[The Substitute Shinigami Arc] Part 21: Brother's Will

After a brief explanation from Rukia about the Hollows, we were now trying to get to Orihime's house as quickly as possible. I was starting to get better at using Bringer Light and although Ichigo didn't realize it yet, he was able to jump in mid-air even though he still had no knowledge of Shunpo.

I was carrying Rukia on my back since she still hadn't recovered her powers and since Ichigo was the only one with a zanpakutou I already planned to stay out of the fight.

# Meanwhile #

Tatsuki had leapt towards the Hollow, ready to land a punch on him. The girl's action had momentarily surprised the Hollow, who was hit by the blow and thrown back, but when she tried to attack him again the Hollow moved away enough causing the girl to miss.

Hollow: "You…you…you too… tried to separate Orihime from me!!!!!" Quickly the Hollow attacked Tatsuki, striking the girl with its monstrous hand, causing Tatsuki to fly violently against the wall.

Any ordinary person would have broken a few bones or even fainted from the impact, but that didn't seem to stop the girl, who got to her feet shortly afterwards.

Tatsuki: "You bastard…I'll make you regret it…"

Before he could complete what he was going to say, the Hollow spit a liquid on the girl's arm that started to burn her arm.

Tatsuki: "AAAAARGH!!!"

The Hollow was about to attack the girl again, but this time, the monster was stopped by a sword.

# Normal POV #

I was outside the apartment, still carrying Rukia and as soon as we spotted the Hollow, Ichigo managed to stop it in time. While the two were fighting I was looking for a way to go help Orihime and Tatsuki, but the room was too small and the Hollow took up too much space.

Yato: 'Not to mention that now he's so obsessed with Orihime that he'd end up attacking me just by approaching her…'

Rukia: "We need to go there…" she said uneasy with the situation.

Yato: "If only the Hollow would leave the room…"

Before completing my thought, Ichigo is thrown out of the room and I knew that at that time, the Hollow would spit acid on Ichigo's hand, making him drop the zanpakutou.

Yato: 'Sorry for the lack of delicacy but…'

I used Bringer Light to quickly go to Ichigo…and without any remorse I kicked him out of reach of the acid and took the moment to move away too…I wasn't going to stand there waiting for the acid to hit me.

Ichigo: "What's your problem!!??"

Yato: "Sorry, my hands are full"

We turned our attention to the Hollow who had Orihime in hand. From her reaction, he must have finally told her that he was her older brother... Sora Inoue.

Their conversation didn't last long as Tatsuki had gotten up and with a powerful kick she knocked the Hollow out of the room.

Tatsuki: "You're going to need a lot more than acidic spit to take me down!"

Rukia: "That girl…kicked the Hollow!?"

Yato: "... she Kicked it... at least now the Hollow isn't inside anymore..."

I used Bringer Light to go to the bedroom and Rukia immediately let go of me to check on Orihime. The problem was that the Hollow immediately turned towards us.

Hollow: "Orihime belongs to me!! I won't hand her over to you!!!!!"

When it was about to attack us, Tatsuki put herself in front of us and in an incredible display of strength, she held the Hollow by placing her hands against the creature's mouth to prevent it from trying to bite anyone.

Tatsuki: "Don't be an idiot!!! Orihime doesn't belong to anyone!!"

The Hollow started to use more force, pushing Tatsuki little by little, but this time Ichigo joined her and tried to hold the Hollow by putting his zanpakutou against its teeth.

Ichigo: "But how the hell are you fighting a Hollow!? And what happened to your eyes!?!?"

Tatsuki: "And who cares about that!? What the hell happened to you!?!? And what do Rukia and Yato have to do with it!?"

Yato: "It's a bad time for you to argue!"

Hollow: "I've lived all my life for Orihime!! Yet she didn't live for me!! She should at least die for me!!!" The Hollow used its tail to hit Ichigo and Tatsuki, throwing them against the wall. Now with no one to stop him, I tried to hold Rukia and Orihime away with Bringer Light, however, Orihime ran towards the Hollow, allowing him to bite her.

Ichigo: "...Inoue...!"

Tatsuki: "Orihime!"

Hollow: "....Ori.....hime...?"

Orihime: "...I'm sorry… brother…I…I wanted you to hear all the fun things that happen at school…the things I like…the people I like…I didn't just want to show that I was sad… to not to worry you… I wanted to show you that I was happy…"

Hollow: "Ori…." Orihime: "I didn't realize I was making you sad…I'm sorry I didn't notice…I love you brother…"

Although I had already seen this scene in the anime… seeing it in person made me a little tense… Ichigo, Tatsuki and the Hollow despaired when they saw Orihime losing consciousness.

Rukia: "Don't panic! She can still be saved! The chain of destiny on her chest hasn't been broken yet! As long as the chain exists attached to her physical body, I can save her using Kidou!"

Ichigo/Tatsuki: "Kidou…?"

The Hollow had finally stopped its attack so Rukia could heal Orihime. In the meantime, the Hollow noticed the hairpins that Orihime was wearing and just like in the anime, he decided to take his own life using Ichigo's zanpakutou.

Rukia: "He's making the right decision. No need to worry. When a Hollow is cut, it doesn't mean that he will be killed. By defeating a Hollow with the zanpakutou, we purify his sins so that he can proceed to Soul Society. Yeah. That's why we shinigami exist."

I confess that the farewell to Orihime and Sora was very touching but Rukia's words made me come back to reality.

Yato: 'And now…Sora probably landed somewhere random in the Rukongai with the chance of going through even more difficult things…no matter how hard I try to come up with some excuse…or how much I like Rukia…I just can't seem to like the shape how this world works… There's no way that shinigami work…'

Cheshire: 'And that's because your greatest wish is to have a peaceful life...hihihi'

Yato: 'To have a peaceful life in this universe? It doesn't matter if I'm weak or strong, or if I'm in the world of the living, Soul Society or Hueco Mundo…it would all be the same.'

Cheshire: 'So…all we have to do…is change this world.'