Chapter Eight:

"Alright showdown! Rock, paper, scissors!" Jinta screamed being obnoxious as ever. He and Ururu were playing rock paper scissors and he was becoming upset since she kept winning. For the thirteenth time in a row she won causing him to be exasperated. "Damn! You're pretty stubborn to last this long! Usually I've beat even Zumi-chan by now! Alright lets go again!" He yelled out preparing himself for yet another game of rock, paper, scissors. He chose rock while Ururu chose paper meaning she had won for the fourteenth time in a row; this pushed Jinta over the edge and he screamed at the sky.

"I win, that means today Jinta-kun has cleaning duty." she smiled her naive smile and tried to hand him the much worn out broom they used for sweeping up the front of the building.

"I didn't lose! I won't admit defeat yet, I told you it was a best out of three game!" he screamed making her flinch and become depressed.

"But you already lost fourteen times in a row." she exclaimed trying to get out of playing another game. Jinta glared at her and grabbed onto her two pigtails that hug there usual way on either sides of her face; then he yanked extremely hard and began screaming at her.

"I said I didn't lose! And the one who wins the fifteenth time is the true winner! Let's go again, next battle! We'll compete until I win" he screamed as he yanked on her pigtails as hard as he could making her scream and cry. The only thing that stopped him as when someone grabbed the back of his shirt.

He had hopped that it was Izumi; they hadn't seen her since the incident with that soul reaper Rukia. But it wasn't her and he knew exactly who it was when he was thrown up into the air and held by his shirt causing him to scream.

"And what might you be up to Jinta?" Tessai questioned, his face dark and angry.

"N-nothing sir! Tessai Sir!" he screamed fearing for his life as he was held about thirteen meters off the ground. Between Jinta's screaming for his life and Ururu's crying no one heard as Rukia made her way up to the group of three. Choosing to make herself known she decided she would clear her way.

"Step aside fools." she then kicked Tessai in the butt expecting to get some kind of reaction or to at least make him move out of her way but all she succeeded in doing was hurting her foot since Tessai's body was built like a rock.

"Oh my, is there anything you need Kuchiki-san? What happened to you?" he turned back completely not phased by the fact she had just kicked him in the butt and had hurt her foot doing so. Truly he did not want to accommodate her since she was the reason Izumi had vanished, but as shop manager he had to do his job.

"Is Urahara here?" she questioned on the verge of tears but followed as the giant led her into the building.

"Oh my, well if it isn't Kuchiki-san! What's up-" Urahara was cut off as a cellphone smashed into his face. It almost knocked his hat from his head but he kept silent; after all he prided himself on good business. Even if he didn't want her in his store for her disrespect toward Izumi he still believed in good business.

"What do you mean 'what's up'?! You don't answer no matter how many times I call you so I had to come here to see you!" she roared her arm still up from her whipping her phone at his face. Feeling his agitation with the girl flare up he merely sat down and leaned his face against his hand.

"Ah, sorry about that, we've been somewhat busy and the store has been empty." he said with a fake smile and cheery voice. Jinta walked in shortly after and looked around her with a soft thoughtful look on his face. He was angry with her, no he hated her for making Izumi run away but just like the adults he believed in good business.

"So, what happened to that cold faced arrogant looking brat that you were here with before? He's not with you?" Jinta knew exactly who Ichigo was, he was Izumi's best friend after all even if she did try to keep him away from this place. Rukia shook her head at the boy making him smile in confidence. "Well, I hate that guy anyway, so it's better he doesn't come." he crossed his arms with a smug smile on his face. Jinta really didn't hate Ichigo but he did hate that Izumi invested so much time into him. It always made him jealous.

"Ichigo is probably getting into trouble again; seems he's been pretty anxious without that Izumi character disappeared." the room became tense as she mentioned their precious girl who was indeed missing and they were looking for her. "You are looking for her are you not? Since she seemed to be rather close to you all?" Rukia pushed further, but when all she received as silence and a harsh atmosphere she decided to change to the main reason she was here. "Well back to the reason I came here, I something minor I wish to ask." she looked at Urahara for a moment until he responded. His face gave away the anger he felt as he replied to her with a dark look.

"What is it?"

...

"This is ridiculous!!" Ichigo screamed up toward the sky startling Ishida slightly but he composed himself.

"What did you say?" his glasses flashed slightly.

"Me, compete against you? Why do I have to do that? It all sounds so stupid. I don't know what kind of grudge you've got against soul reapers but I have nothing to do with it, and neither does Izumi! So you keep her name out of your mouth!" Ichigo crossed his arms, veins popped out on his neck as a deep anger filled glare surged forward when he mentioned his friends name. Ishida watched silently for a moment taking in the appearance change Ichigo had when mentioning Izumi and slowly looked down at his feet.

"How surprising, you turning down a fight. I seem to remember you having a hunger for brawls and Yamamto-san would always bail you out.-" Ishida started watching as Ichigo became more provoked."- So tell me then, with her missing will you run away?" he slowly pushed his glasses up watching closely to his body language.

"I will not be provoked! I'm just saying that you are no match for me, and no I will not run away. Izumi has nothing to do with this; so I will say again, keep her name out of your mouth." Ichigo closed his eyes feeling confident in himself and trying to convince himself to not play into Ishida's game. It was silent for a long moment until Ishida said something that threw Ichigo over the edge.

"Yes, I remember, you're a soul reaper whose power was granted to you by Kuchiki-san. In other words you're just a temporary soul reaper; which means you can't even move a finger without her permission. Or are you scared because your girlfriend isn't here to protect you anymore?"

Silence fell over the scene as Ichigo began to shake quietly; that alone told Ishida that he had won. Slowly the boy turned his head revealing veins that were protruding from his forehead.

"What'd you say to me?"

...

"Quincy? I haven't heard of them for a long time." Tessai quickly glanced over at Jinta silently telling him to behave himself for the up coming conversation. They all knew of Izumi's run in with the Quincy at her school and that she had been suppressing Ichigo's spiritual pressure since he was a child.

"A long time?" Rukia asked seeming to be completely lost. Which surprised both Kisuke and Tessai since she had come from the soul society.

"Certainly, though it does have that familiar ring to it. For me it has already been roughly two hundred years since I had last heard that name." Tessai stepped forward wanting to throw in his input too however he was also aware that his master was withholding information about the Quincy at the high school where Izumi attends.

"Two hundred years?! What the heck is a Quincy?!" she stood up and exclaimed while slamming her hand down on the table. Neither men appreciated her obnoxiousness but they didn't say anything and continued to give her the information she seeked.

"The Quincy were scattered all over the world at on time. They were relatives of magic hunters who specialized in the war against hollows. And it's a clan that was destroyed more than two hundred years ago." Urahara gave Tessai a look that went completely unnoticed by Rukia.

"It was destroyed?" she gasped fully confused by what they were telling her.

"Yes. In modern terms they were humans who, like Kurosaki-san, had the ability to detect the existence of hollows and it all started when the began training to confront them. In order to defeat hollows, the same as soul reapers. However, there is a critical difference between them and soul reapers, and that was the deep ditch that lay between them since ancient times, and that is whether to kill or not kill hollows.-" he paused for a moment allowing for the information to sink in. "-It was the soul reapers who try to purify hollows with zanpaktou swords and send them to the soul society versus the Quincy who stuck to the thorough killing of hollows. If you think about it; killing them was the natural human conclusion. Hollows devour the souls of humans; 'why must it be that they, who do harm and kill friends and relatives get sent peacefully to the soul society?'. Whomever thought so could see what they did as reasonable. As a result of that way of thinking they stubbornly tried to kill hollows, they held faith that they were avenging their friends and family. However, that faith accordingly lead to their destruction."

...

"Okay, let's give this competition thing a shot." Ichigo smirked as he reached into his pocket revealing a soul bead which would release his soul from his body. Rukia had insisted that he take a pill just in case anything happened since he was going alone.

"Rukia didn't make a mistake about her predictions." he said as he threw the pill into his mouth and downed it without any water. Almost an instance later his soul was ripped away from his body that fell onto the ground lifeless. Well not lifeless, it eventually looked up and around with a the soul mod 'Kon' taking over. "Kon, watch the match from over there. Watch me pound this guy through the floor.-" Ichigo rolled up his sleeves as Kon looked at him bewildered.

"Now, hurry up and explain the rules of this fight!" Ichigo smirked and watched as Ishida reached into his pocket slowly pulling out a small pill looking thing.

"We'll begin the battle with this." he held it up and paused as Ichigo asked questions.

"What is that?" he asked completely confused as he looked at it in surprise. While looking at it he thought about what he was doing and what Izumi would say if she could see him right now. She'd probably say something along the lines of 'You idiot, you got yourself into another fight without me. At least give me a show worth watching this time.' The image of his dear friend saying the line ran through his mind almost making him smile.

"It's hollow bait. If I crush and scatter this then hollows will father in this town."Ishida explained pulling Ichigo from his thoughts. He paused again to hear Ichigo's responses, though the only thing he could say was meaningless. "The one who defeats the most of the gathered hollows within twenty four hours wins; how about that? Nice and easy to understand rules right?" he finished explaining his rules.

"What?! Quit screwing around! Are you trying to expose people in town to danger for the sake of our fight? Who the hell do you think you are!?" Ichigo screamed and sucked in a breath as Ishida smashed the pill between his fingers.

"Keep your morality to yourself! Worrying about other people is unnecessary! I will kill the gathered hollows and not leave a single survivor! You as well, if you have the confidence to protect people from hollows then you should be able to take on this challenge." Ishida exclaimed glaring deep into Ichigo's face as the boy seemed terrified for the future of Karakura town.