"Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!"
A sharp, searing pain tore through his chest.
A spray of crimson danced in the air.
A malicious, dissonant laughter gouged at his ears.
On the rooftop of the old mansion—the hideout of the enemies who had attacked his precious family and friends—Ichigo Kurosaki collapsed to his knees. He had to fight through a soul-crushing struggle just to comprehend what had occurred in the preceding instant.
...He had been slashed by Kugo Ginjo.
"Why... Ginjo... Was it... Tsukishima's ability after all...?"
The final ally, the man who had come to reinforce him in this rooftop battle. But in the brief moment Ichigo's attention had been drawn to the Orihime held captive by a spiritual tool, Ginjo had supposedly been struck by Tsukishima's Fullbring.
Was his standing back up as if nothing happened just an act? A performance to lower my guard?
"...You're right that it was Tsukishima's ability. But you've got the order of operations wrong."
"The... order...?"
Ginjo sneered. The truth was far worse than the nightmare Ichigo had imagined.
"The time Tsukishima 'inserted' himself into me—into all of us—was actually the second time. We had him do it before we ever met you. That one strike just now simply returned us to our original selves."
"...?!"
"Don't you get it? Every single member of XCUTION was in on it."
The words hit him like a physical blow to the head.
But contrary to his reeling body, what Ichigo felt deep in his chest wasn't shock, but a cold sense of realization.
The organization's motive—to discard their Fullbring powers. The way his companions were attacked so conveniently right after he was recruited. The way they went out of their way to insult the Soul Society and Urahara. The strange feeling he had felt during his sparring matches with Ginjo.
Everything, from beginning to end, had been orchestrated to deceive Ichigo and betray him right here, in this moment.
...But before the youth could even ask why, his sharp-witted comrade let out a roar of rage.
"What are you doing, Ichigo?! Hurry up and release her manifestation!!"
The voice belonged to Uryu Ishida, who lay fallen after being slashed by Tsukishima.
But by the time Ichigo realized the meaning behind the instruction...
"Too late."
"?!"
A short scream echoed in his mind, and a wave of agony flooded his heart. Ichigo whipped around, his body freezing at the sight.
Standing in the center of the rooftop, Ginjo was holding someone high in the air by her neck, as if flaunting a trophy.
It was Ichigo's new partner, the personification of his Fullbring and the living manifestation of his savior—
The masked girl.
"I didn't think this girl would be your Fullbring. I guess that 'Guardian Goddess' talk was actually the real deal."
"Wha— Stop it! Don't you touch her!!"
Ichigo tried to stand to help her as she struggled, but the gash on his chest was too deep; his legs gave out. For some reason, he couldn't even perform the release Uryu had commanded. Only his roar echoed across the rooftop.
"This is quite different from what I expected, but it's not bad. ...No, this is beyond an 'Ultra Rare.' I can't wait to see what kind of power she holds...!"
"Y-You don't mean...!"
The worst possible scenario flashed through his mind.
The organization's goal. The transfer of Fullbring. And Ginjo's words.
...I see. So that was it.
Finally realizing the true intent of Ginjo and XCUTION, Ichigo desperately tried to rouse his body, refusing to let them have her—
"—STOP IT, GINJO!!"
He froze involuntarily at the ear-piercing scream from Shukuro Tsukishima.
"What are you thinking?! Let her go right now!! I told you over and over again what that woman is, didn't I?!"
"...How long are you going to stay scared, Tsukishima? We knew from the start that 'that woman' was involved in her origin."
"Enough, Ginjo! I'm sick of your pathetic death wish!! Your life doesn't belong to you alone!!"
...What is wrong with these guys? Why are they fighting among themselves? Why is her name coming out of their mouths?
Ichigo didn't understand, yet he felt an indescribable chill from the mounting tension between the two.
In the midst of his confusion, the masked girl's body suddenly began to dissolve into chains of light. The ends of those chains weren't being pulled back toward Ichigo. They were being absorbed into Kugo Ginjo.
"?! Stop it!! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Don't do it, Ginjo!! If you take her in, there's no turning back!!"
Ichigo and Tsukishima—two enemies, strangely shouting the same plea.
But the girl's decomposition wouldn't stop. Her arm, reaching out toward Ichigo as if begging for help, began to crumble away.
The enemies' bickering was now beyond his awareness. The youth stood up with a death-defying resolve, blood spilling onto the rooftop.
"Don't screw with me!! Dammit! That's my Fullbring!!"
"You idiot!! Why don't you ever listen to my warnings?!"
A sensation similar to when he lost Zangetsu—the feeling of his spiritual power vanishing—struck Ichigo.
"...I told you, it's too late. You'd better make up your mind too, Tsukishima."
"D-Dammit! Don't take her! DON'T TAKE HER!!"
"STOP IT!!"
"GINJOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
And then...
"I'll take it—your Fullbring."
In a fleeting instant.
Ichigo caught a glimpse of the girl's true face behind her shattered mask.
"Ah—"
With a single drop of despairing tears that splashed at his feet, Ichigo Kurosaki's Fullbring vanished without a trace.
+++
"—Hahahaha!! Incredible...! What is this power?! Spiritual pressure is overflowing as if it were bottomless...!!"
...This can't be happening.
I don't feel anything.
The powerful, yet gentle warmth of her presence that has filled the depths of my chest since the moment I awakened... it's gone.
"Hahaha! Be happy, Tsukishima! With this much power, your ability will be significantly enhanced! You'll never fall behind her again!"
"How could you... It's over... For us, everything is over..."
Neither Ginjo's triumphant, grating laughter nor Tsukishima's slumped, muttering voice reached Ichigo's ears.
...Hey, please. Answer me.
No matter how many times he called out, the voice that should have been there was gone. Only a freezing void remained in the youth's heart.
He replayed the meaning of it over and over, trying to deny it. And each time, the emptiness in his chest dragged him back to reality.
"Ah..."
He realized it.
"Ah... aah..."
He understood.
The power to protect everyone, which he had regained at the end of his longing...
The dream was over.
"Uaaarrrgghhh... uugh..."
His vision blurred. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He couldn't stop the sobbing.
He had sworn never to cry again after he lost his mother.
He wanted to get his power back. But he couldn't find a single way to do it.
The messages from the Soul Society had stopped completely, and even the meddlesome Mr. Urahara would close his shop door every time Ichigo walked by.
The Soul Reapers, the Hollows, the ghosts—every trace of their existence had vanished.
As if it had all been a dream.
...He had no choice but to endure. In helplessness. For seventeen months.
Then, Uryu was slashed.
And not just him. Keigo and Mizuiro too. His comrades and friends were being attacked one after another.
But he—only he—could do nothing.
Desperate for any shred of hope, he had grabbed Ginjo's hand.
The man said nothing but cryptic things and did nothing but insult the relationships of trust Ichigo had built with Mr. Urahara and the Gotei 13. Even so, Ginjo was a comrade who cared about his fellow Fullbringers, and he had looked after Ichigo and supported him. When everyone else had been turned against him by Tsukishima's ability, Ginjo was the only one who fought by his side.
He wanted to believe in him. He wanted to trust him.
And yet.
"I'll take it—your Fullbring."
A gaping hole opened in his heart. The image of the girl who had been there, the emotions they shared, the memories of fighting together—everything came flooding back.
On that rainy day, at the riverbank where his mother died, he had found her—his precious "charm." The first time he had ever spoken with her was during his Bankai training in the Soul Society.
She had healed his body when he had pushed himself too hard in his desperation as Rukia's execution was moved forward.
During his Hollowfication training, she had shown him the path to survive the struggle for dominance with his inner Hollow.
In the battle against Aizen, she had suppressed him at the cost of her own body when Ichigo had exhausted his power.
And...
"...Finally... I finally found you..."
When they were reunited, she had become his new power—his Fullbring.
She was different from both Zangetsu and White. She was a new partner who was kind, a bit ditzy, and as full of emotion and as approachable as a girl his own age. The days he spent with her—as she jumped for joy every time he used a technique or showered him with exaggerated praise for defeating a single Hollow—were filled with a mixture of embarrassment, joy, and pride.
During his final training with Ginjo, she had allowed him to give his all in response to his feelings, even while worrying about the strain on his body.
When Tsukishima defiled his bonds with his precious friends and family, she had been more enraged and pained than even Ichigo himself.
Even with her identity hidden behind a mask, as partners who shared a single heart and mind, they had truly cared for and acknowledged one another.
"...Give it back... Give back my Fullbring... Give her back..."
But he couldn't protect her.
Because he had blindly trusted Ginjo. Because he had doubted his comrade, Uryu. He had been slashed like an idiot and let her be stolen right in front of him.
The true face he had hoped she would one day show him was now a face twisted in despair, weeping as the precious bond between them was torn apart.
"...'Give it back'?"
Ginjo's laughter echoed in the depths of Ichigo's ears as he lay collapsed and dejected. "What are you talking about?"
"This power only awakened because of me in the first place. What's wrong with me taking it back?"
"...Ugh... ah..."
"You should be happy you're free. You've lost the Soul Reaper and Hollow powers Aizen planted in you, and the protection of your Goddess too. You're finally the 'normal human' you literally claimed to want to be."
The ice-cold voice spun a web of malice. A cruel, tragic truth.
"...Don't... screw with me...!"
That power was Ichigo's humiliating destiny, yet it was also a prideful stroke of luck.
He had overcome his fate thanks to the help of so many people. The comrades he fought alongside, the Soul Reapers of the Soul Society, Urahara's shop, the Visoreds, the father who revealed the secret, the sisters he had to protect.
And the celestial maiden with the wings of a nebula, who dwelt in the Kyogoku and could see into the future and reflect the eternal past.
—I'll be watching over you, always.—
The power she gave him to overcome his destiny. Aizen had called that power the Goddess's protection.
That was the real reason Ichigo—who had been a normal human—could repel all those absurdities and become strong.
"...Ginjo..."
Give it back. The youth stood up with a death-defying effort.
"Ginjo...!"
I won't let you have that. Not that. He glared at the thief with eyes stained with hatred.
"GINJOOOOOOOOOO!!"
He reached out his arm toward his enemy in a fit of self-abandonment, and then...
"...Ah..."
A single blade pierced Ichigo's chest.
+++
The heavy thrumming of his heart made his body tremble.
Ichigo stared blankly at the pale-blue blade protruding from his chest. Without even knowing what had happened, he slowly turned his head back.
The sound of rustling cloth echoed. Two men emerged, having cast aside a black cloak. They were both reliable adults who were supposed to be the youth's allies.
"...Dad... Mr. Urahara..."
His biological father, Isshin Kurosaki. And his greatest supporter, Kisuke Urahara. Both stood there in silence, staring at him.
As he saw their stern faces, the final pillar in Ichigo's heart splintered.
"...I see... I see..."
The dam broke. Emotions overflowed without end.
"Even you, Dad... Even you..."
The edge of the cliff he had been clinging to crumbled with a roar. He was falling into a bottomless valley of despair.
Is this how I end?
The power I got back to protect everyone ended up being used to fight them as enemies. That power was stolen by an enemy. When I try to protect everyone, they scream at me that I'm "crazy." And in the end, I'm stabbed by my own father and left to die.
Is this my...
Deep within the soul of Ichigo Kurosaki—who had lost his hope for climbing back up, his power, and the protection of his Goddess—something stirred.
"...You idiot."
But just before that "something" could awaken, Isshin scolded his son.
"Look closely, Ichigo. We aren't the ones saving you."
"Eh...?"
Then.
Blackness was reflected in Ichigo's eyes.
"You should be able to see her now too."
Look and see—who is the one holding that sword?
Following the blackness, he lowered his gaze.
Black hair dancing in the wind. A Soul Reaper's robe covering a slender body. Deep, dignified blue eyes.
Faced with a reunion he couldn't believe, the youth murmured her name in a daze.
"...Rukia...?"
A massive amount of spiritual pressure erupted from the piercing blade, swallowing everything around them.
In the midst of the swirling torrent of light.
What Ichigo Kurosaki saw on the face of the female Soul Reaper... was a smile of pure compassion upon her elegant lips.
***
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