Shimo leaned toward the glowing screen, scanning Urahara's readout.
"Complete?" he repeated, blinking in faint confusion. "Why isn't it filled with your usual flood of equations and symbols?"
Urahara chuckled sheepishly.
"Wouldn't you say it looks cleaner this way?"
"Anyway, forget the small details. Let's check Kurosaki Masaki's condition."
Not far from them, Kurosaki Masaki lay unconscious on the operating table, eyes closed and breathing evenly. The Hollow hole at her collarbone had completely healed—she looked no different from any ordinary human.
Beside her sat Kurosaki Isshin, still in a Gigai. His spiritual energy fluctuated erratically, the newly restored Shinigami power surging through his artificial body.
A few minutes later, Masaki's eyelids trembled and opened.
"Masaki-san, how do you feel?" Urahara asked gently.
She raised her hands, turning them over in mild wonder.
"It feels… the same as before."
A bright smile crossed her face moments later.
"But still—thank you, both of you! If what you said is true, you've saved my life!"
Urahara and Shimo exchanged a look.
Meanwhile, Isshin rose from the reiryoku-conducting chair, flexing his hand, his restored power rippling through the air.
"It's back… exactly as before," he said, the thrill in his voice barely contained.
Donning his black Shihakushō once again, Isshin exhaled in relief. He had never been one to chase power—but knowing he could once again protect his family filled him with peace.
During the years he'd been powerless, Hollows often drifted toward his clinic, drawn by his latent spirit energy. Helpless, Isshin could only wait for patrolling Shinigami—or Masaki—to intervene. That helplessness, for a former captain, had been agony.
"Masaki!"
Isshin hurried to her side, worry breaking through his composure.
"Are you alright?"
Masaki smiled softly.
"Perfectly fine."
Relief washed over him. Turning to Shimo and Urahara, he bowed deeply.
"Thank you—truly—"
"No need," Shimo interrupted with a faint smirk.
"But just so you know… if Kūkaku ever marries, she'll have to take the Kyōraku name."
Isshin burst out laughing, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Hah! That's fine by me. If little Kūkaku agrees, I've got no complaints. Shimo, the Shiba family will never forget what you've done for us."
Before the laughter could linger, Urahara interjected, voice cooling the air.
"Don't celebrate yet."
He tapped the research table with two fingers, producing a hollow thunk-thunk.
"If the Auswählen is activated, Masaki's Quincy powers will still be taken. At that point, even the powrt of time can't hold back Hollowfication forever. Soul suicide would still follow."
Isshin froze mid-step, his face draining of color.
"Then what should we do?"
Urahara's eyes flickered thoughtfully.
"Perhaps… we can create a second heart vessel. Two equal portions of time energy—what do you think?"
He looked toward Shimo.
Shimo thought for a moment before nodding.
"Acceleration and deceleration—opposing yet unified aspects of time. It's possible."
Urahara's eyes lit up again, his scientific zeal reigniting.
"Then I'll begin preparations immediately—"
"Preparations?" Shimo cut in dryly.
"Just make two identical vessels. The rest is simple—inject opposite temporal flows into her soul. After almost four hundred joint experiments, I think I've got the principle figured out."
Urahara grimaced.
"And here I thought I'd barely started researching…"
"It won't take long," Shimo said.
He wasn't wrong—Urahara rarely looked this conflicted.
After the Kurosaki couple left, their lives finally returning to peace, Shimo stood silently for a while.
He hadn't told them everything. When the Auswählen came, Masaki's Quincy power would still vanish. And when it did, she would simply become an ordinary human.
Helping her beyond that… was no longer his concern.
He had already done enough.
"The world will move as it must," he murmured, exhaling softly before turning back toward the Urahara Shop.
---
Three Years Later
As predicted, Masaki eventually lost her Quincy powers.
When Urahara's message reached him, Shimo immediately returned to assist.
"Acceleration and deceleration," Urahara repeated as he worked, watching the vessel glow crimson.
"Two halves of the same force… Shimo-kun, perhaps—"
He stopped himself.
"What is it?" Shimo asked.
"Nothing. Just… a passing thought," Urahara said with a faint smile, resuming the procedure.
He worked with painstaking care. Even after countless trials, operations on souls demanded perfection—especially when dealing with one as fragile as Masaki's.
Outside the lab, Isshin waited anxiously.
Shimo's face remained calm. He had done all he could.
After three long hours, Urahara emerged, smiling at last.
"Isshin—it's done. Hollowfication suppressed. Her soul has returned to normal."
Isshin bowed deeply, gratitude overflowing.
"Thank you."
He rushed inside, relief overwhelming him.
Urahara turned to Shimo, his expression soft but knowing.
"Shimo-kun, when do you plan to begin your move?"
Shimo's lips curved into a faint grin.
"So you noticed."
"Of course I did."
"Then let's wait a little longer," Shimo replied, his tone low and certain.
"After all… we're the second players on the board."
For him, the Kurosaki incident was little more than a quiet ripple in the river of time.
---
A Month Later
Just when peace seemed certain, an unexpected figure appeared at the Urahara Shop, following Isshin inside.
The man's silver hair was neatly parted, glasses gleamed under the lights, and his tailored suit exuded quiet elegance.
Shimo's eyes narrowed.
"A Quincy…? Ishida Ryūken?"
The man inclined his head politely.
"Yes. I've come to ask for your help—yours and Urahara's. My wife, Katagiri Kanae, is dying. Please… save her."
Shimo glanced toward Urahara, who merely nodded.
Ryūken's tone grew firm.
"I'll do anything. Whatever it takes."
"Then this one's all yours," Shimo said immediately, shifting the burden to Urahara with practiced ease.
"She's a half-blood Quincy, not like Masaki. Her soul's different—I can't help with that."
It was true.
Masaki had survived because her Hollow infection altered her soul, giving Shimo's time-based power something to stabilize. Katagiri, pure and untainted, lacked that bridge.
Urahara stroked his chin thoughtfully.
After a long pause, he nodded.
"I can't promise success," he said. "But I'll do everything I can."
Ryūken's composure cracked as hope returned.
"Thank you, Urahara-san."
Even Shimo felt a flicker of emotion. Seeing the normally aloof Quincy like this—desperate for the woman he loved—reminded him that even stone hearts could warm over time.
And for Urahara, this wasn't bad news either.
His scientific fervor reignited once more.
---
Three Days Later
Urahara appeared before Shimo looking utterly drained.
"That expression doesn't suit you," Shimo remarked. "It can't be that bad. You didn't fail, did you?"
Urahara shook his head.
"No… it's not failure. I found a solution."
"Then what's the problem?"
"The solution is the same as before," Urahara said bitterly.
Shimo sighed.
"You mean—replacement with another power?"
Urahara nodded helplessly.
"Without her Quincy abilities, Katagiri's soul was collapsing. To stabilize her, I needed to introduce another force—something external to hold her essence together."
He looked genuinely disappointed—not for her, but for himself, realizing there was no new frontier to discover.
"Don't sulk," Shimo said. "Just fix her."
They repeated the Kurosaki procedure, this time substituting spatial energy instead of time power—time would have crushed her unaltered soul.
As expected, it worked.
Katagiri's life force stabilized, and Ryūken bowed deeply to them both, gratitude glimmering behind his calm eyes.
Urahara's shop soon returned to its usual quiet rhythm, though whispers of Hollow activity still rippled across the Human World.
---
Five Years Later
Soul Society finally announced a breakthrough—
The spiritual pressure detector had been perfected by the Twelfth Division.
Hundreds of units were distributed to Shinigami stationed in the Human World. The Hollow outbreak was at last brought under control.
In the shop, Shimo turned the small device over in his hand, unimpressed.
"This? Ten years of Mayuri's research for this toy? Did a Hollow chew on his brain?"
He tossed it casually to Urahara, who had just returned from his underground lab.
At that moment, Shimo sat between two "companions"—a purring black cat on his left shoulder and a grumbling green-haired Arrancar sprawled across the floor.
Urahara examined the detector briefly and laughed.
"With his ability, it shouldn't have taken more than a week. He's just milking the budget again, that sly bastard."
Shimo smirked knowingly.
"Definitely sounds like him."
Urahara handed the device back.
"So, Shimo-kun… when do you plan to make your move?"
The black cat twitched its ears, but before it could speak, Shimo pressed her head down lightly and thought aloud.
"Three days from now."
"The full moon night."
Urahara's smile curved wider.
"Understood. I'll start preparations."
When he left, Shimo released his hold.
From the corner of the room, Yoruichi's voice purred with exasperation:
"Two scheming devils conspiring again… honestly."
--------------------------///
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