Summary: Ichigo has had an inner hollow for longer than anyone anticipated. In fact it is his actual persona, suppressed by a bullet to the head in his youth. Tatsuke has hidden the truth from everyone for years. A story of love, betrayal, and loss.
Disclaimer: Kubo Tite Owns.
Barragon held the black haired girl by the throat with one thin and boney hand. His flesh-less face showed no emotion. Without it, bone could not display arrogant confidence or overwhelming boredom.
"I am the Espada who governs age, and with it time." As Barragon spoke those words, his black robes reflected images. The beaten shinigami around him gasped.
The choking girl, Tatsuke, forcefully opened one eye to see what all the commotion was about. What she saw would have produced the same reaction, had she not been choking at the moment.
The Espada's robes looked like a wrinkled screen on which an old projector shone slides or old films. Images flicked across the monochromatic clothing-screen, distorted by the folds in the Segunda's cloak. Tatsuke recognized the images immediately. It was her life. Her life flashing before her very eyes.
The secret revealed to every shinigami, the one she had worked so hard to burry so deep.
A tear fell from her eyes as she saw the image of a small eight year old boy, raise a pistol, and mouth five words. The last two of which were unmistakably: 'KILL YOU'. Despite being choked, the black-haired teen threw back her head and screamed in agony.
And the Midsummer's Memory Began Once Again
*Flash back*
Tatsuke had been walking home from the dojo. An orange haired boy walked beside her. Both were dead silent. They had been friends for years, and simply enjoyed each other's company more than trivial conversation.
The black-haired girl let out a sigh as she recalled the nature of her relationship with the orange haired boy. He was her protector, and in turn, she was his guardian. She ever so slightly pitied Ichigo for all he had to go through.
She had learned at an early age that he was the son of one of the leaders of the underground. Renounced for their anti-authority mindset and mass participation in the majority of the city's violence outbreaks. From a young age, the young boy had been pressured to grow up in the image of his father, a ferocious leader known throughout for his lust of violence.
It was because of this that the boy had been entrusted to Tatsuke's father, the right hand man to the boss. Her father had always made one thing very clear to her: Kurosaki Ichigo was not meant to be a friend, he was under orders to shape the child into a killer worthy of inheriting his father's title. Despite knowing this, Tatsuke and Ichigo's friendship remained unhindered.
Often times, the black-haired girl would find herself watching her father train the boy, and sometimes, even participating a bit herself. Tatsuke was tough. Tougher than a lot of people, and could probably take down someone twice her size barehanded. However, considering she was only eight at the time, someone twice her size wasn't particularly impressive.
Ichigo on the other hand was much stronger than Tatsuke. True, his size was a hindrance, but once he reached a respectable height this would be irrelevant. Training constantly and intensely with Tatsuke's father had equipped him with skill unheard of in someone his age. Hand to hand fighting was, of course, his specialty; and he could easily assemble any semi-automatics produced within the past ten years. And, as expected, being the boss' son meant his life was always in danger. Because of this, the child would always carry a switch blade on him as well as a concealed gun in his bag.
From early in their lives, Tatsuke and Ichigo were friends –perhaps even best friends. Perhaps it was the lack of contact the two had with the rest of the world. After all, he was the son of the underground boss, and she, the daughter of the boss' right hand man.
Despite the constant threats against their lives and the hassling from the police, everything always turned out ok. However, when Ichigo turned ten, something happened that would shatter the tiny world the two had constructed.
Please review, I would love to see what you think. The second chapter should be coming out in about a week or two. Sadly, this will be one of my shorter stories. I mean, this chapter is only like 720 words. It is one of my shortest stories so far. I trashed character development and gave an overview of their child hood. This is something new I'm trying. Usually I'd take like 4000 words to describe their first meeting, Ichigo saving Tatsuke for the first time, establishing trust, blah blah blah. But seeing as my attention span to this story is waning, I'm in favor of making it short sweet and quick to the good parts (next chapter btw). So, uh, review. (Thanx for the review). And, erm, have a good day.
