"Why do you say that?"
"Because..." Rukia began tentatively, meeting Shinobu Kocho's calm gaze. "These past few days, whenever the jailers or other visitors mention the human who took my Soul Reaper powers... or the fact that I'm going to be executed..."
"Their reactions range from anger and contempt to curiosity, but you are different, Sister Shinobu."
"When I brought up the name Ichigo a few days ago and chatted with you about how we met..."
"Your eyes... it seemed like you took it for granted. You were never surprised."
Rukia hesitated for a moment before finally saying it. "Do you... know Ichigo?"
Shinobu Kocho remained silent for a moment, placing the medical instruments back into her kit with her usual gentle movements.
The smile on her face slowly faded, and her eyes, which were usually curved into crescent moons, slowly opened to reveal a deep, complex light.
"A woman's intuition... is truly terrifying, Rukia."
She did not deny it.
Because it was the truth.
Not only did she know Ichigo Kurosaki, but she had known of the boy's existence even earlier than Rukia.
It all traced back to a night eighteen years ago.
Eighteen years ago, in the World of the Living, after the disaster in Fuyuki City.
When Asuka was swept into the spacetime crevice in order to sever the bindings of the Heaven's Feel.
Shinobu Kocho felt as if half her world had collapsed.
Like a soulless puppet, she was forcibly brought back to the Soul Society by Rangiku Matsumoto.
During that time, she searched like a madwoman for any information regarding alternate worlds and parallel spacetimes.
She even defied the Fourth Division's ban and infiltrated the Great Spirit Book Gallery multiple times.
But she found nothing.
Until late one night a month later, a black Hell Butterfly quietly landed on her windowsill.
It was a message from Kisuke Urahara.
That night, Shinobu Kocho did not hesitate to violate the rules of the Soul Society.
Using the connections she had built in the Fourth Division, she forged an investigation permit for the World of the Living and secretly passed through the Senkaimon.
Karakura Town, Urahara Shop.
Underground training ground.
"You're here, Miss Kocho," Kisuke Urahara said, pulling down the brim of his hat, his expression unusually serious.
"Where is he?" Shinobu cut straight to the chase. "You can find him, right?"
"Unfortunately, I actually cannot pinpoint his coordinates." Urahara shook his head and spoke frankly. "That magic circle is an entity from another world."
"Based on our previous experience at Funbari Hill..."
"Our friend Asuka... most likely traveled to a similar world, or is drifting in some crevice between time and space."
"Lost in spacetime?" Shinobu muttered, slumping weakly onto the ground.
Seeing Shinobu's face instantly turn ashen, Urahara added, "However, since he could come here once, he can come a second time."
"I've already vaguely grasped a pattern. I've placed the areas with recent abnormal Reishi reactions under strict surveillance."
"I suspect the next time a rift opens, it will be in either Shibuya or Sarayashiki."
He turned sideways, showing Shinobu the bizarrely shaped equipment behind him, each emitting electronic hums.
"Since he made a promise, I believe that man will definitely return."
"Besides, I didn't call you here just to tell you this..."
Kisuke Urahara led Shinobu Kocho out of the shop and arrived at an ordinary street in Karakura Town.
It was the entrance to the Kurosaki Clinic.
"That's..." Shinobu's pupils shrank sharply as she looked at the stubble-faced man smiling foolishly while busying himself inside the clinic.
'Isshin Shiba?!'
'The Captain of the Tenth Division who went missing a few months ago?!'
"Shh," Urahara hushed her, raising a finger to his lips. "Right now, he is Isshin Kurosaki, an ordinary doctor and a human who is about to fall in love with a Quincy."
"A Quincy? A human?" Shinobu's mind was in utter chaos.
She had been in the Soul Society for some time now, so she naturally knew about the grudge between Quincies and Soul Reapers.
She never expected that the missing man would actually be here...
"To save that Hollowfied Quincy girl, he gave up his Soul Reaper powers," Urahara explained, his expression turning solemn as he pointed at Masaki Kurosaki inside the clinic.
"The union of a Soul Reaper and a Quincy... the future of their child is destined to be anything but ordinary."
"Why are you specifically telling me this?"
"Because of Asuka's final warning." Urahara turned around, looking straight into Shinobu's eyes. "Remember? Beware of Sosuke Aizen."
At the mention of that name, Shinobu's body trembled involuntarily.
That Captain of the Fifth Division, who was always gentle and refined, and even showed the utmost care for her and the Ubuyashiki family...
He was actually someone Asuka specifically warned them about... What exactly was going on?
Consequently, she had been avoiding Aizen these past few days, terrified that he would notice something amiss.
"I spent some time investigating," Urahara said in a deep voice. "Although there is no direct evidence, the Hollow incident that caused Isshin to lose his powers... the man behind it should be him."
"He is conducting some kind of experiment, an experiment to break the boundary between Soul Reapers and Hollows."
"He attempted something similar decades ago..."
As he spoke, he told Shinobu a terrifying, long-sealed secret from the past.
She had heard rumors of this incident as well.
Former Third Division Captain Rojuro Otoribashi, Fifth Division Captain Shinji Hirako, Seventh Division Captain Love Aikawa, Ninth Division Captain Kensei Muguruma...
As well as former Eighth Division Vice Captain Lisa Yadomaru, Ninth Division Vice Captain Mashiro Kuna, Twelfth Division Vice Captain Hiyori Sarugaki...
And Vice Kido Chief Hachigen Ushoda. All of them had been reduced to Hollowfied aberrations due to an extremely evil [Hollowfication Experiment].
Furthermore, according to the ruling of Central 46, the Hollowfied individuals were to be executed under the same protocols used for dealing with Hollows.
To think that this was also Aizen's doing...
"Fortunately, Yoruichi used her authority in the Onmitsukido to bypass the Seireitei's barriers and patrols, allowing me to smuggle them out of the Soul Society. Otherwise, they would have all died there..." Urahara recalled with lingering fear.
"So, Miss Kocho, Asuka's warning stems exactly from this."
"Although I don't know what kind of grudge exists between him and Aizen, it's obvious that he is one of the few people who knows that guy's true colors."
Urahara stroked the stubble on his chin, speaking with some worry. "I'm a bit concerned. Asuka and you... have likely already entered Aizen's sights..."
"He must be very interested in you two... and his interest usually spells danger."
And so, that night in Karakura Town, Shinobu Kocho and Kisuke Urahara forged a secret alliance.
"I will stay in the Soul Society, in the Fourth Division." Shinobu's eyes shifted from confusion to determination.
She didn't know what Asuka had experienced, but it had to be an immense hatred for him to disregard everything and warn her at the very last moment.
Asuka's enemy was her enemy.
A protective fire burned in her eyes. "I will become your eyes and watch Aizen's every move. In return, you must tell me immediately if you discover anything about Asuka."
"If Aizen is truly plotting some conspiracy... I will stay on guard and wait for the moment he bares his fangs."
"For Asuka, and for everyone."
From then on, Shinobu Kocho became Kisuke Urahara's deepest informant within the Soul Society.
She silently watched as Aizen continued to play the perfect Captain, smiling more sincerely than anyone else in front of him, burying her killing intent deep within her heart.
But strangely enough, the man acted as if he were genuinely dedicated to being a good person.
Over the years, aside from giving lectures, he spent his time handling official duties in the barracks...
What exactly was he plotting?
A few years later, she learned of Ichigo Kurosaki's birth and even sent a congratulatory gift to the Kurosaki family.
Unfortunately, peace was short-lived. His mother, Masaki, was ambushed and killed by a Hollow when he was nine years old.
She watched as Ichigo Kurosaki gradually grew up.
And through Urahara, she also learned of every little thing that had recently happened to the boy.