267 267. A Second Spirit?

A couple of days passed.

Hanako woke up a day after her treatment. However her body was seriously fatigued, for a full recovery Shinobu had prepared a routine medical therapy for her.

Checking Hanako's body once more Shinobu put down her hand.

"Thank you."

Hanako said weakly.

Shinobu smiled and said, "You've said this so many times already."

Hanako replied seriously, "No matter how many times I express my gratitude it will never be enough. If not for you, my son...

Shinobu gently patted her arm, "It's fine. Just focus on recovering."

She made sure Hanako was comfortable before walking out. When she reached the hall she saw Chojo playing with a baby. The kid was very adorable.

"Little Shin likes you."

She commented.

Chojo laughed when he heard her, "What can I say, kids love me."

"Where is Leo?"

"He went to the super to get some drinks."

She nodded before taking her leave.

Taking the elevator she reached the lobby. When she walked to the super she saw Leo walking out with several cans of beer.

"You wanted something?"

He asked when he saw Shinobu.

Shinobu shook her head, "No. Just bored. I thought I would take a walk."

Leo smiled. He took her hand and started to aimlessly walk around the area. Without knowing they reached a park. Several kids were playing football.

Both of them sat down and opened a can for themselves. They enjoyed the game and wasted time.

When the game was near it's end Leo raised an eyebrow and looked at the north end of the park.

He saw a man floating near a tree watching the game.

Another spirit?

Leo was surprised. This was the second one he saw after reaching this world. Was it that easy to encounter these entities?

He used his spiritual sense to observe the man and found something different. Hanako's chain was long and had a stable space at it's broken end, however this one was very short and crumbling.

The process seemed very slow but it was happening nonetheless.

He slightly shocked the man with his spiritual energy. The man shuddered. He looked up and saw Leo beckoning towards him.

The man hesitated for a moment and went towards them.

"Are you dead or alive?"

Huh?

The man was confused when he heard Leo.

"Dead. I died from a heart attack."

Though he was confused he still answered. His tone was low and he looked sad.

"One of the boys down there is your son?"

The man nodded. He pointed to a kid wearing a green t-shirt.

"That's my son."

Leo didn't know how to continue the conversation. He was clueless as to what to do with this spirit.

Just at that moment a shadow fell into park. The fall was strong and raised a cloud of dust. The kids stopped playing and looked at what was happening with a confused look.

Leo's eyes narrowed. He saw an evil presence that was very large and had a milky bone mask on its face.

"What's that?"

He asked.

The man shook his head and replied nervously, "I don't know."

The creature looked around and finally settled on the kid with the green t-shirt. It walked towards him.

The kids couldn't see what was happening. They all looked at the clouds of dust rising from the ground as the creature walked.

The man's son seems to have noticed something. He focused his eyes trying to capture a blurry figure walking towards him.

"Who are you?"

He asked innocently. However the creature didn't reply. When it reached him it raised it's massive arms, trying to grab the kid.

Just when it was about to succeed Leo flashed infront of him.

He raised his right arm and slashed down. The air rippled for an instant. The creature came to a halt. It's body slowly split up from the middle.

The split part started to crumble and disappear.

Leo disappeared just as he appeared. The kids only saw a flash for a split second. All of them looked around, confused as to what happened just a second ago.

But kids were kids. They soon forgot about it and started to play again.

"Thank you."

The man bowed and thanked Leo.

"It's fine."

He picked up the empty beer cans and threw them to wastebin.

"Nice meeting you. We'll be leaving."

He said goodbye to the man and was about to leave when someone landed at the edge of the park.

Leo paused and looked at the newcomer.

It was a young man with orange hair. He wore black clothes and had a really large sword on his back.

Leo's eyes narrowed when he saw the sword. He felt a different vibe from it. It was clearly a sword and yet it was so different from all the others he had seen before.

The young man sensed Leo's gaze and looked at him. He was surprised someone could see him. He went towards them and asked.

"Did you guys see a nasty guy around here?"

Leo pointed to the playground and said, "I took care of it."

The young man was surprised and asked, "You killed a hollow? But I don't see your zanpakuto."

"Zanpakuto?"

Seeing Leo's confusion the young man was surprised, "You don't know what a zanpakuto is? Then how did you kill it?"

Leo asked back, "You need a zanpakuto to kill that thing?"

The young man nodded, "Well, yeah."

As they were talking a girl rushed to the park. She looked around and saw the floating spirit as well as the young man talking to Leo.

A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes. She went towards them and asked, "Who is this, Ichigo?"

The young man named Ichigo was stunned for a second. He let out an embarrassed smile and asked, "Sorry, I forgot to ask your names."

Leo smiled, "No worries. My name is Leo, this is my wife, Shinobu. It's nice to meet you both."

Ichigo also spoke, "My name is Ichijo, this is Rukia."

Leo nodded. He asked, "What's this zanpakuto you spoke of? Is it the sword you have on your back?"

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah. Hollows can only be injured using these things."

Rukia suddenly elbowed him and whispered in his ear, "Why are you giving out such information to a civilian?"

Ichigo whispered back, "He killed that hollow."

"Say what?"

Ichigo confirmed, "He killed that hollow we were chasing."

Rukia was stunned. She looked at Leo over and over but found nothing as to how this man managed to kill a hollow.

"You really killed it?"

Leo nodded and asked, "Is it that hard to believe?"

"Well...

Rukia didn't know where to start. Just as she was organising her thoughts Leo asked.

"Can you explain what's going on with this man?"

Rukia looked at the man with the crumbling chain and said, "This is an earth bound spirit. Due to extreme regret or some other emotions he couldn't let go of this world and move on."

"I see...

In that case Hanako must be an exception. She was still alive but in a coma. Her spirit was tightly bound to her body through that stable space.

A lot of questions he had on his mind was answered.

Ichigo spoke to man, "Sir, it's time for you to move in. If that chain completely crumbles you will turn into that creature you saw."

The man was shocked. A moment later he realised his time was up. He looked at his son for one last time and nodded at Ichigo.

Ichigo raised the hilt of his sword and tapped it on the man's forehead. His spirit glowed and disappeared into the sky.

Rukia was still observing Leo and Shinobu. She couldn't sense any spiritual pressure from these two, but if these two didn't have any spiritual energy then how did they kill a hollow?

"Say, I've a lot of questions. Would you mind clearing it for me?"

Rukia asked, "What questions?"

Leo pointed to Ichigo, "First of all, he is the same as that man, a spirit. But why does he not have any chains on his chest?"

Rukia asked back, "You know he is in his spirit form?"

Leo nodded.

Rukia was getting curious as to what this man was.

"He is a shinigami. His job is to take care of wandering souls and hollows. His soul is special, that's why he can exist outside his body without those chains."

Leo captured that special word again.

Shinigami.