37 Chapter 36

Yo I just noticed some people still read this fic and I noticed some stack of chapters so I decided it's a waste so I'll just post it all.

[Time Skip: 3 Years]

During these years, not much happened. Errol lived a relatively normal life, with the exception of training his abilities and increasing his spiritual reserve.

Speaking of his spiritual reserve, it had increased at least threefold compared to three years ago. Perhaps due to puberty, the growth of his spiritual energy had suddenly surged.

He had now surpassed both Yoruichi, Tessai, and Urahara, who honestly admitted this when he once released his full spiritual pressure during a visit to the shop.

His physical abilities had also doubled. Previously, he could carry around 20 tons; now he could carry 80 tons or 80 thousand kilos.

Boosting it by 20 times using only his spiritual pressure, he had the strength of over 1600 tons or 1.6 million kilos. This growth was not limited to strength alone but extended to his overall physical abilities, including speed, endurance, and durability.

If Errol decided, he could further increase his physical abilities by using an Order by a hundred, which would make his physical power about 160,000 tons.

He could easily withstand most attacks sent his way, his skin almost as durable as the Hollows Hierro, which granted them strength greater than iron. He could outpace most flash step users with his pure speed and no technique involved.

Despite his power increase, Errol remained humble, mindful of the destructive power he'd seen when Aizen and Ichigo fought and destroyed a mountain just from the clash of their swords.

An average mountain weighs around 350 billion pounds or more than a million tons, and they had destroyed one just from the after-effects of their sword clash.

This didn't intimidate Errol, as he still had plans to increase his powers. However, he wanted to reach his limits first. That sums up his current strength.

One significant change in his life was his friendship with Uryu. Uryu would visit his house at his grandpa's request to play with him.

Errol couldn't deny his grandpa, and Uryu, despite his stern appearance, was actually very polite and rarely refused requests (unless you were a Shinigami).

So they ended up hanging out in Errol's room, playing with his collection of games. As they were both not very talkative, they decided to do something enjoyable. Unfortunately, most of the popular games Errol knew were not yet made as it was only the year 2000.

One thing Errol learned about Uryu was that, despite his preference for solitude, he liked to act cool. Even when creating his game character, he tried to add cool elements like a cape.

Errol took this opportunity to tease him by destroying the durability of Uryu's cape in the game using an item destroyer. This earned him the ire of Uryu, who had spent days grinding to purchase the super rare and cool cape.

Uryu retaliated by firing non-stop arrows at Errol, who dodged them while mocking him. This further angered Uryu, who broke his limits and kept firing hundreds of arrows at Errol, who continued to dodge and tease him.

These small arguments brought the two closer, much to the relief of Orlando, who was happy to see Errol finally enjoying his youth.

Apart from Uryu, his relationship with his classmates didn't change much, but he did get to know some of the characters he saw on the show. With Uryu being the first and Ichigo being the second due to his mother, they met again at school during a parents' orientation.

(Flashback)

Errol was just walking with his Grandpa, Uryu, Ishida Ryuken, and surprisingly Kanae Ishida. The moment Errol and Kanae met, she immediately thanked him for helping her, surprising his grandpa and Uryu, as they didn't know why she would thank him like this.

Kanae knew that he hadn't yet told his grandpa the truth and relayed the same story that Ryuken had told Orlando.

As Errol observed, he could see that the relationship between Ryuken and Uryu was strained, with Kanae being the only link between them. Errol had hoped that by saving Kanae, their relationship would improve, as they seemed like strangers on TV.

But it seemed like nothing had changed, although it wasn't as bad as depicted on TV. Uryu still called Ryuken "father", but the look he gave his father suggested that he would rebel if forced to do something.

Errol felt awkward walking around with Uryu's family, and the adults were the ones mostly talking. So Errol nudged Uryu, who had been silent the whole time due to his father, to leave the place. Uryu got the message and nodded.

They left the place after saying something to Errol's grandpa, and Uryu's mother and father, respectively.

"Enjoy your walk," Kanae waved at them with a gentle smile.

Errol nodded, while Uryu managed a smile and a nod for his mother before it faded when he turned to his father.

They walked down the hallway, passing other students and their parents. They were hoping to find a quiet place when someone called Errol's name from behind.

"Is that you, Errol-kun? Oh, it really is you!" Masaki approached them with Ichigo in tow.

"Hmmm, Masaki-san?" Errol turned to address her.

Masaki giggled. "Call me Aunt Masaki. I never expected to see you here at school. By the way, I don't know if you've met my son already. He's the kid from that night."

Ichigo, who had been silent the whole time, looked at Errol. "Hello, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki...I know you, man. I don't know how it happened, but my mother always tells me someone named Errol saved our lives. You also often visit our house to play with my sister. For that, you have my thanks."

He bowed in thanks, and Errol raised his eyebrows, not expecting that, but he still responded. "It's nothing. It was just a coincidence that I was passing by then."

Masaki just smiled gently at them before spotting Uryu and finding him familiar.

"Errol, why don't you introduce your friend? For some reason, he resembles someone I know," Masaki said.

Errol was surprised and apologetic that he had forgotten to introduce Uryu. "This is..."

"I am Uryu Ishida. Nice to meet you, ma'am," Uryu introduced himself politely.

"Ishida? You wouldn't happen to be Ryuken's son?" Masaki raised her eyebrows before asking.

"You know my father?" Uryu asked, surprised.

Masaki giggled before saying, "Yes, you could say we have some history. My husband is also his friend and sometimes visits his hospital."

Masaki chatted with Uryu and Errol, while Uryu tried to avoid the topic of his father, which Masaki noticed and decided not to delve into any further. Ichigo also chimed in from time to time, and Errol observed him secretly.

He found him similar to his anime self, with the difference being that he seemed freer, happier than his grumpy counterpart.

Errol looked at Masaki and connected the dots, and couldn't help but think, 'To think that he, who looks like a delinquent, was a mama's boy...is somehow unreal.'

Masaki and Ichigo then left after a few minutes, but not before she gave Errol and Uryu some homemade cookies she had made for Ichigo's friends. Errol and Uryu stayed there, waving goodbye to them.

"Hey Uryu, what do you think is the history between your father and Aunt Masaki?" Errol asked nonchalantly, biting into one of the cookies she had given them.

"Who knows, what do you think?" Uryu threw the question back while also biting into a cookie.

Errol thought for a moment before remembering her being a Quincy, before she lost her powers on the same day.

"Maybe...she was your father's ex, before she dumped him for Ichigo's dad? Hahaha," Errol speculated, not realizing how close his guess was.

"As much as it feels good to imagine that someone dumped my dad, don't laugh at him. My mom loves him a lot, and I don't want to imagine my mother being some substitute...this makes me feel complicated," Uryu scratched his head before Errol shoved a cookie into his mouth out of nowhere, causing him to choke for a second before glaring at him.

"Don't think too much. Who cares about their affairs...but still, these cookies taste great," Errol said before eating another one.

Uryu looked at him before sighing. He tried to take another cookie from the pack Masaki had given him, only to find it empty. He looked to the side and saw Errol whistling innocently.

(Flashback End)

After that meeting, Errol sometimes saw Ichigo at school and chatted with him from time to time, along with his friends Sado, Tatsuki, and Inoue.

Because Masaki was alive, Ichigo didn't quit the dojo where he and Tatsuki trained. Ichigo also eventually met Inoue through Tatsuki and they became friends.

That's it for his daily life and his growth. Now let's talk about his progress in searching for Izumi.

He tried his best to search in both Hueco Mundo and Soul Society using some divination Order due to Urahara and Yoruichi's insistence on him not going due to the dangers of those places. Unfortunately, the results were unsuccessful.

It was as if her existence had been erased from reality. No matter what he did, he couldn't find her using only his abilities.

Errol thought about going there on his own, but Yoruichi made him promise when he was a kid to only go when he was 15 years old to give himself more time to train for the dangers of those places and Izumi herself if he somehow found her.

Their words were that nobody knows what the mutations made her and how powerful she might be. It would be unfortunate if she was so powerful that he died trying to bring her back.

He couldn't deny the possibilities. The only thing that made him begrudgingly agree was Urahara's promise to help him. But even with Urahara's extensive information network, there was still no news.

(April 1, 2000)

Today was the first day of high school, and Errol had just finished getting ready when he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey, Erl, hurry up. Uryu-kun is waiting for you outside!" Orlando's voice could be heard on the other side of the door.

"Yes, I'm ready," Errol shouted before grabbing his bag and opening the door to his ever-healthy grandpa.

"Go on, then. I don't want you to be late for school. Honestly, why are you two so adamant about walking to school and not taking the car?" Orlando couldn't help but comment.

Errol just smiled and didn't say anything before meeting with Uryu at the front door of their mansion.

Grandpa Orlando smiled as he waved at them. "Then take care, Errol and Uryu, and try to make friends, okay? Honestly, I think the reason you two became friends was only because of me, with how you two like to maintain a distance from others."

'You're damn right, old man,' is what came to both their minds before they also said their goodbyes and headed to school.

They arrived at school in just a few dozen minutes, in silence. One was engrossed in his book, and the other was lost in the music from his earphones.