A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry this one's a bit late...I try to update in the morning ET, but I was held back a bit today. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Hisagi Shuuhei
His name is Kurosaki Ichigo.
My former captain once instilled in me the lesson of fear. "Those who do not fear the sword they wield," Tousen told me, "have no right to wield a sword at all."
Yet why did Kurosaki Ichigo still fight with his formidable Zangetsu? Didn't he hold no fear whatsoever of his own power? Tousen's words and Kurosaki were hand-in-hand, a paradox. I had not directly seen the Substitute Shinigami fight, but based on the words of my fellow lieutenants, I didn't have any doubt that he was confident, sometimes even arrogant, of his power. Rangiku said he was relentless, that he never backed down but always rose up to the occasion. Abarai said he was a monster, his strength never diminishing. Even Kusajishi claimed he was powerful enough to match, if not defeat, Zaraki in a fight. It was idiotic not to believe all of these testimonies to Kurosaki's abilities.
But Tousen's words reverberated through the walls of my head, and I simply could not understand the relationship between them and Substitute Shinigami. No fear in the blade, yet such overwhelming power? It shouldn't have been possible.
I approached Kuchiki Rukia with this question, and she gladly answered for me. "No, Hisagi-fukutaichou," she replied with a knowing smile. "He's not completely fearless of his power."
"He isn't?" I said, incredulous. "But the others say—"
"The others don't know what goes in his mind during a fight," she finished grimly. "There was a time when he couldn't grasp his power. He was scared out of his wits, for a time, to use his blade." I listened, certainly blown out of my mind. Kurosaki and fear were incompatible together; the antithesis of one another. Kuchiki's eyes turned dark. "He couldn't control his own abilities, and as a result, he sought to improve. And he did. That's what makes him fearless."
The strive to improve? Kuchiki bade me farewell, leaving me with that concept swimming in my mind. But then it all clicked together, and the gears started turning in my head. Fear empowers that strive to improve; it is the gas that fuels the tank. Without the strive to improve, we do not have any right to call ourselves fighters, warriors, or defenders. We do not any the right to fight at all. However, once we conquer that fear and vanquish it into oblivion, we become what society deems as "powerful."
That means Tousen's words are slightly incorrect: there is no need to hold onto that fear as long as you can overcome it. And I thank Kurosaki for teaching me that.
A/N: How'd you all like it? Be sure to leave some feedback, which would serious help me as a writer! Thanks everyone!