The Lone Sparrow

Summary: She hadn't seen him for four years. It was as if his family had vanished, and yet, here he was, standing in front of her; but the boy Ichigo had called him Uryū. What was she to do? What was she to say? She took him aside privately, "What's this all about Ken Ichijouji?"

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Bleach; the rights of the shows belong to their perspective owners. I was inspired by the fact that Derek Stephen Prince is the voice actor for both Ken Ichijouji and Uryū Ishida, and the fact that both characters are eerily similar in how they dress and act. If I get my Bleach facts wrong, please let me know, I want to make this a good fic that honors the essence of both shows.

Exhibition

He was gone. Up and left Tamachi. He told them that his parents had gotten new jobs and that they had to leave. Yolei looked at her long-time friend.

"Ken, do you really have to go?" Yolei asked.

"Yes, I do, but don't worry, I'll keep in touch," he promised.

"You better keep in touch man," Davis warned, "or I'll hunt you down myself."

Inwardly, Ken was amused. There was no way Davis would actually remember to do that. He was far too scatterbrained for it.

"Oh, don't worry, I will," Ken laughed.

"Did your parents say what kinds of jobs they got?" Kari asked.

"Dad got a new job as an accountant, mom found a job as a secretary."

"Well, we're going to miss you," Yolei Inue told him. "Can we talk in private? I want to give you something."

Ken Ichijouji nodded. They both moved away from the others, who were talking about how Ken moving away so suddenly surprised them.

"I found this in a jewelry store. The owner said he had found it a long time ago, and that there was something special about it. He said he couldn't just sell it to anyone, although lots of people had asked that he sell it to them. When I told him I was looking for a present for a dear friend he said that he felt he should sell it to me. It's not much, but, here."

She handed it to him. He tried to keep his eyes from going wide. A Quincy's Cross! But how? How had she managed to find it? Was it just pure coincidence or was something else at work here?

"it's beautiful," he managed to stammer out. "I don't know what to say!" the truth was, he was he was astonished that she had found it in the first place.

Ken looked at her intently; he began reaching out with his spiritual senses. There was something there. What was it? He reached out, using his instincts as a Quincy to sense the spiritual pressure of others.

Was what he sense coming from her spiritual pressure, or was he just imagining things. He focused, not with his eyes, but with his mind. He could see the white ribbons of the spirit energies of the people around him.

Then he saw it, red ribbons among white, Soul Reapers, the ones whose senses were attuned to the supernatural and paranormal. He dare not even think their names in his mind, lest he bring them into a world that was far more dangerous than anything they had ever faced in the Digital World.

It was becoming far too dangerous for his friends to associate with him. The Hollows were coming more often, he couldn't fight them all off, he had enough to deal with when Digimon showed up. He had been making excuses to get away from them. He didn't want them involved; he could handle the Hollows by himself. He'd been training for years, but he still couldn't be in two places at once.

Ever since the death of his grandfather, Sōken Ishida had been killed by Hollows he had dedicated himself to training, but when he wasn't training he was spending time with his older brother Sam, until the fateful day that he had "wished he would just disappear" in a fit of jealousy. It wasn't long after that that his brother had died after being hit by a car.

Sam hadn't taken any interest in being a Quincy. He was too busy with school to care about killing Hollows. He hadn't wanted to be labeled a "freak" for having to explain away mysterious injuries. Sam had taken his father's approach, saying that it was useless being a Quincy when there were more than enough Soul Reapers to do the job.

After Sam's untimely passing, Ken abandoned his Quincy duties to brood over the death of his older sibling. His trips to the Digital World gave him a challenge that was even more fulfilling than killing Hollows, at least he had a talent for it. The Digital World was his escape from the grief, his Quincy heritage was just another reminder of Sam, and what his brother had refused to do. Not wanting to associate himself with anything that reminded him of Sam, he had unleashed his rage on innocent Digimon.

Even after joining the Digidestined, he remembered his heritage and had continued to train in secret. He had become more skilled with his Quincy powers, utilizing his energy bow the Lone Sparrow to kill Hollows whenever he could. His father had made the decision that they needed to move, disapproving of Ken's choice to fight Hollows, saying that he didn't have the talent for it. Ken had ignored him and continued to fight when he could.

Now he was moving, he supposed it was for the best, at least he wouldn't endanger his friends and he had been looking for a more challenging test of his academic skills anyway.

Though he had been born Uryū Ishida, the family had legally changed their names so that they would be hidden from Soul Reapers, any who might have studied their ancestry might have been able to track them down, so they had changed their names, assuming the surname of Ichijouji to throw off any would-be pursuers.

Now he had a feeling they would change their names back to their birth names to throw off the Digidestined. He gave Yolei Inue a smile, knowing that this was probably the last time he would smile at her as Ken Ichijouji.

"I want you to have it, as something to remember me by," Yolei said, leaning forward, she placed a sincere kiss on his lips. Ken felt his face turning red, but ignored his embarrassment. He shared that moment with her, searing it into his mind. He pulled away and forced a smile.

"Like I could forget any of you," he laughed.

"Hey Ken, we're going to have a big goodbye party for you next week okay?" Takeru "T.K." Takaishi called out from across the room.

"Thanks," Ken smiled. It was nice that his friends wanted to see him off. He wasn't sure when he'd see them again.

A week later they gathered at T.K.'s apartment, enjoying snacks and finger foods as they talked and laughed, recalling the old days and their adventures in the Digital World.

Ken however, kept trying to squelch the uneasy feeling in his stomach, and it had nothing to do with the food he'd been eating. There was something out there, and he knew it wasn't anything good. He sat in a chair, staring out a window, pretending to listen to a story Cody Hida was telling, instead, he was trying to pin down the source of his anxiety.

Was that a Hollow? He thought. I swear I can feel it. Ken reached out with his spiritual senses, and knew immediately, that the presence he felt was a Hollow. He heard the rumbling coming from outside T.K.'s apartment. He had to get out of there, he had to find the Hollow and kill it, all without arousing his friend's suspicions. He had kept his Quincy powers a secret, the only one who knew about his powers was Wormmon and his parents.

He moved over to where his Digimon was perched on the top of the couch. "Cover for me, I have "work" to do. Keep them distracted, until I get back."

"Listen," he told the others, "I'm going to go the store real quick to get some more pop. I'll be back later."

Stepping outside. Ken gave a quick glance around the apartment complex. He then ran down the hallway and exited the building. He sprinted down the street and spotted the Hollow.

"I have you now,' he growled. "It's over for you, filthy Hollow!"

He broke into a run; his speed pushed his human limits, utilizing his instinctive Quincy powers to move quickly toward the giant Hollow that was chasing down the spirit of a dead girl.

"It's time for you to die, Hollow scum!" he snarled. "I may be the Digidestined Child of Kindness, but I don't have to show you any such sentiment!"

He stretched out his hand and made the gesture of an archer bending his bow back to unleash his arrows. The Lone Sparrow appeared in his hand, easily conjured using his spirit energy and Quincy training.

He pulled his arm back and unleashed a single arrow, not even hesitating to see if his first shot hit its mark, he fired again. The Hollow screamed in pain but still tried to take a swipe at Ken.

Ken Ichijouji jumped over the giant fist and began running; easily avoiding all the blows aimed his way. Soccer did pay off after all. He concentrated, keeping focused, he conjured two energy arrows. This would take out the Hollow for sure.

"Good riddance!" he said with finality. He let the arrows fly.

One arrow found its mark and embedded itself in the Hollow's head. The other hit it straight in the mouth. Since Hollows had no hearts, the only way to take them out was to shoot them at point blank range in the head or neck. He managed to do both.

He watched the Hollow fall to the ground and dissolve in its second death. He walked away, remembering he had said he was going to the convenience store to get more pop for the party. He quickly purchased the drink and ran back to T.K.'s house.

"Hey, was I gone long?" he asked, upon his return.

"Well yeah, you were gone for almost an hour. What took you so long?" Davis asked.

"Getting to that store and back nearly killed me. The line took forever too."

"At least you brought back the soda," T.K. laughed.

"Yes, thank you, Ken," Kari smiled.

They spent the rest of the evening laughing and talking.

That was the last time he had seen any of the Digidestined. He had moved to Karakura Town where he attended Karakura High without incident. Then he'd met Ichigo Kurosaki, and the rest was history, as they say.

"Uryū, are you okay, since when did you get distracted?" a familiar voice asked.

 Uryū Ishida turned his attention to the orange haired boy in front of him. While Ichigo Kurosaki reminded him of Davis Motomiya, Ichigo was nowhere near annoying as Davis could be at times, and for that Uryū was very thankful. At least Ichigo could figure out what was going on, most of the time, Davis was clueless.

"It's nothing, Ichigo, I was just thinking," Uryū shooed his friend off with a gesture of his hand. Ichigo gave him a look that said he wasn't buying it.

Ichigo looked up to see a young girl walk into their classroom. She was 16 years old and had pink hair which she covered with a blue bandanna on her head. She also sported a pair of spectacles that Uryū knew anywhere. "This is our new student, her name is Yolei Inue. She's Orihime Inoue's cousin."

You've got to be kidding me! Uryū's mind screamed; they're cousins?! He understood why he was so fond of Orihime; it was because she was related to Yolei. Of course, he had no idea that they were related, being that the surname Inue was a very common. It hardly seemed possible that they were related, until now.

Orihime stood to her feet and ran over to Yolei. "Yolei! When did you move to Karakura Town?"

"Just last week, I can't believe I get to go to school with you." Uryū was doing his best to keep his composure, to act like he didn't know who she was. But he wondered if she would recognize him.

"Please, Yolei, you must meet my best friends, this is Ichigo Kurosaki," she gestured to Ichigo, who smiled at her, he couldn't help but be attracted to her, she was very pretty and was drawn to her in a way he couldn't explain.

Yolei shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you Ichigo."

"This is Sado Yasutora, but we call him "Chad". And this is my good friend Uryū Ishida."

Yolei reached out and took his hand, giving it a firm shake. 

"It's nice to meet you Uryū Ishida," she told him, looking at him. Despite the fact that he changed a lot since when she had known him, he still knew that she recognized him. it was his eyes that gave him away.

It's really Ken. After all these years, I finally found him. There was a reason he was calling himself Uryū, and she wanted to know why. But for now, she decided to play along. She decided to let "Uryū" know she knew who he was by crushing his hand in her handshake. To her surprise, he didn't let it show that she was causing him pain. She released his hand and looked at him.

"Welcome to Karakura High," he gave her the smile he had often given her as Ken Ichijouji.

"Thank you," she replied. He watched her go to her seat. He stared off into space. Things had become complicated. Very, very complicated indeed.

While you're sleeping

You know I have escaped

While you're sleeping

You know I've been erased