The Bloody Promise in the Icy Rain
It was the 17th of June and Ichigo was only nine years old. His orange hair stuck out like a sore thumb and his big goofy grin sprung out across his face.
I was in a wolf form at the time, standing next to his mother as I waited for him to say his goodbyes to Tatsuki, one of his little friends.
"Bye Tatsuki!" Ichigo said and waved his goodbye.
"Bye Ichigo! See you at the dojo tomorrow!" Tatsuki called back. She waved for a second then Ichigo turned and ran the few meters to his mother.
I smiled as she knelt down to give him a hug. I flicked my tail and licked his cheek softly. He laughed his childish laugh and wiped the saliva from his cheek.
He pulled away from his mother and they began to walk home. I stood up and followed just behind them with a warm, wolfy smile on my face.
A car sped past and covered Ichigo then me in muddy water. I growled as the car kept driving without a backwards glance. Ichigo jumped and his mother glared at the car.
"Oh that careless driver! Come here. Are you alright? Let me switch places with you and walk next to the street so that doesn't happen again." she said and began wiping his face clean.
"Nah you don't have to do that! I'm the one with a rain coat so I don't mind. Let me protect you from stuff like that Okay?" Ichigo said with a smile. He wore his dark yellow rain coat and I sat right next to his mother and couldn't help but give a gruff laugh.
"What a brave boy. That's very sweet, but before you worry about protecting me I think you should work on protecting yourself from that Tatsuki." his mother said with a soft laugh.
"Come on! I won a point from her the last time!" Ichigo countered happily and his mother chuckled softly.
"There you go, your all cleaned up now. Let's go and I'll walk on the street side this time." She said as she finished wiping his face.
"Hey mom, can I... Can I hold your hand please?" Ichigo asked and his mother smiled. She laughed.
"Why of course you can." she said and she held out her hand for him. He hesitantly took her hand then smiled. We kept walking towards home.
We were walking on the path at the top of a soft hill by the river when I sensed the dark energy. I looked around trying to find it, but I saw nothing. I was tense now and I walked closer to the two.
Ichigo looked to the side and I saw the girl a second before he did.
"Huh? What's that girl doing?" he asked, more to himself, as he let go of his mothers hand and watched the girl in confusion.
The girl moved to the edge of the river and Ichigo began to run towards her.
"Ichigo!" His mother called.
"I'll be right back!" he called over his shoulder as he kept running towards the girl. Ichigo's mother took a step towards him in shock.
"Where are you going?" she asked worried. She saw him get closer to the river. "No! Ichigo stop!" she yelled and ran after him.
"IT'S A TRAP! THERE'S A HOLLOW!" I yelled as I saw it go after Ichigo. I snarled and ran after his mother. The Hollow turned at the last second and attacked his mother. I snarled and I had no time to think or change to a Soul Reaper, I had to make do with the form I had. Ichigo and his mother screamed and Ichigo passed out.
"TIME TO DIE!" I snarled and launched onto the Hollows' head. I rammed my claws into it's mask but the mask just broke slightly then it howled and slashed my shoulder open. I growled in anger rather than pain. The Hollow turned as I landed harshly on the ground and it looked directly at me with eyes filled with hatred.
"I will get you back for this!" it hissed and it vanished. I turned and half-ran half-limped over to Ichigo and his mother who held Ichigo tightly. Her back was bleeding and her soul was torn to shreds. She had half a minute left if lucky.
"Hey, are you crazy? Going after a Hollow like that?" I asked. It was strange that a massive wolf like me talked, but I didn't care right now. His mother looked up at me weakly and to my shock, her half hollow mask covered the right side of her face, she was in vizard mode. She did that to distract the hollow from her son.
"You have been a great guardian... My time in this world is up, now you must promise me something..." she whispered. The rain fell harshly against my back and my eyes blurred slightly as the drops hit my head and rolled onto my face.
"What? What is it?" I asked, willing to do anything. She weakly looked at Ichigo.
"Promise me you will protect him from now on. Please." she whispered and softly looked at me. I looked from her pained face to Ichigo's childish face and back to her. My breathing was rugged. I nodded. I placed a paw harshly on my shoulder wound and flinched slightly. I then held out my paw towards her.
"By the blood of my soul, and the blood of this child's fallen family, I will protect his soul, even at the cost of my own. I will die a thousand agonizing deaths, just to protect this single child, as I have done to protect his mother. As your passing wish, I will." I said with great honour and pride, but my voice broke slightly when I spoke of her passing. She nodded and held my paw for the few seconds she had left. Her blood mixed with mine and as the rain washed it away, it hit Ichigo in the head as he laid on the ground unconscious. She then fell limp and her hand fell to the ground. I closed her eyes with a gentle paw.
I threw my head back and howled with all my might to the crying skies. I then hung my head limply from my sitting body and waited for Ichigo to wake up.
It was about ten minutes after her death that he woke up. He wriggled out from under her body and I slowly rolled my head up to watch him with pained eyes.
Ichigo's name meant 'he who protects'. But right now, I felt like Ichigo will begin to hate his name. He will never forgive himself, but neither will I.
"No... No... NOO!" Ichigo cried his heart out and hugged his mother's limp body. I softly stood up and nudged him just the slightest. He looked up and I saw the agony and horror on his face. He then jumped up and wrapped his arms around my neck. My ears flicked back and my heart felt like a stone in the pits of my stomach. Ichigo cried on my shoulder for about five minutes then pulled back and wiped his face with the back of his sleeve. I licked him softly and he made no attempt to wipe it away.
"Come. We need to get her home." he said through a tight throat. I simply nodded and crouched low to the ground. I wriggled into the gap where his body was under his mother and he helped stabilize her on my back as I stood up. We turned and made our way slowly home. My tail dragged across the ground and my ears clung to the side of my head in shame.
What made me feel even worse was when we got back to the house. Ichigo knocked softly on the door and his dad threw it open like he was expecting us to come home any second. His face was full of joy and a wide smile was spread across his face.
"How was you'r-" he began but he cut short as he saw the state we were in and all of his joy and happiness was gone as he saw his wife. Yuzu and Karin ran to the door but stopped in the shadows of the stairs as they watched in horror.
"My beloved..." Isshin muttered and he picked up her body from my broad back. I was slightly taller than Ichigo when standing normally. Right now we were both slumped a little bit. Isshin looked at me and my tail was limp, my ears back and my head was down.
Ichigo went inside with his feet dragging across the ground. I looked up slightly as Isshin waited patiently for me to come in. As Ichigo went out of earshot I whispered the reply to Isshin's unasked question.
"It was no thug nor killer... It was a Hollow." I flinched as I leant on my bad shoulder and he saw the damage.
"Come inside. I'll patch you up then we will burry her in the morning after a good nights rest and a healthy dinner." Isshin said and moved to the side. But I shook my head in utter defeat.
"I deserve no food or warmth. And I certainly do not deserve any healing. I should be dead instead of her. I should have seen the Hollow before anything happened." I growled at myself and my claws curled out and dug into the grass.
"There was nothing you could have done differently. She is gone, true. But at the same time, you saved Ichigo. All that matters now is that he stays safe or his mother's sacrifice would have been for nothing." Isshin said.
"I made a spiritual blood promise to her... I will do better to protect Ichigo." I said and looked up with hard determination on my face. Isshin blinked in shock, he had never seen me so determined yet so gentle and kind. Ichigo came to the door suddenly, his face a mask of fear and need.
"Please Kashira. Please come inside. You need to get help for your shoulder and I... I don't want to loose you too." Ichigo pleaded. My face and eyes turned soft and I let him lead me inside to the first patients room. I softly sat down and Ichigo took the bandages, towels and disinfectant that he got out and set to work on my damaged shoulder. "I will help you. We cannot wait for daddy to get here." he said as I flinched slightly from the burn of the disinfectant. He paused for a second and continued.
I turned my head and looked into his determined eyes. He paused before putting the bandages on and looked back at me. I smiled softly and liked his nose. He smiled softly and gave a childish giggle as he pushed my head back softly.
"Stop it silly." he said and bandaged up my shoulder. He was really good at this.
When his father came in Ichigo looked up from patting my head kindly.
"Well done Ichigo. You did a great job." Isshin said as he checked the bandage. "Dinner is ready and you need to get out of those wet clothes. Hurry up. Don't worry, I'll stay with Kashira." Isshin said when he saw Ichigo's hesitant glance at me. He nodded and ran to hurry up and dry off.
Isshin turned to me with a dark frown. I looked up at him and my face darkened.
"I will follow him till the day I die. I promise. I would rather die than see him get hurt Isshin and you know that. I know I was a Soul Reaper and I know how much older I am compared to him, but the age I am in the Soul Society is a lot younger here than it is there. Technically I am as old as Ichigo is now, but as old as you in there. You know that I love him with all of my heart. I guarded his mother for so long since I was dragged into this body. Now I understand that I was 'born' on the same day at the same time as Ichigo because he was the one I had to protect, not his mother. You made me realise this today. I will even attend school for the fifth time just to keep an eye on Ichigo. I promise to you what I promised to her. I will die a thousand times, just for him." I said and Isshin nodded. Ichigo ran in with new clothes on and he was dry.
I padded over and licked his cheek. He hugged me and I laid my chin on his shoulder.
I am so sorry Ichigo... This was all my fault... I should have done something before your mother got hurt... But I will protect you no matter what! I promise! I thought and my ears flicked up.
I had made a promise to Ichigo's dying mother, then his distraught father and to his unknowledgeable soul. I was his guardian now. Nothing will change that.