"Um... hello, Ichigo."

Ryuken Ishida forced a faint smile. His silver hair was slightly disheveled, and his face was a little pale, as if he hadn't been resting well lately.

"We're going to the hospital to visit your aunt. Do you want to come along?"

"Yes, I want to go!"

...

At the hospital, little Ichigo and the adults arrived at a large ward. The room was big, but it held few instruments, only a single bed. It looked like a hospital room, but felt more like an ordinary one.

On the bed lay a pale, black-haired woman. Her eyes were tightly shut, her face expressionless. Only the faint rise and fall of her body showed any sign of life.

"Kanae collapsed a month ago and has been in a coma ever since."

"Her condition worsens day by day. No matter what I try, I can't make her better." Ryuken Ishida's voice was heavy with exhaustion. "A few days ago, Isshin contacted me and told me you were all right. That's when I thought of asking you to come and see if there was anything you could do."

"Did you ask Urahara?" Isshin Kurosaki frowned. "Masaki's situation was different. Her bloodline was muddied by Hollow power too, but the Hollow power seeped deeper—not just into her bloodline, but into her soul as well."

"I know." Ryuken Ishida glanced at little Ichigo. "I asked that Kisuke Urahara as well. He had no solution either, but he said Ichigo might."

"Ichigo?"

All three adults turned to look at little Ichigo at the same time. He scratched his head, still completely lost.

"Kisuke Urahara said the spirit of the Zanpakuto inside Ichigo seems to hold the memories of the Quincy progenitor. Perhaps we could find a way through that." Ryuken Ishida looked utterly helpless. "I wanted to solve this myself, but my ability was insufficient. Yesterday, my mother already..."

"Auntie?!" Masaki Kurosaki cried out. "What have you been doing, Ryuken?! Why didn't you say something sooner!"

"I... I thought I could find a way..."

"You!" For a moment, Masaki Kurosaki didn't know what to say. She turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo, give it a try. Go ask and see if there's any..."

"I already know."

Even while little Ichigo was scratching his head, that faint voice in his heart had already spoken, telling him everything.

"The Quincy progenitor, Yhwach, is the root of all quincy. The ability he was born with is granting and taking. He can grant his power to others, and he can take back what he granted at any time."

"And that power can be passed down through bloodlines. The purer the bloodline, the stronger it is." As little Ichigo spoke, he transformed into spirit form, the form of a Soul Reaper. "A month ago, Yhwach activated the Auswählen, taking away all the power of mixed-blood quincy, those descended from pure-blood and impure-blood quincy, or pure-blood quincy whose bloodlines had been muddied after being attacked by Hollows."

"And once the Quincy power that had become part of the soul was taken away, the soul was left incomplete. A Quincy who has lost their power is no different from an ordinary person. The natural result of a soul with a missing piece is, of course, soul collapse."

"But no matter what I tried, Quincy spiritual pressure was ineffective inside Kanae's body..." Ryuken Ishida narrowed his eyes, grasping the key point. "Granting... is that right."

"Yes, Uncle Ryuken." Little Ichigo nodded. A pale blue light appeared in his hand. "The methods may differ, but you were only injecting Quincy power into Auntie's body. That power merely floated on the surface. It couldn't truly become part of her soul."

After speaking, little Ichigo took hold of the black-haired woman's hands. Pale blue light enveloped her entire body. In the next instant, all the light converged at her chest, then vanished.

"My power isn't strong enough yet." Little Ichigo's face was full of regret. "My granting can only fill the gaps in Auntie's soul. It can't restore her power."

"Mm..."

As if confirming little Ichigo's words, the black-haired woman let out a faint moan. A trace of struggle appeared on her previously expressionless face, and her relaxed brows furrowed slightly, as if she were having a nightmare.

"This—!"

Change wasn't what they feared. No change at all was.

After a month of observation and research, Ryuken Ishida had long understood the root of the problem. But he had exhausted every method to restore his wife's soul, and none of it had produced any result. No matter what he tried, he couldn't fill the gaps in her soul.

"A difference in level." Isshin Kurosaki gazed deeply at little Ichigo. "It's a difference in the level of spiritual pressure. The grade of spiritual pressure we can use isn't sufficient to restore a soul."

"In other words, Ichigo's level as a Quincy is closer to the progenitor than Ryuken, a pure-blood Quincy." Masaki Kurosaki's expression was somewhat complicated. "Perhaps the reason my soul wasn't damaged has something to do with having once carried Ichigo."

"Perhaps so..."

Little Ichigo had no interest in the adults' conversation. He had simply followed the voice in his heart to help his aunt, unaware that what he had done was so astonishing.

"Hm?"

Turning his head, as if discovering a new continent, little Ichigo suddenly saw a small head poke out from outside the ward, peeking at the situation inside.

In the next instant, spiritual pressure naturally gathered at his feet for reinforcement. The Shunpo unique to Soul Reapers abruptly activated, and little Ichigo's body crossed several meters in an instant, appearing outside the ward.

"Wah—!"

THUD,

Little Ichigo's sudden appearance startled the person outside so badly they stumbled and sat down on the ground.

"Who are you?"

As he spoke, little Ichigo observed the person his own age before him. They had short, pale blue hair and a face very similar to his uncle Ryuken Ishida's. Their build was very slender, they didn't even look like a boy.

"This is my son, Uryu Ishida," Ryuken Ishida said from behind him.

"Ohh, so you're my cousin!" Little Ichigo's eyes brightened. He only had two younger sisters and no blood-related brothers. "What month were you born in?"

"I... I was born in November..." Little Uryu said timidly. Then, as if catching himself, he snapped, "No, what's it to you?! You damn Soul Reaper!"

"Mind your manners!" Ryuken Ishida scolded. "Uryu, have I been neglecting you too much lately? I don't remember raising you to act like this!"

"What are you saying, Ryuken?! This is..."

"Now, now..."

"I was born in July!" Little Ichigo interrupted little Uryu with a smile, laughing happily. "Then I'm the older brother. I'll protect you... um... Uryu!"

➤ Next: Who's the Little Brother, You Jerk!!