The Lens That Sees Through the Hollow

From afar, Sawada Tsunayoshi spotted the Ishida residence—a manor-like building impossible to miss. Without needing Masa to point the way, he flew straight toward it.

The moment Tsunayoshi set Masa down, an unfamiliar Reiatsu appeared before them. The manor gates swung open, revealing a tall, silver-haired man.

"A Long, I'm back." Seeing Ishida Ryuuken, Masa smiled and ran toward him, though she was panting heavily after just two steps.

Ryuuken steadied Masa, asking with concern, "Why are you so weak now? Where's that Kurosaki Isshin? And who's this brat?"

"Never mind that for now. Hae—how is Hae?" Masa asked urgently. During her time in the Ishida Residence, she and Hae had been close friends, and Hae was the first to respect her choice to be with Isshin. That was why she'd rushed back.

Ryuuken's expression shifted. "How do you know about Hae..."

"It's the Auswählen—the Progenitor of the Quincy's Auswählen!" Masa said.

With Masa's reminder, Ishida Ryuuken recalled his father Sōken's vast collection of books, which contained records about the Progenitor of the Quincy. A pang of regret hit him—his poor relationship with his father meant he knew little of the Quincy's past.

"This Auswählen targets Mixed-blood Quincy. Those in weaker condition could die outright! Take me to Hae, now!" Masa urged.

"Understood."

Though he didn't know if Masa could truly help a Mixed-blood Quincy struck by the Auswählen, Ryuuken chose to trust her. But as he turned, his eyes flicked briefly toward Tsunayoshi.

Masa caught Ryuuken's subtle move. Having grown up together, she knew exactly what he was thinking—he was still wary of Tsunayoshi.

"I was struck by the Auswählen too. Little Tsunayoshi saved me. He knows about it." Masa quickly fed Ryuuken the key information.

Trusting Masa, Ryuuken held his questions for now. "Come along then, young friend."

Following Ryuuken, the three walked down a wide corridor to the innermost room of the manor. Pushing open the tall door, they stepped inside. The room was simply but tastefully furnished. On the bed in the center lay a long-haired woman, and beside her sat a boy about Tsunayoshi's age, tears streaming uncontrollably.

"Uryū, don't cry. Mom's fine." Just from her voice, it was clear how weak the woman was.

When the door opened, Masa found a burst of strength, stumbling several steps to the bedside. "Hae, you..."

"Masa, why are you here?" Hae was the long-haired woman on the bed. Her already pale face looked even whiter against her black hair.

"How are you feeling?" Masa leaned half her body onto the bed.

"I'm fine. Just suddenly lost my strength. I'll be better after some rest." Hae comforted Masa the same way she comforted her son.

"How could you be fine..."

Masa hesitated, glancing at Ishida Uryū beside them. Hae understood immediately what Masa was worried about.

Hae spoke to Uryū. "Uryū, go to bed now. Mom's just going to chat with your aunt for a bit, then rest."

Ishida Uryū opened his mouth to refuse, but Ryuuken's stern voice cut in: "Uryū! Go to your room and sleep!"

Uryū instantly fell silent. His father was always domineering. Stiffly, he turned and walked out, pausing at the door to glance at Tsunayoshi in surprise.

Uryū couldn't understand why a kid his age was here, but under his father's pressure, he had no choice but to leave, closing the door behind him.

Once the door shut, Masa's expression turned serious. "It's the Auswählen. Not just you—I was struck too. I can't use any power at all."

As she spoke, Masa tried to gather Reishi with all her might. The moment a thread formed along her arm, it collapsed. She could no longer control Reishi.

"Masa, how did you shake off the weakness after the Auswählen?" Ryuuken walked to the bedside and asked. He wanted Hae to get out of bed and live normally too.

"A Long, I didn't shake off the weakness. This is my state after being struck. Little Tsunayoshi says this Auswählen targets Mixed-blood Quincy. Those in worse condition might even die." Masa said.

After speaking, Masa stared at Ryuuken, surprised to see no shock on his face. "A Long? You know?"

"I know. My mother has already lost her breath. Not long ago." Ryuuken's face was terrifyingly cold. It was because of his mother's death that he desperately wanted to free Hae from this state. He feared Hae would die too.

"What? Mom? Isn't she a Pure-blood Quincy? How could the Auswählen affect her?" Hae asked in shock. Her first concern wasn't herself, but Ryuuken's mother.

"Mother was attacked by a Hollow when she was young. I found the scar on her foot when I examined the body." Ryuuken's voice grew heavier. Unlike Hae, his mother hadn't survived the Auswählen at all—she died instantly.

"This..." Masa hadn't expected Aunt Ishida to die so suddenly. At a loss for words, she glanced around and spotted the small figure by the bed. She called out to Tsunayoshi.

"Little Tsunayoshi, you know about the Auswählen. Is there any way to make Hae normal again? I don't need her powers back—just enough to live a normal life like me."

Ryuuken's gaze also fell on the boy. If not for Masa saying he knew about the Auswählen, Ryuuken wouldn't have let him in, let alone brought him to the bedroom.

But the next moment, Tsunayoshi's words doused Ryuuken like ice water.

"There isn't, Aunt Masa. After a Mixed-blood Quincy is struck by the Auswählen, besides losing their power, a substance called Still Silver forms inside their body. Depending on individual strength, some Quincy die directly from the Auswählen, while others die from Silver Blood Clots forming in their hearts due to the accumulation of Still Silver."

"Given Aunt Hae's current condition, if she takes good care of herself, she might have a few months left."

"Brat, what did you say!"

A cold glint flashed in Ryuuken's eyes. His left hand already manifested the Spirit Bow and Arrows, the Reishi arrow ready to loose. Tsunayoshi's words were dancing on his nerves—touching on both his mother and his wife.

A green flash, and Tsunayoshi ducked behind Masa. "Aunt Masa, this silver-haired uncle is terrifying~"

Masa was almost speechless. Wasn't Tsunayoshi deliberately provoking Ryuuken by poking at his raw nerves?

She pulled Tsunayoshi out from behind her and asked seriously, "Little Tsunayoshi, Auntie asks you—how much longer do I have to live?"

Masa didn't delude herself into thinking she had no Still Silver inside her. According to Tsunayoshi, her condition was better than Hae's, so her life should be longer. Knowing she didn't have much time left, Masa decided to do something for her little family. She needed time.

Tsunayoshi turned his head toward the door, avoiding Masa's eyes. "I don't know. If I hadn't shown up."

Masa's pupils contracted. Combining this with what Tsunayoshi had said at her home, she understood his meaning. If Sawada Tsunayoshi hadn't appeared, she would already be dead—dead after the Auswählen, at the hands of that Hollow.

And Hae's few months of life were only based on Tsunayoshi not appearing and Ryuuken handling things himself, with Hae eventually dying from the Silver Blood Clot.

But if Tsunayoshi had appeared, could he change something?

Masa asked softly and gently, "Tsunayoshi-kun, is there a way you can keep Aunt Hae from dying from the Silver Blood Clot?"

Masa's request had lowered again. Before, she wanted Hae to recover; now, she only wanted to keep Hae alive.

Hearing Masa's question, Ryūken also put away the Spirit Bow and Arrows. He propped a hand against his forehead. Normally calm no matter what he faced, today he had lost his composure because of his beloved.

"Would I have told you to apprentice under this pompous old man if I didn't have a couple of cards up my sleeve?"

Hearing Tsunayoshi insult him again, the veins on Ryūken's forehead couldn't help but twitch. But since it concerned his wife, he held back and waited for what came next.

"I'll agree for A Long's sake. Little Tsunayoshi, won't you help Aunt Masa?" Masa pleaded.

"Easy enough. Since the Still Silver exists inside your bodies, why not just extract it before it forms into Silver Blood Clots?" Tsunayoshi said.

"Angiography?" Ryūken, well-versed in medicine, quickly found the corresponding method.

"It might not be that simple?" Tsunayoshi said. If X-ray imaging could solve the problem, Ryūken wouldn't have gone months without trying it while Hae was weak.

"Brat, what exactly are you trying to say?" Ryūken asked. When it came to medicine, no one present was more professional than him.

"Well, I just have something more convenient than medical technology—something that can see through layers of illusion straight to the essence." As he spoke, a green light flashed at Tsunayoshi's chest. "D. Spada's Magic Mirror."

Three monocles of varying sizes floated before Tsunayoshi's left eye. Each monocle was adorned with two long silver spikes and a pair of small white wings.

This was the weapon of the First Generation Mist Guardian of the Vongola, D. Spada. Legend said that anyone D. Spada glared at through the Magic Mirror would be cursed, their corpse floating on the sea by the next day.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was more inclined to believe that D. Spada used the Magic Mirror to cast illusions on people. The mirror's boost to his own illusions wasn't actually that strong; its greater power lay in granting Tsunayoshi the ability to see through illusions. When all three lenses were stacked together and infused with Reishi, Tsunayoshi could see the truth he sought.

His gaze turned to Hae on the bed. Tsunayoshi directly saw the blood vessels and meridians in her body. On them, he spotted three silver-white points of light barely visible to the naked eye. Then he turned to Masa. She had them too, though smaller and more numerous—five points.

"Aunt Hae has one light point in her chest cavity, one in her right arm, and one in her left leg. Those should be the Still Silver. Aunt Masa has five, distributed across her limbs and abdomen."

"The light points are moving slowly. I'm guessing that when they all gather at the heart is when the Silver Blood Clot forms. The reason Aunt Masa is in better condition is that the Still Silver in her body is more dispersed."

"I see." Masa closed her eyes and nodded twice. Suddenly, she covered her chest with one hand and grabbed Tsunayoshi's cheek with the other, saying, "You brat, Tsunayoshi. Did your ability see something you shouldn't have? Careful, or I'll tell your mom Nana!"

Tsunayoshi was speechless. Was this what Masa was thinking about at a time like this? Her train of thought was really all over the place.

Tsunayoshi defended himself: "The Magic Mirror isn't something so vulgar. Before it, your bodies are illusions. All I can see are the Reishi pathways inside you. And since you've both lost your power, the clearest thing I see is the Still Silver, which still carries a trace of Reishi."

Hearing Tsunayoshi's words, Masa was about to let go, but then she caught the follow-up and tightened her grip.

"Besides, if I could really see through things, you don't think your arm would be enough to block me, do you..."