Chapter 43: Secret Tidings
A lone Hollow ran through the woods, jumping from tree to tree. Suddenly, the tree it jumped to exploded in a splinter of wood and Hollow bits. Over two-hundred yards away Ichigo held his oversized longbow. He could see a clear line straight to the Hollow that was just killed, because each tree along the way was either destroyed, had a hole in it, or was knocked over.
"I got it, Uryuu."
Next to Ichigo, Uryuu stood staring with a dumbfounded expression. He put his hand up to his face and felt personally attacked. This was not the elegance and finesse of a Quincy. This was hardly different from his overwhelming destructive power when he was a Soul Reaper. The only difference was his range had increased considerably!
The large wooden case on Ichigo's back held several large arrows which were comparable to ballista bolts. There was a simple mechanism on the side which Ichigo could use to grab the next arrow. These arrows were naturally created from the excess spiritual energy Ichigo gave off. His bow was very gaudy and overpowered to the point that Uryuu was questioning what a Quincy really was.
"Can't you try making a smaller bow?"
"I don't know. I just let the old man do his thing. Besides, I feel like this type of weapon fits my fighting style. If I can't shoot at them, I can just smack them with the huge bow."
As if to prove his words, he swung the bow like a staff and destroyed a nearby boulder. Once he was done, he let the bow and outfit dissipate. He brushed off his shoulders and pants with a satisfied look.
"It's much more convenient than having to separate from my body. I can basically fight whenever and wherever. So, what was that thing you wanted to tell me after I practiced shooting?"
"My father wishes to meet with you. Quincy is a dying breed after all."
"Your dad is a Quincy too? How come I've never seen him fighting Hollow?"
"Let's go. If you're curious you can just ask him yourself."
"Alright…"
Ichigo followed Uryuu toward the Ishida mansion which surprised Ichigo. He did not know that Uryuu lived in such a high scale place. It didn't take long for them to find Ryuken. When the duo entered, he was sitting in the chair with the back facing them. They could tell her was there because of the slight reflection in the window and a trail of smoke coming from the other side of the large office chair.
"Uryuu leave."
Uryuu became frustrated at the way he spoke, but still left in the end. Ichigo walked forward with several questions. However, he was interrupted with the sudden turning of the chair. Ryuken looked Ichigo up and down, then shoved the cigarette bud into the ash tray.
"You're definitely Masaki's son. Blindly jumping into dangers without fear for their own safety."
"Did you know my mother?"
"That is not important. What you need to know is that you cannot use your Quincy powers anymore. It would be best if you used them as a springboard to recover your original powers."
��What? Who are you to tell me that!?"
"There are forces in play which you do not understand. Continuing to use your Quincy powers as a mixed-blood will only cause you problems in the future. You were lucky once to escape death as a child, but if you go down this path, there will be no saving us."
"I don't understand any of this, but I won't stop using whatever power I can to protect those around me!"
"You pathetic fool, you will end up just like your mother, but not before you kill all of your friends first."
Ichigo didn't want to hear anymore and left. The words Ryuken said echoed in his mind. He tried to make sense of the connection between being a Quincy and his mother's death. He wandered the streets for several hours until Ichigo sensed a presence in the sky above Karakura town. He seemed to be searching for someone very suspiciously.
Ichigo's senses improved quite a bit so he chased after him. His Quincy powers were still under developed and he had difficulty using them to move quickly like he had with Shunpo. By the time he arrived, he found Uryuu being brought into an ambulance and Ryuken standing nearby with a troubled expression.
"You see, Kurosaki. As you are, you will never reach the same level as before. Think carefully about what I said before."
Ichigo was shocked seeing Uryuu bloodied and being rushed to the hospital. He followed after the ambulance and waited for the surgery to finish. Afterwards, he went to see him and ask what happened. Uryuu simply turned his head and didn't respond.
Ichigo staggers out of the hospital in anger that he wasn't able to protect anyone even with Quincy powers. The words Ryuken said came back to the forefront of his mind and Ichigo finds his way to a payphone. Ichigo pulls out the black card and decides to get his powers back. He dials the number on the card and after a few rings, someone answers.
"Welcome to Xcution, Ichigo Kurosaki."
…
"Captain Inoue, I have those reports you asked for."
"Wonderful, thank you Momo. I told you already you can address me a bit more casually."
"Yes… Captain."
Orihime shook her head as Momo left the room. A few months had past and Orihime already acclimated to the situation in the fifth division and her duties as a captain. She had begun to experience side effects of having a set of memories with more experience than her own lives put together. However, this had given her an idea regarding the issue of memory loss.
Her shallow understanding of Hanayo no hime was that she required to sacrifice memories to activate the reality altering powers. However, the stories she accumulated with the power were technically her memories as well. Therefore, as long as the opponent wasn't many times more powerful than her, she could technically cycle it infinitely.
"Although Hanayo probably won't like it. I'm sure there's a drawback."
There was another thing that came with her increase in status. She began to speak out loud again. This was likely a result of the freeing feeling of being the highest ranked person in the area. Even if someone overheard her what could they do? Even if someone questioned her, she could say she was speaking to a punishment force member in the shadows.
Eavesdropping on a captain? Who would dare do it and admit it? Other than her quirk resurfacing, everything went smoothly in her transition. Orihime turned her attention to the documents that Momo brought in. Aizen left a huge mess behind, apparently as another means to throw Soul Society into chaos. She drank her tea and snacked on dried persimmons while reading over the papers.
However, she almost had a spit take when she read one of the places the budget went into during Aizen's time. She set it aside and looked through the rest of the documents and noticed a few more strange things. Orihime was blown away and her understanding was shaken.
"Why was Aizen researching secondary dimensions. Could it be he knew of the Quincy threat all along? There are even records of him accessing all of the documents from the Quincy war a thousand years ago. He had also invested into Mayuri's research into the Quincy. This can't be a coincidence…"
Orihime closed her eyes and concentrated on Gin's memories. She hadn't done this before and only passively absorbed them to prevent major issues. However, this time she needed to confirm her theory. What she discovered shocked her very much. She was standing there in front of a man who looked like Uryu, but definitely wasn't his father.
The conversation between the two of them was related to the survival of the Quincy race. Orihime was able to deduce this man was Uryu's grandfather and he had fled from the Wahrwelt. He had realized that the only outcome for the Quincy's vendetta was annihilation. He never imagined the possibility of defeating the Soul Reapers.
Gin was interrogating him on details that Aizen asked for, but he was clearly disinterested in this near-extinct race. He naturally didn't understand the potential strength of the Quincy. Perhaps Aizen's first choice wasn't Hollow, or maybe he had the same idea as Orihime and try to extend his power in this direction.
Apparently, he escaped through a portal and left it open. However, he refused to reveal the location of the portal and was threatened by Gin. In the end, he still didn't give away the location and said it would die with him. Gin beat him up a bit before leaving. Orihime pulled out of the memories as she was starting to lose her bearing.
"I need to head to the world of the living and investigate this. However, whether Aizen knew about the threat, or was simply trying to access the Quincy as living experiment material, I can only find out from him directly. This is going to be a paperwork nightmare."
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(A/N: 1 advanced chapter available on Discord.)
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Pill_Guy
Pill_Guy Was Aizen the real anti-hero all along? Perhaps his pursuit of power led him astray. When you spend a long time doing something, you sometimes forget why you were doing it in the first place...
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