Chapter 4

- Haven't seen you for a long time, Moon! "Back on the surface of Hueco Mundo, my mood was on the same level as Moon. Not only had a bite to eat with four shinigami, but also had a good time! Oh yes, I was so carried away by the process that I did not even see how the shinigami meat is digested there?

Having quickly scanned the surroundings and made sure that there was no one around, I lay down on the soft sand and listened to my streams of reiatsu. What the fuck ?! Having jumped involuntarily, I even lost concentration from what I saw! However, I quickly corrected it, returning to the review. And there was something to look at: the shinigami meat, like the meat of the Adjuchas, turned into a compacted mass of reishi, but the Adjuchas did not mix with the mass of the reishi. Just the opposite! Until now, inert to all influences, the mass of the Adjuchases' reishi was now spitting out "perfect" reeshes like a fountain of water! The same thing happened with the reishi shinigami, but only if the reishi shinigami were washed out of my body by streams of reiatsu, then the reishi of the Adjuchas, as it should be, replaced my own reishi.

Hmm ... It seems that Shinigami and Hollow reishi are incompatible, and with such contact, the eaten masses of reishi simply destroy each other. On the one hand, this is bad, because in this case, the eaten Adjuchas will feed me for a much shorter period of time, and accordingly, I will have to hunt even more often, but on the other hand ... On the other hand, the flesh of the shinigami can be viewed as a catalyst for evolution! The four eaten shinigami provided me with as many "perfect" reishi as several hundred eaten and carefully digested Adjuchas! No, of course for the full effect I need both Shinigami and Hollow flesh, but getting Adjuchas flesh is not difficult at all. Shinigami is another conversation ... Sitting in the Forest of Menos and waiting for another group to wander into Hueco Mundo? Rave! Waste of time! But I need shinigami! You can say I got a taste ... Well, where can I get this delicacy? In the world of the living? No, it won't do: there are too few of them, and if the patrols begin to disappear, then you see, they will send the captain there, and I don't want to compete with these guys. Soul Society remains. Madness? Climbing into the mouth of a lion? Not at all! I'm not going to approach the Seireitei, where all the shinigami reside. No, I will hide in the suburbs, away from the powerful of the world, hiding my spiritual pressure, and eating the patrols that will send there, imitating the attacks of simple Hollows. I licked my lips predatory, and opened the Garganta. The latter came to me by itself, for a long time, I just did not need to go anywhere. But now I have a destination ...

A strange sensation: a gray gloom around, a path of spiritual particles controlled by me under my paws, and an inexplicable sense of direction. I had no idea how I knew this, but I knew exactly where to go in this gray gloom in order to get out of the Garganta over the dense forest surrounding the lake, far from the densely populated areas of Rukongai and even more so Seireitei. And now the Garganta opens and I squint with pleasure into the sunlight. Now let's go hunting! I licked my lips again, and went on reconnaissance.

Hinata Mizuhaki.

- Have fun, the ration will not appear on the tables by itself! - The "cook" barked at me, not looking up from the boiler, where he continued to cook the so-called "food". Picking up two trays with four bowls each, trying not to stumble from fatigue, I went to the dining room, where I had to maneuver between the men returning from the mines for lunch. I didn't even want to talk about the smell standing here, and to be honest, I didn't have the strength to think. Dump the bowls, and back to the kitchen for another batch, and back to the dining room. There, here, there, here ... There is no need to think here, you just need not to fall, and not break anything, otherwise I myself will be left without food.

Half an hour later, the men began to return to the mines, and the work became the opposite: go to the dining room, collect more empty bowls, and drag them into the kitchen. Then you have to wash the dishes after three hundred people, then you have to clean up the dining room, then the laundry, then the cleaning of the barracks, then dinner, then again cleaning the kitchen and dining room, then cleaning the corridors, and then four hours of sleep ... And if I have something- if I do it wrong, or even more so I break something, in the best case I will remain hungry, and in the worst case, in addition to this, I will also get lashes.

- Hinata! - I heard a voice from which I involuntarily shuddered and stopped scrubbing the floor in the women's barracks.

- Y-yes, sir? - I asked, not daring to raise my eyes to the owner of this mine.

"We have important guests staying tonight, so you'll be relieved of your work. Put yourself in order, and at ten in the evening to be at my office.

- I understand. - I nodded on the machine, not feeling a drop of enthusiasm from being released from work. After waiting for the Boss to leave, I sighed heavily and put the mop aside and headed towards the baths.

- It'll do. - Meticulously examining me from head to toe, the Boss nodded, leaving his office at exactly ten in the evening. - Follow me. - I silently followed the man, enjoying the cool night air: it is not often possible to be outside so late, and during the day there is dust, heat and the stench of unwashed bodies. Meanwhile, we moved away from the mines, and soon stopped near one of the outermost houses of this settlement. Well, yes, important guests will not be accommodated with the rest of the "trash". - Behave yourself. - Said weightily the Boss, and knocked on the door.

- I remember. - I nodded, a little surprised at his politeness: what kind of guests are these, if he even knocked? To all merchants, even if they are very rich, he does not come knocking.

- Not locked. - A man's voice rang out from within. And going inside, I realized what was the matter: three men, three black kimonos, and three characteristic katanas. Shinigami ... Making an effort to unclench my fists, I put a smile on my face and stood next to the Master.

"Well, shinigami gentlemen, are you satisfied with everything? Any wishes?

"Everything suits us, Mr. Ikarashi. One of the shinigami nodded. - As you know, we came here for a reason: there was a report on the empty, attacking people in the area. Do you know anything about this? - Yeah, so they hunt for the empty ... If only he ate them. All three. And then reinforcements!

- No, gentlemen, rumors reached me, but none of my people suffered from the empty and did not see anything.

- Are you sure nobody saw anything?

- Absolutely! They report to me about everything that happens in the area.

- This makes me happy. - Apparently the leader of the group nodded. - And yet we will go around the neighborhood tomorrow, check for traces.

- Yes, yes, I understand everything. - the Boss nodded. "If your work takes longer than you'd expect, feel free to come back here: my humble settlement is always ready to provide the valiant defenders of order with shelter and a hearty meal.

- We thank you for such hospitality. Excuse me, is this your ... daughter? - He asked, turning to me. But out of the corner of my eye I noticed how the Master's face twisted for a second in disgust.

- No, this girl just lives here. When she found out that shinigami were staying with us, she asked to meet with you.

- Yes? - A little surprised by the shinigami, while the Master pushed me in the back, forcing me to step forward. Well, Hina, either this, or the whip and hunger ... Choose ...

- Thank you very much for agreeing to listen to me! - In the most cheerful voice I was capable of, I began. - The fact is that when I appeared in Rukongai, after my death, I found myself deep in the forest ... - I started a standard story.

"I beg your pardon, gentlemen, but I have a lot to do. - The Boss smiled apologetically. - You, gentlemen, have a rest, and if you have any requests, then do not hesitate to ask Hina, she is perfectly oriented here. - And he was.

"So ..." I grabbed the nearest shinigami by the hand, smiling, and sat down on the bed, forcing him to sit next to me. - I then wandered through the forest for a long time, not understanding what was happening, until I ran into a huge empty one! - I made terrible eyes. - And I would have been his lunch, if not for the shinigami who saved me! Which by the way was very similar to you. - I poked at the leader of this trio. - So when I found out that the companions of my savior would be staying here, I could not help but try to meet you! I hope I'm not annoying you too much?

- No, don't you, don't worry about it ... - He shook his head, whose hand I never let go.

- Well ... - I hesitated, diligently blushing and fiddling with my clothes. - I would like to somehow thank you for not only saving my life, but also risking your lives every day, protecting people you don't know ... But I have nothing, so I thought that maybe ... - I pressed my shinigami's hand to my chest, pressing closer to him.

- Hey! Wait! How old are you?

- Fourteen! - I added four years to myself. - I know that I don't have much to offer even in this regard, but I promise, I will try!

- Azama? The third shinigami looked questioningly at the leader, to which Azama only shrugged vaguely. Well, yes, all of you scum, you are playing with decency, and when no one sees anything, then you can turn away from the obvious lie about my age and the absurdity of my story. And bruises with poorly disguised lash marks can be attributed to accidental falls from the stairs, right? Why should I not spit in their faces, and continue to smile!

- Hinata! Climb! - It sounded above me, and the body independently took an upright position, while I was still aware of what was happening: What's so early? Usually after "important guests" I am allowed to sleep a little longer ... - Woke up?

- Y-yes!

- Put yourself in order and in half an hour to be at the guest house. They want you to be their local guide.

- Got it. I nodded. Yeah, a guide, we know what kind of guide: the search will be long, you need someone to brighten up the time at the halt ... Damn, time is short!

- Hello! Smiling, I waved my hands to the three shinigami. Now fully armed. While the backpacks are not supposed to be the standard outfit, given how far we are from Seireitei, this is not surprising.

- Hi, Hina. - Smiled at me the most ... Active member of yesterday evening. - We are not distracting you from business?

- No, no, what are you! I will be happy to show you around!

- That's fine! I think it won't take too long: we should be in time before dark. Are you ready?

- Always ready! - I saluted them. - Where do you want to go? A little in the south there is a picturesque stream, a little further, but to the north of here there is a cave, I did not go there, but probably an empty one can hide there. In the West...

- We need to go around everything. - Azama interrupted me. - So make the route so that we inspect all directions.

- Got it! I nodded. - Then we come here ...

- ... - I go and don't think about anything. What's the point? Whatever you think, in this life everything has already been decided for me, so it's better to turn off the brain and just follow the orders. In the end, whatever you do, you still have to follow the orders. This is how this world works ... Yeah, kind, bright afterlife ... I remembered the shinigami who sent me to the Soul Society from the world of the living, where I wandered for some time after death. Lying creature! May you rot in the stomach of the Hollows, which you hunt so "valiantly"! So that you all rot there! Having gone into my thoughts, I did not notice how tightly I clenched my fists, which I hurried to fix, and while no one noticed, I again put on those moronic smile on my face. I hate it! I hate all of you! - And here is the apple thicket: completely natural, no one planted these apple trees, they grew by themselves. True, apples are too sour, but still edible.

- An interesting place. - Azama nodded, looking around. Having exchanged glances with their friends, the latter shook their heads. - Let's go further. I just nodded and headed down the overgrown path deeper into the forest. But before I had time to walk ten meters, a blurry shadow jumped out of the forest somewhere behind me. Turning around to see what it is, I found an incredible picture: Azama was lying on the ground without his head, with blood gushing from his neck, the "active" shinigami was now spitting out blood, and it seemed like his lungs were pressed to the ground by a huge paw ... ... A huge cat, two meters at the withers, was undoubtedly empty, their bone masks could not be confused with anything, and now he seemed to be chewing on Azama's bitten off head, examining with curiosity the shinigami crushed to the ground and clearly more incapable of combat. I looked in the same way as I recently looked at an apple plucked from an apple tree: meticulously and at the same time greedily. The third shinigami, meanwhile, managed to bare his katana and swung to strike, but he didn't even turn his muzzle empty: the cat's tail settled sharply, and a moment later the shinigami's chest was pierced through.

- Kgha! - The shinigami dropped his weapon and grabbed the tail that pierced him, which the empty clearly did not like: he casually twitched his tail, throwing the shinigami to the ground, and no longer paying attention to him, despite the fact that he was still alive. Although given the blank look, I think not for long. Now it's my turn? From fear, I could not even move, although I think it would not help much ... All that remained was to close my eyes and wait ...

- ... - But nothing happened. Opening my eyes, I found that the empty one was enthusiastically eating Azama, of whom only two legs and a third of the torso remained. From such a sight, breakfast very eagerly asked to go outside, and only the fear of attracting attention kept the food inside. Hmm? And the third shinigami is still alive: over there, trying to crawl into the forest ... I look at the empty one. It seems like he is carried away by the meal and does not notice anything around ... Well ... If I still die, then at least ... Carefully, slowly, so as not to inadvertently interrupt the empty meal, I went to the dropped katana, with a sinking heart I took into her hands, and for a couple of seconds waited for the empty fangs on her neck: what if he decides that I'm trying to attack him? But no, empty was too busy with his food. Excellent! Now, just as slowly and carefully I approach the slowly crawling shinigami. Noticing my shadow, he looked behind himself with undisguised fear, but when he saw me, he clearly relaxed.

- Kh ... H-h-hina ... P-help me ... I need ... W-w-what are you doing ?! - Without wasting a second: the shinigami is too loud, it can attract the attention of Hollow, I tensed, and swinging a heavy katana lowered the blade onto the back of this creature. - A-a-ah! - Again! Yet! Now pierce! Again! Damn hard to get out! Resting my foot on the body that was no longer moving, I somehow pulled out the blade and stuck it in again.

- I appreciate the help, but there is not enough fire for the barbecue. - A pleasant male voice sounded behind me, and when I turned around, I saw a bloody Hollow mask.

- !!! - Mechanically plugging my mouth with my hands so as not to scream, I started back, but stumbled over the just killed shinigami, and expectedly fell on my back and closed my eyes with force, expecting death.

"You know, the fake-dead tactic won't work with me. - With a grin said Hollow, and I cautiously opened my eyes.