#I didn't really care that much for the fullbringers

[skullywullypully]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have finally finished watching Bleach!

[hezuart]

Hi Hezu! It’s been a while, Hope you’re doing Well 😊 since the Blaech TYBW Arc is getting Animated👀(more excited to see the Animation), There are Questions I Got to Ask! What would happen if Ichigo Took Rukia instead of Orihime to Face Yhwach? Would it have changed The story that we Currently have or Remain The Same? (To Me, I Think The Main Characters Ichigo and Rukia should Ended The Final Arc As They Are “🖤The Death and Stawberry🍓” Plus They Started The journey and shouldn’t They have finished the Journey Together as Well? I don’t know The Ending in The Manga was Messed up for Me😖) and Also How Would You have Rewritten TYBW Arc? Sorry That There are to many Questions😅😔

Ah! I almost forgot to Mention, Have you Heard about “Vanitas no Carte”?🤔 it’s Anime About Vampires and More🦋

So the whole thing with Ichigo and Yhwach was already a bit of a mess, what with him stealing Ichigo's powers, the Fullbringers kinda just showing up as a Deus Ex Machina... and the overall rush of the storyline just didn't fit as a finale. I would have completely rewritten BLEACH's final arc so it wouldn't have come down to Ichigo chasing Yhwach through a portal. Anyway, Rukia, despite being more powerful than Orihime, probably wouldn't have made a whole lot of difference in the fight. Her bankai is too dangerous to use on an unpredictable enemy. Her ice powers might have proved more useful than Orihime's powers, but overall I don't think she would have won them the war. She could have very well become an injured damsel in distress too. It is very weird that Renji of all people comes along to the final battle, and not like... ALL of them. Out of everyone, Renji is the one who doesn't belong in the main cast, but they always act like he does. He wronged pretty much every member of Karakura in some way, and he's never made up for it. Rukia spent time in the world of the living and time with the Karakura team  when Renji hasn't. (Even when he did, he spent it with Urahara, who is also a shinigami) So he can't relate to any of them. He may be one of Ichigo's rivals but its just very random for him to come in to assist Ichigo, especially when in the end he barely puts up a fight before Aizen has to interfere. Well for one, to fix the arc, I would have honestly had Yhwach kidnap Ichigo, brainwash him, and train him as a proper Quincy, because Uryu is really useless here. I feel like Uryu, once he realizes Ichigo has been captured and Ichigo is a QUINCY, Uryu would finally have a purpose and kick it into high gear to try and help not only himself but also Ichigo. He's gotta drop his secret agent nonsense with Yhwach to try and get Ichigo out unscathed, which involves needing the help of the other members of Karakura. I’d fix Bazz B and Jugram’s friendship. Maybe have Jugram turn against Yhwach for the sake of Bazz B in the end. (I’d fix a lot of other Quincy characters too, to make them more likable and relatable because honestly I don’t care about any of them) There wouldn't be zombies in the way they were introduced. X-axis guy would never turn into giant mitosis birds because what the fucking hell was that I'd also have more flashbacks explaining the soul king, on top of Yhwach's actual overall plans. Aizen escapes. He never gets back in that chair. At some point maybe ichigos powers go haywire because yhwach is controlling his Quincy side and that clashes with his hollow. Any excuse to see more zangetsu. Maybe Quincy Zangetsu gives up because he knows its inevitable that Yhwach will win, but Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu manage to convince him. Ichigo gets a badass complete bankai, a perfect fusion of ALL his powers that Yhwach never foresaw, and destroys the man. (See the Bleach Brave Souls all powerful version of Ichigo for reference) Ichigo becomes Soul King, or maybe even Aizen becomes the Soul King. Whoever becomes the next Soul King is placed in Stasis, unable to move or speak……. Or maybe that whole thing is tossed out and they can freely walk around the Zero Squad Barracks. If Ichigo doesn’t become Soul King, then he at the very least would no longer be allowed to return to the human world and he’d probably become a captain, resparking the Shiba family Noble line.

Side note but I’d explain what on Earth was going on with Komamura’s family history, I’d probably kill Toushiro or make him ill (his life was cut in half and he becomes an adult for some really weird reason when he goes bankai… like I know hes the most popular BLEACH character in Japan but he’s been through way too much to come out unscathed like that) Nemu and Mayuri would have never had that creepy Stockholm syndrome chapter sequence. Absolutely kill off Mayuri. Maybe Nemu could take over as the new squad captain in his place. Ichigo’s friends’ tickets would actually be usable and have meaning despite the horrible timing they received them. Orihime and/or Hachigen fix Captain Kyouraku’s eye (because wtf why is that not fixed yet. Like yeah , eye patches are cool but sir there’s people who can fix that for you. Right there. Even Nemu could probably make one for you. Fix it.) Neliel and Grimmjow would have gotten a fight scene against some powerful Quincy, maybe see some Segunda Etapa forms from them. Def a lot more bankais from other characters, especially Hisagi, whose bankai was hinted at, but never received until the novel. 

And probably so much more. I would have rewritten the entire Fullbring arc as well. Given Orihime and Chad proper upgrades. I would have never separated the gang as much as Kubo has the past decade... There’s just so much to fix.  ~~~

I've heard of Vanitas no Carte and I've seen some episodes. It looks really pretty and it seems like something I could get into. The main character sorta reminds me of Lelouch. Unfortunately, the anime has a major tonal dissonance problem. One moment it's very serious or scary, and the next the characters have a complete 180 comedic reaction, and it seems to happen constantly to the point where I'm taken out of the story because of it. And I'm also confused on the direction of it. It seems to tease a romantic subtext with the main characters, Vanitas and Noe, but they both actually have girlfriends??? That they are super romantically involved with? But the girls don't have as much screen time or an overarching plot that truly relates to main characters' overall story? I mean I haven't watched the full thing, so maybe I'm missing something, but we spend a good chunk of time focusing on those relationships instead of the plot at hand and I don’t understand what their purpose in the story is. So I could check it out, but I think it won’t be something I’ll be able to stick to.

[the8thsphynx]

(,,,,hollow rant plz?)

Oh you, how cna I saw no to that cute face and cool sunglasses?

Alright, I’m copy/pasting from ym rant on Twitter so bear with me here.

This the time of day where I go Pepe Silvia Mode and talk about how being born with Hollow powers and how well-attuned you are to them is tied to how close you are to your negative emotions.

I'm putting the disclaimer in that this IS a comparison of Ichigo and Kugo. Vizards are not included in this; they were given Hollow abilities, they weren't BORN with them. Also keep your Ginjo hate off my post, we only come after Kubo.

I'm sweeping aside the rebuttal of 'Kugo's bankai and Hollow powers are from stealing Ichigo's powers, though!' SHUSHUP, FULLBRINGERS ARE FULLBRINGERS BECAUSE THEY INHERITED HOLLOW POWERS, KUGO HAD THEM FROM BIRTH.

RANT AHEAD

pictures and gifs ahoy, because they make my rambling less walls of text

Okay, second off from the get-go of unleashing his bankai, Kugo is better adjusted to being partially Hollowed than Ichigo has EVER been in the whole series. He can even fire off a near-perfect cero, which Ichigo was shown pre-TYBW only being able to do when he lost control of his Hollow form. Getsugas do not count.

Now how does this tie into your emotional state?? What do Hollows have to do with feeling shitty??? EVERYTHING, actually. Hollows themselves are ghosts who got bogged down with a chain of fate due to regrets and the mire time went on where a Soul Reaper didn't help them to pass on, the more they ended up festering in these regrets/hatred until a hole opened up in their chest and they became a Hollow. So now these entities have to go around devouring positive ghosts and living people to 'fill the void'.

So why does this bit of info have anything to do with Kugo and Ichigo??? Again, it has EVERYTHING to do with this theory.

So I'm starting off with Ichigo to show what NOT being in-sync with your Hollow powers nor your negative emotions looks like. So it's obvious af, but Ichigo has no sense of self-preservation and he doesn't know how to NOT be selfless. He's pretty much grown up and been raised that he should live his life helping and protecting other people...

Holy shit, I just realized the parallels between Ichigo and Shirou Emiya... 

 But yes, Ichigo goes out of his way to NOT take care of himself out of the interest of taling care of others (even ghosts), and it's made worse when he becomes a Soul Reaper, because Ichigo doesn't KNOW any better and he's told he's helping people somehow by becoming Soul Society's chore boy. Ichigo never sits down to look at himself or question his life; its like he's been told that being angry, sad, to grieve or to be self-centered at ALL is bad??

And then Shirosaki (YES HIS HOLLOW PART, THAT'S WHY I BRING HIM UP WE LOVE THIS KID FOR THIS CONVERSATION) really reflects that by openly shitting on Ichigo for constantly getting fucked over.

Ichigo would rather pretend that everything is fine with him and just 'forget' the bad shit he's been through instead of reflecting on it, accept it, and grow from it. And frankly, Soul Society never gives him the time TO actually process his trauma and grief, it's one shitstorm after another. plus if you let your indentured servant think about their oppression for too long they will revolt HAHAHAHAHAHA fuck soulsoc

So what does this do when Ichigo  finally hits his breaking point...? When he can't pretend his overflowing problems don't exist anymore and the weight of the world isn't as light as you've been pretending its been?

...Suppression has its limits, and it can very easily turn you into an unhinged monster once that pain and frustration finally rears it’s ugly head out of the water.

Now I'm gonna shift my focus over to Kugo Ginjo. Canon established to us that he was a Fullbringer before he was a Substitute Soul Reaper and then presumably he lost his Soul Reaper power rights before/during the Soul Society betrayal.

It's... super unclear and never touched on whether or not he had a zanpakuto WITH a name or if he was borrowing another Soul Reaper's powers like Ichigo was with Rukia's powers, all we see is that one snippet of him IN a shihakusho when he finds and takes in baby Tsukishima.

If I had to guess, Kugo never got the chance to test out a potential bankai, let alone fuck with his Hollow aspect, but taking Ichigo's powers might have been like an X-men Rogue thing where he figured out how Ichigo calls on Shirosaki THROUGH that.

But that's the kicker, even if he never DID use it before, Kugo has P E R F E C T control of his Hollow abilities.

That cero??? First try??? Right when Kugo was having a moment of intense negative emotions???

HM.

So the past however-fuck-odd years since Soul Society betrayed the original Xcution, Kugo has VERY UNDERSTANDABLY been fucking pissed and stewing in hatred and grief. The way we see him before and after Tsukishima alters his memories, it looks like Kugo has def gone off the deep end and become a completely unsympathetic douchebag as a side effect of all these years of spite. Sucks!

But that's exactly why I think that his powers in a more Hollow-like form serve him better. He doesn't crack or teeter on losing control like Ichigo does; he doesn't even seem to be unsure of how to use his abilities (for the 1000th time, perfect cero).

Now I'm not sure if Kugo has an inner Hollow persona like Ichigo does with Shirosaki since Shirosaki was a special case, but if he DID I wouldn't doubt that they would understand each other if not get along; both probably agreeing on the notion of 'get revenge, don't d¡e until you win'... 

unlike Ichigo and Shirosaki, who never fucking agree on anything and always have to compromise with each other.

If I'm gonna get fakedeep, I'll say that Hollow powers is a metaphor for trauma and the rightful regret and anger that should accompany it, and that's what makes Ichigo and Kugo's relationship with their respective 'Hollows' so different.

Ichigo chooses to suppress if not discard the regret and anger of his traumas because he's concerned about keeping everyone else happy and holding everything else together. Even though stepping back to say 'fuck you' and separate himself from the people who hurt him would serve HIM for the better, Ichigo chooses to forgive anyone and open himself back up.

Kugo is the opposite end of that spectrum: In the end, he used his trauma and pain to hurt uninvolved and innocent people and project his problems onto others. He's VERY tuned into his negative emotions to the point that he utilizes it to suit his needs, but in a bad way.

In conclusion:

Please read the manga. Specifically please read the Fullbring arc. And when you finish, come to me to roast it with me.

[shybre22]

Now for part two I will be doing Ichihime.

Honestly I knew Ichihime would be endgame from early on in the manga and series.

A lot of IR claim that Ichihime doesnt make sense or that they have no development..which at this point I think this is what any anti for any pairing in every anime say.. because that's obviously not true at all.

Even from the very beginning.. not only do we know that Orihime likes Ichigo, but Ichigo seems to pay attention to Orihime, extra close at times.

In this panel, he admits that he worries about her and watching her wears him out with worry, he even wonders if she's really alright. Now its important to remember that this is fairly earlier in the story and at this time Orihime is only an acquaintance at best..but here he is worrying about her.

Not only does he notice her getting hurt...but during the Fullbringer arc he said that she was more likely to get followed or stalked than him when Orihime asked if anyone has been following him.

Hell he's even offered to walk her home.

Weird considering they're only acquaintances at this point right? While I know it's rare for the shounen protagonist to have a crush right off the bat..for arguments sake let's say you look at ichihime interactions with the idea that Ichigo has some sort of crush on Orihime. I feel like his interactions with her make more sense throughout the series and keep this I mind through this post.

Now antis always love to say that Orihime didn't understand Ichigo or couldn't encourage him like Rukia could..but..

Here! Even Tatsuki who has known him since childhood couldn't tell it wasnt Ichigo or his other friends.. but Orihime does notice..she knows that's not him right away.

And here Orihime right away knew he wasn't acting like himself...even Tatsuki was impressed, she said it took her years to figure that out.

Oh yeah she cant encourage him right?? Not only did she give Ichigo the resolve to go save Rukia..but during the Grimmjow fight.. Ichigo was so afraid of frightening Orihime with his mask that he wasn't focusing on the battle.. know think about that..he was so scared to frighten Orihime he wasn't fighting..knowing he could die or get really hurt.

I also hear antis say that Orihime is horrible for being scared of Ichigo when he was still fighting to save her but they need to understand that in the first few chapters of bleach..Orihime was attacked by her brother..her beloved brother, the only family she ever had before he died and he attacked her..as a hollow..and now she's looking at the man she loves with a hollow mask and she's afraid FOR him not necessarily OF him..she's afraid he'll turn completely hollow( which is fair, considering he does later during the ulquiorra fight).

Then all she had to say " please dont die..you dont have to fight for me and you dont have to win..just please dont get hurt". And Ichigo was ready to fight for real..then beat Grimmjow.

She was also able to feel his pain somehow and knew he was crying when he got his powers stolen despite her being far away from him at the time.

Not to mention at this time she was brainwashed by Tsukishima making her and Chad think Ichigo was the one going crazy, but even though she was brainwashed to think it was Tsukishima who she loved..her heart knew better and still felt Ichigo's pain even without seeing him.

Not to mention she was able to see he had a plan to defeat Ywach just from one look into his eyes.

So yeah.. Orihime does understand Ichigo more than most..and just because Rukia does too doesnt mean he should be with her.

And on Ichigo's side antis also say he doesn't care about Orihime only Rukia..and if he does care it's only because Ichigo is protective of his friends.

Now it's clear through the whole series that Ichigo does care about all his friends..but it's also apparent that Ichigo does hold Orihime to a different standard.

This is not far into the story..at this point they are still only classmates and only a few pages ago Ichigo refused to take over Rukia's Soul reaper duties..until he found out a hollow was after Orihime.

Or when Yammy and Ulquiorra hurt Orihime..they also hurt Tatsuki and Chad but he was shown to be obsessing over Orihime ( despite the fact she could literally reverse her injuries) and the fact Tatsuki was a human with no powers should've made him worry over her more..but he felt so guilty for not protecting Orihime he couldn't even look her in the eyes..it got so bad that Rukia made him go to her and look her in the eye and he vowed to never let anyone hurt her again, pluse he didn't apologize to anyone else..just Orihime. I also find it funny how Rukia seems to be a ichihime shipper while her fans hate Orihime and want her to be with Ichigo..I find it funny.

Then we all know how hurt he was when Orihime got taken to Hueco Mundo.. Yes I understand he did rescue Rukia as well but he even said its because he owed her..and he did he owe her his and his families lives..and she was his friend and only on death row because of him. But with Orihime she chose to go to protect her friends and Ichigo had no obligations to her other than she was his friend..

He also walked around like a zombie not even caring when Tatsuki beat the hell out of him asking where Orihime was. He even yelled and threw a fit at the captain commander(you know the strongest soul reaper alive) for suggesting she was a traitor..

He even went against the entire soul society wishes (as a substitute soul reaper no less) to go find Orihime in Hueco Mundo.

One of my favorite scenes is when Ichigo was hurrying to go help Chad and Rukia who were badly injured at the time..when Ulquiorra appears and tries to goad him into a fight.. nothing works until Ulquiorra mentions he was the one who brought Orihime to Hueco Mundo ..which in turn infuriates Ichigo and he swings his sword at him in a blind rage..(remember he was supposed to be helping Chad and Rukia who were injured) but he was so angry that he was the one who brought Orihime there...he didn't say he hurt her or tortured her...he only said he brought her. And. Ichigo. Flipped.

One of my other favorite scenes is when he almost literally rises from near death to get Grimmjow's hands off of Orihime

LET GO OF HER! Was the first thing he says never mind he was almost dead a few minutes ago and still can barely stand. And look at that face his eyes mean business.

And of course one of the most epic Ichihime moments is when Ulquiorra defeats Ichigo and kills him.. he hears Orihime calling for help as Ulquiorra advances to her.. and as he's dying he hears her and tells himself he needs to help her and protect her..even in death he needs to protect her. And yes I'm aware that his inner hollow is the one keeping him from dying..but the only reason Hichigo doesnt completely take over Ichigo and lose his humanity was his will to protect Orihime. Ichigo was chanting " help her", "help her", over and over like a mantra..that's was the last shred of his humanity and even his last shred of humanity wanted nothing more than to protect Orihime.

Not only is Ichigo extra protective of Orihime..but he get flustered around her too.

Like during The Thousand Year Blood War Arc.. when Ichigo was asked by Chad if he liked Orihime's outfit ( Which was very revealing..especially in the boob area) and Ichigo was blushing like an idiot of course.

While most antis swear it's just because Orihime is very beautiful and has a very large chest..remember Chad or Uryu didn't react despite them being males as well..just Ichigo.

Not only that but all of Ichigos enemies always use Orihime to bait him into fights. Enemies like Grimmjow, Nnotora, Ulquiorra, and even Ginjo..they all taunted him about how he was so determined to protect Orihime that they would use her presence to push Ichigo into fighting them.

Antis also claim that they didn't develop.. they went from classmate acquaintances to friends fighting side by side in battle. Orihime went from being shy and stuttering and being nervous in his room to borrowing manga from him and just marching in his room and both teasing each other. Ichigo also went from wanting to protect Orihime by leaving her on the side lines and out of harm's way.. to trusting her to be his shield in battle.

IR"s also claim that Rukia is better than Orihime because she's stronger. Now I know Rukia is strong no doubt..especially when she finally releases her bankai. But for most of the series she hardly does anything..even my husband noticed she only won like two or three fight the whole series and most of the time she was so beat up after she looks like she lost the fight. I'm not trying to talk down on Rukia I love her actually.. it's just is you go back and read the manga..Rukia didn't do much either.. plus Orihime actually has a really really OP power she just doesn't have the heart to hurt anyone so she usually uses her shield or healing, but just like Rukia they didn't do much with her powers.

In the end Ichihime had quite a bit of development..I'm not saying Rukia and Ichigo didnt have a bond..because they had a strong one..but that doesn't always mean romantic..I always felt it was more brother/ sister type than anything. But if you go back and look at all of the Ichihime moments you'll realize their bond as well..you'll realize that Orihime was always their during the really important times and fights.. like the Grimmjow fight, Ulquiorra, fight, the Nnotora fight, his Fullbringer training, his Visored training, and she stood side by side with him in the Ywach fight.

He was actually separated from Rukia more than he was with her..even when they were in the same places..they were always separated. Kubo..I feel made it very clear from early on that ichihime would be endgame..I feel some people were just in denial.

[laromurl]

Bleach Fanfic

Uryu Ishida x Utsuko Nisenosei (oc)

Slight angst, fluff

....

"Uryu." Her voice was soft and broken but she got his attention away from the night sky outside his window.

"Utsuko. What are you doing here?" He was calm and soft. It has been almost a year since they spoke. Even at school he avoids her. After what Kisuke admitted to him about her fate, he just couldn't bring himself to do anything. Admitting his feelings was already a mistake.

"Ichigo told me you got hurt. I wanted to see you. Who did this?" Utsuko cautiously entered the room and even moved to his side. She extended her hand with the purpose of touching him but he flinched away from her.

It wouldn't do any good for both of them if he promised her sweet nothings when she was just going to leave him. "I don't know but I'm fine Utsuko. You didn't have to come." Her turned away from her causing a stinging turmoil in her chest. She rose her hand to her heart to steady her breathing.

She stayed silent for a couple seconds hoping he would atleast look at her again but after he didn't, she cleared the painful ball from her throat. "How much longer are you going to punish me Uryu? We were doing so good after Aizen, and then..." She trailed off because honestly she didn't understand why he was avoiding her.

When he didn't say anything she breathed low and turned her eyes to the ground. "I-I just wanted to say that I love you. You don't have to say it again. I just wanted you to know."

Uryu turned to her, his heart beating a thousand times faster than normal. His cheeks flushed red. "Utsu-"

"Her fate is to die for the soul king. For the balance of the world." Kisuke's words resounded though his head cutting out everything he desperately wanted to tell her.

Uryu cleared his throat. "Utsuko. Let me be clear, we are not meant to be together. Please get over me." His eyes sofftened and he turned his eyes from her. She was his weakness and he was hers.

"Uryu."

He picked up his eyes, this time locking them on her and furrowing his eyebrows ina stern manner to show her that he was absolutely serious. "I don't love you. I made a mistake."

Utsuko's eyes widened for a second as she painfully processed his words. She didn't believe him but she also knew he was trying to keep her away so she simply nodded. "I understand. This is goodbye then." She walked away hoping that he would stop her but by the time she got the hall and she couldn't hear anything from his room. She ran.

She ran and ran until her feet hurt away from the hospital. Away from the stupid pain in her heart. Away from him.

...

Ginjo swiped his sword across Utsuko's chest giving her barely enough time for her to take out her sword. She was pushed back towards the mansion hitting the roof with a loud bang!

Uryu watched the whole exchange and quickly jumped to her aide. "Utsuko!?" He grabbed her arm through the dust but she swatted it away. She way annoyed. He only came to her rescue. Only when he wanted to protect her.

"In fine Uryu. He can't hurt me." She grabbed his arm for help to stand giving Uryu acess to her spiritual pressure.

"Utsuko your spiritual pressure is fading what did you do?" But he already knew. Kisuke had told him that aftet her visit to the hospital, she went to Kisuke. She went to him to give up her powers. She knew about her fate. Of course she did.

Utsuko pulled away and wiped the blood off her mouth getting the next attack ready. She glared at Ginjo who sneered at her. Ichigo was standing infront of the captains and lieutenants that came to help but noone was moving.

Her power was fading. She cursed her powers for leaving so soon, but looking at Uryu she felt a relief in her chest. Through this they can finally be together. They finally get to be normal. Just one more fight.

She lifted her weapon and glared at Ginjo. Suddenly she felt a pirecing pain in her stomach and when she looked down she saw the illuminating yellow light of Ginjo's fullbringer.

"Utsuko!" Uryu scream pulled Utsuko from her shock and she, instinctively, held her hand to her stomach. "Ur-" she lunged forward coughing out blood and the pain took over her body.

Shit. I'm going to die.

Uryu stood up feeling his spiritual pressure fluctuated a thousand times fold as he turned to Ginjo with rage pouring out his body.

....

Utsuko awoke in her room disoriented at first. It took her a few seconds to process that she was back home and the strong smell coming from her kitchen. She got up slowly and finally noticed the change in her body. She could smell the food but she didn't know who it was. She couldn't pick up any spiritual pressure.

Her powers were officially gone. Now she didn't have to die for the soul king. All he needed was her power anyway.

That brought her some relief. Maybe now Uryu can admit he loves her. Maybe now they can be together.

She planted her feet in the cold hardwood, missing her house slippers by a few inches, when the door opened and the light was switched on.

"Utsuko don't move yet. Your bandages will open!" Uryu moved to the nightstand and placed the tray of food he had. He bent in front of her and pulled her shirt up to reveal bandages wrapped around her torso.

"H-Hey! Don't just lift my shirt!" She flushed bright red and she muttered out. Pain shot through her back when she abruptly pulled away from Uryu.

Her agonizing scream freaked him out for a second. "Utsuko get back in bed. I'll bring more bandages." He ran out of the room leaving Utsuko in pain, trying to get back to her bed.

When the pain subsided and Uryu changed her bandages, he cleared his throat moving his redddening face away from her chest. Her had changed her before but now that she was awake and blushing too, it was all just so...tense.

"Uryu what happened?" She asked softly. "After I lost conciousness."

Uryu sighed and sat on the bed bwside her bringing the try to his lap. It was fish soup. Her favorite.

"Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya froze your wounds to stop the bleeding and I brought you back here. Ichigo won against Ginjo and I think he's on his way to the soul society."

"Oh." She was happy Ichigo won.

"How long have I been unconcious. I don't have any of my power left." She looked at her hands to see if she could see anything.

"A week." He muttered. "The first day you seemed to be healing pretty quickly but because of that you lost the remainder of your power." His voice lowered as if he was telling a sad story but to Utsuko there was nothing sad about it.

She giggled, groaning when the laughter pained her stomach. Uryu looked at her confused but she leaned on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his. "Can you tell me you love me now?"

Uryu quickly stood up almost spilling the tray. He grew stern looking down at her. His lips were pursed and he furrowed his eyebrows to show his disapproval. And she understood. She pulled back to her bed and he stood silent for a few seconds before walking out of her room. Utsuko didn't follow him.

It was true that he had told her he loved her once but ever since that he has made it his mission to avoid her. To disdain her. But then he shows up to rescue her and even brings her back to health. His problem would be gone if he had let her die.

Anger arose in her and she had to say it. It was time she didn't bite her tongue anymore.

Carefully but hastily, she got up and followed the sound of dishes clanking in the sink. Uryu had his back to her. His sleeves rolled up, half the dishes done. For some reason this calmed her down and she moved a chaur to sit.

Uryu jumped at the sudden noise. "Utsuko, you should-"

"Be in bed. I know. I know. Im just tired of being in my room." She breathed out. She wanted to lean ocer the table but she only got so far before the wound began to hurt.

"Hey be careful!" Uryu jumped to her rescue once again. Remembering this, made her angry again.

"Uryu stop! I'm fine!" She smacked his hand away.

He stopped and looked down at her. "Im trying to help."

"I know." She said bluntly. "That's all you ever do."

"What do you mean?"

She snapped her head to meet his eyes in disbelief. "It will help me if you stopped helping me. I don't need you to be there only when I'm in trouble."

"Utsuko-"

"No Uryu." She interrupted him. She was so exhausted. "I'm tired of explanations. I'm tired of us teetering around the subject. If you are feeling guilty because you don't love me then stop. I forgive you. Just...go live your life and stop worrying about mine!" Their eyes were locked and hers were never wavering showing her adamant stand.

"I don't want someone who doesn't love me." She continued. "If you stopped coming around to my rescue, I would get over you."

"That's not what I'm trying to do Utsuko. You don't have any powers because of me! A-And if I tell you...if I admit it...you'll always be in danger."

"Then don't and leave."

That surprised him. Utsuko was always fighting for him. Always telling him that danger didn't matter to her as long as she had him. But she didn't have him either way. Not really. Uryu was the one pulling away, he was the one who had all the power over this relationship. Why couldn't he just choose? What did he even feel? Could he answer that?

He took a step forwards towards the door trying to make up his mind of what to say or how to say it. He couldn't bring himself to leave Utsuko even if she was telling him to but he also couldn't say what she wanted him to say. He couldn't put that pressure on her.

Utsuko lowered her eyes into her hands waiting for him to pass by her side and out the door. He watched carefully as her featured changed from stern to solemn. She was sad and it was his fault.

What could he say now?

He took a few more steps giving her the power to stop him because at that moment if she had told him to kiss her he would have but she kept quiet.

It wasn't her choice anymore. He got up to the brim of the door before growing frustrated. It was all on him! And what did he want?

Without sparing another second, he grabbed her chin and picked up her face. Those beautiful brown eyes had done it for him once and they keep doing it for him. He tightened his fingers on her chin and pulled her to his lips. He was so slow and careful at first it was infuriating for her to wait but she did and it was worth it. She grabbed his cheeks and stood up in her toes. Then she moved her arms around his neck while he moved his to her waist being weary of the bandages.

They only pulled away to catch their breath but it was a perfect oppurtuntiy for him to look her in the eyes and say, "I want you. I love you."

Utsuko smiled wide, not daring to hide the emotions bubbling in her or the tears brimming her eyes. "Finally." She scoffed jokingly. He laughed with her and leaned down to kiss her again and again and again for the rest of their time together.

[shi-daisy]

Hi there! I've been reading your post about Rukia and it got me wondering. How do you feel about her being captain? Honestly, I just can't imagine her being her and I don't like the idea coz I hate the fact that Ukitake got killed off just to make her more awesome. That made me hate her and felt betrayed coz we didn't get to see her interact with Ukitake that much and he's my fave character. I wish we got to see her more in her own squad and Ukitake instead of Renji...

Hi Anon! I agree with you in the sense that Ukitake shouldn't have been killed, much less to make Rukia Captain.

Ukitake was a great character, he was sweet, funny and kind. I was especially interested in seeing not only his backstory and bankai but to also see him interacting with Ginjo, as the Fullbring arc seemed to set up those two had backstory. Were they friends? Was the whole fullbringer debacle just Ginjos's fault or was Ukitake not as innocent as we thought? Maybe it could've even influenced them both in this arc, but alas we got nothing.

Killing Ukitake off didn't accomplish anything storywise. There was no emotional payoff, as nobody mentioned it afterward, he didn't defeat anyone as Aizen stopped the hollows literally moments later and finally Kubo could've made Rukia Captain by having Ukitake retire. There was no need to have him dead. Heck, I would've found it more emotional to see him handing off his post to her rather than just dying unceremoniously.

As for Rukia being Captain I don't think it's A bad idea but she needed more scenes to prove herself worthy of that. She only won around three fights before the final arc and those were with minor opponents, not to mention she needed to polish her bankai before becoming Captain. Maybe she trained after the timeskip, but since we don't know that its left rather ambiguous. My guess is Kubo made her Captain cuz he was getting complaints about the things he did to his female characters (sexualizing them all, fridging Yachiru,Unohana and Nemu, misgendering and ridiculing Giselle for being trans) if he makes a girl Captain, people can't say he's being sexists. Which is not how that works but again I don't think he cares much.

I also agree with what you said about them bonding. It would've been really cute to have more scenes with them as mentor and student. Heck, we never got a scene of Rukia thanking him for his help back in the Rescue Arc. Idk, their bond never felt that strong to me yet it would've been cute to explore.

[saranel]

What happened to Karin's growing powers,btw? Did it help her b***s grow only cause it certainly didn't leave any mark on the plot?

I know a lot of people were disappointed the Karin thing never seemed to go anywhere (and it would certainly have made for a great development), but to be perfectly honest with you, I never thought Kubo meant to do more with her.

To me, the whole deal with Karin’s powers in the Fullbringer arc seemed to serve as a way to highlight Ichigo’s despair. In the first few chapters, we are basically told that he has been replaced in pretty much every way, or feels like he’s being left behind.

Yuzu asks him about her school outfit and instead of getting sad when he doesn’t really care, she gives him sass; she’s grown.  Karin is now the only sibling who can see ghosts.  Ishida has taken over the official Hollow Slaying duties for Karakura.  And what’s worse, both Karin and Ichida are now shown/implied to have a relationship with his former mentor (whom we can assume Ichigo no longer visits).

And it’s not so much about Urahara himself, but about his role: he acts as the adviser to the local Hollow Slayer.  Urahara is the bridge between the mortal world and Soul Society.  And without any powers left, Ichigo seems to be both actively avoiding reminders of the world he can no longer touch or affect in any tangible way, and at the same time desperately craving them. 

In a nutshell, I think Karin was used as a means to make Ichigo feel even more out of the loop.  Additionally, Kubo used her to also highlight how Ichigo’s loved ones now felt, determined to take up the mantle of protecting him for a change.