Chapter 2

10 Years Ago

Dust began to settle in Soul Society, Uryu adjusted his spectacles, seeing debris and corpses strewn across the place.

He took big and heavy breaths. Thanks to Jugram, he only had a few cuts and scrapes. "The path is being closed Ichigo..." Ishida turned his attention to a familiar voice in the distance. A tall man with his body cleaved in half held the end of Kurosaki's Zanpakuto. He had a long face, broad chin, and pronounced cheekbones. He also had long black hair, which reached his lower back, and a dark mask of eyes covered the upper half of his face. He had well-kept mutton chops and a connected moustache, but was otherwise clean-shaven. Darkness flowed from him, covering his entire body, leaving only his hands, feet, knees, and part of his face and chest visible.

"The path to a world... With no fear."

The Shinigami listened intently. "The present world... Soul Society... And Hueco Mundo... They were meant to become one." The man clad in darkness raised his voice. "LIFE AND DEATH, TWISTED AND FUSED TOGETHER. THEY WERE DESTINED TO ALL BE ONE AND THE SAME!!!" his body started to dissipate. "But now... That will never happen." He leaned towards Ichigo, who made no attempt to move away. "You have yourself to thank for that... Ichigo."

The man now crestfallen. "Sadly... Because of all your efforts here... Life and death will never lose their current forms... And all those who breath will continue to pass each and every day by living in fear of death."

"FOR ALL ETERNITY."

The Quincy snapped back to reality upon sensing something in the distance. He used Hirenkyaku, riding on the flow of Spirit Particles created below his feet, to traverse from one building to another, towards the direction of the disturbance.

It's a Hollow. Realization filled him, as he got closer to the source.

In the distance, there stood a creature with a white and skull-like mask on its head. It's physic was similar to that of a bear. Patches of fur plastered randomly all over its body, though it stood a head or two taller than a typical bear.

The former Sternritter took his battle stance, reaching out one hand and pulling an invisible string with the other.

A light-coloured bow roughly as tall as him with semi-straight arms tapering off into points appeared. It had a thin handle compared to the rest of the bow as well as four long prongs and two spikes extending from the center.

Before he could fire, something flashed into his line of sight.

A young woman with dark hair wearing a standard Shinigami shihakushō with a dark piece of fabric sitting on top of her head expertly cleaved off one of the Hollow's arms. The creature roared in agony, swiping at the female Shinigami, but it's other arm was taken care of by before it could land the blow. This time it was by a young man with black hair and green eyes also wearing a standard Shinigami shihakushō, though he had three circular hair clips on the left side and two on the right side of his hair.

The guardians of Karakura Town. Uryu recognized them, before taking advantage of the moment and deciding to lend them a hand.

Neither of the guardians had realized what had just happened as a Holy Allow with a tip shaped like a Quincy Zeichen whizzed right past their heads and embedded itself into the furry Hollow's skull, causing it to collapse and dissipate into nothingness. Both Shinigami looked back to where the arrow had come from, and saw Ishida moving towards them with a technique similar to Flash-Stepping.

"Greetings, old friends." He bowed courteously as soon as his weapon vanished, and he was now right in front of them.

The young man began to panic, embarrassment all over his face. "N...no need for that Ishida-sama, especially not from the Saviour Of Soul So..." a strong force came into contact with his head, making him take a bowing stance. "Pardon him Sir, he's a coward!" the young woman practically growled, bowing alongside her comrade, tightening her grip on his head. "Ow, ow, ow Shino! Please you can stop now." Tears formed along the corners of his eyes, promoting her to push him away in disgust. "And you call yourself a Shinigami!!!"

All throughout, the Quincy stood there awkwardly watching the exchange.

Once their bickering stopped, they turned their attention back to Uryu. "Not to say the help wasn't appreciated, but what brings you here, Sir?" Ishida waved it off. "No need to call me Sir, Ishida-sama is just fine." He adjusted his spectacles. What's the difference? Shino contemplated. "I was actually on my way to the Hospital, and then I saw that Hollow, so I felt it necessary to get rid of it, as well as maybe offer you some assistance along the way." The young man spoke up again. "Thank you very much, Ishida-sama, that Hollow was pretty scary too." He cringed remembering it from only moments ago.

The Quincy giggled. "I think you both handled it well, especially you Ryūnosuke, you've come a long way since the first day I met you." His eyes sparkled at the compliment. "That means a lot coming from you, Ishida-sama..." Shino rolled her eyes.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The young woman pulled out a device that looked like a cell phone from her shihakushō. "Looks like another Hollow's appeared nearby." She gazed back at Uryu. "Apologies for the short meeting, Ishida-sa..." he raised his hand, signalling her to stop. "No worries, I understand." Shino nodded. The two bowed once again before waving themselves off, and Flash-Stepping away. Spirits now higher than before, Uryu continued his journey. Unfortunately, upon arrival, what the man found there was anything but uplifting.

There being carried in on a stretcher was a man with distinguishing orange.

He was fairly tall, lean-built with peach skin and brown eyes. He wore slim fitting clothes. He was also noticeably muscular, and had sideburns. He was covered in injuries and missing a leg. "Doctor Ishida, he was found like this, he's losing blood fast and requires your immediate medical attention." The Quincy just stood there stunned.

"Ichigo!?"