“Who… who says we’re brothers?!”
With a sharp swing of his arm, little Uryu slapped Ichigo’s protective hand away.
He scrambled to his feet and shouted, “I’ll never admit it… especially not to some Shinigami!”
Without looking back, Uryu bolted away, leaving the Kurosaki family standing there, exchanging bewildered glances.
“That child…”
“I never wanted Uryu to be bound by the blood of the Quincies as I am,” Ryuken Ishida said slowly, rubbing his forehead with a look of resignation.
“That is why I never gave him any training in the ways of the Quincy.” He paused.
“But Soken didn’t see it that way.
Even after losing most of his power, he stubbornly insisted on teaching Uryu while continuing to hunt Hollows.”
“Uncle, last year…”
“Soken’s death cannot be blamed on anyone else,” Ryuken interrupted coldly.
“To be a Quincy yet place all his hopes in the Shinigami… it was utter foolishness.”
“Hey, hey!
What’s wrong with Shinigami?!” Isshin Kurosaki protested.
“Shinigami and Quincies can fight side-by-side just fine!
Just look at me!”
“You are a rare breed of idiot.”
“Hey!
Ryuken!”
***
“Shinigami… I hate them most of all!”
In a secluded corner of the hospital, little Uryu sat huddled on the ground.
With his head lowered and his pale blue hair falling loosely over his face, he looked for all the world like an abandoned puppy.
“Hey—Uryu!”
A vibrant, energetic voice rang out.
Uryu looked up to see a small shock of orange hair appearing before him.
The sun happened to be crossing the meridian at that exact moment, positioned directly behind the orange head.
Under the intense glare of the sunlight, Uryu squinted, looking at his peer who seemed to radiate like a tiny, living sun.
“Go away, Shinigami,” Uryu muttered listlessly.
Then, blinking in surprise, he added, “Wait… why aren’t you a Shinigami anymore?”
“Oh… you mean this?”
With a shift in his spiritual pressure, Ichigo transitioned back into a spirit, entering his Shinigami form.
A moment later, as he suppressed his power, he returned to his ordinary human state.
“This is called soul-manifestation,” Ichigo explained, scratching his head with a lack of confidence.
“To use my full power, I have to be in my spirit form.”
“So that means… you aren’t *just* a Shinigami?” Uryu’s eyes brightened slightly.
“I guess?” Ichigo replied uncertainly.
“I mean, my dad is a proper Shinigami, but I’m not even sure if I count as one.”
“…I see.”
“Why do you hate Shinigami so much?” Ichigo plopped down on the ground beside him, squinting up at the sky.
“I haven’t met many other Shinigami, but my dad, Isshin, is a good person.
Even if he is a bit weird sometimes.”
“The Shinigami… they killed my teacher… my grandfather.”
“…” Ichigo fell silent for a moment, his mood darkening.
“I see… I’m sorry.
I didn’t know.”
“That’s why I hate them.
I hate them so much.”
“…”
“I don’t know exactly how it all happened,” Ichigo said, reaching a hand up toward the sky and staring blankly at the sun.
“But I feel like power itself isn’t the problem.”
“…?”
“Ah… sorry, I said that wrong.” Meeting Uryu’s confused gaze, Ichigo gave an awkward laugh and rubbed his cheek.
“I should say… I don’t think being a Shinigami is inherently wrong.”
“That’s only because you’re one!”
“Not entirely.” Shaking his head, Ichigo met that angry gaze head-on.
“My mom was a Quincy, too.”
“Your mom…?
That beautiful lady from before?” Uryu looked at him in disbelief.
“She was a Quincy?”
“She was.
But she stopped being one a month ago; now she’s just a normal person.” Ichigo shook his head.
“But I have Quincy powers, too.”
A pale blue light manifested in his hand.
In the next instant, a small, delicate bow appeared.
As his spiritual pressure shifted again, the bow transformed into the shape of a sword.
“What…?!” Uryu’s pupils contracted.
“You’re a Quincy too?!”
“Not exactly,” Ichigo scratched his head.
“Because the Shinigami power inside me is mixed with Hollow energy, I can only do this much while in my human form.
I can’t actually attack.
I can only use the Quincy powers properly when I’m in my spirit form.”
“No wonder… when we were in my mom’s room, you looked like a Shinigami—wait, what?!” Uryu nodded in realization, but then the words sank in.
“Hollow power?!!!”
“Yeah,” Ichigo nodded.
“Supposedly, I’ve had the powers of a Hollow, a Shinigami, and a Quincy since I was born.
The Quincy side kept the other two suppressed until a month ago, when they finally reached a truce.
Now it’s like this.”
“What kind of strange hybrid are you… it’s a miracle you’re even alive…”
“I thought so too,” Ichigo smiled.
“That’s why I think that whether it’s Quincies, Shinigami, or even Hollows, they can’t all be bad.”
“Because, look.” The sword of light in Ichigo’s hand dissolved, turning into a pure sphere of radiance.
“Your mom was almost killed by the ancestor of the Quincies, wasn’t she?”
“…What…?”
“That’s just how it is.” Ichigo didn’t elaborate further.
“Now that you know the Quincies did something like that, do you hate your teacher for it?”
“…No.”
“Right.” The sphere of light vanished, and Ichigo’s eyes grew earnest.
“Then why do you hate the entire Shinigami race because of the actions of a few?”
“I…”
“Just because you’re a Quincy?”
“But… the Shinigami started a war to exterminate the Quincies…”
“Do you know the reason why?”
“I…”
“Of course, war is always bad,” Ichigo said, looking back up at the sky.
“But I feel like there is still too much we don’t know.”
“…”
“We’re too weak.
We don’t know anything yet.”
The sky was a brilliant blue, with a few stray white clouds drifting by.
The sun was piercing but bearable, and as the light hit Ichigo’s face, he seemed to glow with an inner radiance.
“Once we have enough power—once we know the whole truth—then we can judge who was right and who was wrong.
We can decide who we should truly hate, and who we should protect.”
“…”
Staring at Ichigo, who seemed to be emitting an infinite light, Uryu felt a profound tremor in his heart.
The gloom that had clouded his mind for a year began to shift in that moment.
“So, Uryu,” Ichigo’s smile was dazzling.
“Let’s get stronger together.
And until you’re strong enough, I’ll protect you!”
“…Who… who asked you to protect me?!”
It was the same stubborn response as before, but the gloom was gone.
Blushing, Uryu shouted, “I am the last of the Quincies!
I don’t need anyone’s protection!”
“Yeah, yeah… the last Quincy… hahaha…”
“What are you laughing at, you bastard!”
“I’m not a bastard.” Ichigo reached out his hand again.
“I’m Kurosaki Ichigo.”
“…I’m Ishida Uryu.”
Timidly, Uryu reached out and took his hand.
Under the bright sunlight, their shadows stretched long across the ground, looking like the grown men they were destined to become.
“Nice to meet you, little brother.”
“Who’s the little brother, you bastard?!!”