Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Grand Fisher

Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Grand Fisher is a battle that involves Ichigo Kurosaki learning about the truth of his mother's death at the hands of the hollow, Grand Fisher.

Prologue
After Ichigo Kurosaki gets his body back from the Kaizō Konpaku, he decides to give him a permanent residence. He decides to try and plushy he finds on the top of a pile of garbage. Experimentally, he pushes the pill inside its mouth before lifting it into the air and swinging it several times, deciding that it did not work. However, the Mod-Soul awakens inside the plushy and kicks himself away from Ichigo, becoming distressed at his new size.

The next morning, he loudly wakes Ichigo up, causing Ichigo to angrily throw him towards a wall. Ichigo tells him to act like a normal stuffed animal, but Kon tells him to treat him nicely. Rukia Kuchiki suddenly exits the closet and tells Ichigo to be quiet, but accidentally steps on Kon. Kon says "nice angle", causing Rukia to repeatedly stomp on the Mod-Soul.

Yuzu Kurosaki suddenly enters the room and both Rukia and Kon quickly hide in the closet. Ichigo slams the door to the closet shut just as she enters, his awkward pose causing her to ask what he is doing. Panicked, Ichigo insists that he is doing nothing out of the ordinary and asks her what she wants at such an early time in the morning. Suddenly stern, Yuzu informs her brother that it isn't early and that Mizuiro Kojima has been waiting for him outside. Suddenly panicking now that he's noticed the time, Ichigo calls out to Mizuiro from a window, and he apologizes to him and tells him to come into his house and wait.

He then realizes that everyone's memories from school have been erased of the incident with the Mod-Soul. Rukia reminds him that he would have problems if they remembered things that had taken place with Kon inside his body. He then begins to wonder about Kisuke Urahara and who he is. Rukia tells Ichigo that she's going to go on ahead of him. Ichigo angrily looks at his watch and wonders why Isshin Kurosaki did not wake him up since he seems to crash in whether he likes it or not. He then spots the date on his watch and becomes silent. Rukia asks Ichigo why he has such a long face now but Ichigo tells her that nothing’s wrong and remarks that "it's soon".

At Karakura High School, Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue, and Michiru Ogawa discuss the art project, "my future self", that they have been assigned. Tatsuki shows a picture of herself as the champion of women martial arts, causing Michiru to worry that she can't show hers as by comparison she doesn't think it is any good. She asks Orihime to show her drawing and a proud Orihime reveals a picture of herself as a robot with many special abilities, causing her to get quite excited. Exasperated, Tatsuki warns her that the project had nothing to do with futuristic visions of themselves, but about where they'd like to be in. She asks Orihime if she wants to get detention again ad is sure she will if she uses that.

Orihime is soon distracted as Ichigo suddenly arrives and passes their table. Orihime greets him, while Ichigo happily smiles and does the same. Tatsuki realizes something is wrong while Michiru wonders aloud why Ichigo is in such a good mood. Orihime is stunned into momentary silence from his reply, and she asks why Ichigo is so tense. Tatsuki asks Michiru what date it is and Michiru, looking at her watch, states that it's June 16th. Tatsuki realizes that he is tense and tells Orihime that she's amazing to realize something that took her three years to do and she states that if she has any business with Ichigo, then to do it now because he won't be in school tomorrow.

Isshin holds a family meeting to decide what they’re going to do tomorrow, but remarks that since he's the chairman he'll be making all decisions. Karin angrily gets out of her seat and tells Isshin that this isn't a meeting then, but Isshin tells her to raise her hand before speaking and refers to her as "staff director", and the title makes Karin happy enough to stop arguing. Isshin then ends the meeting with giving Yuzu the job of lunch staff and Karin the job of luggage carrier. Ichigo goes into his room and Rukia tells him that the family meeting looked fun, and she speculates if Ichigo is going on a picnic tomorrow. Ichigo doesn't answer though and he asks Rukia if he can have the day off tomorrow from his Shinigami work. However, Rukia tells him he can't and she asks Ichigo why he's acting so strange. Ichigo tells her that tomorrow is the anniversary of his mother’s death, but remarks that it isn't just the day she died, but also the day she was killed.

Tatsuki decides to explain to Orihime about Ichigo's mother. She states that she and Ichigo first met when they were four at the dojo she went to. She remarks that Ichigo looked really funny with his flashy hair color and the fact that he smiled all of the time with his mom. She then remarks that he always cried whenever he lost, and that she was the first one to make to make him cry. However, he always got better whenever he saw his mom, and Tatsuki states that this really annoyed her because a man who loses shouldn't smile like an idiot. She tells Orihime that Ichigo was spoiled when he was kid, but he always looked so happy and she remarks that this was the beginning.

The next day, the Kurosaki's begin walking to Maskaki's grave, and Yuzu complains that the hill they're at is too tough to climb. Isshin begins yelling at his two daughters to do their best and he begins climbing up the hill on his hands. Karin tells Yuzu to ignore him, and remarks that if you encourage people like them, they'll never stop. However, Isshin calls her naive and states that even if they ignore him, he won't stop and Isshin begins climbing up the hill faster. Karin suddenly kicks her father back down the hill and she tells him to start from the bottom. Ichigo remarks that even though it's June, it's still hot and he thinks to himself that even though it's the same June 11th, it's completely different from the one before.

Yuzu and Karin suddenly spot somebody and Ichigo looks to see who it is. He spots that it's Rukia, and the Shinigami begins waving to them. Yuzu asks Ichigo if he knows her and Ichigo tries to deny it. However, Karin says that she remembers her from somewhere, and Ichigo tries to explain it off as his old middle school classmate that he forgot. He then tells them to go to Masaki's grave ahead of him and that he'll go to talk to Rukia. After he leaves, Karin remarks that it seems Ichigo has reached that age, and Yuzu asks her what she means. Karin tells Yuzu that they should leave Ichigo alone, and they head off to Masaki's grave.

Ichigo asks Rukia what she's doing here, and Rukia explains that she has to be here in case a Hollow comes by. Ichigo tells her that she should have been more covert, but Rukia tells him that she wasn't aware. Ichigo asks Rukia why she's so angry, and Rukia tells him that she isn't, and she decides to ask Ichigo who the one was that killed his mother. Ichigo tells her to forget he said anything, but Rukia continues to question him and she speculates that a Hollow was the one to kill her, due to the fact that Ichigo could see ghosts and his spiritual pressure would be high enough to attract Hollows. Ichigo suddenly yells at Rukia and tells her that it wasn't a Hollow. All of a sudden a girl appears behind Rukia, and Ichigo runs away. However, Rukia looks behind her and sees no one there.

Tatsuki continues to explain to Orihime that Ichigo's mother died when he was 9 years old. After that day, Ichigo began skipping school and Tatsuki states that she went to look for him. When she found him, he was at the riverbank where his mother died, still carrying his schoolbag. She remarks that it looked like he was searching for his mother, and she says that it was difficult to watch him like that. As Tatsuki explains this, Rukia runs up to Ichigo and asks him why he ran. Ichigo states that a Hollow wasn't the one who killed her, and begins to tell her who it really was.

Karin goes up to Masaki's grave and asks her how she's doing, but then retracts that thought, explaining that the question is pointless since she's dead. Isshin suddenly shouts out that it's time for this year’s annual "Ba-Dum! Kurosaki families tombstone domino rally" and states that the first round is between him and Ichigo. As Yuzu tries to stop him, Rukia remembers Ichigo telling her that he was the one to have killed Masaki, and she wonders if what happened was either a mistake or accident. She then thinks to herself that she's a fool for suggesting that Hollows were behind Masaki's death. Kon suddenly exits out of Rukia's bag and he tells her that it's hard to breathe in here. He suggests that they go home but Rukia informs him that Hollows could come and it's her job to stop them. Kon tells her that she'll lose friends if she thinks about nothing but work, but Rukia doesn't answer him. Kon asks her if something's wrong, but she tells him she's fine.

Ichigo remembers that, as kids, Tatsuki asked Ichigo if he could see ghosts, but he lied to her and said he couldn't. He thinks to himself for that as long as he could remember, he could see ghosts and that he had trouble with telling the living from the dead. Ichigo remarks that this normally wasn't a big deal, until June 11th came by. Ichigo remembers always wanting to protect Masaki, and he remarks that he never saw his mom cry or get mad once. He states that his entire family revolved around his mom, and that because of his name meaning "to protect one thing", he wanted to protect Masaki.

One day, Ichigo remembers it raining more than usual and he saw a girl at the river’s edge, as if she was about to jump in. Ichigo states that back then he couldn't tell the difference between a ghost and a human, and because of that he chased after her, explaining that he wanted to protect more and more people. He ended up becoming unconscious somehow, but when he woke up Masaki lay on top of him, dead. Ichigo states that he doesn't know how it happened, but she clearly died saving him. He tells himself that he was the one who stole Masaki away from his family.

As this happens Karin tells Yuzu to stop crying since she does this every year and she should be mature by now, but Yuzu doesn't stop. Isshin suddenly begins blowing his whistle to gather everyone together, and Karin tells Yuzu to get up. However, before they can get anywhere Karin spots a girl next to a cliff and realizes it's a ghost. Karin goes up to the ghost alone and tells her that if she has something she regrets, then there's a priest that lives around here that she can go to. The ghost suddenly remarks that it's wonderful that someone can both see and hear her, and an image of something else appears behind the ghost.

Isshin continues blowing his whistle until Ichigo arrives, telling him to be quiet. Ichigo asks him where Karin and Yuzu are, but Isshin doesn't know and he tells Ichigo to look for them. Ichigo declines though, but eventually decides to go when he begins feeling a weird sensation. Yuzu asks Karin what she's doing, but Karin yell at her not to get any closer. Karin asks the ghost what that thing behind her is, but the ghost simply ignores her and remarks that she's the "best" for the being able to see the thing behind her. Rukia senses the presence of a Hollow, but doesn't think it's anything because she didn't get any orders. However, she suddenly gets the orders about the Hollow and she angrily remarks that the orders must have been late. As Rukia runs to where the Hollow is, she meets up with Ichigo and the two continue going to where the Hollow is together. Ichigo asks her if she's going to ask him anything, but Rukia tells him that this is his problem, and that even she did he wouldn't answer her.

She tells him that when he's ready, he can talk to her. Kon suddenly exits out of Rukia's bag and complains that they shouldn't act so cool. Ichigo is surprised by this and Kon explains that he had to come because he's Rukia's "number one disciple". Ichigo begins picking on Kon because of this statement, until Rukia tells them to be quiet. Karin is attacked by the Hollow and Yuzu attempts to go and help her. However, she is immediately strangled by the mysterious enemy, and the ghost gets mad at the fact that someone with no reiatsu is getting in her way, but still decides that she's going to eat her first.

Battle
Ichigo suddenly arrives in his Shinigami form and cuts off the tentacle strangling Yuzu. Ichigo then immediately cuts off the arm holding down Karin, and he takes his two sisters away from the Hollow. Ichigo asks the ghost why she's here again, and why she's with a Hollow. He speculates to her if she's being controlled by the Hollow, or actually working with the Hollow, but the ghost informs him that both are wrong. Rukia carries both Ichigo's body and Kon with her, and Kon complains that Ichigo's weight is too heavy on him. Rukia suddenly spots an unconscious Yuzu and Karin, as well as Ichigo talking with the ghost. Ichigo asks the ghost what she is, but the ghost simply smiles at the fact that someone saw her form and still survived, and she tells Ichigo that he's lucky. The ghost suddenly rips in half and becomes a tentacle-like limb that takes the shape of lure. It then connects to the top of the Hollow, and Ichigo looks on in shock. The Hollow tells Ichigo that since he has seen him like this, then he can't let him go without eating his soul. As Ichigo comes under the realization that the ghost was really a part of the Hollow, Rukia appears behind Ichigo and tells him that the Hollow is called Grand Fisher.

Rukia explains that Grand Fisher is a Hollow that hides his body, and makes his lure take the shape of a Human that only other humans with high reiatsu can see, and because of that he has an easier time finding humans with high reiatsu. She states that he increases his strength by eating these humans, and she informs Ichigo that Grand Fisher has eluded Shinigami for the past 54 years. Rukia remarks that this Hollow is so well known, that Soul Society has extensive records on him, and she hands Ichigo a paper displaying this information. Ichigo simply crumbles up the piece of paper and realizes that back then, he fell into Grand Fisher's trap, and because of that his mother died. Ichigo angrily jumps into the air and swings his Zanpakutō down on Grand Fisher, but the Hollow dodges his attack by jumping into the air as well. As Rukia tells Ichigo to stop being careless, Grand Fisher regenerates his cut off arm and stretches it out to attack Ichigo. Ichigo tries to block the attack with his Zanpakutō but the force of the blow is too much for him and he is sent flying back. Ichigo is able to regain himself though and he jumps back to fight Grand Fisher. However, Grand Fisher launches his growing hair and begins strangling Ichigo, causing Rukia to begin casting a Kidō spell. Ichigo quickly tells her to stop though, and cuts off the hair enveloping him. He tells Rukia not to interfere, and tells her to look over Karin and Yuzu. Rukia tries to persuade him to let her fight, but Ichigo claims this as his fight.

Rukia leaves the battlefield and decides to forcibly put Kon in Ichigo's body, much to the dismay of the Mod-Soul. As she tells Kon to help her in moving Yuzu and Karin, she remarks to herself for Ichigo not to die. Grand Fisher wraps his hair around Ichigo's left arm, breaking a tombstone in the process, but Ichigo cuts off the hair holding him down with his Zanpakutō. However, Grand Fisher tells him that he's too slow and attacks the Shinigami again, causing blood to spill out of his head. Grand Fisher begins mocking the Shinigami, telling him that he can't win by running away, and he can't win by wildly swinging his sword. He states that with this level of ability, he shouldn't have told his comrade not to interfere. Ichigo thinks to himself that Grand Fisher moves surprisingly fast despite his huge body, and that all he can do is shrug off his attacks. He realizes that if his stamina runs out, then he'll lose the battle, but then goes on to regret thinking like that, because this is the person who killed his mother and made the rest of his family suffer. Ichigo decides that he's going to defeat Grand Fisher and charges towards the Hollow, but Grand Fisher calls him careless and swings his arm at the Shinigami. Ichigo blocks the attack with his Zanpakutō, but Grand Fisher tells him that he shouldn't have hesitated, and that this is what makes him careless. Grand Fisher then uses his fingers to impale through Ichigo's chest.

Karin wakes up and see's Kon, in Ichigo's body, greeting her. Kon tells her that he saw her and Yuzu asleep on a hill, and suggests to her that she rests a little longer now. He decides to leave and tells her he's going to bring Isshin here now. After leaving, Kon asks Rukia if he did all right and remarks that keeping his eyebrows knit together is exhausting, and wonders how Ichigo can actually keep this face on all day. Karin thinks to herself that the one who saved her from the Hollow was definitely Ichigo, and wonders if it was simply a part of her dream. Grand Fisher removes his fingers from Ichigo's chest, and blood begins flowing out of the Shinigami. Grand Fisher tells Ichigo that he will control him, as well as kill him without a single wound, because of his short-lived passion of discarding his comrade and diving at his enemy’s chest. Ichigo angrily swings his Zanpakutō at Grand Fisher's head but he misses. Ichigo tells his opponent that he'll defeat him even if both his arms and legs are ripped off, but Grand Fisher tells him that this is the reason he'll die. Grand Fisher explains to Ichigo that because he's young, he's easily angered, and because of that his heart is shaken, which in turn causes his blade to become dull. As he tells Ichigo this, he brings his lure out, revealing the "human girl" again, and he squeezes the head of the "human girl". He then removes his hand, and the face of the "human girl" changes to that of Ichigo's mother. Grand Fisher then tells Ichigo that he's way too young to fight him, and "Masaki" says Ichigo's name, causing the Shinigami to become paralyzed.

Grand Fisher asks Ichigo how he's able to make his mother's form appear, even though he said he didn't remember as far back as 6 years ago. He tells Ichigo that he has to know the reason, because that's what his face is telling him, and Grand Fisher begins laughing madly. Grand Fisher then answers his own question and explains to Ichigo that because he attacked him with his left hand, he was able to look into his memories and that when he does this he makes something similar to the one thing that he can't cut. Grand Fisher states that every Shinigami has someone they could never cut, and by rooting that out he has been able to successfully kill many Shinigami up until now. Kon asks Rukia why she isn't going to save Ichigo, but Rukia tells him that she was told not to interfere. Kon suddenly begs his head down to Rukia and begs her to save Ichigo, explaining that if she doesn't then he'll be forced to live with his family, which is something he could never do. Rukia is eventually convinced to go, and she tells Kon that in return he has to protect Yuzu and Karin. As Rukia runs there, she wonders what she could possibly do to help Ichigo, and remarks that right now remorse is what's driving Ichigo and that this is the first time since he has become a Shinigami that he has actually fought for himself. As she wonders if Ichigo will be happy if she helps him, she reaches the battlefield and spots Ichigo struggling against the Grand Fisher. Rukia tries not to interfere because Ichigo won't be happy with the outcome, and begins to remember someone from her past. The person had told her that there are two types of fights, one to protect life, and one to protect pride, and that by saving someone who is fighting for their pride, would in turn end up destroying their pride. Remembering these words, Rukia decides not to interfere in this fight and quietly tells Ichigo not to die.

Grand Fisher asks Ichigo if he really can't move just because his mother called out his name, but Ichigo tells Grand Fisher that this isn't the place where he should have brought his mothers form into. "Masaki" suddenly gets in front of Ichigo and tells him to sheath his Zanpakutō, and not to cut her. Grand Fisher suddenly impales both "Masaki" and Ichigo through the stomach with his arm, and tells him that out of all the Shinigami he has encountered, he was the youngest, most thoughtless, and the weakest of them all. Ichigo suddenly thrusts his Zanpakutō through Grand Fisher, and tells the Hollow that he has finally caught him, and tightly holds onto the arm impaled through him. Ichigo tells him that he might be correct in thinking that anger can dull the blade, but the main mistake he made was in not realizing that a dulled blade is enough to kill him. Ichigo then tells Grand Fisher that out of all the Hollows he has encountered, he was the oldest, filthiest, and the most irritating of them all. Ichigo then swings his Zanpakutō out of Grand Fishers body, causing blood to flow out of him.

At Tatsuki's house, Orihime looks outside and states that it's raining, and Tatsuki remarks that this is weird since it was sunny in the morning. Orihime asks if she can borrow an umbrella and tells Tatsuki that she can't stay because she was kicked out of her house. Tatsuki is surprised by this, and asks Orihime where she's staying now, and she tells her that she's sleeping outside with a reversible sleeping bag. Tatsuki begins arguing with Orihime about this, but she tells her that she was just kidding and explains that she's at a hotel right now. After the two of them get into a minor argument, Tatsuki tells Orihime that she can still stay at her house, but Orihime tells her that she feels like walking outside today. She then leaves and thinks to herself about Ichigo's mother dying when he was only nine, and that the relief of when she met her brother before was for no reason. She then remarks that she can understand the reason that Ichigo has of having a one-way sympathy.

Grand Fisher begins screaming because of the pain that he is now feeling from having most of his body ripped off, as well as his left arm. Ichigo thrusts his Zanpakutō into the ground, and Rukia arrives to greet him. Ichigo tells her that she's a bit late and that he's already cleaned up this Hollow. Grand Fisher suddenly stretches out his hair to attack Ichigo's head, but Ichigo is able to dodge the attack, with only a minor cut to his face. Grand Fisher's body suddenly enters into "Masaki", causing "Masaki's" body to become similar to that of the Grand Fisher, and he answers Ichigo the question that he asked before, and states that both of his bodies are the real one. He states that if one body is injured, then he can simply jump into the other one, and he tells Ichigo that he has no way of beating him now. Back where Ichigo's family is resting, Isshin calls out for "Ichigo" to come inside since it's raining, but "Ichigo" is revealed to be gone. Rukia tells Ichigo to stop fighting since this is reckless, and Grand Fisher tells him that she's correct, explaining that there's no way that he'll be able to cut down his own mother. Grand Fisher then leaves the area, and Ichigo tries to go after him but Rukia stops him, explaining that this fight is over. Ichigo still tries to go, but collapses due to his wounds. As Rukia heals him, Kon arrives, and Rukia informs him that Ichigo will be all right. She then thanks Ichigo for not dying in the fight.

Aftermath
Ichigo is returned into his Human body, and remarks that the pain hurts and asks Rukia why she didn't fully heal him, but Rukia tells him that she used all of her strength trying to heal his stomach. Rukia then gives band-aids for Ichigo to put on, and Ichigo remarks that he lost his fight, but Rukia tells him he won because the Hollow had fled. Ichigo then leaves the area and Kon, now back in his plushy body, remarks that the air is too heavy here for him to move.

Ichigo goes to Masaki's grave and apologizes that he wasn't able to save her. Isshin suddenly goes up to him and begins poking him with an umbrella, forcibly trying to give it to him, and Ichigo angrily hits him across the face with the umbrella. Isshin remarks that it has been ten years since Masaki died, but Ichigo corrects him that it’s only been six and the two of them get into another argument. Isshin tells Ichigo that if he lets Masaki see his lively form, then Masaki will be able to rest easy on the other side. Isshin takes out a cigarette and begins smoking, and Ichigo remarks that he thought he quit smoking when Yuzu and Karin were born. Isshin explains to Ichigo that the only time Masaki complimented him on his looks was when he was smoking and she told him that his hand looked cool while doing that. Because of that, he decided that he would always smoke in front of her on this day only. Isshin then tells Ichigo not to look so sad and that he should cheer up, but Ichigo begins crying and asks Isshin why nobody will blame him for Masaki's death. Ichigo tells Isshin it would be so much easier if he simply blamed him, but Isshin tells him that if he were to do that, Masaki would get mad at him, and remarks that it's no one’s fault that she died. Isshin states that Masaki was simply a woman who could die protecting her son, and reminds Ichigo that she was the women who was in love with him, but decided to give up her life for her son. Isshin suddenly kicks Ichigo, remarking that he hates that fact, and begins to walk away. He then tells Ichigo to live well, age well, bald well, and to die after he dies, and that when he dies he should do it while smiling. He tells him not to hesitate to act, and that while sadness might be a cool thing to shoulder, he's still too young for it. He then tells Ichigo that he'll be waiting down below.

Ichigo tells Rukia to come out, and asks her if her Shinigami power is returning yet, but states that whether it is or isn't, to let him continue stay as a Shinigami a bit a longer. He explains that he wants to become strong enough to defeat Grand Fisher, or else he won't be able to face his mom. At an unknown location, Grand Fisher is healed by a mysterious Hollow. The Hollow tells Grand Fisher to be quiet, explaining that he could just leave him like he is right now. He then tells him that this happened because he plays around with his enemies too much. Another Hollow tells him that if he wants to kill Shinigami with certainty, then he has to chop their head off. Grand Fisher apologizes, but the Hollow tells him that he doesn't want to hear it since he told him to prepare, and that he has no desire to fix his mistakes. The Hollow working on Grand Fisher removes his mask, and asks him this is going to happen again, but Grand Fisher tells him that he'll never be taken down by a Shinigami again. Grand Fisher then yells out Ichigo's name to himself.