Chichiri's Guide to Bleach
Volume 1 THE DEATH AND THE STRAWBERRY

Volume 1 THE DEATH AND THE STRAWBERRY

"That which has no form
We fear"

  1. Death & Strawberry
  2. Starter
  3. Headhittin'
  4. WHY DO YOU EAT IT?
  5. Blinda · blinda
  6. microcrack
  7. The Pink Cheeked Parakeet

    Extra: Ichigo Kurosaki's Profile
    Extra: Rukia Kuchiki's Profile

Author's Comments

Hello. This is Bleach Volume 1. I worked hard writing it. Please enjoy it.

General Overview

As a translation note, "ichigo" in Japanese means "strawberry," but it is also the name of Bleach's main character (however his name does NOT mean "strawberry," it is merely pronounced the same way).

In this volume, we meet our hero, Ichigo Kurosaki, a first year high school student with naturally orange hair and a nasty kick. We soon find out he also has a special ability: seeing and hearing ghosts, which he uses to help the ghosts pass on quietly. He's not the only one with this ability, either. His younger sister Karin can see and hear ghosts nearly as well (but she claims she doesn't believe in them) and his younger sister Yuzu can at least sense their presence. Since their mother has passed away, this makes their father, Isshin, the only one in the family who has no ability to see ghosts at all. He's a doctor running a small clinic named Kurosaki Clinic, which is also where he and his family lives.

In Ichigo's room, he meets the shinigami Rukia Kuchiki and learns there are two types of ghosts: pluses, which are the "normal" type or good ghosts, and hollows, or the bad type, which resemble monsters and eat dense souls, those that can see ghosts, to fill their empty hearts. The two jobs of a shinigami are to send pluses to Soul Society via soul burial and to cut hollows with their soul cutter (a sword). Rukia is there to dispose of a hollow, but it ends up attacking Ichigo's family first. One thing leads to another and Rukia gets injured badly enough that she can't fight so she transfers her power to Ichigo so he can take care of it instead. During this she's stunned by how powerful Ichigo is - she had only meant to give him part of her powers, but he took all of it, so she is unable to return back to Soul Society.

So until Rukia's powers return she gets Ichigo to do her work for her and poses as a transfer student at Ichigo's school. Ichigo's classmates begin to get involved in things when Orihime Inoue's older brother turns out to be the hollow Acid Wire and nearly kills her and her best friend Tatsuki Arisawa. In the end Orihime's love brings him to his senses long enough for him to cut himself on Ichigo's soul cutter and go to Soul Society. Soon after another classmate, Yasutora "Chad" Sado acquires a parakeet with a plus in it and gets attacked by a hollow and gets admitted to Kurosaki Clinic.

In Depth Chapter Summaries

  1. Death & Strawberry
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 1
    Characters Appearing - Tatsuki Arisawa, Keigo Asano, Fishbone D, Orihime Inoue, Uryuu Ishida, Mizuiro Kojima, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki, Michiru Ogawa, Yasutora "Chad" Sado, Kisuke Urahara
    Kidou - Bakudou 1: Sai
    Locations - Karakura, Kurosaki Clinic
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow, hell, hell butterfly, kidou, plus, shinigami, soul burial, soul cutter, Soul Society

    The first thing we see is a girl dressed in black traditional Japanese clothes with a sword strapped to her waist somewhere high. She mentions sensing something close by and then starts bounding off. Then we see the title page, which shows Ichigo and Rukia in the foreground with face shots of various characters including: Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, Ogawa, and Ishida, plus two unknown characters.

    Next we are introduced to our hero, Ichigo Kurosaki, age 15 and a high school student. He also has a special ability: seeing ghosts. Although he can fight (we first see him beating up a bunch of punks) he has his soft side, since he's doing it to help a girl ghost out because the punks knocked over a flower vase by where she was killed. At last he drives them away by somehow getting the punks to see the ghost.

    When he returns home to Kurosaki Clinic (his father, Isshin, is a doctor) he gets pestered for showing up late for dinner. It turns out the dad is the only one in the family that cannot see ghosts. Karin, although she claims to not believe in them, can see and hear them nearly as well as Ichigo and lets him know of a new ghost that shows up. Yuzu, on the other hand, is a bit jealous beccause she can only sense their presence. Their mother is passed away. Because of all the pestering between his family and the new ghost, Ichigo ends up going to his room without eating for some peace and quiet. Unfortunately he doesn't find it there because there's the girl from earlier there. At first she just mutters to herself something about it being close by, but when Ichigo kicks her in the head she finally takes notice of what he's saying. She's astonished he can see her, and to illustrate the point, Isshin shows up to yell at Ichigo for the noise and can't see her. She says it's because she's a shinigami.

    Meanwhile, we see the girl ghost Ichigo helped earlier getting attacked by some sort of monster. Whether she's ok or not is hard to tell, but what's clear is the monster says a strong soul is nearby.

    After that the shinigami tries to explain that she's here to exterminate a bad spirit called a hollow, but Ichigo doesn't believe her (he's never seen one before and doesn't believe in things he can't see.) Because of his insulting manner, this ticks her off and she uses some kidou (a type of magic only shinigami can use) to keep him from moving. She says he's lucky that she has orders not to kill living people, but looks like she's going to kill him anyway. However, it turns out she hit the hilt of her sword on the forehead of the ghost that was pestering Ichigo before he came upstairs. It says it doesn't want to go to Hell, but the shinigami says it's going to Soul Society, which is a relaxing place. After that it turns into a Hell Butterfly and flies off. She explains to Ichigo that what he just saw was a soul burial. He then finally believes her and asks why she's just standing there if there's a monster nearby she needs to exterminate. She replies that for some reason she can't sense it anymore. Then Ichigo hears a howl and shortly after she does, too. She's shocked that he heard it first, and dashes out the door to investigate. There she's hit smack in the face with its strong aura and wondered how she was unable to sense it earlier.

    Just then they see Karin crawling down the hallway, hurt. She tells Ichigo that something knocked their dad out and hurt them, and she thought she should let it know. Ichigo goes beserk at this point and manages to break the kidou by himself (to the shinigami's astonishment). He then grabs a baseball bat and runs downstairs to see his dad collapsed on the living room floor, a huge hole in the wall, and Yuzu being held by a giant monster. He tries to hit it with the baseball bat, but isn't too successful. Just when it looks like he'll get killed, the shinigami shows up and slices the hollow's arm, making it drop Yuzu into Ichigo's arm. She then tells Ichigo it's probably there because of him since hollows like to eat dense souls and his is the most power human soul she's ever come across. At this Ichigo tries to face down the hollow (either to let it eat him so it will leave his family alone, or to attack it). Either way, he's protected by the shinigami, who gets chomped on and badly injured.

    At this point the shinigami tells him there's only one way to save his family - stab himself with her Soul Cutter sword and she'll give him part of her shinigami powers. She's not sure it will work, but Ichigo doesn't have enough powers to save his family and she's too injured to fight. He agrees and after they introduce themselves (the shinigami is named Rukia Kuchiki), stabs himself with it. The next thing you see is something speeding towards the hollow and then its arm getting cut off. Ichigo is there with a HUGE sword and defeats the hollow. Rukia finally realizes the strength of his soul is what kept her from sensing the hollow earlier and is stunned at his power. She's never seen a soul cutter that big before (it's as long as Ichigo is tall) and the size of one is a reflection of the power of its user. Ichigo has managed to steal all of her powers, not just a part, and her clothes are now white.

    On the last page we see Ichigo collapsed on the ground with Rukia kneeling by him. In the foreground is a foot on Japanese sandles.

    Differences in episode 1:
    • They add in a scene is a weird place with lots of growing shadows. Some black blobs form upwards from the shadows and speed to earth, which you can see in the sky. (Presumably this is supposed to be in between worlds).
    • When Ichigo talks to the punks, they do not see the dead ghost. He merely scares them away with his fighting prowess.
    • The girl ghost is not covered in blood.
    • Once Ichigo arrives home, he goes to sleep and the next morning sees a news broadcast on some sort of gas explosion. Later in the day he's in the city and meets up with the girl ghost again. She's being chased by a hollow. Rukia shows up and kills the hollow, but before Ichigo can talk to her she leaves. After this he goes home and goes to his room, where he meets Rukia again.
    • Ichigo's father is out at a meeting when the hollow comes and does not show up in his room while Rukia is there.
    • The girl ghost is clearly left alone by the hollow after it catches up to her.
    • Karin is the sister picked up by the hollow and Yuzu is the sister in the hall warning Ichigo.
    • Ichigo manages to somehow get downstairs before he breaks the kidou. After this he picks up a chair and tries to hit the hollow with it.
    • The last scene isn't shown.
  2. Starter
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 2
    Characters Appearing - Tatsuki Arisawa, Hexapodus, Orihime Inoue, Mizuiro Kojima, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Karakura High, Karakura Park, Kurosaki Clinic
    Released Soul Cutters - None
    Relevant Terminology - artificial body, denreishinki, hollow, shinigami, soul cutter, Soul Society

    The next day Ichigo wakes up after a bad dream by being kicked by Isshin. After pinning him down, Ichigo remembers last night and ask if Isshin is uninjured. Isshin is confused and on the title page it shows Ichigo asking what. It turns out not only is the family uninjured, they think the damage to their house was caused by a truck hitting it. He figures it's shinigami after care and wonders if Rukia returned to Soul Society.

    One of his classmates, Orihime Inoue, has a crush on Ichigo and is talking to her best friend Tatsuki Arisawa about her crush and Ichigo. They both wonder why he's late to school, and are told the explanation by a friend of Ichigo's. As they're wondering if he's injured or dead, Ichigo walks through the door, but when he does he discovers Rukia is posing as a transfer student in his class! She threatens to kill him if he makes a fuss and later drags him to the roof to explain that his soul still has most of her shinigami powers and that currently she's using an artificial body to regain them (which is also why normal people can see her). In the meantime she wants him to help her out with her work. Ichigo refuses until she punches his soul out of his body and shows him a boy ghost getting attacked by a hollow (which she knows about because of her denreishinki, a device that resembles a cell phone and gives her orders from Soul Society about the time and location of hollow attacks). Rukia tells him not to help the kid unless he's prepared to help all spirits no matter what it takes and after some time Ichigo attacks and kills the hollow. But it turns out he hasn't made any such mental preparations. He tells her that he save the kid because he wanted to and that he cannot guarantee he'll sacrifice himself to save ghosts, but he will help her out.

    Back at the school, people have found Ichigo's unconscious body.

    The last sceen shows Inoue sitting at her desk with her math text upside down, thinking Ichigo isn't back yet.

    Differences in episode 2:
    • Ichigo's bad dream at the beginning was omitted. Instead it starts with him getting woken up by his dad.
    • Ichigo runs into Inoue in the hall rather than seeing her in the classroom. She seems more afraid of him than having a crush on him.
    • Tatsuki and Inoue do not discuss Inoue's crush on Ichigo at all.
    • Yasutora "Chad" Sado and Keigo Asano are also in the classroom.
    • Ichigo does not nearly hit the boy ghost with his sword while he yells at Rukia.
    • Ichigo performs a soul burial on the kid after he kills the hollow and classmates do not find his body.
    • Ichigo doesn't tell Rukia he'll help her out until at the end of what is chapter 6.
    • The last scene isn't shown.
  3. Headhittin'
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 2
    Characters Appearing - Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Karakura, Inoue's Apartment, Karakura Park, Kurosaki Clinic
    Released Soul Cutters - None
    Relevant Terminology - denreishinki, hollow, shinigami, soul cutter

    We start out by seeing one of Ichigo's classmates, Orihime Inoue, crossing a street and getting hit by a car. The title page shows Ichigo in a weird punk getup holding a pen (which can easily be mistaken for a cigar from the way he's holding it. Behind him it says "NO heartwarming stories" and on his jacket is a patch that says "violate the dead."

    Later we see Rukia and Ichigo in a park. Rukia is practicing modern Japanese while she's having Ichigo practice hitting baseballs, only he's doing it wrong. She wants to train him to reflexively only hit the head of hollows, but Ichigo is doing it wrong because he can't tell Rukia's drawings of heads from drawings of hands. At this point Inoue runs into them. She has an odd bruise on her leg which Rukia seems unusually interested in and Inoue claims it must be from getting hit by the car. She then talks about shopping and an odd combination of food she bought for dinner, but shortly after Inoue remembers something she needs to do and they all go home (although Ichigo is not sure where Rukia is heading.) On the way home Rukia asks if Inoue has any family and Ichigo tells her she has a dead older brother (which he knows about because the brother died at his father's clinic.

    When Ichigo gets home Yuzu asks him if he knows where some of her clothes are. He yells at her, but doesn't think anything more about it.

    A bit later Rukia's denreishinki goes off. Ichigo can hear the noise from his room (and thinks it's someone playing a video game) when Rukia jumps out of the closet (apparently she had been making her home in Ichigo's closet) and tells him a hollow is coming now! She punches his soul out of his body again as it appears in his room and he tries to kill the hollow by hitting its head like he practiced, but he only succeeds in breaking off part of its mask and realizes it is Inoue's dead older brother! The hollow then flees. Rukia confirms that all hollows were once normal human souls.

    Just then we see Inoue and Tatsuki in Inoue's apartment and a stuffed bear sitting on a shelf suddenly splits open.

    The last page shows the manga Rukia was reading: The Jade Heritage by Hatsue Marie. It's about Marianne, a semi-masochist, her gay younger brother Francois, and a small jade box they received from their mother, a 52 year old wrestler. Apparently it's a scary story.

    Differences in episode 2:
    • There's an extra scene at the beginning of the chapter showing Inoue's brother turning into a hollow.
    • Instead of being in the park Ichigo and Rukia are walking down the street. Rukia is still practicing her modern Japanese. They see Inoue recovering after just getting hit by a car and start talking to her. There's no mention of Ichigo practicing to just hit a hollow's head and kill it in one blow.
    • The anime shows Tatsuki arriving at Inoue's apartment.
    • There's an extra scene showing Inoue's brother in a shadowy place after Ichigo broke his mask. The mask fixes and then he goes to attack Inoue.
    • A few of the parts at the end of this chapter are mixed with parts from chapter 4.
    • The information on Rukia's manga isn't given.
  4. WHY DO YOU EAT IT?
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 2 and episode 3
    Characters Appearing - Acid Wire, Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Karakura: Inoue's Apartment, Kurosaki Clinic
    Released Soul Cutters - None
    Relevant Terminology - chain of fate, hollow, shinigami, soul cutter, Soul Society

    We first see Ichigo arguing with Rukia about the nature of hollows. But she says there's no time to explain because the hollow is going to attack and kill Inoue if they don't hurry. The title page shows Rukia wearing a tank top holding a candy container sticking out her tongue with a candy on it. Above her a cicada is flying.

    Next we see that Tatsuki is visiting Inoue at home, where Inoue is discussing seeing Ichigo and Rukia in the park. Tatsuki gives her some advice on how to snag him, and Inoue starts daydreaming about it. She's brought back to the present when the stuffed bear falls. Inoue picks it up and wonders how it got ripped, when she sees blood and suddenly an arm springs out of it and goes straight through Inoue's heart, knocking her unconscious.

    We then see Rukia riding on Ichigo's back to Inoue's. As they travel she explains that hollows try to eat the souls of their families first and then only do they eat any dense soul. She explains they eat, not to gain sustenance, but to fill their aching hearts and that they're souls that weren't sent to Soul Society, souls that escaped, souls that weren't protected from hollows, or souls that degraded into hollows. She also explains the bruise on Inoue's leg was actually a hollow bite mark.

    Back at Inoue's Tatsuki is getting tossed around and injured by the hollow, which she cannot see. Inoue, whose spirit is outside of her body but connected to it by a chain, can clearly see her brother the hollow (but doesn't realize it's him yet because his mask regrew). She then notices her body. Inoue wants to break the chain connecting her to her body, but gives up and protects Tatsuki from the hollow instead. She then asks Tatsuki if she's ok, but Tatsuki doesn't respond. Her brother tells her that Tatsuki cannot see or hear them and then she asks how he knew her name. Then it seems like her brother is going to attack her, but Ichigo manages to arrive and block the attack. Inoue can see him.

    The last page reveals Inoue lives in apartment 202. Below her apartment is Morita, who's on vacation and Iwao, who's separated from his wife, and next to her apartment is an empty apartment.

    Differences in episodes 2 and 3:
    • The parts where Rukia explains about hollows in the beginning is interspersed with parts of chapter 3.
    • The anime doesn't show Orihime's daydream.
    • Episode 2 shows up to where the bear falls off the shelf.
    • The anime changes the order of events slightly.
    • The background on Inoue's apartment isn't given.
  5. Blinda · blinda
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 3
    Characters Appearing - Acid Wire, Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Inoue's Apartment
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow, shinigami, soul cutter

    The title page shows Ichigo in normal clothes holding his soul cutter. Behind him Inoue is sitting as if on a bench in a skirt outfit and in front of him Karin is sitting on the floor in front of him wearing an army-like uniform. Behind them it says "The Story of "Bleach"", ""Don't Say To Your Sister"" and:

    BAD POP
    SUPERFUNK
    nice viBe
    Death Romantic
    METAL BOUND BLAST

    "The Bleach" ara (1 tor.)
    Rukia Rotwood
    Jetcape-15
    Vega Highwell

    Soon after Ichigo realizes that Inoue's soul is out of her body, too! He's also startled that she can see him because ordinary people shouldn't be able to. Her brother says she can see him because it's her soul and that she's already dead. He then blasts Ichigo back by attacking with his tail (and somehow Ichigo just slides back in the sky as if it's the ground. Inoue's brother then blasts Ichigo's hand with some sort of goop, burning his hand, making him drop his soul cutter, and fall to the ground. Inoue's brother then picks up Inoue. She bites his hand and then he reveals that he was in fact her brother.

    Outside Rukia wakes Ichigo up and asks what's wrong. He replies it's a bit different this time so it's harder for him. Rukia reminds him that if he fails Inoue will die.

    Back in Inoue's room, she asks him why she did this to Tatsuki. He explains he was sad because Inoue hasn't been praying to him ever since she met Tatsuki and especially Ichigo. He felt like he was disappearing from her heart. Just as he starts to say he wants to kill Inoue because he's so sad, though, Ichigo returns. However, Ichigo gets batted away by the tail again. Inoue asks why he's acting like this now, and he retorts that she made him like this so he's going to kill her. At this Ichigo gets really angry and cuts off hand, freeing Inoue, and chops up his tail into several pieces, saying that older brothers should be taking care of their younger sisters.

    The last scene shows Rukia climbing up a drainpipe, griping that Ichigo didn't open the door for her.

    Differences in episode 3:
    • Instead of spitting goop onto Ichigo's hand, Inoue's brother whacks him down to the ground with his tail.
    • Inoue doesn't bite her brother's hand, but simply struggles to get free.
    • Tatsuki is given as the only reason Inoue stopped praying to her brother.
    • Ichigo doesn't chop up the hollow's tail.
    • Rukia enters Inoue's room at the end of this chapter rather than later on. How she gets in isn't shown.
  6. microcrack
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 3
    Characters Appearing - Acid Wire, Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Inoue's Apartment
    Released Soul Cutters - None
    Relevant Terminology - hollow, memory replacer, shinigami, soul cutter, Soul Society

    This chapter starts with a narration by Inoue's brother explaining that he was 15 years older than her and that since their mother was a whore and their father was worse, he took her as a baby, ran away, and raised her himself.

    We then see him shouting at Ichigo saying since he raised her, Inoue belongs to him. He then attacks Ichigo, but Ichigo parries with his sword and says Inoue belongs to herself. The brother then retorts if he can't have her, she can at least die for him. Then we see the title page: Inoue standing in a one piece dress, trying to keep her skirt from blowing up.

    The next thing we see is Inoue hugging her brother's head despite his teeth digging into her. She apologizes to him for keeping him on earth and says that she stopped praying because she wanted to show him her being happy so he wouldn't worry about her. But she's sorry because it made him feel lonely. She then collapses. Rukia then shows up and says it's ok. Inoue is still alive because her chain of fate is still connected so she can be saved using kidou. Her brother then admits he knew she stopped praying to stop worrying him, but he still wanted her to pray because when she did her heart belonged to him. Ichigo then points out she wears the same hairpins everyday because she said her brother gave them to her. Then the brother stabs himself with Ichigo's soul cutter. Ichigo is shocked, but he says he's doing it while he's still himself in case he attacks her again. Rukia said he did the right thing because once you become a hollow you can't ever go back to being a normal soul. Howevever, instead of killing a hollow a soul cutter cleanses it of its sins so it can go to Soul Society.

    We then have a short narration by Orihime. She says the day before he died they got into their first fight ever over her hairpins (the ones she's wearing). She didn't like them for some silly reason so they ate dinner while facing the wall and not speaking and the next morning when he went to work she never told him, "Take care." Then he got killed in the car accident. So she's always wanted to tell him, "Take care." She says that as he disappears and goes to Soul Society. After he's gone Rukia cleans up her wounds and then she flips something that something that resembles a lighter under Inoue's nose and it explodes. Inoue goes out cold. Ichigo freaks out, but Rukia tells him she was using it to replace Inoue's memories of encountering Ichigo and her brother with a random memory. She then uses it on Tatsuki just in case. Ichigo doesn't understand so she tells him to wait and see.

    At school the next day you see Inoue claiming a Sumo wrestler came into her room and shot a bazooka at her wall. Her friends don't believe her until Tatsuki backs her up. Ichigo then understands, asks Rukia if she used it on his family, and Rukia tells him she did.

    The last scene shows Tatsuki and Inoue visiting her brother's grave.

    Differences in episode 3:
    • Rukia is in Inoue's room the entire time during this chapter.
    • Rather than have a narration by Inoue's brother, they just have him tell Ichigo that.
    • They add some scenes of Orihime with her brother at various ages.
    • During part of Ichigo's fight Inoue's brother spits goop on his hand, burning it and making him drop his soul cutter.
    • The part with Orihime hugging her brother occurs outside her apartment.
    • In the anime they say Inoue's brother attacked Ichigo because of the hollows that turned him into a hollow
    • Instead of showing Rukia using the Memory Changer on Inoue, they show them at school the next day saying their memory and then Ichigo has a brief flashback of Rukia using it on Inoue.
    • The last scene isn't shown.
  7. The Pink Cheeked Parakeet
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 4
    Characters Appearing - Keigo Asano, Harutoki, Mizuiro Kojima, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki, Yasutora "Chad" Sado, Yuuichi Shibata, Shigeo
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Karakura, Karakura High, Kurosaki Clinic
    Released Soul Cutters - None
    Relevant Terminology - hollow

    This chapter starts by showing another one of Ichigo's classmates: a big tall guy with curly hair that's always in his eyes named Yasutora Sado. Everyone calls him Chad, though. He's sitting with a couple of friends who don't seem to attend Karakura High and one of them is holding a cage containing a parakeet. He says its cursed because all of its owners have died so it's gotten passed around a lot. He offers to give the parakeet to Chad and a friend scolds him saying that everyone knows Chad has a thing for cute stuff. Just then a steel bar suspended at a construction site and nearly crushes them. Luckily Chad has superhuman strength and manages to catch it on his back, although he does get a bit of a cut. The parakeet then thanks Chad for saving it and introduces itself as Yuuichi Shibata. It then asks Chad for his name. All of the others are stunned because it seems to understand what's going on, but Chad calmly introduces himself. For the title page we see Isshin dressed in one of his weird outfits (a white suit and a white fur coat) spewing out smoke with bats in the sky. Yuzu is wearing a black tux, and Karin looks like a secret service agent holding up a sign saying "OUR FIELD! KUROSAKI FAMILY ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT" In front of them it says "THE EXTRAORDINARY HORROR SHOW, ALL NIGHT LONG $19.98! IT'S VERRRY DANGEROUS!!"

    Later we see Ichigo and Rukia on the school roof for lunch. Ichigo is amazed at how Rukia healed his wounds and she says she got top grades in Kidou so it's nothing. After some fun conversation involving Asano Keigo and Kojima, Ichigo's friends, (during which they're introduce themselves to Rukia), the "party" gets ruined when some gang members show up to pester Ichigo to stop dying his hair (even though its natural). Keigo tries to keep a fight from starting, but Ichigo and the gang members won't back down. However, Chad shows up with parakeet (and a lot of bandaged spots) and easily takes care of the gang members. When asked about the bandages he tells them about the steel beam but adds that he got hit by a motorcycle and took the cyclist to the hospital, which is why he got to school late. Then Shibata introduces himself. Ichigo's friends are amazed by it, but Ichigo immediately realizes there's a ghost in the parakeet. He asks Chad where he got it, and Chad gives a very abbreviated answer. However, Rukia says it's a weak one and won't cause any harm so they'll take care of it later that night. She's pleased that Ichigo has started to worry about others after sensing a ghost, though.

    When Ichigo returns home there's chaos because of a nearby traffic accident. Saying Ichigo would just get in the way, he sits in a corner until they have a really large patient they need him to help carry. That patient happens to be Chad, still carrying around the parakeet. Karin gets freaked out when she sees the parakeet. When they remove Chad's shirt they find a very large, oddly-shaped burn on his back. Ichigo realizes it was caused by a hollow immediately. At this point Chad attempts to leave and collapses on the floor. They take him to a hospital bed. When he returns to his room, Rukia confirms Ichigo's suspicions.

    Differences in episode 4:
    • They show a shadowy world, possibly in between worlds, with the Grand Fisher talking about how good a shinigami's soul tastes and then the face of a hollow looking at Shibata's birdcage just after the steel bar falls.
    • At one point on the rooftop Ichigo actually punches the straw into her juicebox for her.
    • On the rooftop Ichigo does not get bullied by the gang members. Instead Chad merely shows up.
    • On the rooftop after realizing Yuuichi is a ghost, Ichigo tells Rukia how he first met Chad.
    • Karin is shown worrying in bed about the parakeet after the events of this chapter.
    Extra: Ichigo Kuosaki's Profile
    Extra: Rukia Kuchiki's Profile