I rolled out of the way of the incoming fairy missile and watched with morbid fascination as it tore through the pavement. I smiled. He might be powerful, but he really was just a one hit wonder, wasn’t he?

That’s about when Tsubaki burst out of the pavement directly under me to deliver punishment to my spleen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fairy Tsubaki had a power that made it the thing of legends. Powered by Orihime’s anger and righteous fury, or simply her desire to kill something, Tsubaki would generate a personal shield around itself upon entering a target. That shield would extend from inside target to split it in half.

If I had to guess, against substances as flimsy as concrete or asphalt, Tsubaki just cared his way right on through. When you combined the fact that no substance could deter his progression and that he was intelligent and, thus, capable of altering his own path in the middle of the air, you had a pretty horrible problem.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Orihime’s gentle personality made Tsubaki not as durable as he should have been. This would often result in him being injured or even killed on multiple occasions. In canon, Hachigen was able to help Orihime restore Tsubaki even when nothing of him was left.

So when I drew my sword to block Tsubaki, my thought was that it would maybe hurt or kill the thing. Instead, I turned a block into a hasty deflection as, rather than being deterred by the presence of my Asauchi, Tsubaki just kept fucking going.