"The sky darkened so fast." Shirou mumbled as he left the school with Ichigo. "Looks like it'll rain soon."
"Right. Let's return home." Ichigo grunted in agreement, kicking the pebble that lay ahead his path.
"Let me carry the bags."
Without protest, Ichigo handed the bag. The street was quiet, unusually quieter than the usually buzzing city of Karakura town.
Maybe because of the weather, Shirou thought.
Fortunately they reached home before the first drop of water hit their heads.
Drenched in sweat, both of them entered the house immediately and welcomed by the presence of their cheerful mother.
"Welcome home!" Masaki greeted her son. "Ah! Both of you are soaked. Go change your clothes."
"Hi, mom. The classes ended early so we just went straight home." Ichigo said.
"Mom, here."
Shirou handed the groceries he bought before coming to Masaki who looked at them with a smile.
"That's great! Thanks a lot for buying those things." She praised. "You are so responsible unlike our crybaby and hot-headed son here!"
"Huh?" Ichigo gasped, offended by what Masaki called him. "Stop comparing me with Shirou! He's an alien!"
"You-" She suddenly raised her fist, and the air around her grew heavy. "Come outside and repeat what you just said."
Her words made the siblings shivered in terror.
Meanwhile, Shirou laughed nervously. Masaki was truly terrifying if provoked. With an experience of having a tiger crashing into his place everyday for a meal, he knew better than to anger the woman.
Even Karin, the tomboy-ish Kurosaki sister, refused to confront Masaki when she was angry.
They respected her and loved her as a parent.
After the dinner, Shirou usually went to his room and studied for school. He preferred learning new knowledge compared to the dull school lessons because his education quality had actually reached high school level.
Not too smart, but definitely not too stupid either.
Just then, Masaki called from the door. "Shirou, can I enter?"
"Sure, mom. Come in." He allowed, closing the book in his hand.
The door creaked open and Masaki came into his sight with her gentle demeanor.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"No, nothing's wrong." Masaki shook her head. "It's just... Well, sometimes I feel that you always hold yourself back. Even when you were born, you acted so maturely that we almost never saw you crying."
She caressed his cheek and continued softly. "So, I can't help but to worry about you. What is happening to my child... If you want to complain, or even scream, you can do it. Just say it."
"I am fine, mom. And thank you for worrying about me." Shirou replied.
"I see... Then it's fine." She withdrew her hand and stood up from the chair next to his desk, walking toward the door. "Love you, Shirou."
"...Love you, too."
His eyes followed her movement as Masaki got out of the room, disappearing from his view behind the wooden door.
'I hope she won't feel burdened again.'
Masaki always cared so much about her sons and daughters. Sometimes, he forgot to be the son of his mother rather than acting like the opposite instead.
'What kind of son am I? Am I a good one?' He wondered.
On the other hand, he learned about how much his mother loved him.
The rest of the night was spent mostly reading various books.
Time flew too fast.
Wake up, training to use his magecraft again, and then went to school with his brother.
A few weeks had passed but nothing was different with his progress.
Sighing tiredly, Shirou decided to move on with his daily life again. Boring, but fulfilling.
'I hope no disaster comes today.'
Unfortunately for Shirou, whatever power decided his fate liked to mock him a lot.
It has been raining often lately. Even when he bought groceries with his mother, a sudden shower would happen.
Today was Sunday. His sisters were asleep and the other member of the family chose to stay inside, watching TV in the living room.
Meanwhile, he and his twin brother as well as mother went to the supermarket to shop. They walked under the same umbrella together.
"Ichigo, don't walk too fast!" Shirou complained when Ichigo stepped away from their protection.
"You're just too slow." Ichigo huffed. "I will take the last pudding in the fridge while you're busy dragging your legs behind mom."
"Idiot. We don't eat the meal before it's prepared. Wait until the food is ready!"
"I won't listen to anyone that's too slow to catch me."
"You!"
Ichigo laughed freely and sped up, challenging Shirou to pursue him. He ran across the riverbed, drenched in rain. Shirou followed in tow while shouting at the young boy.
"Stop messing around!"
Meanwhile, Masaki stayed behind despite trying to reach her boys. Their fight wasn't something unusual, so she ignored it.
Yet... somehow it felt odd to her senses.
A sensation like a premonition warned her. Was it the sixth sense that only mothers had? Her Quincy ability?
But she shrugged off the suspicion, continuing her stroll silently.
Ichigo kept running ahead of his brother.
He stopped near the riverside and stared at his feet which splashed water around. Then, his gaze went toward the river with strong current flow. He saw something, a girl...
'Did I see that right?'
Ichigo looked at where the girl was standing in the middle of the raging stream. The waters pushed against her with incredible strength. Why was there a kid there? Didn't she realize the danger she was in?
There were many possibilities.
Maybe she didn't know how to swim. Maybe she couldn't find anything to support herself from being carried away by the river.
One thing for sure was that he had to save her!
"Hey, get away from that place!"
Shouting, Ichigo ran down to the river's direction, hoping his words would be heard by the girl.
On the other hand, Shirou suddenly had a bad feeling. His instinct forged in the last 7 days of war urged him to protect. And so he dashed toward where Ichigo ran, abandoning the shopping bags.
Masaki also had a bad feeling too. She could feel danger from that girl.
However, he was too late. Ichigo had already reached the girl.
"Are you okay!?" Ichigo extended his hand, trying to help the girl from the river.
"Ichigo, get away!" Masaki shouted urgently.
"Huh?"
At that moment, the girl suddenly turned around and her neck twisted unnaturally. Her expression became scary all of a sudden.
Dark hollow eye sockets stared directly at Ichigo with bloodthirsty intent. Something appeared on top of her head, like a tendril that connected the girl into something hidden in the river.
That something showed itself with its mouth open wide. A large rat-like masked creature with a sharp, clawed hand and white mask. Its body was covered in fur with a hole on its chest.
Something ominous flooded Shirou's mind, something terrifying. His heart skipped a beat. Coldness rushed into his veins. His face paled as he lost strength in his entire limbs. Death was approaching.
"Hahaha!" The creature laughed in a distorted voice.
That laugh reminded Shirou of the snake bastard. Laughing while fighting and killing, the same laughter echoed through the burning town.
Ichigo stood frozen in front of the monster.
Its hands moved to pierce through Ichigo's stomach, however Ichigo managed to dodge by jumping back. He stumbled backwards into a sitting position and the monster loomed over him menacingly.
"Ichigo!"
Masaki quickly approached and stood in front of him, protecting her son.
Shirou gasped, eyes widened in shock. His heart thumped wildly, banging against his rib cages. He almost lost one person he swore to protect. He could've lost a family once again. He feared losing someone close again...
The pain struck deep, causing the dormant memory inside his soul to tremble.
'I... can't...' His clenched fist shook as his body froze in fear. 'Am I powerless once more?'
He raised his head, seeing his mother standing in front of him confidently, shielding him and Ichigo who fell to his butt. The monster raised its arms once more, intending to kill both his mother and brother with its sharp claw.
A grin spread across its grotesque face. Its mask reflected light eerily.
"W-What is that?" Shirou muttered, horror evident in his features.
The hollow lunged at Masaki with its hands aiming to stab her chest.
She just smiled warmly, facing the monster as if it was nothing. The threatening figure was supposed to make her afraid. But no, Masaki didn't even flinch.
"Both of you will be fine." Masaki reassured them.
Instead she acted, raising her hand. A strange, glowing blue circuit board like pattern flashed momentarily across her arms.
Seeing that, Shirou's eyes widened further in surprise. That looked pretty similar to the magic circuit that appeared every time he used his magecraft.
However, that suddenly disappeared. This time, Masaki's eyes widened in surprise.
Shirou knew something went wrong. Her mother suddenly turned around and spread her arms. Whatever happened earlier, it didn't work anymore. The Hollow was about to strike her-
'Mom!'
Thus without any hesitation, Shirou threw his body in front of them much to Masaki's horror. He raised his hand, desperately wishing that he had his magecraft right now.
Miraculously, he suddenly felt a connection to his former self. Something within him that he was unable to access all this time suddenly responded.
Power.
Something resembling a magic circuit, but brighter and stronger than usual surfaced. Right now, he could do it.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Connecting to his reality marble, he projected the strongest shield he knew. A familiar pain came from his newly awakened power. He could hear a broken sound inside him.
That pain was nothing compared to the fear of losing his important family.
So he screamed.
"Rho Aias!"
***
Chapter end there!
Wow! Rho Aias!
So why could Shirou use it? Isn't he Quincy?!
Maybe some people asked that, but he's a unique one. Auswählen happened, something inside him appeared, see?
I took a creative way to write this one, so it might not 100% similar to canon, including how it work. But yeah, our boy now can access his power.
What will happen to him now?