A/N: Thank you very much for the kind reviews urging me to continue. A special thank you to Shackleton for a heartfelt review that fell on a dry spot. Just the right nudge at the right time This one is for you Shackleton 3

Withering 20

The next couple of days went by in a haze for Ryuuken. He spent most of his time isolating himself, staring into nothingness or rereading the Quincy book.

He said nothing, kept his meal times, and took his medication. Mitsumi could do little but watch silently as he transformed into an indifferent zombie. It was unnerving and what was even more unsettling was that he'd started smoking again. His cough seemed a little better despite it though.

When he still was pensive distant on the third day, she called Isshin and informed him of her worries and strange behaviour after reading the book he didn't want to tell her anything about.

Ryuuken drove home from the Kurosaki Clinic, where he'd been assisting Isshin for the last 4 hours. He had also gotten some test results back on himself, checking for infection and the likes.

Isshin had been glad to inform him that he now had a clean bill of health. Ryuuken had played along; acting pleased and engaging in Isshin's following joyous conversation. However, he was not convinced about his health. Granted, he had a bit of colour in his cheeks now and he'd managed to gain a couple of pounds.

However, he was still tired, still coughing, and there was a strange weakness that lurked in his joints and muscles. He was now convinced that he indeed had suffered a massive back lash and it was only a matter of time, before he would become seriously ill.

He sighed. He had always believed that being Quincy was what was going to kill him in the end. He'd just never imagined it to be like this. He really was just insignificantly withering away.

He had been playing with the thought of training Uryuu, but he kept pushing the idea away, well knowing that he would never be able to learn quickly enough for it to make a difference. Uryuu might not even possess the talent for wielding telekinetic spirit particles.

At the same time he still disdained it all.

At the same time he felt a little sad that the entire legacy would die with him. Uryuu could have children and he would teach them this self-taught Quincy techniques that was but a shadow of what it really could be. What it was. It bugged him. And he was annoyed that it bugged him.

He lit a cigarette to calm his nerves a bit. He still concealed his remerging smoking habits from Isshin, but he figured it made no difference, so he indulged himself, but he still didn't want Isshin to pry too much.

Mitsumi had scolded him repeatedly for his smoking, but she was slowly realizing that it made no difference. They were back to rarely speaking to each other. Only the most necessary formalities and pleasantries were uttered between them. He could see that it saddened her and truth be told, it saddened him as well, but it was no use to pull someone closer, if he really was withering away.

If. There was this word again in his head. He supposed it was just human nature to hope for the impossible. When, would be correct.

He spent the rest of the afternoon looking into his Quincy book or staring into the air, smoking too much. He found himself quite restless. He couldn't really resign himself to doing nothing until his time was up. It wasn't in his nature.

He got back out into the car and drove to Uryuu's place, which was a small apartment in a rather unsafe part of Karakura. It was practically slum and it was most social outcasts that lived there. Ryuuken's shiny black broad prestige class car stood out like a sore thumb in the parking lot among old cars that barely cast a shadow.

Uryuu's expression when he opened the door was priceless. It was a mixture of surprise, anger, and regret. It was evident that he regretted deeply having opened the door at all. Ryuuken couldn't help but smirk. It was exactly as he'd expected it to be.

"What are you doing here?" Uryuu finally asked, after having stared dumbstruck at Ryuuken for several seconds. Ryuuken sighed, for once the boy hit home. What the hell was he doing there?

"I suppose I came to offer you authentic Quincy training," Ryuuken began in a voice, far more insecure than Uryuu had ever heard him use.

"By you?" Uryuu asked, squinting a bit. Ryuuken chuckled. He could hear how stupid it sounded.

"Yes," he continued nevertheless, "-I've come to realize that it would be a pity that the title of the Last Quincy belongs to me."

"I am the Last Quincy," Uryuu asserted and folded his arms. Ryuuken suddenly got cold and intense.

"You don't know what Quincy really means," Ryuuken bit him off. Uryuu was just about to protest, when Ryuuken continued, "- What little children's play your grand father taught you do not entitle you to bear the title. It has always been so that you had to receive formal training to call yourself Quincy. What little technique you have stumbled upon yourself doesn't even come close to the real thing."

Uryuu was furious, but restrained himself, "-and you know the real thing? I find this unlikely, since you disowned everything."

"I had good reason to disown it," Ryuuken argued, "-I was in elite training, and leader of a "Viertel" ... a Quincy 4 man battle group, which you wouldn't know anything about. I was..." Ryuuken stopped himself and let out a strained breath, "-it doesn't matter. The offer is real. If you wish to accept, meet me back home tomorrow afternoon."

Ryuuken didn't meet Uryuu's eyes, he just turned away and began making his way down the stairs again.

"Wait," Uryuu protested, "-what is the catch? What strings are attached?"

Ryuuken stopped and faced him again at the next landing. He supposed he had that one coming.

"No strings, no catch," he offered in a low voice and continued out of Uryuu's line of sight. He was barely down the stairway, before he'd lit a cigarette and shaking his head. What the hell was he doing?

"What are the conditions?" was the first thing that came out of Uryuu's mouth when Ryuuken opened the door. Uryuu had come later, much later than Ryuuken had though appropriate. The sun had gone down an hour ago and Ryuuken was already getting tired. He brought the lit cigarette he' been hiding behind the door to his mouth and inhaled deeply to catch the cold reply that threatened to come across his lips. He took his time.

"Are you smoking?" Uryuu asked in belief and arched a brow. Ryuuken met his gaze and exhaled deliberately slow.

"First condition is that you meet on time always," Ryuuken began, ignoring Uryuu's comment completely. Uryuu frowned.

"That's not what I meant," Uryuu objected, "-Who should I not speak to? What will you forbid me?! I need to know."

Ryuuken pursed his lips before inhaling the toxic smoke again. Uryuu rolled his eyes with impatience.

"As I said," Ryuuken began and exhaled, " –there are no strings attached, but I do expect common courtesy."

"Why?" Uryuu spat, "-what has made you change your mind?"

"As I said," Ryuuken repeated and gritted his teeth for a second before succumbing to a coughing that clearly took him by surprise. He cleared his throat forcibly and ended the fit, "-I've realized that it would be a shame that the Quincy legacy should end with me." He coughed again a couple of time behind a closed mouth and cleared his throat again, clearly annoyed. Nevertheless, the next thing he did, was taking a long drag of the cigarette that was nearly burned down.

Uryuu couldn't help but curiously watch the older man fight against himself. He'd never realized that that was what Ryuuken did; fight against himself.

"How's the pneumonia?" he found himself asking.

"Gone," Ryuuken answered and put out the cigarette.

"Why are you still coughing?" Uryuu continued.

"It's going to take a month or two before that settles down," Ryuuken explained hurriedly in a low voice.

"Why the hell are you smoking again?" Uryuu asked dryly, somehow suddenly, sounding a lot like Ryuuken would have. Ryuuken arched a brow and his hand sought out the cigarette case, wanting to produce a new one. He handled social interactions better with a cigarette to focus on. He decided against it though and put his hand in a pocket.

"Second condition is that you don't question my personal choices that have no effect on you," Ryuuken effectively ended it, "-can you live with that?"

Uryuu looked unimpressed, "-sure."

"Good," Ryuuken turned around and gestured Uryuu to follow him, "-we'll go into the gardens."

He coughed softly into his fist and Uryuu noted it still sounded wet. He also noted that even if the older man's pallor looked significantly healthier, he hadn't managed to gain much weight. Even though Ryuuken's shoulders were a little broader and he was a 4 inches taller, he was still only about Uryuu's size, which looked strange for a man of more than 40 years of age.

Ryuuken let him out to the middle of the well kept garden where that was a larger area with grass. The garden itself was surrounded by large trees and the closest neighbours were about a mile away. They would not be detected here, even if their arrows would make quite the light flashes.

Ryuuken sat down on a weathered stone bench in the middle of this area and produced a cigarette again.

"Shoot an arrow," Ryuuken bid and lit the cigarette without looking at Uryuu.

"What? Where?" Uryuu asked in confusion.

"Doesn't matter – just down the garden. It doesn't have to be powerful," Ryuuken explained and brought the cigarette to his lips.

Uryuu didn't look he quite understood, but took his stance, keeping his back very straight and allowed the spirit particles to flow through his body and released the energy forward through his wrist. He looked after the flash of light for a second then turned to Ryuuken, whom didn't even look at him.

"Are you paying attention?" Uryuu asked. Ryuuken furrowed his brow, but didn't meet his gaze.

"I'm not looking at you," he explained, "-I'm analyzing the spirit flow. Again."

Uryuu tensed his jaws for a second, but then fired another arrow.

"Again," came Ryuuken's biding voice.

He fired another, exactly like the first two.

"Again," Ryuuken repeated.

Uryuu felt his patience slip away already. However, the fired a fourth arrow after sighing audibly.

Ryuuken stood up and moved closer to Uryuu than he felt comfortable with. He had to stop himself taking a step backwards.

"You have obtained some bad habits over the years," Ryuuken only commented, "-again."

Uryuu resumed his stance, glad to take the focus of the proximity of the other Quincy. He was just about to gather the spirit particles, when he felt a hand on his chest. He instantly lost all concentration and jumped back.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked accusingly scowled at Ryuuken.

"What? Did your grandfather never ... it's a known Quincy teaching technique," Ryuuken tried to explained. Uryuu looking suspiciously at him, but in the back of his head he remembered his grandfather's reassuring hand on his chest when they sometimes practised something.

"You do remember?" Ryuuken asked, "-he never told you why he did that?"

Uryuu didn't much less suspicious and only nodded. Ryuuken sighed and took a deep drag of the cigarette.

"When one Quincy put a palm on another Quincy's chest, it allows the first one to feel the flow of spirit particles in the second individual," Ryuuken explained.

To Uryuu this seemed farfetched and the only thing that rushed through his mind was why Ryuuken suddenly wanted to touch him. Still, the feeling from his childhood roamed around, making his more inclined to believe Ryuuken.

"Is that the only thing you'd be able to feel?" Uryuu asked. Ryuuken inhaled from the cigarette and coughed a couple of times.

"Sometimes the first would be able to detect strong feelings in the second," Ryuuken explained, "-but it's nothing like mind reading if that's what you mean."

"Do you have to do it?" Uryuu asked insecurely. Ryuuken wanted to roll his eyes, but resisted.

"If you wish, you may test it on me first," Ryuuken offered.

Uryuu was dumbstruck. He was both terrified and curious.

"H-how...?" Uryuu began.

"Just placed your palm on my chest, while I gather and release an arrow," Ryuuken explained again with more patience than he'd ever thought himself capable of.

"O-ok," Uryuu agreed and took a tentative step forward. Ryuuken remembered for a second how much pain he'd been in the last time he'd manipulated, but pushed it back. He placed the cigarette between his lips and positioned himself beside Uryuu without looking at him. He placed himself in a similar stance as Uryuu had and pointed his right arm and hand towards the back of the garden, leaving his left side open for Uryuu.

"You ready?" he asked slightly muffled, the cigarette dancing between his lips. He still looked at where he was aiming and not at Uryuu.

This made Uryuu feel less foolish and he nodded. He hesitantly placed his palm squarely on Ryuuken's chest and felt nothing but bone underneath, but before he could think any further, he felt Ryuuken tense up.

What followed was nothing like Uryuu had imagined; Ryuuken gathered Spirit particles like his entire being imploded and he didn't simply release the energy – he sent it on its way like his core exploded. All the force of it went through Ryuukens chest and it was so violent that it sent Uryuu flying backwards.

Sprawling on the ground, his ears rang and he started coughing heavily. His lungs burned unexplainably and he continued to cough.

Ryuuken looked at him with a concerned expression, before placing his own on his chest. Was he really feeling as bad as that? Ryuuken shook his head and argued to himself that the boy only had the wind knocked out of him.

"I thought you said you were ready?" Ryuuken commented dryly and took a drag of the cigarette before placing it between his fingers again. Uryuu scrambled to his feet as he got the coughing under control and the burning sensation in his lungs dissipated.

"What the hell was that?" Uryuu asked and straightened his clothes.

"I shot an arrow," Ryuuken began, "-what did you think it was?"

"Shoot one now," Uryuu commanded, "-shoot."

Ryuuken took a long drag of the cigarette and fired another arrow, exactly like he'd done before. Uryuu stared in bewilderment. From the outside, it looked like any other arrow, but something totally off the scales was going on inside Ryuuken.

"How is that possible?" he breathed.

"You have no technique," Ryuuken concluded, "-you have not been taught correctly. Do you begin to understand why you are not yet worthy of the last Quincy title."

Even though that last sentence rubbed him the wrong way, he noted Ryuuken has said 'yet'. Though he didn't want to acknowledge it, Ryuuken definitely had a different control of spirit particles than he ever imagined possible.

"I think so," Uryuu admitted, "-what the hell did you do?"

"We'll talk about that later," Ryuuken rejected, "-now it's your turn."

Uryuu tensed immediately – he'd completely forgotten he would have to return the favour.

He decided to act it like Ryuuken had and didn't look at him, only made himself ready and allowed Ryuuken in before he shot the arrow. The sensation of the warm hand resting on his chest was still as uncomfortable as it'd been earlier.

The cigarette was still resting between Ryuuken's finger, slowly fuming, making Uryuu cough again. Ryuuken seemed to wake up at this and shot a glance at the cigarette before taking a couple of steps backwards.

"Sorry," he mumbled and took a last drag of it before putting it out. Uryuu didn't know what to do about an apology from his father and just waved a dismissive hand at him.

"So, what did you detect?" he asked, changing the subject.

"That we need to start with the basics," Ryuuken revealed and Uryuu felt his heart drop, "-but it is as expected."

"So everything grandfather taught me was rubbish?" Uryuu asked.

"No, not everything," Ryuuken sighed and missed a cigarette again, "-you have to understand that my father wasn't very talented within the Quincy arts. My mother, however, was quite the wonder child."

They continued analyzing spirit flows into the wee hours of the night, mostly just awaking Uryuu to what the possibilities was and what they would start working on. Uryuu agreed to come the following afternoon again.

Until Ryuuken had classes at the university they would train every evening, after that they would have to cut it down to 4 times a week.