The Alchemist in Bleach

"I told you, right, Onii-chan?"

"..." Seeing Rukia's terrifying smile, Ichigo's lips twitched, and he sat down dejectedly. "I did say it, I did say it..."

Seeing this, everyone's expressions became somewhat subtle. This sibling relationship seemed rather strange...

......

"follow me!"

After class, Ichigo immediately rushed to Rukia's seat before everyone else, said something, and then walked towards the classroom door like a domineering CEO.

"???" Rukia looked at Ichigo's departing figure with some confusion, tilted her head, and then continued to tidy up her books.

She was quite interested in this, and there were some things she hadn't studied before. Aside from the humanities subjects, there were even some science subjects that she hadn't studied before. This was incredible to Rukia, who had been subjected to Ichiro's cramming-style test-taking tactics.

Her teacher actually possessed knowledge that he hadn't known before, but had already discovered...

The world is truly amazing!

"Um, Rukia, your classmate Kurosaki asked you to follow him. Is it okay if you don't go?" At this moment, a short-haired girl sitting in front of Rukia looked in the direction Ichigo had left, then looked at Rukia, and asked curiously.

"Never mind him, when is this course?" Rukia waved her hand casually, opened a physics book, and asked curiously, pointing to a chapter.

"Let me see... Physics... It's not until tomorrow. Are you interested in physics?"

"I'm interested in all things I don't know. By the way, what's your name?"

"Yamada Qingyu, you can just call me Qingyu. Like you, there are several other people in our class named Yamada."

"Yamada... I know so many Yamadas too~~ That's such a common surname." Rukia looked up at Yamada Shizuka in a daze and remarked.

"Right?" Yamada Qingyu tilted her head helplessly.

"Hello, Rukia, right? Are you Ichigo's cousin? I've never heard him mention you before." At this moment, Arisawa Tatsuki also brought Inoue Orihime over to scout out the "enemy's situation".

"Because the relationship is quite distant, in fact we only recently found out about it, just as we were about to come here to study," Rukia said, making up a story without batting an eye.

"Oh, is that so? How about we have lunch together? My little sister is my little sister!" Arisawa Tatsuki patted his chest.

"Thank you, but let's do it another day. My cousin Ichigo and I have somewhere to go at noon. Sorry."

"It's alright, it's alright, I just arrived..."

Then, the group started chatting about all sorts of things, and even Inoue Orihime managed to chime in with a few words.

Therefore, when Ichigo stormed back to the classroom, seeing Rukia mingling with everyone, he twitched his lips. This girl...

"Yiji, do you two have that kind of relationship? Like...?"

"Pfft~"

"Waaaaah!!"

As soon as Ichigo walked in, Asano Keigo leaned in and asked mysteriously, only to be elbowed by Ichigo and knocked to the ground. Kojima Mizuiro watched helplessly, thinking, "This guy really doesn't learn his lesson!"

.......

During the break afterward, Ichigo didn't call Rukia again, but just stared at her from the side. Time passed slowly, and soon it was noon.

In the present world, at Karakura Town, at Karakura First High School, the place where Makoto fought, Ichigo and Rukia are standing together by the railing, gazing into the distance with deep eyes.

I'm hungry.

"Me too."

After their composure was broken, the two quickly turned around, sat on the ground, and opened their lunchboxes.

"Huh?" Ichigo glanced at Rukia's lunchbox out of the corner of his eye, somewhat surprised. "Why is it a rabbit? Shouldn't you like rabbits?"

Ichigo stared in surprise at Rukia's lunchbox, which was arranged in the shape of a rabbit's face.

"I do like bunnies, but this isn't a bunny." After a pause, Rukia continued, to Ichigo's astonishment, "Besides, I also quite like eating rabbit meat."

"!!!" Ichigo's half-open lunchbox suddenly stopped, and he stared in shock at Rukia, who was happily eating her bento box beside him. "You.....eat rabbit?!"

"..." Rukia suddenly stopped eating with the chopsticks she had brought to her mouth, her face showing an expression of discomfort as if she had eaten something disgusting.

"Um... what's wrong?"

"No, it just brought back some bad memories..."

"Related to rabbit meat? What happened?"

Rukia nodded, just about to say something, when suddenly a voice rang out.

"It's nothing, I just starved her for six days, then threw a plate of braised rabbit heads in front of her, and she ate it."

"Huh? Who are you!?" Ichigo jumped up from the ground and stood in front of Rukia, looking at the young man who had suddenly appeared on the rooftop.

"Teacher... Captain Ichiro? What brings you here?" Rukia stood up nervously, somewhat at a loss.

"Teacher...he's your teacher?" Ichigo turned to look at Rukia, then stared at Ichiro in shock. This was...one of the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society...?

"Teacher? Not at all. He can't even learn high-speed incantation. I wouldn't acknowledge someone like that as my disciple." Ichiro leaned against the wall, smiling as he looked at Rukia behind Ichigo. "Giving a human the power of a Shinigami without authorization, don't you know that's a grave crime?"

"I know, but I have no choice, I can only..." Rukia walked up to Ichigo, who was about to confront Ichiro, and said timidly.

"We were tricked, so we had no choice but to do this, is that what you're trying to say?"

Rukia clasped her hands in front of her and nodded timidly like a quail.

"But do you think those old men will listen to your explanation? No, they're just a bunch of cowardly politicians who bully the weak and fear the strong. When it comes to me and the Captain-Commander, whatever we say is right because we're in trouble. And you don't even have the right to stand in front of them and speak. I've told you before, the Vice-Captain is a big shot in the Thirteenth Division, but in the entire Seireitei, or even the Soul Society, he's nothing. My Kido Research Bureau can pull out a dozen Shinigami of your level at any time."

Ichigo looked at Ichiro, who was giving a lecture, and then at Rukia, who was being scolded. He was a little confused. Wasn't she supposed to be unworthy to be a disciple? Why did he feel like he was teaching her?

"Although I don't know your situation at the time, I can guess the general idea. You were ambushed and unable to use your power, and then the enemy arrived. So you had no choice but to risk giving your Shinigami power to this human with strong spiritual pressure to alleviate the crisis, right?"

"Well, this is the only way I can think of."

"Is this the only way you can think of?" Ichiro sighed, looking helplessly at Rukia. "Where's the gun I gave you? You didn't bring it with you?"

"Um, isn't that a toy?"

"...You treat a weapon that can fire Cero like a toy?" Ichiro looked at Rukia speechlessly. "Do you think I'm the kind of person who would give you toys?"

Rukia looked up at Ichiro, and although she didn't say anything, she conveyed her meaning; clearly, that's what she thought.

There's no way around it; after all, to cater to Rukia's tastes, Ichiro gave her a lot of gadgets with a strong girly vibe, making it hard not to treat them as toys...

Seeing Rukia's state, Ichiro sighed and said, "I'm not saying all this to blame you. Giving the power of a Shinigami to a human without authorization is a serious crime, but as I said before, this kind of thing is nothing to me. Those old men couldn't and wouldn't dare to give such an order. Besides, I don't even need to get involved; your brother can directly block all of this for you. But, you haven't forgotten, have you? What was the purpose of your hard training?"

Rukia fell silent. Had she forgotten?

No, although she now knows that surpassing Ichiro and her brother is an impossible task, as both of them are geniuses and work extremely hard.

But it's impossible for her not to care at all. She's a strong-willed person, and staying under Ichiro and Byakuya's protection all the time isn't what she wants.

"That's all I have to say. I won't say any more. I won't get involved in this matter. You'll have to handle it yourself. And as for what happens afterward, if you get wanted, I won't stand by your side. Let me see how much you've learned over the years."

After saying that, Ichiro glanced at a corner and disappeared with a faint smile, leaving Rukia with a look of surprise and Ichigo with a look of disappointment.

Rukia turned around, took a deep breath, looked at Ichigo, and said seriously, "Kurosaki Ichigo, what's your answer?"

"If you fail, will you die?"

"Probably. Since the teacher said that, he definitely won't interfere. He might even stop my brother. I know him; that's just the kind of person he is."

"So, what should I do?"

Rukia smiled and extended her right hand.

Ichigo extended his right hand, ready to shake hands with Rukia, but...

"Let's eat first."

"..." Ichigo awkwardly clenched his outstretched right hand, turned around and silently picked up the lunchbox. Hmm, that's right, eat first.

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Chapter 320 If a person is killed, will they die?

(Friendly reminder: For your health, please do not go to your browser while reading this chapter - left by the fat guy who just got back)

Opening his lunchbox, Ichigo was somewhat surprised to see Rukia happily eating her bento. This girl was completely different from just moments ago!

"Hey~ I'm talking about Rukia."

"Waaaaah~ What's wrong?"

"...Swallow it first...Never mind, are you that afraid of your teacher?"

"Woo-ga!"

"Huh? Oh, here's some water."

"Phew~" After gulping down a mouthful of water, Rukia let out a long sigh of relief. She had almost thought she was going to die...

"A teacher? I respect... no! I'm just afraid!" Rukia trembled, her face pale, as if recalling some unpleasant memory.

"Um, is it fear or respect?" Ichigo looked at Rukia with confusion. Ichiro had given him a pretty good impression just now. Although he was a strict teacher, he was genuinely considerate of her.

"I have some respect for him, after all, he really taught me a lot, but more than that... I'm afraid!"

"Afraid? Why? I think he's a nice person." Ichigo asked, puzzled, looking at Rukia who was trembling.

"Normally things are fine... Hey~ You know what? When someone is killed, they die."

"Um...that seems like a pointless statement..."

"Yes, that's how it is, but I've been killed."

Ichigo was initially startled and was about to offer some words of comfort when he realized what was happening. He looked at Rukia speechlessly and said, "You're a Shinigami, of course you've died... Isn't your world the world of the dead?"

Although Rukia's claim of being killed was also intriguing, looking at her petite body and the long years she had lived, he could roughly guess what era Rukia had lived in. Being killed in that era wouldn't be surprising.

"I mean, after I became Death, I was killed..."

"!!!" Ichigo's chopsticks suddenly stopped at his lips. He stared at Rukia in shock and said in disbelief, "It can't be..."

"Yes, it was the teacher who killed me... During sword training, the teacher beheaded me more than once... I still can't forget the scene of watching my headless corpse slowly fall..."

"Gulp~" Ichigo swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly as he said, "Then now you..."

"He was simply resurrected. My teacher was the most skilled healer in Soul Society, once known as the God of Medicine. He could bring the dead back to life and even reverse aging. So now, the statement that 'people die when they are killed' is wrong. People aren't necessarily killed. This is... my personal experience..."

This firsthand experience was truly unpleasant... Is this the price of power? But she doesn't even seem that strong...