Chapter 1

Solitude.

Hiro had always known what solitude felt like, but rarely did it sit well with him. He knew why he wanted it, he knew that it was the best thing for him, but still, another person to talk to would be a nice change of pace. There were very few people who could keep him interested in conversing with him, most people were below him. People talked about things, objects, vanity, none of it interested Hiro. His mind was elsewhere, thinking of solutions to world problems, what he thought was best.

The deep blue sky was calming for Hiro, so he made it a point to go for walks nightly. He had a few paths that he'd take, mostly to avoid the gangs in the area, but every so often, he'd run into one. He'd try to get away, but they rarely let him just walk away. He'd punched, and kicked his way through a crowd before, but he'd also been beaten himself, so it was something he tried to avoid.

He rounded the corner of a building, and looked down the dimly lit alleyway. A flickering light stood dangerously close to falling forward as it swayed in the wind. Sighing, he continued walking down the alley, hypervigilant of any attacks that might come his way. The sounds of his footsteps echoed in the night sky, and he closed his eyes. Trying to decompress was always a chore.

He felt a twitch, a tingle on his senses, and stopped. Looking around, he couldn't see anything, so he played it off as nothing important, sighed again, and continued down the alley. He'd begun feeling these twitches just off the corner of his mind, but thought nothing of it. Migraines were commonplace, and he knew how to combat one. As unpleasant as they were, he'd live.

He exited the alley, and saw where he was walking toward, and chuckled to himself. "The river." He spoke.

Hiro continued down the street toward the river, where he knew his brother would be. Back to the place where his whole life changed, where his happiness died.

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The river was a painful place for Hiro, and even though he knew what happened, he kept coming back. He wasn't there for the memory, or even to grieve, but he still felt connected here. The moonlight glistened off the water, and added a certian amount of beauty here, something that he was thankful to witness nightly. He thought back on his life, and chuckled at the irony. The most painful memory he had, was in the most beautiful place in the city.

He saw a bench, and noticed a person sitting on it. He immediately knew who it was, and braced himself for the inevitable pleas, and fight that was going to ensue. As if reading from a script, he knew exactly how this would all kick off.

"Don't you get tired of stalking me?" Hiro asked the person sitting on the bench.

"If you don't like me sitting here, then stop coming out here." The person replied.

Hiro walked past the man, and stood at the top of the hill leading down into the river. He gazed out on the water, watching the light dance around as the river flowed. He heard the man stand up, and follow him out onto the river bank, and tensed up as he got close. People approaching from behind him usually tried to attack him, and his tension was instinctive more than reactionary.

"Hiro, you need to stop this. You have to come home." The man stated. "Dad, Karin, and especially Yuzu all miss you."

"It just won't work Ichigo. You all don't understand." Hiro replied. "It's just better this way, when I'm not dependent on you guys."

Ichigo scoffed, and pulled Hiro around facing him. "Dependant?! Dad pays for your damned apartment!"

"You know what I mean Ichigo." Hiro replied.

"This is tearing us apart Hiro! Don't you see that?!" Ichigo shouted.

"I don't care!! Just leave me alone!!" Hiro shouted back, ripping free from Ichigo, and running back to his apartment.

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Hiro had been running back along the path he took to the river. He felt angry at Ichigo, and wanted nothing to do with him anymore. He knew that meeting him would be a bad idea, even though that was not his intention. Talking with him reminded Hiro of the fight, the shouting, the tears, the effect it had on his sister Yuzu stuck with him most. Ichigo changed too, constantly berating him for the simplest things, never letting him do what he wanted, when he wanted it. It wasn't fair.

As he made it back to the alley, he felt another tug in his mind, this time more prominent, and serious, and whipped his head around. He saw a shimmer, and squinted, trying to see if anything was there. The shimmer moved, and Hiro stood in shock. The world suddenly felt heavy, and he felt like dropping to his knees.

Without warning, he felt a vice like pressure wrap around his neck, and he lifted into the air. He couldn't breathe, struggling to break free of whatever it was that had him. Kicking wildly, and clawing at his throat, his vision slowly darkened, a ringing sound was all he could hear, and as his sight left him, his hearing did as well. He thought back to his family, and regretted making them feel the way they had.

As quickly as he'd begun choking, the feeling stopped, and he fell onto the ground, gasping for air. He opened his eyes, and saw smoke, while feeling the ground rumble around him. A woman's voice could be heard grunting, and shadows concealed by smoke moved erratically.

Hiro stood, and watched the spectacle, shocked at what he was finally able to see. A monster with a white mask, and a purple haired woman squaring off in the middle of the night.

The woman jumped toward the monster, spinning past the arm of the beast, and bringing her heel down onto its face. The monster was pushed back, crashing into the building, kicking up dust. The woman landed on the ground, and immediately jumped again, this time swinging her fist into the mask, shattering it. The monster bellowed, and disappeared, as if it wasn't there.

The woman landed in her feet, and turned around facing Hiro. She looked directly at him, and walked forward. Hiro could hear the quiet slapping of her feet in the concrete, but found himself frozen in place. What the hell had he just witnessed? This felt like a bad dream.

"You okay?" The woman asked. "Not every day a human gets attacked by one of those."

Hiro, dumbfounded, stared at her. He felt enthralled by the purple haired woman, getting lost in her eyes in particular. The yellow orbs quizzically stared back, before she spoke again.

"Hello?"

"Ah... Yeah... Sorry." Hiro stuttered.

The woman watched him carefully, and noticed that he was in shock. "I guess you saw all of that then." The woman asked.

Hiro finally got a look at the woman, and froze again. He put everything together, the slapping feet, the noticeable skin, everything. The woman picked up on this, and smirked.

"Haven't seen a naked woman before, eh? Want a closer look?" The woman playfully asked.

"AHHH!!!" Hiro shouted, covering his eyes and turning away.

"Relax, I'll make things better." The woman laughed, as she began glowing.

Hiro had covered his face embarrassed at seeing her completely naked. He'd always been curious, but this was blatant. He didn't notice the sounds, or light as he freaked out, and covering his ears.

"There. You can look now." A masculine voice spoke.

Hiro turned around, and the woman was fine, replaced by a small black cat. He looked down, and saw the cat walking past him, waving it's tail around.

"Follow me. We have much to discuss." The cat stated.

Hiro thought about his home, his bed was calling his name, practically screaming it. He wanted to return home, pass out, and go to school tomorrow.

He followed the cat, the opposite way, back into the city.

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Story written by SpookyAtlas for SketchyWolf

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