Chapter 31

Taking off his school uniform, Shirou now only wore white shirt with long blue sleeves. He stretched his arms and legs to make himself comfortable and loose.

"Alright, let's get this party started!" Urahara exclaimed, raising his arm and pointing his cane toward him.

He was serious this time, and that meant he was going all out.

Shirou could feel his reiryoku, and he was right. It was a lot higher than when he first fought the shopkeeper.

Such a delicate control to hide it, and yet his opponent didn't hesitate to release it all at once. Urahara Kisuke was a really dangerous man.

Shirou knew it.

It was also why he wanted to spar against Urahara. He was strong, he was skilled. And most of all, he wouldn't kill Shirou even if the fight got heated.

"Here goes." The blond-haired shopkeeper declared. He pulled the hilt of his cane, showing a sword inside. It was a short sword with a green-colored hilt.

"Wake up, Benihime."

Urahara muttered and his sword changed. The blade became thicker with a thin red line running in the middle of the edge. The thin hilt turned into red and black, giving a menacing feeling from it.

'A Zanpakutou,' he thought. 'As expected, Urahara-san is a Shinigami.'

His gamble had been paid off, his enemy was a Shinigami. It's the perfect chance for him to try to trace the blade. 

"Trace... on."

His magic circuit glowed and the energy began to flow out of his body. His hand moved, and the sword in front of him was traced and analyzed completely.

At that moment, knowledge about the said sword entered his mind, and a head-splitting pain accompanied it.

"Ugh..."

Too much information. It was like when he traced Gae Bolg and a weapon of similar level, the headache that appeared to warn him. However... he grinned.

"Hahaha..." Shirou laughed as his mind was slowly being overloaded.

It wasn't as strong as the previous headache. Not enough to make him faint or unconscious.

It's a good thing, then. 

A sign that he was growing.

He then took a step backward, watching Urahara move into his position. He held the sword in front of his face with one hand and put his other hand behind his back.

"What's wrong, Shirou-kun? You were asking for a spar and now you stood there doing nothing. Are you scared of me?"

Slowly, he raised his head and made eye contact with the shady shopkeeper.

"No, Urahara-san. I must thank you for making me realize something important." Shirou replied, grinning.

"Oh, what might that be?" Urahara smiled back, tilting his head in curiosity. However, he was secretly on high alert. His instinct was warning him that something was about to happen.

He didn't know what.

"You're right. My ability has been limited because I am too focused on tracing only the swords I already know. One that's already in my reality marble. That's the reason why I can't grow, stuck in the past where I only have limited knowledge of Noble Phantasms and other magical artifacts from that man's experience."

Shirou said. "However, that doesn't mean I can't expand my arsenal, does it?"

As soon as he said that, his power flared. Circuit ran through his right hand and his whole body, a blue fire formed the hilt of a blade.

"Wake up, Benihime."

Muttering that word, his sword materialized into a perfect copy of Urahara's blade.

Urahara's eyes widened. His blade had a spiritual energy he could sense, and Shirou had just created one. A sword that looked and felt like his Benihime.

That couldn't be possible. His mind refused to believe it.

'A copy of a Zanpakutou?! It's not supposed to be possible.'

Yet, the fact was right in front of his face.

"Interesting. So that's what you meant, huh?" Urahara chuckled, regaining his cool. He smiled in excitement and gripped his blade tightly, "Well then, let's see what you got, Shirou-kun."

Without further words, Urahara disappeared from his place. He was already behind Shirou, with his blade ready to strike.

"Scream, Benihime."

A red arc of energy blasted toward the auburn-haired boy.

However, Shirou didn't seem to be fazed. He calmly swung his Benihime in similar fashion to Urahara.

"Scream, Benihime."

And the attack collided, cancelling each other.

'He could copy even this?' Urahara was once again surprised. Not many could surprise him, but Shirou certainly was a boy full of it.

"Urahara-san, you might think that this is an illusion, but it's not. It's a fake, yes. But no one said a fake can't have the exact same function as the real one." Shirou explained. "For example, this. Bind, Benihime."

Shirou swung his sword to the side. At the same time, a wave of red net appeared and bound Urahara in place. The blond shopkeeper didn't have any chance to react and could only stare in disbelief.

He didn't expect the power to be replicated to such an extent. Even the special technique of his Zanpakutou could be used.

"This is truly unexpected, Shirou-kun. But..." He trailed off as his figure suddenly deflated like a balloon. "...I won't let myself be captured that easily."

Urahara then reappeared behind Shirou with his index and middle finger put together pointed at Shirou.

"Bakudo 61: Rikujōkōrō."

Sparks appeared around the tip of Urahara's fingers and turned into 6 thin yellow beams. They flew forward at high speeds before wrapping themselves around Shirou's midsection, stopping his movement entirely.

"Wha?!"

Taken by surprise, Shirou's movement was sealed and the Benihime in his hand was forced to disappear.

Urahara hummed in interest as he looked at Shirou who was now being bound by his kido, "That was a pretty interesting ability. Is this your real secret, Shirou-kun? Copying weapons, truly a power that should be feared."

He chuckled as his sword returned to its cane state, the Benihime was sealed, and his power diminished. Urahara was back into his goofy state as if the serious man earlier was just an act.

Following it, he snapped his finger and released Shirou. "That's all I can say for now, but that ability of yours... You should keep it to yourself. People won't react kindly to this. Especially Shinigami. They will designate you for something dangerous if they know you can replicate their Zanpakutou down to its abilities."

A dangerous entity that needed to be pruned before he grew.

"I know." Shirou groaned in pain.

That technique hurt, he felt like his ribs were stabbed by swords, reminding him of unpleasant memories.

Not only that, he also couldn't move his legs at all even though they weren't bound. The only thing he could do was to look at Urahara's amused expression.

"Was that also a Shinigami technique?" He asked in confusion.

"That's Kido, the Demon Way. A spell used by Shinigami. It could do a lot of things depending on how you use it." Urahara explained, "That one was Rikujokoro, a Kido to hold your enemy in place. However, it seems to be too effective, you can't move at all."

Shirou could only gritted his teeth. That spell was truly powerful. His movement was restricted and he couldn't do anything, not to mention he was in a great pain right now.

At that moment, Urahara said something surprising.

"I will teach you how to combat them." He said. "I can see that you will get in a lot of trouble if I don't. Just think of it as my gratitude for showing me something interesting."

What a nice way to say something creepy. Shirou didn't buy that.

The shady shopkeeper always had his plan, and he knew that whatever his reason, he would get something from Shirou in the end.

However, Shirou would take any advantage he could. If it could help him survive this mess, it was good enough.

"Thanks, I would like that." Shirou smiled at Urahara, and the man grinned in return.

"Well then, let's experience that firsthand."

***Chapter End***

I told you to be patient, didn't I!

And pain attacked him? Was the sword's experience too much for him to handle?

Anyway, he finally traced them.

Now give me power stones!

If you're that impatient, then go read more chapters in my pat- reon / ShuviLily

Definitely not a shameless promotion