Yachiru's Friend! The Shinigami of Justice Appears!

is the three hundred fifteenth episode of the Bleach anime.

Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi encounters her old Shinigami friend and catches up with him.

Summary
In a forest, somewhere outside the Seireitei, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki is blowing off some steam by knocking down trees by swinging his Zanpakutō. As usual, Yachiru is close by and congratulates him on cutting down so many trees. Unsatisfied, Kenpachi informs his companion that he's going to move elsewhere in order to have a work out, telling her to go play for a while. Yachiru agrees and immediately becomes distracted by a butterfly, chasing it for a while before sensing a familiar Reiatsu not far away.

Elsewhere, a young woman is seen praying over some freshly dug graves. She is suddenly ambushed by a Hollow that chases her through the forest for a while. When she falls, the Hollow picks her up to devour her, but she is saved when a cloaked Shinigami appears and kills the Hollow in one strike, catching the young woman as she falls. The Shinigami apologizes for not being able to save the rest of the woman’s family, but she thanks him for saving at least her life and introduces herself as Mayu. The Shinigami introduces himself as Masayoshi.

Just then, Yachiru, who had witnessed the commotion, runs into Masayoshi’s arms excitedly calling him "Mappy" as she does so. He appears happy to see her, as they haven't seen each other in awhile. The three of them return to Masayoshi’s campsite beside a river, gathering wood and food as he and Yachiru catch up on old times. He tells them that he enjoys his job because it allows him to travel a lot, as he is hunting the Hollow who killed his wife, telling them the story of how they had argued just before he had left for a mission and once he had returned, she was already dead. He vows to kill all the Hollows in existence in revenge for the loss of his wife. During this time, Yachiru offers the two of them sweets, which Masayoshi declines telling her he doesn't like sweets.

Later that night, Mayu walks Yachiru through the forest in order to help her return to Kenpachi. The young woman talks about Masayoshi with a smitten smile upon her face much to Yachiru’s interest, however, she soon recognizes where she is and runs off in Kenpachi’s direction. She meets her captain in the middle of many destroyed trees and tell him about her adventures. Kenpachi appears troubled about this and later, as they camp, Yachiru reflects on time sent with Masayoshi in the past. During that time, he appeared to have enjoyed eating sweets, which was in contrast to what he had told her earlier. The next day, Yachiru examines her Zanpakutō as Kenpachi asks her if she needed him to come with her, but she declines and lets him know she will be fine before running off.

At his campsite by the river, Masayoshi wakes up from a nightmare about his wife’s death to find Mayu watching him curiously, asking him if he was alright. He confirms that he is and he takes an offered rice cake from her just as Yachiru arrives demanding one herself. That evening, as Yachiru skips stones across the river, Mayu asks Masayoshi if she would be able to travel with him, since she has nobody else and is all alone in the world. The Shinigami appears shocked at her request, but Yachiru interrupts them before he can reply and drags Mayu away because it was time to leave due to nightfall. On the way back, Yachiru warns Mayu not to get too close to Masayoshi before running back to Kenpachi.

Despite the warning, the next morning, Mayu skips happily towards Masayoshi with more food. Before she can reach him, she is captured by a Hollow that appears to have a grudge against the Shinigami. Masayoshi senses it’s presence and rushes towards the captured Mayu. The Hollow releases her, however, and they get surrounded by many other Hollows in a matter of seconds. Masayoshi tells Mayu not to worry and reconfirms that he will kill every Hollow in existence.

Yachiru arrives at the empty campsite looking for Masayoshi and Mayu and finding no traces of them. She feels the Reiatsu from the clash not far away and rushes to the area, where Masayoshi has apparently defeated all the Hollows, although his eyes appear black with red irises as he does this. He returns to normal when Yachiru arrives and greets her happily, however, she gets in front of Mayu as if ready to protect her. Masayoshi appears confused and Yachiru informs him that he is, in fact, a Hollow. He doesn't believe her, but she insists it to be true and that years ago, he had been possessed and that he had been the one who had killed his wife and that the shock of the act had made him revert to his Shinigami form. However, he is slowly being consumed by the Hollow inside him and this was why he’d forgotten his wife’s name, and had forgotten his love for sweets. The distress over realizing it was all true causes the Hollow to partly take over his body, scaring Mayu.

While the others are distracted, the Hollow that had originally kidnapped Mayu rises up suddenly, and moves to attack the young woman. Masayoshi sees it and at the last minute, gets between the two, simultaneously being stabbed and breaking the Hollow’s mask in the process. The Hollow dies and the Hollow part of Masayoshi dissipates as he collapses upon the ground, mortally wounded from the attack.

Mayu rushes to him, and holds his head to her chest as he apologizes for not fulfilling his promise to rid the world of all the Hollows. Mayu tells him that it doesn't matter and begins to cry, only stopping as he touches her cheek and thanks her. Beside him, Yachiru offers him a sweet, his favorite flavor, which he accepts, enjoying it’s taste one last time before he died. Later, a sad Yachiru returns to Kenpachi, who asks if the deed was done and she confirms that it was. Kenpachi throws her a bag of candy, which makes her smile and remark that he was really sweet.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
In Rukongai, Yachiru catches fish and gathers fruit for a meal. She brings them to Kenpachi, who has caught a bear. As the pair eat dinner, Yachiru notes that it has been several days, but they have not yet reached Seireitei. She asks if they are lost and Kenpachi admits that they are.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Kenpachi Zaraki
 * 2) Yachiru Kusajishi
 * 3) Mayu
 * 4) Masayoshi
 * 5) Masayoshi's wife (flashback)

Fights
None.

Powers and Techniques Used
None.