(3rd's pov)

It was a rainy evening in Karakura town. On this rainy evening, two young men were lying on the ground. One of them was in worse condition than the other.

While Uryuu Ishida was merely unconscious and would wake up soon enough on his own and risk a cold at most, Ichigo Kurosaki was bleeding out. The orange-haired boy was barely hanging on to his consciousness.

Being able to just give up and close his eyes would be a blessing, but Ichigo wasn't that kind of man. Even if everything hurts. Even if his body felt heavy. Even if it was cold. And even if he was bleeding out, he wasn't allowed to give up. He still had people to protect.

As he was dying, not being able to see clearly anymore, he suddenly couldn't feel the rain. He didn't know why, but it made him happy that the rain stopped.

---

Kisuke Urahara was observing carefully what was ongoing that evening. He wasn't expecting to see the familiar faces today, and he felt slightly nostalgic. It was, after all, about 100 years since he saw them, but some things didn't add up, so he quickly went over all the information he had available and concluded that, for some reason, Ryoto became Captain of Squad 2. It wasn't difficult to figure it out. Looking at his friend's haori and seeing the big number 2 on it was enough to be sure of that, but if someone ever asked him about it, he would convolute his answer as much as possible.

Ryoto's behavior, however, was strange from what he's seen. Ryoto was a pacifist and disliked unnecessary violence. It was why he knocked out Ishida quickly and painlessly, but it wasn't the case for Kurosaki-kun. It wasn't Ryoto-like to stab the teenager without a reason, and knowing his old friend, he would get the answer to his question from the note that was left on Ichigo's back.

With an umbrella, Urahara covered the dying boy and took the note. He would read it later. First comes life-saving. Ishida won't need immediate treatment. He didn't have any injuries, to begin with, so all the candy shop owner needed to do was to wake up the unconscious youth.

Explaining everything to Uryuu would be easy for a humble and handsome shop owner such as himself, but he pushed it to someone else. It's Ishida's family issue, and it should be solved by the said family members.

---

After everything was said and done, Kurosaki was finally stable. It was time to read the slightly wet note. Kisuke was very curious about what that note was, and after learning the content of it, he laughed hysterically.

He knew that he must show it to Yoruichi.

__________

Took away Strawberry's Shinigami powers, but just Rukia's.

Train him, make him stronger, and push him to his limits. I know that you already planned on doing it, but give it 120%. If possible, teach him some Kido, too, and if you don't want to do that, push it to Tessai. You never know what is going to be helpful. Hopefully, he will pick something up. If not, just laugh at him. I know I will. He can take it.

See you soon.

P.S. I made a song that you can play when Ichigo does something cool. I uploaded it on the Internet under the name 'number one'. If you can't find it because you don't use the Internet, I will laugh and call you an old man.

P.S.S. Don't tell his mother that I almost killed him. I don't like being disliked by milfs.

__________

(Uryuu's pov)

I was woken up by that suspicious store owner. He told me a few things, but I wasn't listening. I was solely focused on the Quincy cross hanging around my neck. It wasn't mine. That was the cross thrown at me by that closed-eye Shinigami. It was old-fashioned, but I'm not sure how old it is exactly. I'm more interested in why he's given it to me and from where he got it.

I should ask Sensei about it.

---

Sensei is my grandfather, but since he also teaches me so I call him Sensei out of respect. I know everything I know, thanks to him. If it was up to my father, I wouldn't even know about Quincies even though he and Mother both are Quincies. They said it would be dangerous... only mother said that. Father said that helping the dead wasn't making money, and it made my blood boil when I heard it, but it was years ago, which doesn't mean that I understand what he means. I can see the dead and want to help them.

Speaking of which, I just found Sensei.

"Sensei! I finally found you."

My grandfather turned to me and smiled gently until he saw the Quicny cross that I planned on talking about with him.

"Uryuu, where did you get it?"

I've never heard Sensei using this kind of tone. He wasn't really upset but more surprised. Like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"It was from some Shinigami who asked if my name is Uryuu Ishida, and confirming that it was, he threw it at me." I didn't mention that he knocked me down. I didn't want to worry him.

"Did he perhaps have his eyes closed the entire time and had black hair?"

He asked hopefully.

"... Yes."

"Then I believe it's time for you to hear about a story from our ancestor's past."

(Yoruichi's pov)

100 years have passed, and soon, I'll be able to see my family again. I feel giggity, like a young school girl about to confess to her crush, but at the same time, a little nervous.

I know that the kids are in good hands, but I wonder if they hate me... for kind of abandoning them. I'm sure Soi Fon will unless Ryoto makes a miracle happen.

You know what? Knowing him, it is possible, but it's better not to get my hopes up.

"AWAWAWA!!!"

An orange-haired girl was running around an abandoned building as one of her fairies was pulling her hair. It was Inoue Orihime and together with Yasutora Sado, they were currently training under me.

... How did I get myself in this situation? 'Yoruichi, yOu HaVe expErieNce trAininG kidS. YoU shOuLd hElp thESe cHilDren leArn hOw to uSe ThEir poWers.' Go eat a dick, Kisuke! You owe me a lot of fish for this shit. I may have trained with my kids, but they weren't... this!

Maybe they were just talented, and my expectations became higher.

"AWAWAWA!!!"

Deep breaths, Yoruichi, deep breaths.

I jumped and lazily slapped the fairy with my paw, helping the young girl.

"You are more hopeless than my children when I started training with them."

This off-hand comment earned me an excited look from Inoue, and she instantly started asking questions.

"You have children!? Are they kitties just like you? Is it insensitive to ask this? Are they cute ninja cats? Do you have a cat wife? A queen?"

(E/D: Emiya Shirou; The Queen of Avalon.)

The barrage of questions made with her big imagination was amusing, and thanks to her, I'm going to call Ryoto a cat queen from now on.

(Kisuke's pov)

Kurosaki-kun successfully regained his Shinigami powers and is currently fighting for his life against me. While his powers returned, he still needed to get much stronger. As he is now, he will barely be able to defeat your below-average lieutenant, which surprisingly isn't as much as one would think, and if he wants to even start thinking about saving Kuchiki-san, then a lot of training is needed.

But I must say, chasing Kurosaki-kun like that is a great stress relief. I should do that more often. I bet Ryoto will love it, as well as Yoruichi if they get the chance.

But it seems when I absentmindedly was fighting my student of some kind, he stopped in his tracks. I felt like he was on the verge of a breakthrough, so I paused my onslaught to wait and see.

Something was different around him. He just stood in one place motionless with his broken Zanpakuto in his hand. Then he made sudden moves, releasing his Zanpakuto by calling its name.

This moment was one of the most shocking ones in my life and one of the few I couldn't explain. The funny thing is that most of these things come from my dear old friend Ryoto. Like his unusual eyes or his knowledge about a certain future, as he called it, but this right now takes the cake.

"Zangetsu!" Kuroskai-kun yelled.

Yes, Zangetsu. A Zanpakuto I associate with Ryoto. There aren't any records about two Shinigami having the same Zanpakuto, and there's a good reason for that. A Zanpakuto is a reflection of the user's soul. It's literally a part of Shinigami while at the same time a separate entity, but all Zanpakutos are unique, even if there are similar ones.

Another mystery surrounds you, Ryoto, and I can't wait to solve them all.

I smiled at both Kurosaki-kun's progress and the fun I would have uncovering Ryoto's secrets... within reason, of course.

---

END

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