The young man sprinted through the trees, faster than any normal person could see. But normal people couldn't see him anyway. The shinigami turned to face it's opponent, zanpakuto in hand, then leaped to meet the hollow's charge.
The ripple spread throughout the entirety of Karakura town, starting as a small glitch before becoming a huge burst of static. Rukia tapped her detector.
"Damn, another bunch of static" She said to herself before putting it away in her pocket, "Hey, Ichigo! I think there's something wrong with my detector, I'm going to go get Urahara to look at it, keep patrolling and tell me if anything weird pops up"
"What?! Don't just order me ar—GAH!" His complaint was cut short by a sudden jab to his side from Rukia, "H-Hey! What the hell was that for?!" He yelled at her as she walked away.
"Stop complaining and do it" She said back to him as she walked away, leaving Ichigo completely fazed as to what was going on.
"Hey! Urahara!" She yelled as she burst through his door, he was sitting behind the small counter of his shop, reading something.
"Oh, Rukia! Hi! I was expecting you to come around!" He said as she entered "Everyone has been complaining about strange static signals and you were the only one who hasn't come in yet."
She slammed the detector onto the counter and glared at the old man in front of her.
"Well?" she said impatiently.
"If you had let me finish, I would have told you that they are all fine and I haven't seen any strange signals at all" He said dismissively "Probably just someone getting angry at a hollow somewhere"
"Well it had better be a bloody strong hollow!" She snapped, getting annoyed at him, "These static bursts are ridiculous, and I haven't picked up a single hollow for ages!"
"Well, just wait, I'm sure it will die down eventually" He said flatly "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some rather pressing business to deal with" he said as he started to walk away.
"Tch" she said as she walked out, what possible 'business' could that old man have anyway, she was pretty much his only customer these days.
"Ichigo! Look!" Shouted Kon from Ichigo's shoulder. The hollow was hugely built, and was clearly strong, but it wasn't anything special. He quickly jumped forward, and swung his sword upwards, cleaving the monster in two before letting it fall to the ground and disintegrate. He walked over to the small boy that had been the hollow's target.
"Hey, It's time to go to soul society" He said "If you don't go, more creatures like this will come after you" The boy shrunk away from him as he lifted the hilt of his zanpakuto.
"But I…" The boy stammered "I want to go home"
"Sorry kid, but there's nothing back there for you" he said, watching the expression fade on the child's face, then quickly performing the soul burial. "Rukia" he muttered "Where the hell are you?"
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