"Ryuuken."

The Ishida patriarch rolled his eyes, "Is that any way to address your father?"

Uryuu ignored him, "That girl is a quincy. Explain."

Ryuuken stared down at his son with an unreadable expression. "You have more important things to attend to." He turned to leave.

Uryuu reached a hand towards his father's shoulder, "We're not finished!" A hand wrapped itself around his wrist before it could reach Ryuuken's shoulder.

"Now's not the time, Uryuu," Isshin was the one who had grabbed Uryuu's wrist. "Knowing my son, he is going to jump headfirst into this fight." Isshin placed both his hands on Uryuu's shoulders. "Neither of you will be able to beat that Menos alone. So, do me this favor. And we'll answer all your questions afterward."

Uryuu stared at Isshin. He sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't say anything; he just disappeared, presumably heading toward the Menos.

"My, my! Hirenkyaku? He's learning fast for a Gemischt, Ishida-san." Urahara whistled. "Now then, the kids should all be heading to the stage. It's time for us to go to the viewing area."

"Kuchiki-san… I'm afraid…"

Rukia halted her step. After rendezvousing with Orihime at the high school, the three of them were running towards the Menos Grande. "I understand. If you two want to turn back, I wouldn't put it past you. You two are just humans after all." Rukia received no answer. "Inoue?" She turned around to see both Orihime and Chad laying on the ground face down. "Inoue! Chad!"

"… you're going to have to go on without us. I can't seem to move." Chad said, finishing Orihime's original sentence. They were laying in the middle of the street, Chad's arm and Orihime's hairpins having returned to normal.

Rukia quickly ran back and knelt beside them. "… Spiritual exhaustion. How long have you had these powers, you two?"

"… About an hour," Both answered at the same time.

"What!? So, you two just got these powers today and you've been firing off highly dense spiritual energy?" Rukia resisted the urge to smack the pair while they were down. The humans of Karakura Town don't seem to understand the limitations of being human!

Rukia retrieved her cell phone from her pocket, dialing the number for Urahara Shoten. "Urahara. I've got a pair of humans that I need you to pick up. They're Ichigo's classmates, and—How did you know they had spir—Nevermind. We're near Karakura square. 2 minutes out? All right. What? Bill me? Are you seriously talking about—All right, all right, fine. Yes, I'll agree to the charges on my account." Rukia flipped her phone closed and returned her attention to Chad and Orihime. "I've sent for help. You two will be fine."

Karin wiped the sweat off her brow. She had been tirelessly defeating hollow after hollow, taking them out at close range with her mighty kicks and at long range with her soccer ball. "Jeez, there are a lot of them. What is Ichi-nii doing!? Why am I doing his job?" Karin questioned as she kicked her ball at yet another hollow. "I swear if he's slacking off somewhere… or on a date with Rukia-nee or something…" She slammed her foot into the mask of a hollow and watched it disintegrate.

At that moment, a tremendous spirit pressure flooded her senses. It was oppressive to the point of halting all train of thought. "Above…?" Karin whispered as she struggled to move her head against the reiatsu pressing down on her.

A white hand emerged from the black crevasse in the sky. The hole began to expand, and out stepped the most gigantic hollow that Karin had ever seen. "What…" Karin whispered. The hollow opened its mouth and its tongue shot out, impaling several smaller hollows on the ground near the soccer field. A sickening crunch resounded as the giant hollow retracted its tongue and began chewing its hollow victims.

"I have to get out of here," Karin whispered breathlessly, staggering to her feet, hoping to get away before the hollow noticed her.

"Karin!" Suddenly, Karin was swept up in a pair of arms.

"Ichi-nii! What the hell is that thing?"

Ichigo shook his head as he placed Karin back on her feet. He had flash stepped away from the dangerous open area of the field. Now, they were more hidden amongst the trees in the park. Karin took notice of her twin standing next to a high school boy in glasses. He had a puzzled expression on his face as he stared at her.

"Wh-what?" Karin asked pointedly at him.

He turned his gaze away, focusing instead on the giant hollow. "Nevermind. More importantly. That Menos."

"Is that what that thing is called?" Yuzu whispered. Karin saw that Yuzu was staring at the glasses kid with an expression she had never seen before on her twin. "Why did you bring me here too, Ishida-san?"

Karin sighed. Knowing Ichigo, he must have forgotten that Yuzu can't keep up with him when he disappears suddenly. Karin could sense something different about this "Ishida," but she couldn't quite explain it.

Ichigo suddenly grabbed Ishida by the collar and started yelling in his face. "See what you've done? For something stupid like a bet, you've brought out some monster hollow!"

Ishida shoved Ichigo off of him. "Don't go pointing fingers, Kurosaki! Simple hollow bait wouldn't be enough to lure a Menos!"

Karin round-house kicked a hollow that slithered up to Yuzu. "Uh, hello? Maybe we should focus on more important matters?" Karin's complaints fell on deaf ears. The two were too invested in hurling insults at each other. She let out a cry of frustration. "Why don't you two just whip 'em out and measure th—"

Karin's vulgar words and her leg halted, winding up to kick the next hollow, as she saw and heard bullets sail through the air, eliminating her target.

"Jinta Home Run!" Yet another hollow was slain, this time by a large bat.

"We've come to save the day~" An annoying, all-too-familiar voice rang out.

"Sandal-hat! Rukia-nee!"

Urahara covered his mouth with his fan, a bemused twinkle in his eye. "In the flesh, Kurosaki-sans!" He lowered his head slightly in greeting. When neither Ichigo nor Ishida halted their heated exchange, Urahara pouted. "Now, boys, it's rude to ignore greetings, especially from your elders."

Rukia rolled her eyes and took a step towards the two, presumably to beat some sense into Ichigo. A hand darted in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "Tessai-san?"

"Please, Kuchiki-dono. Allow me." The tall, muscular man, who had been carrying both Inoue and Chad over his shoulders, placed the pair against a nearby tree. Both were unconscious. Tessai sauntered over to Ishida and Ichigo, gracefully and effortlessly dodging a hollow that had been flung in his direction by Jinta's bat. "Excuse me, Kurosaki-san." He politely regarded Karin as she stepped to the side, allowing him to continue on his path.

Tessai stopped at Ichigo and Ishida, who were now butting foreheads against each other like goats. Tessai cleared his throat, "Pardon me." With a powerful grunt, he grasped both boys by the collars of their shirts, lifting them into the air as the two shouted expletives and demands to be put down. Tessai walked towards Urahara, the pair trapped within his powerful grip, and dropped the two of them on the ground as they landed gracelessly on their bottoms.

Urahara chuckled. "Now that I have your attention," Urahara ignored the glares from the two young boys. "I would like to re-direct it to that." Urahara gestured to the menos, still slowly lumbering around the park. It was not wreaking havoc upon the hollows as it was earlier, but it was moving in the direction of the city below.

Yuzu chimed in, "How are we supposed to fight that thing? It's enormous!"

Ichigo and Karin both glanced at each other at the same time. As if reading what the other was thinking, they grinned and both opened their mouths to speak.

"If you're thinking that you can chop it like a Daruma toy until you reach the mask, then please don't speak."

Ichigo swallowed his words at that moment, scowling at how easily Rukia had figured him out.

Karin continued to smirk, not deterred in the least. "I can—"

"Please don't re-visit our human cannon ball idea again." Rukia whispered gently to Karin. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "Looking back now, it was truly a bad idea."

Karin wore an expression of shock first, then resignation.

Silence fell upon the group, the only break coming from a distant "Jinta Home Run!"

Ichigo shouted in frustration, brandishing his zanpakutou "In the end, our best idea is to just cut and cut—!"

"Would you stop already?" Ishida grabbed the back of Ichigo's blade. The group gasped and took a step back to avoid the expanding bow in Ishida's left hand.

"What the hell, Ishida? Cool it with the giant bow!"

"I'm not doing it on purpose!" Ishida shouted back at Ichigo. At the same time, he released his hold on Ichigo's zanpakutou, allowing his bow to recede to its normal size again. Ishida stared back and forth between Ichigo's zanpakutou and his left hand. "Hmm…"

"Oh, no." Rukia knitted her brows together, placing her fingertips against her forehead.

"How is this idea any better than my idea?"

"It's marginally better than yours, Ichigo."

"Why am I here?"

"Quiet, the lot of you! You're too noisy! I need to focus!"

Ishida was kneeling on the ground, taking his archer's stance, aiming at the menos. Ichigo had taken the position directly behind Ishida, the back blade of his zanpakutou coming into contact with Ishida's head and secured with a bandage. Rukia and Karin were also kneeling beside Ishida, their hands in Ishida's hair, as if his head were a crystal ball.

"Ishida-san…"

"What is it, Kurosaki-san?" Ishida didn't know the names of Kurosaki Ichigo's little sisters. It's not like they really had time to go through introductions and decide proper honorifics.

"Ah, you can call me Yuzu. Did you need me too for your plan?"

Ishida shook his head. "The way you draw your power is different, Yuzu-san. You and I are quincies, and we draw power from the surrounding areas to manifest our spirit weapons. Kuchiki-san, your brother, and your sister all draw their spiritual power from within and redirect it into their spirit weapons."

Yuzu nodded, a disappointed look on her face.

Ishida wasn't sure why or how, but he felt the need to comfort her in this moment. "Right now, your powers are still developing. It's better if I take the lead here; you haven't received any formal training for controlling your powers yet. Just stand back and try not to get hurt."

Clearly, Ishida's attempts to comfort Yuzu were ineffective. Her expression remained unchanged as she turned around and walked towards Urahara. Ishida felt a tug on his scalp and yelped in pain.

"Oops." Karin deadpanned.

Ichigo was much less subtle; he kicked Ishida with the instep of his foot. Ishida ignored the two of them, focusing on aiming his arrow towards the Menos. "All right. I've got a pretty clear shot. Now, I just need a little bit more from you three. Put your spirit power at full strength! On the count of three! One… two…"

The tension built between the four of them. Yuzu watched with bated breath as Urahara and Tessai looked on with no expression. Rukia and Karin nodded, bracing themselves. Rukia took a deep breath as Karin closed her eyes, trying to focus their powers.

"How do I do that?" Ichigo cut in.

All the tension wound up in Yuzu released, as she nearly fell over. "Onii-chan…"

Karin's eye twitched in annoyance as she glared up at her brother. "Stupid Ichi-nii…"

Ichigo glared at his little sister. "Oh, what, so you know what he's talking about?"

He received a glare back. "Yeah, it's called practice, Ichi-nii." Karin bit back, her mind recalling all those nights on the soccer field.

Rukia released the breath she was holding as a sigh of exasperation escaped her. "What does Urahara even teach you…"

Urahara looked fractionally more amused than he had earlier. Tessai's face remained unchanged.

Ishida hissed, "Are you kidding me? What kind of Shinigami are you? You don't know how to control your reiatsu?"

"It's not like I'm a faucet! Everyone keeps telling me that I've got some weird-ass monster spiritual power! No matter how many times it's explained to me, I don't get the difference between reiatsu and reiryoku. I figured I'm just always at max level! It's not like I'm ever holding anything back!"

"That's absurd! If your reiatsu was constantly at full blast, your reiryoku would—"

All arguments ceased at that moment as everyone stared up at the menos at the same time. Karin and Yuzu couldn't even lift their heads to look up; the building spirit pressure was nearly suffocating them. "That thing is…"

"It's building power to fire a cero…" Rukia whispered.

Ishida shouted, "Everyone, resume positions! Before it has a chance to fire, we have to—" Before Ishida could finish, Ichigo ripped the bandage from Ishida's head, sprinting towards the menos. "Kurosaki! You have no chance by yourself!"

"Ichi-nii!" Karin shouted after her brother. She tried to run towards her brother but was caught up in a strong pair of arms. "What the? Let me go!" She started flailing her legs, as her arms were rendered immobile by Tessai.

"Well, why don't we just watch and see what Kurosaki Ichigo is capable of." Urahara said cryptically.

"Are you crazy? Ichigo will—!" Rukia fell to her knees mid-sentence. She barely managed to choke out, "A binding spell…" Rukia glared up at Tessai, still restraining a flagrant Kurosaki Karin.

Just then, a beam of dark energy shot down from the mouth of the menos. If it weren't for the menacing energy from the blast, Ishida would have compared it to divine retribution. "Kurosaki!" Ishida shouted as Ichigo blocked the beam with his zanpakutou. Suddenly, a look of revelation came across Ishida's face. "It… would be absurd if his reiatsu was constantly at full blast…" The rise in spiritual pressure became palpable for everyone who could sense it. The fact was undeniable. "Ichigo's baseline is the lowest possible output for him."

Ichigo roared as he placed his palm against the back of his blade, holding back the beam of the cero as if he were Atlas holding up the weight of the world. Ishida could only marvel at the sight before him. The seconds felt like hours. This spiritual power is so dense! For Ichigo to let this much out for the first time, all at once, it must feel like his body and spirit are being ripped apart! Regardless, Ichigo refused to back down. Ishida looked on as he saw the beam beginning to dissipate as it began to reach the tail end of its fire.

Still, Ichigo's reiatsu continued to rise, seemingly with no end in sight. With no beam weighing Ichigo down, Ishida watched in awe as Ichigo's reiatsu sliced through the Menos, seemingly cleaving it in half. "What a monster…" Ishida whispered. "It's… retreating."

True enough, the menos began to slowly disappear into a dark portal, which also faded away as if it had never been there in the first place. Ichigo held up a V sign with his two fingers. "Hell yeah! Victory!" He roared at the top of his lungs before suddenly collapsing onto the ground, face-down.

"Kurosaki!" Ishida shouted as he ran towards Ichigo's collapsed body. Karin, Rukia, and Yuzu were close behind. They all winced as they approached. "This density…" The air was still heavy and suffocating surrounding Ichigo; the zanpakutou began to warp as if unable to maintain its form.

"What the hell is going on!?" Karin shouted.

Rukia held up her arms in front of her face, trying to brace herself against the weight of Ichigo's unbridled powers. "Ichigo tapped too deep into his reiryoku and released too much reiatsu at once! His raw reiryoku is leaving his body at too fast of a rate for his spirit to direct and properly control!"

"What the hell does that mean!?" Karin shouted back.

Ishida stepped in at that moment and placed his foot over Ichigo's misshapen zanpakutou. "It means his spirit is in haywire!" Ishida winced as he felt Ichigo's unrefined spirit course through his body. It felt like his blood vessels were on fire and would slice him open at any moment.

"Ishida!" Ichigo shouted.

"Shut up! Our fight isn't over yet! You can't die from being too ridiculously powerful!" Ishida yelled back at him.

"But… I thought you hated Shinigami… Why are you—"

"It's what my grandfather would have wanted!" Ishida barked back. "My grandfather… he always wanted the quincy and the Shinigami to cooperate. He believed that there was a path that they could walk together and maintain the balance while protecting innocents. But… one day, the Shinigami who mocked him for his ideas of peace and cooperation…" Ishida clenched his teeth as he felt the surge of Ichigo's spiritual power course through his body. "They left my grandfather to be eaten by hollows! My grandfather… could have easily killed those hollows. But, he wanted to maintain the balance and wait for the Shinigami to arrive. And because of that…!"

Ichigo looked at Ishida with sympathy. In the end, they were both just two grieving teenagers, wishing to bring peace to their loved ones.

"I know he would have hated this stupid bet! But, whenever I think of the Shinigami who failed to save him…" Ishida shut his eyes, self-loathing building within. I have to blame the Shinigami… Prove that I'm stronger than the Shinigami…Otherwise, it's my fault… My weakness and cowardice killed him.

Ishida felt blood trickle down his forearm as he focused the built-up spiritual power into his fingertips, formed an arrow, and fired into the sky. Ishida grit his teeth, trying to fire arrows through the pain that was literally ripping his reishi system apart. I just have to redirect the excess, raw spirit energy and make it through until his spirit can get back under control! Ishida closed his eyes; the pain was unbearable. I can't lose! But, even I have my limits…!

Just then, Ishida heard the sound of another arrow, separate from his own being fired. He opened his eyes and saw Yuzu, taking a similar stance as him. Though it had its flaws and her bow was much less refined, it was unmistakable. Yuzu had formed a spirit weapon just from watching him. Ishida's eyes fell upon the silver earrings on Yuzu's ears: a pair of eight-pointed, Maltese crosses.

Ishida shook himself out of his stupor and doubled back to firing off the excess energy from his bow. Even with Yuzu's help, the shooting pain through his system was just about unbearable, but the burden was lightened. Ishida hissed at Ichigo, "You can't imagine how painful this is, Kurosaki! For your sister's and my sakes, hurry up and get your monstrous spiritual power back under control!"

At that, Ichigo closed his eyes, thinking of how to calm down his spirit and rein it all in. He took a deep breath, trying to cleanse himself. It seemed to be working; Ishida could feel the dulling of the spiritual power. Though it still felt like needles, at least it didn't feel like white-hot, tiny blades burning and slicing through his veins.

After a few more seconds and the last arrow left the fingertips of the two quincies, Yuzu and Ishida both collapsed to their knees, blood flowing from their fingertips as they leaned against each other for support. Both were heaving breaths of relief as the weight of Ichigo's spiritual pressure was lifted. Today… I saved a Shinigami, grandfather. I wanted… to avenge you. To bring you peace. Ishida looked over at Yuzu, eyes shut, and still trying to catch her breath. But, you were right all along. I'm sorry for being so stubborn. Can you forgive me?