Chapter 20: Memories in the Rain (Kurosaki)

Kido Practice Range, Shino Academy

Shino and Ryunosuke stand in the targeting range, meant for students to practice Kido, explaining something to their instructor, Onabara.

Ryunosuke finishes with a solemn expression, "…so she said she wouldn't be coming to class today."

Onabara nods his head in apparent understanding, "I understand… please tell Miss Shiba that she'll have to come see me to make up this class on the weekend."

Ryunosuke gives his instructor a smile, "Yes, sir!"

Onabara walks off to instruct practicing students, prompting a pompous voice to call out to the pair, "So Shiba isn't coming to class? Sounds like slacker behavior to me… typical peasant!"

The duo turn around to find Katsumi a distance away from them, smiling pompously.

Shino scowls at the noble, "Hey, the common folk work hard! Also, you don't understand Karin at all! I don't know her that well either, but I do know she's not lazy!"

Katsumi snickers, "My mistake… it seems she cut class to save herself the embarrassment. I've seen her Kido before—it's worse than that of a newborn!"

Shino growls, "Like I said, you don't understand Karin! She took off to honor her mother who died today!"

Katsumi's eyes widen slightly at this before reverting to normal, although now almost looking sympathetic, "I see… that is certainly a valid excuse…"

The noble the turns away, seemingly ending the conversation with Shino and Ryunosuke for the time being. Ryunosuke looks back towards the dorms with a concerned expression on his face.

Rukongai

Rukia and Karin each sit quietly in some grasslands in the Rukobgai. A grave stands in front of them, marked as 'Kaien Shiba'. Rukia lights two sticks of incense, placing them next to the grave on each side of a propped-up photo of Masaki, Karin's mother.

Karin gives an appreciative look to her mentor, "Thank you for calling off your classes and providing the incense, Sensei… you really didn't have to…"

Rukia gives her student a sympathetic look, "Don't worry about it."

Karin looks at the photo of Masaki before clasping her hands together as a sign of prayer. Rukia closes her eyes, clasping her hands together as well.

After a while of this, Rukia's eyes shoot open at the sound of sobbing.

Rukia regards her crying student, "Karin…?"

Karin looks at Rukia, wiping her tears as she does so, "I-it's just really hard, y'know? After mom died, I cut myself off… I thought it would make it easier to deal with her being gone… The whole family has been going to see mom for five years… this year, I can't even go to her grave and Ichigo isn't even…"

Karin clutches the charm around her neck that Isshin gave her.

Karin looks down in guilt, tears starting to run down her cheeks again, "It's all my fault…"

Rukia suddenly wraps her arms around Karin, "It's alright… it's not your fault…"

Karin buries her face into Rukia's shoulder, wailing, "But it is! I thought I couldn't be hurt after losing mom—but losing Ichigo hurt even more!"

Rukia pats Karin's back while wearing a sad, sympathetic look, "Please stop blaming yourself… there was nothing you could've done…"

Karin continues crying into her mentor's shoulder.

Karakura Cemetery

Yuzu enters the Karakura Cemetery alongside Chad, Yukio, and Kon, who sits on the Chad's shoulder. It had been raining the entire day, even now there is no sign of stopping, so the group came armed with Umbrellas. Yuzu had tried dropping by the clinic earlier in hopes that Isshin would be there to come with her, but regrettably no one was there. Due to this, Yuzu decided to ask Chad and Yukio to come with her, as her uncle and Uryu were busy off doing their own things. Despite this, Ryuken made it clear that both himself and Isshin would visit the grave of Masaki at some point during the day. Her uncle's words were proven correct, as Yuzu notices some recently placed flowers on the graves of Ichigo and her mother.

Chad seems to give a short prayer before taking a step back where Yukio is, looking awkward and out of place. Yuzu's companions want to give her space, not even Kon has said anything since they arrived at the cemetery. Yuzu stares blankly at the graves of the two family members she looked up to the most, before weeping.

Yukio and Chad move to comfort her, but Yuzu puts up her hand, "No, I'm fine… it's just that I can't help but feel like, despite how much I look up to mom, I barely knew her… as if, Ichigo is the only loss that hurts…"

Chad decides to comment on this, in hopes of cheering her up, "You were only five when you lost her, so of course it might seem that way. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Chad's words seem to have the desired effect as Yukio adds his two cents, "Yeah. If it makes you feel any better, I was happy when I found out my parents died."

Both Kon and Chad look both confused and troubled by this, while Yuzu wears a face of sadness and concern, "No… that doesn't make me feel any better… how could you feel that way about your parents?"

Yukio flinches under their gazes, grabbing his arm anxiously, "We weren't exactly close…"

"Oh…" Yuzu states, clearly discontent with the boys' explanation.

Yukio looks away, "Just forget I said anything. This day is about remembering your family, not mine."

Yuzu nods, agreeing with the boys' reasoning and backing off.

Yuzu stares back and forth between Ichigo and Masaki's graves for a minute, before deciding to reminisce on her lost family members, "I may not have remembered much about mom, but I do know she loved me and that I loved her… both Ichigo and Karin felt the same."

The girl pauses before speaking about her brother, "I think Ichigo never got over her death… he tried to hide it, but he was always much more gloomy than the rest of us on the anniversaries. He also started acting like a punk after mom died… but I always figured that was a coincidence…"

Chad's gaze softens while Kon jumps off his shoulder to the ground, starting to inspect the graves from afar.

Yuzu turns around to look at Chad, who can see tears falling from the girl's eyes, "I can't say that him becoming a punk was a bad thing… It's how he met you, wasn't it?"

Chad nods solemnly at the girl's words, before she turns back to face the graves.

"You know, after mom died, I took over most of her responsibilities around the house. As a result, I was constantly busy with cleaning, cooking, or some other type of chore, so I didn't ever really have much time for friends. I always loved whenever Ichigo or Karin would bring their friends over for dinner or to hang out. It felt like I was making up for something I was missing…" the girl pauses, looking at her brother's grave, "Whenever I did have time for a break, I would always spend time with my family… we were quite silly—often earning complaints from the neighbors… although one time they were more concerned for Dad's health after Ichigo kicked him off the top floor for attempting to punch him in the face as a wake-up alarm. Dad walked it off just fine though."

Yuzu chuckles and Chad can't help but smile, as that sounds like something Ichigo and his dad would do.

"We were odd, that's for sure, but we managed… we had each other.", the girl pauses and starts to shake as tears start flowing once more.

"But now…" Yuzu places her hands on her face as she starts to weep.

Kon places a plush paw on the girl's leg as a gesture of support. Yuzu notices this and wipes away her tears before giving the plushie an appreciative smile.

After offering a quick prayer, Yuzu notices the figure of a young girl standing in the bushes above the grave. Upon further inspection, Yuzu can see the girl wearing a frightened look on her face. The girl locks eyes with Yuzu before proceeding to rush off into the forest.

"Hey, wait!", Yuzu calls, jumping up into the bushes to follow.

Chad and Yukio give each other a look. Chad picks up Kon again as the trio follow Yuzu.

The group stops in a clearing, seeing the girl standing alone in it.

Chad mutters the first thing that comes to mind, "I have a bad feeling…"

Yukio nods, "Yeah…"

Yuzu glances back at the boys, "There's nothing to worry about. The Shinigami should've scared off all the hollows…"

The little girl with a black bull cut smirks, "You're wrong about that, girl!"

Suddenly, a giant rat-like hollow bursts from the bushes, striking at Yuzu. Yuzu felt this coming, jumping out of the path of the hollow's claw attack.

The two boys assume defensive stances as Kon begins freaking out, "IT'S A HOLLOW!"

The girl turns into some kind of lure shaped object, which elongates to connect to the beast's head.

The rat creature begins to complain, "It was disgusting having to listen to all that emotional garbage—but now your soul is mine, Yuzu Kurosaki!"

The hollow's green fur contorts and stabs at the girl, however, to her, the hollow's movements were in slow motion, leaving her plenty of time to call upon her Blut Vene, easily blocking the attack.

"What?!" the hollow calls out, confused by having his attack blocked by the girl's bare hand.

Yuzu grits her teeth, "Hollow—can't you see that this place is not a place for battle…? We shouldn't do this here, where people only seek to be with those who they've lost… Surely, deep down, there are those you miss from life too…"

Grand Fisher is silent for a moment before roaring, "I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT ANY OF THAT! I'LL DESTROY THIS ENTIRE CEMETERY IF IT MEANS I CAN DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!"

Yuzu looks to the ground in mild disappointment, "In that case…"

Yuzu's now hardened gaze meets the hollow's, full of resolve, "I won't forgive you."

Chad's eyes widen, "Yukio!"

"Already ahead of you.", the boy states as he pulls out his Gameboy, activating his Fullbring and sending Yuzu, Chad, Kon, and the hollow into his virtual reality.

Inside Yukio's Gameboy

The hollow looks around the seemingly barren surroundings—a large dark room with the only light source coming from the floor somehow.

"What is this?! This isn't the cemetery! Where are we?!", the hollow demands.

Yuzu, standing across from the hollow, explains with her expression still resolute, "We're inside Yukio's virtual world. In here, our battle will be undetectable to those outside."

The hollow, however, starts laughing at Yuzu's words, worrying Kon, "How foolish, that means I can freely use all of my powers to devour you without those bothersome Shinigami getting involved! Your fate is sea—"

The hollow is forced to pause, as a large concentration of red and blue reiatsu soars past him.

Grand Fisher flinches, before letting out a small chuckle, "Your power may be strong, Kurosaki, but your aim is—"

Suddenly, the top portion of the hollow's mask is blown off and it is sent spiraling into the virtual barrier of the room.

Yuzu, who's left hand is burning with alternating red and blue reiatsu, glances back at Chad, "I will deal with this hollow. It refuses to recognize a gravesite as something that mustn't be defiled by battle. It's mine."

Chad nods, both understanding where she's coming from and seeing that the girl will have no problem dispatching this hollow. Yuzu walks slowly toward the hollow as her mother's Quincy cross blazes to life, a torrent of blue and red reiatsu swirling around it. The hollow struggles to get back to its feet as it uses its fur to shield the section of its exposed face.

"I'm the one who you don't want to face at full power, hollow. You'll face a true Kurosaki—a Quincy!" Yuzu declares, prompting the hollow to let out a gasp.

"I had heard there were some Quincy still around, but I thought that it was not but rumors before now…" the beast groans, beginning to realize how out of its element it is.

Yuzu doesn't respond, stopping her march near a short distance in front of the hollow, a Heilig Pfeil forming in her right hand.

The hollow roars, "I am the Grand Fisher! I have avoided Shinigami for over 50 years! I won't be done in by some little girl—" again, the beast is cut off by an arrow, this time blasting off its foot.

The hollow is, disoriented by pain, is confused to see Yuzu with tears falling from her eyes, "I had intended that to be a fatal blow… My aim is much better now than it was a month ago, but still it's lacking. I'm sorry, but more likely than not, your death will be slow… Please forgive me, I take no joy in this."

"That thing must really rub her the wrong way to get this worked up…" Kon states with a hint of worry in his voice.

Chad grunts in response, continuing to observe the events with caution.

Grand Fisher wheezes, as it has to use its hair to support its body. The hollow is now in a panic, trying to think of any way to get out of this. It had tried using a Garganta ever since they arrived in this virtual world, but all efforts seem to have been cancelled out. The beast then snickers as it glances at the lure before its face.

Yuzu notices this, "What's so fun—"

The beast sends some hair at the girl from the left, causing her to fire Heilig Pfeil at it, disintegrating it. This had allowed for the hollow to shoot claws out of its right fingers, sticking into the girl's back. Yuzu briefly cries out in pain, having blocked some of the attack at the last moment by recalling her bow and switching to Blut Vene, however, blood was still drawn. The beast retracts its claws and Yuzu stumbles to maintain her balance.

"Yuzu!" Chad and Kon call out simultaneously.

Yuzu shouts to them, "Stay out of this!"

Chad looks unconvinced but decides not to get involved for the time being, seeing that Yuzu still has plenty of fight left in her.

"I'm not done yet hollow—huh?" Yuzu is confused as the hollow starts laughing loudly, placing its left hand around the bob in front of its face.

Something begins to form in place of the bob.

Urahara Shoten

After a round of training, Tatsuki regards Orihime with a serious expression, "I just remembered what day it is…"

Orihime recalls her Santen Kesshun, wearing a confused expression on her face, "What do you mean? What's so special about June 17th?"

Tatsuki wears a serious expression, "Six years ago today, Ichigo's mother died."

Orihime lets out a slight gasp at this revelation.

Tatsuki continues her explanation with a downcast expression, "His mother died when he was nine… I was only nine myself, so I didn't understand. I didn't understand how a nine-year-old could stand clinging onto their mommy like a baby chimp… Then, she died…"

Orihime's gaze softens at this.

Tatsuki frowns sadly, "He didn't show up at school for a while. So, I went looking for him. I found him by the river where his mother died… walking around with his little backpack from morning to night. It was like he was looking for her. When he got tired, he'd squat for a while. Then he'd get up and continue his search. Everyday, from morning to night…"

Tatsuki finishes, staring at the ground with quite the solemn expression, "I couldn't stand seeing Ichigo like that… and, that's likely how his sisters are now, too…"

Inside Yukio's Gameboy

What is revealed from under Grand Fisher's hand causes both Yuzu and Chad to gasp.

"Yo, what's up Yuzu? Chad?", Ichigo states nonchalantly, raising his hand to wave at them.

"Impossible…" Chad mutters with widened eyes.

"I-Ichigo?!" Yuzu nearly cries out, starting to walk towards the doppelganger.

Kon and Yukio call at her to stop, but she cannot hear them, solely focused on the vision of Ichigo before her. She has spent the last month trying to come to terms with his death but has time and time again been proven that she cannot.

"I've missed you, Yuzu.", the copy says, ruffling her hair.

Yuzu starts crying before hugging the boy in front of her. Part of her knows that this isn't Ichigo, but the part of her that wants to be with her brother again has completely overwritten all reason.

"Please, Ichigo, never leave me again!" she cries out, sobbing into the boy's chest.

"I won't…" is all he mutters before Yuzu feels a sensation of pain tear through her body.

Grand Fisher hoists Yuzu and the false Ichigo, pierced together by its claws, above his head, laughing all the while, "Foolish girl! Your Quincy kind are no better than those foolish Shinigami after all! You all fall victim to your emotions! The most important people in your life make you defy all reason! This is why your soul will be mine!"

Grand Fisher drops Yuzu and the false Ichigo from his claws, sending them falling towards his mouth, but before they can reach it, Chad forces the Grand Fisher back with a punch.

"Unlike your friend, you are quite slow, human!" Grand Fisher calls out, laughing.

Yuzu lies limp on the ground as Chad faces off with Grand Fisher, staring at the equally limp body of the false Ichigo, who simply starts to dust itself off as the hole in its gut heals, as if nothing happened.

Yuzu struggles to get to her knees as the false Ichigo approaches, "What's wrong, Yuzu, don't want to be with your dear brother again?"

Yuzu shivers at this, her mind torn between logic and emotion.

Kon stands in the path of the approaching fake Ichigo, "I don't know how you look like her brother, but I won't let you hurt Yuzu anymore, hollow!"

The fake Ichigo chuckles, "And what can a small thing like you do to me?"

"He makes for a good distraction." Yukio's voice calls out, as suddenly a column shoots out from one of the walls of the virtual world, hitting the Ichigo square in the gut.

By this point Chad has also backed Grand Fisher into a corner.

"I may not be as fast as Yuzu, but I hit just as hard, if not harder!" the boy roars, frightening the hollow, as each of Chad's attacks would prove fatal to the creature at this point, having created craters within the virtual world.

"Looks like this is checkmate—" Yukio starts to call out but stops suddenly, causing those inside to become confused.

Karakura Cemetery

Back outside of the virtual world, Yukio tenses up as Shinigami start to swarm the area. A short woman with hair worn in a bun seems to be leading them, who Yukio avoids making eye contact with. The boy begins to loosen up as the woman leads the group of Shinigami into a different area of the cemetery. The boy opens his mouth to speak again but is cutoff.

"Interesting device you have there, mind if I take a look?", the smooth voice of Sosuke Aizen asks.

Yukio, despite his best efforts, can't help but flinch at this. Aizen notes this, and walks in front of Yukio, forcing the boy to see his Captains coat.

"You reacted. That must mean you can see me. That makes sense…" Aizen trails off while Yukio pretends like he didn't hear him.

Aizen walks up closer than Yukio is comfortable with before whispering something in the boy's ear, "It makes sense because you are one of Yuzu Kurosaki's allies. I appreciate you taking care of her as well as you have so far, we wouldn't want the Soul Society finding out about her, would we?"

Yukio shivers at the man's words. Aizen backs away from the boy as Momo Hinamori and the other Squad 5 members return to the area.

Momo addresses Aizen, "We weren't able to find the hollow, Captain Aizen. It must've ran away."

Aizen nods, outwardly agreeing with his Vice Captain's conclusion.

Momo glances at the blonde boy, "Can he see us, Captain?"

Aizen shakes his head and chuckles, "No. Why do you ask?"

Momo gives her captain a look of worry, "Well, there was that hollow who mentioned humans the other night and it looked like you were talking to him just now…"

Aizen once more chuckles, patting his Vice Captain affectionately on the head, causing her to blush lightly, "Well I was trying to see if he could see us, but he didn't react, so he can't. As for the other night, there is no need to worry about it. This town is known to have quite a few spiritually aware humans after all… now I think it best if you take the Squad to check the other hollow signals we picked up."

Momo nods, before ordering the squad to leave as ordered.

Aizen starts walking away after them before pausing and turning to regard the boy, "Oh, one more thing. The stage is not yet set for me to carry out my plans. If you tell anyone about this little conversation we had, you and all of your friends, including Miss Kurosaki, are even more dead than those parents of yours. Don't forget that."

Aizen flash steps away, leaving Yukio to shiver uncontrollably in fear, unknowingly releasing his hold on his Fullbring.

Yuzu, Chad, Kon, and Grand Fisher find themselves suddenly teleported back into the cemetery.

"Oh no—!" Yukio calls out after realizing he let Aizen's words affect his control on his powers.

Chad quickly deactivates his Fullbring in an effort to not attract any Shinigami attention. Yuzu has other plans though, as she rushes at the hollow, slashing off its left arm with a golden reishi sword charged in her right hand. Grand Fisher shrieks in pain.

"I won't let you get away!" Yuzu rushes in an adrenaline-fueled frenzy at the beast again, her body visually shaking in rage, but halts when she sees the creature get sucked into the false Ichigo.

"Fool! This isn't over! You won't dare attack your brother! I will pay you all back for this, I swear!", the hollow then leaves via Garganta.

Yuzu slowly deactivates her power, the golden spots of light reverting to blue and red spots before the light fades altogether. The girl then suddenly starts to fall to the ground. Kon jumps to cushion her fall so her head doesn't hit the pavement, causing the plushie to wince in pain as the girl's head falls on him. Chad walks over and picks up the girl's bloody body with Kon.

Chad turns to face Yukio, "Put us back in you game… her reiatsu is unstable right now, the Shinigami will notice. We need to take her to her uncle for treatment."

This snaps the boy out of his trance, causing him to silently nod in response.

The Menos Forest

In the depths of Menos Forest, Grand Fisher roars in frustration upon his return, "That foolish girl! I almost had her! Those friends of hers are quite meddlesome…"

Grand Fisher then notices a Gillian approaching quickly, taking note of its unique mask with a crack running down the right side. The hollow notices the piercing red eyes that seem familiar.

"Wait, you're—!" but Grand Fisher cannot finish his statement as the Gillian slams its mouth down into the sand, devouring the rodent hollow quickly.

The Gillian then roars into the air, causing light green reiatsu to flow off its body.

Suddenly, a voice calls out to the Gillian, "You won't be alive for much longer, Gillian! We had business with the hollow you just ate. We'll never get to know what he was doing in the world of the living."

The Gillian looks to the side to see where the voice came from and finds a towering Arrancar, although obviously nowhere near as opposing as himself, with brown hair and a much smaller, floating Arrancar with slicked back hair.

The Gillian cocks its head at the larger Arrancar. Faster than the smaller Arrancar can process, his companion is suddenly submerged in green acid, melting his body down and causing him to scream in pain. The Gillian slams its head down into the sand as it devours the Arrancar, before setting his sights on the smaller one.

The smaller Arrancar had already made to escape, but the Gillian spews more acid from its mouth at a speed too fast to outrun, catching him off guard. The Gillian then grabs the smaller Arrancar and raises him to his mouth.

"All hail Lord Aizen…" the Arrancar mutters before being devoured.

Upon devouring the Arrancar, the hollow the hollow leaves the area in search of more worthy prey.

After the Gillian leaves, a masked figure steps out of the shadows, having observed all of what just transpired.

Author's Note:

Here we are, the climax of the first arc!

What did you all think of Yuzu's showdown with Grand Fisher?

I originally posted chapter 20 as a Karin chapter but decided to change things around at the last minute. That Karin content will come a bit later. I apologize for any confusion that arose due to this decision.

As for Sora's power growth, I touched on it in an earlier chapter—that he was devouring everything in sight, which was true. This would make him a very powerful Gillian—even retaining his unique acid spit ability and a unique mask (courtesy of our boy Uryu wounding him). (Digression: I am under the opinion that non-Shinigami wounds are more difficult for hollows to heal, but that is neither here nor there).