"Mother?!" — Even though Ichigo felt that there was sothing wrong in Ren's gaze, as if he had been there in that very mont, his attention was completely drawn to the na of his mother.
"Right, she was Kurosaki Masaki, your mother — and Yuzu and Karin's." Ren nodded slightly. "And she was also my mother, in a sense."
"What is that supposed to an…?" — Hearing the words of his twin brother, Ichigo was completely bewildered, unable to understand what was happening.
"You really are an idiot, King," — Zangetsu scoffed beside him, giving him a disdainful look before turning his eyes back to Ren — "This bastard is that Hollow called White."
Ichigo's eyes widened so much they nearly fell from their sockets, and his whole body froze, as if the will to move had been forcibly stripped away.
"Wh-… what…?" — Ichigo muttered in an extrely low voice, still unable to process what he had just heard.
"Yes," Ren finally spoke, slowly and without a hint of hesitation. "White… is . Or rather… I was White — after I regained my humanity."
The scene before them shifted abruptly — the angle of vision within the mory changed, showing Masaki breaking the laws of the Quincy at astonishing speed, intervening between Isshin and White, firing Heilig Pfeil with such mastery that White was forced to retreat for the first ti since the battle began.
"Masaki… was not rely a noble Quincy," Ren continued, his voice now filled with a rare tone of deep warmth, "She was sothing else… sothing not easily explained… she could touch the soul of a being like White without her own collapsing."
On the screen, the scene played out clearly:
Masaki stepped toward White — without fear… without hesitation… and her eyes held unwavering resolve instead of terror.
White — who back then was nothing more than a pure monster — stopped.
Not because he was injured.
Not because he feared her power.
But because he recognized a kind of energy he had never encountered before.
"At that mont…" Ren said as he placed his hand behind his back, "my humanity… began to return — for the first ti."
Ichigo swallowed hard.
"Are you… saying that you felt emotions… even in that form?"
"They were not emotions," Ren shook his head slightly, "but the beginning of an identity… an essence… the first seed that asked: who am I? And what am I?"
"Back then, I was completely fascinated by Masaki — she showed no anger, no disgust, not even a trace of hatred as I tried to end her life. Instead, she wrapped her arms around with warmth and whispered a faint apology before firing an arrow straight into my skull."
Ren let out a short muffled laugh, as if he were reminiscing fondly about spending ti with family — not about the mory of having his head blown apart.
"That was… the first ti I was touched by light instead of a blade."
Ren spoke in a quiet tone, free of mockery or regret, as if describing sothing inevitable — the natural outco of a eting that was destined to occur.
On the screen, Masaki was shown standing over White's fallen body after the arrow pierced his skull, his body slowly disintegrating like pale ash scattering in the light.
"That arrow didn't kill …"
Ren's voice rose slightly, tinged with sothing close to deep gratitude.
"It liberated from being nothing more than an experintal product of Aizen… and reminded of who I truly was."
"When Masaki embraced , I bit her and transferred my power and soul into her — I tried to rge with her to understand her, to comprehend this human who gave that strange feeling of safety and warmth… sothing I had never experienced before, yet sohow felt familiar — nostalgic."
But containing Hollow power was not sothing a Quincy could withstand easily — there were countless unpredictable complications, and Masaki would have died from Hollowification.
"That was when Urahara Kisuke, that man as suspicious as Aizen — but far more irritating — interfered."
At the ntion of Urahara, Ren's expression turned into a mix of gratitude and resentnt.
Ren was grateful because Urahara saved Masaki at that mont — but he hated him because he was no better than Aizen. After all, Urahara had conducted experints no less dark than Aizen's to create the Hōgyoku, aning the two were not truly different in Ren's eyes.
"He used the power of the Hōgyoku to seal inside Masaki's body using Isshin's power, and I remained sealed for several years," Ren said, lowering his head slightly so that his expression beca unreadable to Ichigo and Zangetsu — "And after years of silence, I felt another presence — one that echoed against mine and tried to devour ."
Speaking of that presence, Ren lifted his eyes — and his gaze landed on Ichigo, filled with layered complexity.
"That presence… was the unborn child of Masaki and Isshin — you." There was a hint of unwillingness and bitterness in Ren's eyes as he ntioned Masaki's union with Isshin. "You were still nothing but a fetus — and yet, you possessed overwhelming power that tried to consu ."
"And you succeeded — partially. You absorbed around 30% of my existence, and I couldn't do anything about it back then." Ren's lips curved into a bitter smile, as if recalling the terrifying power possessed by an unborn child. "But at the sa ti, I felt Masaki helping — so I began consuming your flesh and blood as well, creating a body for myself, protecting myself from you… without devouring you completely, because I did not want to see Masaki grieve over the death of her son."
"And that… is the origin of the Phantom Twin — the being who should never have been born — as well as the source of your Hollow power."
Ren continued, and the world around them began to crumble like shattered glass.
"That Hollow power rged with your soul and your Shinigami side… and beca your Zanpakutō spirit."
"As for that old man you call 'Old Zangetsu,' he is rely the manifestation of your Quincy power — plus the lingering will of a man called Yhwach, who seems to have been shielding you for so reason, preventing you from synchronizing with your true Zanpakutō spirit."
"But don't worry — Mikazuki should have already finished dealing with that lingering will by now."
...
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