Young Quincy

Ūryu was pushed back with a kick, the hills of his shoes scraping the paved ground from the significant force of the attack… The small lapse in guard earned him a couple of shurikens tossed his way, but Orihime's shield deflected the stars before they could embed themselves into his raised hand.

Rest not given, two men dashed at him with impressive speeds, the swords in their hands reflecting the light rays as they brandished them in dramatics.

They crisscrossed, one of them using Shunpo at the semi-interception, but Ūryu had grown familiar with the ambient Reishi, noting quite easily the disturbance were the ninja would emerge.

He countered with Licht Dunst, the world blurring as a quick slash split the air where his head had just been…

He emerged half a blink later, a mere step behind the Shinigami with his hand already in a moving punch that caught the man on his right shoulder blade.

'Too predictable!'

"Kaaak!"

The man screamed as he was sent flying into the nearest building, the attack having excluded him from the fight. However his opponents were ruthless…

"Gotcha!"

It was the breaking of Orihime's shield that warned him of the danger behind him. The loud mouth leader of this group having used Ūryu's sending of his subordinates as an opportunity to land another attack on him.

Unfortunately he wasn't quick to execute Licht Dunst this time around, a painful burn erupting in a line from his back as Zanpakuto met flesh in a rare reunion.

But the cut wasn't deep, the defence of his teammate having stolen most of its power.

A moment later he appeared on a distant rooftop on a knee, before once more Orihime's power came to life and gave insignificance to his injuries.

"Damn it, how is that fair? Stop healing yourself while engaged in combat, you damned ryoka!"

The leader shouted at him, stomping and fuming like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

Naturally, Ūryu ignored him, choosing instead to look around at the remaining number of enemies. Three, with the inclusion of the gaudy leader.

'That's good, I should be able to dispatch them in my next series of attacks.' He thought, confident.

Normally, it would have been nigh-impossible for him to match someone on the gaudy lieutenant's level, the amount of Reiryoku between them was just too great. But in an environment like this, and the aggressive training he had subjected himself to after his humiliating defeat at that redhead Shinigami's hands…

Focus settled in his eyes as he pulled out one of his Seele Schneider. Licht Dunst once again gifted him impressive speed, appearing between the two clearly distracted Shinigami with the light sabre ready to carve and destabilise.

…this was nothing!

He twirled, the speed of his movements and spike of his Reiatsu having stunned the two. Within a blink, Ūryu had subjected them to several dozen cuts that, while not deep, sent the flow of their Reiryoku into a frenzy… Before rendering them immobile…

He stood, turning his back towards the frozen pair as a finger came to the bridge of his nose and adjusted his glasses.

…and robbing them of consciousness.

"Urgh!"

Blood squirted from their wounds before they crumbled into the ground, eliminating them from the battle.

Looking at the bewildered lieutenant with a slight arch at his lips, the Quincy felt the need to gloat.

"You were a fool thinking that your stealth tactics would work on someone like me… More so, the mere thought that you would achieve victory when the very environment places you at a disadvantage."

The lieutenant looked at him in rage, teeth gnashing and face twisting into an expression of utter ugliness.

"Why you damned paup—"

He blurred mid-curse, but Ūryu had anticipated the action.

Tension built at his right leg as he thrusted himself into the sky, Kojaru manifested in his hand as he aimed it where he sensed the lieutenant would emerge.

His reiatsu flared quite noticeably as he prepared an attack he hadn't perfected…

"Licht Regen!"

He had to admit that this whole undertaking had gone to hell the minute Ganju lost focus in the incantation. He had thought that they would at least have a couple of hours before they ran into the enemy…but fate wasn't so kind.

Instead, he and Orihime were met with constant opposition ever since, granted they also came up on top. But it felt like a hill, the difficulty was increasing with every success.

And while he didn't dislike Orihime's company, he still wished she could help in the thinning of the enemy, lest his growing exhaustion cost them dearly.

His attack manifested, the countless arrows speeding down on the wide-eyed visage of the lieutenant.

To Ūryu's surprise, the man didn't just stand, but instead a determined expression crossed his face and his Reiatsu finally peaked… Admittedly, the pressure the man exuded was impressive, and leagues above his.

And when his Zanpakuto blurred, the young Quincy had to admit that had he possessed a different kind of skillset than he did…well, defeat would have been a forgone conclusion.

The lieutenant cut through all of his arrows, the impressive display in utter collision with his frame.

Ūryu used Licht Dunst once more, appearing behind the exhausted form of the lieutenant with the hilt of his Seele Schneider pressed against his spine.

"It's over!"

The plasmic blade of the weapon crackled to life as it cut through flesh and bone and the reishi present within all Shinigami… Unceremoniously, the lieutenant crumbled to the ground, unconscious claiming him instantly.

Orihime emerged from the building she had hidden, looking at the scattered bodies with slight concern.

"Are they—"

"No, merely unconscious." He was quick to clarify, lest she made to heal them. "Thank you for offering me support, it would have been hard to defeat them without it."

The wounds were superficial, but they would keep them from consciousness for a good while, at least until Ūryu and Orihime were no longer within the vicinity.

As it was common, his teammate looked flustered at the vocal gratitude…

"I— I didn't do that much. I…couldn't even de— defeat a single of them."

Acting on instinct, he turned to a different direction, hand coming to the rim of his glasses as words came out of his mouth unbidden.

"That isn't important. Our objective here is to rescue Rukia-san, not to see how many people we can defeat."

Even with those words, he was certain that he had dispatched more than Ichigo.

At the edge of his vision, he could see Orihime looking at him with newly found confidence…and a bit of awe—

'Ugh! My attire, it's ruined. But I can't ask Orihime to revert it!'

Doing so after his words would ruin the mood. Damn! He should have packed more of them, how else was he going to maintain the pride of the Quincy—

"Thank you, Ishida-san."

He paused, before frowning…

"It's Ūryu."

"Pardon me?"

"I said you could call me Ūryu."

Orihime smiled and nodded.

"Then, thank you, Ūryu-kun."

He bit his cheek at the affectionate honorific. It would be counterproductive to oppose it now, much so with his uniform in tatters. He was going to punch both Ichigo and Ganju in the face the next time they met.

Giving a nod he hoped wasn't too stiff, he began to pick the items he'd thrown about in the fight. Orihime joined him a moment later, helping while also pausing to check on the unconscious Shinigami's conditions.

'She really isn't cut out for violence.'

It was right as they were finishing their task — placing the bodies in the undamaged buildings — that Orihime broke the companionable silence they had enjoyed.

"Hey, Ūryu-kun? I think we should disguise ourselves as members of the Gotei 13."

Ūryu turned his head slowly towards his teammate, his eyes as wide as saucers from the utter disbelief he felt… Just the mere thought was anathema to him, but to hear it said by Orihime?

How did he not see—

He took a breath, stood up and dusted his uniform before turning toward her and placing a hand on her shoulder…

"No—"

—————————

"I'm so happy you finally saw the wisdom within this plan, Ūryu-kun."

The girl said cheerfully, innocently as they carried the heavy form of the lieutenant into the building. Damn it! Even this mere task had become difficult, the mere feel of the accursed fabric on his skin drained his strength…

Ūryu scoffed, letting go of the man as he balanced himself with a wall. Sure, he knew the drain was purely mental, but damn if it didn't feel real.

He looked at the monster in human flesh, his eyes narrowing.

"You didn't have to destroy my uniform."

"But there were to eye catching. And I also destroyed mine as well."

He clenched his hands…

"That's not the point."

Orihime looked at him as if she didn't quite understand his reasoning. Well, she didn't, no one did… Only a Quincy like him could understand the importance of the act, the sheer impact the appearance would have on the minds of these Shinigami.

"Is this about the Fright of the Quincy?"

"Pride!" He corrected before letting out a tired sigh, "besides, what would you have done if the uniforms didn't—"

Ūryu felt a crashing pressure fall on his entire form as the surrounding area was filled with so much blood-thirst and reiatsu. Orihime, who had lost colour on her face, was unable to maintain consciousness as she promptly collapsed face first into the ground.

He wasn't that lucky.

The pressure doubled, as the sound of a foot touched on the ground with the grace of a ruthless killer.

"Hey, you?" He heard the deep voice of the creature ring in his ears and mind alike. "Are you the one who defeated Ikkaku?"

As he tried to turn to regard the monster, Ūryu felt a foot on his head, followed by a feel of cold steel and the rotating of his vision within the air…

"I don't…we're at the righ—… Isn't ….—Senzaikyū in the opposite direc—…?"

He looked horrified, at the countless bodies who littered the ground, all of them clad in white and stained with red.

The world began to blur, darkness edging at his vision. Within him, attuned with his heart beat, he felt a bright pulse of geometric patterns forming around his heart.

When he came to, he found himself with one knee on the ground, heaving heavily and loudly with no one but the two unconscious forms of Orihime and the defeated lieutenant.

Despite his state, he wasted no time in picking up Orihime, the task less strenuous than he suspected it would be, and triggering Licht Dunst to further them away from this danger zone.

"That man…"

========Author's Notes========

The Saint: And we get the fight! I don't quite know how I handled the characters, though I won't be surprised if I messed them up good. As for those who might have noticed, I changed the Quincy Movement Technique into something German sounding. I had also intended to change the name of Uryū's bow but remembered the guy was Japanese.

I also added more to his Quincy repertoire though I wouldn't be giving him any broken abilities like the Sternritter OP nonsense.

Thoughts, criticism, and ideas, I welcome them all.

Join my pa-atreon to read advanced chapters: pa-atreon.com/BoombaTheSaint

Anyway, that's all from me.

Bye bye