The story opens with the sudden appearance of one of the Soul Reapers (死神, shinigami?, lit. "death god"), a military order who escorts the souls of the dead, named Rukia Kuchiki in teenager Ichigo Kurosaki's bedroom. She is surprised at his ability to see her, but their conversation is interrupted by the appearance of a "hollow", an evil spirit who was originally a human soul. After Rukia is severely wounded while trying to protect Ichigo, she attempts to transfer half of her reiatsu to Ichigo in order to let him face the hollow on equal footing. Ichigo unintentionally absorbs almost all her energy, allowing him to defeat the hollow with ease. The next day Rukia appears in Ichigo's classroom as a seemingly normal human, and informs Ichigo that his absorption of her powers has left her stranded in the human world until she recovers her strength. In the meantime Ichigo shelters Rukia in his home and takes over her job as a Soul Reaper, battling hollows and guiding lost souls to the afterlife realm known as Soul Society.