Chapter 10: Grand Fisher

Yang was standing in between Yuzu and the Hollow, who still had Karin pinned down under its foot. Her brass knuckles were still on her hands, and she struck a fighting pose.

"Let her go!" she yelled to the Hollow. He simply laughed in response. She knew she had no chance of beating this Hollow in a straight fight.

I just need to get him to release Karin, then I can grab her and escape, she thought. She charged forward and cocked back her fist, planning to hit him in the face as hard as she could. She was about to hit him, when the lure attached to his back suddenly appeared in front of her face. And what she saw made her freeze in her tracks.

Before her eyes was a girl, about 15 years of age. She had black hair that framed her face, turning red at the tips. Silver eyes stared back at Yang's lilac. This girl's face was one Yang knew very well. After all, she grew up looking at it.

"Ruby?" Yang asked, stunned. She didn't understand. How was Ruby here? She should be back in Remnant. Did she die that day too, and they just never found her? Before she could really contemplate these questions, she felt a tentacle wrap itself around her neck and lift her up in the air.

"What's happening?" Yuzu asked, not being able to see what lifted Yang into the air.

"You're in the way," the Hollow said to Yang. "I need these two to lure in my real prey. You smell tasty, so you'll make a good appetizer." He opened his mouth wide, and moved to devour her, when the tentacle was suddenly severed by an orange-haired teen with a huge sword. Yang began to fall away from the Hollow once the tentacle let go of her, but she was caught by Ichigo.

"Yang?" he asked the blonde, who was gasping for air. "What are you doing here?"

"He's got Karin," Yang said to him, pointing at the Hollow. Ichigo turned at glared at the monster. The creature lifted up his foot and picked the girl up with his hand. He held her out in front, while she screamed in a mixture of pain and terror.

"Karin!" Ichigo yelled in concern.

"One hostage is all I need," the Hollow said. "I've been waiting for you, Soul Reaper." Ichigo let Yang down, and they both took defensive positions in front of Yuzu.

"Karin!" he shouted again.

"Ichigo," Karin said weakly before passing out. Saido and Rukia finally caught up to them, and appeared behind Ichigo. Rukia positioned herself between Yuzu, and Yang and Ichigo.

"Whoa, now that's an ugly one," Saido said.

"Huh?" Yang asked. "Who's this guy?"

"No one important," Ichigo said, much to Saido's annoyance. The sound of the Hollow chuckling brought their attention back to the monster, and Ichigo noticed a very familiar girl standing in front of her. She had a black bowl cut, and was wearing a white robe. "It's not possible," he said. The Hollow just continued to laugh. "It's her. It's the girl I saw that day six years ago, the one down by the river."

"Six years ago?" Rukia asked, causing Yuzu to look at her in confusion, due to not being able to see who she was talking to. "Ichigo, do you mean—"

"That's right. She's the one. I tried to stop her from jumping into the river, but when I finally came to, she disappeared. And my mother—she was dead."

"So that means this girl had something to do with it?" Yang asked.

"Six years ago?" the girl spoke with the Hollow's voice. "That's a long time. And there have been so many. You can't expect me to remember every one of the souls I've eaten. How can you?" The girl's skin peeled back, revealing the lure underneath it, which took its place above the Hollow's head, as the Hollow continued laughing.

"It's Grand Fisher," Rukia said. "That's the code name we've given him."

"Seems a little on the nose," Yang commented.

"He keeps himself invisible and disguises the lure growing out of his head as a human. Anyone who sees the lure he knows has high spirit energy and immediately attacks and devours them. For over 50 years, this Hollow has evaded every Soul Reaper that's gone after him. And we know that his favorite victims are women." That sent a chill down Yang's spine.

Great, she thought. So he's a creep, too.

"So does that mean my mother was actually killed by…" Ichigo started to ask, but Rukia's nod told him everything he needed to know. He glared at the Hollow, pure rage in his eyes.

"Impressive," Grand Fisher said. "You have been lucky, little boy. You saw my lure, and yet you lived. Perhaps it was my intention to eat you on the spot for your spirit energy, but there's something about the women. They're just too sweet and lovely for me to pass up." He started laughing maniacally after that, and Ichigo began trembling with rage.

"Bastard," Rukia spat.

"That's the most disgusting Hollow I've seen in a long time," said Saido.

"50 years is a long time to run away," Yang said, her eyes turning red. "That ends today!" Before she had a chance to act, though, Ichigo gripped his sword with both hands and charged at the Hollow.

"Karin!" he screamed again, jumping in the air with his sword raised. The Hollow jumped backwards as he brought his sword down, kicking up debris as it dug into the concrete. The Hollow brought his hand down, attempting to crush him, but he jumped out of the way and landed on a nearby ledge.

"Don't be so reckless, you idiot!" Rukia yelled, running towards him. Yang, however, completely ignoring her advice to the orange-haired teen, charged past her, her fist cocked back. She went for a body blow, but was surprised when the green fur absorbed her attack and sucked up her arm. Another part of his fur quickly lashed out and hit her in the face, stunning her. He then threw her at Ichigo before jumping up into the air. His fur spread out all around him and wrapped itself completely around the two teenagers. He pulled the rest of body towards them, so it appeared as though they were being absorbed into his body.

"Yang! Ichigo!" Rukia yelled in concern.

"Oh, this is so gross!" Yang complained.

"I knew this thing was ugly," Ichigo said, "But he smells, too!"

Rukia stretched out two fingers in front of her, and the fingertips began glowing red, and she traced a character in the air.

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!" she chanted. "Look upon yourself with horror, and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo number 9! Geki!" Grand Fisher's whole body began to glow with a red light, freezing him in place, and making him groan in pain.

"How dare you interfere?" he demanded of Rukia. A piece of his fur formed into the shape of a whip, and he smacked Rukia in the head with it, sending her sailing into a headstone behind her. She sat slumped against the headstone, a trickle of blood falling down her left eye. The Hollow laughed again. "Now just sit there and watch as I devour this little girl."

"Wait!" Ichigo pleaded, while Yang struggled as hard as she could. Grand Fisher chuckled and lifted Karin towards his waiting mouth.

"Tasty," he commented.

"No, don't!"

"If you feel so strongly about it, maybe I should eat you or the woman first." Before he had the chance to do anything to them, Saido finally decided to join in on the action. He jumped up and in a quick, fluid motion, he sliced off the arm holding Karin. The Hollow gripped Saido's leg in his mouth and threw him away, as Karin landed back near the gravestones, still unconscious. Ichigo used the dristraction caused by the Hollow's severed hand to slice himself and Yang free of the green fur, the two teenagers jumping away, Ichigo landing several feet away from the Hollow, and Yang landing back down near the gravestones. After she landed, Yang felt her left leg buckle underneath her.

Damn it, she thought. I must have twisted my ankle. It really sucks not having Aura right now.

They spared a glance at Karin's prone form, and saw that Yuzu was shaking her shoulder, trying to wake her up. The poor girl still had no idea what was going on. The Hollow followed their gaze and cackled again. Several clumps of his fur took on the shape of spears and launched themselves at the twins.

"Karin! Yuzu!" Ichigo yelled. The fur skewers were fast approaching the girls, when Saido jumped in front of them, his sword raised. The skewers split on contact with the man's zanpakuto, doubling their amount, which soon found themselves embedded in the Soul Reaper's body. Four of them impaled him in the leg, and another three embedded themselves in the man's chest. Ichigo, Yang, and Rukia were shocked at the man's act of sacrifice. Ichigo managed to snap out of it quickly, though, running up and cutting the fur away from Saido. The older man dug his sword in the ground to hold himself up, panting heavily as blood poured out from his wounds.

"Why?" Ichigo asked him. "You sacrificed yourself."

"I'm a Soul Reaper, kid," Saido said with difficulty. "We fight Hollows. We kill them without mercy, no matter what." He paused to cough up a large amount of blood. "When a Hollow attacks at random and kills someone, that person's loved ones are the real victims." His knees buckled. "They're left with nothing but an emptiness. As a Soul Reaper, I couldn't let that happen. We must always protect the innocent. Do you understand, Spiky?" He finally collapsed, his eyes closing as he lost consciousness.

"Hey, get up!" Ichigo called. "Do you hear me? Get up!" Rukia walked up to Saido to check on him, while Yang looked on with concern. "He can't die, can he? He's a Soul Reaper."

"Ichigo, even Soul Reapers are not immortal," Rukia said. "A severe enough injury can still kill them." The trio heard a snoring sound coming from the fallen Soul Reaper, and stared at him with a mixture of disappointment and anger.

"Wait a minute," Ichigo said angrily. "He's only sleeping."

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Yang asked.

"Tell him to get up," Ichigo said to Rukia. "Or I'll kill him!"

"Rukia!" Kon called, having finally caught up to them, holding his stuffed lion body tucked under his arm. He spotted the bloodied from of Saido lying on the ground. "Whoa, this guy looks like he's leaking."

"Ichigo?" Yuzu asked as she saw Kon in her brother's body.

"Where the hell have you been?" Yang demanded.

"Nevermind that," Rukia said. "Kon, take Ichigo's sisters and run."

"Run where?"

"Just go!"

"Alright!" He yelled, picking up Karin under one arm and grabbing Yuzu by the hand. "Come on!"

"Yang's hurt," Rukia said to Ichigo. It had started to rain suddenly, a fitting change all things considered. "So I'll go and you back me up." Ichigo completely ignored her again and jumped back up to where the Hollow was. "Wait!" she yelled to him.

"No way," he said to her. "This is my fight!"

"What did you say?"

"I have to do this for my mother. You and Yang need to stay out of this!"

"Don't be an idiot!" Yang called.

"This Hollow's been getting the best of Soul Reapers for 50 years! He's way too strong for you to take on!" Rukia yelled.

"That's enough!" shouted Ichigo. "Now please, don't interfere or try to help me. This fight is all mine!" Grand Fisher roared at Ichigo's challenge. The teen let out a battle cry of his own and charged to meet him.

Kon had managed to bring Ichigo's sisters to their father at the main building for the cemetery. Kon was sitting on the front steps, and Isshin was leaning against a support pillar to his right. The stress had been two much for Yuzu, and she passed out shortly after they arrived, and she along with her sister were still asleep, leaning against a wall to Kon's left. He heard one of them start to shuffle, and looked to see that it was Karin.

"Oh, hey, Karin," he whispered. "Are you OK?" She didn't respond, so Kon assumed that she was just readjusting herself in her sleep. He looked at her for a few seconds before grabbing at his eyebrows in pain.

Oh man! He thought. I'm trying to act like Ichigo, but staying all serious and scowling every minute of the day is impossible! How can anyone look so mad all the time?

Ichigo roared as he charged at the Hollow. He had chased it into the woods, running uphill after it. Surprisingly enough, Rukia and Yang did not in fact follow him, but he wasn't much paying attention to that. His focus was squarely on his enemy. He was running through the trees, dodging fur skewers fired at him by Grand Fisher from a distance. He kicked off of a tree to launch himself at the monster, and swung his sword, aiming for its face. To his shock, the Hollow suddenly disappeared from view and reappeared behind him.

"You're too slow, human" Grand Fisher taunted. Ichigo just barely managed to avoid several skewers by jumping forward, as they impacted the ground where he was standing. He performed multiple long jumps in a row to continue dodging the Hollow's attacks, until he ended up in a clearing, where Grand Fisher appeared several feet in front of him.

"That was pretty brave of you, young Soul Reaper," he said, "telling your friends you didn't need their help to fight me. Pretty brave and pretty stupid."

"Shut up," Ichigo spat at the monster, staring him down.

I don't really know how long Yuzu grieved after our mother died, he thought. And I can only imagine how lonely Karin must have felt without her. Saido's words came back to him.

"We must always protect the innocent." He gripped his sword firmly with both hands.

"I've also made it my duty to protect the innocent." He didn't notice Rukia running up towards him, Yang leaning on her for support. "That means it's my duty to destroy you!" He charged again at the chuckling Hollow. He swung at its face, only for the creature to disappear again and reappear behind him.

"I guess you didn't listen when your friend told you not to be so reckless," the Hollow said. Ichigo was barely able to get his sword up in time to block a swipe from the Hollow's hand, which had grown claws on the tips of the fingers. They were dangerously close to his face, forcing Ichigo to push back against them to avoid losing an eye or worse. "You've been lucky so far. How many times do you think you can get away with jumping into the lion's den without any strategy?" Rukia and Yang had finally caught up, and gasped in shock at seeing Ichigo backed into a corner like this. "Well, today's the day your luck finally ran out, maggot!" Grand Fisher tightened his grip on Ichigo's sword, when his fingernails suddenly extended. Ichigo suddenly found himself impaled by the Hollow's long, sharp nails, one in each shoulder, and one in the center of his chest.

"Ichigo!" The girls shouted simultaneously. The Hollow removed his claws from the teen's body, causing his knees to buckle. He stuck his sword in the ground and leaned on it for support, gasping for breath. Blood continued to drip out of his open wounds.

"That'll teach you to be so reckless, amateur Soul Reaper," Grand Fisher said, holding his bloodied claws in front of him for all to see. "Rejecting your comrades' offer of help will prove to be your final mistake. And now you'll endure the shame of dying without even having wounded the great Grand Fisher." Before Ichigo's very eyes, the arm that Saido had cut off grew back, returning the Hollow to his full strength. Rukia put Yang down, as her leg was still injured, and ran towards Ichigo to help, calling his name.

"Stay back!" Ichigo barked at her, causing her to stop in surprise. "I'll do this myself, whatever it takes. No matter what it costs me, even if I die, I'm going to finish this."

"Then die you will, because you allow your passion and your rage to distract you from your purpose. And that distraction dulls your sword. You flail wildly, but your physical skills alone are not enough to defeat me. And now, I shall show you why your mind is not strong enough to fight me, either." The lure appeared in front of him, and the Hollow wrapped his hand around it. When he removed his hand, Ichigo was stunned by what he saw. The lure had taken the shape of a woman, with long, dirty blonde hair. She had brown eyes, and a kind smile on her face. It was his mother.

"Is that your mother?" Rukia asked.

"How the hell did he do that?" Yang asked.

"Bastard!" spat Ichigo.

"Even the most cold-blooded Soul Reaper has one person whom he can never kill," explained Grand Fisher. "That is a fact which you cannot deny. My lure is able to read the souls of my enemies, and take on the form of that one person. By doing that, I've been able to avoid every Soul Reaper that has come before you for over 50 years. And I can see that for you, this is that one person."

"So that's why I saw Ruby earlier," Yang said, slightly disappointed that it was simply an illusion and not in fact her beloved sister.

"Do you remember me, Ichigo?" the lure asked in his mother's voice. Ichigo looked like he was in absolute shock.

"Ichigo," Rukia said, as if she was going to act in some way, but instead she started trembling. "I understand. I won't help you. But please, Ichigo. Don't sacrifice yourself."

"What are you doing?" Yang asked. "Help him."

"I can't," Rukia said, and Yang started to see tears emerging from her eyes, even through the rain. "This is a battle he has to fight by himself. This is a battle for his honor."

"What do you mean?"

"I can help him now, but his honor would be destroyed forever. I can't help him if it means breaking him. I won't do it!"

"Rukia…"

Saido had finally started to stir, and began to push himself up off the ground.

"Oh damn," he said. "I fell asleep again. Oh well." He picked up his sword and ran in the direction he sensed the Hollow.

"Well, Soul Reaper," Grand Fisher taunted. 'Can you draw your sword against your own mother?"

"You bastard!" Ichigo growled. "How dare you defile her memory by bringing her into this?! You disgusting freak! You make me sick! I'll cut your heart out!" He charged at the Hollow again, but was brought to a halt when the lure disguised as his mother appeared in front of him.

"Ichigo, you mustn't do this," the lure said. "You mustn't hurt your mother." The lure steadily approached him, forcing him to take a step back. "Please, son, you must put your sword down. Do it for me." Ichigo hesitated, allowing Grand Fisher to form a very large spear out of his fur and impale him in the right shoulder, his sword arm. The tip of his sword fell to the ground, as he no longer had the strength to hold it up. The girls watched in horror, and didn't notice Saido catch up with them. Ichigo glared at the Hollow, wincing in pain.

"Didn't I tell you?" the Hollow asked. "Your rage only serves to dull your blade. It makes you vulnerable. And now with my next blow, I'll finish you off!" He held up his hand, and his fingernails extended into long claws again. "Now, before you die, I want to tell you that after having faced so many Soul Reapers, you were the most foolish and by far the weakest of them all!" He thrust his claws towards the teen, intending to impale him one final time.

"Ichigo!" Yang screamed in horror. Surprisingly enough, the Hollow decided to stop his attack, and stared in her direction.

"Well now," the creature said. "It seems she cares for you. You were so weak, that I'm left feeling very unsatisfied. I told the girl earlier that she would be my appetizer, so I've decided that you get to die with the knowledge that you weren't strong enough to save her!" He removed the fur spear from Ichigo's shoulder, and the teen fell to his knees. Grand Fisher charged at Yang, knocking Rukia out of the way with ease. He raised his claws again to strike Yang with them, but they were suddenly blocked by Ichigo, who looked at the monster with pure rage in his eyes.

"No!" he screamed. "You already took my mother from me! I won't lose anyone else important to me, you monster!"

"Ichigo…" Yang said.

"You said that anger dulls my blade. But against scum like you, even a dull blade is more than enough to finish you!" He swung his sword hard to the side, throwing the Hollow's claws out of the way, and brought his sword down hard on Grand Fisher's mask, slicing it clean in half. Grand Fisher screamed in agony, and the four people present watched as his body dissolved into black particles. Grand Fisher's 50-year reign of terror was finally over, ended by a human teenager. "That was for my mother, you son of a bitch."

"Incredible," Rukia said under breath.

"Ichigo, you did it," Yang said. As soon as she finished, his legs finally gave out, and he fell backwards, landing in the blonde's arms.

Yang was sitting on her legs, allowing the unconscious Ichigo to rest his head in her lap. She was smiling down at his unconscious form, absentmindedly running a hand through his orange hair. Her eyes showed pure relief that he was still alive, and gratitude that he had saved her. She couldn't help but blush at the thought of what he said to the Hollow.

So, I'm somebody you don't want to lose, huh? She thought. That makes me really happy.

"Your friend is something else," Saido said to Rukia, who was watching the two teens with a smile.

"Yes, he is," she answered. "He did a fantastic job today."

"As you know, a Soul Reaper's power is determined by his life force. This kid's potential is a little frightening." He began to walk away. "Well, time for me to head home. I can see I'm just getting in the way. But it looks like you've got some steep competition in your way to his heart."

"Give it a rest, will you?"

"Ok, have it your way. But you know the Soul Society's going to find out eventually. Bye Rukia. Good luck with everything. Say 'goodbye' to the kid for me."

Everything had calmed down, and the rain had stopped. Rukia had used her healing kido to heal Ichigo's injuries and Yang's leg. The boy himself was finally back in his body, and was standing over his mother's grave, the only source of light at this time of night coming from the nearby street lamps. Rukia and Yang were nearby, but were keeping their distance, to give him some time alone with his thoughts.

"I did it, Mom," Ichigo said. "I finally did it."

"I'm sure whatever 'it' is, she'd be proud of you," his father said. Ichigo hadn't even heard him approach.

"Dad, those were private thoughts. You shouldn't eavesdrop." He watched as his father reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. "Hey, I thought you quit smoking." His father took a long drag before answering.

"Your mom told me once, back when we'd only been dating for a little while, she thought I looked cool holding a cigarette. Now that I think about it, that might have been the first compliment she ever gave me. It might have been the last one, too. That's why I always smoke just one when I come here, on this one day of the year."

"How can you smile at anything here?" Ichigo started to tremble. "Why doesn't anyone blame me for causing Mom's death? It would be so much easier to understand if you all blamed me. I can't take it! I can't!"

"Why should we blame you, Ichigo?" His words shocked the orange-haired teen. "If I were ever to blame you for causing your mother's death, she'd never forgive me. It's no one's fault that she died. Sometimes in life, bad things just happen, and she knew that. She was the woman I loved, a woman with so much love in her heart, she would do anything to protect her family. And remember this. That woman, whom I loved so much, was willing to give up her own life to protect yours."

"Wow, Dad." Isshin started to walk past him, only to quickly turn around and knee him in the back, making Ichigo double over in pain. "What was that for?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Can't have you going soft on me, boy." He continued walking away from his son. "Be strong, Ichigo. Live well, grow old well, grow bald well, and then die long after I've died. And if possible, die with a smile on your face. Otherwise, I'll never be able to face Masaki. Try to shake off that gloom and depression, son. You're way too young to carry around such a heavy burden. I'll be waiting at the bottom of the hill." His father disappeared from view, and Ichigo heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Yang approaching him, a sheepish look on her face.

He had been dreading this moment since the day before. He knew he would have to answer for the way he had treated her. A few hours ago, the thought of facing the blonde scared him. But not anymore. He knew exactly what he had to say.

"Yang, I'm sorr—" before he could finish his sentence, the girl had wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Yang?"

"You idiot," she said softly. "Don't ever scare me like that again." He stood awkwardly for a few seconds before returning the hug.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for worrying you, and I'm sorry for how I was acting. I was a mess of emotions, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you." She shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I'm just happy you're OK. And I shouldn't have tried to force you to tell me what was wrong. It really wasn't my business. It's just, you've done so much for us since we got here, Ichigo. More than I think you realize."

"What do you mean?"

"You opened up your home to us, you gave us a place to belong, you made us feel welcomed in this new world we know nothing about. You've done so much for us, so I thought it was only fair that I try to help you when something was wrong. And it really hurt when you wouldn't let me."

"Yang…"

"So just promise me, that from now on, you won't try to handle these problems by yourself. You have friends. You've got Rukia, Orihime, Chad, Blake, Pyrrha… me. We'll always be there for you, just like we know you'll always be there for us. So just promise me that you'll let us."

"OK, you win. I promise." They stood there embracing for a few more moments before Ichigo and looked at Rukia and slowly broke the hug. "Hey, Rukia. I want you to let me be a Soul Reaper for a little while longer."

"Ichigo?" Yang questioned.

"I want to become strong so I can continue to protect the innocent from the Hollows. The Hollows took my mother from me, and I want to become strong enough so that never happens to anyone else ever again."

Yang and Rukia could only look at him with pride.

AN: So now we have our first major deviation from canon: Ichigo actually kills Grand Fisher. I always thought it was a huge cop-out that after building up Grand Fisher as the Hollow that killed Ichigo's mother, he just chickens out and runs as soon as he gets injured and Ichigo never gets to kill him. So I changed it.

I also omitted the scene when the spirit of Ichigo's mother spoke to him through Grand Fisher's lure. I always thought that scene was stupid to be honest. It was very poorly written in my opinion, and didn't make much sense to me. So now, his second wind comes from a desire to protect Yang, instead of a confidence boost from his mother's final thoughts. It also serves to help build Ichigo and Yang's relationship. I hope you guys like the changes I made.

So, next chapter will be the RWBY-focused one. Just to re-iterate, it will not be a comedic chapter. I'm not clever enough for it. I just really hope that I didn't get people's hopes up. We'll just have to see how it turns out.

As always, thanks you guys so much for reading my fanfiction! It means a lot to me. I'll see all of you next time.