Ichigo Kurosaki & Izuru Kira vs. Gō Koga

Ichigo Kurosaki & Izuru Kira vs. Gō Koga is a battle that takes place in Karakura Town. It initially involves Ichigo fighting Koga alone, but eventually Lieutenant Izuru Kira arrives and helps out Ichigo.

Prologue
Ichigo and the others gather outside and they decide to look for the Bount. Rukia states that they'll be splitting up and Ichigo states that they need to increase their reiatsu to alert everyone else if they come into contact with a Bount. Ririn suddenly notices that Kurōdo and Noba are in Gigai's. She begins to get annoyed by the fact that she isn't in a Gigai but Ichigo simply tells her not to worry about it. Later, Ichigo and Rukia are shown together and Ichigo asks Ririn if she's able to locate any of the Bount, but she states that she can't. Rukia then wonders when Urahara will be finished with his enhanced Bount sensor.

Later, Ichigo and Rukia suddenly sense Renji's reiatsu disappear but before they can do anything about it, they're confronted by both Jinta and Ururu. They tell them that Urahara finally made the new Bount sensors but Ichigo doesn't want to use it because the Bount sensor is the headband he used during Urahara's training and he has to activate it with the same phrase he used on it before. Despite this, he reluctantly puts the headband on and shouts out "''"Take the power of Justice! The Armor and Headband of justice! Protect yourself!''" Rukia is shocked that Ichigo would actually say that, causing Ichigo to begin arguing with her. However, before he can do anything he begins to move in a random direction and Jinta tells him that he'll eventually reach one of the Bount because of this. Rukia yells to Ichigo that she's going to find Renji but before Ichigo can fully respond to this, he crashes into a fence. He then jumps over the fence and continues his search for the Bount.

Meanwhile, Keigo leaves a convenience store with some food and as he walks home he wonders why he wants to eat junk food in the middle of the night. Keigo suddenly notices some bitto in front of him and they charge after him. Keigo runs away and eventually escapes from them. He wonders if he's dreaming and he decides to immediately head home and get some sleep. However, before he can do that he is stabbed in the heart by a bitto and eventually collapses onto the ground. As this happens, Ichigo arrives on the scene and notices several bitto now surrounding Keigo. Ichigo begins to fight off the bitto and he tells Keigo to hang on. Ichigo is suddenly attacked by Koga and Ichigo asks him what he did to Keigo. He states that he isn't going to be explaining anything to him and he summons his doll, Dalk.

Battle
The doll fires off a metal ball at Ichigo, who blocks the attack with his Zanpakutō. Ichigo stops the metal ball and it falls to the ground, but he feels his hand go numb; causing the doll to notice that she has gotten stronger. The metal ball on the ground then turns into several, much smaller metal balls. They attack Ichigo again and he blocks the attack with his Zanpakutō but as he does this Dalk attacks the Shinigami. Ichigo dodges the attack and he goes into the air only to fend off more of the metal balls. His headband eventually breaks and he falls back to the ground. As Ichigo remarks that Dalk has gotten stronger than before, Koga tells his doll that their investigation is over. Ichigo suddenly tells them that he's not going to lose and that he's going to save Keigo.

Ichigo fends off more of the metal balls sent after him but he is eventually overwhelmed by them. Koga tells his doll that her bad habit is that she always plays with her prey. However, Dalk states that when in a life and death battle you should let your prey feel the ultimate pain and fear, as it would be a tragedy if the prey never got to feel those feelings. Ichigo gets back up to battle and Dalk begins sending a barrage of metal spikes towards Ichigo and Keigo. Ichigo protects Keigo and he tells Dalk not to mess with him, but as he does this Keigo spots Ichigo, who is shocked that Keigo can actually see him in his Shinigami form. Koga remarks that the reason for this is because most of his soul has been sucked out of his body and he informs Ichigo that he can't save him now; but Ichigo isn't convinced that this is the case. Ichigo asks Koga why he's using the bitto to collect souls and Koga informs him that the bitto gives the Bounts further strength and this helps them further achieve their goals. Keigo suddenly tells Ichigo to run away and he passes out, causing Ichigo to angrily fire off a Getsuga Tenshō at Dalk, with the attack splitting the doll in half. Ichigo then goes to take care of Keigo but Dalk suddenly stretches her arm around his Zanpakutō and immobilizes it. Dalk then stretches more of her arms around Ichigo and immobilizes him as well. She then begins to tighten her grasp on him, but Ichigo is able to pull out enough strength to free himself.

Ichigo is then shown that he was able to escape from Koga's sight due to Ririn's illusions. Ririn warns him that they have to hurry and escape, but Ichigo tells her that he has to save Keigo first. Ririn tries to convince Ichigo not to, but Ichigo tells her that if he can't save Keigo then he can't save anyone, including himself. Koga suddenly appears with his doll and tells Ichigo that he's correct in thinking that he can't save anyone and that thinking otherwise would be a foolish illusion. Dalk tells Ichigo that she won't forgive him if he tries to escape in the middle of battle and she creates a metal spider web around Ichigo so he can't leave. Ichigo fires off a Getsuga Tenshō at Dalk but she dodges the attack and Ichigo tells her that he wouldn't run away. Ichigo's Zanpakutō is suddenly immobilized by Dalk's arm again and he realizes that he himself is stuck on the web. Dalk suddenly uses her stretched out arms as a whip and begins hitting Ichigo, causing him to kneel down and drop his Zanpakutō. She then takes Ichigo's Zanpakutō and begins to thrust it towards the Shinigami to finish him off, but Ichigo easily catches the Zanpakutō to the surprise of Koga and Dalk. Ichigo then takes his Zanpakutō back and throws Dalk away.

Ichigo is suddenly shown to have been taken over by his inner Hollow again and Koga asks him who he is, only for the Hollow to answer with "I'm me". Koga remarks that he thought he was only a Shinigami but the Hollow tells him that Ichigo is the Shinigami, not him and that he isn't as naïve as Ichigo. The Hollow then remarks that as much as he'd like to say that Ichigo isn't a part of him, it would be bad for him if Ichigo were to die. Dalk doesn't think Ichigo can fight anymore and she begins to attack her opponent, but "Ichigo" easily dodges and thrusts his Zanpakutō through Dalk's chest. He then splits Dalk in half and he begins to laugh madly, but his arm is suddenly put on his Hollow mask and begins to rip it off. The Hollow realizes that Ichigo is the one doing this and he advices Ichigo against this, but his words do nothing and the Hollow mask is ripped off; causing Ichigo to come back. Ichigo collapses onto the ground and Koga tells him that a strong heart is needed to control a strong power, but that he lacks that strong heart. Koga tells him that because of this he'll destroy himself in the near future, but before that happens he'll finish him off himself and he calls for his doll to come back. Dalk wonders what happened and Koga tells her that the battle is over now. He then tells her not to make him suffer too much.

Ichigo gets back up to fight and he tells Koga that he won't let him use Keigo's life for that. Koga tells Dalk to finish Ichigo off but before she can the lieutenant of the 3rd Division, Izuru Kira, arrives to save Ichigo. Ririn regains consciousness and notices that Ichigo and Kira are about to battle with Koga and his doll. Ririn wonders what she should do and decides to run towards somewhere. Ichigo asks Kira what he's doing here and Kira explains that Hitsugaya sent him and three other lieutenants here. Kira then tells Ichigo to stand back and that he'll take care of this. Koga's doll attacks Kira but he dodges her attacks and tells her that the Soul Society has declared that the Bounts must be stopped, which is what he came to do. Kira then releases his Zanpakutō, Wabisuke and fights against the doll and the doll eventually notices that her body is beginning to feel heavier. Kira explains that his Zanpakutō's power is to make whatever it cuts feel twice as heavy and he tells the doll that she should no longer be able to handle her body's own weight.

Kira yells to Ichigo that this is his chance to take Keigo back to the Urahara shop, but before he can he is confronted by Koga. Ichigo prepares to fight against him, but hesitates because he realizes that while his opponent is a Bount, he's still human. Koga tells him that if he won't attack, then he'll go first. He begins swinging a steel beam towards his opponent. Ichigo is able to cut the steel beam in half, but Koga uses this opportunity to drag Ichigo into the ground. Koga asks Ichigo if he's so shocked that an unarmed Human could be so powerful. He explains that since he's immortal he was able to become so powerful and that what he sees before him is a human's true potential. Koga's doll sacrifices several of her arms in order to battle Kira and she is eventually able to get a hold of Kira's Zanpakutō. As this happens, Koga holds Ichigo by his neck and pushes him into a wall, but Ichigo is able to free himself. Ichigo tells him that he'll defeat him no matter what and Koga begins to remember Cain. Ichigo asks him what's wrong and Koga explains that he has lived for far too long. Koga suddenly notices that his doll has been defeated, when he is suddenly attacked by Kira. Koga dodges the attack and decides to end the battle, resealing his doll. Koga then leaves the area and Ichigo yells at him to come back.

Aftermath
Ichigo and Kira run towards the Urahara Shop to help heal Keigo, but Ichigo eventually kneels down from the wounds inflicted on him with his battle with Koga. Kira suggests to Ichigo that he should be the one to hold Keigo but Ichigo explains that since Keigo is his friend, it's his responsibility to help him. Ichigo remarks that it isn't fair that Keigo had to be caught up in this, but Kira tells Ichigo that he shouldn't feel responsible since the Bount are picking humans at random. However, Ichigo tells him that it's still his responsibility and he begins yelling at Kira. Kira tells Ichigo that he isn't his enemy and that it would serve no purpose for the two of them to argue. Kira tells him that since he lost someone who was close to him, he knows how he feels. Kira then picks up Keigo and tells Ichigo that if he really intends to save his friend, it doesn't matter who holds him. Ichigo realizes that he's correct and gets back up. Ichigo and Kira enter the Urahara Shop and Kira introduces himself to Urahara. Ichigo suddenly collapses on the ground and Urahara has both Ichigo and Keigo lay down on a bed. Hanatarō states that Keigo's reiatsu is low, but that they might be able to save him if they give him some of Ichigo's reiatsu. As Hanatarō has Tessai get the equipment for doing this transfer of reiatsu, Urahara informs Kira that Renji is being held in the next room as well. Tessai suddenly comes back and gives Hanatarō the injections.