Bleach: I Love Making Friends

"What?!"

Sōken Ishida exclaimed in shock. "The Quincy's Final Form?!"

"You don't know about it? It's a power that, once used, causes you to lose all your spiritual energy. It's the Quincy's last and strongest trump card."

Haruki smiled bitterly. "In short, it's an incredibly powerful ability, but after using it, you lose your Quincy powers."

"How could I not know about that?" Sōken quickly replied. "I'm just surprised that someone actually used it."

The Quincy's Final Form was actually a closely guarded secret among the Quincy, something not known to ordinary Quincy.

But Sōken couldn't possibly not know, because he had been exiled from the Wandenreich precisely for insisting on the Quincy's Final Form as the true power!

The Wandenreich...

Located within the shadows of the Seireitei, it was a faction formed by the Quincy who survived the war a thousand years ago.

Over the course of a millennium, the Quincy had been consumed by thoughts of revenge.

When a nation is filled with the desire for revenge, their methods of warfare expand dramatically.

The Quincy of the Wandenreich had refined the Quincy's Final Form into the "Quincy Vollständig."

One of the reasons Sōken had been exiled from the Wandenreich was his refusal to accept Vollständig as the new form of power.

So, how could he not know about the Quincy's Final Form?

It was just that someone suddenly appearing before him and talking about this left him somewhat stunned.

As for Haruki's words...

Well, they were about 60% believable.

Because Haruki had immediately brought up three relatively secret aspects of the Quincy.

One was the surname "Kurosaki," which was associated with the Quincy. Another was the Quincy's Final Form. And the third...

He knew about the Wandenreich and that Sōken had been exiled.

This was enough to prove that Haruki was also a Quincy, because at this point in time, only Quincy knew about the existence of the Wandenreich.

The Shinigami only knew that the Quincy hadn't been completely wiped out, but they didn't know about the empire or Sōken's exile.

Taking all this into account, Sōken was relatively convinced of Haruki's identity as a Quincy.

He carefully checked Haruki's spiritual pressure and found that Haruki was only emitting a faint trace of spiritual energy.

There was no helping it—the Gigai produced by Urahara Kisuke was of such high quality that once worn, it made the wearer practically indistinguishable from a living human.

Moreover, Haruki knew that the Ishida family was of pure Quincy blood...

Sōken couldn't help but ask curiously, "What happened to you... that you had to use the Quincy's Final Form?"

"..." Haruki remained silent.

Sōken quickly added, "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't press you. I'm just curious why you showed up at my home."

"It's nothing, just a bet with someone."

Haruki smiled self-deprecatingly. "Those guys, didn't they develop Vollständig?"

"They think it's a power that surpasses the Final Form. I disagreed, so I challenged one of them to a match."

Sōken's eyes widened!

In that moment, he felt a sense of kinship with Haruki!

He, too, believed that Vollständig shouldn't be used!

But he was still shocked. "Just because of that, you were willing to lose your powers?"

Vollständig was an improved version of the Final Form, with the biggest advantage being that it didn't cause the user to lose their powers after use.

So even if Haruki had won the match, as long as the opponent was still alive, they would still be considered the victor.

"Actually... it's no big deal," Haruki smiled. "Even if I still had my powers, I'd just end up as cannon fodder in a few decades. To be honest... I'm not interested in that kind of grand revenge ideology."

"..."

At this point, Sōken was almost certain that Haruki was indeed a Quincy—not just a Quincy, but a kindred spirit.

Because the things Haruki was talking about were only known to Quincy.

And even among the Quincy, only those of considerable status would know such things.

"As for why I'm here, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure either."

"After leaving the empire, I've just been wandering around the human world. I was sleeping in a tree earlier and only realized this was your home after I fell down."

Haruki added, "Is this what they call fate? Heh..."

"Fate is indeed mysterious," Sōken nodded in agreement.

"But I'm curious, Kurosaki... why did you reject Vollständig?"

Haruki answered without hesitation. "I don't want others to control my life and death."

"Although Vollständig is an improved version of the Final Form, I can't shake the feeling that once you use it, even your soul no longer belongs to you."

At this point, Haruki became serious.

"You should know, right? The Quincy King, who lies in slumber, took nine hundred years to restore his heartbeat, ninety years to regain consciousness, and nine years to recover his power..."

"...The Quincy legend of the 'Holy Hymn,'" Sōken said solemnly.

"Right. Our leader... possesses the power of 'Auswählen.' Yet, we purebloods are exempt from having our powers reclaimed by Auswählen."

Haruki also spoke with gravity. "However, I can't help but feel that once we use Vollständig, we'll lose this 'special' status. The more we indulge in Yhwach's power, the harder it becomes to escape his control."

"..." Sōken didn't respond immediately but instead looked at Haruki intently. After a while, he nodded in agreement.

"Actually, I've had similar thoughts, which is why I firmly oppose using Vollständig." At this point, Sōken smiled bitterly. "But our way of thinking is destined to be rejected by others."

"Take it easy. Everyone has their own path," Haruki shook his head. "That's why I think my current situation is fine. Living a few decades in the human world, then dying of old age—isn't that a good way to end a life?"

"Haha, you make a good point."

At this moment, Haruki noticed that Sōken's favorability toward him had reached 65.

Great. It seemed his approach had been the right one.

The persona he had crafted for "Kurosaki Kōun" was precisely the kind that Sōken Ishida would find most relatable.

Sōken was someone who had been exiled from the Wandenreich, someone who harbored no deep hatred for the Shinigami, and someone who rejected Vollständig.

Haruki, too, was someone who had left the Wandenreich, someone who held no strong opinions about the Shinigami, and someone who rejected Vollständig.

For Sōken, who had never encountered a like-minded companion before, it was only natural that he would quickly accept Haruki as a fellow Quincy.