Heroes

Chapter Thirty-Four

Ichigo was seething. “You bastard! You’re wrong! You could blow me into pieces and I’d still kill you! No matter what I’d leave you dead!”

The Hollow chuckled. “You anger to easily…it’s a definite weakness. Your anger blinds you and dulls your sword.” Suddenly his lure transformed to a face I never though I’d see in person. “It’s all over, SONNY! You’re FAR too green to challenge me!!”

What I saw made me want to hurl. There, on the end of Grand Fisher’s lure, was Masaki Kurosaki.

And Ichigo was left speechless. 

“So you’re surprised? Yeah…I really don’t remember what happened six years ago, that was such a long time ago, but I was still able to recreate your dear mother. Aw,” he said sympathetically, “what’s wrong? You look upset.” Another earth-chilling cackle escaped his mouth. “I mean, every Shinigami has a weakness. That’s a given. It’s also how I’ve beaten all those other warriors. And for you, that weakness is your sweet, DEAD mother! Isn’t she a beaut?”

“Ichigo?” the Masaki doll said…in that sickeningly sweet voice of the genuine Masaki. 

I hurled. I couldn’t handle the sadism of this beast anymore.

“What’s wrong? Has the sight of her paralyzed you to the bone?” 

“YOU SICK, DISGUSTING FREAK!!” Kurosaki yelled, the largest scowl I’d ever seen planted on his face. “Let’s get this over with! I WON’T let you defile my mother’s memory like this! I won’t allow you to treat her image this way!” He raised his sword, but was rendered frozen as the Masaki doll raced towards him. 

“No, Ichigo!” it cried. “Lower your sword! Please…don’t hurt Mommy!”  

Grand Fisher took this as an opportunity and jabbed his arm through Kurosaki and his doll, making a gigantic pool of blood explode all over the forest. “I told you! Anger dulls your blade!” He laughed one last time. “You’re dead, Sonny! But for your sake, I have to say, of all those I’ve battled, you were the youngest…the most reckless…and the WEAKEST Shinigami!” He grinned arrogantly and wasn’t paying attention as Ichigo’s blade was roughly stabbed into his side. 

“Wha…?”

“I finally got you!” Ichigo panted, his left eye covered in blood from a deep head wound. “Now, tell me…does my sword feel dull? Do you feel no pain? Maybe anger does dull the sword, but a dull blade’s all I need to kill a sick bastard like you! YOU’RE DEAD!” he parodied. “But for your sake, I must say, you were the oldest, the slimiest…and the most ANNOYING Hollow!” With that he placed a clean swipe right across Fisher’s chest, cutting off half of it and leaving his arm barely attatched to his body. 

“AAH!!!” he yelled as what appeared as gallons of Hollow blood exploded all over the trees. A bit even touched me, to my disgust. 

“MY FREAKING ARM!! It’s hanging by a THREAD!!”

Both warriors collapsed, Fisher to the ground and Kurosaki barely holding himself up with his sword. They both gasped in exhaustion. 

“Ichigo!” My head whipped around to the epicenter of the sound, and there was Tara running back up the hill. She was soaking wet from all the rain, making her clothing cling extremely tight to her. She had a look of shock upon seeing his destroyed state. I could tell she wanted to rush to his side and tend to his wounds, but she also knew better. 

“What took you so long?” he said jokingly, his goofy smile returning to his face. “I already beat him….”

“Ichigo!” She rushed to his side and hugged him tight. “You moron…you told me to stay out of it….”

He chuckled. “You took me seriously for once? You listened?”

She scowled playfully and I decided this was my time to step back into the battlefield, now that it was mostly safe. I walked up to the couple and grinned. “You guys look like shit, just sayin’.”

Tara laughed. “You’re one to talk, Miss Puking-Her-Guts-Out.”

I scoffed. “How’d you know about that?”

“Duh,” she grimaced. “I smelled it from the temple.”

I smacked her arm playfully. “Jerk.” But I suddenly sensed a heavy weight above me and a slight movement from a certain carcass. “ICHIGO!” I screamed. “BEHIND YOU!!”

His head barely tilted to the right before he was smacked across the face by a tentacle from Fisher. It barely grazed us, for I’d pulled Tara out of the way just barely in time. Ichigo was knocked down and back a couple feet before he could regain his bearings. 

We all stared and watched as Fisher’s Hollow form was sucked into his doll, still doning the face of Masaki. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and I felt my stomach churn again. Eventually all that was left was the doll. 

“You may be surprised,” it said, “that this body can move independently. But you were wrong. This body isn’t a part of me.” I’d finally found a creepier sound than that Hollow’s laugh: that Hollow donning Masaki’s laugh was a thousand times worse. “No! I’ve got TWO bodies!!! If one’s hurt, I’ll just slip into another! And now that I’m in your dear mother’s body, you can’t cut me!”

Ichigo tensed again, mentally preparing for another phase of battle. “Bastard….”

“Stop, Ichigo!” Tara cried, grabbing his arm in restraint. “This is ridiculous! Idiotic!”

“Heh…” the Hollow continued. “Yeah, stop! Beasts with feelings are slaves to emotions! Yes…beasts like you! You know it’s your enemy in here, yet you can’t hurt me because I look like your beloved mummy! And--” It took to the skies, flying far, far away, “you’re too weak to cut me, anyway!” With that it disappeared into oblivion, never to be seen again.

“COME BACK HERE!” Ichigo cried to an empty sky, rain cascading down his face. 

“LET HIM GO!!” Tara yelled into his chest. “You can’t fight anymore! You’ll just die of blood loss! It’s over, Ichigo!”

“NOT YET!!” Kurosaki replied in kind. “NOT UNTIL HE’S DEAD! I CAN STILL FIGHT!! I CAN STILL…” He dropped weakly, Tara barely being able to support him. I helped her situate him on the ground, his head in her lap. 

“Thanks…” Tara whispered. “Ichigo…thanks for not dying….” She kissed his forehead, shaking a bit in relief. 

I sighed. It was finally all over.

We went back down the hill after I’d fetched Rukia and gotten her to heal Ichigo (much to Tara’s annoyance). Ichigo was saying a final goodbye to his mother when Isshin came up. I smiled, knowing that Isshin’s rare, wise words were about to shine, and that’s exactly what Ichigo needed right now. 

We all packed up and left the temple, our clothes soaking and a heavy burden lifted off o