The power behind it..,

Caused Xia Kong to rush forward a few steps.

()

She turned around to take a look.

The god with short black hair was giving her a thumbs up and smiling, revealing his neat white teeth.

Instantly encouraged, Xia Kong smiled back, "I'll be back soon."

After saying this,

Seeing that Sha Shengmaru was correcting his posture and preparing to leave,

She raised her voice to thank him, "Thank you, Sha Shengmaru."

Sha Shengmaru did not respond,

He walked away silently.

"Hurry up, Xiao Kong!" Night Fight shouted from the side, "The door is about to close!"

Xia Kong immediately quickened her pace and rushed into the door that was about to close.

After a long period of darkness,

Pink petals happened to fall in front of her eyes.

A blooming cherry tree?!

Long into winter,

Suddenly seeing the scenery that was out of season, Xia Kong raised her head and looked at it for a long time.

Until a gust of wind blew, raising countless petals,

She suddenly realized that..,

Under the cherry tree stood the black-haired god of death that she had seen before.

She actually didn't notice him.

If you want to ask why..

It was too quiet.

It wasn't just Mr. Death..,

There was also the surrounding environment.

Xia Kong turned around on the spot.

The cherry tree seemed to be growing in a certain courtyard. There was a wall in front of it, and behind it was a side sliding door that was often seen in Japanese-style old houses,

The continuous roof on the right side proved that the size of this mansion was huge.

There was a sun in the sky here,

There were white clouds, but there was no bird.

A world without sound?

Xia Kong walked behind the black-haired young man and asked the question in her heart, "Mr. Death... where is this?"

"Have you found it?" The black-haired young man's hand gripped the hilt of the knife at his waist,

There was a hint of depression in his deep voice. "This place, which should be called Soul Society, is not complete."

"What do you mean?

It wasn't like this originally? "Xia Kong caught the additional meaning, and then asked.

"Go and find it." Death did not answer her question. Instead, he turned around and entered the room, closing the door with a bang.

Xia Kong grabbed the petals that had fallen on her hair and looked at them. Suddenly, she felt a little sad.

However, time did not allow her to capture the source of this emotion.

Holding the flower petal tightly, Xia Kong flipped over the courtyard wall and searched for Sawada Tsunayoshi on the empty street.

The whole world was so quiet that only her footsteps could be heard.

The houses here were endless, the streets were like a maze, and there was even a tall tower in the middle.

Looking down from the top of the tower, Xia Kong finally found a possibility.

Outside the high walls, a wisp of green smoke was slowly rising.

Xia Kong quickly ran in that direction. When she got closer, she realized that it was a young man with brown hair who was roasting fish over a fire in the forest.

After discovering her, the young man raised his head and stood up. A faint light flashed in his eyes. "Xia Kong?"

"Eh?" Xia Kong was shocked when the young man accurately called out her name. "You know me?"

Her reaction caused the young man's pupils to contract. Then, he smiled and said gently, "My name is Takashi Natsume... Do you remember?"

After carefully recalling all her memories and confirming that there was no such person, Xia Kong shook her head. "Sorry... I seem to have forgotten a lot of things."

"... Ah."

Takashi Natsume's brown eyes showed some apology. "You don't have to apologize. It's okay if you don't remember."

After that, he turned his gaze to the roasting fish over the fire and said in a low voice, "Although you don't remember... I still have to tell you..."

The young man's hoarse and sad voice suddenly gave Xia Kong a bad feeling.

"At that time..." Takashi Natsume lowered his head as if he was recalling something painful. Suddenly, he lost the strength to speak. "At that time... the dog you entrusted to me... died... I'm sorry, I... I didn't protect it well."

His slender body trembled, showing an uneasy posture.

Crystal tears fell to the ground drop by drop, scattered, and then disappeared.

Looking at those tears, Xia Kong knew that Takashi Natsume must be very sad at this time.

"If such a thing really happened..." She clenched the petals in her hand, paused for a moment, and then continued, "It is indeed your fault that you didn't protect the dog well."

If it was a relationship that could be entrusted to a pet, and the entrusted party didn't take good care of the pet, he should take responsibility.

But...

Seeing the young man's hand suddenly clench very tightly, as if he had fallen into a heavier self-blame, Xia Kong sighed and said, "But the biggest problem should be me, right?

That's because I threw my responsibility to you, and that's why this happened. "

She thought that she would receive a harsher reprimand, but what she heard was different from what she imagined.

Takashi Natsume's hand loosened, and he looked up with a startled expression.

"Don't blame yourself... It's been so many years, Natsume."

Xia Kong took a few steps forward and reached out to wipe the young man's tears. "Let me bear the guilt from now on."

The girl's fingertips were very warm, and Takashi Natsume didn't know what to say for a moment.

However, the shadow that had been hidden in his heart for a long time seemed to have dissipated a lot.

Rumble...

At this time, Xia Kong's stomach made a noise, which saved the silence between the two.

Xia Kong rubbed the remnants of the young man's skin between her fingers and smiled embarrassedly. "... I think I'm a little hungry."

"Then, let's eat the fish first." Natsume broke the grilled fish in half and handed it to Xia Kong.

There were several scrapes on his white arm, and not only that, there seemed to be some on the exposed areas.

"Thank you... how did you get these injuries?" Xia Kong took the fish and asked, "Do you know where this is?

Have you seen a boy around 13 years old?

His hair is brown. "

"I accidentally fell down on a hillside... and hit my head. After I woke up, the first person I saw was you."

Such an answer made Xia Kong somewhat disappointed.

She finished the fish in her hand, and estimated that Natsume wouldn't be able to eat more, so she picked up a tree branch and stood in the nearby river.

There were fish swimming slowly in the river.

Was this really an incomplete world...?

Sighing with emotion, Xia Kong speared several fish and threw them ashore.

"I don't know this place very well, but there shouldn't be any danger here.

You stay here for the time being, and I'll go look for my friends. I'll take you back when I find them. "After making her own arrangements, Xia Kong set off again to search, not missing a single place.

The more she searched, the more certain she was that there were no more people here. She felt relieved and shouted Sawada Tsunayoshi's name.

Finally.

Sawada Tsunayoshi's figure appeared on a small bridge between the streets.

Seeing him, Xia Kong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked over.

"Ah Gang!"

Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't react at all, as if he didn't hear her.

Xia Kong held Sawada Tsunayoshi's hand in surprise and carefully looked at his appearance.

His eyes were lifeless...

Xia Kong bit her lip and tried to pull Sawada Tsunayoshi away with some strength.

However, no matter how hard she tried, he still stood there motionless.

Couldn't take him away?!

Understanding what the Grim Reaper meant by "if he wanted to", Xia Kong anxiously shouted again, "Ah Gang, wake up."

"Huh?" The brown-haired boy finally reacted and turned his head to ask, "You are...?"

"I'm Xia Kong." Xia Kong answered.

Sawada Tsunayoshi shook his head, with deep confusion in his eyes, "Sorry... I don't know you."

... Should I say that retribution came too quickly?

Previously, he forgot about his friend, and now, he was forgotten by his friend. It was hard to accept.

Xia Kong tried hard to recall and said, "I was the Xia Kong who went to the amusement park with you... the Xia Kong who went to school with you. Can't you remember anything?"

She really wanted to be remembered, so her tone was a little anxious.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was a little scared and took a step back, waving his hand, "I... I'm sorry... I really don't remember, don't be angry."

"Okay."

Although it was a little uncomfortable to be avoided, considering her own situation, Xia Kong didn't insist and settled for the next best thing, "Then, Ah Gang, come back with me first?

You should be able to remember when we get back. "

"Go back?" Sawada Tsunayoshi pointed to a room next to them, "No, no, no... my house is over there.

Also, why should I remember you? "

"Huh?" Xia Kong was completely stunned by his question.

"I want to work harder to become the Grim Reaper.

You... Xia Kong, aren't you already dead?

Let's become the Grim Reaper together. I heard that the first step is to find your own Soul Cutter. "

"Ah?

Become the Grim Reaper? "

After being buried, what happened to Sawada Tsunayoshi!?

Xia Kong stood there in a daze.

She wanted to take Sawada Tsunayoshi away directly, but she was worried about his previous retreat, so she gave up the idea.

How should she put it?

It was really sad to be forgotten.

Grabbing the hem of her clothes, Xia Kong smiled, "Then, can I stay here with you first?"

"Yes, you can."

Sawada Tsunayoshi nodded with an embarrassed expression, "But, is Ah Gang really my name?"

When he woke up here, there was only the Grim Reaper by his side.

Moreover, he, who had lost all his memories, quickly accepted the setting of this world in the process of asking and answering questions.

The current Sawada Tsunayoshi was just a resident of Soul Society who wanted to become the Grim Reaper.