The Hero and the Strawberry

If you were to look at the state of Dreamland at the moment, you wouldn't believe that there was a massive battle against Dark Matter just a short while ago. The town square was busy and bustling as usual and all the townsfolk went on about their day as if nothing ever happened. Inside one certain restaurant however, there was one chubby penguin that was anything but pleased.

"I knew it! Those dang ol' fools went and forgot about little ol' me! Those losers, I oughta teach them a lesson to ignore the king!" King Dedede yelled out, his angry tone being heard throughout town, though barely anyone paid it any mind. The king appeared to notice this, and puffed up his cheeks while growling, as if his temper was rising.

"That's it, I'm gonna go find them!" He sat up and prepared to leave, but was stopped by the restaurant's owner, Kawasaki.

"Hey Dedede, do you even know where they went off too? How are you going to find them?" The jolly chef asked, wondering what the king had planned.

"I dunno! I'm just going to find them, that's all there is too it!" He huffed in reply. Before Kawasaki could even reply, the king stomped out without another word.

"Hey! You still need to pay for the meal!" Kawasaki shouted, though he quickly realized that his words fell on deaf ears. He then just sighed and shook his head.

"It's fine, I'll just send his castle the bill later. Hmm, I do wonder what Kirby and his new friends are up to..." He pondered before getting back to work.

As for Kirby, he was currently relaxing with Ichigo underneath a tree.

"Hey Ichigo, can I ask you a question?" Kirby suddenly said, getting the teen to look at the pink puff next to him.

"Sure." He responded nonchalantly.

After a moment of fidgeting and letting out a slight sigh, the puff looked directly at him. "How do you feel having the same powers as your enemies?" The child asked, clearly referring to Ichigo's own hollow powers.

The teen gave a slight shrug. "It is what it is. I was bothered by it at first, but now I see no reason to make a big fuss about it. Why do you ask?"

The pink puff seemed to become tense at that response, which was quickly noticed. "Well... um... it's a long story but... there was this guy... I guess you can call them a guy, but I fought him not too long ago. It was apparently some god of destruction of these guys called the Jambastion religion. They... no, the leader of them, wanted to use this supposed god named Void to destroy the universe. But that's not the worst part... the worst part is that when we saw Void's true form... he looked exactly like me."

The moment he finished, Kirby started to quiver, horrified by that memory. "He had... my face..."

Ichigo frowned, knowing all too well how it felt to have an enemy that was so similar to you. However, he had something to say about the puff's words.

"Kirby, I have to ask. What does it matter if you're connected to this Void thing? You aren't Void, nor are you anything like him. He was a supposed God of Destruction, while you're a hero, a protector. It doesn't matter where you or your powers originated from. What does matter, is how you use that power."

Kirby stared, but still seemed to have doubts. "I know it's all about how I use it but... I'm afraid of becoming like him..."

"Have you ever had the desire to kill someone for no reason other than because you can? Have you enslaved people or taken away someone's free will? Do you care for only yourself and no one else?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why are you worried? It doesn't matter what the circumstances of a person's creation is. All that matters is what we do with our lives."

Kirby took a moment to blink, but then smiled. "Thank you..."

"No problem."

The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, until the soul reaper began to notice that the puff was fidgeting a bit.

"Now what's up? You got another question?"

"Oh, uh... no! It's just really quiet! Ehe!" The puff giggled.

"Oh, is that all. If you have nothing else to talk about, then you don't need to force a conversation. There's nothing wrong with just sitting like this."

"Yeah, you're right." Kirby said as he visibly relaxed.

"Besides, knowing this place, something wacky will happen again in the next couple minutes."

The child nodded. Considering how Dreamland was, that was indeed true, especially when there were people not native to the planet here.

"Speaking of, do you think we forgot something?"

Kirby put one of his stubs to his head and made a "hmm" sound. "If I did, it probably wasn't important!"

"YOU SAYIN' I'M NOT IMPORTANT!?" A loud, yet panting voice boomed, slightly startling him. He turned to see King Dedede running up the hill, huffing and puffing from exhaustion.

"Oh, hi Dedede! Where were you?" Kirby asked.

"I WAS WAITING AT KAWASAKI'S! THE HECK DO YA THINK I WAS?!"

"So now you're annoyed that we didn't come back. Even though we never said we would return. Besides, you're the one who didn't want to fight, you don't get to complain." Ichigo grumbled, clearly daring Dedede to say something in response. The monarch growled, because he knew Ichigo was completely right about that.

"Where're your other friends anyway?" The monarch then uttered.

"I don't know, maybe you should ask the people standing behind you?"

"Aight then!" The king said as he turned around. "Wait, when did all of you get there!"

"We were here the entire time." Uryu said, not believing how shortsighted the king was, in more ways than one.

"How come I didn't see y'all then?!"

"Because you have the eyesight of a rock." Ichigo said under his breath, thankfully enough so that Dedede didn't hear him.

With a huff, the king then spoke up once more. "Aight, so now that the whole whatever business is taken care of, what're y'all gonna do now?"

"Before you do anything else, I recommend that you four figure out where you're going to stay. It's getting late." A voice said from the tree above them. This was immediately revealed to be Meta Knight after he hopped down to the ground.

"What do you mean? We'll just camp out here. Wouldn't be the first time we had to make camp." Ichigo said, with his friends nodding.

"I already made the tent and sleeping bags." Uryu mentioned, holding his sewing kit.

After taking a brief moment to look at the results, the knight nodded. "I see, that's quite resourceful of you."

"He was just going to ask if you wanted to stay at his base!" Kirby suddenly said, making the knight jump in started surprise, and appear to be slightly embarrassed.

"That's fine. While we wouldn't mind staying there..."

"We wouldn't want to impose on you either." Orihime added.

"Plus, it would be more advantageous to stay close to the device, incase another hollow makes its way here." Uryu also brought up.

"I see. That is a good point."

Then Kirby tilted his head. "Wait, but didn't Mr. Urahara say that the device needs a few days to be fixed?"

"It's Urahara. He'll probably get it fixed earlier than expected. Besides, it's always possible a Hollow could have an ability that lets them teleport. Not to mention Dark Matter might try coming to our dimension by trying to steal Magolor's machine."

"I can understand the thing with Dark Matter, but Hollows can teleport?" The puff asked, childishly tilting his head in the opposite direction, an amusing action to those there.

"All Hollows have abilities unique to them. Some hollows can make illusions to lure in victims. Some can create minions to fight for them. It's not out of the question for there to be a teleporting hollow." Uryu explained.

"Ooooh... that makes sense."

"HA! As if anyone could fall for silly illusions!" Dedede said, finding the prospect hilarious, while completely missing the death glare Ichigo was giving him. Meta Knight however noticed, and decided to talk to him about it later. But first, to get the king distracted.

"How many times have you been tricked Dedede? More than fifty times, correct?"

"N-no! I ain't dumb enough to fall for illusions!" He then glared. "Besides, weren't you brainwashed several times?"

"Yes, and unlike you, I'm not afraid to admit that fact. Besides, what's that behind you?"

"What's what behind me?" Dedede turned around, only to see another version of himself staring directly at him. "AAHHH, ANOTHER ME!" He screamed and ran off.

The other Dedede giggled and transformed into Kirby, who was wearing the Mirror ability hat.

"Good thing I had this Ability item handy!" He exclaimed happily.

The child and the others laughed, giving Meta Knight an opportunity to give Ichigo a silent message to follow him. Ichigo, while hesitant, nodded and followed the masked knight to a quieter area.

Once they were at a far enough area away from everyone else, Ichigo spoke up.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"When Dedede made his comment about illusions, I could tell that it angered you. I get the feeling that it was because you fought someone who appeared to specialize in illusions. Would you care to elaborate?" The knight asked, getting straight to the point.

Ichigo looked at him, trying to decide if he should. Meta Knight seemed trustworthy enough, he didn't seem the type to spread around the secrets of others.

"... "Fight" isn't exactly the right word. Well, there's two people that come to mind. There's Aizen, who I already told you about. How he used illusions to almost destroy the soul society. He was a real bastard, but he's not why I glared at Dedede. When... when I was still a kid, I was walking home with my mother. It was raining down hard, making it hard to see. In the distance, I thought I saw a girl drowning in the ravine next to us, so I went to help her, despite my mom yelling at me not too. When I got there, the girl was gone, and a hollow took its place. A Hollow named Grand Fisher. He attacked me and... my mom shielded me. She died protecting me."

After Ichigo's explanation, Meta Knight's yellow eyes turned to orange for a moment before changing to a grassy green.

"...I see."

His eyes then changed back to their normal yellow color.

"I'm sorry for your loss and I apologize for Dedede's insensitivity."

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault."

The knight looked at him for a moment. "...I'm sure you have heard this already, but it's not your fault either."

"I know. I've had that lesson beaten into me." The teen replied with a slight sigh.

"Well, sometimes it's good to have a reminder. I know from experience." The knight chuckled.

"That it is."

After a brief moment of silence, Meta Knight spoke up once more. "Is there anything else you feel you need to tell me?"

"Aizen. During his war against the soul society, he fought most of the captains at once. However instead of actually fighting them, he uses his illusions to switch places with another soul reaper named Momo, but everyone was tricked into seeing Momo as Aizen. Everyone except for me. I had to watch as Momo was almost killed by the people she considered allies. Worse, the person who almost killed her was Toshiro Hitsugaya, Momo's childhood friend. Illusions are no laughing matter, I know you know that, but you better make sure Kirby understands that lesson."

The knight's eyes turned green as he took in all this information. Then he spoke up. "I'm quite sure Kirby does understand that, but I will ensure that he is aware of it."

"Good. Now as for that king. What's his problem? Why does he act like...well, like that? It seems to me that he's trying to convince himself of his greatness more than trying to convince us."

The knight chuckled. "That's how Dedede is. Acting high and mighty seems to be a way for him to cope with things he doesn't know about or weaknesses he doesn't want to admit."

"He should learn to control that mouth of his. It'll get him hurt one day."

"Frankly, I'd be surprised if it hasn't already happened."

"Well, I'm not going to pretend I don't have a lot of room to grow, because I do. Here's something I have learned though, it's important to acknowledge your weaknesses, otherwise you'll become arrogant. And arrogance can kill you."

"I understand that myself. However, it seems Dedede has a stupid amount of luck." Meta Knight seemed to sigh in slight annoyance.

"Please tell me he doesn't have some kind of lucky dance."

Almost immediately, the blue puff blinked, completely confused by those words. "...excuse me?"

"Guy I know, Ikkaku, does what he calls his lucky dance before every fight."

"...that sounds like something Dedede would do, but he surprisingly doesn't do it."

"Well, let's not give him any ideas."

"Yes. He's already had his share of stupid ideas. He doesn't need any more."

"Yeah. Well, shall we head back?"

"Sounds like a good idea."

"You think Dedede will still be gone?"

"Probably. He can run pretty far if he's scared."

"Good. I swear, if he ever somehow comes to the Soul Society, he'll bring nothing but trouble."

Despite him mumbling this, he heard the knight reply to him.

"Don't worry. I don't plan on telling him anything if me and Kirby have the chance to visit there."

"I don't have to worry about you. But I've noticed Kirby as the tendency to talk. A lot. He might accidentally tell Dedede about visiting us."

"...I'll have to figure that out." He sighed.

"You could always tie him up and prevent him from coming."

"Sounds like a good idea. I might have to use a chain to do it just in case." The knight uttered with a slight sigh in reply.

The two returned to the rest of the group and sure enough, there was still no Dedede.

"Hey, Meta-sensei, what was that about?" Kirby immediately asked, sounding clearly concerned for his new friend.

"It's nothing you should be concerned with. I just needed to talk to Ichigo about something." The knight replied as he looked back at the substitute soul reaper.

"Yeah, now I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty tired from all that fighting. I'll be sleeping soon."

Kirby himself also stretched. "Yeah, I'm also getting tired. Let's meet up again tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure thing, Kirby."

The puff smiled happily.

"Alright, Kirby. Let's get you back home. We'll see you four tomorrow." The knight said as he transformed his cape into wings.

"Well, that's our cue to sleep as well. Unfortunately, I only had enough material to make three sleeping bags, so two of us will have to share. Sorry, Chad, but you're going to have be in one by yourself." Uryu said, to which the giant just shrugged.

"Share?" Orihime repeated, glancing at Ichigo, her face turning pink. "I'm fine sharing one with Ichigo." She stuttered out.

"You sure, Orihime? Wouldn't you be more comfortable by yourself?" Ichigo asked, oblivious to her desires.

"I'm fine, honest!"

"Well, if you're sure. I don't have a problem with it." Ichigo said, not noticing Orihime doing a little victory dance. Kirby tilted his head in confusion at the whole scene.

"...I'll explain it to you at a later point." Meta Knight sighed.

The next morning, Ichigo and friends woke up, well rested. Though it wasn't a peaceful awakening, as they heard the loud banging of two pans being smacked into each other.

"Wakkkkke up everyone! Rise and shine! Wake up and smell the coffee, even though I don't like coffee so I didn't make it... anyway gooooddd morning!" A familiarly overly friendly voice yelled out.

"Uryu, go deal with it." Ichigo told the Quincy.

"Why me? Why can't you do it?"

"Because I'm currently trapped." He replied, referring to a still sleeping Orihime wrapping her arms around him.

"...Fine." Uryu walked out, getting ready to summon his bow if needed. "What is it, Magolor?"

"Oh, good, at least one of you is awake. What about the others?" He asked.

"Still inside. I repeat, what do you want?"

"Oh, I just came out here to wake you up." He replied as if what he had done was completely normal.

"That better not be the only reason."

"Of course it's not!" He chuckled nervously.

"Well, what else is there?"

"Well, your funny hat friend got finished repairing the device sooner than even I expected! He might even be smarter than me!" He then leaned towards him. "Not really though, if you know what I mean!"

"And you had to wake us up for that?" Uryu groaned.

Sure, it was good to know they could go home, but they could have learned that information at any time.

"I thought you would like to know as soon as possible because I'm such a nice guy!"

"Well, thank you." Uryu said, being polite despite not having the most favorable opinion on the magic scientist.

"M-hm! Now, feel free to come over whenever all of you are ready to go or whatever!"

"Great, I'll let the others know."

"Very well, bye-bye!" The mage replied as he then hovered off.

"Did you hear all that, Ichigo?"

"Yeah. Guess we should find Kirby and say goodbye before we get on home."

"Huh? You guys are leaving already?" They heard a voice say.

The group turned to see that it was Kirby.

"First, why are you here already? Second, yeah. The device is fixed and ready for use. Now, don't be sad, Kirby, this goodbye isn't forever. We'll see each other again. Heck, you can always visit us sometime."

The child smiled, but it seemed a bit sad. "I know, but it still seems so soon. Oh, I also just happened to get up early today because I was excited to see you!"

"Well, I don't blame you for feeling that it's too soon, but we can't stay here forever. As wonderful as your world is, our home needs us. And again, we can visit whenever we want. So, it's not really a goodbye, more of a see you later."

"Eheh... yeah, you're right!"

"You can come out, Meta Knight, I know you're hiding behind a tree." Ichigo then called out.

With a brief sigh, the knight appeared before them with a teleport. "I heard everything. I don't doubt that we'll meet again in the future."

"Yeah, you're welcome to join Kirby when he visits us."

"I feel like he'll need someone to keep an eye on him."

"No, I don't!" The puff pouted, only for his mentor to chuckle in reply.

"I do plan on joining him regardless."

"Good. Dedede, don't cause trouble." He then said, causing a large penguin to fall out of a tree.

"How'd you know I was even here!?"

"You're predictable." Ichigo, his friends and Meta Knight said in unison.

"NO, I AIN'T!"

"Yes, you are, your highness." Bandana replied, taking all wind out of his king.

Ichigo smiled. He certainly enjoyed his time in Dreamland, but it was time to go home.

"Kirby, thank you."

The child tilted his head. "For what?"

"For helping get my powers back. It'd be rude of me to not thank you before I leave."

The puff smiled as he giggled timidly. "Ehee hee... it's nothing really. I'm just glad that I was able to help you!"

"Yeah. You ready to go everyone?"

"Yup!"

"Hmm."

"Do you need to ask?"

"Yeah, they're ready. Take care, you guys."

"Thanks! You take care as well!" The puff exclaimed, waving them off.

"Later." Ichigo said with a smile, walking into the Lor Starcutter. "Alright, Magolor, we're ready."

"So, you're all ready to go, I assume? Well, I guess so, if you're already here. That's why I already set up the machine to prepare you to teleport back!" The mage said, hitting a single key on his computer, turning it on.

"Later, Dreamland." Ichigo said, closing his eyes.

When he opened them, he found himself back in Urahara's shop. "Zangetsu, are you still there?"

"Yes, Ichigo. You still have your powers."

Ichigo released a sigh of relief, secretly worried that he would lose his powers again.

"Welcome back home, everyone! How do you feel?" Urahara asked.

The teen just grinned. "Like I just woke up from a wonderful dream."

Authors Note: Well it's been a long time coming, but it's finally over. Well, not quite. We have one bonus chapter coming up, but as far as the main story is concerned, we made it to the end. I'd like to thank everyone who has read this story and enjoyed. I know I had a lot of fun writing it, as did KachiKirby. Make sure to keep an eye out for our future projects, for this won't be the last time the marshmallow and the strawberry will cross paths