outside his vision
9. stacking the deck

His grandfather-to-be does wind up taking him to Urahara the next day (after the others fill him in, so now they're all pretty much on the same page except for him who's still missing past details). And Urahara's actually a little milder than he remembers him to be, or maybe it's just because he seems preoccupied. It's better for him, though. He feels a little less like a specimen in a lab than usual.

It's still weird. And Yoruichi is roaming around like a cat, too. And Urahara already has a project out. Somebody's zanpakuto by the looks of things, and a bunch of bottled stuff…

Isn't that Rukia's zanpakuto? Kazui leans closer. Somehow, though, he's sensing bits of his father. He doesn't get it.

'Ingenious, isn't it?' Urahara grins. 'Spirit energy's a funny thing. Individuals have their own inherent spirit energy, but the way we interact with others leaves a bit of a tinge on them as well. Some people's even change. So for Ichigo-kun who's lost his own spiritual powers, we're collecting the tinges he's left on others and seeing if we can't fill his gauge, so to speak.'

'Huh,' says Kazui, and that makes a lot of sense. He wonders if Urahara's toning his explanation down on purpose, or if he only grew more convoluted over the years. 'So this might give him his powers back? And why Rukia-san's zanpakuto?'

'Why not?' Urahara returns. 'Ichigo-kun did use it until he awoke his own, after all. Of all the magical containers I could get my hands on, this one's arguably the best – barring Ichigo's own zankaputo or his substitute Soul Reaper badge.'

'That's his Fullbring,' Kazui says, without thinking.

'So that's it.' Urahara smiles, in the manner that suggests he'd had his own suspicions and is happy to hear them confirmed. 'You'll have to explain "Fullbring" to me in due time, but I thought it might be something Ichigo-kun needs by his side in this time without his powers.'

'I guess.' In truth, Kazui simply doesn't know enough details to know if that's true or not. It might have helped him avoid the whole Xcution fiasco if he hadn't had it – or it would have just left him defenceless. Who knew. 'So when will this recharge thing be done?'

'Well, that's the tricky thing,' Urahara hummed. 'Truthfully, there's no way of knowing except testing it out.'

'So when do you plan to test?' It doesn't seem all that different from the first question, really.

Except Reiji, who showed up for his own reasons, is rolling his eyes. 'We've been trying, kid. Rukia's sticking him every chance she gets.'

And Kazui coughs as air goes down the wrong way because what the hell?!

He takes back his previous thoughts. Urahara is still the crazy scientist as he is in the future – or rather, he always was that crazy scientist. 'You're stabbing my father?!' he all but shrieks. 'Multiple times, at that? He's not a pincushion!' Even his father, notorious for coming out of life and death situations alive, can only take being almost killed so many times, and stab wounds tend to be pretty lethal – or close to it.

'As long as Ichigo-kun can't perceive the spiritual world, a zanpakuto won't harm him.' Urahara shrugs. 'Disregarding the hypothetical risk of him dying and becoming a Hallow and needing to be purified, of course. But your presence discounts that.'

'So… you don't think we're completely messing up the future?' That's a load off his chest then.

'I think it's a lost cause if that was the case,' Urahara shrugs again, 'but it's unlikely. After all, it doesn't sound like anything in particular on your side happened, so there must be something in this time instead. And considering we're looking for traces of your father's power, you're probably the best candidate we can hope for.'

Maybe so. That was one of Uryuu's theories too, wasn't it? That the timeline allows – or else requires – his presence for some reason or other. And since he's not much of a fighter yet (and certainly can't do anything his parents can't already do), it must be something else. Maybe this.

'So just to be clear, we're not almost killing my father every time we test this out, right?'

Reiji rolls his eyes. Urahara laughs. 'I rather enjoy Ichigo-kun in one piece.' That's not very comforting. 'No, this isn't harming Ichigo-kun in the slightest, I assure you.'

'Okay, then.' He takes a deep breath. 'And what do I have to do?'