Chapter 11: The Legendary Quincy
What's up? It's me, sakuraphoenix, and I'm back with a brand new chapter of Spirits of the Past! I know that it's been a while since the last update, but I'm back and ready to roll!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I also do not own Shizuku. Credit goes to Lyokowarrior1994
Enjoy!
"Outrageous! Don't you see the damage that you kids have done?-! This ridiculous show was broadcasted on national television yesterday! Just look." Said Kagine
He played a recording of Spirit Hunter, and just when Kanoji couldn't get on my nerves enough times already!
"With four of our students for all the world to see. Rukia, Ichigo, Shizuku, and Karen. This is very serious. Never in the history of this school has any student ever dishonored this institution by committing such an act of civil disobedience!" exclaimed Kagine
"Mr. Kagine? Sir, I can understand why you're angry with Ichigo, Karen, Shizuku, and Rukia for acting like a bunch of stupid idiots, but why are Orihime and I here when we didn't have anything to do with this?" asked Tatsuki
"You were there with them the whole time this was going on!" exclaimed Kagine
"That was a coincidence. We were just walking by and suddenly got dragged into the whole mess." Said Tatsuki
"Great, thanks a lot." Ichigo said sarcastically
"We'll remember this the next time you need someone to bail you out!" I exclaimed
"Anyway, this has been fun Mr. Kagine, but we're going back to class if you don't mind. Come on Orihime." Said Tatsuki
"Bye Mr. Kagine." Said Orihime
They both walked out of the classroom.
"Yeah, me too. I've got some homework…" started Keigo
"Not so fast Mr. Asano! You were there with them, and yet you did nothing to stop them, so you're just as guilty as Ichigo and Karen." Said Kagine
"I still don't get what the big deal is. It was just a stupid TV show." Said Keigo
"You don't get much, do you mister?-! That's the trouble with you kids today! No awareness of the consequences of your actions! It's depressing!" exclaimed Kagine
"I'm so sorry. Shizuku, and I really did try to stop Ichigo and Karen, but they wouldn't listen. All they ever think about are themselves, and they were so obsessed with getting on television. The whole thing's all my fault. Go ahead and punish me." Rukia said while faking to cry
"Uh, please don't cry Rukia. I understand, I'm sure you three did everything you could have." Said Kagine
Now's the best time to sneak away. Ichigo, Chad, Shizuku, Keigo, Mizuiro, and I snuck out the window, and made a break for it!
"You thugs! You come back here right now! You're not gonna get off that easy! I know where you live!" exclaimed Kagine
"Then get a life stalker!" I yelled back
I wanted to say that to him for a long time, and now I had a reason. At least we were in the clear.
"Way to go Rukia! Your awesome performance got us off scot free with no detention." Said Keigo
"Oh you guys, it was nothing really." Said Rukia
"What are you talking about? She was trying to sell us up the river." I said
"You've got to admit that her phony crying covered your getaway. You two oughta be thanking her." Said Tatsuki
"Actually, I kinda enjoyed putting on the big act and fooling Mr. Kagine, so no thanks necessary, but you have to know, I would never sell out a good friend like Ichigo or Karen." Said Rukia
Rukia's and Shizuku's soul pagers began to beep. Hollow alert.
"Oh Ichigo, can I talk to you for a second in private?" asked Rukia
"Karen, do you think you could help me with something?" asked Shizuku
I nodded my head, and we moved out. When we got to the location, all we saw was the dead spirit of an anime otaku, seeing the Domino High school uniform for boys cosplay he was wearing.
"What the hell's going on? I thought there was a Hollow Alert. Don't tell me I got all dressed up for nothing. Either your pager needs new batteries, or something's up." I said
"That's really weird. It was a strong signal, but now there's no trace of it. And the same goes on Rukia's end based on what I can tell." Said Shizuku
"Yo! Spirit dude! You didn't by any chance got a glimpse of the head of a Hollow lately, have you?" I asked
"I don't know what you mean by 'a Hollow', but I saw this thing in a white mask, and it had a wolf-like body! I was so scared out of my mind!" exclaimed the spirit
"I don't care about your problems; I wanna know what happened to it!" I exclaimed as I shoved my foot into his face
"Let me talk to him. Since you can describe the Hollow so clearly, no doubt, that you must know what happened to it." Said Shizuku
"Well, all I remember is seeing the wolf thing in front of me, and then some kind of arrow pierced it." Said the spirit
"An arrow? Well, we're not getting any more info. Konso time." I said
"Huh? What's Konso? Hey! Keep that sword away from…" started the spirit
I placed the hilt of the sword on his forehead, and sent him on his way.
Back at school…
The final exam scores were now posted on the board. I was currently looking for my name, and I found it. I didn't do that bad, but I wish I was in the top three.
"Third in the class? Pretty smart for a girl Orihime." Said Tatsuki
"This sucks. Orihime has both brains and boobs. It's just not fair." Said Michiru
"If it makes you feel better, she's a terrible cook." Said Tatsuki
"Orihime, you're my best friend! I'm so proud of you!" exclaimed Chizuru
"Eh, let the girls get their high scores. At least none of our gang embarrassed us by making it into the top fifty, right Mizuiro?" asked Keigo
"Take another look." Said Mizuiro
Ichigo was ranked 23th in the class. Ha! I beat him! So much for being number one.
"Wh-wh-wh-what?-! Ichigo is ranked number 23?-! You cheater! There's no way you could've possibly scored that high!" exclaimed Keigo
"Shut up Keigo. I score high on tests because I study for them. You should try it sometime." Said Ichigo
"Ah-ha! So that's what you were doing all those nights when I was asking you to come and hang out! You always said you were too busy, but the truth is you were studying like a total nerd! Oh no! I'm friends with a nerd! Maybe you need some thick nerd glasses like these pal." Said Keigo
"No thanks." Ichigo said while breaking the glasses and Keigo's nose
"It is a bit of a surprise to learn you really study." Said Mizuiro
"My hair gets me enough abuse. I'm not gonna be an academic loser on top of it." Said Ichigo
"The same goes for me, only difference between me and you is the face that my hair matches my eye colors." I said
"Good point. Sorry I ragged on ya. So how about … if I give you this complementary nerd headband instead!" exclaimed Keigo
"I told you no." Ichigo said while cutting the headband off
"Alright, have it your way, but see if I ask you to hang out with me again. Well, at least you two wouldn't go and do something embarrassing like score in the top fifty, right Chad, Karen, old pals?" asked Keigo
Chad pointed to his spot and I did the same, well, the best I could at least. He was 11th place, and I was 8th place. Mizuiro and Keigo looked shocked.
"I'm horrified! I had no idea I was hanging out with such a bunch of complete geeks and brainiacs! I'm through with all of you!" exclaimed Keigo
They both ran off into the hallway.
"Oh well, they'll be back." Said Tatsuki
"I guess it's lucky for him that one of us isn't in the number one spot, like Ametatsu Ishida. I've never even heard of him." Said Ichigo
"Me neither." I said
"That's Uryu, Uryu Ishida." Said Orihime
"You mean you know him?" I asked
"Yeah, of course, he's in our class." Said Orihime
Idiot! I have a hard time with names and faces!
"You'll find that Ichigo and Karen have an uncanny knack for forgetting people's faces and the names that go with them. Come on." Said Tatsuki
"Now that's weird." Said Ichigo
"Don't tell me twice." I said
Shizuku's P.O.V.
Rukia was dialing Kisuke's number while I was trying to get a fix on his spirit energy. No dice on both methods.
"How come he's not answering?-! Urahara! Why don't you ever pick up when I call you in emergencies like this?-! You call yourself a business man? Then why do you show up when you're not wanted and when I really need you, you won't answer?-!" exclaimed Rukia
"Phones aren't going to answer your questions for you, especially if they're soul pagers Rukia." I said
"Who asked you Shizuku?-!" exclaimed Rukia
"Besides, we both know that we need Urahara to come and fix these Soul Pagers. I mean, how are we supposed to know if these stupid things are even working?" I wondered
They beeped with an incoming order. I grabbed mine and Rukia grabbed her Soul Pager, and we ran to find Ichigo and Karen. We found them.
"Ichigo!" exclaimed Rukia
"Karen!" I exclaimed
I grabbed Karen by the arm as Rukia did.
"Come here, I need you!" exclaimed Rukia
"What she said!" I exclaimed
We ran far away from them as we could so we could talk about the Hollow. We both got the same order, so it must be serious.
"We have a Hollow alert." Said Rukia
"A Hollow?" asked Ichigo
"Well there better actually be one this time!" exclaimed Karen
"Just shut up and run." I said
We ran, and then Karen ran into someone.
"Sorry." Said Karen
Karen's P.O.V.
And yet again, it was a false alarm.
"Damn it. Again you drag us all the way out here, and there's no Hollow." Said Ichigo
"Shut up. Stop whining and get back into your body." Said Rukia
"Fine, but would you two do something about that those stupid Soul Pagers?" I asked
"These false alarms aren't our fault. When it goes off, we have to assume that a Hollow has appeared, so we report it. What else can we do?" asked Shizuku
"Well, get it fixed because it's obviously busted." Said Ichigo
"They don't fix them at television repair shops." Said Rukia
"Bickering are we?" asked a male voice
We turned to see someone dressed completely in white. Seriously, what's with the tacky getup?
"How unprofessional. Good evening, Ichigo, Karen, Rukia, and Shizuku." Said the male
"Who the hell are you?" I asked
"And how the hell do you know our names if you don't mind me…?" asked Ichigo
"I don't mind. I also know you two can see spirits, Ichigo, Karen." Said the male
My eyes widened in surprise. How did this nut job know that?
"How… do you know that?" I asked
He turned his head to the right.
"Another Hollow has just appeared." Said the male
"No way." Said Shizuku
His and Rukia's Soul Pagers began beeping.
"There's a new one here alright." Said Rukia
"How did he know?" wondered Shizuku
"Alright, which way?" asked Ichigo
"It's over there. Can you not sense such a simple thing? And you call yourselves Soul Reapers." Said the male
A bow materialized from the cross on his wrist. He created an arrow made from spirit energy, and fired it.
"The signal just vanished!" exclaimed Rukia
"So, tell us, who or what are you?" I asked
"Uryu Ishida. I'm a Quincy. Soul Reapers are my enemies." Said Uryu
"Just what do you mean?" asked Ichigo
"Is that too complicated for you? I'll tell you again then, slower this time. Ichigo Kurosaki, Karen Tsukimori, you are my enemies." Said Uryu
The next day, after school…
What the hell is that jerk's problem? Who does he think he is? The next time I see him, I'm pounding him into the ground! Besides, who uses a bow and arrow anymore? Now if only I could remember the guy's name. Now what was it again?
"Was it… something Ishida? Great, I can remember last names, but not first! Damn it! Who in this school has a last name with 'Ishida', huh?" I asked out loud
"Do you mean Uryu Ishida?" asked Tatsuki
"Huh? Tatsuki. Yeah, why?" I asked
"Is there a reason you're saying his name out loud?" asked Tatsuki
"Not really. It's just something the guy said the other day that ticked me off." I said
"Well, you can catch him in the Home Handicrafts Club." Said Tatsuki
"Home Handi-what?-!" I exclaimed
We opened the back door to the classroom, and saw jerkasaurus sitting down reading a book.
"See, there he is, right there." Said Tatsuki
"All he's doing is reading some stupid book. He's not knitting or sewing, and I'm self-taught with both skills." I said
"Just wait, looks like Michiru has a job for him." Said Tatsuki
He tossed the doll into the air, and fixed it in no time flat! Whoa, he's good. That's when I heard him say something pretty mean to Michiru. Okay, forget soon. Soon is so not good enough.
"Why would he do something so nice then say something so mean?" asked Tatsuki
"He was like that to me yesterday about my violin playing. I'm so going to pound this guy into the ground." I said
After he got out of his club, Ichigo and I followed him. I heard him stop walking after a while. Did he know that we were following him?
"Do you intend to follow me all the way home Ichigo Kurosaki?" asked Uryu
Ichigo and I stepped out of the shadows.
"Guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought I was, not like Karen. So when did you first notice me?" asked Ichigo
"From the time you and Orihime saw me in the classroom. You've been ducking in and out of shadows, behind me ever since." Said Uryu
"That long, huh? That's impressive." Said Ichigo
"The careless way you let your spirit energy leak out, even a monkey would've noticed you Ichigo." Said Uryu
"Huh?" wondered Ichigo
"Amateur stuff." Said Uryu
"What did you say?-!" exclaimed Ichigo
"You heard me. It's obvious that you lack even the most basic ability to detect those around you with high spirit energy. Something you probably also lack Karen." Said Uryu
"Watch it. You don't know squat about me." I said
"Whatever, how else can you explain that you weren't even aware of my existence until today?" asked Uryu
"Yeah, sorry about that. It's just that I've always been really bad at remembering names and faces." Said Ichigo
"And you slipped my mind when I saw you on the first day of high school." I said
"That's not what I mean Ichigo. Karen seems to know what I mean though. So you can sense the spirit energy of those around you. There's a difference between you and me Ichigo. When you first started at this school, I sensed your high spirit energies. And also, I was a little wary of Karen." Said Uryu
"Oh yeah, and why's that?" I asked
"Did you know that your spirit ribbon has been fluctuating between one color and another?" asked Uryu
"My spirit ribbon?" I asked
"Yes, your spirit ribbon changed color from one to the next practically every minute, and if you were any good Ichigo, you would've sensed my spirit energy. I even know the day in mid-May when you two became Soul Reapers, and I know Rukia Kuchiki's and Shizuku's true identities." Said Uryu
Threads of Spirit Ribbons surrounded us.
"Spirit Ribbons." Ichigo and I said in unison
"For a change, you're right. Spirit Ribbons are the physical manifestation of spirit energy in the atmosphere. And…" started Uryu
Uryu dashed at us, and then we saw him hold two red Spirit Ribbons.
"What are those?" asked Ichigo
"These are your Spirit Ribbons. Before you became a Soul Reaper Karen, your Spirit Ribbon always changed from white, to red. It was always like that, so I never knew whether or not you were really a Soul Reaper or what. You didn't know that Soul Reapers Spirit Ribbons are a different color than normal ones." Said Uryu
He let go of the fragments of our Spirit Ribbons.
"Why don't we play a little game Ichigo Kurosaki? Karen Tsukimori? Let's have a duel to determine which one of us is stronger. The Quincy or the Soul Reapers? I'll show you just how unnecessary Soul Reapers are in this world." Said Uryu
Shizuku's P.O.V.
Rukia and I were walking to Urahara's shop when we saw Tessai hold Jinta up in the air. Rukia tried kicking him, but soon held her foot in pain. If she's in pain, who knows what the guy eats!
"Oh hello there Miss Kuchiki, and it's the third seat of the third squad, I didn't see you two come in. Is there something wrong with your foot Miss Kuchiki?" asked Tessai
"Never mind. Urahara here?" asked Rukia
We entered to find him being lazy as usual.
"If it isn't my favorite customers. What can I do for you?" asked Kisuke
We threw our Soul Pagers at him, and he hit the floor, hard. I call that a strike!
"Don't play innocent with us Urahara! We had to come in person because we've been calling for days on end with a major problem, and you don't answer!" I exclaimed
"Oh, sorry about that. It's just that we've been really busy lately, but I was gonna call you two today." Said Urahara
"Where are your friends? You know that weird orange-haired spiky haired dude, and that girl with matching hair and eyes? I don't see them. Guess they must've broke up with ya. Can't really say I blame the guys." Said Jinta
"Cut them some slack Jinta." Said Urahara
"It's serious. We need information." Said Rukia
"About what?" asked Kisuke
Karen's P.O.V.
"So when is this duel between us supposed to take place?" I asked
"Right now." Said Uryu
"That idea is ridiculous!" exclaimed Ichigo
"Why do you say that?" asked Uryu
"Because it would be a waste of time, and we've got nothing to prove to you wise guy. We've never heard of Quincy's before, and we don't know what you have against Soul Reapers, but it's got nothing to do with us." Said Ichigo
"What a surprise, you're afraid to fight." Said Uryu
"Forget trying to goad us into it, besides, we'd mop the floor with you." I said
"Oh, now I get it. You two don't have permission. I forgot. Your Soul Reaper powers came from Rukia and Shizuku. You two are actually just Substitute Soul Reapers. That probably means that on your own, you can't so much as lift a finger. You two have to have their permission to duel, don't you?" asked Uryu
"That does it." Ichigo and I said in unison
Shizuku's P.O.V.
"A Quincy? I haven't heard that word in a long time." Said Kisuke
"It does kinda have an ancient ring to it, doesn't it? If I'm not mistaken, it's been 200 years since I heard anyone speak of Quincy's." said Tessai
"Well, who are they?" I asked
"Who were they you mean. The last of the Quincy's became extinct centuries ago, but they were once a clan that specialized in killing Hollows, and at one time, there were many of them, scattered throughout the world." Said Kisuke
"So what happened?" I asked
"Well, I suppose we should begin at the beginning. The clans started out as a group of humans who had powers like Ichigo and Karen to sense the presence of Hollows in the world and began to train to fight against them. The whole mission of the Quincy's was the defeat Hollows, just as it is for Soul Reapers like yourselves, but there was a deep division between the two. It was a question of whether to cleanse Hollows or just kill them. Soul Reapers as you know seek to purify Hollows with their zanpaku-to, and thereby allow them to pass over into the Soul Society, but the Quincy's believed that Hollows deserved only destruction, and sought to annihilate them. When you think about it, it was a natural reaction. Hollows devour human souls that kill and maim our friends and family, why should they deserve the peace of the Soul Society? The Quincy's couldn't understand showing such mercy, and eventually they began to hate the Soul Reapers for it. They were sure the only answer was to kill Hollows. They believed in doing so, they were avenging their fallen comrades. But then, it was the same belief that eventually led to their destruction." Said Kisuke
Karen's P.O.V.
"Alright, if a duel's what you want…" started Ichigo
"It's a duel you'll get." I finished as I pulled Mana out from my school bag
"It's about time Ichigo! Why'd you leave me in that stupid bag all day?-! You trying to kill me? I don't care what Rukia says, don't you ever do that to me again!" exclaimed Kon
"And Karen, next time, can you please at least leave some room for me to breathe?" asked Mana
"Sure, I can do that." I said
"Cough it up." Said Ichigo
"Wait a sec! Forget what I said about the bag! You can put me back there…" started Kon
He then started digging through Kon's head.
"Ready Mana?" I asked
"Yeah." Said Mana
I put my hand inside the plushie, and found Mana's soul pill. Ichigo and I took the soul pills at the same time, and we exited our bodies.
"Kon, Mana, you two better get back. We're about to give Mr. Handicraft some stiches to sew." Said Ichigo
"I'll be over here." Said Kon
"Me too!" exclaimed Mana
"So, how does your little duel work?" I asked
"Tell us the rules and let's get to it." Said Ichigo
Done and done! Whew, this took a while, but above and all, it's finally done! Please review, check out my poll, and until next time, I'm sakuraphoenix, saying I heart you, signing off for now. Kan dao ni!