Rated: M
Chosen song for this chapter: past story, fairy tail theme song
Enjoy and review, try to guess which character Ichigo is based on.
The reason for hope and darkness chapter 1
Depression and madness filled the world. Every where Ichigo turned, he saw people sobbing inside of their palms. He saw beggars on the streets, and these beggars were children that provided for their orphaned families. It hadn't been like this forever you see. Only when the people began to lose hope in mankind. Only when people started losing hope in hope itself, did the chaos start. That's when the demons started littering around. Yes, there was no hope left since the birth of the insanity and cruelty. People stopped caring for each other, they were robbed of their morals and their kindness. Everybody stepped over the bodies of their fellow brothers and sister whom were there due to starvation. It was nothing, nothing at all to them.
Although, there was one exception to the insanity, he is in the center of the darkness. And yet, he shines ever so bright. He holds his head high and he cares. Yes, he actually cares for humanity so much that he buries all of the bodies he comes across. He buries them all inside of his own garden; this is the only place on earth where life is still present. He too is like many of the orphaned children. His mother was murdered by a demon, a rare occurrence. This only happens when the demons detect a large amount of hope and aren't able to annihilate it. And then his father disappeared after yuzu, the youngest daughter died due to an illness in the brain. Yes, it was just him and Karin. The only difference is that like his mother, Ichigo still possessed radiance inside of his untainted heart. Unlike his sister who sported the same look on her face every day. A look of sadness.
Ichigo walked down the complex system of narrow alleys, making his way to the place that no one else went to anymore. The church. Ichigo didn't believe in god, could you blame him? Although, he still believed in angels. In his mind, they were just asleep. If only people would hope again, the angels would come back and save them from this depression.
Ichigo stepped over the withered grass, his boots crunching on the lifeless vegetation that surrounded the outside of the church. The inside was completely different.
Ichigo pushed open the doors to be met with his garden. He always felt better after coming here. His eyes met the abnormal bright colors, and his nose met the strange, sweet, scent of flowers. In the back of the church were hundreds of crosses. And underneath those were hundreds of bodies. The church was quite large, but the seats and floor boards were all ripped off after the demons first came here. But for some reason, after Ichigo made the garden, the demons stopped coming here. No, it was more like they couldn't come here anymore. The garden possessed too much light.
The carrot top walked down the alley, into the middle of the church. He then sat down on his knees and looked into the circular window at the back of the church. He clasped his hands together tightly and squeezed his eyes shut, tears silently streamed down his golden face.
"Please." Came out his sweet, soft voice. And then, a little louder, it came out once more. "If there is anything there. If there is really a god, please help us. Please don't let this go on for another day. All I see is sorrow every day. All I smell is death every day. The clouds are too dark for the sun to shine through, even just a little. I want to see and feel the rays of light again. I want to hear people laughing again. I want to see people smiling again, and..and… I JUST DON'T KNOW ANYMORE! It hurts so much! I feel lost and I wish I can just feel numb like everybody else. Why did you make me like this. If you're real then speak to me damn it! I'm tired of living like this, hell… This isn't even CONSIDERED living, is it?" Ichigo clenched his hands tighter, his knuckles going white. "Please don't forget about me like everybody has forgotten about hope. Because I haven't… is that not enough for you? Is my soul, is my hope not enough for you?" Ichigo screamed, standing up and throwing his bag to the ground.
The necklace that Ichigo treasured fell out of the bag and onto the floor. His breath hitched and he fell on his knees once again. He picked up the locket and opened it. Surely this was a sign, was it not? He remembered the time his mother gave him this. He remembered it all too well, like it was yesterday.
Ichigo, age 10, six years ago.
"Mommy, mommy! Stop bleeding, please!" Ichigo cried to his mother.
"Ichigo… I'm so sorry... I really wanted to play with you…to raise you with your father… just remember that I will always be with you…" His mother's weak voice came, trembling out.
"No, you're lying! You're going to leave me aren't you? Please stay with me, I'm begging you please don't go!" Ichigo cried into his mother's chest, his hair now soaked in blood.
"Ichigo, look at me sweet heart… I will still be here, looking after you. I may not be able to talk to you, but I can still look after you. And if you're ever feeling sad-" Masaki started choking in her own crimson red blood.
"MOMMY!" Ichigo screamed in agony at his mother's blood and the face that she made. He knew that she was slowly dying. How did a child even know such horrible things?
"Ichigo… If you are ever feeling sad just know that there IS still hope left. No matter what you see. No matter what becomes of this treacherous world, just know… that there will always be light. If you are ever in doubt… just take this locket…" Masaki Kurosaki pulled the pendant from her pocket. She had it made just in case this ever happened. She gave her son the locket that was covered in her blood.
"And Ichigo? Remember these words… say it to yourself every day… and say it to your friends if they stop believing…"
"Stop talking! Please, you will die! Don't talk as if you're leaving me!" Ichigo sobbed, his vision blurring because of the tears. He clenched the locket tightly in his hand.
"To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. Remember this, Ichi…go…" And with those last words, His mother's eyes becamedark and lifeless. The sparkle that they once possessed was gone. And now… she was just an empty shell.
"MOMMY!" Ichigo's scream echoed in his mind. It would stay there, haunting him for the rest of his life.
Present day
Ichigo's trembling fingers caressed the letters on the front of the locket.
"hope never abandons you; you abandon it." And then Ichigo turned it over, and read the letters that are burned into his heart "Hope is the dream of a soul awake."
"I'm never going to give up…" Ichigo said a loud. But to who, we will not know. Maybe it was to the sadness, maybe to the insanity. " I. Am. Never. Going. To. Stop. Hoping." Ichigo bit the inside of his cheek, feeling a trail of blood seeping out. He tasted the metallic substance, yes, this meant he was still alive. Which means, he still had dreams and hopes.
Ichigo sighed, and got up once more. He went around his garden and started picking out vegetables to make for dinner. Surely, Karin was hungry. Everybody always was. But Ichigo failed to realize the high level demon that was staring at him in the shadows.
-page break-
The blue haired demon sucked in the sweet tobacco. This was the only thing that the humans did right, in his opinion. Ah yes, how he loved cigarettes… He flicked the finished cigarette into the crashing waves of the ocean beneath him.
He got up and stretched his sore muscles on the large boulder that he was laying on only moments before. His sharp, arrowed tail wagging back and forth like a content puppy. There was a sudden change in the air. He smelled it and smirked.
"Hey snowy, you told me that you went to fuck some desperate human. Boy or girl this time?" Shirosaki chuckled at the question.
"Is that all you think I do? Fuck like a rabbit?"
"Yes, I believe so." Grimmjow grinned, tucking his hands in his black pants. He had on black dress shoes as well as a silky blue button up shirt. Shirosaki was wearing the same thing, although his shirt was a deep, blood red color.
"That is what you do in most of your spare time. And remember, quality beats quantity…" Grimmjow rolled his eyes at his friend's statement.
"Okay, then… SHIRO-CHAN what exactly was it that you were doing?" Shirosaki grimaced.
"You haven't caught the scent yet? Someone posses a large amount of hope."
"Wait… whoa, that hasn't happened in a long time~!" Grimmjow whistled, slightly excited at the thought of breaking this person down.
"Yes… he's pure, very attractive as well. And he promised that he wouldn't give up hoping. And he was attempting to talk to god and his angels." Shirosaki shuddered.
"Ha! Somebody that still believes in god? That's classic!"
"Nah, by the sound of it, he doesn't believe in god. But he believes in something. Just not sure of what it is yet…and get this, he has a garden." Grimmjow froze.
"Wait… you mean, like a… GARDEN?"
"Yes, and he has buried the dead underneath it." Shirosaki stared at Grimmjow, waiting for his reaction.
"But… no one should be able to care like that… After all, our lord says that every human will give into their animalistic, selfish wants. And no one should be able to actually plant things as well…"
"And god treats them like souls. Saying that they will give into hope and…love." Shirosaki shuddered. "Well, don't worry yer pretty little head about it… We're still winning the war." Shirosaki chuckled darkly.
"Yeah… and besides, he'll stop believing after we're through with him…" Both of the demons smirked at the fact.
-page break-
"My lord, I'm sure you already know this but, there is hope on earth. A human boy named-"
"I am well aware, I sent Grimmjow and Shirosaki to go and take care of the lad." Aizen's voice came through, or shall we say, Satan's voice.
"Yes sir… but his…his name is Ichigo Kurosaki. He is the son of Masak-"
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME! only I can say her name. I see… so this is her son? And does he contain more hope than she did?" He started at his servant whose eyes were dark.
"More."
"That's impossible…" Aizen sputtered in disbelieve and he suddenly calmed down. "I see… Interesting. Well, Grimmjow and Shirosaki are the best for the job then."
"Do you really think they will be able to break the boy?"
"Absolutely not."
First chapter done, don't worry, I'll update in under two weeks. Did anyone guess who Ichigo is based on? Hope someone did~! Anyway, please comment and review! Review's help chapters to come out quicker.