the juice is good.

Ichigo arrives home that night, and is greeted by his sisters bustling about in nurses’ uniforms, Yuzu carrying a box of medical equipment. She tells him that there was a traffic accident at a nearby intersection. He then hears his father shouting over the phone at some hospital staff, demanding that they open up hospital beds for the patients that the clinic’s insufficient facilities are not able to treat. He slams down the phone after instructing the person to tell the chief of staff that it is a request from Kurosaki. Ichigo asks him if there is anything he could do, bur Isshin replies that there is nothing he can do, so go hide in the corner so he does not get in his way. Ichigo does just that.

The door opens and Yuzu and Karin, supporting Chad, stagger in. Isshin takes over and tells Ichigo that it is now his turn. Ichigo realizes that it is Chad, and Chad raises his head and looks at him. Karin stares at the bird in Chad’s hands in fear.
There is a terrible wound on Chad’s back, purple in colour and resembling a Hollow’s handprint. Isshin says that it looks like a burn, then begins using a cotton ball to swab the wound, saying that Chad will have to take it easy. However, Chad thinks otherwise, getting up and putting on his shirt despite the incomplete treatment of his wound. Isshin says that there is no way he is fine with that kind of wound, and true enough, Chad, who had just risen to his feet, collapses to the floor.

Rukia sits on Ichigo’s bed, as he asks her if she felt “it” just now. Rukia replies that she did, even from so far away – nothing from the cockatiel, but the scent of a Hollow from the wound. Meanwhile, Chad lies on his bed, looking at the cockatiel which sits on the table next to him. Karin too, is unable to sleep, seeming somewhat plagued by the appearance of the bird.

The next morning, Karin, to Ichigo’s surprise, is not down for breakfast as she does not want any and does not feel well. Ichigo is surprised by that too, as it is obviously very rare for Karin to be ill. Suddenly, Isshin barges into the room and tells Ichigo that Chad has disappeared from his room, where a window is open and the curtain flutters merrily in the breeze.

Ichigo runs around in search of Chad, and so does Rukia. The two meet at an intersection, and check with each other if they have picked up Chad’s trail. Neither have, and there is no information from Soul Society regarding the Hollow, nor anything on the radar. With her scrapbook drawings, Rukia explains that Hollows go undetected when they hide in the space in between Soul Society and the living world. Therefore, until the Hollow after Chad appears in the living world, they will not know its location. Ichigo earns a scrapbook in his abdomen after a negative comment about her drawings.

Ichigo comes up with the idea that they can track him down by following the trail of the spirit in the cockatiel, but Rukia says that it is impossible. Ichigo concentrates hard, and is suddenly outlined by blue light. Little firefly-like particles are flying around him in the air, surprising Rukia, who seems to know this feeling.

Chad and the cockatiel are hiding out in a construction site, and the bird apologizes to Chad for not telling him the truth, that all who own him meet misfortunes. Chad says that it is okay, but Shibata says that he need not worry about him anymore, and instructs Chad to leave him here and go. Chad refuses. Meanwhile, Karin still lies in bed coughing, but gets up with the thought of having to tell Ichigo something in her mind. Ichigo is still surrounded by the light particles, which then condense to form white ribbon-like things. Rukia is shocked, as even she cannot sense such a weak ghost, let alone follow it. Ichigo opens his eyes as he grabs one of the threads. As they vanish, he begins running in the direction of the thread he pulled. Rukia stares after the disappearing figure, wondering if what she had seen were spirit threads – visualized spirit energy that only top Shinigami should be able to see. Astonished by his growth in so short a period of time, she runs after him.

Chad sits with Shibata in the construction site, and Chad thinks they will be safe for now. Shibata tells him to go, but Chad replies that being sturdy is his only worth. Just then, they hear a creaking noise, and Chad jumps away just in time. The Hollow has found them. Chad jumps out through an already-broken window, and happens to meet Ichigo at a T-junction. Instead of running toward them, he instead runs in the opposite direction. Suddenly, Ichigo hears Karin calling him, and turns to see her panting and using a lamppost as support. Karin falls to her knees, and Ichigo runs over to her. Rukia tells him to bring her home while she will go save Chad, as she does not want his concentration to break while fighting a Hollow because he left Karin there. Ichigo asks if she has enough strength to take on a Hollow, and she replies that she would never slip up enough for him to worry.

The two take off in opposite directions, Ichigo with Karin bundled in his arms. Karin tells him that, since she was the closest in age, she saw the memories of the ghost possessing the cockatiel. The strongest memory of the boy had flown into her: right before his eyes, his mother was murdered. She begs him to save Shibata. In the meantime, Chad continues to run, the birdcage in his arms, Rukia chasing after him. She complains that if she were not in a faux body, she would have no problem catching up, and curses the Demon Craft Development Bureau for putting ordinary physical limitations on a faux body. As her breath gets heavier, she hears a voice commenting that it smells something good. Rukia stops in her tracks just as the Hollow appears out of the ground, trying to get a taste of Rukia’s soul. Rukia somersaults away, and the Hollow is surprised that she can see him, and that she did not die from one hit.
Rukia knees the Hollow’s face, and from behind the Hollow, performs Demon Magic: Way of Destruction, number 33 by chanting the incantation, “O lord, mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man, truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws! Way of destruction, number 33! Soukatsui!” Rukia is pleased that the spell works and that her powers seem to be returning, but she then realizes that the Hollow is not even scratched.

Chad and Shibata can hear the sounds of the fight, and after Shibata tells him that Rukia is being attacked, Chad puts Shibata’s cage on the floor so that he can go off to help her. Shibata argues that it is dangerous, so Chad moves him to the ledge of a wall. That was, however, not what Shibata had meant. Chad, who is unable to see ghosts, so the Hollow will surely get him. But his words have fallen on deaf ears: Chad continues running in the direction of the sound. The Hollow has seen the spell before, and he recognizes it as a Shinigami’s spell. He mocks Rukia’s spell as weak and incapable of even hurting him. Rukia is annoyed that she still has not recovered enough to use even that level of Demon Magic. The Hollow comments that she must be an ex-Shinigami, thus explaining her tastiness. He adds that he has already eaten two yummy Shinigami who had come to perform a burial for the ghost in the cockatiel. Rukia then asks him why he has been stubbornly chasing the ghost around, and the Hollow replies that if Rukia were to behave and let him eat her, he would answer her queries.

Karin begs Ichigo to tell Shibata that if he goes to heaven, he can see his mum again, and he won’t be lonely anymore.

Bleach Episode 003 - The Older Brother's Wish, The Younger Sister's Wish

Ichigo, having cracked the Hollow’s mask, realizes the true identity of the Hollow. The Hollow, its mask regenerated, lets out a lion-like roar. Ichigo wonders why Orihime’s brother is after him, and Rukia tells him that most probably, a separate and powerful Hollow that is hidden from them wants to eat his spirit power. Several other Hollows would be puppeteered by him. Ichigo does not wish to kill Orihime’s brother, but Rukia states that if he is not killed, he won’t be saved. Rukia initially thinks that the Hollow will be back for Ichigo, then changes her mind – Orihime is in danger.

The subject of their worry has finished her meal, and Tatsuki asks her if she would like dessert. Orihime replies that she has her green onions and sweetbean jelly, and though Tatsuki does not approve of her chosen dessert, she adds that it’s delicious to eat with friends. The pink teddy bear, Enraku, sitting on the shelf suddenly tears on the face, spilling cotton out. It falls to the floor, and Orihime crawls over to pick it up. As she wonders why it has ripped, she and Tatsuki hear a “boom” sound.
Meanwhile, Ichigo, Rukia sitting on his back, jumps from roof to roof, shocked by what Rukia tells him. Hollows, fallen souls without hearts that were not buried by Shinigami nor protected from other Hollows, attack their relatives. Orihime’s brother’s soul turned into a Hollow after failing to eat Ichigo’s, so he would seek out his most-loved person to bury its lost heart. The large bruise on Orihime’s leg that afternoon was the touch of a Hollow, so the accident was probably the handiwork of her brother.

Tatsuki and Orihime continue to look around in search of the source of the sound they had heard earlier. Now, they hear scraping noises, as though someone were sweeping with a broom with hard bristles. Blood drips onto the floor at Orihime’s knees. Orihime is stunned to see blood on her hand, seemingly seeming from Enraku. There is a louder boom and the hand of the Hollow bursts out of Enraku and through Orihime’s body. All Tatsuki sees is her friend suddenly collapsing, a look of shock on her face. A shadow passes over hers, and she is pushed back by a large, invisible force. Her shoulder begins to bleed, and to her, there seems to be no explanation. She is suddenly pushed aside yet again by the force, and goes flying. She gets up again, but is once more knocked back onto the floor. The Hollow is now over her, and she desperately uses her hand to block it.

Orihime watches from the corner, where she is shivering in fear. Her Chain of Fate is attached to her chest, and leads to her body, which lies motionless on the floor nearby. She wonders what the monster-like thing is, and why she (herself) is lying there. She also tries to pull on the Chain. The Hollow tries to strangle Tatsuki, and Orihime calls out to her. She gets up and, uses her whole body to knock away the Hollows arm. She crawls over to the coughing Tatsuki, glad that she is okay. Instead of uttering thanks or whatnot, she stares at the handprint on her sleeve and quickly moves away, shouting for Orihime to keep away. Orihime, surprised by her reaction, asks her what is wrong. The Hollow tells her that it is useless, because Tatsuki cannot hear nor see them. Tatsuki collapses, and Orihime asks the Hollow how he knows her name.

The Hollow tells her that he is sad that she has forgotten his voice. Orihime asks him instead to keep away, instigating an attack from him. However, Ichigo arrives in time and stops the attack, asking the Hollow if he was supposed to be after him. The Hollow, its hand cut, retreats with a roar. Ichigo looks around, annoyed that Tatsuki got caught in the crossfire. Orihime asks him if he is Kurosaki-kun, and when he turns around, she sees that it really is him, and asks now why he is here. Ichigo asks how she can see him, and then notices that it is her spirit he is talking to, as her body is elsewhere attached by the Chain. As only spirits can see Shinigami, normal people should not be able to see him.

The Hollow reappears, saying that Orihime is now dead. Ichigo rushes at him, his Zanpakutou poised and ready. The Hollow evades the attack and picks up Orihime’s chain of fate as it flies away, dragging Orihime along with him. Ichigo tries to attack its tail, but is flicked away easily out of the house. The Hollow orders Ichigo not to move, and tightens his grip on Orihime’s body, causing her to gasp. With his tail, he flicks Ichigo to the road below, and Rukia runs to him, asking if he is okay. Orihime, seeing Ichigo, struggles against her brother’s grip, shouting at him to let go of her. She stops suddenly as the Hollow asks if she has forgotten him, and rotates her body to look at him. She stares for a while then asks if he is her brother.

Ichigo gets up, his forehead bleeding slightly. Rukia reminds him, after assuring herself that he has no serious injuries, that even if the Hollow was once Orihime’s brother, he is now a heartless monster they have to eliminate. The Hollow puts Orihime down, as she asks him if it really is him. He affirms so, but Orihime says that it cannot be him – her brother would never do such a thing. He replies that he was lonely, seeing her gradually forget about him. Initially, she prayed at his shrine daily, and he, who was attaching, was happy. However, a year later, after befriending Tatsuki, the number of prayers she made dropped drastically. Finally, the prayers stopped altogether when she entered High School. Orihime tries to state her reasons, but he butts in and grabs her, saying that if she loves him, not to betray him anymore and to be obedient. It will not be long before he ends this by eating Ichigo. Orihime tries to plead with her brother that Ichigo is not a part of this, and not to hurt him anymore.

Her brother, enraged, grabs her once again, shouting at her, saying that it is her fault that it has come to this. He squeezes her, making her gasp, as he tells her to listen to him or be killed first. Ichigo returns, plunging his Zanpakutou multiple times into the Hollow’s tail. The Hollow drops Orihime, then tries to pick her up again. Ichigo cuts off its forearm, asking him if he knows why older brothers are born first. It is to protect the younger sisters and brothers who come after. Rukia rushes in, just in time to hear the end of his gallant speech. A big brother, therefore, can never tell his little sister that he will kill her, even if it costs him his life. The Hollow tells him to shut up, as Orihime belongs to him – he had raised and protected her in place of their parents who had abandoned them when she was three. He extends his hand to Orihime, telling her to come, and if she does listen to him, he will not hurt the others. Orihime starts towards him, but Rukia stops her, explaining that he no longer has her brother’s heart.

The Hollow notices her glinting hairpins, and memories of Orihime as a young child flood his mind. He begins to bang his head against the wall, then charges at Ichigo, declaring that Orihime belongs to him. Ichigo blocks his attack, forcing his mouth open as he says vehemently that Orihime is Orihime, not anyone’s possession. Pushing the Hollow back hard enough such that it flies out of the earlier hole made when the tables hadn’t yet been turned, he dashes to the hole, his Zanpakutou positioned above his head. He hesitates for a long while as the Hollow flies past, Rukia’s order to slay him coming too late. The Hollow spits poison from its mouth onto Ichigo’s hands, causing him to drop his Zanpakutou and fall down to the road. Ichigo, now unarmed, gets to his feet, as the Hollow flies towards him at high-speed, his mouth open wide.
The one who blocks the attack this time is Orihime, her arms around his neck as she apologizes for saying “Don’t leave me alone” that night, as that was why he could not go to heaven. She always knew that he was nearby, like the day before, when she was about to be hit by the car, it was he who pulled her leg, saving her. However, if she continued to rely on him, he would never rest peacefully. Therefore, she wanted to show him that she was happy, so that he would not worry. Instead, it had made him lonely.

She crumples and falls in front of him, her shoulder bleeding. He tells her it is not her fault, and his face begins to change back and forth between the Hollow’s mask and his original face as he screams. Rukia explains that he is struggling against the Hollow within, as he had not become one of his own volition, but was taken by other Hollows against his will. This was probably because they wanted to eat Ichigo, and purposely chose a soul he would find hard to fight, and after manipulating him, sent it after Ichigo. However, for his sister’s sake, the Hollow is now fighting against that Hollow.

With a cry of his sister’s name, the Hollow’s mask suddenly shatters, revealing the shocked face beneath. Orihime watches, tears in her eyes, before collapsing to the floor once again. Ichigo rushes to her side, but Rukia tells him and the Hollow to calm down, as she is not dead – the Chain of Fate on her chest is not yet broken. She then tells them to get back, as they are in her way. She says that she can still save Orihime with her demon magic.

As she puts her hand over Orihime’s shoulder and it (her hand) begins to glow. In the light of Rukia’s demon magic, Orihime’s hairpins wink at her brother. Noticing his reaction, Ichigo says that she wore them everyday as they were a present from him (brother). The Hollow stares a while more at Orihime, then turns around at picks up Ichigo’s Zanpakutou. He tells Ichigo that if he stays around like this, he will eventually return to being a monster. For that reason, while his mind is clear, he wants to disappear. He puts the tip of the Zanpakutou to his neck, and Ichigo tries to stop him. Rukia instead tells him that he has made the right choice, as Hollows cannot return to what they once were. Also, slaying a Hollow does not mean you kill it, but rather, that you wash away its sins, allowing it to go to Soul Society. That is why Shinigami exist.

Ichigo looks up at Orihime’s brother, who smiles and nods his head. Before he can kill himself, however, Orihime stops him. She tells him that on the day he bought the hairpins, she fought with him as she thought them childish. She did not say anything as he went to work, and by some stroke of luck, that was their goodbye. As her hairpins shine again, she adds that this time, she wants to say it properly, and sits up, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Brother, see you later.”
Her brother smiles once more, and returns the farewell before thrusting the Zanpakutou into himself and dissipating. The Zanpakutou falls to the floor and Orihime begins to weep on Rukia.

The next day, Orihime seems to believe that the previous night, a Sumo champion had come to her home and blasted a hole in the wall with a gun. Her friends find the story unrealistic, and ask her to come up with something else. Orihime insists that the story is 100% true, and surprisingly, Tatsuki confirms the truth of the story. Ichigo and Rukia stand at a distance, Rukia in particular “admiring” her deed. Ichigo asks her if this is what she did that night, when she put a lighter-like device in front of Orihime’s face and pressed a button, making a puff of smoke go up in her face, as well as the head of a duck on a spring. Orihime collapses as Rukia explains to the astounded Ichigo that the device is a memory modifier. Using that, she had erased Orihime’s memories of that night and put in a replacement, as she had done with Ichigo’s family previously. As already revealed, the one downside is that the replacement memory is random.

Ichigo is silent, then he says that as of yet, he cannot say he is prepared, as he is not a saint who can say he will risk his life to protect strangers. Neither is he scum that sits quietly by while people are hurt before his eyes. He extends his hand for Rukia to shake, saying that he would like to help her with Shinigami work. Rukia smiles, then takes his hand, and says that she looks forward to it.

Bleach Episode 002 - A Shinigami's Work!

In a world of pink, a figure becomes bigger, nearing its target. “Gooood Mooorning, Iiichigooo!” It is Ichigo’s father (Isshin), greeting Ichigo violently as always. Ichigo evades and grabs Isshin’s face, pinning him to the floor. Isshin praises him, saying that he has no more to teach him. Ichigo realizes that it is the next morning after his fight with the Hollow, and immediately asks Isshin how his sisters’ injuries are. Isshin is baffled as to what injuries they could possibly have, much to Ichigo’s bewilderment.

The two soon find a large hole in their wall, apparently caused by a truck ramming into their house last night. Despite this, no one was injured, nor did anyone even wake up. As a result, the truck driver got away scott-free. Ichigo is astounded that his sisters’ injuries had disappeared, and that his whole family seems to think that the house was damaged by a truck. He labels this as “Shinigami after-care”, as his sisters walk back into the house, asking him to do the same or risk being late for school. Ichigo wonders if Rukia had returned to Soul Society.

In school, two girls, one with long chestnut-colored hair, and the other with spiky black hair walk along the corridor. The long-haired girl, Orihime, has brought an odd lunch of fish-shaped sweetbean bread and ramen with wasabi and honey. The other, Tatsuki, is a bit taken aback by the image of her lunch in her mind, and turns down the offer to share it. Ichigo accidentally knocks down Orihime, and instead of apologizing, merely says that it’s “just” her. Tatsuki scolds him for not apologizing, and Ichigo, asking if she’s alright, extends his hand to Orihime. Orihime gets up immediately on her own, perhaps a bit afraid of his face. She then starts muttering some intelligible stuff and runs off, still muttering. Tatsuki asks him why he is late, and he walks off, saying that he will tell her later.

In their classroom, 1-3, one of Ichigo’s friends, Keigo asks him if the rumor that a truck had crashed into his house was true. Ichigo confirms the rumor, and another, Mizuiro, asks if they had finished cleaning up. Ichigo says that would be impossible, and his big-sized friend, Chad, offers to help, but is refused. A girl walks up to the 4 friends, who continue their conversation, and her hairstyle seems somewhat familiar.

She asks in a very fake voice if he is Kurosaki-kun, and as Ichigo turns around and looks at her, he gets the shock of his life. The girl standing before him in school uniform is the Shinigami from the previous night! She says that she will be sitting next to him, and he, having recovered from the shock, stands and points at her, unable to form a coherent sentence. His 4 friends ask if he knows the new transfer student, and Rukia replies that this is the first time they have met. Rukia extends her hand for Ichigo to shake, and angles her hand slightly such that she can see a message written on it: Make a scene and I’ll kill you!

Later, Ichigo asks Rukia what she is doing and why she speaks in that disgusting way. She explains that the night before, she had learnt how to speak “modern” Japanese. In addition, he had sucked dry almost all her Shinigami powers, making her unable to return to Soul Society, and forcing her to get into a faux body. Faux bodies are temporary bodies that Shinigami enter when they are weakened and awaiting the recovery of their powers. This is how everyone could see her.

She then announces gleefully that until her powers return, he will take over her job as Shinigami, as he is the one with the powers. Ichigo promptly refuses, damning himself should he have to fight another Hollow again. Rukia says that he had fought well last night, but Ichigo claims that this is only because his family was being attacked. He would not fight that way for strangers. Ichigo apologizes and walks away, but does not walk far before Rukia pulls on a red glove with the emblem of a skull on it. She pushes Shinigami Ichigo out of the flesh Ichigo. Though Ichigo is flabbergasted by the separation of his soul from his body, he listens to her and follows her to a playground, near which flowers have been laid.

Ichigo asks how far they will be going, and Rukia replies that it is near. She has received orders from Soul Society, and a Hollow will be arriving to attack a plus in this park. True enough, they hear a scream, and see a little boy ghost running from a spider-like Hollow, which crashes through the various play items. The boy shouts for help, and Ichigo responds, running toward the Hollow and the boy. Rukia stops him, saying that the child is a total stranger, so Ichigo need not help him. He replies that that does not mean he can’t save the boy, as he is being attacked before his very eyes. Rukia tells him not to be selfish, and save only those he can see or reach. A Shinigami must be impartial to all souls. She tells him that if he wants to save this boy, then he must be prepared to save all other spirits as well, even if it means chasing them all around and sacrificing himself.

The boy slips and falls, and the Hollow raises a leg to stab the boy, but the leg is promptly severed by the monstrosity of a Zanpakutou, along with another leg. The Hollow falls backwards and disperses.

Rukia asks Ichigo if he is prepared, and Ichigo replies that he is not, and does not care. He had saved the kid because he wanted to. Was she not the same when she saved him that night at her own expense? Had she been thinking of her Shinigami “duty”? To him, risking one’s life is not for those reasons. The Hollow reappears and Ichigo swiftly kills it, piercing its mask. The boy sits up, breathing heavily, and seeing Ichigo, backs away in fear. Ichigo tells him that if he does not wish to be scared like that again, he should go to heaven. He then performs Soul Burial for the boy, which Rukia praises as “excellent”.

Orihime can be seen inside her apartment, reading a book. A depressed-looking spirit peers in through the window, and is disappointed when she draws the curtains. He turns around and sees two Hollows, which extend their tentacles and grab him. He is brought to the shadowy place from the 1st episode, where a dark figure over shrouds him, asking them to devour his soul. He begins to run, but a number of Hollows surround him and attack him with their tentacles, engulfing him. They suddenly leap away, and the lone figure of the ghost turns into a Hollow, and roars.

Rukia recites from a book of supposedly “modern” Japanese, annoying Ichigo to no end. He demands that she shut up and stop following him, but she says she will tail him until he agrees to do his Shinigami work. Ichigo nonchalantly walks off, just as they hear the screech of car tires behind them. They turn to see a blue car stop, then drive off, leaving a girl lying on the road behind it, her belongings strewn everywhere. Ichigo runs up to see if she is okay, and recognizes the girl to be Inoue. She too realizes that it is Ichigo. She thinks that she “probably” got hit by the car, but she is now totally revived, although the car is long gone. She suddenly realizes Rukia’s presence, but Rukia merely looks at her and asks Ichigo who the hell she is. An awkward Ichigo hisses that she is Inoue Orihime, from their class. Rukia immediately curtsies and politely greets Orihime, who does the same back. Rukia asks her if she had been to the market, unconsciously reminding her that the ingredients for her dinner are still on the road. She picks the green onions, butter, banana and sweetbean jelly up, glad that they are all uninjured. Ichigo wonders what her dinner will be.

Rukia notices an oddly shaped bruise on Orihime’s calf, and asks her about it. She kneels down to examine it despite Orihime saying that it doesn’t hurt. Orihime says that she has a very serious face, and asks if anything is the matter. Rukia hastily stands up and bids her farewell. Ichigo offers to walk Orihime home, but the latter turns it down. As Orihime crosses the street, Rukia retains her solemn expression.
As the two walk along the river, Rukia asks Ichigo if he is close to Orihime. Ichigo replies that they have never had a real conversation, but her best friend is his neighbor. However, three years ago, her big brother had died at their clinic. Rukia narrows her eyes as he continues; saying that Orihime’s only blood relative had been her brother, who met with a traffic accident. He had only recently discovered that the girl crying that night was Orihime. Rukia then asks how his spirit power was at the time, and Ichigo replies that it was not like the present, as he was only recently able to see and converse with ghosts so clearly.

Ichigo stops, asking what the questions are for, and Rukia continues to walk on, saying she is going “home”. Ichigo asks her where her “home” is, and she asks cheekily if he is curious to know, and if he isn’t, not to ask in the first place.
Orihime opens her apartment door to see Tatsuki standing there with a bowl of beef stew her mother had instructed her to give Orihime. Orihime tucks in happily into the stew, as Tatsuki comments that if it weren’t for them, she would eat ridiculous stuff like that on the table (the banana, green onion etc.) .

In the Kurosaki household, Ichigo sits on his bed reading a manga as Yuzu barges in, asking if he knows where her pajamas are. Ichigo chides her for not knocking, and tells her that he does not know the whereabouts of her pajamas. Yuzu says that he got meaner since entering high school, and that she is also missing a dress. As Ichigo complains that she asks him about everything, she shuts the door after wishing him a quick good night.

Rukia lies in a dark somewhere, appearing deep in thought as her phone suddenly begins to beep. She pulls it out from inside her shirt, just as Ichigo wonders what the beeping sound he hears is. Rukia stares at the phone, and when the screen color changes, so does her expression. Ichigo almost jumps out of his skin as his closet opens and Rukia shouts for him. Ichigo asks her what she is doing there, and those pajamas… Rukia pulls on the skull glove as she tells him that they have orders, and that “it” is coming. She pushes out his soul just as the hand of a Hollow smashes in through the wall and narrowly misses squishing Ichigo like a fly. The Hollow emerges fully and gives a loud roar as it breaks Ichigo’s bed. The Hollow attacks Ichigo, but he dodges, and draws his Zanpakutou. As he swings it, he destroys his ceiling, but doesn’t hit the Hollow. Instead, he is knocked back by its tail. He later manages to cut the Hollow on the arm, but Rukia tells him not to swing the Zanpakutou around recklessly. He again tries to attack the Hollow, this time managing to crack a bit of the mask. As the Hollow rears back in pain, screams, then escapes, Ichigo realizes that this is Orihime’s brother. Rukia tries to follow the Hollow, but stops when Ichigo does not budge.

Meanwhile, in the place where Hollows “live”, Orihime’s brother-turned-Hollow appears, writhing in pain due to its broken mask. However, the mask begins to form where it is missing, and once complete, the Hollow roars like a lion.
Rukia, having heard Ichigo’s reason, sighs and tells him that the fundamentals of Hollow vanquishing are as follows: crack its skull from behind in a single attack to reduce damage from the fight, and also to avoid seeing its identity. After all, Hollows are monsters that were once pluses. Ichigo is stunned by what he has learnt, but Rukia says that souls who still have feelings for the world refuse to accept burial by Shinigami, and wander, eventually surrounded by Hollows. They then become Hollows.

Tatsuki has just heard what happened to Orihime that day, and is shocked to hear about Ichigo being with Rukia, thinking that he is being too “quick with the girls”. She also mistakenly believes that he had not offered to walk an “injured girl” home. Orihime says that he did offer, then suddenly has a queer martial arts dream. The picture on her brother’s altar glints as there is a tremor of sorts. Orihime awakes from her dream and the two girls stare at the kitchen, from where a whipping sound seems to come. Orihime’s pink stuffed bear, suddenly drops to the floor. The two girls, Orihime now gripping Tatsuki’s sleeve, continue to sit, rooted to the floor in fear. The whipping sound continues as the Hollow roars, its red eyes turning orange.

Bleach Episode 001 - The day I became a Shinigami

A dark, rugged landscape with dark clouds in the sky and shadows dancing across the floor opens the first episode. A dark mass rises from the ground and shoots up into the sky, then hurtles down from the clouds into the town below. A black swallow-tailed butterfly flutters past the moon and a lone figure can be seen standing on a telephone pole. She senses a strong pulse and leaps to the adjacent telephone pole and the houses beyond.

A prostrate figure lies on the ground, and the deep voice of his companion can be heard asking the orange-haired assailant why he has asked them to get out of the way after kicking “Yama-chan” down. The assailant merely scratches his head, infuriating the hooligan to no end. The hooligan tries to punch him, but is kicked in the face before he can land the punch. He is then stamped on by the assailant as his other companions watch on in fear and disbelief. The assailant knocks the thug’s head into the ground, shouting at him to shut up and look at the base of a pole, where a vase of flowers has been knocked over. He asks the guy in the middle what it is, and he replies that it is a tribute for the child which died there recently. Despite answering accurately, he gets kicked down by the orange-haired boy. He then asks the remaining two how it could have fallen over, and they answer with shaking voices that they had been skateboarding and knocked it over. They are also kicked and dared to try it again by the assailant, who is now fiery with anger, and are promised that people will be laying flowers for them soon. They run away, their legs weak with fright.

Their assailant sighs and says that after being scared like that, they wouldn’t be back soon. The figure of a young girl hovers over the fallen vase as he tells her that he will bring her new flowers the next day. The girl thanks him, saying that she can now rest in peace. He rights the vase and walks away, telling her to go to heaven. As the girl disappears, he introduces himself as Kurosaki Ichigo, a 15-year-old High School freshman, whose family runs the town clinic. They save and don’t save lives, and perhaps because of that, he has been able to see ghosts as long as he can remember.

As he enters his house, he is greeted by his father, who kicks him in the face and reprimands him for coming home late, as their dinner time is 7 o’clock every night. Ichigo retorts that he was helping a ghost on the way home, but his father replies that no matter what the reason may be, whoever disrupts their family time will be punished. He also accuses Ichigo of bragging that he can see and interact with ghosts. Ichigo’s little sisters are eating in the background, and one of them, Yuzu, tries to get them to stop fighting as the food is getting cold. Karin, the other, tells her not to bother, and get her more rice. Ichigo punches his father so hard that he goes flying, and says that putting such a curfew on a healthy male High School student is unimaginable. Karin cuts him short, saying that he has a new friend. True enough, a ghost has appeared next to Ichigo, much to his annoyance as he complains about exorcising and exorcising, but yet they keep coming. Karin comments that he has it rough being “hi-spec”, which Yuzu, who can only sense their presence, envies. Karin does not believe in ghosts, despite also being able to see them (only Yuzu and their father can’t), so it’s like the ghosts never existed.

Ichigo is suddenly caught off-guard by his father, and another scuffle ensues. Ichigo wins again with a punch and walks upstairs to go to bed, albeit Yuzu calling after him. He puts his bag down on his chair and lies down on his bed as his family continues their conversation downstairs. Apparently, Ichigo has been seeing ghosts more frequently, and their father is shocked that Ichigo tells his two sisters such things and not him. Karin accuses him of communicating like a child despite being over 40, and he runs to a giant poster of his wife, complaining that perhaps because of puberty, Yuzu and Karin have become meaner.

The next morning, the news reports that one block past the train station, where there had been violent shaking of the ground followed by the faces of buildings being blown off. Ichigo walks into the dining room and greets his sisters, then, taking a slice of bread from the toaster, asks where their father is. Karin replies that he was having a meeting and would not be back that night. Ichigo watches the news, recognizing the affected area as one near where they are. He passes that area on his way to lay new flowers for the girl. He reaches the area and calls out to the girl but hears no reply save for a scream. He follows the direction of the scream, where another “explosion” takes place. As people run away from the area, he runs against the flow of people into the dust and smoke. The dust settles and a menacingly large creature donning a white mask can be seen. As Ichigo stares at it in wonder, the girl comes running towards him, and the two run away from the scene, chased by the spider-like being. The girl slips and falls, just as a black swallow-tailed butterfly flutters past his face. The woman who had stood atop the telephone post earlier appears and draws her sword. She draws her sword across its mask, landing swiftly next to Ichigo. She swiftly lifts off again, this time slicing the creature into half right down the center, and it dissipates into the air. She sheaths her sword as Ichigo calls out to her, but she ignores him and walks away as the crowd gathers to see what had happened.

That night, Ichigo lies in bed, his window open. He wonders who the woman was, just as a black swallow-tailed butterfly flutters into his room and the subject of his thoughts steps out of his wall onto his table. She totally pays no heed to his question as to her identity, and prepares to draw her sword again. He asks her what she wants, and he steps off his table onto the floor, saying that “it is near”. She is kicked in the back by Ichigo, who demands to know why she ignores him after scaring him out of his wits. She is stunned that this boy is able to see and even interact with her, and also recognizes him as the boy who she had seen in town earlier. Normally, no one should be able to see her at all. Ichigo tries to kick her, but she jumps and lands on his calf, using that as a platform to jump onto his head and off. She tells him that she is a Shinigami (death god).

The little girl from earlier is being chased by another of the huge creatures, which makes huge dinosaur-like footprints in the ground it walks on (think Jurassic Park).
The Shinigami has finished her explanation, in which she says that she is a Shinigami who has come from Soul Society to vanquish evil spirits like the earlier monster that had attacked the girl. However, Ichigo will not buy her story, and flips his little coffee table. The Shinigami says that he can see ghosts, so he should believe in the existence of Shinigami. Ichigo replies that he has never seen a Shinigami before, and he will not believe without seeing. Although he can see her, he will only go as far as to say she is not a human. He puts his hand on her head and calls her a “stupid brat”. She is pissed off by this remark as she, despite her looks, has lived almost 10 times as long as he. She performs a binding spell on him, and he falls to the floor with his hands crossed behind his back. It is demon magic, the noble magic only Shinigami can do. He is now unable to move. She says that she would kill him if she was not forbidden to harm people she is not ordered to.

To prove her story, she uses the back of her sword to put a chop on the male ghost Ichigo had seen the previous day. The ghost says that he does not want to go to hell, but she explains that he will go to relaxing Soul Society. He sinks into the ground and flies away as a black swallow-tailed butterfly. She explains that she has performed a “soul burial” on him, sending him to Soul Society. That is one of a Shinigami’s duties. She then draws out pictures to explain. There are 2 types of spirits in the world: Good spirits, or “Pluses”, and bad spirits like the monster, which are called “Hollows”. Hollows eat living and dead souls. Ichigo would like to know why her drawings are so crude, and this earns him marker-drawn moustaches by the Shinigami. She continues her explanation for “your Excellency Baron”. Shinigami have two main duties, the fist being to send pluses up to Soul Society, and the next being to eliminate Hollows, which even they do not fully understand.

The second Hollow is about to pick the little girl ghost up, when he smells two delicious spirits, one being that of a Shinigami, nearby. He abandons the girl and stomps away. Ichigo hears something and alerts Rukia, but she just says that a second Hollow is definitely roaming the area. Ichigo tells her to go kill that one too, but she says that recently, she has been unable to sense their presence, as if some huge power was hindering her senses. Ichigo shouts at her, asking her if she can hear the Hollow’s loud voice. She cannot, but does so later, confirming that this is the sound of a Hollow. They suddenly hear a scream, and Ichigo recognizes this to be that of Yuzu. The Shinigami runs out of the room but is stopped in her tracks by the huge spirit force coming up the stairs.

It stops, and an injured Yuzu stumbles up the stairs and outside Ichigo’s room, asking him to save Karin, before fainting. Ichigo is still bound and unable to move, but the Shinigami rushes down the stairs to face the Hollow. Karin is grasped tight between the Hollow’s hand, and the Shinigami draws her sword as Ichigo tumbles down the stairs. Ichigo gets to his feet, surprising the Shinigami, as he is moving even under her demon magic. Ichigo sees, through the hole in the wall, Karin and the Hollow, and is galvanized so greatly that he fights against the binds despite the Shinigami’s warnings that he will die if he attempts to force it. However, she is shocked to see him, a human being, dissolve the demon magic on his own in a flash of light. He breaks free and grabs a foldable chair. He tries to use the chair to smack the Hollow, but is knocked away by the Hollow as Karin yells at him to run away.

Ichigo is the one the Hollow has been looking for, so the Hollow tries to use a hand to squash Ichigo. Ichigo moves away in time and the Shinigami cuts the Hollow’s arm, causing it to scream in pain. It drops Karin into Ichigo’s waiting arms and disappears. The Shinigami tells him not to panic, as the Hollow has not eaten his sisters’ souls. It is only looking for souls with high spiritual powers, like him. Until of late, Ichigo’s spirit power was subdued to the lowest possible emission such that she did not sense him and no Hollows attacked him. The Shinigami hypothesizes that the spirit power unable to flow out of his body did so when he touched the girl ghost. The Hollows had followed the strength of his scent from the girl, and had been after him all along. For the same reason, his family had been attacked.

The Hollow reappears and she tells him to run away. He does not, and foolishly tries to challenge the Hollow. The Hollow attacks, but the Shinigami blocks the attack, and falls, a wound on her shoulder spewing blood, to the floor. She says that his strength is nothing against that, and did he think that everything would revert to normal if he gave up his soul? The Shinigami crawls to the lamppost and sits there, telling him that the only way to save his family now is for him to become a Shinigami. To do so, he must thrust her sword, or Zanpakutou (Soul Slayer), through his heart so that she can pour her powers into him. The Hollow roars as she continues to say that she is not sure if it will work. The Hollow advances and he takes on the offer, taking up her Zanpakutou.

She tells Ichigo that her name is not “Shinigami”, but Kuchiki Rukia. He tells her his name, then pierces his chest with the Zanpakutou. There is a violent burst of blue light, and the Hollow’s arm is suddenly severed. Before the Hollow stands Ichigo, wearing the same black kimono as Rukia had. In his hand, he holds a Zanpakutou much larger than Rukia’s. Rukia, now wearing a white kimono, is dumbfounded. She had only intended to give half her powers, but he had taken it all. She had never seen a human with enough spirit power to confuse a Shinigami’s senses, nor one that could break demon magic, let alone a Shinigami with such a large Zanpakutou.

Ichigo runs at the Hollow and cuts off its leg, then, as revenge for raising a hand at his family, kills the Hollow by slicing its mask.
Kurosaki Ichigo; 15 years old; Orange hair; Brown eyes; High School student; and also… Shinigami.