Chapter 34

Mist formed in Karakura Town in the morning. The sun was still hiding in the blanket of night, not quite rising up in the sky. It was the weekend and most people were sleeping soundly in their warm beds. The street was empty, not many were walking in this time.

Those who were awake were either drunk people returning from a party or workers that needed to be early for their shift.

25 days.

Some people might think it was a long time, and some others might see it as a short time.

For Shirou, that was a long enough time to get stronger. 

Yet, he didn't train with Urahara any more. The shady shopkeeper had something better to do, and so was Yoruichi. 

The former tried to find a way to infiltrate the Soul Society safely while the latter tortured Ichigo to awaken something called Bankai, the ultimate technique for Shinigami, or so they said.

Naturally, Shirou didn't know anything about that. He only knew that it would be useful to fight against Captain-level Shinigami.

For that reason, Shirou had to find another method. Urahara told him he should find something else, and he had.

Learning Blut from his mother.

"No, it's not like that. You see, you do this and that. Move your reiatsu like this and-"

Masaki tried her best to explain about Blut. She did a motion of drawing a line with her hands. Her face was scrunched up as she was deep in her thoughts.

Shirou watched her silently, not saying anything as he listened. He had to focus his mind on understanding this.

Masaki then looked at him, "Do you understand it, Shirou?"

"... No."

His mother's explanation was worse than Tohsaka, in a different way.

That girl explained everything in detail. In fact, it was so detailed that he couldn't understand the most important parts.

Meanwhile, his mother's explanation was just too simple, and that's why he couldn't get the gist.

"I see..." Masaki muttered, her voice trailed off as she thought about something, "Ah! How about this?! You imagine having a strong shield protecting you, like a steel plate. Do that in your mind, then pour the energy and make the image real. How about that?"

Smiling widely, she looked quite proud with her explanation. Her face brightened, expecting a positive response.

As an Echt Quincy, something like Blut came to her naturally. She only needed to know her limit, how much she could pour to make a shield to defend her, and how much she could use to boost her attack. The story was different for a mixed-blood like Shirou.

It was really difficult.

'I still can't do anything far related to the sword.'

Due to his origin of "Sword", he couldn't do much. Shirou's body and mind weren't meant to use this kind of ability, which would require a long time to get used to.

And it would be even longer for someone like him to get used to it.

'If this was a weapon, it would be easier.' Shirou thought.

"Thank you for teaching me, mom. I will try that now." Shirou smiled at the older woman.

She nodded her head in response.

Taking a deep breath, the auburn-haired boy calmed himself and closed his eyes, letting the knowledge he gained in the previous session flow out and he tried to picture a steel shield, a sturdy defense.

But still, he couldn't activate Blut. Even when he tried until night, he still failed. And he was already running out of energy. His reiryoku was drained by every failed attempt.

Although he could feel that his power reserve now was still higher than most people, higher than even Tohsaka back in the past, he still felt tired if he used them too much.

If compared to Ichigo, maybe he had a lower amount. Yet, the difference wasn't that noticeable for now.

Sighing heavily in disappointment, he decided to stop for the day. Dinner was approaching soon and he had to prepare.

"I guess it's not as easy as it looks." Shirou remarked.

Blaming his mixed blood wasn't the solution. In fact, Shirou knew his limitations very well, what he could do and what he couldn't. So blaming his power was useless.

He knew that his origin of sword and the fact he was born as a magus would make it harder for him to do anything non-sword related, but he had no choice.

It would help him survive later. He had to grow, to be strong. That was the only way for him to protect his sister and everyone around him.

'I still don't know why Rho Aias worked against Hollow's melee attack back then. Was it my Quincy power that made it behave differently? Or something else?' He mused as he descended downstairs, where his dinner would be served soon. 'Or was it just a simple fluke, and it won't happen again?'

In fact, he tried it against Urahara. A projectile, flying slash, or anything ranged were stopped by Rho Aias, but no matter what he did, he couldn't stop a melee attack from Urahara's sword.

He could stop a blade of wind, yet he couldn't do the same for the cane. He couldn't understand that at all. Was there some kind of condition that he missed? He was sure that he used Rho Aias to block a melee attack perfectly back then.

Rho Aias was a conceptual weapon to protect against projectiles. But why did it work on a Hollow's attack back then?

Something wasn't quite right, something didn't match.

"Did I unconsciously use Blut due to my desperation and layered it over Rho Aias? Or maybe...?" He mused silently, deep in thought.

The possibilities deepened. If he could layer Quincy's Blut over his weapon, which was the extension of himself, then…

"Shirou-nii!" Yuzu suddenly called him from the dining table, making him look up. She tilted her head, looking worried. "Is there something wrong? You are spacing out."

"No, it's nothing. Just a thought that came into my mind." Shirou shook his head in reply, his face showing a smile as he sat on the table.

"Are you sure, Onii-chan? You've been looking at the space above the plate for five minutes already." Karin, his sister who wore a white shirt, pointed at his empty plate.

That... didn't sound good at all. His mind was so occupied that he neglected something very important—dinner with his family.

"If you have something you need to talk about, I can always hear you." Masaki said tenderly, smiling at her oldest son.

He smiled at his little sisters and mom, "Don't worry, I'm alright. I just have a lot of things in mind lately. Now then, let's dig in!"

"Yeah, he's strong so you don't need to worry at all. Hahaha, let's eat!" Isshin said as he grinned happily.

His family laughed and they enjoyed the dinner. It's the best time of the day, something he cherished.

'But why does my dinner taste weird?' He wondered, feeling something off from his food.

The food he made was perfect. However, for some reason, it tasted... strange. The taste felt like it had changed into something weird and he wasn't sure whether he could call it edible anymore.

As if the salt had been replaced by something else.

"Mom, did you mistook salt for flour?" Shirou asked as he tasted his soup, which somehow was thicker than it was supposed to be. "Rice flour, I guess?"

It was still edible though, which made him relieved because he didn't want to waste any food. The texture was thicker than usual. He thought it would taste bland, but there was something weird added. He just couldn't pinpoint it out.

Masaki took a spoon and tasted it, she seemed to realize it as her expression changed into a shock, "Oh my, you're right. I messed up."

Holding her cheek, she put on an apologetic expression. Isshin, being a good husband, immediately took all the soup and drank them all, not wasting even a drop. His eyes teared up as he smiled.

"This is the best food I have ever had! Masaki, you're amazing!"

"I'm sorry for the bad dinner. I'll cook you a new one."

"That won't be needed, my dear!" He exclaimed happily, filling his mouth with rice, "I can eat it all day."

Seeing her husband's attempt to make her feel good, she couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"Dad, you're hopeless." Karin commented. She ate a mouthful of rice and then drank her soup. "But the soup tastes better than usual, it's quite unique."

"Unique..." Shirou repeated in disbelief.

'Being unique, huh?'

Before, he didn't mind being unique. Being unable to use Blut didn't bother him at all.

He was used to that.

But now... it bothered him a lot.

Shirou looked up to his father who was eating happily with a bright smile. Then to his mother who looked happy to have Isshin eating her meal. 

Karin was also looking at their parent's antics with an unamused face, and lastly Yuzu who seemed to be at loss before joining the joke.

Unfortunately, Ichigo was still confined in Urahara Shoten for his training. If not, then he would certainly also join to add some comments about his father.

Everyone acted differently. Each of them weren't the same.

'Everyone is unique.'

He smiled and joined in the conversation. His voice was full of joy as he talked to everyone, making his family look at him with a surprised expression. However, they quickly returned to normal and continued to chat.

**Chapter End**

ANext chapter might drop faster if I get a lot of stones!

If you want to support me and read further 2 weak ahead of actual release, you may visit my pat - reon! pat - reon com / ShuviLily