Italics + ' = Thoughts (Etc. = 'What is that?')

Bold + '' = Inner Hollow/Secondary Spirit (Etc. = ''Fucking Quotation marks!'' He roared) (Or Zangetsu in Ichigo's case).

Italics + '' = Zanpakuto Spirit (Etc. = ''Do not hesitate, Ichigo'' Zangetsu said) (Quincy part of Zangetsu for Ichigo's case).

I DONT OWN BLEACH!

Chapter 11: Strawberry Understanding, Quincy Pride - Dragons Shadow ARC

''Damn Shinigami captains'' My comrade growled out as she parried another blow from the blind captain, striking him in the gut with enough force to send him shooting backwards ''Can't soul society allow us to visit the world of the living at least once without having to send an armada after us?!''.

''You are considered an outlaw by central 46 due to possession of hollow powers, not to mention collaborating with a hollow, a Vasto Lorde no less!'' Komamura bellowed, swinging his blade as it charged with red energy ''Tenken!''.

A large, almost corporeal blade suddenly formed and swung towards my companion. In a burst of speed I appear between the two and catch the large blade with my hand, making the masked man tense up in shock. I don't give him the chance to recover from it as I quickly charge a large red Cero between my horns and shoot it off, striking him in the chest and sending him backwards.

''Re...treat'' I say, trying to form the word as best as possible with my limited knowledge of speech.

My comrade frowned at me for only a moment before nodding, I stick my hand out dig it into the air before ripping the air fabric open to reveal the darkness of the Garganta. I bolt inside and my comrade followed immediately, the gate of the Garganta smashing shut as we made our way back to Hueco Mundo.

''What?'' I ask with wide eyes ''But that's impossible!''.

''How so?'' She questioned with mild amusement.

''You only look in your teens yet mom was in in her twenties'' I point out.

''Shinigami physically age a lot slower than humans, I knew your mother since she was a teenager'' She stated, obviously fighting to hide a smile ''She was a lot different than how you knew her, actually a lot like you''.

''Eh?'' I frown ''How so?''.

''Hot-headed, protective, self-sacrificing'' She named a few with a fond tone ''Traits you didn't inherit were also clumsy, perverted, childish, excitable and occasionally clueless''.

''Perverted?'' I ask incredulously, finding it difficult to find my mother perverted in any way.

''When she first met your father she asked for his name'' Her lips broke into another fond smile ''While naked''.

Hollow Zangetsu cracked up laughing, Quincy Zangetsu smiled slightly and I stared wide eyed at the smirking Asami like she had grown a second head, seriously when had his mother seemed perverted in the slightest?!

Asami shook her head slightly, dispelling the smile from her lips as her face retuned to its stoic appearance. His hollow reigned in his laughter and brought back his serious expression and his Quincy half remained stoic.

''Its actually fairly surprising she didn't mention your cousin'' She said.

''What's his name?'' I ask, both out of curiosity and to see if she will let go of any other information.

''Uryu Ishida'' She said casually ''Its a long story...''.

''So four eyes is my cousin'' I grumble, massaging my forehead in an effort to process the information I was told. My mother was supposed to marry Ryuken Ishida, her cousin, to keep the Quincy pureblood line going. Instead my father, who was captain of the tenth at the time, engaged a Vasto Lorde hollow in combat and was on par if not losing to the hollow. My mother came to his rescue and allowed the hollow to get close and sink its teeth into her shoulder so he could fire a point-blank arrow to its head. Afterwards my father returned to soul society but came back several days later to find his mother dying from the hollow bite and going through soul suicide, the name explaining what actually happens. Kisuke Urahara, her father, stepped in and found a way to stop the process but it required a powerful source of energy to seal away the Hollowification, i.e. my fathers powers. Ryuken eventually went on to marry his houses maid Kanae Katagiri, who later gave birth to Uryu. She lost consciousness on June 17th nine years ago, then dying three months later.

It was both surprising and mournful that Ishida's mother lost consciousness on the same day my own lost her life to the grand fisher, though during the conversation in indirectly avoided any questioning about how she got into that state and merely said it was information at a later date, since she herself was unsure if her thought were true and didn't want to give me false beliefs.

''Anyway'' She said, dismissing me from my thoughts ''Because you spent three months training for Bankai with the altered doll we only have one month left and you have yet to grasp Blue Vene, Heilig Pfeil or any hollow powers''.

I turn my gaze to my hollow who grinned madly ''Oh I'll let ya use ma power, if ya can give me a good fight!''.

I get up and draw my sealed yet enormous blade from over my shoulder ''Sure, I need to blow of some steam too''.

We didn't wait a moment before disappearing in a mix of buzz and whoosh, finding a better area to fight away from or other two residents.

I turn my gaze to Zangetsu, specifically the Quincy half who had no followed or participated in their battle ''So, I see you had gotten my message and let him out''.

The older looking man scowled lightly ''It was common sense to suppress him while I took on the role of his Zanpakuto''.

''True, in the case of race diversity and nature the Quincy were more human than Hollows'' I nod ''But you'd have been greatly limiting his power, not to mention it is likely you'd be unable to teach him the arts of the Quincy''.

''I still haven't had the chance yet'' He scowled again.

''Well its to be expected, three days-come-months were lost to attaining Bankai, one was lost to introduction and Shikai training and another was lost to sensing and masking training'' I say ''I've got to say though, his growth rate is incredible''.

''Indeed'' Old man Zangetsu nodded before his gaze turned mistrustfully curious ''How much do you really know of everything?''.

''Everything includes a lot'' I say with a hint of mirth.

''The details of Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin Kurosaki'' He said and hesitated for a brief moment ''...and any 'other' details that may pertain to the future''.

''You mean Yhwach'' I say and he tensed ''I have a plan for him, which if it goes according to plan he will be no issue to us''.

''...I see''.

''Anyway, enough talk'' I dismiss ''We have one month of training left, make that ten months if we fully spend that time within his inner world, since your his Quincy half I'll use only Quincy stuff too... one more thing''.

He raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he formed a Reishi sword.

''Once you're outside of Jikan Yari, make sure he spends as much time if not all his time within his inner world... it imperative he masters his Bankai in the remaining time we have''.

''Four days outside and ten months inside? Not a lot of time to master a Bankai'' He frowned.

''Toshiro Hitsugaya did it in about one to two months'' I point out ''He was considered a prodigy by the academy and became a captain after Isshin, you guys should have no problem... his Bankai at full power has the potential to force out one of my own Bankai, which only the senior captains are capable of''.

Zangetsu merely nodded before disappearing in a flash, he reappeared beside me and attempted to slash me with the Reishi blade, I pirouette out of the way and point my index finger at him.

''Heilig Pfeil'' I whisper and a hail of arrows shoot out like bullets, giving him several gashes from the close-range counter before he managed to escape. He appeared further back and formed a Reishi bow, thin and grey metal with blue ingrains all over it. He formed an arrow and pulled it back on the string, firing his own hail of arrows that soared at me.

''Heiliger Schild'' I utter and a wall of bright blue Reishi formed in front of me, taking the arrows head on without faltering. When the shield falls a moment later I secretly take pride in the confused-curious-surprised look on his face. (Tran: Holy Shield).

''I do not remember a technique like that existing'' He frowned.

''A technique of my own creation'' I explain ''It creates a wall of condensed Reishi that absorbs any non-physical attack, in other words Quincy arrows or Kido''.

He gave a barely perceptible nod before disappearing again, appearing behind me and unleashing another hail of arrows. Since we were using Quincy-based skills I forcefully limited my high-speed movement to Hirenkyaku, making me far slower than I desired. I avoided them with only a few scratch marks from the arrows, his accuracy was far better than Kurosaki's at least. I disappear again further back and form a Reishi blade from my wrist, making it like an underhand knife more than a sword. Zangetsu also created one but took the form of a full blade, though his attention was immediately draw away from our fight off to the side.

Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu were sparring viciously in the distance, though the hollow's Reiatsu was far more hollow than normal. Zangetsu shot me a sidelong glance with the unspoken question in his eyes, to which I respond with a sigh as I dissipate the Reishi blade.

''Go'' I dismiss before quickly adding ''Just make sure he masters his Bankai before we leave for soul society, I'll return here when its time to go''.

The older man nodded before disappearing in a burst of Hirenkyaku, I sigh again and my body crackles and sparks with energy before the world goes black - a sign I have left his inner world and left for my own.

I open my eyes to reveal my inner world; the pitch black night sky was dotted with stars, the sand at my feet cool and the tide slowly and melodically shifts in and out. The night-time beach was quiet for a whole minute before soft footfalls drew my attention, though I'd been here enough to know who they were.

''It truly has been a while since you have visited, Asami-sama'' A soft-spoken yet matured voice spoke from behind me.

''I've been quite busy, Megami'' I reply, looking over my shoulder at my Zanpakuto spirit who I had used in my training with Ichigo. She stood at the same height as me at 5'7, her long silver hair trailed partly down her back to her waist and her front part covered her right eye and the respective side of her face. She wore a long black kimono that covered her feet and had white stars imbedded into it, a stark contrast to her silver hair and pale skin. Her sword form was out of sight, though she could summon it at a moments notice ''How has Shirayuki been?''.

''She has been well'' She smiled ''It was clearly difficult for her to get used to the hollow, though after she had she enjoyed herself far better. Myself and Denki-chan have trained her at your command, her improvement is clear and she expresses her gratitude quite openly''.

I nod in approval ''How has Denki been?''.

''Well'' She nodded in turn ''She has been her usual electrical self''.

I let out a chuckle ''Bad puns don't suit you, Megami''.

Tsuki no Megami lets out her own soft chuckle ''It was difficult not to use it, the opportunity was too good to pass up''.

We lapse into a comfortable silence, calmly watching the waves swish back and forth in an echo of a heartbeat. The moon never changed its position from the sky and the stars only continued to twinkle; such was the nature of my inner world. I break the silence again, wanting to know about the other happenings when I was absent.

I didn't even have to ask ''Kuro is being her usual self, messing with Shirayuki and making perverted comments wherever she can. She made an accidental tidal wave earlier via a stray Cero, which ended with Denki-chan chasing her across the world a few times''.

''Good to know everyone else is happy'' I smile slightly at her ''And how have you been, Megami?''.

''I have been well, Asami-sama'' She smiled in appreciation.

''Good, because I'll need all your help for the coming invasion'' I inform and she nods gracefully ''We will assist Kurosaki and his friends in rescuing their friend Rukia Kuchiki, retrieve the Hogyoku, free our comrade and finally kill Sosuke Aizen''.

''How do you compare yourself against the captains?''.

''Yamamoto is the only one I will have to worry about'' I dismiss ''Kyoraku, Ukitake and Unohana wouldn't use their Bankai against me. All other captains are no issue to the plan''.

''Good to hear'' Megami nodded ''You should get some sleep Asami-sama, you've spent a lot of energy training Kurosaki-san and even you can only go so far before you begin to experience fatigue''.

''Very well'' I sighed, laying back against the cool sand as a calming breeze blew over me. My eyes flutter shut with the breeze, my body dropping in temperature as Megami watches over me like a guard dog.

''You should wake up, Asami-sama''.

Mentally grumbling my confirmation, I rub the sleep out of my eye and sit up from the tree I was lying against. I wish I could wake up in my inner world, but it would cause unneeded issues. I let out a quiet yawn and stretch the kinks in my back, observing as Ichigo is still within his inner world and remained motionless only a few feet away.

'How long is left?'.

''Less than twenty minutes, Asami-sama''.

'Guess I'll go tell him... after I go have a cold shower, I'm roasting in this weather'.

Megami didn't respond, though she did reply with an exasperated sigh.

''Oi, Kurosaki'' I call as I casually hop between the buildings towards the sparring spirits and Shinigami. Upon me calling their wielders name the spirits, albeit reluctantly, stop their fight. Wordlessly they deactivate their separate Bankai forms, with the hollow a mimic of Ichigo while the old man was far younger in appearance. Ichigo also deactivated his Bankai, returning it to his sealed form. The black scabbard, the red grip with golden diamond inscriptions, the gold guard in the shape of a rectangle and the long almost-rectangle silver blade with a diagonal edge.

''Is time up?'' He asked in a surprisingly calm voice.

I nod the affirmative ''I'll be waiting outside your inner world''.

My body crackles and sparks and like before the world goes black, only for colour to blur into focus to reveal me back by the tree once again though this time cross-legged. I climb to my feet just as Ichigo's eyes flutter open, blinking and looking around till he spotted me. He also got to his feet and like I had done before and his back cracks into place after a long amount of time being in a singular position.

''You ready?'' I ask and he gave a firm nod. With the flick of my wrist the air beside us made a shattering sound as the rift opened, a crooked oval with jagged edges with pitch black darkness and a Reishi-rich purple gust flowing out. My hesitation long since forgotten, I jump into the darkness and hear Ichigo swiftly follow. The ever present darkness left the return trip a silent one, the return trip much like the entry one. The slightest adjustment of my weight and the barrier shattered in front of me, leading to the underground training ground with several figures present.

My feet touch the rough terrain and Ichigo's footfalls echo behind me, the frame of the portal where we just came from behind us. Ishida, Kisuke, Chiro and Toshiro stood awaiting our return. Chiro almost immediately Shunpo'ed up to me and wrapped herself around my legs in a hug, her mouth rapidly speaking about what happened when I was gone. I ignored most of it and let out a quiet chuckle, patting her on the head and set to pry her off my legs all the while listening to the conversation between my father and two students and watching out of the corner of my eye.

''Yare Yare, you've grown Kurosaki-san'' Kisuke smiled while whipping his fan out.

''Eh?'' Ichigo replied, clearly confused.

Kisuke pulled out a mirror from his sleeve, clearing having prepared for such a question. He had grown slightly between when he first entered and when he left; his muscles more defined, his height increased an inch or two, his hair longer and a bit more messy but just as spiky and his uniform now sleeveless. To Ishida this was a big change apparently, as he blinked and rubbed his glasses a few times to confirm his sight.

As they spoke however I noticed other more subtle differences, like how his tone was more calm and revealed less of what he was feeling emotionally. His speech pattern was also more short, so to speak. His sentences were shorter and his wording was to the point; no excessive wordplay when he could directly say the most efficient line of words. He spoke almost like Byakuya Kuchiki, though there was no arrogance in it, rather relaxed confidence much like Shunsui Kyoraku.

''Kurosaki'' I beckon and he turns his gaze to me ''Use the remaining days we have before we leave for the invasion in your inner world, train with your spirits and work on mastering your Bankai''.

Toshiro, who so far stood off to the side near Chiro, widened his eyes ''Master his Bankai? But he only had the skillset of an unseated officer six days ago''.

I smirk ever so slightly at the young-looking boy ''Technically it was six months for us, though your perception of time is pretty messed up when inside''.

He gave a half confused, half understanding nod before willingly let himself be dragged off by an excited Chiro to god knows where. I return my gaze to Ichigo who was just finishing a goodbye before disappearing in a burst of Shunpo.

''C'mon Ishida-Baka'' I instruct ''You'll only have a third the time Kurosaki had due to time constraints, though I doubt you'd need as long since you can't learn Bankai and as such do not require three days-months. I'm going to beat every Quincy technique possible into you, within reason of course''.

He gave a slightly worriedly nod, I grin internally and spin on my heel and head back towards the pulsing purple barrier of Jikan Yari.

''Inform Sado to meet us upon our return in two days, father'' I shout out before saying in a lower tone to Ishida ''Walked forward, push against the current''.

With no further instructions I stroll into the portal, Ishida's soft footfalls behind me as we waltz into the darkness.

''Your accuracy is good but your power is lacking'' I comment, firing off another wordless storm of arrows at my student who barely managed to evade with his newly taught Hirenkyaku ''And keep pace with your Hirenkyaku! If your in a fight of speed losing focus of your only high-speed movement can change the tide of battle''.

''I'm trying!'' Ishida yelled back, irritated.

Its been half a month/day already, the sun dipping behind the horizon yet I continuously told him to keep going and ignore the time. He was like Ichigo in that he was a fast learner, though there is a difference between learning and effectively using a technique. His stamina has increased a bit, his Hirenkyaku is approaching lieutenant level but I expect that to improve as our short time frame continues. His bow has transformed into a more solid, metallic version which proves his reserves have increased to a sizeable amount. His arrows has transformed from his standard small arrows into Heilig Pfeil, though it is clear he will need more training to make them stronger.

For this month I'll just focus on increasing his stamina, accuracy and power. Tomorrow is when I'll see which skills I can beat into him, though I suspect most of them will work... most. Actually now that I think of it the reason his power is sloppy is probably because of the modified Sanrei glove, by modified I mean the time limit of it is altered to be most effective within Jikan Yari. The time limit of the glove is increased to a month, roughly 30 days inside. His Vollstandig won't be as powerful as it would be by taking the normal route, but this is the best option. It just needs time to grow naturally after he undoubtedly achieves it.

''Have a good rest?'' I asked as Ishida walked out onto the training grounds in his white Quincy attire.

''Mm'' He hummed dismissively ''If my memory serves correctly, you said you'd teach me different techniques... including ones of your own design''.

''Right'' I say ''We've got a month left and I've go more than a handful of techniques to beat into you''.

''The first is Heiliger Schild'' I say and give a flick of my wrist of to the side, creating the wall of Reishi that formed from nothing ''It pairs Reishi particles together at a rapid rate and draws more in to strength the bonds, the bonds weave themselves together to form an Anti-Reiryoku or Anti-Reishi shield, perfectly capable of absorbing Kido, Quincy arrows, Cero, any ranged attack really''.

''It can be summoned without its name, though it is far weaker. It has no prior incantation and is completely ineffective against physical attacks, though it has the perk of absorbing any ranged attack and if you learn to master it you could probably absorb the excess Reishi''.

Ishida nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on the air in front of him as Reishi particles slowly drew towards the area of his desire. It slowly built up as the Reishi paired together and near-invisible wires weaved together as the barrier rose up from the ground to about six feet, the edges rough and spikey. After it finished he was left sweating slightly, wordlessly I raised a finger and shot a single Heilig Pfeil at the barrier. It held, so I shot again... and again.

Twelve arrows later it shattered like glass, without even needing to be told he created another one. He did it slightly faster and the barrier was ever-so slightly smoother, taking a total of twenty arrows to break. Again he raised a barrier while muttering the name under his breath, a good tactic in battle.

''We'll stop once you can raise a barrier in under three seconds and can withstand a hundred Heilig Pfeil'' I state and he nods.

''The next technique is one that I advise not to be used for sparring or training, due to the fact its main purpose is a kill shot or heavy-wounding shot'' I say and point my finger at the tree as Reishi gathers up behind me and enters through my back.

''Donnerschlag'' I call and the arrows impales the tree in a second, a thundering echo from the attack. (Tran: Thunderclap).

He blinked in surprise ''I see why you uh... didn't want me to use that for training purposes''.

I nod ''Donnerschlag fires the five times the speed of sound, making it almost impossible to dodge. It is a perfect counter to Heiliger Schild, since it moves too fast for it to be absorbed and penetrates right through it. However...''.

I raise my fingers to show a small amount of frictional smoke coming off ''...repeated usage of this technique can cause damage to the user, that and it can only fire one arrow at a time, not because to restrict damage to the user but it is an impossibility to fire more than one. If you try they revert into regular Heilig Pfeil and might even be less effective than a normal one''.

He nodded obediently before attempting to fire the attack, like before saying the name of the attack under his breath. The attack was nowhere near the speed of sound, if only slightly faster.

''Donnerschlag incorporates a large amount of Reishi into a sort of booster. The most effective way I found is to draw it in through your upper back and concentrate it into the back of the arrow, then let it fly and it should do the work on its own'' I explain the logistics and he nods again, drawing in Reishi from behind and letting it form behind the arrow like I said. Like Kurosaki he showed admirable determination and rapid learning, hopefully Sado also shares this trait.

He let the arrow loose, it made a loud crack like thunder as it shot out and impaled the tree I had shot. I'd say that was three times the speed of sound.

''Not bad'' I comment ''Keep trying, the faster you can make it fire the better''.

He silently nodded again, focusing on the task at hand.

A lone man walked down a dirt path, trees and other foliage lining the path and letting through only streams of sunlight through the canopy. The man followed the dirt path until he reached a small grave in the form of a cross. He walked closer to it, his shoes clanking softly against the ground before he got on his knees in front of it and read the familiar inscription.

'In loving memory of Akemi Urahara, beloved wife and mother'.

The man smiled softly at the name, gently putting a hand on the stone grave.

''Pray for our daughters, Akemi. I fear they may not return alive,'' He said and paused for a moment ''Am I making the right choice? Letting them invade and not join them?''.

No response, not that he expected one.

The man let out a chuckle ''Good thing I didn't say that to Asami, she'd take it as an insult to her skills''.

Kisuke sat there for another few minutes before getting back to his feet, a small smile on his face as he looked at the grave, almost seeing the non existent smile of his deceased wife. He chuckle again, though this one was much more sinister.

''Your time is slowly running out, Perdida'' Kisuke said venomously to nobody. (Tran: Loss).

A/N: So how you like dat ending? Little insight into the Urahara family, I will say that Perdida is a person... have fun figuring out who. Also I wanted to point this out for those who are thinking it; I know some characters may seem a bit too powerful, but I will say that it is very crucial to the story as it progresses later on.

Also I wanted to explain a bit about Asami's hax Jikan Yari a bit to clear up any confusions and make you all hate me a little bit more.

Basically every hour in the living world translates to a day and a half inside Jikan Yari, though the time of day does not change. Every 15 days the time of day changes, progressively of course. You don't feel hunger, exhaustion, thirst for about 15 days because that translates to half a day. Your soul can grow however meaning you visibly age, you can learn and use mental functions at normal rate.

Basically think of it as the Dangai, but is more pretty. Speaking of which, Ichigo's appearance, for those who wanna know for reference, is more or less the same as Ichigo after his Dangai training against Aizen. The whole plot of bleach from the start to the final battle against Aizen is several months if I am correct, maybe half a year. Ichigo spent 6 'months' inside Jikan Yari and as such his appearance changed, I know in canon Ichigo spent only 3 months in the Dangai but that doesn't count. Nope. Not at all.

I will point out that Ichigo is NOT as powerful god-defying as he was after his Dangai training in canon, but he's close. If you were to put it as a percentage (i like those) Dangai-Ichi would be like 100% while this Ichi is 85%-90%.

Another thing I wanted to address from a few chapters ago was when Asami ejected Shirayuki from Ichigo. What happened was that it removed Rukia's Reiryoku from Ichigo while leaving enough Shinigami-infused Reiryoku to leave him a Shinigami. Bad wording and a plot hole, I know.

ANOTHER thing I just wanted to say is that Ichigo's sealed Zanpakuto is the one he got at the start of the anime from Rukia.