Chapter 20: Memories in the Rain (Kurosaki)
Hueco Mundo
White flies through the skies above Hueco Mundo, this time feeling a sort of instinctual pull toward something.
The dragon narrows his golden and black eyes, unable to discern the feeling he has, "What is this feeling…? I've never felt anything like it…"
Ignoring the continuous pain from Respira, White continues to search for the source of what he is feeling. After some time, the Hollow drops down in front of one of Hueco Mundo's various caves, staring inside intently.
"What I'm feeling is inside this cave…", the dragon mumbles quietly.
Wasting no further time, White, in a trance-like state, walks into the cave and begins to investigate its depths. After some time of finding nothing but darkness, the dragon despites to expedite his search, flapping his wings and taking off as he now flies through the cave. With his increased speed, it is not long until the Adjucha begins to see some blue light shining from within the cave's depths, goading him into further increasing his speed.
The light becomes brighter before the dragon flies into a large, bright open cavern, which spans around for miles. White's eyes are widened as he lands, in shallow clear water, which engulfs his feet and occupies the entirety of the cavern, making a sort of shallow pond. White continues to stare in awe at the bright blue crystalline gems that riddle the cavern walls and ceiling, lighting up the space within with its almost ethereal radiance. Without a doubt this is the most beautiful thing the dragon has ever seen during its new life, certainly in Hueco Mundo.
White wades through the water and continues to look around with great interest, "This place is what I felt…? It's so much different than everything else in Hueco Mundo. There's even water here! And these crystals…"
The dragon narrows his eyes, focusing intently on the crystalline structures, "…they're not just pretty rocks, I can feel energy from them… it's like they're alive…"
White stares at the crystals for a while longer before widening his eyes, now noticing that the water beneath him is beginning to glow with bright blue Reishi. The dragon shifts his gaze into the water then, finding his reflection staring back at him.
His eyes stare at the reflection in troubled confusion, "Wait… something isn't right…"
What stares back at White through the water is indeed an identical dragon Adjucha; however, the reflection's mask and scales are black, while its claws are white—an inverse of his usual appearance.
White then widens his eyes as the reflection suddenly hisses and leaps out of the water, materializing into physical form and clawing at his neck. The real Adjucha is too stunned to react properly, so ends up getting pushed 180 degrees by the other dragon, making him land on his back as he is pinned. The reflection growls savagely, like a wild, mindless beast, as it claws and bites at White, attempting to kill him. White struggles against the reflection's onslaught, finding himself only able to hold the other creature back in the moment.
The reflection then exerts more pressure, managing to push its clawed from paw past the dragon's defensive hold before then clawing away at his chest. White's eyes contract as he begins to howl in pain, his anger growing. Before the reflection can do any further damage, White blasts it with his blackened red fire breath, causing the other dragon to release its hold before flapping its wings to send itself back a distance.
The Adjucha gets back on all four of his legs as he eyes his counterpart land in the water a distance away, still hissing at him in blood lust. White makes to return the death glare, yet winces as the Respira suddenly assaults him again, causing his whole body to spasm slightly. It's after this that White notices something about the other dragon—it does not have a Respira wound, thereby undoubtedly giving it the advantage.
"Just my luck…", White muses, used to fighting against the odds.
Despite his disadvantage, White releases a bloodcurdling roar before the twin dragons lunge at each other, resuming their battle in earnest.
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 green and blue Reishi 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 green and blue Reishi, 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 green Reishi 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 (Holy Arrow) 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, 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 uses its hair, acting as tendrils, 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 its tendril-hair at the girl from the left, causing her to fire a Heilig Pfeil at it, disintegrating it. This has allowed for the Hollow to shoot claws out of its right fingers, which pierce through 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 the defensive Blut Vene, however, blood was still drawn. The beast retracts its claws, leaving Yuzu to stumble, struggling to maintain her balance.
"Yuzu!" Chad and Kon call out simultaneously.
Yuzu shouts at 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 Shōten
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 closes the distance and strikes at the Hollow, forcing it to leap back in momentary retreat.
"Unlike your friend, you are quite slow, human!", Grand Fisher taunts as it laughs.
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 and knocking him back.
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 his 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 an alternating green and blue Reishi sword charged in her right hand. The Grand Fisher shrieks in pain as its blood spurts from the stump where its arm formerly was.
"I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY!", Yuzu roars as she rushes in an adrenaline-fueled frenzy at the beast again, her body visually shaking with rage.
The girl halts, however, when she sees the creature's body quite literally condense before being sucked into the body of the false Ichigo. Even in a rage, the girl cannot bring herself to strike at the being who looks like her brother.
"Fool! This isn't over! You won't dare attack your brother! I will pay you all back for this, I swear!", the Hollow hisses as it promptly leaves through a Garganta.
Yuzu slowly deactivates her power, prompting the green and blue spots of light to fade. 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.
Meanwhile, Crystalline Cavern, Hueco Mundo
The twin dragons launch blasts of fire at each other, one pale red and the other blackened red, as they fly through the cavern. The streaks of flaming crash against each other, creating a beam struggle for a moment, before the pale red flames overtake the blackened ones, moving on to engulf White within them.
The Adjucha falls to the ground, smoking and huffing as he regards the other, still-airborne dragon continuing to approach, "This is bad…!"
As if to live up to White's assessment, the reflection begins to charge a pale red Cero between its black horns before launching it at the other dragon with a shockwave as it flies past.
The Cero comes too fast of the Adjucha to evade, so instead raises his clawed arms in a vain attempt to block, causing his left arm to get blow completely off before the rest of his body gets set flying. White crashes against the blue crystals along the wall, letting out a gasp of pain as they puncture his back. The other dragon, meanwhile, circles through the air and tilts its head back slightly, beginning to charge its pale red flame breath again.
White's breathes are heavy as he looks up at the dragon in acceptance, "So this is where I die, huh…?"
The dragon dejectedly lowers his gaze, not noticing the Reishi from the crystals on his back beginning to flow into him, "…well at least that bastard Barragan won't get the satisfaction…"
As the other dragon is about to release its breath, White suddenly has a vision of two young girls, one with short dirty blonde hair and the other with short black hair. The girls both have tears in their eyes as they seem to cry about something.
White can't make out everything they say, but the one thing he does hear is something they say in unison, "Please don't die, big brother!"
White widens his eyes as the other dragon releases its flame breath, which quickly approaches. Acting faster than ever, the Adjucha's clawed front right paw tears a cluster of the crystals from the wall before throwing them directly at the blast, causing them to neutralize each other.
The reflection stares in slight shock, slightly unnerved by the pure blood lust and show of resolve from White, whose left arm regenerates itself as he stares down his foe in fury, "How could I forget… I can't afford to die just yet…"
White roars through the cavern, the tempest of souls within his being crying likewise, "I WON'T DIE UNTIL I KNOW WHO I AM!"
Without further warning, the wounded Adjucha takes to the sky with a shockwave, sending the water in the cave to turn into violent waves. The reflection hisses as he flies to meet White, slashing at the other dragon with its claws. The Adjucha ducks through the air, altering his trajectory slightly and dodging his counterpart's attack before slamming his left claw into the other creature's stomach so hard that it gets sent crashing into the crystalline walls.
The reflection shakes its head, disoriented, before immediately widening its eyes as White slams his right claw into the wall next to the creature's head. The black-masked dragon flinches as its counterpart stares with slitted, golden eyes, out for blood. The reflection quickly turns its body to evade as White slashes out the crystals from where his twin just was. Yet, to the other dragon's dismay, that was only the beginning as the orange-haired dragon continues to follow, brutally destroying the cavern walls with his claws and forcing the other dragon to continue rolling to dodge. Blue and gray rubble is flung through the air, dirtying the water as the cave truly looks like a battlefield.
The dragons suddenly take to the air again, sending their blackened red and pale red fire breathes at each other, streaking the cavern in flames and smoke. The pupils leave White's eyes as his flames are no longer being outmatched, pulling upon every resource he has to kill the being before him so he may live another day.
As the reflection charges another Cero, White dodges with Sonido, leaving it to explode behind him. The black-masked dragon widens his eyes as it starts to look around for its counterpart. Suddenly, the dragon spasms before looking down at White, who viciously holds its tail in its maw. The reflection slams its clawed legs into its counterpart's face, causing it to jerk back violently, yet failing to make him release his hold.
White furiously grabs onto the other dragon's tail with his claws as well, using a great deal of his strength the harshly slam it into the ground. The impact is so fierce that the black-masked dragon bounces slightly off the ground, gasping slightly in pain for the first time during the fight. White's onslaught is not over as he then swings the other dragon in a 360 degree above his head before releasing the tail and slamming the other being into the wall of the cavern once more.
White then lunges at the reflection with red Cero charged within his right, reeled back paw this time. The reflection, scrambling, spews its red fire breath directly on the incoming Hollow, completely coating him in it. White's body burns under the flames, causing the Hollow to grunt in immense pain, yet failing to stop his attack.
White exits the sea of flames, a smoking, livid mess, with blood lusted eyes locked on the reflection. The twin dragons lock gazes as the Cero in the Adjucha's right hand coats his claws, combing with them temporarily.
The black-masked dragon roars, sending its own white claws at its counterpart, slashing him deeply across the chest where the Respira also works to kill him. White vomits blood, which manages to spill on his right hand as well, causing the Cero claws to start crackling with a distorted blue border. White's reflection widens its eyes, still locked with the other dragon's eyes, as it sees the look within them is unyielding.
In the very next moment, White uses every ounce of power he has left to plunge his Cero claws through the reflection's stomach, causing red and blue sparks to crackle from its stomach as the attack lands, "GRAN REY CERO!"
The black-masked dragon spasms, it eyes losing their pupils as blood is spewed violently from its mouth. White breathes heavily, blood still leaking from his own mouth, as he pulls his right arm from the other dragon's stomach, causing it to fall limply to the ground. The Adjucha widens his eyes slightly as the corpse sinks into the shallow water, returning to the otherworldly depths from which it came. White's body begins to regenerate itself as energy unexplainedly begins to swell through his body, as if he had devoured the other dragon. Further, on the side of the room opposite to the exit, the crystals forcibly shift themselves to reveal a large passage, leading deeper into the cave. This prompts the Adjucha to approach and narrow his eyes as he looks deeper into the cave. As he does, his body tenses, his instincts screaming at him that further danger awaits.
White backs away, "This place isn't normal… I don't know enough about it and can't afford to take any more unnecessary risks right now…"
Having made up his mind, White exits the cave the way he entered, his sights set on devouring more Adjuchas.
After a few moments, a cloaked, humanoid figure walks through the passage that just opened up, causing it to seal again. The water evaporates into the air as the crystals burst into Reishi particles—all condensing to form a blue, crystalline cane, which the figure holds in their grasp and uses to support their body. The entire cave then begins to collapse on itself, as if its entire purpose was just for the dragon Hollow to find it and battle himself.
An old, raspy voice calls out from the figure's hidden lips as the cave continues to collapse, "Very impressive, young Hollow… very impressive indeed…"
Author's Note:
Here we are, the climax of the first arc!
What did you all think of Yuzu's showdown with Grand Fisher? White's showdown with "himself"?
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 Uryu wounding him). (Digression: I am under the opinion that non-Shinigami wounds are more difficult for Hollows, but that is neither here nor there).
Caves are a mystical thing in many fantasy settings, often literal or symbolic gateways to other worlds, which I thought would be fitting for Hueco Mundo. Ichigo's fight and the cave should add a further layer of intrigue and mystery to the land of Hollows. Las Noches is well defined, but what occurs and resides everywhere else I think should remain relatively vague and perhaps unnerving at times. I will, however, explore this specific occurrence again much later in the story.