Shirou expected himself to lay on the bed while his father checked his condition, but no.
For some reason, his father took him to a small candy shop.
"That place is our destination." Isshin pointed at the store in front of them.
Shirou found the store was old and worn-out, although it still held well against age and weathering conditions. Despite the decrepit appearance, the building surprisingly retained most of its former glory and charm.
He looked at the sign hung on top of the entrance.
"Urahara Shoten?"
"Yes." Isshin grinned widely. "This is Urahara Shop!"
'Why does it look abandoned?'
"Shirou," He patted Shirou's head lightly with his large hand. "Listen to what I am going to say carefully. Okay?"
Isshin leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "You may be confused by what we're going to talk about later. But believe me, no matter what happens next, this world isn't as it looked."
His words struck him like thunder. Shirou blinked, dumbfounded by the words his father just said. What did he mean by 'this world isn't as it looked'?
"Come, now!" He pushed his son inside. "Time to visit a store!"
Entering the shop, he immediately noticed a woman standing at the counter. She had tanned skin and a beautiful appearance like a model, but she dressed plainly.
Her dark purple hair was tied in a ponytail that fell over her shoulder. And yet... It was her sharp golden eyes that caught his attention. They stared straight at him intensely, unwavering and piercing, giving the impression of an eagle eyeing her prey.
There was someone else beside the beautiful woman. A tall, bearded man wearing sunglasses. He looked menacing and scary, a perfect Yakuza member.
"Oh, Yoruichi. You're not in a cat form today?" Isshin asked as they entered.
The woman—Yoruichi —raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Hm, Urahara asked me to listen to you guys. That guy isn't here right now."
"Well then, thanks for welcoming us." He laughed cheerfully.
'They seem to know each other...' Shirou thought.
Both of them talked with each other while the tall man only observed silently from the corner.
"...and then you ended up bringing that kid." She said and looked at Shirou.
Suddenly, he became the center of attention. He couldn't help but smile wryly and scratched his cheek nervously.
"Erm... Hello?" Shirou greeted awkwardly. "... Nice to meet you."
His gaze met hers and Shirou couldn't stop himself from staring longer. Those yellow irises were truly mesmerizing and full of secrets that tempted anyone into learning more.
However, Yoruichi narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.
"This reiatsu... Are you a quincy?"
Hearing a strange word, he couldn't help but tilt his head.
Quincy?
What was that?
"A quincy?" He asked, confused.
Then, something hit him.
His mother... His family's secret...
Finally, the answer...
"Dad... what is quincy?" He turned to his father.
The goatee quack doctor dad of his surely knew the answer. The gorilla looked unusually serious today, different from the usual stupid grin that made people want to punch him.
"That's what I want to talk about today, Shirou." Isshin nodded. "It's time for us to start our discussion."
Sensing the seriousness, he nodded. He was ready to hear anything, not that it would surprise him after experiencing Holy Grail War, meeting his future self, and getting reincarnated. Everything was bizarre at this point.
Isshin let out a heavy sigh as he stared at his son who watched him curiously.
"Just sit down and don't react violently whatever I tell you." Isshin warned.
"Sure. Go ahead."
"Then I will make tea."
For the first time ever, the giant guy spoke.
"Oh, Tessai, do it quickly." Yoruichi nodded and Tessai promptly walked into the kitchen.
The other three moved to the room inside, sitting on a cushion around the wooden table in the middle. It took less than ten minutes until Tessai came back with three cups and saucers balanced skillfully on his palms.
"Thank you." Shirou muttered when the cup was placed in front of him.
"It's not hot. Please be careful." Tessai remarked before putting the rest down. He bowed and excused himself to give them privacy.
After sipping tea and relaxing themselves for a while, Isshin put the cup on the table and glanced at Yoruichi for permission to start his explanation.
She nodded. Her expression softened somewhat and gave him reassurance that she would stay quiet till he finished speaking.
"Quincy is a spiritually aware race who has the power to control reishi." Isshin finally opened his mouth to speak again. "They are natural born enemies of Hollow. Do you remember the thing that attacked you back then?"
"Yeah..." Shirou recalled his encounter with the Hollow.
The large, scary, and masked monster.
"Those creatures are hollows." Yoruichi added.
Hollow...
So that creature was called a Hollow.
"Your mother was Quincy." Isshin continued explaining, dropping a bombshell onto him. "An Echt Quincy, who inherited the bloodline from the very beginning of Quincy's existence. One of the few surviving members left nowadays."
'Echt... what?'
What language was that? German?
Shirou was startled by this revelation.
"She used her Quincy powers to defend Ichigo from the Hollow, but failed to activate it due to some reason. She should've managed to defeat the hollow easily if she could have used it."
The gorilla continued, "Upon my investigation, the other Quincies except for a few seemed to have lost their ability to use their power at the same time."
That day must be when they were attacked. Shirou narrowed his eyes slightly upon realizing this fact.
No one lost their power so suddenly unless something happened. His limited knowledge as a magus and Tohsaka's lessons taught him enough to conclude that. There must be a bigger reason behind it all, like a spell or something.
He kept silent and listened intently instead. It wasn't time to question things yet. Sooner or later, he'd get more answers from asking questions directly to them rather than speculating randomly.
"And remember your power? Can you use it right now?" Isshin asked, looking at him intently.
Shirou was surprised and jolted slightly. Had he been caught?
As he thought about that, Isshin smiled softly, seeing his son's reaction.
"Don't worry. We knew about it a long time ago. It isn't a coincidence that I chose Urahara Shop today. In fact, the man named Kisuke Urahara knows about this better than I do." He assured. "Can you demonstrate it for us?"
Somehow, the calming tone eased Shirou's heart.
He slowly nodded and raised his hand.
The easiest way to show his power was to trace a weapon. A sword should do.
But what kind of sword should he make? Kanshou and Bakuya were too distinct for a child to imagine. An ordinary steel katana would probably do better, like the one he recently dreamed of.
"Trace on."
Shirou focused his mind and brought forth the projection.
Glowing circuits appeared around his arm as power flowed through it, creating a familiar blue glow. Light flickered around his hand.
Within a mere instant, he felt the grip of a solid metallic handle in his palm. A steel katana with traditional Japanese style manifested itself.
Unlike any of his previous projections, which tended to break down soon afterward due to lack of prana and experience, this projection felt stable and reliable.
The result left Shirou dumbfounded.
Did his power grow without him realizing it?
"Fascinating." Yoruichi looked at the katana in Shirou's hand closely. "It seems like he created a reishi construct. Though... I am not sure why he speaks foreign language to materialize it."
"Reiatsu construct? So it's like Quincy's bow?"
Bow?
'Could it be that Quincies are archers?' Shirou took a wild guess, smiling bitterly at the coincidence.
"I am afraid to admit it, but I can't say whether it's the same or different." Yoruichi replied grimly as she crossed her arms together. "It has similarities but... Kisuke should've known better."
"Well, in fact I do."
Suddenly a voice cut in as a man entered the room and joined the conversation abruptly.
Everyone looked at the new arrival, a blonde haired man wearing a green and white striped hat and clogs.
"A good afternoon!" The shopkeeper, whom he presumed to be the owner of this shop greeted cheerfully. "I hope you enjoy the tea!"
He then sat beside Yoruichi and glanced at everyone before tilting his hat a little. "Hello everyone~ And hello to you, little Kurosaki."
*** Chapter end ***
Yoruichi! What a fine wo-
I meant, now Shirou met Urahara when he's a child. Isshin seems to make some decision regarding his son after meeting Ryuuken off screen, what is it?
Anyway, Shirou can Trace now! His power returned! And he made a connection of Quincy and bow.
What will he do next? I am worried about that shady shopkeeper.