Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach...yup...
Rated M- uh...mostly for the violence and language...and just to be on the safe side I guess...not that anyone really pays attention to the ratings now n' days
Ichigo stretched and glanced at his finished stack of homework. He had worked almost an hour straight after dinner to get all of this done, it was so annoying how much they were assigning all of a sudden either all of them were having a bad day or some new regulation was having them all on their toes. He set his pencil down and took out his headphones. Turning his chair he stared at his door for a second and listened to the quiet. He hadn't heard anything from his sisters in a little while, the whole time his music had been on low yet nothing at all. Sure they could take care of themselves but it still made him wonder if they were alright. Normally he wouldn't have to worry, his dad was there to help them, but this week he was off getting his medical license renewed and wouldn't be back for another three days.
Standing up he walked to the door and opened it, looking up and down the hall he looked for his sisters for a second or two, "Yuzu? Karin?" he called out, it wasn't normal to have it this quiet, the television was usually on or something.
Listening for another second or two he slowly began to realize that…something wasn't quiet right. He couldn't exactly place it but for some reason he felt like something was off, he didn't know what yet but something. Moving quickly down the hall he stood at the top of the steps and listened. Nothing seemed off, just another quiet house but then he heard it. Just the tiniest of sounds, a soft creaking noise from someone in the kitchen and…muffled movements. Ichigo's body tensed, whoever it was they weren't Yuzu or Karin.
Quickly but carefully he maneuvered his way towards the kitchen, making sure to stay out of sight, he moved on the quietest boards until he could see what was going on. Very quickly he saw exactly what was going on. Yuzu and Karin were tied up on the floor, tight enough that even from here he could see that they were having trouble breathing. Standing in the kitchen searching through the drawers was a large man, muscular and short of bulky. He was large and looked more stupid and brawny than anything else. He was wearing all white and some…type of bone mask on his face, the jaw part. Instead of being scared like he probably should have been at 15 he was instead a little angry and extremely calm. This bastard had invaded his home and made Yuzu cry, his eyes narrowed, this man was paying dearly for that.
Moving quickly he crossed the floor and entered the kitchen. Normally he wasn't one to hit someone when there back was turned but this time he made an exception. Grabbing the first thing that came to hand he picked it up and faster than the man could turn slammed it over the back of his head, it was a very heavy cast-iron pan that Yuzu had used earlier. The man crumpled and fell to the floor. Going to his sisters Ichigo quickly untied them and un-gagged their mouths. "I-Ichigo! Wh-what's going on?" Yuzu whispered out frightened, tears streaming down her face.
Helping her stand he pushed both of them towards the stairs, "Upstairs now," he ordered, his eyes on the man who was slowly getting up, he hadn't expected the pan to incapacitate him just…give him some time.
Karin frowned, "We're not leaving you Ichigo!" she replied fiercely, turning and looking at him just as fierce as her words.
Ichigo normally would have been proud of his little sister, but not today, "That wasn't a request. Now move!" he snapped and shoved them this time.
Yuzu tugged on Karin's arm and after a second or two the quickly hurried up the stairs. "I'll kill them later," growled a voice, closer than Ichigo had anticipated.
Whipping around he glared at the man who now stood up and was cracking his neck and smirking at him, "Who the hell are you," Ichigo asked, voice surprisingly calm compared to the anger and slight nervousness that was growing inside of him.
Even the large man in front of him looked mildly confused for a second before he shrugged, "None of your business. You're going to die soon anyways. Don't blame me though, blame your father," the man said, cracking his knuckles and loosening himself up.
Ichigo tensed up, his father? What the hell was that supposed to mean. That thought was tossed to the back of his mind though as suddenly the large man threw a punch. Dodging it he naturally aimed a kick back, surprised when the large man caught it. His eyes widened for a second and he had no way of escaping the punch that came next. Nor could he do anything when the man threw him towards a wall. All he could do was protect what he could as he hit the wall with an almost sickeningly heavy thud. He didn't stay down for long though, rolling out of the way of the man's next attack. On his feet he reached for the nearest weapon, a knife.
Moving quickly he ducked under the man's next attack and stabbed him in the gut once, twice, a total of four times before with a swift kick Ichigo was slammed into the counter and dropped to the floor. The man grunted and yanked the knife from his stomach, "I'm going to rip you apart kid," he snarled and reached to grab the orange-haired nuisance.
The man managed to grab onto him but only for a second, Ichigo violently kicked the man in the stomach and when he loosened his hold Ichigo yanked himself free and back up a semi-safe distance. Panting a little he quickly scoured the kitchen for a second usable weapon to counter the man's sudden use of the knife he had just attacked with. Brown eyes landed on the drawer that contained all the knifes, if he remembered correctly there was a bread knife in there. It didn't take long for the large man to recover and as soon as he lunged to attack Ichigo dodged and hurried to the drawer. Yanking it open he pawed through the knives ignoring the fact he quickly cut his hand in his haste to find the right knife.
Finding it he pulled it out and faced his opponent. They stared at each other for a second. Carving knife for the intruder and for Ichigo a bread knife. Instead of being afraid Ichigo was calm, he wasn't afraid. No…here it was kill him or let the man go and kill his sisters. Ichigo was not going to let this man harm his family. Taking a deep breath he tensed for a second and then attacked. He didn't expect to get a very good hit. So when the man moved aside and instead stabbed him in the shoulder Ichigo wasn't the least bit surprised, in fact he had kind of expected it. Turning he switched the bread knife to his other hand and stabbed it into the man's wrist and then cut it straight down as much as he could in the short time.
Ichigo was shoved back, and he fell to the ground, both knives hitting the ground. Ichigo's hadn't been stabbed in that deep and he had dropped his own knife. The man looked pissed, and with speed Ichigo didn't know he had the bastard started a flurry of punches and kicks. Most of them hit dead on and Ichigo spent most of that little time blocking or being hit. Eventually though blood loss took over. You can't have your arm split wide open from the wrist down and not pass out from blood loss. The man's punches grew weaker, enough to the point where Ichigo started his counter attack. Even when the man fell to the ground Ichigo didn't let up. Not until the bastard had stopped breathing and Ichigo grew too tired to punch anymore.
Panting he stood up and hesitantly took a step back. The man lay still, he wasn't breathing, it was then that Ichigo realized exactly what he had done. Swallowing thickly he took a look around the room, it was covered in blood. They had moved throughout the kitchen area and a trail of blood and mess followed their path, a full circle. Looking down at himself Ichigo numbly noted that he was covered in a mix of his own blood and whoever that bastard was. Automatically he walked to the phone and started dialing the phone but just as the ringing started something came to mind. This hadn't been a random robbing gone bad no…he quickly hung up the phone. He didn't want to sound paranoid but this had probably been a professional or…or something.
Shivering a little he glanced back at the man who was more than likely…dead and bleeding all over the kitchen floor. Slight panic set in, what the hell was he supposed to do now?! He could call the cops, that would only cause problems, a professional hit well…that meant something, something to do with his father in fact. Stepping through the bloody mess that was the kitchen the dropped to his knees and pressed his fingers to the man's neck and checked for vitals. Nothing at all. 'I just killed a man,' the thought swam around for a second, he had killed someone, not hurt or knocked out…killed.
For almost a minute he sat in shock before a new thought came to mind, he had to get rid of the body. He couldn't just leave it lying in his kitchen. That…that wouldn't be good. Forcing himself to stand he decided to start clean up. But first…he walked out of the kitchen and hurried up the steps, he had to find his sisters, were they okay? What had happened anyways? Were they injured at all? Had they seen what he'd done? All those thoughts and more raced through his mind as he started searching through the rooms calling out for his sisters in a worried whisper, for some reason not wanting to raise his voice above a whisper even thought he had nothing to worry about.
An answer never came and it worried him a little but he didn't let it show and instead hurried quickly through the upstairs, checking all the rooms until finally he ended up in his room again. He called for them once more. A small squeak came from his closet and instantly the orange-haired boy was at the door and yanking it open. His sisters were huddled in the corner, sitting on top of the blankets, Karin glaring at him for a few seconds before realizing exactly who it was. "Ichigo!" she said after a second, surprise obvious.
From behind her Yuzu looked out and gasped, "W-what happened! Y-you're covered in blood!" she squeaked, crawling out of the closet quickly.
Karin sat in the closet for a second longer and then stepped out, "Where's that guy…" she asked quietly.
Replying to that question would entail a lot of details that he didn't want to really reveal. Not when Yuzu was crying just from seeing his wound, the site of the dead body in the kitchen would probably send her into shock. Instead he just shook his head, "He left. I don't know where he went, ran out the back door. I'm going to make sure he's not out there still. Both of you should change into your pj's and go to sleep…okay?" he said, the lies coming easily.
Both of the girls were silent for a second before Yuzu nodded meekly, "O-okay…but um…are you okay?" she asked softly, her hands clinging tightly to his shirt as she looked down at the floor.
Ichigo ruffled her hair and smiled softly, he was surprised he could still do so when his mind was racing with what he had just done. "Of course Yuzu. I'll be fine. When I'm finished getting everything safe I'll get my shoulder fixed. It looks worse than it is," he said lightly.
Karin glowered at the floor, she wanted to say something, her brother most definitely was not okay, but…she looked at Yuzu who looked just about ready to fall over. Moving foreword she put her arm on her sisters shoulder, "Can we stay in your room?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied.
Reluctantly Yuzu released his shirt and with one last look at his two sisters Ichigo turned and left the room, on the outside looking surprisingly calm for how rapid his heart was beating and how fast his thoughts were racing. Closing the door behind him, Ichigo stood there for a second, he'd have to work quickly if he wanted things done by morning. He hurried quickly back to the kitchen, he'd have to drag the…the body someplace different. Clean the kitchen…clean himself up as well, get his wound checked, and of course make sure no one found out what he had ended up doing.
When he reached the kitchen it looked exactly like he'd left it. Blood everywhere, the corpse had slowly gotten a larger pool of blood in the time that Ichigo had been gone. Swallowing thickly he overlooked the mess and then hesitantly walked into the kitchen, "I have to get this done," he muttered softly and began to repeat that little mantra in his head over and over again as he started cleaning.
First he'd get rid of the body, that would be the best. Ichigo hesitated, from all that he saw touching the body with bare hands was a bad, bad idea…looking around he saw oven mitts. Grabbing those he slipped them on and grabbed onto the dead man's arm. Steeling himself he tugged and started dragging it towards the backdoor, he'd have to get it somewhere, anywhere but the kitchen. The backdoor lead to a small area where they had a small shed filled with extra medical supplies and a large trash bin where the medical trash went. A special arrangement that had been arranged just for their family. Ichigo's…current plan was to put the body in the bottom of the bin, cover it with the rest of it and hopefully figure something out in the morning.
Tugging violently he managed to drag the body to the door, it was painful though. His arm hurt like hell and it was…disgusting. Shaking a little Ichigo turned and slipped the oven mitt off and opened the door. As soon as it was open though Ichigo froze, in front of him was a second person dressed in white. His heart beat wildly as he stared in surprised at the new person, who was dressed so similarly to the dead man that there was no way it was just a coincidence.
Blank green eyes looked at him carefully, looking him up and down once before eyeing the dead body laying right behind him. "Did you kill him?"
Stiffening Ichigo didn't reply right away, the question had been asked so out of the blue that he didn't really know what to say. He opened and closed his mouth once, then relaxed a little, "If I did," he asked, his voice sounding surprisingly cold to himself.
For almost two minutes no one moved or said anything before a small nod from the man caused Ichigo to stiffen and prepare himself for something, anything. "I shall finish what you started then," the man said, taking a step foreword.
Moving quickly Ichigo backed up and stood by the knife drawer, hand on the handle in case the new person tried anything. Nothing happened though, the other man simply grabbed the man's arm and like it was nothing pulled him from the kitchen. Ichigo followed to the door and watched as the man effortless walked down the alley, pulling the body behind him like it was nothing. At the end he paused and looked back at Ichigo who was standing there awkwardly, "Do not get comfortable," came his voice, it sounded dry and emotionless…it gave Ichigo the creeps.
Not waiting around any longer Ichigo ducked back into the house and shut the door, locking and dead bolting the door quickly. Turning to the kitchen he glanced it over and then went to the sink, pulling the cabinet open he grabbed a set of sponges and the bleach…he had a large amount of work ahead of him.
For the next three hours he scrubbed every surface that had any of the blood on it, the floor, the counters, he washed the knives in bleach, soaked the oven mitts in bleach as well. He did every surface that might have come in contact with that…man's blood. In then end he surveyed his work and deemed it clean. Hesitantly he unlocked his door and looked out into the alley, it was still dark but from Ichigo could see that through the dirt was a path of dark, a trail of blood.
Grabbing a broom he cautiously walked out and went to the end, working carefully he erased the second to last bit of evidence of just a few hours ago. Once in a pile he put the dirt in a bag and threw that away. Back in the house he re-locked and dead bolted the doors and then went up the bathroom to get himself clean, the last of the evidence would be washed away.
Ichigo took one of the fastest and hottest showers in the history of ever. He had turned the heat up as hot as it'd go and gotten rid of the blood as fast as he could. Getting out he put on a towel and grabbed his bloodied clothes. Moving quickly he went downstairs and threw them in the trash, before grabbing the last bottle of bleach they had in the whole house. Ichigo had used more cleaning supplies this night than he had in his whole life or so it seemed. Back to the bathroom he went and not even hesitating he cleaned the tub with the last of the bleach. If investigated there would be pretty much no blood evidence hopefully.
With everything done he relaxed a little, at the moment he had no reason to be overly cautious but he didn't exactly want to relax just yet. Tiredly he walked to his room and opened the door, his eyes immediately landed on his two sisters. They were sleeping on his bed, probably having fallen asleep a while ago. Ichigo went to his dresser and pulled out some clothes, he went back to the bathroom, changed and then returned to his bedroom.
Going to the closet he opened the door and lay down on the large pile of blankets his family stored in there. Closing his eyes he frowned and tried his best to ignore the fact that he had just killed someone. That thought danced around and around in his head along with that man, what did he want? What did he mean? And what did the…dead man mean about his father? Groaning he pressed his hands to his head, too many things had happened tonight, he just wanted to forget everything. Rolling over he buried himself into the blankets and tried his best to get some sleep.
A/N: So um...yeah. I am so, so, so sorry if you didn't like this chapter. I think it was a little slow...but um hopefully as time goes on it will get better and not so um...slow-ish. I really just hope at least one person likes this, this has been an idea stuck in my head for a little while now. I'm not good at writing multi-chapter things but hopefully with this I can give it a shot and finish it. With enough motivation anythings possible...right? Um...right...well hopefully this turns out well. And if you didn't like it then I'm sorry...but if you did then I'm glad. At least someone enjoyed it. For everyone who's even glanced at this thank you so much for even bothering to give it a glance, if you see any mistakes at all do tell me. I'm not very good at catching some of these things so if anything looks off don't hesitate to mention it. Once again thank you...