3-1...

Dammit! Again? You drag me all the way out here and there's no Hollow!

How many times is that this week?

Shut up! These false alarms aren't my fault. When it goes off, I have to assume a Hollow has appeared. So I report it. What else can I do?

Well get it fixed, because it's obviously busted.

Bickering, are we? How unprofessional.

Good evening, Ichigo, Rukia.

Who the hell are you? And how do you know our names, if you don't mind me–

I don't mind. I also know you can see spirits, Ichigo.

How do you know that? I can't see any-

Another Hollow has just appeared.

No way.

*Beep Beep Beep*

There's a new one here alright. How did he know?

It's over there.

Can you not sense such a simple thing? And you call yourself a Soul Reaper?

Hmph!

The signal just vanished!

So tell me, who or what are you?

Uryu Ishida. I'm a Quincy.

Soul Reapers are my enemies.

Just what do you mean?

Is that too complicated for you? I'll tell you again then, slowly this time.

Ichigo Kurosaki, you are my enemy.

Damn, what's the story with that guy?

What's his name? Uh, Mac? No, I think it was Iki-something. Iki...bo? Iki...mo-metal suit! No...

Itchy... Itchy armadillo! Nah, that's not it either. Dammit!

Do you mean Uryu Ishida?

Uh, Orihime. Uh, yeah.

It's a pretty cool name, huh?

Uh, yeah!

I agree!

I was just saying it because it's such a cool sounding name!

In fact, I say his name to myself all the time when I'm sitting with him in the home-handicrafts club.

Home handi-whaa?!

Do you and Uryu have some kind of problem?

Well, you could say that. But it's nothing I can't handle.

That's good.

Do you intend to follow me all the way home, Ichigo Kurosaki?

Guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought I was.

The careless way you let your spirit energy leak out, even a monkey would've noticed it. Amateur stuff.

What did you say?

You heard me. It's obvious that you lack even the most basic ability to detect those around you with high spirit energy.

How else can you explain the fact that you weren't even aware of my existence until today?

Yeah, sorry about that. It's just that I've always been really bad at remembering names and faces.

That's not what I mean.

There's a difference between you and me. When you first started at this school, I sensed your high spirit energy. If you were any good, you would've sensed mine.

I even know the day when you became a Soul Reaper.

And, I know Rukia Kuchiki's true identity.

!!!

Why don't we play a little game, Ichigo Kurosaki? Let's have a duel to determine which one of us is stronger -- the Quincy or the Soul Reaper.

And why would I do that?

I'll show you just how unnecessary Soul Reapers are in this world.