Chapter 13

Pride of the Quincy

I generate a shadow in my hand before dropping it to the ground, just as I saw my brother do. I can't help but feel overwhelmed with pride. Reuniting with my brother and my father and being chosen to lead the Kommandotruppe, to serve with them for the betterment of the Quincy; it's a very satisfying feeling.

I drop the shadow and walk through the portal, its black as pitch and it feels very cold, but I soon emerge back in Karakura town, on a sidewalk along a road with tree's lining one side of it. The night is well underway, maybe twelve o'clock. The street light flickers softly and I feel a rise in spiritual pressure nearby. It's Uryu, but there are others... Soul Reapers to be exact.

"What the hell did you do this time?" I say under my breath.

I walk down the street and sure enough, I see a redheaded Soul Reaper, with a black haired one next to him, who I could tell was a Captain. Red must be the Lieutenant. If I recall, the Soul Society limits the power of Lieutenants and Captains, they call it Gentei Reīn. At the foot of 'Red', as I am thoroughly enjoying calling him, is Uryu, collapsed and bleeding. There is a girl near him and I recognize her right away…Rukia Kuchiki. It doesn't look like she is here voluntarily either.

"Well then let's finish this off shall we? Remember this as you depart this world! Renji Abarai is the name of the man who killed you!"

I Hirenkyaku to intercept him before he finishes Uryu off with a final blow, I raise my pointer finger to stop his sword. I don't bother to use Blut Vene because at the moment, the differences in our strength is like the distance between the earth and the sun.

"Tisk, tisk, tisk. You should be ashamed of yourself Soul Reaper. Attacking my brother is something I don't take very lightly." I say as I lift my head up to look at him.

"What the Hell?! Who are you!?" The Renji asks angrily.

"Akihiro?!" Uryu asks, his tone, though tired, is filled with disbelief and surprise.

"Sorry little brother, I had a business trip. It was nothing too big, so don't worry." I tell him as I step closer. "I'll get you out of here." I bend down to pat him on the head.

"So which one of you is going to be stupid enough to attack me?" I ask sarcastically.

"You're arrogance is going to get you killed, you should watch your tongue." The Captain says.

Tsh, poor fool has no idea who he's talking to.

Out of nowhere, a sudden explosion of spiritual pressure breaks the ground apart; I recognize it as Ichigo's.

Hmm…this should be interesting.

"Who in hells name are you?!" The Renji yells as he jumps to avoid being caught in the explosion.

I make eye contact with Ichigo before picking Uryu up and throwing him over my shoulder. After his defeat here, his pride as a Quincy is damaged; he isn't going to be taking it very lightly.

"Akihiro! Where are you going! Ichigo can't handle them! You have to help him!" Uryu shouts as I walk in the opposite direction.

"I have to get you away from here little brother, besides this battle is important to Ichigo and him alone. Besides, if we interfere, it will slow Ichigo's growth as he gets stronger. He has to learn to use his power." I continue. "Rukia will be fine in the end weather she's captured or not. I foresaw it." While I was at the Silbern I honed my powers, as well as perfecting my skill to foresee events further into the future, though I'm still far from perfect at it. I have made a great deal of progress but have found out quickly that foreseeing everything ruins the element of surprise in very fight, so I don't tend to use it unless I need to.

Uryu sighs, realizing the truth in my words. "…Damn it. He won't win today, but he'll go to the Soul Society after the fight. He won't give up until he's perfected his skills. It's clear he will be the one to save her, not me" Uryu pauses. "…But I have to go with him to the Soul Society Akihiro."

I stop.

"I saw this coming. I can't stop you…and to be honest I wouldn't anyway." I told tell him, knowing the truth of it. "You want to train in solitude. Grandfather gave you the Sanrei Glove. Use it Uryu. Become stronger." I remember when Sōken gave him the glove a long time ago, long before he was killed.

"I will Akihiro, but…will you come with me? Even you haven't been to the Soul Society yet." Uryu asks me.

"I may go, but I haven't decided." I say, knowing my father will take interest in this development. He may send me with my team or solo, but I know he'll send me. I just have to wait for orders.

I sense the spiritual pressure die down, until it completely faded away.

"The fights over Uryu, do you want to see what happened?" I ask as I adjust Uryu on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I suppose we should."

I turn around and head back, only to find a defeated Ichigo, lying in a pool of his own blood, mixed with rain water. Poor kid, well Kisuke probably sent him; he should be here soon if that's the case. I set Uryu down and pull out a wad of bandages out of my pocket and begin cleaning and dressing his wound.

"Akihiro" He begins. "What is that new uniform you're wearing?"

I pause. Damn, never thought about that.

"Well…It's what the Quincy wore back in the day, when I was a teenager and trained with my father. An elite few Quincy wore this uniform, they were hand-picked by my father to serve him. I happened to get my hands on some of their uniforms." Huh, not too bad for on-the-spot thinking. And it's not a lie either!

"Oh." He replies, and I can see the yearning in his eyes. Being a Quincy is everything to him.

Just as I thought would happen, everything that had transpired here was beginning to sink in, but before I can think on it more, Kisuke finally arrives and looks at the scene before him. His focus shifts from Ichigo, Uryu and myself before he speaks.

"Well now. Look who finally showed up after more than a week of absence. Where have you been Akihiro?" Urahara asks as he narrows his eyes on me.

"I don't think one should delve into someone else's affairs, but since you asked so nicely I'll tell you. I was on a business trip." I reply sarcastically as I look up at him.

"Is that so? Well, you arrived here at a convenient time, I'm liking the new outfit as well, it suites you." Urahara says, before going over to Ichigo to clean his wound and bandage him.

"Akihiro" Uryu speaks up as he rises to his feet. "I'm going to head home."

I place my hand on Uryu's shoulder and give him the once over. "Alright, if you need anything, let me know, alright? I'm here for you." I say in a sincere voice.

"I know Akihiro, I'll keep in touch." Uryu says before turning and walking back towards his home.

Get strong Uryu. Then I can give you a power one can only dream of.

"Kisuke, Ichigo's Soul Chain is shattered, he lost his Soul Reaper powers. How do you intend to fix that?" I ask without turning to face him.

"I have my ways" He replies.

"Kisuke…" I begin. "Do you forget he has my father's blood running through him?"

Urahara's eyes widen. "You're not implying…that you train him?" He asks in disbelief.

I turn to face him.

"I look out for the few of us that are left Kisuke, Ichigo can't live a life oblivious to his other half. You highly insult me and under estimate me if you think I would allow that." I say pointing my finger at him.

"He hasn't even mastered his Soul Reaper powers yet Akihiro, how do you expect him to learn about his Quincy powers!" Kisuke retorts.

Damn it, I hate it when he's right…well…most of the time.

"Hmp…You have a point Kisuke." I sigh deeply, so he understands that I am annoyed. "Do what you wish for now, but I will let him know of his Quincy mother, for her sake as well as his. She would have told him sooner or later anyway, especially since he knows of his Soul Reaper father." I say as I place my hand on my hip.

Kisuke scratches the back of his head. "Eh-he. Well, you see…Ichigo doesn't know about his father either."

"What! The kid doesn't even know that much! What the hell!?" I shout. Jesus what does Isshin think he's doing! Not telling the poor kid of his heritage!

"Hey calm down Akihiro! He'll find out in time don't worry!" Kisuke pleads.

"He better! The kid deserves to know!" My temper begins to flare. "You know what, forget it! I've got better things to do than to argue with you!" I yell as I walk away.

As I walk away, dismissing the annoying man, I can't help but think about the Soul Reapers that came after Rukia. The Captain didn't talk much, but I could tell he was strong. The lieutenant, Renji Abarai was able to beat Uryu easily, I never saw the fight, but Renji didn't appear to even have a scratch on him. I would like to see how they would fight at full strength in the Soul Society. I may just go on that rescue mission with Uryu after all. I hope his training goes well. The Sanrei Glove certainly isn't easy to learn how to use. I only used it to learn Vollständig.

A few moments later, I arrive at my apartment. It feels good to be here and I quickly change into my pajamas, brush my teeth and fall into bed. I was sound asleep moments later.

When I wake up, I notice someone sitting in a chair across from my bed reading Moby Dick. I recognize him as Jugram.

I rub my eyes. "What are you doing here? This is my apartment you know? Wait…How did you get in?!"

"That's not important." He says, brushing off the question. "What is important is what happened when you arrived back to the World of the Living last night. That Soul Reaper you know as Rukia Kuchiki holds something within her, something that is known as the Hōgyoku. Have you heard of it?"

The Hōgyoku, I'm not that familiar with it. But I do know that it has the power to guide and focus one's desire if that person is powerful enough to carry it out. I also believe Kisuke created one, but someone else created another if I remember correctly.

"Yeah I know a little bit about it. She had one stuffed in her? Damn, Kisuke couldn't just bury it somewhere? Well the Soul Reapers have her now; she's going to be punished for giving her powers to that boy Ichigo, and staying in the World of the Living too long. At least that's what I believe will happen." I say.

"Your father wants you get it, but he wants you to go alone, he doesn't want your team to draw attention to us, our war preparations are not yet finished." Jugram says.

Damn, I wanted to see how they would perform in action... Oh well, more fun for me!

"Got it Jugram. Anything else?" I ask, unable to keep the excitement from my voice.

"One more thing, you're little brother, he's drawn the attention of you father as well. He's a Gemischt Quincy isn't he?" He asks.

"Yeah what about it?" I ask curiously.

"Your father performed Auswählen a few years ago, killing and drawing power form all Impure Quincy, leaving only pure bloods. Yet one still lives." Jugram says.

Oh great, that explains quite a lot actually.

"So that's how his mother died." I say under my breath.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing important." I say without hesitation.

Uryu can't learn that my father is alive. Not until my father deems he's ready. But what does that mean for Uryu? How could he live through the Auswählen? He must hold something great within him. But at the moment it's beyond even me, and maybe even my father.

"Strange, ever sense my awakening he's been strong and has taken pride in being a Quincy, and I'm sure he was that way long before I awoke." I mention, thinking back to all the training we did back when Sōken was still with us.

"Has he? Then he may join us one day. I hope that you will show him the ropes?" Jugram says with a slight grin.

"I'm sure I can handle that." I say, returning the grin.

He chuckles. "Good. I have to return to the Silbern, remember your mission."

As Jugram leaves, I change into my Wandenreich uniform and head out. I head to Karakura General Hospital. I remember a while back, Ryūken had a training chamber built. He may let me train there if he's in a good mood!

The walk takes me roughly twenty minutes before I finally arrive at the hospital. Once inside, I walk up to the front desk. The woman is younger than I first thought, mid to late twenties maybe. She has long black hair and wears it in a ponytail. Her eyes are a light brown and her attire is the basic nurses uniform.

"Excuse me, could you tell Director Ishida that a friend of his wishes to speak to him?" I ask.

"Sure, give me a moment." She says in a tone that lacks emotion, as she picks up the phone. "Who may I say is here?"

I quietly give her my name and watch as she turns her back to me so that I can't hear her conversation.

A few moments pass before she puts down the phone and turns back around to speak to me.

"He'll be right down."

No sooner did I turn around when I heard the elevator door open and see Ryūken walk out and come toward me.

"You've been gone for quite some time Akihiro, where did you go?" He asks.

"Business trip came up and it was very eventful." I reply without hesitation.

"I see, well what did you come here for?" He asks, changing the subject.

"Well since you asked..." I lean in close so no one else could hear us speaking. "I need to use your training ground, I've gotten a little rusty and I need to practice up a bit."

He sighs and gives me a look of total boredom. "Fine, here's the key."

He hands me what is actually a key card.

"Thanks Ryūken, if you need anything you know where I'll be, just let me know." I say as I take the key and walk off.

People as powerful as I, usually don't bother training very often unless we discovered a new power within us. I intended to learn how to control reishi fire, and how to use Ransōtengai. I've always been fascinated with it, but I've never bothered learning it until now. I soon come upon the double doors of the training ground. I swipe the key card and push the doors open, the room is large and multi-leveled. It's a dull silver color and should be able to withstand my power… for the most part.

I start practicing to form the reishi strings around my limbs. I practice shooting arrows like this for multiple hours before moving on to leaning how to control reishi fire. I hold my right arm a few inches from waist with my palms facing outward and allow the reishi to collect around the pentacle on my wrist. A few moments later I thrust the right half of my body forward, sending a horizontal column of blue reishi fire with it. I practice these two techniques for the remainder of the day, and continue to practice this for the rest of the time I have here before heading into the Soul Society to complete my mission

My new chapter to my first fan fiction ever, I hope you guys like it, I don't know how many I'll post, but I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I like writing it! Please review!