Chapter 8

The next day, Miyako Amamiya came to Karakura Town and headed straight for Karakura General Hospital to continue searching for information.

"Found it." Miyako Amamiya looked at the paper in her hand.

Deceased: Miyako Amamiya. Time of death: June 17, 200x. Residence: xxx. The deceased was found with an extremely contorted expression, and the room was in complete disarray. Cause of death unknown...

Miyako Amamiya clenched a fist as memories of death came flooding back. Seeing her own death certificate firsthand only strengthened Miyako Amamiya's resolve to grow stronger.

Miyako Amamiya then noticed a line of small print at the edge of the paper: autopsy performed by Ryūken Ishida.

Miyako Amamiya looked at the other deceased. Without exception, every record stated that the autopsy had been performed by Ryūken Ishida.

It looks like Ryūken Ishida started investigating the cause of the Mixed-Blood Quincies' deaths after that. I just don't know whether he's discovered the raw material for Still Silver. Miyako Amamiya pondered.

After putting the records back, Miyako Amamiya jumped out the window. All the information had been gathered, so the next step was to meet Ryūken Ishida. Miyako Amamiya had already located his office as director of Karakura General Hospital.

Well, let's begin, Miyako Amamiya thought.

When Ryūken Ishida came to work at the hospital as usual, he sensed something amiss. As a Quincy, he could still see Spirit Threads, and the red threads representing a Soul Reaper were particularly conspicuous. He had assumed it was just the Soul Reaper stationed here making a routine patrol, so he paid them no mind.

But as he walked toward his office, the red Spirit Threads became more and more distinct. That meant a Soul Reaper's Reiryoku had lingered in his office for a while.

The only Soul Reapers who should know the Ishida Family are Quincies are Urahara and that guy, Ryūken thought. But neither of them should come sneaking around. Has another Soul Reaper set their sights on me?

Ryūken passed through the Spirit Threads without concern. He had no intention of making a scene and would simply wait and see. He had a certain amount of confidence in his own strength, and he had not hunted Hollows frequently in a long time. He should not have been discovered.

That evening, Ryūken packed his things and prepared to leave work. Suddenly, his hand paused as he picked up his briefcase, as though he had noticed something. But he still pretended not to have noticed anything and prepared to leave his office as usual.

"Please wait, Mr. Ishida." Miyako called out to him from the window. "It's me, Miyako Amamiya. Five years ago, you saved me at my home."

Ryūken was a little surprised. He had not expected to have another chance to meet this "special" deceased person.

"Miyako Amamiya..." Only then did Ryūken slowly turn around, seeing Miyako dressed in a Soul Reaper's uniform. "Now that you've become a Soul Reaper, what business do you have with a Quincy like me? Could it be that you want to finish the Soul Reapers' unfinished extermination of the Quincies?"

Ryūken did not have a very good impression of Soul Reapers, although Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Shiba had helped him in the past. But only a few years ago, his father had disappeared in Hueco Mundo. Ryūken could not help wondering whether his father had really died at a Hollow's hands, or whether the Soul Reapers had something to do with it.

"You must be joking, Mr. Ishida. I wouldn't do something like that to the person who saved my life. The Soul Reapers and Quincies have plenty of grievances between them, but I haven't revealed anything about you in Soul Society," Miyako Amamiya explained.

Ryūken felt a little relieved, but he was also curious why Miyako Amamiya, now a Soul Reaper, had come all the way to the World of the Living specifically to see him, a Quincy.

"Mr. Ishida, I'd like to show you something," Miyako Amamiya said.

"There's no need. I have nothing to discuss with a Soul Reaper," Ryūken said coldly. Even though he now knew Miyako Amamiya had once been a Mixed-Blood Quincy, he still did not want too much contact with someone who was now a Soul Reaper.

"Please decide after you've seen it, Mr. Ishida." Miyako Amamiya raised a hand. Reishi was somewhat sparse in the World of the Living, but that did not stop Miyako Amamiya from slowly gathering it in one hand. As time passed, the Reishi gradually took the shape of an arrow.

Ryūken could not hide his surprise. Miyako Amamiya had become a Soul Reaper, yet had used the Quincy-exclusive ability, Reishi Convergence. It made no sense whatsoever.

"This is..."

"I discovered by chance in Soul Society that I could use Reishi Convergence, but I didn't dare use the ability openly. I also know some of the history between Soul Reapers and Quincies, so I came here specifically to ask you about it, Mr. Ishida," Miyako Amamiya said.

Ryūken calmed down. Even after discovering another anomaly about Miyako Amamiya, he still did not want Miyako Amamiya involved in his affairs.

"So what? I hardly count as a Quincy anymore, and I hunt precious few Hollows. None of what you've said has anything to do with me."

"Then what about the autopsy on my body? And all the Quincies who died on June 17, 200x? Do they have nothing to do with you either?" Miyako Amamiya asked.

"What are you trying to say?" Ryūken had not expected Miyako Amamiya's investigation to have gone this far.

"Forgive me, Mr. Ishida. I investigated everyone who died that day, and I also looked into your wife. Although she didn't die on that day, I'm afraid something must have happened to her then too." Miyako Amamiya had not actually found out Kanae Katagiri's name and was merely bluffing.

Ryūken could not help clenching his fists at that, but he immediately relaxed them again.

"And then?" he asked calmly.

"I gave a lot of things careful thought: your 'chance' appearance near my home, your wife's death, and the fact that I can use Reishi Convergence," Miyako Amamiya replied. "June 17, 200x, was a special day. I couldn't help wondering whether people with some special quality all died or came to harm on that day, and whether those who died were Quincies."

Ryūken said nothing. The fact that all the deceased had been Mixed-Blood Quincies had not been discovered, but Miyako Amamiya had already revealed most of the rest of the truth.

Miyako Amamiya looked at the silent Ryūken and said no more, waiting for him.

"None of this has anything to do with you, does it?" After a long while, Ryūken spoke again. "Now that you've become a Soul Reaper, Quincy affairs have nothing to do with you."

"Nothing to do with me...?" Miyako Amamiya looked at the hand and gathered Reishi once more. "Then please tell me, Mr. Ryūken Ishida, what exactly is this in my hand? Why was the cause of death unknown for everyone who died that day? Why did you perform the autopsy on my body? Why did I survive as a soul? And did the other people's souls dissipate, get devoured by Hollows, or get sent to Soul Society?"

Of course, Ryūken could not tell Miyako Amamiya that the others had not even left souls behind, and that Miyako alone had "survived" the incident.

"Mr. Ishida, please stop avoiding the subject. As a Soul Reaper who can use Quincy powers, I'm a heretic in the eyes of Soul Reapers too. I still remember that inexplicable death vividly. I... don't want to go through another inexplicable death," Miyako Amamiya said, trying to persuade him.

"That incident couldn't have been a coincidence. Have you really investigated everything hidden behind it?"

"..." Ryūken did not know whether he should tell Miyako Amamiya what he had discovered, but Miyako Amamiya was right. A Soul Reaper using Quincy abilities was a heretic in the eyes of true Soul Reapers.

Miyako Amamiya saw Ryūken's hesitation and decided to raise the stakes.

"I'm currently a Soul Reaper in the Gotei 13, assigned to the Thirteenth Division. The Thirteenth Division's main duties are to go to the World of the Living to purify Hollows and perform Konsō for wandering souls," Miyako Amamiya explained.

"Mr. Ishida, Soul Society is one of the three realms, so it must hold a great deal of information. I can help you search for information about the Quincies, and I'll also keep an eye out for anything concerning Quincies that comes up in Soul Society in the future."

Ryūken was silent for a moment before he asked:

"What is your goal? Why do this? The truth isn't important to you. As long as you do your job in peace, none of this matters." Ryūken was puzzled; he did not know why Miyako Amamiya had offered all this unprompted. "And as long as you don't use your Quincy powers, nothing will happen."

"Mr. Ishida, you shouldn't be so naive. An ordinary man is innocent, but possessing a treasure makes him guilty. You should know that saying. As an abnormal Soul Reaper, as long as I possess Quincy powers, trouble will come looking for me," Miyako Amamiya said with a bitter smile.

"I have only one real goal," Miyako Amamiya said. "To gain power so that no one can ever hurt me again because I'm different. So I'll be bold and ask you, Mr. Ishida: please teach me how to use Quincy powers."

At that moment, it all felt a little unreal to Ryūken. He had never expected a Soul Reaper to ask him for instruction. This really was...

But at the same time, Ryūken understood the motive behind everything Miyako Amamiya had done. After a long wait, Ryūken reached a decision.

He smiled faintly. "You're a Soul Reaper, yet you're asking a Quincy whose strength you can't gauge for guidance. What if I can't help you?" That was what Ryūken said, but in his heart, he had already agreed.

The reason for his wife's bizarre death had yet to be confirmed, even though he already had some suspicions. He could conduct the investigation in the World of the Living himself, but Soul Society was indeed a blind spot for him. If someone could help him investigate there, it would benefit him. Besides that, Ryūken had other matters that only a Soul Reaper could handle.

"Even so, you're better than a half-baked Quincy like me," Miyako Amamiya said with a smile, knowing Ryūken had more or less agreed.

Ryūken had no such thing as pride in being a Pure-Blood Quincy. To him, Quincy abilities were merely tools. So he felt nothing about teaching a heretic like Miyako Amamiya. He also hated Quincy powers. If he had not needed to keep those powers until he uncovered the truth, he would not have continued training them in private.

That was why Ryūken had not taught his son about Quincies. Even though Uryū Ishida had been interested in Quincy powers since childhood under the guidance of Ryūken's father, Sōken Ishida, Ryūken did not want to impart any knowledge to Uryū.

He hoped Uryū would become a doctor who saved lives and healed the injured like himself, rather than a Quincy who only took lives. He would put an end to Quincy affairs himself.

"Oh, right." Ryūken returned to his desk and took a black box out of a drawer. "I'll return this to you. It should be something your family once owned."

Ryūken tossed it to Miyako Amamiya. Miyako Amamiya looked at the familiar black box and opened it to find a silver cross lying quietly inside. Miyako Amamiya gripped it tightly. Sure enough, the cross was exactly the same shape as the Quincy Cross used by the Zanpakuto.

"Follow me." Ryūken walked out of the office. He led Miyako Amamiya to the hospital's basement, then opened a door in an inconspicuous corner.

Ryūken and Miyako Amamiya stepped inside. Beyond the door was a pure white space, with countless tall white walls standing all around in no particular order.

"This is a Reishi Space I constructed. No one will disturb us here, and no one will discover us," Ryūken said.

Miyako Amamiya looked around and realized this was the very place where Ryūken had helped Uryū regain his Quincy powers in the original story.

As expected of a Pure-Blood Quincy. His ability to construct a space out of Reishi was truly impressive, Miyako Amamiya thought.

"Let's be clear beforehand: I'm only responsible for teaching. How much you learn is up to you," Ryūken said. "And don't forget what you promised."

"Yes, I understand, Mr. Ishida." Miyako Amamiya tightened the grip on the newly recovered Quincy Cross.

"Then let's begin right away." Ryūken reached into the inner pocket over his chest and took out his own Quincy Cross. It was different from Miyako Amamiya's: his was shaped like a five-pointed star, while Miyako Amamiya's was cross-shaped.

The five-pointed star was the true symbol of the Quincies. Miyako Amamiya did not know what a cross-shaped Quincy Cross represented. It might represent the branch of Mixed-Blood Quincies who had left Yhwach a thousand years ago, or it might be a symbol of the Mixed-Blood Quincies in the World of the Living.

"A Quincy's power is the ability to manipulate Reishi. Whether fighting or moving, every technique relies on manipulating Reishi." As Ryūken spoke, his Quincy Cross glowed blue-white and gradually formed a small bow.

"Use the cross in your hand to form a Spirit Bow."

"Since you already know how to use Reishi Convergence, you've grasped the basics of manipulating it. Next, try controlling the size of the Spirit Bow you form."

"The larger the Spirit Bow, the more powerful the arrows it can fire, but the speed at which it gathers Reishi will gradually decrease. The smaller the Spirit Bow, the weaker the arrows, but in exchange, it becomes faster. Of course, with enough proficiency, none of this will limit a Quincy."

"Next, use combat to get a good feel for a Quincy's ability to manipulate Reishi." Ryūken raised the small bow in one hand without making any move to draw it or gather Reishi.

Then arrows suddenly formed near his bow, more than one of them. They whistled out at tremendous speed.

Miyako Amamiya instinctively reached for the sword, but Ryūken's rebuke came at once.

"Don't draw your sword. If you really want to learn Quincy powers, don't use a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto. Gather Reishi with your hand and use arrows called Heilig Pfeil to block me."

Miyako Amamiya lowered the hand that had reached for the sword and hurriedly used Shunpo to dodge the incoming arrows. Gripping the Quincy Cross, Miyako Amamiya began gathering Reishi to form a Spirit Bow.

"Shunpo... Don't use that either. It's a Soul Reaper skill. Try gathering Reishi beneath your feet to move. From now on, I want you to seal away all your Soul Reaper skills. Whether fighting or moving, use Reishi manipulation."

This demand stumped Miyako Amamiya at once. After all, Miyako Amamiya had studied those skills in Soul Society for five years, and suddenly being unable to use any of them was uncomfortable. But Ryūken had a point. If Miyako Amamiya grew dependent on Soul Reaper skills, the ability to manipulate Reishi would never improve.

"I understand, Mr. Ishida." Miyako Amamiya raised the Spirit Bow and began gathering an arrow with the other hand.

Ryūken also began gathering an arrow with one hand and fired it at Miyako Amamiya. Seeing this, Miyako Amamiya fired an arrow back at him.

The two arrows sped toward each other, but Miyako Amamiya's quickly dissipated when it struck Ryūken's. What's going on? Miyako Amamiya's eyes widened, and Miyako Amamiya hurriedly rolled to the side to dodge.

"The Heilig Pfeil you formed through Reishi Convergence is only for show. Both its quality and quantity are far from sufficient. At that level, you'd struggle to kill even an ordinary Hollow. Try compressing more Reishi into it while keeping it the same size." Ryūken's explanation made Miyako Amamiya realize what was wrong.

Miyako had merely gathered Reishi and formed it into the shape of an arrow, but an arrow like that was very weak.

Following his instructions, Miyako Amamiya gathered Reishi into an arrow and tried to gather more Reishi into it, compressing it so the arrow would not change size.

But before Miyako Amamiya could finish, several more arrows came flying straight at Miyako Amamiya. Caught off guard, Miyako Amamiya was struck and knocked backward.

"No one is going to stand there foolishly waiting for you to finish. I told you to gather Reishi beneath your feet, and don't stop what you're doing with your hands either."

Miyako Amamiya stood and began gathering Reishi again, while also gathering it beneath the feet while running. The ground in this Reishi Space was uneven, giving Miyako Amamiya no chance to run steadily, so Miyako Amamiya could only dodge Ryūken's arrows with all kinds of movements.

"That's enough for today." Ryūken turned his head, stopped what he was doing, and prepared to walk out.

On the other side, Miyako Amamiya was already covered in wounds. Using only Quincy abilities, Miyako Amamiya was still far too inexperienced, and Ryūken's attacks had left no part of Miyako Amamiya unscathed. Fortunately, Miyako Amamiya's Reiatsu was still fairly abundant, so carrying out Soul Reaper duties should be no problem.

"From now on, be here on time at five every day." With that, Ryūken walked out.

"I understand." Miyako Amamiya also walked out of the space constructed from Reishi.

"Oh, right, take this too." Ryūken tossed over the item in his hand. Miyako Amamiya caught it and found it was a black cloak.

"This can temporarily conceal your Reiatsu. It would be troublesome if other Soul Reapers discovered you were coming to see me so often." Ryūken pushed up his glasses.

"That's a huge help, Mr. Ishida." Miyako Amamiya had been wondering how to come here after Fourth Seat Zennosuke Kurumadani recovered, but Ryūken had already thought of a way to help keep it hidden from the others. Looking at the black cloak, Miyako Amamiya recognized it as the item Kisuke Urahara and Aizen had both once used to conceal their Reiatsu.

That meant the cloak had probably come from Kisuke Urahara. Miyako Amamiya did not ask, and Ryūken did not explain. The two reached a tacit understanding.

"It's just a transaction." Ryūken walked out of the hospital, paying Miyako Amamiya no further attention.

Miyako Amamiya did not linger either, instead going to the former home. But five years had passed, the old room had been demolished, and other people had moved in.

That meant Miyako Amamiya's last trace in the World of the Living had disappeared as well. After just one look at the room and the street, Miyako Amamiya moved on without lingering. There was no time for reminiscing now. Over the next few years, both the World of the Living and Soul Society would undergo sudden upheavals.

All Miyako Amamiya could do was keep moving forward. Donning the black cloak, Miyako Amamiya decided to use Quincy powers as much as possible before purifying Hollows, then finish by purifying them with the Zanpakuto, all to improve proficiency in manipulating Reishi.

Atop a utility pole, Miyako Amamiya took out the Quincy Cross received from Ryūken and held it high. Looking at the cross reflecting a silver light in the moonlight, he suddenly gripped it tightly and left.

Late that night, Miyako Amamiya came to a secluded spot and sat cross-legged, intending to continue trying to release the Zanpakuto's true name. Even knowing it was highly unlikely the Zanpakuto could be defeated yet, Miyako Amamiya still had to try.

As consciousness sank, Miyako Amamiya once again entered the inner world.

"Oh? Did your contact with Ryūken Ishida give you confidence again? But you've only studied Quincy knowledge for a short while, and you've already rushed over to find me. Isn't that a little irrational?" the black-haired youth in white robes said with a smile.

Miyako Amamiya looked at him and noticed something odd about him today. At the edges of his white robes, something black was faintly flowing, as though it wanted to cover the white robes he wore. But Miyako Amamiya did not think much of it, wanting only to fight the Zanpakuto and quickly become familiar with his moves.

"I'm not counting on subduing you today. I'm just preparing for the future," Miyako Amamiya said.

"Heh, fine then. Come at me. I'll see this through to the end." A Spirit Bow quickly formed in the black-haired youth's hand, and he fired an arrow.

Miyako Amamiya also formed a Spirit Bow through Reishi manipulation, continuing without pause to gather Reishi into an arrow and fire it at him.

With a deeper understanding of the nature of Quincy powers, the Licht Regen Miyako Amamiya fired was somewhat more powerful. When it collided with the Black-Haired Boy's arrow, it shattered his with ease and sped toward him.

What... Miyako Amamiya was surprised. This scene was so familiar: when exchanging shots with Ryūken earlier, his arrow had likewise pierced Miyako Amamiya's with ease. But now, in this exchange with the Zanpakuto, Miyako Amamiya had the upper hand.

The Black-Haired Boy tilted his head to dodge the arrow and said with a smile, "There's nothing to be surprised about. This is your Mindscape. If you gain a deeper understanding of the nature of power, it will be reflected here as well. After all, this place isn't as cruel as reality."

Miyako Amamiya looked at him, unable to understand why he was so generous with this information.

"Are you wondering why? Because now that you truly understand the nature of Quincy powers, I can do it too," he said with a smile. He began gathering Reishi in his hand, forming a Licht Regen and firing it at Miyako Amamiya.

Miyako Amamiya did the same. Sure enough, when the two arrows collided this time, they annihilated each other, neither gaining the upper hand.