The sunlight assaulted his eyes as he rolled over and groaned. His head pounded as he stumbled from his room and into the bathroom. He splashed water on his face and grabbed a towel, vigorously scrubbing his face. He placed his hands on the side of the sink and sighed. He gazed into the mirror. Something was wrong. His eyes slid over his ginger hair, nothing new there. He looked at his face for some sign of change, nothing apart from being slightly paler. He looked harder, willing the answer to come to light. Ichigo cursed silently. How had he not noticed this before? His eyes. That was what was different. They weren't brown, like normal, they were black. Black and yellow. Hollow eyes. What was wrong? Why had this happened now? His hollow had been silent for ages. It surrendered it's strength when he needed it, it didn't try to eat anyone's soul, it didn't attempt to take over his body...so why was this happening?
"Onee-chan?" someone called from behind the door. It was Yuzu.
"Yes?" Ichigo croaked.
"Are you going to be long, Onee-chan?"
"No, why?"
"I need my shower Ichi! Remember?"
"OH! I'm sorry! Yeah, yeah, I'm done." Ichigo croaked again.
"O—Onee-chan, you don't sound so good. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ichigo said, trying to sound upbeat, and opened the door. He walked past his little sister without meeting her eyes, praying that she wouldn't notice his eyes. She didn't. Yawning slightly, Ichigo went back into his room and closed the door. He got back into bed and closed his eyes, feigning sleep. Inside, he was seething. How was he going to deal with the eyes? He considered wearing sunglasses all day, but with the constant sound of rain hitting the roof of the Kurosaki clinic, he knew it wouldn't work. He contemplated faking being ill, but his dad was a doctor, so that wouldn't work either. Irrational anger possessed him as he tried to puzzle out what to do. Annoyed, he tossed in his bed until his headache flared up again. Groaning quietly, he buried his head under the covers. Run away. Ichigo sat bolt upright. Run away? That was insane! Why on earth would he do that? If anything, he should stay OUT of the public. Run away, Ichigo. No, that was just crazy. But what else could he do? It wasn't like he could just tell—
Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by a monstrous yell from outside his window. He cussed. Dad's morning wake up routine. Deftly, Ichigo sat up and watched with amusement as his 43 year old father came hurtling through the window. He crashed into the closet and cursed. Ichigo grinned and curled up again in his bed. But Isshin wasn't having it.
"GET UP YA LAZY-!"
He was cut off by Ichigo smashing a pillow into his face.
"SHUT UP! I HAVE A HEADACHE! GO DOWN STAIRS AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ichigo yelled.
His dad smiled evilly. With another yell, he leapt into the air, elbow pointing towards his son's stomach. Ichigo sighed and rolled out of bed. He stood up and grabbed his dad around the waist. He dragged him over to the window and threw him out. Isshin screamed like a baby as the ground came closer and closer. He landed awkwardly on his back and began to cry. Yuzu ran out of the door and started fussing over him. She looked up and saw Ichigo slam his window shut. There was something different about his face, she just couldn't put her finger on it.
Ichigo growled as he settled back down in bed again. Why couldn't his dad just let him sleep? What was so hard about letting a 15 year old have a peaceful night's sleep? Something stirred in the back of his mind.
Run away, Ichigo.