I would like to thank Savage324 for helping me write this chapter. I would like to thank all the people who helped me write this story, and I'm not talking just about the people who say what I was going to post before I post it. Even though it's sad to say the updates are slow I've always been happy by the way people read this story. I have a feeling writing the next chapter will be a breeze.
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Rex felt every sinew of his sore muscles as he walked into the warm sunlight. The crisp air was ten times better than what he had been breathing for the past few days. Though he couldn't see the sunlight, that didn't stop him from feeling its warm along with the gratefulness that his hard work was finished. Training was over, finally, and Rex just wanted to go back home and crash into his bed. The idea that he had been training with the Vizards for the past few days, and that he was now technically one of them was still as strange and foreign one to him as the warehouses surrounding him. What he wouldn't give for something sweet to take his mind off of what his mother would say if she found him here.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, focusing on his new-found strength. There was one noticeable difference than when he had entered the warehouse, though. He could see. Well, he could see about five feet in any direction now that he had spiritual energy, brightness, of his own. Because of this, the cane he was now tapping on the ground was just to keep up the ruse that he was as he had always been. The way he used his abilities, especially now that he could "see" was as clear as it had always been. He was going to fight and slaughter the Hollows that had forced him to live in darkness for so long.
Rex knew that the energy he was in control of now was like a magnet for the Hollows, making it dangerous to be out in the open like he was. Rex was ready for the wretched things to strike, even was anxious about it. He wanted to test his new abilities, find and exceed his limits, and make use of the training that Shinji had given him. He smiled with excitement, the grip on his cane tightening as a result. He couldn't wait for his first encounter with the Hollows.
Rex wasn't going to have an easy fight against a Hollow. A Hollow was a thing that destroyed and killed, but even these things can be controlled. Wearing a blue hood, having a white line go from his hood to halfway down his coat, a man who possessed powerful abilities watched Rex with a subtle Hollow behind him. The Hollow was a big and bipedal. It's mask looked like a cow skull, on its mask there were two marks that looked like ears cut off, and there was a small black dot over its mouth.
Rex sensed something off in the air, but shook it off as his being paranoid from the power of suggestion. He walked on from the warehouse district, having a hard time finding his way back from here to home. He had lived his entire life blind, so the way he remembered people and places was by the sounds they both made. Adding visual reference to his memories, even the five or so feet that he could "see" in front of him at a time. People were looking his way, he could hear them giggling, but they were too far away for Rex to "see" them. He continued to tap his cane in front of him, ignoring most of the things he could "see" in front of him so he could make it home without too much trouble.
" I don't like him," the man on the roof said. " I don't want to say it twice; I want nothing more than to see him swallowed by a Hollow."
The subtle Hollow chuckled, flexing its arm muscles in anticipation. "I could arrange that, my friend."
" I find this boy to be smaller than any insect. He's a boy that should be good as dead. When you get your mouth over him don't stop biting him, my friend."
Rex was now aware there was a Hollow coming right for him. When there was a Hollow in the area Rex got defensive. He knew he was going to fight this Hollow and when the Hollow got close to him he unsheathed his weapon.
Rex slashed his weapon at where his awareness told him the Hollow would be, but he was distracted by a suddenly gust of strong wind and the Hollow rammed into him.
The Hollow ramming into Rex made the brunette go flying into a building. Luckily, there was no one in said building, but from the crash, people in the area started running and screaming from the scene.
Rex got out of the rubble and sensed the hollow charging right at him from the front. He brought up his sword to block the attack, and then he kicked the hollow hard in the face, stunning the hollow. Rex only had a second to attack before the hollow recovered. So Rex slashed with his weapon right for the Hollow, but the Hollow recovered faster than Rex thought and moved out of the way.
The blind boy "saw" the Hollow's clawed hand coming from the left of him. He moved out of the way, and then slashed the Hollows arm, putting a nice deep gash in it. The hollow cried out in pain and backed way, so he could fire what looked like a dark beam at Rex. Rex sensed the beam and tried to dodge it, but it hit his left hand which broke on impact with the beam.
'Darn it; was that a cero that the visored told me about?' Rex thought while trying to ignore his now broken hand. Rex knew that he'd have to finish this fight quickly, think of a way to tell his mother how he broke his hand, and then go to bed, so he can have the best sleep of his life.
Rex waited for the Hollow to charge at him. When it was in front of the brunette, Rex used his speed to move a little to the left, and then slice the hollow's mask right down the middle, killing it instantly. Rex stood there to catch his breath. After a minute of doing that, he started to make his way back home.
Rex slashed the air with his blade, the blood from the Hollow splattering onto the forgiving ground at his feet. He "looked" around, both in the area that he could "see" and with his new sensing abilities. The air was still thick with the stench of Hollow, and Rex had no choice but to breath it in as his chest heaved. His heart was pounding with excitement, adrenaline coursing through his veins, as he confirmed that there was no one near him. Despite his heavy breathing, Rex forced himself to take a deep breath in order to calm himself. With nothing around to threaten him, he allowed himself to ease out of his paranoid and ultra-alert state that had overcome him in battle.
He was already a good distance of the way home. His hand was killing him, the pain from the broken limb radiating through his arm. He fought the urge to clench that hand into a fist, knowing that it would only make the pain even worse if he did so. He stepped lightly, making sure not to make too much noise so he didn't draw any attention. He didn't like how it only took a short while for a Hollow, especially one that was capable of firing a Cero, to find him. He wasn't sure if bring quiet was of any help, but he couldn't do anything about his spiritual pressure for the time being. One day he would have to learn how to surpress it, but that would be for another time.
"I see you completed your training..." A familiar voice sounded behind him.
Rex whipped around, his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword. He "looked" around for the source of the voice, trying to pinpoint where it came from with his new senses. He couldn't find him, couldn't sense where his spiritual pressure was at all. How could someone just lose all of their power, especially someone as bright as Kisuke Urahara. Rex grit his teeth in irritation, trying not to lose his cool and start shouting the cliche questions of "Who's there?" or "Where are you?"
Instead Rex settled on what really mattered, "What do you want, Urahara?"
"What?" Kisuke sounded hurt, though Rex knew that the man was acting, "No 'How are you?' or 'Thank you for your help'?"
Rex growled, "You obviously have a reason for giving me that help. I know your type, Urahara, and there's always something that you want."
Kisuke chuckled, "Know-it-all. Yes, I do want something from you in return for the favor I gave you. There's this Hollow, he's rather well known actually, that has some interesting abilities that I'd like to study for myself."
"These abilities being?" Rex prodded, crossing his arms and tapping a finger on his arm impatiently.
"I don't know," Kisuke said, then paused as if he were smiling, "Every one that's ever survived had come back blind."
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Kisuke watched from his high position a top the buildings roof. Rex was on the ground below, slowly walking away from him at his usual pace. He had been right, correct in his assumption that Rex could effectively see with spiritual pressures. All he had to do was were his black spiritual-pressure-canceling garb and stay far enough away from Rex so the boy's own spiritual pressure wouldn't illuminate him. It was interesting. But it wasn't the reason that the boy was as interesting as he was to the former Soul Reaper Captain. The fact that he had taken on an Adjuches class Hollow and defeated it with only a broken hand to show for it, that was interesting. He was incredibly powerful for an ordinary boy with a week of training. Kisuke wondered to himself why that was.
Rex had been correct in his assumption that Kisuke had an ulterior motive for helping him bring out his latent Hollow abilities. He was glad that Rex had chosen to cooperate, making the entire process much easier and quicker. Had Rex chosen normalcy instead of pursuing his Hollow powers, Kisuke had a contingency plan for it, but it was a long process that involved taking Rex's Hollow abilities, putting them into a container, and then waiting until the boy was willing to take the powers back into his body once again should that be the case. Kisuke also planned on having another fighter take the powers willingly, so that he could just continue with is plan with that volunteer as well. Though, in hindsight, that wouldn't have had nearly the amount of chance of success as the current situation. Whatever Shinji had taught Rex, it was certainly not a wasted effort.
As Rex continued on his way home, Kisuke broke off from where he was tailing the young Vizard and started to head back to his shop. He had preparations to make for when Rex had completed his first few steps. Kisuke had dropped Rex a card. On that card were words that had been infused with Reishi so Rex could read them, words that made up the instructions Rex was to carry out to complete his new task.
The air was brisk for a spring evening, but that didn't bother the former Captain of the Department of Research and Development in light of what he had just witnessed. The newly created Vizard was cooperating nicely to add to this great discovery. The Hollows of Karakura were being handled by Ichigo, Rukia, and now Rex, so Kisuke had nothing to worry about as far was the population of Hollows go. He landed in front of his shop without any further interruption from his Flash Step. He stepped through the door to find a very frequent customer of his.
"Why hello, Miss Kuchiki!" Kisuke said, as though he had been standing there for a long while, "I'm sorry to say that were aren't open at this time, so could you please wait until tomorrow?"
"You talked to that blind human a week or so ago, didn't you, Urahara?" Rukia ignored his facade like it wasn't even there.
Kisuke opened his fan and hid his face behind it mischievously, "Whatever to you mean, Miss Kuchiki?"
"Cut it out, Urahara!" Rukia practically yelled, "Did you talk to Rex?"
Kisuke looked up and down the noble's form. The Gigai he had sold her was working just perfectly, easily keeping up with the annoyed expression that showed exactly what she was feeling. Tessai was standing behind Rukia, along with Jinta and Ururu, waiting to see if Kisuke wanted to forcefully have the Kuchiki leave. Upon a discrete signal from the man wearing the bucket hat, the three of them went back to their regular duties throughout the shop while Kisuke would handle the irritated noble of the Soul Society. He looked at the petite girl, whom seemed rather annoyed that he was doing so as she glared at him with a "well?" expression.
"Rex...Rex...Rex..." Kisuke repeated, "Yes, I do believe I talked to a high schooler named Rex. What does that have to do with you, Miss Kuchiki? Is he a friend of yours?"
"I had to save him from a Hollow that he was fighting with a normal sword," Rukia said, "If you did something to him to make him fight Hollows for you..."
Kisuke put his hands up, "Slow down Miss Kuchiki, I didn't do anything personally to him."
"A suspicious answer, Urahara," Rukia grumbled, "Whatever your planning, it better not end with Rex getting killed. I'll hold you responsible if that does happen."
"Of course, Miss," Kisuke bowed, grinning under his fan.
After that was over with, Rukia requested a package. Kisuke had it ordered through his extensive sources in the Soul Society, while he secretly motioned to Tessai to set up his laboratory for some experimenting. The tall man nodded in a curt bow and headed of to do as requested. Of course, Rukia hadn't seen this exchange and was none the wiser as she looked through the candy that made up the facade of a sweets shop. Kisuke was already looked through is records to make sure he could give an accurate assumption of when Rukia's package would arrive as he was on autopilot. In his mind, he was thinking of what he would be doing once the Kuchiki had departed his shop. The things he could test and retest for validity, the new discoveries he would be making that day in preparation for when Rex would be finished with the first few things on his list.
And once he had completed his task and told the Kuchiki what she needed to know, she left.
XXX
Rex walked along the side walk slower then he usually did. The new things that he was 'seeing' were distracting him too much for him to walk at a brisk pace per usual. Also there was the lingering thought of what his mother would do when she found out that he had broken his hand in a fight. In all likelihood, the woman in question would force him to spar with fists in retaliation for his deception. His father would most likely stay of out the way in light of what his wife's mood would be. His sister would probably not even be present, instead being at a friends house or something like that. Rex shivered, a cold breeze working in tandem with his wanting to shake off the thoughts of what would happen upon his arrival to cause the reaction. On the bright side of the situation, if there was such a thing, he would at least be able to see where the punches would be coming from at least a second or so before it struck. His mother would probably be confused, and start to go all out on her son.
"Hey," A voice sounded in front of him, "Where the heck have you been, Rex?"
Rex snapped out of his train of thought and looked towards where the voice was coming from, instantly recognizing the torrent of spiritual pressure that was Ichigo Kurosaki, "It doesn't matter."
"'Course it matters," Ichigo said, scowling as usual, "Keigo's been yapping nonstop about how worried he was."
Rex made a show of cringing at the thought of the overly energetic brown haired boy asking everyone where he had been, "Ouch...You have my sympathies."
"Don't need 'em," Ichigo said, them looked around, "So is this the area where you live?"
Rex, thinking on his memories of how far he was from home and how far he had walked, shook his head, "No, I live about three or four blocks down from her."
"Ah," Ichigo nodded, scowl never faltering, "Well, I'm not Keigo and have places to be. I'll see ya around, Rex."
"Yeah," Rex said, nodding, "You too, Ichigo."
And with that the orange haired teenager started walking past Rex. Rex, tapping away at the ground will his cane, continued on as well. Ichigo stopped when there was ten feet of separation between the two of them, probably when he assumed that Rex couldn't tell he was their anymore, and watched him walk on. Rex continued on as if he really didn't notice, but kept his senses on the high school student with paranoid suspicion. He wondered whether or not Ichigo had noticed anything different about him that would have given away that he had undergone some training. But when the orange haired boy shrugged and continued on, his paranoia seemed unneeded. Then again, he was cradling his broken hand from the fight that he just had. It was most likely going to become more and more noticeable as it bruised and swelled during the healing process, but it passed under Ichigo's eyes so it must not have been all that obvious.
Now the real challenge was fast approaching. The sounds that usually surrounded his home now reached Rex's ears. He found himself treading lightly, despite the fact that wouldn't even so much as prolong the inevitable. When Rex reached the threshold of the door, he stopped. Ignoring the pain in his broken hand as much as he could, he took a deep breath. Then he opened the door.
The hinges creaked, the door groaning as he slowly opened it. It was much more louder then he remembered, which frightened him. He used his new 'sight' as well as his well trained sense of hearing to try and pinpoint where his family was.
When he entered into the living room, finding the furniture tossed around and shattered, he froze. The windows were shattered, shards of glass strewn about the floor. Splinters of the furniture littered the ground, the dishes and cups from the kitchen having been broken and thrown around. There seemed to have been a fight in here, where the ones being attacked had resorted to throwing porcelain and glass tableware in self defense. There was massive indents were something extremely heavy had stood, the wooden floors of the living room splintered and torn. There were holes in the walls, doors being blown off of their hinges, as Rex 'saw' when he drew close enough to the other side of the room. His hand's pain long forgotten, he tread lightly so as not to disturb the ruins of his home. The air in the room was thick with the stench of Hollow and of the dust thrown up by the fighting. This had happened a long time ago, probably less then a day or to since the last time that Rex had called home to get permission to "stay at a friends house for a project". The Hollows had to have attacked his home when they realized he wasn't there, but why?
His heart had stopped from worry, his eyes frantically darting from right to left in panic. Where were they? How could this have happened with someone like Rukia and Kisuke in Karakura to stop it. Well, aside from the fact that the shady store owner probably couldn't care less about Rex's family, but Rukia had said that it was her duty to stop Hollows as...what did she call it? A Shinigami, a Soul Reaper?
Rex didn't even need to check the dojo to know that it wasn't even touched or bothered with. Whatever the Hollows' purpose, it had to have been accomplished here in this room.
Rex ran. He ran out of the house, away from the source of his worries and panic. He burst through the door, almost knocked the fixture off of its hinges in his haste.
He ran into to the evening sun, all but forgetting his cane or his facade of weakness as he sprinted for Kisuke's shop.
He was going to make those Hollows pay.