As he heard the girl’s explanation, it became clear to the shinigami what happened. “When I was alive, I could see things that other people couldn’t, but nobody believed me. Hiei was the only one that stood by my side. Then, one day, one of these monsters showed up when I was going home after school and I ran away, but ended up crossing a street without looking and…”
So, it was true: the spiritual pressure he felt on the dog was only a reflex from her reiatsu. Maybe, by standing so much time close to someone capable of seeing spirits, the dog had acquired the same power.
“But it’s alright, now! Because Hiei found me again, and now he’ll protect me from these monsters!”
“It’s not that simple! Hollows are too dangerous, even if the dog can see them, it doesn’t mean he can fight them. If you remain here, you’ll continue to attract them. I must send you to Soul Society right now.” He reached the sword on his back but the girl protested, hugging the dog tightly.
“No, I don’t wanna go! Someone has to stay and take care of Hiei!”
“Don’t be silly, he’ll be fine! You can’t stay here forever, otherwise…”
Suddenly, the shinigami’s phone rang again. But, before he could reach it, Hiei barked a warning and the girl screamed, scared. He looked back, his eyes wide opened as he saw it was too late. The same Hollow from a few hours ago stretched its arm into the real world and hit him with a powerful punch, tossing him away.
“I knew that, if I let the dog walk around, he would lead me to you”, the Hollow said with a deep voice as it entered completely the real world, the dark portal closing behind him. It was twice of a human and its fists were huge. “Now you’ll become my lunch!”
It tried to reach the girl, but Hiei didn’t hesitate and jumped over it, biting the monster’s arm. The Hollow screamed in pain and hit the dog with the other hand, throwing it away. “Hiei!!!” The girl ran to him, scared, and Hiei yelped in pain, apparently with a broken leg. Suddenly, the Hollow was standing right in front of them, and its big hand covered the sun as the monster stretched its arm to reach the girl. She hugged her friend tightly and closed her eyes.
But it didn’t reach her. She opened her eyes and saw a metal chain entangling the monster’s arm. From afar, the shinigami kept it immobile with the chain that hanged from the tip of his sword’s hilt. The hollow grabbed it and pulled him, but he jumped over him first.
“Sit upon the frozen heavens...” The sun hid behind the heavy clouds that suddenly covered the sky, and a cold wind blew from above. “Hyorinmaru!” In front of the girl’s dazzled eyes, ice spiraled from the blade and projected in the air, in the shape of a giant red-eyed dragon. The shinigami swung his sword and the dragon flied directly onto the monster. Entangled by the sword’s chain, the hollow couldn’t dodge, and howled in pain as the ice covered it, imprisoning it in cold despair. Immobile, he could do nothing as the boy fell right over him, and the zanpakuto cut the block of ice in one swift strike.
The shinigami sheathed his sword as the monster faded away behind him.
“That was amazing!”, the girl yelled, approaching him. “You fight like Hiei!”
“What?”
“No, not this Hiei here… The Hiei from TV! Don’t you know him? He’s my favorite character from that show! And you’re just like him, you wear black, you have a sword and got a power in the shape of a dragon too! That’s why I named my dog after him! Are you a demon like him?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” He was already growing tired, that girl really liked talking. “I know nothing of this Hiei you talk so much about. I’m a shinigami, and my name is Toushiro Hitsugaya.”
