Although Karakura General Hospital was the best hospital in Karakura Town, whenever something urgent happened nearby, most people still chose Kurosaki Clinic first.
It was closer, and the fees were relatively cheaper.
On top of that, there were rumors that the doctors here had a good relationship with the director of Karakura General Hospital. Aside from major surgeries that required advanced equipment, most cases could be handled without issue.
When Ichigo Kurosaki got home from school, he saw his younger sister rushing past with a medical kit, her face full of urgency.
Yuzu Kurosaki, her light brown short hair neatly trimmed, was dressed in a nurse's uniform, a red hairpin tucked by her ear. "Move aside, Nii-san!"
"What's wrong, Yuzu?" Ichigo Kurosaki asked in surprise. "Is it an emergency?"
"Out of the way!" Karin Kurosaki, her short black hair bouncing, shoved a gurney forward as she charged past.
"Wha—" Ichigo Kurosaki watched Karin Kurosaki rush into a treatment room, then turned back to Yuzu. "Why is everything so chaotic?"
"It's a car accident!" Yuzu Kurosaki pointed urgently. "There was an accident at the intersection over there!"
"A car accident..." Ichigo Kurosaki frowned, just as his father's voice rang out from the other side.
"What? Didn't I tell you already? We need four beds!" Isshin Kurosaki roared into the phone. "Is that really so hard? Use your head! The patients here have only received basic emergency treatment! Are you listening?! Tell your director this is Kurosaki's request! Then the bed issue won't be a problem! Got it?!"
He slammed the phone down, still fuming. "Damn it! Those idiots just keep pushing responsibility around!"
"D-Dad..." Ichigo Kurosaki cautiously poked his head out. "Is there anything I can help with...?"
"No!" Isshin Kurosaki snapped. "Stay to the side and don't get in my way!"
Ichigo Kurosaki crouched against the wall in frustration, watching his two younger sisters, still only in fifth grade, rush around nonstop.
"Another critically injured patient!" Isshin Kurosaki shouted. "Ichigo! Come help! Get him inside!"
"Coming!" Ichigo Kurosaki jumped up and rushed over. The moment he saw the injured person, his eyes widened. "Chad?!"
"Ichigo..." Yasutora Sado struggled to open his eyes, still gripping the birdcage in his hand.
Inside, the cute parakeet tilted its head, its bright eyes locking onto Karin Kurosaki.
"Ah..." Yuzu Kurosaki covered her mouth at the horrifying bloodstains across Yasutora Sado's back. "He's hurt so badly..."
Ichigo Kurosaki's brows knit tightly. From the wounds on Yasutora Sado's back, he sensed a presence that felt disturbingly familiar.
It felt like...
"These injuries are severe. Almost like burn wounds." Isshin Kurosaki examined him carefully. "And the bleeding won't stop. You can't move right now."
"I... I..." Ignoring Isshin Kurosaki's warning, Yasutora Sado forced his clothes back on. "It's already... fine..."
"Don't talk nonsense! You're bleeding this much and you think it's fine?!"
Yasutora Sado stubbornly stood up and took a step toward the door.
Then he collapsed right at the entrance.
"See?! What did I tell you!" Isshin Kurosaki shouted. "Yuzu! Karin! Get a bed ready!"
"Okay!" Yuzu Kurosaki urged. "Just lie down properly!"
Ichigo Kurosaki helped lift Yasutora Sado onto the hospital bed. When he turned around, he noticed Karin's face looked a little off. "Karin, are you okay?"
"I... I'm fine..." Karin Kurosaki shook her head, a faint sheen of sweat forming on her forehead.
"Go rest for a bit. I'll take care of things here." Ichigo Kurosaki sent her back to her room, then pulled out his phone and dialed Muten Natsu.
Earlier, Muten Natsu had said he would go to Yasutora Sado's house that night to perform Konsō. Now that Chad was here instead, Ichigo Kurosaki knew he had to let him know.
But the line was busy. The call didn't go through.
Was Muten Natsu on the phone with someone else?
"I see." After listening to Orihime Inoue's account, Muten Natsu put his phone down, a rough conclusion forming in his mind. "The one who killed Yūichi Shibata must have been that murderer from back then."
"That murderer became a Hollow," Rukia Kuchiki said, her expression filled with pity. "And then killed the child."
"So my earlier suspicion was right." Muten Natsu put his phone away. "That Hollow really did use the child as bait. But unlike the previous Hollows, its target wasn't people with high spiritual density. It was Shinigami."
Rukia Kuchiki suddenly understood. "That explains why the child's soul was placed inside the parakeet. During Konsō, the soul has to be separated first. In that process, the child would talk about how he ended up like this."
"And any Shinigami who hears that, wanting to stop a Hollow operating outside Soul Society's control, would stay by the parakeet and wait for it to appear." Muten Natsu grasped how serious the situation was. "That Hollow is very confident in its own strength, and it's probably succeeded before."
"Wait!" Rukia Kuchiki realized something else. "If that's the case, then the Hollow's goal isn't to kill quietly without drawing attention. There'd be no reason to wait until night to act!"
"Then Chad is in danger right now!" Muten Natsu grabbed his phone to call Ichigo Kurosaki, only for Ichigo's call to come in first.
"Natsu! My sister, she..." Ichigo Kurosaki looked anxiously at Karin Kurosaki, unconscious in his arms.
Like Ichigo Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki also possessed spiritual power.
Because they were close in age, the memories buried deep within the soul attached to the parakeet flowed into her mind through spiritual power during that brief moment of eye contact.
In her dream, Karin Kurosaki was completely unable to move. She was being held tightly by a woman covered in blood.
Using her own body to shield Karin Kurosaki, the woman crawled painfully across the floor, desperately avoiding the sharp blade that kept stabbing down at her.
"Come on! Don't give up! Just a little more! Crawl, keep crawling!" The crazed man drove the knife into the woman's back. His blood-smeared face twisted as his eyes bulged wide. "If you stop running, I'll kill your child!"
He pulled the knife out and stabbed again. "A mother's supposed to protect her child, right? Right?! Come on! You're such a great mother!"
The woman shielded Karin Kurosaki, trembling as she crawled forward. "Don't be scared…" her voice was faint. "Mom's not hurt…"
Behind her, a long trail of dark red blood stretched from the living room all the way to the balcony.
"Hey, change direction." The man brought the knife down again. "I told you to change direction!"
Another stab fell.
This time, the woman didn't move anymore.