Welcome back to yet another chapter of Ballad of the Strawberry. Today we will be doing something different, CHAD DAY! Today is all about Chad and super hero time. Now for comments, sorry I suck at intros
TheWolf87: Interesting idea, didn't have a full plan on that but I'll take your suggestion into consideration.
If you have ideas for future plot points then feel free to PM or comment what you wish to see and I'll see if it fits with the story. If you have questions, not about the Gamer ability, then feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them in the next chapter. Thank you all for your continued support and please review once you've finished reading on plot or character development. i want to hear your thoughts. For now let's get to our feature presentation.
Chad stood in the middle of the street as he stared at the sky. Something didn't feel right. He remembered the feeling but couldn't place it.
"Hmm." It didn't make sense but he wanted to know the feeling. Why were his instincts telling him to run?
"Chad! You coming or not?" He was drawn from his thoughts as his friends called out to him. He didn't pay them much mind though as something large crashed into the ground. Jumping away, Chad studied the crash site. There was a shimmer, like heat waves, collected around a large area. Feeling something bad was about to happen he motioned for his friends to go get help.
"Gas explosion, go get help." Reluctantly the others nodded and ran off to go call the emergency number. Chad faced the blur again but had to jump out of the way as something smashed the ground where he once was. He knew this feeling now. It was the same he felt when he fought with Rukia and Ichigo against whatever was chasing Shibata.
Chad watched as the figure started attacking the surrounding area in an attempt to his him. He needed to get out of here. Turning he ran down an alleyway in hopes that the monster would follow him. He guessed right. Running down another alley, Chad sprinted towards an empty lot. It shouldn't have too many people in it. Having made up his mind Chad made his way to the lot.
Karin felt something off. It probably had something to do with the large black tear that was forming in the sky. She wouldn't mind the feeling too much if it wasn't for the sick feeling it gave her. It prevented her from concentrating and she just kicked the ball into her friends face again.
"What's wrong with you Kurosaki? Ever since earlier you've been messing up the kick!" She didn't mind, she just wanted that feeling to leave her. That unease that made her instincts scream to run.
"Sorry, I'm calling it a day." Adjusting her cap Karin approached the stairs that would lead to the Clinic. She was surprised when she saw one of Ichigo's friends. A memory hit her, this was the same friend that had the parakeet. Was she going to see more memories?! Something bad was happening and that was all that she could see from this situation. Especially when Ichigo's friend lunged and grabbed her right before something exploded into the ground behind them. She couldn't see what it was over Chad but if she had to guess it was one of the monsters she sees the Ichigo look alike fighting. Or was it Ichigo, she was so confused about that.
Chad was running to the abandoned lot and wasn't expecting to find a group of kids, let alone Ichigo's sister. This was bad, he needed to get them out of here. He lunged at Karin as the invisible beast struck the ground where he was once standing.
"You're Ichi's friend! What are you doing here?" Karin finally got a good look past Chad and was surprised to see one of the giant,white-masked monsters chasing him. Chad merely grunted in response to her question.
"Dodge to your left!" Chad complied and watched as the ground he was standing on caved in.
"You can see it?" Chad was curious, something was really weird about Ichigo and his family but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Now, like with Rukia, he had an advantage.
"Of course I can see it! I can see it clear as day!" Chad was shocked out of his thoughts when he saw the shadow was gone. "Why are you looking over there!? It's to your left!" Chad grabbed Karin and hoisted her onto his shoulder as he jumped out of the way. Using his momentum to give him an edge he started running again.
"Is it that you can't see it?" Karin questioned, concerned for Ichi's friend.
"Sort of" Chad tried to make sense of what was going on as the heat waves seemed to get more distinct.
"So, you can't see much, you were looking the other direction before so I wouldn't doubt it." Chad knew she spoke the truth. "Let me be your eyes-"
"No." He wouldn't bring Ichigo's sister into harm's way. That would go against their promise and he refused to do that.
"This isn't the first time I've seen these monsters. It bothers me so much! I want to know what connection they have with Ichi!"Chad was thrown off and almost got hit by one of the creature's arms. He twisted around to face the monster.
"Fine, where is it?" Karin pointed with a shout and threw his fist making contact with something. Chad's arm shifted in a way he wasn't used to but he pushed past the pain in favor of dodging. With that one hit, he could see more and more. After repeating this, with the help of Karin, the creature came into full focus.
No longer requiring Karin to be his eyes, he made it a priority to take her out of harm's way as he could see the Hollow clearly and he felt some sort of power fill his right arm. He needed to protect Karin to the best of his ability. Setting her down as far away as he could get, after throwing another punch at the Hollow, he set down the protesting Karin.
"I want to fight with you! I want to be useful!" I want to find out more about what Ichi does! She didn't say that though. She wouldn't out loud but maybe now she could find out what Chad planned to do against that monster on his own. She watched him trade blows with the Hollow.
Chad was slowly but surely getting tired. He had to end this so he could finish saving Ichigo's sister. He had to get back to her and out of harm's way or protect her in case more of these monsters. It was just then that the other kids managed to find their way back and to Karin.
"Kurosaki! Are you okay?" The Hollow turned to look at the kids. The mother hens surrounding Karin. "What happened? What's with the bloody man? Did you two get into a fight?" Chad could hear Karin yelling at them to get to safety before being backhanded out of the way by the Hollow. She landed on the ground with a thud and Chad as he recalled a conversation he had with his Abuelo so many years ago.
"You are strong Yasutora. Stronger than most, don't misuse that strength. Don't abuse that strength because then what are you left with? Yasutora, those large, strong fists of yours, why do you have them? Find that out" Chad blinked back his emotions that were drawn out by the memory. He knew, if only a little, what his Abuelo meant then. Chad would make him proud by defending those without strength and to uphold his word by protecting what Ichigo wants to protect.
Karin was thrown away from her friends by the Hollow and hit the ground hard. Wheezing, Karin attempted to get up to her feet only to find the Hollow walking up to her. Its eyes shone and Karin felt her instincts flare. It brought a hand up to strike it's prey down before consuming it while Karin attempted to raise her arms in defense.
Chad moved faster than he had ever gone before and flashed between the two, raising his fist to meet the Hollow's. With a bright flash, the Hollow was blasted back and Karin lowered her arms to find Chad with a strange black right arm, a red marking going down the center with a white line separating the two colors. The Hollow had lost its arm with a large chunk of its shoulder and torso missing as well.
"Mister, what's with the arm?" Chad observed his new arm and flexed his fingers getting a feel for it. They both heard a loud groaning and found the Hollow getting back up. Before she could protest, Chad was sprinting towards the Hollow. Raising his fist, he delivered a powerful uppercut into the law of the Hollow, obliterating the mask and purifying it. All was still for a moment as the adrenaline fled Chad's body. He gave a thumbs up before collapsing onto the ground.
"Mister!" Karin ran up to him, noticing his injuries.
"You're not hurt right?" Karin smiled even as she wanted to hurt him for not worrying about himself.
"Baka! You're the only one who's injured!" Chad merely smiled as he stared at the sky, watching as the clouds rolled across the sea of blue.
"Good." Karin kicked him, hard.
"That's not good you idiot! Stop trying to act tough okay! I live in a clinic! I know what makes a serious injury so you can quit that act of 'I'm not that hurt' because it's dumb!" Karin continued to kick him before falling on her knees and burying her face in his side. Chad didn't really know how to act. "You're just like Ichigo, you take on all the difficult challenges and don't express how much they hurt. We can see it, we can all see it and how it affects you! Just stop trying to take it all on yourself when you don't have to! Please, just, please. Talk to us Ichigo."
Chad didn't want to let her know her mistake and allow her to let out the emotion. He would have to let Ichigo know about this when they met up next.