黒い日曜日
The key to my soul is hard to find
And people tell me I'm hard to read
But I'm not difficult
I'm not naive
I just keep moving where my feet lead
-Bleach by SNoW(English)
Ichigo closed his eyes.
After he arrived home from school, Rukia's homework in hand, he went straight to her room, completely ignoring Karin's warnings of "she's asleep" and his idiot of a father. He had found her, like Karin said, asleep, and snoring softly. There was a cold bowl of soup on the desk, and Ichigo guessed it was Karin who cooked it, from the lack of burn marks on the bowl. To put it in short, Isshin was a horrible cook.
Now, the orange-haired teen was looking at Rukia intently. It was well over midnight, and Ichigo was nodding off himself.
Pitter-pat. Pitter-pat.
The rain beat down on the window. What day was it? May... May thirty-first.
It was almost that time of year again. Summer. And June Gloom. Ichigo didn't call it June Gloom just because of the rainy days... he also called it that because June 17 was the worst day of his life. The day his most precious person slipped away from him. The memory of the rainy Saturday afternoon was still fresh in his mind.
FLASHBACK
Nine-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki skipped happily beside his mother.
They were walking home from the dojo, and Masaki Kurosaki was holding on to the dark blue umbrella, shielding both her and Ichigo from the merciless rain.
Ichigo perked up, hearing something that sounded like sobbing. He looked down at the riverbank below, and tugged at his mother's sleeve. "Oi, okaasan, why's that girl down there crying?"
Masaki looked down, and stopped. She frowned. She hated seeing children hurt and dejected. This little girl was no exception. She was tempted to go down and ask the young girl what was wrong, and where her parents were, but Ichigo beat her to the punch.
"Ichigo! No!"
Ichigo opened his eyes slowly.
He looked around. The girl was gone. There was a trail of red, almost washed away liquid where Ichigo thought she was standing.
But there was a bigger puddle under him.
His eyes widened.
"Okaasan...?"
Masaki Kurosaki
Beloved wife and mother.
May she rest in Peace.
However long the night, the dawn will break...
June 9, 1976-June 17, 2003
"Ichigo, wake up!" Rukia almost screamed, but was careful not to. It was almost 2:00 AM, She didn't want to upset the twins or Isshin.
Ichigo jerked awake, his eyes wide. "Oka...!" He started, but stopped when he saw where he was.
Rukia tensed. His mother? He never talked about her.
"You had a bad dream," Rukia said, answering Ichigo's unasked question. "And, Ichigo, mind tell me what you were doing here anyway?" Rukia asked, looking in Ichigo's honey brown eyes.
"Y-you see," Ichigo stuttered. How long had he been asleep again? "I came in here to see if you were okay, and I guess I sorta... fell asleep..."
Rukia nodded slightly. "Okay..." She looked Ichigo right in the eyes. "Ichigo. What were you dreaming about? You were saying things like 'river' and 'dead' and 'all my fault'. What was all your fault? What river? Who," She gulped, "Died?"
Ichigo looked at Rukia. Should he tell her? He had known this girl since middle school, and was just now getting to know her. But somehow, he knew he could trust Rukia with his life.
He told her.
"You see, when I was nine, my mom and I were walking home from the dojo, I'm sure Tatsuki told you we both went to the same one. It was a rainy June 17, and... we walked past this riverbank. I saw this girl, she was crying. She looked about my age, maybe younger. I don't know what came over me," Rukia listened intently, especially at the mention of this girl. "I wanted to see what was wrong. I jumped down to the river, and after that, everything was blank. When I woke up, the girl was gone... and my mother was dead. There was a gunshot wound to her head... no one ever found out what happened."
"Ichigo... you," Rukia started, but her mouth went dry. The orange-haired teen laughed bitterly. "No one blames me, except me. It's funny, really. I was so depressed afterwards, and I pretty much was dead inside. I...I usually have these nightmares around this time of year."
"Ichigo..."
"Even with a lost past, an untouchable sky, and indelible wounds because you were here, we could laugh together… On the blue hill, the recollections that I held tightly accumulate and give me a dream on a starry night, I pointed at the distant Orion and forgot that I don't have wings." Rukia paused. "My sister Hisana and my mother used to sing that to me, to help me get to sleep. My sister Mitsuki used to sing that to me too, after... well, they left."
That night, Rukia fell asleep, the lullaby in her head, Ichigo right next to her.
Kiyone looked at Mitsuki worriedly. She was in the hospital...again. This was probably the twentieth time she had been admitted to Tokyo's newest Hospital since she turned thirteen. And all because of her stubborness.
This probably could have been avoided, if Mitsuki remembered to take her medicine. Well it wasn't so much she forgot, as to just not taking them.
And now, Yoruichi Shihoin was force-feeding Mitsuki the cherry-flavored liquid medicine that tasted nothing like cherry. Blech.
"Mitsuki, MITSUKI! JUST SUCK IT UP AND TAKE THE DAMN MEDICINE!" Yoruichi screamed, shaking the whole hospital. Yoruichi was normally a very composed woman, but she could scream.
Mitsuki shook her head, her mouth clamped shut. She inched away from Yoruichi, and replied, "Why should I? I'll be fine. So, I fainted a couple of times... nothing to get so...MPPH!" Mitsuki was cut off as Kiyone pinned her down, and stuck the awful-tasting goo in her mouth. Now, Mitsuki's mouth was puffed up, filled with the stuff.
Kiyone glared. "Mitsuki! Swallow it!" She said, shaking the Kuchiki teen. Mitsuki shook her head. No.
Kiyone couldn't take it anymore. And she thought Jinta, a little kid on her street that she used to babysit, was difficult.
"SWALLOW IT, DAMMIT!" Kiyone shouted, shaking Mitsuki.
Yoruichi blinked. "Kiyone-san, I don't think..."
"EW!" Kiyone screamed, looking at her once baby blue shirt, now covered in red medicine.
Mitsuki smiled in triumph.
And as Kiyone walked out of the hospital that evening, after finally forcing more medicine down Mitsuki's throat, one thought passed through her mind.
This means war...
A/N: Sorry about the week-long wait.
And for such a short chapter. As I was writing this, I thought of an idea for next chapter. It involves the new Orihime pairing, so hurry up and vote!
See you again!
-Tsuki Meroko Uchiha
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