"Talking"
'Thinking'
(Flashback/Timeskip)
"Stressed Speech"
'Written Words'
*Hand Signs*
~ Radio/Elecrtonic Chatter ~
KillJoy: So this little bunny's been floating around my head lately, and by floating I mean FUCKING DESTROYING MY STUDY TIME! So I've decided to humor it and if it is liked, I'll humor more.
Cazador: Fucking idiot, that's what reviews are for.
KillJoy: And for the first time ever, let me introduce to you my schizophrenic mind-neighbor, as I am currently off my meds: Cazador de los Condemados, or "The Hunter of the Damned". He's apparently got enough balls to talk in the AN for once!
Cazador: Fuck off ass nugget, we're starting.
Disclaimer: I am sorry; if I owned this Ichigo would be much more of a badass, and Mizuiro would've shot Aizen in the face.
Chapter One: State of Minds
"And don't forget! Tomorrow there may or not be a test! Be warned and sleep in fear!"
With that, the class dispersed, leaving the room and filtering into the hallways. All were dressed in the schools uniform. Friends chatted with each other as they grabbed their things from their lockers, while two, a boy and a girl, were being watched by another. Hazel brown hair framed his face, while his two cerulean eyes glanced at the girl. Shrugging to himself, he shouldered his bag and an oak kendo sword, before slipping past them silently. He waved at a teen with brunet hair, and another with black hair who was on a cell phone as he exited the main building and headed for the gates.
He was soon joined by an older teenage girl, with the same eye color and hair as him, who was obviously his sister, as they greeted each other calmly. Reaching the sidewalk, they stood and waited for exactly two seconds before the squealing of tires on pavement was heard.
Peeling around the corner was a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, neon yellow with black racing stripes and a rear spoiler. The hood was opened so the engine's cowl poked out, and the windows were tinted dark. It peeled down the street before stopping a few inches in front of the duo, and they stepped back as the door opened.
"Hey guys," the driver said, revealing to be a middle-aged man with a goatee and wearing a leather jacket, "How was school?"
"Hey Otōsan," The boy murmured as he climbed into the back seat, his sister taking the front seat. "It was okay, got no homework tonight so that's good."
The father nodded as the boy's sister closed the door. "And you?"
The girl shrugged, "Nothing much," she replied, "Hebimaru-sensei is going on a vacation tomorrow, so she didn't assign anything."
"Lucky you, I've still got to deal with Ochi-sensei…" The boy muttered angrily.
"Oh that's right!" The girl giggled before bursting out laughing, "I forgot you got "Slave-Driver" Ochi!"
The boy's eye twitched. "That's because you set such a bad example for me last year! She thinks I'm a delinquent just like you and Kurosaki. So thanks a lot Baka-teme!"
"Oi, no language Ido." Their father said as they drifted around a corner, "And Miho, I expect more of you than to rile you little brother up."
Miho huffed, and Ido muttered incoherently as they both looked out their windows at the passing traffic.
"Now remember, I've got a meeting tonight in Kyoto with my boss. So you're mum's in charge, got it? Now Ido, what's this about Kurosaki-san's son?"
"It's not that I don't get along with him," Ido began, facing forward again, "It's that he's got this creepy old apparition following him whenever he's around!"
"Are you still taking your medications Ido?" His father asked calmly.
"Yes! I'm not seeing this because of my schizophrenia! Even with my pills, that figure stands behind Kurosaki-san! It's freaky!" Ido exclaimed, absently fingering a plastic pill container in his right pant pocket, "I've got enough pills to last for a month okay? Take two every six hours, and I do."
"Well alright then son, those delusions may be one of side effects of the pills." His father replied as they pulled into a driveway.
The building was a two story house, with a sign out front saying 'Muramasa Custom Arms Works' in Kanji and English, with the 'Arms' being slightly burnt off as a result of a fire. The house itself was relatively plain, like the ones next to it, and had two cars on the driveway to the attached garage, which had a smokestack poking high into the sky.
"Alright," the father said calmly as he put the Charger into park, "Home sweet home. Come on, get out."
The trio clambered out of the car, Ido grabbing his and Miho's schoolbags from the truck, and entered the house through the front door. The foyer was sparsely decorated, and led to two other rooms, as well as a staircase heading up and downstairs to more of the house. The door on the left led to an office, where multiple firearms sat on the wall and in cases, while a mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room.
Down the hall was a kitchen/dining room, the counter tops being made of marble, and all relatively new appliances.
Ido threw his sister's bag on the floor before climbing up the stairwell to his bedroom, which was the first door on the right. The room was rather well decorated, with posters of war movies and Avenged Sevenfold posters adorning the walls, a dresser and mirror setup by the bed, and in the corner of the room was a desk with a computer and multiple games
Throwing his bag onto the floor, Ido tore off his school uniform, before changing into a pair of jeans and a white tee and black dress shirt. He sighed to himself as he rolled the plastic bottle that held his pills in his left hand before staring at his reflection in the mirror.
"Lucky lucky me," he muttered angrily, "Out all the generations that this family has, I'm the only one who gets a mental illness. Skipped over three hundred years of the Muramasa family tree and targets me. Thanks many times over Ojīsan for this."
"Dontcha' know that talking to yourself classifies as insanity?" A voice called out, seemingly from right beside him.
Ido sighed before turning to his mirror, which had the phrase 'TWO MAKES ONE' etched onto the top arch. Looking back at him was his reflection, only it was grinning insanely, and had both of its eyes ripped out.
"Hello again Mirror-Me," Ido stated calmly, keeping a straight face as the vision's head tilted to the side. "Why're you back? Pills haven't wore off yet."
As if to mock him, a shrill alarm went off from the watch he was wearing, and he looked down at it.
"Nevermind, there it is."
He opened the bottle and shook out two round pills, before downing them dry. Almost immediately, the man in the mirror faded, being replaced by a normal Ido, who sighed.
"Better dry than wet…" He murmured, before opening his door and heading downstairs. Entering the foyer, he waved at his dad who was at the desk in the office, before going downstairs to the basement. The basement was filled with plush seating and a 46" inch plasma TV, and three video game consoles, including a PS3, a Wii and a N64. Sitting on the couch and watch the TV was his younger brother, Akuma, and Miho.
He plopped himself down on the chair, and opened the mini-fridge that was installed in the floor in front of it and grabbed a root beer.
"Hey." He muttered as he took a sip.
His sister just grunted, too enveloped in the show she was watching, as Akuma smiled and waved.
Sip. "Is this one of your animes Miho?" Ido asked nonchalantly.
"Mhm."
Sip. "Which one?"
"Naruto."
Sip."Little midget ninja who's too loud and wears orange?"
"The same."
Ido just sighed, before turning to Akuma. "Wassup' Akuma-kun?"
Akuma just shrugged, before making signs with his hands. *Nothing much Ido-Nīsan.*
Ido nodded. "Staying out of trouble?"
*Hai.*
"Any girls?" Miho asked with a sly smile. At this, Akuma blushed deeply, while his younger sister laughed loudly. "Haha! Akuma-chan's got a crush!~" She sang while Akuma's face turned beet red and glared at her.
*That's not funny!* He signed angrily, *And don't call me chan! It's not nice!*
"What's her name?" Ido asked calmly as he took another sip.
Akuma blushed harder, before signing. *Her name's Kurosaki Yuzu…*
At this Ido gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Well good for you. Confessed to her yet?" He asked.
*No.*
Sip. "Well you better, or else you'll appear to be a stalker. On a side note, where's Okāsan?" Ido asked.
Miho grinned at the thought of teasing her brother alone. "She's in the workshop, doing a custom-made."
Ido nodded before standing from the couch, "Thanks Miho."
Quietly making his way up the stairs, Ido passed his father's office and headed outside through the back door. Quickly jogging through the backyard, he opened a small cellar door attached to the back of the house garage and climbed down the ladder that was there. The room that he entered was setup in a traditional medieval-era styled smithy, with a large furnace and tons of steel and other metal ores. On several workbenches were either swords ranging from katanas to scimitars and a broadsword, or side arms and rifles such as M9A1s and M1 Garands. In the back of the shop was a woman hammering on a red hot sword.
"Hey Okāsan!" Ido yelled out, over the sounds of her hammering, "What's up?"
The woman turned, wiping sweat from her brow. She was as tall as Ido, around 5'11, and had sandy blond hair that clung to her face and was tied up. Her blue-grey eyes sparkled with joy and she removed her smithing gloves before hugging him in her ample busom.
"Ah! Ido-kun, how're you my son?" She asked cooing as she hugged him.
"Be better if I could breath." Came the muffled reply.
She chuckled, releasing her steel-like grip on him, and he came up and took a large gulp of air. "Sorry hun."
Glaring kiddingly at her, he sat down in one of the bench chairs and picked up the M9 sitting there.
"So who's the handmade for?" He asked as he pulled back the slide on the M9, ejecting the empty clip in the process before he began to clean it.
"Oh it's for your fathers' boss," she replied, returning to hammering the daito into shape, "He asked me and gave me these specific details on it, so we're gonna make so much from this!"
Ido nodded, peering down the M9's sights before loading the empty clip back in. "Alright. What's the plan for dinner? Anything you want?"
"Hm… Let's try something Western tonight."
"Got it. See ya Okāsan."
That evening after Ido and his family had finished dinner; he was sitting at his computer in his room playing the newly released online game, World of Tanks. Cursing into his headset quietly, he called to his comrades, who were all in the Japanese tier three Chi-Ha tank, while he was in a German tier three self-propelled gun Wespe.
"Kuso! Haka13, where's that enemy arty?" He muttered, scanning the minimap while his gun reloaded.
~ Roger that Uha9. I'll be spotting the artillery gunners now, they should appear momentarily. ~
Sure enough, the telltale sighted sound ping-pinged in Ido's ear, and he swung his gun to the enemy M37. One click of the left mouse button and the enemy was destroyed.
"Roger, enemy arty down." Ido stated calmly, before he relocated. Sighing to himself as his iPhone buzzed on the desk, he took one last look at the screen, content that the match had ended, and checked the text. The caller's ID was 'Kojima Mizuiro', and Ido grinned. Sliding the phone open and tapping away, he replied.
~ Yo Mizu! ~ he texted. Setting the phone back down, he waited several seconds before it buzzed again.
~ Hey Muramasa-san. Finish your homework for the day? ~
~ Hai. What's up? ~
~ Nothing much, you playing WoT? ~
Ido grinned; only three people in Karakura played World of Tanks, himself, Mizuiro and some random blond who he ran into on the street.
~ Yup. R U On? ~
~ Hai. ~
Ido's grin grew larger. 'Good,' he thought, 'Mizu is a great person to have tanking.'
Cracking his knuckles, Ido set his sight upon his Panzer IV as Mizuiro joined his platoon. Putting his headset on, he spoke. "Ready Kojima-san?"
~ Hai. Panzer vor. ~
Ido smiled. As he waited for the match load, Ido turned his head to the window, glancing at the two figures off in the distance. Even at this range he could see the telltale sign of Kurosaki's hair, as he fought against an invisible enemy.
Ido narrowed his eyes. 'That man with the cloak,' he thought, 'he's the key to Kurosaki…'