He was the hero. The protector. He was the guardian of all those whom he cared for. When he drew his sword, it was between his loved ones and the enemy. His sword, which was a weapon for him, was a shield to others. It was never the other way around. No one was allowed to help him, to protect him. He didn't need it. It was his job to be the guardian.
He was Ichigo Kurosaki, Soul Reaper, and he refused to be protected.
It didn't matter how hurt he was. It didn't matter if the task was impossible. Faced with a challenge, he would rise to meet it, always growing strong and always reaching higher, never giving up. He couldn't die. He wouldn't die. Not as long as he had something, someone to protect with all of his power. He would live, and he would fight, and he would grow. Stronger and stronger he would become, his spirit energy always increasing, expanding until there was no way to ever contain it. Together with Zangetsu, he would not fail to protect.
He was Ichigo Kurosaki, Soul Reaper, and he refused to be beaten.
Training was intense. It was scary, it was painful, and it pissed him off not because of that, but because it showed him how far he still had to grow. It was frustrating, grueling work that strained not just his body but his mind and soul as well, and sometimes he entertained the idea of quitting. But in the end, it didn't matter how hard it was, because he would give it his all and never give up, because that wasn't what he did.
He was Ichigo Kurosaki, Soul Reaper, and he refused to be weak.
But underneath all that strength and beneath all of that bravado was a man capable of human frailties. When he bled, his blood was as red as anyone's, and it flowed from him just like those he protected. When he trained for hours on end, his body grew weary. When he went to battle, however fierce his resolve might be, he still felt fear. He felt guilt when he failed, felt unworthy when he was protected, felt responsible whenever a person was in danger, even if there was no way he could have prevented it.
He was Ichigo Kurosaki, and while he was a Soul Reaper, he was still human.
Ichigo could never know how many people he had touched, how many he had saved, how many now strived to be like him after they had seen his strength. There was no way for Ichigo, who was so extremely dense when it came to himself, to know that he was a hero to so many people; a role model; someone to look up to and think that someday maybe, just maybe, I can be so strong. So brave. A man so powerful, so selfless, and so kind that he would lay his life on the line for the chance to save someone else, even a complete stranger. More than anything else, though, he was him.
He was Ichigo Kurosaki, not perfect, not fearless, but one hundred percent someone who deserved respect.