At the center of the Tombs of the Star Corridor
Who is that? How the hell did he get here? Is he with that guy from earlier?
Unsure of what was happening, Geto stood protectively in front of Riko, watching the doorway.
An orange-haired young man stepped through. Geto readied himself to attack, but stopped when the stranger spoke.
"Sorry, but can you tell me where I am?"
Ichigo's POV
What is this place?
"Sorry, but can you tell me where I am?"
The two people in front of me stared.
Hmm? Why are they making those faces? Did I say something weird?
"Are you messing with us?" the guy asked.
"No. I have no idea where this is."
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
"Geto, I think he might be telling the truth," the girl said. "I mean, just look at his face. Who could look that clueless unless they actually were?"
"You might be right."
"Hey, you know I can hear you, right?"
Seriously? I ask for directions, and they start insulting me?
"Sorry." The guy let out a brief laugh, though his eyes remained watchful. "Before anything else, can you tell us your name and how you got here? We can't help being suspicious. This isn't a place people can just wander into."
That's a pretty intense look. Can't really blame him, though. I'd be suspicious too if someone appeared out of nowhere.
"A place people can't reach, huh? Anyway, my name's Ichigo Kurosaki. As for how I got here… I have no idea."
"Sorry, but I find that hard to believe."
"Don't blame you. Look, I really don't know how I got here or why, but can we jus—"
Before Ichigo could finish explaining, he suddenly drew his swords and lunged toward Geto and Riko.
"Don't you dare!"
Geto summoned a dragon-like curse from a dark opening, but Ichigo was too fast. Before Geto could stop him, he was already past him and closing in on Riko.
"RIKO!"
Riko froze as Ichigo rushed toward her, blade in hand.
He's going to kill me—
BANG!
"Huh?"
A sharp metallic clang followed the gunshot. Ichigo stood beside her, his blade raised between her and the sound.
"What…?"
"That was close. You okay?"
"Y-yes?"
"Well, that's too bad. I was hoping to finish her off with one shot."
Ichigo turned toward the unfamiliar voice.
"You know, it's not every day you see a grown-ass man shooting at a teenage girl." He glanced back at Geto. "Just taking a wild guess here, but he's not a friend of yours, right?"
Now, where did this brat come from?
Toji studied the orange-haired swordsman.
He must be with Jujutsu High, but I've never heard of him. Still, I can tell just by looking at him… this kid's strong.
"I'm not," Toji replied. "What about you? Are you their friend?"
"Looks like I am for now."
"Is that so?"
No point wasting time talking. I already killed Satoru Gojo. Nobody else should be able to stop me.
His eyes settled on Ichigo.
First, I'll get rid of the one in my way.
Toji lunged forward, intent on killing him.
"Whoa. You're fast for a human."
"What?"
Ichigo tracked his movements with ease.
What the hell? That wasn't luck. He followed me without even breaking a sweat. Even the Gojo brat couldn't do that.
"Why do you look so surprised?" Ichigo asked, his familiar smirk returning. "If we're talking about speed, I'm pretty confident in mine."
"I see. My bad. Looks like I underestimated you." Toji's expression sharpened. "I'm getting serious now, brat."
"Come on, then."
Despite his words, Toji was already reconsidering.
Yeah, I said that, but I'm not stupid. This kid's dangerous, and there's still the other brat behind him.
What now?
Honestly, the main reason I took this job was to crush the Gojo brat. The money would be nice, but this kid smells like trouble.
Settling on a plan, Toji put away his gun and reached into the mouth of the cursed spirit draped over his shoulder.
"Careful! He might pull out another weapon!" Geto warned.
He remembered the katana Toji had used to stab Satoru earlier.
Then the realization struck him.
Satoru… Wait. Why is this man here? Wasn't Satoru fighting him?
"You! Why are you here?"
"Hmm? Isn't it a little late to ask that?" Toji said. "But if you really want to know… I killed Satoru Gojo."
Geto went still.
Toji pulled something from the cursed spirit's mouth. Both Geto and Ichigo braced for a weapon.
Instead, he held up a small canister.
"A grenade?" Ichigo asked.
"Something like that. See you."
With a grin, Toji tossed it to the ground.
Rather than exploding, it released a thick cloud of smoke that swallowed the surrounding area.
"Until next time, brats."
"You think I'll let you escape after what you did?!"
Geto quickly summoned a curse to disperse the smoke, but by the time it cleared, Toji was gone.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
He's too fast, and I can't sense any cursed energy from him. How could I let the man who killed Satoru get away?
Beside him, Ichigo frowned.
Shit, that guy's fast. But why couldn't I sense his spiritual energy?
While the two of them tried to make sense of what had happened, Riko watched Geto's expression.
"Geto… that man could've been lying. We should get out of here and check for ourselves."
Her words broke through his thoughts. He took a deep breath.
"You're right. He could've been lying." He looked at her. "Thank you, Riko."
"No problem."
Deep down, though, Geto feared Toji had told the truth.
There's no way Satoru would've let him get this far.
Ichigo glanced between them.
"Looks like you guys know where you're going. Mind if I tag along? I'm still kind of lost."