17 – Last Day of School

"Okay everyone, try to stay alive until September! Class is over, you're free to go!" Their homeroom teacher announced with a smile.

Cheers erupted throughout the classroom as the students began to get up and leave, talking about their plans for the summer break.

Ichigo watched them filing out, before glancing over at Uryu, who had some light bandages on his right arm that were carefully hidden underneath a long sleeve.

Last night, all three of them had been seriously injured, but thanks to Ichigo's new skills in Kido and his ability to transfer spirit pressure to Rukia, they were able to heal themselves without much trouble. It also helped that Uryu had spiritual medical kits at the Ishida hospital basement, where they'd retreated.

Ichigo himself was better off than Uryu and Rukia because of his Hollow regenerative powers and Quincy technique for integrating spirit particles. The other two would still fare better than Byakuya and Renji, with any luck, because of their living human bodies.

But the real worry on Ichigo's mind was what Soul Society would do next. Just because they fought off a Captain didn't mean Soul Society would be content to let them off.

"…ten day trip to the ocean!"

Ichigo paid just enough attention to hear Keigo going off about a beach trip, which he would have skipped for training with Urahara if Ichigo had lost to Byakuya.

As it stood, his schedule was actually free, but could they really afford to relax? He still had to get stronger, enough to actually fight a Bankai. Next time, he might not be so lucky to face a Captain that kept holding back out of stubborn pride, especially now that Soul Society had an idea of his true strength.

"Sorry, I've no space in my schedule," Ichigo said. Better to spend it training instead, he decided.

One by one, his friends similarly refused for one reason or another, leaving Keigo looking quite disappointed. Orihime and Chad declined without specifying any reason. Tatsuki said she wouldn't go because boys were going, leading Michiru and Chizuru to also decline. Mizuiro was going snorkeling.

Uryu simply walked out of the classroom, though Ichigo didn't expect him to do any differently, considering that he didn't regularly hang out with Ichigo's other friends. When he was just outside the door, the other Quincy gave Ichigo a meaningful look. He had promised to explain the situation with Soul Society after school, so he nodded back.

"Ahh! Seriously guys?! Kuchiki-san! How about you?" Keigo turned to the last person who hadn't spoken.

"It sounds like a great idea!" Rukia said, obviously preparing to let him off kindly with that polite facade. "You've obviously put a lot of work into planning this, and it'll be the first time I've been to a beach! I'd love to go!"

Wait, what?

"Eh? You're going?" Ichigo asked with a bewildered expression.

"And I'm sure you can free up some time in your schedule, Ichigo! It's the summer, what could you possibly have to do?" Rukia asked innocently.

"I…have to help out at the clinic," he said. "More importantly, are you really okay with going with just Keigo?!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?! I'm sure Kuchiki-san and I will have a great time!" Keigo beamed like he just won the lottery.

"If you're concerned about me, shouldn't you come along?" Rukia asked back.

'Damn, if she goes off on her own, Soul Society might get her, so I actually do need to come along. What the heck, we don't have time for this!' Ichigo thought in frustration.

He tried to convene his thoughts via his facial expression but Rukia ignored it.

"Ah! Somebody has to protect Rukia's virtue from Keigo! I'm going after all!" Chizuru declared.

"And somebody's got to protect Rukia's virtue from you!" Tatsuki said. "That means I'm going too!"

"If Tatsuki's going, then I'll go too," said Michiru.

"Me too!" said Orihime.

"If Ichigo's going, then I'm going," said Chad.

"I didn't—"

"Great! It's settled!" Rukia said with a clap of her hands.

"Ah, I just remembered we're late for something, catch you later guys!" Ichigo said quickly and grabbing Rukia's arm and running out the room.

"See you all at the beach!" Rukia shouted with a wave.

"There they go rushing off again," Mizuiro said. "I keep telling you guys, they're definitely an item. Well, have fun at the beach, see you next term!"

O O O

"What are you thinking?! We can't afford to waste ten whole days like that!" Ichigo said as soon as they were out of the school building. "For all we know, Soul Society could attack again tomorrow!"

"And in those ten days, we'll be out of Karakura town, along with your friends. That just leaves your family, which I'm sure we can convince to come along too," said Rukia. "We can protect them while being out of Soul Society's sight."

"That's…!" Ichigo slowed down as he saw Uryu standing by the outer gates. "Huh…I didn't think of that."

"And it's not as though we can't keep training while we're there."

"Maybe it's not such a bad idea after all," said Ichigo.

O O O

"I see. So that's why you've been staying in the Living World for so long," said Uryu, after Rukia explained that Soul Society considered her transfer of powers and training Ichigo in the Shinigami arts to be serious crimes, despite the noble purpose she had in doing so. With a disdainful expression, Uryu continued, "As expected of the Shinigami."

"It isn't your fight, Uryu, but I'm glad you came to help us out yesterday. Things might get worse from here on though…" said Ichigo.

"You believe they will send more Captains, then? Yet you were able to defeat one, were you not? Even his Bankai, I assume, while I was unconscious," Uryu said while pouring some more tea for them.

"But that's just it. I didn't. I only took advantage of the moment when he thought the fight was over to take out him before he could use Bankai. If he did use it, I'm not sure that I could win," Ichigo admitted with a frown. The sheer spirit pressure Byakuya had exerted while in Bankai in the, Ichigo still wasn't sure what to call it—vision? Discarded timeline?—had been overwhelming.

As powerful as the masked form of Shiro Zangetsu was, it wasn't quite up to the power of a Bankai yet.

The deciding factors of that battle had been Gesshokruo Zangetsu's techniques that gave him incredible tactical advantages, not the advantage in strength.

First was the secret of Gesshokuro Zangetsu: before Ichigo called upon Shoku Zangetsu's true name, Ichigo could use any shift into the Gesshokuro form to mark a moment in time—either from the sealed state or when reverting it from another state. By doing so, within the next nine minutes, it would let him rewind time back to that marked moment by releasing Shoku Zangetsu's true form

Once Shoku Zangetsu was revealed, it would dissolve into a mass of shadows that could Ichigo could wrap around himself to teleport around the battlefield by entering other shadows, or reform back into a weapon at will.

The first technique, simply called "Shoku", let him try again after losing, and find the right opening to turn things around. It was so amazing that he had been speechless when he learned how it worked. Zangetsu had been a bit bland compared to some of the other zanpaktou he'd seen, and while he wouldn't trade it for any other, he couldn't say that he'd never felt jealous of abilities that were practically cheats like Kyouka Suigetsu. Now he had an ability that he honestly thought was just as much of a cheat.

The only limitation was that while Shoku was active, he couldn't use the shadow techniques. Nor could he use Shiro Zangetsu or the Hollow mask as the Shinigami and Hollow spirit pressures would interfere with the technique. So he wouldn't be fighting at full power if he wanted to have the save point.

Then the shadow teleportation technique finished the battle, having been unreadable unlike a normal high speed movement technique that left traces in the spirit pressure environment. Well, he thought it was unreadable, but a genius like Byakuya might prove him wrong later, after having observed it once.

"Speaking of which, what exactly was that power you used? It felt like Hollow spirit pressure," Rukia asked. She knew she had sensed Hollow-like spirit pressure, even though she couldn't see Ichigo properly with how fast he'd moved. She thought she might have even seen a mask on him.

"It's…complicated. The simple answer is that I have Hollow powers too," said Ichigo.

He let the statement out and waited for his friends' reactions. What would they think of him having a Hollow inside him?

"Hollow powers? You mean Urahara used the Hougyoku on you?" Rukia asked with shock.

"Wait, no, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how to, at least not safely anyways. I forgot to mention this before, but the Hougyoku is actually incomplete. Aizen's got his own, and he wants to combine the two to complete it," said Ichigo.

"Then how do you have Hollow powers?"

"I…don't really know. I just know that I've had a Hollow with me since I was born and was sealed away. At some point, it sorta became half my Zanpaktou spirit. Yesterday, I figured out how to break the seal to access more power. But don't worry, I've got it under control, alright?"

Rukia didn't look convinced and Uryu held his tea cup mid-air as if still frozen in shock.

"That…can't be possible! How are you still alive? Quincy and Hollow spirit pressures cannot simply co-exist in the same body like that!" Uryu said finally. "They would destroy each other! Hollow spirit pressure is like poison to us."

"Maybe I got used to it somehow? Haha…" Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, somebody sealed it before, so I'm guessing I might have died without the seal. But I feel fine now. My dad probably knows something about it…"

Uryu's glasses flashed as he glared at Ichigo. "This is no laughing matter, Kurosaki. The effect is not always immediate, but you may die if untreated! Although I hate to do it, we must consult my father. There is a Quincy procedure to cleanse us of Hollow spirit pressure, but I did not learn it from Grandfather before he passed. My father might know it."

"Cleanse Hollow spirit pressure…?" Ichigo blanched at the thought. Would that literally destroy Shiro? "Uh…I don't think that's necessary. I don't want to cleanse it, it's a part of my powers now."

"You still need a checkup to make sure your soul is stable," said Uryu.

"Come on, Ichigo, it wouldn't hurt to have him take a look right? You can always decide not to do the procedure, but more information is always better. What if there is a risk and you just don't know?" Rukia added.

Ichigo reluctantly agreed.

O O O

"I thought I told you not to involve yourself with the affairs of Shinigami," Ryuken Ishida said, turning with a stony expression towards his son. He sat in his office at the hospital surrounded by paperwork.

"Kurosaki is not a Shinigami. He is a Quincy," Uryu said, standing behind his father.

"Did you think I didn't notice what you three were up to last night?" Ryuken asked.

Uryu looked surprised, but then schooled his expression. "A fellow Quincy was in danger…it's only natural for me to help, is it not? We are after all, the last of our kind. We must work together if we are to survive against our enemies."

Ryuken sighed and shook his head. "They are not our enemies…not anymore. The war is over, and we lost. There is no need to revive a lost cause. We can live normal lives as humans. Why do you insist on getting involved with the dead? I should never have allowed father to train you."

"Listen to yourself! Have you no pride in our blood, our heritage? Not our enemies? Only because you fear them! You had a whole lifetime to be taught by Grandfather, yet you gave it all up and, would rather pretend to be an ordinary human. You'd sit by and do nothing when innocent souls are threatened by Hollows!"

Ryuken's face turned into a dark scowl at his son's words. The foolishness of youth and idealism. Masaki had been the same, rushing to help someone in need. No, she was worse, even trying to help a Shinigami. And where did that get her? Poisoned by a Hollow and barely surviving, losing most of her powers in the process. Kanae had been much more pragmatic…yet somehow Uryu inherited neither of their prudence.

But if his son insisted on following the Quincy way of life, there was hardly anything Ryuken could do to stop him. He could only try to minimize the damage.

"Where is he?" He asked, ignoring Uryu's tirade.

O O O

Ichigo felt awkward in Ryuken's presence. His father and Ryuken were acquaintances, perhaps even friends, as many of their patients went to both the clinic and the hospital for different purposes.

After about thirty minutes of diagnostics where Ichigo was asked to draw on different spirit pressures and show Shiro Zangetsu and the mask, Ryuken withdrew his spirit pressure and tools.

"Your soul is stable, surprisingly so. It seems that the Hollow has somehow integrated itself with your soul completely as your Zanpaktou. As far as I can tell, there should be no risk of soul suicide, though I caution you that it is still possible to lose yourself to Hollow instincts, and the Hollow spirit pressure will interfere with your Quincy powers. If you attempt to use both Quincy and Hollow spirit pressures simultaneously, you will be significantly weaker than if you concentrated on one," Ryuken explained his prognosis. "I take it by your expression that you were already aware of this."

"Ah…yea. I've got a Quincy Zanpaktou spirit as well. He pretty much told me the same thing, and that I shouldn't dual wield unless I need the extra versatility of their different powers."

Ryuken raised an eyebrow. "That is quite convenient. No other Quincy have such spirits to consult with, though Echt Quincy tend to have a natural instinct with their powers."

"What's that? Echt Quincy?"

"It means a Quincy whose blood has not been diluted by interbreeding with humans, or otherwise had their spirit tainted in some way."

"Wait, why do you make it sound like Quincy aren't humans?"

"We are not. Our souls are fundamentally different, and we are not part of the cycle of reincarnation that Soul Society administrates, at least not naturally," said Ryuken.

"You still have a lot to learn, Kurosaki," said Uryu.

"Your mother was an Echt Quincy, Ichigo. Did she never tell you any of this?" Ryuken asked.

"No…I knew she could see spirits same as me, but she never told me why. She probably wanted to wait until I was older, but then…"

"How did you learn of your Quincy powers then?" Ryuken asked.

"It's kind of complicated…" Ichigo said, silently contemplating how much to reveal. There were many things he wanted to ask Ryuken as well, so he decided it was worth confiding some things, but maybe not the part about seeing the future yet.

Uryu looked at Ichigo curiously as well.,

"It all started when Rukia transferred her Shinigami powers to me to save my life and my family. She lost her powers in the process and I worked as a substitute Shinigami for a while to protect the town. Then about a month ago, it was my mother's death anniversary, and I met the Hollow that killed her. Grand Fisher. It had some kind of weird power to create an illusion or puppet or something of the souls' he'd eaten before, including my mother. We fought but I couldn't defeat him before he escaped. Then, that night in my sleep, I met my Quincy Zanpaktou spirit in my inner world, along with Rukia's Zanpaktou spirit. That was when my Quincy spirit explained that I'd been using Rukia's Zanpaktou the whole time and that I had Quincy powers of my own. After that, I found a way to transfer Rukia's powers back to her and started training my own Quincy powers instead," said Ichigo.

Ryuken looked contemplative for a moment. "I see. Perhaps some lingering traces of your mother's spirit pressure awakened your own powers. Resonance of blood…it's certainly not unheard of. But it is curious, your Quincy powers have also decided to manifest as a Zanpaktou, a distinctly Shinigami trait. I suppose it must be because your father was a Shinigami, and this is likely why your soul is stable despite having both Quincy and Hollow spirit pressures. Your Quincy powers have found a way to use your Shinigami powers and Zanpaktou as conduits to avoid annihilating against your Hollow powers by manifesting directly."

Ichigo listened and thought Ryuken's theory was reasonable—given what the older Quincy knew. But Ichigo knew it couldn't be correct because he also knew that his Zanpaktou was the Hollow. Rather than using it as a conduit, it was more like Gesshokuro had crafted two Zanpaktou, one using the Hollow as material and the other using the Asauchi from Urahara. He had no problems using Quincy powers directly without drawing on any Shinigami spirit pressure whatsoever. In fact, Gesshokuro strongly encouraged him to do so because Shinigami spirit pressure also interfered with his Quincy powers, even if to a lesser extent than Hollow spirit pressure.

Then he noticed something else Ryuken had said.

"Wait, you knew about my father being a Shinigami? Then you know how he lost his powers?"

Ryuken frowned at his question. "Has he not told you, even knowing that you have been developing your powers and working with a Shinigami?" He gestured towards Rukia.

"Err…I'm not sure if he knows. I think he does, but I haven't told him, so we kind of just pretend everything is normal, hahaha…" Ichigo said.

"Hm…normally, I would say this is something you should ask your father…however, I will make an exception because it relates to your current…condition," said Ryuken. "Take a seat, all of you. This is not a happy story."

The group sat down at the tea table again, while Ryuken put away his diagnostic tools.

The teenagers and one teenage-looking old soul waited patiently for Ryuken to begin.

"After the war against the Shinigami two hundred years ago, the Quincy were almost completely wiped out. But those of us who survived went into hiding. Many gave up the Quincy way of life…but some pureblood families did not. The Ishida and Kurosaki were two such families who continued the traditions. To maintain the purity of the blood, Kurosaki Masaki and I were betrothed, and she came to live with the Ishida. And we—"

"Our families were that close?!" Ichigo exclaimed. "You were betrothed? But then…"

Ryuken looked nonplussed at the interruption, and continued.

"Your father had been sent to Karakura town to investigate strange Hollows. As a Captain, he was—"

"A Captain? You never told me he was a captain!" Rukia said to Ichigo.

"Uh…I didn't know that either," said Ichigo. He couldn't remember anything from his visions that indicated his father was a Captain. The visions from that first night had gotten pretty hazy though, so he might've just forgotten, he thought. He did have the impression that his father was pretty powerful…and trained Ichigo before the final battle against Aizen.

"As I was saying, your father was able to deal with most of the Hollows easily. However, there was one particularly powerful Hollow that gave him trouble without releasing his limiter. Due to problems with the communications to Soul Society, and because he had not been pre-authorized to release it, he fell in danger. Masaki and I came across his battle, and Masaki insisted on saving him, despite the rule among our Quincy families that we must not interfere with Shinigami affairs."

"That sounds just like mom!" Ichigo said proudly.

"She was able to defeat the Hollow easily by baiting it and using Blut Vene. However…there was a complication," said Ryuken. "That Hollow had a special ability, which it used to infect Masaki after it died. We didn't find out until much later."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other with surprised expressions.

"Masaki had hid the infection, but it was poisoning and weakening her. As you should know by now, Quincy and Hollow spirit pressures cannot mix. She was unable to purge the Hollow spirit pressure herself. The day I discovered it, she was already barely able to move. My father, who knew how to perform the Quincy procedure to remove Hollow spirit pressures, was also away and he hadn't told anyone where he was going. I took Masaki with me to find him. By chance, your father returned to the world of the living world that day as well. He confronted me and I explained the situation to him. Then Urahara Kisuke suddenly appeared and offered us a solution. Because I was desperate and had no idea when my father would return, I listened to him."

"Urahara again?" said Rukia with a wary face.

Ichigo had a troubled expression as well. After finding out what he did to Rukia, Ichigo could no longer just take his help at face value, especially when he appears so conveniently in a crisis.

"His solution was to seal both the Hollow and Masaki's Quincy powers away using counterbalancing forces. He believed that Shinigami spirit pressure was the opposite of Quincy, and Human is the opposite of Hollow. Therefore, by placing your father into a special gigai body, and tying it to Masaki with a spirit string, his Shinigami and human nature would suppress and seal away Masaki's Quincy nature and the Hollow infection. Your father agreed without hesitation, and Masaki also agreed. Without any other option, I allowed the procedure to proceed, and it was successful. Masaki was disowned by her family for the loss of her powers and our engagement was broken. She married your father and they lived as ordinary humans after that."

"And then when I was born, I inherited both the Hollow and the seal from my mother. I get it now," said Ichigo.

"That is correct," said Ryuken.

"What about my mother's family? Is there a way to get into contact with them?" asked Ichigo.

"I'm afraid not. My mother was the one who arranged for the betrothal, but she has passed. I have no knowledge of the Kurosaki family myself. I also cut all ties to the Quincy as a whole when I abandoned that way of life, so I'm unable to assist you in this," said Ryuken.

"Oh…"

"Ichigo, if they were willing to disown your mother over something like that, instead of helping her in a time of need, is it even worthwhile to try to reconnect with them?" Rukia asked.

"Not really. I'm just curious, I guess," said Ichigo.

"Now then, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave. If you have further questions about the Quincy please ask Uryu," said Ryuken as he stood up and left.

"What a strange twist of fate. Perhaps, if things had gone differently, we might have been brothers," said Uryu.

"We might as well be brothers, Uryu. We're the last Quincy, aren't we?"

"I suppose you're right."

"Hey, why are we the last Quincy, anyway? If the Kurosaki family is still alive…and aren't there probably other Quincy families around too?"

"It is possible that some may be in hiding, or abandoned the Quincy way, like my father. However, there is a reason I call myself the Last Quincy," said Uryu.

"Which is…?"

"Before my grandfather passed away, he told me that all the other Quincy retreated from the world to a hidden place, not in the living world. So within the human world, the two of us are the last Quincy," said Uryu.

"So that means, there really are other Quincy out there? If they aren't in the living world, where else could they be? Soul Society or Hueco Mundo?" Ichigo asked.

"There are also a few other places…and it's possible for new dimensions to form within the Garganta," said Rukia.

"Are you thinking of looking for them?" Uryu asked.

"I don't know…I'd like to meet the other Quincy some day, but I have more important things to worry about right now, like Soul Society and the 13 Divisions," said Ichigo. "By the way, Uryu, want to come with us on the beach trip? I don't want to leave you here alone if the 13 Divisions come knocking."

"No, thank you. I will be fine. You should worry about yourself," said Uryu.

"Suit yourself," said Ichigo. "There's a couple of other things I want to talk to you about though. I'm planning to keep training with Rukia while we're on the trip. If you aren't coming, that means we can't train together, so we've got to talk about this now. First, you noticed what was missing from Hirenkyaku during the fight yesterday, didn't you?"

"I'm aware, Kurosaki. I am not so much a traditionalist that I would refuse to use obviously more effective methods. Your Wogenschritt is clearly the next level in the high speed movement technique. I will soon master it and prove once and for all that the Quincy technique is superior to the Shinigami Flash Step," said Uryu.

Rukia sweatdropped at Uryu's assertion.

Ichigo laughed lightly. "Sure. Whatever floats your boat, Uryu. The other thing I wanted to talk about was the Sanrei glove. Are you planning to do the Sanrei Glove's Seven Day Trial?"

"I am considering the option. If our enemies are as strong as that Captain from yesterday, then I need to speed up my training," said Uryu.

"But Letzt Stil will cause you to lose all your powers. Besides, are you really prepared to wear the glove for the rest of your life?" Ichigo asked.

"I do not plan to use Letzt Stil unless there is no other option, it is just a training tool. And it is not as much an inconvenience as you think it is. The glove can be dematerialized while maintaining its effect after prolonged usage, so that it does not interfere with everyday life.," said Uryu. "Unlike you, I do not have Shinigami spirit pressure to scatter spirit particles for me."

"My quincy spirit, Gesshokuro, says there's an alternative Quincy technique we can use, that is less powerful compared to Letzt Stil, but doesn't cause us to lose our powers. It's called Vollstandig," said Ichigo. "Have you heard of it?"

"No, I have not," said Uryu, looking at Ichigo with interest. "How does it work?"

"You know how Zanpaktou work right? A soul normally has a limit to the spirit pressure it can control, which can be trained to become higher. Shinigami can't normally exceed their capacity on their own, but they can bond with an Asauchi, and seal extra spirit pressure into it. They can't manipulate spirit pressure the same way we can, so the process happens slowly over time by imprinting onto the Asauchi until it becomes their Zanpaktou. Then they can release it later as Shikai. Quincy can temporarily exceed the limit due to the way our powers work, we can absorb foreign spirit particles and spirit pressure, converting it to our own that we can control during battle. But we can't store it within our souls beyond our capacity," Ichigo explained. "You with me so far?"

"Yes. Because of this, Quincy do not have any releases. To match the power of a Shikai, we simply need to absorb and convert more spirit pressure," said Uryu. "But the power of a Bankai is far beyond that, it is not practical to absorb that much power as a Quincy during combat, except when the soul is in a state of hypersensitivity such as Letzt Stil."

"Exactly. Shinigami only get Bankai after decades of storing up power, and only the really strong Shinigami with high spirit pressure levels can do it. So when they release Bankai, that's why the power is incomparably higher than Shikai," said Ichigo.

"I hope you aren't suggesting that I get a Zanpaktou," said Uryu.

"Haha…no. If a Quincy used the same process, they might get a Bankai, but it would still be an external artifact, and it would interfere with their regular Quincy powers. Because Asauchi are made from Shinigami souls, even if imbued with Quincy spirit pressure, the resulting Zanpaktou would eventually change the quality of that spirit pressure to one that scatters spirit particles. I've got that problem right now with my Zanpaktou. Even though I can use Quincy powers through Gesshokuro's Shikai as a Quincy spirit artifact, it won't be possible to accumulate enough Quincy nature spirit pressure to achieve Vollstandig with it, I'd get a self-destructive Bankai instead," said Ichigo.

He'd talked about it at length with Gesshokuro during Jinzen in his sleep last night.

Despite imbuing the Asauchi with a ton of Quincy spirit pressure, it didn't change the underlying nature that it had been made from Shinigami souls, and it would start changing the stored spirit pressure to one that was more Shinigami-like. This would interfere with his Quincy techniques unless he kept recycling the spirit pressure with his Quincy powers every few days so he could never build it up.

Once he attained a power known as "Absolute Spirit Particle Dominance", he'd be able to change the nature of the Asauchi permanently—but it was a catch-22. In order to achieve that power, he had to be in Vollstandig or Letzt Stil. But he couldn't achieve Vollstandig unless the Asauchi was changed to a Quincy nature first. They needed an alternative artifact compatible with Quincy nature.

"Then what are you suggesting?" Uryu asked. "Regular spiritual artifacts cannot store spirit pressure for long, and there are no Quincy souls to use, even if I were inclined to do such a horrific thing, which I am not. I am appalled to even learn that Zanpaktou are created through such a barbaric process." Uryu made a look of disgust.

Rukia also had a disturbed expression, despite having heard about it from Ichigo before.

"And I agree, I would never do something like that," said Ichigo. "But Quincy are different from Shinigami. Besides being a soul, we also have living bodies, don't we?"

A look of comprehension came over Uryu immediately.

"I see. You want to use our bodies as the medium. That is clever. Although I am not sure if it will work, it may be an idea worth pursuing," the Quincy said while pushing up his glasses.

Ichigo grinned. "I knew you'd get it quick. You know better than me about how to make spiritual artifacts, so maybe you can look into this? Or get the help of your dad?"

"Very well. I will research into your idea, though I still intend to complete the Seven Day Trial. Even if this Vollstandig would be the better alternative for regular use, it works on a different principle. Should a Quincy use both Vollstandig and Letzt Stil simultaneously…what sort of power would manifest?" Uryu said.

"It's your call, Uryu. Guess I'll see you again in a week then. You do your Trial, we'll keep up our training at the beach too," said Ichigo.

Ichigo and Rukia left to go back home after that.

On the way back, Ichigo looked up at the sky, and his thoughts wandered to a murky part of his visions.

What had he used to defeat Aizen?

He remembered doing months of training in the Dangai with Tensa Zangetsu, but couldn't remember exactly how he achieved the "Final Getsuga". There was something about Gesshokuro and Shiro becoming one, but that was odd. It shouldn't have been possible to merge Quincy and Hollow powers.

Unless…

"…all the spirit particles in the world could be ours to command."

O O O