Finally, the final chapter of One Too Many dawns upon us. .:crying:. These stories end so FAST .:blowing nose:. Anyway, I enjoyed writing this chapter the most because of the ending. Well, forget me. Please enjoy the final chapter of this story. Have fun.

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Chapter 8

Ichigo was thrown backwards by the mere force of Doomsday's reaitsu.

Doomsday screamed above the noise his flaring reaitsu was producing, "You will die, Ichigo! You'll all DIE!!"

Cracks traveled from under his feet, breaking up the soil upon which he stood. Ichigo had to hit back chunks of rock to stop them from knocking him out.

"What the hell...his reaitsu!" Ichigo murmered, growing more and more uncertain by the second. Doomsday's reaitsu was chocking, heavy, pressing and suffocating.

Then, all of Doomsday's yellow reaitsu suddenly bleached white and started retracting into his body...there was a flash of light.

Shit!, Ichigo thought sheilding his eyes, Can I really beat this guy? Of..Ofcourse!

The light faded away.

I won't lose Inoue to him!

"Feast your eyes upon my bankai, boy!" Doomsday snarled, "You're the first person fighting against it! And no one will ever see this...and live!"

Doomsday's body was covered with a higly polished silver coloured metal, the lack of light didn't bring out its true beauty however. But Ichigo could imagine a surface like that under the afternoon sun. Blind-guys-r-us.

"Armor-Of-The-Wind-God!" Doomsday smirked, folding his arms.

Ichigo watched, trying to anticipate his opponent's next move.

"Not only does it increase my defense and strength, it allows me to control the winds!"

'Like Kariya.' Ichigo thought, re-enterting his stance, "Big deal. Show me something new, Doomsday."

"Cockiness." Doomsday remarked, also entering a stance, "Okay. Note that this armor has no edge, and yet..."

He charged, "...every part of it cuts!"

Ichigo dodged the punch, "That all you got Doomsday?" But then...he felt a slit on his cheek opening, blood oozing out.

What the...?

"Like my shinkai, the wind surrounding my attacks..." Doomsday drew back his fist, "...cuts!"

Again, Ichigo stayed clear of the punch but he still felt his chest slice open, spurting blood out. Shit!

Doomsday laughed, "And right now I'm just playing with you, Ichigo! I control wind...it cuts like shit...and you're surrounded by the stuff!" He stretched out his arms, "You do the math!" And with a wave of it, sent a shockwave slicing into Ichigo again. Blood coloured the air a crimson red

Damn! Ichigo cursed, flying back to land. "I wouldn't try one of those again, Doomsday! I might actually retaliate this time!"

"Fool!" Doomsday yelled, this time with both hands, sending a giant cross shaped shockwave.

Ichigo grinned behind his mask, "You should have taken my advice, idiot!"

He drew back his sword, feeling his reaitsu concentrating on Tensa Zangetsu's blade. Then with a mighty swing he screamed, "Getsuga Tensho!!" The beam of concentrated reaitsu completely dispersed the wind attack, exploding as it made contact with his Doomsday's body.

"Heh." Ichigo smirked, "D'you like that Doomsday? I wasn't even using full strength!"

The smoke quickly cleared up, exposing an unscratched Doomsday, "That was your mistake, Ichigo." He raised an arm, "But if you have an attack like that, it would be rude of me to take you lightly. Let me give you a taste of my bankai's power when I'm serious!" The clouds above him started to spin, lightening flashing frequently.

"Oh...shit." Grass was uprooting, the wind was getting colder and the forks of lightening seemed to be striking closer and closer to land. But Ichigo hardly noticed any of that. His concern was the giant tornado descending from the sky, behind Doomsday.

"I'll tear you to pieces, Ichigo!!"

The earth shook, pieces of it breaking up, as the twister connected with the Earth. The dust produced by this was blinding, and Ichigo had to shield his eyes.

"Pillar-Connecting-Heaven-And-Hell!"

Ichigo felt like he'd be blown away any second, "Nice. So what...it basically wrecks things?"

"You'll see."

Ichigo looked up.

The pillar seemed to be burrowing into the ground.

'What the hecks going on?', Ichigo wondered. Then his eyes widened in fear as the earth just a few metres infront of him broke open, the twister bursting out like an oversized earthworm.

Holy Shit!! Ichigo began to flash-step away, hearing the twister break into the earth again. Chasing after him. Determined to rip him to shreds!

Ichigo panted as he ran thinking, This guy's bankai's crazy!! He looked behind him. The twister was gaining up on on him.

Shit! Shit! Shit! Ichigo's flash steps weren't making much of a difference, I can't even think of anything to counter that!

Suddenly, Doomsday was infront of him and he bumped into him, losing his balance and falling backwards. Doomsday's hand shot out, grabbing Ichigo's hands together with Zangetsu's hilt. "Don't leave! The party's just getting started!!"

He hurled Ichigo at the twister.

Think! Think!, Ichigo was desperate. Just before he entered it, he released his reaitsu, blowing it out like an idiot. But it worked! The blazing reaitsu kept the cutting winds away and as Ichigo entered the very center of the tornado, he couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. And his confidence returned, "So much for your cutting winds, Doomsday."

"We're just getting started, Kurosaki Ichigo!" the evil vaizard said, joining Ichigo in the twister. "There's something else I'd like to show you about this twister."

Ichigo was ready...but not ready enough. In the blink of an eye, Doomsday wasn't infront of him anymore. He'd simply disappeared.

Then, Ichigo felt a punch dig into his stomach, causing him to cough up blood. If his reaitsu hadn't been surrounding him, the punch would have ripped out his guts. Ichigo looked around, trying to see where the punch had come from.

Nothing.

Another punch dug into his back, making him feel like his spine'd just been snapped, "Ugh!!" Ichigo turned around.

Nothing.

A laugh filled the air, "You won't be able to see me, Ichigo. See, this is my ultimate battlefield. Here, I can merge with the wind and reconstruct any part of my body any where, any time!"

A kick made contact with Ichigo's jaw...and his stomach again...and his back. The random attacks connected perfectly and repeatedly, Ichigo unable to see much less block any of them. Blood began to drip into Ichigo's eyes. It stung.

"Come out and fight me like a man, you cheater!!" Ichigo screamed.

"All's fair in love and war!" was the reply, "And this is both, Ichigo!!"

"Yeah?" Ichigo waited patiently. If only he could feel Doomsday's reaitsu the split second any part of him materialized, he could attack.

Relax...wait...wait...there!! He flipped his sword over his shoulder. There was a metallic clank as Doomsday's punch was blocked off. Ichigo swiveled around in time to see an arm hanging in the air.

"Eat this!" Ichigo swung his sword. The arm dissipated a fraction of a second before the blade whistled through.

Shit, too late!

Ichigo tried a bluff, "You're just scrared, cause you know once I have you visible, you're going straight to hell!"

"Nice bluff."

Didn't work. Damn!

Then, he heard a voice behind him, "Take your best shot."

Ichigo was already whirling around, his sword being swung with all his might. It was blocked off with a finger.

'Who is this guy!!? Even with my hollow mask, it's like I'm nothing to him!? But that can't be!!

Ichigo tried attack after attack. With exceptional speed. Flash-stepping and attacking from different angles. Each one was warded with ease.

"Stand still, dammit!!" Ichigo yelled.

"Okay." Doomsday stopped moving.

This...

Ichigo swung at Doomsday's face...

...is just like...

...the attack's acceleration reduced, getting slower and slower as the blade got closer to it...

...that time...

...stopping entirely just inches from actually touching Doomsday.

...against Zaraki Kenpachi!

And no matter how much force Ichigo applied, the blade wouldn't get any closer to Doomsday.

"DAMMIT!!" Ichigo was frustrated. How could anyone be this powerful?!

"The wind surrounding me repels your sword. I'm not even trying and you can't touch me. As long as I'm in Pillar-Connecting-Heaven-And-Hell, I'm invulnerable!"

"Oh yeah?" Ichigo grinned, "Then..."

This time, concentrating as much reaitsu as he possibly could, he pushed the blade towards Doomsday. And when it was as close as he could get it, he finished his sentence, "...we'll just have to get rid of it, won't we?"

Doomsday shook his head. Surely, Ichigo wasn't so stupid as to...

"Getsuga Tensho!!"

To this day, Ichigo can never rememebr the exact details of what had happened during that extremely dangerous attack. All he knows is when he opened his eyes, he was kneeling in the blood-dyed grass, bleeding from his palms and his shoulders. Doomsday wasn't too far off, leaning against a tree. Pillar-Connecting-Heaven-And-Hell was gone. The entire right half of Doomsday's armor had been blown to bits, now exposing the pale diseased flesh on his right arm, leg and torso.

"That...that was really dumb, Ichigo." Doomsday struggled to say.

Ichigo laughed huskily, coughing up some more blood, "I know."

They both entered stance. Ichigo's legs felt like lead and his entire body was drained of energy. He thought he might fall over any second, but he forced himself. Doomsday on the other hand wasn't even bleeding. Just dazed. The armor had done its job protecting him.

"I'm at a better advantage here, Ichigo." Doomsday said, "You're tired. You're weak. You're loosing blood. You're dying slowly. All for a girl? Just let me kill you quietly, boy. I'll even leave a small piece of your body for burial if you want. Huh?"

"Shut up, asshole!" Ichigo croaked, "If you think you love someone, and if you want to keep the magic between you, small as it is, you fight for the person. If you want to improve it, you don't lose the person to someone else."

Doomsday would've raised an eyebrow if he had one, "Hearts Asunder Edition #26? You read Yamamoto's crap? Shit, how disappointing."

"Idiot!" Ichigo yelled, "As corny as that comic is, it's true. I may be drained, but I only give up when I'm dead! And even then...you never know."

Doomsday stared at him, "The proverbs are right, love does make the wise foolish. And it'll be death of you."

"We'll just have to see, won't we?"

The sound of clashing steel echoed in what used to be Karakura park.

-

From a safe distance, Rukia and Inoue watched their fight.

"Kuchiki-san?"

"Hmm?"

"D'you think Ichigo's losing?"

"Yes." Rukia's bluntness showing itself again.

"Oh." Inoue watched, rubbing herself, "The rain's still not started. And the wind's still so cold."

Rukia looked up at the sky. True. The weather had remained gloomy and grey from the very start of the fight, refusing, this time, to water the scorched land.

"The skies are waiting for something." Rukia remarked, "It's not time."

"I guess so." Inoue sounded intrigued.

"Hey, Inoue?"

Inoue looked at her, "Kuchiki-san?"

Rukia's eyes were still on the battle, "Why weren't you bothered when I told you Ichigo was losing?"

Inoue sighed, "It was just an opinion. I don't think Ichigo's losing. Why?" Inoue turned her eyes back to the love of her life, who was at that point trying to evade a series of combos, and failing miserably, "Yamamoto's hollow is really strong, but it's fighting just for the fun of it. You can tell. Ichigo however, is fighting for me. He has a resolve. Because of that, he won't allow himself to lose. No...not Ichigo."

Inoue was silent for a while. Then smiled, "Guess I take my words back then. "

-

Ichigo was losing. Badly.

His body was hurting all over, and the smell of blood that hung around him made him nauseous.

An overhead punch sent is face smashing into the dust, followed by a foot on his back to pin him down.

"Hey, I remember this scene!" Doomsday said, making Ichigo cry out by stamping on him again. "When we saved your ass, fighting against Death-flash! How does it go again?"

Ichigo swore, trying hard to breathe with such a weight on his back.

"Ah, yes. You're dying in the grass. Hardly able to breathe. I come by and save you just in time." Doomsday said, chuckling, "But guess what. This time, there's no saviour."

The weight was lifted off, enabling Ichigo to turn over and breathe. Doomsday had flown at least a thousand feet above him, his hand poised in the air.

"I'm tired of playing games with you. Until we meet again in hell, goodbye...Kurosaki Ichigo!"

A giant red ball began forming above Doomsday and sparks danced in the air. With all his willpower, Ichigo stood again and drew his zankpaktou back.

' Super Hollow Flash? I wonder..' Ichigo thought, breathing heavily, '...If I have one the energy for one more Getsuga Tensho. Guess...I'll just have to try.' Reaitsu bulit itself unto his zanpaktou. Doomsday laughed demoniacally.

And Doomday's red ball...came crashing down.

-

...Ichigo...Ichigo...

"...Old...Oldman Zangetsu..."

...Ichigo...stand up...

"Long time, huh?"

We have had no reason to meet.

So, am I...dead. Did I lose?"

It depends.

"Depends? On what?"

On you. On your resolve. Do you want to win?

"Well...of course. Of course I wanna win."

But Ichigo, winning means you have to go back. Winning means you may have to endure more pain. Winning means...you will have to begin a real relationship with Inoue. Can you commit yourself to her? Are you sure, you will not disappoint her?

"...No...I'm not."

Then why do you want to win?

"Because I love her. I can't be sure I won't disappoint her. But...I want to try anyway. And I want to put in my all into loving her, the way I know she's loved me for so long. Old man Zangetsu...as much as I want a chance at loving her, I don't deserve it. But she does. And I will give it to her."

...Well said. You may go.

Uh...one more thing Old man. I've run out of power...please make yours my own.

How much of it?

All of it.

It is yours. But then again, it has always been yours.

...Thank you.

Go.

-

Doomsday turned back in surprise, there had suddenly been an unbelievable rise in reaitsu behind him.

'What the...' he thought, not wanting to believe his eyes, 'He...that can't be!! A second ago he'd been lying in the dust! His heart had stopped beating! I'd even checked myself!!'

Anyone who hadn't seen Ichigo bathing in his reaitsu could have sworn it was an earthquake. The dust erupted in swiveling fury as the winds reacted to the unstable burst of spiritual energy. The clotting blood staining his body evapourated leaving a reddish dust, and his wounds closed up, leaving faint scars that would forever remind him of the moment. Kurosaki Ichigo...was alive.

Doomsday slowly shook his head, 'Holy Shhh...'

The feeling of cold metal had already left a numb vehemence through his shoulder before he had even finished the thought. Doomsday daringly looked to his side, to see Ichigo stooped over, his sword firmly gripped, the blade recently having swiftly relieved Doomsday of his left arm. Doomsday checked to be sure. Yes. Ichigo had cut neatly through Armor-Of-The-Wind-God. And yes. Doomday didn't have a left arm anymore. Doomsday turned his eyes to Ichigo's face. In that short moment, Doomsday's eyes connected with Ichigo's. And he read them. They calmly said four words: I will kill you.

"You BASTARD!!" Doomsday screamed as he jumped backwards, his right hand trying to stop the crimson liquid that filled his body from painting the entire surrounding a scarlet red.

Ichigo's cold eyes didn't meet his grin as he said, "You know that scene you were recounting? You skipped a part. A little while after my enemy steps on me, he loses his arm. Then he's toyed with, then...he dies...fast."

Doomsday stared back, words failing him.

"But since this time I'm directing this scene. I say we skip the toying part."

Doomsday immediately found himself elevating at an incredible rate after a flash of an uppercut. And a few seconds afterwards, driven with unbelievable force into the soil after a blast of reaitsu from Ichigo's sword, coming from above, connected squarely with his back. A light thud signified Ichigo's landing a few metres away from Doomsday's crashpoint.

Ichigo's adversary arose with rage written all over his face, "Brat! Do you take me for a fool?!" His other arm was already up, another ball forming, but this time a smaller one, "I'm going to compress all of my reaitsu into this Super Hollow Flash! I will kill you, Ichigo! If it's the last thing I do!!"

"You sure you wanna try another one of those?" Ichigo asked, "Your reaitsu feels kinda wavery."

"Shut up!!" Doomsday roared, " This time...I'm going to personally drive this ball through your skull!!"

"Funny..." Ichigo said, filling the blade of his sword with every ounce of his reaitsu so that it seemed to be made up of roaring blue flames, "...I was thinking of doing the exact same thing to you with Getsuga Tensho."

They drew back. The wind stopped, all of creation halted...their eyes stared into each other...going deeper than the soul...this was it...

And simultaneously... they clashed.

The shockwave was devastating. Boring an absurdly gigantic crater into the earth, stirring the skies, splitting the very molecules that surrounded them. The entire thirty acres of Karakura park was brought to ruin in an instant. Rukia barely escaped with Inoue, amazed at the titanic collision of two men...driven by love.

It took a while for the dust to clear. But when it finally did, any spectator would have had no idea who had just won. Ichigo and Doomsday stood side by side, each facing the opposite direction. Each bleeding profusely. Each entirely drained of reaitsu. Each on the verge of death.

At the same time, their masks broke off. Yamamoto's body had returned to normal.

"Wow." Yamamoto whispered, "...I blew my last chance at love didn't I?"

"You can't take someone else's place in life, Yamamoto." Ichigo whispered back, blood drooling down his lips.

"...Guess so. I...just wanted any chance at life...at love."

"I'm sorry. But there can only be one Ichigo. You, Yamamoto...were one too many."

Yamamoto nodded, "Remember Ichigo...I thought Inoue was worth dying for." He coughed, "Don't screw your chance up."

"Relax...I won't."

And with that, the wind gradually carried Yamamoto's disintegrating body away. To a better place.

I...won. Ichigo thought to himself, too tired to be happy. "Guess Inoue's mine now, huh?" he murmed, before allowing his body to topple over. And his mind, to black out.

-

Light filtered through his eyelids, intruding into his mind and setting off the inevitable head ache.

Ichigo sat up, his brain throbbing objections to his recent activities. Where was he? The room was familiar.

'Inoue's room.' he realized. His mind finally registered the voices he had been deaf to a moment ago and he turned to see Tatsuki and Rukia sitting next to the window, talking about whatever random topic filled their minds.

Tatsuki was the first to notice that the orange haired boy had regained consciousness, "Hey, sleepy head. Finally up? That's good. I was starting to think you'd slipped into a comma or something."

"Where's Inoue?" was the first question that came out of Ichigo's mouth, surprising the three of them, including him.

"She spent the entire night and morning fixing you up." Rukia answered, "She had to heal both your soul and body because they took seperate damage. You left your body in the middle of the road, and it was run over by a car. You're really an idiot."

Ichigo winced. He'd forgotten to move his body to a safe place when he'd slipped out of it.

"Anyway she went out to the town circle to get some fresh air. She's really tired."

Ichigo was already up, putting on his sneakers.

"Where d'you think you're going? You need rest!" Tatsuki nagged, "Don't let all of Inoue's work be in vain!"

"Let him go." Rukia said gently, resting her hand on Tatsuki's shoulder. "He's got unfinished business." she added as they heard the front door slam.

It didn't take too long to find Inoue. She was standing by Karakura's largest fountain, drinking in the lovely rainbow colours that added a magical touch to the fountain's spouting water. Her back was to him and her long hair swayed to the wind ever so gently , making her a burst of sunlight in the midst of the gloomy weather.

'Orihime Inoue...' Ichigo thought somberly as he walked towards her, 'Someone once told me...when gloomy weather lasts for so long...without giving even a drop of rain...then the heavens, are patiently waiting for something. Inoue, let's not make them wait any longer...'

"Inoue." he whispered in her ear, behind her. She spun around, looking startled.

"Ichigo." she gasped. The wind whispered softly in their ears, telling them both...that in moments like these...it was simpler not to say anything. But Inoue didn't understand its language when she stammered a, "You...you should be resting. You're not completely..."

So Ichigo made her understand, pulling her close and gently pressing his lips against hers to shut her up. And she did, at first surprised...then, giving up everything...melting into his arms. Their lips searched hungrily for each other in that passionate kiss, each finding what they'd unknowingly be searching for all their life.

Then, the heavens were satisfied, giving up all the accumulated rain they had hoarded for so long. Causing the characteristic squeals of pedestrians who hadn't learnt their lesson the last time and were still walking about without umbrellas, or maybe...just maybe, forgot their umbrellas on purpose.

The cold rain washed over Ichigo and Inoue, who were still preoccupied with their lip-lock, drenching them both and merging the two bodies even closer. Neither of them paid attention to the rain, or to the running passerby-ers. They only wanted each other, and they'd gotten it.

It was raining again. True. But not in Inoue's heart. No, far from that. In her heart, finally...it was spring.

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Next page: Epilogue