In the blood-red world, the moon glowed deep crimson in the sky.
Under its eerie light, hundreds of wooden crosses stood tall.
Tied to each cross was a terrifying Menos Grande. A silver-white sword kept stabbing into each of their bodies.
Stab in. Pull out. Stab in again.
Over and over. Without stopping.
On one of those crosses, Inoue's brother—who wasn't being stabbed—shivered in fear as he watched the black-haired boy.
He had no idea how many times he had seen Nanaya swing that blade.
Every slash pierced the body of a Menos Grande without fail.
Time itself seemed to disappear. Was it a day? A week? A month? He didn't know anymore. All he saw was Nanaya swinging the sword again and again.
At first, the Menos Grande screamed and roared. But slowly, its voice faded away.
Even then, Nanaya didn't stop.
He kept going.
One slash. Another. And another…
No one knew how long it lasted.
Eventually, the strange world shattered into pieces—like glass breaking apart.
Inoue's brother blinked and, through the blur, saw someone he never thought he'd see again.
"Orihime…"
"Brother…" her soft voice called to him.
He opened his eyes wide. It wasn't a dream. She was really there.
"Orihime…"
She pointed at him, surprised. "Brother, your body…"
As she spoke, his monstrous form—the body of a Menos Grande—began breaking down.
Black particles of spiritual energy slowly floated away from him.
Where the monster had been, his human body was now visible again.
"No way… the Hollow's power is… gone?" Rukia said, shocked.
In Soul Society, she had been taught that once someone becomes a Hollow, they can never go back. It was supposed to be impossible.
But this… broke that rule.
"What happened? Nanaya, what did you do?" Ichigo asked in amazement, turning toward Nanaya.
"Huh?" Nanaya looked up in surprise.
Ichigo stared at Nanaya's eyes—and shivered.
"Your eyes… Nanaya, what's wrong with them?"
They looked evil. Cold. Empty. Like they belonged to something worse than a demon.
"Did my eyes change?" Nanaya asked, confused.
He turned to find a mirror.
"…Whoa. That is pretty creepy."
Since using Tsukuyomi, his eyes had changed. They now carried a Hollow-like energy, cold and full of emotionless power.
"I wonder where all the spirits of the Hollows I defeated went."
"Maybe their emotions were absorbed by these eyes."
"No wonder Orihime and Sado could grow stronger in Hueco Mundo… that's the true nature of Hollow power."
He fell into deep thought. As he focused, the emotions in his red eyes slowly faded.
"I'm fine," he finally said, smiling slightly to calm Ichigo. Then he turned to Inoue's brother.
"How do you feel?"
Inoue's brother flinched when he saw Nanaya.
Those 72 hours inside the Tsukuyomi world felt more like 72 years to him.
Nanaya's figure, always stabbing, had burned into his memory.
But now, realizing Nanaya wasn't an enemy, he spoke carefully:
"My body… feels okay."
He clenched his fists and looked at himself in disbelief. "I'm human again. I'm not a monster anymore."
"I knew it," Nanaya said with a soft smile.
The Menos Grande that had taken over Inoue's brother wasn't physical—it was born from emotion, just like the Hollow inside Ichigo.
So when Nanaya used Tsukuyomi, it separated the monster from his mind.
Since the Sharingan works on the soul, not the body, it could attack that kind of enemy directly. And Tsukuyomi was even more powerful.
Those 72 hours were enough to destroy the Menos Grande hiding inside him.
"Nanaya, thank you…" Inoue's brother said, smiling.
A gentle glow appeared around him.
He turned to Orihime.
"Orihime, I'm really happy. You've made friends, and you're living a good life. I can't stay any longer…"
"But you have people who care for you now, so I can go peacefully."
He then looked at Nanaya.
"Nanaya-kun, I leave Orihime in your hands."
Rukia still couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"It's impossible… the Hollow power was erased. He turned back into a human… and now he's going to the Soul Society!?"
Nanaya didn't answer her.
Instead, he looked at Inoue's brother with a slightly annoyed expression.
"You're free to go, sure. But before you leave, can you tell me something?"
"Why did you attack me before?"
He'd expected the attack to be aimed at Ichigo. But no—he'd been the one nearly knocked out.
Inoue's brother smiled a little at the question…
"Before you showed up," Inoue's brother said seriously, "I always got to eat Orihime's bentos. But after you arrived… they've all gone to you."
"Huh!?"
Nanaya stood there, his face dark with confusion and awkwardness.
So this whole mess happened… because of a bento!?
"That's the reason you attacked me and not Kurosaki Ichigo!?" Nanaya asked in disbelief.
But Inoue's brother only smiled and didn't answer. His body slowly began to fade away into spiritual light.
Just before he completely vanished—
"Ah la la~!"
A light, teasing voice came from the balcony.
"You can't leave just yet!"
A figure stood there, casually pressing down the brim of his green-striped hat.
It was Urahara Kisuke.
He leaned on his cane, his usual mischievous grin on his face.
"Manager Urahara!? What are you doing here!?" Rukia asked, frowning.
"Oh, I was just strolling by," Urahara said, waving one hand. "And then I felt a lingering Hollow presence… you know how it is."
He walked into the room as if he owned it, then suddenly raised his cane and—
Bang!
—knocked out Inoue's brother's soul in one swift hit.
"What the hell!?" Ichigo shouted, instantly pulling out his sword and pointing it at Urahara.
"Whoa, calm down," Urahara said coolly. "I just stopped him from going to Soul Society. If he did, in this condition, he would definitely go berserk."
He lifted the unconscious soul over his shoulder casually.
"But don't worry! I'm just taking him back to my place for a little... research. Maybe there's a way to fix him properly."
He turned toward Nanaya with a curious look. "You're the expert now—what do you think?"
Ichigo looked at Nanaya too, waiting for his judgment.
Nanaya rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
To be honest, he couldn't be sure if he had truly destroyed the Hollow inside Inoue's brother. Tsukuyomi wasn't a killing technique—it only suppressed and overwhelmed.
Given enough time, the Hollow could resurface.
"…All right," Nanaya finally nodded. "Take him."
Rukia also nodded in agreement. She knew Urahara's reputation well enough to trust his judgment.
"Well then, I'll be on my way," Urahara said with a sly smile, tapping the brim of his hat before vanishing from the balcony in a flash of movement.
"Meow!"
A small black cat that had been sitting quietly behind him gave a soft meow, looked straight at Nanaya with strange, intelligent eyes… and then vanished too.
"…"
"…Even the cat has supernatural movement techniques!?" Nanaya blinked, pretending to be shocked.
"That cat belongs to Urahara Kisuke," Rukia said casually. "Wouldn't be surprised if it had powers too."
After all, with Urahara, nothing was normal.
"Anyway…" Nanaya stretched and cracked his neck, then smiled warmly as he turned to Orihime and Tatsuki.
"Orihime. Tatsuki…"
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