Volume 3 memories in the rain

"If I were the rain,
Just as it bridges the gap between
the sky and earth, which will never intersect
would I be able to bridge the gap between two people's hearts ?"

17. 6/17
18. 6/17 op. 2 "Can't Smile Don't Blame"
19. 6/17 op. 3 "memories in the rain"
20. 6/17 op. 4 "face again"
21. 6/17 op. 5 "fighting boy"
22. 6/17 op. 6 "BATTLE ON THE GRAVEYARD"
23. 6/17 op. 7 "Sharp Intention, Dull Blade"
24. 6/17 op. 8 "All One Way Sympathies"
25. 6/17 op. 9 "fighting boy2 [The Cigar Blues Mix]"
    
    Extra: Tatsuki Arisawa's Profile
    Extra: Isshin Kurosaki's Profile

Author's Comments

The difference between the season in a story and the season in real life bothers me. This serialization begain in the summer. The month at that point in time in the story was May. That difference always bothered me. In this volume the introduction to the main character, Ichigo, is finally over. The setting is June. It's unexpected nice timing. If you can please read it on a rainy night.

General Overview

It turns out Ichigo and Rukia decided to put the mod soul they acquired last volume into a plushie lion and named it Kon. He and Ichigo still don't get along well, but Ichigo is being moody because the anniversary of the death of his mother, Masaki, is approaching. She had died when Ichigo was 9, saving him from drowning in a river when he was running to save a ghost (not realizing it was a ghost) from drowning in the river. It's not exactly clear how she died, but it is clear she died saving Ichigo. Rukia and Kon end up crashing the family grave visit, but that turns out to be a good thing since Karin and Yuzu end up running into a hollow named Grand Fisher. When Ichigo arrives to save them, he sees the ghost he had been trying to save the day his mother died. It turns out that "ghost" is actually Grand Fisher's lure, which it uses to attract high density souls that can see it, especially women. Realizing it had killed his mother, Ichigo is furious and won't let Rukia interfere in the battle even if many shinigami have died fighting it.

Grand Fisher doesn't remember killing Masaki, but it's still not an easy battle for Ichigo since it has the ability to look into his memories and make its lure look like Masaki, whom Ichigo can't stand to hurt even if he knows it's not really her. So Grand Fisher manages to really skewer Ichigo, but this in turn gives Ichigo the chance to cleanly slice its head. However, it flees into its lure and escapes, while Ichigo collapses from his extensive injuries. Then he begs Rukia to let him keep her powers at least until he can defeat Grand Fisher. On the other hand, Grand Fisher has fled between worlds to get healed by other hollows. They remove its mask and it looks more dangerous than ever, and obviously out for revenge on Ichigo for injuring it so badly.

In Depth Chapter Summaries

17. 6/17
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 7
    Characters Appearing - Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime Inoue, Mizuiro Kojima, Kon, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki, Michiru Ogawa, Kisuke Urahara
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Karakura, Karakura High, Kurosaki Clinic
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - memory replacer, mod soul, shinigami

    The volume starts off with someone thinking that's why he wanted to protect them until he died. We then see the title page: Ichigo all in black, sitting in what looks like a cave.

    We next see Ichigo at home getting woken up by a speaking and moving lion plushy. Ichigo gets mad, tosses it at the closet door, and calls it Kon as he tells it to be quiet. He then explains that it's the mod soul. They searched everywhere to get him a body, but they couldn't use him on something that was alive because its soul would come out and dead things were hard to find (they never had any intention of using him on a human), so they tried him on a discarded lion plushy and it worked. After that Ichigo named him Kon as short for "Kaizou Konpaku" (the Japanese word for modified soul) because "Kai" sounded cool and pissed Ichigo off.

    Anyway, Rukia comes out of the closet and steps on Kon, giving him a good panty shot angle. After he says as much, she stomps on him. But since Yuzu is about to come in the room, Ichigo shoves both of them in the closet. Yuzu tells him Mizuiro is already there and Ichigo realizes he's woken up late for school. He tells Mizuiro he'll be down shortly and recalls that Urahara worked really hard to erase all of his classmates' memories of the incident (but doesn't remember Urahara's name and is curious about who he is.)

    Rukia says she'll go to school ahead of him, and then Ichigo realizes it's June 16th. He starts acting a bit moody, but won't say why.

    At school Inoue, Ogawa, and Tatsuki are discussing a picture of their future selves that they had to do as an assignment. Tatsuki did one of her winning some sort of fighting championship, Inoue did one of herself as a weird robot, and Ogawa is too embarassed to show hers. Just then Ichigo walks in and Inoue greets him. He greets her back in a happy voice, and Ogawa wonders if he's a good mood. After Tatsuki realizes what day it is, she tells Inoue and Ogawa that Ichigo won't be at school the next day.

    That evening at home Ichigo's family is having a meeting. It sounds as if they're going on some sort of trip or maybe a picnic. Afterwards you see Yuzu and Karin sound asleep in the same bed although they each have their own single bed. Rukia asks Ichigo what they're doing tomorrow, and Ichigo asks Rukia for a day off shinigami work. Rukia tells him that's impossible and asks what's been up with him all day. Ichigo replies that it's the anniversary of his mother's death, but then amends it to say his mother was killed.

    Differences in episode 7:

    • It actually shows how Kon ends up a lion plushy (rather than having Ichigo remember it later).
    • Both Keigo and Mizuiro show up to go to school with Ichigo.
    • Rukia erased the class's memories.
    • Ishida is in the classroom sewing some embroidery when Inoue and the others are talking about their pictures.
    • You don't see Yuzu and Karin asleep in the same bed.
    • After Ichigo says his mother was killed a bunch of extra scenes are added. You see it rain and Inoue think about Ichigo and what Tatsuki said. She then wonders if she was the rain, which binds the sky and the earth together, could she bind together two hearts. We then see Ichigo dreaming about the events that led to his mother's death. Next we see Rukia lying awake in bed. Then we see a shinigami named Eikichirou Saidou that only appears in the TV series receive orders to investigate Rukia for exceeding her time limit on earth.
18. 6/17 op. 2 "Can't Smile Don't Blame"
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 8
    Characters Appearing - Tatsuki Arisawa, Grand Fisher, Orihime Inoue, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Masaki Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Karakura, Masaki's Grave, Tatsuki's Place
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow

    This chapter begins with Tatsuki wondering when Ichigo stopped smiling. We then see Tatsuki and Ichigo from their middle school days sitting on a low concrete wall, frowning and all bandaged and beat up (the title page.)

    We then see a flashback narrated by Tatsuki as she tells Orihime about Ichigo. She says that she was the first person to make Ichigo cry at the dojo they both went to, but as soon as he saw his mother he'd stop and perk up. He loved his mother tons and stuck close by her. All in all he seemed a bit spoiled and very happy.

    Meanwhile Ichigo and family are walking up a road to visit his mother's grave. Their dad doesn't act like it though. In fact he's quite hyper and tries to encourage Yuzu about walking up the tough hill by walking up it on his hands. When Karin tells Yuzu not to look at him because it will just encourage him, he does a slide and peeks at Yuzu's panties under her dress. At that point Karin kicks him to the bottom of the hill. The next thing they know, they spot Rukia further up the hill and she waves at them. First Ichigo denies knowing her, but when Karin vaguely remembers Rukia he claims she was a middle school classmate and dashes off to talk to her alone. Karin mistakenly assumes they're dating.

    Once they're alone, Ichigo asks Rukia why she followed him. She replies she has to be near him in case a hollow shows up and Ichigo tells her to be more covert next time. She then asks who killed his mother. Ichigo tells her to forget it, but then she asks if it was a hollow (since he's always been able to see ghosts.) When Ichigo doesn't respond, she presses him on it, saying it's possible they could have mistakenly attacked his mother instead of him because his spirit density has always been that high. Ichigo gets really angry at her for saying that and says it wasn't a hollow. He then sees a girl standing on the mountain path and is shocked. Leaving off his conversation with Rukia, he runs after the girl. Rukia doesn't see anything and wonders if it disappeared. She then shouts Ichigo's name and runs after him.

    Back with Tatsuki, she tells Inoue that his mother died when he was 9. The day after he skipped school and she found him wandering the riverbank with his school bag, as if looking for her. He did it all day, day after day.

    Meanwhile Rukia has caught up to Ichigo, who is now on his hands and knees on the forest path. He tells her that instead of a hollow, he was the one to kill his mom. You then see that strange girl standing on the forest path, watching them.

    The last scene shows Isshin saying he's wearing plain clothes and he'll explain why at the end of the volume.

    Differences in episode 8:

    • Nothing!
19. 6/17 op. 3 "memories in the rain"
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 8
    Characters Appearing - Tatsuki Arisawa, Grand Fisher, Kon, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Masaki Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Karakura, Masaki's Grave
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow

    This chapter starts with Yuzu, Karin, Ichigo, and Isshin praying at Masaki's grave. Isshin is again making a fool of himself, saying they'll be doing a domino rally there. Rukia is sitting on ledge watching them, feeling like a big fool for what she just said to Ichigo. Kon crawls his way out of her backpack and asks if they can go home now, but Rukia refuses, saying she needs to be near Ichigo in case a hollow shows up. Rukia seems to be bothered by something, but when Kon asks what's wrong she just says nothing. We then see the title page. This time it has a shot of a pond, electrical wire poles for a train, the bottom of Masaki's face, and Ichigo wiping a tear out of his eye with a gloved hand.

    Meanwhile, Ichigo, now burning incense for his mother, has a flashback of Tatsuki asking him if he can see ghosts (they look to be about 9 or 10 at the time.) He tells her he can't, though, in the flashback. Ichigo of the present thinks because he could see ghosts so clearly he had trouble telling who was alive and who was dead so such situations were common and he often had to talk his way out of them. He didn't think much about it until the day his mother died.

    We next see a flashback of that day. It was really wet and rainy and Ichigo had just gotten splashed by a passing car so his mother is drying him off under the umbrella. Ichigo says he wants to protect her and tries to disuade, but she doesn't take it that seriously because he's only 9. She ends up walking by the road by saying she can't let him do it when he hasn't even beaten Tatsuki yet. Ichigo of the present comments that he loved her so much and never saw her get angry or cry. He never felt troubled with her, and he wasn't the only one - she was the center of the family for everyone. So, when he heard his father saying that his name means "one who protects" he decided the one he wanted to protect was his mother, who was always protecting him.

    The day she died they were walking by a riverbank and the waters were high from all the rain that day and the day before. Ichigo saw a girl on the riverbank (the same one shown last chapter on the forest path), standing there without an umbrella, looking like she was about to jump in. Because he couldn't tell living people from dead ones, and over time as he went to the dojo the people he wanted to protect grew from just his mother, to his sisters, and kept increasing. Ichigo jumps over the fence by the river and tries to save the girl. You see his mother shouting at him, scared, and Ichigo about to reach the girl. When Ichigo comes to, he finds his mother lying on top of him on the grass, covered in blood. The cause of her death was unknown, whether she got cut or bumped something, but it was clear she died saving him. The girl he had been trying to save had disappeared.

    After the flashback Ichigo is standing by his mother's grave alone. Yuzu and Karin are sitting on some stairs somewhere with Yuzu crying uncontrollably, as she does every grave visit. Karin is trying to get her to stop crying. They then hear the whistle their father blows to gather the family and get up. As they do Karin sees a girl standing on a cliff (the same one Ichigo tried to save and that was standing on the forest path last chapter). Since Yuzu can't see the girl, she realizes the girl's a ghost and goes to talk to the ghost alone. Karin asks the ghost what she's looking at and then tells her if there's something she regrets, to go to the head priest living down the hill. The ghost is surprised that Karin can see her and when Karin agrees, the ghost comments that she can hear ghosts, too. It then says that it's wonderful and tasty, and we can see the outline of a hollow (though not very clear) behind the ghost.

    The end of this chapter shows Isshin rummaging through a bag pulling out lots of whistles and wondering which one he should use. He has a snake one, a bird one, a wallet one, a lips one, a crab one, and a Champs Elysees one.

    Differences in episode 8:

    • Nothing!
20. 6/17 op. 4 "face again"
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 8
    Characters Appearing - Tatsuki Arisawa, Grand Fisher, Orihime Inoue, Kon, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki, Yasutora "Chad" Sado
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Masaki's Grave
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - denreishinki, hollow, shinigami, Soul Society

    Ichigo's dad is blowing a bird whistle with all his might when Ichigo shows up. Yuzu and Karin are still nowhere to be found, so Isshin orders Ichigo to go find them. After a bit of arguing and sensing a hollow, Ichigo does just that. We then see the title page, a Christmas theme. Tatsuki, Orihime, and Rukia are wearing santa claus hats in the foreground. in the background Isshin is dressed in a reindeer outfit while Ichigo, Chad, Yuzu, and Karin, all dressed as angels (Karin and Yuzu are in mini forms) are ringing bells.

    Meanwhile, back with Karin and Yuzu, Yuzu is yelling at Karin for them to go since their dad is blowing the whistle. Karin, however, tells Yuzu to not move and asks the ghost what the thing behind it is. The ghost is escatic that Karin can see that much.

    Back on the ledge, Rukia senses a hollow and Kon asks what's up. Moments later her denreishinki goes off and she gets orders from Soul Society. She runs off. Ichigo is running in search of Karin and Yuzu, and runs into Rukia. They run down a sidepath without missing a beat and the only thing they say is Ichigo confirming they're heading in the right direction. Ichigo then asks Rukia if she's going to say something about earlier. She replies that its his choice to talk about it and that she has no right to know. If he doesn't chose to tell her, she has no way of finding out without soiling his heart. But he can talk to her about it when he's ready. Kon then pops out of Rukia's backpack, telling Ichigo to stop acting cool. Ichigo asks why Kon is there and he replies that he's been Rukia's #1 disciple since she rescued him. But Ichigo soon shows how loyal Kon is by tricking him into thinking Orihime is around. After that Rukia tells them to be quiet because the hollow is near.

    Karin is getting quite beat up by the hollow, and when Yuzu tries to run to her, Karin yells at her to stay away. Yuzu comes anyway, and Karin screams as the hollow pins her down. Although Yuzu can't see the hollow, she can feel it and as she's examining it with her hands, gets picked up by a tentacle. The ghost says Yuzu has no spiritual abilities and it only wants to eat Karin, but because Yuzu is an eyesore it will eat her first. Ichigo shows up in time to cut the tentacle and frees Yuzu, whom he catches. He then chops off the arm that's pinning down Karin. The ghost comments a shinigami, and Ichigo asks it why it's here now when it was by a river six years ago. The ghost realizes Ichigo has seen it before. He asks if it's the hollow's crony or maybe controlled by the hollow, and the ghost replies both are wrong.

    The last scene shows Rukia trying to carry Ichigo's body with Kon saying it's impossible.

    Differences in episode 8:

    • Nothing!
    
    
21. 6/17 op. 5 "fighting boy"
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 8
    Characters Appearing - Grand Fisher, Kon, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Masaki's Grave
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow, kidou

    Again we see the ghost denying both of Ichigo's choices. The title page shows Ichigo, shirtless with a lot of bandages on his face and the title graffitied in the background.

    Meanwhile, Rukia is dragging Ichigo's body around and encounters his sisters lying against a rock. Then Kon points out Ichigo. Ichigo asks the ghost again what it is, and it states that Ichigo is someone who has seen it and lived. As it's saying he's lucky, the skin on the top of its head splits, revealing a socket at the top of its head. A string shoots out of the socket and attaches itself to the hollow. Meanwhile, the skin has totally split on the ghost, revealing a weird doll-like thing with "skin" drapping below it dangling from the skin now attached to a socket in the hollow's head. The hollow then says Ichigo's luck has run out, since it can't let him live now that he's seen it like this.

    Rukia then says it's the Grand Fisher, because he hides his body while he uses a lure (that "ghost" attached to his neck by the string) to take human shape and lure humans who have high enough spirit density to see it so he can eat them. Ichigo realizes the day his mother died he saw its lure, meaning he fell into its trap and it killed his mother. Ichigo totally looses it and starts to attack as Grand Fisher counts the number of people that can see it and wonders if they'll all fit in its stomach. Grand Fisher easily jumps out of the way and Rukia shouts that he was an idiot for attacking like that. Grand Fisher calls him inexperienced and shoots out one of its clawed hands to get him. Ichigo parries it and tries to attack again, but is stopped when it shoots out hair-like stuff to bind him. Rukia is about to jump in and help with some sort of kidou when Ichigo stops her and tells her not to interfere.

    The last scene shows Rukia yanking Kon out of her backpack.

    Differences in episode 8:

    • Nothing
22. 6/17 op. 6 "BATTLE ON THE GRAVEYARD"
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 9
    Characters Appearing - Grand Fisher, Kon, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Masaki Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Masaki's Grave
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow, soul cutter

    After a lot of struggle and protesting from Kon (about how he doesn't brush his teeth, his breath stinks, etc), Rukia forces Kon to take over Ichigo's body. She then gets him to help move Karin and Yuzu. Thinking back on Ichigo asking her not to interfere, she says she'll take care of his sisters so don't die. We then see the title page. Ichigo is wearing a really bizarre outfit with "Bleach 2002" on his jacket sleeve. In the background are a bunch of circles.

    Meanwhile, Ichigo's trying to fight with everything he's got, but it's not enough and the Grand Fisher manages to really beat him up. It says that Ichigo can't beat it. Ichigo starts to think he might not last against it, but then recalls how much Karin and Yuzu suffered after his mother died, and renews his efforts. Ichigo attacks again, only to have one of Grand Fisher's hands grab his soul cutter and the claws shoot out to pierce Ichigo.

    Meanwhile, Karin wakes up to see Kon-as-Ichigo asking if she's ok. Kon covers for Ichigo by saying both she and Yuzu had fallen asleep, probably exhausted from the trip. He tells Karin to rest awhile longer and he'll get their dad. When he leaves the building, he asks Rukia if that was good enough and complains about how Ichigo keeps his brows knit all the time. Inside, however, Karin thinks that the one who saved them was Ichigo and wonders what part of it was a dream.

    The real Ichigo is still fighting Grand Fisher, though he isn't doing too well. Grand Fisher tells him because of his passion and emotions he will die without giving it a single sword wound. That because he's young he's easy to anger and his anger shakes his heart and dulls his blade. It then grabs its lure and when it removes its hand, the lure's face is that of Ichigo's mother.

    The last scene shows Kon and Ichigo arguing on whether or not Ichigo brushes his teeth. According to Ichigo Yuzu will not feed someone at the next meal if they have not brushed their teeth within 10 minutes of eating. Kon argues that men's mouths stink, and stinky mouths mean they don't brush.

    Differences in episode 9:

    • Nothing!
23. 6/17 op. 7 "Sharp Intention, Dull Blade"
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 9
    Characters Appearing - Grand Fisher, Kon, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki, Masaki Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Masaki's Grave
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow, shinigami, soul cutter

    Grand Fisher gloats over Ichigo's stunned expression, and it saying it's sure he has to know how it could do that with the Masaki lure on the title page.

    Grand Fisher explains that although he doesn't remember 6 years back, when it attacked Ichigo with its claws earlier it looked into his memories and finds the one thing he couldn't cut. Then with its other hand it recreated that person. Grand Fisher goes on to say even the most levelheaded shinigami has such a person, so its used that to kill all the shinigami it met so far. It says for Ichigo, that person is his mother and then the lure asks in Masaki's voice if that was right.

    Meanwhile Kon asks Rukia why she isn't going to help Ichigo. She replies that Ichigo asked her not to interfere and Kon is surprised she's listening. Kon then begs her to go save Ichigo. Rukia asks him to cut it out, but Kon replies that he couldn't stand always being in Ichigo's body and having to deal with his family. Finally Rukia caves in on the condition that Kon protect Ichigo's family. He agrees and she goes. When she goes, she wonders what she's doing, though. She thinks this is the first time Ichigo is fighting for himself since becoming a shinigami and wonders if he'll be happy if she helps him. She reaches a ledge where she can easily see the fight, but tells herself not to interfere. She thinks Ichigo won't be happy if she helps him, and recalls someone telling there are two types of fights: that to protect life, and that for one's pride. In the fights for one's pride help might save them, but at the expense of permanently killing that person's pride (in the memory she doesn't understand this though and wants to help the person fight). She then thinks this Ichigo's fight for his pride and that she shouldn't interfere. She then thinks, "Don't die, Ichigo."

    Grand Fisher baits Ichigo, asking why he isn't attacking, and Ichigo gets angry, saying this isn't the place to bring his mother's form. He then moves to attack, only to get stopped when the lure comes right up to him and asks him to sheath his sword, saying not to cut his mother. Grand Fisher takes the opportunity to stab Ichigo through the lure and then says that Ichigo was the youngest, most thoughtless, most weak shinigami it ever fought. However, Ichigo stabs it then, saying he's finally caught it. He then tells it that even a dull blade can kill and that the fight is over. He says it was the oldest, filthiest, most irritating hollow he fought, and then swings his soul cutter. We then see blood splattering on the ground.

    Differences in episode 9:

    • Nothing!
24. 6/17 op. 8 "All One Way Sympathies"
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 9
    Characters Appearing - Tatsuki Arisawa, Grand Fisher, Orihime Inoue, Kon, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Masaki Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Masaki's Grave, Tatsuki's Place
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow

    At Tatsuki's Inoue notices it's raining and asks Tatsuki if she can borrow an umbrella. Tatsuki offers to let Inoue sleep over because her apartment gets cold, but then Inoue tells her she was kicked out of it. At first Inoue shows Tatsuki a sleeping bag and tricks her into thinking she's sleeping outside, but eventually reveals she's staying in a hotel until she can find a new apartment. Just before Inoue leaves, Tatsuki tries one more time to get her to stay by saying her family will be out all night, but Inoue says she doesn't have her school uniform with her and feels like walking anyway. On the way home she thinks she can understand Ichigo a bit because of his mother's death when he was 9. The title page shows Inoue and a small Ichigo drinking from a straw. Both are in odd clothes.

    Back at the graveyard, Ichigo has cut off Grand Fisher's arm and it panics. Grand Fisher collapses on the ground and Ichigo drops his sheath, moving in for the kill despite the heavy damage he's taken. Rukia calls his name and shows up. Ichigo tells her she's late, and then she points out he's the one that asked her not to interfere. But Grand Fisher isn't idle and takes advantage of the opportunity by attacking Ichigo. Rukia's warning comes too late and it hits. Then the body of Grand Fisher gets sucked into the lure string and goes into the lure, which still looks like Masaki. Grand Fisher then tells Ichigo both the lure and its hollow form are it's real body and that it can move from one to the other as it choses. It then adds that in the lure Ichigo can't cut it because it looks like Masaki.

    Meanwhile Kon is still sitting outside of the building in the rain when Isshin shows up. He wonders when the rain started and tries to get Kon to come inside, but Kon is gone.

    Grand Fisher tells Ichigo he cannot cut it nor can he follow it in his current condition and leaps off. Rukia begs Ichigo to stop and punches him, saying the fight is over. Ichigo says Grand Fisher isn't dead yet and he can still fight, but then collapses into her arms. Kon comes a little later to find Ichigo lying on the ground with his head in Rukia's lap. She comments that a shinigami's life force is the amount of spirit power they possess and that Ichigo's strength is quite something for him to be alive with those wounds. She then thanks Ichigo for surviving.

    Differences in episode 9:

    • Nothing!
25. 6/17 op. 9 "fighting boy2 [The Cigar Blues Mix]"
    Corresponding TV Episode - episode 9
    Characters Appearing - Grand Fisher, Kon, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki
    Kidou - None
    Locations - Masaki's Grave; in between worlds
    Released Soul Cutters - none
    Relevant Terminology - hollow, shinigami

    Ichigo is screaming in pain, back in his real body. Rukia tells him he ought to know that injuries he acquire in his spirit state will get transferred to his body when he returns to it, and he comments that this is the first time he's had to return to his body without her healing his wounds first. She retorts she used up most of her power healing his stomach wound so she couldn't heal the rest completely. Meanwhile, she puts Kon back in the plushie lion. Ichigo thanks her and she says he'll have to live with the pain. She then tosses him some bandaids and he asked if he lost. She replies that he won since it fled and no one died. Ichigo points out that it's still alive and then leaves. Kon thinks the atmosphere is so heavy that he can't even get up. We then see the title page. Ichigo and Isshin, dressed in suits, are sitting on something. Ichigo looks angry and Isshin is smoking a cigarette.

    At Masaki's grave, Ichigo apologizes that he couldn't avenge her. Then Isshin shows up. He offers Ichigo an umbrella, which he refuses. Isshin pokes Ichigo's head with it until Ichigo grabs him and whacks him over the head with it. Isshin then comments time has gone by so fast (he says 10 years, though, and Ichigo yells at him since it was only 6). Isshin then comments his mother will be happy in heaven if he acts lively like that in front of his grave. Ichigo realizes Isshin doesn't know that mom's soul was eaten by a hollow. But he doesn't tell his dad. Instead he asks why he's smoking when he stopped around the time Karin and Yuzu were born. Isshin replied that Masaki said he looked cool smoking so he only smokes a cigarette once a year when they visit her grave. Ichigo saddens at this and Isshin tells him to liven up. Then Ichigo asks why no one blames him for Masaki's death (since he couldn't do anything then or now) and that it'd be easier if they did. Isshin asks why people should blame Ichigo. It wasn't anyone's fault. She was just a woman who could die protecting her son and she would get angry if he blamed Ichigo. He then tells Ichigo not to forget he was the one she died for and to live life to its fullest or he couldn't face Masaki when he dies and goes to heaven. Isshin then goes down and says he'll wait for Ichigo. Ichigo, on the other hand, asks Rukia if her shinigami powers are returning and says regardless he wants her to stay long enough for him to get stronger and defeat Grand Fisher.

    In between worlds Grand Fisher is screaming in pain as another hollow is fixing its wounds with an unknown number of hollows around. One of them scolds Grand Fisher for returning without using most of its power and reminds it that to kill a shinigami, one must chop off the Shingami's head. Grand Fisher apologizes and one of the unknown hollows tells it not to apologize because it is not cleaning up Grand Fisher's messes. It then takes off Grand Fisher's mask and Grand Fisher says it will not get taken by a shinigami again. We see it standing without its mask or fur.

    The last scene shows a lit cigarette lying on the ground.

    Differences in episode 9:

    • Nothing!
    Extra: Tatsuki Arisawa's Profile
    Extra: Isshin Kurosaki's Profile