~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Ryuuken's POV)
He saw the girl's shoulders stiffen, and waited far more patiently than he thought he would be able to as she turned around to face him. There was trepidition in her eyes, and an obvious fear for the subject, but to her credit, she spoke slowly.
"He... never came home last night. I haven't been able to feel his spiritual pressure since Chad took him home."
There was obvious hesitation in her statement, and he could tell there was something she wasn't saying, but instead of pressing the issue, Ryuuken sighed and turned toward the kitchen, saying over his shoulder,
"Wait here. I'll brew some tea."
It felt wrong. The feeling wouldn't go away, even as he entered the kitchen; Shinigami should not be welcomed in a Quincy home, and yet... here they were. The thought made Ryuuken grind his teeth together as he set about the host's duty to provide drinks to guests, shuddering inwardly at the thought. Still. He couldn't allow his own vendetta to get in the way, this time; that much had been shown to him already. If he was to take care of Uryuu properly and make him better, he had to allow him to have the friends he had already made. So what if he could use that relationship to gather more information about that monster?
Grabbing a kettle and filling it with water, he sat it on the stove and waited for it to heat as he leaned against the counter, losing himself to his thoughts. He knew his first actions would be to get information from this girl, and then to try and bring Uryuu from his state if he was not out of it by the time they were done. From there... if the Shinigami really didn't know anything of the boy's whereabouts, he would have to take the matter to Isshin. He really hadn't wanted to reveal his son's weakness to that boy's father, but... he had to have countermeasures in place.
This was not going to happen again.
Leaning against the counter for a moment, Ryuuken let his mind wander to the training he had promised Uryuu. He himself was still somewhat apprehensive about actually going through with it, and yet... what else could he do for Uryuu? Giving his son the power of the Purebloods would not only restore some faith in himself, but boost his confidence in actually being able to fight off anything or anyone that might try and hurt him again. Of course, on the other hand, it would take Ryuuken completely out of the picture, and that... that was a hard pill to swallow. He still wanted revenge on that boy for his transgressions against his son, however everything that he had read went against that very line of thinking.
His role was to be support, not avenger. It didn't sit too well with him, but if it helped to heal Uryuu, then it was what he would have to do. Closing his eyes for a moment, Ryuuken leaned his head back and let his thoughts wander through the actual training to come. He would have to be careful not to hurt Uryuu while still pushing him to his very limits both physically and mentally. Not an easy thing to do, especially with his son in such a fragile state of mind, but it had to be done. Afterward, a single arrow with all his Reishi had to hit exactly 19 millimeters to the right of his heart... and that would complete the transfer.
Uryuu would regain his Quincy self, and Ryuuken...
Startled from his thoughts, Ryuuken grimaced at the whistling kettle as he turned off the stove and proceeded to finish making tea for himself, the Shinigami girl, and a spare cup for Uryuu, in case he came to early. Taking a deep breath to return his focus to the matter at hand, he took all three cups back to the living room, where the girl was kneeling in front of Uryuu, talking quietly to him, trying and failing to get a response. When he offered her the cup, she took it with a quiet thank you, leaving him to lower himself onto the zabuton with his own cup of tea.
Content to study her for a few moments, he noticed that she seemed nervous, perhaps at the pending discussion, and refused to look at him for more than a passing glance in the silence that stretched between them. Avoidance.
"How long."
It was a question, yes, but his flat tone of voice seemed to snap her attention back to him completely as she turned a startled gaze on him before lowering her eyes back to the cup. Once more, she hesitated, and Ryuuken found it hard not to begin tapping his fingers, waiting impatiently for her answer when it came.
"I... I don't know specifically. I would guess... somewhere around a month or two, but unfortunately, it could have started before that. That's just when I started to notice changes."
"Were you involved?"
"Of course not!" Her eyes flew back to Ryuuken's own, a fierce light rising to his challenge. "I would never hurt Uryuu!"
"Intentionally."
His words seemed to strike at her, which was what he had hoped for. He had his doubts that the female would openly harm Uryuu, despite her affiliations, and yet, she was deeply tied to that monster as well. Turning a blind eye was just as much of an offense as what had been done to his son, and she knew it as well. He watched as her eyes lowered back to her cup, trembling slightly in her hands, and from there, he could very well piece together most of the events.
She had seen the signs, and brushed them off without thought. Then she had tried to step up, but allowed herself to be persuaded away. Most of all, she blamed herself. Good; he could use that.
"Now that it's disappeared again, what are you lot doing to control the situation?"
He watched as her grip tightened on the cup even as the trembling became somewhat worse, before she decidedly sat the cup down, lowering her hands to below the table. She took a breath, subtly, trying to hide that she was trying to calm herself down, but she wasn't able to fool him. Shinigami or not, he had the one thing she lacked; experience.
"I've... still yet to hear back from the Soul Society, however..."
"Not good enough."
"We're trying!"
The girl slammed her hands down on the table, which might have startled Ryuuken if this hadn't been the reaction he was pushing her toward. That it took that little to cause her to lose her temper surprised him, but not the action itself.
"Ichigo's a good kid, okay?! He works his ass off to fight off the Hollows, he's noble and kind and generous-"
"Except when he's torturing Uryuu."
"That wasn't him!"
"Oh right, I forgot, he has a seven hour gap of memory in which he proceeded to torture, rape, abuse, and-"
"STOP IT!"
"Yes, that was my plan exactly. Now are your lot going to help, or is it going to be the Quincy's that deal with the problem the Shinigami have let run rampant?"
"I..."
Finally, the shouting ceased, and for a long moment, they shared a long stare in which Ryuuken was able to size her up. She was on the losing end of the battle, no matter how she looked at it, and it was only now that she was starting to realize it, he found. He had her exactly where he wanted her, and it was only a matter of time until she forced the Soul Society to take action where he could no longer do so. His place was here with Uryuu, but that would never keep him from taking care of the situation in one form or another.
He parted his lips, ready to pull the final brick in her wall, when he heard a noise from behind her, on the couch. Both of their eyes turned to glance at Uryuu, who was watching them with wide and terrified eyes, his entire body shaking as he watched them unblinkingly. However, just as Ryuuken got up, ready to sit next to his son to comfort him what he could, he stopped. Uryuu... he had never thought...
Perhaps the boy was more broken than he'd originally thought, and somehow... the idea somewhat terrified him as he stood there, watching Uryuu's slowly widening grin and hearing the soft, shattered chuckling that echoed around them like the cackle of one gone mad.
~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Uryuu's POV)
They were talking. He knew it was their voices, but he could barely make out the words. Somehow he felt like he didn't want to know what they were saying, and yet, a part of him burned with the want to know. It felt like a struggle, forcing himself to focus on their faces or their words, but the more he did so, the easier it became. Mumbling noises and blurred colors eventually formed into actual words and real faces, making Uryuu feel like he had risen above water in slow motion. It was odd, but it wasn't... unpleasant. Just strange.
"How long."
Ryuuken's voice. It seemed to cut through whatever paralysis had taken hold of him, and yet it also relaxed his muscles into the soft cushions of the couch he sat upon. Ryuuken was safe. Somehow he never thought he would be able to say that about the man he could never truly call 'father', and yet...
"I... I don't know specifically. I would guess... somewhere around a month or two, but unfortunately, it could have started before that. That's just when I started to notice changes."
That was Rukia's voice. So she had come over, like Ryuuken had said. He wondered vaguely if she had been worried about him, a second before the words she had spoken registered. Changes...? In what?
"Were you involved?"
What... what were they talking about?
"Of course not! I would never hurt Uryuu!"
"Intentionally."
There was a long silence, and in that time Uryuu finally got his eyes to move from their singular position, passing between Rukia and Ryuuken. From behind, it looked like her shoulders might have been shaking, but he couldn't tell if that was his eyes playing tricks on him or not, and Ryuuken... well. He looked like the Ryuuken he knew before any of this had happened. Calm, stoic... distant, cold. As he spoke again, his voice reflected how he looked; hard and unwavering.
"Now that it's disappeared again, what are you lot doing to control the situation?"
Something disappeared?
"I've... still yet to hear back from the Soul Society, however..."
"Not good enough."
"We're trying!"
Rukia moved suddenly, and a loud bang filled his ears, startling him and making him jump slightly, his entire body going rigid with the thought of danger being so close. It took him a few seconds to recover, to realize that there was no one besides Rukia and his father around him, but in those seconds, Rukia's voice had raised yet another octave, and continued quicker than normal.
"Ichigo's a good kid, okay?! He works his ass off to fight off the Hollows, he's noble and kind and generous-"
The name hit him hard, and he felt like his heart skipped a beat in his chest, bringing a small amount of pain, but even as the words hit him, with sudden, crystal clarity, he heard the next barrage of words wash over him like a tidal wave.
"Except when he's torturing Uryuu."
"That wasn't him!"
"Oh right, I forgot, he has a seven hour gap of memory in which he proceeded to torture, rape, abuse, and-"
"STOP IT!"
"Yes, that was my plan exactly. Now are your lot going to help, or is it going to be the Quincy's that deal with the problem the Shinigami have let run rampant?"
"I..."
He was shaking violently by this point, knowing full well that they were talking about what was to happen with him and Ichigo. Was he to expect that they could actually stop Ichigo? After everything that had happened, was he really supposed to believe that it was finally over? Despite everything, he felt that tiny bubble of hope begin to rise in his chest, and as much as he fought it, it warmed him. At least, until he remembered fully what his father had said.
The Quincy's...
Quincy's.
Plural.
Ryuuken was counting him among the Quincy's. At first, that little bubble of hope became a sudden swelling of pride that his father had actually accepted him. Maybe he wasn't so worthless now. Maybe, with the prospect of regaining his powers, Ryuuken was more focused on what he would be able to do instead of what he couldn't do. He could actually have a relationship with his father now! He could actually be wanted! And while those thoughts filled him to the brim with a sudden and ecstatic joy, a darker voice whispered in his ear.
You're missing the point here.
His father actually loved him now!
The Quincy's will deal with the problem; namely, Ichigo.
Ichigo...? With his powers returned to him, he might very well be able to fend him off if-
Or you could kill him. That would deal with the problem.
Kill... Ichigo? He...
Shouldn't be able to hurt you, or anyone else, EVER again.
... Never again?
Out of the way.
No more pain?
And no one would miss him.
No one would mind...
You'd be doing the world a favor.
A service.
And your father would be proud of you again.
Father... yes. Father would be proud. He...
We...
Hate Shinigami.
A/N: Hey all! Thanks again so much for your reviews; the only light in the Writer's Block Darkness there is! You all mean so much to me, and again, my thanks for sticking through with me even though some of my chapters have been slow lately. Should change soon, though! Hope you like it, and I'll see you all next time!