Chapter seven: The Last Quincy (not)

Chapter seven.

"... Shall we begin then?" Kisuke's words reached him, prompting Haru to have his guard up as he observed the man.

'I don't know a single thing about this man's strength.' Haru reminded himself, taking a step forward as he came to a decision. 'Then again… It's not like that is about to change if I just keep staring at him.'

Green light gathered around Haru's feet as he smirked, preparing himself to begin an assault on the blond man.

"..." He vanished from the spot, leaving cracks on the ground from the spot he had launched himself from as he managed to close the gap between them in the blink of an eye.

His silhouette became visible again a second later, his shape still nothing but a blur as he seemed to 'materialize' on top of the man.

There, for a split second, he gazed down at the man, both of them meeting each other's gaze as the teen remained in the air.

Haru swung his foot at him, his body turned to his right just enough to launch a roundhouse kick of sorts whilst he remained mid-air, aiming it straight at the blond's neck.

Urahara remained still, unmoving throughout the entire sequence as the kick approached his neck, so much so it was unnerving.

Then, mere instants before the vicious kick landed on him and shattered his neck, he raised his left arm and guarded.

The ground below Urahra's feet cracked as he took in the full force behind the kick, but he didn't even flinch. What's more, he wasn't pushed even a centimeter from his spot.

"...?" Haru felt a sharp pain coming from the place where his right leg and the back of the man's hand made contact.

To him, it almost felt as if he had just kicked the sturdiest, hardest of metals, losing all of his momentum as he made contact with it.

Haru didn't even get the chance to grunt in pain as he felt his feet almost shatter upon contact, for at that moment Kisuke launched an attack of his own.

With Urahara's face shadowed, he launched a punch with his right hand as his left took hold of the teenager's extended leg, making him unable to maneuver around the punch.

'This…!' Haru had no time to make a decision, no time to even think of a counter as he was the hit approach.

Thus, all he had left was his instincts, and as he watched the punch head straight to his stomach, those instincts kicked in.

The teen crossed his two arms in front of his chest as he guarded himself against the attack, whilst at the same focusing some of his green light on his trapped leg.

His leg, which had lost all of its momentum under the blond's hold, took a 'step' on thin air as the green light surrounded the spot.

"...?" Urahara blinked, brief surprise painting his face as he felt the leg that had lost all impulse gained momentum without logical explanation.

The teen's ankle got twisted into a weird angle as it broke free of the man's hold, aiming for his head as it carried on with its path.

Urahara's fist made contact with the reckless teen's arms around that exact same time colliding with his improvised guard.

With Urahara's hand no longer holding the black haired boy from his leg, the clash between the punch and his guard sent him backwards.

As a result, his leg which had been about to land on the man's face got sent back with him, grazing the man's hat and knocking it off his head.

Haru was sent back, rolling around dozens of meters as his body made contact with the ground.

He kept rolling and rolling, the sheer force behind the punch launching him across the training grounds until he reached a big rock and crashed against it.

"Well…!" Urahara began, whistling as he managed to catch his hat before it touched the ground. "That was…"

"I'll call Tessai." Yoruichi told him from the side, still resting against a rock as she sighed at the sight. "He'll need some… Medical assistance."

"Bit of a reckless one, isn't he…?" Urahara added as he nodded at his friend, looking at the cloud of dust raised around the teen.

"Hmh, I can see that." Yoruichi replied, going up the stairs as she did not bother to look back, she was almost certain the teen had broken his own ankle just to try and land a hit.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Fuck…" I groaned, feeling both arms trembling after the blow I had attempted to block. I swear, a little harder and he would have snapped them in half like sticks. "That was lame."

I pushed a pair of rocks off me as rubble fell around me, I had been launched through a rock with enough force to form a crater inside.

What's more, a simple look at the shirt I had been wearing told me it was ruined beyond repair.

Its long sleeves had been blown off, making it look like some sort of old t-shirt, and given the fact I felt cold air from behind…

Well, I reckon there ought to be a giant hole in the back of the shirt as well. Great.

"Well, then…" I tried standing up, but all I managed was to hiss in pain as I fell back on the rubble.

"Yeah, it's broken." I stated as I gazed at my right leg, my ankle had seen better days, that's for sure. "Well then…"

I gazed down at the exposed flesh on my left arm, the forearm to be precise. I focused on the tattoo there, and it began to glow with that green colour I was so familiar with.

"Time to heal…" I muttered with a smirk, as a refreshing feeling covered me from top to bottom in a matter of seconds.

You see, from the moment I awakened these powers, I became aware of a talent of mine, quite unique if I do say so myself.

I don't know the reason behind it, hell, I don't even understand its limits or how it came to be, but I still have it.

I have the power to absorb and assimilate certain stuff, traits, abilities in some cases even. And, weird as it might sound, it is all somehow linked with this tattoo.

Ever since the moment I became aware of it, I have been making use of it on some of those so-called 'Hollows.'

I have seen a handful of them regenerate, and so after absorbing them and making some of their 'presence' mine, I assimilated some of it.

'In other words…' I thought with a smirk, witnessing as the broken ankle began to twist and realign with the rest of the leg.

These arms which no doubt must have suffered some sort of considerable damage after blocking that blow, healed as well.

"Up we go." I muttered, standing up as I began dusting off the clothes I was wearing.

"Let me see…" I threw a punch to the air, then another, testing their current state. Once I was satisfied, I nodded. "Good as new."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Well… Isn't that interesting?" Urahara muttered to himself as he noticed some sort of stranger glow coming off the dust and rubble. "It looks like he's still conscious."

'He's strong, I'll give him that.' Urahara thought, taking a step towards the crater as he approached the teen. 'Self taught, no doubt… It's quite impressive.'

Urahara had noticed even through their brief exchange, his use of his peculiar abilities, his moves, his punches, his kicks… Trial and error, that's how he had learned them all.

'There's some postures that could use some work, but his high-speed movement technique is quite impressive.' The shop owner added, he was feeling a little enthusiastic all of a sudden. It was difficult for him to describe the sensation of finding someone with such promise.

Plus, his spiritual pressure… Talented as he might have been, it was unusual for a human, even for one with his gifts.

"You alright, Miyagawa-san?" Urahara asked, waving his fan around like a child as he dispersed the dust. "Tessai-san will be here soon, he'll be heal…"

"Healing?" Urahara came to a halt as he heard steps, his orbs widening as the voice of the teen interrupted him. "What for?"

"...?" Urahara blinked as the teen came off the crater and the dust settled, leaving him with a clear view of his current state.

"Well, that's unusual."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

I smiled at him, feeling a little pride as I distinguished genuine surprise in him. He gave me a curious look and shortened the distance between us, taking a closer look.

"..." Urahara examined the skin in my arms, then went on to kneel and feel the leg he had damaged and blinked.

"My, my." I heard him mutter, overcoming his initial shock. He smiled at me, his unreadable smile present on his face. "You are full of surprises."

"You are one to talk." I replied to him as I sighed, feeling the ghost of the pain from the injuries he had inflicted. "I have never met someone this strong… You are a scary man."

"Me?" He asked, covering the lower half of his face with his fan as he spoke. "You flatter me, I am nothing but a humble shopkeeper."

"Yeah, right…" I replied, not buying it for a second.

"Boss!" Urahara and I turned around at the sound of a deep, rough voice, no doubt belonging to the giant man sprinting at us.

The man came to a halt in front of us, dust covering us all as he made an abrupt stop mere inches away from us.

"Boss, I have arrived…" The man announced, as Urahara and I coughed, fuck that was a lot of dust.

First impressions? The man was tall, and I do mean tall! Like, two meters tall. I felt a little insignificant next to him to be honest.

He was muscular as well, which would have made him look quite imposing were it not for his haircut and ridiculous moustache.

"Tessai-san." Urahara greeted the man, waving his fan as fast as he could to clear the dust.

"Where is the…?" Tessai began to ask, and I noticed at that point he had some sort of medical kit in his hand. "Oh, here he is… Unharmed."

Tessai noted, fixing his glasses as he took a closer look at me, a little too close of a look if I am being honest.

"Yes, about that…" Urahara began, but he got interrupted mid-sentence before he could talk.

"Huh?" I felt someone poking me around, delicate fingers pressing the exposed skin with a curious touch. "That can't be right."

I didn't even need to turn around to know who that voice belonged to, it was Yoruichi's voice, of course.

"You are unharmed…?" I saw her blink, then she casted a suspicious look at Urahara and me. "You did something, Kisuke?"

"I'm afraid not." Urahara replied, and the three of them looked towards me. "I have no idea what just happened. But…"

"... I think it's a little too late for us to get into that right now." He finished, and I breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, I didn't even understand how it worked sometimes. "I wouldn't want to get him into trouble the first night he comes here, I'm sure there will be time for that on another occasion."

"Right?" He asked me, a knowing smile in his face as he pointed upwards, towards the fake sky. "It's easy to lose track of time down here."

"..." I checked the time and blinked. He was right, it was past midnight. In other words, that meant I was minutes away from having mom beat the shit out of me for arriving so late. "Yeah, I need to go… Like, right now."

Anticlimactic as it might have felt, I vanished from the spot as fast as I could. Shit, that was not cool at all.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"He's gone." Yoruichi stated, all of them had been left in an awkward silence as the teen left without having the time to explain what happened.

"He is." Urahara agreed, checking his hat as he noted a little bit of it was missing, no doubt a result of the teen's kick grazing it. "He's quite talented, I am surprised."

"He'll be a lot of fun, I can tell." Yoruichi added, thinking about how things had gone so far. It had been a while since she had someone to tease. "He left before we could arrange a second meeting, though. Should I…?"

"Let him be." Urahara replied, walking towards the stairs to exit the underground room. "There's much he still needs to learn, but we have got enough time in our hands."

"If you say so."

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

[One day later.]

"You got screamed at again?" Ikumi, with an amused smile on her face, couldn't help but ask me as she failed to stifle a laugh.

"Aha." I said, rolling around the couch as I pouted like a child. "Mom can be so unreasonable sometimes."

Last night had been hell for me, mom had been waiting for me and ambushed me behind the door, things got a bit difficult the moment she noticed the ruined clothes.

"You can't expect her not to get mad." Ikumi added as she read some of the new requests that had arrived. "I mean, stairs? You expect her to believe that happened because of some stairs?"

"A lot of stairs." I corrected her, I mean, it could be possible right? I just happened to fall across ten floors worth of stairs. Makes sense to me.

"You are something else." Ikumi said, and again she smiled at my antics. I stared at her in silence, it was not a bad view.

"You look nice when…" I tried to compliment her, but the sound of a constant 'beep' coming from my pocket interrupted me.

'This is…?' I took the device Urahara had gifted to me last night and examined it. It looked just like a phone so it wouldn't be a problem if Ikumi saw me using it.

"Hm?" Ikumi turned towards me as I opened the device, the sound breaking her focus as she turned to face me. "You got a call?"

"Yeah, something like that…" I replied as I stared at the screen. A single bright spot on it stood out, signaling the location of one of those Hollows, no doubt.

I stood up in a hurry, thinking of an excuse to leave as I headed towards the door, but before I got to do that, the beeping came to a stop.

"Huh?" I stood in front of the door, and I could tell Ikumi was staring at me with a strange look even without having to turn back.

"Haru…?" Ikumi called, and I sighed as I headed back to the couch. "Is something the matter? You are acting weird all of a sudden."

"It's…" I trailed off, not sure how to explain whatever just happened. "It's nothing."

'Is this broken or something?' I thought, frustrated at the device as I stared at the blank screen. 'It just vanished…'

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

[Two hours later.]

"Ichigo!" Isshin roared, busting through his son's room as he watched him jump from the bed with his fists up in an instant.

"You want some more, old man!?" Ichigo roared back to his father, his guard up as he prepared himself for their third fight of the day.

"You'll get it this… Huh? What's that?" Ichigo asked, still refusing to lower his fists as he gave his dad a skeptical look. "A box?"

"Yeah." Isshin replied, walking to his son's desk as he left the box on top of it. "It's a package."

"I can see that." Ichigo replied, walking closer to his dad as he lowered his guard at last. "What's in it?"

"Numbing cream, that's about it." Isshin replied, pointing to the box and then to his son. "It's for a friend of mine, Haru's mother. You'll deliver it to their house tomorrow."

"Me?" Ichigo asked, sounding a lot more irritated all of a sudden. "Why me?"

"What's that? You sounded so interested last time about his tattoo." Isshin told him, pointing an accusatory finger at his son. "I imagine he must have lots and lots of designs like that. You aren't interested, then?"

"I…" Ichigo trailed off, changing his mind as soon as he heard that. Yes, he was interested in seeing some more, and perhaps he could even ask Haru about it. "On second thought… I will do it."

This was the first time he had encountered someone who might have been able to see spirits as well. Other than Karin, of course.

"See?"

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"..." Well, shit. I am late.

"Faster…" I cursed under my breath as the 'beeping' sound of the device died again. I had been heading to meet Orihime for a quick chat when the device began making sound again.

I rushed through the streets, too fast for the humans around me to even see as I moved right between them.

'I need to get there fast.' I thought; I had been doing some thinking on what happened a few hours ago and came to a conclusion.

It's not that the device was malfunctioning, it's just that something or someone was taking care of the monsters before I got there.

To some, this might have seemed like a good thing, but to me? It meant losing a potential target to absorb.

'Not happening again…' I was not about to lose some dumb shits that offered themselves to be absorbed.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"It's close." Young, inexperienced but determined. Ishida Uryū, the self-proclaimed last of his kind, was heading straight towards the location of one of his natural enemies.

He rushed through roof after roof, the humans below him remaining unaware of his presence on top of their houses.

Young as he might have been, he was still executing and making use of an advanced technique as he gathered spirit particles around and below his feet.

"...!" Uryū came to a halt, spotting his target at last as he witnessed it giving chance to a helpless spirit.

His blue orbs turned cold, channeling spiritual pressure, he gathered the spirit particles around him as he created his spiritual bow.

"Another down." He declared, charging his spiritual bow with one of his blueish arrows as he aimed at it.

The distance between him and his target was at least one hundred meters, furthermore, the target was moving and in chase of a spirit.

He breathed in, his murderous gaze fixated on his target as he launched his arrow, aiming it straight at its mask.

The arrow covered the huge gap separating them in an instant, so fast in fact the beast hadn't been able to take a single step before the arrow had completed half of its trajectory.

"...!?" Disbelief filled him as something he could have never predicted happened in front of his very eyes.

Someone, a black haired teenager materialized between his arrow and the hollow, green light covering his feet as he faced the projectile.

Uryū's first natural instinct was to scream at the teenager, warn him to dodge and get out of there before he got skewered.

Before he could even think about that though, something even more unbelievable happened, the teen, with his bare hands, caught the arrow.

"W-What…?" Ishida blinked, was he hallucinating? He winced in pain as he pinched himself. No, he was not.

[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

"Huh." I thought, the sensation of holding that strange arrow was a bit strange. It felt like it was burning, but it was mild pain at best.

I crushed the arrow, closing the palm of my hands around it as sparkles of blue light covered the air.

'Weird.' I pondered on the meaning behind it for a second. Was that blue light similar to mine? I mean, mine was green, but still. Could that kid be like me?

"..." The panicked scream of a girl made me turn towards its overall direction, reminding me I had something to take care of.

I vanished from mid-air again, taking steps in the air as I rushed the hollow. It was all too simple to reach it, in mere seconds I had closed the gap between us.

"Yo." I waved, standing between the beast and the spirit girl. I smirked at the monster, it looked confused, if that was possible. "You sure are oblivious, got saved and didn't even notice."

I turned around, looking at the girl for a second I could tell her to leave the area, but I came to a halt as I recognized her.

"Hang on a second…" I said, squinting as I took a closer look at the girl. "You are the girl that kept stalking me every night."

That's right, the girl that had gone missing after our little discussion. I sort of assumed she had been devoured long ago.

"H-Haru?" I heard her ask, fearful as she looked at me as if she had just seen a ghost. Yeah, weird metaphor to use, I know.

Wait, is that even a metaphor?

"Careful, behind!" I heard the girl scream, and I rolled to the side as I kept pondering on that thought.

Or is it an analogy? You know what, thinking about it, it was just a weird example to use. You know, because she is a ghost herself.

"..." The hollow roared in anger, launching itself at me as it tried to devour me in one single bite. It was all for nothing though.

Again, I made a huge leap into the air as the beast went straight past me. The problem with that was, of course, the spirit girl was there.

I descended on top of the hollow, kicking it in its spine mere inches before he managed to take a bite on the girl.

The ground below ruptured, thousands of small cracks and lines spreading across the ground as it shattered, the pattern of the cracks resembling a spider's web.

'Broken spine, again.' I thought with a smile. I need them alive before I absorb them so the best spot to target is their spines in most cases.

'It's not regenerating though…' I pouted, kneeling next to it under the shocked gaze of the spirit girl, nothing but incoherent sounds escaping her lips as she failed to comprehend what she had just witnessed.

"..." I felt something, a spike in someone's presence behind me. I turned around and sure enough, the kid from before had his bow drawn and aimed at the monster.

"You better not." I warned him, stepping on top of the hollow as it remained motionless on the ground. "He's mine, I took him down."

"Then finish him off." The black haired kid stated, his glasses shadowing his eyes.

"Huh? That's for me to decide." I told him, waving him off as I gazed down at the beast. "The prerogative of what to do with the defeated lies in the one who defeated it, duh?"

"Fine…" The kid frowned at me, but lowered his bow nonetheless. That's surprising, I half expected him to throw a fit and attack the beats, but he understood. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Who, me?" I asked, smiling as the kid's frown deepened, 'who else could it be?', that's the sort of look he had. "Name's Haru. You?"

"Ishida." He said, his bow vanishing into particles as he walked closer. "Ishida Uryū."

End of chapter seven.