(Karakura Town)
It felt like any other day. The heavy rain still persisted, it hadn't changed in the past week. There was nothing remarkable, nothing important. Overall a very forgettable day. One that some would rather forget altogether. Yet the city did not stop, the city would not stop. The streets were consistently busy, with the hustle and bustle of people, going to and from the various places in the city. The sun managed to shine through the thinning clouds, letting the morning rays rouse the people, where busy parents and annoying siblings, would pick up the sleepy stragglers, from their restful respite from their everyday lives. Many would feel rather dismayed, reflecting the feel of the weather, yet one gentle soul always managed to make everything seem brighter. But for him it was gonna be the worst and best day of his life both.
(The Kurosaki Household)
Masaki Kurosaki, matriarch of the Kurosaki household and one of the few Quincy alive, was eating breakfast with her beloved family. Her nine year old son, Ichigo, was playing with his younger twin sisters, Karin and Yuzu, as was the way of children their age. Her husband, the former Shinigami Captain, Isshin Shiba Kurosaki, joined in their festivities, making the mood all the more infectious. This is what she always desired. This is what made her content. A peaceful life and a joyous family. But deep down, she was scared for her own son. She will always love her child, but in the far reaches of the back of her mind, she was ever cautious. When he was born, she no longer felt that Hollow that infected her years ago. She had her suspicions, but prayed she was wrong.
(Hours later after Ichigo's Karate class)
The rain became heavy again and the river banks and aqueducts swelled with the rushing water. The auburn haired Quincy and her young child, were making their way home in the heavy shower. He was such a sweet child, ever since his father told him what his name meant, he'd tried so hard to get stronger, to protect her. He had so much potential, so much power, but he was still just a child. She didn't want him to start training. She didn't want him to end up in that world. That world of struggle and bloodshed, fighting with his life on the line. He was a flashing bright beacon to those empty monsters, the Hollows, the ones that would love nothing more than to devour him and all his reishi. She would do anything to protect her little boy, to keep him away from that horrid place. She felt her son's tiny hand slip out of his grasp. She saw him running toward a girl, a spirit. His was one of the clearest sights ever, he never was able to tell living from the dead. She began to chase him, to keep him from getting washed away into the current.
That's when she felt it. A dark oppressive hunger aimed right at her son. She turned to see a large hollow heading for her son. He was covered in wet, brown fur, and a large mask, with what seemed to be a fishing lure sticking out of his head. She needed to hurry, hurry to protect her child. She skated on a flow of reishi to get between the disgusting creature and her son. Gathered the energy to generate her spirit bow. Then she was surrounded in a flash of light. She felt her power being ripped out of her, leaving her defenseless. Her only thought, 'Save him'
"Wait don't fall in!" Ichigo cried urgently trying to call out to the little girl. However before he could get there an object looming beneath the surface came out. Ichigo took a step back horrified at what he was seeing before him. There it was a monster it had a white mask on its face or so he assumed it to be and a tentacle lure coming off the top of its head. It had bird like feet and green fur covering its body.
"You smell awfully tasty for a human, I wonder what you would taste like, strawberries perhaps?" the monster laughed trying to scare the child in front off him. "However that one behind you seems to be trying to come and get you, I think I'll leave you for desert" the beast said hungrily.
"Stay away from him!" Masaki said with a warning tone in her voice.
"Oh lovely its not so often I get two enriched souls to feed off" replied the monster greedily. It then charged at Masaki who was lifting up her left arm that seemed to have some kind of pendant dangling off a small chain on her wrist.
As Masaki lifted her arm up she tried to call on her Quincy powers although something seemed to be stopping her as though it were draining her of her strength. "Damn it just has to be now"Masaki thought as the beast neared her. "I just have to save Ichigo… a soul reapers coming…good, I might be able to get away with Ichigo".Instantly Masaki began evading the attacks coming from the monster.
"Damn, bloody soul reapers coming, guess I'll only get to have one of you today, there's always plenty more souls" the beast said annoyed. It quickened its pace to near shunpo speeds trying to catch the rapidly dodging human before it. It hadn't quite seen a human like this one before, it was sure to be delightful.
Masaki was tiring quickly and needed to outlast the hollow, though it did not seem luck were to be on her side this fateful day as the hollow quickened its pace again and tore into Masaki's flesh. "What!"she thought. "Blut vene should have been active…I've been weakening but how? Damn…there's nothing I can do now…the reapers close, Ichigo should be safe. Ugh! I can't move and I'm starting to feel a bit sleepy…probably the hollows doing".Masaki's eyes continued to slowly close before her head fell forwards and she lost consciousness.
Ichigo just sat there in horror as this thing tore his mother to pieces before his very eyes, and he finally snapped. Ichigo felt something (a strange feeling) coming from the (thing) his mother had dropped, it was a five pointed cross inside a circle ,the moment he held it all hell broke loose.Reishi erupted from Ichigo in a dark black and crimson red, it all began to gather in his hand and began to coalesce with itself before four prongs came out the sides. He raised himself from his knees to his feet in an awkward motion and took a few steps forward before letting loose a scream and threw the now spinning disk at the monster before promptly collapsing on the ground falling unconscious.
The disk flew towards the hollow before hitting it hard in it's back eliciting a scream from it. The reishi disk pushed into its back for a few seconds before dissipating. "What was that?"the hollow thought looking around for the source only to find the reaper approaching. "Well never mind that now, I've gotta scram before I'm caught"the hollow then opened a garganta and jumped through to the sands of Heuco Mundo.
The soul reaper landed to see the bloody sight of Masaki and a seemingly unconscious Ichigo. "Damn I didn't make it in time" the soul reaper said as he looked around. "Although I could swear I felt two hollow signatures not just the one I saw then." The soul reaper continued to talk to himself.
"H…hol…hollows…so that's…what it's called"Ichigo thought as he regained consciousness momentarily before falling into the dark again.
The soul reaper left an hour later still trying to figure out where the second hollow signature came from although he did not prevail in finding his answers and left troubled, only to be distracted and suddenly forget about it by another hollow signature nearby.
It was around this time that Ichigo regained some of his awareness and began to drag himself over to where his mother lay to try and wake her.
"M…mum…wake up…please," Ichigo sniffled now crying, tears pouring down his face "please" he continued to beg only to start crying hysterically before he fell asleep from exhaustion.
(After a while)
W…where…am I?"Ichigo groggily thought.
Ichigo was slowly regaining consciousness as he opened and closed his eyes waving off the sleepiness that was upon him. Stretching and sitting up he realized that he was in a hospital and was dressed in a patient's attire, the bed robe covering his body underneath the thin sheets of the bed. Suddenly he remembered that days events and instantly froze up staring into the space in front of him wide eyed. He'd let her down, he couldn't save her, he was useless.
A short while later Ichigo regained enough of himself to slowly think over the events that just transpired before his eyes not long ago.
"I'm going to learn how to fight those things and become strong enough to protect everyone else because its my fault I wasn't strong enough to save mum"he thought with determination "and I'm going to learn how to use that weird power I used as well to get stronger…"Ichigo paused a moment to overthink the brief conversation the reaper had with himself. "Wait! He said there were two hollows nearby…does that mean my power was like the hollows, or was there really another nearby…if so I better keep it a secret for everyone's sake"Ichigo finished his internal monologue and grasped onto his mothers pendant.
Suddenly the door at the end of the room past the curtains of all the patient beds slammed open and running footsteps were heard as well as two small crying voices.
"Ichigo!" a voice was spoken worriedly.
Suddenly the person came into view holding two young girls by the names of Karin and Yuzu. They were both crying profusely until they saw their brother and jumped out of their father Isshin's arms and ran over to their brother encompassing him in a hug.
"Are you ok?" they both shouted at him only getting someone in the distance telling them to be quite. Never the less Ichigo answered with a small nod of his head.
"Hey what's that in your hand Ichigo?" Isshin asked curiously.
Ichigo then looked down at his hands and slowly unclenched his fist to see the same pendant that was on his mother's wrist when the hollow struck.
"It was on mum's wrist when the thing killed her" he replied hesitating from the memories of the event.
"Hmm…so she had it with her after all…if so then how did the hollow kill her it was far too weak to even scratch her…"he thought for a moment. "Well Ichigo the doctor says your fine to go you just need to get dressed and we can leave," Isshin paused for a moment overlooking the absent look on his sons face, to which he then asked "are you sure you're ok?" He just received a short nod before guiding the younger twins out of the room to wait for Ichigo.