In a desolate landscape of white sand and eerie rock spires, the shadows grow long in the desert twilight. Suddenly, two dark figures rise from the ground and take to the air, materializing into invisible monsters as they descend upon a riverbank below a bridge in Karakura Town.
Somewhere else, a Jigokuchō is flying towards a full moon while Rukia Kuchiki stands on top of a telephone poll nearby. Noting that she senses a powerful Reiatsu, Rukia jumps to another telephone pole before leaping towards the town below. The following evening, at twilight, Ichigo Kurosaki stands in front of five skateboarding teenagers, one of whom is lying on the ground. A belligerent Toshi-Bro confronts him over kicking down Yama-Bro, who lies unconscious nearby, and tells them to get out of his way.
However, Ichigo nonchalantly kicks Toshi-Bro in the face, and when the latter collapses, Ichigo continues to kick him in the back as his fellow skateboarders watch in horror. After driving Toshi-Bro’s head through the concrete road, Ichigo directs the attention of the remaining skateboarders to the vase of flowers on the sidewalk behind him, which has been knocked over, and demands to tell him what that is, prompting Mit-Bro to admit that it is a vase of flowers set up for a child who died in this location a couple days ago, which leads Ichigo to kick Mit-Bro in the face as well while confirming this is correct.
Ichigo asks the other two skateboarders why the vase is on its side. When one of them reveals that they knocked it over while skateboarding, Ichigo kicks them both down before proclaiming that he will make sure people have to put up flowers for their souls too if they ever do this again. Screaming in terror, the skateboarders apologize and run away. Ichigo notes that they likely will not return if he made them that afraid. He promises to bring fresh flowers tomorrow.
After putting the vase of flowers back up, Ichigo tells the girl that she is welcome and that she should cross over soon before walking away while the girl fades from view. As he walks home in the night, Ichigo begins to think about his life: he is 15 years old and in the tenth grade, his family runs a clinic, and he has been able to see ghosts for as long as he can remember. Walking through the front door of his house, Ichigo announces his arrival, only to be kicked in the face by Isshin Kurosaki
Isshin Kurosaki angrily declares that anyone who dares to disturb the peace in his home will be punished, while butting heads with his son, Ichigo. The two begin sparring fiercely, with Isshin asking if Ichigo is gloating because he’s the only one who can see and talk to ghosts. Ichigo reminds his father that he didn’t ask to be born this way. His sister Yuzu tries to get them to stop because dinner is getting cold, but Karin
Ichigo becomes frustrated with his 7:00 pm curfew, despite being a healthy young man. Karin interrupts him to point out that a new spirit is now following him. Upon seeing the bespectacled Plus behind him, a shocked Ichigo wonders when he arrived and tries to swat the spirit away. He bemoans the fact that he is never fully rid of spirits no matter how hard he tries to get rid of them. After thanking Yuzu for dinner, Karin expresses sympathy for Ichigo being so popular with spirits
When Karin tells her sister Yuzu that she doesn’t believe in ghosts, Yuzu points out that she can see them too. Their father is the only one who can’t interact with ghosts at all. Karin then says that ghosts don’t exist to her, no matter if she can see them or not. Yuzu and the Plus feel shocked by Karin’s words. Ichigo tries to stop the fighting and get dinner, but Isshin slides into his feet to trip him up. Ichigo gets angry and pushes him away before they both punch each other in the face.
Ichigo gets irritated and decides to go to bed, leaving Karin to blame Isshin for his reaction. Upstairs in his bed, Ichigo tells Yuzu that he’s having a rough time right now, noting that he’s seeing more spirits than ever. Isshin is shocked that Ichigo never tells him about these things and Karin points out that he’s over 40 years old but communicates in an immature way. She states that no one would ever want to confide in him.
Seeing this, Karin tells him that he should take down the memorial poster to start with. The next day, a reporter on television relays the news that the ground shook and the walls of many buildings were damaged one block away from the main street outside of Karakura Station at 7:30 am this morning. As Karin and Yuzu eat breakfast in the dining room, Ichigo enters the room and greets them before asking where Isshin is, prompting Karin to reveal that he has a meeting and will not be home that night. Taking a piece of toast from the toaster.
Yuzu asks him what is wrong, and Ichigo notes that the incident took place near their house. Shortly afterward, Ichigo walks past the site of the incident with fresh flowers in his bag. He arrives at the street with the dead girl’s memorial site, where he calls out for her. However, upon hearing a scream and a strange roar from afar, a startled Ichigo begins running toward the source of the sound.
Elsewhere in the city, a woman wonders what that sound was before screaming when another explosion occurs nearby. Giant claw marks are dug into the side of a building.
Ichigo is engulfed in a cloud of smoke and sees a large masked monster standing in the midst of the destruction. He is confused. Suddenly, the dead girl runs toward him while calling out. Ichigo tells her to run while they begin fleeing together. With the monster in pursuit, the dead girl asks Ichigo what it is and he admits he does not know. They trip and fall on the ground. As Ichigo runs back to help her up, the monster catches up to them and moves to attack. Suddenly, Ichigo sees a Jigokuchō fly in front of his face.
With blood spurting from her wound, Rukia falls to the ground before quickly getting up and leaping toward the monster once again. She vertically cuts through its entire body – head to toe – causing it to disintegrate and disappear. As she sheaths her Zanpakutō, a stunned Ichigo tries to get her attention, but Rukia only briefly looks at him before walking away. All around them, civilians begin to return to the scene and wonder what happened. Ichigo sees that the dead girl has disappeared and looks ahead in shock.
That night, as Ichigo lies in bed, he’s trying to make sense of the events that transpired earlier that day. He’s deep in thought when he notices a Jigokuchō flying by his window. To his shock, Rukia appears in his room, standing on top of his desk. He warily asks her what she wants. Rukia steps down from the desk and says that “it” is close. Ichigo kicks her in the back, demanding to know what she’s talking about.
Rukia is confused when Ichigo says he can see her. She realizes that he must have seen her when she defeated the monster earlier. Rukia starts to examine him, and she notes that people cannot usually see her. Ichigo tells her to stop talking nonsense and tries to kick her. However, Rukia easily dodges his kick and pushes him to the ground.
The dead girl runs away from the large monster, thundering footsteps echoing behind her. She wonders where it is coming from as she sees two telephone lines being torn apart by the surge of electricity. Back at the Kurosaki Clinic, Ichigo recounts Rukia’s explanation that she is a Shinigami sent from Soul Society to exorcise demons like the one who attacked the dead girl earlier. Rukia nods along in agreement.
When Rukia sees that he can see ghosts, she’s surprised and asks if he really doesn’t believe in Shinigami despite this ability. Ichigo confirms that he’s never seen a Shinigami before and doesn’t believe in something he can’t see. Rukia points out that he can see her and Ichigo admits that she’s clearly not human before telling her to stop playing Shinigami and calling her a “pipsqueak.” Angered by this, Rukia uses Bakudo
Taunting Ichigo over his inability to move, Rukia explains that this is Kidō, a high-level spell that only Shinigami can use. She reveals that she has lived ten times longer than Ichigo despite her appearance, before claiming that not being permitted to execute anyone not named in her orders is the only thing preventing her from killing Ichigo on the spot for his insolence – which he should be grateful for. While an angered Ichigo curses her and her attitude, he is shocked when Rukia pulls out her Zanpakutō and brings it down.
The Plus begs Rukia not to send him to but she assures him that he is instead going to Soul Society which is a much more restful place. Once Rukia removes the hilt from his forehead, leaving behind a shining emblem, the Plus clasps his hands and smiles as he sinks into the floor in a pool of blue light. While the light fades and a Jigokuchō flies away from the center, a confused Ichigo asks Rukia what happened to the Soul, prompting her to reiterate that she sent him to Soul Society – which is referred to as “passing over.”
Rukia explains that there are two types of spirits in the world: Pluses, the normal spirits that Ichigo normally sees, and Hollows, evil spirits that attack both the living and the dead to devour their souls. As she illustrates both with a sketchpad and marker, Rukia asks him if he has any questions so far.
Ichigo sarcastically wonders why her drawings are so bad, prompting Rukia to draw a mustache on his face with her marker, to his horror. Rukia continues, detailing how Shinigami have two jobs:
While Fishbone D pursues the dead girl through the streets of town, Ichigo asks Rukia why the Hollow she purified earlier was pursuing the dead girl. Rukia admits that she does not know because Soul Society has yet to grasp everything about Hollows.
Suddenly, the dead girl trips and falls to the ground. Fishbone D reaches out to grab her, but then stops short. He smells an especially tasty soul nearby, alongside that of a Shinigami.
Standing up, Fishbone D begins walking in a different direction and roars. The windows nearby explode.
When Rukia notes that there is another Hollow wandering around the area, a startled Ichigo tells her to hurry up and get rid of it. However, Rukia admits that she has not been able to sense it recently and theorizes that there is a powerful force obstructing her senses within the same area.
Ichigo demands to know if she cannot hear the terrible cries outside and if this is not the Hollow she is after, prompting a confused Rukia to state that she does not know what Ichigo is talking about.
Rukia then stops in shock as she suddenly realizes that the powerful force obstructing her senses is actually the Hollow itself!
Rukia is in shock as she hears a loud crash from downstairs, followed by Yuzu screaming. She runs to the door and opens it, only to be stopped in her tracks by the sudden appearance of Fishbone D’s powerful Reiatsu. While Rukia wonders how she could not have sensed this Reiatsu before, an injured Yuzu calls out to Ichigo and stumbles through the hall before falling in front of Ichigo’s door. Reaching out to Ichigo, Yuzu reveals that something has happened to Karin and begs him to save her as she falls unconscious. While kneeling down to check on Yuzu, Rukia hears Karin crying in pain and runs downstairs while a distraught Ichigo gets to his knees.
As Fishbone D grips Karin while she begs himto stop, Rukia draws her Zanpakutō before Ichigo falls down the stairs behind her. Rukia tells Ichigo to stay back, but he instead stands up while calling out to Karin, prompting Rukia to express surprise at him being able to move despite the binding spell placed on him. Seeing Fishbone D holding Karin, Ichigo begins screaming in anger and straining against his invisible binds, prompting Rukia to warn him that no human strength can break them. However, while several floating kanji appear around him and his restraints become visible, Ichigo glows with golden light before completely shattering his bonds.
With Rukia left shocked by a Human like Ichigo breaking through a spell with his own power, Ichigo grabs a folding chair and runs forward to attack Fishbone D, who punches him away with his free hand. As Ichigo is sent flying back, Fishbone approaches him and declares that he has found Ichigo before reaching for him, only for Ichigo to roll away while Rukia cuts deep into Fishbone D’s right arm. Roaring in pain, Fishbone D drops Karin, who is caught by Ichigo, and disappears from view. As Ichigo frantically calls out to Karin, Rukia sternly tells him to compose himself because Fishbone D has not yet devoured his sisters’ souls, to his surprise.
Ichigo asks Rukia if she is sure about something, and she confirms that she is. She notes that Fishbone D is seeking a soul with a higher amount of Reiryoku before realizing that the Hollow she purified earlier was not after the dead girl. Ichigo asks her what she means, and she explains that his power was almost completely suppressed until just now. This is why she didn’t sense anything about him and why he was never attacked by a Hollow before. Admitting that it may just be conjecture, Rukia theorizes that Ichigo’s power began pouring out due to his contact with the deceased girl.
Ichigo is in shock after Fishbone D reveals himself for a second time in front of Rukia. She then tells him to stay back, but he instead tells her to be quiet and asks if it’s his fault that the dead girl was attacked. His sisters’ lives are now in danger because of Fishbone D. Ichigo recalls his sisters being in pain and this fuels his anger. He yells and runs towards Fishbone D, demanding that the Hollow fight him one-on-one. A roaring Fishbone D extends his neck to devour Ichigo, but Rukia intercepts the attack with her body, damaging Fishbone D’s mouth in the process.
After scolding Ichigo for not being aware that he wouldn’t be able to defeat Fishbone D on his own, Rukia asks if he thought everything would be resolved if he gave the Hollow his soul. She states that at this point, they will all become the Hollow’s food. While Fishbone D recovers and narrows his eyes, Rukia pulls herself to a nearby pole and asks Ichigo if he wants to save his family. Ichigo immediately confirms before asking if there is a way to do so. Affirming this, Rukia leans against the pole and points her Zanpakutō at Ichigo before declaring he must become a Shinigami himself.
While Fishbone D continues to roar, Rukia admits that she does not know if this will work before asserting that there is nothing else they can do. As Fishbone D begins to walk toward them, Ichigo tells Rukia to give him her Zanpakutō and addresses her as a Shinigami, prompting Rukia to tell him her name. With Fishbone D charging toward them, Ichigo grabs Rukia’s Zanpakutō by the blade and introduces himself in turn before pulling the blade into himself while Rukia pushes, resulting in a powerful surge of energy that releases waves of force in all directions. Pushing through the force, Fishbone D suddenly has his left arm cut off by Ichigo.
As Fishbone D continues to charge forward, Rukia admits that she’s not sure if their plan will work. But before she can say anything else, Ichigo tells her to give him her Zanpakutō and addresses her as a Shinigami. Rukia hesitates for a moment, but then tells him her name.
With Fishbone D now charging toward them, Ichigo grabs Rukia’s Zanpakutō by the blade and introduces himself in turn. Then, he pulls the blade into himself while Rukia pushes. The result is a powerful surge of energy that releases waves of force in all directions.