2-1 No Substitute Soul Reaper

Ichigo's gone?!

Oh, didn't I tell you? Ichigo left for a vacation with his family and school friends yesterday.

A vacation?! That's the reason?!

Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't know. I believe Rukia and Renji went along as well.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen them for a few days now.

Ichigo's younger sisters went to visit a spirit zone in western Japan.

It seems there was some sort of trouble there. Although, it wasn't anything too urgent.

But when Isshin heard about his daughters' crisis, he tied up Ichigo and flew him over there.

It seems Orihime and her friends followed them to the spirit zone as well.

Which means Ichigo and the others probably won't be able to return for a few more days.

Well, I'm sure they'll return once they realize it's an emergency, but without any spirit tools or equipment, it's not a distance they can travel in just ten or twenty minutes.

Does that mean...?

I suspect this was all planned.

The spot they visited is said to be one of the top three places in Japan where spirits are likely to gather. That's not to say there were many Hollows there, though.

If there were, I don't think Isshin would've approved the trip in the first place.

It may be a coincidence that some trouble occurred and Ichigo had to leave the town.

The attackers may have struck fast to take advantage of this timing, but that seems less likely to me.

Yes, it's only natural to think that incident was also orchestrated by them.

That being said, is there a reason you didn't follow Ichigo and the others there?

Yes, I had promised to meet you for an interview today, so I couldn't.

Huh?

I'm lying. The truth is, I thought it seemed suspicious, so I took it upon myself to stay behind.

It felt pretty obvious that they were trying to lure Ichigo and everyone out of town, so I figured I should remain here at the very least.

So then, you had already realized that something might happen today?

I wish I had been wrong. After thinking about all the possibilities though, I just couldn't ignore it.

Well, I ended up being right.