Hey everyone! Please review! I'm sorry for not updating sooner. Don't forget to review. :)
I woke the next morning with a kink in my neck and a bad attitude. I hadn't slept at all last night. The same nightmare had haunted my dreams over and over again, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop. To make matters worse, Karin was up all night too. She was moodier than I was, but to be honest, it's what I expected from a fourteen year old girl like Karin. Ever since Toshiro left to go fight the winter war, Karin hasn't been the same. She stopped playing soccer when she realized he might never come back. She's waited at the park sitting on that same railing every day at sunset for two years, waiting for him to come back. She's been quiet, and last night was the first time Karin and I had a heart to heart, brother and sister moment.
"Karin, why aren't you eating your breakfast?" Yuzu sighed next to her.
"Why does it matter?" she growled. Yuzu blew out a breath of air and prepared to butter another piece of toast. "Ichi-nii,"
"What Karin?" I asked, trying to be brotherly, although I really wasn't in the mood for it. I took another bite of my breakfast.
"Do you think you could take me down to the park today?" she asked, frowning down at her cereal. "It's kind of important." She had a hard time getting that sentence out. Right now, nothing seemed important to her. I swallowed my irritation and replied.
"Sure," I stood up, no longer in the mood for breakfast. I dumped my bowl into the sink and turned the tap on. Luke- warm water gushed over my hands. I was suddenly reminded about my nightmare last night. The water felt exactly like the sweat that caused me to lose my grasp from my mother's hand. The whole thing came back to me, something I was trying to avoid remembering.
"Ichi-nii? Is something wrong, are you sick?" Yuzu's voice cut through my thoughts. I looked down to discover that I had leaned over the sink and soaked the lower half of both my sleeves. I pulled back in surprise and shook my hands. I pulled a towel out of the drawer to dry myself off.
"I-I'm fine." I said trying to sound conclusive. "Just… distracted is all." I rubbed the towel over my arms trying to sap up all of the water in my sleeves. I growled inwardly. My irritation level had gone from mild to extremely high. I wanted to yell at someone, but I knew that would leave someone other than just me agitated. "I'm going to change my shirt Karin. I'll be down in a minute to take you to the park." I said to Karin, making it clear that I would be fast.
"Ichigo, are you sure you're okay? You seem kind of out of it today." Yuzu said. Her concern was unnerving. I didn't need anyone's pity today, all I needed was something that could take my mind off of my edginess. I didn't answer Yuzu. Something was wrong, but because I couldn't figure out what it was, I blamed it on my lack of sleep.
I shuffled up the stairs, making better time by skipping two steps at a time. As I approached my room, I could feel the slightest amount of spirit pressure coming from Karin's room. I tried to ignore it, knowing that Karin wanted to go to the park soon, but curiosity got the better of me. I opened the door quietly and slipped inside. I turned around only to see something jump out the window. I caught a glimpse of something white before the figure disappeared completely.
I rubbed my eyes. I must be hallucinating. I need more sleep. I thought to myself. Although, it was more of a reassuring gesture towards myself, I didn't want to deal with any shinigami stuff for a while. I wanted to lay low for the first couple of months in case one of Ginjo's allies decided to come back. Plus, with the nightmares that showed up right after I had re-owned my powers, I thought it best not to use them until the nightmares subsided. I slipped out of Karin's room just as quietly as I had come in and walked down the hallway into my room.
I waited by my car while Karin got her sneakers on. When she opened the door, I got in the car and turned the key and the engine roared to life. Karin got in the passenger side and clicked her seatbelt. I pushed the gas and began to drive down the relatively deserted streets of our neighborhood.
"Why are you so excited to go to the park Karin?" I asked, curious.
"None of your business." She barked, crossing her arms.
"Fine, don't tell me," I looked over at Karin despite my actions of driving. "I know you're in a bad mood. I am too, but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on me." Karin stared back at me for a moment, and then looked away. I didn't take my eyes off of her.
"Ichi-nii! STOP!" Confused, I looked back at the road to find a car right in front of me. I slammed on the breaks, just barely missing the car's bumper by centimeters.
"Oh my go-" Karin cut me off.
"I'm getting out. I'm walking to the park." She said, an edge of anger in her voice.
"Karin! Wait, what are you talking about?" She slammed the door in my face. I threw my hands up in aggravation. I growled and pinched the bridge of my nose. Someone behind me honked and I jolted the car forwards, past a stop sign. I cried out loud. This day couldn't get any worse, could it?
When I drove up into the driveway, I gave a sigh of relief. I had been pulled over by a cop after running the stop sign, and now all I wanted to do was sleep. I wanted to sleep my bad mood away, and hope that the nightmares wouldn't come back. I got out of my car and locked it behind me. The loud "beep" it made ticked me off. I clenched my teeth and tightened my fists. I was completely tense. I hadn't been this irritated since Tsukishima had made everyone around me think I was crazy. I hoped that after my nap, the anger would just wash over.
As I entered the house, I could hear my father's voice talking in the kitchen. He was on the phone, and his voice was hushed, but loud enough that I could hear it faintly. I didn't care who we was talking to and why. The only thing I cared about was sleep. I snuck past the kitchen and trudged up the stairs into my bedroom. I pulled off my shirt and fell into bed, pulling the covers over me. I laid on my back, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, and then turned my head to the side. I fell asleep almost instantly, but sleeping was a mistake that I had hoped to avoid. Of course, my dreams were tainted with nightmares that showed up over and over again.
"Karin, Ichigo, Isshin, Yuzu, smile!" I smiled. I was surrounded by the people I loved. My mom was in front of us, taking a family photo.
"Mom, don't you want to be in the photo?" I asked, looking at her. She smiled and closed her eyes.
"Ichigo, my boy, I don't want to be in the picture. I never will be unless you promise me this…" She dropped the camera in the grass and suddenly the only person with me was my mother.
"What is that?" I asked, standing up and holding my arms out to her. She didn't give me a hug, instead, she shoved me backwards. I lost my footing and fell into cold, icy water. "Mom!" Water filled my nose and my lungs constricted.
"Don't forget to promise me that you'll…-" Her voice trailed off.
"What? What? What do you want me to promise you? I'll promise you anything, just don't leave me! Please!" I cried. My voice was clear in the water, and no bubbles spouted from my mouth. I didn't have sight of my mother, all I could see was darkness. "Please don't leave, if you leave, I'll find you! I'll never stop looking! I promise!"
My eyes shot open. I was panting, gasping for breath. Tears streamed out of my eyes and my chest was wet with sweat. It felt like I had been holding my breath for a long expanse of time. The nightmare had seemed so real, so there. I couldn't understand it. It almost seemed that my mother was trying to make me promise her something. But I knew that was impossible. She had died eleven years ago, three days from now. Her soul was taken by a hollow, she couldn't be trying to tell me something.
I glanced at the clock. I had slept for over eight hours, from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. I was hot and clammy from my nap. My irritation was still lingering inside of me, but it had gone down considerably. I ran a hand through my orange hair. It was soaked. Some of my hair was stuck to the sides of my head and my forehead, and little trickles of sweat cascaded down the back of my neck. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes with my right hand. It was dim outside, a definite sign that it would rain within the next hour and that the sun would go down in less time.
I could hear Karin's voice coming from her room across the hall, mixed with another person's voice. It was deep, almost boyish, but it had a certain level of maturity too. Karin sounded happy, a rare thing I ever heard around the house. Curious to who she was talking to, I pulled on my shirt and ruffled some of the sweat out of my hair using a nearby towel and walked out of my room towards Karin's door. The door was cracked open just enough so that I could hear their conversation.
"When did you come back?" I heard Karin say.
"A few days ago." The voice didn't sound happy to be here at all. "Why did you drag me here, Kurosaki?"
"Why not?" I heard Karin growl. "Besides, a middle school kid like yourself shouldn't be walking around alone." I heard the unknown person grunt.
"I'm NOT a middle school kid!" said the anonymous figure behind the door. "and I can walk around any time I want, alone."
"Whatever. Just be happy we had watermelon left in our fridge from yesterday's dinner." Karin said.
"It's good, by the way." Said the voice, "the watermelon I mean, it brings back old memories."
"What old memories?" Asked Karin. I couldn't help but notice the odd pleasure in her voice.
"Why are you so nosy?" barked the person.
"Just answer my question, and I'll stop asking private things." I heard the unknown person sigh and then breath in deeply.
"I used to eat watermelon with my sister-"
"Who's your sister?" Karin asked curiously.
"Do you want to hear the story or not?"
"Fine, whatever. Go on."
"I used to eat watermelon with my sister, hinamori, ever night before sunset. We would watch the sunset together, but after she died in the war, I haven't seen her since." The figure's voice wavered, and then straightened out again. There was a long, unhappy silence in the room.
"So… How'd she die?" I heard the boy on the other side grunt in frustration.
"I'm not answering that! First you were a stalker, and then you're actually trying to personal information out of me! What's wrong with kids these days?"
"You're a kid."
"I am not!" I pushed on the door. It swung wide open easily. Karin let out a growl.
"Ichi-nii?" I stepped forwards onto the threshold of the doorway. "What are you doing?"
"I heard someone in your room, so I wanted to see who it was." I glanced over to the opposite side of Karin. "Toshiro?" Toshiro stood up.
"It's Captain Hitsugaya to you."
"What are you doing here?" I asked. I didn't particularly like Toshiro. When he and Karin were with each other all the time a year ago, a sudden burst of hollows began to show up around the two. I felt that maybe Toshiro might be putting Karin in danger by seeing her every day. But because he was one of the many shinigami that gave me my powers back, I had to respect him, just a little.
"I came to talk to you, but I didn't expect to see Karin at the park." Karin didn't move. "So she dragged me here. Might as well talk to you now that you're here."
"Fine. We can talk in my room." I said, giving Toshiro space to exit Karin's room. When We were in my room, Toshiro sat down.
"There's something important that you need to know, now."
Okay, that about concludes the second chapter. It was in the middle of a filler and a leading chapter, I couldn't make up my mind…. Anywho, I'm sorry for not updating sooner.