7. Congratulations

Next Morning

"BEEP! BEEP!" Ichigo's alarm rang at 5 in the morning. He turned it off and began to change to a t-shirt and running shorts. At 5:15, he saw both Yuzu and Karin coming down dressed in sports tops and shorts. They all then left the house and began to jog around Karakura Town.

After the first few weeks, Yuzu and Karin asked if they could join their brother on his runs around the town. Ichigo allowed them to but told to take a slower pace. Time passed and Yuzu and Karin could keep up with Ichigo when he wasn't sprinting or running at a fast pace.

Ten minutes into their run, Tatsuki joined the group and they all ran around the town, waving hello to the other early risers.

Soon 6 o'clock came around and Tatsuki ran back to her house while the siblings returned home. They did their cool down stretches and took showers before Ichigo came down to the kitchen to make breakfast since it was his turn. Due to his wish to learn how to cook, Ichigo and Yuzu had agreed to take turns making breakfast.

By 7:30, Ichigo was walking out of the house. He greeted the various neighbors and other people working as he made his way toward school, going to his homeroom as soon as he arrived.

Since today was the last day of school before Summer Break, everyone would have a half-day and one of the highlights of today was the announcement of who got the highest grades in each class as well as the highest grade in the entire section.

Many people have been putting bets on who would be on top, the most bets being on Uryū and Ichigo. Even the teachers got involved in the action.

For Final Exams, once the students are finished, the teachers seal the exams in boxes, which are randomly shipped to another high school. That high school would then grade the exams and box the results before sending them back to the original school.

As soon as Ichigo sat down, the bell rang for class to begin. Ochi-sensei came in and stood by the podium. The students stood up, went to attention, bowed at the teacher and sat down.

"Morning, everyone." Ochi-sensei greeted.

"Morning, Ochi-sensei." Everyone replied.

"Alright, then. I know everyone is betting on either Kurosaki or Ishida for who got the highest score." Ochi-sensei said, bringing out the envelope before unsealing it and pulling out a piece of paper.

"Now then. This year's student with the highest grades on the exams is… Keigo Asano!" Ochi-sensei yelled.

"NAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Everyone yelled in shock and disbelief. A big click was then heard and everyone focused on Ochi-sensei, who had her phone out and was laughing.

"Oh my god! You should all see your faces!" Ochi-sensei laughed out loud, everyone glaring at her until she stopped. "Ok. Ok. Here are the real results." Ochi-sensei pulled another envelope and unsealed it.

"This year's student with the highest grades on the exams is… Kurosaki Ichigo!" She yelled, causing Ichigo to smile. Ishida, hearing the results, walked over to Ichigo's desk, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look at them.

"Well, Kurosaki, congratulations on getting it this year." Uryū congratulated his estranged friend.

"Thanks. Maybe you'll have better luck next year." Ichigo said and raised his hand for a handshake.

"I do not need your luck. I'll keep mine." Uryū replied, but accepted the handshake nonetheless, causing the class to cheer at the sportsmanship between the two smartest students in their grade.

***

Later at Noon

Soon the bell rang, signaling the end of another school year. Ichigo was walking out of the school gate when he noticed someone staring at him.

The man staring at him appeared to be middle-aged and wore thin, frameless glasses and a plain grey suit with a light blue shirt and a tie adorned with Quincy crosses. He has narrow blue eyes and is fair-skinned with white hair. For a second, Ichigo thought he was like an older version Uryū.

"Hello, Ichigo." The man greeted.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked the stranger.

"My name is Ishida Ryūken." The albino introduced himself.

"So you're Uryū's dad?" Ichigo guessed.

"You're way smarter than your father, it seems." Ryūken complemented.

"You know my father?" Ichigo questioned.

"I do. Do you want to go to a café to talk about this?" Ryūken suggested.

"Sure." Ichigo agreed and got into the car with Uryū's dad. They soon drove to a café and sat at a booth away from the majority of the other customers.

A waitress came by to take their order and Ichigo asked for tea while Ryūken ordered a black coffee.

"So, how much has your father told you about your mother?" Ryūken asked.

"Nothing, um, Ishida-san," Ichigo answered, questioning his formality with this man.

"Call me Oji-san. Oji is fine too." The newly dubbed Oji-san stated.

"Oji-san?" Ichigo questioned.

"Yes. You see, your mother and I were one of the few Pureblood Quincies left. My mother, your grandmother, adopted Masaki to be my wife to keep the pure bloodline pure."

Ryūken started. "However, one day, she saw your father fighting another hollow. Due to how much reiatsu their battle caused, it attracted Masaki's attention and she left to join the battle."

"The hollow they fought was almost completely black with a white mask and its light-colored hair reached down to the middle of its back. It also had two long, forward-pointing horns protruding from the sides of its head and its Hollow hole, located in its upper chest, was filled in. Another interesting aspect of the Hollow were two blades in place of its forearms." Ryūken described the Hollow, which made Ichigo recall the masked Zangetsu used when they fought in Bankai.

"Masaki saw how Isshin was struggling, so she intervened when the hollow was about to inflict the final blow. She fired a Heilig Pfeil at the Hollow and it stopped attacking your father to charge at her. She attempted to shoot it down with more of her Heilig Pfeil, but it dodged them all. Masaki concluded that the Hollow was too fast, so she allowed the Hollow to bite her hand before shooting another Heilig Pfeil straight at its head, successfully killing it." Ryūken described the fight, Ichigo grimacing at the part where his mother let the Hollow bite her.

"A few days later, Masaki started to have a Hollow hole form on her chest. I quickly grabbed her and ran off. While running with Masaki in my arms, a hollow appeared and was about to attack. Luckily, though, Isshin was there to kill it. Urahara then also showed up and took us to his shop, where he explained that Masaki was going through Soul Suicide. Luckily, he had already invented a way to stop it. It requires a human and Shinigami soul to balance out the Hollow and Quincy soul. Isshin entered the Gigai, thus stopping Masaki from going through Soul Suicide at the cost of his Shinigami powers." Ryūken finished.

"I see…" Ichigo said. By the end of the story, Ichigo had finished his tea and got up to leave.

"Wait." Ryūken pulled Ichigo back to his seat. "I want to give you something that belonged to your mother's." He pulled what appeared to be a small white case with the Quincy Cross on the box.